Disclaimer: I wish I did own it…
Chapter 12: A Terrific Sister
A/N: Enjoy!
Beth5572: 'Next' as in the next chapters or 'next' as in a new story. I'm trying to get a mystery type plot in here, but I haven't really figured out all the details, so it might take a while. If you mean 'next' as in a new story, I'm in the process of brainstorming different possibilities. I'll walk around school/house/town and then a thought will come to me. I think I should start writing them down! Ha. I made a funny. okay, stop making a fool of yourself!. Maybe soon, I'll have a new story out. I think this time around, I'll write a few chapters then post the first one, so I can have my thoughts together before I get reviews...
Ms Ronupert Grint: The speech part was the easiest thing I'd written in this story. It was all so clear as to how I wanted it. I knew exactly what I wanted, and to me, it was my favorite part. I think I didn't really like though, is that I put it and Harry and Miranda meeting in the same chapter. And since it was at the end, it sorta overshadowed their meeting. They should have both been huge. Maybe their own chapter. I just wanted to give ya'll more to read. I'm glad my story brought tears to someone's eyes!
MewMewFireHeart: I've seen your name on either the favorites or alert list for a while. I was wondering why you never reviewed. It's okay though. At least you're reviewing now! Thanks a whole lot for the names. I actually wrote one or two on my 'seriously consider' list. Danke!
Mandaleigh6078: Aww.. Thanks a lot! That really boosted my confidence!
"So, then I said 'Luna! There is no such thing as a Crumple Horned Snorcack!' and she stared at me and said 'Yes there is. It's in the backyard!'" This comment from Colin seemed somehow funny to everyone at the table except Harry who was staring across the hall at Miranda, who was telling her daughter what he believed to be tales from when she was at Hogwarts.
"HARRY!" Harry snapped back to reality after a few minutes when he realized someone was calling his name. He looked up to see everyone at his table staring at him insanely.
"Yes dear?" Harry turned to Ginny who was the one calling his name.
"Harry? Is everything... oh. Okay. Do you want to go talk to her? Or I could go talk to her. Or-."
"No, I think I'll wait till after we finish eating to talk to her. I don't want to make a scene of things." Harry said this adamently as if he was assuring himself. He moved his hand to his fork and began eating the scrumpcious meal.
After the meal, Harry was walking on the grounds with Ginny and they were discussing what they wanted to name their unborn child.
"I was thinking," Ginny spoke up, "that we could have some name with meaning. Not just another name like Ginny or Harry. We don't know whether we're having a girl or a boy yet, but we should make a list of names that appeal to us." Harry nodded then pulled a little book out of his cloak pocket.
"When you told me you were pregnant, I went to Aunt Petunia to tell her. She gave me this. It's a baby names book. She said it's the same book she used to name Dudley, and the same book that my mum used to name me. So it's quite old, seventeen years in fact, but I thought we could use it." Ginny smiled and pulled Harry in a tight embrace. They sat down on the grass and started to read the first few names. Nothing sounded appealing for a while. Then they came across a name they thought sounded appropriate for the time.
"Harry I really like this name. I hope we're having a-"
"Harry!" Ginny was cut off mid-sentence by Miranda walking up. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something? I'll just go and we can talk later."
"No! Don't go." Ginny stood up to face Miranda. "Hi. You must be Miranda. I'm Ginny, Harry's fiancee. It's so nice to meet you. I haven't heard much since I just found out just before the ceremony. Here, I'll go. You two should talk. Bye Harry." She leaned in to give him a kiss.
"No, Ginny, is it? Stay. We can all talk. Your his fiancee? Congratulations you two. I just wanted to hear how he's been since I left Hogwarts." The three sat and talked for an hour before they decided it was getting too dark, so they moved their conversation inside.
"So, Miranda? How is it that Sirius, Remus and Peter never figured out my mum was pregnant with you in their sixth year?" this was one of the questions that had been nagging inside of him since the beginning.
"Well, from what Dumbledore told me, he said that since our mum never really showed much interest in our dad till late in their seventh year, they didn't make much of her mood swings. And she only had to wear baggy robes, to hide me once she started to show. And whenever our dad was around them, she tried not to talk to him, because if she hated him, why would she talk to him on her own accord. So from what I gathered, when they talked, Dad always started the conversation, and Mum always ended it with a nice slap on the cheek to keep up appearance, though in reality, they did like each other. Does that answer your question?" Harry nodded.
The three were sitting in Harry's chambers. Harry was sitting in the chair at the desk, Ginny at the foot of the bed, and Miranda on a chair by the fire.
