NOTE: Sorry, this is untitled! I need help with the series. I need suggestions for a series title, and the title of this chapter!
Severus Snape took an uneasy step towards the Assistant Headmistress's desk.
"Granger!" he barked.
Hermione Granger gave an annoyed glance in his direction. "Severus, you may have been my teacher a while ago, but you're not anymore, and I would prefer it if you referred to me by my first name or Professor Granger. You are not a drill sergeant."
Snape gave a slight sneer. "Oh, dreadfully sorry, Hermione. I was just wondering how you were coming on those letters."
"Wonderfully, Headmaster," she sneered back at him, then grabbed a letter out of the pile and handed it to them. "I was about to send them off, but I suppose you'd like to review them. That's the only letter I haven't sealed yet, and I'd like it back soon so I may do so. Are the letters satisfac-" Her voice cut off as she looked at Professor Snape, who hadn't opened the letter yet. He was staring at the address on the envelope, clenching his fingers so hard the knuckles had turned white. One word came from his mouth, barely a whisper.
"James..."
"Sorry, what was that?" asked Hermione, and plucked the letter out from between his fingers and quickly sealed it and added it to the top of the pile. "Alright, Headmaster, will there be anything else? Severus?"
But Snape was gone.
********
"Is Dad home?" James Potter called as he ran into the living room, his broomstick over his shoulder, his scabby, knobby knees sticking out of his baggy shorts like bird-legs.
Ginny Potter smiled at her son as she walked into the room. Cradled in her arms was little Marie, sucking happily at her bottle. She pulled away quickly and gave her brother a toothless grin, then returned to feeding.
"Your father's not home yet, but I expect he will be soon. I think his practice ended two minutes ago." Ginny glanced at the clock quickly, and saw that the hand marked "Harry Potter" was still at work. She was about to point this out to her son when she smelled a faint stench in the air. Looking down, she saw that Marie had finished her bottle and had busied herself otherwise. Sighing, Ginny scampered off to change her, ruffling James' shaggy black hair on her way. "Get cleaned up!" she called from the nursery. "Dad's taking us out to dinner tonight!"
"Okay!" James shouted, and scampered up the stairs to his bedroom.
********
Hermione Granger was tidying up her classroom and organizing desks when Ron Weasley walked in and grabbed swiftly around the waist. She had been walking on eggshells all day, so it was no surprise that she gave a quick little shriek when he did. She whirled around quickly.
"Ron!"
"Honestly, sweetie, if you think I'm that scary, you needn't have married me!" Ron gave her a smile, a lock of his bright red hair askew on his forehead. His freckles stood out on his pale skin, and as Hermione looked at them, they seemed to form pictures, like clouds.
Hermione tried not to laugh, but couldn't help herself. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Sorry. It's so cold in the dungeons, and pretty creepy. If I hadn't come up I would have gone mad. No wonder Snape is like he is!" Ron laughed, but Hermione gave him a stern look.
"I wouldn't talk like that if I were you. He can always fire you, you know. It's amazing that he kept any of us on the staff when he became Headmaster. Poor Neville was actually sending out resumes." Hermione chuckled and shook her head. Her once bushy but now sleek hair tumbled over her shoulder, and Ron was reminded of the Yule Ball in his 4th year at Hogwarts, when he had first discovered how beautiful she was.
"Enough of this job talk. I have better ideas." Ron smiled and started to move the hands he had placed on Hermione's waist slowly upward, but she batted them away.
"Not now, Ron!" Hermione giggled.
"Just a kiss?" Ron pleaded. Hermione sighed and nodded, and was quickly drawn into a heartbreaking kiss by her husband.
"EEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!" came a voice from somewhere near the back of the room.
Hermione pulled away and smiled. "It seems we are being spied on, dearest."
Ron laughed and let go of his wife, then began to search the room. "Oh, Harlequin! Harlequin Weasley!"
Hermione sighed. "I don't know why we gave her your name, Ron. It seems like Harlequin Granger would sound a lot better!"
"Oh, rubbish, Mum!" called a voice, and Harlequin Weasley popped out from behind a desk with her red hair bouncing behind her. She ran and stood by her father. "Even with the name Granger everyone would have known I was a Weasley!"
Hermione laughed. The two did look alike, father and daughter. In fact, if it weren't for Harlequin's slightly large teeth, no one would have been able to tell she was Hermione's daughter.
"And you two were KISSING! French-kissing, too!" Harlequin teased.
"We most certainly were not! Where do you get these things, I wonder?" Hermione said, being her usual stiff self.
Ron laughed and gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek "So, my little jester, have you gone shopping yet? School starts in a week!" He dropped Hermione a sly wink.
Harlequin gave him a gigantic smile and bounded off to find all her purchases. She loved shopping, but even more she loved going over what she had bought. When she left, Ron approached Hermione again, but she stuck a feather duster in his face.
"No way, Buster! Can't risk getting caught by prying eyes again! Besides, don't you need to go prepare some lessons?" Hermione asked, then set about cleaning the room again.
