Chapter 7 "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"
It was nearly the beginning of another September and to James Potter this September was more important than all the others. He sat in the garden of his parents' home in Godrics Hollow and pondered over what was going to happen in the next few days. He wasn't really scared about going to school, after all he had been at Thrubwell's for the past six years and he thought he had done rather well. Not as well as his sister Nat, but then Mum was probably cleverer than Dad, so perhaps he should have expected his precocious sister to be the same. He was more worried about the way the students would react to him once they knew he was a Potter.
At Thrubwell's it had made little difference, everyone there was too young to understand what his father and mother had done, but this was Hogwarts, this was where it had all happened, and he didn't want to be singled out as anything special. He had expressed his fears to his mother the other day and she had just told him to be himself, not very helpful advice he thought, how could he be anyone else?
Then sitting under the willow tree that snuggled up close to the bank of the stream which ran through their garden he realised that the advice was better than he had first thought, because he couldn't be anyone else could he, he could only be himself. In order to be someone else he would need advanced magic and the Polyjuice potion and he didn't know how to brew it, so he would make the best of it, which is probably what his mother had in mind all along.
He sensed his sister looking for him, so he threw her a thought. 'In the garden by the stream', and he heard the back door open and the sound of her running across the lawn. She was breathing hard by the time she reached him, Nat never did anything slowly, whether it was running or learning, always flat out.
"What you doing Jim?" she asked, skidding to a halt beside him.
"Oh, just thinking about tomorrow," he answered in a dreamy voice, that drove his sister to distraction, whenever he used it.
But Nat was growing up too and she was well aware that her brother was teasing her, but that didn't stop her from rising to the bait.
"Well, you better stop now because Mum and Dad are coming home,"
James raised a quizzical eyebrow, winding his sister up another notch, "Really what makes you think that?"
"Agh!" she cried out, in frustration at her brother, "the clock, stupid."
"Oh, I see," he regarded her with a completely vapid expression, and then trying to avoid the backlash started to laugh.
"James Potter!" the words exploded from his sister, "if you weren't my brother,
…and… and… I wasn't going to miss you," she spoke quietly now, "I'd be really cross with you…… You will tell me all about it won't you?" James smiled, she was almost pleading.
"Of course, when could I ever keep anything from you." He said, giving her shoulder a brotherly squeeze. He looked up to the house and could see movement inside; it must be his parents, because Dobby's head was always below the level of the window sill. "Mum and Dad are back, let's go in."
They burst into the kitchen in time to catch the end of Harry and Hermione's conversation.
"…you'll be fine," Harry was saying, "you looked after our two OK what's another hundred and twenty."
"Hundred and twenty what Dad?" asked James stopping in the doorway.
His father smiled at the pair of them, "Children, that's what," their confusion was complete now, "Solomon, that's the Headmaster to you now my lad," he said to his son, "has seen fit to relinquish the post of head of Dumbledore House, and give it to your mother."
"Wow," Nat's endorsement was enthusiastic, James looked a little crestfallen.
"Great mum," he said kissing her on the cheek, "s'pose it'll be Hufflepuff for me then." He sighed as if trying to get used to the idea.
His mother held him at arm's length, "What do you mean, James, why Hufflepuff?"
"Well, Dad's head of Gryffindor and now you're head of Dumbledore so they're both out and I'm not clever enough for Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff's the only one left."
Hermione looked at her husband, 'Got an answer for this one Harry?' she thought to him.
Harry grinned, "Look Jim," then he winced at the look Hermione gave him, she always insisted their son's name was James, not Jim. "Err James," he corrected, "the Sorting Hat won't care whose head of what, its what you have up here," he tapped the side of his head, "that counts. If you are destined for Hufflepuff then that is where you will go, and don't be disappointed," he paused, a troubled expression crossing his face, "I've had some very good friends in Hufflepuff." he couldn't but help picture the scene of that cold draughty police garage, the last time he had seen Hannah and Justin. "Hufflepuffs are alright," he continued to James, "so don't worry." Harry glanced at Hermione who gave him a reassuring smile, only too aware of what he was thinking.
