Family Heritage -- 1999

Slughorn was a professor at Hogwarts again.  And I needed to know about my family.  I knew my mother and father were dead -- my biological ones.  But Professor Slughorn was technically my grandfather.  I told him to meet me at The Three Broomsticks.  He looked like he was taking in quite a bit of brandy or something of the sort.  I went up to him and sat down.  I had already told him everything in owls -- I was almost worried about how he would react, but he seemed good natured about it, though.

He bounded up and seemed genuinely pleased to see me - but that may have been the brandy.  I smiled nervously and he pulled out a chair for me.  "Hello, sir," I said to him quietly, unsure of what exactly what needed to be said.

When I saw Lincoln Matthews and I stood up quickly.  I pulled the chair out for him and grinned merrily at the boy.  "Hello, my dear boy," I said to him, ordering him up a butterbeer.  I stared at him, not wanting to believe that he was my grandson -- I had kept this all from Mia until I knew for sure.  I did not want to upset her if it turned out to be untrue.

"Do you have everything your father gave to you?" I asked.  I had asked him to bring evidence, which he had no problem with.  Apparently he was being just as cautious as I was about the whole situation.

"Duplicates," I informed him, handing them over to him.  It showed that my mother was Mia Slughorn-Harkness.  The father in the birth certificate was Jack Harkness, but I learned that he was not m biological father.  That had always been Riley Matthews.

I looked at Professor Slughorn as he started to read over the documents.  "Is it speaking of your daughter...?" I asked.

I looked over those documents carefully.  I could not believe it.  Mia's husband was indeed Jack Harkness... poor lad getting murdered because Mia was a blood traitor.  He did not even know she was a witch.  That haunted her... the way I found them both.  I barely got to Mia in time -- she was almost gone, but I was able to bring her back to me.  It was a long road.  I cleared my throat.  "Mr. Matthews... Mia is my daughter," I said to him softly.

I could not believe it.  I had not wanted to think anything of it until I heard Professor Slughorn say it himself.  I stared at Slughorn with... I had no idea the look that was on my face.  "she is?  really?" I questioned.

I nodded and could see the unasked question.  He was intelligent enough to realize that I did not speak of Mia in the past tense, even though we continued to let people believe that she had died.  It was safer that way with war and everything else going on.  At least now... perhaps she could come back out into society as herself rather than someone else.  "Mr. Matthews, Mia is indeed my daughter; I would not tell you otherwise as I am very proud of her," I assured him.  "And yes, I am speaking of her in present tense because... well, the Death Eaters that attacked her and her husband failed at killing her."

I leaned back in the chair and was speechless.  I could not believe that my mother was alive.  I stared at Slughorn and ran a hand through my hair.  "She's alive... why hasn't she done anything?" I questioned, my voice rather quiet.  Did she even try to find me?  Did she know that I was with my dad?  Did she care?

I took a deep breath.   "Lincoln, she was a mess when I found her -- she nearly died," I said to him quietly.  "I made her stay in hiding until she got her strength."  I felt horrid that I did not let my daughter go find her son, but I had to protect my child as well.

I nodded slowly as he spoke.  Alright, that made sense for the most part.  "But when she got stronger and was better?  I sat in a home with the guilt of basically killing my brother... getting abused.. everything.  You and her both could have gotten me out of there," I said, surprised that I was getting riled up.  I normally kept my composure.  "At least the Lupins were kind enough to give me a new home -- a real family."

<< Woot!  700!!! >>

I had not expected him to get so angry or upset.  I did not expect him to be understanding, but I never thought I would feel guilty like I was.  "Lincoln, I am so very sorry to hear all of that happened," I said to him sincerely.  "But it's not that simple nor is it that easy."

I raised my eyebrows.  "Nothing ever is -- I realize that much," I said, "but if there's a child at stake... you never give up and nothing is supposed to get in the way."

I could see the hurt in his eyes that he was trying to hide -- and mostly hid well. "I am so sorry," I said to him. "I know it makes up for nothing nor does it change a thing that happened to you." I sighed, shaking my head. "I know I made a mistake keeping her hidden for as long as I did. But once she was strong enough, she did try to find where you ended up... there just wasn't much record to go off of. it was not like records were kept while You-Know-Who was in power and that was when everything happened."