Elisabeth stretched and slid out from under the covers. It was three
in the morning and she desperately needed a drink. As she pulled on her
slippers her eyes fell on the unopened letter that had caused her father so
much distress the day before. In fact it had bothered him so much Elisabeth
had decided not to open it. She glanced at the thick envelope. It was not
the first time she had received a letter but the ones in the past had been
addressed to both her and her father, and he had not let her read them, he
had, in fact, not read them himself. But despite the lack of replies the
letters had continued to come at random throughout the year, and upon
receiving one her father had always poured himself a stiff drink and stared
at the envelope, as if daring it to do something.
She opened the door and padded down the hallway to the stairs. She glanced in the hall mirror and looked at her reflection, hoping she would catch a glimpse of her late, barely remembered mother. But she was her father's daughter, and that was a fact. It was a fact that seemed to distress him almost as much as the letter, and she cried almost every night, wishing that she could for once look like her mother so her father would smile.
She sighed and went downstairs. She poured herself a glass of water and turned to go back to her bedroom when she heard an array of voices from the front room. Her heart jumped into her throat and she crept closer to the door so she could hear what was going on.
"Ron! Be quiet! You'll wake Harry, or worse his daughter and then where will we be?"
"Yeah dad! Shut up."
"You too, Will."
"Haha, mum told you to shut up."
"Anna, one more word from either of you and I'll put a silencing charm on you AND keep you from the World Cup." This entire conversation was staged in loud whispers and Elisabeth didn't have to strain her ears to hear what they were saying.
"Lavender and Neville better hurry up and get here. Are they bringing the kids?"
"I think so, I'm not sure if they're bringing the baby. But Lavender did say something about them being a bit later, Neville had to make sure all the kids got their Hogwarts letters on time-McGonagall didn't have time this year so she called him in.I still can't believe he's Herbology teacher."
"Neville was always good with Herbology, Hermione."
"I know but still, do you really think he can work with Snape?" the woman giggled.
"You'll be there"
"Right Ron.right." Elisabeth didn't listen to the rest of the conversation. The letter on her dresser, it was from Hogwarts. She raced back upstairs and grabbed it, tearing the seal and unfolding the envelope.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Minerva McGonagall (Order of Merlin, Second Class, International Confed. Of Witches, Quidditch Confed., Salem Witches Institute, Foreign Ambassador)
Dear Ms Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Bathalbert Binns Deputy Headmaster
She went back downstairs and listened at the door, it appeared that Lavender and Neville had arrived, and they had brought the baby. There was muted laughter and muttered conversation but Elisabeth didn't listen to it, letter in hand she raced up to her fathers room and leapt onto his stomach, efficiently waking him.
"'Lisbeth, what on earth." he fumbled for his glasses and sat up, staring at his daughter as he had once stared at a bug-eyed house-elf named Dobby. "I opened the letter." She said, watching him closely to gauge his reaction.
"Bloody Christ." He muttered. "And?"
"Daddy, do you know about Hogwarts?"
"Oh Christ.I think we need to go downstairs to talk about this."
Elisabeth nodded, excitement bubbling in her chest at the thought of meeting the people downstairs. If they really were people.
Her father went down the stairs slowly, rubbing his eyes and hitching up his pants. Her father was a handsome man and every year when they went to conferences with female teachers they all hit at him but he would smile politely and twist his wedding ring. Like his daughter Harry Potter was not popular. In his adulthood he had only one friend, and he often thought that perhaps he should go on a date or two, Elisabeth deserved a mother, but he was a shy man, and the few dates he did go on ended in disaster. So instead he sat at home, night after night, watching his daughter play alone. He reached the bottom of the stairs and scratched his head. But he did not open the door to the front room, turning instead, into the kitchen. He made to pour himself a glass of water when a commotion from the front room sent him racing for the door-and his daughter.
"Sirius!" the voice hissed "get off of me!"
"I'm not Sirius! I'm George!"
"Whoever you are shut up!"
Harry glanced at his daughter who's eyes were wide with excitement. He pushed open the door and went inside, Elisabeth close behind him.
"What in Hell?"
What in Hell indeed thought Elisabeth, looking around at the front room. At the foot of the fire place a redheaded young man was pulling what looked to be his identical twin off of a thin man who looked to be about fifty. Another man stood, brushing soot from long black robes and next to him a pretty, bushy haired woman sat buddha style on the floor, holding a baby on her lap. A red haired young man was giving her a shoulder massage and brushing a girl about Elisabeth's age's hair at the same time. A dark headed man was sitting with his wife's head in his lap, three children, all Elisabeth's age, sat chatting at his feet. As soon as Elisabeth and her father entered the room everyone stopped talking for a moment and then-
"HARRY!"
The bushy haired woman tossed the baby to one of the redheaded twins and her husband dropped the brush as they both sailed towards Harry, trapping him in their embraces. The others quickly joined them, hugging, kissing, laughing and talking.
Finally they all got to sit back down, the redheaded twin disentangled himself from the old man and everyone sat breathlessly, waiting for Harry to speak, finally he did.
"How did you guys find me?"
