Well that was Unexpected
Disclaimer – I do not own anything from Harry Potter or from the Vampire Diaries. Those honours go to JK Rowling and Julie Plec respectively. The only thing I own is the idea and OC characters. Basically anything that you recognise isn't mine.
Hallie(POV)
It was a few days after Liz's last letter in the evening when I decided to call Liz. I took a breath and dialled the landline number that she had included in her letter. After dialling the number I bit my lip anxiously as I heard it start to ring. It was after a couple of rings when I heard the sound signalling it had connected and been answered.
"Hello" I heard someone I assumed was Liz speak
"Hi, Liz it's Hallie" I said nervously
"Oh hi dear It's good to hear from you. How are you doing?" She asked
I found myself smiling slightly. "I'm good Liz. Sorry I didn't ring you sooner I've just been really busy" I explained finding my nervousness fade
"Oh that's okay don't worry about it. So what have you been up to" She asks
"Not much. It's mostly just been organising and sorting through things. I moved into my own place a few weeks ago and so it's been a bit crazy" I laughed slightly.
"Oh I understand how stressful moving can be. I assumed you've just moved out of Petunia's then?"
"No I actually moved out of Petunia's last July. Since then I've been staying with friends." I said. It wasn't exactly a lie. During the war I was staying with friends. It just so happened to be that we were on the run at the same time
"How are you doing. You know with everything that happened with the war?" She asked sounding concerned
I frowned slightly. "How do you know about the war?"
"Ever since Lily told me about the Wizarding world I would make sure to keep up to date on what was going on. One of the American wizarding papers has been writing about the war over there. I know you were pretty heavily involved. I don't really know why you were so involved at such a young age but I knew there wasn't really anything that could be done" She said
I nodded and listened. "Yeah it's a long story. I'm not doing great but no one is. I'm doing the best that I can do. Just tying to move forward" I sighed
"I suppose that's all you can do in situations like this. If you ever need to talk feel free to call me or Caroline. I know we don't know each other very much but we'll always be here to lend an ear if you need it" She says
"Thank you Liz. I will do" I say
We talked for a little while longer and I even got to talk to Caroline for a bit when she got back home. I eventually hung up as it was getting late and I needed to go to bed but we agreed that we would talk over the phone every couple of days.
It was a few weeks later and was halfway through the first week of June. I had kept in touch with Liz and Caroline an we had ended up calling usually twice a week and Caroline and I texted often during the week.
It was during that week that I was quickly losing my mind. Everyone was constantly bugging me with making a decision about what I was going to do. It seemed that everyone forgot that I had not only defeated Voldemort only just a month ago not to mention all of the friends and loved ones I and everyone else had lost during the battle. It had gotten to the point where I stopped responding to letters apart from ones sent by friends and even temporarily disconnected my floo. I had several days of relative peace enjoying the lovely weather.
I was dreading the day when i would have to start responding to everyone again and actually make a decision when I got a text from Caroline that gave me the perfect choice.
I had been out at the beach in St Ives when Caroline texted me. It said "Hey mum asked me to text you that she wants you to call her when you get chance. She wants to talk to you about seeing if you want to come and stay with us for a bit over summer if your available"
I texted back that it sounded like a great idea and I would call her mum when I got home which is exactly what I did. I spoke to Liz about it that evening and we made plans that I would come over next week and stay with them for a few weeks. I felt that it was a great idea for me to not only spent some time with my family and to get to know them better but to also get away from Britain for a bit and have some time to myself without anyone bothering me about if I had made a decision yet.
Over the next week I got started on getting everything ready. I made a start on packing the clothes and other things I would need while I was over there. Most of it was bought new as I knew I didn't have nearly enough clothes suitable for the weather over in Mystic Falls. In addition to packing I also spoke to Neville and made plans with him to house sit for me for a few weeks. He had said that he and Luna were looking to go away somewhere on the coast for a few weeks and I suggested that they could stay in my place as I was going away and would need someone to keep an eye on the place while I was gone and they said they would. I also spoke to the Weasley's and Hermione said that she would stop by my place every so often to deal with any post that needed dealing with urgently rather than waiting till I got back.
