Jamie was grateful that she was the first one to come through the fireplace. That meant no one saw her very ungraceful landing onto the living room floor. She got up just in time to avoid having Harry collide with her.
He looked a little green so Jamie helped him up. The two of them settled on the sofa next to each other. Before they had a chance to speak to one another, Jason fell onto the floor.
"That was awesome. I want to do it again!" he exclaimed.
Harry and Jamie both looked at him like he was crazy. He hopped up and went to examine the pictures on the mantle. Soon after Jason moved, Ginny arrived and was the only one who managed a somewhat graceful landing.
As soon as she sat down next to Jamie, a soft tapping was heard on the windowpane. Ginny pushed the sheer curtains aside to open the window. A large barn owl flew in and landed in front of Harry. The owl patiently held its leg out for Harry to take the letter attached. He looked at Ginny with a confused look.
"Go ahead, take the letter. It must be for you or he wouldn't have landed in front of you," she told him.
He took the letter and read aloud:
Harry,
I just learned of your miraculous return. I could not be happier to
hear the news and look forward to catching up with you and meeting your son. Please join Professor Dumbledore and myself tomorrow at my office at 9:00 to discuss beginning the process of regaining your memories. Have Ginny bring you to my office, she knows where it is.
Sincerely,
Bill Weasley
Minister of Magic
When he reached the end, he looked up, "Weasley? Is that a another relative of yours?"
"Yes, Bill's my oldest brother," Ginny answered him.
"How many Weasleys are there?"
"Well, lets see. I have five brothers and all but Fred are married. So that's nine. Um, Ron and Hermione have five kids, George and Katie have three, Bill and Fleur have two, and Charlie and Amy have two. So, that's how many kids? Twelve?" She counted them up on her fingers. "Yeah twelve. That makes twenty-one. Add Jamie and I to make twenty-three. Mum and dad make twenty-five."
"Twenty-five! That's a huge family. Jase and I are used to it just being Lori and us."
"Yeah, there are a lot of us. It can get a little crazy at times but I wouldn't trade them for the world."
There was a knock on the door and the kids ran to see who it was. When they opened the door, they found Jason and Harry's luggage. Jamie pulled the note off of the top.
Thought these might come in handy. I assume Harry and Jason will be staying here. If not, rooms will be available at the Leaky Cauldron.
Jason grabbed his bag and ran back to the living room, yelling, "Dad, our luggage is here!" Jamie followed dragging Harry's bag behind her.
"What? How did our luggage get here?" Harry asked confused.
Ginny smiled, "I bet it was Dumbledore. He has his ways of getting things done." She glanced at her wristwatch, "We should probably get ready to head over to Ron's."
She showed Harry and Jason to the spare bedroom where they could stay. Harry put his bag down on one of the twin beds in the room. The room, he noted to himself, was very warm and inviting. Both beds were covered dark blue quilts and lace curtains hung at the window. Jason changed into fresh clothes quickly and ran out of the room, he was fascinated by the moving photographs and wanted to check them out some more.
Harry stepped across the hall to the small bathroom. He shut the door behind him and splashed cold water on his face. For several minutes, he stood and stared at his reflection in the mirror. I look the same as always, he thought to himself. The same bright green eyes, the same hair that despite his best efforts was impossible to tame. But how could he still look the same when so much had happened in one day.
In one day, he had discovered a whole life that he had no memory of. The only reason he did not just leave and take Jason and go home was because something kept telling him he was home. It made no sense to him at all but he knew he could not leave here. He had to stay at least long enough to get some answers.
His thoughts drifted to Ginny. After so many dreams, he had finally found the red headed woman and the little girl. Although she was not a little girl any longer, she was a young woman. Could she really be his daughter? There was no denying that she had eyes identical to his and Jason's. But lots of people had green eyes, right?
