A/N: Wow, in the last chapter, I think my author note said here is chapter five when it was really six...ha ha. Well, here's chapter seven, so I hope you like it! Please review and let me know!
More Than Yellowed Pages
Chapter Seven
"What is it, Harry? If you don't spit it out I might be forced to strangle you! We're all here, so tell us what's going on!" Luna practically yelled.
"It's a really long story." He sighed.
Ron groaned. "Obviously, Harry, if we didn't want to hear it, we wouldn't be here. It has to be something important, or you wouldn't have said anything. Spit it out, mate!"
"Yes, Harry...please do," said Hermione in her most annoyed voice.
"It was my father's dream journal again," he frowned.
"You plan on telling them about the Graduation Ball? About Jackie?" whispered Lupin. He had again managed to infiltrate the Gryffindor Common Room without their knowledge.
Harry gasped. "How do you...never mind. Yeah, that was what I was going to tell them..." he said. "Why?" He waited patiently for Lupin to answer. "Professor, this is definitely at the top of my 'Important Stuff to Tell Everyone' list. What is it?"
Lupin sighed. "I just thought that you might want to show them where it happened is all. After all, the Order has received permission from Dumbledore to take you all to Godric's Hollow this weekend, anyway..."
"They've found him?" asked Luna hopefully.
Lupin shook his head, and her face fell. "No. We believe he may still be nearby, though. Since he killed your father, we believe he thinks he's safe, even if he is so close to the school..."
"Does he, now?" smirked Luna.
"Luna...what are you thinking?" asked Harry worriedly.
"I'm going to publish it. I'll send it to the Daily Prophet, and make sure it gets into my father's magazine..." she whispered her reply.
"What? Are you mad? He'll come after you, Luna! He'll kill you! You heard Dumbledore!" Harry yelled.
"And so did you! If he's going to kill us before we're twenty-one anyway, I want to make sure we scare the bloody hell out of him first! He killed my dad over that article, and I don't even know how he knew about it, Harry! It never even made the paper! There must be some truth to it!" She hissed.
Lupin cleared his throat in an unnecessarily loud manner. "Luna, if that is what you wish to do, I'm sure that the Order will make sure that everything will be all right. That's part of the reason you're going to the Hollow tomorrow, anyway..."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, an eyebrow raising.
"I thought the career orientation wasn't until May," whispered Ron.
"Not that! The house, Harry. Don't you remember what Dumbledore told you before he started talking about the Department of Mysteries? You've inherited a great deal of land in Godric's Hollow, Harry. There are a couple of things the Order want to make sure of before the career orientation and the Ball. We have to make sure it's safe over there, you know..."
"So, why is it important that I be there?" asked Harry, thoroughly confused.
Lupin shrugged. "It's not, really. Dumbledore and the Order have a bit of a surprise for you, is all."
"This is Godric's Hollow? It's so small..." Luna smiled. "I like it."
"See, Harry. There you go. Luna likes it. Everything is right with the world..." Ron joked, nudging his friend in the ribs.
"Shut up." Harry warned. He hadn't meant to sound like a jerk, but he was a bit uneasy...about everything. Godric's Hollow seemed like a nice place...it was a lot better than Surrey...but something about it didn't sit right with him. His parents had died here. Voldemort had practically blown up his house...yet it was there. He couldn't remember much about what it was like when he actually lived in it...he had been so small. Still, the idea of going back to it really scared him.
"Is that it?" he whispered, pointing to a moderately sized house with a picket fence and three large oak trees in the front yard.
"Yeah," Lupin nodded. "Everyone is inside, scanning the house. Moody is afraid it is cursed or something. Don't worry about Moody, though. You know how he can be, of course..."
Harry gulped. "Uh huh..."
"We're going in here first. Dumbledore has found several things he wants to show you, Harry...." Lupin paused. "They were actually found at Grimuald Place...Sirius had so many things hidden away in boxes in that attic. Most of it goes to you, I believe..."
"Could we chill just a little bit with all the surprises and everything? I'm just a bit overloaded at the moment..." Harry growled.
"Sorry, Harry. We do have to get this all out of the way, though." Lupin sighed.
Luna jumped. "An owlery!" she smiled. "I'll be right back. Don't go in without me, okay?" she whispered.
"Are you planning on sending that article?" Harry asked, and was horrified when Luna nodded. "All right. We'll wait..."
Ron nearly laughed. "Try not to worry so much. You heard Professor Lupin. She'll be fine." He smiled, patting Harry on the back.
