The first few weeks sleeping in her own bed felt strange to Bella. She had gotten too used to the luxury four poster beds she slept in whilst at school that she struggled to sleep most nights. She also missed the lavish feasts every night of the week; she loved her mums cooking but it just wasn't the same, not that she would ever admit that. Bella had received hundreds of letters from her friends but one in particular was missing, Harry's. No one had heard from Harry for weeks and they were all beginning to worry about him now.
Bella had yet another disturbed sleep as she tossed and turned all night, sleeping for only minutes at a time. She woke in the early hours of the morning just as the sun begin to rise. Bella was so tired that she didn't notice the absence of Ron in their shared bedroom as she trudged sleepily down the stairs.
"You best hope I don't put bars on your window Ronald Weasley!"
Her mothers shouts filled the house as she continued to berate Bella's brothers. Bella scrunched her nose in confusion, listening for any clue as to why her mother was yelling at this time in the morning. She shrugged to herself, taking the last few steps on the staircase leading to the kitchen. Bella didn't know what she expected to see but what she wasn't expecting was the black haired, green eyed boy she called her best friend.
"Harry!" She cried, rushing over to him and hugging his shoulders as he sat at the kitchen table.
"Hi Bella." He laughed, holding her arm over his chest with his hand.
"What are you doing here?" She asked as she pulled away.
"Um..." Harry uttered, too nervous to say anything else.
Bella glanced over her shoulder at her mother who continued to throw pots and pans into the sink with renowned fury. She turned back to the sheepish faces of her brothers as she slid into the seat beside Harry.
"What did you do?" Bella asked them.
"Flew that enchanted car your father has to Surrey!" Her mother cried before the boys had a chance.
"Seriously?" Bella asked, turning her eyes on her mother as she set a plate of eggs and toast on the table in front of her.
"We had to!" Ron cried.
A glare from Molly shut him up before he could speak another word and he turned back to his plate with a red face. Molly's face softened as she turned to pile more eggs onto Harry's plate.
"Of course I don't blame you Harry dear."
Bella ate her eggs in peace, trying to conceal the smirk on her face as she watched the boys at the table tried to avoid eye contact with their irate mother. Bella smiled when the front door was flung open and her father came bounding in. He smiled broadly at the all, taking his seat at the head of the table.
"Good morning Weasley's!" He beamed.
"Morning dad." The four Weasley children chorused back.
His eyes swept the table of children and his eyes stopped on Harry.
"Oh hello, who are you?" He asked.
"Dad, this is Harry." Bella answered for him.
"Holy cricket! Harry Potter?" Arthur asked him.
Harry nodded his head just as another figure popped into the kitchen.
"Oh Bella there you are!" Ginny cried from the door.
Bella turned to look at her younger sister and she gasped and scurried from the room without another word.
"That's Ginny." Ron commented as he shoved more eggs into his mouth.
"She's been talking about you all summer." George added.
"Fancies you, you know." Fred said offhandedly.
Harry blushed beetroot red while Bella scolded her brothers. Just then Molly rather forcefully pushed a plate of breakfast towards Arthur.
"Everything alright Molly dear?" He asked.
She turned her most venomous glare on him as she stopped in her tracks behind Harry's seat.
"No Arthur, everything is not alright. Your sons flew that car of yours to get Harry here in the middle of the night!"
The children rose from the table and sped up the stairs, knowing their father was going to feel the full extent of their mother's fury.
"Why didn't you take me with you?!" Bella scolded Ron once settled in their bedroom.
"You were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you!" He groaned.
"This was important Ron!"
"Please stop fighting." Harry spoke from where he stood by the window. "It's done now."
"I'm just glad you're here and safe." Bella breathed, giving him another hug.
Bella had informed their friends that Harry was now at their house for the remainder of the summer and they were all pleased to know he was safe. They made plans to meet in Diagon Alley to collect their supplies for the next school year today and Bella was pleased to hear that Seamus would be there too.
"She's been like that every time she gets a letter from him." Ron whispered to Harry.
"Shut up." Bella growled at him.
She and Seamus had been writing letters to each other over the summer and Bella couldn't wait to see him again. She had stored his letters in the drawer beside her bed and Ron took immense pleasure mocking her about them.
"You're just jealous that no one loves you." Bella smirked at him as his face turned red.
He grumbled under his breath, trudging from their room as Harry and Bella followed snickering behind him. Arthur handed them their cloaks when they reached the foot of the stairs and Molly handed them floo powder when they stopped in front of her.
"Mum, Harry's never traveled by floo powder before." Bella explained.
"Oh right, well Fred and George will go first to show you how it's done."
Fred stepped into the fireplace, dropped the floo powder with a yell of 'Diagon Alley!' and disappeared in a flash of green smoke. George did the same and Harry stood watching, a look of awe on his face.
"Now you must speak clearly. Watch the grates for Fred and George and then you'll know you have the right one." Molly explained to him.
Harry looked terrified as he stepped cautiously into the fireplace. He raised his arm and dropped the floo powder, 'D-Diagon Al-ley.' Harry spoke timidly as the smoke whirled around him and he disappeared. Bella's eyes widened as did Ron's when they realised Harry had spoken the wrong words.
"Mum he'll get lost!" Ron cried.
"It'll be okay, we'll find him." Arthur replied.
He whirled off through the fireplace and Ron and Bella joined him, their mother and Ginny bringing up the rear. Ron and Bella followed Fred and George through Diagon Alley searching frantically for Harry. Ron nudged her in the ribs and pointed ahead of them. She inched her had past George and noticed the large frame belonging to Hagrid and the smaller frame belonging to Harry following along beside him.
"Harry! Oh we've been so worried about you!" Bella cried, dusting the dust from his hair.
"Oh Hagrid!" They heard their mother cry behind them.
Bella continued to fuss over Harry while Ron chuckled at Harry's discomfort. After she ha thanked Hagrid profusely their mother led them up the steps outside Gringotts bank. Bella opted to wait outside on the steps as the Goblins scared her and she sat there watching as different people flitted around the alley, collecting their shopping.
She stiffened when she noticed the shock of white blond hair among the crowd that could only belong to Draco Malfoy. She hadn't seen or spoken to him since the night they were trapped in the cupboard last term. She still hadn't told anyone what had actually happened but how could she when she didn't understand it herself?
As she sat in thought she grasped the emerald necklace around her neck. She still had no idea who sent it to her. She had a faint idea but the notion was entirely ridiculous. Could Draco have sent it to her? As if her thoughts had summoned him the blond boy appeared at the bottom of the steps in front of her.
"Weasley." He drawled
"Malfoy." She mockingly drawled back.
"Why are you sitting out here?" He asked.
"My family are going to our vault and Harry's." She replied, motioning towards the bank behind her with her head.
The door to the bank opened as Draco opened his mouth and Bella could hear the boisterous voices of her family from inside.
"I'll see you at school." Draco said quickly before he scurried off into the crowd leaving Bella alone and confused.
She sat there baffled, staring after him while the rest of the Weasley's and Harry made their way down the steps.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked her, helping her up from where she still sat on the steps.
"I'm fine." She replied, not tearing her eyes from where she could still see Draco in the crowd.
Feeling her intense stare Draco turned his head and locked eyes with her. Bella couldn't shake the strange feeling she felt whenever she seen him but she didn't want to think too deeply into it. She would blame their encounter in the cupboard. It was all she could do to stop herself walking over there and demanding he tell her what was going on.
