H P Boy who livesYear 7- Summer
Chapter 25
The bathroom
--
"Look we need to get started on the wedding plans, so you and Harry are going to have to attend the meeting after dinner." Hermione's mother was filling her in on her schedule.
"Oh yeah, the committee where we won't have any say about our own wedding. Sure Aunt Katherine we would be happy to attend instead of going outside and enjoying the evening air." Harry's voice was oozing with sarcasm. "Let's say that we just humor them by actually showing up on the day they selected."
"Harry James this is the first official royal wedding since Anna and I were wed. Your parent's opted out of us giving them a royal affair. It is your duty to give the people what they want and that's a big show. I know that it's a headache and a pain in the ass, but it's what the people need right now, so that's what you and Hermione are going to give them. The fairy tale happily ever after wedding," Stephen got up out of one of the chairs.
"Look you old fraud! I'm gonna be a good prince and go along with this whole wedding circus! I might as well be a good boy and future King and do as I'm told! After all, I'm the reason that my family got slaughtered! Oh yeah, I heard every last word between you and Dad! One word of warning to you grandfather, I will not tolerate any drill sergeant tactics in my life! It's my life not yours and the guilt that you hold for what decisions that you made! I was only one-year-old, so as far as I'm concerned none of it was my fault, so why should I shoulder any of the responsibility! I didn't need you! I didn't need my parents! I didn't need anyone, but my friends to help me survive my hell!! I sure as hell don't need someone who did nothing, but watch from the sidelines! If you wish to be in my life then it's by my rules not yours! You have to earn my respect not the other way around!" Harry paced the front of the Fat lady's portrait.
"Are you finished or do you want to rant some more?" Stephen asked in a soft deadly tone of voice.
"Look your majesty! I get that everything had to happen to assure this new era of peace! What you don't get is that I don't have to like one second of the reason that this peace came to be! I'm not my father! I get the dire situations where you or someone you love has their lives on the line! I got that at eleven! I'm not spoiled, because I never had anyone who cared enough to spoil me until recently after my hell had ended!" Harry let loose on his grandfather.
"I didn't wish to wake up!! Did you know that! I was so tired of fighting that I was just going to let myself die! Hermione brought me back just before I was two seconds from crossing over! You owe it to Hermione that I'm standing here today! Give her the goddamn award!! I don't want it! It's just because I didn't die that I'm getting it anyway!" Harry exited through the portrait.
"I think he's finished ranting." Draco went to follow Harry. "Oh and your majesty he's right about every point he made." He went through the portrait.
"You really aren't doing very well bonding wise are you?" Ginny shook her head at Stephen.
"Look on the bright side he didn't raise his wand at you, so at least he has some sort of respect for whom you are." Hermione got to her feet. "I pulled him from death once, don't ever make it so I have to do it again, or I will make it so you never get to see any of your great-grandchildren ever." She headed out of the portrait.
"Don't worry about them Stephen they're all just acting out." Katherine assured him.
"Actually, all of us take situations like this very seriously. No one was acting out. Everyone was speaking their minds. Harry respects you, but you have to earn the rest." Ginny left them to ponder her words.
--
"You are the biggest screw up at relationships that I have ever seen! I mean it since I have to resort to being in this state just to give you what for!" Merlin appeared in front of Stephen.
"He can't help it, Grandfather. He had to raise James and he's scared to death that Harry is going to turn out like that. Not that James wasn't a great man, but he was a little on the wild side." Godric appeared next to Merlin he was the mirror image of Harry and Stephen only he had fiery red gold hair and hazel eyes.
"James was a pirate-wanna-be and had to settle for being a prince." Stephen paced in front of them as if this was no big deal. "Harry is more like the two of you."
"He has proven himself to all that he is ready to be a man. Yet you persist on standing in his way. He has every right to be furious at you." Godric frowned.
"Look, it's not the middle ages and seventeen in this time line still makes him a young man and not an adult." Katherine spoke.
"Lady Katherine you make a very fine point, but you see Harry has a very old soul and that makes him older than he seems. It is the same with your daughter Lady Hermione." Merlin smiled at Katherine.
