Author's Notes- I'm skipping to Christmas, I need to get this year moving
along. And for general purposes, Christmas vacation is three weeks. 'Kay?
'Kay. This is chapter 23 of "Erika-The Legacy of Lily and James". It's
Christmas, and we'll see what happens. Now, read and review!!!
Disclaimer- I own nothing. It all belongs to the noble Harry Potter people. I am not getting paid.
Erika - The Legacy of Lily and James
It started snowing as time passed, and soon Hogwarts was covered in a thick layer of cold, white, snow. This caused snowfights over the weekends, with Meg and I took part in, most of the time. I never saw Adrienne outside, though.
Snow meant December, and December meant Christmas. Sure enough, McGonagall came around with a list, taking names of who would be staying over Christmas. It seemed not a lot of people wanted to stay. I was going home for the holidays.
"Meg, you're always welcome, you know that," I told my best friend as she watched me pack.
Meg wanted to stay at Hogwarts.
"No, I'm fine, Erika. Anya wants me to stay here with her. We'll have fun, and you'll have fun. I'll be fine," Meg insisted, "And I'll send you your Christmas gift Christmas morning, so expect it."
I smiled, "I will. And you expect your's."
Meg nodded, and then asked, "Are you happy? You know, to be going home for Christmas?"
"Yeah, I am. I want to see Harry, and I want to be back home. I love Hogwarts, and I always will, but I miss it there," I answered, trying to explain.
Meg smiled, and replied, "I understand, it's the same for me. With Anya, it's so great. I mean, Hogwarts is my safe place, but with Anya, I'm at home. I love it there, and I love it here. Yeah, I understand."
The door opened, and Lucy walked in.
"Hi Erika, hi Meg," she said, "Meg, are you staying for the holidays, too?"
Meg nodded.
Lucy grinned, and told us, "I'm staying too. Avery and Jewel are going home. Maybe we can hang out together."
I continued to pack things into my trunk.
The three of us talked while I packed the last few things into my trunk, and then shut it.
"Well, I think I'm done," I said, and then grinned, "Meg, would you honor me with a last game a of chess before I leave?"
Meg matched my grin, and nodded, "Sure. Prepare to lose."
And lose I did.
Harry was waiting for me at the train station, and I hugged him when I saw him.
"Hey, are you ready?" Harry asked, "We have to get back. Sarah insisted on coming over and making you a 'welcome home' dinner."
"That's nice of her," I answered, smiling.
Sarah was really nice. She'd even sent me some cookies in November for an American holiday, Thanksgiving.
"So you like Sarah?" Harry asked.
I nodded, "Of course I do! Don't you?"
Harry laughed, and rolled his eyes, "Yes, I like her very much, Erika."
"Good," I said, and we climbed into the taxi waiting for us.
Not long afterward we arrived at the apartment. Harry dragged my trunk into my bedroom while I went into the kitchen. Sarah was cooking inside, her hair tied up and making dinner.
"Hey, Erika," she said when I walked in.
"Hi," I answered, sitting down at the table, which was already set.
Sarah turned to smile at me, "You'll have to tell me all about Hogwarts at dinner. From what Harry's said, it so different from where I went!"
"What was your school like?" I asked.
Sarah answered, "Well, it was smaller, definetely, but still quite nice. We had a lot less students, and there were many more schools than just one in America."
I nodded, "Sounds nice."
"It was. I'll miss it there," Sarah said.
"Harry misses Hogwarts, sometimes," I told her.
As if on que, Harry walked into the room.
"Smells good," he said.
Sarah smiled, "Thank you. I hope it's as good as it smells, I'm a bit unpracticed. My friend, Jackie, says I cook well, but I'm not so sure."
"I've never met Jackie," I said, a sudden thought.
"Oh, you will, on Christmas. We're going over there for dinner," Harry told me.
I nodded, and then asked, "Where's Ron?"
"He's coming. He had to work, but he'll be here in a few minutes," Harry answered.
"Erika," Sarah said, "Would you mind putting the plates out?"
I set the table, and not two minutes later, Ron walked in, grummbling something about work (a small job he'd taken to keep himself financially stable until he started work as an Auror).
"I talked to Hermione, she said she'd come. She should be over soon," Ron told us after the hellos were exchanged.
