Author's Note: Hello all my amazing readers! I finally have an update for you, and hopefully now that my sister's wedding is over I will have slightly more free time to write and my updates will be a bit more frequent. I am quite excited about this chapter, and I already have the next chapter planned. We are getting closer and closer to Hogwarts, which means closer and closer to seeing Rabastan in this timeline (I know a lot of you have been asking me when he would come in to play). Please keep reviewing, favoriting, following, recommending to your friends, all that good stuff. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling therefore I own nothing.
Chapter 12
Family Feud in Diagon Alley
By Trenton Applebaum
Yesterday in Diagon Alley, the public was able to bear witness to a family feud that's been decades in the making. Lady Dorea Potter neé Black and Lady Walburga Black were sighted arguing outside of Flourish and Blotts. Witnesses state they heard Lady Black calling into question the morals of both Lady Potter, as well as the newly returned Charlotte Potter, before drawing her wand on the family, including her own estranged son Sirius Black. Lady Potter, in response, didn't bother with a wand. She warned the Lady Black of attacking any members of her family before swiftly slapping her across her cheek, at which point Lady Black and the current Black heir, Regulus, departed.
Everybody has heard the rumors of the infamous Black family and their penchant to disown their members when they make decisions that go against the family's traditional values, or you have unless you've been living under a rock. Decades ago Dorea Potter neé Black was disowned after her marriage to Charlus Potter. It was widely known the Black and Potter families did not get along, and with the elopement between Mr. and Mrs. Potter, a well-known marriage contract between the Black and Lestrange families went unfulfilled.
More recently the Black heir, Sirius, was disowned by his family and was taken in by the Potter family. It is not known to anybody outside the two families as to the cause of the disownment.
"What a load of rubbish," Charlus Potter snorted and threw the Daily Prophet on the table. "Is there any chance this family could go a week without being in the paper?" He pinched his nose in frustration as the photo cycled through again, showing the slap in wonderful detail.
In response, Dorea smirked over her cup of tea. "Now darling, where would the fun in that be? You knew I would always keep things interesting when you married me."
He sighed and gave his wife a reluctant smile. "That I did, love, that I did."
"Why are we in the paper this time?" Hermione asked, in between bites of strawberry.
"Oh, just that silly little spat with Walburga." Dorea rolled her eyes. "It's really nothing to worry about."
Hermione imitated her father and snorted. "Oh, I'm not worried. Just curious. It's not that cow Rita Skeeter is it? I'm not really sure when she begins writing."
"I don't know who Rita Skeeter is, but what did she ever do to you?" Charlus wondered aloud, looking at his daughter with interest.
"Ah, she's just a journalist who prefers to write sensational pieces rather than fact. Propaganda queen that she was, she'd spread rumors about Harry and I, well she did until I discovered a secret of hers. Then she was less inclined to at least write lies." Hermione smirked, remembering keeping the little bug in the jar. She hoped to avoid the beetle this time around, but if push came to shove she wouldn't hesitate to report her this time around.
Charlus studied his daughter further, appearing to not like her tone. "You look far too much like your mother right now with that look on your face." He pointed his finger between the two of them but chuckled when Dorea threw her napkin at him.
Hermione laughed at her parent's antics, and told her father, "Why thank you. I'll take that as a compliment."
"As you should, darling," Dorea said beaming at her daughter. "Always better to be mother like daughter, than father like son." She smiled cheekily over her cup of tea at Charlus who sputtered at being the influence who'd corrupted their son.
From there, breakfast descended into a battle of the wits between the Potter's, and Hermione could see how she was related to this family after all.
"Now see here, I am not the one who introduced James to itching powder," Charlus argued, refusing to accept sole responsibility for James's pranking ways.
"Hmm…" muttered Dorea non-committally, "That may be but it was you who gave him the invisibility cloak at the age of seven and told him 'mummy wanted to play hide-and-seek'."
"Yes, well who taught him that hair growing hex?" The Potter Patriarch mock-glared at his wife, remembering how his son managed to make his already messy hair grow past his waist, while his oh so loving wife laughed and refused to undo the hex until they went to bed that night.
Hermione laughed at the banter between her parents, it seemed that James had continuously been egged on by both of their parents growing up. "Was it always like this between the three of you?"
"Always." Dorea rolled her eyes, "A couple of years after your disappearance, it was hard getting back into a normal routine. One night your father and I were arguing about something, I can't even remember what at this point, but James didn't care for it. He had a small bout of accidental magic and glued our tongues to the roofs of our mouths. After that it turned into somewhat of a prank war, each of us trying to get James on our side."
