Chapter 2
Anna and Mark's muggle wake was held in their home the next day. Harry and Hermione decided to hold a separate wake for the members of the wizarding community that knew Mark following the muggle one, only to the knowledge of Mike and Paula. Many of their friends and co-workers stopped by to pay their respects.
"It was so sudden, they had no time to miss that eighteen wheeler," said Bill to Anna's boss. "It jumped the median on the M4 and plowed right into them."
"How terrible," said the wife. "And where will the children go?'
"With my sister-in-law and her boyfriend," said Bill. "Anna and Mark had total confidence in them, and saw it in the girls' best interests to go with them because Hermione's boyfriend is also an orphan, and knows what it is like to lose someone. He also inherited a small fortune from his parents, godfather and former headmaster and they will be more than well off for the next several years."
"They make such a wonderful couple," said Anna's boss, who watched as Hermione and Harry sat on a sofa with the Granger's, thanking those that came up to them with their condolences.
Hermione excused herself and walked up the stairs to Mark and Anna's room to gather the girls to come greet the visitors.
"Girls? It's time to come downstairs," said Hermione as she knocked on the door. She poked her head in and saw that the closet door was open, and smiled softly. Emma said that was where she would hide if one of her parents was away for a while on business. She opened the closet door to find all three girls sitting on the floor. Madeline was sucking her thumb, a few tears falling down her face, Emma was crying, and Sarah sat in silence.
"Hey you lot, you need to come downstairs, okay?' asked Hermione as she sat with them.
"It smells like Mummy in here," said Maddie.
"You're right, it does. But you know what? Your mum and dad wouldn't want you to be sad. They would want you to continue on with your lives. You know, Uncle Harry lost his parents too, and he couldn't even talk yet when they died."
"I heard he lived with horrible people," said Emma. "At least from what Dad told me."
"Did your dad ever tell you where his side of the family came from?" asked Hermione.
"No," said Emma.
"Your dad could do magic. He gave it up a long time ago, when he met your mum."
"Yeah right," said Sarah.
"It's true. Okay, what I have said so far and what I am about to say next, may only be spoken of in front of Papa and Nana, Uncle Harry, and myself. You all pinky-swear?"
"We pinky-swear," they all said.
"Okay, let me tell you guys a story."
"Once upon a time, there were four kingdoms: to the north was Gryffindor, to the west was Ravenclaw, to the south was Slytherin and to the east was Hufflepuff. Each kingdom was reigned by a king and a queen. About a year after the arrival of Uncle Harry, a war broke out amongst the kingdoms. There were some Slytherin members who did not like the way the four kingdoms were equally divided. You see, the members of these kingdoms all had magical powers, but the kings and queens decided to let non magical people live in their kingdoms after some had been banished from the non-magical world."
"One of the Slytherin villagers against the merge between magic and non-magic people was named Tom Riddle. He went as bad as people can get, and started burning non-magic villages and killing non-magic folk. The kings and queens of the kingdoms formed a group known as the Order of the Phoenix and rallied against him and his followers. However, two of those members had to go into hiding because Riddle was trying to kill them. Their close friend Wormtail betrayed them and Riddle found out where they were hiding. Riddle tried to kill Uncle Harry but could not and left a scar on his forehead. Riddle disappeared in a final battle between him and Uncle Harry's parents, but sadly, they were killed. Uncle Harry was sent away to live with his horrible relatives even though his godfather Sirius was his guardian. You see, Wormtail and Sirius confronted each other in a duel and Wormtail disappeared after blowing up a street, killing twelve people. Sirius was left with a piece of Wormtail's finger and couldn't prove his innocence, so he was locked away in a prison."
"He didn't even get a trial?" asked Emma.
"No, it was completely wrong. So when Uncle Harry was sent to live with his mum's sister, he was supposed to have learn of the kingdoms. They never told him and he grew up living as normal as you could be. But they treated him horribly because of the fact that he was from a magical world."
"That is so horrible!" said Sarah.
"Let me ask a question. Have any of you guys, ever do something that you couldn't explain?"
"I was running from the school bully once and wished I could get away and somehow ended up in a tree," said Emma. "I couldn't explain how I had gotten up it. I never climbed it."
"Mum and Dad wouldn't let me get a pet rat, and I was so upset and kept thinking about wanting a pet rat at school one day that when I opened my desk, all of these rats came out," said Sarah.
"My hair keeps growing back in after it's cut the day before to it's original length," said Maddie.
