Chapter 9

After a tedious car ride, sandwiched between Percy and George, Amelia was happy to be back in Ottery st. Catchpole. She hated car rides is general, but being besides a pompous git and a prankster was positively the worst car ride you could imagine. So, when she was finally able to get out of the car and stretch her legs, she let out a sigh of relief. The fresh, still slightly cool wind blew her hair in her face, as she turned towards the second car that had stopped. She had been thinking over the conversation she'd been having with Fred, when they were at the station. How in the name of Merlin had he known her patronus? It couldn't possibly be from that one time she had mentioned it, could it? She was pulled out of her thoughts by Mrs. Weasley, who had also gotten out of the car.

"Amelia dear, would you mind letting me check on your wound?"

"Sure, Mrs. Weasley."

"Call me Molly, dear." Amelia smiled at her, realizing, once again, what an amazing woman she was. She'd like to imagine that this is what her mother had been like. Sweet and caring, always there for others. It was a nice thought to have. Who knows, she might be able to get more information from her father, when they met again. She was absolutely sure they'd meet again, because there was no way she was going to get her father back and then lose him again. She quietly followed Mrs. Weasley into the house, through the kitchen and into Ginny's room, where there was already a cot set up for her. Mrs. Weasley motioned for Amelia to remove her shirt, leaving her in the sports bra and the bandages covering her side, and started to slowly remove the bandages. Amelia hissed as the last pieces covering her side were pulled off, revealing the wound Lupin's wolf form had made. Large, barely healed scratches marred the skin of her side. Mrs. Weasley frowned at the sight, before grabbing a tube of healing salve out of her pocket. She carefully applied the salve on the wound and stood, instructing Amelia to stay in place so the salve could dry. With a sigh Amelia did as asked, while walking towards the mirror to study herself. She wasn't too bad looking. She might be quite short, but her weight was fine. Her eyes were a nice shade of blue, grey circles on the outside of her irises. She combed her fingers through her curly, pitch black locks, a trademark of the Black family, she realized now. She noticed more and more difference with the year before. Her breasts had grown bigger and her body slightly curvier. She had noticed her school uniforms getting just a little tighter, as well as her muggle clothing. She made a mental note to ask Angelina, Katie and Alicia to go shopping. Just as this thought crossed her mind, she heard the door open. Assuming it was Mrs. Weasley, she turned around, her eyes aimed at the doorway. There she saw a wide-eyed Ginny.

"Oh hey Ginny." Amelia smiled sheepishly at the younger girl.

"H-hey." Ginny's eyes were glued to the deep scratches that were still out for the world to see. Amelia turned back at the mirror, studying the claw marks.

"They look quite bad, don't they?" There was no sound coming from her, just the soft closing of the door behind her. "Are you okay? I can't remember ever seeing you this quiet." There was still no sound coming from the red-headed girl. "Gin? Is this change in attitude still because of last year?"

"M-maybe. I don't know." She had sat down onto Amelia's cot, and Amelia decided to join her.

"Listen to me, you silly girl. There is nothing and no one who can take you down. You're Ginny Weasley, younger sister of the Weasley twins and daughter of the most badass, scary woman in this entire universe," this made Ginny laugh. Mostly because everyone knew it was true. "and I happen to know that you, oh adopted baby-sis of mine, are a very talented and temperamental witch, who can obliterate everyone that gets in her way." By the end of her little speech, Ginny was laughing again and she seemed a little more like herself.

"Thank you, Amelia. I needed that."

"You're welcome." Amelia hugged Ginny, or at least tried to. With a little groan she pulled back.

"Woah, Lupin really did a number on you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but I don't blame him. Wait a minute... How did you know?" Ginny shrugged,

"Intuition." Amelia raised her eyebrows, but didn't question any further. She wouldn't get an answer anyway.

X- Harry Potter –X

Being at the Burrow felt like coming home, maybe even more so than being at Hogwarts. Amelia loved the sounds, the sights and the smells. Mrs. Weasley's cooking filled the house with smells like cinnamon, garlic and several other herbs that Amelia could not place. The sound of Charlie and Bill, who had both arrived the day before, setting up the tables outside, while Ginny tried to give them instructions from a little distance. And then there was the sight of Fred and George putting their feet on the table, despite the fact that Molly had told them not to do that, at least five times in the past ten minutes.

"Amelia, could you help me with something?" Ron was standing on the bottom step.

"Er.. sure." She stood to follow him, motioning for the twins to stay in place. When they arrived in Ron's room, he picked up a letter from his desk, handing it over to her. She started reading, not bothering to ask any questions.

Dear Amelia,

I'm sorry we didn't get to say goodbye. Are you doing okay? Buckbeak and I are safe. I hope you don't mind me sending this letter through Ron, but I don't know if you've told anyone except the people who were with us that night. Please forgive me for not telling you where I am right now, but I can't be sure that the letters are not being intercepted. I hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Your father

Amelia smiled at the letter, happy to know that he was concerned for her wellbeing. She turned to Ron.

"Thanks Ron." He shrugged.

"It's no problem. You're welcome to use my desk if you want to write a reply. I'll just read quidditch weekly." She nodded and sat down at his desk, grabbing a piece of parchment and a worn down quill and started writing.

Dear dad,

Thank you for your letter. My wounds are healing slowly. They'll leave quite the battle scar, but hey, what can you do... I'm spending my vacation with my best friends, so I won't be seeing Cassandra and Jennifer. I guess it's for the better, because I'm not sure if I have forgiven Cass yet, you know, about the whole keeping my parents' identity a secret from me and all. I'm happy you and the bloody bird are safe. Do me a favor and keep it that way, okay? I'll be expecting to hear from you over the summer.

