The Party
The day of the party came sooner than Harry would have expected, the hours flying by so quickly once Harry laid his head to his pillow. Sunday with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had been rather boring, a day spent cleaning the house under Aunt Petunia's hawkish stare. Harry only put effort in because he really did not want to lose privileges for monday. Now Monday morning, Harry dressed in his robes and sauntered out the front door, careful to close it quietly so as to not wake the sleeping Dursleys.
Making the short walk to Abbey Road and the Grimores house Harry walked confidently, excitement thrumming in his whole body. This was not only his first party, but his first wizarding party, he hoped it would be as fun as he imagined. Knocking on the door Harry waited just a minute before Griselda opened it smiling at him.
Griselda was dressed in a fine robe of dark red, the edging in an even darker shade, her radiant, white hair glowing with the contrast the robes provided. The robe was cut to reveal her skirt in a similar cloth, it flowed and bowed out in pleats and gathers to showcase the finary. It was without a doubt wealth of another kind, wealth in fabric rather than in jewels or brands as muggle culture favoured.
“Welcome Harry!” She squealed and rushed forward to give him a big hug. “Its nice to see you.. Come in! Come in!” She ushered Harry inside, dragging him by the arm quite forcefully so he nearly tripped.
“Slow down Griselda!” Harry complained, brushing his dress robes to remove the wrinkles and crinkles no doubt formed by his friends pulling. Looking around the house he found it had changed since he had last been there, the organized clutter replaced by showy finery and each and every nook and cranny dusted and wiped, it was quite alien to him. What had been Harry’s hideaway from the putrid picturesque aesthetic of the Dursley household was transformed into something rather uncomfortably close to Harry’s own personal hell.
“We had to clean up ourselves.” Griselda grumbled, looking rather annoyed to admit that the cleaning had been her own labours. “Mama gave our house elves to Hogwarts after father…left and we moved. She didn't see much use in them anymore I suppose, does make for a rotten time when we have to clean though, a house this size is not designed for life without an elf or two even compared to our manor.
“You had a manor once?” Harry was curious to know more about Griselda's life before she stumbled into his. He would unfortunately be disappointed as she declined to answer, shaking her head and pursing her lips.
Griselda then switched topics, deflecting from that which seemed uncomfortable for her to think of. “Well come Harry, come see, the parties in the back! There's some people mama wants you to meet.” Tugging on Harry’s sleeve to urge him on, she then turned and started towards the back of the house, towards the garden.
It was much larger than Harry would have thought, much like the rest of the house, the garden was clearly enhanced with magic. Several times the size of his relatives own in number 4 Privet Drive it was beautiful and lush, filled with greenery, flowers and sparkling torches suspended in the light breeze. Considering how bleak and dead things were in muggle little whinging Harry had no doubt this was magic at work, what else could be so utterly perfect.
Running into Mrs. Grimore, Harry was startled out of his thoughts as the comely witch smiled down at him, he had grown a bit since their first meeting, but the woman still towered over his 9 year old frame.
“Hello Harry dear, your timing could not have been better. I have someone I would like you to meet.” Motioning to a rather isolated outclove of the garden with a swish of her arm Mrs. Grimore smiled at Harry again. “I think you’ll find this is one person who has much to offer you my dear. It was no small feat tracking him down, but it's bound to be quite the reunion.”
Furrowing his brow in confusion Harry nonetheless followed Mrs. Grimore to the sheltered sitting area where a rather shabby rough looking man sat. Looking incredibly out of place and uncomfortable on that account he seemed a rather odd addition to the scene in Harry’s opinion. Upon Harry’s arrival the man looked up, his look of contemplative discomfort replaced by one of shock and happiness. The man smiled sadly, “Hello Harry.”
“H-hello?” Harry responded unsure, who was this man, and how did he know Harry?
It was Mrs. Grimore who answered his unspoken questions however, “this harry, is Remus Lupin, one of your godfathers. He's a friend of your parents.”
“Oh..” Harry uttered stupidly, struck dumb by the unexpected reveal of this information. Regaining his composure Harry’s mind began to wirr, thoughts coming to the surface quickly fighting to be freed. “Why am I only meeting him now?” Where have you been?” “What? One Of my godfathers…wheres the other?”
“I know you will have many questions Harry, come sit please, ill try to answer them to the best of my abilities.” The man's voice was smooth with a slight underlying sadness that told of tragedy. “I'm sorry Harry, you are only meeting me now because I was never able to apply for your guardianship.”
“Why?” Harry demanded.
“It's not so simple Harry, you see I am a werewolf…”
“And?” Harry was confused and angry, so what if he was a werewolf! Anything would be better than the Dursleys, especially anyone magical in nature.
“As a werewolf, I was forbidden from becoming guardian to any magical children. The magical community as a whole is not so welcoming to my kind, dangerous creatures…I’ve been away in the muggle world, working and trying to carve out a living. It's not easy in the muggle world either, try explaining that you have unexplained absences for several days around the full moon of each month when you cannot show what sort of sickness it is.
“Oh…” Harry responded, utterly silenced for though by what information he had just heard, he had read a slight bit about werewolves in Driscoll's Compendium of the Dark, but that had hardly prepared him for meeting a real life werewolf. The man was clearly no monster so the books for sure had been utter lies.
“And Harry, as for why I am the only godfather here, well, its a long story.” \
“We have time…”
“I think it would be best to say that, you will never… I mean never, be meeting your other godfather.”
“Is he dead?” The hope had faded from Harry, replaced by a sadness at being told this. All he ever wanted was a family, one that truly cared.
“Something like that.” Remus swallowed uncomfortably before switching the topic. “See harry, I went to school with your mum and dad, Lily and James… Would you like to hear about them?
Harry of course said yes, heart full of hope, here was finally a man who had not only known of them but directly knew them. Had been friends with them, had laughed, cried and studied with them. What a great present this was, he would have to thank Mrs. Grimore. Settling into the sag of the wicker chair Harry reclined and trained his eyes and ears to the man across from him eager to hear more about his parents.
“Now, it would have been the beginning of our hogwarts year, 1971…”