When he was finally able to breathe, Harry let air into his lungs slowly, tentatively. The air was crisp and cold. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He saw Ron and Hermione both shuddering and gasping. Apparition took a lot out of you when you're dragged along.
"Blimey! Ron gasped. I don't think you're supposed to take two people along, Harry. I feel like I've been crammed under a door! Did it work, are we there?"
"I dont know" Harry replied. He saw nothing but trees. He started to look around for some sort of landmark when he heard Hermione yell out his name. "Harry, Look!" he followed his gaze to where she was pointing and saw an almost-familiar sight. It was the copse of trees that enclosed the small clearing where his parents house once stood. A smaller, more meager dwelling stood there now. The dirt road that went past it had overgrown with weeds. It took Harry a second to see what was wrong with the scene, and when he did he took in a sharp intake of breath. This wasn't at all what he had expected.
Ron had seen it too by now and turned to Harry "What do you think caused that Harry?" Harry shook his head, he didn't know. He realized that there was nothing wrong with what he was seeing, but rather something right. A few feet from where they had apparated, the harsh winter that had swept over Britain ended. As if a small bubble of summer had been preserved, the trees remaining green, the grass remaining full and uncovered. He knew that once he stepped into this strange aura, it would be warm, it would be right.
"Is this a spell?" Hermione wondered, stepping towards it. They all were walking towards the warmth now, they couldn't feel it as they moved towards it, they knew the temperature change would be sudden, and drastic.
"I don't think so..." Harry muttered, "I think it's more like...like the winter never reached here. Like Voldemort's power is useless. They had stepped to the brim of the bubble, for harry saw that it was indeed round, with the small dwelling slightly off the center of the warm patch. It domed overhead, and harry saw the tallest trees had snow at the tops, but birds sang happily in the lower branches. Harry reached out his hand, knowing that something this wonderful had to be safe. He felt his hand slip into the clearing, he felt the sun's warm rays beating down. He stepped forward, stripping off the sweater he was wearing, and slinging it over his shoulder. he turned and saw Ron and Hermione following him, doing the same.
"Bloody hell, it's hot." said Ron, although he had a big grin on his face. "I tell you, if it weren't for this blizzard, we'd probably be complaining about the heat!"
"I'm not complaining, this is wonderful!" said Hermione.
Just then, a voice called out, startling them all.
"Welcome back, Mr. Potter!"
Harry turned towards the small shack, his hand edging towards his wand. He thought that this was a safe place, but having been startled, he decided not to take a chance.
"No need for that, Mr. Potter! I mean none of you harm. Why don't you come inside, Tea is almost up!" He was a tall man not much older than Harry, he looked to be about 25 or so. he had flaming red hair like Ron's but it was rather long, reaching down to his back. His features were bold, with a prominent chin and steel-like blue eyes. He was dressed in wizard's robes, rather more elegant than the meager hut he was standing in front of. Harry got the impression that his wardrobe might have cost about as much as the house, which looked about the same size as Hagrid's hut, only slightly larger, and made of stone. Silver stars and moons glittered on his robes, and as he reached inside them and took out a pair of half-moon spectacles, harry couldn't help but feel a very strong pang of grief. He was reminded very strongly of Dumbledore.
Harry edged forward slightly, still keeping his hand near his wand, just in case. As he approached, the man held out his hand, and harry shook it, the man's firm grip almost crushing him. The stranger smiled and then bowed to the three of them. "I am terribly sorry, but I haven't introduced myself. I was rather expecting you a bit earlier than this. My name is Horatio, Horatio Dumbledore-Smythe. Charmed, I am sure."
"You're related to Dumbledore?" Hermione stepped forward and took a closer look at the man, scrutinizing his features. Under other circumstances, her narrowed gaze of appraisal might have been considered rude, but the man laughed heartily. "Unfortunately, not by blood, although the man never put too much store into those ties. He was my grandfather, after a fashion. If you'll come in, we can have a spot of tea, and I'll gladly explaing everything to you, Miss Granger."
"How do you know our names?" asked Ron. He most definately was referring to himself and Hermione, as almost everyone in the wizarding wordl knew who Harry was.
