Chapter 1:
The Leaky Cauldron was full of witches and wizards enjoying good food and fellowship. Some days it was hard to believe nineteen years had passed. Hannah Abbot Longbottom, now the owner of the Cauldron, crossed the room to hand out a complimentary round of butter beers to her favorite customers. She was nearly knocked over by a scruffy, older wizard who was not watching where he was walking. Hannah Longbottom stumbled slightly as she took in the man's appearance. At first glance, there did not appear to be anything menacing about him, just another man who had celebrated a bit too much for whatever reason. Old habits still ingrained from her days in Dumbledore's Army, Hannah felt compelled to take a closer look.
His clothes were ragged. His hair was matted and the odor of stale Firewhiskey wafted off him. He looked as if he had not slept in week, his balance was off she gathered from how he swayed back and forth though he seemed rooted to the floor. Hannah surmised, with years of experience from owning The Leaky Cauldron that his uneven stance was probably due to being completely sloshed. After taking this closer look, she quickly realized that there was nothing sinister about the older wizard.
Hannah was just about to coolly find out what he needed. When she noticed the reason for his inattention—his eyes were glued to the large party that took up the entire back room of the pub. Hannah allowed her gaze to follow his, a smile brightening her features. She understood the intensity of the man's gaze. After all it wasn't every day that you saw the three heroes of the last great Wizarding war doing something as normal as having dinner with their families.
She reached out and tapped the man on the shoulder, "Sir? Is there something I can do for you?"
Unsurprisingly, the man nearly jumped out of his skin at Hannah's words. He struggled to change his focus from the large gathering to Hannah's gaze. He tried to speak, but for several moments was unable to do anything but stutter wordlessly. Finally he managed a feeble "Is that . . . ?" Hannah nodded, and began gently steering the man towards an available seat at the bar.
"Yes, they are. Let's give them some privacy now; it's a bit of a family affair. Why don't you come sit over here and I'll get you some steak and kidney pie on the house. . ." She couldn't believe sometimes that it had been nine years since they had started this "Weasley" family tradition. As the man passed in front of her, she caught him muttering under his breath.
"They look so different from the day they raided the store. My lifetime's work wrecked by a pair of wizards barely out of their Hogwarts' robes. . ."
Hannah was stunned to hear the venom in the man's tone. Apparently, he was not just a harmless drunk but he also had a dark past. He seemed to have recognized Harry and Ron from their early days as Aurors, when their chief responsibility was to raid areas of suspected dark magic. Her first instinct was to hex the old fool and toss him out of her pub faster than he could blink, but Hannah decided to first go have a word with her old friends. After all, she still needed to bring them the clinking butter beers.
Suppressing her concerns momentarily, Hannah quickly spoke with her bartender about getting the man a decent meal with nothing stronger to drink than pumpkin juice. She turned to head towards her old friends, but was forced to dodge out of the way of the massive pile of used dishes her newest employee was levitating before him towards the kitchen. While he apologized profusely for nearly hitting her, Hannah patted his shoulder and waived off the incident as nothing more than a minor occupational hazard. She complimented him on the strength of his levitation charm and then made her way over to the large family in the back of her pub, eager to be a part of their happiness.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joy surrounded the group like an old familiar cloak, and for the second time that day Harry marveled at the peace and happiness that now made up his everyday life, but most of all he loved the normalcy of an outing with his family. He found it hard to believe that this was his life, that the danger and uncertainty that had filled his youth had given way to the contentment. The memory of his school years was that of an unloved awkward adolescent who was eventually left by all of the adults he considered to be his family. He considered his role in ridding the Wizarding world of its greatest evil to be of far less of importance than the time spent with the loving family and friends that surrounded him now. All the family members were there, of course, as they had been every year since Teddy Lupin had started at Hogwarts. Harry felt amazed that the entire Weasley family came each year, even Charlie who was normally so busy in Romania, but he had to admit there was something extremely comforting in the tradition.
