Chapter 1: Grandmum's Diaries

10 August, 2081

"Do we have to go? Can't we stay with Granny Waters?" The teenaged girl slumped in her chair and opened her copy of Teen Witch Weekly without looking at her mum. "Richmond is so much more fun that stupid Stintborough."

Gwen Waters looked over at her daughter and had to tamp down the urge to stun her. Since Hogwarts had let out for the term her sixteen-year-old daughter had done nothing but mope and complain. According to her the little house they lived in near Luccombe, the only 'magical' household amongst Muggles, was horrible. She had to go to extraordinary lengths to owl her boyfriend. None of her friends could visit because they were all on holiday with their parents or doing other things. She hadn't made the cut for the summer Quidditch league. All of her clothes, Muggle and magical, were completely out of fashion and most importantly she couldn't go to the UMS and visit her grandparents.

"Pauline Caroline, if you don't stop I will give you something to complain about, young lady. I've told you a million times before, and your father's done the same thing, we're going to Stintborough. Your Great-Grandmum Melody turns one-hundred this year, one-hundred! It's important to be there. Besides, your Grandmum Minnie is looking forward to seeing you."

"At least it's not in bloody Wales. Pryderi has to be the most boring place on the face of the earth."

Even closing her eyes and counting to twenty didn't work; Gwen's anger hadn't abated. "Enough. We're leaving in an hour; go make sure you've packed all your things."

"I've already…"

"Just do it." Gwen sighed heavily as her daughter walked angrily towards her bedroom. The irritation with Polly hadn't lifted when her husband Archie walked into the room and sat down his bag. "Arch, can we just leave her here? I don't think they'll miss her."

"That bad?" He sat down on the edge of her chair. "You know your mom is looking forward to seeing her. What's it been, a little over a year now?"

"Yes, we went over to the UMS to see your parents last summer and getting Mum and Dad to leave Pryderi is next to impossible. I'm not sure what to do with her, Archie. Mum really wants to see her and spend some time with her, just the two of them. I haven't even told Polly yet, I keep thinking a good time will suddenly present itself but it never comes. Mum already owled me about it today, I think Grandmum turning one-hundred has her feeling her age these days."

Archie held up his hands and backed off the chair slowly. "Not saying a thing about age, even though you're older than me and always will be…"

Gwen pulled out her wand and pointed it at her husband, and even though she tried she was unable to stop the smirk from spreading across her face. "I will always be older but you'll still be horrible. Now go get Polly, we need to leave."

-ooo-

Minnie Finnegan walked slowly into her father's old office. She knew that Alan was in there reading, but it was still hard to go in there and not see her father sitting behind his desk, glasses perched on his bald head and surreptitiously smoking his pipe. The door creaked as she made her way inside to see her husband sitting in one of the worn leather chairs in front of the desk, pipe in hand as smoke slowly curled its way out the open window.

"Dad would be happy; it smells properly like his office." She sat down next to Alan and ran a hand along the back of the chair, feeling the creases and cracks that had developed in the chair over the decades. "You haven't smoked a pipe in ages. Why now?"

He shrugged and closed the book, setting it on the corner of the desk. "Just didn't smell right in here. Besides, I bought this tobacco for your brother, had to make sure it's properly good." He glanced over at his wife and sighed. "How is she?"

"Old and feisty. The healers said she needs to take a nap in the afternoons, but of course she didn't want to do that. You know mum."

Alan tapped on the table. "Let me see, Melody Boyd versus the healers of St. Mungo's…hmm…think I'll put my Galleons on your mum."

"Dad always said when she got like that the best thing was to let her have her way and eventually the steam would run out, but these days I'm not sure. The last Healer told me some horrible things. I know Mum's old but she doesn't have to be so rude, does she?"

"Age has its benefits, Min, including the ability to speak one's mind." Alan puffed on the pipe for a moment. "I know it's been ten years but I still expect your father to come around the corner and hand me a book. Ten years…how old would he be now?"

Minnie took off her glasses and let them hang on a thin silver chain around her neck. "Dad was born in sixty-eight, so…one hundred and thirteen. Doesn't seem possible that he's gone, just like Mum being alive that long. What happened to the time?"

"Ah, time…" Alan tapped the pipe for a moment. "Let me see…'I wasted time and now doth time waste me.' Richard the second, Shakespeare."

"Nicely done, Dad would definitely be happy, pipe smoke and Shakespeare in his office. I'm not wasting time anymore, Alan. We haven't seen much of Pauline so this little visit should be good, if she behaves, that is."

