Transfer Students

Disclaimer: I don\'t own anything except the plot, which there\'s not much of.

Chapter 8 - And the Winter Holiday begins

*Back in the Gryffindor common room*

\"Hey guys we\'re back! Did ya miss us?\" Leigh laughed as she and Harry entered the Gryffindor common room after speaking with Dumbledore.
\"Loads, I was just about to break down in tears,\" said Eric with a fake sob.

\"Oh, shut up,\" Leigh laughed,\" Anyways, Dumbledore said Harry\'s allowed to
accompany me back home to America, and I was wondering if anyone else would like to join us. How about it Ron, Hermione?\" she looked around at the group.

\"I wouldn\'t mind going. I\'m sure New York is fascinating, I\'ve heard about the museums and-\"started Hermione.

\"That\'s our Hermione. Always thinking of learning on vacation,\" laughed Ron. Hermione glared at him.

\"So how about it? Who else would like to go?\" asked Leigh, smiling brightly.

By the time they all headed off to their separate dormitiories, Ron, Seamus, and Dean had decided to go too. Eric and Nancy were also heading back home. Neville invited Cyndi to his grandmother\'s house, Lavendar invited Sebastian to her house, and January and Marcy decided to visit January\'s relatives in France.

*Two days later.*

\"Where will we all stay? I cant afford a hotel.\" Ron asked Leigh quietly as they were seated in the common room doing their homework.

\"At my house of course! I invited you didn\'t I?\" laughed Leigh. Ron blushed.

\"And how will we be getting there?\" asked Hermione plainly.

\"We\'re flying.\" replied Leigh smiling.

\"Flying? Surely we can\'t fly all the way to America on our brooms.\" remarked
Ron. Leigh started laughing hysterically, and was quite red in the face when she calmed down enough to answer.

\"Honestly, ride our brooms to America? Are you mad? We\'re flying in an Airplane, you putz!\" she laughed.

\"What is an airplane?\" he asked with a look of pure confusion painted on his face.

\"It\'s muggle air transportation.\" replied Hermione plainly, \"Isn\'t that quite
expensive though?\"

\"Don\'t worry about a thing. I invited you all and I intend to pay for
everything. Besides, we\'re taking my private jet, not a commercial flight.\"
Leigh smiled.

\"Wow, you must be well off to have your own jet, huh?\" asked Seamus excitedly.

\"You have no idea.\" remarked Eric with a smirk. Leigh ignored his comment and continued to fill in everybody of the date and time of their departure.

\"So I want all of you packed and ready to go by 12 noon on the 23rd of December, okay?\" she said sternly.

\"Yes, mum,\" they replied in unison.

*23rd of December, Noon*

\"Okay, is everybody here? Where\'s Dean and Seamus?\" asked Leigh anxiously.

\"They\'re in the bathroom, gathering up some last minute supplies.\" chirped
Hermione.

Dean and Seamus came in 2 mintues later, packed and ready to go. \"Okay, we are portkeying to the airport, we have to split up into to 2 groups, boys one group, girls another.\" said Leigh happily.

\"Why do we have to split up?\" asked Ron with a raised brow.

\"Because we are portkeying into the airport itself, and since there\'s bound to be a lot of muggles we can\'t do it in plain sight. The portkey will leave you in the bathroom at the airport, and the bathrooms are not co-ed. This is the boys\' portkey,\" she said holding up an old newspaper, \"and this is the girl\'s portkey.\" finished Leigh holding up a purple-polka-dotted orange purse.

The boys and girls split up into their separate groups, activated the portkeys, and were on their way to the airport.

\"So, did you guys make it alright? No problems I hope.\" asked Leigh as she and the rest of the girls met up with the guys in the hall between the two
bathrooms. \"No problems at all, except Jared landed in 3rd stall loo,\" laughed Harry. Jared\'s pantleg was soaking wet, and he was muttering obsenities under his breath. \"Calm down Kelley,\" laughed Leigh as she pointed her wand at his leg discretely and muttered a simple drying spell.

\"Okay let\'s get a move on, we depart in 15 minutes.\" said Leigh as she motioned for them to follow her. After boarding the plane successfully and making sure everyone was comfortable, Leigh instructed the pilot to take off.

