Everyone finally sat down at the table in the Weasley's dining room, and dug in. It was a make-your-own-salad lunch, which meant Molly was too tired to make a real lunch. No one objected. Lacci showed everyone the new words she had learned, Ron spoke to his father about Harry's school things, and Fred and George told everyone about their excursions in the back yard.
"What nomes?" Lacci asked George. "Gnomes," George said. "They're little buggers who eat mum's plants."
Lacci didn't seem to understand. "Buggers?" she asked.
Fred nodded. "Little guys who run around in the garden. Would you like to see them?" Noticing his mother's glance, he added, "If mom says ok."
Lacci's face abruptly became a beacon of adorable innocence. She turned it towards Molly. "Can I goooo?" she pleaded. Mrs. Weasley was of course very used to this approach, but the bruises and her thinness made Lacci twice as pathetic.
"Oh all right. After you finish your lunch. And rinse and stack your dishes. And Fred and George," she said, turning to the twins, "And do be careful boys, she's never seen a gnome before and I dont want her to get hurt." They nodded and hastily finished their salads, which contained of mostly pickles and croutons. Then they stood up and each grabbed one of Lacci's arms, because she had already finished her 3rd bowl of salad and didn't want another.
Molly called after them in the voice all mothers use to remind kids about their work, "Dishes..." Fred hurried back into the dining room, grabbed all three bowls, splashed some water on them in the sink, set them on the counter, and they hurried off outside.
Ron watched them until the door slammed. He turned back to his father. "Dad? Harry left his stuff at the Dursley's, on account of being kicked out.."
"..And we were wondering if you could help me go and get it," Harry continued. Ron nodded.
"We-ell.."
"He does need his school things," said Molly.
"Sure." Mr. Weasley smiled. "Just as long as we dont climb through your window or anything."
Mrs. Weasley gave an approving nod as she stood up to rinse and stack her dishes. "Then you will drive safely, Arthur? On the ground?"
Arthur fidgetted a little under her gaze. "Why.. of course." Gaining a bit more confidence he said, "Yes, of course. On the ground."
Harry and Ron looked at each other, smiling. "Hey... let's go find Lacci, see how she's doing with Fred and George. You know, make sure they aren't being too friendly with her," Ron suggested. Harry stifled a laugh and they got up, carrying their dishes.
***
The back door to the Weasley's humble abode burst open, revealing two identical Weasleys and a small girl identical only to herself, if even. The girl was bouncing, and the twins never looked more eager to do lawn work. The one to her left crouched into the grass, and then snatched a small grubby humanoid, a few inches tall and wearing ragged cloth for clothing.
"This," Fred said proudly, "Is a garden gnome."
"Nice catch," George said, inspecting it. He grabbed a slightly larger one that had surfaced to see where the first one went. "Gotcha!" George exclaimed. Fred was already spinning his around, putting the muscles of several years being a beater for the Gryffindor quidditch team to use. Fred began to spin his, and released it.
"That one went a good 40 feet, I'd say," he said proudly as the gnome flew into the air and over a fence.
Lacci stared in awe. "Teeny!" She cried in a small squeaky voice, picking one up herself and following suit. The gnome was screaming and flailing it's arms about.
After nearly all the gnomes had been thrown out of the yard, Lacci picked a smaller one up and looked at it closely. Sensing no hostility, the small female gnome waved. Lacci waved back with her other hand, nearly knocking the thing off.
"'M Lacci," Lacci said cheerfully. The twins continued catching and throwing, not noticing Lacci's hesitation.
"Grubble," The little girl replied. She was wearing a soiled dress-like thing and carrying what looked like a teddy-worm. "Ink to hwat spinky fink?" The gnome asked, looking carefully over the edge of Lacci's hand.
"Chin chalk fooby moomoo," Lacci replied, shaking her head. "Furr mop... waggle couch oot poop-nee?"
Grubble considered this, and then gave up trying. She nodded, and Lacci placed her carefully on her shoulder, where she could hide in Lacci's fluffy green hair. Lacci bounded up to Fred, nearly knocking Grubble off.
