DISCLAIMER: The story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, and various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros., Scholastic Books, etc. This story is intended as a fan made story and no money is being made. No trademark and copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe!
As always, I do apologize for any spelling and grammar error that you may see. If you do note any, please do not hesitate to reach out to me on this so that I can look to update the fixes (when I get around to correcting them).
Also, using the names Marcus/Marc and Rebecca now unless it is being refer about their past. So please do not be confused when this happens.
As always, reviews, comments, feedbacks are always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 4 – The Start
West Hampstead West End Lane North of Fawley Rd. (a few minutes drive away from Grangers)
Iris Evans-Potter leaned against the window sill, looking out towards the busy street of West End Lane. She has been living here for a few years now. Before that, she was living with her relatives, her room, under the stairs in a cupboard. Now, she has her own room, a room with a wonderful view of the busy street that is in front of her home with someone who seemed to care for her. Despite the constant assurance from her new guardian and despite it being years ago, she still felt like it was all a dream.
She rested her head on her arms as she looked at the pedestrians walking by from the third floor of the building.
The building where her home resides was a three story building. The bottom of the building was a rather popular café called, the Nook. The upper two floors was living space where she and her guardian lived.
The shop was a rather cosy place laid out not as your typical café, but rather more like a private study with bookshelves and various portraits lined around the walls. There was a small shelf containing some board games as well along with a small cherry fireplace with the flames dancing, creating a warm and cosy atmosphere. Instead of normal dining tables and chairs, there are various sofas and couches laid out throughout the place with coffee and end tables for customers to place their drinks or even to be used for the various games. Several hanging carpets and shelves filled with books, artwork, and others items engulfing each area and divided some of the tables and seats creating a small private nook for each area. Books and games along the shelves were accessible for reading by anyone as long as they placed the books back in their respective spots. There was even shelf that contained blankets and pillows to allow customers to stay nice and cosy during their stay there.
The place had become a rather large hit, encouraging many locals and even some university students to visit the location. Due to the popularity, the owner expanded the area opening up a front patio with included several picnic tables and two small portable fire pits on either side of the entrance.
Upstairs was where the owner of the café lived. It also happened to be where Iris was also living. The home was a rather spacious four bedroom with three and a half bathroom. The bottom floor had a living room, a kitchen, a pantry, a half bathroom, dining room, and game room. The upstairs held the four bedrooms and remaining bathrooms. Iris herself had one of the three smaller bedrooms that faced outwards towards the street while the master bedroom was located in the back. The owner, Marc, used one of the other three bedrooms while using the master bedroom for something else. From what she was able to gather, Marc seemed to care much about Rebecca, who looked more and more exhausted as each day went by.
It was until a few weeks into Iris living with them that Rebecca informed Iris that she would be moving out to a new place. But all of this was after Rebecca moved out on her journey. Iris recalled that the days coming up to Rebecca leaving she looked more and more exhausted. It was on the last day when Rebecca actually broke the news and Iris found out.
"Where will you be going?" Iris asked fearing that Rebecca was just going to leave her. While Rebecca was not much of a mother figure, the few weeks that she spent with her slowly brought her out of her shell. It was Rebecca who also introduced her to another girl who was just around her age.
"Somewhere far away," Rebecca replied.
"B-but, I don't want you to go," Iris stammered, "Why are you leaving? Did I do something wrong? Please don't go, I promise to be good."
Rebecca immediately fell to her knees and gathered up the young child hugging her and patting her head gently.
"Shh... It is not your fault, Iris," she replied as she held onto the girl, "There is just something that I need to do and it will be a rather long journey."
For a few moments Rebecca held onto Iris as the little girl cried onto her shoulder. Marc merely stood to the side quietly, not saying a word. Eventually, as Iris began to calm down, she looked at her once more.
"Will I see you again?" she asked.
For a moment it looked like Rebecca choked for a moment before smiling at her.
"Eventually," she stated.
"What if I want to reach out to you? Can I call you?"
Rebecca shook her head, "I do not know if you will be able to call me dear. Just promise me one thing."
"Anything," Iris replied immediately.
"Please watch over Hermione. You know that she loves to read, but she only has you as her friend. She will need you more as time goes by. When you make new friends, bring her along and help her to understand the value and importance of friendship. Let her realize that there is more to life than just books. And finally, always be there for her, even if she happens to be stubborn at times."
Iris giggled a bit at that before promising to Rebecca. During the few times that Iris met Hermione, they have instantly become fast friends. Of course, Hermione seemed to live half of her life in books. While Iris does like to read, she found herself time and again prying Hermione away from reading to enjoy other activities.
