Chapter 52 - Godric's Hollow
A woke up a few days later to an annoying pecking noise against the window in my room. I looked up and saw the chocolate, regal-looking owl that belonged to the Diggory family. I grinned and hopped out of bed to get my letter. I let him in and into Dion's cage to nibble on treats.
To the lovely Ash,
Guess what? We haven't seen eachother since the madness at the World Cup and I know it's only been a few days but hey, I'm keen. So this is just a quick and slightly embarrassing note to say I want to see you. Write back?
Yours, the ever infatuated Cedric Diggory.
I giggled and laid back onto the bed. What a muppet bless him. I knew just what to do. I went into the hallway and leaned over the banister.
"Uncle Moony! Paddy! Can I ask you something?" I shouted downstairs.
"She wants something." I heard Moony say to Sirius as they walked into view.
"Heard that." I mock glared at them.
"Well what do you want?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Would it be okay if I went out to Diagon Alley today?" I requested innocently.
"Full disclosure, Aurora-Shaw." Moony demanded.
"By today I mean tonight and it'll be a date with Cedric." I admitted.
"My little chaser has a date with a boy, no way." Sirius decided. "You're not allowed. Moony, we need to protect her."
"What, from guys like you." I snorted. "I don't fall for charm."
"Neither did your mother." Sirius replied.
"Gross. Now can I?" I begged pouting.
"What's all this about?" Harry came out of his room and asked.
"They won't let me go out with Cedric tonight, tell them." I ordered. Harry sighed and leaned next to me to look down at them.
"It's not the first time she's gone out with him, hell she's slept in the same bed as him the other day." Harry was harshly interrupted
"What?!" Both marauder's yelped.
"Harry! Guys, it was just sleeping." I told them embarrassed.
"What, Abe told me." Harry grinned. "I think this is more of a 'for your information' if you're wondering where she was tonight."
"For Merlin's sake! It's just a date, my first date I might add that he doesn't even know of yet! I'll be back by ten, the strongest thing I'll drink is butterbeer and I've never gone further than kissing with a boy!" My voice start getting louder and louder as the rant went on. "Idiots!" I turned around and went back into my room slamming the door very over-dramatically, obviously to prove a point. I took a deep breath and sat at my desk, grabbing some parchment, I wrote my reply to Cedric.
To the adorable Ced,
Why don't you go ahead and come to Remus Lupin's Cottage, Godric's Hollow via the floo at 7pm to pick me up. We could go to Diagon Alley and grab some food or something because I have missed you too. That seemed to be in-between the lines of your cute little note. I'll even put on a dress, I hope to see you tonight.
The ever impressed, Aurora-Shaw Hyde.
I gave the Diggory Owl one last treat and set her free with my note attached to her leg. I got dressed and flopped onto the bed with a book I found in the library at home about pureblood heritage, I was suspicious when I found it so I wanted to see how bad it was. It was obviously my dad's and it wasn't looking good. My door creaked open and Padfoot trotted in and jumped on the bed in his dog form. I glared over the book at him and went back to reading. He whined but I ignored him.
"I forgot you're a stroppy teenage girl." I looked up at my godfather was grinning at me.
"This stroppy teenage girl will kick your arse, Sirius Orion Black. You'll have to be Padfoot for when he comes to pick me up." I informed him.
"So you asked him." Sirius paused and looked at the book. "What are you reading?"
"Found it in Dad's library, wanted to see if I had reason to grief him." I muttered.
"I don't want you to go out, Ashy." Paddy whined. "This is my week with my godchildren."
"Don't call me Ashy, Siri. And it's just one night plus we have years and years to make up for those twelve we didn't get to know you. You're gonna be in my life forever, you and Moony. The rest of the week including most of today, is for you. So what do you want to do today Godfather of mine?" I smiled softly at him.
"Well, I was thinking we could take you and Harry to visit James and Lily's graves today, it's not far, and we could even go to the house if Harry could handle it. Do you think it's a good idea?" He actually looked quite vulnerable, he wanted to get this parenting thing down with Harry.
"I think it's a wonderful idea, I'm not sure he's ever been and I haven't either. Harry'll love it, you'll be a great guardian for him you know." I put down my book and pulled him into a hug. "Come on, let's let them know what's on the agenda for today."
