Endless Waltz

Chapter Two

Pale as a Ghost

"Happy Birthday Harry!" Ron yelled as he jumped onto Harry's bed and wacked him with a down pillow.

"Way to wake me up!" Harry shouted and jumped out of bed. Ron pulled away and sat down on the nearby chair. Just then, there was a loud knock on the door. Harry looked at Ron.

"Wait a second!" Ron yelled through the door as he got up and walked over to open it.

"Good Morning," Ron's younger sister Ginny peeked around the doorway. "Happy Birthday Harry!"

"Thanks," Harry stood up and began to make his bed, as though she wasn't even in the room.

"What is it?" Ron asked her as she just stared into space.

"Oh," Ginny blinked. "Mom, Dad, Fred, and George went to Diagon Alley to buy their stuff. They took our lists to get our stuff also, you to Harry."

"Cool!" Ron turned to Harry, who motioned towards Ginny and then to the door. "Anything else Ginny, Harry and I have to start packing."

"Oh, good idea, I should too," Ginny began to walk back to her room, but turned, and appeared back at the door. "Wait! Harry, there is a gift for you downstairs from Charlie. There is also one from Hagrid, and Hermione." Harry and Ron glanced at each other, and with that, went running down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Over there," Ron pointed to the counter, where there were three large parcels stacked up. Harry went over and grabbed the one on top. It was beautifully wrapped so Ron knew immediately that it was Hermione's gift to Harry. There was a small card, inside, it read:

Happy Birthday Harry! Tell Ron I said hi, and I am looking forward to seeing both of you tomorrow. I got you this gift, hoping that it will help you throughout the year; it's about Animal Transfigurations. I also expect that you'll let me borrow it, but you better be careful. You could cause some real damage with spells in it. See you two tomorrow!

Hermione

"Hermione says hi," Harry turned to Ron.

"Oh, what did she send you?" Ron asked in response.

"A book, about animal transfiguration spells," Harry picked it up and removed the paper wrappings. "Here."

Ron took the book and began to flip through the pages, "Animal to object, object to animal, animal to human, human to animal. Wow! Harry do you know how many spells you could do using this one book!"

"Yeah," Harry took the book and ran his finger across the gold lettering, staring at it blankly.

"Hey, I bet we could find a spell in here to turn you into an owl. Errol's getting a little old," Ron told Ginny.

"You'd better not!" Ginny scolded him. Harry laughed and reached for the next package. It was wrapped in plain brown paper, with a bow made of string. Attached to it was a small tag that said:

To: Harry

From: Hagrid

Happy birthday Harry, I Hope this will be of some use to you in the near future.

The note was written very sloppily, but Harry didn't mind. He removed the tag, and placed it on the counter top. Gently untying the string, he pulled off the paper, revealing a cardboard box. Ron and Ginny stood behind him, looking over his shoulder as he removed the cover. Inside was a very thick book. It looked almost new, Harry read the title engraved on its binding: The Dragons Handbook by: Valasia Norton. Harry opened the book with a vague expression on his face.

"What's this for?" Ron asked, pointing to the book.

"You haven't got a dragon," Ginny looked at him. "Do you Harry?"

"No," Harry flipped through the pages, but paused when a small piece of parchment fell out, onto the floor.

Ron bent over, picked it up, and read it out loud. "Harry, I found this in my hut. It's from when I had Norbert. P.S. I expect you'll be getting a gift from Ron's brother Charlie soon, he wrote to me before I sent this."

"Here!" Ginny picked up another package beside Hermione's and pulled out a card, handing it to Harry.

Harry nodded, placing the book on the counter. He peeled back the flap on the envelope, and removed a card, on the front was a picture of Charlie, who looked just like his younger brother Percy, except with less curls. He was waving, and it looked to Harry as though there was a dragon flying around behind him. Inside of the card was a short handwritten note that read:

Harry-

I assume that you have already received Hagrid's gift; it will be very helpful. Don't worry, it won't hatch for another several months, I'm sure it will be safe to bring it to school with you. For now. Happy Birthday!

' - Charlie Weasley

"Hatch?" Ginny raised one eyebrow and then looked from Ron to Harry.

"A Dragon!" Ron and Harry both shouted in unison. Ron smiled, taking the card from Harry. Ginny handed him the package and watched in amazement as he tore off one end of the paper, and reached inside the uncovered box.

"Not a dragon," Harry replied. "A dragon egg."