"Since then," Charlus continued, "it's only continued, but once James went to Hogwarts we limited the pranks to holidays when James was home, though he started participating on his own. Once Sirius and the other boys started coming over it turned into every wizard for himself." Dorea cleared her throat, and Charlus amended with a smile for his wife, "Or witch. Just beware, at some point, the boys will probably try to get you."
"Please," Hermione snorted. "If they try anything they will quickly learn why most of my house was scared of me, and I doubt they can be any worse than the Weasley twins. They literally made their living on pranks. Opened a joke shop while they were still at Hogwarts, and were actually doing pretty well for themselves until they closed down and went into hiding." Hermione had finished her breakfast during their conversation. "I'm going to spend most of the day in the library. Is there any way you could attempt to keep James and Sirius away from there for at least an hour after they wake up? I would like some peace and quiet today."
"We will do what we can dear, though no guarantees," Dorea informed her with a wink..
Hermione then left the table and quickly gave her mother and father a kiss on the cheek before heading to her favorite place in the whole manor.
The youngest Potter got her wish that day and then some. For two hours it was blissful silence, but as the doors of the library burst open, and James and Sirius barged in with their usual fanfare, she knew that her quiet time was over for the foreseeable future. She was relieved to see Remus following at a much more sedate pace. She mock-glared at her brother and his friends over the top of her book. "Is it necessary to cause so much destruction wherever you go?"
James grinned, tugging at the bottom of her book. "Of course it is my darling little sister. Gotta keep life interesting." He informed her as he sat next to her on the sofa and threw his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a side-hug. Hermione simply rolled her eyes as Sirius collapsed on the sofa across from the two Potter siblings, and Remus gently sat down next him, looking exhausted.
Hermione looked at Remus with concern. "Are you alright Remus? You don't look well."
Remus gave the young witch a weak smile. "I'm alright. Just feeling a little under the weather. I'm going to head home tonight until I'm better. I should be fine in a couple of days," he assured her.
She continued to look at him before she realized the full moon was tomorrow night, so she simply nodded. "Well, I hope you feel better soon. Now, is there a reason you three are disturbing my reading?"
Sirius grinned. "Actually, there is. Prongs?" Sirius gestured to James.
"Well you see...the thing is…" James uncharacteristically stuttered. "I need...oh Merlin. I want to…"
"James wants your help," Sirius spat out for James.
Hermione narrowed her eyes."With what?"
"I want to propose to Lily," James blurted out, cringing a little at his loud tone.
Hermione laughed, "Why do you have that look on your face?"
"What look?" James asked.
"You look like you're preparing for your death. Shouldn't you be thrilled?"
"Yes. I am." James nodded, looking so in love that Hermione could just imagine the cartoon love hearts in his hazel eyes.
"Ahuh, so what's the problem?" she prompted, needing more details.
"Nothing," he insisted. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with Lily. I just…." James trailed off again, looking unsure of what to say.
Hermione looked to Sirius and Remus hoping they could give her some clue as to what was wrong with James. Both wizards rolled their eyes before Remus offered an explanation. "James is worried you wouldn't take it well. You've only been home for a little over a month. He doesn't want you to feel like he is abandoning you."
The witch turned to look at her brother, who was cringing slightly, processing what she was just told. "James that is absolutely ridiculous. I would never feel like you were abandoning me. Weren't you the one who was telling me how we're a family and will always look out for each other? I doubt that you marrying Lily will change any of that. Besides, I know you had a life before I came back. I don't expect everybody to put their lives on pause while I adjust." She pulled her brother in for a hug.
"We've missed so much of each other's lives, I just don't want to miss anymore," James whispered.
"I know, but unfortunately we won't be able to get those years back, and in order for us to not miss anything in each other's lives, you have to actually live your life. That includes you getting married and having a family. Now tell me about your proposal," Hermione demanded, poking him in the arm for good measure. Usually switching the topic to anything Lily related was a good way to lift James's spirits.
"Well actually, I know what I want to do, but I need your help with a part of it, my dear sister," James said with a grin, that Hermione really didn't like the look of.
She shook her head. "If you're planning to propose with a prank, I can tell you now that is a mad idea."
James looked affronted, and sheepish at the same time, so Hermione assumed that she was right on the money there. Sighing, she finally put aside her book and gave her brother the most patient look she could spare. "What was your plan B?"
James picked at some imaginary lint on his shirt before mumbling, "I don't really have one…"
"How we are related I'll never know," Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Alright, listen up and listen up good, this is what you should do…"
And so she began to rattle of her plan to her brother, and with a few suggestions from his friends and James himself, the four teenagers were able to put their heads together to finalize the plans of Operation: Mrs. Prongs.