"Oh it was quite easy, we had to wait nine years of course, but when they started sending out Hogwarts letters we just had to find Elisabeth's name on the list and we found your address. Oh Harry! We've missed you so much!"
"Are you going to come back?" the redheaded man asked.
Elisabeth watched her father, he opened and closed his mouth several times without saying anything and finally Elisabeth couldn't wait any longer.
"Come back where? Who are you?"
The bushy haired woman tossed her head back and laughed.
"My name is Hermione Granger, this is my husband," she gestured at the redheaded man, "Ron Weasley. This is Neville Longbottom," she nodded at the dark-haired man, "and his wife, Lavender. Those two," she pointed at the twins "are Fred and George Weasley. Those trouble makers are Remus Lupin and Sirius Black," she grinned at the two older men. "And then these guys," she pointed at the four children in front of Ron, "Are Anna, Moira, William and Daniel." The four children smiled and waved at her. "And the baby is Cadian. All of us, with the exception of Sirius and Lupin, and of course the kids, are friends of your father's from school."
"Hogwarts?" Elisabeth asked eagerly.
"Hermione." Harry said through his teeth.
Hermione looked at him for a moment, and then obviously decided he wasn't much of a threat to her. "Yes."
"Then it's real?" Ron grinned, "you betcha kiddo."
Harry looked at them for a moment, then turned back to his daughter, "'Lis, I need to talk to Ron and Hermione for a minute, would you mind taking Anna and Moira and William and Daniel up to your room?"
Elisabeth nodded and glanced shyly at the other kids, who got up off the floor and followed her to her room.
They five of them sat in a circle on Elisabeth's bed and William initiated the conversation.
"So you don't, like, know anything about Hogwarts or your dad, or anything?"
Elisabeth shook her head.
"Oh you just wait! Hogwarts is going to be awesome. I just wish mum and Uncle Neville didn't work there." Anna lamented.
"I know, I told you guys, we should have bound and gagged the lot of them."
Elisabeth giggled.
"I'm serious!" Daniel exclaimed. "Don't listen to him. He's a prat."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Are you guys brother and sister?" Elisabeth asked.
"Nope. Anna and William are Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione's kids. Me and Daniel are Neville and Lavenders kids." Moira smiled, "It used to be you could identify a Weasley by the red hair and freckles-"
"But Will dyed his hair and I charmed off my freckles."
"Charmed them off?"
"With a wand. I did a spell and they disappeared."
Elisabeth gaped and Anna laughed. "You don't know any of it at all do you?"
Elisabeth shook her head and William smiled. "Be prepared for a shock."
It took the children an hour and a half to tell Elisabeth about the world she had been born into but by the time they were done she knew everything they knew (and then some, just to add a little bit of spice)
There was a soft knock on the door and Harry came in. "You guys should come downstairs, get some breakfast, we have a lot to talk about."
She opened the door and padded down the hallway to the stairs. She glanced in the hall mirror and looked at her reflection, hoping she would catch a glimpse of her late, barely remembered mother. But she was her father's daughter, and that was a fact. It was a fact that seemed to distress him almost as much as the letter, and she cried almost every night, wishing that she could for once look like her mother so her father would smile.
She sighed and went downstairs. She poured herself a glass of water and turned to go back to her bedroom when she heard an array of voices from the front room. Her heart jumped into her throat and she crept closer to the door so she could hear what was going on.
"Ron! Be quiet! You'll wake Harry, or worse his daughter and then where will we be?"
"Yeah dad! Shut up."
"You too, Will."
"Haha, mum told you to shut up."
"Anna, one more word from either of you and I'll put a silencing charm on you AND keep you from the World Cup." This entire conversation was staged in loud whispers and Elisabeth didn't have to strain her ears to hear what they were saying.
"Lavender and Neville better hurry up and get here. Are they bringing the kids?"
"I think so, I'm not sure if they're bringing the baby. But Lavender did say something about them being a bit later, Neville had to make sure all the kids got their Hogwarts letters on time-McGonagall didn't have time this year so she called him in.I still can't believe he's Herbology teacher."
"Neville was always good with Herbology, Hermione."
"I know but still, do you really think he can work with Snape?" the woman giggled.
"You'll be there"
"Right Ron.right." Elisabeth didn't listen to the rest of the conversation. The letter on her dresser, it was from Hogwarts. She raced back upstairs and grabbed it, tearing the seal and unfolding the envelope.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Minerva McGonagall (Order of Merlin, Second Class, International Confed. Of Witches, Quidditch Confed., Salem Witches Institute, Foreign Ambassador)
Dear Ms Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Bathalbert Binns Deputy Headmaster
She went back downstairs and listened at the door, it appeared that Lavender and Neville had arrived, and they had brought the baby. There was muted laughter and muttered conversation but Elisabeth didn't listen to it, letter in hand she raced up to her fathers room and leapt onto his stomach, efficiently waking him.
"'Lisbeth, what on earth." he fumbled for his glasses and sat up, staring at his daughter as he had once stared at a bug-eyed house-elf named Dobby. "I opened the letter." She said, watching him closely to gauge his reaction.
