Chapter One: Life Goes On
Potter Residence, Godric's Hollow
Thursday, June 19th 2014
Harry Potter watched his children with a mix of interest and tenderness as they played and explored the wide backyard of their home, where springtime looked to have already turned into summer. The sun had done wonders to their spirits, and it showed. James and Albus' dark hairs gleamed under the sun, a golden hue coloring their skin, cheeks bright pink from the heat. The boys seemed to be hunting the soil for roly-polies, scavenging beneath stones and at the base of the bushes and flower beds of the garden. Lily, his youngest, on the other hand, was enjoying herself far too much in her factory of mud pies beneath the shade of the flowering Jacaranda tree, purple flowers surrounding her. If Lily's brothers had gained a slight tan from all the sunshine, she had gained an almost coral-color, a consequence of being a redhead. Her wild curls crowned her beautiful face of chubby cheeks with light freckles under her eyes and crossing the bridge of her nose and big eyes of emerald green identical to those of her father.
It warmed his heart profusely to see them enraptured by that childlike joy and carefreeness that for such a long time had escaped them and this home. The past year or so had been just sadness, anger, frustration and getting by, at least it had been like that for Harry and his older boys. Lily Potter, now only five years old had felt the absence of her mother, but she had been the first to adjust, and for the lack of a better term "get over" the passing of her mother. Of course Lily remembered Ginny, he would never allow her to forget—there were photographs of her scattered about the house, and the Weasley grandparents, cousins and uncles with their spouses were more than willing to share with the children stories and information on their mother... But with Lily, being so small, the year that had passed could as well have been ten. There was just so much play and fun to be had that she had no time for sadness it seemed. If anything, Lily was his ray of sunshine, and that of her brothers as well.
They seemed to be having such a great time that he almost felt bad for having to call them in for bathtime and tidying up before they headed for a family dinner at the Burrow, something they had been invited to last minute because Harry's best friend Ron had a special announcement to make. Harry had a faint idea of what it could be and was even, to his surprise, eager to arrive already to the always warm and inviting Weasley family home... and of course, have the pleasure of dining the Weasley matriarch's incomparable cuisine.
"James, Albie! Time's up, time to get ready!" He called from the threshold of the french doors that led to the backyard. The boys' head immediately shot up and looked back to acknowledge their father and with faltering smiles, heavy sighs and grumbling obediently trudged inside. "Lily Luna, you too darling!" He called and the little girl smiled at him hugely, a tooth adorably missing. She got up and made sure to bring her daddy a gift of chocolate mud cake. The poor girl was dirty and covered in mud all over, and Harry was already dreading the challenge that would be washing her curly hair. Of course, he could go the easy way and have his daughter cleaned with the "flick" of his wand, but the years of fatherhood so far had allowed him to learn to savor doing things the more difficult, manual way. Harry loved being hands-on with his children, entertaining them as he gave them bubble baths and personally scrubbed and rubbed them clean. He cherished the softness of their baby skin and the heavenly scent of lavender and baby powder that Lily still had. He preferred a million times to bend down and tie the shoelaces of his kids, comb their hairs, simple mundane things like that than revert to magic... This was something he and Ginny had often times discussed because she simply could not fathom that parenting to him was a magic of its own. And of course, the wand came in handy with other more tiresome things, like the occasional pile of dirty dishes, or picking up a living room's floor worth of scattered toys, chopping the vegetables and stirring the contents of pots and pans while he double-checked the cookbook... and the list could go on.
He muttered a locking spell directed at the backyard door swooped Lily into his arms carrying her upstairs, straight for the bathroom. He could already hear from the stairs the bickering between James and Albus from their shared bathroom because one had been taking too long or something of the sort. As Harry passed by their open bathroom door and ordered them to knock it off and for James to please allow his little brother to finish, it then occurred to him that things were beginning to get back into order, or perhaps, better yet, get into a new normal order. To Harry, this fact was equal parts wonderful but also daunting, because it meant that despite his wife no longer being here, life went on.
-/-
The four Potters arrived at the Burrow just a few minutes late, a small victory, slightly dizzy from the side-along apparition, but all completely clean, decent and hungry. Harry watched as his boys jumped happily at the sight of their cousin Rose, who'd been laying comfortably on the couch reading a book. Rose, like her cousin Albus, was just eight years old. Both their birthdays had been in April, hers on the 14th and his on the 13th. Molly Weasley had thankfully kept things simple, per Harry and Ron's request, a small picnic party with chocolate cake in the Burrow's orchard.
