Author's Notes- Here we are, chap 15! This is the second part of the summer
(there'll probably be about three, maybe four). This is going to be a LONG
story. I've allready decided on the end! I'm so happy! Yea! Okay, I think
that's it. Oh, yeah, thanks to everyone who reviewed. Love you tons. And,
if you want, I could make it so that I'll email you whenever I update. Just
give me your email, and I'll try my hardest to do so!
Disclaimer- I own nothing. It all belongs to the great Harry Potter people. I am not getting paid.
Erika - The Legacy of Lily and James
"Harry!" I shouted, knocking on my brother's bedroom door, "I need to use Hedwig!"
The door opened, and Harry looked out, then came out to stand in the doorway.
"Erika, I'm using Hedwig," Harry replied.
I groaned, and protested, "But I have to get a letter to Meg!"
"She doesn't live far away. Bring it to her yourself," Harry answered.
"Why can't I just use Hedwig?" I asked, and then added, "Wait, are you writing to Sarah, AGAIN?"
Harry shrugged, "I might be. I have to go finish my letters."
He shut the door, and I sighed. It had been two weeks since he'd met Sarah. Three days before, they'd gone out on a date, despite how much Harry protested it wasn't a date. They'd been owling each other once a day.
"Fine! I'm going over to Meg's!" I shouted, grabbed my key, and left.
I took the underground (which I was beginning to become quite familiar with) for two stops (Floo Powder and me don't mix well). Anya and Meg lived in a town house a block down from the stop. So it was quite easy to get there. I had been there once, while Meg and Anya were setting up Meg's new room. They'd gone out and bought Meg a whole furniture set, a bunch of clothes, and other stuff to make her feel "more at home." Anya, apparently, was getting an allowance from the Ministry to keep Meg, but just threw it in with the rest of the household money.
"She's family now. I don't need to get paid to do this," she said.
I ran up the steps to their door, and rang the bell.
"Coming!" I heard Anya shout from inside.
The door opened, and I saw Anya, standing there in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, looking like she'd just got out of bed.
"Oh, hello, Erika," Anya said, yawning into her sleeve.
"Hi, Anya. Didn't your alarm clock go off this morning?" I asked.
Anya grinned, "Meg and I decided to give ourselves a late morning. Come in, quick, before the sun hurts my eyes much more."
I slipped into the house, and Anya shut the door behind me.
"Meg's upstairs. She should be down soon. Do you want some toast?" Anya asked, handing up a plate of slightly burnt toast, "It's a bit black, and disguisting tasting, but it's still toast."
"No, thanks. I had lunch," I answered.
Anya grinned, and walked over to the stairs.
"MEG! ERIKA'S HERE!" Anya shouted up the stairs.
Meg answered, "FIVE MINUTES!"
"You heard her, five minutes," Anya said, "Would you like something to drink? We have water, milk, and juice. Meg's not one for tea."
"Juice is fine," I answered, and started looking around the living room while Anya got me some juice.
There were pictures hanging all over the walls. There were a range of pictures, from Anya, Anya's sister (Anra, I believe), her niece, some of her and her friends (younger and older), and then some of our mum holding baby Harry (there were no baby pictures of me), and then one picture of her and Meg together (taken just a few days ago). I lingered at the pictures of my mum and her friends.
Anya walked in, "I hope apple's good."
I turned, and then nodded, "Apple's great."
Anya looked at the pictures I'd been looking at. She sighed.
"That's my mum, right?" I asked.
Anya nodded, and said, "Yeah, and that's one of her and your father. That's of the four of us. I have so many of them."
"Who took them?" I asked.
"Our friend, Netta Prewett. She was killed by Voldemort a few months before your brother was born," Anya answered.
I stared at the pictures. Mum stared back out at me. She had my eyes, Harry's eyes. Or we had her eyes. I had her face.
"Erika, I have something I want to give you," Anya said, speaking slowly, "Sit down."
I turned and looked at Anya, confused. But I sat, like she told me to. Anya walked over to a bookcase. I couldn't see what she was doing, her back was to me. A few seconds later, she turned around, and sat down beside me.
"I want to give this to you. Netta made them for the four of us for Christmas one year. We put almost all of our pictures in here," Anya told me.
