Title: Oops!
Genre: Romance, Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural
Pairing: Voldemort X Harry
Summary : Accidentally appearing in eleven years old Harry Potter's body was the last thing she wanted to happen when she decided to criticise self-insert stories in front of her crazy best friend. Now she was trapped in a male child's body, in a world she knew from children's story books and no way back home. She just had to be the unlucky protagonist, didn't she? Poor Natalie did not know that there was more to it.
Warning: Slash (Yaoi, Boy X Boy…), Sort of but not quite Girl!OC-in-Male!Harry's-body, Antagonist! Harry, No Bashing, Good Dumbledore

Chapter Four

No one could really blame Natalie for the completely embarrassing squeaking that came from her when she opened the doors to the library. The sound was accompanied by a full body wiggle, wide excited eyes and a grin that frankly seemed more crazed than anything.

"I can so die happy right now," came the whispered words, voice reverent and hushed as if addressing a sacred subject.

The library was a vision right out of a dream. It was big, bigger than she could have ever hoped. It even had two levels, where you climbed a set of winding stairs to reach the upper level. The large windows were darkened with dust and age, allowing only limited amount of sunlight to filter in and since the chandeliers were unlit, the library remained mostly dark if not for the little orb of light Natalie had managed to make with her freaking magic like a total badass. Okay, it was not that impressive since it was as small as a firefly but it was magic that she had been able to control as she wished.

She had found the previous night while she had played around with her magic that it was surprisingly easy to mess around with. Alright, she was stumped at the beginning, not really knowing what the heck she was doing but she learned that magic worked better in terms of will. The more will you put behind your spell, the better it worked.

She certainly did not know spells but it was easy to push her will behind her magic and bam! Instant result. It was not perfect since she had only been able to practise for so many hours before falling asleep – and let's all forget little singed eyebrows, yes? – but she had until September to get more control.

And the way to it? The library.

It might have been a long while since anyone had been there, and the cobwebs practically everywhere attested to it, but the books showed absolutely no damage. The pages were of thick parchment, the ink clear and visible. There was honestly no sign of age in the books which in a way was freaky and in another was just plain awesome.

The first thing she did after checking a few books – there were a lot she did not understand since they were apparently written in other languages Natalie had no knowledge of – was open the windows. The air was dry and old, filled with clogging dust. While it did add to the fantastical, magical atmosphere, it was also irritating to her nose and she ended up sneezing far too much for her liking.

Then she went back downstairs and outside, made a bee-line to her tent and promptly dragged it and everything inside back in the Palace and to the library. She settled it in an open space between shelves, took a couple of interesting books from a nearby shelf and ducked inside.

At least the couch was going to have its uses after all.

It was a few days later when she had decided to spend the day outdoors instead of staying inside that it happened. She was just sitting on a bench that had surprising not been overtaken by the undergrowth, reading a very interesting book on the history of the European Wizarding World, when she heard an angry screech.

Natalie startled but did not have time to do more than that when a ball of white fluff and angry screeching bowled her over. She let out a squawk and flailed for a moment before she fell hard on her back. With a yelp, she batted at the little creature of doom that pecked her and clawed at her, until finally it let out an irritated huff and backed away.

Blinking up at the sky in complete bewilderment, she vaguely wondered if that had actually happened. Closing her eyes in trepidation, slowly she gathered herself. Almost afraid of what she would see, Natalie peeked up and at the bench where a certain ball of white fluff stared back at her grumpily.

"Oh, you have got to be joking," Natalie deadpanned because that – that was –

The owl glared back at her and puffed out its feathers.

"What are you doing here?"her only answer was of course an annoyed, haughty hoot and the flapping of ruffled wings.

Wait.

White owl.

Harry Potter world.

What.

"…Hedwig!?"

At the answering nod, Natalie gawped.

