Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it all belongs to JK Rowling…I'm merely an obsessed fan with ideas stuck in my head.
… … … … … …
Leila slowly walked up the stairs to the back door of the Burrow. She firmly knocked on the door and stood there waiting with her arms folded across her chest. Leila looked to the window beside the door and saw Mrs. Weasley peer from behind the curtains before cautiously making her way to the back door. Mrs. Weasley spoke to her through the back door, no doubt as a safety precaution which had been in the brochure the Ministry had distributed.
"Who's there? Declare yourself!" Mrs. Weasley said nervously behind the door.
"It's me, Mrs. Weasley, Leila Mae Potter," Leila said.
"Are you alone?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Dumbledore and Harry are talking; can you please let me in?" Leila asked.
Mrs. Weasley hesitantly opened the door but she brightly smiled when she saw Leila and enveloped her in a strong hug. Leila was sure something or another was crushed from that hug (Perhaps a kidney?) But, it was weird having someone actually care about her well-being. She never received such loving treatment from the Dursleys; but Mrs. Weasley had practically adopted her and Harry into the already large Weasley family. Mrs. Weasley pampered them however she could; the Weasleys weren't rich, but every Christmas and birthday they managed to give them something from their hearts, which meant more than she could vocalize. Leila could only hope that someday she would be so lucky to have such a loving, large family herself; one where she would be surrounded by many children and a loving husband. Mrs. Weasley finally released Leila from the hug, stood backward a ways, and looked at the teenage girl.
"It's so good to see you, Leila. I wasn't sure if it really was you or not. Dumbledore said not to expect you three before morning," Mrs. Weasley said.
"It really is me. I'll answer any questions you want me to. I know its Ministry protocol," Leila smiled.
"That's not necessary, just don't tell Arthur. Let's get you out of that night air and inside," Mrs. Weasley smiled.
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Leila smiled.
"It's no trouble, honestly. Now look at you, my how you've grown, but your still far too skinny for my liking. Let's get you something to eat to put some meat on your bones," Mrs. Weasley said.
Leila simply smiled and shook her head. Typical Mrs. Weasley. She'd been there less than five minutes and Mrs. Weasley was already trying to fatten her up. Every time she came to the Burrow Mrs. Weasley always made sure she and Harry had more than enough to eat. Leila didn't always eat the best with the Dursleys, so she didn't mind Mrs. Weasley's wonderful cooking. At the table, Tonks was seated and she looked sort of depressed so Leila took a seat next to her at the Weasley's large table.
"Wotcher, Leila," Tonks said.
"Hey, Tonks," Leila smiled.
"How've the muggles been treating you?' Tonks asked.
"Same as usual. They ignore me, so I try to ignore them back. Is there anything interesting happening in your life?" Leila asked.
Tonks avoided the question as Mrs. Weasley came back with a giant bowl of onion soup. Leila's stomach slightly growled at the sight and aroma of the soup. She already knew it would taste as good as it looked and smelled.
"Would you like some bread, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Um…" Leila said.
"Of course you would." Mrs. Weasley smiled.
Leila chuckled because Mrs. Weasley didn't even give her a choice. Mrs. Weasley was going to stay true to her word of putting some meat on her bones. Leila took a spoonful of her soup and then a knock came at the door which caused Mrs. Weasley to peer out the window once more. Mrs. Weasley smiled at Leila in reassurance before returning to business with those outside the door.
"Who's there? Declare yourself," Mrs. Weasley said.
Leila couldn't hear the answer but Mrs. Weasley opened the door and in walked Dumbledore and Harry. Mrs. Weasley scolded Dumbledore for letting Leila come in by herself and before more could be said Tonks quickly stood up to leave and Mrs. Weasley looked after her worriedly. Dumbledore glanced at Tonks as she walked past him but he didn't say anything to her. Leila stood up to watch out the window as Tonks left. She looked rather depressed and when she was no more than a few feet out the door, she disapparated. Tonks had always been such a cheerful, fun-loving, carefree person and it was painful to see her like this. Leila didn't recognize this Tonks and she couldn't help but wonder if Sirius' death had taken this much of a toll on her. She didn't expect Harry to be the only one grieving Sirius' death. Leila sat back down in her chair and took another spoonful of soup; but almost the moment she did so, Dumbledore called for her.
