“Blake! Will! Come get some breakfast!”
It was a Sunday morning and, as usual, the Potter household was a scene of chaos. Everyone rushed around the breakfast table, hastily grabbing some pancakes off the table in the center. Emma Potter tucked her caramel blonde hair behind her ear impatiently, trying to get her family ready for the next week. She and Sean, her husband, were going to the Bahamas with her sister-in-law and her husband, Cailey and Johnathon Viscomi. The two couples were going to an uncharted island that was a vacation hotspot for wizards. The sons, Blake and Will, would be going to their grandparent’s house, along with their cousin, Gina.
“Where’s my broomstick?” Blake, the seventeen year old and the oldest, yelled from upstairs.
“It’s by your suitcase in the kitchen. Come down and eat.” Emma could hear the rumble of the stairs as Blake ran down. He folded his pancake into fours and quickly stuffed it into his mouth before running back upstairs.
Sean Potter swallowed a large mouthful with pancakes with great difficulty while trying to comb his untidy fiery red hair. “What time is it?”
“11:55,” Emma said, flipping the pancake batter with her wand from the table. “Kids, are you both packed?” she yelled to the next room.
“Yeah,” a fourteen year old boy with the same hair as his father ran to the table. “Dad, can you help me move my trunk to the fireplace? I can’t lift it.”
“Ask your brother to do it, I’m busy,” said Sean as he grabbed the pot holding the Floo Powder from the high shelf.
“He’s too busy looking for his precious broomstick,” Will said with disgust.
Emma sighed. “I told him it was by the luggage. Why doesn’t he listen?” She stormed out of the kitchen, muttering.
Will turned to his dad. “Please, Dad?” Sean, now trying to count his money, nodded, and waved his wand. A loud thud came from the stairs. Sean cursed, and ran to inspect the damage, with Will following behind. The trunk had burst open, and all sorts of shirts, robes, books, and parchment now littered the floor. Sean waved his wand, and it all flew into the suitcase in a heap. Sean tried to force the lid closed. “Will, help!” Will hurled all his weight onto the suitcase, and it closed with a click. Sean said “Windardium Leviosa!” and the trunk moved down the landing and toward the kitchen, where the rest of the family was gathered. The rest of the luggage had been moved to the fire, Blake’s Blue Nebula leaning against his trunk. Emma ran in, her face red and covered in sweat.
“Blake, you go first.”
“What?” Blake yelled. “Why can’t I Apparate? I’m of age!”
“I’m not carrying your trunk there, you are. Get going!”
Blake groaned, attached his broomstick to his trunk, and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from the pot in Sean’s hand. He threw it into the fire, which turned green. He dragged his suitcase, yelled “17 Godric’s Hollow!” and disappeared.
Emma turned to her younger son. “You next. Bye dear. And don’t forget to wish your grandpa a happy birthday.” She kissed Will on the cheek, and tossed another handful of Floo Powder into the flames. Will, dragging his trunk with huge effort, jumped in and yelled “17 Godric’s Hollow!”
He closed his eyes instinctively. I hate Floo Powder, he thought as his elbow collided painfully with brick. He felt himself fall forward, but someone caught him in the arm before he fell. He looked up into the warm brown eyes of his grandmother. “Will, you’re here!” She pulled him tightly into a hug, which he returned.
“What took you so long?” Blake asked. “I was beginning to worry that you ended up in the chimney of some crazy old hag with twenty cats.” Will glared at his brother.
A sixteen year old girl came stumbling out of the fire, a trunk in one hand, and an empty bird cage in another. She brushed her auburn hair from her face with her hand. “Hey everyone,” she said, smiling. “Happy Birthday, Grandpa!”
“Thanks, Gina,” her grandfather came and hugged her. His bright green eyes twinkled under masses of untidy jet grey-black hair that looked thin at the top. Even with his slightly thinning hair, he didn’t look like he would be celebrating his sixty-sixth birthday today, or at least not to Gina.
