The Travelers settle into their new home and make new friends.
When Harri woke up the next morning, the first thing she did was check her nightstand for the horcrux marble, to see if last night had not just been an unusually elaborate dream. She found it just where she'd left it, and released a sigh of either relief or resignation, she wasn't entirely sure which. The thing looked quite innocent sitting in the empty drawer, considering both the evil it contained and the potential but inevitable chaos it represented.
She resolutely decided to not worry about it for now, since there was nothing she could do to change it, and instead made herself get out of bed so she could get ready for the day.
She joined the others for a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage (pulled from the food stores in the tent because they hadn't had time to go to a grocery store yet), then they all set to work on finishing furnishing the houses and getting some of the other trunks organized. Luckily, the houses had come with the major appliances like the fridge and washer and dryer, but the electronics Hermione had purchased were delivered that morning, and she and Sirius worked on applying a runes scheme that would prevent them from being affected by any magic flying around (a similar scheme was already in the wards, but adding them directly to the electronics would only provide more protection). Once that was done, it made installing them much easier, especially the large TV for the basement media room, which could be simply levitated into place before being attached with both mounts and a permanent sticking charm.
For the rest of the furniture, it was even simpler. All they needed to do was remove the shrunken pieces from the trunk, set it down in its designated spot, and then unshrink it. What few items needed to be shifted again after this was done by levitating it an inch or so off the ground and moving it that way.
After all the trunk furniture was set out, a list made of other missing pieces (like large couches and chairs for the media room, as well as cabinets and appliances for a kitchenette in the rec room), and lunch eaten, they split into groups for the next tasks. Sirius, Remus, Hermione and Neville gathered in the girls' dining room to make plans for the renovations of the spare rooms and unfinished basement into the dueling room, greenhouse, library and potions lab respectively, while Harri, Ron, Ginny and Luna started unpacking the housewares.
Partway through this task, as she was putting away towels in the boys' linen closet, Harri spotted the stasis trunk where their collective pets, Hedwig, Pigwidgon, Crookshanks, and Trevor, had been placed, and decided to bring them out now that the major tasks were done. However, upon opening the trunk, she let out a short scream of shock, because animals were not the only things inside.
"What is it!?" Ron asked, rushing over with his wand drawn even as the others raced through the connecting door from the girls' house.
"I opened the stasis trunk to get Hedwig and the others out, and there's two people in here as well," she said, stepping back and pointing her own wand inside. Luckily, both the people - a man and a woman - were unconscious, but who knew how long that would last.
"Back away, Harri," Sirius said, and she did so while he and Remus wrapped the two in ropes and levitated them out of the trunk and over to the living room couches.
Once they were laid out, they could see them much more clearly. Both were fairly short - the man maybe a meter and a half tall and the woman several centimeters shorter - had large pointed ears, and were dressed in clothes too small for them. The man had very short light blonde hair, and was wearing what looked like a sloppily knit jumper and a pair of kids shorts with bright mismatched socks. The woman had short dark brown hair and was wearing a blue blouse and skirt, and also had a wide flat nose.
"Where did they come from?" Neville asked.
"I don't know, but they almost look… familiar," Ginny said, and as she did, it struck Harri.
"I think… I think that's Dobby and Winky."
"What?" Remus asked, while Hermione gasped.
"Harri's right! That's one of the jumpers I knitted for the house elves last September, and that's the blouse Winky was wearing the night before we left."
"They must have hidden in the trunk after we all went to sleep," Sirius said, shaking his head. "I knew they were loyal to you Harri, but this is ridiculous."
"But why do they look like that?" Ginny asked. "They look basically human."
"Maybe something about crossing universes?" Hermione suggested. "Remus said there doesn't seem to be any magicals here, so maybe there aren't any elves, so magic changed them so they'd better fit in."
Sirius and Remus talked quietly for a moment, then nodded. "Hermione, fetch a restoration potion, a couple calming draughts, and two cups" Remus said. "We're going to wake them and see what they have to say for themselves."
