Out of the Books

Chapter 19 - Catching Up

The situation sinking in slowly with Molly. She shook her head, trying to regain her composure. She had no idea what was going on. What had happened in the thirty minutes Harry, Ron and Hermione had been gone? Was it possible what she was seeing here in the hall of Grimmauld Place? Was it possible that three apparently dead people were now alive? She couldn't possibly judge the situation, not having known what had been going on here, but people returning from the dead just seemed too fantastic. And yet, Harry and Hermione were apparently convinced that it were really Lily, James and Sirius, who were standing in Sirius's house with them. But what if the children had been fooled or jinxed into believing it?

The situation seemed peaceful enough, but what would happen if Harry reached the people, who he thought were his parents?

"Harry, wait!" shouted Molly.

Harry ignored her and continued walking up the stairs. "Harry!" she shouted again and starting running after him.

Hermione blocked her way. "Mrs. Weasley, leave him. Don't worry, it's really his parents."

Molly realized that she would never reach Harry in time. He was only a step away from the two people looking like Lily and James. Anxiously she watched how they stood across from each other, looking at one another for a long time. Finally, Harry hesitantly made the first move towards the woman.

"Mum?" he whispered, trying the taste of the word carefully.

Lily nodded with tears in her eyes, glancing at James with a very emotional smile for a second. Harry followed her gaze and looked now into the face that looked so similar to his own, except for the eyes.

James looked just as overwhelmed and uncertain as Harry felt. Not certain whether he should give in to the urge to hug his son, he made an awkward step forward, but then only put out his hand for Harry to shake. Harry took it and smiled, just as James chose to hug him after all, pulling Harry to himself, his whole body tingling warmly with happiness. Lily joined in with joyful tears in her eyes and the family held each other for a long time without saying a word.

Only when nothing disastrous happened after a few seconds - no explosion, Harry not disappearing, or any other catastrophe, did Molly exhale the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. Unable to believe that it was possible that Harry was hugging his parents, she couldn't turn her eyes away from the sight. Just when she noticed the two children, who were visibly touched but not certain what to do with themselves, standing next to Harry and his parents, Molly felt a hand on her shoulder. Reluctantly she turned to see Sirius looking at her sympathetically.

"I know all this is really hard to believe. Why don't we give Harry and his parents some time to catch up? I'll go back to the Burrow with you and explain everything."

Molly nodded automatically and let herself be led into the kitchen by Sirius with Hermione and Ron following them.

Harry and his parents broke the hug. Looking around in the hallway they were surprised to find only Amy and Leo standing there. Everyone else was gone. At her parents inquiring look, Amy shrugged and said, "Sirius took them somewhere to explain everything. I didn't understand where."

"Probably back to the Burrow," said Harry quietly. With shame he remembered how he had talked to his sister only half an hour before.

"Yes, exactly. That was what he'd said." Leo grinned at his brother; apparently he had put the less than warm welcome already out of his mind. "He said he wanted to leave you alone with us. To give us all the chance to get to know each other."

Harry felt gratefulness and annoyance at Sirius at the same time. How can he do this to me? Leaving me alone with them like this? I am their son and brother and I don't know anything about them. What should I talk about with them? Looking at his situation like this, Harry felt slightly panicking.

"Harry, you probably know this place better than we." Lily broke his train of thought. "Why don't you show Amy and Leo around a bit while we get ourselves dressed. We can have some tea and talk a little after that."

The strangest feeling of happiness settled within Harry. His mother was talking to him, totally normal stuff, which any mother could tell any child. He nodded, unable to say anything, his eyes shining brightly.

His parents had long disappeared in the bedroom they had chosen for the night, when Harry was still standing at the foot of the stairs, staring up towards the first floor of the house.

"Er... Harry?" The careful voice of his sister broke through his thoughts. His sister! He had never even dreamt of the possibility of having a sister and a brother. Ron and Hermione had been the closest thing to siblings he had ever got to. Even with their friendship and the love he had received from all of the Weasleys, he had always felt being on his own. Now he suddenly belonged to a family of five. It was kind of hard to grasp. Slowly he shook his head and turned towards the twins.

"So, er... I'm sorry about before. You know, it was so hard to believe to have Mum and Dad back. I didn't want to get my hopes up..." Harry tried to apologize but he had the feeling that it sounded a bit lame.

"Oh Harry, really. It's no problem." Amy waved his apology away cheerfully.

"Yeah, I can't even imagine how I would feel in a situation like that. We are just happy to get to know you," added Leo, grinning broadly at his older brother.

Harry nodded, smiling at the enthusiasm of the two teenagers before him. "I think, I didn't catch your names before," Harry admitted, reddening slightly in embarrassment.

"I'm Leo. And that is my sister Amy." The twins stuck out their hand in mock formality. "And now that that is settled, we would like a tour of the house."