"Sorry about this Katherine. This is Merlin and that is Godric and evidently they have broken their vow to stay in the rings to chew my tail off." Stephen introduced them to Katherine.
"I know who they are, but the main reason they're here is that they see such huge potential in Harry and don't wish to see him throw it away and he will if you put pressure on him." Katherine frowned.
"So the beautiful lady is as intelligent as her daughter." Merlin smiled.
"Hey Grandfather, where are those new...Sorry for interrupting I'll search myself." Harry stared at the two ghosts. "Aren't you supposed to be in the rings?"
"No need to worry lad, just out stretching our legs as it were." Merlin grinned.
"We can appear to counsel if we think it's needed." Godric explained.
"My rant caused you to appear and flame my Gramps?" Harry grinned. "Well, don't mind me I have a bathroom to find." He went back out the door.
"Gramps? That sounded like a tone of endearment to me." Merlin arched a silver brow at Stephen, who was taking that new name in.
"Maybe you aren't hopeless at relationships after all." Godric smiled and vanished.
"Gramps is good?" Stephen frowned.
"Stephen anything is a step above your majesty or grandfather. Just don't press your luck." Katherine got up and left the room.
"Do something that I didn't learn until late in life. Listen to any advice that you get from a female. Now if you will excuse me I have to return to the ring before he gets lost in a secret passage or something. Honestly, the boy can't find his own lavatory!" Merlin vanished.
--
Harry ran back to the others to tell them that no he hadn't found out where their bathroom was, but that Merlin and Godric were flaming his Gramps.
"Might I be of assistance?" Merlin appeared in front of them. "That portrait with the wolves is the entrance to the boy's lavatory and the one with the cats is the girl's lavatory."
"Holly hell, he really did see Merlin!" The three of them exclaimed at the same time.
"Yes, he did see me and now I'm returning to the sanctuary of his ring." Merlin vanished.
"Told ya he was flaming Gramps." Harry grinned.
"That he was Grandson. Now you four have twenty minutes to get ready for your portrait sitting." Stephen looked at his watch and then at the four of them.
"Twenty minutes!" The girls screeched in panic.
"No problem we can be ready in ten." Draco grinned.
"You boys have no clue what it takes to make one beautiful!" Hermione figured out the entrance to their bathroom and the two disappeared inside it.
"No and we have no wish to learn what happens in the three hours that girls take to get ready." Harry groaned.
"I'll see you two down in the Great hall." Stephen left them to figure out the door.
Harry touched the portrait and it allowed them entry. "Holly Quidditch, would you look at this place!"
There were two complete bathrooms one for each of them. This allowed the two of them something that dorm life rarely had until recently that being privacy. There was a wall of frosted etched glass, depicting their House symbol that separated the two areas. When one entered either side, the first thing that came to mind was the size of it. Mosaic tile murals depicting Quidditch scenes adorned the walls. The symbol of Gryffindor adorned the marble floors. The dressing area contained all of his missing clothing. This bathroom had a huge sunken tub, a steam shower, and all the necessities with all the fixtures gilded in gold. Everything that was needed was set on the gleaming marble counter, beside the tub, or in the shower.
"Seventh year is so gonna rock! We have our own tower and now our own bathrooms!"
"Remind me to thank Hermione for barging into the Prefect Bathroom." Harry walked into his bathroom.
"Who'd have thought that one incident could result in this." Draco checked out his own side.
"I can think of one other reason for this new change. They think that it's safer for you to have a separate bathroom from the other students." Harry chose the shower instead of the tub.
"It is gonna take awhile before they realize that I'm not who I once was." Draco agreed he also chose his shower over the bath.
"I don't know...I like the whole you killed your evil twin scenario." Harry wasn't at all surprised the two of them were able to talk back and forth without shouting, after all this was Hogwarts anything and everything was possible.
"Gin came up with that one and in a way it's not entirely false." Draco focused on shaving his face so he had the beginnings of a goatee on his chin. It made him look eighteen and very distinguished or so he thought.
