A Family Forgotten

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After three hours sitting on a rather uncomfortable leather sling-backed chair in a large room about the size of Hogwarts ground floor, surrounded by hundreds of loud, obnoxious people jabbering away at each other, their conversations broken occasionally by the static voice calling for people to begin boarding, Harry felt as if he finally understood what drove people into homicidal rages. Maybe he should have let Bill get him set up with a portkey to the wizarding section of the St. Louis airport. It’s too late for that now. Harry ran his hands through his hair. Bugger it. Next time I am definitely using a portkey.

It was Harry’s first time to an airport and would be his first time on a plane as well. That had been his main reason for deciding not to use the offered portkey. It had nothing to do with the instincts of fear that portkeys were now associated with. Nope, no fear of portkeys . . . Note the sarcasm. The only thing he had originally been frustrated with was how long the flight would be. He had worried about becoming bored on the plane. Fortunately he had wonderful friends who had pitched in to make sure that wouldn’t happen. Bill and Charlie had put charms over all his school books so that any muggles looking at them would see normal school texts. Quite handy, really. ‘Mionie would have thought of it too. The thought brought a sharp sting of pain to his heart that he quickly pushed away. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given him several blank journals that he could write in that they had had Bill charm so that only he could add to them or read them. Mr. and Mrs. Granger had given Harry several of Hermionie’s old paperbacks, many photos of her with Ron and himself, as well as her diskman and several cds. Professor McGonagall had given him a photo album that had already had several pages of pictures of him and his friends, along with several of his teachers, all obviously taken without any of their knowledge. Probably by Colin. Hagrid’s gift was one that made him smile the most. A kitten, small and rather feisty.

The kitten was a Japanese Bobtail, a magical variety of the breed. Apparently they were like the eastern version of a knezel. Intelligent, capable of sensing the truth of a person’s soul, intensely loyal, and most surprisingly, they were able to form a telepathic bond with their chosen owner and were even capable of a form of appiration much like a phoenix. The kitten, well, she wasn’t much of a kitten being nearly a year old, has long clean lines and bone structure, and is well-muscled but straight and slender, rather than massive in build. The unique set of her eyes, combined with high cheekbones and a long parallel nose, lended a distinctive Japanese look to her face, especially in profile. Her short tail resembles a bunny tail with the hair fanning out in all directions to create a pom-pom appearance, which effectively camouflages the underlying bone structure of the tail. Her eyes were quite rare for the breed seeing as they were the brightest blue Harry had ever seen. Simply put she was exquisite.

He had thought about giving her a Japanese name but he honestly didn’t really know any. So he had taken Bill’s advice and named her Bastet, after the Egyptian Goddess (1). Currently she was in a plastic carrier waiting to be loaded onto the plane they were to take to St. Louis. Harry wasn’t sure which of the three of them (Hedwig had been put in a carry-case along with Bastet) were going to have it worse on the flight. The cargo hold was starting to look pretty good if he was going to have to deal with all these people for the next several hours.

~*~*~*~*~St. Louis~*~*~*~*~

Daniel stood safely off to the side of the room, watching his Mother running about the small room in a sort of quiet panic. She had been acting this way ever since the date of Harry Potter’s arrival had been finalized. She had been going non-stop trying to make Richard’s old room seem a bit more welcoming and less like the preserved space of a grown up son that it had been. Daniel had been roped into helping paint the room in a warm shade of yellow, while his oldest brother’s wife had been sent to get new bedding. Apparently it wasn’t safe to send their Father or any of the boys in his Mothers mind, after all only God knew what they would come back with.

The new sheets were a shade of warm gold, much like the walls. The blanket and pillow shams were all a rich shade of burgundy with golden leaf patterns running down the center and golden strips around the sides. New curtains in the same red were quickly bought and hung as well. All-in-all the room looked nothing like it had before. Hopefully this Harry Potter would appreciate all the trouble Daniel and his family had gone through to try to make the boys stay all the more comfortable and inviting.

TBC…

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1. Bast/Bastet- Cat goddess. She was the protector of pregnant women, protected men against disease and evil spirits and was generally considered the personification of the beneficial, fertilizing power of the sun. – Mercatante, Anthony S. Who’s who in Egyptian Mythology 2nd edition.

Songs listened to while writing this chapter:
1. How To Save A Life by The Fray
2. Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol