This the summer!
"JAMES! ALBUS! LILY!"
There was no reply.
"COME DOWN HERE!"
Still nothing. Harry sighed, scratching the back of his head. He exchanged a frustrated look with his wife. She pursed her lips, suppressing a giggle.
"Can't say I blame them." Her eyes sparkled. She was wearing a long red skirt that fell past her knees, and a jean jacket above that. Lines creased the edges of her eyes, forehead and face, but in spirit and energy she appeared and felt as young as she'd always been. At the present moment, Harry wished he could say the same about himself.
"Yes, but we don't have much of a choice now, do we?" He turned back towards the staircase.
"WE'LL BE GOING TO DIAGON ALLEY – "
The three of them came bounding down the stairs, pushing and shoving each other to get to the door first. They screeched to a stop in front of their amused parents.
"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" Albus grinned.
"Quality Quidditch Supplies!" James pumped his fist.
"Ice Cream!" Lily squealed, clapping her hands as she bounced on the balls of her feet.
Harry leaned down and pressed a kiss on both of his daughter's rosy cheeks.
" – After," He watched his children's faces fall, "We visit your cousins and Uncle Dudley."
They immediately started muttering mutinously amongst themselves.
James sighed, crossing his arms. "Do we have to go? Aunt Angela always snaps at me every time I try to do something fun."
"That might be because you usually end up breaking one of her precious vases." His mother raised her eyebrows, placing her hands upon her hips.
"Pffft…" James waved his hand with impatience, "If she loved them as much as she says she does, why does she keep them in a narrow hallway where anyone can walk into it and knock it over? I think she wants them to break, but she wants someone else to blame it on!"
"Kind of likely, considering Aunt Petunia gave them to her," Ginny muttered. Harry glared at her in exasperation. James winked at her when he looked away. She shook her head fondly.
"Well at least she has a reason for disliking James!" Al protested, "I've never done anything wrong and she still spends the hour glaring at me!"
"Aunt Angela likes giving me candy!" Lily had a hole in her set of teeth, at the place she had lost one of her remaining baby teeth. She tilted her head. "Maybe I don't mind going after all!"
James and Al started grumbling again. Their sister exchanged a sly smirk with her mother.
"Look – " Harry began. "They're family."
"Technically, so's Lucius Malfoy." James pointed out.
"Don't forget Aunt Muriel." Albus shuddered.
"I'm pretty sure we're in some way related to Bellatrix Lestrange." Ginny added under her breath.
"Not the point!" Harry snapped.
"Then what is?" Al asked.
"The point is that we're going to your cousins' house, and that's final!"
Everyone groaned.
Angela was a pleasantly plump woman, with light, curly brown hair. She did not have a cold smile, but it sometimes appeared detached. She was not an unkind woman, but not exactly always the most pleasurable company. She was an average woman with average tastes; she was an accountant with a younger sister that lived half an hour away. She lived her life in no extraordinary way, but when you thought about it, not many people did. She and Dudley lived a comfortable life, and after being blessed with two children, they were never in want of anything more. They weren't at fault for anything, except being a little too dull for their extravagant Weasley relatives' taste.
"Come in." Aunt Angela opened it wider. Her face grew hard when James and Al hopped in, avoiding her disapproving gaze. Ginny and Harry greeted her warmly.
"Oh, the sun is so beautiful today, isn't it!?" Ginny laughed lightly.
"Summer is the best time of year." Angela nodded. An uncertain pause followed. Angela turned abruptly.
"Liza! Jeremy!" Uncle Vernon had grumbled and griped for days after he learned that Jeremy had been named after his maternal grandfather instead of his paternal. Now, ten years later, he still had a slight scowl on his face whenever he saw the boy, or his namesake.
"You'd think they'd name their son after a hardworking laborer rather than a no good wuss who probably fed off his own father for money!" He'd always say. It made no difference to him that Angela's father had come from a poor family and had won scholarships and worked two part-time jobs to pay his way through Business School.
"So he says." Was all Vernon would say.
Thankfully, he was away at a conference this Saturday. There was not a doubt in anybody's mind that he would come home, muttering about how these no good newbies with no respect were ruining the traditional values of Grunnings.
"They think they're so clever!" He'd through his coat on the hanger and plop down on the sofa. "Morons. Every last one of them." Petunia would rush around him, albeit much more reluctantly than she once had.
The children walked down slowly. They stopped on the last step, glancing at each other.
"Don't be rude children!" Angela dragged them closer. Ginny stepped forward and pulled them into big hugs. Harry pulled out the gifts they had brought out, which took some convincing for Aunt Angela to except.
