Answers to my Reviewers:
silversongs: You're welcome and I'm pleased to hear that you like the story - it just warms my heart.
thedarklordsfavouritedungeonbat: (Review from Ch1) Nope, I meant Messrs - it's usually used as a title prefixed to a mock surname (or nickname) that is used to represent possession of a particular attribute, identity etc. And it's Privet Drive? Whoops.
(Review from Ch2) Now, about this story needing a Beta reader...*author drops her head onto the table and weeps comically* I knoooooow *sniff*
(Review from Ch7) *author looks at the notes for her HP story then back at the review* How do you know thisss? Are you physic? Are you reading my mind?! *author looks around in a paranoid manner before calming down* Anyway, about your review - I'm still on the fence about making Dumbles evil - manipulative? Yes. Evil? Not too sure. I'll see where my writing takes me before I confirm that. Next point, yes Snape and Harry will work out their issues. I personally didn't like how childish and hateful Snape acts towards Harry. I get Snape hating James Potter (I gather it was a mutual thing), I get Snape hating Sirius because of the whomping willow incident and even fearing Remus for the same reason. What I do NOT get (or will tolerate) is Snape's treatment of Harry! Just because of bad feelings between the man and James does NOT excuse Snape to start in on a young boy who is, by the way, completely unrelated to the bullying Snape suffered. Snape being a double spy also doesn't excuse his horrible treatment of Harry! Nor does it when the man was apparently in love with Lily! *author takes a deep breath in order to calm down* I apologize for my ranting, but bullying is a personal sore point for me. Anyway, that should cover all of the questions you asked of me but if you have any more - please send me them, either by review or PM. Finally, I again apologize for the somewhat heated review and I hope that it answers your questions. I also thank you for taking the time to review, I enjoyed reading them.
Son of Whitebeard: Thank you for taking your time to review.
V. L. Crawford: Your review just made my day and thank you for understanding.
patty cake rocks: Thanks for taking the time to review, and I'll try to keep the updates coming regularly but no promises since I am a pretty busy girl.
PenguinGirl94: (Review from Ch1) It's the summer leading up to Fourth Year so Harry is turning 14-years-old so I apologize, that's a grammatical error I realized only after I uploaded the chapter.
(Review from Ch5) Thank you for your kind words and that you appreciate how the plot is unfolding.
(Review from Ch7) *author blushes* Oh wow, your words made me feel so flattered, so thank you for the amazing review since it's obvious you must be amazing too for writing such lovely things.
Quebie331: I'm flattered by your words so thank you. And I'll keep up the wonderful writing so you won't use those unforgivables on me, promise. By the way - the "C" one is spelled "Cruciatus" or "Crucio".
Lupinesence: *author bows dramatically* Thank you, Thank you.
Guest: Thanking you for your review and don't worry, with so many people loving this story how can I stop?
Chapter 8
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to it, although if I did there would be so many things that I would have changed from canon...
"Personally, I say, "Out of the frying pan and into the deadly pit filled with sharks who are wielding chainsaws with killer kittens stapled to them." However, that one's having a rough time catching on." - Brandon Sanderson
Last time on Unum: Unite
Once the woman was gone Harry, Remus and Sirius made their way past the curtains that cornered off the Longbottom's two beds from the rest of the ward. But once past the curtains, Harry only caught a glimpse of the two people in the bed before running straight into his Gryffindor house-mate and newly discovered godbrother - Neville Longbottom.
"Neville!"
Harry could only blink, stunned, since it didn't even occur to him that Neville would be at the hospital. He then mentally slapped himself as he reminded himself that these two adults were Neville's parents.
Neville, a round-faced boy with a short chubby build and blond hair, had looked thoroughly depressed but he was now looking at Harry with confusion.
"Um, s-should I k-know you..?"
It was now Harry's turn to be confused before he remembered that Remus and Sirius had disguised him before leaving Potter Manor. But before Harry could reveal himself to his house-mate another voice interrupted him.
"Neville, dear, do you know these people?" Asked an elderly woman, who was seated beside (Harry could safely guess) would be Alice's husband - Frank Longbottom. Harry recognized the woman to be Neville's grandmother, Augusta, who he had met once or twice before. Not knowing what to do in this situation, Harry was quite glad when Remus stepped forwards and took over things.
"Madam Longbottom, I'm Remus Lupin. I was-"
But Remus was interrupted when Augusta said, "Ah yes, I know about you Mr. Lupin. You were my Neville's Defense Teacher - he spoke highly of you when he came home this summer."
Neville at this point had a dull purple flush creeping onto his face that was deepening as they spoke. He would also not meet anyone's eyes.
Mrs. Longbottom continued, "Now, who are your two companions?"
At the prompting, Remus gestured to his company as he spoke, "The man on my right here is my partner, Orion*, and this here is my nephew." At this, Remus put an arm around Harry's shoulders in a comforting gesture before he finished with, "We're here as support while Harry here visits his godmother."
One could've heard a pin drop with how silent the curtained off area just got.
Harry, for one, was shocked that Remus would drop his name like that so casually. He also noticed that the only one besides Remus who didn't look stunned at these turn of events was Sirius.
"I'm sorry - you said, Harry. As in, Harry, Harry Potter." Uttered a still surprised Mrs. Longbottom who had quickly connected the dots because she knew exactly who her daughter-in-law's godson was. Neville was looking at them now only he was looking at them in shock and, surprisingly, fear.