Hermione came through the floo of the Leaky Cauldron almost three weeks later. Her father and brother finally had agreed to let her go into Muggle London alone. Well almost alone, she was meeting Lily at the Leaky and the two of them were finally going shopping in Muggle London.
Lily had been coerced to stay at home until after Petunia and Vernon had returned from their honeymoon so the whole family could help them get set up at their house in Little Whinging. Hearing about the house, Hermione had wanted to go burn the place down to the ground or at least try and convince Peeves to move in. Her father had stopped her in her tracks though, so now the newlywed Dursleys were settled into their home, sans a poltergeist, and Lily was able to join the Potters at the Manor for a few weeks. Unbeknownst to her though, by the end of the month, she would be engaged (if everything went according to plan and James didn't propose to her with a damned onion ring), and she and James would be moving into their own cottage in Godric's Hollow.
Hermione had hoped to convince her brother to live in any other Potter property, except the one where in a different timeline James and Lily died, as Hermione didn't know if she could take the added stress of ever stepping foot in that place. The last and only time she had ever been to Godric's Hollow had been Christmas, and she and Harry had been attacked by Nagini. She wasn't sure she would ever be able to look at the cottage and not see the wreckage where her brother and sister-in-law had died. However, James was just as stubborn as Hermione, and he just knew that Lily would love to live in a country setting, so without being able to give him a good enough reason James was not to be deterred.
As the curly-haired witch stepped through the floo, she noticed Lily had yet to arrive so she decided to order the two of them butter beers and take a seat at one of the tables. Barely five minutes had passed before Lily walked through the door that led to Muggle London, and spotted Hermione sitting in the middle of the room.
"Hermione!" Lily greeted, hugging the younger witch as she got up to greet her future sister-in-law. "How have you been?"
"Wonderful! Though I'm about ready to burst at being stuck in the house so much. Were James and Sirius always so….bothersome?" Hermione laughed, as the two sat back down to finish the butter beers before starting their day.
"Always!" Lily agreed. "How many times have they pranked you since they've been home?"
"Only once, a couple of weeks ago. They learned their lesson after that. Especially about disturbing me in the library."
Lily laughed in response. "Good. I learned after about third year that you have to put your foot down with the two of them. Once you prank them back, they'll learn not to mess with you. Isn't Sirius supposed to move out soon anyway though?"
"Yeah, he and Remus apparently bought a flat and, the three of them have been working on it all summer. I think Peter helps sometimes as well, though James said that he is already working at an apothecary here in Diagon Alley. I didn't know he was good at potions."
Lily, taking a sip of her drink while Hermione talked, nodded before responding. "Yeah, Peter is brilliant at them actually. Potions were one of my best subjects but only because Peter tutored me. There was only one other person in our class who was more of a natural at Potions than him. I know both of them are hoping to get a Mastery in the subject."
"What about you?" Hermione prompted. "What do you want to do?"
"I start Healer training on 1st of September actually. I can't wait. I've always wanted to be a doctor and once I discovered I was a witch, I knew a healer would be just as rewarding of a career," Lily gushed. "But enough about me. Are you ready to go? We can talk more while we shop."
Hermione nodded and the two witches headed out into Muggle London.
It wasn't until they got to the first store that academics were brought up again. "So what classes are you planning on taking this year? Are they any different than at your old school?" Lily asked.
"No, all the classes are the same actually. I'll be taking all of the core courses except History of Magic, and I'm also taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes."
"Wow! That's a lot of NEWTs. Do you think you can take that many classes?"
"Oh yes. I'm used to taking a full course load. My third year I actually took every single class that was offered. It did cause some issues with my schedule and it was slightly overwhelming but I managed. It also allowed me to figure out which classes were especially important to me."
"That makes sense. Just don't overburden yourself. James will worry if you make yourself sick. I think we would all worry."
Hermione smiled at Lily, knowing she was just as concerned about her well-being as James was. Harry was (or will be?) a lucky kid, having such caring parents. "Thank you, but I'll be okay."
"Do you know what you want to do after Hogwarts?" Lily inquired.
"Not really, I've always had a passion for Equal Rights. I think I may want to work at the Ministry in the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. It's absolutely barbaric the way witches and wizards treat those they deem less than human!"
If Lily smiled any bigger her face would have split in two. "I think we're going to be great friends Hermione. I completely agree with you."
The two spent the next few minutes comparing their ideas on house elves, centaurs, goblins, werewolves, merpeople, while pulling jeans, jumpers, dresses, skirts, and any other article of clothing they could find to try on when Lily brought up Peter again, which made Hermione curious.
"You and Peter seem pretty close," Hermione commented.
