Daphne: "I have had a few questions about how it is possible that Harry has
a little sister. Well, here's your answer!
***Harry's parents didn't die until he was just over a year old. It says so in the first book. He goes to Hogwarts *ten* years after he started living with his aunt and uncle, but he is eleven at the time. So it is only logical that he was one at the time of his parents death. Therefore, Rose's birth was just before their death, and they managed to save her in time.***
Do you guys get it now? GOOD!!! Hehehehehehe!!!
And for all of you who are wondering, Jackson was born *before* Sirius was sent to Azkaban. Sirius knew about him, and he was going to marry May, but that was before he was imprisoned.
Anyway I'll leave you alone now to enjoy the next chapter!
Oh, and just a little P.S. here:
For all of you who think that Rose is a, quote, 'Mary Sue' character, you are greatly mistaken. But...you'll have to keep reading to find out just *what* she is really like! As most of you know, it is impossible for someone to be perfect...
~*~*~*~
The Phoenix's Prophesy
By: Daphne Li
Chapter 11.
~*~*~*~
Harry landed with a grunt, on his feet, luckily. Rose tripped, but was steadied by an equally unstable Neville, who was leaning against a wall.
"Where are we?" He asked curiously, looking around an unfamiliar room.
"In an empty room, apparently." Came an unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar voice. Harry turned and a pair of recognizable chocolate colored eyes, that were twinkling at him mischievously.
"Padfoot Jr." Harry deadpanned, although there was a hint of humor in his eyes. Jackson's grin widened.
"Prongs Jr., my good man! A pleasure to meet you." Jackson boomed, stepping forward and shaking Harry's hand pompously. They both broke out laughing, while Rose and Neville groaned behind them.
"Great. Another set of Marauders. Just what we needed." Neville mumbled, loud enough for the others to hear.
"On the contrary, my good sir! We are better behaved." Another voice cut in. A tall blonde young man stepped into the...wherever they were, and shot Harry a grin.
"Shane, aka, Moony Jr., at your service. Note the hair." Shane bent his head and pointed to his hair, which notably resembled the light of the moon. Harry chuckled and shook his hand.
"Harry Potter. But I'm sure you already know that from 'Harry Potter for Dummies'. I do hope the book helped you on your journey to discovering the one and only *badgered* hero." Harry said sarcastically, causing everyone to snort. A soft giggle came from the door, and Harry turned to see a dark haired maiden standing in the doorway.
"Nice to meet you, Harry. I'm Rayana Moore, but you can call me Raya." Rayana held out her small hand, and Harry shook it, smiling down into her amber eyes.
"Don't forget me, Mr. Popular." Another voice cut in. Though it was meant to sound harsh, Harry noted a definite laugh behind the tone. He looked over to see a lovely blonde girl looking at him with an eyebrow raised, her arms folded.
"For a princess, you sure don't act very royal." Harry teased, folding his own arms. Blue eyes met green and held them for a moment, then Shirah burst into a smile.
"I like you. You have a nice, dry sense of humor." She commented, shaking his hand. Harry chuckled at her sudden change of attitude, but from Jackson's eye-roll, he figured it wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
"So. We've got the majority of the Marauders right here. Prongs Jr., Moony Jr., Padfoot Jr., and...Nev! We don't have a nickname for you, yet!" Jackson crowed, his eyes twinkling with the prospect of finding another name. Shirah wrinkled her nose.
"As long as you don't call him 'Wormtail'. That name is dirty." She growled. Everyone nodded in agreement, and Jackson sighed.
"But we can't just make a nickname for him. We have to have his patron animal. Mine's a dog, like dad's was, Harry's a Stag, obviously. Shane's a wolf, not surprising. We even know the girls'! Rose is a phoenix, Raya's a swan, and Shirah's a wren."
"How did you find out your animals?" Harry asked in curiosity. Jackson sighed.
"Through a spell. But it's really complex. We'd have to wait until we get back to school to do it. Until then, how about we just call him by his name." He suggested. Shirah gave him a 'duh' look, and rolled her eyes, while Neville snickered at Jackson's obvious disappointment.
"Then, we'd have to find one for Ron Weasley, too. He's joining, right, Harry?" Shane asked. Harry nodded.
"He wouldn't dare say it in front of Hermione, but he liked the idea." Harry admitted. Shirah sighed and pretended to look at a watch on her wrist, which wasn't there.
