A/N: Things may be a little crazy as we go into Christmas here in the US. Between now and New Years I have no idea how much I may post. If I don't post until the New Years, then Happy Seasons, what every you celebrate or don't.
One more chapter after this one before they are back at Hogwarts and the end events begin for book 1.
A/N 2: Harry Potter and his world belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers and anyone that has received licensing rights. I am grateful she gives us the privilege of playing in her world.
Chapter 26
April 24, 1992
Daphne sat on her bed holding a stuffed unicorn that had sat on her shelf for a few years now. At eight, she had decided she was too old for something like that. Now, at twelve, she decided she was too young not to hug her unicorn.
A knock at her door spooked her briefly. "Go away," she told the door.
"Daphne, can I please come in," her mother said through the door.
"Just go away!" She was more forceful.
This week was supposed to be a fun week. They had gone to see the Harpies play a game. It had been a fun match, especially when Gwenog Jones had scored just before the snitch was caught by the other team. The Harpies won 240 to 230. The highlight of the week was going to France to visit her Aunt for three days before coming back. That was when her week had gone downhill.
The Greengrasses were not a family that believed in the supremacy of pure bloods. Her grandmother had been a half-blood and her great grandmother a muggleborn, technically making her a half blood, but they were still looked at as a pure-blood family. They didn't believe in most of the old traditions, but they were a respected mostly pure-blood family with almost two hundred years in Brittan. That meant they mingled in the old blood and Peerage groups. She had heard of stuff like this, many times leading to cranky people and loveless marriages. Now, she might be condemned to the same.
"Daphne, I think we should talk about this," her mother said.
"I don't want too. Father and you have already decided," she said bitterly. At twelve, she had a crush she liked, but she wasn't ready to have a boyfriend or something more serious.
"Daphne, you didn't hear the entire conversation. Can I come in and we can talk about this, like a big girl?"
"I don't want to be a big girl," she said petulantly, hugging her unicorn harder.
The door opened and she turned her back. "Daphne, we need to talk about this. Your father and I did not agree to this contract," her mother said gently walking over to her bed.
"I heard you talking. You're going to sell me off for some dowry and a business deal. Don't lie to me," she said trying to keep her tears down. The Greengrasses hadn't signed a betrothal contract since they split from the Notts.
"Love," her mother used an endearment that cut deeper than the conversation she overheard.
"Don't tell me you love me," she said so dejectedly, she wasn't sure how she wasn't still crying.
"Daphne, your father and I love you. You and Astoria are the most important people in our lives," she said soothingly.
"You must love me a lot to sell me off for a hundred thousand galleons," she said bitterly.
"I would never sell you for all the gold in Gringotts," her mother said sounding as though she was coming close to tears. "We didn't know about this until an owl dropped off the form from Gringotts while we were in France. Your father has been trying to find a way to destroy the contract."
"I don't believe you," she said curling over and protecting her unicorn. "It sounded like that contract had been ready for a while."
"You can say that. It's almost three hundred years old, love," her mother said.
Daphne picked her head up. She turned to look at her mother. Daphne looked at her mother with puffy eyes. She was confused, but didn't see any lie in her mother's watery eyes. "Come here, my beautiful swan," she said to Daphne. She hesitated for a moment before throwing herself into her mother's arms.
She had been crying for a while, and thought she was dry, but in her mother's embrace, she broke down again. She hugged her unicorn while her mother hugged her. After a while, her mother pushed a handkerchief into her hand and she blew her nose. "Mum, I'm so scared. I thought I would fall in love like you and father. I don't even really like anyone. How am I going to be betrothed? You and dad always said you don't believe in that."
Her mother hugged her tight again. "We don't, Daphne. I want you to fall in love too."
They sat there for a few. "Mum, who is it?"
"Well, there is a choice."
Daphne sat back. She had never heard of anything like this. "What do you mean a choice?"
"I mean the contract is pretty wide open. It seems Lord Peverell was looking for a wife for a lesser son. I don't think the man thought at the time the line would pass to his daughter when all three of her brothers died. We, the Greengrasses, Peverells and the Potters, have a choice," she said.
