Chapter 21- Epilouge
Rose, Teddy, and Lily left the room, leaving all the parents with even more questions.
“What did your sister tell you?” Ron asked his son, this time serious.
“She said to take the opportunity and tell the truth,” Hugo replied.
“What truth? We owe them a couple of truths,” Hermione responded.
“Mmm, I think I’ll just be leaving,” Louis said, walking towards the door but not before winking at Hugo. “My certain death, here I go.” Louis exited the room, and a few stifled laughs escaped, but the atmosphere remained a bit tense.
“Well, Hugo?” Hermione pressed for him to speak.
“Can we talk privately?” Hugo asked. Hermione sensed it was important; Hugo usually shared everything with the family, so for him to ask to speak in private meant something significant.
“Harry?” Ron asked.
“Sure, just find an empty room,” Ron, Hermione, and Hugo left the room, leaving Ginny, Harry, Draco, Fred, Scorpius, Roxanne, Albus, James, Lysander, Lorcan, and Alice behind.
“Fred, you and I are also leaving; Dad’s going to kill you!” Roxanne exclaimed, grabbing her brother’s arm. “You owe me some explanations.” Roxanne pulled Fred out of the room.
“Okay, okay, I’m going, but you’re hurting me,” Fred complained. “Ouch, what was that for?” Fred retorted.
“For the scare you gave me,” they could no longer be heard.
Lysander stood up without wasting time. “Goodbye, Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Malfoy.” He grabbed Lorcan’s arm. “Bye, Scorpius, bye, Albus, let me know when Alice is home.” The two boys waved goodbye. “Lorcan, we have some business to settle.” Lorcan’s eyes widened.
“You didn’t forget, did you?” he asked.
“No, I didn’t forget, let’s go.” Lorcan and Lysander exited the room, and Harry, Draco, and Ginny were increasingly confused.
Ginny approached Alice, who had just woken up but looked pale. “What’s wrong with her?” Ginny asked her middle child. “You all seem to be hiding something from her, something you know and we don’t.” Ginny emphasized.
“Mom, Alice will tell you when she’s ready,” Albus replied, Alice lying on the floor beside him. Albus didn’t understand how he managed to remain so calm.
“Alright, let’s take her home; Neville is seriously worried, even more than we are.” Albus glanced at his older brother, then at his father, then at Alice, and finally at his mother; he knew what was coming. “Mom, they need you here; I’ll take care of it.” Ginny looked at her older son, then at Alice.
“Are you sure? She doesn’t look well.” Albus nodded.
“Yes, Mom, don’t worry; Neville’s house is right across. I think I can manage.” Ginny nodded, and with Scorpius’s help, they lifted Alice, who walked unsteadily. Alice wasn’t feeling well.
“Let’s go, Alice,” Scorpius said, and slowly, carefully, the three exited the room.
“Scorpius, wait for me at home; we need to talk,” Draco said.
“Yeah, Dad,” Scorpius shouted back.
“Your parents deserve to know,” Draco said kindly to James.
“What do we deserve to know?” Harry was trying to stay calm.
“That’s up to your son, Potter,” Draco said before leaving the room.
“James?” Harry turned to where his son was.
“Well...” James told them everything, from how he was kidnapped to how he freed himself. Everything.
By the time James finished speaking, the three of them were sitting on the floor; Ginny was crying and holding her son as if her life depended on it. Harry had his hands over his face, hiding his tears. James just stared at the floor, as if the floor suddenly had something very interesting to say.
They remained silent for a few minutes. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Harry asked, pulling his hands from his face for the first time. Harry’s eyes were red, just like his face.
“I was angry; I was angry with you. You had lied to me my whole life, and I had to find out who you were from a couple of strangers who hated me for my last name,” James explained. “I felt like my whole life had been a lie, and when I remembered all the times someone approached you for an autograph and then you’d tell me they had the wrong person or it was work-related, it made me even angrier.” Harry kept his gaze on his son without looking away.
“James, you should have told us; that way we could have explained and helped you,” his mother said lovingly. “Does anyone else know?”
“Now Teddy, Victoire, Lily, Albus, Alice, Fred, Lysander, Lorcan, and Scorpius do, but for a long time, only Rose,” James replied.
“Rose?” Ginny asked, confused.
“Yes, Mom, I managed to convince her not to say anything,” Ginny frowned.
“How? Are you lying to us? That doesn’t sound like Rose. You didn’t tell anyone, right?”
“Mom, Rose knew; we made a deal: she wouldn’t tell anyone, and I had to see her therapist once a week,” James explained.
