Chapter Four
"Back at the Burrow"
By Amanda J. This Chapter Uploaded First on October 12, 2002 and the
revised and completed on December 2 2002.
Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowlings and I take no credit for creating the characters of Harry Potter, and the world that he lives in. This is simply fan fiction. I do take credit for the new characters that I created and added to the story, but I'm sure nobody else would want them, and any good Harry Potter fan would easily regonize my new characters.
AUTHOR's NOTE:
Sorry this took so long too complete. I've been very busy working and going to school, and working on my other sites
I haven't had too much time to work on this, but this chapter is finished now, and I hope you like it. It's really long! The next one will be much shorter. Maybe only a page or two. Hopefully, I will have it done soon. Anyway, here's the completed version of the chapter. It has been spell checked but some typos might still be there. Just ignore them. A few details have been changed. You proably should just read the whole chapter from the beginning. I want to thank the people that reviewed and sighned the guestbooks. Your thoughts really mean a lot to me!
Please sign the guestbook and tell me what you think!
PS. This is really really really really long! If you only have one phone line like I do (go ahead and laugh)
you may want to leave this page up and disconnect from the internet, otherwise your phone line will be tied up for a long time. Or you could save this page to your computer and delete it when your done reading, or copy paste the text into WORKS and print it or read it off of there. Whatever works best for you. As long as you don't say that you wrote this instead of me, or steal my work and put it on another site, I don't care!
Thanks!
-Amanda J.
Back at the Burrow
The rest of the concert, and the drive home was very pleasant for Harry. When they arrived back at Mrs. Figg’s, it was well past mid-night. Mrs. Figg greeted them warmly at the door, and conjured up several sleeping bags for the guests to rest on. They stayed for breakfast the next morning, and then they Apprated home. Katrina was very sad to see her friends go. Harry was getting the impression that she might be starting to show some of the signs of homesickness.
That afternoon he saw her sitting out in the backyard. She was leaning up against the tree, holding her guitar, but not playing it. She wore a glum expression on her face, which was turned toward the green grass.
Harry walked up to her and sat down beside. “Your friends seemed very nice,” he said.
“They are very nice.” she replied not looking up. “I just wish I knew where Lu was. It’s so strange for him to be missing like he is. I hope nothing happened to him.” Katrina looked up at Harry, and her eyes had the most tragic gleam in them that Harry had ever seen. It tore at his heartstrings to see her look so sad. He wished there was something that he could do for her.
“Do you miss your home in America?” Harry asked.
She nodded. “It’s so strange being here in England. I’m a Brit-born just like you, but I feel like I’m an American. It was really weird back on the fourth of July. I’m used to going to barbeques and parties, but it was just a normal day here. I shot off some fireworks late that night. Grandma got really mad at me but..”
“Oh, that was you!” Harry interrupted, remembering the fireworks that he had seen.
“Yes, that was I!” Katrina said. A mischievous grin spread across her face. “Grandma told me not to shot them off because someone might see them and we might get into trouble with the Muggle Police. I told her she was crazy, and that nobody would ever see them, but I guess she was right!”
Harry laughed. “Things are like that sometimes.” he said.
Katrina twisted a strand of her burgundy hair with her fingertips. “It’s so weird being here.” she told Harry.
“Why is it weird?” he asked.
“Being back in the country where I was born, where all my family, except for my cousins and my American Uncle Joey, were born. It’s just strange. It’s like I feel a connection to everything here. It’s weird. I can’t explain it. But I don’t feel like I belong here. I feel like a bit of an alien. Like everybody is watching me.”
Harry didn’t really know what to say to this so he remained quiet.
“And I’m off to Hogwarts soon!” Katrina exclaimed.
“Yes, you are going to Hogwarts with me.” Harry said. “Are you looking forward to it?”
“I don’t know how I feel about going to the school where my parents got their education. It’s a really big step. I just hope that I am good enough. I don’t want to let Dumbledore down! He’s done so much for me.” Katrina said.
“Do you know anything about your parents? I know that they died when you were only two years old. “ Harry asked, feeling a little brave. He had wanted to talk to Katrina about this since he had met her. Now seemed like as good a time as any.
Katrina look straight into Harry’s eyes, her gaze was surprisingly cold, so cold that it sent a shiver down his spine. “I know something about them. But not much.” she said.
Harry looked at her without saying anything. He hoped she would continue.