Ron chuckled. "Of course, of course. You know, if someone had told me when we were in school what I'd become, I would have called them crazy. Imagine, me, the new potions master!"
Hermione pushed him out the door. "It always was your best subject! Now scoot, before your little jester pulls a joke and sends a certain Headmaster up here!"
********
Harry Potter smiled at the owl approaching him. He knew what it was, he could see the red seal on the envelope from here. The Hogwarts owl dropped the letter on Harry's head as he stood on his front porch, gave a dignified hoot, and flew away. Harry waved at the owl, wiped his feet, and walked inside.
"Dad! Dad!" James cried as he heard the door close, and he quickly ran towards it. "Dad! Dad's home, Mum!"
Harry swept his son into his arms. "And how's my big boy doin' today?"
"So, Dad, did you win?" James asked, giving a quick look at his father's broomstick.
Harry chuckled. "It was just a practice, son. Me an Alicia and Henry zooming around passing about the Quaffle, that's all!"
His son gave him a wicked smile. "Alicia Spinnet, eh? You and her are just practicing, eh? Foxy!" James gave a high whistle like that of a tea kettle.
"What is this I hear about you and that Spinnet woman?" Ginny asked mischievously as she walked into the living room, having laid Marie down for a nap. Her hair bounced around her olive complexion as she sat on the couch and gave her husband a false look of anger.
"Nothing, Ginny, nothing." Harry laughed and gave his wife a kiss. "Just that she and I are running away tonight at sunset."
James smiled. "So, did I get all dressed up for nothing? Are we going out or what?"
Harry sighed and tromped up the hall to the bedroom. "Okay, just a sec. I need to go get changed."
********
Marielle Hawthorne lay napping while all this was going on. Napping, and dreaming, her eyes darting about quickly below her eyelids. Dreaming of what had happened only 6 months ago.
She was laying, tired on her bed. Her chestnut curls were riddled with sweat, and her breath was haggard. She had just given birth to Ben Hawthorne, and he lay asleep with all the other babies. She smiled as she looked at the monitor. The nurses had bewitched her television so she could watch Ben in the nursery from her room.
This hospital hadn't even wanted to admit her. They kept going on and on about Muggles not being allowed. But Thomas had convinced them. He had pointed out that this baby would have magical blood, and therefore they were entitled to be in this hospital. And it was all for the best, really. There had been barely any pain because of the amazing techniques these wizards used.
Suddenly, a shadow in the nursery caught her eye. The figure moved into the camera, and Marielle recognized it as the man from the magazines her husband read. Somebody Potter. Hector or something. His black hair was flying in all direstions around a lightning-shaped scar in his forehead as he looked around. He had round black glasses on. Marielle was studying the subtle beauty of this man when another figure burst into view. This one she knew all too well. It was Voldemort, the man Thomas was constantly warning her against. He had his wand out, and was pointing it at the Potter boy, who was weaving in and out of the bassinets, groping for his own wand
Voldemort hollered something, and even though the sound was off on her television, she could hear it from down the hall. "Avada Kadabra!" it sounded like. Whatever it was, it must have been bad, because nurses were either running towards the room screaming about saving the babies or running from the room screaming about saving themselves.
On the monitor she saw a flash of green light, she saw that Potter man duck, saw the green light traveling over his head, at one of the bassinets. One particular bassinet.
"Ben!" she cried, but her voice was hoarse from the labor. Suddenly, she felt something go out of her, towards her child, towards the man who sent the curse. When the green light cleared, her Ben lay there, lifeless, looking surprisingly peaceful. Marielle didn't notice that the Voldemort man was also laying in the corner, lifeless. She concentrated on that Potter boy, who had ducked and so killed her boy. That Potter boy was studying her son, a look of understanding on his face. She hated him. As far as she was concerned, he had killed Ben. He called out, and she could hear him from down the hallway.
"Who is the mother of this boy?"
Marielle remained silent.
********
As they drove to the restaurant, Ginny looked at her husband, and what she saw frightened her. He looked very upset.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Ginny asked. She glanced into the backseat. Marie was asleep in her carseat, and James was reading a book, listening to The Weird Sisters on his Discman. When she looked at him, he smiled. She smiled back, then glanced at her husband. "Harry?"
"I was just thinking about what happened at the hospital the night Marie was born. The night Voldemort was finally vanquished."
Ginny gave an involuntary shudder at the name, but listened none the less. "Well, it was wonderful, Harry, you beat him, you beat that monster."
"But it wasn't me who beat him!" Harry almost shouted. James looked up from his book in the backseat and Marie stirred in her sleep, a lock of dark red hair falling over her almost white skin.
"What do you mean, honey? Of course it was you!" Ginny comforted.
"Ginny, dear, you don't know what happened," Harry replied. "No one does."
"Well, why don't you tell me?" asked Ginny. "Frankly, I'm curious as to what happened!"
