A/N: Gah! I'm so sorry it's taken forever!!!! But lemme explain… See, my BEST friend who I haven't seen in like two years called me like last week or something and said she was in town!! (She lives on the east coast) And at that time I had this chapter almost entirely done but then I didn't get a chance to finish it before my friend picked me up to spend a week together! And then when I got back, school started the next day! But anyhow, here's the chapter and by the way my best friend and I had BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J. K. Rowling! 'Cept Kira and stuff…
Kiss kiss! Enjoy!
New Neighbor
Chapter 8
Kira giggled as she doused Neville with water using the hose beside her aunt's greenhouse. She aimed the force of water up at his face, making him sputter and yell "HEY!!"
He reached down and grabbed a bucket full of water he and Kira had been using to wash the peach pulp off their shoes. He swung it over Kira's head and with a SPLASH the peachy water enveloped her right down to her toes. Now Neville was laughing.
"Not fair!" Kira cried.
Neville didn't answer, just smiled a sheepish grin amidst his laughter.
Aunt Ramona called exasperatedly from the back porch, "Merlin! Are you two done already?"
Kira giggled and yelled, "yes, we're done," as she rinsed the last bit of peach off her leg. Now sopping wet, she and Neville approached the porch. Aunt Ramona pulled out her wand and muttered, "exaresco." In an instant Kira's clothes, as well as Neville's, were dry.
"There," Ramona said, satisfied, "now you two come inside, I made lunch."
Kira and Neville made their way inside and sat down at the dining room table. Set before them was a wide assortment of sandwiches and fruit. Kira glanced at Neville, who was staring hungrily at the food, licking his lips. She giggled and poked him, and Neville's face flushed red.
Soon food was placed on both their plates and they began to eat. Kira told Aunt Ramona about their adventure in the peach trees. Ramona chuckled at her account of the tale.
"Well, it surely was Fate that let you two meet. I was going to invite Harriet and Neville over for dinner tonight!"
"Harriet?" Kira asked between bites.
"That's my Gran's name," Neville said, though it came out sounding like, "Faf my Graffs hame," since his mouth was full of food.
Kira laughed and Aunt Ramona said calmly, "chew with your mouth closed dear."
Neville's cheeks became a bit pink and Ramona continued, "so I'll be right back, okay you two?"
Neville nodded calmly but Kira was still confused. But before she could ask anything, her aunt disappeared with a loud POP.
Kira nearly spit out her juice.
"Where did she GO?!?!?!" she asked frantically, quickly checking under the table and behind her chair.
Neville laughed as he grabbed another turkey and pickle sandwich.
"She only apparated, calm down," he said, biting into the sandwich.
"What?? What in heaven's name is 'apparated'???"
"Weff ifss fwhere you--"
"Neville!" exclaimed Kira, "swallow, please!"
Neville turned pink again and gulped down the bit of sandwich in his mouth.
"Well," he began, more clearly this time, "apparating is where you have the ability to disappear from a place and reappear somewhere else… but you have to pass this test, see, before you can apparate…"
"Oh," Kira said slowly, beginning to grasp the concept a little better, "you mean like a… driving test or something?"
Neville looked a little confused before he asked, "driving like in those metal muggle things with wheels?"
Kira grinned at his view of an automobile, "yeah, like that."
"Well I suppose the apparation test is sort of like that," he flushed, "I haven't actually, erm… passed mine yet. I failed the last… three times."
Kira's eyes widened and she laughed, "three times?!"
He smiled sheepishly, nodded, and reached for another sandwich. Suddenly there was another loud POP and Aunt Ramona reappeared beside the dining room table.
Kira wasn't quite as startled this time and Ramona smiled at her, "everything's set up now. I just spoke with Harriet and she and Neville will be joining us for dinner tonight. Isn't that wonderful?" Not waiting for an answer, she strode into the kitchen, still smiling pleasantly.
Neville swallowed the rest of his sandwich and grinned, "wicked! I can't wait to come over and eat some of your aunt's cooking. She's an even better cook than Gran."