“My mother was young. My father was a much much older man. Old enough to be her father. My mother was beautiful. I have seen pictures of her and my grandmother’s house. I look just like she did when she was my age. Everyone liked my mom. She was very popular at Hogwarts. Not much of a student in anything but Divination. My mother was a truly gifted seer. Oh, and she could speak a bunch of different languages. Nothing magical, though. She knew French, German and Spanish. Spanish was her favorite, at least that’s what my Aunt Isabella tells me. But she was a very good seer. I wonder if that runs in the family. I heard the Divination teacher at Hogwarts is really something!”
Harry couldn’t help but snort. He never put my faith in Divination, as anybody who had Professor Trewlawney would.
“My mom also played a lot of instruments, and she sung a lot. There’s where I get my musical abilities from. My father had no taste or patience for music. At least that’s what someone who knew him told me. ” Katrina continued.
“Do you know any of your father’s family?” Harry asked.
She shook her head, a few strands of her soft curls bumped into Harry’s face.
“I am my father’s only remaining relative. All the rest are dead. I don’t know much about my father. I don’t have any photos of him, so I can’t remember what he looked like. I was young when I lost my family. Two years old. ” she said. A single tear rolled down her face. She ignored it. “But I can remember his eyes. I have eyes just like his. I remember looking into his eyes, and they seemed so warm, and so loving, and so tender when he looked at me. I know two years old is really young to remember anything, but this was my father, you know. My father loved me. Some people would not believe it but my father loved me.”
Harry felt his throat tighten. “I don’t remember anything about my family. I can hear their voices when the dementors come too close to me. I can hear the last moments of their lives, right before they were murdered by Lord Voldermort.” he said.
Katrina’s face turned very white. Harry supposed it was because he used Voldermort’s name.
“You can hear their last moments before they died?” she asked in a quiet voice.
Harry nodded.
Katrina looked at him without speaking for several seconds. Her lips trembled.
“Oh Harry!” she said suddenly, throwing her arms around his neck in a hug.
Harry felt very taken back, and extremely awkward, but he put one arm around her back, and tried to comfort her as she cried, tears drenching the shoulder of the new shirt she had bought him.
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Harry’s next few days were a happy blur. He spent his mornings sleeping as late as he wanted, then coming downstairs to a pleasant home made lunch. He spent his afternoons sending owls, and spending time with Katrina. They played games together, watched TV, and exchanged stories about their wizzarding schools, and their lives. Harry felt very close to Katrina. He could say things to her that he could never explain to anyone else, and she always seemed to understand. They stayed up all hours of the night talking, and Harry quickly came to think of her as a new best friend. He secretly prayed that she would be placed in Gryfindor with him, Ron, and Hermione. He hoped that they would get along with her. Harry would be very unhappy if his old friends didn’t like her. He was quite ready to include her in all their daily adventures. Despite their sudden closeness, there were two things that Harry never spoke to Katrina about. He never said anything to her about his feelings for Cho Chang. He didn’t want her to know, not because he didn’t trust her, but because he was starting to feel like he liked Katrina as much as Cho, and he didn’t want her to think that Cho was his girlfriend. Besides, Ron had sent him another Owl with news about Cho. Apparently, Ron had seen one of Cho’s friends at Flourish and Blott’s, they had told Ron that Cho was still very heartbroken. The second thing that Harry never spoke of was his and Katrina’s parents. Obviously, this topic upset her. He still didn’t know what had made her cry and cling to him like she did that night, but Harry didn’t want to bring that topic up again. He was enjoying himself too much, and didn’t want his very last days there to have any unpleasantness.
One late night, Harry sat on a couch in the basement listening to Katrina play her guitar. She played often, and Harry liked to sit and listen to her. To Harry, her voice was the prettiest sound he had ever heard. Song of her songs were upbeat and cheerful, but sometimes they were slow and sad. Harry liked it when she played the happy songs. They seemed to suit her better and it made Harry’s thought twist up in knots just to think about Katrina feeling sad. Yes, he was definitely starting to really like her.
It was during this time when Pigwigdeon flew past Harry’s head, dropping a note in his lap.
“Hey, where did that owl come from!?” Katrina exclaimed excitedly, putting down her guitar.
“I dunno.” Harry said. “But I know that it is a message from Ron.”
He opened up the letter and read it.
Harry,
Do you think the Muggles will let you come over and stay when you get back?
Mum said that you and Hermione could come stay for a few days. It’ll be fun. You can bring that new girl with you too. Ginny is been asking me about her.
Let me know what you think!
Ron
Katrina scowled towards the note. She obviously did not like being called “the new girl.”
Nevertheless, she seemed interested.
“Do you think your Aunt and Uncle will let you go?” she asked.
Harry shook his head. “No way. They wouldn’t let me go instead of coming here!”