\"I know some of you have never been on a plane before and this flight is going to be kinda long, so I had the pilot bring some movies to watch to pass the time. We have a choice between......Blade, Tombstone, Seven, American pie 2, Liar Liar, and Practical Magic. What would you like to watch first?\" she asked plainly. \"What is a movie?\" asked Dean who\'s puzzled face mirrored that of Ron\'s. \"It\'s a type of muggle entertainment.....you\'ll see. Okay, let\'s have someone who\'s seen a movie before pick.....\" Leigh replied. Ie ene end they decided to watch Liar Liar first. Ron and Dean were glued to the screen the rest of the flight as they watched movie after movie.

\"Okay everybody, we\'re finally here,\" Leigh said as the plane landed and skidded to a halt. \"Okay everybody, we are taking a limo to my house, make sure you have all your bags before you exit the plane and remember, no magic \'til we get to my house!\" Leigh said with a grin. Everybody mumbled their responses, gathered up their belongings and exited the plane. The ride to Leigh\'s house was short, upon exiting the limo Harry gazed up at the building that was supposed to be Leigh\'s house. It looked more like a crumbling, abandoned apartment building. \"I know it
looks dingy from the outside, but wait until we enter.\" Leigh remarked, having seen the confused faces on Ron\'s, Hermione\'s, Harry\'s, Dean\'s and Seamus\' faces, obviously they expected a mansion.

As soon as they entered Leigh\'s house they realized the outside must have been altered by magic because the inside was anything but crumbling, abandoned apartment building. \"Okay guys, what do you think? You like?\" asked Leigh with a smile. It seemed as if the brits were speechless with their jaws on the floor. \"I\'ll take that as a \'yes\'\" Leigh smiled,\"Okay, I\'m sure you\'ll want to rest a bit from that long flight so I\'ll show you to your rooms.\" \"How many rooms are there?\" asked Hermione as Leigh began to lead them up the grand staircase. \"154, including 100 suites, 37 standard rooms, 16 \'sky\' suites with balconies and panoramic city views and a Presidential Suite. There are 12 floors. Every room has a full bath attached and includes all the appropriate accoutrements. There is a tennis court, bowling alley, movie theater, restaurant, fitness center and Olympic-size swimming pool. So you shouldn\'t be too bored these next 3 weeks.\"
Leigh laughed.

\"I thought you said you lived in a house, not a hotel!\" remarked Dean. \"It\'s not a hotel, well, maybe it is, but it\'s home to me and my friends. Okay we are now on the first floor, which floor would you like to occupy, I recommend the sky suites, you get a great view of the city.\" Leigh smiled. \"That sounds great!\" said Hermione anxiously. \"Okay then, let\'s take the elevator, I don\'t feel like walking up another 11 flights of stairs.\" replied Leigh as she led them towards the elevator. \"What is an elevator?\" asked Ron excitedly. \"Just step in, you\'ll have fun.\" laughed Leigh as she hit the button to open the elevator door. Once everybody was in, Leigh hit the 12th floor button and they were on their way to the top floor. When the elevator finally reached the 12th floor the door opened up and a woman (who looked like a older version of Leigh) was smiling back at them.

\"Oh Leigh dear, I figured you\'d recommend these rooms to your guests. How are you dear?\" the Leigh-look-alike said.

\"What are you doing here? You didn\'t owl me at school about your arrival.\"
replied Leigh sounding very irritated.

\"Well, I thought I would surprise you! Now introduce me to your guests.\" chirped the woman.

\"This is Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Seamus Finnegan, & Dean Thomas. You know everyone else. Guys this is Janet.\" Leigh said through gritted teeth.

\"Yes, I\'m Janet Porter, otherwise known as Leigh\'s mother.\" laughed the older lady. Leigh muttered something that sounded a lot like, \"Unfortunately,\" under her breath.

\"And who are you?\" asked Mrs. Porter noticing that Leigh failed to introduce
Harry.

\"I\'m-\" started Harry, but Leigh quickly interrupted him. \"He\'s my boyfriend,
Harry Potter,\" said Leigh with a smirk. The older woman\'s smile instantly faded.

\"So, this is the new flavor of the week, eh?\" said Leigh\'s mother sarcastically.

\"What?\" asked a confused Harry. \"Nevermind her, she\'s just trying to irritate
me. How long will you be staying Janet?\" asked Leigh plainly.

\"I was hoping that I could stay the week,\" said the older woman hopefully.

