Birth of the Potter Children by JetLaBarge
Summary: Third in the Almost Happily Ever After series, starting at the end of the hunt for the remaining supporters of Tom Riddle and the end of Ginny's Quidditch career.
Rating: R
Categories: Post-DH/AB
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: Almost Happily Ever After
Published: 2014.08.11
Updated: 2015.03.17
Index
Chapter 1: CH 1 A New Life for Ginny
Chapter 2: CH. 2 Slow Down, You’re Moving Too Fast
Chapter 3: CH. 3 “A Cold Dish of Revenge”
Chapter 4: CH 4 A Girly Car Seat
Chapter 5: CH 5 “Yes, Ginny, that kind of Pregnant
Chapter 6: CH 6 Molly gives Ginny her First Pregnancy Lesson
Chapter 7: CH. 7 Andromeda to the Rescue
Chapter 8: CH. 8 Arthur Airplane Ride
Chapter 9: CH. 9 Molly gets REALLY ANGRY
Chapter 10: CH 10 Teddy and Babies
Chapter 11: CH 11 The Reluctant Politician
Chapter 12: CH 12 Pregnant Ginny comes home
Chapter 13: CH 13 Pregnancy Issues
Chapter 14: CH 14 James Sirius Potter
Chapter 15: CH 15 Visiting the Dead Parents
Chapter 16: CH 16 Introducing James to the Family
Chapter 17: CH 17 Problems with Muggles
Chapter 18: CH 18 "James First Christmas"
Chapter 19: CH 19 The Funeral of Hugo Granger
Chapter 20: CH 20 Revelations
Chapter 21: Chapter 22
Chapter 22: CH 22 James at 1 and what came next
Chapter 23: CH 23 The Birth of Albus
Chapter 24: CH. 24 Two Christmases
Chapter 25: Chapter 25
Chapter 26: CH 26, Lilly Luna and Hugo
Chapter 1: CH 1 A New Life for Ginny
Author's Notes: Harry and his team of Aurors have captured the last of the supporters of Voldemort (Tom Riddle.) Harry is at a very satisfying point in his career. His happiness is tempered by the severe head injury Ginny received in her last Harpies Game, an injury severe enough to keep her from ever flying again. Both of the captured girls were rescued, but Pansy is in very bad shape mentally. They also lost one Auror on the mission, which bothers Harry.
If you do not want to read the entire preceding two stories in this long saga you may want to start reading the chapter in Bad Guys and Broomsticks titled’ Finding the Hideout.’ If you are more interested in the next generation Harry and Ginny’s contribution to the next generation starts here.
Brutus Borisky was led into the tunnel by two grim looking Goblins. A wizard pointed his wand at him, then at a chair. Brutus sat down. Across from him were the Wizard and another Goblin.
The wizard levitated a copy of the Daily Prophet to Brutus. He read the headline, “Ginny Potter Released from St. Mungo’s.” There was a photograph of Ginny walking out of the hospital, holding on to a walker. It was obvious that she was not having an easy time walking.
The Goblin said, “Not dead! Not even dying.”
“Impossible,” Brutus said. “There is a cursed needle in her brain.”
The Goblin said, “You have never killed before! How do we know you can?”
“None of my Bludgers have killed a player. That would be bad for business. I have to kill each time to harvest the brains I use for the cursed needles. This was the fourth cursed Bludger, and all three other players are just insane or damaged enough that they will never play again. I cursed this one to kill and it should have!”
“And now Ginny Potter will be even more protected! She needs to be dead,” the Goblin said.
Brutus said, “At least she’s wounded. If your boss wants revenge that will have to be enough.”
The wizard spit on the floor, and then said, “Not revenge. Prophesies foretell the end of his reign, and the diminishing of his master’s powers, if the Potters bear a child that becomes a wise king. One of the Potters needs to DIE, die before they have a child!”
Harry woke up first, as he usually did.
His Wizarding Smart Phone was blinking. He quickly read the messages. Damn. Now that the worst of the problems were over in England they were going to want him to help with problems with the rest of the Wizarding Community. No rest for Harry Potter, not that he really wanted to retire, but he was going to have to spend more time taking care of Ginny.
Last Saturday he woke up alone in bed, like he did most Saturdays when there was a Quidditch game. Last Saturday Ginny was not injured, had not almost been killed by the Bludger that kept her unconscious for five days.
Last night was the first night the injured Ginny was home, sleeping in their bed, the start of a new life. No more Quidditch, not even family games. Ginny was retired and more, seriously hurt.
Harry took a good look at Ginny. Her head looked all right, a little bruised yet but otherwise not bad. You could see the slight scarring where they had to put the right side of her head back together, and where they had removed part of her skull to let her brain expand, but nothing was obvious unless you looked real hard. They had shaved her head, and Harry thought Ginny had expressed more panic over the temporary loss of her hair than over the more serious, permanent injuries.
The scar she had received from interrogations the year before Riddle was killed was still there, looking worse because of the weight Ginny had lost. The right leg looked pretty bad. Harry knew that the knee no longer hurt, which was a lot better than it had been before. He had no idea how much feeling Ginny had in her lower right leg, but Harry thought it was less than she wanted to admit.
Despite being very skinny and short Ginny was not a tiny person. She still had nice sized breasts over the all-too-visible ribs, and although the bum was smaller she still had hips.
Ginny would survive, and adapt, and be happy. Harry was sure of that. She was tough. He just felt bad because all of her injuries were because she was Harry Potter’s girlfriend, and then wife.
Ginny was waking up. Harry gently said, “Ginny, love, good morning. I love you.”
A groggy Ginny responded, “Harry, I have to go to the loo,” as she stumbled out of bed, grabbed onto the walker, and turned to look at Harry.
Ginny sat down hard on the bed and said, “Do you remember what I said to you the afternoon of the Battle of Hogwarts, when you first woke up?”
“I’m not sure if I remember it or remember you telling other people,” Harry replied. “I was pretty groggy, and until I had my shower everything is kind of blurry, but it was something like, ‘never leave me?’”
As she was getting up Ginny started in, “And you replied you had to go to the loo, and now I really do have to go to the loo, but it just seems like, oh, I don’t know, like that was the start of our life together after you finished your tasks and beat Riddle. This seems to me to be the start of our life after I messed up and got injured and ugly and everything. I really do have to go to the loo, but you told me that you would always be there for me, thank you!”
Holding on to the walker to keep her balance Ginny made her way to the loo. She let herself down onto the loo, cursing her lack of balance.
Sitting down Ginny contemplated herself. ‘Skinny, I can see my ribs. Maybe I can get back the boobs and body I had before getting so, well, I WAS in fantastic shape! Well, except for the injuries. The right knee looks real bad. I AM skinny. Harry is treating me like I could break at any moment. I want a good shag, not like, ‘ if I get too excited she’ll break’, sex stuff. At least I can shag.
‘Stupid accident! I haven’t used the ‘Touch of Lust’ spell in years, but I’m bloody well going to use it today. Might as well hide here and shag my husband and try and forget how ugly and damaged I look. Boggarts. Bollocks and Boggarts. Damn! ’
Ginny used the ‘Touch-of-Lust’ spell with four flicks of the wand. By the time she got back to the bed she was beginning to think maybe four flicks was excessive, both because of how she felt and because she could see that Harry had really gotten the message as well.
“Better use the spells for endurance, Harry, all of them,” Ginny said. “We’ve got four years’ worth of not having sex enough to make up for.”
“You’re not going to try and make up for all four years today?” Harry said with a little fake panic in his face.
“I hope to make a bloody good start!” Ginny said fiercely, hoping to drown her sorrows in the carnal pleasures of sex with her husband, something she always enjoyed.
The Touch-of-Lust spell did its job, but Ginny couldn’t do much more than lie on her back and enjoy. Every time she tried to get creative with a different position her inner ear started to give her problems. In the end Ginny had to settle for a lot of gentle lovemaking, not the athletic sex she loved
Mid-morning hunger overcame other urges and the Potters came down to the kitchen.
“I can’t ever remember being this aroused,” Harry said. “Did you do something, some spell or something, to get us this excited? I’m not saying I mind, but it is a little overwhelming. I would hate to go through life with quite this much urgency. Spending the rest of today mostly in bed is going to be fantastically pleasant.”
“Did I ever tell you about the ‘Touch-of-Lust’ spell?” a wary Ginny asked Harry. “It’s kind of dangerous, and I probably used it too much this morning, I was just so insecure and, but it’s FUN.”
“No,” said Harry warily, curious where the discussion of the ‘Touch-of-Lust’ spell would lead.
Ginny replied, “I found it in a book mum had, that she did NOT want me to read. She said that if you used it once a week with one flick you could probably keep a boy interested, and once a day and you had better want to marry the boy. I asked her what would happen if you used it with more than one flick, and she said that it was way too dangerous to use with more than one flick, because if you did that you could easily find yourself pregnant, and when I asked her how she knew that she got all red in the face and said ‘never mind.’ I didn’t find out until much later that two flicks got Mum and Dad Bill.
“Well, I used it with two flicks the first day after the Battle and then with one flick, never more until I got the ring and then only once a week or maybe twice if I was feeling real insecure until right before the wedding. I used it twice the day of the wedding and the two before.
“I’m sorry, Harry, that’s probably why I made such a fool of myself at the wedding, using the ‘Touch-of-Lust’ spell too much.
“After the wedding I really sort of forgot about it because we were shagging all the time anyway, but I felt so ugly this morning without any hair that I used it again, with four flicks, and I’m NEVER going to do that again! But it’s been FUN and we’re going back upstairs because it’s going to take all day at least to get me satisfied.”
“OH,” Harry replied. “It’s been fun, but PLEASE don’t use it with four flicks again. It’s fun but a little painful, too, at least for me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ginny replied. “I’m sorry, and I’m actually sorry I’m not sorrier. I promise I’ll never again use it with three or four flicks again. Oh Merlin I’ve messed up again.”
“We’ve got pleasant work ahead of us today, Ginny my love,” Harry said, laughing.
Ginny said, “There were all sorts of things I thought we could do, that crazy levitation thing, me all over you, and I can’t, I can’t, even with the Touch-of-Lust spell I just can’t move like I was able to before. Bollox and Boggarts, I’m just so damaged.” Ginny was crying by this time. “It’s fun for me, but you have to do all the work, and I’m just feeling so damaged, like I’ve ruined it for us.”
“I’m enjoying the day,” Harry said. “You still seem to enjoy, and occasionally more than just enjoy, our lovemaking. Gentle is not bad.”
“It’s not bad at all. It’s very good. Thank you, Harry.”
Harry and Ginny spent a good part of the day in bed, making love, but not with the vigor they were used to.
Harry woke up first Sunday morning. He could easily make love to Ginny, but the damnable urgency that so consumed yesterday was mostly gone. He was sore all over, like he had been used up, which in all honesty he sort of had been, but he could at least please Ginny if she wanted it. ‘Touch-of-Lust’ spell. More like being hit by a lorry of lust spell that was. Too much of a good thing can be too much, as much fun as yesterday was.
Ginny was fierce. That was one of the things he loved about her. She would survive everything, the lack of balance and loss of hearing in the one ear, and even the very slow growing of her beautiful hair. She just was not going to be particularly pleasant about it for a while. You married for better or for worse, and with the spells that witches and wizards used, especially all the ones her parents had used, you were pretty well stuck with each other. Might as well enjoy it, might as well enjoy his beautiful spirited Ginny.
“Morning, beautiful Ginny,” Harry gently said. “We are going to your parents for breakfast.”
“I want to hide,” Ginny said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Harry replied. “You had your fun yesterday. Time to face your brothers, who all saw you at St. Mungo’s anyway.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that I’m all ugly and damaged?” asked Ginny.
Harry shot back, “You are certainly not ugly! You are absolutely beautiful. Oh, it would be nice if the hair was back, but the hair will grow back and meanwhile you are just a beautiful woman with short hair.”
“I’m damaged,” Ginny said fiercely.
“I went to Hogwarts with a scar and other issues, like Tom Riddle in my brain messing with me,” Harry explained. “Didn’t exactly get out of the war without a few scars, and neither did you. You are tough, always have been. My tough Ginny is going to do fine navigating, even without very good balance.”
Harry touched Ginny’s head, and then ran his hand down her side to her hips. “Still look fantastic to me,” he said, some lust evident in his look and voice. “There will be time for that later, years to make up for, as you said, not having enough sex during your Quidditch career.”
“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” Ginny giggled and grinned and asked.
“Yes, often, and I’m overwhelmingly and passionately in love with you too,” Harry replied, grinning. “Still am, always will be, no matter what!”
“SHOW ME! At least when you make love to me I don’t feel quite so damaged,” Ginny said. So Harry did.
Harry’s words and looks, plus the sex, reassured Ginny. Harry could see that his words had the effect he had intended them to have, and felt better than he had since the accident.
As soon as they arrived at the New Burrow Teddy ran up to Ginny saying, “Mummy Ginny, Mummy Ginny. You going to be all right? Teddy so scared! Grandma Tonks so scared she in St. Mungo’s too.” Teddy grabbed onto Ginny’s legs and held on for dear life. Ginny promptly lost the little balance she had, and only Harry catching Ginny kept her from taking a bad tumble. Harry picked up Teddy so he would not cause Ginny to fall down, went over to the kitchen table with the two of them. Teddy sat right down next to Ginny holding on to her.
Molly told Ginny and Harry, “Andromeda really had a hard time after she saw you get hurt. She is spending a couple of weeks at St. Mungo’s calming down.”
“Maybe I can help with Teddy,” said Ginny, looking at him and tousling his hair. “I need something to do.”
“We could use your help, Ginny, with Andromeda gone,” said Molly. Molly then spent some time with Ginny going over what they were doing with home schooling, and especially what they needed Ginny to do with Teddy.
Monday morning Harry went with Ginny to her doctor’s appointment.
One of the healers said, “We think we have found the cause of your lack of balance. First, look at this moving picture we have of you getting hurt. See the movement of the Bludger!”
Harry and Ginny looked. Ginny had turned right into the Bludger, but they were headed to a glancing blow. At the last moment the bludger swerved into Ginny.
Harry said, “That Bludger has to be cursed!”
The healer said, “Normally, as bad as that hit was, we should have been able to heal the head injury and send someone home within twenty four hours. However, something real bad was happening right where the bludger hit you, Ginny. We couldn’t figure it out, which is one of the reasons why we removed some very damaged sections of your skull. When we did we found the magic was not in your brain but in this small fragment.” The healer held out a little piece of bone.
“In the bone we found this needle, and in the needle small amounts of a human brain, not yours, Ginny, but another human brain. It has been cursed, and it wants to travel right into your brain and destroy it.
“We were very lucky we took out this piece of skull, Ginny.”
“Who supplied the Bludgers?” Harry asked.
“Brutus Borisky,” the healer said. “They just found him, what’s left of him. Torture, then the Dementors Kiss, we guess. Pretty awful.”
“So now that you have that out I should heal?” asked Ginny. “I can get back to flying? I’ll get my balance back?”
“You should not get any worse, Ginny, and you will learn to adapt,” the healer said. “You may never get your balance back, and we just don’t know enough about this curse to tell you a lot more.”
“That’s part of my HEAD?” Ginny asked, looking at the little piece of bone. She felt around her ear, and thought she could feel a little hole under the skin.
“The bone will grow back,” the healer said. “We just don’t want to use any magic to speed anything up. We are still not sure what we are dealing with.
“Mrs. Potter, you need a house elf to accompany you, to make sure you do not lose your balance!”
Ginny said, “I don’t need a house elf shadow! It’s bad enough to have a guard follow you around.”
Harry said, “Please, remember the Prophesies, Ginny. You are in danger. If your guard is worried about you falling she is not going to be able to protect you from other dangers.”
There were three healers there, plus Harry. The guards and Dobedo were waiting just outside. Ginny looked at all of them, one by one, and then said, “Do I really need a house elf shadow to keep me from falling?”
All three healers said, “Yes, Mrs. Potter, you do.”
“Enough tempting fate, Ginny,” Harry said. “I want to grow old with you. I am very grateful that Dobedo is my friend. He is an incredibly faithful servant. I hope you have a house elf as a friend,”
Ginny looked at everyone again, a scowl on her face. “Bollox and Boggarts. I feel like I’m in Merlin’s outhouse. I’m that damaged?”
One of the healers said, “You are really in very good shape for someone who had a head injury as severe as yours. Getting here promptly has saved your memory and brain. But the balance, you really do need a house elf because of the balance.”
.“How do I get a house elf?” Ginny asked.
CRACK! Kreacher appeared with a small female house elf. Kreacher said, “Mitzi would be most honored to be Mistress Potter’s personal house elf!”
“I get paid real moneys to be your house elf!” the little elf said. “Room and board and a Galleon a week real moneys! Is such an honor!”
Laughing Harry said, “How can you turn down keeping a house elf gainfully employed, earning REAL MONEYS?”
Ginny laughed her face a mix of amusement and exasperation. She agreed to employ Mitzi.
Harry watched as Ginny and the house elf practiced working together. Harry felt much better after seeing Mitzi keeping Ginny from falling several times. Ginny was still adapting to her suddenly horrible sense of balance. The bad inner ear was sending all sorts of confusing signals.
When practice was over Harry accompanied Ginny and Mitzi to the New Burrow. After they got to the New Burrow Ginny turned to Harry and said, “Please go back to work, Harry. You have been hovering over me since Friday, like I was broken and would fall apart at any minute. I promise I will be careful.”
“WE be VERY careful!” Mitzi said. “I make sure Mistress NOT falls.”
Harry did not answer right away, and Ginny put her hands on her hips, one hand holding her wand which had charms on it to help her balance, and said in a deliberate but somewhat fierce manner “Go to work and stop hovering over me, Harry. I promise you I will not break.”
Mitzi was frantically supporting Ginny. Mitzi said, “Mitzi keep Ginny safe.”
Harry went back to work. He met with Arthur and Gawain and was informed of all that had happened while he was gone. It did seem that they had captured the last of the witches and wizards that were ardent supporters of Tom Riddle and had been involved in some sort of criminal activity.
Harry then spent some time going over what Arthur and Gawain knew about the cursed Bludger and the now dead maker of Bludgers, Brutus. Brutus was from a disputed, lawless area between India and China, outside of most normal Magical Governments. With Boris dead there wasn’t much they could do about the cursed Bludger.
Arthur said, “Wanda really wants to see Ginny again. I think she would like to meet with her at least every week.”
“Does Tracy still go to see Wanda?” Harry asked.
“Yes, and she would like to meet with Ginny too. Something about a rape victim and wanting more of the story,” Arthur said.
“I will tell Ginny tonight,” Harry said.
Gawain said, “We may have a new Auror recruit, one a little older than normal, Gus Gudgeon.”
“Gus has been a lot of help,” Harry said. “I am not quite sure how he ended up with Bellatrix, but I don’t gather that his stay was voluntary.
It was close to four in the afternoon, and all the other children had gone home. Ginny was in the living room at the New Burrow with Teddy. They spent some time rolling a ball back and forth on the floor, part of Ginny’s physical therapy. Teddy was very excited and proud, telling everybody, “I helping Mummy Ginny get better. After the ball rolling session was over Teddy was very quiet, and then went up to Ginny and said, “I go to your house after Quidditch.”
“That’s what you did, yes,” Ginny said.
“You not play Quidditch, because you hurt?” Teddy asked.
“I am not allowed to play anymore,” Ginny said.
“I no come to your house anymore?” Teddy asked, with tears in his eyes.
“Of course you can still come to our house,” said Ginny, “When did you want to come?”
Teddy said, “Real boys and girls go home with their real mummy and daddy every day. I wish I was a real boy.”
Ginny said, “You are a real boy, Teddy.”
“I no have real mummy and daddy I can stay with,” Teddy said. “Just real Gran, Gran, Granmum that is fragile and runs away when bad things happen. Can you be my real mummy?”
“Do you want to come home with me tonight?” Ginny asked, sensing the longing in Teddy’s questions.
Teddy said, “And tomorrow, and the next tomorrow, and the next tomorrow after that, like a real boy.”
Ginny held her arms open and said, “Would a real strong hug and kiss from me, a good mummy kiss, help you feel like a real boy? Then I will talk to my mum and let her know that you are going home with me tonight.”
Teddy ran into Ginny’s arms and hugged and hugged. Then he ran off to tell Grandmother Molly that he was going home with Mummy Ginny.
Monday night Harry came back to Grimmauld Place. He was met by Teddy, who said,” Daddy Harry, Daddy, I get to be a real boy and go home with mummy EVERY DAY! Just like a REAL BOY!”
“I will tell you later, Harry,” Ginny said. “It looks like Teddy is going to be staying with us for a while.”
Harry said, “I would love to have Teddy stay with us for a while.”
Teddy said, “Daddy Harry! Mummy Ginny played with me and did my lessons with me. She is smart! She knows all my lessons.”
“I’m glad Mummy Ginny knows your lessons,” said Harry, chuckling under his breath. “She is smart!”
“I roll a ball to her and she rolls it back,” Teddy said. “Pisiful Para-thippy for Mummy.”
“Thank you for helping Mummy get better,” Harry said. Teddy just beamed with pride.
After Teddy had gone to bed, Ginny told Harry about Teddy asking to come home with her so he could be a “REAL BOY.” “It’s got to be hard not to have two parents when everyone you know has two parents, and goes home to them every night,” Ginny said.
“It was hard being the only boy in my class without parents,” Harry said. “I never felt love from Aunt Petunia, and Vernon Dursley hated me. I just feel so bad that Teddy is an orphan too.”
The next morning Harry went with Ginny, Mitzi, and Teddy to St. Mungo’s, and when she was done let them floo to the New Burrow and he went to work. Wednesday morning and for the rest of the week, and from then on when Ginny went to St. Mungo’s Harry would floo to the New Burrow with Teddy and then go to work.
Wednesday afternoon a healer from St. Mungo’s met with Ginny at the New Burrow. She asked Ginny, “Would you agree to meet with Wanda and Tracy Tuesday and Thursday mornings? Wanda really wants you there. We feel that you could use to be there because of the trauma you have just suffered as well.”
Ginny replied, “Harry mentioned that to me. Yes I would like that.”
Ginny asked Molly, “Mum, do you think you could do without me for a couple of hours Tuesday and Thursday?”
Molly replied, “We have plenty of help to take care of the children. We will just plan on you being gone Tuesday and Thursday mornings.”
Thursday, at ten in the morning, Ginny (and Mitzi) went to the house where Wanda was staying. Tracy and a healer from the Mental Department arrived about the same time. The healer introduced herself as Jan. (Ginny learned that she was Jan Swart, and was married to another healer who worked with emotional problems, Ed Swart.)
Tracy waved a paper and said, ”Ginny, is it true what “Witches Rumors” says, that you have a death wish? You sure have gotten hurt a lot, and put yourself in danger.”
“I try never to read the trash in that little publication!” Ginny said. “They have had me sleeping around, and have Harry carrying on mad passionate affairs with half the witches in the Ministry.”
“You still put yourself in the way of a lot of danger, Ginny,” Jan said.
“When did I do that?” Ginny asked.
“When you flew right into that opposing player early in your career and received your first serious head injury,” Jan said. All three women looked at Ginny.
Ginny didn’t answer right away, but she finally whispered, “That sort of was my fault.”
Jan continued, “When those two thugs were after you in the game that finally demolished your right knee, you could have protested, could have sat out the game.”
“What?!” Ginny exclaimed. “And show those trolls they could intimidate me?”
“And maybe not have your knee demolished,” Jan said.
“Is this a pick on Ginny session?” Ginny asked, astonished at how this ‘consoling’ session was going.
“It was my turn Tuesday,” Tracy said. “I was asked if I suspected that maybe Pansy was captured, that going to meet her was dangerous. I had to admit that as soon as I was captured I thought that I should have known better. It’s not the same as saying it was all my fault, but we should admit when we have been foolish and not keep doing stupid things.”
Wanda said, “I guess I really didn’t have too much of a choice when I married Harold, just because of how I was raised. I do have a choice now. I could try and find another man who would abuse me, or I could try and find someone nice. Now I do have a choice.”
Jan said, “You have choices to make too, Ginny. One choice is how careful you are going to be with your body. I see you have a house elf to help you, to keep you from falling. That is a mature choice.”
“I’m not sure I had much of a choice,” Ginny mumbled.
Jan said, “You have the choice to not acknowledge your injuries, and not to get help, and to keep falling. That would be a disastrous choice, but it would be a choice.”
Ginny said, “Harry said he wants to grow old with me, and the healers have all told me that if I want to live a long life with Harry I am just going to have to be slow and careful from now on. I feel like an old handicapped lady. Damn!”
“You are the youngest one here!” Tracy exclaimed. “You are safely married. Here I am expecting a child by one of those bastards, and I don’t know who and don’t care to know. Despite your injuries you are in a pretty good place in your life, unlike us.”
“You never read “Witches Rumors by Rita Skeeter?” Wanda asked. “She writes about you all the time.”
Ginny replied, “All LIES. I’ve never been unfaithful to Harry. Harry works with my brother and works for my father. The idea that he could be cheating is preposterous. Besides, Harry just isn’t that type of person.”
Jan said, “The rumors have to bother you, though.”
“Maybe a little,” Ginny said. The next minutes of discussion made it obvious to Ginny as well as to the others that the stream of articles over the last four years had bothered Ginny a lot more than she had realized.
The session lasted well over an hour, and at the end Ginny promised to be back next Tuesday.
Ginny went back to the New Burrow with Mitzi, and had a delightful afternoon with the women and children. Mitzi held one of Ginny’s hands, and Teddy the other, as they took the floo to Grimmauld Place.
“Shall we read a book together?” Ginny asked Teddy.
“Read a Dr. Seuss book! I get a Dr. Seuss book for US to read,” Teddy said. Harry had read books by Dr. Seuss as a youngster, and when he found a bookstore that carried them he bought all the early reader books he could find. They were mostly in Teddy’s bedroom at Grimmauld Place, because the house elves always s put them back no matter where Teddy left them. Teddy actually did most of the reading, with a little help and a lot of encouragement from Ginny. When they were done Teddy kissed Ginny and said, “I love you, Mummy.
Ginny had a hard time holding back tears, mostly of joy, as she said, “I love you too, Teddy. Put the book back. The house elves are fixing dinner, and we can eat as soon as Daddy comes home.”
They had a delightful dinner, with Harry sharing some of what had happened at the Ministry and Ginny sharing what had happened during her day, always keeping in mind that Teddy was listening. Teddy shared too, and asked questions. After dinner Harry and Teddy played a little, and then Harry read Teddy a story and put him to bed.
When Harry came down to the drawing room Ginny asked Harry, “Are you happy, Harry?”
“Yes, I think I am,” Harry said. “I could get used to coming home every night to a wife and child, or children.”
“Do you mind that I want to make love in the morning and evening? It makes me feel more secure and loved, but I worry that I’m asking too much of you.”
“Most men I know would be thrilled if they had a wife as sexy as you. I am lucky enough to have a sexy, curvy, beautiful wife. I still cannot believe how lucky I am.”
“We had a consoling session today, and Tracy told me that, despite the injuries, I have a husband that loves me and I ought to be happy. Then Teddy said he loves me, and you always say you love me. I’m not happy I was hurt, but I shouldn’t feel too sorry for myself. I have so much to be grateful for.”
“That’s my Ginny!” Harry exclaimed.
Friday Harry finally had the time to go over and see the prophets in Switzerland, and meet with Al and some of the people in the International Aurors Association.
“Ginny dodged a killing spell,” Al said. “She is safer now than she has been since she started playing Quidditch.”
The rest of the Aurors in the International Aurors Association agreed with Al. They all felt much better about being able to protect Ginny.
Harry went to the Prophecy Department after his meeting with the International Aurors. Steve and Valerie Bushman were there, and they greeted Harry warmly. Harry asked, “Do the prophets say anything about Ginny and me, about the Regents?”
Valerie said, “Yes. After Ginny awoke a lot of signs changed. We were all worried about Ginny, and now the signs for her point to a long life not a short one. Ginny is still alive, and despite a life altering injury she is not in bad shape.
“The signs point even more strongly to you and Ginny being the parents of the next King of Witches and Wizards.”
“Is that a good thing?” Harry asked.
“The Goblin’s sword cuts both ways, as they say,” Valerie replied. “You and whoever becomes the next King will have an exciting, and at times, a dangerous, life. Your odds of winning are better than they have ever been.”
“All these problems because I killed Tom Riddle?” Harry asked.
“Oh no,” Valerie said. “The biggest problem is that the Power that control Dementors is threatened by you and your heir.”
“So if we have a child he is going to be in danger, because of these prophesies?” asked Harry.
“Only one, and not necessarily the first one,” Valerie said.
“How many children are we predicted to have?” asked Harry.
“We have odds, only. No firm predictions,” Valerie said.
“The odds are best for how many?” Harry asked.
“Three, or six,” Valerie said.
“Three or six?” Harry asked.
“Odds peak at three and again at six. We really do not know. We just know odds, sort of.”
Friday night Harry shared what he had learned.
“I was in that much danger?” Ginny asked. Harry nodded.
“The Aurors and the prophets are both happy I cannot fly?” Gunny asked. Harry nodded again.
“Let’s start with one child, and see how that goes,” Ginny said.
“We sort of have one already,” Harry replied.
“I wonder if Teddy counts in the three, or six?” Ginny asked.
Saturday morning Harry told Ginny that they were going to watch the Harpies game, going to the Potter/Weasley box like they usually did.
Ginny felt her hair, looked at herself, and said, “Do I have to?”
Harry said, “Yes. You always liked Quidditch. Maybe you can coach from the sidelines. At least you can encourage your teammates.”
Ginny said, “Rita won’t be able to write about me sleeping around when I’m not home at night. I’ve been home every night since I first came home.”
Harry, Ginny and Teddy, with Dobedo and Mitzi, went to the Potter box. Bill and Tabatha Lionheart were already there. Bill asked, “How are you feeling, Ginny? Head hurt a lot?”
Ginny said, “Not really. It’s a little sore where the Bludger hit, but other than that, I don’t know.”
Bill asked, “Not hard to think?”
“NO!” Ginny yelled. “I’m not stumbling over my words like you sometimes do and I can think on my feet as well as before,
“Except it’s hard to think when I’m dizzy.
“Half the time I’m dizzy! Bollox and Boggarts.
“Bill, does it ever get any better? I’m so damn Merlin blasted FRUSTRATED all the time. I’m ANGRY too. Mad at myself and at everyone who has ever hurt me.”
Harry was trying to listen in compassionately, and Ginny noticed and yelled, “STOP FEELING SORRY FOR ME, HARRY, AND TREATING ME LIKE A DELICATE FLOWER THAT WILL BREAK ANY MOMENT!! I’M NOT A SOAP BUBBLE THAT IS GOING TO BURST ON YOU, HARRY!”
Ginny turned to Bill, saying, “How come you are not angry all the time?”
“Donna has enough anger in her… for both of us,” Bill said. “She is …getting better.
“I had all kinds of anger, and guilt, and frustra…SHIN, sorry. Still do, sometimes.”
“It never gets any better?” asked Ginny, thinking of Lavender and how she never got better.
“It gets lots better, Ginny,” Bill said. “Healing takes time, but it is fantastic when you finally succeed.”
Bill paused like he was trying to think of something, and then said, “It’s just lots and lots of hard work.
“It is lots and lots of hard work.
“It is lots and lots of frustrating, hard work.”
“Is it always hard on the person you are married to?” Ginny asked. “Harry has to put up with so much!”
Harry looked at Ginny and said, “Like LAST Saturday? It was such a hard job pleasing you.”
“It was hard, all day,” Ginny said, grinning. “But I’m always yelling at you. Well, not always, but too often. I feel like I ought to be happier. I am happy sometimes, and then I get angry or frustrated or both.”
Bill said, “Donna could have just left. She could have just left me. Instead we got, got, got married and she helped nurse me to functioning.
“Then I found I could talk to people who needed someone to listen.
“I’ve always been more patient than Donna. You have to be patient to be a good Seeker. It is not all thrilling flying. A lot is patience, just patience.
“I’m doing more good that when I was just catching Snitches.
“But it is still hard sometimes.”
Ginny said, “Well, I’m not over the ‘it is hard and I am mad’ stage yet.”
Harry nodded to Bill to indicate that Ginny was indeed still mad and still found everything hard
Bill thought some more. You had to be patient to listen to him. Then he said, “Donna and I go to talk to the Mind Healers once a week. We go mostly once a week. We go, except when she is busy.
“Do you want to go with us next Monday? Monday morning. It is important, so we schedule it for Monday morning.”
Ginny asked, “Will it help me get rid of all this ANGER!”
Bill said, “It should help. It should help some.”
The game was about to start, and Harry said, “We will talk about this after the game.”
There was a brief tribute to Ginny at the start of the game, and Donna came to the box after the game.
Bill looked at some notes he had written, and then said, “Donna, do you think Ginny and Harry could come with us to talk to the Swart couple Monday? So maybe Ginny will not be mad all the time like you were.”
Donna said, “You were plenty mad at yourself at first, Bill Lionheart. People had been telling you for years to be careful, but no, once you spotted the Snitch you would die rather than let the other Seeker catch the snitch. The only problem was you almost did die on me. You knew it was your fault, and you were mad and frustrated and it was real hard living with you at first.
“Bill, I still wish you had not gotten hurt, but we are a better couple now than we would have been.”
Donna looked at Ginny and said, “I think I am a lot nicer a person than I was when you first met me. We had to go to counseling because of Tabitha, and I think that was good for me as a person and for our marriage. Come with us next Monday, at St; Mungo’s, at nine in the morning.”
“I would like that,” Harry said. “I need it right now.”
“Is living with me that hard?” Ginny asked.
“It is going to be hard if you are in bed with me every night,” Harry said, squeezing Ginny’s bum playfully. “Seriously, both you and I have a lot of changes going on in our lives. I think we could both use some advice.”
Ginny agreed.
Cindy Base Hudson and Henry and their sons Rich (3) and Bob (1) were among the people who occasionally were at the Potter/Weasley box, and they were there that day. Rich and Bob were among the children being educated at the New Burrow, and Cindy saw Ginny frequently. Over the next couple of months Cindy would do stories about Ginny and her recovery from the head injury, once a week for the first 2 weeks then every other week, then less frequently.
Rita was also writing about Ginny. Ginny really was unsteady on her feet, and the headline in ‘Witches Rumors’ read, “Ginny Potter drowns her sorrow in alcohol!” The article also suggested that Harry would be looking for a less handicapped woman to bed. If Rita frustrated Harry it made Ginny furious. There just wasn’t much they could do about it, since the articles were always stated as rumors and not facts.
Teddy came home with Harry and Ginny, as usual, after the game. Everybody went to the New Burrow Sunday morning as usual, and Harry shared with Arthur that he and Ginny would be going to a session with the Mind Healers the middle of Monday morning, after the usual Monday Morning management meeting of the DMLE.
Early in October Andromeda Tonks finally came back to the New Burrow. She came back on a Monday, arriving with Molly shortly after Ginny had gotten back for one of her regular sessions with Harry and the Mind Healers. Molly and Audrey let Andromeda help with some of the smaller children. Teddy wanted nothing to do with his grandmother, and avoided her.
Late in the day, after Teddy and Mitzi had helped Ginny with her physical therapy, Teddy told his grandmother, “I help Mummy with her Physical Therapy. PHYSICAL THERAPY is play that helps Mummy get better. I am a good boy helping my Mummy getting better.”
“You can tell me all about it at dinner,” Andromeda said.
“I go HOME every night with my REAL Mummy like all REAL boys do!” Teddy said.
“You don’t stay here?” Andromeda asked.
“You no stay here all the time,” Teddy said. “You run away! Mummy Ginny and Gran Molly not run away.”
Andromeda sort of backed away from Teddy, and then ran into her bedroom.
Molly took Ginny aside and said, “I will be over to talk to you after Teddy is in bed.”
That evening after Harry came home, when Teddy was occupied elsewhere, Ginny said, “Andromeda is back from St. Mungo’s.”
“How was it?” Harry asked.
“Teddy told his grandmother that she ran away. Andromeda didn’t take it very well. Mum said she would talk to us about it after Teddy is in bed.”
“Everything is getting in place at work to allow me to go to San Francisco,” Harry said. “Are we going to take Teddy?”
“We can see if he would like to go,” Ginny said. “We can ask Mum tonight.
“You really can get away for over half a year? There are not any big things that the Ministry wants you to do?”
Harry said, “The biggest thing the Ministry and the Aurors are trying to do is to account for all the people who went missing during the war. We think a lot of them are alive, and either held somewhere against their will or in hiding not knowing that it is safe to come out. I can probably be more help eventually finding those people if I take the courses.”
About nine, after Teddy was in bed, Molly came over. She had a copy of Witch’s Weekly and a copy of Witch’s Rumors.
“They both say you are pregnant, Ginny,” Molly said. “You have gained back much of the weight you lost when you were at the Harpies.”
“I haven’t even had my monthly yet,” Ginny said. “I’m probably going to have to gain back all the weight I lost to get pregnant.”
Molly said, “Teddy has had a harder time each time Andromeda leaves for one of her little vacations at St. Mungo’s. I’m not saying she doesn’t have a real problem, but it has had its effect on Teddy. She is going to damage her relationship with her grandson if something doesn’t change.”
Ginny said, “We were thinking of taking Teddy to San Francisco with us.”
“I don’t think you should leave him here,” Molly said. “I’m going to miss him, but you and he will be back. It is going to be hard on Andromeda, but she’s brought some of this on herself.”
The middle of October Ginny was talking to Cindy about the Quidditch reporting in the Prophet. “The Quidditch reporters are terrible!” Ginny said. “They don’t know the game, and they don’t always get their facts right!”
Cindy said “Mario Bagman is looking for better Quidditch coverage in the Daily Prophet. Would you like to report on Quidditch?”
Ginny said “I think I could. I know enough about Quidditch. Could you introduce us?”
Cindy said “Let’s floo over there right now.”
The two girls took the floo over to the Daily Prophet, leaving the boys with Henry. Mario and Ginny talked a little.
Mario looked at the unsteady Ginny, and the house elf, and said, “You don’t sound like someone who has been drinking.”
Ginny answered, “I don’t dare have a drink, not even butterbeer, until after dinner. The unsteadiness is all due to the injury.”
“The injury will not keep you from writing?”
“No!” Ginny answered.
They talked quite a bit more about Quidditch, and finally Mario asked “When do you want to start?”
Ginny said “Harry and I are going to North America in January, and we will not be back until next summer. Maybe I could start then.”
“What are you going to be doing?” asked Mario.
“Harry is going to be taking classes” said Ginny. “I’m not sure what I am going to be doing.”
“Could you take a writing class to get ready for writing a Quidditch column?” asked Mario.
“That would be a great idea!” exclaimed Ginny. “Harry and I are supposed to go over next week, and I will see if I can take a class.”
When Harry came home that evening Ginny was bursting with excitement. She said, “Mario Bagman is looking for better Quidditch coverage in the Daily Prophet. I know I can do better than the slugs they have writing about Quidditch now. Mario Bagman is going to let me write about Quidditch next fall!”
“That’s fantastic, Ginny!” Harry said.
“I am going to take a writing class while you are going to your classes,” Ginny told Harry. They spent the rest of the evening talking about classes and class schedules.
The first of November Harry and Ginny went to San Francisco. There Harry scheduled his classes, one about using the Internet and computers, and also cell phones and GPS systems. The other class was about hiding from Muggles, especially with Muggles having GPS systems, airplanes and satellite photographs, and lots of security video cameras, and other ways of making it harder and harder to hide from Muggles. Both classes could easily take 30 hours of work a week, so Harry was going to be working very hard, but with this schedule Harry and just over a dozen other witches and wizards could go through what was usually one to two years’ worth of classes in 6 months.
Ginny found out what she had to do if she was going to bring Teddy along, and registered him for classes starting in January. She also found out that she had time to take a couple of classes herself. Harry was going to be busy, so she might as well be busy as well. She registered for one class on “Beginning to Use Muggle Technology”, that was going to cover cell phones and computers and even televisions and electricity. The other course was a writing course with a focus on “Writing for Publication”; this course was going to come in very handy if Ginny was going to help cover Quidditch for the Daily Prophet.
Ginny then had to decide if she wanted to write articles using a ‘Quick Quotes Quill’ or a newer ‘Wizarding laptop computer.’ The new standard was the Wizarding laptop computer, but to use it Ginny was going to have to learn how to type on that ‘quirky keyboard.’ “Harry” Ginny fumed, “I just hate to think about using a Quick Quotes Quill, after Rita Skeeter. I’m going to have to learn how to use that quirky keyboard.
Harry quickly purchased Ginny a laptop computer, as expensive as they were. They purchased a game to teach typing, and Ginny brought it back to England with her.
Early November Ginny was very aware that she had gained back all the weight she had lost, and maybe gained another pound or two. She was also aware that she had gained back the bust and hips that she had when she was first married. Harry also noticed, and made some favorable comments about Ginny’s shape. Ginny did not mind; she also liked her shape; as long as she did not get any bigger she was delighted with her current shape.
Ginny’s memory was not quite as good as it was before, and she took to carrying around a note pad and writing notes to herself. It worked pretty well.
Harry spent the fall of 2003 getting ready to be gone the spring of 2004. He and Gawain had put in place a good team of Aurors with good supervision. Few people were worried about Harry being gone for 6 or 7 months, and some looked forward to growing when Harry was gone.
The week after he purchased the computer for Ginny Harry came home to find a very upset Ginny. “What’s the matter, Ginny?”
“I got mad at my laptop. Can you get it fixed?” she asked, looking ashamed and embarrassed. She handed Harry the laptop in its carrying case.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it” said Harry, not worrying about it. He knew that Ginny was having a very hard time learning to type and using the computer, and he could just imagine her getting frustrated and throwing the computer or pounding on it and breaking it. So the next day Harry brought the computer over to the Harry Potter Estate offices where there was a wizard good at computers, Muggle and magical computer interfaces, and fixing computers that had gotten damaged by magic.
The wizard took the computer out of the case, touched it with his wand, and began to laugh. “Oh my! Your Ginny has a temper, does she?” he asked, with a grin on his face.
“Oh yes!” said a smiling Harry. “You can tell?”
“I can tell when a computer has been smashed into thousands of little pieces by magic and then tried to be repaired,” said the wizard. “Ginny was obviously very mad or very frustrated.”
“Can it be fixed?” asked Harry.
“No,” said the wizard. “Let me undo the repair and I can show you why.” The wizard undid the repair; the laptop was in over a thousand pieces, way over.
“I think Ginny lost her temper,” Harry said warily. “I always knew it was not a good idea to get on her bad side.” So Harry purchased another laptop computer for Ginny.
That night Harry brought the laptop in. “I’m sorry, Ginny, but the computer was damaged beyond repair. I got you a new one.”
“I am learning how to type on that stupid keyboard,” Ginny said, very apologetically. “I was doing so well and then the computer game made everything harder and I got upset, and I just lost it. I’m sorry.”
“I know Hermione types and uses a computer,” Harry said. “Maybe she could help you.”
“I have talked to her, and we have gone over some things,” Ginny said. “Bill has people working for him that use these things too. It is just that they all say practice, like what I was doing when I broke the other computer, is just what I need.
“I just get so frustrated some times, Harry. Everything used to come so easily for me, and it is just harder. I’m adapting to the lack of balance, and am grateful for Mitzi, but I just can’t run and move like I used to. A little hearing is coming back, but there are issues we are working on with the hearing. And my hair is growing back, and I know it will be back some day. It’s all just taking a lot of time.”
Harry said, “I’m sorry if your life is just a lot harder than it used to be.”
Ginny looked into Harry’s sad eyes, and she knew it wasn’t that bad, and that she had to tell Harry. “Harry,” she said, “the funny thing is that life is really good. Yes, I get frustrated. I’ve always had temper, and I have a few more things to get mad about. But then I look at you, then I look at Teddy, and my family and friends, and realize how much I have to be thankful for.
“I want to do more than just be a mum, but the part of my life that is being a mum to Teddy is fantastic. When we get back from San Francisco I want to make real work of having some children of our own.”
“We’ll start as soon as we are back from San Francisco? That would be fantastic, Ginny,” Harry said.
The very end of November Ginny noticed that she had an upset stomach, and finally recognized something that had not happened in 4 years. She spotted just a little, although she thought, ‘It’s nothing like a real monthly period.’
