Hey, I have updated! (finally…) I hope it wasn't too long of a wait. I have decided on this chapter being right before Hogwarts, sorry if it seems like a lot of jumps, but the following chapters will be throughout the course of the year.
Just a little note, if you recognize any of the dialogue, it's from SS, or PS if you're from the UK, which makes you awesome! Honestly, I wish I lived there! Anyways, basically, it doesn't belong to me, I'll try not to use too much. Enjoy!
Chapter Four:
The Leaky Cauldron, That's in London
Leila lay on the lumpy bed in the small, cramped cupboard, blissfully unaware of the artificial light shining through the space between door and floor in a peaceful slumber. Nighttime was Leila's favorite time because the Dursleys' were not there, and usually she and Harry were on their way to a magical place where they had fun and didn't get punished for doing any of the things the Dursleys' didn't want them to do. Of course, her least favorite time was fast approaching.
"Up! Get up! Now!" the sharp voice ripped through the lovely silence and was quickly followed by rapping on the door. Now Leila slowly opened her eyes with a groan as she heard an identical sound coming from the floor; Harry had woken up as well. As the two finished dressing, dust suddenly rained down from the ceiling and it seemed as though it was going to cave in on them by the looks of the shaking, groaning, and creaking of the stairs.
"Wake up! We're going to the zoo!" Leila and Harry rolled their eyes at each other as Harry opened the door. The two knew exactly what the other was thinking: Correction, Dudley. We're not going to the zoo. You, Uncle Vernon, and Aunt Petunia are. Now as Dudley came lumbering towards them, Leila piped up bravely, considering Leila was about half Dudley's size in bulk, and shorter than him, too.
"What's so great about the zoo? Besides, me and Harry aren't stupid, right?" She smiled at her 'twin'. Harry took his turn to retort.
"Yeah, when you celebrate birthdays you just work more after—"
"Get more wrinkles—"
"Stretch marks—"
"And you get fatter," Leila finished with a smirk. Dudley seemed to finally catch up with their switching routine and sneered, shoving them aside.
"Yeah, but I get presents. You're just jealous," and he made his way to the kitchen where he sat down at the table. Once Harry and Leila entered, Aunt Petunia ordered them to finish making breakfast.
"And don't burn anything! I want everything to be perfect for my little Duddy-kins special day!" She ended the last part sitting at her own place and patting Dudley on the head lovingly. Harry made a gagging motion to Leila and both smirked identically. When the two had finally finished making the meal, much to Uncle Vernon's impatience, Leila placed a large plate filled up to the edges with food (Which came in the contract of making Dudley and Uncle Vernon's breakfast, unless you wanted to be scolded.) in front of Dudley's plate and mocked pulling out a pad of paper and a pencil, poised to write.
"Now, would the birthday boy like vegetables as a side? We have the pea, corn, and lima bean special. Or perhaps the eggplant, spinach, and zucchini?" Uncle Vernon narrowed his piggy eyes and she quickly dashed away to get another plate of food for him, mostly to avoid being locked in the cupboard. After the meal, the group moved to the living room where dozens of presents sat decorated with extravagant wrapping paper and bows. The two Potter kids looked on in awe as they did every time Dudley's birthday or Christmas came around, but Dudley scrunched up and began ranting about how he got two less presents than the last year.
"Gee, I don't know Dudley, maybe you miscounted," Harry commented, then grinned. "Since that's rather likely," As most could tell, the tension was often very thick in the Dursley household, and it was even worse when Aunt Petunia got the news that Mrs. Figg, the neighbor across the street, was unable to baby-sit Harry and Leila while the Dursleys' went out for the day. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon went back into the kitchen to discuss what they were going to do with the two children. Leila took out her frustration by glaring at Dudley.
"You're so spoiled! At least you get to celebrate a birthday! Gosh, I would do anything for at least one present every year! I don't even know when my birthday really is!" Which was true, though Harry and Leila wanted very much to be twins, that couldn't change the fact that Leila's true identity was unknown to them. Dudley scowled.
"You're not worth anything to get presents! Nobody loves you, so why should you get anything!" Harry quickly came to his friend's aid, anger seething through him.
