I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

The Family that Heals

Chapter 7 – A Very Long Time

Ron looked up from the bar and grinned. "Bit early for you two to hit the bar," he said, seeing Harry and Katie stepping out of the public Floo at the Leaky Cauldron. "Why didn't you two use our private one?"

"Didn't feel like walking all the way to your house," Harry said airily, making them laugh knowing full well that they could see each other's homes easily. "That and didn't want to wake Hannah if she was having a lie in with the kids."

"As if they let us have a lie in," Ron chuckled warmly. "What brings you two by?"

"Bit of business in Muggle London," Katie said.

"Best of luck with that," Ron said, nodding. "Stopping by after?"

"We might," Harry said. "Depending."

"On the business, sure," Ron said, completely understanding. "See you two later!"

The couple stepped out of the Cauldron on the London side of the street, easily joining the mid-morning crowd. Both were comfortable in Muggle areas, having regularly gone out with the Grangers and the Bells and Ted and Andromeda Tonks. Dressed in jeans, t-shirts, and jackets against the autumn chill, they walked hand-in-hand and side-by-side. Harry glanced at the map he had drawn up of how to get to Daisy's home and checked the street names as they walked.

As they got close, he felt himself walk a little slower, his breathing coming a little more shallowly. He felt better when Katie squeezed his hand, taking comfort and drawing strength from it. He looked down at her and his wan smile grew more full when she smiled back at him. Though her smile had a hint of steel behind it, of something smoldering just underneath the surface.

"The area looks nice," she said, looking around.

Harry nodded. "Apparently it's a popular borough. Good for families." They continued to walk before he finally stopped and she stopped with him. They looked up at the house at the end of the row. It was well kept, looking neat and clean. The garden out front was small but also in good shape. It seemed like a perfectly normal house in a perfectly normal part of London.

"It's not too late to turn around," Katie said softly. "Or just leave the box at the door with a note." She looked at him. "Or you know, we can huck it at the window."

Harry chuckled softly. "They are enchanted to be very durable."

"Then we can say we were testing that."

"I love you," Harry smiled, hugging her tightly.

"Love you more," she whispered, kissing him.

"Let's get it over with," he sighed, steeling himself. They walked to the door and he rang the bell and waited, his heart thumping.

After a few moments the door opened and a woman stood there, looking at them curiously and with a bit of suspicion. She looked very nice in comfortable clothes, wiping her hands dry on a towel. Her long blonde hair was tied up and her light blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Yes? May I help you?"

"Veronica Dursley?" Harry asked, trying to smile pleasantly.

"Yes," the woman said, looking even more suspicious.

"My name is Harry Potter," Harry said. "This is my wife, Katie Potter."

"Charmed," Katie said, sounding anything but.

Harry winced but pushed on. "I am a professor at the school that your daughter Daisy goes to."

Veronica, who had given Katie a very strange look at her tone, looked back at Harry immediately, her head snapping and eyes widening. "Daisy? You teach at her special school? Is she okay? Is something wrong?" She looked the picture of a worried mother, countenance shifting immediately.

"No, everything's fine," Harry said hurriedly. "She's doing well. Actually, I have something for you, from her." He blinked when she snatched the envelope from him and patted Katie when she scowled at Veronica.

"Oh thank goodness," Veronica gasped, recognizing the handwriting. "Oh I've been so worried and we've missed her terribly and we didn't know if we'd hear from her before Christmas and-oh where are my manners?!" She grabbed Harry's hand with hers and shook it wildly. "I'm so sorry! Yes, I'm Veronica Dursley and it is wonderful to meet the two of you! Won't you come in? You're her professor? Can you tell me more?"

Harry allowed the exuberant handshake to go on for a long moment before gently, and awkwardly, extricating himself from it. "It's quite alright," he said, still slightly thrown by her sudden shift in temperament. At least she seemed genuine in her emotions. She also did not react at all to his name and he shared a glance with Katie who also caught that. "I am a professor for one of her subjects and she's doing well, truly. We can't stay long but there is another reason for the visit."