Chapter 2: CH. 2 Slow Down, You’re Moving Too Fast
Author's Notes: More about Andromeda and Teddy
Early in October Andromeda Tonks finally came back to the New Burrow. She came back on a Monday, arriving with Molly shortly after Ginny had gotten back for one of her regular sessions with Harry and the Mind Healers. Molly and Audrey let Andromeda help with some of the smaller children. Teddy wanted nothing to do with his Grandmother, and avoided her.
Late in the day, after Teddy and Mitzi had helped Ginny with her physical therapy, Teddy told his Grandmother, “I help Mummy with her Physical Therapy. PHYSICAL THERAPY is play that helps Mummy get better. I am a good boy helping my Mummy getting better.”
“You can tell me all about it at dinner,” Andromeda said.
“I go HOME every night with my REAL Mummy like all REAL boys do!” Teddy said.
“You don’t stay here?” Andromeda asked.
“You no stay here all the time,” Teddy said. “You run away! Mummy Ginny and Gran Molly not run away.”
Andromeda sort of backed away from Teddy, and then ran into her bedroom.
Molly took Ginny aside and said, “I will be over to talk to you after Teddy is in bed.”
That evening after Harry came home, when Teddy was occupied elsewhere, Ginny said, “Andromeda is back from St. Mungo’s.”
“How was it?” Harry asked.
“Teddy told his Grandmother that she ran away. Andromeda didn’t take it very well. Mum said she would talk to us about it after Teddy is in bed.”
“Everything is getting in place at work to allow me to go to San Francisco,” Harry said. “Are we going to take Teddy?”
“We can see if he would like to go,” Ginny said. “We can ask Mum tonight.
“You really can get away for over half a year? There are not any big things that the Ministry wants you to do?”
Harry said, “The biggest thing the Ministry and the Aurors are trying to do is to account for all the people who went missing during the war. We think a lot of them are alive, and either held somewhere against their will or in hiding not knowing that it is safe to come out. I can probably be more help eventually finding those people if I take the courses.”
About nine, after Teddy was in bed, Molly came over. She had a copy of Witch’s Weekly and a copy of Witch’s Rumors.
“They both say you are pregnant, Ginny,” Molly said. “You have gained back much of the weight you lost when you were at the Harpies.”
“I haven’t even had my monthly yet,” Ginny said. “I’m probably going to have to gain back all the weight I lost to get pregnant.”
Molly said, “Teddy has had a harder time each time Andromeda leaves for one of her little vacations at St. Mungo’s. I’m not saying she doesn’t have a real problem, but it has had its effect on Teddy. She is going to damage her relationship with her grandson if something doesn’t change.”
Ginny said, “We were thinking of taking Teddy to San Francisco with us.”
“I don’t think you should leave him here,” Molly said. “I’m going to miss him, but you and he will be back. It is going to be hard on Andromeda, but she’s brought some of this on herself.”
The following Monday Harry and Ginny were surprised to see a rather large group at what was usually a counseling session. All the healers who were involved in treating Ginny’s head injury were there. Andromeda Tonks was also there.
The lead healer said, “Ginny, healing from a head injury takes time. We can see signs that you are doing too much. You will get to where you can be as busy as you are now, but for the next couple of months at least you should take an hour break in the morning and another one in the afternoon.”
“Do I have to?” asked Ginny.
“Only if you want to get better,” the healer said.
“Who will watch Teddy and the other little children I play with and teach?” Ginny asked.
The healers turned to Andromeda. She looked around, and took several deep breaths, like she was having trouble starting to talk. She finally said, “After last Monday, when Teddy didn’t want anything to do with me, I went crying to Molly. Have you ever had her angry at you?”
Ginny nodded vigorously. Harry had never experience one of Molly explosions, but he had seen almost all of her children as they had.
One of the healers said, “We now know that Bellatrix cursed the Lupin and Tonks families when she killed Nymphadora and Remus. That is why Andromeda has had such a hard time getting over her depression and terror. She should have been much worse, but it is hard to be too depressed when you are living in the Weasley household.
“When the last vestiges of Bellatrix were killed Andromeda began to have a chance to really heal. But old habits die hard.”
Andromeda said, “Molly has been working with the healers, and she knew that I didn’t have to escape to St. Mungo’s this time when Ginny was hurt. It was just an old habit of avoiding drama and just hiding.”
Andromeda continued, “I cannot blame myself for losing it right after I found out that Nymphadora and Remus were dead. Getting better is hard work, and I guess I was depressed enough that I didn’t want to put in the effort.
“I didn’t realize that my self-indulgence this time could cost me Teddy.
“Molly was right to yell at me. I’m not saying it will be easy, but I promise you all that I will not run away from Teddy again!”
Ginny said, “You want to take care of Teddy when I go down for a couple of short naps?”
Andromeda said, “I want that. I want it enough to fight for it.”
Ginny asked, “Why wasn’t Teddy cursed like Andromeda?”
Molly looked at the healers, who nodded to her. Molly then said, “He WAS cursed. To the best of our knowledge Bellatrix planned to have Teddy an orphan, and she thought that no one would love, to quote that awful Lucius Malfoy, ‘the spawn of a werewolf and a half-blood.’ But something happened that Bellatrix could never imagine. Andromeda really could not take care of Teddy, but Ginny took over, nursed him with his mother’s milk, and comforted him and loved him. She loved the curse right away! When Ginny went back to school I took over, and Teddy has not lacked for the love of mother figures.”
Ginny said, “During the first few days Teddy was so frantic. There were times when I thought he wanted to be permanently attached to me. He so needed love. There were times when he would panic if, after I was through nursing, I would try to cover up. It wasn’t always easy being modest.”
“Modesty be damned,” Molly said. “Teddy needed you, and you loved the curses right away. I am so proud of you!”
“I am too, Love,” Harry said. “You are doing a great job of mothering Teddy. I am sure you will be a good mother to our children.”
For the rest of the Autumn Ginny rested twice a day during the week, and Harry made sure to have all of Saturday and Sunday off to be with Ginny and make sure she didn’t push herself too much.
With a lot of encouragement Mitzi also got better and better in helping Ginny when she needed help, and telling her to slow down when Ginny needed to slow down. Slowly Ginny started to appreciate Mitzi and be grateful for her help.
Chapter 3: CH. 3 “A Cold Dish of Revenge”
Author's Notes: Fleur's revenge, and also Christmas.
The middle of December Fleur asked Ginny, “Would you like to write a story for the paper? There will be other reporters there, but I would like you to witness something and write about it as well.”
“What about?” asked Ginny.
“The Son-of-a-BITCH, Troll ugly inside, bastard who RAPED me and his equally perverted father,” Fleur said.
“Thank you for talking to Tracy, Fleur,” Ginny said. “Thank you for agreeing to work with Jan on rape cases. They are so difficult.”
Fleur asked, “Has Tracy had her baby yet?”
Ginny answered, “Yes, she and Penelope had their daughters the same day, a week or so ago. Roger was pretty short of help for a few days. Both mothers are doing fine. Penelope named their daughter Morgan, and Tracy’s is Patricia. I saw Tracy and the baby yesterday. No father is listed on the birth certificate, and she is going to be Patricia Davis.
“Pansy had her baby last month. She had a son, Perth Parkinson. I guess Pansy is nursing the baby, but not much else. It sounds real sad.”
“Speaking of rapes, revenge, I have been told, is a dish best served cold,” a grim Fleur said. “Come with me to France tomorrow. Bill and I have been working on serving this dish for a long time, and tomorrow we will have our feast.”
Well Ginny was always one for a little revenge, so she eagerly accompanied her sister-in-law to France. Fleur showed Ginny maps of the properties owned by the du la Fontaine families. There were two large and two smaller chateaus, a small Wizarding village, a totally hidden and magical winery and a small winery open to the Muggle public. “I hold mortgages on all of the property Joseph Marie Monford du la Fontaine Senior and Junior own. We have been constructing the mortgages for years, waiting for this day.”
Fleur sat at one a large fancy table on one side of the courtroom. She introduced Ginny to several people including a couple of lawyers and accountants. Finally she said, “These are Henri Pierre Monford du la Fontaine Senior and Junior.”
The younger of the two men said to Fleur, with a nod too Ginny, “I am so sorry for the actions of my cousin and uncle.” He then spent some time talking to Fleur in French.
Ginny sat at one end of the large table, and Henri Pierre Monford du la Fontaine Junior sat next to her. “I spent some time in America, US and Canada,” he said, “and can translate for you’
Ginny did not know if she should take notes with a quill or with her laptop. She finally decided that since she was going to have to use her laptop at class in San Francisco she might as well start now.
When Ginny expressed hesitation about using the laptop Henri Jr. said, “I can get a transcription of the testimony and translate it for you. Keep track of the emotions, of what else is going on. If you are writing testimony don’t worry about getting all the words down or if they are totally accurate.”
Then Henri Jr. said, “Joseph Marie Monford du la Fontaine Senior and Junior have raped and robbed many people. When my grandparents’ estate was divided they received the larger portion, but have wasted money on lawsuits and paying off parents of girls they raped or paying off the girls. They have wasted money in other ways, living dissolute lives. Neither of their wives will live with them anymore.”
Joseph Marie Monford du la Fontaine Senior and Junior were brought into the courtroom, both looking rather bleary eyed and hung over.
“Since they first received notice of the court proceedings they have been on a two week long drinking binge trying to forget. They think their lawyers will save them again,” Henri said. “I think we have stayed a couple of steps ahead of them, though.”
Fleur started by asking for a demand note to be paid immediately. The note had been given to both Joseph Sr. and Jr. a week ago, but they had not raised cash enough to pay it. They tried to pledge another piece of property, but it seemed that everything they owned was pledged to some loan or another. It also looked like Fleur controlled every one of the loans.
Some of the properties could be redeemed, or repossessed from the la Fontaine family, only for cash. When a lawyer for the two men contested the ability of Fleur and the people she represented to pay the notes Fleur had two Goblins roll in a cart containing ten million Gallons of gold, from the Harry Potter Estates, with a promise to bring in more if that was necessary. All the documents were in order showing that Fleur was a trustee for the estate and that the Potter Estates backed up all the commitments made by Fleur, and that she personally controlled all the notes.
“Do they really owe more than their property is worth?” Ginny asked
Henri replied, “Only about twenty five percent of the value of the property has been pledged or borrowed against, but everything has carefully been constructed so as Joseph Sr. and Jr. ran out of cash Fleur could take not just enough to pay off the loans but everything.”
“She’s cheating them!” Ginny exclaimed.
“She’s raping them, yes,” Henri replied with a grin. “They deserve it.”
The lawyers and accountants conjured up two displays, one showing how each note or loan was related to each other one, and why as one note was defaulted on another one came due, and a second board showing what property was involved. The proceedings were long and drawn out, and Ginny could see the two du la Fontaine’s, father and son, and their lawyers, getting more and more frustrated.
Finally, in the middle of the afternoon, Fleur got up and waved two parchments and made a short but impassionate speech to the three judge panel that was hearing the case.
The judges looked at the paperwork for some time.
Ginny asked, “What is going on now?”
“You own all the property, all the real estate, free and clear,” Henri said. “Well, the Potter Estates owns most of it, but Fleur personally has a stake and not a small one either. We, my father and I, are going to manage all the property as if we owned it, and as I understand it over the next couple of generations try and buy back all but Fleur’s stake. As long as my uncle and cousin are alive, however, Fleur intends to keep her stake in the property.”
“Is that how you will get revenge?” Ginny asked.
“I do not think Fleur is through getting HER revenge. They still owe money on a couple of personal notes, and Fleur has stripped them of everything,” Henri replied. “I think I know what is coming next.”
Finally the chief judge handed the parchments back to Fleur and called her two antagonists to stand before her and the court.
“She is demanding all their personal property, clothes, even their wands, in payment for the one note,” Henri said with a grim grin. “They are objecting. Fleur is insisting. They are refusing to sign anything. The judges are ordering it to be done anyway. They don’t have anything but the clothes on their backs.”
There was another conference, and then Henri said, “There is one more note. It is small, but it has terrible consequences if they can’t pay, and they can’t. Fleur is asking the judges to allow people who they have hurt to make brief two minute statements.”
It was obvious that the judges agreed, because for the next hour over thirty people, mostly women but some families, a couple of men, made their statements. Ginny understood a little French, and Henri filled her in on some of what was said. The father and son had obviously been real bastards, raping and cheating over many years.
Finally Fleur stood before the men demanding something.
“Is she really asking for the clothes off their backs?” Ginny asked Henri.
“That’s all they have left,” Henri replied. “She wants to strip even that, and any self-respect, away from them.”
There was a brief standoff, and then Fleur touched each of them with her wand and they were left with nothing on but their boxers. She contemplated both men with disgust, wacked their privates with her wand, and the boxers disappeared as well, leaving the two men naked and in pain.
Fleur said something in French, and then translated it in English, saying, “You have just been raped by Fleur Isabella Delacour Weasley.”
Fleur turned to the court and said something. Henri explained, “Fleur is giving the women and children permission to live in one of the chateaux, and they are agreeing to work for my father and for me as valued family members, as long as those two,” pointing to the two men, who were sitting down with their lawyers still naked and in pain, “are forbidden from entering the chateau.”
The lawyers for the two now broke de la Fontaine’s approached Fleur, asking for payment. At the end of a long discussion they left in disgust. Henri said, “Fleur has given them a choice. She will pay for their representing my uncle and cousin, as long as they agree to refrain from representing shady clients. Since most of their practice is in representing shady clients they are going to have a hard time agreeing to that!”
Finally everybody was getting ready to go, leaving the two naked men sitting at the one table, no lawyers, and no family. Henri’s father approached the two men, and there was a long and animated discussion in French. Henri finally said, “Father has agreed to provide each of them with a garment and housing in one of the old slave quarters. They are going to have to work for anything else, though.”
Ginny looked as the two men left with Henri’s father. The garments were simple smocks that barely covered the men’s buttocks, with PROPERTY OF THE Henri Pierre Monford du la Fontaine ESTATE prominently written on them in the front and back.
As they were leaving a still grim Fleur said to Ginny, “Revenge is a bitter dish, Ginny. I hope you never have to serve it.” Fleur turned to Ginny and hugged her, tears starting to fall. “It was NOT worth the humiliation, the pain, of the RAPE. It’s just better than nothing. Sons … of … bitches!”
Ginny spent the next evening and morning in France, with Henri Jr., writing her story for the Daily Prophet. Henri Jr. translated it into French. The story, with both Ginny and Henri’s name on it, ran in magical papers all over the world.
Ginny went to the Prophet, and the middle of the afternoon went to the Ministry to tell Harry what had been going on. As she was getting ready to leave Ginny looked at the couch in Harry’s office, told Mitzi to leave for a short period of time, and said, “We missed last night and this morning.”
“Here, in my office?” asked Harry.
“I understand Aurors have good ways of securing places so someone doesn’t surprise you,” Ginny said with a wicked grin.
Mary Lou Creevey saw Mitzi outside Harry’s office. “Is Ginny in there?” she asked. Mitzi nodded. “What are Harry and Ginny doing?” Mary Lou asked. Mitzi giggled. “You are out of the room because they are in there …?” Mary Lou didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t have to.
Ginny called Mitzi a few minutes later, and, straightening her clothes, she left Harry’s office with a silly grin on her face.
As she passed by Mary Lou’s desk Mary Lou said, “GINNY WEASLEY POTTER, really!”
“Harry’s irresistible, and I’m weak,” Ginny said with a big grin.
“Harry cannot resist YOU, Ginny,” Mary Lou said. “I doubt if he suggested it.”
“Whatever,” Ginny said, leaving with a snarky smile.
Witches Rumors somehow found out, and from then on they had Harry and Ginny shagging three times a day. Harry didn’t say much when people kidded him about the Rumors articles. He just grinned. Ginny liked being “Sexy Ginny Potter.” When people kidded her she just said, “You’re jealous.”
Sunday Ginny told the family all about the trial, and how smart and brave Fleur was. Fleur was saying nothing, sitting next to Bill holding his hand. Finally Fleur spoke, saying, “No more talk. It was NOT worth it. SONS OF BITCHES!”
Fleur sat tightly next to Bill, and you could see a little tear escape. Fleur was always so in control, but the Veela magic was not enough to vanish the pain of the rape.
Ginny talked to Fleur privately later, to encourage her to get some counseling. Fleur replied, “I did, for a long time. I think I need to go back.” Ginny learned that Fleur went back to the counselors who had helped her, both in France and in Britain, and Bill attended some of the sessions as well.
December Harry and Ginny attended the Christmas dance at Hogwarts. Ginny tried to dance with high heel shoes on, but that was a disaster, so she danced with flats on. She never did get enough of her balance back to feel comfortable in high heels, and her motions were always a little slower than before the accident, no problem for slow dances, but the Potters always sat out the faster dances.
Harry left work December Friday December 19, 2003, with word that unless there was an emergency he would not be back in the office in anything like a regular way until sometime in August 2004.
Christmas was one of those times when you became very aware of how old all the nieces and nephews were, starting with Teddy. Even though Andromeda was back at the New Burrow, Teddy was still living with Harry and Ginny, and would be living with them until they came back from North America. Teddy was always considered one of the Weasley grandchildren, even though he was not biologically related. Teddy was 5 , still the oldest of the children and a very good, responsible child. He had quite a bit more control over being a Metamorphous, and frequently entertained children and adults by changing his appearance. Naturally he was a very good looking child, and since Victoire pouted when he changed his face he stayed the same most of the time. His hair was a different matter; he usually had strange colored hair, and delighted in changing it into real striking and unusual colors and combinations of colors.
The next oldest was Fred, 4 . He had calmed down a little. Some of it was growing up. Some of it was learning how his parents made money. He had learned that he needed to behave to allow the staff at WWW to sell products, and learn about letters and numbers to read labels on merchandise and help sell. Fred’s enthusiasm made him a natural salesman, and as long as you could direct him he had turned into a good student. It helped that Fred did not have to do his schoolwork sitting at a desk. He was much better working on a magical white board while standing up. No one corrected Freddy for being active.
Little Molly Weasley was almost 3 , a quiet good girl. She and Fred shared the same Weasley red hair but not much else. They were both bright enough but Molly was as introverted and quiet as Fred was outgoing and loud. Victoire was also 3 years old. She was not boisterous, but she was much more social, aggressively outgoing and cute, and bright. Her hair had gotten darker as she had gotten older, and she was a much darker red now, somehow mostly red with a little blond blending together in a delightful combination. Victoire still looked more Weasley than Delacour.
Roxanne was 2 , outgoing, not as wild as her older brother but certainly an active and bright child. Lucy was only 2, younger and quieter than Roxanne but more self confident and outgoing than her older sister Molly.
Dominique was just a year old. She was a beautiful well behaved girl, delightful not only to Bill and Fleur but also the delight of her older sister, who tried, to Dominique’s great annoyance, to take care of her. Dominique looked just like Fleur, same hair, same face with just a hint of Bill in her looks.
Grandmother Molly was just delighted with all these grandchildren, and Harry and Ginny were enjoying being aunt and uncle to the nieces and nephews. To the great delight of all the grandchildren and their parents Harry and Ginny gave as one Christmas present, a day at Grimmauld Place with Harry, Ginny and Teddy. Between December 20 and December 30 Harry and Ginny had everyone but Dominique at Grimmauld place for an overnight. Dominique was in the process of being weaned, but she still wanted to nurse a couple of times a day and Fleur didn’t mind Dominique playing baby occasionally.
Ginny was also trying to get ready to move to San Francisco. They were going to be in a moderate size three bedroom apartment, and except for Mitzi there was not going to be house elf help. The apartment was in a totally magical building with a lot of security.
Ginny was determined to prove that she could take care of herself and Harry. The Healers from St. Mungo’s met with their counterparts in San Francisco, and together they made the apartment handicapped ready. Ginny couldn’t carry much without some sort of support, and she hated using a walker. Mitzi was limited in what she could carry to help Ginny. The Healers from San Francisco had what is called an umbrella stroller that could carry a backpack or other things. With an extension charm it could carry several bags of groceries. It was magically charmed so it gave Ginny support.
Harry and Ginny were going to be in safe space most of the time, so although there was going to be one Auror couple assigned to them most of the time the Auror couple was going to be going to the same classes as Harry and Ginny.
Harry and Ginny had their usual Christmas party for the children of St. Mungo’s and other traumatized children, again about a week after Christmas. Harry and Ginny had a delightful time during the Christmas Holidays, but they did not exactly have a relaxing time.
The last day of December Ginny’s underwear were spotted again, the second time since she had gained back the weight she had lost with the Harpies exercise program. ‘Still no real monthly yet,’ thought Ginny. ‘Until I get my monthly back I can’t get pregnant.’
Chapter 4: CH 4 A Girly Car Seat
Author's Notes: Boris, Natasha, and Rocky the Flying Squirrel are Hanna Barbara characters, Barbie dolls are from Mattel. The Red Cadillac Convertible is out of my childhood, although it was a 1960 and not a 1959. A grandson complained about our ‘girly’ pink car seat, and I thank him for the inspiration.
Harry, Ginny and Teddy left for San Francisco Friday January 2, 2004, and tried to get settled Saturday and Sunday January 3 and 4. Classes started for Harry, Ginny and Teddy Monday January 5.
Harry and Ginny had documents showing that they were the legal guardians of ‘Theodore Lupin,’ something they needed to take care of Teddy in North America. As long as he was a minor the Potters stayed Teddy’s legal guardians.
Harry and Ginny thought they would be able to blend in and not be noticed in San Francisco. That proved to be impossible. ‘Western Witches Weekly’ had a photograph of the Potters and Teddy on the cover of their last issue in December, and from then on there was not an issue without at least one article on the Potters. Many of the articles commented on how much weight Ginny had gained since leaving the Harpies, and speculated that she was probably pregnant or would soon be pregnant.
‘Snide,’ a very low class magazine, wrote articles about the Potters every week. Ginny saw a few, and she said to Harry, “I never thought anything could be worse than Rita’s writing, but I was wrong.”
Of course ‘Witches Rumors’ made sure to have sources in San Francisco, so they kept up their occasionally truthful but always exciting coverage of the Potters. The Daily Prophet, in contrast, only had a Potter article once a week. And the biggest North American paper, the New York based Magical Times, followed suite with articles only once a week or so, usually with a headline on the second front page.
Harry was taking two classes. One was on “Using Magic and Muggle Technology Together”. Much of the course was directly applicable to Law Enforcement, but many other areas were covered. The other course was on “Maintaining Secrecy from Sophisticated Muggle Technology”. This course was critical for Harry, partly because England was installing an expanding network of video monitoring cameras. Most of the students were the same in both classes, but there were some students taking only one of the classes’
The students had to introduce themselves in each of the classes. Harry introduced himself as “an Auror from Great Britain.” In the first class over half the class had heard about Harry and his coming to San Francisco. One of the students asked Harry, “Are you the wizard who brought down the notorious Lord Voldemort?”
Harry replied, “His name was Tom Riddle, and although I was the one to duel him in the end, a lot of other people contributed to his downfall.”
Another student said, “You are also the Regent in Switzerland. That sort of makes you something like the king of the wizards, doesn’t it?”
Harry answered, “Not exactly. My heir, whoever he is, may be more like king or chief wizard, but I’m just a figurehead, as far as I can tell.” Harry was aware that he had more influence than he was admitting to.
Everybody knew who Harry was immediately. Harry tried hard to learn the names and something about each of his classmates. Many were from Magical Law Enforcement Departments, most of the students were a decade or more older than Harry. Harry had Dobedo’s help with names; house elves have a fantastic memory for people. House elves also have many more ways of describing how people are related to their master, something very helpful for Harry.
Two of the younger non-Law Enforcement students stood out in the class on “Using Magic and Muggle Technology Together”. The first student introduced herself after the first class, and wanted to talk about the metalworking business that Dudley and Bill Weasley were running. Her name was Belinda Shashaguay, and her family was in the metalworking business on the US West Coast, mostly making very tiny parts for the computer and high technology industries.
Robrecht VanDer Raaltee was an expert in making Muggle Cellular Telephone networks work in magical spaces. His family, based in the Netherlands, had made a name for themselves, by creating electronic networks in Magical spaces that had been hostile to anything electrical or electronic.
Harry’s classes were excellent, and very relevant to his work as an Auror and to some of the issues that he was dealing with in the Wizengamot and the International Council of Witches and Wizards.
Ginny found that she was very busy, and pulled in more directions than she had ever been. She needed to spend about half of her day with Teddy, or at least working with the (mostly) witches who were teaching the younger children. She also found that Harry’s schedule was demanding, and although he wanted to help with Teddy he was not the primary caregiver. Her classes were not near as demanding as Harry’s, but they took all the spare time she had and more.
Cooking and cleaning was easier by far with magic. She felt that her mother would be very disappointed, but she depended on more Mc Wizard meals than she felt good about, almost every lunch instead of an occasional treat. School was also harder. Ginny was not sure if it was because her memory wasn’t quite as good, or that she was worried about Teddy and Harry and keeping them fed and taking care of the house. It seemed that everything was changing in her world.
“Mummy Ginny, Mummy Ginny, we going to school?” Teddy would ask almost every morning.
``
“Monday through Friday morning we go to school,” Ginny replied the first week of school.
“Do you have school today?” Teddy would ask.
“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday” Ginny would reply. “What day is today?”
“Dunno? What day?” Teddy said the first Wednesday. He had never had to pay attention to which day of the week it was before this.
“Yesterday was Tuesday,” Ginny prompted, “So today is?”
“Threesday?” asked Teddy.
“Say your days of the week for me, Teddy,” Ginny told the little boy.
Teddy thought hard, then asked, “Monday, Tuesday, Threesday, Foursday, Fi-day, Saturday, Sunday?”
“Close,” Ginny replied, laughing. “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.”
“I’ll never learn all those days, Mum. That’s a lot of days!” Teddy complained.
“You can count way past a thousand,” Ginny reassured Teddy. “You are a very smart boy. You will learn all the days of the week real quickly.”
Teddy looked a little skeptical. “I dunno know, mum Ginny. Saturday and Sunday are different. Monday school starts. Fi-day is the end. All those other days just sort of … I don’t know if I can learn all them.”
“Sure you will, Ted,” Ginny reassured the little boy. “Say them with me, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”
Teddy repeated the days of the week with Ginny for the rest of the walk to school, and by the end of the first week he knew all his days of the week.
“Harry,” Ginny said one night, “How can one little five year old boy take all your time?
“I’ve seen you do your homework and cook and do laundry while talking to Teddy,” Harry replied.
“I can cook and clean while talking to Ted, but I don’t get much homework done when we are talking,” Ginny said.
“You do have to listen to him, try to figure out what he is saying,” agreed Harry. “Do you need more help? We can get another house elf over here.”
“I kind of want to prove to myself, maybe to Mum too, that I can be a wife and mother without lots of house elf help,” Ginny said. “Everything is changing, though. I’m still gaining a little weight.”
Harry smiled, almost a leer. “It’s going in nice places.”
Ginny looked at her expanding bust and hips, not sure whether to be happy or upset. Well, so far she was not really that much bigger than when she was first married. She was only a few pounds heavier, and hopefully the weight gain would stop soon.
Maybe she wasn’t buying the right kind of food. Thinking back she never before had to buy the food and plan the meals and make time for laundry. House elves did all that for her. How had her mother managed with all those children? Here she was just taking care of Harry and Teddy and going to school and she was just overwhelmed. Mitzi was a lot of help, but Mitzi had to stay close to her to keep her from falling, so it wasn’t anything like having a full time house elf helper.
Ginny’s writing classes started the right away, and they were a challenge.
“Those of you born and raised in almost all Magical families have a harder time understanding the Muggle world than those of you raised by parents who kept you in both worlds,” the writing teacher said. “What do you find most challenging?”
When it was Ginny’s turn she said, “Muggle cartoons. Some of them are pretty easy, but some of them seem to refer to things that refer to things, and it’s really hard to follow.”
“I have a good example of that,” the teacher said. “Look over these cartoons and write a paper explaining what you found most confusing. If you found out why, it would be good to add that in.” The teacher handed Ginny four CD’s of Rocky the Flying Squirrel.
‘Well,’ thought Ginny a couple of evenings later. ‘I’ve had enough Muggle fairy tales to get the Fractured Fairy Tale part of this series pretty easily. I just had to buy a book of popular fairy tales to understand the rest. Maybe Harry knows who Boris and Natasha are supposed to be.’ “Harry,” Ginny said, “Can you help me with my homework? Do you have any idea who these people are supposed to be?”
Ginny put on a CD and played the skits about Boris and Natasha. Harry grinned and laughed. The first time Natasha said “dollink” Harry doubled over with laughter. When the brief episode was done Ginny looked at Harry and said, “What is so funny? Who are those people?”
Harry had to catch his breath. Finally he said, “They are supposed to be Russian spies, not very good ones, and criminals but not very good at that either.”
“I can see that they are not very competent,” a very puzzled Ginny said. “I suppose that’s funny, but not that funny. What am I missing?”
“Remember that estate in Eastern Europe where I said everybody was cheating everybody, where Kreacher got so mad he was jumping up and down pointing his finger at a Goblin?” Harry asked.
“Yes,” said Ginny. “What does that have to do with this?”
“Bill had hired couple of Americans who knew business and Slavic languages, to manage and oversee some of the Eastern European properties. She is very tall and he is very short, and I think they changed their names to Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. Boris is way too smart and competent, hardly bad enough, and he is Boris mostly because of his size. Natasha is right on, however! I’m going to ask Bill if they are still working for me.”
Ginny looked at Harry. “Boris Badenov, bad enough? Oh Harry, that’s an awful pun.”
“And?” questioned Harry.
“The whole series if full of awful puns,” Ginny mused. “They did that on purpose?”
“Think Fred and George,” Harry replied.
“I guess they did,” Ginny said. “That helps! I don’t have to worry about writing about something because it’s too obvious. Boris is bad enough, just not competent enough.”
Harry and Ginny spent a couple more hours going over the Rocky the Flying Squirrel cartoons, analyzing the humor, finding the references that Harry got and Ginny did not. Ginny had more than enough for a couple of papers for her writing class.
Harry wrote a brief e-mail to Bill asking about Boris and Natasha, and got this reply back. “Harry, they are still stationed in Eastern Europe. They came back to the West Coast, to California, for some of months study, and to take a break. I should have told you, but Boris is studying in San Francisco right now. I’ll have them get in touch with you.”
‘I am very curious how Ginny is going to react to Natasha,’ thought Harry.
Friday Harry received a phone call from Natasha. “Dollink” she said in that horrible Russian accent, and then in her best West Coast American “We’d love to come over tomorrow. Give Ginny a ride in the car. The offer is still open.”
“My five year old godson is staying with us,” Harry said.
“I’ll make sure we have a child seat in the car,” Natasha said cheerily. “I’ll even watch the little bugger if you want to use the back seat!” Harry thought, ‘this may be like playing with dynamite. It’s either going to be very good or very bad.’
“Ginny,” Harry called. “Remember when I told you about Boris and Natasha? They are here in San Francisco, and would like to meet with us tomorrow. Would that be all right with you?”
“How about nine in the morning?” asked Ginny.
Harry gave Natasha a call and arraigned for them to drive over to the apartment building where Harry and Ginny were staying.
The day was cool but not below freezing. Being San Francisco the fog was just beginning to burn off. Harry had a heavy coat on, and Ginny was warmly bundled up and had bundled up Teddy as well.
Harry, Ginny and Teddy were waiting outside when the 1959 Candy Apple Red Cadillac convertible with the huge tail fins came driving up. Boris was sitting in the driver’s seat, wearing a hat that looked like it had been lifted from the cartoon, with a pencil thin moustache that was a very good imitation of the one on Boris Badenov.
Natasha got out of the car. Harry could not believe it. Natasha was obviously very pregnant, but instead of a maternity dress she had on one of the typical Natasha type dresses with a bump in front that could have been drawn by a cartoon artist.
“Harry dollink,” Natasha said in an expansive manner imitating the cartoon in an obvious parody. “Ginny dollink, Teddy dollink.”
Ginny started to laugh. Ginny was laughing so hard that what little balance she had was going, so Harry rushed over to help Mitzi support her.
Teddy was staring at everybody, not at all sure what was going on.
In an American West Coast accent Natasha said, “Teddy, is this a little confusing?”
Teddy nodded yes.
“We are playing, just a moment.” Natasha asked Ginny, “Has Teddy seen the cartoons?”
“Yes,” Ginny answered.
“You’re Boris and Natasha from the cartoons?” Teddy asked, his eyes wide open in amazement.
“Sort of,” Natasha said. “We are pretending to be them.”
“Ginny, do you want to sit up with Boris or in back with me?” Natasha asked. “We are going to put Teddy in the middle.”
“I’d rather sit in back and talk to you,” Ginny said. “We can put Teddy between us.” Ginny turned to Mitzi and said, “I have plenty of help here, Mitzi. Why don’t you take a rest.”
Mitzi looked suspiciously at Ginny, but went back into the apartment building.
Natasha let Teddy climb into the car, and Ginny followed. Right in the middle of the large back seat was a raised child seat with pink flowering fabric on it. Ginny sat down on one side of the seat and got ready to put her seat belt on, and Natasha entered the car from the other side.
Teddy was standing on the hump in the middle of the floor, looking at the car seat with some distain.
“You need to sit in the car seat so we can put your seat belt on,” Natasha said.
Teddy touched the pink fabric, looked up at Natasha, and said, “It’s kind of girly.”
“I’m sure sitting on pink fabric is not going to contaminate your bottom,” Ginny said.
“Can you change it to look like a GUY seat?” Teddy asked.
Boris, Harry and Natasha were all trying to keep from laughing. Ginny said, “I will transfigure it to blue flowers, Teddy. Is that all right?”
Teddy sighed in resignation. “I guess it’s all right. Blue flowers are not QUITE as GIRLY as pink flowers.”
Ginny said, “Not quite so girly?”“
Teddy just looked at the seat suspiciously.
After they got in the car Boris put the top down and said some charms. “The Heat from the car is also by magic. It’s sort of like being outside without this blasted damp cold.”
“What else can this car do?” asked Harry.
“Made baby in car, dollink!” said Natasha. “Back seat ideal for …” Natasha didn’t say anything else, with a nod towards Teddy, but the looks she and Boris exchanged told the rest of the story.
“When are you due?” asked Ginny, and Ginny and Natasha talked, played with Teddy and, to Harry’s relief, they seemed to bond right away.
They drove around the San Francisco Bay area for some time, and while they were driving and sightseeing Natasha was busy making friends with Teddy. Finally Natasha asked Teddy, “Would you like to spend the night with us so your mother and father could have a night to themselves?”
“Do I have to sleep in a girly bed?” asked Teddy.
“What’s a girly bed?” Natasha asked.
“Victoire, she is sort of a cousin, except I’m a Lupin, not a Weasley, so she isn’t really a cousin. Victoire has a girly bedroom. It has flowers and lace and a HUGE closet for clothes, and her own room with a loo and a big, HUGE tub, and she takes bubble baths in it and comes out smelling like flowers and like a GIRL. I like that, except she wants me to sleep with her in her bed with a can o peas on top.
“Victoire really is sort of my best friend, but she is a GIRL and I am a BOY and I’m not sure about taking bubble baths with her. I don’t want to smell like a GIRL. I don’t want to sleep in a girly bed and with a girl.”
Natasha reassured Teddy. “We have a guest bedroom with a real big person bed in it, and it is not at all girly. If we give you a bath we will not use bubble bath, and you will not come out smelling like a girl. I married a guy, and I like him being a guy.”
“Could I, Mum?” Teddy asked.
Ginny thought. She really could use an evening away from Teddy. “Let’s go back to the apartment, and get some night clothes and another change of clothes for Teddy.”
Natasha reassured Ginny that they had a bed for Teddy to sleep in and could take care of a little boy, and Teddy seemed excited to be going on another adventure.
The red Cadillac had been followed by two Aurors riding big Honda Gold Wing Motorcycles. Harry spoke to one of the Aurors, and they assured Harry that they would keep a good watch over then but allow Harry and Ginny privacy when they wanted it. The Motorcycles and Auror uniforms were a Magical Gray color that made it hard for Muggles to see and even harder for Muggles to remember.
After they left Teddy with Boris and Natasha Harry drove up to the Redwood Forests a couple of hours north of San Francisco. The couple had a nice meal at a restaurant, and then drove to a rest area high up the mountains. There was a magical road that they could take, that led further out into the forest and away from the rest area. When they got to the end of the road they were alone in the middle of a meadow.
They made the car invisible, and then turned the backseat into a bed. Maybe it was the spells on the bed, but they made love four times before getting going the next morning. After the last time Ginny said to Harry, “I promise you I didn’t use the Touch-of-Lust spell!
Harry said, “There are some sort of spells on the back seat of this car.” Harry looked again at the instructions on how to change the bed back to a car seat. Harry and Ginny used the loo at the rest area, ate breakfast and lunch at restaurants on the road, and about one in the afternoon picked up Teddy.
Ginny wondered if Natasha had gotten pregnant in the back seat of the car. Well, she had not really had what she considered a good period, so at least she wouldn’t get pregnant in the back of that car.
Chapter 5: CH 5 “Yes, Ginny, that kind of Pregnant
Author's Notes: We find out what else happened in the back of the Cadillac.
Two Saturdays after the trip in the car Harry and Teddy wanted to go do something fun. Ginny and Mitzi went along, and they went to Disneyland in Southern California where it was warm. To her disgust Ginny found out that the smell of the park food made her stomach, which had been a little more queasy than usual the last couple of days, feel even worse. She also found that even the park rides she could go on did not sit well, and she ended up enjoying Harry and Teddy having a good time but not doing much herself. Harry was a little worried, but Ginny just told him that she was having a harder time adjusting to California than she thought she would.
Ginny was still gaining a little weight, but for some reason most of it was now going to her bust. Occasionally she felt like she did when she was an adolescent just developing a shape, like her breasts were tight, like they were growing, which they obviously were. She was going to have to get bigger bras, and if she was not careful she was going to have to have her clothes altered or get different clothes. She woke up most mornings with an upset stomach, but had gotten some sort of potion from the local magical pharmacy that seemed to help some. And somehow since the end of January she was more tired than usual.
Ginny also spotted, just a little, a couple of days the beginning of February. ‘Another month without a real period’ Ginny thought. ‘I guess I won’t get pregnant until we get back to England and I can see the healers there.’
Finally Ginny asked one of the witches at Teddy’s school “Where do you go to get bras? I’m going to need a bigger one.
Ginny was referred to a magical store a few blocks from their apartment. When she got there the witch did an examination, then she brought out a small section of bras. “This is what you need,” she said as she brought out three different bras. The all said the same thing, “Expands for your changing shape.”
Ginny knew she was still gaining weight. She was going to have to talk to the doctor about this. And why did most of the weight go to her bust? Ginny looked at the bras. Ginny discovered that she had gone from a C cup to a D cup? According to North American sizes she had been a C, plenty big enough for as little as she was. She reluctantly purchased one of the larger bras. She thought she could make the rest of her bras fit, with a little magic.
Her stomach was upset again. This moving to America was way more complicated than she though it was going to be. ‘There must be something in the water or food that’s making me sick,’ she thought. ‘Something doesn’t agree with me.’
That weekend they went to some sort of Fair. The food was just awful! American hot dogs were disgusting enough compared to the good bangers they had at home, but they fried them in oil to get something they called a corn dog. They deep fat fried everything!! Ginny was in what was a really disgusting loo twice throwing up. Her stomach never felt quite right after that, although she didn’t throw up again.
Ginny was not happy. She was far touchier emotionally than she had any right to be, and she knew it. She must be mental, sometimes very happy, then upset for no reason. She had checked in with the medical specialist in San Francisco who was going to be checking on her head injury the end of January, within 3 weeks of their arrival. Now it was the first of March, and she was checking in again, and at Harry’s insistence getting a full checkup.
Ginny had a list. She was still gaining weight. From 89 lb when she was playing with the Harpies, lighter than the 100 lb she weighted before she got fit working out with the Harpies, to by November back at 100 lb and her periods had seemed to being on the verge of starting, as she had a little spotting a couple of months in a row. She was back to the same size she was when she was married. Ginny liked her breasts that size, not too big but plenty big enough. They fit her very small frame. But by the end of January she was gaining weight again, and by the first of March her breasts were maybe a full size bigger. She was going from being really curvy, which she liked, to being BIG around on top. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be BIG, not like that! She was going to look like a shorter version of her mother, matronly not … she liked her shape the way it was when she got married!
And her stomach had not been quite right. She was not throwing up; well maybe a couple of times since that awful Fair food, but not really. But food tasted a little different, and her stomach was uneasy. Maybe it was too many Mc Wizard meals. Maybe she wasn’t a very good cook, or maybe she was too good a cook like her mother. And she knew she was more emotional than she should be. Maybe it was the head injury.
Everything should be perfect. Harry was enjoying his classes, and learning a lot. Ginny was enjoying her classes, and learning a lot. Her balance wasn’t any better, but she and Mitzi were beginning to function well together. The house elf was really helping, and not just with her balance. In some ways Ginny felt better than she had since she had gotten injured.
She felt sexier. She really wanted to please Harry, and despite the lack of variety the frequency of sex was great. It was twice a day, sort of. If they missed one, Ginny really tried to schedule a make-up session in the middle of the day. Of course some days were just too busy, but she tried! Some days she was just overwhelmed, though, and several nights she had fallen asleep while Harry was getting ready for bed. In some ways it was the best sex ever; Ginny felt so good after every session, like this is what life was supposed to be like.
Teddy was in a regular classroom with up to ten children for the first time in his life, and probably the last time until he started at Hogwarts. Still they were very small classes taught by witches and a few wizards, some grandparents, most of whom had their own children in the classes, and she spent lots of time helping. Over half the hours that Teddy was in class she was there, not always working with Teddy. She enjoyed being with the children, and when she and Harry had their own children she was going to enjoy being a mother. It was just very tiring, and she was way more tired than she thought she should be.
Teddy was enjoying the whole trip to America as a grand adventure. He missed his grandmothers, Andromeda and Molly. Teddy always considered Molly another grandmother; actually everybody did. She and Harry were mum and dad, even though Teddy knew they were godparents and not his real parents, and even though he lived with the grandmothers most of the time. And Teddy missed his cousins, but not enough to want to go back. As long as they could talk on the phone or see and talk to each other with the mirrors every week Teddy was fine.
The first doctor said her head injury was healing fine, but again reminded Ginny not to do anything that could give another impact on her head. She could not even ride the fast rides at the amusement parks. She had to let Harry and Teddy go on some of the rides while she waited. Teddy at five could go on rides she could not! Taking that bludger to the head was too severe to ever get 100% totally better.
Ginny had to give urine and blood samples. Then she had to answer some questions.
“When was your last period?”
“Ginny answered, “I had some spotting in November and December, but it wasn’t like the periods I used to have. There was a little spotting the end of January too, but it wasn’t much. ”
Ginny got sort of a puzzled look, and said “There must be something about America keeping me from getting a real period.”
The assistant healer asking the questions laughed. Then she asked, “Have you been throwing up? Has your stomach been upset?”
Ginny said, “No, not really. Well, once, at some local fair, but that was because the food was JUST AWFUL.”
“Have you noticed any changed in your weight?”
Ginny snapped back, “I KNOW I’m heavier.”
She knew she was heavier; she had been avoiding getting on a scale since the end of January.
“Have you experienced any changes in emotions?”
Ginny was asking herself, ‘WHY WAS THIS QUESTIONAIR GETTING HER UPSET? WHAT ELSE was wrong with her? She was close to tears. This was so stupid. She wished Harry was here with her, but he had class. Well the class was just getting over, but she did not want him to rush right over here like she was some helpless emotional woman. She had NEVER been helpless. She had always been competent, able to keep up with the boys, tough.’ Ginny had quite the conversation with herself. Finally she yelled at the poor assistant healer, “I’VE BEEN A LITTLE TOUCHY LATELY! I’m sorry. I did not mean to yell at you. It’s just that I haven’t been quite myself lately.”
Finally Ginny saw the witch healer.
“I’m Tammy Tidewater, Ginny,” the middle age witch said, introducing herself. “I’m what you would call a healer midwife, although here they call me an OB/GYN, or specialist in the reproductive systems of adolescent and adult women. You have quite a medical history for a young woman. You haven’t exactly been good to your body.”
