The Granger Son

Harry; Hermione; Dr. Grangerx2

Rated T

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

The Granger Son

Chapter 4

3 Years Later…

The year was now 1991, and it had been almost ten years since Harry had joined his new family. And as the years had passed, Jean and Robert's love for him continued to grow. Hermione absolutely loved her younger brother as well and none of them could imagine him not being a part of them. He had grown within the last three years, as had Hermione, but they were standing at the same height for the time being. Robert was sure his son would be taller than his daughter by the end of the year, though that was still some months away.

It was summertime, and Hermione was eleven and Harry was ten. Their parents were at work at their dental practice, so the children were at home with their babysitter. The babysitter looked out the window to the backyard where the siblings were playing, smiling as she watched them climb into their treehouse and play there, their laughter drifting towards the house for her to hear. Deciding to keep a closer eye on them, she stepped out on the back patio and sat down on a chair with a book. She noticed them looking at her from their treehouse window and waved at them. Harry and Hermione waved at her too before ducking out of sight, causing her to chuckle before turning back to her book.

In their treehouse, the two of them were talking with one another, as well as playing a game of jacks. As they did this, Harry had his free hand hovering above a spinning top, the top spinning on its own without him touching it. His unexplained abilities would still manifest themselves from time to time; Hermione too, but Harry seemed to do it more than she would. By this point, their parents were used to strange things happening because of them, but still wondered how it was possible. Once they finished their game, Hermione began to speak.

"I had a dream last night," Hermione said as she gathered the jacks in a pile.

"What was it about?" Harry asked, taking his hand from over the spinning top and letting it finish spinning out.

Hermione shifted so she was sitting with her feet tucked her under legs in a crisscross position before answering. "It had this lady in it. She was older, and she was wearing this long, medieval-like green dress and robes, and she had a pointed hat."

"Like a witch's hat?"

"Precisely. She had shown up here at our home for some reason, but I'm not sure." The little brunette ducked her head for a moment before looking back up into her brother's green eyes. "Truthfully, I have been having that dream all week, but nothing clearer ever comes of it except for the woman."

Harry thought for a moment on his sister's words before saying, "That seems weird, to have the same dream for a week, I mean."

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe. But what if it's some sort of sign?"

"Of what?"

"Something life changing. Remember when I asked you three years ago that if magic was real and if we belonged in its world?"

The bespectacled boy nodded. "Yes. You then asked if something amazing would happen to us."

Hermione nodded, her bushy hair bobbing around her head. "Right, and you said you were sure of it. And now because of my dream, I just have this feeling something…spectacular is going to happen, and it has to do with that lady with the witch's hat."

Harry smiled and took hold of his sister's hand. Giving it a squeeze, he said, "Then if you say so, it will happen. After all, you're real smart and never wrong."

"Oh, I-I'm not sure about never being wrong." Hermione blushed as she bit her lip.

"You aren't hardly. And if you have a feeling about this dream of yours, then you can't be wrong."

"We'll see."

Around five-thirty that afternoon, Jean and Robert finally returned home from a day at work. They thanked their babysitter as they relieved her of her babysitting duties, giving her her pay for the week as the next day would be Saturday before sending her on her way. No sooner had she left did they hear running footsteps heading their way. Robert laughed as he was slammed into by his two children, wrapping his arms around them in a hug before lifting them off the ground slightly and putting them back down. Ruffling their hair, he greeted, "Hello, you two. Did you have a good day?"

"Yes daddy," Hermione answered. Turning to Jean she hugged her as well greeting, "Hello mummy."

"Hello, sweetheart," Jean greeted in return as she hugged her daughter. Doing the same to her son she said, "Hello, my darling."

Harry grinned as he hugged his mother. "Hi mum."

Seeing the grocery bags by her feet, Harry bent down and grabbed one saying, "I'll help you take these to the kitchen, mum."

Jean smiled as she picked up the other two bags. "Thank you, Harry. I'm making ratatouille tonight. Want to help me prepare dinner?"

"Absolutely. I've always wanted to make ratatouille ever since I saw that French chef make it on the telly."

"Why do you think I got the ingredients for it?" Jean had a teasing smile on her face, causing her son to grin up at her and laugh.