We accepted that, and Sarah finished the last of the meal just a minute before Hermoine arrived, via Floo Powder.
"Oh, good, I'm not late am I?" she asked right away, "I tried to get away quicker, but my landlady was bothersome today, and slipped a note under my door telling me that the neighbors were saying that strange smells and noises were coming from my room. The noises were Crookshanks, but the smells were potions I was practicing for training. So I had to go to see the landlady about it, and hurried back to get here," Hermione said, talking as she walked into the room.
"You haven't missed anything," Sarah said, "We're just getting ready to sit down to eat. Come on."
The four of us sat down at the table, and started filling our plates. We talked about Hogwarts for part of the meal (Sarah was particullarly interested in it). Then Harry, Ron, and Hermione told me about their training.
"It's gruesome," Ron complained, "If I didn't like the job itself so much, I'd drop out in a second."
Hermione nodded, "It is a bit hard, and we haven't even taken the yearly tests yet. Those happen every June until we're done with training. They're supposed to be very hard."
"Quite a few people have dropped out by now. There are only ten of us left," Harry told me.
"Wow, I don't think I could handle it," I said, "Too much training."
Sarah asked, "What do you want to be?"
The subject changed, once again, to my future. I wasn't quite sure yet, so Hermione launched into a list of all the things I'd be good at. It was amusing for a few minutes, but Ron got tired of it, and changed the subject once again, this time to Fudge's lastest enactment, which happened to be the outlaw of werewolves from holding Ministry positions.
"That wasn't a good idea," Harry agreed, and I knew he was thinking about Lupin, "It's only making them madder at the Ministry. Fudge needs them to fight Voldemort. The more we have on our side, the better. If he keeps alienating them like this, they're bound to go and help Voldemort."
Everyone nodded.
"He needs as many allies as he can get," I said, "And in order to do that, he has to wizards and witches are the only beings in this universe."
Again, everyone agreed.
"Thinks himself too superior, he does," Ron told us.
The dinner lasted until about nine o'clock, when we'd eaten everything Sarah had made, and sat around for a while longer. Everyone left.
Harry, Ron, and I threw the plates into the sink, deciding to put a spell on them to wash themselves in the morning.
I went into my room. It was comforting to be back in my room. I had spent a great deal of time decorating it over the summer, and it was completely mine. My bed was as comfortable as always, and warm.
I fell asleep with in moments.
Christmas Eve had Ron, Hermione, Sarah, Harry, and I sitting around the table again, having a huge dinner, again. Our Christmas tree stood in the corner of the living room, with all our gifts piled underneath.
"One present," I protested, having a playful argument with my brother.
"No," he answered, "We're supposed to open gifts on Christmas morning, not Christmas Eve."
I rolled my eyes, "It's just one gift, Harry. Come on, will someone agree with me, please?"
Everyone around the table laughed, and shook their heads, claiming neutrality, and returned to their dinner.
"It's just one," I said, "One little present."
"No, Erika," Harry replied, "Have you heard from Meg lately?"
I grinned, "Hah! You tried to change the subject! That's not nice. But, yes, she owled me yesterday."
"How is she? How's Anya?" Harry asked.
"They're fine," I answered, "Meg said her and Anya went into Hogsmeade with special premission from Dumbledore two days ago."
Hermione asked, "Is the Ministry still being mean to her?"
I nodded, "Yeah, Dumbledore's refusing to let them talk to her, though. They sent an owl to her a few weeks ago, asking her to meet them. Dumbledore refused on her behalf. Now they're 'working' on Adrienne. As if she'd even agree. All she wants to do is study."
"She must be very smart," Sarah said.
"Top of her class," I told them.
Harry nodded, "At least she's not talking with the Ministry. They'd use her information wrongly. They're going about this the wrong way."
"I think they should just leave Meg alone, unless she willingly comes to them with information," I said.
"But they're afraid she won't," Hermione added.
I nodded, "Exactly. Dumbledore won't let them talk to her, still, and they want to talk to her, so they're going to force her to."
Christmas morning was very bright. There was snow everywhere, and I was cold in the apartment. I woke up and turned to look at my clock. It was nearly 8 o'clock.
I rolled out of bed, and wrapped myself in a blanket before opening my door.
Harry and Ron were still asleep. I walked into the living room. The Christmas tree was dark, and our gifts were piled where we'd put them the night before.
