Ch. 2 - The Maybe Witch
Saturday dawned a bright and warm day, and Harry was woken to the knocking
at his door by Petunia, 'asking' him to get breakfast ready while she
straightened the house up. Harry stared at the clock, it was 7:00 AM but
for once he didn't care, in three short hours he would find out if Leah
were a witch or a typical Dursely. Hoping for the witch, Harry scurried out
of bed and quickly headed downstairs to make eggs and bacon.
Every time aunt Petunia came bustling into the kitchen to make sure everything was all right, she would cluck her tongue and than move on. Harry assumed that the reason she wasn't criticizing him as usual, was because of the party that had greeted Harry once he got off the train at the end of the year. Lupin, Mad-Eye, Tonks, and the Weasley's had all threatened the Dursely's, informing them that they had to be nicer to Harry or they would answer to them! A smile spread across his face at the memory and than vanished almost as quickly when he thought about the time before that, the time when Sirius...
"I smell eggs burning!" Came Petunia's shrill voice from the other room, and Harry quickly began to correct the mistake and than hurriedly put breakfast on the table to take his attention away from where it had almost wandered.
The hours seemed to drag by to Harry and he couldn't remember the last time he had wanted to see a Dursely this much, in fact he was quite sure he never had!
The door bell rang shortly after Harry tried to flatten his hair for the twelfth time, than taking to hid father's way, he ruffled it up some more. Harry ran down the stairs and almost collided with uncle Vernon, "Why are you so excited, she's here for Dudley!" Harry just shrugged his shoulders and waited anxiously for his uncle to open the door.
By moving slightly to the left, Harry could see a head of blondish hair and the hem of some jeans; everything else was covered by uncle Vernon's mass.
"Leah, how nice to meet you. So glad you could come. Let me just get Dudley and Petunia for you. DUDLEY? PETUNIA? LEAH'S HERE!" he turned his back on Harry and ushered her into the dining room. "Here they are." There were the formal greetings and Harry watched from the hallway as Leah smiled kindly at the Dursely's.
Now that he could see her properly, Harry took in everything about his maybe witch cousin. She had dirty blond hair and a toned figure, he guessed she was probably the same height as him and defiantly appeared to be muggle. Harry also had the funny idea that she looked more like him than any of the Dursely's, but than again second cousins probably don't look similar. But than she turned around and Harry saw a pair of startling blue eyes, vibrant and piercing as they gazed at him and a slightly ruffled look about her hair. He would have sworn that they were blood relatives. But they didn't share the same blood...this was Vernon's family, not Petunia's! And as she continued to gaze at him, Harry thought she reminded him of someone...but who?
"Well, if you don't mind, I think I'll head up stairs for a bit of a nap before supper, long journey you know facing Harry. "You there, take this bag up stairs for me. It's too heavy for me to lift!" Harry snapped out of his daze and stared for a minute. Did she just give him an order? Maybe there was some Dursely in there after all. But there were too many questions that Harry needed answering, so he grabbed the bag and hurried after Leah.
He had just struggled into the guest room when he was grabbed and almost strangled, than he realized Leah was hugging him – very passionately. "um...Hi." He was at a loss for words. There was no way this was the same girl that was downstairs, she was laughing and smiling as she starred at Harry.
"Oh my God! I finally get to meet you. After sixteen years of wondering! And Billy never stopped taking about uncle James. You do look a lot like him. Wow!" all of this was said rather fast, and it took Harry a minute to realize what he heard.
"Uncle James? You mean my dad?" Harry was a little shocked and really confused. "But how would you know them? I thought you were uncle Vernon's niece or something?" Harry was trying to figure all of this out, until he suddenly remembered where he had seen her before, or rather someone that looked incredibly like her...it was in the wedding picture of his parents wedding. The same piercing blue gaze and the smile bright smile had belonged to the man next to James in the picture.
"I know that's what the letter said, but it was the only way I could get here. C'mon and sit down, this might be a bit much, and I want to talk to you about so much!" Harry stumbled to the bed and sat down while Leah closed and locked the door.