As the two of them headed to the kitchen, Robert chuckled before setting his briefcase down. Looking at his daughter, he asked her to get the mail from the mailbox for him, to which Hermione nodded and ran outside to get for her father. Robert had just settled down on the couch when she returned from the mailbox, closing the door behind her and locking it. Walking into the living room, she handed over the small stack of mail and said, "Here you go, daddy."

"Thank you, honey. Hey, why don't you go get your book about ancient Egypt? I came across some information that I'm sure you'll find fascinating, and I'm sure it's in your book," Robert replied with a smile on his face.

Hermione's brown eyes lit up and she nodded excitedly before hurrying up the stairs to her bedroom. Robert chuckled as he watched his daughter take off, loving that his little girl loved to learn. She was just like he was when he was her age. He had always wanted to know more about everything around him, and it seemed Hermione was the same way. Deciding to look at the mail while he waited for her to come back, he began looking at the envelopes as he listened to his wife and son conversing and moving around in the kitchen. None of the mail seemed relatively important or interesting, though there was one bill. Right when he was about to set it aside, one envelope caught his attention, this one looking like a letter.

Frowning he looked at the strange symbol stamped on the envelope above the wax seal. It looked like some sort of crest with a lion, a snake, an eagle, and a badger in it. Above the crest read the word 'Hogwarts'. What in the world? Robert wondered before turning the envelope over to read who the letter was supposed to be addressed to. Perhaps it was to one of their neighbors and had been mixed up in their mail. As his brown eyes read the name on the letter, he felt his heart momentarily stop in his chest.

Mr. H. Potter.

H. Potter? Who was that? There was no one with that name living in their house or next to them. Even so, it had their address on it, as well as reading 'The Blue Bedroom' on it. Blue bedroom…Harry's bedroom was blue, and this letter was addressed to them, or rather to H. Potter. Was it possible…no, it was a mistake; Robert was sure of it. There was no way that H. Potter was-

"Dad, I've got it," Hermione's voice called out as she came back down the stairs.

Robert blinked and put the letter under the stack of mail next to him before turning to his daughter as she reentered the living room. Once she was settled next to him, she handed him the book he had sent her to get with a smile. Smiling in return, he opened the book and began to flip through the pages before finding what he was looking for. Wrapping an arm around his daughter, he said, "Here it is. Remember me telling you about the pharaoh King Tut? Well this time, we're going to talk about his father, Akhenaten."

Hermione scrunched her nose in thought for a moment before asking, "Nefertiti was his wife, correct?"

"That's right. Alright, let's get started.

Even as Robert informed his daughter all about the pharaoh who sired the world's most famous and youngest pharaoh, he couldn't help but think about the letter hidden under the mail on his other side. And as his ears caught the happy talking and laughter of his son in the kitchen, he couldn't help the way his stomach seemed to churn or his heart clench in his chest at the thought that this unknown letter seemed to know who his son was, and therefore calling him by another name, a name that Robert was afraid was his true identity.

Later that evening after dinner, Robert pulled his wife out into the hallway while their children watched television in the living room. In his hand he held the strange letter, the letter feeling heavy in his hand. Jean looked at her husband in concern as she asked in a low voice, "What's wrong, Robert?"

Robert held up the letter and answered, "It's this letter we received in the mail. It's…well, look."

Jean took the letter and read the name and address on it, her greenish-blue eyes widening slightly before looking back up at her husband in confusion. She looked back at the envelope before opening it and taking out two pieces of paper. One of them looked like a list of items, while the other was an actual letter. Robert leaned his head in with his wife's as the two of them read the letter, their eyes both widening and their stomachs dropping as word after word was read. Finally reaching the end of the letter, Jean looked up at Robert and shook her head before saying softly, "No. No, I know what you are thinking, or else you wouldn't have shown me this. Whoever this H. Potter this letter is addressed to isn't our boy."

"Jean, I don't want to believe it either, but you remember how we got our son. He dropped out of the sky out of nowhere," Robert replied.

"But that doesn't mean this is him."

"Then why else would a letter like this show up here? Even knowing the color of his bedroom, no less?"

The Granger matriarch didn't know how to respond. She looked back at the letter and read it again before looking back up at her husband. She bit her lip for a moment before saying softly, "If this letter really is for Harry, and this witch and wizard school is for real, I just don't want the school to take him from us. He's our son, our little boy."