Harry and Hermione could easily have taken James directly to Hogwarts but they knew that the best things often happened on the train ride north so it was to Kings Cross that they peragated the following morning. James was only encumbered with his trunk for the trip, and it was one that had made this particular journey before. The surname on the outside was the same but Harry, with a little twiddle of his wand had changed H. J. Potter into J. D. Potter, and now the trunk was James' own. Harry hoped that James' stay at Hogwarts would be less troublesome than his own, but deep down he wanted his son to have just as much fun as he had.
They all passed through the secret entrance to platform 9¾ and there, as it had been for many previous years, the scarlet steam engine was waiting to carry the students north. Harry suddenly had an incredibly intense feeling of dèjá vu, as he took in the scene he replaced himself and Hermione with Mr and Mrs Weasley, Nat became Ginny and James became a small skinny boy with glasses and little to mark him out from his peers but a scar on his forehead. Harry shivered involuntarily.
"OK Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, only a twenty year time slip; Merlin that was spooky," he gave a nervous laugh, and then gathering himself again Harry turned to his son. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," then as his feelings settled he smiled, "and if a bossy know it all girl tries to make small talk…." he glanced into his wife's amazingly brown eyes,… "Hang on to her for all you're worth." The love between them, only ever just under the surface bubbled over, Harry and Hermione slipped their arms around one another, and he kissed her. The embrace lasted all of three seconds before…
"Mum, Dad please….!" James entreated as he backed into the carriage. They parted and looked around to see if anyone had noticed, all seemed clear.
"Have a good trip James, see you at school." his mother said, and then spoilt it all by kissing him on the top of his head. Harry just smiled but Nat started jumping up and down and waving as the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station.
James settled into his seat as the train gathered speed, he felt the tenuous touch of his sister's mind then it was switched off as his father understood what she was doing and put a stop to it. James quite clearly 'heard' his sister being told to leave him alone for the moment and that she would understand when her turn came.
It was odd to be so out of touch with his sibling, in all his life only that first year of Thrubwell's had been similar. Then it was because Nat didn't have the range to reach him, at least until that incident in the woods, and now it was his parent's interference that stopped her incessant chatter. In the quiet of his mind he turned his attention to the other students occupying the remaining seats in the compartment. He recognised some of them from Thrubwell's but none in his year, but then his eyes were drawn to a girl sitting in the corner seat by the window.
It was possibly that she bore some resemblance to Nat that initially caught his eye, but the way she was distancing herself from the rest of the compartment gave her an air of vulnerability, that strangely made him want to protect her. Though, he told himself as he tried to watch her inconspicuously, perhaps it was the way her hair was slowly changing from brown to blonde then slowly back again. Although James had never seen one he had been told about witches like this, he decided that he knew what the girl was, and that was fascinating, he knew that his Mum and Dad had been friends with one such as her a long time ago.
She looked a little younger than he was so she must be another first year, and she appeared both sad and worried. The boy sitting opposite her stood and went off in search of someone or something so James took the initiative and his seat.
"Hi!" he said, 'great opening Potter,' he thought, "you first year too?" he asked. The girl didn't answer at first but stopped studying the floor and looked at him. Her eyes were amazing as they changed from blue to green to brown finally finishing as grey. With her hair now completely blonde, it gave her a rather wild look.
"Yes," the answer was short, sharp, and to the point.
Her gaze began to slip from James' face but before she broke eye contact completely he said, "James…James Potter," and he held out his hand.
The girl stared down at his hand as if it might bite her, but when he didn't falter she slowly responded and she took his in hers. James was aware that the skin of her hand was very cool and soft, and she lifted her eyes to his face again.
"Jennifer," her voice was as soft as her hand, then her hair and eyes went through several rapid colour changes. "Sorry, I don't mean to do this; it's just that I'm …. I'm…" she was too embarrassed to continue.
"A Metamorphmagus," finished James for her, "yes I guessed," then he laughed, the worried expression returned to her face, "I think it's really cool."
Jennifer smiled, "It only gets out of control when I'm scared or really worried. My mum gets ever so cross with me when it happens, and it's been a lot worse since my dad …" her words trailed off and her grip on James' hand tightened. Even though his hand began to throb James did not try to free it, he could see the hurt in Jennifer's eyes which had settled to that wild grey and were looking a little damp. Obviously something awful had happened to her father and not too long ago to judge by her behaviour.
The others in the compartment began to pay attention to the distress of the girl by the window, so James slipped his free hand into his pocket and touched the tip of his wand, "Avocare," he whispered and they instantly lost interest and began talking amongst themselves again.
