Chapter Two: Family Ties

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: Hey. I'm back, please enjoy.

"Now what do you all know about Harry Potter?" Olivia heard Adam ask his class of first years, three weeks into class. She smiled as every hand of the wizard raised students shot into the air.

"Harry Potter was the greatest wizard who ever lived," a blond haired first year began after he called on her. "When he was a baby, he defeated the most evilist dark wizard ever, He Who Must Not Be Named. Then when Harry Potter was grown up, well almost, he fought him again and again and Harry Potter escaped again and again. Then, when he really was a grown up, Harry Potter defeated He Who Must Not Be Named again. And just like before, He Who Must Not Be Names disappeared. Now no one knows if he is dead or alive, but my mum says that since Harry Potter disappeared too then they both must be dead. She said that one can't survive without the other, so they both must be dead. Professor Bradley is she right?"

Adam nodded. "Yes she is, Miss Harris," he replied. "The part your mum told you, about not one not being able to survive without the other is from the prophecy made about Harry Potter and Voldemort."

The first year students had a mixture of confusion and horror on their faces. Olivia caught a glimpse of Adam grinning at them, and she hoped that he didn't know she was eve's dropping as she passed by his classroom door.

Olivia sat in the staff room, rubbing her temples. First years were too much for her, and her fifth years looked at her like she wasn't good enough to teach them. It was lunch time and she didn't feel up to sitting in the Great Hall, feeling like everyone was looking at her.

"Your father made you a pit paranoid also," her aunt said.

Olivia looked up and nodded. "About some things.

"Are you avoiding the rest of the school?" her aunt asked.

"It sounds weird, but I'm not used to bringing around so many people," Olivia replied.

"Its not odd," Hermione said. "If you were raised like the rest of were, then it would be. But you grew up knowing no one else but your family, the few of us there were left."

"I know," Olivia said. "I just wish that I would get over it. I wish that I could get past, well, my past."

"Do you resent your father for it?" Hermione asked. "For raising you the way he did?"

"No," she replied slowly. "But I wish it had been different. I understand the why's, and the how's, I just wish I could get over them."

Hermione sat down beside her. "Olivia, you were raised without a mother, cooped up in your house, and tutored by the best the wizarding world could offer. Every time you left your house, it was never with your father, and you were terrified that someone would find out who you were."

"You know what's crazy?" Olivia asked. "As much as my father told me, and as much as I knew about the world outside my doors, and how potentially unsafe it was, I never really felt safe at home."

"Do you feel safe here?" her aunt asked.

"In a way," Olivia replied. "Probably because this is where my father felt safe. I had such high expectations of Hogwarts. Its still amazing for me to be here."

"Enjoy it," Hermione said, and smiled. "Its a great place. Your father made many memories here, now its your turn."

Olivia nodded and agreed.

Her last class of the day was seventh year Advanced N.E.W.T. Charms. It surprised her a bit when a friendly red head poked her head in the door, early for class.

"Liv!!" she squealed and came running into the room.

"Maddy!" Olivia cried and gave her cousin a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Maddy said. "I almost died when I saw you at the feast. I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to come and see you."

"Its all right," Olivia said. "Just remember, I'm not your cousin here."

"I know, Aunt Hermione has already drilled it into me," Maddy replied, rolling her eyes. "Proper etiquette is required while in school, Madeline. I am not your aunt, but Professor Weasley. And Olivia is no longer your cousin. She is Professor Evans." Maddy laughed, imitating their aunt.

"She's right though," Olivia said. "And you don't know anything about me. Nothing."

"I know, I know," Maddy replied, nodding. "That was repeated to me also."

"I was a bit surprised to see your name on the roster for this class," Olivia said. "No offense or anything, but you never seemed that into studying and school. Advanced seems a bit too, uh..." asked.

"Aunt Hermione-ish?" Maddy asked and laughed. "She did raise me to do well in school, and I may not have been biologically enhanced with Aunt Hermione's knack for knowledge, but I do have Weasley blood in me. That has to count for something."

"True," Olivia replied. "Weasley blood can be a curse sometimes. At least I didn't get the hair. It makes me less noticeable."

"Well Professor Bradley has noticed you," Maddy said.

"Oh yes," Olivia said, rolling her eyes. "He's convinced I'm a Death Eater or something. He thinks I'm completely untrustable."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Maddy said. "He bought you breakfast."

"Aunt Hermione asked him to," Olivia said.

"Aunt Hermione was at home this morning. She doesn't live in the castle, and she eats breakfast with Uncle Ron every morning. He took you breakfast on his own. That means that he noticed that you weren't there, and that you would be starting class without any food in your system."

"Aunt Hermione wasn't at breakfast?" Olivia repeated.

"Nope."

"Why would he bother to bring me a muffin then?"

