A/N: New
story. Will I like it? Will I not? Will I finish it? Will I not? All
of these questions that are yet to be answered. I guess only time
will tell.
This story is what you get when you take Princess
Diaries, add some Gilmore Girls and a lot of Harry
Potter. Hope you like it.
And I promise I'll update Dear
Harry soon, this is just a plot bunny I had and I wanted to post
it.
It belongs to J.K. Rowling as always. You know it does.
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June 25th, 10pm – my room.
Graduation, at last! No more high school, no more stupid teachers, no more stupid Nina Johnson who thinks she is so much better than everyone else! And three long, beautiful months of England and sunshine, and did I mention no high school? Yes, I thought so.
Graduation was nice, though. I think I even cried a little. Not because I am so sad to leave or anything, and I was holding up very well until Hannah came and talked to me, all bleary-eyed and sobbing. Then she flung her arms around my neck and said "oh Alexandra, I'm going to miss you so much!" Which was when I realized I may not see her again for a very long time, and that made me very sad, as she's basically what has kept me sane for the last four years. But other than that I'm just glad to be out of that place, and ready for my life to start. My real life, the one in which I will no longer be a high school student, but a worldly college student with her entire life ahead of her. At least that's the initital plan.
I can hear mom and dad talking in the living room. I can't believe dad actually came. Ok, so he said he was going to, but nine times out of ten that means he really intends to, but something always comes up at the last minute. Not today, though. He even came home with us after the ceremony, and I don't think he's actually been to our house more than twice since we moved in here seven years ago. Well dad, I am impressed! Mom doesn't sound it, though. I think they're yelling at each other. Not that I'm very surprised. The two of them can only stay in the same room for so long without being at each other's throat. And what's weird is that most of the time it's my mom who begins the yelling! See, my mother is normally the very epitome of calm and collected. But she has a temper, I'll give her that. And although it's not easy to get to her, when you do you're in for it. And once she begins there is no way you can stay rational, so it normally ends in a shouting match of world-class proportions, and it ends when one, or both, is exhausted.
My dad isn't much better. Sometimes I wonder how on earth the two of them managed to stop yelling long enough to make me. Eurgh, by the way. Very bad mental image! Anyway, they did, and sixteen years and eleven months later, here we are. When I was little I used to dream that the three of us would all live together and that we would be one big happy family like the families of all my friends. What I have realized in the later years, though, is that that's just not possible. Mom and dad are too different. Not to mention no one would be able to sleep as there would be nothing but shouting and my mom threatening to hex my dad into oblivion. She could do it, too, if she wanted. See, that's the main reason the three of us could never live together. My mom is a witch. And that's not something I say because I'm a rebellious teenager who doesn't like her mother. Most of the time we get along very well, as a matter of fact. No, my mom is an actual witch. Wands, brooms and simmering cauldrons included. My mother is a witch, and a very smart one at that. My dad, though, he's a muggle. That's the magical term for someone non-magical. I am also a muggle, which is my mom's greatest disappointment in life. She had always wanted a daughter that she could teach all her magic to, and instead she went and slept with a muggle, which resulted in me. My mom still loves me and all that, that's not the thing, I just have no magical abilities. I think the fact that my mom is a witch is the main reason her and dad broke up in the first place. And I don't think I blame him, really. Living with a person who suddenly decides going over to get something is a waste of time and instead decides to float it through the air and over to where she is can be a little trying. Especially when you ask her to get you the remote so you won't have to get up and she refuses because she thinks you could need the excersise. So yes, not so easy.
Oh, I think the shouting match is coming to a halt. And here's dad in the door saying goodbye. Goodbye dad, see you in August. And yes, I'll be nice in England. And no, dad, I won't do anything stupid. Really, sometimes you'd think I was ten!
And here comes mom, she wants to talk about the trip. We have to leave first thing tomorrow, our plane leaves at nine. And then mom's friend Ginny Potter will come meet us at the airport in London. And then we will get on the London underground and go to the Potter's house in the magical part of London. Brilliant. And then we'll see once we get there if I actually manage to get through the wall at the Leaky Cauldron. Mom says it will be ok, I'm a tad more worried, but I guess we'll get to that once we get there. Mom says not to worry, so I won't. Besides, she's so excited about this that I'd hate to ruin it by reminding her that her daughter is a muggle who can't even do a simple Wingardium Leviosa.
And there goes mom again, to check on something or the other, and I'm left all alone on the night of my graduation. Tomorrow I will be in England and I will finally get to see the country where my mom grew up and spent most of her life. Just because I've lived in America all my life doesn't mean England will be all bad. Besides, the Potter's have kids my age, so I'm guessing all will be good. And hopefully the fact that I'm a muggle won't even matter. Or so we can hope… Good night.
June 26th, 7pm, British time – somewhere over the Atlantic.
