I am sooooo sorry about not loading this! I completely forgot it was there, and, besides that, when I did remember, my computer had been taken away. *crying* I was grounded from my computer for a whole week 'cause I refused to go out in 108 degree weather and mow the front lawn. Stupid lawn...stupid heat...and I registered for school today! Yea, I'm so happy to be getting back to school...it's actually easier to write after a hard day's work, I've found. I have a schedule all made out for me to follow and I've got two whole hours every day to type more. Oh, and please check out my friend Jenny's new story, Orbs of Emerald. She's new to fan fiction, but not to writing. She taught me everything I know! Her penname is Jeminie Yuy. I don't know why. She doesn't seem very fond of Heero at all...oh, well, all's the same to me. I've read the notes she's got on it, it's going to be amazing!
Well, anyways, here's this one.
***
Chapter 25: Birthday and Marge
Once we'd gotten home at the end of last summer, things had been a nightmare. Only after much threatening from me were we allowed to keep our magic things in our room instead in that cupboard under the stairs. I'd finished my homework long ago, and my chores. The others, all three of them, were still downstairs finishing their own chores.
What had we become? A mere maid and three butlers, I answered my own question bitterly. Tears of a pitiful sort drew lines in my dirt-streaked face. We were fast approaching our thirteenth birthday and I was glad I'd soon be a teenager again. Reliving those years were perhaps the best part of being here.
I wiped my face of the woeful tears, using some of the salty wetness to clean my face. I smirked slightly, transfiguring myself into a cat. Using my long, feline tongue and my paw, I cleaned my face of the dirt that had built up there. I gave myself a small, short bath before changing quickly back. I glanced at myself simply and nodded in grim satisfaction to find that the majority of the dirt was gone.
I'd sent a letter to Mrs. Weasley a while ago, with some Galleons attached, asking her to get me a copy of the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 a while back, along with the books I was fairly certain would be my schoolbooks this year, including Unfogging the Future and Intermediate Transfiguration. If I was going to be with my books and such, I wanted those. I also got Master of the Mind: A Book on Self-Defense, which was a book on wizard fighting. I figured it would be a great deal of help, especially with the class I was taking, Corp. of Wizards. Interesting as it was, it was also quite dangerous, I saw. I hoped that the kind of things I saw in that book wouldn't be learned until fourth year, in the least.
I decided to ask Hagrid, however, to get me the last book I was almost certain I'd need. The Monster Book of Monsters was indeed the last book I would have gotten if I hadn't known Hagrid would be getting the job as the teacher of the Care of Magical Creatures class. He seemed quite delighted I'd "taken up" an interest in "interesting creatures", as he'd nobly put it. I had only smiled and thanked him as I pulled the book from its wrapping and jerked my hand from the clamping book's pages.
It leaped up and attempted to bite my hand off, but I caught it and held it shut forcefully with my powerful hands. I gently stroked the spine of the book and, with a small shiver, it fell open to let me read its pages.
As I finished my rapid-reading of the first chapter, Trunks walked in, looking drowsy as he collapsed onto our bed, looking quite exhausted.
"Oh, come on, Trunks, cleaning out the garage wasn't that hard," I retorted as I closed the book and bound it with a belt from my original assortment of Muggle clothes.
"I had to clean it first. Then I had to organize it," he groaned loudly as he held what appeared to me to be a throbbing headache, "And I had to re-organize it three times."
"Oh, you poor baby," I pouted teasingly, "Did they work my baby too hard?" He smirked and sat up.
"Me? A baby?" he asked, waggling his black eyebrows, "As if."
"You're my baby," I told him with a grin, "And that's that."
"Oh, that's that," he imitated me sarcastically, "You're turning into the Dursleys, Angel."
"No, I'm just acting like them to get on your nerves," I smiled as I stood and stretched backwards, letting my long hair fly back as I lay my head in his lap. "And I'm not doing a good job, I see."
"No, you're not," he grinned, "But that's okay." He kissed me lightly on my nose and I sat up, glancing about the room.
"Problem is, I can't quite remember the beginning to this year," I confided in him, biting my lower lip. "I remember it was something so awful that Harry ran out the door with all his stuff, but beyond that, I can't remember." I sighed and flipped off the bed, stretching my tense muscles.
"You'll remember, either that or we'll deal with it," Trunks said, standing up. "Don't worry about it." I nodded and tilted my head from side to side, cracking my sore neck. Harry and Tom entered the room minutes later, both tired as well.
