And since there were no requests, we're on to the fourth year! I have plans for this one, guys.
Dobby's Polka-Dotted Sock
Chapter Fifteen:
New Surroundings
"It's felt like forever, hasn't it?" Harry asked with a grin from the doorway as he watched her finish packing her trunk.
"I completely agree," Leila replied, slammed the trunk lid, and turned, hands on hips, satisfied to face her brother. "That everything?"
"Almost," he answered and crossed to the dresser where Hedwig rested in her cage. Carefully, so as not to disturb her too much, he picked it up, and the two descended the stairs of Number 4, Privet Drive. "You have Madam Pomfrey's instructions, right?"
Leila didn't bother to stop the groan. "Yes, Harry. It's not like you haven't memorized it or anything."
He had the grace to turn a little red. "Well, somebody has to—"
"Where are you going?" Dudley had come upon them in the hall and was looking with distaste at their luggage, particularly the owl cage.
"If you'd bothered to listen at breakfast, we're leaving to stay with our godfather," Leila told him, rolling her eyes at their sluggish cousin.
"Yeah, we're going to where there's real food," Harry added with a rather wicked grin. It was certainly the best way to say goodbye to their dieting relation, and so the two decided to wait outside. They weren't sure how exactly Sirius was planning to get there, but they doubted he'd want to even go near the Dursleys.
They sat on their trunks by the curb, ignoring the strange looks from the neighbors, though secretly enjoying the effort Aunt Petunia would have to go through to cover it up, and returned old Mrs. Figg's friendly wave. The woman nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a powerful motor zooming down the street. Harry and Leila stood, blinking as Sirius skid into a stop on a large black motorcycle. It was probably the worst, most obnoxious thing he could have shown up in, and Harry and Leila both grinned.
"Hello you two, been waiting long?" He asked, shutting off the engine for a moment.
"Not that long, it's great to see you, Sirius," Harry replied, and both twins hugged their godfather.
"How are we all getting to your place on this?' Leila asked, gesturing to the bike.
"Well, I can take one of you on this, and ah, Remus is—here he comes—Remus has the car." Professor Lupin drove at a much slower pace, though in a rather shiny, black convertible, and pulled to a stop in front of the house. He waved merrily at the two and they did so as well.
"Can I ride the b—"
"Leila, Madam Pomfrey said no extreme activity until you check in with her this fall," Harry reminded, and though Sirius looked apologetic he nodded along to her brother's words.
"Fine," she scowled and muttered under her breath as she jumped into the passenger seat of the car, "He probably just wants an excuse to ride the bike, cheater."
"Cheer up, Leila," Remus said, "You can practice the Queen's wave while I chauffeur you to your vacation home."
Sirius, with Harry seated behind him, gunned the engine and sped off, leaving a second black skid mark in front of Number 4. Leila demonstrated her proficiency with the Queen's wave on the Dursleys who stood openmouthed at the window as Remus calmly followed.
OoO
She did feel slightly like royalty as Remus finally turned up a long gravel path and Sirius' home came into view. It was the largest house she had ever seen, not quite a mansion, but spacious and grand in its own way. She shielded her eyes from the sunlight reflecting off the large windows on the bottom floor. As Remus shut off the engine, Harry and Sirius emerged out of the front door and came down the steps to meet them.
"I just gave Harry a first view of the ground floor, but what do you guys think?" The black-haired man asked.
"It's amazing," Leila breathed.
"Incredible, Sirius," Harry added.
"We're glad," Remus said, as he got out of the car. Sirius opened the passenger door for her, so Leila stepped out as well. "It's Sirius' home, but he's asked me to live here seeing as it's so big."
"You're not going back to that shed you were calling a house, Remus," Sirius cut in. "Honestly, I could give Snape a piece of my mind for telling everyone about your lycanthropy."
"Nothing to be done about it now," Remus sighed, "And we always said back at school that job was cursed. I'm almost grateful I got off so easy."
"That's true," Harry agreed, "you should see our first to Defense professors. Er—well, you can only see one of them, actually…" He scratched at the back of his neck awkwardly, and Leila looked away from the two adult's questioning gazes.
"So," Remus said after a pause, "dinner then, shall we?"
"Sounds like an excellent suggestion," Sirius said, and led them inside. Leila found herself wandering through the large, high-ceilinged rooms, hands trailing over furniture and smooth walls. She eventually came across the kitchen where the three men were starting on dinner, as ironic a picture as that painted.
"You make your own food?" Somehow she hadn't pictured Sirius to do so.
"Yes, I do, as inconvenient as that is sometimes," he answered. "But getting a House-Elf wasn't at the top of my list, and they only one my family still owns is senile and hates me."
"You mean they can be weirder than normal?" Harry asked, and Leila knew the boy was thinking of their strange 'friend' Dobby.
OoO
"You know, Remus," Leila began. In the couple weeks since they arrived, the twins had become comfortable enough to drop the professor title. "I get that finishing my homework early is probably smart, but it doesn't really seem fair that Harry's out there whipping around on his Firebolt." The two were each curled up in armchairs, and Remus glanced up from his book to look out the window where Harry was a blur practicing maneuvers on the pitch that Sirius had.
