Disclaimer: You all know I
don't own it. Thanks to J.K. Rowling, who is fantastic. Oh, and another
thing, I just want everyone to know that this is NOT self insertion, even though my name is Nymphean
(you'll make the whole Nymph connection by the second chapter…). I
chose my pen name simply because nymphs r cool. It was coincidental, so
don't get all stupid about it, okay? I needed I type of semi-human
mythical creature, and a friend suggested nymphs, so… Meh, whatever. It
don't own the character, Hogwart, etc., but I did create Laelynn, and
I'm damn proud of it! Peace out, Minna-san! -Nymphean
Chapter 1: The Stranger
The
Burrow was buzzing with excitement on that stormy July afternoon. Outside, the
wind swooped loudly, blowing twigs and other small objects around the yard at
lightening speed, but the Burrow remained warm and comfortable, the many
wizards inside it happy. Inside the tiny dwelling, Molly Weasley, certified
witch, wife to Arthur, and mother to Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron
and Ginny Weasley, was bustling about the kitchen in a frantic attempt to
prepare supper. Her youngest son, Ron, reclined lazily in front of the fire,
while his best friends Hermione Granger and Harry Potter sat on the small
couch, engaged in a heated discussion about the rights of magical creatures.
Mrs. Weasley let out an enormous sigh as the carrot she had been peeling
slipped out of her grasp and whizzed into the living room, missing
Harry's eye by about an inch. Harry raised his wand and casually muttered
"accio carrot", at which the flying carrot flew straight into his
open palm. Mrs. Weasley let out another exasperated sigh.
"Thank
you, Harry dear," she said, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes.
Hermione got up and walked into the kitchen.
"Here,
Mrs. Weasley, let me give you a hand," she said, picking up her wand and
pointing it at a carrot. she muttered "stripeelio" and the carrot
immediately began to peel itself. Mrs. Weasley looked quiet pleased.
"Hermione,
dear, how WILL I get on without you during the school year?" She
exclaimed, putting a hand on her shoulder. Hermione went slightly pink.
"I'm
sure you'll do fine," she muttered, embarrassed. Ron laughed
jovially at his steady girlfriend of four months. She glared at him.
"Shut up."
Harry
watched this scene with interest. Ron and Hermione had been his best friends
for five years now, ever since their first year at Hogwarts school of
Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Harry was quite pleased to see them as a couple.
The Weasleys were Harry's favorite family in the entire world. They all
had shockingly red hair and freckles, and were always willing to welcome people
into their already crowded home. Harry had spent his childhood with the
Dursleys, his muggle (non magic) Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. They loved normalcy,
and they despised Harry. Harry was a wizard, and a very famous one at that. He
pushed some of his unruly black hair out of his eyes, revealing a lightening
shaped scar on his forehead. This scar was perhaps the source of Harry
Potter's fame. It was a souvenir of the night the dark wizard, Lord
Voldemort, had killed his parents. The dark Lord had tried to kill one year old
Harry Potter, and had lost all his powers in the process, leaving Harry with
his scar. Harry had not known until just before his first year a Hogwarts that
he was a wizard, and now he couldn't even imagine living a life without
magic.
"Ron!
I've told you a thousand times not to wear your shoes in the
house!" roared Mrs. Weasley. "Take those filthy things off this
instant!"
Ron
got up and begrudgingly put his shoes beside the front door. He peered out the
window at the dark sky as the first drops of rain began to fall.
"Looks
like some nasty weather's afoot," He remarked. "I hope
Bill's not traveling by broom."
"Goodness,"
breathed Mrs. Weasley, wringing her hands, "I do hope he gets here
soon!"
Ron
looked up at the clock. "Look, mum, dad's coming home."
Mrs.
Weasley looked up. sure enough, the largest hand on the clock was now pointing
to 'travel', moving closer and closer to 'home'. The
door opened in a matter of minutes, and Mr. Weasley walked through it, dripping
water onto the floor. His wife shook her head, but said nothing. Mr. Weasley
bellowed a greeting to them all.
"Is
Bill here yet?" Mrs. Weasley shook her head.
"Oh,
all right. Where are Ginny, Percy and Charlie?" Harry nodded towards the
staircase, just as Ginny came running down it.
"Is
Bill here?"
Ron
shook his head. "Naw, just Dad."
