A/N: With only two more chapters left on this story to write and publish, this story will now be my main focus. While I will be continuing my work on Black & Red and The Weasley Perspective, please do not expect anymore updates for them until this story is complete.
Thank you to Arnel for your sheer brilliance as a Beta, for fixing my horrendous mistakes, your encouraging words and your brilliant suggestion towards helping improving this chapter.
All meals mentioned are from some of the countries mentioned in this chapter. Their travels have been inspired by information available on Harry Potter Wikia.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor have I ever owned Harry Potter.
HP&GW
Ginny leaned against the door frame as she watched her fiancée cooking up a storm in the kitchen, something that reminded her of her own mum. With only James and Matt coming over for lunch and with her intending to spend time at The Burrow this afternoon, she couldn't imagine why Harry felt the need to cook more food than was required.
"I know you're watching me, Gin," Harry said as he pulled a tray of food out of the oven.
"I love seeing how domesticated you are," she cheekily replied.
Harry laughed in response as Ginny moved into the kitchen, took a seat at the table and helped herself to a garlic doughball.
"Why have you made so much food, Harry?"
Harry looked at her, slightly embarrassed at how overboard he had gone in preparing for lunch with his brother and father.
"I'm nervous, Gin," he confessed quietly. "I have no idea what my family even likes to eat, so I figured I would do a mix of the foods we have come to love over the course of our travels."
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, knowing there was far more to it.
"I am nervous about how this afternoon is going to go," Harry finally admitted. "I know we have to talk about everything that has happened, but my dad is going to want to know more about our lives. He is going to question us about our finances and how we funded our travels. He will want to know more about our plans for the future. We are going to have the conversation that he never made the effort to have with me about the life I want to have."
"I get the impression you have forgotten I had planned to spend the afternoon with my mum," Ginny told him as she left her seat and went over to Harry. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he pulled her close and buried his face in her hair. "If you need me to stay, I will happily stay and support you. I just thought you would need this time alone with your dad and Matt."
"Stay, please."
Ginny pulled back, forcing Harry to stand up a little straighter, and looked into the green eyes that helped her fall in love with Harry all those years ago. She reached up and softly kissed her fiancé, causing a small smile to appear on his face.
"I will stay," she told him as she left the comfort of his arms. "Not because you asked me to, but because if I don't stay, you are either not going to talk to your dad properly, or it may descend a full-blown duel between the three of you. And, quite honestly, I don't want you destroying the house."
Ginny headed back into the living room and quickly used the Floo to call her mum.
"Ginny, sweetheart," her mum said as she saw her daughter's face in the fireplace. "What time will you be over?"
"Sorry, Mum, but Harry needs me to stay for lunch with his family."
Molly smiled. "I was expecting you to cancel if I am being honest. The conversation they need to have is not going to be easy and you being there will hopefully keep Harry calm and minimise any potential explosive arguments."
"Thanks for understanding, Mum," Ginny replied, genuinely surprised by her mum's response. "I better go as James and Matt are due any time now."
They said goodbye before Ginny removed her head from the Floo and headed back into the kitchen.
"All sorted," Ginny said to Harry as she entered the kitchen. "Mum was actually expecting me to cancel. She seems to think me being here will minimise the chances of any bad arguments."
"I don't know about that," Harry told her as he came up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I suspect there will be at least one, maybe two as Uncle Sirius is going to pop in later to check in on us."
Ginny leaned up and kissed him just as the wards chimed to say that they had a visitor to the property.
Resting her forehead against Harry's, she sighed before speaking. "Finish up in here and get yourself cleaned up. I will go and let them past the wards."
"I love you," Harry said, kissing her again before pulling away to finish prepping the food.
HP&GW
Ginny watched in amusement as her future in-laws stood outside the wards, confused as to where they were. When they had bought the house, with some help from Sirius, Harry had made it clear he wanted the best and strongest wards put up to keep them safe and protected. It was Unplottable, so even if you knew of the house's existence, it didn't mean you would be able to find the general location of it. However, it was also under the Fidelius Charm, so even if you knew the general location, it didn't mean you could find the house. It had become a source of amusement for them to give visitors the general location and become confused when they couldn't find the house.
After a few minutes of watching the two older Potters, Ginny finally stepped through the boundary of the wards and greeted them.