"It's Gwen all over again, that's what she is. Serves Gwen right for being such a pain in the arse when she was a kid."

"Alan! She was not…" Minnie stopped for a moment. "She was a pain in the arse, wasn't she? When did she finally become human?"

"First year of university. Realized we weren't such horrible parents after all. Don't get your hopes up, love; I don't think Polly's visit will be as enjoyable as you're hoping. You're her History of Magic professor first, then Grandmum. Give her time, she'll come around."

-ooo-

The party, in Minnie's opinion, was a success. A photographer from The Daily Prophet attended for a moment to get the picture of the family, but since the crowd was entirely too large to fit into a single picture he decided only to shoot Melody Boyd surrounded by her great-great grandchildren. The place of honor, on Melody's lap, was reserved for Henry McDonald Boyd, age 2, the great-grandson of Melody and Hank's oldest child HR. Minnie watched in wonder at the mass of children of all ages moving around the property, some of them much older than she remembered and noticed that Polly, her granddaughter, spent most of her day commiserating with Effie Weasley, Virginia's granddaughter.

Once most of the family had said their goodbyes, promised to owl, Floo and attend the annual Christmas festivities at Forthingsgate Minnie sat in the sitting room and sipped a cup of tea. She slipped off her sensible shoes, stretched her toes and sighed. At least Gwen had taken over with getting the guest of honor settled in for the evening, leaving her with a moment of peace. She was looking around the house, remembering things when her granddaughter sat down on the sofa next to her; it was obvious that Polly was not enthused about her visit as she crossed her arms over her chest and pointedly looked away from Minnie out the window.

"Horrible, isn't it." Minnie took a sip of tea. "Stintborough. Worst place in the world."

Polly turned her head slightly to look at her Gran. "I dunno if it's the worst…"

"Don't know, language please. Oh, it's not the worst, but it felt like that as a teenager. I couldn't wait to leave here."

"Really?" Polly uncrossed her arms and shifted on the sofa towards her Gran. "I thought you loved it here. That's what Mum says."

"Your mum doesn't know everything, despite what she would have you believe. And, for that matter, neither do I."

"But you're a professor…"

Minnie smiled slightly. "And I know quite a bit about the history of magic, but there are other things that I am not an expert on…just ask your grandfather."

Polly smiled ever so slightly. "What about Great-Aunt Mione?"

"Oh for Merlin's sake don't listen to her, she spent as much time over at Malfoy Manor as possible. She may think she's an authority on everything but she couldn't wait to leave Colony House, much bigger things for her." Minnie raised an eyebrow at Polly. "How much family history do you know?"

"Oh bloody hell." Polly rolled her eyes and let her head drop upon the back of the sofa. "Is this going to be like when we stayed with Great-Aunt Mione at Forthingsgate? Is there a quiz?"

"No, no quiz. But let me ask you this, do you know who you are named after?"

Polly pulled her head off the sofa and answered in a flat, monotone voice. "I'm named Pauline after Great-Aunt Virginia, it's her middle name."

"Half right." Minnie took a sip of tea. "My sister's middle name is Pauline but she was named after my father's grandmother. How many generations is that?"

After ticking the generations off on her fingers Polly turned to her Gran. "So I'm named after my great-great-great-great Grandmum?"

"Precisely. And from what I know about her she was a corker. Bit of a live wire." Minnie cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Must be something about the name. Gin is, well, my darling sister is like nobody else I know, and I think you've got it, too." She sat the tea down on the side table and looked Polly firmly in the eye. "I know that at your age this is all frightfully boring and dreadful, but your great-grandmum has led a very interesting life. I think you should take advantage of the time to talk to her, she won't be around much longer."

"And what about you, Gran? Have you had an interesting life?" Polly sank back into the sofa cushion. "I'm sure Pryderi has always been the absolute epicenter of excitement in the British Isles. You and Grandpa live on the edge with your card games and stuff."

Minnie tilted her head and looked down her nose, past her glasses at her granddaughter. Alan was right; it was Gwen all over again. "Listen, young lady, I wasn't always the old woman with the grey hair, boring clothes and professor's robes. And, for that matter, neither were your great-grandparents. I tell you what, let's make a little deal. Your mum's told me that you want to be an actress, is that right? WeasleyVision movies?" After seeing her granddaughter nod slightly Minnie held back a smile. "At the end of your two weeks with me if you still think your old Granny led a boring life I'll talk to your mum about the whole acting bit. If you decide otherwise, well, let's just say I'll make it worth your time. Do we have a deal?"

