A/N: Standard disclaimer: All characters and setting belong to J.K. Rowling, except for my original characters Clara Bradley and Renee Sanderson, and Nico di Angelo, who belongs to Rick Riordan. I am making no profit from this story.
Enjoy the chapter!
~Celia
Renee POV
"Nico, there's something you should know," I said before we walked into the fire. "The family we'll be staying with, the Weasleys, they don't exactly get along with the Malfoys."
Clara laughed nervously. "That's the understatement of the century."
I ignored her. "It would be best if you didn't let on that we were with Draco today. Only Harry's starting to accept my friendship with him, and I'm not sure if Ron, Hermione, and Ginny even realize he and I are close. Harry, Ron, and Hermione know he's Clara's brother, but at this point, nobody else does, okay?"
Nico nodded. "Yeah, I kind of figured that Draco might not be the world's most liked person, just based on the reactions we got today." Nico looked at the ground. "Are you friends with him because he's Clara's brother?"
Clara looked away. "Not exactly," I said. "It's a long story."
Clara pulled out a jar of bright green powder, and Nico's eyes went wide. "Is that Greek fire?"
I shook my head, but then I wondered for a moment. I'd never actually bothered to ask what went into Floo Powder. "It's a wizard transportation powder. You just sprinkle some in the fire and say where you want to go."
"I'll go first," Clara said. "And you two can follow." She took a pinch from the jar and sprinkled it onto the fire. Then, she jumped in. "The Burrow!" Clara yelled. For a moment, Nico looked horrified.
"So we jump into the fire? Are you sure that's safe?"
I nodded. "We've used it before, at home and at Camp Half-Blood. Even Muggles can go through if you set everything up with the right precautions. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley and David used it once." Of course, Nico didn't need to know the reason for this. Entering the wizard world was scary enough on its own without having to worry about the Chamber of Secrets. We'd tell Nico about Voldemort when we needed to, but now was not the time.
"Okay," Nico said. "Can we go together?"
"Of course." I stepped into the fireplace and offered the younger boy my hand. Nico shook his head and looked at the ground. He stepped in without taking my hand.
"On the count of three," I said. "Then we'll say, 'the Burrow!' Nice and clear now, okay? A couple years ago Harry landed far away from his destination, it was awful. Well, it could have been much worse, but-"
"Renee, did you know sometimes you talk too much?"
I smiled. "Sorry, Nico. Are you ready?"
The boy nodded. "One," I said. "Two. Three." I threw a pinch of the Floo Powder into the fire and we both shouted, "The Burrow!"
I slid from the grate with a woosh. A moment later, Nico followed me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Travelling by Floo Powder could be scary at times, and there was a lot of potential for things to go wrong. We joined Clara at the foot of the fireplace, wiping off soot.
I looked around. We were in a small living room with mismatched, but cozy-looking furniture. There was a loud MEOW! as Hermione's giant orange cat, Crookshanks, chased something small and fast down the stairs. My own cat, Princess, bounded after him.
"Crookshanks, NO!" Ron yelled, chasing the cats and the fluttery thing into the room we were in.
"Impedimenta!" Hermione yelled. "Seriously, Ron, it's time you learn to control that owl."
"It's not my fault that those cats are crazy! I just happened to open the door a little too much when I was feeding him!"
I could feel myself grinning. It was good to be back, with Ron and Hermione teasing each other once again. I wondered where everyone else was.
Hermione and Ron ran into the living room, where the cats and the tiny owl were now frozen in their positions. From somewhere upstairs, Percy yelled something about needing to concentrate and cauldron bottoms, and I could hear Fred and George laughing. "Shut up, Perce," one of the twins said, although without seeing them in front of me I couldn't tell who.
Ron freed his owl. Both he and Hermione smiled when they saw us. Clara had written to Ron to tell him about Nico, so they knew we would have a third person with us. Hermione ran to Clara and pulled her into a hug. Ron stood there awkwardly.
"Oh, come on, Ronald! You can hug your friends," Hermione scolded. Ron looked sheepish and pulled me into a hug as well. Then Hermione came over to me, and Ron made his way to Clara.
