This chapter is dedicated to Callie and Socra, 'cause they rock. :D
...
Chapter Three- The Unexpected"Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart?"
-The Lovin' Spoonful
"Lily!" Susan cried happily, running to the gate where Lily had just entered the airport. She smothered her cousin in a hug, smiling like the sun.
Lily laughed and put her one free arm around Susan (the other was holding a large duffel bag).
"Hey Sue! Aunt Lucy!" Lily exclaimed, hugging her aunt, and then turning around to face the group of uncomfortable-looking teens behind her. Well, with the exception of Remus, who was now taking his turn hugging Lucy and Susan. Remus, Lily's best friend and neighbor, had been visiting the McIntyres with Lily every year, earning him a "son they never had" place in their house.
"Guys, this is Susan and Aunt Lucy"
She turned then to her cousin and aunt, "Suze, Aunt Luce, this is Karen Weasley," she pointed towards a small girl with a round face and brown pigtails, who smiled and nodded politely,
"James, Melinda, and Patricia Potter," she motioned to a group of similar-looking tall, thin, black-haired teens,
"Audrey, and Sirius." She finished, pointing at a blonde girl and another black-haired boy.
"Pleasure to meet you all." Lucy said warmly, smiling, "The car's this way- do you all have your luggage with you?"
Everyone nodded, signaling that they did, indeed, have their luggage, and so they began to walk towards the parking lot.
"Lily, did you see any more unicorns this year?" Susan asked, bouncing up and down with excitement.
Lily looked startled, and quickly shushed Susan. "Suze, you can't talk about that kind of thing in public!" she reprimanded quietly.
They got to the van, threw their bags in the truck, and began to pile in.
The only problem was, there were ten people, and this was a seven-seat van.
"Right." Lily said slowly.
"Oh, don't worry, we'll be taking back roads, so we won't be going fast. Not everyone needs a seat-belt." Lucy explained. The group of teenagers looked around at each other for a few minutes, before James said, "Well, two people can sit on the floor next to the door, once we shut it."
"I will!" Sirius volunteered.
"I can, too" Lily said.
"Which leaves one extra person," James reasoned.
"Oh, you're so spectacular at math!" Lily exclaimed, her voice dripping in syrupy-sweetness.
"Melinda and I can share a seat." Patricia volunteered.
That settled, they all climbed back into the van, Susan sitting up front with her mother, and the eight teens in the back. The car ride back to the McIntyres' farm started out peacefully enough, but soon, the energy-ridden kids started getting louder. And happier. And gigglier. And louder, again. By the time they pulled into the long driveway of Susan's home, one could barely hear the radio over the cacophony. Susan was grinning.
This is going to be so much fun. They're ALL witches and wizards! And they're all so cool! Lily has so many friends! I wonder if I'll ever have that many friends. I can show them all the cool stuff in the attic, and...
"We're home!" Lucy called, as the van pulled to a stop. The door slid open and the group tumbled out, shouting and laughing.
"Okay, everyone listen up!" Lucy announced, and the group quieted down, "Here are my rules. Quiet time is from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am. That means no cars, no loud music, and no yelling near the main house. Breakfast is optional, but we eat dinner together. Everybody got it?"
Most of them nodded, but a few (namely, James and Sirius) were busy distracting each other with a frog that they had picked up off the ground.
"There are three bedrooms in the guest house, with two twin beds in each, plus, several sofas that are usually a better night's sleep than the beds themselves. That should leave you with plenty of room."
"I call the room with the bay window!" Remus called.
"Not if I get there first!" Trisha exclaimed, and started running towards the guesthouse, sitting on a hill about a half of a mile away from the main house.
"I can't believe they're running the whole way there, with suitcases" Lily commented, sighing, and beginning her trek towards the house.
Fifteen minutes later, everyone had arrived, and the rooms were all taken. Remus and Trisha had decided to call a truce, and share the master suite, the best room in the house. James and Sirius had been the next to arrive, and had taken the next-best room, and Lily and Melinda were in the other room. Audrey and Karen, the last two to arrive, were in the living room, on two squashy red couches.
