Chapter 2: The Arrival of Friends and an Announcement
The next day,
Harry groaned as the sunlight hit his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a room decked in red and gold. For a brief second, he was confused. Then it hit him. He was in Potter Manor, not with the Dursleys.
The gang had set up rooms late the night before, so Harry never bothered to ask where he was staying.
"Good morning." James said peeking his head through the door.
"Morning Dad." Harry greeted with a yawn.
"Ah. I see you got Professor Peeler's old room."
"Who?"
"My Defense Professor when I started 6th year." James told him. "Before, this room was dull. But with a wave of his hand, he decorated it to what you see today."
"Wandless?"
"Yes. He was one of a kind. I invited him to stay the summer between my 6th and 7th years because he didn't have a place to stay."
"Whatever happened to him?"
"Who knows." James answered. "He disappeared with his fiancée after we graduated."
"I see he liked Quidditch."
"He was a seeker like your grandfather." James told his son. "They had a small match with just the snitch before dinner his first night."
"Who won?"
"They tied." James answered. "They caught it at the exact same time."
"What's keeping you two?" Sirius asked.
"I was just telling Harry about Peeler." James told his best friend.
"The Unprankable Teacher." Sirius sighed. "We could NEVER pull the wool over his eyes. It was like, he knew us. I WANTED TO PRANK HIM!"
James and Harry rolled their eyes at the pout Sirius was giving.
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A few hours later, Melissa and Remus were in the library; Sara, John, Spica, Sirius, and, James were at the Quidditch pitch in the backyard; and Lily and Harry were in James' old room turning it into a nursery for the new baby. When it got older, it will stay his or her room.
"Aren't you going to wait for your friends?" Lily asked.
"I am." Harry told her. "If I wasn't, I'd be out with Dad and the others."
She smiled as she opened the closet from a distance.
"Besides, I wanted to spend some more time with you." Harry added as he checked under the bed from prank items. "We won't have much of it after the baby is born."
"I will always have time for you, Harry." Lily told her son. "Just not during your class time."
"I don't think any of my teachers will LET me." Harry laughed pulling out a failed version of the Marauder's Map.
"The Mad Hatter's Map?" Harry laughed.
"That's Sirius' handwriting." Lily said looking at it laughing.
"I'm keeping this." Harry said as he pocketed the parchment. "I guess since it failed, he joked with it."
"I guess." Lily told him.
Suddenly, a knock was heard.
"Sounds like they're here." Lily said.
"I'll go meet them." Harry said.
Harry ran out of the room and peered over the balcony to see the Grangers and the Weasleys starring at the entry way.
"YOU MADE IT!" Harry called down.
Everyone looked up to see a crystal chandelier right in front of the balcony. On the balcony, they saw Harry
"You might have at least warn us about this place!" Ron yelled to his friend.
"Actually, I was more shocked than you guys!" Harry yelled back. "I was expecting at most THREE stories. Not five plus a basement and an attic. I'll be right down."
A few seconds later, Harry was on the first floor as he ran down the stairs.
"Thanks for letting my friends in Trixy." Harry said to the house-elf.
"It is Trixy's honor, Little Master Harry." Trixy said with a bow.
Harry just rolled his eyes and shook his head. He didn't care much for that title
"Little…" George asked
"…Master?" Fred finished.
"It's just what house-elves call their youngest master. When Grandma Elizabeth and Grandpa Charles were living here, Dad was "Little Master James". When they died, the word "Little" was taken out. C'mon. I'll show you around." Harry explained as the twins laughed at his title.
"First things first." Ron said. "Where's the Quidditch field?"
"Quidditch field?" Charlie asked excitedly.
"It's out back." Harry said. "I swear that thing is bigger than the one at Hogwarts."
"Is that even possible?" Bill asked.
"Apparently." Harry said before noticing the annoyed look on Hermione's face. "And the Library is on the way out, so we'll make a stop to show Hermione."
Hermione's face brightened at the thought of going to a Library. Ron, Fred, George, Bill, and Charlie groaned.
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"This is the Library." Harry said as he opened one of the doors to it. There was an entrance from the dinning room and an entrance from the study.
"Bloody Hell!" Ron exclaimed again. "We'll never get Tiria out!"
Hermione looked like she was in heaven.
"Look at it this way Ron," Harry said. "She'd be too busy reading to force us to do homework."
"Bloody hell." Hermione whispered to the shock of everyone.
"I never thought I'd hear those words out of Hermione Granger's mouth." Ron said in amazement.
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After (literally) dragging Hermione from the library to show her exactly where she'd be able to find the boys if she needed them, the group went out to the 20 acre back yard where, right in the center, stood a Quidditch field.
"There it is." Harry said.
"Bloody Hell!" Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Ron said at the same time.
"Who's that?" Ginny asked as she saw something flying around in the field.