"Yes, Ma'am." Was said and Harry belatedly realized that he was the one who had spoken.
Mrs. Longbottom's gaze then zeroed in on him, examining him from head to toe, "Yes, I can see it now - so tell me, Mr. Potter, why are you here disguised as you are?"
At the question, Harry explained to the woman that he and his guardians were here for a check-up with his Healer and since his name was known by just about everyone, Harry changed his appearance and was going by the name 'Romulus' in order to avoid the storm of people that would descend upon them otherwise. Accepting the explanation, Augusta next asked why he was only visiting his Godmother now when she knew that he hadn't done so before. So Harry told her that he had only found out about his Godmother just yesterday and then when he found out what had happened to Alice and her husband Frank, he came to visit as soon as he was able to.
Augusta sniffed in disbelief, "You didn't know about your own Godmother? Who raised you then, muggles?" She said sarcastically and also somewhat rhetorically.
Ignoring the sarcasm, Harry replied seriously, "My muggle Aunt and Uncle actually."
The answer made Augusta pause and when she examined the Potter Heir's expression and found that he was being completely serious, the woman then stated in a softer tone, "I see. Well then, since I assume you'll want some privacy with Alice, Neville and I will be on our way."
"Oh! No, you don't have to do that, I didn't mean to come here and bother you or Neville, Mrs. Longbottom." Said Harry, worried that he'd offended the older woman, although he was hoping that the two wouldn't stay as he felt nervous and uncomfortable as it was without an audience watching him try to talk to his Godmother.
But Augusta just shook her head, "It's alright Mr. Potter, you did no such thing. We were just wrapping up our visit anyhow." Seeing how her reply visibly relaxed the nervous teen, the older Longbottom knew she made the right choice in getting her grandson and herself to leave a little earlier than usual.
An idea then came to Harry, who didn't want the two to leave on such an awkward note, "Would you and Neville be like to come over to Potter Manor for lunch tomorrow instead? I would like the opportunity to get to know you both better."
Seeing that Harry was making a genuine offer, and also checking with the young boy's guardians that they were fine with hosting a luncheon, Augusta accepted, "That's an excellent idea, Mr. Potter, I, unfortunately, won't be able to go as I have several important responsibilities that will keep me busy over the coming week, but Neville will be quite happy to attend. Isn't that right Neville?"
Turning to Neville as this was said, Harry saw that Neville nodded at his Grandmother's words and replied, "Yes Grandmother." It was all the nervous boy had said the entire time. It actually puzzled Harry, as he didn't understand what could have Neville so upset.
Remus then said, "Wonderful! I'll give you the Floo address and Neville will come around about 11:30 tomorrow morning?"
Nodding her agreement at the suggestion, Augusta wrote down the address down in a planner she had in her handbag, said her goodbyes, prompted Neville to do the same and then the commanding woman left with her grandson in tow. Augusta was quite pleased that her Neville was friends with and looked up to such a mature young man. Neville, on the other hand, was nervous and dreading the luncheon with Harry - it wasn't that he disliked Harry, Merlin no, it was quite the opposite since he looked to Harry like one would to an older sibling - he was just dreading the confrontation that would occur when Harry found out that he kept the information of them being godbrothers from him on purpose. Neville could just see that it was not going to be a pretty encounter.
Once the two had left, Harry sat down in the nearest visitor chair and mulled over the encounter around in his head, examining what had just occurred.
"Pup, what's the matter?"
His Godfather's voice pulled Harry from his thoughts, "Hmmm? Did you say something, Sirius?"
Repeating his question, Sirius examined his godson once Harry turned to face him as he was answered.
"I was actually wondering over Neville's reaction," Fully facing Sirius at this point, as much as he could while still seated, Harry bluntly asked, "Padfoot, did Neville look scared to you when he found out that it was me under the disguise?"
At his pup's question, the Black searched his memory of the encounter and realized Harry was right, "Now that you mentioned pup, Neville did look scared but I don't know the boy well enough to even guess why he reacted the way he did."
Turning his head to Remus, Harry again asked, "What about you Moony, you know Neville better than Sirius, do you have any ideas why Neville reacted the way he did?"
"I only have an idea why cub but it's not with absolute certainty."
Sighing over the responses, Harry let the question go since he didn't have anything better. He was also feeling guilty as he realized that after being Housemates with the boy for three years, he didn't know Neville as well as he should. Putting away those thought to peruse at a later time, Harry then asked Remus why he dropped his name so easily when he was in 'disguise' and the man explained that he only did that because they were/are behind curtains that are spelled with several silencing charms in order to ensure privacy.
His curiosity satisfied, Harry then relocated to a seat closer to his Godmother and he spent the next 30 minutes talking to Alice. It was awkward at first but the more he spoke to the woman the easier it became.
Once talked out, Harry and his guardians exited the permanent patient ward and made their way down to the front desk of St. Mungo's. Once Remus had made another appointment for a 'Romulus Lupin' with Healer Mallard for next week, the trio exited the Wizarding Hospital and then went on to their next task for the day - clothes shopping for Harry.
The three wizards decided to start their shopping trip in muggle London and then finish the trip up in Wizarding London. Once arriving at their muggle destination - a place called Covent Garden* - the two older men went to just about every store there, outfitting Harry with as many outfits they could get their hands on. Some were loved, liked, not so liked or were just outright hated and Sirius insisted buying everything his pup wanted and nothing Harry could say would sway him. Sirius' argument was that he had twelve years of birthdays and Christmas' to make up for. At that point, Harry conceded and let his Godfather buy things for him but he also reiterated that after this trip he didn't want Sirius to buy everything for him, he was an independent boy after all and he didn't want his every wish and want catered to - he would work for them as he always had before.