That… That should not be possible. Because this particular white owl was definitely the same owl that used to follow her from school, pecking her in empty streets, pooping on her head… If this was Hedwig then Natalie had no idea what to think. This owl had always been present in her life, one way or another, following her around when she left her house, almost giving her heart attacks by appearing out of nowhere on Halloween to steal her food. Her mother had laughed at her when she had mentioned the owl, saying some bullshit answer of 'maybe it was meant to be'. Her father would give her this strange little look, half-amused and half-something. Honestly, after their reactions she had taken to just ignore the fact that an owl seemed to follow her around and cause her certain misfortune and yes, she had still not forgiven that thing for ruining her first – and last – date when it went and pooped in their food.

But anyways, if that owl was Hedwig – and was apparently an immortal owl since Natalie was pretty sure it had never aged since she had first met it when she had been seven – well, she had no idea what it meant. It could not even be Harper sending the thing after her when she was a kid because she had met Harper only in her teens and not before. As for sending that thing in this world at this moment, well, might as well be Harper if Natalie was honest. She always did find some sick sense of glee at Natalie's misfortune when the owl was concerned.

Seriously, being stalked by a creepy owl…

Shaking her head, Natalie pointed a finger at her stalker owl. "I'm going to ignore you, weirdo-owl."

Her answer was another screech and a hard peck on her forehead before the owl – Hedwig, holy shit, what the hell did that even mean!? – flew away. Natalie was certain that would not be the last time she would see it.

"Well, shit."

She bolted back to the Palace.

Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

Natalie was balancing on the edge of a chair, trying to reach one of the books higher up on a shelf when she heard the shuffling. She really should not have turned to look, but really, it was Natalie, so of course she turned, only to come face to face with a freaky ugly creature with floppy ears and bulging eyes. She let out a shriek and toppled over on her back, her head knocking into the shelf in her descent.

With a hiss, she gingerly grabbed the back of her head before she remembered herself and scrambled backwards until she hit the next shelf. The little creature was staring at her with wide worried eyes, wringing its large ears in its tiny hands, muttering under its breath. Staring, Natalie tried to make sense of what it was saying, ending even more confused by what she could understand.

"Oh, Moppy is a bad elf… – hurt little master… – first master since… – Oh, Moppy is sorry, little master…"

"Um – ?" When the bulging eyes locked with hers, Natalie cringed but continued. "Who are you?"

The thing seemed to shrink for a moment. "Moppy is Moppy, little master. Moppy is a Potter elf, the elf of the Potter Palace."

Natalie blinked, relaxing from her tensed position and crossing her legs to be more comfortable. "Elf? As in, house elf? A Potter house elf?"

"Yes, little master, Moppy is a Potter elf. Moppy is very very sorry for hurting the little master. Moppy should be punished for hurting the little master."

Natalie quickly waved her hand. "No, that's fine." Thinking, she added, "Are you the only house elf?"

The elf – Moppy – blinked its large eyes at her before bobbing its head. "Moppy is the only elf in Potter Palace but there are other elves in the other properties. Moppy can get the other Potter elves if the little master wishes?"

Natalie stared. And then she banged her head in the shelf behind her. Great, just another thing the goblins did not mention; that would have made things so easy in those first few days. And speaking of, why the hell had the thing only appeared only now?

With a resolute twist to her lips, Natalie stood up. Well, then, just another thing to take care of.

"Moppy, was it? Yes, can you get the other elves, please?"

"You should really get rid of those horrid glasses, darling. They are not befitting the Lord of the Family, even one as young as you." Natalie shot the woman who spoke – from a large painting near her favourite place in the library – an exasperated look.

"Yes, you've been telling me this for weeks now, Astrid. Thank you for the advice," she grumbled back. The blonde woman – a Potter from a few generations back, nee Selwyn and married into the family apparently – sniffed daintily at her, flipping open her fan in a graceful move. Natalie was jealous.

"And you should really listen for once, darling," the woman continued as she looked down her nose at the eleven years old boy laying sprawling on the fancy couch in front of the now clean window. "You have such beautiful features. It is shame to hide them behind those horrible contraptions."

