A/N Ah well…no reviews so far! Oh well! But still on with the show. I don't own Harry Potter, I solely own this story and this story only! D
HARRY POTTER AND THE LAST LINE OF SLYTHERIN
Chapter 2: Life in the Burrow
Lily woke up the next morning in the girls' room. Dim light crept through the window for the weather was becoming gloomier than ever. She didn't mind. The Orphanage had been just as dark and dreary which she presumed was where she was.
"Ahh!" Lily tripped over someone. "Ow! Watch it!" Poor Hermione groaned and massaged her sore hip. "Huh? Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there." The new witch walked out the door casually as if nothing happened in the house which she seemed to call acknowledge as her own already. "That girl has no manners." Hermione complained to the sleeping Ginny who merely mumbled a few incoherent words, not at all used to being awake at 6 o'clock in the morning. The bushy hair sighed and slumped back on her pillow asleep for the next hour.
Lily appeared downstairs in the kitchen where she saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley privately kissing each other off to work. Embarrassed, she turned away and waited. She wasn't used to seeing so much love between older people. Not since Mairi's ex fiancé cooed and awed her while making the orphans miserable. (This pleased Mairi even more)
In fact, Jim didn't like Mairi either. Rather, he was in for the loads of money she got as donations and spent on gin. On the day Jim had tried to run away with Mairi's yearly payment, Lily and James had pulled a series of pranks which included dropping a bucket of garter snakes gathered by seven-year-old Dunstan in the garden. Lily smiled at the fond memory remembering the look on Jim's face when the snakes slithered around his already egg yolked body.
Mrs. Weasley turned around to see the girl staring back at her. Generally, Mrs. Weasley would openly show love and affection towards children but there was something odd about the way she looked at her. Her eyes were dark fathomless pits of — emptiness. "Oh, it's only you, Lily dear. You gave me quite a scare. Oh my, I'm afraid you're up quite early. You might have to come back in an hour or so. Why don't you go and have a nice walk in our garden. You could weed out some gnomes for me." As she said this, she handed her some gloves and other equipment.
Lily seemed to almost smile but then froze and put on a disgusted face as she swiped the gloves and stomped outside to the garden. Mrs. Weasley shook her head, silently disgusted by her manners. She resorted back to making breakfast glancing nervously at her unusual clock which had all hands of all the family members at Mortal Peril.
It was a chilly morning. The fog was not as dense in the Burrow as it was in Privet Drive. The young witch breathed in the cold air and revelled in her surroundings. Soon, she got to work of weeding out gnomes. Though she had only read about gnomes in the books Ms. Vance showed her, she had never quite seen one in real life. It was quite an ugly thing resembling something of a horribly grotesque potato shaped head. She grabbed the first one and swung it hard far away. Soon, her stomach gave an insistent growl and she decided it was time to go inside.
However, her eyes caught a glimpse of a broom outside the shed. After seeing all the Quidditch photos in that Weasley boy's room, her interest of the game had sparked quite initially. Lily didn't know what possessed her to do it but the next moment she found her self at least thirty feet in the air. It surprised her immensely, the shock of kicking off from the ground and the wind blowing in your hair. A huge grin began to spread, she began to soar then —
"Oy, there! Get off my broom!" another red haired Weasley Lily didn't recognize scolded her. She sighed heavily at the loss of freedom. She tipped her broom down and easily landed on the soft ground. Soon enough, another red-haired boy exactly like the one that yelled at her strode over to his twin's side smirking at her. If Lily hadn't busied herself to look unafraid and distant, she would've remarked about the impressed expression. "Who are you missy, to ride my broom without my permission around my house." He glared but her eyes never wavered.
"Oh I'm sure this can be called your broom. Look at how clean and cared for it looks." She motioned a hand at the scraggly twigs and the chipped broom handle, not to mention the faded colour from years of leaving it out of the shed. "She's gotta point there Fred." His twin remarked amused at this girl. Her cool and sarcastic demeanour as well as her ability to ride a broom the first time with that much ease had amazed him. As far as his father had told them about the Randulphus twins, they had never been allowed to dwell in the magical community due to some…unusual circumstances.
