Another chapter, yay! In this chapter you'll find out who their moms are as well as what happened to them in the past. Their past changed and effected them greatly, especially Cole. By the way I own nothing~
Chapter 3: Meeting Mum
The trio walked along the dark road in silence. It wasn't one of those awkward silences. In fact Harry felt more connected to the two children than he did to anyone else. Even if they hadn't talked since they started to trudge through the forest and neighborhoods nearly a half an hour ago. Ella and Cole didn't seem to mind the silence, in fact they liked it since it gave them time to think.
Ella held tightly to Harry's hand feeling that if she let go Harry would disappear forever. Her grip tightened around his small hand making him wince as they approached a small house whose windows were spilling out warm yellow light. Cole walked ahead of them yanking the front door open, allowing Ella and Harry to go in first.
Harry stumbled into the hallway followed closely by Ella then Cole. Obviously those two knew to step over the small step that led into the house unlike Harry. Ella giggled behind her hand as Harry teetered on his weak legs. Cole reached out, brushing his arm against Ella's, as he grabbed a hold of Harry's arm to help him become stable.
"Maybe we should have warned you," Ella laughed as she shoved off her shoes.
Cole on the other hand just walked right into the house calling out loudly. "Mum! Where are you?"
"In the kitchen," Replied a warm laughing voice of an young woman.
Harry froze at the sound so used to the scratchy voice of his aunt or the old rumbling voice of Mrs. Figg, who used to watch him whenever the Dursleys' went out. Hearing such a youthful voice of a mother instantly reminded him of his own mum. Yet Harry knew his mum would never greet someone, especially her own son, like that.
Ella paused next to the wide eyed Harry. She reached out to gently nudge his shoulder hoping that he took her hit to continue into the house. Harry glance behind him to see the reassuring smile of Ella. Hesitatively Harry made his way slowly into the living room seeing it lined with boxes and other packing material.
Ella gently took Harry hand leading him toward the kitchen which was connected to the small bare living room. Cole was already in the kitchen talking and gesturing with his hands to a young woman. She had long blonde hair that hung around a round pretty face. Her huge blue eyes were framed by long dark blonde eyelashes. A bright warm smile adorned her face.
Harry could see how a like the woman and Cole were. They both had the same bright blonde hair. Except Cole's face shape was a little different with a more defined features like his jaw and cheekbones. Cole who was only ten reached his mothers shoulders. Harry could tell that Cole would be a tall handsome man in the future.
"Mum," Ella interrupted walking rightly up to the woman who look nothing like her.
"Hello Ella dear," The woman turned her attention away from her son and on to Ella before locking eyes with Harry. "Wow you do look so much more like James than you did as you were a baby."
"You know my parents?" Harry flinched hiding behind Ella in case the woman didn't like him like his parents didn't.
"Used to," She corrected. "We just to all be the best of friends when we were in Hogwarts, our school of course. We were as close as siblings, but like siblings we got into arguments, fights. Those split us apart along with some other variables and I haven't seen or talked to any one of my old friends in 5 years. Opps I'm talking to much aren't I?"
The woman knelt down to look him at his level. She slowly stuck out her hand showing him she meant no harm. "Hello Harry, you don't remember me but I used to see you all the time. My name is Marlene Mckinnon, Cole's mum."
Harry slowly reached around Ella to take Marlene's warm hand into his own. Shaking it once Harry reluctantly withdrew, not sure if this nice lady was in fact truly nice. Marlene's smile faltered as she took in his rugged appearance and malnourish thin body.
"I heard about what happened to you Harry," Marlene smiled slightly at the shy kid who was glancing from his feet to her every couple of seconds. "That you're going to live with us. Which is great!"
"I-I don't have anywhere to go," Harry whispered feeling the need to defend himself. "I-I c-couldn't stay there. No one likes me because I'm a-a-a freak."
Marlene frowned greatly. "You are not a freak Harry. You aren't. Believe me, if you had been a freak Cole and Ella wouldn't have dragged you here."
"I'm still a freak," Harry muttered confidently, well with the lack of confidence but with truthfulness that he felt.
"No you aren't," Ella hissed before she was silenced with one look from Marlene.
"Harry," Marlene paused while the boy looked up to meet her eyes. "You came a long with Cole and Ella to get away from your life, to start a new. What those people said, what those people did, to you don't matter anymore. They are your past while Cole and Ella are your future. You shouldn't let what they said or did get to you anymore. They cannot control you anymore."
"What about you?" Harry questioned into the silence that followed.
"What about me?" Marlene tilted her head like a dog who didn't understand a command.