"All right, kids. Time to go. We have shopping to do."
This comment got a resounding groan from the four boys, and grins from the girls.
"Just for that, you get to carry our bags, too." Shirah snapped, turning on her heal and leading them out of the room. Jackson let out another groan, but obviously Neville and Shane knew not to cross her, and stayed quiet.
~*~*~*~
It turned out that they had arrived in a private room of the Leaky Cauldron, and Harry was immediately greeted by Tom, the barman, when he exited. After quite a few greetings to people he didn't even know, Harry and the others managed to escape into Diagon Alley.
"Harry, remind me to disguise you when we go out into public, next time." Jackson laughed, as they continued to get stares from passersby. The others grinned at his comment.
"Where to first?" Neville asked, looking around.
"Well, we do need some more supplies..." Raya commented in her soft voice. From the look on his face, this was obviously not what Jackson wanted to hear, but he nodded resignedly when Harry promised to take them to the Weasley Wizard Wheezes at the end of their visit.
They went into Flourish and Blots, then the bookstore (Rose wanted to find a book that wasn't sold in America), plus several others.
"Where to now?" Jackson groaned, as Rose, Shirah and Raya mischievously handed him their newest bags. Harry had soon found out, that when Shirah made a threat, she kept it. Hence, the reason all four boys were carrying not only their own things, but the girls' as well.
"Madame Malkin's Robes for Every Occasion."
"Why there?" Harry asked Rose, who had been the one to speak. Rose shot him her sweet smile.
"Didn't you hear? They are going to have a Yule Ball. Fourth years and up are invited. I suppose Professor Dumbledore will announce it tonight, in front of everyone. May just told us this morning, and gave us some money to buy new robes." She explained, leading him into the shop. The group was immediately greeted by the store-owner herself, and told to look all they wanted.
"Ah! Fashion one-o-one. *WE* will be choosing the robes for *YOU*." Shirah's voice was shrewd and almost evil, as she grinned slyly at the boys. Harry gulped.
"Jackson, you first." Raya giggled, getting a maniacal glint in her eye that was *very* unlike her. Harry noticed that Jackson paled, and he grinned at the other boy's expense.
"Just wait until it's your turn. You won't be smiling then." Jackson hissed to him. Immediately, Harry felt the color leave his cheeks, and his smile disappeared. Meanwhile, the girls were huddled together, discussing something.
"All right. Madame? May we have some assistance?" Shirah called, causing the woman to come immediately. The girls whispered something to her, and she nodded, disappearing into the back room. Moments later, she came out with a roll of fabric.
"Here, Jackson. Stand still." Raya commanded, taking a corner of the fabric and holding it up to the boy's chest. The girls gave a murmur of agreement, and Madame Malkin disappeared again.
"What was that about?" Shane asked. The girls turned to him and grinned.
"We are having our robes personally made, so they will be original. No one will have the same." Rose explained. The boys all groaned, but the girls were already conversing again.
"Here we are." Madame Malkin was back, and with a flourish, she held up Jackson's robes in front of him. Harry had to admit, the girls were right on. Jackson's robes were a red color, muted by a prominent brown undertone. It brought out Jackson's chocolate eyes, and made his hair seem even more elegantly waved.
"Now to fit you." Madame forced Jackson onto a stool, and the poor young man withstood a full ten minutes of getting them fitted right.
In the end, all of the boys, including Harry, had gotten new robes. The girls had decided on a deep, midnight-blue for Neville, which brought out more of the gold in his hair, and a lighter blue for Shane, which made his eyes seem bigger and brighter on his face.
For Harry, the girls had chosen a dark, forest green, which, to Harry's shock, made his eyes seem even greener and even added a bluish highlight to his messy hair. The silken fabric was made of the same stuff as Jackson's, and Harry noticed that it was much softer and a whole lot more comfortable than his old robes.
"Now for ours. You wait here while we try them on." Shirah commanded, forcing her cousin into a chair. Shane looked up at her with a look of dread, but did as he was told, looking miserable.
"How long do you reckon they are going to take, this time?" Neville sighed. He had obviously had experiences with the girls' shopping before. Jackson and Shane just groaned in response, slouching into their seats even more. Harry sighed, and looked around the room in listlessly. But that all faded when his eye caught on something at the very back of the store.
