Harry watched the clock on the wall as the handle that read ‘Ron’ went to traveling. He looked to his numerical watch to confirm that Ron and Hermione were now boarding the Hogwarts Express. He felt strangely alone without their company and resented the age restriction that had left him here in the Burrow instead of on the Hogwarts Express beside his friends. On the other hand, Dean was finally gone. Well, for a week anyhow. Ever since the wedding Dean had come by the Burrow daily to visit Ginny. Since his own mother was working all day, Mrs. Weasley felt the need to care for Dean, encouraging him to stay for extended periods of time.
That meant that he, Harry, had been completely neglected by both of the Weasley women. Not that Dean was the only one getting all of their attention. After the wedding Mrs. Weasley had some choice words for Penelope for ‘trapping’ Percy. Penelope had responded with a tale that had blown them all away. The night Mr. Weasley had been attacked Percy had eaten dinner at her home with her family. The hour had gotten late and her father had insisted that Percy spend the night. In the wee hours a screeching owl outside their home had awoken all the inhabitants. Her father had opened a window to allow the owl to enter.
As though on a mission, the owl had torn up the house looking for Percy. Once he had found him, he delivered a bit of parchment with a message hastily scribbled that informed him his father had been injured and taken to St. Mungo’s. Along with Mr. Clearwater, Percy had immediately gone to St. Mungo’s where he had been informed that his father was in critical condition but that no one was allowed in to see him as of yet. In all haste they had made their way to the Burrow. Unfortunately Percy could find none of his family there. No matter where they had gone he could find no one from his family. It was as though they had all disappeared off the face of the Earth.
A blind hysteria had set in when Percy found he could get no answers to his questions about his father or his family’s whereabouts. In response, Penelope’s father had brought him back home to their home and given him a strong sedative. The potion had been a bit too potent and had left Percy in a languished state for several days. Lucky for them all, Penelope’s great aunt had been a master healer. A portrait of her hung just outside the Magical Maladies ward. Early the following morning she had given them the cheerful news that Mr. Weasley was in the clear.
After the effect of the sedatives had worn off, Percy had gone to visit his father. He was stunned when his father had refused to see him. He had returned to Penelope in dismay announcing that he had no family. Her heart had broken upon hearing his plight. Her father had been so shocked and repulsed by the Weasley family’s treatment of their son that when Percy had asked for her hand in marriage later that night he had immediately given his consent. The following morning they had eloped. Her family was the only witnesses to their union. Four months later, she had found herself pregnant. She and Percy lived their lives as normally as possible while ignoring the very existence of the Weasley family.
That was, until Errol had brought an invitation. Penelope had seen instantly how shaken Percy had gotten when he had seen Errol arrive. He had not known how to respond to the invitation and merely went off to work. After careful consideration she had crafted a plan to mend the rift between him and his family. But every thing had gone wrong from the moment they entered the Burrow and she could not fathom why. Until the morning before the wedding when Gabrielle had filled Penelope in on what Fred had told her…that Percy had betrayed the family. Right away she had asked Gabrielle to bring Fred to her. She had set him straight on all accounts. He had even gone to St. Mungo’s to see her aunt’s portrait and verify her story.
Everyone looked to Fred for verification of this spectacular tale and he had very somberly nodded. Mr. Weasley had lost all color in his face while Mrs. Weasley had cried up a storm. Percy had left the Burrow after that, refusing to share a home with them now that he knew they had considered him a traitor. Nonetheless, all the Weasley’s had stopped by Percy and Penelope’s home to reconcile with Percy. He had been slow to forgive them, but finally had upon Penelope’s insistence. Now that she was almost four months into the pregnancy, Penelope and Mrs. Weasley had become inseparable. They began to prepare the nursery in yellow upon learning that Penelope was pregnant with twins, a boy and girl.
Mr. Weasley had cautiously approached Percy at work and offered to share his lunch. As it turned out, Penelope did not have Mrs. Weasley’s flair for cooking and Percy had ravished the meal that his father had put in front of him. From then on, they had eaten lunch together while discussing the running of the Ministry under the new Minister of Magic. Soon, Percy was soliciting his father for marital advice and it seemed that the world had set itself aright. At least, as far as the Weasley’s were concerned. Harry had also been ashamed that he was of those who were so quick to doubt Percy’s integrity and apologized profusely.
Surprisingly, Percy had thanked him for getting the word out about his father’s injury, now that he knew that it had been Harry that had saved his life. He also offered his condolences for Sirius. Then there were Fred and George. Perhaps it was due to all the hell they had put him through, but the twins had taken the most drastic measures to embrace Percy back into the family. They bought and moved into the house adjacent to Percy’s home all the while insisting that Percy and Penelope would need all the help they could get once the babies came. Charlie and Tonks decided that they would spend the rest of their vacation time with Percy and Penelope and moved in without being invited.