"It's not really the homework, Leila," Remus finally said, "We just want to make sure you're following Madam Pomfrey's directions."
Leila almost wanted to hex the school nurse at this point. "So does that mean 'no fun' then? I'll excuse you and Sirius, but Harry seems to have forgotten I'm not fragile. If I don't get out and do something, I'm going to drive myself insane all on my own!"
"Well we can't have that, can we?" Sirius said from where he was leaning in the doorframe. "Nothing for it but to let you out there."
Leila practically leaped from the chair. "Really?"
"Why not, we hardly ever listened to Pomfrey at your age, even when we were in the school itself."
"Alright, alright," Remus conceded. "But how about you finish your potions essay first, that's not one to put off." Leila sighed, shoulders slumping, and Sirius' face scrunched up at the mention of Snape's subject. But she sunk back into the seat anyway, however grudgingly.
OoO
They ended up inviting the Weasley's over for a day at Sirius' instead, partly because the house was larger, and also because Ron and the twins had heard about the Quidditch Pitch.
"And anyway," Ron added when they arrived by Floo Powder, "Percy would probably be yelling at us to shut it the whole time."
"Really, why's that?" Harry asked curiously.
"He's got a desk job at the Ministry these days," Fred said, and they could easily tell what he thought of it.
"Takes it very seriously," George added, "No one's to disturb him while he works on a report about cauldron bottom thickness or whatever rubbish."
"He skips meals for it. Mum's been going spare," concluded the first.
"Wow, sounds pretty dull." She said.
"Well, Percy's been destined for dullness."
"That's the understatement of the century," Ginny cut in. "Now are we going out to that pitch or what?"
"They're letting you play now?" Leila asked the other girl as they made their way across the lawn.
"Yeah, they finally realized how stupid it is trying to play with three people, so now we can have something closer to a match with two-on-two," she informed her.
"Alright, how about a Firebolt on each team, a Weasley twin on each team, and a girl on each team," Fred said once they got there.
"Why, are we some kind of handicap?" Ginny asked with a hand on her hip and Leila arched an eyebrow.
"Not at all," George said, raising a hand in defense, "It just makes dividing the teams easier. That way it can be, say, you, me, and Harry on one and Fred, Leila, and Ronnie on the other. That sound agreeable?"
"Perfectly alright by me," Fred replied, and the others nodded.
After an exhilarating two wins and three losses, they made their way back to the house for some food.
"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed as they all entered the kitchen, an official looking letter held in his hand.
"What is it?" Harry asked, while all six children sat around the counter. Remus, who had been kind enough to prepare sandwiches, set the plate down in front of them.
"The Ministry's given me tickets to see the World Cup—in the Top Box! And two for my lovely godchildren, of course. Haha, I've got them bending over backwards doing favors for me!"
"You're really getting your money's worth our of this whole false imprisonment thing, aren't you?" Remus asked with a straight face, although his lips almost twitched into a smile at the end.
"I'll bleed them dry, Moony!"
OoO
Ron wrote a few days afterward to tell them that his father had gotten them tickets, in the Top Box as well. Harry and Leila were quite happy to receive that news, and even more so when Hermione wrote to say she would come as well, since Arthur Weasley had two extra. Sirius arranged with Ron's parents that the three of them would meet up with Arthur and the children to take the Portkey to the World Cup together.
OoO
She was sliding along cool grass, weaving around the large headstones and markers. Her head rose off the ground and her tongue darted out to sniff the air. The Muggle had been here recently.
Slithering at a faster pace, she came to the rat hole that had become her own personal door and slipped through into the entrance hall. Everything was covered in dust, yet it was obvious it had been disturbed just moments ago, and the place reeked of his stench.
Slowly, stalking she made her way up the thickly carpeted stairs. And there he was: the Muggle gardener, listening to her Master's plans! Her first impulse was to strike, and yet she hesitated. The Master would wish to deal with the intruder himself. So she passed him by, for now.
She entered the room, ignoring the foul pudgy human who shrunk back at her appearance, and curled up on the rug in front of her master. She barely lifted her head to hiss her report.
"Masssster, the Muggle gardener issss outssside the door, lissstening to your every word."
"Thank you, Nagini," he replied, his voice high and cold as always. He spoke human words to the servant, who retrieved the old Muggle.
More useless words, until she saw the wand tip emerge from the chair, and the familiar flash of green. The Muggle dropped like a stone to the floor. Red eyes peered down at her, before her Master spoke again.
"Dinner, Nagini." She uncoiled and slithered to the dead man, opening her jaws wider than Leila ever could.
So, thoughts? Next chapter will be, obviously, the World Cup. And then we'll be heading back to Hogwarts! What trials will await them there? If I receive reviews, I am more motivated to update, so please let me know what you thought of this chapter! Thanks so much for reading, a don't forget to review!