"Let's go see." Harry told her even though he knew.
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When the group got there, they found James, Sirius, Spica, Sara, and John flying around.
"HEY!" Harry called to the flyers.
"Be there in a minute." Sirius said as he flew down to just above the ground. "We're seeing who can catch the snitch first."
Sirius flew away to get back to the game. To Hermione's horror, Harry pulled out his wand.
"Accio Firebolt!" Harry called.
Harry's broomstick came flying out of the broom shed and he mounted. He took off to join the group of flyers. A few seconds later there were groans and everyone came down. Harry was last with the Snitch in his hand.
"Harry!" Hermione scolded. "You KNOW you're not supposed to use magic outside of school! You'll be expelled!"
"Did you forget that underage magic can NOT be traced here when the wards are up?" Harry asked. "They were put back after you entered the mansion."
Ginny and Ron gapped at him before they started cheering like no tomorrow. They had forgotten that little perk about Potter Manor.
Arthur and Molly were just gapping at James.
"Hi Arthur!" James said cheekily. "It's been a while."
"James Potter?" Arthur gasped
"The one and only." James said with a bow. "Lily is in the house setting up a nursery."
"A nursery?" Molly asked.
"Oops." Ron said. "Did I forget to mention that Harry is going to be a big brother?"
"Yes you forgot." Charlie said. "You also forgot to mention about Harry's parents being alive."
"We thought that was obvious." Ginny stated.
"Congratulations." Bill said patting Harry on the back. "And you too Mr. Potter."
"Please," James said. "Call me James."
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A few minutes later,
"I want to get a better look at the Library." Hermione said dragging her friends in with her.
"So much for THAT theory." Ron said to his best friend.
When the group entered the Library, Hermione walked around. She turned a corner to see the reading area with some cushioned chairs. Everyone else was still in the aisle, so they didn't see what she saw. All they saw was Hermione making a right, move her hand to her mouth, and doubled back blushing bright red while trying to stiffen a giggle.
"I found Professor Lupin." She whispered. "And he's with Melissa."
"Reading?" Ron asked.
Hermione was having trouble not to laugh.
"No." she answered.
"They're not…" Fred asked
"…doing IT are they?" George finished
"No!" Hermione told them with a look of disgust.
Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George looked around the corner to see Remus and Melissa in a SERIOUS make-out session.
"Let's let them have some privacy." Harry said as he tried so hard not to laugh.
James, John, and Sirius looked around the corner.
"Where's a camera when you need it?" Sirius whispered.
Unfortunately, Remus and Melissa pulled out of their kiss for some air. The reason why that was unfortunate was because his eyes landed on his three best friends spying on him and his girlfriend.
"What are you three idiots doing?" Remus asked.
"Busted!" John said as he and the other two Marauders and the two Maraudettes stepped out of the aisle.
"We came in here to get some privacy from you guys." Melissa said.
"Who won your little Quidditch game?" Remus asked.
"Harry." They answered.
"I thought you weren't playing." Melissa said to the boy who just stepped out of hiding.
"Everyone showed up." Harry said as the rest of the Golden Group showed up with the rest of the families.
"How many of you saw us?" Melissa asked in horror.
Only the Marauders, Maraudettes (minus Lily), and the Golden Group raised their hands.
Remus and Melissa blushed. HARD. They were never going to hear the end of this.
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A few minutes later, James and Harry had taken the group upstairs. They found Lily in James' childhood room attempting to redecorate it. However, Charles had put a spell on the room when James was younger and begged him. The Quidditch posters just weren't coming off.
"JAMES POTTER!" Lily finally yelled.
"I'm right here." James said at the doorway covering his ears.
"Take off these Quidditch posters!" she commanded. "I will NOT let MY child get motion sick because of them."
"But Lilikins…"
"NOW!"
"Yes Ma'am." James said as he unstuck the posters, rolled them up with magic, and grabbed them before his wife could.
"I'll just put these in a safe place." James said under his breath
"I'll take them!" Harry said.
"Here." James said giving the posters to his son. He knew his son would take care of the posters like the priceless artifacts they were.
"Lily Potter?" the Weasley adults and two eldest sons asked.
"Molly! Arthur! I'm so glad you could join us for the summer." Lily said. "And you two must be Hermione's parents. I'm Harry's mum, Lily."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Mrs. Granger said.
"Bill and Charlie?" Lily asked. "You two had certainly grown since the last time I saw you."
"Thanks." They said.
"Where's Percy?" Lily asked.
"At work." Ron told her.
"Well," John said. "Let's go get the room assignments straight."
"Molly! Arthur! Wait!" Lily said to the Weasley parents as everyone went to go pick out rooms. "I can't thank you enough. Harry had told us about his past last summer when we were revived. Your names were mentioned a lot after he found out he was a wizard."
"What all did he tell you?" Arthur asked curious.