"She is quite right, dear," another woman – from a couple of generations even farther back and older in appearance (seeming in her fifties instead of thirties like the other woman) – from a nearby painting interjected. "You would look much better without those glasses on. Why, you would look absolutely lovely if only you agree to get your eyesight corrected."

"Come now, Lorencia, Astrid," this time it was a man – seeming in his sixties – in a painting on the opposite wall. "If the poor boy does not wish to bother with correcting his eyesight, then he is free to do as he wishes. There is no need to keep bothering him thus."

"Thank you, Lorenzo," Natalie threw back, sending a cheeky grin at the two meddling women.

"Though I have to admit, those glasses are quite… unpleasant to the eyes. You should consider at least replacing them if you would rather not bother with correcting your eyesight."

"But that'll take in my reading time!" Natalie instead whined. "No way."

"Harry James Potter, I swear to all that is – "

At that very moment, a tray of tea and sandwiches appeared on the nearby table and Natalie cried excitedly, cutting off Astrid's reprimand, "Tea time!"

The other adults in the nearby painting chuckled at the spluttering blond woman as she was thoroughly ignored for a warm cup of tea and tasty sandwiches. Those taking part in the never-ending argument let out simultaneous sighs.

Natalie was an avid reader. Anyone who knew her would readily tell you that. She could hardly be seen without a book in her hands – or if it was back home, with her phone or tablet – but that certainly did not mean she liked following everything books said or learn everything by heart – or by rote. She much preferred learning everything the books told her that interested her and then challenge the given information. In this new world of magic, she found that she had no patience for learning all the spells – incantation, wand movements, etc – but she was much more interested in the end result.

There were spells to make water appear from the tip of a wand, to conjure birds that flew at your opponents and even to make fire that took on the shape of animals. Magic was completely interesting and awesome but Natalie had honestly no patience learning all those spells like the books instructed.

Oh, no. She had so much more fun – ah – experimenting. She was in a world of fiction after all, what was the worst that could happen?

And so, with an excited – and frankly crazed – grin, she experimented under the completely aghast eyes of Harry Potter's dead relatives – from the surrounding paintings in the library – with magic. She did not use the wand, since she had no idea if the trace-thing was a thing there yet and she really did not want her fun interrupted by ministry officials – and since they had not come or warned her in any way when she had used magic before without a wand. Instead she used her will.

Everything was not without incident though. The first time she tried to conjure water, she got a face full – and mouth full – of brown water that strangely tasted of lemon. When she tried to make fire appear, she set fire to one of the nearby shelves which incited panic – running around and flailing like a headless chicken – from her until Moppy had appeared and set everything right again.

The poor elf ended with an armful of a blubbering Natalie but – eh – details.

Things were going fine for her though. She was honestly enjoying herself reading and experimenting, and since the elves – Moppy and all the others that had come from the other properties – had started to get the Palace back to its once pristine form, the library was no longer dusty and uncomfortable to be in. She spent all her time in that place, no longer needing her tent except for sleeping and bathing – the elves and the paintings tried to get her to sleep in an actual room and use an actual bathroom but that would take her too far away from the library and so she refused. Honestly, she had hardly stepped out of the library or even visited the rest of the Palace.

The library was far more interesting.

Granted, she was pretty sure she would also like to explore the place more at a later date, and discover all the secrets and history it had accumulated during the years but that was after she got used to the reading all day – and most of the night – long.

Yep. Natalie was very, very happy.

When the day for her to embark on her journey to Hogwarts arrived, she almost did not feel like going. But then she convinced herself with the thought that, well, it was freaking Hogwarts! How could you ever miss that!?

So, she departed from the Palace, Moppy being kind enough to drop her off at the Station.

And, no, she was not pouting when she left.

… And, yes, she might have a couple of miniaturised books in her pocket but that was no one's business but her own!

AN: I hope you guys like it.

And yes, the clues are right in front of her but Natalie is an absolute dunderhead.

Leave behind your thoughts.

Leight