Chapter twelve
Chapter twelve
A week later, Harry arrived at Hogwarts, he had come straight from work so he was still in his auror robes. Filch was waiting at the gate.
‘Mr. Filch.’
‘Auror Potter, Madam Pomfrey is waiting in the hospital for you.’
‘Thanks, you don’t need to escort me, I think I remember the way,’ Harry grinned leaving the grumpy old caretaker to huff.
Harry stepped into the hospital to see Poppy Pomfrey and Minerva McGonagall, ‘Why did I know you would be here Professor?’
‘I am curious to see if something shows up in your blood.’
‘Let’s hope that way it can be tested. Will you want blood while I’m a dragon as well Madam Pomfrey?’
‘I believe it would be wise to check that against your human blood.’
Harry pointed his wand at his finger and allowed his blood to flow into the vial, ‘Um, I need to undress or my clothes gets ruined, I’ve lost so many changing into my dragon.’
Poppy flicked her wands and curtains appeared around the Harry Potter bed making Harry laugh. He nodded then stepped behind the curtains. He removed his clothes then began the change, he quickly moved around the curtains as his body changed from a human to a dragon.
‘Oh my, I am glad that you know who we are while you are in that form.’
Harry let out a loud roar before he bit his tail, his blood dripped into a bowl then he allowed Poppy to heal it before he began to transform back. By the time he became human he was once again behind the curtain. He changed then joined the two women.
‘This might take some time Harry plus I will need to speak with an unspeakable to find out if they might be able to help with these tests.’
‘I knew it might take a while, so I was expecting it. We all just thought if something could be found then it might help people in the future and no one will have to go through what the Weasley’s are now. Thanks Madam Pomfrey.’
‘Anytime.’
‘Let’s go to my office, you can see that memory.’
Harry followed his old professor through the castle. Sometimes he smiled at students that he remembered. He smiled at his old teachers and even though it had not been long since he left, he felt a lot older than the students who now attended Hogwarts.
‘I had it ready for you,’ Minerva pointed to the pensieve, ‘I should warn you though, it’s not just James or Prongs, but Padfoot was there as well.’
‘I’m glad you told me,’ Harry blew out a huge breath then entered the memory. He watched from one of the windows in the castle as a large stag run across the law, a huge black dog following. Harry knew the rat was there somewhere but being so high up it was impossible to see.
Harry emerged a few minutes later, ‘Charlie looks exactly like my dad’s animagus which is the same as my patronus.’
‘Then I believe since your patronus was for your father, it’s the reason why Charlie is the same. It’s like you are with the Hungarian horntail, a dragon Charlie worked with and you faced. Your personalities and your Morphixen sides linked you could say. It’s unusual but not unheard of.’
‘Yeah, it was nice to see Padfoot running with Prongs. I heard Sirius talk about it so often that I wished I could have asked him to see some memories. Did my mother learn to change?’
‘No, she could cast a patronus, a doe.’
‘Is that why Snape’s patronus was a doe, to match my mother’s?’
‘Yes, even though he knew she would only be his friend, it was his way of keeping her memory alive. I will tell you this since you do know how Severus and your father felt about each other. When Severus found out your father could become a stag, he was furious.’
‘I bet he was, but it’s not like you can choose what animal your patronus will become. I like to think it was meant to be, a stag is the mate to a doe,’ Harry shrugged, Minerva nodded they both knew James and Lily were well matched, once James stopped hexing everyone, especially Severus Snape.
The plans for the wedding were coming along faster than everyone thought. Even on Christmas day the wedding plans still were spoken about, to make sure they hadn’t missed anything. So even though they still had an enjoyable day with family, everyone would eventually say something about the wedding.
Harry, Charlie, Bill and Ron had gone shopping to buy their suits, and since Harry wanted both Hermione and Ron, Charlie decided he would have Bill and Fleur. So Fleur, Hermione and Molly went shopping to buy their gowns. Arthur, George and Percy went separately so they could continue sorting out the garden, to make sure there were no gnomes and no wellington boots.
On the day of Harry and Charlie’s wedding, everyone at the Burrow woke early. The Weasley family and Hermione were so shocked at who they were seeing, they just stood in the kitchen staring.
‘We only have until midnight tonight and we can only appear here, at the Burrow. Maybe you could get Harry and Charlie here earlier.’
‘Oh yes, I’ll go get them now, but what am I supposed to say to convince them this is real?’ Hermione asked.
‘Just tell Harry to trust you, don’t tell either of them why.’
‘Go Hermione, we only have until midnight,’ Arthur said urgently.
Hermione nodded then ran from the house. She never stopped until she got outside the wards then apparated to Godric’s Hollow. She hurried into the house, she could not hear or see Harry or Charlie so she raced upstairs. She stopped before their bedroom, the door was opened. She did not want to see those two men naked. She knocked loudly on the wall hoping they would wake then she hoped they believed her enough to go to the Burrow.
‘Harry, Charlie, wake up,’ she yelled.
‘Hermione,’ Harry murmured.
