Ch28: Sister
It was New Year eve. Harry was extremely nervous. He was walking to and fro, unable to sit, unable to even stand still for longer than a few seconds. He had checked his clothing a hundred times at least, making sure everything would look perfect. The fact that he was the only one to be nervous didn't escape him. It only enhanced his nervousness.
"Harry, please calm down. It won't do you any good to be so nervous. It may only make things more difficult," Narcissa told him, not for the first time.
"You already know her, don't you? You've been together in the Quidditch team for most of your Hogwarts years and she was always friendly. She wouldn't suddenly change her attitude, I'm sure," Hermione added.
Harry didn't pay attention to their words. Hermione decided to calm him down differently. "Come!" she told him, grabbing his hand, walking towards the sitting room.
Harry frowned. "What do you want to do here?"
"Just do as I say. You'll eventually thank me."
Hermione sat on the sofa, motioning for Harry to lie down and put his head in her lap. Hermione pressed a kiss onto his forehead and then started massaging it tenderly, letting her hands caress his temples and his face as well. In-between she also added some more kisses. This was not something prescribed in any medicine book, but it seemed to work. Under her expert hands and lips, Harry felt his nerves calm down. He was still anxious about meeting his newly found sibling, but he felt he could now handle it.
Hermione continued for several more minutes, making sure that Harry was as calm as could be, considering the circumstances. She only stopped when Narcissa opened the door. "Most of the guests have already arrived. It's time for the hosts to join them."
The ballroom was crowded, as it had always been at the Potter New Year ball. The three adults weaved their way in the crowd, exchanging pleasantries with their guests, paying some more attention to close friends and just playing their usual role. Harry suddenly stiffened as he saw Katie with the rest of his Quidditch team. Each seemed to have an escort and they all seemed quite happy to meet each other. He swallowed his nervousness and approached them, letting his real happiness at meeting all these people show.
Angelina was the first to notice him. "Hi, Harry!" she engulfed him in a hug and kissed both his cheeks. "Or should I say 'Nice to meet you, Lord Potter'?" she added with a mock courtesy.
"For you, guys, I'll always be plain Harry, and you should know it best," he told Angelina in mock protest. "I'm really glad to see you all here," he told the whole group.
"Hi, pal!" George said, shaking his hand, and then he whispered "We're preparing one of the players for a new team," pointing at Angelina's belly.
Both Ron and Ginny with their mates were present, but they were regular guests anyway. Oliver Wood was there, of course, holding Katie's waist in a way that indicated intimacy. Harry's heart skipped a bit at her sight. She was just as beautiful as he remembered her, but now she was also more confident and looked undoubtedly more feminine than she did when he saw her last.
He chatted a bit more and then addressed the whole group: "I can't spend more time with you now, but please stay after the ball so we can catch-up on things. I can even offer you to stay overnight, if you agree, as we have more than enough room in here."
His words were accepted with cheers and Hermione dragged him subtly onward.
Harry spent some time with his new-found relatives, the Armstrong family, inviting them for a more private visit in a few weeks. With so many guests, it was impossible to spend much time with anybody, yet Harry made sure to dance a few dances with each of his wives, and even shared one dance with Lilly and Dianna. The latter just beamed in delight, feeling that she finally had a father who really cared for her.
It was Midnight soon enough. Harry kissed both his wives as the clock struck midnight, only his kiss with Hermione was a tad longer and just a bit more passionate than the one with Narcissa.
The guests started leaving soon after midnight. It was still a long way home for the muggle guests and even the others seemed to be quite exhausted after spending several hours talking and dancing. Harry made sure the Armstrongs knew how to reach his home before they left, and then he could finally spend some time with his old friends.
The house-elves had already shown them into one of the sitting rooms, where they could all sit leisurely in an atmosphere not much different than the Gryffindor common room. All eyes turned to Harry, as he entered the room, accompanied by his wives. Some looked suspiciously at Narcissa, but most already knew about her. Hermione was greeted as an old friend, of course. Although never being part of the team, she was always close to it, due to Harry, and they all knew her.
Harry was still unsure how to approach Katie and if it was better to do it in private, when Alicia started talking. "I saw you've found some distant relatives and you're trying to get closer to them. Are these the only ones you've found?"
"Well, I wasn't actively looking for any relatives until lately. I was quite sure I had no living relatives, excluding my aunt and her son, but then I happened to find the Armstrong, or rather – my daughters found the connection. This made me start looking for some more relatives," he said.
"Have you found any?" Harry was surprise it was Katie who asked.
He looked her in the eye before answering." Well, I've found one, but I haven't yet been in touch with her."
Katie stepped forward and stood at his side, addressing the rest of the group. "Well, I was also looking for my family. I was raised by my mother and all I knew about my father was that he was a very handsome and very brave man who died fighting Voldemort."