Daphne's eyes went wide. "I am not marrying Edmund," she said with determination and a little fear. "Hermione would kill me."
Her mother gave her a watery chuckle. "I didn't think Ms. Granger was that violent."
Daphne shook her head. "She is if it comes to Edmund. I will not step between them."
"What if I told you it didn't have to be you? It only needs to be a daughter of Lord Greengrass," her mother said.
Daphne shook her head even more violently. "No! No. Astoria will not be shackled that way, mother," she said with vehemence.
"And you will be shackled? If you don't agree to Edmund, then it would need to be Harry. I assume Hermione will not kill you for that," her mother asked.
She knew some color came to her cheeks. Harry may be a little small, but he was nice and he had grown since the beginning of the year. He was also an excellent quidditch player and she did like quidditch... "No, Hermione will not kill me for that one."
Her mother raised an eyebrow. "I see." Daphne looked away, feeling her mother had seen too much of her thoughts. She may have a crush, but she should at her age. Right? "Professor McGonagall is talking with your father still. Would you like to ask her if Hermione could come over or if you could go see her? She mentioned she could stay over for the night tonight, if you wish."
Daphne wiped her hand across her face. "We are allies. Hermione isn't my friend," she said, knowing she liked Hermione, both as a friend and competition.
Her mother gave her a discerning look before reaching into her pocket. "An owl by the name of Fleamont," Daphne's face lit with recognition, "has been here three times this week. These are all addressed to you from a Ms. H. Granger. Should I return them?"
"No," she said quickly and in more need than she had thought. She quickly snatched the envelopes from her mother.
"I see. Should I prepare a cot in here for tonight?"
She looked away, feeling abashed. "Only if she will want to see me."
"As I already said, Professor McGonagall has said she can come. You can go back with the Professor and retrieve her if you like." Her mother said kindly as she wiped a lock of hair out of her face.
"What time is it? I think I need to freshen up. Will Harry be there?"
"It's only about two. I will tell your Professor you will be down in a half hour. From what I understand, you two can flow back here from the Sylvan's and I understand that is where Harry Potter now lives."
She felt a giddy heat in her at the thought of seeing him, but this was all still too big. She sniffed again and wiped one last stray tear. "Mother," she asked.
"Yes, my beautiful swan?"
"I don't want to be sold off. Tell me you and father won't do that," she said sounding very much like a young child. "I would like a dowry, including Grandmother Dorian's pearls. I don't want to feel like I have to rely on my husband for everything. If I have to do this, don't have any specific time we need to get married by or number of children. I would like as much choice as I can have. Also, it has to be Harry. I couldn't do that to Hermione. She is a friend. Edmund can be a right pain too." She tried to smile at her joke. She liked Edmund as much as Hermione, but she had no attraction to him besides a friend.
Her mother pulled her into a hug again. "I will make sure this contract is burned up if I can. If not, you can have my mother's pearls. I'll even give you the ones your father has given me. Astoria is rather fond of the rubies."
Daphne laughed.
-oOo-
DAILY PROPHET
Friday April 24, 1992
HARRY POTTER CLAIMS SCION RING!
The official Will of the Potters has been read and filed, this audacious reporter, Rita Skeeter, can report. As has been conjectured for months, why would the younger of the Potter twins receive his ring and inheritance before Harry. Well, the readers will not believe this.
The Will had been sealed within an hour of the Potters' death by then Minister Bagnold, Head of the DMLE, Barty Crouch Sr. and the Chief Warlock, Albus Dumbledore. In this highly illegal move, the last Will and Testament of any Pure-blood or Half-blood house in a Peerage seat is supposed to be reviewed within 24 hours of death of the Head of House and have an official reading no later than 30 days after.
How was the will able to be sealed? What salacious revelations could be so important to have three of the most powerful wizards at the time risk either a stay in Azkaban, a stripping of their magic or at most a walk through the Veil. It also begs what would have happened if the Will had stayed sealed.
A recently redacted copy of the section publicly filed to Edmund Potter, now Scion Peverell, was that their parents enacted the Scion Rights of 1925, making it a capital offense to deny the last heir of a House a crime against magic. Meaning whomever was responsible would as best would have lost their magic...
