A/N 1: Welcome to Year Two!
A/N 2: A couple months ago It came to my attention that Summer holidays in the UK start around mid-July. However, as I'm already done four sections of this story, I will do as Director Fury does and opt to ignore this fact.
The first couple of weeks of summer holiday passed by in a blur. Much time was spent catching up with old friends and current events of the year, which mostly meant listening to the radio and binge-watching movies. Fun fact: a group of kids attempting to recite the entirety of 'Under the Sea' from memory is hilarious to watch and take part in!
There was also a quick trip to Diagon Alley on her first week back. Mainly to stock up on owl treats and exchange some muggle money at Gringotts for sickles and galleons. Later that week, she and her parents took a trip to Surrey to visit her extended family and Harry.
To her aunt, she traded in the sickles and galleons for a sizable amount of cash to deposit. (Regrettably, her aunt refused to explain how she was making money off of the galleons - as she found out that legilimency is a thing and didn't want to risk anyone finding out her methods through Melissa. That said, the heavy wad of cash was a worthy enough bribe to reign Melissa's curiosity into silence.)
To Harry, she gave magical sweets, her first-year textbooks, and some stretchy book covers to hide the titles should the Dursleys happen upon them. (Truthfully, she wasn't entirely sure if she would need any of the books for her second year, but it seemed like a good idea to keep him occupied over the summer and be prepared for the upcoming year. Besides, even if she does need them next year, these copies can be left behind and replaced with new books.)
Tuesday, July 10th, 1990
With the overflow of current events and socializing draining her mind for the past two weeks, Melissa decided to spend this particular morning relaxing at home going over her old practice pieces on the piano. From the window, the sun shined through and a slight breeze flowed into the room. That, with the gentle piano music, gave way to a picture of perfect peacefulness.
*RING*
Peaceful feelings over.
Fortunately for her, her dad was in the kitchen at the moment and picked up the phone by the second ring. Melissa ignored the conversation for the most part, keeping her focus on the keys at her fingertips.
"Melissa!" Her father called ten minutes later. "Uncle John wants to talk to you!"
"Oh. O-kay!" She called from the music room. Melissa skipped over to the kitchen and took the phone's receiver from her father's hand. "Hiya, Uncle John!"
"Hey, yourself. How's my favourite magical niece?"
"Favourite magical niece?" She dramatized in a scandalous manner. "Not your favourite in general?"
Laughter met her ears. "Got me there. Let's see, how many more teachers have you chased away this year?"
"Only the one! And it was an accident, I told dad as much!"
"Alright, alright! No need to convince me." He laughed. From the kitchen counter her dad gave an identical laugh at her protests. The tattletale!
"So what's going on? How's the family and Harry?"
"We're doing fine. That's actually what I wanted to talk with you about." Of course it is. "I've had a talk with Harry's uncle, and Vernon has agreed to let Harry stay with us for a few days."
"What!" Well, that was a surprise. "How?"
"Seems the Dursleys were invited to wine and dine with one of Vernon's bosses on a retreat, which is a little hard to do with Harry under their roof."
"Right."
"So I suggested he stay with me for the week. That way he can get his schmoozing done without his rapscallion nephew around to bother him."
She marvelled at his unboasting accomplishment. You glorious man, how did you win him over?
"That's great! So Harry gets to stay with you for the week?"
"Yes, and we'll be taking him with us to see Sophie's family in Yorkshire. You're welcome to join us, if you'd like?"
"To Yorkshire?" Well, if it meant a whole week with Harry and her cousins. "I'd love to! Oh! ...Actually, while we're there, can I suggest a daytrip?"
"I could probably arrange that with Soph. What did you have in mind?"
Monday, July 30th, 1990
"Industrialization has crippled the globe." A girl singsonged as she and a group of children walked along a grassy hill. "Nature failed as technology spread." In the summer heat, gnats and bees hummed all around them. "And in this wake a market erected." The girl jumped onto a polished granite stone and spread her arms wide. "An entire city built on top of the dead!"
