Time for a Change
A/N I don’t own this playground, I just play here.
As Harry and Ginny backed out of the door of what was formerly his parents’ room, they heard Hermione exclaim, “Oh Merlin, just look at this!”
Ginny grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him quickly into the room across the hall. Once she got through the doorway, she stopped so quickly that Harry bumped into her back. Startled, he looked up and his mouth just dropped open.
In the middle of the room was a very ornate crib. Upon closer examination, Harry saw that his name was carved into the headboard of the small crib. The blankets and bumper pads were a very pale green and blue.
Harry tore his eyes away from the crib to look around the rest of the room. In each corner of the room a small talisman was hung from the ceiling, presumably for protection. The walls were enchanted to look like a beautiful sky, with small perfect clouds moving slowly around the room. On the walls were many pictures, looking like they were suspended in mid air. Some of the pictures he could recognize and some he could not. There were pictures of his parents, Sirius, Remus and two sets of pictures of some older people he assumed were his grandparents. There was also a blank background picture. Harry could only assume that it was a picture of Peter at one time. It seemed Peter had vacated all of his pictures here at Potter Manor. All but two of the pictures were Wizarding photos. Harry came to the conclusion that the two Muggle pictures must be his maternal grandparents. This was such a strange experience for a boy who had never known his parents or most of his family.
“This must be your nursery, Harry. This is where you used to sleep as a baby,” Ginny said, running her hands softly over the blankets.
The room began to dim as soon as Ginny finished talking. The walls were changing from a clear day to a celestial scene of a night sky with planets and twinkling stars.
“Your mother charmed the walls,” Remus said, stepping quietly into the room. Tonks followed him in, her hair and eyes still changing colors, although the changes were beginning to come a little more infrequently. “They are word activated. The word ‘sleep’ turns it into a nighttime scene. The word ‘wake’,” Remus paused as the walls went back to the blue sky, “turns it into a daytime scene. Quite brilliant work actually. She wanted this room to be perfect for you. If I remember correctly, she started working on the nursery right after she found out she was pregnant. The pictures were your father’s idea. He wanted you surrounded by people who love you.”
Harry was listening and nodded his head, but his eyes were darting all over the room trying to take it all in at once.
“Harry, look at this,” said Ginny, standing next to what looked like a changing table.
Harry walked across the room to stand closer to the changing table and saw that there was a small shelf above the table. On that shelf were three rings. Two of the rings were obviously a wedding set. The third was a heart shaped emerald ring. Harry turned around with the rings in his hand showing them to Remus.
“So that’s where those were. Lily would always take off her rings when she changed you, so she wouldn’t scratch you. She cried for a week when the rings could not be found before they had to go into hiding. She could not remember where she had put them,” Remus said with a far off look on his face.
“These were my mother’s?” Harry asked incredulously. “You mean I finally have some things of theirs that I can actually hold onto. Well, besides the Invisibility Coak that is,” Harry finished with a grin.
“The rings are beautiful, Harry,” Ginny said with a smile. She was ecstatic to see him so happy.
“Do you think I could take these with me, Remus?” Harry asked.
“Harry, have you forgotten that this house and everything in it is now yours?” Remus asked, chuckling at Harry.
“Oh, yeah…I guess I had forgotten,” Harry replied, blushing.
“Great room, Harry. My mother, as talented as she was with the homey type of spells, never did anything like this for me as a child,” Tonks said with the slightest hint of jealousy. “This gives me ideas for my child’s room one day.”
Tonks hair and eyes started rapidly changing color again. I cannot believe I just said that in front of Remus. Right after our first, ok well second, kiss. He’s going to think I am rushing things. Not that I wouldn’t LOVE to have kids with him… oh, here I go again. Stop thinking on that line Tonks. Back to business.
Remus had to hide a smile. He knew the way Tonks’ mind worked. He was not so sure about the idea of children. He was, however, becoming a bit more secure in his ideas about Tonks. Maybe he didn’t have to be alone after all. Just maybe, he did deserve attention and love from someone.
The group slowly explored the rest of the upstairs. Harry saw his grandparents’ room and many guest rooms.
Once they were done with their individual floors, the two groups switched places for the explorations. Ginny was in absolute awe at the kitchen area and also at the stately looking living room. Hermione of course was so in love with the library that after 30 minutes, Harry and the others left her behind to go explore further. She would eventually catch up with them. If not, at least they knew where to find her.
~*~*~*~
A few hours later everyone was gathering around the dinner table in the formal dining room. It had taken some work, but Idget, Dobby, and Winky had been convinced to join them as well.
“Harry, I never knew your father’s family had such a beautiful home. This place is right out of the magazines I used to read in the Muggle world,” Petunia said, her voice and face filled with admiration.
