CHAPTER 9: THE POTTER FAMILY
Harry and Hermione apparated in a snowy lane under a dark blue sky, in which the night's first stars were already glimmering feebly. Cottages covered with Christmas decorations stood on either side of a narrow road, which led to the centre of the village.
"We should have taken Polyjuice potion." whispered Hermione from under the Invisibility Cloak.
"No." said Harry quietly. "This is where I lived with my parents. I'm not returning as someone else..."
Harry and Hermione slowly walked toward the village centre. The door of a nearby pub opened, releasing a snatch of laughter and pop music. When the door closed back, the young couple could hear a carol start up inside the little church.
"Harry, I think it's Christmas Eve!" said Hermione.
"Is it?" Both of them had lost track of the date. The last time they had seen a calendar was when they had brought Ron to Dan and Emma in Harry's grandparents' house. Ron had caught a very bad flu and his two friends had sent him to recover in their hideout. That had been on the 10th of December...
They had only visited the house twice. When they had lost Grimmauld Place, they had originally planned to move to Shipton's Lynn but Hermione had feared what had happened to compromise Grimmauld Place could happen again, and she was not ready to risk the life of her parents. The idea was scrapped and the trio instead decided to stay in a tent, moving locations every two to three days.
"I'm sure it is." said Hermione, her eyes fixed on the local church.
"Do you think..." started Harry before the words caught in his throat. Hermione looked at him. Harry's eyes were fixed graveyard.
"Yes." said Hermione. "I think they are."
Taking each other's hand, the couple slowly walked toward the graveyard. There was a kissing gate at the entrance which Hermione slowly pushed open. Behind the church lay row upon row of snowy tombstones. Harry and Hermione slowly walked through the graveyard, trying to find the grave of James and Lily Potter...
The couple walked past the grave of Temperence Abbott — which they guessed was a long lost relative of their Hufflepuff friend Hannah — past the grave of Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore — their late Headmaster's mother and sister. The couple also found the grave of one Ignotus Peverell but neither really focused on it, only stopping to take note of the significance of the weird symbol they had found in the book Dumbledore had left Hermione.
"Let's keep looking for them." said Harry to his girlfriend, almost on a pleading tone. Hermione nodded, knowing he was anxious, that it was very hard to be here for him. A few minutes later, Hermione found them...
"Harry... they're here... right here..." she said, looking at a marble white headstone. Harry froze, feeling as if something heavy were pressing on his chest, the same sensation he had after both Sirius and Dumbledore had died, after believing for a short period of time that Hermione had been killed in the Department of Mysteries...
Neither Harry nor Hermione needed to approach the headstone to be able to read the words engraved upon it.
JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER
BORN 27 MARCH 1960
LILY JULIE POTTER
BORN 30 JANUARY 1960
DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Harry stepped toward the grave and fell on his knees trembling. Hermione sat down on her knees beside him and took his hand. Harry read the words aloud.
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death... Isn't that a Death Eater idea?" he questioned with a bit of panic. "Why is it there?"
"That's not what it means Harry..." whispered Hermione emotionally. "Death can't be destroyed. It's the final frontier. It means... you know... living beyond death. Living after death..."
But they were gone, they were not living. The words might mean something philosophically but it couldn't hide the fact that his parents' remains lay beneath the snow and stone, indifferent, unknowing. Before he could stop them, big hot tears came and slowly slipped down his cheeks. He was half tempted to wipe them but, what was the point? Underneath him, six-foot deep, laid the remains of parents' bodies, being nothing but dust and bones, not knowing or caring that their living son and the love of his life stood so near, his heart still beating for her, alive because of their sacrifice. Had it not been for the young woman visiting their grave, their son would be wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them...
Hermione withdrew her wand and conjured a bouquet of roses and lilies, which Harry caught in his hands and laid on his parents' grave. That had been the last straw for Harry. A sob escaped his throat and before Hermione could react, Harry let out a loud, painful cry. The young man had suffered too much ever since his parents' death. He had managed to keep it all inside but, today, as he looked over the grave of James and Lily Potter with Hermione, he wasn't able to fight his emotions any longer and collapsed in his girlfriend's arms, crying his emotions out.
Hermione grabbed her crying boyfriend in her arms and held him with all the love she could. Seeing the man she loved under so much pain made her heart hurt painfully, making her wish that she could absorb some of it for him. Unfortunately, she couldn't do much more than let him cry on her shoulder, knowing it would help Harry, knowing it would start the healing process for many of his emotional wounds...