“I was attacked!” Ginny said. “I didn’t exactly ask to get hurt.”
“How are you feeling, Ginny?” asked Tammy. “I see you are a little tired, a little overwhelmed.”
“Moving to San Francisco, starting school, it is just a little harder to handle than I anticipated. Before coming here I took care of our godson Teddy on weekends, and always had house elf help. Since moving here I’m a full time housekeeper, and a full time mother, and I’m going to school, and writing, and it’s all a lot,” Ginny said. ‘Mitzi, my elf, is a real help, but she has to stay close to me to help me with my balance, so together we still have to run the house. I can’t just have her do it and leave me.”
“Becoming a mother changes you,” Tammy said. “Your last period was in December, I see.”
“As far as I can remember,” Ginny said. “I haven’t had a REAL period yet, just a little spotting in November and December, and even less the beginning of February.”
“You’ve been pretty hard on your body. The scar on your breast should not interfere with nursing. The lack of balance and leg injury isn’t going to help as you gain weight, though. You have been a little sick in the morning, but not too bad?” Tammy asked.
“The upset stomach comes and goes,” Ginny replied.
“You haven’t thrown up?” asked Tammy.
“Well, I did throw up at a Fair, and the stomach hasn’t been right since. Fair food is just AWFUL. Hot dogs are bad enough; anemic fast food versions of real bangers, but then they’re deep fried in fat! Corn Dogs and Elephant Ears and all sorts of deep fat fried stuff. It’s awful! No pumpkin juice and none of the good spices I’m used to. I try to eat at our magical restaurants, but Harry and Teddy want to go and see Muggle things.”
“I will give you potions to help with that. It should go away in a couple of months anyway, when your body is more used to the changes it is going through,” Tammy helpfully remarked. “Actually everything is fine, just perfect so far!
Ginny could not believe it. Everything did not feel fine to her, and she almost exploded, loudly saying, “What do you mean everything is fine? I’m gaining weight, my stomach is upset, and my breasts are growing. Plus I’m too emotional, well maybe I’ve always been a little emotional, but it’s worse.”
“All of that is normal, Ginny,” said Tammy. “I’d like you to gain another twenty or thirty pounds, but we will watch your diet. I would like to make sure you do not gain too much weight.”
“You want me to gain twenty or thirty MORE pounds?” Ginny asked. “How heavy am I?”
“You are about one hundred twenty. You were one hundred and ten at your first physical, so you are gaining weight faster than we would like you to gain,” Tammy replied. “The potions should help. We’ll watch your weight.
“And your breasts may get bigger, but they will go back down eventually, maybe not all the way. There are spells we can use to help, and we are getting you potions that you should take every day that will help a lot. Your body is changing, it needs to.”
Ginny panicked. Why did she have to gain that much weight, just because she came to North America? “Did you say twenty or thirty more pounds? WHY DOES MY BODY NEED TO CHANGE?” yelled Ginny. “How does coming to America cause your WHOLE BODY to change?”
“You’re becoming a mother, Ginny,” Tammy said.
“I’ve been mothering Teddy since just after he was born!” Ginny said. “I’ve been taking care of him full time since my accident, but why should that cause my body to change?”
Tammy looked at Ginny rather confused. “Teddy doesn’t have anything to do with your body changing, Ginny. It’s becoming a mother.”
“What do you mean, becoming a mother?” Ginny asked.
“Ginny, you really don’t know? You’re pregnant, about six weeks along,” said Tammy. “I thought you’d taken a test and knew, and that’s why you were here. That is why your periods stopped and your breasts are swelling and your stomach has been upset, and why you are having some problem with your emotions.”
Ginny looked at Tammy. What did she say? She asked, “Pregnant, like I’m going to have a baby? You mean that kind of pregnant?”
Tammy answered, “Yes, Ginny, that kind of pregnant.”
“Oh, Boggarts! I though you planned this sort of thing,” Ginny said. “I mean, well, George and Angelina weren’t even married when she got pregnant with Fred, so I guess you don’t always plan this sort of thing, but I thought Harry and I were going to,
“I mean you really ought to, this is so life changing, and …
“But I never had a REAL period! Bollox and Boggarts. Oh my! OH MY!”
She looked down at her still flat stomach and kind of felt up to her expanding bust. She and Harry really had not talked much about starting a family since she was hurt. He had just agreed when she suggested trying AFTER they got back from San Francisco. What if Harry didn’t want her to get pregnant until after they were back?
She knew that your body changed when you had a baby. SHE was more than ready to have a baby, she thought, maybe. She hoped Harry was. She was just not quite ready for her body to change, and too much was already going on, and now this! She just had not thought much about it. So she asked, “Am I ever going to get my old body back?”
“Do you want more children?” asked Tammy.
“Harry and I were talking about having two or three. Three or . . . but maybe four. I do not think we will stop at one,” said Ginny. She giggled. “I told Harry when I retired from Quidditch I’d have lots of pretty babies with him. I’m really pregnant? Pregnant, like I’m going to have a baby in, when?”
“You are about six weeks along, so you have thirty four more to go. We will get a better calculation later. I think, probably October.”
“We will be back in England in October,” Ginny said. “Will it cause a problem if I’m pregnant over here and then have a baby back home?
“I do not see why that would be a problem. Are you going to nurse your children? It really is the best for mother and baby,” said Tammy.
“Oh my mother nursed all of us,” said Ginny, “and all my sisters-in-law nursed their babies.” Even Audrey thought Ginny. “I even nursed our godson Teddy for 3 months after his parents were killed in the Battle of Hogwarts, using a Mother Minerva’s magical nursing bra. It felt good to have a baby on my breast. But my breasts did not get any bigger then.”
“Of course not,” said Tammy. “Your breasts were not actually making the milk. But now they are getting ready to make milk for your baby. That is why they are getting larger.”
“I really want to nurse our children,” said Ginny “but I feel like a cow.” She looked down at her breasts, which felt a little tight. She had never been that big! “I’m just having a hard time. We didn’t PLAN this. I, I didn’t expect, I, maybe I should have but sort of accidently getting pregnant isn’t quite what I imagined.
“Everything changes when you have a baby,” said Ginny, “and I feel so dumb. I guess I should have known. But I just got used to not having periods, when I was playing for the Harpies and weighed 89 pounds, and then I got hurt, and then everything was changing with taking care of Teddy full time, and then moving to America for a few months, and … and …classes, and Harry is so busy, and …” Ginny was obviously quite emotional, and Tammy went over and held her.
“Ginny,” said Tammy gently, “do you really want to look like a 17 year old when you are in your 30’s, with 2 or 3 children? We have mothers, who with lots of exercise and spells have managed to look like they stayed 17, but it is not natural, and they have to repeat the spells 2 or 3 times a day. We call them Barbie’s after the dolls. It is sort of sad really. You should be able to look like a reasonably slender, good looking woman after you have your children, but like a woman not a 17 year old girl. Your body will change. You are still a very attractive young lady, and you will be after you have children.”
“I feel fat,” said Ginny, tears starting to form, again feeling her hips and waist, painfully aware that she was heavier than she was when she was married.
“I’ve dealt with too many weight problems, Ginny,” said Tammy. She was getting upset. (Ginny was referred to Tammy because she was so thin when she was playing Quidditch, and Tammy was the witch who dealt with women with weight issues.) “I’ve had 5’10” girls in here weighing under 89 pounds, skin and bones, saying they felt fat. I’ve had some of them die on me. Don’t tell me you are too fat. I had too many mothers come in who really are fat, not much taller than you, and 250, 300, 400, even 450 pounds. Do you know what it is like to loose both a mother and her baby because she was too fat! Don’t tell me you’re too fat! You are a good weight for your size and as far along as you are in your pregnancy. Don’t tell me you’re fat. Tell me you want a healthy baby, and you’ll do what I tell you to do to have a healthy baby. And that includes gaining some more weight, but not too much. OK Ginny?”
“Harry is going to think I’m fat,” said Ginny, suddenly feeling very sorry for herself and not at all sure if Harry was going to like this.
“I guarantee you that Harry is going to think you are beautiful! If you both want children he is going to be thrilled as you get bigger down here,” and Tammy patted Ginny’s stomach, “because that means HIS baby is getting bigger.
“Usually at this stage we do not have to see you back here for several weeks, but I want you to schedule an appointment back here in two weeks, and tell the front office that we need to schedule a time when Harry can be with you. Would you like that?” said Tammy.
“It’s HIS fault!” said Ginny. “He’d BETTER come with me to these appointments. Well,” Ginny sort of giggled, “I can’t say it’s ALL his fault. We kind of did it together. But his body doesn’t change, and everything changes for me,” and she threw her hands up in the air.
“Here are some potions that will settle your stomach, and help you and the baby stay healthy. I’ll see you and Harry in about two weeks,” said Tammy.
“I’m sorry I was so dumb,” said Ginny. “Two weeks.”
As she walked out of the medical facility Ginny tried to think what happened six weeks ago? They took that stupid car for a drive and turned the back seat into a bed and, Oh no, was that the night? In the back seat of a car?
Now she had to tell Harry. Over the years she had though about all sorts of clever ways to tell Harry, but none of them fit. Harry would ask about the medical appointment. Harry had noticed that her breasts were getting bigger; well it was hard not to notice. None of her clothes fit any more. Besides, her breasts were tender and felt a little swollen, and she had to tell him not to push on them much. Oh she still liked sex. If anything she wanted more since she became pregnant, if that was possible. Ginny knew she wanted sex more often than any of her sisters-in-law. It was just that men seemed to like busty women and she did not want to become a cow.
Ginny thought of her mother, who was pretty busty, and both grandmothers. Then she remembered great-grandmother Brown, on her father’s side, who was still living. Great-grandmother Brown made her mother look small on top. ‘She’s huge,’ thought Ginny as she looked at her expanding bust line. That was probably why Lavender was even bigger around on top than Ginny, although Lavender was never as skinny as Ginny was.
Isn’t this what they had always wanted? To have a baby? Wasn’t this the Happily Ever After dream, to be pregnant with and have babies with Harry? Why was she close to tears instead of giddily happy? She could not think of what to say. She just had to get home, tell Harry, then within a half hour or so go and get Teddy.
Harry was sitting on the sofa when Ginny walked in. He looked hard at her, and could see she had been crying. Then she shouted out “QUIT LOOKING AT MY BREASTS. THEY ARE BIGGER, AND THEY ARE GOING TO GET EVEN BIGGER. Men all want their wives to look like one of those stupid Muggle Movie Starlets. And I’m going to get all BIG AND FAT AND UGLY, and it’s ALL YOUR FAULT.”
Harry had no idea how to handle this outburst. He kept quiet; anything he said would make things worse. Ginny had been very touchy lately, and he could be in trouble no matter what he said or did.
Ginny came over to the sofa and sat down next to Harry and leaned into him and cried, and then said, “I ought to be as happy as I have ever been, and I am really, sort of, I guess, but at the same time everything is changing, and I had all sorts of ways I though of telling you, and instead I come in here and yell at you and I know that’s not right.”
Ginny was quiet for a couple of minutes. Harry just held her, which seemed to help. Then she smiled and said, “I love you,” and snuggled into Harry’s side.
Harry knew there was more to the story. After five years of marriage Harry knew that there was nothing he could say that would not risk Ginny exploding again. He just needed to wait until she was ready to talk. Right now she was just snuggling into Harry and she seemed to be, well it was hard to tell what she was feeling. To Harry it looked like Ginny was dealing with something very important, and he was beginning to get worried.
Ginny was beginning to relax. It felt really good snuggling up against Harry. She really had to tell Harry. She was sure he was going to be happy. She finally just looked up at Harry and said in a quiet voice, “I’m pregnant.” She went back to snuggling, putting her head against Harry’s chest. “We didn’t plan this, Harry. It’s not that I don’t want to have a baby. It’s just that I always thought that we’d decide the when and, and, and I, I just didn’t expect it.
“I guess it’s not all your fault,” she said. “I guess it’s not really anybody’s fault, it’s what we wanted, isn’t it?”
Pregnant thought Harry. Ginny’s pregnant! We are going to have a baby! Well that would explain a lot of the symptoms. It made sense. A baby! All Harry ever wanted out of life, when he finally realized that he was going to live, was to marry Ginny and have a family of his own, a wife and children to love. Ginny was pregnant! The tears started, and they came out as a shower. He really did not expect to be this emotional. “Oh Ginny,” he finally said. “I am so happy! I love you so much!”
Ginny looked at the clock and realized she was going to have to pick up Teddy soon. “Can you come with me to pick up Teddy?” said Ginny, standing up.
“I would be delighted, my most wonderful pregnant wife,” said Harry, taking Ginny in his arms and giving her a long passionate kiss. When they finally came up for air Harry asked, “So when do we tell the family?”
Ginny looked shocked. Mother! Her mother would be all over her. Ginny knew that by being her youngest and her only daughter pregnant half a world away, there would be no peace until mother was over here fussing over her, and with everybody else her mother felt she needed to fuss over Ginny would have no peace from her mother unless Molly convinced her to move back to England. She missed her family, but was enjoying this break, and she was not about to leave Harry again! “Don’t you dare tell anyone!” said Ginny. “Mother will find out when we get back to England and not a moment sooner! Otherwise she will fuss over me, and drive us both craze that she is half a world away. Not a word to anyone! Promise me!”
“Ginny,” Harry said, “all the papers already have you pregnant! Just how long do you think you can keep this a secret? We ought to call your mother, who will be furious if the press knows before you tell her. Then we need to call Cindy and have some sort of announcement.”
Ginny took a deep breath. She turned to Harry and said, “You are right. I know you are right. It’s just not what I want.”
Ginny was beginning to feel better. As they walked over to Teddy’s school she said “You know Harry, some of the symptoms are not so bad when you know what is going on. I just feel so stupid that I did not know. I really had forgotten that you were suppose to have a period every month, not that I did not know but it had been so long since I had regular periods that not having one was sort of normal. And I blamed all my stomach problems to the food over here, not to anything happening to my body, and the same with the emotions. I thought everything I was going through had to do with us moving over here. I’ve never been pregnant before and just had no idea how it felt.”
Then looking at Harry Ginny got a resigned expression on her face saying “You are just going to have to put up with big fat emotional me if you want me to have this baby.”
Harry looked at Ginny, a little exasperated. He knew she was real touchy when it came to how her body looked. He said what he was honestly feeling, “Ginny, I’ve always thought that pregnant women were beautiful. It is a sign of new life, that we have faith in the human race and want to keep it going. For us it also means that we think there is a future for young witches and wizards. That bump you are going to get, that’s not fat, and it’s a person! Our baby, partly you and partly me and our love made so real that it has become another person. I love you, not some idealized memory of what you looked like when you were 17. I still think you look spectacular, and you will always look good to me.”
Ginny said, “I had all sorts of tender and romantic ways I was going to tell you we were having a baby, and instead I yelled at you. I feel so stupid. How do you put up with me?”
“I love you, Ginny,” said Harry. “I knew you were a fiery red head when I fell in love with you.”
“I’m going to end up looking just like my mother,” said Ginny said sadly.
“The first person who ever mothered me was your mother,” said Harry. “I don’t really care if you look like your mother. I bet you will yell at our children, just like your mother, and they will be just as afraid, as your brothers were.”
“I wasn’t afraid of mum,” said Ginny. “Well, not usually. Not like the boys.”
“Merlin, help us if we have a girl like you,” said Harry.
“Dad could terrify me, for some reason, even though he never shouted,” said Ginny. “Don’t tell my father that.”
Harry woke up the next morning, used the loo, shaved, and then went back to bed. He looked at Ginny sleeping on her back, her expanding breasts rising and falling under the light blanket. Harry thought he could stare at Ginny for hours, if he ever had the time. He could remember winter vacations on the beach when he WOULD stare at Ginny for hours. Harry used his wand to cause the blankets to gently remove themselves and fold neatly on a settee at the end of the bed.
She was just beautiful! She was heavier, in the hips and all around, but her breasts were what were growing most noticeably now. He was a little embarrassed by how much pleasure he received when they were chest to chest and she was rubbing against him. She loved to have him touch them, and he loved to play with them. He was a little ashamed by how much pleasure he was getting in seeing her breasts expand, especially considering her reaction yesterday, but a bustier Ginny wasn’t exactly a problem for Harry, even if Ginny did end up looking more like Molly.
Ginny woke up and looked over to Harry. She looked at her breasts, and then she said. “Please keep looking, and touching. I’m sorry I yelled at you yesterday. They are just a little tender right now.”
Harry gently touched Ginny, and before long they were making love.
After they had eaten breakfast, while Harry was taking care of Teddy, Ginny called her mother. Her mother answered her Wizarding Cell Phone, saying, “Hello? Hello?”
“Mum, it’s Ginny. I’m pregnant, Mum.”
“YOU’RE PREGNANT?! YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A BABY? Witches Rumors was right, for once?” Molly asked. “You didn’t get pregnant in the back of that caddy like car, did you?”
“I might have. Why?”
“’Witches Rumors’ says that Muggles think it is really bad luck to get pregnant in the back seat of a car. They have all sorts of really bad words for it.”
“I don’t know, mum. I haven’t even been in a lot of cars, and that’s the first time Harry and I… Well, I’m not sure. It’s not like that’s the only time we did it.”
“I guess not! Did you REALLY do it in Harry’s office?”
“Mum?”
“I haven’t done it with your father in his office … yet, and he has such a nice big office now. We ought to. In the back seat of a car? Really?”
“Mum, I’m pregnant! I don’t want to talk about what Harry and I did to get pregnant. It’s the same thing you and dad did to have all of us, I’m pretty sure. Now what do I do?”
“I never got pregnant in the back seat of a caddy like, or anything like that. We had to settle for the bed at the Burrow. Well … except for Bill. Have you seen a midwife yet?”
“What about Bill?”
“NEVER MIND about Bill, have you seen a midwife yet?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Just do what she tells you to do. It’s not like you have to do anything for a while.”
“Harry says we have to tell Cindy, and make an announcement.”
“That you did it in the back of that caddy like car?”
“No, that I’m pregnant.”
“Oh, I guess he is right. The papers are sure writing about it.”
“I feel like that year when I went from being almost flat to having boobs, all over again. How big am I going to get, mum?”
Molly thought a little, and Ginny waited. Finally Ginny said again “MUM, how BIG am I going to get?”
“Some women hardly get any bigger, but all your female ancestors got pretty big.”
Ginny looked at her bust; that was not exactly what she wanted to hear. Then she glanced at the clock. “Oh. I have to go to take Teddy to school. Will you call Cindy for me?”
“I would be delighted! Congratulations! We’re going to have ANOTHER BABY!”
“Thanks Mum. Good Bye.”
“I CAN’T WAIT TO TELL YOUR FATHER! Love you. Good bye, Ginny.”
Chapter 6: CH 6 Molly gives Ginny her First Pregnancy Lesson
Author's Notes: Thank you FriendofMolly for the title of this chapter, and for many of Molly’s words to Ginny.
Ginny walked in to the school with Teddy. Ginny was sure that her mother was letting all her sister-in-laws, and anybody else she met, know that she was pregnant. She could forget about keeping her pregnancy a secret.
Josephine Guest, the head of the co-op school, was at the front desk nursing the youngest of her sixteen children. Josephine had twelve children by the time she was thirty five and then one more at forty, forty five, fifty and this one at fifty five. Every time Ginny saw her she was reminded that a witch could get pregnant into her forties for the first time and if she had already had children bear more into her fifties. There was some controversy in witches’ circles about all the time they were fertile. Was it a really good thing, or a really really bad thing?
“Did the midwife confirm it?” Jo asked.
Ginny unconsciously reached for her expanding bust.
“Oh, with your family history I expect you will get a lot bigger,” Jo said with a knowing grin.
“I’m not going to be able keep my pregnancy secret from anybody, am I?” Ginny said.
“Oh Merlin, no! I knew with each of my daughters almost as soon as they knew. You can just tell. Besides Ginny, why would you want to keep it a secret?"
When Ginny left the school, while she was eating lunch with Mitzi at the McWizard Meals store, Ginny called Natasha. “I think I got pregnant in the back of your car,” Ginny said
“FOUR!” Natasha shouted. “That’s four babies conceived in the back of that car!”
“Four?” asked Ginny.
“Two of our friends borrowed the car and ended up pregnant, so when Dennis and I decided to have a baby we used the car, and it WORKED!”
“Dennis?” asked Ginny.
“Boris, his real name is Dennis deCarlo, and he is from the middle of the US, Des Moines, Iowa. I was raised Jane Johnson in San Diego. Boris and Natasha is more fun, but our children will be deCarlo’s.”
“Is it really bad luck to conceive a baby in the back seat of a car?” Ginny asked.
“Only if you are not married and don’t want to have a baby,” Natasha said. “Once you are married who cares where you do it, as long as it’s not in public.”
That afternoon Ginny had mostly finished her writing assignment, and she left to pick up Teddy at the school. Ginny spent the mornings helping out at the school, and the afternoons in class and doing homework. The umbrella stroller that kept her balance and held her laptop and backpack was with her, as usual, along with Mitzi
As Ginny walked into the school she noticed her mother and Cindy Base Hudson sitting in chairs waiting for her.
“Hello Mum,” Ginny said.
Molly got up and gave Ginny one of her special Molly Weasley hugs. “Oh Ginny, my little girl, It’s so good to see you, Ginny. We’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you and Dad too. Oh, I have to go and pick up Teddy,” Ginny said.
“We’d love to come with you and see Teddy’s classroom,” Molly said, inviting herself along.
Ginny went in with her two guests, and introduced them to the assembled crowd of parents and grandparents and staff. “Everyone, I would like to introduce my Mum, Molly Weasley, and a good friend of ours, Cindy Base Hudson.”
“Gramum Weasley,” Teddy said, running up and hugging Molly.
Sarah Guest looked at Molly and said, “Isn’t it exciting, about Ginny! Do you have any other grandchildren?”
“Six,” Molly said, “and my daughter-in-law Fleur is pregnant, due in August, and Ginny dear, when are you due?”
“October,” Ginny said, confirming what everybody knew already.
“So by the end of October I should have eight grandchildren,” Molly continued, beaming. “Plus Teddy, of course.”
“Mum, why don’t you and Cindy come to our apartment,” Ginny told her Mum and Cindy.
“We have a room for the weekend in the same building,” Molly said. “That would be nice.”
Ginny silently walked to the apartment, Molly talking to Teddy. Teddy was talking a mile a minute to Molly, trying to tell her all the things he had been doing and was learning. Ginny knew they were going to have to make an announcement soon. Mum had made sure every one of the parents or grandparents in the room knew she was pregnant, and the word would spread quickly.
“Fleur’s pregnant?” Ginny asked her mother. “I thought you couldn’t get pregnant when you were nursing?”
“We have potions that both help with nursing and keep you from getting pregnant. Nursing alone is not a foolproof method of birth control, as Fleur found out.”
“Is she upset?”
“Not really. Fleur did say that she intends to take a break from having babies after this one.”
Teddy went down for a nap. Cindy said she would work on the press release and watch Teddy, Molly asked Ginny to come to the apartment she and Cindy were sharing. Molly brewed a pot of tea and set out some homemade cookies she had brought with her. She and Ginny sat down at the table. “Ginny, sweetheart, is there anything you want to talk about? I have so many things I want to tell you, so many memories, of when I was expecting you and your brothers.”
Ginny began slowly pouring her heart to her Mum. “Mum, I’m so confused, and even angry at times, I love Harry and we’ve talked about having children, I just didn’t think it would be this soon.”
“What is it, dear?” Molly asked
“Mum, I CAN NOT BELIEVE I GOT PREGNANT IN A MERLIN HEXED BACK SEAT OF A CAR!” Ginny yelled.” I’M NOT READY. I DON”T WANT TO GET FAT, I’M SCARED HARRY WILL STOP LOVING ME IF I DO.”
“GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY POTTER!” Molly started with her best HOWLER voice. Seeing Ginny flinch, Molly took a calming breath, cast a Muffliato charm and began again. “Ginny, dear, what in Merlin’s name are you talking about?”
“Mum, I’m frightened. I wasn’t ready for this. I’m still having a hard time with the way my Quidditch career ended. I’m still not healed as much as I need to be, before I start having babies, I thought it would be Someday, Not Now,” Ginny said, all the while getting more and more upset
“Ginevra Molly Weasley Potter”, said Molly, quieter than before. “It’s time for you to realize you’re no longer a teenager. Ready or not, this is real life. This is the life you’ve dreamed about since you were five. Harry loves you and you love Harry. You may not be in the physical shape you once were, but you are in fine shape to have a baby. Didn’t the midwife tell you that everything was fine?”
“Yes, the midwife said that everything was just fine,” Ginny confirmed.
Molly said, “You are in great shape to have babies, as many as you and Harry want. So listen to me, My Girl. Take a look in the mirror. See the woman that you are, then tell that beautiful loving woman you see, TO GROW UP and start being happy with what you have, a loving Husband, a child you have made with him, and a huge group of family and friends!
“Ginny I love you and I will help you all I can. All you have to do is call, but you have to accept the life you have been given and the life you have made.” Molly said quietly. She could see that her words had gotten through to Ginny. There were still tears streaming down her face, but her head was higher, shoulders straighter, and her eyes blazing with anticipation of what is to come.
Ginny said, “After everything else I have had to do I guess I can have a baby. It’s cannot be that hard.”
“We women have been having babies for as long as people have been on earth,” Molly said, with her eyes welling up.
“How DID you get pregnant with Bill?” Ginny asked.
“The usual way,” Molly warily said.
“Where were you?” Ginny asked. “Not in the bed in the Burrow? I guess I knew that you got married early.”
“We didn’t have the Burrow. Your father was getting ready to graduate from Hogwarts. I was just in my sixth year. We, well, you see, with THAT spell it’s hard to wait, and we didn’t, and I was pregnant with Bill when your father graduated.”
“What did you do when you found out you were pregnant, Mum? You couldn’t have been a mental mess like me.”
“WHAT? I was not married. I was still in school. I was in a greater panic than you are now.
“I guess I knew. Well, all the girls in the dorm had their periods at about the same time, and I had missed mine. And my breasts were growing and tender. Oh your poor father. Part of the time I was very affectionate, and other times I was a real bitch. I was sick to my stomach about two weeks after I had missed my period, on a Saturday morning. Dad insisted on taking me up to the infirmary.
“I think the matron knew, but she gave me a pregnancy potion to make sure. She told me, ‘If the potion turns clear you are pregnant.’ I was sitting on a bed, alone, and the potion turned clear. Your Dad was waiting on the other side of the curtain. I know I yelled, ‘Arthur Weasley, you get in here RIGHT NOW!’
“Dad threw back the curtain and asked, ‘What is the matter, Mollywobbles?’
“I’m pregnant,’ I whispered. ‘How are we going to afford a baby? I had to pay for our last Hogsmeade visit. We can’t have a baby. We don’t have any money.’
“And then your father looked at me, and he said, ‘Molly Prewett, soon to be Molly Weasley, babies don’t care if you have money. Weasley women have had lots of babies, and somehow they were always fed, and clothed, and more importantly loved, even when we were very poor."
“I know I hugged your father and bawled, just cried my eyes out. And then we told our parents, and got married. Your father was right, as he often is. We never had much money, but there was always love. And the babies came, even when we didn’t really have a lot of money.”
Ginny got her trademark snarky smile on, and asked again, “Just where WAS Bill conceived?”
Molly got a funny look on her face, and asked, “Have you ever been in the Prefects bathroom?”
“No,” Ginny said
“There is a big; it sort of a cross between a huge bathtub and a small pool. Your father and I were both Prefects. We had arranged with the other Prefects for some private time. It is hard to wash EVERYTHING with something on, and once we didn’t have anything on we did what you do to make babies. I usually did the contraceptive spells first, but I guess I forgot.”
“MOTHER!” Ginny said. “I thought you were a good girl.”
Molly had a pretty good smirk herself when she said, “Oh your father said I was VERY GOOD indeed.”
Molly removed the noise muffling spell, stood up and walked over to Ginny, gathered her in her arms, and gave her the hug she needed after their chat.
When Harry got home he saw Molly and Cindy. Molly pulled Harry into a big hug, saying, “Congratulations, daddy.”
Harry replied, “I’m daddy to Teddy, but at the moment I’m just husband to a pregnant wife.”
Ginny asked, “Am I that bad?”
“I never said you were bad, just pregnant,” Harry replied with a grin. “I do think it is time to make an announcement, just because of all the speculation in the papers.”
After some discussion, the announcement from Cindy read, “Harry and Ginny Potter announce that Ginny is expecting their first child in the fall. Additional details will be officially released through their news agent Cindy Base Hudson.” Cindy took photographs of Harry and Ginny, several with, “Harry’s godson and their foster son Teddy Lupin.”
None of the papers were going to come out until the next afternoon. Cindy went back to England in the morning, but Molly told Harry and Ginny, “I’m going to stay until Sunday afternoon. I told Arthur to tell the boys that they were going to have to meet without me. I guess Fleur is having everybody over to their big new house.”
Harry could see that Molly and Ginny wanted to talk, and he offered to take Teddy to a nearby magical, and well-guarded, park.
When Harry and Teddy were gone Ginny said, “I’m sorry I’ve been so emotional. I haven’t seen any of my sister-in-laws get this bad!”
Molly said, “Women usually would rather talk to their mothers than their mother-in-laws. Audrey, poor Audrey, she didn’t have a mother to talk to. She has a mother, but her mother is one of the meanest, most unloving people I have ever met. She’s no Death Eater, and she is polite enough to you if you meet her on the street, but what she’s done to poor Audrey, it’s a shame.”
Ginny asked, “You have been talking to Audrey?”
Molly answered, “It has taken a lot of time, and patience, and in the end some horrible words by Audrey’s mother, but Audrey can finally share with me what her life has been like. I think her mother, Phyllis Baker, got married so she could hide in her house most of the time. From what Audrey tells me the house is spotless and sterile. Audrey slept with her mother until she went to Hogwarts, and her father slept upstairs.
“Phyllis has made it very clear to Audrey that once you are pregnant it is time to stop, as she says it, ‘letting that man into your body.’ I spent a lot of time letting Audrey know that it was normal to want to be intimate with your husband when you are pregnant.”
Ginny said, “Being pregnant sure hasn’t made me want Harry any less.”
Molly said, “It never diminished my desire for your father! That is one thing you seem to have inherited from your mother and your female ancestors’.”
Ginny asked, “You and dad still do it?”
Molly answered with a grin, “A LOT! Every day is not too often, if we can.”
Ginny blushed. She knew her mother was a sensual person, but the image of her mother and father doing what she and Harry were doing, and doing it all the time, was not something she had ever considered.
Molly said, “Poor Audrey. Her mother hid when she was pregnant and nursing. Phyllis never went outside the house from the time she found out she was pregnant until Audrey was weaned. Phyllis thought Audrey should be the same way. Between the hormones and her mother Audrey was a mess.
“Usually your second pregnancy is easier, but Phyllis was furious at Audrey and Percy for getting pregnant again. Phyllis still will not acknowledge she has a second grandchild. She will hold Molly but she will not hold or acknowledge Lucy. It’s really sad.”
Ginny said, “It sounds like you have had to do a lot of mothering for Audrey. Is she the only one?”
Molly said, “Angelina is married to George, and I know that’s not always easy. Angelina mostly talks to her mother about intimate feminine things, but we have talked too. Her mother and Angelina and I have even gotten together. She had her moments with both pregnancies.”
Ginny said, “I expect Fleur took everything in stride with her normal, unreal, Veela attitude.”
Molly said, “Mostly. Fleur really enjoys being pregnant. She usually looks and feels fantastic. The emotions are a little closer to the surface, though. Especially when she was pregnant with Victoire, Fleur had a hard time handling some things. She mostly went to see her mother, but she and I had some heart to heart conversations.”
Ginny said, “Mum you amaze me, you seem to be able to handle anything. Once you found out you were pregnant did it get any easier?”
Molly said, “Our first year was pretty rough. We were offered The Burrow for almost no rent, but it wasn’t much. It had an outside loo. It had been years since anyone had lived in it. We needed a lot to make it livable, and we didn’t have any money. The orchard was a mess too. We were told we could keep the money from the fruit if we got the orchard in shape.
“We lived with Arthur’s parents for over a year. I cannot tell you how often your father came home from work, met me at the Burrow and helped me. Often when we finally were alone in his bedroom I cried. Any money we could save we put into fixing up the house. It wasn’t easy, not having your own house. Some days it seemed like we would never get that place fixed. Your father never really made enough money from his job at the Ministry, but eventually the money from the fruit, plus saving money by raising our own vegetables, grain for the chickens, and our own chickens to eat helped us have enough money to send you and your brothers to Hogwarts.”
Ginny said, “It always seemed to me like you were so strong.”
Molly said, “I almost lost it after your brother Fabian was killed. I LOST HIM!” Molly started to cry. “Ginny, I got the other boys to safety, but I LOST FABIAN, and he was tortured. That’s why I could never go back to see his grave, until the day we got a gravesite for Fred. I lost my brother Fabian and then I lost the baby I named after him!” By this time Molly was crying profusely. Molly said, “Ginny, losing that baby was harder than losing both of my brothers the same day. I hate to say it, but it was harder than losing Fred. I just blame myself for not holding on, even though everyone else said I did the best I could.”
Ginny went over to hold her mother, and they both had a good cry.
Ginny finally said, “Thank you, Mum for sharing. I am very happy that you’re my Mum. I don’t feel like I’m the only one who has been emotional.”
Molly and Ginny had a number of very good Mother-daughter talks before Molly went back home Sunday afternoon.
That afternoon all the papers made the announcement first page news. The Daily Prophet in England had an article by Brenda Street, the reporter who normally covered the Potters. The headline read, “Potters expecting a child.” The article said, “Harry Potter, looking dashing as usual in his Auror Uniform and aviator glasses, and his wife Ginny (Weasley) Potter, announce that Ginny is pregnant. Ginny’s changing shape already gives evidence to the long awaited arrival of an heir to the Potter fortune. We have been told the baby is due in the fall. Brenda’s story continued along the same lines, heaping praise on Harry and not criticizing Ginny. Cindy had told the Potters that, “Brenda has a crush on Harry.” The New York Magical Times had small articles on the front page, similar to the Prophet article without the gushing praise for Harry.
Witch’s Rumors started with, “Potter FINALLY pregnant.” The article published the same photograph as the other papers. Underneath the photograph Rita Skeeter started, “Little Harry Potter, vainly trying to look heroic or at least not gawky, wearing the strange aviator glasses and dowdy Auror outfit that seems to be his uniform, and his newly chubby wife Ginny, have finally conceived a child. We can only speculate on the type of domestic strife that kept them from conceiving a child before this. Harry and Ginny seem so eager to address the rumor that Ginny cannot have children that they are announcing the pregnancy when she is not due for months.
“Harry, Ginny, your insecurities are showing.
“Ginny, who had been almost unnaturally thin when she was playing for the Harpies, has been piling on the pounds since leaving the Harpies. We expect she will soon be as heavy as her little fat mother. She brags about how much sex she and Harry have, but we have our doubts. Ginny seems to be drowning her sorrows in food instead of shagging her little husband.”
The same paper had a rehash of all the old articles Rita had written about Harry and Ginny.
The British “Witches Weekly” had an article on all the grandchildren of Arthur and Molly, announcing Harry and Ginny’s first, and speculating that “the Veela daughter-in-law Fleur may be expecting again.”
Worst of all, the least accurate and most insulting to Ginny and Harry, were the speculations by the editor of “Snide”, one Samantha Slytherin Slughorn.
Samantha was an American, based on the West Coast. Although she had traveled to England a couple of times, and had met her great uncle Horace Slughorn, she knew very little of what really went on during the two reigns of Tom Riddle. Her lack of knowledge did not keep her from writing about the wars. She was firm in her belief that the students of Slytherin were the real hero’s in all the battles, and that Harry Potter was a fraud. Samantha’s obvious lack of knowledge about England and what had happened kept her readership to a minimum everywhere but North America. She had a small but loyal following in most of the English Speaking parts of North America. Lots of other readers followed her paper to get the latest gossip, not really caring if it was true or not.
Samantha’s headline read, “Potter Pollutes Pure Blood.” The article started, “Half-Blood Harry Potter, not content just to have attended Hogwarts, where he was not wanted, is continuing on his campaign to ruin our world, by impregnating a pure blooded witch.
“Harry’s father James started the tradition by marrying a Mudblood. When Harry’s father and the Mudblood tried to kill Lord Voldemort he unfortunately found it necessary to kill them. Lord Voldemort did not harm Harry, but gently delivered him to the care of his loving Aunt and Uncle. Despite being given all the advantages of growing up loved in a Muggle household, Harry was not content to stay where he was loved and cherished. Instead of going to a prestigious Muggle school like his cousin, he invaded our world, and with the help of Albus Dumbledore, proceeded to spread rumors about pure blooded witches and wizards.
“Lord Voldemort finally had to come to Hogwarts personally to try and restore order. Voldemort tried to disarm Harry Potter, but Potter suddenly and without warning used the killing curse on his opponent.
“Since then Harry has amassed a fortune, stealing from governments and pure blooded families alike, and generally terrorizing anyone who has tried to stop him.
“Harry apparently impregnated Ginny in the back of a Muggle Automobile, just in order to insult the good witches and wizards of this world again.
“Snide will continue to keep our readers informed on the activities of the unhappy couple.”
About a week after the announcement, while Ginny was eating, Samantha sat down at the table at the Mc Wizard restaurant where Ginny usually ate lunch. “I’m Samantha Slughorn, Ginny. I would like to get some personal information for our ever inquisitive readers.”
“Some information about how most of the Slytherin students ran away at the Battle of Hogwarts? Information on how biased and inaccurate Snide is? You owe the good witches and wizards of Great Britain an apology.”
“Touchy little bitch. Are you that uptight with Harry too?” Samantha asked.
“How many pure blooded witches and wizards have you contributed to our world?”
“I’m a virgin, not a nymphomaniac slut like you.”
“I’m not a fat slob like you,” Ginny said. Samantha did look a lot like her very obese great uncle.
“I do not need to offer my body to some man just so he can take care of me. Did you sell your body to the highest bidder?”
Ginny took her wand and pointed it right at Samantha.
“Oh, I’m not that easy to intimidate, Ginny,” Samantha said. “This is school property. You will be in big trouble if you curse me here in public. I don’t see a meat cleaver on that little elf you depend on either.”
“I do not want to talk to you, so leave,” Ginny said, pointing her wand at Samantha.
“Are you afraid that I will reveal that you and your precious Harry aren’t as good and pure as you portray yourselves?” Samantha taunted.
“Leave this table right now,” Ginny said.
“Oh no, Ginny,” Samantha said. “I have LOTS of questions for you.”
Ginny pulled back her wand and started to hex Samantha.
Samantha said, “You use that on me and I will write how mean and vicious you are.” The next thing Samantha knew her nose was exploding with bogeys that swelled and swelled, turning into bats as they came painfully out of her nose. Ginny levitated Samantha to the outside of the restaurant and left her there.
The restaurant was attached to the school, and you could get directly into the school without going outside, so it was considered school property.. Ginny left for her class, leaving Samantha outside. It took about fifteen minutes for the curse to wear off.
When class was over Ginny was summoned to the head of the office responsible for school discipline. “I need to talk to you about what you did to Samantha Slughorn,” the witch said.
“What, are you going to give me a reward?” Ginny asked, with her trademark snarky smile on full display.
The older witch laughed. “I wish I could. I have to tell you that, officially, displays like that, cursing or hexing reporters and others, is bad form. We cannot tolerate it, at least not officially.”
Ginny and the witch had a nice discussion. Ginny promised not to curse anyone on or near school property, and the witch promised to try and keep Samantha out of the school.
Ginny hexing Samantha made all the papers. Snide had a major article on Ginny’s vicious temper, and how Harry was an abused husband cowering before Ginny’s frequent bouts of rage.
Two weeks after Ginny’s first appointment with Tammy, and right after the “Snide” article about Ginny cursing Samantha was published, Harry accompanied Ginny to another appointment with Tammy Tidewater. After Ginny was weighed and gave a urine sample Tammy examined her. “You’ve gained four more pounds,” said Tammy. “Everything is right on schedule except for your weight gain. Do you have any questions?”
“Is it normal to be tired?” asked Ginny.
“How much sleep are you getting?” asked Tammy.
“Seven and a half to eight hours a night. I’ve never needed that much sleep. Once in a while I take a nap in the middle of the day. I’ve never needed so much sleep.”
“Your body is changing, and you will need more sleep. That’s a good thing for a husband to know, Harry,” said Tammy.
“Ginny hates it if I hover over her,” said Harry, “but I will try to take better care of her.” Harry turned to Ginny. “I can come home instead of studying in the library if you need a nap and Teddy is home,” said Harry. “We can work something out.”
“You could get another house elf,” Tammy said.
“Mum raised seven children with almost no money and no house elf help,” Ginny said. “I should be able to handle one little boy.”
Ginny hated to talk about needing more help. She was determined to prove she could do this on her own, without her large family surrounding her and helping, even with the head injury.
Tammy said, “Your mother did not suffer a debilitating head injury! Do we need to talk about weight?”
“Harry said he will still love me if I get big and fat and ugly,” said Ginny.
“Ginny!” said Harry. “That’s not exactly how I said it. I know you are going to get big; you’re going to have our baby inside you. That’s not the same thing as getting fat.”
“I told you Harry would not mind,” said Tammy.
“How big am I going to get?” Ginny asked. “What will I end up looking like?”
Tammy said, “You can usually tell by looking at your female ancestors. Do you have a photograph?”
Ginny used her wand to conjure a copy of a photograph of her as a baby, with four generations of females behind Molly. “Mum’s family is on the right, and dad’s is on the left.”
“Who is that?” Tammy asked. Most of the women were a little heavy and pretty busty, but one, on Ginny’s father’s side, was almost unbelievably huge, tall with very large hips and in all honesty too much bust.
“Oh, that’s Great Grandmother Brown,” Ginny said. “Mum says that Great Grandfather loves to get lost in Great Grandmother’s bosom. Great Grandmum told me, ‘Praise Merlin for levitation spells. I don’t know how a Muggle woman would deal with these magnificent breasts.’”
Ginny looked at Tammy in horror. “I’m not going to get that big, am I?”
“Even if you do while you are pregnant and nursing,” Tammy said, “after you are finished nursing I seriously doubt you will end up that large. Not if we keep your weight under control. Your comfortable set point for your weight will probably be a little on the heavier side, but we will try to make sure you are not as heavy as your mother.
“You are gaining weight faster than I would like. Let’s look at when and how much you are eating.”
Ginny said, “I try to have a big breakfast, with eggs and some meat.”
“That’s good,” Tammy said.
“I usually eat lunch at Mc Wizards,” Ginny said.
“What do you have?”
“Well, usually two sandwiches, a large milk shake, and sweet tea.”
“Oh,” Tammy said. “I have a list of sandwiches that are acceptable, but just one. No milk shake and unsweet tea.”
Ginny looked at Tammy like she was being given a punishment.
“Ginny, you need to slow down your weight gain. You are not at an unhealthy weight now, but two pounds a week and you will almost double your weight by the end of this pregnancy. Do you really want to weigh 200 pounds when you have this baby?”
Ginny sighed. “I guess I can do one sandwich at lunch, and unsweet tea.”
“Ginny, you can add a little honey to your tea, just not the amount of sugar that’s in a McWizard Sweet Tea. There should not be any snacks between meals, though you may have a little something before you go to bed. Also you need to drink plenty of water and two glasses of low-fat milk each day. If you start to experience heartburn, cut out the late snack and give me a call.”
Ginny nodded.
“Just watch your portions at dinner, Ginny,” Tammy said. “I do not think we need to be too worried about your weight if we can just slow down the rate you are gaining weight.
“Now Ginny, I was serious when I said I wanted you to get more help. I have talked to the Mind Healers, and you are in danger of a relapse if you don’t get more rest.”
“Why?” Ginny asked. “What did I do to cause me to need more help?”
Tammy said, “You became pregnant, Ginny. That changes things, as you can see and feel.”
Ginny glared at Harry. “YOU are not pregnant. YOUR body doesn’t change.”