Harry gave a sigh. "Voldemort had chased me into the nursery. I really wanted to get out of there, because there were too many innocent lives to be taken. Marie was in there, something I am very grateful Voldemort didn't know. I had almost reached the exit when Voldemort cast the Killing Curse. I ducked quickly, and the curse bounced around the room. That what's awful about Avada Kedavra. If you somehow manage to duck it, it won't stop until it's killed something. And the curse did kill something. It shot right into a young child's crib and killed it. A baby."
Ginny covered a gasp with her hand. "No...."
Harry continued. "There was something in that babies veins. Purity. That's the only way to explain it. It's as if it was part unicorn. And you know what happens when you drink the blood of a unicorn. Voldemort had killed a pure creature, a helpless pure creature, and for it he was killed. Not by Avada Kedavra, no. I went over and examined his body when he died. There was a large hole in his chest, and this had been broken off inside."
From his robes Harry produced a small, spiraled cone. It was easily recognized as the tip of a unicorn horn. "I called for the baby's mother, she must be an extraordinary person, but I received no answer."
Ginny's mouth was agape, and she slowly took the unicorn horn from Harry and studied it. "Oh, Harry," she whispered.
Harry parked the car and turned to James in the backseat. "Hey, you!" he shouted.
James looked up and took his headphones off one ear. "Huh?"
"We're here!"
They all piled out of the car and into the restaurant. Harry and Ginny ordered Penne Alfredos, and James ordered a cheeseburger and a butterbeer. Marie was given a bottle.
When they had finished their dinners, Harry proudly pulled the Hogwarts letter from his coat pocket. "James, you get to go to Hogwarts! It's your mother and my alma mater!"
James grabbed the letter and smiled. "Too cool! Brandon is at Hogwarts, too!"
Harry winked at his son. "I believe I remember you referring to Brandon's mother only an hour ago as 'foxy.' Will you be relaying that opinion to him?"
James sighed. "You're gross, Dad. Hey, mum, doesn't Uncle Ron teach at Hogwarts? And Aunt Hermione? Oh, look, her signatures right here on the letter!"
"What?" asked Harry, grabbing the letter. There it was, too. Hermione Granger, Assistant Headmistress.
"Wow...I knew she taught, but she never told us she got promoted. Ron didn't say anything either. Must have just happened." Ginny said, reading over Harry's shoulder.
Harry stared at the letter. "I can't believe those two got married. How old's their daughter now?"
Ginny smiled. "Harlequin Weasley, age 11. Hey, she'll be starting at Hogwarts this year too. Maybe you, her, and Brandon will be like Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, and your father were at Hogwarts."
James sighed. "I don't know. I mean, it's kind of weird. We're all cousins, you know. Brandon and Hermione even have the same last name."
Ginny sighed. "That's what happens when one person has a big family full of cute people. Everyone's related to each other!"
Harry smiled. "We'll go get your things tomorrow, James. Maybe we can even go shopping with Brandon!"
********
"Marielle?" Thomas Hawthorne called, looking around the house for his wife. There was a suitcase on the bed, half-packed. There was dinner, half-made in the kitchen. There were blankets on the couch, suggesting Marielle had just gotten up from one of her naps.
"Marielle?" Thomas called again. Suddenly, he heard something behind him, and he turned around too late. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was his wife holding a gun by the barrel, like a club.
********
"Mum!" Harlequin Weasley shouted, roaming through the Hogwarts corridors. The new gamekeeper, Nella Maxime, gave her a miffed look and moved her gigantic body over to make room for Harley. Suddenly, Hermione Granger burst out one of the doors and clapped a hand over her mouth before she could shout again.
"Harley! What do you think you're doing? Snape doesn't want you staying at the school during holidays as it is! Do you want to make your father and I lose our jobs?"
Harley pulled away and grinned at her mother. "Mum! It's 10:00 on September 1st! The Hogwarts Express is leaving in an hour!"
Hermione gave her a strange look. "So?" she asked. "And, a few hours after that, the Hogwarts Express will pull in here. What's your point?"
"Well," Harley stalled, looking at her feet. "I wanna be on it!"
Hermione sighed. "Don't be silly, Harley! One, how would you get there, and two, what's the point?"
Harley stared at her mother. "Mum, the point is that everyone makes friends on the Hogwarts Express, and I want to make some friends!"
"And just how do you expect to get there?" Hermione prodded.
"I can go by Floo Powder! There a fireplace at Platform 9 and 3/4 for people to travel by! I won't even have to worry about going through the barrier unnoticed!"
Hermione looked grave, but then she caved. She waved a hand at her daughter. "Go," she sighed.
********
Within minutes, Harlequin Weasley was at Platform 9 and 3/4 and on the Hogwarts Express. As she moved around the train, she saw her cousins Brandon Weasley and Lauren Carter-Weasley waving at her. She almost moved in the direction, then stopped and sat next to two different kids, who gave mildly surprised looks, then quickly adjusted.
"Hi! I'm Harlequin Weasley, but please call me Harley!" she laughed.
