AN: I have proofread these chapters a zillion times, but if you find anything I missed, such as a misspelled word or a type-o or anything, please let me know so I can correct it. I know how errors can ruin the enjoyment of a story. Thanks. Tamara
Chapter 6
The first batch of wolfsbane potion had been a success. Remus was tired, but well, the next morning. The morning after the full moon, Harry and his guardians had the best breakfast he had eaten since he left Hogwarts. Winky had bathed and put on a clean, white pillowcase. She quickly cooked and served breakfast. Then, after Harry ordered them to, she and Dobby joined them for breakfast.
Two days later, the new marauders, as they now referred to themselves, went on holiday. Harry had never had so much fun in his life. They spent two days each in Rome, Venice, and the French Riviera. It was true that women sunbathed topless.
Harry spent his days on the Riviera lying on a blanket, pretending to read while watching the sunbathers. "I should have bought contact lenses," he complained. "I can't see anything through these sunglasses, and there's too much glare on my regular glasses." He was lying on his stomach, pretending to read a book, which he couldn't see without his glasses.
"Next time we come to the Riviera, you'll be prepared," Sirius assured him, smiling at Harry's attempt to watch the girls without being obvious.
Remus and Sirius were sitting on towel-covered canvas lounge chairs. Remus was actually reading a book, while Sirius looked out over the water, sipping a mimosa.
"Here, Harry," Remus said, reaching his hand out. "Give me your regular glasses and I'll transform the lenses into sunglasses."
Harry sat up on his towel and glared at Remus. "Now you tell me?" He dug his glasses out of a beach bag and gave them to Remus.
When Remus had performed the spell, he put them on. "I'm going for a swim," Harry said, standing up. He dropped his old sunglasses on the blanket and started toward the water. Unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be, he ran into one of the topless women who was passing by the Marauders.
She was tall enough that his face hit her right between her breasts. "Oh, God," he said, backing away, yet unable to take his eyes off her breasts, his face turning as red as a tomato. "I'm so sorry."
Sirius spewed out a mouthful of mimosa. Remus raised his book over the bottom half of his face, trying to hide his laughter.
The woman ruffled his hair. "Is okay, mon petit. No one was 'urt."
"Um, right, then," Harry said, continuing to slowly back away from her. "I'm just . . . um . . . going . . . somewhere else, now."
Laughing, the woman pulled him into a hug, squashing his face against her large breasts. Harry's eyes grew wide and, if possible, his face turned even redder.
"Right," he said, when she let him go. "Um, thank you . . . for that." He turned quickly, ran to the water, and jumped in.
Remus and Sirius almost fell out of their chairs laughing. "Now, that," said Sirius, "Was a pensieve moment."
The next two days were spent in Greece. The last four days, including Harry's birthday, were spent in Hawaii.
On the night of his 16th birthday, Remus and Sirius arranged for a traditional luau. There were hula dancers, fire dancers, music, and a huge feast. They ate, drank, and danced late into the night. Harry even donned a grass skirt over his shorts and danced the hula with the ladies.
"I hope that somewhere up there, James and Lily can see this," Sirius said wistfully, enjoying the sight of his godson acting so silly.
"If they are, Lily's probably trying to curse us for letting Harry drink so much tonight," Remus said.
"He needs this, Moony. He's never had the opportunity to be a kid, and we don't know how much longer he'll have before Voldemort makes another move. I say we give him a holiday at every opportunity."
"I agree, Padfoot. I've never seen him acting so carefree. His life should have always been like this."
Harry looked over and waved at them.
"Keep laughing, Remus," Sirius said, chuckling. "Don't let him think we've been discussing anything serious."
Remus laughed and stood up, pulling Sirius up with him. "Come on. Let's grab a couple of grass skirts and join the chorus line."
The next day, their holiday ended. Harry had bought souvenirs for all his friends from every place they had visited. He couldn't wait to give Ron the picture postcard of the French Riviera.
On the first of August, the day Harry and his guardians returned from their holiday, he received both his Hogwart's letter and OWL results. There was also a letter from Professor McGonagall asking him to accept the Quidditch captain position. Katie Bell, her letter informed him, had refused the position because she needed to study for NEWTs. However, she would remain on the team and help Harry as much as possible until a new team could be selected.