"Wait here." He got up, hurrying over to the object he had spotted. Up close, he gasped as he saw it better. Something snapped inside of him, and a picture of Ginny, wearing this made him immediately pull them off their hook and then dash towards the dressing rooms.
"Rose!" He hissed. A door opened and a confused looking Rose poked her head out. Madame Malkin, who had just arrived with another armful of fabric, hid it and looked at Harry indignantly; but he ignored her.
"Look at these." Harry whispered, holding out the precious thing in his arms. Rose gasped and her emerald eyes widened in wonder.
"Harry! Where did you find it?" She gasped. Madam Malkin looked curiously over Harry's shoulder and smiled.
"Ah. I had that specially made for a customer, but they decided on another robe. Isn't it lovely?" She asked, fingering the soft fabric. Harry nodded.
"Rose...you've seen Ginny's picture, haven't you? What do you think of this as a gift to her?" Harry asked eagerly, completely forgetting himself. Rose smirked and looked at him slyly.
"For Ginny? Just how close are you two, anyway?" She teased. Harry's face flushed but his eagerness didn't fade one iota.
"She is a very good friend. I need to get her a Christmas present...why not this?" He asked, holding out the robe. Rose fingered it and nodded thoughtfully.
"We'd have to put a spell on it so when she puts it on, it would fit her correctly. And we'd have to get some accessories to go with it...and keep her from buying another robe...but I think it's a wonderful idea." Rose commented.
"Are you two talking about that darling Ginny Weasley that Molly brought in here once? Oh, she'd look like an angel in these!" Madame Malkin took the robes and held them at arms length, inspecting them.
"Yes. I'll do that spell right now. And you, young man, will return to your seat. Miss Rose will bring the robe out to you when the girls are finished." Madame said, ushering Harry away. With a smile, Harry returned to his seat, ignoring the curious looks he got from the others.
Half an hour later, the boys were finally allowed to leave the store, laden down with even more bags.
"She even helped us find jewelry and shoes to go along with our outfits!" Rose exclaimed, looking happy. Harry had to smile as he saw his sister skip a few steps up the street. In fact, he hadn't been able to stop smiling since Rose had placed Ginny's Christmas gift into his arms when the girls re-joined them.
"Now to the joke shop! Hallelujah!" Jackson exclaimed, practically running for the shop that Harry was leading them to. The others rolled their eyes but followed him just as eagerly to 'Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes'.
Harry opened the door cautiously, knowing from experience, you could never be too careful in the twin's shop.
"Oy! Harry! What are you doing here? Don't you have school?" Came a teasing voice, that sounded rather proud of Harry for *not* being in school. Harry smiled and turned to see Fred standing nearby, loading a shelf with new pranks.
"Hey, Fred. We're just looking around. Dumbledore let me have a day off." Harry explained, as the red-head abandoned his work and came to greet the new people.
"Fred, these are my friends from Salem Academy...minus Neville, whom you know. These are Jackson, Shane, Rose, Shirah, and Raya." Harry introduced, as Fred shook each one's hand. At Jackson's name, however, his eyes lit up with a look Harry recognized as his, 'kindred-spirit look'.
"Fellow prankster. Welcome to prankster heaven. Have a look around. Fifteen percent off, since you know Harry." At this, Jackson looked like he could have kissed Harry, and raced further into the room, looking at everything he could get his hands on. Fred laughed while the others rolled their eyes.
"Ahh, how I love people like myself."
"Good. I feel so loved. Now come and help me with these." Came another voice. Harry turned to see George, coming out of a back room, with an armload of pranks. Fred winked at the group, and then went to help his brother.
Harry looked around to see that Rose and Raya had already moved over to the Squirting Food, while Chris had joined Jackson in his quest for more pranks. Neville was holding up a strange clear stick of something, and grinning. Then Harry turned to look at Shirah, who hadn't moved. She was staring intently at the twins, her mouth slightly open and eyes glazed.
...Correction. She was staring at George, who had just caught sight of her, and started to stare as well, a foolish grin on his face. Harry smirked and quickly went over to George, hitting him on the back in a friendly way. George turned red and his gaze snapped to Harry.
"George, this is Shirah. Shirah, George Weasley, part-owner and founder of 'Weasley's Wizard's Wheezes'." Harry introduced. He noticed that as they shook hands, George shook Shirah's a little longer than was really necessary...