A mulato girl with curly hair glanced at her. "Well, it's nice to meet someone as outgoing as me! I'm Ellie Thomas, and I am pleased to meet you, Harley." Ellie laughed. "This here is Zoe Finnigan, and she is shy!"
Zoe smiled politely at Harley. "Hello."
Ellie poked Zoe. "We were just discussing who the handsomest people are on this train...so far, we've agreed on him." Ellie pointed to a boy with his head buried in a book, listening to a portable headset. "His name's Jordan something, didn't catch the last name. That doesn't matter though. Kee-yute!" Ellie laughed.
Harley glanced at Jordan something. He was definitely cute, but by the look of him, he seemed kind of mean. He had a glare frozen on his face, and he refused to talk to anyone. Harley was staring at him when Ellie suddenly erupted.
"OH MY GOD! Hunk-o-la! 10.9 on the Richter scale, coming this way!" Ellie pointed dreamily at a black-haired boy making his way down the aisle. When Harley saw who it was, she cracked up.
"Oh, that's my cousin, James Potter!"
Zoe suddenly jerked her head out of her magazine and looked around madly. "James Potter? As in Harry Potter's son? You're related to him?"
"Yeah...." Harley said slowly.
Ellie chuckled. "Sure Harley, we believe you!"
"It's true! My dad's sister is his mom!" Harley exclaimed defensively.
Zoe seemed to be in awe. "Wow....you're related to the most famous wizard there is."
Harley laughed. "Lots of people on this train are!" She pointed to her other two cousins. "That's Brandon Weasley and Lauren Carter-Weasley, my two uncle's kids."
Zoe looked at them. "Wow....we're surrounded by famous people!"
Harley laughed. "You don't know the half of it! Brandon and James are both sons of famous Chasers on England's quidditch team!"
Now even Ellie was breathless. "Wow....I'm gonna go get James' autograph!"
"Not before me!" cried Zoe. Harley was cracking up when she saw that both the girls had gone white. "What is it?" Harley asked, then was interrupted.
"Hey, Harley!"
Harley turned around to see her cousin smiling at her. "Oh, hey James!" Beside her, whispering broke out between Ellie and Zoe that sounded suspiciously like, "He's talking to her! No, I don't think he likes her! Are you insane, they're cousins!"
Harley and James laughed. Then James continued. "Say, there's a HUGE compartment in the back, and it's totally empty. I thought maybe you, your friends, Brandon, Lauren and I could all sit back there."
Ellie and Zoe stopped whispering and stared at James with faces like those of deers caught in headlights. Then they both started jabbering. "Of course, oh, we'd love to! Wonderful! Compartment, really? Friends of course! Oh, yes!" Then they both turned to James and said in unison. "We'd love to!"
Harley and James cracked up, then Harley grabbed her carry-on and some of her stuff and moved back with everyone else close behind. However, when they got there, they found it was not totally empty.
"Who are you people?" demanded the kid so far known only as Jordan something. Brandon, who was two years older than all of them, sneered at him.
"Hello, Malfoy!"
"Malfoy...is that your last name?" asked Ellie sweetly.
"Shut up, Mudblood," Jordan sneered and returned to his book.
Ellie looked stunned, but everyone else just looked angry. "How dare you!" shouted James. "You take that back!"
Ellie suddenly shouted at him. "I most certainly am NOT a mud-er, muggle-born! My dad's a wizard, and a far better one than your father!"
"I suppose that's why my Dad's Minister, eh, Thomas? What does your dad do again? Oh, that's right, he's a restaurant owner. Yes, an excellent wizard, I'm sure." Jordan smirked at her and went back to his book.
Ellie somehow managed to keep her composure, and she laughed at Jordan. "That's right, and my pop makes the best pizza pie and brews the best butterbeer in the whole country! Oh, and I know of the family Malfoy....your grandfather was a Death Eater, and your father was about to become one? Well, this boy..." she smiled, gesturing to James, "Is the son of Harry Potter, who brought an end to Voldemort and all his Death Eaters." She laughed. "Pretty hard to beat that, Malfoy."
Jordan looked at them angrily. "I wasn't defending my father!" he shouted angrily, and grabbed his book and ran from the compartment. Ellie smirked and closed the door behind him.
Harley gave Malfoy's retreating back a puzzled look. "I wonder what his problem is?"
"No matter!" Brandon laughed. "He's always got problems! Ellie, that's your name, right?" Ellie nodded. "Ellie, you are amazing! We ought to hire you as a professional jerk assassin!"
Ellie smiled at Brandon and stretched on the couch. "That's me all right! Take that, idiots of the world!"
Then, all around them, conversations started. Lauren and Zoe found out that they both had learned magic ahead and were practicing new charms in the corner. Brandon and Ellie were talking to each other, Brandon explaining about how Lauren and his fathers shared a joke shop, and he was showing her a couple of his fathers pranks, her laughing and clapping away. Harley and James sat in the middle, catching up on things. And slowly, almost surreally, the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station.
