Chapter Ten:
Second Year, Part One
Getting into the usual Hogwarts routine was very easy concerning classes, Quidditch, homework and relaxing. The first time he saw Regulus again was during their first Potions class and Harry was eager to catch up with his friend, for they hadn't had contact at all that summer.
"I wondered if maybe my letter had gotten lost or something." Harry said once they had started on their potion.
"No, I got it," Reg said almost sulkily, "But in coincided right with Sirius leaving, and if mum caught me writing you I'd be thrown out right along with him."
"Oh," Harry said. "Well you know you're always welcome at our place right?"
"I figured, but I don't want to let it get that far. Mum might just have a stroke if both of us 'befouled the family name'."
Harry smirked. "Somehow I doubt Sirius would mind. Sometimes when I hear him speak of her…" he trailed off, not knowing if he was crossing some invisible line in saying this.
"Yea, well, but Sirius doesn't have a whole lot of respect either. He could at least try not to provoke mother, and keep a bit of peace, but you'll never guess what he did this summer."
"What?"
"He hung great dirty Gryffindor banners all over his room."
"Dirty Gryffindor banners? Thanks a lot." Harry smirked.
"Hey, I wouldn't care if it was just one, but he covered about every inch with red and gold, it looks disgusting. He goes out of his way to annoy mother, almost as if he wants to be disowned." Regulus sighed, "If I turn out insane someday, I'm blaming him."
Harry sniggered. When had his old Sirius said he'd moved in with the Potters? At sixteen? So then probably before his sixth year, which was two years from now. Mmm…
"Sirius said he'd been punished this summer for promoting Gryffindor house at your social, what did he do there?" Harry asked curiously.
"Well," Reg looked a bit uncomfortable, "One of my cousins said something about disgusting Gryffindors, what with your so-called chivalry and the lot, and Sirius said anyone half-way decent would choose Gryffindor over 'slimy Slytherin' any day. That at least Gryffindors had a twentieth-century way of thinking, instead of still living in the Middle-Ages like all the stuck-up Purebloods."
Harry gave a low whistle. "Bet your mum loved that."
"I think she was about ready to tear his eyes out, I've never seen her like that." Regulus said, still looking uncomfortable. "She sentenced him to a week in his room, which, I expect, he didn't even mind. He could be surrounded by his precious Gryffindor banners, and he didn't have to face her sneering face every day. The day his week of confinement was over, he left early in the morning without saying good bye, leaving just a note with one sentence that he was staying at your place."
"How'd you mum take that?" Harry asked, remembering Kreacher's story of how Sirius had broken his mother's heart.
Regulus shrugged, "I dunno Harry. Pureblood families work differently than what you're used to. People don't show their emotions easily when in the company of people who aren't immediate family, and parents don't even show all their emotions around their kids. Not those deemed as weaknesses, anyway."
"But how do you think she took it?"
"I don't know! How'd you take it if you're in her place, and your own son's a Blood Traitor?" Regulus answered testily. Harry didn't press him further, choosing instead to measure out his armadillo scales to impossible perfection. They both remained quiet as they worked on a complicated part of their potion, until Harry remembered the news he had been bursting to tell his friend.
"I completely forgot! Guess what happened during summer Reg?" Harry said enthusiastically.
"You dropped a bag of owl dung on Potter's head? Now that would make my day, it would."
Harry rolled his eyes. "No, but you're close. It definitely has something to do with James."
"Just tell me Harry, I'm not going to guess it anyway."
"The Potters are officially adopting me!" Harry said cheerfully.
"Why? Aren't you as good as their son already anyway?" Regulus drawled.
Harry huffed, "Yea, but they'll be like real parents now, and James and I will be brothers!"
"Now that's something to look forward to, really."
"Can you just drop the sarcastic attitude already and be happy for your friend?"
"Oh, but you know you love it. It amuses you just as much as it does me." Regulus smirked.
"I'll have you know that I agree with Sirius right now about you stuck-up Slytherins!"
This only seemed to increase Regulus' smirk, and Harry couldn't help it. He grinned too.
