The Golden Hippogriff, Roosevelt Square, New York – July 15th
Sirius, Harry and Remus were settling into their suite, resting after Harry and Sirius's first plane ride. To say that the trip was interesting would be an understatement. While Harry'd enjoyed himself, Sirius needed a calming drought slipped into his drink during the flight to keep him quiet. Remus hadn't gotten tired of teasing him yet.
Niether had Harry.
After a few hours of relaxation, it was time to go and finally meet Sophia and her adoptive family. They decided to meet at a restaurant in the Square, neutral ground for both parties. Dressed comfortably in jeans and t shirts or polo shirts depending on age, they set out.
Sirius saw her before she saw him. She was standing in front of TGI Friday's (Odd name for a restaurant) wearing black cargo pants, a sleeveless tee shirt with the word "Radiohead" written across it and flip flops. A blue headband kept her hair out of her face, but she was twisting a section of it around her fingers, rocking on her heels.
"Merlin, she looks just like you Padfoot," Remus commented lightly, noticing her as well.
"She does, except for the nose. That's Viv's nose." Sirius smiled sadly. "Excuse me," he spoke louder as they got closer. "Are you…"
"Hi, I'm Sophia." She cut him off, extending her hand to him confidently.
"Lord Black, I'm Davis Johansson. This is my wife Eliza." Davis shook hands with Sirius.
"Mr. Johansson, Mrs. Johansson. Pleasure. This is my friend, Remus Lupin, my godson, Harry Potter."
"No way! Harry Potter?" Sophie blurted. "Like the real one from my world history class?"
"Don't tell me, I'm famous over here too?" Harry groaned.
"Well, kind of. I mean, people know who you are, but you won't get mobbed or anything like you're Michael Jordan or something."
"Shall we?" Davis gestured towards the restaurant. The group went inside and got a seat rather quickly, having just missed the lunch rush. The meal was filled with general chatter, the group getting to know about each other, Sirius learning more about Sophie as the day went on.
Like how she hated to be called Sophia, and was horrible at Herbology. Her favorite subjects were Charms, Runes and Arithmancy. She liked hoverboarding and liked to watch quidditch, although she didn't play often.
Sophie found herself in a rather spirited debate with Harry about American Quidditch teams versus the British counterparts. She liked the three over all, and felt like although Harry was a little shy, he'd probably get along with her friends.
"So, Sophie, what do you want to do after school?" Remus asked, seeing that the argument between her and Harry would probably never end.
"I want to go into Technomancy." She replied happily, sipping her Pepsi. "I mean, I'll have to go to college for a few years to learn some advanced Arithmancy, and some muggle engineering, but after that, I'll try and get a job at one of the research facilities either here in New York, or in Philadelphia."
"Technomancy?" Harry asked curiously, his look matched on both Remus and Sirius's faces.
"It's the science of trying to combine magical and electrical currents; trying to get magical objects to work in muggle areas and vice versa. So far, all that's been able to be done is that there are small machines created in Japan called Buffers that sort of, nullify the magical current in a set perimeter, usually about 30 feet, and it allows things like TV's, computers and cell phones to be used. Granted, if there's no place to plug in a modem, internet can't be used anyway, so there's still room for improvements."
"Sounds like important and difficult work at the same time." Sirius nodded.
"It's relatively new, and spearheaded in Japan, but this is all that has been able to be achieved in 0 years of research, so we have a long way to go. I want to be apart of it."
Soon, the meal was over, and Harry was invited to hang out with Sophie and her friends the next day while Sirius, Remus and Sophie's parents….adoptive parents talked.
Roosevelt Skate Park – July 16th, 1:00 pm
Sophie and Harry stood at the entrance of the park waiting for the others to arrive. Sophie had her board under her arm as they waited.
"So Harry, what's Sirius like…you know, as a dad-type person?"
"Padfoot is great. He's not strict or anything and he always is there to listen. He's a real prank artist though, so you have to watch your back around him sometimes. Moony is more…well; he's more of the responsible one, making sure that I've done my homework and the like."
"And Moony is Mr. Remus?"
"Mr. Remus? Merlin, that's weird to hear." Harry laughed. "But yeah, I call them both by the nicknames that they gave themselves when they went to Hogwarts. Sirius is Padfoot, and Remus is Moony."
"Oh, and Hogwarts is the name of your school?"
