Harry's Twin by Gemzgurl
A sudden ruffle of feathers took the weight of Phoebe off of Lei's shoulder again. Romeo flew from his spot on top of his cage, and landed, along with Phoebe, on one of Kathia's shoulders. In her hands she held two bowls filled with small bits of carrots, sunflower seeds, bits of lettuce, and, oddly enough, a spoonful of peanut butter. Kathia opened the door of Romeo's cage and hooked the bowl of food onto the side of the cage and Romeo hopped off her shoulder, into the cage. Then Kathia went over and hooked the other bowl of food onto the side of Phoebe's cage, who then launched herself at the bowl. She ate the peanut butter first.
"All right, now that I've got the squawkers taken care of, let's go and see what we can do about gathering your school supplies, hmmm?" Kathia said with a smile at Lei, who smiled weakly back. "You're going to need clothes for the summer, but we'll start simple."
"Okay." Lei paused as if wondering whether or not to bring the subject up. "Um, Kathia, how did the people treat you at Hogwarts when you first started going there? It must have been hard for you. I'm sure that they didn't really accept you at first, right?"
Kathia shook her head. "No, they really didn't take me in, so to speak, for a while. It took them a while to really start talking to me. When I first came to England, the only language I knew was German, and no one else in Hogwarts knew German, so there was that whole language barrier, but then a nice girl offered to teach me English because she knew a little bit of German. In return, I taught her more German. That's how I learned to speak English so well. Oh, but don't worry, dear. I'm sure everyone will want to be friends with you. And if they don't, well, then they aren't worth it."
A half an hour later, Lei and Kathia were inside a shop called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions in a place that Kathia referred to as Diagon Alley. Lei was standing on a stepping stool and the woman who ran the robe shop had a tape measurer around her waist. After calculating all of Lei's proper measurements, Madam Malkin went back to get her four pairs of robes. The door opened and a bell that hung above the shop tinkled as a boy with pale skin and a pointed face entered the shop, looking bored. After the boy, who looked to be Lei's age, came a man and a woman.
The man and the boy shared similar looks: both had white-blond hair, bored expressions, and had the air of conceitedness about them. They looked rather wealthy to Lei. The only difference between the man and the boy (presumably father and son) were their colour of eyes. The man had glittering, menacing looking black eyes, whereas the boy had stormy grey eyes. The woman shared her son's eyes, but that was the only similarity between them. She had silky black hair that hung loosely on her shoulders and she didn't seem quite so snobbish, like the other two. She seemed actually a bit jittery.
The boy spotted Lei, and before she could look away, he had caught her blue eyes with his grey ones. He walked over there and looked up at Lei from her place on the stepping stool. Lei got the impression that he would rather have her down on the ground where he would be taller than she, but she didn't budge from her towering heights.
"Hello," the boy drawled in a lazy voice. "I expect you're going to Hogwarts this year. You're a bit tall for a first year, though. You have to be new, because I haven't seen you around here." Lei didn't like the way he assumed that she was just going to fall over herself, trying to introduce herself to him. She crossed her arms.
"I am not a first year," she said indignantly, though she really didn't know where she was or not. Surely she would be put into the sixth year, and not make her go through all of school over again? "And I am new, not that it's any of your business."
"Is that your mum?" he asked, ignoring her outburst and nodding toward Kathia, who stood, chatting with a witch in the back of the shop. "You two don't look much alike. Does that mean that you look more like your dad?"
"My parents are dead," she replied shortly. "I don't know who I look like, as a matter of fact. Is that your mum? You two don't look very much alike, either."
"I'm sorry to hear about your parents," the boy said without sounding sorry at all. "My name is Draco Malfoy. Perhaps you've heard of me."
"Actually, I don't think I have heard of you. The people of Italy rarely talk of such petty things as who belongs it what family, or if that family is rich while that one is poor. It doesn't matter, and I like to think that we should all put ourselves higher than money."
Lei jumped down from the stepping stool and looked Draco Malfoy in the eyes, daring him to challenge her further. He stared back, but when she took a step toward him, he faltered and took a step back. She grinned mockingly at him, feeling superior.
Kathia came back up to the front of the shop with a bag full of Lei's robes in it. She touched Lei's shoulder, questioningly probing her eyes as to the encounter with the blond boy that stood in front of her. Lei simply shrugged, took the bag from Kathia's arms and brushed past Draco Malfoy, making sure that she bashed his shoulder aside.
"You better watch yourself, whoever you are," Malfoy hissed through clenched teeth. Lei turned back toward him, eyes narrowed.
"Oh, I think it's the other way around," Lei replied easily. "I'm not afraid of you, or your money. If you think that you're the slightest bit intimidating, you'd be wrong. Watch your step around me, boy. I may be new here, but I learn quickly."
With that said and done, Lei narrowed her eyes, turned to smile at Kathia, and walked to the back of the store. She gasped when she past Mr. Malfoy as a searing pain struck her forehead. Her fingers went underneath her bangs and fingered the thin scar there. The blond-haired man eyed Lei and a small frown played at his lips. She warily looked back at him, but not for long because her scar felt as if someone had put a fire to it.
Whenever her scar burned as if it were suddenly set on fire, it usually meant that evil was near. She'd been used to that feeling for a while, but she hadn't expected to feel it so soon in a new country.