Harry had a similar idea and if Wills thought it looked good then why shouldn't he try that look as well. "So what should I expect at the ceremony today?"
Draco was looking at what he was supposed to wear at the ceremony. "Why? Are you nervous?"
"It's just that I don't know what to expect at things like this and you do." Harry frowned at his attire for the day. Royal blue and gold dress robes and a matching wizard hat with the family crest sewn into both of them.
"There's always a long boring speech about you and Hermione. Then the two of you will shake hands with each council member and finally either Professor Dumbledore or your Grandfather will place the Order of Merlin around your necks and hand you a pin version as well. Then you make a short speech and the guests will burst into applause. Then Ginny, Longbottom, and I...Sorry I meant Neville...will go through the same thing." Draco was now wearing Navy and Silver dress robes.
Harry frowned at his reflection in the mirror. "Should I wear my specs or go with my contacts instead?"
"Harry everyone knows you with specs, but the choice is yours."
"The specs it is then." He chose one of his new pair of specs. "Oh man, I look like the image of my dad." Harry gawked at his reflection.
Draco poked his head into Harry's side of their bathroom. "Especially with the new look."
Harry looked over at Draco and grinned. "The girls might like our new look."
"If not then we'll just have to blame it on Bill, Charlie, and Wills." Draco checked his watch. "Oh well, we're only twenty minutes late."
The two of them exited their new domain and stepped back into the seventh floor corridor.
Neville, who was dressed exactly like Draco, got up from the chair he was sitting in. "Harry! Draco! I've been looking all over the seventh floor for the two of you. They sent me up to get you, but I couldn't find you anywhere."
"Sorry about that Neville. We were getting ready for the day and lost track of time." Harry shrugged.
"I checked all the bathrooms. You weren't in any of them nor were you in the dorms." Neville frowned.
"That's because we're in the tower and there's a new bathroom." Harry tried to explain without hurting his feelings.
"I thought something like that would happen not everyone is going to like Draco being in Gryffindor. So they put you in the tower and you even have a separate bathroom. I'm not mad or upset it makes perfect sense to me." Neville grinned. "I would have been to the wedding yesterday, but the greatest thing happened! Mum and Dad are completely well now and got released yesterday morning. So we spent the day at Diagon Alley."
"That's great news Neville at least one of us can have our parents back in the land of the living and I'm happy that it's you." Harry felt happy that something good could come out of the fact that he had some strange blood type that happened to help people suffering from dark magic illnesses.
"This new wonder drug is providing all sorts of miracles for many people. I'm pleased to hear that a wrong was made right again. I only wish that Harry could have his parents back." Draco hated the fact that his biological father had something to do with the death of Harry's parents.
"I know all about it from the Healers that I talked too. It can cure any illness caused by dark magic, werewolfism, and now vampirism. This is all because they got to analyze some of Harry's blood when he was in a coma for nearly four weeks." Neville no longer seemed shy or awkward. He was very much his own confident person now.
"Neville!" Hermione and Ginny emerged from their bathroom's portrait and raced over to give him a big hug.
"Hi girls," Neville had no problem being hugged by two beautiful young women.
"You look smashingly handsome...Did Lavender come with you?" Ginny kissed him on the cheek.
"I heard all about your parents you must be on cloud nine." Hermione kissed him on his other cheek.
"Never... Not once in this lifetime... Did I ever think that I would be jealous of Neville Longbottom." Draco snarled under his breath.
"He's harmless and they see him like a brother, but yeah I know what you mean." Harry gritted his teeth.
"Honestly, the two of you have your own men. So get your hands-off mine." Lavender came out of the Fat Lady's corridor just in time to see Neville in the arms of her two friends.
"Lavender!" Ginny and Hermione left Neville to greet their friend.
"It's good to see the two of you too." Lavender smiled coolly.
"Come now Lavender. You know very well that I love my Harry and that Ginny loves her Draco." Hermione hugged her.
"Not to mention that Neville is like a brother to the two of us." Ginny hugged her to.