Not only did Gina’s grandpa look younger than he really was, but he was also very famous. He would be, being the Boy-Who-Lived, the one who vanquished Lord Voldemort almost fifty years ago, and being a very skilled Auror. Having Harry Potter for a grandfather didn’t bother Gina; quite the contrary, she loved it. Since her last name wasn’t Potter (her mother had been Harry’s daughter) people didn’t stare at her when she said her last name. Sure, all the students at Hogwarts knew, but after first year, in which everyone bombarded her with questions about Harry, nobody paid much notice. Gina was very proud of all the accomplishments Harry had made, and she loved to hear about them.
“Hi cousin,” Blake said, ruffling her hair, much to her annoyance. “Where’s Tawny?” he asked, indicating the empty birdcage.
“She’s flying here. She should be here soon,” Gina replied.
“Ok, how about you all go unpack your things before dinner?”
The kids all grumbled and looked at Harry expectantly, causing him to cave. “Ginny, can’t they do it later? They just got here….”
Ginny sighed. “Fine, but at the very least get your trunks into your rooms. Gina will stay in Cailey’s old room, and Will and Blake will sleep in Sean’s room. There’s two beds for both of you.”
Gina and Will heaved their trunks, but Blake merely flicked his wand and sent his skidding across the wooden floor. Will gave Blake a dark look. He dropped his trunk with a bang next to the bed on the left. “Thanks for the help.”
Blake grinned. “No problem.” He walked out, shutting the door in his brother’s red face.
Gina sat down on the twin bed, when she heard a tapping at the window. She let in Tawny, her brown owl, who hooted gratefully before going to sleep.
Five minutes later, all five gathered in the living room. “So,” Harry said, claiming his armchair, “which story would you guys like to hear this time?”
All three of them knew what story they wanted. Of all the things that their grandpa had done, they were all most interested in the story of how he defeated Lord Voldemort. Sure, all three of them had heard the facts of that night in History of Magic, but it was strictly facts, and very few at that. There were holes in the story everywhere, because the only person who knew the whole story was unwilling to tell it. Gina’s mother had made her swear not to bring that topic up.
“Oh, I know!” Will said. “How about the one with the Philosopher’s Stone?”
“No way, Will, we’ve heard that one way too much already!” Blake complained. “Let’s hear about the Hungarian Horntail!”
Gina rolled her eyes. “As if we haven’t heard that one, either. How about a new story? We haven’t heard any stories about your fifth year yet.”
Harry stiffened. He paused for a minute, wondering if he should tell them, or even if he could tell them about the Department of Mysteries. He finally made his decision. “How about I tell you about the time your uncles Fred and George ran away from Hogwarts?”
All three looked excited. “Tell us! Tell us!”
Harry smiled, and spent the next half-hour telling them about Fred and George’s famous flight from Hogwarts in their seventh year. He was telling them about Fred and George being cornered when a shout came from the kitchen. “Harry! Are you there? This is Ron.”
Harry stopped, much to the disappointment of his grandkids. He walked to the kitchen, and saw his brother-in-law Ron Weasley’s head in the middle of the hearth.
“There you are! Glad I caught you. Neville needs help.”
“Again?” Harry asked, kneeling by the fire. “What happened this time?”
“He messed up the potion he was supposed to give to the Venemous Tantancula, and it’s having a fit!”
Harry groaned. “When is he going to learn to buy the potions instead of making them himself? Alright, I’ll be right over. His house?”
“Yup. Meet you there. Sorry for the short notice.” Ron’s head disappeared with a small pop.
“Sorry, but I have to go,” Harry said. “I’ll be back before dinner.” He kissed Ginny, and hugged Gina, Blake, and Will before Disapperating.
“Let’s go to the living room,” Ginny said. They all sat on the light blue couch.
“Grandma,” Blake said, “why did Grandpa get all tense when we asked about his fifth year?”
Ginny stared at him, as if unsure how to answer. “Fifth year was…a very difficult year for him,” she said very slowly. “It’s hard for him to talk about. In fact, it would be best if you didn’t ask him about it again.”