Hermione nodded and dashed off, returning a few minutes later with the required potions. Remus thanked her and poured out a mouthful of the restoration potion into each cup, before passing one of them and a calming draught to Sirius. The two older wizards knelt next to the (former?) house elves and made them drink the potion. A minute or so later the two started twitching like they were rousing from deep sleep, and tennis ball green and wood brown eyes blinked open.
The elves looked around, and Dobby's eyes alighted on Harri first. "Harri Potter!" He attempted to spring up, most likely to hug Harri, but his new proportions tripped him up and he fell off the couch instead, only just kept from a face plant on the ground by Sirius's arm. He looked down at himself, and reached up to feel his head, hands lingering over his ears. "Dobby was not expecting this."
A short shriek came from the other couch, and Harri looked over to see Winky also feeling her ears, tugging up on them as if she could stretch them back out again. "Winky is not right! Winky is not a witch, Winky is a house elf!"
"Don't hurt yourself, Winky," Remus said gently, taking her hands in one of his to reinforce his statement before grabbing the calming draught. "Drink this, it will help calm you."
Winky took the draught and drank the whole thing. She sagged against Remus and looked down at herself, seeming to be taking in her new appearance. Harri turned back to Dobby, and he seemed to be getting the hang of his new body, already standing and testing out his balance.
"Dobby," she said, and he looked up at her. "What are you and Winky doing here?"
"Dobby and Winky are Free Elves, but Harri Potter is ours. We will not let you face the dangers of a new world alone."
"I wasn't alone, Dobby," Harri said, gesturing to everyone else in the room. "All of them came with me, you didn't have to."
Dobby shook his head, losing his balance for a moment and plopping down on the couch. "Harri Potter saved us, so Harri Potter is ours. We will not leave her."
Harri caught Sirius's eye, and they both sighed, echoed by Hermione behind her. Well, they were already here, and there was no way to send them back, so they'd have to make the most of it.
"Does this mean we have to turn part of the basement into a room for them?" Ron asked.
"We is not needing much," Dobby said. "Just room for both of us to sleep, one galleon a week, and one day off a month, like before."
"Galleons aren't accepted currency here," Harri said. "But I think we can work something out."
"Why don't we start with getting you two some actual clothes," Sirius suggested. "I think the only things that are fitting you right right now are your socks."
"Harri Potter's Dogfather is right!" Dobby went to jump up and nearly fell again, though he caught himself this time. "Dobby is already starting to walk better."
"Good for Dobby," Winky half-muttered, seeming a lot more present than she'd been a few minutes before.
They ended up loaning Dobby a pair of shorts from Ron and an orange shirt from Luna, while Winky got one of Luna's dresses (a bright tie-dye affair with a baby doll cut, so it came to Winky's knees). Once dressed and stable on their feet, Dobby joined the planners, to figure out where he and Winky would be staying, while Winky helped the unpackers in putting things away. When dinner came around, the elves practically bullied the magicals out of the kitchen to let them cook for everyone. The meal was delicious, as usual, and afterwards they all gathered in the living room to watch a movie, a Disney one that only Hermione had seen before.
The next day, Winky and Dobby insisted on taking care of the renovations of the extra rooms, while practically shooing off the witches and wizards to go get the other things they needed, which meant a trip to the local mall.
Hermione decided that this trip would also be a good time for them all to update their wardrobes, as while they did pack a decent amount of muggle clothing (Hermione obviously having the most), it was also at least a decade out of style. So after spending an hour testing out couches and chairs to decide on the comfiest ones for the media room, the teens split from the adults to hit the various clothing stores, while they stayed behind to find the rest of the needed furnishings.
A couple hours later, Harri, Ginny and Luna ended up a bit stranded in one of the stores, looking at a rack of bras while Hermione had rushed off to help Ron and Neville figure out something over on the guys side of the store. Mainly, the three were staring cause they didn't know where to start. All of Harri's bras had been old ones of Aunt Petunia's, while wizarding fashion didn't include them, instead having either enchantments on the robes, tunics, and dresses or good old fashioned stays to provide support and lift. And the instruction that Hermione had given them before dashing off hadn't been very clear, so all three were completely lost.
"Are you three lost?"
