Linny blinked rapidly.
He couldn't believe his eyes. Tom was here. Tom from America was on the train to Hogwarts. Tom Levin was a Wizard. Linny went to pinch himself and grimaced, yep this was definitely not a dream. Tom was here in his usual arrogant grace.
"You're a Wizard?" Linny blurted out. "But you weren't in Hogwarts before! You spent every day out ours!"
"My Gran was teaching me at home," Tom said with a shrug. Tom's grandmother was a witch? No wonder he laughed whenever Rose called her that. "Then because I kept insisting I wanted to be in England my father enrolled me into Hogwarts, which wasn't exactly what I had in mind, I wanted to continue my Muggle studies and spend every day at yours." Who doesn't? Sometimes it felt like a train station the amount of people coming in and out at the Banana House. "What about you Little Linny?"
"Apparently my real name is Harry Potter," Linny said quietly.
"You're kidding?"
"Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape all seemed very serious. Daddy like serious."
"You had both McGonagall and Snape at your house? You poor thing, they're a student's worst nightmare."
"I think Rose quickly became their worst nightmare when she accidentally set Daddy on fire again."
"Am I expecting her to attend Hogwarts next year?"
Linny looked at him carefully. "You knew she was a Witch," he said.
"I had my suspicions when the windows shattered that time when I announced I was going back to America."
"And you didn't tell us?"
Tom pushed back Linny's long fringe back (he, like Indigo and Tom, had refused Sarah's and Saffy's attempt to cut his hair) and stared at his lightning bolt scar before letting the hair flop back into place. "If I saw this I would have told you," Tom said. "But I didn't. I couldn't be sure if Rose really was a Witch and you weren't prone to accidental magic when I was around. Sorry kid, if I had hard core evidence I would have told you."
Linny nodded. "I believe you but Rose will still be mad at you."
Tom's eyes widened. "What? No! Linny I beg you, don't tell Rose!"
"I can't not tell her, she's my little sister and I'm duty bound to inform her every detail of my life. If I didn't tell her, she would start stealing mobile phones and putting them in my school bag in case my head gets stuck in a toilet."
Tom let out a small snigger. He remembered Indigo telling him about that on one of their trips to the roof. "I'll walk you to your compartment, made any friends?"
"Three," Linny said cheerfully. "Ron, Hermione and Neville. Saffy and Sarah would like Hermione she's very eager to learn."
"Ah speaking of terrifying girls," Tom said quietly as they made their way down the corridor, "try not to let people know your birth name is Harry Potter."
"Why?"
"Because the fan girls are terrifying and you'll never get an hour of peace."
Linny shuddered. If it wasn't the fact that he was raised by girls and had such a cool little sister, he would be using the girls have cooties excuse until he left Hogwarts.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Casson, Lincoln Potter," McGonagall's strict calm voice echoed across the hall.
"Potter? Did she just say Potter?"
"Do you think he's related to the Harry Potter?"
"Maybe he is Harry Potter?"
Lincoln moved quickly to the stool and sat down. He waited for McGonagall to put the hat on his head, when she did, he couldn't help notice that the hat smelt a lot like Eve's shed. Musty and very odd.
"Well, we can't all smell pine fresh with lots of sweaty little children wearing us, can we?" an amused voice said in his mind. "So you're Harry Potter," the Hat said before Linny could make any reply to him. Linny opened his mouth to correct him when the Hat interrupted him again. "No, no my apologies, you're Lincoln Casson who just happened to be born Harry Potter, but you prefer to be called Linny."
Stupid hat. I bet if it talked to Rose like that she would set it on fire and there'll be no more sortings, Linny thought bitterly to himself.