Thinking of Jason made him think of Meg. He had seen a wedding photo on the mantle and it was him and Ginny in the picture. If he was really married to Ginny, then what did that mean to the relationship he had had with Jason's mother? Was it possible to love two women? Although at that thought, the voice in the back of his head asked him if he had really, truly loved Meg. He had definitely cared about her and enjoyed her company, but he had always wondered if they would have gotten married if she had not gotten pregnant with Jason. He had convinced himself that he loved her but he always felt like something was missing.
There were too many thoughts running through his head. He splashed his face once more. With one final glance in the mirror and a deep breathe, he made his way back to the living room to join everyone else.
He ran into Jamie in the hallway. "So, do we have go through the fireplace to get to their house?" he asked in what he hoped was a causal voice.
She laughed and he thought about how much she looked like her mother when she did, "No, they live really close to us. We can just walk. I don't really like going anywhere by Floo either."
They found Jason talking excitedly about his football team to Ginny. Jamie had heard about the Muggle game of football from Georgia, who sometimes watched games with her grandpa on her mum's side. Hermione was muggle born, so Georgia and her siblings knew lots about Muggle life from visiting their grandparents. She wondered what Jason would think about Quiditch.
Once Harry and Jamie joined them, Ginny placed a hand on Harry's arm and asked,"Are you okay? Are you sure you don't mind going?" She looked at him with concern and care in her eyes.
He replied with a grateful smile, "Yes, I'm fine. For some reason I feel that if you are with me it will be okay."
They all said they were and the group made the short walk to Ron and Hermione's house. Harry was grateful for Jason's chatter during the walk, because of it no one noticed how preoccupied he was. He still had a jumble of thoughts racing through his head and did not know what to think about any of it.
When they arrived at Ron and Hermione's house, Harry once again felt as though this was where he belonged. Several children were playing in the yard. Jamie and Jason soon ran off to join them.
Ginny and Harry entered the house and went in search of Ron and Hermione. Voices could be heard coming from the rear of the house. They followed the voices to the kitchen.
"Ronald, you cannot just ask something like that. He'll tell us when he's ready."
"But what if she is still around and just shows up. Don't you think we need to know that."
"Ron, don't be stupid and here, put this on the table."
"What are you two arguing about now?" Ginny asked teasingly from the doorway.
"Ginny, Harry, hi. Come in. Dinner will be done in just a minute." Hermione told them.
Ron went over to Harry and quietly said, "This is our chance to escape. Follow my lead." He looked over at his wife and sister, "I'm going to show Harry around and introduce him to the kids."
Harry was quickly pulled across the room. Ron ushered him out the door that led to the backyard. Once they were outdoors, Ron spoke, "If we didn't leave when we had the chance, she would just keep finding things for us to do. Or rather, things for me to do."
Suddenly, Harry caught sight of the kids and gasped. They were flying on broomsticks! He scanned the area for Jason and felt his heart leap into his throat when he located him high above the yard.
Ron laughed, "Don't worry, I put a catching charm on the yard. If any of them fall off, they won't hit the ground. Hermione wouldn't let the kids fly unless I could ensure their safety."
Harry shook his head slightly, "Is it normal for them to be flying on broomsticks?"
"Absolutely, sometimes it's impossible to get the twins down. I can't say much though. We were the same way when we were younger. Actually, I guess to be honest, I'm still that way," he chuckled.
In response, Harry simply nodded his head and smiled. He realized once again how much he had to learn or rather remember.
Ron looked at Harry like he wanted to say something. After peeking in the window to make sure Hermione and Ginny were busy, he spoke quietly, "Harry, can I ask you something and you promise not to tell Hermione that I did?"
"Sure, what do you want to know?"
"Um, well, what I was wondering about, is Jason. Or more specifically Jason's mum. I mean, who is she? And where is she?"
The door opened behind them and Ginny called them in for dinner before Harry could answer.
A/N As a thank you for all of your wonderful reviews, I am going to post two chapters today : ) I promise the mystery as to who Jason's mom is will be answered soon! I promise! Thanks again for the reviews.