Chuckling, Harry led the way up the stairs. He was relieved that the boy and the girl made him feel so much at ease. In the last hour Harry had felt so many different emotions that it was hard for him to analyse every single one, but one of them was the fear of the awkwardness of suddenly being a new member in a settled family, adapting to their structures. He was bound to make mistakes. But the easy-going nature of the twins took a large part of this fear away.

"Harry, what are those?" Amy had noticed the shrunken heads of what-ever-creature when they had come down the stairs for breakfast.

Harry turned around. "Oh, that have been house-elves," disgusted with the Black-tradition of putting their heads up for decoration after their death.

"What are house-elves?" Leo wanted to know now and Harry launched into an explanation of the extremely loyal, hard-working, sometimes annoying servants of rich wizarding families. He told them the story of Dobby and promised them that they would meet the elf, Harry had freed when he had been in second year in Hogwarts.

They had nearly finished their tour through the house and were on their way back to the kitchen when Leo suddenly slammed his hand to his forehead. Harry spun around, startled because it was the same movement he made when Voldemort sent him pain through his scar.

"What is it?" he asked concerned.

"Oh, I just remembered. I know, it's already been almost a week, but still: Happy birthday, Harry," said Leo, grinning happily at his brother, sticking out his hand to him.

Harry took it, shaking his head in exasperation at himself and grinning at his siblings. "So how old are you?" he asked Leo and Amy.

"We turned fourteen yesterday," replied Amy.

"Happy birthday to you too then," Harry congratulated, smiling.

"Thanks. Well, Mum and Dad sure knew how to make use of those cold and dark November nights, didn't they?" Leo said deadpan.

Harry stared at the innocently smiling face of his younger brother, before he burst out laughing.

"I'm sure Fred and George Weasley would love to meet you," he said when he had calmed down enough to talk again.

"Oh, we would love to meet them," cried Amy, her eyes shining happily.

"On the other hand, maybe it is safer for the wizarding world, if you didn't meet them," he pondered to the laughter of his brother and sister.

"Harry, I see you have met your siblings," said a familiar voice behind him.

"Hi Remus," Harry greeted, turning around to the man, who had until this morning been the last Marauder in the wizarding world. "Yes, I did. And I think I like them," he added, playfully glancing Leo and Amy up and down.

Remus nodded, smiling and also greeted the twins. "Your parents are in the living room. They are waiting for you."

"Thanks. Are you coming downstairs too?" Harry asked.

"Later. Tonks and I'll join Sirius at the Burrow; I guess we'll invite everyone over here for dinner tonight, though."

"Okay, see you then." The three teens waved and Leo and Amy rushed down the stairs, Harry following them.

Some minutes later, Lily, James, Harry, Amy and Leo had settled in a half circle around the fire place of the living room, each having a steaming cup of tea in their hands. On a small couch table between the sofa, Lily and James were sitting on and Harry's armchair stood a plate with a mountain of sandwiches.

They were sitting in silence for a long time. Harry felt as if his senses were heightened to the extreme. He could perceive every single detail of his surroundings with an unusual intensity. The warm porcelain of the mug under his fingers, the crackling of the fire in front of him, the soft rippling of the waves in his tea when he was blowing it cooler, the calm breathing of his parents and brother and sister - his family. With a content sigh, Harry leaned back in the chair and let his gaze go around the room. He had spent the last half hour with his brother and sister. But hadn't really had the opportunity to look at them. Leo was slightly taller than him, with sleek auburn hair and dark forest green eyes. His face looked very similar to the one of his mother - their mother, Harry realized with a smile.

His sister Amy had the typical black, wild Potter-hair, even though it looked more manageable and even pretty, as it flowed in long waves around her shoulders. When the light of the fire hit it in certain angles it had a red sheen to it. When Amy felt the gaze of her brother on her, she turned and grinned broadly at him, her hazel eyes sparkling. Harry couldn't help but grin back at this contagious and slightly mischievous smile. He remembered Hermione noticing that it was the same smile, he usually had and felt his own grin widening at the thought.

His dad - the spitting image of himself. People had always told him how similar he looked to his father. But to see it with his own eyes. The slim and not quite tall man, sitting next to him, had the same unruly and raven black hair he saw every morning when he looked into the mirror. Even though Harry could make out a few single silver hairs between all the black. With a pang of sadness it came to him that even though he had finally met his family now after fifteen years, against all odds and expectations, he still hadn't had them during his childhood, when he had most needed them. With this realization a burning rage against Voldemort ran through him. He had taken away the opportunity to grow up among those wonderful people, people who loved him, people who were his family. Voldemort would pay.

Harry swallowed with difficulty. He didn't want to think of the dark wizard now. All he wanted was to enjoy the reunification with his family and that would not be spoilt by such dark thoughts.