The last few days leading to that moment though was rather a scary moment for Iris. She no longer went by the last name of Potter but legally as Evans-Potter (with both her wanting to have a formal connection with her new adopted family and to also keep her past name), but began to go more as just Iris Evans over time. While having her name change and also having a new family to live with was a huge change for her, there was another change that she experienced with Marc and Rebecca.
Marc and Rebecca after finalizing the legal paper work for Iris noted they needed to visit the Grangers. As Iris finally had someone to hang out with, the two talked and read in Hermione's room. It was until Mrs. Granger came in with a tray with some dinner that the two girls noticed in shock that it was already pretty late. Hermione's mother informed them to stay upstairs. Both of the girls noted that Mrs. Granger did seem to be upset with something, but when she noted that Iris, Marc, and Rebecca would be spending the night, the joy of being able to play and read distracted the two.
It was not until much later that the two girls noted it was not just Mrs. Granger, but that there was a lot of tension between the adults for some time.
While for Iris and Hermione it was a great moment of being able to have the company of someone they were starting to enjoy, it was some of the scariest moment of their lives. Hermione confided to her that her parents looked very worried whenever they looked at her. She also noted that sometimes her father also seemed to have a look of anger towards Marc and a look of worry and hurt when looking at Rebecca. It did frighten Iris when after the first night; Marc sported a black eye and was once carried away by Rebecca to the guest room.
It was on two days after she said goodbye to Rebecca that both she and Hermione were at Hermione's home with one of the neighbours watching over the two children. On that day, she remembered Marc and the Grangers all dressed in black speaking softly to their neighbour before leave the two girls under the neighbours care. When the girls asked where the adults went, the lady looked quite uncomfortable, but noted to them that the three of them had something very important to do and unfortunately required only the adults to attend.
Since then, Marc, was more quiet and withdrawn. Despite Marc taking the time and effort to be there for her, Iris knew that the last few days around the time that Rebecca leaving them affected him more much more than it did to her.
While it was only for a brief moment, for Iris, Rebecca was both a mother figure and an older sister that she always wanted.
Iris sighed, that was a few years ago and life without Rebecca was hard, but something that Iris grown accustomed to. Every once in a while, Marc would inform her that a letter came from Rebecca and the two would read the letters and the picture that came with it. Rebecca seemed to have been doing well, but as time went by times between the letters became longer and the last one noted that this time, this may be the last letter they may be getting. The last picture and letter was about a year ago which showed Rebecca in Australia. In the picture, Rebecca wore a sun dress stood in front of a residential home with the words captioned below, "Memory Lane with Jane Monica Wilkins."
Each time Marc brought the letters, she noted that the following morning, he would look as if he had not had any sleep. She knew that Rebecca leaving them was hard for Marc and Marc never showed his grief in front of her. It was only the first and the last of the letters that she woke up in the middle of the night and wanting to get a glass of water that heard Marc quietly weeping and muttering to himself in his bedroom.
Despite that, time slowly moved on and the two eventually moved to another place with Marc opening up and running a café and Iris enjoying her time playing and reading in the café every day after school until it was time for the shop to close. While life was repetitive, it became a comfortable norm for the two.
Today though, was a bit different. As she was looking out the window in search for a particular someone. It would be time for them to visit soon and Iris could not wait for them to arrive. Iris kept looking out and watching both direction of the street until… There! She noticed a familiar looking car appear further down the road and driving up the road eventually slowing down to pull up to the curb. Before the car came to a complete stop, the rear door of the car opened and a miniature whirlwind with brown bushy hair bolting out of the car and into the café with a man and woman getting out of the vehicle, their voices calling out to the little girl who ran into the shop.
Grinning, Iris immediately pushed away from the window sill and bolted down the stairs and opened the door to the entrance of her home at the bottom of the stairs. The door opened to a room where on one end was the door leading to the back entrance and the other end another door that led to a small hallway. She ran through the door into the hallway, passing by the break room and storage room on both side and opening the door at the end that led into the café.
Once she entered the café, she looked around knowing her target was somewhere in the room. It was not long before she found herself being thrown in the one direction as someone tackled her into a hug causing both figures to fall onto the floor in shrieks of delight.
"Iris!" the figure yelled.
"Hermione!"
