Chapter 5 - April's Story
"So what's happened to Sirius' old house?" asked Harry. "There's nobody there to inherit it is there?"
"Apparently it went to the next Black relative," said Hermione, picking up an old sock and throwing it away. "You know Lucius Malfoy's wife? She inherited it. And she ordered for it to be thoroughly cleaned, AND she shoved the Order out. They marked it Private Property."
"Yeah," said Ron. "And they've gotten Kreatcher to set up each room in the house to showcase old monuments and things from the ancient Black family. Kind of like a museum. I don't think they are gonna live in it, they've already got that huge mansion..."
"It's so hard to belive Sirius was related to that filth," Harry spat. "So where are the Order having their meetings now?"
"No idea." Hermione shook her head, finding an old family photograph and giving it a vigorous clean.
"So, um, Harry," said Ron hesitantly. "Sorry about the present if you didn't like it, you just seemed very interested in the archway when we were in ... you know."
"Yeah," said Harry. "It's okay, I liked the present, but it just reminded me of too much, you know?"
April looked from Ron to Harry, confused. Harry looked at her.
"Sorry," he said, noticing her bright blue eyes and feeling dazzled. They were the same eyes as Albus Dumbledore had, there was no doubting that. "We'll talk about something else."
"Ron told me most of what... happened last year," said April. "But nothing about an archway. But yeah, lets talk about something else. Don't mean to sound self obsessed or anything, but maybe I should tell Harry about me. And why I haven't been at Hogwarts for the past 5 years." Then she added, "Just a conversation starter, you know..."
"Yeah," said Ron. "But I thought you didn't want to tell your long story again."
"Well... once more won't hurt," said April, picking up a damp cleaning cloth and starting to clean the items in the boxes in the attic. Harry and Hermione followed suit, but Ron sat back lazily.
Hermione looked at Ron piercingly. "Ron, you really should help with the cleaning. After all, it IS your attic."
"Okay, okay." Ron got up, pulled a dusty box of old items towards him, and began cleaning the first item, a small bronze horse that magically moved.
"So I suppose I'd better start my story," said April, looking almost as lazy as Ron. "You see, after you, Harry, caused the downfall of Lord Voldemort (Ron shuddered as he heard the name), not many people knew that there was one more death he caused before disappearing for years. He didn't kill anyone, he was too weak. He got his supporters to do it for him. That was the death of my mother, Jules."
She paused here, and Harry was too busy listening intently to notice that he was cleaning his shoe instead of the attic.
"My father, that is, Albus Dumbledore, was scared now. He knew that Lord Voldemort was plotting something against my dad, and knew that everyone that he cared about got hurt, like his wife did. He didn't want to put other people in danger just because Voldemort hated him. So, when I was about 2 and a half, he sent me off to some distant mountains in Wales, with a good friend of his, Maria." April stopped again to get another box to start cleaning.
"Now you have to realize something about Maria. She's a bit crazy in the head. And she went and hid me off away from Dumbledore and Voldemort, and raised me in her little cottage in the mountains. These past few weeks I've met more people than I ever saw on the mountains. And even if I did see people on the mountain, I was forbidden to talk to them. My father had no idea about this of course. He assumed I was living a normal life, in contact with the mountain people. But the only people I could talk to were Maria, her goats, and the mountain giants."
Harry gasped. He knew from Hagrids' tales of giants that they were vicious. April noticed his surprise.
"I became fairly good friends with the giants, and learned the ways of their packs and tribes. Anyway, Maria was quite old, and she took care of me the best she could. She was like the mother I never had to me, a bit of an old crackpot fool, but she cared and loved me all the same."
Ron started coughing as he pulled out a very old rug from a box with a lot of dust. The dust settled in his hair, giving it a sandy brown look compared to his normal flaming red color.
"Maria used to tell me stories of the real wizarding world," continued April. "She'd tell me about the minister, and the places in the wizarding world, which were a bit out of date because of the length of time she had been cut off from the rest of the world, and Hogwarts, and how I would go to Hogwarts when I was old enough. She kept on telling me this, and by the time I was about 14, I was starting to wonder whether I would ever come of age and be able to go to this amazing Hogwarts School." April stopped again, and her blue eyes looked sad for a moment.
"Maria died when I was 15, and I set out to find my real family, the one Maria had told me about but never told me why I wasn't with them. Finally, my father found me, and told me everything, and took me around. I'm staying with Ron because my dad has to do some stuff... He wanted me to stay with an all wizard family for a while so that I could see what it was like in the wizarding world."
Harry was astounded. He realized that he had never actually heard Dumbledore talk about his personal family, other than his brother, whom Harry had only heard Dumbledore talking about once. He looked at April. She didn't resemble Dumbledore too much, other than the powerful eyes. After all, April didn't have alot of Dumbledores qualities, like a long white beard. Her hair was a reddish-brown, and long and straight. April caught Harry staring at her, and grinned. She had the same smile as Dumbledore as well, thought Harry, and he kept cleaning the old mug he was holding.
********** [::NOTE FROM AUTHOR::] ************* -Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! -Anna - Write more on your story! -Thanks to ARIEL - She is now my official editor for this story! ************************************************
"So what's happened to Sirius' old house?" asked Harry. "There's nobody there to inherit it is there?"