"She's better than my mum, that's for sure."
Suddenly Uncle Griffin appeared before them with a POP, his face full of wrinkles but still maintaining that boyish-look.
"Uncle Griffin! You're home early!" Kira exclaimed happily. Griffin worked in the Department of Administrative Creature Communications at the Ministry of Magic. Griffin had explained to her that his department dealt with wizarding creature placement and management. "Sometimes those wild blast-ended skrewts like to migrate to muggle residential areas, which creates quite a chaotic mess," he'd told her.
"Yes, Kira. The Boss let me leave early. Oh, Neville, you've come for a visit. Fabulous."
Neville grinned at her uncle, "yeah Mr. Griffin, me and Kira met in the orchards this morning."
"Wonderful," Griffin replied. He turned to Kira.
"Kira, I thought since we have some extra time together today, you could learn how to fly a broom."
"A broom?!" asked Kira incredulously, "a real flying broom?!"
Griffin laughed and nodded. He motioned for Kira and Neville to accompany him out back. Kira followed him and Neville, taking one last look at the remaining food, followed also.
Griffin stopped outside a small shed beyond the greenhouse. He pulled on the handle and slowly the weathered door squeaked open. Reaching inside, he pulled out what looked like a long oak stick. Griffin held it out, the wood shimmering amber in the afternoon sunlight. It looked different than Kira imagined, worn, but still elegant and graceful. On the side of the broom Kira read, 'Airborne 202'.
"Well," Kira heard Griffin say "it's a bit old, quite the fashion in our time."
Kira reached out and grasped the broom. The wood was rough against her hand but in the strangest way it felt familiar.
"No," she said breathlessly, "its perfect."
She grasped it with her other hand also and swung her right leg over the broom as her uncle instructed. But Kira wasn't really listening.
"Now you want to push off gently from the ground to get it up in the air. After that, the broom will do what you tell it to."
"Okay," Kira murmured in preparation. Extremely gently, she pushed against the ground.
Nothing happened.
She looked worriedly at Uncle Griffin, confused.
"It's an old broom dear," he answered calmly, "you'll have to give it a bit more umph."
Kira nodded and stared at the broom, concentrating hard, yet feeling very calm. She pushed against the ground, though a bit harder than she had planned. The broom shot up into the air at an incredible speed, Kira holding on for dear life.
Hovering what felt like miles above the ground, the broom stopped in midair and Kira immediately loosened her grip. She was flying.
For a moment she felt light-headed as she gazed upon the lush fields that surrounded her aunt and uncle's property.
'To the right,' she thought and instantly the broom pulled towards the right.
'U-turn." The broom spun around and Kira smiled.
'Spin.' She was spinning, around and around. She directed the broom down. She pulled up. She spiraled through the fruit trees, and swooped down almost to the ground. So close that she could feel the grass brushing against her hand.
Kira willed the broom to go faster. She sped past her bedroom balcony, and up onto the roof. Swirling around the chimney, she grinned to herself. Why did this sensation of freedom feel so natural? On the broom, flying above the world, she felt the utmost sense of independence. It was as if she had flown in a dream that she'd forgotten, but it was all coming back.
Kira sped over towards the garden shed where her uncle and Neville were waiting, staring up at her in shock.
Kira laughed and yelled to Neville, "do you want to give it a try?"
Neville took a step back.
"No thanks, I've had bad experiences on brooms. They don't seem to like me very much," he said, blushing.
Kira turned to Uncle Griffin, expecting him to comment on her broom ride. His eyes were distant, as if looking back into the past.
"Uncle Griffin? Are you alright?"
Suddenly he looked up, startled. He tried to smile, saying, "it was excellent Kira. Your… your mother was quite good on a broom as well."
Kira cast him a quizzical look but Uncle Griffin's gaze was hazy once again. Kira shrugged confusedly to herself but smiled at the thought of inheriting her birth-mother's broom skills.
She cast one last glace at Griffin and Neville before speeding off towards the open fields to experiment with elaborate twirls, twists, and dives.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Kira, set the table, please. I have to finish garnishing these deviled eggs," said Ramona.
