Chapter six: owls, brooms and nightmares
Molly was making breakfast in the kitchen and he walked to stand beside her, watching her work for a moment before looking up at her face. Motherhood had left subtle marks upon it - smile lines and frown lines alike - but there wasn't a thing he'd change about her. She had been the first mother he'd known - Aunt Petunia didn't count in the least - and though he'd been too old to be mothered like Ron and his brothers and sister had been, Harry had always appreciated her efforts. If she were mad at him for yelling at his real mum and dad, she'd let him know in her own special way.
"Stop looking so worried dear," Molly put her wand in her pocket, startling Harry from his thoughts, "While I don't like the way you were yelling yesterday, I understand that you were feeling a little overwhelmed."
"Have I ever thanked you for all you've done?" Harry wondered aloud, "Because it's always meant a lot to me. I mean it."
"Yes, well, dear, I hope you didn't mind that I mothered you a bit. You and Ron have been such a double act, and you took such wonderful care of Ginny in her first year," Molly put an arm around his shoulders and Harry leaned into her side for a moment, his own arm going around her waist hesitantly.
"I didn't mind," his throat was aching a bit, and he took a shaky breath, "In fact, I was lucky. Still am."
"Well, I hope you don't think that we'll forget you now that you have your parents back, dear. They can borrow you for a while, but you'll always be one of my boys. You'll always be a Weasley."
The statement made Harry's heart soar and he beamed at his best friend's mother in pure relief. He had been worried that the Weasley's would wash their hands of him now that his parents had returned. His self-confidence had never been strong enough to figure out why they seemed to like him. His status as an orphan hadn't been the reason then. Molly hugged him properly and then sniffed before turning back to the stove with a muttered direction to 'set the table dear'.
He was all too glad of the chance to get himself under some sort of control. Just as he assembled the cutlery Ron ambled in and started gathering plates. Minutes later people started arriving in the kitchen, with Ginny the first to appear and Harry's parents the last. The casual conversation that Ginny and Arthur had been holding stopped as if a switch had been thrown, and Harry squared his shoulders.
"I'm sorry for my behaviour yesterday. It was uncalled for."
His voice fell into the silence with a quiet authority. James nodded in acceptance, and Lily came to kiss him on the cheek, an action that made him squirm in embarrassment. Arthur cleared his throat and that broke the tableau as everyone sat down and started the usual morning routine of breakfast. Remus appeared towards the end for a tray for himself and Sirius, and Harry smiled at the werewolf. The man ruffled his hair on the way past - an unusual action that was watched curiously by the whole table - and disappeared with a word of thanks to Molly.
Before Harry could do more than smooth his hair back down there was a muffled hoot from the scullery and Arthur got up to check the owl mail. Hedwig fluttered through the door the moment he opened it and landed on Harry's shoulder with a letter. He thanked her and offered her his bacon rinds while he opened the envelope.
"Hermione is still under house arrest," Harry muttered to Ron, "She says she'll see us on the train."
Hermione's parents had been appalled that their daughter would leave school illegally and travel all the way to London where she then got into 'some kind of brawl with hooligans' was the direct quote she'd relayed to Harry. She was forbidden to leave their house except with them as an escort, and had therefore been forbidden to visit with Harry and Ron during the holidays. Harry had made Hedwig available to her so she could purchase books by owl mail, and send letters to the Weasley's as well. Hedwig hadn't minded the extra flights, but always examined him anxiously when she returned, as if checking that the Dursley's hadn't hurt him.
"Good thing her parents can't write us Howlers," Ron replied and Hedwig hooted in agreement. The red head smiled at the owl on Harry's shoulder and reached over to ruffle her feathers. Harry caught his parents watching the exchange curiously, and folded the letter away. It had been hard enough to put up with the stares of strangers, but being stared at by people he knew - or was supposed to know - was almost unbearable, especially in the holidays. At least at school he was used to the stares and whispered comments, though he hated it.
"Your OWL results are here, boys!" Arthur announced as he re-entered the kitchen and both Harry and Ron groaned.
"How many T for Troll's are you allowed to get and still stay in school?" Harry asked the room at large and accepted his letter from Arthur with a quiet thanks. Ron was holding his envelope by the tips of his fingers at arms length.
"Don't be so melodramatic," Molly scolded, a smile lurking in her eyes. Ron gulped and looked at Harry, before ripping open their envelopes together. They read through the list of marks and then swapped them over in silence, perusing each other's. Once that was done they put them together and compared carefully, the tension at the table building, as they gave nothing away. Harry could feel the amusement running through Ron, and was close to snickering himself.
