Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter- JK Rowling does
A/N: Sorry, I just realized if that if Stan was born a year after Harry Potter, he would younger than him. Sorry about the time mistake but it worked better with the story. Don't hate me too much for it.
The next day I woke up to find that Stan was back to his usual schedule running the Knight Bus. I walked down the stairs, still adorned in my pajama bottoms and Stan's shirt and felt a cool chill as I heard racket coming from the kitchen. I shivered and looked outside. It was snowing; small white flakes were falling on the ground, slowly building up.
"Oh, Brooke. Good thing you're awake. Abby and I were just leaving. We'll probably be back late so good ahead and eat lunch." Mrs. Shunp- no, Julia said bustling around the corner as I reached the kitchen. I stared blankly at her as she grabbed Abby's hand and they side-along apparated away. I suddenly remembered that they were going to pay a visit to Abby's father, a man I had little to no respect for. The preparations had been set the night before and Abby bounced excitedly around the house all last night. I sighed looking into nothing but the big bronze wall in front of me as I slumped down in the loveseat. What the hell was I going to do today?
An hour and a carton of cereal later, I headed up towards Stan's room. Maybe I'll get some cleaning done in my boredom. Or maybe you should look for a flat, the sensible me said. I shook my head at the notion. If I got a flat, that means I would have to leave the Shunpike's. I scoffed as I opened my bedroom door- no, Stan's bedroom door. Exactly the point, sensible Brooke pointed out, you are getting way too attached to this family.
"No, I'm not," I said aloud to no one. Am I? I took Stan and mine conjoined cleaned clothes and began to fold them, separating socks from underwear. In five minutes I was done. I stared at the wall again and sat on the bed. What would I do until Stan got home? I looked around at the organized mess. Books were stacked on the bookshelf some facing opposite directions while others were just thrown in messily. I got off of the bed slowly and walked towards the black painted skinny bookshelf. Reading seemed best; I could spend three hours or more doing that. Although Stan seemed like he wouldn't be that much of a reader, I saw 50 maybe 60 different titles stacked on the tall bookshelf. I looked over a few of them, some familiar some not. I noticed several muggle titles, usually horror genres but some I saw some that bordered on romance novels. I laughed when I found a particularly worn Nicholas Spark book amongst many Stephen King novels. I browsed the lower sections of the bookshelf, squatting on my knees. I was unsurprised to find a few very racy magazines stuffed in between body building ones. I spied 12 Fail Safe Ways to Charm Witches and I couldn't help but pick it up a glance through it. I opened it to a page by random.
Lesson 2:
Young witches always appreciate compliments. Try complimenting the lady of your dreams with a comment about her hair, of in case of ugliness, her shoes. Girls are always going on about these two things. After complimenting her shoes, she will probably say something about how her feet hurt, or about a blister on her heel. Instead of agreeing with her, try complimenting a different body part such as saying how toned her legs are, or her eyes are pretty. Then, lastly, women always love when they are feeling appreciated. You should thank her about something she did in past, such as making lunch or helping you out of a tough spot.
I had to stop reading then. I was laughing so hard the book had fallen out of my lap and tears had gathered in my eyes. Is this really what men thought? I shoved the book back where I had found it and delved further. I went to the last columns. I looked over a few muggle classics and a few wizarding classics as well. I pulled out a book by Beedle the Bard. I turned to it's back and realized I had read it in Hogwarts after a few purebloods urged me to read their favorite childhood story and was about to put it back when I noticed something sticking out from where the book had previously been. The book, facing outward, was black leather and was inconspicuously hidden behind 3 or 4 books heading the right way. I took the few books that were in front of it out barely paying any attention to what they said. I pulled the dusty black leather book out and turned it over in my hands. It looked like a journal and I turned it to see that the pages were gold rimmed. I could barely contain my excitement as the thought of it being Stan's journal crossed my mind. I opened it to the front page and instead of seeing the loose fluid writing Stan used I saw a cramped tight sort of penmanship that I had only seen once before. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it had to be Stan's father. Had Stan seen this and hidden it to stop anyone from seeing it? Or, perhaps, did Mr. Shunpike hide it here in hopes that someday Stan would find it. Before I could stop myself my eyes were scanning over the page, reading before I could stop myself.
