(Well, ladies and gentlemen, here it is at last! If you can find it (character, place, idea, etc.) in a book with J.K. Rowling's name on the cover, it's hers. If not, it's mine. Thanks!)
Chapter 1: Awakenings
He came awake slowly. Another day. Another small eternity of pain, of struggle, of humiliation. Another chance to be the guinea pig, the lab rat, to undergo endless tests and trials, just to see for sure if it was really gone, or if it might just be hiding, ready to be coaxed out.
If it has not returned in the past fourteen years, I believe I can safely say it never will.
Thank Merlin that the love of his life had not abandoned him. His hands had not lost their skills nor his mind its quickness. Undergoing the tests, however annoying it might be, took up only a few hours in every day, if that. The rest of the time was his own. And it did guarantee him a steady supply of what he needed, and always of the best quality.
The world thinks me dead, that I died a hero. Let them go on thinking so. It would be utter ignominy for them to see me as I am now – crushed, physically and otherwise, unable to live without assistance from others.
Nothing – nothing – could possibly tempt me forward into the light again.
He came awake quickly, as he had trained himself to do after so long. Another day. Another span of time in which to take his chances with a hostile world.
But no, this was not just any day. Today, he would humble himself to a man he had never thought he would willingly face again. Certainly not to ask him what he was now forced to.
But I do it for her. Always for her.
Everything is for her.
And who would ever have thought I – I – would have such thoughts about another?
She came awake quickly. Not just another day, this – no, this was the day her new world would be opened to her, the world she had dreamed of since she was old enough to understand that it was a possibility…
"Happy birthday!" chorused the voices of her family.
Helen Bertha Potter sat up in bed, grinning at them. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this.
Dad and Mum stepped forward to claim their birthday hugs from her. Her twin, Ruby, and her newest best friend Marie were next, then her big brother Sirius, who patted her back in a suspicious manner. She left whatever it was there for the moment, since she was too busy keeping her balance under the onslaught of hugs from Evan, Ceddie, and Mary Jane, who were still too little to know how strong they were. Jamie stood aside with all the dignity of almost nine and waited until the little ones were done before stepping forward to embrace her gravely.
He reminds me of Uncle Percy sometimes.
"Did it come?" she asked.
"Did what come?" Dad asked with a perfectly straight face.
"Harry, don't tease the poor girl," Mum scolded, smacking him on the shoulder. "Of course it came, Helen. Marie, if you would?"
With great ceremony, the thirteen-year-old produced two large parchment envelopes from the ample pocket of her apron. She made a show of carefully checking the names written on each, then handed one to Ruby and the other to Helen. "Congratulations," she said with a smile.
The twins looked at each other with excitement in their eyes, then each slid one finger under the flap and pulled in a ladylike manner, carefully lifting it up –
Ruby cracked first, ripping the flap right off her envelope and snatching her letter out. But that was to be expected, Helen thought as she followed her sister's lead. She had, after all, been waiting since yesterday.
The letter was exactly what she had been expecting. Ms. Potter had been admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, term began September 1, signed, Olympe Maxime-Hagrid, Deputy Headmistress.
Helen felt a smile begin on her face that seemed to have started all the way down at her toes. I'm really a Potter. I'm really going to Hogwarts. I never have to go back to the Dursleys ever again.
"Out, boys," Mum said firmly, herding Dad, Sirius, Jamie, Evan, and Ceddie towards the door. "Time for dressing, and that means girls only. Out."
"Come, gentlemen," Dad said. "We must prepare for our guests. Walk this way." He straightened up with a flourish and strutted out of the room. One after another, the boys imitated his flourish and strutted out exactly as he had. Mum sighed and closed the door behind them.
"Boys," the girls all said together, and then cracked up, as Helen removed the "Kiss the Birthday Girl" note from the back of her nightgown.
By the time Helen was finished dressing, the guests were starting to arrive. Uncle Ron and Aunt Mynie were first to arrive, of course, with all their children in tow. Sirius claimed Brian the moment he got out of the fire, and Minnie ran to Helen to give her a birthday hug.
Uncle Lee and Aunt Katie were the next pair to arrive, with their two children, Benjamin and Lily. "Fred and George got held up at the shop," Uncle Lee told Dad and Mum. "They'll be here soon, though."
"Your present isn't behaving as it should," Aunt Katie whispered to Helen. "And it needs all four of them to control it."
Helen swallowed. A present that needed both her pranking uncles and their prank-wise wives to control sounded, well, dangerous. But although Uncles Fred and George were occasionally less than trustworthy, Aunts Angelina and Alicia would never give her anything that would hurt her.
The fireplace chimed to indicate a Floo connection being made into it, just before the fire turned green. A spinning form appeared in it –
And fell out of it, coughing.
"Cate!" Helen exclaimed happily, darting forward. "I'm so happy to see you!"
"Hey, Helen." Cate accepted the smaller girl's hand and pulled herself up. "Happy birthday."
"May I take your cloak, miss?" said Marie, bobbing a curtsey. Cate looked at her oddly.
"Cate, this is Marie Elliot, my new friend. She's going to be nanny for the little ones while Mum and Dad work. Marie, this is Cate. She's thirteen too."
Marie smiled a touch shyly. "Just kidding about the cloak thing," she said, shaking Cate's hand. "I kind of feel outclassed, though. Everyone else around here has magic, and I don't."
"Hey, it could be worse," Cate said as her father stepped from the fire behind her. "You could be horrendously clumsy, like me, or my namesake. Why they had to give me that as a middle name I'll never know. Even if she was a hero of the Second War."
"I know something about her," Helen said in a hushed tone. "I found it out the other night. Want to hear?"
"You bet," Cate said. "Oh, and by the way, Mum can't make it. But she sends her regards."
"Tell her thanks." Helen signaled to Ruby, Minnie, and Lily, and the six girls made their way up the stairs into Ruby and Helen's room.
"So, I was getting up for a drink," Helen began, "and I heard Mum and Dad talking. It turns out that she – the person Cate's named after – is the reason Uncle Charlie's never married."
The other girls gasped. "You mean he was in love with her?" Lily asked. "And then, when she – "
"Yeah. And the worst part is – she was protecting Granddad when it happened."
Everyone was quiet for a moment. "So he can't even wish she hadn't done it," Minnie said. "Because then he'd be wishing for his own father to be… you know."
"That's awful," Ruby said softly. "Poor Uncle Charlie."
"Caitlin Dora Lupin!" a voice called from the stairs. "Where are you?"
"Uh-oh," Cate said guiltily. "I probably knocked something over without knowing it."
"Come on, we'll all go down," Ruby said, getting up. "It's time to party!"
(A/N: I know it's short, but now that it's started, I will feel compelled to keep adding to it. And the more you review, the more I will add! Guesses about the identities of the two gentlemen at the beginning are also welcome (but unlikely to be verified until the story gets there).
Note to all: the Home At Last Trivia Challenge is still open – there's one more prize to be won! Could you be the lucky winner?
Note also to Prongs J Potter: You never claimed your prize for the Trivia Challenge. What would you like your character named?
You've all been so good about waiting – I heart you all! Here's to Helen and her adventures!)