She handed me the album. Written on the front was "LANA".
"What's 'Lana'?" I asked.
Anya laughed, "That was the name we gave ourselves, collectively. It was our first initials: Lily, Anya, Netta, Andrea."
"I can't take this," I said, pushing it back, "It's yours. I can't take it from you."
"Sure you can. Besides, I used a duplicating charm, so there's two. One for me, and one for you. They're exactly the same, I don't even know which one's the original. But I know Harry has a few pictures that are in there, I sent some to Hagrid for him. But almost every picture Netta took of us is in here. I have memories to remember them by. You have nothing. Now, you have something," Anya explained.
I opened the album, and the first page stared at me.
"The other three were destroyed," Anya said, sadly, "When their owner was killed. These are the only two left."
I looked up at Anya, my godmother, and whispered, "Thank you."
She nodded, "It's nothing, Erika."
I wanted to say, "It's something." But Meg came down the stairs at that moment, dressed in dress-down clothes, like Anya. We turned to look at her, and I put on a smile.
"Hi, Erika," Meg said, walking over to us, "Don't drink the apple juice, it's sour."
I laughed, and looked down at the untouched apple juice glass.
"Thanks for warning me, I won't now," I replied.
Anya protested, "It's not sour, it's only one day past the 'sell-by' date. It's still perfectly good."
Meg whispered to me, "Anya just doesn't want to go do the grocery shopping. She's excited because she's going out with Remus and Sirius tonight."
Anya rolled her eyes at Meg.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
Anya shrugged, "I dunno. Probably just around."
She left the room, leaving Meg and I alone, giggling. The album lay in my arms, and I was itching to open it.
"HARRY!" I shouted, once I reached the apartment, "HARRY JAMES POTTER, WHERE ARE YOU?"
Harry emerged from his room.
"What? What?" he asked.
I set down my keys, and answered, "Come here. I want to show you something. Anya gave this to me. It's a photo album, of our parents. C'mon, I want to open it!"
Harry walked into the living room, and I sat down on the couch.
"What's the pictures of?" he asked.
"Mum, Dad, and their friends," I answered, "More than you have!"
Harry sat down beside me. We spent the next two hours sifting through the album, looking at pictures, and talking. A true brother-sister bonding moments, one of the few we'd ever had. But I guess we were close and didn't fight as much as normal siblings because we had both been raised to be thought of as the only family we had, and then we had each other. So we didn't take it for granted.
There were a few pictures in the album that confused us, pictures of a young girl, who looked a bit like us, like Mum. We couldn't figure out who it was. It was a mystery.
On July 31st, we planned a birthday party for Harry. I was halfway through my summer vacation, and was having a blast so far. Ron, Hermione, and I spent a week getting the party together. We were having it at our apartment. On the guest list were all their friends from school, Meg (for me), Anya (his godmother), Sirius (his godfather), and Remus (his other godfather type person, though not an official one). Plus Sarah.
We bought all the food and drinks, and I was quite happy to discover magic party favors.
For his birthday, I bought him a kit from the Quidditch shop, which I thought was pretty cool. Harry was planning on taking me to learn Quidditch one day.
The day of the party, Ron and I managed to get Harry out of the apartment for the morning. Ron had contacted Sarah, who was in on it with us. She was taking Harry out, somewhere. Once he left, Hermione Flooed over, and we dug out the decorations we'd been hiding.
Soon, a huge banner was erected in the living room. At one thirty, the guests arrived. Harry thought we were having a birthday dinner for him, with just a few friends. It had been my quest to make sure he didn't have the slightest clue about the party. I'd succeeded.
I was keeping watch with Meg by looking out of Harry's window. We sat there, watching. At five minutes past two, him and Sarah appeared at the corner.
Meg and I grinned, and ran into the living room.
"He's coming!" I shouted.
Everyone ducked into their respective hiding places, while Ron and I did the last minute preperations. Ron took care of all the curtains, and shut them tightly. I shut off all the lights. I took my post by the light switch.
Then we waited.
A few minutes later, I heard Harry turn the key in the lock. The door opened.
"Harry!" I shouted, "Ron blew the fuse box, and we can't figure it out! Come here!"