"Well?" Ginny cried impatiently, and they looked up together, surprise drawn comically over their faces.
"What?" they chorused with that perfect timing that only teenage smart aleks could perfect and Molly growled reached over and plucked Harry's letter from his hand while Arthur confiscated Ron's.
"Oh well done, son! Seven OWLs!" Arthur exclaimed, just as Molly beamed at Harry.
"And seven for Harry!" the couple swapped parchments and Ginny hopped up to read over her mothers shoulder.
"You got an OWL in History of Magic, Ron?" she gaped and Ron shrugged. Although he tended to ignore Binns in class, he did the reading, which was in Ron's own words 'kind of interesting', especially if you looked at the tactics and machinations that went on behind the scenes in a lead up to the historic events. Ron loved strategy, which made him such a great chess player.
"I flunked that one," Harry shook his head, "I fell asleep in the exam."
Considering where that nap had led them, he wasn't surprised he'd flunked. Arthur's hand rested on his shoulder for a moment, as he handed Ginny Harry's results.
"Yes, well, it came out alright in the end," Ron's dad sighed, "And you'll know better next time."
"Yes sir," Harry whispered, swallowing hard. Hedwig nibbled on his hair in concern and he reached up to pat her, staring at his plate. She shifted closer and crooned under her breath, a comforting noise that he heard most often after his nightmares. It always had a relaxing effect on him and he rubbed his hair against her feathers in thanks. Not many people could claim an owl for a mother, nor would they want to, but Harry knew he'd been very lucky to receive such a wonderful owl as a gift.
"You got an OWL in Divination, Harry!" Ginny laughed, "How did you do that?"
Harry was pulled out of his thoughts and he shrugged, grinning, as James cleared his throat.
"May I see Harry's marks?" there was a slight edge to his voice, and Ginny looked at him in surprise. Harry had forgotten his parents were even there, as it seemed so natural to share his news with the Weasley's. This was yet another unforeseen pitfall that he'd failed to avoid. He wasn't making a very good start as their son, first yelling at them and then ignoring them. He watched with a heavy heart as Ginny handed his letter over without comment and his parents read it carefully.
"We both got an 'O' in Potions," Ron boasted, "Take that Snape!"
The comment got the conversation out of its awkward silence, and Harry made a mental note to take his results up to Snuffles and Moony after breakfast.
0o0o0o0
His father found him sitting in the front parlour with his godfather after lunch. Harry had been looking the Firebolt over before taking it up to his room. Apparently Dumbledore had left it here for him once the ban had been lifted. His broom servicing kit - a gift from Hermione - was open on the table in front of him and the broom was balanced on his knees as he checked over the tail twigs one by one.
"Nice broom," James bent over to look at it more closely and Harry handed it over to his father without second thought. As a former Seeker, his dad would appreciate the broom the way he did.
"Sirius bought it for me in my third year. Then Hermione told Professor McGonagall, who confiscated it and gave it to Hooch and Flitwick to strip down," Harry grinned at his godfather, "They thought you'd hexed it."
"Not a hope," Sirius shook his head, "I broke out to rescue you, not hex you."
"You weren't tempted?" James asked lightly, handing the broom back. Instantly the congenial atmosphere vanished and Sirius glared at his returned friend.
"Harry is great, he doesn't need hexing," Sirius defended him and Harry put the twig clippers away, taking out the handle polish and a soft rag and starting near the tail. He wasn't going to get involved in this argument, though he could understand why his Dad thought he needed hexing. His behaviour had been less than sterling.
"I didn't mean it like that," James ran a hand through his hair in frustration, and turned to look at his son who was ignoring them both, polishing away diligently. He looked up when James touched his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," the words were said softly and Harry nodded acceptance, glancing at Sirius. His godfather still looked a little cranky, and Harry decided a diversion was in order. He was not going to come between the Marauders if he could help it.
"I nearly killed myself on it the first time," he grinned at the former prisoner, "It's much more responsive than the Nimbus 2000 I learned to play on. The broom just took off and it was three laps later that I managed to get the hang of it."
"Sure, Harry," Sirius obviously didn't believe him, which showed that Harry was a terrible liar, "This from the youngest Seeker Gryffindor has had in a century. You'd better not let this fly into the Whomping Willow - I can't afford to shell out for another top flight broom this year."
"Hey, it wasn't my idea to ruin that broom!" Harry wagged a finger at the other man, "That was the gale, and the Dementors."
"Don't you wag your finger at me young man," Sirius replied with mock testiness, "I am a former Marauder."
"And I'm the Boy Who Lived. I've faced scarier things than you, godfather, even when you were pretending to be the Grim," Harry retorted lightly, and gave a final swipe to the handle. Sirius stuck his tongue out in a very mature reply and Harry grinned, capping the polish and stowing everything back in the kit.
