The Footsteps of my Father

Chapter Seven

-New Place, New School, New World-

Brianna looked out the window on the plane as they sped across the clouds. This is so cool! The clouds look just like sand! And it's so beautiful, with the sun shining down and the crystal clear blue sky! This is one of the best experiences I've ever had! I had been slightly nervous, looking at the huge planes, but now, I absolutely love it!

She chuckled softly. Maria and Terrance had been so excited when we had arrived at LaGaurdia! They were constant chatterboxes. When Terrance saw our plane, I thought he was going to jump out of his skin he was so excited. And Maria, she was excited but she was so nervous when we stepped onto the plane. I think she was worried that it was going to fly off before we got to our seats!

She looked over to her right where Maria and Terrance were lying, sound asleep. Her mother had put up the armrests so that the twins could lie down. They were so exhausted from the excitement; they immediately fell asleep once we lifted off.

She looked out the window again and sighed. The past few days had been hectic, getting everything packed and making sure they didn't leave anything. The few possessions that they did own were now on the way to their new home in Surrey. I wonder what the school is going to be like. And the other kids? I hope that I won't be looked down upon for not having that much money. From what my father said about the school, there won't be that many wealthy kids; most of them are at private or boarding schools. I hope my teachers will be nice. I guess I'll just have to do the best I can!

Brianna moved Maria's head into her lap, stroking her hair. You two are wonderful; I don't know what I would do without you. She heard a soft snore behind her and smiled, knowing that her father was sound asleep behind her.

"They're angels when they're asleep, aren't they?"

Brianna looked behind her and saw her mother looking down at Maria and Terrance. "Yes, but they're angels all the time, for the most part," Brianna said, smiling.

"Only five more hours to go until we reach England. Are you nervous?"

"A little," Brianna said, nodding. "It's going to be really strange, but I think it'll be a lot better than New York City. Besides, it's the chance to meet a whole bunch of new people."

"Yes, you're right. You know, you always did look on the bright side of things."

"Would you like anything to drink?" a voice asked softly.

Brianna looked up at the stewardess and nodded. "Water, please."

The stewardess nodded and handed Brianna an empty cup and a water bottle. Brianna pulled down the tray in the middle seat and placed her water on it, careful not to awaken Maria or Terrance.

Brianna glanced around the large plane and realized that most everyone was asleep. She smiled. They won't be when these two wake up! They're going to be full of energy!

Brianna waited until the stewardess had given her mother some water, and then said, "Maybe London won't be that much different from downtown New York. And I can't wait to see some of the sights!"

"Me neither. I expect you'll transition well, though. I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends."

"Hopefully."

Her mother nodded and sat back. Brianna leaned against her seat, closing her eyes. If I can get some sleep now, I'll need all the rest I can get when we get to England.

*~~*~~*

About a half an hour before they were scheduled to land, Maria and Terrance woke up. The rest of the passengers were stirring as well. "Are we there yet?" Maria asked.

"Almost," Brianna said.

"Yea!" she cried. Brianna chuckled.

"So where are we going to be living?" Terrance asked.

"Surrey."

"What's that like?"

"I don't know; we'll find out when we get there, I guess."

Terrance took a piece of paper and a pencil from his bag and began drawing. Maria pulled out two of her dolls and began making them speak to one another.

"John, we're almost there. Wake up." Brianna heard her mother say.

Her father grunted. 'W - what? We're there?"

"Nearly."

A sign flashed on over there heads, instructing them to put on their seatbelts. The pilot's voice came over the intercom. "We're beginning our descent now. London is foggy and zero degrees Celsius. Not to bad for this time of year. We'll be landing shortly."

"You hear that, Maria? Almost there!" Brianna said, smiling.

Maria grinned. "Cool!"

"Is it cold there?" Terrance asked, frowning slightly.

"Probably about the same as New York," Brianna answered.

"Will there be a lot of kids?" Maria asked, her eyes wide.

