A/N: I'm thinking of breaking this up after Harry learns the truth into a sequel to Harry James Pettigrew because this is getting kind of long. I'd love you here you guys' input and ideas.
"My friends, I am very sorry for the failure of our recent mission to parlay with Galatea Black." Said Dumbledore to his Order. Instead of looking upon him with reverence as they usually did now they seemed sad and tired.
"She has proven that she has allies everywhere, even in the muggle world. We cannot allow her to roam freely knowing the kind of power she wields." Said Remus looking worn out from the full moon and from this recent turn of events. He told himself after what happened to Peter, James, and Sirius that he wouldn't get caught up in all of this again.
"She has no real power, only followers. We are clearly dealing with the next Dark Lord here." Said Severus Snape. He had protested from the beginning about meeting in the muggle world but Dumbledore, in his infinite wisdom, saw only the fact that she agreed to meet with them at all.
"She needs to be put down. She's stolen Harry and resurrected the Dark Lord." Said Sirius quietly as he stared into a glass of brandy. That was one of the most terrifying days of his life. He had been stuck as a dog for almost two hours until the spell wore off.
"Sirius, this is your daughter." Said Arthur Weasley disbelievingly. It was incomprehensible to him that a man, a good man on the side of the light, would ever say such a thing about his own flesh and blood.
"No, not my daughter. Never my daughter." Said Sirius well on his way to getting drunk. It was all happening again. Who knew how many friends he would lose now.
"We're not here to debate the paternity of Galatea Black, we're here to discuss ways to stop her." said Dumbledore
"All we ever do is talk! I'm sick and tired of it!" said Sirius jumping to his feet and throwing his glass into the fire.
"What do you propose we do, Black? Break our way into Remordere and drag her out?" asked Severus sarcastically. They had already caused an incident in the muggle world so obviously the next best thing was to cause an international incident as well.
"I say that we go in there and destroy every single dark wizard we come across! Starting with you, Snivelly." Said Sirius
"Sirius please, for all of us if not for yourself, see reason." Said Remus as his oldest friend paced the floor; if he had been a dog his tail would have been twitching and his ears pressed down.
"I'll kill her!" said Sirius as he paced the parlor of his childhood home, now thankfully devoid of his daughter and he child.
"Sirius, she's your daughter!" said Remus now equally angry. If he had a daughter he'd be working on bringing her back to the light, not trying to kill her.
"No! I'm tired of hearing that and I'm tired of all this talking! We need to do something and if all of you are too lazy or too cowardly I'll do it myself!" yelled Sirius
"We are not here to debate this! Sirius, you will control yourself! I understand that you're going through a lot but so are we! We are the only thing standing between the darkness and our entire way of life and I will not have any bickering or skirmishing! Do I make myself clear?" boomed Dumbledore, the facade of the harmless old grandfather gone.
"Yes sir." Said Sirius weakly before sitting down like a guilty schoolboy. The entire Order was staring at Dumbledore know, their eyes showing their thirst for direction.
"Good, and I apologize for my outburst. Now, returning to the problem at hand; Fudge continues not to see reason and this recent turn of events has only pushed us closer to the brink of war." Said Dumbledore
"What do we do?" asked Tonks uncertainly, her hair turning its normal drab brown.
"We need to bolster our ranks if we hope to stand in opposition to the Dark forces which are upon us." Said Dumbledore
"But we're all that's left." Said Arthur
"The others have all gone, Dumbledore, either dead or worse…and I refuse to allow my children to fight…not the oldest boys and not the younger ones either." Said Molly
"I understand, really I do, but we have to be reasonable. If the students aren't on our side then they're pretty much fruit ripe for the Dark Lord or even Galatea Black and her faction." Said Dumbledore
"You want to fight a war with children?" said Remus, the unspoken 'Are you mad?' hanging in the air like a thick smoke
"Teenagers, not children, there is a difference. When I was a boy we married at fifteen and sixteen and in the nation of Remordere I believe they still do. I know that Galatea Black's younger sister, the thirteen year old girl Persephone, is with child and claims to be married to a man long since turned." Said Dumbledore
"Into what…?" asked Remus thinking something along the lines of the lycanthorphy he had suffered from practically his entire life.
"From what I've been able to gather a vampire who may be posing as another vampire in order to hide himself for spilling the beans to a squib about vampire society. I'll lend you all the book, fascinating read. Now I'd like to remind you all that we are not here to debate vampires and we're going to get back on task." Said Dumbledore. He only had to glance into their eyes to see the questions brewing in their minds.
