Chapter 4: If you're tired of England...then you're tired of life.
Finally, finally after 12 godforsaken hours in the plane back home, considering that it was the home of most present company, the group of disgruntled people got out of the flying vehicle. Lupin seemed tired but amused, Black looked like he could begin kissing the ground he walked on just to emphasize how much he hated the flight and Snape, well, let's just say that if anybody thought he was always in a foul mood, now it was even fouler; the man seemed to want to snap at anybody who was in his way. Meg still noticed how some people just ran out of his way, probably in fear. Lena, Lex and Meg were the opposite entirely. The three of them were as calm as a cucumbers, which put Snape in a more foul mood, thinking there was no way kids that age wouldn't get restless in such a long flight. He was yet to see that his kids weren't like any other kids, in more ways than one.
They did, however, make something of those 12 hours. Meg heard all about Hogwarts, Gryffindors and Slytherins, which Meg found to be a topic to cause a very heated conversation; and at last the Potters and the Malfoys, especially the ones Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.
Meg and Lex had already heard the Potters story from their mother. Meg could totally relate to Harry, whom she said she had heard the name before, but that it couldn't be her Harry. She would bet anything that it was another Harry Potter they were talking about. Besides there were other Potters around England, right? Right? She kept telling herself that.
And then they were home. At least our current home, Meg thought. Both Lex and Meg looked around, taking in their surroundings until they were interrupted by strange little people. Their father explained that they were house elves. The house elves promptly greeted their new masters and Lena was surprised to find how their English was improved to that of a normal person. Then they turned to greet the Manor's master.
"Good evening Master Snape, will you be needing anything at the time?"
"No, Gordon, thank you. I will be escorting our guests to their rooms." Snape replied, ignoring the different reactions he received from both Lupin and Black.
The house elf nodded. "May we take our leave then?"
"Yes, but first," Snape started, "am I right to assume that the new rooms are ready?"
"Yes, Master Snape."
Waving his hand dissmisevly. "Very well, then, you can leave."
After they nodded their thanks, the house elves left with a resounding pop, making the occupants of the room jump startled.
"That was strange." Alex commented, eyes wide in amazement.
"It won't be for long" Meg stated.
As they were being escorted to their new rooms, Lex and Meg noticed something else out of the ordinary: the moving paintings. Lex was more even amazed to find out the not only they moved but they talked! Meg rolled her eyes at hearing her little brother say "Cool!"
When he arrived to his new rooms, Lex expected to see something elegant and old, only to find it decorated almost in the same way his old room was but only better. Snape had managed to have muggle devices installed in Lex's room such as a T.V., VCR, DVD player, and Apple computer (red in color, much to Snape's disgust), telephone, and a stereo. Contemporanean paintings graced Lex's red walls but he loved it, he decided that it was so like him. The way he thanked his father left the man blushing madly, which was a very strange thing to see given the man's pale face. Lena, Remus and Sirius stayed in Lex's room as Severus took his daughter to her room.
Meg's had a more femenine touch, which left her to wonder who had helped him, then she berated herself for thinking that without giving the man a chance. Her room had blue and purple pastel colors. She noticed a few china dolls that her father claimed she had when she was little, courtesy of his friends, he said. Meg had the same entertainment devices as Lex's only in matching colors with her room and like Lex's she had a queen sized bed wrapped in designer silk sheets. Meg smiled at that detail, trust her father to buy the best, regardless of the price. Still, he pampered Lex a little bit more than he did her but she didn't mind. Lex had never been held by his father and both of them needed their time together to know each other.
She was shook out of her thoughts as her father spoke. "Do you like it?"
"Like it? no" she said deadpan, but added, grinning, a few seconds later (for dramatic effect) "I love it!"
A long sigh. "You should know better than scare me like that."
She rose a long, graceful eyebrow. "Oh, really? And what are you going to do about it."
"Are you challenging me, Ms. Smith?"
Meg gasps dramatically. "Me? Persih the thought!"
"I didn't think so." Snape solemnly said.
"But really, what would you do about it?" Meg asked, teasing.
Snape smirked. "This."
Meg cried out in shock as she was abruptly lifted and then thrown on the neatly made bed. She widened her eyes at her father and shrieked as his fingers started to dig at her ribs, tickling her mercilessy. She laughed and shrieked as he tickled her and barely could find her voice to ask him to stop. Meanwhile at the doorframe, both Lupin and Lena were taking in the sight of the father and daughter interaction. Both adults grinned at their play. Lena thought Severus must have remembered how incredibly ticklish his daughter was and still is. They suddenly heard a deep, husky, rich laugh from Severus as Meg feebly retaliated by grabbing a pillow and whacking him with it but couldn't get to the man above.
Finally she yelled. "Mercy, mercy!!"
"Mercy? So soon?" Snape asked without stopping and grinning widely.
"P-please" she laughed.
Snape stopped. "All right."
Meg sat up on her new bed and wiped tears of mirth from her cinnamon colored face. She then looked at the bed and saw the messy heap of sheets gathered at the end of the bed and discarded pillows on the floor, due to the trashing limbs and jumping bodies a few minutes ago.
"Aww! Look at what we did!" she exclaimed to her father with a pout.
"Please, Meg, don't pout, it's not becoming of you"
She gasped. "Then, how am I to survive the teachers? I can't shut my charm off! It's a tradition that's been handed down generations and generations of winning cheerleaders!!"
Severus laughed at Meg's rant but she kept ranting ignoring the joining chuckles from the doorframe. She glared at her father who was still laughing.
"I hardly think a few pouts and a set of puppy dog eyes will win the Hogwarts' staff over." Said Lupin, making his way toward the bed where father and daughter currently sat.
Both of the bed's occupants gave a little startled jump at the voice. Snape wondered how long had they been standing at the doorframe. He turned a pink shade thinking they'd been there enought to hear the whole thing.
Meg narrowed her eyes. "How willing are you to bet on that?"
"No, no bets!" started Lena slightly alarmed and amused at the same time. "Absolutely no bets."
"Spoilsport." She muttered.
"I heard that."
Meg scowled as Lena yawned.
"I think you all will agree with me that it's time to get to bed." started Lena, rubbing her eyes. "We did have a long flight and we need our rest. Besides the adventure doesn't end here, we still have to go to Diagon Alley to buy your school supplies."
"You make it sound boring, mom."
"To me it is boring." She replied, giving Meg a weary look. "I've done it for a bit more than 10 years and it's always boring."
"Don't mind your mom. Think of all the new things you'll have by tomorrow." Remus haughtily spoke.
"Hey! I resent that!" Then added: "Now, can we go to bed?"
"Yeah, as soon as I find my stuff." Meg replied.
"The house-elves already got to it." offered her father. "They're in your closet."
"Whoa, they're fast!"
"Magic, dear. Magic." Her mother stated.
"Right. Whatever." Meg said, rolling her eyes.
Yawn. "Night, Meg."
"Night, mom. Dad"
"Sleep tight." Her father replied sending a smile her way, which she returned.
