There's a New Girl in Town

Chapter 7 The Dinner

The next day I was anxious about dinner that night. Ron seemed to realize that something was wrong and he took me for a walk in the woods. I really wanted to get to know him better. There was just something about Ron that attracted me. He was always so protective of me it was almost cute yet at the same time annoying. I know that I like him so I thought getting to know him would be a good way to move on in the relationship. For one thing it would help get my mind off of Hermione for a while and I didn’t want to ruin anything for Harry.
The walk was great, slow and calming. Although this was our first time talking alone, it wasn’t our first time talking and he quickly loosened up around me. He started to tell me about how he hates being the one who always does things wrong.
“I will never be able to live up to my brothers expectations. Percy was head boy and a prefect, Fred and George have a successful joke shop, Charley is working with dragons and Bill is a curse breaker. All of which are good jobs. I can’t even get on the Quidditch team.” He almost whines. I smile and look at him with some sympathy.
“Ron, when the time comes you will be able to shine and when that time comes do you know what? The only person you will have to be then is you and you will be perfect at it. You’ll see.” I tried to reassure him.
He smiled and just nodded his head but I knew deep inside that he wasn’t convinced. I wanted to help but I also knew that anything I would say would be wrong and he would find a way to contradict it. I sighed and smiled, giving him a brief one arm hug and the topic changed as we walked back to the house. There was one other thing that I noticed when the house came back into view; Ron never mentioned the orphanage. He never asked about my past life and why I wore gloves. He just never asked almost as if he knew I would talk when I was ready. I really liked that about him. The others didn’t seem to understand that it was a sensitive topic for me or that I just wasn’t ready to talk about my life just yet. It was almost as if a weight was lifted from my shoulders and he was willing to carry that weight by not mentioning my past like he was trying to protect my privacy.
*****
It got closer and closer to dinner time. Mrs. Weasley was already cooking it and there was no sign of a letter from Percy. I was a bit scared about how it was all going to work out, if it did work out at all. I know that everyone was going to be there I just had this gut feeling that Percy would show up. Yet the fact that there wasn’t a letter made me even more nervous. I also was going to risk being visible for this dinner. I had about 2 more weeks to go and I felt like it was time to explain what was going on. If I was to get all of my school supplies I would have to have the Weasley’s know about me. I knew that I was taking a big risk but I was time to get every thing out in the open with the whole family.
Charley arrived yesterday. He said that he wanted to get away from all of the commotion, then Bill with his wife, Fleur, who was expecting a child soon, came that afternoon. It was beginning to be a full house. We had a little bit of time before dinner so I decided to go down and see if Mrs. Weasley needed any help.
“Hi Mrs. Weasley. I was wondering if you needed any help. I was a bit bored and wanted something to do. I don’t know much about the magic of cooking but if there’s anything I could do I would be happy to do it.” Mrs. Weasley just turned around and stared at me for a second.
“I’m sorry dear but I don’t seem to know you.”
I smiled, extending my hand and said, “My name is Harriet. I’ve been living with you for a few weeks now. I came with Harry from an orphanage where I lived. I’ve been hidden under the invisibility cloak all that time. Please don’t be mad at any of the other kids, it was all my doing. I was the one whom got in touch with Harry and Harry got in touch with Ron. We all agreed that we wouldn’t tell anyone and...” I had to stop to get my breath and when I did Ginny came running into the room saying
“Harriet what are you doing? Mum’s going to kill us.”
“Yes I will!!”
“Please Ms. Weasley can I explain before you do anything dramatic that you will regret. Please listen.” I begged before saying “Let’s all go into the living room and we will explain everything.”
“Yes mum please let us explain.” I knew that Ginny thought that I had a plan and, hey, I usually do. This time I was just making things up as I went along. I think it works out better that way.
“Fine, RON, FRED, GEORGE, HARRY, HERMIONE, GET INTO THE LIVING ROOM NOW!" She yelled.
We all walked into the room just as Fred entered. I heard a groan, which meant that George was behind him. When everyone got there I started.
“I just want to tell you that I have appreciated the treatment that I received here from your children. They have done everything they can to make sure my stay here has been enjoyable.” I said with a smile to everyone. “I would like to explain everything without interruptions.” I paused then continued. “As I told you before I’m an orphan. I lost my parents when I was just a baby. I hate the orphanage and the headmistress of the orphanage doesn’t like children. I will go into no further detail about that. I got in touch with Harry by mistake one day on the street when I was doing some of my daily chores. We stated talking and he asked for my information since I couldn’t give it to him I said that I would call him he said no to write. That he would have to write to me first since the way he wrote to people wasn’t normal. I was a bit scared but he said that I shouldn’t worry that no one would find out that we were writing. From that day on our relationship grew so eventually I told him about the orphanage and he about Hogwarts and magic. I knew from a small age that I was different. Since I can’t touch anyone and some things seemed to happen with no explanation to why.
