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A Thought or Two | ||||||
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Category: Pre-OotP, Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama Warnings: Mental Abuse Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 87 Summary: Auror Spook Kitty Fawley thought the difficult part of her return to the UK would be getting Sirius out of prison and recovering Harry from his Muggle relatives. Turns out that was the easiest thing she would do. To help them, Kitty will delve into a mystery deeper than any she faced in the field. Hitcount: Story Total: 134229; Chapter Total: 4187 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: According to my beta extraordinaire, this chapter is full of fluffy lovely stuff. Her words, not mine. I just wanted to write something happy. MNF |
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Chapter 19: Perfect Kitty and Sirius were lying in the bungalow's chaises, watching Harry and Remus build a sandcastle. Unfortunately for them, the tide had turned and was just beginning to wash onto the shore. Within an hour or so, their castle would be withstanding the full force of the waves. The laughter had long ago drowned Remus' science lesson about strong bases and why damp sand worked better. They'd been in Fiji for two days and had eight more to go, and Kitty thought it might be the most perfect place she'd ever been. It was different from the beaches she'd frequented in New Zealand; here the trees went almost to the edge of the water, and because they were on their own small inlet, the swells were more modest, and no surfers tried to engage the waves. "What happened to that little blue bikini you had on last night?" Sirius asked, taking in her modest one-piece swimming costume with large pink hibiscus flowers on it. They'd all purchased more swimwear when they'd arrived on the island since Remus had none, Harry had just the one pair, Kitty only had two older suits and Sirius just had a tiny red Speedo. Kitty wore one of her old outfits today. "The blue bikini you picked out for me is fine if we are swimming alone at night. However, during the day, I'd prefer not to have Remus see that much of my breasts or bum. It was bad enough having the conversation with Harry this morning about why you have hair on your privates, and he doesn't." “He didn’t ask you that?” Sirius said, rolling onto his side to look at her. "Oh, he did," Kitty confirmed. "He then asked me why your penis took up so much more of your swimsuit than his did. I explained both by saying when he was a grown-up, he would look more like you and Uncle Remus. I was not prepared for these conversations with our four-year-old." “You sure we should be calling it a penis with him?” “What would you have him call it?” Sirius didn’t answer. “Exactly. What I’ve read on the subject says we should call body parts by their proper names.” “So, what do we call your body parts?” he asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “I know what you call my body parts,” Kitty said with a blush and a grin. "However, mine doesn't have a name just yet as he's never asked about them. I have breasts, but he’d uninterested in what’s below; they’re just my privates. I can stay that way until he's older, and then Remus can give him the young wizards talk." “Wait, I want to give it.” "Then, you can do it together.” “Why?” he whined. “I don’t want you to overwhelm the boy with excess information.” “Fine,” Sirius huffed, rolling on his back. Kitty’s thoughts turned back to the nightmare Harry had experienced the night before. She still felt her heart stop at the first of Harry’s blood-curdling screams, but she regained her thoughts faster now. The words he’d mumbled as he had come back to reality hadn’t left her. There was something important about them, she was sure. “Sirius, what do you think Harry meant by snake venom and unicorn blood? How would he even know what those things are?” “Katie, if I knew what they meant, I would tell you,” he said petulantly. “Look, both substances are magical, but you already knew that. There's some potion niggling in the back of my mind that uses them or one of them, at least," Sirius confessed. "It's a memory of something from those bigots I grew up with, but I can’t remember.” “Well, when we get home, we can look in the library,” Kitty said. “I don’t think your family library is going to have what I need,” Sirius confessed. “You have a few questionable books, but nothing truly Dark. Unicorns are protected species because so much of their bodies can be used in Dark