NOTE: Please remember, I need title suggestions for the series and this part of the series.
Severus Snape took an uneasy step towards the Assistant Headmistress's desk.
"Granger!" he barked.
Hermione Granger gave an annoyed glance in his direction. "Severus, you may have been my teacher a while ago, but you're not anymore, and I would prefer it if you referred to me by my first name or Professor Granger. You are not a drill sergeant."
Snape gave a slight sneer. "Oh, dreadfully sorry, Hermione. I was just wondering how you were coming on those letters."
"Wonderfully, Headmaster," she sneered back at him, then grabbed a letter out of the pile and handed it to them. "I was about to send them off, but I suppose you'd like to review them. That's the only letter I haven't sealed yet, and I'd like it back soon so I may do so. Are the letters satisfac-" Her voice cut off as she looked at Professor Snape, who hadn't opened the letter yet. He was staring at the address on the envelope, clenching his fingers so hard the knuckles had turned white. One word came from his mouth, barely a whisper.
"James..."
"Sorry, what was that?" asked Hermione, and plucked the letter out from between his fingers and quickly sealed it and added it to the top of the pile. "Alright, Headmaster, will there be anything else? Severus?"
But Snape was gone.
********
"Is Dad home?" James Potter called as he ran into the living room, his broomstick over his shoulder, his scabby, knobby knees sticking out of his baggy shorts like bird-legs.
Ginny Potter smiled at her son as she walked into the room. Cradled in her arms was little Marie, sucking happily at her bottle. She pulled away quickly and gave her brother a toothless grin, then returned to feeding.
"Your father's not home yet, but I expect he will be soon. I think his practice ended two minutes ago." Ginny glanced at the clock quickly, and saw that the hand marked "Harry Potter" was still at work. She was about to point this out to her son when she smelled a faint stench in the air. Looking down, she saw that Marie had finished her bottle and had busied herself otherwise. Sighing, Ginny scampered off to change her, ruffling James' shaggy black hair on her way. "Get cleaned up!" she called from the nursery. "Dad's taking us out to dinner tonight!"
"Okay!" James shouted, and scampered up the stairs to his bedroom.
********
Hermione Granger was tidying up her classroom and organizing desks when Ron Weasley walked in and grabbed swiftly around the waist. She had been walking on eggshells all day, so it was no surprise that she gave a quick little shriek when he did. She whirled around quickly.
"Ron!"
"Honestly, sweetie, if you think I'm that scary, you needn't have married me!" Ron gave her a smile, a lock of his bright red hair askew on his forehead. His freckles stood out on his pale skin, and as Hermione looked at them, they seemed to form pictures, like clouds.
Hermione tried not to laugh, but couldn't help herself. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Sorry. It's so cold in the dungeons, and pretty creepy. If I hadn't come up I would have gone mad. No wonder Snape is like he is!" Ron laughed, but Hermione gave him a stern look.
"I wouldn't talk like that if I were you. He can always fire you, you know. It's amazing that he kept any of us on the staff when he became Headmaster. Poor Neville was actually sending out resumes." Hermione chuckled and shook her head. Her once bushy but now sleek hair tumbled over her shoulder, and Ron was reminded of the Yule Ball in his 4th year at Hogwarts, when he had first discovered how beautiful she was.
"Enough of this job talk. I have better ideas." Ron smiled and started to move the hands he had placed on Hermione's waist slowly upward, but she batted them away.
"Not now, Ron!" Hermione giggled.
"Just a kiss?" Ron pleaded. Hermione sighed and nodded, and was quickly drawn into a heartbreaking kiss by her husband.
"EEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!" came a voice from somewhere near the back of the room.
Hermione pulled away and smiled. "It seems we are being spied on, dearest."
Ron laughed and let go of his wife, then began to search the room. "Oh, Harlequin! Harlequin Weasley!"
Hermione sighed. "I don't know why we gave her your name, Ron. It seems like Harlequin Granger would sound a lot better!"
"Oh, rubbish, Mum!" called a voice, and Harlequin Weasley popped out from behind a desk with her red hair bouncing behind her. She ran and stood by her father. "Even with the name Granger everyone would have known I was a Weasley!"
Hermione laughed. The two did look alike, father and daughter. In fact, if it weren't for Harlequin's slightly large teeth, no one would have been able to tell she was Hermione's daughter.
"And you two were KISSING! French-kissing, too!" Harlequin teased.
"We most certainly were not! Where do you get these things, I wonder?" Hermione said, being her usual stiff self.
Ron laughed and gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek "So, my little jester, have you gone shopping yet? School starts in a week!" He dropped Hermione a sly wink.
Harlequin gave him a gigantic smile and bounded off to find all her purchases. She loved shopping, but even more she loved going over what she had bought. When she left, Ron approached Hermione again, but she stuck a feather duster in his face.
"No way, Buster! Can't risk getting caught by prying eyes again! Besides, don't you need to go prepare some lessons?" Hermione asked, then set about cleaning the room again.
