Title: Harry Potter and the Queen of Serpents
Author: Sinayah
Distribution: Just Ask
Rating: PG for now but will move up to R in later chapters.
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything except the plot and the original characters, creatures, etc. The language Quenya and most anything elven related is the creation of J.R.R. Tolkein.
Authors Note: As always, I want to thank my partner in crime Zenura Ravenscar. Without her support I would've never had the courage to write a single sentence. I'd also like to thank the dedicated fans who gave me so many wonderful reviews for my other fics. I hope you enjoy this as much as the others.
Chapter 6
The new day dawned, bright and clear and thoroughly ignored by many occupants of the house on Grimmauld Place. Molly Weasley was up early, bustling around the kitchen to make breakfast for the large group of people living in the house, and seeing her husband Arthur off to work. When the food was ready, she headed up to the second floor and woke the six teenagers. The Weasley children and Hermione threw on robes and slippers and rushed downstairs to eat, while Harry offered to go up to the third floor and wake the other adults.
The bespectacled teen went up the staircase and knocked on his godmothers' door. Receiving no answer, he decided she must be a heavy sleeper and opened the door quietly so he could go in and wake her. The scene he found when he looked at the large four poster bed had him stifling his laughter. Both his godparents and his former professor were lying in a tangled heap on the bed; the covers kicked off onto the floor.
Remus was lying on his side, closest to the door, with one arm thrown over Harrys' godmother, who was cuddled into his bare chest. Sirius was sprawled diagonally across his part of the bed, snoring into Drakkaras' waist, which he was using as a pillow. "Hmm, do I wake them up or do I join them? Food or sleep, food or sleep? Who am I kidding, food now!" The teen thought before rushing over to the bed and leaping on top of the trio, startling them into wakefulness.
The three adults squawked in startled fright when the heavy weight of the boy landed on them. Drakkara had her wand half way out of its sheath, prepared to fight off the threat, when her godsons' voice sounded loudly from somewhere in the vicinity of Sirius' stomach. "Oy, time to wake up! Mrs. Weasley says breakfast is ready!"
"And you couldn't have told us this without jumping on us?" Sirius mumbled as the three sat up, untangling themselves and rolling the laughing teenager off of them.
Harry sat up, still giggling. "Umm, no?" He said, plastering an innocent expression on his face, which he completely ruined by snickering at the rumpled, sleepy eyed trio.
Drakkara laughed at her godsons' attempt to keep himself out of trouble. "Alright Harry-love. Mission accomplished. Now go downstairs and eat your breakfast. We'll be down as soon as we get dressed."
The boy shook his head and crawled off the bed, "Don't bother, everyone else is still in their pajamas, even Mrs. Weasley. Come downstairs now and eat or there won't be any left after Ron and the twins are finished."
Groaning and rubbing aching backs from sleeping in awkward positions, the adults rolled out of bed and headed for the door. "Come on then kiddo. Let's get some breakfast in you and then we old folks can come back up here and get some more sleep." Sirius said, slinging an arm over his godsons' thin shoulders.
"Eurgh, all I want right now is coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. And a bathroom! This is the second morning in a row I've been woken up by something heavy jumping on my bladder. If I didn't know better I'd swear you'd been talking to Fawkes." Drakkara complained as they walked down the stairs.
They joined the Weasleys and Hermione in the kitchen a minute later, after making Drakkaras' required stop at the bathroom, still grumbling and rubbing their eyes. Drakkara waved the men and boy into their seats and headed straight for the coffee pot. She poured out three steaming mugs and added sugar and milk from memory for her friends. After depositing the coffee in front of Sirius and Remus, she poured pumpkin juice into a glass for Harry and dished up some of the scrambled eggs and bacon for all of them.
After taking a sip from her coffee cup, the rumpled woman sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Molly, you are a truly wonderful woman. Thank you for getting up early and making all of this. I'm no great shakes in the kitchen myself and I can't think straight until I've had my morning coffee. I don't know how you do it, but I greatly appreciate the effort." She complimented, smiling over at the older woman.
"I'll second that. Kara never could put a meal together to save her life. Brew a perfect potion, make coffee or tea in her sleep yes, but can't boil water without burning it if it's for food." Remus teased, taking a sip from his own mug and smiling at the perfect blend of coffee, milk, and sugar that his mate had made from memory.
The raven-haired woman stuck her tongue out at the werewolf and lightly kicked him under the table. "Oh shut up you. I remember a certain barbecue where your steaks came off the grill still mooing."
The werewolf choked on his eggs and had to clear his throat before replying, gesticulating with his fork. "That was steak tar-tar Drakkara Vanimaer and you know it! It was supposed to be like that."
This time it was Sirius who choked before adding his comments. "Funny how you're still claiming that fifteen years after the fact Remy. As I recall you were the only one to eat that nasty stuff. James took the rest of ours back to the grill until we were sure it was actually dead. We all figured it was just too close to the full moon and you were craving raw meat."
In full agreement, the raven-haired man and woman laughed at their beloved friend and his 'steak tar-tar'. Seeing the werewolf glare reprovingly at them only heightened their enjoyment and started the children giggling as well. "You have no taste, either of you. You never have, and you never will. Bloody barbarians the both of you." Remus stated indignantly before giving in and joining the laughing group.
"Barbarians, all right I can deal with that. Ugh, men shut up, me want food now." Drakkara teased, grunting and digging into her eggs with relish. After another fit of laughter over her antics, the rest of the group decided she had the right idea and finished eating their breakfast.
When they'd all finished eating and Drakkara had sent the dishes off to wash themselves while Sirius poured out more coffee, the group of adults and teenagers lingered in the kitchen, not quite ready to face the new day. "Well, does anyone have any plans for today?" Molly finally asked.