"Dumbledore…I've already lost my daughter…to lose my sons as well…" said Arthur. He wanted to truth Dumbledore just as he had since he was eleven, but with what happened to Ginny and now what Dumbledore was proposing.
"She can be healed, Arthur, her mind can be healed and what has happened to her is not permanent." Said Dumbledore
"I don't care, I won't be losing my children to this. I've already lost my brothers, my parents, and my friends. I won't be losing my children." Said Molly. Dumbledore decided that this was getting out of hand. He put the twinkle back in his eyes and the most grandfatherly expression possible on his face.
"We can save others, we can save them all. My friends, my comrades, when we bolster our ranks we can stand a chance and preserve our way of life from the encroaching darkness. Are you with me?" said Dumbledore. One by one they all rose their heads to meet his eyes and nodded. Good, everything was just as it should be. The ministry was going to stick their person in his school then he'd simply have to stick all of his people at Hogwarts. He could bolster his ranks with the best and the brightest of students…it was truly a pity that Hermione Granger was lost from the light.
"…and that was the last we ever heard of crazy old Uncle Thaddeus." Laughed Portia as she scraped the last of the greens from her plate.
"This is very good, Portia, and thank you again for having me." Said Hermione as she ate her chicken. She didn't notice the looks the others were giving it.
"Don't thank me, thank the kitchen staff. Also, for the last time will you stop with all the gratitude?" Said Portia forgetting her proper breeding and just relaxing. One of the many perks of being away from school and her mother.
"Gratitude is for those who have reason to toady up to people." said Persephone. Everybody but Hermione began to laugh. Probably an inside joke.
"That, dear sister, is why not too many people like you." Said Galatea sitting up perfectly straight and eating like a perfect Lady. Just because Portia forgot her manners didn't mean she did.
"I don't need too many people to like me, just the ones in this room." Said Persephone before sipping something blue in her glass. Servants came and took their plates away before presenting them with new clean ones and placing a roast chicken in the center of the table.
"Chicken, Portia? Really?" asked Harry poking it with his fork. It wasn't that he had anything against chicken per say, he just wanted something more suited to their station.
"It's the only meat he likes that we can get here quickly." Said Portia feeling her stomach. Pietro was quite the picky eater even in pre-life. He hated fish and most meats but absolutely adored pineapple. Pietro Pineapple Potter.
"It's better than peacock. I love their feathers but the meat is just too stringy." Said Harry
"Well you've just never had good peacock." Said Portia
"We eat the same things." Said Harry
"Honestly, now I know where Pietro gets it from." Said Portia before taking a bite out of her chicken. If she wished really hard it sort of tasted like peacock.
"What else does he like to eat and how can you tell? That is if you don't mind me asking." asked Hermione curious
"I mostly go by if it makes me sick later but sometimes I get vague sorts of feelings from him. It's hard to describe…" said Portia
"I get feelings from Celeste and I got them from Timothy but they're half fey. I honestly think that it's just in your head, Portia." Said Galatea
"Probably from too much crystalized pineapple." Said Harry motioning towards the sugar crystals on Portia's dress front. She quickly brushed them off.
"If you keep eating that stuff you're going to get really fat." Said Persephone
"I'm pregnant, cousin, I'm going to get fatter either way. Besides, it's the food he likes best." Said Portia
"It's the only food he likes." Said Harry
"He loves peacock and peahen." Said Portia giving Harry a pointed look
"He's your son so he likes what you like." Said Harry
"Honestly I swear that the food was better in India." Said Galatea picking at her chicken. The cook was new, that much was obvious, and his chicken tasted like nothing at all. Or maybe paper, not that Galatea was in the habit of eating paper.
"You're just in a bad mood. Honestly sister, the food is much better here, less spices." Said Persephone, the paraffin lights giving her an unearthly glow.
"Spices give the food flavor." Said Galatea
"How can you even eat anything spicy? I tried some curry when we got back after school and I was sick for hours." Said Portia
"Sheer willpower." Said Galatea
"There are potions for that." Said Hermione quietly trying to inject herself into the conversation. It was a bit like having dinner with the Weasley's except nobody was fighting and there were a lot more courses and forks.
"Yeah, Lady Willpower, even poor virginal Hermione can see through you." Said Portia. Hermione sat back and felt her face redden.
"If Auntie Addie could hear what you chose to discuss at the table she'd be turning over in her grave." Said Persephone as she saw Hermione's embarrassment. Wasn't she with that red haired boy?
"My mother's not dead yet." Said Portia momentarily fearing the worst. She shook that away, she was a grown up now and couldn't let superstitious fears dictate her life. You couldn't jinx someone with death…right…?
"No, but I bet she'd die just so she could have a grave to turn over in." said Persephone
"Yeah, I can see mum doing that." Said Harry
"When I'm a mum I won't be that way unless we're in public or about to be ruined socially." Said Portia
"When I'm a mum I'm going to give it to the nanny to take care of and get back in the sunshine." Said Persephone. If there was one thing she hated in this world it was darkness.
"I am a mum already but when Celeste's born I'm definitely not going back to tight lacing." Said Galatea
"Your spine and internal organs thank you." Said Harry with a laugh. Everybody joined him and the koy was momentarily broken by the entrance of a servant.
"This is a fine wine, all the way from France, and almost seventy years old. My grandmother, Danielle Calvet-Pettigrew brought it here with here during the first great muggle war." Said Portia as a servant brought up a bottle of wine.
"You shouldn't drink, you know, because you're pregnant." Said Hermione. She sat down at the long dinner table, all of them crowded at one end.
"A little won't turn him into an idiot." Said Portia
"I wouldn't risk it, hybrids tend to have enough problems already." Said Persephone putting her hand on top of her glass indicating that she didn't want any.
"Celeste isn't a true hybrid but I wouldn't risk it anyway." Said Galatea
"But you said she was half fey." said Hermione
"We're all part fey." said Galatea like she was talking to a child. Well, not Timmy, he was generally a pretty bright boy.
"None of that attitude; come on Lady Grouchy Drawers. She's been through four years of Hogwarts of course she doesn't know." said Portia. The origins of the magical race was not something taught at Spellwick's either but she omitted that fact.
"Not to knock Hogwarts or anything." added Harry quickly
"Fey mixed with humans a lot in the past and that's why we can do magic." Said Persephone as the wine bottle was taken away. The servant stumbled a bit in the darkness and a part of her felt bad. Stupid hormones.
"Really?" asked Hermione in amazement
"No, I'm lying to your face." Said Persephone with sarcasm dripping from her voice like honey
"Yes, really. So my children aren't technically hybrids, they just have a much higher concentration of fey blood in them than the rest of us." Said Galatea
"Of course then by your logic Claudine isn't really a hybrid either." Said Persephone
"Sister, we are not reopening that debate again." Said Galatea with a tone of warning only a mother could perfect.
"Oh come on! As I recall your stance on the issue was-" said Persephone before she was cut off
"Not again!" they all said at once minus Hermione. They were not going to stay up all night debating the origins of species with Persephone again. Last time it somehow degraded into a leprechaun hunt at around three a.m. and the only thing they accomplished was conforming that there were no leprechauns in India…plenty of snakes though…
"What does she mean by-" started Hermione before she was cut off
"Hermione, we'll explain it to you later but right now I don't really feel like going on another leprechaun hunt." Said Galatea leaving Hermione even more confused.
"You know we're not that far from Ireland and-" started Portia
"They don't like the heat." Said Harry in a tone that tried to end the conversation and failed.
"Yes but it's not this hot all the time and I bet that leprechauns really are descended from-" started Portia
"I don't care if they're descended from unicorns and bumblebees we are not going out in the middle of the night to hunt for leprechauns again." Said Galatea
"Oh come on, I think we were just sleep deprived then." said Portia
"No, I distinctly remember the chat I had with that cobra before it bit me." Said Harry his hand subconsciously going to his arm where the snake had sunk it's fangs into him.
"You can speak to snakes?" asked Hermione. First the shock of learning that she wasn't completely human and not this. Never a dull moment in the Pettigrew house.
"Yes and they're very rude creatures." Said Harry
"She was just made because you got near her eggs." Said Persephone
"Well if somebody hadn't dragged us all out to look for leprechauns at two in the morning it wouldn't have happened." Said Harry
"Wait, how can you talk to snakes?" asked Hermione
"I don't know I just can. It's probably back in my family tree somewhere, I stopped looking after Paravell." Said Harry
"Maybe you're descended from St. Patrick, he drove the snakes out of Ireland." Said Portia
"I think the ice age did that." Said Harry
"But…you can talk to snakes…that's a very rare gift." Said Hermione
"It's not so rare, I can talk to snakes too." said Portia as servants entered with pineapple upside down cake for desert.
"Really?" asked Hermione beginning to feel lightheaded. Hybrids and parseltongues…what had she gotten herself into. She just wanted a nice relaxing holiday with her new friends…
"Yeah, but they don't listen." Said Portia as she ate her cake. Based upon the eye rolling Hermione decided that they were kidding.
"Seriously though I think it's like the light allergy-" said Harry before Persephone cut him off.
"Something that just crops up without warning or reason." Finished Persephone
"I blame all the inbreeding that goes on." Said Galatea finishing off her cake
"Well it's not like there are a lot of us." Said Persephone feeling the need to defend their mother who may or may not have known what she was doing when she made her.
"There are more witches and wizards in Remordere than there are in the Ministry." Said Hermione. It was an interesting and slightly frightening fact she had come across in her reading. It frightened her because if the nation of Remordere ever chose to it could crush the Ministry…Hermione's mind had been on war as of late.
"Yes but more muggles than all of us put together." Said Harry
"So? They're not the only being that can annihilate a city in an instant." Said Galatea as she helped herself to more cake. Everyone gave her a long look.
"Working on something dangerous, sister?" asked Persephone
"As if I could tell you." Said Galatea
"Would you really build something like that?" asked Hermione dreading the answer.
"Of course. Human knowledge cannot be restricted just because there are a few bad apples in the bunch. Anabarium is, by nature, a powerful force. Right now I'm harassing it for energy so we don't have to rely on gas and coal and paraffin for industry and lighting." Said Galatea
"But if it truly is that dangerous then shouldn't it be kept out of everyone's hands. It sounds like a few bad apple could destroy the world." Said Hermione
"Human progress cannot be stifled just because of a few. When wands came into vogue many of the old greats, the Dumbledore's of their time, protested because it made the casting of spells phenomenally easier and they reasoned that more people could use magic for dark ends." Said Galatea
"They did." said Portia
"They still do." said Hermione
"Well yes, obviously, but the most arcane forms of magic are still the dark arts. When someone wants to do bad it doesn't matter if something is new or old they'll find a way.
"Why are you going through all this trouble with anabarium? Why not just use the same electrical systems as the muggles?" said Hermione
"Those systems are powered by petrol which kills the planet when it's burned. Anabarium may be dangerous but the process of harnessing it is purely magical and the cost is purely human." Said Galatea
"If it is truly as efficient as you say then why not share it with muggles? Most wizards don't realize that muggles are just as intelligent as wizards." Said Hermione
"Muggle's and wizards have a different sort of intelligence based upon need. We're better with memory but they are incredibly resourceful." Said Persephone
"That's true but I don't think that these are innate differences but rater based upon need." Said Harry
"Like us, we do a lot of muggle things like the talking boxes, the moving picture matinees, and the paraffin lights because we have a lot of squibs and we don't kill or cast them out like they do in Ministry territories." Said Portia
"It's cruel and barbaric to kill or abandon a child simply because it can't use magic." Said Hermione
"Or because it can." Muttered Harry
"I think that it's crueler to bring a child up in a world in which it can't even light it's home or heat water without the use of a wand." Said Portia
"Then society should change so that no child has to be gotten rid of just because they can't use magic." Said Hermione
"Their society has stagnated due to the over reliance on magic. We were founded by squibs, convicts, modernists, religious extremists, and the families of muggle borns. Hell, we only stopped taking muggles in 1914 or 1915 when that crazy war was going on. Our society is still flourishing." Said Harry
"I'm sorry but judging by the clothing we're wearing I think that you've been stagnating for almost a century now." Said Hermione
"It's far better to stagnate for a century than a millennium, and we're not stagnating." Said Galatea
"How can you say that? It's 1995 but you all live like it's a cross between the Edwardian and Victorian periods." Said Hermione
"You can't judge a society alone by the clothes it's people wear." Said Harry
"Yeah, and fashion's change all the time. I remember when I was little everything, and I mean everything, had to have a living pattern and people had entire living plants on their heads." Said Persephone
"Yes, and before that they wore these incredibly wide hoopskirts with the prettiest pantalets underneath." Said Portia longingly. She'd definitely look good something like that.
"What I mean is that the outside often reflects the inside. In the muggle world we've made countless scientific and social advances." Said Hermione
"So have we. Before we were born only aristocrats could run for high office but now the middle and lower classes can too if they can find the money." Said Harry
"Before I was born a single woman with a child was pretty much worse than the skin on top of soup but now all they have to do is have papers from someplace and say they're married…not to imply that you got pregnant out of wedlock anything." Portia
"In the muggle world a woman doesn't need to be married, she can just have a child. Single people, married people, and homosexual people can have children though adoption or natural means without suffering socially…well alright homosexuals still suffer socially but that's in most countries." Said Hermione
"We haven't really got homosexuals here, not openly anyway. It's pretty much like any other adulterous affair." Said Portia
"That's another thing, we don't generally arrange marriage, where I'm from anyway, so we don't have to have affairs with people we love." Said Hermione
"But people still do." said Harry
"Well there will always be people like that." Said Hermione
"I think that in a sexually liberated society there shouldn't be any need for that." Said Galatea
"I'm with Hermione, sometimes you just can't win out over human nature." Said Persephone
"But that doesn't mean that we act like savages." Said Harry
"Nobody is advocating for that." Said Portia
"Not true, Hermione said we should restrict the use of anabarium because there are some people in this world who cannot help their violent and destructive impulses." Said Galatea
"I just meant that something so dangerous should not be put into everybody's hands." Said Hermione
"Wands are dangerous." Said Harry
"Yes but we're taught to use wands gradually throughout our childhood with training wands and wands can be taken away if a person does bad with it, that's why wand licensing is so strict in the Australian penal colony. If everybody has highly dangerous anabarium then they could conceivably build devastating weapons from it." Said Portia
"Yes, exactly. Also, if it is such a force for good why don't you share it with the world? Wizard and muggle?" asked Hermione
"Who's to say that I'm not going to share it with both worlds? I mean, not for free, obviously. I just won't do it now, not until the cats out of the bag." Said Galatea
"What do you mean by that? I saw the paper, were you trying to break the statute of secrecy?" asked Hermione
"Then? No. I was just there to parlay with Dumbledore on neutral ground. I had some…unexpected help…that was all." Said Galatea
"But you do want to do away with it?" asked Hermione
"We will do away with it, but not now. Now's not the time." said Galatea
"It's never the time." muttered Persephone
"But why? If the muggles found out…?" said Hermione
"Initial panic followed by a gradual acceptance from all but the most extreme of religious sects." Said Galatea casually as if she knew exactly what would happen. She did, but Hermione didn't know that.
"You seem awfully sure about that." Said Hermione
"I'm Galatea Black, I never say things I'm not sure about." said Galatea
"Except for when she does." Laughed Portia
"Oh hush up, cousin, we're having an adult debate here." Said Galatea
"Sorry." Said Portia
"Galatea, may I ask you something?" asked Hermione
"Alright but there's no guarantee that I'll answer." said Galatea
"Why did you do all of this? The anabarium, antagonizing Dumbledore, all of it?" asked Hermione. The table was silent then and then after a beat Galatea answered.
"I'm on a mission from God." Said Galatea. There was a beat and then everyone, even Hermione, began to laugh.
"I've seen that film but it's muggle. How did you…?" asked Hermione
"We do get off this island occasionally." Said Portia
"Besides, muggle movie picture matinees are much more interesting than ours." Said Harry
"The Americans do it best." Said Persephone
"No, British moving picture matiness are good too." said Galatea
"I never said that they weren't good I just said that they do it best." Said Persephone stifling a rather unladylike yawn.
"Wow, it got late." Said Harry casting a tempus charm. They had been debating for hours.
"I don't know about all of you but I'm ready to either got outside and look for leprechauns or got to bed and then maybe sleep." Said Portia. Hermione turned red when she got at what Portia was alluding to. She looked from Harry to Portia and back again before looking at her shoes.
"Hermione G., just lousy with virginity." Said Portia
"Cousin, be nice." Admonished Galatea as the girls reached for the goblets in front of them.
"What's in there?" asked Hermione. The liquid inside was blue and seemed to be permeated with glitter.
"Potion to make this whole thing go faster." Said Portia. She drank the goblet in one big gulp and then began to retch.
"We want to have them by the time summer's over at the latest so we can get back to adventuring." Said Galatea
"You can come with, if you like." Said Portia
"No, I have school." Said Hermione
"Well alright then but you don't know what you're missing." Said Portia giving Hermione's hand a playful and lingering squeeze.
"A warning for when you bare a child, this stuff tastes like burning." Said Persephone
"Is that safe?" asked Hermione as they left the room and ascended the stairs.
"Safety is relative." Said Portia
"Hermione, very little of what we do can be considered safe." Said Galatea
"Well I suppose you know best, having had a child already I mean." Said Hermione as they got to the top of the stairs. The hallways had shifted so that their rooms were as near to them as possible.
"Goodnight everybody!" said Portia as she and Harry went into their bedroom.
"Goodnight." Replied everyone at once as they retired to their beds. Hermione entered the room she was staying in and took a moment to let the night sink in. She had never had such a debate before, not even with her parents. Down the hall another debate was raging.
"C'mon." said Portia in the dark of the night. She had stripped out of her dress and was lying next to her husband in her camisole and knee length drawers, her stockings had been discarded long ago.
"No, not now." Said Harry pulling his nightshirt on over his head. He was tired; that's what he told himself.
"Seriously? Why not?" asked Portia self consciously looking down at her belly. Harry laid down next to her and vast lumos before putting his wand on the nightstand.
"Because I'm tired and I just don't feel up to it." Said Harry. It was partially true, the day had taken a lot out of him but there were other reasons too. Hermione's presence had brought on some remembering of things he'd rather not know about.
"I think the question here is why do you want to so much?" said Harry
"I read somewhere that it has to do with increased blood flow or something. The whole making it go faster now thing isn't helping…" said Portia feeling her stomach. It was definitely far out enough to be noticed and Galatea's was even worse. Persephone's was always too large for her small frame but she wasn't as heavy as Portia so there wasn't as much fat to camouflage it.
"So go do alone time things and let me sleep, woman." Said Harry rolling over
"Don't call me woman." Said Portia with a pout. Harry reached over and gave his wand a wave plunging them into darkness.
"Well you're female, reproductively mature, married, and pregnant so I guess that makes you a woman but hey, I'm not a healer." Said Harry wanting nothing more than to descend into dreamland. Visions of a room filled with snowflakes and dancing ice angels filled his mind.
"When you call me that I feel degraded, like you only see me for my reproductive abilities." Said Portia rolling out of bed and casting lumos so she didn't break her leg on some low lying furniture.
"Don't be daft, I'd love you if you were completely barren." Said Harry. He screwed his eyes shut. Barren made him think of the barrenness that winter brought with it. He tried to replace the vague feelings of helplessness and violation with memories of Christmas time, ice skating, snow forts…anything but that.
"You love me but you don't want me, why?" Said Portia taking a long white silk nightgown from her dresser. She slipped out of her drawers and camisole as seductively as she could. She couldn't help wanting what she wanted and she saw no reason why she couldn't get what she wanted. She was married now and this is what married people did.
"I want you, just not at the drop of a sickle." Said Harry
"Is it because of how big I've gotten?" asked Portia slipping the nightgown over her head. Harry propped himself up on his elbows and shook his head no.
"Portia, I just don't want to right now. It has absolutely nothing to do with you, I love you. It's just that…I'm remembering what happened right now." Said Harry. Portia was puzzled.
"I thought she gave you something to wipe your memory." Said Portia
"She did but I still remember how it felt even though I don't remember what happened." Said Harry
"So just think about something else. I swear, Harry, you are so daft sometimes." Said Portia who honestly could not comprehend what Harry was going through. As far as she knew people were does with love potions or worse all the time, they were sold out in the open after all, and they got over it just fine.
"You don't think I'm trying to do just that? I swear that Ginny girl has ruined winter for me." Said Harry
"…and the marital act." Muttered Portia pulling back the covers and lying next to him. She turned on her side partially out of anger and partially to have some alone time to process this and what it meant for their relationship.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Portia, sometimes it is difficult for me even though I don't show it but it's a lot worse now because Hermione reminds me of her…not that Hermione is that kind of person. She is, or was, that Ginny girl's friend and being around her and then your advances hasn't made things easy on me." Said Harry putting his arm around her and pulling her close.
"I'm not going to say that I know how you feel, not to be mean but because I honestly don't, but I am going to be a mature adult about this and let you work this out by yourself." Said Portia swallowing all of her childish pouting and indignation for the good of her marriage. She was fourteen and about to be a mum, she needed to make serious efforts at growing up.
"Thank you." Said Harry burring his face in her hair and falling asleep. Portia tried and tried but she just couldn't leave the land of the living. The silence of the house was broken by Harry's rhythmic breathing and his arm felt heavy around her body. She needed to take a walk. She slowly got herself out of Harry's grasp and crept out of the room with the grace and silence of a heavily pregnant cat burglar. She decided to make her way to the library and get a boring book about Remordere's trade routes or something like that to put her to sleep. As she entered the library she expected that she may see Galatea burning the midnight oil in an attempt to jam some new skill or piece of knowledge into the already overstuffed head of hers or maybe even Persephone destroying her eyes reading in the dim light of a paraffin lamp but instead she got a very surprised looking Hermione Granger in her nightgown pouring over Pettigrew family genealogy.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know anyone else was here this late." Said Portia as she entered the library, he silk slipper clad feet sinking into the rug with every step.
"I couldn't sleep so I decided to curl up with a good book." Said Hermione telling a partial truth. What she was really interested in was the degrees of separation between her and these families as well as the true parentage of the life they were carrying within them.
"Same here except I decided to curl up with a boring book, though I can't imagine family tree's being all that interesting." Said Portia as she pulled an old volume of some series on the Remordereian tea industry. It couldn't hurt to know more about the family business.
"I just wanted to know the degrees of separation between all of us." Said Hermione quietly, fearing that she had done something rude by prying into the Pettigrew family's personal family trees. Portia pulled a chair over and sat down next to her not really caring what Hermione was reading but just grateful for someone to take her mind off of Harry.
"Well I could have told you that. Most Ministry territory families don't marry into Remordere Nationalist families because of geography and cultured. You and I are about five or six mainline generations removed. Same with me and Harry although me and Galatea are a little closer. Now Persephone and I are too closely related but that's an entirely different issue right there." Said Portia
"I know; her parents were half siblings or something." Said Hermione with a shudder
"And yet people think it's weird between me and Harry." Said Portia with an eye roll
"Well, you were both raised as brother and sister." Said Hermione
"But we aren't and we still had a marriage contract on the books so I guess mum and dad were planning on telling us on our wedding day or something. Whatever they think is best I suppose. I mean it's not like I have any other male friends." Said Portia
"If it was nothing you wouldn't have said anything." said Portia
"Well Ron is…I sort of liked him because he was my only friend end of discussion but now he's well…there are things about him that used to only bother me a little but now bother me a lot." Said Hermione
"Like what?" asked Portia
"It's nothing big, just a lot of little things. I like to study, he likes to procrastinate. I want to learn everything I can about magic, he takes it for granted. I…I don't think that you four are bad people but he's out for blood because of what happened with Ginny but grateful that you saved his life and impressed that you all stood up to the Dark Lord…his feelings about you depend on the time of day I guess…the point is that we had sort of a falling out over me going to your wedding." Said Hermione. Portia scooted over closer to her.
"I'm sorry. If I had known it would cause a problem I wouldn't have invited you." Said Portia
"No, you had no way of knowing and I'm honored you invited me seeing as how we didn't really know each other so well then…" said Hermione trailing off
"Hermione, the only people I know well are either living here or with my parents. Everyone else is or practically is a stranger. I don't really have any friends besides the people in the house anyway…mums and dads don't count." Said Portia
"You don't? But all those people at your wedding-" said Hermione
"Them? They're cousins and society associates I know of but not know, I mean really know. Honestly the only real friends I ever had growing up were Harry, Persephone, and Galatea. Oh, and you now eve n though I'm pretty much done growing up." said Portia
"You're only fourteen." Said Hermione
"I'll be fifteen in a few days. I'm actually about a month and a half or so older than Harry…I hope Pietro's born before then I don't want to sandwich too many family birthdays together." Said Portia
"Aren't you going to time it so it's over by the end of the summer?" asked Hermione
"This potion isn't exact and I'm not sure how along I actually am with Pietro…plus keeping him in too long is bad for him…I know Galatea's about ready to pop any day now even if she won't acknowledge it and she's the only one of us who's gone through this before." said Portia with a look of worry crossing her face.
"Are you alright?" asked Hermione
"In all honesty I'm a little scared. I was there when Timmy was born and it was just awful. I just don't like to think about the mechanics of giving birth is all…I much prefer the mechanics of making the baby." Said Portia
"Portia…no I can't…" muttered Hermione
"You're doing it again, I wouldn't make it a habit. If you have something to say just say it; that's a philosophy that's served me well in my almost fifteen years of life." said Portia
"It's inappropriate." Said Hermione
"Hermione, we're sitting her half naked in the library where anyone can see us in the middle of the night. There is nothing appropriate about this situation." Said Portia
"If you don't mind me asking, and you don't have to respond to this, but…what's it like?" asked Hermione
"Marital relations or pregnancy?" said Portia
"Well both I suppose." Said Hermione
"Love making is indescribable, sweaty, and generally fun. A bit painful at first but there's all sorts of potions for that. Mum forbid me from using them because if I harm my reproductive capabilities in any way then I might as well start herding cats now." Said Portia nonchalantly. She didn't get what the big deal was, this was something everyone did but seldom talked about which made no sense. If nobody did it and it was seldom talked about that would make more sense but then again when have manners and airs ever made sense?
"How are you so open to…I mean you're a Lady…" said Hermione wanting to tactfully put her shock into words.
"It's just the two of us and we're friends. Besides, we're not talking about any of the taboo things that people do together like that." Said Portia
"I know but it's just that in every etiquette book I've read…and you're extremely well bred…" said Hermione who usually didn't like to go into people's breeding but Portia was made and bred in one of the highest stations possible.
"Hermione, just because you read something in a book doesn't make it true. I know as a Lady I must forever be the picture of sophisticated grace and all that but all people have a public face and a much less perfect private face…except for Galatea, both of her faces are kind of intimidating when she wants them to be. Actually now that I think about it there's also the face you wear around your parents so I guess that makes three faces." Said Portia
"It's like Shakespeare said about all the world being a stage and all of us being actors." Said Hermione
"A brilliant bard if there ever was one though I think he's got nothing on my little brother." Said Portia
"I can't believe his legal name is Beadle Bard." Said Hermione
"Believe it. You know my other brother is names Bertie Bott." Said Portia
"Why?" laughed Hermione
"Dad names us after what he enjoys in life and mum names us after either dead relatives or things she likes. I've got two little twin sisters names Caroline and Coraline and another little sister names Pumpkin Pasty…Priscilla's names is already but she's named after my dead aunt on Dad's side so I don't know…" said Portia
"I'm sorry for your loss, how did she die?" asked Hermione
"Mysteriously like all the others; but the death certificate says complications from dragon pox." Said Portia
"Did-did she die in the first Voldemort war?" asked Hermione
"No, well before that during the dragon pox epidemic in India. That's why mum and dad moved up here when they were kids and dad went o Hogwarts. Family rumor is that Auntia Margaretta had something to do with that but mum says that it's just people being mean and hateful because she had Galatea and all." Said Portia
"What's your aunt like? I've never met her." asked Hermione changing the subject. The last thing she wanted to talk about was death.
"Auntie Margaretta is…well I don't know her all that well…she's like Galatea I guess except her two faces might as well be two separate people. I don't know…I hope those are just rumors. Anyway, you'll probably meet her when Galatea goes into labor with Celeste or whatever she's planning on calling it. You'll probably be there two so this is a warning; think good thoughts because what you're going to see there will possibly be the most disturbing thing you'll ever see in your life…right behind walking in one your parents shagging…" said Portia with a shudder
"What's it like?" asked Hermione
"Walking in on your parents shagging? Like two elephant skin rugs rolling around on the bed…that is before you lose all higher level brain function that is." Said Portia
"No, I mean being pregnant." Said Hermione
"Amazing. It's one thing to see a pregnant woman or to read about it but it's another to actually have someone growing in your body. It's like having power over life and death I guess…like shagging it's hard to describe." Said Portia. The clock in the corner chimed the hour.
"Merlin, this late already? I've got to get to bed. Good night, Hermione." Said Portia getting up to leave. Hermione followed suit but a bit more slowly to take it all in.
"Good night, Portia." Said Hermione before walking down the hall back to her room. This would indeed be a fascinating summer holiday.
A/N: Seriously, I need you guys' input on whether or not to break this into another story because I think it is getting kind of long and Harry's not even Harry James Pettigrew anymore at this point but then I think about all the new people that discover this story when it comes up as recently updated so I'm a little bit torn. Also I'm thinking of doing an Inter-dimensional World Tour story to flesh out what happened when they went to the different worlds like Avalon and Shamballa. Oh, and also any and all constructive criticism is welcome. Please leave me feedback everyone, it is greatly appreciated and crucial to the writing process.