Harry turned around towards his mother and his own brilliant green eyes were looking back at him, eyes full of love and pride. When he was looking at her, he felt as if he was special and for the first time in his life he didn't feel embarrassed or angry for it. He didn't know how long he had looked at Lily, when she spoke up softly.

"I saw you in my dreams."

Harry nodded, a lump building in his throat. He had dreamt of his parents as well, not as often as he would have liked to, but they were his favourite dreams. They always had him feeling a sad contentedness after he woke up.

"Most of the time, I just saw you sleeping," his mother went on. "But I also watched Albus leaving you at my sister and Hagrid giving you your Hogwarts letter. Countless times I saw how you were wandering the corridors at night," she said with a tone somewhere between chiding and fondly. Then she swallowed hard. "But I also witnessed your encounter with Quirrell and Voldemort, your fight with the Basilisk and the night when you cast a Patronus against hundred of Dementors," she whispered in a voice choked with fear.

With a jolt Harry realized that Lily's dreams had been more than just that. They had been similar to the visions he had had due to his connection to Voldemort. He stared at his mother.

"You saw everything that I did during the nights?" he asked dumbfounded, not knowing what to think about his mother's revelation, then he looked inquiringly at his father.

James shook his head, a slight grin on his face. He knew what he would have been worried about, if he had been told something like this, when he was Harry's age. "No, I was there only once. At this graveyard, two years ago, your mother and I were coming out of Voldemort's wand to help you."

Harry's chin nearly hit the floor, so astonished was he. "You... so that was really ... I always thought that had only been images... I don't know ... well, thank you I guess. You saved my life there. Again," he added in a whisper, charged with emotions.

James and Lily were smiling at him sadly, while Amy and Leo were looking at their parents and their brother curiously. Although Lily and James had talked much about the wizarding world and about Harry, they had never said anything about saving Harry at a graveyard.

The next hours passed with Harry, James and Lily mainly talking about what had happened in each of the worlds they had been living in and about the few times when both of these dimensions had been so close to each other that they had influenced one another. The twins were sitting quietly most of the time and listening raptly to all those fantastic and enthralling stories their parents and brother were exchanging.

***

Sirius held out his hand to help Molly keep her balance as she stumbled out of the fireplace in the Burrow. She thanked his with a small, shaky smile. Ron and Hermione were already there. They had gone first to prepare anyone who was potentially sitting in the kitchen not to be scared by Sirius appearing in the fireplace. The room was empty, though and so Hermione and Ron were waiting eagerly for Molly and Sirius to come through.

Being aware that Molly wasn't in the right state to be a good host right now, Sirius asked Ron to make tea for all of them.

"Molly, who is staying here at the Burrow right now?" Sirius asked gently.

"Er... it's only family now. Everyone left after the wedding," she answered automatically, staring at Sirius as if she was still wondering whether she was really talking to him or whether she was imagining it.

"Wedding?"

"Yes, Bill and Fleur Delacour married yesterday," Hermione informed him.

"Oh, that's wonderful Molly. Congratulations!" He smiled friendly at Molly and she returned it somewhat less insecurely. Sirius then cleared his throat and said, "Well I suggest that everyone meets here, so I have to tell the story only once."

Ron offered to floo the twins and get them here to listen to Sirius' story as well.

Five minutes later Arthur, Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Ginny, Fred and George had joined Molly, Sirius, Ron and Hermione in the kitchen.

After having proved his identity to every one present, by transforming into a big black dog, Sirius launched right into his story of what had happened to him after he had fallen through the Veil in the battle at the Ministry.

What Sirius was telling them was almost impossible to believe for all of them and especially Bill and Hermione were extremely interested in the Veil of Death. Bill was asking countless questions on details of the gateway and of the tunnel in the London Underground of the other world. Sirius gave his best to answer all his questions, but between his own not-knowing and the impatience of the other Weasleys to get back to the important parts of his story, Sirius promised Bill that he could ask James and Lily later, and that they surely knew more about it.

Sometime during his relation of the last year's events, Remus and Tonks joined them in the kitchen of the Burrow and Sirius was grateful to have a short break during which Remus was pestered with their questions on how James, Lily and the twins were doing.

During the nearly two hours it took Sirius to tell everything that happened in the last months, his listeners had become more and more used to the idea of James, Lily and him really returning from this other world. Soon Sirius wasn't the one who did most of the talking anymore, but a lively, excited discussion had developed. Everyone was especially looking forward to meeting Harry's family. Remus had told them that he wanted to give the Potters time to catch up and they all had agreed that they would floo over no earlier than seven o'clock. At five minutes to seven, all thirteen witches and wizards lined up in front of the fire place in the Weasley's kitchen and one after the other stepped through, saying "Grimmauld Place" loudly and clearly.