George was animated in his re-telling of the latest prank his oldest son had pulled on him before leaving for his fourth year at Hogwarts. Fred, who had been named for the uncle he would never know, had gotten the idea from a Muggle film he had seen with his best friend Fred Jordan. It was hardly a surprise to anyone when the two developed an intense bond as young children and with that bond a tendency to give in to their mischievous natures; it was almost as if they were reliving the "Weasley twins" greatest escapades. In their most recent escapade, the boys had taken huge amounts of bog roll and decorated the trees surrounding both of their homes. Using their brooms, they wove a lasting tapestry of tissue through the trees. Their co-conspirators were Teddy and Victorie who aided them by doing charms — to give it color and to be weather resistant for at least two weeks to keep away the persistent English rain. The result was a tissue tapestry of Fred and Fred beaming as they waved a cheeky goodbye to their parents. George beamed with pride at the tricksters' farewell gift, and was trying to develop a kit that produced similar results for the shop.
"If we do that, we're going to have to also develop a cleanup kit." Percy may have stated the words in a perfect deadpan while innocently polishing his glasses, but the words still sent the gathered adults into gales of laughter.
Chuckling, Harry watched as Lily and Hugo—the only of their cousins not yet in Hogwarts—shared a confused look across the table. The two were very close in age and as the youngest members of a very large family were very close. Harry grinned at the fact that the two were once again having one of their famous silent conversations. Such occurrences shocked people outside of the family, on the surface the two children who were the polar opposites in temperament yet always found common ground. Having helped in the raising of the twosome, the majority of their extended family would simply smile and shrug their shoulders. They had long since accepted Lily and Hugo's partnership, and were grateful that they—like all of their cousins—considered one another not only family, but friends as well.
Lily gave a nod in Hugo's direction; knowing this to be the indicator that Hugo would speak to the adults. Harry looked over at his nephew. Hugo's curly hair was a combination of Hermione's chestnut brown and Ron's vibrant red, forming a dark brown with a red hue that increased when he spent time in the sun. His eyes, however, as Mum-Weasley had marveled over thousands of times, were all Ron', a particularly vibrant shade of blue. Hugo had his mother's intelligence, yet had his father's lack of patience with those studies he considered a waste of time. He was currently bending and unbending the flexi-straw in his pumpkin juice, waiting for a lull in the conversation to speak.
"Uncle Percy, why would you want a cleanup kit for a product whose purpose it is to make a mess, however creative?" Harry was slightly taken aback—as always—by the maturity of both Hugo's tone and word choice. They were clear indicators of being raised by the brightest witch of her age.
Percy wiped away some froth on his lip with a napkin and raised an eyebrow at Hugo. "Well, for one thing it's good business."
"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why most everyone cracked up when you said it," chimed in Lily. She had inherited her mother's frankness, especially concerning matters where she felt she was being excluded because of her age.
"Right you are, Tiger-Lily. You see, when Uncle Percy and I were first partners, we had this brilliant idea. We charmed bugs to follow around a target selected by their owner and then explode. The bugs left this fantastic goo behind when they burst, damn difficult to get out of robes too. You see, we found out that interesting tidbit when. . ."
Harry's attention was pulled away from George's story by a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Hannah Longbottom offering him a butter beer, which he gladly accepted. Hannah left her hand on his shoulder, and then quietly asked if she could speak with him and Ron for a moment. Harry noted the concern in her eyes, and quickly nodded. He kicked Ron's foot under the table to get his attention, and then gestured with that they needed to follow Hannah. His long time best friend rolled his eyes and nodded before leaning over to give Hermione a quick kiss on the cheek before whispering in her ear. Hermione smiled and nodded, muttering a response to Ron as he rose from the table. Harry could only imagine what she'd found to say with such quick timing, but it caused Ron's throaty chuckle to fill the room as he rose from the table to come talk with Harry and Hannah.
"I'm really sorry to interrupt. . ." Harry held up a hand to forestall any further explanation from Hannah. The three of them had wandered over to a corner of the pub that was out of earshot from the gathered family.
"Hannah, it's fine, isn't it Ron?"
"Of course it is," Ron readily agreed. "You're really doing us a favor saving us from that old story of George's. Heard it often enough that we can recite it, eh, Harry?"
"Too right. Come on then, Hannah; tell us what's bothering you. I've not seen you so anxious since you found out you were pregnant with Abigail, what's wrong?
Harry watched as the lines around Hannah's eyes eased away as he and Ron reassured her with easy words. Taking a deep breath, she quickly explained her encounter with the shabby old man sitting at the bar and the menacing words he had muttered. Harry and Ron turned to look at the man, who was now completely engrossed with his complimentary meal.
