Daddy’s Boy

Summer 92

"My mother wants you to come and visit with us for the last week of the summer vacation," Ron told Harry.

"Thank her on my behalf, but I already have my summer full," Harry answered politely.

"What do you plan doing this summer?" Ron acted as if nothing could compare with visiting his family.

"We have some family in France and we're going to visit there. We shall probably go to the seaside as well and take some trips to a few interesting places and museums."

"But... you're an orphan!" Ron blurted in his usual delicacy.

"Well, I was raised by Jacques and Eloise DePoitiers. They are practically my parents and they love me very much. I miss them and their children while at school."

"Oh..."

Neville also wanted Harry to visit. "My Gran says that your parents and mine were good friends and she would really like you to visit. She wrote to me that she intends to send an official invitation to your guardians. Will that be alright with you?"

"I think that should be fine, although I can only visit during the first or the last week of vacation, as we're going to be in France most of the time."

"I'll tell my Gran to send the invitation as soon as I see her, then."

"Maybe she'd like to invite the whole family? It would be nicer that way, I believe."

Neville smiled. "I'm sure she will."

James was a bit reluctant to visit Longbottom Manor. He had some memories of the place which were now quite painful. He had been a good friend of Frank Longbottom since childhood, although Frank had never been a Marauder, being too serious to take part in such mischief. His wife, Alice, had also been a good friend of Lily since first year. Learning of their fate had been very painful. James also knew Frank's mother. He was sure she would recognize him immediately. Still, he could never refuse Lady Augusta Longbottom.

They Floo'ed to Longbottom Manor. Harry took Colette with him while Liz took Charles. James arrived last. Lady Augusta greeted them as they arrived. She only needed one glance at "Jacques DePoitiers".

"James! Is that really you?"

"Yes, Lady Augusta, it's really me, though I'd like to keep it a secret for the time being."

The old lady looked suddenly tearful. She hugged James tightly. "Oh, James, I was so sorry to hear about..." Her expression suddenly turned severe. "What happened to Lily?"

"I wish I could save her," he said sombrely, He then shook his head, as if getting rid of the past. "Yet I think you'd like to meet Liz, who helped me with Harry at that difficult time and whom I finally fell in love with."

Once the shock of finding James alive had dissipated, it was a pleasant visit. Lady Augusta spent some time talking to Harry, finding him better mannered than his father at that age. She then let the children enjoy themselves while she stayed with the adults.

"I didn't know he was your real father," Neville said.

"You never really asked, but it is a secret that Dad wants to keep for as long as needed, as he believes some forces are not as trustworthy as they seem."

"You mean Dumbledore?" Neville wasn't as slow as some teachers liked to believe.

"Yes, and maybe some others as well. I know you and your Gran will keep this secret."

Colette enjoyed the flower beds around the manor, which Neville was proud to show. Charles was too young to appreciate them. He just rolled on the lawn and chased some butterflies, enjoying himself nicely.

The Grangers used to take vacations in France every other summer even before they got to know the Potters. With open invitations and direct Floo connections, they could afford spending much longer periods in France. The Grangers loved the beaches most. It took them a few days to get some sun-tan, spending limited time in the sun and using protective sun lotion, and then they would spend most of their mornings on the beach and some of the afternoons.

The summer Harry turned twelve was no exception.

They spent the first three weeks at the Riviera, enjoying the nice weather and the warm sea. The beach was quite crowded, but as the Grangers opted for the cloth-free beach, it wasn't overly so.

"Don't you like it here?" Hermione asked turning around with her arms open, as if embracing the whole world.

Harry felt a bit self-conscious under the circumstances. As he was approaching puberty, seeing naked women was affecting him in ways he didn't understand, and he was most affected by Hermione's blossoming body, which was turning curvy and started filling in the right places. He thought she was looking marvellous, yet his physical reaction to her sight embarrassed him.

"I like it here, especially since we are together," he said, trying hard to make his body behave.

Hermione found it quite amusing, at least while the adults weren't near. She actually enjoyed the effect she had on Harry.

They moved to the castle for Harry's birthday and stayed there for most of August, as the Mediterranean beaches were becoming too hot and too crowded. They still found a nude beach less than an hour's drive from the castle. It lacked the fine sand, and the water was quite a bit cooler, yet it stayed relatively uncrowded throughout August.

The castle also provided additional entertainment. It had an indoor pool, very usable during cold or rainy days which were more abundant in northern France. It soon became a cloth-free area as well. There was also the large library at the castle. It had thousands of books, probably more than the Hogwarts library, and nothing was restricted.

Hermione liked the library best. "Can we go to the library now?" became her identifying phrase, making them all laugh.

She sometimes came to the library straight after visiting the beach or the pool, wearing only her beach-dress, which was quite translucent. Harry enjoyed accompanying her. Whenever the books were starting to bore him, he could look at Hermione. She was never boring.