The witches turned and saw a girl in a black tank top, and ripped and patched jeans standing there. She had long wavy brown hair, bright blue eyes surrounded by shimmery eyeshadow, and was carrying a big brown purse.
"Physically, no, but about this…" she vaguely gestured to the bra rack.
The girl looked at the rack then at the witches. "Don't know your size or trying to pick a style?"
"Both," Ginny said. "Harri's are all hand-me-downs from her evil aunt, and Luna and I only recently started to need any, and our cousin who was helping us ran off to help her brother and my brother."
"Victoria's Secret does fittings," the girl said. "I can take you three over and we can get that for you."
"Really? That'd be great," Harri said. "Let me let our cousin know so she doesn't freak out that we're gone." She pulled out her new phone, a Nokia 9300, and texted Hermione where they were going. That done, she tucked her phone back in her pocket and the witches started to follow the other girl out of the store. "I'm Harri Black."
"Ginny Wright."
"Luna Lewis."
"Mikaela Banes," the other girl said. "So, are you all new in town? You've got that accent, and I know I haven't seen you around school before."
"Yeah, our family just moved here from London," Harri said. "Us, my dad, Luna's dad, my cousins Neville and Hermione, and Ginny's brother Ron - they're Luna's cousins."
Mikaela laughed and looked at Ginny. "Anyone ever call you and your brother Weasleys?"
"All the time," Ginny said, smiling a bit. "I point out that I look nothing like the actress in the movies." Which was very true, with the freckles that spread across her face, her hair being orange-red instead of auburn, and her already tall-for-her-age height.
"That's fair. So what brings you all out here?"
"Tragedy and stupidity," Luna said. "We decided it would be better to have a fresh start somewhere completely new, so we packed everything up and jumped."
"And decided to come here?" Mikaela asked.
"I'm pretty certain my dad threw a dart at a map, and Uncle Remus went along with it," Harri said.
Mikaela laughed. "That's one way to do it."
They arrived at Victoria's Secret, and an associate quickly got them measured and fitted. Harry turned out to be the only one who could fit any of the bras there, but they got advice on where to get some for Ginny and Luna, and all three plus Mikaela had fun picking out styles for Harri. Hermione eventually arrived with Ron and Neville in tow for her own fitting, and after another joke about Hermione's name being from Harry Potter, the group left her to get her own fitting done, while the rest headed down to the food court for lunch, chatting the whole way. By the time they'd gotten food and sat down, they'd started asking about their various interests.
"I'm all about plants," Neville said with a smile. "We're making plans to turn the attic space off my room into a greenhouse, in fact."
"I like to study animals, and write articles," Luna said, taking a drink of her milkshake. . "I'm thinking I'd like to be a zoologist and travel the world one day."
"Harri, Ron and I are into sports," Ginny answered for them, eating some fries. "Harri was starter of the house football team from her first year, and Ron and I were reserve last year, though we also play a lot of pick up games at home."
"I'm also thinking of picking up fencing," Harri added, looking down at her wrist, where Dracablud was wrapped in bracelet form.
"That's really cool." Mikaela took a sip of her soda. "I mostly just work on cars, when I can convince my aunt's mechanic to let me help out."
"Harri's dad has a motorcycle," Ron said. "Maybe he could bring it to you for a check up."
"Are you talking about me?" Harri felt a hand settle on her head and she leaned back to look up at Sirius, Remus and Hermione coming up next to him with their own trays of food.
"Hi, Dad, Remus," she said with a smile. "This is Mikaela, she helped out with some of our shopping."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Black, Mr. Lewis," Mikaela said, holding her hand out.
"Please, Mr. Black was my father, call me Sirius," Sirius said, shaking it.
"Sirius Black. Like the Harry Potter character?"
"I get that a lot," Sirius said with a grin. "I can firmly say I've had the name longer than the character has existed. Why, I'd even wager the character was named after me."
"Very funny, Sirius," Remus said with a shake of his head. "It's lovely to meet you Mikaela. We were hoping the kids would make some new friends after the move."
"Are you gonna join us?" Hermione asked, sitting at the free spot Neville had saved for her.
