Ginny couldn't help but stare at the letter that temptingly offered her a faint hope of sanctuary, deep down inside she knew it would never come to pass. Auntie Muriel wouldn't allow it and her mother was going to explode the instant she discovered who had bought the Burrow.
She had her eyes well and truly opened by her mother's outrageous reaction to Harry Potter, though surprisingly it was Hermione Potter who drastically changed Ginny's outlook on the world.
Her mother had been teaching Ginny to cook, clean and sew as if that was all there was to a witch's life, the woman had the future all mapped out for her only daughter. Find the right man, preferably the aforementioned famous Harry Potter, settle down and play house while raising her grandbabies. For more than one reason, their visit to Hogwarts had blown that pipedream into tiny little pieces.
Ginny had watched in wonder as Hermione Potter had defeated not only her mother, but Percy and then physically floored Ron. As if that wasn't enough the young witch then faced down McGonagall and Dumbledore, all in defence of her husband. The fact that the girl was almost the same age as Ginny blew her mind.
She now understood that the mother she'd considered to be a powerful witch was nothing more than domineering women who bullied weaker people. Ginny may only be ten but the Hogwarts incident had already set her mind about how she wanted to grow up, she didn't want a husband that needed his shed as a refuge for some peace and quiet.
Hermione Potter was now the new role model of what Ginny Weasley aspired to be. Hermione was no stay at home wife, rather a full partner in a marriage who was going to be at her husband's side, facing everything that came their way together.
Her crush on the boy-who-lived would probably always linger, not helped by Luna writing that he was really nice to talk to, though her mother's wish to have Harry Potter as a son-in-law was certainly not going to come true now.
Ginny was currently holding an invitation to stay with her friend and meet the girl who made such a big impression on her. Hermione Potter was awesome, though as the wife of the boy who lived, Ginny supposed she should have expected no less.
With a voice that could do as much nerve damage as a Cruciatus curse, her Auntie Muriel was on her case, again!
"Ginevra, it's rude enough of you to receive post at the dinner table, but to then read it while everyone is still eating is the height of bad manners. If the letter is so important that it couldn't wait, then you should share it with the entire company."
Ginny decided to give it her best shot, "My friend Luna has invited me to spend the weekend with her…"
She never got to say any more as the voice actually increased in its power to inflict pain, "Absolutely not! It's going to take me all my time to instruct you on how to behave like a proper young lady without you undoing all my good work by cavorting around the countryside with that Lovegood girl. For her own sake, that child should be placed in an orphanage. Xeno Lovegood couldn't raise dandelions in his garden, far less a daughter. You will not be spending time with that girl ever again."
Ginny had tears slowly running down her cheeks, "May I be excused?"
Muriel was merciless, "No you may not! We don't waste food in this house. You will finish your dinner and then assist with the washing-up. It's time for you to grow up, we should already be looking to get you betrothed."
Arthur couldn't take it anymore and left the table, heading straight out the room, his actions though just made Muriel worse.
"How am I supposed to teach the child manners when the parent behaves like that? The sooner you all leave here and it's just young Ginevra and I, the better. Now what else does that letter say?"
Ginny was trying to get hold of herself, "Luna met the people who bought the Burrow," everyone was now silent as their eyes were glued to the littlest Weasley, awaiting the news. None of them were prepared for what came next. "It was the Potters!"
There was mayhem until Bill shouted them down, "Quiet!"
Percy couldn't let it go though, "But Bill, they stole our home!"
"They didn't steal anything and, had you said that in public, mum and dad could have ended up in court. They bought our land at a very fair price, the only other offer on the table was from Lucius Malfoy and was almost a tenth of the one our family accepted. Malfoy wanted to publicly rub dad's nose in it, he probably made sure all of his 'friends' wouldn't bid either. Without the other offer from the Potters, none of you would have been able to return to school."
Ron still didn't get the point, "But they're living in our house!"
It was a still tearful Ginny who answered him, "Our house is completely gone, Luna said they removed every trace of it and are building from scratch."
There were now tears in almost every eye at that revelation, the Burrow held a lot of happy memories for all of them, there was no going back now.
