Harry stepped off the Hogwarts Express with a grin as he waved goodbye to his classmates.
"You should come visit over the holiday," Ron complained as the trio waited for the crowd to thin. "It'll be boring without you. I know mum would love to meet you."
"I'll see," Harry said. "But I think my mama will be keeping me busy this summer. I haven't been able to keep up with my apprenticeship while I was in school."
"Well, I'm not sure if Professor Snape will be back to teach Potions next year," Hermione said. "He's been acting very strange these past few months. The other Professors seem worried about him. I know your mum doesn't agree with his curriculum, maybe if he leaves, you won't have to catch up so much over break and we can at least meet up in Diagon at some point?"
"If Snape does finally lose it and quits, maybe your mum can be our new Potions Professor? You said she's a good teacher, right? Bound to be better than Snape." Ron said. Harry wondered if there was anything his mama would hate more than to be trapped in a castle with a bunch of children. He grinned at the thought of Malfoy or the other Slytherins being on the receiving end of her lectures.
"Or, if it would be easier, we could spend some time at your house, Harry. I wouldn't mind sitting in on some of your potion's lessons!"
"Oi! Speak for yourself on that one, Hermione!" Ignoring his bickering friends, Harry looked around the station, spotting his mama's shadowed form hiding in the corner, watching the other parents hugging and cooing over their children in horror.
"Oh!" Harry said. "That's her over there." He pointed.
"She looks… creepy," Ron said.
"Ronald!"
"What! She does. Sorry Harry."
"It's alright. She wouldn't be offended by that." Harry laughed and started to push his trunk in that direction. Before they could get close, they were accosted by a flock of Weasleys converging on their group.
Everyone was promptly hugged and pleasantries exchanged. Harry was a bit overwhelmed by the loud, maternal nature of Mrs. Weasley.
"- And of course Harry dear, you're more than welcome to come visit us over the summer, Ronald's told us so much about you in his letters. Where is your guardian? I'd love to meet her and we can arrange a time -"
Alabasandria appeared on the edge of their group without a sound. There was a brief moment where no one noticed her except Harry before Ron jumped in startled fear and began to curse. Mrs. Weasley began to berate him as the other Weasley children looked over the scene in confusion. Harry giggled at the mischief when an even funnier idea crossed his mind. All the other children were hugging their parents so why shouldn't Harry? It would be a perfect way to solidify their mother/son disguise in front of so many people. And Harry had been forced to suffer through many surprise hugs recently. It was only fair that he shared the horror with his mama.
Alabasandria recognized the impish grin adorning her charge's face but could not react to prevent Harry from wrapping his arms around her in a squeezing embrace.
"MAMA!" He shouted, laughing as she attempted to push him away with a hand thumping against his forehead. While she bristled at such a public and obvious display of affection, Alabasandria let out an indulgent eye-roll and gave him two single pats on the back. Harry obliged her and swept out of the hug, shooting her an innocent smile.
"Harry," she acknowledged with a curt tone.
There was a pregnant pause as their Weasley entourage processed their surroundings before Mrs. Weasley continued talking.
"Oh, you must be Harry's guardian, so lovely to meet you. I'm Molly Weasley, Ron's mother…" Mrs. Weasley carried on for a bit, having an entirely one-sided conversation. Harry bounced up and down excitedly at the thought of seeing his friends and tried to exude how much he wanted his mama to say yes through his frantic hopping.
"You are behind on your studies, Harry." Alabasandria admonished. "And Luna has already written to me to demand some of your time. Plus, you wanted to visit the British Museum, and that is our leisure activity for the summer."
Harry whined and complained and bargained and cajoled and like the spoiled Potter brat he was, his mama finally relented to having his friends over to visit.
...
"Right, is that everything?" Alabasandria asked, a stack of books under one arm.
"I think so," said Harry. "We've got the illegal books and the bone specimens locked away. I sent the ravens out to hunt. The shadows promised to behave. Mum and dad are bothering Professor Snape."
"Good. And I convinced the Grimm there were a lot of cats the next town over. I've reburied the inferi. Hmm - did you get the blood out of your bedroom carpet?"
"Yes. Did you buy the snacks and conjure the swimming pool?"
"Yes. I believe we have everything - oh shit I forgot about the bodies in the basement!"
"The Weasleys and Hermione will be here in ten minutes! Can't you vanish them away?"
"I'm not wasting a perfectly good corpse like that! Besides, it has to sit out a bit. I needed the rotting bones for something. I'll have to go hide it in the forest somewhere." She sighed. "I'll be right back. Take these -" she handed over the books on blood sacrifice - "and hide them somewhere. I should be back before your friends get here but if not, tell them I have… business things to do."
She apparated as Harry began to shove the books in between the couch cushions and in the back of the pantry and under some laundry. There was a knock on the door.
"Hello Harry!" Ron, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley said when he opened it.
"Hi guys. It's good to see you, come on in."
"Is your mum not here?" Mr. Weasley asked politely.
"She's doing adult stuff. Business things," Harry lied confidently.
"Oh, yes, of course," Mr. Weasley said "That does happen. Well, tell her I said hello and thank her for letting Ron stay over. Owl us if you need anything. Behave, Ron." The adult nodded and left. Ron and Hermione looked around the dark cottage with raised eyebrows.
"Your mum has a lot of books," Hermione finally said, her tone hesitant but approving.
She sent Harry a warm smile, relieved when Harry seemed to relax and returned it. To be honest, however, Hermione was not exactly sure how she felt about Harry's house. It was in the middle of nowhere, first and foremost. There were no shops or cinemas or even other houses or people nearby! Just dense, thick trees reminiscent of the Forbidden Forest. The two-story cottage was made of dark wood and foggy windows, the only color being creeping dark green vines and plants winding up and down the walls as though the plant life was trying to reclaim the cottage to the forest.
The inside was both more welcoming and more ominous. It left Hermione with a strange feeling of being inside a haunted house pulled straight from the horror films her parents loved. The ornate floral wallpaper was peeling, the lighting was moody, low creaking noises echoed across the rooms. It was just a touch too cold, leaving her with goosebumps despite the heat of the summer. The shadows were a touch too thick and present, sweeping the corners of the cluttered house into pure darkness. She felt a prickling sensation as though someone was watching her, though when she turned to look, there was never anybody there.
....
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