"At least we're done for the day," Tom moaned as he sat on the floor with a tired sigh.
"What day's today?" Harry asked as he leaned against the wall from his place on the bed opposite Trunks and me.
"Thursday," I answered quietly.
"Our birthday's tomorrow," Tom put in, a small smile on his face, "Maybe we'll get something from Penny or Hedwig."
We'd told our friends at the beginning of the summer, yet again, to keep our owls for us, as I didn't want another incident with Vernon. He was still growing back his hair after I'd removed it last year when he'd nearly killed Penny for flying into Dudley's room. We told them to use the owls only in case of emergency because we certainly did not want Penny or Hedwig to make the same mistake again.
Of course, I doubted that Penny would do it again, but I still didn't want her in that position. It wasn't that she was stupid or anything, she just tended to get caught in awkward situations that I wasn't so sure would be a very good idea. For example, just last week, she'd delivered letters from all our friends at once, you know, to make sure we were still alive and everything. If Tom hadn't seen her first, we would have had a repeat of the year before.
Either her or Hedwig delivered letters once a week from everyone and we wrote a letter to each from us all. Draco, of course, was the most painful one to receive a letter from, especially considering he was still getting over the shock of his cousin, Jupiter.
I think none of us had gotten over her death or Susan Bone's, though. I think Susan's death had hit me hard, because she had saved my life at least once before she died from the snake's venom. I couldn't believe we had been too late too save her or Jupiter. I still had nightmares about it, but at least it wasn't that dream about Dirken chasing me and the others on broomsticks through the Forbidden Forest.
Our night ended with a small meal and I laid awake for the time being. I sat up, my head propped up on my arms as Trunks snored softly beside me. It wasn't a common habit with him, only when he was thirsty, but it wasn't loud enough to make a difference in my sleep patterns despite the fact we slept in the same bed.
I laughed softly as Trunks gave a small snort in his sleep and covered my mouth to prevent myself from waking him up. He was having a good sleep despite our predicament and I was glad for it. I rose softly out of the bed, flying above it as I slid the covers off of me. I levitated out of the room like a ghost, pausing only momentarily to open the window. I looked around the place and, certain that none of the Muggles who lived on the streets saw me, flew up on the roof and sat down with a soft thud that no one inside heard.
"A wish on a million stars and a single Dragon Ball," I said softly as I stared up into the night sky, slightly different from what I had been used to in the States and the Z world, but something I'd grown accustomed to what with our Astronomy class. "I guess dreams do come true. Just wish it hadn't been in such a wild way." I sighed as I picked out the North Star, which was still in viewing range despite the some grand number between England and Kansas, where I'd originally been from.
Staring up at the stars, I lost all track of time and my eyes began to droop only when the sun began to rise over the horizon. I flew back into the room, closing the window as I slid back into our bed and falling asleep.
The next morning, all were awake at ten in the morning, which was a blessing for me and us all. Neither Petunia nor Vernon woke up and Dudley, of course, would never wake up without help. So that left us with extra sleep (in my case, enough sleep) and some extra time on our hands as we woke up slightly earlier than the Dursleys.
That day passed quickly for who knows how long. It felt more like an hour than a day before the night fell over us once again.
Tom was right: We did receive things from the others. We all kept to ourselves as we opened the gifts and looked at the things written to us and us alone.
I opened the cards first. I was very happy to see a newspaper clipping with all nine of the Weasleys waving furiously at me. The clipping spoke of the Ministry draw and that Arthur Weasley had won it. I spotted Scabbers on Ron's lanky shoulder and rolled my eyes as I recalled that this picture is what caused all that happened in the book and probably, most likely would in reality. I gave it to Harry for him to look at with the others but contented myself with opening Hermione's letter and smiling as I read about her excursion to France. Draco's letter was written in huge script that I knew had come from lessons in handwriting long ago.
I looked curiously at the golden-wrapped gift Ron had sent as I opened it. Inside was something that made me gasp in delight, because it was a pair of sunglasses that allowed its wearer to see if whoever they were speaking to was lying or not.
There was another note with this one.
Bill says that these weren't very reliable, because he put them on and they were flashing on the screen on Fred and George. What he didn't know was that they'd put beetles in his soup. Thought it'd give you a laugh. ----Ron
I opened Hermione's present with a smile on my face as I thought of Bill discovering beetles in his soup but gave another gasp as I found a Broomstick Servicing Kit inside. I looked over and saw that Harry too had received one. I laughed in absolute delight as I moved on to Draco's gift, which I wasn't quite sure what it would be.