"Well, I shall see you at Hogwarts, Harry. Before I go, Leila, I'd like to have a word with you in private," Dumbledore said.
"Yes, sir," Leila said.
Leila stood up slowly from her meal and walked past as Mrs. Weasley examined how skinny Harry was too. Dumbledore held the door open for her and led her outside. Leila nodded her head in thanks for holding the door and followed Dumbledore to where he stopped on the beaten path. Leila gazed up at the stars in the night sky. She loved the stars because when she looked at the night sky and saw the first star, she always thought of her mother and she didn't feel so alone. It probably seemed stupid to see a star and think of one's mother, but it was a small comfort she received. Leila looked to the headmaster and exhaled deeply before he spoke to her.
"Harry told me that you too have been having dreams," Dumbledore said.
"Harry worries about me too much. It was just one dream, last night and it's nothing to worry about, sir." Leila said.
"Did you tell Harry what your dream was about?" Dumbledore asked.
"I was as vague as possible. I don't want him to act rashly about one dream, because last time—last time we lost Sirius," Leila sighed.
"I do see your point, but would you mind telling me what your dream was about?" Dumbledore asked.
"I-I suppose not. I just honestly didn't think that one dream of mine would interest a busy man like you, Professer." Leila said.
"Please continue then, I always do enjoy a good dream. I once had a dream where all I did was knit socks and…but I'm not here to tell you of my dreams, I'm here to listen to yours," Dumbledore nodded.
"Well, I could hear voices in the dark and seeing as it was dark, I couldn't see anything. But above the whispers I heard a woman. She saying over and over again "He's only a boy." Then everything got real quiet like and suddenly I could hear screams of someone in pain. I saw an arm with a Dark Mark on it, but there was a hand clutching the arm. The hand had a ring on it. It looked like a Slytherin ring and next thing I know I'm awake," Leila told her story.
Dumbledore appeared to be pondering her dream over. His hand stroked his long beard and a look of thoughtfulness came into his eyes which stoked Leila's curiosity. She rather impatiently waited in the silence for a few minutes before she interrupted Dumbledore's thoughts.
"Leila, you were right not to tell your brother about your dream. I don't want you to tell Harry about your dream. We don't want him jumping to any conclusions. If you have another one, come directly to me," Dumbledore said.
"Do you think it means something?" Leila asked.
"I'm not sure yet, only time will tell," Dumbledore said.
"But, what does this mean for me? And what conclusions could Harry draw?" Leila asked.
"There are many possibilities, which we will discuss further should you have more dreams," Dumbledore said.
"But sir," Leila pleaded.
"We will talk more if you have more dreams, Leila," Dumbledore said.
"Yes, sir," Leila sighed.
"Now, let's get you back to your meal; otherwise I feel Molly will have my head, so to speak," Dumbledore smiled.
Dumbledore walked Leila back to the Burrow and then vanished once she was safely inside. When she was back in the Burrow, Leila found Harry eating his soup and chatting with Mrs. Weasley. Leila took the seat where her bowl of soup, now cold, was and picked her spoon up to begin eating again, bur Mrs. Weasley came and snatched her bowl.
"He should have let you finish eatingm" Mrs. Weasley tutted.
"It's fine. I'll eat it like this. Honestly, I don't mind; it's far better than anything I eat at the Dursleys," Leila said.
"No, no. I'll warm it up for you. The least I can do for you two is give to give you both a proper meal," Mrs. Weasley said.
Mrs. Weasley warmed the soup up magically and handed Leila back her bowl. Leila took a spoonful of soup, savoring it slowly. Harry continued to talk with Mrs. Weasley. They talked about Hermione Granger's arrival and Slughorn; but Leila silently ate her soup. Leila joined in when the conversation turned to Mr. Weasley.