"Oh yes, but not as many as our old schools. And I think these will be nicer."

Maria and Terrance nodded. Suddenly the plane jerked slightly and Terrance gripped his seat, looking around wildly. "What happened?" he asked in a frightened voice.

"Its okay, Terrance," Brianna said, reaching around Maria to put her hands on Terrance. "It's just a little turbulence."

"Is the plane going to crash?" Maria asked, fright in her eyes.

"No, of course not," Brianna soothed. "Don't worry. I've read about this in books and sometimes when a plane hits a change in the air currents, it makes the plane bob a little. But it's nothing to worry about. Don't you fret."

Maria and Terrance nodded, but she knew that they were still scared.

*~~*~~*

When they landed, they immediately headed to the baggage claim to pick up their suitcases. Brianna's parents concentrated on following the signs and arrows while Brianna watched Maria and Terrance, making sure they didn't stray too far.

Looking around, she took in everything, observing more this time then at LaGuardia. The first time, she had been wide-eyed and amazed, for it was all so new. Even if she had read about airports in her books, seeing one was completely different. The bustle of hundreds of people, dressed in all assortments of clothing. There were the obvious business men and women, and then the tourist families with loud, excited children. Groups of teenagers walked by as well, taking excitedly.

"Oooh! Look at that!"

Brianna looked down at Maria's cry and laughed as the girl ran over to a bakery that was along the long corridor they were walking in. In the glass case, there was a huge chocolate cookie and wonderful smells drifted from the shop. Brianna walked over, watching as Maria, quickly followed by Terrance, placed her hands on the glass, staring at the cookie with a wide-eyed expression.

"How do they get it so big?" Terrance asked in wonder.

"It looks yummy!" was Maria's exclaim.

Her parents were smiling too. Seeing the children's excitement was enough to make anyone's heart warm and put a smile on their face.

Her father walked up to the man at the counter and bought one of the large cookies, handing it down to Maria and Terrance. "Here you go."

"Thanks Daddy!" they both cried and began eating the cookie with all the childish glee to be expected. Brianna laughed, loving just watching them.

"You're welcome," her father said and let Brianna take their free hands. They began walking once again.

"Why do they all sound funny?" Maria asked, as announcements were called over the speakers.

"That's their accents," Brianna explained. "They just sound different to us, but we'll get used to it quickly."

"This airport is larger than LaGuardia, and I thought that was huge!" her mother exclaimed.

"Well, this is an international airport," her father said. "And we are in London."

As they entered the baggage claim area, they stopped, standing next to the baggage carousel where their luggage would come out. Maria and Terrance had to go inspect it, for they had never seen anything like it, leaving Brianna alone. For that matter, none of them had ever seen anything like it, but Brianna had read enough about it to not have the need to look more closely.

Her parents were talking nearby, her mother watching Maria and Terrance out of the corner of her eye.

Brianna looked around and her gaze landed on a bench where an old lady sat, trying to feed a cracker to her bird, which was sitting in its cage, flapping its wings. "Eat this Tooly," the old lady said. "You'll feel better."

Why don't you try to eat that disgusting thing! You always try to feed me that stuff and I don't like it! Can't you get a clue!

Brianna looked around for the source of the voice and then her eyes widened as she realized who had spoken: the bird. Brianna smiled, looking at the bird. This is so cool!

"Come on, eat up," the old lady insisted.

I'll bite your fingers if you come any closer!

"Ouch!" the lady cried as the bird pecked her finger. "Bad boy, Tooly. Now you don't get anything."

At least I don't have to suffer more crackers!

Brianna laughed quietly and turned towards her parents. As the baggage carousel hummed to life, Brianna quickly ran over to Maria and Terrance, making sure that they didn't get to close to the moving strip.

"Wow! The bags just appear like that?" Terrance asked, looking at it in wide-eyed wonder.

