DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the content referenced/quoted. Warning for swearing
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Letters from a War
Harry Potter is ten when he first sees the letters. They're buried in a box he finds at the bottom of his aunt's wardrobe while hiding from his uncle. He hadn't meant to snoop, really. But he'd never seen this box before and his curiosity got the better of him.
It was a big, broad thing, covered in sturdy materials with his uncle's name engraved on the side in strange curling letters. It looks like a Hogwarts trunk. He tries to ignore it at first, but as the long minutes waiting for his uncle to find him draw out, he can't help but reach out and touch it. It is smooth under his fingers, unlike his father's trunk which was worn with the fabric peeling away at the corners.
He kneels before it, small hands reaching for the clasps. He strains his ears for any sign of nearby life, but he can't hear anyone. Harry flips the clasps and opens the lid.
A thump nearby is the only warning he gets before the wardrobe door is thrown wide open, the light piercing the dark and catching him red-handed.
"Got you-oh," his aunt peers down at him from the open doorway. Harry scrabbles away from the box, his face flushing with the embarrassment of having been caught snooping.
His aunt lowers herself down onto her haunches to look into the open box. Her face softens as she looks down at her nephew.
"I'm s-s-sorry!" He splutters, "I didn't mean to look but-"
"It's ok, Harry," she says. "I quite forgot this was in here."
She runs a hand across the rim of the box, tracing patterns in the dust. After a moment, she reaches for Harry with open arms, "C'mere."
He stumbles into her arms, burying his face in her shoulder, "M'sorry."
She laughs, "No need to apologise, Harry. You did nothing wrong."
"Auntie?"
"Yeah?"
"What is it?" He asks, wriggling out of her hold to glance at the box.
His aunt grins widely, "I'm glad you asked."
"Really?"
"Yeah," she nods. His aunt settles down on the ground and pulls the box towards her and Harry, "This, this is your uncle's special box."
"Special box?" He furrows his brow as he pokes at it with a cautious toe. The inside of the box is piled high with an assortment of odd things - a moth-eaten red and yellow scarf, a few white scarred pictures with folded corners, some worn looking textbooks, "What makes it so special?"
"Because of this," his aunt says, as she reaches into the boxes and pulls out a fistful of paper. Harry peers at it, pushing the glasses that slide down his nose back up as he does. The paper is thicker than he's used to drawing on, and covered in ink.
"Letters?" He scrunches his nose.
"Yes, letters."
"What's so special about them?"
His aunt spreads the letters carefully out before them. Some are more yellow with dog-eared corners, while others are fresher and wrapped in fraying twine in various colours.
"Well, you know your parents and your uncle went to Hogwarts right?"
"Right," he nods.
"I didn't," she says. Harry's eyes widen and his aunt stifles a laugh at the look, "I went to a muggle school, and often letters were the only way I could keep in touch with them."
"He kept them," Harry states as he settles beside her.
His aunt nods, "He kept them all."
Harry traces a gentle hand over the letters, and his aunt smiles softly.
"You know, you could read some of them if you like?"
"I can?"
"Of course!" She grins, and then pauses, "But maybe only the early ones, we both know how inappropriate your uncle Sirius is, eh?"
"Shit!" Harry says loudly. His aunt's face pales and he grins at the look.
"Uhm, yes, maybe don't repeat that to your dad, huh?"
Harry nods, "It's Sirius' word anyway, I'm not allowed to say it to Dad."
His aunt nods seriously, although the corner of her mouth twitches slightly, "That's right. Well done, Harry."
He smiles proudly as she shuffles through the letters before handing him a small pile.
"Maybe when you're off to Hogwarts we can restart the tradition," she grins as he takes them carefully from her hands.
"Harry!" A small figure barrels into Harry, wrapping sticky fingers around his neck, "I found you!"
"Hope!" Harry cries, trying to peel the little girl off him. "You're all sticky!"
The girl removes her arms to grin at him with a stained mouth, "Daddy gave me an ice lolly! Do you want one?"
She pulls a half-melted lolly from her pocket and holds it out to her cousin, who tries not to recoil at the mess in her sticky hands.
"I'm fine, thanks."
"Hope," his aunt says sternly. "How long have you had that in your pocket?"
Hope blinks innocently up at his aunt, "Since Ted gave it to me."
His aunt narrows her eyes, "I thought you said Dad gave it to you."
The girl shakes her head, "Nope, it was definitely Ted."
"Hope!" Harry looks up as his uncle enters the room. His face is tired, but his eyes are twinkling with mischief, "What did I say about running off?"
"To do it as quickly as I could," she nods sagely.
His aunt sighs as his uncle reaches down to swoop the sticky and stained Hope, shrieking, into his arms.
"C'mere, you little rascal!" His uncle grins as Hope loops her arms around his neck, rubbing her stained face into his shirt. He blinks as he spots the box open before Harry, "Oh, I forgot about those."
"Forgot about what, Daddy?"
"I was just showing Harry our letters from school, Remus," his aunt says.
His uncle raises his eyebrows, "Only the early years, right?"
"Of course," she says. "I can be a responsible adult."
"Hm." His aunt smacks her husband, causing Harry and Hope to giggle at the sight.
"What, you find that funny, little miss?" Remus says to Hope, blowing raspberries on her face as she giggles even harder. "Laughing at your Daddy, huh?"
"Noooo," Hope laughs loudly as she squirms. Harry smiles as the man shifts the wriggling girl in his arms before turning.
"Don't be getting any ideas from those letters, Prongslet," Remus says. "Hell hath no fury like your Aunt Cass."
"I won't," Harry chirps.
"Right, you," his uncle turns to leave the room, "time for a bath, I think."
"Noooooo."
Harry looks down at the paper before him, "Auntie Em?"
"Yeah?"
"Are there," he pauses, pushing his glasses up his nose with shaky hands. "Are there letters from mum in here?"
Em smiles sadly, passing a hand through his hair, in an attempt to smooth down the wild strands standing up in all directions.
"There is," she says. "But not until much later. Your Dad might have some though, we could always ask him when he gets back from work."
Harry nods, "Yes, please."
Em grins, "Right, I better go find the rest of those mischievous children, Godric only knows what those shady twins are up to now."
She rises, pressing a kiss to Harry's forehead as she goes, "Want some juice?"
"Yes please!" He says as he scoots closer to the box. Em closes the door softly, leaving a small gap through which she watches Harry as he spreads the paper out before him. He picks up the letter closest to him.
December 1972
To Withers,
Send more teacakes. Remus has decided to hide and stash away your latest delivery - I think he may be more squirrel than boy…
A/N: And it's done! Two years and several title changes later, and I've finally - FINALLY - finished Em's and Remus' story. I hope you've enjoyed this short and brief tale as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I'm toying with the idea of writing more - potentially a follow up that chronicles Harry, Ted and Hope's adventures through Hogwarts thanks to changes made in Letters from a War & potentially some one-shots that might shows alternate changes Em could have made, but we shall see.
In the meantime, you can see what Letters from a War was inspired by in my one-shot Halloween, 1981 - and a variation of Remus and Em in Road to Hell. There's also some other one-shots on my profile and my other completed story, Before You Go (for those of you who like soppy, sad stories full of random shenanigans).
Thanks for reading Letters from a War - stay safe and happy reading! Mac x