Harry woke to the morning sun streaming in the window onto his face. He sat up and looked around. He was in a small bedroom, with two beds. There was a dresser, a wardrobe, and one old chair. The floor was wood and covered in soft rugs. The room was very bright and sunny. Harry rubbed his head, where his scar still burned a bit and got out of bed.
He walked over to the window and looked out. Harry had never spent much time in Wales and he had to admit the view was beautiful. Out his window were green rolling hills for as far as his eye could see. The fields were filled with sheep and separated by old stone and wooden fences. The sun was just coming up over the fields and the morning mist still clung to the ground. It was picturesque.
Harry got dressed and wandered out of his bedroom. He was on the second floor of the house. He walked through the hallway to a set of front stairs. He walked down to the main level of the house. Judging by the sunrise outside, Harry guessed it was probably around six. Even so, there was someone in the kitchen. It was Remus Lupin, quietly sipping a cup of tea, looking out the kitchen window.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Harry remarked to Lupin’s back.
Lupin started and almost spilled his tea. “Oh, Harry,” he said recovering, “Good morning. You gave me quite a start.”
“Sorry,” Harry said sheepishly, “I thought you heard me come in.”
“That’s all right; would you like a cup of tea?” Lupin asked.
“Sure, thanks,” Harry answered.
“You’re up early,” Lupin remarked causally as he turned to pour out another cup for Harry. “Did you sleep well?”
“Apparently,” Harry said rubbing his head. “I guess I slept so well that they couldn’t wake me last night when we got here.”
Lupin gave Harry a small smile, “No, they couldn’t. Between the Morphine and the Dreamless Sleep Potion, you could have been struck by lightning and not waken up. Tonks had to use the Mobilcorpus spell to get you in the house. So what do you think of your house?”
“This is mine?” Harry asked looking around.
“Yes, it’s yours. This house belonged to your grandparents, James’s parents. They used to spend summers here. I remember visiting your dad here during holidays from Hogwarts.” He handed the cup of tea to Harry. “Your grandmother made the most wonderful muffins. When all four of us were here, she would make two dozen for breakfast so we each could have four of our own.”
Harry smiled at the thought of his grandmother making muffins in this kitchen. He wished he knew what she looked like.
Lupin continued, “Your parents were married here actually. It was a small private service outside in the garden, over by that arbor. When Voldemort began taking control your grandparents moved out here for good. Your grandmother said she really liked the peace. She was quite a lady, your grandmother, formidable and smart. She really doted on your dad though. Your uncle died when he was just out of Hogwarts, killed by Death Eaters. Your dad must have been about fifteen. Your dad took it hard, and your grandmother tried everything to bring him out of it. Your mom was the one who finally did the trick. But in the meantime, your grandma tried everything. James wanted for nothing after Richard died.”
Harry looked at Lupin, another new fact about his family surfaced, “I didn’t know my dad had a brother.”
Lupin looked surprised, “I’m sorry, I thought you knew. Yes, your dad had a brother about four years older than him, Richard was his name. He was killed when he was about nineteen or twenty by Death Eaters. He was an Auror.
Harry digested that and then shaking his head he said, “I should have known that. He’s my uncle and I didn’t know he existed. Snape is my cousin, sort of anyway, and it would have been nice to know that as well. I know nothing about my own family.”
“I would try to forget that you’re related to Snape if I were you. He’s not a very close relation; you’re his stepmother’s great nephew. He’s not going to treat you any better if you point that out. He’ll probably hold you more in contempt then he does now. He’ll lose a lot of face at Hogwarts with his students if they found out.”
“But still, don’t you think I should know something about my family,” Harry spoke back to the first point.
“Yes, I do, and you’re here aren’t you? Make the most of it. There are still a lot of personal effects around here. I found out something from Dumbledore as well. When you turn seventeen, the rest of your estate and the personal belongings of your parents will be made available to you. I think they’re in a Gringotts vault.”
“I have more belongings?” Harry questioned.
