Chapter 19

1st September 2022

Ron and Hermione were sitting at the breakfast table, while Hugo was packing some last minute things. Hermione had forced him to pack the day before but it seemed he had done it rather half-heartedly. She rolled her eyes at her son who was too much like his father at this age for her liking.

Their morning post arrived, bringing the Daily Prophet, a letter from Molly Weasley and a letter carried by a strange owl they had never seen before. The strange owl dumped the letter onto the table and flew straight back out of the open window, not waiting for a reply.

Hermione grabbed the letter and started to read.

30th August 2022

Dear Mum and Dad,

I'm finally able to write you again. I trust that you have received and read my other letters by now.

As promised in my last letter I will be there on Christmas Day. I will not be coming alone though. I will bring three more guests, so please be prepared to welcome them. They are very important to me.

See you soon,

Rose

"She's alive! She's alive!" Hermione exclaimed in relieve and excitement. She jumped up from her chair and hugged her husband.

"Rose? The letter is from Rose?" Ron asked to make sure and a large smile spread across his face when Hermione answered in the affirmative.

They happily shared a kiss that was interrupted by their son who barged into the kitchen only to make disgusted noises at finding his parents kissing.

"Can you please stop that, I'm trying to eat," he complained as he heaped food onto his plate.

His parents reluctantly separated but were too happy to be really annoyed with their son.

"Rose sent us a letter! She's alive!" Hermione repeated, ecstatic with the news.

"Cool, can I read it? Will she come back now?" He asked, also happy to hear from his lost sister.

"Yes, she will be home for Christmas," his mother answered and handed him the short letter.

"How old is she now anyway?" the fourteen-year-old asked.

"I'm not sure. In her early sixties, I think," Hermione replied a little unsure. It was weird to think, that her daughter was now significantly older than herself.

"Who do you think are the three guests she is bringing?" Hugo inquired curiously.

"I don't know. Sirius is dead as far as we know. Maybe they had three children? Or maybe she married again and is bringing her new husband and their children?" Hermione mused.

"You think we are grandparents?" Ron exclaimed flabbergasted.

"Probably. After all, Rose was married to Sirius for nearly twenty years before he died. Come on, we need to get going or Hugo will miss the train," she said and bustled through the kitchen.

Ron and Hugo were still frozen in their seats, unable to process the new information. Of course they had known that Rose was married but somehow they had never thought about her having kids. In their mind she was still the young girl that had disappeared only a few months ago.

Meanwhile Hermione had finished with cleaning up the kitchen and had floated Hugo's trunk downstairs.

"Hurry up!" she called exasperatedly and practically shoved them out of the house. After the two males were sitting in the car and Hugo's trunk and owl were safely stowed away, she drove them to King's Cross.

At King's Cross they met Harry, Ginny, George, Angelina, Percy and Audrey with their children. Hermione immediately showed them the letter they got from Rose earlier that morning. They were all happy to hear the good news and expressed their wish to be there with them on Christmas Day. Hermione readily agreed to house the family Christmas dinner this year.

On the Hogwarts Express Rose was also the main topic between her friends and family. Albus, Scorpius, Lily and Hugo were all discussing the letters they and Hugo's parents had read during the holidays.

"My letters stopped at the end of October 1981. Do you know what happened to her after that?" Scorpius asked anxiously.

"No, but we know she's still alive. She sent us a letter this morning that she will be home for Christmas," Hugo told them excitedly.

"Thank Merlin!"

"Really? What did she write?"

"Where is she?"

"Why wait until Christmas?" Albus, Lily and Scorpius bombarded him with questions.

"It was only a short letter. She just said that she would be home for Christmas and that she would bring three more guests. Mum thinks they could be her children," he said and scrunched up his face.

"Children?" Scorpius choked.

"What did you expect? She was married after all. Why wouldn't she have children?" Albus argued sensibly.

Scorpius didn't reply. Of course he had known that it was a possibility but he had always pushed the thought far away. In his mind Rose was still his sixteen-year-old best friend who he had had a secret crush on. He really didn't want to imagine her having someone else's children. But Albus didn't know that, so he kept quiet.

