Chapter Text
Late afternoon sunshine filtered through the window, casting light over an oddly aesthetically pleasing combination of chemistry equipment and potions ingredients.
Several well worn books on both subjects lay propped open around you, a multitude of pens and pencils stabbed into the hair piled atop your head, a pair of safety glasses leaving an indent on your face as you carefully measured ingredients and monitored dials.
Outside the door languished your black cat, Ink, no longer the tiny kitten you’d carried in your pocket for most of the previous year, but a long, lanky, and troublesome teenager, exiled from your lab/ bedroom for his crimes- trying to eat your Newts Eyes, and breaking a (thankfully empty) flask.
You picked up a dropper of Flobberworm mucus and carefully moved it over the beaker you were working on. Two drops, and- SLAM! Something hit your window and your hand jerked, squeezing the entire dripper, and you didn’t even have time to swear before it exploded in a noxious cloud of green goo and black smoke that had you choking and stumbling away, desperately opening your window and finding an owl sitting there, Athena, a brown barn owl your friend Haley had bought the same day you’d gotten Ink.
You cast scourgify to clean out the aftermath of the explosion and helped Athena inside, untying the three envelopes from her feet and helping her over to the small rest center you’d set up for her, and she gratefully began gulping down water.
Haley took amazing care of her owl, but she’d been the only owl the four of you had used all summer. Thankfully your stay in America had been too short for letters, but after Ginny’s family had won seven hundred galleons from the Daily Prophet draw they’d gone to Egypt to spend a few months with Ginny’s oldest brother Bill. Meanwhile Haley was in France with her family, and Abbie was in Italy.
You, Haley, and Abbie knew how to use phones, but Ginny’s grasp on the things was tenuous at best, and your aunt didn’t even own one, so you’d been giving the bird quite the workout, going from Egypt, to Italy, to France, to England, and back again.
As Athena settled onto her perch for a nap you sat at your workbench to read the letter from Ginny, making a mental note to call Abbie and Haley from the payphone down the street as you set their letters for Ginny aside.
In the envelope was a letter and a photograph of the Weasley family in front of the pyramids, all beaming and waving at the camera. You added buying a picture frame to your to-do list before moving on to the letter.
Dear (Y/N),
I’m really starting to feel bad for poor Athena, I’d offer to use the family bird, Erol, but he’s even worse off with how much my brothers have used him.
I’d like to try a phone call again, and I think I did a better job than Ron when he tried to call Harry. We realized too late you’re not supposed to yell.
Egypt’s been amazing. Bill’s shown us around all of the tombs, but Mum wouldn’t let me in the last one. From what Ron told me it was filled with mutant muggle remains, but no one would give me any more details.
We’ll be back a week before term starts, and we’ll be in London to get Ron a new wand and our new school books. I hope we see you there, as much as I love my family they’ve been driving me mad!
Mum’s more protective than ever before, Percy’s been unbearable since he found out he’s head boy, and Egypt’s given Fred and George countless prank ideas.
How’ve you been getting on with Snape’s reading list? My brothers and I are still convinced this is some new form of punishment no matter what you and Haley say.
I’ll pray you don’t fry your brain before school starts in any case. Hope to see you in London!
🤍 - Ginny
You set aside the letter and began cleaning up the mess you’d made, making careful notes on the failed experiment as you did before writing out a reply to Ginny and letting ink back in. He gave you a dirty look before going to his spot on the bed to start grooming himself.
Athena watched you put your letter in an envelope and tying it to Abbie’s and Haley’s letters to Ginny with a distraught look on her face.
“Don’t worry, girl,” you aid, stroking her soft feathers, “I’m not sending you out tonight.” Athena seemed to visibly relax before settling in and closing her eyes while you filled both Ink and Athena’s food bowls and went to the kitchen, suddenly aware of how famished you were.
You had the apartment to yourself most days, not that you minded, your aunt was, frankly, a racist bitch, and the longer you knew her the more you understood why your mother had put an ocean between them. But, it was better than living on the streets.