Quidditch practices were held three times a week, and Harry thanked Merlin that the weather was still good. They still had the same team as last year, which meant they could improve their coordination so they could rely on each other's skills even better. It was interesting to see the team grow and become just that: a team. Personally Harry thought they had the best team in Hogwarts and James agreed with him without hesitation.
He'd also had time to catch up with Noah, whom he realized, he hadn't had much contact with lately. Noah didn't seem resentful about it, and he happily chatted with Harry as they swapped summer stories. Thailand, which Noah had visited this summer, sounded very interesting and Harry vowed to go there too someday. Apparently the ancient warlocks of Asia had their own temples where they worshipped legendary Sorcerers and different types of magic. If they needed a particular skill, they'd spend more time studying the sorcerer or sorceress that was strongly connected with that area. They used magic differently, had different incantations and also a different relation with their magic. Harry filed it away for further review; this was a very interesting piece of information for his research concerning the relation between incantations and the actual magic, and, he thought now, people and their magic as well.
He still had plenty of time to do this extra-curricular study, because he was still the top student in the year. In order to prevent people from becoming too suspicious about him already being able to do everything, he made sure to study ahead in his books, which also helped him further with his homework, because he knew what material was coming up and was able to refer to that as well. He planned to have it done for every subject by Christmas, so that he could start on the third-year books next term. That's how he spent part of his free time, another part was dedicated to his extra-curricular research on spells, and the rest was spent with friends.
The Marauders, it seemed, wanted to open the school year with a bang. Affectionately thinking back to the first week; he remembered their start-of-the-year prank which, this time, was on the staff. As one, all the teachers had stood up, smiling impossibly wide, and started singing the school song. The fun, or embarrassing, part was that, although brilliant at magic, it became blatantly obvious why the teacher's hadn't entered the music-industry. They couldn't sing if their life depended on it. A very red-headed McGonagall had swooped down to the Gryffindor table, where most people had the decency to muffle their laughter, and almost breathed fire at the Marauders. They tried claiming innocence, but McGonagall didn't buy it. Nor did anyone else in the Great Hall. When Harry snuck a glance at Dumbledore, the man's eyes were twinkling madly as he sat, rather relaxed, in his throne-like chair.
XXXXXX
September passed and October arrived, and with it, the impending Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match. Although still a good three weeks away, Andy had them all working harder than ever. After having lost to Gryffindor last year, he said, Slytherin'd be doing anything to win this year. And Gryffindor wouldn't let them. After all the practice they'd gotten during the summer, James, Sirius and Harry were, if possible, flying even better. Not to mention they'd gotten well attuned to their brooms and each other, something that contributed to the teams' increased coordination as well. In Harry's opinion Slytherin would need another years' practice before they would be able to beat Gryffindor by more than ten points.
As the match approached Harry was jeered at and insulted more and more by certain Slytherins. He got along fine with those in his year (with the exception of Jugson and McTavish), had some sort of a silent truce with most of the older years, and majority of sixth and seventh years didn't care about him enough to try and bate him around every corner. It was mostly the Slytherins that James had as enemies, which were the future Death Eaters. Lestrange, Avery and Selwyn were some upper years, but also Rosier and Mulciber (who were in James' year) never hesitated to have a go at Harry. Jugson and McTavish also never left an opportunity untaken to sneer at Harry and try to get his nerves for the match up. Harry was surprised that once when he, Noah, Conner and Mia bumped into some fourth year Slytherins, among whom also Snape, that the greasy-haired Slytherin remained noticeably quiet while the others jeered at him. Harry felt his spirits lift as if he'd really achieved something, and vowed to thank him the next time he saw him. He was also looking forward to continue their conversation on spells that they'd started up last year, and to ask Severus' opinion on the his research on the relation between incantations and the magic it invoked.
The day of the Quidditch match arrived and after a small breakfast, Harry slung his Numbus 1500 over his shoulder and followed Andy out of the Great Hall.
"Nervous there, Harry?" James asked him as he slung an arm around Harry's shoulders.
"Course not, we're gonna flatten Slytherin."
James grinned, "That's the spirit!"
Suddenly Sirius appeared at Harry's other side and also slung an arm around his shoulders, with a very mischievious twinkle in his eyes.
