Chapter Notes: Not as much yummy darkness in this chapter. Next one, I promise!
Chapter 11 – Family
Harry smiled sinisterly as the non-descript owl began winging his way to his destination. It had taken a little time explaining and a lot of owl treats before Hedwig forgave him for using a different owl for this delivery. Even now she was glaring at him from her perch, but at least she wasn't still trying to rip him to pieces. He decided to use her to send more letters to Neville, Luna, and the twins in the near future. If not, it may not be safe to sleep anywhere in her vicinity, lest she attack while his guard was down.
True to Alice's vision, Harry's pain had disappeared almost completely by Tuesday morning. Jasper had gone out a few days before to purchase a car. Harry, who was new to the vampires' need to self-indulge, was expecting Jasper to come home with the keys to a used SUV or something similar. He certainly wasn't prepared to be led outside in front of a brand new lime green Lamborghini Huracán. It looked like a time machine… or perhaps some advanced species of bug.
As he listened to his mate rattle off all the exciting features of the car, Harry had decided that he would be buying one for himself once he learned how to drive.
One of the downsides of the vehicle was the limited space to put their luggage, but that wasn't a problem for a wizard who was handy with a space expansion charm. It was just as well because, from what Jasper had told him about his sisters, the brunette would be coming home with a lot more than what he was taking. He had already been warned by both his mate and Alice herself that he wouldn't be leaving the Cullen household without a new wardrobe, so he had mentally prepared himself to face a dreaded shopping trip.
Without further ado, Harry and Jasper took their places in the car and settled in for a nice drive. The wizard had brought his mother's journal with him, determined to read as much as he was able before they arrived in Scotland. Though the trip normally took a little over five hours, Jasper was sure to have them there much sooner.
Harry happily read the entries which started right after her fifteenth birthday. Apparently she had received the journal from her grandmother and happily wrote about her day to day life. The updates were sporadic… sometimes she went weeks without writing, but Harry cherished every nugget of information he found. None of the people who knew her had ever mentioned how much she loved to go fishing or that her favorite color was periwinkle. He found out that when his mother started back to school for her sixth year her hair had been cut short because her stupid sister had "accidentally" cut a huge chunk out when trying to snip the scratchy tag out of her new blouse. Lily was certain it was done out of spite.
There was one entry written the summer before Lily's final year at school that surprised the hell out of him.
1976 July 8th
I have just returned from Gringotts where I found out what I'm becoming. Everything started happening a few weeks ago and it has taken me that long to convince my parents that something was desperately wrong with me. They kept telling me it was only growing pains, but I knew it was something else. The burning that started at my upper back was excruciating, but thankfully not constant. I think the muscle and joint aches are what hurts the most… it feels as if my body is trying to grow several inches in a short span of time. And though that gives credence to my parents' "growing pains" theory, I knew in my heart it was something much worse.
I've only ever read of people coming into magical creature inheritances, but somehow I knew that this was what was happening to me. So yes… it took me a while to get them to seek help for me, and longer still to make them understand why I needed to see a bank rather than a doctor. They folded in the end, knowing that there were many things in the magical world devoid of logic. Though I find the goblins to be incredibly rude, they seem to be helpful nonetheless.
I'm turning into a dark veela!
I don't understand how this can be… my parents are muggles. As far as I know they have been muggles for forever! I don't want this… I see how fearful Remus is to have others discover his dark secret and now I have one of my own.
And James… I love him so much but there's no way he would accept me as his wife if he found out what I am. I know that he wouldn't hate me, but the Potter line has been light for too long and I'm scared to disclose this to him lest I lose him. No one must know my secret. Once my body finishes changing the dark veela's natural shape shifting abilities should work, allowing me to forever hide my shame from the world.
"Harry, what is it?"
The wizard blinked when he realized Jasper had been trying to get his attention for a little while. He shook his head and gestured to the journal. "My mother… she was a dark veela too."
Jasper's eyes widened in shock. "She was? And no one thought to tell you?"
Harry scowled in confusion. "No one knew… at least they didn't when she wrote this entry." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Thankfully it stopped growing once it touched his shoulders, so he wasn't in need of a haircut. However, the increased unruliness of his hair took some getting used to. Jasper said it looked sexy, which was perhaps the only reason he wasn't looking to get it cut to its previous length. "She says dark veela are natural shape shifters and that after her change she was planning to use that skill to hide it from even my dad."
