So, what's America like?

Aurora had spent the first few weeks of summer doing nothing more than helping her dear mother out in her shop. Business was slow but that could be blamed on the terrible amount of suspicious looking people walking the streets. Aurora's mother was paranoid, she thought every person in a dark coloured cloak was a Death Eater and once one of them entered her shop she got as frightened as a small dog.

She hadn't heard from many of her friends since the summer holiday began but she figured they all had their reasons. Hermione had returned a few of her letters and Luna came by every now and then but other than that no one's made much an effort to keep in touch. Even her American pen-pal, James, has fallen silent lately. It was about mid July by the time Aurora decided to break the silence.

As much as Aurora loved talking to Americans she was beginning hold an empty feeling where her friends should be. After a rather long conversation with her mother about the values of friendship, she decided to write to them.

"Who should I write first, Mum?" Aurora asked as she joined her at the small dinner table in their home. She watched as her mother pushed a piece of squash into her mouth.
"Well, who haven't you heard from in a while?"
"That doesn't really narrow anything down. No one has written to me all summer...well aside from Hermione, of course. But you can always count on her to write back." Aurora reached for the tea pitcher positioned between them and refilled her glass. Her mother had taken the charms off the glasses to refill them, much to Aurora's own delight. She felt much more similar with Muggles this way.

"What about that Andria girl?" Her mother said, "What has she been up to?"
"I think she went off to visit her sister in America, if I remember right."
"Why don't you write her? You could ask her what it's like there. Say, whatever happened to that James boy you talked to? The one from the Witches Institute in Salem."
"I'm not sure Mum. I'll write them both." She said standing up and collecting her dirty dishes. "I'll leave this in the sink for Remmy to see to later." A few moments later a small house-elf came into the kitchen.
"I'll do those now, if you like." She said pulling a step-stool up tot he sink. Aurora smiled at her, nodded, and walked up the staircase to her bedroom.

Her room was an utter mess, to her own surprise, she could've sworn she cleaned it, perhaps she had simply dreamed she cleaned it. It was nothing worth fussing over so she went to her desk to begin writing her letters. After a few moments thought, she decided she would write to Andria first.

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Dear Andria,

I've been putting off writing in hopes someone would write to me first, alas no one has and I got tired of waiting. Anyways, How's your summer been so far? I'm sure it's been much better than mine. The most excitement I've gotten has been from watching mother quiver in fear anytime a person in dark attire comes into the shop. She thinks they're all Death Eaters, it's quite funny really. Don't tell her I said that. She hates it when I poke fun with her.

Tell me, what's America like? I haven't heard from James in quite the while, I think he's gotten annoyed with my constant fascination. I can't help it, I've never been, I'd like to go Muggle watching there sometime. I saw a Muggle family in London when I was with Henry, they were catching one of those big red driving devices. Do they have those in America? I can't imagine why they wouldn't, they seem to be quite handy for the Muggles.

Anyways, I wanted to ask, will you be back in time for Bill and Fluer's wedding? Did you hear they were getting married? OH, speaking of weddings, ol' Remus and Tonks are tying the knot as well, in a few days I hear. They didn't send out too many invitations though, they want it to be a quite affair. I don't think they even told Harry, can you imagine the look on his face when he finds out, eh?

I hope everything is good with you, I bet it's better there than it is here. Everything is changing. You're lucky to not be here. I've attached a copy of the latest Daily Prophet and The Quibbler, in case you haven't been getting them.
Write back soon!
Best of Wishes,
Aurora.

She put down her quill and waited a few moments for the ink to dry before folding it up in a nice envelope and tying it to the new sources she promised Andria.

"Swarls! She called walking over to the cracked window. A beautiful brown owl swooped in to the ledge, holding a dead mouse in its beak. "That's gross." Aurora crinkled her nose and the bird dropped the dead rodent onto the floor beneath the window. "Oh, thanks for that." She said with a sarcastic tone. "Here, take this to Andria, okay?" she held it out and the bird took it in its beak. "Hurry now, okay?" She didn't know how long it'd take for her owl to return but she left the window cracked anyways.

