Relative Chaos

Disclaimer: Like I said, do I EVER own anything? Gosh darnit.

Author’s Note: I know I’ve been putting off loads of stories. I just started school last week. =] So it’s been busy. I hope you guys understand. And I’ll be updating more from now on. In this chapter, you get a brief meeting of Hermione. Please R&R

Chapter 1: Meeting the Family

             What am I doing? Harry thought to himself as he and Ginny were on their way to his family’s house. He was on his new broom, Ginny with her arms tightly around his waist and her head on his back. They had shrunk all their suitcases and placed them in their pockets.

             The air was brisk as it flew through Harry’s messy hair. He quickly made his way down and saw a rather large pale blue house. On top of the door was a banner saying, 25^th Year of the Potter Cup. Harry cringed and hovered a bit before dismounting. He threw the broom over his shoulder and hoped that Ginny wouldn’t notice the banner. But no avail.

             “What’s the Potter Cup?” she asked dumbfounded. Harry whistled a bit. “Oh it’s nothing,” he said quickly.

             Ginny huffed and pulled her sunglasses on. “You’re so cruel Harry. There’s a huge banner on top of the door.” Harry cringed once again and looked at the banner. He sighed and turned back to Ginny.

             “Every year my family has this kind of tournament every year since I was little and now we always come back to....be in it,” he muttered the explanation, confused at why Ginny’s face lit up when she heard this.

             “Oh Harry! Can’t you understand? This is your year! It’s going to be your year! I mean, you just uncovered the whole mystery thing!” she told him, waving her hand in dismissal. Harry cringed and sighed, running a hand through his hair.

             “Seriously Ginny. It’s not big deal,” he muttered, not wanting her to find out that he had never won ever. Every year it had been either his sister, Elizabeth, or his brother, Gilbert (who had always rubbed it in his face).

             Together, Harry and Ginny walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Harry tapped his foot on the doorstep and looked at the sky. Then he turned to the door which had slowly opened.

             “HARRY!” a feminine voice shouted, throwing her arms around Harry. He stumbled a bit when he saw the flaming red hair of his mother. “Hi...Mum...,” he mumbled against the heap of hair in his mouth. She pulled back.

 

             “Oh darling, you’re skin and bones!” she cried, cupping his face. Lily Potter was about 57 years-old and aging. Her hair was graying and she had a few wrinkles along her cheeks and forehead. She was a slim woman, a little plump.

             “I’m fine mum..Really...,” he gave her a small smile, sighing in relief when she turned to Ginny.

             “And who is this lovely lady? That girl you described in all your letters? She’s so beautiful,” Lily smiled, hugging Ginny. Ginny smiled happily and gladly hugged back.

             “Harry, your mum’s so nice!” she told him, smirking inwardly at the resemblance between her and Lily. She knew that somehow Harry would propose to her on this vacation.

             “Call me Lily, darling,” Lily told Ginny, wagging her finger at her. Ginny laughed softly and nodded in response.

             “Come in, come in!” Lily beckoned, pushing both Harry and Ginny inside the house.

             Harry looked around, knowing that it had not changed one ounce. Every thing was still the same it was when he had moved out. He followed his mother into the kitchen to see his father, James Potter.

             “Well, who’s that little man standing there?! Is that Harry?!” James acted as if he was quite old, holding his hand over his eyes. He was about 58 years-old and stood at 6'1". His jet black hair, which Harry had inherited was lined with a few silver hairs. If he had not had the wrinkles in his face, he would have looked quite youthful. His brown eyes were warm and full of life as they stared at Harry’s green eyes.

             “Come here and give your old man a hug!” James called out, his arms spread. Harry smiled and walked over, hugging his father. It had been a year since he had seen his father and it felt good. He had always looked up to his father. For very obvious reasons.

             “Haven’t changed a bit,” James grinned, smacking Harry on the back. Quickly, he turned to Ginny.

             “Oi, who’s this girl? She’s the spittin image of Lily! ‘Cept for the eyes!” he exclaimed, offering a hand for Ginny to shake.

             She gave him a polite smile and shook his hand in return. “Hello, I’m Ginny Weasley,” she introduced to herself.

             James smirked and swung an arm around Harry’s shoulders. “Fished yourself a good one, aye?” he nudged him in the stomach.