Jennifer looked in amazement. "How did you do that? I thought you just said you were a first year." James nodded, but before he could say anything in reply, she went on, "Potter? ... James Potter? You don't know Harry Potter do you?"
"Yes," said James, "I do, he's my dad."
"Oh… Oh… my mum and dad told me all about him, not just the stories, I think they knew him when he was young," Jennifer gave him a smile that told him she was really trying to cheer up, "Jennifer," she giggled, "I've already told you that, Jennifer… Jennifer Lupin."
"Pleased to meet you Jennifer," he smiled back then winced, "err… would you mind letting go of my hand, I can't feel my fingers now."
They passed the rest of the journey in quiet conversation using the privacy afforded by the Avocare charm which neatly deflected attention away from them. As Jennifer told her story to him James realised that he knew only too well the connection between his mother and father and Jennifer's parents, he knew exactly who they were.
She was trying to tell him about her father, there was something there that she wanted to say, but couldn't quite bring herself to utter the words in case it fractured the friendship that had only just begun. James knew what it was so he said it for her.
"Your dad was a werewolf wasn't he?"
"Yes, how did you know?" she said with surprise, then as James said nothing she sighed. "Its OK, I understand."
"Understand?" James said raising his eyebrows.
"That you don't want to be friends with me."
"Listen," he said earnestly, "I know exactly who your dad was, he was one of my granddad's best friends, and he was a good friend to my dad as well, I've heard all the stories so many times. I would be very pleased if Remus Lupin's daughter became my friend," he paused unsure if he should ask, "will you tell me what happened?"
So she told him what she knew of her parents' early life together, they moved around a lot, never staying long in any one place. Eventually they moved away out of the country and she was born eleven years ago at the end of August in cottage in a Rumanian forest. Her father, she explained, had some friends amongst the dragon handlers and they were more tolerant of his condition, so amongst these understanding people, there they stayed.
As she grew up her parents taught her all the magic they could but she never received any formal education. Then at the beginning of this year there had been a visitor, Jennifer didn't know who he was, she only saw him through a crack in the door, he was tall with greying hair, and he had a black dog with him. The man and her parents talked for a while then as he left he said the only words she could really hear.
"I know it's early but this is her letter. The place is hers if you want it for her, please think about it. Remus… Tonks, it is her future too." he had growled.
Her parents never mentioned the man's visit and Jennifer, brought up on keeping secrets, didn't ask even though she knew they had been talking about her. Then last Easter her father had one of his most distressing transformations yet. They had been getting worse for him as he got older, the pain of the change was more intense and it was harder each time for him to recover.
"It was horrible," Jennifer said, "after he had changed back he couldn't throw off the miseries, he began to shout about it all being too much to bear any more, Mum was really scared, because Dad looked ill-er than I had ever seen him. Then he rushed out of the house and into the woods, he was shouting out two names over and over, as if he was looking for them." She was crying now remembering the day. "Then it all went quiet and eventually we found him, he was lying on the ground. He had fallen and was lying very still, but he wasn't alone. Sitting by his side was a great grey wolf, it just sat there looking at us, its mouth was open and its tongue was hanging out to one side." Jennifer expression became wistful, holding on to the memories, "it looked as if he was smiling," she added quietly. "Then out of the trees a great, misty, silver stag walked up to the wolf and from the other side a ghostly dog that was large and shaggy trotted up. What was really strange was that you could see right through them, all of them. The animals stared at mum and me for a bit, sort of bowed, then turned and ran off into the woods together and when we got to my Daddy he was gone."
She stopped to reach into her pocket for a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. "The noise had brought out one of the dragon people," she continued, sniffing slightly. "One of my dad's friends; he helped us bring him home. They were all very kind, the dragon people took care of my dad, did you know that out there the ground's too wet for burying, when you're dead the dragons burn you."
James' reaction was instinctive, he reached across with his mind and sent Jennifer the same calming thoughts he had used on his sister when she was hurt or frightened. He could feel her emotions relax and she sighed. "You know, I have never told anyone about that day, I feel much better now I have." She puffed out her cheeks relieving the tension. "Mum and I moved back to London after that, then last month she told me I was going to Hogwarts, and here I am." She glanced out of the window, "and it looks as if we have arrived."
