Author's note: I've put up some drawings and illustrations for Learning my way and Heir of the Phoenix on "My Space" offered by MSN. The link is in my profile for all those who are interested.
Chapter 26
"Well… This is it," said Genevieve as she began to parallel park her blue Volkswagen beetle in front of the three-story Hansen townhouse. "Home sweet home."
"I recognize the door," Harry said thoughtfully as he peered at the impressive brick building. From the backseat, both Angela and Jenny snorted in unison and rolled their eyes.
"Nothing else?" replied Genevieve as she got out of the car, looking slightly disappointed. Harry looked pained as he also stood up and slammed his door shut.
"The bedroom?" he offered over the roof of the car. Genevieve felt herself flush as she held the seat forward so that Jenny – with Athena's cage in hand - and Angela could clamber out of the car. Neither spared Harry a second glance as they made their way up the front steps. Harry watched as Jenny dug around in the shrubs that flanked the door and with a noise of triumph, pull out her hand to reveal a house key on a string.
With much ado, she let herself and Angela in, put the key away and ran into the foyer and disappeared up the steep staircase that led to the first floor, while Angela swept off down the main floor hallway. Harry watched Jenny's feet disappear into a room on the upstairs landing and sighed.
"Don't worry about it Harry..." said Genevieve softly, catching his melancholy expression. She popped the lid of the boot and Harry carried Jenny's trunk into house, pausing only when he heard a window slide open overhead and a silver silhouette soared into the sky overhead.
Stopping to look around at the entryway of the town house, he nodded appreciatively.
"This is a nice place you have here," he remarked, admiring the parquet wood floors and the numerous paintings on the walls. "Thanks!" he heard Genevieve say as she to disappeared down the hall.
On the stairwell, Harry noticed an ascending row of pictures. Stepping closer, he saw that they were formal-looking muggle portraits. The first one was of small, rather cute tousle-haired baby with round green eyes dressed in tiny pink dress and clutching a stuffed rabbit that was nearly as big as she was. The baby was propped up with cushions and was gazing up at the camera earnestly. Harry's eyes widened when he realized it was Jenny.
Curiosity and wonder took him up another step to the next picture. Now there was a solemn looking toddler with mop of curly brown hair. In this picture, she wore a frilly white dress that made her seemingly larger-than-normal eyes stand out.
The next picture was completely different – it wasn't a formal portrait and it held two individuals. A mischievous little girl with long brown hair and sparkling eyes gazed out of the picture at him, laughing and her arm extended as though she was waving. Crouched down behind her was Genevieve, wearing in a blue dress and sandals, also waving and smiling the camera. It was a muggle picture, but the energy and bright smiles nearly fooled his mind into thinking that they were both waving to him and laughing.
He moved up the staircase, inspecting each picture. He watched Jenny change from a happy and rambunctious-looking youngster to a solemn and barely-smiling school girl, still barely believing that he was looking at images of his daughter growing up. Intermingling with the formal portraits were more relaxed family pictures. Pictures of Jenny, Genevieve and occasionally Angela dotted the wall. Harry noticed with some mixed feelings that there were no men in any of the pictures, save an older looking one where two little girls in matching blue dresses sat with a severe-looking man in a suit and a young woman with light brown hair and brown eyes.
Harry recognized Genevieve right away, despite the fact that she appeared no more than seven or eight in the picture. She was the smaller girl and had the same dark blue eyes. The other, he assumed, had to be her older sister Margaret. Margaret lighter hair and her eyes were brown, and she looked more like the severe man behind her, with her stoic expression and folded hands.
He was half-way up the stairs when he came to the last picture that had been put up. It had obviously been taken that summer. Jenny was wearing the skirt, tie and blazer from her Hogwarts uniform, but the trim, tie and stockings were all still black. Her fly-away hair had been tamed somewhat by a headband and she sat quietly, staring at the camera with a shy, hopeful smile on her face.
"It's an interesting progression to watch, don't you think?"