"I told Harry I'd try to find something fun to do today, but I guess that depends on what needs to be done. If it weren't for the promise we made to Severus last night, I'd be going into Diagon Alley, but that'll hold for a while. Is there anything specific you'd like us to do Molly?" Drakkara said lightly before taking another invigorating sip from her coffee cup.
The red haired woman nodded, "I was hoping to get some help cleaning out the drawing room this morning. It's big enough to hold meetings in once we remove the Dark Arts things and clean it up a bit. The curtains in there are infested with doxies, not to mention the dust and grime. A good mornings work should give us a start at least. This afternoon I need to go into Diagon Alley and run a few errands, but there's nothing else I can think of off hand."
The younger woman thought a moment and nodded her agreement. "How about this. We'll help out in the drawing room this morning; I know a few spells that will help. When you leave for the shops, Remus, Sirius and I will take the kids out into muggle London for lunch and shopping. When we get back the kids can put in a few hours on their summer assignments. All that should make for a full day."
There was some general complaining from the teens over the suggestions of cleaning and homework and a hearty round of ayes over the proposed trip into London. Molly, Remus, and Sirius also agreed to the plan and everyone left the kitchen to put on some old clothes for cleaning.
The morning passed quickly, with everyone pitching in to aid in the detoxification of the drawing room. Drakkara used a handy spell she'd learned in University to identify all the Dark Arts objects in the room and make them glow a warning red. The adults took care of removing the harmful items while the teens, armed with spray bottles of doxiecide and handkerchiefs over their faces, dealt with the infested curtains. After just a few hours working steadily, the large room began to look better. Spells flew from the wands of the adults and banished huge amounts of dust, dirt, and grime. The teens swept, dusted out the corners, and polished the furniture until it shone.
When Molly called a halt at noon, the group collapsed onto whatever piece of furniture or floor space was available to them, glad that it was at least clean enough now to sit on. "My goodness, but you're a bunch of hard workers! I didn't expect to get half as much done as we have. I think we all deserve our little shopping break after this. Let's go back upstairs and have our showers and put on clean clothes so we can leave." The older woman suggested merrily.
Her suggestion was taken up enthusiastically by the teenagers and there was an immediate stampede up the stairs accompanied by shouts claiming dibs on this bathroom or that. The adults moved slower, knowing that each of their bedrooms had its own private bathroom. They laughed their way down the hall at the antics of the children under their care, especially Ginny who was screaming at a closed bathroom door where apparently one of her brothers had usurped her place in line for the shower.
A much cleaner and better-dressed group assembled in the kitchen about half an hour later. Sirius was the last to come in and had a worried expression on his face. "Hey Kara, I hope you have a plan for getting me into London unnoticed. I'm a wanted criminal, even in the muggle world."
The raven-haired woman tapped her finger against her lips for a moment, eyeing her friend up and down. "I can put a glamour on you easily enough, change the hair and eye color, a few facial adjustments, no one will recognize you. Come sit over here." She gestured to the chair in front of her.
The black haired, blue eyed man sat in front of his long time friend and eyed her wand warily. "Be gentle with me Kara, you've been here a whole day and I haven't pranked you once." He pleaded convincingly, gazing at her with puppy dog eyes.
She laughed lightly before looking around the room at the children, closing her eyes, and pointing the wand of golden wood at her friend. The new features Drakkara had designed behind her closed eyelids gradually slid over the famous face of Sirius Black and settled into place. Long black hair shortened and turned Weasley red, sparkling blue eyes darkened to cinnamon brown, olive-toned skin paled and dotted itself with freckles. Facial features shifted only slightly as the woman chanted softly in Latin, but when she finished the overall effect was amazing.
"Oh, you've turned him into a young Arthur!" Molly cried, chuckling at the widening brown eyes of the animagus.
Drakkara laughed, also seeing her friends' reaction at being turned into a Weasley. "Yep. Harry and Hermione look enough like Remus and I to be our children, so we needed a redhead to vouch for the other four. Weasleys, meet your Uncle Paddy."
Sirius growled at his friend, "Conjure me up a mirror you little wretch, I want to see what you've done to my poor face." When given the mirror he inspected his new face closely, swiping at the freckles that now adorned his nose and cheeks. Finally, he sighed and said, "I suppose it isn't too bad. You could've made me a Malfoy or a Snape after all."
The other adults chuckled while the teens stood horrified at the thought of their friend being made to look like Lucius Malfoy or their hated potions teacher. "Alright then, it seems you're all set so I'll be off now. Oh, how are you planning to get into London? If you floo to the Leaky Cauldron you'll be recognized, and the Knight Bus would attract unwanted attention here." Molly asked as she picked up her handbag and checked that her wand was inside it.
After considering a moment Remus voiced an idea, "There's a good apparation spot in the alley next to the Leaky Cauldron, and enough of us here to take all the kids with us. Siri and I know the spot well enough to apparate and Kara can get a visual from one of us."
The idea was quickly agreed upon and after Drakkara touched Remus' mind with her own for a moment, she had a visual of where they were going. Molly left first, apparating directly into Diagon Alley, and left the other three adults to sort out who would be apparating with whom.
Ginny and Hermione commandeered Remus as their escort, latching onto his arms and earning a smile from the handsome werewolf. Harry and Ron chose Drakkara, leaving Sirius with the rambunctious twins. Sirius and Remus left with their charges first, while Drakkara wrote a quick note to anyone from the Order who happened to stop by, letting them know the whereabouts of the group.
She, along with Harry and Ron, joined the rest a few moments later in the alley. Relying on Hermione, who was familiar with the London shopping district, to lead them to the nearest mall, they soon found themselves ensconced in a nice hamburger restaurant inside a large shopping center.
