CHAPTER FOUR
IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY
It was a rare moment when Harry was home from work when he wasn't out on assignment. He had long hours in the office with his partner Ernie Macmillan and wasn't usually home until just before she had to go to bed. Lily missed her daddy and when he took her hand to walk her to school instead of her mummy, Lily felt like she was on cloud nine.
"Daddy, I thought you were at work?" She said while she attempted to hold in a happy squeal. "Why are you still home?"
Harry laughed and decided the best way to walk his daughter to school was for him to do all the walking and she to do some shoulder-based riding. "Well, sweets." He said with a smile as she grabbed onto his ears for support. "I asked for a day off today."
"Why?" Lily asked with a giggle, it was rare for her to see the world from this high up and she was looking everywhere and nowhere at once. Every twist and turn caused her father to reach up and keep her steady and it seemed he would invariably hit a tickle spot whenever he did so.
"Well, I missed you and Mummy." He said simply. "And I never get the chance to walk you to school." He added as he hit another one of her tickle spots.
Father and daughter laughed and giggled all the way to Lily's squat, brick school. They were earlier than normal and Harry could see all the children having fun on the playground and school yard. Games he wished he could have played when he was that age, but never did.
"Well, we're here, Lily." He said with a smile as he set her down.
"Yeah, we're here." She said glumly. She really enjoyed coming to school with her daddy.
Harry looked at his watch then into the face of his frowning daughter. He got down on one knee so he could be face-to-face with her. "Would you like me to stay and play before school starts?"
The answer he got was a face of bushy brown hair as Lily squealed and hugged her father happily. "YES! YES!! YES!!!" She said excitedly while she jumped and clapped her hands.
Harry smiled and took her hand. "What do you want to do first?"
Lily looked around the playground and her beaming face fell on the jungle gym. It was a wooden mass of climbing nets, hidey holes, and other sorts of devices created to keep a child busy. "That." She pointed at the wooden structure. "Joshua and his friends don't let me play on it but if you're here, Daddy, I can!"
Harry smiled. "If that's where you want to play, then that's where we'll play." Joshua sounded more and more like Dudley every time he heard one of the boy's exploits. This was the same thing Harry went through, but invariably it led to bruises and scrapes. Luckily for Joshua, Harry hadn't heard of this happening to Lily.
The two of them crossed the schoolyard heading directly for the jungle gym. Lily seemed to be miles ahead of Harry, at least from her perspective, because Harry was letting her win the race again.
"I WIN AGAIN!" Lily shouted emphatically as she touched the wall of the structure. "You really should train harder!" She said with a laugh.
Without waiting, she started climbing the ladder to the top of the attached slide but was stopped at the top.
"What are you doing here?" A small boy's voice said from the roofed top room. "You know that you can't be up here!"
"I can play here if I want to, Andy." Lily retorted.
Harry looked up at the exchange just before he heard his daughter scream. He was at the base of the ladder in an instant and his face was even with the opening Lily was talking into.
"What seems to be the problem here?" He said in a commanding voice that was brought on by the years of his being an Auror. Not to mention that he was worried they were going to push Lily off the ladder.
The three boys on the landing backed away immediately. "N-nothing, s-sir." The one whose voice belonged to Andy stammered.
Harry glared at them suspiciously. "What did they do to make you scream, Lily?" Harry asked as he put a hand on her back to reassure her she wouldn't fall.
"They tried to push me out, Daddy." She said in a shaky voice.
"Do you still want to play here?" He asked her quietly and after a minute of calming down she nodded. "Ok. I'll -"
"What is she doing here?" A rather portly boy interrupted from a connecting tunnel.
Harry looked in the direction of the voice and his eyes widened in shock. It had to be Joshua there was no other ifs ands or buts about it. The boy was the spitting image of Dudley. The blond hair, the over-pink cheeks and even the tone of voice was the same.
Joshua looked at Harry indignantly then back to his friends. "I asked a question."
Andy pointed at Harry and stammered "T-that's her dad."
Joshua looked again and shrugged. "I don't care." He looked down at Harry. "She can't play here." He said matter-of-factly.