"You must be Nico," Hermione said kindly to our third companion.
Nico looked at the ground. "This is Hermione," I said. "And Ron. We wrote to tell them you were coming."
Nico nodded and looked away. Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Later," I mouthed while Nico wasn't looking. Hermione only nodded.
Ron's mother, Mrs. Weasley, had appeared while we were catching up with our friends. "Ah, Renee and Clara! Lovely to see you, we were just wondering when you'd get in."
She came over to hug us, and I grinned. After Professor Sprout and Sirius, Molly Weasley was easily one of my favorite adults and role models in the wizard world.
"Floo powder?" I asked at dinner. "Are you sure that's safe?" Arthur Weasley had just explained the plan for how we were going to collect Harry tomorrow. After everything I'd heard about the Dursleys, I didn't know if that was really a good idea, to have four wizards burst through a fireplace in a Muggle home. I mean, Clara and I did it all the time, but the Bradleys were used to it. The Dursleys, on the other hand…
"Did you even tell Harry that's what you're doing?" Clara asked.
"Er," said Ron. "We, uh, hadn't quite gotten the details worked out yet when I wrote him."
"Then I'm coming too. I'm a very persuasive person, you know." Only half the people present knew about the demigod stuff, and I wasn't planning on revealing that to Percy, Charlie, Bill, Molly, or Arthur at the moment. But I could at least say that.
"Me too," said Clara. "You'll want someone who knows how to deal with Muggle families. I'm the best candidate there."
Ron looked quizzically between her and Hermione, but I had figured out what Clara was trying to do. It seemed Hermione had as well. I'd confirm it later tonight, when we would all be sleeping in Ginny's room, but I suspected she wanted us to be able to have a plan B and make a quick getaway if the Floo Powder didn't work.
Most of the time, when I had demigod dreams, I remembered them almost exactly. I knew I had them less frequently than many of my friends, and Clara and Percy seemed to get them more than even most demigods. But somehow, I only remembered a few snippets of this one.
There had been an old man, that I was sure of. I had no idea who he was. As for the other people, I remembered two of my enemies. Wormtail was there, I thought, that piece of filth responsible for my uncle's wrongful imprisonment for the last twelve years. And the second person, well, I guess he hadn't actually been a person… had he?
I struggled to remember some of the details.
"It could be done without Harry Potter, my Lord. And the traitor, that's only to strengthen the potion. You do not need Renee Sanderson." That was Wormtail's voice.
"Without Harry Potter and Renee Sanderson?" Voldemort's cold voice said. "I see… "
"My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the pair!" Wormtail protested in a squeaky voice. "They are nothing to me, nothing at all! It is merely that if we were to use another witch or wizard - any wizard - the thing could be done so much more quickly!"
Voldemort had questioned Wormtail's loyalty, and the latter had been uncomfortable, had protested about how well protected Harry and I were. And Voldemort had killed someone, had sounded proud of it… then he had killed the old man, the one who was just listening in, the defenseless Muggle… he had a plan to kill even more people… something to do with me and Harry… and Harry, he had been there too. In the same way that Clara talked about sharing dreams with Percy, I sensed Harry's dream self in the background. So maybe this wasn't a demigod dream, then… maybe this was something else entirely.
I looked around Ginny's room. There was a tiny "S"-shaped birthmark on my neck, and I had never really noticed it before, but right now, it stung. It was almost as if it was connected to the dream, somehow. I shuddered and ran my hand over the birthmark. For some reason, I thought about my father, and the vision I'd had when the dementors showed up. I wondered idly how it could all be connected.
I decided to step outside, maybe catch a glimpse of Apollo's chariot as the sun came up. I tiptoed out of the room and out to the garden.
In the dim morning light, I could see Crookshanks and Princess chasing the garden gnomes. Suddenly, Nico stepped out of the shadows, coming from the edge of the yard.
"What are you doing, Nico? It's five in the morning."
Nico shuffled his feet a little bit. "I was, uh, taking a walk," he muttered.
I decided not to press the issue. The kid was kind of weird, and I knew that. He was allowed to have his secrets. I didn't think he was doing anything dangerous or stupid, even after this summer, so I let him be.