Harry quickly moved away at Neville's call, and joined the boy in looking at the clear stick, which, if you gazed into the end, showed your enemies getting humiliating pranks pulled on them. It was called a 'Idea-maker'. Harry and Neville laughed as Malfoy appeared in the bar, covered in green fur.
"OHHH! I want one of those!" Jackson shouted, pulling the bar from Neville's grasp, and adding it to his already-full basket of items to buy. Rose and Raya were now giggling as the floor in front of them began to grow enormous boils, that were spewing yellow puss.
"I want that, too!" Jackson yelled, running over to the girls and throwing a handful of the 'Squirting Food' into his basket as well. Fred started to laugh at him, but George was too interested in his conversation with a blushing Shirah to even notice Jackson's folly.
Two hours later, Shane looked at his watch and let out a yelp.
"No wonder I'm starving! It's twelve!" He announced. Jackson stopped short in his questions to Fred about their newest prank ideas, while Rose and Raya froze in the process of making their rubber chickens dance. Shirah stopped telling George about Arabia, while Harry and Neville halted their game of 'let's see who's fake wand can explode first'.
"Twelve already? We usually take our lunch break, now." George muttered, looking up at the clock behind the counter. It read: 'Time to stuff your face'.
"Why don't we all go together?" Fred suggested, getting up from his chair. Jackson looked thoughtful.
"Actually, we were going to go into the muggle world for lunch. There's this great place called 'McDonalds'..."
"Ew! Jackson, the only thing worth eating there, are the salads. And even those have limp lettuce." Shirah groaned. Harry, who's trips to this restaurant were limited, shrugged.
"Well, we could go..."
"I"ve never been to a muggle restaurant." Fred looked curious.
"Then it's settled. We'll all go to 'McD's'." Shane said, standing up. Rose, however, was hesitant.
"But what about protection? We will be vulnerable out there." She murmured. Fred grinned.
"Aren't you forgetting something? We're of age. We can do magic outside of our world." He announced. George grinned.
"Yeah. We'll protect you little people." This comment got him a knock in the head from Jackson, who glared at him, but grinned afterwards.
"Well, we ain't gettin' any younger." Shirah stated, standing up.
"What?" Fred asked. Shirah sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Muggle expression. Never mind."
~*~*~*~
"That was brilliant!"
"We have to do that more often. Muggle food is good."
"Thanks for that 'fresh food' spell, George. I never would have been able to touch my salad, let alone eat it, if you hadn't done that!"
"Oh, come on! The french fries were great...by the way, why do they call them 'french fries'?"
This last question, asked by Fred, caused everyone to go silent in thought, as George opened the door to the shop.
"Perhaps they were invented by the French?" Neville suggested, shrugging. Everyone decided to leave it at that, because frankly, they didn't know either.
"What time do you have to be back at the school?" George asked, as he made the sign in the window of the shop flicker back to 'Open'. Shane looked at his watch again, and shrugged.
"May said by two, so we could get aquatinted with the school and our rooms before any of the Hogwarts students met us." He murmured.
"And what time is it, oh wise one?" Shirah asked sarcastically. Shane glared at her.
"One forty-seven." He said back, in a snide voice. Fred chuckled.
"I guess you'd better be going, then. But you have to promise to visit again, soon." He quickly added, seeing Jackson greedily eyeing his bag of pranks. Jackson gave an evil laugh, and rubbed his hands together.
"Trust me. If I have my way, we'll be back *plenty* soon." The boy crowed, picking up his bags and hugging them to his chest, while Shane picked up his own bags and did the same. Raya, Rose, and Shirah rolled their eyes, while Harry and Neville glanced at each other and groaned silently. Here came another Fred and George duo, and knowing them, they'd probably drag Harry, Neville, and perhaps even Ron into it as well.
"We're in trouble." Neville grumbled to Harry as they watched Jackson and Shane marching towards the door. Harry chuckled and nodded, quickly joining the boys as they wandered out into the street. He noticed, however, that Shirah and George gave each other lingering glances before parting.
"I never thought I'd see the day, where Shirah was left speechless." Rose whispered to Raya, Harry, and Neville as they headed back to 'The Leaky Cauldron'. Raya giggled, and Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Mrs. Weasley will be thrilled. George actually seemed calm in Shirah's presence, something almost unheard of in the Weasley family. Perhaps Shirah will be what Mrs. Weasley calls a 'good influence' on him." Harry laughed. The two girls and Neville joined him, and the four of them contented themselves with watching Shane and Jackson plan their pranks.
