Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and Co. J.K. Rowling does.
Summary: After one very eventful night ten years ago, Voldemort was destroyed and Harry disappeared. Where did he go? What happened that night? Only one man knows the answer: a teacher named James. And as the tenth anniversary of Voldemort's downfall draws near, Ron and Hermione are thinking more and more about their friend.
To my readers: If you like my story and would like to write a fan fic of a fan fic (or something like that), please give me the credit I deserve. If you want to use a character named Peter who owns a bakery and he has to make éclairs for a wedding, or use the situation that Harry Potter disappeared ten years ago and now lives in Canada and goes by the name "James," or that Ron and Hermione are going to Canada to visit Ginny's fiancé, or that Harry was found by Peter and his brother in their back yard, or use any of my specific plot, character, situation, and story ideas, please, please, put a disclaimer. I've worked very hard on my story, and it's rather shocking to read an e-mail that asks if I take my ideas from someone else. So please, put a disclaimer. Thank you.
Chapter 4: Relatives and Coincidences
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Ron and Hermione landed with a --pop-- on the Bollis' door step in Calgary.
"Well, here it goes," said Ron, and he knocked on the door.
There were noises and thumps coming from the inside of the house, and finally a very excited Ginny answered the door.
"Ron!" she squealed, and gave him a hug. She then gave Hermione a hug, too. "I'm so glad you guys are here! Let me get your bags."
Ginny grabbed Ron and Hermione's suitcases and ran into the house. Ron and Hermione were left in silence. Ginny came back down.
"You guys have to meet Daniel and his parents. Here, come on. They're in the kitchen."
Ginny led her brother and sister-in-law into the kitchen. There was smoke everywhere, and at least ten pots were bubbling wildly on a large stove.
"Ron, Hermione, this is Daniel, Mr. Bollis, and Mrs. Bollis. Everyone, this is Ron and Hermione."
Daniel had soft blond hair and blue eyes. He was thin, but surprisingly energetic. He was bouncing around everywhere, trying to shake Ron and Hermione's hands and cook at the same time. Mr. Bollis was tall and had thin white hair. Mrs. Bollis had light brown hair and was very short. The couple gave Hermione and Ron a nod and went back to cooking.
"I hope you two travelers won't mind if we have some of the family over," said Mr. Bollis while stirring something on the stove.
"Oh, no, that'll be fine," answered Ron.
"Good. It's only Daniel's brother John, and his wife and kids."
"That'll be great!" said Hermione, a little over enthusiastically. But that didn't phase Ginny.
"Ooh, I'm so happy you're all getting along!" she said. "I knew you guys would like each other!"
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A few hours later, and a few barrels of flour later, the crew at the bakery lay exhausted after their flour fight. Everyone was sitting or lying on extra bags of sugar in the back room. Sarah, Jacob, and Emma were absolutely covered in flour.
"We so creamed you guys," said Peter, "Me and James were just too big of a match for you."
"Not uh," said Emma, "We might be more floured, but we're better that you guys, way better."
"Just 'better'?" asked James amusedly, "Not much of a come-back, Emma."
"Oh, shush up, Jamesie." Emma half-heartedly threw a handful of flour at James, but ended hitting Jacob instead. "Oh, sorry Cobbie. Didn't mean to."
A timer went off somewhere and Sarah jumped up. "Our first éclairs are done!" she said, and bounded to the oven. She pulled out the pan, and grimaced.
"I don't think we did it right, Peter," she said.
On the tray were three of the most pathetic éclairs James had ever seen. One was gigantic and leaking cream filling, one was tiny with gobs of chocolate sauce poured over it, and the last one had several bites taken out of it.
"Well, they tasted good," said Emma sheepishly, eyeing the bitten éclair.
"Three?" said Peter in disbelief, "Three? That's all you made? Three?"
"They were hard to make," said Sarah, trying to defend herself.
Peter sighed. "Well, we better start cracking."
Several hours later, the group managed to make thirty perfect éclairs. In the process, they managed to create ten monster éclairs, get chocolate sauce everywhere, and eat more than the healthy amount of pasty, cream, and chocolate. They also had dinner at the Mexican restaurant down the street. Peter pulled that last éclairs out of the oven.
"Ah, these are the best éclairs 'Peter's Bakery' has ever seen," he said.
Sarah beamed.
Emma put the finishing touches of chocolate on Jacob's face.