-.-
We left the house solemnly, Padfoot in dog form, walking to the end of Moony's street and turning left onto the long main road where you could see a large war memorial in the middle of a little roundabout in the distance. As we got closer the memorial started to change, Instead of an obelisk covered in names, there was a statue of three people: a man with untidy hair and glasses, a woman with long hair and a kind, pretty face, and a baby boy sitting in his mother's arms. Harry drew closer, gazing up into his parents' faces.
"I moved to Godric's Hollow not long after they died, I had to be closer to them. The statue was sometimes a painful reminder and the memorial at the house but they helped me believe I wasn't alone, I couldn't possibly live anywhere else." Uncle Moony mused while Paddy whined a little.
"Happy baby, without a scar." Harry murmured, Paddy trotted up to him and nuzzled him, Harry scratched his ear.
"C'mon." Moony said soothingly and we continued on. There was a kissing gate at the entrance to the graveyard. I pushed it open as quietly as possible and they edged through it, we followed the path to the back of the church. To the gravestones. "They're over here." Were Moony's only words as we followed him up the paths where Pads changed back. And there they were. The headstone was only two rows behind Kendra and Ariana's. The gravestones were of white marble, and this made it easy to read, as it seemed to shine. I did not need to kneel or even approach very close to it to make out the words engraved upon it.
JAMES POTTER LILY POTTER
BORN 27 MARCH 1960 BORN 30 JANUARY 1960
DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981 DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
A tear rolled down my cheek as Harry kneeled between the graves. I cried silently as I grieved for the family I never knew, who Harry never knew. I slowly kneeled beside Harry, he looked up and buried his head into my shoulder as he tightly hugged me. I buried my face in his hair and sobbed.
"They'd be so proud of you Harry, so so proud." Sirius croaked, his eyes wet looking at the graves of his fallen friends. We pulled our heads up to look at him sadly.
"They loved you more than anything Harry, truly." Remus added as he kneeled beside me and stroked my hair comfortingly.
"Miss 'em every day." Sirius murmured and stroked Uncle James' stone. We stayed in this position for a long time before any of us felt the need to move. Moony stood eventually and pulled out his wand.
"Orchideous." Moony handed me the flowers while Sirius did the same for Harry, I stood mine in front of Aunt Lily's while Harry put his against his Dad's stone. "People Padfoot." Moony whispered urgently as he heard the gate in front of the church creak open. Sirius face grew stormy.
"Goodbye Lilypad, Prongs." Sirius whispered before turning into the familiar black bloodhound.
"Are you ready Harry?" I whispered. Harry nodded and wiped his eyes before he stood and looked at his parent's gravestones.
"Love you Mum. Love you Dad." Harry sniffled. "I miss you." He finished in a whisper before turning to me and pulling me up then into another hug.
"Love you Harry." I told him emotionally.
"Love you Ash." He replied as he released me. I turned to the graves again and leaned down to them.
"I wish I'd known you both so much, still love you guys though. I'll look after him. Always. G'bye Aunt Lily, Uncle James." I told them quietly before I stood up.
"C'mon you two." Uncle Moony put his arm over my shoulder while I gripped Harry's hand comfortingly as we walked back to the main road. "You want to see the house you grew up in?" Harry nodded so we turned left out of the kissing gate then crossed the road onto another street and to the house. The hedge had grown wild in the sixteen years since Hagrid had taken Harry from the rubble that lay scattered amongst the waist-high grass. Most of the cottage was still standing, though entirely covered in dark ivy. The right side of the top floor had been blown apart; presumably that was once baby Harry's room and that's where the curse backfired. We stood at the red picket gate and looked up at the house. Harry's touch on the gate seemed to have done it. A sign had risen out of the ground in front of them, up through the tangles of nettles and weeds, like some bizarre, fast-growing flower, and in golden letters upon the wood it said:
On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1981,
Lily and James Potter lost their lives.
Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard
ever to have survived the Killing Curse.
This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left
in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters
and as a reminder of the violence
that tore apart their family.
And all around these neatly lettered words, scribbles had been added by other witches and wizards who had come to see the place where the Boy Who Lived had escaped. Some had merely signed their names in Everlasting Ink; others had carved their initials into the wood, still others had left messages of sorrow and endearment.
"Can we go back?" Harry asked.
"Of course, Harry." Moony replied. We resumed our previous position and walked back to Moony's cottage. Sirius collapsed in the middle of the sofa in his normal form so Harry and I took a side each and leaned against him. He threw his arms around our shoulders as I pulled Moony to squeeze next to me.
"My family." Sirius sighed and kissed Harry's head then mine. "I don't know what I'd do without you three."