"So, Harry, I have a question for you. What were you feeling when Lucy spilled the beans in class?" This was a question he knew he would have to answer sooner or later.
"Well, I was definately surprised. I never guessed in my wildest dreams that I would have a sister. At first, I didn't believe it. Then I started thinking and I noticed that Remus had pictures of them, seperately of course, from each year. But he didn't have any of our Mum from her sixth year. I always wondered why, and when I asked him, he said that she never allowed anyone to take her picture that year. That's what confused me. Then when Lucy told me this in class, I was distraught after a while. I didn't know what to do. Just one day after telling the wizarding world that I was alive, I find out that I have a sister. It was pretty nerve-racking. Then Neville came in and he called Minerva to help me." Harry got up and moved to sit next to Ginny, who squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"So, Miranda." This was the first time for Ginny to speak since they came inside. "I have something for you." Ginny walked over to her suitcase and extracted a small off-white envelope with black cursive writing on the front. "Harry and I sent out the invitations for the wedding before he left, but I've kept some with me, just incase I see someone that I forgot to invite.
"Well, we didn't forget to invite you, because technically we didn't know who you were. But now that we do, would you like to attend our wedding this Christmas? It's actually going to be here at Hogwarts, Christmas night, out by Dumbledore's tomb. We would love for you to come." Ginny walked over to Miranda and handed her the invitation.
She opened it and read the contents. When she got to the bottom she smiled then looked up and nodded. After a few moments of silence, the two embraced each other as if they'd known the other since birth. Ginny started feeling as if she were going to cry, then when she did, Miranda handed her a handkerchief. Soon, the two women were weeping uncontrollably and Harry had to split the two apart to find out what was wrong.
"Can someone explain to me why my fiancee and sister are crying over a wedding invitation?" Harry asked a little put out that he didn't know.
"Oh, haha. Harry, it's the hormone's kicking in. I thought of the fact that at our wedding, you're actually going to have a blood-line relative sitting on your side! Then I started thinking about how in a few months, you would have another blood-line relative, our son or daughter! I just couldn't help myself. It was all so emotional." Harry grabbed her and hugged her then looked at Miranda.
"Uh, Miranda. Thanks."
"For what Harry?"
"For being here. You don't know how much that means." Harry let go of Ginny and for the first time ever, he hugged his one and only sister.
The next three weeks passed like a blur of white dresses, pink dresses, black tuxes, and many different flower arrangements. Harry wondered how in so much confusion, that a wedding could actually come out of this. He'd tried to help plan things here and there, but eventually they just told him that the best thing for him to do was to go and get his tux fitted, pick out the rings with Ginny, and together, they picked out a wedding song.
Finally, it was Christmas Eve. He, Miranda, Lucy and Miranda's husband were staying with Harry at his apartment in London, while Ginny stayed at the Burrow. They were keeping it a fairly simple wedding, with lilies as center pieces, lilies in the bouquets, and lilies as the flower pinned on the wedding party. Harry, instead of having a bachelor party, decided to spend the night at his apartment with his newly acquired family, catching up on their lives, looking at photo albums and just enjoying the company of family.
Halfway through an album that consisted of Lucy's school years, Harry realized that his picture album that Hagrid gave him after his first year of Hogwarts was still at the Dursley's.
The Dursley's! I knew I forgot something! Harry had forgotten to contact the Dursley's about Miranda and her family.
"Miranda? I just realized that I've left a photo album at my... our aunt and uncle's house. I'll be right back." With a pop, Harry disappeared only to rematerialize in his old room at Number 4 Privet Drive. He raced down the stairs to hear voices coming from the dining room.
"Aunt Petunia? Uncle Vernon? Dudley? Are you here?" Harry walked in the dining room to see five smiling faces he hadn't seen in months.
"UNCLE HARRY!" Harry was attacked by Lilianne whom he had grown quite close to when he was living with Dudley.
"Harry, what a nice surprise! What are you doing here? Isn't your wedding tomorrow?" Harry smiled and nodded.
"Um, Aunt Petunia, can I talk to you... uh... in private?" She nodded and the two left to talk in the kitchen.
"Harry, it's such a nice surprise that you're here. But why are you here? I thought you weren't coming to get us until tomorrow."
"Aunt Petunia, I have a very important question to ask you. When my mum was 16, did she have a baby?" Harry decided to get right to the point, well the other point of coming.
"Wow, I'd forgotten about that. She came home from Hogwarts one Christmas and was pretty moody. Our parents talked to her, then took her to a doctor. She was indeed pregnant. When she came home for the summer, she'd gotten quite large. That August, she did in fact, have a baby. A girl I believe. Why do you ask? I never found out who the father was."
