"He'll be here any minute, are we sure the house is clean?!" Pepper yelled, running frantically around the house to straighten things up.
"Pepper, calm down, the house is spotless," Piper said as Pepper came running into the kitchen.
"I just want to make a good impression," Pepper explained to her aunt for the fifteenth time that week.
"I know, Pep," Piper sighed, turning back to what she was cooking. Pepper moved on to another room, inspecting every corner.
Pepper had been talking about and preparing for her god brother's visit for a week, wanting everything to be perfect for him. She'd been so busy with preparing menus for meals, planning outings when they weren't school shopping, and cleaning that she hadn't had time to linger on thoughts of her parents in that time, which her aunts were very happy about.
"What time did he say he was coming?" Phoebe asked, coming down the stairs.
"Ten," Pepper answered.
"Was that his time or ours?" Phoebe wondered.
"Our time, Aunt Phoebe," Pepper said in an 'are-you-trying-to-screw-up-my- perfect-plans?' voice.
Phoebe sighed. "Oh, yes, of course," Phoebe said sarcastically.
"Yea, Phoebe, how could you not know that?" Piper asked in a mock-astounded voice from the kitchen.
"Haha, very funny you guys," Pepper said, rolling her eyes.
"Well can you just call me when he gets here?" Phoebe asked. "I've got to go finish something."
"Sure, Pheebs," Piper said. Phoebe retreated upstairs and Pepper surveyed the living room again.
She saw a misplaced picture on the mantelpiece and went over to fix it when a loud noise came from the fireplace. Soot went everywhere as a boy came out of it and Pepper let out a brief scream of surprise. The boy got up and brushed himself off. Pepper found herself looking at a sooty boy with slightly defined muscles, a mop of messy hair about the same color as hers, emerald green eyes and glasses. He was a bit taller than herself. "You must be Harry," she offered.
"Yea, I'm Harry. And you must be Pepper," he said with a smile.
"That's me! You're not really what I expected," she said after a moment, cocking her head and smiling a bit.
"Really?" Harry said in his British accent. "You're not what I expected either."
"Oh, really," Pepper said, righting her head with her eyebrows raised. "What did you expect then?"
He wasn't expecting a girl almost as tall as he was with just-below-the- shoulder length ebony hair, sparkling grey eyes, pale skin, and full curves, that's for sure...but he wasn't going to say that. Wasn't your godfather's daughter supposed to be a bit, maybe, geekier? Rounder? Not so pretty? Though, he supposed, she did look like Sirius a bit. "Oh, I dunno, I guess I expected the spitting image of Sirius."
She laughed, a light, airy laugh. "Aunt Piper, come meet Harry, he's arrived," she said loudly, looking at Harry and grimacing at his sooty state.
A brown haired woman came from another room and into the living room, smiling when she saw Harry. "Hi, I'm Piper Halliwell, Pepper's aunt." Piper offered her hand so he could shake it.
He shook her hand with his dirty one. "Harry Potter."
"Aunt Piper, would it be a personal gain spell if I cleaned up Harry?" Pepper asked her aunt. Piper nodded and Pepper whined a bit.
"Oh, no problem," Harry told them, whipping out a wand and saying a spell, cleaning up all the soot on him and the floor.
"You mean you can just say spells at random, even if it's for personal gain?!" Pepper asked, fascinated.
Harry nodded, a little confused. "I take it you can't," he said. Pepper shook her head, her hair flying back and forth.
"Well I have to get back to the kitchen," Piper told them. "Would you like anything to drink Harry?"
"No thanks, I'm fine," Harry said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Piper went back into the kitchen, leaving Pepper and Harry alone again.
"Oh! Harry, sit down!" Pepper said, getting back into hostess mood. "I'll go get my other aunts." Harry sat on the couch and watched as Pepper walked up a few of the stairs and yelled, "Aunt Phoebe! Aunt Paige! Come down here! Harry's arrived!" Harry saw another woman walk down the stairs, Pepper letting her pass to come into the living room, Pepper in hot pursuit of her aunt. "Where's Aunt Paige?" Pepper asked the woman.
"Still sleeping."
"And she calls me lazy ass," Pepper mumbled, bounding up the stairs.
"Hi, Harry," the woman said, sitting in a chair across from him. "I'm Pepper's Aunt Phoebe."
"Hi," Harry said.
