Chapter three - Cousins
It all happened so fast. Lia never thought that she would leave the place that she used to call home. She was going to become a witch just like her mother. Remus showed her a room on the second floor and he left to write a letter to Harry. Lia unpacked her bag and took out her mother's wand. She held it in her hand and stared at it for a while. 'I wonder how do they use it.' she waved the wand toward the door and it was opened.
"Wow!" she got up and went to check the door lock. She closed the door and went back a few steps. She waved the wand at the door again and she jumped in surprise of her achievement.
"Oh my God! I did it!" She shouted as she jumped.
Remus came running to the room and stood at the door staring at Lia's strange behavior. "Lia, are you alright?" he asked.
"Oh, Mr. Lupin! I just opened the door with my mother's stick!" she showed him the wand.
"Lia, it is dangerous to play with a wand without knowing how to use it." Lupin said with a serious expression on his face.
"Well, I wasn't playing. But anyway, I didn't know it was dangerous." Lia replied and gave the wand to Remus. "Here, keep it with you. I think it'll be better that way."
"No. It is yours. No one else can use it. Your mother has put a charm on it. Those letters." He pointed to the letters on the wand. "It means that only she could use that wand along with you and your father. Although, your father was a Muggle, but she insisted that it's a necessity to put his name on it too. Wave your wand in a circle motion in the air."
Lia waved the wand in the air and a white smoke got out of it. The smoke took the shape of letters and Lia could read a message:
This wand belongs to Emily Potter-Jones, Mathew Jones and Lia Jones. Any other person who uses this wand for evil purposes will be demented.
"It sounds like a curse to me." Lia said. She kept looking at the message, which started to fade. A sad smile formed on her lips.
"Well, you can't curse a wand. So, a charm is the correct word." Remus told her.
"She wrote that message." Lia said without paying attention to Remus's words. "I miss her." Her eyes filled with tears, but she wiped them quickly.
Remus smiled at her and asked, "Are you hungry?"
"Not really." She lied. "I think it would be better if I stay here to unpack."
As a werewolf, Remus could tell when people were lying. "Alright. I'll see you downstairs at the kitchen in five minutes." He winked at her and got out of the room.
Lia took a deep breath and sat on her bed. Rex was lying in one corner, and as soon as he saw that Lia was sitting on the bed, he got up and came to her. He put his head on her lap and whimpered.
"I'm fine Rex. I'm fine. Don't worry." She stroke his head. "You can go downstairs and see if Mr. Lupin has something for you." Rex raise his head and tilted it to a side.
"Yeah, go to the kitchen. You'll get to eat." Lia said with a smile. Rex ran outside of the room and went downstairs. She went to open the window. Before she could open the curtains, Remus came in.
"I wouldn't recommend that." Remus said.
Lia jumped. "You scared me!" she said angrily.
"Sorry. But this house is supposed to be invisible. So, even if you open the window, you won't be able to enjoy the scene outside."
"Invisible?"
"Yes. Sirius used to live here, and the Ministry used to think that he's a criminal. So, he was hiding here. And Professor Dumbledore decided to keep this house invisible even after Sirius died."
"Dumbledore? Oh, the headmaster."
"Yes. Now come with me to the kitchen. I asked you to come, but instead you sent your dog." Remus said.
"Well, I…"
"It's not the time to be shy. We are going to live here together. Well, unless Dumbledore decides otherwise."
"Okay." Lia said and followed him.
They went downstairs and as they reached the first floor Remus turned and put his finger on his mouth, "Shh, don't make a sound." He whispered. Lia nodded and followed him to the kitchen.
"Sorry." Remus said as they entered. "It's just that Mrs. Black starts to shout when she notices that there's someone here."
"Who's Mrs. Black?" Lia asked as she sat near the table.
"Sirius's mother." Remus replied.
"She lives here too?"
"Oh, no. She died so long ago. It's her portrait."
"Portrait? A talking portrait?" Lia was surprised again.
"You'll get used to this world. Don't worry." Remus said as unpacked the lunch package that Mrs. Weasley sent. "Molly sends me food everyday. She cooks pretty well."
