|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Author: Erica Evans Story: Secrets That Were Kept Rating: Young Teens Setting: AU Status: WIP Reviews: 0 Words: 38,764
"Oh, no, this used to be my grandfather's house," she replied. "My father has two sisters and a brother, and they grew up here. There are plenty of rooms." Harry nodded and turned to make sure everyone was getting inside all right. This house was amazing. It wasn't elaborate, but you could tell that a family grew up there. It was very bright, and cheery. "Try not to look so nervous," Ginny said, flashing him a supportive smile. "I'm fine," Harry said. "Yeah, sure you are," Hermione said, following Ginny past him. He huffed and followed them into a living room. He could hear James behind him talking to Paul, and Ron was the last one in the room. Caitlin and Reagan were helping him with the remaining trunks and the twins. "You can just leave your trunks in here," Julie said. "You are all staying here. This used to be my grandfather's house, until my father bought it from him. My grandfather lived here with us until he died three weeks ago." She paused and looked around the room. "Is there any place we could..." Ginny began. "...Freshen up a bit?" Hermione asked, finishing for her sister-in-law. "Oh, yes of course," Julie said, and led them out of the room. "Why do they have to freshen up? We're only been traveling for an hour," Ron asked. "Because they're women?" Harry replied. He had learned a long time ago not to question why women do the things they do. Ron shrugged his shoulders and turned to answer a question from Abby. "Daddy, are you scared?" Reagan asked, and Harry turned to look at her. "Me, scared?" he asked. "Ha!" Reagan looked at him doubtfully. "Dad, honestly, it's you. You can admit when you get scared, 'cause I know you do sometimes." Harry sighed. "I'm a little nervous." "A little?" she asked. Harry laughed. "Is it possible to hide anything from you?" he laughed, hugging her. "No," she said. Harry looked down at his daughter and smiled. "You're right. I'm sure everything will be fine," Harry told her. Reagan nodded and stood on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek before turning to her cousins playing on the floor. "All right, we feel better now," Hermione said, coming back into the room. Abby ran up to her and she picked her daughter up. Ginny crossed the room and put an arm around her husband's waist. "You okay?" Ginny asked him. "Yeah," Harry lied. "I'm fine." He gave her an encouraging smile and kissed her forehead. "So when do we get to meet everyone?" James asked. "Actually, right now," Julie said, coming into the room. Harry turned and saw two people he didn't recognize. The older woman and and younger girl both resembled Julie and each other. All three faces were almost identical, and they had the same hair color, though the older woman's was specked with gray. "This is my mother, Angela, and my daughter, Kelsey," Julie introduced them. "Oh, just call me Nana," Angela said, walking into the room. "Mom, this is Harry," Julie said, motioning to him. He smiled and shook her hand. "It's very nice to meet you," he said politely. Angela stared in awe at him. "So this is Old Benny's nephew," she said, taking Harry's face into her hands. "Why, you look just like him! Well, when he was younger of course." "Thank you," Harry said. "This is my wife, Ginny." "Hello, Ginny," she said, shaking her hand. "These are our children, James, Darenn and Reagan," Ginny said. They each shook her hand, smiling proudly. "And these are Ron and Hermione Weasley, my two best friends from school," Harry said, motioning to his friends. "Ron is also Ginny's older brother." "Hello," Hermione said, shaking her hand. "It is very nice to meet you." "Hello, dear," Angela said, shaking Hermione and Ron's hands. "And who are these two bundles of energy smiling up at me?" "These are two of our four children," Hermione said. "Hello, I am Abanine Weasley," Abby said. "Please call me Abby because Abanine is much too hard to say sometimes." "And my name is Andy. But my real name is Andslen. Everyone calls me Andy, though," the little boy explained. Angela laughed and looked to Caitlin. "This is our daughter, Caitlin, and our son, Paul," Ron said, introducing his two older children. Angela shook their hands, looking pleased at all of them. "Well, are you all hungry? Dinner will be served later, but I can wrestle up something for lunch," she smiled and Ginny and Hermione followed her to the kitchen. "Everyone else will be here later for dinner," Julie told Harry after Ginny and Hermione had left the room. "And Mom was right, you do look like Grandpa." "Well, he was my grandfather's twin brother," Harry said matter of factly. "Yeah, but the resemblance is remarkable," Julie said. Harry laughed as she walked into the kitchen. "Well, what do you make of them so far?" Ron asked. "Of who?" "Of your family," Ron replied. "I've only met a small number of them. I can't tell yet." "Yeah, but you know, you meet one Weasley, you've met them all. Can't be much different with the Potters." "Yeah, maybe not," Harry said, laughing. James, Paul and Darenn were avidly discussing Quidditch again, Caitlin and Reagan had taken to little Kelsey, and Abby and Andy were hiding from each other. "So what do you suppose we do?" Ron asked, sitting down. "I don't know," Harry replied, sitting down next to him. Then he had an idea. "Ron, I want to fly." Ron looked at him. "You mean like Wingardium Leviosa?" Ron eyed his brother-in-law. "No, I mean like on a broom," Harry said. "Did you bring yours?" "Yeah, but Harry..." Ron paused. "I didn't forget how to fly, Ron," Harry replied, rolling his eyes. "Remember, all those matches at the Burrow? I've been on a broom tons of times. And it's not something I can easily forget." "Are you going to ride