Acknowledging his godson's words, Sirius told Harry that if that was what he wanted then both Sirius and Remus would respect his wishes but he also told Harry that Birthdays, Christmas' and certain special occasions were non-negotiable and he better be prepared to be spoiled on those instances. Seeing that neither Sirius or Remus would budge on that matter, Harry agreed.
As the trio continued to shop, both Remus and Sirius could see a subtle change in Harry as he tried on outfit after outfit. Slowly but surely their godson was starting to see that he wasn't a bad looking guy, in fact, the young boy was quite handsome, and it was wonderful to watch their godson gain some confidence and self-assurance in himself. Little by little, Harry was losing a part of that mindset of being a 'freak' that his horrible muggle relatives had inflicted on him and the young boy was blossoming into the man he would become. It was something to behold as the two older wizards saw their son in everything but blood was finally starting to see himself as the attractive, young man that he was.
And by encouraging those thoughts, Harry too would see that - but it would take time as they had 12 years of abuse from the Dursley's to counteract. They will do it, their Harry needs healing and nothing will stop them from accomplishing that.
It was about two o' clock in the afternoon when the three men sat down a cozy little café and got some much-needed rest and lunch after their hour-and-a-half-long shopping spree. Harry groaned as he finally dropped into a seat, stashing his numerous bags around his feet. "Oh thank Merlin! I thought I was going to collapse if I tried on anymore clothes."
Sirius echoed his godsons groan as he to sat down next to Harry, "Good Godric, I can't remember the last time I shopped for so long."
"I can," Said Remus who was just as tired as his two companions as he plopped down in the remaining chair, "Lily took us on that massive shopping spree soon after we finished school."
Sirius gave his bark-like laugh once he remembered the occasion, "Oh yeah I remember now, I think James mentioned how he'd never gone into a muggle area before and the next thing we know - Lily has us lugging her shopping bags around a huge area called Westfield."
"Really?" Harry chuckled, who could just imagine his mother walking around a shopping center ordering his father, Sirius and Remus about as they carried a mass of bags.
Sirius snickered as he continued the tale, "Really. Shop after shop, Lily has us try on so many pieces of clothing that we start to feel more like dress-up dolls than actual human beings and not to mention when we got to the book shops - great Merlin it was horrible, I think she almost cleaned out some shelves with how many books she purchased."
Laughing as Sirius continued to dramatically tell Harry of the outing, Remus ordered their late lunch as Sirius engrossed Harry in further trips that they (Remus and Sirius) and his parents had had in the muggle world.
Once finished with their late lunch and having a relaxing break, the trio then made their way to a secluded street corner of the muggle area. Getting Harry to call Mitzi so that the House-elf could take their purchases back to Potter Manor, Remus then called the Knight Bus and five dizzying minutes later found the three wizards at the Leaky Cauldron and once using the pub to enter Diagon Alley - so started the Wizarding part of the shopping spree.
The trio started their trip with the bookstore, Flourish & Blotts (at Remus' request), the next stop was Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment for Harry's new trunk - he picked a black trunk with gold trimmings but paid extra to get the Potter crest added to the lid (along with the clerks silence), then they popped in at Slug & Jiggers Apothecary for a top up on potion ingredients when the trio finally stopped at a new line of clothing store that had just started up a couple of years ago called 'The Mirror Image'. The store was becoming very popular all over the world because it had the innovative idea to sell the latest muggle fashions but combined them with wizarding fashions - it was really popular with the teenagers and young adults. Entering the store, the trio could see the vast selection of clothing available but instead headed towards the counter/register and rung the bell there for service.
"I'll be with you in just a moment!" Said an Australian accented voice that rang out from the back of the store. Not even a minute later a young man stepped out of the back, he was roughly 6ft tall, of lithe build, tanned, short dark brown hair that was spiked up the front, brown eyes and he had his right ear pierced. He was wearing a green collared shirt with a dark grey vest over it, dark grey skinny jeans, black dragonhide boots, black wizarding robes and to finish off the look the man had a silver necklace with a small bird attached to it.
The young man positively bounced up to them with a giddy grin on his face, "Hi! I'm William, how can I help you guys today?"
Once Sirius explained to William that they were creating an entirely new wardrobe for 'Romulus', the man was quite happy to assist the trio in finding the right clothing for the boy. William then showed the trio where the change rooms were located then went to get some clothes for 'Romulus' to try on and adjust when needed. They were finished with the new wardrobe (roughly an hour later) and William was just making sure that Harry knew how to put on the most intricate pieces of clothing when someone else entered the store.
"Tweety! You wanted to see me?" Called out an accented female voice, and it sounded Australian, just like Williams'.
"I'm near the change rooms Allie!" William responded before he continued giving his advice to Harry this time about what colours and styles that would look best on the boy.
"I hope you're giving the boy some time to breathe Tweety, you can get a little over-enthusiastic at times." Said a dry sounding female voice, noting that Harry was looking a little overwhelmed by all the information being given to him.
William turned around, surprised by the sudden voice, "Allie! You surprised me. And really, I wish you would stop calling me that - I am 22 years old you know."
