Chapter 4:
“Wake up Michael,” Christina said while gently shaking him.
“Is it time to get up already?” he groaned while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
“Yes. We are already running late. Harry and Ginny are bringing the baby home today. I promised that we would be there.” Christina had grown close to Ginny at St. Mungo’s since the baby had been born. She wanted to be at the Burrow with the Weasley clan when Ginny brought Emily home.
On the other hand, Mike was secretly dreading that day. With the distraction of the new baby, the Weasley’s had seemed to have forgotten that they knew nothing of his past. That couldn’t last forever. He snuck a moment alone with Harry, at the hospital, and they decided that the truth would finally come out that day. When Ron and Hermione heard of their plans they initially objected. They didn’t think that they should distract from the occasion at hand, however they gave in when Mike and Harry had insisted.
Mike showered and dressed in minutes. He went down into the kitchen and saw his wife and son sitting down at the table playing some muggle card game.
“You ready to go dad,” said Stephen when he saw his father standing in the door way.
“Yeah, let’s get a move on. We’re already late as it is. Harry and Ginny have already been home for a couple of hours or so.” Christina nodded, stood up, and walked towards the kitchen fire place with her son in tow. Since Stephen was too young to apparate so they would be using Floo powder to get to the Burrow from their apartment in London.
When they arrived, they found everyone in the kitchen. Harry was holding Emily, and Ginny looked relieved to finally have someone to help take care of her daughter. The rest of the Weasley clan, along with Lupin and Tonks were scattered throughout the room.
“Hi everyone. I’m sorry we’re late but someone just had to sleep in,” said Christina while she threw Mike an accusatory glance.
“Does it always have to be the guys fault?” responded Mike. He was met with an instant response. Every female in the room replied simultaneously with a resounding “Yes.”
“Don’t mind that. I’m glad you three could make it. How are you doing Stephen dear?”
“I’m fine,” he replied sheepishly. Mrs. Weasley had been helping to watch him while Christina was at work and Mike was off doing whatever he was doing.
“How’s fatherhood treating you Harry,?” said Mike as he walked over and gave Ginny a quick hug and Harry a pat on the back.
“Not bad,” was all that Harry replied. It was now or never. They looked at each other and an unexpressed understanding passed between them as they both nodded their heads slightly. Mike went back to his wife and hopped up on the counter next to her. Stephen had gone to sit between Ron and Hermione. They had become his favorite.
“Emily isn’t the only reason we’re here today,” blurted out Harry. Mike nodded in agreement. Everyone looked stunned except for Ron and Hermione. They both knew this was coming.
“What are you talking about?” asked Ginny as she looked up to Harry. He smiled nervously and passed Emily to her.
“We’ve told you all a lot of things in the past. Well for you guys it was Harry,” Mike said as he waved his hand in the direction of the Weasleys. “I’ve told Christina and Stephen everything that they know. The problem is that there has been a lot that we haven’t told you.” Mike looked towards his wife and kissed her on the cheek. Worry and doubt filled his eyes. “I’m sorry for not telling you everything. Harry wanted some things kept secret,” he told her.
“Keep what secret?” asked Christina. Confusion and a hint of hurt were visible in her eyes.
“The real reason Voldemort didn’t die when he attacked me when I was one. The reason why it took a year to defeat him when I knew where he was hiding. Where I went with Dumbledore that night he was killed,” said Harry. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the only two men who fought against Voldemort in the final battle.
“Not to mention why I came over to see Dumbledore when Harry was in school. The reason I stayed behind to join Harry in the fight.”
“You told me that you wanted to see some people that your adopted parents had told you about. Then you told me that you couldn’t stand to know that someone as evil as Voldemort was walking around. You had to play the superhero and fight like you always did,” replied Christina. It looked like she was about to cry. “It was all a lie?”
“Not really. My adopted parents did tell me a lot about Dumbledore. All the stuff about Voldemort was also true. Dumbledore told me that I couldn’t tell anyone my secrets until Voldemort was killed. He had Harry tell Ron and Hermione but no one else. After Harry killed him I tried telling you so many times. I guess since I was keeping this secret for so long that it became easier to keep it inside.”