“That does sound like Rose,” Ginny said, bringing a small smile to her son’s face. Harry remained silent, listening.
“I think it’s time to tell you... to tell you all the truth,” Harry exchanged glances with Ginny, and she nodded. “When your siblings arrive, we’ll talk.” Harry leaned closer to his son. “I love you,” he said, embracing him.
...
Louis exited the room, winking at his boyfriend, and went in search of his sister and mother. He found them in the living room. Taking a deep breath and without thinking much, he said, “Mom, I need answers.” There was no turning back; Fleur turned to see her son.
“What’s wrong?” Fleur asked.
“I’m gay, and I’m dating Hugo. Why doesn’t that bother you?” Fleur looked at her son with the most confused expression.
“You’re right; it doesn’t bother me at all, but why should it?”
“When Dominique left, you got upset because she didn’t dress like a lady, because she didn’t act like one, because she wasn’t what you wanted,” Louis shook his head.
“Son, that’s not what happened.”
“Then what did happen?” Louis shouted; it wasn’t his intention to yell, but his head was spinning, and he didn’t understand anything.
“I don’t know where you got these ideas, but I wasn’t mad at Dominique. I’m not; I was just worried. Dragon-keeping is a dangerous job, and your sister refused to take the proper precautions.” Louis stared incredulously at his mother.
“Oh, that makes more sense,” Fleur let out a delicate laugh.
“Come, sit down; we’re talking about your sister’s pregnancy.” Louis sat on the couch between his mother and sister. “Your father is going to die tonight; couldn’t they have given their news on different days?” Fleur joked.
“No,” Victoire replied. “Tonight is going to be fun.” Louis agreed with his sister.
“Your father is going to kill you. Traveling in time? Seriously?”
“We didn’t mean to travel in time; it was an accident,” Louis defended.
“Yeah, yeah... come on, guys; your father is going to want to know everything, and Dominique is coming over for dinner tonight.” The three left the Potter house.
Lysander and Lorcan, dragged by Lysander, left the Potter house and headed to Cat’s place. It wasn’t easy to find the house since Lysander didn’t know where she lived, and Lorcan refused to help, but finally, 30 minutes later, they arrived at a small house near theirs. How he had never seen Catherine all these years was something Lysander couldn’t understand. They had lived on the same block for years, and he hadn’t even noticed. He definitely needed to get out of his house more.
When Lysander finally found the house, he approached the door and knocked. Sounds erupted from inside, shouting as if there was an argument happening.
“YOU'RE INSUPPORTED; YOUR GIRL IS NOT GOING TO END THINGS JUST BECAUSE YOU OPEN THE DOOR!” A girl opened the door but wasn’t looking at them; she had her back turned.
“YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE A BOYFRIEND!” a voice shouted from inside the house.
“SHUT UP!” Lysander and Lorcan stood there listening, not uttering a single word. “Excuse me, what are you...?” The girl turned around and immediately stopped talking upon seeing the two brothers standing at her door.
“Hello,” said Lysander, while Lorcan just stared at Cat.
“Ho... hello, what are you doing here?” Cat also couldn’t take her eyes off Lorcan; so many years had passed, and she felt the same way.
“We want to talk, can you?” asked Lysander.
“Mm, yeah, just give me a second.” Cat went back inside the house and a few minutes later returned with her phone in hand. “Alright, there’s a park right in front; we can go there.” The air around them felt uncomfortable and tense, very tense.
“Sure, whatever,” they began walking, with Lysander in the middle and Catherine and Lorcan on either side.
“What did you want to talk about?” Cat asked nervously.
“About this.” Lysander pulled out the letter Cat had written to Lorcan, and her eyes widened in surprise. “I want to explain—”
“Did she read it?” It was the first time Cat addressed Lorcan.
“Not by my choice,” Lorcan replied.
“And what’s there to explain?” Cat asked a bit agitated; that letter was something private.
“The reason Lorcan was so distant wasn’t because of you; it was because of me,” Lysander said. No one spoke again until they reached the park. They sat on the swings.
“Alright, do you want to talk?” Cat said.
“Years ago, in our first year—” Lysander took a deep breath.
“Are you sure you can?” The look on Lorcan’s face showed concern. Lysander just nodded and told Cat everything, every detail. He explained why Lorcan had been so distant in his second year, why Lorcan had suddenly started spending all his time with him, why Lorcan had gone back to being his old self, why Lorcan had changed. EVERYTHING.
