Greetings, one and all and welcome to the first chapter of Year 5 of the Potter And Kent Chronicles. I hope you are going to enjoy it as much as I had writing it and now on to the review.
Ashzaroth: Happy to hear it. I have an idea how to develop Clark's relationship with Fleur. And about the dementor attack.. you'll see.
and now on to the story.
Harry, Clark, Kara, Sirius and Elizabeth arrived at at a row of old houses. It wasn't until they reached the part about number twelve, that a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows. It was as though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way. Harry gaped at it. The stereo in number eleven thudded on. Apparently the Muggles inside hadn't felt anything.
"Come on, hurry.", Sirius said, as they walked up the worn stone steps towards the newly materialized door. It's black paint was shabby and scratched. The silver doorknocker was in the form of a twisted serpent. There was no keyhole or letterbox.
Sirius, pulled out his wand and tapped the door once. Clark heard many loud, metallic clicks and what sounded like the clatter of a chain. The door creaked open.
"Get in quick, but don't go far inside and don't touch anything.", Sirius whispered.
The group stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. Clark could smell damp, dust and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building. He looked over his shoulder and saw the others filing in behind him, Harry and Kara carrying their own trunk and Hedwig's cage, before Sirius and Elizabeth walked in as well and closed the front door, so that the darkness in the hall became complete.
"Now stay still, everyone, while I give us a bit of light in here.", Elizabeth whispered. The hushed voices were giving Clark an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person.
He heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls.
Clark heard something scuttling behind the skirting board. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents.
"We'll be having something to eat in the kitchen. You can take a rest in the...", Elizabeth said, before she accidentally knocked over the umbrella stand.
"Oh balls...", Sirius said, the rest of his words were drowned by a horrible, ear-splitting, blood-curdling screech.
The moth-eaten velvet curtains had flown apart, but there was no door behind them. For a split second, Clark thought he was looking through a window, behind which an old woman in a black cap was screaming as though she were being tortured. Then he realized it was simply a life-size portrait, but the most realistic, and the most unpleasant, he had ever seen in his life.
The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, the yellowing skin of her face stretched out as she screamed; and all along the hall behind them, the other portraits awoke and began to yell, too, so that Clark actually screwed up his eyes at the noise and clapped his hands over his ears.
"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers!"
Elizabeth took out her wand and in a single swipe of it, stunned all the other portraits as Sirius roared, "Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!"
The old woman's face blanched, "Yoooou!", she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of Sirius, "Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!"
"I said... Shut UP!", Sirius roared, and with a stupendous effort he managed to force the curtains closed again.
The old woman's screeches died and an echoing silence tell. Panting slightly and sweeping his long dark hair out of his eyes, "Well kids, I see you've met my mother. We've been trying to get her down for a month but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Lets get downstairs, quick, before they all wake up again."
"You mean that Banshee is our grandmother?", Clark asked wide eyed as they quickly exited the hall.
"Clark, don't call your grandmother a Banshee.", Elizabeth said, but even she couldn't hide the smirk on her face.
"Clark, I forbid you to call that woman your grandmother.", Sirius added with a proud smirk.
"But what's a portrait of your mother doing here?" Harry asked, bewildered, as they went through the door from the hall and led the way down a flight of narrow stone steps, the others just behind them.
"This was my parents house.", Sirius said, "Seeing as I am the current head of the Black Family, it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore as a Headquarters."
"If you want to get the portrait off the wall... Why don't you just remove the part of the wall were the portrait is stuck on?", Kara asked, both Sirius and Elizabeth had to admit that their daughter had a point.
It was during dinner that Elizabeth would be leave for the next month. When Harry, Clark and Kara asked why, she told them that it was for the Order.
"I have a challenge for you Clark.", Elizabeth said, gaining her eldest son attention.
It was nearly a month later, that Clark had managed to complete his mother's challenge. Feeling completed and drained, he went to sleep.
Seconds later, or so it seemed to Clark, he was awakened by what sounded like cannon fire as the door burst open. Sitting upright, he heard the rasp of the curtains being pulled back, the dazzling sunlight seemed to poke him hard in both eyes. Shielding them with one hand. "What's going on?"
"Wake up already, Clark.", said a loud and excited voice, and he received a sharp blow to the top of the head.
"Ron, don't hit him!", a girls voice said reproachfully.
Clark rubbed the sleep from his eyes, though the light was so bright he could hardly see anyway. A long, looming shadow quivered in front of him for a moment; he blinked Ron, Neville and Hermione came into focus, grinning down at him. "You doing all right, Clark?", Neville asked.
"I just want to go back to bed.", Clark said, rubbing the top of his head and rolling back into his bed.