Your aunt’s house elf, Zeekey, had left a plate of food for you in the fridge like she did every night, as you often lost yourself in your work. Zeekey was nowhere in sight, but you still called out, “Thank you!” before chowing down, reading that morning’s paper about the reason your aunt had been gone so much.
BLACK STILL AT LARGE
Sirius Black, possibly the most famous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today.
“We are doing all we can to recapture Black,” said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, “and we beg the magical community to remain calm.”
Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.
“Well, really, I had to, don’t you know,” said an irritable Fudge, “Black is mad. He’s a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister’s assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black’s true identity to anyone. And let’s face it- who’d believe him if he did?”
While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse.
Despite the serious situation you couldn’t help but laugh at the Daily Prophet’s description of a gun every time you read it before sobering as you remembered what your aunt had told you about Black, and wondering if Harry knew he was in danger, and why, split between whether you wanted him to.
Last year he hadn’t hesitated to face down a basilisk to save Ginny’s life, angrily dragging along the man who would have abandoned her. Was that the type of person to go after a man as dangerous as Black for revenge?
You didn’t know, and you weren’t sure if you wanted to. You cleaned up your plate when you finished, and put on a jacket, going down to the phone booth at the corner with a handful of change to call Abbie and Haley.
***
By the time you hung up the phone it was pitch black out, the temperature dropping with the sun. You zipped up your jacket and started back towards the apartment, looking up at the sky and wishing you could see the stars like back home or at Hogwarts. You’d always liked the stars, but living in a city like London made it nearly impossible to see them.
You were about half way back when you felt someone watching you, the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end, and goosebumps creeping up your arms. You paused, slipping your wand out of your sleeve and into your hand, carefully looking around.
You were in a wizard’s neighborhood, and a few lights flickered in windows, the dim street lights barely holding on with all of the magic coursing through the streets.
Your eyes scanned the dim street, trying to work out what direction to run should anything jump out at you when your eyes landed on a narrow alleyway between two buildings.
“Lumos.” you muttered and your wand lit up, casting a pale blue light over the street, the nearest streetlamp finally giving up and flickering out.
You took a step closer, narrowing your eyes as you saw a massive black shape with a pair of dark, gleaming eyes. Your heart skipped a beat before you recognized the shape as a dog and relaxed a little, lowering your wand, “Hey boy,” you called, patting your lap and stopping a little, giving a whistle, “here boy, here boy, you hungry? I’ve got a nice, juicy hunk of meatloaf with your name on it.” The dog eyed you a moment longer, and disappeared into the shadows. You straightened, shoulders slumping a little in disappointment before you returned to the apartment.
You’d just hung up your jacket when the fireplace roared to life in a burst of green flames and your aunt stepped out, looking irritable and muttering to herself, not seeming to notice you. You were going to try and slip silently into your room, but you heard Harry’s name and had to pause and reconsider the plan. You breathed out a, “Fuck.” and followed your aunt into the kitchen.
“How was work?” you asked in a neutral tone.
Your aunt closed her eyes and sighed, “Busy, as usual. This Black mess has everyone in utter chaos, and now on top of that Harry Potter’s caused an issue with the muggles he lives with.”
“Oh?” you asked, casually getting a drink of water.
“He accidentally cast a wandless silencio charm on his aunt.”
You winced, “Let me guess, she ballooned?”
She pinched the bridge of her nose, “Precisely. Then he ran off and managed to flag down the Knight Bus. Cornelius has him in the Leaky Cauldron now. Thankfully we were able to deflate and obliviate the woman.”
“Wait, Fudge is personally involved?”
Your aunt stiffened a bit and you could tell her cheerful, lying façade was back up, that was all the truth you were getting tonight, “Of course, we can’t have children running around unsupervised, now can we?” she checked her watch, “My goodness, look at the time! You should really be off to bed now. Sweet dreams!”
You knew there was no point arguing, so you topped off your water, and went to bed, falling asleep surprisingly easily.