X-X-X-X-X ::: In Passing
Death, the second time around, was not as accomodating to Harry as the first. For one thing, it left his wife, children, grandchildren, and unborn great-grandchild alone. Well, considering the list, perhaps they were not as alone as he assumed, but he still did not like the fact that Ginny - or Ginevra, as she had started going by in her late twenties - was now in their house by herself, sleeping in their bed alone, waking up to find that the place was still as empty as it had been when she had gone to sleep...
Harry looked around, finding himself in the great, clear train station that he had the night he had faught with Voldemort. Again, he was naked, but again, clothes appeared for him at his very thought. He was startled, looking at his body, to find that it had been restored the way it had been when he was still young - fit, smooth, a few scars here and there. But mostly young. He moved around a bit, reveling in the sensation of ease and the way his joints didn't ache anymore, and how his voice was no longer rough due to too many years of use.
"Harry? Harry Potter?" came a sudden voice. Harry whipped his head around, his eyes shining. There stood Remus Lupin, handsome and vibrant in his own youth, clutching the hand of another young witch, whose bubblegum pink hair could be spotted anywhere.
"Wotcher, Harry." Tonks said, a bright smile shining off her face. Harry smiled in return.
"Remus! Tonks!" he said, running forward (oh, how good it felt to run again!) and gathering the couple in a strong embrace. "What are you two doing here?"
"Actually, quite embarrassingly," Remus said, his voice velvety and smooth. "waiting for you to pass by."
"Me? Why would you wait all this time for me?" Harry asked.
"Well, Dora here -" Remus said, tilting his head towards Tonks. "- decided that she did not want to risk not being able to find you where we went wherever the train takes us, because she wants to know what has happened while we have been gone."
"Don't get snarky with me, Remus Lupin!" Tonks said, defending herself with a smile. "If I recall correctly, it was you who suggested that we may not be able to find him later!"
"Wait, so you have waited eighty years, just to see me in passing?" Harry asked incredulously. "What could you possibly do for that long?!"
"Well, we've found ways to keep ourselves busy..." Tonks said with a suggestive smirk and a wink. Harry found himself regretting the question as he received the awkward answer.
"I believe what Nymphadora -" Remus said, speaking as if her answer was not as candid as it was. "- means to say is, time passes more quickly here. In fact, it seems as if we have only been here a few days."
Harry nodded, accepting the answer.
"So, tell me," Tonks said. "what has been going on for the past - how long did you say it was? Eighty years?"
"Wait, can't you see it or whatever? Dumbledore knew what was going on last time I was here...I think." Harry said, not completely shutting out that the memory was a tad fuzzy from that day.
"Well, Dumbledore knew many things, and was much more clever than either of us." Remus admitted. Harry smiled.
"Well, what do you want to know, I suppose?" he asked.
"What happened to the Weasley's? All of them?" Tonks asked immediately, though she smiled as if she only had a question about one of them.
"Well, Ginny and I got married three years after Voldemort." Harry said, supplying to her subtle inquiry. Tonks gasped and jumped a bit to expel excited energy.
"See! I told you they would!" she said, rounding on Remus.
"And I never doubted your judgement, my love." he responded, giving her a charming smile. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his shoulder and facing Harry.
"Ok, and now for the other ones. Oh, I assume Voldemort bit the dust?" she asked. Harry chuckled.
"Yes, Voldemort was defeated that night...Anyway, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stayed married for forty more years after that, then they both passed within months of each other." Harry began.
"Yes, we saw them pass through here. Arthur waited with us as well, but only until Molly came." Remus said. Harry, again, nodded, moving so that they were sitting down in seats close to where he had sat with Dumbledore all those years ago.
"Then Bill, of course, married Fleur, and they had only one daughter - Victoire. Remember that name, it comes into play later." Harry said with a smirk. "Charlie met a Spanish woman by the name of Carmen sometime during a trip to Barcelona. They married, and had five children."
"Ah, a true Weasley moment." Tonks said appreciatively, earning a laugh from the trio.
"Yes. Then Percy went back to work for the brand spanking new Ministry of Magic, apparently in a very high and powerful position. He married Penelope Clearwater, a girl he had fancied in his Hogwart's days. Ron married Hermione, of course -"
"Ha! Another one, called by Tonks!" she interrupted.
"And again, I never questioned your judgement, my love. In fact, I think I agreed with you on this one." Remus said. Harry smiled, shaking his head at the pair.
"Anyway, they had two children, Rose and Hugo -" Harry continued.
"Hmph. Bet I know who picked which." Tonks interjected.