Andria stepped off the plane and stretched. She looked out the window to the dreary grey sky outside. "Hmm... the weather here isn't so different from back home," she pondered out loud.

She stood by the window to wait for her dad to get her suitcases. Kingston gave her a sharp nip. He was angry at being caged for so long and at all the strangers giving him odd looks.

"It won't be much longer, King. Soon we'll be seeing Carissa," Andria said soothingly to appease the large barn owl. He gave a happy hoot at the mention of her younger sister causing more people to look their way.

Her dad finally came out. "All ready to go, pumpkin?"

"Of course," she answered giving him a smile.

They grabbed their luggage and headed out to the front of the airport. "They shouldn't be too long," her dad said.

After a couple hours and a very long angry phone call, Andria's mother showed up. Her little sister came out of the car and helped them with their luggage. Kingston gave another happy hoot. They sat together in the back for the silent trip. Andria still couldn't believe that her mother had settled in Salem, Massachusetts. She knew it was because of the American history that had happened there rather than the school. If her mother knew about the school she would move and there would've been an even longer plane trip. As it was at least there was the possibility of meeting some interesting magical folk while she was there.

They arrived at their destination and unloaded the luggage. "C'mon Andi. I'll show you my room. That's where you'll be sleeping. My bed's big enough for the both of us," Carissa said tugging at her older sister's sleeve.

Andria gathered her belongings and followed her sister along. She let Kingston out before even looking at the room. He hated being caged. He stood on top of the cage and stretched out his wings. He gave a curious hoot and Andria looked around. The first thing she noticed was the familiar looking horned owl sitting on the open windowsill.

"Swarls? What're you doing here?" Andria questioned to the owl who came over to rest on an arm that she held out. The owl gave her Aurora's letter and the news sources and flew out the window after giving a playful hoot to Kingston.

Kingston flew after Swarls with a hoot of his own. They were probably going for a short hunt. Carissa's eyes were saucers. "It seems my friend Rory sent me a letter. Shall we read it?"

Carissa nodded vigorously and together they read the letter. "Huh. Well I better respond. You can read these while I answer."

She handed her sister the other papers and rummaged through her luggage until she found some parchment and a quill.

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Dear Aurora,

My summer's been good. I've had some good Quidditch matches so far with the kids in my village and even a couple of the younger adults joined in. Honestly, I only just got into America. So far all I've seen is the airport and the inside of my mother's house. They do have the buses and cars here, but it's odd because they all drive on the other side of the road.

I don't think I'll be at the wedding, but I'll try and send some sort of gift. I had no idea Tonks and Lupin were getting married! How odd. I wonder how weird their kids would be. They're bound to have some oddity with a werewolf father and Metamorphagi mother. That just gives me the oddest image of a rainbow coloured cub.

Thank you for the Quibbler and Prophet. I doubt the Prophet will be all that reliable, but I'm sure it'll entertain my sister. I hope you're safe and I hope none of those dark clothed customers are Death Eaters. I'm sure if you write later I'll have loads of more information about America. It would be better of you to write for questions. My return is early on the First of September and I'll probably find an empty compartment on the train and sleep. I already know I'm going to be tired.

Always,
Andria

Andria let out a long yawn and rolled up the parchment. She headed to the window and yelled out. "Swarls, I hope you haven't gone too far. I have my return letter ready for you."

The owl shot back in and took her letter. Andria gave Swarls an affectionate stroke and off the owl flew. "You don't mind if I sleep do you Care-bear? I'm exhausted. That flight was an eternety."

Carissa shook her head without lifting her eyes from the paper. Andria laid down and got into a comfortable position. She didn't even bother changing and was out like a light.

It had been about a week since Aurora had received Andria's letter but she barely had enough time to think, let alone reply. Aurora did, however, forward the extra copies of The Quibbler and Daily Prophet along to her. Lupin and Tonks' wedding had been a few days earlier, it was a small wedding with mostly just Order members as attendants. Once the knot was tied the Order immediately began preparations to retrieve Harry from Little Whinging.

