Harry Potter and The Heirs of The Founders

Chapter Six

Pondering

Terri extinguished the flames with her boot. So far she had discovered nothing on her journey and she had been gone for weeks. Whether or not she actually expected to she couldn't say. There were just the Shetland Islands left, the most northern islands and the most remote. If she were to find anything it would have to be there. Just one more day and then she could go back to the comforts of a warm bed. That was a prospect she was looking forward to. She hadn't quite realised how demanding this would be, or how strongly compelled she felt to actually find something and to actually be helpful to the operatives. If she could do anything to injure Voldemort, she would give almost anything, given that he had destroyed her family. She pulled the crumpled photo out of her pocket. There were just four people in it, taken that summer three years ago when she had just started at the McLachlan's and she had been celebrating the fact that she finished school. She gazed at the people in the photograph. There was he dad with his normal smiling face, her mum, laughing and looking very pretty and her eleven year old brother. He'd been such a silly little boy but she had loved him for it. They had all been so happy that night. Then she had come home one night after work to find the dark mark hovering above the house. She could never understand why her family had been targeted. They were harmless with no political ties whatsoever. Just a quiet little family in Northern England who mainly kept to themselves. She knew one thing for sure. She would have her revenge on Voldemort if it killed her.

She saddled the horse, who had been broken in quite well after the amount of time it had spent in the air and threw her sack on its back. She then recast the disillusionment charm and threw an Invisibility Cloak over her head. She mounted the horse and fastened her omnioculars around her neck. She gave the horse a small kick in the belly and it immediately soared into the air.

*~*

Rose had the Quaffle in her hand and was soaring towards the goals. She flung the ball through the hoop and then looked toward the sky for a sign of the Snitch. Slytherin had given them a tough challenge. The scores had been level the entire game. It was going to be up to the Seekers and Rose hoped that their Seeker was up to it.

Rose caught sight of a gold flickering and a scarlet uniform heading towards it. She hoped it was the Seeker. The Quaffle came towards her again; she picked up and spied Natalie McDonald ahead of her. She passed the Quaffle quickly and watched Natalie put the Quaffle through the hoop. The commentator was getting quite excited.

'Leigha McLachlan receives 150 points for catching the Snitch,' they yelled. 'Gryffindor wins!'

Rose landed her broom.

She had just won her first game as captain. And to beat Slytherin was something she knew she would never forget. She hugged Ginny and the other team members before they all made their way back up to Gryffindor Tower to celebrate.

Rose couldn't believe her luck. The game had gone exactly according to plan; the only flaw being that Ron and her parents had not been there to see it. And by picking someone who was a good flyer as Seeker, it had appeared to pay off.

Giving Ginny a smile, she told everyone that she had to write to her family while she was still reliving the game. She headed up to the sixth year dorms and wrote a letter to Ron and her adopted parents, knowing that they would be proud of her. Then she pulled out another piece of parchment.

Having met her mother, Rose was very curious to know what her father was like. She had seen Harry's photographs of him; so she had an idea of what he looked like but she didn't know him. She began to write.

Dear Dad,

My name's Rose Lily Potter and I'm your daughter. I was born after you supposedly died in May 1983. I had often wondered about my real parents and the reasons that I had been given away until Lily was revealed to us last year. I always hoped you'd be proud of me. Since I met Lily I have wondered about you and what you're like but I only have a limited amount of information.

I know you were a Quidditch player, a Chaser who played for Gryffindor, Puddlemere United and England, so I know you would understand the way I feel today.

I captained my first Quidditch match today. I am a Chaser like you. It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin and it was a tough match. But we won.

Rose went on to write a long letter describing the match. She felt better having written it. Then she picked up the other two letters and headed towards the owlery. She thought for a second and then turned around and headed back and picked up the letter for her father. She sent off the other two letters with school owls before turning to her own owl and handing him the letter.

'This is for James Potter,' she said. 'It's for Prongs. See if you can find him for me.'

The owl hooted in reply and took off into the air. It was a silly idea, but Rose couldn't help but think it might just work. After all they had tried everything else possible to find her father.

She sighed as she made her way back towards the common room; where she knew a "small celebration" was brewing, hoping against hope that she would succeed where the others had failed.

*~*

Terri avoided the inhabited areas of the Shetland Islands, knowing that there would be nothing to be found there. As she reached the uninhabited areas she decided to keep the Invisibility Cloak on. Despite the legitimate reason she would have for being there, she didn't fancy a Death Eater noting her presence, then tracking her down for it.