Phoebe looked towards the stairs. The two of them could hear Pepper yelling "Aunt PAIGE! Wake UP!"
Phoebe looked amused. "She's something," she said, shaking her head slightly. "Which I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."
"I think I might already have," Harry said. Phoebe laughed.
"Don't tell her I told you this but she's been really excited, waiting for you to get here. She has all sorts of things planned for you guys to do." Harry smiled, looking a bit surprised and flattered. "She's been racing around and – " Phoebe stopped, seeing that Harry wasn't moving at all.
"Ha!" She heard from the direction of the stairs. She looked that way and saw Paige walking down the stairs and Pepper standing there, looking triumphant. "I can freeze them!" she exclaimed, springing down the stairs. "Why are you telling him this, Aunt Phoebe? Just to embarrass me?" Pepper demanded. "That was really uncalled for!"
"Sorry, Pepper," her aunt pouted, begging forgiveness.
"I'm going to the club, someone else can finish lunch," Piper announced, throwing her dishrag at Phoebe as she came out of the kitchen. She stopped before leaving, looking at Harry. "Pepper..." she warned.
"Aunt Phoebe was telling him how excited I was about him coming and that I had stuff planned for us to do!" Pepper said in her own defense.
"Just for that you can finish lunch, Phoebe," Piper scolded. "I'll see you guys tonight," she said, leaving.
"Poor Harry's going to be so confused when you unfreeze him, Pep," Paige said. "Better do it now."
"Ok," Pepper said, waving her hand and unfreezing Harry. He looked at them, furrowing his eyebrow, giving them an odd look.
"I'm going to finish lunch," Phoebe announced, going to the kitchen.
"Wha-what just happened?" Harry asked.
"Well Harry," Pepper began, "Wait, before I say that I just want to tell you that I did all that stuff my aunt was telling you about to make a good first impression, so you wouldn't think I was a complete weirdo, or something."
"Pepper, I think it's too late for that," Paige said. "You've already come across as a weirdo."
Pepper made a face at her and continued explaining the freezing to Harry. "Anyway, I have the power to freeze, as does my Aunt Piper, who just left the room. It freezes everyone who isn't the type of witch my family and I are," she explained. "I'll tell you more about it later. Oh, this is my Aunt Paige, by the way, who's the lazy a-slug." It was Paige's turn to make a face at her niece.
"I'm going to go help Phoebe, see you guys later. Pep, why don't you give Harry a tour of the house?" Paige suggested.
"Alright, come on Harry. Well, this is the living room," she emphasized the point by sweeping her arm out. "You might have to stand up for this...sorry ..." Harry stood up, slightly embarrassed, as his god sister led him up the stairs. "It's alright if I come across as weird, I think I am. And please tell me if I'm making you totally uncomfortable or something, I don't want to make a complete fool of myself, I want you to like me at least a little bit."
Lunch was served after Pepper finished with the tour and Harry began to feel more comfortable around Pepper, despite her imposing nature. She was handling the death of her parents well, he guessed. "I thought we could go to Diagon Alley after lunch," Harry ventured.
"That sounds good," Pepper said. So, after lunch the two of them stood by the fireplace, Pepper looking apprehensive.
Harry reached into a bag propped up against the fireplace ('I didn't see that come out with him,' she thought) and pulled out a drawstring pouch. He opened it and pulled out some of it to show Pepper. "Floo Powder," he explained. "You take a handful, throw it into the fireplace, step in the green flames and speak your destination very, very clearly. There's a ton of fireplaces on the Floo Network and you could end up somewhere you really don't want to be."
"This doesn't sound very safe..." Pepper said.
"It'll be fine as long as you speak clearly," Harry assured her. "Watch me and then follow what I do."
"Wait! Don't I need money?" she asked, stalling for time.
"The money you have won't do any good, you'll see what to do about it when we get there," he told her.
She shrugged and took a deep breath, ready as she'd ever be for a journey by Floo Powder.
"Alright, watch me. And remember to speak clearly," Harry reminded her.
She nodded and watched as he reached into the bag, grabbing a handful of the powder then following the instructions he'd told her. She copied his every move. Pepper felt herself being spun around and around and different rooms being displayed in front of her until, finally, she fell out of a fireplace onto a hearth, landing on her face. She groaned and rolled over, seeing that Harry was standing above her, grinning. He gave her his hand and she took it, getting to her feet. He did the soot removal spell and she found herself free of any dirt. She looked around and said, "Where are we?" The room they were standing in was full of fireplaces and people were popping in and out of every one of them.