"Hey Harry, guess what?"
"Erm, should I go back on my word about not being nervous?" He asked, feeling very self-conscious as he was flanked by the two troublesome Marauders.
"Nah, I just thought you'd be interested in my new goal for the rest of my Hogwarts career." Sirius answered.
"Really? What is it?" Harry asked naïvely.
"To Beat as many Slytherins into the hospital wing as I can."
Harry gave him a disbelieving look. "You're not serious about that are you?"
"Harry, Harry, Harry. Haven't you heard? Sirius is my name!" He smiled and Harry groaned at the joke. It had been used way too many times.
"Not funny, Sirius." The Marauder seemed to have a retort ready, but at that moment they entered the locker rooms and he was unable to reply. The team changed quickly and after a motivation speech from Andy, entered the Pitch.
Harry could already see the Slytherin Seeker, Vaisey, glaring at him and Harry glared back, not having forgotten how the guy had punched him in the side last time to prevent him from getting the Snitch.
As the Quaffle was thrown into the air the match started. Harry flew a few laps around the pitch, keeping his eyes peeled and getting into the flying. Immediately he realized Andy was right about Slytherin changing their tactics; they were playing dirty! Amy was starting out with the Quaffle and Baddock, one of the Slytherin chasers, pelted right at her as if he was going to attack, causing her to elicit a scream and drop the Quaffle. It was caught easily by McDoughel who then sped toward the Gryffindor posts. In the confusement and unexpected events Slytherin quickly scored their first point. Realizing what they were up against Gryffindor played on sharp and skill. It was good that they'd practiced in the team-building style, because they sure needed it with all the weaving they were doing. Sirius and Kenneth smashed as many Bludgers as they could over to the Slytherins, aiming at the Beaters a lot, for if they were knocked out Slytherin would have no one to protect them from the Bludgers.
"Hooper passes to Potter, who passes to Sanders, back to Potter, and - he scores! 20-10 for Slytherin! Fervus takes possession, passes to McDoughel, who scores- he feints! He only pretended! Baddock now in possession, back to McDoughel – holy Horntails, Fervus comes out of nowhere, he scores!"
Harry had had enough, if this kept up they might even lose! He fervently looked for the Snitch and – Merlin yes! There, by the Huffelpuff stands, he saw it. He pelted towards it and the game momentarily stopped around him as people turned to look at him: just ten minutes into the game and he'd already be ending it. Vaisey couldn't catch up, the Snitch was all his, and he was already smiling.
BAM!
Out of nowhere Baddock was suddenly in front of him and Harry swerved to the left, but his right shoulder still collided heavily with Baddock's. He looked up, but the Snitch was gone. Seething, he turned back to Baddock, but Twink the referee was already on his way. Harry suddenly became aware of the crowd around him yelling fouls at the Slytherin Chaser, although the Slytherin team seemed quite pleased with the turn of events.
"Foul on Slytherin! Gryffindor gets a penalty!"
James shot it, and made it. 30-20 for Slytherin. Harry again started looking for the Snitch, determined to end it fast just to get back at the Slytherins. He searched furiously but without luck, something that Vaisey also seemed to be experiencing.
"Gryffindor in possession, Potter takes the lead but passes to Hooper, he evades Fervus, passes to Sanders, who-ah! Harper saves the goal, and Slytherin in possession. McDoughel takes it across the Pitch, over to Baddock, and – Merlin's pants!" Harry swiveled to look at what had caused not only that exclamation, but also the crowd's sudden reaction – there was outrage, laughter, cheering – and Harry saw it: Baddock had gotten a Bludger to the head and was falling to the ground. He wasn't moving and Twink gave a time-out and checked him over. The Gryffindor team landed on the ground just as Twink announced Baddock had been knocked out and had to be taken to the Hospital Wing immediately. It seemed Slytherin would be one player short, and since Baddock was the most vicious Chaser, that meant a major advantage for Gryffindor. Harry cast a glance at Sirius, who was smirking. He caught him and James exchanging a look; it was one of triumph and arrogance. Harry looked away.
As they got back into the air, Harry was gnawing his teeth and looking for the Snitch once again.