When Lysander finished, Cat alternated her gaze between Lorcan and Lysander, searching for something to make her believe this was all a cruel joke. But no, it was all TRUE.
Cat stared intently at Lorcan, and at that moment, Lysander understood he had done everything he could; from there on out, it was up to Lorcan. He realized that it was beyond him now.
“I’ll leave you to talk; I’ll let Mom know you’re here,” Lysander walked slowly back to his house.
When he arrived home, he found his mother sitting on the couch reading a book, although she was holding it upside down.
“Hi, Mom,” Luna looked up and met her son’s gaze.
“Hi, Lysander, how was it at Lily’s?” Luna asked, shifting to the side for her son to sit on the couch. “Rolf will be home in a few hours; what about your brother?”
“Sorting things out, or so I think,” Lysander sat beside his mother. Luna didn’t ask any more questions and seemed as if she had never realized they weren’t there.
A couple of hours passed as they talked; Luna had gone on a trip last week and was telling her son all that had happened.
After three hours, Lorcan hadn’t returned, and Lysander decided to go check if he was okay.
He walked to the park where he had left Lorcan and Catherine talking. When he arrived, he saw them in the distance, hugging, Lorcan with a smile on his face. Everything had gone well.
...
Rose, Teddy, and Lily arrived at the Potter house, entered, and were surprised to find no one there. They walked to Albus’s room and found Harry, James, and Ginny sitting on the floor.
“Did something happen?” Lily asked upon seeing her mother’s expression.
“Lily, could you go get your brother from Alice’s?” her father asked.
“Why?”
“It’s time for them to know the truth.” Without asking any more questions, she obeyed and left the room. “Rose, your parents are in one of the rooms; Hugo was telling them something.” Rose smiled.
“Thanks, Uncle Harry.” Harry smiled back at his niece.
“Go, Hermione must be worried about you.” Rose nodded and left the room.
After searching a few rooms and finding no one, she headed to her aunt and uncle’s room. She entered and found Hugo standing with both of his parents seated; her mother was smiling, and Ron looked perplexed.
“But he’s your cousin,” Ron said.
“Yes, Dad, he’s my cousin,” Hugo seemed about to burst into laughter. “But he’s your cousin,” Ron repeated. Rose closed the door behind her and sat next to her mother.
“How long has this been going on?” Rose asked her mother.
“10 minutes,” Hermione replied, smiling.
“Better than ‘but he’s a ferret,’” Rose joked.
“Your father was never good with love; he warned me this might happen when you all started dating, but I never believed him until you told me about Scorpius,” Rose laughed.
“What are you talking about?” Hugo sat next to his mother and sister.
“We were making fun of Dad,” Rose answered
“That's not true,” Hermione defended herself.
“I was making fun of Dad,” Rose clarified, and the three of them laughed.
“But they’re cousins,” Ron kept repeating.
“Don’t worry, Hugo, he’ll come to his senses and be very happy,” Hermione assured her son.
“I’m not worried; it’s been 30 minutes less than with Scorpius,” Hugo joked.
The three were laughing when suddenly Hermione became serious. She pulled a coin from her pocket. To anyone else, it would have seemed like an ordinary coin, but they knew it wasn’t. This was the coin their parents had used in their fifth year.
Now some still had their coin and used it for matters related to their children; even Draco had one now. So much had changed.
Rose and Hugo felt their rings tremble; they both took them off and read “Living, Potter House” inscribed on them, along with “James,” their cousin's name.
“RON!” Hermione shook Ron but achieved nothing. “RON, TODAY IS THE DAY!” Those words seemed to bring Ron back to reality. Rose and Hugo looked at their parents in confusion. What were they talking about?
“Come on, kids, we need to talk.” The two boys followed their mother without asking questions as she led them to the living room. The same place where James had summoned them.
“Sit down.” They sat without question, and their parents looked worried. Ten minutes later, the Potter living room was full.
There were the Longbottoms: Neville, Hannah, Frank, and Alice; the Scamanders: Rolf, Luna, Lysander, and Lorcan; the Malfoys: Scorpius and Draco; the Potters: Harry, Ginny, James, Albus, and Lily; the Weasleys: Victoire, Louis, Dominique, Fred II, Roxanne, Lucy, Rose, and Hugo; and Lupin: Teddy. They were all there.
“It’s time for you to know the truth, to understand what happened many years ago during the magical war,” Harry spoke. “You’re old enough; you have the right to know who your relatives are, to know what they did.” Harry exchanged a brief look with Draco, knowing he might be the most concerned. “Get comfortable; you’re going to hear seven years of magical history...”