Katrina gave him a pouty look. “But you wouldn’t rather be there than here?” she asked him.
“No, I like being here.” he said.
“What are you friends like?” Katrina asked him eagerly. “Tell me about them.”
“Well,” Harry said. “Ron’s a really nice guy. He’s got red hair, all of the people in his family do. He is really funny, and he’s really tall. A real big Quiditch fan. Hermione is nice too, but she can be a bit bossy .She’s a really good student. She’s very smart and very bookish. She gets upset if she gets a bad grade.”
Katrina smiled at him. “I’d like to meet your friends, Harry.” she said.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. “You’ll meet them when we go back to Hogwarts.” he said.
Katrina’s face quickly turned bleak.
“What’s wrong, Katrina?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’m worried about making friends at Hogwarts.” she said. “I’m afraid that people will not like me.”
“Why wouldn’t they like you?” Harry asked, dumbfounded. He couldn’t understand why anyone would not like Katrina. She was smart, funny, talented, gorgeous. Basically perfect.
“Because of my family.” she muttered.
“Because your parents are dead?!” Harry exclaimed. Katrina jumped. “Oh, Katrina, nobody is going to say anything about that.” he said soothingly, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Well, anybody important or decent.” he added thinking of Draco Malfoy. “I don’t have any parents and I have friends. Lots of the kids have family members who are victims and nobody bothers them.” he told her.
Katrina just kept on looking toward the ground.
“Lord Voldemort hurt a lot of people in this country. Lots of f his victims have children or grandchildren that go to Hogwarts.” Harry told her. He saw her face turn ghostly white again. “Oh, sorry, you probably don’t like it when I saw His name, do you? Lots of people don’t like it, but I say it, but I’ll try not to say it anymore around you, since it bothers you so much.”
Katrina gave Harry a strange look.
“Your a really good person, Katrina. I don’t now what big flaw you think you have that will make people not like you. Nobody is going to care about your parents. That’s just the way life is. You don’t even have to tell them if you don’t want to. Nobody would probably know if you didn’t say anything.” Harry said.
Katrina stared on, not saying a word.
Harry couldn’t stand her unhappiness. “Oh, come one, Katrina!” he exclaimed. “As far as I can tell, you are perfect! I don’t see a single thing wrong with you!”
Katrina laughed. It was a strange, deep laugh. “Oh, believe me. I have a few flaws.” she said, playing with the gold necklace Harry always saw her wearing. “No, I’m not perfect. Far from it.”
Harry decided that he didn’t want to continue that conversation anymore, so he turned over Ron’s note and told wrote to Ron that he didn’t think that he would be able to come.
Then he sent the note off with Pig, and headed up the stairs to his bed. Harry’s head felt heavy with thoughts and negativity. He didn’t feel like listening to the music that Katrina was beginning to play again.
He laid in bed that night thinking. He thought about his own problems, how much he was dreading going back to the Dursley’s when they got back, and how much he wanted to go to Ron’s house, and take Katrina with him. He wanted Ron to meet her. Ron would definitely like her. And then there was Katrina herself. She was so pretty. Prettier than Cho Chang, but that didn’t matter much. Harry wondered how he could think that he like Katrina after he liked Cho for so long. He was also worried about what Katrina would be like when she go to Hogwarts. Harry knew that there was no way Katrina wouldn’t make any friends. Harry would personally curse anyone who was rude to her. But would she want anything to do with him once she got there, and made other friends? That’s what was bothering Harry the most.
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It was with a heavy heart that Harry returned to the Dursley’s a short couple days later. Uncle Vernon picked Harry up at Mrs. Figg’s house. Mrs. Figg said goodbye to Harry by giving him a large stack of chocolate chip cookies, and telling Harry to be good. Katrina simply ruffled his hair, and told him that she’ll see him around sometime, winking coyly.
Dudley looked as if he had gained about 50 extra pounds from being able to eat as much French food as he wanted. It was too bad for him really, Harry thought. Now his mother might make him diet even harder! But Harry found it amusing, even though a nasty little voice in the back of his head kept reminding him that Aunt Petunia would probably make the whole family go on the stricter diet as well.
It wasn’t happy times that Harry spent the next few days. He stayed up in his room most of the time, reading over his spell books. He figured if he wasn’t going to be having any fun at home, he might as well study so he could good marks when he returned to Hogwarts. Maybe Katrina would be in some of his classes. He didn’t know if good grades would impress her, but he decided that it probably could not hurt. Maybe he’d learn so much over the summer that he might be able to do better than Hermione the Prefect on a test! No, Harry wasn’t the least bit interested in going downstairs with his family to listen to them relive their Paris adventure. From the stories they told, it sounded like Dudley had the time of his life. Harry figured that probably had something to do with all the delicious sounding French food that he ate. Of course, it wasn’t that Harry didn’t have a good time himself with Mrs. Figg, Katrina and her friends and relatives. Harry defiantly knew that he had much more fun with Katrina just a few streets away from home than he could ever have with the Dursley’s in Paris. Harry just wished he was back at the Figg’s house.