"All right." she replied.
Severus stared at Lupin, who made no indications of wanting to move anytime soon.
Exasperated. "Lupin."
"I'll be right out, I just need to say a few things." Lupin replied as he crossed his arms. He found that he did that every time that Severus got into offense.
"Well, get on with it."
"In private."
"I don't-"
"It's all right, dad. You can go to sleep now." Meg interjected.
Severus eyed them both as Lena whispered to him. He grumbingly said:
"Fine. Just don't take long."
"I won't." Lupin assured.
He closed the door. Then he took out his wand.
"What are you doing?" asked Lena.
"I'm putting a small alarm, that'll tell me when Lupin leaves the room."
"Severus!"
"What?"
"Don't be like this. You know Remus wouldn't do anything to his goddaughter. He'd kill himself before he'd hurt her."
"You're asking me to trust a werewolf?"
"I'm asking you to trust my friend!" Lena fervently argued. "Severus, I have no time for this. You put that charm on your daughter's room, you'll sleep on the floor."
"You wouldn't"
"Try me."
Severus saw that his wife was dead set on being obeyed. She was as manipulative as her grandfather but sometimes she was so direct on what she wanted, she often got it. Severus sighed tiredly.
"Fine."
"Good. Thank you." she leant in to kiss him on the lips, making a soft noise as she made contact with his lips.
"God! Get a room, why don't you?" said a deep annoyed voice.
"Well, seeing that I am in my own home I figured I could do what I damn well please, don't you think?" Severus scathed.
"Sev, Sirius, please." Lena pleaded before Sirius could come up with a retort. "We're all tired and frankly I need my beauty sleep, so please, please don't start."
"All right." Sirius relented holding his hands up. "By the way, where's Remus?"
"Oh, he's in there." Lena pointed to Meg's door. "Talking to Meg."
"Ok, I'm coming in, be right out." And he entered, before Severus could protest.
Severus was fuming. The disrespect he recieved in his own home was intolerable! By Lupin and Black no less. Let alone that his wife keeps on defending them, despite of everything. Of course, he could expect no less of his Gryffindor wife, unless it became the death of him.
"Severus?" called his wife.
No response.
"Breathe." She finished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lupin sat on Meg's bed as he waited for her to get changed into her pajamas. She got out of the bathroom in less than a 2 minutes and jumped playfully onto her bed grinning at Remus. He grinned back.
"All right. What did you want to talk about?"
"Well, Meg." He started, gulping nervously. "This is hard for me to say, so bear with me all right?"
"Oh, no!" Meg said dramatically.
"What?"
"You're not in love with me, are you?"
"What? NO!" Lupin said startled. "How can you say such things? I'm your godfather, for goodness' sake!"
"Whoa!" Meg said backing out putting her arms in front of her defensively. "Easy, tiger, easy. I was just trying to loosen you up."
"Don't." Remus sighed.
Sheepishly. "All right, sorry."
"Oh, it's ok." Lupin said grabbing her hand and patting it.
"So..." Meg started, awkwardly, "you're my godfather?"
"Yes."
"Is that what you wanted to tell me?"
"Well, partly." He said without looking at her as he let go of her hand. "If you'd please not interrupt me, because what I'm trying to say it's very serious."
"Oh, are you guys talking about me?" he said grinning as he shut the door on Severus face.
"No, I was trying to say something that had nothing to do with you, Sirius." Remus sighed. "But you can stay."
"Well, don't mind me." Sirius cheerfully added as he sat on an ottoman. "Just do like I don't exist."
"That would be a very hard task to do, even if you weren't here, Paddy."
Meg giggled. Sirius grinned and winked at her as Remus shook his head.
"Now. What I wanted to say, " he started, "is that I'm a werewolf."
He paused to see Meg staring at him in astonishment. She stared and stared, until it got on both men's nerves.
"Meg?"
"Huh?"
"Did you hear me?"
She nodded. "Uh-huh."
"Well?" he asked. "Are you ok?"
"I don't know." Meg replied truthfully. "I'm so shocked, I'm speechless."
"The reason I wanted to tell you this, is because I'll be back to teaching at Hogwarts."
"Back?" she asked. "Why did you leave?"
"The school found out that I was a werewolf, and I just quit and left." Remus started explaining. " I just thought it might be better before Dumbledore would find himself in a tight fix with the parents and the school's board for hiring me and decided he'd tell the ministry I'll stay despite of my lycantrophy. He knew what I was and still hired me"
"But if this Dumbledore guy trusted you enough to theach the little 'uns, why leave?" Meg reasoned. " Believe me, Remus, the very little I know of you, makes me see that you're a great person. I would be willing to bet your students loved you, and would have accepted you as you were."
"In any case. " Remus started gaining Meg's attention. "Not everyone is so...friendly towards werewolves. Defense Against the Dark Arts books, and biased myths are a few reasons why. Everyone believes that werewolves are dark creatures, monsters, what you will, and they are, on the full moon that is."
"The rest of the time they're humans, right?"
" Yes. Besides, I'm taking a potion, a sort of medication."
"What is it?"
"The Wolfsbane Potion." He replied. "Your father will make it for me at my stay at Hogwarts. It makes the drinker tame while in the wolf's form."
Meg blinked. "My father?"
"Yes, your father. Why?" Remus said, slowly.
"Nothing, it's just...I don't know."
"Yes, you do." Sirius stated. "You don't trust him, do you?"
"Well..." she looked away.
"Meg!" Remus admonished, indignant.
"Look, I know my father doesn't like you. He even said that he doesn't get along with you guys very well. But the looks...the looks tell me something else, and I don't like it."
"For God's sake Meg, he's your father."
"No, let her! I like this girl already." Sirius defended.
Glare. "Padfoot!"
"Why don't you guys get along? It can't be this petty feud between Slytherins vs Gryffindor."
"That's partly it." Remus confessed. He was wringing his hands, hoping she would just leave it alone. To his dismay, she didn't want to.
"What's the rest of it?" Meg asked, exasperated. She figured they were hiding something and she wanted to know what.
Sigh. "If we tell you, you're going to hate us."
"No, I won't! Try me." She urged.
After they explained the incident in their 6th year, how they were nearly expelled, and how their victim was forced into silence, making him more bitter and resentful toward his supposed protector. They explained everything to her, and once again, she was stunned. I must have heard wrong, she thought.
"I'm sorry, there must be something in my ears-"
"There's nothing wrong with your ears." Remus snapped at her.
"Oh, no!" Meg seethed. "No! Don't you dare get angry at me Remus Lupin! If anything, I should be the one who gets mad, not you!"
Both men gaped at her, but Remus understood as his young features were filled with sadness. Sirius watched her guiltily as she now paced her room.
"What were you thinking?" Meg shouted in anger, stopping before Sirius. Were you thinking at all?"
"Yes! Yes, I was!" Sirius said loudly. "I was thinking that the stupid sod deserved it. Following us everywhere and trying to get us expelled. I just wanted to scare him off."