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There are 4 houses named after the 4 founders; Godric Gryffindor, House of the Brave; Helga Hufflepuff, House of the Loyal; Rowena Ravenclaw, House of the Wise; and Salazar Slytherin, House of the Cunning."
"Which house are you in?"
"I'm a Gryffindor. Most of my friends are too. Moony and Padfoot were Gryffindors too.""
"Oh, do families usually go in the same house and stuff?"
"Usually, yes. But I know a pair of twins where one is a Gryffindor and her sister is a Ravenclaw, so it's not automatic, I don't think."
Harry told her about the common rooms and the classes and even a bit about the teachers before she started to tell him about her school.
"NYAMA is your average school. Except, we don't live at our schools here; well, I think there are a couple of schools like that around here that are boarding schools, but none of them I know the name of. Uniforms and all that junk exist over here too, unfortunately." She joked at the end.
"Soph! Over here!" Austin's voice carried over the noise of the Sunday afternoon shoppers. Behind him were Danny and Hiro.
"Austin, where's Cassie Girl?" she asked as she hugged all three boys.
"I called her cell from the pay phone before I came in. She was on the subway. She said she'd be here soon though." Danny answered for the group.
Introductions were made and the group went inside. Harry, Sophie, and Hiro went over to the tables so that Harry could get a quick explanation.
"Hoverboarding is a lot like skateboarding." Sophie started. She turned her board over. It resembled a skateboard without the trucks or wheels quite a bit. Where the trucks should have been were a series of small hollows. "See the dents there? Those are the thrusters. Some people think they're full of bits of magnets that repel the minerals and metals in the ground. Other people think that they use your magical core to push powerful jets of air to hold the board above the ground. I have no clue. Maybe it's both. Anyway, you can adjust the number of thrusters you have under your board with your wand to help you balance until you can control yourself better. The more thrusters, the easier it is to keep balance. I have about 5 on each end. Austin has 3, Hiro has 4. Most pros have 1. So, I'm gonna set you up with 10 on each side since this is your first try, and we'll adjust it later on." She said, handing over a spare board Austin was holding.
Harry climbed on and found his balance easily. He pushed off a few times and rode around the perimeter, Sophie and Hiro helping him out. It wasn't as easy as flying, but it was still fun for him. By the time the day was over, Harry only had 7 thrusters on each end of the board.
"Two less than Cassie," Austin teased the blonde girl, dodging her fists as they rained down on his shoulder. The group walked around the Square, going into various shops. Danny bought a pair of portable speakers, and Cassie bought a really expensive Buffer machine that would allow electronics to work for about 15 feet in any direction. She grinned and claimed it was for her oldest brother who was attending a completely magical college upstate near Buffalo.
After grabbing a quick bite, the six teens left the Square, and Harry walked the streets of New York City for the first time. Soon, they found themselves at Sophie's home and one elevator ride later, they all were in the living room greeting the adults.
"Have a good time, Pup?" Sirius asked Harry, after greeting Sophie warmly. At his affirmative nod, the six teens went into Sophie's room to watch TV until it was time for the others to leave and head home for dinner.
Harry and Sophie sat down to the dinner Anna prepared and ate the roast chicken and potatoes enthusiastically.
"Tastes great, Anna." She grinned at the woman standing off to the side quietly.
"What did you do today, love?" Davis asked.
"Boarded, hung out around the square, went in the music shop; Hiro drooled over the new turntables he saw there. I told you about how he wants to do this DJ thing, right? Anyway, after that we went skating. It was pretty cool. And Harry wasn't a half bad boarder. If he practices, he could really kick some serious butt in amateur competitions."
"So what did you four get up to today?" Harry asked, pushing the subject off of himself.
"We had a long discussion this afternoon." Davis started slowly.
"Unbelievably bloody long," Sirius muttered so lowly that only Sophie caught it.
"What about?" she asked, trying not to laugh.
"You mostly, love. You and what the most prudent course of action would be considering recent events." "Eliza picked up.
"Yes, Darling," Davis added. "Now that you and Sirius know each other, it wouldn't be right to keep you from him, or he from you."
"Don't I get a say in what happens next? I mean, I am 15. I deserve to have some kind of say in what happens in my life, right?"
"That being said," Eliza spoke over Sophie as if she hadn't said a word. "We decided that it would be best if you went abroad and attended Hogwarts. Just for a year. If you like it, you can stay longer, if not; you can always come back to New York and attend the Academy."