-o-
Albus slammed the most recent copy of the Prophet on the table. His hands were trembling. A copy of the full Will of James and Lily Potter lay on his desk. He knew that if he didn't act fast, he would be in for a world of trouble once they found out he had been named Guardian against the Will and had suppressed a revised Will that was nothing of what he had originally drafted with James and Lily.
Neither boy was supposed to come into their Scion rings. The Potter fortune was supposed to be destined for the coming war and education of those at Hogwarts. Truthfully, he had been surprised when Edmund had been declared the Scion of House Peverell. Like everyone else in the wizarding world, he had thought they had died out. But them enacting the Scion Rights law would have seen him stripped of his magic within a week of Harry's fifteenth birthday if he was not given his rights.
To say a disaster had been avoided, one larger than Tom Riddle possibly coming back, was an understatement. A wizarding Brittan without Albus Dumbledore would see changes he couldn't imagine and he didn't trust anyone else to steer the magical world into keeping its traditions alive.
His next worry was what other information would be exposed. He was expecting a summons for the Wizengamot about this. Being Chief Warlock would delay for a few weeks at the least, but he would be asked to explain his actions. He also worried about the fact that their actions had been illegal. Doing something similar had seen Minister Fawley deposed from office and walked to the Veil. Of course, Albus had been involved in that at the time, needing funds to fight Grindewald, but at the time, he wasn't Cheif Warlock and his name wasn't attached to the closed Wills of the River-Blacks or the Smithwings.
No, the Greater Good had always been more important, but this time something had gone wrong.
First, Lily had somehow changed his Fidelius and they named Peter Pettigrew. Albus knew the man was a spy for Tom and he had been using the man to track the movements of his former student. He could only figure the close call with their friend Sirius Black the week before had spooked them. Both the Potters and Longbottoms knew they were being hunted.
Lily, the brilliant mudblood she was, had been pestering him for weeks about prophesies and arithmantic marking before Tom had found them. Somehow she had figured out Harry must have been part of a prophesy. That was the only explanation for the change in the Will and change in Secret Keeper. Little did she know that in doing so, she had signed their death warrants.
Albus tried to calm his shaking hands. There was real danger for him right now. The Will was damning. The article was condemning if he didn't stop this now. The fact he wasn't allowed on Gringott soil made reversing any of this nearly impossible now.
He picked up the paper again. He had to know if there was anything else. As he perused the article, he paled.
-o-
...A reliable source in the DMLE and Goblin Liaison Office has confirmed a Goblin Rite of Treaty breach has been presented to the Goblin Liaison office for moneys and artifacts taken from the Potter and Evans Vaults that were either to be given to other named parties or were part of the Potter and Peverell Inheritance. The Minister has been reported as taking a personal interest in this. An exact amount could not be established but it is rumored to be well over a million galleons and dozens of artifacts and heirlooms...
-oOo-
Edmund kicked the ball against the wall. It came almost directly back to him and he did the same again. This time he had to chase it down. It was getting cool as the sun had set a short bit ago, but it was still light enough to keep practicing his aim.
The door to the house opened. He didn't look. It was most likely one of his parents or Harry. For the last two days they had hardly left him alone. The ball got past him and he slumped his shoulders. Turning, he jogged to the ball. He tried not to pay attention to the man standing in the yard. Why wouldn't anyone leave him alone? He didn't want to talk to anyone.
His dad asked, "You coming in to dinner? Everyone else is already at the table."
Edmund didn't answer, instead he shot the ball and hit the center of the bottom left poster on the wall. He moved to stop the ball and then approached the sheet his dad had made to practice against. He moved as though he was dribbling against someone.
"Edmund, you haven't really eaten in a few days. You need to eat something before you pass out," his dad said trying to joke, but the concern in his voice was evident.
"I'm not hungry," he told his dad.
Edmund kicked the ball hard. It bounced back easily as hard. He tried to duck but the ball hit him in the head and he dropped.
