Part 5
Chapter 24: Taran? Tara?
September 1, 2013,
At Platform 9 ¾,
"I don't believe this." A 17 year old Megan Potter said for the 100th time since Dumbledore's death last week.
(A/N: I know I killed Dumbledore. Please don't Flame me. Who knows? He might come back. Let me know if you want it.)
"Megan." Colin told her. "Quit beating yourself up about it. He was 166 years old."
"He had to die sometime." Vega comforted her friend "It's not your fault."
"At least he died peacefully." Ariel said.
"I can't believe my baby's Head Girl." Lily cried for the 1000th time trying to keep her mind off Dumbledore. "That's everyone in the family."
Ron laughed. "I remember when I was made prefect. Mum said "That's everyone in the family". George asked "What are Fred and I, next-door neighbors?""
An eleven year old Sabrina laughed. "When will I see Mum?"
"When you get to school." Ron told his daughter.
"Taran and Tara would be starting as well." Lily sighed still not having heard from her son and daughter-in-law.
Lily looked around and saw a black haired woman and a red headed man saying goodbye to their first year twin children. She could have sworn that the adults looked like her old defense professor and his fiancée. But she quickly dismissed that thought knowing that it was impossible.
0000
On the train, Megan and Colin went up to sit with the prefects. The rest of the gang was sitting in a car with Jeremy. Sabrina found her own private compartment.
Just then, her car's door swung open
"Is this car full?" an eleven year old red headed girl asked. She looked like she had Weasley blood in her.
"No. Come on in." Sabrina said.
"Is there room for one more besides me?"
"Of course. There is more than enough room." Sabrina told her
"Thanks." The girl said. "Dai!"(1) she called outside the car.
"Vengo." (2) A boy her age called back.
"Thank you." The girl said to Sabrina. "We're first years."
"So am I." Sabrina said. "I'm Sabrina Weasley."
The girl got a sudden look of recognition.
Just then, the girl's twin brother came into the car.
"Sabrina?" the boy asked. He looked just like Harry Potter. Down to the glasses. The only thing missing, was the scar.
"Taran? Tara?" Sabrina finally recognized them.
The cousins hugged.
"Where have you been?" Sabrina said. "Everybody was worried sick."
"Sorry about that. Mum and Dad had to go to Albania. Roberto, a friend of theirs, looked after us. To keep us safe from any left over Death Eaters, we stayed in Italy. Hence, the Italian we spoke earlier."
"That also explains your accents. English with a hint of Italian." Sabrina said like she was explaining the taste of a dish. "Where are Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny?"
"After we came back to Britain," Tara explained, "we spent the rest of the summer at Godric Hollow rebuilding it. Mum said that they were going back to the Hogsmeade home after they sent us on the train though."
"Where are the others?" Taran asked. "They should be in seventh year."
"Megan and Colin are Head Boy and Girl." Sabrina explained. "And the others are in another car. I wouldn't be surprised if Ariel and Polaris and Vega and Adam are snogging."
"Are they together?" Tara asked.
"Not publicly. They're still in the denial stage, but I think that by the end of the year, they will be together in public."
"And Megan and Colin?" Tara asked.
"Everyone knows Colin has a crush on Megan. Except Megan. And she has a crush on Colin that everyone knows about, except Colin." Sabrina laughed.
"We heard a rumor that Dumbledore died last week." Taran said quietly.
Sabrina quit laughing. "It's true. McGonagall's the new Headmistress."
"Who's the new deputy head?" Tara asked.
"Uncle James." Sabrina whispered.
"GRANDPA!" Taran and Tara exclaimed.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Sabrina? Is everything ok in here?" Ariel's voice was heard.
"Everything's fine." Sabrina called back.
Ariel opened the door and saw the trio. When she recognized the other two, she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
"Hi." They said.
"T-Taran? T-Tara?" she managed to asked. "Oh my…GUYS! YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHO SABRINA MADE FRIENDS WITH!"
"Better not be another Malfoy. One's bad enough." Vega said as she entered. When she saw the twins, she looked at Ariel. "You know what this means?"
"Harry and Ginny have returned." Ariel said nodding
"Dad's not teaching this year." Tara quickly informed.
"Do you know if they'll be at Hogsmeade?" Adam said as he entered and recognized the twins.
"Yes. They said that they'll be there tomorrow." Taran said.
"Should we tell Megan and Colin?" Polaris asked.
"Tell Megan and Colin what?" Colin asked coming up from behind the gang.
They moved so Colin could see the twins.
"Taran? Tara?" he asked.
"Penso che stiamo andando ottenere quello mólto."(3) Tara said to her brother.
"Of course we have to tell Megan." Colin said to Polaris. "They are her niece and nephew."
"What about my niece and nephew?" Megan said as she joined the group.
"They're in this car with Sabrina." Ariel dropped the bomb.
"What?" Megan said as she ran to the door.