Sirius shook his head. "Nah, you kids have fun. We'll eat and come get you once we're ready to go." He dipped down to kiss Harri's head, then the rest of the magical teens, sending them into giggle fits, as well before walking off with Remus.
The teens returned to their conversation, and were eventually joined by a group of Mikaela's friends, who dragged the local girl off. Before they did though, Mikaela gave the magicals her phone number, and she walked away with six new texts in her phone. She also tried to take her remaining fries with her, only to find she had no more. Everyone brushed it off as her eating more than she'd thought, but Harri caught a glimpse of Melinoe leaning against a pillar, eating the stolen fries out of her hand. Harri discreetly glared at the Reaper, but she just giggled, tossed the last couple in her mouth, and poofed away in a cloud of smoke.
After lunch, the Travelers left the mall and, after shrinking their purchases once out of sight of people and cameras, hit the grocery store before finally heading home. Hermione verbally thanked that they had magic, cause there was no way they'd be able to fit eight people plus their new wardrobes plus the groceries into one vehicle without it. Once home, the elves put away the groceries while everyone else put away clothes.
The next few days were filled with renovations as the magicals put the finishing touches on their home, helped along by Dobby and Winky's House Elf magic, which they retained just as the witches and wizards retained their own.. They decided to turn one of the spare rooms in the basement of the boys' house into a little apartment for Dobby and Winky, and continued their plans for the dueling room, greenhouse, potions lab and library. Each room was layered with rune schemes that contained expansion charms, doubling their sizes, and holding different protective wards. In the dueling room, these were to protect any observers from misaimed or deflected spells, as well as the room itself from destructive spells like Incendio or Bombarda. The greenhouse had wards to prevent rot and damp from seeping into the rest of the house. The library wards could have rivaled the ones in the Hogwarts library by the time Hermione was done with them, and it was organized exactly to her specifications as well. The potions lab was warded to protect the different workstations from exploding potions and potential cross-contamination, as well as a wind charm that would blow fumes towards a vent that backed the chimney, so they could escape without harming anyone.
The back shed became the home of their menagerie of magical creatures, after extensive expansion charms and warding was placed on it. Dobby and Winky would take the primary responsibility of caring for the creatures, but everyone would help out, with Hermione suggesting a schedule for it. Remus liked that idea, and decided they could use that for all the chores, as just because they had the house elves didn't mean the teens would get to be lazy and slobs. It took some negotiating with Harri, Sirius and Remus together, but they arranged it that Dobby and Winky would prepare breakfast and dinner twice a week, while all other meals the humans would have to prepare themselves. (Sirius already declared Fridays as Takeout and Movie Night, so there was one less to worry about.) As well, the kids would be responsible for cleaning up their rooms, their own laundry, and any mess they made in the living areas, but the elves could do the dusting and general maintenance around the houses.
Once the renovations were done and the magical plants and animals settled into their new homes, Sirius and Remus left the teens and elves to their own devices for a couple days, driving up to Wyoming where they had found a remote cabin and several acres of forest for sale. A tour of the place showed that it would be an excellent space for Remus's transformations, with a cellar that had doors inside and out, and plenty of space to set the necessary wards. As well, the cabin itself was big and modern enough that the whole group, plus guests, could come up for weekends and short vacations. They purchased it immediately and started setting it up. Once they completed it, the two decided to spend the rest of the week in the cabin, taking it as their official honeymoon.
Meanwhile in Tranquility, the teens took to exploring the neighborhood and town. They kept in contact with Mikaela and she in turn introduced them to her friends, even arranging a meet up for them to hang out. As well, while walking the neighborhood, Ron and Neville ended up meeting two boys, Sam Witwicky and Miles Lancaster, and befriended them.
When Sirius and Remus got back, the Travelers decided to hold a party to officially introduce themselves to the neighborhood. They decided to hold it on the 30th, and make it a joint birthday party for Neville and Harri. It would be a pool party barbeque, with yard games and video games in the main room of the boy's house. The invitations which they dropped in mailboxes and sent to the friends they'd made read "Gifts not required, but snacks appreciated."
