Back to school, Nicholas Flamel, Moony: Chapter 10
For Harry, Hermione, Ron and Alec, the date for the recommencement of school was fast approaching. The group of friends had enjoyed the last few days of their holidays, especially New Year's, which saw the return of the Grangers, and Hermione to the Burrow for a traditional New Year's Eve party. The three boys along with the twins, enjoyed scratch Quidditch matches whenever the weather permitted. Before long, the 2nd of January arrived and the group of friends found themselves being rushed off to Kings Cross Station once again by their parents and grandparents. Once again, Rose and Ginny wished their brothers a teary goodbye as they ran along the tracks, waving frantically as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the station.
The group of friends found themselves a compartment to themselves, and set about discussing their plans for the rest of the year, "We need to find out who Nicholas Flamel is! We've had all of Christmas to look and we've had no luck at all" Hermione chided them.
Harry nodded his head as he responded, "I think we need to go and have another look in the library, see what we can find",
"But where, it's gonna be like trying to find a needle in a haystack!" Ron exclaimed,
Before they could continue, the food trolley Witch came around offering snacks, "Anything off the trolley dears?" She asked sweetly.
"Just some chocolate frogs and Berty Bots Jelly beans for me please" Harry told her,
Hermione shook her head, "Nothing for me thanks",
"Some liquorice wands for me thanks", Ron added,
"Lemon sherbet for me thanks" Alec finished.
Handing out the sweets, the trolley Witch made her way along the train, leaving the foursome to their conversation again. The group ate their sweets in peace, beginning a game of exploding snap as they finished up their treats. Harry was just examining his second Dumbledore card when a name popped up at him like a slap in the face.
"GUYS! I found Nicholas Flamel!" Harry exclaimed,
Hermione snapped her head towards Harry and jumped over to his side of the compartment, grabbing the card from him, "Incredible, how did I not think of it before! Nicholas Flamel is an alchemist!"
By now, Ron and Alec had joined Hermione, peering over her shoulder as they too examined the card.
"So now we know what we're looking for, we can head to the library and have a looksie" Alec added.
The group continued their discussion all the way up to Hogwarts, where upon they were greeted by Hagrid who directed them to the horseless carriages for the first time. The foursome hopped into one, making room for Neville who had been left out of another carriage.
"Hey you guys, have a good Christmas?" he asked the group,
Harry gave Neville a smirk, "Yeah not bad, turns out Sirius Black is my godfather and was innocent, so he's out of Azkaban now",
Neville's eyes widened, "Merlin, and I thought going off to the winter flower show was exciting!"
The group chuckled at the other Gryffindor as they moved into a steady chat as they made their way up to the castle. Once more they entered the Great Hall where Dumbledore and the other staff greeted them back to school before the famous Hogwarts feast appeared before them. They chatted amongst themselves as students swapped stories of the different goings on at their homes during Christmas. Dean spent time with his Muggle relatives, having to lie about where he went to school. Seamus stayed with his parents throughout Christmas, popping over to Scotland to celebrate Hogmanay.
Before long the group found themselves being ushered to bed. The foursome stayed up for a while, chatting amongst themselves before Hermione departed for the girl's dorms, and the boys for their room respectively. It didn't take long for the first years to succumb to sleep, all except Harry, who laid awake in his bed. Unable to sleep, Harry decided to break out his dad's invisibility cloak and go for a wander to clear his head. Heading out of the portrait hole, Harry began his midnight stroll along the deserted halls of Hogwarts.
He decided that maybe tonight would be a night to check out the library for anything on Nicholas Flamel. He suspected that the restricted section might have something on him, being a potion master. That's how Harry found himself wandering into the library late that night, lantern in hand. Slowly he edged his way into the restricted section, browsing the books titles, finding some of them quite gruesome. Stopping to open one of the books, a horrible screech poured out from the pages of the tome. Panic overtook Harry as he knocked over his lantern, shattering the glass.
