Disclaimer: Gosh people! I don't own it.
A/N: I did not get those 5 reviews, so I'm updating now, and I'm extremely sorry that it is late. I have had a hectic few months, and more than once have I been on the verge of failing a couple courses. Spring quarter ended, and summer quarter began without a break between. Fundamentals of Chemistry was occupying my time, but now that I'm not screwed over to hell and back from the previous quarter I shall write more of this story. I have just started fall quarter, and I'm taking 14 credit hours worth, which is just over full time. Chapter 7: A Talk With Dumbledore, Year 1 Two days past sense the Order meeting, and Holly was more than anxious to know how things went. In her room Holly lay in bed musing over the goodbye that would come later. Her best friend Hermione and her family were leaving on vacation, and Holly couldn't stand it! Ever sense Hermione's second year she only got a week or two with her friend before she went to stay with Ron or Harry. So, as she lay there staring up at the ceiling she realized that eventually things with Voldemort will go to the extreme, and then she will not be left out. She would be able to be with her Aunt, Uncle, and cousins--this is what she wanted most. She severely hoped that Harry would write back soon for the loss of contact was killing her. When Holly went to get out of bed an enormous animal's paw slammed into her stomach, and she reached for the furry nuisance. The Golden Retriever then loomed over her for a moment before bending her head to give Holly a sloppy kiss. Unfortunately for the poor girl the Retriever didn't lick her cheek, or her forehead, or her ears, but she decided the left eyeball would be the perfect spot. Holly reached for the tissue box on her nightstand, and wiped the slobber and goo out before stroking the dog's head removing the paw that was crushing her.
"Good morning Tinkerbelle. It's nice to know my prosthetic needed cleaned." The Dog nudged her chin, and finally Holly sat up and gave Tinkerbelle a shove. Tinkerbelle bounded off the bed barking happily, and a series of things happened. Coils hissed menacingly, and her cat Snowball followed suit.
"O hush!" Holly shouted, and flung the covers haphazardly over the bed.
When she entered the kitchen five minutes later, a bushy-haired brown-eyed girl embraced Holly.
"'Mione!" Holly exclaimed, "Are you leaving soon?"
"Yeah soon, but I'll be back on the twenty fourth you know."
"I do, but still, it usually ends up this way..."
"What way?" Hermione asked.
"You come home from school for a couple of weeks, and then you leave until the end of next school year."
"Y-yeah but..." Hermione stuttered.
"It's ok, 'Mione you'll have a great time, don't let me ruin the start of your vacation." Holly smiled, and gave Hermione a goodbye hug before taking her place at the table.
A few seconds past, and then Hermione sat beside Holly and asked,
"Has Harry..."
"Crash!!"
Both girls jumped up to open the window that Errol the owl crashed in too. A figure came silently into the room to see what the commotion was all about, and watched the girls with interest.
"...Owled me back?" Holly finished for her. Hermione smiled, and then said,
"Yeah I was about to say that, but..." Hermione started.
"...Errol scared the living hell out of us."
"Yeah, that, and stop finishing my sentences for me." Hermione chastised.
"Quit stopping in the middle of them then." Holly retorted.
"Well, if Errol hadn't..." Hermione started again.
"Slammed into the damn window, we could have finished eating our breakfast." Holly finished her sentence for the third time.
"That too, but I was going to say: If Errol didn't have a window collision, I would have my answer." Hermione stuck her tongue out, and then said, "See, you don't know what I'm thinking all the time." Holly lifted the window up, and grabbed the bird.
"Wanna bet?" Holly quipped with a mischievous smile.
"No, actually I don't." Hermione answered horrified.
"All I have to say is two words you know." Holly teased.
"If you do," Hermione hissed, "I'll... I'll..."
Holly smiled,
"You'll what... Hex me? Cause I'll tell you this now, you can't use magic until your seventeenth birthday, and clearly you are only 15. Besides 'Mione, no one is in the room to listen to your hearts desires. Unless you wish me to open the window and shout it to the world."
"Holly! You are impossible!" Hermione exclaimed exasperatingly.
"Two words 'Mione, two words. Just remember that." Holly paused, and then added, "And besides, you aren't the first person to say that to me, ya know."
"Yeah I do."
Silence.
"The letter!" Hermione shouted. This brought Holly out of her musings, and looked at Hermione oddly.
"What?"
"The letter, who's it from?" Hermione asked again.