Luna ran out of the owlery almost as quickly as she had entered it. She smiled. "Now that that's done," she sighed. "We can go now. Are you ready, Harry?" she asked. "Come on! Aren't you even a little bit excited?"
"Yeah," Harry admitted. Truthfully, the more he thought about it, he was pretty excited...he just wasn't sure which 'kind' of excited it was.
They entered the house. Harry let out a breath he had been holding since they had been standing on the lawn. The front entry way was medium sized. There was a staircase to one side of it, and a doorway leading to the living room on the other side. Harry smiled, took a deep breath, and stepped into the living room, clinging tightly to Luna's hand.
Waiting there were several members of the Order. There was Dumbledore, of course, Arthur and Molly Weasley, Fred and George, Hagrid, Tonks, and Kingsley Shakebolt. They smiled at him as he entered the room. It had already been furnished, and lining the walls...Harry nearly screamed.
"Are those...pictures...of my parents?" he gasped. "And that's Sirius! And Lupin, even!" he pointed at the various photographs, which had all stopped to wave at him when he came in. "When I was a baby..." he stroked one photo very carefully. It had himself, his parents, Dumbledore, Lupin, and Sirius in it, and must have been taken shortly after he, Harry, had been born. "I can't believe all this!" From the photo, his mother blew him a kiss. He turned towards the group.
Hagrid, as big as he was, was welling up with tears. "Thought we'd set it up for yeh, Harry. After all, no need'n comin home to an empty house, right? Luna and yeh can rearrange things if yeh like, o' course..." he smiled at them, and Harry could not help but wrap him (or most of him, anyway) in a tight hug.
Luna smiled. "It is beautiful in here, Harry." She whispered.
Dumbledore smiled at them. "I was hoping you two would like it. We thought rebuilding it would be a good idea. I'm not going to suggest the same charm I placed on your parents, Harry...I know how you feel about that idea...so I was thinking the house could do the work for me."
"Huh?" Ron and Hermione blinked in unison.
"This house is very special. The way in which your parents died makes it that way. They died protecting you, Harry. Remember Professor Quirrel in your first year at Hogwarts? The reason he could not bear to touch you, Harry, was because of your mother's love. She died protecting you, and that sort of sacrifice is very special. That same sort of energy permeates this house..."
Harry nodded. "I think I understand what you mean..." he smiled. "It's a safe house..."
"Protected under every charm known to wizarding kind," Tonks nodded over-enthusiastically. "Won't even let people in unless you tell it to..."
"Sounds safe enough...but what about..." began Hermione.
"What if someone were using a polyjuice potion?" finished Ron for her. "I mean, we were able to fool Malfoy with it when we were twelve. Of course, Malfoy is a giant git...but who's to say someone else couldn't fool Harry or Luna with something like that?"
"Because, my dear boy...the house will simply not allow it." Smiled Dumbledore.
Harry nodded. "You're convincing me," he whispered. "Come on, Luna, let's look upstairs..."
"Hold on, Harry. We need to show everyone the hotel. You have a lot to tell them, remember?" Lupin frowned.
Harry slapped himself in the forehead. I'd almost forgotten about that! He sighed. Why on earth does everyone have to remind me of all the unpleasant things that have happened recently? "I remember," he sighed. "You're going to have to show me where to go, of course..."
"You mean the hotel?" Lupin nearly laughed. "It's just across the street." He pointed.
"What was so important about this place?" asked Ron. "I get that the dance is here, and it's big, and nice looking...but what's going on? What did you want to tell us?" he asked Harry.
Molly and Arthur Weasley shivered as they entered the hotel, and whispered something to Lupin. Dumbledore pat Lupin on the back. Arthur was the first one to speak. "Remus, Harry...which one of you wishes to tell the tale? It will most certainly be unpleasant either way, of course...but that is unavoidable..."
"This is where Jackie died, isn't it? The night Voldemort attacked the hotel...at the Graduation Ball. And he wasn't even there for Harry's parents. Voldemort was seeking the seer. Jackie was the seer...the one he was after...the teller of the prophecy. He killed her, but that was before the first time he attacked Harry's parents...."
Molly Weasley screamed. Dumbledore removed his half moon spectacles, polished them, and replaced them on his head so that he could properly stare at Hermione. Fred and George's mouths hung open, and they did not blink. Ron said something under his breath that sounded like, "bloody hell,". Harry and Lupin could only blink several times. Finally, Hagrid cleared his throat loudly.
"Err...'Mione..." Hagrid gasped.
