"We're taking a Muggle airoplane?" asked Ron incredulously.
"Yes. Problem?"
"N-no... I've just never been on one," he muttered, avoiding the look his girlfriend was giving him.
"Ron, you're never going to get through life if you're afraid of trying new things!" Hermione glared, hands on her hips.
Ally smiled at Remus. "Sound familiar, Moony?" she asked jestingly.
"Sure does, Foxy," he replied with a smirk, slipping his arm about her shoulders as they listened to their daughter rant.
"Ron, you can't tell me you're afraid of flying. You fly around on a bloody broomstick!"
"Forget I said ANYTHING," he sighed, steering her back toward the kitchen.
The seven going to NYC the next day were staying at the Lupin's. It was a considerably large mansion Remus' father left to him when he was killed. Ginny was already in Australia. The two "adults" had laid down the rules: PDA's were acceptable, but punishable by fire hose if they went beyond innocent. That gave them plenty of leeway with Ally and Remus.
"Are they fighting again?" asked Harry with a grin.
"Of course," Remus answered with his own grin. "Do they ever stop?"
"Probably not," said Draco, sticking his head in the kitchen. "The only time I can remember is when I... well, anyway, Ron tried to shoot a curse at me and ended up burping slugs." He had the grace to look embarrassed.
"I remember that," said George from his position as Sephie's chair. "His wand was quite faulty that year."
"Wonder why?" asked Lexi sarcastically as she settled on the sofa upside down.
"So... can you believe Fred and Angelina are getting married?" Hermione said, brisky walking in from the kitchen. Ron followed, a small grin on his face.
"Looks like they made up," Ally whispered in Remus' ear.
"Yup... just like we used to," he answered in the same tone, looking approvingly at his daughters. The Weasleys were great kids; he couldn't think of any better for his girls.
"Yes!" chorused Ron, George, Harry, and Draco.
"Oh, then I'm out of the loop," Sephie declared.
"Well, you're one step ahead of me, then," Hermione sighed. "I didn't even know there WAS one." Their feigned act of innocence fooled no one. Lexi scooped up a pillow and chucked it at Sephie's face.
"Not my face!" she squealed jumping off of George and using him as a human shield.
Hermione jumped up on the chair next to Lexi and looked down at her sister condescendingly. "You have no shame!"
"Ouch! That hurt! You know what.... ' Come down here so I can look at you while I'm killing you! On second thought, stay there! The Hydra's less ugly!'"
Herm adopted an insulted expression. "'My brow's not low! Destroy him, Hedera! Kill him a million times over!'"
Sephie gasped and put a hand to her forehead dramatically. "You drew blood, right there on my face. But most of all, you almost killed Yoko,'" points at the others, "with your foolhardy entrance!'"
Then, in high, squeaky voices, they finished, "And for that, YOU MUST DDIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!" Then they collapsed into laughter.
~*~ Note: From "Come down here.... YOU MUST DIE!", the dialogue is from Cat and Caitlen's "The Bob Files." But we say it all the time, therefore it went in. ~*~
~*~ Meanwhile~*~
Ginny glanced around, shaking off the slightly nauseating effects of the PortKey. She was in her aunt's living room. Aunt Rachel, Uncle Robert, and Dariane were all there, waiting for her.
"Ginny!"
Dari appraised her lightly. "Still sporting the five year old hairstyle, cuz?" she asked playfully, tugging on a curly pigtail.
"Still sporting those nerd specs?" she retorted, gesturing to the frames.
"Hey, I heard these are the exact glasses Harry Potter himself wears!" she defended smugly.
Ginny laughed. "Close, but no cigar, Dar," she giggled.
"How... ohmygod, I forgot! He's Ron's best friend, isn't he?!"
Ginny sighed and readied herself for the barrage of questions.
~*~
About three weeks later, Ginny was confident enough in her surroundings to take walks in the morning.