The young couple stayed in each other's arms for a few minutes before Harry slowly made to stand up. He had planned on visiting his parents' cottage but he scrapped the idea. He did not think he would be able to stand it — not today. Keeping one arm around each other's waist, the couple slowly walked away from James and Lily, neither knowing whether the next time they would see them would be here in the graveyard or in the afterlife. Harry and Hermione silently walked past Ignotus Peverell's grave — past Dumbledore's family — past their classmate's relative — back toward the dark church and the out-of-sight kissing gate...
Hermione slowly led Harry toward a point where they could apparate, knowing that neither of them were of any state to visit the cottage. As they walked past an old Second World War memorial, Hermione stopped, gasping.
"Hermione?" croaked Harry with worry.
"Harry, look!" she whispered to him with a nod toward the memorial. Harry looked at it and realized that it had transformed. It wasn't about the Second World War anymore. It was about his family...
Instead of an obelisk covered in names, there was a statue of three people: a man with messy black hair and glasses — a woman with long hair and a kind, pretty face and a baby boy sitting in his mother's arms. Snow lay upon their heads, like fluffy white caps.
Harry drew closer, unknowingly dragging Hermione, who was still holding him. He wanted to look at his parents' faces. He had never imagined seeing himself represented as a happy baby without a scar on his forehead. His parents looked happy — so happy. And Harry realized why. While they had died very young and lived through one of the worst magical wars on British soil in History, they had achieved their dream of having a family for themselves. Even with everything happening in the world, they hadn't let that come to them and they had decided to marry, to have a child, a home for themselves. They had managed to be happy together — even when their friends were slowly killed by madmen — even when their son was mentioned in a prophecy — even when their only child was targeted by Lord Voldemort himself — even when they were locked up in their own house, afraid of leaving its safety and die at the hands of the Dark Lord. Even with all of that, they had been happy — because they had each other, because they had him.
That realization struck hard. Harry had done the opposite. Harry had let the war and Voldemort come to him, denying himself happiness because of it. He was sure that had he not already been dating Hermione when Voldemort was resurrected, he would never have asked her out for fear of putting her in more danger than she already was. He had so often sacrificed his happiness — their happiness because of the war. Harry didn't want to do so anymore. He knew he couldn't withdraw from the fight but he didn't want the war to dictate his life anymore. In a split second, he took a decision.
"Marry me?" he whispered.
"What?" whispered Hermione back, not believing what Harry had just said.
"Marry me? I'm tired of letting the war dictate our lives. My parents didn't let it get to them and neither do I want to. They sacrificed themselves so that I could live — not survive. I want to marry you, Hermione Jean Granger, the love of my life. I fear for what could happen to us but I don't want to let Voldemort dictate our lives. It might be our only chance... I know it's not romantic but... marry me? Please...?"
"Yes." she said, tears running down her cheeks. "Yes, I'll marry you..."
"Tomorrow? Maybe we could go to the church and ask if we can be married tomorrow, on Christmas."
"You want us to elope?"
"Yes — kind of. We can invite Ron and your parents but that's it. We should still keep it a secret. I just... I just don't want to be Hermione Granger's boyfriend anymore. I want to be Hermione Potter's husband..."
"And I want to be Harry Potter's wife..." said Hermione, kissing his cheek. "Let's see if we can get married tomorrow..."
The new fiances walked back toward where they came from but, instead of entering the graveyard, they entered the church.
Neither Harry nor Hermione had ever walked in a church. The Grangers had never been religious while the Dursleys had never brought their 'freak wizard of a nephew' to the church. The young couple noticed that the church was not empty. The pastor of the church, an old, bald and small man with a kind face was overseeing a last repetition of the carol. They were preparing for that night's Christmas Eve Mass. The pastor noticed them and with a kind smile, approached the young couple who was still holding each other's arms.
"Hello, sir." said Harry to the pastor. "My fiance and I were visiting my parents. Hermione and I are going through a very tough part of our life and we want to bring some happiness to ourselves. We were wondering if it was possible to get married tomorrow..."
The pastor smiled sadly at the couple. "You are James and Lily's son, are you?" he asked.
"Yes." whispered Harry emotionally with a small nod.
"I saw you through the window." he said, indicating a window where the graveyard was visible. "I know it is many, many years later but I am sorry for your loss. James and Lily were good people, always helping our villagers in their everyday life."
"I'm happy to hear." smiled Harry.
"I am Father Stephen." said the pastor, introducing himself to the couple.
"Harry." said Harry.
"And I am Hermione, his fiance." said Hermione. She would have been happy to be able to introduce herself as such — had she and Harry not just come back from a very emotional visit.
