Futuretake- September 4, 2017

Newly minted Slytherin, Bryony Potter, braced herself as she walked to the first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of her Hogwarts career feeling a combination of excitement and dread. On the one hand, she loved her father and she was very proud of him. In the few days she'd been at school she'd already heard quite a bit of talk confirming her suspicions about how well-liked and respected Professor Potter was.

She was also secretly relieved that- despite being at boarding school- she wouldn't be completely cut-off from her family. Not only would her father be in the castle during the day, her mother and siblings were sure to visit as well (she'd been to Hogwarts many times as a child).

But on the other hand, he was her father. And when her much anticipated Hogwarts letter had arrived last fall it had finally truly sunk in that he would soon also be her professor. As much as she adored him, she didn't particularly relish facing that reality.

She was so preoccupied trying to settle her nerves that she barely even noticed the whispers of: "Oh Merlin, it's actually Harry Potter!" From the two girls walking in front of her as she approached the classroom, because she was used to it. But when they were followed by, "that's Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley too!" She stopped in her tracks.

"It's Potter, Pricilla," the other girl hissed, "she's the Lady Potter now."

"She answers to both, actually," Bryony found herself automatically interrupting the Ravenclaw duo.

They looked back, realized who she was, and blanched.

"Legally she's a Potter, and proud of it. But she kept her maiden name for professional purposes, to stay in touch with her roots," Bryony explained, as patiently as she could muster.

The girls looked at her like she'd just announced that she was from Mars, and Bryony fought the urge to roll her eyes. She was aware that her mother had done several interviews over the years attempting to explain her reasons for continuing to use her maiden name- with the full support of her father, who she knew actually found the whole thing vastly amusing. But even after more than fifteen years of marriage, nobody in the wizarding world seem to understand. Bryony didn't understand what was so confusing about it.

She huffed and when they continued to just stare at her, she pushed past them into the Defense classroom. And, sure enough, there they were. Her father was seated on the desk at the front of the room, her mother stood in front of him, between his legs with his arms around her waist and she was having what appeared to be a heated discussion with her Uncle Ron. Which was completely normal.

She carefully selected a seat; not too close to the front but not all the way in the back either. The adults didn't seem to notice her- or any of the other students, for that matter- which was just fine with her. Conversation continued to buzz around her but Bryony noticed that it was considerably more subdued than that preceding the other classes she'd attended in the past couple of days, and even a cursory look around told her that the students were unusually focused on the people at the front of the room.

She sighed and part of her wanted to march up there and demand to know what was going on, but she didn't want to call that kind of attention to herself. So she set herself to the task of arranging her things for class when, out of the corner of her eye she saw somebody seat themselves next to her. She looked up and met the grey eyes of Scorpius Malfoy.

"Where were you?" She hissed. "I didn't see you at breakfast."

His cheeks went slightly pink and he ducked his head. "I overslept. I'm not used to getting myself out of bed."

Bryony kept her expression carefully neutral. She didn't know Scorpius well, but she knew enough to know that he was spoiled. But she didn't want to make him uncomfortable because he was actually really nice, if quiet. Their mothers had struck up something of an odd friendship and so she had been around him enough over the years to know that he was enjoyable company, and he was kind and patient with her little brothers, which was the key to endearing oneself to her. Phillip and Oliver might have been mischievous little pests, but they were hers to protect.

She didn't have a lot of friends in the magical world, her parents had kept her rather sheltered due to their fame, and the Weasley cousins she usually spent time with were all either older or younger than her. Scorpius' familiar face on the Hogwarts Express had been very welcome. And then he'd just seemed so relieved when she asked to sit with him- but she'd quickly taken notice of the whispers about him which had infuriated her- and had understood why. So, especially once they were both sorted into Slytherin, she'd vowed to stick close to him. But she hadn't been prepared to go storming into the boys' dorms on her third day at Hogwarts to find him, so she'd done the next best thing.

"Here," she said pulling the bacon sandwiches and an apple she'd squirreled away out of her bag and placing them on the desk in front of him.

"Oh I couldn't," he protested, but she'd seen his eyes light up at the sight of the food.

"Relax, I had breakfast, Mum just told me I should always be sure to have some snacks on hand. You're welcome to it." She smiled at him encouragingly.