"okay, I am not your uncle's niece and I am not your cousin's second cousin our whatever it was that I said. But I am your cousin." Leah continued when the bewildered look on Harry's face didn't change. "You see, my dad – Charlie - was your father's brother. That makes us cousins. Do you understand?" Leah paused to see if all of this had sunk in.
"But...How? Dumbledore said that the Dursely's were my only living relatives." Harry was getting more confused by the second.
"I know, it's because my mum never told my dad that she was pregnant. Okay, lets go from the beginning. My mum and my dad were not married – this did not go well with your grandparents when they moved in together. Than my mum got pregnant, but my dad died three weeks later before she could tell him. He worked for the ministry in some department and there was an explosion...(sniff)...anyway, my mum moved back to Canada with her family before your family found out. So no one knew that I existed, not even Dumbledore! And than my mum couldn't stand the thought of me going into magic and ending up like my dad, so she tried to pretended like there was no magic, only she couldn't stand it so she ran away and her boyfriend at the time – Billy – raised me. He was a wizard so I learned magic anyway, and than I found out about you guys and I started writing to Dumbledore and me and Josie decided to come here this year in the fight against Him." There was a long silent pause while Harry sought through all this information.
"So wait, you are my cousin by my dad's brother – who died, and then your mum died so some guy named Billy raised you and you talk to Dumbledore and than Josie and you decided to fight Voldemort so you came over here?" Harry noticed that Leah didn't flinch when he said Voldemort, but was still trying to figure all of this out.
"Right. Any questions?" Leah seemed to be smiling from ear to ear, and Harry couldn't help but smile back – something he hadn't done in a while.
"Yeah, how come you wrote to Dumbledore and not me? And who's Josie?" Harry could see the excitement in Leah's eye's.
"I wrote Dumbledore because Billy suggested it, said something that you didn't know? So Dumbledore seemed really keen that I was a potter – even though I took Billy's name – and kept writing to me. We've been writing for six years now. And Josie is my friend and Dumbledore's great niece. So we came to stay with him for the summer and than go to Hogwarts this year." She smiled even wider at the look on Harry's face.
"All right, I think I got it now. Though I didn't know Dumbledore had a great niece and I also thought he was busy with the Orde- something this summer." Harry had almost said the Order, and wasn't sure if her should be sharing that with Leah. In fact he wasn't sure if he believed her story. What if she was working for Voldemort and had come to spy on him. But the resemblance was there – you could defiantly tell they were related. Yet Sirius and Bellatrix had been related...
"Do you mean the Order of the Pheonix? Yeah he is, but he wanted Josie around him if she was going to be in London – so we're staying in his house. We don't see him a lot, but at least it's safer." Leah was staring innocently at him. "Oh, and incase your second guessing my story, this is from Dumbledore." Leah handed him a sealed envelope and Harry ripped in open.
Harry, I know that you are going to have a lot of questions for me after you meet Leah – like why I never mentioned her before. But I guess I just wanted to keep her and Josie safe from other's finding out about them. There will be more time to talk and discuss this later.
You can trust her Harry, it will be good for you to have someone to talk to – just don't go wandering around alone or anything. Stay safe and try to stay in your aunt's house.
I'll see you soon, Albus Dumbledore. Harry reread the letter, but still wasn't completely convinced. Even though it did look exactly like Dumbledore's writing, how was he suppose to know if it was fake or not.
"Dumbledore also says that Ron and Hermoine and everyone else is looking forward to seeing you and (Leah paused, it looked like she was trying to remember a speech she had memorized) your invisibility cloak that Dumbledore gave you in your first year, was your father's – Tongs? No, Prongs and that should let you know I'm safe." She looked back at Harry and smiled. He was finally convinced that she was really here for Dumbledore and him.
"What does it mean, I'll see you soon?" Harry was looking back at the letter.