Kira nodded and pulled the plates, silverware and other commodities she would need out of the cupboards. The moment she had finished setting the table, the doorbell rang.
"Can you get that, Kira?" Ramona asked, placing her finished platter of deviled eggs on the table. Griffin was outside, magically grilling some chicken on a grill he had materialized out of nowhere.
Kira strode through the house towards the foyer. She opened the front door and spoke a friendly hello to the Longbottoms standing there. But directly after greeting them her eyes widened in surprise.
The elderly woman standing on the doorstep was wearing long magenta robes and had the biggest hat on her head that Kira had ever seen. The hat had a huge brim, and on the very top of the hat, amidst a large amount multi-colored plastic flowers, sat a stuffed bird.
"Why hello, child," Harriet Longbottom said, walking into the house, her hat barely fitting through the doorway. Neville followed her in, carrying a half-squished box. Kira grinned at her friend and he returned the favor.
"Kira, I presume?" she asked, "Neville has told me about you." Her ocean-like blue eyes bore into Kira and though she felt a little uncomfortable, she felt… accepted by this old woman.
"Yes, I'm Kira," she answered sociably, "dinner is ready in the dining room."
"Wonderful," Mrs. Longbottom answered, tearing her deep stare away from the young woman. She smiled briefly and lifted the gigantic hat off her head. She placed it on the coat rack, filling the first four hooks. She briskly strode towards the dining room, followed my Neville and Kira.
"What's in the box?" Kira whispered questioningly.
"Cheesecake," Neville whispered back, "erm, I sort of… um… sat on it a little…" He blushed.
Kira giggled and they reached the dining room.
"Harriet!" Aunt Ramona exclaimed happily and embraced her friend, "it's absolutely wonderful to see you!"
"I know Ramona, we really should get together more often," Ms. Longbottom replied.
"Come, sit. You too, Neville," Ramona motioned towards the table, "dinner is in the kitchen. I'll go get it."
Kira sat in her normal spot beside Uncle Griffin and Neville took the spot next to her. Ms. Longbottom sat down in the seat beside where Aunt Ramona usually sat.
In seconds Aunt Ramona walked cautiously into the room, holding a large steaming casserole. She set it down in the middle of the table and took a seat in her chair. When the food was served and everyone began to devour the wonderful meal, Ramona spoke.
"You know Kira, you'll be seeing a lot of my dear friend Harriet at Hogwarts."
Kira furrowed her brow and swallowed a bite of casserole.
"Really?"
"Yes Kira," Ms. Longbottom said kindly, "I have a teaching job at Hogwarts this year. Charms, in fact."
"Oh! That's great! Neville hadn't told me yet," replied Kira, glancing at Neville. He looked sheepishly at her before stabbing his fork vehemently into a deviled egg.
Harriet Longbottom cast Neville a bit of a reproving look. Uncle Griffin addressed Kira.
"And do you remember the letter you received from Hogwarts?"
Kira nodded.
"So you remember how it told you that an associate would be coming to see you and would take you to Diagon Alley to purchase your school things," he continued, "well my dear, Ms. Longbottom will be that associate."
"Harriet will take you on the tenth of August to Diagon Alley," Ramona finished for him, "along with Neville."
"Alright then. Sounds good," Kira said, scooping up another bite of casserole with her fork. But another thought crossed her mind and the casserole never reached her mouth.
"But Auntie… I've been thinking… I'm so far behind in studies and all that. I mean really, I've never even heard of the things that my soon-to-be classmates have been studying for years!" she exclaimed, now very confused and a tad worried.
"Oh yes Kira, Dumbledore has thought of that little problem," Ms. Longbottom caringly explained, "you see, it's really rather simple. There is a spell that will be performed. On you, namely. The spell will cause the knowledge to enter your mind so you will know everything any other seventh year Hogwarts student would know."
Kira furrowed her brow.
"But isn't that cheating?"