"Well, I will tell you want, all of those same things, happened to me and Uncle Harry. We couldn't explain it, and then one day, we received letters. Both of us had never gotten a letter before. Harry's uncle wouldn't allow him to have it but somehow letters kept finding their way to him. He finally got one and was accepted and we began our schooling at Hogwarts, where all of the magical people learn."
"Did non-magical people get in too?" asked Sarah.
"How do you think I got in?" asked Hermione with a smile.
"Anyways, our first year Uncle Harry and our friend Ron battled a troll, and that is how the three of us became best friends. Anyways, that same year, a bad man wanted to get his hands on this special stone, because it would let him live forever. It turns out the bad man was Tom Riddle, the same man who had tried to kill Uncle Harry when he was just a baby. But the body he was in did not belong to him and couldn't stand to be touched. Uncle Harry touched him so much that he turned into ashes and disintegrated, or fell apart."
"Our second year, Prince Harry found a diary, while a monster was let loose on the school, petrifying a bunch of students, including me. Uncle Harry and Ron tried hard to solve the mystery of the diary and monster and when they learned that Ron's sister Ginny had been taken captive into a chamber, they went after her. Uncle Harry went on to the chamber alone and killed the monster, which was a giant snake. It turned out the diary belonged to Riddle. Uncle Harry destroyed it and saved Ginny, and myself and the rest of the petrified victims were returned to their original state by mandrakes."
"What's a mandrake?' asked Emma.
"It's a plant, and it's screams can be deadly. Trust me, never pot one without earmuffs."
"What happened the next year, Aunt Mione?" asked Sarah.
"Well, we returned to school, and Uncle Harry learned that another bad man wanted to kill him. These evil black things called Dementors were sent to guard the school from this man. Uncle Harry later learned that it was his godfather and that his godfather was innocent of killing this man because the man was still alive."
"Sirius and Wormtail!" said Maddie.
"Very good, you're paying attention!" said Hermione. "The real bad person got away and Sirius was sent into hiding because his name was still not cleared. During the summer, we went to a big sporting event with Ron's siblings and dad. Our fourth year, a big game came to the school, uniting Hogwarts with two others. There was a dragon battle, a swim meet in the lake, and a maze. There was a dance on Christmas which we danced with our schoolmates and the other schools. Uncle Harry was put into the tournament as a champion, only to later find out that one of Riddle's followers had kidnapped and disguised himself as their teacher, and put his name in the tournament under a fourth school. One of our good friends died though. It was very sad, the whole school mourned his loss. Riddle made himself come back in his own body, and could now touch Uncle Harry, because he had stolen some of Uncle Harry's blood."
"The next year, Uncle Harry learned of a prophecy that connected him to Riddle. He also learned of this group that his parents had formed."
"The Order of the Phoenix?" asked Emma.
"Wow, you sure are catching on!" said Hermione. "I sense a bit of Ravenclaw blood in you."
"Uncle Harry and the rest of us also dealt with a mean teacher who tried to take over the school, but that's another story. That same year, we learned that Sirius was in trouble so we flew on these magical horses to where he was and entered this mysterious room. We found out that it was a trap and that Riddle and his remaining followers were waiting for him. They fought the evil people and were soon joined by the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius dueled his evil cousin Bellatrix, who had taken to the dark side and joined Riddle. Sirius then died."
"Our sixth year, we came back to a new teacher and a new minister of the kingdoms. We read about a half-blood prince and mourned two more losses in the school: our teacher's pet spider, and our headmaster, who died during a big battle at the school. Before the headmaster died, he told Uncle Harry that he had to go after several items that could help him defeat Riddle. They already had destroyed two of them, a ring, and a diary. The other four things were still out there. The school had threatened to close because of the attack on the school, so Harry returned to his relative's house for one last time and them went back to Ron's house for the summer with him and myself."
"We all managed to find the remaining items and destroyed Riddle at the end of our last term of school. It was on the last night of school that uncle Harry and I decided that we were in love and everything else is current now."
"So you guys can do magic then," said Sarah, still not believing her somewhat.
"Yeah, pretty good, and you guys will too. Your dad was quite a wizard. Now remember, not word to anyone you don't know, and not to Uncle Bill and Aunt Hallie and Aiden and Kaylie. They're not magical."
"But Nana and papa aren't."
"Yes, but they knew about it when I got my letter. Now come on, we have been up here for forty some minutes, I am sure everyone is wondering where we are."