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Author: Eressea Story: Of Mirrors and Wishes Rating: Teens Setting: Pre-DH Status: WIP Reviews: 3 Words: 13,400
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended. "Juanita," Charlie said, "this is my cousin Rachel, her best friend Hermione Granger, and her boyfriend Harry Potter. They'll be going into seventh year this September." "It's a pleasure," Juanita said, extending her hand. "That's Ginny reading under that tree," Charlie said, pointing to a girl with red pigtails. "She'll be sixteen next March. The two adults chatting by the door are my Uncle Fabian and my Uncle Arthur. And this is my Aunt Molly, Uncle Arthur's wife," Charlie continued, motioning towards the round faced woman who was walking up to greet them. "Aunt Molly, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Juanita. She's a curse breaker for Gringotts like Bill. She works in the ancient temples in Mexico and Guatemala. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Molly smiled. She squeezed the two of them so hard Charlie thought they would soon be reduced to mush when she finally released them and knelt down to Alyssa to give her a kiss. "We'll be having presents and then dinner as soon as your brother Bill gets here," she said, rising back up. She then turned to Harry and Hermione to hug them. "Have you let your parents know that you're here?" she inquired. "Yes," they answered in unison. "Good, as long as they know where you are. These are dangerous times, and it's important to always let someone know where you are. Especially with that attack in Hogsmeade last month." "Don't worry about my parents, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said. "Ever since your brothers and Mrs. Prewett saved my family from You-Know-Who when I was a baby, my mum's always felt that I would be safe around your family." "Oh, Juanita, have you heard the story of how my two brothers faced You-Know-Who himself?" Molly asked, swelling with pride. Rachel franticly shook her head "no" from behind her mother, but Juanita, who was focused on keeping Alyssa out of the bag of gifts, absent-mindedly responded that she hadn't heard. "Well, as you may know, Harry's mother Lily Potter is the head of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and his father James Potter is a top Auror," Molly began. "James and Lily were making great strides for our side in the war and escaped from You-Know-Who in battle three times over. So in 1980, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named decided to get rid of them once and for all. They were betrayed by Sirius Black, one of their best friends. My brother Fabian was the one who found it all out. The Aurors knew someone close to the Potters was slipping information about them to You-Know-Who, so on Halloween night Fabian and Gideon searched the flat their friends Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black shared. On top of a pile of papers, Fabian found a letter detailing a plan to murder the Potters that very night. Fabian quickly opened the rest of the letters and discovered a letter from Black to You-Know-Who disclosing the location of the Potters' hiding place. Poor Peter must have taken off after Black as soon as he read the first one. He tried to fight him, but Black brutally murdered him along with thirteen Muggles. The biggest piece they could find of him was his finger. Luckily the Potters had a kinder fate, because as soon as my brothers saw Black's plans, they rushed straight to the Potters' home. There they found He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself duelling with James Potter! They joined in and forced You-Know-Who to retreat. Those three are some of the most powerful witches and wizards I have ever known. Well after Gideon and Fabian saved the . . . Taylor, stop picking on your little brother!" A young boy with red hair and grass-stained knees sprinted across the garden with a textbook under his arm shrieking, "Mummy! Grace! Percy! Make him stop! Grace! Grace!" An older boy with glasses was tailing him, holding out a jar full of spiders at his brother. "Come on Ronniekins; this big one needs a kiss!" A tiny little girl the same age as the boy with the textbook shot out of the house and tackled the older boy. "You leave him alone!" she shouted, twisting one of his arms behind his back. "Um, that's Ron barricading himself inside the house. He's eight," Charlie told Juanita as Molly marched over to the two children rolling around on the ground. "And you've met his twin sister Grace once in Diagon Alley, when she made that huge scene in the Magical Menagerie about the tiny animal cages and tried to free all the animals, remember? The one she's wrestling to the ground is their older brother Taylor. He'll be starting Hogwarts this fall." "I'm not sure I'll be able to keep track of all your cousins," Juanita said, looking slightly overwhelmed. "There are way too many of them," Charlie agreed, shaking his head. "Okay, Percy, Fred, and George are all out of Hogwarts. Rachel will be in her seventh year with her friends Harry and Hermione. Ginny will be a fifth year, Taylor a first year, and Ron and Grace haven't started yet. Don't worry, you'll get it straight. Give it a—" "Grace, what did I tell you about fighting?" Molly demanded, silencing the rest of the garden. "And Taylor! You should be taking care of your little brother not tormenting him." "Yes Mum," they said, instantly contrite when faced with the rage of Molly Weasley. "Look at you, dirt all over your nice clothes! I've had enough of this! You two get showered this minute, and tomorrow, you'll start degnoming the garden." "But we just did it yesterday," Taylor complained. "And repainting the fence and cleaning out the shed and cooking dinner for a week!" "But. . ." "No buts young lady, or you'll be scrubbing the bathrooms