What Voldemort Left Behind

Chapter 20 - Breakfast at the Burrow

At 7am, the three of them came downstairs. They agreed that this was a decent time, not too early and they'd left it as long as they could, it had been a very long night. James yawned  loudly as he walked down the stairs, falling into his sister as he had a habit of closing his eyes while he yawned, which often led to him tripping. Luckily Albus caught him before he toppled down the stairs and all three regained their balance. They went into the kitchen where they smelled a mountain of food, clearly their grandmother hadn't been able to stay upstairs for long. She was wearing simple black dress robes with matching shoes and a hat that looked as if it had once been expensive and good looking but now worn with age, it was unusual for her to dress up, particularly when there was no plans to leave the house. When she saw James, Albus and Lily at the door she rushed to embrace them in a hug, grateful that they were there. "Help yourselves, I made fried breakfast, porridge, pancakes and cereal, whatever you feel like."

James and Albus rushed towards the groaning table, grateful for something to do, but Lily hung back.

"Granny, what happened last night? We heard Dad yelling and something smashed and it all stopped. We weren't trying to eavesdrop but it was difficult not to hear them and we couldn't sleep at all."

"He just got a bit upset, your mother was with him the whole time and made sure he was all right. He's having a tough time at the moment dear, that's all."

Lily gave her grandmother another hug and went to sit beside her siblings. She hated this day, everyone did, and it always dragged on for what felt like a week, they did more activities than on a normal day but really they were just going through the motions to keep busy, it was hard as all of the adults were so depressed. It had always been like this as long as they could remember, they never saw their dad and very rarely saw their mum. It became a "tradition" for them to spend the day with their granny who needed the company.
The three teenagers always knew that their family life was different, even from their cousins who's parents were also deeply affected by the war. Lily wouldn't trade her parents for anything but she did know that she didn't have the "normal" childhood that Rose and Hugo did. The Weasley-Grangers had grown up with a lot more rules, mostly due to Aunt Hermione being their mother. They had attended a Muggle primary school from four to eleven years old which was apparently some sort of pre Hogwarts education which taught things like reading and counting. Lily and her brothers had all been asked by their parents if they wanted to go to one too, but they had all declined and their parents didn't push it, their mother hadn't been to one and their father had bad experiences there as he was bullied and had gotten in trouble a few times from underage magic before he knew what it was. Lily thought it sounded pretty cool to accidentally fly onto the roof but apparently the aftermath wasn't worth it.
When Rose was very young she had a few minor slip ups saying words such as "muggle" and telling her class about her "famous Quidditch player aunt" but she soon learned what words were magical and what she could say in front of the teachers. The major slip up came when Hugo was in P2 and Uncle Ron was packing his lunch in a hurry and accidentally included a Nosebleed Nougat. Unfortunately the teacher contacted Hermione first and Ron swears that his ears were never the same after that Howler arrived at the shop. Her dad and uncle loved to tell the story as no harm was really done, the teacher had to be obliviated and Hugo was given the antidote and a blood replenishing potion but no serious harm was done. Rose said that primary school was fascinating and that she learned a lot while Hugo thought it was boring.

Lily's childhood had been quite different, but she did see her cousins quite often. Lily, James and Albus were homeschooled until they went to Hogwarts, the basics of English and Maths, but they were also taught some magic as it was necessary for them to know. They were only allowed to use magic in their lessons or in emergencies but their parents had agreed early on that they needed their children to know some spells and potions.
They also learned how to care for their parents who were still haunted by flashbacks and memories, both their mum and dad had been used by Voldemort at a young age and that left lasting emotional and physical scars that never went away. They were taught by Kreacher how to brew healing potions for their parents, in case they were the only ones home when something happened, they knew Defense spells, as the children of Harry Potter they knew they were the most at risk if unknown Voldemort supporters could get them alone. Lily became the youngest person in history to produce a corporeal patronus at the age of six. Her brothers managed it at the age of twelve and thirteen respectively which was still rare. James and Lily both had the famous stag patronus of their father.
Apart from Defense and Potions, they were no further ahead when they started school but they did have an unusual amount of control over their magic.
The children grew up with few rules but the ones they did have were very different from the average family. Their house was very warm at all times, to the point where it felt sweaty and stuffy within seconds to anyone who wasn't used to it. Her father could never be comfortable in the cold, it felt like Dementors to him. When Lily and her brothers went back to Hogwarts after a holiday, the castle felt chilly for days, they often huddled round the fire. Leather covered books were strictly banned in the house, basically any book that looked old must be transfigured before being taken home, the books seemed to affect her mum the most.
Images of snakes, apart from the Hogwarts crest, were also not allowed. The only time they had seen a snake was when their dad was testing them to find out if they were a Parselmouth like him. He had apparently acquired that ability from Voldemort and detested the fact that he didn't lose it when he got rid of Voldemort's soul. That test was the only time Lily had seen him speak to a snake, he was shaking the whole time and threw up twice before he could sucessfully vanish the animal. He was incredibly relieved when he found out that none of his children had a clue what he was saying and they couldn't communicate with the snake at all. Snake fangs were especially banned in the house.
Jewelry wasn't allowed, but somehow Kreacher's locket was an exception that they had never quite understood, but accepted. Lily knew the jewelry rule had started after her parents had gotten engaged and their dad bought their mum an impressive engagement ring. Her mum noticed that her dad would often twitch or tense up every time his eye caught the ring so she questioned him, tossing it straight into a nearby river when she realized he was uncomfortable. Her dad never did seem to understand that his wellbeing was more important than any possession. Lily herself was very perceptive and picked up on things that others may miss, like the reasons for their strange household rules. Sleepovers never happened, only at the Burrow and never at home. They were worried when inviting people to the house at all because of the security concerns, it was difficult to hide from reporters and more importantly, be safe from people who wanted them dead. The Burrow was the place where the family could gather and their own home was a safe place to hide and be alone, even James, Albus and Lily were unsure where exactly in England they lived.
Their father was incredibly protective, though it was understandable after all the near misses they had despite the security measures and her dad hated more than anyone that this was necessary. Lily didn't mind too much because she'd never known any different, neither had her brothers, they were born years after the war had ended but it was impossible to get rid of the threat of dark wizards in the world entirely. The one annoying thing was that she knew she would always be watched whatever she did, her family name would mark her out as both a target and public figure. She would never tell her father that this bothered her, it would cause him a lot more distress than it would to her. She liked that her family was very close, she knew that most thirteen, fifteen and sixteen year olds didn't enjoy hanging out with their parents, although they would be perfectly happy to hang out with her parents, she thought. It used to really confuse her why everyone made such a fuss over her mum and dad, people on the street would stare, others would come up and ask for autographs or shake her dad's hand or bow to him. Some glared and a couple had even tried to attack him but it was always pointless, both her parents were much too fast for the average person's dueling abilities.

Breakfast ended and James, Lily and Albus waited awkwardly for something to happen. They started to clean the dishes with their grandmother who was deliberately lengthening the process by doing it by hand.