"I think he likes you," Maddy stated. "I watched him leave the Great Hall this morning and I remember he was, well... he looked nervous. And this is a wizard that I have never seen be nervous, timid, shy or scared of anything."

"Oh please," Olivia said. "He's insufferable. He thinks I'm hiding something."

"Well, you kinda are," Maddy said as her classmates began to come into the classroom. "He's not all that bad of a guy. A little protective, but I'd have thought you'd be used to it. He's the kinda guy who can keep a secret and keep you safe."

"Thanks for the advice," Olivia said. She didn't know why her cousin was telling her this, or why she was believing her. Grinning she said, "now please take your seat."

Olivia could not remember being as hungry as she was that evening. She was sitting in her office off of her classroom, grading first year worksheets. She didn't know why, but she hadn't felt up to eating diner in the Great Hall. Something about it bothered her. Probably the part where dinner at Hogwarts was served much earlier than she was used to, and she was never hungry until later.

She ahd written to her father for his map of the school, and she soon found out that she could get something to eat later in the evenings from the kitchens.

Someone knocked on her wooded office door that was slightly open, and she called to them that it was open.

"Hi," she said when she say that it was Adam. He was carrying a plate of food and a pitcher of pumpkin juice.

"Hi," he replied. "I thought you might want some diner. It was roast beef tonight, and it was particularly good. You don't want to miss a meal like that."

"Thanks," she said and he set the dish and pitcher on her desk. "Did Professor Weasley send you again?"

Olivia could see that Adam was blushing, even though the light was a bit dim.

"Actually no, she didn't," he replied.

"Ahh," Olivia said. "And when you brought me that muffin, had she sent you that time?"

"No," he confessed. "That was also all me."

"Why do you feel that you need to take care of me?" Olivia asked.

"I... I don't," he stammered. "I just want to make sure you eat right and everything. I know how hard being a new teacher can be, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well thank you," Olivia said and pulled the plate towards her. She was hungry, and she was thankful for a reason to stop trying to decipher first year handwriting. "But just because my father was over protective, doesn't meant that I can't take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can, I just wanted to make sure that-"

"That I was taken care of. I can take care of myself, Adam. I don't need you, or may father to protect me."

"I didn't think that you did," he said.

"You must have," Olivia said. "Or else you wouldn't be trying to do it."

Adam sighed. "Look I didn't come to fight with you. Quite the contrary actually."

"What?"

"I wanted to apologize," Adam said. "for prying. You were right, your life is none if my business and I shouldn't have acted like it did."

"Did my aunt put you up to this?"

Adam laughed. "Nope, all me, again."

"All right then," she said. "I accept your apology."

"Well thank you," Adam said, smiling. "Enjoy your meal."

He turned to leave and Olivia realized that she had referred to her aunt as her aunt to him and he either hadn't noticed, or he already knew.

"You aren't going to join me?" she asked.

He turned and looked at her. "I already ate."

"I could use the company," Olivia said. "I mean, it beats a drafty castle with ghosts floating through every now and then."

"Maybe for a few minutes," he said and sat down. "What are you grading?"

"First year worksheets," Olivia said with a groan. "But its more work for me than it was for them. I can't read half of what they wrote."

"I use bubble sheets," Adam said. "They can just mark what answer is correct. Its much easier and faster to grade."

"I might try that," she replied.

"Is that a Kneazle?" Adam asked, spotting Mimi sleeping in a corner.

"Yeah," Olivia said, picking her up.

"I've never seen a white one before," he said.

"Me neither, until Mimi here. My aunt's half Knealze was her father," Olivia said. "White ones are supposed to be a sign of calmness, and peace."

"Their fur is used in sedatives," Adam said. "Now I'll know where to come if I need to brew something to knock me out."

Olivia smiled and ran her hand over Mimi's back. She stretched and purred and jumped down. Surprisingly she jumped onto Adam's lap. He let her sniff his hand and then she let him pet her.

"I've never seen her do that," Olivia said. "I mean, she doesn't like anyone except for myself and my father."

"Tell me about him," Adam said, looking up at her. "Not like that, just tell me about him."

Olivia sighed. "He's a great man. He's proud, strong, daring, a true Gryffindor."

"He went to Hogwarts?"

"Yes," she replied, not sure of how much to reveal. "He was friends with Professor Weasley."

"What does he do?"

"He's a Muggle correspondence writer for the London Press," she replied.

"He's a Muggle?"

"No, he just writes for them."

"Was your mother a Muggle?"

"No, she was a witch. Neither my mother or father were Muggle born either."

"So how does your father know about Muggles, and what to write?"

"He was raised by a Muggle family who didn't tell him he was a wizard until he got his Hogwarts letter. Then he came here, this is where everything happened. What about your parents?"

"My mum was a Muggle born witch, and my father was a pureblood," Adam said. "He was American, and she was British. They met at some shop in Diagon Alley. My father came to London as an American diplomat to the Minister of Magic and my mum was working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And it went from there."