Rosie looked so much like her mother that to Harry, seeing her sitting there, engrossed in her book was like seeing a vision of a slightly younger Hermione Granger, from years ago when he'd first met her. Perhaps the only striking difference to her mother was that Rosie's hair was of a deep rust color, a rare darker shade of ginger that could only be explained as a beautiful blend of her mother's honey-colored hair and the bright Weasley-red of her father's. Her eyes, however, big and brown surrounded by dark eyelashes were all her mother and so was her smile and the way she carried herself.
While the boys evidently disturbed her reading, Rose was happy to abandon it and a wide smile adorned her features, those three had always been close, especially Rose and Albus who when together were almost twin-like in their synchronicity and affinity... Harry always assumed that it had to do with being born just hours apart and for during their infant and toddler years having been raised almost completely together. But four years had passed since Hermione and Ron had lived next door to Harry and Ginny in Godric's Hollow when they had a wooden door that connected the Potter garden with the Granger-Weasley one. But since the divorce and the moving of houses that it caused, despite their attempts and desires, the families hadn't been able to maintain seeing each other and talking every day. Gone were the Golden Trio's Hogwarts days when they were joined at the hip. And so it was with a bittersweet feeling that each time Harry saw his niece Rose he noticed she might as well have grown an inch, become ever more clever and independent, traits she'd inherited from her mother. To Harry, in his heart, Rose could just as well be his first daughter, the first baby girl to grace his existence and bring a smile to his face, years before he could even dream of his darling Lily.
"Uncle Harry!" Rosie cried out in excitement from seeing him, running to hug him tight. The last time she had seen her uncle was at her's and Albus' birthday two months ago. Harry engulfed her in a bear hug taking in her scent of sunshine, gardenias, the seaside and the subtle leather of the book covers. As he snuggled with his favorite niece he swooped her up and twirled her around, making her erupt in laughter. He paused, slightly out of breath and once again she tightened the arms around his neck, hugging him. "I missed you uncle Harry. You promised to visit us in Tenby but you've never come..." She trailed off as he finally put her down. Harry frowned regretfully. He had indeed made a promise to Rose, her little brother Hugo and Hermione that he'd visit them at their new house by the sea... all the way in Wales, but so far he'd failed to and had been putting it off. He just wasn't in the state of mind in the past year since Ginny's death.
"I'm sorry, Rosie, you know how busy things have been..." He told her, running a hand through her mane of rust-colored curls. "If things work out fine your cousins and I will be making you lot a visit soon, okay?" The girl nodded, satisfied and joined Albus and James who were eagerly calling after her from outside, while there was still some natural sunlight.
"Harry, dear, I'm so happy you could come on such short notice..." Molly Weasley said finally with a warm motherly smile as she extended her arms to hug him. "Ronald and Luna were adamant we bring together as much of the family as possible tonight, something important they said, but as much as they tried they're keeping quiet about it..." She rattled off, waving a hand in the air, the other on her hip. Suddenly, they both noticed the loud and unabashed creaking of the Burrow's front door opening revealing Ron Weasley with Hugo in his arms followed by Luna Lovegood who to everyone's surprise had become Ron's girlfriend and then wife just two years before now and the same amount of time after his and Hermione's divorce. The unconventional couple now lived in a pink-colored row house on Portobello road, a very muggle area of London where they probably stuck out like two sore thumbs. Ron put Hugo down and kissed his mother on the cheek while Luna kissed the other cheek and then helped Hugo out of his coat. Hugo Weasley was Ron and Hermione's youngest and was the same age as Harry's Lily. Harry ruffled the boy's redhead curls of hair and said hello, but Hugo was far more interested in finding his cousin Lily, running off, away from the boring adults.
"Harry, mate, so glad you came!" Harry side as they pat each other on the back and Harry pecked Luna on both cheeks, both seemed to be in the happiest of moods. The trio sat around in the parlor chit-chatting for a bit while they waited for more Weasleys to appear and a good twenty minutes later Molly Weasley called all of her family members, big and small to gather around the table for dinner. The children all lined up to have their hands cleaned by their Granny's spells and everyone took a seat.
