"Good morning, Miss Weasley. Anything I can do for you today?"
Rose brushed the ashes of her clothes and stepped out of the fire.
"No thanks Tom. I've got to pick someone up in Muggle London, so I'm just passing through." She smiled at Tom, the barkeeper of The Leaky Cauldron and one of the few people who didn't treat her like some sort of celebrity, like most of the Wizarding World did.
"New student?" Tom asked. "Doesn't McGonagall usually sent one of the Heads of Houses to pick them up?"
"Usually, yes. But this is something of a special case."
"Guess you can't tell me more than that?" Tom walked her to the door, opening it for her.
Rose smiled at him once more. "And risk Rita or anyone else overhearing us? The place would be swarmed by reporters by the time I got back here. You'll meet her later today, I'm taking her to pick up her school supplies."
She walked out of the door, and into Muggle London, the smell of car exhausts and pollution hitting her at once.
She turned back towards Tom. "Oh, and please don't tell anyone I was here, or will be here again today."
Tom gave her a crooked grin, his eyes twinkling. "Don't worry, Miss Weasley. I know the drill."
"Thanks," Rose said, just before Tom closed the door behind her.
She turned around and looked at the crowded street, people and cars rushing by, nobody sparing her more than a passing glance. She let out a content sigh. Muggle London. At least here, nobody would bother her. She stepped away from the front door of The Leaky Cauldron, and began walking towards the nearest metro station.
After a few minutes, her eye fell on a little ice cream parlor across the street. A glance at her watch told her she still had a little over half an hour to get to the metro station. That meant she had more than enough time to make a quick stop for an ice cream. She smiled and crossed the street.
o0o
Victoria was pacing back and forth in the living room. She knew she was being ridiculous, that everything would be fine, but that didn't help her clam down. She just didn't like meeting new people. They always seemed to be more interested in her father than in her. She had hoped people wouldn't recognize her name in Britain, but this Rose Weasley seemed to have recognized it immediately. Then again, she was the Head Girl, so it could be she was just interested in Potions. That didn't mean everyone at Hogwarts would know who she was.
Victoria took a deep breath and forced herself to sit down on the small couch. Headmistress McGonagall had promised her Rose wouldn't treat her any differently because of who her father was. Victoria hadn't met many people who didn't act different after hearing her name, but then again, what reason would the Headmistress have to lie to her?
She dropped her head in her hands and began massaging her temples. Worrying always gave her a headache. She knew she shouldn't worry about this so much, but she couldn't seem to stop.
She stood up again and walked over towards the small kitchen. Hopefully a strong cup of herbal tea would help calm her nerves. She considered taking a calming draught, but eventually decided against it. Her father wouldn't like it if she took potions without good reason. She had just filled the kettle with water and set it to boil when the doorbell rang.
"I'm coming!" Victoria quickly walked over towards the front door and took one last calming breath. She forced a smile and opened the door.
Victoria was momentarily stunned by the image of the girl in front of her. She had expected the Head Girl to be plain, probably even appearing a bit bookish, but the girl in front of her wasn't like that at all. She had vibrant red hair, which fell in long waves across her shoulders, and deep chocolate brown eyes. The combination between the red and brown wasn't one she would have expected, but it did have a rather striking effect. She suspected the girl might have charmed her hair red to make more of an impression on people.
The girl smiled at her, a warm, genuine smile, and extended her hand. "Rose Weasley."
Victoria smiled back at her and shook her hand. "Victoria Hornwood."
"Please come in. I hope you didn't have too much trouble getting here. I know not everyone knows how to use Muggle Transportation and all." She stepped out of the way to let Rose walk past her, and closed the door behind her.
"Oh no, no problem at all." Rose took of her coat, and Victoria noticed she wore jeans and a t-shirt underneath. Well, that explained her being comfortable with Muggle Transportation. She was probably Muggleborn, or maybe a half-blood. Meanwhile, she caught Rose looking at the door of her father's laboratory.