"Fred?" Lacci asked, as George threw the last one. There was something she wanted to know before they re-joined the family. Fred turned.
"Yes?" He asked, panting from all the work. The was a faint squeek as the gnome George threw hit the wooden fence and bounced off. He ran after it.
"Why are there two of you?" Lacci asked, wording it carefully so that he would understand her.
Fred laughed. "Because two of me is more fun than one. Let's go back in." He smiled warmly towards her, and George caught up with them, finished with the last gnome. As they were on their way back inside, Fred and George boasting about how many gnomes they caught, Harry and Ron came out the back door and nearly collided with them. In fact, they did collide with them.
"What the..?"
"Who's foot is this?"
"Ow! Get off!"
"Where am I?"
"Let go, Fred!"
"I'm not touching anything!"
"This isn't my foot?"
"EEP!"
Lacci crawled out from the tabgle of people, and felt up by her ear. A small voice said. "Icky notta woooo pang! Hubba flubba moosdug." Lacci almost nodded, but caught herself. She turned back to the group of people, who seemed to have sorted themselves out. There was a general acknowledgement of exisitance.
"Hello,"
"Hi,"
"Someone stepped on my shin,"
"Fred!"
"George!"
"Group hug!"
Fred and George hugged everyone several times and then Harry spoke up. "You guys are finished already? We were just coming out to help you."
George shurgged. "Too bad you missed on all the fun... my arm aches. Let's go back in." The sun was already setting, and the sky was reddish purple. There was a murmur of agreement, and the group marched back inside, the force of 5 bodies suddenly entering a small house making it shake alittle. Mrs. Weasley looked up.
"Oh, are you back in already? That didn't take long, did it? See how much you can get done when you put your back into it?" George was about to complain, but saw that Mrs. Weasley was smiling. "We're going upstairs," he replied, and lo and behold, he and his twin went upstairs.
Harry, Ron, and Lacci walked into the living room, where they sat down on the couch opposite Percy. Percy, as usual, had his nose deep in a book. Actually, this wasn't true. If his nose had actually been IN the book, we'd all be very frightened, especially if it was the main character. And if it was just really close to the book and attached to Percy's head, it would be hard to read. It is therefore safe to say that Percy's nose was about a foot and a half above his book and over to the side a little, as her was leaning on the armchair's left arm, curled up comfortably.
Lacci walked up and poked him in the bum. D'aaawwww," she said, smiling down at him.
Percy jumped, nearly screaming in surprise. His glasses bounced down his nose an inch, and he pushed them back up. He looked up at Lacci. "Please dont do that," He said, sounding dignified. He ignored Harry and Ron's stifled giggles. He scooted a little, so he was no longer sitting on one foot and could hide his posterior safely beneath the rest of him. Ron reached up and tugged lightly at Lacci's pant leg, motioning for her to sit down. She plopped down next to Harry, and the seat gave a slight squeek. Harry turned to Lacci.
"So now you're all bouncy and happy all the sudden?" He noticed her bruises were healing amazingly fast, they were barely noticable compared to that morning. All the blood had left her eyes, though they were still pinkish. Her hair, now washed, wasn't flat and greasy and dark, like Snape's hair. It was fluffy and a happy green color. Like he remembered from his dream, her hair was brown and fuzzy in the back. However, she was still much thinner.
Lacci nodded happily. Since she had gotten to Harry's friend's house, she had been introduced to five fun new people, six if you counted Grubble, she had learned a lot of english, and she had gotten the freedom to move about as she pleased without worrying about muggles. And everyone was so polite to her. "Are we staying here?" she asked.
Harry shook his head no, although now he had to wonder. Would the Dursleys accept him back home? He assumed they would settle down and forget, but there was no way they would let Lacci back in. Whatever she had done, she had done it good and hard. From what Harry had seen, she had only frightened Dudley a little (no harm in that). But there was that first night, and the countless nights before Harry had gotten home. Who knew what she had done during that time?
