Harriet was quite possibly the happiest she had ever been; or, at least, the happiest she could ever remember being. She had her own room, her own entire room. Her room was right next to Daphne's room and Daphne had even snuck into her room to join her in bed a couple of nights when she had nightmares! It was a surprise the first time it had happened, she had woken up with a fright as a sliver of light illuminated a figure in the doorway. She froze in fear, expecting it to be her Uncle Vernon, but instead it was the much smaller form of her new sister.
Her new sister, who softly padded over to her bed and whispered, "Harriet, Harriet, are you alright? I think you're having a nightmare."
At the sound of her voice Harriet allowed herself to relax for the most part, she still harboured a fear that she might get in trouble for waking Daphne.
"Uh huh," she said quietly, with a small nod.
Daphne didn't say anything else, she merely lifted the covers and joined Harriet in the bed, holding tightly onto her and allowing Harriet to drift back off to sleep in a comforting embrace.
She had overheard Cossima asking Daphne why she was in Harriet's bed the next morning and when Daphne disclosed the nightmares; instead of yelling and punishment Daphne was instead praised for looking after her new sister!
That was another thing that contributed towards Harriet's happiness; right from the very first night, everybody treated her as if she actually was a member of the family. Not with the overindulging coddling that her Aunt and Uncle showed towards Dudley, but with the same comfortable familial love that was shown to each other. This sudden acceptance seemed to have extended to Nance as well, as there was none of the cold wariness that was first shown towards her.
Daphne and Harriet spent their time playing, or walking around the grounds of the manor home (and quite significant grounds they were!), or having lessons in deportment, elocution or etiquette, or any number of other activities suitable for young ladies. It was after one of these activities (picking flowers from the gardens for drying) near the end of Harriet's first week at Greengrass Manor that they walked through the hall as Hew was having a conversation through the floo.
The face in the floo belonged to an older man, with a very long beard and his voice was extremely angry-sounding as he demanded "...must hand Harry Potter over to me!"
Harriet almost dropped her basket of flowers, but Daphne's hand encircled her own as Hew glanced over at them and held his hand out in a 'stop' gesture. Both girls froze where they were.
"Now, now, Chief Warlock," Hew said once he brought his attention back to the floo, "I have already told you, I don't have Harry Potter. If Harry Potter has disappeared, then I should expect that the DMLE would be the ones to investigate a disappearance, not the Chief Warlock."
Hew's arguments seemed to mollify the 'Chief Warlock', but the old man still rallied, "I demand that you allow me through to check for Mister Potter's whereabouts, I know that he is there!"
"No, Chief Warlock," Hew bit back, "you have no right, nor authority to demand entry into a Noble and Most Ancient House!"
The old man's tone of voice changed suddenly from angry and demanding to condescending and grand-fatherly, "my dear boy…"
"Do not 'dear-boy' me Chief Warlock!" Hew exploded, "you are in no position to demand and I am in no mood to entertain further discussion on this subject! Good day to you!"
Hew snatched down a pitcher of water and threw it over the green glowing fire, extinguishing the magical flames with a loud hiss.
"Bloody Merlin's beard!" He swore under his breath then stiffened and turned around quickly towards Daphne and Harriet, "sorry girls. Everything is okay, I think. The question is, why does he think that Harry Potter is here? Without knowing the… true you. I'd honestly be a lot more worried if he did know, because that might mean that others know as well," he looked a bit pensive for a moment before musing, "unless…"
"Father?" Daphne asked.
"Something more to check with the goblins, I think," Hew answered, "there are ways to track people through spell, ritual and enchantment. If Dumbledore has one of these tracking Harriet, then we can't risk taking her to 's to get checked, but a neutral location such as Gringotts will be safe."
Although he reassured them that there was nothing to worry about; Hew showed both of the girls the alarm that would sound if their wards were breached or attacked and 'just to be safe' ran them through a game where they had to get from different parts of the house to the door to the head of house's study as quickly as they could when they heard that alarm sound. They knew not to touch the door handle though, but waited patiently outside the door for Hew to either open up the door from inside or to arrive and open the door for them.
Hew played this game with them a few times the following week and then played it at least once a week for a few more months. It was a fun time for the girl, whenever the alarm sounded because it was the one time that they were allowed to run inside the house. Hand in hand they would dash from wherever they were and whatever they were doing, laughter and giggles in their wake. Hew would either open the door at their knock or arrive shortly after them, always carrying an old fashioned watch.