He handed her the letter box. "This is a relatively new invention, but one being provided to Muggleborn students and families. With this, she can send you a letter and you can send it back. It requires magic, but with her sending you the letter in the first place, you'll be able to send something back without magic of your own. And basically anything you can put within it. Might want to hold off on big packages; that hasn't been tested quite as much yet."

"We can communicate with her?!" Veronica gasped. "We can send letters and things?!"

"You could before, but it's a little different our way," Harry said lightly. "This should make things a little easier.

"Bless you!" Veronica said, hugging the letter box. "Oh this is more than I could ever want and ask for. Thank you so much, we've been so worried." She dabbed at her tears with her towel. "Please, come in. I have so many questions and any time you can spare. We want to ask and learn so much and-" She stopped speaking and turned her head. "Oh! My husband returned. He's going to want to thank you too. Dear! At the front door!"

"Oh uh, we really should be going," Harry began to say and started to leave.

"No please, he should be thankful too," Veronica said, reaching out and grabbing his hand to keep him in place. "It'll only be a moment."

"Let him go-" Katie immediately growled, shocking Veronica who stared at her with huge eyes.

"Who is it?" The voice was deep and seemingly pleasant but Harry suddenly felt rooted to the spot. It had changed in the years since he last heard it, deeper and smoother. It still sounded just like him, however. Harry stared as a large man came to the door. He had a large frame and was relatively in-shape. Blonde hair cut short and blue eyes slightly less watery. He smiled at his wife. "Who is it…"

For the first time in over ten years, Dudley Dursley came face-to-face with Harry Potter.

Dudley's eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped open. "H-H-Harry?" he gasped, voice small and trembling.

"Wait, you know each other?" Veronica asked, looking back and forth between the men.

"Dudley," Harry said in an incredibly small voice.

Dudley gaped and then noticed Katie standing there. He flinched, seeing how she glared at him and her body language screamed latent threat. "Oh, uh, you're his wife."

"Katie," Katie said acidly, pulling Harry away from Veronica. "It's not nice to see you again."

"You've met before?" Veronica asked, looking at everyone and looking terribly lost at the same time.

"Why don't you ask your husband what their relationship is?" Katie asked her coolly.

"Dudley?" Veronica asked, eyes narrowing.

Dudley coughed awkwardly. "Uh, well, we're, kinda…related."

"What do you mean 'kinda related'?!" Veronica asked, voice rising.

"They're cousins," Katie said, continuing to glare at Dudley who was shrinking under the weight of her ire. "His mother is Harry's mother's sister."

"Really? Wait, that means you knew about magic before then!" Veronica said accusingly. "Why haven't you said anything?!"

"Yes, Dudley, why haven't you said anything?" Katie repeated, staring at the man.

"Wait, is this about Daisy? Is she okay?" Dudley asked hurriedly. There was no mistaking the concern in his voice.

Harry blinked at that before clearing his throat. "She's fine," he said in that same terribly quiet voice. "And there is a way for you to exchange letters with her without worrying about owls or anything else."

"He's her professor," Veronica said, looking between them once more.

"You're a professor now?" Dudley asked. "At her school?"

"That's right," Harry said.

"Is she doing okay?" Dudley asked, pleading.

"She is doing fine," Harry said before turning away.

"We're done here," Katie said, after looking at Harry for confirmation. "We came to give you the letter box and deliver her letter, that's it. Have a nice day." She turned to leave, her arm in Harry's.

"What, wait! Why won't you stay?" Veronica asked. "Please, I'm so confused right now."

"You can ask him why," Katie said, giving Dudley a heated look. "Oh and by the way, this was Harry's attempt at meeting you for your daughter's sake. Not for any other reason. Don't think otherwise." Her smile was sharp and all teeth and she walked away with Harry and they both turned the corner and were lost to sight.

"Dudley?" Veronica looked at her husband. "You have a lot to explain."

Dudley groaned.

-0-

They walked in silence. He gripped her hand in his and she squeezed him with all her might and love. His breathing was shallow and ragged but as they got farther away, his breathing slowed and became normal.

"I'm so proud of you," she said softly.

He sighed, a deep and heavy sound that came from his feet all the way up, clawing slowly out of him. "That was hard," he said at last. "I didn't know what I was expecting."

"I was expecting worse," she admitted.

"Me too honestly," he said.