After his guardians went to bed, he sat in the living room, reading over his OWL results. They had taken him out to dinner in Paris to celebrate. He had passed all of them, even Divination, but his E in potions was not good enough to get him into Snape's Advanced Potions class. He was disappointed that he would have to give up being an auror, but he didn't mind not having to have a class with the greasy git. Yet, McGonagall had promised to do everything she could to help him become an auror. Maybe she could talk Snape into letting him in.
He had made Os in both Defense and Care of Magical Creatures; Es in Charms, Transfigurations, and Potions; and As in History, Astronomy, Herbology, and Divinations. Nine owls were pretty good. He had written Hermione and Ron immediately to let them know. Now, he had to let McGonagall know what classes he was going to take next year and that he would, indeed, accept the position of Quidditch captain. He decided to drop Divination, Astronomy, History, and Care of Magical Creatures. He knew Hagrid would be upset, but if McGonagall did as she promised and got him into potions, along with the captaincy of the Quidditch team and DA, 5 classes would be almost more than he could handle.
"Ah, I see you've gotten your OWL results."
Harry whirled around, looking for the owner of the voice.
"Up here," said the voice, with a chuckle. "Did you forget about my portrait?"
Harry looked up at the portrait of his grandfather, who was smiling down at him.
"Oh, hello, Grandfather," Harry said. "No. In fact, I was wondering when I would be able to talk to you."
His grandfather laughed. "You don't have to be so formal, Harry. When you were a baby, you called me Ganda and your grandmother Gan. I think you were trying to say Granddad and Gran, but you had a bit of trouble pronouncing the letter r. Of course, you were only a year old. We were quite proud of you."
Harry grinned up at the portrait of his grandfather. "I've always wondered what it would be like to have grandparents. It's nice to finally be able to talk to you, Granddad."
The portrait cleared his throat, looking pleased but a bit embarrassed. "So, how did you do on your OWLs?"
Harry grinned. "I got 9. Two Os, three Es, and four As. I passed everything."
"That's quite an accomplishment. What were your Os in?"
"Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures. I'm hoping to be an auror."
His grandfather grinned. "Just like your father and godfather, then."
"Dad and Sirius were aurors?" Harry asked, surprised.
His grandfather looked at him thoughtfully. Harry thought he detected a look of sadness. "Are you alone here?"
"No, but I'm the only one up. Everyone else is in bed."
His grandfather nodded seriously. "I have something I want to show you."
Harry wondered if he was finally going to learn about the rooms that only a Potter could enter.
"This is a little Potter secret," his grandfather said. "Do you have your wand with you?"
Harry nodded, removing his wand from his pocket and showing it to his grandfather.
"Very good." His grandfather took his own wand out of his pocket. "Harry, watch my wand movement, then I want you to copy it."
Harry watched as his grandfather made a complicated wand movement. He tried to copy it, but it took him several tries before he finally got it right.
"Now, I want you to make that wand movement in front of my portrait, then tap each corner of the frame and say 'Reveal your secrets.'"
Harry had to drag a chair from the dining room to stand on so he could reach the top corners of the frame. He followed his grandfather's instructions, and the frame swung open revealing a large wall safe behind the portrait. His grandfather gave him the combination, and he opened the safe.
"This is a muggle safe," Harry said, surprised.
"Yes, it is, but it's also charmed to only open for a Potter. Muggle items are quite useful when you're dealing with Death Eaters, Harry. How many pure blood wizards do you know who could figure out what this is?"
Harry laughed and looked inside the safe. There was only one sheet of blank parchment. "There's nothing in here, Granddad," he said. "Only a sheet of parchment."
"Take the parchment out, Harry. Do you know the password to your father's map? The one he calls the Marauder's Map?"
Harry grinned and took out the parchment. He tapped it, saying, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Writing began to appear, and Harry read:
The Potter Family Room is located in the library behind the bookshelf on the north wall. To access it, turn the wall sconce on the right of the bookshelf and the room will appear.
"Mischief managed," Harry said, tapping the parchment, then placed it back in the safe. He closed the safe, and then swung the portrait back in place, hopped off the chair, and took it back to the dining room. When he returned, his grandfather was no longer in the portrait. "Granddad?" he called.
"Down here, Harry."
Harry looked at the mantle and saw a small picture frame, which had been empty earlier. His grandfather now appeared in the small frame. "Now you can take me into the library with you," his grandfather said.
Harry picked up the frame and went into the library. He stopped in the middle of the room, looking around in confusion. "Um, Granddad, since this trunk can be facing in any direction, how do I know which is the north side of the library?"