Harry smiled at his aunt in response to her comments, but it was clear that he was lost in thought. Professor Dumbledore was quick to pick up on Harry’s mood, and had a deep suspicion he knew what it was concerning.
“Harry, the wards and protections on this house are in very good shape, very strong as well. If you would allow it, we could put the Fidelus Charm on the house and you and your family could stay here if you would like,” said Professor Dumbledore, watching Harry’s face light up.
Harry tried to keep his face neutral as he turned to Mrs. Weasley and asked, “Would you and the rest of the Weasleys come too?”
“Well Professor, is there any reason we have to stay at headquarters? With Portkeys and alert systems, we could all be there in seconds if a situation arose,” Molly said with a great deal of practicality. “Besides, this place is not as dreary as Grimmauld Place. No offense intended, Harry. We’d be happy to come. That is, if it would be okay with Petunia.”
Everyone turned to look at Petunia at once as she said quietly, “Whatever would please Harry would please me.” She went back to staring at her plate and pushing food around it.
“I think I could arrange the Portkeys. I also may be able to get Potter Manor secretly hooked to the Floo Network in case of needing to communicate in a non-emergent situation. It does help to have the Minister of Magic as part of the Order these days,” Professor Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. “Remus, after this wonderful dinner would you be willing to help me with the Fidelus Charm? We just need to find someone to be the Secret Keeper.”
“Why not Remus? I know he’d never let the information into the wrong hands,” said Harry.
Remus blushed furiously, but sat up a little straighter at Harry’s comment. He was truly touched that Harry had that much faith in him.
“Excellent idea, Harry. After dessert, I propose we get to work on the spell,” Professor Dumbledore replied, watching Idget quickly run into the kitchen for the cake he had prepared that afternoon. It was a large, two layered, sheet cake with the message WELCOME HOME written on it. Petunia took one look at the cake and had silent tears running down her face.
Dudley helped his mother out of her chair, quietly excusing them both, and took her into the sitting room. He was still sitting with her when Harry walked in, knocking gently on the frame of the door.
“Is it okay if I come in?” Harry asked with trepidation.
“Sure, Harry. Come on in,” said Dudley, only taking his eyes off his mother for a second.
“What’s wrong, Aunt Petunia? What is it that has you so upset?” Harry asked, sitting down across the coffee table from Petunia.
“I am so happy for you, Harry. Everything seems to finally be going the right way for you,” Petunia said, tears still rolling down her face.
Harry reached up and gently caught one of her tears on his finger and said, “Then what is this for? I don’t think these are tears of happiness.”
Petunia was silent for a moment and looked at Dudley. Dudley was the one to answer. “She is worried about what we are going to do, Harry. We are both very happy for you with your inheritance. Although, it still leaves the question of where we are going to go. What am I going to do when school starts? Mum has been worried about getting a job. She’s never worked before, you know. I promise you she did not mean to ruin your celebration. These are just things that have been weighing heavily on her,” Dudley said never taking his eyes off his mother.
“You can stay here. You can stay at Grimmauld Place if you’d like; although, it will be very hectic around there at times. Petunia, you can even stay at the house in Godric’s Hollow. I will sign it over to you. It has been recently rebuilt, so there is very little, if any decorating done. As for a job, you don’t need one. You took care of me for the first part of my life, the least I can do is take care of you and Dudley,” Harry said, reaching for Petunia’s hand.
Petunia’s mouth opened and closed like the mouth of a fish for a few minutes before she said, “But we were so horrible to you Harry. Why on earth would you be willing to help us? Dudley bullied you, I was a complete b… well let’s just say I was not a very nice person. I cannot expect you to take care of us Harry. All we did was make your life miserable. We don’t deserve it.”
Harry just smiled. He looked at his cousin who had hung his head in shame. He watched a few more tears fall down his Aunt’s face. He cleared his throat so they would both look up at him and said, “You took me in when I had no where else to go. It may have taken you 15 years, but you stood up to the bully that made everyone’s life miserable. I’ve thought about this for the past few days. I will understand if you two want a place of your own. But I would really like to get to know both of you. We’ve been together almost 15 years, and I still do not know either of you well. We’re a family. We may be a bit… how do the yanks say it… dysfunctional…that’s the word. We may be a bit dysfunctional, but we ARE a family. I only have one request.”
“What’s that,” Dudley asked suspiciously.
“Well one for each of you. Dudley, please do not try to bully my friends or me. You’ll really hate the reactions you would get,” Harry and Dudley were both laughing at this. “Aunt Petunia, if being married to Vernon is making you so miserable, you’ve already left, file the papers to divorce him. Give yourself a chance at happiness.”
“I was thinking about doing just that, Harry, but I cannot afford a barrister at the moment to get the proceedings moving. That is why I have been thinking of what type of job I can get,” said Petunia, wiping the tears from her face. “I’ve been a housewife for the past 17 years. I don’t know what else I am qualified to do.”
