A/n: Here's chapter two! A few revelations in this chapter, and the like. A bit OOC-ness here, mainly because I was having trouble working while my mom was cooking and interrupting me every ten minutes. Anyway, enjoy!
The Burrow was the same as he remembered it: cluttered, filled with the delicious scents of Mrs. Weasly's cooking, the pile of Wellington boots outside the front door-these he saw through the window, and the elderly grey owl, Errol, sitting on his perch off to the side of the kitchen.
Not long after he stepped out of the flames, The twins, Fred and George, appeared at his side, grinning.
"We patched things up with that cousin of yours," Fred stated, seeing the questioning look on Harry's face.
"Not as bad a bloke as we thought," George added, nicking a cookie from a pile on the counter. "Gave him some of the harmless sweets we saved from our last trip to Honeyduke's. Looked like Christmas had come early, he did.
Harry grinned, taking a cookie as well. Mrs. Weasly Apparated in next to them, beaming.
"Oh Harry!" She engulfed him in a hug. "I'm so happy you're here with us for the rest of the summer!"
"So am I, Mrs. Weasly. Where's Fleur?"
Everyone went silent. Harry looked around at the three other in the kitchen, emerald eyes wide. "What?"
"Fleur was killed in an attack a few weeks ago. Bill was devastated." Fred informed him, taking a cookie.
Harry felt as though somebody had taken a pair of pliers and clamped them around his heart. He hadn't been too fond of the part-Veela, but she had still been his friend. His face paled and he looked at Mrs. Weasly who had tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry."
She nodded and waved it off as if it was nothing more than an offer at something small. "It's quite alright. She died fighting. Received Order of Merlin, Second Class, because she rescued a group of young children from the attack." Nodded, she turned away and began putting the cookies into a container. "Now, it's going to be a tight squeeze around here since it's you, Ron, Ginny, the twins are back here while the shop is closed, Bill and Charlie are here as well in Percy's old room, and Hermione will be bunking with Ginny, as well as...Diamond."
"Diamond? Who's Diamond?" Harry looked towards the twins, confused.
George smiled, a dreamy look on his face. "Ah, Diamond. Fairest of the fair, as if sent from the heavens by the gods themselves."
Fred leaned against his brother, sighing happily. "A Diamond in the Rough, you could say."
"Boys, enough of that." Mrs. Weasly shook her head at them, smiling slightly. "Diamond...is somebody you might want to meet."
Ron stepped out of the fireplace a moment later, coughing. He bumped into Fred, who jammed his elbow into George's side. George yelped, and the twins glared at him. "Sorry." He looked around the kitchen for a few moments before heading towards the stairs. "Come on, Harry. Let's get your things in my room."
Harry followed him, dragging his trunk.
"Don't worry about that, Harry," George stated. "Forge and I will bring it up later."
"Right you are, Gred."
Sniggering, Harry continued up the stairs after Ron. "So, who's this Diamond girl?"
"She's, well...Diamond. Not quite normal, but not nutters, either." Ron cast a glance behind him. "She's just...different."
Ginny came storming out of her room at that moment, grumbling to herself.
"What's gotten to her?" Harry muttered to the red head in front of him.
"It's Diamond! She's let her ferrets out again and they're chasing my owl!" Ginny snarled. "I'm tired of her! You men must like her, but I want her to go home!"
Ron scowled at her. "You know she can't, Ginny! She doesn't have a home to go back to. So be quiet, she's coming."
Harry looked up as he heard soft footsteps on the landing in front of them. Slowly, a person descended from the shadows into the light of the stairway.
Inky black-blue hair fell in waves to her mid-back, dark royal blue eyes peering at them from behind her bangs. Low-rise hip-hugger pants paired with a pale turquoise sweatshirt over a white tank top contrasted nicely with her dark features.
"Er...hullo Diamond," Ron muttered, his ears turning red. "This is...er..." He seemed to have forgotten the name of his best friend.
Rolling his eyes, he held his hand out. "I'm Harry."
Diamond just stared at him for a moment. "Harry...I've heard about you from the Weasly's. And of course from newspapers and other media, although Father didn't particularly agree with me having them in my possession."
Harry blinked. She spoke...oddly. Quiet, yet powerful so you had to listen to her. Her voice was soft and gentle, but far away, wispy. "Erm, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Loads of people heard about me that way."
"Well, I'm pleased I could finally meet you, Harry. I only wish my father could have introduced us instead." Diamond continued down stairs before turning around. "And if you see two white ferrets anywhere around here, please try to catch them. They got loose again."
"Isn't she odd?" Ron asked a few minutes later when they were safely in his room. "She's always like that."
"Yeah. Who's her father?" Harry wondered, flopping across Ron's bed.
He was answered with silence.
The rest of the afternoon was spent playing Quidditch with Fred and George, Ginny refereeing, and Diamond watching from under an oak tree nearby. When the apple they were using as the Quaffle was nearly impossible to see in the darkness, they began to troop back inside, laughing, tired, and in very good moods.
Mrs. Weasly was in the kitchen, cooking fervently trying to finish everything quickly. Potatoes were peeling themselves in the sink, a sauce was simmering on the stove, and there was a salad on a large bowl on the counter.
"Here mum, let me help." Ginny hurried over to help her with the potatoes, which were now resting on the washboard, completely peeled.
"Thank you, dear."
Harry, Ron, and the twins headed into the living room to collapse on the furniture, red-faced and grinning. Diamond sat against the couch where Ron was sprawled across it.
