AN: I know a few people wanted to actually read the article that Skeeter was writing. I decided not to do that this time since A) the interview was long and the article was an entire special edition of the Prophet, and B) we saw the interview the article was based on being taken (more or less). In the future I will have Skeeter articles as needed, but I don't want one to dominate a chapter.
Christmas Break Part IV: The Family Tapestry
Amos Diggory stared furiously at the images and headline on the front page of the Daily Prophet's Christmas special. "The Harry Potter Story - A Family Overcoming Hardship" was the title of the piece, and Amos didn't need to go further than the two pictures beneath it to know that this wasn't going to be good for him.
On the left side was a picture he recognized of James and Lily Potter from their seventh year of Hogwarts, and standing on the other side of Lily from James was the werewolf Remus Lupin, all laughing and joking with each other. To the right of that picture was a much newer one, showing Harry Potter and a boy that the caption identifies as his cousin, Dudley, wandlessly lifting a table and five occupied chairs several feet off the ground before returning them to terra firma without incident.
When he calmed down enough to read the article, Amos was furious all over again. How dare Dumbledore try his social experiments in a school full of children? It didn't matter if the common witch or wizard was swayed by the headmaster's emotional rhetoric, Amos Diggory was confident that the Wizengamot would not approve of the man potentially training werewolves right under their noses.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
No one in the Granger family had ever used a portkey before, and none of them had been properly warned what to expect. As such, "bend your knees" was wholly insufficient advice for not landing in a heap on the other side.
"Agh! It's in my skirt!" Hermione shouted as she jumped up and danced around trying to get the sand off of her, her mother was right behind her but with slightly more dignity. Daniel had managed to keep from landing on his back, but he was still kneeling as he got his bearings back. That calm let him take note of childlike sniggering from behind him, and he turned to find Harry and Dudley fighting to keep from laughing at their situation behind an advancing Remus Lupin.
"Allow me," Remus said as he pointed his wand at the three and all the sand on them magically disappeared, "and sorry for the landing, though I assure you that you'd prefer sand to cobblestone or dirt, and with magic it's easy enough to clean."
"Thank you, but where are the others?" Daniel asked, taking in their surroundings as his wife and daughter hugged Harry and Dudley. They had landed on a beach, probably fifteen meters from the water's edge, and about the same distance from a path that led up a cliff onto the island proper. He could see two cottages at the top of the cliff face, but the distance and angle made it hard to tell their size.
"Vernon and Petunia wanted to take care of something up top before the children got there." the werewolf explained, "We've been down here playing in the sand for about ten minutes while we wait on the okay to go up. I don't think it should be but another five or so."
"Playing in the sand?" Hermione asked as she looked up and down the beach finding no sand castles, just little shapeless mounds of sand here and there.
"Check this out." Dudley said as he took out his wand and incanted a spell as he slowly moved through a long but repetitive series of wand movements, "Figura Saluta Terra."
"Dudley! You'll get in trouble!" Hermione shouted before gasping in wonder as the sand where his wand was pointing began flowing together to form a fairly good representation of Hogwarts castle, though without details like windows. The structure crumbled when Dudley released his spell, and Hermione understood what those little mounds she'd seen were.
"This island is under a lot of wards, and the location is known by the Ministry to be owned by a magical family." Remus explained, "If they detect any magic from here then they assume it to be cast by a responsible adult, and won't investigate. The Ministry doesn't like students knowing this, but they can't actually determine if you're using your wand, only that magic was used near it. Say, twenty feet or so; and that is only if the Trace isn't blocked by ward saturation."
"But that is so unfair!" Hermione shouted anew, her mother echoing her outcry behind her, "That means people like Malfoy get extra chances to practice!"
"I don't disagree, but it is what it is." Remus answered, "You should take advantage of it while you're here to show your parents what you've been learning; and keep this in mind, wandless magic doesn't show up on the Ministry trace even if you cast it at home. Don't take that as a license to cause trouble," he chuckled when she scoffed at him, "but if the situation calls for it then you need to know what you can and can't do at home."
"Then why did Aunt Andi get that special exception for us yesterday?" Harry asked. He had decided after the interview yesterday that if Remus was going to be 'Uncle Moony' then Andromeda should be his 'Aunt' as well.