"We're the guests," Audrey complained, "Shouldn't we get first choice of rooms? I think Lily and Remus should be on the couches."
Karen smiled slightly. That was such a perfectly Audrey thing to say.
"Don't worry, Aud, I'm sure the couches are plenty comfortable. Besides, we get the TV."
"I guess"
...
The house was quiet for the next two hours, because jet lag had settled in on the occupants, and they had all fallen asleep soon after settling in. Sirius was the first person to wake up.
"I'm hungry," said Sirius, and James, who was still half-asleep, said, "Then cook something" as if it were the perfectly obvious answer.
Sirius seemed to consider it.
"No harm in trying, I guess. Where's the kitchen?"
James shrugged. "Dunno. Go find it."
Ten minutes later, Lily was lying in bed, awake, but with her eyes closed, when she heard Sirius' voice, exclaiming, "How big is this bloody house?"
Her door swung open, revealing Sirius, with his arms crossed.
"Kitchen?"
"Down one floor, take a left, go through the dining room, turn right, and go through the swinging doors."
"Gotcha."
Five minutes later:
"I'm lost!"
Lily fought a grin and got up, and left her room, looking for Sirius. She found him in the parlor.
He sniffed. "It's not my fault. Whose guesthouse is this big anyway?
"Well, first of all, it's not really as big as it looks," Lily said, leading Sirius to the kitchen, "The rooms are all small, because they were easier to heat that way, back when they built it, so there are a lot of rooms, which makes it seem bigger than it is. Second of all, it used to be the main house, but they had to do a lot of repairs on it- it was falling apart- so they figured they should just build a new house anyway, 'cause it was going to take them a couple years to fix this place, and that way, they could take their time."
"Oh. So, it wasn't built to be a guest house" Sirius realized.
"Exactly," Lily said, and pulled him through a set of swinging doors, and into the kitchen.
"There. Cook." She said, sitting down on a stool.
Ten minutes later, Trisha found them chomping down on cereal.
"Cereal? For lunch?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's breakfast here, smart-aleck." Lily retorted, shoving the box and milk towards Trisha. She rolled her eyes and opened the fully-stocked fridge, started pulling things out, and turned the stove on.
"You can cook?" Sirius asked, amazed. He had known her since he was a baby, and somehow, he never knew that.
"No, I will not cook for you. Ever." She answered his question before it was asked, "I only cook for myself."
Audrey stumbled soon after, rubbing her eyes.
"Lily? Where is that little cousin of yours, anyway?" She asked, pouring herself a bowl of cereal.
"Oh, I expect she's up at the main house. Sleeping, maybe. Or reading."
...
Susan was screaming. Screaming bloody murder.
Her mother came running in, panicked. "Suze, are you ok? Suze..."
She stopped immediately when she saw what her daughter was staring at. Sitting in the middle of her bedroom floor was a creature.
It rather resembled a squirrel, but with a monkey's tail, and it had black fur and yellow eyes.
Then, the creature spoke, in a slightly high-pitched voice.
"I am here to extend an invitation to Susan McIntyre, to study at Elizabeth Conrad's School for young witches. Do you accept, decline, or wish to make an appointment with the Head of the school?"
The creature looked extremely bored.
Susan was on the verge of hyperventilating, and Lucy seemed to be thinking.
"Appointment, please" she said calmly. Susan turned to look at her mother.
"I'm... I'm a witch?" she stammered.
Lucy smiled at her daughter, but turned back to the creature.
"From now on, could we contact the school through mail? I don't wish for you to startle the rest of the family." Lucy said, in a business-like tone.
"As you wish. All information will be sent to this address, thank you for your time." The creature said, and disappeared with a pop.
"I can do magic?" Susan asked, eyes wide. Lucy nodded.
"I suppose you can, Susan. You're a witch."
"I gotta go tell Lily!" She exclaimed, and set off, running.
Okay, if you, like myself, find that chapter a bit choppy, my deepest apologies. I'm not used to writing this much dialogue...
Chapter four should be up in less than a week!
Xo- Laura