Chapter 35

It took two days to catch Mr. Weasley alone. With so many people residing over Christmas Break, it was hard to catch anyone alone. Mr. Weasley was in the living room overlooking one of his Christmas gifts from his sons, a muggle computer mouse. Harry did not have the heart to tell him he couldn't do much with only a computer mouse. If Harry had just met Mr. Weasley, he would have been trying to figure out how he thought it was fun. You couldn't do anything with it. However, Harry no long questioned it. It was just the way Mr. Weasley was.

"Mr. Weasley?" He asked, grabbing the older man's attention.

Mr. Weasley looked up from the computer mouse. "Ah, Harry! Come in. You know anything about the muggle world?" He looked back down at the computer mouse. "You know how this works or how they made such a fascinating device? Those muggles are so smart. Smarter than us at times. They could do many things we can't. Fascinating!" He exclaimed with a childish delight.

Harry listened to Mr. Weasley ramble about muggles as he sat down on the couch. It was nice to see that his interest with muggles was still there. If Harry didn't think, he could almost believe he was in his world, talking to his Mr. Weasley about muggles. He could still remember the first thing Mr. Weasley said to him, 'Do you know the function of a rubber duck?' Mr. Weasley seemed to believe that just because you were raised as a muggle you knew everything about them.

"Are muggles in your world the same as here?" Mr. Weasley suddenly asked him.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I think so." He answered, awkwardly.

"And my…my counterpart; is he as captivated with muggles as I am?" He asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir."

Mr. Weasley finally looked up again and pushed the mouse aside. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm rambling about muggles when it's clear you want to talk to me about something. So, what would you like to say?"

Harry still had no clue how to bring up Rora to him. He ran his hand through his hair nervously, pushing down his bangs over his scar, a habit from the constant stares he had tried to avoid. "Ummm…" He started. "…Rora cornered me before Break."

"Aurora? What did she say? I hope she was being…reasonable. She has a habit of following her older siblings." Mr. Weasley said, shaking his head at his youngest daughter.

Finally glad to be getting somewhere, Harry nodded. "Yes. That's what she cornered me about. She doesn't want to…ah…follow her siblings anymore." Harry said, using the same choice of words as Mr. Weasley. There was no mistaking the relief on his face when he heard those words. Harry couldn't blame him. It would be a relief to hear one of your kids no longer wanted to be unbearable and rude to others. "She wants to…to live with you."

Mr. Weasley leaned back in his chair. "What? She does?" Harry nodded. "Why hasn't she said anything before? She never told me. Are you sure?" He started to fire out questions.

"She was…I guess, afraid to say anything. She said she didn't want to hurt her mother's feelings and she feared you wouldn't want her. She doesn't believe it was fair that she couldn't pick which parent she wanted to life with like her older siblings."

Mr. Weasley nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you, Harry for bringing this to my attention."

Harry nodded in recognition of Mr. Weasley's gratitude and stood up. Not sure what to say or do, Harry gave him an awkward wave goodbye and left him to his thoughts.

Harry believed his work was done. He talked to Mr. Weasley and now it was up to him to accept Rora or not. Harry no longer had to be involved. Or so he believed. Two days after his talk with Mr. Weasley, he got a short letter from Rora.

Harry,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

You talked to my dad yet? What did he say? Will he take me?

A(R)AW

Harry sent a quick reply.

Rora,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too.

Yes, I talked to him. He didn't say much of anything. Why don't you send him a letter? He might like to hear from you that you want to live with him. Will he take you? I believe he will try if you truly want him too. Ask him.

Harry

That was the last of the correspondence between the two Hogwarts students. Harry didn't know if she had followed his advice or not and owled her father. After New Year, the Weasley's and the Longbottoms went home, leaving Sirius, Remus, James, and Harry. Without Mr. Weasley around, Harry couldn't ask him if he heard from Rora. Personally, Harry hoped that was the last time he had to be the middle man between those two. It had made him uncomfortable, since he truly didn't know either of them.