Over a delicious lunch of hamburgers and chips, the group of teenagers talked over what they'd like to do for the afternoon. They eventually decided to split up into three groups, two teens with each adult. Drakkara, Hermione, and Harry would each be in one group as they were the most familiar with shopping in the muggle world. "How's this guys. Remus, Hermione and George in one group; Paddy, you'll have Harry and Ron in a second group, and Fred, Ginny and I will go out together."
The others agreed, and Drakkara had them block her from view of the public for a moment while she quickly transfigured some napkins into convincing identification for Remus and Sirius. She gave the new drivers licenses to her friends, along with a platinum credit card. "These are real credit cards guys, under one of the aliases I've been using. Hermione and Harry can tell you how to use them to pay for everything, and I'll write out some authorization notes to go along with them."
Everyone except Harry and Hermione eyed the pieces of plastic warily, having never heard of using a credit card to pay for things, since such things didn't exist in the wizarding world. Remus looked closely at the platinum visa card in his hand. "Cute Kara, I like the name. Siriana J. Lupin, is this the name you've been hiding under?"
"One of them yeah, along with different disguises. I've also been known as Carrie Sumer, Lillian Dogstar, Harriet Evans, and Carissa Potter, along with various others. I haven't used Siriana in a while, she was just the first identity to come out of the box when I got into my trunk for shopping money." The violet-eyed woman explained.
The group left the restaurant, after Drakkara showed them how to use the credit cards by paying for their lunch with one. Before they split up, she spoke to them briefly. "Okay guys, this is supposed to be your afternoon of fun, so don't hold back because I'm not sure Albus will let us make any more of these trips. You have my permission to go wild with the shopping, those cards have no limit."
"Harry, there's a one hour optometrists shop over there, why don't you have your eyes checked and treat yourself to some new glasses. And I want to see each of you with at least one bag of new clothes when we meet back here in two hours. And before you even think of protesting, forget it. Consider this little shopping spree as the Christmas and birthday presents I wasn't here to give you until now. Harry, Paddy, and Remy are my family, and the rest of you have been good friends to them over the years, so go on and have fun." With many thanks and hugs from Harry, Sirius, and Remus, the large group split up into three smaller ones.
* * * * * * * * * *
Harry took his godmothers' suggestion and his first stop with Sirius and Ron was the optometrist shop. They were able to fit him in for an eye exam right away and twenty minutes later he had an updated prescription, had chosen nice new frames, and was told he could pick up his new spectacles in an hour.
The trios' next stop was a large department store to pick out some new clothes. All three had fun sorting through jeans, slacks, tee shirts, dress shirts and more, picking out what they liked. Sirius had no trouble choosing a huge armload of clothes to buy, as he knew that his friend had more galleons in her vault than any of the three richest pureblood families combined. When Harry and Ron seemed to be showing reluctance to spend a great deal of money, he quietly explained that to them and reminded them of Drakkaras' comments earlier.
Once reassured that Drakkara could well afford anything they might want, and that she'd only be angry if they didn't indulge themselves, the boys really got into the spirit. Harry was looking forward to wearing clothes that actually fit him, and Ron was anxious to show up at the train station wearing brand new clothes that Malfoy couldn't scoff at rather than his usual hand me downs.
During their two-hour spree, they also managed to visit the game shop, sports shop, and a toy store, each time coming out with more bags than before. While sitting on one of the many benches in the mall sipping on cokes, Harry and Ron decided to implement the deal they'd made with Hermione and George before they split up. Harry eyed the jewelry store across from them and said, "Hey Paddy, I dare you to get your ear pierced over there."
"Do what? You're kidding me right Harry? You don't really want to see your old godfather sporting an earring do you?" The older man asked, his eyes pleading for the teen to be joking.
Ron added his encouragement to Harrys' suggestion. "Oh go on Paddy, it'd look cool! Bills got one, he says the women love it. Plus it'd really annoy Mum to have two guys with long hair and earrings around the house. Come on, we both dare you."
Sirius put his head in his hands and shook it side to side, grumbling under his breath. "I've never turned down a dare in my life, but you two are pushing it. I'm thirty-eight years old for Merlin's sake. You really want me to do this?"
The two teens nodded their heads enthusiastically and cried, "YES!" Sensing the older mans defeat, they leapt off the bench and grabbed Sirius' arms to pull him up and haul him into the jewelry store, laughing as he dragged his feet.
A minute later the disguised escaped convict was pushed into a chair in front of a lighted mirror, watching in horror as his godson and the boys best friend conversed with a pretty young girl hardly older than they were. "What color stud d'you think Ron?" The raven-haired teen asked.
"I like the blue one Harry, at least to start him with. We oughta find some others for later though." Replied the redhead eagerly. When both Harry and the sales girl who'd be doing the piercing agreed on the color and the girl opened a drawer in the vanity table to remove the piercing gun and a purple felt tip pen, the animagus finally realized this wasn't some horrible nightmare.
Ron went off to find some earrings to replace the sapphire starter stud, not actually wanting to see Sirius get a hole punched in his ear. Harry stayed with his godfather to lend moral support and hold the older mans hand as the bubbly blond girl first made a dot on Sirius' right earlobe with the pen, then placed a deep blue stud in her gun, held it over the mark, and fired.
"YEOW! Bloody hell!" Sirius cried, clutching at his godsons' hand and whimpering at the pain in his ear. "That's it, I'm never taking another dare again! You two are lucky Molly and Kara would kill me if I brought you back with holes in your ears or I'd make you do this too! That bloody well HURT!"
With the procedure over, Ron came back in time to join his best friend in laughter at the older mans whining. "Oh come on Paddy, it couldn't have hurt that bad. Hermione and Ginny both have their ears pierced and Kara has three holes in each of her ears, I saw em earlier. She went through it six times, you only had to do it once."