"Harry, Ron, get up!" I shouted, "It's 8 o'clock Christmas morning!"
They finally dragged themselves out of bed five minutes later.
"Erika, we don't get to sleep in a lot, you know. Sometimes a few extra hours is good," Harry said.
I shrugged, "You'll survive."
We ate breakfast as we opened the gifts. Meg and Anya's gifts arrived on Anya's owl at nine.
After we opened our gifts, we brought them to our rooms. I was very pleased with mine, and immediately started opening the packaging. Hermione had even given me quite a few muggle books.
"Erika, we're going over to Sarah's in two hours," Harry shouted, knocking on my door.
I shouted in response, "Okay. Is it a robe occasion?"
"Yeah," Harry replied, and I heard his footsteps walking down the hallway towards his own room.
Two hours later, I had changed into a midnight blue robe with a white collar, sleeve and skirt hem, and a pretty midnight blue embrodery on it. I tied it up in the front, and combed my hair a few more times.
"Erika, hurry!" Harry shouted, "We have to get there before the network gets jammed."
I nodded, "Coming!"
I ran out of my room, trying to pull on my black cloak, and put shoes on at the same time.
Ron and Harry were waiting, rather impatiently.
"I'm ready," I said, after slipping into my last shoe.
Harry raised his eyebrows, "Couldn't you have done that in the two hours you had to get ready?"
"I suppose, but why use two hours when you can pull it off in one?" I asked.
Harry shrugged, "Well, come on, I told Sarah we'd be there five minutes ago."
"Five minutes isn't going to matter," I told him, but took the Floo Powder nevertheless.
The Order hadn't wanted Harry and Ron to get connected to the Floo Network in the first place, Harry had told me. They said it was too dangerous. But Harry had insisted.
"I'm going to live as normally as possible, and so is Erika and Ron, because they have nothing to do with this," Harry had argued.
They fought back, saying we had everything to do with it since Ron was Harry's best friend, and I was his sister. But, eventually, Harry won and we were connected.
Harry went first, then me, and then Ron.
Sarah and her room-mate, Jackie, lived near Diagon Alley, not far from where Anya and Meg lived, actually. Jackie was an American witch, too.
Their apartment was decorated much differently from ours. For one thing, it was actually decorated, instead of just furniture and things thrown in odd places (the price of living with two men). We arrived in the living room, where there were already several witches and wizards standing around in their robes, talking.
Sarah saw us come, and immediately rushed right up to kiss Harry and say hi to Ron and I.
"I'll take your cloaks. There's some drinks over there, and some snacks in the kitchen. Don't eat too much, dinner's in a half an hour," she told us.
Harry went to help her with the cloaks. I stood there with Ron for a second, before he recognized someone, waved, and went off to talk with them.
I looked around the room, and stood there for an awkard moment before deciding to go over and get a drink.
There was a couple over at the table. They smiled at me.
"Hello, dear. You're a bit young to be here, aren't you?" they asked.
"I'm twelve," I said, "And my brother brought me. His girlfriend lives here."
The man choked on his punch. The woman tried to hide it.
"You must be Harry Potter's sister! Erika, is it?" she asked, smiling.
I nodded, "Yeah, Erika Potter."
They knew my name, of course. You had to be in exile not to, with all the articles and rumors. Even if you didn't read the Daily Prophet or Witch Weekly, you'd know because chances are you knew someone who did, and they would probably tell you.
The man and woman left, and within five minutes, it had circulated that Erika Potter, the supposed sister of Harry Potter, and friend of Megan Riddle (aka an "enemy), was at the party.
I was very happy when Sarah announced that it was time for dinner.
I was seated next to Harry, with Ron on my other side.
The food was wonderful. There was all the usuals (turkey, potatoes, stuffing), and wizard treats (exploding crackers and such).
"So, Potter," someone said, "You brought your sister, ey?"
Harry cast a glance at me, and I shrugged. Harry turned back to the speaker.
"Yeah, her and Sarah are good friends," Harry said.
It was true, I guess. I do like Sarah a lot, and we get along fine, so I guess we were friends.
The talk soon turned to the Ministry (there was actually only one pro- Fudge person there, who was drowned out by everyone else's comments). Most people my age would have found this very boring, but I thought it was quite fun. And I included myself in the talk.
"If Fudge expects to win this, he has to at least have allies," someone said.