\"Not a minute longer, now if you\'ll excuse me, I have to show my friends to
their rooms. Goodnight Janet.\" said Leigh bitterly.

After getting everyone settled into their rooms, Leigh started down the hall to show Harry where they would be staying. \"We\'re going to stay in the Presidential Suite, best room in the house!\" laughed Leigh as she dragged him through the door. Leigh had brightned up considerably after her mother had taken the elevator downstairs.

Harry plopped down on the bed, exhausted from the long trip. Leigh quickly took advantage of his tiredness and crawled on top of him on the bed, straddling his waist. She began to kiss his neck and unbutton his shirt when he spoke. \"Why do you call your mum Janet?\" he asked curiously. She slowly lifted her head to meet his eyes. \"Gee, you sure know how to ruin the mood,\" she laughed.

\"Just curious, you don\'t seem to get along very well with her.\" he replied
sitting up with her still on his lap.

\"I can\'t sther,her, she only comes when she wants something.\"

\"She doesn\'t live with you? What about your dad?\"

\"She lives in New Jersey with her boy-toy, she has for 5 years now, and my dad died 2 years ago.\"

\"I\'m sorry to hear that. So you live here all alone?\"

\"No, my two step-brothers live here as well, and Eric. My other friends stay
here so often thatfeelfeels like they live here, but they don\'t.\" she laughed.

\"Step-brothers on which side? Your mum\'s of your dad\'s?\"

\"Dad\'s, he remarried after my mom left. He and his new wife were killed in a
plane crash when they were vacationing in Europe. He left the house to me in his will, he also gave my mom a house in Maine. He still loved her.\"

\"Where are you stepbrothers now?\"

\"Probably downstairs taking care of-\" started Leigh, but suddenly stopped.

\"Taking care of who?\" Harry asked curiously. Leigh lifted off of Harry and sat
down next to him on the edge of the bed.

\"Do you like children Harry?\" Leigh asked seriously.

\"Well, I haven\'t really been around kids much........why? You\'re not.....you
know....Are you?\" Harry said with a look of panic in his eyes.

Leigh laughed, \"No Harry, I\'m not.\"

\"Oh, good, we don\'t need another little me running around do we?\" he smiled.

\"Would you mind a little me running around?\" she asked looking anxious.

\"What are you getting at?\" he asked cautiously.

\"I want to show you something, hold on a minute.\" she said as she got up from the bed and started rifling through her bags, finally coming upon what she was looking for and returning to the bed. She handed him a small photo album and told him to open it. Inside there were pictures of Leigh on the beach with Eric, splashing around in the water with a little boy of 2 or 3.

\"Who\'s this?\" Harry asked, pointing to the little boy.

\"My son,\" Leigh said smiling.

\"You have a s-son?\" he stuttered.

\"Yes.\"

\"Why didn\'t you tell me?\"

\"Would it have made a difference? Would you even be with me if I told you that?\" asked Leigh, somewhat annoyed.

\"It wouldn\'t have made a huge difference, because I like you for you, but it
would be nice to know that you were being honest with me!\" he said, outraged.

\"Calm down. I wasn\'t dishonest about anything. You never aked if I had any
children.\" she replied calmly.

\"Well, I didn\'t think to ask considering that we are so young, I didn\'t think
you would.\" said Harry a bit more calmly.

\"Well I\'m sorry, but I do, if you can\'t accept that, maybe I should sleep in a
different room.\" said Leigh, crestfallen.

\"No, that\'s not what I meant, It\'s just.....shock talking. I\'m sorry.\" he said
calmly. \"What is his name?\"

\"Fenton James Beckman.\" she said brightly.

\"What a name!\" laughed Harry, \"How old is he?\"

\"He just turned three in November.\" she smiled.

\"How have you been dealing with being away from him all this time?\"

\"He sees me everyday actually. I had Dumbledore set my fireplace up to Hogwarts floo network. I get to see him in between classes and at night, after everyone goes to sleep.\" she smiled.

\"Oh, that\'s good.\"

\"I\'ll bring you down to meet him and my stepbrothers tomorrow, okay? Right now, I\'m kinda tired and would just like to get to bed.\" she replied with a yawn. Harry raised an eyebrow. \"To sleep, perv. You ruined the mood remember?\" she laughed. \"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let\'s just get some sleep shall we?\"

They fell asleep in each other\'s arms soon after laying down.