"Is Mr. Weasley still at work?" Harry asked.
"Yes, he is. As a matter of fact, he's a tiny bit late … He said he'd be back around midnight," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Does he work late a lot?" Leila asked.
"After the whole debacle at the Ministry, he has been late more than he used to be," Mrs. Weasley sighed.
Mrs. Weasley turned to look at the large clock that had a hand for every single member of her household. Leila noticed that every hand was pointed at "mortal peril." Leila looked at Harry, who noticed the hands changes too. Harry simply shrugged at her, so she prodded Mrs. Weasley.
"Erm…I assumed that Ginny and Ron were upstairs…" Leila began.
"They are dear," Mrs. Weasley forced a smile.
"But your clock…" Harry began.
"It's been like that for a while now, ever since You-Know-Who came back into the open. I suppose everybody's in mortal danger now… I don't think it can be just our family…but I don't know anyone else who's got a clock like this, so I can't check. Oh!" Mrs. Weasley began attempting to make casual conversation.
Mrs. Weasley pointed at the clock as Mr. Weasley's hand switched to "traveling." Soon Mr. Weasley was on his way home from a long day of work. There was a knock on the back door and Mrs. Weasley hurried to the door. Leila and Harry listened as Mrs. Weasley let Mr. Weasley in. Mrs. Weasley wanted to let Mr. Weasley in right away, but it was becoming common practice to ask a security question, that only the real person would know, before allowing someone to enter.
"Mrs. Weasley's got a point. The Death Eaters probably already know enough about us, if they're trying to impersonate us," Leila told Harry.
"Yeah, I reckon that's true," Harry said.
"But then again, Mr. Weasley does have an image to upkeep," Leila said.
"Do you ever pick a side?" Harry asked.
"Shut up, Harry. I like to look over all matter of the issue and then choose the best approach. Besides, you can never be too informed," Leila said.
"Oh, believe me, you can. If I never have to hear about who you're snogging, it will be all too soon," Harry said.
"It's not my problem that your best friend can't keep his mouth shut," Leila said.
"Ron's your friend too. Besides, you were snogging a Slytherin!" Harry said.
"I happen to be in Slytherin!"Leila said.
"That doesn't mean I want you snogging them all," Harry said.
"I'm not snogging all the Slytherins, for your information. But, if you must know my logic, I hoped that by snogging Theodore Nott, Malfoy would leave me alone," Leila said.
"How would… wait, I don't even want to try and comprehend your logic," Harry groaned.
"Harry! Leila! I didn't expect to see you two until morning," Mr. Weasley said interrupting the conversation.
Harry and Mr. Weasley shook hands. Leila simply smiled at Mr. Weasley as he took a seat next to Harry, across from Leila. They talked about Mr. Weasley's night at work. Leila soon yawned, she was exhausted.
"Bed." Mrs. Weasley said.
"I think I'll take you up on that. Harry can stay and chat of course." Leila said standing up.
Leila went to grab her dishes to walk them to the sink, but Mrs. Weasley shooed her away.
"Don't worry about those. I'll get them. You must be exhausted, both of you." Mrs. Weasley said.
"I'm fine." Harry said trying to stifle a yawn.
"You can't fool me, Harry. Now, I've got Fred and George's room all ready for the two of you." Mrs. Weasley said.
"Where are Fred and George?"Leila asked.
"They're living in the flat above their joke shop. I must say that I didn't approve at first, but they do seem to have a bit of flair for business. Now, off to bed with the both you." Mrs. Weasley said.
Leila and Harry said goodnight to Mr. Weasley, and followed Mrs. Weasley up the stairs.
"Here you are. This should do for the two of you." Mrs. Weasley smiled.
"Thanks." Harry mumbled.
"Thanks for inviting us for the summer." Leila said.
"It's my pleasure, I enjoy having you two; especially if it gets you away from…never mind that. Now, get some sleep." Mrs. Weasley smiled.
Mrs. Weasley walked over and kissed Harry on the cheek and hugged him. Harry looked a little awkward, but he accepted the affection.