From around the corner, the tell-tale signs of Filch began to funnel towards Harry. Making a run for it, Harry slowly moved passed the oblivious Filch, who began to search for the missing student, "We'll get them this time my sweets" he told Mrs Norris who was circling his legs.
Making his way out of the library, Harry thought it best to lay low for a while, lest be caught making his way back to the tower at this time of night. Slipping into one of the classrooms, Harry was presented with an empty room, save for the pile of old chairs and desks in one corner…and an old mirror in the middle. Harry made his way over to the mirror, reading the edge of it,
'Erised stra ehru oy tube cafru oyt on wohsi'
Harry couldn't decipher the message, thinking it to be another language. Harry was about to turn on his heels and walk out of the room when his breath hitched. In front of him where three people he was very familiar with, at least, the pictures of them. Before him, in the mirror, stood himself, flanked by both his mother and father, and his baby sister to his side. Next to him, opposite the side his sister took, was Ginny, smiling brightly, her warm chocolate eyes bright with mischief. More people began to appear behind him, all sharing certain features with him and Rose. Harry knew it had to be an illusion, as Rose was back at home, sleeping soundly, the same with Ginny, who was at the Burrow with her parents. Peering behind him, Harry was greeted with darkness. His mother smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Instinctively he placed a hand on his shoulder as to grip hers, meeting only his own shoulder.
Harry stood there for a number of minutes, examining the way his mother's eyes would twinkle, or how his father's mouth would smile. He saw a different look behind Rose's eyes, one that was pure and innocent, untouched by the rough upbringing they suffered. He looked to his grandparents, recognizing his grandmother Juni and grandfather Alex, along with his father's parents who he had no memory of or name to put to the face. Behind them the line went on in both directions, as Evans and Potters stretched for miles.
Harry felt that for once in his life, he had found a piece of his family that was real, evidence that the Potters and Evans lived before this time, that they were known and profound amongst the wizarding and muggle worlds. Harry wondered if he had any cousins, excluding Dudley, even if they were just distant.
A door opening behind him out of his trance as a familiar professor stepped into the room, "Hello Harry, I see your father's cloak is coming in handy" Professor Dumbledore greeted him,
"Professor! I'm sorry! I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd go for a walk" Harry replied in fear,
Dumbledore gave the boy a warm smile before coming over to his side, "It is quite alright my dear boy, curiosity gets the better of us all. I see who have found the mirror of Erised, and I'm assuming you understand what it does by now?",
Harry nodded at his professor, "Yes sir, it shows us what we most desire, for me…it's my whole family…" Harry purposely left out the fact that Ginny was there too. He had no desire to share that for now.
A small tear escaped his eye as Harry tore his eyes away from the Mirror. Dumbledore placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, "My dear boy, the mirror does indeed show us our deepest desires. Myself for example, I can see myself holding a pair of nice warm socks",
Harry raised an eyebrow up at the professor, "Socks? Really Sir?",
"Yes Harry, socks" Dumbledore chuckled, "Nobody ever thinks to give someone a nice warm pair of socks for Christmas, instead they give you expensive treats and books". Harry missed the long and deep look Dumbledore gave the mirror, as he returned to it. Instead, Harry chuckled along with his professor as he returned to looking at the mirror. His parents and sister smiled at him as he looked them all in the eye, before turning away one last time.
"I think it would be best if this was moved somewhere else, don't you think Harry?"
"Yes sir, that sounds like a good idea",
Before Harry could let his headmaster reply, he turned and looked at him once more, "Professor, how did you know I was here?"
The old professor gave a knowing smile, "You're not the only one that can be invisible Harry, it just so happens that I do not require that rather magical cloak of yours".