"Do you think Sirius is still alive?" Lily asked what they were all thinking.

"I don't know. Dad saw him die, didn't he? So how could he be alive?" Albus replied uncertainly.

"We will just have to wait and see," Scorpius remarked although he, too, was dying of curiosity.

The rest of the train ride they spent playing exploding snap, chess and eating sweets they bought from the trolley.

For Scorpius, the Potter and the Weasely children the Christmas holidays couldn't come fast enough. They were all eager to see Rose again and hear what she had been up to in the past. But what they wanted to know the most was the identity of the three other people she wanted to bring with her.

No more letters arrived from Rose in the next few months, so they got no more information, which made speculating difficult and slightly pointless. Nevertheless it was all they could talk about on their journey back to London a few days before Christmas. They were all excited to see Rose and find out the truth.

Early on Christmas morning the whole family gathered at Ron and Hermione's. They didn't know when exactly Rose would show up, so they had decided to come as early as possible. Even Scorpius had been invited since Ron had long since accepted that he was Rose's best friend, although he still wasn't very happy about it. To him it was simply unnatural for a Malfoy and a Weasley to be friends.

They had decided to wait with unwrapping presents until after Rose's arrival, so they spent their time waiting with having a large breakfast. Most of the children couldn't sit still though, due to their excitement, so the adults allowed them to unwrap their presents to distract them.

At a quarter after eleven there was a knock on the front door and everyone jumped in excitement and anticipation. All the children tried to run for the door because they wanted to be the one to open it and get to see Rose and her guests first. But their parents held them back and allowed Ron and Hermione to go first. They were followed closely by Hugo, Albus, Scorpius and Lily, Rose's brother and closest friends.

Hermione took a deep breath before she grabbed the door handle and opened the door. In front of her were standing four people, two men and two women. The older woman had to be Rose. She still had curly red hair but now it was streaked with grey and her face looked so much older that it was hard to recognise her. The younger woman seemed to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She also had curly hair but hers was black instead of the famous Weasley red. Her eyes were a chocolate brown like Rose's and Hermione was nearly sure that she was Rose's daughter. The young man next to the young woman seemed to be her brother and was unmistakably a Black. He looked so much like Sirius that it was uncanny, the same black hair, blue eyes and facial features. He seemed a few years younger than the woman.

But what took her breath away was the fourth person. The older man was obviously also a Black and for one moment she thought that it was Sirius. She must have accidentally gasped his name because the man opened his mouth and spoke.

"Sorry, I'm not Sirius. I'm Regulus, his younger brother. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Weasley."

After Hermione had gotten over her shock she turned her eyes back on her daughter, who was now older than herself.

"Rose," she whispered, fighting against her tears.

"Mum," Dora replied, fighting tears of her own.

Then the two women hugged and laughed and cried together, happy to be reunited again. Then Dora looked up and saw her father standing slightly behind his wife.

"Dad!" she cried out in joy and flung herself at Ron.

She loved her mother dearly but she had always been closer to her father. Ron awkwardly hugged her and patted her back to calm her down. He carefully led her into the living room, where the rest of the family was waiting. Ron himself was still slightly shocked at seeing his baby girl so much older than himself.

They were followed by the four children, Hermione and Rose's three guests. They heard quite a few gasps when the two men entered the room. Most of the adults immediately recognised their resemblance to Sirius.

"Rose, would you please introduce us to your companions?" Hermione asked.

"Oh sure, but I go by the name Dora now. I have for a very long time and I don't think I could change it again," she said and gave her parents an apologetic look.

"This," she motioned to the young woman, "is my daughter Rose Hermione Black, another reason why I don't want to change my name back. It would get too confusing."

"The young man next to her is my son Sirius Ronald Black and the man behind them is Regulus Black, Sirius' brother," she finished the introductions.

Everyone gaped at her, trying to process the information.

"Bloody hell, I'm a grandfather," Ron exclaimed and they all started laughing at his shell shocked face.

"Excuse me, but I thought you were dead?" Harry addressed Regulus.

