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Author: Caitlyn Story: Letters From Home Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-OotP Status: WIP Reviews: 0 Words: 59,746
Dear Paddy, Sorry I didn't write you a letter when I got here, I reckoned Mum and Dad would tell you that I was sorted into Gryffindor. Things are okay here, Meghan and I haven't caused any trouble yet and Catherine and Mortimer really don't pay much attention to us. Meghan and I do have another friend though, (a close friend, I mean. The other Gryffindors are nice, except one, but I'll get into that in a minute.) We're friends with Finnigan Bell. He's very funny really, but really quiet. He's an only child, so I don't think he minds Meghan and me talking so much. I would just like to say that Professor Granger is extremely pushy about her teaching.(I think pushy is the nicest word I can find.) Do you know how much homework she's given us for the first day we had her? An essay and multiple-choice questions. On-the-first-day!!! You'll never guess what else, either. SHE was the one who gave away who my dad was. Can you believe it? I am so mad at her. No…I'm not mad at her, I'm…enamored with her. Wait. That's not the right word, that's the opposite isn't it? I'm wrathful. Yes. Wrathful! I'm so wrathful that I'm just going to show her in my potions essay. She's never going to believe the essay she's going to get. She'll be enamored with it. You just wait, Paddy, I bet she writes you a letter about my essay. Oh yes, and she seems to LIKE Aidan Malfoy. It's not bad enough that they let him stay in Gryffindor. It's not bad enough that he doesn't say a word to anyone in Gryffindor. It's not bad enough that he just stares and glares at us like he wants to kill us. It's not bad enough that she thinks he's an ABSOLUTE GENIUS. And what does she do to me? She insults me! Paddy, I am downright wrathful. You're the only one who would even understand. Mum and Daddy would just tell me to keep my temper in check and to stop exaggerating. I'm not letting that boy anywhere near the academic prize for Gryffindor. He doesn't deserve to represent Gryffindor in any WAY. It would be delectation. I'm not sure that's the right word, but I'm practicing enormous words for my potions essay. It's so much easier to say them than write them. I'm changing the subject. If I'm wrathful much longer, some of it might leap onto my potions essay and then that really wouldn't be any good at all. Meghan and I were a bit in the dark about Finn's family, but he finally explained it to us today. Did you know that his family…. ~*~ Ron and Laura were usually on their own the first week of Hogwarts term. Hermione often had so much work to do, that she worked late into the night and slept in her bedroom at the school. Typically, she was home before dinner and spent evenings and early mornings with them. They also had her completely to themselves on the weekend. Ron could cook…just not exactly up to par with Hermione. She enjoyed cooking and he most certainly didn't. Ron also had quite a bit of trouble cooking under the scrutiny of a very picky five-year old. The noodles were a bit soggy, but they'd do. Ron cheerfully plunked a plate down onto Laura's placemat. She had set the table, insisting that everything matched. Ron had to search for two particular placemats that Laura had requested and the matching potholders. "There we are. I made a treat tonight." Just as Ron sat down with his own plate, Laura lifted her gaze from her meal and sighed heavily. "Mummy says that fish fingers aren't of adequate nutritional value." Ron forced a smile and calmly reminded himself that his beautiful, strawberry blonde five-year old could not yet spell ‘adequate nutritional value.' "Well, Mummy's not here," Ron said, lifting his milk glass towards her. "Cheers!" Laura, who was never swayed easily (Ron swore everyday that this was a Granger trait), wrinkled her nose. "My noodles are soggy too." "Eat," Ron replied, extremely glad that he was the big person. If all else failed, he could resort to "Because I said so, that's why." Hermione really frowned upon that one, but as he had just commented to Laura, Mummy wasn't home. Laura ate and after awhile she asked, "Can I play with James soon? I haven't played with him in forever, Daddy, and he probably wants to hear about nursery school." Ron nodded. "Yes, I suppose you could just go home with Aunt Ginny a day this week." Laura smiled at him coyly. (Ron swore everyday that this