The next day, Sirius decided that Harry and Rose needed to see Godric's Hollow and so he took them there. He did it so they could see their parent's graves for the first time but also so they could see the house they should have grown up in. He planned for them to spend the whole day there. They had left mid morning and wouldn't come back home until late afternoon or early evening. Remus was with them and a couple of Order members would patrol around the town to make sure they were safe, though Sirius refused to tell Harry and Rose, afraid they'd be too worried.
"Have you been there since you escaped Azkaban?" Harry asked his godfather as they drove to Godric's Hollow.
"I did, once, after I flew away with Buck, before I went south." Sirius nodded.
"What about you, Remus?" Rose asked the man who had recently been named her godfather.
"I've been every year since their death." He nodded.
"I wish Aunt Petunia would have taken me at least once." Harry commented.
"Knowing what little I know about your aunt, you shouldn't be surprised that she didn't but she might have come on her own once in a while, without her husband or anyone knowing." Sirius replied, doing his best to sound nice but, deep down, hating Lilly's sister not only for the way she had been with Harry, but also for breaking Lilly's heart so many times over in the past.
Harry and Rose placed flowers on their parents' graves and, after a while, they went to see the ruins of the house.
"Do you think we can go inside?" Rose asked their guardians.
"I don't see why not. There are protections in place to prevent it from falling in more pieces and this is, after all, your home, your heritage. Technically, you still own the grounds." Sirius nodded.
"Be careful though, it might still be a bit unstable." Remus warned them.
After seeing the house, they walked around town a bit, found a small restaurant to eat in and Harry and Rose spent some time imagining how things would have gone had they been raised by their parents, with Remus and Sirius only being their beloved Godfathers and uncles. They learned that the woman who wrote Harry's History of Magic book lived nearby and used to love hanging out with Lily and Harry when he was a baby, and they even crossed her at some point. She was very old, maybe even older than Dumbledore, but she still recognized Harry and came to say hello. They talked for a little while and, after promising to come back for a visit at a later date, they manage to leave.
Remus also told them about the famous wizards who had lived in this town, including Dumbledore and his family. When they visited the cemetery a second time before they left, Harry and Rose noticed a symbol that Rose knew to be Grindelwald's sign and she interrogated Remus, who told them that this was the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, following with the tale of the Tree brothers who wanted to be the masters of death. He wasn't surprised that they didn't know the story, especially given who raised them, and so, on the way home, they talked a lot about that story, what it meant and who people believe it spoke about.
Harry and Rose were happy for this day and they made the promise to come back, as soon as they could.
.
Once they got home, they received news, bad news.
Voldemort and his followers had attacked a small muggle town up north, and killed a muggle born wizard that had been living there peacefully for a while. This was his first attack since his come back and it reminded them of how serious the situation was.
"Why didn't Snape warn the Order so you'd stop it in time?" Harry asked.
"Apparently, this was a last minute decision. Nobody knew until 10 minutes before the attack. Severus warned the order, but very few people were available and even the ministry didn't have many available fighting wands to send..." Remus shook his head.
"Was there a lot of casualties?" Rose asked in a small voice.
"This wizard, his muggle wife and their baby girl... A few of their neighbors were injured, houses destroyed... But fortunately not much more... Voldemort is having trouble recruiting and doesn't have many followers anymore, this is why Dumbledore is trying to help Fudge find a solution for Azkaban. We believe that the time is coming close when Voldemort will break his followers out. He needs the numbers." Sirius explained.
"The problem is that breaking his followers out would scare some people into following him, or convince the doubtful ones that he's truly back in power and they'd join him. It would be bad for us in many aspects." Remus added.
"I really hope we'll be able to stop him before he kills too many people." Rose whispered and Harry nodded his agreement.
"Do we know why he attacked this particular wizard? He can't be the only muggle born Voldemort or his followers know of." Harry asked curiously.
"This particular man was very skilled in ancient potions, I know he's got Snape for this, but this wizard knows how to make some very ancient potions, potions that require rare ingredients that he knows where to find. This was what he studied and what he worked in. Since he's dead, I guess it means he refused to help them." Remus explained.
.
Every day, Harry and Rose took at least an hour to do some homework, sometimes more. Rose mainly helped her brother get a better potion level during the summer but they also learned more defensive spells that could be useful the next time they had to face Death Eaters. Sometimes, the Weasley children joined them and they did their homework all together. Ron, though he wouldn't admit it, enjoyed having Rose's help in potions and found it easier to understand when she explained it.
They also spent a lot of time having fun with the Weasley children who spent most of their afternoons at the Marauder's lair. Rose and Ginny were becoming fast friends and she was pleased to notice that Fred still flirted with her and, every evening, when she found a single rose on her pillow, she knew that he had done it, though he didn't say anything. Maybe he simply snuck in her bedroom to place it there, or he asked Serenity or Winky to do it. Either way, she knew that it came from him because it was exactly the same one as the one he gave her that first morning. Now, she had a large and beautiful vase to place them in, in her bedroom. Remus had gotten it as a present for her.
"Harry, did you ask Ron about Fred like you said you would?" Rose asked her brother one evening before they went to bed.
"I tried to bring it up but Ron doesn't really pay attention to these things. Why don't you ask Ginny?" Harry replied.
"I did, she thinks he's interested, says he's never acted this way with another girl before but she can't be sure until he's made a confession." Rose replied with a frown.
"Well, you're great with potions, you could always brew some veritaserum and feed it to him, then ask him." Harry joked.
"I couldn't do that, what if he says something that hurts my feelings?" Rose exclaimed.
"I was kidding. Don't worry, if he likes you, he'll tell you. I don't think he's the kind of guy to keep these things to himself."
"You're probably right. Anyway, are you excited for tomorrow?" She asked him.
"For our birthday? Of course I am. For once I'll spend my birthday with friends and family, who'll want to celebrate my birth, and with my twin sister. It's going to be cool. A first for us." Harry replied with a great smile.
Indeed, for their birthday, Sirius and Remus had gone all out and organized a big party with several members of the Order, personal friends of theirs and some of Harry's friends from school.
They had offered for Rose to invite a few friends of hers. Unfortunately, she hadn't stayed in touch with many people. She didn't have any friends left from Beaubaton, though Fleur would come to her birthday as Bill's date, but she did have a few friends in Durmstrang, most of them had met Harry during the tournament and only a couple of them had agreed to come. Ron hadn't been very happy when she told him that Krum would be coming for their birthday, especially since Hermione was coming as well, for one week. Then, she'd go back to her parents and she'd come back to stay with Sirius and Remus the week before school started again.
So, next chapter is their birthday... Voldemort will want to celebrate too... How do you think he'll do it?
So, everything is written ahead, past chapter 48, but I'm thinking of adding a little scene in between. Don't you think Sirius, as soon as he arrives in Hogwarts to teach, should speak the the Fat lady and apologize for what he did to her after he escaped Azkaban? I do and I'm going to look for the best place to insert it in. Will it be a serious scene or a funny one?
I'm working on chapters 49 and 50 right now, they'll be pretty dark... And definitely not the end of the story!
Lorelei Candice Black