Harry
stared at Ginny. She was Ron's younger sister, and it showed; she had the
trademark Weasley hair and freckles. She was fifteen, a year younger than Ron,
Harry and Hermione, and had been infatuated with Harry ever since her arrival
at Hogwarts four years ago. Harry had never really noticed Ginny's
devotion to him until last year, when she'd come to his aid during an
unfortunate incident involving a transfiguration spell gone awry. She'd
stayed by his side for endless hours, never sleeping, while he suffed the
effects of a particularly nasty remedy. Ever since then, he'd been aware
of Ginny's feelings towards him. Now she looked towards him, caught him
staring, and looked away immediately, turning pink right to the roots of her
hair. Hermione winked at Ron, who laughed out loud, causing Harry to glare at
him and Ginny to turn even redder. Mrs. Weasley mirrored Harry's pointed
glare.
"Ron,
dear," she muttered through
clenched teeth, "Go upstairs and fetch your brothers. Now!" Ron stamped
upstairs, annoyed at his mother for yelling at him twice in a space of about
five minutes. A short while later, he came back down the stairs, accompanied by
four older boys, all with the same red hair and freckles as the rest of the
Weasleys. Two of the boys were perfectly identical. They marched over to their
father and the one on the right stuck out his hand.
"Have a cookie, dad," He
said. "Ron made them this morning, and they're absolutely
delicious!" As Mr. Weasley reached out to take the cookie, Mrs. Weasley
aimed her wand, forcing the cookie to fly into the wall.
"Fred!
George! How many times do I have to tell you boys not to test your products at
home before you take me seriously?!" She bellowed.
"I
do NOT bake cookies!" Yelled Ron, furious. The twins smiled identical smiles.
"Sorry
mom... Ron," said Fred. George nodded.
"Just
having some fun!"
Fred
and George, who had graduated from Hogwarts the previous year, were the proud
owners of their own magical joke shop. They made their own products, most of
which were very ingenious. The twins took pride in their small business, which
was, so far, flourishing.
"Really,
you two," scoffed Percy, a tall, thin Weasley with large round glasses.
"You'd think now that you're adults, you'd have learned
some discipline!" Percy worked for the ministry of magic, and was very
strict. Behind him stood Charlie, the second eldest Weasley child, who now put
a hand on Percy's shoulder.
"Come
on now, Perce," he said in a friendly voice, "We can't all be
as responsible as you." Charlie winked at Harry and Ron, who stifled
giggles, as Percy's chest swelled with pride.
"Well,
it DOES take a lot of responsibility to fill my..." He was cut off by
Ginny, who pointed at the window excitedly.
"Look!"
She cried, "It's Bill! I can't believe it... he's
traveling by BROOM!"
Mrs.
Weasley rushed to the window to see her eldest child, who was indeed flying
nearer and nearer to the small house on a shiny blue broomstick. "And in
this weather... that boy..."
"Who's
that sitting behind him?" asked Hermione. Mrs. Weasley narrowed her eyes.
"Why...
you know, I haven't the foggiest! Oh well, There's always room for
one more!" She opened the door, the rain whipping in as she shouted a
greeting to her son, who was landing his broomstick. He hopped off, helped the
cloaked figure behind him onto the ground, and ran to hug his family. The two
travelers were welcomed in, and Mrs. Weasley began to fuss almost immediately.
"Why
did you travel by broom? You're apt to catch a cold!" Bill
shrugged.
"We
were out of flue powder. Don't worry, mom, Laelyn and I are used to the
weather."
The
entire family's attention now turned to the stranger, who's face
was still hidden by the long black cloak. Bill followed their stares, then
looked as though he was about to slap himself.
"My
god, I forgot you haven't been introduced! everyone, this is Laelyn, My
girlfriend. Laelyn, this is... everyone."
The
girl pulled back her hood, and there was a collective gasp. Under normal
circumstances, the girl underneath would not have been particularly
spectacular, just normally pretty. She had long dark hair that was hanging
messily about her face at the moment and was quite damp, a normal sized nose,
and a mouth that was really quite pretty. But it was her eyes that took
everyone by surprise. They were grey-blue, like the stormy summer sky outside,
and they were piercingly deep. Harry knew instantly that she was very
intelligent as well as enchanting; he could see the thoughts moving behind her
eyes, though he could not quite distinguish what they were. They all greeted
her enthusiastically, especially Mrs. Weasley, who was obviously quite pleased
to learn that her son's girlfriend was a nice, well rounded girl. Harry
was pleased as well.