was an adorable Weasley trait.) "Can I have some more fish fingers, Daddy?" Ron was flattered. "I thought they weren't adequate nutritional value," he teased. "But they taste good. Mummy really won't mind if she doesn't know…." Ron put more fish fingers on her plate immediately and laughed. "Yes, live a little, Laura. Here's a word of advice, things of adequate nutritional value usually taste like dirt." Laura's eyes brightened. "Daddy?" "Yes?" "I really don't like rice cakes for a snack." "Who would?" Ron made a horrible face. "Why don't you say something then?" "I just put them in my collection." "Collection?" Ron's eyes widened. "Laura Aileen, what collection?" "Under the bed in the guest bedroom. James and I use them all the time. We like to see what we can do with them…" "And what exactly do you do with old rice cakes?" "They float really well," Laura began. "Or you can put two on the ends of a stick and it makes wheels. And, did you know what else?" "What?" Ron had almost decided he wanted this to be something for Hermione to discover on her own one day. Yes. This was definitely something for her to stop. She was the one, after all, who gave Laura those revolting things. Served her bloody right. Laura was confiding in him anyway. He didn't suppose he wanted to give away her secret and get her in trouble for something he'd probably do himself. "The garden gnomes really love them, Daddy. James and I tried to explain that they were for eating, but they won't eat them either…so they worked out that they could build things with them." Ron stared at her in disbelief. "Build things?" He had visions of a garden gnome condominium made out of sugar-free rice cakes. Laura nodded vigorously. "Like huts, little boats, and all sorts of things. They last about a month, except when it rains. But that's why James and I give them just enough." "You just give them rice cakes?" Laura knitted her eyebrows and gave Ron a look that said she clearly thought he was clueless. "Not for free. They trade us. Like for berries, sometimes even apples. It was my idea. James just wanted to watch them build the things." Ron took a bite of soggy noodle. Great. His five-year old was already a shrewd businesswoman profiting from the underlings in the garden. He had told Hermione that teaching her to read at age three was a really stupid idea. Maybe by the time she was six, Laura could start charging them property taxes and natural resource fees. "Would you like to see them?" Laura offered politely. "They're expecting a delivery tonight or tomorrow." Of course she had a schedule. Ron merely told her yes. He knew he couldn't miss this. She might be ruthless, but at least she was darn cute about it. ~*~ Meghan was having issues with her kitten. "I told you to stay out of my bag!" Meghan exclaimed, pulling Monster for the third time out of her school bag. "You can't go to class with us!" Chloe waited patiently in the common room for Meghan to go back up to their room and deposit Monster in the basket by her bed. At this rate, they would never get breakfast. "What's Meghan doing?" Finnigan asked approaching Chloe. "Putting her kitten back in the dormitory. She keeps on sneaking out." "Where's everyone else?" "Down for breakfast already. Why are you so late?" Finnigan sighed. "I can't get my robes to fit right. Mum just sent them by post to be altered with my measurements. They didn't do mine right." Chloe sympathized. Finnigan's robes were entirely too long for him and she couldn't see his hands or his shoes. "Why didn't your mum just take you to Diagon Alley?" "She told me that she didn't have any time and that it was much safer for us to send them out." "Safer?" "Yes, don't your parents think it's dangerous?" Finnigan seemed completely convinced. "My mum said that—" "I've been lots of times," Chloe interrupted. "My parents do a lot of shopping there and so do Meghan's parents." "Oh," Finnigan shrugged. "What do your parents do? Meghan's dad is the Minister of Magic, but you didn't say anything about your parents." Chloe grinned. "My dad's just an Auror and my mum owns a nursery school. That's where Meg and I met." "What's an Auror?" "It's someone who catches bad wizards," Chloe explained. "No wonder they aren't scared of going down Diagon Alley," Finnigan commented. "Sounds like he's a policeman." "Sort of," Chloe said truthfully. There was yet another puzzle to Finnigan. Why did his mum not shop in Diagon Alley? "Finally," Meghan groaned, coming down the stairs. "That cat