Disclaimer: Okay, okay! I don't own anything of Harry Potter…happy now?
A/N: I am so very very sorry you guys. I didn't mean for it to take me this long to post the chapter. My life suddenly got incredibly busy and I just didn't seem to ever have any free time. I would like to thank you all for waiting so very patiently and offer some reasons (not excuses) for my delay in the hopes that you will at least understand why it took me so long to post even if you don't forgive me for it.
The main reason for my tardiness is that at the end of October, I took on a second job in addition to the one I already have and my full time classes. Naturally, those three things occupied quite a bit of my time. Also, right about that same time, I was accepted to the University that I have dreamed of going to for the past two years—so, I had a lot of things to get in order considering how far away it is from home. Additionally, I will be taking a trip out of the country for about six weeks sometime this summer for academic reasons. Frankly, getting everything in order for that is driving me bonkers. So now, you at least understand why I didn't post. Please forgive me?
Now, back to more important story matters: I would like to apologize before hand, but due to my non-existent skill with the French language (and my very poor translator), Harry and Hermione will be speaking in English (actually, they'll be speaking in French but I'm going to type it in English). Also, Remus and Tonks were a last minute addition to the trip—I hope you guys don't mind. I thought they would give me some good comic scenes…I was right. Also, I tried to address most of the concerns that were expressed in the reviews. If I missed one or two, let me know. Once again, I apologize for my lateness in getting this posted. Other than that, read on.
Chapter 21: Oooo La La!
Harry let out a sigh and leaned over to study the view from the plane window. The land looked like a badly put together chess board with odd little squiggles throughout, although the bursts of puffy clouds did lighten the atmosphere a bit.
The sun was just starting to rise over the horizon, and Harry yawned, realizing that he hadn't been up this early in a long time. Nor had he been so worried.
"What's the matter Harry," Hermione asked softly, placing one hand gently on his arm. She didn't know how she knew that something was wrong with him, she just did. It was like she had this whole other sixth sense when it came to anything involving him.
"Nothing," he said without turning to face her. Instantly, alarm bells went off inside her head and a small kernel of fear began to develop in the pit of her stomach.
"Don't give me that Harry. Whatever you're worried about isn't 'nothing', so spill," she commanded. Fear made her voice sharp and she winced at the unintended ferocity.
"Emma," he mumbled, still refusing to look at her.
"Emma? What about her?"
"I'm worried about her being stuck there with the Dursleys."
Hermione nearly let out a sigh of relief, but managed to hold it back at the last moment. The sprouting of fear disappeared and she felt like she could think rationally now. Her thoughts always grew clouded when the issue concerned Harry.
"Isn't Uncle Sirius trying to find a way to get her out of there?"
"Yeah, but Dumbledore's not going for any of it and the Minister turned Sirius down flat."
"Why? Can't everyone see what horrible people they are?"
"Apparently not," he said. "Both Dumbledore and the Minister say that there is no legal reason, magical or muggle, for them to remove her from the care of her parents."
They were both silent for a moment before Hermione leaned over to give him a small hug. She ignored the tingling of warmth that spread throughout her stomach at the contact.
"I'm sorry Harry," she whispered.
"Yeah, so am I."
He turned away from the window and focused on her face. He could see the concern in her eyes, the frustration that she couldn't help him, and the relief that he himself was okay. It made him smile at her, a true smile.
"Come on," he said, "Let's try to get some sleep before landing okay?"
"Sure," she said, and snuggled up against him. She was asleep almost instantly, but Harry wasn't.
He had been constantly thinking about Emma and the letter he had sent to Dumbledore the night of Carson's birth.
They had just returned from the hospital, those of them who weren't staying to support the new mother, and Harry had felt a pang of sorrow for Emma. She was stuck in that cold, impersonal house with those loveless relatives of his while he was at home with the warm and caring friends and family he loved.
It was at that moment that he had decided to write a letter to Dumbledore. A very firm letter. He could see the words on the parchment as if he had written them only an hour ago, and not nearly two weeks before.
