A/N: Sorry for such a long wait! My betas really came through for me this time and got their fixes
back to me in record time! :) KUDOS to my beta readers!
Real life has been spanking me pretty hard the past week, I failed a major exam (my fault... really) and I have 3 more
midterms in the span of 2 days! *sigh* I was able to finish off this chapter in some free time and I'm happy to
finally upload it for you all to enjoy. There are questions answered, some raised (maybe heh) and only 1 chapter
left!
I'm sure you've all heard by now (if you've checked out the recommendation thread in the rec-engine or by
reading the reviews)... I will be writing a 'sequel' to this story! Actually, it'll be
more of a prequel detailing nothing but Harry and Hermione from after Tonks's death to when they were married. Or
somewhere around there.
Without further ado (why I was using adieu before, I don't know... call it ignorant Americanism) we're off!
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you," Hermione whimpered as she wrung a cloth in her hands. "I'm so sorry you didn't get to meet your real mum..." she sobbed.
Erin felt her throat constrict as a grief she'd never felt clutched at her. Tears filled her eyes instantly as she looked back towards her father. "Couldn't you have just told me?" she asked with a mournful groan and covered her face with her hands. She felt a soft hand on her shoulder and looked up to her mother's grief stricken face.
"Can you forgive me, Erin?" she asked in a stutter.
"Forgive you?" Erin asked in confusion.
Hermione cringed and nodded in defeat. "I-I understand..." she said sadly and pulled her hand from Erin's shoulder.
Erin, however, would have none of it. She immediately hugged Hermione to her as tightly as she could. "Why do I need to forgive you, Mum?" she asked through a sob, causing Hermione to cry even harder.
"If it weren't for me, your real mum would be here right now..." Hermione wailed miserably.
"You ARE my real mum!" Erin cried in return. She remembered herself and within the span of a heartbeat, pulled Harry into her hug as well. "I'm so sorry, Daddy, I didn't know..."
"Shh, it's ok, Sweets," Harry said hoarsely. "You needed to know, from us, not the Ministry..."
"What does the Ministry have to do with me?" Erin asked in return, still reeling and confused from her father's unique explanation of events.
"When you turn eighteen," Hermione said with a sigh, "you inherit the Tonks estate. You're the only heir."
"What?" Erin asked in bewilderment.
"Before she died, your mum, Tonks, willed everything to you, Sweets," Harry said with a soft smile, though his face looked extraordinarily pained. Erin couldn't help her tears when she saw the pain and grief on his face. "It's about twice as much now than what I inherited from my parents."
"But I don't need money," Erin said sadly, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I-I didn't expect this," she admitted after a moment.
"If you need time, Honey, we understand," Hermione said with a slight smile then hugged her tightly once more. "It was hard when we went through it all the first time, I can only imagine what it was like to relive it."
"It brought back a lot of old memories and feelings," Harry said hoarsely. Hermione released Erin to hug Harry to her and Harry brought his eldest daughter into a group hug once again. "I love you so much, both of you," he whispered as Hermione kissed him on the cheek. "Tonks gave us so much... none of us would be here without her..."
"Daddy, I'm so, so sorry... I could barely handle what you felt when she... she left..." Erin whispered. "I've got so many questions running through my head now and I just don't know where to start!"
"Take your time, Erin," Hermione said after a kiss to her forehead. "There's plenty of time and what we can't answer, Tonks can..."
"What?!" Erin asked with a start.
"I still have her portrait," Harry said with a soft smile. "Your mum and I talk to her every day."
Erin looked between the two, confused by Hermione's soft smile and agreeable nod at Harry's explanation. "But you were terribly in love with her... doesn't it tear you apart to still see her?"
Harry smiled softly and a look crossed his face that Erin had only seen when he looked at her mother. He looked to her and that smile widened. "It did at first but I had to put her portrait into storage so I could concentrate on the two of you and move past my grief," he admitted, "but a few years later, your mum thought it was time to bring her back out." He shook his head before Erin could say a word. "I visited her grave every day, and I still do."
"So do I," Hermione said with a smile. "She and I were friends long before your dad and she got together, and, well, you saw what happened. Without her, you wouldn't have been born or any of your brothers or sisters. In a way, she's in each and every one of you, especially you."
"So she's where my eye color came from," Erin said after a moment.
"And, it seems, your clumsiness as well," Harry said with a slight grin. "You look so much like her it's uncanny, except for the hair; that comes from my mum."