As James climbed down from the train, to hear as hundreds if not thousands of his fellow students had heard before him, Hagrid bellowing…"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"; he decided that like his father before him, that first journey on the Hogwarts Express was a very special one indeed.
Before he left the Great Hall that night James sought out his mother and father, he didn't want to abuse Jennifer's trust but he thought they should know about Remus, if they didn't already.
By the look on their faces they hadn't heard this piece of news, and James was aware that it hurt them deeply. He had one other disturbing question which he wanted to ask his parents; at least it was disturbing to him, and it concerned the sorting, more specifically the Hat itself.
"Does the Sorting Hat ever become confused?" he asked.
"What makes you say that James?" Hermione gave Harry a rather searching look; they both thought they knew what was coming next.
"Well, when I put it on, I heard this voice in my head."
"Most do," Harry assured him.
"Yes, but it sounded as if it knew me."
From the behaviour of his parents James was sure that his mother and father were having a silent mental exchange, from which he was excluded. Finally his mother spoke.
"Really James? What did it say?" Hermione asked.
"Ah, James what shall we do with you now? Umm I know DUMBLEDORE" James quoted, "but then everyone heard that last bit. It was just the way it said it, it sounded as if it had sorted me before."
"I am sure you would have remembered if you'd already been sorted," Hermione dissembled in a falsely cheerful voice, "the Hat is very old and there were a lot of you to sort tonight." She paused then asked, "You sure the first word it said was Ahh?"
"Think so mum, to tell the truth its all getting a bit jumbled now," James replied.
"Well I wouldn't worry about it now. At least you were sorted into the best house," Hermione said, and Harry harrumphed, "you better get along now, the prefects are waiting for you to take you to the tower."
"OK night Mum, Dad," and with that he ran off to the rest of the first year Dumbledores who were indeed waiting for him.
As the group left the hall Harry and Hermione heard the comments of the senior Dumbledore prefect David Frobisher. "Come on Potter, just because your parents are Professors don't think you are going to get any special treatment, but we'll overlook it just for tonight, eh?"
"Thanks…err Frobisher," Harry and Hermione gave each other meaningful looks as they felt their son mentally fish that piece of information from the older boy.
"We're going to have to watch him you know," Harry said, "he could get himself into all sorts of trouble."
"Like father like son," Hermione retorted, "disappointed he's not in Gryffindor?"
"Yes, and no, he's your problem now," then at the disapproving glare he added, "Well at least during school hours."
In another part of the castle Jennifer Lupin stared around at the red and gold hangings in the Gryffindor common room, disappointed that she had been deprived of her new friend so soon she decided that she ought to make the best of it. In easier times her father had described this room to her and the antics that both he and his friends and then Harry Potter and his friends had got up to here. Thinking about all that made her feel sad again, but perhaps she would be able to talk to James tomorrow, and with that thought her mood lightened. She made her way over to the dormitories on the right staircase, and bed.
Natalie Potter was in a bit of a snit, she definitely felt left out, all her family were at Hogwarts and she was stuck at Thrubwell's. Not that she minded staying with her Aunt Ginny, and Uncle Neville, and their daughter Rose was a sweetie, but she was a Potter and she wanted to be with the other Potters. Nat knew there was nothing that could be done about it, so she would just have to grin and bear it; at least she got the chance to see Uncle Ron, when he visited his sister, she liked him. He was funny, in a grown up sort of way… of course, he always had the ability to make Nat laugh. He could tell exactly the same story as her father but all the danger and evil that was so much a part of their telling was mixed with misunderstandings, innocence and silly behaviour that sometimes Nat wondered whether Uncle Ron really understood what they were all going through when they were fighting Voldemort.
Nat loved her Uncle Ron to bits, she had seen him happy like when he and Luna had married, and sad when they had told her parents that Aunt Luna could not have children. She didn't think she was supposed to know that bit, but she had been in bed at home, listening in, practicing her 'fishing' as her brother called it. Perhaps that was why Ron and Luna spent so much time at Thrubwell's, yes there would be many suitable candidates at the orphanage, she would have to keep an eye on that. With all these thoughts to keep her occupied perhaps this last year at Thrubwell's wouldn't seem so bad.
