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SIYE Time:14:12 on 29th March 2024
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Birds of a Feather
By DukeBrymin

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Romance
Warnings: None
Rating: G
Reviews: 337
Summary: A little girl, kidnapped from her loving parents and found by someone else. A little boy, rescued from those who didn't want him. When they meet, something wonderful happens.
Hitcount: Story Total: 90996; Chapter Total: 5180
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
Kind of a longer author’s note today, to kind of explain the horrendously long wait for this chapter. Anyway, I had written a great chapter (I thought) and it all flowed relatively well. But then I gave it to my betas, and they just about choked. They ripped it apart, and it looked as if they had bled all over the place (although the purple ink wasn’t quite a match for rosiekatriona’s blood). So, we sat down and discussed it, and figured out that for the entire second half of the chapter, my characters were being wrong. Or, perhaps WRONG!!! So, I ripped out the second half, rewrote the (now) ending, and we all think it works much better. So, major props to rosiekatriona and sassyfrass_kerr for smacking my characters around and making them behave correctly. Also, please note that an eagle-eyed reader caught the continuity issue in chapters 12 and 15, where Hermione didn’t go to the Quidditch World Cup, but then remembered the Veela from said Cup. That’s fixed now. So, um, without any further blather, read on!




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oooooooooo

When Ginny recovered from her faint, she found herself in the Hospital Wing, which she loathed, and looking into Harry's face, which she loved. “Hey there,” she whispered softly, and his face broke into a rather tearful smile.

“Hi, Ginevra,” he said, although his voice quavered a bit on her name. “Are you feeling better?” he asked, a little more strongly.

“Yeah,” she said, and made to sit up.

Harry helped lift her, over her mild protests, and then sat down on the foot of her bed. This was much too far away for Ginny, so she leaned forward and grabbed his hand.

“Come here, you. I just had a very trying experience, and I need my Mate to hold me.”

Harry smiled, and allowed her to drag him over to where she was seated. Once she had him positioned where she wanted him, she climbed into his lap and wrapped his arms around herself. “Ah,” she said. “Much better!”

Harry smiled and pressed a kiss to her hair.

They sat there for some minutes, enjoying the peace and quiet, until finally Harry sighed. “Ginevra, can you tell me why you fainted?”

Ginny twisted in his arms to look up at him. “Didn't Fleur tell you? I mean, I assume she got you to come help her somehow, right?”

“Yeah,” he answered slowly. “But I wanted to hear your side of it.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “But you have to hold on to me, okay?”

“All right,” Harry answered, with a concerned look. “I’m sorry it was so horrible.”

“It wasn’t really that bad. But it’s been awhile since we’ve had some quality time together. And if we tell Madame Pomfrey that you were helping me be strong enough to share everything with you, then she'll be less likely to throw you out of my bed.”

Harry laughed at this and squeezed her even tighter, greatly enjoying the sigh of pleasure she let out at his hug.

“Well, Fleur and I talked about quite a few things that you didn’t tell me. You know, menstrual cycles--”

“Eww! Please tell me you're joking!” Harry begged.

Ginny giggled. “Well, mostly. I mean, having a Mate means quite a few things for a girl, one of which is that her cycle will even out and become extremely predictable. But there were a lot of other things that she had to tell me about your being a Veela.” Her voice got much more serious then, as she continued. “And it was okay. I mean, I was really apprehensive, you know? But it wasn’t anything like I was fearing. I mean, it’s not like Veela are that different than humans, right? And it’s not like I’m going to stop loving you just because you are slightly different than I am. And there were some really good things too. I mean, did you know that we can get married as soon as we want to now?”

Harry nodded, a shy smile gracing his face.

Ginny relaxed back against his chest more and pulled his arms tighter around her. “But then we started talking about me, about my sense of smell, and my throwing fireballs, and I realized that, in all likelihood, I'm a Veela too. And all of those things that I'd heard about in the abstract were now, suddenly, extremely concrete, and applied to me, too. I mean, two Veelas, who just happen to be Mated to each other. What are the odds of that?