"That would be the influence of Sirius," James stated after Ginny showed them the address to let them in on the Fidelius and explained how she had laughed at their confusion. "I am not remotely surprised. He was always encouraging the twins to play pranks on me."
"If it helps, he did it to Sirius too, the first time he came to visit the house. I saw Draco's memory of it. He double-checked the letter we had sent him to check he had come to the right place before he realised he had."
"Is Draco living here with you?" Matt asked, a cautious look in his eyes.
"No," Ginny answered honestly. "He stayed the first few days after we returned just to help us get settled in. He moved into the safe house that his mum has been living in for the last few years. He didn't see the point of buying anything new. If his dad is arrested, once the war is over, the Malfoy estate should pass automatically to him. But Malfoy Manor had the Fidelius cast upon it within days of Voldemort disappearing again to protect his dad and any other Death Eater who had not been at Hogwarts that night and were known to the Ministry. It's a bit of mess for him to be honest."
Ginny began walking back up the path, leading the two Potters towards the front door.
"This is a beautiful area, Ginny, very remote," Matt said as he took in the expansive land surrounding the property. "How did you manage to find this when you have been out of the country?"
"Sirius was a big help," she explained. She felt slightly guilty that James was only just learning about all of this, about his youngest son's life. "We obviously kept in touch with him and my parents, just not as often as we could have. We sent him a request to help us out around Christmas time and he put us in touch with an estate agent, who was quite happy to correspond via Owl Post. We didn't put any wards up until we arrived here, though. Wouldn't have been good for us to turn up and not find our own house."
Just as Ginny went to open the door and show them in, a hand touched her shoulder, stopping her from proceeding.
"I can admit I have made some huge mistakes when it comes to Harry," James said as Ginny turned to look at him, "but what should I expect when it comes to him? I know we won't fix our relationship today, not completely, but I want to, at least, get us on the path to doing so."
"He isn't as angry as I think he should be, but he isn't going to just forgive and forget. You're his father and you hurt him deeply, and yet, he understands you wanted to protect him, because he did the same thing to you and Matt. So, if anything, you need to be completely honest with him and remind him that you do love him."
James nodded, giving no indication of how Ginny's words had impacted him. Matt gave Ginny nod as well to show he understood that the words were meant for him as much as they were for James. Knowing that she had said her piece when it came to Harry and how all this had impacted him, she finally pushed the front door open and led them inside.
HP&GW
Harry could hear his fiancée's words to his father before they walked in the door. It made him love her even more that she would stand up for him, especially considering the number of times she had ranted about his father's treatment of him. She had been a little more forgiving towards Matt as she knew from being friends with Draco that children's behaviour could be the product of the parents and their own behaviour. Still, it amused him to hear her give his dad a subtle warning when it had been she who had pushed for him to reach out and make amends to begin with, knowing it was something that needed to be done ahead of the final battle.
"Your dad and brother are here, Harry."
Ginny's words snapped Harry out of his thoughts, causing him to look up and watched as his fiancée led the other two Potter men through into the kitchen.
"Hi, Dad. Hi, Matt," Harry said, not quite sure how to approach them being here in his house. "Thanks for coming."
"This is a great place you have," his dad responded, even though Harry knew he would have barely seen any of the property. "Good choice of warding for the property as well."
"I was inspired by how Grimmauld Place is protected. The house may be dark, but you can't deny the Blacks knew how to ward it against those they didn't want there. I know this house is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but I didn't want to take any chances."
James smiled and Harry was shocked to see what appeared to pride shining in his dad's eyes.
"Sirius taught you well," James told him, shocking Harry, Ginny and Matt. "He did what I failed to do. I am glad he did that and that he was there for you when I wasn't."
Harry felt himself choke up, unable to respond. He didn't want to deal with the heavier subjects that he knew were the purpose of this visit. He knew they would have to, but he wanted to delay it just a little longer.
"Dad, how about we leave that alone for the moment?" Matt said, stepping in to ease the awkwardness of the moment. "Let's catch up with one another first, enjoy the food Harry and Ginny have prepared for us and then we can deal with why we have come here today."
James nodded before taking a seat at the kitchen table as Matt and Ginny followed his lead.
"I actually had nothing to do with any of this food, Matt," Ginny explained as Harry sorted out a jug of fresh pumpkin juice for the table. "Harry made and cooked it all. Turns out he is very talented in the kitchen."
