The Dursley family and the cousin who lived with them had left unexpectedly.
Aaralyn saw them leave from one of the windows in the house, yet she saw the panic in which they left. Watching them leave, she honestly wished for the chance of fleeing as well. Despite her father's assurance things would everything would end up being okay. The manner in which her mother kept standing straight as a rod with her arms crossed refusing to look her in the eye said otherwise.
She also still struggled with believing the story the person told her about strange occurrences actually not being the result of her imagination. Yet, she remembered seeing the owls approach the house sending Mr. and Mrs. Dursley into a frenzy. The behavior of the animals fit into unexplained behaviors, yet the entire matter seemed distant – as distant as her mother now acted.
The female witch came back and Aaralyn found herself taking in the strangely dressed woman finally, as she rushed out of the house during her parent's argument the day before. The woman certainly looked witchy, yet Aaralyn wasn't sure she wanted to look witchy herself. She liked the way her non-witchy life looked in comparison, though she'd prefer if her mother didn't always pick her clothes which seemed from a bygone era just like the clothes of the witch who stood in front of her.
In that regard, her mother certainly didn't have any business calling the person in front of her odd, though her mother used much stronger words – the word monster.
"So, are you ready to go?"
"Yes. Aaralyn is ready to go."
Aaralyn glanced over at her father who stood with a wide smile on his face. She found his reaction a stark contrast from the reaction of her mother who simply stood glaring at the entire world, yet mostly out the window. She felt her mouth twist slightly with the knowledge her father was her staunchest supporter. She took a deep breath and nodded her head. The woman looked down at her through her glasses. "Take ahold of my arm."
"Why?"
"We are going to apparate, but this will be your first official taste of the wizarding world outside of the strange occurrences which have happened around you."
Aaralyn nodded, yet in the back of her mind, she didn't want things to change. Way too many times did things change leaving her constantly wondering when they would move next, or if she should even try making friends. She knew in the back of her head she'd move up from primary to secondary, so a change would thus occur, yet the want for something unchanging remained in her mind.
"Mom?" The woman, of course, didn't respond, leaving Aaralyn feeling deflated wishing she might simply read her romance novels over the summer. She held her personal doubts that anything about a school shopping trip would excite her. A sudden pulling at her stomach area made her let out a gasp, but they arrived soon at a part of London rather than the suburbs. Aaralyn blinked her eyes thinking...
"I know you likely think you are dreaming, but this is very much real." The woman patted her arm.
"Um... yes, Ms..." Aaralyn already forgot the woman's name.
"McGonagall. I will be your transfiguration teacher this year."
"I see." Yet she didn't. She walked with the woman towards a pub called Leaky Cauldron and walked in. The pub seemed like the very definition of seedy in her young mind with various men and women wearing...
... witchy clothing. Aaralyn found herself staring at everyone yet felt everyone staring at her. She swallowed, slight anxiety arising; she remembered too distinctly how her mother always demanded they move if she thought someone was staring in a way she thought everyone was gossiping behind the family's back. She wondered if there was any connection to this – the fact she apparently was a female witch.
YOU ARE READING
Witch Next Door
FanfictionA girl moves in next door to the Dursley's prior to Harry Potter's first year. Many romance novel that Aaralyn has read about a boy and girl next door ends with them falling in love. She finds herself crushing on Harry. However... AR/AU Disclaimer...