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” Ginny continued. “I'd always wondered about my birth family, and where they were, and we tried really hard to find out, at first. But now I find out that I am this mythical Allure-spewing, fireball-throwing, super-smelling bird-creature! Not that there's anything wrong with that―it was just a little overwhelming.” She stopped for a bit, then continued. “And I passed out. Right in front of your sister. She probably thinks I'm this total nut-job, now, and I was just starting to like her! I was looking forward to finally having a big sister! Well, big sister-in-law, at least. And I wanted to meet Gabrielle, and your parents, and make a good impression. And now that's all messed up.”

Harry quietly held her throughout her rant, until she finally calmed down. At last, when she had fallen silent, he responded. “Ginny, my love. It's okay. I promise you that Fleur isn't going to like you any less. In fact, I think she'll probably love you all the more for everything that you've gone through and found out about yourself.”

Ginny sniffed a bit and looked up at him as best she could. “Really? You're not just saying that, are you?” She looked around a bit. “And where is she, anyway? I would’ve thought she'd be here too.”

“Oh, um, well, she went to call our parents.”

Ginny gasped in horror. “I have to meet them now? Harry, how could you do this to me? I'm not ready to meet my future parents-in-law!” She started struggling to get out of his arms, but he just held on.

“Ginny, Ginny, calm down. There's something else that I need to tell you.”

“What? That my parents are coming too? That would just be the icing on the cake, wouldn't it?”

Silence.

“Harry, please tell me my parents aren't coming?”

More silence, except for a pair of noisy crickets.

“Oh, pants! This is just perfect. I have to tell my parents that I've met the guy I'm going to marry, and meet my new in-laws, and all of this right after I get taken to the Infirmary for fainting. Just kill me now,” and she bowed her head in defeat.

“No, Ginevra. No, stop it! Ginny! It's not what you're thinking, okay?” Harry tried to get her to look up again. “Please, Ginny, just look at me.”

Finally Ginny looked up again. “Fine. I'll do it. But how can you say it's not what I'm thinking, huh?”

Harry took a deep breath. “Well, um, you see, there's something else you need to know about my family, okay?”

“What? You're the bloody King of England?”

“No, although Mum and Dad are rather high up in the Veela ranks. . .”

Ginny's slap on his arm told him he'd better get on with it.

“Okay. Um, the thing is that my parents have another daughter.”

Ginny gasped. “That’s right, you mentioned that. But we got distracted. You said that they’d lost her. What did she die of?”

Harry looked sad. “The thing is, Madeline didn’t die. Or at least, that wasn’t why she was lost. She was kidnapped.”

Ginny turned and looked at him in horror. “Oh, Harry. I’m so sorry. That must have been awful!”

“I’m sure it was,” he continued. “But it was kind of good for me. You know I was adopted, right? Well, Mum and Dad were searching for their little girl when they found me. After she had been kidnapped, Mum and Dad had waited for someone to come forward and, I don’t know, demand a ransom or blackmail them, or something, but they hadn't heard anything about her. Not a single clue or anything. Just. . . just nothing. And they were so desperate that they were going door-to-door in neighborhoods where magic had been sensed. When they found me, they had been looking for a long time and were completely heartbroken over having lost their daughter.

“Anyway, they found me and they decided to take me back home with them, and try to make a life with just Fleur and me. They never gave up hoping, but the detective agencies they'd hired never found anything out for them. Over the years they became resigned to their loss, but they still missed their Madeline.”

Ginny had listened to this with a heavy heart. “Oh, how horrible, Harry. To just lose someone like that, and never know what happened to her. No closure, or anything like that. I'm so sorry for them,” and Harry noticed that she had tears falling slowly from her eyes.

“Thank you, Ginny. I think they'd appreciate your sympathy. But I have a little bit more to tell you about her, if that's okay.”

Ginny nodded and wiped her eyes.

“Well, we worked out the dates and ages, and we―that is, Fleur and I―think that, and we don't know for sure, but it looks to be a rather strong possibility that. . .”

“That what, Harry?”

“Well, that your real name is Madeline Delacour.”

oooooooooo

Pierre and Giselle Delacour were sitting in their living room taking a break from their labors. Well, “labors” might have been a little too dignified a word to describe their previous activities, but Gabrielle had come home from her play-date, and, by so doing, had interrupted her parents' alone time, so the three members of the family were just sitting and chatting.