Percy was finding it very hard to read with Lacci in the room. She had something about her that made you want to stare at her, even if she wasn't doing anything. Right now, however, she was doing something. Without Harry's noticing, she had put her leg on his leg, and was playing with a frayed patch of jean by his pants pocket. (a/n: Lacci is possessed by Harpo's ghost, in my opinion. So she can get away with alot of his gags) Percy cleared his throat, and Harry looked up at him, then looked over at Lacci. His eyes widened a little and he pushed her leg off.
Lacci just smiled and put her leg back where it was. He pushed it off again. She put it back. Harry smiled and put his opposite leg on top of her's. Lacci put her other leg on his. Harry thought for a moment, then complied by putting his arm on her leg. Lacci put her arm on his arm. He put his arm on top of her arm, and she put her other arm on top of his. Ron snorted at their current body lock. Harry put his head on Lacci's arm, and she put her head on his head, giggling. Ron pulled at Harry, and he pushed Lacci off. Lacci, however, didn't seem to notice, being too happy to care. She leaned her head against Harry's shoulder, and quietly drifted off to sleep.
***
Harry looked down at the fragile little girl sleeping on his shoulder. She was much different from the first night he had met her. She was much more calm, for one thing. At least, she didn't go about smashing furniture. That was always a good sign. Harry wondered where she had come from. What had she done to go to Azkaban? There were so many questions to ask, and Lacci had so few interpretable words to answer them with. Harry sighed and smiled down at her.
Ron, completely not sensing Harry's Moment, reached over and shook his shoulder. "Hey Harry... let's go upstairs, and let Lacci sleep down here for a while. There's more room down here anyway."
Without turning his head away from the girl next to him, Harry said softly, "No... I think I'll stay down here tonight. Lacci gets out of whack when she wakes up and I'm not there." He pushed some hair out of Lacci's face.
Ron shrugged. "Have it your way. I'll be upstairs, if you need me." Ron, looking disgruntled, stood up, said goodnight to Percy and his parents, and headed upstairs to his room.
Harry waved goodnight to Ron, and put his arm around Lacci's shoulder, for his own comfort more than anything. Percy smiled at the image before him and said, "You're very cute together."
Harry jumped, nearly waking Lacci up. Despite Percy being right in front of him, Harry had forgotten he was there. Somehow, it didn't seem so insulting when Percy said it. "Thanks," he said, not wanting to get into anything right now.
"What nomes?" Lacci asked George. "Gnomes," George said. "They're little buggers who eat mum's plants."
Lacci didn't seem to understand. "Buggers?" she asked.
Fred nodded. "Little guys who run around in the garden. Would you like to see them?" Noticing his mother's glance, he added, "If mom says ok."
Lacci's face abruptly became a beacon of adorable innocence. She turned it towards Molly. "Can I goooo?" she pleaded. Mrs. Weasley was of course very used to this approach, but the bruises and her thinness made Lacci twice as pathetic.
"Oh all right. After you finish your lunch. And rinse and stack your dishes. And Fred and George," she said, turning to the twins, "And do be careful boys, she's never seen a gnome before and I dont want her to get hurt." They nodded and hastily finished their salads, which contained of mostly pickles and croutons. Then they stood up and each grabbed one of Lacci's arms, because she had already finished her 3rd bowl of salad and didn't want another.
Molly called after them in the voice all mothers use to remind kids about their work, "Dishes..." Fred hurried back into the dining room, grabbed all three bowls, splashed some water on them in the sink, set them on the counter, and they hurried off outside.
Ron watched them until the door slammed. He turned back to his father. "Dad? Harry left his stuff at the Dursley's, on account of being kicked out.."
"..And we were wondering if you could help me go and get it," Harry continued. Ron nodded.
"We-ell.."
"He does need his school things," said Molly.
"Sure." Mr. Weasley smiled. "Just as long as we dont climb through your window or anything."
Mrs. Weasley gave an approving nod as she stood up to rinse and stack her dishes. "Then you will drive safely, Arthur? On the ground?"
Arthur fidgetted a little under her gaze. "Why.. of course." Gaining a bit more confidence he said, "Yes, of course. On the ground."
Harry and Ron looked at each other, smiling. "Hey... let's go find Lacci, see how she's doing with Fred and George. You know, make sure they aren't being too friendly with her," Ron suggested. Harry stifled a laugh and they got up, carrying their dishes.