spells. Nothing good is coming from a need for unicorn blood.” Before the couple could speak more about illicit potion ingredients, an owl appeared, dropped a group of packages onto the sand next to Kitty, and left. Sirius had already pulled his wand and had it trained on the delivery. Similarly, Remus had picked up Harry and put him on his back, piggy-back style. Kitty took in the scene, not realizing how jumpy they'd all become. Her wand was in her hand, as well. She put her wand back down and looked at the pile. “Relax, that was my father’s owl,” she said. “Hermes never lingers. He’s trained to be at the ready should Daddy need to send important missives. They’ve sent Christmas presents.” "Kitty, Christmas was a long time ago," Harry said. It had only been two weeks, but she supposed it was a long time for a little boy. "Yes, I know," Kitty agreed. "I'm sure they were busy." There was a letter for her, as well as one gift for each of them. It appeared to be books for the gents and something soft for her. Remus' was on French magical beasts, Sirius' about French brooms, and Harry's a book of French children's tales. They were all in French, which only Kitty and Sirius spoke and read. Kitty opened her gift, and it was a scarf. She attempted to look amused at the gifts, but Sirius could see behind her smile. "Well, aren't we all lucky," she said with a smile the men could see through. "Why don't I put these away inside, and then I can get some lunch together.” “You’re going to call Cherry, aren’t you?” Harry questioned her. “No, I am more than capable of making sandwiches and cutting up fruit, Harry.” It came out sharper than she’d wanted, turning, and taking the presents and went inside. Remus found her crying in the small kitchen. “You don’t need to hide in here to cry,” he said softly, hugging his friend. “I don’t want Harry to see me upset.” “He knows you’re upset, that’s why I’m here with you and not Sirius. Sirius is telling Harry a story about Monty and Fee and how they cared for the two of you when you were in school.” “My parents didn’t beat me, not like Orion and Walburga —” "No, but they weren't there much, were they? You were dropped off at King's Cross for the first few years by your governess and then by the Potters. I don't think they ever saw you off." "The ICW courts began their sessions on September first. Once Daddy was working in diplomacy, he had to be there. It wasn't bad, Madame Allard had been with me since I was six, so having her drop me off made sense,” Kitty said. "Compared to Harry or Sirius, there was nothing wrong with my childhood." Remus looked at her with sadness. "I don't want Harry to suffer because neither Sirius nor I know what to do with a small child, not in the way we should." “Kitty, you’re remarkable with Harry; better than you think you are. When I watch you with him, I don’t see your governess, I see Fee. You were the daughter she always wished to have. Whatever pain your parents might have inflicted, are still inflicting, know you were loved by the Potters.” “You’re a brilliant friend, you know,” she said, still a little weepy, but better than before. “I went years without crying, now I’m a faucet.” “Ice Princess Kitty isn’t you, regardless of who you think you need to be. You only wear that skin because you think it will please your parents. You’re nearly twenty-five, stop trying to please them,” Remus said gently. “I’m, it’s, uh, it isn’t like that,” she stammered. “I don’t wear her like skin.” “Kitty, you do. When you’re home with us, you’re someone much more natural. There are moments when I need to remind myself Fee is gone, and it’s you there tying Harry’s shoelace or holding his face to tell him he’s loved. That is the real Kitty, Kitty Potter. Go out with Sirius and Harry, let them know you’re okay. I’ll put lunch together.” Kitty wanted to object, but her mind was too full of other things. She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek and went out to be with her boys. Looking up at the sky, she whispered to her dead friends, “I’m trying. I want to be what you’d be for him. Give me a nudge if you think I need it. Miss you.” After their beach holiday, it was hard to return to reality, but staying in Fiji for the winter wouldn't have been responsible. Remus still had other students to tutor. Additionally, he was now going to be teaching Neville, Ron, and Ginny too. At Christmas dinner, Harry told anyone who would listen about his tutoring and all the things he was learning. By the end of the night, Molly and Augusta were begging Remus to take on their sons. Ginny wormed her