I had to hold back a laugh.
"Ron!" Harry shouted, and walked into the living room.
I flipped on the light, and everyone jumped out.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!"
Harry just stood there for a minute, confused, but then laughed. We were all laughing.
The party went really well. I especially liked the magic party favors. Meg and I had great fun opening them and seeing what they did.
Harry cornered us, and asked us how long we'd been planning this. We told him that we'd been planning for a few weeks, and that even Sarah had been in on it. To which he laughed.
Everyone left around nine, and we cleaned up the mess. Oh, the joys of magic. Of course, I couldn't help, but did the manual things (taking the trash down to the trash bin downstairs).
The next morning, I was sitting at the kitchen table, slaving over a History of Magic Essay (describe the major events that effected our magical society today, no less than 1000 words), when the buzzer rang.
"Erika? Can you get that?" Harry asked.
Him and Ron were working on their own homework, together, like always. Hermione told me about their cheating on Divination homework a few days before, and I wasn't letting them live it down.
I groaned, but got up.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Is this the home of Mr. Harry Potter and Miss Erika Potter?" a voice asked through the buzzer.
"Yes. I'm Erika Potter," I answered.
"Miss Potter, I'm your parents solicitor," the voice replied, "I'm here about your parent's will."
I was silent for a minute, and then pressed the unlock button.
"Thank you," the solicitor's voice said.
"HARRY!" I shouted.
Harry came out of his room, and asked, "What? Who is it?"
"Some guy. He says he's our parent's solicitor. I buzzed him up," I answered, "What should I do?"
"Let him in," Harry replied.
So, when the man reached our door, I let him in. Harry stood behind me. The man was of medium hieght, with balding gray-brown hair. He was wearing a suit, and was carrying a briefcase.
"Miss Potter, Mr. Potter," he said, greeting us.
We let him in, and brought him to the living room, where the three of us sat down.
"As I said before, my name is Mr. Charles Laron, and I'm your parents solicitor," he told us, "I've come to discuss your parents's will with you."
Harry asked, "Will? I didn't think they had one."
"Oh, yes, they did. They asked that I not speak to you about it until the 18th birthday of their son," Mr. Laron explained, "Which is why I am here. Your parents, of course, left you some inheritance."
I nodded, "The money in our vaults."
Mr. Laron nodded in agreement, "Yes, they had those vaults made in case they weren't here when you went to school. That is not, however, all they left you."
He lost me there. What else could they leave us?
"I am sure you know of the property your parents held at Godric's Hollow," Mr. Laron said, "That was sold shorly after their death. The money was transferred to Gringott's for safe keeping, to be distributed evenly among their children, the two of you. Also, they both held land not far from London, where they grew up. They used to live on that land, with their own parents, until the deaths of your grandparents. Your father held land across the street from your mother. Of course, your mother's land was, according to your grandparent's will, to be settled among their three daughters . . ."
"Three?" Harry cut in, "There was just two of them, Petunia and our mum."
Mr. Laron shook his head, "No, there were three. Your mother had a little sister, Violet. Violet was also a witch, and was killed by Voldemort just before her second year, as a way to get to your mother.
"Your aunt Petunia wanted nothing to do with either your mother or aunt, so Violet's land passed onto Lily, your mother. I spoke with Petunia Dursley two days before this, and she wishes to settle the case of her and your mother's land. She has agreed to give up all claim to the land for both her and her descendants if you agree to her terms. She wrote them down for you," Mr. Laron said.
He took a piece of paper from his briefcase, and handed it to Harry and I. I read it over my brother's shoulder.
"I, the undersigned, Petunia Evans Dursley, agree to forfitting my land inheritance, for both myself and my descendants, to my nephew and niece, Harry Potter and Erika Potter, if they agree to meet these terms: 1. They must agree to completely separate themselves from both myself and my family. 2. They must agree never to attempt contact between myself and them. The same for my family and them. 3. They must agree not to sell the land for twenty years after the forfit. 4. They must agree that their descendants must not attempt contact between my own intentionally. If these terms are agreed upon, I, Petunia Evans Dursley, will forfit my land inheritance to them, willingly.