"G'night Harry." Mrs. Weasley said.
"G'night Mrs. Weasley." Harry said yawning.
Mrs. Weasley chuckled and moved to Leila. She kissed and hugged Leila as she did Harry.
"G'night, Leila." Mrs. Weasley said.
"G'night Mrs. Weasley." Leila said.
"You look so much like your mother." Mrs. Weasley whispered.
Leila held onto Mrs. Weasley a little longer than normal, but this was the most affection she had ever gotten. Mrs. Weasley was almost like her mother, but she would never take the place of her real mother, Lily. Mrs. Weasley released Leila from the hug, patted her on the cheek, and left the room. Harry and Leila both quickly changed into their pajamas and were ready for a peaceful night's sleep.
"Which bed do you want?" Harry asked.
"Whichever one wasn't Fred's." Leila said.
"Why does that matter?" Harry asked.
"No specific reason." Leila said.
"Liar." Harry muttered.
"It's a surprise." Leila smiled.
Harry rolled his eyes and raked a hand through his hair. Leila, knowing which bed had been Fred's, crawled into the bed nearest the door, which had been George's old bed. Harry shrugged and threw himself onto Fred's old bed. Leila blew out the candle which had lit the room and lay there silently. After about five minutes, Leila couldn't take the silence.
"You find it yet?" Leila asked.
"Find what?" Harry asked.
"Never mind." Leila chuckled.
Harry, confused by what Leila said grabbed his pillow and found something hard inside. Harry reached inside and found a leftover joke shop item. Harry chucked the item at Leila, but she deflected it with her pillow, which caused it to fall to the floor. Leila then bent over to look at what it was.
"Ew. What was that?" Harry asked.
"Looks like a Puking Pastille, but the moonlight doesn't help much." Leila said.
"How did you know there was something there?" Harry asked.
"Fred and I were talking once about where he hid his stash of inventions from Mrs. Weasley. It just seemed like something Fred would do to leave a memento for his Mum." Leila laughed.
Harry chuckled and a silence fell over the room.
"Good night, Leila." Harry sighed.
"G'night." Leila mumbled.
"Sweet dreams." Harry said.
"Uh-huh." Leila said on the verge of sleep.
"I mean it, you know." Harry said.
Harry chuckled. Leila didn't respond because she was fast asleep. She didn't have any odd dreams that night. Instead she had a dream in which her parents were alive, and she and Harry had other siblings. Leila woke up in the morning, reluctantly, to a wakeup call from Ron and Hermione. She was fine with Ron, but Hermione's babbling annoyed her.
"Shut it, Granger." Leila said.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Hermione said.
Leila and Hermione weren't what you would call friends. Leila didn't care about Hermione being a muggleborn, but rather just found her plain annoying. Not liking Hermione Granger was one of the few things she had in common with her fellow Slytherins. She hadn't liked Hermione from her first train ride. Leila felt that Hermione had always thought that she was better than Leila. The boys used to side with her, until that troll on Halloween. The boys' opinions of Hermione Granger changed that night; but Leila and Hermione still couldn't put their differences aside. Some said it was because they were so similar, others said it was because of some rivalry over Harry. Whatever the reason was, the girls had never become friends. They usually got along if Harry was around, but if he wasn't there that was a completely different story.
"Leave me alone." Leila groaned.
"Mum's bringing you up breakfast." Ron said.
"Breakfast!" Leila popped out of bed.
Ron laughed at her and sat next to her on the bed. She and Ron were friends, which wasn't always the case. It took him most of first year to finally warm up to her. He didn't like her because she was a Slytherin. Ron was fine with her on the first train ride to Hogwarts, but after the sorting, he avoided her like the plague. He wasn't mean to her; but he didn't trust her and certainly didn't like including her in things that year. Leila thought back on when they first became friends.
Flashback
Leila was sitting in a hospital bed next to Harry, after the incident with Quirrell. Leila and Harry both faced Quirrell with Voldemort on the back of his head. Then both of them ended up in the hospital wing. Harry was still unconscious when Ron walked into the hospital wing and Leila pretended to be asleep. Ron went straight for her pile of candy.