~*~*~*~
***Harry's parents didn't die until he was just over a year old. It says so in the first book. He goes to Hogwarts *ten* years after he started living with his aunt and uncle, but he is eleven at the time. So it is only logical that he was one at the time of his parents death. Therefore, Rose's birth was just before their death, and they managed to save her in time.***
Do you guys get it now? GOOD!!! Hehehehehehe!!!
And for all of you who are wondering, Jackson was born *before* Sirius was sent to Azkaban. Sirius knew about him, and he was going to marry May, but that was before he was imprisoned.
Anyway I'll leave you alone now to enjoy the next chapter!
Oh, and just a little P.S. here:
For all of you who think that Rose is a, quote, 'Mary Sue' character, you are greatly mistaken. But...you'll have to keep reading to find out just *what* she is really like! As most of you know, it is impossible for someone to be perfect...
~*~*~*~
The Phoenix's Prophesy
By: Daphne Li
Chapter 11.
~*~*~*~
Harry landed with a grunt, on his feet, luckily. Rose tripped, but was steadied by an equally unstable Neville, who was leaning against a wall.
"Where are we?" He asked curiously, looking around an unfamiliar room.
"In an empty room, apparently." Came an unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar voice. Harry turned and a pair of recognizable chocolate colored eyes, that were twinkling at him mischievously.
"Padfoot Jr." Harry deadpanned, although there was a hint of humor in his eyes. Jackson's grin widened.
"Prongs Jr., my good man! A pleasure to meet you." Jackson boomed, stepping forward and shaking Harry's hand pompously. They both broke out laughing, while Rose and Neville groaned behind them.
"Great. Another set of Marauders. Just what we needed." Neville mumbled, loud enough for the others to hear.
"On the contrary, my good sir! We are better behaved." Another voice cut in. A tall blonde young man stepped into the...wherever they were, and shot Harry a grin.
"Shane, aka, Moony Jr., at your service. Note the hair." Shane bent his head and pointed to his hair, which notably resembled the light of the moon. Harry chuckled and shook his hand.
"Harry Potter. But I'm sure you already know that from 'Harry Potter for Dummies'. I do hope the book helped you on your journey to discovering the one and only *badgered* hero." Harry said sarcastically, causing everyone to snort. A soft giggle came from the door, and Harry turned to see a dark haired maiden standing in the doorway.
"Nice to meet you, Harry. I'm Rayana Moore, but you can call me Raya." Rayana held out her small hand, and Harry shook it, smiling down into her amber eyes.
"Don't forget me, Mr. Popular." Another voice cut in. Though it was meant to sound harsh, Harry noted a definite laugh behind the tone. He looked over to see a lovely blonde girl looking at him with an eyebrow raised, her arms folded.
"For a princess, you sure don't act very royal." Harry teased, folding his own arms. Blue eyes met green and held them for a moment, then Shirah burst into a smile.
"I like you. You have a nice, dry sense of humor." She commented, shaking his hand. Harry chuckled at her sudden change of attitude, but from Jackson's eye-roll, he figured it wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
"So. We've got the majority of the Marauders right here. Prongs Jr., Moony Jr., Padfoot Jr., and...Nev! We don't have a nickname for you, yet!" Jackson crowed, his eyes twinkling with the prospect of finding another name. Shirah wrinkled her nose.
"As long as you don't call him 'Wormtail'. That name is dirty." She growled. Everyone nodded in agreement, and Jackson sighed.
"But we can't just make a nickname for him. We have to have his patron animal. Mine's a dog, like dad's was, Harry's a Stag, obviously. Shane's a wolf, not surprising. We even know the girls'! Rose is a phoenix, Raya's a swan, and Shirah's a wren."
"How did you find out your animals?" Harry asked in curiosity. Jackson sighed.
"Through a spell. But it's really complex. We'd have to wait until we get back to school to do it. Until then, how about we just call him by his name." He suggested. Shirah gave him a 'duh' look, and rolled her eyes, while Neville snickered at Jackson's obvious disappointment.
"Then, we'd have to find one for Ron Weasley, too. He's joining, right, Harry?" Shane asked. Harry nodded.
"He wouldn't dare say it in front of Hermione, but he liked the idea." Harry admitted. Shirah sighed and pretended to look at a watch on her wrist, which wasn't there.
"All right, kids. Time to go. We have shopping to do."