"It is a bit late but it would be possible to marry you tomorrow. The villagers of Godric's Hollow spend their Christmas at home with their family so you would not disturb anyone. Will it be a small or large wedding?" asked Father Stephen.
"Small." answered Hermione. "Only my parents and our best friend will be invited."
Father Stephen nodded. "Then, shall we say, at 7PM, tomorrow night?" he asked.
"That would be perfect." said Harry.
"Then it shall be."
"Thank you, Father." said Hermione. Harry nodded to him.
"It is nothing, my children. Go to your family, celebrate Christmas Eve and be happy." the old pastor said with a smile.
With a last nod, Harry and Hermione left the church. Back in the village centre, Harry said "Let's go pack the tent. Father Stephen is right. I want to spend Christmas Eve with Ron and your parents. I want to go home."
Hermione gave him a kiss on the lips. "Let's go home." Together, the young couple dissaparated from Godric's Hollow.
"Ironically enough, I think this is my favourite Christmas Eve. Like you know, visiting the graveyard is something we're continuing to do to this day. The day where the Potter family is united." said Harry with a sniff. A big tear had leaked on his cheek. Rose put her small hand on his cheek and wiped it.
"How did grandma and grandpa react?" she asked quietly. Her father smiled.
"They were surprisingly cheerful. You would have thought that Dan, as Hermione's father, would have wanted to hit me but it didn't look like the idea even crossed his mind..."
While it was technically Harry's house, common courtesy made Harry and Hermione apparate a few feet from the door before knocking. It took a few minutes before Ron opened the door slightly, just enough to point his wand at Harry and Hermione.
"What did I see in the Mirror of Erised?" asked Ron.
"Yourself as Head Boy with the Quidditch cup. Your deepest desire was to get out of your brothers' shadows and make a name for yourself."
"Correct." said Ron.
"What did I see?" asked Harry.
"You saw your family. Your parents, your grandparents, your great-grandparents, etc. Your deepest desire was... no, is to have a family of your own."
"Correct." said Harry, beaming at Hermione. Both of them would be getting a step closer to that dream the following evening.
"Harry!" greeted Ron. "So good to see you! Finally decided to pick me up?" he asked teasingly, opening the door fully to let them enter.
"You're looking sharp!" exclaimed Hermione. The last time they had seen him, Ron's skin was whiter than it had ever been and he had dark bags under his eyes, which were red from exhaustion. He was so ill that he could barely stand on his feet. Now, he looked like he had energy to spare.
"Thanks to your parents." said Ron. "They really took care of me. Who knew that muggle medicine could work nearly as well as potions?" he said in amazement.
"Speaking of my parents, where are they?" she asked.
"They went to sleep not long ago. Do you want to wake them up?"
"Don't worry, I'll do it. We need to tell you all something very important." she said before she went upstairs.
"Is it bad?" asked Ron to Harry as they moved toward the parlour.
"Oh no, don't worry." said Harry. "It's a good thing actually." he said, grinning.
"Thank Merlin." Ron said, sitting down on a sofa.
"Have you heard from your family?"
"I only heard from Bill." he answered. "From what he told me, they are miserable but safe and healthy."
"Miserable? Who isn't?"
"Yeah." snorted Ron. "I also learned something important from Bill. You-Know-Who jinxed his own name."
"What?" Harry blinked. "What do you mean Vol-"
"NO!" yelled Ron, making Harry jump. "You-Know-Who put a jinx on his name! Anyone who say the name will be tracked and visited by Death Eaters! That's what happened on Tottenham Court Road! That's why Death Eaters were watching Grimmauld Place, even if they couldn't see it! They had managed to track us down because we were using the name!"
"Bloody hell." whispered Harry.
"Yes, bloody hell! It's imperative that you and Hermione don't say the name! Understood?" asked Ron. Harry nodded weakly.
They stayed silent for a few minutes, until Ron spoke. "You guys looked like you just came from somewhere..."
"We did." said Harry. "We just came back from Godric's Hollow."
"Oh." said Ron. "It must have been hard for you..."
"Yeah... It's a good thing Hermione was there for me."
"I wish I could have someone as good for me as Hermione is for you."
"Well, you never know who you could fall for! Was there anyone that interested you at Hogwarts? — well, anyone but Lavender Brown, of course." Harry said, snickering. Ron winced when Harry mentioned Lavender Brown, to Harry's amusement. Their relationship had been far from great and Ron had nearly been driven spare by their fellow Gryffindor.