"You said Cole and Ella, but what about you?" Harry questioned stepping out halfway from behind Ella. Cole smiled sadly at the boy as he leaned against the wall behind them. "Aren't you going to be there?"
"Of course," Marlene smiled brightly before it faded. "I'll be there whenever you need me, as a friend. I will not try to take your mother's place. Like I did not for Ella, yet she didn't listen."
"Obviously," Cole snorted behind them. Ella scrunched up her nose while sticking her tongue out at him in a childish manner.
"I wouldn't mind having you as a mum," Harry blurted out then blushed furiously when all of their eyes turned toward him. "I-I mean you seem really nice a-and you are already a better mum than my own was."
Marlene's eyes got cold at the mention of her old best friend, Lily Potter. It vanished instantly at the sight of the embarrassed Harry in front of her. Marlene's smiled stretched across her face. "I would love to be your new mum Harry."
"Thanks," Harry smiled for a second before starting to shuffle uncomfortably in the room. Next to him smiling widely Ella gestured to Cole about Harry. Cole smiled rolling his eyes at the girls odd gesturing. Ella kept gesturing until she smacked Harry on the back of his head with her hand.
"Oh my! I'm so so so sorry Harry!" Ella gasped as the glasses wearing kid turn to her raising an eyebrow like he saw Cole doing. "Crap, why did you have to raise your eyebrow? I really don't want two people to be doing that. Its kind of disturbing."
"Good job kid," Cole nodded smirking over at Ella who was trying to glare at him.
"I don't want your nasty habits to be past on to this innocent mind!" Ella pointed a finger at him. "Keep your sarcastic bad influences away when you are near him."
"Bad influences?" Cole raised an amused eyebrow. "You're the one who is always happy here, that's just disgusting."
"No its not," Ella objected before he had a chance to finish his sentence. "What's disgusting is being such a pessimist about everything. How can you live your life if you think the worst about everything?"
"How can you live with thinking the positive of everything?" Cole instantly shot back.
"You idiot-" Ella started glaring at him.
"Children stop it please," Marlene looked back and forth between the two fighting kids instantly shutting the both of them up. Turning to Harry, who was wide eyed, she smiled. "They bicker all the time, constantly, but they do get along better than most people. Honestly, they do care about each other."
"Mum," Cole and Ella both sighed exasperated.
Marlene grinned brightly. "Ella honey, why don't you take Harry into Cole's room and help him get ready for bed?"
"Sure," Ella smiled brightly gesturing to Harry. "Come on Harry, follow me."
Harry hesitated before hurried running up to Marlene to hug her legs before letting go right away. "Thank you for letting me stay here."
"Anytime," Marlene smiled softly running her hand through his messy hair before gently pushing him in the direction of Ella. "Get some sleep Harry, Ella."
"Good night," They both called before leaving the kitchen and heading toward on the of doors the lined the hallway by the front door.
Marlene watched them go with a sad smile on her face. She turned abruptly around reaching for the cabinet above the refrigerator. Standing on her tip toes Marlene grabbed a bottle that hadn't been used in quite some time. Cole watched silently as his mother pour herself a glass of fire whiskey before slowly starting to sip it.
"I'm sorry mum," Cole hesitated before speaking. "If I had known you would drink I wouldn't have brought him home."
"Oh its not because of Harry," Marlene assured smiling in assurance to her son. "Even if Harry had been some strange kid on the street I still would have taken him in. No I'm drinking because of Lily, the Potters, bloody hell every single one of my old friends. I cant believe that Lily would have sent her first child to live with those devils, without a second thought. I couldn't believe it the first time I heard it 5 years ago. Now look at Harry, malnourished, low self esteem, afraid of nearly everything. It pains me to see what her actions caused Harry."
"Why would she do that mum?" Cole questioned having only a faint knowledge of what had happened five years ago. "Why would the Potters give up their son?"
Marlene snorted. "Michael, their youngest. He was only a couple of months old when Voldemort attacked when Harry was two. They, everyone, believed that Michael saved them all because he had a strange V shape scar on his hand. Lily and James couldn't handle both of their kids so they wanted to ship him off. They wouldn't even listen to reason.
"First I tried to get Harry to come live with us but Dumbledore said no. Apparently I'm not suited enough to 'handle a delicate case like this'. With Remus being a werewolf and all our chances of having Harry were in the negatives. Then Sirius being Harry's godfather tried to have him come live with him and Ella, but Dumbledore said no as well. Sirius was in too much distress of Dorcas Meadowes being driven insane by Bellatrix," Marlene finished her glass of fire whiskey with a gulp. "He could barely take care of himself, let alone Ella, so how could he take care of Harry?"