Harry jumped when Genevieve's voice came over his shoulder.
"H-How…?" he stammered, turning to face her. She was standing on the same stair as he was, directly behind him.
"You forget that I grew up in this house. I know all the non-squeaky parts of the stairs" she said with a smile, moving up one step.
"Ah…" said Harry, nodding.
For a moment they stood there looking at Jenny's picture, quietly enjoying each other's presence. Then Harry felt a warm weight settle on his shoulder and realized that Genevieve was leaning against him. For a second or two, he struggled with what to do, before finally deciding to drape an arm across Genevieve's shoulder and was surprised to discover that she was the perfect height for it.
A door opened on the landing and Jenny walked out looking preoccupied. At the sight of them, she froze. Harry suddenly dropped his arm.
Jenny crossed her arms and glared at her parents.
"Hope I wasn't interrupting anything," she said coldly, before stalking out of sight down the hallway. Another door slammed.
Genevieve and Harry exchanged helpless looks as they listened to the sound of water being drawn in a bathtub. Without another word, Genevieve motioned for Harry to follow her downstairs. Leading him to the kitchen, he noticed that Angela was already there, drinking tea. An empty mug and plate was already on the table and Harry presumed that Genevieve must have already had tea.
Expecting an explosion when he walked into the kitchen, Harry was surprised when there was none, for Angela merely glared at him over the rim of her mug as he cautiously sat down at the table opposite her. Genevieve set about making tea for him and Jenny.
"Angela and I are going out to do some errands for her wedding," said Genevieve from the counter as she filled a teapot with hot water from a kettle. "So we're not going to be home for dinner. There's money in that jar up there if you'd like to order pizza or take out… Jenny knows the numbers of the places she likes and tell her she can get whatever she wants."
"Alright," replied Harry, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was barely four thirty.
After several minutes, Genevieve plopped a mug of a strong, fruity smelling tea and sandwich down in front of him. Feeling quite hungry, Harry thanked her and set to work on it as he listened to Genevieve and Angela go over what they were doing. It seemed that Angela needed to pick up the shoes that went with her wedding dress, along with a few other odds and ends. Then they were meeting some other friends for dinner.
As they got up to leave, Genevieve told him that they were planning to have a welcome back dinner for Jenny tomorrow.
Nodding, Harry watching them put their shoes on and gather their purses. Genevieve waved as she locked the front door and stepped out of it. Harry waved back and smiled.
But as soon as the door shut, he suddenly felt very alone in the old brick townhouse. He noted the other sandwich and mug of tea hat was on the counter and concluded that it was for Jenny, whenever she saw fit to come downstairs. Standing, Harry decided to look around the first floor of the house. In a room just off the kitchen was an impressive looking entertainment system, along with a couch and two comfortable looking leather armchairs. In the corner of this room was a desk with a computer on it and, along the far wall, next to the telly was a bookshelf stuffed with books.
The room further down the hall from the kitchen appeared to be a formal living room, with a huge, plushy looking beige couch and matching armchairs, with an ornate metal and glass table that stood between them. Scattered around the room were various art pieces and sculptures and in the corner of the room, near one of the large windows, Harry noticed a piano.
He wondered if Genevieve could play it as he wandered back into the kitchen. He stopped short when he saw that Jenny was sitting at the table with wet hair, calmly eating her sandwich. She was wearing jeans and a black, hooded sweatshirt and had looked moderately content in her surroundings until she saw him.
"Where's Mum and Aunt Angela?" she asked tonelessly.
"Running errands…" replied Harry, "When is this wedding of Angela's?"
"January fourth" said Jenny, "I'm in the wedding party and so is Mum. I don't think you're invited though."
Harry raised an eyebrow and debated whether he should remark on her rudeness.
"What are you going to be up to this afternoon? Genevieve left some money for take-out later on."
Jenny shrugged.
"I'm going to go see Todd with Charlotte. We talked about it on the train."
