Changes
Everybody loves Sirius. I'll bring him back then…but not in the way you think.
Harry had to go back to the Dursleys for about two weeks. Hermione went home with her parents but was going to spend at least the last month at Headquarters. Leah went with the rest of them to headquarters, feeling numb. She was only going to see her mother then find her grandfather and get the fuck out of there.
"Leah?" Ron asked. Leah shook her head.
"Ron…don't." Fred said, pulling his brother away from Leah. She knew he was telling Ron. They got to the house and Leah, for once, ignored Grandma Black and went straight up the stairs and into what was her parents' room. She stopped next to the bed and looked at her mother.
"How long?" Leah asked, knowing someone had followed her.
"Ever since Sirius…" Molly said but faded.
"Where's my grandfather?" Leah asked, not looking away from Sabrina, who looked fast asleep.
"I'll get him." Molly said. Her footsteps faded but soon more footsteps came.
"Leah…" Remus said.
"Don't worry…you won't have to try and drag me away." Leah said. She walked out of the room.
"Leah…this is really rough for you…I know it is." Remus said.
"No…you don't." Leah said. "I felt everything Remus! You have no clue what it's like…feeling your own pain, plus your parents' pain as well!"
"What's going on?" Her grandpa asked, coming down the hall with Molly.
"Nothing…can we go home?" Leah asked.
"Alright." Grandpa said. Leah went down the stairs. Grandpa and Remus exchanged looks before they went down the stairs.
"You leaving?" Ron asked.
"I do not wanna stay in this house for one minute longer." Leah said. She looked up and saw Kreature. "There's one more thing I gotta do though." She walked over to Kreature and grabbed him before he ran off. "You sick twisted little freak." She grabbed his ears before throwing him across the room.
"Leah!" Remus said.
"I don't care. Because of him…my family is destroyed. Because of him…I don't have my dad." Leah said. She grabbed her trunk and left the house.
A few days later she and her grandpa sat at the table eating breakfast together.
"Why aren't you going in to work?" Leah asked quietly, moving her cereal around in the bowl.
"Fudge has given me the rest of this week and half way through next week off." Grandpa said.
"Oh." Leah said. "Hey...grandpa…I kinda…I wanna change."
"Change…how?" Grandpa asked carefully.
"Like…my looks…other stuff." Leah said. "I just…after what I've seen…what I've been through…I can't be me anymore."
"That's understandable." Grandpa said. "Seeing as how I'm your grandfather and probably do not want to see or know what you are getting…I'm going to give you a credit card…with a limit…you can go shopping for the day or whatever you want to do. When you want to come home, just give me a call and I'll come pick you up alright."
"Thanks grandpa." Leah said. She went up the stairs and changed into jean shorts and a navy blue tank top. She grabbed her purse and went back down the stairs. Leah sat on the bottom one and put on her sandals.
"Here." Grandpa said, coming out of the kitchen and handing Leah a credit card. She put it in her wallet in her purse. Her wand was in there as well. Yesterday she got a letter that was sent to everyone who was in Hogwarts. It said that if any of them should run into Death Eaters then they should send up purple sparks and an Auror will come quickly. "Be careful. If anything happened to you…I'd fall apart."
"Don't worry grandpa." Leah said. She took the underground to the area where all the shopping happened. The first thing Leah did was get her hair cut and died. It had grown to almost her waist. She had it cut to just slightly above the middle of her back. Then she got it died blonde and put black streaks in it.
Next she went to the tattoo and piercing place. She got her ears pierced three on the bottom and one on the time, her belly button pierced and her tongue pierced. She got a snake tattoo on her lower back and the Wicca symbol for bitch on her shoulder.
"Leah!" Hermione called. Leah, who was walking along in the mall, turned and looked to see Hermione run over to her and hug her. Leah winced. "Oh…I'm sorry. Wait…why are you still hurt?"
"I'm not…I just got a tattoo and it still kinda hurts. How could you tell it was me?" Leah asked.
"Well...I saw your face before you turned." Hermione said. Leah nodded. She looked up at Hermione's parents.
"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Granger." Leah said.
"Hello again Leah. We are so sorry to hear about what happened." Mrs. Granger said.
"Well…whatever." Leah said, looking down.
"Umm…mum…dad…how about I meet you in the foot court in about an hour?" Hermione said.