***
The back door to the Weasley's humble abode burst open, revealing two identical Weasleys and a small girl identical only to herself, if even. The girl was bouncing, and the twins never looked more eager to do lawn work. The one to her left crouched into the grass, and then snatched a small grubby humanoid, a few inches tall and wearing ragged cloth for clothing.
"This," Fred said proudly, "Is a garden gnome."
"Nice catch," George said, inspecting it. He grabbed a slightly larger one that had surfaced to see where the first one went. "Gotcha!" George exclaimed. Fred was already spinning his around, putting the muscles of several years being a beater for the Gryffindor quidditch team to use. Fred began to spin his, and released it.
"That one went a good 40 feet, I'd say," he said proudly as the gnome flew into the air and over a fence.
Lacci stared in awe. "Teeny!" She cried in a small squeaky voice, picking one up herself and following suit. The gnome was screaming and flailing it's arms about.
After nearly all the gnomes had been thrown out of the yard, Lacci picked a smaller one up and looked at it closely. Sensing no hostility, the small female gnome waved. Lacci waved back with her other hand, nearly knocking the thing off.
"'M Lacci," Lacci said cheerfully. The twins continued catching and throwing, not noticing Lacci's hesitation.
"Grubble," The little girl replied. She was wearing a soiled dress-like thing and carrying what looked like a teddy-worm. "Ink to hwat spinky fink?" The gnome asked, looking carefully over the edge of Lacci's hand.
"Chin chalk fooby moomoo," Lacci replied, shaking her head. "Furr mop... waggle couch oot poop-nee?"
Grubble considered this, and then gave up trying. She nodded, and Lacci placed her carefully on her shoulder, where she could hide in Lacci's fluffy green hair. Lacci bounded up to Fred, nearly knocking Grubble off.
"Fred?" Lacci asked, as George threw the last one. There was something she wanted to know before they re-joined the family. Fred turned.
"Yes?" He asked, panting from all the work. The was a faint squeek as the gnome George threw hit the wooden fence and bounced off. He ran after it.
"Why are there two of you?" Lacci asked, wording it carefully so that he would understand her.
Fred laughed. "Because two of me is more fun than one. Let's go back in." He smiled warmly towards her, and George caught up with them, finished with the last gnome. As they were on their way back inside, Fred and George boasting about how many gnomes they caught, Harry and Ron came out the back door and nearly collided with them. In fact, they did collide with them.
"What the..?"
"Who's foot is this?"
"Ow! Get off!"
"Where am I?"
"Let go, Fred!"
"I'm not touching anything!"
"This isn't my foot?"
"EEP!"
Lacci crawled out from the tabgle of people, and felt up by her ear. A small voice said. "Icky notta woooo pang! Hubba flubba moosdug." Lacci almost nodded, but caught herself. She turned back to the group of people, who seemed to have sorted themselves out. There was a general acknowledgement of exisitance.
"Hello,"
"Hi,"
"Someone stepped on my shin,"
"Fred!"
"George!"
"Group hug!"
Fred and George hugged everyone several times and then Harry spoke up. "You guys are finished already? We were just coming out to help you."
George shurgged. "Too bad you missed on all the fun... my arm aches. Let's go back in." The sun was already setting, and the sky was reddish purple. There was a murmur of agreement, and the group marched back inside, the force of 5 bodies suddenly entering a small house making it shake alittle. Mrs. Weasley looked up.
"Oh, are you back in already? That didn't take long, did it? See how much you can get done when you put your back into it?" George was about to complain, but saw that Mrs. Weasley was smiling. "We're going upstairs," he replied, and lo and behold, he and his twin went upstairs.
Harry, Ron, and Lacci walked into the living room, where they sat down on the couch opposite Percy. Percy, as usual, had his nose deep in a book. Actually, this wasn't true. If his nose had actually been IN the book, we'd all be very frightened, especially if it was the main character. And if it was just really close to the book and attached to Percy's head, it would be hard to read. It is therefore safe to say that Percy's nose was about a foot and a half above his book and over to the side a little, as her was leaning on the armchair's left arm, curled up comfortably.