The two gave each other a fierce hug and started speaking rapidly to each other as Hermione started pulling her over to an empty sofa in the back of the shop. It was the spot that they designated as their own whenever they were downstairs in the café. While the ruckus did annoy a few of the customers in the café, most of them, mainly regulars, merely smiled at the scene and waited for the owner and the parents to admonish them as usual.
"Girls!"
Two voices called out immediately halting the two girl's conversation.
Marc immediately gave meaningful glances towards the customers causing the two girls to blush before he turned to speak a bit to the parents while keeping an eye on the girls. The two girls nodded in understanding and began to converse in a low voice as Marc lead the adult Grangers to the back. As the adults went towards the back, Marc caught the attention of one of the staff motioning to him that he will be out for a bit and led the adults up the stairs to the living area.
"So?"
"So?" Hermione replied back to Iris.
Iris huffed, "Did you do it again?
Hermione nodded in excitement causing both to giggle a bit.
"Is that why your parents-"
"Yup," Hermione replied, "They are here to learn more about… magic."
Hermione leaned in closer when she whispered the last word.
With Iris growing up with Marc, she had got to learn quite a bit about magic. Even though she knew that there were supposedly other magic users, the only two people she knew how to do magic was Marc and Rebecca. Eventually, to her joy, there was another person who she would be able to share about the secret world of magic with.
A little more than a year ago, there was a huge commotion at the Grangers with them calling Marc for help. Marc and Iris immediately went over to visit the family. Iris went to calm a hysteric Hermione and Marc to calm a very distraught couple. After what seemed like a few hours, the situation seemed to have calmed down for everyone with Marc promising to come by and visit them with Iris to discuss more. Since then, over the weeks it seemed like the Grangers and Marc got along much more and even mentioned about visiting London every now and then. The three adults mentioning things that neither girls heard of before like Diagon Alley, Leaky Cauldron, Hogwarts, and Gringotts.
Marc did begin to give Hermione and Iris various books for them to read. One of the books that the two girls loved to read was an old tattered history book called Hogwarts: A History. Originally the two thought that the book was rather a very well written fiction history book about a strange castle along with magic and various supernatural tales. However, as they began to read more of these books, the two began to realize that the books Marc was providing for them may not be as fictitious as they originally thought. After all, there are several subjects from several books that they began to identify.
Like for instance, accidental magic.
Now, with another person to speak about magic, and with one of them being someone around her age, it was a wonderful thing for Iris. She was ecstatic to be able to finally talk about magic with another person other than Marcus. While he and Rebecca did their best to teach her and help answer any questions, the secrecy and limitations on being able to speak about the matter did put some tension on them.
As the girls had their own conversation downstairs and also discussing other matters, the adults settled down upstairs.
Robert and Jean sat down as Marc served them some refreshments before taking a seat himself. The three sat around with ease as their friendship had grown closer over time. When Marc and Rebecca introduced Iris to the Grangers, the two immediately grew fond of the young girl who also became fast friends with their daughter.
Marc and Rebecca would frequently visit the Grangers whenever they could and Grangers did likewise. Eventually, while it was a gamble, the two did reveal some of their secrets about their magic and eventually themselves. It was a difficult few nights and even did became violent at times, but thing eventually settled down. While it was apparent that the Grangers were sceptical about Magic and even more about the truth about the two, it was with Rebecca's way of laying out the information and some demonstration that eventually got the other two to grudgingly accept the truth.
It was also something that Marc had to convince Rebecca in order to provide some sort of closure for herself as well. With the truth about them out and with the knowledge that magic existed, it eventually led to the Grangers trust in Marc when they noted that their own daughter showed accidental burst of magic. In return, Marc did his best to explain about magic and the magical world in detail and being as transparent about it as possible.
"So how are things for you," Robert asked Marc as the three got themselves settled.
Marc nodded and giving Robert and Jean a grin, "Pretty well. Business has picked up quite a bit and we sent out an advert to hire more staff."
"Oh?" Robert replied.
"We have been getting more foot traffic and looking for a manager and some part-timers as business has been hectic as of late."
"Well, Laurel is looking for a job," Jean replied back, "Would you be able to take her on?"
Laurel was the daughter of the receptionist, Sarah, who worked at Robert and Jean's practice. She was Hermione's baby sister on occasion when Robert and Jean needed someone to watch over Hermione and to that extent watched over Iris as well.
Marc took a moment to think about it and nodded in agreement.
"She is reliable, hardworking, and got a good head on her shoulder," he commented, "If she is interested, we can have her start next week."
Jean smiled in response, "I will let Sarah know."
The three exchanged news for a few more minutes and conversation settled down once more.