For the rest of the holiday, Harry worked with, mostly, Sirius and Remus on his training. He briefly worked with James on his animagus potion. It's been a month and the potion had to be brewed for three. In two more months, Harry should be able to find out what animal he would become. While the potion brewed, there wasn't much else to do in that area, but wait. It took James, Sirius, and Pettigrew about three years to complete the whole process, but, as James pointed out, that was with three people doing it. With only one it should be a lot sooner. This was one incident where Harry hoped his luck came through, his 'I'm Harry Potter, I do the impossible' comes in. Maybe, with his luck, he'd be able to finish the whole process in less than a year. Defiantly if he was going home soon. He wanted to become an animagi before leaving or else he would have to start the whole process all over again back in his world.

James returned to school a few days before the next term and he seemed to take the tension with him. Harry had found it extremely uncomfortable to call him by his first name. Not only did they not have the best relationship, but the man looked like his dad, was his dad in one sense or another. Harry shouldn't be calling his father by his first name. He didn't know if anyone else felt the tension or if they were just used to tension around Harry and James, but nobody acted differently, not even James. Once James left, Harry felt like he could breathe again. It was discouraging not knowing if he should do what James said and call him by his name or continue to call him 'sir' or 'professor'. That internal conflict, Harry believed, was what caused the tension this time. At least at school, he could get away with using 'sir' and 'professor'.

"Harry! Neville!" Hermione called in somewhere in the crowd of chatting students.

Harry looked around for Hermione, but, being very short, he could not see her over the heads of his classmates. It was the first day back from Break and Harry and Neville were unable to find Hermione on the train. He was worried she, for some reason or another, had missed it. He was glad she didn't miss the train.

Neville stood next to him, standing on his tippy-toes to see over the heads. He pointed ahead of him. "Found her, Harry. She's ahead of us. Come on." Neville grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him through the crowd. Harry was grateful. There was no way he would be able to do it by himself, not with his small stature.

They finally reached Hermione and Harry was greeted with a big hug that reminded him of his Hermione. "Harry, how was your holiday?" She backed away and immediately hugged Neville, much to the boy's surprise. He glanced at Harry from over her shoulders with a wide-eye look. Harry just shook his head and chuckled. "And yours, Neville? How was yours?" She backed away from him. "Mine was great." She continued to say without giving them time to answer. She acted so much like his Hermione that if it was Ron standing next to him and not Neville, he would have believed he was back in his world. They started walking again, getting pushed closer together because of the crowd around them. "My parents took me to Italy! Italy! It was beautiful and so much fun! We took a walk along…"

"Merlin, Granger, don't you ever shut up?" A sneering voice came from behind them. "The past few years were blissful with your annoying trap shut. What changed? New teeth?"

Hermione's face turned red and she shamefully looked down. She was suddenly very shy and very unlike the Hermione Harry had known in his world. Harry turned to face the assailant and defend his friend, but he hesitated when he saw it was Ron and Ginny Weasley. Rora was nowhere in sight.

"Merlin, Weasley, don't you ever shut up?" Another voice interrupted them. Behind Ron and Ginny stood Draco Malfoy with his two lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle. "It's bad enough hearing Granger, now I have to hear you too? I don't know which is worst." The two idiots laughed pointlessly.

Ron and Ginny turned to face Malfoy. "Nice insult, Malfoy." Ginny said with mock sweetness. "Did your father tell you to say that?" Ginny folded her arms and glared at him.

Malfoy smirked, not at all moved from the insult. "At least my father and I have a relationship. A good fatherly advice now and then does some good. Of course, you two wouldn't know that. Though, I can't blame you for that. Your father is a no-good poor blood traitor." He paused and studied the two Weasley siblings. "It must run in the family; it's heredity, I here. You can't run from it." He turned to his lackeys. "You two idiots agree?"

"Completely." Crabbe said nodding with a twisted smile upon his lips. Goyle just nodded his head as he eyed Ginny with a smirk.

Neville grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her away before Ron and Ginny realized they were still there. Harry took one last disappointed look at Ron before following them. They were soon lost in the crowd.