I nodded, "Exactly. He's pushing away people that could help him, that want to help him. No offense to anyone here, but the werewolves could really help us. They're just like us, and if Fudge pushes them away, Voldemort's going to get them. And the less allies he has, the weaker he is."
About everyone in the room shivered when I said "Voldemort".
So I continued, "And the giants. They aren't all that bad, not really. If we could keep Voldemort from getting them, we'd be much better off. I mean, we don't have to be their best friends, but be friendly at least. The harsher we are to them, the harder it's going to be to get them on our side when we need them. And, face it, we're going to need them someday."
"Smart sister you have here, Potter," someone called.
Everyone nodded.
"She is, isn't she?" Harry asked.
I launched back into another point, on Fudge's treatment of Muggles. I was about halfway through when there was a loud knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Jackie said, and hurried off into the hallway.
I returned to my point, but didn't get far before six people stormed into the room. I recognized them all.
Six members of the Order of the Phoenix, which included Ron's father (Mr. Weasley), stood in the doorway to the room.
"Harry," the largest of them said (Moody), "Some Death Eaters were spotted in Diagon Alley fifteen minutes ago. We believe they could be heading to find you."
"We've come to escort you back to your apartment," Mr. Weasley said.
Harry sighed, and I could tell he didn't want to go.
"All right. I'm sorry I have go, Sarah," Harry said.
Sarah looked disappointed, but nodded, "I understand. Your safety is a lot more important than a silly dinner party."
Ron, Harry, and I hurried to get our cloaks while the Order waited.
"You three can go between us," Moody told us as we hurried to the fireplace.
He handed us each Floo Powder. Moody went first, then Mr. Weasley, and then another member. Harry then went, then me, and then Ron. The remaining three members went after us.
Our apartment was silent. Moody went about locking the door and blocking the fireplace off, muttering something about having "not connected in the first place".
We took our cloaks off, and settled into waiting. Ron made tea for everyone, and we sat around the living room and waited.
Nothing happened.
"You can go home," Harry told them, "We'll be fine. We're protected here."
They didn't budge and inch.
I turned on the TV, and managed to find a Christmas special of Miracle on 34th Street (an American movie I was rather fond of). The others were completely fascinated with it, and so we watched the movie until around nine thirty.
"Erika," Harry said, "Why don't you go to bed? There's really nothing to do but wait."
"She should probably stay awake, just in case," Moody protested.
Mr. Weasley shook his head, "If anything happens, Moody, she'll wake up to the sound. We don't just give up without a fight, do we?"
"I suppose," Moody said.
I didn't really want to go to bed, but there was nothing else to do. So I went to my room, changed, and got into bed. My window was locked.
Harry came in five minutes later.
"They're watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas," Harry said, grinning.
I laughed.
Harry immediately went from laughing to sad, and sighed.
"I'm sorry about all this, Erika," Harry told me, "The party, the Order, everything."
I nodded, "It's all right, I can handle it. If this is the price I have to pay to be your sister, so be it. It really isn't my choice anyway. This was all set before I met you."
Harry smiled.
"I don't think anything will happen tonight. Voldemort wouldn't send his Death Eaters to try and kill me. He'd kill me himself. He has too. So you can sleep soundly," Harry said.
"I didn't think anything would happen. The Order just hypes up anything bad that happens," I told him.
Harry laughed, and nodded, "They're a bit eager to make sure we're safe. I'm their last chance, I guess. If I die, than Voldemort sticks around."
"Yeah, well, the party was sort of boring anyway, at least until dinner. Everyone kept talking about me," I said, "Which is sort of annoying."
"You'll get used to it. Good night," Harry told me.
"Good night," I whispered, and watched as he quietly shut my door.
I fell asleep that night to the sounds of the Order in the next room, watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas, at the part where they're all standing around the tree singing, despite the fact that all their Christmas presents were gone.
There is good in this world, I thought, and we have to fight for it.
Author's Note- Sorry this took so long. I've been VERY busy. And I know it's not as good. I've been trying to pass time quickly because I know what's going to happen, and there's nothing much I can say. So I'm skipping time. Next chapter, you ask? Well, it's the Quidditch Finals, of course? Will Gryffindor win? Will Gryffindor lose? You'll find out . . . but not until you read it! Haha! So, REVIEW!!!!!!! How else am I supposed to know that someone is actually reading this??
