Noises filled the small inn as Lilleth laid in bed that morning. The sound of the various Weasleys chasing each other up and down the hall, the cleaning witch going into the rooms on either side of her, and most irritatingly, Harry snoring loudly in the bed on the other side of the room to her.

"Harry, you're snoring again." she said quietly, staring at the ceiling. When nothing happened, she sighed, swing her legs out of bed and padded across the floor to his bed in her fluffy socks and old flannel pyjamas, her plait swinging out down her back as she stood up. She prodded him several times until he woke up, sitting up suddenly and looking around him in panic.

"What's wrong?" he asked frantically.

"You were snoring." said Lilleth plainly.

He groaned and dropped his head back down on the pillow.

"What time is it?" he muttered, closing his eyes again.

Lilleth glanced at the clock.

"Half past seven."

"Go back to sleep." groaned Harry, and he rolled over in the bed and pulled the blanket up over his head.

But Lilleth had no intentions of going back to sleep. It was her first day at Hogwarts, and she was as excited as anything, albeit a little nervous.

While Harry started snoring again, she quietly made her way over to her school trunk, which she had bought a few weeks ago with the rest of her school things, and pulled out a small blue skirt and white top with clear sequins that shined in the light. She put on her old school shoes as well – they were simple flat shoes, slip-ons, with a strap around the ankle to hold them on.

In his basket, her cat, Mourka, yawned and stretched, arching his back and straightening his tail like a fire pole.

"Good morning." she whispered, stroking him between the ears fondly.

She had found him in the Magical Menagerie on her trip to Diagon Alley with Harry and had instantly fallen in love with the small black cat, and he had shown his love at once by climbing onto her shoulders and refusing to get down.

After quickly redoing her plait, she pulled a book out of her trunk, allowed Mourka to climb onto her shoulders, and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her and going down the hallway.

The Leaky Cauldron was old and the floors were dusty and definitely crooked, but it also had a nice homely atmosphere, much more than she had ever felt at the Dursleys' house.

She walked as quietly as she could down the hallway to the stairs and headed down into the bar area. It was fairly empty, just a couple of people at the bar, an old witch eating breakfast at a table and a teenage girl taking the chairs down from the tables. She was a Hufflepuff in Harry's year Hannah Abbot, whose grandfather owned the bar, and from what Lilleth had seen, she was very nice.

"Morning Lilleth." said Hannah cheerfully.

"Morning Hannah." said Lilleth, smiling politely at her.

She took a seat at one of the cleared tables, and Mourka hopped down off her shoulders to sit on the table, giving himself a morning bath as Lilleth opened her book and began to read. It was her favourite book, 'Ballet Shoes', by Noel Streatfeild, and although she had read it so many times that she practically knew it off by heart, she never got tired of it. It was the only book she actually owned because the Dursleys never bought her anything.

She read for a while, until people started coming down the stairs to join her, starting with Mr and Mrs Weasley, the parents of Harry's best friend, Ron. The instant Mrs Weasley had laid eyes on Lilleth, she had pulled the young girl into a hug and accepted her into the Weasley family as an honorary member, just like Harry and his other friend, Hermione.

"Good morning, Lilly dear." said Mrs Weasley.

"Good morning, Mrs Weasley." said Lilleth, putting her book down. "Good morning Mr Weasley."

"Where's Harry?" asked Mrs Weasley as she bustled around the pub.

"Asleep, I think." said Lilleth, smirking. "And snoring, too."

"Oh, my boys do that." said Mrs Weasley, chuckling. "Breakfast?"

"Yes please." said Lilleth. "Can I help?"

"No, no, not at all."

Soon, the rest of the Weasleys began to arrive. Ginny, the youngest and second girl, came down first, followed by the twins, Fred and George, then the elder girl, Katrina, and Percy, the eldest of the group who were there. From what Lilleth had learnt, there were two more older than Percy, but they were off doing their jobs. Hermione, who wasn't a Weasley, came down and sat at the end of the table with Ginny and Lilleth: the three of them had formed a very quick friendship, especially Ginny and Lilleth, as the two younger girls were only about two months apart in age, despite being in different year groups at school.

Many other guests began to arrive as well, while Lilleth and Ginny and Hermione chatted amongst themselves, but after a while, Lilleth's attention was turned – not for the first time that summer – to a poster that was displayed prominently displayed on the walls all around the pub.

The man featured on its yellowing, crumpled paper roared manically at the camera, a gaunt, haunted leer on his face, tugging on his chains as he tried to get away, holding up his prison card in front of him. A dark, deranged look appeared in his eyes as he moved this way and that, but mixed with it, Lilleth could see a kind of fear within him. He couldn't have been more than twenty five, so young when he had first been taken away.

Hermione followed her eyes to the poster and grimaced.

"You don't think you two are related, do you?" she asked quietly to Lilleth, so that no one else but Ginny could overhear. "I mean, his last name is the same as half of yours."

"Well, if we are, it either means he's my father, or he's related to my mother." Lilleth muttered, sighing. "I'd prefer the second one. It's easier to ignore someone related to your parents than it is to ignore your parents."

"Or you might not actually be related." Ginny pointed out. "I don't think 'Black' is exactly an uncommon name."

"True." Lilleth sighed again. "Oh well. I'm sure we won't have to worry about him at Hogwarts."