Disclaimer: I was craving chocolate fondue b/c occasionally people just do that. It occurred to me that if I was Jo, and owned HP, I could eat all the fondue I want. I guess I'm not the owner of HP, despite the fact I long to be.

On The Contrary

Chapter 1

The Letter That Just Didn't Matter

For as long as I can remember, my father has been a playboy. He is handsome, rich, and the Minister of Magic. Perfect Playboy material. By the time I was 8, somebody had to give me the talk, because I just wouldn't stop asking why my "daddy" was bringing women home.

James didn't even give me the talk, Sirius did. And Remus sat there and coughed when Sirius was getting too close to uncomfortable topics. Peter was there as well. Peter is my favorite uncle.

Peter never compares me to James, or my mother. Peter seems to understand that, as I wasn't raised by either of them, I have nothing in common with them. Peter never makes crude comments about other people, or tells me what is expected of me in life, or laughs when I say I want to be a historian. In fact, Peter encouraged me, and inspired me to play an instrument. I play the trumpet because Peter once played Jazz for me, and I fell in love. And, of course, Peter is my Godfather.

Many people were shocked when Peter Pettigrew was chosen instead of Sirius Black, but that was because Sirius was too reckless, and my mother feared that he would put vengeance before me should either she or James die.

She was right.

After Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband, his brother, and Barty Crouch Jr. attacked and tortured Mum into insanity, Sirius hunted down his cousin and arrested her before he even thought to check on the surviving family members.

James is hardly ever around, and yet whenever he is, he insists on making sure we have "family meals." These include myself, my father, and my grandfather, all sitting down at the table and eating in awkward silence. Grandfather is a kind man who, along with Peter, raised me. Of course, father doesn't realize or care that I didn't raise myself. He just is absorbed in work, and can barely come up for food, sleep, and sex.

Some of you may call James unfaithful to Mum since she's still alive, but she's insane, and insane people make all marriage contracts null and void. As far as the Wizarding world is concerned, Mum is dead.

Of course, there is a cure. There has to be. That's part of why I'm fascinated by history. Someone, somewhere must have cured someone of something similar. I don't, however, want to be a healer. I want to cure my Mum and then I want to go on expeditions around the world and be an archeologist. And then I'll write books. Lots and lots of books. I'll be more famous than Gilderoy Lockhart and more knowledgeable too.

Anyway, it is during one of these "Family Breakfasts" that I receive my Hogwarts letter (After thanking the house elf who gave it to me appropriately). I open it up and read the information inside. I ignore the opening letter as I already know what it says, (vaguely) and I simply read through what I will need for the year. I then lift my head to meet James and Grandfather's enquiring gazes.

"I'm in." I say curtly. They stare at me for a few minutes. "What?" I finally ask.

"Aren't you…well…excited?" Asks James haltingly. Of course it was haltingly. He never speaks to me and barely knows me. He doesn't know if my behavior is normal.

"Yes James-"

"-Father"

"Father. I am excited. I am going to go over to Neville's and share in this good news as it is the July Birthday delivery date and he should have received his as well. Good day." I stand stiffly, lean over, kiss my Grandfather on the cheek, and walk away. The last thing I hear is my father asking my Grandfather,

"Neville…..Longbottom?"

I rolled my eyes. Of course he doesn't know the name of my best friend. That would be stupid to expect.

My best friend Neville Longbottom's parents, Alice and Frank, both invite me over constantly to try and give me a semblance of home. They truly are amazing parents. They've managed to give the world someone as awesome as Neville and his little sister Emma after all.

A word on Neville before you meet him. He is, quite frankly, one of the nicest people I have ever met. He is funny and quirky. He doesn't mind listening to my muggle protest songs if I watch muggle movies with him. He used to be a little shy, but since his Grandmother was banned from the house for lowering his self-confidence, Neville has become perfectly comfortable with putting himself on the line. He's a genius at Herbology, mainly because he wanted to know what muggles found so great about gardening (remember, movie nut. Muggles always seem to garden at least once in those things) and found he was good at it. He is taller than me by about an inch, he is fairly thin, although his face still is boyishly round, and he has brown hair and dark blue eyes.