For a moment, Harry paled at the thought of his daughter mentioning a boy, but then his reason caught up with him and he remembered that a wizard named Todd Lorelei had said the prophecy to Tonks.
"Oh, that sounds like a good idea…" he said after a moment of watching Jenny eating, "I've been wanting to meet him. He helped me figure out some things."
Jenny's expression darkened as she struggled with the thought of Harry coming with her. "Fine," she muttered contemptuously.
Harry waited quietly for Jenny to finish her sandwich, and then waited for an additional ten minutes while she went upstairs to brush her teeth and dry her hair. When she came stomping down the stairs to put her shoes on, her curly hair swishing back and forth across her back, Harry had already transfigured his cloak into a jacket. He watched as Jenny opened the door, and followed her and watched her lock it with a key that hung from a thin blue string around her neck.
The clouds rolled by overhead as they walked in silence. The day was overcast and quite chilly. Jenny seemed untroubled by it, despite the fact that she wore only a sweat shirt.
Then had been walking for well over fifteen minutes when Jenny turned a corner and pointed at a dilapidated, old Victorian house.
"That's where Todd lives she said… Charlotte's probably already here. She likes helping Todd with his filing and sometimes she runs errands for him," said Jenny as they started up the front walk. Harry nodded, yet wondered why Jenny's best friend would spend so much time with a young man – he had appeared no older than twenty-five in the penseive – and if he remembered correctly, he was probably less than that, considering that Dumbledore had mentioned that he had been the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain five years ago.
As they climbed the front steps, Harry heard a doorbell ring inside. Within seconds of them stepping foot on the porch, the front door was opened by a young man with light brown hair and hazel eyes.
"Jen-!" He started to say, before he got a good look at the taller of the two people standing on his front porch and froze, his jaw dropping open slightly. Harry groaned inwardly as Todd's eyes flicked upwards to his forehead and back down to his eyes
"I-I…Merlin's beard…" He stammered.
"Good Afternoon," said Harry in a pleasant voice.
"Hi Todd!" said Jenny brightly, "Can we come in?"
Todd jumped as though he had forgotten that Jenny was there.
"Oh! Yes yes- come in," he said, stepping back. Jenny and Harry stepped into foyer of the house. Jenny kicked off her shoes and disappeared into the kitchen and Harry heard Charlotte's voice call a greeting.
"Well… um…Mr. Potter…I… um…I never expected to see you on my doorstep…"
"Call me Harry," said Harry, glancing around the house. He noted with some amusement that there were several framed muggle drawings that seemed quite recent on the wall in the hallway leading off the foyer.
"Um… Alright Mr. Pot- erhm- Harry… would you care for anything? Tea? Coffee?" asked Todd, looking quite star struck.
"No thanks – just had tea…" replied Harry, "Could you not stare at my forehead like that please?"
Todd instantly peeled his eyes from his scar and finally met Harry's gaze straight on.
"Sorry…" he said, looking flustered, "May…um… May I ask why you're here?"
"I would like to thank you," said Harry quietly. Todd's eyes grew to the size of galleons.
"Thank…me?" he gasped, running a hand through his hair nervously. "Thank me…for what?"
"For helping Genevieve," replied Harry, "and in turn, helping me find my daughter."
For a second, Todd looked completely flummoxed. Then comprehension dawned.
"It was you she wanted to talk to!" he whispered excitedly. "I understand now! She said one of the teachers at Hogwarts knew Jenny's father was – and well – I see it now! You would know! Blimey - Jenny's a spitting image!"
Harry smiled mirthlessly. "Actually - I was the only one who was thick enough not to notice."
Todd's eyes widened even more. "You're not serious!" he exclaimed.
"Perfectly," said Harry grimly, "Which leads me to another reason that I have to thank you for – If it hadn't been for your prophecy, I wouldn't have known she existed at all."
Todd was speechless.