"You're sending me away for a whole year? This isn't fair! I thought maybe I'd go spend the summer there, get to know Sirius and Remus, hang out with Harry a little more and come back home to New York. To my friends, to Toshihiro, remember him?" she ranted. "We had plans for this year! We were finally upper school, we were gonna run stuff! I was gonna be in Advanced Arithmancy! I was only one semester from being able to go to the Junior college for half the day to take College level Runes and Arithmancy. Harry says that they don't know anything about Technomancy in Britain."
"Darling, calm down." Davis tried to soothe her. "Let's be rational about this. It's only a year. You'll be right on par with your classes at Hogwarts. There's no need to worry love."
"You're sending me to a damn boarding school and I'm the one who's being irrational?"
"Language young lady!"
"This blows big time." She flipped her plate over and stomped to her room, slamming the door shut in the process. Seconds later, loud music flowed from behind the closed door. Sirius walked to her bedroom door and knocked. When she didn't answer, he tried the knob; it was locked.
"She's…she's a little dramatic at times." Eliza rolled her eyes before turning back to her dinner as if nothing happened. "She'll calm down in an hour or so."
"Are you sure?" Sirius asked.
"I'll admit, Sophie's a little spoiled. She's very used to getting her way, and to having a say in what happens to her." Davis replied heavily. "I probably have given in to just about everything she's ever wanted. Granted I've said no a couple of times, like when she wanted her navel pierced, or when she wanted to stay over at that boy Hiro's house, but for the most part she's pretty much always gotten whatever she's wanted."
One uncomfortable hour later, a knock sounded at the door. Anna answered and showed an Asian boy in that Harry and the Johanssons immediately recognized.
"Sup, Harry." He greeted as he walked past everyone and knocked on the door a few times.
"Star, open the door."
They heard the lock disengage and Toshihiro Taylor entered her room without even speaking to one of the four adults in the room.
"Well, that was….rude." Remus mused.
"Toshihiro Taylor, Sophia's little boyfriend. He's usually rather polite…I assume he's heard the news and is upset with us for making our decision." Eliza gestured to the door. "He's even left the door cracked because he knows that she's not allowed to have him in there with the door closed. He's upset, but not rude."
"I noticed he's dyed his hair again," Davis smiled after the boy. "Last time we saw him his hair was streaked with blue."
A few minutes later, a tear-streaked Sophie walked back into the living room. "Ma, Pops, Sirius, Remus, I'm sorry for flipping out. I accept that I'm gonna have to change schools for a year. But I have a couple of conditions." She began. "I'm coming back here for Christmas break, and I'm gonna come back after spending exactly the school year there, deal?"
"I accept spending Christmas break here, however, you'll spend exactly one calendar year there. You'll leave July 21st, and you'll return July 21st next year." Eliza replied.
"Acceptable, I guess," Sophie grumbled. "And Sirius, I hope you don't mind that I'm not comfortable calling you….like, Dad or anything. That's okay, right?"
"It's fine, as long as I get a chance to get to know you." Sirius said, attempting to give her at least a bit of control in the situation.
"Okay. I'm gonna go to bed. I only have like, 5 days left with my friends here and while I invite Harry to come along so he's not stuck with a bunch of adults, I'd really appreciate it if I could have one day where it's just me and you, Sirius, just so that we can talk about where you live and stuff."
"Done." He smiled lightly at her. With that, she nodded to everyone, Hiro left after saying goodbye, and she went to bed.
July 21th, John F. Kennedy International Airport; Noon
The days flew past way too fast. After tears and heartfelt goodbyes with most of her friends, Cassie, Austin, Danny and Hiro accompanied Sophie's adoptive parents to see her off. Sophie slipped her a box roughly about the size of a digital camera. It was the Buffer she'd bought. Danny gave her the speakers, and, Sophie burst into tears, all of her friends giving her a group hug. Hiro gave her a small mirror, explaining that he had the other and a promise to message her every day.
One watery goodbye with her adoptive parents later, Sophie walked into the terminal, Harry's arm over her shoulder comfortingly, following Sirius and Remus onto the plane.
Well, things are kicking off now! Next chapter, we meet some Weasley's, Harry Potter has a birthday, and we're inching closer to the very first of may Black vs. Snape showdowns of this series. Stay tuned, the next chapter should be up soon...most likely in another week!
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