"This smells good." Lia said as she sniffed the scent of it.
Remus smiled. He never managed to cook for himself. Molly Weasley kept sending him food every day by owl. He didn't want to disturb her, but she insisted to cook for him. And on weekends Remus went to visit the Weasleys at the Burrow and spent the whole day with them.
Lia prepared the table and they both sat to eat. She also put some meat in a plate for Rex.
"So, what do you do for living?" Lia asked.
"I don't work. There are laws that don't allow me to find a job."
"Why? You're not some kind of a criminal, are you?"
"No, of course not. It's just hard to explain." Remus didn't know if he should tell her the truth about him. 'What if she got scared?' he asked himself. 'No. I can't risk it.'
"Well, I don't have the required qualifications." He lied.
"Oh, I see."
"What about you?" he asked.
"I worked in different places. As a nanny." She hated to remember her experience as a nanny. "And as a waitress."
"Did you enjoy your work?"
"No." she didn't talk anymore. It was like opening an old wound when she remembered her first job after she left the orphanage.
Remus noticed her face expression change. He knew that he shouldn't have asked her about her work. 'Maybe they didn't pay her enough and she's mad at them.' He thought.
Their lunch continued in silence. After they finished, Remus helped Lia to wash the dishes.
"You know," Remus was the first to break the silence. "I've sent an owl to Harry and the Weasleys."
"Who are the Weasleys?"
"Friends of mine and Harry's. They are so nice."
"Okay."
At that moment Rex raise his ears and stood up. The kitchen door opened and a brown owl came in holding a letter. It dropped the letter in Remus's hands and flew toward Rex and stood on his head.
"It's from Molly." Remus said and opened the letter.
"Who's Molly?"
"Molly Weasley." Remus replied and read the letter:
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Dear Remus,
We are glad to know that Lia is with you at the headquarters. Me and Arthur would like to invite you to spend the weekend with us. The children are so excited and they also want to meet Lia.
I will send an owl to Harry and see if he can make it.
Sincerely,
Molly Weasley
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"Well? What do you say?" Remus asked.
"About what? The weekend?"
"Yes."
"Er… I don't know. I'm not used to go and visit people whom I don't even know."
"There's always a first time." Remus said. "It's going to be fun. Their sons were the biggest troublemakers at Hogwarts. You'll like them."
"Okay. Whatever you say Mr. Lupin."
"Please call me Remus. I don't like formalities."
"Okay Remus." Lia said with a smile.
O o O o O
Harry felt miserable. It's been two weeks since he came back and he missed Sirius. He couldn't believe that he would never see his Godfather again. Harry was in his room trying to ovoid Uncle Vernon's daily screams. But this summer was going to be different. Moody, Tonks and Lupin have politely asked Uncle Vernon to be nice to Harry, which turned into a threat at the end of their conversation. Harry was doing his homework. He wanted to finish them in time. Suddenly two owls came and landed on his window. He recognized them at once. One of them was Pig, Ron's owl, and the other one was a black owl sent by Remus. He took the letters from them and they flew to Hedwig's cage.
Harry saw that the letter was from Mrs. Weasley. So, he decided to open Remus's letter first.
----------------------------
Dear Harry,
I hope that you're doing well. Are the Durlsey's treating you good? If they're not, let me know.
I have a little surprise for you. Just a week ago I received an owl from Professor Dumbledore asking me to represent Hogwarts to meet a new witch who will soon be attending Hogwarts. Her name is Lia Jones and she is your cousin. I know that you'll be surprised, as you never knew that you had relatives. I am sorry for not telling you before that your father had a sister, but that was upon her wish. She wanted to stay away from the magical world in order to keep her marriage. Lia is now with me at Sirius's house. She doesn't know anything about our world. Emily (her mother) didn't tell her anything about it.
When Lia knew that she had a cousin, she was so happy. I hope that you are also happy to know about her too. I am thinking now about how to get you two to meet each other. I will send you an owl as soon as I figure that out.
Send me your reply as soon as you can.
Sincerely,
R. Lupin
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Harry was surprised. "A cousin?" he turned to Hedwig. "Did you hear that Hedwig? I have a cousin!" he said happily and opened Mrs. Weasley's letter.