"Slytherin now one player short, after Baddock being knocked out by a Bludger from Black, they take possession once again…" Harry tuned out the voice. He kept a close look on Vaisey as well: how ironic it would be if, one player short, Slytherin still managed to beat Gryffindor. Harry would never live it down. He scanned the field and saw a glint of gold – but a moment later he realized it was the broom name tag from one of the Gryffindors. He looked away but, getting a funny feeling, he looked back. His eyes widened and, once again, he sped off. The Snitch was right there, in the middle of the Pitch, close to the ground. Harry made his infamous dive and in the corner of his eye he saw Vaisey doing the same, coming down from an opposite direction. More determined than ever Harry stretched out his arm – just a few yards left – he got closer, he enclosed his finger around the struggling ball, and - he pulled out of his dive, grinning madly. He saw six red blurs coming towards him, saw Vaisey with an expression reminiscent of Ron's when he was belching up slugs, saw Harper, the Slytherin Captain, ready to break something if only he was given it.
"Party in the Common Room!" Sirius yelled and the crowd cheered. Together, the team made their way off the Quidditch Pitch.
Not even an hour later Harry found himself showered and dressed in fresh clothes, slouching in a corner of the Common Room, sipping a butterbeer. He glanced at all the celebrating people, happy, cheerful, and he looked at James, who was ruffling his hair while talking to a pair of girls, who looked slightly star-struck as they stared at him. Rolling his eyes, he walked over to the table to get himself some punch. Coincidentally, Sirius arrived the same moment he did.
"Do you believe me now, Har?" he asked, grinning.
"Huh?"
"I told you I was being Sirius when I said I'd Beat a Slytherin into the Hospital Wing!"
"Mhmm" Harry hummed, not able to forget the look James and Sirius had shared. It was a look he'd expect Slytherins to share if a Gryffindor was hurt, but not Gryffindors; they were more honorable than that.
"Sirius! There you are!" Harry turned at the unfamiliar voice, only to find a girl with long, blonde hair, who Harry recognized as the girl Sirius had been snogging when they'd won the Quidditch Cup last year.
"Ahh, Hanna, I was just thinking about you." Harry could tell Sirius was lying (after all, he'd just been thinking about knocking Slytherins unconscious), but his handsome, elegant and roguish look had the girl, Hanna, swooning anyway. She was already standing with them, when she first noticed Harry.
"Oh, Harry Potter, nice to meet you, I'm Hanna. You did a really good job on that Snitch."
"Aww and what about me with that slimy Slytherin?" Sirius asked disarmingly. Hanna giggled and blushed slightly.
"Well, I was just looking for you so I could congratulate you properly." She said slyly.
"Erm, I'm, err, going." Harry said awkwardly. Sirius waved at him without looking, preferring to stare at Hanna as he bent down to kiss her. Deciding he could do fine without that mental image, thank you very much, he turned around. He was almost immediately met by Lily, who stood beaming at him.
"Harry! Congratulations, that was an amazing catch."
"Thanks Lily! I had to get it, I couldn't stand the idea of Slytherin winning after their foul play."
"Yes, they didn't play very clean… Although, Black wasn't playing foul-free either, I thought." Lily bit her lip.
"He was doing his job, he's supposed to hit the Bludgers at them…" Harry tried to soothe her, standing up for his friend.
"That would be perfectly believable, if he hadn't been so smug afterwards."
Harry winced, "Yea, I noticed."
"So how is your term going?" She asked, trying to change the subject.
"Oh- pretty good! I still find the study material very doable, so I'm reading up on the material for the rest of the year. And some extra stuff of course."
"Good on you, then. This extra stuff, it wouldn't happen to be what you and Sev talked about last year?" She said curiously, taking a sip of her own butterbeer.
"Yep it is. I was hoping to get together with him and do some research on it, he seemed very knowledgeable."
"Oh he is, I'll make sure to mention it to him. He does most of his research alone, but he would probably like someone to discuss his theories with. I try to do that with him, but he's so in-depth about it, it's not quite my thing anymore."
