A/N: Hi, I know I've been away for a long time, but I've been busy with school exams. However, I was able to write something, and I have to say that as it is, there seems to be something missing from this chapter. The good news though, is that this chapter is somewhat filler for the next chapter, which so far is the penultimate one of this story. It's been a long, twisting ride, I know, but I hope you've all enjoyed it.
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine, wish it was, but it still ain't.
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Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
It took various members of the Wizarding media, curious onlookers and the odd neighbour or two less than three hours to descend upon Northbridge Manor, determined to confirm themselves the truth of the WWN report. It took the Weasleys and the Potters less than that time to flee, first to the Burrow only to discover that they had gathered there as well, and then to number twelve, Grimmauld Place.
They had been waiting for the announcement, preparing for it, but they hadn't for the result, and the speed with which it came.
Harry and Maia were not awoken for the trip, Hermione deciding against it at once for the fact that they had been given Sleeping Draughts and also that they needed the rest. With a pair of stretchers, a Levitating Charm, and a little help from Ron and Mrs Weasley, they were taken to one of the lower floor bedrooms. They didn't intend to stay there for long, but for the night they would share the room.
Once the family was settled though, the others took this as their cue to leave. As much as they would have all liked to stay with Harry and Hermione, and especially take advantage of the opportunity to speak to Harry, they had their own families to attend to. Ron opted to remain; Luna and their children were already accounted for and made for ready help in case Hermione needed it. At that Mrs Weasley wanted to join him, but Hermione firmly and politely refused.
"We're only going to be here tonight, there's food in the kitchen if we need it, running water and clean blankets. We're going to be fine, we just… I think we need to talk, to each other first… and then tomorrow-"
Mrs Weasley waved away her excuse, "I'll check back on you in a few hours, with food and more blankets-behave yourself Ronald Weasley. And you children too, Harry and Maia shouldn't be disturbed."
Rather quickly, a little too quickly, Little Harry and Caspar voiced their concessions. Aimee looked at them suspiciously, and then returned her attentions to Matilda, who lay in her lap staring up at her. None of them, in sharp contrast to their parents, appeared concerned about spending the night in the creepy old house. In fact, with Little Harry at his side Caspar seemed mischievously optimistic.
Mrs Weasley took one last look at them, and then followed her husband and the others out of the house. As soon as they were sure they were gone, Hermione, Luna and Ron took heavy seats on the musty old furniture about the living room. There was nothing left to do now, than wait out the storm.
As they were doing this though, the WWN was issuing an evening report:
"We can now confirm that Harry Potter is alive and was a patient of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries along with one of his twin daughters. The specifics of their injuries are not clear, but reports are that both may have been involved in some sort of fight. Accompanying Mr Potter and his daughter was wife Hermione Granger, and best friend Ronald Weasley.
Our reporters have been attempting to secure an interview with the Potters or Weasleys, but so far none of the families appear to be at home. Also, calls to the Ministry of Magic have gone unanswered, and curiously, Minister's aide Percy Weasley has disappeared. We did discover though, that the Minister himself has been informed of the revelation and may be cutting a trip to France short if it can be conclusively confirmed.
We here at the WWN can confirm this claim for the Minister though, two Healers, including the young Mrs Potter's superior have admitted to treating her husband and daughter. But this certainly has raised a number of questions, such as, how long have Hermione Granger and her family known that Mr Potter is alive? Where has Mr Potter been all this time, what has he been doing and why did he leave in the first place? We can only hope that in the next couple of days we will have answers to those questions."