Professor Dumbledore,
During this past summer I was forced to return to my relatives' house (as you well know). During my incarceration there, I discovered that I have a cousin. A little girl who is almost six years old and looks exactly like my mum (I've seen pictures of Mum in the photo album Hagrid gave me). I also discovered something you may not know—Emma Dursley is a witch…and her parents hate her for it. They treat her worse than they did me because she is their daughter. She is the evidence of their "flaws". They don't hug her or kiss her or even talk to her. They hate her. They hate her with a passion that I've never seen before. They can't blame her "unnaturalness" or her "freakish behavior" on someone else like they could with me.
I was easier to accept because I didn't come from their blood. I was Lily and James' son, not theirs—their son was perfect, not a drop of unnaturalness in him. But then Emma came along and they saw that she was just as "freaky" as "that Potter brat". They have no one but themselves to blame this time—so, naturally, they blame Emma. She is the proof that they are not perfect, and worse yet, that they have some magical blood in them somewhere. I think this last part is what infuriates them the most. They take out their anger on Emma in every way possible (except physically).
I'm writing this letter to tell you that as long as Emma remains trapped with those close-minded idiots, I will refuse to go back there. Sirius is my legal guardian, so you can't make me do anything that he doesn't want me to do. And he reallydoesn't want me there at all…ever. I only agreed to go to the Dursley's as a favor to you and because you seemed to want it so badly. Now I'm telling you it's time to repay that favor. I want Emma out of that house by the time we get back from France. If she isn't out of there and in someone else's custody by then, then I will never return to that household. That's a promise. Emma shares my blood, and I protect what's mine.
Harry Potter
He smiled humorlessly as he imagined the look on Dumbledore's face as the old professor opened the letter. That last sentence had been both a threat and a hint. He needed his mother's blood protection, Emma was his blood, etcetera, etcetera. The bottom line was that Emma could provide that blood protection for him, if only Dumbledore was intelligent enough to glean the meaning of that last phrase
He snuggled down into his seat thinking that Dumbledore had roughly four weeks to get Emma out of that house before Harry would be forced to back up his words with actions. Sleep claimed its hold on him while he tried to make rescue plans.
The jolt of the plane touching down woke him sometime later. He yawned, stretching his arms above his head, and nudged Hermione awake.
"What?" she asked, coming awake quickly as was her wont.
"We're here," he said and promptly yawned again.
"Come on kids," Elena said from across the aisle. Sirius was gathering their carry-on luggage together and Evan was bouncing on the seat. Harry thought he was being remarkably restrained until he saw that the youngster's belt was still strapped.
He snickered and pointed this out to Hermione who giggled. They both turned, hearing the unmistakable squall of a baby.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "That'll be Carson."
"Demanding little fellow isn't he?" Harry asked.
"You have no idea," she said and threw him a smile, following the Blacks down the aisle. Harry was right behind her and the Grangers trailed after him. Remus and Tonks were already waiting at the bottom of the ramp.
It took them a little while to get out of the airport, but then they were standing out in the open, on French soil.
"Mmmm," Hermione said and gave a small pirouette. "Smell that air. We're in France Harry!"
"Yes, I can see that," he said and grinned at her.
"Okay, is everyone here? Raise your hand if you're not," Mr. Granger was saying. Tonks snickered until Remus jabbed an elbow into her midsection. She sent a murderous scowl his way. Elena caught sight of it and had to laugh.
Harry felt the warmth rush through him and knew that this was his family. Now if only Emma could be here with them…
Everyone was giddy and anxious to explore, but first they had to check into their hotel. They were going to be staying at "The Grand Hotel", which was located on 19 rue Cujas. The hotel was high end and reportedly "Far away, but close to the action." It was exactly what they had been looking for: a large, quiet hotel in the middle of nowhere, but close to everything.
They had checked out four suites. One for Sirius and Elena, one for Thomas, Katherine, and Carson, another for Harry, Evan, and Remus, and the last for Hermione and Tonks.
They spent an hour unpacking everything from the suitcases and loading it into closets and drawers. After that, the adults (or at least the males) decided it was time for lunch.