“Then about two weeks before school let out he asked if I would like to spend the summer with him. I said that I didn’t think that was possible, but one of my greatest dreams was to go to Hogwarts. So he invited me here and said that we would find some way to get me into Hogwarts. I quickly agreed we had a plan to never...” At that moment the fireplace went into action. I held my breath hoping it was Percy. A big smile went across my face as I saw the tall, thin man step out and look around the room.
His eyes rested on me and said, “You told me you were a reporter.”
I smiled and said, “Yes, I had to get you to listen to me somehow. I knew that you needed to come home so I just decided to help out some, please don’t be mad at me.”
Just as he was about to respond Mrs. Weasley got up and pulled Percy into a bone-breaking hug. He hung stiff for a second then slowly put his arms around her returning the hug. The others joined in and I was soon forgotten. Harry and Hermione went with me into the kitchen giving the family some privacy.
“How did you get Percy to come home?” Hermione asked.
“I started to ask him questions about his family in the ‘interview’. Then I added my own twist into it. I wasn’t even sure if he would come but I felt confident by the end that he would.”
“I’m just glad that he’s here.” Said Harry.
“Yes, I agree. The family needs him.” Responded Hermione
“They both need each other. You didn’t hear him during the interview - he misses them a lot. Did you see Mrs. Weasley?”
“Yeah you’ll have to get use to her. I hope that they accept you and get you into Hogwarts.” Said Hermione. “We better look after the food until Ms. Weasley remembers that it is cooking.” Harry and I laughed and Hermione went over to check on it.
As she went past my chair she brushed my shoulder almost subconsciously but I had a feeling she knew what she was doing. Then she sat down and started to talk again. I let the touch slip past like I didn’t notice, telling myself that I wasn’t allowed to like her like that. She was Harry’s. I also realized, to my relief, that there were little sparkles in Hermione’s eyes when she turned to Harry. Her body was turned slightly towards Harry and she leaned in his direction. I knew then that I had nothing to worry about all that needed to happen was for Harry to tell her. I just wish that he did it soon. A few minutes later we heard Mrs. Weasley exclaim loudly “The food!! I forgot about the food!!”
At that Hermione got up and went into the room “Don’t worry Mrs. Weasley, we have been checking on it periodically. It all still looks edible.” Then she walked over to Percy giving him a small hug “It’s great to have you back.”
Mrs. Weasley went into the kitchen and stopped when she saw me. I held my breath hoping that she won’t make a comment, or worse, kick me out of the house. Everyone was behind her watching and waiting for her reaction most likely thinking the same thing. She finally shook her head and walked to the food saying along the way “Thank you for bringing my son back. It means a lot to me, us. I will do all I can to help you get to Hogwarts. How old are you and what did you say your name was?”
I let out the breath I was holding in a sigh of relief and said “Harriet, my name is Harriet. I don’t remember my family name, I only remember that my parents died when I was a baby. I am 15 years old, born on July 31, 1980. The same day that Harry was born.”
Dinner was a huge success, Percy and Mr. Weasley worked things out and the food was great as usual. Everyone seemed to get along fine. We told Mrs. Weasley more about our plan and how I was studying with Hermione every day. She seemed really impressed with the work that everyone did. The family was all kind about not asking me about the orphanage or my past. I think it was mostly because if they did Mrs. Weasley gave them a look that said you keep talking and you won’t like the consequences. All in all it was a great dinner.
After dinner everyone caught up on what was going on with Percy. Ginny and Hermione ran off together whispering. Mr. Weasley asked me questions about Muggle things and I answered all of them willingly, explaining everything that I knew about them and how it worked. George laughed, stating that I really did know how to win over his family.
As the sun was nearing the end of its setting, Charley asked me if I would like to go for a walk in the garden. We began to have a small conversation about his Dragons and Romania. There was a small swing at the end of the porch and we sat down.
“Harriet, I know you don’t like to talk about the orphanage or your past but maybe it will help to get some of the things out into the open. I won’t force you to talk but just know that I will be here when you need someone to listen.” He said.
“I know... I don’t want people’s pity when I finally tell them.” I said then added softly before my mind could catch up to me “She hurt us she hurt us real bad.” He didn’t say anything but I knew he heard me. There was something about Charley that calmed me and told me that I could trust him. I felt like I could open up to him and could just be myself for once with out being judged. I laid my head on his shoulder and his fingers began to fun through my hair. We just sat like that for a good 15 minutes before he broke the comfortable silence.
“Did Hermione teach you about care of magical creatures yet?”
“Nope, why?”
“I would be willing to go over the book with you while I am here. I will be staying for the next few days and I work with dragons so I know a lot on the subject.”
“I would love that! Thank you.” I turned my head and smiled. I really like Charley and wished that he was younger and closer to Hogwarts. I wanted to date him and get to know him better but that would be impossible. I turned away and got up. It was late and I needed sleep.
“Goodnight Charley. I’ll talk to you later about you teaching me.” I said and walked inside a little bit sadder than before.

*****

Hello my readers, I will be at camp until Aug. 8th so I won’t be posting anything for a while but I will continue to write at camp. I am really sorry to make you wait!
Once again please R&