Hey ya'll, wow, I'm getting up there in reviews...I wonder if this will make it break 90...hm... : P
Ktoddhim--Thank you for the promise...should I hold you to it? Lol. j/k. Here's a new chapter.
lilleo--Are you like Leo's mini me? Lol. Here's the update so you can know what happens! Drop me another review please!
Dark Ronin Angel--I do check my grammer...but sometimes I forget and post a chapter without spell-checking it first. : P Great to see you're reviewing!
A.S. Leif--Hello...wow...I haven't posted for a while have I? Or does it just seem that way? My senior project speech presentations are rolling around and I've been working on that. Seeing how I think I already responded to you in a PM I'll just say hi, boo, and I'm looking forward to your review...I think that rhymed if you say it out loud...oh man...it does. I hate rhymes sometimes...AH! I did it again! I'm going away now. Enjoy the chapter. : P
RidDles Girl--I still love your name...lol. Anyway, I'm glad you like my chapters...and now you know I can't tell you who she'll "be with" because...well...I don't feel like it. : P Just keep in mind that once this is done there will be a sequeal by the name of...I'm not going to tell you. : D Because that way you'll just have to stick with me until I end this and start that! HA-HA! I'm victorious! Not really...anyhoos, unfortuantely there is not going to be much more Snape until they get to school, it will be following the book rather closely at most areas. : \ But he will show up at the Weasleys ONCE. Just for you. : D Drop me another review!
Apprentice--Hey Mei-Mei, how are you? Did you enjoy the chapters? Lol, tell me what you think of this one!
All right, REVIEW!
: P
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Burrow
Saying that she was happy that she didn't have to travel by floo to get to George's family home was a relief was an understatement. Any first impression she would have wanted to make on them would have been destroyed if she traveled by floo. Portkeys, however, were easy as pie for her. She could land on her feet quite normally, usually without even a stumble. It was very nice but Brits had this strange obsession with traveling by fire.
Her first thought when she saw the Burrow was that it looked very…interesting. The house looked to be four stories tall maybe even five and was half falling apart but at the same time had a very homey feeling surrounding it. She could feel the magic pulsing around it and through it. She tilted her head to the side, a faint smile tracing her lips at the simplicity of the house yet complexity of how it was held together. There was nothing that showed where the front yard ended and the backyard began so she could see that there were several hills and many, many trees. Weeds seemed to be plentiful and the grass looked to be shin-high. She spied a building like a garage or a shed off to the side of the house with a dirt road leading towards it. Everything was a beautiful green that could rarely be seen in California. That was something that she had grown used to in Scotland/England/wherever she was at the moment. The greens were vibrant and alive, not the dead, olive greens in Southern California. Or anywhere in the States that she could recall…
"Coming?" George asked. She giggled, realizing she had stopped to stare at his house. "I know it's not the best, I've seen pictures of your old house, nothing like this. Yours was huge and roomy and all, but—"
"It's amazing, George." She said honestly. He looked at her making a face. Lenore looked down with a sigh and a light but honest smile. "One thing my home had was space, one thing this place seems to have is love. It radiates off the place…it's interesting." George seemed to be a bit happier after she said that and was smiling now, seeming less nervous. "My mom always told me that she wanted at least four children. She said that Severus always said that she was crazy." Lenore stopped short. She couldn't believe she had said that out loud. She had read it in the journal not too long ago but never questioned Severus about it because there was nothing to ask.
George looked at her. He seemed to know that she hadn't meant to say that. "It's all right. My parents only planned on having three kids but my mom was determined to have a girl so she and dad kept trying until Ginny popped out. By then mom was so tired I don't think she could have another child, there are seven of us."
She whistled. "Wow…"
"Come on," he led her to the front door. "Welcome to your new home, Leo." He said swinging the door open.