"She didn't need to except that there were pictures taken." Remus returned, "We kept it all above board and by the books for Rita Skeeter, to prevent her from realizing and broadcasting in the paper about wandless magic not being tracked. With an actual class for the art being tentatively introduced, such a revelation could be a disaster. At best, the Wizengamot might ban wandless magic outright. At worst? It could be used to crack down on muggle raised children by criminalizing real accidental magic."
"Oh no." Emma gasped, "But obviously it can't be too much of a secret, can it? No offense intended, but you aren't the most 'connected' person are you?"
"Yes and no." He answered, "Most people higher up in the Ministry would know if they tried or cared to find out, but would also understand the implications of spreading that knowledge and wouldn't do so. I know because of Lily. She was gifted with wandless magic, and realized that it wasn't being tracked after she got into trouble in the summer after her first year, but only the one time she used a wand."
"C-can you show me that spell?" Hermione asked, it was clear from how she was practically hopping in place that she had been fighting not to interrupt to ask.
"Of course." Remus answered with an imperceptible frown, "The wand motion, as you saw, is long but simple, and you repeat it a lot. You need to keep doing it until the sand begins moving properly. While you move your wand, the incantation is…"
Hermione had only managed to cast the sand shaping spell somewhat successfully one time before Vernon and Petunia called to them from the top of the cliff that they were ready. She wasn't too worried though, she always did better when she could read about a spell first rather than having it shown to her. Her weak attempt at creating a sand version of her family's home was put on hold as they began the trek up the cliff.
"Something's wrong." Harry said after they had walked the path for a few moments.
"I know what you're feeling Harry," Remus said, "ignore it for now and I'll explain at the top."
The top was less than a minute away, which let on to the others what Harry had noticed almost immediately.
"How did we get up here that fast?" Dudley asked as he peered over the guardrail at the cliff's edge to verify that they had, in fact, climbed several hundred steps and ascended almost one hundred feet in basically no time at all.
"There's an enchantment on the stairs," Remus explained, "As long as everyone on the path is going in the same direction, and no one stops, then you can get up or down in about half a minute. We would have been a little quicker if Harry hadn't paused when he realized something was happening. Good sense in noticing by the way, Harry. It's probably the same sense that makes you such a great flyer, I'm impressed."
Harry didn't get a chance to respond to his Uncle Moony's praise, as his eyes were arrested by the sight in front of him. His Aunt Petunia's secret Christmas surprise was clear, as was what she and Uncle Vernon had been doing while they were on the beach. He knew that they were planning on doing this, but he had thought that it would be ready closer to when they'd be returning to school, or even Easter.
Potter Isle was home to two large, two story cottages. Between them there was a cobblestone path that led from the stairs to the beach, passed the houses, and ended at a clearly marked path into the woods on the island. The entire setup was aimed at staying integrated with nature while retaining the basic comforts of a proper home. But what drew Harry's attention, and Hermione's soon after, were the two glass greenhouses that sat on either side of the cobblestone path, filling much of the space between the cottages and the woods. Outside each greenhouse were stacks of crates and bags that Harry assumed contained seed and the like for getting things started. A banner was strung between the two houses with "Happy Christmas!" written on it multiple times. The writing appeared to have been done by hand, multiple different ones, and at least one iteration of "Happy Christmas" seemed to have been written by younger children.
"Welcome, Mister Potter," came a timid, but kind, voice from the porch of the cottage on Harry's left, "it's an honour to meet you, my name is Temperance Smith."
Harry tore his eyes away from the pile of treasures that awaited them, Najash could already smell the potting soil from where he was wrapped around his wizard's arm and hissed his own excitement, and looked at the woman who had addressed him. Mrs. Smith was holding a boy that looked about three, and her older children were on either side of her. What Harry couldn't figure out was why the entire family seemed nervous over something.
"Um, you too." Harry replied, "It's nice to meet you ma'am. Just call me Harry." He looked to the children on either side, "Are you Marrielle and James? It's nice to meet you two too."
The two children smiled and giggled as Harry addressed them and the whole group walked forward to join the family on the porch. Once the ice was broken, Temperance relaxed like her children had. After proper introductions had been made, Harry and Hermione made to head for the greenhouses, only to be stopped by Petunia.
"We aren't losing you two to those plants until after we've had a proper Christmas here." She huffed, "After we've exchanged gifts and spent some time together here you can go see what kind of things you received and have all the time until dinner. Okay?"
The three families gathered together in the Smith's cottage and the Grangers were rather surprised at how similar the structure appeared to a non magical home. The only thing that truly marked it as being irregular was the presence of a wood burning stove and the absence of electrical lighting.