The older man groaned in sympathy, "I always said she was insane. I hope you found whatever bits of metal you want me to put in later, because I want to get out of here and put some ice on my poor ear. Besides, it's almost time to meet the others."
Ron had indeed found several studs and small hoops he thought would look good in the animagus' ear and after receiving instructions on how to care for his ear while it healed and paying for the studs, piercing, and cleaning solution, the trio left the shop. "Mission accomplished." Harry whispered quietly to his friend behind Sirius' back.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ten minutes after leaving the others, Drakkara was wishing she'd taken both girls and left her former fiancé with the twins. Fred was a whirlwind of energy, and had questions about everything he saw. She and Ginny had tried to lead the redhead into Bloomingdales for clothing first, but he refused to budge after seeing a remote controlled robot in the display window of the electronics store. It took twenty minutes, and a new robot of his very own to get the teen moving toward their desired destination.
Walking into the clothing department of the huge store, Drakkara was immediately in her element, and Ginny only lacked the older womans twenty extra years of experience in the art that was shopping. Both women attacked the racks with vigor, exchanging half-worded conversations as they held clothes out for examination of style, color, and quality.
Both women took great offense to the red haired boys' affection for worn denim and plaid flannel. He was handed tee shirts, dress shirts, sweaters, and slacks of all kinds and told in no uncertain terms that he would be trying them all on, modeling them, and taking only the best home with him. Once they had him sorted out with half a dozen new outfits, they headed into no mans land, otherwise known as the ladies wear department, which included ladies lingerie.
By the time Drakkara and Ginny were finished indulging themselves in clothing bliss, Freds' face was a darker shade of red than his hair. In a show of true Gryffindor bravery, he took both women by the arm, led them to the counter with the clothes they'd chosen for all three of them, and placed the items on the counter in front of the startled sales woman. Before his courage faded, the boy removed Drakkaras' purse from her shoulder, opened it, and pulled out the credit card. "Ring it all up ma'am, here's the plastic to pay for it. And could you hurry please? I don't know how long I can hold these two."
Loaded down with bags, Fred led his youngest sibling and the older woman firmly out of the huge department store. "Never again, you hear me? You want to model dresses and bikinis and whatnot that's fine. I'm sure Mum, Tonks, and Hermione would love to join you. But you'll leave me behind understood? If you have to have a mans opinion on your clothes you take someone else. Remus, Sirius, hell even Dumbledore or Snape, I don't care, but never me, never again!"
Drakkara and Ginny exchanged amused glances as the young prankster guided them through the mall, muttering under his breath about never wanting to know what his sister wore under her clothes, and still blushing fire engine red. "Alright Fred, we promise to leave you home next time we go clothes shopping. Now where should we go next? If it wouldn't offend your delicate sensibilities, I'd like to stop at the music store and see if there's anything new that's good." The older woman said, laughing lightly, and pointing at the music store.
The trio spent a good amount of time inside the music store, with Drakkara quietly explaining how the CD's and CD players worked. She let each of them pick out a couple of CD's they thought might be good, offering them the use of her CD player back at the house to listen to the music and judge whether they wanted to get their own players or not. She grabbed a couple of CD's herself, and wandered over to the DVD section where she picked up copies of a few movies that looked interesting.
After they finished in the music shop, the trio wandered around, looking into different shops, the teens asking their dark haired companion about things they saw that they didn't understand. About fifteen minutes before they had to rejoin the others, Ginny spoke up. "Kara, would you mind if we went into the pet shop over there? I want to look at the animals." She asked shyly.
"Of course dear, that sounds like a good idea. What say you Fred, want to go play with the puppies and kittens for a few minutes?" The freckle faced boy agreed and they went into the small pet store. Drakkara and Fred wandered back towards the reptiles, the woman to look at the accessories the store had for serpents, thinking of getting a proper tank and perch for Siranev, the teen to take a closer look at the large iguana he'd seen.
Ginny was left on her own for the moment, and went to take a closer look at the kittens in their wire cage. She cooed and petted the ones who came forward when she poked her fingers through the wire, but her eyes kept straying to the far corner of the cage where an unusual looking kitten lay curled in a ball. This particular kitten was smaller than the others, and had an unusual coloring.
While the others in the cage with it were either black and white, or black and gray striped, this kitten was off white in color with very light gray markings on its body. Unable to resist, Ginny moved to the other side of the cage so that she could reach her fingers through the wire to touch the small kittens fur. "Ouch!" she cried softly as her fingers received a small jolt of electric shock the moment they touched the animal.
The kitten stirred and raised its head, opening its eyes to gaze at the girl who'd woken it. Ginnys' cinnamon brown eyes met a pair of feline eyes the color of the sky during a storm. Gray eyes, so dark they were almost black, the different shades of gray seemed to be whirling like a tornado. The girl found herself unable to look away, caught in the stormy gaze.
The staring contest was only broken when another customer, a large woman with a miniature poodle under her arm, bumped into Ginny as she passed, knocking the girl off balance. When she'd recovered herself and shaken her head to clear it, Ginny ran toward the back of the store to find her brother and Drakkara. Seeing the violet-eyed woman petting the hide of an iguana, the red haired girl ran up to her older companion and took hold of her hand. "Kara, come quick. There's something weird about one of the kittens I was looking at. There's no way it's an ordinary cat." She said anxiously, looking over her shoulder toward the kitten cage.
"Okay Ginny, show me which one. What makes you think it isn't a normal kitten?" The older woman replied, walking with the nervous teen back the way she'd come.
Ginny held up the fingers of her right hand. "When I reached in to pet it, it shocked me. It looks a lot different from the others in the cage too. And it has the strangest eyes I've ever seen, they look like the sky during a really bad storm. I couldn't stop looking at it until some woman knocked me over and broke my eye contact with it." The girl finished explaining just as they reached the cage and she pointed at the strange kitten, which was once again curled up, appearing to be asleep.