"You're my little brother Will, so, that won't happen anytime that soon." Was the amused reply by this Allie.
The woman was roughly 5 and 1/2ft tall, also of lithe build, fair, long light brown hair with blond highlights, smoky hazel eyes lined with black behind dark blue colored glasses, nude shaded lips, and pink cheeks. She also had a lot of ear piercings - three studs in each earlobe, a bar through the top of her left ear and four more studs lining the upper portion of her right ear. Then she was wearing a black collared shirt with a white laced corset over the top, black high waist skinny jeans, black platform strap high heels and a light grey witches robe. Accessory wise the woman had long French manicured nails, several white gold bracelets one her right wrist, a Celtic knot ring on her left middle finger, a silver choker that looked it had been twisted by design* and a longer silver necklace (similar to Williams') but with a bull attached to it instead of a bird.
So in short, the woman looked intimidating and not someone to be fucked with.
"Where's Ray?" Asked William, looking around the woman.
"In the Apothecary where else?" Allie said and then coughed as she gestured to Harry and his guardians and asked, "Will, these people are..?"
"Oh! Sorry - Guys this is my older sister Allison Grey and this, Allie, is Remus, his partner Orion, and their godson-"
"Harry, right?" Interrupted Allison, looking straight at the boy.
It was silent in the dressing rooms before Sirius managed to stutter out, "H-how did you-"
"Know?" Allison finished and when Sirius nodded, she continued, "William's been ranting to me for almost a year of this black-haired, green-eyed teen called Harry that he met last summer in Diagon Ally who was dressed in the most atrocious muggle clothes and how he, for almost two weeks, pestered the teen to come into the store and get a makeover but Will never managed to convince him."
Allison could almost see the sweat-drops that appeared with this information.
"No, I meant, how did you know that's what he looks like?" Asked a shocked Sirius, since his godson even now had his messy hair coloured a sandy blonde, his green eyes were still hazel and his scar was covered up.
At the question, Allison looked over her glasses and then back into them and then something must have clicked, "Oh! Sorry about that." The woman sounded sheepish as she continued, "My glasses are charmed to see through glamours and disguises."
One could hear the unspoken question of why her glasses were charmed with those specific spells.
"Don't. Ask."
Clearly hearing the threat in that statement, the trio left the question unasked and so Sirius asked instead, "So you're a Grey? As in that pure-blood wizarding family that moved down to Australia about two centuries back?"
"Yup. You heard of us have you?"
Sirius nodded, "Yeah, your family is known as basically being the equivalent of the Blacks here in England."
The siblings expressions seemed to close off at that when Allison finally said in a tone one could almost see the frost, "Yeah we were, but we're a Neutral family now."
Seeing their expressions, Sirius quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I was just stating what I'd heard..."
Seeing that 'Orion' didn't really mean to offend them, both siblings eased up and apologized for their reaction and explained that even though their family had turned Neutral 50 years ago, people still treated them like they were a Dark family.
Sirius could only nod in understanding - having come from a Dark family himself, he knew first hand that even after he separated himself from his relatives, people still thought the he was Dark (although that was a moot point since people all over the world thought that he was a mass-murdering psychopath). Sirius then dared to ask, "Who's Ray? If you don't mind me asking."
"Oh, he's our sibling - the middle child."
"Ah."
There was an awkward silence before Remus asked curiously, "So Ms. Grey, what do you do for a living?"
"Call me Allison, please." The woman said, seizing the subject change gladly, "And I'm a history teacher although I do consulate for the Law office back home."
"Really? In what capacity?"
"I was an Advocate* for almost 10 years before I changed to teaching."
Remus' curiosity peeked at this tidbit of information but before he could pursue a line of questioning, Sirius interrupted by stating that they had still had some more shopping to do.
"Of course, I'll just ring up your order. While I do that, Allie could you levitate that pile of clothes over to the counter, please?" With that, the group followed the man to the register where he rung up the order and while Sirius paid for it William placed the clothes in bags. Once all of that was done, the trio thanked William for his time and in return William invited the trio to return.
Exiting the store, the trio went to their next stop - Ollivander's. They were in there for, at max, twenty minutes as Ollivander measured a wand holster for Harry as well as matching a backup wand to him. The next store they visited was Twilfitt and Tatting's (an upmarket store) for Harrys dress robes and after spending half-an-hour there, the wizards moved onto the next store which was the Magical Menagerie. Although they originally went in there to browse around, Harry was drawn to a small magical snake at the back of the store called an Ouroboros. After finding out from the store clerk that the snake non-venomous, harmless and offered a kind of protection to their owner Harry barely had to show his puppy-dog eyes to his Godfather before Sirius caved and bought the snake, along with food for it and a habitat. Their final stop was the Optometry store that Healer Mallard had recommended. While the Optometrist that was recommended to them wasn't in store (as it was was her day off) they were able to book an appointment for two days later at 10 in the morning. Finally finished with their shopping, the trio went back to the Leaky, Sirius used a portkey he'd made that morning and they left at the apparition/portkey point. They landed in the foyer of Potter Manor and, after they recovered from the dizzying transport, tasked Mitzi to put away their purchases.
