Answers Part 2
There was silence following Dumbledore's words. Grace looked from the old man, to Harry, and back again. Harry looked as astounded as she was.
"Sir?" Harry said quietly, looking up into the old man's eyes. "I don't understand."
Grace is your sister, Harry."
"But … but," Harry struggled. "But my mum and dad …"
Dumbledore smiled at the two of them. "I know this will sound amazing to the both of you, so I might as well start from the beginning. Grace, this must seem most confusing for you and I'm sorry I don't have time to explain things properly, but we need to get you back to your aunt's house as soon as possible."
Grace stared down at her lap. Whose aunt did he mean? Mrs. Dursley, her aunt?
"Nearly sixteen years ago to the day, your father summoned me to Godric's Hollow. Something was going wrong, he said. He had detected another heartbeat during your delivery." Grace wasn't certain of which one of them he was speaking to, his eyes kept flickering back and forth.
"That night, July 31, we delivered not one, but two babies, a boy and a girl. Twins."
Harry was looking at Dumbledore as if he was mental. "Sir, Grace is, um, five years younger than me."
"Listen to him," Grace said suddenly. She didn't know why she trusted this man, but she did. Maybe it was something about his eyes … He had never met her before, but he had guessed her birthday correctly.
"Thank you, Grace. All in good time, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Lily, James, and I had a quick talk that night before the relatives came in. I had told them about – about the prophecy, and they were most anxious to determine how the unexpected turn of events would affect the meaning of Sybil's words …"
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"I don't think Baby Girl Potter here will change anything," a man who looked extraordinarily like Harry was saying.
"I agree," said Dumbledore. "The prophecy clearly called for a boy. The Longbottoms' son was born the other day, though, he could also be the child mentioned. We won't know for sure until one of them is marked …"
"Marked for destiny …" murmured a woman who looked very much like Grace. She was sitting up in bed, cradling a baby close to her body; her husband was standing beside her with the second one in his strong arms.
Dumbledore smiled sadly. "I'm sorry this is the way it has to be. In any rate, you'll have to go into hiding immediately, for the babies' sakes. We'll Unplot your house, find you a Secret Keeper …"
"No," the woman whispered. "What kind of life is that for them, to live in fear, to always stay in the house and never see daylight?"
"We'll have windows, Lily."
"Shut up, James! Can't you ever be serious for once?"
The man who must be James opened his mouth again, but Lily interrupted. "And you better not be about to make some wisecrack about your friend's name." James closed his mouth.
"Lily," Dumbledore said, breaking up their argument, "I know how you feel about this. But would you sacrifice your freedom for a few months or a year, in order to build a better world?"
"I don't know …"
"C'mon, Lil," said James. "What's there to think about?"
"What if it's not our son that the prophecy mentioned?"
"I've already begun arrangements to put the Longbottoms into hiding as well."
"See, Lil. Nothing more to argue, is there?"
Lily looked down at the baby in her arms, apparently thinking hard. In a sudden movement, she handed the baby to Dumbledore.
"Take her away," she said.
"What?"
"You heard. She doesn't have to put up with this. She shouldn't. No one will ever know about this, no one. If Voldemort is going to come after us, at least let her be safe."
"Lily, are you out of your mind? We are not going to give our baby up just because of some –"
"Some death threat? When are you going to grow up, James Potter? This is real life, here! A death threat on his life," she said, gesturing to the baby in James's arms.
"Where will she be safe, Lil? Just tell me that. Where will she be safe?"
"He has a point, Lily," interrupted Dumbledore. "Voldemort is taking over everywhere. We will soon run out of safe places …"
"Hogwarts …"
"Are you crazy?" James hissed. "You cannot keep a baby at Hogwarts."
"In the future," said Dumbledore. "She'd be safe in the future. Voldemort's weakening. He's letting his guard down. In a year or two he'll be vanquished. We can send her a few years into the future-"
"On her own?"
Dumbledore thought a moment. "I know a woman, a Ministry witch who would be able to take care of her and help her find you. She's quite capable of handling a child and I'm sure she would be willing –"
"Albus, we haven't talked it over and nothing is happening until we do!"
"There's no time to talk it over, James. What are we supposed to do once people see her? They'll want to know where she's gone. Albus, my daughter won't be hidden away if she doesn't have to be." Lily's eyes were shining with tears. "We'll have to do it now."
James took one look at his wife, closed his eyes, and nodded.