Signed, Petunia Evans Dursley."
There was space for Harry's sigurnature, and my own.
"Do you agree?" Mr. Laron asked.
I exchanged glances with Harry, who shrugged. I grinned, and we turned back to Mr. Laron.
"Sure," Harry answered, "Where do we sign?"
Several days later, Harry and I had to go to Mr. Laron's office for the official paper-signings. The Dursleys were also going to be there. When we arrived, they were all ready there.
They shot us looks as we walked in. It was the full time I'd ever been able to really look at the few remains of my family-no-longer-family.
And they were just the way Harry had described them, horrible. That afternoon, our aunt, Petunia Dursley, signed her inheritance over to Harry and I, and we signed her Terms of Agreement. Harry and I left feeling considerably stranger.
"We no longer have an aunt, uncle, or cousin," I said.
Harry nodded, "It feels kinda weird. I've always known their there, even if I hate them. I won't miss them, but it's just knowing that they aren't there. I won't miss them, though."
I laughed at my brother.
The next day, Harry and I were planning on taking an afternoon off, and the four of us (Ron and Hermione were coming along) were planning on going to look at Harry's and my inheritance. The morning was mine.
Meg was at the Ministry, with Anya. They wanted to see her, again. It was becoming usual. About once a week, they wanted to talk to her. There were weeks when they didn't even call her, but that was rare.
So, I decided to go find my old orphanage. I knew exactly where it was. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were at Auror training classes, so I went alone. I took the underground until I reached the stop, and then walked the rest of the way. The orphanade was surrounded by a fence. I walked along the fence, and peered into the grounds.
Then I saw a fimiliar face.
"Janet?" I shouted towards my old roommate.
The girl turned, curious. The moment I saw her face, I knew it was Janet Johnson, my old roommate and my old friend.
"Janet, it's me, Erika," I shouted.
Janet walked over to the fence.
"Erika?" she asked.
I nodded, "Yeah, it's me."
"Erika! I can't believe I'm talking to you! I thought you went away to some boarding school. Why didn't you come back for summer holidays?" Janet asked.
"Janet, you'll never believet his, I have a BROTHER," I answered.
Janet gasped, "A brother? Really? Family?"
Family was something everyone in the orphanage longed for. And for one of us to finally have one was a miracle.
"Yes, it's so wonderful, Janet. I'm living with him. Janet, it's so strange to be back here. But I have a past now, a family past. I know who my parents were, who my family was, I know why I was left here. All those long years now knowing, and then suddenly I'm staring it in the face," I said.
Janet sighed, "I wish you could come in the fence, but Ms. Kensington is out, and left her new assistant to take care of us. We call her the 'Slave Driver' because she's so strict. Erika, what's it like, out there?"
"You'll see one day, Janet, only a few more years. It's wonderful, really. You'll like it. You'll have a family, too, someday, a family of your own," I said.
Janet smiled at me.
I spent fifteen minutes talking to Janet (no mentions of magic, wizards, or witches), and my other old roommates, before leaving.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron were waiting for me when I got back.
"Where were you?" Harry asked.
I answered, simply, "I went to the orphanage, to say hi to some of my old friends."
Harry nodded, in acceptance. A few minutes later, we climbed into Hermione's car (she's a muggle-born, and her parents bought her a car after graduation).
The ride was long, but we got there, eventually. We followed the directions given to us by Mr. Laron, and arrived at a quiet street, with no houses. The woods backed up to one of the houses. There was no one around. We parked the car on the side of the road, and climbed out.
The four of us stared at our surroundings. Harry's and my inheritance, our land, passed down by our parents. I picked out the lots by what Mr. Laron had told us. The one that backed up to the woods was our father's, James Potter. The house on the property had been demolished shortly after the death of our grandmother. Across the street was our mother's land, Lily Evans Potter. There were some ashes. The house on the property had been burnt in the fire that killed our other grandparents. The remains of the house were also taken away, and destroyed.
It was our land, the land of our family. And I had no intention of ever selling it. It was one of the few things that I had remaining of my family. I wanted to keep it.