His grandfather chuckled. "That's a good question, Harry, and it's also another way of preventing anyone from knowing exactly where the room is. But I'll give you a little hint. In which direction does the sun rise?"
"The east," said Harry, looking around the room for a painting or picture of a sunrise or sunset.
"I'll give you another hint. Go over to the bookcase behind the desk and tell me the name of the first book on the top shelf."
Harry had to climb on top of the desk to read the name of the book. "The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemmingway," he said. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then realization hit. "Oh!" He jumped off the desk and turned to the left. He went over to the wall sconce on the right and turned it.
The bookcase opened, and Harry saw a door that contained no doorknob. He placed his hand on the door to push, but before he could put any pressure on it, the door swung open.
"It only opens for a Potter," his grandfather explained as they entered the room. "And I suppose you've guessed by now that the room is hidden under the fidelius charm. Turn the wall sconce beside the door and that will close the door and move the bookcase back to its proper position."
Harry turned the sconce, closing himself inside the room, then looked around.
The Potter Family Room was quite large. The first thing that Harry noticed were the portraits that hung on the walls. Hanging side by side over a large fireplace were two portraits. One was a portrait of his grandparents and the other was of his parents with himself at about the age of one. Baby Harry was sitting on his mother's lap, sucking his thumb, his green eyes watching every move he made. Suddenly, baby Harry pointed at 16-year-old Harry and said, "Da!"
Harry watched as his parents laughed. His father reached down and took baby Harry out of his mother's arms. "That's not Da," he said. "That's you! See? You're all grown up!"
Harry stared at the painting, his eyes filling with tears. There he was in the portrait being held by his parents. "Mum?" he whispered. "Dad?"
His mother smiled at him. "We've been waiting for you, Harry," she said softly, tears brimming in her own eyes. "Waiting and hoping that you'd come to let us know that you were safe."
"Mum," he whispered again, slowly moving toward the portrait. He reached out and gently touched her cheek. It felt like a painting, but there she was, smiling and talking to him. He drew his hand back, tears rolling down his face.
"Harry," his grandfather said, drawing his attention away from his mother.
Harry wiped his face with his sleeve. "Yes, sir?"
"I want to introduce you to your grandmother. Harry, this is Anna Potter, also known as Gran."
His grandmother had red hair, and Harry thought about what Sirius had once said about Potter men being attracted to red-haired women. He also thought about Ginny before quickly pushing that thought out of his mind. "Hello, Harry," she said, smiling gently.
"Hello, Gran," he said. "It's very nice to meet you."
His grandfather cleared his throat to get his attention. "Now that you know about this room, you can apparate to it. You don't have to use the sconces."
"Oh," Harry said, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping his nose. "I don't know how to apparate yet. Yesterday was my birthday. I'm 16 now."
His grandfather looked surprised. "Thomas gave you the trunk before you were of age?"
Harry explained to his grandfather why, according to Mr. Tidwell, he had given Harry the trunk before his 17th birthday.
His grandfather looked thoughtful. "Well, you can always use the door behind the bookcase until you learn. Just don't let anyone else see you use it. All right?"
Harry nodded.
"Why don't you sit down?"
Harry sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace, looking up at the two portraits.
"Harry, do you know about the prophecy?"
"Yes, sir. Dumbledore told me about a month ago."
"When we heard the prophecy, I had this trunk commissioned. It was so we could go into hiding to keep you and the rest of us safe. I'm assuming, since the portrait didn't activate until now, that you're the last Potter."
Harry looked at his parents and nodded guiltily. His parents smiled at him sadly.
"We'd like to hear the entire story about what happened, Harry, if you would tell us. The last thing that any of us remember is sometime just after your first birthday. Can you fill us in from that point?"
Harry sighed deeply. "I only know what I've been told, beginning on the night that—beginning the night I got this scar," he said, brushing his hair back and showing them his forehead.
"Start there, then, Sweetheart," his mother said. "It's all right. Take your time."
"It was on Halloween," Harry said. "In 1981. I was 15 months old. You and Dad had taken me and gone into hiding. The house at Godric's Hollow was placed under the fidelius charm, and everyone thought that Sirius was the secret keeper. But at the last minute, you had changed it to be Peter Pettigrew because Sirius was such an obvious choice, and no one would have suspected Pettigrew. Anyway, Pettigrew was the spy. He was a Death Eater, but no one knew it. He betrayed us to Voldemort. We had been under the fidelius charm for a week when Voldemort came to the house." He stopped, staring at his clutched hands in his lap. The portraits were quiet, waiting for him to continue. Even baby Harry was silent.
