The Past Revealed
His dad looked over the list of school supplies that he needed. "Well, I guess a trip to Diagon Alley is in order for the weekend." Ryan beamed. He was so excited to receive his letter of acceptance from Hogwarts. It came earlier today, his mother had handed it to him with a cryptic grin on his face. He didn't know what it was until he turned it over and saw the Hogwarts seal on it. He screamed with joy and delight.
He was going to Hogwarts! He was going to Hogwarts!
Well, of course, he knew he was going to Hogwarts. It was a given but he had been waiting for this moment for eleven years. Years he had spent listening to his parents tell their stories of their childhood, years of listening to his uncles' tales of scholastic debauchery. And now, he would finally experience it on his own. He couldn't wait.
His mother had prepared a special dinner that night, his favorite dish spaghetti and his favorite dessert of chocolate cake. His siblings looked upon him with envy and pride, the first of them to leave home for that coveted school of wizardry.
"Can I see?" Emma asked, curious to see what was on the list. His dad handed her the list as his mother got up from the table to retrieve the cake. "Oh, you are so lucky," his sister grinned. "I can't wait to get my letter." Ryan's attention was drawn away from the table to his mother who had brought the cake out of the fridge and had it set on the island in all is chocolate glory.
"Another year Emma, just wait one more year," his father said indulgently to her.
His mother was cutting the cake up in slices. Ryan picked his own out immediately. She stopped mid-slice and set the knife down and gripped the countertop. Something wasn't right, Ryan thought as he looked at his mother. She had her eyes closed and looked as if she was taking deep breaths to calm herself.
"Dad?" Ryan asked fearfully. His dad looked at him then looked over at his wife. To Ryan's absolute horror, his mother suddenly turned very pale and her legs gave out from under her.
"MUM!" Emma shrieked as Ryan and his dad darted into the kitchen to catch his mother. She had banged her head on the counter on the way down and he could see a thin cut that began to bleed.
"Emma!" he dad yelled back to his daughter. "Go to the floor and get Grandma." Emma nodded and left the table. Michael began to whimper. Toby stared fearfully at his mother. Ethan seemed frozen in terror, glued to his seat.
"Ryan," his father said, catching his attention as he knelt by his mother. "Get a clean, wet wash cloth." He nodded and did as his father told him. As he ran the cloth under the stream of water from the faucet he noticed that his hands were trembling. He dutifully passed the cloth to his father who proceeded to tenderly sponge it over his mother's face.
"Hermione?" his father said softly. "Hermione, darling. Open your eyes."
Elation filled Ryan when he saw his mother's eyes flutter open. "Hello beautiful," his father greeted her. She tried to sit up but his father gently held her down. "Give it a moment," he said.
"What happened?" his mother asked.
"I don't know, you just collapsed," his father replied. His mother touched a hand to her forehead to assess her injury.
"I think we're going to have to take you to St. Mungo's," his father said softly.
"Oh dear! What happened?" Grandma Molly had come into the kitchen.
"She's had a little accident," his father explained, helping his mother to her feet. "I'm going to take her to St. Mungo's to get her taken care of. Would you mind watching the children?"
"Of course not," she replied. Toby hopped out of his chair and clung to his grandmother's leg.
Ryan watched as his mother slowly stood and took a tentative step forward, his father helping her along. She held the washcloth to her bleeding cut. "You children listen to your Grandmother, okay? Mummy and I will be back." The children all nodded solemnly, fear still in their eyes.
"Dad," Ryan called out. "Can I go with you?"
His father looked at him for a moment then smiled. "Of course." Ryan grabbed his cloak and stepped in the floo with his parents.
*
Having three other obnoxious brothers, Ryan was very familiar with the emergency waiting room of St. Mungo's. He took his usual seat as his father checked in his mother. "Who is it this time?" the medinurse at the desk sighed.
"My wife has had an accident," his father was explaining. Ryan sat back and sighed. The last time they were in here was yesterday when he and Ethan got a hold of a bottle of Stickworthy's Ultimate Sticky Glue and used it to fuse Toby's hands to Crookshanks. His mother was furious and his father had grounded them for another two weeks. That was on top of the two weeks he had received when he accidentally turned his sister blue. He had missed a weekend Quidditch game with Caleb and his father. Emma got to go instead. Ugh! She didn't even like Quidditch, or so he liked to tell himself to add to the injustice of it all. Stupid Cornish Pixie look-a-like.
He sat with his father in the waiting room while the medi-wizards checked over his mother. He looked up at his dad. "She'll be okay, right dad?"
His father looked down at him. "Of course she will be."
But he would never forget the look of terror that crossed his father's face when he saw his mother fall like that. It would forever be etched in his mind. His father wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I'm glad you came with me," he said. Ryan gave him a small smile.
"Mr. Potter?" a mediwitch smiled down at them. "You can go in and see your wife now."
His mother was sitting on the exam table. She had a small bandage on her forehead but she smiled brightly when the two of them walked in. "Hey there!" she said as Ryan ran over to her and hugged her.
"How are you feeling?" his father asked, stroking his mother's hair. Ryan still wouldn't let go.
"My head aches a little but I feel fine."
"That's good, Mrs. Potter," the mediwitch said as she perused the chart in her hand. "Your vitals are normal, your bloodwork came back normal. You had a minor cut on your forehead from the fall but other than that, you are healthy and strong." Relief showed on his father's face. "I'm just going to recommend that you take it easy for a few days, get off of your feet. Fainting can happen during pregnancy and-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," his father blurt out. "Pregnancy?"
The mediwitch stared at them. "Yes," she said slowly. "I doubt that the fetuses were harmed but I want you off of your feet-"
"Fetuses?" his mother interrupted.