Harry held in the laugh he could feel wanting to spill out at the sight of his brother and father looking at him in shock.
"I found I enjoyed cooking while we were travelling," Harry said in defence. "So, I made the effort to learn how to make and cook the local cuisine in each country we visited. The meal is a selection of my favourites I learnt to make, including Rewena Bread from New Zealand, Neapolitan Ragu from Italy and for dessert, I have made Kladdkaka, a chocolate cake from Sweden. There are a few other dishes if you would rather try something else."
"I'm impressed that you chose to learn new skills while travelling," James said as he shook himself out of his stupor. "Most witches and wizards, when they travel, don't do anything more than play tourist."
It was Harry's turn to be stunned at his dad's compliment. It had been years since he had paid Harry a compliment of any sort, due to the collapse of their relationship, that Harry was now glad he had made the effort to invite them for lunch. He knew it was going to take time to fully repair it, but if his dad could make the effort to say something positive, then Harry knew only something good could come out of the awkward chat they needed to have.
"Well, why don't we try some of it?" Ginny suggested as she reached out for some of the bread she had come to love while in New Zealand. "He has made way too much, so if there is anything you particularly like, we can send some of the leftovers home with you."
The three Potter men followed Ginny's lead, immediately helping themselves to the selection of food. The room remained silent for a few minutes, with only the odd comment here and there from Harry giving more details about the wide variety of food.
"So, Harry," Matt spoke up, desperate to break the ice, "which countries did you visit while travelling?"
Harry didn't fail to notice the look of relief in both his father's and his fiancée's eyes when Matt asked his question. In all honesty, he felt it too, knowing it would just delay the inevitable conversation for a little bit longer.
"Thinking about it," Harry finally answered after he had quickly gone over which countries they had travelled to in his mind, "we didn't visit as many countries as we originally planned. We had a list but no specific travel dates. Draco and I went to France first. Ginny made it clear what countries we were allowed to visit it without her."
Thankfully, James and Matt laughed, allowing the awkwardness to disappear for a short while.
"Yes, but those countries are likely to be places we will go back to at some point and also don't need an extensive visit like most of the countries we did travel to," Ginny explained as she shot a glare at Harry.
Between them, Harry and Ginny told their guests about travelling through Europe, Asia, and Africa with extended trips to Australia, Brazil and the USA. They told stories of their time in Sydney, Australia, of how they explored the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand and saw a number of Antipodean Opaleyes, a breed of dragon native to the area. They made mention of their broom tour in Gothenburg, Sweden, their day trip to Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius, and how they took in a Quidditch game in Japan at the stadium located near Himeji Castle.
"It was while visiting Tanzania that we met Rolf Scamander," Harry told them after Ginny had finished a story about their trip to Yellowstone in America.
"Scamander?" Matt asked curiously. "Is he related to Newt Scamander?"
"Newt is his grandfather," Ginny confirmed. "Rolf is also a Magizoologist and was in Tanzania for research when we were there. He ended up falling for Luna to the point that she remained with him as we continued our travels."
"He did?" Matt asked, shocked at this development.
"Turns out he loved her theories of different animals that they have yet to discover," Harry told Matt with a straight face, knowing Matt had never really known what to make of the Ravenclaw. "Seeing her talk so passionately about the creatures she wishes to find with him was really a sight to behold."
Harry and Ginny exchanged a look of amusement at the shock written all over Matt's face. Luna had always been someone who had baffled the students of Hogwarts that it had resulted in her being bullied and nicknamed 'Loony Lovegood'. It was always going to take a special sort of someone to truly appreciate Luna for who she was and her unique view of the world. Rolf was that person and both Harry and Ginny couldn't have been happier for her.
"I have to ask, Harry," James spoke up now the opportunity had presented itself, "just how did you manage to afford to travel the world for four years and buy this house?"
No one spoke, shocked at the question that had just been asked. While Harry had expected it, he had not expected to be asked so bluntly and in a way that made his own dad sound suspicious of where the trio had gained the money to travel so extensively.