way into class, saying she was just as smart as the boys and deserved to learn. She was the only one able to read full sentences when Remus tested her, so she stayed with the group. Today is Remus' birthday, and his four young charges wanted to have a surprise party for him. Harry politely asked Cheery to make him his favorite cake — lemon cake with raspberry filling and whipped cream on top — so they could sing for him. Kitty and Sirius encouraged the young quartet, seeing how it was Remus' twenty-fifth birthday. At Harry's not so subtle cue of "Now!" the children began singing while Kitty and Sirius brought the cake and gifts out. “For he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow and so say all of us!” Remus was quite surprised and touched his little pupils would think of him. With cake and milk served to the children, and cake and tea for the adults, Remus began opening his presents. Neville had purchased a lovely quill for him that automatically refilled the ink. “Neville, how practical. Thank you so much.” “Uncle Algie helped me buy it. I told him you write lots of things, so a quill was a good gift,” Neville explained, puffing out a bit. Remus had seen a real improvement in his attitude since starting. He was more willing to raise his hand and answer questions while still being a kind and thoughtful child. "It is thank you very much." Remus next opened the package from Ron and Ginny and was pleased to find a pair of socks Molly must have knitted. They were red with a lion face on them. “Sorry they’re homemade,” Ron said. “We don’t have lots of money to spend on things.” Ron was looking down at his plate, pushing the crumbs around it. “Ron, Ginny, I love these socks! I like that your mum made these just for me. Did you help pick out the wool or the pattern?” Remus gently asked. “I knew you were in Gryffindor,” Ginny piped up, “just like my big brothers.” “You’re right, I was in Gryffindor, and I am immensely proud of that.” “She wanted to put a Snitch on them,” Ron said sheepishly, “but I reminded her you didn’t play Quidditch. It was Sirius who did.” "I only mentioned that once, good remembering Ron. Just like Neville put thought into his gift, it sounds like your sister, your mum, and you put thought into this gift. That's what makes something special." "Here, Uncle Remus, open this one," Harry said, pushing the box he had wrapped toward his uncle. "Auntie Kitty and Uncle Sirius helped me with it." Remus lifted the lid to find a picture frame made of shells surrounding a picture of the four in Fiji. They were posed around the best of the sandcastles that Harry and Remus had produced. Kitty had a special enchanted camera that hovered in the air like a Quaffle so they could all be in the picture. They waved at the camera, and just before the flash went off, Sirius turned to kiss Kitty's cheek. “This is wonderful,” Remus gushed. "Yup and Sirius and Kitty said that every year when we go back, we can take a new one. We can have a new picture of our family every year.” “Harry, I think that’s the best idea I’ve ever heard. Thank you,” he said as he pulled his nephew to him and hugged him tightly. When the little students went home for the day, the family dressed for dinner, as Kitty liked them to do on special occasions. They feasted on steak and kidney pie, Remus’ favorite, and then a special chocolate and cinnamon tart for pudding. After they’d all eaten, Kitty and Sirius handed their friend a scroll. Unsure what it could be, he removed the ribbon and unfurled the paper. “This is too much,” he murmured. “No, it’s not,” Sirius said. “You’ve been eyeing them up in the Muggle papers for months. “A used one, not a brand new one.” “Think of it having extra years to enjoy it,” Kitty said. “You’ll be happy to know I’ve made some special magical modifications,” Sirius said. “Please tell me it doesn’t fly.” Remus looked worried by Harry was delighted by the idea. “Of course, it flies,” Sirius said. “What would be the point of having a car if it didn’t fly.” Remus went to the windows to see an Audi 200 sitting near his home. It was in the dark blue he’d been thinking about. He wanted it just to go to town or out somewhere that didn’t involve magic. One of his families was worried about him walking to their home in the poor weather. He was also loathed to tell his friends that doing magic, like Disapparation, was very hard for him after his monthly change. If there was an emergency, he wanted a way to get from here to there. He guessed that problem was solved. |
| Reviews 87 |
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