"She can't?" Harry asked as he squinted at the boy. "Who's going to stop her?"
Joshua wasn't used to people not doing what he said and Harry's reaction confused him.
"Listen, this thing is big enough for everyone to play on." Harry said evenly. "I'm sure you don't want to get sent home with a note from your teacher."
The three boys that Harry first saw were shaking their heads but Joshua still had his Dudleyesque look of superiority. "My dad would be mad at the teacher, not me." He said simply but understood that he couldn't do anything about it while Harry was here. "Come on, let's go someplace else." He commanded the other three and they went down the slide.
Harry shook his head. Just like Dudley, no doubt about it.
"Thank you, Daddy." Lily said with a hug.
Harry's heart melted. "It's ok, sweets." He said as he looked at his watch. "Come on and play while you can."
With a smile he helped her the rest of the way to the top of the slide and ran around to catch her when she came down the slippery plastic. They laughed and soon found more children joining the fun on the jungle gym.
"They were all afraid of Joshua." Lily commented as Harry watched her twirl around on the tire swing.
Harry nodded. "Well, I can't make him change the way he acts, sweets." But I can talk to the teacher. He added in his thoughts.
The bell rang shortly and Harry decided he'd do just that. He took Lily's hand and walked her to the front of the school. Lily stopped to give him a hug and kiss goodbye and was surprised when he opened the door.
"Are you going to class with me, Daddy?" She asked curiously.
Harry laughed. "No, Lily, I'm just going to talk with your teacher for a minute."
Lily smiled and went ahead of Harry when he didn't move. They walked down the corridors and more than one student or teacher watched as Harry made his way to Lily's classroom.
"This is my teacher, Daddy." Lily said proudly when a short, blonde lady walked up to them.
Harry remembered that she was very happy with Mrs. Grinlow. He smiled and offered his hand. "Hello, Mrs. Grinlow." He said. "We've heard so much about you at home, I'm Harry Potter, Lily's dad."
"Oh, hello, Mr. Potter." She smiled widely as she shook his hand. "Lily is a wonderful little girl, but I'm sure you already know that."
Harry laughed. "She is indeed." He looked at Lily quickly and smiled proudly. "I was wondering if I could have a quick word with you before the class started?"
Lily's teacher smiled briefly. "I have a few moments." She said as she directed him to her office. Harry entered the room and waited for her to enter and sit down before he followed suit.
"I know you're busy with the children." He started. "But I just wanted to let you know what Lily's told me about a certain schoolmate of hers."
Mrs. Grinlow smiled knowingly. "It's about Joshua Dursley, isn't it?"
Harry nodded. "I assume I don't have to tell you about his exploits?"
The teacher shook her head. "There's always one in the bunch." She admitted. "But part of my job is to try and teach them that they should share and care about other people. For the most part, he's excellent in the classroom, it's when he's out of my jurisdiction that there's a problem."
Harry nodded. It figures, the loophole still exists. He thought glumly. "Well, I don't want to keep you from class." He said with a smile. "It was a pleasure meeting you, my daughter speaks very highly of you."
Mrs. Grinlow blushed at the comment. "I love my job and I love the children." She said as she let Harry out of the office. "Oh, Mr. Potter, I don't know if you've been told, but there is an open house next Friday night." She went back to her office and returned with a flyer. "All parents are urged to attend."
Harry took the piece of paper and scanned it quickly. "I'll have to check with my wife." He said after a moment. "But I'm sure she'll want to attend, she's always loved school." He chuckled at his private joke.
After waving goodbye to his daughter, Harry made his way home. It seemed very quiet without his daughter squealing and tugging his ears and he smiled at the recollection. He walked into a dark alley and disapparated.
"HARRY! You scared the life out of me!" Hermione said in a high, voice as she slapped his arm. "I didn't expect you to apparate home!"
Harry laughed as he pulled his wife into his arms. "I couldn't wait to get home." He said with a grin. "You said that you were going to go into the office and take the afternoon off."
Hermione returned the embrace. "I did go into the office. When I asked for a half day off, I changed my mind and asked for the entire day off."
"And lucky for me, they gave it to you!" Harry said excitedly.