“Aunt Petunia, I will pay for the barrister. As for a job, we’ll see what we can find if you still feel you need one. I’m also going to set you up an account at Gringotts. You are going to need toiletries and other necessities. I don’t want any arguing out of you. Let me do this for you. It looks like you will also need to get Dudley some clothes. Dudley, have you lost weight?” Harry asked, looking a bit closer at his cousin.
“Well, actually, yes. I lost about fourteen kilos while I was at school this year. I am hoping to lose some more this summer,” Dudley replied, going a bit pink in the face.
“It looks nice on you, keep up the good work. Now, Aunt Petunia, are you feeling better? We have a cake waiting for us in the formal dining room,” said Harry, getting to his feet. “If they’ve left us any that is.”
All three of them were laughing softly as they walked into the dining room. Every eye in the room was on them as they took their seats. So many questions that individuals wanted to ask, but did not out of respect for the three that had been absent from the room. They could see that Petunia had stopped crying, and for the moment, and that was the important thing.
~*~*~*~
The next day was rather chaotic with everyone moving their things to Potter Manor. Idget was having a small meltdown because as soon as he would get one box or trunk unpacked, another would be dropped off. Dobby and Winky tried to help Idget until they got tired of being pushed out of the way. They then went to Grimmauld Place and began the after-move cleaning there. Within two hours, they had Grimmauld Place spotless and ready for the next Order meeting.
Buckbeak had taken some convincing to move. Once he saw the pastures and woods behind Potter Manor though, he took off at what could only be described as a trot and began to frolic in the high grass. The lake off to the left was a lake that Buckbeak could swim in, drag his claws through as he flew over, or use to help clean his feathers. Harry and the others had gathered straw and hay and gotten a nesting area ready for Buckbeak. To Buckbeak, this was paradise. He was finally home.
Ginny took a moment in all the craziness to stand back and watch everyone handle the chaos. Harry and his cousin we joking with each other as they were carrying boxes. Petunia and Mrs. Weasley were busy changing the linens in the bedrooms and trying to not let Idget see what they were doing. Even Ron and Hermione were too busy to argue. Ginny had caught Tonks and Remus kissing at least twice, not that they noticed. She thought it was rather sweet that they were finally getting together.
When everything was finally moved in and unpacked, everyone met in the family room and collapsed onto the couches and chairs, and when they ran out of room, some even sat on the floor. They were all very tired, but felt satisfied. They were away from the gloominess of Grimmauld Place, and in to some place that was absolutely beautiful.
The evening had gotten quite cool. Before anyone could think to verbalize the idea of a fire, Idget had popped in, lit the fire, smiled at Harry with a slight bow and left the room.
“That’s going to take a bit of getting used to. It is almost as if Idget read my mind,” Harry said with a smile. “Speaking of scary house-elves, what ever happened to Kreacher?” Harry asked with his smile fading.
“When Dobby heard what Kreacher had done, betraying his master and all, he took Kreacher to face a type of council of elders among the house-elves. We have not seen him since the day Dobby took him. All we can get out of Dobby is that ‘he’s been taken care of’. It’s all a bit wonky if you ask me,” Ron said, stretching and yawning.
“At least I do not have to see him again. Don’t look at me like that, ‘Mione. Kreacher was just as responsible as Bellatrix for the death of Sirius. I’m glad I don’t have to see him, then I will not have to try to be civil to him,” Harry exclaimed in response to a glare from Hermione.
Hermione looked away. She had to admit Harry was right. As much as she liked and believe in the principles of S.P.E.W., she also knew that Kreacher had purposefully mislead Harry to the Department of Mysteries. But that was not truly his fault, was it? That was an answer she would probably never know.
~*~*~*~
That night before bed Remus handed Harry an old and worn box. Harry was not sure about opening the box. Moony WAS the last remaining Marauder.
Harry cautiously opened the box and saw all sorts of trinkets inside. He saw at least two men’s rings, one beautiful man’s watch, three more woman’s rings, and two gorgeous necklaces.
Harry hugged Remus tightly and then ran upstairs to get ready for bed. After so many years of having nothing to even remind him of his parents, he now had so many new mementos, his nursery, his mother’s rings, and now the shared jewelry box that his parents had used. He couldn’t believe how things had changed.
A/N I so deeply apologize for taking so long with this chapter. I injured my back pretty badly and spent all of last week flat on my back in bed. As usual, so many thanks to my beta CraftySlythern….check out her new story Harry Potter and the Year of the Dragon (sequel to Caves of Concealment) and her new multi-chaptered fic, Yessir, That’s My Baby. Also check out Just Married…Kinda by Color of Angels. Until next time……