After an afternoon of nothing, Terri came to the last island. Haaf Gruney, she remembered the name from the hours she had spent surveying her father's maps as a child. She knew that this islands was uninhabited by humans. Muggles still believed that trolls and giants lived there, despite the banishment of the giants. She focussed her omnioculars on the isle. She let out a sigh of disappointment. She couldn't see anything. She soared down, a little closer just to make sure. She was about to give up when at last she saw it. A flicker of life. She soared down even closer, conscious of the fact that she couldn't let anyone see what she was doing. The omnioculars caught it all. Terri could hardly believe what she was seeing. When she had seen enough she flew back to come of the eighty odd islands that were uninhabited. Only a few more had the same sight on closer inspection. Whoever was in charge was certainly doing a very good job of keeping their operations a secret. She was usually quite observant and had almost missed it. She turned around and encouraged the horse to head back towards the mainland. What she had seen had certainly unsettled her. It had sent a shiver down her spine, which was still there. She wanted nothing better than to get home and soak in a warm tub of bubbles.

She pushed the horse for several hours as they flew over the rough sea below. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the settlement of John o' Groats below her. The mainland. It wouldn't be too much longer before they could set down. And she felt relieved that they had reached the mainland before dark. All she had to do now was fly down to Wick and once she was past the town, she could find Alec's friend and from there she would be able to Floo back to Loch Lomondfor a short ride back to Black Manor.

She spotted the acquaintances house and descended the horse. She was welcomed into the house and quickly shown the fireplace.

'Alec McLachlan,' she said.

Alec's head appeared in the fireplace.

'Ah, Terri,' he said. 'Good you're back. You can leave the horse there if you'd like. My friend, Tobias will ride her back tomorrow. You can Apparate so you can have a good night's sleep. Then you can have the week off.'

'Thanks Alec,' she said. 'Would it be too much trouble if there was a nice cup of hot cocoa of me on arrival?' The cheekiness came out despite her exhaustion.

'Not a problem.'

Alec's head disappeared from the fire. Terri thanked Tobias and quickly Apparated back to Black Manor.

She opened the door to the mansion and found Alec waiting there with the hot cocoa.

'We'll talk later,' he said. 'When you get back from your holiday. You look like hell. In fact you look like you could use a good hot shower and a couple of good night's sleep.'

Terri nodded and sat down to drink her cocoa. Although the drink warmed her insides up, there was no way to erase the horrifying images that were stored in her mind. She didn't think she'd sleep well tonight. She didn't think she'd sleep well again for that matter.

*~*

Hermione stared out the window.

Bored was not a strong enough word to describe how she felt.

She was certainly not used to having so much free time. She had been undertaking Mediwizard tuition but she wasn't enjoying it at all. At least she had realised during this time of solitude that she didn't want to be a Mediwizard. That left her with two other possibilities. Being an Auror or being a teacher. She sighed. She wasn't going to be able to answer that question while she was in seclusion. At least Harry got to play Quidditch, he didn't' quite understand how she was feeling. She glanced at her watch. He would be back in about an hour. She would talk to him then. She stared at the Arithmancy book in front of her, hoping that she would be able to come up with an answer to Chrystal's question.

She became so enthralled in what she was reading that when Harry came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulders she jumped at least a metre high. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was Harry.

'How was practice?' she asked.

'Good,' he replied. 'And before you ask, yes the charm has been recast and no, I was not in any danger.'

'I just get worried Harry,' she replied. 'When you're gone, I'm sitting here alone, thinking of something to try and fill in my time.'

'Well,' he began, 'have you succeeded?'

'Perhaps,' she replied. 'There's something I want to talk to you about.'

'That sounds serious,' he replied.

'It is,' she said. 'Maybe you'd better sit down.'

They both made their way over toward the couch.

'There's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to blurt it out,' she began.

'You're going to leave aren't you?' Harry asked.

'Leave?' Hermione raised her voice in surprise. 'Why would I do a thing like that? I happen to love you Harry James Potter.'

'Well,' Harry said. 'It's just that you seem bored. You've put your life on hold for me and you have absolutely nothing to do that actually stimulates you. Your problem is that you're just too smart.' He lent over and pecked her on the cheek.

'That's true,' she said nervously. 'That's what I wanted to talk about. You see, the other day I was thinking. I was almost resenting you because I've put my life on hold and I don't know for how long it's going to be on hold. And I was annoyed because I realised that I would have to put my life on hold again when I decide to have children. I don't want to be a career mother; I want to actually be a mother to my children; at least until they start school. So I was getting frustrated that I was wasting all this time now, when the thought came to me that while I've got all this time perhaps I should have my children now.'