"It's the Floo Room, in Diagon Alley. Come on, let's go outside," he said, leading her out of the building.
She was amazed at what she saw. The street was lined with shops with strange things in the windows of each one. There were people dressed in some of the strangest outfits she'd ever seen walking up and down the street. "Wow," Pepper breathed. "Do you actually fly on broomsticks?" she asked, spotting a store with a broom in the display case.
Harry laughed and nodded. "First off, we have to go to Gringotts to get your money."
"How do I have money in a place I've never even heard of?" Pepper asked, very surprised and still very amazed at her surroundings.
"You'll see," Harry told her mysteriously.
As they walked to Gringotts Pepper looked at as much as she could. She couldn't believe all of the strange wizardy things they sold in all of these shops. She also noticed most of the names were alliteration. "See, wizarding money is in Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. Galleons are the big gold coins and are worth the most, Sickles are silver and are the second most valuable and Knuts are brass and least valuable," he said, trying to explain. "Seventeen Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle."
When they reached Gringotts, it took Pepper a second to take in its size and when they entered it took her another minute to realize something besides humans were working there. "Goblins?" she asked Harry.
"Yea, they're bloody nasty ones, too," he answered. They walked up to a goblin that was studying some gems. Harry cleared his throat. "We'd like to go to two vaults please," he told the goblin.
"Do you have your key, sir?" the goblin asked Harry.
"I have mine," Harry told the goblin. "And..." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of folded parchment. "...a letter signed by Professor Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic." He handed the goblin the paper. The goblin took a minute to read it then he reached under the counter he was sitting at, pulled out a metal box. He took one of the gems that was set aside from the others, placed it on top of the box and pushed it down. The box sprung open and the goblin pulled out a key.
Another goblin led them to a door that seemed to lead out of the room. They went through the door into a stone passageway lined with torches. The goblin whistled and a cart, that reminded Pepper of a mine car, came speeding up the tracks toward them. The goblin climbed into the car and Harry and Pepper followed his lead. Pepper was surprised at the speed the car took off, she thought she might be sick. She grabbed Harry's arm tightly and he patted it reassuringly. As soon as she was getting used to the jerks and sharp turns, the cart stopped. They got out of the cart and the goblin took a lantern and led them to a large door.
"Key please," the goblin said and Harry handed him his key. The goblin opened the door to reveal piles of coins. Harry quickly scooped up a pile of each different coin and shoved them into another smaller drawstring bag.
They got back into the cart and it zoomed off again. "You have a lot of money, don't you!" Pepper yelled over the rambling of the cart.
"Compared to the average wizard, yes!" he yelled back at her.
The cart stopped again and they got out. "Key please," the goblin said again. Harry got out another key and handed it to the goblin.
He then handed Pepper a bag like his. "I figured you wouldn't have anything to put your money in," he said to her.
"Thanks," she said, though she didn't think she'd need it. Compared to Harry's fortune she thought she'd only have a few scattered coins, after all, she didn't even know about this place, and she figured she'd be able to fit all the coins in her small pockets.
When the goblin opened the door she almost fainted. The fortune inside was even larger than Harry's, in fact; it was twice, maybe three times the size of Harry's. It almost filled the whole vault and most of it was those gold coins she couldn't remember the names of. She walked in shakily and grabbed two handfuls of each coin, figuring she'd find something to spend it on, even if it was a flying broomstick.
After the vault was closed, the goblin asked her if she'd like to see her other vault. "O-Other vault?" she stuttered. "You mean I have a whole other vault filled like that?"
"Would you like to see it?" the goblin repeated, obviously not too patient.
She looked at Harry for help, but he just shrugged. "N-no thanks," she managed to say. "I think I've seen enough for now." They returned to the cart, she and Harry with full bags of money.
"Why the hell do I have so much money?" Pepper asked Harry once they were walking on the street again. "I've never even heard of that place."
"I s'pose your dad didn't tell you then," he said, smirking. "You're the last of the Black family line, one of the richest, oldest Pureblood lines there is."
"Pureblood?"
"Wizard always marrying a witch, no Muggle blood in the family line."
"What's a Muggle?"
"A non-magical person."