Arthur rather decisively marched back into the dinning room that now had the atmosphere more akin to a funeral parlour, "Boys are you packed?" After receiving nods all round he turned to Ginny, "I have another option for you princess, would you like to stay with Luna?"
Ginny had trouble believing what she was hearing so wanted to make sure there were no mistakes, "You mean instead of here?"
Her father's nod had her diving out her seat and straight into his waiting arms, bugger asking her aunt's permission to leave the table, she was leaving this entire nightmare.
Molly just looked at her husband for confirmation, "I just spoke to Xeno on the floo, he would be delighted if Ginny stayed there. Luna has been withdrawing in to herself more and more since her mother died and he thinks this is the very thing to help both of our daughters. I feel bad enough having to leave Ginny behind but couldn't live with myself after seeing how unhappy she is here?"
Muriel was raging, "That child will grow up spoilt if you give in to her every whim, a touch of discipline is what she needs, not pampering."
With that comment Arthur lost any doubts that he'd made the right decision, "I don't think 'pampered' could be used to describe any of my children, you seem more than wiling to administer the discipline Muriel but there is no love in this house to balance it out. You are welcome to raise any children you have, however you see fit but mine will be raised the way I want. Weasleys let's go, we're spending the night at the Leaky Cauldron before going our separate ways in the morning."
It was as if Arthur had performed an exorcism on the room, there were suddenly smiling redheads hurrying to collect their trunks in case their father changed his mind or they got left behind.
Molly hadn't said a word, her opinion had neither been asked for nor required. Even she though had a smile on her face at the thought of getting out of here. She hated to think how Ginny would have turned out living with Muriel and was thankful to the Lovegoods that they no longer had to find out.
-oOoOo-
It was a jovial breakfast in the Granger house, Emma had thought the location of their new home was beautiful and had immediately fell in love with Luna. Her mothering instinct had kicked into high gear at first sight of the little blond waif, and yet when Luna smiled she was pure sunshine that lightened your heart.
Sirius had taken a fair bit of ribbing as 'Stubby', he was so shocked by Luna's autograph request that the marauder let slip he'd used his likeness of the star to woo the 'occasional' young lady. Harry had literally been rolling on the ground with laughter.
Dan was desperate to find some 'Hobgoblin' memorabilia just to wind Sirius up. Since they were all heading for the Leaky Cauldron so the kids could floo to Hogsmead, Harry had slipped Dan some gallons to buy whatever he could find in the Alley.
They were asking Sirius if they needed to turn a room of the new house into a recording studio when he reminded the Potters he would be getting a new wand today. Both wisely decided upsetting a marauder was maybe not the best thing to do so toned the ribbing down.
The group had just entered the Leaky Cauldron when they heard someone calling their names, a hyper-excited Luna practically pounced on them. "What are you doing here? My friend Ginny is coming to live with me, isn't that great? Hermione, why have you got your wand out?"
Hermione had spotted Molly Weasley and her wand was in her hand without conscious thought on her part, "It's simple Luna, that woman has twice tried to accost my husband, there will not be a third time!"
Hermione's eyes contained a fierceness that frightened anyone who saw her. Dan was likening it to a western movie as people were quickly cleared a path between his daughter and that woman. He turned to his wife and couldn't believe what he saw, mild mannered Emma Granger was like a coiled spring, ready to pounce on the Weasley woman. Dan wrapped his arm around her waist, "Easy honey, the kids have this under control."
Her eyes were smouldering as Emma growled, "She makes one move toward them and she's mine!"
The sheer emotion in her voice left Dan wondering whether to be frightened or ask the proprietor if he had a vacant bedroom to let as soon as the kids headed off to school. He was currently leaning heavily toward the second option, this was a side of his wife he'd never seen before and he liked it, Dan liked it a lot!
Sirius was surprised at how many people were in the pub on a Monday morning until he noticed most of them were eating breakfast. The marauder was trying not to laugh at the wizarding public being scared by a not yet twelve-year-old witch, that was until he looked at said witch. The tip of her wand was actually glowing with power and only Harry's arms wrapped around his wife's waist was preventing Hermione from attacking.
Arthur Weasley knew there was more chance of his wife resisting the last piece of chocolate cake on the plate than there was of her not causing a scene here this morning, he acted quickly and decisively. He pushed Molly firmly into a seat and had a full body bind curse on her before she had time to do anything more than try to kill him with a look. He then took Ginny by the hand and walked slowly toward the Potters.