"Oh my, your sister is a rather terrifying girl, isn't she?" the Hat said. "All of them, yes I'm sure Cadmium Gold is a charming young lady but there is something a little alarming about her. Oh she would have made a very good Hufflepuff, your other sister Saffron though would be an example to all Slytherins and Ravenclaws alike. Intelligent, determined, and oh so very ambitious and cunning. And your brother is nothing but the example of Helga Hufflepuff herself. The youngest though, little Permanent Rose. I know exactly where she'll be going and you'll be there waiting for her with open arms in -" he took a deep breath, "- GRYFFINDOR!"
Tom jumped out of his seat and cheered for Linny as he ran down to the Gryffindor table and sat between Neville and Hermione.
He was in the house that valued bravery, wouldn't his family be proud?
PRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPR
The next morning Linny found Hedwig waiting for him on the breakfast table as she ate off the bacon platter. "Good morning Hedwig," he said cheerfully, his owl replied with a hoot and held her leg out for him. "You were fast," he said. Last night he had written a letter to his family retelling them everything from the moment he stepped onto the train till he put his pen to paper. Hedwig puffed her chest out looking proud. "Thank you Hedwig, more bacon?" Hedwig hooted and took off with a couple slices of bacon after a quick cuddle with Linny.
"Linny," Hermione said looking at him with wide bright eyes, "did you and your owl just have some sort of conversation?"
"Hedwig is very human like, Saffy often says that Hedwig is more human than Indigo in the mornings," Linny said cheerfully as he opened his letter.
Oh Darling, Darling,
I am so proud of you! The house for bravery suits you so very much, I do recall a time where you jumped into the canal to rescue Rose's dolly, not the smartest thing and Daddy was very unhappy with you but it was still very brave. Not to mention all the times you have gone out on a quest in favour of your sister or helped Indigo with his fear of heights despite almost falling out of the bedroom window. Yes, I am not very happy with that either but it was still brave! Well done darling!
I miss you terribly my darling and so does your sisters and brother. Marcus, Patrick, Josh, oh no David, my apologies Indigo thank you for correcting me darling, he too misses you and so does Sarah. Bill Darling expects a letter from you soon, so please don't forget darling and – oh Rosie Pose wants to says something.
Tell Tom that I'm not speaking to him. And come home soon.
Oh Rose! Our poor little Rosie Pose is very angry today, Indigo has put out two fires already! I do hope that going to Hogwarts next year will mean fewer fires because I really don't think I can afford more curtains.
Must go darling, Hedwig is getting very impatient now that she has finished her water and I must remember to sort out Rose's school uniform, oh you have done it already Indy? Thank you darling, you are an angel!
Goodbye my darling, and be very good and take care of yourself, lots of love
Mummy
And Rose!
What are we? Chopped liver? Love Saffy, Sarah and Indigo too.
Linny couldn't help but grin at his mother's letters. It was so typical of her to forget David's name even if she has known him for over a year now. Tom sat down next to him and yawned dramatically before helping himself to a jug of pumpkin juice.
"Rose says she's not talking to you," Linny told him and couldn't help but grin when Tom dropped the jug.
"What? But that's not fair! I had to keep it a secret it was the law!"
Tom's day continued to get worse while Linny had a very nice day indeed learning about magic, spending time with his new friends and making new ones from the school paintings. Who knew art could be so talkative?
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Darling Mummy, Rose, Indigo, Saffy, Sarah and David (and Caddy and Daddy if you're there),
I have missed you all very much here at Hogwarts, no one really understands being artistic apart from Dean Thomas who is in my dorm with a Seamus Finnegan and Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley. Dean and I have taken to have drawing sessions together and to discuss different paints, I prefer charcoal still and Dean seems more reliant on pencil sketching more than anything. Hermione Darling does not understand she is too logical and prefers reading all the time but she is still very nice. Ron and Neville prefer playing games like most boys do.
