SEPTEMBER FIRST CAME quickly after Leo's birthday. Polaris woke up startled, the young woman had a nightmare filled night. She didn't know where they came from, but every time she closed her eyes, the woman saw strangely coloured lights, similar to spells. There were red and green ones and sometimes even blue. Polaris had the theory that it was a memory from her childhood, one in which she was really young and she can't remember it.
Molly also seemed as though she was more stressed and emotional than usually. The redheaded woman was going crazy over the smallest things. Mrs. Weasley even shouted at Polaris as the young woman arrived downstairs, but one glare from the Black girl had Molly going quiet.
The Weasleys were also downstairs already. Fred, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were still in pajamas while George and Bill were already dressed. Polaris had realized pretty quickly that George and Bill were more of morning people than their siblings and Bill told her that Charlie was a morning person as well, though as a child he wasn't. Polaris related to that, as a kid she didn't like waking up as well but as she got older she found herself enjoying the silent, almost noiseless London mornings.
George greeted her lively while Fred had his head in his hand, a spoon in hand that seemed to almost fall out of his hands. Ron had his finished breakfast plate in front of his arms that were crossed over the table, his head on top of them and light breaths fell from his lips. Ginny held her head in both her hands, her palms resting over her eyes. Hermione was also dressed already but Polaris could see that she was almost asleep as well. Polaris noticed that Harry was still missing.
"Is Harry still asleep?" the Black witch asked around the tired table and only George seemed to answer her.
"Yeah, Mum always allows him to sleep a bit longer." He answered this time, though Polaris could hear a bit of bitterness in his voice.
Molly decided to cut into their conversation then, "Everyone get dressed, we have a stressing day ahead of us." The clapping of her hands and the loud voice of her seemed to wake everyone up. "And Ron, be a dear and wake Harry up, would you?" As the table just stared at her, aside from a dressed George, Bill and Polaris who was smirking at them, Mrs. Weasley clapped louder, "Chop chop!" She shouted at them and Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Fred stood up to get ready.
While everyone got ready for today's traveling, Polaris was enjoying her breakfast. The young woman didn't have training and with the house finally quiet again, she wanted to bask in the silence that would follow. Aside from the fact that six of the people she lived with would be gone until at least Yule, Mr. Weasley and Bill had to work which meant that the only people home would be Sirius, Remus, Mrs. Weasley and her. Sirius, Remus and Molly also accompanied the students to the train station, another bonus that added to Polaris' giddy feeling today.
While, yes, she came to befriend almost all of the people staying with her, she did fancy her silent days and routine more. There would be no twins for a few months that wanted to drag her into some silly pranks and no Ron who would eat her favourite candy. Her grandmother, Walburga, would also calm down a bit, finally.
In the next few minutes there was a lot of commotion in Polaris' house. George and Fred had bewitched their trunks to fly downstairs which resulted in a bad end. Their trunks had hurtled straight into Ginny and knocked her down two flights of stairsand straight into the hall. Polaris' grandmother and Mrs. Weasley were both screaming at the top of their voices.
"- COULD HAVE DONE HER A SERIOUS INJURY, YOU IDIOTS -" came the shouting voice of Mrs. Weasley, much to Polaris' annoyance. George and Fred had to think some more, she agreed with that but still, there was no reason to get so offensive.
"- FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS -" Polaris got up to take care of her grandmother, passing a cursing Ginny that looked as though she was ready to murder the twins.
At least they were awake now.
Walburga went quiet upon seeing her beloved granddaughter. "Grandmother, be calm. The Weasley family will leave in a matter of minutes." The portrait looked at her with a raised brow, "Trust me, I am no fan of them staying here as well, but we'll have to go through it." Polaris didn't wait for a response before she was leaving her grandmother again and went back to the table.
Hermione hurried to the others and looked ruffled at the same moment Harry put on his shoes. Polaris noticed that Harry's shoes looked quite beaten, as though his shoes has been around as lond as the boy wearing them had. Hedwig, Harry's owl, was swaying on Hermione's shoulder while she carried her cat, Crookshanks, in her arms.
"Mum and Dad just sent Hedwig back," the owl Polaris came to know was incredibly smart, flew over to perch on top of her cage, as though she understood exactly what was being said. "Are you ready yet?"