Erin nodded quietly. "Do you mind if I go for a walk in the garden? I need to work this out. Alone... if that's ok?"
"Of course, Honey," Hermione said with another hug. "Whenever you're ready we can answer any questions you have."
Erin hugged her father once again and in a slight daze, walked straight through the kitchen and into the family garden. I wish I knew how he knows what I'm thinking! she grumbled to herself.
As soon as her foot hit the cobblestone path from the back porch, she gasped in recognition. The very same garden that Tonks had started planting in Hogsmeade was staring back at her in all its glory. The rosebushes had grown tremendously over the years and the other flowers had blossomed beautifully. The gardenias, mimosas, every single flower Tonks had planted thrived as if there were no tomorrow.
Hesitantly, Erin walked to her favorite rosebush and plucked one of the flowers from its branch. She inhaled deeply, taking the fragrant sent in through her nose, and smiled at the blossom's sweet, familiar smell. The sent triggered one of her father's memories and tears welled in her eyes as she saw him slip a rose of the very same color behind Tonks' ear.
With a miserable sigh, Erin trudged up the path to a secluded gazebo and sat on one of the pine-slat benches that lined the surrounding railing. The memories played in her head at a dizzying pace while her mind attempted to sort through everything. Erin pressed her palms into her eyes but the sheer amount of information made it difficult to quell the throbbing headache that so often followed a Legilimency experience.
"Why didn't he just tell me?" she grumbled irritatingly as she rested her elbows on her knees, leaned forward and held her face in her hands.
After a time, the images ordered themselves and Erin could easily sort through events as they happened. She'd heard about Ron Weasley here and there, but never in great detail. His name usually brought about a sullen response from anyone she knew and now she finally understood why. Her eyes filled with tears again as the fateful day her mother died rolled across her mind's eye, swiftly followed by the subsequent news of what he'd done to all those other women.
She watched Tonks traipse through her thoughts at every turn and wondered what it would have been like had she not died. Would she have been as loving as her mum? Would she have kept her dad happy? Erin had always thought her Metamorphmagus abilities came from Harry, but it was plain to see that her mother had a hand in that as well.
What happened to Ron? she asked herself as the lost Weasley in question flashed in her mind, causing her to shiver involuntarily. When she tried to recall his trial, she drew a blank. Did her father neglect to tell her because he didn't think it important? Was it too horrific to witness again? Just as quickly as those questions flashed to the forefront of her thoughts, they faded away.
What about Hermione, her mum? Was she being controlled all those years? What did Ron do to her? Why didn't she get help? What happened in the war when her dad was fighting?
Erin growled to herself and kicked at a giggling garden gnome. The spud-headed beast cackled in glee before running out into the garden again, apparently looking for an old boot to crawl into. "Irritating turnip with legs!" she grumbled as it cackled somewhere in the surrounding shrubberies.
"Hey," Hermione said quietly. Erin jumped at her mother's sudden appearance. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you, Honey."
"It's ok, Mum," Erin said with a sigh.
"I brought your favorite," Hermione said as quietly as before. "It's been a few hours and I thought you might be hungry."
"Thanks, Mum," she replied with a sigh, still sorting through each memory in an attempt to analyze each one in turn.
"We're just in the house whenever you're ready," Hermione said with a reassuring smile as she set the plate of baklava on the seat next to her daughter. Erin nodded and looked up just as Hermione turned to leave.
"Mum?"
"Yes," Hermione asked, turning around slowly.
"Could you... stay?" Erin asked hopefully.
"Of course," her mum said with a relieved smile. "Did you want to talk?"
Erin nodded as Hermione sat across from her and helped herself to a piece of Erin's favorite dessert.
"What-what happened to Ron?" she asked hesitantly. "I mean, Dad didn't show me the trial and nobody talks about him and I only knew him from your earlier photos."
Hermione closed her eyes and nodded. "Well, he lasted a while in Azkaban, until a few years ago. Your dad and I saw him for the last time in March, on his birthday actually..."
Hermione stopped at the massive iron gates of the wizarding prison. Harry had been there on countless occasions during the war and afterwards while delivering Death Eaters for their final punishment. She'd never thought that she'd ever step foot in the realm of the Dementors.
Harry supported her with a strong arm around her shoulders and smiled softly at her. "We can leave if you'd like, Love," he said with a comforting squeeze of her shoulders.
"No, I need to do this, Harry," Hermione said with a sigh. "I'm just going to keep dreaming about him breaking out of here and coming after us..."