I do not know if you have been told but I have made it to the Gryffindor Qudditch Team! I am the youngest seeker in over a century according to Oliver Wood who is the team captain. I did not try out though, I only got the position because Professor McGonagall saw me catch Neville's rememberball (a glass ball that turns red if you have forgotten something I would get one for you Mummy for Christmas but the silly thing doesn't tell you what you have forgotten and it would be better if Indy or Rose just told you instead). Hermione was upset that I got rewarded for breaking the rules but I pointed out to her that Draco Malfoy (a very annoying person, Saffy will remember him we met him in the robes shop, he constantly insults everyone no matter who they are and gets away with it) broke the rules and he didn't get punished at all, and he was the one who started it! Draco had challenged me to a duel, I was not going to accept it because it was at midnight and I have class very early in the morning but Ron accepted it for me and dragged both me and Darling Hermione out, Neville was already out because he forgot the password to our common room and we all ended up being chased by the mean caretaker (I have told you about him in my other letter) we hid in a room and it turned out to be the forbidden corridor! A huge three headed dog was there! I don't think I have ever run so fast in my life, ever!
Other than that everything has been all right. I am making friends with the Gamekeeper Hagrid who invites me every week for a cup of tea (don't eat his cooking it's worse than Sarah's), Tom keeps asking for Rose to answer to his emails (did I mention he has a very cool notebook that acts like a magical computer? That's how he communicates to us and America), and Professor Snape keeps acting very mean.
Lots of love
Linny
Linny Darling,
Mummy Darling says well done on getting onto the team and as much as a rememberball sounds nice it'll only get her worked up. So no thank you. Daddy Darling says he'll be writing to you separately about getting a broom, apparently Professor McGonagall wants to buy it for you because your biological father was her godson (whatever that means) and she wants to treat you just once (but never expect a Christmas or birthday present from her because the broom she wants to buy you is very expensive), Daddy Darling is not happy and wants to buy you a broom himself but not the very good and expensive one that Professor McGonagall wants to get you. Saffy says I shouldn't have told you this because it's supposed to be a surprise. Oh well, you can pretend to be surprised can't you?
Tell Tom that I won't speak to him so stop emailing me.
Both Mummy and Daddy are upset that you were out at night time and met a three headed dog, they ask for you to keep safe.
Michael has come back but without Caddy. He is not speaking to us, he does not look at us if we are near him, and he acts like he does not know us when we try to speak to him. I am very unhappy with him. I am even more unhappy with Caddy who is now in Greece apparently with the turtles and not here with us.
My new teacher is evil and I spend Maths plotting to murder him. Ask Professor Snape to lend some poisons.
Lots of love
Rose
PRPRRPPRPRPRPRPRPRPR
Linny enjoyed his first couple months at Hogwarts. The lessons were very history, his new friends were very nice, Qudditch was great fun and he got an extra present. Professor McGonagall obviously won against Bill Casson and sent Linny a Nimbus 2000, when he had visited her office to say thank you they ended up having tea and biscuits together as she told him a lot about his biological father. Apparently James Potter was a bit of a troublemaker but was very loyal, smart and had a secret sweet side to him.
Apart from the Troll entering the school nothing exciting happened. He and his friends sat there by the fire eating food from the feast as the older years told horror stories while the professors went hunting for the Troll. Hermione got her payback at Ron (who had been a little rude when she proved him wrong earlier that day) by telling a horrific story about a spider bursting out of someone's back (Rose had nightmares of a similar story last year).
The Qudditch match however was rather terrifying since his broom almost threw him off and he embarrassingly caught the snitch with his mouth. Tom wouldn't let him live it down for weeks on end. He finally got Rose to talk to him again after the match and began to torment her with questions of 'guess what I asked for Christmas?' Linny knew the answer all right, so did Bill who did not like it very much. Bill's letters were becoming odd he kept saying things about London burning out and no longer having the passion for it. Linny wasn't sure what it meant but he hoped it wasn't another Samantha; Eve couldn't cope with another one.
Linny decided focusing on Nicholas Flamel someone who was hiding something in Hogwarts with the three headed dog was better than pondering his father's love life. He was also very excited for Christmas since not only was Tom coming home with him but his friend Ron was too.
