Saturday 27th November 1981
Dursley Home, 11:00
Harry was confused. Very confused. And when he got confused, he was quiet. Very quiet. Because he needed to think. And if he was doing something, he wasn't thinking. He needed to think.
A lot of things had happened to him and he didn't know what to think about them all. It was a lot. A lot and different. Very different. He had to think about them. That's why he was quiet, even if he got called 'unnatural' for doing so. He didn't even know what that word meant but it was said in a nasty tone so he didn't think that he was supposed to like it. But that didn't matter because he had to think.
Baby sister was here with him but mummy and daddy weren't. Mummy and daddy were gone away. Harry didn't think that mummy and daddy had ever gone away before so why had they now? Why had they left him and Rylli here with people he had never seen before? Harry didn't like that very much. If he couldn't have mummy and daddy, he wanted people he did know. Not these strange people that he kept seeing. He didn't like them very much and he was pretty sure they didn't like him.
There weren't nearly enough smiles in here. He liked smiles. Lots of them. Smiles made him happy. No smiles made him sad. So, he needed other people. Other, smiley people.
He knew other people. Paddy and Moony and Tah-doe. Oh, and Wormy. But Wormy wasn't as fun. He always held him funny. There was Issy and Dora and Leeny as well. But they weren't here either. He hadn't seen them in a long, long time. Well, he had seen Paddy and Wormy. He didn't know when but he remembered seeing them and seeing no one else. Except that big, big, big man with the lots of hair. Lots and lots of hair. He was very big too. Bigger than he had ever seen anyone. His hair had been like the lion in that book Daddy liked to read to him.
"Roar," Harry said quietly, making Rylli roll over to blink at him. "Dat's a li-om," he told her but she didn't say anything.
Oh, yeah, babies couldn't say anything. He had forgotten. Because he was a big boy now and could talk. Babies couldn't.
That big man with the lion hair wasn't here either. He had disappeared when Harry had been asleep because when he woke up, he wasn't there. No One he knew was here.
Instead, there was this strange lady with these weird blue eyes that Harry didn't like that much. They weren't like mummy sparkling green ones or daddy's warm brown. They were cold and they never sparkled at him. No, he didn't like them. They made him feel all nasty and squirmy inside. He didn't like looking at them.
And then there was this man. A big man. Bigger than his daddy. And his daddy was big. He went way, way up. This man went up too. But he went out from side to side as well as up. It made him very big looking. And it made Harry very small. Though not as small as Rylli. Rylli was a baby. Babies were small. He had heard mummy say so. He wasn't a baby which meant he was a big boy. Even if the strange man made him feel small. Even Moony would be small next to that man. And be always had this frowny face on him. Kind of like Tah-doe but not really. Tah-doe smiled sometimes. This man didn't. And Tah-doe felt safe and warm even when he wasn't smiling. His man wasn't. He had a big red face too which was funny looking. Red was a funny colour. Daddy liked red. And gold. Mummy had as well but not as much as daddy. Red looked weird on a person's face. Harry wasn't sure he liked it very much like that. It was the wrong shade of red anyway. He didn't like that very much either.
Why was he here? He didn't much like it. He liked it with his mummy and daddy and Rylli much better. All of them together. He wanted That again.
Marauder Flat, 12:00
"Harry. Want Harry," Cassie told her mummy, tugging at her legs.
It was a good way to get mummy's attention. It always worked. It worked this time too, proving her point.
"What's that, sweetheart?"
Cassie frowned. Hadn't mummy heard her? She wanted Harry. So, she repeated herself. Louder this time so mummy could hear.
"WANT HARRY!"
There. That should do it. She even gave some really big tugs as well because if she was going to speak big then everything else should be big too. Except now mummy was making that frowny face at her. A frowny face was never a good thing.
"Hey," her fingers got prised off mummy's legs. "There's no shouting."
Cassie put her fingers in her mouth and whimpered around them. She didn't like getting told off. It wasn't very nice.
"Want Harry," she said in a very small voice.
Mummy was looking at her funny. No. Not funny. Because funny made her laugh. This didn't make her laugh. And mummy wasn't laughing either. Mummy didn't even look happy. Her face was all weird and making strange shapes. So not funny. Because Cassie didn't like it.
Before she could say anything, she was lofted up and put on mummy's hip. One of her favourite places to be. She liked playing with mummy's hair. It was hard, mummy's hair didn't go past her head. She reached out to grab a bit but her hands were pushed away. Pouting, she tried again. Thwarted. Again.