"At the expense of my father's life?" She said, her anger rising up a notch. "And who are you to decide what my father deserved and did not deserve? Why would you do this? Just because he wanted you expelled? I'm surprised you didn't get expelled when that happened."
"We nearly were!"
"But you did graduate!" Meg said exasperated. "And I want to know why you did what you did."
"Why? You want to know why?"
"Sirius..." Remus warned, afraid that he migth say the wrong things and reveal what he had worked so hard to forget.
"The girl wants to know why." Sirius reasoned, sporting a mad glint in his eyes. Meg wasn't swayed by that. She was going to find out one way or another and she preferred now.
Grabbing his arm pleadingly."Sirius, please..."
"I'll tell you why. Revenge, that's why." He hissed out.
"Revenge?" Meg asked, arms crossed in indifference.
"God." Remus moaned.
"He hurt Remus. He broke his heart."
"Ok, that's enough, Sirius."
"We Marauders," he went on as if Remus hadn't said anything. "We look out for each other. We got each other's back, and as such, I bowed I would make him pay."
"By killing him?" she asked.
"If he needed be!"
Both Remus and Meg gasped in utter surprise.
"I just wanted to scare him. Send the message across 'Don't mess with us.' But rather than hurting him, it hurt me more. I nearly lost my friends, and their trust. I was shunned from my house for losing the hard worked points. I lost the respect from classmates and teachers. But most importantly, I lost the love of my life."
Tears ran silently down his bronzed cheeks as he fell down onto the chair in front of the ottoman. Meg pitied him. Despite of nearly costing her father his life with that stunt, she felt sorry for him. He realized the hard way, that revenge leads to more pain, especially for the avenger. He kept on talking in ragged breaths.
"I loved him so much. (Him? Meg thought. Remus?) I was so blinded by rage that I didn't think things through. Remus was like a brother to me and your father hurt him so much... I didn't think that by hurting his best friend I'd be hurting him, too."
Nope. Not Remus, she thought.
"But you did, Padfoot." Remus said, softly, as he sat down on the ottoman.
"I know." Sirius sobbed.
Meg looked at the pitiful figure of Sirius Black. The man who only a few hours ago was grinning and laughing, was now sobbing in the arms of his beloved friend, remembering the hurt, the betrayal, the many tears he had inflicted to those he cared the most about.
"Did you apologize?" Meg asked tentatively.
He gave a bitter laugh. "I did! I begged, I groveled, I even was on my fucking knees!"
"Sirius!" Remus admonised.
"Sorry."
"Well, that was humiliating." she stated
"You've no idea."
"Oh, believe me. I do."
Both men frowned but refrained from asking anything. The air was tense and everything seemed to hang by a thread.
"You ever saw him again?"
It was then, when Meg said 'him' instead of 'her', did Sirius realized he confessed he was in love with a man.
"Don't worry about it." Meg assured him. "I don't care you're gay, or bi. I have a gay boyfriend to care for your preferences."
"Oh."
A pause
"Well?"
He sighed. "I did. On his wedding. And after that, every other day...with his wife."
"Egads! He married a woman?" She said, taking a hand to her chest.
"Yes."
"He should be ashamed!" Meg exclaimed, looking thoroughly indignant. "Disappointing the gay population like that. I don't believe it!"
Both men were, once again, gaping at her as if she had grown two horns. First she was furious at Sirius and then found herself indignat at the fact Sirius' lover married a female. Maybe she was in that time of the month, Sirius thought.
"I'm sorry." She said sincerely.
"Don't be...I deserved it."
After a few minutes and a box of Kleenex later, both men stood up from where they were seating and walked towards the door.
"I'm sorry we..."
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Remus. At least we all got it out."
"Still angry?"
"A bit." She paused. "As you said, you got what you deserved."
"Yes." Sirius nodded, resigned.
"If you truly are sorry, which I've seen, you are," Meg stated, looking at his hands rather than Sirius face. "I think you should go for it."
"For what?" Sirius asked, curious.
"Forgiving yourself." she replied
"I-I..." He stammered.
"You can't expect anybody to forgive you at all if you don't forgive yourself." Meg said in a matter of fact tone. "I've known that it is always better to start with ourselves."
A small pause.
"Have you?" asked Remus as he looked at Meg.
Meg stared at him for a while before returning her attention to her hands. Busted, Meg thought. She was busted preaching what she didn't do. She sighed.
"I've tried." she simply stated. "I've never said it was easy."
Remus smiled at her, stroking her cheek, as Sirius nodded in understanding.
"Keep trying." Remus whispered. Meg nodded in response.
"We better go." Sirius said. "We wouldn't want Snape to burst in here and do us the displeasure to kick us out of here."
"Severus wouldn't do that" Remus argued.
A snort. "Keep telling yourself that"
"Ok, so he would, but not with Lena around." He reasoned, turning the doorknob and opening the door.
Patting his friends shoulders and offering a grin. "Well, aren't you glad about that."
"I'm very glad, Padfoot, very glad." He said getting out of the room and calling out: "Night Meg."
"Yeah, good night." Sirius said, getting out himself.
"Good night." Meg waved at them, as she closed he door.
Meg chuckled afterwards. Then, as if getting a small shock, she slapped her forehead, muttering 'Damn!' a few times. Meg had forgotten to ask Remus what did Sirius mean with her father breaking Remus' heart. Oh well, there was always tomorrow and she got into her bed, turning out the lights.
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Harry was up before dawn as the nightmares had paid him its daily visit that night. Noiselessly, he had gone out to the Weasley's backyard to get some very needed fresh air and calm himself down after his nightly ordeals. There was no chance in hell he could go back to sleep now where the nightmares could haunt him still.
So, he spent the hours to dawn sitting on the soft grass and thinking of Meg, remembering the grief she must be going through. Was she ok? What was she feeling, thinking right now? Do nightmares haunt her so? He hoped not.
Thoughts of holding her and comforting her filled his mind. He shook his head in self-reprimand. He sported a bitter smile as his ritual self- punishment began again ever since Meg left. Her comfort, her presence had improved his thoughts about himself regarding Cedric's murder. Meg made him feel normal, and as himself; not Harry Potter, just Harry. His moods were slowly plumeting down as he missed Meg. She wasn't there to keep his demons away.
Suddenly, he heard a rustling of leaves behind him. He instinctively made a grab for his wand and turned abruptly to where the noise came from, his wand pointing at the offending disturber.
"Whoa! Hey, it's just me!" Said a startled redheaded girl "Remember me? Ginny, Ron's little sister?"
Harry heaved a big sigh of relief. He lowered his wand, smiling apologetically at the startled girl.
"Ginny, you scared me." he said in a soft whisper.
Age, it seems, had taken its toll on her and very nicely if he dared say. Her red auburn hair reached the small of her back in a wavy mass. She had grown out of her baby fat as her cheekbones were more pronounced and the freckles on her face faded out by a fraction. Her hight went up by a few inches, no taller than him but it still complimented her thin but curveous (A/N: is that even a word?) body. He looked up to her apologetic face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I swear I tried to be as silent as possible, but you seem to have a very keen sense of hearing."