----------------------------
Dear Harry,
I hope that you received Remus's letter before this one. I guess he told you about your newly found cousin. We all are so happy for you!
You are invited to spend this weekend at our house. I've sent an owl to Remus and invited him and Lia to come too. I hope that you can make it. If your aunt and uncle disagree about that, let us know. We can talk to them. Send your reply with Pig.
P.S.: Ron is so excited about meeting your cousin too. And he sends his greetings.
Take care of yourself,
Molly Weasley
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There was nothing that would ruin Harry's happiness now. Even if Dudley came in and started beating him, he wouldn't mind that. He wasn't alone now. He has a cousin who wants to meet him and she doesn't mind him being a wizard. He is so excited about that. He quickly went downstairs and headed to the kitchen, where the Dursleys spent most of their days.
"Uncle Vernon?" Harry said as he entered the kitchen.
"What do you want boy?" Uncle Vernon replied without even looking at him.
"I was wondering if… if I can spend the weekend at Ron's?" Harry asked.
"What?" Uncle Vernon knew that Ron is Harry's wizard friend. And he hated everything and everyone who had some relation with magic. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT…"
"Vernon!" Aunt Petunia interrupted him. "Remember what that man said at the train station!"
Uncle Vernon couldn't forget the man who threatened him at the train station when he went to meet Harry. Mad-Eye Moody had made it clear for him that he will get into a big trouble if he disturbs Harry.
"Can you stay there the whole summer?" he asked Harry.
"I don't know yet. But I'll try."
"Alright then. You can go." Uncle Vernon said turning to watch TV again. He was so angry and Harry knew that. He went back to his room happily and started to write his reply.
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Dear Mrs. Weasley,
Thank you for inviting me. I am allowed to come. I just don't know how to get there. Can you help?
Harry.
----------------------------
He rolled the parchment and attached it to Pig's leg. "Take this to Mrs. Weasley." He said and Pig flew out of the window. The black owl was waiting for his share of the letter to take it. Harry wrote the next letter:
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Dear Remus,
This is the best surprise ever! How come I didn't know? Well, I guess you and Lia are going to tell me about everything. Mrs. Weasley invited me to spend the weekend at the Burrow. I hope that you are coming too.
Tell Lia that I can't wait to meet her. I know that two days are not a long period, but now, every second feels like a day! I still don't know how am I going to get there, but I wrote to Mrs. Weasley to help me with that.
Take care of Lia and yourself.
P.S.: Uncle Vernon asked me to spend the summer at the Burrow. But I was wondering if I can stay with you?
Sincerely,
Harry.
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Harry couldn't wait for Saturday to come. It was Thursday but it felt like Monday to him. It seemed like time decided to stop since the moment he got the letters. He attached the letter to the black owl's leg and it flew out of the window. Hedwig decided to go out too. She flew out before Harry could protest. He wanted to share his happiness with someone, but no one at that house would feel the same way as him. He sat near the window and stared at the sky.
"Mom, dad, I know you hear me. Dumbledore has found my cousin Lia. I'm going to meet her on Saturday. And she will go to school with me!" The last sentence made him even more happier. He was going to have all the time he wanted to spend it with her. He couldn't ask for anything better.
O o O o O
Remus was showing Lia the house. They walked in the corridors in silence so they wouldn't disturb Mrs. Black. They reached the third floor and Remus showed her the room where Harry stayed last summer.
"He slept here with his friend Ron." Remus said. "They are best friends."
Lia walked inside the room and looked around. "I still can't believe this. It's almost like a dream."
"I'm glad to tell you it's not." Remus said with a smile. And Lia smiled back. They went out and Remus headed to the stairs. Rex stood in front of a door at the end of the corridor and was sniffing it.
"Rex, come here boy." Lia said, but Rex didn't seem to be interested in following her.
"Oh, I think you should keep him away from that room. It might be dangerous for him."
"Why?" Lia asked.
"There's a hippogriff inside. And I don't think that your dog will like to get hurt."
"What's a hippogriff?"
"It's a magical creature. It has a head of an eagle, and a body of a horse. It also has wings."
