Unseen and Unheard From

Written by Flashfire Freak

Original publish date: 2/1/2014

Beta: None/rushed through

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harry Potter universe.

Author note: TrueLoveAlwaysLP asked in a review how Neville's parents are alive. That is planned to be revealed in chapter six, although I meant to reveal it earlier. Also, chapter five and chapter six will happen at roughly the same point in time. You'll understand at the end of next chapter.

Chapter Six – A Gathering of Peers

*shortly after nine in the morning*

Harry and Neville move restlessly about in Sirius's country manor, itching to hang out with some of their peers, the Weasley's.

"It looks like Harry and Neville are ready to go, Sirius." teases Alice.

Groaning as he gets up from his position in his favorite armchair, Sirius jokes, "Then we'd better get them over to the Weasley's household. Let Mrs. Weasley be in charge of them and see how much of a handful they are."

Alice gracefully leaves her seat, and joins Sirius in the foyer where Harry and Neville stand, new brooms over their shoulders, ready to be taken via side-along apparition.

Sirius places his hand on Harry's free shoulder, and Alice does the same with Neville, and the four of them apparate to just outside of the Burrow's wards. Bold as brass, Sirius takes the lead, with Harry, Neville, and Alice falling in line behind him. Nearing the Weasley's humble abode, the door to the kitchen opens, and a gaggle of redheaded beings stream out, each in a differing state of dress. At the forefront of the group of Weasleys is Mrs. Weasley and at the back of the group is small and timid looking girl.

"Let me introduce you all to my family. Percy is the oldest here, and he's a prefect, the twins, Fred and George, they're the jokesters of the family," Mrs. Weasley gives the twins a glare, "Ron is your age, Harry and Neville, and then there is Ginny, the only daughter of the family" with Mrs. Weasley nodding her head in the direction of each family member as she speaks.

Nodding his head in acknowledgment, Sirius clears his throat and says, "I'm Sirius Black, one of Harry's guardians, with Mr. Remus Lupin being the other."

Taking the non-verbal cue, Alice steps forward and speaks, "I'm Alice Longbottom, and this is my son, Neville."

Harry looks around and catches Ginny staring at him, and she quickly faces away, turning a bright red.

"So, Sirius, Alice, can I expect the rest of your, er, families here for dinner?" queries Mrs. Weasley.

Alice and Sirius share a few looks and Alice smiles and replies, "Sure, we can do that. Five adults including ourselves, with Harry and Neville, so seven total."

Mrs. Weasley smiles and opens her mouth to speak when Alice adds, "However, each of our families will bring a few dishes, as you won't have time to make enough food to serve all of us AND watch the kids."

Mrs. Weasley huffs and says, "No, that would be a stain on our hospitality. I won't let you do any of the cooking."

Sirius shrugs and nonchantlely replies, "Then I guess our kids won't be enjoying the day together" while placing his hand on Harry's right shoulder, and directing him towards the boundary of the wards, with Alice taking a page out of Sirius's book and directing Neville towards the boundary as well.

Mrs. Weasley watches the group of four get closer and closer to the boundary, and when they almost reach the edge of the wards, she calls out, "WAIT! You all can fix some of the dishes as well. We'll have a potluck dinner then."

Sirius smiles, suppresses a laugh, and turns to Alice and says, "I knew she'd give in. It's time to let Harry and Neville get to know some of their peers before they head off to Hogwarts."

Alice covers her mouth with a hand to stifle the laughter bubbling up from within her chest, and the group of four turn around and head back to the flustered Mrs. Weasley. Arriving a few feet away from Mrs. Weasley, Sirius murmurs to Harry and Neville, "Go and play with the others. We'll see you all later."

Harry and Neville nod their acknowledgement and run off to the large field with a Qudditch hoop at either end.

Sirius straightens up and asks, "So, Mrs. Weasley, or can I call you Molly?"

Exasperated, Mrs. Weasley replies, "Molly is fine."

Smiling, Sirius responds, "Alright then, Molly. What were you planning on preparing for dinner?"

"I was planning on making a good beef stew for the main course and some treacle tart for dessert." replies Molly.

"Hmm. I'd like to pitch the idea of a nice garden salad for a more well-balanced diet." states Sirius.

"…a salad?" queries Molly, confusion clearly displayed on her face and in her voice.

"Yes. Alice's and my families have been dining together multiple times a week for many years, and we have a balanced diet, as Harry and Neville exercise heavily, and obviously they need the nutrition." replies Sirius.

Sighing, Molly responds despondently , "Fine, that will be fine. Alice, what will your family bring?"

"The Longbottom family has a wonderful chicken based meal that we will bring." replies Alice, smiling.

Molly nods her head in acknowledgement and asks quietly, "When should we have the meal?"

Sirius and Alice hold a silent conversation with their eyes and Alice replies without breaking eye contact, "Will seven pm be good for you and your family?"

