Jamie sighed. "Dad, she's nice to you because you're you and you can do no wrong. I'm not expecting perfection and I do love my grandmother. Still, she's also one of the most judgemental people I know and has a tendency to turn that judgement on to my brother." Privately, he thought it was a blessing neither of his other grandparents were there because his dad dating Draco Malfoy? That would not end well for the family. "But, if her fault is her opinions, then I'm already ignoring her," he added with one of his fake smiles that Savannah hated so much.
"You do realize they called the man you took that saying from 'Mad-eye' for his paranoia and lack of sanity, not his magical eye, right?" Alastor Moody had gone down in history as one of the most brilliant and principled aurors to ever have the job, Dumbledore and Harry Potter's man to his last breath...but also a bit on the barmy side.
Mad-eye Moody also mattered very little to Jamie as his father kept talking. "Well, that would explain why you never read it to us as kids," he muttered before taking a breath. "This can't just be about fertility experiments gone awry and preserving the artefacts of magical society. The Confederation shutting us out completely? A simple treasure hunt for what's left of magic hinging on clues literally no one but you three would know the full significance of? Even if you thought there was dark magic in the mix, this clue wouldn't mean that to anyone but you three. So, who were you trying to tell? Either you guys were really bad at creating clues, or there's something about this whole situation we're missing...I hesitate to say it, but...what if Mysteries wasn't creating spells, but artefacts? That could explain why the goblins won't even come back to their digs in this country, why the Confederation doesn't seem to have sent anyone to investigate when everyone's been dead nearly a decade, why there's no indication anyone's tried to loot the magical spaces until you lot cleared them out after arriving...?"
Looking up from the tablet, he shook his head. "The memories issue didn't hurt because you didn't trust me. Although, I now suspect the might have been useful if I'm going to be able to help piece this together," he declared, waving at the tablet. "Believe me, I get that there are different levels of trust. I've made an art form out of compartmentalizing who to trust with how much and Savannah could probably write a treatise on 'How Much James Potter Doesn't Trust You as Much as You Think He Does'. What hurt was that you weren't checking up on me, you seemed to only care about the memories and dealing with those. I don't care that you took them away. I cared that it seemed like you were already just like your older self, that the world will always be more important to you than your family. That was why I didn't argue with you about taking them. If that's what was most important to you, then what did it matter?"
He raised an eyebrow. "'I told you so' wasn't a good look on you at forty-eight, it's not improving at twenty-three," he groused, shoulders slumping a bit. "I never expected normal, Dad. My father is Harry Potter, my mother Ginny Weasley, The Daily Prophet could be my baby album, and millionaires were made just by guessing my every milestone the closest, there was never going to be normal. But, I don't even mean wanting to know your secrets. You can keep your secrets. I don't care. I just want to know who you are other than the Head Auror with the Disappointed Face of Doom. I didn't even know Cho Chang was someone you dated before Mum until I got Uncle Ron's memories. Mum talked about Dean and Michael while trying to awkwardly muddle through a birds and the bees talk summer before third year. But, you never said a word. Hell, I'd settle for a favourite colour or food, simple things you always said you couldn't share because what if someone found out and used it against you. And I really don't want you to give your life for any of us. I just...I just want a relationship with my dad. One that consists of more than arguing over why I'm not good enough or why drinking alone in his office is more important than family dinner."