“It was the same for me. It kept eating away at me. I knew there was no real reason not to tell everyone but I just couldn’t get it out. I just can’t keep it in any longer. I need to tell you everything,” said Harry. Mike nodded in agreement. “Now where to begin?”
“First, I think that we need to get Stephen out of the room. Some of this is going to be way over hie head,” said Mike.
“I want to stay daddy,” Stephen argued but he was soon ushered out into the living room to play with Crookshanks. On his way back to where he was sitting Mike cast locking and silencing charms on all the windows and doors.
“Now we can begin. How about we start with Voldemort? Does that sound good, Harry?”
“Yeah, that’s good. I’m just going to come out and say it. Voldemort didn’t die originally because he used a series of Horcruxes. Basically, what they are is an object that a wizard can use to place a part of his soul in so when his body dies, he doesn’t really die because there are still part of his soul safely stored in those objects. It was obvious that he got his body and powers back. I have to give Ginny some credit with finding one of them.” When Ginny looked confused Harry said, “The diary was one of them. You were possessed by a sixteen year old Voldemort because a part of his soul was placed into the diary when he was sixteen.” Mr. And Mrs. Weasley looked concerned at this. They would never forget that fateful day in the chamber of secrets. Even Emily seemed disturbed by this because she started to cry. She was usually very quite but Ginny silenced her quickly. “I was off searching for the Horcruxes most of the year that I was gone. It took me a while to find them. Dumbledore had some idea where some of them were hidden but he died before he could find all of them. Everyone saw his blackened hand that year. He got that destroying one. The ring that he sometimes wore was one of them. The night he died we were going after one. The problem was that it was a fake. One of his Death Eaters had found it and destroyed it. Apparently not all his Death Eaters were faithful.”
“Which Death Eater was it Harry?” asked Mr. Weasley.
Hermione answered this one. “We don’t know. We only found out that his initials were R.A.B.”
“I left because I had to. I was the ‘Chosen One’. Only I could defeat him, according to the prophecy. I was the only one that could kill him,” said Harry. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you all this, but I promised Dumbledore I wouldn’t tell anyone,” he said while looking into Ginny’s eyes. She smiled and Harry knew that everything was going to be okay.
“What about you’re secrets Mike?” asked Christina.
“Harry wasn’t the only one to have a prophecy made about him. I was born in London. My parents weren’t in the Order but they certainly were on their side. Dumbledore told me one day that they were afraid to actually fight but offered him as much help as they could. Apparently they were brainiacs like Hermione here,” he said while waving his hand in Hermione’s direction. “When I was born the same person that made the prophecy about Harry made one about me. In a nutshell it said that I was destined to fight against Voldemort. I was going to be with the one who would bring him down. If I died before I met up with Harry, he would have failed. Voldemort would have killed him and would still be terrorizing wizards and muggles alike.”
“You can say that again. You saved me a couple of times,” said Harry.
“Yeah I did. Especially that time with the dragon,” Mike replied. Both men laughed. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner Christina.”
She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. “It’s okay. I realize why you did it, but if you do something like that again I’ll kick you out on your ass.”
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
“Mike, there is one thing I don’t get. What happened to your parents?” asked Fred. It was miracle that either of the twins have stayed quiet this long.
“Oh that’s easy. When the prophecy was made to them they contacted Dumbledore about it. They all agreed that they needed to get me to safety. They sent me to a couple they knew in the states. Until this day that couple have been my adopted parents.”
“Whatever happened to your birth parents?” asked Christina.
“They sent me letters all the time until one day the letters stopped coming. A couple of days later Dumbledore sent me a letter telling me that they were dead. Apparently, after I was born they became a little more courageous. They didn’t join the Order but they still fought. You would think that since they were so smart that they wouldn’t have gone solo.”
“I’m sorry Mike,” said Christina. Everyone else in the room sighed and muttered their condolences.
“Now that everything is out in the open I have a secret of my own. It’s time for lunch,” said Mrs. Weasley. Everyone laughed and started to eat the sandwiches that Mrs. Weasley was putting on the table while Christina went to go fetch Stephen. All in all, it went a lot better than either Mike or Harry had expected.