Hermione laughed. "I'll have to double my efforts on the research, but it's nice to have some time off. Speaking of time off, how did the walk go?"
Harry pulled his wife to the couch and told her about Joshua and his friends and how they ran the jungle gym at school. "I tried to talk to Mrs. Grinlow about it, but she couldn't do anything when they weren't in class."
Hermione nodded. "That's pretty much what I thought so I never talked to her about it."
"Well, the talk wasn't a loss, I found out that there's going to be an open house next Friday at nineteen and I've confirmed that Joshua is indeed Dudley's son." Harry said with a grimace. "He looked exactly like his father did when we were that age, it was surreal."
Hermione put her arms around her husband and hugged him comfortingly. "That was a long time ago, Harry. You haven't had to deal with those people since you saved them from Voldemort."
Harry nodded. "I know." He said quietly and returned the embrace. "I was hoping that Lily wouldn't have to deal with them either, but in a round-about way, she is. At least she's not going through what I did." He said softly. "I promised myself -"
Hermione put her fingers to his lips. "I know what you promised, Harry, and you're a wonderful father." She said with misty eyes. "Lily and I are the luckiest women on the planet."
Harry blushed. "Well, I try." He said with a soft chuckle and then whatever else was in his mind was blown away by the kiss his wife gave him. It had always been the same since their first kiss, as soon as their lips met all thought washed from his mind and he had a hard time thinking afterwards.
They broke apart breathlessly a few moments later, both of them blushing from their exertion. Something had suddenly occurred to Harry.
"Hey, we're home." He said with a devilish grin.
Hermione looked at him with confusion that quickly turned to understanding. "And Lily's at school." She mirrored his grin.
Without warning, she shot from the couch and ran to the stairs with Harry following closely behind her. They laughed as they ascended the stairs and made their way to the bedroom where they began to undress each other quickly. Within moments, they were in bed enjoying the fact that they could do anything they wanted without an interruption from their curious daughter who always wondered if Daddy was hurting Mummy at night, which he wasn't, of course.
Harry emerged from the bedroom wrapped in a sheet a few hours later in search of food. He snuck to the stairs out of habit when he realized that he didn't need to. With a private laugh, he made his way to the kitchen for some left-over Chinese they had from the previous night.
Hermione joined him a few moments later wearing a bathrobe. "Mmm." She said huskily as she hugged him from behind. "I've missed this."
Harry turned and smiled. "You know something?" He said as his smile turned from one of happiness to one of mischievousness.
"What's that?" She said from his chest.
"We haven't christened the kitchen yet." He announced with a twinkle in his eyes.
Hermione squealed as he lifted her to the counter and kissed her neck.
"Now I know where our daughter gets that." He said with a laugh.
Hermione wrapped her legs around him and pulled him to her with a laugh. "There's too much conversation and not enough actio-"
She was interrupted by her husband's lips and before she knew what was going on, her robe had been brushed aside and there was a sheet on the floor. They didn't know where one of them ended and the other began. They were leaning against each other shortly afterwards reveling in their mingled sweat and the scent that was surrounding them when the doorbell rang.
Harry looked at the clock with shock on his face. "Lily's home!" He said quickly as he reached for the sheet that was still strewn on the kitchen floor. Hermione quickly put the robe back on and got to the floor.
"Stand over there, Harry." She pointed to a spot in the kitchen that wasn't visible from the front door.
Harry grinned roguishly and followed his wife's instructions. "You know, this reminds me of that time when your father almost caught us when I visited before seventh year."
Hermione blushed. "You're lucky he didn't catch you! I would never have had the chance to marry you if he'd killed you on the spot!"
The doorbell rang again and Hermione hurried to the front of the house and attempted to tame her bushy hair. She made sure her bathrobe was properly wrapped around her and opened the door.
"Mummy!" Lily squealed happily and rushed through the door and hugged Hermione around the legs. "Where's Miss Kit?" She added curiously after Hermione thanked the bus driver for walking Lily to the house.
She shut the door and picked up her daughter. "I gave her the day off, honey." She said as she got a kiss from her daughter. "I spent the day with Daddy today."
