Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Whatsoever. I don't really wish I did, anyway; I'd get death treats from all the HP lovers.
A/N: I'm so sorry this took this long. The good news is, I've got another chapter written. The bad news is, that's pretty much all. I might be a long time between updates. I'm just warning you. I'm writing a couple other unposted stories, including one that I'm hoping to get published someday. And I'm slammed with homework, and I have the final exams in two weeks… And WHOA, there's a HUGE thunderstorm outside. As in, with possible tornadoes. So I'd better get this out quickly, before the power goes out.
By the way, the title refers to the 'little' girl introduced in this chapter. I hope you can guess who, as I'm sure you've read the summary.
Ginny Weasley had a policy about her life. It was to try something new every day. Usually it was trying a new food out, or trying out a new sport (Quidditch was still her favorite, followed by the American game of Quadpot). Today she was going out on a limb and extending her policy to include doing things that she had always wanted to do.
It was one of the biggest decisions of her life.
She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. She was greeted by a burst of warm air that Ginny was grateful for, as it was rather chilly outside. She hesitated in the doorway.
Come on and go! her subconscious screamed at her. It's what you've wanted since Laura! She winced at the mention of the little girl whom she had known long ago, but she knew her inner voice was right, she really wanted it – him or her. Besides, she had done most of the paperwork already; now all she needed to do was meet the child and do a buttload of more paperwork. That was it. She would adopt a child before the week ended.
Her feet moved of their own accord, letting the door slam shut behind her. A tired-looking woman appeared, holding a toddler on her hip.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"I have an appointment for-" Ginny checked her watch, "-about five minutes ago."
"Oh! You must be the person who called while I was out. My name is Darlene Cambridge. Come on, I'll show you the kids. You can see the girl you will be adopting."
"What's her name? The description in the paperwork never said."
"What did the description say?" the woman asked worriedly.
"That she had been, and I quote, 'quite a terror' ever since she was brought to the orphanage."
A wry smile appeared on the woman's face. "Yes, she rather is a little devil. She wasn't too happy about being here at all when she came six years ago, but now it seems as if she doesn't want to leave."
"And her name would be…?"
"Laura."
Ginny almost gasped, but restrained herself. Her name was Laura and she came to the orphanage six years ago. Could it be the girl she used to know?
Ms. Cambridge, oblivious to Ginny's reeling mind, led her to a room decorated in bright colors and children's paintings. There were several kids sitting around a TV and a couple children doing other things. One girl was drawing a picture.
"Laura!" Ms. Cambridge called.
"What?" the girl drawing the picture asked without taking her eyes off the drawing.
"She's here."
"Oh, goody," Ginny heard Laura mutter sarcastically. The other children looked up with interest as the girl got to her feet and walked over to Ginny and Ms. Cambridge without looking up. "Well, what do you want me to do, ma'am?"
"Looking up would be a good start," Ms. Cambridge said, bouncing the baby on her hip. Laura scowled but looked up. Ginny felt as if the floor had dropped out from under her.
"Laura," she whispered. Laura raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that's my name. Got a problem with it?" Laura said snappily.
"Of course not. Laura is a beautiful name…"
"And?"
"And I think I used to know you, back before you came here."
The shocked look on Laura's face was enough for Ginny to feel guilty. Laura probably remembered nothing about her parents and she was young enough that she probably didn't have any real memories of anyone before she was handed over to the orphanage. Ms. Cambridge broke the silence.
"Well, why don't Laura and Ms. Weasley go to the meeting room where they can talk?" she suggested in a cheery voice. Ginny shrugged.
"If it's alright with Laura."
Laura nodded mutely, still looking up at Ginny as if she might not be real. The director of the orphanage led the two to a room across the hall and left, shutting the door behind them.
"Did you really know me?" Laura whispered as if dreading the answer. Ginny smiled at her.
"I think I did, yes. You must be ten now, Laura, correct?"
"Yeah. But how did you know me?"
"I knew your parents. I babysat you for them, actually. I looked a lot different then; you won't recognize me like this, and I can't change back for a while."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Laura asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Do you remember the night your parents died, Laura?" Ginny asked softly. "If you do, you might remember me."
Laura scrunched her face up in exaggerated thinking and then shook her head. "I don't remember. Were you there?"
Ginny nodded. "I was the first to see your parents after they died, aside from the person who killed them. I saved your life, actually, and then I took you back to my place, with a lot of other people. You played with my niece, Lily. Do you remember?"
"Maybe…" Laura said slowly. "You had brown hair back then, right? You said I might be magic. You were magic… Oh my God. You're her. I remember the red hair once you changed it."
"You do remember!" Ginny exclaimed. "You've grown up, Laura, you really have. I last saw when you were four… six years is a long time."
"Yes, but you still look the same." Laura's eyes narrowed. "You were the one who dropped me off, aren't you?"
"Yes," Ginny said uncomfortably.
"Why?" Laura cried. "Why did you leave me here?"
"Do you think it was easy for me to drop you off with the police, Laura? It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do."
"You could have adopted me or something! You're an adult! Be creative!"
"Laura, there was nothing else I could do. I tried to adopt you when you were four. They told me that there was a waiting list for a small child like you. Keeping you would be against the law and I'd get arrested as soon as I stepped outside. There was no way I could have possibly kept you with me."
Laura turned so she was facing away from Ginny. When she spoke, her voice was soft. "I always dreamed you would show up and take me away. I can't believe you're actually here…"
Ginny chuckled. "Should we go and tell Ms. Cambridge that we're going to get along?"