They walked on in silence.

"At least they sound like they care about her," he whispered.

She nodded.

"That's good," he whispered.

She stopped and pulled him to her, hugging him tightly. "I love you more," she whispered into his chest.

He hugged her back with desperate strength. "No you don't," he said into her hair with the smallest smile. They stood that way for some time, ignoring everything else around them.

When he finally let her go, she looked up at him and held his face in her hands. "So, time to get drunk?"

He laughed and she reveled in the sound. "Bit early for that," he said.

She smiled at him lovingly. "Want to eat an entire treacle tart then?"

"That sounds nice," he smiled.

"Let's go find the biggest and best one and you can eat the whole thing," she said, slipping her arm into his again.

"I'd rather share it with you and the others," he said. He leaned against her as they walked. "At least that's over with," he sighed.

"Hopefully for good," she sighed.

-0-

A long shadow fell over Hadley and Dahlia and they looked up at the thrower of said shadow.

Severus Snape looked down at them with what is now a slightly characteristic placid look that was just shy of true pleasantness. "Miss Wood, do you know how to read instructions?" he asked, somehow without sarcasm and vitriol.

"Yes Sir," Hadley said confidently.

"Then may I ask what is the sixth step written on the board?" he asked, still somehow pleasant.

"To mix shrivel fig leaves using a clockwise motion," Hadley read.

"And why are you not doing that?" Snape asked, sounding mildly intrigued.

"Because Mummy and GranCasty taught me that shrivel fig leaves are all twisted one of two ways and clockwise is good for the right twist and counter clockwise is for the left twist," Hadley said confidently.

"And you can tell the difference?"

"Yes." Hadley's face was the picture of someone who found that to be very easy in fact and questioned why people would find such a simple thing so difficult.

Snape looked into their cauldron and stirred it with the ladle. He lifted the ladle into the air and poured some of the potion out, checking the quality and the consistency of the solution that dripped from it. He looked at the cauldrons of Hailey, Alice, Esther, and Serena and their potions were the same as Dahlia and Hadley's.

"In the future, you are to ask me before you modify the instructions," he said calmly.

"Yes Sir," Hadley said with Dahlia and Hailey echoing out of reflex. "Oh, because it might interfere with later steps?"

"Precisely," Snape said, nodding with approval. "Very well, carry on." He left them to inspect the cauldrons of the other students.

"You'd think he'd give you some points," Alice said quietly.

Bethany shook her head. "Him not taking any is him giving some. Mum and Aunt told me stories about him. He would have taken so many points away and lambasted us and given us a lot of homework instead."

"My dad and auntie say the same," Serena said.

"Same with our parents," Hailey said.

"Huh, alright then," Alice said.

"He used to be really mean to Daddy," Dahlia said softly. "Daddy said he didn't like him."

"Why not?" Esther asked.

"That he caused some trouble when he was our age" Dahlia said.

"That's a silly reason," Alice frowned.

"That's why I say Professor Snape is silly," Dahlia smiled. They finished up their work and presented samples of their finished potions. "Goodbye Professor Snape," the three girls chorused together as they left. He waved languidly at them and the other students looked on with frank astonishment at the exchange.

"You know you three are the only ones that get away with that," Bethany said admiringly as they left the classroom together. "When I told Mum, she was shocked. She said any sort of cheek like that before would be harshly punished."

"It's cheek to be polite?" Hailey asked, giggling.

"You can't tell me you're just being polite to be polite," Esther snorted.

"Probably not," Hailey conceded. "Apparently he, Professor Snape, didn't like my daddy or my uncle much. Which hearing what they did in school, I'm not shocked to be honest."

"Oh right, weren't they like the worst pranksters?" Alice asked.

"Depends on what you mean by worst," Hailey sniffed. "They were very good at playing pranks and tricks."

"So they were," Alice grinned.

Hailey smiled, unoffended in the slightest. "Pretty much. Had a reputation."

"No wonder all the other professors were so thankful last year," Serena giggled.

"Which only shows they don't know how many tricks and pranks Hailey does play," Hadley grinned.

"You're just as bad as me!"

"You're the bad influence!"

"Your face!"

" Your face!"