             Harry laughed weakly. “Yeah...”

             “Well come and have a seat! We’re about to have some pie!” Lily smiled, pulling out two seats.

             Ginny frowned. She had been on a diet for the past two weeks and hadn’t had anything but lettuce and wheatgrass. She sighed and shrugged. She wanted to get in on the family, so she had to make some kind of sacrifice.

             She sat down at the table and gave Lily a fake smile as she sliced her a piece of pumpkin pie. She tentatively took a bite and giggled. “Mmm...this is quite lovely.” Lily gave her a quick smile and walked back into the kitchen. 

             “Aye, did Harry ever tell you about the time he ate bad pumpkin pie and had the runs for almost two days?” James laughed, clapping.

             Harry gaped at his father. “Dad! There isn’t any need to even mention that!” he turned to Ginny who was red in the face and patted his hand.

             “Oh Harry...Everyone has their off days...” she tried to comfort, but he just brushed it away.

---

             “Elizabeth!” Harry heard his mother shout from the front entrance. He gave a small smile and got up, walking out of the kitchen.

             Elizabeth Potter was a young woman, although she was older than Harry. She had dyed her hair blonde that went quite nicely with her brown eyes. “Mum...I missed you too,” she mumbled, hugging her mother. She looked over her shoulder and gasped.

             “Is that my little brother? Oh my,” she squeaked, going over to Harry and hugging him tightly.

             Harry gasped for breath and patted her back. “Nice to see you too Beth,” he greeted, using the nickname he had for her when they were little.

             Elizabeth pulled back and pinched his cheeks. “My itty bitty brother is ALL grown up!” she smiled.

             Harry rolled his eyes and saw that Ginny was coughing so that he would introduce her. He sighed. “Beth, this is my girlfriend, Ginny.”

             Elizabeth looked at the young girl and blinked. She looked awfully fake to tell the truth. “Lovely to meet you,” she told her softly and then turned back to Lily.

             “So where’s Gillyweed?” she grinned, remembering Gilbert’s old nickname that he hated. And if by magic, the doorbell rang.

             Lily walked to the front door and opened it. “Gil!” she exclaimed, hugging him. “Where’s Susan? And my sweet grand kids?”

             “Oh, the babysitter is getting them out. She’s Erica,” he smiled, pointing to the car. A teenage girl was in the backseat, unbelting the children from their seats. Susan was on the other side, taking out the other child.

             “Hey Mom!” Susan called, waving at Lily.

             Lily smiled and walked down the path, giving Susan a hug. “Hello dear. Are you doing all right?” she asked, looking at Susan.

             Susan was a brunette haired girl with very grey eyes. She was about 5'5" and held a slim figure for having three kids already.

             “I’m doing fine. The kids have been tiring me out waiting to see grandma and grandpa.” she laughed softly.

             Lily smiled happily and kneeled. She held her arms out and beckoned for the two oldest children to come and hug her. “Aimee, Danny. You’re so big,” she whispered, kissing both their foreheads.

             “Hi grandma. Did you buy us presents?” Danny asked, a stuffed dinosaur in his arm. Susan shushed him.

             Lily chuckled. “It’s all right dear. Of course I bought you presents! What kind of grandma would I be? Now, where is the little darling? Tabitha?” she frowned, looking for the little girl.

             She stood up and saw that the babysitter was holding her. “Oh lemme have her dear. Nothing against you, I just missed her so,” she smiled, taking the girl.

             “Mum, this is Erica. We took her on the trip so she could watch the kids,” Gilbert winked. Lily formed an ‘o’ with her mouth and rocked Tabitha.

             “Erica, would you take Danny and Aimee to their room?” Gilbert turned to the babysitter who nodded and hurried the twins into the house.

             “Now where’s that little baby brother of mine?” Gilbert grabbed the suitcases and walked inside the house.

             Harry, James, Elizabeth, and Ginny were in the kitchen talking when Gilbert had entered, dropping his suitcases at the stairs. He walked into the kitchen. “Hey baby brother,” he called out.

             Harry froze and looked at Gilbert who was standing there. “Gil?” he blinked.

             Gilbert grinned and walked over to Harry, giving him a ruffle of his already messy hair. “Hey bugger. You don’t look any different! And who picked out that shirt? Mum?” he laughed loudly, slapping his leg.