"Had a long night?", Harry asked as he and Kara came walking in. After the group of friends greeted each other, Harry and Kara asked how the others had been.
"Not bad.", Neville said, taking a seat at Clark's desk.
"How are you, Hermione?", Kara asked, her friend told them she was fine, while Hermione was scrutinizing the covered form of Clark as though he was sickening for something. "What's the time? Have I missed breakfast again?", Clark's muffled voice came from under his blanket.
"Don't worry about that, Mom is bringing you up a tray.", Kara told her brother, who was surprised to hear that is mother had already returned, "So... completed mom's challenge?"
"I did.", a muffled voice said.
"I can't stand her!", a voice said from the doorway. Ron's younger sister slouched into the room, looking irritable. "Morning everyone."
"What's up with you?", Ron asked.
"It's her.", Ginny said, plonking herself down on Clark's bed, an angry growl coming from him, "She's driving me mad."
"What's she done now?", Kara asked sympathetically.
"It's the way she talks to me... you'd think I was about three! She's so full of herself."
"Who the bloody hell are you people talking about?", Clark asked, but his question was answered before he could finish it. The bedroom door flew open again, and Clark peeked over his covers.
A young woman was standing in the doorway, a woman of such breathtaking beauty that the room seemed to have become strangely airless. She was tall and willowy with long blonde hair and appeared to emanate a faint, silvery glow. To complete this vision of perfection, she was carrying a heavily laden breakfast tray.
"Clark!", Fleur said in a throaty voice, as she swept over the threshold toward him, Mrs. Weasley was heard from the stairs below, sounding rather cross. "There was no need to bring up the tray, I was just about to do it myself!"
"It was no trouble. A woman has to take care of her man.", Fleur said, setting the tray on Clark's nightstand, before the two pressed their lips together. "When did you arrive?", Clark asked, happy to see his girlfriend again.
"I arrived this morning with your mother.", Fleur said as she sat down on his next bed, "Even when your just out of bed, you still look handsome."
"You still look as beautiful as always.", Clark said, as he took a piece of toast and taking a bite of it.
"So who is in the Order Of The Phoenix?", Ron said to Harry and Kara.
"Quite a few people. We've met about twenty of them.", Harry said, "We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them. Some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order, and some of them are standing guard over something."
"We're not allowed to attend Order meetings, but mom and dad gives us hints sometimes." Kara added, but she was disturbed by the laughter of the couple on the bed, it seems to them that
For the young couple, it felt like they were the only people in the room. The two gave each other a quick kiss before Fleur left to attend the meeting.
"Please tell me, Kara and I aren't like that...", Harry asked after the door closed behind the blonde, slightly embarrassed.
But before anyone could answer, with two loud cracks, Fred and George had materialized out of thin air in the middle of the room. "Stop doing that!", Ron said weakly to the twins. "Hello everyone!" George said, beaming at them, "And yes Harry. You and Lady kara are just as sickening sweet."
"You two passed your Apparation tests, then?", Harry asked grumpily.
"With distinction.", Fred said proudly, puffing out his chest.
"It would have taken you about thirty seconds longer to walk down the stairs.", Ginny pointed out.
"Time is Galleons, little sister.", Fred said as he held up the string which was now trailing out on to the landing, "We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs. There's a major meeting they're having."
"It's a no-go with the Extendable Ears, Elizabeth has gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door.", Ginny said.
"How do you know?" George asked, looking crestfallen.
"Tonks told me how to find out. You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact, the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap.", Ginny explained.
Fred heaved a deep sigh, "Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."
"He's on our side now.", Hermione said reprovingly.
Ron snorted, "Doesn't stop him being a git. Bill doesn't like him, either." Ginny said, as though that settled the matter.
"Is Bill here?", Clark asked, "I thought he was working in Egypt?"
"He applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order.", Fred said, "He says he misses the tombs...", the way Fred suddenly went quite was sucpisious to Clark, but before he could inquire, the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
Fred gave the Extendable Ear a hearty tug; there was another loud crack and he and George vanished. Seconds later, Mrs Weasley appeared in the bedroom doorway.
"The meetings over, you can come down now. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?"
"Crookshanks.", Ginny said unblushingly, "He loves playing with them."
"Or maybe it was Kreacher. You know how he keeps doing odd things like that.", Clark added and Mrs. Weasley seemed to buy it.
Ginny gave Clark an thankful wink, and he responded with a discreet thumbs up as the others and followed Mrs. Weasley out of the room, leaving Harry, Clark, Ron, Neville, Hermione and Kara alone in Clark's room.
"So... Could you leave my room so I can get dressed?", Clark asked dryly, they just now realized that he was bare chested the entire time.
As they quickly left, Hermione took one last peak at Clark's naked chest before closing the door behind them.