"Yea, if you could mention it, it would be great. I never manage to find him, when I do have some time to spare." Harry smiled, and Lily was already opening her mouth to say something else, before closing it and glaring at something behind Harry. He turned around, and, stunned, he saw James. But James didn't seem himself; he was nervous and he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up more.
"Hey, Lily, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked, but Lily folded her arms and didn't move an inch. Harry caught James' eye and took the hint. He walked away.
He took a seat in an empty armchair, but after five seconds flat he saw Lily stomping up to the girls' dormitories. One second later, a miserable looking James took an armchair next to him.
"She said no." He said.
"Uhm… no to what exactly?" Harry said, an idea already forming in his mind. James' slight blushing confirmed it.
"I asked her out to Hogsmeade… and she said no. No! She didn't even consider it, as if she knew I'd ask and prepared it!" James said, unable to understand what had gone wrong.
"Maybe she didn't hear you correctly?" Harry tried meekly.
"No, she heard me fine. She said no. Why would she say no? Everyone likes me, why not her!" He whined.
"Well… she just doesn't know you like I do. If she knew the real you, I bet she'd be willing to go out with you." Harry soothed. He'd been doing that a lot this evening.
"And how would I do that? Let her know the real me? I wasn't even aware I had more than one me!"
"Well I know she thinks that… uhm… you think a bit… highly of yourself?" Harry said half-heartedly.
"I do not think highly of myself!"
Harry sighed. "Maybe if you just showed her you like her, give her reasons to go out with you…" Harry trailed off. James seemed lost in thought. Then, suddenly, his eyes gleamed.
"You're right Harry! I've just got to show her how good I am, at everything, show her why she should go out with me… Show her I'm worthy of her, or whatever." James grinned broadly. "Thanks Harry! I'll do just that! You're the best!" James jumped up and left Harry staring at the seat he'd just vacated.
He did not have a good feeling about this…
XXXXXX
In the next few weeks Harry had another activity added to his already busy schedule. Lily had acted as an intermediate and gotten Harry and Severus together, which had been immensely enjoyable. After a first few awkward moments, Harry and Severus quickly came to the topic of both their interest. After that time had simply flown by. While Severus' main interest lay with how spells came to be, Harry's was the relation between incantation and the actual magic. These topics overlapped each other, for to get the required magical effect you needed just the right incantation, which satisfied Severus's thirst for invention, and Harry's interest for the connection spell-magic.
The thing that made their study sessions difficult though, was that, not only were there very few times that they both had time, but also that they wanted to keep their studying secret. Severus didn't want the whole school to know he was working with a Potter (especially the Marauders), and Harry quite agreed with him. He didn't want to think of the trouble it might cause if James found out his arch-nemesis was meeting his 'little brother' in secret. Not that their study sessions were freakishly frequent, but meeting every two-weeks sounded reasonable.
"You're going to the library again?" Noah asked Harry, as they made their way to the Transfiguration classroom
"Yea, I just want to read up on some spells mentioned in our DADA book."
Noah looked confused, "We haven't done any spells yet, though."
"I know, but we will next term. I'm reading ahead a bit."
Noah looked at him in disbelief and was opening his mouth for another retort, when suddenly there was a commotion ahead of them in the corridor. A circle was forming, and students quickly ran over to see what was going on. To Harry it just looked like a fight, but followed Noah anyway as the other boy ran ahead as well. What he saw made him freeze.
In the middle of the circle were James and Sirius, both their wands out, and they had just disarmed a Slytherin Harry didn't recognize. They were making fun of the boy, saying he couldn't even keep track of his wand properly, before James stunned him and the boy fell right over. Most people in the crowd laughed, but some looked doubtful at the Marauders' actions, and among them, was Harry.
Professor McGonagall, who was able to smell trouble better than a dog his bone, came not even two seconds later.
"POTTER! BLACK! You'd think you'd have been in school long enough to know that magic is not allowed in the corridors!" She said, her lips forming a very thin line.
"Hey! And what if we were just defending ourselves?" Sirius asked.
McGonagall didn't seem to find it very amusing though, as she sad, "Twenty points from Gryffindor and a detention with Mr. Filch. I shall inform you at dinner what it will be. Now," she barked, glaring at the onlookers, "I believe you all have classes to attend?"