"There is one final thing that we need to wait for Andromeda for," Remus explained as he took a small bag out of this pocket and enlarged it, "but she is having Christmas with her husband's family today so she will not be long when she gets here. Let's go ahead and hand these out though."
Remus began removing and distributing boxes one at a time from inside his bag, which now resembled Santa's sack. Hermione, Dudley, and Harry all received wand holsters that fit to their wrists from Remus, who showed them how to key the holsters to their signature to prevent someone from summoning their wands from the holsters. After those had been opened Remus reached further into his bag, revealing more presents addressed from Vernon and Petunia. All the presents that the boys had opened back home had been of the non magical variety, but the animated wrapping paper on these made it clear that they were different. The first person to receive one was Dudley, who's eyes widened comically at the size of the box. The rather familiar size… Opening it, he was elated to find his very own broomstick, a Cleansweep Seven.
"It isn't some ridiculous racing broom like Harry's Nimbus," Petunia said good naturedly as her son examined his gift, "but the salesman said it was much more stable of a ride. Just remember you can't take it to school with you until next year."
"Thanks mum, thanks dad." Dudley said as he excitedly hugged his parents, "Thank you too Uncle Moony." He added as well, garnering a smile from all three.
Sitting back down, he gripped his new broom tighter as he anticipated potentially flying later today. He hated the school brooms because they all seemed like they would fall out of the sky if you were unlucky that flight, but Harry's broom hadn't been much better. It was fast, sure; but if you weren't paying close attention, or a natural like Harry, then it was too 'twitchy' and easy to slip on. Cushioning charms don't protect a person from the simple force of acceleration, and if you took a turn wrong or too hard there was nothing holding you to the broom.
Hermione was next, receiving something she wasn't expecting at all. A bottle of a magical hair tonic, as well as a note explaining that she had a year's supply of the stuff on order as well. Deciding that Aunt Petunia wasn't the type to say something mean with a gift, she knew that Hermione didn't like fussing over her unmanageable hair, Hermione began reading the bottle to find out more. The tagline at the bottom said that the inventor of the hair tonic, Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, was a "Fleamont Potter." In addition, the small print description on the back said that the potion itself was mildly telepathic, "Literally tell your hair what to do!" a slogan read.
"Thank you Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon." Hermione said as she thought about what the slogan could mean.
"That is the same potion that I use for my hair." Petunia explained as she ran a hand through her own tresses, which were much fuller and slightly browner than normal, both as a result of the tonic, "You just think about what you want your hair to do as you put the potion in while combing and it does what you want, within reason." As she explained, Remus gave a wide-eyed and thankful Emma Granger a bag which contained a similar note and bottle.
Hermione stared at the bottle with renewed interest. It could make her hair do anything? And do so without taking a lot of extra time?
"Incidentally," Petunia continued, "the potion was invented by Harry's grandfather. I didn't know that back when I was using it ten years ago, but when we were going over Harry's accounts a few months ago I made the connection."
And what a connection it was; Fleamont Potter had apparently quadrupled the Potter fortune off of Sleekeazy's!
"So inventing new potions is like a Potter family tradition?" Harry asked.
"Something like that." Remus explained as he fished through his bag for another gift, "There have been several famous potioneers in the Potter family's history."
The next thing to come out was a pair of large boxes that he gave to a surprised James and Marielle. Inside, they found broomsticks of their own. James pulled out a Quidditch cloak wrapped around the very same Comet that he'd been flying at Potter Lodge, though it had clearly been heavily refurbished and was barely recognizable as the same one; and Marielle squealed in delight when she found a children's learner broom, a kind of broom with an adjustable speed limit, height ceiling, and a sticking charm to guarantee that beginners don't fall off.
"We'll let Harry make sure that you two know how to use those." Vernon said as he studied the two's reactions, "He's a natural."
"James, Marielle, what do you say?" Temperance asked when she saw her children staring at the brooms and not speaking.
"Thank you Aunt Petunia! Thank you Uncle Vernon!" The two children shouted together, mimicking what they'd heard Hermione call the two adults as they gave the pair matching hugs. Temperance glanced at Petunia, worried that the woman might take offense, but the broad smile that the squib had on her face assuaged those worries.