The day came, and among the first guests to arrive were the Lancasters and the Witwickys. Ron and Neville brought Sam and Miles over to where the girls were waiting at the edge of the pool, Harri, Hermione and Luna sitting with their feet in the water while Ginny had already dived on in. Harri was wearing the same black and red one-piece she's used in the second task, Luna a rufflely blue tankini, Ginny a sporty red two piece, and Hermione a tasteful brown bikini. Ron and Neville had bright orange and green and brown swim trunks respectively.
"Girls, this is Sam and Miles," Ron said, pointing to each boy as he introduced them. "Guys, my sister Ginny, our cousin Luna, Neville's sister Hermione, and their cousin Harri."
"Nice to meet you," Harri said, echoed by the other girls. Sam was about 5'4", with tanned skin, dark brown hair cut short but that would probably be curly if he grew it out, and brown eyes. Miles was the same height, with paler skin, blonde hair shaggy around his ears, and blue eyes. Both were wearing graphic tees and swimming trunks and sandals, though they were taking off the first and third items now that they were on the poolside.
"Nice to meet you too," Sam said. "So you all really moved here from England?"
"Yup, but more importantly," Ginny said, swimming to the edge of the pool and folding her arms over it, "How did my brother convince you that he was actually cool enough to hang out with?"
"Shut up, Gin," Ron said, putting his foot on her head and pushing her back into the water. "I've always been cool."
"I don't know, there were a few times in first year…" Hermione said, feigning thoughtfulness, then shrieked as Ron pushed her into the water after Ginny. "Ronald Wright!"
"Oops," he grinned, then yelped as the two girls pulled him into the pool with them.
Harri laughed with the others at the antics, then noticed a familiar face at the gate. "MIKAELA!" She waved and the other girl waved back before heading their way, dragging along another boy their age behind her.
"Hey guys. I hope you don't mind that I brought my cousin along," Mikaela said, and the boy with her waved.
"Hi, I'm Jack Darby." He was the taller than all of them but Ron, easily 5'6", with short black hair with a cowlick and blue eyes. He wore a grey t-shirt with blue trunks and sneakers, while Mikaela wore a pair of cut offs and a peach crop top over her blue bikini. "Happy birthday to whichever of you are the birthday people."
"That's me and Harri," Neville said. "I'm fifteen today, and she will be tomorrow."
"So we're all the same age. You going to be at Tranquility High when school starts?"
"Not this year," Luna answered, playing idly with her braid. "We all attended a specialty school in England and fell behind in a lot of other subjects. We're going to homeschool to catch up, then go to public school next year."
"What kind of specialty?"
"Magic."
Luna said it so matter-of-factly, Jack and Miles laughed, joined a half second later by the Travelers, Mikaela and Sam were a bit distracted as Sam tried to pull a smooth move, only to find out Mikaela didn't even know they had been in the same school since they were seven.
"Come on, you guys!" Ginny crowed, reaching up to grab Luna's hands. "What's the point of a pool party if you don't get in!" She pulled the blonde into the pool, while Ron and Hermione pulled in Harri and Neville. The guests quickly shed their street clothes and jumped in as well.
Soon after that, the party was in full swing, with people rotating between the pool, the yard games, the food spread out on the deck, and the video games in the guys' house. Sirius manned the grill, with Remus close at hand to stop any fires, and Winky and Dobby organized the snacks brought by the guests, as well as made the birthday cake. A table was stacked with presents for Harri and Neville, and as the sun dipped down to the horizon, they sat down to open them.
Remus and Hermione got the two some more new clothes, and books about their various interests, gardening and plants for Neville, fantasy and science fiction for Harri. Luna made the two a set of necklaces from a false ruby and various stones she'd collected before and after the jump. Ginny's gift was a bunch of candy, while Ron's was a set of sketches he made of the two, Neville working on a dittany plant, and Harri riding a broom high in the clouds.
Some of the guests also brought gifts for the birthday kids, even though it wasn't required. Most were small gift cards to different stores and restaurants, but Mikaela and Jack had gotten them a small yellow rose bush from the local nursery, which Harri and Neville agreed to plant in the front garden between the two houses.
Sirius insisted on giving his gifts last, and declared himself the Father/Uncle of the Year as they unwrapped brand new Nintendo DS consoles. Harri's was purple while Neville's was green, and with them came two games the two had mentioned being interested in, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, and Harvest Moon DS respectively.