"Don't worry Lav, I'm all yours." Neville winked at her. "You just saved me from being decked by those two."
Lavender took in the sight of Harry and Draco and smiled. "You two dream hunks couldn't possibly be jealous of my Nev."
"Nonsense he and..." Hermione looked over at Harry and Draco neither one of them were smiling. "Oh, my stars you really are jealous."
"The two of you did completely ignore them." Neville smirked.
Ginny glanced over at Draco and bit down on her lip. "He's right we did."
"I for one think the two of you look dashingly handsome with your new looks." Lav winked at them.
"Thanks Lavender you look great too." The boys grinned.
Hermione walked over to her man. "You look very handsome, even if you are falling in line with the latest trend." She touched her finger to the strip of red gold beard on his chin. "So is this your new distinguished prince look?"
"Just think of it as my Head Boy and HBP look." He pulled her closer to him. "You look beautiful by the way." He kissed her.
Ginny walked up to Draco, stood on her tiptoes, so she could wrap her arms around his neck, and purred. "You remind me of a dashing knight from another era." Then he kissed her.
"I think they have the right idea." Neville pulled Lav into his arms and kissed her.
--
Ten minutes or so later
"It's been so long yet nothing has really changed in this old castle." Frank Longbottom stepped into the seventh floor corridor from the Grand Staircase.
"Neville seemed happy to go find his friends." Alice smiled.
"My grandson is a close friend of your son's, so odds are that they're all catching up in the Common Room." Stephen took in what was happening in front of them in the corridor and sighed in defeat. "Or they're all snogging here in the corridor."
"It's nice to see young ones in love." Alice sighed happily.
"These young ones happen to be late for their portrait sitting with some of the senior DA members down in the Great Hall." Stephen kept his temper on slow boil.
Harry, having heard the words senior DA and Great Hall, broke off his kiss with Hermione to look at his grandfather. "Gramps did you just say some of the senior DA members?"
"I knew that I was forgetting to tell you something!" Neville looked disappointed in himself.
"Nev you've had a long weekend now just relax and tell them now." Lav kissed him on the cheek.
"The DA members, who fought alongside you, are all getting the Order of Merlin second class honor. We are gonna have a portrait made of all of us too...then there's gonna be a great feast tonight...that's after, um… Oh yeah, you get to practice with Puddlemere United." Neville managed to remember everything except maybe it was suppose to have been a surprise. "Sorry Professor Pendragon I forgot that it was a surprise."
"It's really okay Neville. You see 'Boy Wonder' would have done something stupid like insulting every council member at the ceremony if you hadn't spoiled the surprise." Draco reassured him that he had done nothing wrong.
"He's right. Harry hates surprises." Ginny nodded.
"He's been brooding all morning about not being able to play Quidditch." Hermione kissed his cheek.
"'Boy Wonder', who do ya think I am Batman's sidekick?" Harry rolled his eyes.
"Who?" Draco, Neville, Ginny, Stephen, Alice, and Frank frowned.
"It's not important, he's a comic book hero, and his sidekick is called many things one of his nicknames is 'Boy Wonder'." Harry sighed in defeat.
"I imagine he means it as a compliment. You are a boy, who has been able to do wondrous things, hence the nickname 'Boy Wonder'." Hermione gave him a hug.
"Yeah, no harm no foul." Draco grinned.
"Oh yeah ,um, mum...dad...these are my friends Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Draco Black, and well you know my beautiful flower Lavender Brown." Nev introduced all of them to his parents.
Alice said something that neither Harry nor Hermione expected. "I bounced Harry and Hermione on my knee when they were both wee babes. In fact the three of you had many play dates together." Alice smiled.
"Yes, if I remember correctly the three of you were quite the threesome." Frank chuckled.
It was as if another piece of the puzzle clicked in place in Harry's mind. He saw flashes of the three babies playing in a park, or in other places. "You're the third baby in my memories. You're Uncle Frank and Aunt Alice. You were close friends with my parents."
