A/N: I'm not making money from this. This is J.K.'s world, I'm just playing in it.
Alexandra pulled them out of limbo with a crack, and they landed in what seemed to be an open moor, with only grass growing around their feet. Harry's arms were still wrapped around her waist, and once he felt the ground beneath him, he removed his left arm and looked around them.
"Umm, Alexandra? I thought we were going to the Manor?" he said, and she could hear his confusion in his voice.
"We are at the Manor, it's just concealed by wards. Now, if I remember rightly, there should be a stone somewhere near your feet with othila, the rune for home carved on it…"
As she spoke, they both began searching through the grass for the elusive stone, which was found by Hedwig a few moments later. She swooped down and dropped the rock into Alexandra's hand.
"Harry, touch your wand to the rune, and the wards will recognise your magical signature and let you in." she explained, drawing her own wand and tapping the carved shape with the tip. A gust of wind brushed through the grass and the air began to ripple before her. When it cleared, she and Harry stood in the gardens of a large manor of beige coloured stone. There were three floors and two trees stood either side of the main entrance. Each end of the manor had extra detail on the top which would allow for Astronomy or an outdoor reading room, and on the left side of the manor a staircase led directly to the second floor, and concealed the kitchens.
Harry, who had activated the rune with his own wand, was staring in shock at his new home. Between the two of them and the manor were extensive gardens with small hedges that would reach her knees, and two water features: one was a fountain and the other a pool with a small statue.
Alexandra turned and grinned at her cousin, and tugged on his shirt. "Come on, let's go inside!" she said, and began making her way up the path, her heels crunching on the gravel and her robes flowing in the breeze. Harry quickly caught up with her as she reached the main entrance.
As if she had done it a hundred times before, she reached out her left hand and touched her Head ring to the deep brown double doors, and Harry quickly copied her. "The Head and the Heir have come home." She declared, and the doors glowed and swung open, revealing a large entrance hall with deep oaken panelling. A large granite fireplace dominated the opposite wall, with space above to hang portraits.
Harry took a tentative step into the hall and looked around, and she followed, her shoes clacking against the wooden planks of the floor. Alexandra could see that the manor had been well looked after in the years it had lay empty, but no portraits hung from the walls, and all was quiet in the house. A staircase on either side of the fireplace led to a balcony that overlooked the entrance hall.
Hedwig and Sirius soared through the open doors and landed on the mantelpiece of the fireplace, and her owl squawked at her, and she pulled the doors closed.
"Maybe there are still house elves here?" suggested Harry, his right hand hovering near the handle of his wand, and he took a small step towards the older woman. Alexandra nodded and cleared her throat.
"The Head of House Potter calls the family house-elves!" she cried, and there were four loud cracks as she finished speaking. The elves that stood in front of them wore crisp white pillowcases with the Potter crest over their hearts and no shoes. One was clearly very old, whereas the other three had smoother skin and looked much younger.
"Greetings, Mistress. I is being Jigs, and I is the Head Elf for the Potters. The others be Toker, Poky and Missy. How can we's be helping you?" said a male elf in the middle of the row. Each elf bowed as their name was called out, and looked between Harry and Alexandra in curiosity.
"Good afternoon, Jigs. My name is Alexandra Potter-Black and this is my cousin Harry Potter. We've come to take up residence here. Could one of you give us a tour of the manor?" she said, glancing down at Harry, who was grinning excitedly at the elves.
The elves stared wide-eyed at her, and then looked at harry. "Yous is being Mistress Alexandra? Master James' favourite cousin?" asked Toker, taking a step closer. She blushed and nodded. "I was only his favourite because I was his only cousin."
Toker looked at Harry again and his big eyes teared up. "Young Master Harry is looking so much like Master James, but Mistress Lily's eyes are there. Us elves be missing them very much."
Alexandra felt her own eyes welling up and she blinked them back quickly. "We miss them too, Toker. Every day."
She put a hand on Harry's shoulder, squeezing tightly, then turned back to the elves. "Now, what about that tour?"