Hogwarts years past as Hogwarts years usually did. James didn't make the Dumbledore Quidditch team much to his mothers delight, she had had quite enough coping with Harry's antics on a broom when they were young, and she wasn't ready to go through all that again. He did do very well in all his classes though; unsurprisingly his best were Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration, with his father and mother teaching those subjects he couldn't afford to be bad at them. Often as not he would pair with Jennifer Lupin in the practical sessions when they were being taught together and this led naturally to them spending quite a bit of study time in the library pouring over their books.
Hermione watched the association with interest.
"Remind you of anything dear?" she whispered to her husband as they searched the library shelves one day. Harry and Hermione were looking for a very obscure paper on the reasons why muggles couldn't do magic. They hoped this one might be reasonably sensible, all the others they had found had finished with comments like "Well they just can't do it, can they."
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Those two over there." Hermione nodded in James and Jennifer's direction, "remind you of anything?"
Harry looked and smiled, "Still a bit young for anything serious, just good friends, don't you think?" he said.
"Yes," Hermione agreed, "but that is how it started for us."
Harry looked again at the two students engrossed in the mutual experience of writing an essay. "No," he said, "as I remember it you were the one who did all the work and there seemed to be an awful lot of bullying involved on your part to get Ron and me to do anything at all. We only worked like that in those last two years, once we had realised our feelings and…Oh… you don't think?"
Hermione laughed and received a rather severe look from Madam Pince who was still in charge of the library and brooked no disturbance from anyone, student or Professor.
"No… of course not," she whispered really quietly, "but you keep an eye on your end and I'll keep an eye on mine."
Harry and Hermione celebrated Christmas that year with their family at Godrics Hollow. Harry magically enlarged the cottage to accommodate all the guests, Hermione's parents, demisted in from Avalon, Ron and Luna apparated from London and brought with them Jennifer and her mother.
Nymphadora Lupin, still called 'Tonks' by everyone, stood uncertainly on the path that led to the front door of the white cottage that Harry and Hermione called home. She hadn't seen any of her old friends, apart from Ron and Luna since Harry and Hermione's wedding some fourteen years before. She and Remus had slipped out of sight that summer and tried to find somewhere to settle but his condition always got in the way. Now she was back and unsure of her welcome. Harry opened the front door and regarded his old friend.
"Wotcher Tonks," he said, she stared at him, her eyes wide with surprise and emotion. "Welcome back."
Then any more words were superfluous as he drew her into a hug that washed away all those years of separation. Jennifer watched her mother with tears in her eyes, which she tried to hide when she saw James squeezing past the adults congregated in the doorway.
"Hi Jenny," James smiled then gazed back over his shoulder ostensibly watching his parents greeting their guests, but allowing Jennifer time to gather herself. "They'll be nattering for ages," he turned back to her, "come on inside and meet Nat, I've told her all about you, I think she's very curious to meet you."
Nat was indeed curious and a little envious of this girl who from the way James told it had spent almost every waking hour with him at school. In the quiet of the room they ended up sharing she questioned her rival and found that the situation was not as bad as she feared, they weren't even in the same house so they only met during lessons and study periods, she hadn't lost James yet. Despite her abilities with magic Nat was still only ten years old and had only a young girl's understanding of relationships, she didn't know that the connection that she and James shared was totally different to any that he might develop with other girls as he grew up.
Spring followed winter and summer followed spring and by the end of his first year at Hogwarts James was glad of the rest that the summer holidays would bring. As usual he and Nat travelled to Avalon to spend some time with their grandparents and this left Harry and Hermione free to have time for themselves and indulge in activities that prolonged bouts of school life precluded.
It had been their routine since the children had been born to have a few days together alone, apart from Dobby to look after them, enjoying the peace and serenity of the Hollow. Their love for each other never weakened, and as the years had progressed it deepened as it matured. Being able to talk to each other with their minds also contributed to an understanding of each other that few couples ever reach. They could put so much into a slight movement of the head or posture of the body, convey volumes of information in a sigh, but eye to eye contact as emerald green gazed into deep brown, that was the best. A whole lifetime of experiences could have passed between then in that single moment and it often did.
The pair spent the rest of the summer visiting and doing a little snooping. Harry was still very concerned over the mystery surrounding the loss of Hannah, Justin and the others, but they had no better luck in finding out what had happened that anyone else. It was only when they visited Ron and Luna that they learned any new information at all. Ron was not at home when they had arrived, as they peragated into the hallway of the apartment where they lived their ears were assaulted by the sound of a baby in full voice. Harry turned slowly to find Hermione with the same expression of surprise on her face as he had, then Luna burst out of the kitchen looking a little harassed and red in the face, with the screaming infant on her hip.