Edmund fell, air rushing out of his chest as he hit flat on his back. He rolled over for a few before he took in a deep breath. Staying on his side, his dad was at his shoulder, a hand on it. The man waited until he flopped his arms down and put his face into the still mostly dead grass. "Feel better now?"
A groan escaped his throat.
"Yeah, what I thought," his dad said wrapping an arm around his shoulders and helping him to sit up. "Better? You want to talk?"
He shook his head, rubbing the spot the ball hit. "What is there to talk about?"
His father brushed grass off him. "I don't know. You haven't really said anything since coming back from the goblin bank, and that was two days ago."
A bird chirped somewhere, and he heard something get thrown into a trash barrel next door. Shrugging, Edmund curled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them. The back door opened again. "Bill, Angela was wondering if you were coming in," Harry called out.
"In a bit. Tell her to put our stuff under a cloth or something and then come on out here," Bill said.
"I don't want Harry out here," he told his dad.
"We don't always get what we want, Ed. You need to talk and Harry is part of what is bothering you."
"Auntie Min said the betrothal contract can't be canceled," he said quietly.
His dad sat in the grass next to him. "I know. She talked to us earlier. I thought you would have come in to see your friend Daphne. Hermione went over to her house tonight."
Edmund felt the pit in his stomach clench. Since the brownie attack, he was starting to feel Hermione. He could tell when she was close or when she was far away. The pit in his stomach had started a little before dinner. He was suspecting that was about the time Hermione went to Daphne's. "Dad, I can't be around Hermione anymore," he said as though in pain. "Dad, I can feel she is far away," he told his father. It was such a scary thing.
"What do you mean you can feel her? You mean Hermione?"
"The goblins said we are betrothed. Auntie Min and the goblins say our magic is so intertwined that we will always be pulled to each other. It feels like there is pain in my stomach to know she isn't around. They say Hermione can never like anyone else or have kids unless with me. Dad, she has no choice."
"And what about you? Do you have a choice?"
"No." There was a silence for a few. "She is going to have to marry me someday. I don't even want a girlfriend. Can you imagine kissing a girl?"
"How about kissing Daphne," Harry said coming to sit down next to him.
Edmund couldn't keep the grimace off his face. "I'll have to do that too," Edmund said dejectedly.
"No, you won't," Harry said.
"I can't believe this is still a thing," his father said, trying to keep his anger and fear out of his voice. "Arranged marriages were outlawed a long time ago."
Harry gave a dark chuckle. "I think someone forgot to tell the wizards about that." Edmund snorted.
His dad sighed. "We can remove you and send you to a different school. Minerva told us about the schools in France and America."
Edmund buried his face in his arms. "We can only do that if we want to lose our magic. Hermione, Daphne, her sister, Harry and me. We would all lose our magic, dad. I like that I can do something our real parents can."
"I won't condemn them to that either, Ed. I talked to Professor McGonagall. I am going to talk with Lord Greengrass tomorrow. I will be taking the contract," Harry said
He shot his head up. "Harry, no. It was the Peverell's who made that deal. I should take it," he said in a panic to Harry.
"Can we talk about this later? You are both too young to worry about this and you need to eat dinner," his dad told them.
"We have twenty-eight days left, Bill," Harry said back. "If we don't do this by then, then we will lose all our magic. Who would show David and Amelia what to do if we couldn't use magic?"
Ed was still looking at Harry. He could see the determination in his brother's face. The fact Harry cared for his brother and sister meant more than he ever thought it might. "I can't leave them like that," Edmund told Harry.
"I know," Harry said.
His father sighed. "There really isn't a way out of this? Are you sure you want to do this tomorrow, Harry? Angela and I were going to take you all to a movie. We have to take you back to London Sunday morning if you are going back to Hogwarts."
Harry shook his head. "We have been invited over about one."
"We have to go back to Hogwarts, dad. Otherwise we should just renounce our magic now."
Harry paled. "You heard what Auntie Min said about what happens when someone breaks a magical contract."
Edmund swallowed. "I think she said the last one she knew spent the rest of his days in a mental ward of a muggle hospital."