A few minutes later, Clark found himself in the basement kitchen. It was scarcely less gloomy than the hall above, a cavernous room with rough stone walls. Most of the light was coming from a large fire at the far end of the room. A haze of pipe smoke hung in the air like battle fumes, through which loomed the menacing shapes of heavy iron pots and pans hanging from the dark ceiling. Many chairs had been crammed into the room for the meeting and a long wooden table stood in the middle of them, littered with rolls of parchment, goblets, empty wine bottles, and a heap of what appeared to be rags.
Mr Weasley and his eldest son Bill were talking quietly with their heads together at the end of the table.
"Harry!", Mr Weasley said, hurrying forward to greet him, and shaking his hand vigorously, "Good to see you!"
Over his shoulder Clark saw Bill, who still wore his long hair in a ponytail, hastily rolling up the lengths of parchment left on the table. "Hey Clark.", Bill called, trying to gather up twelve scrolls at once, he took out his wand, muttered, 'Evanesce!' and the scrolls vanished.
"Sit down, Clark.", Sirius said, "You've met Mundungus, haven't you?"
The thing Clark had taken to be a pile of rags gave a prolonged, grunting snore, then jerked awake.
"Some'n say m'name?", Mundungus mumbled sleepily, "I agree with Sirius...", he raised a very grubby hand in the air as though voting, his droopy, bloodshot eyes unfocused.
Kara and Ginny giggled.
"The meeting's over, Dung.", Elizabeth said, as they all sat down around her at the table.
"Had a good summer so far?", she asked her children, "Have you completed, it?"
Clark didn't answer as Fleur sat down next to him, but at his smirk his mother knew he had. But before she could ask more...
"Fred! George! No, just carry them!", Mrs Weasley shrieked.
Harry, Clark, Kara, Fleur, Sirius and Elizabeth looked round and, within a split second, they had dived away from the table. Fred and George had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of Butterbeer and a heavy wooden breadboard, complete with knife, to hurtle through the air towards them. The stew skidded the length of the table and came to a halt just before the end, leaving a long black burn on the wooden surface; the flagon of Butterbeer fell with a crash, spilling its contents everywhere; the bread knife slipped off the board and landed, point down and quivering ominously, exactly where Sirius's right hand had been seconds before.
"For heaven's sake!", Mrs Weasley screamed, "There was no need! I have had enough of this! Just because you are allowed to use magic now, you don't have to whip your wands out for every tiny little thing!"
"We were just trying to save a bit of time!", Fred said, hurrying forward to wrench the bread knife out of the table. "Sorry, Sirius, mate... Didn't mean to..."
Harry, Clark, Kara, Fleur, Sirius and Elizabeth were laughing, while Crookshanks had given an angry hiss and shot off under the dresser, from where his large yellow eyes glowed in the darkness.
"Boys.", Mr Weasley said, lifting the stew back into the middle of the table, "Your mother's right, you are supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age..."
"None of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!", Mrs Weasley raged at the twins as she slammed a fresh flagon of Butterbeer on the table, and spilling almost as much again. "Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't charm everything he met! Percy..."
She stopped dead, catching her breath with a frightened look at her husband, whose expression was suddenly wooden. "Let's eat.", Fleur said quickly, "It looks wonderful, Mrs. Weasley." ladling stew on to a plate before her and handing it across the table.
For a few minutes there was silence but for the chink of plates and cutlery and the scraping of chairs as everyone settled down to their food. Then Mrs Weasley turned to Sirius and Elizabeth. "I've been meaning to tell you, Sirius, Elizabeth. There's something trapped in that writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. Of course, it could just be a Boggart, but I thought we ought to ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out."
"Whatever you like.", Sirius said indifferently.
As they had dinner, Elizabeth and Fleur were having an intense discuss on about goblins. "They're not giving anything away yet.", Fleur said, "I still can't work out whether or not they believe he's back. Of course, they might prefer not to take sides at all. Keep out of it."
"I'm sure they'd never go over to You-Know-Who.", Elizabeth said, shaking her head, "They've suffered losses too... Thought it depends what they're offered. I'm not talking about gold. If they're offered the freedoms we've been denying them for centuries they're going to be tempted. Have you still not had any luck with Ragnok, Fleur?"
"He's feeling pretty anti-wizard at the moment. He hasn't stopped raging about the Bagman business, he reckons the Ministry did a cover-up, those goblins never got their gold from him, you know...", Fleur said.
A gale of laughter from the middle of the table drowned the rest of Fleur's words. Fred, George, Ron, Neville and Mundungus were rolling around in their seats.