"Where were you?" He would ask and the girls, one or the other or both at the same time would answer in between huffy breaths. Hew would mark down on a large map of the property where they were with a small flag and on that flag he would write their time. On those occasions where the new flag was near an old one and their time was less than the old time, their 'win' would be celebrated with sweets and congratulations. This reward spurred the usually demure girls into faster and faster dashes, whether from their bedrooms or from the gardens out on the grounds.
One day, Harriet woke up to the sight of everybody in the house standing around her bed. She immediately panicked, thinking that they had all gathered to throw her out or punish her for something. It was so unusual that she scooted back into the headboard of her bed and it took her a few moments to process the words that they had all chanted together.
"Happy Birthday Harriet!"
With wide eyes (and slightly hyperventilating) she sat on her bed as her family presented her with boxes and packages wrapped up in brightly coloured paper.
"Which are you going to open first Harriet?" Cossima asked, prompting her out of her shock.
"First?" She asked, quietly.
"Which present are you going to open first?" Cossima repeated.
Harriet looked at all of the presents in front of her and just couldn't believe it, "they're all for me?"
At the first sign of tears everybody swarmed onto her bed and took her up in a giant hug. Cossima held her close and gently brushed along her hair while Daphne held her tightly about the waist on the other side. Nance and Hew kneeled behind Daphne and Cossima and pressed in as well while Astoria moved about trying to find a gap to get in close to Harriet.
Once her tears had finished and her sniffles stymied with a handkerchief presented by Cossima, Astoria picked up one of the presents and presented it to Harriet, "open this one first!"
Most were wrapped in plain or patterned paper of different bright colours, but this present was wrapped in blue paper decorated with cartoon bears of different colours with different pictures on their white tummies and the words 'happy birthday' interspersed at regular intervals.
"Yes!" Nance cheered quietly, but excitedly.
Harriet unwrapped the present to reveal a shoebox. She recognised the design on the box and her eyes went wide.
She vaguely heard Nance say to Hew and Cossima, "they're apparently all the rage in muggle london."
She opened the box lid slowly and looked at the shoes inside, "magic steps! You got me magic steps!"
With a cry she launched herself at Nance and, wrapping her arms around her, sobbed repeated 'thank-you's into her shoulder.
Nance held her and rubbed her back until Harriet had finally calmed down.
Cossima especially was curious as to the muggle shoes that had the power to reduce Harriet into a sobbing, happy and excited mess. They were polished black t-bar shoes with a curious key motif etched into the soles. Inside the whimsical box was a small brass key broach.
It took a substantial part of the morning for Harriet to unwrap her presents, because each one resulted in tears and hugs and excited squealing. She let Astoria determine the order of presents and was just as excited as the five year old. Eventually though; she had a number of new dresses, shoes, hats and toys arrayed on the bed in front of her and Cossima reminded everybody that they were still yet to eat breakfast.
"As it's your birthday Harriet," Cossima said before they left her to get dressed in her room, "we thought you might like a big breakfast, that seemed to be your favourite."
"Thank you," Harriet exclaimed, "I'll be dressed in a flash then!"
Nance stayed behind to help Harriet get dressed and Dippy was summoned to style and brush her hair. Very soon, they were downstairs in the main dining room tucking in to a large plate of buttered toast, fried eggs, bacon, beans, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms and bangers.
After breakfast, while they were all well satiated, Cossima suggested that they could all go for a stroll around the grounds. It was cool and overcast, a far cry from the warmth of the start of the month, but at least the rain had stopped for the moment. Hew added that perhaps they should break out the brooms, which had Harriet looking at Daphne questioningly and Daphne looking hopefully at Cossima. When the matriarch finally sighed and gave a slight nod, Daphne almost jumped with joy.
She noticed Harriet's curiosity and informed her, "we're going to get to fly!"
Cossima, Hew and Nance all smiled at their outburst of excitement when the two younger girls let out a happy squeal.
The family took a turn around the grounds before settling down around the broomfield where Hew instructed the two girls in the use of a broom while Cossima, Astoria and Nance sat on a bench and supervised. Astoria very much wanted to play with the broomsticks like her older sisters, but was both too young and not strong enough. Cossima had her bundled up to keep warm and occupied her with a doll whose hairstyle and colour changed with merely a tap of the finger.