Harry nodded silently and waited for her to make the first move. Hermione looked to the foreboding castle ahead of them and involuntarily shivered. Though it was well below freezing beyond the wards, the sheer magnitude of the obsidian fortress with its tall, black spires was enough to give anyone pause. She could imagine what this well of dark magic must have been like during the peak of whatever civilization built it and didn't need the deathly cold temperatures behind them to shudder once again.
Of course, she'd read about Azkaban, the ancient fortress from a long forgotten time in human history, though it would be more precisely termed wizarding history. Whoever built the castle wanted its mere visage to cast an imposing shadow on all who witnessed the sleek, glossy, ebon towers. Each and every inch was constructed from the blackest, most pure obsidian that could be found. Deposits of the rare stone must have been in abundance during whatever epoch spawned the vile populace that once lived here.
Theories suggested that Dementors were the long removed ancestors of the black tower's previous inhabitants. Doomed souls who needed to feed on the life force of others to remain in the material realm. Others believed the dark creatures were actually materialized ghosts, specters of those who actually lived on these grounds. Yet others postulated that Dementors were merely wizards who had risen like vampires after receiving that most dreaded kiss.
The literature was out there, but most of it was speculation. Hermione held little hope that she'd find any more information unless some treasure trove still lingered beneath the unfeeling walls of Azkaban and she hoped that she'd never have to lay eyes upon its countenance again.
With a determined glint in her eyes, she took her husband's hand and stepped through the gaping maw of iron that kept the wizarding prison's inmates firmly trapped within its grounds. Almost immediately, the joy in her life slipped away, hearkening back to a time where she'd first experienced the chill presence of Azkaban's dark wardens.
Flashes of a young Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley jumped into her mind as that fateful train ride in third year resurfaced in her thoughts. She gripped her wand tightly and squeezed Harry's hand as tightly as she could, comforted by his presence and protection.
The feeling faded away after the two entered the visitor's section and a tired Remus Lupin smiled brightly at the two of them.
"Remus!" Harry said with a wide smile, happy to see their old family friend, despite the circumstances.
"Oh, it's been ages!" Hermione said happily as she wrapped the aged werewolf in a tight hug. "How are the treatments holding up?"
"It's good to see the both of you," Remus said with a laugh. "I've been lycanthrope free for six months now," he said with a glint of glee in his eyes. "You started the Ministry in the right direction, Hermione, and for the life of me I still don't know how you happened upon your theory!"
"We'll have to talk about it later," Arthur Weasley said from the door. "Molly isn't coming."
Harry nodded and looked to his wife, the smile had fallen from Hermione's face at the realization that their visit was commencing.
"How much longer?" she asked with a trembling voice as Mr. Weasley enveloped her in a fatherly embrace, followed by a similar hug to Harry who returned it without hesitation.
"A few hours at the most," he replied sadly. "I wish it'd never come to this..."
"We all do, Dad," Harry said comfortingly. "I still miss him, the old Ron anyway."
"As you said, Harry," Ginny chimed in as she and her husband, Neville Longbottom, stepped in from the courtyard, "we all do."
"Ginny!" Hermione nearly squealed and wrapped the younger woman in a tight hug. "How are the children?"
"They're looking forward to spending the summer with you," Ginny returned with a smile.
"Everyone's here," Arthur said after hugging his daughter and son-in-law. Neville had been quiet the entire time, smiling his greeting to the others and hugging or shaking hands where appropriate.
"It's good to see you, mate," he said to Harry after everyone started down the hall. "I never thought I'd be here..."
"The first time is the worst," Harry said quietly while Hermione clutched his hand almost painfully. "But I've never had to visit anyone here before."
Neville simply nodded and wrapped his arm around Ginny's shivering shoulders. The trip didn't take them long, surprisingly, and before anyone could take stock of their surroundings, Arthur stopped and turned towards a heavy, iron door. From a hidden pocket within his robes, Mr. Weasley produced an equally heavy key and inserted it into the door's lock. It turned with a miasma of clinking, clunking, and the sickening screech of rusted metal before the door finally swung silently open.
Hermione gasped at the sight of the man who was lying in the bed before them. His once fiery red hair was streaked with grey, the skin on his face no longer taut but as baggy as Dudley's castoffs were on Harry, and his body was so thin, his bones seemed to protrude from his flesh. Ronald Weasley seemed a man twenty times his actual age and nothing like the best friend she and her husband once loved as a brother, and in Hermione's case a lover.