Any additional comments can be given to me at StarlightEve111@aol.com
Disclaimer- I own nothing. It all belongs to the noble Harry Potter people. I am not getting paid.
Erika - The Legacy of Lily and James
It started snowing as time passed, and soon Hogwarts was covered in a thick layer of cold, white, snow. This caused snowfights over the weekends, with Meg and I took part in, most of the time. I never saw Adrienne outside, though.
Snow meant December, and December meant Christmas. Sure enough, McGonagall came around with a list, taking names of who would be staying over Christmas. It seemed not a lot of people wanted to stay. I was going home for the holidays.
"Meg, you're always welcome, you know that," I told my best friend as she watched me pack.
Meg wanted to stay at Hogwarts.
"No, I'm fine, Erika. Anya wants me to stay here with her. We'll have fun, and you'll have fun. I'll be fine," Meg insisted, "And I'll send you your Christmas gift Christmas morning, so expect it."
I smiled, "I will. And you expect your's."
Meg nodded, and then asked, "Are you happy? You know, to be going home for Christmas?"
"Yeah, I am. I want to see Harry, and I want to be back home. I love Hogwarts, and I always will, but I miss it there," I answered, trying to explain.
Meg smiled, and replied, "I understand, it's the same for me. With Anya, it's so great. I mean, Hogwarts is my safe place, but with Anya, I'm at home. I love it there, and I love it here. Yeah, I understand."
The door opened, and Lucy walked in.
"Hi Erika, hi Meg," she said, "Meg, are you staying for the holidays, too?"
Meg nodded.
Lucy grinned, and told us, "I'm staying too. Avery and Jewel are going home. Maybe we can hang out together."
I continued to pack things into my trunk.
The three of us talked while I packed the last few things into my trunk, and then shut it.
"Well, I think I'm done," I said, and then grinned, "Meg, would you honor me with a last game a of chess before I leave?"
Meg matched my grin, and nodded, "Sure. Prepare to lose."
And lose I did.
Harry was waiting for me at the train station, and I hugged him when I saw him.
"Hey, are you ready?" Harry asked, "We have to get back. Sarah insisted on coming over and making you a 'welcome home' dinner."
"That's nice of her," I answered, smiling.
Sarah was really nice. She'd even sent me some cookies in November for an American holiday, Thanksgiving.
"So you like Sarah?" Harry asked.
I nodded, "Of course I do! Don't you?"
Harry laughed, and rolled his eyes, "Yes, I like her very much, Erika."
"Good," I said, and we climbed into the taxi waiting for us.
Not long afterward we arrived at the apartment. Harry dragged my trunk into my bedroom while I went into the kitchen. Sarah was cooking inside, her hair tied up and making dinner.
"Hey, Erika," she said when I walked in.
"Hi," I answered, sitting down at the table, which was already set.
Sarah turned to smile at me, "You'll have to tell me all about Hogwarts at dinner. From what Harry's said, it so different from where I went!"
"What was your school like?" I asked.
Sarah answered, "Well, it was smaller, definetely, but still quite nice. We had a lot less students, and there were many more schools than just one in America."
I nodded, "Sounds nice."
"It was. I'll miss it there," Sarah said.
"Harry misses Hogwarts, sometimes," I told her.
As if on que, Harry walked into the room.
"Smells good," he said.
Sarah smiled, "Thank you. I hope it's as good as it smells, I'm a bit unpracticed. My friend, Jackie, says I cook well, but I'm not so sure."
"I've never met Jackie," I said, a sudden thought.
"Oh, you will, on Christmas. We're going over there for dinner," Harry told me.
I nodded, and then asked, "Where's Ron?"
"He's coming. He had to work, but he'll be here in a few minutes," Harry answered.
"Erika," Sarah said, "Would you mind putting the plates out?"
I set the table, and not two minutes later, Ron walked in, grummbling something about work (a small job he'd taken to keep himself financially stable until he started work as an Auror).
"I talked to Hermione, she said she'd come. She should be over soon," Ron told us after the hellos were exchanged.
We accepted that, and Sarah finished the last of the meal just a minute before Hermoine arrived, via Floo Powder.
