Chapter 4: Meeting the Mother

Harry and all the characters in this story belong to the esteemed J.K. Rowling. I’m not making any money off it, and after all isn’t imitation the best flattery anyway?

When he got to the park Emma was already there waiting for him on the swing, there was also a woman who Harry figured had to be her mom. They looked almost identical with the same brown hair and eyes. When Emma saw Harry she jumped off the swing and ran up to him,

“Hey Harry!” She said

“Hey yourself, how are you? Is that your mum?” Harry waved at the older woman.

“Yeah, she said she wanted to meet you. Come on.” She pulled him over to her mom.

“Hi I’m Joy, Emmaline’s mother. She’s talked non-stop about you for the last week so I decided that I should come down and meet the famous Harry Potter.”

“Yes, Harry Potter,” he instinctively moved his hair to cover his scar, “its nice to meet you, your daughter is really nice.”

“Thank you; she says the same about you.” Joy looked at the scrawny young boy, taking in his oversized clothes and unusual scar. “Would you like to have brunch with us? It would be nice to talk to you some more, and I’m sure Emma here would enjoy it.” She added, hoping that she might be able to feed this boy, even though it appeared his family didn’t.

“Yeah! I’d love to,” Harry was glad for any excuse to get away from the Dursley’s and he could do with some food.

Emma took Harry’s hand, and the three headed up the street to her house. When Harry entered it he immediately could tell that this was a loving family. There were pictures of Emma and her family on the walls, and everything had a homey feel to it that the Dursleys’ lacked.

“Your house is really nice, it smells really good too.” Harry said to Joy.

“Thank you, we try and make it feel nice and cozy, you probably smell the crumble cake that’s baking.” Joy was surprised at how polite and mild-mannered the young boy was, no he wasn’t a boy, he’s a man, she corrected herself. His eyes make him look like he’s a hundred years old. Joys motherly intuition told her that he was dealing with some large problem, something which had caused him to skip over his childhood.

“C’mon Harry! Over here into the kitchen, we have lots of food.” Emma dragged him into the kitchen and sat him down. Joy opened up the oven and pulled out the steaming cake and cut each of them a piece; there was also bacon, eggs, and orange juice on the table. For a while the room was only filled with the sounds of the silverware hitting plates as they ate.

“Thank you for having me over Emma, I get really bored over the summer so it’s nice to do something every once and a while. I can’t wait ‘till school starts.” Harry said as they cleaned up.

Emma laughed, “Silly why would you want to go back to school? Summer’s fun!”

“Because it’s more of a home to me than anywhere else,” he said quietly.

“Do you not do anything with your parents over the summer?” Joy asked.

“No, my parents were killed when I was one, I live with my Aunt and Uncle, and they usually don’t like to acknowledge I don’t even live with them.” He said with a sour laugh.

“Oh, I’m sorry; Emma lost her father, Harold too, in a car accident. If you don’t mind me asking, how did your parents die?” Joy asked softly.

Harry tried to think of a story in his mind which would not reveal him as a wizard yet still explain what happened. In the end though, he decided to just tell part of the truth.

“Well, my parent’s were murdered by a man named Tom Riddle. He killed both of them, and tried to kill me. He couldn’t though, but left me with this scar.” He lifted his bangs out of the way so they could see the lightning bolt scar he was so famous for.

“Did they ever catch the man who did it?” Emma asked.

“No, he ran away after that, no one could find him. Some said he was killed… but he was seen again last year.” Harry stated, satisfied that the story made at least some sense.

“Well I’m sorry that happened to you. You said that you live with your Aunt and Uncle now, how are they?” Joy said patting him on the shoulder reassuringly.

“They’re….ok…. I guess, I mean they feed me and clothe me. My Aunt never liked her sister, or my dad, so they don’t exactly love me. I’m more like a tenant or something. They’re as happy to see me go off to school as I was.”

“Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that. Do you like your school though; do you go to the one near here?” Jay asked, she hadn’t seen the boy at Emma’s school and most of the neighborhood kids went there.

“Nope, I go to a boarding school even though the Dursleys say I go to St. Brutus’s School for the Incurably Criminal.”

“Really? I went to a boarding school too, what’s it called?” Joy asked.

Harry hesitated for a moment, but then decided to tell them because they would most likely be figuring out soon enough.

“It’s called Hogwarts, it’s in Scotland near a town called Hogsmeade. It’s really cool, the schools an old castle and there’s a huge lake that you can hang out by. It’s like my real home.” He said nostalgically, but also remembered how horrible the last school year was; everything from Umbridge to learning about the prophecy Dumbledore had been keeping from him. Harry shook his head clearing it of all those memories, it’ll be better this year, I know it will.

“It sounds cool, I wish I could go to a school like that it would be wicked!” Emma said excitedly.

“I’ve never heard of a school by that name, but Emma’s right it does sound wonderful, I could see why you love it so much. Do you have to apply?” Joy asked, it sounded like a great school and she herself had enjoyed boarding school. Maybe Emma would too.

“Actually I just got a note one day saying that I was accepted into it, apparently my mum and dad had me signed up for it. It was one of the happiest days of my life.” Harry said happily, thinking about what a shock it will be to Emma and Joy if they got the letter.

“Well I’ll have to look into that, I enjoyed my boarding school experience and I’m sure Emmaline would too.” Joy glanced at her watch and gasped. “Oh no, I’m sorry I’m going to have to go I have a case that I should be working on. Harry you’re more than welcome to stay with Emma if you want to. Emma I’ll be at my office, you know the number, and I’ll be home around six alright?” She bent down and kissed her daughter on the forehead.

“I think I’ll be going home also, I have some chores I need to do, I’ll see you tomorrow at the swings Emma?” Harry smiled at the little girl.

“Sure, same time, same place. See ya Harry!” She hugged him around the waist.

Chapter 3: Letters From Friends

A Note: This is ALL J.K. Rowling's work, not mine. I just felt compelled to write something on it! Please comment

Harry was sitting at his desk surrounded by a pile of used parchment. Harry had been so focused on his letters that he forgot to have breakfast, and lunch, for that matter. He was having trouble writing the letters to Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Ginny. He couldn’t figure out what to write to these three people who he had carried into a life threatening situation with. The one had the most trouble with was the one to Ginny, for some reason he wanted to make sure it seemed just right. He felt horrible about dragging her into this whole mess, and wanted to make sure she wasn’t upset with him. He struggled for over 3 hours, but finally sent Hedwig off laden with the five letters.
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The next week passed much more quickly, it had seemed that by writing those letters he had been able to let our a little of the agnst inside of him.

In the morning Harrywould walk up to the park and swing with Emma, talking about their lives. She was interesting to talk to she was very intelligent, almost like a miniature Hermione. She’d grown up a single child and didn’t have many friends because she would make weird things happen. Harry felt for the girl because he had gone through the exact same thing at her age, causing accidental magic every time he was afraid or angry. Harry told her not to worry because he would be her friend no matter what happened.

After he left the playground he would go back up to his room and work on his defensive spells from books he’d been reading. Harry had been writing down any spells he thought might help him in the fight against Voldemort; the list now had over fifty different hexes, jinxes, and other spell she thought he might be able to use. He was starting to become very proficient at conjuring medium sized objects, he had even been able to conjure weapons such as swords or shields. He was curious why McGonagall had not mentioned that it was possible to conjure such useful tools, such as a mithril shield. He'd added a footnote reminding himself to ask either McGonagall or Hermione about it.
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One night Harry woke up from a another dream about the Department of Mysteries once again. It was always the same, he would rush to the death chamber to try and save Sirius but right as he got there he feel through it, then Ron and Hermione, and Ginny, and Neville, and Luna, and Lupin, and… It just kept going until he woke up with his scar twinging irritably. Harry stumbled out of bed rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and trying to shake out the bad dreams inside his head. He felt around the beside table for his glasses, knocking over the lamp in the process which then in turn landed on his foot. Cursing under his breath Harry shoved his glasses on his face and searched the room for the cause of his waking. Outside his window stood Hedwig tapping on the glass, she was carrying a bundle of letters.