Tammy spoke up, “Ginny your body is working especially hard while your baby develops. Think about how hard you worked out to get into shape for Quidditch?”
Ginny, finally realized how much the health and well-being of the baby depended on her actions.
“Do you have any idea what kind of help you would like?” Harry asked Ginny. He really didn’t have any answer to her emotional outburst. Ginny was right, of course. His body didn’t change, but his life certainly had, for the better.
“I think Andromeda Tonks would give just about anything to be over here helping take care of Teddy,” Ginny said. “I will ask mum, and if she agrees then we'll ask Andromeda.”
“I think that would be fantastic!” Harry said. “Andromeda needs to rebuild her relationship with her grandson.”
Andromeda arrived in San Francisco Friday evening. Saturday morning she went over to the DMLE office to practice apparating to either the apartment or to the local Auror office if there was trouble. Ginny and Mitzi had already practiced quick apparating to both places, taking Teddy with them. Teddy had taken part in the earlier exercises, and was taking part in these.
When they were done Teddy asked his grandmother, “You be scared and run away?”
Andromeda knelt down so she was eye to eye with Teddy, and she said, “I may be scared, even very scared, but I WILL NOT RUN AWAY any more. I am so ashamed I ran away after Mummy Ginny was hurt.”
Teddy looked skeptically at his grandmother, but didn’t say anything.
Harry’s class on “Maintaining Secrecy from Sophisticated Muggle Technology” had two types of students. One might be called the magical geeks, ones who were really into the details of Muggle Technology. The other group consisted mostly of managers of some sort or another. The second group was the group who were responsible for getting the Muggle money to pay for the Muggle side of maintaining security against ever more sophisticated Muggle technology. As one of the teachers said, “You cannot hope to defeat an integrated network of video cameras and GPS sensors with a couple of simple spells.”
The class had as a frequent visitor and occasional teacher the head of the DMLE office in San Francisco, Amelia Liang Clancy. She was 135 years old and, as she kidded, dead for forty years. “We cannot have people officially living as long as we do, so we all disappear from the records and officially die sometime between 90 and 100.” Her husband, and many of her many descendants, were also in law enforcement. Amelia (or Bee as she was often called) wanted the members of the class that were going to be in management positions to see how they had tapped into the camera network in San Francisco.
Harry and the other managers met Monday morning at the San Francisco headquarters of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to look at how they had tapped into all the video cameras, public and private, that covered almost all of the area where witches and wizards would appear. Harry said that his wife and godson almost always went from the apartment to school by the same route. The technicians started to tap into cameras to follow Ginny.
As they were watching through a store window they saw four wizards appear. One of them reached for Ginny. Ginny, Teddy and Mitzi disappeared. Andromeda grabbed for her wand, but another of the wizards wrestled with her. They moved out of sight of the camera and disappeared. The other three almost immediately vanished.
There was a great deal of confusion in the room. Harry tried to call Ginny on the Wizarding mobiles, but they did not work in this room. Ginny, Teddy, Mitzi and Andromeda were all missing, and Harry had no quick way of finding them.
Chapter 7: CH. 7 Andromeda to the Rescue
Author's Notes: Andromeda the heroine.
Harry had made a map of the apartment and the area around it, and always carried a copy with him. He looked at the map. Ginny, Mitzi and Teddy were there. He had no idea where Andromeda was. “My wife, her house elf, and our godson are at the apartment.”
Bee said, “We will send a couple of Aurors to the apartment to check on them.”
Harry asked, “Can I use my mobile to call Ginny?”
Bee said, “Cell phones will not work in this room.”
Harry sent a Patronus to Ginny, saying, “A couple of Aurors will be at the apartment shortly. I will talk to you as soon as I can.”
As soon as Harry had finished he asked, “Does anyone know what happened to Andromeda/”
“Who?” Several of the DMLE people asked.
“The older witch who was walking with Ginny!” Harry said.
There was some intense discussion. Harry became quite worried about Teddy’s grandmother.
Ginny, Mitzi and Teddy left their apartment at eight thirty in the morning Monday, right on time for their normal twenty minute walk to the school. For the first time Andromeda was with them. They were about half way to the school when four wizards appeared. Two of them pointed their wands at Ginny. Before they could finish cursing Ginny Mitzi had apparated back to the apartment, taking Ginny and Teddy with her. Ginny’s umbrella stroller with her computer and all her homework was left behind. Andromeda was nowhere to be seen.
Ginny had an awful feeling about Andromeda. Why was Andromeda not back at the apartment? Did she get hurt? Was she kidnapped? Teddy said, “Gran-mum run away again.”
“We don’t know that, Teddy,” Ginny said.
Harry’s Patronus appeared, saying, “A couple of Aurors will be at the apartment shortly. I will talk to you as soon as I can.”
Ginny said to Mitzi, “Thank you for taking Teddy and me here right away!” She had her hand on her wand, but she was surprised to see she was not itching for a fight. Let other people fight. She had to protect Teddy, and the life growing inside her. She would fight if she had to, but for the first time Ginny was not anxious to be in the middle of a fight.
When the Aurors came Ginny said, “Do you know where Andromeda Tonks is?”
The lead Auror said, “No. We were just sent here to guard you. We really don’t know much.”
Ginny said, “My computer and homework! We left it!”
One of them used their Wizarding mobile to make a couple of calls. Then she said, “There was an Auror there, following you. She has it.”
“Harry, you need to see this,” Bee said as she turned to a display. It was some sort of Muggle/magical hybrid. It showed the receiving area where people could apparate to the DMLE office, and that where Ginny and Andromeda were supposed to apparate to if they could not get back to the apartment. Bee had hit some sort of rewind mechanism. Suddenly Andromeda and a wizard appeared. He was in some pain, and when Andromeda forcefully put her knee between his legs he was in even more pain. An Auror and a Bailiff quickly rushed up to restrain the already subdued man.
“They tried to curse Ginny!” Andromeda said. “Is Teddy safe? Is Ginny Potter safe?”
The Auror asked, “Are you Andromeda Tonks?”
Andromeda nodded in affirmation, and said, “They tried to curse Ginny, and that bastard grabbed both of my hands. I grabbed his arms and used my leg and knee to disable him, then apparated here like we were taught.”
Bee told Harry, “We need to get to the receiving area. She tossed a red broom labeled, “Emergency use, authorized personnel only,” at Harry and grabbed one herself. Harry followed the witch as they flew through a couple of hallways, down a large Atrium, and through a couple of other hallways, always staying above the startled people below. They were at the reception area of the DMLE office within a couple of minutes, far faster than if they had gone any other way.
As soon as he had gotten to where Andromeda was Harry noticed that his mobile was working again, and called Ginny. “Andromeda captured one of the wizards,” Harry said. “She was magnificent!”
Ginny said, “Tell Teddy that. He thinks his grandmother ran away again.”
Ginny put Teddy on the phone. Harry said, “Teddy, I just saw your grandmother Tonks capture a real bad guy. She took him to the Aurors office, to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.”
“She did?” Teddy asked.
“She DID,” Harry said. “She is the ONLY person who was able to capture one of the bad people!”
“Oh,” said Teddy. He handed the mobile back to Ginny.
Teddy had a very confused look on his face. Ginny said, “Thank you, Harry. You must be busy.”
“Very, but I will bring Andromeda home with me when we are done,” Harry said.
Harry looked at Andromeda. She looked terrified. Harry said, “Mitzi took Teddy and Ginny back to the apartment. They are fine. How are you?”
“Merlin’s dung, Oh Harry, Ohhhhhh,” Andromeda said.
“It looks like you were the hero today! Congratulations!” Harry said.
Andromeda looked at Harry, trying to catch her breath. “Oh Boggarts, Merlin,” she said. “At least they are safe. I cannot let Teddy see me like this! Oh Merlin. I cannot say I like this being a heroine much.”
“It sounds better in a story than when you are going through it, that’s for sure,” Harry said.
When Andromeda had calmed down the Aurors questioned her. She really couldn’t add much to what they had seen on the screens. The one Auror who was following the group on an invisible motorcycle saw the same thing everybody else saw, Andromeda wrestle with the one wizard and then disappear.
“Give me a while to compose myself,” Andromeda said to Harry. So he went to see what the Aurors and DMLE people had found out.
“Look carefully at the recording of the four beings who tried to capture Ginny,” Bee said.
Harry looked at the four beings. “Is one of them a Goblin?” Harry asked.
“His name is Guts, or Guts the Goblin, and he and this man,” pointing, “work for the Lord of the Dementors. He is Carlos Carlos. I do not know if he ever had a surname, but we have called him Carlos Carlos for almost a hundred years. Both of them are very old, and have been working for The Lord of the Dementors for as long as we have known about them.”
“And they came here personally to harm Ginny?” Harry asked.
Bee said, “To kill her, not harm or capture her. The real heroine is your house elf! You need more security. I would like a couple additional house elf shadows, one for you and one for Ginny. Ginny needs to vary here routine. It is stupid to walk to school on the same route at the same time every day.”
By the time Harry was done with the witch and the other members of the DMLE Andromeda had calmed down. Harry took Andromeda by the closet network to the closet in the hall of the apartment building and from there to their apartment.
When Andromeda came in Teddy approached her cautiously? “Did you catch a bad guy?” he asked
“Yes, Teddy, I caught a bad guy,” Andromeda said.
“Was it scary?” Teddy asked.
“It was very scary!” Andromeda said.
“But you were real brave and not scared?” Teddy asked.
Andromeda looked at Harry, who said, “Being brave is not the same as not being afraid, Teddy. Being real brave is being scared, but doing what you have to do anyway. Your grandmother was very scared, and she should have been very scared. Those were very bad people who wanted to kill Mum Ginny. Your grandmother was very scared, but she did the bravest thing and captured one of the bad men.”
“I cannot promise you I will not be scared,” Andromeda said to Teddy, sitting down so she was eye to eye with him. “I can promise you that I will not run away just because I am scared. I love you too much.” Andromeda held out her arms and Teddy went into them. Grandmother and grandson hugged and hugged.
When everybody was sitting down Harry said, “Amelia Clancy says you need to vary your morning routine, in fact stop being predictable in all your movements. This is especially true for Ginny, but also for Andromeda.” They talked about varying routines for a while. Harry then said, “Amelia Clancy also wants house elf guards. Dobedo is tied up with some study and other things until I get back. Mitzi, do you have a boyfriend that would like to become a guard?”
Mitzi looked like she was having a hard time saying anything. Finally Ginny gently said, “Mitzi, if you have another house elf you like it is fine with us. Who is it?”
“His name Fritz,” Mitzi said. “He no fighter.”
“What does he do?” Ginny asked.
“He in FINANCE,” Mitzi said, getting excited. “Finance, that big word means MONEYS. He pays Mitzi and many other house elves. He INVESTS; means saves but gets more money back than puts in. MAGIC with MONEYS!”
“You two want to mate?” Ginny asked.
“Only when we back,” the little house elf said. “Must stay with employer the famous and so good, Ginny Potter. Maybe when back gets permissions and mate and make little elf babies.” The little elf giggled.
“I would like that!” Ginny said, and she pulled Mitzi into a hug.
Mitzi started to cry. “Mitzi so lucky to work for Harry and Ginny Potter. Kreacher say all female house elves gets maternity leave after we have babies. MATERNITY LEAVE! Is so great master and mistress.”
Harry called Kreacher and explained the situation. It seemed that Kreacher was anticipating the need for more guards. “Has a couple who wants to be your guards. Male is Mo and female is Jo. I send them right over.
Dobedo came over, and Mo and Jo came over with him. Harry was surprised when he saw the couple. You could tell which one was male and which one was female, but they were very similar in size. They were both about as large as a goblin, very tall for house elves.
Dobedo said to Harry and Ginny, “Dobedo stay two weeks. Teach Mo and Jo how to guard. Also how to remember names and positions so can help Mr. and Mrs. Potter.”
Harry told Ginny, “Dobedo remembers the name and something about every person I need. House elves cannot help learning all about anyone who is introduced to their master. It is often very helpful. I miss Dobedo not being with me in San Francisco.”
The next morning Ginny, Teddy and Andromeda, with Mitzi and Jo the house elves accompanying them, took the closet network to a location on the other side of the school for the walk to school. They left about ten minutes early. From then on Ginny and Andromeda would vary the times they left and the route, always notifying the Aurors so there was always an invisible Auror shadow for the walk.
When they got to school there was a lot of excitement. Many of the students had heard rumors of something. There were several stories, and they did not agree. So the teacher asked Teddy to introduce his grandmother.
Teddy said, “This here is my Gran-mum Tonks. She is my Real Gran-mum cause she is my bio-logic-cal Gran-mum cause she is my bio-logic-cal mum’s mum. My bio-logic-cal mum is dead. Mum Ginny and Daddy Harry are my real mum and dad cause we have legal docu-mints, them’s papers with seals and signatures on them, showing that they my REAL mum and dad cause of all the seals and signatures, but they not my bio-logic-cal mum and dad.
“Gran-mum Tonks became real hero-ine yesterday; hero-ine is when girl becomes hero. She hero-ine cause she captured a very bad man. We’s attacked, Mum Ginny and Gran-mum, by four real bad wizards, cept one wizard was a GOBLIN, cause I listen carefully, bout the A-tack, cause is real portant.”
“Important,” Ginny said.
“Real Im-portant,” Teddy said.
“Well, Gran-mum Tonks grab hold of the bad wizard, and put her knee right betweens his legs where boy parts are. It really hurts when you’s hit where your boy parts are! And she apparated the bad guy right to the Aurors, and they capture him, and he is a wizard, not a GOBLIN, cause the goblin got away,
“So we all real excited yesterday, and we gets more house elves to help protect us, and this here is Jo, she is going to help protect Mum Ginny and me.
“So that’s most of what happened, cept I need to tell Victoire and the cousins who is old enough to listen cause some of the cousins is too little, but Victoire is my favor-ite cousin cept she’s not REALLY a cousin cause she’s not a bio-logic-cal cousin.”
Talk of the attack took up much of the morning, and Grandmother Tonks was something of a heroine at the school from the day she started helping. Meanwhile Ginny started a routine they would follow for the rest of the school year, with Ginny usually going to school with Teddy and usually picking up Teddy, but gone for most of the day.
There were brief articles in all the Wizarding Press about the attack. Every one of them had Andromeda as a hero except for “Snide.” Witches Rumors said, “Ginny Potter ran away from a fight, leaving the elderly babysitter the Potters have retained to face her attackers alone.” There was more in the article about Ginny’s cowardly behavior.
Snide’s headline read, “Potters Publicity Hounds Again.” The article said that “Ginny Potter ‘claimed’ she was attacked, but she offered no proof. The elderly grandmother of the Potters’ foster son claims to have captured one of the attackers, but other than backing up the Potters’ story our DMLE is saying nothing more, obviously trying to cover up the true facts of the story.”
Ginny read both stories several times. “I would love to write an article saying what did happen, but there is too much of the story that you and the DMLE want to keep secret to write a good story.”
Thursday after Teddy was in bed Harry said to Andromeda, “Al VanLente and several other people want to meet with just Ginny and me starting at three tomorrow. Could you please stay with Teddy until five?”
“I would be delighted to spend another couple of hours at the school,” Andromeda said.
“How do you like the teaching?” Ginny asked.
“The teaching is fine,” Andromeda said. “Some of the girls are teasing Teddy because he has a girlfriend, but he doesn’t seem to be too bothered by it.”
Friday Al VanLente and several other members of the International Aurors Association, along with three witches from the Prophecy Office in Switzerland, met at the Potters. One of the Witches examined Ginny, and then nodded what Ginny thought was a no to Al and the group. Valerie Bushman, who with her husband headed the group of prophets that worked in Switzerland, then spoke.
“We know that about every 500 or so years a new couple is born who could become the next king and queen of the prophets. The last time this occurred the witch and wizard did not get along. The witch had the second most powerful wand, but the wizard did not have the most powerful wand. She wanted to be in charge. There was a lot of fighting between them, and between various factions. Eventually the wizard took the most powerful of the three original crystal balls and left. We think he became the King of the Dementors, although what goes on in the Himalayan Mountains where the King of the Dementors lives is somewhat of a mystery.
“We are almost sure the witch took the second most powerful crystal ball and her wand and became the Pirate Witch Queen of the Caribbean.
“It is prophesied that the Regents, that’s you, Harry and Ginny, will have the next potential King. A descendent of the Pirate Witch Queen is prophesied to have the next Queen. Neither are born yet. When one or both are born it will be a time of great danger to our world, but also a great opportunity.
“Neither the Lord of the Dementors nor the Pirate Witch Queen knows as much as we know, but they know enough to be really scared. That is why Harry and Ginny need security.
“As far as we know the baby Ginny is carrying is not the next King. And the omens, as far as we can read them, predict a long life for both of you, but omens are never totally accurate. We all think you will both be safe as long as we all stay totally paranoid about insuring your safety.”
“Will our children be safe?” Ginny asked.
“We cannot predict that, Ginny,” one of the witches from the Prophecy Department said. “It is far too early to predict.”
“What if the most powerful wand doesn’t exist?” Harry asked.
“It does, and there is a prophecy that you will give it to a son,” Valerie said.
“NO BLOODY WAY!” said Harry. “If I don’t trust myself with that wand, how would I trust one of my children?”
Valerie did not say anything else, but let the matter drop.
“Is that the only reason we are in danger?” Harry asked.
“No,” Al said. “The Dementors are furious that you are pushing to banish them from all the Wizarding Prisons. If they do not get new food they can fade out. There are also rumors and predictions that the new King and Queen of the Wizards will somehow let some of the poor souls that the Dementors eat escape. We really don’t understand what the predictions mean, but the Dementors are aware of them and really do not want there ever to be a new King and Queen.”
“They are evil creatures,” Harry said. “I wish they would all vanish from the earth.”
“You are making powerful enemies by saying that, Harry,” Al said.
“Do what is right, not what is easy,” Harry said. “I think I am right.”
“I think you are right too, Harry,” Al said. “I fear that your stand will not be without cost.”
Ginny did vary her morning routine and at times only Andromeda took Teddy to school. Everything was quiet for some weeks. Ginny was able to heal and do better on her school work, and as far as Ginny was concerned that made Andromeda more of a hero than the capture of the bad guy.
Harry made sure he could go with Ginny to her appointments. Because of all that was going on in the Potter’s lives, and because of Ginny’s weight gain, Tammy wanted to see her every other week. After the usual tests, and after weighing in, Tammy said to Ginny, “Only a couple of pounds these two weeks. I’m not sure we want to work on diet any more. Are you exercising?”
Ginny said, “I probably ought to get a stair climbing machine, or I’m never going to be able to climb the stairs at Grimmauld Place.”
“Is that your home back in England?” Tammy asked. Ginny nodded yes. “How many floors does it have?” Amanda asked.
“Most of the living is on six floors,” Ginny said. “I never go to the Potions room in the sub-basement. The floo is in the basement kitchen. You enter the front door on the ground floor, but we do not use the living and dining room on that level much. The room we really live in is the drawing room on the first floor. Our bedroom is on the second floor. Harry and I have talked about having our older children in the two bedrooms on the third floor. A guest bedroom and my office will be on the fourth floor.
“I think going up and down all six stories will probably keep me in shape. Part of my problem is that the apartment here is all on one floor.”
Tammy looked a little startled. “You went up and down six stories in England?”
Ginny said, “Before I got hurt Harry and I used to run up and down the floors from the kitchen to our bedroom all the time. Even after I got hurt I walked up and down the stairs all the time.”
Tammy said, “I think a stair climbing machine would help. We have magical stairs that are better than the stupid machines Muggles use.”
Ginny got a magical stair climbing machine, and between that and watching her diet she got in better shape and almost stopped her weight gain.
Chapter 8: CH. 8 Arthur Airplane Ride
Author's Notes: FriendofMolly suggested Arthur’s Airplane ride, and gave Teddy some of his dialogue. I can never thank her enough.
We would like more reviews.
Early in April Harry and Mo came home from school at about four in the afternoon. Ginny was working on homework, and when she looked up she saw a big grin on Harry.
“Harry, what is going on?” Ginny asked.
“Bill and Dudley are flying here to San Francisco, and your father is flying along with them!” Harry said.
Ginny said, “Daddy is getting a chance to fly in an airplane! He is going to be so excited! Is Mum coming with him?”
“Spend twelve hours cooped up in a metal tube, when she can get here with the floo/closet network within an hour? Your Mum thinks Bill and your Dad are crazy.”
“She would,” Ginny acknowledged. “Why are they coming over?”
“There is a fair amount of magic in making some of the tiny parts in computers, mobiles, and similar products. Dudley is already making some parts that no one else can make, but that is partly because he has several Goblins and at least one house elf working for him. No one else in the world has been able to have Goblins and house elves work together with Muggles, but Dudley and Bill have.
“Belinda Shashaguay works with her parents and brothers in a family factory making lots of small, hard to make parts. She thinks that if she can take some of the same things over to where Dudley is working, and get the Goblins and house elves involved, they can build quite a business.”
“Why don’t house elves work in factories here?” Ginny asked.
Harry turned to Mo, who said, “They do. They are only given menial tasks. Their owners do not think they can do hard jobs.”
“That’s crazy,” said Harry.
Ginny said, “You and Jo talk more like Goblins than house elves, you and Harriet Tubman. I think she’s half Goblin.”
Mo said, “She is only one quarter Goblin.”
Jo said, “MO!” Then she said a lot of something in Elfish. Jo and Mo argued for a couple of minutes. When they were done they looked at Harry and Ginny, not saying anything.
Harry asked, “Are YOU part Goblin?”
Mo answered, “Law in most countries says Goblins keep census of Goblins. House elves are always owned. If not owned is ‘was owned’.”
Harry asked, “So what are you?”
“Not Goblins,” said Mo.
Harry asked, “Were you purchased, or hired?”
Mo said, “Hired. Can be hired in Great Britain.”
“Are you free?” asked Harry.
Mo said, “Even Goblins not free like some humans want to be free. Always obligations to family and group. Never all free. Same with house elf.”
“How much Goblin are you, how much house elf,” Harry asked.
“Half,” Mo said.
Harry turned to Jo, who replied in a quiet voice, “Half.”
Ginny asked, “Where are you from?”
Jo said, “A place very far away, not on maps.”
Ginny asked, “Near what countries?”
Jo said, “Not so near anywhere. Very high mountains, almost highest in world. No people. Not on maps?”
Harry said, “In the Himalaya Mountain Range?”
Jo said, “Yes.”
“Do you feel welcome in Great Britain?” Harry asked.
“No,” Jo said.
“Welcomed by Harry Potter, and the Potter/Weasley elves,” Mo said. “Welcome by Harriet. Welcome by Eniac, and Dudley, and witches and wizards and Muggles working for Harry Potter’s cousin Dudley and Harry Potter’s brother-in-law Bill Weasley, and by Kreacher, because they all say how good and honorable Harry Potter is.”
“They are giving me too much credit,” Harry said. “I am glad you are working for us. I am ashamed to ask, but you never talk about yourselves. Are you cousins, siblings, or mates?”
Mo said, “Double first cousins, and mates, because is hard to mate with Goblin or house elf when you are not pure.”
“Pure?” asked Ginny.
Jo said, “House elf married to Goblin not pure, not good, not acceptable. All decedents not pure, not REALLY Goblin or house elf. We outcasts, despised beings.”
“That’s horrible,” Harry said. “Harriet is mated to Dobedo. Will that be a problem for their children?”
“Everything different if you are a Potter/Weasley elf,” Jo said. “Harry Potter is too humble. Is his fault we free, more free than sometimes we want?”
“Are you happier because you are free?” Harry asked.
Jo said, “Happiest house elves ones that serve good master, no worry about what is right and wrong, no freedom. Winky was very unhappy when she was free. Winky is very happy now that she serves her mistress Hermione, does what Hermione wants her to do. Hermione is a good mistress, except she tries too hard to make Windy happy.”
Ginny asked Mitzi, “Are you happy, Mitzi?”
Mitzi said, “Very happy serving such good mistress.”
“Just do what good master says,” Jo said. “Freedom better, we think, but it does not make you happy. It is a problem.”
Harry pondered this. He and Hermione were making some progress freeing the house elves, but it wasn’t making them any happier. In some ways it was making them less happy. Were they doing the right thing?
Finally Ginny said, “When are Dad and Bill coming?”
“They will be in tomorrow evening. We have to pick them up at the airport.
Friday afternoon Molly showed up at the apartment. The apartment had been modified by magic to actually be the size of two apartments, with a larger kitchen, six large bedrooms for people, and a small apartment for the house elves. It could get a little crowded with house elves. You always had Mitzi, and now Mo and Jo. Dobedo was over for a day or two every week teaching Mo all he could about Harry Potter and the people Harry knew. Dobedo would occasionally bring over another house elf or two, for, as Dobedo explained, ‘learning.’”
Molly showed up shortly before all the inhabitants of the apartment, including Dobedo who came with Molly, boarded a Ministry minibus for the ride to the airport. Dobedo had also brought along Eniac and another Goblin, and two house elves. These last four beings were going to stay at the apartment and not go to the airport.
“Why didn’t you come over with Dad?” Ginny asked her mother.
Molly said, “Ride in a metal tube with no control for hours and hours? I think he is a crazy old man. Now he wants to buy another car. Why ride around in a metal cage?”
Harry asked, “Have you ever taken the knight bus?”
Molly put her hands up to her face, and said, “Oh Merlin, once, never again!”
Harry and Ginny both noticed that Molly was not comfortable riding in the minibus, even though it seemed to be traveling at normal speed.
Someone from the ministry escorted the entourage through the terminal. There seemed to be private passageways, but eventually they had to walk down a corridor and wait for everyone, including two Aurors who had come along for security, to go through customs.
Molly asked, “Why do we not have to go through customs when we come by floo?”
Harry said, “When you cross national boundaries you usually have to show your wand. Sometimes you need another parchment or book. When we came into the United States to live we had some forms to fill out. The Ministry here has some sort of private channel to the US Customs Service.”
Finally Bill and Dudley came walking out of the customs area, each with a rolling luggage bag, Arthur followed, his head turning like he was a little boy in an airport for the first time. Last out were two Aurors.
Teddy ran up to Arthur yelling, “Grandpa! Grandpa!”
Arthur picked up Teddy and kissed him, and then set him down. He said, “You are too big to carry through this big aeroplane station.”
Teddy said. “You fly inna airplane?”
“Yes, in a great big aeroplane, Teddy. We flew for over half a day.”
“Was it fun, Grandpa?”
Bill said, “We are not going to talk until we get into the minibus.” He kind of pointed to Arthur; there was no way they were going to keep him from saying strange things to Muggle ears while they were walking through the terminal. As it was his head was swiveling around in wonder, looking for all the world like a man who had never seen an airport before.
“Yes it was. I’ll tell you all about it, Teddy. Can you wait until we get on the bus?” Arthur asked, after hearing what his son said.
When they got into the minibus Molly asked Arthur, “How was your airplane ride?”
Arthur answered, “They have tele-viewers on the airplane, and to listen to the sound you have to PLUG IN ear things. I plugged them in and worked the controls just like a Muggle! And you could plug in your computer and all sorts of Muggle gadgets. They served meals, just like a restaurant. It was just very noisy. Bill used a special Muffliato spell to keep it quiet around us. We were in the aeroplane for half a day!”
Bill said, “We put Dad next to a window so he could look out. We were way higher than any broom could fly. That way Dudley and I could talk business.”
Arthur said to Molly, “You need to see out an aeroplane window someday.”
Molly said, “I do not NEED to do any such thing! I will be quite content if I NEVER have to get into one of those Muggle air things!”
Harry and Ginny noticed a short time later that Molly and Arthur were holding hands and looking at each other. You could almost see the Hogwarts students who had fallen in love, here many years later as grandparents. Harry and Ginny smiled at each other. “Can you imagine us as Grandparents some day?” Harry asked.
“I’m kind of busy trying to become a mum first, Harry,” Ginny said. She looked down at her expanding shape. “I just never imagined looking like Mum.”
“You will always be the most beautiful girl in the world to me,” Harry said. “Even when we both are old and wrinkled and frail you will be my beautiful Ginny.”
Ginny gave Harry a small but lingering kiss. “I love you,” she said. “Even when you are being silly.”
“Life is good,” Harry said.
The next evening Harry came back to the apartment to pick up Ginny. He said to Teddy, “Mum Ginny and I have a big dinner we have to go to tonight. You are going to have to eat here with your Grandmother Tonks and Grandmother and Grandfather Weasley.”
“We did FUN things today,” Teddy said. “We showed Grandfather Weasley Disney Land. He went on a FAST ride. He said it was like the nighttime bus. I had a lot of fun! Grandpa told me about when he flew on the aeroplane. He said they were on top of the clouds, and there was a lady who gave him and Uncle Bill and Uncle Dudley drinks and food. He said he asked if they had pumpkin juice, then Uncle Bill made a funny face, then everything was quiet around them. Then he told me about how it felt funny in his tummy when the aeroplane started going down. He said it was landing. And his ears felt funny. When they were getting off the airplane the drink lady, thanked him for the silly request. ”
Harry looked like he was going to say something, when Teddy said. “Papa Harry, nobody could hear us we were on the roller coaster. I know we have to keep magic away from Muggles”
“We are enjoying Teddy and the sights of the West Coast,” Molly said. “Teddy can skip school for a couple of days.”
Teddy pleaded, “Please. Please, can I not go to school? I wanna go with Grandpa Artur and Granmum Molly. It will be so much fun. Please, Papa Harry?
Ginny said to Teddy, “We have arranged for you to miss school for a couple of days. You may spend them with your Grandfather and Grandmothers.
Harry took Ginny to a restaurant they had never been to before. It was magical, and it had a large private room with a long table. Harry and Ginny were in the middle of the table, on one side, next to Ginny, was Belinda Shashaguay’s mother Betty, and then her father and brothers and their wives. Dudley and Belinda were sitting across from her parents, with Bill Weasley next to them. Next to Harry was Eniac, and the elves and Goblins were at that end of the table. There were other people that Ginny did not know around the table.
Eniac said to Harry, “It is going well. It is very subversive having Goblins and Elves at same table with witches and wizards.”
Harry said, “There is really a lot of the technical stuff I don’t really understand.”
Eniac said, “All you need to know is that with elves and Goblins we make lots of tricky small parts, and we make lots of money!”
“Good for you!” Harry said,
“Good for everybody. That is what Harry Potter teaches us,” Eniac said.
Belinda’s mother introduced herself. “I’m Betty Shashaguay. You must be Ginny Potter.”
Ginny said, “Yes, pleased to meet you.”
Betty said, “Do house elves usually eat at the same table as their masters?”
Ginny replied, “I don’t think Harry would like you to call yourself the ‘master,’ like elves and Goblins are inferior beings. We eat with house elves often. I have a lot of trouble with my balance since getting injured, and Mitzi and I have become partners in most of what we do. I cannot imagine sending Mitzi to eat at another table.
“MoJo, that’s Mo and Jo, our guards, always eat with us. They are with Dobedo and a witch Auror by the door eating now.
“Do you have house elves?” Ginny asked.
Betty said, “Yes, we do, for cleaning and cooking, both at home and at the factory. Bill, your brother, and Harry’s cousin Dumley or something, are talking about using Goblins and house elves helping to run the machines!”
Ginny said, “I think they already do.”
“Belinda is all eager to move to England and work for Bill and the rest of you. I just hope she meets some nice wizard over there to marry.”
Ginny said, “She is as tall as I am short.”
Betty said, “She is six foot two inches. She sort of intimidates most wizards with her size.
“Did you really get pregnant in the back seat of that car?”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Probably,” she said. The conversation deteriorated from there on. Betty was an avid reader of gossip, something Ginny had no use for.
That night Harry told Ginny, “We need a couple more days, but I think we may have a way to substantially grow the companies that Bill and Dudley are running. I have tried to make sure your brother gets a fair share, and also that the house elves and Goblins are partners and are not taken advantage of. Bill and Dudley agree, but because I have the most gold on the table I have to be there to insist on fair treatment.”
Ginny said, “I spent most of the evening talking to Betty. Talk about an empty headed woman. She leaves everything but cleaning and gossip to her husband. She’s upset that Belinda received an engineering degree at MIT and is involved in the business.”
Chapter 9: CH. 9 Molly gets REALLY ANGRY
Author's Notes: As always my thanks to my Beta FriendofMolly.
Harry and Ginny were eating dinner with Molly and Arthur at one of the better magical dining establishments in San Francisco, celebrating a successful trip, when Samantha Slughorn appeared.
“I just wanted to meet the witch who murdered poor Bellatrix Lestrange,” Samantha said.
Molly stood up and said, “YOU are Samantha Slughorn?”
Samantha got a big, superior looking smile on her face.
Molly grabbed Samantha’s wand and threw it at Ginny, who caught it. She grabbed one of Samantha’s wrists hard. Samantha said, “Stop, you are hurting me!”
“YOU WILL FEEL A LOT WORSE WHEN I GET DONE WITH YOU!” Molly yelled. “IT’S TIME FOR A LESSON ON WHAT HAPPENED IN GREAT BRITAIN.”
Molly told Harry, “Please tell Hermione who I have in my custody. Make sure the DMLE is aware of jury nullification, and let me teach this IDIOT a lesson.”
Turning to Arthur, Molly said, “I will see you back at the Burrow. Enjoy your airplane ride back.”
Molly marched out of the restaurant, Samantha being pulled along like she was a disobedient child.
“You cannot do this, Mrs. Weasley,” Samantha said.
Molly gave her fiercest angry mother snarl and said, “I CAN and I WILL.” Molly started through the closet network, and without pausing went all the way north until she could catch the European Floo network, and from there to England, all the while holding Samantha tightly by one arm or the other.
It was morning in England. Molly marched Samantha right up to Hermione’s office. Molly said to Hermione, “Show Samantha the scar you received from Bellatrix, please.”
Hermione pointed to a nasty scar on her neck. Then she pulled up a sleeve. There on her arm were carved, in ugly letters, MU and part of a D.
“Bellatrix was going to carve MUDBLOOD on my arm before she finished torturing and killing me,” Hermione said.
“Thank you, acting head of the DMLE, Hermione. I doubt if you, or Arthur, the head of the DMLE, and my husband, will have me arrested,” Molly said with a smile.
Hermione said, “Mum, you are kidnapping Samantha! You could be arrested for this!”
“YOU JUST TRY!” Molly yelled. Hermione shook her head. Molly took Samantha into the Atrium of the Ministry. She called Cindy and Henry Hudson, and when they came said, “I want you to document everything that Samantha sees and hears, so if she at ANY time denies it we can show she is a LYING PERVERTED BITCH.”
Molly then took Samantha over to St. Mungo’s. She went to the Pediatrics ward, went up to the charge healer, and said, “I want you to get out ALL of the photographs of the babies and children that Bellatrix tortured. Samantha has written widely that she doesn’t believe Bellatrix tortured anyone.”
The charge witch looked at Molly, shook her head, and said, “We cannot just show those photographs because you are upset.”
Molly had a grim look on her, and said, “Bellatrix tortured MY BABY and others, and this BITCH keeps writing lies about how good she was. BRING OUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS.”
Molly in full rage was not something to be trifled with, so the charge healer brought out a rather large pile of photographs.
Samantha closed her eyes.
Molly yelled, “OPEN YOUR EYES, YOU COWARD AND LIAR. OPEN THEM OR I WILL CHARM THEM OPEN.”
Samantha refused to open her eyes. Molly held Samantha by the hair and did a charm to force Samantha’s eyes open.
“LOOK AT MY SON!!” Molly yelled. Bellatrix had someone take a magical, moving photograph as she was delighting in torturing Molly’s infant son. The photograph was absolutely horrifying. Samantha threw up.
“TAKE A GOOD, HARD, LOOK!!” Molly yelled.
Samantha threw up again.
“HERE IS ANOTHER BABY!” Molly yelled. Samantha had a totally horrified look on her face.
“AND LOOK AT ANOTHER ONE!” Molly screamed as she showed Samantha a third.
“HERE IS A STORY FOR YOUR LITTLE PAPER,” Molly yelled.
“Crazy bitch,” Samantha said. “Like I care? Crazy Molly Weasley dragged me to England to show me disgusting photographs that no one should ever have to see.”
“It is the truth!” Molly yelled.
“Like I care what is true,” Samantha said. “Truth doesn’t sell magazines.”
“You don’t care what is true?” Molly asked, astonished.
“Not in the least,” Samantha said.
Cindy said, “Molly, most people know that what Samantha writes is a pack of lies. She gets away with it because of how she words things, and because she is in North America. If she was in France or Germany she would probably be arrested. She’d have to be a little more careful about how she said things in Great Britain, but she is going to be hard to shut up.”
“One more set of photographs,” Molly said. “Here are five photographs showing Bellatrix torturing a family. The baby is killed first, then the little girl, then her older brother, then the father. See the glee on Bellatrix’s face as she tortures one family member after another to death in front of the others.”
“They are all dead,” Samantha said. “So what?”
Molly pulled Samantha away from the Pediatrics ward, and took her up to the ward where some of Bellatrix’s victims were. “Here is the mother,” Molly said. The woman was crying, saying quietly, “No, please, don’t torture my babies. Please. Please.”
“Why don’t you write a nice little article about how nice Bellatrix was to this mother? YOU SAW THE PHOTOGRAPHS!” Molly said.
“Very touching,” said Samantha. “I would love to write about how Harry Potter and his rebels did this. That would sell papers!”
“That would be a LIE,” Molly yelled. She was getting more and more frustrated.
“So what? Who cares what truth is?” Samantha said. “Keep at this and you will go too far. You may have already. Once you are arrested I will have a story that will REALLY sell!”
Molly and Samantha, Cindy and Henry were in the waiting room outside the spell damage area of St. Mungo’s when Rita Skeeter appeared.
“Oh, this is just delicious,” Rita said. “Molly, my dear, would you like to tell the readers of my little magazine why you kidnapped a fellow reporter?”
“HAVE YOU SEEN THE LIES SHE WRITES?” Molly yelled.
“Snide is a delightfully IMAGINATIVE magazine,” Rita said. “Maybe not one you go to for FACTS, as dull as they can be, but it can be very fun to read.”
“It’s all LIES!” Molly yelled.
“Molly, you are so SO narrow,” Rita said.
Meanwhile Harry received a frantic call from Kingsley Shacklebolt. “Harry, we need your help,” Kingsley said.
Harry said. “What do you need me to do?”
“You need to call off Molly, Harry. What Samantha writes is vile and frequently untrue, but by American Magical libel laws, what few they have, she has not done anything exactly illegal. Kidnapping is illegal.”
“So, why ask me?” Harry asked.
“Everyone else is terrified of Molly,” Kingsley said. “None of the Aurors want to tackle her. No one wants to hurt her, and short of stunning her no one can think of how to approach her.”
“What about her children?” Harry said.
“The boys are all terrified of their mother, Harry. None of them wants to confront her.”
“So ask Hermione?” Harry asked.
“Hermione, who was on another line, said, “No way! I’ve been in her bad graces before. You are the only one she hasn’t yelled at.”
“Until now,” Harry said. “I will be over as soon as I can.”
Harry hung up the mobile and told Ginny and Arthur, who were with him at their apartment, “I have to go and tell Mum that she needs to let Samantha go.”
“You WILL survive being yelled at,” Ginny said with a snarky smile. “It’s time you became a FULL member of the Weasley clan.”
“Molly won’t stay angry at you for long,” Arthur said. “We wouldn’t have had all those children if Molly stayed angry for long.”
“It’s not so bad, then?” Harry asked.
“Oh, it’s BAD,” said Arthur. “Molly gets over it, though.”
“Will I?” asked Harry.
A laughing Ginny said, “She won’t keep you from fathering more grandchildren, if that’s your worry. It’s your turn to face Mum’s wrath.”
“No sympathy?” asked Harry.
“None!” said Ginny and Arthur together. “Your turn,” said Ginny.
Harry hurried through the closet and floo networks until he got to the Ministry. Hermione met him and said, “She’s at St. Mungo’s.”
Harry was met at St. Mungo’s by the witch in charge, who led him up to the room where everybody was.
“Harry Dear,” Molly said when she saw him. “Why are you here?”
“To bring Samantha back to San Francisco,” Harry said
“You can have her WHEN I AM THROUGH WITH THE LITTLE BITCH.”
“Mum, I need her right now.”
“Harry, I’ve never yelled at you. Don’t make me angry.”
“Mum, what you are doing is illegal. Samantha is mean, untruthful, and a lot of other things, but that does not give you the right kidnap her.”
“HARRY,” Molly yelled.
Harry grabbed Samantha’s hand, pulling it away from Molly.
“HARRY JAMES POTTER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Molly yelled.
Harry turned to Molly and said, “Ginny and Dad said I would not REALLY be a Weasley until I experienced your wrath turned on me. I guess it’s my turn. I am taking Samantha back to San Francisco.”
Molly opened her mouth to yell, but Harry’s words had her temporarily speechless.
Harry turned, pulled Samantha along, and left. Cindy and Henry were laughing until a furious Molly turned to face them. They got serious looks on their faces real fast. Rita’s poison pen was scribbling as fast as it could.
Samantha said, “Well, they had to send the heroic Harry Potter to rescue me from my unlawful, emotionally damaging, terrifying capture by that mad woman.”
“Libel laws and laws against publishing lies are not so lenient here,” Harry said. “I’d get back to North American before someone finds a way to arrest you here. Here is your wand. Leave!”
Samantha left.
Harry apparated over to the Ministry and met Hermione and Kingsley. “Samantha is on her way back to North America. I’m going back too. It’s very late at night San Francisco time.”
“How did it go?” asked Hermione.
“I don’t know,” Harry said. “I didn’t spend much time with Molly. She yelled, but I think I escaped the worst or her wrath. I guess I’m expecting my first Howler from Mum any time now, though.”
The Howler never came. A healer approached Molly before she left St. Mungo’s. Molly spent the night under the care of the healer, dealing with her wrath, and the grief she had brought back to the surface by seeing the photographs.
Cindy wrote a couple of articles on Molly showing Samantha the horrors wrought by Bellatrix, and Samantha’s reaction. Ginny helped with some of what went on in England before Molly got ahold of her.
Ginny did kid Harry about still not being a TRUE Weasley, because he had never REALLY experienced Molly’s wrath. Harry felt he had come close enough.
When Molly got home there was a message from Narcissa. They met for lunch the same day,
Narcissa asked, “Is Arthur home yet?”
Molly said, “He is probably in that stupid Muggle flying machine right now. I will feel a lot better when he is safe at home.”
“How is Ginny’s pregnancy coming along? I so envy you for all your grandchildren.”
“Ginny is healthy enough,” Molly said. “She comes from a long line of women who get busty, and a little heavy, when they become mothers and that has her a little upset. She is doing a great job mothering Teddy, and she will be a good mother.
“How are Draco and Astoria doing? I know that you are anxious for your first grandchild.”
Narcissa sighed. “They are civil with each other, but I don’t see any romance. They have separate beds, and I don’t think Astoria really wants to have a child. She has to in order to pass down the family name and properties, and I keep reminding her.
“I saw in the Prophet that you were in a little trouble. Is this “Snide” magazine really that bad?”
Molly started to pull copies out of her purse. “BAD! BAD! LOOK AT THESE LIES!” Molly shouted.
Narcissa started to read. “Oh my,” she said. “Do you want some of my memories? I was Bella’s sister, and what I saw her do was just horrifying!”
“I don’t know how I can get her to see them.” Molly admitted.
“Maybe her great uncle Horace Slughorn can help,” Narcissa said. “I will never tell you why, but Horace owes me.”
“I will see if I can get the use of a pensive,” Molly said.
Much of the rest of the meal, and the next few weeks, was spent collecting memories.
Chapter 10: CH 10 Teddy and Babies
Author's Notes: A short chapter focusing on Teddy.
It was the end of April. Ginny’s weight gain had all but stopped for a few weeks, but she was gaining weight again. She was also beginning to develop the bump in front that give evidence of what was happening inside.
Teddy knew something was happening, and he asked Ginny, “Mum Ginny, why are you getting bigger?”
“I’m pregnant, Teddy,” Ginny said. “I am going to have a baby.”
“Can’t play with babies,” Teddy said. “Will I have to share my bedroom?”
“We were thinking of moving you upstairs, Teddy,” Ginny said. “The baby needs the bedroom right next to us.”