"She knows she's standing on a headstone, right?" A local twelve year girl named Samantha asked Harry as the other kids walked on by.
"Don't mind Melly. She likes to be weird." Jeff replied.
"Baby, you know it!" Said girl called from the headstone. She jumped off, inspecting the tombstone before walking down the row.
"And you can finance your bones, and your kidneys... For every market a submarket grows… But best you be punctual, with making your payments," She pulled Jeff to the side and gestured to another headstone. "Lest it be you on the concrete belooow!"
Jeff laughed and pushed his cousin off at the joke, then ran off to join some of the other kids that came with them.
"This place gives me the creeps." Samantha complained.
"What's so creepy about it?" Melissa asked. Her arms went wide as she whirled around. "Blue skies, grassy hills, pretty flowers-"
"It's a graveyard!" Samantha complained.
Melissa shrugged carelessly. "We all end up in a grave, eventually. It's nothing to be afraid of."
Beside Samantha, Harry shook his head while Jeff and his older Yorkshire cousin, Davey, rolled their eyes.
"It's still weird that you want to be here, Bennett." Davey pointed out. "Why look for some stiff in the dirt?"
"Because who I'm looking for is a special stiff in the dirt. ...Though it looks like this row is a dud."
"What's so special about this bloke?" Davey asked.
"We could help you look if we knew who we were looking for." Harry insisted.
"No, no, it's got to be a surprise." She jumped over to the next row, guiding Harry through the tombstones.
"Why?"
Oh, this was too easy. "You see, Harry, it could change your life, rest assured." She singsonged. "For it's the 21st Century Cure!" She then stopped to climb on top of a lion statue. "And it's my job, to steal and rob… GRAAAAAAAVES!"
"Keep it down, Bennett!" Samantha chastised. "You're going to get us caught!" The girl in question snickered and hopped off of the statue.
"Bloody hell, Bennett! It's weird enough you want to come around here, so what's with the creepy grave songs?"
"I can't help it! It'll be fifteen years before the Cockroach King hits the stage, and I miss that man's amazing baritone."
"The what king?"
"Ignore her." Harry shrugged at Davey. "She says weird stuff like this all the time. You get used to it after a while."
"Well, whatever, I'm leaving." Samantha announced. "Anyone who wants to ditch this place can follow me!" She gestured to the group of a dozen or so children to follow after her. Most of them shrugged their shoulders and went with her and Davey down the hill. Even Jeff ended up going off to hang out with his male cousin.
"Should we go with them?" Harry asked, hopeful and happy to have a whole gaggle of kids to play with for once.
"In a minute, I'll try to be faster with this. Promise"
"If you say so." He sighed.
"Trust me, you'll appreciate this."
They wandered through a few more rows. Humming away to the yet-written graveyard rock song. The headstones became less polished and more dented with each row.
"Harry! Come here! I found it!" Melissa called over to him in excitement.
"What? What is it?"
She stood straight, offering a position of a heralding butler. "I'd like to introduce you to an unknown branch of your history." She gestured to the grave before her. "Harry Potter, meet Tom Riddle Sr. Muggle father of Tom Riddle Jr, the infamous You-Know-Who of the wizarding world!"
Harry stood in front of the grave, puzzled, until the gears clicked into place. "The man who killed my parents?" He said solemnly.
"Well, father of the man, yes. Pretty sure his son killed him, too. I found an old newspaper saying Senior and his parents died mysteriously. Likely by magic."
Harry looked at her with sad eyes. "Melody, why would you show me this?"
The look Harry gave her pause, and almost as quickly gave way to confusion and guilt. "It… it seemed like a good idea. I thought you'd want to know about it. About him. You're bound to learn more about your parents once you come to Hogwarts, but this… it's a part of your history, and not one that people are likely to talk about. Better to hear about it now than from someone who doesn't know you."