Shortly after presents, the party wound down and the guests left, leaving the Travelers to the clean up. Luckily, magic made that super easy, and they spent the rest of the evening relaxing and eating the leftovers before wandering back to their rooms around eleven.
Harri laid down in bed, playing her game as midnight crept closer. The Star Wars game was a lot of fun, but had a bit of a learning curve for a complete newbie to consoles, especially the flying levels, which she found a bit ironic. One particular one she kept getting stuck on, and she couldn't figure out the trick for passing it.
"You need to go left instead of right."
Harri jumped, half falling off the bed, and barely stifled a scream before she realized it was Melinoe, lounging on her bed next to her, drinking some kind of slushy from a glass.
"Could you not do that?" Harri asked, sliding to the floor and standing up with a glare at the Reaper.
"I could, but I don't want to stop, so, nope!" Melinoe grinned at her. "Besides, I just wanted to wish you a 'happy birthday' and give you my present."
Harry glanced at her clock, and the numbers blinked back "12:01". She'd once again fulfilled her tradition of staying up until midnight of the day, and was officially 15.
"Here you go!" Harri turned back just in time to catch a box. It was black with light purple skulls on it, and tied closed with a dark purple ribbon.
"Well don't just stand there staring at it. Open it!"
Harri sat back down and did so, pulling off the ribbon and lifting the lid. Inside was a black ring box, and inside that sat a silver ring shaped like a skull, with diamonds in the eye sockets and a red stone in between its teeth.
"Um, thanks." Skulls weren't really her thing, but she also wasn't sure what else she expected from the Reaper.
"Pretty cool, right? And that's not the only feature." Melinoe plucked the ring box from Harri's hand and held it up so it caught the moonlight from the window. "This ring is made of Celestial Silver which has a couple neat tricks to it. Immunity to poison, protection against mind magics and creatures who are affected by silver, things like that. And Celestial Silver is also a passive power booster, the longer you wear it, the stronger the boost." She paused for a moment to take a sip of her slushy. "Buuut the first couple times you do use that boosted power, you will probably pass out for several hours and then gorge yourself on food, cause it takes a lot out of you to channel that power. So… I think not to wear it every day.
Harri tilted her head and considered the ring. Those features did make it very useful, and she would have to practice with it at some point. Though not before Melinoe revealed herself to the others, else they'd all freak out over it.
Melinoe wasn't done though. "The stones do something pretty cool too." She tilted the ring so the diamonds shone. "When you meet one of your true loves while wearing this, the diamonds will change color and pattern to match their birthstone, while still retaining the hardness of diamond." She tossed it back to Harri, who easily caught it.
Harri looked down at the ring, examining it more carefully this time, then looked up at the Reaper. "Thank you, Melinoe. This is an awesome gift."
"Of course it is, I picked it!" Melinoe boasted, a sharp grin crossing her face. "Happy birthday, Harri. Now if you excuse me, I've got about five more of these frozen daiquiris I wanna finish off." And as suddenly as she appeared, she vanished with her glass, leaving behind smoke which made Harri cough as she waved it away.
"Hate when she does that," she muttered, then closed the ring box and turned to tuck it into her nightstand drawer, next to the horcrux marble. She then picked her DS up off the floor and shut it down to charge for the night, and laid down to sleep. Her birthday was already off to a promising start, and she was certain it would be the best she'd ever had.
Aeroza AN: Aeroza's AN: Well for those that read my and Ro's shared Fic, ty for doing so.
It seems like things are taking growing turns for Harri and everyone. And let's hope that the reaper, Melinoe, tends to not cause… Chaos, hehe.
Anyways, we have more plans for this Fic, and hope you can wait once we have more time to plan together the next future chapters. Till then, peace out and I will pass it to Ro herself!
Rowena's AN: Yes indeed things are growing and changing, and here we have our first introduction of TF characters. Yes, only humans for now, but the Bots will show up eventually, I promise. Until then, enjoy the Travelers' growing friendships and their adapting to their new world.
See ya'll next time!