"Let's see then," Ron nudged the box. Harry carefully lifted the egg up and held it out in front of him. The large egg was a grayish color, with a few blue splotches on it.

"Cool! Let me see!" Ginny reached out to touch it, but Ron snatched it away.

"I don't want you to drop it, but you can still look," Ron gently placed it on the table and turned back to Harry. "Hey, Harry, isn't it illegal for you to have that egg?" Harry turned to Ron in surprise.

"Well... I'm going to start packing. We gotta be ready in a few hours," Ginny interrupted quickly and left the room and returned upstairs. Harry looked after her curiously.

"What's with her?" He asked, Ron's question of liability far from his mind.

"She's been acting really weird since the whole thing with the schools. Girl's never going to make it to fifteen at this rate." Harry shook his head. "Now, Harry about that egg," Ron started.

"I know, I can't think of why Charlie would send it to me." Harry answered after a moment's consideration. Ron nodded. "We can't tell anyone about this, you know. Not even Mione. She'd rat us out right on the spot." Ron nodded again.

"Won't mention it to a soul." He swore.

"Alright, well I'm almost completely packed," Harry said as he picked up his presents and started to walk up to Ron's room, being very careful to cradle the fragile egg.

"Well, you can help me," Ron said following him.

When they got to the third floor of the burrow, they went into Ron's room. Ron went over to his closet to get a few things, and in the meantime, Harry went over to his trunk, which was wide open next to Ron's bed. He gently placed Charlie's Dragon egg inside, cushioning it with his Gryffindor scarf. Then, he took the book from Hermione, and the Dragon Handbook, and put them both in the far corner of his trunk, on top of Magic's History and Legends.

"Okay Ron, how much do you have left to pack?" Harry asked, closing his trunk.

"Well, I packed my clothed already, so... just my quills, ink, parchment, and a few other things," Ron answered.

"Here," Harry reached over to Ron's desk and handed him his quills and ink.

"Okay," he took them and put them in his trunk, "All we need now are our books,"

"Ron, Harry, Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley called from downstairs. "We're back!" Ron and Harry ran back down to the kitchen, where Ginny was already waiting at the table with Mrs. Weasley, Fred, and George.

"Hey Harry!" Fred walked over to him, holding a long package.

"We got you a birthday present," George added.

"Oh, you didn't have to," Harry knew that with all of their children, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley couldn't possibly afford to buy him a gift. "I mean, if you can't-"

"Don't worry about it," Mrs. Weasley took the package from Fred and handed it to Harry. "Mr. Weasley did a little... favor for Dumbledore. It got Mr. Weasley a big promotion and an incredibly immense bonus."

"Thank you," Harry took the package and opened it. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he removed the paper to reveal his gift. It was a broomstick! The long handle was a chrome color, with a gold emblem of a star on it. The writing said Nimbus 3000. "Wow! A Nimbus 3000! This must've cost a fortune!"

"Happy birthday Harry!" All the Weasleys shouted in unison.

"I can't except this Mrs. Weasly." Harry said after a moment. This was much too expensive a gift when they couldn't even buy Ron his own yet. It wasn't right.

George slapped Harry on the back. "Well, mate, guess you're gonna have to." Fred came up on his other side.

"Especially after what you did," he hissed in Harry's ear. It was true, Harry had given them a lot of money and they had so much to spare.

"Where's Mr. Weasley? I want to thank him for the broom," Harry asked.

"He's working all day today," Ginny said. "So he won't be here to bring us to the train station. They weren't counting on school starting early, but we'll have to get out early for Christmas, seeing as how some people will have such a long way to travel."

"Well children," Mrs. Weasley handed Harry, Ron, and Ginny several packages. "Take all of your school things, and put them in your bags. Ron, we've purchased you the most adorable new robes..."

***************************

THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE FRONT PAGE OF THE DAILY PROPHET ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 20, 1995:

We, at the Ministry of Magic, are pleased to inform you of an update on the cover story for the July 25 issue of the Daily Prophet. The students afore mentioned, have been secured places at new schools which they will attend this year. The students from Renial shall be attending Beauxbatons this term and those from the small school Adelaide shall attend Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore, presiding Headmaster of Hogwarts, has assured us that no harm will come to them there, and that they will receive a warm welcome.

There are, however, no new developments concerning the unfortunate destruction of the previously mentioned schools in mid July. Please, if you have any information concerning these crimes, we implore you to contact the Ministry, via owl post. It is in the best interest of the children who could have been seriously hurt.