"You see to us it seems like yesterday the three of you were little tots and now in truth you're all grown up." Alice was getting all teary eyed. "We know what all of you have been through these past six years and all the abuse Harry went through as a boy. I can't believe that James, Lily, Jenna, and Sirius are all gone."
"Mum, Dad, and Uncle Sirius are with me in spirit." Harry tried to begin to explain the situation about his parents being allowed to be with him in spirit form.
"You're such a brave lad." Alice dabbed at her eyes with her hanky.
"What he meant was that we're now with him as much as we can be." James and Lilly appeared behind their son.
"Uncle Remus asked the powers that be for help keeping us in line and they answered his plea by letting Mum, Dad, and Uncle Sirius out of their portraits to be here for me and Draco." Harry explained.
"I think of it as Harry's reward for vanquishing Voldemort." Hermione kissed his cheek.
"Hello Alice, you don't know how happy it is to know that you're both well and out of that hospital." Lily blinked back tears of joy at seeing her best friend.
"Hey Frank, you look great mate and its good to see the two of you completely recovered." James was also fighting off tears of joy.
"Enough waterworks both of you...No tears allowed from now on we will look ahead to our kid's futures and just leave the past in the past where it belongs." Sirius appeared between Frank and Alice.
"Sirius old chum you haven't changed a bit have you." Frank turned to look at his old friend's ghostly image. "Except that you were allowed to regain your youth when you died, you look fantastic."
"I happen to adore this gorgeous pirate of mine." A fourth spirit appeared next to Sirius. She was younger around eighteen and strikingly beautiful. She had a wavy mane of raven black hair, blue-violet eyes, and the smile seemed vaguely familiar to at least Harry. She was tall and willowy like Hermione and clearly adored Sirius. "Hi Daddy," She winked at her father.
"Jenna..." Was all Stephen was able to say it was a shock seeing his little girl and his heart ached.
James on the other hand lit up like a Christmas tree. "Is Mum with you or were you just on a Sirius hunt?"
"Mum's dying to see her grandson, so she should be appearing any time now." Jenn grinned at her big brother. "It's wicked watching the two of you spar with Harry. Especially, since none of you have managed to win a match yet."
"I know. The flipping him the bird count is up to five now." Sirius chuckled.
"If you wanna see fun you really need to watch Hermione with Harry." Ginny giggled.
Harry didn't think that this conversation was going to help him any so he spoke up in his own defense. "Look, I'm just not used to anything like parental influence or unconditional love. This family thing is extremely new territory for me." He paused to think about what to say next.
"The Dursley's didn't exactly show me any kind of love. I know Uncle Vernon's iron fist prison warden kind of child rearing didn't help my view on parental authority any. I learned at the age of a toddler to do what I had to do to survive. That's one reason I'm so wary of adults showing any kind of love or affection towards me." Something in his eyes changed to something much older than his seventeen years.
"Being alone for as long as I can remember, I was happy to find out that at Hogwarts I was actually able to have friends that were loyal and that I could trust. I envied all of them so much." Harry had a sad smile on his face.
"They had parents and siblings who loved them unconditionally and a home to come back to, not a prison cell like mine. They were able to make themselves snacks, have desserts, or eat whenever they were hungry. Their family didn't treat them like a certain family used to treat their House Elves. If the family was going out then the whole family got to go to the mall, movies, beach, amusement park, or whatever family trip was planned. Their clothes fit, even if they were hand-me-downs, because they weren't from a cousin who was so big that he resembled the size of a baby killer whale. Their Aunts or Uncle didn't verbally abuse them on an hourly basis, beat them, or sic their nasty little bulldog on their nephews. They got proper care if they got sick or needed new specs. They got surprises, letters from home and birthday parties with presents. Oh I envied them all right." Harry smiled now as he thought of his Aunt Molly the first mother that he had really ever known.
"I remember how angry Aunt Molly was when I first met her, at her sons. They had just rescued me from my room at the Dursley's on my twelfth birthday. Literally took the flying car, tore the bars off my bedroom window, and then took me home with them. She has a temper, but she really is an awesome mother to all of them. They didn't have much, but they were a loving happy family." Harry blinked back tears and his voice trembled as the loss of his best mate hit him hard.