After it appeared that all the gifts had been given and opened except for those the three first years were giving to each other, those were being saved for Friday with all their other friends, Remus took Harry aside to offer one final present. Unwrapping the limp packaging, Harry found an extraordinarily light, thin, silvery looking cloak.
"This belonged to your father, Harry." Remus almost whispered as Harry felt the fabric run over his fingers, the boy looked up in shock as he continued, "It is a Potter family heirloom."
"It feels magical?" Harry answered, his tone asking a question he wasn't able to voice.
"May I?" Remus asked, holding out his hand. When Harry gave it to him, Remus put on the cloak and immediately disappeared!
"It's an invisibility cloak." Remus explained as he removed the cloak and returned to view, presenting the enchanted garment to Harry once more, "But not just any old cloak, this is the best invisibility cloak anyone I know has ever seen. That includes Dumbledore."
"He has one too." Harry added after a moment, "He had a cloak that looked a lot like this one that time he snuck up on me and Hermione in the room with the magic mirror."
"I have a strong suspicion that it was the same cloak, Harry." His uncle replied with a distasteful look. Albus should not have been using the cloak for personal amusement, it wasn't his, "Your father apparently lent it to him to study while he and your mother were in hiding and he has kept it all this time, only giving it to me to pass to you a few days ago. He said he wanted to figure out how to replicate the longevity of the Potter Cloak, which actually does make sense. Most invisibility cloaks last less than a decade before the demiguise fur loses its potency, and even that is already enhanced by spells and enchantments. But that cloak is generations old and going strong. James thought it went back at least two hundred years, maybe more."
"This is so cool." Harry said after he ran to a nearby mirror and tossed the cloak over himself, giggling as he flipped the hood off to reveal only his head.
"When he gave it back, the headmaster admitted to making a modification to the cloak. One that I happen to think is a good idea." Remus said, his tone telling Harry that he wasn't going to like this too much, "He added an extra thread of demiguise fur and put a tracking charm on that thread, whatever makes the cloak so special also prevented the charm from sticking to the garment itself."
"So the headmaster will always know where I am while I'm wearing this?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Remus confirmed, "and so will I. I had him give me a key to the tracking charm as well. I also had him show me where, exactly, the enchanted thread is. When the time comes, we can remove it if it hasn't already lost its potency and become visible by then."
Harry looked like he wasn't sure about the headmaster being able to spy on him, "I know it seems like it defeats the point of the cloak, Harry. But, unlike the Map, this can get you in real trouble. Your aunt knows about it, and I wouldn't be giving it to you, unrestricted, without her permission. She agreed with me, though, that you should have it."
"Well, it was my dad's." Harry said, not sure why there would have been a discussion at all.
"Yes, and it will be great for playing pranks on your cousin and Hermione when you are home from school." The werewolf uncle conceded, "But it isn't really the kind of thing you should have at Hogwarts. In our day there was a war going on, and it could sometimes spill into the school corridors with overly malicious pranks. That isn't an excuse today, but considering the incidents that seem to keep happening around you, we felt that you should have this at school for protection. The tracking charm is just the last bit of that protection, I'd like you to keep the cloak with you as often as possible. Just in case."
"I guess that makes sense." Harry said as he processed what he'd been told, "But at least I get to take it to Hogwarts like my dad did."
Remus Lupin couldn't help but smile at how Harry's face lit up at that prospect.
"My present for you isn't nearly this awesome," Harry confessed as he offered his uncle a small bag that he had brought with him into the room, "but here it is."
Remus pulled a 'U' shaped pillow out of the bag, and felt some sort of hard, square thing inside the pillow when he held it. When he wasn't immediately sure what it was for, Harry explained, "It's a neck-pillow. People wear them when they travel so they can sleep sitting up, but they are good for just sitting around if you have neck pain."
The werewolf grinned as he took a nearby seat and hooked the pillow behind his neck, but frowned when he felt the hard piece directly at the back.
"That pillow is a little cooler than that, though." Harry continued, realizing that Moony probably had no chance of figuring it out, "I don't know if it will work here but it comes with batteries; the plastic piece in the pillow vibrates to massage your neck and shoulders. It felt really good in the store."
The device did work, apparently being simple enough not to be disrupted by the wards on the island. Simple or not, Remus could barely believe that muggles had invented something this wonderful.
Harry and Moony returned to the family room in time to see Andromeda had only just flooed in through the fireplace. She appeared rushed, and had a large stack of folders under one arm and a larger, bendy cylinder wrapped in brown paper under the other while she also held a bag that contained little boxes in it.