What I found surprised even me. It was a book, sure, but it was one interesting book. It wasn't just any ordinary book. It was a book of the imagination. It's title read Beware, Imagination Required to which I gave a small laugh. I opened it and read the paragraph that was displayed.
"Warning," it read, "This book was designed to allow you to dive into a story of your own. Say 'I imagine...' and let the fun begin! You can't be killed, but you can become the center of the stage. Pick an adventure and let yourself fly! Gather friends around and have fun telling a story all your own. But, reader beware: You aren't a reader anymore. You're the main character!"
I gave another small laugh and pulled out a piece of parchment, thanking each of my friends. We placed them all in a single envelope, tying one to each Hedwig, Penny, and Draco's owl, whose name was unknown to us all. After we waved the owls off, I laughed as I picked up the paper, careful to put it in the trash can outside as to not let the Dursleys be aware of anything.
"Those guys are great friends," I said with a sigh as I sank into my bed, holding my new book. It wasn't thick or anything, just a thick cover and back and the single sheet of paper that bore the instructions.
"You said it," Tom agreed as he toyed with his new gifts as well. "What's that you got there, Angel?"
"It's the present Draco gave me," I answered, holding it up.
"Beware, Imagination Required?" Trunks inquired (rhyme! ^-^), moving to see the book more closely, "Why's it so thin?"
"Because it doesn't have anything written in it," I answered smugly, "Come here, guys, I'll show ya what I mean." I smirked and gave a thoughtful glance at the ceiling before my smirk widened into a grin. I knew what I was going to "imagine".
(I'll just leave that whole thing to YOUR imagination...I wanna get to Aunt Marge! You'll see...[Hey, I know! If you wanna write a side story off my story for this, tell me and you can write it out...just give me credit and tell me where it is, k?])
After we came out of the book, exhausted from our exciting adventure, an owl flew through the window, bearing four brown envelopes, each addressed to one of us, and was followed by four more owls, each carrying a parcel, from Hagrid.
I smiled as I saw that each of the boys had received a Monster Book of Monsters book and grinned as Trunks gave a frightened yelp as the book bit his hand. Of course, it didn't hurt him, but it certainly did Tom and Harry, whom both bit back their cries of pain and surprise. They wrapped the books in belts as I opened my own parcel.
I gasped in surprise as I saw that it was a very pretty silver charm bracelet. There was a note inside the parcel that I read immediately.
Your mother gave this to me to make me feel better after I got expelled. I thought you might like it. Happy Birthday, Angel! --Hagrid
I smiled at the charm bracelet and slipped it onto my wrist, seeing that it fit perfectly. It had several small charms on it, each a different thing that I found most wonderful. A blue dog sat on one, a white stallion on another, a gold heart on yet another. There were six charm places on it, each filled with one thing or another. I looked at each closely and found the most peculiar thing.
Padfoot, Prongs, Moony, Wormtail, Dreamer, Ice. I looked at this closely and blinked several times. So, there had been more than just those four in their ring this time. But who were and Dreamer and Ice?
I would find out in due time, I knew, but it still tugged on my brain as I put the charm bracelet out of my mind. Another question arose just before I had finished it, though. Why had my mother had it?
***
I woke early the next morning to see the story I knew to be happening. I woke Trunks up and we trekked downstairs, allowing Tom and Harry to sleep a little longer. Trunks and I prepared breakfast, something that had taken a while to get used to as Trunks had just learned to cook last summer. I turned the news on very low and watched intensely even as I scrambled eggs and fried bacon and sausage for the family. Trunks stood by the stove, making pancakes. He wasn't as mindful of the news until he'd finished making the pancakes and sat down with me as we ate a small part of it, leaving some for the Dursleys, Harry, and Tom.
"Here it is," I told him as I turned up the volume a little so we could hear it despite the fact I could hear it just fine.
"....in other news, all police are on full alert and on the lookout for an escaped convict by the name of Sirius Black. His picture, provided by the police and special services, is as follows," A man with greasy, shoulder-length black hair and small, sunken eyes stared from the screen, "Black is said to be armed and extremely dangerous. A special hotline has been set up and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately..."
The report continued, but I shut the TV off and turned to Trunks.