"Oh, you're coming with me when I go. That's all I know. Except it will look to the Dursely's like you just took the same train as me. They won't know we left together so that way I can come back and visit." Leah was still smiling, and yet again it made Harry smile. There was genuine warmth to that smile and Harry could feel himself warming up and couldn't help but be happy!
Every time aunt Petunia came bustling into the kitchen to make sure everything was all right, she would cluck her tongue and than move on. Harry assumed that the reason she wasn't criticizing him as usual, was because of the party that had greeted Harry once he got off the train at the end of the year. Lupin, Mad-Eye, Tonks, and the Weasley's had all threatened the Dursely's, informing them that they had to be nicer to Harry or they would answer to them! A smile spread across his face at the memory and than vanished almost as quickly when he thought about the time before that, the time when Sirius...
"I smell eggs burning!" Came Petunia's shrill voice from the other room, and Harry quickly began to correct the mistake and than hurriedly put breakfast on the table to take his attention away from where it had almost wandered.
The hours seemed to drag by to Harry and he couldn't remember the last time he had wanted to see a Dursely this much, in fact he was quite sure he never had!
The door bell rang shortly after Harry tried to flatten his hair for the twelfth time, than taking to hid father's way, he ruffled it up some more. Harry ran down the stairs and almost collided with uncle Vernon, "Why are you so excited, she's here for Dudley!" Harry just shrugged his shoulders and waited anxiously for his uncle to open the door.
By moving slightly to the left, Harry could see a head of blondish hair and the hem of some jeans; everything else was covered by uncle Vernon's mass.
"Leah, how nice to meet you. So glad you could come. Let me just get Dudley and Petunia for you. DUDLEY? PETUNIA? LEAH'S HERE!" he turned his back on Harry and ushered her into the dining room. "Here they are." There were the formal greetings and Harry watched from the hallway as Leah smiled kindly at the Dursely's.
Now that he could see her properly, Harry took in everything about his maybe witch cousin. She had dirty blond hair and a toned figure, he guessed she was probably the same height as him and defiantly appeared to be muggle. Harry also had the funny idea that she looked more like him than any of the Dursely's, but than again second cousins probably don't look similar. But than she turned around and Harry saw a pair of startling blue eyes, vibrant and piercing as they gazed at him and a slightly ruffled look about her hair. He would have sworn that they were blood relatives. But they didn't share the same blood...this was Vernon's family, not Petunia's! And as she continued to gaze at him, Harry thought she reminded him of someone...but who?
"Well, if you don't mind, I think I'll head up stairs for a bit of a nap before supper, long journey you know facing Harry. "You there, take this bag up stairs for me. It's too heavy for me to lift!" Harry snapped out of his daze and stared for a minute. Did she just give him an order? Maybe there was some Dursely in there after all. But there were too many questions that Harry needed answering, so he grabbed the bag and hurried after Leah.
He had just struggled into the guest room when he was grabbed and almost strangled, than he realized Leah was hugging him – very passionately. "um...Hi." He was at a loss for words. There was no way this was the same girl that was downstairs, she was laughing and smiling as she starred at Harry.
"Oh my God! I finally get to meet you. After sixteen years of wondering! And Billy never stopped taking about uncle James. You do look a lot like him. Wow!" all of this was said rather fast, and it took Harry a minute to realize what he heard.
"Uncle James? You mean my dad?" Harry was a little shocked and really confused. "But how would you know them? I thought you were uncle Vernon's niece or something?" Harry was trying to figure all of this out, until he suddenly remembered where he had seen her before, or rather someone that looked incredibly like her...it was in the wedding picture of his parents wedding. The same piercing blue gaze and the smile bright smile had belonged to the man next to James in the picture.
"I know that's what the letter said, but it was the only way I could get here. C'mon and sit down, this might be a bit much, and I want to talk to you about so much!" Harry stumbled to the bed and sat down while Leah closed and locked the door.