One day, Harry was sitting up in room starring absent mindly out the window when he saw a stranger walk up to the door. A very strange stranger it was.
The stranger was wearing a long dark robe with green and silver trimmings. They had a hood raised over it’s face, which was icy white. Harry pressed his nose against the glass of his window trying to get a better look. He knew that this stranger must be part of the wizzarding world, or at least be some type of magical creature. Harry had never seen a Muggle wear a robe like that.
Harry heard a tap at the door, and footsteps approaching it. Harry walked to the edge of the staircase on his tip toes, peeking around the corner, and looking downstairs as Uncle Vernon opened the door.
A sight greeted Harry’s eyes that startled him so much, he almost stumbled down a stair. The stranger was very disturbing looking up close. It’s skin was as white as it could be. Harry could not see their face because the hood cast a dark shadow on the face, but Harry should see the eyes. It had a terrible, deep blood red eyes that seemed to search around the room. It had long, thin, pointed fingernails that were painted crimson. When it spoke, it spoke in a high pitch, snake like hiss. Harry could not recognized the voice as neither male nor female.
The stranger asked Uncle Vernon for Harry. Uncle Vernon, who had been complaining the previous day about him, was happy to call his only nephew down the stairs to meet the stranger.
“Harry….Harry Potter” said the voice as Harry slowly approached, fearfully as if it were a dangerous beast that might attack at any notice.
“Pack up your things. And bring them down the stairs. You will be leaving, and not returning until the following year.” the stranger told him.
“Oh! Harry is leaving!” said Uncle Vernon gleefully. “Well, Harry, do what this,….er,,,,,person…wants you to do.”
The stranger drew a wand from the pocket of it’s robe.
Harry had no choice to obey. He went upstairs and gathered up all of the things he would be needing for the next year, and drug them down the stairs.
The Dursley’s nodded to him as Harry followed the scary stranger out the door. He supposed that this was their idea of a goodbye. The Dursley’s door closed behind him, and Harry was alone with the stranger on the other side of it, awaiting fate.
The stranger slowly drew out a wand. Harry’s heart began to quicken and jump in his chest.
“What’s a matter, Harry?” said the stranger with a slight, snake like grin. The stranger hissed at him, “Are you afraid, Harry? ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME, HARRY POTTER?”
The stranger tapped the wand to their shoulder, and instantly the stranger turned into Katrina Figg. She was smiling brightly and mischief glinted in her eyes. “Cool trick, huh?” she said, obviously amused at Harry’s surprise.
“Wha….what…what is this about?” Harry said. He was feeling all sorts of emotions at the moment. He was surprised that it was Katrina, he was curious what she was up to, was she playing some sort of trick on him? He was relieved that it wasn’t some phycopatethic murder come to get him. And his heart was jumping around in his chest once more. This time he wasn’t afraid that some frightening looking stranger was going to kill him. He was sure it had something to do with how Katrina looked in a white t-shirt, and matching denim duster and mini-skirt, along with thick soled beige platform scandals. She was wearing red lipstick and her hair was loose, blowing in the slight breeze. She was wearing that fine gold necklace again. Harry never saw her without it. He didn’t know what it looked like because she always wore it tucked inside her shirt.
“Your coming over to my house.” she said in a matter of fact tone.
“What?” Harry said, still feeling surprised.
“Well, a Mrs. Molly Weasley is there waiting for you. She’s going to take you back to her house for the summer.” she told him. Harry could tell that she was trying to be non-chalant, but he could also sense a look of sadness in her eyes.
“Mrs. Weasley is at your house to get me?” he asked, not sure if he had heard correctly.
Katrina rolled her green eyes. “Yes, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”
“Oh, wow!” Harry said. “That’s my best friend’s mom! Ron, you know, I’ve told you all about him. But how did Mrs. Weasley know your grandmother?”
Katrina smiled. “Everybody knows my grandmother. And everybody knew my mother.”
Harry nodded, not really caring about at the moment about Katrina’s mom or grandma. He was too excited about getting to go to Ron’s house. Mrs. Weasley was waiting for him there, and he had all his stuff packed, he’d probably be leaving thru Floo Powder for the Burrow in just a few minutes! And he’d see Ron, Fred, George, and all the rest. Maybe Hermione would come for a visit. Harry was very excited.