"Oh, good, I'm not late am I?" she asked right away, "I tried to get away quicker, but my landlady was bothersome today, and slipped a note under my door telling me that the neighbors were saying that strange smells and noises were coming from my room. The noises were Crookshanks, but the smells were potions I was practicing for training. So I had to go to see the landlady about it, and hurried back to get here," Hermione said, talking as she walked into the room.
"You haven't missed anything," Sarah said, "We're just getting ready to sit down to eat. Come on."
The four of us sat down at the table, and started filling our plates. We talked about Hogwarts for part of the meal (Sarah was particullarly interested in it). Then Harry, Ron, and Hermione told me about their training.
"It's gruesome," Ron complained, "If I didn't like the job itself so much, I'd drop out in a second."
Hermione nodded, "It is a bit hard, and we haven't even taken the yearly tests yet. Those happen every June until we're done with training. They're supposed to be very hard."
"Quite a few people have dropped out by now. There are only ten of us left," Harry told me.
"Wow, I don't think I could handle it," I said, "Too much training."
Sarah asked, "What do you want to be?"
The subject changed, once again, to my future. I wasn't quite sure yet, so Hermione launched into a list of all the things I'd be good at. It was amusing for a few minutes, but Ron got tired of it, and changed the subject once again, this time to Fudge's lastest enactment, which happened to be the outlaw of werewolves from holding Ministry positions.
"That wasn't a good idea," Harry agreed, and I knew he was thinking about Lupin, "It's only making them madder at the Ministry. Fudge needs them to fight Voldemort. The more we have on our side, the better. If he keeps alienating them like this, they're bound to go and help Voldemort."
Everyone nodded.
"He needs as many allies as he can get," I said, "And in order to do that, he has to wizards and witches are the only beings in this universe."
Again, everyone agreed.
"Thinks himself too superior, he does," Ron told us.
The dinner lasted until about nine o'clock, when we'd eaten everything Sarah had made, and sat around for a while longer. Everyone left.
Harry, Ron, and I threw the plates into the sink, deciding to put a spell on them to wash themselves in the morning.
I went into my room. It was comforting to be back in my room. I had spent a great deal of time decorating it over the summer, and it was completely mine. My bed was as comfortable as always, and warm.
I fell asleep with in moments.
Christmas Eve had Ron, Hermione, Sarah, Harry, and I sitting around the table again, having a huge dinner, again. Our Christmas tree stood in the corner of the living room, with all our gifts piled underneath.
"One present," I protested, having a playful argument with my brother.
"No," he answered, "We're supposed to open gifts on Christmas morning, not Christmas Eve."
I rolled my eyes, "It's just one gift, Harry. Come on, will someone agree with me, please?"
Everyone around the table laughed, and shook their heads, claiming neutrality, and returned to their dinner.
"It's just one," I said, "One little present."
"No, Erika," Harry replied, "Have you heard from Meg lately?"
I grinned, "Hah! You tried to change the subject! That's not nice. But, yes, she owled me yesterday."
"How is she? How's Anya?" Harry asked.
"They're fine," I answered, "Meg said her and Anya went into Hogsmeade with special premission from Dumbledore two days ago."
Hermione asked, "Is the Ministry still being mean to her?"
I nodded, "Yeah, Dumbledore's refusing to let them talk to her, though. They sent an owl to her a few weeks ago, asking her to meet them. Dumbledore refused on her behalf. Now they're 'working' on Adrienne. As if she'd even agree. All she wants to do is study."
"She must be very smart," Sarah said.
"Top of her class," I told them.
Harry nodded, "At least she's not talking with the Ministry. They'd use her information wrongly. They're going about this the wrong way."
"I think they should just leave Meg alone, unless she willingly comes to them with information," I said.
"But they're afraid she won't," Hermione added.
I nodded, "Exactly. Dumbledore won't let them talk to her, still, and they want to talk to her, so they're going to force her to."
Christmas morning was very bright. There was snow everywhere, and I was cold in the apartment. I woke up and turned to look at my clock. It was nearly 8 o'clock.
I rolled out of bed, and wrapped myself in a blanket before opening my door.
Harry and Ron were still asleep. I walked into the living room. The Christmas tree was dark, and our gifts were piled where we'd put them the night before.
"Harry, Ron, get up!" I shouted, "It's 8 o'clock Christmas morning!"
They finally dragged themselves out of bed five minutes later.