"I'm sorry I'm a little behind schedule." Andromeda said as she laid her things on an empty spot of the table, "Thank you for having all of us here, Temperance."
The woman in question nodded and smiled demurely. These people had done so much for her and her children already that she just couldn't believe how much they were trying to make them a part of their family. She also still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that the very same Andromeda Black that she had looked up to when she was in school had been the one to verify that their floo worked properly, all so that they could keep anyone in the Ministry from knowing who was living here until the parchmentwork had gone through.
"Harry," Andromeda continued after she had given everyone the gifts she had gotten for them, mostly chocolates because she didn't know them that well, "I was late because I have extra something for you." She gestured to the wrapped cylinder, "It took a bit of work to get put together, but I think it should be as close to complete as possible. I have been working on it since a couple days after Halloween."
When Harry went to open the parcel Andromeda quickly magicked all of the dishes off the table so that there would be room. Tearing the paper and unrolling the contents revealed a magnificently illuminated tapestry. On it were dozens of names with lines connecting them, larger printed names were often surrounded by smaller ones arranged into miniature versions of the whole, which was stylized to look like running ivy. Harry understood what he was looking at by the time he reached the bottom and saw his own name connected to the names "James Potter" and "Lily Potter (nee Evans)."
"The original Potter Family Tapestry was lost in an attack by You-Know-Who," Andromeda explained, she didn't mention that it was the same attack that had taken his grandparents, "so I made requests of several families that I knew were closely related to the Potters to see if I could fill in information that couldn't be easily obtained from the Ministry. The larger names are those who either were born or married into the Potter family. Smaller names are in-laws and such that are only one generation away. I'm sure there are gaps, but the magic woven into it will let us change it a little if we discover any."
Harry hungrily took in the family tree laid out before him, committing the names to memory. Fleamont Potter, Charlus Potter, Dorea Potter (nee Black)... Harry had never thought too much about the members of his missing family besides his parents, but as he walked back through the tree he started finding other names he recognized. Then he started seeing them repeat.
Longbottom, Bones, Abbot, Bones, Jones, Longbottom… Harry suddenly developed a sinking feeling in his stomach as he started again, from the top this time. Inferring relationships that weren't on the tree from last names (the magical world didn't have as much of a problem as the non magical one with regards to multiple families having the same surname), Harry followed a family line that ran parallel to his for several generations.
As he did, his face turned pale and his breathing became shallow, causing the others around him to look at the tapestry to try and discover what was wrong. Hermione was the first to see what Harry had, and whispered what it was to her parents eliciting a hiss of alarm from her mother.
"What is it?" Andromeda asked, clearly mystified as to what had left Harry seemingly terrified.
"Is this normal?" Harry's voice was barely a whisper as he traced several names in a row linked by marriage and said aloud their apparent pre-marital connection, "Cousin, niece, step-sister, second cousin, grand niece… Is this real?"
Petunia placed an arm around Harry's shoulder as she looked down at the tapestry, she had heard Harry's questions and understood what he was seeing. What he was probably worried about…
"It will be alright Harry." She whispered to her nephew as he sat back down on the couch. He was clearly panicked, and she felt like she knew why, though she felt that his personal reaction was unfounded, "If you were going to have problems they would have shown themselves by now."
"Could someone please tell me what I did wrong?" Andromeda asked, beginning to panic as she observed Harry's unexpected reaction.
"Andromeda… how many children does the average magical family have?" Petunia asked, almost conversationally, as she kept Harry pulled tight in her embrace. "I know you said you had two sisters, but you also mentioned that that wasn't very common at all, and only happened because your father wanted a son and tried to force the issue."
"I don't know," Andromeda replied, "Probably a normal of one per family, though some, like mine, insist on having a male heir and have children until they do. Most parents that have a magical child tend to stop having more to avoid the stress and risk that comes from trying, and to minimize the risk of having a squib. No offense, Petunia."
"I… see." Petunia Dursley may not actually want to be a doctor, or healer, or whatever, but she had helped Harry learn everything he wanted to know about such things as he grew up. They couldn't get into subjects that were especially advanced, but basic health and medical concepts weren't foreign to either of them. Neither were the very basics of genetics. She knew what she was looking at here, "When did having squibs start to become a common problem? I see a little more variety with first names at the top of this tree than I do at the bottom."