"You shouldn't listen to them, Hermione. They're just jealous because you are so much smarter than them." Neville whispered, trying to comfort her.

Hermione gave him a watery, thankful smile. "Thank you, Nev. You don't mind if I call you 'Nev', do you?" She asked sweetly.

Neville's cheeks turned red and he shook his head. "Of course not." He responded shyly.

Harry raised a surprised eyebrow at the two. Do they like each other? He never imagined Hermione and Neville together, but it was a different world. Hermione was a different person then the one Harry knew. She certainly wasn't getting together with Ron here, as he imagined them in his world.

"Harry!"A loud whisper called him before he was able to follow his friends into the Great Hall. He stopped and looked around, confused. The students stepped around him, not giving him a second notice (completely different from the attention he would have gotten in his world). He saw Rora waving him over from behind a suite of armor by the stairs to the kitchens and Hufflepuff common room. He looked around and saw no one noticing him or Rora. He rushed over behind the armor and was surprised by his second hug that day. "Harry! Thank you! Thank you so much! I don't know how I can ever repay you!" Rora blurted out.

"W—what?"

Rora pulled away. "Dad owled me and we talked and we even met over break! He's talking to Mother about getting custody of me! It wouldn't have been possible without you."

"Oh." Harry said, embarrassed. "Of course it would be. You would have gotten the courage to say something at some point." He shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing.

She kept on smiling. "You really are making this world a better place, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"Professor Potter, Neville, Hermione, and me." Harry gave her a confused look. Rora sighed and rolled her eyes like she couldn't believe Harry didn't understand what she was talking about. "Everyone noticed how much Professor Potter has changed. Believe it or not, but he used to be more…" She paused, trying to think of the best word to use. "…serious. He is more at ease in his classes. As for Neville and Hermione…Neville had friends, but they weren't close. He kind of talked to Dean Thomas and Michael Lockey…" Harry had no idea who that was, but didn't dare interrupt to ask. He didn't figure it was important anyway. "…but Neville really had anyone to truly call a friend until you. He was never confidant in himself and would stutter when talking to an adult. Since meeting you, no one heard him stutter. He's still nervous talking to teachers, but he doesn't stutter anymore. Hermione Granger, nobody had talked friendly to her. She had no friends and would quietly do her work. That was all she did; work. She was a nobody; a nobody that no one liked. You helped her get out more. And you helped me talk to my dad." She explained. "There's a chance I'll be able to live with my dad now and its all thanks to you, Harry. You made it possible."

Harry shifted his feet, embarrassed from the praised. "Thanks…I think?" He ran his hand through his hair.

Rora smiled at him. "I should get into the Great Hall before my siblings come to find me. They don't know about dad yet so they are still making sure I'm 'okay' at all times." She said as she rolled her eyes. "Bye, Harry, and thanks again!" She turned to go.

"What will they do when they find out your trying to live with your father?" Harry asked, concerned. Ron and Ginny sounded like nasty people in this world and he didn't want them targeting their younger sister.

Rora turned back around and shrugged her shoulders. "Hate me like our older siblings." She smiled. "I can't wait for that. They would no longer be on my back all the time." She turned and left.

Harry waited for a few minutes before following her. The students were all in the Great Hall by then enjoying their dinner and chatting with friends they hadn't seen in three weeks. He quickly located his friends and made his way to them.

"Harry, there you are! Where were you? I turned around and you weren't there." Hermione said as soon as he sat down. "We were concerned."

He shrugged his shoulders as he put mash potato on his plate. "I just had to talk to someone."

"Was it Professor Potter?" Neville asked, curiously.

Harry shook his head. "No. Why would you think that? Professor Potter is…" He looked at the Head Table, only to discover James wasn't sitting there with the other teachers as he thought he would have been.

"Exactly." Hermione said. "We thought that was why he wasn't here. He was talking to you, but I guess not."

"Where is he then?" Harry asked.