Harry accepted this answer and smiled up at his headmaster. Dumbledore smiled back at the young Gryffindor before leading him out of the classroom door. He escorted the young Potter back to Gryffindor tower, baying him goodnight as Harry made his way through the portrait hole. Making his way back upstairs, Harry crashed onto his mattress, falling asleep within seconds, dreaming about what life could have been with his parents. The thoughts of running around in a garden with his sister when they were young, or going out on adventures with his father or mother, learning to ride a bike, tie his shoe laces, the list went on. Harry and Rose never had a normal upbringing, many would say they grew up too fast, that Harry and Rose were no longer children, just adults in children's bodies. Harry thought he agreed with that thought, knowing full well that neither he nor his sister had a chance to enjoy the surreal feeling of childhood.
The idea that Ginny was there alongside his family brought a funny sensation to his heart once more. His feelings for the youngest Weasley had expanded exponentially since he gave her the promise ring at Christmas. It was strange, Harry thought, that he hadn't even known Ginny for a year but the idea of not having her in his life scared him. His heart swelled and expanded as he thought about her long fiery mane of hair, or her warm chocolate eyes, so full of emotion and love. Love. It was a word he only ever used to describe his feelings for Rose and more recently his Grandparents. Maybe he did love Ginny, it was odd to think that he did, but in a way, it made sense, it even felt right. Harry didn't know what to think, all he knew was that he was exhausted from thinking to much, and needed his sleep.
The next morning found the Gryffindor's once more thrusted into the fray of the school year, as the group of students began to learn what they needed to know for their exams later on in the year. Professor McGonagall had asked Harry if he had any time to learn any of the advanced transfiguration spells in the book she gifted him,
"So, Mr Potter, any luck with those new spells" McGonagall asked at the end of the transfiguration lesson.
"Yes Professor, I managed to change a bird into a goblet, although I haven't really had a chance to look at it fully yet" Harry told her,
The stern professor merely smiled, "Very good Mr Potter, I didn't expect you to have even looked at it yet. I look forward to seeing what you can do later on", and with that, the professor dismissed Harry to his next lesson, potions.
Snape seemed to be in a particularly sour mood that morning, picking on most of the Gryffindor's, all except Harry, who he kept civil with. Snape had set them on the task of creating a potion of growth that would help grow whatever plants you poured it on. Harry and Hermione were doing quite well, unfortunately for the rest of the class however, the instructions seemed to be less clear. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione and Harry's groups had managed to secure a worthy enough potion to be tested. Snape showed no emotion as the two groups handed in their work.
"Mr Potter…see me after class" Snape told Harry as he handed in his potion,
Harry nodded in affirmative as he went back to his desk to start packing up. As the others left the dungeon classroom, the Slytherins whispering excitedly, Harry made his way up to the professors desk, "What would you like to see me about Sir?"
"Mr Potter, your work today was…exceptional."
"Thank you, sir, but I just followed the instructions" Harry replied sheepishly,
Snape raised his eyebrow, "You may have done so…however…the majority of the class did likewise. You, Mr Potter, showed intuition where it was needed. Well done"
Harry blushed as he nodded his head, "Thank you sir",
"You may go now Mr Potter, keep up the good work" Snape bayed him farewell.
Harry met up with the rest of his friends in the Great Hall, where they were waiting for him anxiously.
"All good mate?" Alec asked him,
Harry nodded "Yeah, never better. Snape just gave me another compliment so can't be all bad",
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, "Ron and I did just a good a job with our potion and he didn't praise us, he must really like you Harry",
Harry shrugged, "Maybe, I'm not gonna complain though",
Hermione rolled her eyes before she drew their attention back to her, "We need to go to the library after lunch and search for anything on Nicholas Flamel"
Ron nodded, his mouth full of food, "Shounds 'ike a go' 'dea" He spat,
Hermione gave him a disgusted look, "Ronald, don't speak with your mouth full!",
Ron merely rolled his eyes as he continued to eat. Seamus, Dean and Neville found themselves joining the other Gryffindor's as they began to talk amongst themselves about the potions lesson. Everyone could agree that Snape had a soft spot for Harry, who tried to brush it off as being well prepared and reading his whole textbook. Ron and Alec pointed out that Hermione did the exact same thing and did just as well if not better, and didn't receive any special attention.
