AN: so, realized I did not mention my beta Miss I-Have-A-Countdown-Till-The-First-Day-of-School Fink. ((We have: 41 days, 16 hrs, and 16 mins until the first bell of the first day, lol)) so, yeah, her penname is Kool-Aid-Chika68. Check it out.
Disclaimer: See previous. Still lazy.
Recap: Oh no, not him Ginny thought regretting for the first time that evening her choice to come back.
"Uncle Harry! Uncle Harry!" Jessica yelled as she ran towards a man with messy black hair and a wide grin. Andrew was right on her tail and even Kara was a few paces behind.
"Hello Jess, Andrew," Harry Potter responded with a smile, hugging his favorite niece and nephew and not even noticing the other girl standing there.
"Harry, guess what!" Jessica said in an excited tone.
"Your parents finally went a day without bickering? We've been hoping ever since Hogwarts," Harry guessed with a grin at Ron, who had just walked up.
"Hey, I resent that," Ron said with a smile, but his expression changed quickly to one that resembled nervousness, "but Harry, I really have to talk to you. It's important."
"Dad, you're interrupting," Jessica said in an annoyed tone, "As I was saying, Andrew and I met a new-"
"-Harry, mate, I really need to talk to you," Ron interrupted in an anxious tone.
"Just a minute, Ron, let your daughter finish her sentence, at least," Harry responded, "Now, what were you saying, Jess? A new…"
"…cousin," Jessica answered.
"Harry," Ron interrupted again, even more urgently.
Harry ignored Ron. "A new cousin?" He questioned in a very confused tone.
"Yeah, this is Kara," Jessica said, pushing the other girl forward. Kara smiled at him and Harry smiled back, but his mind was whirring with confusion.
"What are your parents' names?" Harry asked in the same confused tone.
"Well, I don't know about my dad," Kara said with a shrug, "but my mom's name is Ginevra, but most people just call her Ginny."
Harry stared at the girl, disbelief filling him. He turned slowly to look at Ron, who was staring at his feet. "I told you I need to talk to you," Ron said weakly.
Harry continued to stare.
"C'mon, mate, let's go inside," Ron said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder, "Andrew, Jess, Kara, stay."
Harry was too filled with too many nameless emotions to do anything but follow Ron inside.
Five minutes later, Ron and Harry were sitting in a cozy living room, each with a butterbeer in his hand.
"Ginny? She's back?" Harry asked softly, speaking the first words since they'd come inside.
Ron nodded.
"When? Why? How?" Harry's tone was now more anxious, as if trying to gather as much information as possible as fast as possible.
Ron told him to take a deep breath, then told him the small bit of the story he knew, about Bill and Kara, and their chance meeting in Diagon Alley. Harry said nothing and his face gave away no emotion. When Ron finished, both sat silently for nearly a minute.
"She has a daughter," Harry said quietly, trying to take it all in, "How old is Kara?"
Ron pondered momentarily. "Well, she's going to Hogwarts this year, so I'd guess around 11."
Harry rested his head in his head and sighed. "I've got to think Ron. Tell Jessica and Andrew I'll be out in time to blow out the candles."
"Okay, but Harry?"
Harry looked up at where Ron was standing in the doorway.
"The answers to all your questions aren't in here, they're outside with Ginny."
Harry said nothing.
"…I've got to leave, Mione, I can't stay here. I can't deal with this tonight," Ginny was saying for—if Hermione had counted correctly—the thirteenth time since Harry arrived on the scene.
Hermione calmly took a sip of her lemonade. "Ginny, you're not going anywhere. You have to talk to him sometime," she said reasonably.
"But it doesn't have to be tonight…" Ginny finally stopped pacing, having noticed that Kara, Jessica, and Andrew had been watching her pace madly across the grass.
"Yes it does, or you'll just keep avoiding it."
Ginny sighed, letting her head fall heavily—as well as painfully—to the table and didn't lift it back up. "You're right," Ginny sighed, "I know you are. I just… Why did I leave, Mione? Why did I put myself in this position in the first place?"
"You left because you were scared, and you were just a kid. We all make mistakes as we're growing up and this was yours," Hermione said in an almost motherly tone, "But all of us have to own up to our mistakes and deal with them as we grow and mature. So stop acting like the kid you're not and talk to him."
