New and Old Potters
29th of October
“Let the woman breathe, Charlus,” the man in question jumped back as his older brother chastised him. A groan left the man's lips as he went back to his seat, his wife letting out soft giggles behind him.
“You're so mean to me, Mont,” Charlus pouted and shook his head. On the couch in front of him, Fleamont and Hedwyn laughed while Euphemia shook her head.
When Harry had been invited by Charlus and Dorea to spend the day with them, he should've known that Charlus would do nothing but be around his wife and son like a dragon taking care of its eggs. The reason was unknown to him but, by the way his great-uncle was behaving, it seemed that Charlus was scared of even the dust particles when it came to the protection of his family. Morgana only knew how Dorea was dealing with her husband's antics without cursing him. She was blessed with the patience of a saint.
“Is the little man well?” Hedwyn asked, shifting their attention away from a brooding Charlus and to baby Castor in Dorea's arms. “He's so cute, the little star.”
“Oh, he's brilliant,” Dorea said with a slime. “Honestly, I thought it would be incredibly hard to take care of a baby for the first time, but Castor has been nothing other than perfect. He sleeps well, rarely waking us at night even. He doesn't cry a lot either, which I'm thankful for. I thought that I would relive my time when my nephew Cygnus was a baby, but our little Potter is as calm as one could wish for. All of the babies in the Black family are incredible criers, I must say. Even Narcissa and Regulus cried a lot from what I remember.”
“Oh, did he?” Harry asked with a devious smile. “I had no idea my fiancé had been a crybaby. I must bring it up to him someday, to see what his answer will be.”
Dorea sent him a glare, but the corner of her lips twitched upwards. “Now, don't be mean with poor Regulus. My great-nephew did come out of his crying times as he got older, much different from his brother. Merlin! And wasn't Sirius the biggest crier I've ever seen? The boy would wail day and night until Walburga gave him some food or a toy.”
Fleamont chucked. “Really? I can't say I can't see Sirius being like that,” the sarcasm in the man's voice was so obvious Euphemia couldn't help but snort.
“Now, darling, don't speak ill of poor Sirius,” Euphemia said defensively, but the devious smile on her face told otherwise. “Let's not forget that James was no different. Though I don't know where he got that from, since neither you nor Henry were said to be hard to take care of as babies. Your mother told me once that your grandfather would always brag to his friends about how his son was an angel, not crying during all hours of the night.”
Fleamont had a warm look on his face as his wife spoke about his family. “Father was awful to his friends, the poor men. Lord Henry's bragging knew no bounds,“ he chucked as he said. “And how my mother hated that. She would always say that it would curse the family with bad-behaving babies with all the jealousy coming from his friends.”
“Was Charlus a well-behaving child?” a smirk came to Hedwyn's face as he looked at his Great-uncle. Immediately Charlus straightened his posture and scoffed.
By the way Fleamont laughed while looking at his brother, it became clear that Charlus Potter did not behave well as a baby. The pout on Charlus' lips did not help his case, and with his wife and sister-in-law joining Fleamont, it became clear that he had lost before even starting.
“You're all so mean to me,” Charlus fake-sniffed and shook his head. “You're just jealous because I have the best personality here. You are all a bunch of old people.”
“Now, boys. Do stop the teasing,” Euphemia said while reaching for her cup of tea on the small table in front of the couch. She sipped her tea and rolled her eyes when she saw her husband and time traveller grandson pretending to not laugh at Charlus, who was now trying to beg Dorea for aid against his brother and great-nephew but was being ignored after calling the woman old. Despite the jokes, seeing her family interact with each other so happily made Euphemia relax in her seat, thankful for having this sweet time with the important people in her life.
Dorea was shaking her head and ignoring her husband's pleas when the baby in her arms moved. She looked down, smiled, and rocked him back and forth. “Hello, sweet,” she said in a calm and warm full tone. “Your father awoke you, yes?” She giggled when Castor mumbled incomprehensible noises. She heard her husband scoff and deny her claim but ignored it. Now she only had eyes for her little baby.
“Your fault,” Hedwyn told Charlus, a smirk on his face. “Don't you feel bad about disturbing your son's sleep? I wouldn't show my face here again if I were you, Charlie.”
