| completed
| edited
| # 20 in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft of Wizardry 7.11.19
| # 52 in Harry Potter 7.11.19
Throughout history, the word fate has been a word with differing definitions. Some people believed the word to be connected with death...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Inside was surprisingly cool, which made the eight of them cool down very nicely, for their faces were as ripe and red as a tomato. The radio was on, playing a fast tune by the Weird Sisters, and there were columns of robes, socks, and other garments lined up neatly in rows and shelves.
"May I help you?" asked a young woman politely.
"Er—we're looking for dress robes," said James awkwardly.
The woman raised her eyebrows. "Any in particular?" she asked coolly. When James didn't answer, the woman peered into his face closer and gave a small scream. "You're a Potter, aren't you?"
James shrugged. "Yeah. What's it to you?"
"Always the Potter manner. How is your family?"
"My family?" repeated James, bewildered. "What about my family?"
The woman chuckled. "You don't know, do you?"
"Know what, exactly?"
"That I'm a Potter as well."
James stared at her. "You are not."
"All right, I love how this conversation is going here, but shouldn't we buy the dress robes and get out of here, Jamie-boy?" asked Sirius impatiently.
"Yeah, Sirius," replied James absently, but he turned to the woman again. "You're not a Potter. If you were, I would know you."
The woman laughed. "I'm Leanne Potter, your cousin. Our family is so big; you can barely know everyone in it. Mum told me about you—you're James, aren't you? James Henry Potter?"
"No," said James crossly. "If you're really my 'cousin', then who's your mum—my aunt?"
"Why, you mean Mum? She's your Aunt Josie, James, it's quite rude to insult your favorite aunt."
James opened his mouth, but snapped it shut. "No—no, you can't be Aunt Josie's daughter. I've been to Aunt Josie's house at least one hundred times in all my life, and I've never seen you before."
Leanne shrugged. "That's because...Mum barely knew that I was alive too. When I was twelve, you were born. After I graduated from Hogwarts, I left England to travel to the States and other parts of the world. I met a young man by the name of Jonathan Harrison, and he proposed to me a year later. I wrote to Mum frequently, since she was so anxious, but Jonathan died from an accident shortly after we were engaged." She sighed. "I stopped writing to Mum after that. I was so overcome from grief that I couldn't bear to face the world any longer. So I bought a flat in the outskirts of London and lived in seclusion. After I stopped writing, Mum was worried and then came to the conclusion that I was dead."