A short, ragged breath escaped his parched lips as he turned his sunken eyes upon the group at the door to his personal hell. A loneliness that Hermione could not fathom was mirrored in his dull eyes and she nearly burst into tears at the sight.
"What's HE doing here?" Ron wheezed in a quiet rage that had all but consumed him since his incarceration so many years ago.
"We've come to see you off," Mr. Weasley said quietly as he stepped closer to his ailing son. "After all this time, do you think-"
"Here to gloat, Potter?" Ron spat before balling into a coughing fit. "Happy to see me in your shadow once again?"
"No, Ron," Harry said quietly as he looked upon his once best friend.
Ron continued to glare at him unflinchingly, challenging Harry to continue to deny his allegations.
"You've caused more pain than any single person I can name, save Voldemort," Ron still flinched at the name of the long exhumed Dark Lord and Harry shook his head as he continued. "I've asked myself why you turned out the way you did, and time after time I've come to one conclusion: if you hadn't gone with me to the Department of Mysteries, all of this could have been stopped, but you were such a good friend that you went anyway... even when I told you to stay back. I know you won't, but I hope that you can forgive me for dragging you along on that night."
Everyone looked at Harry in stunned silence. Hermione's stifled sob was the only sound that anyone made until Ron's hoarse laughter filled the room. Her anguish swiftly turned to anger and the insecurities she'd felt outside washed away in her righteous rage.
"Don't you even dare think you're better than him you worthless piece of Skrewt shit!" she bellowed angrily at the now startled Ron. "For years he's lived in conditions WORSE than this! You have no FUCKING right to look down on Harry!" In her rage, she'd stepped forward, involuntarily shuddering at the leering look he gave her. With an animalistic growl, Hermione curled her hand into a fist and deftly slugged the man she once thought of as her lover squarely in the jaw.
The impact of her punch immediately caused swelling and bruising on his face and he wasn't ready for the second or third blows either. Harry pulled her away from their ex-best friend and held her in a tight hug as she broke down in tears.
Ron stared at her in disbelief in obvious shock that his pet had attacked him so viciously. A dislocated jaw kept him from speaking in more than a mumble and he was too weak to do anything but lie in what the prison thought was a bed.
Harry asked her if she wanted to leave and Hermione gave her answer with a near-imperceptible nod. He turned and looked sadly at Ronald Weasley for the last time. "I forgive you, Ron," he said in a low voice. "I can only hope that wherever you end up after this, you realize what you've done and I can only hope you can forgive me."
With nothing more to say, the two of them quit Ron's cell and hurried from the prison's oppressive atmosphere. Hermione didn't look back, she didn't say another word until they were safely to the apparition point and finally safe at home.
"He died three hours later, still hating Harry and completely alone," Hermione whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes. "After what happened, the others left and didn't look back."
Erin hugged her mother tightly, which Hermione returned with a grateful sigh. "I'm so sorry, Mum," she whispered through her own tears. "I can't believe that Dad forgave him after everything he'd done..."
"Oh, Honey," Hermione said with a sob, "that's what makes your father so special! He doesn't know what hate is, not even for Voldemort or Wormtail! There's no room in his heart for anything but love, and even to this day, he regrets that trip to the Ministry."
"But Ron was worse than either of those two," Erin protested. "I hate him now and I've never met him!"
"There's nothing to be gained with hate, Sweets," Harry said tenderly from the path. "Ron did terrible things, but deep inside he was still the same best friend I remember." He stepped into the gazebo and sat between his wife and daughter, setting a hand on each of their knees. "He was the second friend I ever had, followed closely by your mum, and after everything we'd shared, no matter how angry I was with him, I still loved him as a brother."
Hermione took his hand in hers, squeezed it lovingly and he smiled at her in return.
"I got closure for what he did to me that day," Hermione said with a sad smile. "I'd never known an anger so consuming until he scoffed at your father's attempt at reconciliation."
Erin took Harry's hand as well and nodded somberly. "I guess I feel more pity than I do hate," she admitted softly. "It's hard to believe that he went from being a loyal friend to someone who hated you so much."
"I don't think he really hated me," Harry said after a moment of thought. "I think that deep down-somewhere at the center of his heart-Ron forgave me for putting him through what turned him into what you saw. I like to remember how he used to be when we'd play Quidditch at the Burrow or when we played chess while your mum read... it makes things easier to live with and reminds me that he wasn't always the way he was."
Erin nodded quietly as she absorbed what her father had to say on the matter. "What happened at the trial? I don't remember seeing anything."