The blonde nodded with a concerned look on his face as he effortlessly whipped through traffic without losing focus on his mate. "I can't imagine how scared she must have been to think she had to hide something of that magnitude from even her closest friends."
His mate could only nod in agreement before returning to the diary.
Bill Weasley was irate. His parents had the audacity to contact his employers, the goblins no less, to get them to pull him from his jobsite in Egypt because of a "family emergency." He was lucky to still have a job to return to once he sorted out this pseudo catastrophe. Honestly… if his supervisor ever found out that the emergency was that his mother had been cursed, most likely because she stuck her nose in someone's business one too many times, then he was sure to be sacked.
He had worked too damned hard for too damned long to let his banshee of a mother and spineless father take it away from him by their meddling. Bill knew that Arthur and Molly Weasley wouldn't be satisfied until he, Charlie, and the twins were back under their rickety roof with their hair cut as short as possible and a dead-end job working under their father at the Ministry of Magic.
He scoffed as he stuffed some clothes down in his rucksack. Those who thought they knew the Weasleys had no idea how dysfunctional they truly were. As far as he was concerned, the only siblings he could stand to be around were Charlie, Fred, and George. And that was because the four of them all grew up hating their mother who constantly berated them and told them how they would never amount to anything. It was as if Molly had an idea of how her children should grow up and anyone that dared to have their own life's ambitions were a shame to the family. He had adored his father once upon a time, but even he became dead to Bill after years of not standing up for his own children.
This was the reason he had ignored the various owls begging him to make a trip "home" to ward their house. When he finally pointed out that he was on a very important dig of which he was unable to leave, he was rewarded with a howler that still had his ears ringing. After that, he didn't care if his parents' home was properly warded or not… they were on their own. At least they were until his father had decided to risk Bill losing his job by begging the goblins to give him some time off.
The goblins, whose idea of a "family emergency" contains nothing less than decapitation, seemed to know how embarrassed Bill was by his father's actions. Therefore, instead of sacking him, they decided to temporarily transfer him to their London branch. His supervisor had told him that it was up to him whether or not to address his family's issues. As long as he showed up for work on time and completed the tasks given they didn't care how he spent his time off.
Therefore, Bill had decided that his course of action would be to make a brief trip to the burrow, remove the curse from his mother to get them off his back, and beg the twins for use of their sofa. He knew the two were living in the flat above the building they were in the process of turning into a joke shop. There was no way he was spending any more time with his parents than he absolutely had to.
Charlie and the twins were lucky that their passions lay in careers that were of no use to their family.
Jasper smiled as he looked up at the three-story house at the end of the long, winding driveway. The house was every bit as extravagant as the one in Forks that they'd most likely never see again. He could see Esme in all the details. Harry looked up from his mother's memories as soon as the car was turned off. They shared a smile and exited the vehicle.
Three blurs ran toward them at top speed, all of them seemed to be more interested in the new car than greeting their brothers.
"Sweet ride, bros," Emmett exclaimed as he trailed a hand along the side.
The rest of the family had come outside as well, most of them shaking their heads at the boys. Alice squealed with glee and wrapped her arms around Harry, who immediately returned the hug.
"Oh it's so wonderful to finally meet you in person, Harry!" Alice pulled away only to give Jasper the same welcome.
Harry chuckled. "You too, Alice. Jasper's told me so many stories about you that I already feel like I know you all."
Edward chuckled and introduced the vampires he hadn't yet met.
A smiling Esme with caramel-colored hair happily pulled Harry into her arms. "I'm so happy to have another son, Harry. Thank you for making Jasper so happy."
The wizard had tears in his eyes as an emotion assaulted him that was foreign to him. He didn't think it was bad, but he certainly couldn't remember ever experiencing it before. Perhaps it was the love of a mother? His green eyes caught the amber ones of Edward, who nodded and smiled in response to his mental musings. "Thank you, Esme. I'm so thrilled to have you in my life as well."
Rosalie was a bit more stand-offish, but Emmett assured him that she was that way with everyone new, so he didn't take it to heart when the blonde just nodded in his direction. Everett was the vampire that Harry knew the least about, only because Jasper hadn't been around him as long as his other siblings. He was just shy of being six feet tall with light brown hair and an easygoing grin. He was well muscled, as if he had done a lot of hard physical labor before he was turned.