Lily smiled. "I get to be with you and Daddy all afternoon?" She said with a look of awe.
Hermione laughed and nodded. "That's right!" She said as she put her daughter down. "Now go change into your play clothes and we'll all go and have lunch."
Lily didn't need to be told twice, she ran up the stairs and into her room.
"Harry, we don't have much time." Hermione whispered with a laugh.
Harry also didn't need to be told twice and he quickly and quietly snuck to the bedroom and threw on some clothes. Hermione walked up a few seconds later and did the same.
The three were happily walking down the street towards a local restaurant shortly thereafter. They had a wonderful afternoon just being together as a family. Lily was excited about this morning and how Harry had told off Joshua and his friends and he became somewhat of a hero with her classmates.
"It looks like that saving people thing is still around." He said with a laugh on their way home.
"It's one of the things I love about you." His wife replied as she took his hand.
The rest of the week flew by when they had to return to work. There was a case Harry was working on about a rumored Death Eater sighting in Dublin and Hermione was working late catching up on her research into advanced ritual magic for a new department at the Ministry. Lily was busy with a special project that she was working on for open house but they all found some time in the morning or evening to spend time together.
Hermione is working too hard. Harry thought as he watched his wife get ready the night of the open house. He walked over to her and kissed the back of her neck. "Is everything ok, Love?"
Hermione shivered at his touch and smiled at him through the mirror. "I'm just having an off week, Harry." She said after a moment. "We're going to be late if you don't hurry and get ready." She scolded playfully.
Harry smiled and kissed her again before he finished dressing and soon the three of them were walking to the school. It was a warm spring evening and the air seemed to perk Hermione up so Harry thought it was well worth the extra time it took via this route vs. driving.
They arrived at the school just as the doors were opened to admit the families of the attending children and they followed Lily and her classmates' families to her classroom. There were chairs for all the parents to sit at while the teachers gave demonstrations on the class's current curriculum. They were then asked to wander the room and enjoy the special projects that their children had been working on for them.
There were all manner of macaroni mosaics, finger paintings, and modeled clay somethings or others that couldn't quite be recognized but all received appropriate praise. There was one collage of food labels that stood out to Harry. He looked at the name and gave a derisive snort, it was Joshua's. There was a hand on Harry's shoulder and a proud father spoke up.
"My son did that!" He literally beamed.
"Hello, Dudley." Harry said without turning around.
"What's that? Do I know you?" Dudley said curiously.
Harry turned around slowly and savored every second as he watched his cousin's face go from its piggish pink to a pale, milky white.
"Wh-what are y-you doing here, P-potter?" He stammered with as much courage as he could.
Harry returned the question with a hollow smile. "It's good to see you again, cousin. But I think the reason is rather obvious."
Dudley looked at him blankly.
"Ah, I see that Smeltings hasn't helped you much with deductive reasoning." Harry smiled, this time genuinely.
"There you are, Harry, I've been looking -" Hermione had put her arm around her husband's waist and noticed who he was talking to. "Oh." She said with a mixture of concern and disgust. "Shall I tell Lily you'll be a few minutes?"
Harry shook his head. "No, I'm coming." He replied simply and turned to leave with her. He turned to Dudley. "Dudley, you're a father now. Please don't make the same mistakes that your father did." With that, he turned and joined his wife and daughter.
"That was a rather nice thing to say to that imbecile." Hermione whispered hotly to her husband. "Too nice for him I might add."
"It was, but I don't want to see anyone turn into him, even if the transition has already started." Harry whispered back.
Lily was nervous while she waited for her parents to finish talking. "Daddy, Mummy, are you ready to see what I made for you?" She asked with a trembling voice.
They smiled at her. "Sure, sweets." Harry said with a smile. "We're ready whenever you are."
Lily gulped and reached for the cloth that hid her special project. She pulled at it gently and looked expectantly at her parents' reaction to the now revealed statuette.
They both beamed at her with pride.
"That's lovely, honey." Hermione said as she kissed the top of her daughter's head.
Harry squatted down and hugged her. "That's the best thing anyone has ever made for me!" He said then kissed her cheek.