"I kept that out," Harry said with a serious look in his eyes. "He was worse when he wasn't weak from malnourishment and the things he'd shouted at the Wizengamot-let me just say that I'm glad your mum wasn't there to witness them."
"They showed up in the Daily Prophet though," Hermione said dryly. "'Third Wheel of the Dream Team Sentenced to Azkaban'... I was so thrilled that Skeeter lost control of her Animagus transformation! I don't think anybody's heard from her since that article."
"There was a warning on that QuickQuotes Quill she was using," Harry said as he shook his head in silent amusement. "The ink was addictive and eventually shorted her ability to transform back into a human."
"Is that the same one who wrote all those nasty articles about you during the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" Erin asked with a slight smile at Harry's nod. "If my Animagus form was a beetle, I'd probably do my best to literally be underfoot and end my misery!"
Harry and Hermione laughed with their daughter, all three of them enjoying being a family once again. Erin looked to her parents and began tugging at her lip, a nervous twitch she'd picked up from Hermione, as she thought about the next question.
"What happened to all that money Ron won?" she asked after a few moments.
"Seeing as he had no heir, it was passed to his family," Harry said with a shrug.
"Papa and Gramma didn't like how he'd gotten it and they split it equally among all the girls he'd attacked," Hermione continued. "By this time, they had more than enough money and they gave a second share to Mr. Lovegood and Padma Patil. The families didn't want it at first, but Papa insisted they take it."
"I assume you turned it down?" Erin asked knowingly, smirking at the slight nod that Hermione gave in reply.
"We had more than enough money, what with the Potter and Black estates," she explained, "so I had Papa give my share to support the freeing of House-Elves."
"And here I thought she'd given up on S.P.E.W. long ago!" Harry said with a laugh, "But never underestimate your mum, we've had free Elves for the past three years because of her." Hermione blushed, but a wide smile spread across her face.
"Dobby seems happy enough," Erin said with a smile. "Are he and Winky stopping by this July?"
"I think so," Harry said with a smile. "Winky still wants to show off Knob, she's almost as bad as your mum was with you!"
"Erin was a beautiful baby!" Hermione returned with a laugh and a playful slap to Harry's knee. Erin smiled lovingly at her parents. How they'd gotten through what they did and still found each other was beyond her.
"Were you always in love with Dad?" Erin asked for what seemed to be the billionth time since she'd started talking and Hermione smiled wanly.
"Well, I was daft at first, but I was still trying to reach out to him," Hermione said with a sigh. "I guess I went with Ron because nobody else wanted me-"
"That you were aware of," Harry interrupted. "The truth is, Sweets, we've loved each other since we were eleven. We never stopped and when the time was right, we took the next step from friends to lovers."
"I was surprised when he kissed me after you were born!" Hermione said with a laugh. "I was too tired to respond properly and when I woke up, I knew it was time... I knew he was really the one. All I needed to see was the two of you asleep in the chair next to my bed."
"It took me a while longer," Harry said with a smile. "I was still dealing with Tonks' passing, but she'd given me her blessing so many times, I can't even remember when I'd moved on."
"What was she like?" Erin asked curiously. "I saw her when she was with you, Dad, but there were a lot of gaps."
"She was one of the happiest people I knew," Harry said with loving smile. "When we first met, she had an energy about her that kept us all in stitches. She'd gotten injured during the fight at the Ministry but pulled through that without any scars. She began to lose her spark after her mother died and then fell into a deep depression after her father died.
"She was the last in her family at that point and we'd been such good friends for so long that we ended up supporting each other," Harry's smile waned a bit as he worked things through in his mind. "She hated her first name, and I don't know how I survived when I proposed to her, and that was just one of her quirks. Pink hair, tattoos, you name it, she was a rebel and then some. She really knew how to throw a party and I remember this one time where an overzealous prank turned everyone's hair blue for a week!" He laughed at the obvious mental image that caused, pulling smiles from Hermione and Erin as well. "But aside from all that, she ranks up there with your mum and grandmum when it comes to loving someone with everything she had," Harry explained with that same look on his face.
"When mum had me, you ended everything. Didn't, um, didn't my other mum cross your mind at all?" Erin asked nervously.
Harry flinched but nodded. "Oh, yes, she did," he said softly. "Your mum was asleep and you were too young to remember, but I really missed her right then. Don't get me wrong, I love your mum very, very much, but I couldn't help thinking what would have happened if Tonks had lived. I still wonder sometimes, but I can't compare your mum to her, it's like comparing apples and oranges." He smiled at his analogy and shook his head. "It was a few months later that I started to move on. In my dreams, Tonks kept pushing me to live my life and not let her hold me back," he said with a slight chuckle. Hermione kissed his cheek lovingly and patted his hand comfortingly while Erin sifted through more of her questions.