your broom, or James'?" Ron asked. Harry stopped and thought. "Probably James' broom," Harry said sheepishly. It was true that his old Firebolt was no match for the new LightBeams. "Well, then," Ron said, getting up. Harry went into the kitchen and told Hermione and Ginny that they were going for a walk. Hermione eyed him when he asked Ginny where James' trunk was. Julie had told them earlier that this portion of California was an all magical region so Harry knew they wouldn't have to hide themselves from Muggles. After asking his son's permission, Harry got James' broom easily enough and went outside to meet Ron. "Ready?" Ron asked. He had a wooden crate tucked under his arm which contained his set of Quidditch balls. "Ron, how are we going to play with only two people?" Harry asked. "We'll just mess around for a while, I guess. Play a little one on one, you know, Chaser against Keeper." Ron grinned. "That's hardly fair. You were a Keeper at Hogwarts, I was a Seeker. Who has the advantage?" "Suit yourself then," Ron replied, mounting his broom. He kicked up and soared through the air away from Harry. "We'll see who's faster," Harry mumbled to himself while mounting his son's broom. He tested his balance and hovered just above the ground for a moment then leaned forward and shot off after his best friend. ***** "What do you think they're up to?" Ginny asked. "I don't want to know," Hermione answered, laughing. "So, how long have you all known each other?" Julie asked. Hermione and Ginny were sitting at the table while Julie and her mother, Angela, began to make dinner. Both Hermione and Ginny had offered to help, but their American relatives refused them immediately. "Well, Harry, Ron and I have been best friends since our first year at Hogwarts. We were eleven then, so," Hermione paused doing the mental math quickly. "For almost twenty six years. September will be twenty six years." "Oh, wow!" Julie exclaimed. "That's quite a while." "Yeah, and we knew Ginny through Ron," Hermione said. "And somehow we all became friends," Ginny said. "Harry and I started seeing each other in his seventh year, my sixth. And Ron and Hermione finally gave into the fact they were crazy for each other in the middle of their sixth year." "That's so sweet that you were all school sweethearts," Angela said. "We've all been through a lot together," Ginny said thoughtfully. Hermione and Ginny glanced at each other. They both knew what they had been through, and 'a lot' was an understatement. "Is everything okay?" Julie asked. Hermione and Ginny broke their eye contact and looked at Julie. "Yes, yes, everything is fine," Hermione said quickly. "It just," Ginny began. "Harry has been through so much in his life. He's been through so much pain and loss. You have no idea how much it means to him to have a family here." Ginny smiled sadly and Julie smiled back. Angela wiped her hands on her apron and came over to the table. "So Harry has no other blood family?" Angela asked. Ginny shook her head. "His parents died when he was one, and he was sent to live with his Muggle aunt and uncle. He found out he had a godfather in his third year." "So he went to live with him then?" Julie asked. "Not exactly," Hermione replied. "Harry's godfather was a convicted criminal, but he was actually innocent. His name wasn't cleared until Harry's seventh year, and after leaving Hogwarts, Harry began Auror training." "Sirius died shortly after Harry finished training, and Harry never had a chance to really get to know him," Ginny said, picking up the story. "Everyone that Harry had looked up to and loved has ended up leaving him," Hermione said, and Ginny knew she was thinking of Dumbledore as well as Sirius. "I used to tell him that it can't rain all the time," Ginny said as the memory came back to her. "He would laugh and tell me that he had always hated thunderstorms." Angela and Julie smiled. "He does have one person. His name is Remus Lupin. He was friends with his godfather and his parents. He's deputy headmaster at our wizarding school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He's actually godfather to James and Reagan. Harry is very grateful to have Remus still alive. He would have come along, but he didn't want to be a nuisance." "Oh, nonsense. He should have come," Angela said, getting up. "Well, Remus isn't as easy to accommodate as the rest of us," Ginny said. Julie eyed her and Angela gave her a look of curiosity. "Remus is a werewolf," Hermione said. "He didn't want to be a nuisance. He has to take the Wolfbane Potion for an entire week before the full moon, and he didn't want it to be a burden on anyone." "Oh," Angela replied. "Well, we're happy to have you all here. And it would have been nice to meet Remus. I'm sure we could have figured something out. There are so many rooms and so many fireplaces." "Well, he was talking about coming later," Ginny said. "He did want to meet you all." "Well, owl him! Tell him he can come whenever he wants. There is an apothecary in the village, not to mention San Francisco is only a pop away. He can have a room with a fireplace and everything." Ginny laughed. "All right, I'll owl him. Maybe I can even manage it as a surprise for Harry." "Yeah, that's what Harry needs," Hermione said. "Something else to catch him off guard." "Speaking of Harry, where do you think they ran off to?" Julie asked. "Who knows," Hermione said. "And we should probably find our children." Ginny nodded in agreement and the two women stood up. "Thank you for telling us," Julie said. "Sometimes it makes things easier to know about someone's past." "I hope so," Ginny said, and followed Hermione out of the kitchen. A/N: Title of the chapter is from a line in a movie called, "The Crow." It is a sad movie, and I highly recommend it. However, it is rated R so you have to be over 17. But I liked the line.
|