Lenore stepped in just as a furry puffball came flying at her, hitting her square in the mouth. "PIG!" she heard a voice call as something rather dense landed in her hand and she spit out…feathers? She looked down and hooting in her hand was a rather fat, puffy, owl that looked more like a Furby than anything else. "Pig!" A rather tall gangly red head skidded to a stop in front of her. "Oh…hi…um..." the owl suddenly took flight and the redhead dove for it. "Damn owl."
She looked at George he laughed. The gangly redhead fell into the floor and the owl hooed indignantly from the circles it was flying above their heads. Lenore stared at him making a face as a teenage girl came skipping down the stairs and then laughed at the grumbling boy as he got to his feet. "Still can't catch him?" she taunted.
"You could help,"
"I wasn't the one who let him out." She said grabbing an apple from off the table as the boy leapt at the owl only to crash into the table.
Lenore started laughing as he slid off the table, knocking several chairs to the floor as he was now sprawled there on his back. "No. Ms. Oh-Vsn't-E-O-Ute," he mimicked some sort of accent. "did and where is she?"
The girl, whom she could only assume was Ginny (being the only Weasley girl in the family), munched on her apple watching the boy just as amused as Lenore and George were. "Talking to Hermione about Crookshanks I think. The cat got out again and apparently really has a thing for Gabbie's dirty clothes hamper."
"Get down here Pig!" the boy launched himself again after the bird.
"Which one is this one?" she asked softly as the boy once again failed horribly and landed awkwardly, but this time on his feet. He looked too young to be what George description of Bill and not enough of what he described of Charlie. In fact, this boy looked like a younger version of Percy minus the glasses and snobby air…and balance.
"Oh Ronniekins," George said in a singsong voice just as the teenager when airborne.
The boy twisted his body just as he managed to get a finger wrapped around the leg of the bird and saw George and Lenore. He and the bird landed on the floor, the bird letting out a squawk as it dropped down suddenly. He let out a moan and sat up, his hands cupped around the squirming furby owl. "George?" he exclaimed, as the bird worked a wing out of his hand. Ron, at least that who Lenore assumed he was, got to his feet awkwardly shaking his head. "Hold on, let me put this thing back in his cage," and with that the teenager took the steps two at a time leave Lenore alone with George and Ginny in the kitchen.
Ginny giggled as she swallowed the bit of her apple. "You must be Lenore." She stuck out her hand.
"That's me." She shook the hand. "I don't have to guess your name, Ginny, right?" She nodded taking a bit of her apple. Lenore smirked. "George, you didn't tell me that she was so pretty."
"I bet he described me as a toad." She commented sitting on the table.
"No. He just said that you were good enough to be one of the guys."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Wonderful."
They both giggled. George moaned. "Dear Merlin, she's turned into a girl."
"Which one of us?"
"Both of you." He said shaking his head.
Both grinned devilishly as there was a thunder of feet on the steps and Ron came back followed by another red head, Bill from what Lenore could tell from George's age description followed by a girl with bushy brown hair and then an even younger girl, maybe thirteen, with silvery blonde hair came down. Then there was some noise down the hall and a plump woman with red hair hurried into the kitchen followed by a tall young woman with the same silvery blonde hair.
The plump woman looked flustered. "Lenore, darling, I didn't expect you to be here so soon!"
"Mrs. Weasley?" she questioned curiously.
"Oh, dear call me Molly."
She looked at the woman with a smile. "Thank you for letting me stay here."
"Think nothing of it." The eyes of the woman narrowed. "Ginerva Weasley, get off that table at once."
Ginny sprang up from the table looking guilty. "Introductions might be a good start." Lenore said looking pointedly at George who was laughing at Ginny.
"Right, that's Ron—"
"I know that." She said with a smirk.
George stared at her with a fake annoyed look. "Are you going to let me finish?"
"Maybe."
"Do you want to meet my family?"
"I think it might be a necessity if I'm to be living with them."
"My name is Hermione, I'm Ron's best friend." The bushy-haired girl came forward, her hand out.
Lenore looked at her and smiled. "Nice to meet you."