"Bloody Christ." He muttered. "And?"
"Daddy, do you know about Hogwarts?"
"Oh Christ.I think we need to go downstairs to talk about this."
Elisabeth nodded, excitement bubbling in her chest at the thought of meeting the people downstairs. If they really were people.
Her father went down the stairs slowly, rubbing his eyes and hitching up his pants. Her father was a handsome man and every year when they went to conferences with female teachers they all hit at him but he would smile politely and twist his wedding ring. Like his daughter Harry Potter was not popular. In his adulthood he had only one friend, and he often thought that perhaps he should go on a date or two, Elisabeth deserved a mother, but he was a shy man, and the few dates he did go on ended in disaster. So instead he sat at home, night after night, watching his daughter play alone. He reached the bottom of the stairs and scratched his head. But he did not open the door to the front room, turning instead, into the kitchen. He made to pour himself a glass of water when a commotion from the front room sent him racing for the door-and his daughter.
"Sirius!" the voice hissed "get off of me!"
"I'm not Sirius! I'm George!"
"Whoever you are shut up!"
Harry glanced at his daughter who's eyes were wide with excitement. He pushed open the door and went inside, Elisabeth close behind him.
"What in Hell?"
What in Hell indeed thought Elisabeth, looking around at the front room. At the foot of the fire place a redheaded young man was pulling what looked to be his identical twin off of a thin man who looked to be about fifty. Another man stood, brushing soot from long black robes and next to him a pretty, bushy haired woman sat buddha style on the floor, holding a baby on her lap. A red haired young man was giving her a shoulder massage and brushing a girl about Elisabeth's age's hair at the same time. A dark headed man was sitting with his wife's head in his lap, three children, all Elisabeth's age, sat chatting at his feet. As soon as Elisabeth and her father entered the room everyone stopped talking for a moment and then-
"HARRY!"
The bushy haired woman tossed the baby to one of the redheaded twins and her husband dropped the brush as they both sailed towards Harry, trapping him in their embraces. The others quickly joined them, hugging, kissing, laughing and talking.
Finally they all got to sit back down, the redheaded twin disentangled himself from the old man and everyone sat breathlessly, waiting for Harry to speak, finally he did.
"How did you guys find me?"
"Oh it was quite easy, we had to wait nine years of course, but when they started sending out Hogwarts letters we just had to find Elisabeth's name on the list and we found your address. Oh Harry! We've missed you so much!"
"Are you going to come back?" the redheaded man asked.
Elisabeth watched her father, he opened and closed his mouth several times without saying anything and finally Elisabeth couldn't wait any longer.
"Come back where? Who are you?"
The bushy haired woman tossed her head back and laughed.
"My name is Hermione Granger, this is my husband," she gestured at the redheaded man, "Ron Weasley. This is Neville Longbottom," she nodded at the dark-haired man, "and his wife, Lavender. Those two," she pointed at the twins "are Fred and George Weasley. Those trouble makers are Remus Lupin and Sirius Black," she grinned at the two older men. "And then these guys," she pointed at the four children in front of Ron, "Are Anna, Moira, William and Daniel." The four children smiled and waved at her. "And the baby is Cadian. All of us, with the exception of Sirius and Lupin, and of course the kids, are friends of your father's from school."
"Hogwarts?" Elisabeth asked eagerly.
"Hermione." Harry said through his teeth.
Hermione looked at him for a moment, and then obviously decided he wasn't much of a threat to her. "Yes."
"Then it's real?" Ron grinned, "you betcha kiddo."
Harry looked at them for a moment, then turned back to his daughter, "'Lis, I need to talk to Ron and Hermione for a minute, would you mind taking Anna and Moira and William and Daniel up to your room?"
Elisabeth nodded and glanced shyly at the other kids, who got up off the floor and followed her to her room.
They five of them sat in a circle on Elisabeth's bed and William initiated the conversation.
"So you don't, like, know anything about Hogwarts or your dad, or anything?"
Elisabeth shook her head.
"Oh you just wait! Hogwarts is going to be awesome. I just wish mum and Uncle Neville didn't work there." Anna lamented.
"I know, I told you guys, we should have bound and gagged the lot of them."
Elisabeth giggled.
"I'm serious!" Daniel exclaimed. "Don't listen to him. He's a prat."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Are you guys brother and sister?" Elisabeth asked.
"Nope. Anna and William are Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione's kids. Me and Daniel are Neville and Lavenders kids." Moira smiled, "It used to be you could identify a Weasley by the red hair and freckles-"
"But Will dyed his hair and I charmed off my freckles."
"Charmed them off?"
"With a wand. I did a spell and they disappeared."
Elisabeth gaped and Anna laughed. "You don't know any of it at all do you?"
Elisabeth shook her head and William smiled. "Be prepared for a shock."
It took the children an hour and a half to tell Elisabeth about the world she had been born into but by the time they were done she knew everything they knew (and then some, just to add a little bit of spice)
There was a soft knock on the door and Harry came in. "You guys should come downstairs, get some breakfast, we have a lot to talk about."