“Oh yes, many. You are actually quite wealthy. You are descended from one of the oldest Wizarding families. And that bit about Snape’s mother being robbed of the estate is exaggerated. The old families always passed property from father to eldest son. It’s just the way it worked. Snape’s mother wouldn’t have gotten the estate anyway, she would have gotten a pension, which the court reinstated after your grandfather’s death.”
“Oh,” Harry said, not really understanding. He sipped on his tea, and lapsed into silence staring out of at the endless fields beyond.
After a few minutes, Lupin changed the subject, “So what are you going to do today? I thought I heard something about a bicycle race.”
Harry smiled, “Yes, Hermione and I are going race to see who has to do the dishes for a week.”
Lupin smiled back at him, “You do realized that before the end of the day there will be ten Aurors, three Grangers, three Weasleys, and you and I staying here full time, eighteen people in total, eating three meals a day, plus snacks. You better pedal darn fast, Harry.”
Harry raised his eyebrow in surprise, that was a lot of dishes, “I never thought of that,” Harry admitted. “Where are all these people staying anyway? I didn’t see anyone coming down.”
“Molly Weasley is coming in this afternoon with Ron and Ginny. Ron will be bunking in with you, and Ginny will be staying with Hermione. The house has four bedrooms, so Molly will be taking one and the Grangers the other. This house has an old cellar below the kitchen here. The Aurors and I have made that into what we’ve called a war room. You want to go see?”
“Sure,” Harry answered curiously.
Lupin walked over a blank wall and said, “Alohomora.” Out of nowhere a door appeared and opened. Lupin led Harry down a set of old wooden steps leading down in a completely dark space. Once at the bottom of the steps, Lupin turned to his left and said, “Alohomora,” again in the blackness. Another door opened up revealing a large well lit room.
Harry and Lupin walked into to the space. It was roughly the size of an old cellar, but the similarity ended there. There was a large fireplace on the far wall putting off significant amounts of light. There were torches situated on the walls one about every meter. The floor was covered with a rich throw rug. The center of the room had a large table, with chairs surrounding it. There were a number of candles floating in the air right above the table, like at Hogwarts. There were blackboards on the wall, each covered with random drawings and thoughts.
A couple of the Auror guards were at the table playing wizard chess. They both looked up when Lupin and Harry entered. They both stood up, the taller man, the one that Harry knew as Davis, looked at Lupin and asked, “Is everything all right, Lupin?”
“Yes, everything is fine Davis. I was just showing Harry the house, he was wondering where everyone was.”
The man called Strom smiled at Harry and said, “We’re down here. We’re been instructed to say out of sight as much as possible, but we’re here if you need us.”
“Thanks,” Harry replied. He glanced around the room. There was nowhere to sleep. “Are you staying here full time?”
Davis answered, “Yes we are. We cannot Apparate in or out of the house. We are in bunks just off this room. We sleep in shifts so that there are at least three of us on duty at all times. Smith is out on rounds.”
“Rounds?” Harry asked blankly.
Lupin answered, “He’s walking around the property looking for anything suspicious.”
“Are you expecting an attack?” Harry asked Lupin.
“Actually, yes, we are. We’re planning on it. Eventually, the Death Eaters will figure out your location, and when they do, they’ll be coming for you. This fireplace,” Lupin said gesturing to the one on the far wall “is connected into the floo network, departure only. So we can leave in this fireplace, but no one can arrive. The house has an Anti-Muggle jinx similar to the ones used at the World Cup. There is an anti-Apparation shield around the house. There are spell trips around the house to tell us if anyone is coming.”
“Wow,” Harry commented, “you sure went to a lot of effort.”
“This house is as safe as we can make it. Both Dumbledore and I wanted you to have a vacation, some time to recover. You have a rough road ahead you Harry, but for the next few weeks at least you can have some peace and be a kid.”
Harry didn’t remotely feel like a kid anymore, but he appreciated the thought. They had obviously gone to a lot of work to set this up. “Thanks,” he murmured quietly.
“Let us know if you need anything Harry,” the man called Davis said. “Otherwise you won’t see much of us. Tonks is going to be your everyday guard. She’s the youngest of us, and should be the most fun.”
Harry smiled, that was true, Tonks was fun to be around.