Harry took another deep breath. "I don't remember it, but when I'm near dementors, I hear it," he said softly. "Dad said, 'Lily, I'll hold him off. Take Harry and go.' Mum must have gone upstairs to get me from my room. The door crashed open and Dad fought, but—but Voldemort cursed him with the avada kedavra. Next, he came upstairs where Mum and I were in the nursery. He told her to stand aside, but she said, 'No! Not Harry! Take me! Kill me instead!' and Voldemort told her again to move, but she wouldn't, so—the avada kedavra curse hit her, too. Then, Voldemort turned his wand on me and hit me with the same curse on the forehead. For some reason, the curse rebounded off me, only leaving this scar, but it hit Voldemort and knocked his soul from his body. After that, I was famous. I was known throughout the Wizarding world as "the-boy-who-lived." Most everyone thought Voldemort was dead, and that I had killed him, but he wasn't. He just roamed the earth without a body until last year when Pettigrew performed a ritual, using my blood, to give him a new body. Now, he's back, and he's just as terrifying as ever. Only, less human, according to Dumbledore."
He glanced up at his parents' portrait timidly to see their reactions. James was staring at him, a look of both sadness and shock on his face. Tears were running down Lily's face, and she looked at Harry with such compassion that he wished he could run to her and be held in her arms.
"So, who's in the trunk with you, Harry?" his grandfather asked.
"Sirius and Remus."
"So you went to live with Sirius after—after that night?" James asked, hopefully.
Harry shook his head. "Everyone thought Sirius was the secret keeper. He went to Azkaban for 12 years. Pettigrew framed him, accused him of betraying us in front of witnesses, then blew up the street killing 13 muggles, transformed into a rat, and left down the sewer. He cut off his finger before he left, faking his own death. They thought that Sirius had killed you, Pettigrew, and 13 muggles. They never even gave him a trial. He escaped the summer before my third year at Hogwarts. He's been in hiding ever since. A little over a month ago, he was trying to defend me in the Department of Mysteries, and his cousin Bellatrix hit him with a curse. He fell backwards into the Veil in the Death Chamber."
His mother gasped. His dad and grandparents stared at him in horror.
"The day I left Hogwarts at the end of last term was exactly a week after Sirius died. It's also the day Mr. Tidwell gave me this trunk. That night, Remus and I went back in time and rescued Sirius just before he fell into the Veil. No one knows about it. Everyone still thinks he's dead. He's going to stay that way until we capture Pettigrew and get his name cleared. He and Remus are living here with me in the trunk."
"And Pettigrew?" his grandfather asked.
"Voldemort's right-hand man."
"Damn that little rat!" James shouted.
"Unbelievable!" his grandfather said, angrily.
"How could he?" his grandmother asked. "After all the time he spent at our house with James, Sirius, and Remus! How could he betray them?"
"Because he's a coward," Harry said. "He betrayed us all so that Voldemort wouldn't kill him."
"Does anyone know how you lived through the killing curse, Harry?" his grandfather asked.
"Dumbledore thinks that it's some sort of ancient magic, that when Mum sacrificed herself for me, it protected me in some way. He also thinks that when Voldemort gave me this scar, he unintentionally gave me some of his magic. For example, I'm a parselmouth because Voldemort was a parselmouth."
His grandmother looked thoughtful. "That may not be entirely true, Harry. My father spoke parseltongue. It's more likely that you inherited it from him."
"Your father? I'm sorry, I don't know anything about my family."
"My father was Michael Flamel, several times great grandson of Nicholas Flamel. My mother was Alice Dumbledore, the daughter of Albus Dumbledore."
Harry stared at her in shock. "Dumbledore's my great-great grandfather?"
She nodded, smiling.
"Does he know?"
"Of course he does. When you were a baby, you called him Gampa."
"Nobody's ever told me!" he said, furiously. "Why didn't he tell me? Why did he make me grow up with the Dursleys?"
"You were raised by Petunia and Vernon?" Lily asked, horrified.
"I'm not sure raised would be the correct word," he said, still angry with Dumbledore. "They kept me in a cupboard under the stairs, only letting me out to do chores. That was my home until Hagrid rescued me and took me to Hogwarts when I was 11."