Somewhere in Wiltshire, Draco Malfoy nearly fell down the stairs at hearing the report on his way up. Pansy Parkinson dropped a delicate glass ornament she had been admiring in an antiques shop in Diagon Alley. Blaise Zabini silenced his daughter, who had been loudly arguing with a house elf over the state of her socks, and turned up the volume. Cho Chang-Corner nearly fainted but could not help the smile that formed the longer the report went on. Dean and Parvati Thomas just looked at each other in complete shock, while Padma silently continued her Wizard's Chess game with their daughter. Professor McGonagall, Hagrid and Lupin forgot they were having tea, and Tonks just coming through the door with son, Connor, remained frozen where she stood; hand on the knob, one foot in. Severus Snape switched off his radio, and in a sharp departure from his usual manner, sank his head into his hands, as if in shame. And while the rest of the Wizarding world continued to register reactions, one riotous meeting in progress fell into complete stunned silence. If their bronze cast statue of the Dark Lord Voldemort, standing tall under a banner of the Dark Mark, fell over then they would not have noticed.
When Mrs Weasley returned as promised hours later, it was to find Harry and daughter awake and sitting with the others while he recounted the past eleven years. She had a copy of the Evening Prophet under her arm, "Almost Too Good to be True: The Boy-Who-Lived… Again!" and the also promised hot supper spread out on the kitchen table below awaiting them. No one noticed her as she came in though, and for quite some time she was able to stand and listen to Harry's tale.
"… Bellatrix nearly got me then. I was being too brazen, I allowed my frustration at being locked out of your lives just get the better of me and I charged headfirst into an ambush. I was lucky-I can't believe I'm saying this-but I was lucky that Snape was there because he pulled me out of it before she got the chance. He should have let me though, because that was the last time we would nearly meet each other, and then she died unpunished the next month. Well, at least according to Malfoy anyway."
"If he had let you she would have killed you," whispered Aimee, eyes wide with fear, voice reproachful.
"I know that, I do, but I wasn't really concerned. I was dead anyway, without all of you," he replied sadly.
Hermione looked on the verge of tears, "Harry…."
"I know, I could've come back, I should've, but what if I had and something happened to you?" he asked.
They had gone over this argument already, hundreds of times in the days since they had first spoken again, but for Ron and Luna, and secretly Mrs Weasley, this was the first they were hearing of his defence firsthand. And, as was expected, Ron looked less than convinced. Where Hermione could be easily won over, Ron could not, he would not, but for the time at least, he said nothing.
It was Hermione who spoke then, and once again repeating the response to his excuse, "I don't care, I do remember a contract that read something along the lines of 'as long as we both shall live'?"
"My life was never supposed to be long, I accepted that the day we first set off to stop Voldemort," he replied, "but for you… you were supposed to have that, a long life in research, house elf rights and a happy marriage with plenty of children."
Maia and Aimee looked up, Aimee asking, confused, "House elf rights?"
"I had one son, was widowed and am still a junior Healer at St Mungo's, my in-laws hate me, for the first time ever I'm not organised, I thought you were dead for the past eleven years… I wouldn't exactly consider that a happy life. My happy life now has these three children, you, me and our nice house in the country where they can play and we can retire quietly," Hermione told him. "Even if Voldemort didn't kill you, he ruined my life… because I lost my heart at sixteen… he ruined my life."
The twins looked at each other and giggled, making her blush deeply and twist her fingers in her lap. Harry felt like blushing too, but instead muttered to his daughters, "What's so funny, if that hadn't happened before you wouldn't be here now."
Actually, no, but Maia wasn't going to correct him, the real reason was gross enough not to be voiced. Now that was the stuff of nightmares, goose pimples and lost appetites.
And then Ron finally spoke up, "I'm sure that's not going to continue now… as soon as we get those reporters off your back, or I'll finish what I started today."
The threat seemed to suck all mirth from the air. There was no humour in it and Ron's expression was decidedly cold.
Harry quickly reassured him, "I intend it to, but when will they leave us? I have so much to answer for."
It was then that Mrs Weasley decided to make her presence known, "They've already begun… (They all turned to her) Bill managed to get a copy of the Evening Prophet. Since the house is empty they've been speculating."
She unfurled the paper in her arms and presented it to them. Harry took one look, his expression clearly pained, and looked away.