This morning she was feeling daring, and decided to stray off the path for a little bit. Little did she know she was headed into a sea of bramble bushes. Suddenly her curls were firmly ensnared in them. The more she pulled, the more tangled they became.
"Oh, SLYTHERIN!" she cursed, trying to turn her head enough to see. Impossible.
"Hold still," said a calm Australian voice. A BOY'S voice. Ginny obediently stopped. The boy, behind her, seemed to be whispering to the branch. She felt his hand on the caught piece and suddenly she was free. She turned around.
"Thank you," she told him. The boy was CUTE. Black hair, dark enough to almost look blue in some light, a tank top with an open button down short sleeved shirt over, and jeans. His eyes were ash gray, and they looked at her like they could see her soul. Which wasn't a bad thing, either.
"No problem," he responded lightly. Then they fell silent, just quietly appraising each other until they heard Dari's voice, "Gin?"
"Ginny!" She ran to her cousin's side and glared at the boy. "Walters, what did you do to her?"
"I didn't DO anything," he growled back.
"Dari... I got stuck in the bramble..." Ginny began helplessly.
"Come on, Ginny, breakfast started ten minutes ago," Dari stated firmly, grabbing her cousin's arm in a brusing grip and hauling her away.
Ginny shot a sorrowful look over her shoulder at the boy, whose gray eyes were stormy now as he disappeared into the brush.
"Ginny. Ginny, listen to me!" Ginny started and looked at her fuming cousin. "I want you to stay away from Jeremy Walters. He's... well, let's just say he's not the sort we should associate with."
"But... he seemed perfectly nice to me," she protested.
"He's... he's not human," she hissed under her breath at Ginny.
Ginny understood in a flash of common sense. "You mean he's a werewolf."
"Shhhh! Yes, exactly. So stay away from him."
Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled away to enter the house.
~*~
Around 3:00, Ginny got bored. Dari was out with her boyfriend Barry, god knew where doing god knew what. Ginny decided she would try to find Jeremy to apologize for Dari.
"Jeremy?"
He stiffened from his spot in the shade. ~What does SHE want?~ he thought contempuously, from habit.
"Jeremy? It's me, Ginny... Ginny Weasley," she said to the empty air, knowing he was hiding from her. "Listen... I'm sorry about Dari. She's, well... let's just say she's a bitch and leave it at that, shall we? You'd probably know better than I would, though." She paused thoughtfully. "She told me about your lycanthropacy, too. I don't care.... I mean, it doesn't bother me. My brothers' girlfriends' father is one, too, and he's really nice." By this point, Ginny was seated in a flower bed, idly picking daisies.
Jeremy sat listening to her. The honesty radiating off of her was amazing. He began to reconsider his first assessment of this girl. Blood ties meant nothing, usually. Just because her cousin was a bitch...
Suddenly Jeremy looked around. The sun was setting slowly, and he realized the awful truth... tonight was a full moon. Although he was still undecided about the Weasley girl, he knew he couldn't risk biting her.
"Ginny," he hissed. Her head shot up.
"Jeremy?"
"You have to leave," he said urgently, standing to face her, but not looking at her.
"Wh-" Then her face dawned with realization. She pulled her wand. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked quietly.
His eyes flew to hers. All he saw was sincerity. "Y-you can use chains to bind me up," he managed. No one had ever asked him that before.
Ginny bit her lip and pointed her wand at him. "Bindus Ferrum Elasticus," she whispered. Jeremy's arms and legs snapped together and Ginny quickly conjured a cushion as he hit the ground, bound.
"Thanks," he croaked.
"You're welcome. Anything else I can do?
"Yes. Leave." She recoiled at his words, and he hurriedly corrected himself as he realized how the had sounded.
"No! It's just..."
"Oh," she said quietly. "Right.I'll... I'll see you later." She went to go, but turned back for a moment. He looked so... alone. She hurried back and placed a motherly type of his on his forehead, then ran for the clearing.