We're on the plane, and in an hour and a half we'll be in jolly old England. My mom is finally sleeping. I say finally because she's been acting like a mental case all day. It started this morning when she woke me up at six, her hair everywhere. I love my mom to death, but sometimes she can be a bit… shall we say enthusiastic? When she finds something that excites her she has a tendancy to want everyone else to be as enthusiastic as she is. And it's not that I don't like going to England, quite the contrary, it's just that at six in the morning I can only be so excited, you know? Anyway, she woke me up, and two hours and three cups of coffee later I found myself on the plane. Mum was getting crazier by the minute, and I swear, if this is how she's going to be all the time we're in England then I'm not so sure I want to go. Not to mention that poor guy who's sitting next to her. He's from Bristol and has been to the States on some business trip. My mother in all her glory all but made the poor guy's head explode from all the talking she did. And her accent is getting heavier by the minute. Me, I think British accents can be quite sexy, but when you have lived in Philadelphia for seventeen years your accent is bound to be watered out. As has mom's. But the moment she meets someone from England the accent comes back in a flash, and I am left feeling like the daughter of Victoria Beckham sans the black mini and hunky husband. Thankfully mom finally fell asleep, though. I appreciate it, as does the Bristol man I am sure. He keeps shooting worried glances to his side, afraid the chatmonster may wake up again. Poor guy, he should try living with her! Oh, here comes the flight attendant. Apparently we'll be landing in fourty-five minutes. I'll write more later.
1am, British time – the Potter's house.
Here we are at last, the house of Harry and Ginny Potter and their three children. Right now it's just Harry and Ginny, though, the children won't be home from school for another week or so. I quite enjoy it here, the Potter's are very nice, and they don't even mind that my mom is Dame Edna on speed. Well, they've known her since forever so they're probably used to it. Rumor has it she was even worse when she was younger. Poor people, and I thought I had it hard.
Anyway, my first impression of England is that it's a nice country with less sunshine and more tea than I had anticipated. It's been raining non-stop since we got here, and already everyone has had four cups of tea. I've had one and a half, cause really, once you're done with those little cookies there is really no use pretending you like tea anymore. What is very different from my regular life, though, is all the magic. I always thought living in a household where one person is a witch was hard, try living with people who has always lived in the wizarding world! At least my mom was raised by muggles and so knows a little bit about what muggle life is like. The Potter's however, at least Ginny, is about as non-muggle as you can get it. I tell you, traveling around London with a witch can be very amusing. But first we had to get off the plane, and mom was tired and a little grouchy when she woke up, and when she turned around to talk to the Bristol man he immediately feigned sleep and I think she got a little offended. I can't blame him, though. Then as we started to land she got very excited and basically entertained the entire plane with her outbursts. Some old lady in front of us looked at me sympathetically and I gave her a nod of appreciation. Perhaps she knows what it's like to have hyper-active mother. Then as we got off the plane and had picked up our luggage we started to look around for Ginny. She wasn't very hard to spot as she was the only person there in long, dark blue robes and with fiery red hair. I pointed her out to my mom who screamed in a very fangirl-ish manner, then ran over and all but knocked the poor woman over. I walked over, casually trying to pretend I had no idea who they were and gave mom a very meaningful look. She only laughed and introduced me to Ginny.
"Gin, this is my daughter Alexandra. I don't think you've seen her since she was a year old. She is the sunshine of my life."
I grinned politely and shook her hand while at the same time watching mom, hoping she didn't start singing Stevie Wonder songs. That was the last thing we needed right now.
"Hello Alexandra, it is so great to finally meet you," Ginny said. "I have heard so much about you and to finally be able to see what you're like is almost like meeting a famous person."
I smiled again, amazed that it sounded almost as if she actually meant it.
"Hello Mrs. Potter," I said. "It's nice to meet you, too."
"Oh no, you have to call me Ginny. No one ever calls me Mrs. Potter except for the people at the Ministry. Please call me Ginny."
"The Ministry of Magic," mom added. "It's kind of the wizard equivalent of Capitol Hill."
I nodded. "Ok, Ginny. Then you have to call me Alex. The only person who calls me Alexandra is my friend Hannah, and that's just because her boyfriend's name is Alex and she finds it confusing. How it can be confusing is beyond me, though, as I'm very feminine, at least compared to him."
Ginny laughed and my mom gave me a look. I knew that look, it meant 'Alex, talk less, smile more'. I have gotten those looks for as long as I can remember but they have never actually made an impact.
"I like you, Alex," Ginny said then. "And I'm sure you will get along perfectly with my daughter. Her name is Cassiopeia and she's the same age as you. She'll be back from school in a week and I know she will like you. Up until then I'm afraid it's just you and the old ones."
I smiled again wondering who on earth named their children after a constellation? Well, she might be a nice girl despite her freaky name.