"Hey, little brother," Everett surprised Harry by greeting him with a head noogie rather than a hug or handshake. "glad you finally got to meet me!"
Harry pulled away laughing as Jasper happily guided his mate inside the massive house. This was the first time he'd ever visited this place, and the first time he's met four of these vampires, but he still felt like he was part of a real family for the first time in his life.
"So Harrilicious," Emmett said with a smirk, "I hear Jas bought you a new toy… how are you liking it? I know Alice has barely put hers down since you got yours."
Harry's eyes sparkled from where he was sat on his mate's lap on one of the living room sofas. Delicious smells wafted through the house as Esme excitedly began cooking for her new son. "It's amazing! I've seen things like this before," he said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to show them, "but I still can't believe how many things it can do. Did you know there's even an alarm clock on here?!"
Edward laughed. "I did, but we vampires don't really have a need for that particular feature. Alice told me you recently discovered the joys of ringtones."
Jasper chuckled. "Yes… he must have spent hours listening to different songs, trying to choose the perfect one for each of us."
"Ooh really?" Alice dug out her phone and called her new brother. Cyndi Lauper's voice started belting out "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" soon after. She squealed in joy.
Edward grinned as he did the same and his favorite piece by Debussy, "Clair de Lune" began playing softly. "Very nice!"
Then, to Harry's mortification, Alice grabbed Jasper's phone with a sly grin and dialed his number. Needless to say, the song that he had jokingly chosen for Jasper was not one he wanted to share with his new family. He hastily tried to turn his phone off, only to be thwarted by Emmett, who snatched it out of his hand.
Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?
Don't be a chicken boy, stop actin' like a bee-otch.
I'ma peace out if you don't give me the pay off.
Come on baby, let me see what you hiding underneath.
Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?
Whatcha waitin' for? It's time for you to show it off.
Don't be a shy kind of guy – I bet it's beautiful.
Come on baby, let me see what you hiding underneath.
I wanna see your peacock… cock… cock….
Harry's face was beyond red now as the entire family, including his traitorous mate, laughed their asses off. He should have known the decision to use "Peacock" by Katy Perry would end up biting him in the ass. He decided to just hide until everyone forgot about this.
"It wouldn't work," Edward said as he tried to hide his amusement. "Just consider it your initiation, little brother." He reached over to muss up the embarrassed boy's hair even more than it was naturally.
Hermione Granger was sitting in her room, working hard on her summer assignments. She was so focused on perfecting her Potions essay that she never saw the mysterious barn owl until he screeched in her ear. She jumped a foot before grabbing her heart and glared at the bird. As the witch removed the letter from the bird's foot, Hermione began chastising him. "You should learn patience… look at what you've done! There's globs of ink everywhere and I'll have to clean it by hand since I can't do magic over the summer!"
She growled as the bird took off without even having the common decency to at least appear to be sorry. "Now I'll have to completely redo my essay… stupid bird."
The letter was simply a notice of a new sale going on at the stupid quidditch store! Hermione growled and tossed it across the room. One time! She stuck her head into the shop one time to buy a quidditch book for Ron for Christmas and she's on their stupid owling list for eternity!
As she dug through her trunk, looking for fresh parchment, she never saw the wispy red mist sink into her skin.
"Ah ha," she exclaimed triumphantly as she pulled a clean roll of parchment from the bottom. "I knew I had an extra roll!"
Hermione beamed as she took her place at her desk to get back to work. It was no matter… she had been planning to rewrite her essay again anyway. She had come across two more potions that featured nephila silk after she had already moved past that part and now she could easily include them.
Her smile soon left her face as she squinted at her text. The words on the page had transformed into some kind of squiggles. Hermione hastily rubbed her eyes and looked again, but nothing had changed. She quickly began thumbing through her book, but the other pages were all the same. Growling, the bushy haired girl slammed her book closed. "Ronald Weasley," she growled, "I just know you had something to do with this!"
Assuming she had tripped a jinx on her book to show nothing but gibberish, Hermione closed her eyes and counted to ten. It wouldn't be very ladylike to begin destroying things in a fit of rage. The witch decided to go grab something to eat and calm down a bit before she figured out a way to get to Ron and throttle him.
Opening the cupboard, Hermione felt herself go pale when she saw the shelves of dry goods before her. Every single label showed those same undecipherable squiggles as her Potions book. She couldn't read anything!
Hermione Jane Granger fell to the ground screaming.
Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!