"Hi Aunt Meg." The twins said.
"Taran? Tara?"
"Gli ho detto così" (4) Tara said to Taran.
Megan hugged the twins.
"I was beginning to think I'd never see you two again." She cried.
"Aunt Megan. We're Potters. We don't go down easily." Tara told her aunt as she returned the hug.
"Are your parents alright?" Megan asked.
"They're fine." Taran told her. "They'll be back in Hogsmeade tomorrow."
"Thank goodness." Megan sighed. "Mum will be happy to hear that."
"How is Grandma?" Tara asked.
"Besides worried sick about you four, she's fine." Megan told her niece. "Your other grandmother as well."
0000
"Firs' years over here!" Hagrid shouted.
"Well, we'll see you three inside." Megan told the three first years.
0000
Inside,
"Osservi Taran. Ci è Nonno." (5) Tara whispered to Taran when she saw Professor James Potter.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." James said to himself. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor James Potter. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly. But first, you must be sorted into your houses. This is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, spend your free time in your house common room, and sleep in your house dormitories."
"There are four houses. They are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and have all produced outstanding witches and wizards. Some with evil backgrounds and some with good.
"While you are here, your triumphs will earn you house points. On the other hand, any rule-breaking will deduct house points. Believe me. I've done that a few times before.
"At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school."
With that, James went to go open the doors.
The doors swung opened to reveal the Great Hall. Taran and Tara had been in there before so it was no surprise. The ceiling had been bewitched to look like the night sky. At the end of what seemed to be a very long runway, stood a stool with a tattered hat.
"Ci è il cappello di fascicolazione." (6) Taran whispered to his sister.
I'm not going to bother with the song again
"Abbott, Karen" James read.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
The list kept going and going and going.
Finally,
James did a double take when he got to the next two names,
"Potter, Tara?"
There were murmurs in the Great Hall. Hermione was seen looking at McGonagall in confusion who was equally confused.
Tara walked up to her surprised Grandfather.
"Hi Grandpa." She said cheekily.
He placed the hat on her head,
"GRYFFINDOR!"
She got up and went to the Gryffindor table.
"Potter, Taran." James called his grandson.
Taran went up and smiled at James.
The hat was placed on his head,
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Taran smiled and went to go sit next to his sister.
The list continued.
"Weasley, Sabrina."
Sabrina walked over to the stool.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
After the last person was sorted into Slytherin, McGonagall had a few words to say.
"Everyone!" she said standing up. "Welcome to another school year. Unfortunately, we lost our beloved previous headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, last week. May we have a moment of silence?"
After about five minutes of silence and soft crying, she started up again.
"The school year will go as planned. The rules haven't changed. The Forbidden Forest is still off limits. No magic is to be used in the corridors,…"
She went on about the rules.
"Now, as tradition, the start-of-term feast will begin."
At her signal, the food popped out. As the students started piling food on their plates, James walked up to McGonagall.
"What's Uncle James up to?" Ariel said noticing him.
McGonagall looked towards the gang, smiled, and nodded at James. He smiled and started walking towards them.
"We haven't pulled any pranks yet." Megan said.
"Dieci Galleons sta andando dire "Taran? Tara?"" (7)Tara told her brother
"Quella è una scommessa del pollone."(8) he told her.
"Taran? Tara?" James asked
"Gli ho detto così"(4) Taran told his sister.
"Hi Grandpa." The twins said in English.
"Where have you two been?" he asked as he hugged them.
"With Mum and Dad." Tara told him.
"Not all the time." Taran corrected her. "Dad's friend, Roberto, took care of us when Mum and Dad had to go to Albania."
"Oh yeah." Tara remembered.
"That still doesn't answer the question." James told his grandkids.
"We've been in Italy." Taran told him. "We stayed there to stay close to Albania in case there were more Death Eaters."
"Is your father around?" James asked.
"He and Mum should be back in Hogsmeade tomorrow." Tara told him. "They decided to fix up Godric Hollow."
James raised an eyebrow at this. He didn't think Harry would ever be able to go back there.
"Dad's been thinking about doing that for some time now." Tara continued. "Just in case someone in the family wanted to live at another Potter house. It no longer looks like the scene from a battle. And he disposed of the remains of the blown up statue of Voldemort."
TBC
A/N: I was going to be cruel and not put the Italian translations, or at least put them on my Profile, but I've decided to be nice and put them here for all of you to read them. They are rough translations
1. Come on!
2. I'm coming
3. I bet we're going to get that a lot.
4. I told you so.
5. Look Taran. There's Grandpa.
6. There's the Sorting Hat.
7. Ten Galleons he's going to say "Taran? Tara?"
8. That's a sucker bet
KNOCK KNOCK
The couple groaned.
"Think whoever it is will believe me if I said that "we weren't here"?" Harry asked.
"WE'RE NOT HOME!" Ginny tried.