This comment got a resounding groan from the four boys, and grins from the girls.
"Just for that, you get to carry our bags, too." Shirah snapped, turning on her heal and leading them out of the room. Jackson let out another groan, but obviously Neville and Shane knew not to cross her, and stayed quiet.
~*~*~*~
It turned out that they had arrived in a private room of the Leaky Cauldron, and Harry was immediately greeted by Tom, the barman, when he exited. After quite a few greetings to people he didn't even know, Harry and the others managed to escape into Diagon Alley.
"Harry, remind me to disguise you when we go out into public, next time." Jackson laughed, as they continued to get stares from passersby. The others grinned at his comment.
"Where to first?" Neville asked, looking around.
"Well, we do need some more supplies..." Raya commented in her soft voice. From the look on his face, this was obviously not what Jackson wanted to hear, but he nodded resignedly when Harry promised to take them to the Weasley Wizard Wheezes at the end of their visit.
They went into Flourish and Blots, then the bookstore (Rose wanted to find a book that wasn't sold in America), plus several others.
"Where to now?" Jackson groaned, as Rose, Shirah and Raya mischievously handed him their newest bags. Harry had soon found out, that when Shirah made a threat, she kept it. Hence, the reason all four boys were carrying not only their own things, but the girls' as well.
"Madame Malkin's Robes for Every Occasion."
"Why there?" Harry asked Rose, who had been the one to speak. Rose shot him her sweet smile.
"Didn't you hear? They are going to have a Yule Ball. Fourth years and up are invited. I suppose Professor Dumbledore will announce it tonight, in front of everyone. May just told us this morning, and gave us some money to buy new robes." She explained, leading him into the shop. The group was immediately greeted by the store-owner herself, and told to look all they wanted.
"Ah! Fashion one-o-one. *WE* will be choosing the robes for *YOU*." Shirah's voice was shrewd and almost evil, as she grinned slyly at the boys. Harry gulped.
"Jackson, you first." Raya giggled, getting a maniacal glint in her eye that was *very* unlike her. Harry noticed that Jackson paled, and he grinned at the other boy's expense.
"Just wait until it's your turn. You won't be smiling then." Jackson hissed to him. Immediately, Harry felt the color leave his cheeks, and his smile disappeared. Meanwhile, the girls were huddled together, discussing something.
"All right. Madame? May we have some assistance?" Shirah called, causing the woman to come immediately. The girls whispered something to her, and she nodded, disappearing into the back room. Moments later, she came out with a roll of fabric.
"Here, Jackson. Stand still." Raya commanded, taking a corner of the fabric and holding it up to the boy's chest. The girls gave a murmur of agreement, and Madame Malkin disappeared again.
"What was that about?" Shane asked. The girls turned to him and grinned.
"We are having our robes personally made, so they will be original. No one will have the same." Rose explained. The boys all groaned, but the girls were already conversing again.
"Here we are." Madame Malkin was back, and with a flourish, she held up Jackson's robes in front of him. Harry had to admit, the girls were right on. Jackson's robes were a red color, muted by a prominent brown undertone. It brought out Jackson's chocolate eyes, and made his hair seem even more elegantly waved.
"Now to fit you." Madame forced Jackson onto a stool, and the poor young man withstood a full ten minutes of getting them fitted right.
In the end, all of the boys, including Harry, had gotten new robes. The girls had decided on a deep, midnight-blue for Neville, which brought out more of the gold in his hair, and a lighter blue for Shane, which made his eyes seem bigger and brighter on his face.
For Harry, the girls had chosen a dark, forest green, which, to Harry's shock, made his eyes seem even greener and even added a bluish highlight to his messy hair. The silken fabric was made of the same stuff as Jackson's, and Harry noticed that it was much softer and a whole lot more comfortable than his old robes.
"Now for ours. You wait here while we try them on." Shirah commanded, forcing her cousin into a chair. Shane looked up at her with a look of dread, but did as he was told, looking miserable.
"How long do you reckon they are going to take, this time?" Neville sighed. He had obviously had experiences with the girls' shopping before. Jackson and Shane just groaned in response, slouching into their seats even more. Harry sighed, and looked around the room in listlessly. But that all faded when his eye caught on something at the very back of the store.
"Wait here." He got up, hurrying over to the object he had spotted. Up close, he gasped as he saw it better. Something snapped inside of him, and a picture of Ginny, wearing this made him immediately pull them off their hook and then dash towards the dressing rooms.
