Author's Notes- Hey all! I have just one thing to say. I know some of you
were really hoping this would end up H/H, but I'm warning you right now. It
won't. I looked at my plot plan (sounds kinda funny, doesn't it), and it
just doesn't fit. Sorry. Maybe I'll write an H/H later . . . Anyways, this
is chapter 14. In it we meet a new character, go more in depth on another
character, Meg makes a funny, and the first part of summer. Lots of fun.
Okay, so let's begin! Oh, yeah, forgive my spacing. It's always off someway
or another.
Disclaimer- I own nothing at all. It all belongs to the great Harry Potter people. AKA- not me. I'm certainly not getting paid either.
Erika - The Legacy of Lily and James
Hogsmeade train station was alive with action. The entire Hogwarts student population was crowded onto the platform, waiting for the Hogwarts Express to bring us home.
Meg and I stood off to one side. Harry - being the ex-Head Boy - was off trying to keep chaos from taking over.
Anya had to stay at the school until the following evening, so Meg was coming to our new apartment with Harry, Ron, and I, until Anya came to get her.
A protection charm had been placed on us the night before. Actually, a series of them. One was we couldn't be hurt by dark curses inside (or within a hundred yards from) our apartment. And another where we couldn't be hurt within a hundred yards of each other - Harry, Ron, and I that is. The same charms had been placed on Meg, Anya, and I. However, when we left those 100 yards, we were completely vulnerable. The same went each way, if Meg was at our apartment, she was safe. If I was over at her apartment, I was safe. It was, in my opinion, very complicated.
I could see Harry on the other side of the platform, saying goodbye to Hagrid.
"Erika, the train's starting to load," Meg said.
I looked over at the train, and the students getting on.
"All right, let's go," I said.
We found a compartment, and sat down. I watched out the window as the remaining students got on, and the train slowly started moving away. Meg and I put our arms out of the window, and waved.
"Fred and George are supposed to meet us here," Harry said.
The Hogwarts Express had reached King's Cross, where we sat, with our things. Meg and I were sitting on my trunk.
"They're late, I should've known," Ron grummbled.
Hermione, who had been standing with her parents, ran over.
"I have to go, my parents are getting impatient to show me my apartment. I'll see you guys at ten in the morning, tomorrow. Don't be late," she said.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all signing up for Auror's Training Classes. All three wanted to be Aurors.
We all said goodbye, and settled down for another wait. Slowly, Plat form 9 and ¾ emptied out.
Fifteen minutes later, two identical men walked up. Fred and George Weasley.
"Sorry we're late," one of them, I couldn't tell them apart, said.
"Late is an understatement," Ron told them, "Can we go, now?"
"Yep," the other said, and then saw Meg, "You must be the Riddle girl. Read all about you in the newspaper."
"Could you say it any louder?" I asked.
The twin grinned, "Ah-hah! She has a voice! George, you owe me 5 sickles!"
The other twin pushed his brother, mockingly, and we set off. Of course, there was the whole problem of getting four wizards, two witches, and two owls through London without cuasing a spectacle. But we managed it, with a few taxis.
We finally reached the flat. I was quite relieved. We carried our stuff up a set of stairs to the second floor. There were four identical apartments to a floor. Ours was in the front left corner, if you were looking from the street below.
"Well, here you are," Fred said, "Mum and Dad are bring the furniture tomorrow. They've been looking all year."
"Did they use the money I gave them?" Harry asked.
Fred nodded, "Yeah. Well, are you ready?"
"Fred, just let us in," George told his brother.
They turned the key in the lock, and opened the door. Beyond the door was a semi-narrow hallway, with a window at the end. There were three doors on the left wall, and two arches and one door to the right.
"This is it," George said.
I walked in, and started looking around. The first two doors on the left were two bedrooms, and the third was a bathroom.
On the right, the two arches were a connecting livingroom/kitchen. The first was the kitchen area, and the second the living room area. The last door was another bedroom. Mine.
"It's great," I stated.
"All right. We've gotta go. We'll be back tomorrow morning with Mum and Dad," Fred said.
George waved, "See you then!"
And they apparated away. The four of us were left standing in our apartment.
"Pizza, anyone?" I asked.
"What's pizza?" Meg asked.
I shook my head, and put an arm around Meg, teasingly, and said, "Meg, my friend, you've got a lot to learn."
By 10 o'clock at night, we'd completely devoured the two medium pizzas, and we were all getting ready for bed. Of course, we didn't actually have beds. So, we were making due with nice, fluffy, sleeping bags.
