Love Never Finishes Second

Chapter 3: The Letter and Lockhart

We all laughed at how many questions Uncle Artie was asking Harry just as Errol, the Weasley owl, and a strange barn owl came into the kitchen..well, the barn owl came into the ro, Errol hit the window.
"Poor Errol.." I said softly, ignoring the barn owl to help Errol get into the house.
"There you are.. you sweet owl.." I said softly, stroking Errol's ruffled feathers while Percy grabbed the letters from Errol.
"Looks like the book lists are here Mum, and Ellie and Harry, yours are here as well." Percy spoke, showing us our letters before handing out everyone's letters.
"Thanks Perc." I said happily, setting down Errol, and went back to my chair.
When I got to my spot, I noticed the mysterious owl was looking at me. I looked at the owl back, unsure if it was lost or if it was having a letter for me. Then it answered my question for me when offering his leg out to me to show the letter. I took it, looked at the handwriting before looking up in surprise.
"I'll.. I'll be right back.." I excused myself before dashing out of the house, having the mysterious barn owl follow me.
I stopped when I got to the broom shed and looked around to make sure no one was near by before I started to read my letter.
Dear my little Red,
I am sorry I have not written a lot in the past year but I have been moving around so much that it would be difficult to get a hold of you. But I hope your first year of Hogwarts went wonderfully, I wish I could of seen you off, but I am sure that you have made great friends already, I know I did when I first went to Hogwarts. I hope Professor Snape didn't give you a hard time on my behalf. I just can't believe it, my little cub is already twelve, it seems like only yesterday I could hold you in my arms and rock you back and forth. Know that despite having to keep my distance from you, you still have me around your little finger, Red. Speaking of you being twelve now, I decided to get you something, meet Coraline, the owl. I hope you don't already have an owl, but I thought it would be the most useful thing I could give you. If you ever need anything, Cub, Coraline will be able to find me without a hint of difficulty.
I love you more than there are stars in the sky, your godfather.
After I read the letter once over, I read it a few more times to make sure I read it correctly. I smiled to myself because my godfather used our secret language to prove that it was him, and not some imposter. He has been the only one to call me little red or cub for as long as I could remember. I will treasure this letter forever. I kissed the letter and held my arm out, and whistled.
"Here, Coraline. Let's head inside." I spoke gently.
She landed on my arm and we headed back inside together.
"You okay, Ellie?" Aunt Molly asked with a raised eyebrow.
Apparently everyone was confused by my quick departure.
"Yes, I'm alright, Aunt Molly. I just got a letter from my godfather. Nothing you need to worry about." I spoke, kissing her cheek before retaking my seat.
When I sat down, I offered a piece of my toast to Coraline, she must be tired for the last time I knew, my godfather was in Wales.
"What's with the owl, Ellie?" George asked, sounding confused by it.
"Oh, she's a birthday present for me. Isn't she beautiful?" I asked with a kind smile towards him.
"Well, you missed it Ellie, but we decided to go school shopping next week." Aunt Molly told me with a gentle smile.
"Excellent; any good books on the list?" I asked excitedly.
"Unless you like Lockhart, you may have to look elsewhere." Ron answered, showing me the school list.
"Ugh.. really? He just has a big head, he can't do anything. Otherwise he might ruin his hair." I said, puffing up my hair like Lockhart tends to do when he's in the papers.
Each Weasley except for Aunt Molly laughed at my impression of the idiot man.
"I'm guessing you don't like him?" Harry asked, not used to Lockhart so he wouldn't realize why it was so funny.
"Please, his head full of helium than bravery if you ask me. Plus his story on werewolves is absolutely ridiculous. If you read an actual werewolf text, you know his side of it is just bull." I explained, rolling my eyes at the thought of Lockhart.
"Just bite your tongue during class, Dear, you don't need go and get detentions." Aunt Molly advice me, giving me the motherly look.
"I will try but if the teacher expects me to like those books, they got another thing comin." I spoke, not exactly thrilled for this year's defense of the dark arts already, and the year hasn't even started yet.