"Oh." Lily seemed surprised by her comment but continued on, "Well, I guess we are. I was friends with him way before I gave James the time of day." Both witches picked up their large stack of clothes, and Lily gestured towards the back of the store. "Come on. Let's head to the fitting room and try these on. I think we've exhausted what we can find."
Luckily the fitting room was empty so the two witches could talk freely, though Lily did cast a Muffliato just in case anybody walked near.
"Why is that?" Hermione pressed Lily for more details, unable to shake her curiosity. She'd never heard of Peter's friendship with Lily been so strong in the future.
Lily called through the thin fitting room walls, "Why is what?"
"Why were you friends with Peter first?"
"I told you earlier he and another boy in our class were the two best in our year at Potions. That other boy and I grew up together and he, Peter and I used to study together. I always wanted to be the best. I just felt as if I had more to prove than everybody else."
Hermione could hear the shrug in her words and was mulling over what Lily'd said when she heard the sound of curtains being drawn back followed by a very loud and insistent, "Come out! I want to see what you have on."
Hermione exited her fitting room and smiled sympathetically, completely understanding Lily's point of view, as she had felt the same way during her time at Hogwarts. "I get that. I grew up Muggle and didn't want to give anybody any reason to think I didn't belong."
"Exactly!" Lily agreed. "Well even when curfew had passed and I still wanted to study, my friend had to go back to his common room, and Peter would sit up with me going over everything I wanted. Even after he became friends with the other three and could sometimes be unbearable, and after I had a falling out with my other friend, Peter was always there for me every test and any other time I needed somebody. Also, I love those jeans on you."
"Really?" Hermione was skeptical. "Don't you think they're a little tight?" She was wearing a pair of bell-bottom jeans that were practically painted onto her body. She had the hardest time getting into them, but this was the 70s and this was the style.
"No. They're perfect. Though I think James might have a fit with that much of you on display." Lily giggled.
Hermione chuckled. "Are you trying to get me locked away for the rest of my life?"
"Nope. Just trying to see how far I can push your brother before his head explodes." The redhead smirked. "I've never seen him this responsible or overprotective. It's quite amusing to watch."
"I'm glad that we can be of entertainment to you," Hermione retorted. She paused and thought about what she wanted to ask before she did. "Could you tell me more about Peter? I've barely had time with him but I've gotten to know the others. I'd like to get to know him as well, seeing as he's considered part of the family too."
"Of course! You should ask James to invite him and his mum over for dinner one night, that way you can get to know him for yourself as well," Lily suggested.
"What about his dad?" Hermione questioned.
Lily looked uncertain and bit her lip. "I don't recommend bringing up his dad. Peter's dad left when Peter was still a baby and refused any contact with Peter or his mum. It's always just been the two of them. He is really close and protective of his mum because of it. I think that's also why he said something to you our first night back from Hogwarts."
Surprised, Hermione asked, "How do you know about that?"
"He told me about it. Worried he was out of line. Pete has a huge heart, and not having his dad in his life, especially finding out that his dad abandoned him, well...it definitely affected him. He doesn't want you to abandon the Potters and go back to those that raised you, he worries what that abandonment would do to all of us."
Hermione thought about this for a moment before she put her hand on Lily's arm, causing Lily to look her in the eyes. "I would never abandon any of you. I hope you all know that. All of my friends and family are gone, and even if they weren't now that I know about what happened, I wouldn't go back. This is where I belong."
The two witches hugged, and Lily had small tears running down her face. She wiped at her eyes after pulling away before she declared, "Alright enough of this. We're supposed to be having a fun girls day. Let's finish up here and head on to the next store."
The two chatted the rest of the day about absolutely nothing while they flitted from store to store, eventually landing in a Muggle bookstore where both stocked up on a couple of new fiction titles, as well as a cookbook in Lily's case.
"So I think we're done," Lily declared. "I don't think my purse could take me spending any more money."
Hermione laughed along with Lily, "I think Dad would agree with you on that one. He did tell me to get whatever I needed but I doubt he expected all of this."
"Come on, I'll walk you back to the Leaky and I'll be over later tonight once I've finished packing. I love my parents but I can't wait to get out from under their roof for a little bit while I look for a place of my own."
"Lily," Hermione exclaimed. "I almost completely forgot. I actually have to meet Mum and Dad at Hogwarts. We're meeting with Professor Dumbledore. Would you mind apparating me there? I've just never been to Hogsmeade and I don't want to get lost getting to the Headmaster's office." She fibbed.
"Of course. There is an apparition point up ahead," Lily informed her.
The two ducked into the alley, where Hermione gripped Lily's arm tightly. "Ready?" Lily asked.
At Hermione's nodded, with a twist and a loud crack the two disapparated into nothingness.