"Nah, just a bit paranoid." Harry replied nonchalantly.
"Oh. Sorry"
"Don't be."
A long pause.
"If you want I can leave..." Ginny said, reluctantly, not wanting to interrupt the boy's solitude.
"No! It's ok." He said quickly "This is your home, I have no right to be sending you away at your own home."
"This is your home also, Harry."
"I know, it's just..." he paused lowering his head, then looking up at the expectant girl. "Don't go. It'll be nice to have you as company."
"Sure." Ginny said, smiling.
They both sat besides each other, one looking up the stars while the other just stared off into space. Oblivious to the raven haired boy, Ginny had her thoughts somewhere else rather than the twinkling stars. She drew her knees up to her chin, shivering slightly from the damp air and then looked, really looked at the stars, smiling bitterly. Ginny had her mind back when she was little and loved making whishes upon the shimmering little stones. She would wish for a knight in shining armor, the prince charming, someone to sweep her off her feet and take her to his castle on his beautiful white horse. Infantile dreams were all she lived for, but then...she grew up and she rued the day she did for she met her prince charming, Tom Riddle. If there ever was a man she would never wanted to feel for, it was Tom Riddle. He haunted her dreams, filled with passion and lust, rather than gory deaths and merciless torture. He possesed her as she'd never been possesed. He held her heart and soul in his graceful, ivory hands for which she made a startling discovery: she, Virginia Weasley, had fallen in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle, alias Voldemort. She had fallen hard and deep.
She shook her head and turned to look at Harry. It was uncanny how that boy resembled Tom. At first, she thought her infatuation with Tom came from her initial crush on Harry. She had yet to learn that even if they were twins, she'd have chosen Tom over Harry. After a few minutes of blessed silence, she decided to end it with small talk before going into the house to get ready for their trip to Diagon Alley.
"So..." Ginny started. "I heard of your latest crush. Someone called Meg."
Harry laughed.
"Meg Smith." he sighed.
"Ah, I see how it is." Ginny teased.
Both laughed only to be shushed by the other, taking mind that the rest of the Weasley family was still asleep.
"Who told you?" Harry asked.
"Oh, Ron...and Hermione." Ginny replied in mock boredom. "They went on and on about her, one would think they fell in love with her and not each other!"
"You noticed, huh?" Harry said teasingly.
"Yeah!" She checkled and then sighed. "I still can't believe it took them this long to get together."
"Together?" said Harry, confused.
Ginny widened her eyes and then grimaced as she realized what she had said, She looked at Harry who was staring at her expectantly.
"I shouldn't have said that."
"Why wasn't I told of this?" Harry asked crossing his arms.
"Please don't get mad at them," Ginny pleaded, "they think nobody knows and haven't told anybody because they want it to be a surprise. I just accidentaly evasdropped on them."
Incredously. "Accidentally?"
"Ok, ok, so I dropped eaves" Harry laughed at that. "I couldn't help it, they were so suspicious! Mum even knows they're up to something."
Harry sighed. "All right. When were they supposed to give us the low down on this."
"The what?" She asked, perplexed.
"I'm sorry." Harry chuckled. "I think their motocrossing slang just rubbed off on me. I meant when were they going to tell us?"
"I don't know," Ginny shrugged. "All I know, is that they want the whole family to know."
"Diagon Alley." Harry said matter of factly.
"How do you know?" She asked, smiling conspirationaly.
"It's the only place both the Grangers and the Weasleys can meet." He replied, smirking.
"Smart." Ginny said thoughtfully.
"Just Hermione." Harry said, haughtily
"Hey!" She punched his arm for good measure.
Clutching his arm in mock pain "What on earth have they been feeding you this summer?"
She laughed and soon Harry joined her. Later in the morning Mrs. Weasley called them for breakfast. Both teens couldn't believe the time they spent talking and joking with each other. The only moment of silence they had was before they sat together and watching the sunrise. Now, one would think that watching a sunrise together would be one of the most romantic moments a couple could share. Clearly, Harry and Ginny were the exception as they shared a sunrise as friends, and nothing more. Still, it marked a beginning. A beginning of the path of choices, where they both would roam to decide where their loyalties lie...as well as their hearts. ====================================================
Snape Manor woke up to the unusual noises of teens waking up singing, jumping or dancing around and bustling around their rooms. One grumpy Severus Snape found his bed to be empty by the time both his daughter and son woke him up for breakfast. He realized with a groan, that he had a long arduous day with his family, the werewolf, and the mutt at Diagon Alley. Lex couldn't wait.
"C'mon! Let's move it! There's places to be, people to see!" exclaimed Lex, who had finished his breakfast in record time.
They were walking towards the enormous waiting room, where a house elf waited for them with a pot of floo powder in hand. Snape stood before the fireplace and turned to face his son.
"You win by patience, not persistance." Snape quoted, who was yet to thank the Headmaster for his wise words.
"What old fool said that?" scowled Lex.
"The old fool is none other than your great-granfather, Albus Dumbledore." He replied matter of factly. Soon everyone joined them at the waiting room. "He is the Headmaster of Hogwarts were you both will be going to get your education."
"He must be very important." Meg said.
"Not only he is important, he's the most powerful wizard of the wizardring world." Lena added proudly as she helped Meg put on her light jacket.
"He is also very feared by the Dark Lord," commented Remus.
"And anyone who dares defy him" Sirius added helpfully. "I believe that any idiot who tried, would be reduced to a pile of ashes."
Lex was...impressed, to say the least. He then turned to his father, a questioning look on his face.
"I am the great-grandson of a very powerful wizard, right?" Lex started.
"Right, you are!" Chirped Sirius.
Still staring at his father. "How come you haven't been reduced to a pile of ashes?"
Severus glared at his son, who in turn gave him an cheeky grin. the room's occupants sniggered slightly at the boy's antics, but sobbered up as soon as Severus sent a glare their way.
"So..." said Meg. "How are we going to get there?"
"By Floo Powder." Replied her mother.
"Come again?" asked Lex perplexed.
"Floo Powder, we'll be traveling through the fireplace." Lena explained.
"The fireplace?" asked Meg, looking at the fireplace with wide eyes.
"Exactly," she replied "one of us will go first and show you how to do it, any volunteers?"
"I'll do it." said Remus walking towards the fireplace. Once he was there: "First, once you have your whole body into the fireplace, you grab a fistfull of the powder from the pot Minnie's is holding" he motioned to Minnie and Minnie lowered the pot for the teens to see.
"Then," he countinued, "you will say the words firmly and clearly 'Diagon Alley', then you let go of the powder and you will be transported. I will be at the other end waiting for you. Any questions?"
The teens shook their heads.