"Lord and Lady Potter, I would like to apologise on behalf of my family for all the trouble we've caused you."
They both had liked Arthur in the last timeline but Molly had led him around by the nose, after watching what he just did both were impressed that the balding man had finally grown a pair where his wife was concerned.
"Mr Weasley, I would like to apologise that you and your eldest son both lost your jobs over this incident. We wanted the guilty punished though feel it has went too far. Neither of you were involved in any of the incidents yet still had to shoulder blame."
Arthur gave Harry a slight bow of thanks, "Can I assume that's why you made the generous offer you did on our land?"
Harry shook his head, "We only offered what we considered was a fair price sir, the Potters are not the Malfoys and don't look to profit from the misfortune of others. My honour dictated the price sir."
Luna noticed that Hermione was starring daggers at Ginny and attempted to break the ice, she grabbed her friend and pulled her forward. "This is Ginny, my best friend who's coming to live with me."
Harry and Hermione's relationship had developed over the years to the point where they could hold conversations with merely a glance, this was one of those times when that ability came in handy. They'd both become resigned to meeting Ginny with Luna this weekend, with her now taking up permanent residence in the Lovegood's home it became a whole different ballgame. Their intention was for Luna to spend a lot of time in their new home, a plan that since meeting Luna, both Granger parents wholeheartedly agreed with. The problem was that, largely thanks to them disrupting the timeline, Ginny would now be there as she and Luna were both going to be a package deal from now on.
Hermione gave the slightest nod of her head, there was no way the Potters would abandon Luna so they were just going to have to put up with a ten-year-old Ginny. Both hoped that her change of environment would curb some of her less attractive qualities that appeared later in life.
"Ginny, like your father and eldest brother, you were not involved in either of the incidents. Being Luna's friend is also a big plus with us so let's count this as the first time we've met. Hi, I'm Harry Potter and this is my wife Hermione."
The 'eep' that Ginny emitted only needed her elbow being submerged in a butter dish to have a happy memory slap Harry squarely in the face. Thinking back to those days that hadn't actually happened yet, he couldn't help but reach the conclusion that the young girl's crush was just that, a crush. Whether it had been manufactured or manipulated in the timeline was another thing altogether, Harry could see that Ginny living with Luna might be good for both of them.
Hermione squeezed his arm, "We have to move love or we're going to be late. We didn't even get our timetables so don't know what subject is first this morning"
They said cheerio to everyone and promised to see them at the weekend, trying not to laugh at Xeno Lovegood, having cornered Sirius to obtain an exclusive regarding when "Stubby' was getting the band back together.
Luna called out to them before they headed off, "Hey, you can floo to our house if you want, then we can walk over to the site? It would save you having to take a car as you could leave from here."
That sounded an excellent suggestion and they made arrangements to visit on Saturday, everyone began heading off to their destinations as Arthur returned to his still cursed wife. He wisely decided to remove her wand before lifting the spell, an enraged Molly was bad enough without giving her a wand to use on him.
-oOoOo-
The Weasleys were at the castle gate talking with Remus, the 'new' rules meant this was as far as Bill could go. Their conversation was loudly interrupted by one Harry Potter.
"Hey Moony, how are you? Padfoot wants to know if you managed to liberate a certain piece of parchment from Filch's office yet?"
Remus was laughing, "Morning Harry and Hermione, give me a break. I've not had time."
"But Moony, Padfoot said you guys were the best. Surely you don't need the son of Prongs and his wife to show you how it's done?" Harry's voice changed down a few octaves, "My father worked on that and I want it, there is so little left to remind me of him."
Hermione's entire attention was on a pair of twins who were currently trying to give the impression of not hanging on every word spoken and failing miserably. Both of them were staring at each other with expressions that were easy to read, having been caught completely off guard.
The twin's position had left the Potters in a quandary. As far as they were concerned Molly, Percy and Ron were all black and white cases while the rest of the family were cloaked in varying shades of grey, in their original timeline Fred had already been dead before the Weasley betrayal took place. George had been in the courtroom and, while he didn't speak in their defence, he certainly didn't say anything against them either. For all they knew, George could quite possibly never have spoken another word since his twin died fighting that night.
