DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER.
"Mummy," Harry spoke as he stood with his sister and parents near their car. "I don't want to go."
September had arrived, and Harry and Susan had been enrolled in a primary school called Little Shire Elementary School.
This day, September 3rd, was to be Harry's and Susan's first day, and while Susan seemed to be excited, Harry was not so excited.
Amelia who was holding Harry's and Susan's backpacks, Harry's being red and Susan's being yellow, looked at Harry and said, "Harry, it'll be fun. You do need to go to school to learn. You'll be able to learn more about math, reading and writing and other things that you will need to know as you grow up."
"You teach me math and reading and writing at home," Harry said.
It was true. In fact, Amelia had been teaching Susan math since three, and after Amelia had officially become Harry's guardian, she had started to teach Harry as well. Of course, she had started with reading and writing, and a little later, soon after Sirius had moved in with them, she had started to teach Harry counting and math. Harry had needed a little help from Susan, but he had learnt quite quickly. He was now quite brilliant when it came to addition and subtraction.
Amelia replied, "Yes I do teach you at home, but school is where you will learn even more things about the world. You will like school Harry, don't worry, and you'll be able to come home in the afternoon. And guess what, you're going to have a few friends with you."
Susan looked up at Amelia and Sirius who by then had put the bags in the car and asked, "Is Hannah coming?"
Sirius replied, "Yup, and guess what? Ronnie is also going to be there."
Harry's eyes brightened at the mention of his best friend 'Ronnie'.
Amelia smiled upon seeing his expression and said, "See, it's going to be fun. You'll have Ronnie and Hannah with you."
Harry asked, "Will you come pick me and Susie up?"
Sirius replied, "We will, or Aunt Emily or Uncle Dennis or Auntie Linda will come."
"Okay," Harry and Susan said as their parents lifted them up and strapped them in their car seats. Sirius got into the driver's seat and Amelia got into the seat next to Sirius.
Sometime later, after a not too short drive, the family arrived at a primary school campus. It had two main buildings. One, white and one-storey was the kindergarten building and the other, perpendicular and adjacent to it at one end, two-story, was meant for classes from first grade to fifth grade.
There was a big playground and some trees, scattered about, behind the buildings, and there were two areas containing woodchips that housed slides, swings, monkey bars, sand boxes, etc. There were also sheltered benches and tables for kids to eat outside.
Sirius parked the car in the parking lot and said, "Well, here we are at school."
Harry and Susan stared at the surroundings, especially the other kids there.
Sirius and Amelia got out of the car and got the kids with their backpacks out before proceeding to lock the car doors and bring the kids along to the kindergarten building, outside which, some parents with their children were already gathered.
As they neared the building, Harry and Susan started pulling their parents, trying to run in and explore.
Amelia called out, "Harry, Susie, slow down."
The adults holding their children's hands neared the entrance to the teachers' quarters and pushing the double glass doors open, they walked into a corridor and stopped at the door at the end. Just at that end, there were two more corridors, one on the left, one on the right, both short, leading to a few other offices, with bathrooms at each end.
Just then, a woman dressed formally in a grey suit walked over to them and spoke, "Good morning. Are you two here to see the principal?"
Sirius replied, "Good morning Ma'am. Yes, we are."
The woman replied, "Then you're right on time. Mrs. Blackberry has just arrived herself and is in her office right here. By the way, sorry I forgot, my name is Evelyn Macready. I am the deputy headmistress."
Amelia said, "Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Macready. My name is Amelia Black and this is my husband Sirius Black. These little ones," pausing to glare at them playfully and snap her jaws as they smiled naughtily at her, "are our children, Harry and Susan."
Turning to the kids, she said, "Harry, Susan, this is Mrs. Macready. Say hello."
"Hello Mrs. Macready," Harry and Susan said simultaneously as they looked at her with wide eyes.
The woman smiled at them and knelt down to their level cooing, "Hello you two young ones. Oh my gosh, you are looking so cute! Will you tell me your names?"
Amelia turned to her children and said, "Go on, tell the nice lady your names."
Harry spoke up, "My name is Harry."
Susan piped up, "My name is Susan."
Mrs. Macready said smilingly, "Those are such nice names. I hope you enjoy your first day you little ones."
She then stood up straight and turning to Amelia and Sirius, she said, "Give me a moment please. I'll just inform the Headmistress."
She knocked on the door and a female voice called out, "Come in."
Opening the door, she went in and said, "Good morning Ma'am. Two people, Mr. Sirius Black and Mrs. Amelia Black are here to see you."