Lily smiled with pride and began to tell them how she got the idea from Harry's photo album. She thought that the little golden ball that he had in his hands was pretty and it looked like Harry really liked holding it.
"I'm sorry that it isn't golden, Daddy." She said as she bit her lower lip. "The wings are a little uneven too ..."
Harry laughed. "It was made by you, sweets, it's the best snitch I've ever seen!"
Lily blushed with pride and smiled. "I'm glad you like it, Daddy."
He responded with a hug that was quickly turned into a lift as he pulled her from the now upturned table. Lily reached for her rendition of the snitch but she just missed it and it shattered on the floor.
"Sorry, I didn't see where I was going." Joshua said with a smile.
Harry looked at the boy, anger evident on his face and Hermione put a calming hand on his arm. Dudley looked like he was about to wet himself when he realized what all the commotion was about.
"Joshua! Get over here this instant!" He hissed quickly. His face was going whiter than it had before.
What happened next was rather surprising and unexpected. Lily was crying silently on Harry's shoulder and when she heard the bully's name, she looked up and displayed the first bit of anger her parents had ever seen. Her face scrunched up and the look in her eyes would have killed the young boy had they been daggers. But that wasn't the unexpected part. Joshua jumped and suddenly wrapped his hands around his rear and began screaming for his father.
Dudley looked even more ashen when he looked at Harry quickly then to his son. Harry shared a look with Hermione and the two crossed the room to where his cousin was comforting his son.
"How dare-" Dudley started.
"Not here, Dudley. Outside." Harry gave him a look that made his cousin flinch and without another word the two families went into the hall. An average looking woman with long blonde hair joined them and tried to see what was wrong with Joshua.
"Now before you go on and on about me." Harry started. "I'm telling you that I didn't do anything."
"How on Earth can I believe that?! You frea-"
"Don't you dare say that word!" Hermione snapped hotly.
"Dudley, Joshua's got a ..." The woman fainted dead away.
"No, not him." Dudley stooped next to his son and checked. "A pig's tail? YOU GAVE MY SON A PIG'S TAIL?!"
Harry hid his laughter and cleared his throat. "It wasn't me, Dudley." He said as evenly as he could considering the circumstances. "But I can fix it without you having to take him to a private hospital as well."
"You'll do no such thing, Potter!" Dudley said fiercely. "I don't want you or your kind doing anything to my son! I won't let him go through the same humiliation I did!"
"You humiliated?" Harry was on his heels. He looked at the confused little girl he was still holding. "Hermione, could you take Lily back into the classroom please?" He handed his daughter to his wife and waited until the door was closed.
"Now you hold it right there!" Harry said angrily. "I spent SEVENTEEN downtrodden, depressed, and lonely years with you and your parents!"
The woman who fainted had woken at this point and looked in confusion at what she was hearing.
"I was locked in a cupboard and given your filthy rags as clothes! Do you know what that does to someone, Dudley?!" Harry fought hard to keep from yelling. "Your mother turned around towards the end, and she's turned into someone I'm proud to call my Aunt, but your father is still the same!"
"You were dumped on our doorstep because your parents couldn't take the respo-" Dudley stopped himself before he went any further.
"At least you've learned something over the years!" Harry said maliciously. "Now you listen to me! Keep your son away from my daughter, Dudley. I'm not going to let her go through the same abuse that I did. I'm sure your mother would agree that unless you see what's going on your son will end up just like you and your father!"
"What's he talking about, Dudley?" The woman asked quietly after a few moments. When she noticed Harry standing there she stiffened. "W-who is this man?"
Dudley looked quickly at his wife. "This is nothing to concern yourself with, Lisa." He said hotly.
"Dudley, Josh has a pig's tail." She looked faint again. "It is my business!" She said a little more forcefully.
Dudley looked at his wife then back to Harry. When he didn't say anything Harry took the initiative.
"I'm Dudley's cousin, Mrs. Dursley." He cringed at the name subconsciously. "We don't quite have a ... standard past."
"Dudley never said he had a cousin." Lisa said with a smile and she offered her hand which Harry took with a reciprocated smile.