"Hello you two, sorry about the racket," she shouted over the noise, "Wulf here needs his feed, he gets a bit testy if it's late. Come into the front room," she drew her wand, and wiggled it in the direction of the room. Sparks shot from the end of the wand, did a graceful circuit of the hall and entered the doorway, there was a bang and a puff of smoke. "There…I've just made tea." She gave them both a grin then led the way.
Harry could see that Hermione was totally speechless and followed their friend into the room as if she had been partially stunned. Harry tried without much success to stifle the laugh that was threatening to burst out, sometimes he wondered how he would have ever coped with life without Ron and Luna to lighten the proceedings from time to time.
By the time he sat down next to Hermione she had regained some of her composure, and Luna was explaining the presence of the baby whilst spooning food into his mouth. The tea poured itself.
"We've only had Wulfric for two weeks, he was one of Poppy's orphans and he's just starting to settle in. Things have been a little difficult, that's why we didn't spread the news around." she gave them an apologetic smile, "Ron's really good with him but he is very tied up at work these days, but he helps out when he can."
Harry let the conversation which delved into the finer points of looking after babies flow over him. Harry had been a good father, he knew that because Hermione had told him so, and she was always right, but as with most men the lessons learned in bringing up their own children don't last all that long, unless they are reinforced by repeated exposure. He started to drift away on thoughts of his own when a mental 'Harry!' brought him back to the land of the living just in time to hear CRACK as Ron apparated into the hall.
"Wulfric, Ron where did you find that one?" asked Harry later in the evening when peace had descended and Luna and Hermione were otherwise engaged.
"One of Dumbledore's, don't you remember," Ron answered, "we thought Wulfric Weasley had a rather nice ring to it. We stuck an Arthur in between otherwise mum would had given me hell."
Harry laughed, then considering said "Yeah your right Wulf Weasley will sound good when he comes to Hogwarts." Then his smile faded as word association made him think of another wolf that came to Hogwarts.
Ron regarded his oldest friend, though he didn't share Hermione's mental connection with Harry he knew instantly what he was thinking.
"Remus?" he said.
"Umm." Harry nodded.
"Bummer," said Ron, "he was a great guy."
Ron dropped another small bombshell when he informed Harry and Hermione that his father had asked him to take a position as one of his father's W.W's. Not that Ron was any great expert on muggles, far from it, but he thought that the Minister wanted a direct connection to the department and Ron was it. So Harry had broached the subject of Hannah and Justin and it was Ron who gave them the only real piece of information that the department had.
The last place anyone had seen them had been at Justin's parents house. In talking to his mother the ministry agents had discovered that Justin had been trying to reconcile his differences with his father. Finch-Fletchley Snr. had been very upset when at eleven Justin had turned wizard, he had great hopes that his only son would be taking on the family business, but as a wizard Justin had no interests in that direction. His decision had affected his father deeply and like some disease it had eroded any feelings the older man had for his son. He was so bitter he had even sounded off on the subject of witches and wizards and the rest of the magical community, or at least what little he had known about it, to other muggles at parties or luncheon engagements, especially if he had too much to drink. Then to cap it all the Finch-Fletchley's company was snapped up in a hostile take over and suddenly Justin's father was out on his ear. It was only six weeks after this final disaster that Justin had returned home to try to reason with his father, then they had disappeared and…well Harry knew the rest.
Harry and Hermione moved on to visit the Lupins, taking that pathetic crumb of information with them. They found Tonks and her daughter living in a small set of rooms over a shop in Diagon Alley, the accommodation was simple but adequate and provided their old friend the space to readjust into the wizarding world. Jennifer, it appeared, needed no readjustment, she had fitted in just fine exactly as she had at Hogwarts following that first train ride. She was full of questions for her two Professors, both about school work and about their son. Apart from any Defence pointers Jennifer requested, Harry wisely left answers on the other subject to Hermione.
Visiting Tonks gave the Potters a chance to renew their acquaintance with The Leaky Cauldron. Tom the barman was still there, even more bent and wizened than ever, but had passed on most of his duties to his nephew Tom. Old Tom now spent a majority of his time sitting by the fire that constantly blazed in the pub complaining about the type of patron that now frequented the establishment and how it was so much better in the bad old days.