As Clara and I were the only ones who had worked with a Floo Network to a Muggle location, we helped Arthur make sure everything was as secure as possible. I debated sending an Iris message to Harry around 5:00, when we still had some final tweaking to do, but Clara thought it would probably freak out the Dursleys even more. I remembered my first Iris Message, as well as some of my friends' reactions to my head showing up in their dorms in the middle of the night, and I thought she was probably right.
"Number Four, Privet Drive," Arthur Weasley said, stepping into the fireplace. Fred and George followed suit, and then Ron did the same. Clara took my hand, and we repeated the address as well.
My feet slammed into the back of Ron's neck. "Ow!"
Why was this taking so long? It never took this long at home. I thought about what Draco had warned us about, and I wondered if Kaylee could have damaged the fireplace at the Dursleys' as well.
I heard a strangled yell from the other side of the wall, and then a woman's voice in hushed tones.
The Weasleys jostled each other and argued a bit. "Hang on," Clara said. "Maybe Harry can hear us."
Mr. Weasley, Fred, and George banged on the wall. "Harry? Harry, can you hear us?"
"What is this?" The man's voice growled. "What's going on?"
I could just imagine Harry trying not to laugh as he explained Floo powder to his aunt and uncle.
"Mr. Weasley, can you hear me?" Harry asked.
"Shh!" George said.
"Mr. Weasley, it's Harry. The fireplace has been blocked off. You won't be able to get through there."
"Damn!" Mr. Weasley said. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"
"Probably have an electric one," I said.
"Is that so?" Mr. Weasley said excitedly. "Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that… Let's think…"
Fred, George, and Ron argued a bit more, and then Mr. Weasley spoke loudly. "Stand back, Harry."
There was a shuffling of footsteps on the other side of the wall, and then the man demanded to know what was going on. Mr. Weasley muttered an incantation, and then there was a loud BANG as the wall burst open.
The electric fire flew across the room, and we slid out of the fireplace. The woman, who I assumed to be Harry's aunt, screamed and fell backward. Harry's uncle caught her before she hit the ground.
Mr. Weasley tried to make small talk with Harry's aunt and uncle, but they just stared and backed away. I sighed, knowing that if I looked at any of my friends, we wouldn't be able to resist the temptation, and we would burst out laughing.
Fred, George, and Clara went to Harry's room to get Harry's trunk. I personally didn't think that Clara beaming the trunk or owl cage would be the smartest idea, with the way the Dursleys were, but it was up to her.
I ran to Harry and threw my arms around him. I wanted to ask about the dream, but I figured that could wait until we were somewhere private. I hadn't told Clara or anyone else about it, and I wanted to keep it a little while longer before I brought it up.
Harry grinned. "Hey, sis."
Harry and I had decided we were basically siblings after finding out everything from Sirius back in June, but I figured the "sis" was kind of for show, as if to say to the Dursleys, "this is my real family, and there's nothing you can do about it."
I didn't look at Harry or Ron as Dudley tried (unsuccessfully) to hide behind his father, because I knew I would burst out laughing.
Mr. Weasley lit a fire with his wand as Fred and George heaved the trunk down the stairs. Clara followed on a sunbeam with Hedwig's cage and supplies. She appeared to be a little too happy with her sunbeams at the moment. I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, Fred, you first," Mr. Weasley motioned to the fire. Fred walked up to the fire, but he tripped on one of the stones.
"Oh no," he said, as a bunch of candies spilled from his pocket. Fred scrambled around, shoving the toffees into his pockets, and when it looked like he'd gotten all of them, he stepped up to the fire. He gave the Dursleys a cheery wave and then said "The Burrow," throwing the green powder into the fire.
Harry and Clara helped George with the trunk, and then he disappeared into the fire as well. Ron quickly followed.
Before any of the rest of us could step into the fire, there was a loud retching noise. We looked up. Dudley was no longer hiding behind Mr. Dursley, but had apparently grabbed for one of the candies that Fred hadn't seen. He was gagging and sputtering on a long, purple, slimy thing protruding from his mouth. I looked on in horror as I realized it was his tongue.
