Listen To Your Heart
Part Two-11 Years Later
Chapter Twenty Five-Back To Hogwarts
"Maddie! Get your behind down here this minute!" I called.
"What happened now?" Remus asked me looking up from the newspaper.
"Nothing," I replied raising an eyebrow. "That's the problem. I asked her to take out the trash and she hasn't done it yet."
My 11 year old daughter, Madison or "Maddie" as we call her, bounded down the stairs. She looked exactly like me with the auburn hair and green eyes.
"Yeah Mum?" she asked curiously.
"What did I ask you to do this morning?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.
Immediately, her face drained of all color.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I must've forgotten."
I exhaled loudly.
"Please try and remember okay?" I said. "When I ask you to do something please, please do it."
Maddie nodded.
Just then, Remus' owl, Onyx, landed gracefully on the window sill. He had a familiar looking envelope tied to his leg.
"Remus," I said staring at Onyx. Remus followed my gaze and put down the paper and got up. He carefully opened the window and Onyx hopped in. Remus gave the owl a piece of bacon as 'thanks' and Onyx flew inside to where his cage was.
Remus scanned the front of the envelope.
"Is that where I think it's from?" I whispered.
Remus raised his eyes to mine.
"Yes," he said.
"What's going on? Why does Mum look sick?" Maddie asked concerned looking from me to Remus.
"Maddie, sit down," Remus said.
Maddie obediently sat and still had the confused expression on her face.
"Eleven years ago," Remus began sitting down beside her and leaning forward so that their faces were inches apart. "Your Mum and I went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You know that part right?"
Maddie nodded.
"Okay," Remus continued. "We had the best friends anyone could've ever wanted. We had Gillian, Sam, James and Lily and Sirius. Gillian and Sam were killed in our final year and just recently, we got word that Lily and James were killed in their home by You-Know-Who. This is the letter from Hogwarts saying that you've been accepted."
His words brought back the horrible news from Professor Dumbledore himself that Lily and James had been killed in their home by Lord Voldemort, and their only son had survived and is now living with Muggles. I slowly sank into the kitchen chair just opposite of Remus.
We got married right after we graduated and so had James and Lily. Sirius had been framed for a murder that he hadn't committed and now was sitting in Azkaban for no reason. Everything just seemed to fall apart. I crossed my arms on top of the table surface and rested my chin on top of them, vaguely listening to Remus talk to Maddie.
I wondered what the son looked like. Probably more than likely he looked like James. Remus continued to talk to Maddie.
Even though Remus and I were werewolves, Maddie's wolf traits won't come out until she hits sixteen, which would be in her 6th year or so. That's when a girl hits maturity basically. As of now, Maddie has some wolfish tendencies. She gets really strong when she gets angry and she can sense things up to 2 miles away. She knows what she is and what we are and she's okay with it.
Finally, I zoned back in.
"So that's what happened and why your Mum acted the way she did," Remus finished.
"Whoa," Maddie said turning her brown eyes onto me. "Mum you had a rough year there huh? If you don't want me to go I won't."
"Oh hun," I said softly. "You have to go. It's a wonderful place. Just because I had some horrible times there doesn't mean you will. But please be careful alright?"
Maddie nodded.
"I'm going to play with Ryker," she said as she got up from the table and let out a low whistle.
Her dog, a German Shepard male named Ryker, came galloping into the kitchen. He barked and wagged his tail at Maddie. The two of them headed out into the backyard. Ryker was a Minux. He was magical and was able to solve problems as well as talk.
He was going to be going with Maddie to Hogwarts.
Once Maddie and Ryker were out of earshot and sight, I turned to Remus.
"I wish I could see James' son," I said sadly.
Remus had that familiar twinkle in his eyes.
"Then why don't we?" he asked.
I looked at him startled.
"How? We don't even know where he is staying? And what would we tell him? 'Hi we're the Lupin's. We knew your parents when they went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Oh by the way you're a wizard?' That'll really shock the poor kid," I said.
"More than likely," Remus said patiently. "The Muggles already told him. So basically, in response to your question…Yeah and Dumbledore did tell me where he was staying."
"Where?" I demanded sitting bolt upright.
"Privet Drive," he grinned.
We decided to leave Maddie with our next door neighbor, Mrs. Androse, an elderly lady who kept an eye on Maddie since she was born when Remus and I needed some 'alone' time.
Remus and I drove to Privet Drive.
"Number Four," he said.
I leaned forward and peered out of the windshield to our royal blue Ford Taurus sedan.
"Seems nice enough," I said frowning.
Remus had also told me that Dumbledore told him everything about keeping the boy with the Muggles and the fact that he put a charm on them so the boy would return every summer to this house. So we were up to date.
Remus came up with a plan. He was going to tell the Muggles the truth about our visit and we'll see just how the boy is treated.
We pulled into the driveway. Remus and I stepped out. Remus was dressed in a nice pair of burgundy slacks, tan construction boots, a white long sleeved shirt that was under a burgundy V necked sweater vest. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. I was dressed in a pair of jeans and a white gypsy style blouse. My hair was fluffed around my shoulders and I had applied light makeup.
We stood on the stoop and Remus rang the doorbell.
A few minutes later, a beefy man wearing slacks and a shirt answered. He has a mustache and his hair had been going gray.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"Hi," Remus said brightly. "My name is Remus Lupin and this is my wife, Roselyn. We're here for a boy with the last name of Potter."
The man's face drained of all color.
"You're one of them?" he asked his voice cracking.
"Excuse me?" Remus asked confused.