"What do you think you're doing?" Leila demanded.
"You scared me!" Ron almost screamed.
"Serves you right, trying to steal my candy." Leila said.
"I figured you wouldn't mind. I mean you do have a lot of it." Ron said.
Leila sighed and sat up in her bed.
"Go on. You can have some." Leila said.
Ron looked at her hesitantly. Leila dug through her pile of candy and passed him a chocolate frog from Malfoy, she didn't want anything from Malfoy. Ron grabbed the chocolate frog and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. Leila laughed at him.
"What?" Ron said with a mouth full.
"Why'd you shove the whole thing in your mouth?" Leila asked.
"It's the cards you want. Who cares how you eat the frog. You got Wendelin the Weird by the way." Ron swallowed hard.
Leila laughed and shook her head.
"I…um…just wanted to say that I don't think you're evil." Ron said.
"Took you long enough." Leila said.
"Yeah, well most Slytherins wouldn't have done what you did down there." Ron mumbled.
"What, try to get rid of Voldemort?" Leila asked.
"Don't say his name." Ron shuddered.
"Sorry, but it's the truth isn't it?" Leila asked.
"Well like I said, I don't think your evil." Ron said.
"So, friends then?" Leila asked holding out her hand.
"Friends." Ron said shaking her hand.
End Flashback
"Leila..." Ron said.
"Hmm?" Leila asked.
"You didn't look like you were with us." Ron said.
"I was just remembering when we became friends." Leila smiled.
"Oh geez…don't give me the "not all Slytherins are evil" talk again. I get it all the time from you." Ron complained.
"Well, it's true." Leila responded.
"What about Malfoy?" Ron asked.
"Ok, so it's true for a select few of us, and I don't care what you think of the prick." Leila said.
"He is in your house." Hermione added.
"I said select few! Besides, just because we're in the same house doesn't mean I have to like him." Leila sneered.
"Can you two not argue for one minute?" Ginny smiled leaning against the door frame.
"Ginny!" Leila shouted.
Leila ran to her friend and hugged her. Ginny laughed and hugged Leila back. Leila then walked back to her bed and sat down. Ginny leaned against the bed frame. Leila turned to slightly face Ginny, leaving her back to Harry, Ron, and Granger.
"Well, it's good to see you too." Ginny said.
"I'm glad that you can save my sanity this summer. I don't know that I can stand a summer of Granger." Leila said.
"Wouldn't count on a summer of sanity." Ginny frowned.
"Why is that?" Leila asked.
"It's her. She's driving me mad." Ginny said.
"Who?" Leila asked.
"What's she one now?" Hermione asked sympathetically.
"It's the way she talks to me…you'd think I was about three!" Ginny complained.
"Sure, ignore me for Granger." Leila groaned.
"I know, she's so full of herself." Hermione whispered, ignoring Leila's comment.
"Granger did you actually insult someone?" Leila gasped.
Ron flung Harry's pillow at Leila. Leila groaned and tossed the pillow back to Harry, who was rubbing the back of his head.
"Leila, quit having a go at Hermione. And you two." Ron said pointing at Ginny and Hermione "Can't you two lay of her for five seconds?"
"Can someone please explain…" Leila began.
"Oh, that's right, defend her. We all know you can't get enough of her." Ginny snapped.
"Who are you…" Harry began.
The door opened again.
"Breakfast!" Mrs. Weasley said entering the room.
Mrs. Weasley carried one tray while Fleur Delacour carried the other tray into the room. Mrs. Weasley gave her tray to Harry, while Leila got the one carried by Fleur. Leila quickly stood up and hugged Fleur. Leila hadn't seen Fleur for quite some time. She had heard rumors that Fleur had taken a job at Gringotts to improve her English, and that Bill was tutoring her; but that was the last she had heard of, or ever expected to hear of Fleur Delacour.
"Fleur?" Leila asked.
"Eet eez me." Fleur smiled.
Leila attempted to smiled and then sat back down on her bed, leaning close to Ron.