Their convivial gathering was put on hold when Fleur's voice came from the Floo in the parlor. “Mama! Papa! Come here, quickly!”

The parents looked at each other, then rushed into the other room, closely followed by Gabrielle. Their 17-year old daughter rarely sounded so distressed, and they were worried that something incredibly horrible had happened. When they arrived at the Floo, they were happy to see that Fleur wasn't hurt, or bleeding, or crying. Or was she? Those looked like tears. . .

“Cherie! What has happened?” Giselle asked as she leaned down to talk to her daughter.

Fleur tried―she really did. She had wanted to prepare her parents slowly and carefully, but all the pent-up emotion from all the years spilled out of her at once. “We've found Madeline!”

Giselle was literally floored. She fell backwards and ended up legs spread, hands barely supporting her in her shock.

Pierre threw himself on the floor next to the Floo, not even noticing the damage the knees of his trousers sustained. “Fleur, are you sure? Please be sure. Where is she? Can we see her? How did you find her?”

Fleur reached a hand through the Floo. “Papa. She's here at Hogwarts. It's a long story. Can you and Mama come? And Gabi? I've asked the Headmistress for permission, and if you can come through we can go see her and make sure!”

Pierre looked at his wife, who was nodding, tears in her eyes, and agreed. “Fleur, what's the Floo address?”

“Headmistress's Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“Okay, we'll be right there.”

Fleur's head left the fireplace, and Pierre jumped up. “Peti!” The little house-elf appeared with a 'pop'. “Please pack a trunk for Giselle, Gabrielle, and me. We'll be gone for a couple of days. When it's ready, please make sure it reaches us at Hogwarts. Please take care of everything while we're gone.”

The little house-elf nodded, then shyly asked, “Is it being true, sir? Has Mistress Madeline really been found?”

“I hope so, Peti. I really do. We'll try to let you know as soon as we find out.”

Giselle had, by then, picked herself up and gathered Gabrielle in her arms. “Gabrielle, hold tight, okay? We're going to go visit Fleur and Harry for a couple of days.”

Gabrielle just nodded. She was a little overwhelmed with all the activity, and somewhat distressed by her parents’ actions. And, she had to admit, somewhat jealous that she hadn’t gotten to finish telling her parents about playing unicorns and dragons. But she had overheard something about Madeline, and, although she was dying to ask questions, her parents were in such a dither that it was obvious that now wasn't the right time to do so. And, legendary missing sister or not, she sure wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to visit her beloved older brother and sister.

Giselle and Gabrielle Flooed first, and Pierre followed as soon as the flames died back down.

Meanwhile, Molly Weasley was on her Floo, contacting Arthur at the Ministry. “I don’t care what kind of meeting he’s in, Perkins. Just get him down here right now!”

Sebastian Perkins was a quiet man. He really liked his job, and he and Arthur Weasley worked very well together, as Arthur was the only person in the Ministry who equalled Perkins’ love for Muggles and their wonderful inventions. And, being such a quiet man, Perkins was completely overwhelmed by the vociferous demands of the Weasley matriarch. Stronger men than he would have caved completely. So he ran out of his office, down to the next floor where Arthur was heading up a meeting on “The Whys and Wherefores of Elektrickery”, and burst through the door.

“Arthur! Your wife! And Hogwarts! And. . . and what is that?” Perkins hadn’t been able to come to the meeting--one of his pet projects was going through a rather delicate stage, and it needed babysitting. Of course, Molly’s request had taken Perkins’ mind off of everything, so his sea monkeys were probably not going to turn out. But the opportunity to see a working whatever-it-was temporarily (and ironically) short-circuited his brain.

Thankfully, Arthur was more in-tune with Molly’s quirks. “Molly Flooed?” he asked quickly, and at Perkins’ rather distracted nod, he quickly flipped the off-switch on the whatever-it-was and hurried back to his office.

Molly’s head was still in the Floo when Arthur arrived. Throwing himself to his knees, he gasped, “What is it, dear?”

“I don’t know exactly, Arthur. Minerva just Flooed and asked that we get to Hogwarts as soon as possible--something’s happened to Ginny!”