is seriously sneaky. I feel like I'm being stalked!" "She stayed in her basket?" Chloe asked. Meghan blew her hair out of her face in frustration. "Probably not, but I think she got lonesome yesterday and doesn't want to stay in the dormitory all by herself." "Maybe Professor Granger has some catnip in her potion stores," Chloe suggested. "Maybe Calixta can get a pet bird," Meghan grinned. "Would you stop being mad at her?" Chloe laughed. "She's the one mad at me!" Meghan exclaimed. "I can't help my family isn't as exciting as she wants it to be. She's lucky, she could be talking to Catherine or Mortimer, I'm the most exciting Weasley she's got." ~*~ "For ages, witchcraft and wizardry has been symbolized everywhere by the art of potion making. Muggle myths about cauldrons and miraculous potions were around long before stories about magic wands, dragons and unicorns. Muggles, desperate for a cure, would turn to the feared potion brewers for a last hope to save themselves or maybe a sickly child. Muggle relation laws weren't clearly drawn at this time, and sadly kind wizards and witches were found out because they felt pity on a Muggle in need and the Muggle caught a glimpse of how potions are brewed." Professor Granger paced the aisle, watching them cut up mint leaves and then made her way back up to her desk. She added a handful of blue powder to her cauldron. The potion fizzed and then went back to burbling gently. "In my class, I will only teach potions I feel are useful to your future as a witches or wizards. While a handful will be unpleasant potions, the majority will be things you can use in your daily lives. As you progress through Hogwarts, I expect we shall be able to brew many complicated potions, including truth serums and regretfully, poisons. However, knowledge of how such things are brewed will protect you." The Ravenclaws were scribbling notes like mad and adding ingredients to their potions at the same time. Professor Granger would be finished with her lecture soon she'd and test their very first potion. Chloe never really liked Potions even just from watching her parents brew them. She found it incredibly dull to sit and watch liquid bring itself to a gentle simmer, or even more exciting a rolling boil. Why bother with something that took so much time when you could just work out the spell counterpart to it? She found the different ingredients interesting, but when one had to add "Three handfuls of Human Hair (Blonde)" to a potion, it just didn't seem worth it. Thank goodness you didn't have to cackle over a cauldron to be considered a witch anymore. How embarrassing. Finnigan had dipped his robe sleeve in his cauldron twice already and the other robe sleeve looked like quite a fire hazard. Sweat was forming on his forehead, and he turned the pages in his book frantically, trying to make sense out of it. Chloe, who had a knack for remembering plants, was able to toss the things into the cauldron and let it simmer away. Potion was potion. She was sure it would be fine. With a glance over at Aidan's table, she saw he was almost finished, but taking extreme care with his ingredients. She rolled her eyes. What an act. Chloe heard a soft jingle. No. It couldn't be! "Meghan!" she hissed, leaning over the table. "Meg-han." Meghan's blue eyes rose from her book. "What?" she mouthed back. "Your kitten!" Chloe pointed straight down and looked to see where Professor Granger was. Monster was batting at the hem of Finnigan's robe, collar jingling so loudly that Chloe was sure that she'd be discovered any second. Meghan put her hands to her head, trying to think of something fast. Professor Granger, who had been ladling up a Ravenclaw boy's potion, paused and cocked her head in their direction when Monster made a particular loud jingle. "Pick her up!" Meghan whispered desperately. "Shove her into your robes!" Chloe was about to lean down from her stool and snatch up Monster when Professor Granger strode over to their table, accessing their faces suspiciously. Chloe's heart stopped, when she saw Monster start to romp for Professor Granger's robes. Meghan suddenly, and unexpectedly, dived under the table. If anything, Chloe thought Meghan should be awarded house points for that sort of flexibility. "Meghan Weasley!" Professor Granger exclaimed. Finnigan looked from Meghan's now empty spot at the table, to Chloe, to Professor Granger and after deciding that he was in the dark as always, went back to fretting over his potion. "I-I-I-um-dropped