Sirius and Amelia heard the second female voice calling out, "Ah yes, tell them to come in. I shall call you if I need you."
"Very well," Mrs. Macready replied before exiting the room and saying, "Mrs. Blackberry will see you now. Have a nice day. I must head along to my office. See you later."
Amelia replied, "Thank you, have a nice day. See you later."
She and Sirius then pulled the children with them into an office, small but definitely not too small, with a window facing the playground, a moderately sized table and chair, the principal's table and chair, and a couple of other chairs on the opposite side of the table.
In the principal's chair sat a smiling slim woman, dressed in a grey suit and a pink skirt, wearing glasses and having light golden brown hair.
This was Mrs. Blackberry.
Mrs. Blackberry stood up and greeted the family saying, "Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Black, and to you too sweet children. Please sit down."
Sirius and Amelia sat down on two chairs, while Harry and Susan proceeded to sit on two smaller chairs.
Mrs. Blackberry asked, "Can I get you anything, a glass of water?"
Amelia replied, "Yes of course. Thank You."
Sirius replied, "Same for me please."
Mrs. Blackberry poured two big glasses of water for the parents and two small mugs for the kids.
As they all sipped their water, Amelia spoke, "Mrs. Blackberry, you wanted to discuss the letter I sent you a few days ago."
Mrs. Blackberry replied, "Oh yes, I got your letter, and I thought it would be best if we discussed this personally."
Then, her expression became serious and holding her hands together, she said, slightly softer so as to not let the kids who were currently looking at a comic book on her table, "I'm really sorry about what Harry has been through. I couldn't believe Petunia Dursley would do this when I heard she had been jailed for child abuse."
Amelia asked, "You know her?"
Mrs. Blackberry explained, "You see, Petunia was my friend. She is my junior by six years but she and I have been quite close since she got married. She and Vernon seemed polite, but I always thought Vernon was rather arrogant. I didn't think Petunia could be so cruel and heartless so as to mistreat her own nephew."
Sirius spoke up, "It's because of that that we wrote that letter to you."
Mrs. Blackberry replied, "You were right to send me that letter, and I assure you that I will do my very best to see that Harry is treated well here. He and Susan shall be treated equally like any other child, but definitely well. If there is any problem, come to me."
"Thank you so much Mrs. Blackberry." Amelia said.
Sirius asked, "By the way, which classroom will Harry and Susan be in?"
Mrs. Blackberry checked a document on a clipboard nearby and replied, "Their classroom now is LKG A. You had asked in your letter for a few specific friends to be in the same classroom. Mr. Ronald Weasley and Ms. Hannah Abbott have been placed in the same classroom."
"Thank you very much," Sirius replied, "We really appreciate your help."
The principal smiled and said, "You're welcome."
Turning to Harry and Susan, she called out, "Hello little ones."
Even as Harry and Susan looked up at her, Amelia said, "This is Mrs. Blackberry. She is the principal of the school. Say hello."
Harry and Susan said, "Hello Mrs. Blackberry."
Mrs. Blackberry smilingly replied, "Your classroom will be LKG, Lower Kindergarten A. Your class teacher is Ms. Leanne."
Suddenly, Harry spoke up, "Your name is Mrs. Blackberry, but you're not a blackberry."
Mrs. Blackberry burst into laughter at Harry's statement and said, "I am not a blackberry, but if you both come and try to eat me up, I might just put you in my lap, turn you into blackberries, and eat you."
"NO!" Susan cried out, "Harry, we should not eat Mrs. Blackberry! We are good kids!"
Amelia turned to Harry and said, "You heard what your sister said, right?"
Harry nodded.
Mrs. Blackberry smiled and said, "You two are quite cute. Be on your best behavior, and I will be very happy."
Turning to the parents, she said, "You may take your children to their classroom now."
Sirius and Amelia stood up, and so did the children.
Amelia said, "Time to go to your classroom children."
"Bye Mrs. Blackberry," Harry and Susan said before their parents said their goodbyes and led the children out of the teachers' area.
Suddenly, just as they walked out, they all heard a familiar child's voice calling out, "HARRY, SUSIE!"
They turned and saw none other than an excited looking Ron nearby, with an orange backpack.
Harry and Susan rushed over to Ron crying out, "RONNIE!" and hugged him.
They then noticed Hannah also nearby and rushed over to hug her, laughing and nearly tumbling as they all hugged each other.
"Careful," Amelia cried out as she rushed towards them. She then smiled and said, "Hello Ronnie and Hannah, are you ready for school today?"
"YES!" Ronnie cried out, "WITH HARRY AND SUSAN!"