Hew had three broomsticks laying on the lush grass, two next to each other and one in front facing towards them. He stood in front in order to instruct while Harriet and Daphne stood next to their brooms facing him.
"The first thing that you must do girls, is to command your broom to rise," Hew explained, "hold out your hand above the broom and order it 'up'."
Daphne got it right away, but Harriet had a little bit of trouble.
"Up," she asked, then "up," she pleaded.
"Be firm Harriet," Hew instructed, "the broom won't respond unless you are firm with it. Listen to me," then he commanded the broom in a very strict and sharp tone, "up!" The broom shot straight up into his hand.
Harriet gave a nod to show that she understood and took a deep breath, she steadied herself and stared at the wooden tool lying on the grass, "up!" The broom shot into her hand with such force that she almost had trouble holding onto it and ended up grasping it with two hands for fear that it would shoot off into the sky all by itself.
Hew gave a short laugh, "well done Harriet, well done!"
Hew stood over his broom, legs on either side, "now, straddle your broom. Two hands together in front and when you're ready… kick off. Just hover for now though."
Harriet stood astride her broom, after gathering her skirts.
Beside her, Daphne hummed and mentioned, "we should be wearing riding skirts, shouldn't we?"
Hew laughed, "well, I'm sure Cossima would be happy to take you to buy riding skirts, but do you really want to miss out on riding now for want of them?"
Daphne looked shocked and held her broom tighter, "no Father, I should ride now in muggle clothes if there were no other choice!"
Hew laughed again and even Cossima and Nance joined in as well.
"Very well then," Hew said cheerfully, "two hands together in front and kick off."
Harriet and Daphne shared a glance and gave each other a determined nod. Together they grasped their respective brooms and kicked off the ground, rising up into the air a short distance.
"Very good, very good!" Hew cheered while Cossima, Nance and Astoria all clapped.
"Okay then," Hew continued, "if you were wanting to land now, it would be best to point the broom down and head that way until your feet touch the ground rather than just stop the hovering there. But instead of going straight down, why don't we go for a bit of a fly?"
"Yes please," and "yes Father," the two girls said together.
Hew lifted off the ground and shot into the sky, quick as a flash. Harriet looked at Daphne and Daphne looked at Harriet, their eyes slitted in determination and gave each other another nod before they too shot off.
When they all three touched down an hour later, Harriet was both exhausted and exhilarated. The experience of flying was the most freeing thing she had ever done, up in the sky with the wind whipping around her she felt… safe. Nobody could get her, nobody could touch her. She was free.
They had started off by playing follow the leader, then had a race to the Manor and back then Hew led them around the boundary of the Greengrass lands and pointed out the marker posts in the ground telling them, "do not go past those posts, you might be seen by Muggles and you'd be in a lot of trouble." Finally, they just flew around and played. Daphne and Harriet took turns chasing each other while Hew just flew around nearby watching them, just in case.
Harriet and Daphne spent most of the rest of the day just playing together, often accompanied by Astoria when she was feeling well enough and occasionally were joined by Nance who was gracious enough to be the dragon to their dragon tamers.
The day wrapped up with a special dinner of roast beef and veggies with yorkshire puddings smothered in gravy and followed by a gigantic sponge cake covered in candles and floated out by Dippy. Everybody sang Harriet 'happy birthday' and she was instructed to make a wish before blowing out the candles, but she hesitated briefly…
She couldn't think of anything she wanted more than she had right at that moment, except for it to never end.
AUTHORS NOTES:
Well everybody, thank you so much for your patience! I've just finished four weeks of annual leave which was spent either too sick to do anything or doing everything and not having time or energy for writing. That's over and I'm back at work able to do…. Not work. :)
Of course, when I sat down to start typing again I realised that I didn't really like what I had written of this chapter so far, so I had to re-write everything. Nevermind. It's better now, I think and opens more ideas up for the future.
SUPER MEGA HUGE THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING AUTHOR FAVOURITES / FOLLOWS: Aralad87
Thanks also go to the following for story favourites / follows: jchll9999, Nightsonge, Essymia, Galaxy Blaze, Write my life away, Mistress of Harmony, NinjAlt, Tales for the telling, TrooperJoker, Maxx5
Ooh ooh, just in case you ever see this, thanks to the following who have favourited my Ranma oneshot My Mum's Cooking, by Natsume Saotome: gsteemso, Malena M - Salas.
James Birdson: Thank you so much!