After an unusual but delicious lunch, the whole group made their way over to one of the many store lined streets. They spent several hours examining each and every shop.
The boys were, of course, more interested in the sports bars, while the girls oohed and awed over clothes, baby accessories, antique shops, and pretty much everything that didn't involve sports.
Of course, having Tonks in an antique shop was like bringing a bull into the china store. After purchasing their third hideously old lamp, the other girls decided that Tonks should hang out with the boys for a while.
By the end of the day, Harry had decided that shopping should be made into an official Olympic sport. He'd never seen such endurance and stamina. Little did he know that Sirius, Thomas, and Remus were all ready and willing to work out the bloody design for the gold medal if the women would simply agree to go back to the hotel.
Harry took another look at the four shopping females and prayed for one of God's plagues to descend upon them…anything to stop the shopping.
In the end, it wasn't a plague but a vicious summer storm complete with thunder and lightning. Almost immediately, the rain began to pour down in thick, cold sheets. Katherine promptly bundled Carson into her coat while Thomas held a rapidly opened umbrella over his wife and son.
Hermione let out a small scream at the first clap of thunder and darted over to Harry. He took her bags, stuffing the books under one side of his coat and her under the other. The adults simply stared in silence for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Goodness Hermione! You aren't still afraid of thunderstorms are you?" her father asked, a grin of mirth on his face.
Being this close to Harry had always made her feel safe. He had tucked her tightly against his side, which (unfortunately in this case) meant that she could think clearly without the thunder and lightning paralyzing her thought process. So, naturally, she had the grace to blush a furious red.
"No. No, of course not. I—I just didn't want my books to get wet," she stammered, pressing closer to Harry at the next flash of lightning.
"Uh-huh, sure," Sirius said, drawing out the "u" for an impossible amount of time. Tonks had the good manners to smack him on the arm.
"Don't be mean Sirius. I seem to remember a nineteen year old boy who refused to go near the water heater in the basement," Tonks said snidely.
"Hey!" Sirius protested. "That thing was possessed and you know it. It tried to eat me!"
"Uh-huh, sure," Elena said, mimicking his words to Hermione. She even made the "u" nice and long.
Remus was laughing so hard he was nearly rolling on the ground. Thomas and Katherine Granger were trying valiantly to hide their smiles. They were failing miserably.
Eventually, someone had the good sense to suggest they head back to the hotel and get out of the rain. Everyone agreed immediately.
They spent the rest of the dreary night playing cards, talking amicably, and getting warm in front of the fire. The Grangers, it was discovered, had a fondness for exploding snap—and the magically inclined were all too happy to humor them.
Evan, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the exploding cards. Instead he demanded that Harry read him a story. And so, Harry settled himself down on the couch in front of the fire, fluffing the pillows behind him to his satisfaction.
A few moments later, Evan came racing out of his room with a book under one arm. Harry grinned as he spotted the title, "Where the Wild Things Are". The little boy climbed up onto the couch and leaned against Harry, making sure that he would be able to see the pictures.
Harry grinned, opened the book, cleared his throat, and began to read. Rowan, who had been lazing about in front of the fire, leapt onto the couch, climbed up Harry's side, and curled himself around Harry's neck like a furry warm scarf.
Hermione, watching the scene from the corner of the room, couldn't help but smile. Harry looked so natural sitting there reading to Evan.
Carson, who was laying quietly in the bassinet, was listening raptly to Harry's voice, occasionally sucking on his foot.
Hermione gave into temptation and curled up on the couch next to Harry, laying her head on his shoulder.
Harry knew the instant that she decided to approach. He could feel her…presence approaching, kind of like this warm glow that got closer and closer as she did. So, naturally, he wasn't at all startled when she sat down next to him. He grinned a little as he felt her lean against him and was unaware of the stares of the adults.
Rowan, deciding this was even better than before, inched over until he was laying across both sets of shoulders evenly. His head was draped across Harry's shoulder and he would occasionally look down at the book's pictures while Hermione curled his tail around her fingers.