"Doesn't give you the right to fly it! It's our property." Fred grabbed the broom from her attempting to polish it with his robes to make it appear better. George laughed, remembering how many times Fred had yelled at Ron for doing the same thing. Glancing back at the girl, she seemed just as amused as he was. She looked back and lowered her lashes, an attempt to give him the cold shoulder just before she slipped inside the house. George frowned slightly, wondering what he had done to make her look at him like he was dung. That girl's got an attitude problem.
Harry woke up groggily and smiled as he remembered why everything was so special today. Today was his seventeenth birthday and he had come of age. And he was free. Free from his terrible relatives that had given him nothing but pain and loathing these past sixteen years. He got up just in time to see Ron's face grinning at the foot of his sleeping bag. "Happy Birthday Harry! You best get up and at least open some of the presents we got for you." He gestured towards the big pile of wrapped gifts glimmering like a treasure for him to be opened.
He grinned and grabbed the nearest box. He unwrapped the gift and found a nice set of robes of deep forest green and a box full of homemade lemon pie. Harry smiled as he read the card from both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They considered giving an elegant set of robes a coming of age present. Next, from Hermione, he got a book of useful hexes and counter curses with pictures to demonstrate wand movements and characteristic colours. Harry smiled grimly knowing exactly why she gave it. His attention was soon diverted as he glanced at a small box moving frantically.
Remembering the time Hagrid gave a book on Magical Creatures that actually bit people, he approached it with caution. When he opened it, Harry saw to his delight that it was a snitch — from Ginny. Using his Seeker skills, he grabbed the snitch and grinned as he read his name engraving across the snitch. He would remember to thank her. From Fred and George, more inventions from their Joke Shop, including their latest invention the Nothing Maker which consisted of a long black thread which you stretch and insert yourself into so you can disappear from your enemy's sight, kind of like an invisibility cloak except you didn't have to worry about someone tripping or grabbing you by accident.
"Hold on, you haven't opened mine yet!" Ron exclaimed and reached for a small red box. Harry opened it and frowned at the specimen. It was quite a tiny little thing. A crystal shaped box with numbers on its many faces. "What is it?" Grinning Ron replied, "It's a Redundant Box."
"A what?" said Harry more confused than ever.
"It repeats everything that it has 'heard' and has been said in the last 12 days. Look, I'll show you." He took the box and shook it a little. Then grabbing his wand, he tapped the box on the number one. It began to glow then shot out a stream of light and seemed to scan the area. After blinking several times, Harry looked around and saw the events of last night. In a big rectangle, kind of like a TV, the girl Lily was being ushered out by Fleur and the rest of them laughed at her brother, James' remark.
"Wow! This is great Ron! Thanks!" He decided he liked this present best but a question rose upon his mind. "But, how'd you…how did you get the money?" Surprisingly, Ron didn't redden but rather grimaced. "Dad's been getting paid a lot more as you know and I had Fred and George lend me a couple Sickles. Besides money doesn't really matter now. Who knows if we'll live the next day?" Harry couldn't believe he was hearing such negative comments from his best friend but decided to keep it grim. After all he was right, who knew if they were going to live the next day.
A mop of blonde hair rose from under the covers. "Huh…what? Who's birthday is it? Gosh! Is that lemon pie?" After giving Jamie a piece of the lemon pie (who gobbled it up in two bites and wished him an incoherent sounding Birthday), they packed his presents and followed their noses downstairs to the aroma of Mrs. Weasley's pancakes. "Happy Birthday Harry! Hope you liked the presents we gave you." The two Weasley twins were comfortably seated around the table along with Hermione and the patronizing Fleur seated to the left of the ever so annoyed Ginny. All wished him a Happy Birthday which he smiled his thanks back to. It felt good to be surrounded by people who actually cared about him and who despite knowing the increasing danger of being around him, still stood strong with him. He would forever be grateful to them all.
