Thank you so very much for the reviews, StevenKingSilverDragon and Angharad Marared Rhodri Gwynedd (: My first reviewers! Ok here's the next chapter...sorry this is a bit rushed, but i'll make up for it in the chapter 3, I promise!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter… but the rest, I do!
CHAPTER TWO: Lost and Found
Harry found himself happier than he had felt theentire summer. Ginny and Ron were recounting the last prank the twins had played on Percy, which involved the shrinking of feet and enlarging of thighs and growing of leg hair all rolled in one. The effect had been disastrous, with Percy having to literally walk on two fleshy and furry turnips, whilst pushing a trolley to prevent himself from rolling over. Ron was imitating Percy's facial expression, which looked nothing short of Snape-like. Harry hadn't laughed like this since first year.
As Ginny began an embarrassing story of how their granny had gotten Ron to wear ballet slippers (with Ron violently protesting in the background), she was rather rudely interrupted by Vernon Dursley's thunderous voice.
"Potter! Get down here! There's some good-for-nothing freak at the door asking for you!"
Harry froze. Ron and Ginny exchanged a look, and made an attempt to appear calm. But their creased forehead gave away what each of them were thinking. Who the hell would come knocking on Harry's door? Ginny nervously twirled her hair around her fingers like she always did when feeling jittery. Ron just tapped his feet in an annoying rhythm. Harry sat on his bed and tried to remember if he had gotten any notice about visitors recently. It seemed nobody was in the mood for playtime anymore.
Getting awfully aware of the awkward silence, Harry sighed, and grabbed his wand before stuffing it in his pocket.
"Let's just get this over and done with."
The Weasleys absently nodded their heads, deciding to hide their suspicions in their own hearts.
Harry trudged down the stairs and took a deep breath, unconsciously tightening the grip on his wand. Slowly, he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.
There, standing at his doorstep, was a girl. A stranger, no less.
Harry stood confused for a couple a seconds before noticing something which took his breath away.
He was staring at his own eyes.
Startling green eyes stared back at him, and widened as they examined his own.
Behind Harry, Ron and Ginny warily made their way to the hallway, and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw who was behind the door.
"Bloody hell Harry…she looks like you…"
Ginny just rolled her eyes and stomped on her brother's toes.
"Damn you woman!" yelled Ron as he hopped around the sofa in pain.
"Shh…you're ruining the moment!" Ginny stomped on Ron's other foot, and focused her attention back on the strange girl at the door. Ron's right, she really does look like Harry, thought Ginny as she looked her over and got lost in those pickle green eyes.
The girl opened her mouth to speak.
"H-Hi…erm…I'm Zoe…"
She seemed extremely nervous, and was shaking from head to toe.
"Wow…err… Dumbledore told you I was coming, right?"
Harry frowned and tried to recall if Dumbledore had told him anything of any importance recently. When he thought of nothing, he wondered what ear-shattering news Dumbledore had forgotten to tell him, and suddenly remembered the pile of letters sitting unopened on his window sill.
Without a word, he rushed up the stairs, leaving the girl standing face to face with the Weasleys, both parties unsure of what the heck was going on. Feeling uncomfortable, Zoe just looked down at her feet, as if her worn-out shoelaces had suddenly grown two heads. Ron looked flustered, and kept looking everywhere except at Zoe. Ginny smiled awkwardly, occasionally turning her head back to see where Harry had gone.
She tried to avoid staring, but no matter how hard she tried, eventually, Ginny's eyes would always wander back to the strange girl standing in front of her. There was actually nothing too "strange" about her, unless you count those way-too-familiar eyes she knew so well. In fact, Zoe looked about her own age, but was slightly more petite and had more of a tan. Ginny felt a twinge of jealousy as she eyed the girl's perfect complexion, and grimaced as she thought of her own freckles and marble pale skin. Looking back at the girl, she saw that she was simply dressed, in t-shirt, shorts, and a pair of sneakers. In her hair was a delicate clip in the shape of a lily, and she had a sports bag slung round her shoulders. Every once in a while, her hands would fly up to her mouth and she would bite her nails. Yet though you could clearly see that she was thoroughly nervous, somehow, she seemed to have a confident air around her, and just seemed… radiant. Bit like Harry… thought Ginny, as she caught Zoe's eyes and hastily shifted her own to stare determinately at the ground.
As the silence wore on, Ginny grew frustrated. There was still no sign of Harry, and she couldn't go find him because she didn't want to let Zoe out of her sight, knowing Ron and his knack for screwing things up. She inwardly smirked at this thought, but was interrupted when she caught the Zoe staring at her again. It's like she's looking right through me…
Growing self conscious, Ginny felt her face heating up, and once again stared heatedly at the ground.
"What's your name?"
Ginny looked up, and saw that Zoe was smiling shyly, and looking straight at her. She was addressing her! Not quite sure of what to do, Ginny grinned.