Ron's deep voice broke the silence, "Yeah that would be old C.B."
"Who?" Hannah asked in a confused voice as her friends turned back to her.
"Caractacus Burke," answered Harry. "He was one of the owners of Borgin and Burke's down on Knockturn Alley. The store carried some really foul stuff—enough to get the Ministry's attention."
Here Ron snorted a laugh, "Yeah, after you'd been hounding them to check in on them ever since the end of the Final Battle. I think their place was our first raid as fully fledged Aurors," Ron broke in. "That's got to be close to seventeen, eighteen years gone now. Not really surprised to hear he's still moaning about it. Still, he shouldn't be anything to fret over. Right, Harry?"
Harry smiled confidently at Hannah, "He shouldn't cause too much of a problem. All the same, I'll contact headquarters about it and suggest they have someone come by in plain robes and keep an eye on him. Can't have something happen to our favorite pub and all."
Hannah's face turned rosy at the compliment as she muttered her thanks. Both Ron and Harry waved it off easily.
"Harry's right, better to get some young and on-duty Auror down here to watch just in case. While he's handling that, how about you come and have a bit of a drink with your favorite customers. Best place on Diagon Alley to get one, even if they do let this rowdy group nearly take over every first of September. Speaking of, isn't your son off for his first year as well?"
"Oh yes, Frank insisted he take the train this morning like all of the other students. Stayed with his great-gran for a week because he didn't want to just walk in with his father—thought he'd miss out on all the fun of his first train ride. After all, he's always going on about how his Da met Harry and you that day, and how After all, he's always going on about how his Da met Harry and you that day, and how you all became such good friends after that. Always after an adventure, that son of mine. He even got Alice to go along with it. Even though my logical Ravenclaw girl didn't see much sense in taking the train all the way back up to Scotland when they could have just flooed home from here this morning and meet up with everyone at the Hogsmeade Station."
Harry smiled to himself as Hannah continued to talk with Ron on the way back to the table. It was clear to anyone willing to listen that her three children were the pride of her life. Like many of their generation, the Longbottom children were named for those who had been lost during the fight against Voldemort. It had been a way of honoring those who were lost.
Harry made his way to the pub's back entrance and stepped out into the warm evening. He cast a quick patronus to send the information they had learned as well as their suggestion to have someone monitor Burke for the evening, for safety's sake. After he was finished he turned to head back inside and was swept into a bone crushing hug. A familiar voice called out "Nitch!" as Harry felt himself lifted bodily from the ground.
"Cor, Teddy! Let an old man breathe, will ya?" Harry chuckled as he hugged his godson with equal enthusiasm.
"You're not old, Nitch. Gingersnap says if I call you old that means that I'm calling her old, which is definitely not allowed. I don't fancy being on the bad end of her Bat Bogey Hex again. That time after fifth year was bad enough, and all I did was point out a family resemblance!"
The memory floated back to Harry. He had returned home from work one day to find Ginny scrubbing down the kitchen—a clear indication that she was upset about something. A glance into the living room revealed fifteen year old Teddy blowing sickly green bats from his nose while his cousin James laughed uproariously on the couch.
It had taken Harry nearly ten minutes to extract the story from his son, who would lose concentration whenever Teddy released new bats with a sneeze. It turned out that the three of them had been going through stacks of old family photos when Teddy had made the unfortunate comment that Ginny looked strikingly similar to a particular witch in one of the pictures. The comment was unfortunate because it turned out that the bubbly young witch in the photo was Aunt Muriel—a woman who Ginny and her siblings associated with being old, unattractive and horrible. It had taken a pint of Ginny's favorite ice cream and the better part of a bottle of wine, but Harry had eventually been able to convince his wife that it had been an innocent comment. The story was still fodder for familial teasing at Weasley get-togethers, to the amusement of them all.
Recalling the incident, Harry could not help but chuckle as he clapped Teddy on the back. "Speaking of Ginny, she and I have been doing a bit of talking lately. Would you like to come and live with us, seeing as you are there so often?" At the shocked look that crossed Teddy's face, Harry wondered if he had made a mistake in thinking Teddy would want to move in with him and Ginny. "Obviously we know you're grown now, and you probably want to be on your own. . ."