“If I have to move, can I move back to my old bedroom in the Burrow?” Teddy asked. “I’ll be over every day, but my bio-logic-cal Gran-mum needs me too. She kisses me each night when I go to bed. Gran-mum says she misses kissing me and putting me to bed.”
Teddy got quiet, with a pensive look on his face. Ginny waited. Since Andromeda had come she had taken over the nighttime ritual of putting Teddy to bed and kissing him good night.
“Gran-mum needs me. I am all she has,” Teddy said, tears just starting to form. “You have Daddy Harry, and you will have a new baby. Maybe Gran-mum needs me more than you need me.”
“You are always welcome to live with us, but if you want to move back to the New Burrow that is not a problem for us. If that is what you want, Teddy, and then that is what you should do,” Ginny said.
“I don’t know what I want,” Teddy said, crying. “I want Gran-mum Molly and Grandpa back, and I don’t want to lose Gran-mum Tonks, but I don’t want to lose you. It’s not fair having to choose!”
“No, it’s not fair, Teddy. It is not fair that your mother and father died at Hogwarts, and it’s not fair that my brother died. It is not fair that I have a big loving family and Harry just has a family that, that, well, they are not exactly what you would call loving. We all just do the best we can.”
“I think maybe I’ll move back to the New Burrow, I guess, Mum. Will I still be your little boy?”
“Of course you are and will always be. We have the documents to prove it! As long as you need a mum I will be your mum! You will always be my son.”
“Thank you, Mum,” Teddy said, as he let Ginny hold him close. “You are soft and pillowly, just like Gran-mum Weasley.” Teddy snuggled closer.
Ginny looked over her now very substantial breasts. She sure did not have the hard body she had when she was playing for the Harpies. She didn’t even have the much curvier but still firm body she had when she was married. Even her arms were just a little bigger and softer. She was getting ‘soft and pillowly.’ Well, if Harry still loved her, and they had a healthy baby, getting a little soft and pillowly was, well, it was. There didn’t seem to be much she could do about it. Ginny felt very much like she was becoming her mother.
That night, as they lay in bed, Ginny told Harry all about her conversation with Teddy, and they talked about Teddy, and how to make sure he always knew they loved him. Finally Ginny said, “Teddy says I am getting soft and pillowly, just like my Mum.”
“I don’t mind getting lost in your bosom,” Harry said.
“I’m becoming my MUM.”
“I just hope I am as good a dad as your father.”
Ginny said, “I always thought I would become a mother, but I never really thought I would look like my Mum. I’m going to be FAT!”
“You have a woman’s curves. VERY nice curves,” Harry said. “I love you, Mum Ginny.”
“I love you, Daddy Harry.”
Ginny went to sleep thinking that boys didn’t have as many emotions, or conflicts, as girls. Here she was thrilled to be pregnant, and very happy, and upset at her shape and becoming pregnant when she did. She was doing well in class, but missed mothering Teddy. Nothing was simple.
May 1 Ginny received a call from Fleur. Fleur said, “Allo, Ginny.”
“Hello, Fleur. What is the reason for this call?”
“It is Victoire, Ginny. She keeps saying that the only thing she wants for her birthday is to see Teddy. We are having a birthday party for her at the New Burrow tomorrow, but would it be acceptable for us to floo over to see you Monday May 3.”
“I would love to see you and Victoire. How is your pregnancy going?”
“Ah, it’s bien. I always enjoy being pregnant, Ginny. I think three children will be enough, at least for a while. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine right now. My balance is not getting any better, but even with my changing shape I am learning better and better how to use Mitzi and other aids so I don’t fall. I actually feel fantastic, much better than the first couple of months.”
“I think we will be over right after lunch your time, Ginny. Victoire and I will have to take a long nap before we come, but with potions and spells we can manage the time difference. We will go back in the morning.”
“I will not tell Teddy until you get here. Otherwise he will not think of anything else.
“It will be good to see you, Fleur. Good Bye.”
“Au Revoir, Ginny.”
Monday morning Ginny sent a note to her teacher saying she had family things Monday, and she would be back in class on Tuesday. She waited at the apartment, and about noon Fleur and Victoire arrived. As soon as Ginny opened the door Victoire said, “Where Teddy? Where Teddy?”
Ginny said, “He is at school, and I think they are eating lunch. You and your mum should have a little to eat, and then we will go over to see Teddy. Is that all right?”
“NO!” Victoire said, and she sat and sulked.
“We eat,” Fleur said. “Let her sulk for a few minutes.”
Ginny and Fleur went into the kitchen, and with Mitzi’s help had a nice salad made, with bread for anyone who wanted sandwiches’.
Ginny said, “I’ve never had to watch my weight before, but after getting hurt, and then pregnant, everything changes.”
Fleur said, “A Veela looks the same after having a baby, but it not totally the same, not inside. I am very lucky to have easy, enjoyable pregnancies.”
When lunch was ready Fleur called to Victoire, “Victoire, you must eat so you do not faint from hunger when you see Teddy. As soon as you are done SLOWLY eating your lunch we can go.”
A sulking Victoire came in and started to stuff her sandwich in her mouth, Fleur said, “Slowly.”
Victoire slowed down.
Victoire wanted to run to Teddy’s school, but they walked a route that would take a while just to tire here out a little. Finally they arrived at the school.
Ginny led Fleur and Victoire into Teddy’s classroom. As soon as she saw Teddy Victoire ran to him, shouting, “Teddy, Teddy, bonjour, bonjour, I missed you soooo much!” She then hugged Teddy hard and gave him a little kiss.
The four girls who had been teasing Teddy started in, almost in unison, with, “Teddy and Torry sitting on a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Torry with a baby carriage!”
Victoire went right over to the girls, and said, “It is Veek TWAWRR,” rolling her R’s.
“Victoria?” one of the girls asked.
“Veek TWAWRR.”
“Teddy and vic tar sitting on a tree,” the girl started.
She was interrupted again by Victoire who said, “When Teddy grow up we are going to get married. We are going to have LOTS of babies; we are going to live in a BIG house. Teddy and I are going to sleep together in a big bed.”
Teddy said, “We are NOT going to sleep in a girly bed. We are going to sleep in a proper married people’s bed, and do proper married peoples things in the bed.”
One of the little girls, who knew more about the ‘facts of life’ than most of her age group, asked, “Is that how you are going to have LOTS of babies, by doing proper married peoples things?”
Teddy had a rather confused look on his face, like he was not really sure what proper married people did.
Victoire, who could tell when she and Teddy were being teased, went up to the girl, her long fiery red hair waving, pointed a finger at her, and said, “You stop teasing Teddy or I will, I will, I will use Aunt Ginny’s Bat-Boogey-Hex. I will Bat-Boogey-Hex you and you will have big Bat Boogey’s coming out of your nose!”
The four girls looked over to Ginny, who said, “You do NOT want to be Bat Boogey Hexed.” Ginny was almost positive that Victoire had no idea how to actually Bat Boogey Hex someone, but she didn’t let the little girls that were teasing Teddy and Victoire know it.
One of the girls said, “I’m sorry, Victoria.”
“Veek TWAWRR,” said Teddy, rolling his R’s like a real Frenchman. “It’s not Vic-tor-ee-ah, it is Victoire.”
One of the girls asked, “She doesn’t care if we tease her, as long as we pronounce her name correctly? Veek tar? Veek twaa rrr?”
Eventually things settled down. The teachers had Victoire and Fleur talk about France, and how her grandparents lived, and the class had a brief French lesson. Most of the class was impressed that Teddy could speak fluent French.
As they were walking home Teddy said “I’m sorry the girls teased us, Toire, (twawrr) rolling the R.
“Torr …eee…uh, ugly,” Victoire said. “Tor-ee-ah is not Toire.”
(Many years later, when Victoire and Teddy did get married, Ginny had a chance to share this story. Teddy and Victoire did have a chance to share a proper married people’s bed, do lots of proper married people’s things in the bed, and have LOTS of babies.)
Chapter 11: CH 11 The Reluctant Politician
Author's Notes: I want to thank my beta FriendofMolly for the title for this chapter. I felt it was better than “California Here We Go”, but I had to smile at that suggestion.
Harry Potter was sitting at the dining room table with Ginny, Andromeda, and the elves looking at the calendar the middle of June. “We need to talk about scheduling the next few weeks,” Harry said.
Ginny said, “Class ends Friday June 18, and I guess we need to be at the International Confederation of Witches and Wizards from Saturday to the final ball June 27. After that we should be free.”
Harry said, “We all have to make a presentation on what our responsibilities are going to be in implementing changes to keep the Statute of Secrecy in the face of the increasing abilities of Muggle Technology. Part of the talk is going to be about the politics of it. One of the teachers pointed out that administrative power is not always the same as actual power. Somebody well respected could change minds even if they did not have any official power, and somebody not well respected could have all the power but face open revolt.”
“Like the revolt when Umbridge was at Hogwarts?” Ginny asked.
“Yes, she had a lot less power than she thought she had,” Harry said.
Ginny asked, “Formally who in your class has the most power?”
Harry answered, “Formally, a couple of Vice-Ministers of Magic.”
“Who had the most influence informally,” Ginny asked sweetly.
”That’s what is so stupid,” Harry said. “They had this chart, and way on top was my name. I’m only twenty three, and several of the people, including both Vice-Ministers of Magic, want me to talk to their Wizengamot, or whatever their governing bodies are.”
Ginny giggled, and then looked at Harry. “You really don’t think you are that influential?”
Harry said, “I don’t think I should be, just for one duel with a crazy man.”
Ginny said, “It was seven years of danger and success before the duel, and years of hard work since, Harry. You deserve the respect people give you.”
Harry shook his head, obviously not convinced.
“I wouldn’t mind going with you, to see different countries, for a couple of months,” Ginny said. She put her hands down over the five month bump in front, not large, but pretty obviously a baby bump. “Well at least for as long as I can.”
“You are assuming I am going to do it,” Harry said.
“Yes, you are,” Ginny answered. “When have you ever refused to do something that needed to be done?”
Harry said, “I have to give my presentation on Wednesday, the sixteenth, and then leave for the ICWW right away. You need to meet me there as soon as you can get away on Friday, and we are tied up until, well.” Harry looked at a small pile of paper and parchment. “They want both of us there the last three days of June, three days after the ICWW is over. The Prophecy Department is going crazy, and we seem to be at the center of some of it.”
“And what might that be?” Ginny warily asked, fearing the something else was coming.
“Us having a baby has changed or confirmed some prophesies, but I don’t know any more than that,” Harry said.
Andromeda said, “When you are both gone we are going to send most of my and Teddy’s things back to the New Burrow. Are we still going to take a vacation in July?”
“I was hoping for six or seven weeks,” Harry said. “I know I have four, maybe five weeks. People trying to get me to do something in July have met the Hungarian Horntail in me. I assume you and Teddy are going to travel with us.”
“Teddy is already talking about the BIG VACATION!” Andromeda said. “You are stuck with us.”
Harry woke up first Wednesday morning. He was worried that this would be the last day for their regular morning ritual for a while. He used the loo, brushed his teeth and did a shaving spell. He did the charms for self-control on himself, then the charms that got Ginny’s body all ready. He did the breath freshening charm too, and the charm that took off all the sleep wear they had taken to wearing while there was a little boy who occasionally bounded into the room. Harry made sure the door was locked.
Then Harry and Ginny made love, the same positions, the same fantastic emotions, the same sharing of their bodies. Harry always enjoyed making love in the morning, and Ginny felt it started her day out just right. Tonight Harry would be in Switzerland, and Ginny still in San Francisco.
The time change was never easy, even with potions. It was Friday morning in San Francisco, but Friday Afternoon in Switzerland, and Harry was tired after a whole day of meetings. Right in the middle of one of the meetings Harry saw Andromeda’s Patronus saying, “Ginny fell down the stairs and is hurt. You need to get back here As Soon As Possible.”
Harry was given a special diplomatic series of portkeys, and in less than a half an hour he was at the hospital in San Francisco. Teddy was very upset, and the house elves were worriedly talking.
“What happened?” Harry asked.
“I didn’t mean to!” Teddy wailed. “I slipped and fell down stairs. I hit Mum Ginny and she fell down. She started to bleed!”
Harry looked at Andromeda, trying to make sense of what was happening.
An obviously worried Andromeda said, “The placenta started to come loose, but they think they have gotten it reattached. I would feel a lot better if we knew more.”
After what to Harry was one of the longest fifteen minutes of his life Tammy Tidewater came out and said, “Hello, Harry. I’m very glad you are here. It was real touch and go for a while, but we think Ginny is going to be fine. Mitzi caught Ginny’s head and kept her from suffering another concussion.”
“What about the baby?” Harry asked.
Tammy said, “So far we are OK. We will know more in a couple of days. Meanwhile we need to keep Ginny close to medical care at all times!”
“What could happen?” Harry asked.
“The placenta could become loose, rupture, and then Ginny would quickly bleed to death. We can save her life if that happens here, but not if she is not very close to good medical care.”
“What about the baby?” Harry asked.
“The longer we can keep that baby growing inside Ginny the better,” Tammy said. “He is a boy and a strong healthy one so far. He is just not ready to be born yet.
“You can come with me and see Ginny now. She has been asking for you.”
Harry went into the room where Ginny was. She was surrounded by very concerned looking witches.
“How is Teddy?” Ginny asked. “He was terrified. Mitzi got me to the hospital right away, but as I was leaving I could hear Teddy screaming.”
“I was going down the stairs, and here comes Teddy, flying out of the apartment door. He slipped and fell down the stairs right into my legs. Mitzi kept my head safe, but I landed on the baby, and then I started to bleed down there.”
“Teddy is worried,” Harry said. “He will get over it, as long as you and the baby recover. Tammy said the baby should be fine too. You and the baby are not totally out of danger yet, but right now everything is fine.
“At least we know we are having a boy.”
“Still want to name him James?” Ginny asked.
“James Sirius,” Harry replied. Then, talking to Ginny’s womb, he said, “Hey there, little James Sirius. I am very anxious to see you, but not yet. You have to stay in there until you are big enough.”
Ginny started to tear up, saying, “It’s gotten very real. I can feel James moving inside, and it’s not just a pregnancy. It’s a new person, there.” She patted her baby bump. “I’m so worried about him.”
Harry said, “I don’t think worrying will help much, but doing what the healers tell you to will. I love you, and I love little James. It’s all I ever wanted, really. Having a wife and children to love is my Happily Ever After, even if everything is not perfect.”
The healers put Ginny to sleep.
Harry asked Tammy, “How long does Ginny have to stay here?”
Tammy answered, “I know you and many people in Switzerland want Ginny over there. We can transfer her tomorrow. She is just going in a special carrier, with a young healer going along. She is very young, but in training she has helped me in some very difficult cases. Her name is Candy Striper.”
Harry went out to the waiting area. He sat down next to Teddy and said, “We think Mummy Ginny is going to be fine, and the baby too. She is just going to have to be careful for a few weeks.”
“I DIDN’T MEAN TO HURT MUMMY!” Teddy wailed.
“I know you didn’t, Teddy,” Harry said. “The first thing Mummy did when I saw her was ask about you. She and I love you, and know you would never do anything on purpose to hurt us. It was just an accident.”
“You are not sus-spoce to hurt people accidently. You are sus-spoce to be careful,” Teddy said. “Mummy and Grandmum tell me to slow down near stairs. I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“I forgive you, Teddy,” Harry said. “It seems this has been a good lesson for you.”
Once Ginny was at the castle in Switzerland she was able to be out of bed for a couple of hours at a time, and eat meals with Harry. About mid-week, when Ginny was able to be out of bed for four or five hours at a time, John and Mary, the head house elves, came to Harry and Ginny when no one else was around. Harry and Ginny had almost two totally free hours. Ginny would normally want to spend at least some of the time in intimate play, but Tammy had made it clear to the Potters that they were going to have to wait at least a couple of weeks, and maybe until Ginny had delivered, for married intimacy to resume.
Mary asked Harry and Ginny, “May we have some house elves meet you? Very private. Do not tell anyone!”
Harry said, “We can keep a secret.” Ginny nodded yes as well.
Six beings came into the room, four female house elves and two female Goblins. Mary said, “House elf prophets all female. Same with Goblins. Magic comes from female, not male.”
“YES!” said Ginny. Harry laughed in amusement.
The prophetesses all waved hands and, in some cases, small wands over Ginny, then briefly over Harry, then over Ginny again. There was a lot of talk in elfish. Then one of the prophetesses said, “The other womb is open. Two second born, three and three, four and four. It has started.”
Harry and Ginny looked at each other. What did that mean?
There was more discussion, and then Mary said, “From this prophecy and others we think that the mother of the new Queen of the Magic Humans and the mother of the King of the Magic Humans have become pregnant. The blessed children will be the second born. We think ‘three and three, four and four,’ has something to do with the number of children you will have, but we cannot interpret it clearly.”
“You just need to raise a child that is good, a good honest person who can rule humbly and fairly.”
“How do we do that?” asked Ginny.
“No one knows,” the elf said. “Love is most important. Love your husband, love and respect all beings. No promises that it will work.”
Harry and many other people were busy all week, trying to deal with the challenges maintaining secrecy in the face of advanced Muggle technology was posing. It didn’t help that wizards who did sell to or work with Muggles were getting mobiles. The problem was not the possessing a mobile phone. The problem was using the floo network or apparating, and using the same phone in two different locations just minutes apart.
Ginny was well enough to attend the final dance. Adel Regentus, the witch servant of the Potters in Switzerland, and Mary the head house elf, were delighted to dress Ginny in an outfit that celebrated her expanded shape. Despite having a very modest baby bump the dress made it obvious she was pregnant.
“Not so thin,” said Adel. “You have a good shape for a mother.”
Ginny was not so sure. The dress was very pretty. She just felt she looked very motherly, pretty but not the same pretty she was just out of Hogwarts. Her hair was not too short, but as long as she was not going to play Quidditch she was going to grow it really long, and she had at least another year before it was really long again.
Ginny was able to attend the entire dance with Harry, and even danced a couple of slow dances.
The Monday after the closing of the ICWW Ginny spent most of the day, when she was not resting, being examined by healers or prophets. Harry was there for a couple of sessions with the prophets, but at other times he was talking to several witches and wizards who had stayed over to talk about technical issue.
Wednesday the Potters went back to San Francisco to see Tammy. She examined Ginny, and then said, “I think you two ought to resume your love life.”
“No restrictions?” Ginny said. “Well, we really cannot do all the athletic stuff we used to do since my head injury."
Tammy asked Ginny and Harry, “Do you REALLY do it three times a day?”
Ginny answered proudly, “We HAVE, but not very often. Even twice a day was pretty hard some days. It’s probably going to be even harder with a baby.”
Tammy said, “Babies are easier than toddlers.”
Harry laughed. “A five year old godson running into your room and bed kind of limits what you can do.”
Harry had arranged for a motor home to travel the United States and Canada for the month of July. With security they ended up with two motor homes, one pulling a trailer with the big Honda Gold Wing escort motorcycles in it. Harry was doing a little of the driving. In their motor home were Harry and Ginny, Andromeda and Teddy, the house elf guards, and Candy Striper. The other, smaller, motor home had Auror escorts. Often one of the Aurors would drive the Potters motor home.
Being magical they were going to be able to make a lot of miles in the evening, by disappearing and going very fast, but during the day they were going to drive at more normal speeds and see some of the US. They started through the mountains on I-80, and with side trips took days to get to Chicago. They knew a little about Chicago, and spent a couple of days visiting the museums and other places that Teddy would enjoy.
The weekend of June 19 and 20 they spent at the VanLente compound in Holland. Teddy enjoyed the beach and playing with the other children and since the weather was going to be excellent most of the next week they decided to spend another week just taking it easy on the beach. They ended up staying almost a week, doing a lot of nothing and really enjoying themselves.
By this time Harry was aware of the motion going on inside Ginny. During their time at the beach, Harry was able to spend much more time watching his wife. The changes he was most delighted to watch were the motions of his child within his wife. Ginny frequently took his hand so he was able feel the movement of the baby. Ginny was wearing a bikini top and bottoms that went under her expanding form, showing the growing and sometimes moving bump growing on the front of Ginny. Harry occasionally poked at the baby. Sometimes the baby moved out of the way, but occasionally when Harry pushed the baby hit back hard.
Of course anytime the baby moved much Ginny had to go to use the loo. Ginny seemed to have to go all the time! Harry felt glad they were traveling by motor home so they did not have to stop every hour to let Ginny use the facilities. No matter why it happened when the baby pushed too hard Ginny could get real snarky, letting Harry know in no uncertain terms what she was going through carrying his baby. Sometimes Ginny was thrilled to be pregnant, thrilled by the new life inside of her, but other times she was upset, not at having a baby but at having her body change and because she was awkward. Her balance had not been the same since her accident, and having all that weight sticking out in front was making things much harder.
Teddy had a lot of interesting conversations during his time in West Michigan. Harry and Ginny listened in on one.
“Is Harry Potter really your dad?”
“He’s my godfather.”
“So he’s not really your father.”
“He’s REALLY my godfather.”
“Where are your real mother and father?”
“They’re dead. Daddy Harry and Mummy Ginny say they are dead.”
“What’s going to happen when your godmother has her baby? Then they’ll have a real child of their own, not just you.”
“Dunno. Go back to living with grandma Tonks. She’s my real Grandmum. She is my mum’s mum.”
The conversation carried on out of listening range of Harry and Ginny, but that night they told Teddy he could live with them or move back with Grandmum Tonks and Grandmum Weasley. Teddy was obviously trying to process who and what he was.
“Mummy and daddy dead?” asked Teddy that evening. “What’s it like being dead?”
Ginny turned to Harry, who replied “It’s real peaceful; at least it was when I was dead for a short time. It’s better to be alive, if you have a small child to raise. I’m sure your mother and father wish they could be alive to raise you, Teddy.”
“I wish they weren’t dead,” said Teddy. “I love you, but it’s no fun having a dead mum and dad.”
Harry and Ginny did not know what to say. They just made sure to give Teddy lots of hugs that evening.
There was another time with a small crowd of older children, Teddy along but not leading, approached Harry and Ginny. “Did you really live Happily Ever After?” one girl asked.
Ginny giggled, and Harry explained “We’re a long way from Ever After. I hope our story is not even at the middle yet. I will say I’m very happy I married Mrs. Potter.” At this he gave Ginny a very long kiss, reasonably passionate for having small children around.
“Awwwww,” some of the girls went. A couple of the younger boys went, “Eeeee Gross.”
“Did Mr. Potter surprise you when he proposed?” one of the older girls asked. “Did he take you to a romantic dinner with candlelight and soft music and, how did he ask you to marry him?”
Harry and Ginny started to laugh. “Not exactly,” said Ginny.
“Hey!” said Harry. “I kneeled down in front of your whole family, in front of the whole Hogwarts, all the people who were in the great hall at Hogwarts. That was pretty public!”
“Did Mr. Potter surprise you with the ring?” asked the girl.
“The ring was certainly a surprise, not what I expected we’d find,” Ginny said with a wary look at Harry. “But I got Harry to put it on, and I just thanked him.”
“Before you proposed?” asked the girl.
“Oh she’d had the ring on her finger for hours before I actually asked,” laughed Harry. “She’s said ‘yes’ lots of times. I’d just not asked. I kind of assumed that since she’d said yes we were engaged, so we told some people. It’s not like we both did not want to get married, and to each other.”
“Why did you get down on your knees in the great hall, then?” asked the by this time a somewhat confused girl.
“Her brothers made me,” said Harry, “not that I minded.”
“Right after the battle of Hogwarts, then?” asked the same girl, obviously frustrated with the direction of the conversation. “Was that romantic?”
“When I first woke up Mrs. Potter told me I was filthy and had to take a shower,” said Harry, smiling. “She was right, as she usually is. I was filthy. Then she told me never to leave her and I told her that was all fine and good but I had to go to the loo, so she told me to take off all my clothes and take a shower and get clean.”
“And you did?” another of the older girls asked, horrified.
“Well I didn’t take off my boxers until I got into the, behind the door, and kind of threw them out, it’s not like I stripped naked right there in front of my 16 year old girlfriend,” Harry replied, still laughing. “Ginny had to wait until we were married to see me naked.”
“Harry was so tired if I insisted he probably would have stripped naked,” Ginny said laughing, “but I thought that maybe that wasn’t a particularly good idea.
“I will have to admit I was tempted, though.”
At this remark several of the older children, boys and girls, giggled.
“Was the wedding night as good as they say it is?” asked the first girl. At this both Harry and Ginny laughed and laughed.
“It was awkward to say the least,” Ginny finally said. “If you’re a virgin on your wedding night you have some learning to do. It’s pretty natural to do but not always that natural to please both of you. It takes practice and patience. It’s worth it, though!” When Ginny was done both Harry and Ginny were red, obviously embarrassed.
“I think we’ve had enough questions for the day” said Harry as he dismissed the crowd of youngsters.
From the beach in West Michigan they went to New York, down the east coast of the US to Florida, spending some time in Orlando, then back west.
Friday July 30 they turned in the Motor Home and left for England.
Chapter 12: CH 12 Pregnant Ginny comes home
Author's Notes: The next chapter is the birth of James. The babies are starting.
Harry and Ginny Teddy and Andromeda came home via the closet/floo network, along with the elves. Some of the luggage had been sent ahead by air, other luggage by magic. They arrived Friday afternoon, got settled, and all took potions to allow them to sleep and adjust to the time change. Andromeda and Teddy stayed with the Potters Friday night and Saturday.
Harry had arraigned to get an automobile. Saturday July 31, early in the morning, Harry took Teddy with him as he picked up a specially outfitted BMW SUV. It was Auror gray, the color that Muggles had a hard time remembering. A child seat was also delivered; Teddy did not need an infant seat but he still needed a booster. Harry then drove the car home, Jim Snook in the passenger seat, another Auror following on a broom. Harry drive into the garage at 15 Grimmauld Place, and magically parked the car his own garage at the back of his house.
When Harry and Teddy got out Jim said, “We are neighbors now.” Harry looked at the back garden. It was at least twice as big, and instead of a wall at the end he could see the houses on Newbright Street.
Jim said, “Bill managed to buy 12 through 15 Newbright. Three of the houses were rented, and the owners of the fourth house said that they though the neighborhood was haunted. We have four of the six floors of number 12, and another Auror couple has the top two floors.”
Harry was delighted to see Ginny and Andromeda come out of the kitchen. From the lower level of the house on 12 Newbright Street a pregnant Sue Shook came out. “I am due late September or early October,” Sue said.
“October for me, at least that’s what the papers say,” Ginny kidded. Everybody had a nice visit.
After breakfast Andromeda and the Potters went up to Teddy’s bedroom. Harry said “We are going to have to get this room ready for a new baby, Teddy. Do you want to pick out one of the rooms upstairs to be your room here from now on, on the nights you stay with us?”
Teddy asked, “I am going back to living with the grandmas?”
Harry said, “Yes, I assume you will spend most of your nights with your grandmothers.”
Teddy looked uncertain. “I’m not going to live with you anymore?”
Harry said. “Grandma Tonks really wants you to stay with her most of the time. It was really hard on her not having you with her. You are the only family she has left.”
“I really missed Grandma Tonks too,” said Teddy, tears starting to form. “It was better when she came, and became a hero-ine. I guess. I maybe stay with her and help take care of her? I guess her a heroine but she still needs me? Will you still be my daddy after you have the new baby?”
“I’ll always be your godfather, Teddy. Mum Ginny and I will always be Mum and Dad for you,” Harry replied as he held on to Teddy, giving him a big hug and kiss.
Teddy said, “I stay at the grandmas’. I like having one bedroom.”
“Even if you sleep at the grandmas’ Mum Ginny and I will always be parents to you. We would like you to have a bedroom here, so once and a while you could stay with us.”
They went up to the next floor, and Harry said, “You may have one of these rooms. Eventually James will move up to this floor, so you will be on the same floor as your brother.”
“Not a real brother,” said Teddy.
“Well, not exactly,” said Harry. “If I am your godfather, I guess James will be your god-brother.”
“I stay here,” said Teddy, looking at the room. “I come over and see you lots and lots and lots.”
Harry said, “I would really like that.”
“I will be a good god-brother to little James,” said Teddy.
Harry and Ginny made sure to give Teddy lots of hugs and kisses. Andromeda and Ginny made sure there were a few of Teddy’s clothes at Grimmauld place, just in case, but everything else was going to be moved to Teddy’s old room at the New Burrow.
Sunday morning Harry and Ginny took Teddy and Andromeda back to the New Burrow. They got up at 7:00, loaded up the car, and by 7:30 they were on their way. It took at least 45 minutes to drive to the New Burrow, even with magic, and since everyone else was probably going to be there at 8:00 AM they were going to be the last to arrive.
Teddy was practically bouncing out of his car seat, he was so excited.
When they pulled in the driveway Harry got out of the car and opened the door behind his, and unbuckled the harness holding Teddy in. Teddy bounded out of the car and took off towards the New Burrow at full speed, saying as he went, “I home, I home, Gamma, Gampa, Victoire, I home!” The door was opened and Teddy flew into the house. He ran into Molly’s arms and said, “Gamma Weasley I home! We went to America and went on big rides up in the sky and I went to school and learned lots and we drove all over America and saw Indians and rivers and big buildings and…” Teddy kind of caught his breath, looked around the room, and saw little Victoire standing there looking at him. He went over to her and shyly said, “Hi Victoire. I home! I had lots of fun with Daddy Harry and Mummy Ginny but I’m glad to be home and really glad to see you.”
Victoire had a pouty face and said, “You left. You left me. I missed you.”
Teddy said, “I missed you too, but I’m back! Sides, you saw me at my school.”
“One day,” Victoire said.
Teddy was making such a scene that every eye was on him, and no one noticed when Ginny cautiously opened the door and awkwardly stepped in.
George caught sight of Ginny and said “Hey fatso, quite a figure there.” Looking at Harry he said, “So you knocked up Ginny in January.”
“George!” said Angelica, loudly and indignantly.
“What?” said George?
Angelica silently mouthed “Knocked up?”
“Oh,” said George, quite loudly, “bad choice of words.”
“It was obvious by February Ginny was pregnant,” said an obviously very pregnant Fleur. Fleur was due within the next 2 weeks. “Even if it was not official until March.”
As this was going on Molly had gotten up and went over to give Ginny a big hug
“Everybody knew?” asked Ginny. “In February?”
Molly said “Well we didn’t talk about it on Sunday mornings, but all the girls and I had speculated”
George said, “By March it was pretty obvious.”
“By March it was all over the papers!” Harry said.
“When did you first know?” asked Hermione.
“I didn’t know,” said Ginny. “I thought it was all moving to San Francisco and how everything had changed after my injury and just did not figure out what was happening to me. I didn’t know until I saw the medical witch the first of March! I felt so dumb.” Ginny was close to tears.
“Come on in and sit down,” said Molly, looking pleased. “Another grand-child!”
Harry said, “It’s all I have ever really wanted, to have a family. I am so happy being part of this family, and glad that we can contribute to the grandchildren.”
Harry and Ginny sat down on a sofa next to each other. Harry looked very pleased.
Ron looked at Hermione, and held her hand. She looked back at him and quietly said, “I know. I know. I said that I was not going to have a baby before Ginny.” Ron had lived with Hermione long enough to know not to try and say anything. He just squeezed her hand at this remark, and gave her a little kiss.
“Let’s see that car you bought,” Arthur said. Harry got up, and all the males followed him out to see the new car. All the children followed as well, the youngest watched by their fathers.
“You look healthy,” Molly said to Ginny after the men had left.
“You do have that pregnancy glow,” Fleur said. “The middle months are the best.”
“I feel great most of the time,” Ginny said. “I still get queasy from time to time. Then there’s the false labor pains, I think they’re called Braxton Hicks. The first time that happened I panicked and had Mitzi apparate me to the Midwife’s. That’s when she explained what was happening.”
Fleur spoke up, “Yes, Ginny, my Maman used to call them practeece contractions. She told me it ees the body’s way of preparing for birth. Of course your mother was a big help, with the rest of the pregnancy little surprises”
“Oh, Fleur, I was so happy to be able to be there for you. I am just glad that you never experienced the faints. I remember that happened when I was pregnant with Bill, but not the rest. I had terrible heartburn when I was expecting the Twins. During my pregnancy with Ron I craved bacon sandwiches, with you Ginny it was chocolate and chips”
Hermione sat back listening with a bit of queasiness herself, she was a bit terrified at the thought of having a baby. She was relieved that it would be a while before she and Ron were ready for this next step. Molly and Fleur were just beginning to talk about their labors when the males of the family came back in. For saving her from that conversation, Hermione walked over and gave Ron a big hug.
Since Harry and Ginny and Teddy had talked on the phone to the assembled Weasley family most Sunday mornings, and had shared e-mail messages, occasionally talked through the mirrors, there was not a huge amount of news to catch up on. All the children had grown in the last seven months. Teddy was holding court with some of the older cousins, telling them of all the exciting things he had done. Mid morning Neville and Hanna came over with little Frank and Alice and baby Dolly. Hanna was going to try see if she could get away from the Leakey Cauldron for a while; some days she could be gone all day but other days the owner just had to show up and put things right. The senior Frank and Alice never went out unless the gatherings were very small and subdued. They had never fully gotten over the curses that kept them in the mental wing of St. Mungo’s for so long.
Lots of people knew that Harry and Ginny and Teddy were going to be back and at the New Burrow, and most of them found a way to casually stop in. Cindy Base Hudson and Henry and their sons Rich (4) and Bob (2) came to the New Burrow. Cindy put together a human interest article and photographs were taken of the returning family. The entire article was supposed to say was Harry and a seven month pregnant Ginny Potter arrived back in England after a stay in North America. Harry had spent a semester at the San Francisco College of Witchcraft and Wizardry undergoing advanced training, and the Potters also visited other schools and toured North America before coming back to their home.
Of course for the Potter family nothing was ever that simple. The headline of the Monday Daily Prophet read “ PREGNANT POTTER COMES HOME”, with a sub-heading explaining “The famous and wealthy Harry Potter, hero of the Battle of Hogwarts, and his wife, the former Star Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies before her unfortunate injury, Ginny Weasley Potter, are finally home after an extended stay in North America.” In addition to Cindy’s article there was another speculative piece about the expanding Potter/Weasley family.
.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Teddy spent all day and night at the New Burrow. On Thursday afternoon Teddy asked Ginny, “May I eat dinner with you and Daddy Harry?”
Ginny said, “Sure, you may eat dinner with us, and then someone can take you back to your bedroom at the New Burrow”
“I can floo back all by myself,” said Teddy.
“Are you sure?” asked Ginny.
“I can do it!” said Teddy. “I learned how and I can do it by myself.” Friday Teddy ended up eating dinner at Victoire’s house; about every other Friday Teddy ended up eating dinner with Bill and Fleur and Victoire. That became the pattern; Monday through Thursday much of the time Teddy ate with Harry and Ginny if they were available. About half the Fridays Teddy ended up at Shell Cottage. Saturday and Sunday night, and almost all breakfast and lunches Teddy ate at the New Burrow.
Ginny asked Teddy, “Why do you want to eat dinner here?” after he had been eating there a couple of weeks.
Teddy said, “All the grandmas talk about is school and the cousins. You and daddy Harry talk about interesting things. Even when I do not understand what you are saying it is fun to listen to.”
Teddy ended up being a delightful addition to the Potter’s normal weekday dinners, and he would continue to regularly eat dinner with the Potters until he was married, after which he and Victoire would try to share at least one dinner a week with the Potters.
By the second week in August Ginny was looking for more to do, so on Monday August 9, 2004 she took the floo over to the Offices of The Daily Prophet, and went over to the sports department. Mario Bagman, the sports director, was thrilled about Ginny becoming a reporter. He told her, “Start out by writing some stories. If they need work we will work with you to edit them. To be very frank, a Ginny Weasley Potter OM (1st Class) byline would be good for the paper, and you should be able to get information from people on many of the teams that another reporter would have a much harder time getting.”
“Will my name really make that much of a difference?” asked Ginny.
“Your name and who you are,” said Mario Bagman. “You are an authentic hero of the war, and were an excellent Quidditch player.”
“I can’t start full time,” said Ginny. “I have a baby due in October.”
“That’s hardly news, Ginny,” Mario said.
“I think all the newspapers knew within seconds of me finding out,” Ginny said.
“Do what you can,” said Mario Bagman “I have an excellent first story. You were friends with Donna Lionheart. Go and talk to her.”
“She should be at the Harpies training right now,” said Ginny.
“You have been out of touch,” said Mario Bagman. “I think you will find her at home. She has a wizard cell phone. Let me see yours and I will put her number on your phone.” Mario Bagman took out his phone, touched his wand to a specific icon on the phone saying Donna Lionheart, then touched Ginny’s phone again saying Donna Lionheart. Donna’s information was on Ginny’s phone. “Peter Y Pan and your friend Hermione were two of several people who have made using wizard phones so easy,” said Mario Bagman. Ginny was amazed; Hermione seemed to have her hand in everything.
Ginny had her wizard laptop with her; she could have accomplished the same thing with one of the newer quick quote quills, but they reminded her too much of Rita Skeeter.
When they got on the phone Donna asked Ginny to floo on over to her house, so she went to one of the fireplaces at the Prophet and said, “The Bill and Donna Lionheart home.” Ginny stepped out of the fireplace and was greeted by a very pregnant Donna and by eleven year old Tabitha.
“Donna you’re pregnant!” said Ginny.
Donna said, “We were chasers together. Maybe we can be mums together.”
“When are you due?” they said in unison, and then both of them broke up in laughter as they hugged each other somewhat awkwardly, both big bellies sticking out in front. “October 5” said Ginny. “November 10” said Donna.
Ginny noticed that they were in a different house, and asked Donna, “Where are we? This is not the house I am used to.”
“We moved to Godric’s Hollow to be close John’s brother. We have a whole home schooling group here, modeled after the one at the New Burrow. Of course in September Tabitha is going to be going to Hogwarts!”
“How did this happen?” asked Ginny pointing to Donna’s stomach.
“The usual way,” said Donna. “Bill’s memory problems never did affect his libido, and we are athletes after all; we’ve always been pretty good in bed.”
“That’s not exactly what I was wondering about,” said Ginny. “I did not start having periods again until I hurt my head, and you had as little body fat as me when we were playing together.”
“Oh, that,” said Donna getting a little red in the face. Ginny was not really asking about their sex life. “We knew that we wanted to start a family this summer, so as soon as the fall season ended I started taking potions to allow me to gain weight and have my periods started again. I had one period the end of January, and then the week before our season was suppose to start I was told to see the team healer, and she told me that my season was over because I was pregnant. I asked if it was supposed to happen that fast, and she said it could, although usually it took a few more months.”
“How did he Harpies do without you?” asked Ginny,
“We would have had a better season if both of us had been playing, but they ended up with a winning season anyway,” said Donna. “I can see what you did with your spare time in San Francisco.”
“We didn’t have that much spare time,” said Ginny, getting just a touch embarrassed herself, “but you always make time for that, and it sure looks like one night instead of just enjoying ourselves we made a baby. It was crazy busy with both of us taking classes and I was taking care of Teddy and doing all the house work. I am so glad to get back to a house with house elves.”
Ginny then introduced Mitzi, saying, “My balance hasn’t gotten any better, so I have a house elf to shadow me and keep me from falling now. Donna Lionheart, meet Mitzi.”
“Glad to meet you, Mitzi,” said Donna holding out her hand to shake Mitzi’s hand.
The little house elf curtsied; looking at Donna with some concern, then shyly went over to shake Donna’s hand.
“Our house elves are owned by us,” said Donna, “not the house, so when we moved they came with us. This is a larger house, 4 bedrooms instead of 3, with room to grow. I’m not sure how many children we will have, but I don’t think we will stop at having one more. Tabitha was still the best thing that ever happened to us.”
“Thank you, mum,” said Tabitha. “I know you say it often, but I never get tired of hearing it. I am so lucky to have you and dad. I’m looking forward to having a sister. Are you having a boy or girl?”
“We’re having a boy,” said Ginny.
“Do you have a name yet?” asked Donna.
“James Sirius after Harry’s dad and his godfather,” said Ginny. “Do you have a name?”
“Erica,” said Donna. “We don’t have a middle name yet.”
“What are you going to do once you have the baby?” asked Ginny.
Donna said, “Probably help a little around the farm and help with schooling some of the children in Godric’s Hollow. As long as I don’t teach Quidditch I am a reasonably good and patient teacher. I get a little crazy about Quidditch.”
“You crazy about Quidditch?” said Ginny laughing. “There’s a reason we were so good. We were both a little crazy.”
“Was I crazy, Tabitha?” asked Ginny.
“A little,” said Tabitha,
“Do you miss Quidditch?” asked Ginny of Donna.
“Every day,” said Donna, “but it really was time to start a family. I could have been like my mother, thinking that the only good part of her life was when she was playing. My parents are living in Godric’s Hollow now, not next door but close enough that we can watch over them if they need it. They are still very selfishly concerned only with their own lives and Quidditch. They have never been any help with Tabitha, and I expect them to be pretty indifferent to a new baby as well. Tom’s mother has been a great help with Mark and Matthew, and she has already offered to help with Erica.”
Donna looked down at her belly and started to feel it. Ginny could see a little motion there, and she instinctively reached down to her belly to see if James was rolling around or kicking. James was being reasonably quiet; Ginny knew that would not last. Just as she started to fall asleep any more she could count on a small riot breaking out down where James had decided to flex his muscles and see if he could stretch out or beat her black and blue down there.
“I’m 37,” said Donna. “I played Quidditch for 20 years professionally. Up until 5 years ago that was all that I though about, Quidditch and Bill. Then Tabitha came into our life and something changed. It was not enough to see if I could stay a first string player as long as possible. I realized that there was more to life. Then Bill’s brother got married and had two boys and we had a family to be part of. We sort of became part of the huge group of people around the New Burrow, then we really became part of the Starkey-Lionheart family here in Godric’s Hollow. I miss Quidditch, but it’s time to become a mother full time, let Bill work even if he does not make much money.”
“You look happy,” said Ginny.
“I think I’m more content with my life that I have ever been, Ginny,” said Donna. “We have enough money. I had a fantastic Quidditch career, and now I get to become a mother.”
Ginny ended up writing an article on Donna and her retirement. She also went to the Harpies and wrote a couple of articles on the new recruits. Until the weekend that she had James Ginny continued to report on the Harpies, watching every game and filing both a game report and a separate human interest report.
Harry had to get back to work. Harry was still the only logical candidate for the next head of the Auror Department, and what Harry had learned about modern technology and the problems it was causing the Wizarding community were only going to help Harry manage the department.
The first couple of weeks Harry spent just learning what had been going on in the Auror Department, in the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and in the Wizarding community in Great Britain.
Over the years Harry had learned more about what had happened in the Auror Department and in the whole Department of Magical Law Enforcement during the year that the death eaters were in charge of the Ministry, and he had gained more and more respect for the good people who did their best during this horrible time. This included respect for Gawain Robards. It was true that Gawain liked the minutia of managing the department, but knowing and managing the details, including some of the more obscure ways the paperwork worked, helped Gawain rescue many people and warn even more.
At the same time, Harry was not near as interested in or good at paperwork, and it had been concluded by Harry, Gawain, Arthur and Kingsley that Harry needed an administrative assistant, someone who would be more than a secretary although someone who would rank below the Aurors. Gawain had a candidate, the new wife of Dennis Creevey. Dennis had joined the Auror department two years ago, right out of Hogwarts, so he was starting his third year. Dennis had already made a name for himself as one of the best new Aurors, and as a natural leader. Harry remembered when he joined the department Dennis was not married, so he had to have gotten married when Harry was away. Monday August 30 Harry was introduced to the person Gawain though would make a good secretary. Gawain came in with a young looking girl Harry knew.
“Harry,” Gawain said, “Remember Mary Lou Creevey.”
“Hello Mary Lou,” said Harry. “Creevey?”
“Now,” said Mary Lou.
“Dippet!” said Harry.
“Yes,” said Mary Lou. “But it’s Creevey now. Dennis and I are married.”
“The Creeveys were taking you home,” said Harry.
“The Creeveys took my sister and me in and ended up adopting us. I don’t know what we would have done without them,” said Mary Lou.
“So you became Dennis’s sister and then his wife!” kidded Harry.