He untied them, gave Hedwig an owl treat, and then quickly tore open the first one which turned out to be from Hermione.

Harry,

I’m so sorry that this had to happen to you. Even though you’re saying your alright I know you too well, you aren’t. You’re probably blaming yourself for Sirius’ death. It wasn’t your fault; it’s no one’s but Bellatrix and Voldemort’s. Please promise me you’ll forgive yourself w e followed you there, you didn’t force us. You saved all of our lives at least once, thank you. You are like my brother, and I hope you think that about me.

Love,

Hermione

He set the letter down smiling; he knew that was what she was going to write. He was also pleased that she considered him to be her brother, that’s what he had always considered Hermione. He picked up the next letter which was from Ron.

Harry,

How are the muggles, I hope they’re feeding you better than last year. If not I’ll go over there and give them a piece of my mind! The Cannons are finally winning again after their 5 year losing streak. They beat Ireland 250-0! My dad got promoted to Vice-Minister of Magic after that old bat Fudge ran off. Mum was so happy she couldn’t stop crying and bought me and Ginny new clothes.

Do you know when you can stay with us again? I’ve been asking Dumbledore but he won’t say, just something like ‘all in due time’ Write me if your troll of a cousin is giving you any trouble, Fred and George have some new products to test. Their store is a huge hit, even Mum has thinks it was a great idea to start it up now.

See you soon,

Ron

Harry laughed out loud at the idea of Dudley turning into an octopus or some other weird thing. He would definitely have to have Ron send some things over to him; it would hopefully make his stay a little more enjoyable. He picked up the last letter, this one was from Ginny. He hadn’t really been expecting one from her but welcomed it nonetheless.

Dear Harry,

I know you don’t know me as well as you do Ron or even Fred and George, I’ve just always been “Ron’s-little-sister-who-had-a-crush-on-you,” but I’ve always wanted to get to know you better; even just as friends. That’s why I asked you to write me on the train ride. I know what it feels like to loose someone close to you, my cousin, who was also my best friend, died from a fever when she was 9. I was so upset I cried for weeks, let me tell you it’s alright, you need to cry to let out all your emotions. It isn’t healthy to stay bottled up like you do. You’re going to have to forgive yourself, we came with you, by choice, and the only person to blame is Voldemort. We all are worried about you, especially mum, she’s going nutters.

I hope you’ll realize I’m not just Ron’s sister but your friend also. I care for you, and don’t want to see anything happen to you. You can write or talk to me any time you want.

Love,

Ginny

Harry was shocked. Ginny, Ron’s sister, had just said she cared for him, and that she was worried. He knew that she used to have a crush on him, the way she always used to stutter when he she was near him proved that, but he had figured that she had moved on, she was actually dating Dean right now. Yet this made Harry second guess that, this was a sincere letter, she seemed to still have feelings for him.

It wasn’t as though he hadn’t thought about Ginny, but he always pushed her out of his thoughts when he remembered how protective Ron was of his sister.

She certainly had grown into a pretty young woman; she isn’t shy anymore, but filled with a passion for life. From all the pictures he’d seen of his mom, Ginny looked just like her. But NO! She’s Ron’s sister, he’d pummel me if he thought I fancied her. Remember what he was like when he figured out she was dating, I bet it would be a hundred times worse than that. I can’t think of this right now. He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts, that letter sure had made him rethink his decision. He glanced at the clock and realized that he really had been lost in thought; it was already 8 o’ clock! He got dressed quickly, stole some toast from Dudley’s plate, and went down to the playground to meet Emma.