"No," Brianna said, laughing. "The men from the plane put it on there for us to take."

"Oh."

"Is that ours?" Maria asked, pointing to a beat-up dark green suitcase.

"Good job!" Brianna said, and reached down the pull the bag off.

As they waited for the other bag, Maria and Terrance continued to point out everything that was of interest.

"Look! That bag's all lumpy!" Maria cried.

"Wow, look at that one! It's huge!" Terrance cried.

Brianna laughed, watching closely for their other bag.

When it finally came by them, Brianna reached down and pulled it onto the ground.

"This is it!" Brianna called and her parents walked over to her.

"Good. Okay, now you four wait here while I go hunt down a car," her father said. They all nodded and he walked away, heading towards the transportation area.

"I'm going to go get something to drink," Brianna said. "I spotted a water fountain just over there," she said, pointing over to the wall between the bathrooms.

"Okay, but don't you go too far," her mother cautioned. "This is a big place and we don't know anyone here."

Brianna nodded. "Don't worry." She headed over to the water fountain, relishing the cold water in her mouth. She stood and turned around, only to bump into someone standing behind her. "Oh, I'm sorr - Dominic!" she cried, grinning.

Dominic looked down at her, smiling. He ran a hand through his tussled brown hair, his blue eyes sparkling with laughter. "Do you always run into people like this?" he asked.

Brianna laughed. "No, not usually. How have you been? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was just interested in seeing what Muggles do for fun," Dominic said teasingly.

Brianna rolled her eyes. "For fun? This isn't fun. It's called 'let's not get killed as we push our way to baggage claim!' You still haven't answered my question."

Dominic shrugged. "I knew you were coming in today and so I decided to see if you needed any help."

"That's nice of you," Brianna said, smiling. "Well," she said, motioning to his Muggle clothing, "at least you dressed normally."

Dominic raised an eyebrow. "Normal? Not even close. But this stuff isn't too bad, I suppose." He winked. "I still have my wand."

Brianna shook her head. "Wizards."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Whatever you take it to mean."

Dominic laughed.

"Well, I guess you want to meet my parents, then. Come on." Brianna headed back over to where her mother waited with Maria and Terrance, Dominic at her heels.

As she drew closer, Maria and Terrance broke away from their mother and ran over to Brianna. "Who's that?" Maria asked, looking up at Dominic.

Dominic knelt down so that he was eye level with Maria. "My name is Dominic. What's yours?"

"I'm Maria. Why do you sound funny?" she asked, taking her last bite of her cookie and swallowing.

Dominic laughed. "You mean my accent? It's British."

"Oh."

"I wanna meet him too!" Terrance cried, pushing past Maria and up to Dominic. "I'm Terrance. We're twins!" he said, pointing to himself and Maria.

"Really?" Dominic said, laughter in his eyes.

"You must be Dominic Conner," her mother said warmly.

Dominic stood and nodded, smiling. "Yes, that's me. Pleasure to meet you."

"I want to thank you for what your family did for us by taking Brianna in for those few days."

"It wasn't a problem."

"Are you here on a trip?" her mother asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, I -" Dominic glanced at Brianna, who shook her head. "Family visit."

Her mother nodded. "That's good. It's always a shame when families can't see each other when they live so far away."

"I have a car," she heard her father call. Brianna looked over to see her father walking over. He stopped, looking at Dominic, who was nearly as tall as he was. "And who are you?"

"I'm Dominic Conner," Dominic said, holding out his hand.

Her father shook Dominic's hand, smiling. "The same Dominic Conner from the family that helped Brianna?"

"Yes," Dominic said, nodding. "That's me."

"Wonderful. Please to meet you."

"The same to you. So," Dominic said, looking at them, "you're moving to Surrey?"

Brianna nodded. "That's right."

"Brilliant," Dominic said. He glanced at Brianna and smiled. "A kid that goes to school with me lives there."

"Oh, really?" Brianna asked, raising an eyebrow. "And who might that be?"