In fact, her mother had been very specific about the need to keep some fuel on her person at all times; her father had also been very specific when he clarified that didn't mean she should skip meals to go to the library.

"Thanks," he murmured. She just shrugged and returned to the task of arranging her things so that he didn't feel scrutinized.

"Hey Petal!" Her head shot up at the sound of her childhood nickname to see her Uncle Ron studying her. "I have to say, I thought the Sorting Hat had lost the plot when I heard it put you in Slytherin. I mean imagine, a Potter in Slytherin! But green suits you."

Bryony felt herself turning bright red.

"She's clever, cunning, and ambitious. There's nothing surprising about it. And if you recall the hat strongly considered Slytherin for Harry as well," her mother sniffed. "Now be quiet, we're not here to embarrass her."

The room had gone deathly silent at this news about her father and Bryony was sure that would be all over the school by lunch, but the adults didn't seem to notice.

"I don't know why you're here but I'm definitely here to embarrass her. It's my duty as her godfather," Uncle Ron retorted puffing out his chest.

"I think it's usually considered the parents duty to embarrass their children. Godparents are meant to be the cool ones," her father interjected.

"Yes, it was very cool when you gave Ryan that drum set for his last birthday," he grumbled and her father snickered- she knew for a fact that had been a retaliatory gift for all the WWW products Uncle Ron had slipped to her brothers over the years. "And anyway, you're Bry's professor so you can't do it, and 'Mione's obviously not going to," he gestured to the way her mother was glaring at him. "I've got to pick up the slack. After all, kids these days have it so easy. I bet there's not even one deadly trap in this school that they're gonna expect Petal to get past before the end of the year."

"Ronald!"

He held up his hands in surrender. "I know, I know, you're more worried about her getting expelled than killed, but I for one am happy to know they've upped the safety standards in this place. Really Hermione, you need to work out your priorities."

Bryony buried her face in her hands. This conversation had officially gone over her head, but she really didn't care what they were talking about, she just wished they'd shut up. And then her mother reached over and viciously pinched her Uncle Ron's side. He yelped and jumped about three feet in the air.

"And there you have it class, a sterling example of the kind of behavior I will not tolerate in this room," her father interrupted but he looked more amused than anything else. "Unless, of course, you happen to be married to me, because my wife always knows best." He grinned at her mother and kissed her cheek even though she looked like she was considering retaliating against him as well. But then something seemed to draw his attention away from her. "Headmistress, is there a problem?"

Bryony lifted her head and turned around to see Professor McGonagall standing at the back of the room.

The woman smirked and settled herself into a corner desk. "Not at all Professor Potter, I'm just here to observe. I learned far too much during your youth to even consider allowing the three of you to remain unsupervised in my school. And I believe Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley have just made my point, behave yourselves in front of my students, young lady, young man."

"Of course Headmistress," her mother said quietly, and Bryony was sure their cheeks were now matching shades of red.

Uncle Ron just grinned playfully. "Understood Headmistress. I'll not be causing any trouble," he declared, the picture of innocence.

"Excuse me if I don't believe you Mr. Weasley, do you have any idea how much trouble your products have caused me over the years? I ought to give you detention until you're my age."

Uncle Ron just smirked.

"Alright then, back to the subject at hand," her father suddenly said loudly, shifting her mother so that she was standing beside him and then slipping off the desk. Bryony could tell that he'd slipped into his serious teaching mode. "As the Headmistress has just said, I'm Professor Potter. Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I expect you to take this class seriously, not only because it is mandatory through your O.W.L.s and I expect you to perform well, but because there will be dangerous spells used in this classroom. I fully intend to prepare you to defend yourself against somebody who means you harm. This is not a playground, there will be no foolish, thoughtless wand waving happening in this room. Everything you do, you will do with consideration."

He paused and looked around purposefully, when he caught her eye she gave him a slight smile and a nod. She'd heard this lecture before. Magic was not a toy.