His eyes wide, he tried to comprehend what had just happened... but the fogging of his brain that came with the pain of the Change made THAT an impossibility.
~*~ NYC ~*~
"I can't believe we're in New York! I've always wanted to come here...."
Sephie grabbed her sister's arm. "Herm, stop gawking, you look like a tourist," she hissed.
"I AM a tourist," she exclaimed.
"SHHH! Not so loud, will ya? You don't have to ADVERTISE that!"
"Janellle!" screamed Lexi in delight as she spotted her mentor and dragged her husband over by the robes.
"Ahh!!! My girls!" she grinned, catching each by the arm. They embraced happily while Ron, Harry, and Hermione exchanged glances. THIS was SNAPE'S sister?
Janelle noticed their expressions and grinned. "Not much like Severus, am I? Well, our parents named us well, that's for sure. Now, if I'm any judge, you'd be Sephie's sister Hermione, you'd be her boyfriend Ron, and you'd be James' and Lily's son, Harry."
"You knew my parents?" Stupid question, he realized. She was Snape's sister... of course she did.
"Oh, yes. They quite doted upon you... showed you off to everyone, they did. Me the most, considering Ella and I lived right next door... ahh, here we are!" she said cheerfully. She motioned to a house that surpassed the Malfoy mansion, that's for sure... for what the Malfoys had in ostentatiousness, Janelle's home had in warmth and cheer. A girl stood on the front stairs, waving happily. Her red hair swung behind her, and her blue eyes sparked behind half moon glasses much like Dumbledore's.
"New arrival, Janelle?" asked Sephie quietly.
"No; Ella Jordan's daughter, Mariah. She'll be staying with us, too. Gently, though... she's not used to people her own age... home schooled, you know."
"Jordan? Any relation to Lee, George?" asked Hermione smartly.
"Yeah... she looks really familiar... Lee's dad is Irish, so she could be..." He trailed off as the girl caught sight of him and grinned wider.
"'Lo, George Weasley," she called.
At his blank expression, she laughed and said, "I'm surprised you don't remember me; you and Fred and Lee were so busy putting Whizzbees in my shoes...."
George smacked a hand to his forehead. "Of COURSE! Now I remember! Lee's cousin!"
She smiled. "Got it in one."
Sephie was eyeing the girl suspiciously now, but Lexi had no such inhibitions.
"My name's Lexi." She smirked at Draco. "Lexi Malfoy."
He gave her a Look back, raising an eyebrow at Janelle.
"Oh, god, Draco, she knows," Lexi said with exasperation.
Janelle laughed. "How about we all go inside.... Ally and Remus Apparated your stuff here."
"I thought transcontinental Apparation was forbidden in the International Wizard Convention of 1264," said Hermione, puzzled.
"It was," Janelle nodded. "But only for PEOPLE. There's no rule against TCA for OBJECTS."
"You people find loopholes in everything," Hermione grumbled. Ron put an arm around her shoulders.
"WE find loopholes?" he asked pointedly. She blushed.
"Introductions, please," Janelle said. "I'll start. I'm Janelle Snape, unfortunate relation to the aforementioned Potions Master."
"Harry Potter, 15."
"Hermione Lupin, 15, dating Ron."
"Ron Weasley, 15, dating Hermione."
"Lexi Malfoy, 16; married to him."
"Draco Malfoy, 16.... but older than her."
"Go to hell, Malfoy."
"After you, MRS. Malfoy."
"Both of you shove it. Persephone Lupin, twin, 15, dating George."
"George Weasley, 18, dating Sephie."
"Mariah Jordan, 15, dating no one, married to no one!"
They all laughed and followed Janelle up to their rooms.
~*~ Australia ~*~
Ginny woke early the next morning, overcome by a nagging worry that she couldn't... quite...
"JEREMY!" she gasped, throwing back her covers and shivering in the cool morning air. She shoved her feet into her boots and ran outside in her shorts and tee shirt.