"Not to be rude," James continued when it appeared no one was going to answer, "but I know exactly how much money you and Matt had in your trust vaults, plus the additional amount you received when you came of age. You both had enough to do one or the other, not both. Plus, and I am just guessing here, but I am assuming that you, with some help from Draco, paid for Ginny to join you on your travels. The Weasleys are not exactly in the position to help pay for the daughter to travel the world for several years. I highly doubt…"
"Dad, don't you dare finish that sentence!" Matt interjected, coming to the defence of his brother and his fiancée. "You have no right to question Harry, or me, when it comes to how we spend our money. You made it clear you would not interfere when we came of age and came into the full amount of money that had been put aside for us. Even so, based on the fact that they have travelled the world for several years and bought a house, my guess is that Harry has used and invested his money wisely and that Sirius may be partially responsible for making sure Harry knew how to do so."
Matt dropped back into his seat, having stood at some point in his rant towards James. It seemed, however, that his words had struck the right blow against his dad, reminding him how he had consistently let Harry down himself throughout the years.
"I'm sorry," James responded as he held up a hand to stop either of his sons speaking. "Nothing I can say can excuse my actions from the past twenty years. It's all I have thought about for the last several days and here I am immediately acting the way that caused me to push Harry aside to begin with. I know we are here to talk this out and hopefully take a step towards fixing our relationship, but I don't want you to just forgive and forget. It would be wrong of me to do so, especially when my actions forced you into a corner, Harry, and stopped you from telling me the truth about what you had discovered about Voldemort."
"There's so much I don't understand, Dad," Harry confessed. "I need to understand how we ended up, but from your point of view. I asked Uncle Sirius so many times and even he was at a loss for how things fell apart for us. I know the Prophecy played a big part in all this, but to allow it to go this far, I just don't get it."
"I need to understand as well, Dad," Matt said, backing up Harry as he had promised to do so. "I already hate myself for pushing my brother away. Harry was my best friend before we went to Hogwarts and now I feel like we are distant strangers. However, based on what we were told the other night, I think had we both been involved and trained, then, perhaps, the war would already be over."
Ginny remained quiet as she listened to the pleas of the twins. Watching James, however, she could tell their words were having a huge impact on him and helping him realise that he had not only failed Harry, but in some ways, he had failed Matt as well.
"We didn't know who the Boy Who Lived was," James finally admitted, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "You both had scars as result of the Dark Magic you were both hit with that night. I was too distraught by the loss of you mother to have you both checked by a Healer, but then again, it was still too risky to be in public with so many Death Eaters on the loose. It was the Daily Prophet that reported Matt to be the one that had survived the Killing Curse, because a witch had spotted the V-shaped scar on his head."
No one failed to notice how James was now unable to focus on anything but the past. A quick look between the twins and Ginny brought the three to same conclusion – let him talk and do not interrupt, unless absolutely necessary.
"I ignored the report to begin with," James continued. "I was suddenly a single dad and grief-stricken widower. I had to figure out how to live my life without Lily and be everything that you boys would need in the coming years. I won't deny that in the back of my mind I was screaming out that the Prophecy had become true and was yet to be complete. I just didn't want to think about it. I only ended up falling into the trap of believing the reports because Matt would always find himself in some sort of trouble."
James laughed as though he was remembering something.
"Then again, Harry always seemed not too far behind him," James admitted as though he had only just realised this about youngest son. "I am not quite sure how I never saw that until now. How you didn't end up being sorted into Slytherin with how sneaky you could be, Harry, I will never know."
"The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin," Harry confessed, having never told anyone but Sirius and Ginny. "I argued with it, not because you had told me stories of how Slytherins could be, but because of how Draco used to be."
Matt and Ginny both laughed, remembering the way Draco used to threaten everyone with telling his dad about their treatment of him.
"I know you told us what happened, but it still amazes me that he changed," Matt said, having had numerous run ins with the Malfoy heir over the years. "It was so easy to overlook that in our seventh year, because most of the Slytherins held back from trying anything after what happened at the end of our sixth year."
James smiled weakly, even though he was happy to see his twin boys getting along without any problems.
"Dumbledore always told us to choose what was right, not what was easy," the eldest Potter said once he was able to speak once more. "I always thought I did what was right. I was scared to lose you both. I knew I wouldn't cope with losing someone else after your mother died, so I thought it was best to keep whoever wasn't destined to defeat Voldemort safe, while the other trained and did what he needed to do."