"O! One's from LOVER BOY, and the others from Harry." At this statement Hermione's face flushed a dark pink, when Holly threw Ron's letter in her face.
"Girls, go finish breakfast." Kendra said, with a hint of laughter in her voice. At this, the girls twirled around, and Hermione's face was scarlet with embarrassment.
"Y-y-y-y you didn't hear all that did you?" Hermione shuddered. Kendra's smile widened, and then said,
"Yes Hermione, I heard everything from the slam of Errol to the last bit about LOVER BOY." A resounding "crack" echoed through the kitchen, and then Hermione exclaimed,
"You told me no one was here to hear that!" Holly sent her a death glare, and then said in a low rumbling voice,
"Hermione Jean Granger, if you ever smack my arm that hard again I'll walk straight to The Burrow and tell Ron myself. Besides how was I to know my mother walked in the room during all the commotion. Last I checked you were the one who could see." Horror-struck Hermione sulked to the table, and resumed her breakfast. A few seconds later Holly joined her, and unfolded the letter from Harry. Hermione then lifted her head and said,
"You know Hulls I don't think either of us paid any attention during the owl's noisy entrance."
"Holly,
It is nice to finally meet one of my cousins who I have heard little about. It came as a shock to see a letter come so soon after I found out about you. I'd really like to know a little more about the other eleven siblings. Just to lat you know dad also told me what happened between you and Percy--he said you told him. Bill told the adults on the eighth, and I overheard the general conversation outside the kitchen just before breakfast. I entered the kitchen defending you, and I don't think any of them questioned how I knew. As for the pictures, I saw one of Lillianne, Mitchell, You, and Kellianne as babies, and they were just hospital pictures. On the first my 10-year-old brother jack put itching powder in everything my twin sister Carianna and I own. We didn't know when Mum and Dad were to return home, so we took Jack and hung him up on the fence post. Mum was livid when she got home, and we got a talking to for at least two hours. My older sister Jane is a prankster just like me and Carianna, but she works behind the scenes most of the time. Also, a couple of days later Carianna and I thought it would be funny to douse the 11-year-old twins Emma and Wen Wei in whipped cream. That same day I think my 2-year-old sister Georgette had some fun with a bowl of cereal. Apparently she thought it was a hat. Hope to hear from you soon,
Love
Harry"
Holly smiled at the letter, and folded it before sticking it in her pocket.
"Well 'Mione, are you packed?" Holly asked her friend.
"Yup, and I think I shall go, we are leaving soon." Hermione gave Holly one last hug before hermione left. Kendra stared at Holly before asking,
"Why don't you tell Hermione you're a witch?"
Holly sighed heavily before responding,
"Because Mum, if any other person new I was related to the Potters I'd be dead by now. Besides, I'm not the one who doesn't talk to her brother."
"Holly, you know I can't do th..."
"Actually, you can, you just don't want to for some reason."
With a pained expression Kendra said,
"I want to talk to your uncle, but Ed doesn't know I'm a witch, and I think if we get to involved we may lose some of the family."
"Well," Holly paused uncomfortably, "Well," she swallowed her nerves before she attempted to speak for the third time, "Well, Mum we are in the middle of the fight; mitch and I are, but on opposite sides."
"What?!" Kendra exclaimed, "Holly, what do you mean?" Her mothers face would have been priceless to see, but the question and shock' in her mothers voice was enough for her.
"I mean..." Holly was cut off at that moment, because Mitchell entered the room.
"Morning Mum."
The hesitation in Kendra's voice was evident to Holly as her Mum greeted her eldest son. Holly cleared her throat and then said,
"I've got to go now, Dumbledore and I have another meeting," and with those last words Holly left the manor.
With a pop Holly arrived outside the gates of Hogwarts, and sent a patronus to Dumbledore. Moments later the sound of high heels could be heard clicking on the path.
"Ms. Davidson?" comes the familiar voice of Professor McGonagall.
"Yes professor, it's me." Professor McGonagall unlocked the gates to admit Holly.
"How has your summer been Davidson?"
"Well, if you call my aunt, uncle, and their friends almost getting killed in the beginning--a great way to start off with a bang--then yes I'm having a stupendous one!" Holly said sarcastically.
"I meant your Mum and siblings." McGonagall said.
"Oh, they are great! I just told my Mum this morning that I'm fighting in the war."
"HOW did she react?"