Harry noticed that some still flinched at the name.
"Whenever I tried to find some more, Mom would just say 'Leave the dead in peace,' and refuse to talk about it. Then, a few years ago, I asked the goblins to have me tested for ancestry. I was quite surprised at the results. I could finally understand a bit why Mom still refuses to talk about my father, as I also kept this information secret until now, not wanting to involve anyone who may have not wished to be involved." She turned towards Harry with the last words.
This was clearly a sign for Harry. 'It's your choice what to do next,' it clearly said. Harry didn't hesitate. He grabbed her hand and said, trying to keep his voice steady: "Katie is my closest relative. We have the same father."
It wasn't really how he thought he would face her, but in a way it was even better, as they both acknowledged their relations.
The whole group was boiling with excitement. Nobody expected such an outcome of the team reunion and both people involved seemed to be quite satisfied, so it soon turned into a small celebration.
Only Katie decided to stay for the night. Even Oliver, who'd been her mate for almost two years, thought it would be better to let her build her new ties with Harry without his interference. After showing Katie to her room, Harry retired to the master bedroom where his wives were already waiting.
They all woke up late. Breakfast was waiting for them in the dining room. Harry, Hermione and Narcissa were soon joined by Katie, who was still a bit reluctant about opening up, yet enjoyed being part of a larger family, something she had always missed.
They were all surprised when another young woman, clad only in a large man's shirt, came into the room. It took them a moment to recognize her.
"Daphne! Such a surprise! What are you doing here?"
Daphne scratched her blond head absent-mindedly. "Sirius asked me to stay and he was just too funny to refuse. Now I'm hungry, but he seems to still sleep like a log, so..."
Daphne seemed to feel at home and was not really bothered by her flimsy clothing revealing much more than was considered appropriate. She wasn't even bothered by Dianna and Lilly joining the table a bit later. Harry was astounded. He never expected the "ice queen" to be so relaxed and free in his company.
Katie thought it was a good idea to let her mother join her in "coming together" with Harry. A short floo call later, Miranda Bell joined them. Although she was a few years older than Narcissa, she still looked gorgeous, just as Sirius had told them. Now, that her secret was discovered, she seemed quite willing to talk.
"I've met James Potter at Hogwarts. He was as handsome as Harry, but he was also a kind of Casanova. He flirted with every girl around, even with some Slytherin girls, and he seemed to have found his way into their knickers more often than not. I didn't really consider him, as he was two years younger than me, yet during my seventh year he became simply irresistible. I found myself falling in love with him against my better judgement."
A fond smile lighted her face.
"I managed to keep my distance until I finished my NEWTs, not letting this unhealthy attraction affect my grades, but once the exams were over I had no reason to keep my restraint."
Her face turned younger looking as she reminisced. "It wasn't difficult to catch his eyes and I spent most of the last week at school just shagging him senseless. He had a great stamina and I was insatiable, after waiting so long. None of us expected this relation to become anything more than a passing romance."
She now looked serious again. "We didn't keep in touch after the farewell feast. I intended to prepare for university studies, as my parents wanted me to learn economics and business management, so I could handle their businesses after their retirement. I had no room for pregnancy and children at the time, but my lack of restraint soon showed. I found I was pregnant with Katie. James was still too young to even consider for marriage, and once I didn't see him regularly I also found that I didn't really love him. I had nobody else either, so I decided to keep the child and raise her alone, not telling anybody who the father was."
She stopped, breathing heavily as the memories flooded her. "I knew he then fell in love with Lilly Evans and married her soon after. Then, when their child was just a year old, they were killed by Voldemort. When Katie started questioning about her father, I told her he was dead. That was true and also safe enough to tell a small child. Then as you grew and became famous, I didn't think it was right to confront you with your father's adventures. You had your own life to live, your own family to raise, and I was lucky enough not to need your help in any way, having built my own fortune by managing my businesses alone. I raised Katie to also be self-sufficient and to rely on herself only, so that if she decided to marry anybody it would be of love and not of necessity."
"I really appreciate your position, yet I would have loved to learn about my sister earlier," Harry told her. "Now we have to catch up on all the time we have lost."
Katie was eager to visit the Potters and get more involved in their lives, but refused to come live with them. "Even if I was your full sister, we are both too old to still live in the same house, as you can clearly see even at the Weasleys. Each of us should live independently, yet I will visit as often as I can and I intend to invite you to my house as well, just as siblings should do."
Harry was content. With the new relatives, with Sirius and with his own family he seemed to have found some peace at last. He now intended to deepen his relations and enjoy his family and friends.
A.N. I know theages don't really correspond. If you do the math right, then Katie should be about four years older than Harry, but I just didn't want to invent a new character, so...