"I am Gabrielle," the silvery blonde haired girl said with a slight bow.
"Pleasure…"
"Ron." The tall thin boy said off handedly. "Nice shirt."
"Thank you."
"My name is Bill."
Bill offered his hand and she caught sight of his earring. "Love the earring." She commented, wishing she knew where to find a fang like that.
He grinned. "That's Fleur, she's my fiancée." He pointed to the tall blonde woman.
"A plezure to meet vou, Lenore." The woman said with a kind smile.
Lenore took the extended hair and froze, her eyes widening. This girl was a veela. She didn't know how she knew it but she did. The blonde drew her hand back, startled. "You're a veela aren't you?" The question slipped velvet like off her tongue.
Slowly Fleur nodded. "What are you?"
"I don't understand." For some reason speaking felt different…more velvety and seductive.
"You are an American, no?"
"Yes…" Lenore didn't like how this girl was staring at her…or everyone else for that matter.
"Human?"
"Sort of…why? What are you going on about?" she looked around at the startled faces. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"Sort of human…you have no veela in your blood?"
"No."
"Then how did you come to speak the Language of the Veela?"
Lenore stared at her. "What?" Fleur shook her head looking very startled and unsure. "What is going on?"
"Vou ver speaking our language," Gabrielle said.
"I was speaking English."
"No Lenore." George said softly.
She looked around. "But I've never even heard veela before."
"Dear, it's no reason to be worked up." Mrs. Weasley—Molly said to her. "The Headmaster mentioned to us that something like this might happen."
"I don't understand."
The woman looked like she was thinking hard. "Your magic can tap into theirs and become what they feel the most comfortable in."
Lenore shook her head. "I don't understand."
"I'm not the one to explain it to you dear."
Lenore bit her lip. "Mrs. Weas—Molly…where may I sleep?"
"How polite, if only my children were that polite," the red-haired woman said with a pointed glare. "We have added a spare room in the attic, tiny but it will work." Mrs. Weasley glanced at Ron. "Ronald will show you the way. Dinner will be at six."
"Thank you." Lenore said before looking at George.
"I'm following you up, I've got your stuff." He said taking her suitcase—or they call it trunk here don't they?
Ron grumbled something under his breath and turned to walk back up the stairs he just took. On their way up George began pointing out things like where he first did accidental magic, where the bathroom—water closet—toilet—whatever was, whose room was on what floor etc. By the time they reached what she counted as the forth floor (including the bottom one) she thought they had made it because there were no other staircases but Ron walked diligently forward towards a door that looked relatively new. Swinging it open it revealed another staircase which he trudged up. One last door at the top of the stairs was opened before she saw her new home.
It was larger than she expected with a sturdy bed in one corner, a bookcase in another. "I told my mum you liked to read so we dragged this up," George said setting her bag down. "You like it?"
She smiled and threw her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you, thank you so much. I can't tell you how much this means to me."
Ron groaned. "Please…I'm still here."
Lenore glanced back. "We were just hugging, you don't ever hug Hermione?"
"She's not my girlfriend." Moaned the redhead.
George was slightly pink. "Ron, Leo's not my girlfriend either."
A giggle burst from her lips at the color of red that Ron turned. "Oh…er…sorry…I just…um…"
"You want to creep him out?" George asked in her ear.
"No, leave the poor boy alone, George." She whispered with a grin. "Thank you for showing me my room, Ron."
"Yeah…so…" Ron watched as his brother sat on the bed and then bounced on it. Lenore laughed at him shaking her head. "Um…is it true you're Snape's daughter?" the snarl of masked hatred in his voice was hard to miss.
Her eyes dropped. "Yes. What of it?"
Ron didn't answer. The disgust in his eyes were clear. "Ron, she nothing like Snape, all right?" George said firmly.
The redhead didn't look convinced. "So you grew up with the bastard?"
She winced. "Ron." George warned.
"No I didn't. I grew up with my mom in the states."