"What's she doing here?" Leila whispered to Ron.
"Annoying us." Ron whispered.
"Really, what's she doing here." Leila asked.
"Tell you later." Ron whispered.
Fleur was having a conversation with Harry, but she said something that caught her attention, because Fleur was gushing with emotion. It was hard but to notice the excitement that came from Fleur.
"Bill and I are going to be married!" Fleur said.
"Since when?" Leila asked Ron.
"Later." Ron whispered.
Fleur explained about Bill, Gringotts, and her stay at the Burrow, and then gracefully left the room.
"Mum hates her." Ginny said.
"I do not hate her! I just think they've hurried into this engagement, that's all!" Mrs. Weasley defended.
"They've known each other a year." Ron said.
"Sometimes love just happens, there's nothing you can do about it." Leila commented.
"How would you know?" Ron asked.
"I've heard things." Leila said.
"So is that how it is for Malfoy with you?" Ron asked.
"Shut up, Ron. We're talking about Fleur, not the ferret." Leila said through gritted teeth.
Ron chuckled and then picked up in the conversation about Fleur. Leila remembered Fleur from her fourth year, the Triwizard Tournament. Fleur had been the competitor for Beauxbatons.
"…they're rushing all sorts of decisions they'd normally take time over. It was the same last time he was powerful, people eloping left, right, and center…" Mrs. Weasley said.
"Including you and Dad?" Ginny said slyly.
"Or me and Harry's parents?" Leila added.
"Yes, well, your father and I were made for each other, what was the point in waiting. And Lily and James, well they were also right for each other. Whereas Bill and Fleur…well…what have they really got in common? He's hard-working, down-to earth sort of person, whereas she's-" Mrs. Weasley combated.
"A cow, But Bill's not that down-to-earth. He's a Curse-Breaker, isn't he, he likes a bit of adventure, a bit of glamour…I expect that's why he's gone for Phlegm." Ginny said.
"Stop calling her that, Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.
Leila cracked up laughing as Mrs. Weasley scolded Ginny for the name calling. Ginny rolled her eyes and left the room. Leila followed her out of the room.
"Don't like Fleur?" Leila asked.
"She's annoying." Ginny said.
"Aw c'mon she can't be that bad." Leila laughed.
"You haven't lived with her for the summer." Ginny said.
"And we're hardly even that far into our summer break." Leila teased.
"You're no help. I sometimes wonder why I'm friends with you." Ginny said.
"To get to my brother." Leila said.
"Well, those were my ulterior motives when our friendship began." Ginny winked.
"I knew it." Leila said.
"Whatever." Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Want to go play some Quidditch?" Leila asked.
"Anything to get out of this house." Ginny said.
Ginny grabbed Leila's arm.
"Wait, my broom…" Leila began.
"It's in our shed, c'mon." Ginny said.
"Well, I do need to change first." Leila said.
"You have five minutes." Ginny said.
"Someone's bossy." Leila smirked.
Leila shook her head, quickly changed, and then followed Ginny outside. Leila found both her and Harry's Firebolts in the shed along with Leila's Nimbus 2001.
"You want to use my Firebolt?" Leila asked.
"What will you use?" Ginny asked.
"I suppose I could use my old Nimbus 2001?" Leila sighed.
"You make it sound like it's a dreadful broom or something." Ginny laughed.
"It is." Leila said.
"It's only a few years old, you really shouldn't be complaining." Ginny said.
"But it was paid for by the Malfoys. Ew." Leila shuddered.
"Point taken, now give me the Firebolt before I start feeling bad for you." Ginny smiled.
"Haha." Leila said handing Ginny her Firebolt.
The girls kicked off and flew into the air. They tossed a quaffle around for a while. Both girls were chasers for their House teams, and were good fliers. Of course, Harry was still a superior flier compared to Leila. Harry had the agility of a Seeker; but Leila didn't mind. She played the same position that her father did when he was at Hogwarts. The girls eventually got bored and landed and put the brooms back in the shed.
"Gryffindor's going to win the Quidditch Cup this year." Ginny said.