She cut herself off from her rambling. They stood in silence for a while. Harry knelt down and touched the stone, his finger edged on one of the words. "Beloved son. Nothing about being a father."
"I- I don't think he knew him. Junior, I mean. He grew up in an orphanage. His mom died giving birth to him, so… I guess they weren't together by the time he was born."
Harry nodded at that. "Who's his mother?"
"A witch from the Gaunt family. I don't think she's buried here."
"That's alright. I didn't want to… So, this Tom, you say he wasn't a wizard?"
"No. At least, I'm pretty sure." She sat down in the grass beside him. "Which means that the guy known for hurting muggles and muggleborns is a halfblood, himself. Ironic, really."
"Yeah…" He regarded the inscription pensively. "And stupid." Harry stood up and brushed off his clothes. "We should catch up with the others." He decided. Walking off before Melissa could acknowledge the dismissal for what it was.
"Wait, Harry!" She stumbled after him. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I mean, I thought..." Well, she didn't know what to think at this point. It seemed ingenious when she first thought it up, but now she was starting to feel a lot of regret.
Harry released a rugged breath. 'Oh, shit, is he about to cry?'
"It's okay, Melody. I get what you were trying to do. I just need to think."
Ah, crap. She really fucked this one up. "Right." She muttered, stopping in her catch-up, allowing him to keep going.
Harry paused for a moment, realizing that she was no longer at his side. He turned a bit to acknowledge her. "I'm not angry with you, Melody. Just… next time you try to tell me about my past, try to do it in a less creepy way, okay?"
The request made her smile bashfully apologetic. "Sure. Will do."
"So… are you coming back with us?"
"Uh, in a bit. Might be good if I give you space, like you said."
"Oh…" He blinked, looking a touch guilty. "Right. Thanks." He shuffled a bit, then continued on his way to the path out of the cemetery.
Well, that went… awkwardly. She grimaced at the memory of his face. A grey wind of guilt swirled in her chest. She thought it might help, but… well, maybe it was too soon for Harry to be thinking about stuff like this? Ugh, sometimes it's hard to gauge what is kid friendly enough, and what fit for her because she was, well, only half-kid (in a mental sense).
Oh, well. Even if this little field trip didn't pan out well for Harry's mental wellbeing, there was at least one thing she could accomplish from it. Melissa walked back to the headstone, where her backpack had been left behind. She rummaged through the pack, and pulled out a polaroid camera that had been tucked safely between a layer of snacks. She turned and knelt in front of the headstone of Tom Riddle Sr., releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"Well, Tom, I don't know much about you. A snobbish prick, spent months sexually assaulted by a squib, father to wizard-Hitler, and died by his hand. A weird and wild life for sure." She lifted the camera, positioning it until the inscription fit onto the eyepiece. "But, if it's any consolation, at least you'll be getting the last laugh on your son."
*click*
Tuesday July 31st, 1990
Through the eyes of a child, hunting for old graves on a pretty, flowered hill is seen as creepy. Hunting for frogs, snakes, and swamp-hidden insects, on the other hand, is an acceptably pleasant activity.
"Aunt Sophie's going to kill us if we track mud into the house." Melissa grinned teasingly as her younger compatriots splashed through ankle-high water.
Davey shrugged the warning off. "We'll spray ourselves on the hose before we go inside. It's what I always do."
Getting sprayed with more water didn't seem like a wise idea in Melissa's mind. That considered, her aunt and uncle had tasked her with keeping the children distracted while they set up Harry's surprise birthday cake, so she let them be with their muddy exploration. A few frogs were found, along with centipedes, spiders, and some cool rocks that Samantha threw in a bucket for her collection. As they continued, the children were halted to a stop as Maggie suddenly shrieked.
"Maggie!" Jeff called out in alarm.
