"Hey, guys. Meet me in the library after supper." Albus told his siblings and cousins as they went into dinner.
"Why?" James asked him nosily.
"We found something really interesting." Rose said, taking the lead into the hall.
"Oh, get Scorpius and Soleil Lovegood too. They should be in on this." Albus told his cousin.
James scowled with a large forkful of shepherd's pie halfway to his mouth. "Why do we always have to include those freaks?"
"Because they're our friends, besides their parents are in them too." Rose snapped. She had very little patience with her older cousin. It reminded Lily of how Auntie Hermione acted with Uncle Ron and daddy sometimes.
"In what?" Lily asked, almost as snappily as Rose. Lily, in general, had little patience with any of her family, like her mother did.
"You'll see. I'll just tell Scorpy and Solly." Rose had barely sat down a second before she hopped up again. "Al, if you tell them anything, I will disembowel you."
Albus watched her flounce away. Somehow she had managed to not only inherit her mother's incredible intelligence but also her walk…and the grumpy treatment of all malekind. "Do you think she meant it?"
"Wouldn't put it past her." Hugo, Rose's brother, said repressing a snigger with difficulty. Albus looked rather gloomy after that.
They all seemed to eat as quickly as they could without giving themselves tummy problems at that meal. Then they all rushed off to the library, leaving their other friends to wonder what could have such an effect on the unusual family and their even odder friendships. Scorpius Malfoy was just that; a Malfoy. Malfoy's did not usually mix with Potter's and Weasley's. And Soleil Lovegood was the daughter of a very unusual woman.
"Now, what do you have to show us?" James, as the leader, said as he sat himself at the head of a big table and the rest of the gang seated themselves around it.
"We were researching the wizard Harsurne Henley, for a History of Magic essay, and we found some books named after dad!" Albus said excitedly.
"Really? Didn't think he was that interesting." James shrugged, concealing his own excitement. It didn't do to show too much emotion in front of other people, even his family; bad for the image.
"Yeah, so did I. But it turns out he got up to quite a lot whilst he was at school. We only flicked through a few of them. But your parents are all in them, and Teddy's, and all of the Weasley clan. And the teachers. Turns out they were the same ones in his day. Except Neville of course, he was in their year."
"Well, where are these books?" Hugo asked.
"Rosie, go get them." Albus ordered absently.
"I can't carry them all by myself." She replied indignantly, rising from her seat. Albus made no move so she grabbed his black messy hair and hauled him up by it, protesting profusely. The rest of the group tried their best not to laugh as she dragged him off behind the shelves.
Moments later they came back with seven books between them. They dumped them on the table and their pals grabbed at them immediately.
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling." Hugo read.
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling." Scorpius read.
"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling. Written a lot hasn't she?" Lily said.
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. They're getting thicker." Soleil observed.
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Merlin, this one's huge!" James complained.
"The last two are the Half Blood Prince and the Deathly Hallows." Rose said matter-of-factly. "I don't think our parents have been strait with us, and I think it's time we learnt what they were like, and why Uncle Harry's so famous. It can't just be quidditch."
"You have no idea how big quidditch is do you?" All the boys told her. It was more of a statement than a question and it earned a decent eye rolling from the three girls.
"If we can get back on topic. I think we should each take one and read it and then report back, maybe write a summery for the others."
"Rosie, just because you're teacher's pet doesn't mean we all want more work. I'm up to my elbows in homework as it is." James fired out.
"That's because you don't do anything but goof off, prank people and play quidditch. You're here to learn, not laze about doing nothing." Rose admonished. Once again Lily was reminded of Aunt Hermione giving Uncle Ron a really good telling off, which she did frequently.
"I don't do nothing. I happen to enjoy my role as the class clown, thank you very much."
Rose took a deep steadying breath, exactly like her mother did, and then stared at James in a way that made him flinch slightly. She had the Weasley temper as well as the Granger brains. "Look, worm, I only suggested it so we could learn the truth. You want to learn more about your father, right? And we all know how you can't be satisfied until you know the absolute truth. I also happen to know that you were the one who broke those vases and let Peeves take the blame."
"I'm really surprised you aren't in Slytherin." Scorpius put in as he casually leafed through the pages of his book. He had to admit to himself that he was intrigued at learning what the previous generation had been like. The Sorting Hat had mentioned to him, during the sorting, that he shouldn't follow in his father's footsteps too closely. He wanted to know what his dad had been like, if the Sorting Hat was giving him advice like that.
"Just take them out and try them. They're very good reads. I mean we only glanced through them, but they got up to some real adventures. He nearly died about fifty times." Albus said trying to keep the peace between James and Rose. The two of them had enough blow ups as it was.
"Well alright. I'll take one and read it. But I'm not doing the stupid summery."
"You don't have to, just promise to tell us about it." Albus said handing him Prisoner of Azkaban. "I think you'd like to learn about the guy you're named after."
They each took one and agreed to meet in a few weeks to discuss them.
In fact most of them called a meeting a week later to talk about them. They met in the entrance hall and settled on the stairs in the break after supper.
"Oh my god!" Hugo said. "He was a real daredevil." He pulled Goblet of Fire out of his bag. "I can't stop reading."
"I know. Me two." Lily said taking her copy of Chamber of Secrets out and leafing through the pages. A pretty bookmark marked a page very near the end.
"I can't believe they got away with as much as they did." Soleil said grinning. "I mean, even James doesn't get away with that much. And he's the one person that gives Peeves a run for his money." Order of the Phoenix was poking out of her bag.
"That's because we learnt our lessons from them and we keep our eyes peeled for anything that comes our way." A voice said from the shadows.
"Headmistress McGonagall, you heard all that?"
"Professor McGonagall will do from you, Miss Lovegood. And yes I did. I am very pleased that you are all endeavouring to learn your parent's histories. I know why they kept it from you."
"Can you tell us why?"
"Indeed Miss Potter. Your father told them not to tell you. He is remarkably modest, considering all he's done. They all agreed with him. They thought you didn't need to know about them. Maybe they thought it would go to your heads if you knew."
"It didn't go to his?" Scorpius asked curiously. "I knew some of the things he did. I heard dad telling mum about him." It was almost an excuse.
McGonagall chuckled slightly. "I suggest that you talk to your parents about all this. At least let them know you have read the books. But I would wait until you finish the books first, then you can confront what you feel needs to be confronted. I shall make my office available for you to do so, if you do not wish to be overheard in your common rooms."