A/N: This chapter is a little shorter than my usual word-count, but Harriet finally moves to Forks! However, not everything goes according to plan for her...
I gripped the shiny, dark green pouch which was made of dragon scales close to me as I stood on the driveway of my new home.
The large Victorian cottage in front of me was beautiful, its white exterior and sheltered porch inviting. I felt a wave of excitement flow over me.
This was it, I was finally out of the wizarding world and I could start a new life without any worries or pressure placed onto me!
It also helped that Narcissa Malfoy happily agreed to take the Black ladyship, so that was another responsibility out of my hands.
I couldn't help the thrilled noise which escaped my throat as I glided towards the building and soon welcomed myself inside after retrieving the house keys from my bag.
Who knew Sharpclaw, who worked for the darkest pureblood family there is, would have such good taste?
I was generally looking forward to living in Forks, and there were so many new things for me to try. The United States was different from England, after all.
The first thing I do as I step inside the house is rush upstairs to choose which bedroom to occupy. My new residence had three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a gorgeous dining room.
Of course, it was only myself living here at the moment but I wanted to be optimistic. Who knew what would await me in the future?
"Definitely not another Dark Lord," I chuckled to myself as I opened the door to the bedroom closest to the stairs.
It quickly occurred to me that this had to be the master bedroom of the cottage, seeing as it had a giant built-in wardrobe, and I couldn't imagine the other bedrooms having so much space to live in.
The room held no furniture also, which I was relieved about. I had been looking forward to decorating and the first thing I would be doing was picking a new colour scheme for each room.
Granted, the cream coloured walls were much brighter than I was used to at both Grimmauld Place and Number 4 Privet Drive, but I was not a fan of the neutral colour.
Humming, I take in the room a little longer before deciding to take a look at the rest of the house.
I think that I'm really going to like living here, and the privacy of being secluded from the cul-de-sac streets of Forks was an added bonus. I could perform magic without feeling anxious about muggles seeing, and I didn't have to worry over any loud noises that may occur from any next door neighbours, because I had none.
This was perhaps the best day of my life since discovering I was a witch.
Now, if there is one thing I'm not good at, it's remembering things. That's why the Dursleys always gave me a list of chores so that I never forgot any of their requests.
As it was, it never occurred to me to buy a simple notebook and ballpoint pen so that I could list down the things I wanted to buy for the house and I hadn't bothered to purchase any stationery from the wizarding world beforehand.
I had nobody to write to, and no owl to use as a delivery method, so what was the point?
Anyway, instead of getting a bus to the nearest mall (as the Americans would call it) and window-shopping for furniture, I decided to walk into Forks' town in search of a convenience shop. I much preferred to plan out my next course of action than jump into things blindly, even if half of my plans didn't work very well when I attended Hogwarts.
Unfortunately, I hadn't planned ahead to buy an umbrella and I couldn't use magic, so Forks rained vigorously on me as I walked from my house and deeper into the city.
My hair was now a shade darker than usual and sticking to my face and my awful, black dress clung to me like it was a second skin.
Thankfully, I had chosen to wear my sneakers instead of those horrible heels I usually attended funerals with, so I had less chance of slipping in this horrendous weather.
I loved the rain, don't get me wrong. But, I much preferred to be inside with a hot cup of tea and bundled in a blanket rather than dance around in it like some people.
"What was I thinking?" I uttered out to nobody as I trudged down the street, still clinging to my dark green bag. Thankfully, it was glamoured to look like a crocodile skin drawstring pouch as dragon scales looked too obvious to muggles and would no doubt spew many questions that I would struggle to worm my way out of.
I wiped the stray pieces of wet hair out of my face as I clenched my fists in an attempt to keep the blood flowing through them. I was absolutely freezing and would no doubt have a cold after this.
Even worse, I didn't have a bed to sleep on.
I doubt I would live three times either.
"Goodness me! Darling, you are soaked!" A voice called out to me and I stopped in my tracks, hugging myself as I turned around.
Behind me, a kind-looking woman with dark hair and honey-coloured eyes stared at me with concern from the inside of her black Mercedes.
"I-I don't h-h-have an umb-umbrella," my teeth chattered as I called out a reply to her. I was desperately beginning to wish that I had at least cast a warming charm on me before I left the house. I didn't realise that Forks' weather changed quicker than Britain's.
The woman quickly pulled over to the curb, in order not to cause a traffic standstill, and hurried out of the car. She gently pried one of my arms away from my torso and began leading me to her car.
A shot of fear ran through me and I couldn't stop myself from asking her if she was going to kidnap me.
"My dear, don't be so silly. Please, my house is warm and my daughters are bound to have some spare clothes which will fit you. I would hate to see you get sick, and you're clearly new to the area so we wouldn't want you to get lost either!"
"Th-thank you," I stuttered out as the dark-haired female opened the passenger side door for me and I wobbly climbed in, my fingers shaking as I attempted to fasten the seatbelt. The door shut behind me gently as the woman made her way to the driver's seat.
Soon, we were pulling off the curb again and quickly making a U-turn back towards where my house was. I briefly wondered if this woman's family lived that way too.
"My name's Esme Cullen, sweetie. It won't be long and we'll get you wrapped up warm."
I attempted to tell her my own name, but all I could do was chatter my teeth after telling her thank you once again. My eyelids were beginning to feel heavy, and I faintly noticed Esme's cold hand placed onto my sticky, dress-covered knee as she told me to stay awake.
Of course, I couldn't remember anything after that as my eyes fluttered shut and my brain went to sleep.