Victoria suppressed a sigh. "I'm sorry my father couldn't meet you, but he's really busy with his research lately."
"Oh no, that's not.." Rose started, quickly looking back at her again. "I mean, I completely understand. Of course he's busy. And I'm here for you, not your father, after all."
Victoria blinked. She sounded sincere. Whether that was because she was sincere, or because she was a good actress remained to be seen.
"Would you like some tea?" she asked, already walking over towards the kitchen. She poured two cups of tea, and walked back, handing one of the cups over towards Rose.
"So, I guess you have loads of questions about Hogwarts and everything," Rose said.
Victoria thought for a moment. "Well, I don't really think I have questions about how Hogwarts is going to be…"
Rose looked surprised. "You don't?"
"I read Hogwarts: A History. And the Headmistress also answered some of my questions already."
Rose interrupted her. "You read Hogwarts: A History? Would you believe me if I said you were one of the first people I have met that have actually read Hogwarts: A History?"
"You mean they go to Hogwarts without caring about its history and background? The moment I realized there was an entire book about Hogwarts I immediately owl ordered it."
"My mom was absolutely right!" Rose exclaimed.
Victoria stared at Rose. What did her mother have to do with anything?
Rose must have caught her confused look, for she quickly explained. "My mother was a guest speaker at your school last year, she gave a lecture about Advanced Arithmancy. She told me you reminded her of me, and her at my age."
"Your mother is Professor Granger?" She had never expected to meet her again, but was elated with the opportunity.
"Well, she's not technically a Professor, she doesn't really teach, except for the occasional guest lecture. But yeah, she's my mom."
"I would love to see her again sometime. She was the reason I decided to finish my education at Hogwarts."
"You can come over next Sunday, if you'd like. Grandma Molly is going to throw this big party because we're leaving for Hogwarts the next day."
Victoria hesitated. She would like to meet Professor Ganger again, but she didn't want to interrupt some family occasion. "I wouldn't want to intrude on a family thing. I'm sure your grandma would want to keep it just family."
Rose laughed. "The place is going to be crowded anyway. Our family is pretty big. She really wouldn't mind having someone else over as well. You could stay over at our place as well. We could take you to the station, if you want. I mean, your father is probably busy, and it's no fun going to the station on your own."
Victoria chewed on her bottom lip. A big family? She didn't really handle big crowds of unfamiliar people well. Probably best to just skip it. She would surely get another chance at meeting Professor Granger again. "I'll think about it, okay?"
"Sure," Rose replied. She took a sip from her tea and looked back at her again. "What were we talking about again before?"
"Hogwarts," Victoria replied, grinning.
"Oh yeah. So, no questions then?"
"No, not really," Victoria answered. "Let's just get our school supplies."
"Fine with me."
o0o
Rose opened the door to The Leaky Cauldron and quickly scanned the crowd inside. When she was certain there were no reporters, she went inside, followed by Victoria.
"Reminds me of one of those tourist shops in Salem," Victoria whispered in her ear.
Rose grinned. She supposed the atmosphere would be attractive to tourists.
The moment they had made their way to the bar, Tom appeared from the back.
Rose smiled at him. "I told you you would meet her."
"Miss Weasley, come with me. Quick." He then turned around, walking towards the back again.
Victoria turned towards Rose, confused.
Rose just shrugged and went after Tom.
"Can one of you tell me what's going on?" Victoria asked, slightly hysterical.
Tom made a slight bow to Victoria. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. My name's Tom, I'm the owner of this place."
"Victoria Hornwood," Victoria said. "But you still haven't told us why you dragged us in here."
"It's okay, Victoria. He's a friend of mine," Rose said.
Tom turned to Rose. "Rita has been walking in and out of here since around noon. She keeps asking me if I saw you, or know when you will arrive."