Drakkara took one look at the small bundle of fur and knew Ginny was right. The kitten was surrounded by a magical aura, which only those who were trained could see. Fortunately for the raven-haired woman, she'd seen another animal like this once, and knew what it was. She knelt down beside the cage, as close as she could get to the kitten. "Ginny, stand next to me and block anyone from seeing me." She said softly.
The redhead did as she was asked and stood so that no one could see what the older woman was doing. She watched curiously as Drakkara said something in the strange language she used when talking to animals.
"Element cub, how do you come to be in this place?" Drakkara said softly, speaking to the kitten. The small animal jolted in surprise at hearing someone speaking to it in a proper language.
The kitten raised its small head and looked directly at the woman, noting that the fire haired child was back and watching him again. "I was brought here by the humans my mother lived with. The others in this cage are my brothers and sisters, though they have none of my abilities. Tell me Speaker, can you take me away from here? I wish to leave this place with the fire girl."
Drakkara nodded and replied softly, "Yes, I will take you with me. The fire haired child is the friend of one I call my cub. If you wish to stay with her, I believe she would agree, once she understands your nature. Have you a name Element cub?"
The kitten sat upright and spoke again, "The humans here do not name the creatures in their care. If the fire girl will accept me I will allow her to choose a name for me."
"I will speak with her now. Her name is Ginny. Have you enough control over your element to allow her to carry you?" Drakkara asked and received a nod in reply. She stood up and turned to Ginny, switching to English as she spoke to the girl. "Ginny, I'm very glad you brought this kitten to my attention. He's an elemental cat, air elemental by the look of him. They're very, very rare and always born to normal cats. We need to get him out of here, and what's more he wants to leave with us, specifically you. He likes you and wants to stay with you. Would you like to keep him as your familiar?"
Ginny looked down at the kitten and found him looking right back at her. He stood up on his hind legs and put his forelegs on the wire cage as if asking her to pick him up. "He really wants to stay with me? I'd love to have him Kara, he's so beautiful!"
The raven-haired woman smiled and smoothed the girls fiery red hair back with her hand. "Yes, he really wants to stay with you. Go ahead and pick him up, he won't shock you this time. We'll get Fred and pay for your new friend and then go meet the others."
The young girl bent down and held out her hand to the kitten, letting him sniff her fingers and rub his head against them before scooping him up into her arms. "Thank you Kara. I've always wanted a familiar but we couldn't afford to get one for me. Did he tell you his name?"
"Think nothing of it Ginny. I would've bought him even if he hadn't attached himself to you. An elemental cat can not be left in the muggle world; it's too risky. He doesn't have a name, he said he would accept whatever name you gave him." She said lightly, reaching out to scratch gently between the kittens ears, making him purr.
The woman and girl quickly found Fred and explained the finding of the magical kitten. Drakkara had Ginny pick out a wicker basket to act as a carrier for her familiar and they proceeded to the counter at the front of the store to pay for the kitten and basket. The manager, who was working the register, stared at the red haired girl in shock when he saw the kitten they were buying.
"My goodness! We've had that kitten in here for a week and no ones been able to touch him. I must've had two dozen people wanting to buy him, but they picked others or left without a pet because they couldn't pick him up without getting an electric shock." The man exclaimed.
Drakkara urged him to finish the sale, giving him her credit card and signing the sales slip hurriedly. When he'd closed the register and handed her the receipt the dark haired woman glanced around the store to make sure no one was looking and pulled her wand from its sheath. "I'm sorry sir. Obliviate." She whispered the spell quietly, erasing the mans memory of the kittens unusual abilities and the details about the woman and teenagers who'd bought the animal.
Before the man could shake off the disoriented feeling of the memory charm, Drakkara ushered the two teens out of the store and away from its windows. "Damn it, I was hoping they hadn't noticed your friends powers, but I guess it was too much to ask. Hopefully none of the muggles who wanted to buy him will think much about how strange he was and come back to ask about him. Ginny, put him in his basket dear, I don't want too many people to see him. Let's go get the others, I think it's time to go home."
* * * * * * * * * *
While Sirius and Drakkara were having adventures on their trips through the mall, Remus, Hermione, and George were quietly enjoying their leisurely excursion. George had realized early on that his two companions were rather laid back when it came to shopping, neither feeling the least inclined to rush around in order to see everything.
The trio found a trendy clothing store on the second floor of the shopping center and decided it would do well for purchasing their new clothes. Hermione was quick to pick out some pretty dresses and a few pairs of jeans with coordinating blouses for herself. When she'd made her selections, she wandered over to the men's section to aid her male companions.
George was quite happily picking out some new shirts and jeans, but Remus was in a quandary and asked the girl for help. "Hermione, I don't think anything in here would suit me, do you? This store seems to cater mostly to teenagers, which I'm certainly not, do you think we should go somewhere else?"
"Honestly Remus, these clothes would look great on you! It doesn't matter that you're a bit older than most of the customers here, you're good looking and in great shape and clothes like this are made for men with your physique." The teen said, blushing madly as she complimented her handsome professor.
She turned away from the older man, who was giving her a vaguely shocked look and started pulling clothes off the rack in his size. She stuck with mostly muted and neutral colors, earthy greens and browns with a few shirts in black, white, and jewel tones. She chose jeans and slacks that would fit Remus snugly in order to show off his muscular legs and truly lovely rear end.
Turning back to the werewolf, who'd been following behind her, watching her choose his wardrobe, she handed the armload of items to him and pointed at the dressing room. "Go try these on Remus, and show them to me. I'm not sure of your sizes so we might need a size smaller or larger."