"She didn't have time too, Mitch--THE BITCH--entered before she had time to respond. I do however think she was shocked." After these words Professor McGonagall left Holly at the entrance to the school. She walked in quiet solitude, before she heard a muffled sound coming down the adjoining corridor that contained Dumbledore's office. Holly thought to herself,
"My Uncle can never get it through his head that the invisibility cloak doesn't hide him from me."
Holly stopped a few feet away from the corridor and silently pulled out her wand. The not so silent creature rounded the corner, and in a flash of light Holly had James Potter hanging by his ankles with the invisibility cloak on the floor beneath him. Holly stepped forward, disarming him, and picked the cloak up.
"Thought you could hide from your niece under this?" Holly asked with a mischievous smile on her face.
"I should cut off your ears." James snapped.
"Awe, uncle Jamsie-poo wouldn't hurt his favorite niece now would he?"
"I might if you don't let me down."
"Now now Mr. Prongs just remember you have effectively corrupted me--much to the dismay of my mum. So, what were you planning to do to me?" Holly asked.
"I was going to give you a hug, but sense you're not cooperating I will say that you are not my favorite niece, and I will never give you any more hugs." James folded his arms in a pout-like manner, and in that instant Holly let him drop to the ground.
"That's ok with me Uncle, because you have five other nieces to choose from."
"Holly!" James shouted before landing in a heap on the corridor floor.
"Yes uncle?"
James held out his hand.
"Wand?"
Holly hugged the said beloved wand before handing it back to James.
"So why are you here?" James asked.
"To talk to Dumbledore again." Holly responded.
"Enjoy yourself Ms. Sapphire." he said as he ruffled Holly's curls.
"Sure thing Mr. Prongs." The two parted ways as Holly walked down the corridor to Dumbledore's office.
"Holly!" James called as he ran back down the corridor. Holly turned to face her uncle.
"Can I have my cloak back?"
Holly looked puzzled for a moment, and then lifted the silvery material.
"This?" She asked.
"Yes that Holls."
Holly hugged the cloak to herself just the same way she did with his wand. Instead of handing over the cloak she slipped it over her head, shrunk her cane, and flung herself at James wrapping her arms around his middle. He was not expecting the action, because his niece never did anything that spontaneous. James lifted the cloak off his niece, and tucked it under his arm.
"See I got my hug anyway, or rather you did." Holly said in a satisfied tone.
"Thanks Sapphire, now go talk to Dumbledore."
Holly said the password to the gargoyle, and entered the magnificent office.
When Holly entered the Headmasters office Fawkes was singing softly, the various instruments were humming, and Dumbledore himself was sitting at his desk looking over the pensieve.
"Good morning Hollianne."
"Professor call me Holly."
"And in return you call me Albus."
"Deal." Holly said, smiled, and folded up her cane laying it on the desk.
"So what news do you have for me?" Dumbledore asked. Outside the sky on this particular day was a magnificent cloudless blue.
"Well," she paused, "we will be discussing book one."
"And where does the book start?" Dumbledore asked with a hint of hesitation.
"The book starts the night you and Professor McGonagall took Harry to my Aunt's sister Petunia. You said he would be safer with her, because when Aunt Lily sacrificed herself it left Harry with a blood protection. She meant to die for him so you thought it would be best to keep him safer with a blood relative of hers. The protection kept Harry alive during the attack. Hagrid got Harry from the house in Godric's Hollow, and brought him to you. After that the book jumps 9 years when Harry is 10."
"Let me get this strait I put Harry with Petunia, because of the sacrifice Lily made?"
"Basically." Holly replied.
"So what happened when Harry was ten?"
"The Dursley's had Harry sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs, gave him Dudley's hand-me-down clothes, and threatened to starve him if he said the word magic or any fake muggle magic words. For Dudley's eleventh birthday they took DUDLEY, his friend, and Harry to the Zoo. Normally Harry would stay with Mrs. Figg, but she broke her leg. At the reptile house Harry talked to a snake, and Piers (Dudley's friend) knew Harry was doing something funny. In his haste to get to the snake cage Dudley knocked Harry to the ground, and the cages glass disappeared letting the snake free. That was when he first found he could talk to snakes. In short he was treated like dung Albus. You all tried many ways to get Harry his Hogwarts letter, and eventually succeeded when you drove the Dursley's out of their own house. They finally settled on a rock in the middle of a large body of water. Basically Hagrid blasted the door down told Harry he was a Wizard, and took him to get his school supplies. There were two interesting things that happened at Diagon Alley. The first was at Ollivanders when he learned about the connection between Voldemorts Wand, and the Wand he just bought. The second was at Gringotts when Hagrid went to vault 713. You and I both know what was in that vault."