Ron chuckled. "Of course, of course. You know, if someone had told me when we were in school what I'd become, I would have called them crazy. Imagine, me, the new potions master!"
Hermione pushed him out the door. "It always was your best subject! Now scoot, before your little jester pulls a joke and sends a certain Headmaster up here!"
********
Harry Potter smiled at the owl approaching him. He knew what it was, he could see the red seal on the envelope from here. The Hogwarts owl dropped the letter on Harry's head as he stood on his front porch, gave a dignified hoot, and flew away. Harry waved at the owl, wiped his feet, and walked inside.
"Dad! Dad!" James cried as he heard the door close, and he quickly ran towards it. "Dad! Dad's home, Mum!"
Harry swept his son into his arms. "And how's my big boy doin' today?"
"So, Dad, did you win?" James asked, giving a quick look at his father's broomstick.
Harry chuckled. "It was just a practice, son. Me an Alicia and Henry zooming around passing about the Quaffle, that's all!"
His son gave him a wicked smile. "Alicia Spinnet, eh? You and her are just practicing, eh? Foxy!" James gave a high whistle like that of a tea kettle.
"What is this I hear about you and that Spinnet woman?" Ginny asked mischievously as she walked into the living room, having laid Marie down for a nap. Her hair bounced around her olive complexion as she sat on the couch and gave her husband a false look of anger.
"Nothing, Ginny, nothing." Harry laughed and gave his wife a kiss. "Just that she and I are running away tonight at sunset."
James smiled. "So, did I get all dressed up for nothing? Are we going out or what?"
Harry sighed and tromped up the hall to the bedroom. "Okay, just a sec. I need to go get changed."
********
Marielle Hawthorne lay napping while all this was going on. Napping, and dreaming, her eyes darting about quickly below her eyelids. Dreaming of what had happened only 6 months ago.
She was laying, tired on her bed. Her chestnut curls were riddled with sweat, and her breath was haggard. She had just given birth to Ben Hawthorne, and he lay asleep with all the other babies. She smiled as she looked at the monitor. The nurses had bewitched her television so she could watch Ben in the nursery from her room.
This hospital hadn't even wanted to admit her. They kept going on and on about Muggles not being allowed. But Thomas had convinced them. He had pointed out that this baby would have magical blood, and therefore they were entitled to be in this hospital. And it was all for the best, really. There had been barely any pain because of the amazing techniques these wizards used.
Suddenly, a shadow in the nursery caught her eye. The figure moved into the camera, and Marielle recognized it as the man from the magazines her husband read. Somebody Potter. Hector or something. His black hair was flying in all direstions around a lightning-shaped scar in his forehead as he looked around. He had round black glasses on. Marielle was studying the subtle beauty of this man when another figure burst into view. This one she knew all too well. It was Voldemort, the man Thomas was constantly warning her against. He had his wand out, and was pointing it at the Potter boy, who was weaving in and out of the bassinets, groping for his own wand
Voldemort hollered something, and even though the sound was off on her television, she could hear it from down the hall. "Avada Kadabra!" it sounded like. Whatever it was, it must have been bad, because nurses were either running towards the room screaming about saving the babies or running from the room screaming about saving themselves.
On the monitor she saw a flash of green light, she saw that Potter man duck, saw the green light traveling over his head, at one of the bassinets. One particular bassinet.
"Ben!" she cried, but her voice was hoarse from the labor. Suddenly, she felt something go out of her, towards her child, towards the man who sent the curse. When the green light cleared, her Ben lay there, lifeless, looking surprisingly peaceful. Marielle didn't notice that the Voldemort man was also laying in the corner, lifeless. She concentrated on that Potter boy, who had ducked and so killed her boy. That Potter boy was studying her son, a look of understanding on his face. She hated him. As far as she was concerned, he had killed Ben. He called out, and she could hear him from down the hallway.
"Who is the mother of this boy?"
Marielle remained silent.
********
As they drove to the restaurant, Ginny looked at her husband, and what she saw frightened her. He looked very upset.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Ginny asked. She glanced into the backseat. Marie was asleep in her carseat, and James was reading a book, listening to The Weird Sisters on his Discman. When she looked at him, he smiled. She smiled back, then glanced at her husband. "Harry?"
"I was just thinking about what happened at the hospital the night Marie was born. The night Voldemort was finally vanquished."
Ginny gave an involuntary shudder at the name, but listened none the less. "Well, it was wonderful, Harry, you beat him, you beat that monster."
"But it wasn't me who beat him!" Harry almost shouted. James looked up from his book in the backseat and Marie stirred in her sleep, a lock of dark red hair falling over her almost white skin.
"What do you mean, honey? Of course it was you!" Ginny comforted.
"Ginny, dear, you don't know what happened," Harry replied. "No one does."
"Well, why don't you tell me?" asked Ginny. "Frankly, I'm curious as to what happened!"