****************

Ginny tried not to seem overexcited as she pushed her trolley through the train station. She was happy to be back at school, though she still didn't know why. She was anxious to get away from the impending fear of He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named--after all, who wasn't when he'd been all over the front page of the Prophet for the last few months--but it seemed like more than that.

Her summer had been long and rather uneventful, even with Harry spending the final weeks at the Burrow. He'd grown up, but she'd decided that he wasn't worth pining over. After all, why chase someone who wasn't interested in the first place? But still, she thought to herself, he looked mighty nice in Ron's pajamas.

She pondered over this as she made her way to the entrance to the Platform. The boys were dawdling as usual and she wanted to make sure to get a good seat on the train. It was then that she noticed a lone figure sitting on a trunk out of the corner of her eye.

Ginny turned to get a better look at the person. It was a girl, a little older than herself and she seemed rather lost, or at least slightly befuddled. Ginny was about to go on about her own business, but she again stopped herself and looked again at the girl. There was something about her.

Ginny tried to place what it was that she found so interesting about the girl. She wasn't extremely pretty, but not ugly either. The girl's features, in her opinion were nothing special. Her straight dark hair contrasted with the tone of her skin and made her seem almost ghost-like. She couldn't quite put her finger on what made this girl so unique. She wasn't very out of the ordinary, but she did look like she could use a little help.

Ginny wheeled her trolley over to where the girl sat looking very distraught and slightly miffed. "Is there anything I can do to help? You seem a little confused." she ventured, unsure whether the girl was witch or Muggle.

She stiffened as soon as the redhead spoke and looked at her with piercing gray eyes. She looked Ginny over from red top to Mary Jane bottom. The girl wore a green knee-length dress and had a green clip in her hair, which was cut just below her shoulders. She didn't look too harmful, but looks could be deceiving. She was probably just another meddling Muggle.

"Not really." Ginny tried not to roll her eyes. Of course she needed help. She gave the pillar a look and asked pointedly, "Are you sure you aren't in need of any assistance?" The girl's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Yes, please." So much for being a Muggle.

***************

In a matter of moments they stood on Platform 9¾, the Hogwarts Express gleaming in the background. Ginny turned to properly introduce herself to the girl. "I'm Ginny--Ginny Weasley--it's nice to meet you. I would've helped you sooner, but I wasn't sure if you were a Muggle, no offense or anything. It's just so hard to tell these days." She held out her hand

"Fay, Fay Whitaker. The pleasure's all mine." she said flatly, not returning Ginny's smile or handshake. Geez, Ginny thought. What a crab!

"So, Fay, is this your first time at Hogwarts? You don't look young enough to be a first year." Telling Ron he looked older always seemed to cheer him up...

"Yes. I'm a fifth year, but seeing as how my school is now a pile of rubbish, I was transferred to Hogwarts to complete my academic year. And yourself?" Faye replied dimly. Ginny smiled at the prompt.

"I've dreamed of going to Hogwarts, ever since my brother went off when I was a little girl. I'm a fourth year now, but I never thought my time would come." Fay seemed slightly unimpressed by Ginny's demeanor. She asked too many questions in Fay's opinion, but she would just have to try harder to stand her. She struggled to grin, but all she could manage was a weak smile. Had it really been that long since she had smiled whole-heartedly? Merlin I needed to get out more...

Fay's pitiful excuse for a smile encouraged Ginny. "Speaking of brothers, do you have any siblings?"

"No." Fay answered shortly. "I don't have any brothers or sisters." Right after she said it, she felt bad. Ginny's face went from perky to gloomy in less than a second. What right did she have to ruin this girl's day, just because her day was going about as bad as the two week old egg salad she nearly had for breakfast?

She struggled another smile. "Although," Ginny's ears perked up--the puppy face always worked. "I would really like to have an older sister, or even a brother for that matter. It would be nice to have someone that I could tell all my secrets to."

*******************

Before Ginny could answer, they heard a loud crash and turned to see three bodies surrounded by what appeared to be about six people's luggage for a year. Well, someone packed heavy! "My stupid brother!" Ginny said as she pointed to the patch of matted red hair among the mass of sprawled clutter. The pile groaned as another one of the trunks fell off the trolley and hit it.