I decided to travel over the Muggle way rather than using an international portkey so I booked all of the different flights. Because of how rural Mystic Falls was it would take several flights. I would fly from Heathrow Airport to New York and then from New York to Charlottesville Airport and then either Liz or Caroline would pick me up from the airport which was about 45 minutes from Mystic Falls. It would have been a lot less trouble to take a portkey but that would require informing the ministry where I was going and how long I was going for and I wanted to be able to go wherever wanted without everyone knowing.
The week before I left went by really quickly and I could hardly believe it when the day came. The morning of my flight I apparated from my cottage in St Ives to Kings Cross Station. From the station I got a taxi to Heathrow airport and after arriving at the airport I went inside and checked in for my flight before heading to one of the lounges to relax for a few hours before my flight. Just as I was leaving the lounge I sent a text to Liz that I was getting ready to board and would see her soon. I knew that at the moment it was only about 4 am but I wouldn't be able to check my phone until I landed in New York. I boarded and waited for the plane to taxi and take off. I had never flown on a plane before but I had flown on a broom and several other magical things over the years and I had a feeling flying on an actual plane would be a lot safer than any of those so I felt I would be fine. Once we had actually taken off I settled in for the 8 hour flight. I had set my watch to the time zone that both New York and Virginia were on to try and get used to the time difference. Once breakfast had been served and I had eaten I decided to try and sleep for a little bit. I ended up sleeping for about 2 and a half hours. When I woke up I noticed that we had been flying for about 4 hours. I started eating the snacks that I had bought in the airport while watching a film for the next couple of hours. Eventually the plane started to descend into New York and I got ready for landing while looking out of the window at the skyline of the city. I had never travelled outside of England before so this was a completely new experience and I was beyond excited.
After I had disembarked the plane and started to make my way towards customs I switched my phone off airplane mode and saw that Liz had texted me a few hours ago. She had said that she had been able to get the day off so both her and Caroline would be coming to pick me up and would be setting off at the same time as my flight was taking off as the journey times were about the same.
After going through customs I headed through to the departures to get some lunch. I got a burger and fries along with a drink from one of the fast food places in the airport and apart from the slight shock at the size difference to the UK it was delicious. I had a two hour layover before my next flight so I had plenty of time. While eating I texted Hermione for a bit.
"Hey Hermione I landed at the airport in New York about 40 minutes ago" I texted
"That's great. Molly and everyone was getting anxious when they didn't hear from you for a while until I explained that it takes like 8 hours to fly to New York" She texts back
"Yeah I'm just getting some lunch while I wait for my next flight."
"How long have you got until you arrive in Mystic Falls?" She asks
"Only a few more hours. My flight to Charlottesville is in about an hour and a half. The flight itself is only like an hour and then Liz and Caroline are picking me up and driving back to Mystic Falls which is about 45 minutes" I let her know
"At least that's not too bad. Did Neville and Luna arrive at your place yet?"
"Yeah they arrived this morning about an hour before I left" I reply
"That's good. I'll text you later, Mrs Weasley is almost finished making tea. Let me know when you arrive at your aunts" She says
"I will do. Tell everyone I said hello." I respond
"Will do. Enjoy your trip" She texts
I finish my lunch and buy a magazine for the plane and another cold drink. Even in the airport it was still quite warm and I knew it would be a similar temperature if not worse in Mystic Falls. Eventually it was time to board my last flight. As this was a domestic flight it was on a smaller plane but I had still managed to book a window seat which I was pleased about. As I took my seat I got a text from Caroline saying that they were just about to set off to the airport. I texted back that I had just boarded and that I would text them when I was off the plane. I switched my phone to airplane mode again before settling in for take off.
We landed approximately an hour later and made the short taxi from the runway to terminal. As I disembarked I turned my phone off of airplane mode and saw Caroline's text that they had arrived and were waiting for me in arrivals. I responded that I had just gotten off the plane and would see them soon. Because it was a small domestic airport the customs line wasn't too long. Once I arrived at baggage claim I waited for my cases to come onto the carousel. Mine were some of the last to come off so i was stood waiting for some time. Once I had my cases I pulled them behind me as i began to go through to the arrivals. It didn't take me long to spot Liz and Caroline and once I did I headed over towards them and Caroline quickly pulled me in for a hug.