"If I'm honest, I was attracted to nearly half of the female population last year." said Ron.
"Even the firsties?" he asked with a smirk.
"Merlin, no!" said Ron with a disgusted tone, making Harry laugh. "I'm not attracted to children! Not like you!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Harry with outrage.
"Well, unlike you, I didn't fall in love with a twelve-year-old." said Ron. It was Ron's turn to laugh at Harry's flustered face.
"I was eleven!" he whined. "Hermione was older than me!"
"I know." said Ron with a snort. "I was just joking." he said, making Harry grumble. At that moment, Hermione climbed back down the stairs and went where Harry and Ron were sitting. "I woke them up, they should be coming down soon."
"Are they curious about why we showed up, wanting to tell them something important?"
"As if you even need to ask." came Emma Granger's voice from behind. Harry turned around and found himself facing Hermione's parents.
"Dan! Emma!" he said, raising from his seat. He and Dan shook each other's hand before Harry and Emma hugged each other.
"Now, what are the important news of yours that you had to tell us tonight?" asked Dan with a smile.
Hermione told them right away. "Harry and I intend to get married. Tomorrow."
"Really!?" asked Ron and Dan in shock. Emma let out a happy sound. "When? Where?" she asked.
"Godric's Hollow, tomorrow at 7PM."
"Congratulations!" said Emma, taking both her daughter and future son-in-law in her arms.
"Thanks." squeaked Harry and Hermione under the pressure.
"We are invited, right?" grinned Dan.
"Of course, you are!" said Hermione when Emma had finally released them. "All three of you. There won't be anyone else. It's a very small wedding." she said.
"I always dreamed of giving away my princess to the right husband and there couldn't be anyone better than Harry to take her away." said Dan.
"Thank you, sir." said Harry emotionally.
"I told you a year ago not to call me sir!"
"Sorry." apologized Harry. Both he and Dan chuckled.
"Will I be Best Man?" asked Ron, grinning at his two best friends.
"Well, I don't think it's necessary considering that there would only be the five of us but you can be if you want." said Harry.
"Brilliant."
Emma slowly led her daughter away from the men. "We need to get you a dress and everything in time! Such a short period of time to have everything ready!" she said.
"Mum! Relax!" laughed Hermione. "Tomorrow is only a very small wedding in a muggle church. We can organise a bigger one for the Magical World where you would be free to organize it as much as you want."
"Fine. But we still need to get you a dress!"
"Alright. Just don't get any expensive one. As long as it is a dress and white, it will do for tomorrow."
Emma nodded. She and Dan went back upstairs to their room. Emma was letting giggles out from time to time while Dan was grinning. His little girl was getting married tomorrow!
"So, that's what happened when your mother and I announced our engagement and imminent marriage."
"Grandpa didn't blow up?" asked Rose with surprise. Harry chuckled.
"Oh no, he was completely fine with us marrying."
"But I heard that some fathers don't like seeing their little girls marry!"
"That's not the problem." said Harry with a smile. "It's just that most fathers want to be sure that the man their little girl fell in love with will be able to take care of her. Because of that, they 'test' him and — sometimes — threaten him. Dan didn't have this problem. He already knew me and liked me so he knew I could take care of his daughter. Also, some fathers just don't like seeing their girls marry because it means they will spend less time together."
"Like you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." he said very quickly.
"So, you wouldn't scare my fiances away?" she asked.
"Fiances?" spluttered Harry.
"Does that mean I have to marry someone you already know?" pouted Rose. "Will I have to marry Teddy..."
Harry choked.
"Or Frank? Percy? Louis? …"
"Stop! Please!" he protested, not capable of hearing Rose talk about marrying the sons of his friends any longer.
Rose giggled. "You're so easy!"
Harry blushed in embarrassment. "Anyway. Where was I?" he asked to himself. "Right, the wedding! Hermione and I originally believed that the wedding would be quick and simple, with only Uncle Ron, your grandparents and ourselves present. Something we forgot was that it was Christmas, and that some people like to visit their friends or family's graves on Christmas day. As it just so happened, your godfather Remus — accompanied by his then pregnant wife Tonks — visited my parents that evening. As we were walking toward the church, we passed in front of the kissing gates just in time to see them walk out of the graveyard."
"They came to see grandma Lily and grandpa James?" asked Rose. Harry nodded.
"They did. It came as a surprise to both us and them to accidentally meet each other. Of course, we couldn't just let them go on their way." said Harry with a smile. "We were happy to see them and, now that they were with us, we invited them to our wedding.