"It's your Birthday today?" a clipped voice asked beside him. Harry's eyes widened in surprise at the girl behind the Daily Prophet he assumed to be Mr. Weasley. She looked up from the paper and smirked as if she knew what he was thinking. "Funny, our Birthday's tomorrow. Right James?"
"Uh huh." Jamie nodded and gulped down a pancake, continuing, "At exactly one minute after midnight Lily and I shall be sixteen." Mrs. Weasley spilled some milk and muttered a curse to clean it up. Slightly frowning, Lily continued reading the paper. "Ah! Magnifique! This is so exciting, two b'erthdays and two veddings to celebrate! I shall order more cake and maybe we should make Lily's dress a shade pinker and oh maybe a bouquet of daisies on her dark 'air." No one missed the flinch behind the newspaper and no one needed Legligimens to know how much Lily wished she had kept her mouth shut.
The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully. They played a small game of Quidditch with Harry, Ron and Hermione against Ginny, Fred and George. Hermione decided to quit the first round after she almost flipped over her broom and almost fell 20 feet from the air. Luckily Ron put her right in the nick of time and saw to it that she safely went back to the ground. Jamie seemed quite eager and soon proved himself a natural at Quidditch.
Lily sat in the shade of the shed and sat down reading she 'borrowed' from Ginny about Transfiguration. She planned on studying everything she could before the Headmaster's exam. She wanted to make sure that Hogwarts, for whatever reason had not let her brother and her enrol before, would not have the chance to do so again. Hermione tried to make small talk with her, but the girl just didn't seem to care. I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up in Slytherin, the way she acts. Frowning at such a thought, Hermione quickly turned her attention away to the wizards and witch in the air.
An hour before the sun set, Mrs. Weasley ushered them in despite their protests. She handed the five younger teens letters from Hogwarts. "I'm not bothering to open mine." Harry made a move as to toss his away. He had other things to settle. "I wouldn't do that if I were you Harry. Professor McGonagall wouldn't have opened the school during this time unless it was for a very special reason. You should read the letter." Heeding Mrs. Weasley's advice, Harry opened the letter:
Dear Mr. H. Potter,
As most witches and wizards must be, you must also be wondering why I have chosen to leave the school open. I assure you, I am not doing anything foolhardy. Though our dear Headmaster Dumbledore has passed away, I assure you he would not have wanted us to hide in fear, more so we should be preparing ourselves for the worst. Therefore, I am leaving the school open to any student wishing to learn.
This year's curriculum shall be a bit more challenging. We shall be doing more practical tests to prepare our students. Extra precautions shall be taken of to ensure student safety. I severely urge the students to avoid breaking any rules for they have all been reinforced. Hogsmeade shall be attended in groups. Any strange occurring things must immediately be reported to me. Duelling and Charm Clubs are encouraged as long as they are under adult supervision. Below are the books needed for the following year at Hogwarts. I wish you good luck and will understand if you have chosen not to come.
From Headmaster,
Professor McGonagall
Harry scanned the list for the subjects associated with his books seeing that Professor McGonagall had indeed meant business. Several of the books were highly advanced, something which gifted students might have been able to get. Seeing the way Mrs. Weasley easily give in to sending her kids and Harry to Hogwarts, Harry suspected that McGonagall had sent letters to all the parents as well.
He looked over to see Hermione stare at her letter in shock. "They made me Head Girl!" "Well done Hermione! I knew you could do it!" Ron slapped her on the back while Ginny hugged her grinning all the while. "What's a Head Girl?" the confused James asked. They resorted to explaining later.
Later on in the evening, Tonks and Lupin arrived as well as the rest of the Order. The Burrow was completely filled with guests all making merry on Harry's birthday. Fred, Charlie and George were busy teaching Jamie card games like Exploding Snap and Black Eye Jack. Lily resorted to ignoring everyone, gaining a few whispers from some of them and went on to read Ginny's book. As everyone entertained themselves in some way, Harry, Ron and Hermione followed by Ginny took this chance to go upstairs and talk.