Ginny nodded solemnly. "All right, as soon as he comes out."
Across the lawn, three eleven-year-olds were leaning against the railing of the patio, discussing Harry and Ginny's reaction to seeing each other.
"That's probably the strangest thing I've seen Harry do in a while," Jessica was saying, "Get all clamed up like that."
Andrew nodded. "It was like he stopped breathing or something… just stared… weird."
"And the oddest thing was that it wasn't figuring out that he had a new niece or anything and being confused, it was hearing about Aunt Ginny."
"And don't forget my mom's reaction," Kara pointed out, "When she saw Harry, she looked, well, almost terrified."
"I don't know if terrified is the right word, though," Jessica said, "She didn't look scared like he was going to hurt her or something, she just looked like a kid who's about to get busted for doing something really bad."
"Guilty?" Andrew supplied.
Jessica and Kara nodded. "Absolutely," Kara agreed.
"So what's up with them? Kara, do you know if your Mom and Harry used to know each other well, or something? Or like, did they not get along?" Jessica asked.
Kara shrugged. "I dunno. I don't know much about my mom's life before she had me. She never really talked to me about Hogwarts or anything. And I don't know anything about Harry. Who is he, anyway?"
The twins gawked at her. "Only the most famous and important wizard in nearly a century! He's Harry Potter! Didn't you see the scar?" Jessica asked.
Kara stared at them blankly.
"Oh goodness!" Jessica exclaimed, "I forgot you didn't grow up around magic as we have. Oh well, you can't go to Hogwarts without knowing Harry's story."
Jessica launched into the story of the boy who lived and his adventures at Hogwarts. Along with Andrew's help, she told most of the story in just twenty minutes and was to the year after Harry graduated, Voldemort's defeat.
"…and this is where my knowledge gets a bit fuzzy and so do all the books, too," Jessica was saying, "I know Harry stayed at Hogwarts, being a teacher for a cover-up to be in the safest place in all the wizarding world. But, well, when Mum and Dad talk about it, they always do this little exchange with their eyes, like there's something they're not telling us."
"Like what?" Kara asked, completely wrapped up in the story.
Jessica shrugged. "I always suspected he had another reason to stay. But, obviously, I don't have any cold hard facts to back it up. Anyway, the Final Battle took place at the end of the year.
"Voldemort attacked Hogwarts on late June morning, but thanks to the spies on our side, we knew they were coming. The battle was long, but our side defended the school well. Sixth and seventh years that volunteered to help fought alongside dozens of aurors, Order members, and ordinary citizens from neighboring towns. Voldemort showed up just as the sun was going down. Harry lured him to the Great Hall, as was planned. The doors were shut as soon as old Moldy Voldie walked in."
Here, Andrew took over, "They say the battle in the Hall lasted nearly three hours. Then there was a loud boom and Harry emerged, stumbling, bloody, and dazed, but victorious none-the-less."
"Wow," Kara said in an awed tone, "But that doesn't explain anything that happened today with him and my mum."
Jessica's shoulder's slumped. "Yeah, we know. We're just not sure. Every time we've heard the story your mum's never been mentioned," she said, "To be completely honest, we never knew much about her. We kind of presumed she had died. We'd only heard her name once her twice, when we'd run across and old picture of her, but Mum and Dad would always changed the subject. So, I guess, do you know anything that could explain what happened today with Harry and your mum?"
Kara shook her head. "No, not really. Like I said, Mum doesn't talk about school and her past. The only things I overheard today were that Mum left when she was pregnant with me. I think Bill said something about the night of the battle when we were waiting for Mum to come here. I'd assume he meant the Final Battle."
They all sat silently for a moment, lost in thought. Suddenly, Jessica bounded from the railing with a gasp. "Oh my, oh my goodness," she was saying.
"What, Jess," Andrew asked.
"Nothing, I just, I had an idea. I'll have to do some research of course. Old school books, and such. Oh my, this could be big, really-- I'll talk to you later."
With that, she was bounding inside the house.
Kara turned to Andrew with an amused look. "Is she always that-"
"-spastic?" Andrew offered.
Kara laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, most of the time."
AN: And there it is people. I'm about half way done with chapter 5 and I'm stuck here my dad's house, so I'm working on it whenever I get bored. Pleez review! I'll give you a cookie!