my thing!" Meghan said from under the table. "I—" Thump. "Ow! I needed to fetch it!" Professor Granger pursed her lips and fixed Chloe with an annoyed gaze, which Chloe did find most unfair that she was automatically assumed to be up to something with Meghan. Even if she happened to be up to something, it happened to be something that they did not do on purpose. Chloe shrugged at Professor Granger. "I think the heat from the fire is getting to her," she said in a stage whisper. She decided that adding a wink would be taking it a bit over the top. "Miss Weasley, remove yourself from under the table this very moment!" Professor Granger had blatantly ignored her. Not even so much as a smile. Drat. She hadn't fallen for it… Chloe yelped, and jumped when she felt tiny claws latch onto her thigh. "Paper cut!" Chloe gasped, when Professor Granger rounded on her. She quickly put her first finger in her mouth, to hopefully prove her point. "My wand," Meghan said, extracting herself from under the table, red faced, curls mussed. "I…dropped…my wand." Everyone was watching now. "And why were you using your wand in Potions class?" Professor Granger had crossed her arms over her perfectly pressed dove-gray robes. Her foot had also begun to tap. Monster was now trying to push her way up from Chloe's lap, to the table. Chloe pressed her down firmly. "I was showing it to Finnigan." Meghan never skipped a beat when she lied. It was in her genes. Her right as a Weasley. Chloe had simply absorbed through the years from being absolutely surrounded by them. Finnigan however, was not so accomplished. His ladle hit the side of his cauldron with a loud clunk and looked everywhere except Professor Granger. Dead give away. Even Jamesy knew not to do that. "Mr. Bell," Professor Granger said sounding very cool and collected. Chloe knew that was an act, because her foot was still tapping. "Yes?" Finnigan squeaked, his gray eyes darting at Chloe and Meghan for the slightest indication for help. "What color is Miss Weasley's wand?"
"Wha-what, Professer?" Finnigan stuttered. Chloe held her breath in anticipation. Oh…they were caught. This was not good. She had wanted so badly to do well in this class, despite it being Potions. "I said, what color is Miss Weasley's wand?" Professor Granger's nostrils had begun to flare angrily. She was probably going to write some very long letters tonight. "Bla-bla-bla," Finnigan wasn't even able to use his normal volume…and his stutters came out in whispers. "Bla-bla-bla," Professor Granger repeated flatly. The class tittered. "Blackish-brown!" Finnigan exclaimed. "Miss Weasley, kindly take out your wand." Meghan reluctantly pulled out her wand. Chloe had known even before she pulled it out that it was— "Maple," Professor Granger said glaring at the wand and then Finnigan. "Hardly blackish-brown." "Well, not in this light," Meghan piped up helpfully. Chloe knew this was one of those times that they should have just given up right then, and clammed up. Meow. "What was that, Miss Potter?" Professor Granger demanded. "Meow," Chloe imitated, with wide innocent eyes. She hadn't intended to be funny, but apparently the other Gryffindors thought she was. "All three of you stand up right now." Chloe was last to stand up, and with bowed head, she handed Professor Granger a very squirmy Monster. "Thirty points from Gryffindor!" The lecture was long and humiliating. Chloe knew they sort of deserved it…because Professor Granger really was a good teacher and they had interrupted the class, even thought it was accidentally. But then Professor Granger crossed the line. She went far beyond taking off house points— "…You will see me after class about this, Miss Potter, and you can be certain your father will hear about this. Just because Harry didn't do well in Potions doesn't give you an excuse to follow in his footsteps." There was a definite ripple among Chloe's Gryffindor classmates and the Ravenclaws as they realized just who she was related to. Chloe and Meghan met eyes after Professor Granger had walked back up to the front of the room. Meghan shook her head as if to tell Chloe to ignore the whispers. So it was out, and her own aunt had caused it. Completely red-faced, Chloe had endured the lecture…but it wasn't until her aunt deliberately went and praised Aidan Malfoy's excellent Potion work that she felt her real hurt. ~*~ "I am not giving her a Christmas present this year," Meghan swore as she slammed her books down on a common room table. "She