Author's Notes- yep, well, I think that's about it. In the next chapter we have a daring escape! Woo-hoo! I'm sorry if anything about the will is incorrect, I currently don't have access to the earlier chaps of Lily's Lake (anything before the reunion). It's a long story. Well, that's about it. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any additional comments can be given to me at StarlightEve111@aol.com
Disclaimer- I own nothing. It all belongs to the great Harry Potter people. I am not getting paid.
Erika - The Legacy of Lily and James
"Harry!" I shouted, knocking on my brother's bedroom door, "I need to use Hedwig!"
The door opened, and Harry looked out, then came out to stand in the doorway.
"Erika, I'm using Hedwig," Harry replied.
I groaned, and protested, "But I have to get a letter to Meg!"
"She doesn't live far away. Bring it to her yourself," Harry answered.
"Why can't I just use Hedwig?" I asked, and then added, "Wait, are you writing to Sarah, AGAIN?"
Harry shrugged, "I might be. I have to go finish my letters."
He shut the door, and I sighed. It had been two weeks since he'd met Sarah. Three days before, they'd gone out on a date, despite how much Harry protested it wasn't a date. They'd been owling each other once a day.
"Fine! I'm going over to Meg's!" I shouted, grabbed my key, and left.
I took the underground (which I was beginning to become quite familiar with) for two stops (Floo Powder and me don't mix well). Anya and Meg lived in a town house a block down from the stop. So it was quite easy to get there. I had been there once, while Meg and Anya were setting up Meg's new room. They'd gone out and bought Meg a whole furniture set, a bunch of clothes, and other stuff to make her feel "more at home." Anya, apparently, was getting an allowance from the Ministry to keep Meg, but just threw it in with the rest of the household money.
"She's family now. I don't need to get paid to do this," she said.
I ran up the steps to their door, and rang the bell.
"Coming!" I heard Anya shout from inside.
The door opened, and I saw Anya, standing there in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, looking like she'd just got out of bed.
"Oh, hello, Erika," Anya said, yawning into her sleeve.
"Hi, Anya. Didn't your alarm clock go off this morning?" I asked.
Anya grinned, "Meg and I decided to give ourselves a late morning. Come in, quick, before the sun hurts my eyes much more."
I slipped into the house, and Anya shut the door behind me.
"Meg's upstairs. She should be down soon. Do you want some toast?" Anya asked, handing up a plate of slightly burnt toast, "It's a bit black, and disguisting tasting, but it's still toast."
"No, thanks. I had lunch," I answered.
Anya grinned, and walked over to the stairs.
"MEG! ERIKA'S HERE!" Anya shouted up the stairs.
Meg answered, "FIVE MINUTES!"
"You heard her, five minutes," Anya said, "Would you like something to drink? We have water, milk, and juice. Meg's not one for tea."
"Juice is fine," I answered, and started looking around the living room while Anya got me some juice.
There were pictures hanging all over the walls. There were a range of pictures, from Anya, Anya's sister (Anra, I believe), her niece, some of her and her friends (younger and older), and then some of our mum holding baby Harry (there were no baby pictures of me), and then one picture of her and Meg together (taken just a few days ago). I lingered at the pictures of my mum and her friends.
Anya walked in, "I hope apple's good."
I turned, and then nodded, "Apple's great."
Anya looked at the pictures I'd been looking at. She sighed.
"That's my mum, right?" I asked.
Anya nodded, and said, "Yeah, and that's one of her and your father. That's of the four of us. I have so many of them."
"Who took them?" I asked.
"Our friend, Netta Prewett. She was killed by Voldemort a few months before your brother was born," Anya answered.
I stared at the pictures. Mum stared back out at me. She had my eyes, Harry's eyes. Or we had her eyes. I had her face.
"Erika, I have something I want to give you," Anya said, speaking slowly, "Sit down."
I turned and looked at Anya, confused. But I sat, like she told me to. Anya walked over to a bookcase. I couldn't see what she was doing, her back was to me. A few seconds later, she turned around, and sat down beside me.
"I want to give this to you. Netta made them for the four of us for Christmas one year. We put almost all of our pictures in here," Anya told me.
She handed me the album. Written on the front was "LANA".
"What's 'Lana'?" I asked.
Anya laughed, "That was the name we gave ourselves, collectively. It was our first initials: Lily, Anya, Netta, Andrea."