"That said, we are not going to properly begin our lessons today. As you can see, we have some guests. This is Hermione Granger, who also happens to be my wife and this is Ron Weasley. I'm assuming that most of you are aware that I'm somewhat famous," Bryony almost snorted out loud at that ridiculous understatement, "and while I consider being a Hogwarts Professor as one of the most important things I'll ever do, it is not the reason for that fame. I like to use the first class every year to talk to the first years about my past, my experiences during the Second Wizarding War, and allow you to get your questions out of the way. I don't normally include Hermione and Ron in this, but as you probably know my daughter Bryony is in this class and as a courtesy to her I asked that they come so you can ask any questions you have directly to them instead of going to her- though I'm assuming she's not feeling like it's much of a courtesy at the moment."

She raised her eyebrows at him in an expression that she hoped properly conveyed her exasperation, he just laughed and winked at her and then turned very serious and began to speak, beginning his story in October 1981.

Her heart swelled with pride as he spoke- because her parents were so brave and selfless- but mostly because she knew how difficult this was for her father. However, if you didn't know him well you'd never be able to tell. She was five or six the first time her parents sat her down and began to tell her about the war, only in the vaguest terms of course, but they hadn't wanted her to hear it from anybody else. That was the first time she ever saw her father cry.

Today he told her class more than they'd shared with her during that first conversation, but in a much more impersonal way. Still, by the time he finished Bryony had begun to feel downright resentful that he felt like he had to open himself up in this way, that the public believed they had some kind of right to his story. When he asked if anybody had any questions almost every hand in the room shot into the air, herself and Scorpius were notable exceptions.

And that's when she realized that this might be an even more uncomfortable situation for Scorpius than it was for her, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes and, sure enough, he was stiff as a board and held the edge of his desk in a white knuckled grip. While her father had avoided any mention of Scorpius' father by name, or the Malfoy family at all, she worried that it was too much to hope that their classmates would be so discreet.

"You can ask anything you like, but we reserve the right not to answer. However, we won't get angry with you for asking. That said, I will not tolerate rudeness or malicious comments, this is a sensitive subject."

And it turned out, in the face of a man who had just explained to them how he'd defeated the most powerful dark wizard to emerge in a millenium, the students were too intimidated to be anything but polite, if slightly probing.

"I have a question for Bryony," somebody said, Bryony looked around to see that it was one of the Ravenclaws she'd heard talking before class, 'Priscilla,' her friend had called her.

"It's up to Bryony if she wants to answer," responded her father.

"It's fine," she said quietly, she appreciated her parents' efforts to avoid this, but she'd known when she got on the Hogwarts Express that her classmates would have questions for her and that it was only a matter of time before they worked up the courage to ask, and she'd rather that happened while she had backup.

"Is it weird, having them as parents?" The girl asked.

Bryony tried not to let her opinion about the stupidity of that question show on her face, and decided to go for the light answer. "Well, I'd have to say no, since they're the only parents I've ever had and I don't know any different."

Priscilla giggled. "That's true."

"But," Bryony amended, "it's pretty weird to hear people talk about my family like they're their friends, or like when people know my middle name without me telling them because they read it in the paper from when I was born or something." She shrugged.

"That is so weird," she heard Scorpius mutter beside her, she shot him a understanding grin and was pleased to see that he had relaxed.

"Is Mrs. Potter going to run for Minister of Magic?" A boy she couldn't place, other than that he wore Ravenclaw robes called out.

"I haven't decided," her mother laughed, she looked at her father and herself significantly, "it's something I'll have to discuss with my family when the time comes, but truly, I haven't made up my mind."

"Mrs. Potter?" A pretty Indian girl sitting one row in front of Bryony called out as she put her hand up.

"Yes? You're Parvati's daughter, Meera isn't it?" Her mother answered.

"Yes ma'am."

"Meera's mum was one of my roommates at Hogwarts," she explained to the class in general. "How is she?"

"She's good. Actually, she told me that you used to date Viktor Krum, is that true?"

Her uncle Ron let out a barking laugh. "Oh yes she did!"

Her mother visibly rolled her eyes and covered her face with one hand. "Am I never going to live that down?! It's been more than twenty years, it was one dance that we attended together and then we exchanged a few letters, I don't know why people are so caught up on it."

"He still sends her the occasional holiday card," her father said in a loud whisper as Uncle Ron continued to snicker.