The next morning The Quibbler would run the confirmation first, and complete with a large photograph of Harry and his daughters carefully captured at number twelve by Hermione, "Our Vindication: Meet the Man-Who-Lived!"
Within hours the campsite out front of Hermione's mansion was expanded by a literal hundred, international reporters joining the fray. Thankfully, that left Paul Nicolas' mansion clear, and the family relocated. The only others who were informed of this move were the members of the Order they were closest to: Tonks, Lupin, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Mad Eye Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt.
Lupin, Tonks and Professor McGonagall immediately took advantage of this news, and shortly after Harry and family arrived, they did.
In the usual burst of flame, they stepped out of the fireplace dusting off their clothes, looking about the magnificent living room of the Nicolas mansion. Harry had only just gone up with Caspar and the twins, but Hermione was still downstairs and stepped back in as they appeared. Almost at once, Professor McGonagall asked, "Is he here?"
Hermione nodded quietly, almost guiltily.
That was all the answer Lupin needed. With an almost reluctant urgency, he walked past her heading for the stairs. But he would only make it halfway up them before Harry appeared at the top, and then for quite some time the two men stood just staring at each other.
The first to regain his speech though, Lupin asked one question, "Why?"
Harry dropped his head, and replied much like naughty schoolboy finally caught, "I thought I was protecting you."
"You didn't need to," snapped Lupin, sternly. Then he softened his tone, and his demeanour, "I know that you were conditioned into that years ago, but you didn't need to. I know we deserve this for what we did to your family, but Harry, you really didn't need to."
"You all say that, and I know you believe that… but I had to," he replied. "How could I have been sure that nothing would've happened to you? How would I have been able to live with myself if I had stayed and the attacks on you all just continued? I know I was foolish for letting Snape take advantage of me, something was clearly wrong with me for even trusting him after all that he had done but… I couldn't have been sure that he was wrong either, could I?"
Meanwhile, upset at being trumped at the scoop, the editor of the Daily Prophet had a two hour, one-sided shouting match with Luna by Floo. It ended when Ron decided he had had enough and dared to step through the fire to "straighten it out". But when Harry learned of the incident some time after, he immediately Flooed their offices and promised an interview to "explain himself". And when the editor sufficiently recovered from his near-heart attack, the headline of the Evening Prophet for that day read, "Twelve Years of Hell: Harry Potter Speaks Out, Tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow" actually brought Witch Weekly first, determined to trump the Daily Prophet interview no matter that they got it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Their bold headline said it all: "Something Stinks In the House of Potter: Is Harry Potter Really Back?" and the article following went on to properly denounce the claim that Harry was alive. As a matter of fact, it declared the Healer who "outed" him, as a liar and a fraud, and that Hermione and the Weasleys were merely perpetuating the story to generate publicity.
Of course, they were completely ignored.
Both The Quibbler and the Daily Prophet ran interviews with Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys and the Krums, though the last without Hermione's knowledge. Harry did his best at explaining his absence but at the end of both no one could clearly say what that explanation was. He was not in hiding, he was not working for the Ministry, he was not on a "journey of self-discovery" and he was no coward, he just "had other things to do". Needless to say, that wasn't to suffice and by that evening the headline ran, "Ministry of Magic Seek Potter For Questioning: Public Protests Expected!"
No such questioning ever occurred. The Minister returned from his trip to France as scheduled and it was only to announce, "We are, of course, all shocked by this revelation. For the past eleven years we were led to believe that our victory had come at a terrible price, to find now that that was not the case… an early Christmas present, if you wish…. I would still like to speak with Mr Potter, of course, but, as we spend this time with our families, I am sure that he would like to do the same."
On reading this at the table at breakfast, Harry scoffed, "That didn't stop him the last time."
Hermione gave her best sympathetic and encouraging smile, "He doesn't where we are this time."
