Family Tradition

Family Tradition

Disclaimer: I own Susana, Emily, Grant and Rose. Nothing Else

Part 11


Harry sat in Dumbledore\'s office trying to make sense of his life. \"I\'m sorry, sir, but I don\'t understand why you didn\'t just take me to my grandparents instead of Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.

Albus sat behind his desk with his fingertips together. \"Remember at the end of your first year I told you that the truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution?\" (SS pg. 298)

Harry nodded.

\"Your aunt was protected because of the blood she shared with your mother, your grandparents, the Evans, were not.\"

He thought for a minute. \"It\'s like I heard one time on television about someone needing a transplant. Their best match is a sibling, not a parent.\"

Dumbledore nodded. Exactly. Your grandparents could have given you their love, but not their protection.\"

Sitting in silence for a few minutes, Harry let everything sink in. Then he spoke again. \"Why did Aunt Petunia tell me they were dead?\"

The elder wizard chuckled. \"You see Harry, Vernon Dursley has always been a pompous twit. The Evans forbid your aunt from marrying him, but she did it anyway. Dursley let it be known quite loudly that he and he alone was Petunia\'s family and they never spoke again. I\'m not even certain they know of your cousin\'s existence.\"

\"Lucky them.\" Harry laughed. Then it all came together. \"They thought I died along with my parents. All of these years, they had no idea. Then out of no where, the Daily Profit showed up in their mail slot and they found out that not only was I alive but had recently married. Who do you think could have sent them that?\" He eyed the Head Master.

\"A snowy white bird perhaps?\" Dumbledore\'s face looked quite mischievous.

\"Indeed. ... May I have permission to go and visit them?\"

\"I\'m afraid that because the school term barely a month old, I cannot allow you to go.\"

Harry was crushed.

\"However, I have extended an invitation to Mr. and Mrs. Evans to visit you here. They shall be arriving tomorrow.\"

Harry jumped from his seat. \"Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.\" He went around the desk and hugged him. \"I\'m going to tell Susana that we\'ll be having company.\"

Dumbledore couldn\'t help but notice that for the second time in Harry\'s young life, he was truly happy.

~~~

Harry was so excited that he didn\'t even see his wife in the Gryffindor common room with Hermione, Ron, Neville and Seamus.

\"Harry!\" She called out to him.

He didn\'t hear her and headed for the stairs.

Without taking her wand out, she pointed at her husband. \"Freeze!\"

Harry suddenly couldn\'t move.

\"I\'m over here.\" Susana snapped her fingers and he could move again. She noticed that everyone was staring at her. \"What?\"

\"How ... How did you do that?\" Neville asked.

Harry walked over to Susana and sat next to her. \"Do what? What did you do?\"

She shrugged. \"I just stopped you from going up the stairs to let you know I was in here.\"

\"You did it without a wand.\" Hermione said. \"And you just said \'Freeze\'.

Susana closed her eyes. \"In America we don\'t use Latin phrases all of the time. I guess you can just say it\'s us being too lazy to learn it so we use English words.\"

\"But what about not using a wand?\" Ron asked.

She bit her bottom lip as she sighed. \"That\'s a family trait. My grandmother, my mother and I all have the ability. It\'s passed from mother to daughter down the line. Normally I use a wand because it freaks people out like it did all of you, but I really don\'t need it.\"

Harry placed his hand on her flat stomach. \"So if you\'re right in you assumption, our daughter will have this power as well.\"

She nodded.

\"What daughter?\" Seamus asked.

The couple looked at each other and both nodded.

\"Susana\'s going to have a baby.\"

Ron chuckled. \"That must have been a very productive wedding night.\" Even though he already knew the truth.

Hermione jabbed him in the ribcage with her elbow. \"Ronald Weasley, you can be so incredibly daft at times.\"

Susana laughed. \"It\'s okay Hermione. And yes, I\'m two weeks pregnant.\"

\"Congratulations to you both!\" Neville shook both of their hands.

\"Thanks Neville.\" Susana turned to Harry. \"So what were you running around like a chicken with its head cut off for?\"

Everyone laughed at her question.

\"Oh!\" How could he have forgotten? \"Dumbledore has invited my grandparents to Hogwarts. They\'ll be here tomorrow.\"

She hugged him. \"Oh sweetheart, that\'s wonderful. I\'m so happy for you.\"

\"Grandparents? Harry, you don\'t have grandparents.\" Hermione reminded him.

\"Yes, I do.\" He related what Dumbledore told him.

Ron stood. \"I say we have a party in our common room. This is incredible news mate. We really need to celebrate.\"

Harry looked at his wife and brushed her hair from her face. \"Feel up for a party?\"

Susana smiled. \"Most definitely.\" She kissed him.