"Look, I don't know why he 'likes' me, he just does. Is it really that bad if it's stopping Gryffindor from losing points, and actually gaining some?" Harry lashed out,
Most of the group nodded their head in agreement. Anything was better than losing more points for your house. Eventually the group finished their lunches and made their way to the library to do more research on Nicholas Flamel. Hermione set them about the different sections to look in that would or could be relevant. Ron, Alec and Harry gave in before long and headed back to their table in defeat.
"How the Bloody hell are we supposed to find this bloke anyway!" Ron sighed,
Harry shrugged, "Beats me, I'm sure Hermione will find something",
"Speak of the devil" Alec added,
Hermione made her way over with a large book in her hands, "I thought I'd seen the name somewhere, I took this out a few weeks ago for a bit of light reading" She told the group.
"You call that light reading!" Ron exclaimed,
Hermione shot him a dirty look as she began to flip through the pages. As they were looking through, they were interrupted by the large figure of none other than Hagrid,
"Hello Hagrid! What brings you in here?" Harry asked him as he passed,
Hagrid looked around suspiciously as he held a book behind his back, "Ah, yeh kno', jus' some books on the wee beasties in the forest" he told them,
Harry nodded his head as the groundskeeper slowly walked away nervously, leaving without saying goodbye,
"That was a bit sus, wasn't it?" Ron said,
Alec nodded, "You can say that again, wonder what he's up to",
Ron agreed, and got up to go look in the section Hagrid had just been in. Hermione continued to search through the book, eventually stopping on a page to read an extract. Ron returned soon with another book,
"Dragons! He was in the section for dragons!" Ron exclaimed excitingly,
"Dragons? You don't think he's finally nicked one, do you?" Harry asked,
Ron shrugged, "Who knows, but whatever he's doing, it's bound to be dangerous and involve some sort of dangerous magical creature".
Suddenly, Hermione called out above the group, "I've got it! Nicholas Flamel is the only known inventor and possessor of the philosopher's stone, an item which can create the elixir of life, allowing someone to life forever, or at least to a very old age. Nicholas himself Is over 600 years old along with his wife"
Harry and the two other boys peered over Hermione's shoulder to read the page she was on, nodding and humming at the new information.
"So, whoever is after the stone here is trying to live forever basically!" Alec said,
Hermione nodded, "I think that's a safe bet as to why they want it",
The group sat there in silence for a bit before Harry spoke up, "Well, we have to do what we can to protect the stone, no matter what",
The group nodded in agreement as Hermione went to put the book back in the section it belonged in. The rest of the day was spent in their afternoon classes, DADA and charms, before finally the day ended and the group made their way back to the Great Hall for supper. In the middle of their feast, Hagrid strode over to them,
"'Ello you lot, I twas wonderin' if yeh could come down to mine tomorrow at some stage?"
Harry nodded at him, "Sure Hagrid, what for though?".
Hagrid started to look around shadily, "Nothin', nothin', just thought yeh'd like to come down tis all",
"We'll be there Hagrid" Hermione told him.
"Good, good. Alright then you lot, best I head back to the staff table", Hagrid bayed them farewell,
"Tomorrow would be a good time to question what he's up to" Alec told the group,
Ron nodded, "Agreed, if he's lookin' at dragons, blimey who knows what he's doing".
"Let's hope he doesn't stuff fluffy and a dragon together in that room, half the castle might burn down" Harry joked,
Ron chuckled at his best mates joke, "Think of it this way, they might just knock each other off and save us the work!"
Hermione wrapped Ron's knuckle with a spoon, "Ron! That's very cruel of you to say!",
"It was only a joke" Ron rolled his eyes and rubbed his knuckles, "Don't get too worked up",
Giving him a scathing look, Hermione returned to her dinner in peace. Before long they were finishing up and heading to bed, making sure they were ready for a long day of classes and possibly a dragon the next day.
Thus, the young Gryffindor's found themselves making their way back down to Hagrid's the next day after lunch. Trudging across the school grounds, the group couldn't spy Hagrid outside of his hut, so they assumed he would be inside. Walking up to the hut, Harry knocked on the door, only to be greeted by the door opening almost immediately.