Bill
had long been one of Harry's favorite Weasleys. He'd first met him
two summers ago, before the Quidditch world cup (The final championships of the
most famous wizard's game). Bill was possibly the coolest person Harry had ever
met. He had long hair, which he kept pulled back in a ponytail, and wore a
silver earring that resembled a dragon fang. Harry could tell just by looking
at her that the cloaked girl with the piercing eyes was equally as cool, and he
was very happy for Bill's sake.
Laelyn,
who had been talking to Mrs. Weasley, now turned to Harry, and, pointing at his
forehead, cocked her head, her
mouth curving into a small smile.
"Harry
Potter? It's an honor to meet you." She turned to Bill. "You
never told me you lived with Harry Potter!"
Bill
shrugged. "He's like family." Harry beamed and extended his
hand to Laelyn. "It's nice to meet you too," he said
sincerely. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny roll her eyes in
irritation, and he quickly let go of Laelyn's hand. She looked from him
to Ginny, winked at him, and pulled back.
"What
smells so good?" She asked tactfully. They suddenly all remembered their
appetites and stormed the table.
It was
quite the chore, fitting twelve people around the tiny table, and in the end
Harry ended up sitting on the floor of the living room with Ron, Hermione,
Ginny, Bill and Laelyn. Laelyn was indeed very lovely, inside and out. She was
tiny, especially next to Bill, and reminded Harry of some kind of small flower.
They found out that she was only nineteen years old, turning twenty in three
days, and had graduated from a foreign School of Witchcraft and Wizardry two
years ago. Bill, who was a foreign corespondent for Gringotts, the famous
wizard's bank, had met her when her school had been on a trip to Egypt,
and had followed her around all day attempting to get a name which he could
send owls to. He'd finally gotten a chance to talk to her, and had fallen
in love with her right then and there. Laelyn blushed as Bill told this story.
Ginny exclaimed that it was the most romantic story she'd ever heard, and
then she blushed as well. They all talked pleasantly until Hermione interrupted
with a sudden exclamation.
"Look!"
she cried, pointing at Laelyn. "Ron, Harry... her eyes..." Harry
looked at Laelyn's eyes and gasped. Before dinner, they had been
blue-grey like the sky, and now they were a dark, deep blue. Laelyn laughed at their
puzzled expressions.
"There's
a simple explanation..."
Hermione
nodded. "Could it be that you're a Nymph?" Laelyn smiled.
"You're
well read on the subject of magical creatures, I can tell." she said,
smiling.
"She's
well read on everything," muttered Ron. Laelyn laughed.
"I
should have known. Not many people know about our eyes changing with the
sky."
Hermione
blinked. "Well, yeah... but you aren't supposed to be... I mean,
um..."
Laelyn
put up a hand to stop her. " Don't
worry, I'm only half nymph, Hermione. My father was a wizard, my mother
was a nymph who used magic to make herself human sized so that she could be
with my father. Got in a whole lot of trouble for that one. You're
absolutely right, pure-bred nymphs aren't supposed to use magic, they
have their own powers. But I'm not pure-bred. They didn't want me
in any of the nymph schools, so I became a witch instead. And I'm glad
now that things worked out how they did," she said, smiling up at Bill,
who stroked her hair lovingly. Ron squeezed Hermione's hand. Ginny got up
and left the room. Laelyn bit her lip, looked at Bill worriedly, and said,
"I'll be right back." He nodded, watching as she got up from
beside him and walked after Ginny. Harry looked at Bill, puzzled. Bill just
shook his head.
"Don't
worry about it, Harry. Girl stuff, I'd imagine." Harry nodded.
Hermione looked as though she felt left out. Bill tactfully changed the
subject.
"So,
Harry, How was the Quidditch season last year?"
Harry
brightened. He was seeker, the most important position, for his house team,
Griffindor. He loved Quidditch; it was the most amazing game in the whole
world. He felt so free when he was soaring above the pitch on his Firebolt
broomstick. He had won the Quidditch cup twice in his five years at Hogwarts,
once in his third year, and once last year. He was to be the captain of the
Gryffindor team this year, seeing as he had been on the team the longest.