"Maybe he just didn't want to eat in the Great Hall today or he is busy with last minute preparations for classes tomorrow." Neville suggested, not the bit concerned.

"Maybe." Harry said, not convinced. Throughout dinner, he kept glancing at his father's empty chair by Professor McGonagall.

James sat at his kitchen table in his personal quarters sipping on a firewhiskey. After his meeting with Albus, he felt like he deserved to go against the rules and have a firewhiskey on school grounds. He shook his head at the thought of the meeting. He didn't think he could deal with being in the same room with Albus right now. He took a sip from the bottle. Albus was rushing things. It was happening too fast.

It was too soon. He was not ready. He was just a kid for Merlin sake! He couldn't believe Albus would allow this to happen. It was much too soon. He thought back on the meeting.

A Few Hours Ago

James entered the headmaster's office. "Albus, you wanted to see me."

Albus was standing behind his desk, looking at a parchment in his hands. He looked worn down and burdened. He looked his age, an old man with a heavy weight on his shoulder. "Yes, James. You might want to sit down." He said, as he sat down at this desk.

James sat down and looked at the aged Headmaster in concerned. "What is this about, Albus? What's wrong or what happened? No one is hurt are they? Voldemort didn't attack, did he?"

Albus sighed heavily and shook his head. "No, James, it's nothing like that. I thought it best to tell you this first. I'll have to tell young Mr. Potter when he gets here, but I wanted to warn you."

"What is it, Albus?"

"I received a letter from Voldemort." He held up the parchment for James to take. He handed it over.

Worriedly, James reached out and took it. He gave Albus a glanced before reading the letter. His face turned pale as reach line was read. He looked up quickly after finishing. "You're not really considering this, are you?" The lack of an answer was all that James needed. He exploded. "Albus! You can't possibly consider this! Harry is not ready for this! He's too young! He's not ready!" He repeated.

Albus sighed. "I would have to disagree, James. He had been doing well on the spell. By next month, he would be ready."

"No!" James stood up angrily in protest. "I will not allow it! He is not ready for this! Harry needs more time! I can't believe you're allowing this to happen so soon! It's suicidal! This is Voldemort here we are talking about! How can you agree with him! Harry isn't ready!" He kept repeating, trying to nail it into Albus' head.

Albus looked at him calmly. "Are you sure he is the one not ready or is it you that is not ready?"

James thrust the letter onto his desk. "Don't turn this around on me, Albus. Harry isn't ready and you know it! This has nothing to do with genetics. Harry is not going to meet Voldemort on a battlefield and that is final!" He stormed out of the office, making sure to slam the door shut extra hard.

James had left Hogwarts, bought a few bottles of firewhiskey, and had been sitting at his kitchen table since. He tried to distract himself from studying his lesson plans for the term, but they ended up off to the side, ignored and forgotten. He couldn't possibly do anything else with the meeting still going through his mind.

He couldn't believe Albus would thrust this on Harry. He took a sip of his drink. They needed more time to finish his animagus potion and he still needed to make sure Harry could safely shift from human to animal and back. That would take months. They did a lot of hard work to be ruin by next month. How could Albus be okay with this? How could he agree with Voldemort? Voldemort must have something up his sleeve. He couldn't just suddenly want this over and done with. He knew who Harry is, right? James shook his head, suddenly wondering if Voldemort truly knew who Harry was. Was that why he sent the letter? He wanted to make sure Harry was who he believed he was? Maybe he just wanted to see Harry again and this was how he was going too. It could be a trap, a trick. It must be. It was too soon for Harry to fight him to the death…as Voldemort believed it would be. What if Harry misfire the spell or did it wrong? One wrong move and Voldemort could kill him!

James ran his hand through his hair. If he had no choice but to allow his son to face Voldemort next month, then he would be darn sure Harry was ready! With renewed determination, James pulled over his lesson plans. He gathered up the plans for the next month and set them afire. He pulled out new sheets and beginning furiously rewriting his plans for his sixth year classes.

My attempt at trying to move this story along! Soooo...what you think? You Like? Then REVIEW! Please!