Hagrid stood in the doorway looking proud as punch as Fang raced around at his feet, "Calm down would yeh, silly mutt, hello 'arry, 'mione, Ron, Alec, come on in, want a cuppa?"
Harry nodded as he followed Hagrid in, "Yes please Hagrid",
Making their way into Hagrid's hut and taking a seat at the table, they helped themselves to Hagrid's rock solid…rock cakes. Hagrid brought over a pot of tea and served them out a cup each.
"So how's yeh week back at school been?" Hagrid asked the group,
"Yeah 'spose it hasn't been too bad" Ron answered.
Hermione shot him a look, "It's been fine Hagrid, Professor McGonagall is teaching us how to transfigure fruit into rocks and vice versa".
"Sounds fantastic, glad yeh lot are enjoyin' yehselves" Hagrid beamed at them,
Harry nodded as he looked around the room for anything new, noticing suddenly the large black egg sitting in the firepit.
"Hagrid…what exactly is that?" Harry asked pointing to the large egg,
"That 'arry, is a dragon egg! Won it in a card game down at the Hogshead other night. Come to think of it, the bloke was quite 'appy to give the egg away",
The group of first years looked around at each other with worried looks, "Hagird…aren't dragons illegal to keep?" Hermione asked,
Hagrid's eyes started to dart around the room, "Oh, eh, I 'spose they might be",
"Hagrid mate, you can't keep a bloody dragon, your house it's made of wood!" Alec exclaimed,
Hagrid waved a hand lazily in defence, "Nah, what harm could 'appen, it'll know who it's mummy is",
"Hagrid, you never know what kind of dragon it could be" Ron said, "It could be a Hungarian horntail for all we know!"
Hagrid looked back at the egg with a bit of worry, "Could be a Welsh green too, never kno'",
The group gave up trying to reason with the half giant, and instead sat there in peace discussing their classes and everything else that had happened to them whilst over the Christmas holidays. About an hour after they arrived, they decided to head back in order to grab a bit of actual food instead of rock cakes, before they headed to the last half of the day of classes.
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On the other side of the country, young Rose Potter was walking up to the feeling of a wet, slopping tongue on her cheek as a big black shaggy dog straddled her sleeping body.
"Ughh, go away Padfoot!" She lazily waved her hand to whack his nose away,
Sirius hopped off of Rose in his animagi form before turning back and sitting beside her on the bed, "Come on little Rose, time to get up, we've got places to see and people to annoy!"
Rose batted his arm lightly as she rolled over and went back to sleep. Sirius, not one to give up easily, pulled the sheets off her with force, "get up you lazy sod, there's breakfast downstairs",
Rose turned over, fury in her eyes as she shot Sirius a scathing look, "You old mutt, I'll get you for this!"
Sirius chuckled as he ruffled her hair as she got up to take a shower, "That I have no doubt about, now get your arse into gear and hurry downstairs!" he called out the last part as she shut the bathroom door in his face.
Rose had been taking Harry's second departing a lot better than the first, knowing full well he'd be back soon, and then she would be departing with him to Hogwarts instead of staying cooped up with her family. Although not technically a blood relative, Sirius felt more like an uncle that she never had then a family friend. Even a father figure almost, although her grandfather did a good job at that as well. Both men would be there for her to lean on, or to cry on, as she had when Harry left.
Making her way out of the shower to get changed, Rose noticed that she still hadn't dealt with her father's wand, which laid on Harry's nightstand. Grabbing it, Rose decided that she could offer it to the next best thing to a father, Sirius.