Robert nodded in understanding, knowing just how his wife felt. He had had those exact same thoughts just now. But he also couldn't deny that things were starting to click in his head concerning their son. Wherever Harry came from, he had to come from the same world this letter did. And like Jean, he was afraid this world, wherever it was, was coming back to take the son they loved so much away from them. He didn't want that, even if Harry did belong to that world.

They were quiet for a moment before Jean asked, "Do you think we should tell Harry about the letter?"

"No, not yet. It will just confuse him," Robert answered. "We should first tell him that he's adopted. I'm sure he knows by now, but we should just confirm it for him anyway. And after we deal with how he takes with the news, we'll give him this letter."

Jean nodded and took a deep breath before leaving the hallway and going back to the living room. Looking at her children, her eyes zeroing in on her son, she took a deep breath before saying, "Children, can you come here for a moment, please?"

Harry and Hermione looked over to their parents, taking in their tense expressions which made them frown. Wondering what was wrong, they got up from the floor and walked over to them, Harry asking, "What is it, mum? What's the matter?"

"We have to tell you something, dear. It is rather important, and time we told you. And Hermione should hear it, as well."

Hermione looked at Harry before looking back at her parents. "Is it bad?"

Shaking his head, Robert answered, "No, nothing like that."

"Then what is it? You're making us nervous."

Robert looked at his daughter before his eyes drifted over to his son. As his brown eyes stared into Harry's green ones, he said slowly, "Harry, we don't know if you are aware yet, but your mother and I feel we should tell you now. And truthfully, we may have waited too long to tell you, but here it goes." He took a deep breath before finally saying what had to be said. "Son, you aren't our biological son. You are actually adopted."

"But we love you and will always love you; that's never going to change," Jean said. "We just didn't say anything yet because you never had any questions, and I suppose you wouldn't with having grown up with us. But we just figured it was only a matter of time before you found out yourself."

Harry said nothing as he looked at his parents in silence. Another minute passed before he finally spoke saying, "I know."

Jean and Robert stared at their son almost incredulously before asking simultaneously, "You do?"

"Yes, I do. I started to notice I didn't look like you two, not like how Hermione does, but I'm still your son and you two my parents. I don't even look like Hermione, and yet she's my sister. I was curious and asked the librarian at the library if there were any books that could tell me why I didn't look like my family. She gave me a book about families to look through, and I found a segment about adopted families. It didn't take me long to realize that I was adopted, but I don't care because no matter what you two are my parents, Hermione is my sister, and this is my family. And I'm proud to be a part of this family and call myself a Granger. I'm Harold Granger, and that isn't going to change."

Robert was astonished at his son's words and how heartfelt they were. A lump of emotion filled his throat and he took Harry into his arms and hugged him close whispering, "Yes, you are. And remember that we'll always love you; you're our son forever and always."

Jean wiped her eyes of the tears she had standing in them before joining in the hug, Hermione joining as well. Once they all had pulled away, Hermione asked, "Why did you decide to tell us this now?"

"Because of this," Jean answered. She handed the letter to Harry and said, "This came in the mail today, and your father and I know that it is yours."

Harry took the letter from his mother and read the name on it. Blinking, he read it again before looking at his parents. "You think this is me?"

Before they could answer, a knock at the front door alerted them. Frowning, Jean asked, "Who could that be at this hour?"

Robert shrugged and answered, "No idea."

Walking towards the front door, Robert unlocked and opened it, only to blink at the person on the other side. Before him was an elderly woman wearing long, green robes and a witch's hat. The woman smiled kindly at him and spoke with a Scottish accent, "Good evening, Mr. Granger. My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall. May I come in?"

Minerva McGonagall? Oh, this was the woman that had sent Harry his letter. Nodding, Robert allowed the woman entrance into his home, closing the door behind her. As he did, he couldn't help but think that she was here for his son, here to take him away.

McGonagall walked into view for the rest of the family, intent on introducing herself when her eyes landed on the little boy standing next to the girl she was there for. Eyes widening, she couldn't help but be surprised as she took in the familiar unkempt dark hair, round glasses, and green eyes that she hadn't seen in ten years. She couldn't believe it. Here in front of her, after being missing for so long, his whereabouts unknown, was Harry Potter. Finally, Harry Potter had been found.