Harry gave a sigh. "Voldemort had chased me into the nursery. I really wanted to get out of there, because there were too many innocent lives to be taken. Marie was in there, something I am very grateful Voldemort didn't know. I had almost reached the exit when Voldemort cast the Killing Curse. I ducked quickly, and the curse bounced around the room. That what's awful about Avada Kedavra. If you somehow manage to duck it, it won't stop until it's killed something. And the curse did kill something. It shot right into a young child's crib and killed it. A baby."
Ginny covered a gasp with her hand. "No...."
Harry continued. "There was something in that babies veins. Purity. That's the only way to explain it. It's as if it was part unicorn. And you know what happens when you drink the blood of a unicorn. Voldemort had killed a pure creature, a helpless pure creature, and for it he was killed. Not by Avada Kedavra, no. I went over and examined his body when he died. There was a large hole in his chest, and this had been broken off inside."
From his robes Harry produced a small, spiraled cone. It was easily recognized as the tip of a unicorn horn. "I called for the baby's mother, she must be an extraordinary person, but I received no answer."
Ginny's mouth was agape, and she slowly took the unicorn horn from Harry and studied it. "Oh, Harry," she whispered.
Harry parked the car and turned to James in the backseat. "Hey, you!" he shouted.
James looked up and took his headphones off one ear. "Huh?"
"We're here!"
They all piled out of the car and into the restaurant. Harry and Ginny ordered Penne Alfredos, and James ordered a cheeseburger and a butterbeer. Marie was given a bottle.
When they had finished their dinners, Harry proudly pulled the Hogwarts letter from his coat pocket. "James, you get to go to Hogwarts! It's your mother and my alma mater!"
James grabbed the letter and smiled. "Too cool! Brandon is at Hogwarts, too!"
Harry winked at his son. "I believe I remember you referring to Brandon's mother only an hour ago as 'foxy.' Will you be relaying that opinion to him?"
James sighed. "You're gross, Dad. Hey, mum, doesn't Uncle Ron teach at Hogwarts? And Aunt Hermione? Oh, look, her signatures right here on the letter!"
"What?" asked Harry, grabbing the letter. There it was, too. Hermione Granger, Assistant Headmistress.
"Wow...I knew she taught, but she never told us she got promoted. Ron didn't say anything either. Must have just happened." Ginny said, reading over Harry's shoulder.
Harry stared at the letter. "I can't believe those two got married. How old's their daughter now?"
Ginny smiled. "Harlequin Weasley, age 11. Hey, she'll be starting at Hogwarts this year too. Maybe you, her, and Brandon will be like Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, and your father were at Hogwarts."
James sighed. "I don't know. I mean, it's kind of weird. We're all cousins, you know. Brandon and Hermione even have the same last name."
Ginny sighed. "That's what happens when one person has a big family full of cute people. Everyone's related to each other!"
Harry smiled. "We'll go get your things tomorrow, James. Maybe we can even go shopping with Brandon!"
********
"Marielle?" Thomas Hawthorne called, looking around the house for his wife. There was a suitcase on the bed, half-packed. There was dinner, half-made in the kitchen. There were blankets on the couch, suggesting Marielle had just gotten up from one of her naps.
"Marielle?" Thomas called again. Suddenly, he heard something behind him, and he turned around too late. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was his wife holding a gun by the barrel, like a club.
********
"Mum!" Harlequin Weasley shouted, roaming through the Hogwarts corridors. The new gamekeeper, Nella Maxime, gave her a miffed look and moved her gigantic body over to make room for Harley. Suddenly, Hermione Granger burst out one of the doors and clapped a hand over her mouth before she could shout again.
"Harley! What do you think you're doing? Snape doesn't want you staying at the school during holidays as it is! Do you want to make your father and I lose our jobs?"
Harley pulled away and grinned at her mother. "Mum! It's 10:00 on September 1st! The Hogwarts Express is leaving in an hour!"
Hermione gave her a strange look. "So?" she asked. "And, a few hours after that, the Hogwarts Express will pull in here. What's your point?"
"Well," Harley stalled, looking at her feet. "I wanna be on it!"
Hermione sighed. "Don't be silly, Harley! One, how would you get there, and two, what's the point?"
Harley stared at her mother. "Mum, the point is that everyone makes friends on the Hogwarts Express, and I want to make some friends!"
"And just how do you expect to get there?" Hermione prodded.
"I can go by Floo Powder! There a fireplace at Platform 9 and 3/4 for people to travel by! I won't even have to worry about going through the barrier unnoticed!"
Hermione looked grave, but then she caved. She waved a hand at her daughter. "Go," she sighed.
********
Within minutes, Harlequin Weasley was at Platform 9 and 3/4 and on the Hogwarts Express. As she moved around the train, she saw her cousins Brandon Weasley and Lauren Carter-Weasley waving at her. She almost moved in the direction, then stopped and sat next to two different kids, who gave mildly surprised looks, then quickly adjusted.
"Hi! I'm Harlequin Weasley, but please call me Harley!" she laughed.