"He's innocent, Trunks," I told him, "Don't believe anything you hear about him. I'll let you know what I mean when the time comes, but not until then, got it?"
"I got it," he nodded gravely, "If you have to keep it from me, then I know it's important." I nodded and we put our dishes in the sink, washing them and any that were in there at the time before heading back upstairs to wake up Harry and Tom for their breakfast.
Once that was done, we waited until we heard the Dursleys go downstairs. I heard the TV turned all the way up now as the Dursleys ate the breakfast we'd prepared. We made our way downstairs, one at a time to not attract attention.
"Well, I've got to get to the train station, Marge's train gets in at ten," Vernon was saying, "And you four had better behave!" He looked pointedly at us.
"I will if she will," Harry said darkly and Trunks and Tom looked at him in surprise. It was rare that Harry spoke harshly of anyone.
"Firstly, you'll keep a civil tongue toward Marge," he growled, ignoring the searing looks he was receiving from Harry and I. "Secondly, as Marge knows nothing of your abnormality, I don't want any...funny stuff going on during her stay."
"What if we let something...slip?" I asked leisurely, looking up at him with a sweet smile on my face.
"You'll get the stuffing beat out of you!" he roared threateningly, brandishing a huge fist.
"You can't beat the stuffing out of me," I said back, "Go on and try it now. Give me your best shot." He looked like a raged bull before releasing a furious punch right between my eyes. I wasn't even fazed as I looked up at him sweetly.
"See?" I countered. "That's how strong I am. Now, we could let it slip to this Marge lady about our extraordinary talents...or you could just sign our permission forms for the village." I held out mine and was happy to see him sign it, his face purple in disbelief as he signed each of ours in turn. "Now, we'll keep ourselves under control as long as Marge remains controlled as well and we'll act as normal as we can. We'll try to earn your trust." He growled at this, his nostrils still flared as he made his way out the door, slamming it on the way out.
I laughed aloud as we made our way back up the stairs, leaving an overly-stunned Dudley at the base of the TV.
She arrived half and hour later.
Harry opened the door as I stood back. Trunks and Tom stood beside me, both looking thoroughly uneasy. I didn't blame either of their surprised looks as the huge woman came through the door, thrusting an enormous suitcase into my arms and setting an evil-tempered bulldog on the floor. I knew the dog's name was Ripper and I could tell why as he glared up at Tom with a gleam in his eyes that spoke of nothing but pure terror. Uncle Vernon followed momentarily, a huge grin on his face.
"Tea, Marge?" he asked her, "And what will Ripper take?"
"He can have some tea out of my saucer," she answered, her low-toned voice booming in my sensitive ears as she followed Aunt Petunia into the kitchen.
"Let me take it upstairs," Harry muttered as I hefted the suitcase effortlessly onto my shoulder.
"What?" I asked, then realized it. "Oh, yes, of course. You want to stay away from her as long as possible, perfectly understandable." Tom and Trunks looked about to protest, but I held up a hand.
"Thanks, Angel," he said as he tugged the "heavy" suitcase up the stairs, taking as long as possible to drag it up.
"Come on, guys, time to meet the woman," I growled as I tugged both their arms as they followed me numbly into the kitchen. "Try to be as polite as possible." They nodded as I released them.
"Who's this, Petunia?" Marge asked as I entered, "Don't tell me your brother-in-law left you with these brats too!"
"Yes, he did," Petunia muttered, "he died of a heart attack." I was about to protest but thought better of it.
"Good morning, ma'am," I said pleasantly with a small smile.
"Don't you smirk at me like that!" she roared, "You should be grateful Vernon and Petunia kept the lot of you! I wouldn't. You would've gone straight to the orphanage!"
"But they didn't, ma'am," I said, "they were kind enough to keep my brothers, cousin, and I on." She seemed taken aback by my polite attitude. Ripper the bulldog looked up from his finished tea. He looked at me with big, brown eyes. Instead of growling, though, he walked up to me and placed his front paws on the front of my jeans.
"Well, hello there," I said kindly, "What might your name be, little one?" I knelt down and petted the bulldog, leaving the entire kitchen speechless.
"H-His name's Ripper," Marge said finally. "What is your name? He's never liked anyone but me!"
"That's for sure," Petunia muttered under her breath, but I caught it despite this.
"My name's Angel, ma'am, and this is my adopted brother, Trunks, and my little brother, Tom," I pointed to both of them.