Molly nods her head and Sirius claps together loudly and states, "Good. Now that the meal and the details have been discussed, Alice and I must depart, as we have an appointment elsewhere shortly. Thank you and have a good day, Molly."

Molly watches Sirius and Alice walk through and apparate just beyond the perimeter, in which Molly turns around, and enters the kitchen to begin the stew and treacle tart.

*meanwhile*

Harry and Neville, with their new brooms over their shoulders, walk towards the group of now fully dressed Weasleys. Ron steps forward from the group, sticks his hand out, and says, "I'm Ron. I'll be in your all's classes in September. I assume you all like Quidditch?"

Harry grasps Ron hand firmly and shakes it, leaving Ron to make an open and closed fist a few times to make certain everything is working just fine, and replies, "Hello Ron, I'm Harry Potter and yes, Neville and I both like Quidditch. I assume you all enjoy it as well, considering you have a similar sized pitch in your backyard?"

Upon deciding that his hand isn't broken, Ron replies, "Yes, we all do, except for Ginny."

Ginny opens her mouth to argue when Fred steps forward and asks, "Would you all like to have a game? Three on three, no bludgers?"

Neville smiles and proposes, "Certainly. How about Harry, Ginny, and I on one team , with you all making up the other team?"

"Agreed. We'll grab the far end of the pitch and you three can have this end. But we only have three working brooms, so it looks like someone will have to stay grounded." says Ron smugly, as he follows Fred and George to the opposite side of the pitch.

Ginny's face adopts a troubled look and Harry asks kindly, "Ginny, what's the matter?"

"We only have three working brooms, and the boys have taken them, and I refuse to allow you all to loan me your new brooms." says Ginny, sadly.

Harry turns to Neville and smiles devilishly, reaches into his robes and pulls out a small moleskin bag, reaches into the bag, and pulls out his old Nimbus 1700, and says quietly, "Ginny, I brought my old broom along just in case this sort of thing happened. You can use it today and help us dominate the game."

Ginny looks up from where her face was in her hands, and a look of shock appears on her face, and turns red before she responds with, "Thank you", before grabbing the broom out of Harry's hand, her fingers lingering as they make contact with Harry's, before quickly retreating.

"Are you all ready yet?" comes Ron's whiny voice from across the field.

Harry, Ginny, and Neville mount their brooms and kick off to the level of the goal post. Turning to Ginny, Harry asks, "What position are you the most comfortable playing, Ginny?"

Ginny turns to Harry and says quietly, "I'd like to player chaser if you two don't mind."

Harry looks to Neville and asks, "Well, would you like to be keeper my friend?"

Smiling, Neville nods his head and replies, "Certainly. Just don't forget to give them a game they won't forget."

Harry nods in acknowledgement, and he and Ginny fly to the middle of the pitch where Fred and George are. Seeing the disbelief on Fred and George's faces, Harry says, "Neville and I brought one of our old brooms along, just in case, and now I'm glad we did. So, are we ready to play?"

Fred and George share a look or two and nod. Pointing a wand down at a wooden crate below them, the crate jumps open, and a quaffle comes out, and the game begins.

*several hours later*

A sharp whistle sound is heard, and everyone flying heads towards the ground, where multiple tables have been set up and laden down with copious amounts of food. Sirius looks up from telling Kreacher, who had been apparating in and out with food, where to place the next bowl of salad on the table, and asks, "So how was the game?"

Ron stumbles over, trips, falls, and stays face down on the grass, where the twins follow suit.

Raising an eyebrow, Sirius comments, "So that well, eh? Well, it looks like you three are still standing and doing well, so I'll assume the victors are in better shape than those three taking a brief dirt nap."

Ginny nods, despite breathing heavily, and sits down in a nearby chair. Molly walks out of the kitchen with Arthur, with Percy following not too far behind, and Molly calls out, "Dinner time."

Harry takes a seat next to Ginny, and Neville takes the other seat beside Ginny. The twins pick themselves up off of the ground and into chairs across from Harry and Ginny, with the sounds of snoring coming from the prone form of Ron. Alice, Frank, and Augusta sit down beside Neville.

Molly rolls her eyes, and the rest of the table dig into the wonderful feast. Talk soon turns to how the Quidditch game was, and Ginny replies cheerily, "After Harry and I had scored our five hundredth goal, we stopped keeping track."

Seeing the shocked looks on the faces of almost everyone else at the table, Ginny elaborates with, "Neville played one hell of a keeper position. Fred and George got less than ten goals in."

After hearing that, talk becomes scattered, and soon twilight is upon the feast, including the still snoring form of Ron.

Author note: If you're reading this just a few minutes after I released this, then please note that it is around 3am, and I'm exhausted. Also, Percy came out at the beginning, but after being introduced, went to his room and stayed there the entire day, until dinner. My next chapter or two should be for Her Desire, His Will, Their Future, although it will be some time before they are released. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing.