6 July 31 1991

The past year had been fun; she'd learned lots of new things about the magical world during her teatimes with Arabella Figg; she'd taken Harry on small trips to museums and park; she'd seen Daniel and his family and she'd painted her kitchen so now it sported golden walls and a shiny black floor.

Jennie glanced at the clock and clicked her tongue impatiently.

"Oh God hurry up!" she muttered annoyed and rolled her eyes; she knew that Hagrid was with Harry in Diagon Alley, she knew that the boy was safe but she only wanted him to come over and ask her the question she hadn't been able to answer some days before, when letters from Hogwarts had attacked the Durlsey's house.

Muttering, she made her way into her kitchen and crabbed cocoa, flour, sugar, butter and eggs along with a bowl and a whisk.

####

Knocking on the door made Jennie drop the paper and she rushed to the hall and opened.

"You knew!" exclaimed Harry and looked at her with big sad yet happy eyes.

"Come in, little man," she said with a sigh.

They sat down in the living room and Harry accepted the chocolate cake and the gift she had bought him; Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic.

"You couldn't tell me, right?"

"I couldn't," she confirmed and Harry sighed.

"I just don't get why no one could tell me…"

"Albus Dumbledore was afraid that you'd be fame stricken and flaunty," said Jennie and Harry snorted, almost like she herself did.

"Why would I be flaunty about having survived an evil magical curse that killed my family?"

"I have no idea, Harry. Personally, I think the old man is a little… manipulative, but don't tell anyone I said that!"

"I won't. So, can I write to you? Hagrid got me an owl!"

"Did he, that's totally cool, I have one too you know," said Jennie and smiled as Harry grinned.

"In that room that you've kept locked?"

"Yupp. Do you want to see her, she's so pretty! What's your owl's name?"

"Hedwig," replied Harry happily as they walked upstairs to look at Jennie's owl Sunshine.

####

"So basically, you'll be staying with either me or Arabella Figg whenever you don't feel like being at your aunts place. But, Harry, try to understand this; you aunt does care for you, but this is so difficult for her because she's jealous, sad and feels put out, and it has made her turn cold. She doesn't want to be like this; she has told me, but I don't think she'll be able to change back overnight, I think she needs our help," said Jennie an hour later as they sat with Sunshine in the little room Jennie had the bird in.

"But, she could have told me!"

"No darling she couldn't, she was forbidden. I know because she came to me two days after you'd been given to them and cried her eyes out, she was so sad and didn't want to lie to you, so I told that she could tell you, but she was afraid that the wizard who left you here would know, and I think that's why she didn't tell you; she didn't want you to be in any sort of trouble."

The elven year old boy grimaced and offered Sunshine and owl treat which the bird took, nibbling at his fingers in an affectionate way.

"So, can I write to you when I'm in school?" he asked again, not looking at her.

Jennie smiled and pulled him close, held him so hard that she could feel the frantic beat of his heart and hear the small sniffle from his lips.

"Hush little man, it's going to be fine everything will be fine. You can write to me every day if you want to, and you can tell me everything you want, I'll never judge you."

She sat there, held him and let him cry, as the sun slowly slipped down in the sky and went to rest.

####

"No, you can't come in, Daniel, not tonight!" muttered Jennie annoyed and blocked the doorway.

"Aw come on hottie! Just a little, the kid won't wake!"

Daniel was drunk, not dangerously, but enough for Jennie to be totally turned off.

"I said no! He's sad and needs me, and you are drunk Daniel!"

"A little," he admitted and she had to give him credit for being honest.

"Yes, so go home silly, I'll see you tomorrow," she smiled and received a sloppy kiss before Daniel sighed dramatically and returned to the taxi and left.

Jennie shook her head as she went back inside and locked the door.

"Didn't you want him to come in? You smile when he's around."

"Harry, did we wake you?"

The boy was clad in one of Daniel's borrowed t-shirt; it reached his knees and he looked cute with his hair more tussled than ever.

"No… Why couldn't he come in? He's funny and I like him."

"Ah you see, he was a little drunk and he gets… clingy… I don't want him here tonight 'cause I think this is our night, okay?" she said and smiled and Harry looked very smug.

"Okay. Jennie, can you read Charlotte's Web?"

"Sure thing little man, let's get you in bed."

####

Harry was sound asleep and Jennie was wide awake. She had rushed over to Petunia earlier, they had spoken briefly and Petunia had looked grateful for being given help, Vernon had muttered something about the whole thing being ridiculous but Jennie suspected he was more scared than he let on…

She looked through the pile of letters she had received from different witches and wizards close to Albus and Minerva; Remus Lupin was one of the wizards she'd become close via letter writing, he seemed kind and a little shy and very, very likeable and Jennie suspected that if she had been drawn to such men she would have fallen for him. Minerva McGonagall herself was not as stern in her letters as in real life; she was able to joke and chat more freely and Jennie argued that this was due to the older woman's thinking that one needed to be stern to get things done. Albus Dumbledore himself was quite amusing to write with since he always wrote some sort of riddled or hidden message in the end of every letter; Jennie was glad she was able to decipher half of them. Andromeda Tonks was another witch with whom Jennie had become close; the other woman was kind a funny to talk too and she seemed to stand solid.

She found it funny that the magical community wrote with quills and ink in the modern era, and she herself had blatantly refused, and so she wrote her letters with pencils on regular white paper and placed them in regular white envelopes before sending them of with Sunshine, much to her friends amusement; they sometimes joked that this way they'd always knew that she was the one writing the letters. Since no one else used 'muggle equipment' as they called her things. Jennie smiled amused as she put the letters away in the box before placing said box in her bottom drawer, under some olds clothes she no longer used; it was the perfect hideout for private things.

She looked at Harry once more; he was still asleep. Figuring that the boy would sleep through a thunderstorm after his long day, Jennie went into the bathroom and prepared herself for a sleepless night with many hot baths.