"Yes," the mediwitch smiled. "You're having twins."
There was a loud thump and he and his mother turned around to see that his father was lying on the floor, having fainted.
"Oh dear," the mediwitch sighed.
~*~
The dormitory door opened and Neville walked down the stairs. He stopped when he saw Hermione on the floor with Ryan perched worriedly over her. "What happened?" he asked as he made his way over to the two of them.
"I told her," Ryan explained. "She fainted."
Neville reached out to him and swiped the glasses off of his face. "What do you think you're doing?!" he hissed, tossing the glasses across the room. Ryan forgot he had them on.
Hermione moaned and stirred. She opened her eyes, blinking rapidly in the light. Ryan's face hovered over hers. "Are you okay?" The words he had last spoken to her crept into her conscious. Oh God. He had Harry's eyes. Blackness threatened to overcome her but Ryan and Neville's voices pulled her back.
She slowly sat up and took a moment to gather her bearings. "Hermione are you okay?" Neville asked. She looked at him then at Ryan.
"He knows," Ryan said.
Hermione blinked at him. "Ryan, you should know better than to tell people your secret. It could have detrimental effects on your future…if you are who you say you are." She couldn't believe she could be thinking that in a time like this. Her supposed son, from the future, was standing there talking to her.
A son whose father was Harry.
Oh, she was going to faint again. Neville and Ryan where talking and she focused on their voices.
"I came to apologize to her," Ryan explained.
"And telling her led to telling her about you?" Neville asked in disbelief.
"I had to tell her why I wasn't attracted to her. It wasn't anything personal."
Hermione groaned. Ugh, she had a crush on her own son. Ryan looked down at her, his face filled with understanding. "Well, I look a lot like my dad. I suppose you couldn't help but feel some sort of attraction."
Hermione blushed. "I'm not…attracted…to Harry." The memory of their near-kiss was burned in her mind and accelerated her heart rate. Neville snorted.
Almost as if summoned by her, the portrait door opened and Harry marched through. He saw Hermione sitting on the stairs with Neville and that jerk Ryan near her. She looked flushed but Harry was more focused on Ryan.
"Some nerve you have talking to her," Harry said angrily as he approached Ryan. Harry had followed Ron out of the common room and down the corridors. He had tried to get Ron to say something to him. Talk to him. Harry wanted to say that what he saw was just an accident but something stopped him from saying those words. Ron wanted to hear it, hear his friend say that it was a fluke that he had nearly kissed their female best friend, one that he, Ron, had a bit of a crush on.
But Harry couldn't say it was an accident. He wouldn't allow those words to form because, honestly, he was anticipating it. He wanted it to happen, he had only brushed her lips with his own but something sparked inside of him, something fierce that wouldn't settle down until he did fully kiss her. It was a taunting need.
But he was torn. He knew how Ron felt about Hermione and it would ruin their friendship. But he didn't want Ron with Hermione, he couldn't want that after he nearly kissed her. The thought of any guy being with Hermione stirred a jealous and wounded hurt within him.
He approached Ryan, the git that caused this mess in the first place. "Harry, no." Hermione said as she stood and moved in front of him. Harry stopped and looked at her in disbelief. "He apologized to me. It was all just one big misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?" Harry said incredulously. "He insults you and makes you cry and it was all a misunderstanding?"
Ryan stepped forward. "Harry, listen, I can explain-"
"Ryan don't." Hermione stopped him be placing a firm but gentle hand on his arm. Insinctively, Ryan obeyed. Harry's eyes fell to their point of contact.
"No need to," Harry said bitterly. "I understand perfectly." He then turned and walked away. Hermione called out to him but he was already out of the room.
She turned to Ryan. "Don't worry. It will all work out." Her voice was laced with uncertainty and worry.
"It'll all work out?" he said incredulously. "You don't understand do you?" Of course she didn't. She didn't have hours to try and get his parents back together. In fact, things were as bad as they could be. Frustrated, he marched upstairs to the dorm.
Neville came up a few moments later. As he opened the door, Ryan could hear the common room filling with voices as the other students returned from dinner. "What happened?" he asked.
Ryan sighed. "They almost kissed. They really did. And then Ron showed up and interrupted them."
"Oh," Neville said. Ryan looked at him. That `Oh' had a more meaningful connotation.
"What?" Ryan asked. Neville blinked at him as if suddenly realizing he may have said more than he should have. "What?" he persisted.
"Well," Neville leaned against the bedpost and eyed the curtains. "I just…How much have your, um, parents told you about their friendship with Ron?"
"Just that they were the best of friends. Nearly inseparable."
"I guess nearly is the key word here," Neville muttered. He looked back at Ryan. "Ron has a bit of a…crush on Hermione."
Ryan stared at Neville then looked away. The memory of the argument between his father and his uncle Ron suddenly made a whole lot of sense. "Oh." He suddenly felt sick inside at this revelation. Neville began to walk away, leaving Ryan to his thoughts and looking back once.
"Ron does find someone in the future, doesn't he?"
Ryan looked up at him then he grinned slowly. "Yeah, he marries aunt Luna."
"Lovegood?" Neville spluttered in surprise. The he looked at Ryan eagerly. "Who do I marry?" he asked with excitement then he shook his head. "No, don't tell me. I have my whole life to find out." He said with a grin then opened the door and left.
Sadness filled Ryan as he stared at the door Neville had just passed through. He remembered the funeral. Aunt Ginny sobbing. The two little girls holding on to their grandfather's hands. He remembered his parent's grief and his father's anguish.
Making up his mind, he reached to his book bag and pulled out a blank piece of parchment and a quill as he began to scratch away.
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