“I did not do such a thing! And don't call me Charlie, it's humiliating. Nowadays no one respects fathers anymore, that's the problem. Don't look at me like that you goblin,” Charlus' fake anger only served to delight Harry more as he shook his head at his uncle's and laughed.
The three men continue to bicker and tease each other, while the two women decide to head to the porch outside, wishing to get some air. While Dorea went to get a coat for herself, Euphemia wrapped Castor in a warm blanket. However, when seeing the women going outside, the overprotective father followed his wife and sister-in-law, leaving Hedwyn and Fleamont alone inside.
“How are Lily and James?” Hedwyn asked after a while in silence. He sipped on the hot cocoa the house-elf had brought and waited for his grandfather's answer. For a second he thought the older man hadn't heard him, but then Fleamont turned to him. He first sighed, brows furrowed, before answering Harry's question.
“They are fine. Both of them are fine. But, as you know, James is getting... fidgety with being locked inside the house all day. I thought of asking him to come here to Potter Cottage, but he just shook his head. Not even Lily or Sirius can make him sit down and relax, he's too preoccupied with his friends fighting You-Know-Who. He receives letters from them quite frequently, of course, but not even that seems to pacify him.”
Hedwyn nodded, not surprised by the news. He could hardly blame his father for his desire to help in the war effort. After all, he too had done the same thing, even though it had all been orchestrated by Dumbledore. A sour taste came to his mouth as he remembered the former headmaster's machinations, controlling every aspect of Harry's life, even his eventual death by Voldemort's wand. “I understand him. I know how awful it feels to stay put while people you care about are fighting a war that you see as your war as well. Though I'm thankful that James won't be feeling like that for longer, as the Dark Lord's demise is getting closer.”
Fleamont's eyebrows shot up, not anticipating this development. “Truly? It's finally happening then? To be completely honest with you, Harry, I didn't think it would happen this year. Euphemia and I, as well as Dorea and Charlus, believed you'd wait until little Harry's birth.”
“Regulus and I wanted to deal with him before he did too much damage,” Hedwyn explained. “We haven't lost as many people as we would have, especially with the little interventions I did here and there, so we thought that it would be better to get rid of him as soon as possible. By the end of the month, we will all be freed from him, grandfather.”
Fleamont smiled at Hedwyn, happy for being called grandfather by the boy. Even if Harry was not a Potter by name, or even from this timeline, he was still the young man's grandfather by blood. No magic or deity could change that. “You don't know how glad I am to hear that, Hedwyn. I'll share the news with everyone when we get home and I'll tell James, Sirius and Lily to make sure to keep quiet about it.”
“Thank you,” Harry smiled at the older man, pleased with his grandfather's understanding nature. “I'm glad we'll finally have peace as well. It's good to know that little Harry will not have to go through the same troubles as I did. Is Lily well? How's the pregnancy going?”
“She's doing well, though a bit nauseous some days. She absolutely hates not being able to make potions most of all,” the two men laughed at the comment, both very aware of Lily Potter's obsession with potion-making. The woman could rival the likes of Severus Snape with her skill and dedication to potions. “James has to remember her every day that she won't be able to get her mastery before the child is born. But other than that she's fine.”
“Does she have someone to get her an apprenticeship? I imagine that after the war things will go smoothly in regards to education since people won't have to deal with fear and anxiety. Does James still plan to get a mastery in Transfiguration? It's unfortunate that McGonagall won't be able to get him an apprenticeship, I heard he expected that she'd be available. Perhaps the new Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts will accept an apprentice?”
“I believe Slughorn will be the one to give Lily the apprenticeship. And he'll have more time as well, with his retirement next year. As for James, I'm unsure. He did expect that McGonagall would be his Transfiguration Master, but her antics while working for Dumbledore were just appalling. He was sad when I told him to no longer talk to the woman but agreed after a while. I did think about Professor Dyfodwg, though. I'll have to talk with James about it, to see what he thinks.”