‘Yes, cover yourselves, I need to talk to both of you, it’s urgent, but not dangerous.’
‘Um, okay, hang on,’ Harry rubbed his hands over his face, pulled the sheet up, ‘Charlie,’ Harry shook his shoulder.
‘What is it?’
‘I’m not sure, Hermione needs to talk to us, she said it’s urgent but not dangerous,’ Harry made sure they were covered properly, ‘Okay Hermione, you can come in.’
Hermione hurried into the bedroom, ‘Even though you two planned to stay here until later today, you need to change those plans and get to the Burrow now and plan to stay there all day, until midnight at least.’
‘What is going on Hermione?’
‘You won’t believe me if I tell you, but I was told to just tell you to trust me. Please, you have to come now. You need to bring your suits with you as well.’
‘You said it’s not dangerous, so why can’t you tell us what is going on?’ Harry asked.
‘Because you will end up shocked and we’re wasting time. Please, just trust me, get dressed, now, I’ll wait downstairs,’ Hermione stared at Harry, ‘It’s good Harry, just shocking, you and Charlie will like it, trust me.’
‘We do trust you,’ Harry looked at Charlie who nodded, ‘Okay, we’ll get dressed,’ Harry waited until Hermione left the room before he got up, ‘I have no idea what is going on but she said it’s good.’
‘Yeah, let’s do what we have to and get there.’
Harry hurried into the bathroom, Charlie slowly stretched while waited for Harry to finish. Once both men had done what they needed, they put their bathroom products in a bag, they dressed, grabbed their suits, shoes and anything else they might need then headed downstairs. They saw Hermione pacing from once side of the living room to the other. She was muttering to herself but they had no idea what she was saying. They could tell there was no danger, they just had no idea what was going on.
‘We’re ready even if I wish I was still asleep,’ Charlie grumbled.
‘In a few minutes you’ll be glad I woke you. Let’s go,’ Hermione hurried out the back with the two men walking behind her, ‘I’ll see you there,’ she turned on the spot and was gone.
‘Let’s go see what this is about babe,’ Harry turned on the spot just as Charlie did. Both men disappeared from Godric’s Hollow, they arrived just outside the apparition point at the Burrow ready to find out why they had to be at the Burrow so early on the day they planned to get married.
‘Come on,’ Hermione finally gave them a smile, she turned and practically ran towards the house. She hurried inside to see the…guests sitting at the table, ‘There here,’ the guest stood and walked into the living room.
‘We thought we should let them get inside before they saw who was here,’ Arthur said then turned to the door to see Harry and Charlie step inside, Molly hurried to take their things.
‘Now, will someone please explain what is going on,’ Charlie said.
‘Yeah, it’s our wedding day, we wanted to sleep in,’ Harry said.
‘Some guests arrived a half an hour ago but they can only stay until midnight. We knew you would both want to spend as much time with them as possible. The thing is, this will shock you both, we’re all still shocked.’
‘Who are these guests?’ Charlie asked.
‘Let’s just show them dad, there’s no way we can explain until they see them,’ Ron said.
‘Yes,’ Arthur gave Charlie and Harry an encouraging smile, ‘Come out now,’ he called.
Harry felt very apprehensive, but he had no idea why. Charlie knew how Harry was feeling so he put his arm around him.
Six people stepped out of the living room, but what got Harry and Charlie was the people they were seeing was impossible.
‘It’s really us. We were sent down just for the day, for everything you did to bring peace to the magical world.’
‘It’s really us pup, just for the day, we get to celebrate your wedding to Charlie,’ Sirius slowly walked over to Harry, ‘It’s me pup, it’s your mum, dad, Remus, Tonks and Fred.’
Harry’s face crumbled then he was hugging his dead godfather. Charlie was hugging Fred, the other four dead guests already knew this is what would happen so they waited patiently to say hello.
‘Fred,’ Charlie croaked.
‘It’s me brother, just for the day.’
‘How…why?’
‘How, we don’t really know, we were just giving these images about spending the day with you and Harry. Why, Harry saved the world and you were a big part of that Charlie, you brought reinforcements at the right time, that’s all we really know. We get to be here for the day to celebrate your wedding.’
Sirius slowly pulled back, ‘We’re here just for the day, so let’s not waste it. It’s time for you to meet your parent’s.’
‘I…I, fucking hell,’ Harry blurted out loudly making everyone laugh, including the guests.
‘I couldn’t have said it better myself babe,’ Charlie said but he kept grinning at Fred, grinning at his dead brother.
‘Come on pup,’ Sirius moved aside, ‘James, Lily, say hello to your son.’
Lily raced forward and engulfed Harry in her arms, ‘My boy, my beautiful boy.’
‘Mum,’ Harry broke again as he cried into his mother’s arms. James put his arms around both of them, ‘Dad.’
‘We’re here mate, we’re here Pronglset.’
‘Andromeda will be here shortly, she’s feeding Teddy,’ Bill said as he stepped back in the house, ‘You’ll see your son soon,’ he smiled at Remus and Tonks.
‘Okay, what I don’t get is why and also why only you six, why not others that died, what about Ginny?’ Ron asked sounding a little bewildered.