"Now then," Ginny said and turned to my mom. "How do we get out of this place? All these muggle keep looking at me funny and I'm eager to get out of here and go somewhere no one will notice if I suddenly pull out my wand."
Mom grinned and took Ginny by the elbow. "Come with me and I'll get us out of here. Getting to the Leaky Cauldron from here shouldn't be too difficult." Ginny looked thankful that mom was in the lead and together we got out of Heathrowe and on the tube. And then, before I knew it we were standing outside of the Leaky Cauldron. As we looked at it I could see my mom was getting tears in her eyes, and before we walked in she stopped me and looked at me seriously.
"Alex," she said softly, "this may be a little weird for you, but don't worry, you'll soon get used to it. Try not to get too overwhelmed by it all, and I promise I'll take you to see everything as soon as possible."
"Sure mom," I said and looked around. It was a dingy pub in a dark alley. To me it looked more like some kind of amusement house (if you get my drift) than an actual pub. At it definitely did not look like the kind of place my mom would go to. And had we been at home and I would have suggested going to a place like that I would have been grounded before you could say coleslaw! But apparently this was one of the greatest wizarding places in all of Britain, and so without much more questioning I followed mom and Ginny into the pub. Once in there I couldn't help but notice how Ginny seemed to be some kind of celebrity. All around people were smiling and waving, and Ginny smiled and waved back, occasionally stopping to talk to people. And then when the word got around who mom was it was as if everything suddenly got very quiet and they looked at her like she was some kind of queen. A few whispers went around and it sounded like they said "war" and "deated you-know-who". I of course know mom was a part of the Great Wizarding War when she was in school, but apparently there was more to it than she had ever told me. I decided to ask her about it later and then concentrated on getting through the crowd and over to where mom and Ginny were standing in front of a brick wall.
"This is it," mom said enthusiastically. "God I can't believe I'm finally here."
Ginny looked at mom and gave her arm a squeeze. "I can't believe you're here either. Oh Hermione, do you remember when we were here together the last time?"
Mom nodded sagely. "I do. It was the summer before your and Harry's wedding, and I was so upset about everything that had happened. And then you took me here to cheer me up. It was a great day."
"It definitely was," Ginny said. Suddenly she sobered and she looked at me carefully before she said "he's fine by the way. He knows you're here and he said I should tell you that he really wanted to meet you. That is, if you wish to."
Mom all of a sudden got very pale and I couldn't help but gape. He? Who was he? Why hadn't I heard about any of this? We told each other everything! Well allright, not everything, but we definitely told each other if there was a he who was fine and who wanted to meet us! Meet my mom, I mean, which is basically the same as meeting me. Where she goes, I go. That is, as long as there is a mysterious he involved who makes my mom pale and who makes her speechless only by talking about him.
"Who's he?" I asked and looked from one to the other?
Mom snapped out of her obvious reverie and turned her head to me.
"No one," she said quickly with a pointed look at Ginny. "He's no one. Nothing you need to worry about anyway. Now shall we get through this wall and into the Alley? I'm exhausted!" Then she got out her wand and tapped at a few strategic places on the wall and with something similar to a groan the wall was moving around and before I knew it there was a large hole in it. I might actually have been amazed had it not been for the fact that only seconds earlier my mom had all but told me to mind my own business and leave her alone. This was definitely something I had to investigate further. For now I just let it be, though and instead concentrated on what mom had called the Alley. It was basically the craziest street I had seen all my life. Everywhere there was something happening. Now, I'm used to New York City, so all the people didn't really surprise me. What left me gaping was what the people did. Not to mention their clothes, the stores, the animals, basically everything but the people.
"Wow," I said without meaning to, and mom grinned at me in delight.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley, dear," she said and winked.
"Thank you," I whispered while letting my eyes wander from one thing to the other. And right then and there, for the first time in my life, I felt a stab of sadness at not being a witch. I had known about magic for as long as I could remember, but I had never thought it was something I needed in my life. But now, with everything I saw, I started to wonder if maybe I was missing out by being who I was.
Getting to the Potter's house only took us a few minutes. I didn't even notice where we walked as I was busy watching everything around me. I probably looked like a starstruck idiot, but it didn't matter. The world was a fantastic place, and I had to see as much of it as I possibly could before I woke up to find it was only a dream.
After a few minutes of walking we stood outside a large house and we stopped outside the front door.
"This is our home," Ginny explained. "Harry should be waiting inside. He's been so excited about this but today was quidditch and he couldn't play because he injured his arm in practice last week and had to listen to the game on the wireless. Poor bloke, I don't know what I think is worst – him being injured or the defeated look he's had ever since the mediwizards told him he couldn't play for two months."
"But that means he can't be in the World Cup!" mom exclaimed.