"Wow! And you keep it locked all the time?"
"Yes. I can't let Buckbeak out in the house."
"Is that its name?"
"Buckbeak? Yes."
"Can I see it?"
Remus hesitated for a moment, but then, he remembered how curious Harry got whenever he was forbidden to go somewhere. He always ended up at the place where he wasn't supposed to be. "Alright, just remember to bow at it when you see it. If it bows back, you can go closer and pet him. If not, you have to leave the room at once. They are sensitive creatures, and they would become dangerous if they are disturbed."
"Okay."
They went to the end of the corridor and Remus took out his wand.
"Alohomora!" he said and waved his wand at the lock. The door was now unlocked.
"Wow." was all that Lia managed to say.
Remus opened the door and they entered. Buckbeak was standing there staring out of the window.
"Now we have to bow." Remus said and he bowed. Lia followed him. Buckbeak turned at them and bowed to Remus. He stared at Lia for a moment and then slowly bowed to her too.
"This is amazing!" Lia said. She couldn't believe her eyes. She was standing there; looking at an animal that looked like a horse and an eagle at the same time.
"You can go closer now." Remus said.
Lia nodded and slowly got closer. Buckbeak stared at her and then it moved closer to her. It had feathers on its body. "Hello." She said as she stroke Buckbeak's head. Then she turned to Remus, "Why do you keep him inside all the time? Can't you let it out?"
"Unfortunately no. But I let him out from time to time at night. So he would fly."
"It's beautiful." Lia said.
They went out of the room and Remus locked the door. "Let's go downstairs." He said and they went back to the kitchen.
As soon as they entered the kitchen, a black owl came in.
"How do they do that? How can they get in if all the doors and windows are shut?" Lia asked.
Remus took the letter from the owl's leg and it flew to the table. "No body knows. They can find anyone they need no matter how hard it is to reach them."
He unfolded the parchment. "It's from Harry." He said.
"So soon?"
"Owls are fast." Remus read Harry's letter loudly so Lia would listen.
"He wants to stay with us? That's great!" Lia said happily.
"As much as I want to, but he can't. We must leave on Tuesday to Hogwarts."
"But why? Term starts on September 1st, and it's only June."
"You have to meet Professor Dumbledore first. We'll see what he has to say about this, and after that we will try to bring Harry here."
"I can't wait to meet him." Lia said. Remus didn't reply. He just smiled and took out a parchment and started to write the reply of Harry's letter.
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Dear Harry,
I am not sure if you could spend the summer with us. As we are going to visit professor Dumbledore on Tuesday. Lia might start her lessons at Hogwarts at once. It all depends on Dumbledore. I'll tell him that you want to spend the summer with Lia, and since you both are in the same situation, I don't think that he will object. We will talk about this on Saturday at the Burrow.
Lia sends her greetings. She's excited as much as you.
Sincerely,
Remus.
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He attached the letter to the owl's leg and it flew out at once. "It's getting late. I think it's better for us to go to sleep now." Remus said. He took Lia to her room and wished her goodnight, and then he went to his room, which was on the opposite side of Lia's room. Lia lay on the bed and thought about Saturday. She couldn't wait. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
She was walking near a lake. There was no one around. The birds were singing merrily around her and the sun was shining in the sky. She stopped to take a look at the lake. She went closer to the shore and knelt there. The water was so clear and blue. She saw the reflection of her face in it. It soon changed to show her mother's dead body. Lia quickly got up and started to run. Her scar started to hurt. Someone was watching her and she knew that she was in danger. She kept running into the forest until she saw him. The same man who came to her house on Christmas Eve. The one who killed her boyfriend and her mother. She couldn't move. She just stood there and stared at him. His face was covered again. He took out his wand and waved it at her. A green light flashed and headed toward her. She started to scream…
"Lia! Lia! Are you alright? Wake up please!"
Lia opened her eyes and breathed heavily. Everything was a blur. Her heart ached again and this time the pain was worse than ever. She sat up and put her hand on her scar.
"It hurts." She said, trying to control her tears.
"It's alright, just calm down and it will fade." Remus said.