Friday, the day before Christmas Eve, Hermione decided to take the children out shopping for presents, and to get robes for Ginny's wedding. Despite, and in the face of, everything that had happened in the past few days it was still on, and they had to be properly dressed to attend. As a matter of fact, Ginny was even thinking about drafting the twins into the ceremony. Though she now had a slightly cold and bitter front to Hermione, and would not speak to Harry, to their children she was full of sunshine.
Unfortunately for Hermione though, her shopping trip idea quickly became a disaster.
Diagon Alley at Christmas was a beautiful place. With the snow fall already beginning, the sidewalks, rooftops, window ledges and even the lampposts were coated white. Shop windows were frosted, pedestrians warmly bundled-though in dark clothing-and everywhere they looked there were festively decorated garlands, trees, wreaths and a sprinkling of mistletoe.
On spotting the mistletoe, Maia whispered to her sister, "Eway houldsay aketay omesay orfay Ixuelay; hesay ouldcay utpay tiay otway oodgay seuay." <We should take some for Lixue; she could put it to good use.>
Aimee giggled, and slipped a sprig from a shop window, Hermione pretended not to notice.
It was not long before the first reporter got wind of the excursion though, and as soon as they did they were swamped in the midst of the main street. The cameras were everywhere; the reporters behind them shouted questions, and sometimes the same one, repeatedly. Curious pedestrians, and a number who had intentionally positioned themselves along the main street once word reached them, jostled, stumbled and crashed into them. Ministry Aurors, all of whom seemed to materialise just as quickly as the reporters, did their best to act as buffers, but it was all they could do to stop the three children from being wrestled away. And then, when it seemed it could get no worse, someone shouted, "Death Eater!" creating instant panic.
Hermione was forced to retreat to the safety of the store from which they had just emerged, and from there, Floo them back to Paul Nicolas' mansion. The minute they were all standing in the living room again, Caspar and Aimee burst into tears.
That evening Hermione released a statement on the WWN: "It was Harry, Ron and I who went to war with the Ministry against Voldemort. (The announcer nearly bit his tongue at the name and finally declared "You-Know-Who" instead.) Maia, Aimee and Caspar did not. As a mother, as a parent, I appeal to you, I implore you to leave our children alone. Harry and I are trying to enjoy our first Christmas together as a family again and I know that if you were in our position you would want the same. Please leave our children alone."
Surprisingly, despite all the reporters and onlookers in Diagon Alley the day before, Christmas Eve's headline of the Daily Prophet ran: "Minister for Magic Releases Special Christmas Message Today!" Hermione got her wish.
Christmas and Boxing Day was spent at the Burrow with the Weasleys. With Harry home, nearly all of the Weasley children returned and the house was packed almost beyond capacity, though Percy, regrettably, was still a no-show. But still they hardly noticed, for from the moment the sun rose on Christmas morning to when it was time for bed Boxing night, there was no silence at the Burrow in Ottery St Catchpole.
Just as wonderful as it had been to wake to the sounds of her children playing that first day, it was even more wonderful to be awoken by them Christmas morning. She and Harry were sharing with Ron and Luna, a minor inconvenience of their lack of space. The children barely noticed though, and Maia, Aimee, Caspar and Little Harry, came bounding in as if the door wasn't there, and launched themselves unto the adults.
Harry woke with a start, and nearly tumbled from the bed. Hermione was slower, and from past experience with Caspar, had been slightly expecting it so that she shifted at the last minute.
He immediately groaned into the pillow as he landed, "For once don't move, Mum!"
"Uh… I don't think so, you're not as light as you used to be," Hermione replied, and then drawing him into her arms, smoothed his hair away from his forehead to kiss the bare skin. She came away from the action to find Harry staring at her with barely contained surprise.
"What?" she asked innocently, though already beginning to suspect just what.
"Nothing," he replied, and climbed back unto the bed with a little help from the twins who both promptly kissed his cheeks. A deep red blush rose quickly, and Hermione laughed until she was light-headed, and then flopped back into her pillow slightly embarrassed.