Amelia laughed and looked up to see Molly standing nearby holding Ginny, plus the other Weasley boys minus Bill, Charlie and Percy, as well as Dennis and Emily.
"Hello Amelia," Molly greeted, "I'm glad that our children are all in the same classroom."
Dennis stepped forward and said, "She feels Fred and George might be a little less naughty if they go to school, so here they are."
Fred and George started, "Yes, we have to go to school."
"But Percy doesn't have to go. He is with Daddy at work."
"There are only Muggles here."
"We can't be naughty like at home."
Sirius laughed and said, "Hello everyone, I can't believe it's September already."
Emily laughed and said, "Oh yes, and you'll be starting again as an auror. Dennis told me you'd been promoted."
Sirius replied, "Yes, by my own wife!"
Amelia looked sternly at Sirius and playfully and lightly smacked his arm saying, "And if you act all silly, you'll be sleeping on the couch for three nights."
Sirius scrunched up his face and pretended to look all weepy, causing Susan to cry out, "Mummy, you made Daddy cry!"
Amelia looked at Susan and said, "Susie, your Daddy is a very silly man. He's just pretending."
Harry giggled and cried out, "You pretend!"
Just then, they heard a teacher nearby calling out, "Parents, please bring your children forward. It is time for them be in their classrooms."
The magical parents all led their children to the door of the classroom LKG A, which was set into the wall on one side of the teachers' quarters entrance, as were the doors of several other classrooms on either side.
An afro lady with a maroon jumpsuit, jeans and black hair came to the door and opened it, revealing a classroom with white walls having some rainbow and flower wallpaper, a green carpeted floor, small stools, chairs and tables, a carpet with red, yellow, blue and green dots on a grid, cubbies for keeping bags, and some baskets nearby with toys plus a few shelves with books. There was also a door leading to the playground.
Amelia and Sirius knelt down to their children's level and Amelia said, "Harry, Susan, we have to go now. Be good at school, listen to what the teacher says, and eat all your food. If anything happens, tell the teacher."
Just then, the teacher smilingly announced, "Hello little ones, my name is Ms. Leanne, and I am going to be your teacher. We're all going to have a lovely day, with lots of fun. Now, will you please come inside?"
As the children scurried inside, Harry and Susan stared at the lady.
The lady smilingly looked at them and said, "Hello cuties, so you're here for your first day. What are your names?"
Sirius whispered, "Go on kids, she's a nice lady. She is going to be your teacher."
He then turned to the teacher and said, "Hello Ms. Leanne. My name is Sirius Black and this is my wife Amelia Black. These little ones are our children."
Then turning to the kids, he said, "You see, I'm not scared to tell our names. Come on, you can do it."
Harry spoke up, "My name is Harry."
Susan added, "And my name is Susan and this is my brother."
Ms. Leanne smilingly said, "Such nice names you've got over there. Come on inside. I'll show you where to keep your bags."
She led the children inside and helped them to keep their bags in the cubbies.
Turning to Sirius and Amelia, she said, "The headmistress told me about your letter. I assure you that I love kids and will do everything to make sure that your children learn well and happily."
"Thank you very much," Amelia replied, "We really appreciate your assurance."
"No need to thank me Ma'am," the teacher smilingly said, "It's my duty as a teacher. The children here become our own, and we teachers must take care of them and teach them like our own children."
Amelia smiled at that and then knelt down at Harry's and Susan's level saying, "Time for us to go. I love you my babies."
Harry and Susan hugged their parents. As Harry hugged his Mummy, he whispered, "Love you Mummy. Come back."
Amelia replied, "I will be back for you today, but if for some reason, I'm still at work, then either Aunt Emily or Auntie Linda will take you home, okay?"
"Okay," Harry said before getting a kiss on the cheek from his Mummy.
Sirius hugged Susan and said, "Be a good girl Susie, and remember, Mummy and I love you very much."
"I love you Daddy," Susan replied.
After a couple more hugs and kisses, Sirius and Amelia bade goodbye to the children and left with the other parents who had also bade goodbye to their own children.
The teacher then closed the door gently and made the kids sit in a circle. Harry was in between Ron and Susan and Hannah was sitting just opposite to them.
Ms. Leanne kneeling in the middle of the circle said, "Hello everyone, so good morning. Since today is our first day, we are going to need to get to know each other well. Now, I'm going to call out your names, one by one, and you have to tell me what your favorite color is. Okay?"
"Okay," the children chorused in reply.
"Here we go," the teacher began in a sing song manner, "Good morning Brian, what is your favorite color?"
"Blue," came the reply from a small boy in the circle.