Halfway through dinner Ron stood and took Luna's hand who stood along with him, earning almost everyone's attention.
"Listen up Weasleys, we have a small announcement to make..." before Mrs. Weasley could interrupt, and she really, really wanted to, Ron stopped her, to which she pouted for a moment. "Lune?"
"Everybody, Ronald and I are expecting a baby due around Hallowe'en." She said happily, which led to Mrs. Weasley squealing in delight and scrambling out of her seat to embrace Luna and her son, while from all around the table Ron's brothers and their wives congratulated them, smiles on their faces. Perhaps this had been the first truly happy announcement to grace the family since Ginny's passing. Harry was happy for his two friends, this was their first child together and though Ron already had Rose and Hugo, loved their stepmother a great deal, this would be the child to perhaps seal their union, be the fruit of their love. It was a most wonderful and special announcement indeed. Harry, after patting his best mate on the back and congratulating Luna, looked around the table at the happy faces, until his bright green eyes landed on the brown ones of his niece Rose, only to be slightly dismayed because she was perhaps the only person there without a joyful expression. Worry and perhaps a tourbillion of other mixed feelings gleaming in her eyes. Harry could tell his niece wanted to cry, but before he could react or say anything to her he watched as she exhaled, heavily and discretely and then wiped at her eyes, removing any evidence of sadness or disappointment from her face. For the greater good, perhaps?
Rose was too much like her mother.
-/-
Back at his home in Godric's Hollow, Harry sat up in his bed with just the yellow light of his bedside lamp on, the children long tucked up in their beds, James and Albus in the bedroom they shared and Lily in hers. Sleep came with difficulty for him, not being used yet to the absence of a warm body next to him, the sound of soft breathing and the slow rise and fall of his deceased wife's sleeping form from underneath the covers. He looked at the time on the clock at his bedside table, half past one in the morning. He'd been sitting here like an idiot trying to fall asleep for almost three hours now, perhaps it was time he went down and got himself a sleeping-draught, he decided with a groan. And so Harry did so, and it took all of Harry's courage to get out of the warm covers and as silently as he could cross the wooden flooring of his bedroom and the hallway and descend the creaky stairs.
As he uttered a spell for the lights in the kitchen to go on he noticed a white envelope on top of his table, it was muggle stationary but he could recognize that fine, elegant writing anywhere. He decided to open it and along with a folded piece of paper was also a photograph. He examined it and smile realizing that it was a muggle picture of Hermione with her honey-colored curls held back by a pair of fashionable sunglasses, the blue of the ocean and the sky behind her, the wind blowing at her curls. Beside her was Rose with a matching smile and little Hugo with a mischievous grin and, dark eyes and eyebrows, pale and sandbucket in his hand, about to do something naughty, most likely dump the sand over his older sister's hair. Kids... Harry smiled and couldn't help but chuckle at the photograph.
He turned it over already expecting to find some of Hermione's neat writing behind it and indeed it read: "We're waiting for you, Potters! Picture taken May 15th, 2014 at the beach, by Granny Nell." Granny Nell was no other than Hermione's mother Helena Granger, who lived along with her husband in the small seaside village of Tenby, in Wales, the place Hermione had moved to after her divorce and leaving the Ministry of Magic. Hermione looked so uncharacteristically happy and carefree that Harry almost envied her. And to think that years ago she had reached her emotional lowest during the last months of her marriage and the first months following hers and Ron's divorce. Only Harry knew just how much she had suffered, and to see her in this photograph now... He wanted that happiness for himself too and for his children.
He opened the small letter that simply read: "Harry, what are you waiting for exactly? I know I'm waiting for you and those children of yours to visit me this summer. With love always, Hermione."
-/-
The following morning during a breakfast of cereal, toast and scrambled eggs Harry turned to his children and announced, with an excitement he hadn't felt in a very, very long time:
"Children, today we are packing our bags because tomorrow we will hop on a train to visit aunt Hermione, Rosie and Hugo on the beach for the summer. What do you all think?" Needless to say, the Potter children were bubbling with happiness and excitement as they made plans and packed their suitcases, three little balls of energy and anticipation. Harry dropped the children off at the Burrow in the afternoon for a couple of hours and made his way to Paddington station in London where he instantly bought train tickets for himself and the kids. There was no going back now...
Reviews, please?