"No pulling hair, Cassie."
But she wanted to! Papa's hair was much nicer to pull, it had all these twisty bits. But mummy's was fun too. And it was her only option so she really wasn't picky.
"No." Mummy said much more firmly as her fingers were taken away yet again and she was lifted in a way that she was looking directly at mummy's frowny face. Cassie copied her, it made her eyes go all funny. "No hair pulling," mummy repeated.
Cassie decided that she should do as she was told this one time. Mainly because mummy's hair was now out of reach. She didn't know why mummy wouldn't let her play with her hair. It was a lot of fun. Sometimes even more than her toys. Papa let her play with his hairs even if he made funny faces as she did so. She wanted daddy. Where was Papa? He always brought Harry as well. Him and Unca P'ongs. They had all gone away and she didn't know why. She wanted all of them. Papa, Harry and Unca P'ongs. They were the best fun. So, where were they? She wanted them.
"Harry?" She asked more incessantly this time.
Mummy had to understand how important it was that she wanted Harry. It was very very important.
"You can't see Harry right now, sweetheart."
Cassie furrowed her eyebrows together. Huh, that felt funny. Normally that got her coos of how cute she was but not this time.
"No Harry?"
Mummy shook her head. "No Harry."
Well, that wasn't very nice. She wanted Harry! She hadn't seen him in ever so long. She didn't know how long but she hadn't seen him. She stomped her foot.
"Want Harry!"
That got her another cuddle but Cassie pushed her mummy's face away from her. No. No cuddles. Not yet.
"We all want Harry," she said quietly to her. "And Rylli."
"Ry?"
Who was Ry? She couldn't remember a Ry.
"The baby," mummy explained.
How did she know that Cassie didn't know? Mummys were magic.
"Baby?" She had heard something about a baby before. Never really saw her though. "Baby Ry?"
"Yes, Rylli is a baby."
"My baby?"
That got her a laugh from mummy. Cassie was confused. What was so funny about having a baby?
"No, not your baby."
"Aw."
That got her another kiss.
"See baby?" Cassie asked hopefully.
"You can't see the baby either?"
Cassie pouted at that and let her lip wobble dangerously. Why could she not see all of these people? It wasn't fair!
Sunday 28th November 1981
Remus and Tonks' Flat
Teddy could hear crying again. He didn't like it. Crying meant that someone was sad. He always cried when he was sad. It wasn't nice being sad. He didn't want anyone to be sad. Being happy was much better. Being happy made you feel good.
Only mummy cried. Daddy got all quiet and made these frowny faces when he was sad but mummy cried. He didn't like hearing mummy cry, it made him feel all weird and twisty inside. It wasn't a nice feeling at all. And it made him want to cry. And crying wasn't fun. Crying made you all hot and wet and then your head felt funny and you got all tired. And it always ended up with him taking a nap. He didn't really like naps. And he was pretty sure that mummy didn't like naps either.
This meant that he had to get her to stop crying. He had to get rid of whatever was making her sad. Take it away so she wouldn't have to see it.
But he couldn't see anything that was making her sad. Which was weird. So, he did the next best thing and gave her a hug. Mummy always liked his hugs.
"Oh, Teddy."
Mummy picked him up and held him close. Which he liked. He liked getting hugs. When he didn't want to play anyway. And he wanted a hug now. Hugs made things better. Which meant no more crying. He didn't like crying. But mummy was crying even though she was hugging. You didn't cry when you were hugging. That was a rule!
"No cry," he told her.
Because she had to stop being sad. Mummy was supposed to be happy.
"I've stopped crying," she told him.
Teddy frowned and looked at her face.
"Wet," he said, pointing at her cheek.
"Ouch," mummy said and moved his finger away. "Remember, no poking people, Teddy Bear."
Oh yeah, he wasn't supposed to do that anymore. It was Ouchy.
"Sorry."
"Such a good boy," she praised.
Teddy beamed. He liked being called a good boy. Good boys got smiles and treats. Unlike when he was called a naughty boy. When that happened, he tended to get toys taken off him. He didn't like that.
"Sad?" He asked, noticing the tears still on her face - they sparkled.
"Mummy's okay."
"Sad!"
He wasn't silly! He was very clever. Daddy always said so and mummy always said that daddy was very clever so he must be telling the truth.
"I'm okay."