didn't even try and get our side of things! She's the worst teacher we have! Our relatives spend ages complaining about how bad Snape was when they went to school…how cruel he was…how unfair. Hmph. Professor Snape might make us take a lot of notes, but at least he doesn't pick on us." Chloe had just spent her entire day grilled by complete strangers with questions about her father, and had been asked about everything from ‘Could you please get me an autograph?' to ‘What sort of things does he eat?' She also had several other students come up, stare and comment to each other like she wasn't even there. ‘That's his daughter? She doesn't even look like him.' ‘Oh, she's adopted. Didn't you know?' ‘What a show-off…just coming in here and playing around just because of her dad.' She felt like throwing herself on her bed, screaming into a pillow, and behaving just like the brat everyone thought she was. "And he doesn't pick favorites." Catherine, another table away, didn't even look up from her homework when she replied. "I heard what happened, and I think you deserved it. There's no excuse for messing around in class." "Drop dead, Catherine." "Meghan, just because you're away from Mum and Dad doesn't mean you get to start behaving like you want to. This isn't just another tutor that Dad hired." "I'm not going to be expelled, am I?" Finnigan asked softly. He was miserably curled up in a tiny space on one of the couches. "I'm not any good at any of the classes…and then I made a Professor angry…" "No," Chloe replied, her face in her knees. "Then…then… it isn't so bad," Finnigan concluded slowly. He scooted off the couch to sit next to Chloe. "It's just some house points. I'm sure we can earn them back." Meghan joined them on the floor and patted Chloe's hair. "Right. Hear that, Chlo? Finnigan's right, it's not so bad." Chloe felt hot tears slide down her cheeks, and she knew they could tell she was crying. She hated crying, but right now she felt so miserable and hated Hogwarts so much that she really just wanted to go home. "Listen," Finnigan said, pushing his dandelion fluff brown hair away from his eyes. "I don't understand why everyone is making a big deal about finding out who your dad is, and I don't understand why it makes you cry…but I've only heard good things about him today. So, that's not something to cry over, is it? We've only been here two days, we can make it right…." Chloe lifted her head, and wiped her eyes. "But…you don't really understand." Finnigan hugged her briefly. "It's okay. I still want to be your friend, Chloe. You and Meghan were the first people who were nice to me here…I don't suppose you're truly terrible, you seem too nice for that." Chloe, surprised and warmed by the hug, tried to stop crying. That was exactly what her mother would have done. Hug first. Explanation later. While it didn't help her homesickness, it did make her like Finnigan Bell a whole lot more. He was really decent. He didn't even seem mad that Meghan had dragged him into the whole Potions incident. "I'll be right back!" Meghan exclaimed, looking quite a bit more cheery. Finnigan's speech seemed to have done her some good also. When Meghan returned, she was hauling a box with Monster perched on top. She plopped down next to Finnigan and Chloe. Monster wound herself around their knees, purring like mad. "I had some sweets left over from the train, and mum sent a bit of pumpkin bread and biscuits. Thought we could use something to snack on while we explain the whole thing to Finnigan here…." Finnigan grinned. "All right. But you know, you can call me Finn, everyone in my family does. I like it a lot better." "You can call me whatever you like," Chloe replied. "There's not too much you can do to Chloe." "If you call me Meg," Meghan said handing Finn a slice of pumpkin bread. "I'll have to deck you. Chloe's the only one allowed to call me anything except Meghan. There's plenty you can do with Meghan." Chloe could tell Finn was beginning to get used to Meghan. Rather than looking petrified of her (as he had been); he merely shrugged and smiled at her. ~*~ "Let me get this straight," Finn scratched his head and pointed at Chloe and Meghan. "I know I've got it backwards…. Your dad and your dad are brothers?" "No," Chloe shook her head. "My mum and Meghan's dad are brother and sister." "That makes Chloe and I cousins," Meghan explained. "Get it?" "So.. wait…wait…I think I've got it. That means that Chloe is the niece of the Minster of Magic." "Exactly." Finn breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's not too bad." Chloe glanced at Meghan and took a bite of biscuit. They had barely begun. "My mum," Chloe explained, "is one of seven children." "Seven," Finn repeated. "Got it." "And our Uncle Ron, he's the youngest boy, he's Chloe's dad's best friend. They met at Hogwarts." "Should I be writing this down?" "Probably," Chloe and Meghan answered together. Monster was rolling over and over a Chocolate Frog box blissfully. Chloe was laughing and stroking Monster's belly with the tip of her quill. "I'll write it down," she offered. "Won't take but a minute." "I suppose that would be the least confusing. Pathetic we need a visual aid, isn't it?" Meghan yawned. "It's all my dad's fault." "Why is it your dad's fault?" Finnigan asked, cocking his head curiously. Meghan grinned evilly. Chloe knew that while she didn't like to tell too many people about her family, Meghan loved dropping this bombshell on people. "Well, there are ten of us, aren't there?" "Ten what?" Chloe stopped writing and watched the show. "Well, ten children of course!" Meghan held up both her palms to emphasize the number. "You have got to be joking," Finnigan said glancing at Chloe. "She's kidding…right?" Chloe nodded. "And they've all got red hair." "Ten. Like…one and then a zero," Finn repeated incredulously. "That's…that's…wow. I mean, don't you lose people?!" "Lose people?" Meghan burst out laughing and had to lay back on the floor when her laughter got to be too much. "No! My father is far too strict for that. That'd be really bad press!" "That's…." "One hundred fingers and one hundred toes," Chloe provided. " Very clean ones, too. There's a chart to check." "How many kids does your family have?" Finn asked Chloe. "Thirteen." "What!" Chloe grinned. "I'm only kidding. There's just two of us. I've got a little brother named James. He's named after my first grandfather." "Don't ask about that story just yet," Meghan advised. "You've still got to get through the immediate-immediate family." "Do you have any other cousins?" "Just Laura. Uncle Ron's daughter. She just turned five. Uncle Ron was Chloe's dad's best friend at Hogwarts, remember? That's how Chloe's dad and Chloe's mum knew each other…they got married after Chloe's mum's first husband died when Voldemort killed him." "Killed him!" Finn exclaimed. "He wasn't like a half-cousin twice removed, was he?" "Voldemort!?" Meghan and Chloe chorused. "No!" The common room quieted a bit and students glanced their way. "Meghan!" Mortimer hissed from across the room. "Don't scream that name!" "Voldemort was a wizard who led the dark side in the last two wars," Chloe screwed up her face, disgusted. She tried to explain as quietly as possible. "He killed loads of people, Finn. Killed my dad's parents and tried to kill my dad. But that was the first war, my dad was only a baby." Meghan, with a Chocolate Frog in her mouth, waved a card eagerly at Chloe. "Oh!" Chloe accepted the card and after glancing at it, handed it to Finn. "Here's a photo of him." "Your father is on a card in a box of candy?" "We've been trying to tell you that he's famous," Meghan said after swallowing her frog. "That's why Chloe was so upset!" "I don't like that picture of him," Chloe thought out loud to herself. "He looks boring." "I wouldn't say boring," Meghan replied. "He does look a bit heavier than usual though. I think they took the photo wrong…the shape of his face isn't the same in real life. I'd say he looks like he ate too many sweets." Chloe squinted at the picture. "He takes such terrible pictures. Whenever a photographer talks to him, he squirms and makes faces that he never makes when he's around anyone else…and when they ask him to look heroic or brave or something, he comes out looking—" "Very frowny," Meghan nodded. "I'm sure we could find a better picture for Finn." After reading the Chocolate Frog caption about Harry Potter, Finn seemed a little more enlightened. "Are there any other family surprises?" "Did we mention we're related to the Potions professor?" Chloe handed the rough family tree to Finn to look over and smiled sweetly. "She's our aunt." "I'm glad I have seven years to get this worked out this out," Finn sighed. "You'll need them," Meghan grinned mischievously. "What would you ever do if you came for Christmas? Or if someone else decided to have five more babies?" "Will you tell us about your family?" Chloe said scooping up Monster and kissing her. "Sure," Finn