The members of the Order, including Aurora's mother and brother, had been laying out travel routes, safe houses, and portkey locations for days before the date they decided to take him. Mad-Eye had made sure everything was taken care of, even set out a false lead for the Death Eaters. All that was needed now, was to get Harry.

Aurora had decided to stay with her mom and Mrs. Weasley at the Burrow the night everyone was going to get Harry. Aurora never had a problem with him, she just didn't like the idea of putting her life on the line just to get him out of a house. That, and her brother dare suggested that she should drink the poly-juice potion since she and Hermione had been the one's to brew it. Of course, she objected. Poly-juice tasted gross, for starters, and why would she want to run around looking like Harry? The thought of dropping her height by a foot and a half was not pleasing.

Molly Weasley was pushing around the kitchen in an anxious manner. She was constantly looking out the window and walking over to the charmed sink that was cleaning the dishes from the day's meals.
"Molly, you need to calm down. Everything is going to be fine." Josephine said from her spot at the kitchen table.
"It's hard to be certain. Anything could go wrong. The skies aren't safe." she replied coming back from the window. Aurora walked over to the stove and retrieved the tea kettle.
"Why don't you sit, Mrs. Weasley? I'll poor you some tea." After moments of deep thought she finally sat down. Ginny came down the staircase as Aurora had began to poor the tea. "Care for some tea, Ginny?" Aurora asked before turning around to make sure it was indeed Ginny. The ginger shook her head and sat at the table beside her mother.

There was a stiff silence about the room as Aurora took her place at the table. It was another hour before people started to arrive back at the burrow. Chaos struck, as it usually did when Harry was around, and before long Aurora had a terrible feeling in her stomach.

" Mad-Eye is dead." Bill said while several members of the Weasley family, and the Order, were in the sitting room looking over George. Aurora was nearly in tears since everyone started to arrive. A wave of relief washed over her when she saw none of her friends were injured but she was choked up about George losing his ear...well, more choked up on his inability to come up with a better joke.

That night she was shoved into the twin's bedroom since most people wouldn't want to sleep within pranking range. Seeing that George was injured and the chaos of the evening had tired everyone out, Aurora felt it would be safe. That and sharing a room with Ginny, Fleur, and Hermione did not sound like a good idea.

The shock of losing Mad-Eye hung over the house for days to come; it seemed everyone kept expecting to see, or hear, him limping in through the door. The wedding was fast approaching and although Aurora spent a lot of time helping her mother at work she also made it a key point to help out with the wedding preparations as much as she could.

"May I ask why you are abandoning your education?" Aurora heard Mrs. Weasley say from the living room. She crept over quietly to hear what was going on.
"Well, Dumbledore left me...stuff to do," mumbled Harry. "Ron and Hermione know about it, they want to come too."
"What sort of 'stuff'?"
"I'm sorry, I can't--"
"Well, frankly, I think Arthur and I have a right to know, and I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Granger would agree!" said Mrs. Wealsey.
"Dumbledore didn't want anyone else to know, Mrs. Weasley. I'm sorry. Ron and Hermione don't have to come, it's their choice--"
"I don't see that you have to go either!" she snapped. "You're barely of age, any of you! Its' utter nonsense, if Dumbledore needed work doing, he had the whole Order at his command! Harry you must have misunderstood him. Probably he was telling something he wanted done, and you took it to mean that he wanted you--"
"I didn't misunderstand, it's got to be me." Aurora could tell this conversation was getting to be a little more awkward than she thought Harry was comfortable with and decided to take the brief pause as an excuse to help him out.
"Harry! Harry! I need your help. This garden gnome's made off with my bag! Please, can you help?" she cried running into the room and pulling on his arm. He gave a confused look to Mrs. Weasley and followed out of the room after Aurora.