"So when did you join the House team?" James' question reminded them that he was there, and Harry blushed, fiddling with the zipper around the kit for a moment.
"Sort of just after my first flying lesson in First year," he glanced at his dad, "Malfoy - um Lucius Malfoy's son Draco - had a Rememberall that he'd found. It belonged to Neville Longbottom from my house. See we were all lined up for our first flight and Neville lost control of his broom before anyone ever got into the air and when he fell off he broke his wrist. Madam Hooch took him off to the hospital wing and Malfoy was going to chuck the Rememberall up on the roof. I went up to stop him and when he threw it away I caught it."
"Right in front of my office window," Professor McGonagall said from the door, "With no prior flight experience, and on an old clunker to boot. I had him on the ground and signed up before he knew what had hit him."
"Hello Professor!" Harry smiled at his Head of House, and the adults greeted each other. His teacher eyed him significantly and he left them to talk, heading up to his room to put his things away. Ron decoyed him into a game of chess and he settled on the bed easily, relieved to be out from under the scrutiny of the grown ups in the house.
0o0o0o0
That night, Ron shook him awake before the nightmare had a real chance to get hold, and they slept through peacefully after that. Breakfast saw another delivery of letters, this time from the school with the usual booklists and paraphernalia requirements. You were automatically entered for NEWT level studies for any subject you got an OWL in, unless your parents wrote to the school to withdraw you from a subject. As they needed all their subjects to get into Auror training, neither Ron nor Harry had requested such a thing, though Harry only realised after the fact that he would have asked Mrs Weasley to write on his behalf.
Lily made mention at breakfast that he had seemed to sleep well, and Ron had mumbled something just loud enough for his mother to hear. Harry got a pat on the head and extra toast, while Lily fumed that she hadn't been called when he'd woken.
"You can rely on us, son," James was patting his wife on the hand and Harry refrained from pointing out that he'd never had them around to rely on before. It was hard to change the habits of a lifetime, but he didn't say that either.
"We were both back asleep only a few minutes later," Harry shrugged, not meeting anyone's eyes, "It never occurred to me to call for an adult. Poor Ron is used to waking me up by now."
Ron rolled his eyes and put on a martyred expression that no one bought. Mrs Weasley changed the subject by telling her children that she would take them shopping for their school things today, and when Harry asked if they could visit the twins shop as well he got a funny look from his mother.
"Harry, I rather think…" Mrs Weasley said awkwardly and Harry realised he'd done it again, ignored his parents in favour of the family that had adopted him unofficially. He blushed and got up from the table without excusing himself, heading out the door and up the stairs before anyone could stop him. Not wanting to run the risk of disturbing his godfather in some steamy activity, he climbed all the way to the top of the house and into the room where he'd first sought refuge. The dimness was a comfort at first, but then he got curious about the mass in the middle of the room and started rubbing at the wall near one of the pinpricks of light.
It turned out to be glass, and allowed more light through as the grime caked away under the action of his hands. Dust danced in the light and he started enlarging the clean patch, rubbing diligently and ignoring the mess he was making of clothes that had been clean only a few minutes ago. By the time Ron found him, he had cleared one of the lower panes of glass and was working on the one next to it.
"Mum is going to have a fit when she sees you," Ron scolded from the trapdoor, "What in the name of Merlin are you doing?"
"Cleaning the glass?" Harry waved a filthy hand and Ron rolled his eyes in response, "I thought you were off to Diagon Alley first thing?"
"You're coming with us. Your mum and dad will put their disguises back on and we'll all go together. Mum sent me to find you."
"I thought that…" Harry trailed off, not wanting to sound like a whining child. He'd thought that Ron's mum didn't want him along; that maybe being his adopted mother was too hard, and she was glad to hand him back after all.
"Yeah well, mum had a word with them," Ron shrugged, "She has pretty good wards on the kitchen too, because Ginny and I couldn't hear anything."
Harry grinned and followed his friend down the stairs, forgetting about why he'd been cleaning the windows in the first place. Molly once again spotted him as they reached the inhabited floors and scolded him soundly while waving her wand to clean him off. Attracted by the noise, Lily appeared wearing her Beth disguise and frowned at the sight of her son sheepishly toeing the carpet and mumbling apologies to the scolding woman. Molly put her wand away and rubbed Harry's shoulder on her way downstairs, telling them to be ready to leave in five minutes. Ron grabbed his elbow and hauled him along the hall, loudly proclaiming that he wasn't about to let Harry get them in trouble again.
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