“Sounds weird when you say it that way,” said Mary Lou. “Actually we were good friends before, not quite boyfriend and girlfriend, but maybe close. We saw each other when we were at our worst and still liked each other. So when the time came to learn how to dance we chose each other as partners, and then we went to the Christmas dance together, and held each other close and decided that this was really nice. It kind of grew from there. By the time we graduated from Hogwarts the idea of not staying with each other just did not make any sense. We actually lived with Dennis’s parents until we were married just so we could be together. That probably sounds weird too.”
“You must like the Creeveys” said Harry.
“Can you fall in love with a whole family?” asked Mary Lou.
“Sure!” said Harry. “I fell in love with the whole Weasley family.”
Mary Lou said “The Creevey’s have some cousins, and everybody is nice. More family than I have ever known and they accepted us almost right away. When Dennis and I announced that we were getting married they were happy for us.”
“When did you get married?” asked Harry.
“The beginning of the summer, when you were still in North America,” said Mary Lou.
“Like being married?” asked Harry.
“Oh, yes,” said Mary Lou. “It’s a lot different than just living in the same house. We have our own apartment now, and,” Mary Lou looked at Harry, getting a little red in the face.
Harry said, “You are not living as brother and sister?”
“You are married!” Mary Lou said. “It’s not exactly the same.”
Harry laughed. “No not exactly. Ginny wouldn’t be pregnant if we were living as brother and sister. I hope you are enjoying the physical side of marriage.”
Mary Lou asked, “Do you REALLY do it three times a day?”
Harry said, “We didn’t REALLY do it three times a day very often before. When we took care of Teddy full time we did it even less. If we have more than one child I doubt if we will be able to be quite as frequent.
“How is your little sister?”
“She is still going to Hogwarts, of course,” said Mary Lou. “In some ways when Dan and Dad were killed I took on the position of older sister, and really tried to hold it together. Ann Marie grabbed on to Alice Creevey as a lifeline, really bonded with her as a substitute mother. They are still very close. Ann Marie will be in her 7th year next year. She’s not sure what she is going to do next year. I’m not sure if she has a boyfriend. In some ways she is very private, and mum, Mrs. Creevey, probably knows more about what is going on with Ann Marie than I do.”
Harry started to show Mary Lou what he wanted her to do. She had worked for another department of the Magical Law Enforcement division of the Ministry, so she already knew a lot about the paperwork. Although it was going to take quite a bit of time for Mary Lou’s job to become a full time job Mary Lou was going to be able to help Harry right away.
That night Harry had to share with Ginny who his new Administrative Assistant was going to be. “Those girls were so lost and sad when we saw them,” said Ginny. “The seemed to be better my last year at Hogwarts, but I really did not have any private conversations with either of them that year. I’m glad they are doing better.”
Thursday September 16 Harry was called into Kingsley Shacklebolt’s office. There in addition to Kingsley were Gawain Robards, Harry’s father-in-law Arthur Weasley and Al and Dan VanLente.
“Payback time, Harry,” said Al VanLente. “The International Auror Association was a tremendous help to Britain in our time of need. We think it is time for Britain to contribute to the International Auror Association. If you agree we are going to be offering temporary positions to two volunteers. We find that Aurors who have served are usually better Aurors in their home countries. Meanwhile they are helping the entire magical world in challenging and exciting assignments.”
“I think we could spare a couple of Aurors” said Harry. “What do you think, Gawain?”
“I think we could spare a couple. If we keep training good Aurors we should be able to spare even more in a couple of years,” said Gawain. “Besides I know that in the Auror group are some who want more excitement, and I for one would rather have them get their excitement somewhere else. After Tom Riddle I have had enough excitement for a lifetime.”
“There is one other resource we need, one even rarer than good Aurors,” said Al. “We need good supervisors, people who can manage our varied group of Aurors. And it really helps if our new supervisors, our new managing Aurors, have a reputation that precedes them. Harry, you fit the bill exactly.”
“Thanks, I guess,” said Harry. He knew what was coming. He was going to get another part time job to go along with everything else the Wizarding world wanted him to do.
“We’ll keep you very close to home for the time being, Harry,” said Al. “We need someone who can help manage the International Aurors in Europe.”
“It reminds me of something Ginny once told me,” said Harry. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
“You’ll do it then,” said Al. “You don’t really want to lead a quiet retiring life.”
“No,” said Harry, “But I had better be here when Ginny delivers, or I am in huge trouble. She’s due the 5th of next month.”
“We have a meeting next week Tuesday,” said Al, “in Switzerland, but you can be back here in an hour, so if Ginny is in labor, or goes in, you can be by her side in no time.”
After more pleasantries Al accompanied Harry back to his office. When they got to the office Al said, “We think we have a real problem that is not getting any better, radical Moslem terrorists, and I’m not saying that just because of 9/11 in the US.”
“Why are Magical people involved?” asked Harry.
“Several reasons,” said Al. “First we do not want bad things to happen to the world we share. Radical Moslems are not at all sympathetic to Magic and magic people. The other issue is that some of what the terrorists are thinking of are really terrifying to any person. The worst things are weapons of mass murder, some of which we as witches and wizards are not immune to.”
“Like the World Trade Towers coming down,” said Harry.
“Worse,” said Al. “The worst is nuclear weapons, atom bombs, or biological weapons that can kill millions of people.”
“They wouldn’t,” said Harry.
“A few of them would,” said Al. “Some of the poisons are deadly enough we are not immune, and if we can treat our own we can only if we know what poison was used. We would have trouble with a mass poisoning.”
“I don’t suppose we are immune to atomic bombs,” said Harry.
“There was a famous Wizarding college in Nagasaki, Japan,” said Al. “They had fantastic spells that kept bombs from harming the college. But that didn’t work for the atomic bomb.”
“Some of those idiots would use atomic bombs,” said Harry.” They would detonate an atomic bomb in Europe?”
“We could use your help, Harry,” said Al.
“I’ll help in any way I can,” said Harry. “Now I just have to tell Ginny.”
Over the next couple of hours Al gave Harry much more information about what was going on, how the magical community was trying to help.
Harry got home about 6:00 PM as usual. Ginny was waiting for him. “Beautiful as usual” said Harry. “Getting bigger and more awkward as usual,” said Ginny.
Harry had a small briefcase with him, which was not unusual. “I guess I’ve done a real good job catching the Death Eaters here, and what we have done with the Aurors in Britain has been noticed by the International Aurors Association. They want my help.”
“Am I supposed to be happy about this?” asked Ginny.
“You’re the one who told me that no good deed goes unpunished,” said Harry.
“That comes from Donna Lionheart” said Ginny. “So what do they want you to do now?”
“Get involved with the International Aurors Association,” said Harry. “There’s two pieces of good news. They do not want me on the front lines, just supervising, and I’m going to be spending almost all my time in Europe, not going around the world.”
“And I’m supposed to be thrilled by this,” said Ginny.
“No, maybe resigned. Al VanLente did say that they know I will be here for you when James is born, no matter what,” said Harry.
“Harry bloody Potter, hero of the Wizarding world,” said Ginny. “My own fault I didn’t marry someone with a quieter and safer job.”
“Too bad Audrey didn’t have a brother?” asked Harry.
“And be bored to death?” asked Ginny. “No way! You’d just better be here for me when I have your baby.”
Chapter 13: CH 13 Pregnancy Issues
Author's Notes: I want to thank FriendofMolly again for being a fantastic Beta. She had key contributions to the last chapter and to everything having to do with pregnancy and giving birth. We would like to remind everyone again how much we appreciate reviews.
The end of August and the beginning of September were good weeks for Harry and Ginny.
Ginny’s articles for the Prophet were very well received. Many readers said Ginny’s articles were the best they had ever read about Quidditch. Ginny did say she was going to take at least a little break once James was born, but she didn’t see why she couldn’t start back writing after a couple of weeks.
Harry was busy, both at the Ministry and with the International Auror’s. He was not as busy as when he was at school, and most days he and Ginny had breakfast and dinner together. Teddy was usually at dinner during the week. He was always curious about what Harry and Ginny were doing. He was fascinated by Ginny’s changing shape and thrilled when she let him feel the movement inside her.
Victoire, with her rather strong personality, had somehow talked her mother into letting her be present when Louis was born, and at least according to Victoire this made her an expert in all things baby. Teddy passed on what Victoire said; mostly that it was a pretty messy process.
Teddy said, “Victoire says she has to know all about babies, because she is going to have LOTS of them.”
Harry was kidded, both at work and by his brother-in-laws, about having sex with a very pregnant wife. It was different, and got more and more different as the bump got bigger and bigger. Neither Harry nor Ginny was ready to give up being intimate, however.
The middle of September, after Teddy had gone home, Dobedo said to Harry and Ginny, “Azalea is supposed to be having baby, but baby cannot be born.”
“Why?” asked Ginny.
“Problems,” said Dobedo. “Healers here now.”
“Send them down to see me after they are through,” Harry said.
“YES,” said Dobedo, and he disappeared upstairs.
A short time later the witch healer, who specialized in house elves, Eliza, and her house elf healer partner Florence, came into the siting room where the Potters were.
Ginny asked, “How are Azalea and her baby?”
Eliza said, “Right now, fine. We have a very serious problem. The, what you would call a placenta, is in front of the birth canal. There is not any way to get the baby out.”
Harry said, “Humans, when there is that kind of problem, they operate. Can they do that to a house elf?”
Eliza said, “I want to take Azalea over to Mayo Magical Medical and try. The alternative is to have both mother and baby die. I just have to warn you that it is not easy. No one has ever done it, and house elves are a lot more different from humans inside than they are outside. There is stuff in the way, and we do not know if we can save either of them.”
“We have to try!” Ginny exclaimed.
“I think we do have to try,” Harry said. “Kreacher.”
Kreacher stepped out from the doorway, where he had been listening. The old elf had tears in his eyes. “Has to tries, for good master Harry Potter,” he said.
Harry accompanied Eliza, Florence, and the house elves to Mayo Magical Medical. There Harry got a quick lesson in house elf anatomy. The healers, including a couple of witches who were also Muggle surgeons, were frankly quite worried. “In many ways house elf medicine is a hundred years behind Muggle medicine,” one of the surgeons said. “We may lose them both,” the same surgeon said, “and if everything is hopeless we may need your permission to stop treatment.”
About two hours into the operation a healer came out and told Harry, “We have a live baby, a boy. He was without oxygen, without a blood supply, for a while as the surgery was getting to him. He seems to be doing all right, but we do not know what damage the lack of oxygen did.”
“How is Azalea?” Harry asked.
“House elves are a lot different,” the healer said. “They have a job trying to put that little house elf back together. I cannot even guess what the prognosis is.”
About three hours later one of the surgeons came in to talk to Kreacher and Harry. “She’s alive,” the surgeon said. “We did a CAT scan and an MRI scan before the surgery trying to see what was inside. We need to do some autopsies of healthy house elves that were killed in accidents to see how their bodies are made. I think we cut a major nerve, and have no idea what other damage we did. I think with some autopsies and a couple dozen operations we could get so we could do this and do a lot less damage, but I don’t know.
“We will know a lot more about Azalea tomorrow morning.”
Harry called Ginny, and relayed what the healers at Mayo Magical Medical had said. Ginny said, “My midwife said James is in no hurry to be born. The baby is still high, pressing against my lungs and my boobs. If I get any bigger I’m afraid my boobs are going to bump against my chin.”
Harry couldn’t help but laugh at the picture Ginny was painting. Ginny started laughing too, saying, “Maybe it’s not QUITE that bad, but you are not the one whose body is being pushed out of shape. I don’t care how much work it is, I want this baby OUT.”
“I’ll rush home as soon as I can,” Harry said.
“Bring Azalea and the baby back with you, Harry,” Ginny said. “I will let you know if you need to come back.”
Monday morning Kreacher was let in to see Azalea and his son. Mid-morning a different healer came out to see Harry. She said, “Kevin P/W is a fighter. He is nursing strongly. We have no idea if the lack of oxygen has hurt him.
“Azalea is still pretty groggy, and we think it will probably take a long time for her to regain her strength. We cannot detect any feeling or any ability to move anything below where the surgery started, which is well up her trunk. She has use of her arms, and she can nurse and feel her body there, but there is not a lot of feeling or control below that. It’s not going to be easy keeping her bodily functions working.”
“What do we do?” asked Harry.
“We put her in a wheelchair, and use the best Muggle and magical help we can, and we do our best to keep her alive. We do our best to keep her alive and healthy, and occasionally take a chance on something that may make her a little better instead of just letting her get worse,” the healer said.
Once Azalea and baby Kevin were home other problems began to surface. The easiest to solve was the question of help. Azalea needed another house elf to take care of her. Kreacher said, “Master Harry, if I assign a house elf to help Azalea, you have three house elves eating your food and living in your space and not serving you.”
“I do not see what the problem is,” Harry said. “Just for all of your service to the Potter and Weasley families you deserve that. Besides I told you to do what was best for the house elves in the future. This is best.”
“Azalea cannot apparate, cannot get anywhere without being pushed in the chair with wheels,” Kreacher said.
“Can you get her upstairs and downstairs?” Harry asked.
“Not so easy, but can,” the old house elf said.
“Can she use the floo network?” Harry asked.
“Really hard, and not so safe,” Kreacher said. “Closet network safe, but floo not so much.”
Harry was not all that fond of traveling by floo. He knew that North America had a couple of floo networks, but almost everyone used the closet network now. Much of Europe and Asia had gone over to the closets. England was one of the few modern countries clinging to the old floo network.
Harry explained the whole problem to Kingsley and Hermione. It turned out that the group running the floo network was eager to start installing a closet network. They just had to start somewhere, and have someone pay for it. The floo and closet networks were not compatible.
Harry was explaining the problem to Ron and Hermione at dinner one night. About every other week Ron and Hermione had dinner with Harry, Ginny and Teddy, usually at 12 Grimmauld Place but occasionally next door at 13.
“Where would you install the closet?” Hermione asked.
“Probably downstairs in the kitchen, “Harry said. “It is easier for the house elves to guard one location.”
“Could they install one at our house too?” asked Hermione.
“I think they can install one closet with two doors in, one from each house, and one out to the other closets,” Harry said. “Then we can install a closet in the ministry and another one at St. Mungo’s.”
Ron said, “Robrecht VanDer Raaltee wants Great Britain to start using the closet networks. He has stuff he has to transport when he does his magical/Muggle electronic stuff. It is easy for him to bring along a couple of rolling suitcases through the closet network, but very difficult by floo. The suitcases have stuff he cannot shrink. The smaller electronic circuits get the harder it is to shrink them.”
Harry asked, “Is he still living at the Hogs Head? I know he moved in there when he started working on getting mobiles to work at Hogwarts.”
Ron said, “He is still living at the Hogs Head. He is seriously considering settling in Hogsmeade.”
“Why?” asked Ginny.
“Tracy Davis,” said Ron.
‘TRACY DAVIS?” said Ginny. “What is going on between VanDer Raaltee and Tracy?”
Ron said, “I was curious too. There is a lot of gossip around the shop in Hogsmeade. It seems that Robrecht never had a serious girlfriend. Witches didn’t think much of his fascination with Muggle electronics, and he felt he couldn’t get serious with a Muggle. He has a Muggle grandfather, and I guess it is a little awkward.
“Tracy was fascinated by Robrecht, and apparently Tracy is the first female to pay attention to him. He likes her, and he likes her daughter. The gossip around the shop is that they will end up married.”
Harry said, “So Robrecht wants a closet from the Ministry to Europe?”
Ron said, “Yes. One from Hogsmeade, the Hogs Head would be all right. I guess they are even talking about having one at the Davis complex.”
Harry asked, “Can you take a Muggle along when you are going through the closet network?”
Hermione answered, “Yes, if you are touching them. A house elf or magical person can take a Muggle along, as long as there is skin to skin contact. I think they could also be in a magical box, like an ambulance, or magical vehicle of some sort.
“There is no law keeping house elves from using the floo or closet network alone.”
Harry and Bill had a discussion later in the week about Azalea using the closet network. Kreacher said, “House elves working so Azalea not need full time help. Eventually she take care of Kevin P/W all by herself.”
Harry said, “That would be fantastic. Just by showing that a house elf who is hurt can still serve you are doing house elves a big favor.”
Kreacher said, “Is hard to be the first one making medicine better.”
Harry said, “I know, but it is necessary for someone to be first. Sometimes being first is risky, and sometimes it doesn’t work. I am very glad that Azalea and Kevin lived. Having them living a long and happy life is good service to the house elves and to our community.”
Kreacher said, “Is good. Is also loves. Is loves house elves not allowed to show between selves. Is good but is very very hard. Not to serve but to be served is very very hard for a house elf.”
Bill said, “Kreacher, sometimes giving is very satisfying, for humans and house elves. Receiving can sometimes be harder. We all need to learn to accept help, and not turn it down. Just say ‘thank you.’ House elves that are given better treatment need to learn to say ‘thank you,’ not ‘we do not deserve it.’”
Kreacher looked at Harry, some confusion in his expression. Harry said, “Bill is right. We ought to be thanking house elves for all they have done, and when we do something good for you house elves should thank us, thank the good wizards.
“When people thank me for something I have done I have had to be taught to just say ‘you are welcome.’ When people thank me for what the Harry and Ginny Potter foundation has done to help them I had to learn just to say ‘you are welcome.’ And when people have helped me I have had to learn how to be humble enough to say ‘thank you’ and not to turn down the help.”
“Is very hard lesson for a house elf, Harry Potter,” said Kreacher.
Chapter 14: CH 14 James Sirius Potter
Author's Notes: This is the chapter where James is born. My thanks again to my Beta, FriendofMolly. I was only a spectator at the birth of my four children. With my Beta I had the perspective of someone who actually gave birth. As always reviews are much appreciated.
Tuesday October 5, 2004, was Ginny’s due date. She was at the witch midwife’s office with Harry, getting checked. “James does not look like he is in any hurry to be born yet,” said the witch midwife. He’s not dropped, not in position. I want you back in a couple of days to check. This is quite normal.”
“Boggarts!” said Ginny. “How much bigger can I get? I can’t breath; the baby is pushing up against me so hard.”
“When the baby drops down into the birth canal you should have an easier time breathing,” said the witch. “Of course you will have a harder time walking as your legs get looser and the baby positions his head down there.”
“Why does this have to be so uncomfortable?” asked Ginny.
“I think,” said the witch midwife “Mother Nature wants you so uncomfortable that you will do anything to get that baby out of there.”
Harry did not know what to say or do. He really wanted this baby, and was very proud of Ginny. He also was very aware that it was all her right now; there was very little that he could do to help. If he got too concerned he was accused of hovering over her, but she wanted him around or close. Harry was breaking in a new secretary, Mary Lou Creevey, someone who could help him with the paperwork involved in managing the Auror department, so he went back to work. Ginny flooed to her mother’s house and talked. Sitting was getting harder and harder. She was told that walking was good for her, so she walked and walked and walked.
Thursday October 7 Ginny and Harry were back at the Witch Midwife’s office. “James has sort of turned into position,” said the witch “But has not dropped yet. If nothing happens before then I will see you Monday, but I expect something to happen before then. Call if you have any questions.”
Saturday Ginny and Harry watched the weekly Harpies Quidditch game, and Ginny wrote both the article on the game and another human interest story. Meanwhile Cindy wrote a little article on Ginny and how she was overdue but still covering the Harpies.
Monday October 11 the witch midwife said everything was ready, but James was still taking his time. Thursday October 14 the witch midwife finally said the baby was in position and should start dropping soon.
Friday Ginny was at her mother’s house. Her uterus was occasionally contracting, and over the morning the baby dropped. Ginny and Molly could really tell the difference. It was easier to breath and harder to walk. By the afternoon Ginny was having a contraction every hour or so, not hard and not too regular. Harry came back to the New Burrow for dinner. Molly let them know that Ginny’s labor was progressing, but it could still be quite a while. Harry and Ginny went back to Grimmauld Place for the evening.
Ginny did tell her editor at the Daily Prophet that she was in labor, and it was probably not a good idea to try and cover tomorrow’s Harpies game.
Friday night Ginny had a very hard time getting to sleep. It seemed that every time she was asleep she had another contraction, and they were getting harder and harder. They were still an hour or more apart. By 7:00 AM Harry was exhausted. He was glad it was Saturday and he had a couple of days off. He told Ginny “I have not had a very good night’s sleep, Ginny. Your labor is progressing and I’ll just stay with you today.”
“YOU’RE not having a good night’s sleep! YOU’RE not having a good night’s sleep! I can tell you that you have slept right through some of these contractions. Having your baby is very uncomfortable. You’d better appreciate me!” ranted Ginny. Ginny got up and got dressed, got something to eat. By the first part of the afternoon Ginny’s contractions were just under an hour apart, still too far apart to be worried. Ginny called the witch midwife, who wanted to meet the Potters at St. Mungo’s.
“Do you hurt?” asked Harry as they left for St. Mungo’s.
“It doesn’t exactly hurt yet,” said Ginny, “but it is very uncomfortable, and a lot of hard work.”
The witch midwife examined Ginny and said, “We’re making progress, but we have a very long way to go.”
“Boggarts!” said Ginny. “How long is a very long way?”
“You’ll probably have the baby in the next couple of days. Everything is going just as it has to,” said the witch.
“Next couple of days!” wailed Ginny. “What do I do now?”
“You can go home” said the witch. “Just let me know when the contractions get real regular or when your water breaks.”
Harry and Ginny went to the New Burrow. They both figured Molly knew about having babies, and she would know when they had to call the witch midwife and get back to St. Mungo’s. Bill and Fleur came over with their 3 children, including baby Louis who was a little over a month old.
Victoire had to bring Teddy over to Aunt Ginny and tell Teddy, “Aunt Ginny is working to PUSH the baby out. It is REAL HARD and takes a LONG TIME. Girls do that to get babies born.” Victoire was very proud of herself, almost like she had done it. Teddy was not so sure about all this.
By Saturday night Ginny’s contractions were about half an hour apart and strong enough that Fleur though they probably ought to go back to St. Mungo’s. They arrived back at about 10:00 PM. Everything was going fine until Ginny spilled a glass with a little water and a lot of crushed ice down her front, most of it landing right where the baby was suppose to come out. In addition to feeling very uncomfortable the shock of the cold seemed to temporarily stop the contractions. It took Ginny a couple of hours to settle down after that, and a couple of hours for the contractions to start again. Ginny had as comfortable a night as you can when every half hour to hour you are having a contraction. The staff tried to allow Harry to get some sleep, with only modest success.
Sunday morning Ginny’s contractions were back to being about 30 minutes apart. As the witch on duty said, “We are making progress, but there is still quite a way to go.”
“I’ve been in labor for two days! I’m in my third blasted day of labor and you tell me I have a way to go!” fumed Ginny. “Merlin! Bollox and Boggarts!” She was in a right state, frustrated, and very tired. Harry was doing his best to comfort her, but he was getting exhausted as well. The witch midwife did quite a bit of wand work, made sure that Ginny had taken the pain potions, and by noon had another talk with both of them.
“Ginny, Harry, we are making good progress. This is Ginny’s first baby, and it is not surprising it is taking a while. We should have a baby today. Ginny, is the pain under control?”
“It does not exactly hurt,” said Ginny, “but it’s exhausting. I thought that a 24 hour Quidditch game was hard, but this is as hard.” Ginny was close to tears. Harry was holding on to Ginny’s hands, massaging her back, trying to do anything he could to make her feel better.
By 7:00 PM contractions were less than 10 minutes apart, and Ginny’s water finally broke, and the contractions were getting harder and harder. Ginny was falling asleep between contractions, she was so exhausted, but you could see Ginny was as determined as could be. Molly had shown up, but she was keeping everyone else away. Harry was happy to have someone else there. “I feel as tired as I did at the Battle of Hogwarts,” said Harry. “I can’t imagine how Ginny feels.”
“Ginny will be fine,” said Molly. “Even with all the spells and potions that really do take care of the pain, having a baby is hard work. Frequently the first baby is the hardest.”
The next hour and a half the witch midwife kept encouraging Ginny, saying that they were making progress, that her cervix was dilating more and more and James was coming. Finally she said, “The next time you have a contraction push as hard as you can.”
For the next few contractions Ginny strained like the athletic she was, and the witch midwife said, “Real good progress, Ginny.” Finally she said, “I can see the head. A couple more good pushes and we should have it.”
Ginny gave a tremendous push, and the witch midwife had a baby in her hands. Harry said, “You did it, Ginny! We have a son.”
“That’s nice,” said Ginny very tiredly.
The witch midwife suctioned off the baby with her wand, cleaned him up a little, and put nappies on him, and then put James Sirius on Ginny. He started to make nursing motions with his mouth, and Harry and Ginny put James on her breast and he started to nurse. “Oh Harry!” said Ginny, still obviously exhausted. “This is unbelievable! It feels so good!”
Harry kissed Ginny and kissed the back of James head. “Ginny,” said Harry “this is what I’ve always dreamed of. Thank you! This is fantastic!”
“It’s a damn sight harder than anything I’ve ever dreamed of,” Ginny said. “But it’s worth it, every blasted minute of it.”
James finished nursing as Ginny struggled to stay awake, and as soon as James was done Ginny did give in to her exhaustion and fell sound asleep. Harry was not in much better shape (although he was no where near as physically tired), and the staff moved Ginny, Harry and James into a room and put them all down to bed.
About 11:00 PM James woke up and started to cry. Harry remembered the nights with Teddy, got up, changed James and gave him to Ginny. Ginny was not wearing a bra; Harry just put James on her breast. Ginny looked at Harry and said, “The other breast, Harry.” She helped move James to the other breast. Harry went back to sleep for a few minutes, and when Ginny called, “Harry, James is done” Harry got back up, changed James again, and put him back down. James nursed a couple more times that night. At 7:00 AM Harry woke up. James and Ginny were both sleeping. Harry went to the loo, and did a shaving spell. He called for Kreacher, and asked for a change of clothes, and got himself cleaned and looking presentable. Harry sent a message to his office letting them know that James Sirius Potter was born Sunday evening and that he was not going to be in at all on Monday.
About 8:00 AM Ginny woke up. Harry was looking at James, who was sleeping soundly in the little crib next to her bed.
“You look awake, Harry,” said Ginny. “Who does he look like?”
“He looks like us,” said Harry, looking down at James. “He has Weasley red hair, what hair he has, and your beautiful brown eyes. I think he looks a little like me. He looks like a baby, a beautiful baby.”
He turned to Ginny and went over to her, held her hand, and kissed her. “How do you feel, Ginny?” Harry asked.
“Tired,” said Ginny. “That was a lot of work! I feel a little sore down here,” pointing down where the baby came out. “The breasts are just a little tender too. And I have to go to use the loo.” Ginny got up and grabbed on to Harry, and let Harry help her as she gingerly sat down. A witch came into the room and asked Ginny if she would like help to take a shower and get cleaned up. She indicated that that would be fantastic, and Harry let the two women work on getting Ginny cleaned.
Ginny came out of the bathroom with a clean nightgown on, and said, “That feels better! I’m hungry!”
“The Weasley is coming out,” said Harry.
“I did a lot of work the last couple of days, Harry!” said Ginny.
The Potters heard a little noise from the crib, and Harry said, “I think someone else wants breakfast.” Harry picked up James and said, “Welcome, James Sirius Potter. It’s time to get up and have some breakfast with your parents?” Harry had the biggest smile on his face when he was talking to James, and James looked at his father and waved his hands and legs. Harry checked and changed James nappies and gave him to Ginny, who sat up in the bed, opened her night gown and put James on a breast. Ginny was not worried about modesty when only Harry was in the room, and Harry was enjoying watching James nurse. “How do you know which breast to put James on?” asked Harry.
“You put him on the one that is full first,” said Ginny.
“And you can feel which one is full?” asked Harry.
“Of course,” said Ginny. “It’s a lot different than nursing with Mother Minerva’s bras. You can feel the milk in your breasts. You can feel them empty and get full.”
“You’re beautiful, Ginny,” said Harry. “I think I’m the happiest man in the world right now. I have a beautiful wife and a beautiful new son.”
Ginny sort of leaned back in the bed with James on her breast, patting him, looked at him and Harry with the most contented smile on her face.
When breakfast was brought to the room Harry took breakfast for both of them into the room, and when James was done Harry tried to burp James while Ginny started to scarf down breakfast like she had not eaten in a couple of days. Ginny had not had anything significant to eat the day before, and she was honestly very hungry. After Ginny was finished eating Harry gave James to her, and while Harry was eating Ginny was looking at James and talking to him.
About this time Molly knocked on the door, and Harry got up and invited her into the room. “How are the new parents?” asked Molly. “How is my grandson doing?”
Molly looked at James who was lying on the bed, wide awake looking at his mother. Ginny looked up at her mother and said, “I thought after taking care of Teddy for those 3 months, plus this spring, I knew what it was like to be a mother. It’s different when you carry the baby for 9 months, have him kicking and rolling inside you. Are they all so wiggly and squirmy?”
“He’s an active one,” said Molly, grinning and nodding her head at James. “They are all different, even before they are born. Percy was the quietest. If you poked him he just tried to get out of the way. I can’t believe how active the twins were; the best thing about that pregnancy is that they came 2 weeks early. By the time they are born you are ready not to be pregnant, that’s for sure.”
“I didn’t mind being pregnant,” said Ginny. “The middle three months were the best. I knew what was happening to my body, and I wasn’t so huge.” Ginny looked at her mother. “Labor was like 2 back to back 24 hour Quidditch games. It was really hard work, but the result was better than any Quidditch win.” Looking down at James Ginny said, “You’re better than a Quidditch win, James. I bet no one though I would say anything was better than a Quidditch win.”
“Not even me?” said Harry in mock horror, pointing to himself.
“Oh, you’re better than a Quidditch win, at least on your good days,” said Ginny chuckling. Then with a self satisfied sigh, “I think we made a good one,” wiggling James hands and smiling at him. James gave a self satisfied smile and made noises that indicated he was filling his nappies.
“When you’re here you do this,” said Ginny handing James to Harry. “I fill him up and you empty his nappies.” Ginny had the biggest smirk on her face as she gave James to Harry. Ginny knew she would change her share of messy nappies; she sure did with Teddy. Harry took James over to where the clean nappies were and cleaned him and put new clean nappies on him. James gave a smile and before the nappy was fastened proceeded to wet it; Harry with the experience of Teddy and some of the male nephews was ready with the diaper over James before he could squirt him. “I’ve done this before, James, old boy, you’re not going to squirt me!” said Harry, smiling at his son. This being a dad is a really good thing, thought Harry. Harry brought James over to Molly, who held him as he gave a little burp, and then settled down to sleep.
Harry sat on the bed next to Ginny and held her hand, looked at her, and started to tear up. “What are you thinking about, Harry,” asked Ginny.
Harry said “How close we came to losing everything. How I could have stayed dead and James would not be here. How glad I am that your mother is here, and how I wish my mother could see her grandson, my mum and dad.”
“You’re a good dad, Harry,” said Ginny. “I am so glad you came back to me.”
One of the witch midwives came in and examined Ginny and James and said they could go home whenever they wanted to. Before they got up to go out of the room Mitzi was there, looking proud and happy. “I help Mistress, keep Mistress and little Master safe,” she announced, as she walked beside Ginny.
As they walked out of their room they saw another couple with a new baby. There was a little boy, maybe 5, and a little girl, maybe 3, with the couple. The couple looked familiar, and they tried to place them. The wizard said, “Harry Potter, how are you?”
“Fantastic,” said Harry. “Our first child, James Sirius,” as he showed James.
“I’m John Jones, this is my wife, Danielle and this is our 3rd since that awful day my wife and I picked up her daughter and my son at Hogwarts. Riddle did not defeat us!” He turned to the children. “Harry, Ginny, come here!” He knelt down to the children and said, “Remember that story I read you, about how Harry Potter defeated the wicked Tom Riddle and saved our world.” The boy nodded strongly and even the little girl indicated she knew which story that was. “This is the famous Harry Potter, the one in the book, the one you were named after.”
Harry sat down on the floor and shook the hand of his namesake. He said, “Do you want to see the lightning shaped scar?” The little boy’s eyes got wide open and he nodded yes energetically. Harry pulled the hair away from his face so it was easy to see the scar, and helped the little boy touch it. “You’re really real,” said little Harry with wonder in his eyes.
Ginny was watching, and said to the little girl “Are you named after me?”
Little Ginny looked at her parents, who nodded, and she said in a very small voice, “Oh” looking at Ginny and her parents, back and forth a couple of times before trying to bury her head in her father’s pants leg.
“I hope you don’t mind us naming our children after you,” said the wizard.
“I’m honored,” Harry said. “Thank you.”
“You named her after me, like I was famous or something?” Ginny asked.
“For what you did to fight Tom Riddle, not for the Quidditch,” John said.
“Thank you,” Ginny said. “I’m honored too. Who is the newest addition?”
“We named our second son Neville,” John admitted.
Everything was going well for the couple. He was working and they were raising a magical family. “Riddle died, but our genes, our family, will live on,” said the wizard.
By early afternoon Ginny was in her own bedroom with a crib for James at their bedside.
Tuesday Harry went back to work and Ginny was on her own, to care for James. She had the help of the house elves to cook and clean, and Mitzi stayed close, but Ginny was going to be the primary caregiver of James. Ginny woke up when Harry went to work, as did James. James nursed fitfully before going back to sleep, and Ginny fell asleep shortly after.
WAAAAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA (brief pause) WAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA
Ginny bolted upright, eyes closed. The vertigo that had plagued her ever since her head injury attacked her with a vengeance, and she fell back on her bed. Mitzi was there in an instant, “Mistress needs help.”
Ginny opened her eyes, grabbed Mitzi’s hand, and headed to the loo. There was nothing tentative about James!
WAAAAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA (another brief pause) WAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA
Ginny got to the loo, took off the knickers that you needed to wear during your period, or after having a baby.
Ginny looked down at where the baby came out. How that big head did come out of that? No one ever told you quite how messy it was, well they sort of told you, but then your water broke and that was messy, and after the baby you had the afterbirth, and then it was almost like a period as your body got rid of the rest. The stomach and that most private part of her sure didn’t look like it did before she became pregnant. Well it was private down there before you had a baby, but it sure wasn’t all that private when you were actually having the baby. Ginny was glad Harry was the only man in the room when James was born.
WAAAAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA (more urgently and louder) WAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA
Grab hold of Mitzi, thought Ginny, and get back to the bed. All right, James, thought Ginny. I’m coming. I’m coming.
James looked at his mother, mouth moving, arms waving, just a little panic in his face.
SLURP latch on Oh Oh. It was absolutely amazing, a little shocking actually, and a little painful at first, how much suction an infant could produce.
Ginny looked down at James, his little hands caressing her breast. Time to get a little air out of you, James, thought Ginny as she put James on her shoulder and got a couple of “BURP P P” noises out of him.
Disconnected thoughts drifted through Ginny’s mind as she nursed James. Now switch to the other breast. Oh on the right side, a little pain from the scar. Harry is never going to know about that. It’s not bad, just an annoying little pain really, just lets me know how close we came to losing everything.
So many things they don’t tell you. How your breasts are always uneven, one fuller than the other one. How when the baby cries and you can’t get to him right away the breast doesn’t care, but it will start to leak milk. Actually as a female it seems like you have things coming out of a lot of orifices, things you share with men and that you don’t. Men don’t have periods. They don’t feed babies pulling milk out of your front. They sure don’t push a quaffle out their bottom.
It hurts sometimes. It’s messy. It’s complicated.
Ginny looked at James.
It’s wonderful. It’s all worth it, a thousand times worth it, if you can produce a James after all that.
This being female is complicated. When she was the youngest and the only girl Ginny thought it was better to be a boy, do all the boy things. Well, she had done more of the boy things than most boys, fighting alongside Harry, Chaser for the Harpies. Harry loved her because she was tough, he said, and she always wanted to be tough. But Harry would never give birth, never nurse a child. That was one of the joys of being female.
It hurts sometimes. It’s messy. It’s complicated. And there was no way she would trade being female, not now, not after giving birth. She was not going to stop at one child. She was going to do it all over again, and maybe again, because being a mother was the most complicated, frustrating, and wonderful thing in the world.
Chapter 15: CH 15 Visiting the Dead Parents
Author's Notes: I want to thank my Beta FriendofMolly for the title for this chapter, and other much appreciated tweaks. We both appreciate reviews. Thank you for reading.
I have written a story about the last few chapters from Teddy’s point of view, and will start to post it next.
By Wednesday Ginny started to go to the New Burrow part of the day. Teddy came back home with Ginny Wednesday night and had dinner with Harry, Ginny and James.
Thursday night Teddy was having dinner with Harry and Ginny and James, and Harry said “Ginny, I think I’d like to take James to Godric’s Hallow and introduce him to my parents. I know it’s a little stupid showing him their graves, but that’s the best I can do, since they are dead.”
“My mummy and daddy dead too,” said Teddy.
“Yes, Teddy, you are an orphan just like me. And your parents are buried close to mine. Would you like to come with us?” asked Harry.
“Could I?” asked Teddy.
Harry looked at Ginny. “Do you think we could take Teddy Saturday morning and go to Godric’s Hallow?”
“Sure, Harry. This means a lot to you, doesn’t it” said Ginny.
Harry nodded, and they made plans to go to Godric’s Hallow on Saturday.
Saturday about 1:30 Harry and Ginny took the floo over to the New Burrow to pick up Teddy. There to meet them was Teddy, and also Bill Weasley with Victoire. Friday night Teddy had asked Victoire to come with him and meet his parents. Bill said, “He was so serious. He said ‘They are dead, that’s not the same thing as them being alive. I’ve never seen their graves, just photographs of them.’ Victoire wanted to go, so I decided I had better come along as well.”
Ginny had arranged for everybody to take the floo to Bill and Donna Lionheart’s house; Donna had not had her baby yet. Once there they walked the short distance to the cemetery. They first went to the graves of Ted Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks Lupin and Remus Lupin. Harry showed Teddy Ted’s grave first. Harry said, “You are named for your grandfather Theodore Tonks, grandma Tonks husband, Teddy. He was killed a few months before you were born. This is his grave.” Harry showed Teddy grandfather Tonks grave, and Teddy looked at the gravestone, touched it. You could see Teddy trying to figure out what was going on.
They then went down the row to the graves of Teddy’s parents, and Teddy looked at them. He looked back at Harry and then looked around. He shrugged his shoulders like he did not know quite what to make of what he was seeing.
“Your mum and dad are not really here,” said Harry, “but their bodies are in boxes right here,” and Harry pointed to the area ahead of the headstone. “The bodies are about six foot underground. It’s the best we can do.”
“Bodies?” asked Teddy. “Can they talk to me?”
“No,” Harry said. “They are dead, just dead bodies. But Teddy, you can talk to them”
“What are dead bodies?” Teddy asked.
Harry said, “When you die they put your body, the physical part of you, in the ground. Eventually all that is left is bones. There may just be bones, or if there is anything else it is not alive. The person who loves you has moved on. I know they can hear you, but they are on the other side of life. We will meet them again when we die.”
“If they can hear me why don’t they talk to me? They are right there,” Teddy said as he pointed at the gravestones.
“They are not really there, just their bodies,” Harry said.
“Not there?” asked Teddy.
“Not really, just the bodies,” Harry said.
Teddy thought about what Harry has said, and then tentatively started quietly talking. “Can you hear me, Mummy, Daddy?
“MUMMY! DADDY!
“I have good grandmas, and Daddy Harry and Mummy Ginny are the best, but sometimes I wish I had a REAL, LIVE Mummy and Daddy. I know you did the right thing, and are heroes and all that. I’m happy you are hero’s, I guess, but sometimes I would rather have a living Mummy and Daddy than dead hero’s.”
Teddy turned to Victoire. “You’re mummy and daddy are so nice, and I wanted you to meet mine. I think it was a stupid idea. I’m sorry.”
Victoire went up and hugged Teddy. “Not stupid!’ she said. “Sorry your mummy and daddy dead.”
Teddy turned to Harry and Ginny. “Thank you for letting me come with you.” He looked at the graves again. “They’re dead. They’re not just gone, they’re dead. Dead.” He took a deep breath, held on to Victoire’s hand and Bill’s hand, and turned to go, sobbing, tears streaming down his face.
Bill sat on the ground with his feet out in front of him, and drew Teddy into his arms. Teddy put his arms around Bill and buried his face in Bill’s shirt, sobbing so hard he was having a hard time catching his breath, the tears flowing out. Victoire came and joined in, and Bill put one arm around her. Victoire said again, “Not stupid, Teddy. Not stupid.”
Harry said, “Remus, Tonks, I just want to say that Teddy is growing up to be a fine young man. He acts like the oldest of Arthur and Molly’s grandchildren, responsible for the other grandchildren like they are his cousins. He is smart, polite, a joy to all. He is surrounded by love. Thank you for the gift of Teddy.”
Bill said, “Teddy has adopted us as another family, and we love him like another son. Thank you for Teddy, Remus and Tonks.”
Harry was holding James, Ginny holding on to Harry for balance, and he walked over to his parents graves. “Hi mum, dad. If you can see me you can probably see me anywhere, but I just wanted to come here and show you your first grandchild. James Sirius was born last Sunday, so he’s not even a week old. ”
Harry took a deep breath. Ginny looked at Harry, then back at Teddy. Ginny was pretty broken up after hearing Teddy, and she did not know how Harry was holding up. This was already more than she had bargained for.
Harry said, “You know, mum and dad, it was all worth it. I’m sorry, just like Teddy, that you cannot be here for me, but you are going to have grandchildren and great grandchildren. You’re the real winners, and Tom Riddle is dead and gone.
“James Sirius, Grandma and Grandpa Potter may not be here for you, but you are here because of them, and I will never let you forget that they gave their lives for me, and you. Thank you again.”
Harry turned to the rest of the people and said, “Let’s go back to the Burrow.” They walked silently to the Lionheart house and took the floo back to the New Burrow.
And not so very far away James and Lilly, Remus and Tonks, and their parents and grandparents, watched the scene in the graveyard, and listened, and gave thanks.
When they returned to the New Burrow Teddy found Grandmother Tonks and said, “Mummy and Daddy DEAD!”
Andromeda Tonks looked at Teddy, and all the sorrow of losing her husband and daughter came back to her. “They’re dead, they’re dead. Yes, all of them. Teddy’s an orphan. We’re so sorry.” She pulled Teddy into a big hug, sobbing, the tears streaming down. “We’re so sorry. We’re so sorry. Oh Teddy. Everybody is so sorry, but they are still DEAD.”
Teddy burst into tears again, and cried with his grandmother for some time.
Victoire turned to her father, tears in her eyes, and said, “Teddy sad.”
Bill said, “Yes, Toire, Teddy is very sad. We should let Teddy and his grandmother cry. I will take you home.”
Victoire said to Teddy, “I sorry, Teddy.” She grabbed onto her father’s hand.
Bill said, “We’ll be here tomorrow, Teddy.” Bill took Victoire’s hand and they took the floo home.
Teddy finally pulled himself away from his Grandmother Tonks. He said to Harry, “Daddy Harry, I’ll be … I think … just, can I cry?”
“Yes, Teddy. You may cry,” Harry said. “He gave Teddy a big hug, before going home with Ginny and James.
Teddy then went up to his bedroom. Molly came into the room. Teddy climbed into Molly’s lap, not bawling but gently crying.
After dinner Molly came over to Grimmauld Place and said, “Teddy, Andromeda and I talked a lot about living and dead relatives. Teddy came down for dinner. He was subdued, but not crying. I don’t think he ever cried for his parents before. He’ll be all right, I think.”
Ginny looked at her mother and said, “Will we ever get over the tears?”
“No,” said Molly, “but the tears only come once in a while, and I think tears heal.”
“She is waiting for us in the private dining room, Andromeda,” Molly said as she opened the door. Molly walked into the room, holding the door open for Andromeda.
“Hello Andy,” Narcissa Malfoy said.
“Hello Cissy,” Andromeda said.
Neither sister said anything for what seemed like a long time. Finally Narcissa said, “I am so sorry, Andy. I am so sorry for all your losses, for Ted and Nymphadora and Remus.”
“Were you going to kill Teddy?” Andromeda asked. “At the funeral.”
“Merlin no,” replied Narcissa. “By that time I was so tired of the anger and hate and killing. We were wrong. We were terribly and deadly wrong, and I am so so very very sorry.”