"Liza, show your cousins to the games room." Liza, who was twelve and had her hair in two dark pigtails, nodded.
"Come Lily," She spoke with an air of slight self importance, which was present in most pre teen girls. She wrinkled her nose at Al and James.
"You can come to the games room." She crossed her arms. "But my room is no boys allowed."
"Don't worry." Albus snorted. "We don't really want to look at your earrings or nail polish."
"What is wrong with earrings or nail polish?" Lily glared at her brothers.
"Nothing." The said in unison.
"I remember doing that." Ginny recalled dreamily. "No boys allowed. It was a beautiful five minutes. Then Fred and George ran in to hide under my bed. Then Percy came in and started yelling at them. Then Bill came to find out what happened. Then dad wanted to know why everyone was yelling. Then Charlie came looking for dad. Then Ron ran in crying because he was scared everyone had run away and forgotten him. No one even listened when I tried to get them to look at my sign." Ginny shook her head in mock annoyance.
Dudley then came in, ushering everyone into the living room. Liza took all the children upstairs, feeling very responsible in front of her father, who she idealized.
Aunt Petunia was already seated on the couch, her back stiff and her face still. They all attempted to greet each other.
Dudley brought out tea and biscuits, placing them on the pristine coffee table.
Ginny asked Aunt Angela a few mundane questions, who began talking about the new curtains (they looked almost the same as the ones before). Ginny nodded from time to time, but her mind began to drift despite her attempts to concentrate. Dudley and Harry began their own broken and disjointed conversation, which soon fell apart, mainly in their inability to find a topic both Dudley and Harry understood. Their shortest attempt was when Dudley asked Harry about his job. Petunia inhaled when the question was uttered out of politeness. Harry gave a quick reply before to turning the question back to Dudley. Dudley was a high school Phys. Ed teacher. It was something he enjoyed doing very much, and he was very popular among his students. Dudley had never found the strength to formally apologize to Harry for their childhood, but he had learned from it. He put his energy and dedication into understanding his students. He was known for reaching out to who the other teachers considered irredeemable, bullies, and hopeless. He tried to understand their lives – he always knew someone could be suffering from abuse, or from lack of self esteem, or from being a bullied victim themselves. He tried to find places they could vent their anger and frustrations, and he never wavered in his belief that people could change. He always wanted to tell Harry that he thought about him when wondering what he should do, always remembered his green-eyed cousin when deciding whether it was worth fighting to help someone who didn't seem to want to be helped. Dudley never decided not to. Slowly, over the years, Harry had realized it and had begun to respect his cousin. But it never made it any easier for them to talk to each other.
Petunia lifted her cup to her lip with her pinky stuck out. She sipped in a way she probably thought made her appear elegant. Finally, Ginny couldn't resist.
"How's Vernon?"
"Excellent, thank you." Petunia gave a tight smile, "He just received a bonus, for working for the company for so long. For being one of their most dedicated workers, they told him. Soon he'll be able to retire with an excellent pension."
"I'm glad to hear it." Harry looked into his aunt's eyes with genuine pleasure for her contentment.
"Well," Petunia shifted, unsure of where to look, "It was expected."
They all fell back into silence.
Aunt Angela began talking about the grass. Everyone was very relieved.
"What do you want to do?" Albus asked politely, holding his hands together in front. Liza shrugged. She plopped down unto the couch and whipped out something from her pocket they recognized as what their Aunt Hermione called a cellphone.
"Do you want to destroy stuff on my video game?" Jeremy blushed, shy but eager. "I just got a new one."
"Sure." Lily smiled, which made the boy blush deeper, "I'd love to try it!"
"Oh – okay" He scratched his neck. "You have nice hair." He coughed, looking away.
"Thank you!" Lily leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You are very sweet."
Al and James crossed their arms, glaring at the ten-year-old boy, suddenly sure he would grow up to be an incorrigible player.
"You are all such children." Liza sighed with exaggeration, lamenting at her inability to find anyone who matched her intellectual superiority. "I wish Beth and Anne were here."
"I'm older than you." James pointed out.
"Yes, but you're a boy!"
"Right…"
Liza sighed again. Lily and Jeremy went to play a very gory game (which brought Lily more pleasure than he had expected), under the watchful eyes of the Potter boys.
"I better get a new broom after this." James whispered in his brother's ear.
"So…" Dudley began. "How's Teddy?"
"He's doing wonderfully. He's engaged."
"Congratulations!"
"He's very happy."
Petunia sniffed. "You don't think he's rushing into it? He's only twenty. How old is the girl?"
"Eighteen."
Petunia inhaled sharply, scandalized. Dudley blushed for his mother, casting an apologetic glance at Harry.
