New chapter for you all! I hope you like it!
Harry awoke at around half past seven the following morning. He looked up at the ceiling of the room, which had been Ginny's as a child, and then got out of bed. He put on his slippers, pulled a jumper on over the t-shirt in which he had slept, and then retied his pyjama trousers. Rubbing his eyes, after putting on his glasses, Harry left his sleeping wife and daughter (who was in a put-me-up bed by the window) to go downstairs for a cup of tea.
Mrs Weasley was already awake when Harry reached the kitchen and she had already made a pot of tea which was steaming on the table. Harry poured himself a cup and stood leaning against the counter while Mrs Weasley informed him that they would be having a full English breakfast in an hour or so, once everyone else was awake.
Just as she was telling Harry who else was already up, they were interrupted by the newspaper delivery owl, who was knocking on the window. Mrs Weasley let it in and paid him a Knut for the paper, which she untied from its leg, and the owl left before being given a treat. She unfolded the paper and scanned the front page, she groaned and handed it to Harry. His eyes widened as he read.
'HARRY POTTER REAPPEARS!'
Underneath was a large picture of him, Ginny and his children with half of Charlie from yesterday while they were waiting at Kings Cross. The caption said: 'Harry Potter stands on Platform Nine-and-three-quarters with his wife, Ginevra Potter (née Weasley), and three children. Turn to page five for more.'
That was the surprise for Ron, Hermione and the rest of the family out of the window. Harry turned to the designated page and re-read the same headline, then started to read the article, which was separated with various pictures of himself, Ginny, his children, Teddy, Bill and his family, Mr Weasley and Charlie.
'Yesterday, over a decade since they were last seen in public, the Potters were sighted at Kings Cross station, waiting for the Hogwarts express with their three children.
'They arrived with Mrs Potter's father and brother, Arthur Weasley (of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement) and Charles Weasley (of the International Sanctuary for Dragons, Romania) at around a quarter to four, and later met with William and Fleur Weasley (both of Gringotts Bank) and their son, Louis. Judging by the reactions of Mr and Mrs W Weasley, they had not seen Mr and Mrs Potter for some time.
'It was noted that Mr Potter was no longer wearing his trademark glasses. However, as he has not been seen for many years in Wizarding Britain, it is a almost certain that he has been living as a muggle and therefore may have used muggle techniques such as contact lenses (small lenses which are placed directly in the eye) or corrective eye surgery (where small lights are used to correct the vision of a person) to prompt his discard of his glasses.
'When the school train arrived it became clear who the Potters were waiting for as Mr Potter's godson, Ted Lupin (son of Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, who both died in the Battle of Hogwarts), joined them shortly after exiting the train.
'The welfare of Mr Lupin had been subject to questioning after Mr John Robertson (Head of the Auror Office at the time of the Potters' disappearance) stated after being asked about the whereabouts of Mr and Mrs Potter and Mr Lupin, 'after speaking with their family, I was told they were just as clueless to where they are as we are, although they agree that there was no foul play involved and that it was a conscious decision made by both Mr and Mrs Potter. That being said, I highly doubt that young Mr Lupin is still with them, it is likely that he would have been placed in the care of the Muggle authorities by now.'
'It seems as though this was wrong, as Mr Lupin was heard enquiring about 'everyone back home' and whether or not the 'heat wave the weather people were expecting' ever came. We can assume from this that Mr Lupin had been living with the Potters.
'The reason for the Potters' sudden return is, as of yet, unknown. We hope that the family with come forwards with a statement soon.'
Harry mimicked his mother-in-law's reaction and groaned. He thought they'd be fine. He thought that no one would recognise him and he though no one had.
Knowing that Hermione wasn't one to oversleep, and also knowing it was likely she still got the newspaper at the same time she always had since she left school (seven thirty-five in the morning), Harry guessed that he didn't have much time before she arrived, probably without Ron as he expected, even after all these years, that he was unlikely to get out of bed unless he could smell food.
'How long do you think we've go until Hermione gets here?' Harry asked Mrs Weasley, who was now reading the full article. She looked up, thoughtful.
'Five minutes, maybe ten if she was working late last night. I'd go and wake Ginny, if I were you, Harry.'
Harry complied and rushed upstairs. When he opened the door he saw Ginny sitting up in bed, combing her hair with her fingers. Lily was still fast asleep.
'We're in the paper, front page. Your Mum says we've got less than five minutes before our dear Hermione breaks down the front door.' Harry then rushed over to his suitcase and began to pull out clothes.
'Front page?! Of the Daily Prophet?!' Ginny exclaimed, waking Lily. Harry nodded as he pulled on his jeans.
'Morning,' mumbled Lily as she sat up, rubbing his eyes.
'Morning, darling. I'm sorry I woke you,' Ginny apologised as she walked over to her bag and pulled out something to wear. 'You'll need to get ready now, your Aunt Hermione is going to be here soon.'