Jacob sighed and rolled his eyes.
James snorted and laughed to himself. What an original name, he thought. He got a kick out of the name Peter chose for his bakery he started. "Peter's Bakery." He still got teased about it. Apparently, he had always been a good cook. And he loved baking. So after high school he went to a culinary college and got a degree. He came back home to Calgary and started a bakery. He was as happy as ever running it, too.
"I'll bring some of these over to the bride and groom to see if they like them. We'll see how the rest sell in the store," said Peter.
"What?" asked Jacob, "You mean these aren't the final ones?"
Peter laughed. "No, they would go old by the time the wedding comes, in a week. Besides, we have to see if this is absolutely what the bride and groom want."
Sarah, Jacob, Emma, and James groaned. They did not want to go through this again.
"Well, it's getting late," said Peter, looking at his watch. "Hey, why don't we all just sleep in my place tonight?" Peter's apartment was above his bakery.
"That sounds like a good idea," said Emma. Jacob nodded in agreement. He and Emma lived together.
"Well, I will too, then," said Sarah.
Everyone looked at James. "Oh, alright," he said, giving in. "Luis will miss me, though." Luis was James's cat. He was a small grey cat with large yellow eyes. James got Luis about a year ago.
"Good," said Peter, "Now about--"
"I get the shower!" shouted Emma.
"I get the sink, kitchen or bathroom," said a very chocolaty Jacob.
"Then I'll make a pit stop down here," said James.
"Well then," sighed Peter, "I guess that takes care of that. Sarah and I will put the éclairs away, and meet everyone up stairs."
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Just as Hermione helped finish setting the table, the front door burst open.
"We're here!" shrieked a high feminine voice.
Into the house tromped a woman, a man, three girls and four boys, all laughing and talking. Mr. and Mrs. Bollis went up to give their son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids hugs, while John, Daniel's brother, talked loudly with Daniel and Ginny.
"So, when are you two love birds getting married?" asked John.
"In two months," said Daniel.
"Good, good. And how have you been Ginny?"
"Fine," she answered.
Everybody slowly quieted down as they noticed Ron and Hermione standing off to the side.
"This is my brother Ron," spoke up Ginny, "And my sister-in-law Hermione." The kids giggled.
"Ginny spoke of you two often. It's wonderful to finally meet you," said John.
"Well, let's all go into the living room while dinner finished cooking," offered Mrs. Bollis.
The group tromped into the living room and sat down in various place. John and his wife seemed able to start a conversation no matter what. Soon all the adults were having a huge discussion about the upcoming Anniversary of Peace. Ron got sucked into the argument by trying to say that yes, there was peace now, and, no, there was nothing to fear. Only Hermione was left out, preferring not to get involved in that conversation.
The kids seemed to vary in age, all about one to two years apart. The youngest seemed about five, and the oldest about thirteen. One girl who looked about seven came up to Hermione shyly.
"Hi," she said softly. "Um, did you--" She looked back to her siblings. The older ones nodded their heads.
"Did you," she continued in a whisper, "Did you really know Harry Potter?"
Hermione sighed. She couldn't see why everybody kept bringing his memory to the surface. The smaller kids were now gathered around her, eager for an answer, and the older kid hung around the outside of the circle, not wanting to miss what would be said next, but not wanting to admit that they were interested in what the little kids were also interested in.
Hermione looked into their young faces and sighed again. "Yes, yes I did once know a Harry Potter."
There were some oohs and ahhs.
"So, what happened?" asked one of the older kids, not caring about what the others thought, only wanting to hear an answer.
Hermione hesitated. The kids were too young to know what really happened, or at least what Hermione thought happened. Hermione herself did not want to talk about it. She did not want to remember the boy she once knew, so brave and trusting, her best friend. She did not want to go through the pain of never knowing an answer, always wondering if Harry was alive or dead, where he was, and why he did not take her and Ron with him. Harry had never held secrets from his two best friends until that year. She should have known that he was planning something; she should have listened to him.
"Well?" prompted the oldest child, "Well?"
"Dinner!" shouted Mrs. Bollis. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. The children looked disappointed, to say the least.
Hermione was quiet throughout dinner. Pictures and memories of her old best friend whirled inside her head. She missed him so much. Ron gave her a few quizzical glances, but saw that she wasn't feeling well and let her be.
