A Place to Call My Own

Chapter One: The Letter

By: Saadie

Summary: It is natural for children to yearn for a mother figure in their lives, to belong to something special. With one woman's return, things are set into motion and even as the world around them starts to change rapidly. Amongst this chaos, can two children find a place to call their own?

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters, that right belongs exclusively to J.K. Rowling. If I did own Harry
Potter then, well, let's just say that things would be VERY different.

A/N: None of my stories are beta-d, I apologize to everyone for my horrible grammar, spelling, and just terrible writing skills in general.

It was two weeks before Yule Holidays and decorations were already starting to grace the halls of Hogwarts. The excitement in the air was tangible, the students already gleefully discussing their plans for the holidays. Only a few students looked on glumly, unable to share in the joyous atmosphere with the rest of their friends and among them was a young boy named Harry James Potter.

At eleven years old, Harry was a quiet child who had been looking forward to spending his very first Christmas in a Magical community. What he was not looking forward to was all his new friends leaving him to return home to their families. "Harry? Harry, are you listening to me?"

Hermione's voice jolted Harry out of his thoughts and he forced a smile when faces with the expectant looks his friends gave him, "Of course Hermione, I'll make sure to keep you updated on everything we find in the library –"

The rest of his words were cut off by the arrival of the owls. They flooded in from the open alcoves above the great hall, hundreds of feathers in almost every colour blocked the ceiling from sight. Harry's head whipped up and his eyes strained to try and locate Hedwig. Not that he was really expecting anyone to write to him but still, Harry couldn't stop himself from looking. When it became apparent that Hedwig would not be coming today, Harry turned back to poking moodily at his eggs while his friends chatted loudly once again. He paid the plethora of hoots and fluttering wings no mind until a delighted cry sounded to his left.

Turning, he was surprised to see that it was Neville whose face was lit up with delight. Seamus and Dean were already hovering over Neville's shoulder, trying to figure out why Neville had been so excited over a letter. Looking up to see them all staring at him, Neville's face glowed with a mixture of happiness and embarrassment before he opened his mouth to explain. "It's from my Aunt Addie! She said she can finally come home to England!"

His proclamation was met with a blend of blank stares and questioning gazes and Neville stopped for a moment, struggling to find the right words to explain. "Aunt Addie isn't actually one of my parent's siblings you see, but she's my mum's older brother's wife's younger sister; kind of complicated to name so I just call her my Aunt. After the war, she was the one who took care of me and I stayed with her until I was six. That's when she got sick and the Healers said that she had to move to a warmer country to get better, something about the rainy weather in London being bad for her. I was supposed to go with her but Grandmother refused to let me leave England and they had a huge row over it and it almost ended up in the courts but finally Grandmother called on the family Magics and Aunt Addie had to leave."

Neville stopped for breath and to let the others take in the information. It was the first time Neville ever talked about his family so most of his year was drinking in the new information eagerly. Taking a sip of his pumpkin juice, Neville swallowed heavily, being unused to the unwavering attention of his year mates being solely on him. It took him a while before he finally continued. "I lived with my Grandmother for the last five years and she never let me leave to visit Aunt Addie," that one line was said with no small amount of bitterness.

"Now Auntie said that she's coming back to England because she's all better now and," he was positively beaming as he said it, "I'm to spend Christmas with her! She even said that she's going to try and have me come back and live with her!"

"But doesn't your Grandmother have custody of you?" Hermione cut in, eyebrows furrowed in that way it always did when she didn't understand something.

Neville nodded, "Yeah, she does but technically, it's Aunt Addie that was named my guardian. Grandmother only got custody through the family Magics. Now that Aunt Addie's back in England, there'll be no grounds for Grandmother to stop her from taking custody of me again."

"Blimey Neville, you must either really hate your Grandmother or really love that Aunt of your's," came Seamus's voice.

Neville blushed heavily and ducked his head, mumbling and answer. "I don't hate Grandmother, but she's really strict, she terrifies me. Aunt Addie's different and she's real nice."

"That's really nice then Neville, I hope she gets custody," cooed Lavender and Neville turned positively red although he never stopped beaming.

Harry stared at Neville, torn between being happy for his friend and sulking. There was a burning feeling that built in his chest as Neville continued to gush about his Aunt Addie. He had always wondered why Neville stayed with his grandmother while his parents were still alive but that wasn't the issue now. Harry couldn't help himself from wishing that his Aunt was this nice. That his Aunt cared, that she wanted him and would fight for him. But all he got were memories assaulting his mind, memories filled with a horse-faced woman, scowling at him in displeasure and always, always scolding him in shrill tones. Harry shook his head furiously to rid himself of such thoughts and shivered even as his Aunt's screeches slowly faded from his mind.

"Oh right!" the whole table watched as Neville bolted up from his seat and rushed to the Headmaster whose eyes were twinkling brightly at the excitement on Neville's face.

"If there something that I can help you with my dear boy?" said the Headmaster jovially, looking kindly over his spectacles at a nervous Neville.

Neville struggled to look the Headmaster in the eyes before holding out a piece of paper, "Yes Professor Dumbledore, my Aunt told me to give you this."

"Your Aunt Maeve?"

The boy shook his head, "No Headmaster, my Aunt Addie."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose before he smiled, "Very well my boy, is she coming back?"

Neville nodded, unable to stop himself from smiling wildly, "Yes Headmaster, she says she'll be back within the week."

"Why that's wonderful news! Thank you for the note Mr. Longbottom, now, I believe that you have class in five minutes."

Neville jolted, startled before checking his watch; it was indeed five minutes before nine. "Oh no, I have to go! If you'll excuse me Headmaster?"

Dumbledore laughed warmly, "Of course my dear boy! Go on! Enjoy your day."

"Good bye Professor Dumbledore!" he shouted over his shoulder before running after his departing year mates, nearly tripping on his way towards where Hermione stood waiting.

"Such finesse the boy has," sneered Severus.

"Oh shush Severus, leave the poor boy be!" admonished Pomona, "More importantly, you heard what he said about his Aunt!"

Dumbledore smiled, "Yes indeed. I would seem that Miss Adelle Huang will be returning to us very soon."

Pomona covered her face and sighed while Filius struggled to hide a smile, "Augusta isn't going to like this one bit is she?"

Severus smirked, one that looked astonishingly close to a smile, "No, when Adelle comes back sparks are going to fly and Augusta's going to throw a fit, no matter how she tries to hide it."

"You're enjoying this way too much Severus," Minerva commented with a smile of her own.

"Oh no, I'm not even close to enjoying it yet. Just wait till Adelle and Augusta really start to go at it, then I'll star to enjoy myself," was his snarky response as he stood, "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have some dunderheads to teach."

Severus left with a sneer and his trademark robes billowing behind him, leaving his colleagues shaking their heads in amusement, "Honestly, that man is unbelievable sometimes."

"Wasn't Adelle friends with Severus back in the day?" said Silvanus with a frown.

"Were they?" questioned Aurora, "I was sure Adelle was a Raven, not a Snake. Besides, she was several years below him!"

"Oh stop with the guessing you two, just ask Severus the next time we see him," declared Rhonda.

They stopped and they nodded in agreement. Albus could only chuckle softly to himself, his staff still acted like children whenever the students weren't around.

AN: Wow it' really been a while since I've written everything and quite a while since I took everything down. I hope you guys enjoyed this new piece though and that it wasn't too much of a disappointment.

Thanks for reading and please take the time to review.

Sincerely,

Saadie

P.S. Some of you may have noticed a change in my pen name but just to clear things up, I used to go by NaiteShyde.