Diagon Alley itself had changed little in living memory and certainly not at all since the day Harry had first seen it in company with Hagrid. Now with Hermione at his side they walked at leisure down its length, mainly window shopping. They made one brief stop at Flourish and Blotts, well brief for Hermione anyway, then continued heading towards Gringotts. Harry suddenly heard someone mention his name with excitement in their voice and not wanting to become involved in any display of fanaticism or otherwise, he steered them quickly into the next shop.
The bell over the door tinkled as they opened it and Harry and Hermione found themselves standing in the quiet and slightly stuffy wand shop of Olivanders.
"Ahh Mr. Potter, I wasn't expecting you here today," said the all too familiar wavering voice of Mr. Olivander, "but welcome never the less, and to you too Mrs. Potter."
Hermione smiled in greeting, Harry was looking out of the window to see if anyone had noticed where they had gone, but no one was watching or waiting outside. A gentle nudge in the ribs brought him back to the shop and the wand maker.
"Err…" muttered Harry stalling for time, "No it's just that we…err wanted to thank you for supplying our children with such good wands," he said lamely giving Hermione a 'well you do better if you can' sort of look.
"Yes…yes…" the old man replied as if Harry's poor excuse for invading his shop had been genuine, "your boy James, isn't it, yes Elder twelve inches… unusual core if I remember correctly, and I always do," he added with a grin, "a feather from a Persian Simurgh; …amazing thing." The old man muttered to himself, congratulating his recall of memory, and then he spoke again. "Your daughter, oh my, that one can search your soul for you, Hazel, Unicorn hair, eleven inches, very tricky." Olivander muttered to himself for a few minutes, until both Harry and Hermione began to wonder if the old chap had finally lost it. Then whatever path his thought processes were following led him to suddenly blurt out. "Umm… but of course that is not what is interesting you is it? I am afraid we never found it."
"Err… never found what?" asked a perplexed Harry, the poor old fellow was certainly rambling.
"You know who's wand," Olivander said in a conspiratorial tone, "yew, phoenix feather…."
"Yes, I know," said Harry a frown on his face, "what do you mean, it was never found?"
"Just that, the grounds were searched, his remains were found, they had been disturbed, and the wand was not there." Olivander shrugged, "the Minister must have thought it unimportant."
Hermione had been listening with increasing concern, "Harry that means that some one is out there with that thing, you don't think that Draco…" her fear was real now.
"No it's been too long," his calmness steadied her, "if he had it we would have heard from him by now, but you're right I don't like the thought of that thing on the loose any more than you do."
"Do you think Arthur knows?" Hermione asked.
From the look of horror on his face Arthur Weasley, when he was told, was as unaware of this piece of information as they had been. Harry and Hermione had tracked him down at the Burrow, and they were discussing Voldemort's wand with him in the kitchen.
"Scrimegour must have hidden the loss of the wand, I had assumed it had been destroyed." he shook his head in disbelief, "He must have known it was taken because even if you had burned it with Voldemort there would have still been some sign." Arthur was becoming increasingly worried. "Can you imagine what that wand could do in the right hands? It will seek out its own, Harry. Remember what Olivander is always saying. 'It's the wand that chooses the wizard.' For it all to happen again, that would be too much to bear."
Despite all their worries and concerns Draco and the wand didn't resurface and nothing untoward occurred. Harry began to feel that maybe they had jumped to too many conclusions, but he wasn't that reassured to let his guard down. He was well aware that it took Voldemort eleven years to regroup and start the battle again, so he was prepared to give Draco at least twice that.
In the mean time life had to continue and at the start of the next school year Natalie Potter took her rightful place at Hogwarts. To Harry's delight she was sorted into Gryffindor, and to Hermione's chagrin she made the Gryffindor Quidditch team at her father's old position of seeker. She excelled at her classes and followed her mother's example and finished top in most of the subjects, but unlike her mother it appeared she could do it with very little effort. For a while it worried her, Nat couldn't understand why things came so easily to her, she sometimes felt she had done all this before, but eventually she accepted it as 'one of those things', and was grateful that she didn't have to struggle. Her first, second and third years passed in a blur, she was totally unaware that soon her life was going to change forever, and the summer when that change was to take place was just around the corner.