"It
was great! We won again," He said, feeling the need to boast. Bill
nodded.
"I
know. I hear you saved Griffindor again. You're becoming quite the
champion Harry. Ron sent me an owl telling me all about the final game."
As
if on cue, there was a tapping on the window, and the four of them looked up to
see a large snowy owl flying outside in the dark.
"Hedwig!"
cried Harry, leaping up to open the window and let her in. The owl hooted and
nibbled Harry's ear, then stuck out her leg, which had a piece of paper
tied to it. Harry grabbed the paper eagerly.
"It's
from Sirius," He said happily. Sirius was his godfather, who had been
wrongfully imprisoned and was now on the run from the ministry of magic. He was
helping Harry fight Lord Voldemort, along with Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster
of Hogwarts; all the teachers there; the Weasley's, as well as countless
others. The dark Lord had risen again in Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts,
and now the fight was on. The ministry of magic was still refusing to face the
fact that Voldemort had returned. Harry shook his head as he opened the letter.
A smile soon appeared on his face as he read.
Dear Harry,
I
got your letter. I'm doing fine, thank you. I'm in a secret
location right now. Dumbledore
told me not to tell you where, but Hedwig already knows the way, so I
don't suppose it'll do any harm if you stick to sending owls.
I'm very glad to hear that you're staying with the Weasleys for the
remainder of the summer. I know how much you love it there (and how much you
hate the Dursleys!).
Happy
almost birthday, by the way. I'll be sending you something on the actual
day, but I thought I'd mention it now, so that just in case it
doesn't get there on time you'll know I didn't forget. I'll definitely see you during the school year. Now
that most of the teachers know about me, Dumbledore says I might even be able
to stay at Hogwarts during the year when I'm not out on missions. That
would be good, we could see each other much more often.
Say
'Hi' to Ron and Hermione for me, and tell them I'm very glad
that they finally got a move on and got together. Also, please extend my best
wishes to Molly and Arthur, and tell them I'm fine. Dumbledore says
'hello', and he also says stop using magic outside of school. Well,
I really should get going now. I'll see you as soon as possible!
Goodbye
for now,
Sirius
Harry put the letter back into the envelope. "Sirius
says hi to you all," he announced to the room. Hermione looked worried.
"Is
he doing all right?" Harry nodded.
"Yeah,
he's fine. And guess what? He might even be staying at Hogwart's
this year!"
"That's
great, Harry!" said Ron enthusiastically. "Now you can see him more
often!" Harry nodded.
"It's
not certain yet, but he said Dumbledore's considering it."
Just
then, Laelyn and Ginny re-entered the room. Ginny was slightly pink. Laelyn
winked at Bill. Her eyes were now so dark blue that they were almost black. She
saw Hedwig perched on Harry's arm and gave an excited squeak. She rushed
over to get a better look.
"This
is the most amazing owl I've ever seen," she exclaimed as she
looked into Hedwig's eyes. "Will she let me touch her?"
Harry
nodded. "Go ahead, she's very gentle." Laelyn stroked
Hedwig's feathers with one finger.
"She's
beautiful," she whispered. Hedwig hooted happily and turned her head
towards Laelyn, as if returning the compliment. Laelyn made a soft cooing noise
and cocked her head. Hedwig joyfully hooted a reply, and flew to sit on
Laelyn's shoulder. Harry stared at Laelyn, shocked.
"Did...
did you just talk to my owl?" He asked, confused. She laughed.
"Nymphs
typically live in the forest. Talking to animals is like a second nature to
me." Harry nodded.
"I
know what you mean. I'm a parcelmouth." Laelyn's back
straightened.
"Well,
You must get your share of ridicule, then. Don't worry, I know how you
feel." She turned her head to Hedwig, cooing softly again and shrugging
her off towards Harry.
"Umm..."
Harry started, "What did you say to her?"
"Oh,
we've been discussing you, actually. I was just telling her that for
someone so intelligent, you're not all that perceptive." Ron burst
out laughing, and so did the twins, who had just joined the group in the living
room. Harry cocked one eyebrow, not quite sure what to make of this statement.
Laelyn smiled at him, then winked.
"Don't
worry yourself about it, now. You'll see what I mean in time, I'm
sure."