"Meera, did your mother happen to mention who took her and your aunt to that same dance?" Her mother said in a saccharine voice.

The girl giggled and nodded.

"I'm guessing from your reaction that she also shared with you what terrible dates these two were," she gestured to the two men at her side as Bryony looked on in astonishment. This wasn't something her parents had shared.

"We were not that bad!" Uncle Ron protested.

"We really were, mate," her father laughed, "we're lucky we ever got another date after that. It's a miracle Hermione consented to be in a relationship with either of us after witnessing it."

"I knew you both had it in you to expand your emotional ranges," she responded, patting his arm condescendingly.

Bryony processed what she was hearing and she didn't like how it was adding up. "Wait a minute," she blurted, "are you saying you used to date Uncle Ron?" Her voice was high and shrill by the end but she barely noticed.

Her parents glanced at each other, and then her mother and Uncle Ron did the same, looking almost guilty and she knew the answer.

"Oh my god! My entire life is a lie!" She crossed her arms in front of her on the desk and buried her face in them, and then thankfully the bell signaling the end of class chimed.

She heard students begin to pack their bags and move out of the classroom but she didn't look up.

"Petal," her father called softly when the classroom was once again quiet. She sat up but refused to look in the direction of his voice, and just began to pack up her own things.

"I need to get to herbology," she said simply.

"Stay here and we can talk about this, I'll write you a note, Neville will understand."

She shook her head, "I don't want people thinking I'm getting special treatment."

"At least come have lunch with us," this time it was her mother who spoke, Bryony couldn't ignore the plea in her voice and looked up to see that her parents were still standing at the front of the room, his arm around her waist, Uncle Ron had moved a few feet away and was looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Okay," she nodded, "where?"

"We can have the elves bring us something in my office," her father said.

"I'll see you then," she said feeling like a coward when she ducked her head and scurried out of the room.

She nearly ran headlong into Scorpius who was hovering outside. "Hey," she said, and then smiled when she realized what he was doing, "thank you for waiting on me."

He just shrugged and they began walking towards the Entrance Hall. "Parents have pasts," he offered quietly as they exited the castle- and there was a world of knowledge in that simple statement.

"I know, I'm not even sure why I reacted like that. I was just surprised I guess, I mean Uncle Ron is my godfather, I grew up almost as much in his house as my own, I call him Uncle, for Merlin's sake! It just feels kind of incestuous or something."

He shot her a sidelong glance. "But they're not related, right?"

"No, I mean Mum's a muggleborn, you know that."

"So, not really incest," he pointed out.

"No, you're right," she conceded as they entered the greenhouses.

She was distracted the entire class and she was grateful that Professor Longbottom was a good friend of her parents who'd been teaching her about plants since she was little, so nothing they were working on was new to her, and nobody noticed her preoccupation.

She couldn't explain why this information bothered her so much, because Scorpius was right, there was nothing illicit about it. And it's not as if she believed her parents owed her an explanation for everything in their pasts, so she couldn't even be angry that she hadn't known this before. She ultimately decided that while she'd known, intellectually, that because her parents hadn't become a couple until they were twenty-one, that they'd probably been in relationships with other people. But when it came down to it she couldn't imagine them not being with each other.

When class was over Scorpius escorted her into the castle and then they parted ways and she made her way to her father's rooms- he only occasionally stayed in the castle but he still had a full set of living quarters which adjoined his office and classroom. When she entered she was surprised to find her parents curled up together on the couch, her mother tucked under her father's arm, just speaking quietly to each other. She'd fully expected them to be working.

"Where's Uncle Ron?" She asked, getting their attention.

They looked up and smiled at her, waving her over.

"He thought, perhaps this discussion was best kept between the three of us," her mother explained.

"Plus, he was really looking forward to sitting at the Head Table for lunch, you know how he is," her father added, "I just hope he's not foolish enough to try and pull a prank," he finished under his breath.

Bryony fell into an armchair. "If he tries something, I'm glad I'm not there."

They all laughed.

"Petal," her mother began after a few moments, "first of all, I wanted to say how proud we are of your kindness to Scorpius Malfoy. We saw what you did for him this morning."

"Like mother like daughter," her father added with a fond smile.