Remus obeyed the young woman, seeing the determined look in her hazel eyes. He modeled the clothes she'd chosen for him with a red face, not quite believing he was allowing himself to be ordered about by one of his former students. The last outfit he tried on for her was a moss green silk shirt with full sleeves and tight cuffs. It had a lace up vee neck, and hung a bit loosely from his well muscled, slender frame.
Hermione had paired the shirt with a pair of tan suede pants that molded to him like a second skin. When he stepped cautiously out of the dressing room to show the outfit to the girl, she clapped her hands up to her face and he tried to move quickly back into the dressing room, thinking she found the outfit either horrible looking or extremely funny. He was stopped by her voice giving another order in a firm voice. "Remus Lupin you get back here!"
He stayed where he was; though he gave the dressing room a hopeful glance. Hermione had come over to him and was now walking in circles around him. She eyed the handsome man up and down with appreciative eyes. "Oh Merlin, I thought that would look good on you but Wow!"
Remus had tucked the ends of the shirt into the pants and Hermione tugged on it a bit so that it loosened a little around his chest and back. She flicked her gaze over to the wall where the store had a rack with belts and ties, and some loafers and boots on the floor. With a command of "Stay" to her companion, she walked over to the accessories and gave them a critical look before choosing a dark brown leather belt with a golden wolfs head buckle and a pair of calf length boots in the same shade as the belt.
She had the man put the belt and boots on with the outfit and stood back to get the full effect. With his shoulder length tawny hair, lightly salted with silver gray, his deep amber colored eyes, and the outfit she'd chosen for him, Remus looked gorgeous. "Perfect! Absolutely perfect! You're wearing that out of the store. Grab the other clothes from the dressing room and come on, we've got more shopping to do."
Remus re entered the dressing room to gather Hermiones' selections for his new wardrobe. As he reached for the clothes hanging on the wall he noticed his reflection. The girl had been right, he decided after looking himself over. The loose shirt made him look a bit bulkier than he actually was, unnatural thinness being one of the many side effects of living the hard life of a werewolf. The silky material hanging from his shoulders and arms emphasized his lean muscles, and the tight suede pants showed off his muscular legs.
When he joined the two teens at the check out counter and added his pile of clothing to the others along with the tags from the outfit he was wearing, he spoke softly to the girl, "Thanks for your help Hermione, I appreciate it." He handed over the credit card and authorization note to the sales girl and gave his young friend a heartfelt smile.
Loaded down with their bags of clothes, the trio strolled through the mall, looking for other shops of interest. They went into a few other stores, purchasing a few things, but mostly window-shopping. About half way through their allotted two hours, they found their own little pieces of muggle heaven.
George had spotted the small joke shop and immediately dragged his companions over to it. They spent a good half an hour in the store, with Hermione explaining the entirely non magical sleight of hand 'magic' tricks in the store, and giving explanations of items such as a Groucho Marx mask of glasses, large nose, and mustache; and a clown ensemble with multi colored wig, spongy red nose, and fake lapel flower that squirted water. Both Remus and George were extremely interested in many of the items and couldn't leave without a bag full of joke items.
Their final stop was a store right next to the joke shop, which was a bookstore that Hermione had seen as they entered the other store. Only George had to be dragged into the bookstore, as Remus loved literature just as much as Hermione. The girl quickly found a large book entitled '1001 Jokes and Pranks For All Occasions' to occupy her red haired friend and left him with it while she and the werewolf browsed.
She had picked out a few mystery novels when she spotted Remus in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section. When she approached him and looked at the books he was holding, Remus explained that he'd always been fascinated by the muggle worlds many views on magic, how it was worked, and what one could do with it.
It was a fascination they shared as it turned out, and the girl helped her former professor to select a few more books that she'd already read. They agreed to exchange books with each other over the coming year and give the subject a thorough study once the OWLS were over. Remus thought that they might collaborate on a research paper about muggle views on magic and submit it to the ministry for perusal and perhaps even publication.
When they eventually left the bookshop, each of them carried a large bag of reading material, which included the joke book for George. They were walking toward the hamburger restaurant everyone had agreed to meet at when the redhead nudged Hermione and quietly reminded her of the bet they'd made with Harry and Ron. The younger brunette thought quickly and looked around, hoping to see a jewelry store that had an ear piercing service. She spotted one just up ahead and made her suggestion.
"Hey Remus, you know what would really complete that outfit and go perfectly with your new wardrobe?" She said, trying to look completely innocent when the werewolf looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.
She pointed to the jewelry store they were fast approaching and said, "You should get your ear pierced! An earring would look great with the style of clothing we bought for you, and you have just the right coloration to carry off wearing gold jewelry, which is great since you can't go anywhere near silver."
The single dark eyebrow of the older man arched even higher as she spoke. "I was wondering when you were going to try to con me into that. Next time you think about making a bet to get me to do something, don't stand in my hearing range. Remember I have the heightened senses that come with my little 'problem'. So you want me to wear an earring huh?"
Both of the teens were looking horrified that their wager had been overheard and were blushing furiously in embarrassment. "Please Remus?" they begged nicely, giving the man their best pathetic expressions. "You know Harry and Ron will get Siri to do it, all they have to do is dare him. You wouldn't want to see your favorite student and prankster lose to those two would you?" George added, halting the trio in front of the jewelry store.
Remus let out a loud burst of laughter at their pleading expressions and strolled into the store. "Go ahead then, pick something out for me. I don't need the piercing though, I had my ear pierced years ago." When the teens gave him looks that were equal parts curiosity and amazement he added, "What, you think I wasn't a teenager once too? I decided I wanted an earring in sixth year and Lily and Kara got together and pierced my ear for me."
Hermione clapped her hands together in excitement and practically ran to the glass counter where the better jewelry was locked in a case. She passed over the silver earrings without a second look, knowing the metal was deadly to her werewolf friend. Looking over the gold earrings, she saw a few nice pieces but one particular pair caught her eye.