But before Mitzi could pop away with their shopping, Sirius asked the House-Elf when dinner would be ready. Getting the answer of 6:30, that gave the trio just over an hour to finish their previous discussion. So, leaving the foyer to enter the great room, the three wizards then went to the right, through a doorway that led to a set of stairs. Climbing up two flights of them and getting to the third floor of the house, turned down a hallway to enter the lounge room. The lounge room had polished wooden floors, sand coloured walls with a set of dark blue leather couches facing each other with a dark wooden coffee table in between them in the middle of the room and to the left was two dark blue leather seats in front of a fireplace. Also placed around the room was some green ferns and white orchards that were sitting in front of the windows within the room. Entering the room and sitting down on the leather couches Harry, Remus and Sirius got comfortable before they started the rest of their talk.
They started their talk with explaining to Harry about what their plan was for his lessons: Remus was going to cover his Transfiguration, Charms, and DADA lessons. Sirius was going to teach his Runes, Potions, Arithmancy, his Animagus lessons, along with how to run his House. And for his Etiquette, Language and History they were going to hire a tutor (hopefully only the one). Once Harry nodded his agreement to the lesson plan, the two then moved onto explaining what his Heir rings were for. Sirius explained that there were several reasons behind the rings: One was for recognition of an Heir of a high-ranking Family; They were also for protection - the rings were always laced with protective runes and spells; The final reason was that both rings were a Portkey that was activated with a keyword - for the Potter ring it was firth* and for the Black it was hythe*.
Memorizing those two words to memory, Harry then asked, "Is that all you guys wanted to tell me then?"
At that question, Sirius and Remus turned to each other and seemed to be considering something and after a minute or so, the two seemed to come to an agreement.
Sirius was the one who spoke, "Actually yes, there is one more thing we want to talk to you about." Sirius then took a deep breath and asked his godson, "Harry, how do you feel about people who prefer the same gender in the romantic sense?"
Having an idea of where this line of questioning was leading Harry replied, "I don't mind them, why do you ask?"
Bracing himself for a (bad) reaction, Sirius continued, "Well Harry, Remus and I are...together - as in a couple."
Having overheard when the two got back together, Harry only asked, "Ok and why are you telling me this?"
Not expecting the neutral reaction, a startled Sirius answered truthfully, "Because we didn't want to hide anything from you, Harry. You've had too many people hide things from you and we don't want to do that."
Unsure of what to say to that Harry went with, "I appreciate that and I want you to know that I won't hide anything from you either."
Seeing that his pup was feeling appreciative for the honesty but was still feeling a little awkward, Sirius moved the conversation onward. The trio talked about inconsequential things until a House-Elf came to inform them that dinner was ready. Once dinner was served and eaten, with dessert as well, the three wizards went and got ready for bed since all three of them were exhausted from their big shopping spree.
It was roughly 8'o clock before Harry rose from the bed and the only reason he didn't sleep in even later was that Neville would be coming in less than four hours. Although Harry had to admit he loved the feeling of sleeping in and not being awoken by his Aunt Petunia to do the cooking and the cleaning for his over-large relatives. After a nice long shower to freshen himself up, Harry went downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Thanking Mitzi for the meal (sending her into a little tizzy at his politeness) Harry then went to explore his family's home.
After wandering about for around an hour or so, Harry ended up in the private library on the third floor, which was placed across from the kitchen/dining room. Just browsing through the books there, Harry was drawn to the second level of the library where he found journal upon journal lined up on the bookshelves. Examining the titles, Harry saw that they were journals written by the Potters before him - they started from the 1300's to now. Finding a plaque that informed him that the journals were written to keep a record of important events in a Potter's life, they started from birth where the parents recorded the first ten years, then to their school years, through to marriage, children and continued until death.
Once Harry knew what he was looking at, he immediately started looking for his father's journals. They weren't hard to find since all the journals were labeled by year and by who wrote them, so Harry jumped to the 1960's and almost straight away found the 12 journals labeled under 'Potter, James Fleamont'. Grabbing the first three, Harry found the nearest couch and sat down, right away immersing himself in the first journal. It was about an hour and a half later and Harry was just finishing the 3rd journal when he jolted in surprise when Sirius yelled, telling him that Neville had arrived.
"I'll be right there Sirius!" Harry yelled back as he finished off the journal he was reading. Getting up and putting the journals away, Harry then went down the stairs and to the library doors where Sirius was waiting to bring him to the Floo room where Neville was waiting. Once meeting Neville there, he brought his godbrother up to the sunroom on the second level thinking that the Herbology lover would be more comfortable there. As they entered the sunroom they saw that the large room that was lit entirely with natural light, the wall facing them as they entered was made totally of glass windows, the two side walls were painted an off-white that accentuated the light and airiness of the room. It also had hardwood polished floors and a plant wall that spanned the entire side of the fourth and final wall with the door in the middle. The two teenagers also took in the corner cane lounge, loveseat and the two chairs with light blue cushions placed around a square coffee table. Additionally, within the room was a glass round table and black chairs in the upper left corner of the room, behind that table was a large blue rug that was next to an off-white chaise lounge and side table. It also had a few potted plants placed strategically around the room.
Harry and Neville went in and sat on the lounge and as his godbrother got settled, Harry called Mipsy asking her to serve their lunch in here. With her affirmative, Harry then sat down and settled for the talk he and Neville were going to have. Harry tried to start off with, "Neville...Your parents-, I mean you've never mentioned-" But broke himself off when he couldn't think of anything to say that didn't sound callous, unkind or just plain rude.