I haven't ever kept anything like this. A journal, I mean, and I don't know what I expect to fill it with. I doubt I will keep up with it either but Julia gave it to me as a gift for my 17th birthday and I'm sure she will be greatly disappointed if I didn't write in it. For my birthday I got a gold watch from my parents with a letter of recommendation they planned on sending to the ministry. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I wanted to do was to tour the muggle world for a few years, maybe take a break from magic. I have just graduated from Hogwarts, the top of my class as expected, two weeks ago. I don't have anything else to write so goodbye.
The entry was small and barely filled a page, the next entry was on a date that indicated it was weeks later. Instead of it being the same crisp writing, it was a little looser as if it was hurriedly scratched down.
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had become increasingly active lately. After joining the ministry, Magical Cooperation, I have only heard about killings, disappearances. Murder now appears as a daily occurrence. I went into work one day to find that a fellow intern had been killed just hours earlier. I don't know how much time anybody had left. I'm proposing to Julia today, at least we'll be together when he comes for us.
I gasped. He only married her because Voldemort was on the rise? I didn't know what to think of this. I really hoped Stan hadn't read this, tainting his already imperfect picture of his father. I turned the page, getting a paper cut in the process. I sucked on my bleeding finger and read the next entry. It was set months from the previous one and was back to the clean crisp writing.
Today is my wedding day. I am happy but nervous. I wonder if Julia will be happy enough with me. She's too pretty, too full of life, to stand me for long.
This was all it said and I noticed that the entries had become increasingly smaller. So it surprised me to find the next entry was at least two pages long. I noticed that a year had passed by and wasn't surprised.
Today is the greatest day of my life. Harry Potter, a baby only 1 year old, has defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We don't know the specific details, but a friend told me that the boy survived a killing curse! Julia and I are both safe at last. I am smiling all of the time and my cheeks are really starting ache. Then after the news came, Julia said two words that made this perfect day even better, "I'm pregnant," It's a boy, I saw the sonogram. She said she didn't want to tell me at first, she wasn't even sure she wanted to have the baby being in such a dangerous world but now everyone is safe, Julia, me and my unborn child. I have never seen the Wizarding World celebrate this way before. This past year has been horrible and everyone is ready to move on. I haven't written in a year and so now I must fill you in on some sad news, a few months ago Julia's parents were murdered. She was very sad and cried for weeks and weeks. When the baby is born we are going to name him after her father, Stanley. She cried again when I told her that. Then just a month afterward the news of Julia's parent's deaths, I learned my brother had been murdered for resisting a death eater. He and I had an estranged relationship and he always hung around shady places so I wasn't that surprised. Julia and I have been talking and we both want 3 kids. 3 had always been a lucky number for me. Julia and I dated each other 3 years before we married, you know. I only had my brother and Julia was an only child so we do want a big family. I was born on March 3, too. I can't wait until I get to throw a foozball around in the backyard with my son. I really like foozball. Julia got me a muggle tellyvision for my birthday and I have been stuck to it all the time. That's a muggle term, not literally stuck to it, but figuratively. Julia said when the baby is born and he's old enough we can all go on an airplane to the beach. I have always wanted to know how those airplanes stay up. (A/N: Arthur Weasley?) I am so am so excited. Now Julia and I can go to the park without worrying that the people next to us could disappear in an hour's time. Peace had been restored. But now Julia is calling me and we are going to a celebration party and I will drink as much Firewhisky as one man can consume. Farewell.
My heart skipped a beat. Mr. Shunpike had talked so lovingly about his wife, why had he left her? I had known that Stan's grandparents were murdered by death-eaters; that's why he always resisted Voldemort, but I hadn't really thought of them as Mrs. Shunp- no Julia's parents. I squeezed out a few tears for her then. I could here Mr. Shunpike's voice in my head rising in excitement talking about his son. Why had their relationship estranged so much? And then I remembered that he had left. I leafed through the pages quickly, there were two months worth of entries that amounted to nothing. It only described the daily life of the Shunpike's. I turned another page quickly, grimacing as I received another paper cut, but I only saw one more entry left. It was 14 years later. I wondered why Mr. Shunpike had remembered after all those years.