"Right," said Dumbledore, taking charge. "I'll contact the witch as soon as I can. We won't tell her anything about the girl at all, just that she needs to meet her parents in the future. It is now July 31, 1980. I'll have her bring the baby to … the Ministry at 12 o'clock on August 5, 1985."
"Won't she still be a baby when Harry is five years old?"
"Yes," said Dumbledore, nodding his head. "But that's a sacrifice the four of you will have to make."
Lily's shoulders shook with sobs. "My baby," she whispered softly, taking the small bundle back from Dumbledore.
"We don't have to go through with this. We don't have to be separated," James said.
"Yes we do," Lily answered with an air of one resigned to the worst. "You'd better take her now …before Sirius and Remus and everyone come in."
"I'll let you say good-bye."
Dumbledore turned his back on the family. He heard small, soft noises behind him, and then James's voice saying firmly, "We're ready, Albus."
Lily gave the baby girl one last kiss before placing her gently in Dumbledore's arms. "I'm sorry we don't have anything to give you … all the clothing we bought is boy clothing …"
The baby reached up and hit Lily's nose with her tiny fist. The little group laughed.
"That was graceful," James said sarcastically.
Lily smiled. "Good-bye ... Grace …"
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"I took you to the Ministry witch, Bertha Jorkins," Dumbledore was saying.
Grammy, Grace thought. Harry gasped.
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, you guessed correctly, Harry, but you must fill each other in later, you have to leave in another few minutes. "Bertha was happy to take care of you. I told her simply when and where your parents would meet you and that it was imperative that she be there on time. The two of you went forward in time, using a device very similar to a Time-Turner. Have Harry fill you in on that later.
"And so the two of you came out almost four years after Voldemort's downfall. Bertha took you to the Ministry as promised. I was there. I had to meet her … had to explain that your parents had died.
"I didn't think it wise to take you to your aunt's house, and Bertha offered to take you home. I checked up on you every so often, waiting until you were old enough to explain things to you … Bertha never knew who you were.
"And then two years ago," he said, "Bertha Jorkins disappeared on her vacation in Albania. I searched the house, but could find no sign of you. I tried to convince the ministry to look for her, but they didn't seem to think her disappearance was of any importance." Harry snorted. "By the time they finally decided to look for her, you were gone without a trace.
"I tried to find you, but it was as if you'd disappeared too. You were nowhere to be found. Until I checked the name book today and saw your address. 4 Privet Drive.
"That is what happened," Dumbledore concluded. "I swear to you it's all true."
Grace sat stunned in her seat, trying to think which of her million questions to ask first, like who Voldemort was. Harry beat her to it.
"How could you do that?" he said angrily. "How could you … split us up … and not even tell me I had a sister …"
What looked like a more important thought popped into his mind. "Professor, the … the blood charm you told me about last June … would it work with Grace too?"
"I do not know," Dumbledore sighed. "Your aunt has already sealed the charm, by taking you in fifteen years ago. I don't know if it would work again, and I would really rather not test it."
There was a knock at the door.
"Albus?" came a woman's voice. "Minerva wants to know if you're finished, they should be getting back now."
"Of course," he said, and stood up. Grace stood up too, dazed.
"I am so sorry we had to meet like this," Dumbledore said. "I know you must have so many questions about this … about all of this … you have been kept away from it for so long …
"Tell Minerva she can come in, Emmeline," he called through the door. It burst open a second later and the woman that must be Minerva stepped through, carrying Sarah's baby book and her wand.
"See you soon, Potter," she said as she waved her wand again and the book turned blue and then slowly returned to normal. Grace wasn't sure which one of them she was talking to. She grabbed hold of a corner of the book; the sooner she got out of here and got back to the Dursleys the better.
Grace felt that unpleasant feeling of something jerking at her someplace in the region of her stomach again, and then the room dissolved around her.
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AN: That was boring, wasn't it? I hate explanation chapters, unless they're written well, like JK's. But mine isn't. Now that we've got all the explanation out of the way ... on with the story!!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far, it really really means a lot to me.
Should I write personal responses? Here goes:
JCsDancerGurl: This is Harry Potter. Nothing is impossible.
droplets of hope: I knew someone would get it.
Miss Lady Padfoot: Same as above, and thanks for your interest.
Disclaimer: I own the very outlandish plot. All the charcters all JK Rowling's except Grace and the teeny tiny mention of Sarah.