"Bloody hell…" he breathed, sitting down suddenly on an ornate wooden bench that was tucked up against the wall of the foyer. "I don't even remember it… Tonks took off the moment she had heard it – she repeated it to me, but I'll be damned if I could remember it all."
Both men were silent as they listened to Jenny and Charlotte giggling in the kitchen. From the clatter of pans and bowls, Harry wondered they were making cookies or something along those lines.
"Y'know…" said Todd slowly, "I think I sort of know how you feel, when it comes to Jenny,"
"Oh?"
"Yeah…" said the young man, his eyes clouding slightly with memories, "My family's pretty much gone. My younger sister died in a flying accident when I was fourteen – Mum died last year and Dad's been gone for years. So having Charlotte around is like having a little sister again. It's nice having someone to look out for – even if I've only known her for a few months… "
Harry nodded.
"That's about right…" he said quietly.
There was a sharp crack in the kitchen and both girls screamed.
Instantly, both Harry and Todd rushed into the kitchen, their wands drawn, only to be met with the sight of a tall, imposing man with wispy white hair and a bristly, shockingly orange mustache that that extended straight out horizontally - an inch past the man's cheeks. His pale grey eyes zeroed in on Todd immediately and he did not look like he was in a good mood.
"Mr. Lorelei!" he boomed, "Where is the report on the broomstick-" His loud voice startled Charlotte into dropping the wooden mixing bowl she holding and it hit the floor with a clatter and cut the man off in mid-sentence. He finally noticed the two girls standing by the kitchen counter, staring up at him with wide eyes and the dark haired man standing behind Todd, his wand out.
"You're Harry Potter!" he exclaimed, completely forgetting his anger.
"Yes, I am" replied Harry tonelessly as the man rushed forward to pump his hand. Todd seized the man's arm and pried it away when he noticed Harry's pained grimace.
"Mr. Palozzo, while it's nice of you to drop in, I was under the impression that you didn't need the report until tomorrow morning."
"You don't have it finished?" demanded Mr. Palozzo, his temper rising once more.
"It's finished," said Todd with a frown, "I was going to bring it in tomorrow morning. If you need it now, I'll get it from upstairs."
"Do that," said Mr. Palozzo irritably and Todd disappeared upstairs. Harry stood silent, not open to talking, so the man's gaze turned to the girls.
"And who might you two be?" he asked gruffly, but his expression had softened slightly.
"Charlotte Ramsey," said Charlotte, picking up the bowl she'd dropped.
"Jenny Hansen," said Jenny. Mr. Palozzo squinted at her for a second, before glancing at Harry with a puzzled expression.
"You'd be in first or second year at Hogwarts then, I expect?"
"First," replied Jenny, "I'm a Gryffindor".
"I don't go to Hogwarts," said Charlotte at the same time. Mr. Palozzo glanced back and forth between the two girls, obviously startled.
"Are you going next year?" he tried dubiously. Charlotte shook her head.
"I'm a… what's the word?" She turned to Jenny questioningly.
"Muggle" supplied Jenny, stirring the dough in the bowl with a wooden spoon.
"Yah… that's right… I'm a muggle – I only know because Jenny told me before she went there," added Charlotte, catching the troubled look on the tall man's face. "We're best friends."
"Ah…" said Mr. Palozzo, still looking back and forth between Harry and Jenny as Todd bustled back into the kitchen and handed a thick folder to Mr. Palozzo.
"Here you go- all finished." he said
Mr. Palozzo nodded and with one last strange look at the man and the girl with the same bright green eyes, he disapparated with a crack.
A/N: Hey! Another chapter up in less than a month! I'm proud of myself - Although I did vow to post this one before Half-Blood Price comes out on Friday, because I don't want to be halfway through a chapter when I read the book and I can only pray that nothing will happen in HBP that'll turn this story into an AU. Reading HBP will probably influence a plot mutation somewhere in what I already have planned for this story and its sequels; Past and Fire and Ice.
Until after the sixth book then!
Ciao!
Mockingbird