Please don't expect updates this often on a usual bases. I don't have a lot of time to work on my stories. What college student does?
CHAPTER TWO
"Who would like to read first?" Dumbledore asked once everyone had sat down in the living area.
"I would," Hermione and Remus both said.
"Oh, you go ahead, Professor."
"I'm not a professor anymore, Hermione. You can call me Remus."
Hermione nodded.
Dumbledore handed the manuscript to Remus. "Please begin."
"It looks like the first few chapters are all in regular print," Remus told the others as he flipped through the beginning of the manuscript.
"Chapter One," Remus read.
It was March 1, 2004,
"Hey, that's my birthday," Ron said.
nearly six years since the final battle and the demise of Voldemort.
Hermione quickly did the math. "That means he was defeated in 1998, probably two and half years from now."
All the Weasley children, except Charlie, were now happily married.
"Oh, my babies, married," Molly cried, tears filling her eyes.
Luna and Neville were engaged to Rolf and Hannah respectively.
Luna smiled at this, happy that she would meet someone who understood her.
Neville and Hannah looked at each other briefly. They quickly turned away, and an awkward moment ensued.
Remus continued.
Ginny's and Angelina's due dates were fast approaching.
"Oh, Ginny. Pregnant?" Molly asked herself out loud.
The Weasley boys looked ready to fight Ginny's future husband.
Ginny, trying to get some of the attention off of herself, asked, "I wonder who married Angelina?"
Kingsley had revolutionized the Ministry and was still Minister of Magic.
"Yes! Fudge is gone!" most of the young people shouted.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Congratulations, Kingsley."
Kingsley was overwhelmed at the news. He was also a little nervous as Moody was appraising him with his glass eye.
McGonagall was currently Headmistress of Hogwarts,
McGonagall, who realized what this meant, turned to Dumbledore. "You can't be dead. You're the only one Voldemort fears."
Everyone, now also having realized what had to have happened, looked horrified at the Headmaster.
Dumbledore's twinkle had left his eye. Yet, he responded calmly to the stares and to McGonagall's words. "On the contrary, I believe that he fears Harry as well."
McGonagall was getting frustrated. "You know what I meant, Albus."
"We should get back to the book. We can discuss this later. For all we know, it could have happened years after the war ended," Dumbledore said.
Everyone looked calmer, so Remus began to read again.
which had been lovingly rebuilt to its former glory even though a few scars still remained.
Dumbledore thought he knew what this meant but decided not to mention it.
Everyone was moving on.
The family was gathered for Ron's birthday.
Ron smiled.
His parents, Hermione, Harry and Ginny,
"Why is there an 'and' between Harry and Ginny's names?" Ron asked aloud, staring at his friend with the beginning of glare.
Sirius answered him. "Because they're married!"
At this, all the Weasley boys turned and glared at Harry who was blushing and avoiding their eyes.
Ginny stepped in. "Leave him alone," she told her brothers. "It's none of your business who I date or who I marry." The boys looked somewhat ashamed though they were still throwing glares at Harry. Internally, Ginny was smiling. I'll have to break up with Michael, she thought.
George and Angelina,
"Wait, I thought Fred took Angelina to the Yule Ball last year?" Ron asked.
Hermione shushed him, "Have some tact, Ron!"
Angelina spoke up. "It's alright, Hermione. Actually, Fred asked me, but George took me. I can only assume that he was too nervous to ask me himself, so Fred did it for him. Then, they switched on me."
Fred and George looked shocked. "You knew?" George asked.
Angelina sighed. "Of course I knew, George. I've been friends with you and Fred since first year. I can tell you apart."
George smiled at her.
Remus continued.
Percy and Audrey,
Molly teared up. "Percy…" she whispered to Arthur, who hugged her close.
Bill and Fleur,
Bill and Fleur glanced quickly at each other and turned away, blushing.
Neville and Hannah, Luna and Rolf, and Charlie had all gathered to celebrate with the now 24-year-old. Young Teddy and Victoire
"Who?" Sirius asked?
"They're someone's children, Sirius," Remus sighed.
"Yeah, but whose kids are they?"
"Well, Victoire sounds like a French name…" Fleur commented.
Tonks spoke up. "My dad's name is Ted. Maybe Teddy is mine?"
"I'm sure we'll find out at some point," Dumbledore got everyone's focus.
were spending the day at Andromeda's
"Yeah, Teddy probably is your child, Tonks, if Andromeda's watching him," Sirius commented
"Can I get through one sentence without interruptions?" Remus asked, frustrated.
so that the adults could have some time to themselves.