But then he noticed a sad look on Katrina’s face. “What’s wrong, Katrina?” he asked her.
Then Harry understood. Katrina was a little jealous. She wanted to go too. Harry thought for a second about Katrina and how weird it must be to be living in one country and going to one school all your life, and then suddenly going somewhere different, all the way across the world. Harry remembered how hard it was for him to adjust to life at Hogwarts. He didn’t know anybody there, and he didn’t know very much about magic, growing up with Muggles.
“You could come too, you know.” Harry said to her, as he hopped over an empty soda bottle someone left on the side walk. “Ron has got a lot of brothers and a sister. One more person wouldn’t be any trouble or any extra work. And I bet they wouldn’t care anyway. His parents are the nicest people I’ve ever met.”
Katrina shook her head.
“Awwwww. C’mon!” Harry said. He was a little surprised. Katrina looked a little nervous, which seemed a little strange to Harry since Katrina always seemed so willing and ready for everything. She seemed, well, a little fearless. “Everybody in Ron’s family is really nice. Ron is really nice. It wouldn’t be any trouble for them at all, and they’d probably be happy to have another guest. You could stay with Ginny in her room. That’s Ron’s younger sister. Oh, c’mon, Katrina, you just have to go!”
Katrina looked at Harry for a moment. Her beautiful green and silver eyes staring back into his. For an instant, Harry forgot where he was and what he was doing. All he could think about was Katrina and how much he wanted her to go with him. Even though Harry had only known her for a short time, she had become a very good friend, and they just seemed to click. Not growing up in a happy family, Harry had grown very sentimentally attached to the close friends he had made at Hogwarts, and in the magical world. Like Ron, Hermione, and all the Weasley. They were like his family, and he wanted them with him. He wanted Katrina with him, but he defiantly didn’t feel a sister-like affection for her like he did for Ginny or Hermione. But he defiantly didn’t have a crush on her, or did he? But he told himself that it wasn’t important how he felt about Katrina, he just had to concentrate on convincing her to go with him.
“What did you think of my trick?” Katrina asked in an upbeat voice. She was grinning like mad.
“You sure had me fooled. I thought some hideous monster was coming to get me!” Harry said.
“Nope, no hideous monsters. Just me.” Katrina replied.
“How did you do that anyway?” Harry asked.
“I learned it in my Transfiguration class last year. Pretty tricky but of magic, but I think it can be quite useful. Your Uncle sure didn’t argue with me!”
Harry laughed.
“So, are you going to come to the Weasly’s with me?”
Katrina looked at him for a moment, with an expressionless face.
“Sure, I’ll go.” she said after what seemed like an eternity.
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When Harry and Katrina arrived at Mrs. Figg’s door step, Mrs. Weasly ran outside, almost trampling a stray black cat that had wondered into the yard. She hugged Harry, and kissed him on each of his cheeks. Harry blushed deeply as he heard her exclaim over how wonderful it was to see him.
“Did the Dursley’s give you any trouble, Katrina?” Mrs. Weasley asked.
Katrina shook her head no.
Mrs. Weasley beamed. “Good!” she exclaimed. She turned to Mrs. Figg. “Maybe she takes after Isabella. I hear she’s really something with Transfiguration.”
Mrs. Figg swelled with pride. “Oh, you know my daughter, Isabella?”
Mrs. Weasley nodded her head. “I believe she works for the North American Department of Muggle Artifacts, or something like that. I can’t remember the name. The North Americans have such long complicated names. With their being the Canadians and Mexicans in that content too, three languages you know, I guess that would make things difficult. Anyway, my husband, Arthur works for the Muggle Artifacts Department in the Ministry. She’s come over many times to work with him. Arthur liked her. Liked hearing about foreign Muggles, and she liked to talk with him. Brought her over for dinner once or twice. Nice girl. So young, though.”
“Oh, well, small world, isn’t it?” Mrs. Figg said.
Mrs. Weasley nodded. “Well, I guess it’s about time for us to be going. The boys and Ginny are back at home, waiting for us. They are anxious to see Harry.” she announced. “Katrina.” she added. “Are you coming with us? You are more than welcome to come. Goodness knows I’ve got so many children running around the place one more young person won’t hurt. May not even notice you’re there!”
Katrina stared down sheepishly.
“You’ve got to come with us! It will be fun! Ginny, our only daughter, she heard about you from Ron, and she is been asking about you non-stop! She wants to meet you so badly. You can stay in her room. She won’t mind. She’ll be enthusiastic, actually!”