Hedwig fluttered over and perched on the back of the couch, listening intently to the story.
"They look like a little family don't they?" Tonks whispered, looking at the four children. It was simply an observation on her part and she was completely unaware of the ramifications of her statement.
"Yeah, they do," Mr. Granger said, and he sounded as if he had just discovered something both enlightening and terrifying at the same time.
The adults simply watched in silence for several minutes as Harry read about how the wild things had crowned Max king of them all. The loud boom of thunder broke them out of their reverie, but not before everyone saw Hermione press tightly against Harry and Harry wrap his arm around her.
"She really is still scared of thunder storms then?" Mrs. Granger asked, hoping to fill in the embarrassed silence.
"Yeah," Sirius said. "She comes over to our house to sleep in Harry's room every time we have one," he said, altering the truth slightly. He didn't think it would be prudent to tell Thomas and Katherine that their daughter frequently slept in the same bed as Harry.
Thomas whipped his head around to stare at Sirius. "She what?" he asked, sounding startled.
Remus and Tonks were looking from one set of adults to the other, almost like a comical tennis match. Both were careful to stay very quiet for fear of interrupting the impending drama.
"She comes over," Elena said, shrugging nonchalantly.
"How come we didn't know about this?" Katherine asked, looking form one Black to the other.
"Hermione seemed embarrassed by it so we decided not to say anything," Sirius said.
"So our daughter sneaks out in the middle of the night, during a storm, to sleep in her best friend's room and then sneaks back early in the morning so we don't find out…and you think that's okay?" Thomas asked incredulously.
"It could be worse," Elena said, looking at the two Grangers.
"Worse? How?" Katherine asked.
"She could sit up in bed all night, terrified and alone, too embarrassed and ashamed to go to her parents for comfort."
Thomas and Katherine looked at each other startled. They hadn't quite realized how badly they had failed their daughter. After a moment of tense silence, Thomas seemed to deflate slightly.
"I hadn't quite thought of it that way," he said quietly with a glance over at his daughter.
"Even so," Katherine said, "We can't allow this to continue. What's going to happen when they're older? When they're sixteen, is she still going to sneak out and go sleep in his room? What if—"
"We've already started to deal with the problem," Sirius said, cutting her off in mid rant.
"How so?" Thomas asked, looking curious.
"Well," Elena began, "Harry's struck a kind of deal with her. She can continue to sleep in his room every time there's a thunderstorm on one condition."
"What's the one condition?" Katherine asked.
"Three strikes," Sirius answered. The Grangers looked at him as if he had suddenly sprouted another head.
"Three what?" Tonks asked, but Remus had already caught on and was nodding in approval.
"Let me explain it this way," Sirius continued, "Harry and Hermione made their deal right? The next thunderstorm we had after that day, Hermione had to wait for three "strikes" of thunder before she could come over to sleep in Harry's room."
"And for every thunderstorm we have, she has to wait three additional strikes before coming over," Elena said, elaborating. "If she wants to sleep in Harry's room tonight, she'll have to wait for…what was it Sirius, twelve or fifteen strikes?"
"I think she's up to fifteen."
"Right then. Fifteen strikes before she can sleep in Harry's room."
The Grangers nodded and the expressions on their faces said they had suddenly caught on.
"See," Sirius said, "The hope is that eventually, she'll have to wait through so many "strikes" of thunder that she'll get exhausted and fall asleep in her own bed."
"That's a rather clever idea," Katherine said, sounding very impressed. "And you said Harry came up with this on his own?"
"Actually, no," Elena said. "It was Sirius's idea."
"Well then, I have to admit, you're a very clever man Sirius Black," Mrs. Granger said fondly.
"Why thank you Ma'am," Sirius said with a wicked grin.
And that was the end of their discussions on Harry, Hermione, and thunderstorms. The six adults returned to their game of exploding snap while Harry's gentle voice rose and fell in the background.
The weeks passed by in a calm blur of activity that left Harry feeling completely relaxed for the first time in weeks.
The group had spent hours simply walking up and down the streets of Paris and taking in all the sights. Of course they had visited specific monuments as well…like the Arc de Triomphe for example.