"So you're Snape's kid."
"I'm hardly a kid." She retorted.
He scowled. "But you're his daughter."
"We've already established that," She tilted her head to the side. "Is there a problem with that?" The scowl deepened. Squaring her shoulders back she stared at him. "I'm not Severus Snape. My name is Lenore Keller. End of story. If you're going to mistake me for the man I share blood with then I suggest you leave."
With a glare the teenager whirled around and stomped out. "He's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer." George growled shaking his head. "More like a spoon the drawer to be honest."
Lenore's face was a cross between laughing and thinking. "Will everyone react like that?"
George padded the bed beside him. "Not everyone, I think you crept Fleur and Gabrielle out enough on your own without the help of your unfortunate relative. Bill won't mind and neither will Ginny. So pretty much you only have Ron to worry about. Dad doesn't like the man much but he respects him as does mum."
She fiddled with her nails. "Will Ronald hold it against me?"
"Well he'll hold it against you if you call him Ronald to his face," George said and she smiled. He sighed dourly, looking away. "He might, to be honest. He and his best friend haven't been treated well by Snape."
She snorted bitterly. "Yeah, well, I can only think of one person he might have passably treated well and even that is questionable."
He shrugged. "He'll be upset for a while then Hermione will hit him and tell him he's being stupid, he'll be mad at that for a while before he gets to know you and then everything will be better."
"And how long before that?"
He smirked. "Three…two…one,"
"Ronald Weasley, you are an idiot!" a screech echoed up the stairs.
Lenore started laughing. "How did you know that?"
"He's my brother, what do you expect?" he said with another shrug. He smirked suddenly. "Hey…normally girls wait." She looked at him confused. "We've known each other a month and I've already got you in bed with me."
Her jaw dropped in a disbelieving smile. "You brat!" she exclaimed grabbing the pillow tucked under the blankets and hitting him with it.
"Ooff!" he gasped before dogging her second swing. "Hey, that's not fair, I'm unarmed!"
"Got into bed with you," she hit him again.
He started laughing as he dogged her again. "What?" he asked innocently. She lunged at him again but he grabbed the pillow and wrestled it out of her hands. "Ah-hah!" he exclaimed.
She let out a squeal and tried to get away from the pillow but he blocked the door. "Now that's not fair!" she said with a grin as she backed up.
George arched his eyebrow. "What's different than when you were hitting me?"
"You could have transfigured a pillow out of something. If I tried that, with my luck and magic at the moment, I'd transfigure this room into a giant pillow along with you." She bumping into the wall.
He grinned devilishly walking towards her. "All the better…you can't fight back."
Her jaw dropped; a smile on her lips. "Evil little man."
"Little? Who are you calling little?" he asked a few feet from her.
She had to look up at him. Height was not something the Weasley family lacked.
"Ha-ha!" Lenore said grabbing at the pillow. He still clutched it. "No!" she exclaimed fighting for it.
"Now come on, Leo." He tugged on the pillow and she pulled back. "Is that horrifying to be in bed with me?"
"We weren't in bed!" she squeaked trying to yank the pillow out of his hands. "We were sitting on it!"
"Together…"
Lenore was laughing so hard that when he pulled on the pillow she stumbled forward slightly. "You make it sound so dirty!" she giggled. He wagged his eyebrows playfully. "Give me that!" she said with a huge yank.
"Okay." George released it just as she tugged.
She stumbled backwards and fell onto the bed. "Was this your goal?" she asked as he walked over and smirked at her.
"No this was," he said as he started tickling her.
"AH!" she squealed. "Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!"
He laughed and stopped but he didn't pull away. Inches from each other they fell into a silence that made Lenore's heart pound. That look in his eyes…he was going to kiss her wasn't he? George was leaning in closer when—"Just friends, huh, better not let mum catch you," a giggling voice erupted from the doorway.
George nearly fell off the bed with how startled he was. "GINNY!" he exclaimed as Lenore turned scarlet.