Their father took in a sharp breath. "It can't be that serious. If you lose your magic it would just mean you are like us."
"For a witch or wizard to lose their magic, even willingly, tears a part out of them that can never be filled again," Auntie Min said walking over to them. "I was coming out to say goodbye, but it looks like I should stay a little longer."
"What do you mean, Minerva," Bill said. "Are you saying if they don't do this and loose their magic, they will go spar?"
She sighed and gingerly sat in the grass with them. "No. Going mental might be a blessing. The few witches or wizards I have seen stripped of their magic was more like looking at someone who lost their motivation in life. Once that happens, they can have no contact with our world. They would be removed from this house because of Amelia and David and you would never see them again. Most likely, an Obliviation Squad will erase all memories you have of them. They will be non-existent to you and most likely waste away and pass to the beyond within a year or two."
Edmund felt like he was going to be sick. Harry grabbed a clump of the grass and pulled up a large hunk of lawn. "Hermione," he said dejectedly.
Auntie Min cast her eyes down. "You would have any memories you may have left of her, Harry, Neville, anyone else related to our world taken from you, but I doubt you would notice. It is a fate that is bad as a Dementor's Kiss."
"What is a dementor," Bill asked.
"A very dark creature that if given the chance will suck the soul out of you. You will be a lifeless hulk. Losing your magic is about the same fate. Very few come out of that funk, but they never are truly happy again or content. They may live a life, but it will not be anything meaningful to them. That is why most times if someone is cast out of our world, it usually is a binding or a taking and snapping of their wands. You can find a good life without using magic."
"But not one without magic," Bill said in horror at her.
She nodded. "Edmund, you need to eat. You also need to talk to Hermione tomorrow. She is upset and needs her best friend."
Edmund hadn't talked to her since Gringotts. He felt guilty, but he didn't want to do anything to control her. He put his head on his arms again. Opening his mouth was not an option. He was between sick and paralyzing fear.
"Edmund. I'll send her back when I go tomorrow. She has looked lost without you." Harry was being serious. Edmund felt guilty for being so selfish.
"Can I go to?"
-oOo-
"Hermione," her mum knocked at her door.
Hermione was sitting in the chair her parents had gotten her to read in. There was a book in her lap, but she wasn't really reading the words. She was staring at a picture of a bloodied knight fighting a dragon. When she was seven, she had read this book so many times that tape kept many of the pages in and some of the nice rune work around the edges was faded. That was when she still thought dragons were a myth and knights the idealistic man. What girl didn't dream about being rescued by the brave knight? Or being a knight? No one ever wanted to be the witch. They were usually scary and ugly.
"The door is open, mum."
Her mum peaked her head into her room. Her hair was much the frizz ball as her daughters. While the elder Granger wore glasses, Hermione didn't. "Ah, St. George and the Dragon," her mother said when Hermione closed the book.
She gave a sad smile. "It's always been one of my favorites."
Her mum nodded. "The fact a certain redhead got it for you has nothing to do with that, I suppose," her mum asked innocently.
At the mention of Edmund, the unwell feeling in her came to the front of her mind again. "I am not talking about him right now," she told her mum.
Her mum walked more into her room. "Would you talk to a friend? Professor McGonagall just called and said Daphne Greengrass is at the Sylvans."
She perked up. "Daphne is here? What is she doing here?"
"I think she was coming to see if you would like to sleep over tonight. They should be here at any time."
"Me? She still wants to talk to me," Hermione said in disbelief. Her last letter had pretty much said she understood if Daphne never wanted to speak to her again. "She's coming here?"
"Get your stuff packed. You're going out for the night," her mum said.
"But Dad doesn't want me to go anywhere," she said angrily. The last few days had not been good with her father.
"I'll handle your father. We need to have a talk and it might be better you are not here. Everything should be good tomorrow," she said.
Hermione looked at her mum, her anger draining and fear returning. "Please don't take me from Hogwarts," she said in a small voice.
"We aren't taking you from there. Not for the moment anyways. If you do go somewhere else, trust me it will be with Edmund and Harry," her mum told her gently.