At this, Katrina told Mrs. Weasley that she’d love to come, and she headed upstairs to get her things together.
When she returned, she had her purse, a red and black backpack thrown over her right shoulder, and a red trunk with shiny stars, and the initials KAF painted on in some fancy way. She was also wearing something different that what she had been wearing before.
She was wearing a forest green t-shirt that was covered in sparkly silver glitter with a dark indigo pair of jeans that were also covered in glitter. Her shoes were a pair of flat plastic green flip flops that matched the color of her shirt.
“I wanted to be wearing something nice when I meet everyone.” she explained.
Mrs. Figg shook her head. “Your such a clothes horse.” she said in a teasing tone of voice. “Don’t know why you worry so much about clothing when there’s hungry kids in third world countries that don’t have clothes without holes.”
“And there’s fat kids in third world countries that don’t have clothes with holes too.” Katrina said jokingly.
Mrs. Figg rolled her eyes at her granddaughter. “Oh, get out of here, and go off to make friends!” She pretended to hit the back of her head. Katrina gave a make-believe shriek, and with a tiny pop, she Apprates.
“Where’d she go?” said a very startled Mrs. Weasley.
“Katrina can Apprate. You get your license to do that at a much younger age where she’s from. It’s valid here.” Mrs. Figg explained.
“Oh, of course.” Mrs. Weasley said. She pulled a tiny bottle of Floo Powder out of her purse. “Here, you go, Harry. Come over when you are ready. I’m going to go ahead and make sure Katrina is okay.”
With that, Mrs. Weasley Apprated as well.
Harry walked over to the fireplace, flung the powder into the flames and called out a goodbye to Mrs. Figg. He stepped into the fire. Floo Powder may be Harry’s least favorite way to travel, but if he could use it to see Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys, then he would not mind at all.
************************************************************************* The next thing Harry knew, he was stepping out of the Weasley’s kitchen fire place. Mrs. Weasley was standing by the fire, smiling at him. None of the Weasley’s were in the room except for her. Katrina was sitting in a chair in a back corner with an expression that told she felt a little out of place.
“Boys! Ginny! Harry is here!” Mrs. Weasley yelled. Harry could hear the sounds of rushed feet running down the stairs. “Opps. I forgot to say that you are here, Katrina dear. Oh, well. I’m sure they will figure it out.” she added with a twinkling smile.
At the same time, all of the Weasleys and Hermione were rushing into the kitchen. Hermione was the first to reach him.
“Harry!” she cried. “Good to see you! I missed you! Guess what, I’m a prefect!”
Harry grinned. “Uh, yeah, Hermione. Ron told me.”
Fred and George greeted him next by slapping hit on the back. Harry wished they hadn’t. It made his glasses bounce uncomfortably against his nose.
“We wanted to come to get you, but Mum wouldn’t let us. Thought we’d give Muggles Ton Tongue Toffee like we did last time.” Fred told him.
“But we’ve got better tricks that now.” George added in a whisper that only they three could here. “With that money you gave us, we were able to develop a lot of new products that we couldn’t have been able to do without it. Thanks a million, Harry.” “It’s no big deal. That money would be tainted for me, anyway. I’m just glad that is’s going to do some good and help you guys out.” Harry said.
It was then that Harry noticed Ron was saying a word. Instead, he had a funny look on his face, a combination of a day dream and needing to throw up. Harry followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at Katrina, who still looked very out of place.
Ron suddenly gripped Harry’s arm and drug him out the kitchen door into the yard.
“Harry!” he burst out. “Who the bloody hell is she!”
Harry explained to Ron all about Katrina and the times they had shared together.
“When you told me about her, I never thought she looked like that! And you stayed at her house! How come you get all the bloody luck!” Ron said with a grin.
“I don’t get any luck!” Harry said, his voice raising in anger. “I almost got killed last year by Lord Voldermort! That’s not lucky at all!”
Ron gave him a frustrated look. “Don’t say the name! Besides, you know I was only joking.”
Harry nodded. “Okay.” Harry suddenly remembered that he hadn’t seen Percy. “Oh, he’s at work.” Ron said. “He got himself a new job now, since Mr. Crouch is gone. He’s gone a bit mad about it too. He’ll tell you all about it when he gets home tonight. Whether you want to hear it or not.”
Harry thought for a moment about how much Percy liked working with Mr. Crouch. He felt a little sorry for Percy, but Harry was glad that he was happy at a new job.
“Things haven’t gone too well for Percy. I told you about what else happened to him, didn’t I?” Ron asked.