"Oh….and I know something mum doesn't." the red haired girl smirked.
"All right, brat, what will it take for you not to tell?"
Ginny's smirk widened into a malicious grin as she stared at her brother. "Nothing," He looked at her skeptically. "I'm gonna go tell her just to see the look on her face." The redhead turned. "Mum!" she said in a teasing voice.
"GINNY!" thundered George as the girl took off down the stairs. "Be back in a moment, just off to kill my sister," he saluted and then ran down the stairs leaving Lenore in a fit of laughter.
This family was defiantly more colorful than anything Lenore had experienced for a while. With shrug she went to her bag and pulled out the box of books shrunk in it and began placing the books that she brought with her on the shelves. There was a hesitant knock on the door when she was trying to decide whether to put her potions texts with light reading or school books. Glancing up she was startled to find the bushy haired witch at the door watching her.
"Um…hi," Lenore said nervously. This was Ron's best friend. George said she wouldn't react the same way to her…heritage but…well…you could never be sure.
"Hi," the girl glanced about the room. "My name is—"
"Hermione, yeah, you told me downstairs," she said deciding that she'd put the potions texts in between the two along side her mother's journals. "What's up?"
Hermione found herself looking up before shaking her head. "Two things, to warn you that Ronald is a complete idiot and has just about as much intelligence as bait," Lenore snorted. "And the other is to ask you a question of a rather delicate sort,"
The raven-haired girl arched her brow. "No I'm not dating George."
The girl looked at her and smiled in place of a laugh. "I didn't think you were."
Lenore turned back to placing books on the shelves. "Then what?"
"Is it true that you're sixteen?"
She made a face looking at Hermione. Of all questions that was not what she expected. "Well…no, I'm actually fifteen turning sixteen in a few weeks, why?"
"August, right?"
Slowly Lenore nodded, her full attention on the bushy haired girl. "Yes."
"But you're taking seventh-year classes?"
That was when Lenore spotted it, the hints of jealousy in the girl's eye. She almost started to laugh. "No." The girl regarded her with surprise, her eyes snapping to the books on her shelf. "I know seventh year material, yes, I am advanced enough to attend university this year but I choose not to."
"Why?"
"Because the reason I am so advanced is not of my doing." Lenore said honestly as she heard a thump downstairs. She glanced at the girl. "You put Ginny up to getting George out of here didn't you?" Hermione nodded, looking at the books on the shelf. "Just to ask me about what year I'll be in. I don't buy it,"
Hermione sighed. "No, that's not why I came up." She seemed to be groping for words. "Look, Mrs. Weasley has told us about your sorting and the reasons you've decided to come, Ronald just chose to stuff his face instead of listening but there's one thing I just don't get...why would Voldemort be after you? Professor Snape isn't exactly his right hand man, what does it matter that you are here?"
With a sigh Lenore sat down on the bed. "He's not after me yet."
"I don't understand."
"I will tell you because most likely this entire house will know by the time my tutors get here but...where to start…it's all so confusing…" Lenore said looking down. Slowly she began to explain everything, her growing up, her mother, her coming to England, meeting Severus, her discovery about her blood, everything. By the end the bushy-haired witch was slightly agape at her. "Interesting little tale of my life isn't it?"
"So….so you are…wow….no wonder you can…"
Lenore smirked. "Hermione, you're not speaking in full sentences."
The girl turned slightly pink but just kept shaking her head. "This is…wow."
"Such is life." She said with a shrug. "So…what do you people do around here for fun?"
"Stay out of the adults way," came a grumbling voice causing them both to look up. George stood there. "Of course the moment I try to catch Ginny she runs into Bill and we all fall down, then mum figures if we have time to goof off we have time to help her so we all were forced to help her." He shook his head and saw Hermione. "Oh…hi Hermione. What are you doing here?" They both looked at each other and erupted into giggles. "What?"
Did you like it? Then REVIEW! please. : P
