7: Godric's Hollow

[Alaric's Pov]

"Took you long enough." said Lys, as I made my way out of Mr. Ollivander's shop.

"The old man just had some questions, Where's Mother?" I replied.

"She said she would wait for us at Flourish and Blotts after we got the rest of the supplies..."

"Okay, let's go"

We then made our way to the rest of the shops to get the remaining school supplies. After making sure everything was in order, we walked to the Bookseller, where Mother was waiting for us, to get our books. 'If I'm lucky, I'll find some book or scroll that I don't have in my collection yet.' I thought. Even with all the ancient tomes and the numerous different books I had taken from Grandfather's library, there was bound to be some magic book or scroll I had never seen.

Walking through the narrow streets of Diagon Alley, we finally saw the Flourish and Blotts sign. As I and my sister approached the shop, we could, at last, see our mother. Although, she wasn't alone. With her back turned to us, she appeared to be talking to a man around her age. The man had sleek brown hair, combed to its right side. He wasn't short, but barely an inch taller than Mother. With his round steel-colored glasses and protruding nose, he was wearing a brown trench coat with the British Ministry of Magic symbol in it... He was an Auror.

Thinking of the worst, I slowly got my wand out. My sister, understanding the situation, did the same. I knew that our family, apart from our grandfather, never committed any type of crime. But still, one could never underestimate the stupidity of wizards and witches, especially the British.

As I was about to cast a nasty curse at the Auror, our mother turned around.

"Al, Lys, what took you so long? Come here, let me introduce you to someone." She then half-turned to the Auror and continued "This is James Potter, a friend of your father. He's an accomplished Auror! And James, these are my children, Alaric and Lysandra, twins."

'Potter? Isn't that one of Britain's Sacred twenty-eight?' I thought.

"No need to sugarcoat so much, Isadora" the man chuckled, a bit embarrassed "A pleasure to meet you two, Alaric and Lysandra."

"The pleasure is all mine." I replied cordially to the man, as all those etiquette lessons taught me.

My sister, however, appeared to be in deep thought, with her chin resting on her hand. She then lifted her head, and looked for a second at the man, before speaking.

"Potter? Isn't that the name of the 'Boy who lived'?" she asked, with a bit of scorn in her voice, something only I noticed. The man just smiled a bit, as if used to the question.

"Yes, that's one of my children."

Yes, Harry Potter, how could I forget? The magic messiah who apparently defeated Voldemort as a baby. The scorn in my sister's voice wasn't that misplaced. When our mother told us who had put our dad in the state he's in, we, of course, were intrigued about the supposed hero who stopped Voldemort. But, when we learned that the supposed strongest Dark Lord of all time was defeated by a mere 1-year-old, we were, for the lack of a better word, outraged.

"But anyways, " continued the Auror "Why did you come with your children to Diagon Alley?" he asked, and, from what I could read from his mind without alerting him, he was just curious.

"Well, they received a Hogwarts invitation as well and decided they wanted to go to Scotland instead of Durmstrang... much to my distaste. And also, I'm moving to Godric's Hollow again " she responded.

"Oh! Is that so? Then you'll be going with my kids!" commented the man "Isadora, now that you're going to move back to Godric's Hollow, what do you say we all have dinner at my house? Molly's family is also going, so Lily won't mind making dinner for three more people!" he happily proposed.

"Oh, I haven't seen Molly in ages! Wait do you say, children?" asked Mother.

Not wanting to upset our mother, the both of us just nodded. Now that I think about it, apart from my sister, I didn't have any friends. So maybe this dinner won't be that bad, right?

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[3rd Pov]

Godric's Hollow was a village in the West Country of England. It was a small community, centered on a village square with only a church, a post office, a pub, a few retail shops, and a road that connected them all. Cottages stood on either side of the narrow road... A short way ahead a golden glow of streetlights indicated the center of the village... Behind the church, row upon row of tombstones protruded from the dirt that was flecked with dazzling red, gold, and green wherever the reflections from the stained glass hit the ground.

In one of the cottages near the village square, an old, frail-looking woman, was waiting by the door. Bathilda Bagshot, Gellert Grindelwald's great aunt, didn't remember the last time she'd seen her family. After her nephew had left her home, she got immersed in her work, trying to divert her thoughts from Gellert's atrocities. She was recognized as the most relevant magic historian of the twentieth century, and one of her works was adopted as a curriculum book at Hogwarts. Even so, with all these accomplishments, she still felt lonely. That was until 20 years ago when a 17-year-old woman, fresh graduated from Durmstrang, came knocking on her door. She thought she was all alone in this world but to her surprise, her rebellious nephew had a daughter. She watched as the girl struggled with her family name, how she distinguished herself from her peers, and how she slowly revived most of the family's business. She watched how she fell in love with a hard-working and brave man, with no aversion to her family's legacy. She watched the birth of her kids and helped the couple name them.