"okay, I am not your uncle's niece and I am not your cousin's second cousin our whatever it was that I said. But I am your cousin." Leah continued when the bewildered look on Harry's face didn't change. "You see, my dad – Charlie - was your father's brother. That makes us cousins. Do you understand?" Leah paused to see if all of this had sunk in.
"But...How? Dumbledore said that the Dursely's were my only living relatives." Harry was getting more confused by the second.
"I know, it's because my mum never told my dad that she was pregnant. Okay, lets go from the beginning. My mum and my dad were not married – this did not go well with your grandparents when they moved in together. Than my mum got pregnant, but my dad died three weeks later before she could tell him. He worked for the ministry in some department and there was an explosion...(sniff)...anyway, my mum moved back to Canada with her family before your family found out. So no one knew that I existed, not even Dumbledore! And than my mum couldn't stand the thought of me going into magic and ending up like my dad, so she tried to pretended like there was no magic, only she couldn't stand it so she ran away and her boyfriend at the time – Billy – raised me. He was a wizard so I learned magic anyway, and than I found out about you guys and I started writing to Dumbledore and me and Josie decided to come here this year in the fight against Him." There was a long silent pause while Harry sought through all this information.
"So wait, you are my cousin by my dad's brother – who died, and then your mum died so some guy named Billy raised you and you talk to Dumbledore and than Josie and you decided to fight Voldemort so you came over here?" Harry noticed that Leah didn't flinch when he said Voldemort, but was still trying to figure all of this out.
"Right. Any questions?" Leah seemed to be smiling from ear to ear, and Harry couldn't help but smile back – something he hadn't done in a while.
"Yeah, how come you wrote to Dumbledore and not me? And who's Josie?" Harry could see the excitement in Leah's eye's.
"I wrote Dumbledore because Billy suggested it, said something that you didn't know? So Dumbledore seemed really keen that I was a potter – even though I took Billy's name – and kept writing to me. We've been writing for six years now. And Josie is my friend and Dumbledore's great niece. So we came to stay with him for the summer and than go to Hogwarts this year." She smiled even wider at the look on Harry's face.
"All right, I think I got it now. Though I didn't know Dumbledore had a great niece and I also thought he was busy with the Orde- something this summer." Harry had almost said the Order, and wasn't sure if her should be sharing that with Leah. In fact he wasn't sure if he believed her story. What if she was working for Voldemort and had come to spy on him. But the resemblance was there – you could defiantly tell they were related. Yet Sirius and Bellatrix had been related...
"Do you mean the Order of the Pheonix? Yeah he is, but he wanted Josie around him if she was going to be in London – so we're staying in his house. We don't see him a lot, but at least it's safer." Leah was staring innocently at him. "Oh, and incase your second guessing my story, this is from Dumbledore." Leah handed him a sealed envelope and Harry ripped in open.
Harry, I know that you are going to have a lot of questions for me after you meet Leah – like why I never mentioned her before. But I guess I just wanted to keep her and Josie safe from other's finding out about them. There will be more time to talk and discuss this later.
You can trust her Harry, it will be good for you to have someone to talk to – just don't go wandering around alone or anything. Stay safe and try to stay in your aunt's house.
I'll see you soon, Albus Dumbledore. Harry reread the letter, but still wasn't completely convinced. Even though it did look exactly like Dumbledore's writing, how was he suppose to know if it was fake or not.
"Dumbledore also says that Ron and Hermoine and everyone else is looking forward to seeing you and (Leah paused, it looked like she was trying to remember a speech she had memorized) your invisibility cloak that Dumbledore gave you in your first year, was your father's – Tongs? No, Prongs and that should let you know I'm safe." She looked back at Harry and smiled. He was finally convinced that she was really here for Dumbledore and him.
"What does it mean, I'll see you soon?" Harry was looking back at the letter.
"Oh, you're coming with me when I go. That's all I know. Except it will look to the Dursely's like you just took the same train as me. They won't know we left together so that way I can come back and visit." Leah was still smiling, and yet again it made Harry smile. There was genuine warmth to that smile and Harry could feel himself warming up and couldn't help but be happy!