"We must return home tomorrow," James sighed. "The kids need to buy their school supplies. Colette is starting school as well, you know."

"And our patients are already waiting," Dave added.

They returned home for the last week of August. A day later they went shopping together in Diagon Alley for the new school year. James didn't come, refraining from any public places where wizards were abundant. Liz went with the children, along with Dave and Jean.

It was a sunny day. The street was full of shoppers, the shops were doing great business and so did the peddlers, selling mainly sweets for the children and cold drinks for all.

"Maybe we should leave the bookshop last? It would take us the longest and would burden us the most," Hermione suggested. Harry agreed wholeheartedly. Hermione's love for books was no secret.

They arrived at the book-shop after buying all the other items on their lists. Liz shrunk it all to fit in her and Jean's purses. As they approached the Flourish and Blotts store they saw it was crowded, with many witches trying to get in. A large banner stretched across the upper part of window gave them all the explanations they needed:

GILDEROY LOCKHART

will be signing copies of his autobiography

MAGICAL ME

today 12:30P.M. to 4:30P.M.

"Harry!" they heard a voice calling. Harry grimaced. He had enough of Ron during school term. Couldn't he be left alone during vacations?

Hermione squeezed his hand in support as Ron approached. "Hi, mate. My parents are already inside. Ginny is starting Hogwarts this year and Mum is very excited for her, especially with this Lockhart guy signing his books." He finally seemed to notice Hermione who was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Harry. "Hi, Herms, nice to see you."

It was not the right way to address Hermione, and he should have already known that. Hermione smiled too sweetly, "Hi, Ronnikies. Care for some spider soup?" Her free hand was holding her French wand and some ten spiders suddenly appeared on Ron's trousers and shirt, climbing to his crotch. Ron looked down and paled at once. He then bolted out of the crowd, running madly towards The Leaky Cauldron while trying to remove the spiders at the same time.

"They will disappear in another minute," Hermione said calmly. "Next time, he should address me correctly." Harry nodded his agreement.

Without his famous scar, now healed, Harry was able to escape undue attention. He was appalled by the man in colourful robes and too wide a smile who was signing the books. Hermione and Harry collected the books in their list, frowning at the many books by Lockhart, and joined the queue at the checkout. Mrs. Weasley, standing in line a few places in front of them, noticed him, though, and tried to hug him as if he was her lost child. Liz had to intervene, as Harry seemed to choke in that hug. "Please let go of my son!" Liz said firmly.

Molly released Harry and looked at Liz with confusion. "Your son? I've heard he's an orphan, and I've known his mother."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Harry is my adopted son and I've been raising him since he was a toddler."

This piqued Molly's curiosity. She started a conversation with Liz, not paying much attention to anything else, while her husband paid for their purchases. Harry looked around, noticing Draco Malfoy and his father nearby. Draco seemed anxious to leave, but Lucius was looking around, as if searching for something. Eventually he set his eyes on Mr. Weasley, who was trying to pack all his purchases. With five sets of Lockhart books, it was quite a bundle.

Lucius stepped closer and started taunting Arthur Weasley. As Arthur got angry, Harry noticed a small book that Lucius slipped into the pile of books inside the cauldron that Ginny was holding. Harry sensed it was something dark and dangerous. Draco stayed silently aside, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere but there at the moment.

As soon as the book was hidden in the cauldron, Lucius left, throwing another snide remark. Arthur breathed heavily, trying to regain his calm and then moved to pack the books from the cauldron.

"Stop!" Harry said.

Arthur looked confused. "Why should I stop? I need to pack it somehow to take it home, don't you think?"

Harry pointed his French wand at the suspect book. "I don't think you've bought this."

Arthur wanted to take a closer look, yet Harry's wand came in the way. "Don't touch it! I can feel it has some very dark magic inside." He levitated the book so Arthur could take a closer look without touching it.

"I don't know what it is. I certainly don't need it," Arthur said a moment later.

Liz was already aware of the situation. She was also sensing the dark magic embedded in the book

"Allow me," she said politely. As Harry kept the book floating in the air, Liz encased the small book in a golden protective shield and then conjured a cloth bag. Harry released the book, letting it fall into the bag, and Liz tied it securely closed.

"My husband used to be an auror before we met. He's sure to know how to handle this," she said.

Arthur seemed quite bewildered about this, and Molly was also confused. Liz invited the whole group to have some ice-cream before they parted.

When back home, James cast some diagnostic spells on the book and frowned deeply. He then went to the backyard, dug a deep hole and put the book at the bottom. A quick casting later, a fire was dancing in the hole and a loud shriek sounded as some dark smoke escaped from the book, vanishing in the evening breeze. James waited until the fire died. He then collected the ashes by magic and put them into a conjured paper bag, which he promptly took out to the nearest garbage bin. He didn't want any remnants of that dark object to stay near his family.