"It'll be interesting to see what a Muggle Christmas is like," Ron said excitedly.
"We're not like normal families so don't base all Muggles on us," Linny said cheerfully. "But you'll get to meet my Mummy, Daddy, Saffy, Sarah, Indigo, David, and Rose. Not sure if Caddy is going to be there."
"I don't get it," Ron said, he understood that Sarah and David were very good friends of the family and were practically adopted by the Cassons but he still didn't understand one thing, "Why do you call your parents Mummy and Daddy instead of just plain old Mum and Dad?"
Linny shrugged. "Indigo calls Mummy, Mum. He doesn't see Daddy enough to call him Dad, Caddy still calls Daddy, Daddy though. So does Rose. Saffy calls them Eve and Bill though. I guess I just never thought to call them Mum and Dad, besides Mummy Darling and Daddy Darling sounds so much better than Mum Darling."
Ron nodded, he didn't know why anyone would call their parents darling and just put it down to a Linny thing to do.
"Speaking of darlings," Tom drawled behind them making them jump, "is there a reason why Rose is hiding in one of the classrooms here?"
"What?" Linny frowned.
"I saw her reflection in the mirror but she didn't reply to me when I called her name out, come on I'll show you," Tom said leading them up the stairs and to an abandoned classroom.
There stood a large grand mirror in a gold frame with an inscription on the top reading Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. The classroom had been empty but in the mirror it was far from empty. Rose was there all right but she stood in between Tom and Linny looking cheerful, behind them was Caddy and Michael grinning and looking at one another lovingly. Next to Tom was Indigo playing his guitar to Sarah and Saffy while David looked more confident and able to actually hold a conversation with Saffy who looked warmer and more open to the world. Behind her was two Eves, one of them had a hand on Saffy's shoulder while the other was in near tears, her head resting on Bill's shoulder. Grandpa was there watching them all with keen interest occasionally holding a conversation with someone. Next to Linny though...was a beautiful redheaded woman with his green eyes and a man who looked exactly like him. Occasionally the redheaded woman would rush over to the two Eves and hug them delightedly.
"Bloody hell!" Ron cried out. "I'm Head Boy and Qudditch Captain!"
Tom studied the top of the mirror after hearing that and frowned. "We should go," he said loudly.
"No!" Linny shouted. "I want to stay!"
Tom put a hand on Linny's shoulder. "Whatever you see," he hissed, "will most likely never come true. It's just a dream Linny, don't dwell on it. Come on."
He pulled Linny harshly out of the room not wanting to think about the mirror at all. Ron followed though like Linny he looked back at the mirror before leaving. The three of them were unaware of an invisible old man who had watched the whole scene. He had been about to lock the mirror up when Tom found it and remained curious to see what would happen.
Professor Dumbledore could not be more proud of his Fourth Year Gryffindor who spoke very wisely about the mirror. Whatever it had been that Linny saw in the mirror it brought the most joyful look on his face that Albus had never seen on one person's face. It was such a shame it was nothing but a dream.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Oh Linny Darling!
You'll never guess what just happened! You'll never guess at all!
Caddy is home! She has come home! Michael has proposed to her and they are going to get married again! And they have a baby together! A baby called Carlos Michael Casson but we call him Buttercup (my fault I shall explain when you come home tomorrow!). And Daddy is coming back to live with us forever! I am so happy; I can't wait for you and Tom to come home so we can be a family for Christmas!
Love
Rose.
Linny could not help but grin a little darkly, see Tom; he thought viciously, some dreams do come true. His mother and father and Auntie Linda and Grandpa could never come back from the dead...a sudden revelation of his mother truly being his Mummy's sister would never happen. But some parts...Michael and Caddy back with them, David more confident, Saffy happier...they could happen.
He could make some of his dreams become a reality.
And all he ever wanted was one big happy family.
His family.
The Casson family.