Chapter 6
A Letter Home, Draco's Problem, & Packing
Dear Mom,
I really don't know how to ask you. We escaped the government in London. We stowed away on a usual train and arrived at Hogwarts. Your alum, right? The professors know you, especially Severus Snape. Ring a bell? Why didn't you tell me about this? And if you're a witch, why don't I have any powers? Who am I? Who are you? Please write back.
Maria
Maria looked down at what she had just written.
PS. The sorting hat told me that I am a bridge, too.
She folded the letter, put it in an envelope, and sealed it. She addressed the envelope and handed it to Alex. She opened the window and watched the owl take off into the night.
By the time Kyle put all his stuff away it was time for dinner. So he left his animal in his room and went to dinner. After dinner he brought the animal into the common room, while he studied. Draco and company walked into the room. Draco stopped dead and stared at Kyle.
"What?" Kyle asked after five minutes of being stared at.
"There's a ferret."
"Yeah, so?"
"Where is there a ferret in here?"
"He's mine." Kyle heard giggling from Pansy and her group. The ferret scampered up to Draco, sniffed his feet and then ran up his right leg. Draco freaked out as it stopped and held onto the top of his head. "Draco hold still." Draco froze as Kyle reached up the grab the animal. "Come here, Jim." The ferret tapped Draco's head and then jumped onto Kyle's left shoulder. "So what's your problem with ferrets?" As Kyle asked the room erupted with laughter.
"Kyle got a ferret?" Ron asked excitedly.
"Yeah, why?" Michael asked looking at laughing twins.
"Last year the DADA teacher turned Malfoy into a ferret." Harry explained.
"Why would Dumbledore do that?"
"No, we have a different DADA teacher every year. Last year it was a man named Alastor Moody, he was an Auror." Hermione explained. "Draco was picking on Harry…"
"And POW Moody turned him into a ferret!" Ron exclaimed.
"A bouncing ferret." Harry added.
Michael laughed at the thought.
Roswell, NM Deluca Residence, 2 days later-Amy is sitting in the living room making alien beaded necklaces. She glances toward Maria's bedroom sadly. Suddenly she hears someone knocking on the front door. She gets up and opens the front door. Nothing, suddenly something pushes past her and into the house. Amy turns to see an owl perch on the coffee table.
"I'm dreaming." She says to no one as she closes the door. She turns to see the bird looking at her intently. "Please, please be dreaming." She looks the bird over, in its beak is an envelope addressed to her. But really gets to her in the hand writing on the front, it's Maria's. Amy slips to the floor as she faints.
Two hours pass before Amy finally wakes up. She awakes to the bird's hooting. "Alright, I'm awake." Amy sits on the couch and takes the envelope from the owl. She opens it and reads. When she finishes, she stares at the bird with tears in her eyes. "Why? Why?"
She receives no answer.
"What do I do? I don't even know who to contact?"
The owl flies over to the desk, picks up a piece of paper, and flies back over. Amy takes the paper and picks up a pen.
Dear Maria,
I feel I should explain in person. I'm going to catch the next flight over. I promise I'll tell you everything, when I get there. But please don't tell any of the professors that I'm coming. See you when I get there.
Love, Amy
Amy puts the letter in an envelope, seals it, and hands it to the owl. "Wait." She picks up one of the necklaces she made. "Give this to Maria, too." She then puts it around the owl's neck. She gets up, opens the front door, and watches as the owl flies off. She goes to the closet in the bedroom and pulls a small slim box off the top shelf. She opens it slowly, inside is a wand, underneath is a (wizard) photo. She pulls both out and lets the box fall to the bed. She stared at the photo; she saw herself at 16 and a brown haired 17-year-old boy kissing her cheek. They aren't the only ones in the picture. There is also a girl and 4 boys. Tears stream down her face; she sniffs and puts the picture in her pocket.