Knowing a threat when hearing one, the students scrambled off into different directions, and Harry and Noah quickly went to their classroom. One minute later, McGonagall came in, her lips still thin. It was going to be a long lesson…
Later, Harry tried to talk to James about the 'incident' but James just waved it away, saying it wasn't that big a deal. They'd gotten into an argument, James had disarmed him, and McGonagall was overreacting. He clearly couldn't see what was wrong with his actions. At the end of their conversation, Harry bet that his lips were as tight as McGonagall's. He decided to let it rest, after all, it was almost Christmas and with the adoption coming up, he didn't fancy fighting with his almost brother.
To Harry's surprise, Sirius and Remus decided to stay at school for the break, while James and Harry went home. Peter would be staying at his mother's place. He had caught the terms 'project' and 'research' while overhearing one of the Marauders' conversations, and concluded it must be another prank for next term. Certainly pranks were better than taking their spare energy out on the Slytherins.
Those last few December weeks of term passed quickly, and Harry hadn't even been able to meet up with Severus one last time before break. Regulus would be staying at Hogwarts too ("I don't need another two weeks of mother's subtle hints that I have to be the perfect Black heir!"). It seemed to be a popular year to stay at Hogwarts, because Lily, Severus and Noah were all staying too. Lily said she'd rather have a peaceful Christmas than having her sister breathing down her neck that 'freaks' shouldn't be allowed to spend Christmas with 'normal' people, and Severus said he preferred Hogwarts over his home. Harry could easily relate to them both, and felt almost guilty that he now had such a wonderful home to return to. Nevertheless, as the Hogwarts Express pulled out of Hogsmeade, Harry sharing a compartment with James and Peter, he gave a wistful sigh, feeling excited to return to the place he could call 'home'.
XXXXXX
Even though it was Christmas break and a time for relaxation, the Potter family was very busy. Charlus was working overtime at the ministry as it was becoming clear that Voldemort wasn't someone to be taken lightly. He was quickly building up his support base and with the frequent disappearances he inspired fear in many people. Although it wasn't the constant fear Harry had experienced during his sixth year, where you couldn't even go somewhere without being hyper aware of everyone around you; it was as if people still had that 'Oh, but that will never happen to me' thought. Still, between covering up the attacks from Muggles, taking care of the wounded and extracting information about attacks, the ministry was working overtime. They were so busy with it, they weren't even doing the important stuff like trying to prevent attacks, or comprehending Death Eaters, they were just cleaning up after them. Harry saw it aggravated his uncle to no end that they weren't getting anywhere, although he did say Voldemort was exceptionally good at not getting caught in the act, and making sure things weren't traceable back to the offending Death Eaters.
Dorea was also very busy, for she held a seat on the Wizengamot who were currently in heated debates on new laws for tracking, cursing (on the Aurors' part), civilian defenses, and punishments. She was also on several committees and had to attend meetings regularly. All in all both Potters were very busy, and it wasn't weird for James and Harry to be alone at the house. The adoption was almost rounded up as well, the only thing left seemed to be the signing of papers, although Charlus and Dorea had been rather vague about it.
Christmas morning arrived, and with it the usual over-active James Potter. Harry was woken up at an unearthly hour again, albeit in a bit more charming way than last year. While Harry was climbing out of bed uncoordinatedly, James had already run off to wake his parents. A few minutes after James and Harry made it downstairs, Charlus and Dorea came too, both their eyes still very small from the abrupt awakening. James started distributing the presents to their rightful owners and Harry watched, amused, at his enthusiasm.
"I can't wait to see what you think of my gift, James," Harry smirked at him. James gave him a calculating look, which was rather ruined by his smirk. Harry watched excitedly as James dove for the gift and started unwrapping it. James was going to go crazy once he saw it…
And, indeed, "Merlin and Agrippa Harry, where did you get these?" James almost squealed. Inside the wrapping paper were two shiny, flat, square mirrors.
"What is it, James?" Charlus asked curiously.
"Two-way mirrors! They came out last summer, Sirius and I have been wanting them ever since, but every time we looked they were sold out!"