"Ok honey…nice meeting you again Leah." Mrs. Granger said. Hermione and Leah walked around.
"So let's see." Hermione said.
"What?" Leah asked.
"Tattoo." Hermione said.
"Ohhh." Leah said. She moved her hair to reveal the tattoo.
"Wow…hey…you got another one down here." Hermione said. "Why'd you get a snake?"
"I dunno." Leah said. "It just felt…right…or something." Hermione nodded. "At least you're understanding. Imagine how Harry and Ron are going to react."
"That'll be funny to see." Hermione said. "So…what are you shopping for?"
"Brand new look." Leah said. "Getting rid of the other stuff. You cannot see, feel and go through what I've gone through and still stay the same person." Hermione nodded again. "I'm gonna find out exactly what the set limit of spending is on this card."
"Oh." Hermione said. "You get that letter from the ministry?"
"Oh yeah. Thank god too." Leah said. "Because I plan on doing a lot of magic this summer. Just warning you now Mione. My temper is worse then Harry's was last year."
"Ok." Hermione said. "So…what are you going for?"
"I dunno…I guess I'm going with that punk-ish look or something." Leah said.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.
"Look at me Mione…already half way there." Leah said, looking down at pierced belly button.
"Ok well…I'll help you find stuff." Hermione said. Leah nodded her thanks and they walked into a store.
They spent the next hour looking through the different clothes. Leah picked out about five pairs of jeans, dark or black. Two of them had chains on the one side, one pair had the faded look and the other two had sparkles.
"I think I might cut the knees out on this pair." Leah said, holding up one of the sparkle one.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"I dunno. I'm destructive." Leah said. They grabbed about 15 shirts with different logos on them. Leah also bought four wrists, six necklaces and an assortment of earrings, tongue rings and belly rings.
"So…how much did the bill come to?" Hermione asked as they walked to the food court to meet her parents.
"Well…from the two stores we were in…" Leah said, pulling out the receipts. "The clothes came to Five hundred and seventy-eight dollars. The jewelry came to two hundred and sixty-six dollars. Not including cents and tax."
"Wow…you spent eight hundred and forty-four dollars on a new look?" Hermione said. Leah nodded. "I take it you are keeping some of your old stuff."
"Of course…I already promised Grandpa that I wouldn't wear my new stuff around him." Leah said. "There's also the fact that if Molly saw me in a midriff showing shirt…then she'd kill me about seven times after seeing the belly button piercing and tattoo."
"Good point." Hermione said. Leah stopped walking and looked into a store. "What's up?"
"Stuff in here I want." Leah said, grabbing Hermione's arm and pulling her into the store. They left it twelve minutes later with black leather boots and a whole bunch of make-up.
"So…how much now?" Hermione asked.
"Well…all that make-up…plus the boots…that bill came up to…." Leah said, taking out the receipt. "Fifty-nine dollars and seventy-eight cents."
"Nine hundred and three dollars." Hermione said.
"And seventy-eight cents." Leah said. They found Hermione's parents. Hermione got food but Leah refused to eat anything.
"Leah, you have to eat." Mrs. Granger said.
"Mum…" Hermione said, shaking her head. Leah gave Hermione a grateful look. Soon the Grangers left and Leah bought some more clothes that brought her total bill up to twelve hundred and twenty-one dollars…and thirty-seven cents.
"I expected you to buy a lot…but not twenty-seven bags worth." Grandpa said, closing the trunk and getting into the car.
"It's not twenty-seven bags." Leah said. "It's twenty-five. I put all the jewelry and make-up in two bags instead of the five I originally had."
"Oh…well if it's twenty-five…" Grandpa said. Leah rolled her eyes and looked out the window. "I remember when your mother had that hair colouring."
"Mum had hair like this? But she's always been blonde." Leah said.
"Yes…but there was a time around…well…this time for her." Grandpa said. "When I didn't know your father was an Animagus and he was living with us as the dog." Leah looked down. "I found out about a year before you were born that they were…special."
"How?" Leah asked, quietly.
"Well…whenever they…got together…" Grandpa said. "There would be some sort of power exchange thing where they would get some sort of power advancement and their looks would change slightly."
"Oh…so mum's hair kinda took on…his hair." Leah said.
"Yes." Grandpa said. "And that's why you are so connected to them."
"What?" Leah asked.
