A/n: 79 reviews!!! I'm thrilled! Thank you all so much…this fic has been so much fun to write, and I can't wait to see what you'll all think of the outcome…the ever-so-revealing outcome; I don't think ANYONE predicted what was to happen, but tell me if you had a feeling or not because I'm curious. No, this isn't the last chapter, but I am going to reveal something important here…~Jerry
The month of October passed with very few events, save a few things. Gryffindor won the first Quidditch match of the season against Slytherin, and Dumbledore made the arrangements for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to meet Joanne Kathleen Rowling.
But, Hallowe'en arrived quickly, and the morning for Harry to meet his stalking, writing friend was upon him. Professor McGonagall woke Harry and Ron up rather early, too early for their liking, especially when they were taking a day off.
"Come on, now," McGonagall said, tapping both on the shoulder. Harry shook as he woke up. He was having that dream again, in which the shadow of his father kept coming out of Voldemort's wand…but Harry tried to think nothing of it as he paid attention to McGonagall's shaking him awake. "I'll meet you in the Common Room once you get dressed."
Ron and Harry exchanged yawns. They also puzzled over the strangeness of McGonagall herself coming in their dorm just to wake them up for a meeting.
Hermione already went over the entire thing with Harry and Ron the night before. Dumbledore hooked up a Portkey that was to take them all the way to Ms Rowling's house, which was in Edinburgh. They would have used Floo Powder, or the bus, but both were too long and hard a travel. Hermione speculated that they would be meeting Ms Rowling's daughter, Jessica, who was three or four. Harry didn't like that idea; younger kids didn't appeal to him much, as they enjoyed picking on him for some reason.
Harry looked outside and saw that the sun hadn't even risen yet, which made him feel all the more sleepy. He looked outside and saw that not even birds had stopped roosting. Even a few stars were still shining, though dimly, for the sky was a dull gray.
When Ron and Harry were ready, they met McGonagall and Hermione down in the Common Room. McGonagall had some toast and orange juice ready for the three. She seemed tense, and she kept looking over to Harry warily.
"Now, you three behave while you're with…Ms Rowling…" McGonagall said. She looked at Harry strangely again. Harry pretended to ignore it as they started walking down to Dumbledore's office.
They reached the gargoyle, and McGonagall cast one more anxious look at Harry. Finally Harry sighed.
"Is something wrong, Professor?" Harry asked.
McGonagall snapped to attention. "Oh…nothing's wrong. After all, you already know…it'll be wonderful though, Harry. You'll be so happy to meet her, at last, don't you think?"
Harry looked back up at McGonagall, who wore a surprisingly warm smile. He returned the thin-lipped smile, though he must have looked confused, because McGonagall looked away, after a fashion.
"Well," she said. "This is it…Professor Dumbledore should be waiting for you…" She made the gargoyle move and then stepped aside so the three could get in. They went up the escalator staircase and then knocked on the door at the top.
"Come in," Dumbledore's voice said cheerily. "The door is open."
Harry opened the door and let his friends in before him. The three found Dumbledore, holding a used wine corkscrew, which still had a cork of seven months stuck in it.
"Ah," Dumbledore said. "Come in, come in, you three. I have been waiting…so has this Portkey. You have good timing, may I say. The Portkey should activate in about a minute, if you'd like to hold onto it."
Harry took the wine corkscrew and held it in his hands. Hermione put a shy hand on it, and Ron followed suite. Dumbledore watched them as they held the corkscrew, the three of them gathering around such a strange object.
"Now, I will pick you up at nine o'clock tonight," Dumbledore said. "It would have been earlier, but we have that Hallowe'en Feast, and you know how that takes up the entire evening. But, I imagine you will be having too much fun to notice…especially you, Harry…"
Harry made an indistinct noise. He was rather tired of McGonagall and Dumbledore acting so strangely around him, but he didn't say anything so not to insult them. After all, they seemed very kind in arranging everything, and letting all three students skip school, just to meet someone they never even talked to for real…
"Three…two…one…" Dumbledore counted down the Portkey, and just as he reached "one," Harry felt a pulling, right at his navel, and he felt miles upon miles of land being covered, just in a blink of a second…
…And suddenly they were at a small townhouse just outside the city ((A/n: although I did much research on JKR and her biography to get it to match w/the story, I found nothing on what type of house she and her sis lived in just before PS was published. So I made it up.)). Harry thought nothing of the small house, except that it was older and probably rented out. It seemed more like a 20-year-old flat to Harry, but he said nothing.
"This it?" he asked Hermione.
"I…I don't know," she answered.
Harry went over to the front door and rang the doorbell. He heard the chime, all throughout the house, and he waited. A moment passed, then another. But, no one answered.
Ron sighed. "I'll ring it…" he said.
Ron rang the doorbell, and again chimes could be heard all throughout the house. But, they couldn't even hear movement from within the house, not even a dog shuffling to the door.
"Looks like no one's home," Harry said as they listened for the sound of someone to answer the door.
"Hold it," Hermione said. "I hear a baby's scream."
Harry and Ron listened from within, and indeed Hermione was correct. Finally they heard thudding down the stairs.
"I'm awfully sorry!" someone's voice called. "Please let yourselves in! I'm all a mess, I had to help Jessica with her breakfast…do come in!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged puzzled looks, but they opened the door and let themselves in a tiny foyer that the three could barely squeeze into.
"Ms Rowling?" Hermione called. "Ms Rowling, it's us! My name is Hermione Granger, and I have Harry Potter and Ron Weasley with me…we came from Hogwarts, remember?"
There was no response.
"Please go," someone said from down the hall. "Ms Rowling will not be seeing you today."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks of puzzlement.
"But, Ms Rowling, we booked over a month in advance…"
"I SAID GO!"
But Harry did nothing of the sort, for he was truly James Potter's son. Instead of leaving and closing the door behind him, he strode right into the kitchen, where he saw Jessica Rowling, sitting in a high chair. Then he wiped his glasses a few times, unable to comprehend what he was watching. The woman who was feeding her daughter's breakfast was…
Lily Potter.
A/N: dun, dun, dun! Oh man, now I'm ready for the flames…but, I will explain it all, I promise! I got the chills writing this, I really did. And then my friend IMed me while I was working, and I literally jumped like two feet off my chair because the chimes reminded me of the doorbell. Creepy stuff. If you'd like to email me on the topic, go for it! I am full of ideas but would be partial to suggestions….you can reach me at
And now, it's past my bedtime. ~Jerry