"Erika, we don't get to sleep in a lot, you know. Sometimes a few extra hours is good," Harry said.
I shrugged, "You'll survive."
We ate breakfast as we opened the gifts. Meg and Anya's gifts arrived on Anya's owl at nine.
After we opened our gifts, we brought them to our rooms. I was very pleased with mine, and immediately started opening the packaging. Hermione had even given me quite a few muggle books.
"Erika, we're going over to Sarah's in two hours," Harry shouted, knocking on my door.
I shouted in response, "Okay. Is it a robe occasion?"
"Yeah," Harry replied, and I heard his footsteps walking down the hallway towards his own room.
Two hours later, I had changed into a midnight blue robe with a white collar, sleeve and skirt hem, and a pretty midnight blue embrodery on it. I tied it up in the front, and combed my hair a few more times.
"Erika, hurry!" Harry shouted, "We have to get there before the network gets jammed."
I nodded, "Coming!"
I ran out of my room, trying to pull on my black cloak, and put shoes on at the same time.
Ron and Harry were waiting, rather impatiently.
"I'm ready," I said, after slipping into my last shoe.
Harry raised his eyebrows, "Couldn't you have done that in the two hours you had to get ready?"
"I suppose, but why use two hours when you can pull it off in one?" I asked.
Harry shrugged, "Well, come on, I told Sarah we'd be there five minutes ago."
"Five minutes isn't going to matter," I told him, but took the Floo Powder nevertheless.
The Order hadn't wanted Harry and Ron to get connected to the Floo Network in the first place, Harry had told me. They said it was too dangerous. But Harry had insisted.
"I'm going to live as normally as possible, and so is Erika and Ron, because they have nothing to do with this," Harry had argued.
They fought back, saying we had everything to do with it since Ron was Harry's best friend, and I was his sister. But, eventually, Harry won and we were connected.
Harry went first, then me, and then Ron.
Sarah and her room-mate, Jackie, lived near Diagon Alley, not far from where Anya and Meg lived, actually. Jackie was an American witch, too.
Their apartment was decorated much differently from ours. For one thing, it was actually decorated, instead of just furniture and things thrown in odd places (the price of living with two men). We arrived in the living room, where there were already several witches and wizards standing around in their robes, talking.
Sarah saw us come, and immediately rushed right up to kiss Harry and say hi to Ron and I.
"I'll take your cloaks. There's some drinks over there, and some snacks in the kitchen. Don't eat too much, dinner's in a half an hour," she told us.
Harry went to help her with the cloaks. I stood there with Ron for a second, before he recognized someone, waved, and went off to talk with them.
I looked around the room, and stood there for an awkard moment before deciding to go over and get a drink.
There was a couple over at the table. They smiled at me.
"Hello, dear. You're a bit young to be here, aren't you?" they asked.
"I'm twelve," I said, "And my brother brought me. His girlfriend lives here."
The man choked on his punch. The woman tried to hide it.
"You must be Harry Potter's sister! Erika, is it?" she asked, smiling.
I nodded, "Yeah, Erika Potter."
They knew my name, of course. You had to be in exile not to, with all the articles and rumors. Even if you didn't read the Daily Prophet or Witch Weekly, you'd know because chances are you knew someone who did, and they would probably tell you.
The man and woman left, and within five minutes, it had circulated that Erika Potter, the supposed sister of Harry Potter, and friend of Megan Riddle (aka an "enemy), was at the party.
I was very happy when Sarah announced that it was time for dinner.
I was seated next to Harry, with Ron on my other side.
The food was wonderful. There was all the usuals (turkey, potatoes, stuffing), and wizard treats (exploding crackers and such).
"So, Potter," someone said, "You brought your sister, ey?"
Harry cast a glance at me, and I shrugged. Harry turned back to the speaker.
"Yeah, her and Sarah are good friends," Harry said.
It was true, I guess. I do like Sarah a lot, and we get along fine, so I guess we were friends.
The talk soon turned to the Ministry (there was actually only one pro- Fudge person there, who was drowned out by everyone else's comments). Most people my age would have found this very boring, but I thought it was quite fun. And I included myself in the talk.
"If Fudge expects to win this, he has to at least have allies," someone said.