Finding him sitting down at the table, Rose took the seat next to him, turning around to face him, "Sirius, the wand you have now, is it yours?" she asked him,
Taken aback by Rose's question, Sirius recovered quickly, "No it's not, it's just a spare that the ministry gave me when they set me free. No, my wand was snapped when they imprisoned me",
Rose took out her father's wand from her pocket and laid it next to Sirius, whose eyes widened at the sight of it, "Is…is that Jamie's wand?" He asked her, knowing full well it was,
Rose nodded her head slowly, "It is, I want you to have it. Harry wanted to mount it but I think he'd agree it's much better suited to being used by its owner's best friend",
A tear slid down Sirius cheek as he picked up his dead best friend's wand. A mild warmth flowed through his hand as a sliver of red sparks shot out from the front.
"I think it likes you" Rose joked,
Sirius chuckled softly as he gave the wand a swoosh and summed the packet of cereal from the other end of the table.
"Sirius, I think you deserve it more than anyone, I know you'll use it well" Rose told him as she placed a hand on his,
Sirius could merely smile as he studied the wand in front of him. Many a time he had been on the receiving end of a jinx by James as the two would duel and prank one another. Sirius never thought that he would one day be holding his best friend's wand and calling it his own. Snapping out of his reminiscing, Sirius turned to Rose and embraced her in a tight hug.
"Thank you, so much little Rose, I'll make sure to put it to good use" He thanked her, "Now, eat up, we have a big day ahead, and I must spoil you now that you've done this",
Rose beamed at him as she grabbed a slice of toast and eggs, "Does that mean a pony?" She joked,
Sirius let out a barking laugh, "Good try little Rose, I would but I think you might need a stable first"
Juni perked her head up at the mention of stable, "Now that you mention it, we could do with some horses around here, always helpful to cross the fields when they're muddy"
Rose beamed at her grandmother as she thought about receiving a pony, every little girl's dream. Juni gave her granddaughter a warm smile, "I'll talk to your grandpa when he gets back from the fields about building one. I'm sure the boys from the village wouldn't mind giving a hand",
Sirius nodded his head, "I'm happy to lend a hand as well, and I'm sure Harry and his mates would be too",
"It sounds like a summer project then, plenty of time to plan and grab supplies" Juni added,
For the rest of the morning, all that was passed around the table was chatter of ponies and what kind they should buy. Rose was determined to buy a Shetland pony, if not to use then as a pet. Juni brushed off the idea for now, saying that they needed to be helpful in order to stay there on the farm. Sirius knew that if he let it happen, the two of them would sit there and discuss ponies until the cows came home. So, with little subtly, Sirius ruffled Rose's hair and told her it was time to go,
"Come on little Rose, let's head off, got a long way to travel first",
Rose nodded in understanding, getting up and bidding her Grandmother goodbye. Walking to the front porch, Sirius and Rose wondered up the road until they were safely out of the wards that had been placed on the house by professor Dumbledore.
"Now, I need you to take my arm Rose, and hold on tight" Sirius told her,
Doing as she was told, Rose wrapped an arm around Sirius' and held on as tight as she could. Taking his new wand out, Sirius closed his eyes, and before long, Rose felt a tugging sensation as if she was being squeezed from both sides and darkness overtook her. Mere moments later, light returned to Rose as she opened her eyes to the scene in front of her. Lining the road, they stood by were countless rows of terraced, old industrial age workers cottages.
"How are you feeling? Not many people feel too good after their first apparation" Sirius asked,
Rose shook her head, "I'm a little dizzy, but not bad overall"
"Good" Sirius responded, "Come on, we've an old friend to visit",
Taking Rose's hand, Sirius led her up the road. The streets were coated in a black dust, most likely coal dust from a nearby coal mine. Old cars lined the street and houses looked rundown and in terrible condition. Once in a while they'd pass one which looked decent, but not many. Eventually they arrived out front of what had to be one of the better-looking cottages on the street. The fence was in good shape, the brickwork looked well kept, and all the windows were still intact.