"She really did have her hands full...no matter how much trouble Ron..." His voice broke as tears fell down his cheeks but he continued. "Or I got into... She was always there for both of us. Ron got a howler third year for taking the flying car without permission...She never once mentioned me in her tirade, but I knew that it was meant for the two of us. She knitted me a sweater during my first year; it was the first Christmas present that anyone had ever made me. It showed me that some adult cared for me enough to think of me at Christmas and I hadn't even really met her yet."
Harry didn't realize that his audience had grown to include more family, the DA members, and many more. He was too far into his memories to really notice or care. Hermione kept her arms around him as he continued on.
"She knitted me a jumper every Christmas for six years and made these yummy chocolate Easter eggs at Easter. When she thought that I wasn't getting enough food she would send food by Hedwig to the Dursley's. The Weasley's basically adopted me into their family and I became like their surrogate son. She was there to cheer me on during the Triwizard Tournament. When I was going through situations she was there to hold and comfort me and stick up for me. I was one of her brood and no one messes with her chicks." Harry chuckled, "Uncle Sirius found himself facing off with her summer of fifth year at number twelve. She thought that a fifteen-year-old didn't need to know what was going on. The thing was that I wasn't a boy anymore. I was all grown up and really had been since maybe nine or ten. You see by that time I had faced Voldemort and lived four times. I had just watched Cedric die, Voldemort had risen again, and everyone thought that I was insane because of Fudge. I was so angry and let that anger rule over my actions during fifth year and it cost me my godfather's life..."
Sirius wasn't about to let him continue to think that way and called him on it. "That's not true! I was fucked up, had a huge chip on my shoulder, and a massive hero complex. It was my choice to go with them and my choice alone."
"Nevertheless my emotions overruled my judgment and nearly got my friends and me killed that night. When it was over and I was ported to Uncle Albus's chambers at Hogwarts, I was so angry that I trashed his office. I didn't wanna hear what he had to say and he was going over things that I didn't wanna think about from the day I got the scar till my fifth year. He was saying that his love for me hindered his judgment, that he had handled everything so wrong. I was confused until he got to part about the prophecy, where he let me see and hear it being told. 'Either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives.' Hearing that you have to murder someone to live cools your temper off instantly. I now knew that I was either gonna die or end up killing someone. After that I shut down emotionally which I know drove Hermione crazy." He felt her give him a hug.
"It was then that I decided to get my act together, focus on sixth year, and learn anything that might prevent my death. It was easier that summer before sixth year the Dursley's had no control over me or my magic, because if they upset me they were going to have Moody on their front doorstep. I got pretty much treated better than I can remember by them. I spent hours when I got back to number twelve after my brief final time at the Dursley's pouring over books, asking questions, learning everything that I could to prepare myself for my upcoming final battle. I kept Hedwig busy that summer getting books from Uncle Albus. When I got the letter that year and it had, the Prefect badge in it I figured that being a Prefect would be good for me. When term started, I got right-to-work with Uncle Albus and learned Occlumency and it was then that I discovered that I could also use Legilimency as well even without performing the spell. I focused on all of my classes. I grilled Tonks, Uncle Remus, Moody, and Kingsley on all that they knew of the three forbidden curses. I would sneak off to the Shrieking Shack to meet them for special training." He looked down at Hermione and chuckled.
"It was really difficult because Hermione was my constant shadow. Ron didn't know about it either. I didn't want either of them in the final battle. I was also a Prefect, so I had that duty with Hermione and Ron as well. I gave the ring to her to research to give her something else to think about instead of trying to figure out what I was up to. I focused on maintaining the facade of what they all expected of me. I was Captain of the Quidditch team and led them to a cup victory. I taught DA study classes and used that to perfect my own skills. I spent hours at night in the library during first term pouring over the books there. Second term I spent nights in Uncle Albus' private study doing the same. He would lecture me and prepare me for the battle ahead. We really did get to bonded sixth year during our time in his office. I trained with Tonks, Uncle Remus, Moody, and Kingsley from ten to four in the morning every other night all sixth year. Then the day arrived and it all went so terribly wrong..." He had tears streaming down his face, he was shaking with emotion, and his voice shook when he spoke.