"Good. I'll see you there." Remus said with a smile. Then, he took a fistfull of the powder and said: "Diagon Alley." ===============================================
R & R
Finally, finally after 12 godforsaken hours in the plane back home, considering that it was the home of most present company, the group of disgruntled people got out of the flying vehicle. Lupin seemed tired but amused, Black looked like he could begin kissing the ground he walked on just to emphasize how much he hated the flight and Snape, well, let's just say that if anybody thought he was always in a foul mood, now it was even fouler; the man seemed to want to snap at anybody who was in his way. Meg still noticed how some people just ran out of his way, probably in fear. Lena, Lex and Meg were the opposite entirely. The three of them were as calm as a cucumbers, which put Snape in a more foul mood, thinking there was no way kids that age wouldn't get restless in such a long flight. He was yet to see that his kids weren't like any other kids, in more ways than one.
They did, however, make something of those 12 hours. Meg heard all about Hogwarts, Gryffindors and Slytherins, which Meg found to be a topic to cause a very heated conversation; and at last the Potters and the Malfoys, especially the ones Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.
Meg and Lex had already heard the Potters story from their mother. Meg could totally relate to Harry, whom she said she had heard the name before, but that it couldn't be her Harry. She would bet anything that it was another Harry Potter they were talking about. Besides there were other Potters around England, right? Right? She kept telling herself that.
And then they were home. At least our current home, Meg thought. Both Lex and Meg looked around, taking in their surroundings until they were interrupted by strange little people. Their father explained that they were house elves. The house elves promptly greeted their new masters and Lena was surprised to find how their English was improved to that of a normal person. Then they turned to greet the Manor's master.
"Good evening Master Snape, will you be needing anything at the time?"
"No, Gordon, thank you. I will be escorting our guests to their rooms." Snape replied, ignoring the different reactions he received from both Lupin and Black.
The house elf nodded. "May we take our leave then?"
"Yes, but first," Snape started, "am I right to assume that the new rooms are ready?"
"Yes, Master Snape."
Waving his hand dissmisevly. "Very well, then, you can leave."
After they nodded their thanks, the house elves left with a resounding pop, making the occupants of the room jump startled.
"That was strange." Alex commented, eyes wide in amazement.
"It won't be for long" Meg stated.
As they were being escorted to their new rooms, Lex and Meg noticed something else out of the ordinary: the moving paintings. Lex was more even amazed to find out the not only they moved but they talked! Meg rolled her eyes at hearing her little brother say "Cool!"
When he arrived to his new rooms, Lex expected to see something elegant and old, only to find it decorated almost in the same way his old room was but only better. Snape had managed to have muggle devices installed in Lex's room such as a T.V., VCR, DVD player, and Apple computer (red in color, much to Snape's disgust), telephone, and a stereo. Contemporanean paintings graced Lex's red walls but he loved it, he decided that it was so like him. The way he thanked his father left the man blushing madly, which was a very strange thing to see given the man's pale face. Lena, Remus and Sirius stayed in Lex's room as Severus took his daughter to her room.
Meg's had a more femenine touch, which left her to wonder who had helped him, then she berated herself for thinking that without giving the man a chance. Her room had blue and purple pastel colors. She noticed a few china dolls that her father claimed she had when she was little, courtesy of his friends, he said. Meg had the same entertainment devices as Lex's only in matching colors with her room and like Lex's she had a queen sized bed wrapped in designer silk sheets. Meg smiled at that detail, trust her father to buy the best, regardless of the price. Still, he pampered Lex a little bit more than he did her but she didn't mind. Lex had never been held by his father and both of them needed their time together to know each other.
She was shook out of her thoughts as her father spoke. "Do you like it?"
"Like it? no" she said deadpan, but added, grinning, a few seconds later (for dramatic effect) "I love it!"
A long sigh. "You should know better than scare me like that."
She rose a long, graceful eyebrow. "Oh, really? And what are you going to do about it."
"Are you challenging me, Ms. Smith?"
Meg gasps dramatically. "Me? Persih the thought!"
"I didn't think so." Snape solemnly said.
"But really, what would you do about it?" Meg asked, teasing.
Snape smirked. "This."
Meg cried out in shock as she was abruptly lifted and then thrown on the neatly made bed. She widened her eyes at her father and shrieked as his fingers started to dig at her ribs, tickling her mercilessy. She laughed and shrieked as he tickled her and barely could find her voice to ask him to stop. Meanwhile at the doorframe, both Lupin and Lena were taking in the sight of the father and daughter interaction. Both adults grinned at their play. Lena thought Severus must have remembered how incredibly ticklish his daughter was and still is. They suddenly heard a deep, husky, rich laugh from Severus as Meg feebly retaliated by grabbing a pillow and whacking him with it but couldn't get to the man above.
Finally she yelled. "Mercy, mercy!!"
"Mercy? So soon?" Snape asked without stopping and grinning widely.
"P-please" she laughed.
Snape stopped. "All right."
Meg sat up on her new bed and wiped tears of mirth from her cinnamon colored face. She then looked at the bed and saw the messy heap of sheets gathered at the end of the bed and discarded pillows on the floor, due to the trashing limbs and jumping bodies a few minutes ago.
"Aww! Look at what we did!" she exclaimed to her father with a pout.
"Please, Meg, don't pout, it's not becoming of you"
She gasped. "Then, how am I to survive the teachers? I can't shut my charm off! It's a tradition that's been handed down generations and generations of winning cheerleaders!!"
Severus laughed at Meg's rant but she kept ranting ignoring the joining chuckles from the doorframe. She glared at her father who was still laughing.
"I hardly think a few pouts and a set of puppy dog eyes will win the Hogwarts' staff over." Said Lupin, making his way toward the bed where father and daughter currently sat.
Both of the bed's occupants gave a little startled jump at the voice. Snape wondered how long had they been standing at the doorframe. He turned a pink shade thinking they'd been there enought to hear the whole thing.
Meg narrowed her eyes. "How willing are you to bet on that?"
"No, no bets!" started Lena slightly alarmed and amused at the same time. "Absolutely no bets."
"Spoilsport." She muttered.
"I heard that."
Meg scowled as Lena yawned.
"I think you all will agree with me that it's time to get to bed." started Lena, rubbing her eyes. "We did have a long flight and we need our rest. Besides the adventure doesn't end here, we still have to go to Diagon Alley to buy your school supplies."
"You make it sound boring, mom."
"To me it is boring." She replied, giving Meg a weary look. "I've done it for a bit more than 10 years and it's always boring."
"Don't mind your mom. Think of all the new things you'll have by tomorrow." Remus haughtily spoke.
"Hey! I resent that!" Then added: "Now, can we go to bed?"
"Yeah, as soon as I find my stuff." Meg replied.
"The house-elves already got to it." offered her father. "They're in your closet."
"Whoa, they're fast!"
"Magic, dear. Magic." Her mother stated.
"Right. Whatever." Meg said, rolling her eyes.
Yawn. "Night, Meg."
"Night, mom. Dad"
"Sleep tight." Her father replied sending a smile her way, which she returned.
"All right." she replied.