"He was there. I couldn't see his face. He tried to kill me again!" she started to cry.
"It was only a dream." Remus took her in his arms. "Calm down. It's just a dream. It wasn't real." Remus started to think that Lia was having dreams just like Harry did. Voldemort would never show up in a dream unless he had some interest in that person.
Rex was already on her bed and he was licking her face, trying to calm her. He always did that when she was crying.
"It felt real." She said.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Remus asked. Lia nodded and Remus sat next to her. "Alright then."
"I was walking near a lake and then I saw my mother's reflection in the water. I started to run and he was there in the forest. He took out his wand and waved it at me. I saw a green light coming out of it and headed at my direction. Then I woke up."
"Do you see such dreams so often?"
"From time to time. But always at different places. First I see my mom, and then he shows up. And I never saw his face."
"That's because he doesn't have one." Remus said.
"It still hurts." Lia said as she rubbed her chest.
"You'll be fine. Now try and go back to sleep."
Lia lay back in her bed and closed her eyes. Rex got closer to her and lay next to her and put his head on her stomach.
"Good dog." Remus said. "Take care of her." He left the room and went back to his room.
O o O o O
Saturday was a happy day for both Harry and Lia. Remus prepared a portkey to go to the Burrow. Lia decided to take Rex with her too. She didn't want to leave him all alone in the house. She grabbed his collar with one hand and Remus's Robe with the other. Remus touched the little statue that he used as a portkey and Lia quickly closed her eyes. She felt dizzy and her scar burnt. When she felt a solid ground again she opened her eyes and saw that she was looking at a house. It was old, but the garden surrounding it made it look as new as the other houses on the street. She followed Remus to the door. He knocked and after a few seconds they heard footsteps approaching.
"Remus! How nice to see you!" Mrs. Weasley gave Remus a hug.
"Hello Molly." Remus said.
"And this must be Lia." Mrs. Weasley said as she turned to Lia.
"Hello." Lia said shyly.
"It's nice to meet you dear. And I thought that you're a little girl!" she gave Lia a hug too. "Come on in."
They entered the house. Mrs. Weasley showed them the way to the living room. "Arthur and Ron went to bring Harry. They will soon be here." She said.
"You have a nice house." Lia said.
"Thank you dear." Mrs. Weasley blushed. It was the first time to hear a compliment about her house from a person who was there for the first time. She didn't know that this house seemed like a palace for Lia. After her mother's death Lia spent her life at a small apartment, which was becoming stinky.
"How are you Molly?" Remus asked.
"Oh, as usual. Cooking, cleaning. You know how it is."
"Yes, of course." Remus smiled. "And how's Arthur's work?"
"The same. He still doesn't speak to Percy." Mrs. Weasley had a sad look in her eyes. It's been a year since Percy left. And he wasn't speaking to them because they were following Dumbledore instead of the Ministry.
A redhead girl came in and she had a large smile on her face. "Hello professor." She said to Remus and then turned to Lia. "Hello, I'm Ginny."
"Hi. I'm Lia." Lia said. She was nervous about being there. Meeting new people was something that she didn't do for almost 10 years.
Twin redheads came into the room. "Hello Remus!"
"Hello boys." Remus replied.
They saw Lia sitting next to him. "Hello." They said together.
"Hi." Lia replied.
"I'm Fred."
"And I'm George."
"It's nice to meet you." Lia shook their hands. "I'm Lia."
"Nice to meet you too Lia." Fred said.
"Mom told us about you." George said. "She was talking about you in the last two days."
"Oh, how nice." Lia said with a blush.
"Alright, would you like a cup of tea?" Mrs. Weasley said.
"Yeah!" the twins said together.
"I wasn't asking you two." Mrs. Weasley told them.
"Yes Molly, thank you." Remus said.
"What about you dear?" she asked Lia.
"Er… okay." Lia replied.
Mrs. Weasley went to the kitchen and came back with a tray of six cups of tea. Ginny brought some biscuits and pancakes.
Mrs. Weasley gave Lia a cup of tea. "Thanks." Lia said.
"When are they coming?" Remus asked.