"Nearly- Ginny all right?" Harry asked while shoving on his glasses. Polaris, who had a newspaper in her hands, smirked behind them. The young woman was pretty sure that Harry had a teeny tiny crush on his best friend's little sister.
"Mrs. Weasley's patched her up," answered Hermione. "But now Mad-Eye's complaining that we can't leave unless Sturgis Podmore's here, otherwise the guard will be one short."
"Guard?" said Harry and Polaris had to suppress a smile at the confusion that graced his words. "We have to go to King's Cross with a guard?"
"You have to go to King's Cross with a guard," Hermione corrected the boy.
"Why?" said Harry irritably. "I thought Voldemort was supposed to be lying low or are you telling me he's going to jump out from behind a dustbin to try and do me in?"
"I don't know, it's just what Mad-Eye says," said Hermione distractedly, looking at her watch. "But if we don't leave soon we're definitely going to miss the train..."
Polaris cut into their conversation then, "Well, while Voldemort still has to lay low it's better you go with a guard. Not particularly only because of the Dark Lord but also because there will be reporters to get an interview with you and I'm sure you don't want that."
Harry nodded at her words, grateful to finally get answers to the questions he had. "WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!" Mrs. Weasley bellowed over the whole street and Hermione jumped as though she was scared that her books were being burned and she speeded her way out of the room. Harry took Hedwig, stuffed her hastily into her cage and made his way to join Hermione downstairs. He dragged his trunk behind him and at this moment, Polaris was quite glad that she didn't go to Hogwarts and was homeschooled.
Polaris' grandmother's portrait was shouting with anger but nobody, not even Sirius or Polaris, was bothering to close the curtains over her. There was a lot of noise in the hall anyway and it was bound to rouse her again anyway.
"Harry, you're to come with me and Tonks," yelled Mrs. Weasley over the repeated screeches of 'MUDBLOODS! SCUM! CREATURES OF DIRT!' "Leave your trunk and your owl, Alastor's going to deal with the luggage... Oh, for heaven's sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said no!"
A big black dog had suddenly stood next to Harry as the boy tried to get uninjured over the many different trunks that stuffed the hall to get to Mrs. Weasley. "Potter!" Polaris shouted at him and the boy turned around, „"I wanted to say goodbye and wish you good luck this year. I heard that the O.W.L's are very hard." Polaris hesitated a moment before she continued, "You can write to me, if you feel the need to."
"Thank you, Polaris. And thanks for letting me stay, I enjoyed it sometimes." Polaris smirked at his words before she respectfully bowed her head slightly in a form to take leave before she turned around to stay at the stairs to watch the clan leave. Sirius was still at Harry's side as he and Molly had a stare-off.
"Oh honestly..." sighed Mrs. Weasley cynically, "well, on your own head be it!" Mrs. Weasley ripped open the door and the September breeze of London greeted the house and welcomed the people outside. Harry and Mrs. Weasley were the first to go and after them, one for one followed the rest until the door finally closed with a loud shut. Walburga's screeches were instantly stopped and Polari sighed in an overly stressed manner.
Polaris had had the time of her life while the house was empty. She had some of her favourite artists playing in the background while she had the freedom of reading in the living room by the fireplace, a freedom she didn't have in months. She managed to get the book 'Advanced Numerology and Grammatica' done and even started the book 'Ancient Hieroglyphs and Logograms' which she got halfway done before Sirius and Molly came back.
"My roommates, fantastic!" Polaris sarcastically greeted them and Molly said nothing and made her way to the kitchen. Sirius sat down beside his niece as she asked, "How was it?"
Sirius looked at her with a slight pout while he responded, "I think Harry had a vision, he stared off in space for a long moment before he got back to his senses but he won't open up. I'm worried about him, y'know?"
Polaris nodded in understanding, "Well, I think you have to give him some time. He knows that he's the only one out of his friends that have these visions and maybe he will open up once he feels comfortable doing so."
Upon seeing the conflicted look on her uncle's face, Polaris continued, "Think about it that way, Sirius. Potter is the only one of his friends that has those troubles. Ron and Hermione do not understand what it feels like to have no one. The two of them always had at least a parent to get back to but from what I've heard, Harry did never have that. No parents, no friends and no one to trust for eleven years. It's a really long time that takes time to heal from. With the visions that he has, Potter knows that no one can relate to that because there is no one that has the same kind of past with Voldemort that he has."