"Wow," Ms. Leanne replied, "And then, good morning Susan, what's your favorite color?"
"Yellow," Susan replied.
"Wow," there came the next line, "And then, good morning Harry, what's your favorite color?"
"Red," Harry cried out.
"Amazing, and then, good morning Ron, what's your favorite color?" the next line came.
"Orange," there came Ron's reply.
The game went on until all the children had finished telling their favorite colors.
And then, Harry, Ron and Susan found themselves staring at a sweet looking cute girl with bushy brown hair sitting in the circle.
Ms. Leanne announced, "Hurray, so now, I'd like you to tell us the best thing that happened this summer. We're going to start backwards this time. Now, Hermione, will you tell us?"
The bushy brown haired girl replied, "My Mummy and Daddy and I went to France and went swimming in the sea."
"Wow," Ms. Leanne replied, "Sounds like you had a very interesting trip."
They went on, with the other kids talking about trips with their parents, grandparents, friends, etc, with Ron excitedly crying out that Harry and Susan and Hannah had become his friends, and finally, it was Harry's turn.
He jumped up and cried out, "My Mummy came and took me away from bad Uncle Vernon and mean Aunt Petunia and I got to live with my Mummy and sissy Susan. First, Mummy was Aunt Ami, then Godmummy, then Mummy. And then Uncle Sirius came home and became Daddy."
"Oh wow," Ms. Leanne replied, "Sounds like you had an amazing summer."
When it was Susan's turn, she piped up, "Aunty came home with Harry and said he will live with me and Aunty! Then Uncle Remus came. Then we played with Ronnie and Hannah and Ginny, and then Uncle Sev was mean to Harry and Aunty was mad at him and scared him away. Then Aunty became Mummy and Uncle Sev came and said sorry to Harry and me. Then he told us stories about Harry's Mama. Then a bad man went to jail and Uncle Sirius came home. Then mean Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia went to jail because they were mean to Harry, and then Uncle Sirius became Daddy. Harry is my best brother!"
Ms. Leanne looked at Susan with wide eyes and said, "Wow! That is an interesting story. Uncle Sev was mean but then he came and said sorry. Now that is something we should all do. If we are mean to someone, the other person will feel sad. We should not be mean to other people. If we made a mistake and we were mean or something like that, we need to go to that person and say sorry. And then we should not be mean to the other person again. Okay?"
"Okay," the children chorused in reply.
Ms. Leanne inwardly sighed. As much as she had felt tempted to talk about the Dursleys whom Susan had just mentioned, she had felt that it would not be right to talk about it just now and make Harry get scared and upset.
At least this 'Uncle Sev' had said sorry to Harry, but the Dursleys never had, from what she had heard.
Later on, it was snack time and the children pulled out their snack boxes out of their lunch bags and went and sat on the small benches in the playground to eat, the door having been opened.
As Harry, Ron, Susan and Hannah, all having taken their snack boxes out of their bags, rushed outside, they noticed the bushy brown haired girl sitting by herself.
They went up to her and sat with her.
Harry went and sat next to the girl on her left side, and the others except Ron who chose to sit on Harry's left side, all sat opposite to the girl.
Harry said, "Hello."
Ron asked, "Can we sit with you?"
The girl replied, "Okay."
Hannah said, "My name is Hannah."
Susan said, "My name is Susan, this boy is my brother Harry, and this is Ron."
Harry asked, "What's your name?"
The girl looked at Harry and answered cutely, "My name is Hermione, Hermione Granger."
She then opened her bluish green colored box and asked, "Do you want to share orange with me?"
Harry beamed and said, "I love orange."
Opening his red box, he asked, "Can we share cranberries and cookies?"
"Ooh," Hermione cried out, "I love cranberries."
Hannah opened her box to reveal some nuts, raisins and banana, and Susan opened hers to reveal the same snack that Harry had.
They all happily shared their snacks, and then rode a few pedal cars nearby before the teachers called the kids to their respective classes with a great clapping.
There was a reading session and then a basic math session after which, it was time for lunch. Once again, the magical children sat outside with their new friend Hermione. Harry and Susan had gotten vegetable and cheese sandwiches from their Mummy, Hannah had gotten macaroni and cheese, Hermione had gotten chopped up vegetables and pasta, and Ron had gotten sandwiches with corn in them.
They ate their lunch and then ran towards a section with woodchips that was meant for kindergarten kids to play. They had a lot of fun on the slides and swings before the teachers called the children inside.
Finally, after a nice school day, it was time for the children to be picked up and Harry, Susan, Ron, Hermione and Hannah were all standing right outside their classroom, being watched by their teacher.
