8: Dinner with the neighbours

[Alaric's Pov]

The Potters' house garden was rather charming.

As we passed the front gates, I saw an assortment of vibrant and colorful flowers, arranged in neat rows of five. The garden itself was surrounded by bushes and shrubs, which provided shade and privacy while adding texture and dimension to the garden. In the middle, there was a walkway made from gravel, that led to the house's door. The door itself looked like a simple oak wood door, but with a heavy concentration of red flickering lights. It was obvious it was heavily enchanted.

Before he opened the door, Mr. Potter turned to us, with an apologetic expression adorning his face.

"Now kids, I have to ask a favor from you... Only the adults know of your family name... Your mother told me how mature your both are for your age. You understand that kids sometimes can be quite irrational and naive, right?"

He asked looking at us, to which we just nodded. I didn't need to use legilimency to know what he was about to say next.

"Then, I would ask that the both of you don't introduce yourselves with your full name. They should get to know you first before they know of your family's... history. "

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Not only kids but wizards and witches in general, tend to be quite superstitious. And if they suddenly knew that two blood kin of a former Dark Lord entered their home, well... things could escalate rather quickly.

Waiting for us to process his request, Mr. Potter then opened the door. From inside the cottage, came a lovely smell of freshly cooked lamb. When I stepped into the house, I felt countless wards washing over me, trying to determine if I was an enemy or not.

The house seemed to have a wallpaper theme of red, with golden linings. The furniture was polished and clean and gave a sense of comfort. The walls were decorated with artwork, pictures, and other decorative accents. The large windows allowed for the moonlight to stream in and create an inviting atmosphere. When we passed through the kitchen, a dozen or so different objects were moving around, cleaning, washing, and tending to the dinner.

When we entered the living room, a lovely woman, about the age of my mother and Mr. Potter, stood there "Are these the kids, James?" she asked.

"They are. Alaric and Lysandra, this is my wife, Lily..." Before he could even continue, the woman was already slightly bent over, closer to our faces.

She had red luscious, barely curly hair, with deep green eyes. She carefully caressed our crowns, before looking at us, with a dazzling smile. Overall, she gave a feeling of warmth-ness, which one tended to find in their mother.

"A pleasure to meet you two, " smiled the woman, " I hope our house is comfortable enough for you. It may not be as big as a castle, but it's home. "

"It's our pleasure ma'am. And worry not, we usually felt lonely in such a big castle by ourselves. Being in a such cozy cottage, it's rather comforting" I replied.

The woman sweetly smiled, before taking us to the leaving room. We continued talking about miscellaneous topics while waiting for the rest of the people to arrive.

After some time, we heard some noises from the hallway.

Turning around, we saw two kids about our age coming down the stairs.

"Is Ron here yet?" asked the boy. He had black hair, and just like his father, it was combed to its right side. He was also sporting round gray-colored glasses, covering his green eyes. He was rather short and somewhat thin but carried himself with a bit of confidence.

As for the girl, she was her mother's look-alike. Long, slightly curly red hair, that reached the middle of her back, she had equally glowing green eyes. With high cheekbones and a small perfect nose, her lips were plump, unlike the rest of her family.

They were clean and proper. However, they, just like their parents, were wearing muggle clothes. Did this family, by chance, forget they are wizards?

Lily, before, had told us her origins, which didn't bother me at all. Just like Grandfather says, magic only blooms in the rarest of souls, so Ms. Potter, having awakened magic despite being a muggle-born, had the same value as the rest of us.

I don't exactly despise the muggles. They are not worthless, just of a different... disposition.

The boy and girl, who, by the looks of it, also appeared to be twins, entered the living room.

"He'll soon be here sweetie. But first, come and greet the guests" responded Ms. Potter, urging her children.

I and Lys got up. I walked first to the twins, before shaking the hand of the boy who lived, who appeared to be intimidated by my towering height and physique. I was tall and well-built for my age, the first being genetics, and the second the result of my hard work and daily exercise routine.

"Good evening, I'm Alaric," I greeted the boy, respectfully, with a bit of indifference, which earned me a glare from my beloved sister.

"Y-yeah, likewise. I'm Harry Potter," he responded, startled by my noble-like attitude. I didn't linger too much on the "celebrity", turning my attention to the girl beside him.

I approached her, then took her hand, before giving her a small kiss on her knuckles.

"It's also a pleasure meeting  you, Miss...?"

"H-Hope. Hope P-P-Potter. And t-thank you, good to meet y-you too," stuttered the young woman, her face adorning the color red because of my compliment and way of greeting.

I was in no way or manner infatuated with her, but Grandfather always told me that to earn a woman's favor, were you pursuing her or not, you had to be direct and polite, showing her some respect, but also being attentive.

Of the many things my grandfather taught me, manipulation was one I excelled at.

"The Weasleys and Sirius won't take long. How about we get to know each other better," Proposed James.

Sitting again in the living room, we started talking about various topics. My gaze lingered a bit on Harry's scar. Sometimes, the scar would glow in a gray-colored light, which, according to my knowledge, indicated soul magic.

Some artifacts in the hidden library, that possessed soul protection enchantments, gave the same glow.