The two men talked more for a long while, discussing Harry and Regulus' plans for after Voldemort's fall. Fleamont was curious about what would be done with the Death Eaters, as Harry promised that they would be dealt with. Hedwyn told his grandfather that the most bloodthirsty of the Dark Lord's followers would be given to the Ministry, though the most influential ones would have another fate. That piqued Fleamont's interest, unrolling into a set of arguments Harry made about the importance of his plans for the Wizarding World. Not all of Hedwyn's reasons were accepted with no counterargument, but Fleamont — even though still considering himself a grey wizard — did not disagree with the need to uphold the Statute of Secrecy.
Someone not aware of the history of the Potter family would've believed that Fleamont Potter would not agree with the idea of separating from Muggles, forgetting that, even though open to muggle-borns and half-bloods, the Potter were still a pureblood family. Not all of the Potter descendants were purebloods, as the family was much like the Malfoys — accepting of half-bloods sometimes —, but just because they were more accepting than the Blacks it didn't translate to ‘let’s embrace Muggles and their culture’. And as the two men spoke, it was clear to Harry that his family was not so different from other purebloods in Britain, which was not a disappointment to him. After all, the Potters could take part in his plans of sharing more of the old beliefs and customs wixen used to have, before the takeover by Muggle ideals and culture.
“I believe our future will be secure in your hands, grandson,” Fleamont said as he patted Hedwyn on the back and went to find his wife.
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“Did you tell him what exactly we're planning to do?” the sleepy tone in Regulus' voice didn't escape Hedwyn as he watched his fiancé putting on his nightwear and slowly walking towards their bed.
Regulus got on the bed, finding comfort in the warmth coming from Harry, and scooped closer to his partner. He put an arm around Hedwyn's shoulders, bringing the other man closer to himself.
“Not necessarily. There are a lot of things I don't feel comfortable discussing with my grandfather. Even if he's an understanding person, I doubt he'd like our ideas about legalising more of the Dark Arts. But I also don't believe it is his place to give us any reprimand, so I would like to avoid any conflict with my family. I wouldn't say I'm concerned with him getting angry or excluding me from them, but I don't want him to be disappointed in me.”
“I understand,” Regulus said while nodding. “I also don't think it would be a good idea to tell your family everything. I don't see a reason to tell them either. This plan of ours should stay between us, just in case some people try to stop them. We don't need this kind of pressure right now anyway.”
Hedwyn nodded and sighed. He looked at his partner, the other man was tired from a day of revising every aspect of their plan and brought himself closer to him. The content noise that Regulus let out made it clear how much he needed this. Every day that passed Harry could feel the other becoming more and more appreciated about the 31st of October. Not that it was an odd thing. Hedwyn thought Regulus' reaction was normal and even expected, but it still irked him that his fiancé was perhaps thinking something would go wrong. The worst part, for Hedwyn, was that he understood that, no matter what he told Regulus, the other would not accept his logic. ‘Fear triumphs over logic,’ Death had told Harry after the man became more concerned with his partner's state of mind.
Understanding that nothing could be done in order to make Regulus have more faith in himself and their plan, Hedwyn decided to just be there for his lover, in case Regulus wished for someone to talk to. As Regulus brought his other arm around Harry, hugging his future husband tightly, Hedwyn's mind went to his visit to the Potters today. Even though he didn't have his partner there, Harry was able to appreciate the moment of peach with his grandparents and great uncle and aunt, as well as with baby Castor. It was unfortunate for him that the baby was not yet old enough to start playing, so he just stayed with his mother the whole time. The thought of seeing Castor grow up brought a smile to Harry's face, as the thought of more Potters running around filled him with joy.
The thought of Potter's children also came with the question of how many children he and Regulus would have. As they never discussed the issue in depth, it was still something of a curiosity to him. Hedwyn knew that Regulus liked the size of his family, even with the number of relatives that trumped most noble and ancient houses, so imagining a big family for themselves was not a stretch. Harry knew he always wanted a big family, not wishing for any child Regulus and he might have to feel the same loneliness he felt growing up at the Dursleys.
One thing he knew, however, as he looked at the man of his life, was that they would be happy no matter what, as long as they stayed together.
He gave Regulus a sweet kiss, smiling during it, which turned into a passionate embrace as the two men shared warmth and love on the cold night of October.