Her mother rolled her eyes and her father squeezed her shoulders in response. "What? You did the same for us all the time. And you were picking up strays right from the beginning too."

She snorted. "I don't think Scorpius' parents would appreciate you calling him a stray."

"I didn't mean it like that," he shook his head, "but the kid's going to have a hard time of it." He looked a Bryony knowingly, "I'm sure you've heard the talk and that's why you've been sticking close to him."

Bryony shrugged, uncomfortable with the praise just for being decent. "It's no trouble, I like Scorpius. And it's not fair to blame him for something his dad or grandad did before he was even born. That would be like giving me credit for destroying Voldemort. Anyway, it's nice to have a friend in my year and my House, and he's a good one, I think. He was waiting for me after class, he tried to make me feel better."

"I thought I saw him hovering out there. If he's a good friend stick by him no matter what people say, it'll be worth it, I promise," her mother advised, reaching out to pat her husband's knee.

Bryony felt her eyes go wide at the implication. "Mum! I'm not going to marry Scorpius Malfoy!"

She threw her head back and laughed. "I didn't mean it like that, love. But you know that your father, your uncle Ron, and myself became friends quite early on, and some of what we faced together, that they weren't all good times, but I wouldn't trade either of them for anything. Try to remember that when things get hard."

Bryony looked away and nervously fidgeted with her new claddagh ring, it had an emerald set into the heart and her parents had sent it to her along with a posy of her namesake flower as a congratulatory gift for being sorted into Slytherin.

"And suddenly me saying that makes you uncomfortable." Her mother could read her like a book.

"Can't you see why this might be weird for me?" She asked, wincing at the whining quality she heard in her own voice.

But her mother just looked at her sympathetically. "I can actually. I wanted you to know that we discussed it, and this isn't something any of us have been keeping from you kids intentionally. It's nothing we're ashamed of or were trying to hide, but it was over a long time ago, and it is a bit of an unusual situation, so it hasn't come up. I imagine you have questions?"

She had so many questions. She just wasn't sure she wanted to know the answers. "Was it serious?" She finally managed.

Her mother sat back and appeared to give this some serious thought. It was a comfort that her father didn't appear to be in any way upset by this and just rubbed soothing circles on her mum's upper arm.

"I suppose that depends on how you define 'serious.' We were together almost two years, though I was at Hogwarts for one of them, and there was a time that I thought we'd end up together, as did he. But that was mainly because we thought that it was expected of us, we didn't truly feel that way towards each other. You've seen how we interact, we certainly love each other, but I don't believe we were ever in love with each other."

Bryony felt her chin tremble and the tears she could no longer contain started streaming down her cheeks, and she hated herself for acting like such a little kid.

"But you love Daddy so much, how could you just be with his best friend!" She broke into uncontrollable sobs- she hadn't realized she'd been feeling so offended on her father's behalf- but then she heard movement and she was being lifted into familiar strong arms and settled onto what she knew to be her father's lap. Then her mother's equally familiar- if daintier- arm came around her waist as they enveloped her in one large embrace. When she finally calmed down she opened her eyes to see her mother with her head on her father's shoulder just gazing at her with an understanding smile on her face.

"I hate to tell you this, but things are about to become much more complicated in your life. Being a teenager is so confusing- and I spent my teenage years in the middle of a war. I didn't think that Harry was interested in me like that and so I latched on to the other important boy in my life. I'm not saying Uncle Ron was unworthy of my attentions, but even back then I probably should have realized that we were incompatible."

"You fight all the time," she giggled, even as she was still trying to catch her breath. She'd once witnessed her mother threaten to throw a tea cup at her uncle Ron and he'd invited her to go ahead because she threw like a girl, which meant he was in no danger. Her father had nearly carried her mother out of the room and her Aunt Eloise had hustled Uncle Ron out of their house. It was just the natural order of things. It had made her laugh at the time, but she'd grown up surrounded by couples in healthy relationships, and she couldn't imagine her mother and Uncle Ron being together like that.

"We fight all the time," her mum confirmed with a gentle smile.

"So why did you- what changed?"

"Well, after Harry and Ginny broke up, I think I knew deep down how I felt about him, so I ended things with Ron."