Glancing at her, Harry asked, "Diamond? Erm...why are you here?"
Blue eyes bore into green as she watched him. "Because I have no place else to go. Luckily Father kept in contact with the Weaslys and when he passed away, they took me in, with permission from Cornelius Fudge."
"Oh...I'm sorry about your father." Harry looked away, her gaze unnerving.
"You knew him, you know."
Staring at a photo on the wall, Harry began to think.
'Knew him? How did I know him? I only know of three men who died, but one was too old...'
He was snapped out of his reverie by Mrs. Weasly calling them to dinner. Getting to his feet, he trooped out behind Fred, who was singing some song with George about weasels and gnomes.
Dinner was grand, the tables loaded with food and everybody in a good mood. Harry enjoyed himself greatly, sitting between Ron and Charlie, talking with them about the Quidditch Cup that had been held in America that summer.
"The Cannons actually made it to the finals, this year!" Ron informed Harry.
"Tha's great," he replied thickly, mouth full of mashed potato.
"But they were eliminated in the first round." Charlie reached across and helped himself to more peas. "The Wasps made it all the way to the final match against the Bogeys."
Harry nodded, swallowing. "So who won?"
Ron's face drooped a little. "The Wasps, by 645 points."
He coughed, choking on his water. "By how many!"
"645," Charlie stated, patting his back. "It was an awful game, though. Blood and fouls all over the place. The referee was going bonkers."
"I can only imagine..." Harry muttered, sipping his water carefully.
Further down the table, Fred and George were talking to Diamond, trying to get her to open up.
"What's your favorite color?" Fred inquired.
"Favorite animal?" George fired at her.
"How old are you?"
"Know any good pranks?"
"What's your middle name?"
"Do you like Ron?"
"Or Harry?"
"Fred, you dolt. They're practically related!"
"Oh, right you are..."
Diamond's eye began to twitch. "Turquoise and teal, black wolf, sixteen, yes, April, maybe, no, and are you done yet?"
The twins stared at her. A second later, their faces split into broad grins and they began their tirade all over again.
"Do you need a job?"
"Do you have any heirlooms?"
"Are you really an A-ranked witch in Wales?"
And so on. Diamond groaned and let her head connect with the table with a lovely thud.
At the end farthest away from Harry and Ron, Arthur and Molly were conversing quietly about Diamond.
"Arthur, we have to tell the children who her father is eventually. Before they go back to Hogwarts." Molly cast a worried glance at Diamond, and then Harry and Ron. "They deserve to know. Naturally, Bill and Percy already know, so of course, Charlie knows as well. Harry especially deserves to know, Diamond being who she is."
Sighing, Arthur removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Molly dear, let them enjoy themselves tonight, and we can tell them tomorrow. I'm sure Harry is tired from his ordeal at Privet Drive, and Ron is so excited to have him here. We'll tell them tomorrow when I get home from work."
Molly sighed, watching Harry. "If you're sure, Arthur. Please try to find where Diamond's mother is, though. She deserves to know, after what she's been through."
"I promise, dear." Arthur leaned over and quickly pecked Molly on the lips. "Now let's get the kids to bed so we can talk to Bill, Charlie, and Percy about Diamond and Harry."
Herding the younger ones to bed proved to be easier than expected. Ginny had already started back towards the house by that time, and Harry was almost falling asleep in his treacle tart. Ron was half awake as he trudged his way back inside, Charlie leading him so he wouldn't trip over the gnomes who had come out to steal leftovers. Diamond followed easily, the twins running after her to continue interrogating her.
"WILL YOU TWO STOP THE BLOODY QUESTIONING ALREADY!" Diamond shouted, whirling around to face them, eyes fierce.
Fred and George froze on the spot. They looked at each other, then back at her.
"Um...we'll just be going to bed now." Fred began to scoot to the side.
"Rightio, Fred." George inched to the other side. "It's about time to turn in, anyway."
The next thing, they were running back towards the house. Diamond huffed and stomped back inside and upstairs to Ginny's room.
Ron raised an eyebrow. "Irritable, that one is."
Harry merely nodded before heading up the stairs to Ron's room.
The two changed in silence. As they were crawling into bed, the lights off and moonlight streaming in through the window, the door opened and the twins crept in.
"You two still awake?" George asked, flipping the light switch on.
"We are now," grumbled Ron. He sat back up and glared at his brothers. "What do you want?"
Fred sat on the end of his bed. "We found out about Diamond. We used the Extendible Ears to listen in on Mum and Dad talking to the others."
Harry put his glasses back on and looked at the twins. "Well, what did you find out?"
George sat on Harry's bed. "She's a pure blood witch, her family going back as far as anyone can trace. She's an only child, she grew up with family on her father's side all her life, until she was fourteen. Her father took her in, and then two years ago he passed away."
"And the wildest thing we heard was her whole name. Diamond April Black." Fred nodded.
Silence filled the room as this fact sunk in.
"Blimey, Harry..." Ron whispered. "She was Sirius's daughter!"
The twins nodded in unison. "Now she's living here until Dad can find out where her mum lives."
Harry looked at Ron. "That means...she's in the same predicament I am..."
A/n: Lame ending, I know. I'm sorry, but I wrote almost all of this while Mom was getting a head start on Thanksgiving dinner. I was just staying out of the way and let her go. Please review and give me a few ideas for the next chapter! I'm at a loss at the moment and I would love to have any ideas you can offer. All credit will be given to the ones who help me!
Anyway, review please. And happy Thanksgiving to all of you celebrating! Don't eat too much! Love you guys!