"You're one of those freaks," the man continued angrily.
"Who is it Vernon?" a woman's voice called from inside the house.
"Two more of the fellow 'freaks'," the man hissed.
Over the man's shoulder, I caught site of a boy with untidy black hair, emerald green eyes that were behind a pair of thin black-rimmed glasses and he was wearing an oversized sweatshirt and jeans.
"It's him," I whispered as I stared in shock.
"Let them in," the woman said nervously. "Don't let any of the neighbors see!"
The man roughly ushered us inside and closed the door behind us.
The woman was tall, thin and had a horse like face.
"You're here for the boy?" she asked. "Why?"
Remus and I looked at each other.
"Because we were best friends with his parents," I replied curiously.
Why on earth were they acting so coldly? I wondered.
"You knew my parents?" the boy asked looking from Remus to me.
"Yeah," Remus said nodding. We went to take a step forward toward him, but the beefy man blocked us.
"We don't condone that 'trash' in our home," he hissed. "I think we've squished it all out of him at this point."
"I don't think so," I said firmly. "Magic can never be squished out of someone. It's there regardless."
The woman cringed and the man only got angrier.
"You mean I'm a wizard right?" the boy asked suddenly. "Some large man told me earlier after we had gotten home from that lovely cabin vacation on the island. I can do magic."
I caught a bit of sarcasm in his tone.
Remus nodded.
"I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR THAT WORD AGAIN!" the man bellowed.
"Look," Remus said firmly. "We came a long way. Would you at least like to discuss it over dinner?"
"And now they want food," the man scoffed rolling his eyes.
"We would treat naturally," Remus continued eyeing the man. "You could come over our house say tomorrow?"
The man was about to reply when the woman interjected this time.
"Sure," she replied. "Where do you live?"
"Number 15 Ronais Road," Remus replied.
The man was looking at the woman like she had gone mental.
"Bring him," Remus said gesturing to the boy.
We left and headed home.
The next night, they did come by. I had cooked a lovely meatloaf dinner with baked potatoes and carrots.
"So you did this without the use of IT?" Vernon asked.
They had introduced themselves as well.
"Yes," I said narrowing my eyes. "We've adopted the Muggle lifestyle as well."
I sat back down beside Remus and just kept my eyes on Harry, whom was sitting across from me.
He looked like a scaled down version of James. While Remus talked to the Dursley's, I leaned forward.
"Your father was brilliant," I whispered softly. "And so was your Mum. She was a kind witch."
Harry looked at me.
"I just can't believe this is all true," he said.
"I know," I said softly winking. "But our daughter, Maddie, will be joining you in a few weeks. Stick with her. She'll help you around."
He nodded and grinned.
At that moment, Maddie entered the house along with Ryker. I could hear them carrying a conversation.
"There's no way you would be able to catch the Fritz cat!" she said entering the kitchen now.
"Wanna bet?" Ryker asked looking up at her.
She froze.
"Did that dog just talk?" Vernon demanded.
"Um, no," Maddie said quickly realizing that there were Muggles in the house.
Ryker sat on his haunches at Maddie's feet and barked, wagging his tail.
"I KNEW IT," Vernon exploded. "THIS WHOLE FAMILY IS FREAKS!"
"Hey," Remus said snapping to alertness. "Like it or not you're involved as well."
Vernon stood up and roughly grabbed Harry's arm, causing Harry to cringe in pain.
"You're hurting him," I said standing up abruptly.
"That's the least of my concerns," Vernon spat. "We're leaving. Petunia, come."
Petunia got up.
Vernon roughly shoved Harry toward the door. Harry ended up banging his ribs on the edge of our entertainment center. He cried out.
"Ryker, go block them," Remus said quickly.
Ryker did a 180 and charged at them, blocking them. He was sitting between them and the doorway.
"Get out of our way, mutt," Vernon hissed.
"Leave Harry here," I snarled. "At least he'll be treated more humanely."
"Fine," Vernon snapped shoving Harry back toward me. "We'll send his 'freak' belongings shortly."
I put two fingers together, my index and middle finger and made a line in the air toward Ryker, signaling for him to move.
Ryker moved aside and glared at Vernon and Petunia as they left.
"Jerks," he said to them.
Vernon glared at the dog before leaving the house.
Ryker and Maddie came over to us.
"Is he alright?" Ryker asked tilting his head to the side.
"He does talk," Harry said clearly impressed. "Cool."
"Yeah," Remus said also coming over to him.
"Are you okay?" Maddie asked Harry.
Harry nodded.
"I'm used to that treatment," he said gingerly rubbing his ribs. "I sleep in a cupboard."
"Good Lord," Remus said looking upset. "They treat you horribly!"
"We're going to speak to Dumbledore about something," I said raising my eyes to Remus'.
Sure enough, a trunk was dumped on our doorstep.
Remus magicked the trunk upstairs using his wand.
"Cool," Harry said. "What else can you do?"
"Well," I said. "Some basic spells that you and Maddie are going to learn are Alohamora and Lumos."
"The first one unlocks doors and the second one lights the tip of your wand when you receive it." I continued.
Harry nodded.
"Maddie? Why don't you go show Harry your spell books? He'll be heading to Diagon Alley sometime next week. Knowing Dumbledore he knows Harry's here already," I suggested brightly.
Maddie nodded as she and Harry headed upstairs.
Remus came down shortly and I began clearing the dishes from the table.
"I can't believe how much he looks like James," I felt tears forming.
Remus leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms over his chest, studying me closely.