"Yes. Problem?"
"N-no... I've just never been on one," he muttered, avoiding the look his girlfriend was giving him.
"Ron, you're never going to get through life if you're afraid of trying new things!" Hermione glared, hands on her hips.
Ally smiled at Remus. "Sound familiar, Moony?" she asked jestingly.
"Sure does, Foxy," he replied with a smirk, slipping his arm about her shoulders as they listened to their daughter rant.
"Ron, you can't tell me you're afraid of flying. You fly around on a bloody broomstick!"
"Forget I said ANYTHING," he sighed, steering her back toward the kitchen.
The seven going to NYC the next day were staying at the Lupin's. It was a considerably large mansion Remus' father left to him when he was killed. Ginny was already in Australia. The two "adults" had laid down the rules: PDA's were acceptable, but punishable by fire hose if they went beyond innocent. That gave them plenty of leeway with Ally and Remus.
"Are they fighting again?" asked Harry with a grin.
"Of course," Remus answered with his own grin. "Do they ever stop?"
"Probably not," said Draco, sticking his head in the kitchen. "The only time I can remember is when I... well, anyway, Ron tried to shoot a curse at me and ended up burping slugs." He had the grace to look embarrassed.
"I remember that," said George from his position as Sephie's chair. "His wand was quite faulty that year."
"Wonder why?" asked Lexi sarcastically as she settled on the sofa upside down.
"So... can you believe Fred and Angelina are getting married?" Hermione said, brisky walking in from the kitchen. Ron followed, a small grin on his face.
"Looks like they made up," Ally whispered in Remus' ear.
"Yup... just like we used to," he answered in the same tone, looking approvingly at his daughters. The Weasleys were great kids; he couldn't think of any better for his girls.
"Yes!" chorused Ron, George, Harry, and Draco.
"Oh, then I'm out of the loop," Sephie declared.
"Well, you're one step ahead of me, then," Hermione sighed. "I didn't even know there WAS one." Their feigned act of innocence fooled no one. Lexi scooped up a pillow and chucked it at Sephie's face.
"Not my face!" she squealed jumping off of George and using him as a human shield.
Hermione jumped up on the chair next to Lexi and looked down at her sister condescendingly. "You have no shame!"
"Ouch! That hurt! You know what.... ' Come down here so I can look at you while I'm killing you! On second thought, stay there! The Hydra's less ugly!'"
Herm adopted an insulted expression. "'My brow's not low! Destroy him, Hedera! Kill him a million times over!'"
Sephie gasped and put a hand to her forehead dramatically. "You drew blood, right there on my face. But most of all, you almost killed Yoko,'" points at the others, "with your foolhardy entrance!'"
Then, in high, squeaky voices, they finished, "And for that, YOU MUST DDIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!" Then they collapsed into laughter.
~*~ Note: From "Come down here.... YOU MUST DIE!", the dialogue is from Cat and Caitlen's "The Bob Files." But we say it all the time, therefore it went in. ~*~
~*~ Meanwhile~*~
Ginny glanced around, shaking off the slightly nauseating effects of the PortKey. She was in her aunt's living room. Aunt Rachel, Uncle Robert, and Dariane were all there, waiting for her.
"Ginny!"
Dari appraised her lightly. "Still sporting the five year old hairstyle, cuz?" she asked playfully, tugging on a curly pigtail.
"Still sporting those nerd specs?" she retorted, gesturing to the frames.
"Hey, I heard these are the exact glasses Harry Potter himself wears!" she defended smugly.
Ginny laughed. "Close, but no cigar, Dar," she giggled.
"How... ohmygod, I forgot! He's Ron's best friend, isn't he?!"
Ginny sighed and readied herself for the barrage of questions.
~*~
About three weeks later, Ginny was confident enough in her surroundings to take walks in the morning.