"Oh, are those the mirrors where you say the name of the person who has the other one, and you can talk with them?"
James nodded excitedly, "Yes, they are. This should liven up our detentions." He muttered.
"You shouldn't be having detentions in the first place, young man!" Dorea retorted, "I got a letter from Minerva saying you'd hexed someone in class, and he had to stay overnight in the hospital wing before he was alright again!"
"But mum, he called a classmate 'Mudblood', what else was I supposed to do?" James asked indignantly.
"You could have left it to Minerva, she's a capable teacher who can easily deal with this."
James was about to retort when Charlus broke up their cheery conversation by reminding them of the presents. James immediately got back to his, and Harry started opening his own as well.
"Save this one for last, Harry." Charlus said with a wink, as he pointed to a scroll with a neat, red ribbon around it. Confused, Harry nodded and went ahead with his others. After a few more enthusiastic exclamations and whoops, Harry could finally open the scroll. Having to wait only made Harry long to open it more. Feeling three pairs of eyes on him, Harry carefully untied the ribbon and placed it next to him, before unrolling the scroll slowly. His eyes widened when he read it.
Certificate of Adoption
The British Ministry of Magic hereby announce
Harry James Potter
To be officially adopted by
Charlus Edvard Potter and Dorea Helena Potter
At the bottom were the signatures of both Charlus and Dorea, as well as Minister Bagnold's. Harry smiled and he felt a prickling at the back of his eyes. Feeling very emotional, he got up and sped into Charlus and Dorea's – his parents'?- arms and hugged them fiercely, pouring his gratitude, happiness and love into the hug. Moments later James, who up till then had no idea what was going on, joined them. "We're brothers now Har, you're officially my little brother!"
Harry grinned and didn't even bother correcting him when he felt slightly indignant at being called 'little'. Dorea told the boys they'd be taking a new family picture in the next week (the last official family picture taken was when James was six, and it was still hanging proudly in the living room), and would celebrate it with going out for dinner. Charlus had, luckily, managed to get some time off from work and Dorea too had handed in her absence form to the Wizengamot.
Later that evening Harry knocked on the door to his uncle's study room. He heard a soft "come in" and slowly opened the door and peeked inside. Charlus was sitting at a large, antique looking mahogany desk with several pieces of parchment, a tired look on his face. Once he saw Harry he smiled and beckoned him over.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of my youngest son visiting me so late?"
Harry smiled at the reference and walked over to Charlus.
"Unc- err, I mean, Charlus?" Harry asked hesitantly as he looked at his former uncle, now father. He hadn't given this dilemma much thought, but now that he was put into the situation… what should he call Charlus? Dad didn't seem right, yet, but uncle was surely inappropriate as well?
Charlus gave a sympathetic smile. "It's alright, Harry. I understand it takes some time to get used to, I don't want you to force yourself to call me something you don't feel comfortable with yet."
"Thank you Charlus," Harry smiled thankfully. Harry glanced at the parchments on the desk and noticed the Ministry Seal.
"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting you? I can come back tomorrow-"
"Nonsense, Harry," Charlus laughed, "Family is always the most important. Remember that, it's an important lesson in life. Most people thrust themselves in their work and forget the things that really matter, and only when they're old and wrinkly do they discover that they've missed out on life's most beautiful moments." Charlus put an arm around Harry's waist, who was now standing next to him.
"Now, what was on your mind that made you come to me at this hour?"
Harry smiled gratefully at his uncle before looking down, unsure how to phrase his thoughts.
"Well, I was thinking about the adoption." He mentally cringed at how it came out; now Charlus would think he was regretting it! "Not that I'm having second thoughts or anything! I'm really happy about it, that we're truly one family now."
"That's good to hear," Charlus said, looking amusedly at him.
"It's just, I was wondering about the process of the adoption. Uhm, I'm not sure how to say what I mean."
"That's alright, just try."
"I wondered if maybe, during the paperwork process, you found out anything about my real father? Did you have to get permission from him, or anyone, to adopt me?" Harry asked, looking into his uncle's swirling blue eyes. His mouth turned grim.
