Hi, all. Thank you to all the men, women, boys, and girls who have contributed to Harry Potter and the Yellow Quartet now having over 80000 views. It is absolutely awesome that this story has surpassed that milestone. Thank you as well to my 168 favorers and 190 followers for your support of this thread. Much love from Arizona. A fair warning that this is a sad chapter, in the shape of chapter 59.
On the night of Wednesday, February 13th, 1992, after Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather enjoyed a yummy dinner of plump grilled chicken sandwiches, thick and crisp fries, and crisp cold Budweiser to wash it down with, Amelia spoke up and said, "Sirius, Remus, Heather, and I wish to spend some adult only time tonight. If I may make a suggestion to the Yellow Quartet, why don't the Yellow Quartet go up to Susan's room and have Susan tell the stories of her parents' lives. I know Hannah knows the stories, but Harry and Amy don't and if we're all going to be family, we should all know about each other's backgrounds. "
""I'm ready for Harry and Amy to know the stories of my parents' lives, " said Susan in a half proud, half sad voice, "Harry, Amy, and Hannah, please do follow me up to my room."
Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah walked into Susan's room and sat down in a row on Susan's bed.
"So, " said Susan matter of factly, "So my parents were three years younger than Aunt Amelia, "
"Did that play any role in your parents selecting Amelia as your guardian?" Amy asked Susan, "Knowing Amelia was a little older and could handle the responsibility of raising a child."
"It didn't hurt, " said Susan in a businesslike voice, "But Aunt Amelia was also the person they trusted most. Aunt Amelia is my mom's sister. Aunt Amelia and my mom were super tight sisters."
"What were your parents' names?" inquired Harry.
"My mom's name was Jennifer and my dad's name was Roger, " answered Susan with a smile.
"So, " remembered Hannah, "Jennifer was the top Charms student in her year at Hogwarts. Jennifer got a grade of O+ in Charms every year she was at Hogwarts and easily achieved grades of O+ in both her Charms O.W.L. and her Charms N.E.W.T."
"Let me guess, " piped up Harry, "Jennifer had an aspen wand!"
"WOW! VERY GOOD HARRY!" exclaimed Susan, "Yes, eight inches, aspen and unicorn hair, nice and flexible."
"I remembered from our wandlore lessons that willow and aspen are the best wand woods for Charms work, " grinned Harry, "I guessed aspen and got it right!"
"Is there any particaur kind of Charms Jennifer was particularly good at?" asked Amy curiously.
"Mom was so good at Charms that I can't single out any specific charm or kind of charms she was good at. She excelled at them all, " said Susan proudly, puffing out her chest, "But her most useful application of her Charms skills was her brilliant use of the Disillusionment Charm."
"Disillusionment Charms distort the vision of the general public of a person, animal, or object, " explained Hannah, "For example, the owners of hippogriffs are legal required to perform daily Disillusionment Charms on their hippogriffs to avoid the creatures attracting muggle attention. The effects of Disillusionment Charms are somewhat short lived, so in some cases, daily application is necessary"
"Mom was a spy against Voldemort during the Wizarding War, " said Susan seriously, "She would perform the Disillusionment Charm on herself and often act as a kind fly on the wall if you will at Voldemort's meetings. She was able to provide information to the good side that helped prevent some of Voldemort's plans. Aunt Amelia, at the time, was already a high ranking member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement "
Harry and Amy suddenly felt a nasty sense of foreboding and Hannah shuddered involuntarily.
"Voldemort knew that Aunt Amelia was an enormously powerful figure in the Ministry of Magic, especially within the context of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, " said Susan, who was starting to cry a little, "But Voldemort knew that Aunt Amelia was too well protected to go after. She was under heavy security at work, Bones Manor was under the protection of her own Secret Keeper Charm, and she didn't leave home except for work. Voldemort feared that the Bones family would become immensely powerful and become a threat to him. Knowing how well protected Aunt Amelia was, he targeted mom. Mom and dad had moved into a place of their own on which mom had placed her own Secret Keeper Charm. However, one day, as meeting of Voldemort and his Death Eaters ran super long, mom's Disillusionment Charm for the day wore off. Voldemort spotted and recognized her and killed her."
At this, Susan suddenly broke down as tears poured down her face and collapsed to floor.
Harry, Amy, and Hannah were respectful enough to give Susan her time and space and about five minutes later Susan resumed her place on her bed and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make a scene."
"Susan, " said Harry, "You weren't making a scene, you simply experienced a natural emotional reaction to telling a tragic story that is deeply personal to you."
"We completely understand, " said Hannah gently, "We've all suffered in own ways so we would never criticize you for letting your pure emotions flow."
"Tragically, " said Susan chokily, "Mom's death also killed the Secret Keeper Charm on my parents' house. Voldemort, knowing this, traveled to the house and killed my dad in his sleep."
"Oh, Susan, I'm so sorry, "said Harry and Hannah together, both of them with tears in their own eyes now.
"The thing is, " said Susan sadly, "Aunt Amelia has never fully gotten over the loss of her sister. They were the closest sisters you could imagine."
"Never whole again, " said Amy mournfully.
"Exactly, " said Susan in heartbroken kind of voice, "But give me a few minutes to compose myself and I'll tell you a bit more about more about my dad."
Harry, Amy, and Hannah were quiet, giving Susan the time and space she needed.
"Okay, " said Susan matter of factly after a few minutes and a few nanoseconds, "Dad was extremely interested in animals. His favorite subject by far was Care of Magical Creatures. "
"Was Roger disappointed that Hogwarts didn't offer Care of Magical Creatures until third year?" asked Harry.
"Hell yes, " said Susan bluntly, "But, once he took the subject, he got Os in it all five years he took it and Os in his Care of Magical Creatures O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. Dad just loved all animals. At the time dad's death, he was working at a magical pet shop taking responsibility for the daily feeding, grooming of creatures such as kneazles, hippogriffs, crups, and fwoopers. "
"Your parents were both Hufflepuff, right?" Amy asked Susan.
"Yes, " said Susan, "The Bones have historically split between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff but in recent times has tilted more Hufflepuff.
"How did your parents meet then?" inquired Harry.
"They were in the same year in Hufflepuff, " explained Susan, "They became in sixth year seventh year after becoming Head Boy and Head Girl of Hogwarts, although neither was a prefect."
Susan took a deep breath and said sadly, "Apparently, at the time of their deaths, mom and dad were in discussions about having a second child. Had mom and dad lived, I would have had a sibling."
"Ouch, " said Harry involuntarily.
"I do think about what could have been sometimes, " admitted Susan, "I would have loved to have had a sibling, although, I will say that I'm grateful that my lifelong friendship with you, Hannah, saved me from growing up lonely."
"Roger and Jennifer were good people who deserved a better fate, " said Hannah sadly.
"Mom laid herself on the line everyday while dad had dedicated his life to helping animals " said Susan proudly, "In addition to loving animals, my dad loved to read. He was a huge Narnia fan and he named me after Susan Pevensie from the Narnia series."
"Cool, " chroused Harry, Amy, and Hannah and they all felt a little better.
After that note, Susan said, "That's all I can handle tonight."
"Thank you for sharing these stories, Susan, " said Harry sincerely, "I know how hard that discussion was for you."
"Still, " said Susan seriously, "We really should all know about each other's backgrounds."
After a short pause, Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah all shouted out, "THE YELLOW QUARTET!" and exchanged a huge group hug.
Thank you again, everyone, for the over 80000 views. Love you all - Michael :)