She takes the wand and goes out into the hall. In the middle of the hall she stops under the attic door and looks up. "Descendo." She says as she waves her wand at the door. The door fell open and the stairs attached slid down. Amy looks up and slowly climbs the stairs. The attic is about the size of Amy and Maria's rooms combined. Most of it is full with boxes of Maria's baby things. In the far back right corner are a large trunk and a large black suitcase. Amy walks over and grabs the handles of both cases. She drags the to the entrance, "wingardium leviosa." She says as she levitates the luggage and floats them to the floor. She follows after them and closed the attic door behind her. She drags both into her room and puts the suitcase on the bed. She uses her wand to open it. The locks pop, but Amy suddenly finds herself shaking with fear of revisiting the past. She turns and walks out of the room.
She picks up the phone book on the coffee table. She flips through and stops at the page she needs. She retrieves the cordless from its cradle and dials. "Hello? How much for a one way ticket to London?"
Meanwhile back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore and Hagrid are out by Hagrid's cabin talking.
"I can't teach Defense and head the school, I've tried. I just can't do it." Dumbledore confessed. "I want you to talk to Lupin for me. Try to convince him to come back."
"I'll try, but he's stubborn. He's been struck by good luck recently."
"How so?"
"He bought a house in the mountains north of Hogsmede and Snuffles in living with him."
"Good." Dumbledore sighed. "How are you're classes?"
"Alright, tomorrow, I'm going to introduce them to a centaur."
"Sounds fun." He glanced at his watch. "I have to go, class starts in two minutes. You know those second years."
Hagrid smiled.
Amy hung up and dialed again. "Hi, Jim. I was wondering if you could stop by after your shift. Great, thanks." Amy turned the phone off and put it back on the charger. She went back to her room and opened the suitcase. Inside were neatly folded wizard robes. Four are school robes and one is a larger, black robe with a hood. She pulled them out and tried them on. She was surprised to find that they all fit. The hood was deep enough to hide most of her face. She laid them on the bed, underneath she found a navy blue dress robe, shoes, and her other teenage accessories, like jewelry and hair things. Underneath all that are tons of pictures, she pulled them out, and put them all in an empty shoebox. Then she put the rest of the stuff back in the suitcase. She didn't bother with the trunk; she knew that it was full of all her magic things, including her broom. She glanced at the clock; Jim won't be over for another two hours. She packed some clothes in the suitcase and closed and locked it. She put her wand in the drawer of her nightstand and then walked into the living room and finished the necklaces.
Jim bounced into Kyle's room with flashes and sparks following him.
The ferret jumped onto the bed where Kyle is reading and hid under Kyle's pillow. Malfoy charged in a second later, Kyle looked up and laughed. Draco's hair looked like a spiky afro.
"You should stop using so much hair gel." Kyle laughed.
"Keep that thing away from me!"
"Make me!"
Malfoy raised his wand. "Just give me a reason."
"Draco, get out." Kyle said as he turned away.
As Draco left, Jim crawled out from under the pillow. Kyle looked down at the animal. "What is your obsession with Malfoy?"
Jim responded by crawling up Kyle's back and perching on his left shoulder.
Amy opened the door on the second knock. "Hi, Jim." Amy said as she stepped aside to let him in.
"Amy." Jim said as he walked in and took off his hat. He glanced around and saw the suitcase and trunk. "Where are you going?"
"That's actually why I asked you over." Amy sat down on the couch and waited until Jim was seated in the chair next to her to finish. "I got a call today that my aunt is sick, actually she's on her death bed. So I'm going to fly over to London to take care of her, until she passes." Amy lied.
"I didn't know you had any relatives in Europe."
"She moved over there after my mom passed away." Amy explained. "I was…" "…Wondering if I could house-sit for you until you return." Jim finished for her.
"Yeah, I just want to make sure nothing happens to the house while I'm gone."
"Ill take care of it, when are you leaving?"
"I'm taking the one o'clock plane from Albuquerque."
"I have the late shift tomorrow, if you would like a ride."
Sure."
"Well, I have to go, I have to fill in for Hansen tonight. He's sick."
"Don't work too hard."
"I won't, what time do you want me to pick you up?" Jim asked as he stood up.
"Eleven."
He walked to the door with her following. "Eleven, okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Tomorrow. Bye." She watched him open the door.
"Bye." He left, closing the door behind him.
Things hadn't been the same after the kids left. She found out that Jim had known the truth about Michael, Isabel, and Max all along. They fought over it and in the end remained just friends.