Time We Had (HCJ Fanfic)

Chapter 1

Harry's POV

"Daddy! Daddy! Wake up! Wake up!!"

I jumped awake and nearly out of my skin. With a racing heart I looked at my 12 year old, Kate. "What? What is it?" I asked, urgently.

"Mom wanted me to wake you up. She needs to talk to you. It's super important."

"Do you know what it's about? Is everything alright?" I asked.

"I think so. She didn't seem worried. Just kind of flustered," she said.

"Hmm.." I said quietly. "Alright, tell her I'll be up there in just a second."

I got up, trying to think of what Jill would need to talk to me about that was important. Is someone sick? Hurt? No. Kate said she wasn't worried. But what if she was just trying not to scare her?

Kate worried a lot for a 12 year old. Because of that, Jill and I tried not to talk about any problems in front of her. Of course, the occasional problem would slip into a conversation and everything would go downhill from there.

Once, when Georgia was 17, she came home from a football game with a bruise on her cheek. As soon as she walked through the door, Jill started asking questions. Georgia broke down right there on the spot.

After that, we never thought we would get Kate to calm down. She started asking all kinds of questions and made crazy assumptions as to how her sister got hurt. Getting her to stop being paranoid was a nightmare. She'd been like that all of her life.

As I walked up the stairs, I heard Kate singing in the living room. Jill was standing in the kitchen making breakfast.

"Hey," I said quietly. I didn't want Kate to notice me. "What's going on?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something," she said casually.

"What's that?" I asked.

"You're mom called this morning."

My heart skipped a few beats. Oh god. Don't say it. Dad had been having quite a bit of trouble getting around. Surely it's not that kind of call..

"She wants the girls to come over. She and your dad haven't seen them in forever, you know."

I breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Yeah. I know." I said reluctantly. "So what's the 'super important' thing you wanted to discuss that Kate was telling me about?"

"That's the 'super important' thing," she said. She looked at me as if I was missing a major point in the conversation.

I looked at her, confused. "So what were you so flustered about?"

"I'm not flustered about anything. Did Kate tell you that I was?"

"Mm-hmm."

"She must be overthinking things again," she said rolling her eyes.

Just then, Charlotte came up the stairs with a look on her face that instantly changed Jill's attitude from nonchalant to extremely panicked in a fraction if a second.

Her usually sweet, soft-featured face was twisted into a look of sheer terror. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"Charlotte, what's the matter?" Jill asked urgently.

She was completely frozen where she stood. She was trembling and sweating at the same time. Only one word shakily escaped from her lips.

"Georgia."