Lacci walked up and poked him in the bum. D'aaawwww," she said, smiling down at him.
Percy jumped, nearly screaming in surprise. His glasses bounced down his nose an inch, and he pushed them back up. He looked up at Lacci. "Please dont do that," He said, sounding dignified. He ignored Harry and Ron's stifled giggles. He scooted a little, so he was no longer sitting on one foot and could hide his posterior safely beneath the rest of him. Ron reached up and tugged lightly at Lacci's pant leg, motioning for her to sit down. She plopped down next to Harry, and the seat gave a slight squeek. Harry turned to Lacci.
"So now you're all bouncy and happy all the sudden?" He noticed her bruises were healing amazingly fast, they were barely noticable compared to that morning. All the blood had left her eyes, though they were still pinkish. Her hair, now washed, wasn't flat and greasy and dark, like Snape's hair. It was fluffy and a happy green color. Like he remembered from his dream, her hair was brown and fuzzy in the back. However, she was still much thinner.
Lacci nodded happily. Since she had gotten to Harry's friend's house, she had been introduced to five fun new people, six if you counted Grubble, she had learned a lot of english, and she had gotten the freedom to move about as she pleased without worrying about muggles. And everyone was so polite to her. "Are we staying here?" she asked.
Harry shook his head no, although now he had to wonder. Would the Dursleys accept him back home? He assumed they would settle down and forget, but there was no way they would let Lacci back in. Whatever she had done, she had done it good and hard. From what Harry had seen, she had only frightened Dudley a little (no harm in that). But there was that first night, and the countless nights before Harry had gotten home. Who knew what she had done during that time?
Percy was finding it very hard to read with Lacci in the room. She had something about her that made you want to stare at her, even if she wasn't doing anything. Right now, however, she was doing something. Without Harry's noticing, she had put her leg on his leg, and was playing with a frayed patch of jean by his pants pocket. (a/n: Lacci is possessed by Harpo's ghost, in my opinion. So she can get away with alot of his gags) Percy cleared his throat, and Harry looked up at him, then looked over at Lacci. His eyes widened a little and he pushed her leg off.
Lacci just smiled and put her leg back where it was. He pushed it off again. She put it back. Harry smiled and put his opposite leg on top of her's. Lacci put her other leg on his. Harry thought for a moment, then complied by putting his arm on her leg. Lacci put her arm on his arm. He put his arm on top of her arm, and she put her other arm on top of his. Ron snorted at their current body lock. Harry put his head on Lacci's arm, and she put her head on his head, giggling. Ron pulled at Harry, and he pushed Lacci off. Lacci, however, didn't seem to notice, being too happy to care. She leaned her head against Harry's shoulder, and quietly drifted off to sleep.
***
Harry looked down at the fragile little girl sleeping on his shoulder. She was much different from the first night he had met her. She was much more calm, for one thing. At least, she didn't go about smashing furniture. That was always a good sign. Harry wondered where she had come from. What had she done to go to Azkaban? There were so many questions to ask, and Lacci had so few interpretable words to answer them with. Harry sighed and smiled down at her.
Ron, completely not sensing Harry's Moment, reached over and shook his shoulder. "Hey Harry... let's go upstairs, and let Lacci sleep down here for a while. There's more room down here anyway."
Without turning his head away from the girl next to him, Harry said softly, "No... I think I'll stay down here tonight. Lacci gets out of whack when she wakes up and I'm not there." He pushed some hair out of Lacci's face.
Ron shrugged. "Have it your way. I'll be upstairs, if you need me." Ron, looking disgruntled, stood up, said goodnight to Percy and his parents, and headed upstairs to his room.
Harry waved goodnight to Ron, and put his arm around Lacci's shoulder, for his own comfort more than anything. Percy smiled at the image before him and said, "You're very cute together."
Harry jumped, nearly waking Lacci up. Despite Percy being right in front of him, Harry had forgotten he was there. Somehow, it didn't seem so insulting when Percy said it. "Thanks," he said, not wanting to get into anything right now.