"They left an hour ago." Ginny said.
"They used floo powder." Fred said.
"I think they're stuck in the fireplace again." George said. "Remember the last time we were there Fred?"
"Yeah. Poor porky, he had his tongue as the size of his body." Fred said and winked at George.
"Who's porky?" Lia asked.
"Harry's cousin. He looks like a pig." Fred said.
"Oh." Lia said and managed to hide a giggle.
"Where back!" Mrs. Weasley said as he entered the living room.
"Arthur! It great to see you again." Remus said and shook Mrs. Weasley's hand.
"Hello Remus." He said and turned to Lia. "And you must be Lia."
"Hello. Nice to meet you Sir." Lia shook Mr. Weasley's hand.
"You look just like your mother." Mr. Weasley said.
Harry and Ron came inside too. "Hello everyone!" Ron said. Harry followed him shyly, like he was coming to the Burrow for the first time. He saw Lia standing there. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. He was there looking in the eyes of his cousin. A cousin that he didn't know that existed.
Lia felt a warm sting on her chest. She smiled at Harry and he smiled back. Mrs. Weasley was wiping her tears already. Harry came closer to Lia.
"Hello." He said.
"Hi." Lia replied.
"I'm Harry."
"And I'm Lia."
"You're my cousin?" Harry asked.
"They told me so." Lia said with a smile. Tears started to form in her eyes. They embraced. Neither of them could feel happier. "I'm sorry I didn't know about you until now." Lia said.
"It's not your fault." Remus said. "We'll tell you all about it later." Lia and Harry broke their hug but kept holding each other's hand.
"Lia, this is Ron." Harry said. "He's my best friend."
Ron came closer to them. "Nice to meet you Lia."
"Hi Ron. Remus told me about you." She said.
"Remus, how come we never knew about each other?" Harry asked.
"Sit down Harry. You too Lia." Remus said. They sat on the couch next to each other.
"Emily was working on a project of Muggle studies in her seventh year at Hogwarts. She used to go out of school grounds so often. She used to come to London and do her researches. That's how she met Mathew. Of course, they fell in love and got married as soon as Emily graduated from Hogwarts. Mathew's parents didn't approve of his marriage to a witch. So, Emily decided to cut all her relations with the magical world and decided to live with her husband and daughter. James tried to convince her into staying in London, but she decided to move to another place. No body knew where she was until two weeks ago. Professor McGonagall was preparing the invitation letters to the new first year students and her magical quill wrote Lia's name. We all were surprised to know that she isn't eleven years old. Because that quill writes the names of the children who turned eleven each year and Professor McGonagall sends them an owl. She told Professor Dumbledore about what the quill wrote and he decided to bring Lia here to study."
"Why didn't you tell me that I had an aunt? Why didn't… Sirius tell me about her?" Harry asked.
"Harry, that was your aunt's wish. At that time she didn't know that James was going to get married and have a boy. She made us promise not to tell anyone about where she was. She loved her husband and daughter and she wanted to keep her marriage." Remus said.
"How come no one knew about my existence?" Lia asked. "If that magic quill writes down the name of each child who is born in a wizard family, how come my name wasn't written at the time I turned eleven?"
"Your mother put a charm on the house where you lived Lia." Mrs. Weasley said. "Before she left, she told me about that. She didn't want anyone to write to her or even visit her."
"Not even her own brother?" Lia asked. Harry felt relieved that she was the one to ask that question and not him.
"Not even her brother." Mrs. Weasley said. "Her mother-in-law insisted on keeping you and your mother away from anyone who had relations with wizardry. Emily couldn't anything but accept it."
"And I guess that's why she stopped visiting us after my father's death." Lia said.
"What happened to him?" Harry asked.
"He had a heart attack. He died when I was 13." Lia said.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's Okay. I can't even remember him correctly now. Although mom used to tell me about him."
"At least you got to know your mother." Harry said.
"Well, yeah." She replied. "What about your parents?"
"Well, they died when I was one year old, trying to save my life from Voldemort." All the Weasley's flinched at the mention of the name.
"Oh, that guy." Lia said and felt her scar burn again. She turned to Remus. "Remus it's…" She was breathing heavily.