"Oh my god, so I get the whole fortune just because I'm the last heir in the Black line?" Pepper said, not fully comprehending.
Harry nodded.
"This is so cool! I'm rich!"
Harry laughed. "Well, rich girl, why don't we go get your wand?" Harry led Pepper to a shop called 'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C'. He opened the door for her and Pepper meandered inside. The shop was much, much smaller than Gringotts and it was pretty dark inside. Pepper didn't see anyone inside so she and Harry stood around for a second until an old man appeared from the back.
"Afternoon," he said.
Pepper was a bit creeped out by the man and beside her, she heard Harry say, "We're here for a wand for..."
"Pepper Black," the man said, cutting Harry off.
"I prefer Halliwell," Pepper told the man, who she guessed to be Mr. Ollivander.
Mr. Ollivander chose to ignore her and continued, "I was wondering when I'd be seeing you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tape measure. "Which is your wand arm?"
"Um...my left?" Pepper answered, not quite sure, though she figured she was right because that's the hand she used to emit her powers. She hesitantly held it out.
The tape measurer seemed to have a life of its own as it began measuring every limb on her body. Pepper was a bit shocked but stood still. As the tape measure measured, Mr. Ollivander stood there looking thoughtful. When the measuring was finished, Mr. Ollivander went pointedly to a shelf and pulled down a box. "Try this one Miss Black, twelve inches long, ebony and phoenix feather, rather limber," he said, handing her the wand. "Just wave it around," he told Pepper when she didn't do anything with it.
When she moved the wand she felt warmth in her hand. The wand shot out gold sparks and Pepper looked at Harry, horrified that she was doing something wrong, but he smiled at her. "I knew that would be the one for you, Miss Black. Seven Galleons," Mr. Ollivander said, taking the wand from her and placing it back in the reached into her money pouch and handed the man seven golden coins, he, in exchange, gave her her wand. They left the store, entering the bustling street once again.
"He's creepy," Pepper said. Harry chuckled.
"He gave me the same deal when I got my wand. We should get your robes next," he said, taking her to 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.' "I need some new robes too."
They walked into the shop, a squat woman rushing to them at once. "New Hogwarts robes?" she asked. Not waiting for an answer, she stood them both on separate stools. A minute later, Pepper had robes being thrown over her head and the woman was adjusting and pinning them to fit her. Harry had the same thing being done to him on the stool next to her by a different woman...witch, wouldn't she be?
"Why if it isn't Potter," said a drawling voice. Pepper looked around the shop to spot the owner of the voice and found he was in the back on another footstool having robes pinned too. He was bleach blonde, tall, and wore a look that told her that he had a very high opinion of himself.
"Malfoy," Harry spat back at the boy.
"And who's this?" Malfoy said with interest, directing the question at Pepper. He cocked an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth went up in what she assumed was a look he wanted her to be attracted to.
"Pepper..." she began but didn't know whether to say, "Black" or "Halliwell." The wand man knew her as Black and Harry said it was the name of one of the richest, most powerful families but maybe it wasn't too good to be known? She'd have to scope it out at Hogwarts. "...Halliwell."
"Friend of Potter's, are you?" he asked.
She nodded. "He's showing me around. This will be my first year at Hogwarts."
"You're finished," Madam Malkin said. She stepped down off the stool, followed by Harry.
Paying the witch, she said, "See you at school, Malfoy," waggled her fingers and eyebrows flirtatiously at him, and left the shop.
"I can't believe you!" Harry laughed as they entered a shop to buy writing supplies. "He looked stunned!"
"Well I figured you didn't like him," Pepper said, paying for her purchases, "and he sounded like he took an interest in me before he found out I was your friend, so I decided to see if I could give him a little surprise." They walked back into the lane again, heading towards the bookshop.
"Well done," Harry said. "Oy! Ron! Hermione!" He grabbed her hand and dragged her over to two people on the other side of the street. They both turned around and smiled when they saw Harry approaching.
The girl had somewhat bushy brown hair and was shorter than the boy who had red hair and freckles. "Harry!" the girl exclaimed, rushing to him and giving him a hug. Pepper hung back while they were saying their hellos, feeling rather uncomfortable.
"Hey, Harry," the redheaded boy said.
"Hi, Ron. Oh, this is Pepper Halliwell, my god sister," Harry said, realizing Pepper was standing there. She stepped up and smiled.
"Hi," Hermione said. "This is your first year at Hogwarts?"