A look of understanding flashed through Sirius' visage as Polaris explained. "But what if he never feels comfortable enough to talk about it and it's too late?"
"As horrible as it may sound but then he has to learn through that. It's a mistake that he has to make then and that's okay because despite how oblivious that boy is, Potter is not stupid. He will come around, Sirius, do not worry too much about him." Polaris cleared her throat with an arched eyebrow as she added, "And Dumbledore would never let something too drastic happen to him, I'm sure he has already planned something for the poor lad."
Before anything else could be said, Polaris stood up, took her book and made her way upstairs. She put the book aside and dressed in some warmer clothes to go for a walk. As she arrived downstairs, Sirius looked at her in puzzlement, "I'm going for a walk, I'll be back soon."
Polaris didn't have a destination in mind as she closed the door behind her, she just started walking and then looked where she would arrive. She passed a lot of buildings, some newer and some that seemed as though they were made a few centuries ago. She made her way through a park, saw a few dogs and couples and some kids. Polaris began to think as she saw them. How different would her life be if she still had parents or even one? Or if she'd been a squib? What if Voldemort wouldn't have ever existed?
Maybe, she would like her life more then. It wasn't that Polaris disliked her life but she wouldn't say no if someone with a normal life asked her to switch. She wasn't not happy with how things were in her life but she wasn't happy either, it was more a middle thing like situation, if she thought about it. She often felt alone, Kreacher and her grandmother's portrait didn't understand how she felt and so didn't Sirius. They all held different aspects to a happy life and Polaris was sure the only person who was able to understand the loneliness she felt sometimes was Harry Potter. Actually, she was sure that almost every orphan could understand that lonesome feeling but Harry was the only other orphan she knew.
Orphan. God, Polaris hated that word. It was often used as an insult which really wasn't the case. Some people just didn't have parents for whatever reason and while, yes, it was to put it in easy words shit, it was just like that and couldn't be changed. The woman was 17, legally an adult in the eyes of the British ministry of magic. She could do whatever she wanted and she had responsibilities she had to take care of, finances and more. In the eyes of her grandmother she was now also ready to be wed off to a responsible pure-blood man that had money and the same view as that old portrait.
Polaris wasn't ready for that. She knew that, Sirius knew that and any other person that knew her and the burden she had to bear when Walburga brought it up yet again knew that. Everyone but Walburga. Sometimes, Polaris was really glad that Orion, her deceased grandfather, wasn't stuck in a form she could communicate with. She couldn't bear the thought of someone else pestering her about that as well.
She began to think of her parents. What would they do? From all her father's journals and his letters to her she managed to get the sense that he wouldn't just marry her off. In fact, some of his letters indicated that 'no man is ever good enough to spend eternity with you, my star', she thought it was cute but also funny. She was told that her mother was one of the kindest people if you got into her closest friends and Polaris wondered what the two of them would do if Walburga ever started pestering them about that.
Another, tinier thought began to enter her mind as she stumbled into someone. It was a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He wore decent clothes and a kind smile as he held her waist to keep her from falling as her hands were on his shoulders.
"Oops, sorry. That was totally my fault, I didn't even look where I was going." He mumbled out as he looked at her. Polaris swallowed a rude response as she stood firm on the ground again, not mentioning anything about the man's hands that were still on her waist.
"Not to apologize, it happens to the best of us." Polaris cleared her throat as she looked closer at him. The red hair made him look like a Weasley and in that moment, Polaris realized that the Weasley family would now follow her forever and wherever she went.
The man looked ready to say something as Polaris took a step back, the hands falling off her waist. "Good evening." She bid him as a form of goodbye and as she realised that she'd been wandering about for hours, she decided to make her way back home, the strangely attractive man still in her thoughts and the ghost of his hands on her waist lingering as though they were still there.
A/N: Hello! I'm so sorry it took me so long to finish a new chapter but school has been a lot lately. You can expect the next few weeks to be the same as I have about four presentations to finish in the next two weeks but I'll write as soon as I can.
The chapter wasn't as long as the others, I know it reached just about 2.7k words which is the shortest chapter yet I think. The next one will be longer though because the story will pick up then again but this will be it for today! I hope you enjoyed it anyway :)