Reunion -- August 1997

I would be starting my fifth year at Hogwarts this year and I could not wait... well, I was a bit nervous since it was OWLs, but at the same time, I was not worried.  Remus told me about the details of what happened that Padfoot was in St. Mungo's in a coma and Prongs and LIly were alive!  And they have a daughter!  I bade goodbye to Mum, knowing I would probably get home at a late time in the evening, I went over to where the Potters lived.  This would be interesting.  I saw that everyone was already there -- I was surprised to see Dean, Lenni, and Ember.  They had a lot on their plates with Padfoot being in the coma and all.

I just walzed in because, well, I could.  "The party can start; I'm here," I teased, seeing Dean roll his eyes and I winked at him.  We got along decently well.  okay, really well.  It was great.  I saw some confusion on Lily and Prongs' face and was not sure if they were expecting me.  But I was part of hte family adn I was going nowhere.

Being with Elena meant that I got to be involved in a huge, disfunctional, not even real family.  And I loved it.  Reminded me of my own family, really.  I was at Grimmauld Place.  This whole scenario was a bittersweet situation.  I went up to Elena's room and knocked on the door.  "Lenni?  If you don't want to go meet Faith and your aunt and uncle, you know they'd understand with everything," I said to her softly as I cracked open the door.

I took a deep breath and continued to walk around, a forced smile on my lips. There were people over, a lot of people. Too many of them. How did mum and dad expect me to be able to handle all of this when I was only used to being around much smaller crowds and the same person in a small prison literally my entire life? Even my room here seemed huge, let alone the house as a whole. I had no social skills and it showed. I decided to look for Evan and inform him that I could not do this, even if I was a Potter, but I had lost him in the crowd. I took some deep breaths to calm myself down. Where was Evan?

It was amazing how the family had grown.  Sirius and Ember had two kids... and they both were dating.  Remus and Chloe had Will and Lucy... and each of them had dates.  And then Remus's little half-sister, Penelope, was there with her boyfriend.  Some random kid walked in and I had no idea who he was.  But then I noticed slight features about him that reminded me of Remus... another child?  No, Remus and Chloe would have said something.  No, that had to be his brother... something was mentioned in that area I thought.  Then, in addition, Pettigrew's son was there.  He was there with Dean, really.  They were mates.  Like is should be, I supposed.  I just hoped that the kid -- Jetty -- would not reveal what I had done to myself before the rescue.

There was a total of twenty-ish people at the manor.  It was lovely seeing everyone and I seemed to jump right back into being the center of attention... but no one knew the agonizing mess I was on the inside.  I made sure I wore a long sleeved shirt; I did not want anyone to see my scars that were on my forearms.  They were relatively fresh, so I did not want them to realize that I had given up so recently.  I even hid them from Lily still.  At least, I tried.  If she noticed them, she did not say anything.

I ran a hand through my hair as I sat next to my sister, my arm around her lovingly.  A smile was plastered onto my face.  I was not entirely sure if I was okay with all the touching, but I used to be, so I had to be right then, too.  I had to look like I had it all put together - for the sake of my family and mates.  I could not think of anything better than everyone being together like this... I just had not expected myself to be as much of a wreck on the inside.

"You mean that sleeze ball Jeremy tried hitting on you while Sirius was in Azkaban?!" I said, shocked at the stories that Ember were catching us up on.  Okay, she did not say it quite like that, but I knew exactly what Taylor had been up to.  "You're talking your ex-Jeremy, right?"

I had been trying to take care of everyone as per my usual routine. It seemed like something I should try to do as my kids were around the house. I saw Harry and Ginny a little bit as they were around the house, I had seen Faith, and Evan. I have no recollection as to where the hell they went too. James was chatting to Ember as I overheard what he said. " Taylor really was trying eh?...How did the kids take it?" I knew my niece and nephew. They would say something if it was bugging them.

I had been keeping an eye on James.  I did the same thing with Sirius when he was around after having escaped Azkaban.  They went through an ordeal... and to just merge back into family life, I was not sure if it would be good at first.  But all seemed alright.  I sat down with a drink to hear Lily and James catching up with Ember.  I laughed when I realized what they were talking about.  "Merlin, did I have to hear Dean complain nonstop about Taylor!" I said, shaking my head.  It was so nice to have my mates back... I had not been this... at home and completely relaxed.  Chloe and hte kids made me feel at home.  But I felt like everything was back in order.  The way it should be.

It was great to see Faith and Mum again.  And then there was James.  I mean, Dad.  I was not entirely sure how i felt about this whole party.  I had issues with people in general.  I was sitting by myself in a corner.  I just did not feel like being overly sociable.  And that was when Jetty came to sit by me.  At least I had my best mate there.  I smiled at him.

"At least you're alright," I said, even though he was in crutches from the incident.  "Well, better than you could be."  I had lost track of my sister, but I figured she would be by our parents.  I just could not be by James.  Even with Uncle Moony and Uncle Padfoot trying to paint him in a better light, I had more years of Peter painting him dark and a jackass.  I was not sure how I felt about him... just because my uncles described him differently.  But they were not pushy about it.

I was not entirely sure why I had been invited... but then again, I did help save them.  I knew i saved James' life when I saw what he did to himself.  I had not mentioned that to anybody.  I hd seen Evan go sit off by himself and I used my blasted cruthces and plopped down next to him.  "Yeah, for the most part," I agreed.  "If my dad hadn't used Dark magic on my leg... I would have had this off only after a few days.  But I still only have a week or so left, I think."

I sighed and looked around.  "How are you holding up with everyone?" I questioned.

I was sitting with Lucy.  We were by Dean and Addison talking quietly with each other.  "They seem so... adjusted," I said, looking over at Mr. and Mrs. Potter.  I was not expecting something like this so soon.  Especially wtih Mr. Black in St. Mungo's in a coma.

I looked at the group.  They were all almost back together... I had my hand in Dean's and squeezed it reassuringly, even though he seemed okay.  I knew better than to believe him, though.  "It is the legendary James and Lily Potter... everyone always talked so highly of them," I said to Ayden simply.

I laughed at Addison.  She was right.  They were practically legendary.  "I think it's sweet to see everyone together... but I'm a bit worried about the kids," I said, looking at Evan, Harry, and trying to find Faith.  There was a lot of animosity between Harry and Evan that I was not sure would ever go away.

I stared at Ember.  "He didn't try anything did he?  Because I swear..." I said, sitting up a little straighter.  That little pervert going after my sister...

I rolled my eyes when Nate walked in, but it brought a smile to my face.  He was so much worse than any of us.  I was sure of it.  Naturally, i was sitting with Addie and Lucy, who had Ayden with her.  "Almost everyone," I said solemnly.  I smiled apologetically at Lucy.  "I am happy to see Uncle James and Aunt Lily home... I just wish..." I trailed off; they knew what I meant.

I rolled my eyes at James.  "the kids could not stand it," I assured her.  "And James, you don't need to worry yourself about what your sister was doing while she thought you were gone and while she lost her husband.  Just be glad that I managed to raise two kids and fight for Harry..."  It still made me salty that Dumbledore had not given Harry to me; even if it did make sense.

I had no time to do anything when the kids were younger.  And there was only one person who knew how far Jeremy tried to take things and that was my husband.  My brother did nto need to worry himself.

"undestatment of the century, Ember," I informed her, getting up and pouring myself another drink.  I looked at theirs and topped off what needed to be topped off.