When Harry leaned over to kiss her, there was a collective "Eww!" fuelled in part by Ron and Little Harry, who had somehow managed a quieter form of waking his parents. Harry gave them all a dismissive wave.
Deciding then that they had had enough, Maia and Aimee separated the pair and Maia declared to the room, "Bonjour, Joyeux Noel, where are our presents?"
Hermione, still light-headed, sat up again and stared at the two with an arched eyebrow. But then she and the others noticed that all of the children, including Harry, were looking at them the same, and she asked, "Oh, after all we've been through in the past few months you all still believe you deserve presents?"
There was a unanimous simultaneous nodding, and Hermione scoffed, "All of you?"
Harry nodded even more vigorously than the rest and extended his palms to her, the children taking just a moment to do the same.
Hermione looked to Ron and Luna, and finally, defeated, drew her wand and said, "Accio presents!"
Within seconds most of the floor of the bedroom was carpeted with what looked like hundreds of multi-coloured, oddly shaped and even weirder wrapped boxes. Every child present shouted, "Yes!" and dove off the bed to them, but Hermione held Harry fast and whispered, "Yours isn't in there."
Mischievously, he whined, "But I want one from there!"
"Oh, well, but you can't open it in from of them, I don't think they would appreciate it too much… not to mention, it's not exactly for you…" she whispered, just as mischievously.
He looked at the presents now being violently attacked by the children on the ground, and then back to her smile and after a moment's consideration said, "Well, I'm sure I could wait, we've got nothing else to do today."
As if to prove him wrong, Maia immediately replied, "That's what you think, but we have eleven Christmases to make up for and Aimee and I aren't going to let you get away with it."
"Excuse me, mademoiselle?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.
Maia looked unimpressed, "Eleven Christmases, this was only one… what, you didn't think you were going to get off that easily do you? We already overheard Grandma Weasley talking about it this morning."
"Yeah, and Uncle Fred and Uncle George, so I would be worried if I were you, I think I saw some boxes stamped WWW, and that's never good," added Aimee.
Harry continued to stare at them shocked, and with it, slightly amused. Were they giving him advice about Fred and George Weasley?
But before he could point out this little fact, Aimee whispered with a sympathetic smile, "Don't worry Papa, we'll protect you."
*****
In sharp contrast to the Weasley home at Christmas, the meeting hall on the same day was ominously silent. There was nothing to be, that could be, that needed to be, said. They had all heard the news. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Man-Who-Triumphed, the Chosen One, was still alive, had been alive all this time and was now sitting pretty with his family for Christmas.
To anyone not as vested into this as they were, the only irritation could be that his friends, and dare they think it, the Wizarding world had allowed him to slip back in with them as if nothing had ever happened. Considering what he had been through, what they had been through, maybe there was something to be understood from that. It was enough that he was alive and sod the details.
But not to them, never to them….
Their only comfort these last eleven years had been that Harry had not been there. That Harry had died with their great leader and was not around to be paraded. They even ignored his children altogether just because of it, for to them, the children, like they, had no father and that was enough.
But now… they didn't even consider him a coward for being in hiding all this time. He had told them next to nothing about what he had been doing while he was away and they just let it slide. That sort of thing just couldn't go along unpunished.
Standing tall before them, as yet to fall, Lord Voldemort's benevolent statue held silent court. Since they had all come to the decision, even before they all assembled in the room that Harry was to be punished, they were turning to him for direction. They were trying to think, not as he would, but rather as he would direct. If the Dark Lord stood before them, his unworthy and yet still faithful servants, what would he command? What would he want them to do?
And then finally, it came. As gently as the wind fluttering through the banner above his mute effigy, the decision came to them all.
As punishment for his cowardice, for his rebellion, for his crimes, Harry Potter would pay the ultimate price. At the first opportunity, once he had secured into himself the belief that he was invincible, safe, they would kill his children. And better still, with a little help from a friend; they knew the perfect place to do it.
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