Stepping up to the door, Sirius rapt his knuckles on the door a few times, bringing hushed noises from the inside as someone shuffled to get to the door. Opening the door, Rose was met by a shaggy dressed man with mattered hair, unkept stubble, with holes in many of his clothes. The man's eyes widened first in fear, then pain and finally excitement as a broad smile spread onto his face,
"Sirius! What are you doing here!" the man asked,
Sirius walked up to the man and embraced him, "Hello Remus, old friend, it's been too long"
Remus returned the embrace, opening his eyes, he looked down at Rose, making his eyes widen, "That's…that's not little Madeline-Rose is it…Lily and James's little girl!"
Rose smiled up at Remus, "I prefer just Rose, but yes, I am the very same Rose Potter, sister of the tragic moron known as Harry Potter",
Both Remus and Sirius let out a laugh as Remus leaned down to embrace the young Potter, "It has been so…so many years since I last saw you. You were barely a baby when I last saw you".
Rose returned the embrace, "It's nice to meet you Remus, or should it be uncle Remus?" Rose smirked,
Remus smiled at her as he stood back up from the embrace, "Remus is fine, or Moony if you wish",
Rose gave him a puzzled look, "Why Moony? Is your animagi a wolf?"
Remus gave her a quizzical look before turning to Sirius, "You didn't tell them then?"
Sirius shook his head, "Lennox told them of the marauders being animagi, but he just said you were a wolf",
Remus nodded, "Lennox Henderson I assume?". Sirius nodded, "Well then, I guess I should tell you. Rose, I'm a werewolf" Remus told her,
Rose looked surprised by the reply, "You certainly don't look like one",
Remus chuckled at the young girl, "No, no I suppose I don't look like a stereotypical werewolf. No, I only change on the full moon, otherwise I share no different properties then regular wizards and witches."
Rose nodded her understanding, "How did you become a werewolf?" she asked,
A look of remorse and sadness filled Remus, "it's a long story. But where are my manners! Please, you both must come in for tea at the very least!"
Rose and Sirius followed Remus into his neat but still rather scraggily home. Bits of old beige wallpaper had started to come off the walls, and the wooden floorboards had small chips and holes in some, others had lost nails and were protruding from the floor. Not many paintings or pictures hung in the house, the only one Rose could see was a medium sized portrait which she recognized as that of the order of the Phoenix. Remus lead them into a small sitting space just off the main hallway, which was filled with a couple of old, dusty burgundy coloured couches. Taking a seat on one besides Sirius, Rose began to look around the room, which was filled with a few bookshelves which contained spell books and adventure novels.
Remus re-entered the room with a pot of tea and a small plate of biscuits on a tray for them all to enjoy, sitting them on an older looking coffee table which had seen better days. Pouring out a cup for each of his guests, Remus passed off the cups before taking a seat with his own on the other couch.
"Sirius, I'm so glad you managed to finally get off after all these years" Remus smiled softly at him, "I always found it hard to believe that you of all people betrayed Lily and James",
Sirius smiled broadly at his old friend, "I'm out now, and that's all that matters, I've got two little godchildren to look after now"
"I remember when you were just born Rose, how proud your father was to finally have a daughter to care for" Remus smiled softly at her,
Rose blushed from embarrassment, "Is this the part where you tell me I look like mum except for my eyes?"
Remus and Sirius chuckled softly, "Yes I suppose it is that part indeed" Remus told her, "Tell me, how is your brother, I always meant to find you but…",
Rose put her hand up to silence him, "It's fine Remus, by the look of things you certainly had more important things to do then to visit us." Rose told him, "And Harry is just dandy, although his ego needs a check",
Remus gave rose a wan smile, "I think Sirius and I would both agree that we have a lot of making up to do"
'That we do my friend" Sirius told him, "That we do",
"So what house did Harry get sorted into then?" Remus asked Rose,
Rose took a sip of her tea before replying, "Gryffindor, did you expect any less" She grinned,
"No, I suppose not, both of you are going to be ruling the school if James' blood got into both of you enough" Remus chuckled,
"Lennox already told me that Harry was better than Jamie when it came to flying, so I think we have worthy marauder material to work with" Sirius grinned,
The rest of the conversation was spent talking about what Harry and Rose had been up to in the last 10 years. It was insightful to both Sirius and Remus to hear about what their best friend's children had gone through since that fateful night. Remus was appalled at the behaviour of Vernon, but relieved that the Evans had managed to take them in. Remus always did have a soft spot for the Evans, Juni especially, who had Lily's bright happy attitude. Before long, Sirius was busying Rose along to get back home in time for dinner. Sirius had invited Remus to join them, saying that the Evans would be more than happy to include him. Remus accepted, although gingerly, still not use to large scale human interaction.