"I hope he's all right!" Fay said in mock concern as she got up and went over to the gathering crowd near the entrance pillar. She was sure he was. After all, it was only a trolley cart, and there weren't that many bags, but she wasn't into 20 Questions anymore. Ginny was sweet, but nosey. A very tall and burly man stopped her however.

"My dear, I'm 'fraid that if you don't board the train now, we'll be forced to leave you 'ere. Can I 'elp you with yer bags?" he asked her, his voice distorted by his thick accent.

"Yes, thank you." She wasn't used to this kind of service. Even someone holding the door for her was strange.

She turned to Ginny who was holding a pair of broken glasses and eyeing them disdainfully. "You coming, or are you going to wait for your brother?" Even if she wasn't the best company, it was better than being alone, even if she was a slight pain in the arse. After all, Ginny was the only one who'd even come near her, much less had the nerve to talk to her.

"I'd better see if he needs some help. Boys, you know!" Fay nodded. "I'll see you at school, though!"

*****************

Fay must have dozed off, because she awoke to many chattering voices. "I can't believe it! Like, ohmigod! Did you see him?" Someone in her compartment giggled uncontrollably.

"Sure did! Can you believe he goes here?" She opened her eyes and found that three other girls had joined her once empty compartment and were deep in conversation. She groaned inwardly; so much for a private, peaceful ride.

"No way!" answered the brunette with glasses who'd spoken first.

"Oh, Beth! You're so overdramatic!" scolded the blonde in the corner. She seemed slightly younger than everyone else, though Fay wasn't entirely sure. They all sounded like little ditzes to her.

"You're one to talk, Becca!" replied the girl with jet-black hair sitting across from Fay. Well, all but her anyway. She seemed a little more down to earth. Then again, that might have been because she wasn't wearing pigtails and little preppy mini skirts.

"Oh, you're awake." the blonde said as she spied Fay watching them. "Hi, I'm Becca--well, Rebecca but that's so boring! Anyway, its nice sooo to meet you!" she said as she thrust her hand at Fay, who tried not to gag.

"Fay," she answered warily. Was it her, or was she seeming to attract all the nicest people today. It was getting slightly boring.

"And these are my friends! Elizabeth, but we call her Beth," she gestured to the brunette, who waved, "and Nicole, but again, just Nikki." The only sane one of the three, in Fay's opinion, smiled. "We're going to Hogwarts for the first time, how about you?" Fay cracked a smile, but it was hard.

"I am as well," she answered dryly.

"Really?" Becca asked, amazed at the coincidence

"Us too!" Beth said as she took something out of her purse. "Mint?"

"Yes, thanks." Fay and Nikki said at the same time. Beth laughed and handed out the Mentos.

"Anyway," Becca continued, "we all went to Adelaide," Beth and Nikki nodded in unison, "but well, you know the rest of the story." Nikki's face suddenly went stony, but Beth's didn't change at all. Apparently, world news didn't even seem to affect this bottle of bleach. "Where do you normally go?" Fay had to think quickly.

"Don't be so stupid, Becca!" Nikki interrupted. "If she doesn't go to Adelaide, because she obviously doesn't, then she has to go to Renial! Remember? The other school that had--erm, similar problems?"

"Oh." Becca seemed rather embarrassed. However, in Faye's opinion, she wore it well.

"So, like, what year are you? I'm a fourth year, and Nikki and Becca are fifths," Beth said. Fay was amazed at how unaware of read world events she really was.

"I'm a fifth year."

"Maybe we'll be in like, the same house!" Beth bubbled. Simply amazing--could she be on something?

"That would be cool." Becca said as she loudly blew her nose.

"Yeah," Nikki added, "too bad there's no way to guarantee it, though. Supposedly, you have to wrestle a troll to get sorted. At least, that's what a sixth year told me!" Beth gasped. Faye's ears perked up; now that was something to see!

"Ohmigod! I could like, break a nail!" She really must be on something.

"Um, if you don't mind my asking," Fay began, changing the subject as quickly as possible (Beth looked like she would faint any minute, and Fay guessed she was the only one who would have any idea how to revive her) "What or who were you talking about earlier?" she finished as she turned to Becca, who was seated next to her.

"Well, did you know that Harry Potter goes to Hogwarts?" Beth nearly jumped out of her seat with glee.

"Yeah, so?" Fay wasn't too excited. Impressed was even pushing it. It was common knowledge, after all.

"Harry Potter, the HARRY POTTER! The most, like, famous guy our age, like, EVER, goes here, to this school and like, all you can say is YEAH SO????" Beth shrieked. Fay groaned; she was ridiculous.