"Are you kidding me?! This is great! Except, where are you going to put James and Albus? Not together? Because if you are then I am never coming over again, ever."
The tension of the moment gone, Harry responded with a visible shudder. "Merlin's beard, no! The details are not all worked out yet. But one thing is for certain, the boys will never end up sharing a room, for their health and my sanity. Come on, let's get back, we can tell Ginny and Lily the good news at the end of the night. The details will work themselves out."
Godfather and godson made their way back in to the cheerfully noisy pub, and found the back table veritably buzzing with excitement. Two large Hogwarts owls were perched on Harry's vacant chair, while Hugo and Lily and Ron were all being told by various adults that they had to wait for Harry to return to open the letters. Hermione's protests caught Harry's attention.
"You are just going to have to wait, the pair of you. And don't you dare try that puppy dog look, either of you. Honestly Ronald, I expect some of this behavior from Hugo as he is still a child, but not a grown man. What has gotten in to the two of you tonight?"
"But 'Mione! This is important; we finally get to find out what House Rose is in! I mean, of course it'll be Gryffindor." Harry shook his head at his friend's comment and watched as Hermione's eyebrows knitted together dangerously.
"Ronald Weasley, are you implying that you wouldn't be happy if Rose were sorted in to any other House?"
Ever the peacemaker, Hugo chimed in, "Now don't start, Mum. Dad didn't say anything of the sort. After all, he still loves Lucy and she was sorted in Slytherin."
The way Hugo half-whispered the last word caused a laugh spread through the gathered adults. Lucy's sorting hadn't come as too much of a surprise, given much of her mum's side of the family were former Slytherins. As a young child, Lucy had taken a keen interest in improving the future of her father and Uncle George's store, and held lofty hopes for her own future. It was a trait Percy had encouraged, and though he had hoped for both of his twin girls to be in Gryffindor he knew that Lucy would excel in any of the houses.
Lily had caught sight of her father and Teddy heading toward the table and gave an excited squeal as she rushed over to her father to be scooped into a hug. "Finally! He's back and Teddy's with him. There's no more reason to wait now can we please open them now, Mum, can we!?"
Before Ginny could respond, however, a tiny owl flew into the room at breakneck speed, his blurry wings emitting an audible hum. The exuberant creature flew to Ron and whirred around his head three times before dropping a rather large envelop in his lap. The owl then gave a self-satisfied hoot and perched itself on an empty butter beer bottle. He fixed Ron with his golden gaze, glanced down at the envelope clacking his beak impatiently. Ron gave a sigh of exasperation as he picked up the envelope and offered the owl a bit of leftover meat from his plate.
"Honestly, 'Mione, how did you ever convince me to allow Pig to breed? His offspring are even more rambunctious than he was. . ."
Hermione smiled sweetly at her husband, "Yes, exactly like his owner, isn't he?"
The resulting laughter was cut off as Ron tore open the envelope, causing a chorus of trumpets to fill the air. The envelope formed a puppet like face and bobbed along to the beat of the music. A moment later, it began to speak and Rose Weasley's voice could be heard by all at the table.
"Hello Dad, Mum, Hugo and. . . well I guess everyone else. Hold on a mo', I'll get Al to come say hi. . . AL! Leave the chess for two ticks and come say hi to everyone, this charm wasn't easy!"
A moment later Albus' distinctly quieter voice came from the envelope, " 'Lo, all. I'd love to stay and chat but I'm in the middle of quite the match, so I'll let Rosie go back to what she was doing. Oh! Lils, thanks for sneaking in the extra pouch of chocolate frogs!"
There was a sound of shuffling and Rose's voice returned to speak to them. "I do hope Piglet got this to you before you opened the other envelopes. I just figured out this great way to show . . . oh just watch, I hope you won't be disappointed. Love to you all!"
"What on earth is she on about, disappointed. . ." Hermione cut off Ron, covering his mouth with her hand as she nodded toward the envelope, which appeared to have transformed into a door. The whole of the family hurriedly gathered on one side of the table, eagerly awaiting whatever announcement was about to be made.