A mulato girl with curly hair glanced at her. "Well, it's nice to meet someone as outgoing as me! I'm Ellie Thomas, and I am pleased to meet you, Harley." Ellie laughed. "This here is Zoe Finnigan, and she is shy!"
Zoe smiled politely at Harley. "Hello."
Ellie poked Zoe. "We were just discussing who the handsomest people are on this train...so far, we've agreed on him." Ellie pointed to a boy with his head buried in a book, listening to a portable headset. "His name's Jordan something, didn't catch the last name. That doesn't matter though. Kee-yute!" Ellie laughed.
Harley glanced at Jordan something. He was definitely cute, but by the look of him, he seemed kind of mean. He had a glare frozen on his face, and he refused to talk to anyone. Harley was staring at him when Ellie suddenly erupted.
"OH MY GOD! Hunk-o-la! 10.9 on the Richter scale, coming this way!" Ellie pointed dreamily at a black-haired boy making his way down the aisle. When Harley saw who it was, she cracked up.
"Oh, that's my cousin, James Potter!"
Zoe suddenly jerked her head out of her magazine and looked around madly. "James Potter? As in Harry Potter's son? You're related to him?"
"Yeah...." Harley said slowly.
Ellie chuckled. "Sure Harley, we believe you!"
"It's true! My dad's sister is his mom!" Harley exclaimed defensively.
Zoe seemed to be in awe. "Wow....you're related to the most famous wizard there is."
Harley laughed. "Lots of people on this train are!" She pointed to her other two cousins. "That's Brandon Weasley and Lauren Carter-Weasley, my two uncle's kids."
Zoe looked at them. "Wow....we're surrounded by famous people!"
Harley laughed. "You don't know the half of it! Brandon and James are both sons of famous Chasers on England's quidditch team!"
Now even Ellie was breathless. "Wow....I'm gonna go get James' autograph!"
"Not before me!" cried Zoe. Harley was cracking up when she saw that both the girls had gone white. "What is it?" Harley asked, then was interrupted.
"Hey, Harley!"
Harley turned around to see her cousin smiling at her. "Oh, hey James!" Beside her, whispering broke out between Ellie and Zoe that sounded suspiciously like, "He's talking to her! No, I don't think he likes her! Are you insane, they're cousins!"
Harley and James laughed. Then James continued. "Say, there's a HUGE compartment in the back, and it's totally empty. I thought maybe you, your friends, Brandon, Lauren and I could all sit back there."
Ellie and Zoe stopped whispering and stared at James with faces like those of deers caught in headlights. Then they both started jabbering. "Of course, oh, we'd love to! Wonderful! Compartment, really? Friends of course! Oh, yes!" Then they both turned to James and said in unison. "We'd love to!"
Harley and James cracked up, then Harley grabbed her carry-on and some of her stuff and moved back with everyone else close behind. However, when they got there, they found it was not totally empty.
"Who are you people?" demanded the kid so far known only as Jordan something. Brandon, who was two years older than all of them, sneered at him.
"Hello, Malfoy!"
"Malfoy...is that your last name?" asked Ellie sweetly.
"Shut up, Mudblood," Jordan sneered and returned to his book.
Ellie looked stunned, but everyone else just looked angry. "How dare you!" shouted James. "You take that back!"
Ellie suddenly shouted at him. "I most certainly am NOT a mud-er, muggle-born! My dad's a wizard, and a far better one than your father!"
"I suppose that's why my Dad's Minister, eh, Thomas? What does your dad do again? Oh, that's right, he's a restaurant owner. Yes, an excellent wizard, I'm sure." Jordan smirked at her and went back to his book.
Ellie somehow managed to keep her composure, and she laughed at Jordan. "That's right, and my pop makes the best pizza pie and brews the best butterbeer in the whole country! Oh, and I know of the family Malfoy....your grandfather was a Death Eater, and your father was about to become one? Well, this boy..." she smiled, gesturing to James, "Is the son of Harry Potter, who brought an end to Voldemort and all his Death Eaters." She laughed. "Pretty hard to beat that, Malfoy."
Jordan looked at them angrily. "I wasn't defending my father!" he shouted angrily, and grabbed his book and ran from the compartment. Ellie smirked and closed the door behind him.
Harley gave Malfoy's retreating back a puzzled look. "I wonder what his problem is?"
"No matter!" Brandon laughed. "He's always got problems! Ellie, that's your name, right?" Ellie nodded. "Ellie, you are amazing! We ought to hire you as a professional jerk assassin!"
Ellie smiled at Brandon and stretched on the couch. "That's me all right! Take that, idiots of the world!"
Then, all around them, conversations started. Lauren and Zoe found out that they both had learned magic ahead and were practicing new charms in the corner. Brandon and Ellie were talking to each other, Brandon explaining about how Lauren and his fathers shared a joke shop, and he was showing her a couple of his fathers pranks, her laughing and clapping away. Harley and James sat in the middle, catching up on things. And slowly, almost surreally, the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station.
NOTE: Please remember, I need title suggestions for the series and this part of the series.