They were all sitting outside the Burrow enjoying the rare spring weather and just being all together again.
Ginny had just realized something. "Wait, what about Fred? It didn't mention him."
As soon as she asked this, the adults realized. Molly began to cry, and Arthur pulled her close, fighting tears. McGonagall teared up. Everyone else looked shocked or sad. George had frozen.
Fred looked around and decided that he needed to talk to George first. He leaned in close to his twin. "George? George, look at me." Fred grabbed George's shoulder tightly and said again, "Look at me."
George looked up. His eyes were overflowing with tears. "You can't die," he told his brother. "You can't die."
At this, everyone teared up or started to cry.
Fred pulled George into a hug. "For all we know, George, I might just have been unable to come."
George shook his head. "You and I both know that's not true. You're dead."
Fred didn't know what else to say, but Harry remembered the note.
"Remember what the note said? We have an opportunity to change our future."
"Yeah, George. We can change this," Fred assured his twin. George nodded, but he did not look entirely convinced. Fred turned to his mother, prepared to assure her, but Harry's words had already done so.
Remus continued.
Ron had begun opening his gifts several minutes earlier. As he reached the bottom of the fairly large pile, he reached for the last present, looked at the card attached to the top, and tilted his head in confusion. "I thought this was supposed to be my birthday party," he said half-jokingly, "Why has someone given me a present I have to share with Harry and Hermione?" He looked around at his family and friends. All of them looked just as confused as he was.
"Put it down. No one there gave it to you," Mad-Eye said.
Tonks felt like informing him that he was talking to a book, but with one look at the nervous faces around the room, she decided against it.
"What are you talking about, Ron?" Ginny questioned her brother.
"This gift. It's addressed to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. My name's not even listed first," explained Ron fake-pouting at the end.
Ron thought to himself, "Of course it's not."
Harry, who had never been able to completely get rid of the voice in his head that sounded an awful lot like Mad-Eye,
"Good. Constant Vigilance!" Mad-Eye yelled.
immediately took in the faces around him. He could tell that they were all genuinely confused. None of them had given this present to Ron. "Ron, don't touch it!" he said quickly, drawing his friend's attention. "No one here sent it. It could be dangerous."
Ron instantly dropped the package which made a loud thud as it hit the table. Everyone stood up and backed away from it, the men taking protective stances in front of their wives/fiancés.
Hermione and Ginny huffed. "Honestly, we can protect ourselves," Ginny said.
Wisely, none of the males responded.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron had their wands out, prepared for the worst to happen. Harry signaled to his friends to search the surrounding area with their eyes as he moved forward to cast spells on the gift to check for Dark Magic. Finding none, he said, "It's not Dark."
Everyone gave a sigh of relief.
He placed his wand back in his pocket and carefully reached out to pick up the package. Closer now, he saw that there was more on the note than just their names.
TO HARRY, RON, AND HERMIONE
READ THIS NOTE BEFORE OPENING THE PACKAGE.
THIS NOTE IS FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.
YOU MIGHT WISH TO GO SOMEWHERE PRIVATE.
~A FRIEND~
"It could be a trap," Mad-Eye warned.
"Or, the book could be from the same 'friend' that gave us this manuscript," Tonks commented.
"It probably is the same person," Remus agreed.
Harry turned to his friends. "The note says it's for our eyes only." The three looked at each other, communicating with their eyes as they so often did. Harry turned back to his family. "Go ahead and sit down and relax. Eat some cake. We'll—"
But Ron interrupted. "Don't eat all of the cake though. It's mine, so I should get some of it."
Everyone chuckled. "That's Ron, always thinking of his stomach," Hermione said fondly.
Hermione snorted. "You never change, do you?"
"You wouldn't want me any other way, would you?"
"No."
Ron gave a small smile.
Harry just looked at them for a few seconds as they stared into each other's eyes. He turned to look at Molly. "Don't worry, Mum.
Molly started at Harry calling her "Mum" but then smiled.
We'll be back outside soon." As Molly used her wand to right the chairs that had tumbled over in the family's haste to back away from the possibly dangerous gift, Harry motioned to Neville. "If we're not back out in ten minutes, come looking," he whispered quickly.
Neville looked proud that Harry trusted him with that.
Neville looked at him and nodded. Harry smiled back at his "lieutenant" as the trio had taken to calling him, Ginny, and Luna.
"That's the end of the chapter," Remus said.
"I wonder why we're your lieutenants." Luna questioned in her usual dreamy voice.
"I don't know, Luna. Hopefully, we'll find out," Ginny said.
Dumbledore spoke up. "Who would like to read next?"