A pair of small golden hoops rested in their black velvet box. Embedded in the gold were three small stones. She called the salesman over and pointed to the earrings, asking him to bring them out of the case. He did as she asked and then described their characteristics for her. "Wonderful choice young lady. These are solid 24-karat gold; each hoop embedded with a chip of sapphire, amethyst, and citrine. A truly lovely combination of colors if I do say so myself."
The brunette was nodding enthusiastically in agreement. She called Remus and George over to take a look. "What do you think Remus? When Paddys' ear heals he could wear the extra one. Those stones are the same color as yours, his, and Karas' eyes. If we got a pair for her too they could be like your version of the friendship jewelry that people give each other."
"I think it's a wonderful idea Hermione. You're right; those stones do match our eyes almost exactly. We'll go ahead and get two pairs as you suggested and hope that Harry and Ron got Paddy to pierce his ear." He took one earring out of the box before handing the credit card and authorization note to the waiting salesman. While the man rang up their purchase, Remus unclasped the earring and handed it to Hermione. "Will you put it in for me, I can't see to do it." He asked politely, leaning down so she could see the hole in his right ear.
She slid the stud piece into the hole and clasped it with no difficulty. "There you go, and I was right, it does complete your new attire. You look like a pirate or highwayman, all you need is the cloak." She smiled happily, knowing there were several cloaks back at Grimmauld Place that he could wear with the outfit while in the wizarding world. With yet another bag added to their load, the trio finally made it to the meeting spot, seeing the other six waiting for them.
* * * * * * * * * *
When the large group was reunited it was obvious that everyone had had fun. The amount of bags everyone was carrying was almost ridiculous. With the combination of Remus' outfit, Siri whining over his aching ear, and Ginny constantly peeking into the wicker basket to see her familiar, they decided it would be best to find an out of the way spot in the mall parking lot and apparate home immediately. Everyone was anxious to show off what they'd bought and tell their stories of the shopping spree.
They managed to find a quiet spot near the back of the parking lot and the group separated into threes again. The teens linked arms with the adults and once they checked to see that no one was around to see them, they all disappeared with slight popping noises.
Back at Grimmauld Place they found that Molly Weasley had returned from her own shopping trip, and had been joined in the house at some point by Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall, and Albus Dumbledore with his familiar Fawkes.
The Order members were conversing in the sitting room when the large group of adults and teenagers walked through the front door, having had to apparate outside the house due to the Fidelius charm it was under. They heard the group talking as they shut the door behind them and heard above the rest of the voices Drakkara giving an order to the teens.
"All right you lot. Before you start getting into those bags for your new toys I want you to separate out the clothes and go hang them in your wardrobes. You can leave the things you bought for the group and the things you want to show off down here for the moment. We'll go into the sitting room and look everything over after the clothes are put away." The raven-haired woman ordered, setting some of her own bags on the floor and heading upstairs with the rest.
The group already occupying the sitting room listened with blatant curiosity to the sounds of rustling bags and the conversations of the teens. "Man, I don't want to put away clothes, I want to look at all the other stuff we got!" This comment coming from Ron.
Hermiones' voice came through next. "Hurry up guys, I want to see what's in Ginnys' basket."
The last comment heard came from one of the twins as their voices faded up the stairs. "Humph, all that will wait. I want to know how you four got Remus and Sirius to pierce their ears!"
Unable to resist, Tonks got up and opened the sitting room door. "Great Merlin! I can't believe I missed this shopping trip. There must be two thousand pounds worth of stuff here! And that's not counting what they took upstairs. Who died and left one of them Gringotts?"
"My word! I knew Drakkara was taking them out for lunch and a bit of shopping, but all this? I know my kids didn't have enough muggle money to pay for any of it, I only gave them a couple pounds each to spend." Molly added as she joined the purple haired auror at the door.
Just then, Drakkara came back down the stairs. "Oh, you're back Molly, and we've got company. Did you get everything you needed in Diagon Alley?" She asked, smiling at the older woman.
The redhead gaped back at her. "What? Oh, yes I did thank you. Drakkara, where did all of this come from? Please don't tell me the children had you buy all these things for them?" She asked, sincerely hoping at her children hadn't conned the woman into buying them things their parents couldn't afford to give them.
Drakkara saw the potential for disaster written in the burgeoning embarrassment in the older womans eyes and sought to counter it. "Don't worry Molly, they didn't con me into anything. I'll be bluntly honest with you here. I absolutely detest the fact that Harry has been wearing his whale of a cousin's hand me downs and glasses that must be ten years old at least. He's never had anything of his own before, nothing that he chose for himself just because he wanted it."
"When I suggested the shopping trip I was mainly concerned with getting Harry some new clothes and glasses, and a few treats for himself. All the kids were so excited about the trip that I just went a bit wild. I couldn't take them all out and then make them watch as I treated Harry to whatever he wanted, so I gave them all the same treatment. I sent them off, two kids with one adult and a credit card with no spending limit." She paused in her explanation and went to stand close to the older woman.
Placing a hand on Mollys' shoulder she finished her story, "You've got a wonderful bunch of kids Molly, and I wanted them to have this for being such good friends to Harry and accepting Siri and Remy for who they are. They deserve this one treat, just for being who they are."
The redhead sighed and smiled slightly at the compliment given to her children, but was still worried. "But Drakkara dear, there's so much here! All of this must have cost a small fortune."
The raven-haired woman shook her head and smiled at Molly. "Considering that they had no spending limit, they actually held back quite a bit. And the money doesn't concern me. I was lucky enough to be born into one of the wealthiest wizarding families in the world, and I've made a fortune on my own merits over the last fourteen years. Please Molly, don't worry about this, and let the children keep their new things as what I told them this trip was. Fourteen years worth of birthday and Christmas presents I wasn't here to give them."