             Ginny coughed and drank tea from her cup. “Actually, I got it for him.”

             He turned to Ginny. “Aye, are you his friend or something?”

             “Actually, I’m his girlfriend,” she threw her nose in the air. Gilbert laughed.

             “Didja charm her or something? You could never get a girl that good lookin! Only kidding,” Gilbert chuckled, slapping Harry on the back, causing him to choke on a piece of biscuit he had been eating.

             “Gilbert, my boy!” James grinned, giving him a manly hug.

             “Hey, pops.” he grinned. “Hey little sister.” he smiled at Beth, hugging her as well.

             “Hey big bro.” she smiled softly.

             “Oh! Before I forget...” Elizabeth walked over to a bag she had brought along with her and pulled out a trophy. Well sort of. It was duck taped with little pins all over it.

             Gilbert rolled his eyes. “There’s no need for that anymore. Look what I got us.” he grinned, taking his wand out. “Accio trophy,” he called, a silver trophy flying to his finger tips.

             “I got a new trophy for us. And look at it here, I got the winner’s name of every tournament engraved. Gilbert, Elizabeth, Gilbert, Elizabeth, Gilbert, Elizabeth, well you get the picture,” he smirked, glancing at Harry.

             Ginny turned to Harry. “You’ve never won?” she asked.

             “No.” was all he could say as he glowered at Gilbert.

---

 

             The next day, Harry and the whole family had decided to go down to the Quidditch shop that Harry’s grandmother owned. They entered the shop, a group of commotion. Luckily it was a Monday and no one really came around that time of day.

             “Is that my family over yonder?” she smiled. She was a short woman who only looked about 70, her hair fully greyed.

             “Hi Grandma Alice,” Harry greeted, hugging her tightly. Out of everyone in the family, she was his favorite.

             “Ah, my grandson. I missed seeing you here,” she winked at him and continued to hug the rest of the family.

             A young girl ran down the stairs of the shop and sighed, running a hand through her hair as she sorted through boxes that had just arrived.

             “Who’s this? I don’t remember another daughter in the family....,” Alice laughed.

             Harry smiled and told her, “This is Ginny, grandma. My..uh-girlfriend,” he said slowly.

             Alice looked her over and sighed, hugging her. “Ello dearie.” Ginny gave a small and brief smile before turning to Harry. “I’m going to go outside. I need more freshening up. I didn’t get enough beauty sleep,” she huffed, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and walked outside.

             He shook his head and walked around the shop, looking at the Snitches that were on display.

             There was a silver Snitch resting on a shelf and he gaped. It was rare to ever find a silver Snitch. He took it off and examined it.

             “Wicked,” he whispered to himself before someone had knocked into him, causing the Snitch to fly around.

             “Oh, I’m really sorry! I was just trying to put away some brooms,” the young girl looked at Harry, who looked back.

             Harry stared at her. She was beautiful. Her straight brown hair rested just below her shoulders, a braid cascading down her face. Her cinnamon colored eyes were warm and felt magnetic against his own emerald green. She had a sweet smile and freckles resting on her button nose. But she seemed so familiar.

             “Oh Harry! I forgot to tell you...” Alice was about to continue when she had seen that Harry and Hermione had bumped into each other.

             “Oh! Harry, Gilbert, Elizabeth...You remember Hermione from when you were all little right? She always came to your tournaments!” Alice nodded.

             Harry’s eyes widened, turning to Hermione. Now he remembered. She was one of his best friends. The first girl he had ever kissed on a broom. She looked different from when she had bushy brown hair and buck teeth.

             “Oh wow...Harry! It’s great to see you,” she smiled, flashing her white teeth. She hugged him tightly and pulled back slightly.

             “What are you doing here? Last time I saw you, you said you were going to be a Healer,” Harry recalled.

             “Oh, I’m still in training. I couldn’t find a place so your grandma let me stay in the apartment above the shop,” she explained.

             “It’s great to see you,” he whispered, looking into her now shining eyes.

             “You too. Sorry...I have to put these brooms away..,” Hermione mumbled, picking up the brooms she had dropped.

             “Hey Hermione! After you’re done with that, why don’t you come out to breakfast with us? You’re after all, part of the family” James had called.

             Hermione turned to them and then glanced at Harry who gave her a smile.

             “I’d love to.”