"No way, Slytherin will…." Leila began.
"Malfoy get the snitch before Harry? In your dreams." Ginny interrupted.
"I would never even dream about that prat." Leila said.
"Then it doesn't look like Slytherin is going to win against Gryffindor anytime soon." Ginny said.
"We'll just see about that. I may not like the prat, but he's a pretty good Seeker." Leila admitted.
"Did I just hear you say something good about Malfoy?" Ginny gasped.
"Shocking, I know; too bad he's a complete arse." Leila said, rolling her eyes.
Leila and Ginny walked into the house to find Hermione and Mrs. Weasley sitting in the kitchen. Harry and Fleur were standing there watching Mrs. Weasley trying something on Hermione. Leila tried to get a better look.
"What the hell happened to your face, Granger?" Leila gasped.
Hermione groaned in frustration.
"It looks like…." Leila began
"I know what it looks like!" Hermione screamed.
"Now who got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Leila said.
Mrs. Weasley shushed her and attempted to fix the bruise.
"This has always worked before. I just can't understand it." Mrs. Weasley said.
"It'll be Fred and George's idea of a funny joke, making sure it can't come off." Ginny said.
"But it's got to come off! I can't go around looking like this forever!" Hermione squeaked.
"Bill mentioned Fred and George, zey are pranksters, right?" Fleur added.
"Aw c'mon, it's a vast improvement." Leila said ignoring Fleur.
"Not helping…" Ginny whispered through gritted teeth.
"I was only joking, Granger." Leila said.
"I know you better than that, Leila." Hermione said.
"But I was." Leila said.
"Both of you shut it." Ginny said.
Hermione and Leila both nodded, and tried to glare at each other. Well, Leila succeeded, seeing as she didn't have a black-eye. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"I don't understand why the two of you don't get along." Ginny said.
"More like won't get along." Harry commented finally adding to the conversation.
"Mrs. Weasley, are you sure no owls arrived this morning?" Hermione asked changing the subject.
"Yes, dear, I'd have noticed. But there's still plenty of time…" Mrs. Weasley said.
Hermione then started complaining about how she thought she completely messed up Ancient Runes. Leila groaned. Hermione was such a know–it-all. She always complained that she failed, and then she ended up top of the class. This always left Leila and Malfoy to battle it out for second. Leila hoped that the results from her OWL exams would nudge her above Malfoy. Last year had been dreadful with him bragging about being in second place above her.
"Granger, will you shut up! You're top of our class. You obviously didn't fail!" Leila screamed.
"Yeah, we're all nervous here. Besides, when you've got your eleven "Outstanding" OWLs…" Ron said.
"Don't! Don't! Don't! I know I've failed everything. Besides, you wouldn't understand." Hermione said.
"I took as many tests as you did." Leila said.
"Wait, you took eleven tests?" Ron asked.
"Yes." Leila said.
"Did you drop a class and take the test like Hermione? You would've had to have dropped one…unless…" Ron began.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out someday, Ron." Harry grinned.
Both Leila and Hermione were given time turners there third year. Harry knew this because he had traveled back in time with them to save Sirius and Buckbeak, but poor Ron was in the hospital wing. They had never taken the time to explain it to Ron, because terrible things could happen to those that mess with time. Leila had continued to use a time turner until the end of last year. She assumed that she wouldn't be given a time turner this year after they had destroyed them.
"Were you in…" Ron began, trying to figure things out.
"Yes, I took Divination with you, dummy. I didn't drop any classes." Leila said.
"But how is that possible?" Ron muttered.
"Divination hardly counts as a class. It's a load of rubbish." Hermione said.
"You just think that because Trelawney hated you." Leila said.
"And how is making up new ways to die educational?" Hermione asked.
"So…what happens if you fail a class?" Harry asked no one in particular, trying to change the subject.
Leila walked away from the conversation and picked at some food left over from breakfast.
"Didn't you get enough to eat?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Oh yes, breakfast was delightful. I just have a bottomless pit for a stomach." Leila said.