Why was mummy saying she was okay when she wasn't?
Tuesday 30th November 1981
Snape Flat, 12:00
"I don't understand, I just don't understand," Chryssie was shaking her head. "How could something like this even happen?"
That was in her head because those words had been said enough out loud the past few days. They didn't need to be said anymore. Right now, anyway. She was sure they would find something new that they'd have to use those words for again. But right now, they felt overused. And she was overthinking this but she couldn't help it.
Did the justice system really mean nothing? Were people crazy? Did they not realise what they had done? What they had caused? The confusion, the disbelief, the wondering, the pain this had all caused? No, of course they didn't because they didn't think beyond their stupid, long noses or their scrolls or their weird smelling ink! They didn't think about people at all. Just the laws and dusty tomes. Except they didn't even do that in this case because this wasn't in law. This didn't follow procedure. Not even a little bit. And no one seemed to care at all. Surely someone except them should have noticed this and cared? It couldn't just be them. It didn't make any sense.
"I don't understand," she said out loud.
"You do," Severus told her quietly from next to her, they were both lying in bed together. "You just don't want to."
That was true. She didn't want to think about it either because it made her sad and angry and annoyed and furious. The wet kind of all those emotions that made tears well up in her eyes. Which she hated. She'd done enough crying in recent days. She should be all dried up but she didn't really want to put that to the test.
Instead, she decided to think about the fact that she was lying in bed. With Severus. Her fiancé. Now, they weren't doing anything except lying next to each other, she blushed at the thought of doing anything else, but it was strange. Most improper. Went against what she had been taught growing up. You simply didn't get this close to a man, this personal, until you were married. Because married things happened in one's bed. Lily hadn't done such a thing, falling asleep next to each other on the Common Room sofa didn't count, and she was the troublesome child. Technically. Chryssie was the well behaved one. Tuney was the blotchy one though her parents would never have put it like that. The prim one, perhaps? That was different from being well-behaved. But here was Chryssie, lying in bed with a man. Even if that make as her fiancé. Fiancé. Fiancé. Fiancé. Fiancé. She couldn't get enough of thinking that; it was one of the few things these days that could still put a smile on her face.
"Chryssie."
Oh, her fiancé was still talking. Whoops.
"Mmh?"
Longbottom Manor, 12:30
Mummy was looking at him but there wasn't a smile on her face. He tried to copy her which made a smile appear on her face. Yay! Mummy had a nice smile. A really nice smile. It made him feel safe and want to smile lots and lots. So, he did.
But mummy didn't smile for long like she usually did when he smiled. He even upped it to show off the few teeth he had. That normally did it. But not his time. Actually, it somehow made her look even sadder.
"Oh, Neville," she sighed, running a hand through his hair.
Oh, that was a nice feeling. He closed his eyes and leaned into it, giving a happy wiggle. He always wiggled when he was happy.
"It's not fair," mummy was saying.
Whoops, he had been so focused on the rainbow that he hadn't realised that mummy was talking. Neville put on his nest thinking face to show that he was listening.
"No fair?" He echoed.
Had someone taken mummy's toys? It was never fair when someone took your toys. Even if you had to have dinner. Which was silly because Neville knew that he could eat dinner and hold his block at the same time. It was just that no one would let him. Which was unfair.
"That's right, it's not fair."
At least mummy was agreeing with him. Why did things have to be unfair? They weren't nice.
"You should be friends with Harry and Amaryllis and all the others, playing and having fun."
Neville perked up at the word playing. Was he allowed to play now? Could he get his toys?"
"P'ay?" He asked hopefully.
"Yes, you should be playing with friends," she nodded. "Lots of friends."
He frowned in confusion. What were friends? And what was a Harry and an Amaryllis? Was it something he could play with? He would like them of he could play with them.
"P'ay, Hawwy?"
"You want to play with Harry?"
Neville nodded vigorously. He wanted to play with this Harry. It sounded fun. Playing was always fun and with something or someone else It would be even better!
"Oh, you can't play with him just yet, sweet boy."
Neville pouted. "No p'ay?"
"No."
Mummy even shook her head which meant that she was serious. Neville pouted even more. Why couldn't he play with Harry? He was always allowed to play with whatever he wanted so why couldn't he do that now? Mummy and Daddy could make it happen, couldn't they? They could make anything happen. So could those elves that were always around. So surely that meant someone could let him play with Harry? It was that simple, wasn't it?
"Want play!"