Love,

A.

Satisfied with her letter, she gave her letter to the owl that was waiting for a reply and told it to find Sirius. After thanking Ron again, she made her way back downstairs.

"What was that all about?" George asked, when she walked back into the kitchen.

"Nothing important." Ignoring the two pairs of raised eyebrows, she walked out the back door and past the spot where they were still setting up the tables, eventually stopping at the pond. She had a lot of good memories of that particular pond. Swimming lessons from Mr. Weasley, spending days at the pond when Bill and Charlie used to babysit her and Jennifer, splashing around with Ron and Ginny and cannonballs with the twins. And this summer they would make a lot more memories, she would see to that.

X- Harry Potter –X

Amelia and the Weasleys were seated at the kitchen table, enjoying a delicious breakfast by the hands of Mrs. Weasley, when there was a tapping at the window. Percy stood to open it, letting the owl that was waiting inside. He removed the letter from its claw, handing it over to Amelia. Just when he wanted to sit back down, three more owls came flying through. Mrs. Weasley muttered something about owls being a health hazard, while Mr. Weasley, Fred and Amelia untied the letters from the three new owls. All of them were for Amelia.

"I don't think I've ever been this in demand before." Amelia said with a grin, while taking the new envelopes from the men. "Do you mind if I open them?"

"Of course not, dear." Mrs. Weasley shooed the owls from the table, as Amelia opened the first letter.

Amelia,

What a brilliant idea! I'm in! I'll meet you in the leaky cauldron at noon.

Katie

Amelia grinned at the enthusiastic reply, before opening the next letter. Both Angelina and Alicia also agreed to meet her at noon. Amelia had no idea who the last letter could be from, but she decided to open it anyway.

Dear A.

Good to hear that you're well. I promise to stay safe and to keep you updated. Would you mind keeping an eye on Harry when he gets there? I can't help but worry about him. If he is anything like his dad he'll be a magnet for trouble. I hope you're having fun, make sure those twins don't cause too much trouble. I won't be able to write much during this summer, but I will write when you are back at school. Be safe and enjoy your summer.

Dad

When Amelia had finished reading the letter, she folded it with a smile, before putting it in the pocket of her robe. Then she turned to Ginny.

"Would you like to come shopping with me today?" Ginny nodded happily, quickly shoving the remainder of her breakfast into her mouth, before running upstairs to get ready. Amelia smiled and took her time eating her breakfast, mentally making a list of things she needed to do and get. When she finished her breakfast, she thanked Mrs. Weasley and offered to help cleaning up, before heading up the stairs, trying to find something decent that still fit her. At 11:55 A.M. Amelia and Ginny stepped through the floo, heading for the Leaky Cauldron.

X- Harry Potter -X

After roaming Diagon Alley for a while, the girls decided to exchange their galleons, sickles and knuts for muggle money and head into muggle London.

"So where are we going?" Katie asked, as they looked around them. They had walked just about a block away from the Leaky Cauldron, and were trying to choose where to start.

"Well, it's obvious that we're all in need of some new clothes." Alicia piped up, gesturing at her slightly too tight jeans, and the jacket she was unable to zip completely shut.

"I think I know where to start." Angelina said suddenly, before grabbing Alicia by the wrist and walking to the left. After about a ten minute walk, they entered a store that was snuggly tucked between a book store with a large cardboard figure of an orange cat and a store that seemed to be selling muggle sporting goods. They all followed Angelina inside and immediately started browsing. Soon each of the girls had their arms full of clothes. Each of the girls had their own usual style. Angelina sporty and stylish, Alicia sporty and comfortable and Katie tended to go for the girly style. Ginny and Amelia, however, tended to just dress like one of the boys. Comfortable jeans, t-shirts that usually had stains or small holes in them and sneakers that had seen better days. It may not have been the best look for either of them, but it was perfect for playing quidditch in the back yard or doing chores around the Burrow. So it was no surprise to see that the clothes they were carrying consisted mostly of jeans and t-shirts varying in different colors. That was until Angelina noticed them.

"Oh no. We're not doing this again. Let me see." Angelina grabbed the clothes Amelia was holding and started going through them. When Angelina was done, she was left with two pairs of ripped jeans (one blue, one black), a white top with crossed straps, two sweaters and a denim blouse. Then she proceeded to browse the racks again, looking for clothes that she thought would be a good fit for Amelia.

"Angie- "

"Hush, I want you to try these clothes on. If you don't like them, that's fine. But you're going to at least try." Amelia smiled at Angelina. It still surprised her that her friends knew her this well. Just like she had been surprised by Fred's answers when she tested him. Amelia moved into the fitting room and grabbed the first piece of clothing from the stack she had been carrying. It was a knitted, white dress that reached about mid thigh and had short sleeves. It wasn't really tight, but it showed the curves she had started developing over the past few years. Even though it wasn't something she'd normally wear, she really liked it. After looking at herself in the mirror some more, she stepped out of the fitting room, showing the dress to her friends.

"You look great!"

"I like it!" Amelia smiled at their reactions.

"Told you so." Angelina said. "Now go try on the rest." Among the pile of clothes that Angelina had picked for her were a lot of skirts, dresses, simple black and white tops, blazers and jackets. To her surprise, she actually liked the way the clothes made her feel and she bought everything. After they had made their purchases, they left the store to have lunch and head further into the city. They were walking past a small store, when Amelia suddenly stopped to look at the store window. There, right in the middle was a black leather jacket. As soon as she saw it, she was in love. Before any of the other girls had a chance to react, Amelia ran into the store. Shortly after that, she returned with another bag in her hand.