"Dear girl...what you just said..." Dumbledore stammered. "Hermione? Can you hear me?"
Hermione blinked. "Huh?"
"Hermione...what you just said...how did you know all of that?" Ron demanded.
"Know all of what?" growled Hermione angrily. "Stop staring at me like that, Ronald Weasley!" she yelled at him.
"But Hermione...just now you...." Harry blinked.
Lupin took a step back, nearly running himself into the back wall of the big room. Moody helped him steady himself. He shook his head. "Dumbledore, you don't think...it couldn't happen, could it? I mean...it can't...because Jackie couldn't possibly be related to Hermione right...and it's supposed to be inherited...but Hermione is Muggle born..."
"Remus, dear, you're rambling...calm yourself..." Tonks whispered.
Dumbledore frowned. "Actually Remus, Jackie Kensington was not a pure blooded witch. Her mother's mother was a good friend of mine...a Muggle born witch. Jackie's mother married into the Kensington family...there is a small possibility that what you're thinking could be true..." Dumbledore sighed deeply. "After all, Jackie did not live long enough to have a child. Maybe Hermione somehow inherited her abilities..."
"Will everyone quit talking about me as if I'm not standing right here?" screamed Hermione. "What's going on?"
"Sorry, Hermione," frowned Molly. She shivered, and turned to Dumbledore. "But...Albus...would that mean that...?"
Dumbledore nodded. "I'm afraid it might. History is again repeating itself..." he frowned.
"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Hermione. "Will someone tell me what's happening, please?"
Ron had gone paler than he already was. "But...mum...Jackie died, didn't she? Hermione said it...Dumbledore said it. What do you mean by 'history is again repeating itself'? You don't think it..." he stopped dead.
Harry again found it hard to sleep that night. Glancing at his bedside table, he grabbed the dream journal, and hid it underneath his pillow. Nearly an hour later, he finally drifted off to sleep.
"Lily, you look great!" Sirius smiled. "Granted, James tells me that you aren't exactly the nicest person in the morning...I'm sure we can forgive you for that..."
"You wouldn't be happy either, if you couldn't see your own feet to tie your shoe. I'm not even entirely sure mine are still there..." Lily sighed deeply.
"Have you thought about what you're going to name it?" Sirius asked.
Lily thought a moment. "Well, if it's a girl, I want to name it after Jackie." She whispered, and Sirius nodded with more understanding than Lily could know. "James likes the name Harry for a boy, though. He wants a boy. I like the name, don't you? My sister would think it so plain, but I think it's a lovely name..." she smiled.
Sirius nodded. "So, where is Prongs at, anyway?" he asked.
"Upstairs, putting the cradle together..." Lily laughed. "You should take a picture. It's quite funny, actually..."
Sirius's eyebrow rose. "Why's he putting it together? Why not just wave his wand? It is quicker after all."
"He wants to learn." Lily shrugged. "Don't ask me."
"Yes, well us pure- blooded folks tend to be a little Muggle-retarded, if you know what I mean..." he laughed.
Lily groaned, and Sirius turned white. "Are you all right?" he asked her.
Lily took a deep breath. "Go...get...James..." she frowned, but James was already bounding down the stairs as if he knew what was going to happen.
"Lils, are you all right?" he demanded.
"DO I LOOK ALL RIGHT?" she groaned. "Honestly, James!"
"Oh, hospital, right..." James nodded furiously.
"No! No normal hospital! It would be too easy for..." Lily gritted her teeth, "for him to get in! We have to go somewhere else!"
"Hogwarts!" screamed Sirius. "I'll send an owl to Dumbledore!"
Harry watched as his mother, father, and Sirius to someplace Harry guessed must have been outside the castle walls (People couldn't apparate on castle grounds, of course!). Dumbledore was waiting there with Madam Pomfrey. A snap of his fingers, and Harry's mom was lying on some sort of floating bed, which followed the rest of the group into the castle, carrying her.
Harry watched them enter the hospital wing. His mother was placed on a bed, and there, inside the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry was born. His father took him lovingly from Dumbledore.
"Welcome to the world, Harry," he whispered.
Harry woke up with several small tears running down his face. His father, for the first time, had shown him something that was neither meant to scare or frighten him. This had been a good something. He took the dream journal out from underneath his pillow, and sighed. Maybe there was nothing bad because there was nothing else bad to be warned about?...Harry frowned deeply. He knew this was not true. He knew there was going to be more. It was all just a matter of when.
A/N: I had to end this one on a lighter note, peoples. It took me forever to do. Well, tell me how you like it!