"She's training to be a heal- doctor." Ginny couldn't help but adding, more offended than Harry.
Petunia sniffed again.
The Dursley children looked back at the Potters.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Liza was mistrustful.
"Why?" James taunted, "Are you scared? Of just a tiny bit of magic? I thought only little kids got scared."
Liza huffed.
"Are… are you sure we won't get in trouble." Jeremy whispered. Lily laughed.
"Of course not! It will be fun! It's completely safe."
"Maybe…" Albus began.
"Don't be a scaredy-cat Al!" Lily giggled devilishly. Jeremy was more intimidated, and felt his short-lived crush begin to subside. "Let's go!"
"Wait." James blinked. He grabbed his sister's arm and leaned into her ear. "I was just joking! Lily, this might not be the best idea. They've never seen magic."
"Not you too James! I thought you were cool!"
Lily knew her brother would never back out now.
"How're Ron and Hermione?"
"Good. They've taken Rose and Hugo to Hermione's parents' house for two weeks."
"Oh, that's nice. How far away do they live?"
"About two hours out of London."
"I hope the girl's hair has settled with age." Petunia cleared her throat. "I recall it being quite wild last time I saw her."
Ginny glared. Aunt Angela started babbling about teacups.
Liza snorted. "That's it? How pathetic. I thought magic was supposed to be cool." She flipped her hair back. "I can't believe I wasted my time with you losers. I could have been texting my friends!"
James bristled. "It is an under scaled version!"
"Please." She flipped her hair back again. "Prove it."
James whipped out his wand. "Easily."
In the living room, the adults were knocked of their seats by the explosion.
They waited outside in the garden while Harry fixed the upper floor of the house.
"HOW DARE YOU! WIZARD FIREWORKS? FIREWORKS!"
"It was supposed to be a small fizz… like a mini fire work… Uncle George said it wouldn't damage anything…"
"THEN HOW DID IT END UP BLOWING THE ENTIRE UPPER FLOOR OF THEIR HOUSE!" Ginny shrieked. Aunt Angela nodded vigorously. Her face was pale and she was shivering. Dudley put an arm around his wife.
"It's fine Ginny, they're children." Dudley attempting to put a placating hand on her arm. "No harm done." Ginny ignored him.
"Well… it was really tiny, so… I thought it would be cool if it was a... a little… bigger…" James quailed beneath his mother's fury.
"BIGGER? BIGGER? I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE!"
"We didn't mean for it to – "
"NOT A WORD ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER!"
"Ow, that's my ear mum!"
"YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF YOUR EAR'S THE WORST YOU LOSE JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!"
She whirled around to face her youngest daughter.
"AND YOU?" Lily shrugged helplessly.
"I tried to stop them." She whispered tearfully. "I didn't want to hurt Auntie Angela! She's so nice to me…" She turned to her aunt. "Please don't hate me Auntie…" Lily sniffed, looked down. Albus and James's jaws dropped.
"But – " Al sputtered.
"Poor girl…" Angela shook her head, "Don't blame her Ginny, she didn't do anything wrong." Ginny paid her no heed. She leaned close and raised her daughter's chin.
"Don't even try it Lily Luna." She hissed.
"She's right mum." James stepped forward. "Al didn't do anything either. It was all me."
Ginny sighed. "This is not the the time to become a hero James."
"I'm telling the truth." Ginny looked mistrustful.
"He is!" Liza nodded anxiously. She had burst into tears the minute the adults had ran into the room. She looked hopeful now.
Harry walked out, glancing at his children with disappointment. They were filled with guilt. He joined Ginny in his profuse apologizes. Dudley was quick to assure them that they didn't mind, and that the house had been fixed in ten minutes anyway. Angela seemed less inclined, and only did it because she was obligated. Petunia didn't even try. She retired to the guest room without a word and refused to leave it.
"In the car." Harry snapped afterwards. "Now." They had driven the Durselys's house in it, not feeling it would be polite to apparate directly into their house, and feeling it wouldn't be safe to apparate right outside the door.
"Dad…" James attempted. He slumped down in his seat as his mother scowled into the rear view mirror.
They sat in silence.
"Does this mean we aren't getting ice cream?" Lily asked.
"So he's at home." Scorpius asked. They were sitting on a bench outside of Florean Fortescue's a week later.
"Yup." Albus licked his chocolate ice cream, "He's been in there for the past week. Mum also cleaned out his room. Dragged out a whole bag of things she deemed him incapable to handle responsibly."
"Wow."
"Well, we did technically set fire to their upper floor."
"Yeah, but James is the only one doing the time."