"The Sorcerers Stone/Philosophers Stone." Dumbledore said in shock.
"Correct Albus, so we will move along in the story, and Harry goes to Hogwarts. On the train he met Ron, and they became instant friends. At Hogwarts Harry and Ron saved Hermione from a fully grown mountain Troll, and sense then the three were at least tolerably civil to each other. At the first year flying lessons Neville broke his wrist, and had to be taken to the Hospital Wing. While madam Hooch was gone Draco took the remembrall, got on a broom, and attempted to put it where Neville couldn't find it. Harry mounted was broom as well, and chased after Draco with no problem. Draco threw the remembrall toward the castle wall, and Harry caught it just outside McGonagall's window. She took Harry inside to tell the Gryffindor Quidditch captain that she found him a new seeker. Well to sum this all up, on the first match of the season Harry caught the Snitch in his mouth, (he almost choked on it actually.) Christmas came around, and Harry discovered that there was a cloak stuffed in his presents from you."
"What was it?" Dumbledore asked.
"The invisibility cloak. You told him to use it well. One night while Harry was in the restricted section of the library looking for Nicholas Flamel he opened a certain book and it shouted at him. In his haste to get away from the library he stumbled into a room and found the Mirror of Erised. It showed him his heart desires, and that was his parents and other family members. He went back a few times after that, and you finally decided to move it to protect the stone. Now we come to Norbert the dragon. Harry Ron, and Hermione went down to Hagrids that night after curfew, and a dragon was born. Draco spotted it through the curtains, and went to tell McGonagall. Sense they were all out after curfew she took 50 points from each student and they all got detention. Their detention was with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest looking for Unicorn blood. Voldemort and Harry met briefly, but a centaur intercepted the meeting. After you found out about the Dragon Ron and Harry took it up to the astronomy tower so Charlie and his friends could take it to Romania."
"Is that the end?" Dumbledore silently hopped.
"No, the last bit of information deals with the stone."
"They got through the enchantments?" he questioned shocked.
"Well, yeah, it wasn't very hard for them. You know, Hermione's knowledge of Devil's Snare, Harry Quidditch skills to get past the flying keys, Ron's amazing chess skills so they could get past the chess board, the fortunate event that the troll was already knocked out, and again, Hermione's skill with riddles and potions. As you can see professor, the tasks were easy for them." Dumbledore thought for a moment, and then asked,
"Did Voldemort get the Stone?"
"I'm getting there, but your answer is no. You told Harry later on that it was one of your more brilliant secrets. 'If someone wanted to find the stone and not use it they would receive it.' It was something to that effect anyway, but that's what happened to Harry with the Mirror. Every time Professor Quirrell touched him his skin would turn to dust. Quirrell eventually died, and I forgot to mention that Voldemort was living inside of him. That's why he had the turban so he could hide Voldemorts presence."
"So Quirrell couldn't touch Harry because of the sacrifice?"
"Correct." Holly replied.
"All of that happened in real life as well. Is there anything we should be aware of from this book?
"Well, the snitch, the dragon comes back up (but it wasn't that important), the invisibility cloak, and Aunt Lily's sacrifice saves him more times than one."
"The Snitch?" Dumbledore asked. At the moment he couldn't see why a thing like the snitch comes important. Dumbledore gazed at Holly for a moment, and then went back to stare at the polished wood of his desk. The invisibility cloak makes sense, and the sacrifice for that matter, but a snitch?" He was still baffled and just kept quiet. After a while Holly spoke up again.
"Norbert, as you know him by, was actually a girl who they named Norberta." The useless information sank in and slipped out of Dumbledore's mind immediate.
A/N: Again I am sorry for the 4 or more month wait for this chapter, but like I said earlier I was busy. See my profile for the detailed explanation. O, and before I forget I am looking for a beta for this story. If anyone is interested please PM me. Also to be fare I had most of this chapter written during the summer I just couldn't remember all of the important events that happened in the first book. If I forgot anything please let me know. This is just one quality I am looking for in a beta. If you find anything I have missed contact me through PM. Anyway please review, I want to know what you think, and as always, if you have any suggestions tell me.