Neville, however, seemed to get the gist of what Harry was trying to ask, "You mean why I never mentioned anything about my parents who were tortured until they went insane. Oh, of course, I would mention something that would get me teased and picked on for the rest of my school life. They don't even recognize who I am!" As Harry listened he could almost see the burden of suppressing his hurt feelings and thoughts lift off the shy Gryffindor shoulders.
Harry stayed silent as he gave Neville a moment to not only collect himself but to add anything else he wanted to say. Once he saw that Neville had managed to calm himself down Harry said, "Nev, this has troubling you for a while now hasn't it?"
Neville only nodded in response.
"And this is why you never said anything."
Again, Neville nodded his head in reply.
"Neville, now that I know, if you want to talk to me about this - but only if you want to - I'll be there. Not only about this but about anything that's troubling you. You know me, Nev, I won't judge or criticize something you tell me in confidence." Harry took a deep breath before continuing on, "Nev, I consider us family and I want you to do as well."
At this Neville exclaimed, "But I do consider you family Harry! I always have..."
This line gave Harry the perfect opening to ask, "You do? Then why have you never told me that we were godbrothers?"
Neville looked down and started to fidget with his plate of food on the coffee table that Mipsy had placed in front of them while they two were talking. Taking a bit of his own food, Harry waited to see if Neville would answer his question and when it seemed that he wasn't going to, Harry opened his mouth to reassure his godbrother but Neville beat him to it.
"I didn't tell you at first because I'd only just found out myself, less than a week before our first year at Hogwarts actually. By the time I got use to the knowledge, I realized that you knew nearly nothing of your parents besides how they were killed and...I just didn't know how to tell you. Y'know about everything - your godfather, how our mothers were best friends, how we were godbrothers, what happened to my mother and thus your godmother...So I just didn't tell you." Neville paused before continuing on, "Then when you found out about Sirius Black last year I didn't know what I hated more - that you found out via gossip or that I'd withheld it from you."
"How did you-Never mind," Harry said as he remembered the considerable gossip chain within Hogwarts. It even spanned Houses - it seemed to be one of the few things that all four of the Houses agreed upon. So, of course, just about everyone in school would know when he found out about his Godfather and his 'crimes'.
"Are you angry? That I didn't tell you?" Neville asked in a subdued voice, fully expecting Harry to be extremely angry with him.
"A little, yes." Harry said honestly, not really expecting the question, "But I know you Nev and I know you didn't deliberately keep from me, at first, but I'm guessing you would've told me eventually."
Harrys statement must've had an undertone of questioning since Neville replied, "Yes I would've, I just didn't know how."
"It's okay, I understand Neville, I know you would've." Harry said as soothingly as possible and kept repeating that until it looked like Neville believed him. With that, Harry turned to his slightly cold lunch and started to eat, with Neville following suit. As they ate, Harry coaxed Neville to talk so they could get to know each other a bit better and although they didn't have much in common Harry enjoyed getting to know him. Once lunch was finished Harry showed Neville around but his godbrothers favorite area by far was (of course) the three greenhouses out behind the mansion. They were filled with so many magical plants that Neville could've spent hours in there just looking around if he wasn't a guest and fully aware about Nevilles love of plants, Harry promised to bring him back the next time he visits. Continuing the tour, as well as talking as they walked, they finished up around two 'o clock which was when Neville said that grandmother was expecting him back home. So walking Neville back to the Floo but before he said goodbye, Harry asked if he could owl to keep in touch and to organize another visit. Neville replied his agreement, quite happy to write especially since it turned out to be such a good day.
Once Neville was gone, Harry went to the kitchen to get a snack and a drink - intent on reading more of his Father's journals. Grabbing the next three journals, Harry sat down and again immersed himself in his Fathers words. Almost two hours later, Harry was on the sixth journal (which James had written when he was 14) when he came across something that shocked him.
Sitting up straighter, Harry re-read the entry. '-Can't bloody well believe it! Did you know what Dad just told me? See, I've just come from his study and he said to me that he had to 'explain an important fact to me that had been affecting our family for generations.' As it turns out, the Potter's are Cursed. Yup, you read that right, we're Cursed. It apparently started back in 1530 where Alfred George Potter played with the wrong woman's heart. So, Madison Ross (the woman in question) put a curse on my ancestor dictating that he would be unable to woo anyone other than his one, true love. He would also be compelled to seek out his 'One' but with a catch - he'd be unable to do anything other than fight and argue with him/her thus forever separating him from his other half. She thought it was the perfect curse for my playboy of an ancestor. It was two weeks later that the effects of the curse finally appeared - Alfred started to have dreams that featured his 'One' and got the temptation to find her. As a result of this, he became moody, his magic went haywire and he lashed out at anyone and anything. Seeing what was happening to him, Alfred decided to follow the compulsion so he went travelling to find his 'One'. He eventually found her, a Alexandra Smith, several months later in a small wizarding town in Scotland and just like the woman who had cursed him had said, he could only fight and argue with her. He ended up staying in the small town for five years, trying to woo Alexandra but to no avail. Dad says that our ancestor would've stayed even longer had he not received a letter from his mother telling him that his father had fallen seriously ill and the Healers didn't think he would live out the rest of the month. So, going against everything that told him to stay with Alexandra, he packed his things and went home. Dad then told me that leaving was the best thing he could've done (although he didn't know that at the time) since before he'd left, Alfred ended up spilling his guts to the local bartender, basically expressing his total devotion to and loving Alexandra for the rest of his life but he knew that his love would never be returned and blah, blah, blah. You know the whole mushy, romantic package. Anyway, to make a long story short, when Alexandra found this out - that Alfred truly loved her and that he wasn't fooling around (knowing a playboy when she saw one) she decided to go tell him, basically following him home. Apparently it was a big surprise to Alexandra when she found out how rich us Potter's were.'