"Yeah…" Al nodded sympathetically, "But then again, he's framed me so many times that my conscience is clear. I even mentioned to mum the canary creams in his trunk he was planning on using at the next Weasley reunion."
Scorpius stared. "You Potters are pretty merciless."
"Eh." Al shrugged. "He did tell me I owed him, and I don't think I'm going to end up repaying the favor in a way I'll be happy with. I'm just going to forget about it for now."
Scorpius shrugged. "When does Rose get back?"
"Three days from now. Why?" Albus pretended to be offended. "Am I not enough for you Scorpius!?"
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, you're a little too much."
Albus placed the last bite of the cone in his mouth and threw his napkin in the garbage.
"You know, I'd like another. To make up for James not getting one."
Lily ran past the bench, Harry panting behind her, trying to keep up. He waved, before they disappeared into a shop Ginny was in.
A streak ginger darted between peoples' feet.
"Hey!" Scorpius grabbed Al's arm.
"What?"
Scorpius caught sight of the skeletal creature bolting away, along the side of the shops. It stumbled momentarily, before regaining its speed.
Scorpius gasped. "Its leg's hurt!"
"Huh?"
"Come on!" He dragged Al up.
"Scorpius, what are you – "
Scorpius was already sprinting away, weaving impatiently through the crowd. Al hurried after him, cursing as he tripped over his feet.
"OI! CAREFUL!"
"Sorry!" Al called back, certain the man was already too far away to hear.
The creature skidded down into Knockturn Alley. Scorpius, focused on nothing but reaching it, ran into the darkness.
"Scorpius!" Al snapped, shaking his head as he forced himself into the place he swore to his parents he would never go near.
Scorpius leapt forward and gathered the bundle in his arms. It was like a collection of bones, with course, matted fur carelessly glued on to them as an afterthought. It screeched angrily in pain. Its leg was now bent. It had scratching plummeting down its back.
"Scorpius!" Al grabbed his arm and yanked him around, furious. "What in Merlin's beard are you doing! Running into Knockturn Alley for a bloody cat!"
"Oh, the poor thing! Look at it…" Scorpius struggled to keep hold of the cat, who was twisting and snarling is his arms.
"Scorpius…" Al shuddered nervously. Shadows of cackling witches and snarling wizards drifted over the cold stone walls. The light of Diagon Alley was now far away, and Al could only see Scorpius's faint outline. Harsh yellow lanterns hung over the ominous entrance ways of the shops. The cat was still writhing in it's
"Is that a Potter… by God, and a Malfoy…" Albus couldn't tell if he had imagined the sinister whisper, but he felt his heart pick up in terror, as if it was trying to run away. He knew for a Potter or a Malfoy being caught by Dark Lord sympathizers in Knockturn Alley would not end well for either of them.
"Please Scorpius… it's just a cat, it will be fine…" Scorpius glared.
"I am not leaving it." He hissed. Al would have felt offended, if he wasn't so terrified. Suddenly, the cat wrenched free.
"Hey!" Scorpius yelled.
"Shhh…" Al whimpered. Scorpius followed the cat into a store that was pitch black. Al did not know how this could get
Inside, the shop was filled with strange items. Glowing necklaces, vibrant shawls lined with gold. Old books and different colored orbs and strange, shining contraptions that twisted and folded over themselves.
"Don't touch anything." Al whispered.
"Why?" A woman stepped out from the darkness in the corner of the store. She held the snarling, bloodstained cat in her arms. She held a pocket knife in the other. The edge of the gleaming blade was wet with red.
"Surely you aren't scared? Are you, Albus Potter?" Her voice dropped into a soft murmur. "Scorpius Malfoy?" She pulled her lips back and grinned. Her teeth glowed pure white.
Hey! Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
To address some things that were mentioned, Al, Rose, and Scorpius are the main characters of this story, but other people will appear, including James and Sara, Lily, the parents, teachers, the rest of the Weasley clan. Sorry if you don't like some of them, but Al, Rose and Scorpius wouldn't have a story if they were the only ones in it. Hopefully you will like the other ones!
Another thing - Sara is not a self insert. Absolutely not. I am not going to start explaining my personality, but believe me when I say it is very different. The only thing similar is that we are Indian (but considering there are more than a billion people in India, I can assure you they are not all the same)
However, it would be great if you could answer this question - how do the rest of you feel about Sara and/or James? I am really dying to know how you are responding to them. There is still a lot of character development of them, and a lot more about Sara's life to unveil.
It will be very hard for me to post another chapter this month because of Nanowrimo. I reach 50 000 last year, and I hope to again this year. I'll try to post one more time this month.
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~ Maya Angelou
Please review! I need all the motivation I can get this month!