"Rose!" He hissed. A door opened and a confused looking Rose poked her head out. Madame Malkin, who had just arrived with another armful of fabric, hid it and looked at Harry indignantly; but he ignored her.
"Look at these." Harry whispered, holding out the precious thing in his arms. Rose gasped and her emerald eyes widened in wonder.
"Harry! Where did you find it?" She gasped. Madam Malkin looked curiously over Harry's shoulder and smiled.
"Ah. I had that specially made for a customer, but they decided on another robe. Isn't it lovely?" She asked, fingering the soft fabric. Harry nodded.
"Rose...you've seen Ginny's picture, haven't you? What do you think of this as a gift to her?" Harry asked eagerly, completely forgetting himself. Rose smirked and looked at him slyly.
"For Ginny? Just how close are you two, anyway?" She teased. Harry's face flushed but his eagerness didn't fade one iota.
"She is a very good friend. I need to get her a Christmas present...why not this?" He asked, holding out the robe. Rose fingered it and nodded thoughtfully.
"We'd have to put a spell on it so when she puts it on, it would fit her correctly. And we'd have to get some accessories to go with it...and keep her from buying another robe...but I think it's a wonderful idea." Rose commented.
"Are you two talking about that darling Ginny Weasley that Molly brought in here once? Oh, she'd look like an angel in these!" Madame Malkin took the robes and held them at arms length, inspecting them.
"Yes. I'll do that spell right now. And you, young man, will return to your seat. Miss Rose will bring the robe out to you when the girls are finished." Madame said, ushering Harry away. With a smile, Harry returned to his seat, ignoring the curious looks he got from the others.
Half an hour later, the boys were finally allowed to leave the store, laden down with even more bags.
"She even helped us find jewelry and shoes to go along with our outfits!" Rose exclaimed, looking happy. Harry had to smile as he saw his sister skip a few steps up the street. In fact, he hadn't been able to stop smiling since Rose had placed Ginny's Christmas gift into his arms when the girls re-joined them.
"Now to the joke shop! Hallelujah!" Jackson exclaimed, practically running for the shop that Harry was leading them to. The others rolled their eyes but followed him just as eagerly to 'Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes'.
Harry opened the door cautiously, knowing from experience, you could never be too careful in the twin's shop.
"Oy! Harry! What are you doing here? Don't you have school?" Came a teasing voice, that sounded rather proud of Harry for *not* being in school. Harry smiled and turned to see Fred standing nearby, loading a shelf with new pranks.
"Hey, Fred. We're just looking around. Dumbledore let me have a day off." Harry explained, as the red-head abandoned his work and came to greet the new people.
"Fred, these are my friends from Salem Academy...minus Neville, whom you know. These are Jackson, Shane, Rose, Shirah, and Raya." Harry introduced, as Fred shook each one's hand. At Jackson's name, however, his eyes lit up with a look Harry recognized as his, 'kindred-spirit look'.
"Fellow prankster. Welcome to prankster heaven. Have a look around. Fifteen percent off, since you know Harry." At this, Jackson looked like he could have kissed Harry, and raced further into the room, looking at everything he could get his hands on. Fred laughed while the others rolled their eyes.
"Ahh, how I love people like myself."
"Good. I feel so loved. Now come and help me with these." Came another voice. Harry turned to see George, coming out of a back room, with an armload of pranks. Fred winked at the group, and then went to help his brother.
Harry looked around to see that Rose and Raya had already moved over to the Squirting Food, while Chris had joined Jackson in his quest for more pranks. Neville was holding up a strange clear stick of something, and grinning. Then Harry turned to look at Shirah, who hadn't moved. She was staring intently at the twins, her mouth slightly open and eyes glazed.
...Correction. She was staring at George, who had just caught sight of her, and started to stare as well, a foolish grin on his face. Harry smirked and quickly went over to George, hitting him on the back in a friendly way. George turned red and his gaze snapped to Harry.
"George, this is Shirah. Shirah, George Weasley, part-owner and founder of 'Weasley's Wizard's Wheezes'." Harry introduced. He noticed that as they shook hands, George shook Shirah's a little longer than was really necessary...
Harry quickly moved away at Neville's call, and joined the boy in looking at the clear stick, which, if you gazed into the end, showed your enemies getting humiliating pranks pulled on them. It was called a 'Idea-maker'. Harry and Neville laughed as Malfoy appeared in the bar, covered in green fur.