Soon enough, dinner was over and Hermione was helping Mrs. Bollis clean up the dishes and put away the food while everyone else sat and talked. Hermione wasn't in the mood to join in. She could hear the kids shriek with laughter as they played with some new toy. Hermione hoped that the children forgot about asking Hermione Harry Potter questions. She sighed.
"Oh dear," said Mrs. Bollis. She had all her breakfast ingredients lined up and was counting and measuring them for the next morning. "I forgot to buy bread. I love the muggle bread they have around here, good sweet bread."
"Would you like me to get it for you, Mrs. Bollis?" Hermione offered. She could use some fresh air.
"Oh no, dear, it's in town, and you have to use muggle money. It's quite a hassle, really. I'll figure something out, don't you worry. But I did so have my heart set in making French toast tomorrow morning."
"I know how to use muggle money. I had to learn when I was a child. And town's not so far away, I think. It looked like about a fifteen minute walk. I could really get out a bit and stretch. It would be nice."
"Well, if you really want to, I guess," said Mrs. Bollis. She gave Hermione some money ("Now which bill has this guy on it?") and told her how to get to the bakery. "Thank you very much," said a relieved Mrs. Bollis.
"No problem," said Hermione, "No problem at all."
Hermione arrived at "Peter's Bakery" with her cheeks flushed from the cold air and her eyes sparkling from the exercise. Yes, she was happy to be out of the house.
She walked up to the door and pushed. It didn't open. She pulled. It didn't open. She looked inside. Yes, the lights were on.
She rapped on the windows. A very confused and flour-covered man came to the door. He unlocked it and stuck his head out.
"Um, we're closed now. It's ten thirty," he said.
"I'm--, I need to buy some bread," said Hermione. "It's for Mrs. Bollis."
"Well, she is one of my best customers," said the man. "Oh, alright. It looks like you walked and I can't send you away with nothing."
Hermione walked in. The heat of the shop contrasted sharply with the cold air she had gotten used to.
The man went in to the back room and got a loaf of bread. "That will be three dollars," he said while walking out, putting the bread in a plastic bag.
Hermione pulled out the money and paid. "Thank you."
"Your welcome," said the man, "Have a good walk home."
Hermione waved good bye and walked back outside into the cold night, bread in hand.
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James came out of the bathroom.
"Who was that?" he asked. He saw a lady turn the corner, tightly wrapped in a jacket and scarf, holding a loaf of bread.
"Oh, just a woman who needed some bread. Came in name of one of my best customers, and she walked, so I couldn't turn her away," explained Peter.
"You're such a softie."
Sarah walked in. "I finished putting away the éclairs. I'm pooped. I'm heading upstairs."
James and Peter agreed and they walked up to Peter's apartment.
Peter gave James a sleeping bag and James set up his "bed."
"I'm finished!" shouted Emma as she walked out of the bathroom. "All clean!"
"Good," said James, "My turn."
James went in to the washroom and shut the door. He brought his face close to the mirror and examined his hair. His roots were black. Gotta get some more brown dye, he told himself.
He quickly washed his face and then walked out. Jacob and Sarah looked as if they were in a fight for who got the bathroom next.
"I get it," shrieked Sarah.
"No me! I've been waiting longer!" yelled Jacob in return.
James shook his head while Peter took the opportunity to use the bathroom. He shut the door and Jacob and Sarah looked up. They both ran to the closed door and started banging on it.
"You idiot!" shouted Sarah, "We were waiting!"
"You snooze, you lose," sang Peter from inside the bathroom.
Jacob and Sarah continued to bang.
James and Emma were cracking up, on the floor in hysterics.
Once everybody was settled, the group crawled into their beds. James took his solution case out of his pants pocket next to him. He took out his brown colored contacts from his eyes. He didn't have to use glasses anymore, not with these contacts.
He didn't bother to change into anything more comfortable for bed, as he didn't have any other clothes with him. Just his shirt and boxers.
James settled down comfortably in his sleeping bag. His pill jar made a bulge in his pants, lying in a heap next to the sleeping bag, as if trying to remind James to swallow the two pills he forgot to take. Harry was too tired too notice, though, and fell asleep.
Authors note: Lots of love to my loyal readers:
Otaku freak
Phoenix
Hannah Abby
Bayleigh Ford
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RicaSieg(aka Blossom)
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Thanks a bunch for reviewing!
Love you all,
Adah