I nodded, "Exactly. He's pushing away people that could help him, that want to help him. No offense to anyone here, but the werewolves could really help us. They're just like us, and if Fudge pushes them away, Voldemort's going to get them. And the less allies he has, the weaker he is."
About everyone in the room shivered when I said "Voldemort".
So I continued, "And the giants. They aren't all that bad, not really. If we could keep Voldemort from getting them, we'd be much better off. I mean, we don't have to be their best friends, but be friendly at least. The harsher we are to them, the harder it's going to be to get them on our side when we need them. And, face it, we're going to need them someday."
"Smart sister you have here, Potter," someone called.
Everyone nodded.
"She is, isn't she?" Harry asked.
I launched back into another point, on Fudge's treatment of Muggles. I was about halfway through when there was a loud knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Jackie said, and hurried off into the hallway.
I returned to my point, but didn't get far before six people stormed into the room. I recognized them all.
Six members of the Order of the Phoenix, which included Ron's father (Mr. Weasley), stood in the doorway to the room.
"Harry," the largest of them said (Moody), "Some Death Eaters were spotted in Diagon Alley fifteen minutes ago. We believe they could be heading to find you."
"We've come to escort you back to your apartment," Mr. Weasley said.
Harry sighed, and I could tell he didn't want to go.
"All right. I'm sorry I have go, Sarah," Harry said.
Sarah looked disappointed, but nodded, "I understand. Your safety is a lot more important than a silly dinner party."
Ron, Harry, and I hurried to get our cloaks while the Order waited.
"You three can go between us," Moody told us as we hurried to the fireplace.
He handed us each Floo Powder. Moody went first, then Mr. Weasley, and then another member. Harry then went, then me, and then Ron. The remaining three members went after us.
Our apartment was silent. Moody went about locking the door and blocking the fireplace off, muttering something about having "not connected in the first place".
We took our cloaks off, and settled into waiting. Ron made tea for everyone, and we sat around the living room and waited.
Nothing happened.
"You can go home," Harry told them, "We'll be fine. We're protected here."
They didn't budge and inch.
I turned on the TV, and managed to find a Christmas special of Miracle on 34th Street (an American movie I was rather fond of). The others were completely fascinated with it, and so we watched the movie until around nine thirty.
"Erika," Harry said, "Why don't you go to bed? There's really nothing to do but wait."
"She should probably stay awake, just in case," Moody protested.
Mr. Weasley shook his head, "If anything happens, Moody, she'll wake up to the sound. We don't just give up without a fight, do we?"
"I suppose," Moody said.
I didn't really want to go to bed, but there was nothing else to do. So I went to my room, changed, and got into bed. My window was locked.
Harry came in five minutes later.
"They're watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas," Harry said, grinning.
I laughed.
Harry immediately went from laughing to sad, and sighed.
"I'm sorry about all this, Erika," Harry told me, "The party, the Order, everything."
I nodded, "It's all right, I can handle it. If this is the price I have to pay to be your sister, so be it. It really isn't my choice anyway. This was all set before I met you."
Harry smiled.
"I don't think anything will happen tonight. Voldemort wouldn't send his Death Eaters to try and kill me. He'd kill me himself. He has too. So you can sleep soundly," Harry said.
"I didn't think anything would happen. The Order just hypes up anything bad that happens," I told him.
Harry laughed, and nodded, "They're a bit eager to make sure we're safe. I'm their last chance, I guess. If I die, than Voldemort sticks around."
"Yeah, well, the party was sort of boring anyway, at least until dinner. Everyone kept talking about me," I said, "Which is sort of annoying."
"You'll get used to it. Good night," Harry told me.
"Good night," I whispered, and watched as he quietly shut my door.
I fell asleep that night to the sounds of the Order in the next room, watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas, at the part where they're all standing around the tree singing, despite the fact that all their Christmas presents were gone.
There is good in this world, I thought, and we have to fight for it.
Author's Note- Sorry this took so long. I've been VERY busy. And I know it's not as good. I've been trying to pass time quickly because I know what's going to happen, and there's nothing much I can say. So I'm skipping time. Next chapter, you ask? Well, it's the Quidditch Finals, of course? Will Gryffindor win? Will Gryffindor lose? You'll find out . . . but not until you read it! Haha! So, REVIEW!!!!!!! How else am I supposed to know that someone is actually reading this??
Any additional comments can be given to me at StarlightEve111@aol.com