Harry's aunt ran to the poor boy and yanked on his tongue. Dudley screamed and struggled more.
"Not to worry, I can sort him out!" Mr. Weasley yelled, advancing on Dudley with his wand. Harry's aunt screamed louder and threw herself over her son.
"No, really!" said Mr. Weasley desperately. "It's a simple process, really- my son Fred, you know- a real practical joker- it's just a simple engorgement charm- I mean, I think it is- please, I can correct it-"
The Dursleys moved away from Mr. Weasley, backing themselves into a corner. Harry and Clara glanced at each other, and then at me. This time wasn't like in the Shrieking Shack. This time, I knew what they wanted me to do.
"Dudley," I said, "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, please. It would be very simple to reverse the spell." Dudley clutched his bottom and trembled, and I recalled that Harry had said Hagrid had given him a pig's tail on their first encounter. "It won't be like last time," I promised. "Nobody here wants to hurt you."
I had the Dursleys under my spell. Mr. Weasley was staring at me, shocked. Harry and Clara smiled encouragingly.
"Okay, you can heal him," Harry's uncle said. "But then get the bloody hell out of my house."
Mr. Weasley nodded uncomfortably. "Yes, well…" he took out his wand again and pointed it directly at the boy's tongue. "Reducio."
Harry's uncle started to look angry again. Dudley's tongue returned to normal size. "Come on," Clara whispered. She reached for my hand, and I took Harry's. We would slip out and sunbeam back to the Burrow while Mr. Weasley sorted everything out. As Clara summoned a sunbeam, I realized that after today, we would probably have to tell Arthur Weasley about our other talents and our background. Even for witches, we weren't normal.
Clara POV
I made my sunbeams move at light speed. I didn't really want to be seen at the moment. We arrived back at the Burrow in less than a minute.
"Did he eat it?" Fred asked excitedly as we walked in the door.
"Yeah," said Harry as Renee helped him step off the sunbeam. He hadn't had as much experience with riding on them as she and I had. "What was that?"
"Ton-Tongue Toffee," Fred said proudly. "George and I invented them, and we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer."
The tiny kitchen exploded with laughter. I looked around. The table in the tiny kitchen was occupied by Ron, George, Bill, and Charlie, and they were all laughing.
I hadn't really ever thought much about Bill and Charlie, but I studied them as Charlie introduced himself to Harry. Charlie was built like the twins, shorter and stockier than Ron and Percy. I knew he, like Harry, had been a seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and he certainly looked like seeker material. He worked with dragons in Romania.
Bill, on the other hand, had surprised me last night. I had expected him to be an older version of Percy, but he was nowhere near as uptight. He wore his long hair in a ponytail and had an earring that looked like a dragon tooth.
There was a loud POP as Arthur Weasley appeared right next to George's shoulder, looking livid. Renee nudged me, and I guessed she didn't want to be on the scene for the fallout, especially because Mr. Weasley would probably question us about the charmspeak and the sunbeams.
I heard laughter coming from upstairs, and strangely, one of the voices sounded like Nico's. I'd never heard the kid laugh before, but that was definitely him. I followed the noise up to Ginny's room.
To my surprise, Nico, Ginny, and Hermione were laughing over a game of exploding snap. From the looks of it, Nico loved the way the cards exploded and then re-formed a few seconds later. I was really glad he had decided to come with us. Even in the 24 hours we'd been in the United Kingdom, he was becoming a different person. I was glad my wizard friends could bring that out of him. And yes, that included Draco, my brother… he was my friend, too. He had saved our lives, and that spoke volumes.
Renee and I both loved exploding snap too, so we joined our friends without hesitation. It was easy to forget about everything when I was surrounded by some of my best friends, playing my favorite game. I was excited for the rest of the summer holidays. And tomorrow, we would leave for the Quidditch World Cup. I was incredibly lucky to have everyone and everything I did in my life.
A/N: Well, it looks like this chapter was a filler. I had planned to write the Quidditch World Cup in this chapter as well, but then I figured that actually needed to be its own thing, with everything I'm planning for that. So expect that one to be a lot longer, and a lot more original.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review.
~Celia