After all the necessary paperwork and a few more days, Ginny could finally take Laura home. Home meant a small flat in London that Ginny had rented specifically for the young Muggle girl. Laura looked around the small apartment and nodded approvingly.
"It's nice, but I thought we'd be going to that big house," she said. Ginny laughed, surprised.
"You remember that place? We're not going there anymore," Ginny said.
"Why not?"
"Because you're a Mug- er, child. It's rather secret, and don't look at me like that; it's their rules, not mine. If I had my choice, we'd be living there. Don't worry; I'm sure my family will visit. Plus, you begin school on Monday, so you won't be bored.
"School is boring."
"Only some schools. I went to a boarding school from when I was eleven to when I was seventeen. It was very fun and exciting and stuff like that."
"Can I go there, Ginny?" Laura asked, sitting on the couch.
"We'll see when you're eleven, okay?" Ginny said, smiling at the girl. Laura heaved a sigh.
"Fine. Where do I sleep?"
"In here," Ginny said, leading the way into a room decorated with posters of bands, actors, actresses, athletes, and other celebrities. Laura smiled.
"I like."
Ginny was about to respond when the sound of a door knocking sounded from the door. Ginny ran over to the door and opened it. As expected, she was greeted by a hug and a 'how ARE you?' from her mother.
"I'm fine." Ginny looked past her mother to find the entire Weasley clan behind her. "Oh my, I'm not sure this flat is big enough for all of us, plus Laura. Some of you may have to go." She stuck her tongue out at Ron.
"Ha ha," he said. "Very mature. So, can we come in? Or are you going to keep your dear old family out in the cold?"
"You're in a hallway. It's not cold. Well, anyway, Mom, Dad, and Lily can come in…." she stuck out her tongue. "Well, come in already! The house is getting cold."
Ron rolled his eyes and walked in, followed by everyone else. "So where's this girl you adopted?" he asked.
"I'm not just 'this girl Ginny adopted,' you know. I have a name," a voice came from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Laura in the doorway. She continued, "My name's Laura, if you're so inclined. I'm terribly sorry; I don't remember any of you." She was smirking while Ron looked confused. He looked to Ginny, as did everyone else.
"Sit down, all of you," she said. There was a scramble for chairs and the kitchen chairs were brought into the living room so almost everyone got a seat. The remaining stood.
"Okay, well, you remember six years ago, when there was that huge apartment massacre in the States? And remember that little girl I brought to the house? Well, this is her, all grown up."
There was silence all around. Then Ron laughed.
"You're kidding, right? I mean, what are the chances that you'd find the exact same girl six years later?"
"Hey," Laura said indignantly. "I take offense to that statement. Ginny found me. Is that too hard to believe?"
George groaned. "Great. We've got another Ginny."
Ginny smacked him. "You're one to talk. You and Fred are exactly alike. Anyway, why are you all here, for real now? I didn't tell you Laura was coming today."
Ron looked meaningfully at Laura and Lily. Ginny's eyes widened in understanding. "Laura, go show Lily your room. You two are cousins now, get to know each other."
The girls raised their eyebrows at Ginny, who arched an eyebrow back. Lily seemed to finally get it and whispered something in Laura's ear. The two disappeared in the direction of Laura's room. Ginny looked at the others questioningly. "I thought he was dead."
"He is," Harry said quickly. "At least, he'd better be, after what we did to that bastard… anyway, there are other wizards and witches trying to fill his place. We've had trouble with some Death Eaters, as you know. We came here to discuss a new threat."
"Oh? And who is it this time?"
"Blaise Zabini. He's been gathering power in England and France. He's been at it since you took a break to adopt Laura."
"Interesting. Ron, you owe me 10 Galleons. Oh, and why are you telling me this just now? Why not earlier?"
"I figured you were still on that break," Harry said. "If you're off of it, you can help us. If not then you take care of Laura."
"She knows nothing of magic. Well, she knows it in fairy tales and all, but not in real life. I intend to keep it that way until she's eleven. If she's magic, she'll find out, and if she's not, she deserves to know. When she's eleven, I'll be back on active duty. Her birthday is June 7th.
"So there's about five months left," Fred observed. "Well, if it's the best thing we can do, let's do it."
"Alright; shall we call Lily and Laura in?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "I imagine they're right outside the door, trying to listen in. Lucky we put silencing spells on the room and locked the door." She took out her wand and took off the spells, then quickly hid her wand. The door burst open and the two children stumbled in, falling through the door where they had been trying to listen. Ginny tried not to laugh as they straightened up with sheepish looks on their faces.
"Were you two trying to listen in?"
"No," Lily said immediately. The adults all had on similar expressions of disbelief.
"Okay, maybe we were…" Laura admitted.
"But we didn't hear anything!" Lily added quickly.
"Mmmhmm," Ginny said. "I know you didn't. Anyways, Laura, I'd better introduce you to all my family. Think you can remember all of them?"
Laura looked around at the numerous amounts of people around the room. "Try me."
"Okay. That's Ron, Fred and George, your grandparents, Lily, Harry, and Hermione. I have three more brothers that aren't here. Two of them are Bill and Charlie and the third you needn't worry about. You'll never meet him. Oh, Mum, don't cry! I didn't mean it like that!"
"I know," Mrs. Weasley hiccupped, "But it's still so hard…"
Laura looked quizzically at Ginny, who shook her head slightly. Don't ask. The girl changed the subject quickly.
"It's nice to meet you, everyone," she said cheerfully.
Everyone was glad for the chance of subject.
The next chapter is better, and what I have planned is fun. Let me tell you, Laura is a demon. You'll see, if I have the time to post, which I will try to get. So that's it. Ciao! Au revoir! Bye!
Kinz