"I'm..Ginny. Ginny Weasley. This idiot here's Ron. He's my brother…he..likes quidditch"
"Oh. That's… nice?" Zoe chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm really nervous. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing here…"
Seeing the girl's anxiety, and thoughtful attempts to make conversation, Ginny felt sorry for her, and decided try break the ice the bit. She laughed nervously.
"Well, Ronald and I are just here to keep Harry entertained, keep him company."
Zoe looked slightly put out by this.
"Oh, no not like that. We're his …friends, I guess, and…he's just really…lonely in the holidays…"
Ginny mentally kicked herself as she stammered and felt a blush creeping up her face. Lonely? Get a grip Gin! Ron rolled his eyes.
"Oh shut up Gin. We're friends from school. How bout you, what're you doing here?"
Ginny turned around to face her brother, and mocked horror. Had Ron, for once, outwitted her? She was shocked at the arrogance and poise in Ron's voice. This was so not the brother she knew…
Ron just rolled his eyes.
Zoe laughed uncertainly.
"Well… you see, I just found out today…it's really quite weird, but turns out I'm- "
She was cut off by the sound of footsteps banging down the stairs. Ginny saw Zoe's eyes light up as she looked at the figure standing at the base of the staircase. She turned around to find Harry, eyes shining, holding a letter crumpled in his hands, and smiling like she's never seen him smile before.
Zoe turned back to Ginny and looked her in the eye.
"I'm his sister."
Ginny frowned. Did she hear correctly?
"H-Harry has a sister? I…I didn't know that!"
Zoe just smiled and shook her head, biting her bottom lip as her eyes fogged up.
"Not many people do."
"So let me get this straight. All this time, you've had a sister?"
Harry nodded, grinning. Ron turned to Zoe.
"So you're….a Potter? Zoe Potter?"
Zoe shrugged. "I guess so."
Ron threw his arms up in the air and dramatically jumped off the bed.
"Then why didn't you say so! Saved me having to act all tough…"
Ginny burst out laughing. "I knew you couldn't pull off that maturity thing for more than a minute!"
Ron pretended he didn't hear anything and turned back to Harry, who was trying very hard to keep his face straight, which was difficult, considering the rate at which Ron's face was blotching up. Ron glared at him.
"So tell me…how?"
"How?" Harry's raised his eyebrows as if Ron's question was the most ridiculous one in the world.
"Yeah…like how did you find out, how did this happen? I mean…she wasn't born yesterday was she?"
Harry looked at his new found sister and laughed. "I'm not all that sure myself. Why don't you tell it?"
Zoe smiled. "Alright. But I'm warning ya, this is gonna take a while."
The others nodded and got comfortable. Harry cleared his bed and placed all the books on his table. Ginny chucked a few cushions she had gotten from the living room on the floor and sat down, patting the ground next to her, and making room for Zoe. Zoe smiled at Ginny's kind gesture and took the seat next to her. She leant against the window, hugging her bag to her chest, and laughed as she watched Ron and Harry do a series of frog jumps and fight over the bed. Eventually the boys remembered there was such thing as 'share and care' and decided to sit next to each other on the bed, a wise decision indeed.
Once they were settled down, they all looked expectedly at Zoe, who was biting her fingernails. She seemed to do a lot of that when she was nervous. She took a deep breath and started talking.
"So you all know Harry here, was born to mum and dad in July 1980 yea? Well what you don't know, is that a few months later, they were pregnant again, with me." She beamed as she pointed to herself.
"Anyway, I was born in September 1981 in a muggle hospital, 'cos that was closest and apparating isn't safe when pregnant so…yea I was born. But then the thing is, there was an..accident. Actually, more of a misunderstanding…" Zoe paused for a bit and seemed to get lost in her own thoughts.
"See, they thought I was a still born. I guess I played dead. But it turns out that I actually wasn't… and well let's just say I ended up at an adoption centre."
Ron frowned. "That's all?"
"Well…ok. I'll try and make it clearer," Zoe wrinkled her forehead in concentration. "I was told that I only "woke" like three days after I was officially born. And by that time, my parents had left the hospital…mysteriously. Dumbledore said it was probably'cos they went into hiding. So…nobody really knows why it was that I supposedly "came back from the dead." Heck, nobody knows if I was dead in the first place!"
Ginny snorted. "Ironic isn't it, that both Potters were Kids-who-lived…"
Harry rolled his eyes, before nudging his head towards Zoe.
"Go on"
"Anyway, I was adopted, coincidentally, by a wizarding couple – nice old couple by the name of Millers. Lily and James Potter had named me before I died, so I kept my name. I don't think the Millers ever realized I was the daughter of the famous Potters, even after your little incident, Harry." She smirked as her eyes traveled to Harry's scar. " I was homeschooled all my life. I've read about you, Harry…but I never realized I had anything to do with you til last Summer."
"What happened last summer?"
"I found this."
Ginny gasped.
oohlala! ok that's all for today. it would be realllly nice if i got more reviews, yea? tata!
-nina