“But, Grandma,” Gina said, “what happened? Was he attacked by Voldemort? Did somebody die?”
Her grandmother didn’t say anything, but Gina could tell she was right. “Please tell us.”
Ginny sighed. “Harry lost his godfather that year, and that’s all you need to know. Please don’t ask me anymore on the subject.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Why doesn’t he want to talk about it?” Gina wondered aloud, sitting on Blake’s bed. “Is it because he lost his godfather, or was the experience as bad as when Voldemort fell?”
“We'll never know, since he’s obviously not to tell us anytime soon,” Blake said, throwing himself next to his cousin. “But why, and why won’t Grandma talk about it either?”
“She must have been there, too,” Gina said thoughtfully. “Or she might just be ignoring the subject for Grandpa.”
Blake groaned, and sat up. “Do you think maybe our parents could tell us? Or even Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione?”
Gina frowned. “Not likely. If Grandma won’t talk about it, why would they? And our parents probably don’t know the story, either.”
“It’s still worth a try, right?” Blake stood up, and started pacing. “We could send one of them a letter, and-“
“Just drop it, Blake. The subject is touchy. Just forget about it.” Even as Gina said it, she knew it was no use. It had taken her stubborn cousin five years to realize that Harry wasn’t telling them anything about how he vanquished Voldemort, and she didn’t expect him to give up now.
“There’s gotta be a way to make Grandpa loosen up. Maybe a Cheering Charm, or there’s that one Weasley Wizarding Wheezes product they’ve been working on….”
“No!” Gina stood up abruptly. “You are not charming, hexing, bewitching, or performing any type of magic on Grandpa! Have you ever considered that there might be a reason he doesn’t want to talk about it?”
For all the good it did she might as well not have said anything at all. Blake sat on the edge of his bed, staring into space. “Snap out of it, Blake!” Gina screamed in his hear, making him jump. “Listen carefully. Drop it. Even if one of those stupid pranks of our uncles did work, Grandpa’s too smart to fall for it. Just forget about it! Let’s go play Exploding Snap with Will and Grandma.”
Blake reluctantly agreed. He joined in the game, but his thoughts were still with Grandpa, and any spell he could perform to make him talk. Restless, Blake made an excuse of being thirsty and went to the kitchen. He had no sooner gotten a glass when Gina entered, glaring at him. “What?” he asked with mock innocence. “Is it a crime to get water now?”
“That’s not why you’re in here, and you know it!” she hissed. “You’re waiting for Grandpa, aren’t you?”
“Why would you think that?” he said, sitting down at the table.
Gina let out a cry of frustration. “Why won’t you just let it be? Why do you have to nose into other people’s business all the time? Just leave-"
She was interrupted by a small popping noise as Harry appeared next to her, looking exhausted.
“Hi Grandpa, how did it go?” Blake asked politely.
Harry sighed. “Neville’s Tantacula started to multiply at an alarming rate, and he was completely surrounded when I got there, and Neville wouldn’t let me use a Severing Charm on them. We had to shrink them in the end. What have you two been up to?”
“Nothing,” Gina and Blake said together. Harry turned toward the sink to get a drink. Seeing the perfect opportunity, Blake pulled out his wand. Before Gina could stop him, he yelled “Primaevus!”
Harry stood rigid, with a blank look in his eyes. Gina stared in horror. “What did you do to him?!?”
“The Youthful Charm. The one that give you a more youthful mind. Come on Gina, we learned that last year.”
“YOU IDIOT!!!!” Gina screamed. “The incantation was Primaevas, not Primaevus! Who knows what you’ve done to him!” At these words, Harry’s eyes rolled and he collapsed. Gina and Blake stared at each other for a second before running toward their grandfather. When they saw him, Gina screamed. On the floor was their grandfather, looking no older than sixteen.
A/N: Reviews are appreciated, and story ideas are encouraged! I can't promise they will make it in, but the inspiration helps!