Harry watched Percy light up at all the attention his family was now lavishing on him. He had no doubt that with his shifting views towards the ministry; Percy would soon be joining his father and brothers in the Order of the Phoenix. Irregardless, Harry sat continuing to stare at Mrs. Weasley’s clock in which only Ginny’s arrow pointed to ‘home’. Seeing as he had been avoiding Ginny ever since the wedding, not that she’d noticed, he decided now was the perfect opportunity. He went and got the Marauders Memoirs that Lupin had given him and began flipping through. A flying ‘P’ on one of the pages caught his eye. He wondered who the flying ‘P’ symbolized and decided to find out.
The page contained a stag that had cuddled with a lily; they had been relatively easy to tap. The flying ‘P’ however, had taken quite some work to pin down but he was finally able to accomplish his goal. It was as though someone had pulled the ground out from under him as he fell spiraling into the book. Soon his feet hit hard ground and he pulled himself together. He smiled at the sight of his father and godfather. They looked to be about his age. Sirius was bouncing a small ball against the wall of a house while sitting on the porch railing. Within the porch, James lay on a swinging chair hands behind his head looking into the air.
“I don’t know about this Potter,” Sirius warned, “Evans is a bit out of your league.”
His father smiled lazily, “A bit nicer looking than that troll you’ve been after, I suppose.”
The insulted Sirius threw the small ball directly at James who managed to avoid getting hit with an agile twist.
“What makes you think she’d want anything to do with you?” Sirius persisted, “She thinks were just a couple of troublemakers.”
“Don’t you see?” James argued adamantly, “Women like to think they can change men!”
“So,” Sirius said.
Harry wasn’t entirely sure where his father was going with this line of reasoning.
“So, they feel happy when they help us reach ‘our full potential’” James replied in a mock female voice.
Harry still wasn’t sure where his father was going with this and judging by the look Sirius wore, neither was he.
James threw Sirius an exasperated look, “So, she tutors me in charms and thinks I’m getting better and ‘helps me grow’ and falls in love with me!”
Sirius gave James a highly skeptical look, “But you don’t need tutoring in charms, you’re doing just fine,” he insisted.
“Exactly!” James exclaimed.
Harry smiled; his father was a sly dog.
“Exactly what?” Sirius asked clearly not following the logic.
“She tutors me in a subject I already know,” James began ticking off his fingers.
“Check,” Sirius said in reply.
“I pretend like I don’t understand the material at first,” he continued.
“Check.”
“Then, I begin to learn more with her help and soon she sees real potential.”
Sirius looked dubious but nevertheless said, “Check.”
“Once test time comes I get a Acceptable!”
“Why not an Exceeds Expectations?” Sirius couldn’t help but wonder.
“Because then she might think I don’t need any more help!”
“Right, umm…check?”
“That’s when I tell her, ‘Lily, I couldn’t have done this without you’ so she thinks she’s the reason I’ve become serious about my studies!”
“Wouldn’t be easier to just become more serious about your studies?”
“No! That would destroy the whole point!”
“Ok, and then?”
“You forgot to say check.”
“Oh right! Check.”
“Then, she will have gotten to know me well enough that she’ll agree to go on a date with me.”
It looked to Harry as though Sirius was itching to point out that James could simply ask her on the date without the whole convoluted plan but he held his tongue. Suddenly James jumped up and began to stride towards Sirius’ motorbike.
“Where are you going?” Sirius shouted in alarm.
“I’ve got a tutoring session at eight!”
“Don’t let any muggles see you!”
“Don’t worry!” James shouted as Harry scrambled onto the back of the motorbike and they sped off into the air.
Harry focused all his attention on his father. He had never seen him so…alive. His father really did look incredibly like him, except that he was not quite so thin. Unlike Harry, he seemed to like his hair messy, the messier the better. His father reminded him strongly of Fred. He was a regular troublemaker extraordinaire. His overly complicated plot to get Lily’s attention reminded him of his own difficulty with Ginny. Maybe he’d take a leaf out of his old man’s book and fake fail a class. Of course, it would never work; Hermione would throw a fit over his laziness and force him to study.
Before he could get back to observing his father the stench of something burning caught his attention. He looked for the cause when his father suddenly took a nosedive towards a house that was engulfed in flames. Once they had touched down James had jumped off the motorbike and Harry followed suit. Screams came from within the house and Harry felt himself panic. He looked to his father and found him crashing into the front door to open it up. Harry had moved to help when the sounds of a scream came from his right. He turned and found Ginny immersed in flames.