"I can't take this," I said, pushing it back, "It's yours. I can't take it from you."
"Sure you can. Besides, I used a duplicating charm, so there's two. One for me, and one for you. They're exactly the same, I don't even know which one's the original. But I know Harry has a few pictures that are in there, I sent some to Hagrid for him. But almost every picture Netta took of us is in here. I have memories to remember them by. You have nothing. Now, you have something," Anya explained.
I opened the album, and the first page stared at me.
"The other three were destroyed," Anya said, sadly, "When their owner was killed. These are the only two left."
I looked up at Anya, my godmother, and whispered, "Thank you."
She nodded, "It's nothing, Erika."
I wanted to say, "It's something." But Meg came down the stairs at that moment, dressed in dress-down clothes, like Anya. We turned to look at her, and I put on a smile.
"Hi, Erika," Meg said, walking over to us, "Don't drink the apple juice, it's sour."
I laughed, and looked down at the untouched apple juice glass.
"Thanks for warning me, I won't now," I replied.
Anya protested, "It's not sour, it's only one day past the 'sell-by' date. It's still perfectly good."
Meg whispered to me, "Anya just doesn't want to go do the grocery shopping. She's excited because she's going out with Remus and Sirius tonight."
Anya rolled her eyes at Meg.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
Anya shrugged, "I dunno. Probably just around."
She left the room, leaving Meg and I alone, giggling. The album lay in my arms, and I was itching to open it.
"HARRY!" I shouted, once I reached the apartment, "HARRY JAMES POTTER, WHERE ARE YOU?"
Harry emerged from his room.
"What? What?" he asked.
I set down my keys, and answered, "Come here. I want to show you something. Anya gave this to me. It's a photo album, of our parents. C'mon, I want to open it!"
Harry walked into the living room, and I sat down on the couch.
"What's the pictures of?" he asked.
"Mum, Dad, and their friends," I answered, "More than you have!"
Harry sat down beside me. We spent the next two hours sifting through the album, looking at pictures, and talking. A true brother-sister bonding moments, one of the few we'd ever had. But I guess we were close and didn't fight as much as normal siblings because we had both been raised to be thought of as the only family we had, and then we had each other. So we didn't take it for granted.
There were a few pictures in the album that confused us, pictures of a young girl, who looked a bit like us, like Mum. We couldn't figure out who it was. It was a mystery.
On July 31st, we planned a birthday party for Harry. I was halfway through my summer vacation, and was having a blast so far. Ron, Hermione, and I spent a week getting the party together. We were having it at our apartment. On the guest list were all their friends from school, Meg (for me), Anya (his godmother), Sirius (his godfather), and Remus (his other godfather type person, though not an official one). Plus Sarah.
We bought all the food and drinks, and I was quite happy to discover magic party favors.
For his birthday, I bought him a kit from the Quidditch shop, which I thought was pretty cool. Harry was planning on taking me to learn Quidditch one day.
The day of the party, Ron and I managed to get Harry out of the apartment for the morning. Ron had contacted Sarah, who was in on it with us. She was taking Harry out, somewhere. Once he left, Hermione Flooed over, and we dug out the decorations we'd been hiding.
Soon, a huge banner was erected in the living room. At one thirty, the guests arrived. Harry thought we were having a birthday dinner for him, with just a few friends. It had been my quest to make sure he didn't have the slightest clue about the party. I'd succeeded.
I was keeping watch with Meg by looking out of Harry's window. We sat there, watching. At five minutes past two, him and Sarah appeared at the corner.
Meg and I grinned, and ran into the living room.
"He's coming!" I shouted.
Everyone ducked into their respective hiding places, while Ron and I did the last minute preperations. Ron took care of all the curtains, and shut them tightly. I shut off all the lights. I took my post by the light switch.
Then we waited.
A few minutes later, I heard Harry turn the key in the lock. The door opened.
"Harry!" I shouted, "Ron blew the fuse box, and we can't figure it out! Come here!"
I had to hold back a laugh.
"Ron!" Harry shouted, and walked into the living room.
I flipped on the light, and everyone jumped out.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!"
