War

Chapter 4: The Three Broomsticks

Kaileigh awoke the next morning to an awful headache; she had a dream last night. It had been the sixth in four days. But last night it was different. Last night she had seen Harry Potter again. She had seen him sitting in a small cupboard writing sayings in the dust. She could tell by the look of defeat in his emerald green eyes that he was thinking about giving up. That would be bad, very bad. Kaileigh knew about the prophecy. She knew that Harry was destined to rid the world of Voldemort; she just knew he had to believe it for it to be true. Shaking off her pain, she dressed in a simple pair of loose fitting jeans and a plain black blouse and only applied minimal makeup.

She went about the day in the normal fashion: doing chores, running errands, and trying to avoid being seen in general. Once the day was through and it was time for bed, she started to get nervous. Lying down in her bed she waited for whoever it was that would take her to Hogwarts. She soon found out. After lying in the complete darkness for around half and hour she heard a knock on her door.

"Kaileigh, your car has arrived. I guess we will be seeing you again next summer," spoke a harsh voice that sounded all too pleased to be rid of the girl.

As Kaileigh picked up her backpack and went down the stairs she couldn't help but wonder who Dumbledore had sent to get her. She soon found out, there at the bottom of the run-down stairs was none other than Filch, the scheming caretaker of Hogwarts. His usually sinister looking face split into a big grin upon the sight of her.

"Kaileigh, it's good to be having you back this year. And maybe, now that you will be joining the others you can have a positive effect on your classmates. Rotten, filthy, little gits most of'em are." He then proceeded to take her back and walk out of the old, shabby house.

Soon enough they had arrived at an elegant looking farmhouse outside London. It was from there that they would be taking a portkey to the Three Broomsticks. Kaileigh could barley contain her excitement at going home. Once Filch had paid the cabby he walked right up to the front stoop and called Kaileigh over. After checking his watched they both grabbed hold of an old welcome matt and soon experienced the familiar sensation of a string pulling them into the object. When Kaileigh had regained her senses she was sitting in the Three Broomsticks surrounded by people.

"Kaileigh, good to have you back. Were the muggles alright to you this summer??" an older wizard asked her. His face was smiling but she could see a hint of sincerity under his cool features. It was then Rosemerta came up to her with a pint of butterbeer. "So is my favourite waitress going to be returning to me this year??"

Kaileigh remembered Dumbledore's words that she could not carry on with her old life but she quickly threw them aside. "Of course, I do get the best tips, how could I pass that up??" Her pale blue eyes flashed steel for a moment then returned to their aloof calm blue as she pulled up a chair and sat down in the tavern to drink her warm butterbeer with old friends. Any thoughts of Harry Potter, school, or the upcoming sorting were out of her mind.