"How is Hermione doing?" Marc asked, leading the conversation towards the main topic.
The question caused Robert and Jean to both tense up momentarily before relaxing.
"She has been well, just had another burst of magic occur again yesterday."
"Oh?"
Robert nodded, "We found her on the roof of our home with one of her books. Nearly screamed bloody murder when she could not find a way to get back down."
"We thought she found a way to climb up to the roof, but she mentioned that she was in her room and suddenly found herself on the roof."
Marc's eyes widened in clear recognition.
"So this is another bout of accidental magic?" Jean asked.
Marc nodded, "Accidental Apparition. That is quite impressive that she was able to Apparate. I have done it myself when I was around Hermione's age. Back then I was trying to run away from some bullies and found myself on a roof. Did she mention what happened?"
"Yes," Jean spoke up, "She said she saw the neighbour's oak tree from her window and thinking it would be nice to be able to read while sitting on the branches. Next thing she knew, she found herself on the roof."
"And she changed her mind right before?"
The parents both nodded.
"That would explain why she ended up on the roof then,"
"How so?" Robert asked.
"I idea behind Apparition is simple, however, the actual execution of it is not."
The two leaned forward in attention as Marc continued to explain.
"To Apparate, there are three things that you need to consider when doing so. You need to know the Destination, have the Determination, but do so with Deliberation. If we use Hermione's situation here, Hermione saw the tree and had a desire to be somewhere high, this address the Destination. She also likely had strong Determination to get to her destination, but it was during final part she in her deliberation where she hesitated. Most likely she stopped her desire to get to where she wished and Apparate. Luckily she did not splinch herself while doing so."
"Splinch?"
Marc nodded, "One of the nastier parts about Magical accidents. Pretty much it is when accidents like missing small things like fingernail to something more serious like arm or more. If not done with care, it could be very dangerous for individuals who Apparate and with such dangers not something everyone can do. However, if the situation is not severe such as a missing finger or so, it can be quickly fixed as the healers in St. Mungos could work on getting the finger reattached."
Both Robert and Jean looked in shock and horror at Marc's brief explanation.
"So, how do we make sure she does not do it again?"
Marc shrugged, "Honestly, I cannot say. It does seem that young children have easier time to Apparate compared to adults."
"How so," Jean asked.
"Not sure on that, but I can guess that it may be due to lack of awareness to danger of such actions."
"You are referring to curiosity and imagination?"
Marc nodded, "May be the most appropriate way to see it. Children are known to be curious about things and will explore it. Heavens know I have gotten myself and others in trouble many times."
"So," Robert spoke again, "What would be the best way to handle this?"
"Best thing to do is make sure we explain to Hermione what happened and also the dangers of it but certainly not frighten her of the potential consequences. Maybe after a few years when she becomes more comfortable with magic she can practice how to Apparate properly under supervision. Until then, there is not much we could do except keeping an eye on her."
Hermione's parents nodded, but still did not seem satisfied. While Marc did explain what Hermione did, they did not realize just how dangerous Apparation could be and there was no immediate solution that could protect their daughter from potential harm should she accidently Apparate again.
The three continued to converse a bit more before heading down to the girls. They did agree that it may be best for the girls and the Grangers to further immerse themselves into the magical world.
Marc came across the girls sitting together and chatting amicably while sipping on some hot chocolate along with a checkers set on the coffee table. Hermione looked particularly guilty when she saw her parents walk into the scene and trying her best to hide her mug of hot chocolate with her small hands much to her parents' amusement.
Jean raised her eyebrows at the girls who both blushed and looked away knowing they were clearly caught with the drink much to the amusement of the adults.
"Time for us to leave, Hermione," Jean said causing the two girls to groan Jean stopped the two from any further protest and continued on.
"You will see each other tomorrow. We will be going on a little road trip."
That immediately got the two to change from pouting to cheering.
"Where will be going?" Hermione asked.
"Diagon Alley," Marc supplied.
Iris and Hermione gave each other a hug and were clearly ecstatic of the news. The parents encouraged the two girls to clean up after themselves and after a short good bye Iris went back up clearly unable to wait for tomorrow to come.
Chuckling, Marc went towards the counter and continued to oversee the shop until closing and soon he and Iris retired for the night.
After Iris went to bed, Marcus stayed up for a few hours longer sitting next to his desk deep in thought. He stared blankly at off in the distance in the direction of where Iris slept. Eventually, he let out a sigh and reached out for a parchment and pen. He looked at the empty parchment a bit longer before placing the tip of the pen to the paper and began to write.