Harry just stood there for a minute, confused, but then laughed. We were all laughing.
The party went really well. I especially liked the magic party favors. Meg and I had great fun opening them and seeing what they did.
Harry cornered us, and asked us how long we'd been planning this. We told him that we'd been planning for a few weeks, and that even Sarah had been in on it. To which he laughed.
Everyone left around nine, and we cleaned up the mess. Oh, the joys of magic. Of course, I couldn't help, but did the manual things (taking the trash down to the trash bin downstairs).
The next morning, I was sitting at the kitchen table, slaving over a History of Magic Essay (describe the major events that effected our magical society today, no less than 1000 words), when the buzzer rang.
"Erika? Can you get that?" Harry asked.
Him and Ron were working on their own homework, together, like always. Hermione told me about their cheating on Divination homework a few days before, and I wasn't letting them live it down.
I groaned, but got up.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Is this the home of Mr. Harry Potter and Miss Erika Potter?" a voice asked through the buzzer.
"Yes. I'm Erika Potter," I answered.
"Miss Potter, I'm your parents solicitor," the voice replied, "I'm here about your parent's will."
I was silent for a minute, and then pressed the unlock button.
"Thank you," the solicitor's voice said.
"HARRY!" I shouted.
Harry came out of his room, and asked, "What? Who is it?"
"Some guy. He says he's our parent's solicitor. I buzzed him up," I answered, "What should I do?"
"Let him in," Harry replied.
So, when the man reached our door, I let him in. Harry stood behind me. The man was of medium hieght, with balding gray-brown hair. He was wearing a suit, and was carrying a briefcase.
"Miss Potter, Mr. Potter," he said, greeting us.
We let him in, and brought him to the living room, where the three of us sat down.
"As I said before, my name is Mr. Charles Laron, and I'm your parents solicitor," he told us, "I've come to discuss your parents's will with you."
Harry asked, "Will? I didn't think they had one."
"Oh, yes, they did. They asked that I not speak to you about it until the 18th birthday of their son," Mr. Laron explained, "Which is why I am here. Your parents, of course, left you some inheritance."
I nodded, "The money in our vaults."
Mr. Laron nodded in agreement, "Yes, they had those vaults made in case they weren't here when you went to school. That is not, however, all they left you."
He lost me there. What else could they leave us?
"I am sure you know of the property your parents held at Godric's Hollow," Mr. Laron said, "That was sold shorly after their death. The money was transferred to Gringott's for safe keeping, to be distributed evenly among their children, the two of you. Also, they both held land not far from London, where they grew up. They used to live on that land, with their own parents, until the deaths of your grandparents. Your father held land across the street from your mother. Of course, your mother's land was, according to your grandparent's will, to be settled among their three daughters . . ."
"Three?" Harry cut in, "There was just two of them, Petunia and our mum."
Mr. Laron shook his head, "No, there were three. Your mother had a little sister, Violet. Violet was also a witch, and was killed by Voldemort just before her second year, as a way to get to your mother.
"Your aunt Petunia wanted nothing to do with either your mother or aunt, so Violet's land passed onto Lily, your mother. I spoke with Petunia Dursley two days before this, and she wishes to settle the case of her and your mother's land. She has agreed to give up all claim to the land for both her and her descendants if you agree to her terms. She wrote them down for you," Mr. Laron said.
He took a piece of paper from his briefcase, and handed it to Harry and I. I read it over my brother's shoulder.
"I, the undersigned, Petunia Evans Dursley, agree to forfitting my land inheritance, for both myself and my descendants, to my nephew and niece, Harry Potter and Erika Potter, if they agree to meet these terms: 1. They must agree to completely separate themselves from both myself and my family. 2. They must agree never to attempt contact between myself and them. The same for my family and them. 3. They must agree not to sell the land for twenty years after the forfit. 4. They must agree that their descendants must not attempt contact between my own intentionally. If these terms are agreed upon, I, Petunia Evans Dursley, will forfit my land inheritance to them, willingly.
Signed, Petunia Evans Dursley."
There was space for Harry's sigurnature, and my own.
"Do you agree?" Mr. Laron asked.
I exchanged glances with Harry, who shrugged. I grinned, and we turned back to Mr. Laron.