'You want to have a baby?' Harry asked in surprise. 'You want to have a baby now?'

'Yes,' she replied. 'I think it's perfect, because we both would be around to watch it grow. If we wait until after; we'll both be working too hard and have other things to worry about. It's the perfect timing.'

'Have other things to worry about?' Harry asked. 'Don't you think that Voldemort trying to find us and kill us is something that's pretty big to worry about?'

'Harry please be reasonable,' Hermione said. 'I don't need an answer now; I just want you to think about it. And if you can't do it for yourself, please think about it for my sake.'

Harry agreed to think about it before hurrying upstairs to soak in a hot tub. Training had been physically very hard, everyone having come back after the European Cup and he didn't feel like he really wanted to strain himself mentally either. But Hermione had given him no choice and she had a point. The least he could do is think about it for her sake. Although he hadn't wanted her to feel obliged to sacrifice so much for him, he was very grateful for it. Although he could stand the loneliness, it was much better to have someone to share the solitude with.

Harry lay in a hot tub full of bubbles contemplating the thought. An hour later he had come to a decision. He stepped out of the bath, retrieved his glasses and threw on his bathrobe, thankful for the fact that Padfoot's Manor did actually have modern conveniences. Then he made his way into the study to sit down and write to Sirius.

*~*

Sirius read the letter from his godson with some amusement. Sirius was never quite sure what to expect in the sporadic letters that he had been sending him since they had gone into hiding. Harry had certainly let Sirius overtake the father role in his life, despite knowing that his father hadn't died. Sirius reread the short letter. He knew that it would be easy to fulfil this request for his godson. He just needed a bit of help from his wife and then Lily could deliver the requested item to Harry in a few days time.

Sirius, although amused, wasn't surprised by the request. It had only been a matter of time after all. After all with some people you just know.

He called out to Chrys. He needed her help in this one.

Sirius smiled at his wife as she emerged from their bed. He liked it when she wasn't wearing her robes. Although she was only about a month pregnant, Sirius thought he could see a small increase in body size. Chrys kept telling him that it was only his imagination, but Sirius definitely could see something. He glanced at her tummy as she got out of bed.

'Honestly Sirius,' she said when she saw where he was looking. 'You can't possibly see anything yet. Why have you gotten me up anyway?'

Sirius showed her the letter, which she read carefully.

'I think I can find exactly what you want,' she replied. 'It just might take a couple of days. Can I go back to bed now?'

Sirius laughed.

'Only if I can join you,' he replied.

*~*

Ron finally returned home from training. He was exhausted as he collapsed into the couch at The Burrow. He knew that the other members of the household (that is Fred and George) would be home soon and he couldn't wait for someone to give him an excuse to laugh. The training had been intense, hard on him both physically and mentally and he had missed everyone an alarming amount. Terry was getting on his nerves additionally. Ron hadn't had much association with Terry at school; but he could say now that Terry was a boring sod. Having Terry as your mate was not nearly as good as having Harry as your mate. Additionally he missed Hermione's comments and above all Ron was certainly surprised how much he missed Rose. Recalling that she had had her first game as Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Ron decided that he should write to her and find out how she went while he waited for the twins.

As he sat down, a school owl soared in and dropped a letter on his lap, resting on his shoulder for a moment, pecking at his fingers then soaring off. Ron smiled; Rose had beaten him to it. He enjoyed reading the happy; laughing text of her letter. That was good. It obviously meant that she was feeling better than the last time he had seen her. Ron sincerely wished that there was a Hogsmeade weekend coming up so he could pay her a visit, but given his earlier conversation with Sirius, he knew that there wouldn't be any such weekends for quite a while; especially given the recent disappearances of Muggle-born wizards and witches.

Ron smiled as Fred and George appeared in the lounge room. Immediately he was bombarded with questions and filled in with what George would expect from him for his upcoming wedding, given that George and Katie had decided to marry on Halloween and there was therefore a lot of work to be done between now and then.

No rest for the wicked. What was going to be a nice quiet evening of recuperation after his full on five weeks of Hit Wizard training quickly turned into a help Fred and George with every aspect of the wedding night. But it was good to be home.

*~*

Rose was wondering what had happened to her letter. If her father was dead or couldn't be found the owl should have returned by now. She sat down to begin her homework when her faithful owl glided in the window with the piece of parchment. Her heart sunk. She knew that he mustn't have been able to find her father. It had been a bad idea. Rose snatched the piece of parchment and placed it in her Potions text.