Polly nodded quickly. "I can't lose, then. I like it. Sure, we have a deal, Gran."

"Good." Minnie slowly got off of the sofa, wiggled her toes and picked up her teacup. "Now tell your grandfather I popped off to get some things from our house and that I'll be back within the hour." She placed the teacup in the sink, returned back and slipped on her shoes, and a pinch of Floo powder later she was gone from Colony House, leaving her granddaughter to wonder what she'd got herself into.

-ooo-

It was a cold morning, even all the quilts on top of the duvet didn't help. Minnie looked over to see her twin Mione sleeping soundly in her bed and decided to get up. Once she'd put on her house robe and slippers she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, her path faintly illuminated by the fairy lights on the Christmas tree. As she made her way towards the kitchen she realized that everyone else in the house was still asleep, including HR and his roommates who had decided to stay for the first part of the Christmas holiday; they were all asleep in the living room, crashed out on the floor and on the sofa in front of the old Muggle television and game system that HR had convinced their father to bring out last night.

She walked quietly to make sure she didn't wake them and when she got to the kitchen she poured herself a glass of milk and took out three Christmas cookies that her father had made the day before. They had all helped decorate the cookies, and even though she was thirteen, and ostensibly too old for the childish routine of cookie decoration she had rather enjoyed it. It was after the first cookie that she realized that someone else was awake and she was somewhat startled to see Finn Waters, HR's roommate, sit down next to her in his flannel pajama pants and an old Tutshill Tornadoes t-shirt.

"You're up early." He reached across and took a cookie from her plate. "Sorry, hungry, there's more, right?"

She nodded. "Do you want some milk? I can get you…"

He shook his head. "I'll get some in a bit. So why're you up so early?"

Minnie shrugged. "I'm not sure. Just woke up."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Glad Professor Muggle brought out that game thingy, it was getting a little too serious."

"I'll just get you some milk." Minnie got up from the table and poured a glass of milk for Finn; she knew exactly what he was talking about; of late every conversation seemed to turn to the same topic, that of war, war with the WLF, a war that could potentially involve every magical country in the world. The papers had said that Britain might even be forming an army, an army of wizards, and everyone knew what that meant. Armies need soldiers; HR and his friends would be leaving Hogwarts at the end of the year, the perfect age to be soldiers. She took the cookie jar with her when she returned to the table and sat the milk and cookies in front of Finn.

As he ate another cookie and took a drink of milk Minnie looked at him; dark brown hair, those eyes…he was the roommate that had always been nice to her and Mione, the one who didn't treat them like little kids, even at Hogwarts. She'd known him since she was seven, HR's first year, and he'd been over to Colony House so many times it seemed like he was another older brother.

He tapped her on the arm, bringing her out of her reverie. "You go back to sleep?"

"What? Oh, no, sorry. Just thinking…you're worried about the war, aren't you?"

"Fuck yes. Sorry." He took another drink of milk. "It's bloody scary, you know. I know about the Muggle wars from your dad's class, all the people that died the last time there was a war in England…hell, all of Britain. So many people died. I just know I'm going to get dragged into it. I want to be an Auror, and I heard one of the blokes in the common room say that they'll take everyone who's qualified to begin Auror training for the army straight off, best candidates to be soldiers and all that." He sat with a cookie in his hand and seemed to look straight through the walls. "I don't want to die. Not yet."

Minnie reached out and put her hand on his arm. "I'm sure you'll be fine. You're smart, good with magic…" She saw him look at her, right into her eyes. He leaned forward and put his hand over hers…

"Grandmum!" Polly sat there with her eyes wide open, shock written all over her face. "You kissed Granddad Waters?"

"Yes, he was my first real kiss. Don't worry, Mary Caroline knows all about it. I was young, he was about to go off to war…that was years before he met your grandmother, dear. I certainly wrote about him in my diary after that, though. Now don't you worry, it wasn't like that. Besides, he had a girlfriend at the time…"

"Oh bloody hell, Gran, you were the other woman?"

Minnie laughed and adjusted her glasses. "Oh no, dear, nothing of the sort. You have to remember, the war was starting, and things were much different. It only happened once." After taking a sip of tea Minnie looked over at her granddaughter and spotted a picture on the shelf; in the picture Melody and Hank Boyd stood in formal robes, smiling at each other. It was the way that her mum looked at her dad that helped seal her decision. "Pauline, I have a reading assignment for you."