"That's what we wanted everyone to believe. Dora and Sirius helped me to hide," Regulus answered.

"But I thought you and Sirius didn't get along?" Harry asked confused. He started to doubt that he had ever truly known his godfather.

"Yes, but he still didn't want me dead. After I realised the error of my ways and went to him for help, we became closer than we ever were before," Regulus replied with a hint of self-irony.

While Harry and Regulus talked, Dora had started to introduce their extensive family to her children. Of course they already knew all the names but couldn't connect any faces to them. She started with her parents and brother then continued with Molly and Arthur, her aunts and uncles and finally her cousins.

Scorpius had stayed in the background during the family reunion. He could barely recognise his best friend anymore and now that she was so much older he wasn't sure if they would still be friends or not. It would be weird to say the least.

Lily had noticed Scorpius hesitation and walked over to him to drag him over to the others. Dora's eyes lit up when she saw him and hugged him tightly. Although it had been many years since she had last seen him, she still regarded him as one of her best friends and had missed him a lot, especially in the beginning. She knew though it would be impossible to pick up their friendship where it had been before her disappearance. Too much had happened while she had lived in the past.

Rose and Sirius watched on in curiosity. This was their family although they had never met them before. They actually spoke better French than English so when they started to mingle and talk with their new family, Rose quickly became attached to Fleur and her children. Sirius on the other hand enjoyed talking with his grandmother who had picked up French on the vacations she had spent there with her parents.

"How old are you and Rose?" Hermione asked, curious as ever.

"I'm twenty-six and Rose is thirty-two," he answered, not bothered at all by her interrogation.

"And you are both Sirius' children, right?"

"Yes, although I was born after his death. I've never met my father and he never knew about me. Mum was only three months pregnant when he died," Sirius told her.

"Oh, that's sad," Hermione remarked with sorrow in her voice.

"Yes, but I've never really missed having a father because I had Regulus. He's lived with us for as long as I can remember and he was always like a father to me," Sirius replied. "Rose misses him sometimes though. She was five when Dad died and a real daddy's girl according to Mum."

Hermione listened attentively. She wanted to find out as much as possible about her grandchildren.

"Where did you go to school? You didn't go to Hogwarts, did you?" she continued her interrogation.

"No, we didn't. We went to Bauxbatons where Mum works as the school's healer. They call her Madame Noire there."

"That's French for Black, isn't it? Is she still working there?"

"Yes, she's taken a few weeks off to visit you over Christmas. We all have," Sirius added.

"Where do you work?" Hermione asked.

"I'm the Transfiguration teacher at Bauxbatons, Rose joined the French version of the Aurors and Reg works in a small apothecary," her grandson answered.

"So, do you or Rose have a significant other?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"Hermione, give the boy a break," Ron, who had been listening to the interrogation, interrupted her.

Sirius laughed. "Don't worry, I don't mind. No, we don't. Neither Rose nor I are seeing anyone at the moment."

The day went well and at the end of it Dora, Regulus, Rose and Sirius had agreed to stay for the rest of their holidays. Dora was just happy to have her family back, Rose and Sirius were glad they were finally able to get to know their extended family and Regulus was relieved that no one seemed to resent him for taking the Dark Mark when he was young and stupid, blinded by the ideals of his parents.

New friendships were formed. Harry and Regulus quickly bonded over talking about Sirius, young Sirius immediately took a liking to Teddy who was next to him in age and like him worked as a teacher, Rose and Dominique got along really well and Dora reconnected with everyone, especially with her father, her Nana Molly and her godfather/godson Harry.

They were a weird family, no one could deny that, but they were family and that's all that mattered to them. Dora's long journey through time had come to an end and to her it was worth every pain she had felt because when it came down to it she had gained more than she had lost. A wonderful, completely crazy family.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed or favourited this story!

KyuuobiNoPuma: Yes, as you can see Dora had another child. If she got together with Regulus or not is up to your own imagination. I hope I still managed to surprise you although our thoughts pretty much went along the same lines.

Fanvergent: I'm sorry I left you hanging for so long but I'm pretty busy right now. Exams are coming up again.