"Dumbledore told me some stuff." Grandpa said. "You are connected so strongly to your parents and to myself and your grandmother, that whenever something like…dying…happens, you can feel it…or some of it."
"And you're just telling me this now?" Leah asked. "Gee…don't I have a great family." She went back to looking out the window and didn't talk to her grandpa until the next afternoon.
Leah spent all but the last two weeks of holidays at her house, alone most of the time. Once, at the beginning of August, she invited one of her old guy friends over and…well…that ended badly.
"Leah! Wake up! We have to go to Headquarters!" Grandpa yelled up the stairs one day. Leah groaned and rolled over before falling out of bed. She put on her new black denim skirt that went till about three inches above her knees. She put on the boots as well and a dark green tank top with the on it. Leah brushed out her hair and crimped it magically before doing her make-up and throwing stuff into her trunk. She quickly put on three of her necklaces, each a different length. She put a wristband on to cover her wrist.
They got to Headquarters to find Molly and Grandma Black yelling at each other.
"IF YOU WEREN'T SO LOUD AND RUDE THEN YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THINGS MORE OFTEN!" Molly shouted. Leah rolled her eyes, walked over then pushed Molly out of the way. Everyone looked at her.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU STUPID FAT UGLY MISERABLE OLD HAG!" Leah screamed before yanking the curtains shut.
"Whoa…Leah…what happened to you?" Ron asked. Leah turned around and looked at him.
"What do you mean?" Leah asked.
"Well…you look…way different." Ron said. Leah just rolled her eyes and dragged her trunk up to her room.
"What's wrong with her?" Ron asked, looking at Harry and Hermione.
"Oh Ron, don't you get it?" Hermione asked. Ron shook his head. "Do you really expect to see, do and feel everything she has and be able to stay the way you are?"
"I did." Harry said.
"No…you didn't." Hermione said. "You've changed…maybe not on the outside…but definitely on the inside. Why would you have already yelled at Ron and myself about twenty times since you got here three weeks ago?" Harry didn't answer.
Leah stayed locked up in her room for the three days. Anyone who went to try and talk to her got thrown back out of the room…even her grandpa. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George came up with a plan. But that didn't work once Fred tried apparating into Leah's room and he got thrown into another room.
On the fourth day, Harry managed to get into the room and not get thrown out right away.
"Ok what is your problem?" Harry asked.
"My problem is my father is dead you asshole." Leah said, sitting up and glaring.
"I'm aware of that." Harry said.
"Oh don't you even dare." Leah said, shaking her head.
"What?" Harry asked. Both of them were completely unaware of the fact that their voices were rising.
"Don't you even dare think that you are the only one who cared about MY dad." Leah said. She got off the bed and stood right in front of Harry.
"Why would I think that?" Harry asked.
"Because you do it all the time!" Leah said. "You are a stupid, self-centered jerk who thinks he's always right! You are not the only one who cares about him Harry! He was my dad…I knew him way longer then you did. I wasn't the one who believed he was guilty and tried to kill him! My mum…is in a fucking coma now because he's dead so don't you even dare make the mistake in thinking that you are the only one here who cares about him." (AN: Pirates of the Caribbean moment.) With that, Harry got pushed out of the room.
It really did look like it was the end of Leah and Harry's friendship. Two days before going to station, Leah finally left her room and went to see Sabrina. She looked no different.
"She looks like she's sleeping." Leah muttered, taking Sabrina's hand in her own. She heard a clunking and knew Moody was coming. He was the only one who was there most of the time who hadn't tried to talk to her. Even Dung had tried. She waited until the clunking stopped but kept her eyes on Sabrina.
"She hasn't changed." Moody said.
"You don't sound surprised that I'm here." Leah said. "And not in my room."
"Magic eye." Moody said. Leah nodded. Moody walked farther into the room and sat on a chair. "Everyone's been taking it in turns to watch her. "It'll be safer for you at Hogwarts then it is for you here."
"Why?" Leah asked. "And aren't you supposed to be worrying about Harry?"
"Potter has a lot more protection then you do." Moody said. "Turns out…Voldemort isn't only just after him."
"Probably because I'm his friend…or was." Leah said.
"If it was that…then I wouldn't be bothering to tell you now would I?" Moody asked. Leah looked at him. "Nah…it's not because your friends with Potter."
"What is it?" Leah asked, looking confused.