She got up and hugged her mum, who held her tight. The doorbell rang. "Oh, Daphne's here," she said nervously. "I don't have anything packed."
"Your old school bag is in the closet and I put a bag of toiletries on the bathroom counter. Should I send her up?"
She shook her head going to her closet. A moment later, she was trying to decide on a pair of jeans or a dress, unsure what was acceptable, when Daphne knocked on the door. "Hermione," Daphne said with trepidation.
"Just a moment, Daphne. Come on in," she called out to her friend as she made sure the toiletry bag was in her bag and she tried to decide if she should take a book or two.
When she looked up, Daphne was looking around her room with a certain amount of awe. She was in a very nice blue witches robes and her hair pushed back from her face. "What is that," she pointed to a light over her chair.
"It's an electric light," she told Daphne.
"Oh, wow. You mean you don't have to use candle or gas? I hate when they flicker."
Hermione smiled. "That light only flickers if we lose power or its dying."
"You mean it's like a fairy," she asked with a gasp.
"No. It doesn't really die. The, ah," she racked in her brain for a moment for the word. "The filament just burns up and then you need to put a new one in."
"Oh," she said with big eyes. "That is brilliant."
Hermione laughed to see the excitement on her friend's face. Daphne looked a little abashed. "Don't be embarrassed, Daphne. Do we need to go right away or can I show you around?"
"Are you packed," the blonde asked.
Hermione sobered. "Daphne, are you sure you want me around?" She was not her normal confident self. "I know what Edmund has to do."
Daphne looked at her, the same confused fearful look on her face. "Hermione, I would never do that to you."
"Edmund won't let Harry," she said close to tears. "You must hate him and me."
Daphne stepped up to her. She closed her eyes, expecting to be hit or something. Instead, Daphne hugged her. "How can I hate my friend?"
Hermione smiled. "Are you sure?"
"Mother asked Cadmus to help us make ice cream. Have you ever had fresh ice cream," Daphne asked pulling away.
"Only if Cadmus does it because he wants too. I hate ordering around house elves."
"Hermione, are elves are part of the family. If they would, they could have a seat at our table whenever they wish, but they don't like it."
Hermione smiled. "Can we make it mint chip?"
"I'm more of a strawberry or buttery toffee," Daphne said with a smirk.
"I just have one more question," Hermione spoke up.
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Just one?"
From most anyone else, she would have found the action and comment offending and gone into her protective mode. From Daphne, she rolled her own eyes. "You're a pain," she said matter-of-fact.
"Father tells me that at times," she said with another smirk.
She huffed. "Can I wear my jeans or do I need a skirt or something else?"
"Why would you worry about that," Daphne asked confused.
She gave a look that said don't joke with me. "Daphne, I am going to your house. Your parents are a pureblood wizard and witch. I want to make sure I am acting proper. I will not embarrass you."
Daphne laughed. "Hermione, you are our family guest. I don't care what you wear just as long as it makes my father's eyes pop out of his head."
Hermione gasped, looking scandalized. "Daphne Greengrass," she scolded.
Daphne laughed again. "What. You aren't the first muggleborn around the house, and between you and me, my grandmother was a muggleborn, so we aren't as pure as you might think."
Hermione's eyes bugged out. "What! But you are part of the peerage."
"So are Edmund and Harry now, what's your point," Daphne said raising an eyebrow. Hermione fought to keep her flush down.
"You girls coming down? Minerva would like to get back to Hogwarts tonight," her mum called up the stairs.
"Keep your pants on. I can lend you some robes or a dress if you need them," Daphne said. "Let's go."
The girls found their way down the stairs. Her mum pretty much kicked them out of the house with Auntie Min. By the time they made it to Edmund's, they were whispering conspiratorially about their plans for the night. Daphne had a real mischievous side that she hadn't seen much of yet. When Harry opened the door, Daphne squeaked before trying to stand tall and put on her mask.
"Mr. Potter," Daphne said formally and bowed her head.
Harry looked at Daphne for a moment. "I was rather hoping we could still be on a first name basis," Harry told her.
Hermione saw a little color make it to Daphne's cheeks. "Yes, Harry. Or should it be Scion Potter," she said looking at his hand.