Harry and Ron were both sleeping in their own rooms, but Meg and I were camping out in the living room.
"What do you plan on doing this summer?" I asked Meg.
She shrugged, "I dunno. What about you?"
"Sleep in," I answered, "And spend a bunch of time in Diagon Alley. Harry and Ron want to teach me to play Quidditch. We have to check out that key I got for Christmas . . . tons of stuff."
We were silent for a minute.
I spoke again, "Next year, we'll be expirienced second-years. I wonder if Anya'll be teaching. Did she say anything to you?"
"No, but she will. Sirius Black is bound to be there a lot, and if he is, so will she," Meg replied.
I laughed, "Meg!"
We both broke out laughing. But it felt good to hear Meg make a joke, even a small one.
Harry appeared in the arch, "Can you keep it down? Some people are trying to sleep."
We laughed, but settled down.
* * * A dark room, far away
Ruth walked into the room, glaring at the two girls in it. The girls stopped what they were doing right away, and bowed.
"You," Ruth snapped at one of the girls, "Out."
The girl scurried out, leaving Ruth alone in the small room with the remaining girl.
"Adrienne, the Dark Lord is very unhappy with you. I, the Dark Lady, am very unhappy with you," Ruth hissed.
The girl looked up at her, "You're not the Dark Lady, Ruth. He's very unhappy with you, too. You keep failing."
Ruth let out an offended cry, and slapped the girl across the face. The girl bit her lip, but refused to give Ruth the satisfaction of letting out a scream.
"You filthy, good-for-nothing rat!" Ruth shouted, and slapped her again.
Still, she didn't scream.
Ruth's back straightened, and she glared fiercely at the young girl.
"Watch your back, Adrienne. You never know when some poison might slip into your morning goblet," Ruth hissed.
She turned, and left the girl alone in the dark room.
* * * The next day As told by Erika Potter
Harry and Ron woke up first, shortly followed by Meg and me. They ran to the store at the corner, and managed to get some dohnuts, orange juice, and paper cups.
We ate around the counter (no table yet). At 9:30 in the morning, Harry and Ron went to meet Hermione, while Meg and I stayed behind.
Not long afterward, Meg and I went off to hang out in my room.
Five minutes later, there was a huge slam in the living room. Meg and I ran out of my room to find Mr. Weasley standing in our fireplace, holding a trunk.
"Good to see that works. I had you connected yesterday," he said.
I smiled, and greeted, "Hi, Mr. Weasley."
"Hello, Erika, Megan. Where's Ron and Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"They went to sign up for Auror training classes. They should be back soon," I answered.
Mr Weasley nodded, "Good. Molly and the twins will be here shortly. We're bringing the furniture."
"Great. Is that . . . er . . . it?" I asked, pointing to the trunk.
"Oh, no. We shrunk the furniture and things, and put them in boxes," Mr. Weasley explained.
Five minutes later, Mrs. Weasley and the twins had arrived, each with a trunk. Since Ron and Harry weren't back yet, they set to return the stuff to normal size. Meg and I sat and watched (no magic during the holidays).
As it turned out, when they were just about done, there was a buzz through the door-bell sort communication.
"Erika, it's us. We forgot our key. Will you buzz us up?" Harry's voice asked.
I grinned, and pressed the talk button, "Say 'pretty please'."
"Erika . . ." Harry started.
"Say it," I cut in.
There was a short pause, and then "Fine, pretty please buzz us up."
I hit the unlock button and said, "You're Welcome."
The rest of the day was spent moving furniture around until our apartment actually looked like people lived there. The Weasleys stayed for dinner, when Anya appeared to get Meg. We all said our good-byes, and by eight o'clock the Weasleys (save Ron), Anya, and Meg were all gone.
The next day was preplanned. Ron was going out to find a part-time job, as was Hermione (Harry was planning on doing so the following day). Harry and I were going to Diagon Alley to check on that vault that was supposedly in my name, and then Harry wanted to go to look at Quidditch stuff. Anya was also taking Meg shopping. The six of us were meeting up for dinner at the Leaky Cauldron.
I dragged Harry through Diagon Alley, eager to begin.
"I suppose I'll have to brave the cart this time," I said.
"Well if this is your vault, I'm certainly not going alone," Harry replied, and I groaned in response.
Inside the bank, we managed to find a semi-helpful goblin (really, goblins aren't altogether cordial to say the least).
"My sister would like to make a withdrawal from her vault," Harry said.
"Key?" the goblin asked.