Severus stared at Lupin, who made no indications of wanting to move anytime soon.
Exasperated. "Lupin."
"I'll be right out, I just need to say a few things." Lupin replied as he crossed his arms. He found that he did that every time that Severus got into offense.
"Well, get on with it."
"In private."
"I don't-"
"It's all right, dad. You can go to sleep now." Meg interjected.
Severus eyed them both as Lena whispered to him. He grumbingly said:
"Fine. Just don't take long."
"I won't." Lupin assured.
He closed the door. Then he took out his wand.
"What are you doing?" asked Lena.
"I'm putting a small alarm, that'll tell me when Lupin leaves the room."
"Severus!"
"What?"
"Don't be like this. You know Remus wouldn't do anything to his goddaughter. He'd kill himself before he'd hurt her."
"You're asking me to trust a werewolf?"
"I'm asking you to trust my friend!" Lena fervently argued. "Severus, I have no time for this. You put that charm on your daughter's room, you'll sleep on the floor."
"You wouldn't"
"Try me."
Severus saw that his wife was dead set on being obeyed. She was as manipulative as her grandfather but sometimes she was so direct on what she wanted, she often got it. Severus sighed tiredly.
"Fine."
"Good. Thank you." she leant in to kiss him on the lips, making a soft noise as she made contact with his lips.
"God! Get a room, why don't you?" said a deep annoyed voice.
"Well, seeing that I am in my own home I figured I could do what I damn well please, don't you think?" Severus scathed.
"Sev, Sirius, please." Lena pleaded before Sirius could come up with a retort. "We're all tired and frankly I need my beauty sleep, so please, please don't start."
"All right." Sirius relented holding his hands up. "By the way, where's Remus?"
"Oh, he's in there." Lena pointed to Meg's door. "Talking to Meg."
"Ok, I'm coming in, be right out." And he entered, before Severus could protest.
Severus was fuming. The disrespect he recieved in his own home was intolerable! By Lupin and Black no less. Let alone that his wife keeps on defending them, despite of everything. Of course, he could expect no less of his Gryffindor wife, unless it became the death of him.
"Severus?" called his wife.
No response.
"Breathe." She finished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lupin sat on Meg's bed as he waited for her to get changed into her pajamas. She got out of the bathroom in less than a 2 minutes and jumped playfully onto her bed grinning at Remus. He grinned back.
"All right. What did you want to talk about?"
"Well, Meg." He started, gulping nervously. "This is hard for me to say, so bear with me all right?"
"Oh, no!" Meg said dramatically.
"What?"
"You're not in love with me, are you?"
"What? NO!" Lupin said startled. "How can you say such things? I'm your godfather, for goodness' sake!"
"Whoa!" Meg said backing out putting her arms in front of her defensively. "Easy, tiger, easy. I was just trying to loosen you up."
"Don't." Remus sighed.
Sheepishly. "All right, sorry."
"Oh, it's ok." Lupin said grabbing her hand and patting it.
"So..." Meg started, awkwardly, "you're my godfather?"
"Yes."
"Is that what you wanted to tell me?"
"Well, partly." He said without looking at her as he let go of her hand. "If you'd please not interrupt me, because what I'm trying to say it's very serious."
"Oh, are you guys talking about me?" he said grinning as he shut the door on Severus face.
"No, I was trying to say something that had nothing to do with you, Sirius." Remus sighed. "But you can stay."
"Well, don't mind me." Sirius cheerfully added as he sat on an ottoman. "Just do like I don't exist."
"That would be a very hard task to do, even if you weren't here, Paddy."
Meg giggled. Sirius grinned and winked at her as Remus shook his head.
"Now. What I wanted to say, " he started, "is that I'm a werewolf."
He paused to see Meg staring at him in astonishment. She stared and stared, until it got on both men's nerves.
"Meg?"
"Huh?"
"Did you hear me?"
She nodded. "Uh-huh."
"Well?" he asked. "Are you ok?"
"I don't know." Meg replied truthfully. "I'm so shocked, I'm speechless."
"The reason I wanted to tell you this, is because I'll be back to teaching at Hogwarts."
"Back?" she asked. "Why did you leave?"
"The school found out that I was a werewolf, and I just quit and left." Remus started explaining. " I just thought it might be better before Dumbledore would find himself in a tight fix with the parents and the school's board for hiring me and decided he'd tell the ministry I'll stay despite of my lycantrophy. He knew what I was and still hired me"
"But if this Dumbledore guy trusted you enough to theach the little 'uns, why leave?" Meg reasoned. " Believe me, Remus, the very little I know of you, makes me see that you're a great person. I would be willing to bet your students loved you, and would have accepted you as you were."
"In any case. " Remus started gaining Meg's attention. "Not everyone is so...friendly towards werewolves. Defense Against the Dark Arts books, and biased myths are a few reasons why. Everyone believes that werewolves are dark creatures, monsters, what you will, and they are, on the full moon that is."
"The rest of the time they're humans, right?"
" Yes. Besides, I'm taking a potion, a sort of medication."
"What is it?"
"The Wolfsbane Potion." He replied. "Your father will make it for me at my stay at Hogwarts. It makes the drinker tame while in the wolf's form."
Meg blinked. "My father?"
"Yes, your father. Why?" Remus said, slowly.
"Nothing, it's just...I don't know."
"Yes, you do." Sirius stated. "You don't trust him, do you?"
"Well..." she looked away.
"Meg!" Remus admonished, indignant.
"Look, I know my father doesn't like you. He even said that he doesn't get along with you guys very well. But the looks...the looks tell me something else, and I don't like it."
"For God's sake Meg, he's your father."
"No, let her! I like this girl already." Sirius defended.
Glare. "Padfoot!"
"Why don't you guys get along? It can't be this petty feud between Slytherins vs Gryffindor."
"That's partly it." Remus confessed. He was wringing his hands, hoping she would just leave it alone. To his dismay, she didn't want to.
"What's the rest of it?" Meg asked, exasperated. She figured they were hiding something and she wanted to know what.
Sigh. "If we tell you, you're going to hate us."
"No, I won't! Try me." She urged.
After they explained the incident in their 6th year, how they were nearly expelled, and how their victim was forced into silence, making him more bitter and resentful toward his supposed protector. They explained everything to her, and once again, she was stunned. I must have heard wrong, she thought.
"I'm sorry, there must be something in my ears-"
"There's nothing wrong with your ears." Remus snapped at her.
"Oh, no!" Meg seethed. "No! Don't you dare get angry at me Remus Lupin! If anything, I should be the one who gets mad, not you!"
Both men gaped at her, but Remus understood as his young features were filled with sadness. Sirius watched her guiltily as she now paced her room.
"What were you thinking?" Meg shouted in anger, stopping before Sirius. Were you thinking at all?"
"Yes! Yes, I was!" Sirius said loudly. "I was thinking that the stupid sod deserved it. Following us everywhere and trying to get us expelled. I just wanted to scare him off."