"Yes."
"Where'd you go to school before?"
"I was homeschooled...I guess I'm not the sort of witch you are, really," Pepper said hesitantly.
"What do you mean?"
"Hermione, will you give me a bloody chance to say hello?" Ron asked Hermione.
"Hold on, Ronald," Hermione said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. "Please, go on, Pepper," she requested as they went into the bookstore. The four of them walked into an aisle and Hermione, Ron and Harry began scanning the shelves for their school books.
"Well, like I have natural powers," Pepper said. "I was born with some powers and I use them to fight demons alongside my aunts. I can make potions and things and come up with spells, but it's mostly to vanquish the demons and I can't use them for personal gain."
"That's fascinating," Hermione said, pulling two books from the shelf. She turned to Pepper. "What do you mean by natural powers?"
"Would you like me to show you one?" Pepper asked as they made their way on to another aisle of books.
Hermione nodded, wide eyed.
"Alright," Pepper said, thinking of what she could show her. "Throw that book at me," she decided, stepping back a few feet.
"Throw this book at you?"
Pepper nodded. "Throw it as hard as you can and then move out of the way."
Hermione threw it as hard as she could then stepped to the side. Pepper put her hands out in front of her and moved them forward a bit: as the book was about to hit her, it was deflected. Hermione picked the book from the ground, a stunned look on her face. "That was brilliant," she said appreciatively.
Harry and Ron appeared in the aisle alongside the two girls. "Don't you need to get your books?" Ron asked Pepper.
She shook her head. "I've already got them. I've had them for five or six months now. Ron began to ask how she'd gotten them that early but Harry shook his head, knowing Sirius had given them to her.
"Would you mind showing them what you showed me, Pepper?" Hermione asked. Pepper said she didn't mind so Hermione took the book and threw it at Pepper again.
"Bloody hell," Ron said, flabbergasted. "Can you do anything else?"
"Ron!" Harry and Hermione said at once.
"She's not here to show off for you, Ron," Harry said.
"I wouldn't mind showing you, but somewhere more private. Like at school?" she suggested. Ron mumbled an apology and something else that Pepper couldn't quite catch.
After the three paid for their books, they went to the Apothecary for Potions supplies. "I'd like to go in there," Pepper said, pointing to a store across from the one they were in.
"Do we have to?" Ron whined. Pepper didn't see what the problem was, but obviously Ron had one.
"Oh come on Ron," Hermione said, grabbing his arm and dragging him into the shop. Behind the counter there were two boys that looked suspiciously like Ron.
"Ronniekins just couldn't stay away from us George," one of them said.
"He can't stand being away from us for too long," said the other one who Pepper suspected was George.
"Shut it," Ron growled at them.
"Pepper, this is Fred and George, guys, this is Pepper, my god sister," Harry introduced.
"Toffee?" a twin asked her. Pepper was about to take it but she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione shaking their heads violently at her so she withdrew her hand.
"What's wrong with it?" she wanted to know.
"It's a Ton Tongue Toffee," Ron said. "Makes your tongue so big it can't fit in your mouth."
"Brilliant invention, thank you very much," the other twin said. "First year at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, I'm starting the sixth year," Pepper told them.
"We left last year," one said. Pepper then realized how to tell them apart – they had nametags on their shirts.
"Walked out," George said.
"Started this place thanks to Harry," Fred explained.
"Have you been doing well?" Pepper asked them. They nodded.
"Pepper, we have to go, your aunts said six and it's quarter of," Harry said, pulling her from the shop.
"Nice to meet you!" she called back to the twins.
"Bye!" they chorused. "Have fun at Hogwarts!"
"Can we just stop in there real quick?" Pepper asked Harry as they passed the store with the broomsticks in the window.
"Yea Harry, I want to see the new Chudley Cannons book anyway," Ron pleaded. They went into the store and everywhere Pepper saw the word "Quidditch."
"What's Quidditch?" she asked. Ron looked like he was about to pass out before he launched into an explanation – that Quidditch was a sport played on broomsticks with four balls, (a Quaffle, two Bludgers and a Snitch), and there were seven players. Pepper tuned him out and turned her attention to a broom hanging on the wall. "Moonbeam Five Hundred," she read and wanted to read more but Harry pulled her from the shop.
"It's six. By Hermione, Ron, see you soon!" he yelled back at them.