You must be wondering why I am writing in you after all these years. I am too. While packing today, I found this journal in my dresser pressed against the back mahogany drawer. Over the years, Julia and I have had three children, Stan, Maddie and Tyler. And I loved the three of them with all my heart. We had our perfect three like we always wanted. Then a year ago, Julia told me she was pregnant again, taking me completely by surprise. I could hardly believe it. Stan is already fourteen and Maddie is eight, I thought we were done. We said we were. Julia cried while she told me, and I held her and felt tears well up in my own eyes for the first time in years. When I saw Abigail's face for the first time, the same love that I had for my other 3 children consumed me, but it was different this time. I realized that, I, a 32-year-old man, already graying, have never done what I wanted to do. I know it sounds selfish and that's because it is. But should I stay and break my family apart slowly or should I quit and leave now and let them live without me? I stayed for 3 months. Then one day I was watching my 3 older children play quidditch in the yard while Julia held our baby and I just couldn't do it anymore. I can't look at Abigail with out seeing all of my regrets, staying here any longer would be hurtful to her and to me, to Stan, to Tyler and to Maddie. To most of all, my precious wife. With Julia I didn't see the passion and fire I had when I was 17, but now it had turned into little more than friendship. I packed up my things today and put my normal sized luggage by the door. I had packed the manual way, knowing full well what I was getting myself into. I kissed my children goodbye, Tyler first, 5 years old and oblivious, then Maddie, who thought it was just another business trip and then hugged my oldest son; at 14 he just had an inkling of what was going on. I couldn't look at the baby I was abandoning and quickly passed her crib as she cried loud enough for all of my other children. Julia had tears rolling down her eyes as I kissed her cheek and said my goodbye. I took my things in my hand and went out of the door. I have already broken my wand; it's pieces thrown amongst the trees surrounding the house. I am writing this down on the porch swing dreading leaving for knowledge that if I go then I can never come back. I'm leaving this here in case one day, someone will read this and give it to my youngest daughter so maybe she might be braver than me and somehow forgive me one day.
Stan came home to find me curled up in a ball on his bed with the diary in my hands. Books were spread out all over and I had barely noticed. He called my name a few times and I tried to hide the book. I used my shaking hands to slowly close the book's cover, tears still pooling in my eyes. I tried to push it back into the bookshelf but my eyes were so filled to the brim with tears I couldn't see anything except blobs. I saw Stan's figure at the door and slipped the book up my shirt to try and hide it. I really just wanted to be held by him but I sat up and smiled at him, conscious of how miserable I looked. The smile made the tears in my eyes roll down and I quickly wiped them away.
"Hey, Stan, you're home-" But before I could finish my sentence he had jumped over anything in his path and wrapped me in a huge hug.
"Shh, shh, it's alright, Brooke. If you need to cry you can cry," He said smoothing down my hair and pushing my closer into his chest. He would be able to feel the book. Tears overfilled over my eyes again as I broke away and slowly took the book I had slipped under my shirt out and gave it to him. My arm was shaking and the journal fell with a plop onto the bed. Stan's eyes filled with confusion and then suddenly dawned recognition.
"Oh… You found that?" He said softly. So he had already read it. I nodded slowly and cursed the tears forming in my eyes again. There was no need to cry this much. "I found it the morning after he left. I hid it in my bookshelf so Abby wouldn't see it," He said looking at the journal and not me.
"You don't think she'd want to read what her dad said?" I asked him quietly. I turned his head with my hand so he had no choice but to look me in the eyes. He still tried to avoid my gaze still and stared at my forehead instead.
"She's going to see him today isn't he? If he can't tell her to her face then he doesn't need to tell her at all," He said with resentment on his voice. I sighed, if Stan was going to build up a relationship with his father it would have to be gradual. He was much too stubborn for an epiphany to happen upon him one day and run into his father's embrace. I looked at him and this time he didn't look away. His gaze was fixated on me and it was my turn to blush and look away. "Are you up for a quick lunch and then an even quicker trip to Diagon Alley?" He said dropping the subject. His tone suggested things would get hurtful if we continued. "It's going to be very busy, everyone is shopping for Christmas gifts. I just need to pick out something good for Maddie and I need a girl's opinion." He said and smiled. I mentally face palmed. I had completely forgotten that Christmas was less than 3 weeks away. I remembered the conversation I'd had with Julia a just two weeks ago. I had said that I would have moved out already (A/N: See Chapter 5). But now as I sat on Stan's bed, sitting so close that our hips could have been conjoined, I didn't really want to leave. I hated freeloading but like it or not, Stan's family, in the past weeks, had became my family as well. I blushed at this thought and looked up at Stan again who was still waiting for me to answer.
"When do Maddie and Tyler get in?" I asked him. He shrugged his shoulders.
"I think they have the week before off so they're coming in on the 17th, the Saturday." He said and took my question as a 'yes'. I looked at the calendar that hung next to Stan's closet and saw it was the 11th.