too!" she finished, banishing them to the house with a pointed finger. "Let's get inside before she starts another story," Charlie whispered to Juanita, following the lead of Harry, Hermione, and Rachel, who had already taken the opportunity to sneak inside. ~*~*~ July 1997 "Parents," Harry moaned as soon as the trio had entered the bedroom that Rachel and Ginny shared. "My mum's been driving me crazy lately. She knows that the prophecy is going to be fulfilled soon, and after the Hogsmeade Attack, she hasn't let me get more than six feet away from her." "You said she didn't mind you coming here," Hermione said in an accusatory tone. "Come on, Hermione, I needed to get out the house. She has the four of us barricaded up in there as if it were a fort." "Hasn't she threatened to cancel your birthday party and keep you on a leash tied to a tree?" "The party wasn't all that big to begin with. And Peter's covering for me." "That just means you'll drag your little brother into trouble right along with you!" They were interrupted by a knock at the doorframe. "Hermione, I don't understand this part of Hogwarts, a History," Ron said stepping into the room. "How did the founders make Hogwarts unplottable if it's right next to Hogsmeade, which is a well-known village?" "Oh, you've read Hogwarts, a History? I'm so glad you've taken an interest in reading. I've been trying to get these two to read it for ages," Hermione said, jabbing her thumb in Harry and Rachel's direction. "There's an excellent map in the appendix of the new edition. I left my copy in the sitting room. Why don't you run and get it, and I'll explain it to you?" "Bye Hermione, I'll miss you," Ron said waving dreamily, and then hurried out of the room. "Well that was rather nauseating," George said, coming in to lean on Rachel and Ginny's dresser. "Shouldn't you be out exploding things with your evil twin?" she asked him, annoyed at his presence. "You had better not be trying to sneak another one of your Wheezes on us for testing," Rachel added, glaring at him and fingering her wand. "Nah, Fred ran off somewhere with Angelina the moment she arrived, and we prefer to observe the results of our tests together so we have more than one opinion. Not that we would ever dream of trying to pull something on the three most powerful students at Hogwarts, especially when they're all grouped together," he added, seeing the accusatory looks on their faces. "I just came in when I heard all the ridiculous mush Ron was sprouting. "He's a sweet little boy," Hermione said. "I'm glad he's finally taking an initiative in his studies. If he keeps this up he'll be able to sail through his classes without too much stress and maybe even—why are you grinning at me like that?" "He's sweet all right, but he doesn't care one bit about his studies," Rachel said. "I mentioned in passing that Hermione loves Hogwarts, a History, and next thing you know that boy who has just learned to read is raiding Percy's bookshelves and toiling over the first two chapters of that thousand-page book for a week before giving up." "What? How long has this been going on?" Hermione asked. "Ever since he learned about how you led our side to victory in the Hogsmeade Attack last month. Don't worry. It'll only last a few weeks." "But Grace fancied Peter for almost a year." "Hah! Now it's your turn Hermione," George laughed. "You can try letting him know that you're seeing that Hufflepuff Beater," Harry suggested. "But then he'll feel so rejected. Besides, we broke up a few days ago. He claims that my role in this war isn't very ladylike," she said, her manner turning gloomy. "I'm sorry," Rachel said, crossing the room to wrap an arm around Hermione's shoulders. "He was probably intimidated by your intelligence and too much of a coward to stand by your side in battle." "I know," Hermione responded, resting her head on Rachel's shoulder. "I just wish I could find a guy who can respect and appreciate what I am and what I'm doing." "Ron respects you," Harry said sympathetically. "Harry! She needs a man, not an eight-year-old!" "I'm just saying that most people think she's an absolute genius and an excellent role model," Harry said defensively. "I do appreciate their admiration," Hermione said soothingly to the two of them. "Besides, I can take this as an opportunity to help Ron develop an interest in school." "Well, if you're looking to get him off your back that'll do the trick," George grinned. "Come Ronnie. Let me tell you all about the eight times tables," he said in a falsetto voice. "And after that, we can learn to interpret some Arithmancy charts!" "Oh, shut up," Hermione said, smacking him with a pillow. She turned to return to her seat on Ginny's bed. "Oh, hi Ron!" she exclaimed, spying him in the doorway. "How long have you been there?" "Since you said that Grace liked Harry," he replied miserably. "Oh," Hermione said in a voice a bit higher than usual. "Well why don't you come sit here, and I'll explain how Hogwarts and Hogsmeade are magically connected." Harry and Rachel exchanged glances as Ron settled down at Hermione's side, and she opened up the heavy tome to the map. "You see, on this map Hogwarts isn't actually next to Hogsmeade, but sort of lifted out from the page. You know how Platform Nine and Three Quarters isn't actually inside Kings Cross, but you need to go there to get on the platform? Well it's kind of the same—" "Look, Bill and Zhara are here!" Harry interrupted as he looked down from the window at the yard in front of the house, happy to have an excuse to end the lecture. "We can open presents now." "Hey, they've only got one huge rectangular flat package," Ron observed, joining Harry at the window. "What's that, and where are the rest of our presents?" A/N: Lots of thanks go out to my beta Kelleypen for all her help with this fic.
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