Harry colored a little this time. "Ah, yeah," Harry said running his left hand through his hair.
"Ladies, if you want to move inside, we can finish this conversation before I see you off to Greencross," Auntie Min said behind them.
Harry looked down and quickly moved. "I didn't mean to," he said. They moved past him and she moved Daphne into the sitting room. Something in the house smelled delicious and her stomach grumbled. She really hadn't eaten much the last few days.
Daphne gave her a side long look. Hermione tried to act as though nothing happened.
"Uhm, I was helping Angela make dinner. I'll see you tomorrow," Harry said before walking away.
Both girls looked after him. It was quiet. "You two should get going before Illiana gets worried," Auntie Min pressed gently.
"Yes, ma'am," Daphne said, sounding a little unsure.
"We'll be over around one tomorrow," Auntie Min told them. They both gave her a questioning look. "Scion Potter and I have an appointment with Lord Greengrass."
Daphne paled. Hermione was surprised to feel Daphne's hand entwine around hers. "Yes, ma'am."
Hermione knew what that meant. It was also the way she said it in such an official manner. Her heart thrummed in her chest. In that second, she could swear she felt the same conflict in Edmund. If anyone had asked, she would have immediately pointed to the back yard, knowing he was there. She was not ready for it, but at the same time she felt her heart breaking at the concept.
Daphne pulled her towards the fireplace. "The floo powder is in the desk," her Auntie said. "I don't want David and Amelia getting any ideas so only you, Edmund, Harry and myself can open the draw right now."
She nodded, afraid of opening her mouth. Daphne squeezed her hand very tightly before letting it go. "Hermione, can you open the draw," she asked gently.
Hermione nodded and did as asked. Her stomach clenched harder than anything it had over the last few days as she said, "Greencross," and sped away from Edmund.
-oOo-
Harry sat in his bed. The clock said it was almost midnight, but he couldn't sleep. Edmund had been tossing fitfully and Harry suspected why. It was the same reason he was up.
Things had been so upside down for weeks now. It was apparent that the Sylvans wanted to keep him. He silently snorted. That was how it felt. It was as though Angela and Bill saw him as family, not just some distant cousin.
Word had come yesterday that his relatives had been arrested and charged. He would need to talk to a muggle social worker soon. The larger surprise was that the Sylvans had been awarded custody of him and they had asked him if he would be all right if they officially adopted him.
They wanted to adopt him into their family and was treating him as though he was a human being. That alone was so opposite of most adults he had ever dealt with, well, before he had gone to Hogwarts.
Being away from school, he found that Edmund and Hermione were actually fun people to be around, when not dealing with the heap of dung that had landed in their laps this week. It was also nice having a bed that was even more comfortable than the one at Hogwarts and that everyone here was happy to have him around.
Thinking of the pile of dung, Harry rubbed his fingers over the two rings on his fingers. Technically, he wasn't required to wear them, but after seeing Edmund, Neville, Blaise and others always wearing them, he thought it appropriate.
Those rings. He wasn't sure to curse them or treasure them yet.
Their parents had wanted them to take the rings, to take up the mantle of becoming Lord Potter someday. It was as absurd as everything else he had been through. Lords, Ladies, Princes, Princesses or whatever else there was belonged in fairy tales or times long forgotten. Now he was to be part of one of those old tales as a wizard.
Pulling his legs up and wrapping his arms around them, he rested his chin on his knees. The room was dark, with some light sneaking in around the shades from a streetlamp outside. It illuminated the room enough that he could see many details. His side of the room was mostly bare.
The bedroom was as wide as the house and a little longer than the ones downstairs. About a third of the floor had been converted into the room. The rest of the third floor was an attic and room that Bill and Angela had converted into an office. Looking around the room, he saw Edmund's desk and his on either side of the door. A bureau sat at the foot of each bed. A bookshelf between the bureau and desk. Edmund's bookcase and desk were piled with books, momentous and childhood toys. A few castles made from toy blocks were on the top of the bookcase. He could see Edmund's notebook, parchment and schoolbooks open on his desk.
