Chapter 2
She walked a corner and stood looking at the lines of houses. In front of her was a sign that read:
Private Drive
Oh. She looked at the dark houses that shown no light. I wonder what time is it. She looked at the door of number 3. "What will I do?" she whispered to herself. Then she walked a bit further to the next house. She was just kicking a stone and sending it rolling on the ground when she noticed a thin light coming from somewhere. Looking up at the sky, she saw a snowy owl flying overhead. It was heading to a nearby window; the light was coming from it.
"At last" Harry said as he watched Hedwig flying inside his window. He closed it once Hedwig was in.
"I was worried about you, it's nearly three in the morning," he said as he stroked her while she made herself at home in her cage.
"Don't do that again," he said, pointing a finger at her. Hedwig gave a low hoot. "Good" he said. Harry yawned hugely and made his way to his bed. Then he heard a little tap. He froze in his place and looked around.
Where did it come from? He thought. Then it came again and Harry noticed that it was coming from the window. He went to it and looked down. There, near the door, stood a girl and was in the action of throwing a stone at the window when she saw Harry looking down at her. He opened the window and whispered, "What are you doing? You'll wake my aunt and uncle". "Sorry" she said "but I'm kind of … lost". "What?" Harry said with a puzzled expression on his face. "If you let me in I'll explain," she whispered. "I can't let you in" he said, "I told you, my aunt and uncle will hear the door open". "I'll climb the tree," she said, pointing at a tree near the boy's window. She remembered when she was at school; they used to have climbing competitions on the school's biggest tree. "Don't worry," she said, "I'm good at it".
She went over to a branch that was sticking down and with the support of the trunk, she managed to climb it. "Give me your hand?" she said, extending hers to him. He helped her inside the room and fortunately, they didn't make any loud noises. "Thanks" she said as she closed the window quietly behind her. "So, what's this all about?" Harry said, looking at her. She sat on the bed, panting, and put her bag on the bed. "Can I have some water, please?" she asked him. Someone would have thought that that was too rude, because it's not even her house and he didn't even know her, but Harry found her so polite and asking in a very innocent way that he couldn't say no to this…beautiful girl. "Just a minute" he said "and don't make any sounds".
He tiptoed downstairs and rushed to the kitchen. In seconds, he was holding a mug of water and was tiptoeing upstairs. He opened the door and found the girl stroking Hedwig on the head very gently. "Be careful," said Harry, but he thought there was no need for carefulness, because Hedwig seemed comfortable in the girl's presence. "You seem to know how to treat owls" he said. "Oh, I used to have a parrot at my home" she said, "and they are all birds, so I know how to" she smiled at Harry as she took the mug from his hand, he forgot it completely. "Oh, sorry" he said, handing it to her. "Thanks" she said. Harry sat at the foot of his bed and watched Hedwig nodding off to sleep.
"Thank you for letting me in" the girl spoke suddenly, breaking the silence between them. Then Harry said, "I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here?" The girl didn't reply and for a moment, Harry thought she wouldn't. But after a minute, she lowered her head looking sad and looked at Harry. "I'm…kind of lost," she said. He looked at her beautiful sad face. Then she said, "This is what happened". Harry leaned forward, listening intensely. "I was at home with my family" she said sadly, "we were having a birthday party for me" then she went on telling him all about the envelope, the fighting, the Time Turner and the accident which led her to this. "You mean, you've got a time turner?" Harry said, "but they are really rare to find, and you ought to have permission for using it, and you're not even off age". "I know it was wrong to use it, but I didn't have any choices, I had to leave, I just…..had to" she looked at Harry with her bright, beautiful eyes. "I can help you, but not much" he said. "Please, I'll do anything, if it helps" she said desperately. "Well, I know some friends, they might help" Harry said, "they are really kind, they'll help you". "But how?" she said, "I can't leave now, because if I went back now, my parents will be so angry, even more than before". "Yeah, I know" he said, "but I've got a better idea", "really, what is it?" " my friend, Ron, has a room for you in his house, you can stay with them until the same month comes, and then we'll get you back in time, so you could be there the same time, and you could fix the fighting with your parents" . "So" she said "I'm going to live with complete strangers, wait for a very long time, until the date of my birthday, which is in the second of December, comes, that's nearly five months from now" "yeah" said Harry, " it's going to be fine, trust me" he said as he looked at her. "I'm not sure I could" she said, "but there's no other solution," she said, "wait a minute, I don't even know your name" he said, "oh, I'm…….Christina…Christina…er…Anderson" "I'm Harry" he said, but why was she hesitating? Harry wondered. "But look" she said, "if I didn't like your friend Ron, I will go back straight away, deal?" she extended her hand, Harry shock hers, "deal".