‘We don’t know Ron, the six of us were given the chance to return for the day to celebrate Harry and Charlie’s wedding. There were no words in the normal sense, we just got an image and a feeling, then we were here,’ Remus said.
‘Hey Charlie, when I imagined Harry getting married, I never imagined it would be to you. But we’ve been watching, you two are perfect for each other,’ Sirius said.
‘I think we are Sirius, but I think I’m still in shock here,’ Charlie turned to see Harry still being held by his parent’s, ‘Do you think they approve?’
Everyone in the kitchen chuckled, ‘They definitely approve Charlie. You make Harry very happy, the happiest he has ever been,’ Remus said.
‘Come and sit down, everyone, I’ll get tea and breakfast started.’
‘I’ll help Molly,’ Arthur hugged Fred again before he joined his wife at the stove.
‘Come on son, let’s sit down with your family,’ James said then pulled his son towards the table. But for the first times since Harry and Charlie got together they didn’t sit side by side. James was on one side of Harry and Lily on the other who hadn’t let Harry’s hand go. They knew the questions would start, but they had no answers, just that this was a gift to Harry and Charlie. But it was also a gift to the Weasley family who never stopped helping which gave Harry the chance to make their world the safest it had been since before he was even born.
Andromeda had arrived with her grandson. Molly had quickly taken Teddy out of her arms as everyone could tell she looked ready to pass out, then Tonks was hugging her mother. Molly handed Teddy to his father, everyone at the table knew exactly how they felt. They were happy, amazed and very shocked that someone, a higher power perhaps, had given them back six people, at least for the day.
Arthur hurried from the house, he returned fifteen minutes later with a camera and began taking lots of pictures. He handed the camera to Bill who continued, then it was Fleur, Hermione, Ron, everyone continuously took pictures of the reunited Weasley/Potter family. The two families that were about to join when Harry and Charlie married later that day. They all did wonder what the invited guests would say about the uninvited surprised but very welcomed guests.
Everyone kept talking while they ate breakfast. Harry kept staring at his parent’s and Sirius so his mother would keep handing him the fork with food on it making everyone laugh. But it would also make Fred and George wind Harry up about his mother having to feed him, like a baby. Normally Harry would glare or scowl, but the smile never left his face. He smirked then allowed his mother to actually put the food into his mouth making everyone laugh again.
Later that day, Charlie was in his old bedroom with Bill, Fred, George, Percy and Ron. He was getting ready to get married. Normally Ron would be in with Harry but his parent’s and Sirius had asked if they could help Harry get ready, naturally Ron said yes and joined his brothers.
‘I still can’t believe you’re really here.’
‘It’s a shock to us as well son, but we are, even if it’s only until midnight.’
‘How is this possible?’
‘We don’t know, we were just giving the chance to share this day with you,’ Lily said as she finished helping Harry on with his jacket, ‘You’re just as handsome as your father.’
‘I think Harry has that over James Lil. James’s looks and your eyes has made Harry a very good looking bloke,’ Sirius said, ‘At least his hair doesn’t stick up anymore.’
‘All it took was to grow it out, I should have thought of that,’ James said.
‘I didn’t, I just liked the look of Charlie and Bill’s long hair so I figured I would see what I would look like with long hair. You know, I should have shown you my dragon before I got dressed.’
‘We’ve seen it son, we do get to watch you and everyone from time to time. It’s very hard to explain but we just know when it’s the right time to gaze down at you.’
‘So you don’t see things you shouldn’t?’ Harry blushed making Sirius, James and Lily laugh.
‘We don’t see intimacy, but we do see things that we, as your parent’s normally wouldn’t watch. We don’t know why Harry, like your father said, we know when we can watch you.’
‘Yes, and I plan to speak with a certain blond then thank her for keeping my godson alive.’
‘Luna, so you saw that?’ Harry’s head dropped in embarrassment. He remembered that day, the day he serious considered ending his life, but thanks to Luna she helped him.
‘Yes, we saw you go into the forbidden forest. We knew what you were thinking, we knew if she did not arrive when she did, you would have taken your own life. We don’t blame you Harry, we know what type of life you lived,’ Lily said.
‘Yes, we cursed Albus every day for his part in that. He will never get a days peace from us for placing you with that family,’ James said.
‘I wish we had time to pay the Dursley’s a visit. I would like Petunia to feel just what an adult witch and wizard can do,’ Lily said fiercely.
‘Oh, the red headed temper I see often with the Weasley’s,’ Harry smirked at his mother, James and Sirius laughed.
‘Oh yes, your mother can rival Molly in that department, never get Lily Potter angry,’ James said, then winced, ‘She hexed my balls quite a few times, once she threatened to cut my cock off.’
‘James,’ Lily yelled, ‘Don’t tell our son those types of things.’
‘No, it’s good, I like hearing this, it’s exactly the type of things I want to know,’ Harry pulled his mother and father into his arms, then grabbed Sirius and the four adults stood together, holding each other. One alive, three dead, but all together, at least until midnight.