"Merlin's beard!" I said and gasped. I only had six days to get presents for the whole family. Stan laughed and took my hand and we disapparated to the kitchen where we had leftovers from the night before which I graciously heated with an incantation and the flick of a wand. We headed to Diagon Alley over an hour later, we had finished our lunch in less than 20 minutes but I still had to get ready. I ignored the calls from Stan telling me to hurry up outside of the bathroom door. As we entered through the Leaky Cauldron, I wrote down my list mentally
I thought Julia would like a necklace from that peddler next to Gringrott's. If in doubt, always buy jewelry, my mother once said. I wanted to get Abby some Quidditch Keeping Gloves from Quality Quidditch Supplies. She had expressed her liking for this position yesterday as we played a quick after dinner game. For Maddie I wanted to get a new quill and some parchment, Stan told me how much his eldest sister loved writing stories. For Tyler I got some Skiving Snack boxes as well as an extendable ear to fulfill his supposed devilish taste. But for Stan, I had no idea. One by one, my mental shopping list was checked off and I still hadn't found anything for Stan. He on the other hand seemed perfectly oblivious to my exasperation. He showed me the scarf he had found at Madam Malkin's and once I okayed it, he bought it happily for his sister.
"What are you getting me?" I asked him as we stopped at Florestcue's for a quick drink. He looked at me with a smile that had a devilish tint.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," He said and sipped on his lemonade. Great, so he'd already bought me something. We apparated home after finishing my drink, I could see the lights were turned on from the outside and knew Abby and Mrs. Shun- Julia were home. I felt Stan stiffen beside me.
"You should work on your emotions. You wear your heart on your sleeve," I snapped, still mad that he had gotten me a present. He didn't seem to hear me and instead opened the front door. We walked to the kitchen to find Abby and Julia chatting animatedly. Julia looked much happier than when I had seen her yesterday. She looked up as we rounded the corner and smiled. I saw Stan grimace.
"How'd it go?" He said taking a seat next to his mother.
"Great," Abby answered for her, "Dad is so nice and so is Sunny. I got to see our stepsisters, Avery and Riley. Avery is only a year younger than me and she is really cool. We had lunch and it was my favorite, pasta. Dad even said I could come over every other weekend if I wanted." I looked at Julia and she was absolutely beaming.
"What did he say?" Stan asked his mom exclusively. She turned to her son with a smile on her face.
"He said that if he gets the kids for Easter break and every other weekend in the summer he'll pay for their Hogwarts tuition," She whispered as if saying it too loud would prove it wasn't real. Stan frowned.
"Are you sure you want to sell your kids out?" Stan said angrily throwing his hands up. Julia looked at him and smiled a sad smile, she patted his arm and his expression turned into his usual poker face.
"This is a good thing, Stan. Your siblings will be able to see their dad again. You won't have to worry about all of the expenses. You can start worrying about your own family," She said motioning towards me. I blushed deep red and quickly looked at Abby and started talking randomly about the snow. I did not want to be apart of that conversation. Stan too seemed to be struck his embarrassment and sat in silence, his turning a blotchy red.
"Mum!" He said after some time. She shrugged and winked at me when I tried to inconspicuously look over my shoulder. I whipped my head towards Abby again and she was still talking about the snowman that she and her new stepsister made together, unfazed.
"Well it's true." Julia said and then a thought struck me.
"I need to talk to you, Mrs. Shu- Julia," I said and then blushed again. "I know it may not really seem weird for you…Julia. But calling you by your first name is just way to…informal." I said looking at her and she nodded understanding me completely.
"If you don't feel comfortable calling me Julia dear, please then call me 'Mum'," Mrs. Shunpike said and winked again. My blush again crept to my face and I could feel beads of sweat break out on my forehead.
"Mum!" Stan cried yet again, not looking at me but at the table. Mrs. Shunpike laughed and so did Abby.
"Um," I started and everyone at the looked at me, falling silent. "I wouldn't mind calling you Mum." I blushed even more when Stan's mouth fell open. "Not because of… you know, but because you are probably the closest thing I've ever had to a mother," I turned away from the table and stood up and walked to the stairs. "I'll take a nap, I've had a long day," I said faking a yawn and walking up the stairs. I heard someone come up behind me and before I knew it, Mrs. Shunpike was wrapping me into a big hug from behind. I turned around and she had tears in her eyes.
"I would be proud to someday call you my daughter," said Mrs. Shunpike, no, said my Mum.