I held up the tiny key. The goblin nodded.
"I'll have someone take you. Vault number?" the goblin asked.
"Eight hundred and twelve," I answered.
Five minutes later, I was quite unhappy. For I was sitting in a Gringott's cart, and plumeting down the track.
Once we reached Vault 812, Harry and I got out.
"I think I'm going to vomit," I whispered.
Harry grinned.
Just then, the goblin opened the door to my vault, and the sick feeling disappeared.
"This . . . this is all mine?" I asked, staring at the mounds of gold and silver coins.
Harry nodded, "Yeah. Come on, grab some so we can go."
I did so, and filled a little purse. The goblin closed the vault, and handed me the key, which I put around my neck (I'd been wearing it there lately).
We left Gringotts (I was feeling consideribly sick), and headed towards the Quidditch shop.
"What do we have to get anyway?" I asked.
Harry answered, "Well, I want us to look at broomsticks. I intend on starting to teach you about Quidditch this summer, maybe we could go . . ."
He didn't have a chance to finish. Someone had bumped into him, and we stopped.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, and helped the person up.
"It's all right, I wasn't watching where I was going. I'm Sarah," the person said.
The person was a woman, a pretty woman about the age of Harry. She had light brown hair, pulled up into a pony tail.
"I'm Harry," my brother said, shaking her hand.
I cleared my throat.
"Oh, this is my sister, Erika," Harry added.
"Pleased to meet you," Sarah said.
"You're not from around her, are you?" Harry asked, noting her accent.
She grinned, "Oh, no. I'm from the US. I cam here for the summer, to get to see English Wizarding world."
"Cool. In that case, welcome to London," Harry said.
"Thanks," Sarah replied.
I groaned, "Harry, I'll meet you in the store."
They were going to be here a while, I could just tell.
Harry waved his hand, and I left.
Harry didn't come to meet me until miuch later. By then, we were late for dinner. When we finally got to the Leaky Cauldron, I was annoyed with my brother.
Anya exclaimed, when we finally arrived, "There you are! What took you?"
I rolled my eyes, "Harry was talking to his new girlfriend."
To which, Harry shouted, "ERIKA!"
A/N- Ta da! Chapter 14 is now done. I've also put up a prolouge, since I couldn't fit the whole summary on those two lines they give you! Well, now that you've read, you can REVIEW!!!! HAHA!!!!! REVIEW!!!! And Jeri, maybe the button is lavender. Oh well.
Any additional comments can be given to me at StarlightEve111@aol.com
Disclaimer- I own nothing at all. It all belongs to the great Harry Potter people. AKA- not me. I'm certainly not getting paid either.
Erika - The Legacy of Lily and James
Hogsmeade train station was alive with action. The entire Hogwarts student population was crowded onto the platform, waiting for the Hogwarts Express to bring us home.
Meg and I stood off to one side. Harry - being the ex-Head Boy - was off trying to keep chaos from taking over.
Anya had to stay at the school until the following evening, so Meg was coming to our new apartment with Harry, Ron, and I, until Anya came to get her.
A protection charm had been placed on us the night before. Actually, a series of them. One was we couldn't be hurt by dark curses inside (or within a hundred yards from) our apartment. And another where we couldn't be hurt within a hundred yards of each other - Harry, Ron, and I that is. The same charms had been placed on Meg, Anya, and I. However, when we left those 100 yards, we were completely vulnerable. The same went each way, if Meg was at our apartment, she was safe. If I was over at her apartment, I was safe. It was, in my opinion, very complicated.
I could see Harry on the other side of the platform, saying goodbye to Hagrid.
"Erika, the train's starting to load," Meg said.
I looked over at the train, and the students getting on.
"All right, let's go," I said.
We found a compartment, and sat down. I watched out the window as the remaining students got on, and the train slowly started moving away. Meg and I put our arms out of the window, and waved.
"Fred and George are supposed to meet us here," Harry said.
The Hogwarts Express had reached King's Cross, where we sat, with our things. Meg and I were sitting on my trunk.
"They're late, I should've known," Ron grummbled.
Hermione, who had been standing with her parents, ran over.
"I have to go, my parents are getting impatient to show me my apartment. I'll see you guys at ten in the morning, tomorrow. Don't be late," she said.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all signing up for Auror's Training Classes. All three wanted to be Aurors.
We all said goodbye, and settled down for another wait. Slowly, Plat form 9 and ¾ emptied out.
Fifteen minutes later, two identical men walked up. Fred and George Weasley.