"You spent 10 years in a cupboard?" James asked furiously.
Harry nodded. He was beginning to feel a little guilty about telling his parents something they could do nothing about. "But they gave me Dudley's second bedroom after I got my letter from Hogwarts. They treated me better after that."
He turned to his grandmother. "But why did Dumbledore make me think I had no other family? Why didn't he tell me he was my great-great-grandfather?"
"The same reason that no one ever knew I was his granddaughter," she answered, smiling gently. "He worried that his enemies would use his family to get to him. After his wife and oldest daughter were killed, he took my mother to be raised by the Flamels. Of course, he visited her as often as he could, but she went to Hogwarts under the name of Alice Prewitt, which was my grandmother's maiden name."
"Was your grandmother related to Fabian, Gideon, and Molly Prewitt?" Harry asked.
She smiled. "My grandmother was Elizabeth Prewitt, Molly's great-aunt. Of course, when she married my grandfather, she became Elizabeth Dumbledore. Molly married a Weasley, I believe."
"Oh, no!" Harry groaned. "I'm related to the Weasleys!"
"Is that a problem?" his mother asked.
"No. I love the Weasleys. Ron Weasley is my best friend. It's just that . . . well . . . his sister, Ginny . . ."
"Ah," his dad said, smiling. "Young love."
"Well, I don't know if it's love. I just think she's, well, pretty, I guess. Ginny doesn't know, but . . . it doesn't really matter now," he said, thoroughly depressed.
"Actually, Molly's children are very distant cousins, Harry," his grandmother said. "They are hardly any relation at all. If you wanted to date young Ginny, there wouldn't be a problem with it."
"Really?" he asked hopefully.
She laughed. "Really. Purebloods marry cousins all the time. It wouldn't be proper to marry a 1st cousin. That would be too closely related, but 6th cousins would be all right."
Harry looked thoughtful. "That's good to know," he said. "You know, just in case."
"So," his grandfather said, changing the subject, "Anna and I did not go into hiding with James and Lily, then."
Harry shook his head. "Remus told me that Gran died about a month before we went into hiding. I'm sorry, Gran, I don't know the name of the disease, but Remus said it was of natural causes. He said that you, Granddad, had planned to go into hiding with us, but that you disappeared the night before they were to put the fidelius charm on the house, and that no one ever found out what happened to you. Mum and Dad wanted to wait until they found you, but Dumbledore insisted that we hide immediately. He said the Order would keep searching for you, and when they found you, they'd arrange it so that you could join us."
His grandfather looked thoughtful. "How very strange," he said quietly, as if talking to himself. Then he looked up at Harry and smiled. "Well, let us tell you more about this room," he said. "You will find that this trunk will actually help you fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The bookcase on your left contains our research. Your mother's written several books on charms and transfiguration. Your father's written about offensive and defensive spells. Your grandmother has written about herbology and potions. And I've written about my research on . . . other things. These are the only copies in existence. No one else has access to them.
"On the wall to your right, behind those doors, you'll find a storage room. It's filled with everything we would need while in hiding. There are enough galleons to last several years. When you're 17, you'll inherit the Potter vaults, but until that time, if you need money, use what's in here. You can always convert the galleons into muggle money if you need to.
"We each have an extra wand in the storage area. And there are files on all the known Death Eaters from our time. You'll want to add to those files. We will show you how to get information and how to spy on Voldemort and his Death Eaters. We'll also teach you how to stun, restrain, and capture Death Eaters without leaving the trunk, how to question them under veritaserum, and where to incarcerate them once you've captured them."
For the next hour or so, Harry learned more about the trunk, the Potter room, his family, and himself than he had ever imagined possible. And his family learned more about him. He told them about his life at Hogwarts, including his adventures and escapes from Voldemort.
He even told his family about his holiday with Sirius and Remus, with the exception of his embarrassing experience at the French Riviera.
Baby Harry's eyes had lit up hearing the names of his guardians. "Unca Daddy! Unca Mooey!" he cried happily, clapping his hands.
James rolled his eyes. "Don't get him started," he pleaded. The others laughed.
Before he realized it, it was well after midnight, and he was exhausted.
"Get some sleep, Sweetheart," his mother said, gently. "We can talk again tomorrow."
As he lay in bed that night, going over some of the things they had talked about, he suddenly sat straight up in bed in shock. "Dumbledore's my great-great-grandfather!"