"I think I'm missing something. Yes, I know that Harry goes to our school, but umm, yeah..." Fay trailed off, not wanting to continue. She knew she wasn't better than they were, but they were awfully annoying. Maybe awfully was even being too nice?

"She's right, you know. People would think you have a crush or something." Nikki teased. Beth turned bright red and was silent for the rest of the train ride.

*******************

Once inside the Great hall, Fay became nervous. Large crowds were definitely not her thing and there were so many people that she lost track of the other three and wound up standing next to two people she didn't know. A tall girl with short, curly blonde hair turned to Fay. "Hi, I don't believe we've met. I'm Lucile, but call me that and you may not have any teeth left. My friends just call me Lucy."

"Carina, but I loathe that name, so everyone calls me Fay. That's my middle name." I think I like her. The girl to her left turned also, as well as the girl in front of her.

"I'm Natalie," said the girl to her left.

"And I'm Cynthia, fourth year," said the girl in front of her. She was scanning the students sitting at the four tables. "Ohmigod! Who are those redhead hotties? They're sitting next to the loser with the broken glasses!" Fay choked back yet another groan. They were absolutely everywhere, weren't they?

"Oh!" Natalie squealed. "Which table? I can't see!" Natalie craned her neck to see around the people in front of her. Faye tried to disappear as people turned to stare. So much for trying to blend in.

"Right there! The center one on the right! They're turned away from us, near the windows!" Cynthia replied as she also tried to get a better look. A tall boy had come and stood in front of her, blocking her view. She tapped him on the shoulder and proceeded to begin a lecture on proper crowd etiquette.

"Well," Lucy started. "There's a redhead at that table, but I wouldn't say he's a hottie. Cute is even pushing it." Cynthia turned and shot daggers at Lucy. How dare she insult her future one of her husbands! "Well, you know my therapist said that I'm not supposed to lie!" she said innocently.

Natalie laughed. "You two are just too much! Really, though, darling, the man," she paused for a dramatic effect, "is a total loser. I kinda feel bad for the glasses geek though. I mean, they ARE broken, and he seems totally out of it." Fay looked over at the table and nodded.

The boy was nearly asleep on his golden dish, dark hair hiding most of his face. He looked rather homely in Faye's opinion, and against her will, she pitied him. "I'd fix them myself, but I don't have my wand with me because they told us not to bring them to the ceremony. I swear, you never have what you need anymore! It's beginning to get frustrating!" she said as she put on some lipstick while looking into a hand mirror that she hadn't had five minutes before. Lucy muttered something about having just about everything else with her, but before Natalie could muster up a good comeback, Fay interrupted.

"That's not really a problem. I have mine." She took it out of the folds of her robe and Lucy let out an audible gasp. "It's not like it's a big deal or anything. I always have it on me." she explained as she pointed the wand at him. "Oculus reparo! There." Now there was no reason another girl had to make fun of him, just because of his glasses. Merlin only knows how he broke them, but that didn't mean he had to start out the term like that. Her stomach grumbled; being compassionate made her hungry.

Cynthia turned and glared at her. She hoped this wouldn't be another of those perfect "Mary Sues" she'd heard that Hogwarts had a "tendency" to attract. Oh joy, she could hardly wait. She rolled her eyes and went back to drooling over redheads.

The spello tape from his glasses had exploded into millions of tiny slivers and everyone in the hall turned to stare. The new arrivals couldn't hear it, but the redhead beside him spoke just after.

"That was bloody brilliant, Hermione! I've never seen it explode before! Is it because I couldn't hear you say the spell? Can you do Wandless Magic?"

"No, Ron, don't be stupid. I didn't say anything because that wasn't my spell." The girl in front of him that he was apparently referring to replied. The boy with the glasses looked up from his plate, dazed. The small explosion had brought him back to reality, but it hadn't helped him all that much in the area of coherency. He slowly took off his glasses and looked at them carefully before he put them back on. He shifted his weight around to get more comfortable and gave a little yawn. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night and that whole fiasco with the trolley had exhausted him even more.

"Then whose was it?" he asked now fully awake. The three turned to stare at the group of students standing in the entranceway. His emerald eyes went wide with curiosity as he scanned the students a few times before turning to look back at Hermione.

"Hermione, now I'm going to ask you a stupid question." He pointed at the students. "Who are they?"

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