"Angel, eh? He seems to like yeh," she looked at Ripper, who was lying on his stomach, letting me pet him.
"I have a way with animals, I always have," I said as I knelt to scratch the dog's back again. "Before my dad died, we had four cats and four dogs. Of course, our dogs were only Chihuahuas but they were all quite even-tempered for their kind."
"What became of them?" she asked.
"They got put in the pound," I said, my teeth clenched. Actually, the dogs had all be killed, one after another by my father. The first to go had been Chance, my golden-coated baby.
"That's a shame," Marge said and I think I was starting to get through to her.
All week, Marge was quite the lady toward me and my friends. She seemed to like me only because Ripper did, but I didn't mind as long as she wasn't mean to us.
I walked outside into the cool night air the day before Marge was to leave. My mind wandered to many things as my feet carried me down Privet Drive and to Magnolia Crescent, the next street. There was a slight alleyway there, where many cats and stray dogs could be found hiding from the pound.
A great, shaggy dog, much larger than the typical scrawny mutts you found in the dingy alley, sat on the floor, watching me with great interest. I saw its look and its great fur and sidled up to look at it more closely.
"Well, hello, there," I said to the dog, my lips pulled into a smile. "Are you all right, little one?" This was contradictory to the dog's massive size, but it crooned a little as I scratched it behind the ears.
"Don't worry, I won't turn you in, little one," I told him softly. "I know what you truly are. But I won't turn you in cause I know you're innocent. Sirius Black." The dog let out a deep growl, which I returned right back at him. "You're Harry Potter's godfather, aren't you? Why don't you tell the authorities that you're innocent? I can take you to Ron and Pettigrew soon, if you like." I glanced out the dark alley. "I think we're safe. You can transform into yourself, if you want, so you can talk."
Suddenly, it wasn't a great shaggy dog I was looking at but the black-haired, filthy man known everywhere. Sirius Black.
"How do you know me, girl?" he snarled dangerously, "How do you know about Peter? That's a secret that no one but Dumbledore was trusted with!"
"I know because I am Angel," I told him, "Have you had access to the papers to know who I am?" He shook his head, still glaring at me. I pressed two fingers to his forehead and fed him my memories.
"Wha-What did you do?" he asked, shaking his head. "How do I know who you are now?"
"I gave you my memories," I answered, "Things aren't safe, Mr. Black, not for anyone. Dirken is out to get me and Harry and Tom and Trunks and all our friends. I can't tell Harry about you just yet, though."
"Did you say your name is Angel Galis?" he asked, looking down at me.
"Yeah, that's me," I answered, "Dirken killed my father and my sisters. He tried to kill me, but failed. I have the stupid scar to prove it." I lifted my black bangs and revealed the lightning-shaped scar.
"You are," he nodded. "Did you know that you are also my goddaughter?" I looked up at him sharply.
"No, this information was kept from me. Trunks and Tom as well?"
"Remus Lupin is Trunks' godfather. Ice is Tom's."
"Ice?" I asked suspiciously. I held up my bracelet. "This Ice?"
"Yeah, that's her," he nodded. "Dreamer is your mother. I never really found out her real name, though." I cocked an eyebrow at him, then nodded.
"You know who I am now and what I know," I told him, "Be cautious, Mr. Black."
"Please, Sirius," he said with a lanky smile.
"Did you know that there were two more Animagi that have gone unregistered?" I asked him.
"No. Who are they?"
"Let me show you one," I answered mysteriously. He soon found a cat standing before him. "The other is a good friend of mine, Hermione Granger. She's Muggle-born."
"Interesting, not many Muggle-borns have such good skills," he said, looking at me.
"She's like me when I was young. Ambitious but without the friends to help, but now she has those friends in us," I smiled at him. "I must be getting back to my boyfriend. Trunks worries about me. As does Tom." He looked slightly dazed a moment before turning back into a dog. I gave him a small pat on the back. "Be careful, Sirius." He nodded, a human gesture, and left, trotting nonchalantly down the road and disappearing in the night.
When I got back to 4 Privet Drive, however, Marge was singing a different tune.
***
Cliff hanger, though not a very good one. Please check out Jenny's new story, just give her a try! She hasn't had any reviews yet and she's asked me not to review (hmm...strange, isn't it?) because she knows what I think. If she doesn't get a review soon, I'm going to review it anyway, though. Not like she's got an alternate dimensional pocket where she can pull out a gun or a frying pan or a mallet or anything, right?....
Right?