"That it was Molly who directed him to the platform; Ron was his first friend (next to Hagrid); he was allowed to stay at your house for some of the summers; that you took him to the Quidditch World Cup; and during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, when families were allowed to come, you came to support him."
"It was no trouble Lily." Molly said. "Harry has been like a son to us. We couldn't be any happier now that he has his real mother back."
"Thank you." Lily stated again. "And if there is ANYTHING James and/or I could do, just name it."
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That night at dinner,
DING DING DING SMASH
Silence fell over the table as Spica blushed at the broken glass.
"Sorry James." She said quietly
"Don't worry." James said. "There's more where that came from. Trix!"
"Sorry Trixy." Spica apologized to the elf.
"That is all right Miss. Spica." Trixy said. "Trixy is used to this. Happened every year Trixy served the Potters until Master Charles and Mistress Elizabeth died."
"We have an announcement!" Sirius said. "You are now looking at an engaged man. Spica and I are to be married."
There was silence as the news sunk in. Finally...
"Okay Harry. Pay up." Ginny said holding out her hand in front of her boyfriend
"I believe that's three galleons." Hermione said to Ron.
"Here." Melissa said giving Remus two galleons
"Thank you." James said to Lily as she gave him 8 galleons.
"It's about time!" John yelled at Sirius as he received two galleons from his fiancée.
"I think they were expecting this." Spica said to her dumbstruck fiancé.
"I didn't want to be left in the dust." Sirius whispered to a smirking James. "With you two having your second kid, and John getting married…"
"We understand Padfoot." Remus told him as he nudged Melissa
"Then I'd like to make a toast." Melissa said. "To the girl who put up with me for 15 years in America. We've traveled the United States together and had many adventures. It's now finally nice to know that I will NEVER have to hear you murmuring "Sirius" in your sleep again nor listen to you making out with your pillow. You can do that with the real thing now."
Spica glared at Melissa as everyone laughed.
"Anyways, it's nice to know that we are both following the vow we made before we left America and after we got back from New York."
"What vow?" Spica asked confused.
Melissa just hummed a few bars of the song from a few years ago (See Chapter 38 in Memories).
"Oh yeah." Spica caught on. "Wait. BOTH of us? That means that…"
"You aren't the only one who got engaged Bushtail." She explained as she showed off a diamond ring.
"FINALLY!" Everyone yelled shocking the werewolf and wolf animagus.
"Took you long enough." Lily said as she got her eight galleons back from James.
"This is just in the legal sense." Melissa told her friends.
"When did this happen?" Molly asked.
"This afternoon." Remus said. "I had just proposed when you lot caught us in the… aftershock."
"Aftershock?" Lily asked raising an eyebrow at her friend.
"So Moony?" Sirius asked. "When's the big day?"
"Sometime within the summer." Melissa said.
"That soon?" Sara asked.
"You're getting married next week." Spica told Sara.
"Yes, but I've been engaged since February." Sara said. "You've been engaged…."
"5 hours" Melissa told her
"25 hours." Spica admitted.
"THAT'S what you were hiding yesterday." James said pointing at Sirius. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"We wanted to wait for the kids." Sirius explained.
"You'll wait for the kids, but not for the wedding?" Arthur asked.
"We were extremely close to being engaged 16 years ago." Spica told everyone. "But certain circumstances prevented us from going that far."
"Really?" James asked.
"I was going to propose the night you told us about your engagement." Sirius admitted. "I had it planned for months, but then Spica said that she was leaving the country."
"It's okay Sirius." Spica told him. "Things worked out in the end."
"True."
"Wait a minute." Spica said as she remembered something. "Is THAT why you wanted to come with us to America?"
"Part of the reason." He admitted. "The other reason was because I didn't want to loose you."
"Awww." The Golden Group teased.
Sirius gave them a look.
"Aren't these potatoes good?" Harry asked changing the subject.
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In Harry and Ron's room later that night,
"I LOVE the decoration!" Ron said. "You are so lucky."
"Thanks." Harry said. "As for the decoration, Dad said that it was done by his defense professor."
"Your dad let a teacher in here?"
"Yes. According to Dad, it was just a barren room. The DADA professor didn't have a place to stay for the whole summer, so Dad invited him. With a wave of his hand, the professor was able to turn the white marble into this."
The room was decorated in red and gold with some Quidditch posters.
"Wandless? He must have been a great wizard."
"I guess." Harry said. "Mum and Dad said that he disappeared with his fiancée after they graduated."
"Well, maybe he'll be found again. What was his name?"
"Professor Peeler." Harry answered.
TBC
Next time:
"Hey! Watch it!" Ron yelled after he bumped into the boy.
"Sorry" the boy apologized but didn't look at Ron.
The wizard and two witches started to walk around the frozen kid, but stopped when they saw who the boy was looking at.
It was Dudley Dursley.