James finally looked at both his boys and admitted, "It wasn't the right thing, was it? I chose the easy path and allowed my focus to be solely on Matt. Pushing you aside, Harry, ignoring you when you needed to talk to me, I am at fault for that because I was desperate to keep you safe. I hate myself for forgetting to be your father too. Yet, somehow, you have grown up to be this incredible, honourable young man, who I can happily admit to being proud of."
Harry wanted to jump up from his chair and hug his father, but he held back, knowing both he and Matt needed to have their say. He felt Ginny take his hand and give it a gentle squeeze, letting Harry know she was there if he needed her.
"I need to apologise as well, Harry," Matt said before Harry could say anything. "I know I spoke to you the other night, but I need to make it clear that I hated that we grew apart once we began Hogwarts. I always knew we would make different friends when we started there, but I never expected to get to the point where we rarely interacted. I know I followed Dad's lead by pushing you aside when it came to Voldemort, but…"
"You don't need to say it, Matt. It wouldn't have mattered who it was that was prophesised to defeat him, whether it was you, me, Neville or anyone else for that matter; the chances are that person would have minimised the number of people close to them to protect them. I get that, I did it myself until Ginny pushed her way into my life," Harry told Matt, understanding what his brother wanted to say.
"I have to say, Harry," Ginny said, speaking for the first time since they began this part of the conversation, "I was expecting you to be far more angry, perhaps even argumentative. Considering how much you fought me and Draco on having this conversation, I am surprised by how calm you are. Actually, I am surprised by how calm you all are."
Harry was shocked by his fiancée's comments. Being that she had been the one to continually bring up the need for him to speak to his father and brother, he couldn't understand how she had thought it would automatically descend into a fight. Then again, his family appeared to be just as surprised as Ginny was by how calm he had been.
"I thought I was angry with the way I have been treated and shunted to the side as an afterthought," Harry confessed. "Yet, it doesn't seem right for me to feel that way when I essentially did the same to you as well."
Harry paused for the moment, wondering how to phrase what he felt without causing the argument everyone seemed to be expecting, but wished to avoid. He had been thinking about it for the last few days, like his dad had been, since he had finally told the truth of the past several years. He had come to the realisation that he couldn't be angry with his dad for wanting to protect him, it was what any parent would have done. No, he was more upset by how it had reached the point where his dad seemed to forget he existed and that Harry still needed him to be there for him.
"I am disappointed," Harry bluntly said, knowing that was, at times, far worse than anger. "I felt so unloved, unwanted and unaccepted by both of you. When I needed you, both of you, neither of you were there for me like you should have been. Don't get me wrong, having Uncle Sirius support me, be the father that I needed, meant everything to me, but he wasn't you, Dad."
Harry felt Ginny's arms wrap around him as tears began to fall from his eyes. "I needed my dad and you weren't there."
An awkward silence fell over the occupants of the house as they all dealt with the shocking confession that Harry had just made. Ginny could hold onto the man she loved as he finally let the tears fall for everything he had endured throughout his life. She knew he had been holding back how he truly felt about the situation, but she was still surprised by how powerful his confession had been. Just a quick glance at James was enough for her to know the words had impacted him far more deeply than he had been expecting.
"I can't change the past, Harry," James quietly said. "I wish I could, but I can't. I failed you as a father at the worst time possible. As I said before, I don't expect you to forgive me or forget what I did to you. All I can do now is try and be best father I can be by supporting you with what you need to do next."
"The same goes for me," Matt said as Harry lifted his head from where it had been buried in Ginny's hair. "If you will let me, I would like to stand by you when you finally finish off Voldemort."
Harry chuckled as a watery smile appeared on his face.
"I had been hoping you would say that, Matt. I was hoping you would do the honours of killing Nagini."
"I would love to be the one to kill that damn snake."
Harry pulled away from Ginny, sat up straight and looked to his father.
"And you're right, Dad, I don't know if I can forgive and forget what you did, but I do accept your apology and your desire to be there for me now. I don't know if we can ever have the relationship we did from before I started Hogwarts, but I am willing to try working towards building a new one with you, one built on trust and honesty, if you are?"
James didn't reply. Instead, he stood from his chair, walked round the table and pulled Harry up and into his arms, hugging his youngest son for first time in several years. Despite Harry's shock at his father's action, it wasn't long before Harry was hugging him back as both Ginny and Matt smiled at the pair.