"Apparently it went to the next Black relative," said Hermione, picking up an old sock and throwing it away. "You know Lucius Malfoy's wife? She inherited it. And she ordered for it to be thoroughly cleaned, AND she shoved the Order out. They marked it Private Property."
"Yeah," said Ron. "And they've gotten Kreatcher to set up each room in the house to showcase old monuments and things from the ancient Black family. Kind of like a museum. I don't think they are gonna live in it, they've already got that huge mansion..."
"It's so hard to belive Sirius was related to that filth," Harry spat. "So where are the Order having their meetings now?"
"No idea." Hermione shook her head, finding an old family photograph and giving it a vigorous clean.
"So, um, Harry," said Ron hesitantly. "Sorry about the present if you didn't like it, you just seemed very interested in the archway when we were in ... you know."
"Yeah," said Harry. "It's okay, I liked the present, but it just reminded me of too much, you know?"
April looked from Ron to Harry, confused. Harry looked at her.
"Sorry," he said, noticing her bright blue eyes and feeling dazzled. They were the same eyes as Albus Dumbledore had, there was no doubting that. "We'll talk about something else."
"Ron told me most of what... happened last year," said April. "But nothing about an archway. But yeah, lets talk about something else. Don't mean to sound self obsessed or anything, but maybe I should tell Harry about me. And why I haven't been at Hogwarts for the past 5 years." Then she added, "Just a conversation starter, you know..."
"Yeah," said Ron. "But I thought you didn't want to tell your long story again."
"Well... once more won't hurt," said April, picking up a damp cleaning cloth and starting to clean the items in the boxes in the attic. Harry and Hermione followed suit, but Ron sat back lazily.
Hermione looked at Ron piercingly. "Ron, you really should help with the cleaning. After all, it IS your attic."
"Okay, okay." Ron got up, pulled a dusty box of old items towards him, and began cleaning the first item, a small bronze horse that magically moved.
"So I suppose I'd better start my story," said April, looking almost as lazy as Ron. "You see, after you, Harry, caused the downfall of Lord Voldemort (Ron shuddered as he heard the name), not many people knew that there was one more death he caused before disappearing for years. He didn't kill anyone, he was too weak. He got his supporters to do it for him. That was the death of my mother, Jules."
She paused here, and Harry was too busy listening intently to notice that he was cleaning his shoe instead of the attic.
"My father, that is, Albus Dumbledore, was scared now. He knew that Lord Voldemort was plotting something against my dad, and knew that everyone that he cared about got hurt, like his wife did. He didn't want to put other people in danger just because Voldemort hated him. So, when I was about 2 and a half, he sent me off to some distant mountains in Wales, with a good friend of his, Maria." April stopped again to get another box to start cleaning.
"Now you have to realize something about Maria. She's a bit crazy in the head. And she went and hid me off away from Dumbledore and Voldemort, and raised me in her little cottage in the mountains. These past few weeks I've met more people than I ever saw on the mountains. And even if I did see people on the mountain, I was forbidden to talk to them. My father had no idea about this of course. He assumed I was living a normal life, in contact with the mountain people. But the only people I could talk to were Maria, her goats, and the mountain giants."
Harry gasped. He knew from Hagrids' tales of giants that they were vicious. April noticed his surprise.
"I became fairly good friends with the giants, and learned the ways of their packs and tribes. Anyway, Maria was quite old, and she took care of me the best she could. She was like the mother I never had to me, a bit of an old crackpot fool, but she cared and loved me all the same."
Ron started coughing as he pulled out a very old rug from a box with a lot of dust. The dust settled in his hair, giving it a sandy brown look compared to his normal flaming red color.
"Maria used to tell me stories of the real wizarding world," continued April. "She'd tell me about the minister, and the places in the wizarding world, which were a bit out of date because of the length of time she had been cut off from the rest of the world, and Hogwarts, and how I would go to Hogwarts when I was old enough. She kept on telling me this, and by the time I was about 14, I was starting to wonder whether I would ever come of age and be able to go to this amazing Hogwarts School." April stopped again, and her blue eyes looked sad for a moment.
"Maria died when I was 15, and I set out to find my real family, the one Maria had told me about but never told me why I wasn't with them. Finally, my father found me, and told me everything, and took me around. I'm staying with Ron because my dad has to do some stuff... He wanted me to stay with an all wizard family for a while so that I could see what it was like in the wizarding world."
Harry was astounded. He realized that he had never actually heard Dumbledore talk about his personal family, other than his brother, whom Harry had only heard Dumbledore talking about once. He looked at April. She didn't resemble Dumbledore too much, other than the powerful eyes. After all, April didn't have alot of Dumbledores qualities, like a long white beard. Her hair was a reddish-brown, and long and straight. April caught Harry staring at her, and grinned. She had the same smile as Dumbledore as well, thought Harry, and he kept cleaning the old mug he was holding.
********** [::NOTE FROM AUTHOR::] ************* -Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! -Anna - Write more on your story! -Thanks to ARIEL - She is now my official editor for this story! ************************************************