“Just you, Cissy?” Andromeda asked.
“I am afraid so, Andy. Daddy was beginning to doubt if it was right kicking you out of the family, and he really missed you. Mum is still living, at the Malfoy Manor, and she is still a Pure Blood Fanatic. I don’t dare let her know I am meeting Molly.”
Andromeda said, “If I tell Teddy anything about you he will tell anybody he knows. He cannot keep a secret.”
“Is Teddy why you are here?” Narcissa asked.
Andromeda said, “Harry took Teddy to see his parents’ graves. Teddy did not know what Dead was, and wanted to meet his parents. When he was at the graveyard he began to understand how permanent Death is. We have had a few rough days, and a lot of talk about biological family. Praise Merlin for Molly. I don’t think I could have done it all by myself.
“Talking about family, about you, that’s what made me think that I really ought to start meeting you again. I don’t want to have a living sister that I don’t know.”
“As far as I am concerned you are my sister, Andy, and have always been my sister. I’m not going to put up with our parents prejudices anymore,” Narcissa said.
Andromeda said, “We were each going to have three children. One of us would have two girls and a boy, and the other two boys and a girl. We were going to live in big houses with rich loving husbands and our children would grow up together.”
Narcissa said, “I had a rich husband. I guess I still have a rich husband, not that it does me much good. I think any love he had for me is gone. I don’t ever expect him out of prison, and I’m ashamed to say that I am almost relieved that he will never be coming out.”
Andromeda said, “I had a loving husband, until he was killed. We were not rich, but we were happy, until the troubles started again.”
Narcissa said, “At least I have a sister again.”
The two sisters held hands, and cried together over all the lost years.
The two sisters, and Molly, agreed that they would try and meet again in another month, and they did meet monthly for years.
Very far away the third sister watched the meeting, and raged, her anger disappearing into that much larger love that is the afterlife of the good. It was lonely and powerless in the afterlife, just pain, and viewing all the people who you hated. There was nothing you could do to hurt any of them, the living or the dead. All that her rage did was turn the hate and hurt inward. What was left of her raged and raged, and got smaller and smaller.
Chapter 16: CH 16 Introducing James to the Family
Author's Notes: Just a little fluff. Things will start to get more serious soon.
Sunday October 24 the family got together again. This was the first introduction of the entire family to James, and everybody needed to see the 8th of Molly and Arthur’s grandchildren. Teddy Lupin was 6 , Fred 5 , Molly and Victoire 4 , Roxanne 3, Lucy almost 3, Dominique almost 2, and Louis was just over two months old. Everybody had to look at James, comment on his red Weasley hair.
Ginny and Fleur were sitting right next to each other, with Harry next to Ginny and Bill next to Fleur. James and Louis started to get hungry at the same time, so Ginny and Fleur started to nurse the babies of the same time. Victoire hauled Teddy over to her mother and aunt Ginny and said to Teddy, “When we grow up we are going to have lots of babies. I’m going to have BIG breasts like mummy.” At this she put her little hands up to her flat little chest and made a motion to demonstrate her words, “I’m going to feed our babies just like mummy. Girls are the only ones who get to have babies and nurse babies and wear beautiful dresses,” and at this she held up her hands and twirled around showing off her pretty dress. “I’m glad I’m a girl.” She kind of sighed and looked at her mother and Aunt Ginny with a big smile.
Fleur was certainly not small on top, especially when she was pregnant or nursing, but her beauty was less a function of any part being oversized as it was, as Bill would say, “How well they were all put together.” Victoire was a beautiful little girl for the same reason; small across the shoulders and with just enough hips to be obviously a girl without having any part inappropriate for a 4 year old girl. Fleur was not only a beautiful woman but she knew how to dress herself and her family, to make them all look fantastic. She even knew how to let Bill be somewhat flamboyant and at the same time not inappropriate for the business responsibilities he had as head of the Potter estates. Bill was making more than enough money to let Fleur indulge in the best of clothes.
About this time there was a big noise from a more distant corner of the house, and from the noise you could tell Fred was probably involved, as he usually was, and George and Angelica both took off to see what was going on, along with Bill who was concerned about Dominique. Molly and Lucy were more often observers or not at the scene of any trouble; they were both reasonably timid.
Teddy said to Victoire, “I’m really glad you’re a girl,” and then he also left to see what was going on, equal parts trying to be the helpful big cousin and at the same time trying to see if it was something he wanted to be involved in.
Harry thought that this family was absolutely the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Bill came back and said, ‘George and Angelica have everything under control. They have some new gadget they want the children to look at.” At this Victoire took off to join the fun.
Harry asked Bill, “What is going on between Teddy and Victoire.”
Bill said, “Victoire has quite a crush on Teddy, and Teddy thinks Victoire is the best of the cousins. Both of them are cautiously adventurous. Freddy is a little wild for both of them, although they both like him and are willing to play with him. Molly and Lucy are too timid. Roxanne is OK, but she is Fred’s little sister and they are really a pair. I think Dominique is still trying to see where she fits in. She’s still pretty young. Sometimes Victoire treats Dominique like her doll, a big living doll, something Dominique is not all that fond of.
“Teddy and Victoire like exploring the beach and cliffs along the beach, like exploring in general. They are so careful, telling us where they are going, and if anything looks dangerous they want us to know about it, but if we say it is something they can do they still want to take a risk. We have healed a few strains and cuts and bruises, but I would rather have them be a little bold than afraid of everything.”
Harry said, “Victoire wants to marry Teddy!”
Bill said, “I think that’s just a phase, but if by some miracle they are still together when they grow up at least they are not cousins. I’m not worried, yet.”
Monday morning Harry was in meetings much of the morning. Harry’s new secretary, Mary Lou Creevey, had some time on her hands. She went over to where her husband Dennis Creevey was working, to see if she could help him, but as an Auror he was just getting ready to leave for the day. As she was walking back to her desk she saw another girl who was in her same year at Hogwarts, Eloise Urquhart. “I think my boss is in the same meeting as Harry,” said Eloise. “I think it is going to last all morning.”
“Harry and Gawain have just started to train me, and I’m not sure what to do,” said Mary Lou. “Most of the other things I used to do other people are doing now.”
“Some of the girls just get together and talk at times like this,” said Eloise.
“Harry can’t be as good as people say,” said Eloise. “People talk about him like he is some ideal wizard, faithful to everybody and everything. He has to have some faults.”
“He’s not perfect,” said Mary Lou, “but he is a really nice guy.”
“I know he is thrilled about being a father,” said Eloise “but I know guys can not have sex with their little wives before and for some weeks after the baby is born. The guys I know do not want to wait that long.”
“Maybe the problem is the guys you know,” said Mary Lou.
“Harry’s just another guy,” said Eloise, “just one more famous than most.”
That afternoon just before they were leaving Eloise approached Harry. “How is fatherhood, Harry?” asked Eloise. “Is the baby taking all of Ginny’s time?”
“He sleeps a lot,” said Harry. “We have plenty of time to talk.”
“No sex for a while,” said Eloise.
“I think a nursing wife is very sexy,” said Harry, getting a little red.
“There are others who can help you take care of your urges, if you need any help,” said Eloise, trying by her body language to indicate that she was available.
“Ginny and I are doing fine,” said Harry, giving no indication that he was reading Eloise’s body language. “If we have any problems we just ask her mother. Molly Weasley, with all her children and grandchildren, is a wealth of knowledge. I can always ask Arthur or one of my brother-in-laws as well.”
“Your mother-in-law can’t help you take care of your sexual urges,” said Eloise, still trying to indicate by her body language that she was available. A lot of guys picked up on the body language, but Harry’s mind seemed to be elsewhere.
“She gave us the “Witches and Wizards Graphic Guide to Married Sex” book, a rather explicit book that certainly helped,” said Harry with a snarky grin.
Eloise had to think about this answer. Her body language alone was obvious, if you knew what you were looking for. Harry had not gotten what she was hinting at. While she was thinking about this Harry said, “I really have to get going, Eloise. Maybe we will see each other tomorrow.”
The next morning Mary Lou Creevey asked Harry, “Did Eloise see you last night?”
“We talked a little just before we left,” said Harry.
“Did she offer to help you take care of your sexual urges?” asked Mary Lou.
“Did she what?” asked Harry.
“What did she talk about?” asked Mary Lou.
“I’m not sure,” said Harry. “Ginny and me, and how it is going after James. Ginny is a great mother. James is our first child, but she took care of Teddy, nursed him for 3 months when his mother was killed, and then we took care of Teddy for the months we were in North America. James is kind of our first and a half child. It’s going really well!”
“She didn’t offer to have sex with you?” asked Mary Lou.
“What?!” said Harry. “No, not that I know of. I know she has a reputation of bedding members of the ministry.” Harry shook his head.
“I think Eloise made a subtle offer, Harry, and you didn’t get it,” said Mary Lou.
“That’s stupid,” said Harry. “Why would I ever … it just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Thank you Harry,” said Mary Lou. “You are not only a good boss but a good man.”
Harry went away wondering if Eloise had made an offer to have sex with him, and determined to shut off any hint of a conversation going in that direction if Eloise ever made an overture to him again.
Mary Lou told Eloise that Harry just didn’t get that there was an offer on the table. She was going to have to be over the top direct if she wanted Harry to know what she was offering, and Harry was almost certainly going to turn her down. Any such blunt offer was almost certainly going to get Ginny furious as well, and that was not a good idea. “Harry is very even tempered,” Mary Lou told Eloise, “but I’ve heard a few stories about Ginny’s temper. I know someone who said some nasty things about Harry and Ginny, and Ginny confronted her. It was like getting the worst howler you could imagine, but the person sending it was right in front of you. No one who was at that confrontation will ever forget it.”
The story of Eloise trying to seduce Harry, and Harry not getting it, circulated around the ministry, further diminishing Eloise’s reputation but enhancing Harry’s.
Friday October 29 Ginny took James to St. Mungo’s for both of them to get a thorough checkup. James was fine, ideal for a 2 week old baby. Ginny was also fine. The spells she was using, plus exercise, were getting her body back into shape. She was told it was fine for Ginny and Harry to make love again, and she was given potions that would keep her from getting pregnant while you were nursing.
“I’m going to start reporting on Quidditch games again, starting tomorrow,” Ginny said. “If I compile the scores from all the games I am up pretty late Saturday night.”
“Don’t overdo it, Ginny,” the midwife said. “Remember, you just had a baby.”
“Is it normal to be tired all the time?” Ginny asked. “I feel like I haven’t gotten a good night sleep since James has been born.”
“You have not gotten a good night’s sleep, with feeding the baby every few hours. Eventually James will sleep through the night, and then you should not be so tired.”
Ginny did watch the Harpies every Saturday, and got a column out late Saturday for the Sunday Prophet, for the rest of the season. Her plan to quickly resume her Tuesday and Thursday columns was harder, and not totally successful.
One of the results of having a young boy, Teddy, living with them when they went to North America was that Ginny and Harry had to wear something to bed; you never knew when a small boy would run into your room for some reason or another. Even though Teddy was not sleeping with them James was going to be in their bedroom for a number of weeks, and even when he moved to the nursery he was going to be back in for nursing from time to time, so they were still wearing night clothes.
Ginny decided that she needed to show Harry that their brief period of abstinence was over, and before she went home she went to a store and purchased a new nightgown.
Friday night James finished nursing about 11:00 PM. Harry was reading some material from the Potter Estates. When Ginny was done nursing James she let Harry know and he came into the bedroom to change James’s nappies and put him down to sleep in his crib. As Harry came into the bedroom he noticed Ginny’s nightgown; it was hard not to notice. It was very feminine and lacy, and about as transparent as a garment could be. It opened in the front to make nursing easier, but otherwise looked like a baby doll nightgown. The bottoms were almost non-existent, and what was there was also feminine and transparent.
Harry took a good look at Ginny with a big smile on his face. “No need to wear anything to bed right away, Harry,” said Ginny. “This nightgown will come off easily as well.” When Harry came back into the room he was ready for Ginny. He noticed that Ginny’s figure was close to getting back to the way it was before she had the baby, although he could see evidence of where she had carried the baby. She was a lot bigger around on top, and the hips were bigger too. Harry would never say it to her, or to anyone else, but she was just a little chubby. Not fat, just a bit fuller figure. Harry though that even if the tummy never went away it was no more of a problem than the scars, evidence of how much she loved him. It was easy for Harry to say, “Still the most beautiful witch in the world.”
Harry and Ginny thought that life could not get much better.
Chapter 17: CH 17 Problems with Muggles
Author's Notes: FriendofMolly pointed out that Vernon would BELLOW and not just say. It is hard to find anything good about him.
Monday, November 1, 2004, there was a big meeting at the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry was beginning to be overwhelmed with the number of times Witches and Wizards who were caught apparating or otherwise doing magic on the ever increasing number of security cameras recording more and more of Great Britain. They were also having to do more to take care of problems with witches and wizards using regular mobiles, (instead of the special and more expensive wizard mobiles), and then apparating or using the floo network and suddenly appearing in vastly different places. Wi-Fi was not causing a problem yet, but there were all sorts of ways modern technology was threatening to expose the magical world.
Arthur Weasley had a large group of witches and wizards working on the problem, but just trying to take care of the problems after the fact was not working. The only way they were even keeping up was to employ as many Muggle born as possible.
Harry had just been to class on these problems. “We can teach witches and wizards how to do the spells to see if there is a security camera or any type of Muggle camera around,” said Harry.
“How do we let Witches and Wizards know these spells exist?” asked Arthur.
“How many of the magical people in Great Britain know what kind of problems the ministry is having?” asked Harry.
“We don’t have any idea,” said Arthur.
“We don’t have any good formal way of letting all the Witches and Wizards know anything,” said Kingsley.
“How many of our magical people get the Daily Prophet?” asked Harry.
“Maybe three quarters of them,” said Kingsley. “Another small group only gets the Quibbler or Witches Rumors. A few do not get either but do get wizard radio. This leaves a small group that is very hard to reach, and in some cases these are witches and wizards that are very hard to find. The harder they are to find the less likely they are to cause problems with modern technology.”
“So we really don’t need to worry about getting to everybody,” said Harry. “Articles in the Prophet and Quibbler should get to most of the magical community.”
“You going to get your private reporter to help?” asked Kingsley.
“I’m sure Cindy can help,” said Harry, “but I was thinking of getting more help. I can talk to the editor of the Daily Prophet and to Lovegood of the Quibbler. If we have some real troublemakers maybe I can get Rita Skeeter to do a few nasty articles. Skeeter owes us.”
Harry ended up getting Cindy and Rita and several other reporters and writers involved. Dennis Creevey was able to take excellent photographs of the problem, and his father helped, showing what a totally Muggle photograph or video showed when a Witch or Wizard apparated or otherwise used magic in front of Muggles. Of course getting a Muggle deeply involved in something so close to the secrecy act was a real concern.
Harry taught spells to tell if you had a Muggle camera of any type looking at you to a number of people in the Ministry, and everyone who had been caught by a Muggle camera had to take one of the classes that the people Harry taught were teaching, so they could avoid getting caught again.
Harry got a law passed that made it mandatory to take the classes, the beginning class if you were caught once and a 2 day class with some serious “talking to” by Harry or Kingsley, threatening serious fines and restrictions if they were caught again. Over the next months the number of problems gradually started to go down, instead of going up.
The next problem they had to tackle was financing the Ministry, and in fact financing the Wizarding community in general. Wizards did not usually need a lot of Muggle money, but as more and more magical people were using Muggle technology more and more Muggle money was needed. The British Wizarding Community needed to earn Pounds as well as Galleons. Harry had an answer to that problem as well. One day what had become weekly Monday meetings Harry announced that the Potter Estates had purchased about 500,000 square feet of industrial buildings in the London area, close to Grunnings the drill company that his cousin (and the Potter Estates) was in the process of buying, and that they were going to be making things for Muggles and getting paid in pounds.
Harry needed the help of the Ministry because they were going to take a lot of unemployed or underemployed Witches and Wizards and put them to work. Some of them had been supported by the Harry Potter Trust since the Battle of Hogwarts.
November 8th Belinda Shashaguay from North America showed up with details on what they wanted to do with the factory they had purchased. Apparently Bill, Belinda and Dudley had been meeting and planning this for the last year. She and Dudley Dursley started to work together on what they wanted to do with the magic/Muggle technology. By this time George Appleleaf had a wizard accountant working on the magic side of Grunnings, and the company Belinda’s family owned had sent over a business manager.
By the middle of Wednesday it was becoming apparent just how big and complex this project was. Bill thought Harry and Arthur and Kingsley all had to be involved, and they were all deeply involved in their own work as well. Bill did not want another evening away from his 3 children, and he knew Harry wanted some time with James, so he invited Harry and Ginny and James, Arthur and Molly and Teddy (there was no way Teddy was going to be kept away from his cousins), Kingsley, George and Grace Appleleaf along with their two youngest children Jonathan and Gala, Dudley Dursley and Belinda Shashaguay for dinner and then a meeting after dinner.
Bill and Fleur had used some of the very substantial money the Harry Potter trusts were paying him to build a new and much larger Shell Cottage, and to make the grounds really special. They had a large glassed in Sun Room, almost a glassed in patio, sitting out away from the house but connected to it, and overlooking the ocean. It was one of those special rooms that even if it had been all Muggle construction would have been magical. As it was the space was as comfortable a place to meet as you could imagine. Dinner was served here, with the mothers’ feeding the two babies and Bill and Harry trying to watch over Teddy, Victoria and Dominique. When they were done Teddy, Victoria and the Appleleaf children disappeared to play and Fleur took Dominique up to bed while Ginny and Molly watched the two babies play in an enclosed playpen.
Harry started the meeting by saying, “I have been working with the International Aurors’ Association, and there is an increasing amount of evil that focuses on Great Britain, on the Weasley family, and in particular on Ginny and Me. The Potter Estates has increased the number of Auror grade private guards around us and those close to us, and around our property.
“The only problem is that extra protection is expensive. That is one of the reasons we are looking to earn more money.”
Bill said that everything was going well, but there were some personnel issues that needed to be addressed. “We have 3 couples that are going to be working for the companies, all 3 with a Muggle married to a witch or wizard. George Appleleaf has a couple working in the accounting. Both are comfortable in the magical community as well as in the Muggle community. He is a wizard that went to Hogwarts and, because his father is an accountant, went on to college in accounting. There he met his wife, also an accountant but not magical. She is fascinated by the magical world, and really likes living half in the magical world.”
George said “I want them there because they are the ideal couple to work with both the Muggle and the magical community.”
Belinda Shashaguay said “I have a couple, also a wizard and Muggle, who have been involved in the marketing of some of the products we have been making in California. They are eager to work on the same thing here. Again the wizard went to college after graduating from, in this case, Salem Academy, then because his father was in business went to college for business, then found himself involved in the combination Muggle/Magical business in North America. His wife is a Muggle, also fascinated by the magical world, and together they just hope to develop an interesting business here. They thought it would be fun to live in Britain as well.”
Dudley said, “I have the third couple. In this case I hired an excellent machinist, and found out that he was married to a witch. He was the ideal person to work with us in developing the magic drills. His wife was also fascinated by machining and what we were doing, so after their children went to Hogwarts she became a journeyman machinist, and she has been working with us the last couple of years.”
Harry said, “What is the problem?”
Kingsley said “The secrecy act. Putting Muggles right in the middle of a magical enterprise is at the minimum is irregular and under normal circumstances illegal. I want to point out that we have a Muggle here.”
“I may not be married to a witch,” said Dudley, “but I’ve become comfortable straddling the Magical/Muggle world. I’ve had to hide anything about this from my father!”
“So what do we do now so we can employ these people?” asked Harry.
“So like Harry,” said Kingsley. “Not can we do it, but how do we do it.”
“Of course!” chimed in Ginny. “If you have enough guts you can get away with anything!”
“It’s not that simple, Ginny,” said Kingsley. “There are laws both in Britain and Switzerland against this type of close wizard/Muggle cooperation.”
“So we change the laws,” said Harry. “We make sure we keep our existence as secret as possible, but at the same time we are not secret from spouses. We are not secret from Muggle parents of magical children. We make careful adaptations to the laws to take account the spouses and parents who may be Muggles but who are involved in the magical world.”
“We need a meeting of the Wizengamot,” said Kingsley, “but I am not worried about winning there. There is enough respect for Harry and Bill, and I might say myself, to get approval from the Wizengamot. We will get away with it at the International Confederation of Witches and Wizards, because they have no power to micro-manage local governments, but we are in at awkward position. Harry and I both have a lot if influence at the Confederation, but we are going to have some explaining to do. No one is saying we can not do what we are planning on doing, but I want to stress how careful we must be.”
Belinda Shashaguay said “I have another small group that wants to join us, Goblins. They want to build a home in magical space connected to the factory compound, and grow a family group here. The reason they want to come is Harry, and the changes Harry and Hermione are trying to make in House Elf and Goblin relationships.”
“We have not really done anything to change the relationship with Goblins,” said Harry.
“Don’t be so sure,” said Bill. “You personally, and the Harry Potter Estates, and Harry Potter Trust, have bent over backward to be fair to the Goblins.”
Harry said, “You are the one who has most of the dealings with the Goblins, Bill.”
“I’ll certainly take some of the credit, but you started the process when you buried Dobby, and you and Hermione have kept it going,” said Bill. “All the work you are doing for house elves has not escaped the notice of the Goblins.
“Gerhard Richter and I both work closely with the Goblins, and have gotten to know a couple of them rather well. Goblins are very hard to know, but we have talked frankly with them. Neither of us really knows what their family life is like, and we are not sure what their homes are like either.
“Harry, Belinda, you should get to know the Goblins at the factory as well as possible, and if there is any chance of becoming friendly with any of them jump at the chance.”
The rest of the meeting was taken up with how they could hire Muggles, and what sort of restrictions the Muggles and the magical people should operate under.
Within the week Hermione’s Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures became the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and Muggle Relationships, by which they were referring to Muggles working for a Magical business, witches or wizards working for a Muggle business but using magic, businesses that employed house elves or goblins or other intelligent creatures, and unusual living relationships including someone other than parent/child where you had Muggles and magical people in the same household.
Hermione ran an efficient department, was fair and compassionate, but could be very tough when she needed to be. Her department ramped up quickly to handle the extra work load.
Ginny had started to go to Harpies Quidditch games 2 weeks after James was born. November 13. Ginny was going early to interview a couple of the players and then see if she could talk to someone on the other team. She wore James like a backpack, but on her front. Of course Mitzi was always with her, but usually so inconspicuous that she was almost like a piece of jewelry Ginny always wore. Harry was meeting Dudley and Belinda, and was going to try and make the game shortly after it started.
Harry was not totally surprised to see Herodotus Budziszewski meeting with them. It seemed that the display spells that made the mapping program possible could also be used to see inside of machines, and other variations could be used to see very small objects, like a microscope but better. Some of the spell variations that Harry thought were utter failures were just taking the display in a different direction than he wanted. Harry became one of about a dozen witches and wizards working on the display spell. The magic that his father and father’s friends had come up with to make the Marauders Map was taking the magic world in directions Harry could hardly imagine.
Harry got to the Harpies game just after 12:00 noon, after begging off lunch. Donna and Bill Lionhart were there. Ginny gave Harry a hard time for being late, and then said “Look at Donna. The baby has dropped, and I bet from looking at her she is starting to have contractions. I asked Fleur and she says Donna is going to have her baby soon.”
Monday mid day Ginny got word that Erica Lionheart was born early in the morning of November 15, and that mother, father and baby were doing just fine.
Friday November 19 Harry had a chance to meet with Belinda while both were at the Ministry, and both wanted to talk at much greater depth. He contacted Ginny and then invited Belinda and Dudley to dinner that evening.
About 6:00 PM Belinda and Dudley showed up. Ginny noticed that they were a reasonably good match for each other in size. Dudley was a lot thinner than he was at his peak, but at 6’4” and 250 pounds he was still a very big man. He was bigger around on top because he was trying to lift weights a couple of times a week, and at work he easily moved large pieces of the steel and carbides that the company used. Belinda was a full 6’2” tall and about 235 pounds, well distributed with big hips and a bust that was reasonable in size mostly because she was so big overall, with a defined waist. Both were thick around the middle but neither was obese.
Dudley was clean shaven, with dark brown hair that was of a moderate length, neatly combed, brown eyes, reasonably light complexion. Belinda’s complexion owed much more to her Dutch ancestors than the distant American Indian from whom she got her last name, with dark blue eyes and hair that was light enough that it was almost but not quite blond, pulled back into a ponytail.
James was sleeping when Dudley and Belinda arrived, and Dudley asked “Where is the little guy?” when he arrived.
“Sleeping,” said Ginny. “He’ll probably wake up and want to nurse about the time we have started to eat.”
“Long way from sleeping under the stairs, Harry,” said Dudley. “Here you are, married, with a child, and a rich hero to boot.”
“Won’t make a bit of difference to your dad,” said Harry. “Come on into the dining room. We can start with a drink and appetizers.”
Once they got into the dining room Harry said, “Either Shashaguay is a more common name than I thought, or you are related to the Shashaguay family I met in Michigan.”
“A couple generations removed,” said Belinda, “but we are related. The branch of the family I come from moved to California about 50 years ago. We are still metal workers.”
“So why did you come to Britain?” asked Harry.
“All the eligible guys in California were too short,” said Dudley.
“Big enough for me, Dudley?” asked Belinda with the biggest smile on her face.
“I’m Harry Potter’s cousin!” said Dudley. “How much more magical can you get?” At this he laughed a hearty laugh.
“My mother and father said, ‘could you please try to find someone magical’ when I said I was going to come here,” said Belinda, smiling and shaking her head. “You are going to be working with Harry Potter. Find someone in Harry Potter’s family, instead of the Muggles you have been dating.’”
“I’m sure not one of the Muggles you’ve been dating,” said Dudley.
“Are you dating?” asked Harry.
Dudley and Belinda looked at each other. They both kind of shrugged their shoulders. Finally Belinda said, “We’ve never exactly had a date. We just spend almost all of our time together, partly because we have so much to do, and partly because we just enjoy each other’s company.”
“Have you met Dudley’s mother?” asked Ginny of Belinda.
Belinda said, “Briefly. Dudley stopped at his parents’ house to pick up something, and introduced me, not as a girlfriend, but just someone who was working with him in expanding the company.”
“What do you think of her?” asked Ginny.
“I’ve not spent enough time talking to her,” said Belinda.
“What do you think of Vernon Dursley?” asked Ginny.
“He is so bad he’d be comical if he wasn’t real and someone we have to work around,” said Belinda.
“We may have to fire him,” said Dudley. “I’m worried that would kill him.”
“I hear James,” said Ginny, and she left to get James. A few minutes later she was back with a wide awake James. “We’re going to have an unhappy baby if he doesn’t get fed right away,” said Ginny. She sat down and started to nurse James.
“We’ve never talked about babies,” said Dudley.
“I’m not having any babies until I’m married,” said Belinda.
“I don’t want to become a father until I’m married, and only with my wife that’s for sure,” said Dudley.
“Better be careful, Dud,” said Belinda. “I’m 31, and my biological clock is ticking.” Belinda asked Ginny, “How many cousins does James have?”
For most of dinner Ginny and Belinda talked about family, Ginny’s brothers and their wives and children, and the smaller immediate family but large extended family of Belinda.
After Dinner they went up to the living room. Ginny asked, “Dudley, how did Harry get to be your partner in Grunnings? I’m always surprised in what he is involved with.”
Harry said, “Most of the details are worked out by Bill and his staff. I’m continually amazed at what they have the Potter Estates involved in.”
Dudley said, “I came to Harry because we had a problem. My dad and his sister Aunt Marge owned one third of Grunnings. Over the last 20 years dad has been buying out Aunt Marge, and she does not own any of Grunnings right now. I’ve been buying into the company, but my money has just helped dad pay off Aunt Marge, so between us Vernon and I own 1/3 of Grunnings.
“Each of my uncles owed a third of Grunnings. The company has been profitable, but not enough to buy out the uncles. We have had to make enormous investments in high tech equipment just to keep up. The only super profitable division is the magic one, the division that my father can not know anything about.
“Both uncles wanted to retire. I think both are real tired of working with my father, and I can appreciate what they have gone through. He has gotten fatter, less healthy, and his famously short temper has gotten shorter and shorter. Besides he’s just a nasty man. So I approached Harry, and his staff looked at Grunnings and some of the other projects that we could do and thought it would be a good investment.”
Harry said, “Vernon of course has no idea that I have anything to do with the group that owns 2/3rds of Grunnings. Bill does have a couple of people who works for us who have taken a hands-on approach to managing Grunnings, and they have helped the company already.”
“They have banished Aunt Marge,” said Dudley. “She was nothing but trouble when she came to visit the company.”
“Can we confine your dad to marketing the drills, something he knows something about?” asked Belinda.
“Can we, Harry?” asked Dudley.
“Ask Bill and his team, not me,” said Harry. “All you need is me walking in telling your dad ‘Hi Vernon, I own your company. How do you like the witch who is going to be running your company, and by the way, she has her eyes on your son. We’re planning on giving you plenty of witch and wizard grandchildren.’”
“That would take care of dad,” said Dudley. “He would probably have a heart attack on the spot. Either that or he would kill me.”
Ginny noticed that when Harry casually mentioned Dudley and Belinda having magical children together neither batted an eye. They seemed supremely comfortable with each other.
Much of the rest of the evening was taken up with financial documents and Harry learning about some of the projects and equipment that was going to be transferred to the British location. Harry was fascinated by everything; it was all over Ginny’s head, and she ended up either playing with James or reading a Quidditch magazine.
Before they left, Belinda asked Dudley, “Do you think your mother would like to meet her new nephew?”
“It wouldn’t hurt to try, as long as Dad was not home,” Dudley said.
“I think the only time I saw your Aunt Petunia was at our wedding, and a lot of other things were going on that day,” Ginny said. “I would like to meet her. Vernon wasn’t at the wedding, was he?”
“Dad doesn’t even know we went to the wedding,” Dudley said. “I try to see Mum when Dad is not home. I see too much of Dad at work.”
A couple of days later, at about three in the afternoon, Harry and Ginny arrived at the house on 4 Privet Drive. They were all in the Auror’s Gray BMW SUV that Harry owned. Harry made sure to park in the street, and not in the drive.
Dudley was dressed in a suit but no tie, the outfit he wore when meeting customers. Belinda had a tailored suit that looked both very professional and very feminine. Harry had his Auror’s uniform on, looking very professional. And Ginny had on a dress that showed all her curves, looking like a very sexy young mother. They went to the living room, and Dudley said, “Mum, this is Ginny Potter, Harry’s wife, and their new son James. Ginny was hurt in a sporting accident, and this is Mitzi, the house elf that keeps her from falling.”
Ginny went over to Petunia and showed her James. Petunia looked at James, and sort of smiled. It was hard to get angry at a baby, and a sleeping baby was hardly a threat.
Petunia did not say anything, so Dudley said, “Belinda and I were over at Harry’s for dinner a couple of days ago, and we thought that you might like to meet Ginny and James.”
“You and Belinda?” Petunia asked.
“We’ve been spending a lot of time together, working on the business,” Dudley said. “We get along very well.”
“Does your father know?” asked Petunia.
“He very seldom sees her. She is working for the other division of the company,” Dudley said.
“Does SHE know what Harry is?” Petunia asked.
“Harry and I were in a class together in San Francisco,” Belinda said,
“Are you one of HIS kind?” Petunia asked, obviously horrified.
Dudley said, “Belinda is a witch. I think it would be best if we do not tell Dad.”
“Do you want help getting some tea?” Belinda asked.
Petunia was very flustered, but accepted Belinda’s help.
“Not very welcoming, is she?” Ginny said.
“I hope Mum will accept Belinda,” Dudley said. “I’m really worried about Dad.”
Shortly after Petunia and Belinda came in with the tea James woke up. Harry put James down on the floor and quickly changed his nappies. Dudley said, “You look like you are a real pro at changing nappies, Harry.”
“I’ve had experience,” Harry said. “I changed nappies for three months with our godson after his parents were killed, and then have had at least has a little practice with James’s seven younger cousins.”
“James is going to want to nurse,” Ginny said.
“You have to feed the baby, don’t you, Mrs. Dursley,” Belinda said.
Petunia just sat there, looking uneasy. Ginny had never experienced this kind of uneasiness. Almost all Witches nursed their babies. She ignored Petunia and started to feed James.
James had just latched on and was nursing well when everyone heard the noise of Vernon’s car in the driveway. He barged into the front hall, bellowing , “Petunia!” Before huffing and puffing like he was dying. “Who has that bloody car parked out front? Flashy thing.” He huffed and puffed some more, and turned into the living room.”
“POTTER, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” Vernon yelled. “WHO IS THAT FEMALE EXPOSING HERSELF, AND IN MY HOUSE.”
James pulled away from Ginny and started to cry. Ginny sat their stunned, not sure what to do.
Harry got up and said, “Stop scaring my son.”
“GET THAT BRAT,” Vernon said, before he was huffing and puffing again. “Didn’t feel well. Came home early to …” Vernon had to stop and catch his breath again.
Vernon looked at Belinda, then at Dudley, and said, “That fat bitch with you again.”
James was tentatively nursing again. Ginny took out her wand and did a shield charm so James could not hear Vernon yell.
Vernon turned to Harry. “Get that female and, is that your bitch? Unnatural like all of you.”
Belinda, who towered over Vernon, got right up and said, “There is no excuse for yelling like that. Babies have to be fed, and only a mean bastard would get happy about starving babies and unhappy mothers.”
Vernon said, “Her dress is open and she’s poking her … her … boob …”
Vernon was staring at Ginny, but turned to stare at Belinda, who was right in his face. She pushed his head down so he was looking right at her breasts, and said, “That’s what these are for. Get used to it, before you have grandchildren.”
“I’ll be damned if I let some bitch expose herself in my house,” Vernon said, just before he collapsed on the floor.
Dudley and Petunia took an obviously sick Vernon upstairs.
As soon as James was through nursing, and changed again, Harry and Ginny, Dudley and Belinda took their leave of Petunia.
Once they were in Harry’s car Belinda looked at Dudley and said, “I cannot expose a child to him. I just won’t.”
Dudley didn’t say anything, but you could see sorrow and frustration in his face.
Sunday November 29 Ron and Hermione told the family that Hermione was about 4 weeks pregnant. Hermione had wanted to wait a few more weeks, but Ron was so excited that it was hard to keep it a secret, and the family could spot the signs in Hermione in any case.
Monday December 15, in the middle of the afternoon, Ginny called Harry and asked where he was. “I’m in my office at the Ministry,” said Harry. “I’m not planning to go anywhere.”
“I’d like to come over,” said Ginny. “I’ll see you in a couple of minutes.”
There was something in Ginny’s voice that worried Harry, and he was a little upset. Ginny arrived, James worn on her as usual, Mitzi at her side. She came into Harry’s office, and Harry could see she was close to tears. “Oh Harry,” said Ginny “Hermione just lost her baby. She had a miscarriage this morning. I feel so bad. All the other couples in the family have children, and Ron and Hermione just lost their first.”
Harry held on to Ginny. He looked at the work on his desk; none of it seemed that urgent. Hermione and Ron had gone to St. Mungo’s when it looked like she was having problems with the pregnancy, but went back home. The family took the floo home and went next door to Ron and Hermione’s house. Molly was there, as was Jean Granger, Hermione’s mother. Hermione was about as emotional as Harry had ever seen her. Harry and Ginny spent the rest of the afternoon not saying much but just being present for Ron and Hermione.
Friday December 17 Dudley and Belinda ate dinner with Harry and Ginny again. Belinda had a problem. “Dudley is coming home with me over Christmas to meet my family. The fact that he is a Muggle of Muggle parents is not going over well, and when I said that he was Harry’s cousin they absolutely refused to believe it. How can we have them meet you and prove that you and Dudders here grew up together?”
“Mirrors!” said Ginny, and she brought out the two little mirrors that she and Harry had used to stay close when she was traveling with the Harpies or he was out of town for an extended period.
“They are too small,” said Belinda. “I need something like a wide screen television.”
“Let’s ask George what they have,” said Harry. “Maybe Ron knows.” The stores were closed for the night, but Ron was right next door, and he and George both seemed to know not only what they had in inventory but what they could get. Ron may not have had the academic knowledge of Hermione, but when it came to what WWW sold Ron knew what it was, what it cost, what they were selling it for, and most importantly for Ron, how much profit it made.
Ron and Hermione came over, and on the spur of the moment they decided to have dinner together. Mabel said she could make a dinner for 6 as easily as one for 4.
Belinda said, “I’m so sorry you lost your baby, Hermione.”
Hermione said, “I know it was early, and that miscarriages in the first couple of months are not all that rare. I shouldn’t feel so bad, but I do. I went back to work yesterday, but I was not all that productive. Thank you for concern.” You could tell from the way she carried herself that Hermione was still having a hard time loosing the pregnancy, even though it was early.
Dudley said, “I’m going to be going to San Francisco to meet Belinda’s family. They do not believe that I’m related to Harry, and we want Harry to be able to talk to my family. Do you have magic mirrors like the ones Harry and Ginny have, but larger, like two foot by three foot.
Ron conjured us a list of some sort started looking through it. He did some more conjuring and got more information. “Wow,” said Ron. “They can make one ten foot by twenty foot. It only takes 6 months and costs 100,000 Galleons minimum.”
“Beyond our budget, Ron,” said Dudley. “Even in pounds that is way beyond our budget.”
They finally came up with a 1’ x 2’ mirror that could be rented for 25 Galleons. December 23 Harry and Ginny took a call from Belinda on a mirror that had been delivered the day before. Harry talked to Belinda’s family for about an hour, and in the end they accepted Dudley as Harry’s cousin, and someone Harry could vouch for.
Chapter 18: CH 18 "James First Christmas"
Author's Notes: The title ought to be “James First Christmas, Hermione’s Difficult Christmas, and Ginny’s Revenge. FriendofMolly named Hermione’s parents years ago, and shared her thoughts with me. Thank you, Diane.
It was Saturday December 18, the week before Christmas. Harry, Ginny and James were in the drawing room, and with the house elves were decorating the room for Christmas.
Harry looked at the fireplace and said, “We need stockings.”
Ginny looked at Harry’s feet and asked, “You want socks for Christmas?”
Harry said, “No, Christmas Stockings. Father Christmas brings presents for good boys and girls Christmas Eve. The Dursley’s always had Christmas Stockings for Vernon and Petunia and Dudley on the fireplace mantel.”
Ginny said, “And none for you, I expect.”
“Father Christmas forgot me,” Harry acknowledged. “Maybe that’s why I want Christmas Stockings on the mantel for James.”
“And for Harry,” Ginny said. “We will need to get one for Teddy as well. Then he can stay over here Christmas Eve, and get his stocking in the morning before we go to my parents’ house.”
“Do not forget a Christmas Stocking for the fantastic mother of this family,” Harry said. “I’m working double shifts until Christmas again. The Aurors with young children really appreciate me helping out, especially Christmas Eve. I could always count on Cho to take over supervising the second and third shifts Christmas Eve, but she has been working fewer hours lately. She will still be in about eleven, but not way before. I think she has a boyfriend!”
Ginny said, “You have said you were worried about Cho. She was working too many long shifts, and didn’t seem to have a life outside the Aurors.”
“Mary Lou Creevey is privy to most of the gossip around the office. Cho is very private, but everyone is sure she is seeing someone. Even her Auror uniforms look a little sexier, a little more feminine. Mary Lou commented on it to me, and said she was sure Joey and Laura Middy had something to do with it.”
“You didn’t notice?” Ginny kidded.
Harry tried to think how he was going to answer this question. Ginny and Cho were not exactly friends. “I don’t think I noticed until Mary Lou pointed it out,” Harry said. “I guess it is pretty subtle.”
*****
Harry got back very late Christmas Eve, almost one in the morning. “Sorry, Love, but there were a couple of problems that delayed me,” Harry said.
Ginny asked, “Was Cho on time?”
“Just,” Harry said, “She was a little distracted. I asked her if her Christmas Eve had been good, and she almost swooned. I didn’t get any facts, but something good obviously happened.”
*****
There was not much in the Christmas stockings, but Teddy was thrilled. Ginny could see very mixed emotions in Harry. It was obviously very important for him to start this Muggle Christmas tradition, but there was still, she was sure, the memory of all those years with him being the only one without a Christmas stocking.
Harry said, as they were getting ready to go to The New Burrow, “Maybe for the first time I feel like our little family is starting its own Christmas traditions.”
“Next year I will work on what to put in the stockings,” Ginny said. “I sort of feel more like a parent, helping Father Christmas with the presents.”
“I want to treat Teddy the way I wish the Dursley’s’ had treated me,” Harry said.
*****
Harry and Ginny delighted in another Christmas at the New Burrow. Teddy was 6 , an absolute delight of a child. He was maybe a little too aware that he was not like other children, being raised by grandmothers and a grandfather (Grandma and Grandpa Weasley not really grandparents, but really grandparents in every way that counted). He loved Harry and Ginny, and Bill and Fleur as substitute parents, but he was very aware that they were substitute parents. Bill and Fleur were still not quite sure how they got so thoroughly adopted by Teddy. Somehow, although the trust Harry has set up for Teddy always paid for Teddy’s clothes, Teddy had talked Fleur into buying clothes for him. He could always transform himself into a strikingly good-looking child, and at Christmas he was as handsome, and as well dressed, as a little boy could be, at least as handsome as a little boy with constantly changing and sometimes rather striking and strange-colored hair could be.
Teddy had adopted James as his “god-brother,” and was proud to hold him and talk to him. Victoire was also proud of her brother Louis, and occasionally the two of them would sit down together and the mothers would put the two babies in their laps.
Freddy was 5 . Freddy had been very excited that his aunts were having boys, since all of his cousins so far were girls. He was most disgusted when they were born. “They aren’t boys, they’re just dumb babies,” he said when he was shown them. “You can’t play with dumb old babies!” Although Freddy was not allowed anywhere near the cash register, he was very capable of selling some of the WWW products, and enjoyed it. He thought selling was a game, one that he enjoyed immensely. Of course he was always as flamboyantly dressed as his parents, never more so as at Christmas.
Little Molly at 4 was not as timid as she was a year ago, but still was a quiet good little girl. Of course Molly was conservatively dressed.
Victoire at 4 had turned into a real character. She was vain about her beauty, delighted that she was a girl, and proud of being an older sister. Even her play clothes were feminine and obviously of the highest quality, and a Christmas dress was as fine, feminine, and frilly as a dress could be, with jewelry appropriate to her age but again obviously high quality and beautiful. Victoire was also a reasonably talkative and energetic girl as well. She still looked more like Molly’s granddaughter than Fleur’s daughter.
Roxanne was 3 , and was beginning to come into her own. She was a little overshadowed by her older brother, but had become very talkative. You could not be too subtle and survive in a family with George and Angelina as parents and Fred as your older brother, and she was not subtle. She and Fred did not have disagreements, they had fights! There was a good reason why when she and Fred got into trouble both parents ran, or if only one parent was present some other adult ran. Grandma Molly occasionally said “Those two are as bad as (or sometimes as good as) the twins.”
Lucy was 3, not as timid at her sister Molly, but still a quiet good little girl. Unlike Fred and Roxanne, if Molly and Lucy fought it was more a semi-polite disagreement. They were always conservatively dressed, but Percy was doing well enough at the Ministry that the girls never lacked for anything. They were a little intimidated by their other cousins, but not intimidated enough not to want to be in on the action.
Dominique was 2 years old, fully a talkative active toddler. She both admired her older sister, and could get very frustrated when Victoire was in the dominate “older sister” mood. She was just as pretty as Victoire, but a different type of pretty. Vela genes were strong in Dominique, and she looked like her mother. She and Victoire generally got along, and more often than not she would go along with Victoire when it came to play, and do what Victoire wanted her to do. She was a little intimidated by Freddy, and in awe of Teddy, who was so grown up in her 2 year old eyes.
Louis and James were both infants, both good babies.
Molly was delighted with the 8 grandchildren, and in general it was a very good Christmas for the family on Christmas day.