*~*

Lily looked strangely at the package that Sirius placed in her hand. It had taken Chrystal a week to locate but it had been worth it in the end.

'Harry needs this,' Sirius said. 'I can't let you know what it is or why he needs it, but I need you to get it to him. Is that okay?'

Lily eyed the package carefully. It didn't appear too dangerous, but she did wonder what it held.

'Okay,' she said. 'You win. I'll take it to him and if anything happens to him because of it, I will hold you responsible for my son's demise.' Lily had not forgotten the numerous pranks that Sirius had played on everyone at school.

Lily took the package and apparated from the cottage in which she had been staying. She arrived at Padfoot's Manor and after exchanging greetings, gave the package to her son.

'It's from Sirius,' she said. 'I have no idea what it is; but he said that you required it.'

Harry gave his mother a smile.

'That was quicker than expected,' he replied. 'Why don't you stay for dinner? We could use some company. I'll go and locate Hermione. She needed some help with work, so I'll give her a hand if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on the dinner.'

Harry pointed towards a pot, which held a basic casserole that was sitting on the stove. Lily nodded as she went over and gave the stew a stir. She inhaled the aroma and after giving her son a look of approval he disappeared up the stairs.

Harry was nervous.

In fact he was very nervous.

Since Harry had made a decision about Hermione's request, he had simply been waiting for this package to arrive from Sirius. He had no idea what Hermione's response would be; but if he was going to grant her request, then he was going to ask this of her.

He opened the package from Sirius and read the enclosed letter. Sirius had indeed been efficient. Harry drew in a breath before making his way into the small room that they had been using as a study.

Hermione heard him come in and gave him a smile as he entered the room.

'Do we have company then?' she asked. 'Your mum's here for dinner perhaps?'

Harry looked at her questioningly. Hermione pointed towards a shell.

'It's been charmed so that you can hear everything that goes on downstairs,' she explained. 'I guess Sirius was being quite cautious.'

Harry stared at Hermione. Her beautiful hair and eyes glistened in the light sun that streamed through the window.

'And Harry you're a liar,' she said breaking the silence. 'I am not doing work; nor am I in need of help. You've come to a decision about my request and you want to tell me. And I would guess that you want to talk to your mother as well.'

'You read me like a book, beautiful,' he replied shaking. 'Yes I have made a decision and this isn't quite how I wanted to tell you.' Harry took in a deep breath before clasping his hand around the package that Sirius had sent him. 'I understand where you're coming from with your request Hermione. So I want you to understand where I'm coming from. I didn't expect to be here and doing things this way in my life. I didn't expect to be in solitude with my girlfriend with not much to fill our time. I have reservations about you wanting children now, but I can deal with that if you really feel that we will be able to manage.'

Hermione nodded.

'I can understand that,' she said.

'So if we're going to do this I have one request,' Harry said pulling his hand out of his pocket. Harry got down on one knee in front of Hermione and opened the box, which held his grandmother's engagement ring. 'I want to marry you Hermione. I want to spend my life with you and I want you to have my children. I know we don't need to get married to do that; but I want to. I love you Hermione.'

Hermione glanced at the ring, at Harry's pleading face and despite her surprise she knew what her answer would be. She reached towards Harry's face and kissed him.

Hermione eased the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit.

'Where did you get it Harry?' she asked.

'I asked Sirius,' he said. 'I told him he could take money from my vault. It turns out that Chrystal had all my mums' jewellery from when my parents disappeared and she still had the ring because Mum has no use for jewellery at the moment. Apparently my grandmother, my dad's mother had said this ring was for my future wife. It was hers. She died not long after I was born.'

Small tears were forming in both their eyes.

They embraced before they walked downstairs to tell Lily.

Harry entered the room, where Lily was standing stirring dinner.

'Mum,' Harry said. 'I just asked Hermione to marry me and she said yes.'

'You did what?' Lily asked.

*~*

Rose finally got to her Potions homework.

As she opened the textbook, the parchment she had so hurriedly shoved there fell out. She bent down to pick it up quickly. It had been a stupid idea and she was going to toss it into the fire in Gryffindor Tower as soon as she made her way up there. She gave the paper a quick glance as if she could part with the feelings associated with it in one glance. She opened the parchment to make sure that it was in fact the letter she had written to her father. She stared at the parchment. It was covered with a big muddy hoof print, about the size of a stags.

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