"Harry Potter."

"What's so big about Harry Potter?" Terrance asked.

"Oh, he's just a boy at my school," Dominic said. "He's really popular, that's all."

"Really? Cool! Can I meet him?" Terrance asked.

Dominic laughed. "You just might."

"Is he in your grade?" her mother asked.

Dominic shook his head. "No, he's a year older."

She nodded. "Where do you go to school?"

"It's a - a boarding school," Dominic said slowly.

Brianna bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Your family must be well off, then," her father said.

Dominic nodded. "Well enough."

"That's always good. Well," her father said, looking around at them, "Shall we be going? We have to unpack and it's beginning to get late."

"Would you like any help?" Dominic asked.

"Oh, that would be wonderful," her mother said, sighing. "We don't have much, but another strong person to help lift furniture would be a great help. You're sure your parents won't mind?"

Dominic shook his head. "No, they had a feeling that you might need some help. That's why they sent me over here."

"Well, Dominic, you seem like a fine boy. How old are you?" her father asked.

"Twelve."

"You're so tall!" her mother exclaimed.

Dominic laughed. "I get that from my father."

"Let's get going, shall we?" her mother asked. They all nodded and headed outside to the car that Brianna's father had rented.

*~~*~~*

As they walked through the furniture store, Dominic and Brianna drew away, looking at the couches and beds. "Something cheap, that's what we need to find," Brianna said as they walked.

"So," Dominic said after awhile, "you ready for the World Cup?"

Brianna grinned. "I can't wait! I read Quidditch Throughout the Ages, and so I have a little better understanding of the game and from what Gabriel told me, I think I'll know enough to not be lost."

"That's good. The match is going to be brilliant! We have tickets for the final match and it'll most likely be between Ireland and Bulgaria. Those teams are wicked! Victor Krum, the Seeker for Bulgaria, you've never seen a better Seeker until you've seen him and he's really young too! I think he's even still in school."

"Wow," Brianna said, her face lighting up with amazement. "You go back to school soon, right?"

Dominic nodded. "This weekend."

"So which house are you in again?"

"Slytherin."

"Isn't that the house that's trouble?"

Dominic rolled his eyes. "It's just talk. It's a really good house and we're all really close."

"That's good." After awhile, Brianna asked, "How's Quidditch been going?"

"It's good. If we can win enough matches, we'll win the House Championship."

"That would be really cool. Or, brilliant, right?"

Dominic smiled. "Right."

*~~*~~*

With the money that they had saved up, they managed to buy three beds, a couch, and a table with chairs. After furniture shopping, they bought groceries and headed to their home. Their furniture would be delivered the next day.

As they drove into Surrey, Brianna noticed that all the houses looked exactly the same and there were many streets filled with the same thing. Her father turned left, following the directions given to him by his boss, and pulled into a driveway. "We're here!" her father announced and they climbed out of the car.

Brianna looked to the left at the neighbor's house. It looked exactly like theirs, except it had a built on white rotunda, with large windows. Brianna looked up at her own house and smiled. Two stories! This is larger than three of those apartments back home!

Dominic stepped up beside her, carrying a sleeping Maria in his arms. "Not bad, not bad at all," he said softly, so as not to wake Maria.

They followed her father into the house and Brianna looked around the entryway. A staircase went up to her right and a short hallway in front of her headed to what looked like the kitchen. Brianna walked down the hall, investigating. She opened the door, looking around the small kitchen, and then looked around the corner at the spacious living room. This is so cool! Or brilliant, I guess. And so big!

She left the living room and headed upstairs. There were three bedrooms and Brianna grinned. I love it already! She walked back downstairs, saying goodbye to Dominic as he headed home.

Brianna and her mother took Terrance and Maria up to their room, laying them on some blankets. After a weary goodnight, Brianna hauled herself into her room and collapsed onto her own pile of blankets, falling asleep instantly.