Then,
, much to their surprise, the alarm was answered by a squealing giggle. Maggie had been bent down, out of view by a fallen tree. When she reappeared, the little girl walked over to the others with a wide grin and something wriggling in her hands. "Look what I found!"
The others slowly made their way through the slick mud to the excited child. When they got there, some gasped and others ogled as a small, olive and black snake wriggled and whined in her hands. "Isn't it amazing!" The girl grinned as she admired her prize.
Harry, in particular, seemed mesmerized by the creature. "Wow! A talking snake!"
In unison, the other kids stopped their aweing to stare at Harry.
"...Talking?" Davey asked.
Harry looked confused. Melissa, though, immediately realized the issue. "He means with how loud it's hissing. Obviously he doesn't mean actual talking." She met Harry's eyes and flashed a warning look.
Fortunately, Harry caught on quickly. "Right, that's all. Usually they're pretty quiet, aren't they?"
Samantha snickered at the explanation. "Well Maggie's holding on pretty tight. You should probably let it go."
"Aww! But I want to give it to Harry for his birthday!" The girl complained.
Harry had another look of worry mixed with happiness as he realized her frustration. "Well, no reason you can't give him to me right now. I'll let him go afterwards so he's not taken from his home. Is that okay with you, Maggie?"
The little girl pouted at the idea, still looking at the wriggling present in her hands. Eventually, though, she nodded and reached her arms forward. Harry knelt down in front of Maggie and hissed softly to the snake. The snake stopped it's struggle, eyes fixed on Harry as it hissed back at him. The other children watched on in shock as Maggie dropped the snake into Harry's open palms. They were surprised further when the snake remained still. Harry, though, smiled brightly at Maggie. "Thank you for the birthday gift, Maggie. I really appreciate it."
Maggie smiled with joy at his acceptance. "You're welcome!" She chirped.
The others still seemed weirded out by the interaction. Luckily, Melissa suggested they keep exploring the swamp for bugs, which got them distracted enough to stop thinking about Harry and the snake. The two in question, however, went further away from the group, hissing quietly to each other. When the others were well fixated on exploring, Melissa went over to his side.
"You really can't hear him talk?" Harry asked.
"Nope." Melissa shrugged.
"Oh." Harry looked down for a moment in worry. "I thought maybe it was a magic thing. Though if you can't hear him… maybe I am a freak."
"Harry." There was no way she was going to let the boy think about his family's awful insults on his birthday of all days (though on any day it wouldn't be tolerated). "The reason I don't hear him is because I'm not a parselmouth. Talking to snakes is an ability people inherit. Like having green eyes. Just because not every wizard has it doesn't make you a freak."
"Really?"
"Really, really." She smiled.
Harry looked at the snake as it hissed at him. "So, I'm a parselmouth."
"Mhmm, and the language itself is called parseltongue."
"Wait, a different language?"
"Yeah. When you talk to the snake it comes out as a bunch of hisses."
Harry was befuddled at that information. "I was speaking a different language? How can I speak another language without realizing it?"
"Simple, Houdini." The witch smirked. "It's magic! "
That response got Harry laughing. "Saying it like that just sounds like you don't know the reason."
Melissa snorted at the accusation. "Right, like that doesn't explain half the things I learn at school."
"But I'm right, aren't I?"
Melissa rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, smarty pants. I don't know how a magical person magically inherits an ability to speak a language. Woe to me. Whatever shall I do?"
"Study more?" Harry teased. Melissa flicked him on the nose, promoting a loud "Ouch!"
"Cheeky brat." She grinned. Unfortunately the snake didn't seem pleased by the action and tried to bite her for the action. To dodge it, Melissa hopped back and offered Harry a quick wave. "Well, while you two chat, I'm going to head back to the others. Meet us over there when you're done. Bye!"
"See you in a bit, Melly." The snake hissed something as she left. Whatever it said, Harry laughed loudly as she walked away.
A/N: Unlike Melissa, I'm lucky enough to hear that amazing baritone next month. Hurray for online concerts!