This was an opportunity for them to make the first move, they'd dangled the 'marauder's' carrot in front of them to see if they would offer up the map. They'd given it to Harry in his third year before they knew the marauders identities, it was now up to them whether they approached the couple or not.
Harry added some sweetener, "I assume you are Bill Weasley, I would like to offer our apologies on you losing your job over this. It really isn't fair considering you weren't even in the country at the time, I offered the same apology to your father before we left the Leaky Cauldron."
Ron just couldn't resist, "I'll bet you did Potter, arrange for them to lose their jobs so you can buy our house out from under us!"
Harry did well to resist killing the bastard there and then, the only thing stopping him was that it would be too quick. He didn't need a masters in divination to see that there was going to be suffering in Ronald Weasley's future. "That would be a very Slytherin thing to do, wouldn't it? Since my wife and I are both Gryffindors it would appear the hat sorted you into the correct house after all."
Ron looked ready to explode at Harry's comment but Bill's glare held him in check before the eldest Weasley brother accepted Harry's apology.
"See you later Moony, tell Hagrid we'll be down some time this week for a visit." The couple headed off leaving Ron and Percy furious while the other three redheads were deep in thought, though for different reasons.
-oOoOo-
All noise stopped as the Potters entered the great hall and headed straight for Neville, they had discussed what might happen on their return and were pretty confident of their predictions.
Dumbledore would act all serene, as if a couple of first years returning to school was not something a man of his importance needed to concern himself with. They were also pretty sure 'turban Tom' was going to sit back and allow them to do as much damage as they could, it was all good in his book. The doppelganger though was unaware that the Potters had already read the book and were changing its ending. The chances of Snape being serene or sitting back were so low you would need an electron microscope to catch a glimpse of them, the Potters weren't wrong about any of the trio.
Dumbledore and Quirrell were still at the staff table while Snape was hurriedly making his way toward them, his cloak action was impressive.
Emma had asked why they were going after Snape if he was on their side, it didn't take any thought on Harry's part to provide an answer. "His last act led directly to me walking alone into the forest to die, part of me wonders if he died happy knowing that. He may have been on our side but that doesn't change the fact that he was and is an unmitigated bastard who revelled in his role of punishing us just a bit too much for keeping up appearances sake. While we don't necessarily want him dead, we certainly don't want him as part of our lives in any way, shape or form. Dumbledore falls into the same category, he's an obstacle that will try to block our path so needs to be removed."
Snape was now standing directly behind the boy, "Potter, I really don't appreciate the lies you spread about me in the newspaper. I demand an apology, with a full retraction to be printed before the week is out."
Harry stood slowly and turned to face the professor, comforted by the knowledge that Hermione had his back covered. "Professor, I don't appreciate the fact that a marked death eater not only escaped Azkaban, but is now working in an educational establishment. The headmaster said he trusted you and that was all it took for your freedom while my godfather languished in that awful place without even a trial. Just what is your 'special relationship' with the headmaster that drove him to save your arse? Did you know Gellert Grindelwald was also a 'special friend' of his? It would appear our headmaster has a taste for the dark side."
Severus was calling on all his years of experience not to strike this little bastard down where he stood, only McGonagall appearing at his side tilted the balance. He was well aware she wanted him out the castle, without Dumbledore's protection and Slughorn coming to Hogwarts, one more mistake would see him kicked out. He stormed out the hall, nearly bowling over the returning Weasleys. One sight of the youngest redhead wearing Slytherin robes almost pushed him over the edge, "Detention with me tonight Weasley, we set a higher standard in Slytherin house, and wearing our breakfast on our robes is unacceptable."
Albus was stunned by the knowledge Harry possessed, he was sure the number of people who knew that particular piece of information about him and Gellert could be counted on the fingers of one hand. He was pleased to see Minerva ask the boy some questions as he, like the rest of the hall, participated in the latest form of Hogwarts entertainment, Potter watching.
Minerva was handing them their timetables and asking the question everyone wanted answered, "Mr Potter, you seem particularly well informed for someone so young and with so little contact with our world?"