"So what do you plan to do mate? Will you be going?" Ron asked tentatively. "Of course not! I told you before, I'm not going back, even if it opens." Hermione bit her lip. They all knew about Harry's temper, having experienced it in their fifth year. "Well that's pretty stupid. You'd be a fool not to go there especially when the killer's roaming around the school." Harry blinked, stumped by Ginny's answer. She frowned and continued on, "Listen Harry, you saw Snape kill Dumbledore. If we can keep a close eye on him, maybe we'll be able to find those Horcruxes and find out what You-know – ugh! Voldemort's up to."
"I don't know…I doubt the Horcruxes will be in the school." But as he said those words, he remembered Dumbledore's words about Voldemort. Hogwarts was very special to him and to hide Horcruxes in there… "Just think about it. I hope you took the hint in what McGonagall said in the letter about the clubs." All three frowned at Hermione but as she looked at them meaningfully, it dawned upon them. It was time to reunite Dumbledore's Army. The four continued to talk excitedly about their plans for the upcoming months and events.
Meanwhile, downstairs in the living room the guests began to leave. Bill and Fleur went upstairs to bed while Charlie decided to stay with the twins in their lodgings. The rest of the guests left except for Tonks and Lupin whom had to stay for the wedding anyway. Tonks was swept away by Mrs. Weasley who wanted to make last minute additions to her dress. This left Lupin very much alone with the Randulphus twins. Lily struck up the opportunity to ask him about the current events since he seemed very well informed about everything being once a teacher at Hogwarts and all. "Mr. Lupin sir, I've been meaning to ask. Why has everyone been so, you know…uptight and nervous about everything?"
Remus Lupin regarded the girl warily with his grey eyes. She looked quite hungry for information and intimidating with her odd colouring. Like others, he couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the fact about how the twins were so different. "Well Lily, I suppose I should tell you since you too must know about this ruckus also." He took a deep breath and resumed, "It's a very long story. More than seventeen years ago, there was a wizard named Voldemort and he started gathering followers. Voldemort was a…monster. Anyone who stood up was instantly killed and those who didn't joined his side thus the many killings. One day, someone tipped off Voldemort about where the Potters were hiding and this caused Harry's parents to die. However, the spell Voldemort used backfired and caused him to grow weak."
"He must've been quite stupid then. It's always a lot more helpful to know your enemies before you attack them." She quipped. "Yes," said Lupin, not liking the girl's direct tone, "However, you must also understand that Voldemort was quite powerful then. So powerful, that this power blinded his ability to look upon things in a clear vision immensely. And anyhow, he's been resurrected for at least three years now and it's worse than ever. We had Dumbledore to guide us back then, but now…after his death…I don't know." His mind wavered to his own thoughts.
"Who is this Dumbledore? I've heard Ms. Vance mention him a few times but she never went into detail. Come to think of it, she rarely spoke of anything outside the books she taught us from." Lupin regarded her with his sombre eyes. He knew what she would lead this conversation to, but he was afraid he wouldn't know how to answer that. It was too complicated and even he himself didn't know the entire truth of it. "Professor Albus Dumbledore was the greatest headmaster Hogwarts had ever had and if you asked almost any respectable witch or wizard in the community, I'll bet they'd say the same things." Mrs. Weasley came over to them, obviously overhearing their conversation. "Now, drink this glass of milk. It'll help you sleep and get ready for the Wedding tomorrow. Now off you go, its bed time!"
Lily quietly thanked her and left knowing how they felt about her. She passed by Ron's room. She could hear her brother laughing and making merry with them as he usually did with anyone who met him. Loneliness tugged at her heart and she forced to control the sob that was about to escape from her throat. Quickly, she rushed to Ginny's bedroom and dove under the covers hugging herself, like she had done every night for the past three years. Oh Will! Why'd you have to make me this way?
A/N Next…is the wedding day! And a few unusual events. Till then! D
-Unawoken Dream