"Oh Merlin, stun me now."

Minnie laughed. "Oh no, I think you'll enjoy this. I'm going to let you do something I've never let anyone do, not even your grandfather. How would you like to read my diaries?"

"What?" Polly sat up, took her feet off of the coffee table and looked at her grandmother as if she'd grown another head. "Your diaries?"

"Not all of them, of course. But some. Are you interested?"

"Why now, Gran?"

Minnie took out her wand and levitated the picture of her parents over to the sofa. "This is why, Polly. I know you've heard about my parents, but it's even more incredible than you've been told. I know the stories, Mum told me. I don't want those stories to die and, well, sweetie, I'm not getting any younger. I don't want mine to die out, either. You are my only grandchild, and yes, it is history, but its family history."

Polly took the picture from her Grandmum and watched Melody and Hank Boyd walk down the steps at a house in full formal attire, stop and smile for the camera. The smile on Hank's face was undeniable, and the look in Melody's eyes said volumes. "Um, Gran, does Granddad know you're going to do this? I don't want to read any of the smutty parts."

"I promise, no 'smutty parts' as you say, I will keep some things private. I've put a charm on the diaries to edit out anything such as that."

-ooo-

Polly turned over onto her stomach in the little bedroom in her Great-Grandmum's house. Apparently the room was her Great Aunt Virginia's room when she grew up here in Stintborough, as the colors ran more towards the green of Slytherin than any other room in the house. She reached up towards the little side table and took down the photo album that her Grandmum had given her before turning in for the night, and after flipping through the first few pages she stopped and shook her head. She knew that her Grandmum Minnie hadn't always been like she was now, that when her Grandmum was younger that she and her twin Hermione were almost identical, but now it was hard to imagine that time.

Hermione Malfoy was fashionable, still very slim and was, if Polly was honest, one of those old ladies who said exactly what was on her mind and didn't put up with any nonsense. Her Grandmum? That was a different story. Grandmum Minnie was the same height as her twin but she was, well, rather plump. There were constantly cookies and other tasty baked treats, not to mention the sweets, at her grandparent's house in Pryderi. She always wore her long, grey hair pulled back into a bun or some other conservative hairstyle, never wore makeup and her clothes looked as if they were in style forty years ago. Whenever she stayed with her grandparents the routine was always the same; Grandmum would make their meal, usually from scratch, she and her Grandfather would do the dishes once they'd finished eating and after everything was cleaned away they would play cards and have pudding. Every single time. Just once Polly wished they would go fly on brooms, go to the WeasleyVision cinema, anything, but they always did the same bloody thing. Maybe the diaries would explain why her grandmum was so boring; maybe she could avoid falling into that trap.

Polly opened the diary her grandmum had given her and looked at the date; 1 September 2023. It didn't take long for her to figure out that it was her Grandmum's first year at Hogwarts. The glance at the inside of the front cover did make her laugh, though, as besides the warnings for everyone to stay out of her diary, especially Virginia, her grandmum had written her name, but underneath Minerva Lane Boyd was another name: Mrs. Albus Potter. Polly snorted and flipped open the first page.

Dear Diary,

I'm in Ravenclaw! I can't believe I'm in here, Ravenclaws are so smart. I hope I'm not the first dumb one. Mione was sorted into Gryffindor and this is the first time I've ever been without her. It feels so weird. Now my family has one child in every house and I don't know if that's ever happened.

I wish Albus was still here at Hogwarts but he left and I'm not sure where he is. Maybe Ireland. I bet if I study hard and get really good at magic he'll realize I'm much smarter and more grown up than other girls my age. Mione still thinks she's going to marry him but she's wrong, it's going to be me.

HR was nice but Gin was mean to me when I saw her after the sorting. I wish she would go live with Grandma and Grandpa Boyd in the UMS and leave me alone. She's so bossy!

My roommates are Annabelle Worthington, Cleopatra Snikking and Opal McLaggen. Annabelle said to call her Annie and Cleopatra said to call her Cleo. Opal doesn't have a short name because her name is short. They are all very pretty and very smart, especially Cleo who says her family comes from Egypt that's why she has such pretty skin and was named after a Muggle queen of Egypt. All their families are old wizarding families so they had a lot of questions about Muggle stuff. I hope Dad doesn't embarrass me when they take his class.

Must dash, classes start early and I don't want to miss anything. I do miss my dog Spit though. Maybe if I get good marks Mum will let me have an owl!

Goodnight Diary.

Mrs. Minerva Lane Potter (Al's wife)