“Come on, Harry,” Lupin said, “Let head back upstairs, you have to prepare of a race.”
Harry and Lupin went back upstairs to the kitchen and Lupin proceeded to make some scrambled eggs for both of them for breakfast. Harry and Lupin chatted about various topics before the rest of the household woke up for the day.
Hermione walked cheerfully into the kitchen right around 7:30. “So Harry,” she began looking excited, “when are we going to go exploring and do our race?”
Harry had to laugh, “I don’t know.” Harry glanced over at Lupin, “Can we go exploring?”
“Sure,” Lupin replied, smiling, “just as long as you take Tonks along. Your parents and I, Hermione, have made up a cover story that should enable to go around town like normal Muggle kids. We have also put together escape routes, and contingency plans for a Death Eater attack.”
“A cover story?” Hermione asked, “Why do we need a cover story?”
“So as not to attract attention,” Lupin replied.
“What is it?” Harry asked.
“For the time that you spend in Wales, consider yourselves first cousins. Harry, for the time being, call Hermione’s parents aunt and uncle. If anyone asks, Harry, tell them that you and your parents were in a car accident a few weeks ago, and your parents died in the accident. You are staying with your aunt and uncle now.
“That’s seems a bit complicated and dramatic,” Hermione commented frowning, “why does it need to be so elaborate? Why can’t Harry just be taking a vacation trip with his friend? And why do we need to say that Harry was in the car accident?”
“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “Why do I need to say that I was in a car accident?”
“Harry, have you looked in a mirror lately?” Lupin asked.
Harry thought about it and drew a blank, “No, I don’t think so.”
Hermione nodded in a dawning comprehension, “I see what you mean now, Professor. We need some way to explain away Harry’s appearance.”
“I look that bad?” Harry asked, looking between them.
“Just go look Harry. There is a mirror in the front hall,” Lupin remarked.
Harry left the kitchen and made his way toward what he thought was the front door. Near the upstairs staircase was a foyer, and in the foyer was a mirror on the wall above a small table holding a vase of flowers.
Harry looked at himself in the mirror and was truly surprised. The most dominate feature on his face was his scar. The bleeding from the previous night was gone, but it had scabbed over, creating an angry looking red mark in the center of his forehead.
Harry returned to the kitchen where Hermione was pulling out some eggs to make for breakfast. Harry said to them, “Okay, I see your point. It would good to be able to explain away my scar. And a car accident makes sense. That’s where I thought I got the scar in the first place.”
Lupin replied, “It’s not just the scar. If it was, we could say that you walked into a bookcase or something of the like. You’re pale, you still look tired and quite frankly you have a haunted look about you that people will notice. The cover story needed to explain away your troubles in a simple way. A car accident and the recent loss of your parents would explain everything. And I doubt that anyone will ask anymore questions beyond that.”
“I understand now,” Hermione stated solemnly. “So, I’m trying to make my cousin feel better by distracting him with all kinds of fun activities.”
“Right,” Lupin answered, “And if it works and Harry has a good time that’s great, but if it doesn’t and Harry walks around looking miserable, then people will understand. It’s not really too far from the truth. He has just experienced a loss and his parents are dead. The two events aren’t related, but it will work for the people you meet in passing.”
Harry didn’t say anything. He hadn’t realized that he had a haunted look, but Lupin was right, he did just experience a loss, and his parents were dead. So letting people assume that his parents just died was reasonable.
Hermione answered Lupin, “So when can we start? I’m looking forward to getting into the town and looking around at all the shops, and finding the center where you rent the bicycles.” Hermione’s excitement was contagious and Harry couldn’t help but feel excited too.
“You need to wait for Tonks and get permission your parents. Then by all means, take a look around the town. For reference, the locals call this place the Old West Farmhouse in the Meadow. They were pretty happy to see if restored. They’ll be happy to know that we’re staying for the summer.”
A couple of hours later, with Hermione’s dad and Tonks in tow, Harry and Hermione walked the three miles in the town of Builth Wells. It took about an hour, which after the first half an hour passed in almost complete silence. All of them seemed to be effected in their own way with the beautiful surroundings.
