The Lost Marauders

Letters

Summer was here, and it was time to move into yet another house. This one, Rose's parents had promised, was permanent. "Yeah, right," she thought. That was what they had said to her and her brother when they had moved into the last five houses. Rose leaned against the window of the car, rubbing her key pendant, a feeling of foreboding settling in her chest. She glanced over at the boy sleeping next to her. Even though he was her brother, they looked nothing alike. He had her parent's looks, blonde hair, brown eyes, and a buff figure. Even for a ten year old, her brother was muscled. She looked away from her brother and glanced back towards the window as the car came to a slow stop.

"We're here!" Rose's father's usually cheery voice was heavy with fatigue, but Rose oddly wasn't tired at all. They had just travelled from a little village outside the city of Amiens in France to a suburb about twenty-five minutes outside of the city of Brighton in England. They finally got to their new house around noon, after they left at around 3 in the morning. As Rose's parents began to empty their luggage from the trunk, Rose leaped out of the car. She took the first oppertunity to stretch her legs, which had been crammed into a car for a long time.

Suddenly, a couple burst from the house to the left of their new one, trailing a boy about Rose and her brother's age behind them. The sudden commotion surprised her brother so much that accidentally jerked the door handle and fell out of the car, jerked awake. "Hi! You must be the new neighbors!" The woman's voice was energetic and bubbly. She turned and looked at the boy standing next to his father. "James! Come and meet the new neighbors!" Rose rolled her eyes as the boy, apparently named James, meandered up to them, a goofy grin on his face. As he approached, Rose's brother stood up and stood next to her.

He stopped in front of them and said, "Hi, my name's James Potter. And you are...?"

"My name's Eli and this is my twin sister Rose."

"Hi," Rose murmured.

"Really? Twins? You don't look like twins." It was then that Rose realized that she and James looked more alike than she and Eli did. Both of them had black hair, a skinny build, and wore glasses. Their biggest physical difference between Rose and James were the eyes. Rose had blue eyes and James had hazel.

Eli laughed. "Yeah, we get that a lot."

"So, where do you come from? France?"

"Yes. Was it the accent?"

"Yeah. Anyway, welcome to the neighborhood."

"Oh, thank you." Rose glanced backwards at her parents, who were now in deep conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and sighed. Eli looked back as well and groaned. "We should just go. They're going to be talking for a long time, trust me."

"Well then, you guys can come on to my house then, while your parents unpack."

"All right." All three of them walked off towards James's house.

"So, how old are you guys?"

"We're both 11."

James looked excited. "Oh cool, so am I! We don't have many kids my age around here. There's just dumb babies and teenagers."

"So are you close to 12, or..." Eli looked at James, hoping that they would be in the same year at school.

"No, my birthday's March 27th."

"October 2nd for us." They walked up the steps of James's house and he opened the door. James's house was clean and very pretty. The walls were a crisp white with plants all over the room. The house seemed to be well-kept and loved. The sitting room was the first room in the house.

"Here," James said, tossing Eli the remote. "Turn on Channel 19. i'm going to go get some crisps, be right back." He walked into the room next door, presumably the kitchen. Rose and Eli sat down on the worn maroon sofa and turned the tv to Channel 19, as James had instructed. Paddington Bear was on. Jamse returned a few minutes later, a red bowl of crisps under his arm. The three of them sat there, munching on salt and vinegar crisps for about an hour and a half. Then, during a commercial for Haribo, there was a rattle at the mail slot. James got up, muttering, "The mail's here, be back in a second." However, just as soon as James reached the mail on the welcome mat, he gave out a yell. Eli and Rose jumped up as James bolted out the door, yelling, "Mum! Dad! It came! It finally came!" Not wanting to be left alone in a stranger's house and wondering what James was yelling about,Eli and Rose leaped up as well, the latter setting down the bowl of crips carefully on the couch as they went.They bolted out the door after their new friend and Rose managed to grab the doorknob as she leapt down the stairs and pulled the door closed behind her.

After Rose and Eli finally caught up, James and his parents were gleefully pouring over a letter he was honding so tightly in his hand that Rose though it might rip at any moment. The envelope of the letter was laying forgotten in the grass. Breathing heavily, Rose knelt down and picked up the envelope. It was written on thick parchment paper  with no postage and an adress was written in green ink:

Mr. J. Potter

The Couch

138 Circe's Circle

Brighton

East Sussex

Attatched to the envelope was a red wax seal with the Hogwarts crest on it. "Eli," Rose said, "James has gotten his Hogwarts  letter!"

"Really?" Eli took the letter's envelope from Rose's hand and scanned it, eyes bulging. "That's great!"

"And guess what just came through our mail slot?" Rose and Eli's mother held two parchment envelopes in her hand. Rose and Eli both grabbed their letter from their mother. Rose stared at hers gleefully. Just looking at it made her squeal slightly, in spite of herself. SHe had been waiting for this for years.

Her eyes traversed the old parchment. It was just as she had imagined it to be. She turned it over and scanned the red wax that sealed her letter closed. When she saw the Hogwarts cerst pressed into the cool wax, it took al of her willpower not to cry with happiness. It was really real. She was finally going. Rose turned over her letter and read the address.

Ms. R. Summers

The Sidewalk

137 Circe's Circle

Brighton

East Sussex

Carefully, so not to damage the wax seal, she opened her letter. There were two pages. One was presumably the actual letter and the other was her shopping list. She unfolded the first paper, and it read:

Dear Ms. Summers,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

 Rose continued to stare at the page until her father broke her out of her trance. He wrapped her in a gigantic bear hug. "Dad," Rose whispered, her face turning red as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. He put her down, tears sparkling in his happy face. Rose said, glad to be back on the ground, "So, we have our supplies list. when do we need to go get them?"

"Your luggage is being delivered tomorrow, so I'm assuming you have nothing to do?" James's mom, who looked pretty old to be his mom, looked at Rose and Eli's mom, who nodded. "Well then, we may as well go now!" The Potters strode towards their house and Rose, Eli, and their parents followed them.