"I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances." Harry said after a moment. He looked her in the eyes curiously. She's awfully nice to have married Dudley.
She looked at her husband.
Dudley blushed but offered no information.
"It's probably best that we don't push the matter." Harry said after a moment. "There's been a lot of bad blood between us."
Lisa smiled and put an arm around her son who had started to throw a fit because he wasn't getting any attention. "Joshua, be still!" She hissed quietly. The boy immediately froze in place.
Harry was shocked to see the effect the woman had on both of Dursley men.
"Now what are we going to do about this pig's tail?" She asked her husband pointedly.
Dudley stammered something about a private hospital in London.
Harry shook his head. "If you give me a second, I can fix that."
Lisa' eyes went wide. "You'd do that?"
Dudley stood between his family and Harry. "There's no way I'm going to let you cast a spell on my son!" He hissed, his confidence somehow returning. "We're going to do this the m-muggle way!"
Lisa looked at her husband seemingly for the first time. "D-did you just say muggle?" She whispered.
Dudley blanched. "It's nothing, Lisa, really."
"Nothing? Our son has a pig's tail and you say it's nothing?!" Dudley blanched again as she went off on him. "Now tell me what you mean about spells and muggles, where did you hear that?"
Harry looked at his cousin and saw the wheels turning in his head. He could only laugh as he remembered the same look his uncle would go through when he debated letting him go somewhere.
"This isn't funny, Harry!" Dudley said at once.
Harry's eyes went wide. Dudley never used his first name. "Sorry, I was remembering something when we were younger."
Dudley went pink again. "Don't ever bring that up!" He looked nervously at his wife.
"I wasn't referring to that one." Harry said with a grin. "But it's obvious that you don't want my help. I had to offer, but you're still the same in that respect."
Lisa looked between the two men and made the decision her husband would not. "Harry, go ahead and do it."
All three of the men looked at her in surprise.
"I d-don't know what you're going to do, but we can't really afford a private hospital." She said and looked to the floor.
Harry put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know how you feel." He said. "Josh, Lisa, please turn around." Harry said quietly.
Lisa did as she was told but Joshua stood defiantly.
"Do as you're told, young man." His mother said forcefully under her breath and the little boy blanched and turned so quickly he nearly fell.
Dudley went red in the face but didn't say anything as Harry pulled out his wand, muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, and returned the wand to its hiding place.
"All done." He said with a smile.
Joshua felt his rear and seemed to do a little dance of joy.
"What do you say?" His mother prompted him.
"Thank you." He mumbled his happiness at not having a pig's tail seemingly forgotten.
"And?" She prompted.
"Um ... Sorry I broke Lily's statue." He added glumly.
Harry smiled at Lisa. I think she might be good for them. He thought.
"Well, I should be getting back to Hermione and our daughter." Harry said after a moment.
Lisa snapped to and smiled at him. "It was nice to finally meet you, Harry." She said as she offered her hand.
Harry took it happily. "It was nice meeting you too, Lisa."
"Dudley, I need to talk with Josh's teacher, could you please take him to the car?" Lisa asked as Harry slipped into the classroom.
He collected his wife and daughter and smiled at the two of them. "Dudley actually has a very nice wife." He said after he'd picked up Lily and hugged her. "And Joshua said that he's sorry for breaking your snitch." He added with a smile.
Lily nodded sadly. "Mummy picked up all the pieces and put them in her purse, Daddy. She said she was going to fix it for me."
Hermione smiled as she took Harry's hand. "I have some practice with that, honey."
Harry laughed as well. "She does, really!"
Lily smiled despite what happened and let out a tired yawn.
"Looks like someone needs to get some sleep." Lisa said quietly as she walked up.
"Hi, Lisa." Harry said with a smile. "Hermione, this is Lisa, Dudley's wife. Lisa, this is -"
"I'd recognize Hermione's hair from anywhere, Harry." Lisa said with a grin.
"What?" He said in surprise.
"Lisa?" Hermione said with a large grin plastered on her face.
Lisa nodded and before Harry knew what was happening the two women embraced like old friends.
"What's going on here?" Harry said in confusion. "You two know each other?"