"What happened to her ashes? I've never seen her Urn around the house." she asked after a few moments.
"What do you think keeps our garden looking so beautiful?" Hermione asked with a smile. "When we moved into the house, we replanted the garden and spread her ashes over the entire thing..."
"She was proud of what she did out here," Harry said with an expansive wave of his hand. "Everything she planted was done out of love and I thought it would be best to let her continue to keep the garden growing. It was a shock to find the flowers blossoming and the entire place free of snow the winter after the Ash Spreading Ceremony."
"We held it on her birthday-you were just over a year at the time-and everyone was here," Hermione said with a soft smile. "I can still remember Gramma squeezing your father to death in one of her hugs," she said with a laugh, "and it's good to see that she's not changed a bit from when I first met her. But Tonks' urn is still here... your father keeps it in his den. Haven't you wondered why there were lilies in the violently pink vase?"
Erin smiled in recognition. "I'd always thought it was a bit too girlish for Dad's office, let alone the pink walls on either side of his desk," Erin chuckled slightly. "Now I know. Dad, you said that you and Mum visited her grave every day?" Erin asked quizzically. "Did you mean the garden?"
Harry shook his head and smiled. "No, I meant her grave. It's not far from here, actually. If you turn right at the path by the big hill, you'd find another one that went to the graveyard she was cremated in. You've been there a few times, but it was before you were old enough to talk. Your mum and I jog there and back every morning and I still keep the greenhouse charm going, it needs to be recast every thirty days."
"To keep her warm," Erin said softly. "Do-do you love her more than mum?" she asked suddenly, biting her lower lip after the words left her mouth.
Instead of the shock she expected from her parents, they both smiled softly at one another. "Erin, I loved her with all my heart," Harry said gently. "When she passed on, it was devastating... I struggled but with your mum's support, I was able to move on. When you were born and I saw how your mum reacted to you... I knew everything would truly be ok." He thought for a moment before continuing. "Did I love Tonks more than Hermione?" he asked rhetorically and shook his head. "I love them both with all my heart but in different ways. Nobody will ever take her place just as nobody will ever take Hermione's place. The same can be said for you, Colin, Eileen, Andrew, and Catherine.
"That was one of my problems back then," he explained with a wistful smile. "I loved your mum first, but Tonks was the one who returned my feelings... it was a confusing time and I can't say that I regret any minute that I've spent with her, nor do I regret any minute that I've spent with your mum. Can you see what I'm saying?"
"How can you love so many people so much with what you've lived through, Dad?" Erin asked as tears came to her eyes uncontrollably.
He smiled and gathered her in his arms. "There's never too much love to give, Sweets," he explained as Hermione laid a comforting hand on Erin's shoulder.
"See what I mean about your father?" Hermione asked with a loving smile. "After everything he's gone through, he's always given of himself freely... he's even forgiven people that don't deserve it..."
Harry shrugged as they pulled apart. "He might not have deserved it, but I needed to let go and remember him as he was..."
"Harry, you can't keep all that guilt built up inside-"
"I know, Love," Harry said softly. "But I had a hand in things-"
"ERIN!" a girl squealed with high-pitched enthusiasm from the path.
"LEENIE!" Erin squealed in return as her younger sister rushed into the gazebo and nearly crushed her in a vice-like hug.
"When did you get home?! How was Australia?! Are Aunt Ginny and Uncle Neville coming tomorrow?!" Eileen asked excitedly.
Erin laughed, though she was slightly irritated that her conversation with her parents had been interrupted.
"I've been home for a few hours, it was wonderful and all of them are coming," she replied as more hurried footsteps echoed down the path.
"ERIN!" Catherine squeaked in surprise and ran to her older sister. Colin and Andrew rounded the hedge as well and the three of them rushed her with outstretched arms.
"I missed you, Sis," Colin said with the Potter trademark grin. "How's Justin?"
Catherine and Eileen both looked to Erin with star-struck eyes, waiting impatiently for any word on their big sister's romantic boyfriend.
"He was a total creep," Erin said with a wide smile as Andrew hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry, Sissy," Andrew said with a sad look. "You seemed really happy with him."
"He's not important anymore," Erin said as she looked to her parents then her brothers and sisters. "Not important at all..."