It was the stuff anyone should accumulate as a child.
Harry's side of the room had his bookbag on his chair, the Magical History essay he had been trying to finish and his book for the class. There was nothing else so far. When he brought his trunk back from Hogwarts, he had plans to put things on his shelves and make it look like he belonged here. The Dursleys never wanted any evidence existed of him. He was going to make sure that people knew he lived here. He was being offered a home and he was not going to give it up.
He rubbed his rings again and his thoughts came back to what was going to happen later today. He knew Edmund didn't want him to do this, but he felt he owed his brother. The realization that he was probably alive because of Edmund made him feel like he should do anything he could to protect him. As an older brother, isn't that what he should do? It didn't matter that he was only twenty-eight minutes older.
Auntie Min had answered his question when he asked why he and Edmund had separate birthdays. Harry had been born at 11:42 PM on July 31, 1980. Edmund had been born at 12:10 AM on August 1, 1980. They were twins, but had separate birthdays. He was the older twin and he should protect his younger brother. So far, it felt more like Edmund had protected him.
Harry thought more about this week. As the liege of Edmund, he would not push the betrothal down to him. He saw how much it had hurt Ed and Hermione when Edmund said he would take it. He didn't want to hurt them anymore. He also didn't want to hurt Daphne, because he knew that Ed taking the contract would do just that.
Daphne was cute and he liked hanging out with her when she let her guard down, but he didn't want to think she would never have any choice but him now. Neither of them would be able to be with anyone else. Harry would have to make the best of it that he could.
He had gained one family this week, and now he knew he would have a family when he grew older.
"You can't sleep either," Ed asked from across the room.
Harry looked over to see Edmund on his side. He was looking at Harry. Harry shook his head. "No," he said to his brother.
It was quiet in the room.
"You don't have to do this, Harry," Edmund said quietly.
Harry rubbed his eyes. He was tired, and his eyes were beginning to sting. "Ed, I will not willingly hurt you or Hermione."
A car drove by outside and Harry watched the lights from under the shade splay out across the room. "I have known I'm a wizard since I was four. Auntie Min told me so that I understood what was happening, not that it really made sense then. All I wanted to do was go to Hogwarts and become like our parents. It seemed like such a wonderous thing. Now, I'm scared of magic."
Harry rubbed his scar. "I didn't know I was magical until Hagrid smashed the door in on the lighthouse we had run too. Just like always, they called me a freak. I thought I really was. Then, at Hogwarts, it was so different. I won't give up my magic and I won't have you give up yours."
Harry was afraid too. He was scared of what other surprises might be out there or what other beast may try to kill them or whatever. It was still spooking him what Professor McGonagall had said earlier if they lost their magic. He didn't want to lose anything he had gained now.
"Are you sure you want to do this with Daphne?"
Harry shook his head. "Ed, I just want to go to Hogwarts."
"I know," Edmund said. "Though, I could do without brownies and trolls."
Harry laughed. "Or Malfoy."
"Yeah, that too."
They didn't say anything for a while and he wasn't sure if Edmund had finally fallen asleep. Harry yawned and finally lay down in his bed, sleep finally pulling at him.
"Harry," Edmund asked.
"Yeah, Ed," he answered.
"Do you think the girls will kill us or forgive us for all this?"
Harry let out a sigh. "I think Hermione will forgive you. She really looked lost without you earlier. I'm more worried about Daphne."
He thought he heard Edmund snort. "Well, it was nice having a twin while it lasted."
Harry snorted himself before throwing his pillow at Edmund. Edmund laughed before tossing it back. "Night, Ed," he said repositioning his pillow.
"Night, Harry."
Harry put his glasses on his bedside table and closed his eyes. He woke with a start sometime later when he felt someone kiss his forehead. "What," Harry asked afraid.
"Just go back to sleep," Angela said to him.
"What are you doing here," he asked blearily laying back down.
"I thought I heard talking up here and wanted to check on you two. Just get some sleep," she said gently.
Harry yawned. "All right," he said and closed his eyes. He didn't remember anything until he woke up to the full sun the next morning.