Harry shook his head. He didn’t have a clue what Ron was talking about.
Ron frowned. “Well, you remember that Percy had a girlfriend? She’s that Ravenclaw prefect that got Petrified our 2nd year. Yeah, her name is Penelope Clearwater, in case you don’t remember. They’d be going out all last year too but she dumped him last month.”
“She did!” Harry cried. “Why?”
“She was all impressed about him having that job in the Ministry, being Mr. Crouch’s assistant and everything. She thought she was something, having a beau in the Ministry and all. But Percy lost his job, hard to be someone’s personal assistant when they are dead! Yeah, she dumped him. I guess she fancied my brother’s title, instead of him.”
“That’s awful.” Harry said. “Is he okay?”
Ron nodded. “I reckon he is. He just concentrates on his work, talks about his job non-stop. Mum and Dad are hoping he meets a nice girl who care about money, and tittles. They reckon another that if he fancied another girl it would take his mind off of things.”
In the house, Harry could head a girl giggly. It sounded like Ginny. Then he heard another laugh that was unmistakably Katrina’s, followed by excited footsteps running up the stairs.
“Let’s go inside. You can put your things in my room. Hermione is staying with Ginny. Katrina will be staying in there too?” Ron said.
Harry told him that he thought so, as they walked in the door, and headed up the stairs into Ron’s room. Hermione was already there, sitting on Ron’s very orange bed, with a curious look on her face.
“So, that’s Katrina Figg, the new Hogwarts student! And all the way from America!” Hermione exclaimed. “Ron told me about her. Ginny is been talking about her constantly. Well, she has as long as I’ve been hear, at least.”
“Why’s Ginny so excited to meet her?” Harry asked, thinking it was kind of strange for Ginny to be so interested in Katrina.
“I dunno.” Ron said. “You’d think she’d be mad jealous of her. You know..” he said poking Harry in the ribs as he talked. “A pretty girl like that arriving with Harry. We all know she’s very taken with you, Harry.”
Harry blushed. “Well, I..uh..er.” he stammered.
Hermione rolled her eyes. “This is so like you two. You just like her because she is good looking.”
“Hey, I haven’t even talked to her yet!” Ron exclaimed in surprise, shockidley staring at Hermione. “Besides, she can’t help it if she’s good looking.”
“Yeah, but you can help to keep your eyes in their sockets!” Hermione called back.
Now it was Ron’s turn to roll his eyes. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Hermione.”
Hermione sighed. “You weren’t downstairs in the kitchen with her. I was.” she said sounding very annoyed. “And she was awful. Giggling like mad with Ginny. Ginny walks up to her, tells her how much she loves her outfit, the next thing I know, the two of them are chattering back and forth like a couple of maniacs about clothes, and make up, and hair styles!”
“So?” Ron interrupted. “That’s what girls talk about!”
“She’s a complete git. No brains at all.” Hermione continued, pretending she had not heard Ron. “Oh, it’s a wonder that Dumbledore even let her in at all!”
“Could you possibly be jealous of her, Hermione?” Ron threw back with a smirk.
“Oh, not at all!” Hermione said. She looked shocked, like Ron had just slapped her. “I just could tell in those few moments how high her IQ is. I hope her mother was smarter than she was. And they saw her mother ran away! Probably got lost in the..”
“HEY!” Harry yelled. Hermione and Ron both jumped. They had forgotten that he was there. “Katrina’s mother is dead! Don’t you dare say anything bad about her mother! That’s a terrible thing to do! It really upsets her when people talk about her dead parents, and I don’t want to hear anybody mentioning it!”
Hermione’s face turned very white. “Sure, Harry, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything like that. Especially with, well, your parents, and all.” she said in an embarrassed voice, staring at her feet.
“Okay, well, can we talk about something else?” Ron said, also sounding a little embarrassed.
“Right.” Hermione, said perking up to her normal self. “We’ve got to talk about You-Know-Who. We have got to think of a way to...”
“Ron, Harry, Hermione.” Mrs. Weasley interrupted, walking into the room. “I’m making a special dinner to celebrate Harry and Katrina’s arrival, and I need to pick up a few things. I’m going to The Pergine Pantry in Diagon Alley to get my supplies. I thought everyone could come along, I’ll give you some money and everyone go to the ice cream parlor while I’m shopping.”
“I’ll go. I never pass up ice cream.” Ron said quickly.
Hermione and Harry agreed.
“Good.” Mrs. Weasley said happily. “All the others agreed to come too.”
“You don’t have to make anything special for dinner on account of me.” Harry said.