Harry continued to read on as his father went on about the Curse, specifically why it was passed down through the generations. As it turns out, the witch that originally cast the spell had made a mistake - she hadn't worded the curse properly enough and she ended up cursing both Alfred and his descendants to always need their 'One'. The journal then states that eventually the Curse just became a part of the Potter bloodline as the family came to accept their circumstances. His father then moved onto another topic although to be honest his mind wasn't really on that, it was still on the curse. Seeing if his father's words were true, Harry wandered to the 1500's section of the journals and found Alfred Potter's journals. Then Harry read for himself, in his ancestors own words, of the Curse, how he dealt with it, the struggle it was to get Alexandra to love him and then his happily ever after.
"Shocking, isn't it?" A male voice suddenly stated.
Harry jumped, utterly surprised at the unexpected voice and turned to where it was coming from. The voice came from a portrait of a young man in his early 20's that resembled him somewhat but his facial features were sharper, his eyes were brown and the hair was just as messy although in a more controlled manner. The man's nameplate stated he was 'Fleamont H. Potter - 1939'. Seeing that date Harry could only assume that he was his Grandfather. Once he'd taken all of that in, Harry finally registered the portraits question, "I'm sorry?"
"The Curse." Fleamont* answered casually, "When a Potter child is told about it, it's always shocking and unbelievable but usually after they have some sort of meltdown or freak out over it but they always come to accept it."
Harry seemed stunned at his relatives words before he blurted out, "Wha-? How could they accept something like this?! Shouldn't I be able to pick who I'll be spending the rest of my life with and not be influenced by some curse or enchantment!" Harry continued to rant and rave about the unfairness and all around horribleness of the spell.
Once the tirade had finished the portrait asked, "Do you feel better?"
Realizing that he did indeed feel better after his rant, Harry nodded and replied, "Yeah I do actually." There was a silence between them before Harry's curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "Um, are you...my Grandfather?"
Instead of answering, Fleamont replied with another question, "You must be James' son, am I right?"
Harry nodded, "Yes I am, I'm Harry."
At that, the man exclaimed, "Then yes that would make you my grandson. And my, what a handsome boy you turned out to be."
Harry blushed at that.
Fleamont chuckled before he said, "Now, gathering your reaction to our Curse, I'm assuming you weren't told about it?"
"No, sir," Harry replied.
Fleamont scrunched his nose at Harrys address, "No need for such formal titles Harry, please, call me Granddad."
"Yes, si- I mean Granddad."
"Excellent!" Fleamont said happily before he went speaking, "Now, I'll tell you what I told your father when he was your age - the curse doesn't pick your 'One' out for you, you do. It only leads you to someone who matches you perfectly in magic, mind, personality and body - taking into account what attracts you and your sexuality."
Not convinced, Harry crossed his arms and said with a bit of disbelief coloring his tone, "Really. And how does it do that?"
"Through your dreams, beginning right on your fourteenth birthday. Which I'm sure you've read about."
Harry nodded, remembering his father did mention that his ancestor had had dreams of his 'One', only, "It didn't mention anything about my fourteenth birthday, why is that day important?"
"Because it's around your 14th year that your hormones start to kick in."
Harry felt his cheeks darkening at this bit of information as his nodded his understanding.
Seeing that, Fleamont then started to explain, "Anyway, that's how the Curse starts. The first of the dreams will be vague with undefined shapes, ones you'll barely remember in the morning. But it'll be around the 6th-month mark that they'll become sharper, cleaner and more refined that they'll start to show who you're looking for. It's also been well-documented in our journals that right on your fifteenth birthday you'll get some kind of premonition of your future family." Seeing Harry's disbelief at that, the portrait said somewhat defensively, "You will! I got one and if you don't believe me, you can check in any one of those journals - they'll all say the same thing I just did."
Harry raised an eyebrow but decided to believe Fleamont since the portrait had no reason to lie. "Okay then," Harry said before something occurred to him, "Is there anything else that will happen to me in regards to the Curse Granddad?"
Fleamont seemed to gather his thoughts before he said, "There are a few things...The first one is that the only people you can tell about the curse is your family - which is either your parents or guardians and then, eventually, your future kids and spouse."
"Not even my friends?" Harry said. When his Granddad only shook his head no in response Harry hotly asked, "Why not?! This isn't something I want to keep from them!"
The portrait replied in a calm manner hoping to soothe the boy's temper, "I understand that but it's a part of the magic from the Curse, it was eventually believed that Ross (the woman who cursed us) did it like that just to make things more difficult for our ancestor and thus us. Since it physically stops you from telling anyone not family, either by talking about it or by writing it down. That's also the reason why none of the Wizarding community knows about our curse."
Once explained to him, Harry could accept that, not happily mind you but he could deal with it.
"Now the second thing to know is that you need to avoid love potions of any kind at and all costs." Fleamont said seriously, "Even if you have to check your food and drinks for them - I can't stress this enough, never ingest one."
Getting the seriousness of what his Granddad was telling him but Harry still wanted to know, "What will happen if I do somehow ingest a love potion?"
The portraits expression grew solemn, "Before I explain, do you know what a love potion does?"