~~~

Grant and Rose Evans rode in the horseless carriage that was taking them to Hogwarts where they would become reacquainted with their grandson. Although they were Muggles, they\'d been to the school before. The first time was when their daughter graduated, then when Lily married James Potter and the last time when Harry was born.

When he was born, Harry had been a chubby, sweet little baby with a dark tuft of hair on his head like his father\'s and his mother\'s beautiful green eyes. From the picture they\'d seen, he\'d grown into a tall, muscular, handsome man with dark hair, green eyes and a lightening bolt scar on his forehead. Put there, they\'d learned, when their Lily had given her life to save his.

Lily was always giving of herself. Even as a child she was kind and loving and selfless. When she received her Hogwarts letter announcing that not only was she a witch, but also would be attending a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, her parents were proud. It explained the unexpected things that would occur when Lily was overly emotional, like when she was six and Petunia was teasing her unmercifully because she was unable to ride a bicycle without training wheels. Petunia\'s bike suddenly halted and she was thrown into the front hedge.

Grant laughed at the memory. His daughters were day and night. Lily loved everyone and everyone loved her. Petunia was an introverted child, except when she tormented her sister. But he loved them the same. He had a beautiful garden. Rose, Petunia and Lily. Then that weed Dursley popped up.

Rose noticed that Grant looked tense. \"What\'s wrong, dear?\"

He shook his head. \"Just thinking about my garden ... and that blasted weed.\" He growled. \"Lily found a real winner in James Potter. He was loving, loyal and trustworthy. Petunia got herself a real dud. Dursley was and is a self-serving bastard.\"

Rose sighed. \"I can only imagine how horrible it was for poor Harry. It\'s bad enough that his aunt hated his mother because she was special but Vernon... And from what I hear, that boy of theirs is just as bad as he if not worse.\"

Grant took his wife\'s hand in his. \"There were circumstances, I\'m certain. You know that Professor Dumbledore had his reasons for hiding Harry with Petunia, but none of that matters now. We have our Lily\'s boy back. That\'s all that matters.\"

~~~

Harry nervously paced the front steps of the castle awaiting the Evans arrival. He\'d wanted Susana there with him, but she suggested that their first meeting should be just the three of them. She would be waiting in the private dining room with her parents and grandparents.

His stomach had butterflies the size of Texas. \"Where are they?\"

He looked down to his feet and then back at the road that came from the main gate. He smiled when he saw the carriage. As soon as it got to the front of the castle, it stopped. He moved to help his grandparents down.

Not sure what to say, he smiled.

When Rose got down from the carriage, she immediately hugged her grandson. \"You have no idea how good it feels to have you in my arms again, Harry.\" Tears formed in her eyes.

\"Probably as good as it feels to be in your arms.\" He choked back.

\"Do I get a turn?\" Grant asked.

Harry\'s smiled got wider as he released Rose. \"Of course.\"

Grant gave Harry a quick but firm hug and then stood back to look at him. \"You look a lot like James, but I see Lily too. Not just the eyes, your features have her softness. James\' were sharper.\"

\"I know. Hagrid gave me an album with pictures of my parents at the end of my first year here

\"Hagrid\'s still here?\" Rose smiled. \"He was one of Lily\'s favorite people. She always said he had the kindest soul of anyone she\'d ever met.\"

Harry nodded. \"He does. Hagrid\'s been a true friend to me.\"

Two House Elves, Dobby being one of them, appeared by the carriage. \"Begging Harry Potter\'s pardon, sir, but you and your most honored guests are expected in the private dining room, sir.\"

Harry nodded. \"Thank you, Dobby.

\"No worries about the luggage, most revered grandparents of the Boy Who Lived. Dobby will be sure most earnestly that all of your belonging be delivered to your accommodations.\"

\"Thank you, Dobby.\" Harry said again.

Harry held his arm out to Rose. \"Shall we?\"

Rose wrapped her arm around her grandson\'s and he led them inside.