They didn't have long to wait, for a moment later a deep, rumbling roar filled the room. Harry mistook it for thunder initially, but then a large golden lion leaped from the now open door the envelope had created, and was followed closely by another. The table burst into various forms of cheers and applause as it became apparent that the names of the latest family members to head off to Hogwarts were attached to pennants on the lions' tails. Harry laughed as Ron swung Hugo onto his shoulders to run a victory lap around the table. After a few moments, the lions faded away and the envelope once again represented a puppet.
"Like I said, I hope you're not disappointed in the charm—I had a beastly time trying to decide how to include our names. At any rate, there's one more thing in the envelope that I thought you would all like—a picture of all the new Gryffindors! Al and I love and miss you, now go look at the picture and read your letters!" the last was said in a clearly unknown resemblance of her mother's voice.
While everyone else was chuckling and celebrating—complete with another victory lap from Ron and Hugo—Harry set Lily down in her mother's lap and went over to Hermione. He had intended to make a snarky comment about Rose knowing so much about charms already, but when he spotted the tears of laughter running down Hermione's cheeks he simply had to look at the picture Hermione held in her hand. He had originally thought her laughter to be from amusement at Rose's imitation, but as he gazed at the picture, he quickly spotted the source of her mirth. For there, sitting between Albus and Rose sat none other than Scorpious Malfoy, an arm thrown around each of his new housemates. The young blond boy had a goofy grin on his face, and to top it off Rose sat next to him in the photograph winking cheekily. The image sent Harry into a fit of laughter so strong that tears began to stream down his face. He practically fell into Ron's chair, his ribs aching as he recalled Ron's advice to his daughter that morning not to get too close to their old rival's child.
Ron had set Hugo back down and returned to Hermione's side, pausing to thump Harry on the back twice. "Steady on there, mate. Rosie's mimicry certainly isn't anything to cry over!"
Gasping for breath between laughs, Harry managed to shake his head and point to the photo Hermione was holding out for Ron to inspect. He watched as Ron stared at the photo open mouthed, as if he refused to believe what he was seeing. The color first drained from Ron's face and then returned with reinforcements. Harry performed a mental countdown as he watched Ron's lips contort.
5. . . .
4. . . .
3. . . .
2. . . .
1. . . .
"BLOODY SODDING HELL!!!"
Hearing his little brother's outburst, George hurried round the table to see the source of Ron's outrage. As he looked at the photograph, a devilish grin spread across his features.
"Well, just look at that? Not only did the munchkins get into Gryffindor, but it would appear they are in astounding company as well. See here, there's Frank Longbottom, I'm sure Neville's thrilled. And do my eyes deceive me? For I do believe that is none other than young Scorpious Malfoy sitting ever so cozily with his arm around one Rose Weasley!"
The three other Weasley brothers leaped from their seats to get a good view of the photograph. Even Percy joined in the good-natured teasing of poor Ron, which lasted for several minutes. Eventually, their wives called off the men and everyone returned to their seats, Harry squeezing Ginny's shoulder as he sat back down next to her. Percy's wife Audrey patted Ron lightly on the back, trying to offer her encouragement.
"Chin up there, Ron. Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll not get on very well."
This comment was met with a low groan from Ron, "Don't say that. If they don't get on it just means they'll argue all the time. And if they argue all the time. . ." Ron plopped down in a chair and put his head in his hands while Hermione tried to stop his worrying.
"Now Ron, just because Rose is more like you than anyone else in the family does not mean she'll fancy someone with whom she argues all the time. And isn't she a bit young for us to be worrying about that right now?"
Ginny gave a snort of laughter. "Because, you know, the two of you didn't fall for each other at the tender age of eleven or anything. . ."
Hermione rolled her eyes at her sister-in-law, "Technically, I was 12 and I don't seem to recall your brother noticing I was a girl until I was at least fifteen. . ."
"OI!" Ron protested, "I had noticed you were a girl before then, I can't help it if I was a bit of arse. Besides, I recall we were too busy fighting for our lives to have any kind of real romance at Hogwarts." He glared at Harry, who's mouth was open with a comment, "And that whole mess with Lavender did NOT count, end of discussion. Besides, 'Mione, I do believe I more than made up for it later." Ron moved in to kiss his wife gently while his fingers played with her diamond and sapphire engagement ring.