For Harry, the walk brought a sense of peace that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Hermione and her dad also seemed equally relaxed; her dad put his arm around her and gave her a hug, which Hermione snuggled into for a moment. Tonks’ usually puppy like exuberance was toned down into a calm excitement.
The arrived into town and walked up the main street. It was a picturesque setting. The main shopping area on Market Street was a row of three story buildings lined up on either side of a narrow road. The shops ran for about four blocks until they came to a square of sorts that looked an old trading center. The turned down a side road and walked until they came to a river. There was a beautiful old bridge, with six stone arches crossing the river. They marveled at the bridge and decided instead to go to the Art Center, which was nearby.
Upon entering the building they were pleasantly surprised to find that the little town had a cinema, with two screens. They toured the building and saw many other works of art. The wandered past a sculpture from a local artist, the coat of arms for the city, and murals representing famous artists, like Shakespeare, and Beethoven.
They grabbed some information about the town from the visitor’s desk and then realized it was past lunchtime. They walked back toward the town square and found a little café called the Fontanna. They sat down and had a nice lunch. The café had an overlook of the surrounding countryside, and the lunch was quite pleasant.
After lunch they found the place where they could rent bicycles. They rented four and then decided to head back to the Farmhouse for the evening. Ron and his family were due in the late afternoon and they wanted to be there when he arrived. They all rode the bicycles and the return trip was much speedier.
They reached the farmhouse around four and Harry was exhausted. He couldn’t remember a time when he felt more tired. The last several minutes of the ride, his thigh was getting painful, reminding him of his most recent injuries. The rest of the party all seemed tired and relaxed, none of them was as wiped out as Harry.
Mrs. Granger came out to welcome them home and as soon as she looked at Harry, her gaze changed to one of concern. “Harry,” she asked, walking quickly over to him, “are you okay?”
Harry nodded, “I’m just tired.”
She looked at him skeptically.
“All right,” Harry amended, “I’m really tired. In fact, I think I’ll go have a rest before dinner.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Mrs. Granger stated matter of factly. “I’m going to have to give you at least a half of dose of the dreamless sleep potion though if you want to rest.”
“That’s a good idea,” Harry conceded, “I don’t want a repeat of last night.” He rubbed his scar absentmindedly.
Harry got off the bicycle and parked it in the garage. His leg was more painful now that he got off the bike, and he limped over to the porch. He sat down on the front steps and tried to rub the stiffness out of the leg, but it didn’t seem to help.
“Do you want some pain medicine too?” Mrs. Granger asked.
“Not the Morphine,” Harry said, “I’ll be too out of it when Ron comes.”
“I’ve got some other medicines that aren’t so strong. Maybe some of those and a bit of the dreamless sleep potion?”
“Sure,” Harry said, pushing his way back to his feet.
Tonks came over to him and pulled his arm over her shoulder. “Let me help you out, Harry. I’m supposed to be your personal bodyguard, and all I’ve done so far is eat lunch and go for a bicycle ride. I feel like I need to something more.”
Harry allowed Tonks to help him into his room. Mrs. Granger brought Harry his potion and medicine and helped him get comfortable. But Harry was so tired that as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was comfortable enough to fall into a deep restful sleep.
Ron woke up Harry a couple of hours later, “Hey mate!”
Harry looked up groggily at his friend, “Hey, Ron. It’s good to see you.”
Mrs. Weasley came over to his bed, “Ah Harry, dear. You are looking much better.”
Harry answered, “I’m feeling better too, I just got overtired today, first day of vacation, you know.”
She smiled, “Yes, I do remember my summer holidays from Hogwarts. You have to do a lot of living in a short time. Supper downstairs is waiting for us. Do you feel up to it?”
Harry actually didn’t. He wasn’t hungry and he was so warm and comfortable that he didn’t really want to move. He didn’t answer right away.
Mrs. Weasley understood and said, “I wasn’t sure you would want to eat, but I thought we should check. Go back to sleep Harry dear. There will be plenty of time for holidaymaking. Drink up the rest of your potion.”
Harry drank and drifted off again into the peace of dreamless sleep.