"Dally, they're fighting again," Bethany deadpanned as Hailey and Hadley slapped their hands at each other in dramatic flailing fashion.

"That's the okay kind of fighting," Dahlia smiled as the others laughed. "Besides, just wait for Alex and Abby to come to school, they're the ones that really like playing tricks."

"Ugh," Hailey retched. "Don't remind me."

"Hi Dahlia!" Daisy ran up to Dahlia as she and her friends entered the Great Hall for lunch, clutching something tightly in her hands. She bobbed her head politely to the other girls, smiled nervously at Hailey and Hadly, and turned back to Dahlia, eyes sparkling. "Look! I got a letter from my mum!"

"Oh congrats," Dahlia smiled, happy to see Daisy so happy. "Daddy must have taken the letter box to her."

Daisy nodded, her hair flying. "She said Professor Potter was really nice and she's so happy we can communicate more easily now. She even sent me some of my favorite snacks I've missed." She pressed a bag into Dahlia's hand. "Here, you can have one."

"Thank you! But you don't have to share," Dahlia protested slightly.

"I want to. It's because of you and Professor Potter I can talk to my parents like this. Thank you!" She waved and returned to her friends at the table and Dahlia and the others moved farther down the table to sit.

"Pretty big difference from how she was," Esther said lightly.

"Never thought how hard it was for Muggleborns to talk to their family," Serena said softly. "Guess you take a few things for granted when you grow up with magic and stuff."

"What's wrong with your face?" Hailey asked in a much kinder tone.

"I'm trying very hard to still dislike her," Hadley said very quietly. "And it's really hard when she's like that."

"You still haven't explained why you were so mean to her before," Bethany said.

Dahlia sighed when Hadley and Hailey looked at her, unsure what to say. "She's…she's my cousin," Dahlia said very softly.

"Really?!" the other four girls gasped.

"But her family wasn't so good to Daddy," Dahlia said, unable to keep herself from making a very ugly expression, glaring at her plate.

"Ah, say nothing more," Bethany said. "I'm sorry for that."

"Really, just like that?" Hailey asked.

Bethany nodded. "Old families tend to have branches that feud and say and do terrible things to one another."

"It's true," Serena said, nodding in agreement.

"But since I know Uncle Harry, then I can easily say that the other side is wrong," Bethany said with conviction.

"Yeah, Uncle Harry is the best," Alice and Esther said together.

"No way he was the wrong one," Alice continued.

"We won't tell anyone," Esther said, hugging Dahlia around the shoulders.

"Thanks girls," Dahlia said, smiling.

"So how do you feel about her?" Bethany asked Dahlia.

Dahlia sighed. "I don't know, to be honest. She's actually nice and sweet. She really wants to be friends and cousins. And normally I love having lots of friends and family. It's tough though." The food appeared on the tables, large platters of cottage and shepherd's pie served with salad and rolls. She helped serve everyone some before digging in hungrily.

"Daddy says it's up to me," she said, chewing her lunch. "That I shouldn't hold what her family did to him against her."

"He's so nice," Serena said.

"Too nice," Bethany said without insult or heat. "Not many in Society would say that."

"No they wouldn't," Serena agreed.

"Really?" Esther asked.

Bethany nodded. "Feuds run deep and can go on as family traditions."

"Family tradition to be mad at a part of your family," Alice said, giving her friend a look.

"Well, not an entire family tradition obviously," Bethany said. "But yes."

"Families can be weird," Serena said.

Dahlia nodded. She put the pack of treats into her school bag and continued to eat, feeling a little better as she chatted with her friends.

-0-0-0-

odonnellzoo99 - Second generation of the greatest Chaser trio! Also hope you enjoyed today's very awkward meeting.

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - I was thinking for a while how a Muggleborn family would communicate a bit more easily and then came up with it. Thought it was a really nice and normal yet magical means of communication.

TheSphynx - Hope today's chapter lived up to your expectations.

alix33 - I really liked the idea of them wearing shrunken version of their mothers' jerseys too. Also Sandy and Meggy are part of the junior Pride of Portree.

HoneyBear84 - Thank you.

61394 - 2nd gen Gryffindor and Pride of Portree team. I thought it would be fun to have that reflection. Yup, tense and awkward.