But after the Dark Lord's attack, she could never forgive herself. She never forgave the way she wasn't able to feel the wards around the Hollow, even with all her years of experience. The way she couldn't help her niece escape Voldemort's claws. In the end, they all survived, but not without taking something precious from her. Bathilda never expected her niece to come back, but, to her happiness, Isadora was coming to live in the Hollow again. Not only that but in her own home!

As the Grindelwald cottage had been destroyed, Isadora had requested her great-aunt for her and the twins to move in with her. It was easier than rebuilding their old home. And this way, Alaric and Lysandra could meet what was left of their family.

When the church's magical clock hit five in the evening, three *pops* were heard in the all-wizards village center. The woman, with her long silver-blonde hair, looked around, with a nostalgic smile. Her two children, on the other hand, scrutinized the view, as if analyzing the village.

"It looks like shit" "I kinda like it" they simultaneously said. Alaric wasn't a fan. Lysandra however, seemed to enjoy the ambiance.

"Shut up Al. Everyone knows your sense of taste is utterly terrible. That's why I'm the one who has to choose your clothes, or else you would walk around always dressed in black" commented the girl.

"You! What's wrong with liking black clothes? At least I didn't keep a Lockhart doll under my bed!" shot back the brother.

"How was I supposed to know he was a fraud?! I was a 7, for Merlin's sake!"

As the twins continued to bicker, they eventually arrived at their new home. Bathilda, who was waiting for them all this time, carefully made her way to the family, so she wouldn't fall because of her old age. She then stopped by the house's gate, examining the woman in front of her, and a blooming smile made its way to her face, a smile which only brightened after her niece embraced her in a tight hug. The two, who hadn't seen each other in years shared tears and caring words with each other.

Isadora, after stopping the hug and composing herself, turned to her kids. "Children, meet your great-aunt, Bathilda Bagshot. She was the mother I never had..."

Alaric and Lysandra then looked at the old woman, who was looking at them back, with a rather warm expression. Their aunt stepped forward, patting both of the kid's heads "I have to say, you're both lucky with your genes. Alaric looks as handsome as his grandfather was, just with longer hair. And you, Lysandra, my dear, have the face and eyes of your mother..." she said. She then caressed their faces before turning to the Mother.

"Let's get inside, we've got a lot to catch up" noted Bathilda, with a smile.

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[Alaric's Pov]

"Could you hurry up Lysandra, we're going to be late!" I shouted. She had MAGIC for Merlin's sake. How could she take so long to get ready...

When my sister finally came down the stairs, she looked at me with a frown. "Can you just stop complaining for a moment? A girl takes her time to get ready!" she then mentioned, with a haughty tone. Our mother decided she wasn't coming with us, wanting to catch up with Aunt Bathilda after so many years of not seeing each other.

We then left the cottage, with the village pub, The Seven Swans, in mind. Mr. Potter would be there, so he could give us his home's address, as it was under a Fidelius charm. My sister, who was dressed in a wine-red evening dress, circled her arm around mine, who was sporting a black formal suit, and we slowly went on our way.

As we approached the bar, we could see Mr. Potter leaning against its wall, dressed in some casual... muggle clothes? Wasn't he supposed to be a pureblood?

"Good evening, Mr. Potter" I politely greeted, with Lys following suit. I could see his eyebrows slightly raised at our clothes, and I could easily feel his nervous emotions leaking out, without even using legilimency.

"You too sure dressed up! And isn't your mother coming?" he then asked, with a rather awkward chuckle at the first joke.

"Our mother informed us that another from the sacred twenty-eight families would also be attending, so we dressed accordingly. And because of a slight inconvenience, she had to stay home." I said. The man just sighed.

"Well, no problem. Ron will probably eat your mother's fill anyways..." he muttered. Then, after handing us a piece of parchment, he said "Here, just read the address, and the home will appear by itself."

Looking at the paper, I swiftly read the writing. As I lifted my head, a comfortably sized, two-story building with a small gate and hedges surrounding the front yard appeared in front of me. Mr. Potter then looked at us with a grin, before opening the front gate.

"Welcome to our humble abode. Make yourselves at home" he chuckled.