Molly and Emily had already arrived, and Hermione's mother, a sweet looking woman with black hair had arrived to pick up Hermione.
Just then, Harry spoke up, "Where is Mummy?"
Hermione came close to Harry and said, "This is my Mummy. Mummy, this is Harry, Susan, Ron, and Hannah."
Hermione's mother who was standing nearby smiled and said, "I see you've already made a few new friends. Hello Harry, Susan, Ron and Hannah."
Ms. Leanne spoke up, "Hello Mrs. Emma Granger. I see you've arrived as well. Hermione here has indeed made a few new friends, all sweet kids. Right now, Harry and Susan here are still waiting for their parents to pick them up. I hope they're not running late, stuck in traffic or something."
Susan piped up, "Mummy or Auntie Linda or Uncle Moony or Daddy will come."
Just then, Harry spoke softly, "Mummy said that she will come…"
He kept on looking out onto the road, but there was no sign of his Mummy.
And then suddenly, he burst into tears.
Susan and Hermione hugged him instantly, trying to comfort him. Susan said, "Don't cry Harry! I love you brother."
Hermione said, "Don't cry Harry! I love you Harry. Your Mummy will come."
Molly and Emily bent down and Emily spoke, "Harry, don't worry, Mummy is probably running…"
Harry's sobs became louder, even as Molly who was holding Ron and Ginny attempted to comfort him.
Ms. Leanne knelt down and wrapped her arms around Harry saying, "Oh you poor thing, I've got you. It's okay, hold on Harry, I've got you. Mummy's coming for you. Mummy's coming for you. Just…"
Harry stopped crying for a moment, relaxing in Ms. Leanne's strong and comforting hold, but a few minutes later, with no Mummy or Daddy in sight, he broke down in tears again.
Molly spoke up, "Baby, don't worry, we're all here. You're not alone."
But Harry cried out, "I want my Mummy!"
Just then, he felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him even as a familiar female voice, not his Mummy's but a loving voice called out, "Oh my baby, my poor baby boy! I've got you baby, Auntie Linda's got you. Poor baby, come to Aunty."
Harry buried himself into the woman's bosom and cried even as she held him and stroked his back with one arm while hugging Susan with the other arm.
A minute later, Harry, having calmed down, looked up through his glasses and said, "Auntie? Auntie Linda? Where is Mummy?"
Susan hugged Auntie Linda and asked, "Where's Mummy and Daddy?"
Melinda replied, "Mummy and Daddy wanted to pick you up, but they are still at work and could not come, so I will be picking you up today. You two and I will go home, and we'll have a nice time, and then soon, Mummy and Daddy will be back home."
Harry sniffed and buried his face into Melinda's tummy. Oh ok, so Mummy and Daddy wanted to come but they could not, but then they had said that if they could not, then Auntie Linda would pick Harry and Susan up.
And Auntie Linda was here.
Just then, Ms. Leanne asked, "Excuse me, but I can't allow you to pick up Harry and Susan unless you are in the list of designated guardians. What is your name?"
Melinda looked up and said, "Melinda Smith. I should be in the list."
Ms. Leanne quickly looked at some papers attached to a clipboard on her desk and then returned to Melinda saying, "Melinda Smith, yes, you are indeed on the list. Great! Thank you for coming. By the way, what happened to Sirius and Amelia?"
Melinda replied, "They suddenly got dragged into a meeting. It was supposed to be tomorrow but the boss suddenly decided to advance it to today afternoon. Luckily, I don't have to attend, so they asked me to pick up these little cuties today."
Ms. Leanne said, "Well, it's certainly good someone is free today. Harry, Susan, Auntie Melinda will take you home now. See you tomorrow."
Harry and Susan turned to their teacher and said, "See you tomorrow."
Hermione hugged Harry and Susan and said, "See you tomorrow Harry and Susie."
They hugged her back and replied, "See you tomorrow Hermione."
After bidding goodbye to everyone else, Harry and Susan were led by Melinda to their Mummy's and Daddy's car, which Melinda had borrowed to pick up the kids. She strapped them in their seats, kissed their cheeks, then got into the driver's seat and made sure all the doors were locked before starting the car and driving back home.
NOTE: I am putting September 4th 1981 as the day on which Susan's parents were murdered. In the next chapter, Susan and Harry will be taken to Susan's family's graves. I am also planning to have Harry visit James' and Lily's graves. Should it be on: 1) the same day?
Or 2) October 31st?
Please let me know via review before 11 PM IST August 24th.