Bryony went rigid. "I'm sorry, did you say Ginny?"

Her parents sighed simultaneously.

"Merlin, I've hardly even thought about any of this in years," her father murmured quietly. "Yes," he confirmed, "I was in a relationship with Ginny for approximately as long as Hermione was with Ron, and also briefly during Sixth Year."

She tried to digest this information. She knew Ginny well enough, not as well as George or Bill, but better than Charlie or even Percy. She liked to talk quidditch with her, but just didn't see her nearly as often as she did many of the Weasleys because she lived in Ireland with her husband and two children and traveled often for her job as a reporter.

"This is so weird," she bemoaned.

"Love, did you really think that neither of us had ever had another romantic interest in our lives?" He asked.

"I never really thought about it, you two are just like," she hesitated, suddenly feeling shy, "a unit. 'Harry and Hermione,' people say your names like they're practically one word. You're like ridiculously in love, it's kind of gross."

"Don't put us on too much of a pedestal," her mother cautioned gently.

"I just thought you were a sure thing… but what if you'd missed it? I wouldn't be here, me and Phillip and Oliver."

"I honestly can't imagine that we wouldn't have found each other eventually," she smiled up at her husband. "You were always going to be my best friend, and I loved you too much not to figure it out eventually."

Her father smiled in return and tilted his head to give her a soft kiss; and even though they were extremely close to her, and she normally would have been disgusted, this was the first time in a long time that Bryony didn't roll her eyes at her parents' display of affection.

"You know the story of how your father and I got together."

"Yes, yes," she sighed, "Daddy was in love with you and he had too much to drink on his birthday and confessed it all."

Her father described it as a whirlwind romance, her mother as an inevitability. Her father shot her a warning glance at her attitude and she immediately gave him an apologetic smile.

"Did you know that your room at home used to belong to your mother?"

Bryony just blinked at him. "So, you were what, roommates?"

"No, not exactly," he laughed, "but from the moment I moved in I wanted to make sure she always felt welcome- this was years before we got together, Petal. And that slowly morphed into a feeling of wanting her there all the time. And then one day I just knew that nobody else would ever be mistress of my home."

Well that was nice, wasn't it? But she'd known that, hadn't she? Her father treated her mother like a queen.

Her mother interjected. "That night that he told me he loved me, oh Bry," she sighed and reached up to smooth her hair away from her face. "It's my greatest wish that you get to experience that one day. I had certainly been in denial, but I didn't have to think about it, pretty much as soon as the words left his mouth I just knew that my heart had been right here," she tapped her husband's chest, "for many, many years."

It was only when she felt her father wiping the tears from her face that she even realized she'd been crying again.

"So do you feel better now, are we all okay?"

"Yeah," she squirmed off her father's lap, wedging herself between them and twisted her fingers together nervously. "I just don't like how other people know more about you than I do."

"They might know more random trivia, things they've read, but you really know us love. And that thing about Viktor Krum, let me tell you a secret. Parvati was a nice girl, but there's a reason you've never met her and that I don't really consider her to be a friend even after all those years of living together. She's a big gossip and I bet she thought she was passing something really juicy onto her daughter, but it really was just one dance."

"But, Mum! Viktor Krum! He's so famous!" There was silence as Bryony absorbed the absurdity of she'd just said, given her parents own fame. "That's different, you and Daddy have normal lives and normal jobs, you don't have, like, paparazzi following you around unless you count the weirdos in Diagon Alley who want to take a picture with you."

"Viktor is pretty normal too, it's just the fame that's abnormal." She nudged her playfully, "but if you'd like, i'm pretty sure I could arrange for you to meet him."

"Now you're just bribing me," Bryony huffed.

"Is it working?"

"Yes. But can we leave Philip and Oliver at home, I don't feel like being embarrassed in front of Viktor Krum."

"Alright," she chuckled.

Bryony looked at her father. "And do me a favor, don't ever invite Uncle Ron to class again."

He threw back his head and laughed. "Deal."

Author's note: Well there you have it, Bryony was fun to write and I hope you enjoyed this. I posted the first chapter of my new Harmony a few hours ago, it's called "Running and Hiding." I'd love for you to check it out! Thanks for reading and happy new year!