"I love her! She's my best friend and I wish she were my sister! I'd much rather be related to her than you!" Leila and Harry glared at Dudley, who glowered back. Suddenly, Dudley was on the floor, yelling out in pain; the couch that had previously stood next to him had slid over and knocked him down. He wasn't really hurt, but it was enough to send his parents racing back into the room.
"What is it? What happened Diddy-kins?" Aunt Petunia almost wailed and threw herself onto her son. Dudley raised a chubby finger and pointed at Harry and Leila. Uncle Vernon saw the moved couch, and he roared.
"I've had enough! YOU HEAR ME?!?! OUT! GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE, AND STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!!" The pair stood for a moment, shocked, then as one ran back to the cupboard to get away from the angry, purple face. They quickly grabbed clothes and their other small possessions, stuffing them into two rucksacks. Coming out of the cupboard, they saw that the Dursleys' were waiting at the front door, and Uncle Vernon opened the door without a word. The two stepped out into the fresh morning air, heard the door slam behind them, and took off running down street after street, away from Privet Drive. Soon they slowed to a walk and the reality of it seemed to sink in.
"Where are we going to stay?" Harry asked his companion. Leila shrugged.
"We could go to London, there's tons of homeless people there!" So the pair continued their journey. It was a couple days until they reached London; they walked during the day and slept under the open sky out of view of the road at night. Now Harry and Leila were starved and rather scared. What were they going to do now they had reached their destination? Get jobs? Before they could even think of answers to those pressing questions, a policeman spotted them.
"Hey, you two! Get over here!" Frightened, they raced off, the policeman in fast pursuit. They ran through the streets until they saw a store called The Leaky Cauldron. Not many people were in there, so Harry and Leila burst through the door and turned around at once to watch through the window as the officer looked this way and that, then he shrugged and walked back they way he'd come. Now they were out of trouble, the children turned around to see people staring at them and talking in hushed whispers. One man hunch-backed and smiling a toothless grin, shuffled forward from his place behind the bar and spoke.
"Hello, how may I help you," he looked ready to introduce himself, but stopped abruptly and stared at the two in shock. "My-my word! It's Harry Potter!" Immediately the inn fell silent, then broke out in murmurs of shock, several people staring closely at Harry, who was stunned. How did they all know his name?
"Mum!"
"Can you believe it?"
"Wow, I can see his scar!" Harry and Leila spotted a large group of people, mostly children, with red hair and freckles all whispering excitedly, except the woman of the group, and she quickly telling them to be quiet. She smiled warmly at the two. They also saw a man sitting in the corner of the bar. He looked older, tired, had brown-graying hair, and a few scars. The man stared intently at them, almost shocked, but delighted at the same time. Leila and Harry drew together and had a whispered conversation quickly.
"Who should we talk to?" Harry muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Redheads. They look friendly," So the two tentatively made their way over to the large family. The two youngest looking ones stared in shock as they came over, but the older of the two quickly recovered himself and put a smile on his face like his older brothers and mother were doing. When they reached them, the woman beamed kindly and said,
"Hello, dears. I'm Mrs. Weasley, and these are my sons. Percy," She pointed to the oldest, a boy with wire-rimmed glasses and a shiny badge with a P on it, and he immediately put out his hand to Harry.
"Harry Potter, it is such a pleasure. I can't tell you how delighted I am—" but he was cut off by another of the boys who shoved him aside and grinned at them.
"Hello, you're lucky we're here otherwise—" here an identical looking boy, probably the other's twin, cut in, and Harry and Leila recognized the double act being played, one they knew very well.
"You'd be listening to him talk all day. So he's Percy, and I'm Fred—" Here his twin broke in, with a look of mock shock on his face.
"George, how could you trick Harry Potter like that? And you know I'm Fred."
"No, I am!"
"I am!" They continued to bicker until Leila grinned and yelled out,
"You're both wrong, I'm Fred!" They both looked at her in surprise. One of them broke the short silence.
"No you're not! He's Fred!" he said, gesturing to his twin beside him who replied with a quick,
"Yeah!" Then, realization dawned on them they had ruined their own joke. They looked back at Leila who had a grin on her face.