"Oh, grandfather told me about all his students. And like I told you, I've been expecting you. Now, come! I have some sandwhiches laid out, and I'm sure you wouldn't say no to a spot of the old firewhiskey!" With that he turned and swept into his house, leaving the door open.
As he stepped in, Harry was strongly reminded of events three years past, when he had attended the Quidditch World Cup with the Weasleys and Hermione. They had stayed in a rather expansive tent that looked very small from the outside. The inside of the small stone shack was expansive, it was clearly bewitched to appear smaller from the outside. Harry also realized that his initial impression was wrong, it wasn't decadent, but it also wasn't shabby. Horatio had clearly struck a balance between an appearance of wealth and good taste, and a comfortable, homely setting.
Above the mantle was a large portrait of Dumbledore, that smiled genially down at him. Harry felt another pang of grief. Was this man really Dumbledore's grandson? Accross from the portrait was a large scarlet banner, emblazoned with a golden lion. The image of the lion shimmered as it moved accross the banner, rippling with the folds in the cloth as it proudly surveyed it's woven domain.
"Is that a Gryffindor Lion?" Asked Ron, whose eyes seemed to be drinking in every detail.
"Oh yes! Said Horatio as he gestured for them to sit at the table, Harry sat down and felt his stomach grumble. He had eaten a bit before, but it wasn't really enough. He thought Hermione was the only one who got any real amount of food.
"Grandfather gave me the banner as a graduation gift, after I left hogwarts, you see. That was about two years before you showed up, Mr. Potter."
"Harry." He corrected. This whole "Mr. Potter" thing was a bit much, that was his father, not him. Even if his father had died before he could remember, he wasn't quite ready to be "Mr. Potter" yet.
"Harry, then. And please, call me Horatio. I'm sure grandfather never told you, as he didn't ever feel the need to boast about anything, but our family are the survivinig heirs of Godric Gryffindor." he said this plainly, as you might say something completely ordinary. Harry marveled at how the heir of Gryffindor didn't seem to think that being that very thing was such a big deal. Not compared to Voldemort, who was the heir of Slytherin.
"I didn't know that Dumbledore was ever married." said Ron between mouthfulls.
"You did say that you weren't related by blood, didn't you?" Asked Hermione. It was obvious that she was still a bit leery of Horatio.
"No, not by blood, but as I said, my grandfather never thought that was very important." Turning to Ron, he said "You are right though in your original assumption, Mr. Weasley."
"It's Ron." Said Ron, a bit of a smile at the edge of his mouth. "Ah, you lot are so informal, I can see why grandfather took such a liking to you. Anyway, no, he was never married. One could go so far as to say he was married to the school. Hogwarts, that is. He showed so much dedication to the school that it would be a wonder if any woman would put up with him, at least that's how he said it." He smiled wistfully, but Harry saw a tinge of greif in his eyes. Harry thought Dumbledore's death was hard on him, he could only imagine.
"Anyway, although grandfather never married he did have a daughter, that is to say, an adopted daughter. That was my mother, she passed away some years ago, though, she was terribly sick. Grandfather always told me that ties of love were more important than ties of blood, and he considered my mother and I to be family. That made us Gryffindor's heirs also, as Gryffindor also never set much store in ties of blood, that was the argument that caused a rift between him and his old friend, Salazar Slytherin."
"And that fued is still going today." Said Harry. "Except...it's me that's up against Voldemort." Harry thought that this was a bit ironic, that Gryffindor had living heirs, but the burden had been passed to him.
"Ah Harry, you haven't thought it out fully" said Horatio. You see, My grandfather considered you to be his adopted son!"
There was a choking noise as Ron swallowed a bit of sandwhich badly. Hermione gave him a whack on the back and he sputtered. "Does that mean Harry is your uncle then?" he asked, taking a rather large gulp of firewhiskey. "I mean, you're a bit older, right? You left Hogwarts before harry was even there!"
Horatio smiled again. "Well, I guess you could say that, the point is though, that grandfather's regard for harry was very strong. Harry is just as much the heir of Gryffindor as I am."