"OHHH! I want one of those!" Jackson shouted, pulling the bar from Neville's grasp, and adding it to his already-full basket of items to buy. Rose and Raya were now giggling as the floor in front of them began to grow enormous boils, that were spewing yellow puss.
"I want that, too!" Jackson yelled, running over to the girls and throwing a handful of the 'Squirting Food' into his basket as well. Fred started to laugh at him, but George was too interested in his conversation with a blushing Shirah to even notice Jackson's folly.
Two hours later, Shane looked at his watch and let out a yelp.
"No wonder I'm starving! It's twelve!" He announced. Jackson stopped short in his questions to Fred about their newest prank ideas, while Rose and Raya froze in the process of making their rubber chickens dance. Shirah stopped telling George about Arabia, while Harry and Neville halted their game of 'let's see who's fake wand can explode first'.
"Twelve already? We usually take our lunch break, now." George muttered, looking up at the clock behind the counter. It read: 'Time to stuff your face'.
"Why don't we all go together?" Fred suggested, getting up from his chair. Jackson looked thoughtful.
"Actually, we were going to go into the muggle world for lunch. There's this great place called 'McDonalds'..."
"Ew! Jackson, the only thing worth eating there, are the salads. And even those have limp lettuce." Shirah groaned. Harry, who's trips to this restaurant were limited, shrugged.
"Well, we could go..."
"I"ve never been to a muggle restaurant." Fred looked curious.
"Then it's settled. We'll all go to 'McD's'." Shane said, standing up. Rose, however, was hesitant.
"But what about protection? We will be vulnerable out there." She murmured. Fred grinned.
"Aren't you forgetting something? We're of age. We can do magic outside of our world." He announced. George grinned.
"Yeah. We'll protect you little people." This comment got him a knock in the head from Jackson, who glared at him, but grinned afterwards.
"Well, we ain't gettin' any younger." Shirah stated, standing up.
"What?" Fred asked. Shirah sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Muggle expression. Never mind."
~*~*~*~
"That was brilliant!"
"We have to do that more often. Muggle food is good."
"Thanks for that 'fresh food' spell, George. I never would have been able to touch my salad, let alone eat it, if you hadn't done that!"
"Oh, come on! The french fries were great...by the way, why do they call them 'french fries'?"
This last question, asked by Fred, caused everyone to go silent in thought, as George opened the door to the shop.
"Perhaps they were invented by the French?" Neville suggested, shrugging. Everyone decided to leave it at that, because frankly, they didn't know either.
"What time do you have to be back at the school?" George asked, as he made the sign in the window of the shop flicker back to 'Open'. Shane looked at his watch again, and shrugged.
"May said by two, so we could get aquatinted with the school and our rooms before any of the Hogwarts students met us." He murmured.
"And what time is it, oh wise one?" Shirah asked sarcastically. Shane glared at her.
"One forty-seven." He said back, in a snide voice. Fred chuckled.
"I guess you'd better be going, then. But you have to promise to visit again, soon." He quickly added, seeing Jackson greedily eyeing his bag of pranks. Jackson gave an evil laugh, and rubbed his hands together.
"Trust me. If I have my way, we'll be back *plenty* soon." The boy crowed, picking up his bags and hugging them to his chest, while Shane picked up his own bags and did the same. Raya, Rose, and Shirah rolled their eyes, while Harry and Neville glanced at each other and groaned silently. Here came another Fred and George duo, and knowing them, they'd probably drag Harry, Neville, and perhaps even Ron into it as well.
"We're in trouble." Neville grumbled to Harry as they watched Jackson and Shane marching towards the door. Harry chuckled and nodded, quickly joining the boys as they wandered out into the street. He noticed, however, that Shirah and George gave each other lingering glances before parting.
"I never thought I'd see the day, where Shirah was left speechless." Rose whispered to Raya, Harry, and Neville as they headed back to 'The Leaky Cauldron'. Raya giggled, and Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Mrs. Weasley will be thrilled. George actually seemed calm in Shirah's presence, something almost unheard of in the Weasley family. Perhaps Shirah will be what Mrs. Weasley calls a 'good influence' on him." Harry laughed. The two girls and Neville joined him, and the four of them contented themselves with watching Shane and Jackson plan their pranks.
~*~*~*~