"Harry was sent to live with his relatives," Cole nodded knowing what happened.
"I tried to convince them to keep Harry, but no they said it was his for his own safety. Yeah right, they just didn't want to handle Harry as well." Marlene slurred draining another glass full of alcohol. "That day October 31st 1981 ruined all of our lives. Mine, yours, Ella's, and Harry's."
"Mum," Cole warned but Marlene wasn't listening anymore. She wanted to rant so she was going to bloody hell rant all she wanted.
"Everything had been good up until then. Besides the war. We were all close friends, hell we all got married to each other. Remus and myself, Sirius and Dorcas, then James and Lily. Three best friends getting married to another three best friends. Perfect right? Nope," Marlene popped the 'p'. "You came along right away.
"Everyone loved you, hell instead of Remus being your only father it was like you had three. Peter wasn't as keen as the others when it came to children. Dorcas had Ella a year later and not to be undone James and Lily had Harry two years after Ella was born. When you were nearing five years old Lily had another son, Michael, who unfortunately I am the godmother of.
"Things were good, well as good as they could get. We were all happy. Then it all came crashing down when James and Lily went into hiding. All of our relationships were strained. We were all arguing, everyone thought that everyone else was the spy. No one trusted each other. Our school friendship was cracking greatly.
"The only ones who trusted each other was Dorcas and myself," Marlene sighed at the thought of her old best friend. "Then that awful day came. The Potters' babysitter was killed the instant Voldemort walked into the room. No one knows what really went on in the children's nursery but all they know is Harry and Michael some how made it out alive while Voldemort lost his powers," Marlene paused for air.
"Mum," Cole said a little louder but Marlene ignored his warning as she got herself another glass of fire whiskey.
"While that was happening Dorcas was being tortured into insanity. She had somehow learned that Bellatrix was going after the Longbottoms, so being the incredibly brave caring girl she was Dorcas intercepted them. Bellatrix had a grudge against Dorcas since she got married to her cousin Sirius. Bellatrix drove Dory into insanity without a second thought. Dorcas saved the Longbottoms but now she lives forever in a ward in St. Mungos
"Since no one would listen to me when I tried to convince them to let Harry live with us, Remus' and my relationship went south. Especially with arguments about Lily and James, Sirius, and with Dorcas insane. I told him that either he agreed with his wife or with them. He choose his friends. So I packed up our things and left an hour after Harry was sent to live with those Muggles," Marlene hissed that last word not even wanting to say their names.
"Ella lost her mother, her father, and was shipped off to live with a senile grandma before she died. Harry was abandoned by his parents, sent to live with muggles, and then thrown out. You lost your dad, Ella for a while, and had to live in this small house so I could keep an eye out of Harry," Marlene let out a breath of air. "Me, I lost my best friend, my old friends, my husband, my goddaughter, Harry, my whole life. October 31st is the worst day out of the whole year. That's when all of our lives came crashing down."
Cole stood there stunned while his mother leaned heavily against the counter. Taking a deep breath he crossed the room and took away the bottle. Marlene didn't even try to grab it back. She knew she went over the deep end.
"Mum calm down," Cole whispered glancing over his shoulder to make sure Ella or Harry hadn't came out to hear what she had said. "Our lives are okay now, good in fact. Ella came 3 years ago and now Harry is here as well. Our family is safe and together once again. Nothing can come between us now. We-"
"Did you know they carried on with their lives like nothing happened. James and Lily had a daughter a while ago while they threw away their eldest son. Sirius got remarried while his wife sits in the insanity ward. And Remus. Remus got remarried. Its like we didn't even exist. Like none of us mean anything to them anymore," Marlene sniffled rubbing away the tears that streaked down her tears showing how much her old friends still mattered to her. "We're nothing."
Cole didn't speak for a while, just let his mum's sniffles fill the room. "Mum, they are the ones that are missing out. We are family mum. Not nothing. You, me, Ella, and Harry as well as Dorcas are family. Family sticks together like we will from now on. Okay?"
Marlene nodded before shaking her head to try to clear her clouded head. She pulled Cole to her and hug him tightly. "Okay."
So what are your thoughts on this chapter? Good? Bad?
The background part was a lot to write. Did it make sense? Were any of you surprised that Marlene Mckinnon was the mum? Or that Dorcas got married to Sirius?
For the next chapter I'm thinking about fast forwarding it to Harry's 11 birthday, would that be okay? Or should I write a little bit more about their life there?
P.S. If you havent guessed already they are planning on moving. (hint: there was a lot of packing material in the living room)