"At the expense of my father's life?" She said, her anger rising up a notch. "And who are you to decide what my father deserved and did not deserve? Why would you do this? Just because he wanted you expelled? I'm surprised you didn't get expelled when that happened."
"We nearly were!"
"But you did graduate!" Meg said exasperated. "And I want to know why you did what you did."
"Why? You want to know why?"
"Sirius..." Remus warned, afraid that he migth say the wrong things and reveal what he had worked so hard to forget.
"The girl wants to know why." Sirius reasoned, sporting a mad glint in his eyes. Meg wasn't swayed by that. She was going to find out one way or another and she preferred now.
Grabbing his arm pleadingly."Sirius, please..."
"I'll tell you why. Revenge, that's why." He hissed out.
"Revenge?" Meg asked, arms crossed in indifference.
"God." Remus moaned.
"He hurt Remus. He broke his heart."
"Ok, that's enough, Sirius."
"We Marauders," he went on as if Remus hadn't said anything. "We look out for each other. We got each other's back, and as such, I bowed I would make him pay."
"By killing him?" she asked.
"If he needed be!"
Both Remus and Meg gasped in utter surprise.
"I just wanted to scare him. Send the message across 'Don't mess with us.' But rather than hurting him, it hurt me more. I nearly lost my friends, and their trust. I was shunned from my house for losing the hard worked points. I lost the respect from classmates and teachers. But most importantly, I lost the love of my life."
Tears ran silently down his bronzed cheeks as he fell down onto the chair in front of the ottoman. Meg pitied him. Despite of nearly costing her father his life with that stunt, she felt sorry for him. He realized the hard way, that revenge leads to more pain, especially for the avenger. He kept on talking in ragged breaths.
"I loved him so much. (Him? Meg thought. Remus?) I was so blinded by rage that I didn't think things through. Remus was like a brother to me and your father hurt him so much... I didn't think that by hurting his best friend I'd be hurting him, too."
Nope. Not Remus, she thought.
"But you did, Padfoot." Remus said, softly, as he sat down on the ottoman.
"I know." Sirius sobbed.
Meg looked at the pitiful figure of Sirius Black. The man who only a few hours ago was grinning and laughing, was now sobbing in the arms of his beloved friend, remembering the hurt, the betrayal, the many tears he had inflicted to those he cared the most about.
"Did you apologize?" Meg asked tentatively.
He gave a bitter laugh. "I did! I begged, I groveled, I even was on my fucking knees!"
"Sirius!" Remus admonised.
"Sorry."
"Well, that was humiliating." she stated
"You've no idea."
"Oh, believe me. I do."
Both men frowned but refrained from asking anything. The air was tense and everything seemed to hang by a thread.
"You ever saw him again?"
It was then, when Meg said 'him' instead of 'her', did Sirius realized he confessed he was in love with a man.
"Don't worry about it." Meg assured him. "I don't care you're gay, or bi. I have a gay boyfriend to care for your preferences."
"Oh."
A pause
"Well?"
He sighed. "I did. On his wedding. And after that, every other day...with his wife."
"Egads! He married a woman?" She said, taking a hand to her chest.
"Yes."
"He should be ashamed!" Meg exclaimed, looking thoroughly indignant. "Disappointing the gay population like that. I don't believe it!"
Both men were, once again, gaping at her as if she had grown two horns. First she was furious at Sirius and then found herself indignat at the fact Sirius' lover married a female. Maybe she was in that time of the month, Sirius thought.
"I'm sorry." She said sincerely.
"Don't be...I deserved it."
After a few minutes and a box of Kleenex later, both men stood up from where they were seating and walked towards the door.
"I'm sorry we..."
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Remus. At least we all got it out."
"Still angry?"
"A bit." She paused. "As you said, you got what you deserved."
"Yes." Sirius nodded, resigned.
"If you truly are sorry, which I've seen, you are," Meg stated, looking at his hands rather than Sirius face. "I think you should go for it."
"For what?" Sirius asked, curious.
"Forgiving yourself." she replied
"I-I..." He stammered.
"You can't expect anybody to forgive you at all if you don't forgive yourself." Meg said in a matter of fact tone. "I've known that it is always better to start with ourselves."
A small pause.
"Have you?" asked Remus as he looked at Meg.
Meg stared at him for a while before returning her attention to her hands. Busted, Meg thought. She was busted preaching what she didn't do. She sighed.
"I've tried." she simply stated. "I've never said it was easy."
Remus smiled at her, stroking her cheek, as Sirius nodded in understanding.
"Keep trying." Remus whispered. Meg nodded in response.
"We better go." Sirius said. "We wouldn't want Snape to burst in here and do us the displeasure to kick us out of here."
"Severus wouldn't do that" Remus argued.
A snort. "Keep telling yourself that"
"Ok, so he would, but not with Lena around." He reasoned, turning the doorknob and opening the door.
Patting his friends shoulders and offering a grin. "Well, aren't you glad about that."
"I'm very glad, Padfoot, very glad." He said getting out of the room and calling out: "Night Meg."
"Yeah, good night." Sirius said, getting out himself.
"Good night." Meg waved at them, as she closed he door.
Meg chuckled afterwards. Then, as if getting a small shock, she slapped her forehead, muttering 'Damn!' a few times. Meg had forgotten to ask Remus what did Sirius mean with her father breaking Remus' heart. Oh well, there was always tomorrow and she got into her bed, turning out the lights.
888888888~888888888~88888888
Harry was up before dawn as the nightmares had paid him its daily visit that night. Noiselessly, he had gone out to the Weasley's backyard to get some very needed fresh air and calm himself down after his nightly ordeals. There was no chance in hell he could go back to sleep now where the nightmares could haunt him still.
So, he spent the hours to dawn sitting on the soft grass and thinking of Meg, remembering the grief she must be going through. Was she ok? What was she feeling, thinking right now? Do nightmares haunt her so? He hoped not.
Thoughts of holding her and comforting her filled his mind. He shook his head in self-reprimand. He sported a bitter smile as his ritual self- punishment began again ever since Meg left. Her comfort, her presence had improved his thoughts about himself regarding Cedric's murder. Meg made him feel normal, and as himself; not Harry Potter, just Harry. His moods were slowly plumeting down as he missed Meg. She wasn't there to keep his demons away.
Suddenly, he heard a rustling of leaves behind him. He instinctively made a grab for his wand and turned abruptly to where the noise came from, his wand pointing at the offending disturber.
"Whoa! Hey, it's just me!" Said a startled redheaded girl "Remember me? Ginny, Ron's little sister?"
Harry heaved a big sigh of relief. He lowered his wand, smiling apologetically at the startled girl.
"Ginny, you scared me." he said in a soft whisper.
Age, it seems, had taken its toll on her and very nicely if he dared say. Her red auburn hair reached the small of her back in a wavy mass. She had grown out of her baby fat as her cheekbones were more pronounced and the freckles on her face faded out by a fraction. Her hight went up by a few inches, no taller than him but it still complimented her thin but curveous (A/N: is that even a word?) body. He looked up to her apologetic face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I swear I tried to be as silent as possible, but you seem to have a very keen sense of hearing."
