Rating:
PG-13
House:
The Dark Arts
Characters:
Harry Potter
Genres:
General Action
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix
Stats:
Published: 11/11/2005
Updated: 11/11/2005
Words: 972
Chapters: 1
Hits: 702

Chorale and Allegro

Kelsey Potter

Story Summary:
Chorale: A hymn of the Lutheran church, usually written for four voice harmony. Many chorales were written by J. S. Bach, which serve as a basis for the rules of partwriting. The melody is usually in the top voice, with supporting harmony in the lower voices. Allegro: 1. A fast tempo marking between Allegretto and Vivace. 2. A composition in fast tempo, especially the first and last movements of a sonata, symphony, etc. Two siblings, as different as day and night, light and dark... Gryffindor and Slytherin... chorale and allegro.

Chapter 01

Chapter Summary:
Chorale: A hymn of the Lutheran church, usually written for four voice harmony. Many chorales were written by J. S. Bach, which serve as a basis for the rules of partwriting. The melody is usually in the top voice, with supporting harmony in the lower voices.
Posted:
11/11/2005
Hits:
702
Author's Note:
Okay. I started writing this a while ago. Before HBP. Hence, (all together now) it disregards the book. Keep that in mind.

Harry headed across the yard with the casserole dish his aunt had charged him with delivering to the new family next door. They weren't sure how many people were there, but the macaroni salad Aunt Petunia had made would feed five.

Two children ran around the corner of the yard, a boy and a girl, the boy ahead of the girl. Both were laughing. Harry wondered with a pang if he'd ever felt that carefree and innocent...if anyone would ever feel that way again...how it was possible for these two to act that way with all the evil in the world.

The girl tackled the boy from behind, and the two tumbled on the lawn for a second before struggling to their feet, laughing the whole time.

The girl noticed Harry and got up first, brushing herself off quickly. "Hi!" she said cheerfully. "Sorry...didn't see you."

The boy stood up his well, wiped his hand on the seat of his pants, and held it out. "Hi there. I'm Rowan. This is my sister Cassia."

"Cassia, Cassie, Cass, doesn't matter," his sister broke in with a grin. "We're twins."

"Nice to meet you," Harry said, shifting the casserole dish to his left arm and shaking the boy's hand. "I'm Harry."

Rowan grinned, his grin mirroring Cassia's. They were both built the same way, Harry noticed, and both had pale blue eyes hidden behind glasses, but Cassia's long hair was red while Rowan's was dark blond; moreover, Cassia's glasses were tortoiseshell cat's-eyes and Rowan's were silver ovals.

Cassia pointed to the casserole dish. "What's that?"

Harry held it out to the twins. "It's a macaroni salad. My aunt made it for your family...welcome to the neighbourhood."

"Thanks!" both of them chorused. Rowan took the salad.

"You'll have to help us eat it," Rowan told Harry.

"Dad would insist," Cassia added.

"And it's only fair."

"After all, you are awfully nice."

Harry gave them a mirthless half-smile and shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, but I'd best get home. My aunt will be looking out for me."

Rowan blinked up at him. "Your aunt lives with you?"

"I live with her," Harry corrected him.

"Why don't you live with your parents?" Cassia inquired curiously.

"My parents are dead."

Rowan's grin faded. "I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault." Harry turned back towards his house. "I'll see you later."

~~~

The doorbell rang a couple of hours later. Harry answered the door to find Rowan on the step.

"Dad wants to know if you and your family would like to join us for dinner," he said carefully, as though he'd been coached on the part.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'd better ask my aunt." Harry stepped back into the house and entered the kitchen. "Aunt Petunia?"

Aunt Petunia turned from the sink, where she was washing dishes. Harry had been drying them. "Yes?"

"It's one of the new neighbours. They want to know if we'd like to join them for dinner this evening."

"If they don't mind it being just us. Vernon's working late tonight and Dudley's spending the night at the Polkiesses'."

Harry returned to the door. "We'd be honoured to join you, provided you don't mind that it's only going to be my aunt and me. My uncle and my cousin are unavoidably detained elsewhere."

Rowan grinned. "No prob. Just come on over any time between now and six--that's when we eat. If you'd like to come earlier than six, that'd be great. Dad wants to meet you both."

"We'll be there," Harry promised. "Just let us finish with the dishes."

~~~

"I'll get it!" Cassia cried, leaping up from the settee as the doorbell rang. Rowan giggled and looked up at his father, who rolled his eyes theatrically.

Cassia threw open the door, a huge grin on her face. "Hiya, Harry!" she said cheerfully.

"Hullo, Cassia," Harry said warmly, though with not the same cheer he once used.

Cassia looked up at the tall, thin, angular woman with her hand on Harry's shoulder. "You must be Harry's aunt," she said with a smile. The woman nodded. "I'm Cassia. Come on in and meet my brother...and you both need to meet my dad," she added.

She led the two into the living room. Rowan jumped up eagerly. "Hiya, Harry!"

Harry gave a half-smile at the similar greeting. "Hullo, Rowan."

Rowan approached the two, looking rather shy. "Hello," he said with a smile. "I'm Rowan. Cassia's my twin sister."

"Pleasure to meet you, Rowan," Harry's aunt told the young boy kindly. She looked up, saw the twins' father, and froze.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, obviously concerned, as he looked from his aunt to the man in the living room, who had risen slowly to his feet and stared at Aunt Petunia as though he'd seen a ghost. The twins, too, looked from one to the other in confusion.

Their father spoke first. "Petunia?"

"Ash?" Aunt Petunia said hoarsely.

"You know each other?" Rowan asked, confused.

"Know each other!" his father exclaimed. "Rowan, Cassia, this is your Aunt Petunia."

"Harry," Aunt Petunia added, "this is your Uncle Ash. He's my younger brother."

Uncle Ash grinned. "That's right. Petunia's my oldest sister."

"Oh, yeah, by nine whole minutes," Aunt Petunia retorted, smiling as well.

"I didn't know you had a sister," Cassia protested.

"Two, actually," Aunt Petunia corrected her. "Myself and Harry's mother...she was my twin sister. Twins seem to run in the Evans family."

"How is Lily, anyway?" Uncle Ash asked his sister.

Aunt Petunia looked at Harry, who stared at his feet. "She's dead," the latter said quietly. "She died almost fifteen years ago."

"I'm sorry, Harry," Uncle Ash told the boy gently.

"It isn't your fault."

Cassia sniffed the air. "Dad, I think dinner's ready."

"Good," Rowan said decidedly. "Let's go eat."


Author notes: If you're going to complain, either a) e-mail me or b) make darn sure you're registered, because I'm tired of anonymous complaints that I can't respond to because I'm not sure people will find them.