"I'm so glad your finally here. I've been waiting for this since we arranged it" She squealed happily
Liz laughs slightly next to her as Caroline lets go of me. " Which was only a week and half ago" She says as she hugs me too. " It really is great to finally meet you though Hallie"
I smiled as I hugged them. "I'm super excited to meet you both too. Not to mention this is my first time going on holiday abroad so i'm really happy" I said
Liz smiles. "Well shall we head out to the car and set off. I bet you must be exhausted after all that travelling"
"Yeah that would be great" I say
Caroline offers to take one of my cases as we head out to the car. Caroline and I placed both of my cases inside the trunk of Liz's car before getting inside and setting off for Mystic Falls. As we drive away from the airport I look out of the window at the wide open areas and how often there was nothing but fields and tress for miles between places which I wasn't used to seeing after living in a suburban area on the outskirts of London for most of my life.
There was a fair bit of traffic on the way back so it was a little over an hour when we arrived in Mystic Falls. As we drove through to get to Liz's house I looked around trying to get a basic idea of where things were. Even from the short drive through the town it looked like a really nice quaint small town. I couldn't help a smile from forming on my face as I looked around.
We soon pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. We got out and Caroline helped me get my bags out of the trunk while Liz went and opened the door. Once inside Liz said that I could take my bags up to the guest room and get settled in for a bit before we went out for some food that evening. Caroline helped me take my bags up to the guest room and then left me to unpack and settle in on my own. Once she was gone I took a seat on the bed and decided to relax for a bit. I was definitely but it was more mental exhaustion as opposed to physical exhaustion. It had been a long day with a lot going on but I was excited to be here. I hadn't even realised it but despite how tired I was I hadn't felt this relaxed in a while. It seemed as though as soon as I was away from England I could properly breathe without everyone wanting me to make huge decisions.
I took out my phone and texted Hermione again. Looking at the time I knew that it was getting quite late as it was about half past 4 here so it was about half past 9 in the UK and she would be getting ready to go to bed so i decided to make it brief.
"Hey Hermione I just got to my aunt's house. I know it's late there but I thought I would let you know I arrived safe before you went to bed" I texted
"Okay thanks for letting me know Hallie. I'll let everyone know as well. I'm still at the Weasley's but will be heading home soon." She texted back a few minutes later
"Okay how is everyone?" I ask
"Everyone's good and they told me to let you know that there pleased you made it there safely. It's mainly why I'm still here. I knew they would all, especially Molly, worry if they didn't know you had gotten there so I figured I would stay till you texted"
"Aah that makes sense. I bet your exhausted"
"Yeah I am but it's fine I'll be in bed soon. I bet your also shattered. You've had a long day flying while trying to get used to such a big time difference" She says
"I'm not tired physically it's more mental. There's just been a lot going on today. I'm hoping a shower will help me freshen up and energise me for a few more hours" I reply
"Yeah that should work. What are up to?" She asks
"I'm just getting settled into my room before I start unpacking. Were going out for food in a bit too so that'll be nice" I say
"That sounds good. Well I should go. You should start unpacking and i'm going start getting ready to head home. I'll text you tomorrow"
"Okay that fine. Have a good night's sleep. Talk tomorrow" I text back before putting my phone down and making a start on unpacking some of my things.
After unpacking a few of the essential things I head downstairs and ask Liz if it was alright for me to take a shower. Once she said that it was I headed back and grabbed what I needed for my shower. Nothing much else happened apart from going out for food that evening. We went to the bar and restaurant called the Mystic Grill and Caroline introduced me to one of her friends Matt who was working at the Grill. Once we went back home I got ready for bed and fell asleep fairly quickly, all the excitement of the day catching up to me.
Authors Note – Hey guys I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I am hoping to keep on this schedule of an upload once a week or sooner depending on how quickly I can get the chapters written. It may change as I have to work it around the other story that I am currently writing. Anyways thanks for reading.