Ginny sighed heavily and nodded. "Yes, I know. It's not that I don't like having him around the house, but he's been moping for so long that I can't tell you how great it is to have you here. If anything can cheer him up you can." She turned to me. "He's been dying to meet you, Alex. We never really forgave her for moving to the States."
Mom laughed. "My house is always open for you, Ginny, you know that."
"Yes, of course, Hermione, I am only teasing. I only wish we had gone over there. But what with three children, the Ministry, and Harry always going from one city to the other there just never seemed to be enoug time."
Mom patted Ginny's arm. "I know, I know. I'm not blaming you. Besides, we're here now, and unless I am much mistaken I can see Harry trying to peer through the window over there. We should get inside or he will crane his neck and I'd hate for him to add on to his list of injuries. The fans will never forgive me if he has to stay off the pitch for another month."
"Yes, you're right," Ginny laughed. "Come on in, then. And if I forget to say so later, please make yourselves at home." Then she opened the door and before either of us had the chance to go inside a blur of black came running towards us and had mom enveloped in the largest hug I have ever seen.
"Hermione! Oh Merlin it's good to see you! Wow, look at you! You don't look like a day older!"
Mom laughed heartily and hugged him again. "It's good to see you too, Harry. You don't look that different either. But then, you always had an injury or other. But then again, gray never seemed to be a color I'd see you in." She winked and Harry pulled his healthy arm through his hair.
"The curse of the Seeker, Hermione. As for the gray hair, that's from today's match. But I won't bore you with the details. Let me just say it was horrible and I can never face Viktor again."
"Viktor?" mom asked curiously, something that caused me to get equally curious. During this entire exchange I had been almost invisible, wondering if I should say something or if I should stay hidden in the corner for now. After all, this was mom's oldest friend, and the two of them hadn't seen each other for years. So I listened to them talk and at the same time trying to remember the few things I had been told about quidditch from mom and from a few books she had shown me once.
"Yes," Harry said with a wicked grin. "Viktor. Or should I say Vicky?"
"Krum?"
He laughed. "Ah, I knew you'd remember him. He plays Seeker for the Magpies now. Very succesful, of course, although rumors have it he's thinking of retiring. I guess he has realised that quidditch isn't for old men and that he should let someone younger, more fit play the game."
"I know someone else who should've realised that also," Ginny said with a smirk and Harry looked at his wife in surprise. For the first time it was as if he realised there were other people in the room, and that's when he noticed me. Automatically his face split into a giant grin, and he gave me a big hug.
"You must be Alexandra," he said after he had let me go.
"Alex," I corrected. "Please call me Alex, Mr. Potter."
Harry smiled. "Alex it is. But then you must promise to call me Harry."
I nodded. "Of course."
"Now then young lady, how do you find England so far?"
"It's great," I said, thinking about everything I had just seen. "Diagon Alley might possibly be the most fascinating place I have ever been."
Harry laughed heartily. "Yes, yes, I know how you feel. When I first came here as an eleven-year-old I thought I had died and come to heaven. At least that's what it felt like." He pulled his hand through his hair again and I noticed a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead and added it on my list of things to ask mom about. I thought there might be something special about that scar, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what.
"Well now. Let's not stand all huddled in the hallway. Please come in and make yourselves comfortable. It isn't the most spectacular house in the world, but it's home, and if anyone says anything else they can sleep in the garden."
"I'm sure it's great," mom said as she followed Harry and Ginny into the living room. I stayed behind and watched them all go. With a pleased smile I looked around and walked after them, and as I came in they all sat around the table. I sat down next to mom and listened to them catch up. Mom told them all about my graduation and about the flight over, and as I listened I felt myself becoming more and more tired. Suddenly I felt the effect of the travelling and getting up at six come over me full force and it was all I could do not to fall asleep. Ginny was the first to notice I was all but sleeping on my mom's shoulder. With a gentle tug she helped me out of the sofa and got me upstairs to the guest room I would use when I was there.
"The bathroom is over there," she said and pointed across the hall. "Your mom will be in the room next door, Cassiopeia's room is just down the hall and the boys' room as well as mine and Harry's is on the second floor. Why don't you get settled in and go to sleep and we can all talk tomorrow?"
"Thank you Ginny," I said and supressed a yawn. "This is a very nice room."
"I'm glad you like it," Ginny said and walked towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow." Then she walked out and left me alone, and here I am two hours later. I've been writing so much now that my hand is cramped and my back hurts. I just had to get it all down before I forgot it. Now I have to sleep, though, or I'll be in no shape to see anything at all tomorrow. And I have so much to find out. Who on earth is 'he', and who's Viktor Krum? And what's with the scar on Harry's forehead? First of all, though; sweet, sweet slumber. Good night.
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A/N: do you like it? Please review if you do! Or if you don't then review also and tell me why. And ten house points to whoever finds the Gilmore Girls quote.