"It's because your Sirius' daughter." Moody said. "You have more power then anyone, even you, realizes. You also have a strange connection to your family, as you know already." Leah nodded. "We're still trying to figure out why. That's why Dumbledore wants you protected as well as he wants Potter protected." They sat in silence, looking at Sabrina. Leah was wondering how, if she was so powerful, then how come she couldn't have prevented her grandma from dying, or Sirius from dying…or even Sabrina going into a coma? Life wasn't fair.
"So…we're not the only ones who came to see how she was doing." Leah looked at the door to see Tonks and Remus there. She looked back at Sabrina.
"Did I get it wrong again? I thought it was my time to watch." Moody said.
"It is." Remus said. "Just…there wasn't a barrier or some sort keeping us out of Leah's room so we figured she was here…or with Buckbeak."
"She wasn't with Buckbeak so we came here." Tonks said.
"Wow…people are actually worried about me." Leah said, sarcastically. "I feel so special."
"Here it comes." Tonks said.
"What?" Leah asked. "You know what…I don't care." She got up and left the room.
'That." Tonks called after her.
"Leah!" Remus said, going after Leah. She didn't stop but went down the stairs and was about to leave before Remus grabbed her. Leah turned and looked at him. "Leah…I know you're going through rough times."
"You don't know!" Leah said. "God…you say you do…but you have no clue what it's like for me." She wondered why this sounded so familiar. She stormed up the stairs and to her room, pushing Kreature into the wall.
"Oh…mistress is angry." Kreature said. Leah turned on him, picked him up, and threw him down the stairs. Everyone at the bottom of the stairs looked up at Leah.
"It's his fault he's gone!" Leah said. She stormed into her room and locked the door. "Whoa…day-ja-vu." She walked over to her dresser, opened a drawer and moved some clothes aside. "Knife…ok…major day-ja-vu. Oh well." Leah pulled off the wristband and stared at her wrist before running her black nailed fingers over all the marks. She looked at the knife before adding another cut to her wrist. "Gonna have to start on the other one soon." There was a light knock and Leah put the knife away and pulled the wristband back on. "Yeah?"
"Hey…Leah…can me and Crookshanks come in?" Hermione asked. Leah looking around the room then sighed and opened the door. It seemed like, now, she had transferred all the pleasantness she had with George was now with Hermione. Because of him and Fred having the shop now, they wouldn't be around much.
"What's up?" Leah asked.
"Umm…well…" Hermione said. Leah tilted her head. "Ginny's going to try out for chaser for Gryffindor team. Umm…since Angelina and Katie are, well, gone now."
"Yeah…McGonagall is gonna talk to me and Harry when we get to the school to figure out which one of us is gonna be captain. Since we're the oldest ones on the team." Leah said.
"It'll probably be you." Hermione said. "Your mum was captain. And according to Madam Hooch and McGonagall, you're even better at being a chaser then she was." Leah just nodded. "Oh…umm…hey look…Starr's here."
"Huh?" Leah asked. Hermione pointed at the window. Leah looked before getting up and opening it to let her owl in. She took the letter from her before opening it and reading it.
Leah,
First weekend of September, eleven o'clock in the morning, meet at the front of the school.
Bonnie
Leah looked at the letter, confused for a second then remembered her double life.
"Who's it from?" Hermione asked.
"Uh…a pen pal who goes to Salem." Leah said, putting the letter in her dresser.
"Oh." Hermione said. "You want to do something? Go for a walk?" She absently started petting Crookshanks.
"Where?" Leah asked.
"There's a park a little bit away from here. We can go there." Hermione said.
"Umm…sure." Leah said. She needed the fresh air. "Just let me use the bathroom first." Hermione nodded and said she'd wait downstairs. Leah took off her wristband and grabbed another one before going to the bathroom and cleaning the blood from her wrist. She dried it and put the new wristband on before heading down the stairs. Hermione was the only one who hadn't yelled, or butted in, or tried to do anything but be Leah's friend. All the others tried to understand what she was going through, or at least said they understood. Hermione just…she didn't seem like she cared. Leah knew she was gradually getting things from Leah, but gradually…and very gradually.
It wasn't like Ron. Every time Leah saw him, he was trying to get things from her. She had already smacked him a couple of times. Leah was glad that her and Hermione didn't really talk unless it was about something that was far from the topic of families or what happened in June.
Ok ok…I updated yesterday…doing it again today. But do not expect every day updates.