A/N 6.2011: I am thanking all the gods I can think of that I only got two chapters into this.
A/N 7.2002: Well, I'm back by popular demand. Again nothing belongs to me. Well, here it goes.
The two chatted the afternoon away amicably, and Harry felt strangely at ease and on guard at the same time. It was strange not to have to speak to some new person trying to cozy up to the Famous Harry Potter. At the same time, though, Harry wasn't used to contact with Muggles. It felt like he was trying to speak a foreign language. Linda, for her part, wasn't used to speaking to anyone but her uncle, and found herself spilling what felt like her whole life's story. She was glad to find someone who knew how she felt, even if he was a strange British boy who used strange terms.
"Muggle," Linda interrupted, "Is that some Brit slang for Americans?"
"Uh," Harry said, blinking, "Sorry. It is kind of derogatory, isn't it."
"I don't mind. I love learning new things." Linda smiled. She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled so much, and her lips twitched with muscle fatigue from holding the unfamiliar pose so long. Which set her off in a spate of apologies, fearful that she had insulted her new friend somehow.
The two fell silent for a time, watching the sun out the window setting steadily.
"I like your necklace." Harry said, mesmerised by it. It appeared to be a pretty good representation of a Hugarian Horntail. "It reminds me of a dragon I used to know."
"Ah, this?" Linda indicated the pendant. "I used to have a dragon for an imaginary friend. He wasn't a Horntail, though. He was an Elder Ridgeback named Sigurd. But you don't want to know all about my fantasies."
"You met a Norwegian Ridgeback?" Harry asked in shock. "Aren't you a Muggle?"
Before Linda could respond, the door swung open and an older man walked in. Something about him reminded Harry of Lupin. He was dirty, and his clothes were in tatters but his eyes were warm and his voice was kind.
"Lind, you want to introduce your guest?" the older man asked, brushing some dirt out of his salt-and-pepper hair.
"Uncle George, this is Harry Potter." she indicated back and forth.
"Well, well. The great Harry Potter in my house. Can I give you a ride, my boy?" Uncle George asked.
"Er...Yes, if you don't mind, sir." Harry said, clamming up. "I'm sorry, Linda. I really should be getting back to my uncle now. He'll be really... Worried."
"Wonderful." Uncle George said, clapping the boy on the back and guiding him out the door.
Neither spoke until Harry was safely buckled into his seat.
"Be careful around Lind." the older man advised. "She's the only squib in our family. We've done our best to sheild her from our world, but..."
"Um, sir?" Harry said carefully. "Are you sure she's a squib?"
"Why do you ask, Mr. Potter?" the man asked in a goodnatured tone.
"She seems to be awfully accurate about dragons." Harry replied.
"That... No one knows what happened then." the man said seriously. "I work on the dragon preserve here, and I lost her there once. She came back babbling away about Elder dragons. Whenever I get stuck on my research, I usually have to ask her for help. And we're here. If you want to stop by around eight tomorrow, I'll take you and Lind out on the preserve."
"I'll talk my uncle around." Harry said quickly as he slipped out of the truck.
"Here. Take my number. Let me know if you can go." George said and magiked the door shut. Harry slipped the card into his pocket, and headed inside to wait for the Dursleys.
It didn't take long for them to show up. Harry saw Mr. O'Shay with them and tried to look like he just got there. The man was short, squat and balding, but just as cheerful as Mr. George had been.
"Hey, I bet you are Harry." he called as he approached. "I hear you met my daughter today."
"Daughter, sir?" Harry blinked. He wasn't used to people randomly addressing him at all.
"Belinda. She does talk to her dear ol' dad from time to time." Mr. O'Shay said. "She's really looking forward to that field trip with her uncle tomorrow. Make sure these wonderful Dursleys let you go, alright?"
Before Harry could say a thing, Mr. O'Shay walked off leaving a crowd of rather confused Dursleys.
"Boy, you care to explain?" Uncle Vernon grunted as he shoved Harry into the room.
"I did as you asked! I was walking around and I met this nice girl and her uncle. I didn't know she was Mr. O'Shay's daughter!" Harry said defensively.
"I don't care what you did or didn't do, boy. Mr. O'Shay said to go with his daughter tomorrow, and you will be a perfect gentleman." Uncle Vernon growled.
"I'm glad to see you can get along with normal people." Aunt Petunia said, following Harry's uncle into the adjoining room. Harry blinked heavily. It had been a very odd day.
Roland shook his head as he climbed back in his van. The-Boy-Who-Lived making friends with his squib daughter, who would have thought? He had to thank his wife's brother for letting him know. Of course, he hadn't heard from Belinda in months. She didn't even know that he was in town. He was one of the last of the Irish rovers in his bloodline. He'd only had daughters, so his name would never pass on to the next generation. Sometimes he felt guilty for missing out on the lives of his 'girls', but he loved his life as a rover more. He could never be happy when tied down to one place.
A/N: After that chapter, I'm sure many of you are wondering if he falls in love with Lind. The answer is an emphatic NO. First of all, she's a lesbian, and secondly, Harry doesn't belong in her world. Essentially, this is a crossover between Harry Potter and a story that hasn't been written yet. I do expect someone to call her a Mary-Sue, and you may be right. I'm a little too close to the character to tell, but I can tell that she's less of an MS than Bella from Twilight. Honestly, if you have CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, I'm willing to listen. If you don't have input to add, I will ignore you completely.
This chapter was extremely difficult to rewrite, as I scrapped EVERYTHING and started over again. As I've already said, Lind's story is an original work I've been playing with since I was young. Her character and back story have undergone a massive re-haul since I first started this and if I didn't know the history myself, I would say it's a completely different story.
Again, this chapter hasn't been beta'd, so go gentle on technical problems. Constructive criticism is highly welcomed, as I've finally learned to learn from my mistakes.