"Sure," Harry answered, "Where do we sign?"
Several days later, Harry and I had to go to Mr. Laron's office for the official paper-signings. The Dursleys were also going to be there. When we arrived, they were all ready there.
They shot us looks as we walked in. It was the full time I'd ever been able to really look at the few remains of my family-no-longer-family.
And they were just the way Harry had described them, horrible. That afternoon, our aunt, Petunia Dursley, signed her inheritance over to Harry and I, and we signed her Terms of Agreement. Harry and I left feeling considerably stranger.
"We no longer have an aunt, uncle, or cousin," I said.
Harry nodded, "It feels kinda weird. I've always known their there, even if I hate them. I won't miss them, but it's just knowing that they aren't there. I won't miss them, though."
I laughed at my brother.
The next day, Harry and I were planning on taking an afternoon off, and the four of us (Ron and Hermione were coming along) were planning on going to look at Harry's and my inheritance. The morning was mine.
Meg was at the Ministry, with Anya. They wanted to see her, again. It was becoming usual. About once a week, they wanted to talk to her. There were weeks when they didn't even call her, but that was rare.
So, I decided to go find my old orphanage. I knew exactly where it was. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were at Auror training classes, so I went alone. I took the underground until I reached the stop, and then walked the rest of the way. The orphanade was surrounded by a fence. I walked along the fence, and peered into the grounds.
Then I saw a fimiliar face.
"Janet?" I shouted towards my old roommate.
The girl turned, curious. The moment I saw her face, I knew it was Janet Johnson, my old roommate and my old friend.
"Janet, it's me, Erika," I shouted.
Janet walked over to the fence.
"Erika?" she asked.
I nodded, "Yeah, it's me."
"Erika! I can't believe I'm talking to you! I thought you went away to some boarding school. Why didn't you come back for summer holidays?" Janet asked.
"Janet, you'll never believet his, I have a BROTHER," I answered.
Janet gasped, "A brother? Really? Family?"
Family was something everyone in the orphanage longed for. And for one of us to finally have one was a miracle.
"Yes, it's so wonderful, Janet. I'm living with him. Janet, it's so strange to be back here. But I have a past now, a family past. I know who my parents were, who my family was, I know why I was left here. All those long years now knowing, and then suddenly I'm staring it in the face," I said.
Janet sighed, "I wish you could come in the fence, but Ms. Kensington is out, and left her new assistant to take care of us. We call her the 'Slave Driver' because she's so strict. Erika, what's it like, out there?"
"You'll see one day, Janet, only a few more years. It's wonderful, really. You'll like it. You'll have a family, too, someday, a family of your own," I said.
Janet smiled at me.
I spent fifteen minutes talking to Janet (no mentions of magic, wizards, or witches), and my other old roommates, before leaving.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron were waiting for me when I got back.
"Where were you?" Harry asked.
I answered, simply, "I went to the orphanage, to say hi to some of my old friends."
Harry nodded, in acceptance. A few minutes later, we climbed into Hermione's car (she's a muggle-born, and her parents bought her a car after graduation).
The ride was long, but we got there, eventually. We followed the directions given to us by Mr. Laron, and arrived at a quiet street, with no houses. The woods backed up to one of the houses. There was no one around. We parked the car on the side of the road, and climbed out.
The four of us stared at our surroundings. Harry's and my inheritance, our land, passed down by our parents. I picked out the lots by what Mr. Laron had told us. The one that backed up to the woods was our father's, James Potter. The house on the property had been demolished shortly after the death of our grandmother. Across the street was our mother's land, Lily Evans Potter. There were some ashes. The house on the property had been burnt in the fire that killed our other grandparents. The remains of the house were also taken away, and destroyed.
It was our land, the land of our family. And I had no intention of ever selling it. It was one of the few things that I had remaining of my family. I wanted to keep it.
Author's Notes- yep, well, I think that's about it. In the next chapter we have a daring escape! Woo-hoo! I'm sorry if anything about the will is incorrect, I currently don't have access to the earlier chaps of Lily's Lake (anything before the reunion). It's a long story. Well, that's about it. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any additional comments can be given to me at StarlightEve111@aol.com