"I used to say the same thing. My figure isn't what it used to be. Probably because I had seven children." Mrs. Weasley said.
Leila stopped the sausage midair and set it back down on the plate. She patted it and smiled. Ron then swiped the sausage that was almost in her mouth.
"You do realize I almost ate that." Leila said.
"Yeah, key word being almost." Ron said with his mouth full of food.
"Some things never change." Leila shook her head.
Hermione then started shrieking.
"Bloody hell, Granger. Can you sound any more like a banshee?" Leila said.
Hermione then pointed at the window. Coming towards the house were four black specks. Ron and Leila joined her by the window.
"They're definitely owls." Ron gulped.
"And there are four of them." Harry said stepping in between Leila and Ron.
"One for each of us." Leila said.
"Oh, no….Oh, no…Oh, no…" Hermione whispered.
Mrs. Weasley opened the window and the four owls flew in. They each found the owl with the letter addressed to them. Hermione was still freaking out, but Leila forgave her for that because she too was freaking out. Except she was freaking out on the inside.
"Aren't you even nervous?" Harry asked.
"Of course I am." Leila said.
"Doesn't look like it." Harry said.
"I don't wear my emotions on my sleeves, like some people." Leila said.
"It's not a bad thing you know." Harry said.
"Oh just shut up, I want to look at my results." Leila squealed.
Leila ripped open her letter and quickly found the parchment with her results.
Ordinary Wizarding Level Results
Pass Grades Fail Grades
Outstanding (O) Poor (P)
Exceeds Expectations (E) Dreadful (D)
Acceptable (A) Troll (T)
Leila Mae Potter has achieved:
Study of Ancient Runes O
Arithmancy O
Astronomy O
Care of Magical Creatures O
Charms O
Defense Against the Dark Arts O
Divination A
Herbology O
History of Magic E
Potions O
Transfiguration O
Leila looked at her results and was pleasantly surprised. She breathed a sigh of relief. Harry snatched her results from her.
"Let's see here…." Harry began.
"Give those back, they're mine." Leila shouted.
Harry gasped.
"What?" Leila said.
"Only an "A" in Divination?" Harry gasped.
"Shut up, Harry." Leila said.
"You can't continue in it, you know." Hermione said, not letting her eyes leave her own results.
"I was going to have to drop a class anyways." Leila said.
"Why's that?" Ginny asked.
"After we destroyed the time turners at the Ministry, you really think they'd still let me use one? The most classes you can have without a time turner is ten." Leila said.
"How horrible, you can only take ten classes." Harry teased.
"Shut up, Harry." Leila smirked.
"Hermione, how did you do?" Ginny asked.
"I…not bad." Hermione said, somewhat disappointedly.
"Oh, come off it." Ron said swiping her results. "Yep, ten "Outstandings" and one "Exceeds Expectations" in Defense." Ron said.
"You're not happy with your results?" Leila asked.
"It's not that." Hermione said.
"If you're scared Malfoy beat you for top marks, I can already tell you he didn't." Leila said.
"Why's that?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know…I'm just trying to be nice." Leila said through gritted teeth.
Ginny laughed. Leila rolled her eyes and Granger still examined the letter. How many more times did she need to see that she had ten Outstandings?
"Well, we're NEWT students now! Mum, are there any more sausages?" Ron grinned.
"You just ate a piece!" Leila said.
"I'm still hungry." Ron said.
Leila playfully shoved Ron and looked at her brother. He was looking over his results again, quietly.
"Everything all right?" Leila asked.
"Yeah." Harry said.
"You sure?" Leila asked.
"Yeah, of course." Harry said folding up his results.
"If you say so. Hey, you never told me how you did!" Leila said.
"Not as good as you obviously." Harry half-smiled.
"Obviously, but let's have a look anyway" Leila smirked.
Harry reluctantly handed Leila his grades. They weren't terrible, but he definitely wasn't at the top of the class. She squeezed her brother's shoulder, and then walked upstairs to finish the dreadful book of Lockharts that she started. At least it would give her a little break from Hermione and Fleur.