'Really? I thought she and Uncle Ron weren't coming until Christmas Day?' Lily recalled. She pushed back the covers and got out of her bed.
'Well, she heard that we were here, and she decided to come early. Come on darling, here is your nice dress, why don't you put that on, then I'll plait your hair.' Lily nodded and took the navy, long-sleeved dress from her mother.
'The boys aren't up yet, I'll go and get them, shall I?' Harry offered.
'Yes please. They're in George's old room.'
Then Harry was gone.
About three minutes later there was an almighty screech coming from downstairs, which woke everyone who was still sleeping.
'HARRY JAMES, GINEVRA MOLLY GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!'
Lily looked at her mother (who was now dressed and now plaiting her daughter's hair) in alarm. Ginny just chuckled.
'Was that Aunt Hermione, Mummy?'
'Yes darling. Don't worry though, she doesn't bite.' Ginny finished the long braid and secured it with a hair elastic. 'However I think that we'll let your father to and see her first.'
But a minute or so later, neither Harry nor Ginny had gone down to the kitchen.
'IF ONE OF YOU DON'T COME DOWN RIGHT NOW I WILL HEX YOU!'
Ginny, not one to want to test Hermione further, sighed and announced that she was going downstairs; calling her husband a 'scaredy-cat' in the process as he had obviously left it to Ginny to greet Hermione first.
She had almost reached the bottom of the stairs when she stopped to take a breath. She was secretly quite glad that Lily had volunteered to go and check on her father and brothers, leaving Ginny to face Hermione alone. She was sure that Hermione would have some things to say to her which wouldn't suit her daughter's seven-year-old ears.
'Morning!' Said Ginny in a song-song voice as she came off the stairs and into the kitchen. Her mum and Hermione were talking while a little girl with red, bushy hair, whom Ginny assumed to be Rose, sat on the counter with a bacon sandwich in her hands. When they heard Ginny they turned to look at her. Mrs Weasley smiled, encouragingly while Hermione looked positively furious.
Ginny gave a sideways glance to Rose, which Hermione noticed. She knew there was going to be shouting so maybe it would be better if she wasn't in the room. Hermione then walked over to her daughter.
'Rosie, darling, why don't you go into the living room and talk to Victoire? She got back from school yesterday, so I'm sure she'd like to see you.' Ginny was surprised at how similar Hermione sounded to her own mother.
Rose nodded and hopped off of her chair and went into the sitting room.
The the tirade began.
Ginny had expected it, really, despite what Charlie had said about Hermione not blaming her and Harry for their actions.
Hermione was going on about everything from not telling her about leaving (understandable) to scolding her for not collecting Harry's correct contacts (apparently Hermione had correctly deduced the reason why they were spotted ('well how else would you have managed to hide?!') and blamed it on her: unreasonable). Ginny judged that she was torn between being angry at her and Harry for leaving, and wanting to tell off her two best friends for being caught by the Daily Prophet.
Hermione was just in the middle of shouting about not leaving a note when Lily came in from the staircase, looking slightly frightened. Hermione stopped screaming instantly.
'Mummy, Daddy said not to come down but I wanted to see if you were alright,' she gave a wary look to Hermione, 'are you?' Lily said timidly. A smile spread across Ginny's face and it was at times like these that she really appreciated her seven-year-old daughter's small size, as she picked her up.
'Yes I'm fine, darling.'
'But Mummy, you said Aunt Hermione didn't bite, but she was yelling at you,' Lily switched to Dutch as she obviously didn't want scary Aunt Hermione to hear. Ginny was unsure where Lily had learned the language from (neither her, nor James, nor Albus had ever lived in any place where it was spoken; although Ginny, Harry and Teddy had lived in the Netherlands for a couple of years before James was born, so they may have picked it up around the house).
'Don't worry, she is just a little angry with Daddy and I at the moment; she's lovely really. Why don't you go and meet your cousin Rose, whose next door with Victoire and Dominique?' Ginny also spoke in Dutch.
Almost mirroring Rose's actions; Lily nodded, got down from her mother and went into the other room.
Hermione seemed to be speechless as she watched Lily the Second leave the room. When she was gone, she wore a very strange expression, of which emotion, Ginny couldn't place. Hermione then walked over to her best friend, turned sister-in-law, and embraced her with tears in her eyes. Ginny was so surprised that she didn't respond at first, but after a split second she returned the gesture.
'You know Rose doesn't have a godmother?' Hermione said quietly into Ginny's ear. 'Ron and I, we'd always hoped that you'd come back.'
'Neither does Lily,' replied Ginny. 'It's not the same moving about.'
'Will you..?' The two women asked the question at the same time. They broke the hug, looked at each other and nodded. Then they burst into tears.
Harry chose that moment to enter the kitchen with James and Albus. He raised his eyebrow at the sight before him, so similar to that of yesterday, except it was Hermione instead of Mrs Weasley. Mrs Weasley just smiled at them all.