Rose groaned. She didn't fancy a repeat of last year. Rita had found out her family was shopping for school supplies and before they knew it, they were surrounded by Rita and about a dozen photographers. Harry and Ron had needed to threaten to arrest them before they finally went away. By then, half of the shoppers in Diagon Alley were standing around them. Or at least, that was how it seemed.
"You would think she had found something better to do by now," she mumbled.
"Uhm, who's Rita?" Victoria asked.
"She's the main reporter of The Daily Prophet, Miss Hornwood."
"They found out I'm here already? I'd hoped to get to Hogwarts before that happened."
"Well, thanks for the heads up, Tom. We'll be extra careful. Let's just hope she misses us," Rose said.
"Good luck, ladies."
o0o
The two girls had managed to get most of their supplies without being bothered by Rita. They had spotted her once, but were able to go inside one of the shops before she saw them. They were now picking up the last items on their list.
"There you go, ladies," the shopkeeper said, handing them their packages. "Anything else I can do for you?"
"No thank you," Victoria answered. She turned towards Rose. "Well, that was everything."
"Okay, let's go back to your apartment. Maybe we will be able to avoid Rita entirely," Rose replied.
She opened the door and was greeted by a smiling Rita Skeeter. "Or maybe not."
"It's so good to see you, my dear," Rita said, still smiling broadly. "And with a new friend as well."
Rose quickly scanned the area with her magic, looking for any spells Rita had set up. She wasn't surprised to find a variety of anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards.
"Just leave us alone," Victoria said from behind her. "I'm getting really tired of you reporters, you know."
Rita's eyebrows rose. "I have no idea what we did to offend you, my dear, but we're only doing our job."
At the same time, Rose took hold of Victoria's wrist and leaned towards her. "She warded the place, so we can't apparate out. I'm going to distract them, and then we're going to run for it. Make sure you're not looking towards them."
From the corner of her eyes, she saw Victoria nod and turn her head slightly to the side.
"Do you never get tired of following us, Rita?" She already knew the answer to that, but she was trying to distract the woman while she reached into her bag, searching for some of the Weasley Wizarding Weezes' fireworks she tended to carry with her.
"You know I'm always in for a good story, my dear. You should know that by now. So why don't you just tell me about your new friend, so I'll have my story, and then we can all go our own ways again."
"I think I'll pass." She had found what she was looking for, and threw it towards Rita and the other reporters. One went off in a flash of light, blinding most of the reporters, while the other ones went off in a variety of colored smoke.
Rose secured her hold on Victoria's wrist and started running, leading her through Diagon Alley and away from the group of reporters who were busy trying to clear away the smoke. The two girls bumped into various people on their way, but they didn't stop until they were certain they weren't followed by Rita or any of the other reporters. They bent over, trying to catch their breath.
"Is that Rita always wearing that ridiculous color?" Victoria asked after a moment.
Rose burst out in laughter. "Most of the time, yes."
"I had really hoped to avoid reporters," Victoria said with a grim look. "At least until I had started at Hogwarts."
Rose bit her lip. "I'm sorry."
Victoria shook her head. "It's not your fault."
Rose wanted to protest – after all, it was her fault – but Victoria continued. "You know, I think I'll accept your offer. About the party and everything. I don't think I want to risk running into another group of reporters on my own when I'm going to the station. And it's not like I have much else to do."
Rose smiled. She understood what Victoria meant about not running into another group of reporters. Once had been quite enough for a long, long time.
AN: I'm sorry it took me a while to update. I had the chapter outlined for a while now, but just couldn't find the time to actually write it, since I've also been away for a while. Unfortunately, I'm going away again halfway next week, and will be gone for 2 weeks this time. I promise I will write the next chapter as soon as I'm back!
I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who reviewed so far. I love to read everyone's feedback, so please leave a review. :)
I noticed this chapter was quite heavy on dialogue, and I was wondering if it was too much. Do I need more description, or is the amount of dialogue okay? I would love to hear what you think!
- Nerine