Flooing back to the Evans home, Remus reunited himself with the Evans, who were happy to see the old werewolf again. Juni especially was quite thrilled to see Remus again, always having a soft spot for the little boy who had suffered so much but still pushed himself to succeed in school. Once reintroductions were concluded, Rose dragged Remus off to show him around the house, including her and Harry's room where she showed him pictures of Harry and his friends,
"My, he does look like James…except…"
"The eyes…I know, he gets that a lot" Rose finished for Remus,
Remus smiled down at the girl before looking around at the other photos', "And that must be the Weasley clan, Molly always did look like her brothers, such a shame they didn't see the end of the war",
Molly's brothers Fabian and Gideon had perished during the first wizarding war, but not without going down without a fight, taking a number of death eaters along with them. To this day Molly still mourned them from time to time, most likely causing her to be the over protective mother she is.
"Is that James' little boy Alexander is it?" Remus asked pointing at Alec,
Rose nodded her head, "Yeah, him and Ron and Harry are thick as thieves along with Hermione, the bushy haired girl there"
Remus shock his head lightly, "The poor family, they went through hell after the war",
"What do you mean? What happened?" Sirius asked his friend,
Remus spun around to face him, "What do you mean" He said, "Didn't Lennox tell you?",
"Tell me what?" Sirius started to get frustrated,
Remus sighed before taking a seat on Rose and Harry's bed, "About, 4 years ago…Vivian and Gabrielle were killed by a rogue wizard. Just a nobody with a grudge against society. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were just two out of five who were killed during the attack."
Sirius shock his head in disbelief, unable to believe the words that came out of his friend's mouth, "You mean, they're gone? His little girl and wife?"
Remus nodded his head solemnly, "Alec never told us any of this, that's horrible" Rose added,
"I can assume that neither of them really like talking about it, even after all these years" Remus told them,
The group chatted amongst themselves solemnly, discussing the life of these two individuals Rose never met or would ever meet. She felt a twang of sympathy go out to Alec, knowing full well how it felt to lose a parent, or in her case two. She was just lucky that she never knew the difficulty of losing a sibling. She couldn't imagine her life without Harry, all he did for her, protecting her and making her laugh, being her best friend. He was everything to her, and she couldn't even imagine what it would be like to live without him. Before long however, her thoughts were interrupted as Remus made his way back downstairs in order to floo back to his home. Sirius and Juni both offered for him to stay the night, and Rose offered him her bed, saying she'd sleep on a camper bed, but Remus politely declined, saying he had to be home so he could go out and seek work early in the morning.
Sirius was worried for his friend, knowing full well that werewolves were not popular in the community, and living as one would be incredibly difficult. He knew then that he would have to get Remus a job somehow, and even slip him some money from his own account so that at the very least he could get a new wardrobe.
Before long, Rose found herself saying goodnight to her family and departing for her room for the night. She quickly penned a letter to her brother, telling him of her day before sending it off with her owl Zeus. Zeus hadn't seen much action delivering letters since Hedwig was always happy to stay around and wait for her reply, but Harry hadn't sent a letter along this morning so there was no Hedwig. Zeus was happy for the task however, finally departing on a long-haul journey instead of just to the Burrow where he delivered Rose's letters to Ginny.
Opening the window for her owl, Rose gave Zeus a light kiss to his head before letting him go off into the night her the letter to her brother grasped tightly in his talons. Closing the window and making her way over to her bed, Rose hopped in with a thud, barely having time to turn off the lights before sleep overcame her and sent her off to Neverland.