"Honestly, Harry!" Hermione said with a laugh. "I think you'd remember Lisa Turpin, even after all these years!"
Harry's face went red in an instant. "You were in Ravenclaw, weren't you?"
Lisa nodded. "Though it's Lisa Dursley now." She said proudly. "I didn't know the famous Harry Potter was Dudley's cousin!"
Harry grimaced. "Not many people in our world know that." Harry said honestly. "Why Dudley of all people?" He asked out of the blue.
Lisa went red and Hermione squeezed his arm. "Harry, you don't ask things like that!" She hissed.
Lisa smiled after a moment. "It's ok, Hermione." She looked at Harry. "Dudley isn't anything like his father, Harry. After Vernon died two years ago, Petunia turned him around. It seems he still hates magic but he's not like he was."
Harry looked at her curiously. "I didn't know that Uncle Vernon died. I should go see Aunt Petunia."
"She's doing fine, Harry, but I think she'd like that." Lisa said with a smile. "But seriously, Joshua acts up because his grandfather spoiled him so badly that it's been difficult trying to work it out of him."
Harry nodded. "I hope you succeed. I can tell that you have quite the power over him as it is."
Lisa laughed. "Well, when it comes to the punishment, Dudley usually leaves it to me, he doesn't want to do the same thing that his father did when he was punished, which wasn't often, but it scarred him badly." She looked sad for a moment. "But after I heard what you said, I think Dudley got off with nothing but a slap on the wrist."
"He usually did." Harry said simply. "But when Uncle Vernon lost his temper, it didn't matter who you were."
Lisa nodded. "Well, I should get back to the boys." She said after a moment. "Dudley will wonder what's taking so long." She turned to leave but stopped. "Oh, could you keep my past a secret? He doesn't know and after seeing his reaction tonight, I don't want him to know."
Harry smiled at her. "Your secret is safe with us. I probably won't see him again after tonight anyway. But if I do, there's no reason for me to tell him."
"Thanks, Harry." Lisa said with a slight smile.
"Oh, and it might be a little late, but welcome to the family." Harry said before she could turn back to the door.
Lisa turned and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks." She said after a moment then was gone.
Harry, Hermione, and a now asleep Lily, who was still in Harry's arms, walked slowly back to the house. They had been quietly discussing the events of the evening and had come to one conclusion.
"Well, it looks like we'll be getting a letter from Snape." Harry said with a smile. "Who would have guessed that he would have taken up the deputy headmaster's position when McGonagall took over for Dumbledore?"
Hermione looked at her daughter. "She's going to be excited when she gets her letter." She was beaming. "I remember when I got mine."
"Mine was unforgettable too, I must have gotten over twelve hundred." Harry laughed quietly. "From the first letter up until Hagrid rescued me, my uncle burned them or shredded them."
Hermione put her arm around Harry's waist and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "That's all behind you, Harry."
He smiled and looked up at the stars that were starting to wink into existence in the inky black sky. "I know. That's not my life anymore, you and Lily are."
"There's someone else, Harry." Hermione said with a smile as she beamed at him.
"Who's that?" He asked curiously.
Hermione took his hand and placed it on her stomach.
"You're kidding me?!" Harry said as his jaw hit his chest.
Hermione shook her head as an enormous smile broke across his face.
"What time is it?" Lily said sleepily from Harry's arms. "What's happening?"
"Something wonderful, Lily." Harry said as he took his wife into a hug with his other arm and kissed her passionately.
Lily smiled. She liked seeing Mummy and Daddy happy. Again, feeling left out she hugged them both as best she could and kissed them on the cheek.
Her parents broke apart laughing and Lily looked at them in confusion. "What's so funny?" She asked after a few infectious giggles.
"Lily, how would you like to be a sister?" Hermione asked after they had calmed down.
The ensuing squeal of delight brought everyone back into their fits of laughter and after they returned home, they called everyone to spread the news.
A/N: Ok, I know I said that the story was ended, but I liked the suggestion that Hedwig had. I got inspired to write this last one. Thanks for all the reviews and I'm glad that you all enjoyed it!