"Oh no my dear. You didn't think we would just magically let you breeze through six years of learning did you?" Ms. Longbottom chuckled. Kira blushed sheepishly.
"There will be a series of assignments you will have to do. Most students don't have to do summer school work, but I'm sorry, there is no other way. After you purchase your school books, we will send you home with your assigned work, which we expect you to complete before summer's end."
Kira nodded slowly, a bit disappointed at the idea of schoolwork, but eager to experience a taste of wizarding school. However, her small smile quickly turned to a frown.
"How do I explain that I received all my knowledge through a spell? Surely the other people would ridicule me!" Kira inwardly shuddered at the thought of going to yet another school where she was branded a weirdo and a social outcast.
"Dumbledore, the staff, and I have given this dilemma lot of thought. We've come to the conclusion that the only way for you to avoid a nasty confrontation with a fellow student would be to give you a false story of your whereabouts the previous six years."
Kira thought to herself before replying, "Okay. So what's my 'story' then?"
"There is a small wizarding school in New Zealand of which a few of Dumbledore's friends attended. It is not well-known, which is lucky for so that no Hogwarts students will recognize the name."
Kira looked at Ms. Longbottom expectantly, "then what is the name of the school?" she asked after a few moments and Harriet had still not spoken.
"Gnarvou's Private School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she finally answered, "you shall tell anyone who inquires of your past that you attended there while living with your parents on the island. Your parents were sent on a mission to North America so you were sent here to live with your aunt and uncle, Griffin and Ramona Bloxton."
'Simple enough,' Kira thought to herself while nodding to Ms. Longbottom that she understood.
"When will the knowledge spell be performed?" asked Aunt Ramona.
"Diagon Alley," Harriet answered simply, "another associate from the school will be meeting me there to conduct the spell."
"And Neville?" Griffin inquired, "what of him? He knows of the false story."
Ms. Longbottom cast Neville a strict but caring look and said, "oh my dear Neville has sworn to Dumbledore not to tell a soul of Kira's situation."
Neville, who had not spoken the entire meal but had consumed three servings of casserole, nodded proudly.
"Don't worry, Kira," Neville said between bites of casserole, "I won't tell anyone."
Kira smiled at him and the group resumed eating their meal.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Bye Neville, I might see you tomorrow, okay?" Kira smiled as Neville nodded. Neville and his Gran were preparing to take a Portkey back to their home. Griffin had informed Kira how a Portkey worked and she was anxious to see the process in action. The Portkey was in the form of a ball-point pen.
Everyone said their goodbyes and both Neville and Ms. Longbottom reached for the pen. Suddenly it was as if their bodies were sucked into the pen. In an instant, they were gone.
"Wicked!" Kira exclaimed staring at the Portkey in awe.
Her aunt and uncle chuckled.
"Yes, I'd say that is a very swell invention," Griffin observed, following Ramona into the kitchen.
An hour later, after the kitchen was clean and Kira had beaten her uncle at Wizard Chess twice, Kira announced she was going to turn in for the night. She kissed her aunt and uncle good night and headed upstairs. This time, she avoided the third floor painting of the wretched old woman and arrived on the first floor. There a painting of a stylish French poodle politely directed her to another set of stairs and soon Kira was standing in front of an already snoozing Mav.
"Good night," she told the sleeping painting happily and walked towards her own bedroom.
"G'night lass," the painting mumbled sleepily between snores. Kira giggled and entered her bedroom. A few moments later she was snuggled under the covers in her comfortable bed and she quickly fell asleep.
XXXXXXXXXX
1:37 am.
With a start Kira sat bolt upright in bed with her blonde hair tangled and matted and sweat beads running down her forehead.
"HARRY!!!!!!!!!" she screamed.
A/N: BUA HA HA HA… does this count as a cliffhanger? I suppose, lol… anyway, I think that I should tell you guys that I might have to post chapters every two weeks instead of every week… Just cuz of school and homework and all that crap… Sorry!
Thanks to my wonderful editor-and-chief!!!! Digladior0124!!! Luv you, girl!
Read and Review!!!!!!!!!!!!