"What is it dear?" Vernon asked, clearly as clueless as the magically raised in the room.
"Just a moment Vernon." Petunia shushed her husband, "Andromeda I have one more question, and I will understand if the information is protected but… how common are birth defects, aside from being a squib, in the pureblood magical world? Or miscarriages?"
Andromeda seemed utterly confused by the seemingly meaningless question, but she had an answer nonetheless, "I suppose it is similar to the non magical statistics. Almost all families have to try a few times for a successful pregnancy, but I wouldn't know specific numbers. Many pureblood families have home births, so we only know when there is a problem if they have to bring the child to us at St. Mungo's or if the family doesn't have a new child with them when they should. It has been like that for ages."
"You're saying the overwhelming majority of pure magical families have to deal with pregnancy issues or birth defects? So much so that the norm is one child and then quit to avoid hardship? And this, despite having ready access to a hospital?" Emma Granger was incredulous, "How can you stand there looking like you have no idea why that might be and still call yourself a medical professional? That is absolutely not how it works for the rest of us!"
"Dear, I understand but there's no reason to be rude." Her husband tried to placate her even as he fought to keep his own emotions in check as he looked again over the Potter Family 'Tree.' It wasn't a tree, it was a bush that bent back in on itself and apparently tangled up with a few other bushes for good measure! There were three or four families that seemed to marry back into the Potters over and over again, going back twelve generations!
"What about muggleborn like Hermione?" Dan asked, momentarily worried that this was some issue with magic in general.
"Most muggleborn have their regular medical issues taken care of in the muggle world to be honest, so I don't know." Andromeda answered before looking slightly ashamed, "There are higher costs for muggleborn patients at St. Mungos since the rates are, unfortunately, set by a Ministry committee. Because of that we only really see muggleborn if the injury or ailment is completely magical and can't be fixed otherwise. Ted and I make house calls for muggleborn for exactly that reason. I wouldn't think the process of childbirth would be different between the worlds though."
I wouldn't count on it, Dan and Emma thought to themselves.
Harry and Hermione filed away what they learned about St. Mungos and muggleborn, it was all they could do not to shout at the injustice of that though. The hospital charged a premium to take care of them, but seemed to have no problem employing non-purebloods if Ted Tonks was anything to go by. 'Soon' Harry mouthed to Hermione as he saw her chewing her bottom lip, she nodded and smiled.
Petunia was about to explain to Andromeda why Harry was having a nervous fit but realized that their conversation might be too adult for the Smith children, who already looked a little uncomfortable, and leaned towards their mother to whisper, "Temperance, would you mind taking the younger children out of the room for just a minute? I don't want to risk upsetting them further."
After she had ushered her two out of the room, Petunia answered Andromeda's previous question with yet another question, "Do you know what 'inbreeding' is?"
"How animal populations that stay isolated, like on farms, can have problems?" Andromeda answered, "Sure, why?"
"It isn't just animals." Harry supplied, "Its people too."
"Marrying your sister is discouraged by all but the most ridiculous of blood purists, Harry." Remus chided.
"But what about your second cousin? That's still a problem. Especially if it happens frequently." Emma insisted.
"That's silly," Andromeda chuckled, "if that were true then we would be seeing… oh dear." Her face fell and her chuckle died as she realized what was being implied.
"Older Potters had larger families and it is not like there was an issue with infant mortality either, almost all of these children marry and have children." Petunia explained, pointing to the clear evidence on the tapestry. The top of the tapestry had families that averaged four children, whereas the last three generations had had only a single child each.
"In addition, there are these families that married into the Potters multiple times. It seems that there were more of them earlier as well, so it looks like other families followed the same downward trend. But of course, we would need to check that."
"They did, at least mine and those close to us did." Temperance said from behind them, Heathcliff still in her arms "I'm sorry to listen in, don't worry, the children are playing with those toy dragons that Remus got them. But my own family is the same way, before my own children that is. My father has an older brother, but both he and my uncle each only have one child and their parents were both only children. I am several years older than my cousin, and I remember my aunt getting pregnant a few times before he was born. My father had a tapestry like this one, I always wondered what it would have been like to have siblings like it said my great-grandfather had. I guess I'm lucky that Joseph and I never had any problems."
The two muggle doctors in the room had no illusion that it was luck. Joseph was completely non magical, as far from being related to Temperance as he could possibly have been.