"Really, Rory, you need to be more careful when dealing with the gnomes." Harry said once they went out to the garden, "Where's the one with your bag?" Aurora laughed, "There was no gnome, I just made that up to get you away from Molly, it sounded like she was giving you a good taste of the "concerned parent" attack. " Harry nodded, "Thanks for that." he said with a chuckled, "If you don't need me, I'd best be off. Ron is going to loan me clothes for the wedding, I have to make sure they fit." Aurora nodded, "Be careful, Harry. They may smell like his Great-Aunt Tessy."

The burrow was home to a constant roar as the wedding was only a day away. Everything was finally prepared and all that was left to do was set it all up the next day. However, it was another occasion that had the group out in the yard that evening. Fred and George had bewitched several purple lanterns to be arranged in a large 'seventeen' above the table and people sat happily around the table as Mrs. Weasley brought out Harry's birthday cake which was in the shape of a snitch. However, much to Aurora's surprise there was a certain uninvited guest among them. Mr. Weasley had sent a patronus moments before his arrival. "Minister of Magic coming with me." it said before vanishing. Aurora watched as Lupin excuses himself and took Tonks before vanishing from sight. Aurora looked over at Hermione, "The Minister-- but why--? I don't understand, what would he want to do with us?" Hermione shrugged and moments later Rufus Scrimgeour appeared with Mr. Weasley.

Later that evening, Aurora had learned, from a long conversation with Hermione, about the items he had brought them. She thought it was a little odd he would make a personal call to drop off things from Dumbledore's Will but it was very clear to her, after a moment's thought, why he had done it.


The next day started early for the household. Aurora's mom and her arrived early to help set up the tent and decorations for the day's festivities. Harry's dress robes, in fact, did smell a bit like Ron's Aunt Tessy, but it was nothing compared to Aurora's teal coloured gown.
"Oh, Mum, it's so gaudy." Aurora shrieked.
"It was the best I could do." Josephine said calmly.
Aurora smiled, "It's absolutely perfect, you know how much I love tacky clothing." she said giving her a kiss on the cheek.

By four o'clock, the ceremony had begun. Aurora had barely recognized Harry as he had taken Poly-juice potion to blend in with the Weasleys. Aurora was told by George that they were introducing him as "Cousin Barny" but Aurora had given him the idea that it may be funnier to introduce him with a different name to every guest. The ceremony wasn't too long and before she knew it Aurora and her mother were seated at a table with Luna, and her father who were both wearing yellow robes.
"Whatever you do, try to divert people from asking why Percy isn't here." Aurora's mother said, leaning over in her seat. "It's got Molly all in a knot, we don't need to have a scene."

However, no more than twenty minutes later, a lynx shaped patronus flew into the tent. It spoke in Kingsley's deep voice, "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming." Moments later black smoke trails began to zoom in from different directions and Death Eaters appeared.
Aurora pulled her wand from it's secured position on her leg seeing that her dress lacked pockets and she looked around at the panicking crowd. Her mother, who was paranoid enough as it was, went into a fit of, "I knew it, I knew this would happen." and Luna was still in a bit of a daze. Aurora looked to Xenophilius who was already on the task of getting Aurora's mom to calm down. " Girls, you need to leave. Go!" he said over the hysteria. Aurora took Luna's wrist and quickly apparated, leaving the chaotic scene behind.

The young witches soon found themselves in Aurora's home which had been empty most of the past days.
" Death Eaters always have a bad habit of showing up when they aren't invited." Luna said, sitting down on Aurora's bed. " They have a great sense of dramatic timing, that's for sure. I suppose it's a requirement to be in with that lot." she sat down next to Luna, laughing, and looked over to the window where her owl was sitting.
I should write to Andria. she said, "I am sure she would like to know about this."

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Dearest Andria,

I apologize for the time-lapse in my response, everything has just been so busy. The Order successfully moved Harry to the Burrow and I've been spending a lot of time there helping out when I could. But since Harry was there, you can believe the peace wasn't kept for long. I'm sorry to say Mad-Eye was murdered the night they moved him. Really, I blame Mundungus for being a flakey git...I dunno whose idea it was to let him go along. Honestly, my brother would've been a better choice. If I would have known that was going to happen, I would have agreed to drink the poly-juice potion.