"It was my dad. You see, when I was in my second year at Hogwarts, a Sixth year, she was sixteen, got pregnant. I didn't really hear about it. It was pretty hushed up. So, when I started teaching at Hogwarts at the beginning of December, a girl in my class, just moved from America, told me that her grand-mum, was my mum, and that her mum was my sister. I was shocked. Then I met her. And I'd like you to meet her as well. Come back to my apartment with me. Please?"
Harry looked at his aunt who was clearly terrified that her niece was back in London. Last she had heard, she was shipped to America to live with an adoptive family because it was unheard of to have a baby so young.
"Okay."
"What?"
"I said okay. I'll go and meet her. But what to do about Vernon and the others?"
"Oh, I'll take care of that. But will you go get that album with my parent's pictures in it? The one with the moving pictures? I would like to show them to Miranda."
"Miranda. I forgot that's what she named her. I helped her pick that name out you know." Aunt Petunia walked out of the kitchen to go get the photo album. Harry walked back into the dining room where everyone was laughing at some joke Uncle Vernon had just told.
"Um, Uncle Vernon? If it's all right with you, I need to take Aunt Petunia back to my apartment. There's something she needs to see before the wedding."
"Well, as long as she stays safe, you may go. But do let me know before you come bustling into this house again." The group laughed and so did Harry. He made his way out to the entrance hall and met Aunt Petunia who had two albums in her hand instead of one.
"The other one is one of mine. It's still photos, but they are from when your mum was pregnant, and right after Miranda was born. There's also picutres from before she got her Hogwarts letter. I thought you two might like to look at them."
Harry just hugged his aunt then made his way out the door.
"Uh, Harry? How exactly are we getting there?"
"Side-Along Apparation. Just follow me." Harry made his way to the dumpster where he had apparated from not long ago. He grabbed her arm and asked her to hold on tightly and not to let go. Soon, he felt as if his belly-button was being ripped out and finally landed on familiar turf, his living room. He landed and saw three surprised faces.
Miranda was playing Wizard's Chess with Lucy and was getting beat quite badly. Her husband was fooling around with the different muggle appliances. They heard a pop and turned to see not only one, but two people standing there.
"Hi Harry. And who is this?" Miranda nodded towards Petunia.
"Miranda, I would like you to meet Petunia Dursley, our aunt. This is our mum's sister. Aunt Petunia, this is Miranda, the baby you only knew briefly when she was born."
"You were there when I was born? What was I like? I haven't ever heard these kinds of stories. Only what Dumbledore knew. What was I like as a baby?" Miranda grabbed Petunia's arm and urged her to sit on the couch next to her.
"Hold on Miranda! She's only gotten here. When I went to get this photo album and explained the situation to her, she gave me another photo album. This one has baby pictures of you. I want you to look at it first."
"Oh no, Harry. Don't be silly. Come sit beside me. We can look together." Lucy and her father played a game of Wizard's Chess while Petunia, Harry and Miranda looked at pictures. Aunt Petunia told stories of when their mum was pregnant and in her last few months at home.
"Oh, it was dreadful! She wanted to be waited on hand and foot! It was 'Petunia this, Petunia that!'. I could never get a decent night's sleep. Then when she went into labor, I was there with her. I was in the delivery room when you were born. I felt so proud of my younger sister then. She was always a pain, and me too, but at that moment, we clicked. I looked at you and I knew that my niece, this little bundle of skin, would help bring down the evils of your world. Whatever you do. Whatever it takes. You two stick together through this, okay? I remember what Professor Dumbledore wrote in that letter, love. He said it was love that you needed, Harry. But because Vernon didn't approve of the magical world, I couldn't give you the love you deserved." By this time, Petunia was in tears and Miranda was hugging her aunt consolingly. Even Harry had a few tears forming in his eyes.
"You see, Harry. I never knew you would ever find out about Miranda. So I couldn't show you these pictures. Even Vernon didn't know I had these. He didn't even know Miranda existed. I'm just so glad that you two found each other. Now Harry can have the closest thing to blood family at his wedding."
"But you are coming, right Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked.
"Oh, yes. But I was never the best Aunt. But I'm sure, if you are a lot like your mother Miranda, that you will be a terrific sister."
A/N: I hope ya'll liked this chapter. Some of my thoughts might not make sense, so once I post this, I'll reread it (I can't reread it on here because it won't be the same as what it is on the site. I know that doesn't make sense, but it does to me). Once I reread it, if I still can't understand some of it, I'll edit it and fix it maybe. Maybe not. The next chapter will be the wedding and maybe a little more. Review!