Time Again (Completed)

Chapter 34

Albus Dumbledore Headmaster of Hogwarts School had so often in the past few years found himself thinking of Harry James Potter almost as his own son. Today was one of those times; Harry had once again shown that what ever came his way he would take in his stride. Things like the springing on him of the NEWT exams a year and a half before he was due to take them.

Harry was all that Albus would have wished for in a son of his own but, he had never been blessed enough to marry the woman he had loved, and so once she had been joined to the one she had been betrothed to at birth, he had lived a rather solitary life as a teacher. Preferring to teach children rather than to have children of his own with anyone other than Daphne Raven, the one girl he had truly loved, and the one girl in his long one hundred and fifty four years of life, he had ever made love too.

Albus had never allowed himself to be emotionally involved with his students until that is little Harry Potter had arrived in his care at the age of just one year. Harry Potter had somehow rid the world, albeit temporarily of an evil wizard. And Albus had literally found himself holding the baby. He had many regrets about how Harry had been treated as he grew up and he blamed himself for that, but his heart was swollen with pride when he saw that no matter how bad his early years had been Harry had grown into a fine good and generous person, a young man who would help anyone in trouble no matter the risk to him self.

Today his pride in Harry was overflowing as he wandered slowly toward the main gates of the school. He would soon dissaparate from outside the school gates to Potter house, where he could offer his congratulations to Harry and his young wife Hermione, they had both completed their final school exams a year and a half early, and they had both exceeded the previous best results by quite a margin. Hermione had in fact shattered an age old belief that the sort of pass marks she had achieved were impossible to reach. The fact that he himself had set the previous best only served to swell his pride in the young couple, and now they were expecting their first child, Albus felt like a real grandfather.

Opening the gates and stepping into the world beyond the school Albus stopped in mid stride, outside the hidden gates standing there amongst a group of people were the two people he had been thinking about, but even more of a shock was the fact that they were accompanied by Daphne Raven, the woman he loved, who he had not seen for over a hundred and thirty years.

"Daphne Primrose Raven," the words had escaped his lips as a whisper as memories of passionate nights with her flitted through his mind. Somewhere in his mind he registered the fact that the woman he was looking at was not old enough to be his Daphne but the shock had over ridden those other thoughts and he moved closer to take a better look. It was then he heard the words she was telling him "Daphne was my great grandmother." A slight feeling of nausea came on him as for the first time in all those years he let himself think of Daphne with another man, giving another man the children she was never allowed to give to him.

Dumbledore pulled himself together enough to listen as Harry and Hermione told of their strange meeting with Merlin, and his even stranger request that they leave the inn they were at and his influence on where they had ended up. He found it odd that they should arrive at the castle gates as he was about to leave, he found it even more unusual that they should arrive with the great grand daughter of his one love, on one of the very few days he now thought about her, he would ask Minerva for her thoughts on the matter up at the school.

Harry watched as Albus kept on glancing at Marjorie, there was something there that Harry just couldn't grasp yet, but he decided to keep watching. Back at the school the castle elves were falling over them selves to be of service when they received news that Lord and Lady Gryffindor had arrived and were in the great hall with the headmaster. Tea was served in the best silverware and preparations for a meal were begun. The Grangers' and Puckle's stared around at the magnificence of Hogwarts, Helen was amazed by the magical ceiling of the great hall. Mr Granger told Hermione that her descriptions of the castle were just a little wrong as the whole place had a splendour she had never accurately described. Granddad Puckle was astounded when through one of the elves he found out that the castle belonged to his granddaughter and her husband, and he finally began to realise just how wealthy the young man was. He was also fascinated by the elves and their apparent loyalty to Harry.