This morning she was feeling daring, and decided to stray off the path for a little bit. Little did she know she was headed into a sea of bramble bushes. Suddenly her curls were firmly ensnared in them. The more she pulled, the more tangled they became.
"Oh, SLYTHERIN!" she cursed, trying to turn her head enough to see. Impossible.
"Hold still," said a calm Australian voice. A BOY'S voice. Ginny obediently stopped. The boy, behind her, seemed to be whispering to the branch. She felt his hand on the caught piece and suddenly she was free. She turned around.
"Thank you," she told him. The boy was CUTE. Black hair, dark enough to almost look blue in some light, a tank top with an open button down short sleeved shirt over, and jeans. His eyes were ash gray, and they looked at her like they could see her soul. Which wasn't a bad thing, either.
"No problem," he responded lightly. Then they fell silent, just quietly appraising each other until they heard Dari's voice, "Gin?"
"Ginny!" She ran to her cousin's side and glared at the boy. "Walters, what did you do to her?"
"I didn't DO anything," he growled back.
"Dari... I got stuck in the bramble..." Ginny began helplessly.
"Come on, Ginny, breakfast started ten minutes ago," Dari stated firmly, grabbing her cousin's arm in a brusing grip and hauling her away.
Ginny shot a sorrowful look over her shoulder at the boy, whose gray eyes were stormy now as he disappeared into the brush.
"Ginny. Ginny, listen to me!" Ginny started and looked at her fuming cousin. "I want you to stay away from Jeremy Walters. He's... well, let's just say he's not the sort we should associate with."
"But... he seemed perfectly nice to me," she protested.
"He's... he's not human," she hissed under her breath at Ginny.
Ginny understood in a flash of common sense. "You mean he's a werewolf."
"Shhhh! Yes, exactly. So stay away from him."
Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled away to enter the house.
~*~
Around 3:00, Ginny got bored. Dari was out with her boyfriend Barry, god knew where doing god knew what. Ginny decided she would try to find Jeremy to apologize for Dari.
"Jeremy?"
He stiffened from his spot in the shade. ~What does SHE want?~ he thought contempuously, from habit.
"Jeremy? It's me, Ginny... Ginny Weasley," she said to the empty air, knowing he was hiding from her. "Listen... I'm sorry about Dari. She's, well... let's just say she's a bitch and leave it at that, shall we? You'd probably know better than I would, though." She paused thoughtfully. "She told me about your lycanthropacy, too. I don't care.... I mean, it doesn't bother me. My brothers' girlfriends' father is one, too, and he's really nice." By this point, Ginny was seated in a flower bed, idly picking daisies.
Jeremy sat listening to her. The honesty radiating off of her was amazing. He began to reconsider his first assessment of this girl. Blood ties meant nothing, usually. Just because her cousin was a bitch...
Suddenly Jeremy looked around. The sun was setting slowly, and he realized the awful truth... tonight was a full moon. Although he was still undecided about the Weasley girl, he knew he couldn't risk biting her.
"Ginny," he hissed. Her head shot up.
"Jeremy?"
"You have to leave," he said urgently, standing to face her, but not looking at her.
"Wh-" Then her face dawned with realization. She pulled her wand. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked quietly.
His eyes flew to hers. All he saw was sincerity. "Y-you can use chains to bind me up," he managed. No one had ever asked him that before.
Ginny bit her lip and pointed her wand at him. "Bindus Ferrum Elasticus," she whispered. Jeremy's arms and legs snapped together and Ginny quickly conjured a cushion as he hit the ground, bound.
"Thanks," he croaked.
"You're welcome. Anything else I can do?
"Yes. Leave." She recoiled at his words, and he hurriedly corrected himself as he realized how the had sounded.
"No! It's just..."
"Oh," she said quietly. "Right.I'll... I'll see you later." She went to go, but turned back for a moment. He looked so... alone. She hurried back and placed a motherly type of his on his forehead, then ran for the clearing.