Harry bit back his laughter as Lily and Hugo made exaggerated gagging noises at the display of parental 'mush.' "They are pretty disgusting, aren't they?"
His daughter and nephew nodded vehemently while Hermione broke the kiss to look at Harry with an arched eyebrow. "I really don't think you are in any position to take the mickey out of anyone for romantic inclinations, are you now Pygmy Puff?"
Harry stuck his tongue out at this long time best friend and pulled Ginny closer to him. He gently placed a kiss on the top of her head and felt her shift her weight restlessly in her chair. Placing his hand under her chin, Harry tilted her face up towards him and caught the worry in her hazel eyes.
"What's wrong, love?" Harry asked with a small amount of surprise in his voice.
"I am not really sure. I've just got a bit of a bad feeling, as if we're being watched or something."
"Love, we're watched everywhere we go. Hard not to be with this crowd. Now if your articles weren't as stellar as you insist upon making them. . ."
Ginny lightly smacked Harry on the shoulder before cuddling into his chest. "Not like that! It's probably nothing, but I just feel . . . disconcerted would be the word, I suppose. What did Hannah want, then?"
Harry squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, and told her briefly about what Hannah had discussed with he and Ron, making sure to emphasize that he had already informed the Ministry and that someone was surely there by now watching out for them.
"I suppose Burke was what was bothering me then. Maybe I am feeling a bit out of place now that Al's at school too, before long Lily will be gone as well and then what will we do?" Harry couldn't take seeing the sadness etched in his wife's eyes so he leaned in and whispered a few choice ideas into her ear.
"Harry James Potter!" She hissed, her face nearly matching her hair color as she pulled him in closer to her, "If you don't make good on that I swear you will pay for it." The last bit sultrily whispered in his ear, Ginny proceeded to kiss him with the passion that had always been present in their marriage. As he enjoyed the snog, Harry felt two thoughts whizzing through his brain: first he paused to think at how lucky he really was in life. Friends who were constant and true, a family he adored and the love of his life still as mad for him as he was for her, it was pure bliss. Second: he decided he'd ask Ron if Lily could come have a sleepover at Hugo's so he could ensure the continued devotion of his loving wife—truly, all was well.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Watching the gathering at the back of the pub, I could feel my emotions as the violent, tearing things they were.
At the head of the charge was an almost indescribable amount of rage. How could they appear so perfectly happy with themselves? What gave them the right to feel as if they were on top of the world when their actions had cost so many so much?
Especially Him. He was the worst of them all; filling me with such hatred that even the thought of His name caused bile to rise in the back of my throat. How dare He sit there comfortably surrounded by a loving family while I have been forced into obscurity by His actions? Did He have no humility that He should brazenly appear in public as if he were nothing other than a complete and total failure?
Next came a wave of jealousy embarrassing in its intensity. As much as I hated the display before me, I could not help but wish I were a part of it, even were it in some small way. There is something about His obvious closeness to the imbeciles that surrounded Him that made me wish there was a place for me. This jealousy lasted for but a moment before being replaced by shame at my own weakness.
How can it even matter to me after all of this time? The entire time I have been here, He has caught my eye twice, and the second time I even received a polite smile and nod of the head. After the momentary elation over even this miniscule form of acknowledgement, shame bubbled up inside of me like a noxious potion left over a flame for far too long. I could feel it course through my veins—hot, thick and laden with the knowledge that if I continued to let myself feel this way, there would be no way my plan could succeed. Even the most meticulously organized plot—which, naturally, is what I have concocted—can be destroyed by the ebb and flow of these heady emotions within me.
Fortunately, I was able rise above my own emotions for long enough to hear the plans of the group.
"Aunt Ginny, aren't you covering the Canons' match tomorrow?"
"That I am, which means it's time for us to head on home, come on then Lils, we'll go pack your bag and you can Floo over to Hugo's in a bit."
The protests of the other family members became mere background noise as one final emotion flooded through me: anticipation. Because with that bit of information, I now know that my plan can go forward, and the Man who Failed can finally be made to pay in full.
Hey there out in world. This is a new story that I am working on that is substantially darker from my old work. I haven't really decided if it's worth carrying on past this, so I thought I would let you guys be the judge? What do you think? Glomps Hugs and Pygmy Puffs, UD