mirrorball

chapter one

"Shit!" 

It was already half past two, and Clara had hoped to be at the Weasley's by six. She stumbled out of her father's chair and stuffed the letters into her bag. Her hands gripped her baggage and she walked out of her home. She was fairly far away from her house when she paused on the dark street. She stuck her right hand into the air before sitting on the curb. 

"Please work. Please, please. . . Godric, please work."

"Who you talking to?"

In front of Clara stood a tall lanky man. Behind him was a purple triple-decker bus. She smiled and stood from the curb.

"No one. Is this the Knight Bus?"

"Indeed it is! In need of a ride?"

"Yes, please."

"Eleven sickles then!"

Clara handed the man the money and watched as he counted it slowly. He took her trunk and Clara entered the bus. It wasn't at all what she expected, instead of seats there were beds, and many of the passengers appeared to be deep in sleep.

"Where to, young lady?"

"Ottery St. Catchpole, please."

The man nodded and Clara sat on an empty bed. She laid her bag sideways on the bed and Smoke crawled out slowly. As soon as he saw Clara he jumped into her lap and curled into a ball. It didn't take long for him to start snoring and Clara grabbed the letters from her bag.

She read all of Luna's first, and took notes of her responses so that they could immediately catch up when she got back to her. Next was Hermione's, there were only two, and Clara took notes on those as well. She opened Ron's next. There was only one, and it was fairly short.

Dear Clara,

Hey, it's Ron. Harry and Hermione say you haven't written back all summer. Has something gone wrong? We're always here for you if you need anything. That's what friends do. Anyways, please write back, we're worried. Which is really to say, Harry's worried. Only don't tell him I said so or he'll kill me.

Hope you're well,

Ron

Clara quickly rushed to open Harry's letters. There were ten in total, and she dug through them to find the first. It was written two days after the school year had ended.

Clara,

Hi! I've been thinking, I'm not sure I'm going to do any of this Transfiguration summer homework. I mean, seriously, homework over the summer? It's totally lame! But that's beside the point. I wanted to see how you're doing, I know being back with your dad is probably rough. I won't pretend I understand how it feels to have your dad be a Death Eater, but if it makes you feel better, my dad's still dead. I know that doesn't help, but hopefully it made you laugh. So, there's only one thing I really wanted to ask you, where do you think we should have our first official date? I was thinking Hogsmeade, but that means waiting till October, and I'll be honest, I'm not sure I can wait that long. Perhaps I can teach you to play quidditch, or we can walk along the grounds, maybe a picnic by the Black Lake? Anything's good for me, so take your pick.

Miss you,

Harry

Clara's heart leapt out at his words, and that familiar feeling was returning to her stomach. She made her way through the rest of the letters, each one bearing more concern than the last. The last one made its way to her hands and she ripped the envelope open quickly.