Remus nodded and turned to Mrs. Weasley, "Molly do you have a comforting potion?"
"I think so. I'll get it." She got up and went to find the potion.
"What's wrong Lia?" Ginny asked.
"Oh, nothing." Lia said. "It's painful to remember my mother."
"Maybe you should get some rest." Ron said.
"Yeah, I think you had a long trip to get here." Harry said. "You should rest."
"Oh, no. We came through a portkey." Lia said. "It was a short trip."
Mrs. Weasley came back with the potion. She poured some potion in a spoon and gave it to Lia. Lia swallowed the pink potion. "Yuck! Sorry Mrs. Weasley, but it doesn't taste good."
"I know dear." Mrs. Weasley said with a smile.
"I feel a lot more better now." Lia said.
Harry smiled and held her hand. "I'm so happy to have you here." He said. "We are going to go to school together."
"Almost together." Remus said. "Harry, Lia is going to study by her own schedule. She might sit in classes with students. But most of the time, she's going to have private classes."
"Even potions?" Ron asked.
"Yes Ron, even potions." Remus smiled.
"What's so special about potions?" Lia asked.
"The teacher." Ron replied simply. "He's… well, annoying."
"Ron! Don't you ever talk about your teachers in that manner." Mrs. Weasley said.
"But it's the truth mom." Gunny said.
"Yeah, Snape is annoying sometimes." Harry said.
"All the time." Fred and George said together.
Mrs. Weasley got up. "Alright, everyone except for Harry and Lia come and help me at the kitchen. We have some work to do."
"Why except for us?" Harry asked.
"Well, you have so many things to talk about, and we don't want to disturb. We'll just go and prepare lunch."
Harry smiled to Mrs. Weasley. It was so nice of her to give them some private time to talk to each other.
Harry told Lia about his life with the Dursleys and then about his life at Hogwarts. Lia listened to him quietly and she was amazed to find out about Harry's adventures, although the last one was the worst of all.
"So, you didn't spend anytime with him like you wanted to?" Lia asked.
"No. Sirius was hiding all the time. And even when I came to stay at his place last summer, everyone was so busy and we didn't have the time to talk to each other."
"That's sad."
"Yeah. And when I went back to Hogwarts, he gave me something and told me to use it when I need to talk to him. I was so stupid not to open it as soon as I got to Hogwarts. I found out about what it was after he was dead. It was a mirror. I could talk to him using it. None of that would have happened if I used it the night I saw that dream." Harry said and his eyes filled with tears.
Lia took him into her arms. "It's alright. It wasn't your fault. It was his destiny. He wanted to save your life. And he did it. You can't change destiny."
"I just wish I could turn back time. Everything would be different. He would be alive."
"But no one can do that. I always wanted to turn back time too. Since the day my mother died. She would've been alive, as well as John."
Harry pulled back and looked at her. "Who's John?"
"My boyfriend." Lia said with a sad voice. "That black man killed him too."
"What black man?"
"The same guy who killed your parents. What was his name?"
"Voldemort." Harry said.
"Yes." Lia lowered her head. "He came to our house on Christmas Eve. I invited John to come and have dinner with me and my mom. That was going to be the first time they meet. Voldemort came and killed John first. Mom told me to run, and before I could get out I felt my mom jump in front of me and then we both fell on the ground. She was already dead." Her scar started to burn again. "He wasn't satisfied by killing her. She tried to kill me too. All I remember after that it awaking at the hospital and having a scar on my chest."
"A scar? Can I see it."
"Sure." Lia lowered her T-shirt's neck and showed Harry the bolt-shaped scar.
"The same as mine." Harry said and lifted his hair from his forehead.
"Oh my God. He tried to kill you too?"
"Yes. My dad's best friend betrayed him and told Voldemort where to find us. That's how he came. But how did he find you? Your house was charmed, wasn't it?"
"I don't know how he found us actually. I didn't know anything about wizardry at that time. And no one came to visit us except for some of mom's co-workers."
Ron came back to the living room. "Lunch is ready."
"We're coming." Harry said. He and Lia got up and went to the dining room.