The summer following Petra's 5th year passed quickly and without incident. Instead of spending all summer back in Seattle she only spent the first four weeks in the townhouse with her grandparents. They could see that something was bothering her. They asked if she knew Cedrick Diggory. They asked if she was doing alright after his passing, and assured her that they were always there to talk if she needed to. Her Grandmother assured her that she could stay the whole summer if she wanted, and that her parents would understand if the grief was too much to bear returning to London early. Petra was quite sure that spending the summer at home would be a wonderful break from all that had happened in London since the beginning of her 5th year, but she was also sure that her parents would not understand her staying in America the whole summer over grief of a boy she never knew. So she assured her grandparents that she was fine and was happy to return to London in august.
When she arrived at the British Ministry, a black town car was waiting outside for her.
Petra spent the whole ride putting shields into place and a polite smile adorned her face when she arrived at her mother's family manor. She had always thought it was ugly, and it only got uglier the longer she had to spend there. It was a monster of a building, with grey stucco walls and gaudy white roman pillars surrounding it. The yard outside was all too green grass and flowers that were stuck in time at their perfect bloom. The only part of the property Petra ever enjoyed was the pond on the edge of the lawn, near the trees that gave privacy from the neighbors. She generally spent most of her time on the waters edge trying to entice ducks to come sit next to her with grain and fruit.
Her mother and maternal grandmother were waiting in the garden for her, with tea and finger sandwiches, and her grandmother's house elf waited dutifully to the side where he could be of use if either of the women needed anything at all. She had once seen her grandmother order the poor thing to fan her because it was too hot outside but it was chilly in the house.
"Petra, dear, come and join us! Roeky just brought out the sandwiches so they are nice and fresh." Her grandmother said, gesturing to the table before snapping at Roeky to pull her chair out for her.
Her grandmother Fiona was an impossible witch to please, and it was definitely where her mother got her parenting style. Strict and distant but always there when you didn't need her to be. Petra could remember skinning her knee when she was young and crying for her mother who never came; that was until she noticed the patch of lawn that was scuffed and came to punish Petra, who Minny was trying to patch up.
"Thank you grandmother. I am absolutely famished after all the traveling today. Hello Mother, you look lovely this afternoon. Grandma Penny sends her best wishes to both of you. Where is Father? He is usually strolling the grounds this time of day if I'm not mistaken." It was exhausting trying to navigate speech around the two women, who both had the opinion that Americans couldn't formulate correct sentences and tended to speak like "common people".
"Your Father? Oh I am sure he is around here somewhere. How were your travels dear? You look like you might need to freshen up after we eat, especially before the gathering tonight. Your brother and sister should be arriving shortly as well." Her mother pointedly looked at the lilac sweater and Petras running shoes before looking back up at her with her sweet-but-concerned smile.
"Of course mother, I could not imagine wearing traveling clothes to the soiree you have planned for this evening." She fought to keep her voice arrogant and polite and not mocking, although she might have overdone her tone a little. She could feel Fiona's disapproving look burning into the side of her face.
After three small roast beef finger sandwiches her grandmother practically barked at Roeky to clean up the table. She couldn't understand her grandmother's insistence that she eat the bare amount of calories lest she become "unmarriable". Petra ate whatever she wanted all other times of the year and stayed stick thin anyway.
The gathering the two women had planned was over and done with quickly, to Petra and Jacobs relief, although Alice complained that she had not gotten to talk to even half of the eligible men at the party. Petra rolled her eyes more than once at the descriptions her sister could give about even the saddest of her admirers, and Jacob had busied himself with braiding both of their hairs into intricate patterns. He would give his sarcastic input every now and then about some of the men and then snicker when Alice would smack his arm or chest. It was a nicer night then Petra could have dreamed it to be, and she knew that once Alice was married and Jacob was off in the world, doing merlin knows what that she would remember this night and be happy. They may not have been the closest of siblings but they were each other's rocks in a family that was sometimes cold.
In the last week of august she was in diagon alley gathering the supplies she would need for the new year. Her mother had been thrilled with her O.W.L.S and had given her extra galleons to get whatever she wanted, although she mentioned a lot of boutique sales when she did. So Petra was wandering through the shops, dutifully avoiding any sort of clothing shops her mother might approve of. As she looked more closely at a dress that was much shorter than anything she had ever been allowed to own, a quiet "boo" sounded way too close to her left ear. She whipped around only to find herself looking into bright blue eyes in a face surrounded by freckles.
She pushed Fred hard and almost tripped over George who was behind her now, chuckling and keeping his arms out in case she turned on him next. Fred, who had fallen to the ground and was laughing so hard he had a tear coming out of his eye, Said "gotcha".
"You two are going to get hexed the second we are back on that train!" Petra couldn't help but laugh as well. Those two were going to be the death of her.
Molly Weasley yelled out their names and they each held out an arm for her, so when they found Molly her arms were looped through theirs and they all had a manic look on their faces. She smiled at Petra warmly before scooping her into her arms for a hug.
"You must be this Petra I've been hearing about! It's so nice to finally meet you, dear." she had a warm look to her, likes mothers in children's books.
"Hello Mrs. Weasley, it's nice to meet you too." Petra was slightly nervous about making a good impression, especially if some of the things she had been hearing had anything to do with fireworks.
She had this odd twitch and kept glancing around, and Petra suddenly noticed the stress lined into her face.
"Well boys, I think we had better head back now, wouldn't want to keep anyone waiting on dinner. It was nice to meet you, dear, and I hope we can visit more some other time." She smiled politely but it was strained, and Fred and George looked disappointed but didn't argue, and that was a bad enough sign on its own. Both of them hugged her goodbye, each with a "see you at the train station".
Petra took it as a sign that it was time to head back herself, so she walked slowly back to the leaky cauldron and went home.
Authors second note: I promise things are going to be moving faster toward Severus soon, just trying to get a good idea of Petra into the story before I move on. The next chapter you'll start to see more of him and where the story is moving. Thank you all for making it this far and I hope its worth it!