For the most part the wedding was great fun. They had Harry drink a bit of poly-juice potion to keep him safe in case there were any sketchy people about. The twins and I kept telling other members of Ron's family he was a distant cousin, but we gave him a different name to every person we told.

Luna and I just made it back to my house. We would have stayed longer but seeing that there was a Death Eater attack our time was cut short due to our will to live. Things are changing here. Voldemort , as of tonight, has successfully infiltrated the Ministry, Scrimgeour is dead and now no where is safe. I have a fair advantage over Ron and Hermione on the safety level, however. I know better than to hang around a boy wanted by the darkest wizard there is. It's a shame they can't see the danger they're in. I hope things in America are better than they are here.

Be safe. Come back prepared for the changes ahead.

Love,
Aurora

P.s. Luna says hello. She's going to be staying the night with me.

Aurora folded up the parchment and took it over to Swarls, "Take it to Andria." she said quietly. She returned to her seat and looked over at Luna who was watching the owl fly away.
Things are changing." she said.
Aurora nodded and kissed her forehead, "It's okay, I'll protect you." she said.

Andria had been having one of the best weeks. She had managed to meet a few witches and wizards from the Salem Witches Institute and played Quidditch with them a few times while her little sister went to summer school. She had taken a liking to one of them who had usually played the other seeker. Things were safer in America then they were in England currently. Voldemort didn't have as much influence on that side of the pond. He had some followers there in the east, supposedly a lot more than there were in the west, she had learned from some of her new friends. She had done tons of things with Carissa like going to the beach and to the zoo. They had gotten even closer. She had also met her mother's new husband and his son, Carter. Carter was pure evil. He was a seven year old menace. His favorite past time activities were to give himself scrapes and bruises and blame them on Carissa. He also took to making messes and saying that Andria made them. It took all of her patience and temperance to not use the Killing Curse or Crucio on him each day. She and Carissa tried to spend as little time as possible around the evil spawn.

Andria was just getting back from playing Quidditch with the American kids when Swarly launched at her annoyed at having been kept waiting. She flew swiftly off after dropping Aurora's new letter at her feet. Kingston gave her a small knowing hoot. She opened up Aurora's latest correspondence sitting down on the bed. When she got to the part about Mad-Eye her entire frame began shaking with suppressed sobs. Tears were streaming down her face and she couldn't even see the letter. She heard a small flutter before Kingston landed on her shoulder. He nuzzled against her face and gave a sympathetic hoot. She waited for her sobs to recede before even attempting anything. After that she took a deep breath and immediately began her response.

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Dear Aurora,

That's terrible to hear about Mad-Eye. He was so tough. I wouldn't have believed it if anyone else were telling me. I'm so glad you're safe though. And Luna of course.

It's good you had fun at the wedding. I do hope Bill and Fleur liked my present. And that it survived the Death Eaters. I trust you and Luna had a fun night despite the turmoil all around. It was only a matter of time before the Ministry fell. I'm just glad that I wasn't around when it happened. I hope Harry, Ron and Hermione end up all right. They do have their faults, but they aren't bad people. Things are better here, but I'm not sure how long that'll last now that the Ministry has be taken.

I wish you and Luna both well, good luck and stay safe.

-Andria

She had for the most part contained her tears. Only a single one spilled onto the page smudging a couple letters. She rolled up the parchment and gave it to Kingston.

"Take it to Aurora, King. If you could hurry I would appreciate it and there would be a treat for you. Be sure she writes back. I have to know that she really is safe." He gave her an affectionate nip once before taking it and flying out the window. She laid her head against the pillows and tried to focus on pleasant thoughts.

Aurora and Luna sat at the small table in Aurora's home. The sun shone in through the drapes painting the room a soft blue colour. The glass door leading out into the back door was open so that the warm afternoon air blew into the room through the screen.