Seeing the sincerity and pleading in the violet eyes of the younger woman, Molly smiled and nodded her consent. "Thank you Drakkara. Your generosity is amazing and I've no doubt all of those children will remember this day for many years. Not to mention you've taken care of a lot of back to school shopping for me!"
The two women laughed merrily at the small joke and joined the others in the sitting room to wait for the men and teens to finish unpacking their new clothes. Luckily, there was plenty of space in the sitting room, though it did become crowded when Remus, Sirius and the children came back down and brought all the shopping bags into the room.
They had each changed into one of their new outfits and received many compliments from the others as they entered and sat down. They dug into their bags, producing various things for everyone to ooh and ah at. Ron and Harry received many thanks from the other teens as they produced several board games for them all to play when they were bored. Georges' joke book and bag of muggle tricks from the joke shop went over well, as did the books Hermione and Remus had bought.
Fred was able to show off his new robot and the CD's he'd chosen, while Ginny showed her CD's and the craft projects she'd picked up, leaving the kitten in his basket at her side for the moment, saving the best surprise for last. Drakkara explained the DVD movies she'd bought with the suggestion that her large screen television and DVD player, both charmed to run on magic rather than electricity, be brought down from the trunk in her room later and set up there in the sitting room so that they could watch the movies.
Each of the Weasley children, along with Harry and Hermione, had bought something to bring back for Molly and Arthur. All of the Weasley patriarchs' gifts were varied small trinkets that would fascinate the older man for ages, as they were muggle made. Molly received a new set of cooking utensils from George, and a new skirt and blouse from Fred that Drakkara had helped him pick out. She was given a pair of rose shaped gold earrings from Ron, and shoes to match her new outfit from Ginny.
Even the two teens she had not given birth to had found thoughtful gifts for the older woman that showed how much they cared for her. Hermione had gotten a thick cookbook full of recipes for Molly to try. Last of all, Harry pulled out the gift he'd bought for his best friends' mother. The emerald-eyed teen had known he should get this item for Mrs. Weasley the moment he saw it.
His gift was a knitted sweater; reminiscent of the sweaters he'd received from the woman at Christmas since his first year at Hogwarts. The sweater was periwinkle blue, and instead of having her initial on the front, it had a depiction of the nursery rhyme about the little old woman who lived in a shoe. Harry had always been reminded of that rhyme whenever he saw The Burrow and the mother of its inhabitants.
The older woman thanked the children with hugs and kisses before placing her gifts in one of the now empty shopping bags to be taken upstairs. Finally, things calmed down enough that Drakkara felt it was time to reveal the biggest surprise of the day. "Ginny, why don't you bring your friend out of his basket to meet everyone?" She said to the young girl who was sitting on the floor near her feet.
Quite aware that everyone was looking at her, Ginny blushed as she opened the lid of the wicker basket and pulled out her kitten. She showed the little bundle of fur to the group with a bright smile on her face. "I'm going to call him Zephyr, what do you think Kara?"
The dark haired woman smiled and held out her hands, silently asking Ginny to pass the kitten to her while she explained to the others how special he was. "I think that's a wonderful name for him Ginny. It definitely suits an animal with abilities like this ones."
"Ginny found this little one in the pet shop we visited at the mall. She showed a great deal of intuition, realizing that he was no ordinary kitten, and brought me over to verify that he was indeed a magical creature." Drakkara began her explanation.
Waiting until she had everyones attention focused on her and the kitten she continued, "Little Zephyr here is what is known as an Elemental Cat. They're extremely rare animals, I've only seen one other in my life and she was very old. Elemental Cats, as their name suggests, are felines who are born with the ability to conjure and control a specific element. They're born of two normal felines, and first start to show their abilities when they open their eyes. The coloration of their fur and eyes are usually signs of which element they control."
She handed the small feline back to the girl and continued, "Zephyr is an air elemental. Right now he can produce small electric charges, miniature lightning bolts. As he gets bigger he'll be able to do more; his tiny body can't handle much at the moment. I've learned that no matter what type of feline they're born to, be it lion or house cat, they grow to approximately the size of an American bobcat. They're very intelligent animals, as are all cats, and they can live far longer than any non-magical feline. This particular cat took to Ginny immediately and specifically asked that he be allowed to stay with her. He'll be a wonderful familiar for her, and protect her from any harm."
Everyone handled the information that the youngest of their group now had one of the rarest species of magical creatures as her familiar well, smiling with happiness for the girl. "There are not many people in this world who can say they've seen an Elemental Cat. I was fortunate enough to see one many, many years ago, a fully-grown female with control over the earth element. You are a very lucky young lady Miss Weasley, to have one of these creatures as your friend." Albus commented from his seat in a wing back chair, smiling at the redhead.
Ginny went around the room, introducing Zephyr to her family and friends so that he would feel comfortable around them. When the group had settled down once again and the teens had started eyeing their games and other things Remus decided it was time for them to go upstairs. "Hey kids, I think I remember something being mentioned this morning about you guys putting in a couple hours on your summer assignments when we got home from shopping. What say you take this stuff upstairs and get to work."
There was a great amount of booing from the four male teens but they obligingly began to gather their new things to take upstairs with them. Hermione stated that she'd already finished her assignments and asked if she could remain downstairs with the adults. After a questioning glance as Albus to ask if they were going to be discussing anything she couldn't hear and receiving his permission, they allowed the girl to stay.
As it turned out, Ginny only had to finish writing the conclusion to her Potions essay and asked if she could join them after she'd finished, to which they agreed again. The red haired girl scooped up her things and put them in the wicker basket and left, cradling Zephyr on her shoulder and carrying the basket in the other hand. Once all the teens except Hermione had left, all eyes turned to Albus to find out what he had spent the afternoon in Grimmauld Place waiting to discuss with them.