His eyes wide, he tried to comprehend what had just happened... but the fogging of his brain that came with the pain of the Change made THAT an impossibility.
~*~ NYC ~*~
"I can't believe we're in New York! I've always wanted to come here...."
Sephie grabbed her sister's arm. "Herm, stop gawking, you look like a tourist," she hissed.
"I AM a tourist," she exclaimed.
"SHHH! Not so loud, will ya? You don't have to ADVERTISE that!"
"Janellle!" screamed Lexi in delight as she spotted her mentor and dragged her husband over by the robes.
"Ahh!!! My girls!" she grinned, catching each by the arm. They embraced happily while Ron, Harry, and Hermione exchanged glances. THIS was SNAPE'S sister?
Janelle noticed their expressions and grinned. "Not much like Severus, am I? Well, our parents named us well, that's for sure. Now, if I'm any judge, you'd be Sephie's sister Hermione, you'd be her boyfriend Ron, and you'd be James' and Lily's son, Harry."
"You knew my parents?" Stupid question, he realized. She was Snape's sister... of course she did.
"Oh, yes. They quite doted upon you... showed you off to everyone, they did. Me the most, considering Ella and I lived right next door... ahh, here we are!" she said cheerfully. She motioned to a house that surpassed the Malfoy mansion, that's for sure... for what the Malfoys had in ostentatiousness, Janelle's home had in warmth and cheer. A girl stood on the front stairs, waving happily. Her red hair swung behind her, and her blue eyes sparked behind half moon glasses much like Dumbledore's.
"New arrival, Janelle?" asked Sephie quietly.
"No; Ella Jordan's daughter, Mariah. She'll be staying with us, too. Gently, though... she's not used to people her own age... home schooled, you know."
"Jordan? Any relation to Lee, George?" asked Hermione smartly.
"Yeah... she looks really familiar... Lee's dad is Irish, so she could be..." He trailed off as the girl caught sight of him and grinned wider.
"'Lo, George Weasley," she called.
At his blank expression, she laughed and said, "I'm surprised you don't remember me; you and Fred and Lee were so busy putting Whizzbees in my shoes...."
George smacked a hand to his forehead. "Of COURSE! Now I remember! Lee's cousin!"
She smiled. "Got it in one."
Sephie was eyeing the girl suspiciously now, but Lexi had no such inhibitions.
"My name's Lexi." She smirked at Draco. "Lexi Malfoy."
He gave her a Look back, raising an eyebrow at Janelle.
"Oh, god, Draco, she knows," Lexi said with exasperation.
Janelle laughed. "How about we all go inside.... Ally and Remus Apparated your stuff here."
"I thought transcontinental Apparation was forbidden in the International Wizard Convention of 1264," said Hermione, puzzled.
"It was," Janelle nodded. "But only for PEOPLE. There's no rule against TCA for OBJECTS."
"You people find loopholes in everything," Hermione grumbled. Ron put an arm around her shoulders.
"WE find loopholes?" he asked pointedly. She blushed.
"Introductions, please," Janelle said. "I'll start. I'm Janelle Snape, unfortunate relation to the aforementioned Potions Master."
"Harry Potter, 15."
"Hermione Lupin, 15, dating Ron."
"Ron Weasley, 15, dating Hermione."
"Lexi Malfoy, 16; married to him."
"Draco Malfoy, 16.... but older than her."
"Go to hell, Malfoy."
"After you, MRS. Malfoy."
"Both of you shove it. Persephone Lupin, twin, 15, dating George."
"George Weasley, 18, dating Sephie."
"Mariah Jordan, 15, dating no one, married to no one!"
They all laughed and followed Janelle up to their rooms.
~*~ Australia ~*~
Ginny woke early the next morning, overcome by a nagging worry that she couldn't... quite...
"JEREMY!" she gasped, throwing back her covers and shivering in the cool morning air. She shoved her feet into her boots and ran outside in her shorts and tee shirt.