"Sorry we're late," one of them, I couldn't tell them apart, said.
"Late is an understatement," Ron told them, "Can we go, now?"
"Yep," the other said, and then saw Meg, "You must be the Riddle girl. Read all about you in the newspaper."
"Could you say it any louder?" I asked.
The twin grinned, "Ah-hah! She has a voice! George, you owe me 5 sickles!"
The other twin pushed his brother, mockingly, and we set off. Of course, there was the whole problem of getting four wizards, two witches, and two owls through London without cuasing a spectacle. But we managed it, with a few taxis.
We finally reached the flat. I was quite relieved. We carried our stuff up a set of stairs to the second floor. There were four identical apartments to a floor. Ours was in the front left corner, if you were looking from the street below.
"Well, here you are," Fred said, "Mum and Dad are bring the furniture tomorrow. They've been looking all year."
"Did they use the money I gave them?" Harry asked.
Fred nodded, "Yeah. Well, are you ready?"
"Fred, just let us in," George told his brother.
They turned the key in the lock, and opened the door. Beyond the door was a semi-narrow hallway, with a window at the end. There were three doors on the left wall, and two arches and one door to the right.
"This is it," George said.
I walked in, and started looking around. The first two doors on the left were two bedrooms, and the third was a bathroom.
On the right, the two arches were a connecting livingroom/kitchen. The first was the kitchen area, and the second the living room area. The last door was another bedroom. Mine.
"It's great," I stated.
"All right. We've gotta go. We'll be back tomorrow morning with Mum and Dad," Fred said.
George waved, "See you then!"
And they apparated away. The four of us were left standing in our apartment.
"Pizza, anyone?" I asked.
"What's pizza?" Meg asked.
I shook my head, and put an arm around Meg, teasingly, and said, "Meg, my friend, you've got a lot to learn."
By 10 o'clock at night, we'd completely devoured the two medium pizzas, and we were all getting ready for bed. Of course, we didn't actually have beds. So, we were making due with nice, fluffy, sleeping bags.
Harry and Ron were both sleeping in their own rooms, but Meg and I were camping out in the living room.
"What do you plan on doing this summer?" I asked Meg.
She shrugged, "I dunno. What about you?"
"Sleep in," I answered, "And spend a bunch of time in Diagon Alley. Harry and Ron want to teach me to play Quidditch. We have to check out that key I got for Christmas . . . tons of stuff."
We were silent for a minute.
I spoke again, "Next year, we'll be expirienced second-years. I wonder if Anya'll be teaching. Did she say anything to you?"
"No, but she will. Sirius Black is bound to be there a lot, and if he is, so will she," Meg replied.
I laughed, "Meg!"
We both broke out laughing. But it felt good to hear Meg make a joke, even a small one.
Harry appeared in the arch, "Can you keep it down? Some people are trying to sleep."
We laughed, but settled down.
* * * A dark room, far away
Ruth walked into the room, glaring at the two girls in it. The girls stopped what they were doing right away, and bowed.
"You," Ruth snapped at one of the girls, "Out."
The girl scurried out, leaving Ruth alone in the small room with the remaining girl.
"Adrienne, the Dark Lord is very unhappy with you. I, the Dark Lady, am very unhappy with you," Ruth hissed.
The girl looked up at her, "You're not the Dark Lady, Ruth. He's very unhappy with you, too. You keep failing."
Ruth let out an offended cry, and slapped the girl across the face. The girl bit her lip, but refused to give Ruth the satisfaction of letting out a scream.
"You filthy, good-for-nothing rat!" Ruth shouted, and slapped her again.
Still, she didn't scream.
Ruth's back straightened, and she glared fiercely at the young girl.
"Watch your back, Adrienne. You never know when some poison might slip into your morning goblet," Ruth hissed.
She turned, and left the girl alone in the dark room.
* * * The next day As told by Erika Potter
Harry and Ron woke up first, shortly followed by Meg and me. They ran to the store at the corner, and managed to get some dohnuts, orange juice, and paper cups.
We ate around the counter (no table yet). At 9:30 in the morning, Harry and Ron went to meet Hermione, while Meg and I stayed behind.
Not long afterward, Meg and I went off to hang out in my room.
Five minutes later, there was a huge slam in the living room. Meg and I ran out of my room to find Mr. Weasley standing in our fireplace, holding a trunk.
"Good to see that works. I had you connected yesterday," he said.
I smiled, and greeted, "Hi, Mr. Weasley."