nodded. ~*~ Mrs. Katherine Linter always worked during her lunch hour. Socializing with the other ladies in the office really wasn't her cup of tea. They chatted about how their Tommys and Marys were off to Eton or going on a football or music scholarship. What was Katherine supposed to talk to them about? She couldn't tell them that her Finnigan was off at Hogwarts, now, could she? She had only received one letter from him so far. It was short and sweet; Finnigan was never one saying more than he needed to. He would be in the middle of his third day of classes today…. The phone bleated and Katherine set down her sandwich. Odd. The phone rarely rang during lunch hours. Oh well. "Good afternoon, Tower Enterprises, how may I direct your call?" "Good afternoon, with whom am I speaking?" said a pleasant male voice on the other end. "Sir, you've reached the reception board, where shall I direct your call?" Katherine nearly rolled her eyes. "I would like to know whom I'm speaking with," the man repeated, still sounding cheerful. "Katherine Linter, I'm the receptionist. How may I direct your call?" There was a very long pause. Katherine stared warily at the call transfer screen. What was with this weirdo? "You said Katherine Linter?" Katherine was quickly losing her patience and precious time to glance over the sale advertisement for Marks and Spencer. How difficult was ‘How-can may-I-direct-your-call?' "Yes, sir." "Ah, good. I don't know if you remember me, Katherine…but I remember you quite well. We used to be on a team together, and you were extremely nice to me. Of course, you didn't go by Katherine then…Katie." Katherine's heart began to beat wildly, and she grabbed the edge of her desk, her palms sweating. "I don't know who this is," she stuttered, "or how you got this number, but don't contact me again. Ever!" She disconnected the phone and struggled to pull her headset off, as if it were strangling her. Her hands were shaking so badly that she couldn't manage it. The phone bleated again, and she stared at it, frozen in fear. Finally on the tenth ring, she connected the call. "T-T-Tower Enterprises." "Katie, don't hang up. It's Harry. Harry Potter. I know you remember me. I don't know why you don't want to talk to anyone in the wizarding world…but please…talk to me. It's about your son." "How did you get this number?" Katie hissed. She clutched her stomach, feeling very sick. "This is a Muggle line!" "Katie." Harry sounded almost amused. "I know how to dial a telephone. I can also program a video recorder if you give me enough time, but those things are probably irrelevant in the Muggle world by now…." "How did you get it?" Katie repeated stonily. "I'm the head of the Confederation. I get lots of things." "What do you know about my son?" "I happen to know that my daughter has befriended him. I'm very thrilled actually. I'm sure a child of yours will be nothing but a good friend, and more than likely, a good influence." "You have a daughter Finn's age?" Katie questioned quickly. "Well, yes. Her name is Chloe. She's a very good girl, tendency to be a bit melodramatic…but very imaginative." Click. Harry pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it. Had she just hung up on him again?! Something was definitely up. Katie Bell did not want to be recognized or spoken to from anyone in the wizarding world. Author note: I know you're probably wondering…although I'm sure most of you have figured out who ‘Paddy' is. Queen Amy had the smarts to think that one up and it took me probably 5 minutes to realize the connection. (I felt really dumb too.) I had asked her for a name that Chloe could use to call Sirius rather than ‘Grandpa' or ‘Grandfather.' Also, it had to be wildly adorable so that Sirius can be taunted with it at some point. Paddy=Padfoot. Cute, eh? Poor guy keeps being mentioned but hasn't shown up yet…but he'll be around soon enough. If you didn't notice, the letter was just used as sort of a preview device to set up the scenes later in the chapter. I can also work in extra bits of information that I can't fit in the actual scenes into her letters. Many thanks to Anne, who really helped me out with this chapter. She helped me fix Hermione. Thanks for betaing, Anne! Thanks to all the people who review. I really love your comments! Disclaimer: Don't know if there's a real Tower Enterprises, aside from Gryffindortower.net. ;-) Never been in a Marks and Spencer, so they aren't mine.
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