"Harry, enough don't do this." Hermione knew what talking about this did to him, but it was no use.
"Nothing made any sense that night. Ron was clearly hooking up with Luna and Hermione seemed happy about it. I'm sorry but at that point I was clueless to anything except what lay ahead." He shrugged his shoulders.
"Hermione stuck by me like glue and then all hell broke loose. My plan was blown sky-high...Luna was killed; the Deatheaters and Voldemort stormed the castle. The elite of the DA members refused to go up to the Common rooms and stayed to fight. The Order had arrived as well. Hermione to her credit kept by my side until I dashed off to help Neville. The rest is not going to be repeated. I am tired of replaying that nightmare for everyone. Ron died, Hermione was seriously injured, and I after defeating my enemy fell into a deep dreamless sleep. I woke up to hearing Hermione screaming at me weeks later." Harry finally noticed that he had a large audience.
"Now I get to have an award given to me all because I didn't get dead. I did what I had to do to survive end of story. Now it's my turn to have fun, enjoy life, and share it with family, friends, and my soul mate Hermione Anne Granger. That's if all of you would just let me. I mean I have more rules now than I've ever had my entire life."
"The Order of Merlin first-class is being bestowed on you and Hermione, because of all that you have accomplished since your first year, not just because you vanquished Tom, or as you put it didn't get dead." Albus corrected him.
"It is an honor bestowed on the bravest of witches and wizards to those who fought valiantly or have achieved outstanding feats." Minerva explained a little more to him.
"Thus you, Hermione, and Ron will receive that honor later this afternoon." Stephen smiled.
"Can't any of you understand what it's like to be a teenager in love? It's been one official event after another! My grandson won't have any fun at this rate!" The older spitting image of Jenna appeared in front of her grandson, only she had hazel eyes like her son, and was very much dressed like a queen.
"Anna you must understand that he isn't a boy anymore, he can more than handle his schedule, and manage to have fun as well." Stephen growled hoarsely.
Anastasia narrowed her eyes at her husband. "Stephen James Galen Godric Potter-Pendragon! You'll not try to mold him like you tried to do with James. He's your only grandson and you will treat him as such. He needs love, guidance, and spoiling. He doesn't need training and discipline! Tom Riddle is dead! His followers are either dead, in prison, or on the run for their lives. Let Harry have one school year that he can enjoy in peace."
"Anna you have my word that he will be loved, guided, and spoiled. He has nevertheless chosen to be an Auror, so that is going to require training and discipline. He will however get to enjoy his last year in relative peace and quite." Stephen vowed.
Harry was having flashes of his Aunt Jenna and Grandmother holding him and playing with him when he was a baby. "Thanks Grams it's nice to have someone on my side for a change." He was happy to see her again.
Anna turned to look at her grandson. "I know that you want so badly to be your own person and I can see that you are. You still have so much of Stephen and James in you. You have their handsome looks, your mother's eyes, and ability to love, and my fighting spirit." She smiled.
"I can also see Sirius' and Remus' influence in him. He must drive Uncle Albus and Aunt Minerva crazy." Jenna winked at Harry and then gave the other two a look.
"You have no idea." Minerva smirked.
"Look at the time...Gotta run! You see we have a portrait sitting to get to!" Harry scooped up Hermione and bolted for the nearest secret passage.
"Hey, you two wait for us!" Draco, Ginny, Lavender, Neville, and the rest of the DA shot after them.
"Intelligence he gets that from the females in the family." Jenna giggled.
--
Chapter 26
Merlin's Miracle
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I do not claim any of JKR's characters only that I love being able to create my own kind of mischief with her beloved characters. I do not claim any other things that are owned by other companies that I may mention once and a while in the stories...Although the original characters and ideas are mine and I loved creating them. So please review if you wish but try not to flame me too badly.
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Cindra 2004-2008
