Just One Happy Day, Together
A Harry Potter Fan Fiction
by Mutt N Feathers
Chapter 1:
Ob-La-De, Ob-La-Da
(Inspired by the Beatles song of the same name)
August 1, 1998
Harry stepped outside the back door from the hunting cottage he'd been living in for the last six weeks, his feet bare, jeans belt less and slung low. His tee-shirt was in one hand, a very large, steaming cup of coffee was in the other. His hair was still wet from the shower he'd just taken, and having no specific plans for the day, he was going to let it air dry, fly-aways be damned. Draping the shirt over his thigh, he took a long pull from his mug. He'd always been a tea drinker, but after ONLY having tea at his disposal while on the run, he found he couldn't stand the taste anymore. He suspected the bitterness of Hermione's blend didn't help matters; to him it was all injury, anger and loss. His left hand now free, he slipped it into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out the item he'd stowed there last night.
He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised to find the Time-Turner in the old Potter cottage outside of Cotswold; they were a magical family and he knew from other documents he'd read in the last weeks, his grandmother had worked in the Office of Legislated Time Travel at the Ministry. This had been their hunting and fishing cottage, if you could call a four-bedroom home a hunting cottage. The stuffed heads of long dead kills had been removed at Hermione's insistence; since she was sharing the house with Harry; he didn't like the reminder of death so close anyway. The Weasley's had begged him to live with them, as had Tonks' mom, Andi; but Harry needed to be alone with his thoughts and memories. Hermione knew when to press him to talk and when to leave him be, so she made the perfect housemate. They had tried to live at Grimmauld Place, but there were too many memories and he was too close to the Ministry. Here, on the outskirts of Rowenaham, miles from civilization, people had to be intentional about their visiting. Harry liked it that way.
Harry set the mug down on the step next to him, and held the Time-Turner in his hands, part of the long chain dropping off the sides of his large palms. There were so many places he wanted to go, so many things he wanted to change; but he knew he couldn't. Bill had been with him when he'd taken possession of the vast wealth, properties and items in the vaults at Gringotts, signed over to him as heir to the Potter and Black lines. Another Time-Turner, an ancient one which couldn't be trusted to be accurate, was in the Black family vault. Harry had brightened at the idea of going back to fix wrongs; but Bill stopped him. One of the problems of changing time was you couldn't ever be sure that what you changed it to would be better than what currently existed. Unlike his mother, who would have yelled, or Kingsley, who would have simply told him he couldn't do it, Bill sat down with Harry over some Firewhisky and talked with him calmly. Somewhere in his mildly drunk constitution, he agreed to not go back in time to change things. That didn't mean Harry wouldn't go back in time at all.
He heard stirrings from Hermione's room above him, but he wasn't quite ready to talk with her; she was going to be opposed to what he was thinking about. He pulled the tee-shirt over his head and picked up his mug before standing and walking to the edge of the garden, and down the paver-stone path to the grotto he'd carved out of the hill behind the home.
Hidden from view of the house, he'd built a memorial to the six people who he lost. His parents were buried in Godric's Hollow, and they would stay there; but it was just too populous and conspicuous for him to visit often. In the rock face he'd carved a stag and doe, she nuzzling her nose to his neck. Next to them was a scruffy dog with a small falcon on his back. He'd learned from Sirius about his one true love, Anwen, who had been murdered days after his parents, on what was to have been Sirius' and her wedding day. Next to them was a wolf, a butterfly perched on his nose, he smiling at it. Before her Patronus had changed over to match his, Tonks' had been a butterfly. Harry had always thought it was a more appropriate reflection of her, especially in the joy that she'd been able to bring to Remus' life. The Lupins were buried near Mrs. Tonks' house, but this was his place to commune with the six of them—the people who loved him enough to give up their lives to protect him.
Harry pulled his wand out of his back pocket, Mad-Eye's rebuke "you'll blow your buttock off" rattling around his brain and making him smile. Pointing it at a specific rock, the dark grey slate slid over lighter ones until a small cavity was completely open. Inside were some pictures he'd gathered from different sources, but they were all on the same theme. It was the single day he knew all these people were together: his parents wedding day.
There were shots of the Marauders together, although Harry ignored Wormtail as best as he could. At the time he was still their mate, their partner in crime and fighting evil. It was only weeks after they'd left Hogwarts; Peter hadn't changed sides until nearly a year later. One large picture was of his Mum, Anwen and a close friend from school, Eva. This was one of Sirius', and he'd explained that Voldemort had gone after Eva's mother, as she was a siren. Her family disappeared one night, and no one knew where they'd gone. A note arrived several days later, alerting her friends that they were safe, and begging them not to look for them. It was hardest for Remus, as he'd been involved with her on and off for years at Hogwarts. Just as Sirius rarely spoke of Anwen, Remus never spoke of Eva again.
Harry liked the picture of the three girls, his Mum with her vibrant red hair, Eva and her golden hair and little Anwen with her brown, looked like they were in a commercial for a shampoo. They were arm in arm swinging their ponytails back and forth, singing something he'd never been able to figure out the lyrics to. They all looked so happy and carefree, like teens were supposed to be. From the date on the back, this was days before the wedding. Perhaps it was her hen night, then again maybe not. He wasn't sure what women did on a hen night. Sirius had said they were nearly inseparable, regardless of Eva being a Hufflepuff and Anwen being two years behind.
Harry continued to go through his photographs, smiling at his Dad's face as his Mum came down the aisle to him. Sirius handing over both rings as Petunia had boycotted the affair, since it was at the Potter Estate. Sirius, Remus, Eva and Anwen together toasting the happy couple. The look on his mother's face told Harry whatever had been said was somewhat embarrassing. There was a picture of Tonks, icing smeared over much of her face, Remus in the background looking dismayed at how messy all the children were at the 'kids' table.
Harry looked at the pictures of the three Hogwarts couples dancing, marveling at the different stages of love there. He wasn't sure how long he'd sat there, but Hermione's calls from the garden pulled him back to the present. He quickly stowed the pictures and sealed the rock strongbox. All he had to do now was convince Hermione that he wasn't going to do anything reckless or impulsive.