I guess you could say Neville is the calm before the storm. He is serene, and kind, and an all-around nice guy (except for when you get him really angry) while I am the storm, wild, unpredictable…Neville and I are a package deal, and for those who know who both of us are and that we are friends, you barely think "Becca" without thinking "Neville" and vise-versa.

His little sister Emma has made me an example of how not to act…or rather, she has decided to use me as an example of how a proper young lady is not supposed to act. On a day-to-day basis, she is herself (with a little of her behavior emulating me). The times when she has to "behave appropriately" she uses me as her example of how not to behave. The little girl is truly awesome, and has an amazing personality. She is one of my favorite people on this earth.

Anyway, after I call out "Longbottom Manor", I am pulled into the spinning fireplace system. As strange as it sounds, I love flooing. I love the rush and the spinning. It's like a roller coaster ride (Neville and I have been to the Muggle world on occasion). However, I suck at exiting the floo. I always am pushed out of the floo, like the system can't wait to get me out. I always manage to land on my butt, as is proven here. My arrival to Longbottom Manor is punctuated by a loud "thump" and an expletive. I hear the pounding of feet running, and I am tackled by a flying seven year old.

It is of course Emma Longbottom. She is, in one word, adorable. She has long brown hair which may very well be blonde by the time she gets to Hogwarts as her hair just keeps getting lighter. Her dark brown eyes sparkle almost constantly. She also has an infectious grin, one she is wearing now.

"You'll never guess what I did!" She exclaims, showing me her missing front tooth.

"What did you do M&Ms?" I ask, grinning at her when she makes a face at the nickname. Emma used to be called Ems by everyone. One day, Neville brought home M&Ms, and she ate them all before anyone could stop her. She became M&Ms fairly quickly after that.

"I turned the oranges in the bowl green. And then I turned them blue because blue is a prettier color."

I have to admit, I'm proud of her for her accidental magic. But green and blue oranges? That's just…wrong. On so many levels.

"So you made oranges the color of mold." I find myself saying, a complete deadpan.

"No! You just say that 'cause you like orange best." She says pouting.

I grin and ruffle her hair, making her squeal. "Okay M&Ms. Good job making me want to avoid the oranges like the plague."

"I turned them back."

"I'll take the risk just this once."

"Good."

I put the little girl down, and she clings to my arm. She looks up at me and says in a serious voice "Did you know Neville got his Hogwarts letter today? I started singing muggle songs."

"Really?" I say smirking. I know that Neville has just entered the room behind me, and I want to have something to tease him with.

"Uh-huh. I was an American song, a really bad one."

"An awful American song? Well, I know what it is then!"

"What?"

"This is how we do it, Montell Jordan." I say, grinning when I hear an indignant exclamation of "What?!"

I turn and look at Neville. "Hello Nevvie-poo! How are you doing?"

He scowls at me and says "1st of all, don't call me that. 2nd of all, that is a brilliant song for all that it's American. And 3rd of all, just the fact you knew what song it is makes you just as much of a nerd as I am, removing any right you have to tease me!"

"So…well then? Brilliant, so am I. James didn't know you are my best friend, but hey, I got my Hogwarts letter!"

Neville frowns at me, and his eyes hold something akin to pity for a moment before it vanishes.

"Becca, it's fine, I forget your dad's name on occasion as well. We're even. Besides, we have more pressing matters to consider."

I start to grin again. "What would that be?"

"Convince Mum and Dad to take us to Diagon, and to leave the small fry at home. She's already gone to try and convince mum and dad to bring her. We must fight back!"

Looking down, I realize he's right. Emma's gone. Which means, "Mission accepted!"

Nev and I laugh as we run through the hall of Longbottom Mansion to the kitchen to convince his parents that we can't wait another day to go to Hogwarts.

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