I highly doubted someone of our age could meddle with soul magic, especially without a wand. If even I couldn't comprehend the books our grandfather had about the subject, how could a kid that was yet to buy his wand?

Perhaps it was some sort of soul magic his parents add placed to protect him.

The topic then turned to quidditch, something me and my sister were rather fond of, being the game we played in our earlier days in the castle, although, most of the time, without brooms.

Mother only started to let us use brooms two years ago when she thought that we wouldn't hurt ourselves.

Apparently, quidditch was something that ran deep in the Potter family. James said he used to be Gryfindoor's seeker, the position his son was aiming for. Although Lily didn't play, her daughter seemed to also enjoy the game.

The awkward air that settled in the beginning soon disappeared, turning into a lively one. The rather interesting conversation took my thoughts out of the muggle habits this family had.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the fireplace near the sofas flared in a green light, indicating the use of floo powder. From there, one by one, seven figures emerged from the green fire.

First came a red-haired short and stout woman, with a motherly look. After her, a man slightly taller, but equally stout with the same red hair.

Then, a kid older than me and Lys, with a lanky build, also red-haired.

The next to step out were two twins, both older than me, with the same tall but thin build and hair. Right after them, a boy my age almost as tall as me, with the same family features has the rest, but rather thin.

The last to come out of the fireplace was a little girl, also with red hair, who appeared to be mildly excited the second she set foot in the living room.

As for their clothes, at least they weren't playing dress up as muggles. All of their dressing pieces looked old and second-handed if we were to compare them to mine and Lysandra's clothing.

The stout woman approached Ms. Potter and said, "Lily!" before giving her a tight-looking hug, which earned her a groan. However, she didn't appear to irritated, as she responded with a hug of her own.

"It's good to see you too Molly~" Answered Ms. Potter. She then turned to the man, who I assumed to be Molly's husband.

"Good evening, Arthur" she kindly greeted him.

"To you as well Lily, our kids were rather impatient for not seeing their friends the whole summer," he chuckled.

I then looked at the kids, who were curiously looking at me and my sister, not recognizing us.

The stout woman ended up noticing us.

"Are these Isadora's children?" she asked. Receiving a nod from Lily, she approached me with big strides, giving me a bear hug, before doing the same to Lysandra. She then kindly looked at us, before continuing.

"I've heard a lot about you two. Your mother and I usually trade correspondence twice every week. It's really nice to finally be able to meet you both,"

I smiled. The woman appeared to be quite a pushover, but I enjoyed the way she appeared to care about us. It's not every day one could meet someone as kind.

"Nice to meet you too, ma'am" responded Lysandra.

"She also told me you two are quite gifted at magic for your age. Perhaps you could give some tips and pointers to my little ones~" she laughed.

Molly then pointed to her children, before speaking.

"Starting from the left, we've got Percy, he's going to start his fifth year at Hogwarts," to which he just nodded.

"Fred and George, twins, just like you"

The twins grinned at us "A pleasure", "meeting you!", they spoke in unison, to which I chuckled. I imagined them training their greeting just for this type of situation.

"Ron, the same age as you" continued Molly. Ron just weakly smiled, uncomfortable from being introduced like cattle.

"And then, we've got my only princess, Ginny. She's a year younger than both of you,"

The girl, on the other hand, was frozen in her place. She had a fierce blush on her face while looking at me and Lysandra.

I knew of some more 'obscure' rituals Grandfather had made, solely for the increase in charm. He used to mention that it was something that carried on through blood, probably explaining the beauty I, my sister, and my mother had.

I didn't have much interaction until now with any other people, apart from my family, as we rarely came out of the castle.

And when I did some not so authorized outings, I was under the fake persona I used for the French illegal dueling club, meaning that, apart from Diagon Alley, this was my first interaction with non-family members.

With a grin, her brothers, more precisely, Fred and George, approached her before speaking.

"Haha, are you seeing the same as me, Fred?"

"I am, George"

"Looks like", "our sister", "turned into a", "tomato!" they spoke, once again, in perfect sync. Did they actually train this?

"Come on boys, don't be like that to your sister," said their father.

Said sister, finally breaking out of her stupor, looked instantly away from me, before walking over to Hope.

The atmosphere got lively again. Although good people, their sort of muggle-ish way of living irked me a bit. Ron sat with Harry, talking about quidditch. The two red-haired younger girls approached Lysandra, striking up a conversation.

Leaving the girls to their talk, I walked over to James and Arthur. I was quite interested in how the Auror system worked in Britain.

Finally, after some time, the fireplace turned green again. A man, with wavy black hair, a trimmed mustache, and a goatee, walked out. He was dressed in a senior Auror uniform.

""Sirius!"" shouted Harry and Hope. They quickly approached the man, giving him a fierce hug.

"How are you doing, pups?" he asked, using a rather funny nickname for the twins.

"I was thinking you were gonna bail on us, Padfoot," grinned James.

"Well, like a certain someone, I don't have that many vacation days left to use" responded the man named Sirius, with a sarcastic tone.

Before the two adults could continue to bicker, Lily interrupted them.

"Now that we're all here, how about we finally have dinner!"

----------

A/N:

Hey guys

I decided to change Alaric's animagus form. At first, I thought it was a good choice, but then realized that it wouldn't help the story in the long run. There won't be any more changes like this.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.