Hermione smiled and stood beside her husband, "As an educator you must know that it's the quality of knowledge that's more important than the quantity. We had a very interesting visit from someone who is writing a book on the headmaster. They shared their research in exchange for Harry telling his story and allowing it to be used. He made sure to tell them to leave room to cover the court case when Harry and Sirius press charges over mistreatment, mismanagement or sheer incompetence of his actions. Did you know his nose is that shape because his brother broke it at their sister's funeral?"
Minerva was as shocked as the rest of the hall at this morning's revelations, any book that aired Dumbledore's dirty laundry and had an interview with Harry Potter was destined to be an instant best seller. The witch didn't have the same-sex prejudices that some people possessed, she just didn't need the image of Albus and Severus together in her mind when she'd just eaten breakfast. She knew Albus had a brother and was aware there was bad blood between them, Minerva had no idea it had lasted as long or that it ran so deep. A book and a court case could ruin the headmaster, strangely enough that idea did not cause her as much pain as it would have done even a month ago.
As the Potters sat back down and Neville began introducing them to their Gryffindor year mates, Minerva noticed Albus leaving the staff table. He'd waited years on Harry coming to Hogwarts, only to find that he was nothing like Albus, or any of them had imagined. She suspected his next move would be to cast aspersions that the boy was turning dark, Minerva had seen his new family and would violently refute those suggestions. Just because the boy wasn't willing to be the headmaster's puppet didn't mean he was turning dark, this couple had minds of their own and Minerva couldn't wait to get them into her class, she was so looking forward to teaching them.
Ron sat at the end of the Slytherin table, paying no attention to the gap that appeared between him and his fellow housemates. He was too busy concentrating on trying to cram in another breakfast before his first Hogwarts lesson, the fact he had no idea what or where that lesson was had no chance of permeating his brain while there was still food on the table.
-oOoOo-
Harry and Hermione had a brilliant day and all the first year Gryffindors were invited back to their quarters for a look-see after dinner. Hermione was a lot more relaxed this time around without the burning need to prove herself that had alienated the young girl from her peers in the first place. As a married girl, especially with Harry as her husband, Parvati and Lavender thought she was the coolest witch in the school.
Harry fond himself getting along better with Dean and Seamus this time around as well as a more confident Neville. Since there was no competition with Ron determined to claim Harry Potter exclusively as his best mate, there was a much more relaxed and comfortable atmosphere between the first year Gryffindors.
They had breezed through their classes, helping their fellow Gryffindors and amassing a bucket load of house points along the way. Harry felt no sense of guilt or that they were cheating, Hermione had known all the answers the first time around. The difference now being that she wasn't almost dislocating her shoulder by franticly shooting her hand in the air every few minutes, while determined to impress the professors with her knowledge.
The potters had certainly made an impact on Hogwarts.
Albus was drinking his cocoa while trying to figure out his next move, he'd spent ages on his knees with his head in the floo, calling in favour after favour in an attempt to discover this mysterious author's identity. Any book mentioning Ariana, Abe and Gellert would have to be suppressed for the greater good, painting him in a bad light at this particular time would be very bad for the wizarding world.
His biggest problem though was that the Potters had not only read the material but apparently believed it to be true, the fact that it was true mattered not a jot in Dumbledore's grand scheme. What was really important was getting the Potter lad into his sphere of influence, that Harry seemed hell bent on destroying any influence Albus had just added a degree of difficulty to the task.
Ron Weasley was currently taking an eyeball from one jar, polishing it by hand before replacing it into another jar. It was a dirty, mind-numbingly repetitive task that provided plenty of time to ponder on the root of all his troubles, the Potters.
He'd tried late last night to see if the offer of staying with loony was open to him as well, his father had killed that idea stone dead. If Ron wanted to be home schooled then his Auntie Muriel was his only other option. After spending a short time there he was more convinced than ever that anything had to be better than that.
He'd watched with envy as the Gryffindor students had all obviously enjoyed their classes and sat together for their meals, Ron was being treated like a pariah in Slytherin with not one person speaking to him the entire day.
His jealousy grew when he watched all the Gryffindors leaving together while he headed off to detention. As Neville jokingly hit Harry on the arm, one thought kept repeating in Ron's mind, 'that should have been me!'