Poky quickly volunteered, and the others returned to their duties. They had been alerted the day before by the goblins setting up the wards that there would be new residents and had cleaned the first and second floors, while the gardens had been maintained over the years.
Alexandra and Harry were shown the first floor, which held the formal rooms: a reception, sitting room, dining room, ballroom, Head of House study and the kitchens. Poky explained that each of the elves was responsible for an area of the manor- she took care of the family rooms on the second floor; Jigs presided over the first floor and Toker, the eldest, cleaned the third floor. Missy was the cook, and was responsible for maintaining the kitchens and food within the house.
The second floor held the more informal family rooms: an informal ballroom, three more studies, a communal sitting room, an extensive library, a duelling room and six bedrooms including the master bedroom, which all had en suites in the East Wing. Jigs appeared to show Alexandra the entrance to a secret library concealed within the master bedroom with Darker and more rare books. The third floor held only guest bedrooms and bathrooms in the West Wing, and the East Wing played host to a nursery, playroom and classroom as well as an owlery.
The cellar held only an extensive potions lab that Harry thought Professor Snape would drool over and a wine cellar that included bottles from the 1800s, covered in dust. When the tour had finished, it was already past 6:00PM, and Missy provided piping hot jacket potatoes with beans that Harry and Alexandra carried up to the family sitting room.
She sat down on a couch with a sigh, having kicked off her heels, robes and blazer some time ago. Harry had also abandoned his shoes and curled up on the sofa next to her, and they watched as Poky lit a fire and left the room.
"What do you think of the Manor? Do you like it here?" she asked, spooning up some of the potato, and looking at her cousin. He nodded, his black hair flipping into his eyes, and grinned toothily at her.
"I love it, I can't believe I actually live here now!" He exclaimed. "I can't wait to spend the summer here, and it'll be nice to have somewhere and someone to come home to during the holidays." Harry added shyly, looking at his plate.
She reached over and ruffled his hair gently, and he pouted at her. "Lex, you're ruining my hair." He whined, pushing at her hand and shuffling away.
"Speaking of holidays," she continued, "there's a lot to tell you. A lot of things are going to change, Harry, and I'm afraid you're not going to like some of them. Moving into the Manor, and taking charge of the Houses are the first of them. People have been keeping information from you, and we'll talk more about that in the morning. For now, all I can do is promise you that I'll tell you everything. I swear it. No secrets between us, okay? You tell me everything, and I tell you everything."
Harry's face grew more and more concerned as she kept speaking, but brightened when she mentioned no secrets. "Yeah, okay, that's good. Thanks for trusting me. Everyone else seems to think I'm too young to know."
Alexandra smiled wryly. "Kiddo, I think you're too young. Hell, I think I'm too young. I'm responsible for you and I'm only twenty! But these are different circumstances, and we can't afford to hide anything from each other. So I'm prepared to tell you what I know in the morning. Now, in the meantime, how about you tell me all about your first year, and I'll tell you about mine? Then we can talk about our second years."
"Well, when I got my Hogwarts letter, Uncle Vernon ripped it up, but the school kept sending more and more until hundreds arrived at once. He took us to this little shack on a rock in the sea, and…"
As the night continued, Harry regaled her with tales of the Mirror of Erised, and the Philosopher's Stone, while she spoke of meeting Charlie Weasley and Sienna Bell, older sister of the Chaser whom Harry played Quidditch with, pranks and late night excursions about the castle. Alexandra had just finished telling Harry about winning the Quidditch Cup playing as a Beater in second year when he slipped into sleep, his head falling on her shoulder.
Their dinner long ago cleared away, she scooped up the young boy and carried him into the room opposite the master bedroom and settling him into bed.
He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping. I wish I could keep him this way forever: happy and safe, but Voldemort is coming for him. As she brushed the hair off his face, her gaze hardened and her jaw set. I may not be able to stop his rise, but I will keep him away from Harry.
Alexandra took a final look at the sleeping Harry, and slipped out of the room and across the hall into the master bedroom, falling into bed with a sigh. She was asleep before her head touched the pillow.