"- and are, in fact, still alive. Hugo married the girl he swore he would on the first day of Hogwarts, much like my father. Rose and her husband met in NEWT level Transfiguration in seventh year.
Ginny and I had three children - James, Albus, and Lily, all three of which married people that they met outside of Hogwarts. James now has a son, as does Albus, and all three have two daughters."
"What about George? Was he alright?" Remus asked, his tone serious. Harry paused.
"George had a tough time, for a while." he said slowly. "He was really depressed for a long time. But then Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson - you remember them, don't you, Remus? - slapped some sense into him. He was awake after that, but never really the same. He always seemed as if a small part of him was missing - which it was, if you think about it. He died some time ago, though. Did you two not see him?"
"Well, we saw him -" Tonks began, her tone slightly indignant. Harry smiled; same old Tonks.
"But as soon as he found out Fred had already gone on before us, he simply gave his love and went on." Remus finished for her.
"But, onto more important matters." Tonks said.
"Oh, and what would that be?" Harry asked with a smirk, laughing on the inside about the frustration evident on Tonks' face.
"OUR SON, HARRY! TELL US WHAT HAPPENED TO TED!" she exploded. Harry laughed, but then subsided in order to appease Nymphadora.
"Well, he lived with his grandmother, but he frequented our house. He gathered control of his Metamorphmagus sooner than you, Andromeda said, but she also said that she now had an idea of what she was doing with him. He asked of you two a lot, of stories and what you were like. I gave him the Marauder's Map, after making him promise to give it to James when his time was up. He was exactly like Remus, I swear." Harry said.
"You mean good in the -" Tonks started.
"Nymphadora..." Remus interrupted in a warning tone. She whipped her head around to face him.
"What? I was going to say 'kitchen'." she said. "Remus would never tell you, but he was the best cook." she explained. Remus, now red in the face, mumbled something about not being that great before pressuring Harry to continue.
"He was a Gryffindor, played as a chaser on the quidditch team starting his third year, and became captain in his sixth. He was a prefect, received OWL's in all but two subjects, I believe - Muggle Studies and History of Magic - and became a Transfiguration professor after working in the Ministry for many years. He married Victoire - you know, Bill and Fleur's daughter - two years after she graduated, which was two years after him."
"Was she a good girl?" Tonks asked.
"And did he treat her right?" Remus added.
"Yes, beautiful like Fleur, with none of the attitude. And he was a complete gentleman - I already said he was like you, Remus." Harry responded.
"And grandchildren? Do we have any grandchildren?" Tonks asked excitedly. Harry smiled.
"Three grandsons and a granddaughter - Remus, Jalen, Nathaniel and Nymphadora. All of whom attended Hogwarts, and all of whom were Gryffindors." Harry told her. She smiled serenely, sighing as if a weight had been lifted off of her.
"He lived well, then." she said, tears coming to her eyes.
"He missed you both. Every day." Harry said quietly as Remus gently wiped Nymphadora's tears whilst fighting his own. "I had these old photos of you two - he used to try and Metamorphmagus himself to look like Remus, in younger years. He looked, naturallly, very much like the both of you. He -" Harry stopped a moment, gathering his wits amidst all the emotion. "When I told him that you were fond of pink, spiky hair, he wore it that way every day for the next year, until he decided that it made him look too young and that 'Vi - I mean, no girl will ever go for a guy with pink hair. Mother would have understood that.'" Harry said. Tonks burst out laughing, as did Remus, at their son's antics. After a few moments, their chuckles quieted down, and the tears were dried.
"Do you want me to tell you more?" Harry asked quietly. Tonks shook her head fervently, and Remus silently agreed.
"We'll find him, later. I'm sure that Heaven can't be that big - a woman will be able to find her own son." she said. Remus nodded his agreement as he rose, and pulled Tonks with him.
"Thank you so much, Harry, for raising our son for us." he said softly, and Tonks nodded.
"Yes. And for telling us all this, even if it is just a fraction of what happened in so long." she said.
"I imagine we will have a long time in order to talk of all that happened, but I believe it is time that Nymphadora and I finally move on." Remus said, and Harry stood up next to them, giving them each a huge hug.
"I will see you then, friends." he said.
"You aren't coming with us, are you." Tonks said. The words formed a question, but she said it more as a statement.
"No, I'm afraid not." Harry said, giving a sad smile. "I believe I'm going to wait here for Ginny."
Tonks and Remus both gave knowing smiles before turning and walking towards the platform.
"Until later, then." Remus said, bowing his head.
"Wotcher, Harry." Tonks added, giving a wink. Then, grasping each other's hand, the pair disappeared into the thick fog, leaving Harry to wait.