Percy Weasley was also consumed with jealousy, sitting in the common room while Oliver Wood headed out to perform his prefect rounds with Penelope Clearwater left the boy seething with rage. The twin badges of Quidditch Captain and Prefect on Oliver's robes almost made Percy physically sick with envy. He also knew exactly who to blame for him currently being badgeless, the Potters.
His father had told him to let this be but that was not going to happen, Percy's honor demanded revenge and that's exactly what it would have. He had trouble planning it at the moment though as his imagination just kept flashing up images of Oliver and Penelope holding hands by the end of their rounds. One phrase kept repeating itself over and over in his mind, 'that should have been me!'
Draco Malfoy was not a happy snake, as if being punched out in the great hall by that squib Longbottom wasn't bad enough, he now had to share a dorm with a blood traitor Weasley. Like everyone else he'd watched on, enraptured by the drama of the Potters returning to Hogwarts. Then, like a good little Slytherin, he'd written it all down and owled it off to daddy. Draco couldn't help but feel envious of all the attention the Potters received, at the back of his mind he couldn't deny his greatest wish, 'that should have been me!'
Neville left the Potters with the rest of the Gryffindor first years before the curfew. He had all his homework done, read over the material needed for his classes tomorrow and had a fun time with his friends. He was so surprised yet very, very happy with his lot in life. One thought kept playing over in his mind, 'Gran will never believe this is happening to me!'
Harry and Hermione were just about to head into their bedroom when a loud knock on their door had them wondering what was going on. Hermione drew her wand and held it down at the side of her leg while Harry answered the door to a pair of redheaded twins.
"Could we talk to you a moment?" Fred asked nervously.
Harry was unsure if they were nervous about meeting them or because a suit of amour with a sharp looking sword was currently blocking the passageway. "It's ok Charles, we've got it from here." The suit of armour moved to allow the twins to enter as Harry held the door open for them.
The hesitantly entered before Fred gushed, "Look, this is awkward and we don't usually do awkward but our dad and Bill don't seem to have a problem with you two so why should we?"
George was nodding is head in agreement as he reached into is robes, only to be stopped by Hermione's wand almost touching his nose, She gave a resigned shrug. "It's not as if we don't trust you, well actually it is. Let's just see how we get on when you remove your hand from there, if it has a wand in it then your brother will be carrying you back to your dorm."
George slowly removed a piece of parchment from his robes, "We couldn't help but overhear you this morning and believe this rightfully belongs to the son of Prongs."
Fred was delighted to see the wand lowered from his twin's face, "We were hoping you would let us borrow it occasionally when we're involved in things that we don't particularly want to get caught doing."
Harry's whole face had lit up, "Gentlemen, I have no problem agreeing with your request since the map was constructed solely for that purpose."
George noticed Hermione still hadn't put her wand away, "You don't trust many people, do you?"
She shook her head, "Experience has taught us to be careful of whom we trust, too many people want to get to know us to serve their own agendas." Both twins glanced nervously toward one another, "Ok, out with it. Why are you really here?"
They could tell Hermione wasn't really annoyed with them, yet! There was a hint of steel in her voice that didn't rule out she might be very soon. Fred pushed ahead, "We were hoping you could introduce us to the marauders, they're rather heroes of ours."
Hermione chuckled, "Aw shit, Padfoot's head is going to get even bigger."
Harry couldn't help but smile at these two, he'd liked them from the first moment he'd met them and they were by a very wide margin his favourite Weasleys. He took the map and activated it, "Leave it with me guys and I'll see what I can do, the corridor is currently empty so you should head back before you get caught out after curfew."
George took the comical hump to Harry's implied slur, "I'll have you know the Weasley twins are never caught out after curfew. What do you think we are, a couple of amateurs?"
Fred added a proviso, "Besides we're the best beaters in Hogwarts and Ollie would never do anything that might see us kicked off the Quidditch team."
As they watched them leave, the Potters knew dealing with Molly, Percy and Ron would now require a degree of subtlety. That was ok, they could do subtle.
A quick check showed a dot marked Peter Pettigrew was currently in the Slytherin first year's dorm, both wondered what effect it would have on Dumbledore if a death eater other than Snape was found hiding in his school, they intended to find out.
With a 'mischief managed' the couple headed for bed.