Chapter 13

The Happenings of The Summer

The summer before their second year at Hogwarts was fairly uneventful. They spent time with family, did their summer homework, discovered they had gotten all O's on their first year exams, and wrote letters to their friends daily.

The one event that stood out was their trip to Diagon Alley. Unbeknownst of the adults in their lives, all four friends had conspired to go to Diagon Alley for school supplies on the same day. Thinking back, one of them might have realized how pointless the secrecy was, but no one did when the plans were being made. After all, when you are twelve, you think it's easier to sneak behind your parents' backs than to chance asking them and being refused.

And so, on a certain day in August, Leo could be found walking beside his mother as Lyra ran ahead, darting from store front to store front. Even though they had been here before, Lyra was extra hyper from being cooped up in the house all summer. Admittedly, it wasn't much different from their life before Hogwarts, but now they knew exactly what they were missing. Leo though was content to spend the time chatting with his mother; because however much he denied it, he was a mama's boy and had missed her desperately while away at school. Of course they had written letters back and forth throughout the school year, but it wasn't quite the same as her being there in person.

As planned, O'Malley and his family had already met up with Teddy and his godfather, Harry, and were headed for the same store as the Jones, Flourish and Blotts. Their group was the first to arrive and the children loitered near the door as the adults went a bit further in. Rissy, O'Malley's little sister, could be seen bouncing up and down as she looked at the magical books surrounding her and interrogated Teddy about the wizarding world. O'Malley watched this scene with amusement as they waited for Leo and Lyra to show up. He loved how excited his sister got about magic. He adored her and sincerely hoped she was magical too, so as to be able to come to Hogwarts in a few years. While he had not seen any magical signs from her, Teddy had said that they sometimes didn't appear until as last as nine years old.

Looking up from the interactions between Rissy and Teddy, O'Malley saw Lyra ran right past them in her excitement. Leo, on the other hand, sedately walked in and went directly up to Teddy, pulling him into a quick 'man' hug, before doing the same to O'Malley. While it was not appropriate for boys to admit to missing one another, the occasional man-hug was suitable, especially after long periods apart. "How have your summers gone?"

Even as Teddy opened his mouth to speak, O'Malley was the one to excitedly answer first, "I've been learning how to play keeper with—"

He was cut off abruptly as Lyra tackled him. "SweetValley! I missed you!" After all, it was completely acceptable for extreme displays of emotion to be shown by those of the female species. No boy would ever be stupid enough to say girls were more emotional to Lyra's face though.

He laughed. "I can tell."

Rissy stood in the background, silently observing the dynamics between her brother and his friends. It was an interesting thing to behold as he had never had any friends in primary school.

Teddy was quick to exclaim, "What about me?" He put on a mock offended face at Lyra's lack of enthusiasm to see him. In reality, he knew she would have gotten to him once she was finished thoroughly embarrassing O'Malley in front of his little sister.

At Teddy's words, Lyra just as quickly extricated herself from O'Malley's arms and launched herself at him. She stopped suddenly as she heard a deep chuckle coming from behind him. She looked up to find the legendary Harry Potter laughing at her antics. She grinned, unashamed at being seen at her craziest by the most famous man in the wizarding world.

"Hi! I'm Lyra Jones." She was never one to be shy, not even around a legend.

"I guessed. Teddy's told me all about you." He smiled down at her, thinking how much she reminded him of the Weasley twins.

"Don't believe everything you're told," she replied in a singsong voice.

"Oh? So you didn't set off a banner, balloons and confetti in the Great Hall at breakfast for your birthdays?"

She sighed, pretending to be down-hearted. "It wasn't balloons and confetti. It was balloons popping and showering confetti. There's a difference." She added some sass at the end to make everyone laugh at her 'attitude'.

Throughout this exchange, Hestia stood silently off to the side, observing the scene unfolding before her. Looking at the lack of recognition on Harry's face, she thanked Merlin and God for Harry's cluelessness; he really wouldn't have been able to kill Voldemort if not for Hermione. When she had seen him standing there, she had been sure he was going to recognize the twins. After all, they did look just like their father. But he showed to no sign of seeing the resemblance.

Distracted by the many books she could see, Rissy wandered off through the store, dragging her parents behind her. As the children engaged in their own conversation, Harry left them to catch up as he headed for Hestia.

"Hestia Jones! It's been ages. How have you been?" He had known she was the twins' mother but it was still a shock for him to see her in person after all these years. He had never even been able to thank her for protecting his relatives during the last year of the war; as soon as he could after the war was over, he had looked her up, but she was nowhere to be found.

She shrugged. "Alright. It's been a bit lonely with the twins off at Hogwarts now." She was not, after all, too eager to engage him in a conversation that might somehow lead to him connecting the dots in his mind and realizing who the twins' father was.

He smiled. "I wish I could say I understand but the kids are still years from being old enough for Hogwarts." He paused for a moment before asking, "Is their father not around?"

She paused upon hearing his question. If she revealed too much, it made it all the more likely that he would discover who he was. In the end however, she decided to go with the easy route. She gave him a sad smile. "No. He died before they were born."

Harry nodded sadly, thinking of Remus and Tonks as he glanced over at Teddy. They had all lost so many in the war. He for one had never expected to actually have to take on any real responsibility for the care of Teddy. He had thought that Remus and Tonks would make it through the war for sure. But he'd been wrong, and he had become a surrogate father at the age of eighteen.

Hestia noticed the direction of his gaze and became lost in her own memories. She had been good friends with Remus for years and when Tonks had entered his life, she had been welcomed into Hestia's heart as well. Their deaths had nearly pushed her over the edge. She was the last. Every one of her friends had died in the wars. For a while she had questioned why she was the one spared. And then she would look at the twins and remember why she had to keep getting up every morning, no matter how much it hurt to go on with life.

Each lost in their own contemplations of the war, they did not realize that the children had heard her comment and had stopped their conversation to stare at each other. They seemed paralyzed with shock at what she had revealed. And willingly at that.

Teddy was the first to move, glancing at Harry to ensure his inattention, before leading the others further in the store. He wove through the bookcases until they reached a spot where they could talk freely with no fear of being overheard.

"Did you know that?" His question was directed at Leo, who appeared to be the more composed of the two for the moment.

"No. We didn't."

Author's Note: Mwahaha… So? What'd you think? I apologize for the delay. All I have to say is that if you want to hate on someone, hate on my teachers. And read my other stories when you get bored waiting.