“Oh goodness! It’s no trouble at all, dear. Really, it’s not. I just want to make you feel welcome.”
**************************************************************************
“Mmmmm. This is good!” Ron said taking a big bite of his Strawberry and Fudge Sundae.
They were all sitting at a large circular table inside the ice-cream parlor. Maybe it was all the sugar in his Peanut butter Buster Surprise Sundae but Harry was feeling very content in the world. He was sitting between Katrina and Ron. On his right side, Ron was busy talking to his Fred and George about the tryouts for the Gryfindor Quiditch team. Harry was very happy to have heard that the twins had been selected by Professor McGongall to be the new co-captains of the Gryfindor team. There were two empty spots open. Ron was hoping to secure a position as a new chaser, since Angelina had decided that she wanted to spend more time on her studies that playing Quiditch. Harry was sorry to hear that she was going to play anymore, but he knew that if Ron could get on the team, it would be really great. Apparently, Ron had been practicing with his brothers every day throughout the summer. Fred and George really wanted their youngest brother to be on the team. There was also Oliver Wood’s old spot as Keeper, but Harry didn’t have a clue who would be trying out for that spot.
On his other side, Katrina was talking with Ginny. Harry was very pleased to see that the two of them were getting along famously. Harry thought that this was wonderful because at least he knew that Katrina would have him and Ginny as friends. But he really didn’t have any fear that Katrina would have difficulty in that department. The Weasleys seemed to be very charmed by her.
Yes, Harry was feeling very content with the world. He couldn’t believe that he had woken up that morning on Privet Drive, thinking he was going to be stuck there until September 1, and now he was eating ice cream in Diagon Alley, and would be staying with his friends! Harry was so happy with himself that he didn’t even notice out uncomfortable Hermione looked, and how she kept frowning and tut-tuting at Katrina and Ginny, who were talking about some dress Katrina saw in Witches Weekly that would look suberp on Ginny.
Just as Katrina gushed about how Ginny had the most remarkable red hair and skin coloring, Harry heard the jangle of a bell attached to the door. Harry looked over his shoulder to see that Cho Chang had entered the shop.
Harry felt himself turn pink, then embarrassed by his own embarrassment, he turned crimson, as he quickly looked around at his friend’s to see if they had noticed anything. Luckily, they hadn’t.
“I need some napkins.” he said excusing himself from the table, but everyone was too busy in their own conversations, or in Hermione’s case, unhappy thoughts to hear him.
To get napkins, Harry had to ask the plump smiling witch at the counter. That was wearing Cho was standing. She was by herself. Harry thought she looked radiant in a pale blue short sleeved sweater, and khaki colored pants. Her hair was tied back in an oversized banana yellow scrunchy.
“A small vanilla cone to go, please.” Cho said to the witch.
“Cho Chang?” Harry said, feeling very nervous. His hands were shaking, and his palms were sweaty. His heart seemed to catch in his throat.
“Harry!” she said, treating him to a warm, friendly smile. “Good to see you. How are you?”
“Uh...just fine.” Harry said feeling very stupid. Perhaps he should have thought of something to talk about before he approached her.
“Well, that’s nice.” she said, still smiling. “Everything looks so tasty here. I hardly knew what to pick. What did you have?”
“A Peanut butter Buster Surprise.” he said, choking on the words. He could feel half of his ice cream churning in his stomach.
Cho suddenly stopped smiling. Her eyes darkened. She lowered her eyes, and her voice got soft. “That was Cedric’s favorite sweet.” she said.
“Er.I..er.I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” Harry said, mentally kicking himself. Why couldn’t he ever say the right thing to Cho? Why did he have to be such an idiot all the time?
“I miss Cedric very much.” she said solemnly.
“Cedric was a really nice guy.” Harry said. “Good Seeker too.” he added as an after thought.
“Cedric was a great guy. The best.” she replied, nodding her pretty head.
“He thought a lot of you, Harry. I know, because, well, because, he told me so.” she said. Her voice began to crackle a little bit. Harry could tell that she was fighting back tears, but probably wasn’t going to win that fight. “A few days before he died. He told me...he told me that he hoped that if he wasn’t the Champion, that it would be you. Not, because you were from Hogwarts. But because he like you,. He thought you were a good guy.”
Harry didn’t know what to say. He felt like an insensitive jerk for upsetting Cho.
“I miss him a lot. I think about him all the time. I really loved him. He was very special to..”
“Here’s your ice cream, honey.” said the witch behind the counter.
“Goodbye, Harry” Cho said sadly, as she took her ice cream and headed out the door.
Harry sat back in his chair feeling like the most awful person in the world.