"It's a nice day out. Luna said taking her plate from Remmy who had made the girls lunch. Aurora took the sandwiches from the plate and began rearranging them to her liking.
"Maybe we can go back to the burrow later to see how everyone is. Aurora said. She felt bad for having fled the house the night of the wedding. She hoped desperately that Harry was okay and that the poly-juice potion was enough to throw off the Death Eaters.

Aurora had gotten up to get the tea kettle when a beautiful barn owl came in through the window. "Kingston! Aurora said jumping back a little. She took the letter from the birds mouth and looked over at Luna who was making houses out of the bread. She looked up at the bird and waved. "Hello Kingston! she said.
Aurora carried the new letter back to the table and began to read it as she sat down. It was fairly short but there wasn't really much to be said. She sighed and went back into the kitchen to find a pen and parchment roll. She pulled out a ball point pen and showed it to Luna. "Muggles use these! she said. "It's a pen. Luna looked at the strange item curiously and watched as Aurora began to write on a piece of parchment.

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Dear Andria,
I am pleased to say that we, and everyone that was at the wedding, are safe now. No one has heard from Ron, Hermione or Harry but since Hermione is with them I am sure they're fine. Haha. We haven't decided what is to be done next but most of the Order has placed new charms on their homes and we've all boycotted the floo network. The last thing we need is for Voldy to be able to track all of us.

I'm writing with a ball-point pen. Aren't they fascinating? Henry got it for me at a store in London. He said it was a big store that sold nothing but Muggle foods. Very strange. I'd like to go to one sometime. I'm sure that'd be fun. Have you ever been?

I hope you're having a good summer. Send some pictures if you can!

Love,
Aurora.

She folded it up and put it in an envelope along with a picture of her and Luna from the wedding. She bundled up The Quibbler and the Daily Prophet, handed it to Kingston and set him on his way.

"Finish eating, Lunbug. " Aurora said sitting down. Luna laughed and picked up a piece of lettuce and stuck it in her mouth.

Though Kingston hadn't taken long at all to get a response and she knew she should answer back, Andria didn't. She didn't want to think. She didn't want to grieve. Most of all she didn't want to fear. She threw herself into the Quidditch games she played with the Americans. They knew her as a truly formidable force. She was always the first picked for any position. She was best at Seeker, but if she even thought a little about her fears and sadness she made the perfect Beater. She sent letters to Neville knowing she could always count on him for conversation. They usually talked about all the light things in life as if they were still the same. Because for Andria, if she spent the summer without thinking, without facing that her world would never be the same then she could actually breath. That was the only way she had any hope to survive. She invented extravagant tales for her sister and found out how to retaliate against Carter in ways that would work. She just threw herself with force into her life. No one realized anything was wrong and that was her goal. All the while she compiled pages of lists about the most mundane details about the Americans, especially the Muggles for Aurora. She didn't dare write her though. She was terrified of what happenings she would find out. She didn't even read the Prophets or Quibblers that were her only proof that Aurora was even alive. Eventually a few weeks before school was due to start she decided it was time to face the world.

She finally decided to write back.

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Dear Aurora,

I hope all is well over there. Part of me is terrified of going back to England. I don't know what I'll find there and what will happen to me. I know something bad will. I can feel it. I don't want anyone to know and see how scared I am. I hope I'm just being paranoid, but I can't be sure. I want everyone to be okay. I want it more than I want air to breathe. I know I have to go back soon though.
I've enclosed a list I've been compiling about American's there's stuff on both muggles and wizards. I've been observing them.
I suppose since Harry isn't going to be there I might as well try out for Gryffindor Seeker. I've been practicing a lot with some kids from the Salem Witches Institute. I asked if they know James, but I couldn't remember the last name and there are a lot of Jameses there.
I'm excited to see everybody no matter how much I'm afraid something is going to happen. I hope everything turns out well.
Give Luna a kiss for me, will you? Haha. Only kidding you don't have to if you don't want to.

Best wishes,
Andria