"The wedding itself was... it was amazing." said Harry, wiping a tear. "Even though the wedding had been a last-minute decision taken in the middle of a war, even though we didn't really plan anything, it just was... perfect. I remember your mother — she was wearing a plain white dress, yet she had never looked as beautiful as she had before." he said, his eyes looking far away.
"Do you have pictures?" asked Rose.
"We do. Why don't you check in the photo album?" said her father. "The bigger one."
Rose grabbed the biggest photo album and opened it in her lap. "I think there are pictures in the first few pages. It was that year that we started this album. Before, all of our pictures had been put in the smaller one." Indeed, as Harry had said, Rose found a picture of her mother and father on their wedding day. They were surrounded by her grandparents, godparents and her Uncle Ron. Her father was wearing a simple set of black pants and black vest while her mother, true to her father's description, was wearing a plain white dress that reached her knees. In her hair was a single flower. Rose put her thumb on the flower, looking at it.
"It's a lily, in honour of my mother." said Harry emotionally. "It was her way of honouring her during our wedding."
Her younger father in the picture moved, attracting Rose's attention. As he turned slightly to give a grin to the camera, Rose noticed a red flower in a pocket on his vest. "A rose." he explained. "Your mother gave it to me before we entered the church. I remember being baffled that she had done so. Neither Hermione nor I cared about flowers before. I'd never even given her flowers before." he said with a chuckle. "I didn't realize why until she was pregnant and told me she wanted to name you Rose. I think — even back then — Hermione was thinking about having a family together and it was her way of having you with us."
"It's beautiful." she simply said, looking at the picture.
"I know." said Harry. "Second most important day in my life — and one of the happiest."
Rose raised her eyes from the picture to look at her father. His cheeks were wet. She had a gut feeling that her father was about to start crying and — knowing how much he hated doing so — she decided to distract him. "What happened next?"
"Once the ceremony was over, we went back to the graveyard. I wanted Hermione to meet my parents — properly this time. I told them about Hermione, about how they would have loved her — how I loved her. I wanted them to know that even after everything that had happened in my life, I was happy and had found my family. After that, we left. Remus and Tonks went back to their home while we came back here.
"The next morning, we celebrated Christmas as a family. We didn't have gifts to give each other but simply being together made us happy."
"No gifts!" gasped Rose with horror. Harry laughed. His daughter looked completely horrified that they celebrated Christmas without gifts, as if it simply didn't compute in her mind.
"Indeed. Without gifts!" he said. "Still, we were happy. Hermione, Ron and I spent the following week there, simply relaxing and spending time together with your grandparents. Your mother and I were still discovering the 'joys of marriage' — so to speak — and we didn't want to do so in a tent in the middle of winter. Unfortunately, duty called us and we had to leave.
"A lot of things happened between Christmas and the defeat of Voldemort. Much of it I will not tell you until you are older."
"Why not?" pouted Rose.
"It was war, Rosie." said her father. "I know you'll hate hearing this — I certainly did — but, you will understand when you will be older."
"Fine." huffed Rose. Once again, she had sounded a lot like her mother, making Harry both want to cry and laugh. "How did you defeat the very bad man, then?"
"Voldemort?" asked Harry. She nodded. "Well, most of it will — once again — will be told once you are older. But I will give you an abridged version of what happened.
"Your mother, Ron and I arrived to Hogwarts castle in the middle of the night. There, we met with our friends and allies who were hiding inside of the castle. The reason we had come to Hogwarts was to find and destroy a certain object — don't ask me what — and we knew that Voldemort was on his way. We sent our friends to defend the castle before we met with the professors, who evacuated the students.
"Voldemort arrived sooner that we had wished for. He and his supporters began fighting us. Hermione, Ron and I managed to find and destroy that last object before we attempted to find Voldemort. A few hours in the battle, Voldemort ordered a cease-fire and withdrew his troops from the grounds. I used that time to visit the memories of one of my professors, where I learned something very important and shocking. Following the revelations, your mother and I got injured but we managed to continue fighting. Once the cease-fire was over, I met Voldemort and defeated him. We won the battle."
Rose looked at him suspiciously. "You're hiding something, Daddy!" she accused.
"I am." he said. He didn't want to hide it. "It's better you don't know for now. I don't want to give you nightmares..." he said. His description of the battle had been incredibly simple and watered-down. Harry had omitted a lot. While Harry planned on telling her the full version of the battle from his point of view when she was older, there was something he wouldn't be able to say — something only Hermione and him knew — something they had been told not to mention to a single soul, not even their own daughter.
Their encounter with Death, the entity.