"Hello, Erika, Megan. Where's Ron and Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"They went to sign up for Auror training classes. They should be back soon," I answered.
Mr Weasley nodded, "Good. Molly and the twins will be here shortly. We're bringing the furniture."
"Great. Is that . . . er . . . it?" I asked, pointing to the trunk.
"Oh, no. We shrunk the furniture and things, and put them in boxes," Mr. Weasley explained.
Five minutes later, Mrs. Weasley and the twins had arrived, each with a trunk. Since Ron and Harry weren't back yet, they set to return the stuff to normal size. Meg and I sat and watched (no magic during the holidays).
As it turned out, when they were just about done, there was a buzz through the door-bell sort communication.
"Erika, it's us. We forgot our key. Will you buzz us up?" Harry's voice asked.
I grinned, and pressed the talk button, "Say 'pretty please'."
"Erika . . ." Harry started.
"Say it," I cut in.
There was a short pause, and then "Fine, pretty please buzz us up."
I hit the unlock button and said, "You're Welcome."
The rest of the day was spent moving furniture around until our apartment actually looked like people lived there. The Weasleys stayed for dinner, when Anya appeared to get Meg. We all said our good-byes, and by eight o'clock the Weasleys (save Ron), Anya, and Meg were all gone.
The next day was preplanned. Ron was going out to find a part-time job, as was Hermione (Harry was planning on doing so the following day). Harry and I were going to Diagon Alley to check on that vault that was supposedly in my name, and then Harry wanted to go to look at Quidditch stuff. Anya was also taking Meg shopping. The six of us were meeting up for dinner at the Leaky Cauldron.
I dragged Harry through Diagon Alley, eager to begin.
"I suppose I'll have to brave the cart this time," I said.
"Well if this is your vault, I'm certainly not going alone," Harry replied, and I groaned in response.
Inside the bank, we managed to find a semi-helpful goblin (really, goblins aren't altogether cordial to say the least).
"My sister would like to make a withdrawal from her vault," Harry said.
"Key?" the goblin asked.
I held up the tiny key. The goblin nodded.
"I'll have someone take you. Vault number?" the goblin asked.
"Eight hundred and twelve," I answered.
Five minutes later, I was quite unhappy. For I was sitting in a Gringott's cart, and plumeting down the track.
Once we reached Vault 812, Harry and I got out.
"I think I'm going to vomit," I whispered.
Harry grinned.
Just then, the goblin opened the door to my vault, and the sick feeling disappeared.
"This . . . this is all mine?" I asked, staring at the mounds of gold and silver coins.
Harry nodded, "Yeah. Come on, grab some so we can go."
I did so, and filled a little purse. The goblin closed the vault, and handed me the key, which I put around my neck (I'd been wearing it there lately).
We left Gringotts (I was feeling consideribly sick), and headed towards the Quidditch shop.
"What do we have to get anyway?" I asked.
Harry answered, "Well, I want us to look at broomsticks. I intend on starting to teach you about Quidditch this summer, maybe we could go . . ."
He didn't have a chance to finish. Someone had bumped into him, and we stopped.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, and helped the person up.
"It's all right, I wasn't watching where I was going. I'm Sarah," the person said.
The person was a woman, a pretty woman about the age of Harry. She had light brown hair, pulled up into a pony tail.
"I'm Harry," my brother said, shaking her hand.
I cleared my throat.
"Oh, this is my sister, Erika," Harry added.
"Pleased to meet you," Sarah said.
"You're not from around her, are you?" Harry asked, noting her accent.
She grinned, "Oh, no. I'm from the US. I cam here for the summer, to get to see English Wizarding world."
"Cool. In that case, welcome to London," Harry said.
"Thanks," Sarah replied.
I groaned, "Harry, I'll meet you in the store."
They were going to be here a while, I could just tell.
Harry waved his hand, and I left.
Harry didn't come to meet me until miuch later. By then, we were late for dinner. When we finally got to the Leaky Cauldron, I was annoyed with my brother.
Anya exclaimed, when we finally arrived, "There you are! What took you?"
I rolled my eyes, "Harry was talking to his new girlfriend."
To which, Harry shouted, "ERIKA!"
A/N- Ta da! Chapter 14 is now done. I've also put up a prolouge, since I couldn't fit the whole summary on those two lines they give you! Well, now that you've read, you can REVIEW!!!! HAHA!!!!! REVIEW!!!! And Jeri, maybe the button is lavender. Oh well.
Any additional comments can be given to me at StarlightEve111@aol.com