"Nah, just a bit paranoid." Harry replied nonchalantly.
"Oh. Sorry"
"Don't be."
A long pause.
"If you want I can leave..." Ginny said, reluctantly, not wanting to interrupt the boy's solitude.
"No! It's ok." He said quickly "This is your home, I have no right to be sending you away at your own home."
"This is your home also, Harry."
"I know, it's just..." he paused lowering his head, then looking up at the expectant girl. "Don't go. It'll be nice to have you as company."
"Sure." Ginny said, smiling.
They both sat besides each other, one looking up the stars while the other just stared off into space. Oblivious to the raven haired boy, Ginny had her thoughts somewhere else rather than the twinkling stars. She drew her knees up to her chin, shivering slightly from the damp air and then looked, really looked at the stars, smiling bitterly. Ginny had her mind back when she was little and loved making whishes upon the shimmering little stones. She would wish for a knight in shining armor, the prince charming, someone to sweep her off her feet and take her to his castle on his beautiful white horse. Infantile dreams were all she lived for, but then...she grew up and she rued the day she did for she met her prince charming, Tom Riddle. If there ever was a man she would never wanted to feel for, it was Tom Riddle. He haunted her dreams, filled with passion and lust, rather than gory deaths and merciless torture. He possesed her as she'd never been possesed. He held her heart and soul in his graceful, ivory hands for which she made a startling discovery: she, Virginia Weasley, had fallen in love with Tom Marvolo Riddle, alias Voldemort. She had fallen hard and deep.
She shook her head and turned to look at Harry. It was uncanny how that boy resembled Tom. At first, she thought her infatuation with Tom came from her initial crush on Harry. She had yet to learn that even if they were twins, she'd have chosen Tom over Harry. After a few minutes of blessed silence, she decided to end it with small talk before going into the house to get ready for their trip to Diagon Alley.
"So..." Ginny started. "I heard of your latest crush. Someone called Meg."
Harry laughed.
"Meg Smith." he sighed.
"Ah, I see how it is." Ginny teased.
Both laughed only to be shushed by the other, taking mind that the rest of the Weasley family was still asleep.
"Who told you?" Harry asked.
"Oh, Ron...and Hermione." Ginny replied in mock boredom. "They went on and on about her, one would think they fell in love with her and not each other!"
"You noticed, huh?" Harry said teasingly.
"Yeah!" She checkled and then sighed. "I still can't believe it took them this long to get together."
"Together?" said Harry, confused.
Ginny widened her eyes and then grimaced as she realized what she had said, She looked at Harry who was staring at her expectantly.
"I shouldn't have said that."
"Why wasn't I told of this?" Harry asked crossing his arms.
"Please don't get mad at them," Ginny pleaded, "they think nobody knows and haven't told anybody because they want it to be a surprise. I just accidentaly evasdropped on them."
Incredously. "Accidentally?"
"Ok, ok, so I dropped eaves" Harry laughed at that. "I couldn't help it, they were so suspicious! Mum even knows they're up to something."
Harry sighed. "All right. When were they supposed to give us the low down on this."
"The what?" She asked, perplexed.
"I'm sorry." Harry chuckled. "I think their motocrossing slang just rubbed off on me. I meant when were they going to tell us?"
"I don't know," Ginny shrugged. "All I know, is that they want the whole family to know."
"Diagon Alley." Harry said matter of factly.
"How do you know?" She asked, smiling conspirationaly.
"It's the only place both the Grangers and the Weasleys can meet." He replied, smirking.
"Smart." Ginny said thoughtfully.
"Just Hermione." Harry said, haughtily
"Hey!" She punched his arm for good measure.
Clutching his arm in mock pain "What on earth have they been feeding you this summer?"
She laughed and soon Harry joined her. Later in the morning Mrs. Weasley called them for breakfast. Both teens couldn't believe the time they spent talking and joking with each other. The only moment of silence they had was before they sat together and watching the sunrise. Now, one would think that watching a sunrise together would be one of the most romantic moments a couple could share. Clearly, Harry and Ginny were the exception as they shared a sunrise as friends, and nothing more. Still, it marked a beginning. A beginning of the path of choices, where they both would roam to decide where their loyalties lie...as well as their hearts. ====================================================
Snape Manor woke up to the unusual noises of teens waking up singing, jumping or dancing around and bustling around their rooms. One grumpy Severus Snape found his bed to be empty by the time both his daughter and son woke him up for breakfast. He realized with a groan, that he had a long arduous day with his family, the werewolf, and the mutt at Diagon Alley. Lex couldn't wait.
"C'mon! Let's move it! There's places to be, people to see!" exclaimed Lex, who had finished his breakfast in record time.
They were walking towards the enormous waiting room, where a house elf waited for them with a pot of floo powder in hand. Snape stood before the fireplace and turned to face his son.
"You win by patience, not persistance." Snape quoted, who was yet to thank the Headmaster for his wise words.
"What old fool said that?" scowled Lex.
"The old fool is none other than your great-granfather, Albus Dumbledore." He replied matter of factly. Soon everyone joined them at the waiting room. "He is the Headmaster of Hogwarts were you both will be going to get your education."
"He must be very important." Meg said.
"Not only he is important, he's the most powerful wizard of the wizardring world." Lena added proudly as she helped Meg put on her light jacket.
"He is also very feared by the Dark Lord," commented Remus.
"And anyone who dares defy him" Sirius added helpfully. "I believe that any idiot who tried, would be reduced to a pile of ashes."
Lex was...impressed, to say the least. He then turned to his father, a questioning look on his face.
"I am the great-grandson of a very powerful wizard, right?" Lex started.
"Right, you are!" Chirped Sirius.
Still staring at his father. "How come you haven't been reduced to a pile of ashes?"
Severus glared at his son, who in turn gave him an cheeky grin. the room's occupants sniggered slightly at the boy's antics, but sobbered up as soon as Severus sent a glare their way.
"So..." said Meg. "How are we going to get there?"
"By Floo Powder." Replied her mother.
"Come again?" asked Lex perplexed.
"Floo Powder, we'll be traveling through the fireplace." Lena explained.
"The fireplace?" asked Meg, looking at the fireplace with wide eyes.
"Exactly," she replied "one of us will go first and show you how to do it, any volunteers?"
"I'll do it." said Remus walking towards the fireplace. Once he was there: "First, once you have your whole body into the fireplace, you grab a fistfull of the powder from the pot Minnie's is holding" he motioned to Minnie and Minnie lowered the pot for the teens to see.
"Then," he countinued, "you will say the words firmly and clearly 'Diagon Alley', then you let go of the powder and you will be transported. I will be at the other end waiting for you. Any questions?"
The teens shook their heads.
"Good. I'll see you there." Remus said with a smile. Then, he took a fistfull of the powder and said: "Diagon Alley." ===============================================
R & R