Harry remembered that day vividly. He could still hear Hermione reciting pertinent information as if she had swallowed the guide book:
"…The Arc de Triomphe is the world's largest traffic roundabout and the meeting point of 12 avenues. It was commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his imperial victories and was not completed until 1836. From the viewing platform at the top, which is 284 steps up, you can see the avenues - many of which were named after his illustrious generals - radiating toward every part of Paris…"
He grinned at the thought and put away his writing materials as he heard the adults returning from their jaunt to the coffee shop. Their time in France was nearly over and Harry was sad to see it end.
"…honestly Remus! Did you have to stick your big foot out like that? That car nearly beheaded me!" shouted Tonks.
"My big foot?!" Remus exclaimed. "What do you mean my 'big foot'? It was your own big foot you tripped over not mine!"
"Oh sure Remus! Like I just tripped over thin air," Tonks nearly screamed.
"Well actually," Sirius began, but Tonks was completely ignoring him.
The door to the room opened and Tonks stomped in followed by Sirius and Remus. Katherine, Thomas, and Elena came out of the sitting room to see what all the commotion was about.
"What's going on here?" Elena asked.
"Remus tripped me as we were coming out of the coffee shop. I fell flat on my face in front of a street full of people!"
"For the last time," Remus said, clearly exasperated, "I did not trip you!"
"That's it! I've had it!" Tonks yelled. She turned to storm out of the room but only made it half way before tripping and falling face first on to the floor.
Unfortunately, Hermione had chosen that moment to enter the room, Carson tucked securely in her arms. The two extra witnesses seemed to only make Tonks even more mad.
Everyone but Remus, who simply looked frustrated, had to hide their smiles behind their hands.
"Going to blame that one on me too Tonks?" Remus asked.
Tonks didn't answer, but gave a muted roar of rage and flounced down the hall.
Once everyone was sure she was out of hearing, they burst out laughing. Even Remus cracked a smile.
"She really did trip over nothing," Sirius said, wiping tears of laughter from his face.
That sent everyone into a fresh set of giggles that eventually died off into contented sighs and—in one case—hiccoughs. Naturally, that set everyone off laughing again.
Finally, they were well and truly finished and feeling very relaxed as they sipped the coffee that Sirius, Remus, and Tonks had brought.
"What do you say we spend our last day here at the beach?" Thomas asked, looking around at the group.
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Sirius said, shrugging. "I mean, we've seen all the important sights haven't we?"
At this, everyone looked to Hermione for confirmation. Noticing the sudden concentration of attention, Hermione frowned, running over mental lists in her head.
"Let's see," she said. "We've seen the Arc de Triomphe, the Basilique du Sacré Cœur, the Catacombes de Paris, the Cathédrale de Notre Dame, the Louvre, and of course the Eiffel Tower. I think that about covers everything."
"An afternoon at the beach it is," Katherine said.
They arrived back at the hotel late that night, wet, covered in sand, exhausted, and delighted with themselves.
The boys complained endlessly about sand in uncomfortable places, while the women simply smiled in amusement. They fought over who would take a shower first and, after several people had finished, over who had used up all the hot water.
Finally, they had all managed to crawl into their pajamas. One by one they drifted off to bed. Katherine put Carson down first, then Elena tucked Evan in. Next up was Hermione and then Harry.
The decision was made to do the packing in the morning, considering that they were tired now and their flight didn't leave until 2:00 p.m.
Eventually, after tidying up the mess a little, the adults made their way to bed as well.
Harry, who was the last to fall asleep, did so with a tiny grin on his face.
A/N: Okay, so what did you think? Just to clear something up, Tonks and Remus are there unofficially as guardians for Harry. The fact that Remus was invited to come along in the first place only made things less obvious. Tonks being there is akin to punishment for her…or at least it started out that way. I am going to try to get the next chapter up within a month, but I won't make any promises this time. Let's just hope that life doesn't decide to throw me any more curve balls…I always miss them. Please review on your way out (even if it's only to yell at me for being late with this post).