"I'm assuming it creates a fake attraction within the victim towards the one who gave them the potion."
Fleamont nodded, "Correct, although it's more of an obsession than an attraction. Now keeping those effects in mind, let's hypothetically say that you were tricked into ingesting a love potion with our curse in full effect. There are two case scenarios: One, there is no effect whatsoever as the curse had nullified it, the number of times this has happened I can count on one hand and still have fingers left over. Then there's the second and more likely scenario - first you'll grow nauseous, maybe even bad enough to throw up, then you'll develop a migraine as you begin warring between your true love and your fake love. As a result of your this, your body will start to seize up and things will only degenerate from there unless you're brought straight to either a Healer or a Potion Master for an antidote. Now do you understand my caution?"
Harry nodded but could help but ask, "Did a Potter ever actually ingest a love potion?"
"Yes, Samantha Potter, she would be your...5 times Great-Grandmother," Fleamont replied as he tallied up the years between the two, "She was trying to court her 'One', a Daniel Bones when a jealous rival woman tried to give him a spiked drink full of love potion. Samantha later wrote in her journal that she just got a bad feeling about the entire scenario and before Daniel could take it, she took the spiked drink and drank it." Harry listened, totally enraptured by the family story, "The effects of the potion started immediately. Samantha later wrote in her journals that she felt sick to her stomach, she developed a splitting migraine before she collapsed to the ground shaking uncontrollably. She then wrote that by the time she got to a Healer she had started to hallucinate quite badly."
"What happened to the jealous woman?" Harry quickly asked, wanting to know more of the story.
"Because of Samantha's reaction to the potion, Daniel believed that the woman had tried to poison him so he contacted the Aurors* and got them to arrest her."
"What are Aurors?"
Although puzzled that his grandson didn't know, Fleamont answered, "They're Dark wizard catchers - basically arresting Wizards and Witches who've broken the law."
"Ah," Harry said before he then asked, "So what happened between Daniel and Samantha?"
"The incident actually brought them together since it made Daniel realize that as much she aggravated him, he loved her." There was silence between the two until the portrait mentioned, "I've forgotten what we were talking about..."
"The effects the Curse will have on me." Harry supplied.
"Ah, that's right. Now the third and final thing you need to be aware of is that you can't live without your 'One', not for very long anyway, and you'll just shut down if you do."
"I'm guessing a Potter tried to?" Harry half stated half asked his Grandfather.
"Yes, Benjamin Potter, your 9 times Great-Grandfather," Fleamont replied, "His dreams led him to a Mark Cooper, but Benjamin was so sure that his 'One' didn't like him in that way that he refused to court him. He lasted almost 6 months before his was finally too weak for him to even rise from bed. By that time, his parents finally put their foot down and they contacted Mark, telling him that Benjamin had fallen very sick. When he was in close proximity to his 'One', Benjamin visibly got better and thinking he was dreaming, he then confessed." Fleamont paused for a moment to build up the tension a little bit before continuing on, "Once Benjamin got better, the two finally started to court and not even two years later the two were bonded."
"Bonded? As in Married?" Harry asked, a little confused about the term.
"Yes, that's right."
"So is that all that will with happen to me in regards to the Curse?" Harry asked when his Granddad didn't say anything else.
"As far as I'm aware, Harry," Fleamont replied, the portrait then asked his grandson if he wanted to hear any more stories. Harry answered yes, beyond interested and excited to learn more about his family. Harry spent the rest of the afternoon in the library listening to his Granddad talk and he only left to eat dinner where he informed Sirius and Remus about the Potter curse. They believed their cub's word since they also remembered how James acted around Lily and this Curse made sense of a few things James had done while in pursuit of her. Even so, after dinner the three of them went to the Library and got it straight from the portraits mouth, mostly to find out why James hadn't told them about the curse. Once getting that, the three wizards and one portrait spent the rest of the night telling stories - mostly for Harry's sake - until it was time for bed.
TO BE CONTINUED...
A/N: Oh good Merlin! What a monster of a chapter, it just kept growing and growing. You know this chapter is just under 9,000 words long? So I would like to apologize to my readers (again) for the long wait on a new chapter since the only thing holding this thing up beside from the length of it was a bit of a writer's block.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the new chapter and please either review or PM me if you have any questions, concerns or if you see any digressions in the above chapter since I'm the one who proof-reads my work. Well, that's all I have to say other than I love you all so that's '95 out.
*For those who don't live in Britain (like myself), Convent Garden is actually a real place in London and it's a pretty popular shopping area since it has a wide range of clothing, sweets, and accessories available.
*Think of a Torc or Torque - a Celtic neck ring.
*Advocate - basically the Wizarding World's equivalent of a lawyer (since Rowling didn't create a wizarding lawyer I had to input one).
*Ouroboros - is an ancient symbol mainly depicting a serpent or a dragon eating its own tail. The Ouroboros also represents the perpetual cyclic renewal of life and infinity, the concept of eternity, and represents the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
*Firth - An inlet of the sea at a wide river estuary
*Hythe - a small harbor or haven, especially on a river.
* Fleamont - J.K. Rowling has revealed that a Fleamont and Euphemia Potter were James' parents, not Charlus and Dorea and I've only just found out so I'll be going back a few chapters and changing a few things to make stuff fit.
*Aurors - I can't remember when Harry was told about Aurors so I'm just going to assume he hasn't been informed about them yet.