Arthur’s face paled dramatically. The last time they’d received a similar summons, they had found out that their daughter, their only daughter, had found an enchanted diary. He hoped that this time it wasn’t as potentially devastating.

Arthur hastily scribbled a note to Perkins stating that he was taking the rest of the day off for a family emergency, then grabbed some Floo powder and jumped into the fire, shouting “The Burrow!” The trip didn’t take too long, and Arthur took what time he had to be thankful for being a department Head, allowing him a Floo connection in his office. There was no telling how upset Molly would have been had Arthur had to go to the Atrium and use one of the public Floos.

“What’s wrong with Ginny?” he asked as soon as he arrived in the Burrow.

“I don’t know, Arthur. Minerva just said that there was a family emergency concerning Ginny, that no-one was hurt, and that you and I should to come at once.”

Arthur’s shoulders relaxed a bit at the ‘no-one was hurt’ part, but then his mind started throwing out all kinds of reasons for a family emergency in which no one was, technically, ‘hurt’. After all that their children had done while at school, the Headmistress’s reassurance didn’t really calm him down very much.

oooooooooo

The Headmistress’s office was feeling a slight bit claustrophobic. Four Delacours were there, along with Headmistress McGonagall, Professor Flitwick and Madame Maxime. When Arthur and Molly Flooed in and added their physical presence, not to mention the fact that Molly always seemed a little larger-than-life, even when she wasn’t in a frenzy over one of her children, the usually-large-enough room seemed to shrink to Lilliputian dimensions.

Casting a quick Sonorus on herself, the Headmistress requested, “May I have your attention, please?”

Successfully gaining some measure of quiet in the room, Headmistress McGongall motioned to the chairs she had conjured for the participants. “If you would please find a seat, we can discuss what has been happening here at Hogwarts.”

After everyone had found a seat, Molly burst out, “Are my children all right? They haven’t found any more. . . things have they?”

Headmistress McGonagall smiled at the Weasley mother. “Yes, Molly, they’re just fine. No-one has been injured, nor really even inconvenienced.” Looking back at the larger group, she sighed and wondered just how much the recent happenings would disturb the happy families. “First, let me make some introductions. Arthur, Molly, these are Pierre and Giselle Delacour. This is their daughter, Fleur, who, along with their son, Harry, are visiting Hogwarts as part of the Quidditch Tournament. And this is Gabrielle, their youngest.”

Molly and Arthur turned to the other parents and smiled, although Molly wondered why they had been summoned if it were the Weasley family who had had a crisis.

“Pierre, Giselle, these are Arthur and Molly Weasley. They are Ginny’s adoptive parents,” Headmistress McGonagall continued.

The faces of the Delacour parents were pleasant enough as they nodded at the Weasleys, although there was an underlying tension that Arthur found a little strange. For her part, Molly wondered why the Headmistress had felt the need to specify that Ginny was adopted.

“This is Madame Olympe Maxime, Headmistress of Beauxbatons, and this is Professor Filius Flitwick, head of Ravenclaw House,” Headmistress McGonagall continued. “Now, there is quite a lot that has happened in the last couple of days, and I shall endeavor to be precise. First,” she turned to the Weasleys, “Ginny and Harry have become a couple.”

Arthur felt a slight pang in his heart at that, while Molly gaped in disbelief. “But, she’s never--”

“I know, Molly. But she and Harry do seem to have fallen deeply in love. Please let me continue, as that is one of the minor parts of the story.” At Molly’s reluctant nod, the Headmistress went on. “The next thing you need to know is that the Delacours, with the exception of Pierre, are all Veela, to one degree or another.” Noticing the Weasleys’ questioning looks, she explained briefly. “This just means that they have some abilities that are not run-of-the-mill. One of which is casting fireballs.”

Molly gasped. “But. . . but. . . Ginny. . .”, and the light in her eyes dimmed.

“Yes, and therein lies the crux of the matter,” Headmistress McGonagall continued. “About thirteen years ago, the Delacours’ daughter, Madeline, was kidnapped, and they haven’t found even a trace of her since.”

Molly started crying, quietly, and Arthur wrapped an arm around her.