"You know what George?" Fred asked. "I think I like her," George nodded.
"Me too. What's your name, kid?" Leila smiled.
"Leila. I don't know my last name,"
"Those are they best kind," Fred said, and Mrs. Weasley introduced her younger children, Ron and Ginny. Ron smiled and said hello, while Ginny blushed and mumbled something at her toes.
"I guess I'll be starting Hogwarts with you guys, then," Ron stated. Harry and Leila looked confused.
"Hogwarts?"
"That's the witchcraft wizardry school. You know, where you learn magic," Harry and Leila turned to each other even more bewildered. Before they could respond though, the man who had been sitting in the corner of the bar walked over.
"Excuse me, couldn't help overhearing, but what did you say your name was?" He asked Leila, with a look of disbelief and hope on his face.
"Um, Leila," she said, uncertain why he cared at all. He smiled brightly.
"That's--that's amazing! I can't believe it! How—" Mrs. Weasley cut across, seeming very confused.
"I'm sorry, Remus, but what is going on?" He looked up at her and explained.
"Of course, you wouldn't know, precious few did…See, my name is Remus Lupin, and I was a friend of you're father," he said, nodding to Harry and Leila. Their eyes widened.
"You knew my dad?" Harry asked, awestruck.
"And mine?" Leila added.
"Well, that's because they were the same person," Remus said. "At any rate," he continued as Harry and Leila grinned at each other. They really had been twins, all along. "The Potter's had two children, but then on that horrid night," Here, everyone looked sad and Mrs. Weasley gave the newly discovered twins a sympathetic look, though they didn't understand. "They never found her body, so everyone who knew she existed thought Leila here had been killed, or they didn't know she existed at all," Remus smiled down at them again.
"Man, that sucks, at least you're famous somehow Harry," Leila grumbled. How could people not know she existed? Harry just stuck out his tongue. "So what's with the warty-hogs thing, anyway?" The Weasley children laughed, all except Percy, who promptly puffed out his chest so they could see his badge clearly.
"It is not 'warty-hogs', Leila. It's Hogwarts, the school of witchcraft and wizardry in this area. I'm a prefect there," he pointed at his badge, while his siblings rolled their eyes. Harry's mouth fell open, and Leila felt herself do the same.
"There-there must be a mistake," he said and she nodded in agreement. "We can't do magic or anything, we're just two kids." Remus Lupin raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" He asked. "Tell me something. Have you ever done anything strange when you've been angry or scared?" The two looked at each other. Well, to be honest, there had been that time when they had turned their teacher's wig blue, and the time when they jumped onto the roof of the school, and when Harry had re-grown his hair overnight after a haircut, and the time when…ok, there were a lot of times. So they nodded. He smiled at them. "See, when a wizard or witch is young, they have small spurts of magic that they can't control, which is why they go to Hogwarts to learn how to use their magic." Leila for one still knew she was slightly confused.
"But, how do they do that?" She saw that everyone was still watching them with disbelief and awe on their faces. "And how come everyone knows Harry?" Remus sighed.
"I think I can get someone to answer your questions," he stepped toward the fireplace, taking some powder out of a flowerpot on the mantle piece, and threw it into the flames, which sprang up turning a bright emerald green. Both twins jumped in surprise. He stepped into the flames, which was amazing since he should've been burnt by them, and shouted what sounded like an address, though Leila hadn't really been paying attention as suddenly, he disappeared in a whoosh of flames. Leila and Harry's mouths fell open yet again.
"What happened to him? Did he just die?!" Leila shouted, but the Weasley children, except Percy again, laughed. Mrs. Weasley made them all be quiet.
"No, dear. He just used Floo Powder. It's a way wizards travel." Harry seemed stunned and Leila knew and was thinking what he was thinking: That was one risky way to travel. A few minutes later, Lupin reappeared and stepped out of the fireplace, as the flames immediately sprang up again as a different man appeared in the fireplace. He stepped out and walked over to the rather large group.
"Good afternoon, Mr. and Ms. Potter," stated Albus Dumbledore.
Hope you liked! It's a rather long chapter, to make up for the wait. Review, please!