"Did your mum know Professor Weasley?" Olivia asked.

"I never got the chance to ask her," Adam said. "Both my mum and dad were murdered six months before I took the job at Hogwarts."

"Oh Adam I'm so sorry," Olivia said.

"Professor Weasley said that my mum had been about a sixth year when she started at Hogwarts. She said she knew of her, but didn't know her directly."

"Well she must have been an amazing woman if Professor Weasley knew her," Olivia said.

Adam looked at her with an odd look on his face, he was sort of smiling, but in a sweet way. "She was amazing. Thank you, Olivia. I think thats the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my mum."

"Call me Liv," she said.

"Liv?"

"Yeah, its what my family calls me," she said. "Its weird to hear you call me Olivia."

"Liv it is then."

"What house were you in?" Olivia asked.

"Gryffindor," he replied. "Mum was too. She was Head Girl, and I was Head Boy, and Captain of the Quidditch team for three years."

"I almost feel like I was cheated, you know," Olivia said and glanced at Adam. "Because I wasn't allowed to attend Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts was fun," Adam said. "But it was school, and at the time I just wanted to be outside, and not in class. At the time you wouldn't want to have been there."

"True," Olivia said. "But to me it wasn't just something else I wasn't allowed to do. It was more than that. I was being deprived of my chance to grow up, to be on my own and to learn who I was. Imagine trying to do that with your father three door away from you."

Adam smiled. "I'm sorry he was like that."

"Its not your fault," Olivia said. "Like I said, he had his reasons."

"So you've said," he replied. "Tell about your mum. How is she with your father being so protective?"

"Well, she doesn't have a say in it," Olivia replied. "She died, when I was three."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"There was no way you could have," Olivia said. "I don't remember her, but I have pictures. People say I look like her when I smile, but all I see it my father. They both came here, both played Quidditch, both were Captains, my father for two years, and my mum for one. They were Head Girl and Head Boy, just a year apart. They knew each other for so long before they got together. My mum used to be shy around him and stick her elbow in the butter dish. But I guess she grew out of it. My father said once that she was a true Gryffindor, through and through but you didn't know it if you didn't know her."

"Your parents were in Gryffindor?"

"Yeah."

"Did you ever think about trying on the Sorting Hat?"

"Yeah," Olivia replied and giggled. "Professor Weasley let me try it on a couple days after I arrived."

"What did it say?" Adam asked.

"It said..." she began and stopped. She was talking to Adam like she had never talked to anyone in her life. Her plate of food was still sitting on her desk now cold and barely touched. Mimi had settled onto another chair, and Adam was looking at her like a person, like she was interesting, not like she was a riddle. He wasn't thinking about if she was hiding something and or trying to find out what it was.

"Olivia?"

"It said that I was my father's daughter, and my mother's daughter all in one, that I had great potential and power and that I needed to relax for the true me to come out. It told me I wasn't my father, and I wasn't my mother; that I wasn't my grandma or my grandpa, and that I wouldn't have their life. Then it said that I was a Gryffindor since the day I was born and that I would have made my house proud."

"So it sorted you into Gryffindor?" Adam asked and Olivia nodded. "Well, we would have been in the same house, two years apart. We could have played Quidditch on the same team. We could have been on the same Prefect board."

"I know," she said. "It was just more that I missed. I did a lot of things as a child. I traveled, and got to learn from some of the most interesting people in the world. I had friends, but they were all related to me. You're honestly the first person I've talk to for this long that doesn't have red hair."

Adam laughed and ran his hand through his hair as if to remind himself it was dark blond and not red.

"Well, I can make it red if it makes you feel better," he said.

"No," Olivia said. "Its better blond. Its a nice change. Its nice to talk to someone."

Adam smiled and looked at his hands for a moment.

"Olivia, I have to ask this," he said.

"You want to know why I called Professor Weasley my aunt," she supplied for him.

He sighed. "Yeah, I do."

"Because she is," she replied.

"Well, Professor Weasley is married to Ronald Weasley,"

"Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron," Olivia said. "Uncle Ron has a Quidditch column in the Daily Prophet."

"And how are you related to them?"

"My mum was Ron's sister."

"But she died, a long time ago," Adam said.

"My mum died," she said. "I had a lot of family die in that war. Uncle Charlie, Uncle George. Uncle Bill and aunt Katie. They're Madeline's parents, you know."

"Madeline Weasley?" he asked. "I thought she was Professor Weasley's daughter."

"Adopted daughter," she corrected. "Ron and Hermione adopted her after her parents died."

"Ron's sister was Ginny Potter," Adam said. "Olivia there is no way you can be her daughter. She died the same night Harry Potter did."

"She's my mum, Adam," Olivia said. "I think I'd know who my own mum was."

"But that would mean that your father is..."

"Harry Potter."

"And that would mean that he is..."

"Alive."

A/N: Read and review please!