A Different Halloween

Chapter 25

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It was a pretty rattled group that made it back to the Grangers. Since it contained four crying toddlers and they were all leaving the scene of a battle, they really couldn't be anything else but rattled. Dan sat on the sofa with Harry and Hermione drawing comfort from each other on his lap. Emma and her toddler headed straight for the kitchen, with Dudley this upset nothing but food would calm the child down. Lily sat with Neville on her knee as she used her most calming voice on her godson while holding him close, he snuggled in and his sobs began to abate.

Emma returned with a now content Dudley, the bowl of melon pieces calming him quicker than words ever could. She plonked him, and his tightly clutched bowl, onto Remus's lap before heading back to the kitchen. She returned with a tray containing three more bowls as she attempted to coax Neville to speak. "Hello Neville, I'm Emma. That's my little girl over there with Harry and you can see by how quickly Dudley is polishing his melon off that this is good. Would you like some?"

Hermione wasn't forgetting her manners, it was her experience from the last time that made her reluctant to do that again. Harry though jumped down off her father's knee and led her over to the new boy by the hand. Harry remembered this boy though hadn't seen him for a while. He attempted to copy his best friend but didn't yet posses the necessary vocabulary skills to pull it off. Still, it got the job done. "Nev, Hermi! He Dud, sit?'

Harry and Hermione then helped him off Lily's knee as her wand created another chair at the kids' table for her godson. Emma placed the bowls down and helped the kids to sit, she then sat Dudley at the table and had a quiet word in his ear. "Be a good boy and Aunty Em will give you more when you're finished."

Dudley was well acquainted with the word 'more' so was on his best behaviour.

Dan casually asked Remus a question, the adrenalin was still coursing through his body but he didn't want the kids becoming upset again. They would all have to keep their behaviour nice and calm for now. "I take it those three were some of these terrorists we've heard so much about? Did I hear Sirius saying he was related to one of them?"

"Yes, those were death eaters. Some of the most fanatical actually, the woman is his cousin and without question one of the worst of them. She kills and tortures for fun!"

Emma was struggling to understand this whole concept of death eaters yet was careful to keep her voice at a conversational level and tone. "I find it hard to believe Sirius could be related to someone like that, he seems the exact opposite!"

It was Lily who answered, "That's probably because he is. The Blacks are what's considered a dark family, defiantly no pun intended. They all, bar a few buy into these beliefs that purebloods are better than everyone else. We have a perfect example of why this is a load of crap sitting right in front of us. Neville is a pureblood wizard, though the Longbottoms are like the Potters and considered light. My Harry is a half blood, your Hermione is a muggle born while Dudley is a muggle. The kids certainly don't know any different and won't unless someone teaches them otherwise."

The four in question were sitting around the small table, eating their melon and chatting as only children of that age can. They were totally unaware that they were now the centre of attention and the scene was heart warming for the watching adults.

Dan was now struggling to keep his voice at the required level. "Differentiating between children like that is absurd, appalling and many other names I can't say in case the kids pick them up. You might as well have people feeling superior because they have blood type O, it makes no sense!"

Lily couldn't help but chuckle at that analogy, "Actually that would make more sense, at least blood type is a physical thing you can measure. Apart from Dudley being non-magical, there is no physical test to tell the difference between the other three's blood status. That maybe down to the fact that there is no difference. To a death eater, three of the children sitting there don't deserve to live. Actually, make that all four of them since they class the Longbottoms as blood traitors."