"Our royal families did this to themselves too." Emma added, "The monarchies of European countries married within their families to 'keep the blood pure,' a sentiment shared by some magicals if I understand things correctly. By the eighteenth century, those royal families were becoming riddled with hereditary issues. The horrible kind that aren't polite to speak of."
"Magical folk live longer." Petunia offered, "So the effects wouldn't appear as quickly. But failed pregnancies after difficulty getting that way are the first and most obvious ones."
They spoke for a few more minutes comparing anecdotal evidence that Andromeda could present against what was known by non magical medicine. By the end, Andromeda was convinced that they were on to something and was already planning in her head which medical reports she would need to pull to acquire solid proof.
"Well," Andromeda sighed as she realized how much time has passed, "I suppose it is a good thing I got that out of the way so that I can leave on a happy note."
"Don't say that Aunt Andi!" Harry exclaimed as he jumped up to hug her, "I appreciate it, I really do! I was just shocked is all."
"I am glad, Harry." She said as she returned the hug, "The tapestry has all of the normal family enchantments on it too, so, way in the future when you get married you and your wife will need to add a drop of blood to it. Once you do that, the tapestry will fully activate and magically update itself whenever new people join your family."
"That's awesome Aunt Andi." Harry said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome Harry." She replied as she grabbed the stack of folders she had come in with and called Temperance to sit beside her.
"Mrs. Smith, I have here one last Christmas gift for you and your family." Andromeda said as she presented the top folder to the woman. Inside she was greeted with the parchmentwork to take her and her children under the official protectorship of House Potter.
"There are a few spots that you and Harry need to sign before I can finalize things." She continued, "But if we do that today then it will be official by midnight tomorrow."
Temperance could barely keep her hand steady as she signed the documents necessary to ensure that her children got to go to Hogwarts like they had always dreamed. But her gift wasn't complete yet. After all the signatures had been finished there was one more page underneath.
"What is this?" She asked aloud as she read what was actually the specific terms of protection for the Smith family. The only thing that the Potters were expecting of her and the children was to keep the two cottages on Potter Isle clean and habitable, in exchange they were given full rights to the house they were currently in and were to begin receiving a monthly stipend beginning on January first. It didn't escape her notice that the stipend was explicitly stated to be separate from the salary she was receiving for her work on the other Potter properties.
"It's too much." She said as her eyes filled with tears, "This is too much."
"It may not have been as extreme as you," Vernon said to silence her, "but we know what it's like to have to make sacrifices for your children. We know how hard it was for us, and we had each other to make it through. Accept this. Even if you can't do it for yourself, do it for the children. For James and Marrielle and Heathcliff."
After Andromeda left, the three family groups stayed inside for a while and got to know each other better. Eventually Dudley convinced the parents to let all the kids with a broom (everyone except Hermione) go flying to make sure that the youngest knew how. Of course it had nothing to do with wanting to test out his own new broom.
While the boys were flying Hermione held Najash, which led to once again having to explain how he wasn't dangerous or venomous at all. Hermione did decide, though, that telling the Smiths that Harry was actually a parseltongue could wait until he was back on the ground and could do it himself.
Three hours later, with only twenty minutes left until dinner and no chance to continue afterwards, the two aspiring Healers were taking a quick inventory of what they had received for the greenhouses as they had a private conversation for the first time since Hermione had arrived. That conversation quickly strayed off of their plans for trying to get ahead on potions over summer break.
"My aunt told me why you were grounded when you came home." Harry said without preamble, he thought there had to be some other reason and his aunt had ultimately confirmed his suspicion after the get together yesterday, "The real reason, not that you weren't exercising with me and Dudley."
"I'm really sorry Harry." She replied, "I was just so sure that it was him doing it, and I didn't think things through."
"S'okay Hermione." Harry consoled her before grinning, "Mistakes remind us that you're human." Hermione sputtered for a moment and smacked his arm playfully. "But it's sort of like the thing with the house elves, Hermione. You should make sure you've learned the truth before you start hexing people."
"Seriously though," he continued, "It's okay, really. I get that he doesn't do much to make people trust him." Harry pulled her into a hug to hide that he was blushing as he finished, "I'm glad you're looking out for me Hermione. You're the best."
Hermione's smile at that moment could have been measured in gigawatts.
AN: I assure anyone who is wondering that I have a plan concerning "Elemental Magic" which the spell Moony taught them appears to fall under. A slightly better explanation of that will be coming in a future chapter.