A sudden ruffle of feathers took the weight of Phoebe off of Lei's shoulder again. Romeo flew from his spot on top of his cage, and landed, along with Phoebe, on one of Kathia's shoulders. In her hands she held two bowls filled with small bits of carrots, sunflower seeds, bits of lettuce, and, oddly enough, a spoonful of peanut butter. Kathia opened the door of Romeo's cage and hooked the bowl of food onto the side of the cage and Romeo hopped off her shoulder, into the cage. Then Kathia went over and hooked the other bowl of food onto the side of Phoebe's cage, who then launched herself at the bowl. She ate the peanut butter first.
"All right, now that I've got the squawkers taken care of, let's go and see what we can do about gathering your school supplies, hmmm?" Kathia said with a smile at Lei, who smiled weakly back. "You're going to need clothes for the summer, but we'll start simple."
"Okay." Lei paused as if wondering whether or not to bring the subject up. "Um, Kathia, how did the people treat you at Hogwarts when you first started going there? It must have been hard for you. I'm sure that they didn't really accept you at first, right?"
Kathia shook her head. "No, they really didn't take me in, so to speak, for a while. It took them a while to really start talking to me. When I first came to England, the only language I knew was German, and no one else in Hogwarts knew German, so there was that whole language barrier, but then a nice girl offered to teach me English because she knew a little bit of German. In return, I taught her more German. That's how I learned to speak English so well. Oh, but don't worry, dear. I'm sure everyone will want to be friends with you. And if they don't, well, then they aren't worth it."
A half an hour later, Lei and Kathia were inside a shop called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions in a place that Kathia referred to as Diagon Alley. Lei was standing on a stepping stool and the woman who ran the robe shop had a tape measurer around her waist. After calculating all of Lei's proper measurements, Madam Malkin went back to get her four pairs of robes. The door opened and a bell that hung above the shop tinkled as a boy with pale skin and a pointed face entered the shop, looking bored. After the boy, who looked to be Lei's age, came a man and a woman.
The man and the boy shared similar looks: both had white-blond hair, bored expressions, and had the air of conceitedness about them. They looked rather wealthy to Lei. The only difference between the man and the boy (presumably father and son) were their colour of eyes. The man had glittering, menacing looking black eyes, whereas the boy had stormy grey eyes. The woman shared her son's eyes, but that was the only similarity between them. She had silky black hair that hung loosely on her shoulders and she didn't seem quite so snobbish, like the other two. She seemed actually a bit jittery.
The boy spotted Lei, and before she could look away, he had caught her blue eyes with his grey ones. He walked over there and looked up at Lei from her place on the stepping stool. Lei got the impression that he would rather have her down on the ground where he would be taller than she, but she didn't budge from her towering heights.
"Hello," the boy drawled in a lazy voice. "I expect you're going to Hogwarts this year. You're a bit tall for a first year, though. You have to be new, because I haven't seen you around here." Lei didn't like the way he assumed that she was just going to fall over herself, trying to introduce herself to him. She crossed her arms.
"I am not a first year," she said indignantly, though she really didn't know where she was or not. Surely she would be put into the sixth year, and not make her go through all of school over again? "And I am new, not that it's any of your business."
"Is that your mum?" he asked, ignoring her outburst and nodding toward Kathia, who stood, chatting with a witch in the back of the shop. "You two don't look much alike. Does that mean that you look more like your dad?"
"My parents are dead," she replied shortly. "I don't know who I look like, as a matter of fact. Is that your mum? You two don't look very much alike, either."
"I'm sorry to hear about your parents," the boy said without sounding sorry at all. "My name is Draco Malfoy. Perhaps you've heard of me."
"Actually, I don't think I have heard of you. The people of Italy rarely talk of such petty things as who belongs it what family, or if that family is rich while that one is poor. It doesn't matter, and I like to think that we should all put ourselves higher than money."
Lei jumped down from the stepping stool and looked Draco Malfoy in the eyes, daring him to challenge her further. He stared back, but when she took a step toward him, he faltered and took a step back. She grinned mockingly at him, feeling superior.
Kathia came back up to the front of the shop with a bag full of Lei's robes in it. She touched Lei's shoulder, questioningly probing her eyes as to the encounter with the blond boy that stood in front of her. Lei simply shrugged, took the bag from Kathia's arms and brushed past Draco Malfoy, making sure that she bashed his shoulder aside.
"You better watch yourself, whoever you are," Malfoy hissed through clenched teeth. Lei turned back toward him, eyes narrowed.
"Oh, I think it's the other way around," Lei replied easily. "I'm not afraid of you, or your money. If you think that you're the slightest bit intimidating, you'd be wrong. Watch your step around me, boy. I may be new here, but I learn quickly."
With that said and done, Lei narrowed her eyes, turned to smile at Kathia, and walked to the back of the store. She gasped when she past Mr. Malfoy as a searing pain struck her forehead. Her fingers went underneath her bangs and fingered the thin scar there. The blond-haired man eyed Lei and a small frown played at his lips. She warily looked back at him, but not for long because her scar felt as if someone had put a fire to it.
Whenever her scar burned as if it were suddenly set on fire, it usually meant that evil was near. She'd been used to that feeling for a while, but she hadn't expected to feel it so soon in a new country.