Headmistress McGonagall turned to the Delacours. “And about thirteen years ago, the Weasleys found a blond-haired baby girl in the woods, and, after failing to discover her parents, magically adopted her.”

Giselle, too, started crying, and Pierre pulled her close. Gabrielle, who was sitting on Fleur’s lap, sniffled a bit, while Fleur just held her a little tighter.

“Now, the girl in question is currently in the hospital wing. She’s fine,” Headmistress McGonagall hurried to clarify. “She just had some rather surprising news and fainted in shock. She’s there with Harry, and yes, she has been told of the possibility that she’s your daughter,” she said, directing her look to the Delacours. “I think,” she continued, ”that we should continue our discussion there, so that everyone can be involved.” She paused, then continued, “Unless there are any questions that you’d prefer to get out of the way now?”

Giselle, who somehow managed to look incredibly beautiful, even with red eyes, sniffed, then asked, “Do you have someone on staff who can do the Lineage Potion and charm?”

Headmistress McGonagall looked a question at Flitwick. He nodded, and she turned back to the Delacours. “Yes, Madame Delacour, although it is rather expensive. I hate to ask, but are you willing to pay for it?”

Giselle waved away that worry. “But of course, we need to know the truth.”

Headmistress McGonagall nodded at that and turned to Flitwick. “Filius, will you please work with Madame Pomfrey in getting the potion and charm ready?”

The short professor agreed and left the room after bowing to the families.

No other question was raised, so Headmistress McGonagall ushered them out of her office and led them toward the Hospital wing.

oooooooooo

Ginny sat, speechless, staring at Harry. The idea that she'd finally found her birth family was not a comfortable one. Harry looked on, nervously, as his girlfriend just sat there motionless.

Finally, the silence got to be too much. “Um, Ginevra?” he asked.

Ginny blinked at him, then looked down. “I, uh, I don't know what to do,” she confessed. “I'm a Weasley, aren't I? I mean, I know how to be a Weasley. It's not hard. I just fight with my brothers, play Quidditch, and eat my Mum's cooking. I don't. . . I don't know how to be a Delacour! You're all so, so refined, and good-looking, and rich and proper and I'm just a little old Weasley, too many freckles and too quick to get angry and too skinny and too short--”

Harry wanted to interrupt her and deny her self-denigrations, tell her how beautiful she was, and that she wasn't too skinny. But on second thought he decided that it might be good for her to get this out before anyone else showed up.

"--and I'd have to move to France! I don't speak French!” Ginny's voice was getting louder and a bit hysterical now, and Harry was getting a little more worried. In spite of his reluctance, he thought he might need to step in.

“--and bouillabaisse--I mean, I like shrimp, and crab isn't too bad, but in tomato sauce?”

Harry leaned in and kissed her. She started to kiss him back, but dissolved into more tears. She pushed herself into his embrace as hard as she could, while great heart-wrenching sobs tore through her.

Harry was beside himself with worry. “Ginevra!” he called, desperately, but she just cried harder. It didn’t seem as though she could even hear him, so he just held her as tight as possible and rocked her as his mother had done for him so many times before.

Eventually, her sobbings turned into low mutters, and her clinging hands turned to fists. Her mutters grew louder and she starting hitting Harry in the chest.

Harry cringed away as far as he could while still maintaining contact. Finally, though, it got so painful that he pulled her in as hard as he could, trapping her fists between them. But it seemed that the energy that had driven her fists needed an outlet, and she started yelling at Harry.

“How could you do this to me?” she yelled. “Make me fall in love with you, and tell me I’m a Veela, and that we’re Mated for life! And now you tell me that--”

At this moment the doors to the Hospital Wing swung open, admitting quite a large group of people, spearheaded by a pair of red-haired adults. The crowd slowed to a halt, seeing the young couple in the middle of what looked like a furious row. The small chatterings and other noises they brought with them stilled into utter silence.

Which meant that everyone there heard, clear as day, as Ginny finished yelling, “--YOU’RE MY BROTHER!!!”

ooooooooooo

Ending A/N: Major kudos to whomever can suss out the alluded-to movie from whence the title of this chapter sprang.
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