"... and then.", Mundungus choked, tears running down his face, "and then, if you'll believe it, 'e says to me, 'e says, 'Ere, Dung, where didja get all them toads from? 'Cos some son of a Sludger's gone and nicked all mine!' And I says, 'Nicked all your toads, Will, what next? So you'll be wanting some more, then?' And if you'll believe me, lads, the gormless gargoyle buys all 'is own toads back from me for a lot more'n what 'e paid in the first place..."
"I don't think we need to hear any more of your business dealings, thank you very much, Mundungus.", Mrs. Weasley said sharply, as Ron slumped forwards on to the table, howling with laughter.
"Beg pardon, Molly.", Mundungus said at once, wiping his eyes and winking at Harry, "But, you know, Will nicked 'em off Warty Harris in the first place so I wasn't really doing nothing wrong."
"I don't know where you learned about right and wrong, Mundungus, but you seem to have missed a few crucial lessons.", Mrs Weasley said coldly.
Fred and George buried their faces in their goblets of Butterbeer; George was hiccoughing. For some reason, Mrs Weasley threw a very nasty look at Sirius before getting to her feet and going to fetch a large rhubarb crumble for pudding.
Three helpings of deserts later, Clark laid down his spoon, there was a lull in the general conversation: Mr Weasley was leaning back in his chair, looking replete and relaxed; Ginny, who had lured Crookshanks out from under the dresser, was sitting cross-legged on the floor, rolling Butterbeer corks for him to chase.
"Harry, we need you tell you a few things. Its best you and Kara hear it too Clark.", Elizabeth said, "Its about Voldemort."
The atmosphere in the room changed with the rapidity Clark associated with the arrival of Dementors. Where seconds before it had been sleepily relaxed, it was now alert, even tense. A frisson had gone around the table at the mention of Voldemort's name. Lupin, who had been about to take a sip of wine, lowered his goblet slowly, looking wary.
"They're too young, you haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?", Mrs. Weasley said, she was sitting bolt upright in her chair.
"Its your decision to not tell your children...", Elizabeth began.
"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!", Mrs. Weasley said sharply. The expression on her normally kind face looked dangerous.
Ron, Neville, Hermione, Fred and Georges heads swivelled from Sirius to Elizabeth to Mrs Weasley as though they were following a tennis rally. Ginny was kneeling amid a pile of abandoned Butterbeer corks, watching the conversation with her mouth slightly open. Lupin's eyes were fixed on Elizabeth.
"Harry and Clark have seen Voldemort come back. They have the most right to.", Elizabeth said, trying to remain calm.
"They'r not members of the Order of the Phoenix!", Mrs Weasley said "Their only fifteen and..."
"And they have dealt with as much as most in the Order and more than some.", Elizabeth said.
"No one's denying what either has done!", Mrs Weasley said, her voice rising, her fists trembling on the arms of her chair.
"They'r not children.", Elizabeth said impatiently.
"Neither are they adults! Harry's not James!", Mrs Weasley said, the color rising in her cheeks.
"We are perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly." Sirius said coldly.
"I'm not sure you are! Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as though you think you've got your best friend back!"
"What's wrong with that?", Harry spoke up.
"What's wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, however much you might look like him!", Mrs Weasley said, her eyes still boring into Sirius and Elizabeth, "You are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!"
"Are you implying we're irresponsible parents?", Elizabeth said, her voice rising.
"Arthur! Arthur, back me up!", Mrs Weasley said rounding on her husband.
Mr Weasley did not speak at once. He took off his glasses and cleaned them slowly on his robes, not looking at his wife. Only when he had replaced them carefully on his nose did he reply. "Dumbledore knows the position has changed, Molly. He accepts that Harry will have to be filled in, to a certain extent, now that he is staying at Headquarters."
"Yes, but there's a difference between that and inviting him to ask whatever he likes!"
"We are going to tell him whatever you like it or not, Molly.", Sirius said.
"Well... I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has Harry's best interests at heart...', Mrs Weasley said.
"He's not your son.", Sirius said quietly.
"He's as good as.", Mrs Weasley said fiercely, "Who else has he got?"
"He's got us!", Elizabeth said ferociously.
"Yes.", Mrs Weasley said, her lip curling, "the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, while you were traveling around the world, hasn't it?'
Sirius and Elizabeth rose from their chair, Lupin quickly intervened.
"Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry." Lupin sharply, "Sirius, Liz, sit down."
Mrs Weasleys lower lip was trembling. The Black-Kent couple sank slowly back into their chairs, Sirius face white, while Elizabeth's light blue eyes were blazing.
And there you go, I believe this would be a good place to stop, hope you enjoyed. Many thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, favorite or follows this story, you beautiful bastards. For now I wish you all a fantastic day and I will see you ladies and gents, next time. Mischief Managed.