"I wondered as well if we would find something out about your father," Charlus started, "but there was nothing. Your magical birth certificate, which is documented in the Ministry, doesn't state a name and we even dug up your Muggle certificate, but that didn't get us any wiser either. I'm sorry Harry, but I don't think Caroline documented anywhere who your father is."
Harry looked down, unsure why he felt so disappointed. He felt Charlus rubbing his back in slow, comforting motions. He mumbled a quiet thanks, smiling at his uncle in assurance that he was alright, before fleeing the room.
When Harry climbed into bed that night he still felt somewhat down at Charlus' answer. Why was there nothing to be found about his biological father? Was a coincidence or had Caroline covered it up? But why would she? And why was this affecting him so; what did he care for who his real father was, as long as he got to be with the Potters? He still couldn't believe everything that was happening. James Potter was now really his brother. He thought back to his old universe, all the hurt, disappointment, and confusion he'd felt there. Merlin, he hadn't thought about it for so long... It was as if he had become a new person, starting a completely different life, starting from scratch.
At first he'd been afraid he might call James 'dad' someday, but he had gotten used to this new situation so quickly. He thought about Ron and Hermione, and wondered how they were doing… Teddy, his godson, the rest of the Weasleys, Neville, Luna… The Order, the D.A... For the second time today he felt the prickling sensation at his eyes, and furiously rubbed them. Sure, he wished he knew how they were faring, but he also realized he had let go of them. He had a different life now, he was happier than ever before, he felt as though he was a completely different person. He didn't need to remember the past anymore, because he was now someone else, and he could put his past behind him and fully put himself into this new life. Yes, that was what this was: a new life. And though these three words were so simple and easy, they also had such a complicated meaning. Harry's last thought before he fell asleep, was wonderment about what else this new life would bring him.
To Harry's dismay, James and he spent the next day at Peter's place. After all, James still considered him his friend, and of course wanted to see him during the holidays. When the boys arrived James immediately seemed at home, but Harry paused before greeting Mrs. Pettigrew, struck by the… dodgyness… of their home. In a way it reminded him of the Weasleys', except it had none of the welcoming, homey air. Everything was old, worn, and not taken care of well. Peter's dad had apparently died from the Dragonpox when Peter was around eight, and his mother never had a job. The place had a gloomy feeling that made Harry shiver, and he understood Pettigrew's insecurities, resentfulness and disloyalty a bit better, if this was his background. Nevertheless this was no excuse for his actions, and Harry went out of his way to have to talk to Peter as little as possible, preferring to just tag along. Peter seemed to prefer this to Harry's usual behavior, where he was always included and very present, and so Peter was much more talkative than normal. Or maybe it was because he had James all too himself. Either way, Harry was very happy when dinnertime came and he and James left the place.
A couple of days later the Potters went to have their family picture taken, something Harry actually found a very enjoyable experience, and when they were done went out for dinner in a famous wizarding restaurant in London. It was Harry's first time having an official dinner, and dining in such a formal way. Charlus, Dorea and James, being Purebloods, were well trained and had no trouble when six pieces of cutlery encircled their plate. Harry, however, was completely bewildered over which fork and knife to use. James had laughed heartedly when Harry had closed his eyes and randomly picked a fork to eat his appetizer with, Dorea laughing along, and Charlus, grinning, explained to Harry the basic rule: from outside to inside, start with the outer cutlery and end with the cutlery on the inside. Embarrassed, Harry had quickly dug into his food.
I'M SORRY! I was going to put the whole of second year in one chapter, really, but I added another scene and the document was almost 11000 words and I thought that would really be too much to take in at one time. So therefore I decided to still cut it in two. THE GOOD NEWS: you'll be getting part II much sooner than the normal chapter!
Sooo… We've heard a different side of Sirius' notorious home-life; Harry has unwittingly inspired James on how exactly he should impress Lily (which, we all know, won't impress her); the stage has been set for the Marauders as we know them from J.K.'s books – what will Harry do?; and the mystery of Harry's father has reoccurred…. Oooohh excitiiiing!
I wish you all a happy & safe New Year, and I will see you in 2012!
HarryPotterBlack7