The only thing that kept the family’s spirits down a little was that Hermione had lost her baby. Hermione was really down, close to tears, much of Christmas day. Ron was doing his best to comfort her, but you could sense a tension and sorrow there. So as Christmas Day was drawing to a close Ginny quietly talked to Harry and then invited Ron and Hermione back to their house for drinks and some quiet conversation. Hermione agreed, and they went up to the living room, Ginny arranged the furniture so there was an intimate sitting group, and Harry had Mabel bring some wine for everyone.
Ginny said “You have been so sad this Christmas, Hermione, I thought my heart would break for you. Is it just losing the baby?”
Ron held onto Hermione’s hand and looked at her with a great deal of compassion. You could tell all Christmas that Ron was trying to support Hermione the best way he could, mostly with non-verbal gestures, holding her hand, looking at her, and occasionally hugging her and lightly kissing her. Hermione looked at Ron, got ready to say something, and gave a great big sob. At this they hugged. After a brief while they broke off the hug, Hermione sort of brushed herself off to compose herself, and said “It’s not just losing the baby.” She gave sort of a sob and continued on. “My father has terminal cancer.”
Harry and Ginny looked at Hermione, at each other, and back at Hermione. At almost the same time they said, “I’m so sorry.” Ginny followed up with “Is there anything we can do?”
Hermione said “I don’t think there is anything anyone can do to heal my father. He has lung cancer, and now it is in his brain and all over his body. His thinking is starting to go, and the doctors say he will probably go quickly.”
Ron patted Hermione’s hand again, and she gave him a loving and grateful look. She took a small drink out of her wine glass, asked for some water which was immediately provided, and took a small drink out of the water glass. Everybody waited for her to continue; it was obvious from her manner she had more to say.
“It’s not like I come from a large or long-lived family. Both my parents were only children, and their parents were older when they were born. My father’s parents were gone before I was born, and Mum’s father died when I was very small although I sort of remember him and the funeral, and my last grandmother died just before I went to Hogwarts.
“Mum and Dad met at the dental clinic where they work. She was just out of dental school, and he was 10 years older. It took them a few years to court and get married, and they did not want to have children right away. My mother did not get pregnant with me until she was 35 and she was 36 when I was born. Dad was 46.
“Mum only worked part-time when I was small. She took 4 years off and taught me to read; I was reading by 3. She and I read and studied and talked about everything.
“Dad was harder to get to know. Even after I modified their memories before they went to Australia and then got them and restored their memories, even after spending time with them then, and seeing them … that’s the problem. We never have spent that much time with them.”
“Maybe you can get to know your father more the next few weeks,” said Ginny hopefully.
“No,” said Hermione. “His brain has already started to go. He was barely able to talk Christmas Eve.”
Hermione gave a great big sob again and said, “He found out he had cancer about the same time I told them I was pregnant, and decided to fight it with everything he could, so he could live to see his first grandchild.”
Hermione tried to compose herself again. “From what Mum said it was harder on him when I lost the baby than it was on me. He just sort of gave up then. I’ve been so selfish, not wanting to have a child because I was afraid, and busy with all the things I wanted to do, and just thinking they would always be there. And now my father is never going to know any grandchildren, because I waited and waited, and then lost the baby when I finally got pregnant.”
Hermione took a couple of deep breaths, looked at Ron, then at Ginny and Harry. “I’ve never failed at anything, but I feel like I’ve failed at the most important part of my life.”
“You can be there for your mother,” said Ginny. “Would you like me to come with you? That’s what family is all about. I can spend a lot of the next days with you, as long as I can bring James along.”
“I was going to go there tomorrow morning,” said Hermione. “Ron has to work, first at the ministry, and then at WWW, and I was going to help at WWW, but he has told me I am not welcome back at WWW until all this is over.” Hermione looked at Ron and said, “Thank you again, Ron. I would not be much of an upbeat salesperson anyway.”
“The days right after Christmas are some of our busiest,” said Ron, “or I would go with you. George says if I have to be with you they will cover. I may have to ask Harry and Robards for some time off. Eventually I will have to be with you, I know. When that time comes I will be there for you!”
“I’ll be there!” said Ginny. “That is what family is. What time do James and I have to be ready?”
“9:00 AM,” said Hermione. “I’ll meet you outside the front door, and if James delays you I will just come in to your house.”
Ron and Hermione walked out the front door of the Potter house and went in their house next door.
Ginny looked at Harry and said “What do I do? I’ve never sat with anyone who had a dying relative. We’ve seen a lot of death, way way too much, but it’s all been tragic violent death. We were with Kreacher and Azalea, but that was house elves. I don’t know if it is different with a parent.”
“I don’t know, Ginny,” said Harry.
“Maybe Mum knows,” said Ginny.
“James is sleeping,” said Harry. “You could try and pop over there for a mument while I stay with James.”
Ginny immediately went downstairs to the Floo without saying a word to Harry. Of course as soon as Ginny got up Mitzi was at her side. Ginny called for her mother, who was in the kitchen and answered. She then disappeared into the Floo for the New Burrow.
As Ginny came out of the Floo she noticed that both of her parents were there. There was a little sitting area sort of in the wing that had their bedroom but most of the time open to the kitchen, with comfortable chairs for Molly and Arthur and a grandchild or two, and many a grandchild had been held in Grandma or Grandpa’s lap in that little area. Ginny found a kitchen chair and took it into the area and sat down, eyes downcast and sorrowful. There was no use hinting at anything. She said, “Hermione’s dad is dying. That’s one of the reasons she has been so sad. I’m going to go over to her parents’ house tomorrow with Hermione. What do I do?!”
“Oh poor Hermione” said Molly. “First she miscarries, and then this!” Molly looked directly at Ginny. “I think it is very good that you are going to be going with Hermione. Spend as much time as they want you to. You do not have to do anything. If they need something they will ask, and then if you can you do it. Just being there is the most important thing. And if you need more help let your family know. We are all here for support and to help when necessary.”
“Just be there?” asked Ginny.
“Just be there,” said Molly. “I know you like to do, but sometimes just being there is more important than anything we can do.”
“Thanks Mum,” said Ginny. “I love you, you too Dad.”
“Tell Hermione we love her,” said Molly. “She’s part of the family, and anything we can do we will.”
“I will, Mum” said Ginny as she went back to the Floo and back to her house.
Sunday the 26th was Boxing Day, but some of the stores were going to be open in the afternoon, including WWW. Harry got a call at 7:00 AM. One of the Aurors on duty said, “I think every witch and wizard who did not have a mobile got one, and they are all taking the Floo network or apparating all over Britain with their mobiles turned on. There is enough chaos in the network that we are covering for now, but we need your help!” Harry would spend a good part of the rest of the year trying to tell witches and wizards why they could not just suddenly disappear in one place and appear in another with their mobile turned on. When a couple of them asked why Harry seemed to be able to, he said, “I have a special and very expensive wizard mobile with multiple numbers. It costs as much as 10 regular mobiles, both to buy and per month. We can get you one of these, or you can learn to turn the mobile off when you travel.”
Harry and Department of Magical Law Enforcement also had a magical application you could put on most mobiles, that looked like the mobile was on even though it was not, to tell you how long you had to wait before you could turn it on again. If you did not obey the mobile's suggestion they would hard wire it in, or confiscate your mobile and force you to buy a special wizard mobile.
Even without Hermione’s dad dying, Harry’s week between Christmas and New Year was somewhat of a nightmare.
*****
Ginny walked outside her front door, 2 month old James on her hip, baby travel bag over her shoulder, Mitzi by her side, at 9:00 AM, and Hermione walked out the front door at the same time. James had been sleeping, but the cold air sort of woke him up. Ginny knew where Hermione’s parents lived, as did Mitzi, who had to help Ginny Apparate, and they apparated together.
As they arrived James limbs got stiff, he gave a big start, let out a large wail, and looked at his mother like “what did you do to me?” He was wide awake and very nervous. He grabbed on to his mother hard, and put his head against her, eyes wide open sort of shaking. “I’ve never Apparated with James before,” said Ginny. “It does not look like he likes it.”
“Well it is a strange sensation,” said Hermione.
The two women and James went in the front door of Hugo and Jean Granger’s house. “Hello, Ginny,” said Jean. “Thank you for coming. This must be James.”
James was still upset from Apparating, and meeting another strange person was the last thing he wanted to do. He shrank away from Jean and pushed his head even harder into Ginny. “James had his first experience Apparating as we came here,” said Ginny, “and I think it scared him. He usually warms up to people quickly.”
Jean Granger looked questioningly at Mitzi.
Ginny looked at Jean and then said, “Mitzi, this is Hermione’s mother Jean Granger. Mrs. Granger, this is my house elf Mitzi. She helps me keep my balance, among other things. I’ve really never recovered from my sporting accident.”
Hermione went in first, followed by Ginny holding James, Mitzi at her side. Three large Siamese cats came up and sniffed at Mitzi, then looked at Ginny, then looked very hard at Mitzi again. Mitzi waved her free hand in some complicated way. The cats backed off but continued to look at her.
“Cats be fine,” Mitzi said. “I let them know who boss is.”
“I think your father wants to see you,” said Jean to Hermione. They went into the living room where Hugo was sitting in an overstuffed chair. “We are having some problem with pain,” Jean said, “and the hospice nurse should be here this morning.”
“What’s a hospice nurse?” asked Ginny.
Jean said, “Hospice is an organization that takes care of people who are dying, letting them die at home if they want to, surrounded by friends and family. They are just excellent at pain management and keeping people comfortable. The only real requirement for hospice care is to accept that you are dying. Hospice tries to keep you comfortable, not alive.”
Hugo motioned for Hermione to come over, and said, “wan .. waan,” pointing at Hermione.
“My wand?” asked Hermione. Hugo nodded.
“Mem .. mem,” said Hugo pointing to his head. “Old mem .. old mem.”
“You want me to find some old memories?” asked Hermione.
Hugo nodded and then said, “block ked mem o,” and he closed his eyes like this had been a terrible strain.
“Blocked memories, like by magic?” asked Hermione. “Real old blocked memories?” Hugo nodded yes.
Hermione put her wand up to her father’s head. For about 5 minutes there was a tremendous strain on both of their faces. Finally Hermione said, “It’s real messed up and confused up there, Dad. I’m having a hard time getting anything. I think I have found some very old memories but I do not know if I have unblocked any.”
“Somewhere!” said Hugo very strongly. “Wan … trunk … attic … go,” and he slumped down in his chair.
“You want me to go up to the attic and get a trunk, with my wand?” asked Hermione.
“Open,” said Hugo. “Go.”
James had almost fallen asleep, and Ginny put him on a blanket on the floor, where he proceeded to doze off. Hermione and Ginny then went up to the attic of the Granger house. There in the attic, among boxes and other stuff, was a very small trunk. If you went up with a magic wand looking for a magical trunk it was obvious that this was the one. You could not open it with a key, but with a wand it was easy to charm it open.
Right on top was an old Daily Prophet. There was a photograph of a young man that looked something like a younger version of Hermione’s father. There was another photograph of the ruins of a house. The paper was dated October 1970, and the headline over the paper was “Another Auror killed by death eaters.” The story went on to tell how Mark Granger, who had just become a fully qualified Auror a month and a half ago, was missing along with his Muggle parents, and their house was destroyed by Fiendfyre. The Dark Mark was over the house, and they were all presumed dead. It went on to say there were rumors of an unidentified sibling.
Below the Daily Prophet were photographs of Hugo and his parents and a much younger brother, photographs of Mark at Hogwarts in Gryffindor robes, and other items, not much really, mostly from his desk at the Ministry, a note said, although there were a few photographs that Hogwarts had contributed.
Hermione carried the few photographs and documents down stairs. She gently tapped on her father’s hand, and he woke up. She showed the paper to her father.
Hugo put his hand on the paper and his finger went down to where it said the house was destroyed by a Fiendfyre. “Gone” said Hugo. “Gone. Every, every, every, thing, gone.” Hugo pointed to his head. “Gone, mem-o-ree gone too.”
Hugo looked down at the papers, then back at his daughter who was kneeling by the chair, her eyes level with her father. “Back … Back,” Hugo said, a smile on his face, tears pouring out.
“Your memories are back?” asked Hermione.
“Enough,” said Hugo. “Enough” in a tired voice as he sank into the chair. “Sanks, sanks, sanks,” as he gripped the sides of the chair. In a small voice he said, “Hurts.”
The doorbell rang, and Jean let in a hospice nurse. She checked Hugo over and gave him a shot. She asked a lot of questions about pain. She talked to Jean about Hugo’s ability to speak and eat and breathe. Finally she said to the three of them, “We are into the last days. We have no idea how long, and with cancer like this there is always the chance that something will happen suddenly and we will lose him. His body is strong enough for a couple of weeks or more. We will know more as the disease progresses.”
“Should I be staying here from now on?” asked Hermione.
“You’re his only child,” said the nurse, more as a statement than a question.
“Yes,” said Hermione.
The nurse said, “If it was me I would clear my calendar and plan on spending the next few days here. I’m not sure how much time you can take off work, but if you can I would take it off and be here.”
After the hospice nurse left Hermione asked Ginny if she could stay with her mother while she went home to get some things. Hermione was back about an hour later with a small suitcase; knowing what Hermione had packed in the beaded bag Ginny was reasonably sure there was a small wardrobe in the suitcase. Winky was also with her.
“Helps,” Winky said. “Helps family of Hermione.”
“I went over to WWW and told Ron,” Hermione said. “We are going to be sleeping here in my old bedroom until Dad…” Hermione went over and held Ginny, just barely holding back tears, and said, “Until Dad… dies.”
Ginny spent the rest of the day with Hermione, only going home at 9:00 PM, long after Ron had shown up. Harry got back shortly later.
Monday and Tuesday Harry continued to get James up at night when necessary, although James was sleeping through most nights. He changed James when he and Ginny were together. He left for work about 8:00 AM because mobile phone problems did not usually start early in the morning, but ended up working until 8:00 or 9:00 at night. He did appear at the Granger residence briefly both days. Ginny waited until Harry had left, then she and Mitzi Apparated to the Granger’s. James still did not like Apparating, but the total shock he showed the first time was replaced by an expression of glaring dislike, accompanied by James grabbing Ginny so hard if she had not been dressed for winter it would have hurt.
Hugo Granger spent most of Monday, when he was awake, looking at the papers Hermione had brought down, looking at Hermione and Jean, and smiling. He tried to indicate how pleased he was, but the words came harder and were harder to understand.
Mid-Monday Hermione realized that she was going to have to take care of some things at work. Hermione said, “Harriet Tubman,” and there was the crack of a house elf appearing. Jean Granger jumped. “Sorry missus,” said Harriet.
“You need to stay here! Harriet will take care of it,” said Harriet. She knew of Hugo Granger’s condition. “We will bring you what needs you to sign. Eloise will do what I say. We need you only for a little.”
Harriet dumped a small pile of documents on the table. “I’ll send Ginny back with these when I am done, and have her give them to Eloise,” said Hermione.
“Ginny give them to Eloise?” asked Harriet.
“Why not!” said Hermione with a wicked smile on her face.
Hugo was sleeping soundly. The papers that Hermione had brought down were by his side, and Jean was sitting on a chair next to Hugo trying to read but mostly looking at him.
Hermione finished scanning and signing the documents, folded them neatly and put them in a big envelope.
“Harry is a good man, Ginny,” said Hermione.
“I know he is, but what brought that up?” asked Ginny.
“Do you have any idea how many witches would love to get their hands on the famous Harry Potter?” asked Hermione.
“Too many!” said Ginny.
“Ask Harry how many witches have ever made a play for him. Mary Lou Creevey has, and Harry told her he could not remember any witches making a pass at him. It happens but Harry just doesn’t notice.”
“Witches make passes at him and he doesn’t notice?” asked Ginny.
Hermione said, “He does not notice, or assumes they are talking about you and family. From what I understand Eloise Urquhart, who works for me now, made a pass at Harry just after James was born, said something to indicate she was available for sex if you were not.”
“The bitch! And Harry didn’t notice?” asked Ginny.
“Harry noticed she was talking about you and James, and went on from what I understand to talk about you and James and your family and how lucky he was without the slightest indication she had made a pass at him,” said Hermione.
Ginny said, “He never mentions other women making passes at him. When we are out together occasionally some witch tries to make advances, and he does not seem to notice. I thought maybe it was all me, but he is like that when I’m not around? That’s good to know.”
Hermione said, “Meanwhile I think you showing up with these documents would scare Eloise. None of the men in the Ministry want her working for them. She has caused too many problems.”
Ginny thought a little, then said to Hermione, “She ought to be scared. Harry is almost always nice, but I’m not always nice. I will be glad to take these documents to Eloise.”
Ginny waited until James had nursed again and was back down for a nap. Then with a wicked gleam in her eye, and with the help of Mitzi, she Apparated to the Ministry and went up to the offices of Hermione and her staff. She asked for Eloise Urquhart, and was shown to a cubical where Eloise was sitting at a desk. Ginny’s brothers had good reason to be scared of Ginny. She was an expert in hard-to-detect curses that could make you miserable, and she thought she had just the right one for Eloise; it would make you so sick to your stomach that you had to throw up, and it was tied to thinking of the person who cursed you. Every time Eloise saw or thought of Ginny or Harry she was going to get painfully sick to her stomach and lose its contents, but only after Ginny was gone so she would not throw up on Ginny.
After performing the curse Ginny went into the room where Eloise was and said, “Hermione has these documents for you.”
“Yes, Miss,” said Eloise, still sitting. Making sure Mitzi was still supporting her Ginny grabbed Eloise and stood her up.
“Ginny Potter, Mrs. Harry Potter to you,” said Ginny.
“Yes, Mrs. Potter,” said an obviously frightened Eloise, beginning to get very sick to her stomach.
“Harry still has a hard time imagining that some BITCH made a pass for him just after James was born,” said Ginny, backing Eloise against the nearest wall. “Harry is a little nave and always nice, but I am not nave and I am NOT always nice. My brothers are still scared of me, for good reason.” Ginny was standing right next to Eloise, bodies touching, Ginny pushing hard up against Eloise. Eloise had her back pushed against the wall like she was trying to get through the wall into the next room.
“I do not think they would punish me much if I made you hurt for the rest of your life, not if you seduced a friend or employee of one of my friends or family,” said Ginny. “That’s just about everybody in the Ministry.”
Ginny stood back, glared at Eloise, and said, “Ginny Potter, Order of Merlin first class, married to the hero of the Wizarding world, and a nursing mother as well. They are not going to punish me for cursing a BITCH who made a pass at MY HUSBAND.”
Ginny turned sharply, smiled wickedly at Eloise, and stormed uneasily out, Mitzi vainly trying to keep Ginny from being too unsteady. Eloise shakily walked to the woman’s bathroom and heaved and heaved until there was nothing left in her stomach.
*****
Tuesday morning Ginny thought that if Mark was in Gryffindor Minerva McGonagall should remember him, and she tracked McGonagall down. Minerva came over in the afternoon, knelt down to look at him, and said, “I remember your brother Mark from when he went to school at Hogwarts.” When she said this Hugo got a big smile on his face and noticeably perked up. “Mark was a good person and a good student. He did mention you, and was proud of you. He knew you were a specialist, dental surgeon not just a dentist. Mark would have made an excellent Auror had he lived.”
Hugo reached for the papers, and Minerva looked at them. She had duplicated a couple of additional photographs of Mark from his Hogwarts days and she gave them to Hugo. Hugo really did not speak, but by nodding indicated that he understood what Minerva was saying. After about half an hour or less Hugo was totally exhausted. Minerva walked away from him, and he fell asleep again.
Tuesday afternoon the priest who was the pastor of the Anglican Church the Granger’s attended came over, along with his wife. The pastor said some prayers and anointed Hugo with oil. He and his wife and Jean talked briefly. Harry happened to be there when the priest showed up, and he stayed for the prayers and anointing.
Hugo was in enough pain that a hospice nurse was coming over 4 times a day, 6:00 AM, noon, 6:00 PM, midnight. By 6:00 PM Hugo had been in quite a bit of pain for over 2 hours, and after some consultation hospice decided they needed to have someone there full time from then on.
Late Tuesday morning Harriet had some more papers for Hermione, and again Ginny took them back and gave them to Eloise. And of course after Ginny left Eloise immediately headed to the bathroom. Tuesday afternoon Harry was at the Ministry for a brief period, talking to Mary Lou Creevey about several business matters. When they were done Mary Lou said “Ginny brought over some papers for Hermione yesterday, delivered them to Eloise Urquhart.” The way Mary Lou said it got Harry very curious.
“What happened?” asked Harry.
“I’m not sure, but the witch and elf who saw it said that Ginny was talking to Eloise while pushing her up against a wall, hard. Ginny left with a wicked smile on her face and I think Eloise went to the bathroom sick and terrified,” said Mary Lou with a smile on her face.
Harry looked pensive and said, “Ginny must have found out that Eloise had …” Harry paused and looked at Mary Lou with a questioning look on his face and said, “She really tried to seduce me?”
“She’s done enough seducing in the Ministry, and yes I think she tried to seduce you,” said Mary Lou.
“It’s not a good idea to get on Ginny’s bad side,” said Harry. He thought maybe he ought to do something, but he could not think of what to do. Maybe it was better if Eloise was, was, whatever she was after Ginny had gotten through with her.
Wednesday Hugo seldom woke up. When he did he smiled at Jean and Hermione, but you could tell he was in great pain, despite everything the hospice nurses could do. New medicines and formulations were delivered every few hours, to little effect. He had stopped eating and by Wednesday afternoon he was not drinking anything.
Thursday morning the nurse on duty was having problems. Hugo’s vital signs were becoming erratic. It was taking much more narcotic to keep him comfortable. “This is where some hard choices have to be made,” said the nurse. “Cancer at this end stage can be terrible, causing much agony. Extra narcotic can greatly ease the suffering, but too much can be toxic. There are not any really good choices left.”
Jean said, “Keep him comfortable. Hugo and I have talked about this, and there is no reason for him to suffer. Keep him comfortable.”
The nurse said, “You might want to call any other family today. Hugo could go at any time, and I do not think it is going to be more than a day or two at most.”
Hermione called Ron, and he came and stayed close to Hermione, frequently holding her hand.
Ginny called Harry, who was still very busy, but every break he had Harry Apparated over to the Grangers.
About 3:00 PM Hugo’s vital signs really started to go down. His breathing was becoming shallow, and his blood pressure was dropping. His heart rate was becoming erratic. The nurse said, “We are getting close to the end.” It took another 15 minutes for Hugo’s heart to stop completely. Shortly after 3:20 the hospice nurse said, “He is gone.”
Ron held on to Hermione during this time, and Jean just held Hugo’s hand. James had started to indicate that he was hungry; his schedule was all messed up. So from just before 3:00 to after 3:30 Ginny was busy with James.
Hugo was 71 years old. He had worked until he had gotten cancer, and all of his close acquaintances were from the dental practice. Other than his wife no one knew of any close friends. The pastor said Hugo was privately very devout, and he was very faithful in attending church and financially supporting the church, but he never joined in any groups at the church. He was an intensely private man. Hermione thought the loss of his childhood memories, both the physical loss and the memory loss from the spells, probably contributed some to his personality.
Harriet was there just before Hugo died, without being asked. She stood silently watching as Hugo took his last breaths, and when Hermione was ready gave Hermione a hug, Hermione down on her knees and Harriet stretching up to Hermione. Harriet let Hermione know that she, Harriet, would notify the Ministry. Hermione asked Harriet “How did you know to be here when you were?”
Harriet looked a little embarrassed, but she said “I is still your elf, Hermione. Elves know these things. Being totally free not always such a good thing. You and Ron not free of each other, Hugo and Jean not free of each other. Is what we must do as elf, but is also love. Works for you under contract, but also loves, more than … is also loves.”
Hermione looked a little shocked. “Is also love? Oh Harriet, thank you, thank you, for your love.”
Hermione looked at Winky, who was also crying. Winky said, “Hermione such good mistress. Sad seeing good mistress like this. Winky also loves, Not just obeys, loves.”
Hermione gave Winky a big hug too.
Harriet asked, “May I go back to work? I tell everybody. Stay with family! Loves is important!”
“Yes, Harriet, please,” Hermione said.
Jean and Hermione then hugged each other. Jean said to Hermione, “I had to be strong for Hugo. He was in such pain and I just had to be in control.”
“He’s gone, now, Mum,” Hermione said. “We can cry now.”
The two women held each other for some time, silent tears from both of them. Hermione thought it may have been the first time she had ever seen her mother cry, and it was the first time her mother had cried in her arms.
Ginny sat down, holding James, looking at the scene, tears cascading down. Ginny had so much family, and Hermione had so little, and she had just lost her first baby and father within a couple of months. She just felt so sorry for Hermione and Jean.
Eventually Jean called the church, and the pastor came over. The soonest they could schedule a funeral was Tuesday January 3, because of the holidays and other things going on. Jean also called the dental clinic where they had worked. She knew one of the neighbors reasonably well, and the neighbor said she would let the other people in the neighborhood know.
A little later the undertaker came to collect Hugo’s body. Hermione asked her mother if she wanted to have Ron and her stay in the house, or if she wanted to come back to their house. “I don’t want to stay in this house alone,” Jean said. “You have been away from your house for too long. I’ll go home with you.”
Friday Hermione notified the Ministry that she would be off until Wednesday, back at work Thursday morning. Hermione, Winky, Jean and Ginny (with Mitzi and James) went back over to the Granger house. They cleaned up and got rid of medical stuff that was no longer needed. They were there from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, going out to a local restaurant for a long lunch in the middle, getting maybe 2 hours of work done but doing the essential job of grieving and talking about Hugo, about the life Hugo and Jean and Hermione had together. Ginny would tell her mother later, “You’re right, Mum. Sometimes you do not have to do much to do a lot. This time with Hermione and her mother Jean has been precious, and good, even if in some ways it has been hard.”
Friday evening was New Year’s Eve, but no one was much in the mood to celebrate, so they all went to bed early.
Chapter 19: CH 19 The Funeral of Hugo Granger
Author's Notes: I am writing about a Wizarding Church for a couple of reasons. One has to do with stories around Christmas that are partially written. There are plot reasons why I have Harry concerned about good and evil, and this gives me a vehicle for writing about them. I do not pretend to have any easy answers to difficult moral questions.
If you like a writer who examines moral and spiritual questions I can recommend cpstabell on the whattpad (dot com) site. Her Harry Potter stories are excellent and her Dream series is fantastic.
It was Saturday, New Year’s Day. Harry was working, Ginny was free, well as free as you could get when you had a nursing infant. WWW was going to be closed until Sunday afternoon. George and Angelina, Freddy and Roxanne were going to spend the day with Angelina’s family. Bill and Fleur and their family were in France. Charlie was working; dragons did not take a day off and someone had to cover the holidays. Percy and Audrey, Little Molly and Lucy were supposed to be at the Bakers all day, where Ginny said “They can be bored and boring all day!”
Ginny did not know what Ron and Hermione were going to be doing, but she thought they probably needed to be alone. If Jean needed company that was Hermione’s task now.
Everybody was going to be together Sunday morning as usual. Ginny went over to the New Burrow and talked to her mother and father and helped get ready for Sunday. Harry was planning on taking some time off in January, and go somewhere with just the 3 of them. “I love nursing and love James, but it does tie you down,” Ginny said. “Time away from James is measured in hours, and not very many hours at that.”
Harry spent most of Saturday in the office, scheduling the few people on duty. He had plenty of time to think, and he thought that he and Ginny needed a vacation. He could free up a good week in January, maybe more. He did talk to Al VanLente, and in the end he ended up scheduling a two week semi-working vacation in the Caribbean doing what he had done before, mostly taking it very easy but with some mapping included. He did talk to Ginny a couple of times as he was working on vacation plans.
Sunday the same people were at the New Burrow, but Jean Granger was with Hermione and Ron. Hermione was not as down as she was Christmas. She and her mother were dealing with Hugo’s death. Jean was both a little intimidated by the number of small children running around, and delighted by all the life.
After most of the other people were gone Jean came up to Harry and asked, “Harry, do any witches and wizards go to church?”
“I think my parents went to church,” said Harry. “I was baptized.”
“I want to keep going to church, Harry,” said Jean, “and Hermione has offered to go with me, but Hermione has told me about the Sunday morning family meetings. Having been to one today I can see how she does not want to miss them. I suppose I could go to church on Saturday night, but our local church does not have a Saturday evening service.”
“There is an association of Christian Wizards,” said Harry. “I know the director in Switzerland. I’m going to be in Switzerland this week. We’ve had to reschedule our Tuesday meeting, but I think I’ll be there Wednesday or Thursday.”
Monday there was a Ministry announcement about the Funeral of Hermione Granger Weasley father’s, with a notice that people not used to dressing as Muggles needed to get their clothing approved before going. Elves and house elves were going to be able to attend, staying in the balcony of the church where they would be invisible to Muggles.
There was also an announcement in the Daily Prophet. This worried Harry and Jim Snook, and they had Arthur Weasley schedule several extra DMLE people including a couple of Aurors to quietly shadow the funeral.
Monday afternoon Ginny again delivered some papers to Eloise. She looked so awful, even before she saw Ginny, that Ginny significantly relaxed the curse. Eloise would still get a little sick to her stomach, but not near as sick as before, and she would not throw up, when she saw or thought of Harry or Ginny.
Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM was Hugo’s funeral. The family gathered at 8:00 AM, and Harry and Ginny were there to support Hermione.
There was a chance for guests to gather the hour before the service. Hermione was somewhat surprised to see how many of her father’s professional colleagues were there. Quite a number of them mentioned how proud Hugo was of his daughter. Several of the Dentists said they represented groups who know him as consummate professional, and conveyed the sympathies of a group of people. Hermione heard story after story of not only what a good dentist her father was but also what a good man he was.
The funeral was a conventional Anglican funeral. White vestments were worn, and the service celebrated the Resurrection and Eternal Life. At the sermon the priest talked about how faithful Hugo was. He as Hugo’s pastor had talked to Hugo occasionally, even counseled with him, and could testify that Hugo was a good man. The pastor indicated that Hugo had lost his parents and a brother, years earlier in a tragic house fire, which had scarred him. He was looking forward to meeting them in heaven.
As the service came to a close a close colleague and friend of Dr. Granger stood up. As the acknowledged leader of the group, Dr. Charles White asked the Pastor if he could say a few words. He began with a joke that he had heard Hugo tell many of his pediatric patients, ‘If you are true to your teeth, they’ll never be false to you’. They he would say, “And that’s the whole tooth”. Hermione groaned inside. That was her father!
Charles related many of the stories that had poured into the office when Hugo’s illness was announced. The dentists that he had trained had all said that they were better dentists because of Dr. Granger’s positivity, and his deep belief that God had gifted him with his ability to keep his patients smiling. Dr. White related many stories from patients who had been afraid to go to the dentist until they had an appointment with Dr. Hugo. Dr. White’s final words were said with tears in his eyes, ‘Hugo’s smile will be missed here on earth, but will add a bit of brilliance to Heaven.’
Hugo was buried in a graveyard where there were several generations of Granger’s. Hugo’s parents and brother were not there; there were no graves for them and no record of a funeral, although they had all been registered in the same Anglican Church.
There were a number of suspicious beings that appeared like they may have been trying to get into the Funeral, but the Aurors, other guards, and armed elves, scared off anyone who was not supposed to be there.
After his discussion with Jean, and the funeral, Harry thought more about church. Harry knew his parents were members of a Christian church in Godric’s Hallow. He remembered a brief conversation with Rev. Sergius O’Brien in Switzerland. Harry felt he needed to know more about Christianity and the Magical world. As a wizard, especially with the experiences he had before and at the Battle of Hogwarts, he had no doubt there was life after death. But how do you teach someone to be good, and what is good after all? There were moral questions, and Harry thought he needed some sort of moral framework. He was not concerned about himself so much, but Hermione seemed to have a feeling for right and wrong that was at least part because she was brought up a Christian.
“I’m trying to find a Wizarding Christian Church for Jean Granger,” Harry told Ginny the next day. “She and Hermione want to go to church.”
Ginny looked at Harry like she wasn’t particularly interested.
“I may go with them,” Harry said.
“Why?” asked Ginny.
“My parents were members of the little church at Godric’s Hallow,” Harry said. “I would like to learn more about Christianity.”
“Christians burned witches at the stake,” Ginny said. “I’m not interested in the least about some group that burns witches.”
“Hermione went to church,” Harry said. “She wants to go back. She is one of the brightest, and morally best, people I know. If she got that from going to church I want to know about it.”
“I don’t get it,” Ginny said. “Go, if you want to. Just don’t count on me going with you.”
Harry’s meeting was scheduled for late morning and over lunch on Thursday. Harry sent an owl to Sergius, and they had an appointment for Thursday afternoon right after his meeting.
Thursday afternoon Harry walked over to the offices of the Association of Christian Wizards. Sergius was there, along with another person. Sergius said “Harry, I want to introduce you to Apollo Scherica. Yes, Apollo is Nausicaa’s husband. He is also a Bishop of the Wizarding Christian Church, serving as Patriarch right now.”
Apollo said “I hate the term Patriarch. It implies an old celibate man with a lifetime appointment. We elect our leaders, and we don’t serve lifetime terms.”
Harry said, “There is a Wizarding Christian Church?”
Apollo said, “Actually we are the oldest group that separated themselves from the church. It’s real awkward being a Christian and a witch or wizard, and within the first 200 years of Christianity we decided we needed to be somewhat separate.”
“What do Wizard Christians believe in?” said Harry.
“I’ll let Jack Lewis tell you about beliefs. He is the priest of the little church in London that has a Saturday evening service. I want to talk to you about history.”
“History?” asked Harry.
“There are a lot of things you can not easily understand unless you know the history. First, the Wizarding community has always believed in an afterlife. So as the Jews, in particular the Pharisees began to believe in an afterlife it interested wizards. The issue was one God verses many gods. The Jews at one time believed that their god was the best, the chief god, but later that he was the only God and the rest of the gods were myths.
“Many wizards believe that they are descendents of the gods, the “others” that had magical power. So there is a contradiction between the belief in one God and the belief in the gods.”
“So why become Christian?” asked Harry.
“The teaching of Christ is very appealing,” said Apollo. “There is nothing in the New Testament that contradicts our way of life.”
“So some wizards wanted to become Christian, but there were problems,” said Harry.
“Exactly” said Apollo. “It is difficult to be on both sides of an issue. For example most Christians wanted prophesy to just stop. But if you are a prophet by profession, and good at it, what do you do? One of the earliest pronouncements of the Christian Church was to forbid Christians from eating meat sacrificed to idols, to gods other than the one Christian God. So if you are a prophetess of Delphi, and want to continue to prophesy by killing an animal and read its entrails, but also become Christian, what do you do?”
“You have a real problem,” said Harry.
Apollo said “What we do here is we still kill the animal, and still offer it up, but instead of a pagan priest offering the animal to one of the pantheon of Greek or Roman gods, a Christian priest offers up the animal specifically to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Christian God, in a ritual that is partly Christian, and partly harkens back to the sacrifice of the Jews. After the animal is killed then the priestess reads the entrails, but as she does she is very specific that she is doing this as a skill or gift of her ancestors, but not in contradiction to any Christian teaching.”
“So the other Christians did not appreciate this compromise,” said Harry.
“People who are not magical do not appreciate how carefully we try to be true to both the Christian beliefs, and at the same time true to our abilities and history as magical people,” said Apollo.
“So what is the Wizarding Christian Church like?” asked Harry.
Apollo said, “In many ways we are like one of what they call the Orthodox Christian Churches. We have priests and bishops like all the churches before the Protestant Reformation. We have a hierarchal structure. We have beliefs that are for the most part very orthodox, modified by the need to accept magic. Our church services are more like a Catholic or Orthodox or High Anglican service than a low Protestant service. We believe in the Sacraments that Catholic and Orthodox believe in.”
“Do any of the other churches know about you?” asked Harry.
Apollo said, “We have been at all the major councils of the church, and many other meetings, but usually we are reasonably hidden. Some of the key documents can only be read by magic. We have had good relations with a very few popes, the last one John XXIII. We can trace our ancestry and our priesthood back to the apostles.”
;
After more discussion they gave Harry an introduction to Jack Lewis, the priest in London, along with the time and location of church services.
Saturday afternoon Harry took Hermione and Jean to the church at 5:00 PM, with an appointment to meet with the pastor before the 5:30 PM service was to begin. Ginny said she might come along sometime, but she wanted to stay with James.
The church turned out to be a modest sized church in an older section of London, Saints Merlin and Mungo’s. It looked like it was maybe 200 years old, neither updated recently or in bad repair. Unless you were looking for it you would probably not notice it. The doors were locked, but there was a sign on it that you could read if you were a witch or wizard saying to touch the door with your wand and it would open.
Jack Lewis turned out to be a reasonably young man, in his early 30’s. He introduced his wife Harriet. They had a 7 year old son and 5 year old daughter playing in a playroom at the church.
Jean wanted to know if she could get into the church if she was not accompanied by a witch or wizard. Jack pulled out a wand, touched her and then the door, and said, “Now the door will open for you.”
Harry said, “Apollo Scherica told me you would teach me about Christian beliefs, answer my questions.”
Jack asked, “Did you have any Christian teaching when you grew up? I know you lived with your Aunt and Uncle. Did they go to church?”
Harry answered, “Vernon Dursley hated anything to do with religion and churches. Vernon was, and still is, pretty good at hating. I could do a lot worse than like anything he hated.”
Jack asked, “Any bible stories in school.”
Harry said, “No. Occasionally I get the idea that there is a world of things out there I know nothing about.”
Jack said, “Even if you are not Christian, if you want to understand English literature and art, it is hard without at least a basic understand of bible stories and Christian beliefs.”
Harry asked, “Where do I start?”
Jack said, “Do you have a bible?”
Harry said, “No. What is a bible?”
Jack said “It’s the basic book of Christians. The three great monotheistic religions have written scriptures, writings that contain their key beliefs. The part of the Christian bible that we call the Old Testament consists of writings that date to before the birth of Jesus Christ, and most of them are shared in some fashion with the Jews. The Moslems have their own scriptures, the writings of Mohammed, the Koran. The New Testament was written after the death of Christ.”
Jack gave Harry a bible, and he glanced at it. “Where do I begin?” asked Harry.
Jack said “The worst way is probably to start at the beginning and try to read right through it. I would start with the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, two books written by one author that tell one story.”
Harry said, “This will tell us what Christians believe?”
Jack said, “Not so easily. If you want to a brief introduction as to why you might want to belief you could do a lot worse that to start with ‘Surprised by Joy’ and ‘Mere Christianity’ by CS Lewis.”
“Is he related to you?” asked Harry.
“Even though he was called ‘Jack’ I don’t believe we are related in any way,” said Jack Lewis.
“What about life after death?” asked Harry? “When Riddle cursed me, killed the part of him that was in me, I was in some sort of state between life and death, and I saw what Dumbledore said was Riddle. He was a pathetic creature. What is life after death like? What happens when we are bad? What is the nature of the choices?”
“There are no really good answers to some of those questions,” said Jack. “We have some ideas of the nature of the choice. There is another book by Lewis, ‘The Great Divorce’ that may give you some idea of the nature of the choice, as does his famous book ‘The Screwtape Letters’. The last book of his fairy tale series, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, gives you another parable of heaven, but I would read the whole series from the start not just the last book.”
Jack tried to loan Harry all of the CS Lewis books, but Harry insisted on buying them. Jack told Harry that he would talk to him any time they could schedule a meeting.
It was soon time for the church services. Although Harry did not realize it, the service was conventional, readings from the Old Testament and the New Testament, a reading from the Gospels of the New Testament, a sermon, and then a worship service. There was singing of modern English and American hymns, accompanied by a piano. There was an organ but it was not played at this service. There were about 70 people at the service. After the service Jack explained that there were usually between 50 and 100 people at the evening service, with 250 to 350 at the morning service.
After the service Jean said, “I could get used to going to church there.”
Sunday Jan 9 Jean Granger was at the Weasleys’ with Ron and Hermione. Over the next weeks she became more and more comfortable with Molly and the girls at the Burrow. Jean was delighted to be reconnecting with her daughter, and she ended up moving in with Ron and Hermione.
Saturday Jan 15 Harry again went to church with Hermione and Jean, and Sunday the whole family was together at the New Burrow. Harry had some new plugs for Arthur, and Harry and Ron went out to the garage work shed to arrange the plugs. All the boys followed.
Arthur was fascinated by how Muggles had to plug things in. Electricity and anything to do with computers was a total mystery to him, as magical as magic was to Muggles. Hermione had arranged the plugs on a series of boards hinged from one wall. Harry had a several pair of plugs that carried high voltages and amperages of electricity to run some of the machines at the shop that needed to be moved from place to place. They had just made some changes and standardized on one type of plug, so Harry had several now obsolete plug sets. The shop knew of the fascination that Bill’s father had with plugs and connections, and saved any interesting plug set for Bill or Harry to take to him. The put the plugs on a board, female side attached to the board and male side plugged in, with labels.
Arthur had all the standard European and North American electrical plugs, again arranged so the female side or the side usually on the wall was on a board, the male side and maybe a short piece of wire was plugged into it. He also had generations of computer plugs, several permutations of parallel ports, serial ports, video cables, keyboard cables, USB plugs in almost every possible variation, there were many variations of telephone jacks. He had co-axial cable connections, all the new telephone type jacks that were now used for computer networks. There was even a network interface with stuff plugged into it, none of it working but just showing all the plugs and wires and connections. There were audio cables, DIN and mini-DIN and just about every possible audio jack, from ancient large plugs like the kind very old fashion manual telephone switchboards used to the smallest things the new cell phones used. As far as Arthur was concerned the most fascinating thing about Muggles was that they plugged things in.
There were also a whole series of small battery chargers, with of course plugs on each end. One of Arthur’s prize possessions was a battery powered tool kit given to him as a Christmas present by Harry and Ginny. Using a magic wand you could do anything the drill or saw or sander or light could do, and do it better and quicker, but Arthur was fascinated by all the noise all the devices made and how they were powered. Arthur was very aware that the Dursley’s made drills, and drills went into this contraption and made holes! It was easy to make a hole with a wand, but Muggles could make holes with this large sort of noisy thing that went round and round and pulled out stuff as it worked; to Arthur a portable drill was as magical as any wand to a Muggle.
Ginny had nursed James, and she gave James to Hermione to burp. This was the first time Hermione had ever burped a baby, and she was maybe not terrified but very concerned. When she had gotten a big bubble out of James she carefully put him down. James was wearing the jumper that Molly had knit for him for Christmas, and as she put James down Hermione noticed 3 small set of initials on the back, HJP JSP GMP. “What is this?” Hermione asked.
“I knit a new jumper for each child and grandchild each year,” said Molly. “That is how I identify them, when they are tiny, parents and child’s initials. Harry James Potter, James Sirius Potter, Ginny Molly Potter. Sooner or later most of the jumpers are recycled, back from when we did not have any money and I could not afford new yarn for everybody each year. I still like the idea that each jumper has some old yarn in it.”
I like saving some things,” said Hermione wistfully. “I have a few things from my father we are going to save, so if I ever have any children,” Hermione was beginning to tear up, then she started again, “…if we ever have children…I’m looking at this, and the photographs on the wall, and there isn’t any evidence that I was ever pregnant.”
Molly was slowly beginning to tear up, and she said, “I never had a miscarriage, and none of the other daughter-in-laws had either. I did not realize how hard it could be.” She took a small knitted piece out of her knitting bag, the back of an infant’s jumper. On the back was RBW HJGW. She handed it to Hermione. “I was making it for your baby. I can’t throw it out, Hermione. I can’t take it apart and recycle it. It’s the only evidence I have of the grandchild we won’t have. I look at it …” Molly took a big breath, tears beginning to fall, “I … I … I look at it, and I feel so sorry for you and Ron and Jean.” Molly turned to look at Jean Granger, who was also beginning to tear up.
“You were making this for …?” Hermione looked at the back of the little jumper that would never be knitted. Molly nodded her head. Hermione just totally lost it, and broke down in tears into Molly’s embrace. The two women embraced for a long time.
When the men came back in Hermione was just breaking away from Molly. Ron said, “Why the long faces? Did somebody die or something?”
“Honestly Ron sometimes I think you have the emotional sensitivity of a brick wall,” said Ginny. “Mom has the start of a jumper she was making for your baby, the one who did die.”
Ron looked a little ashen, looked at Hermione and said, “I’m sorry.”
“What if we never have a baby, Ron?” said Hermione. “What if I’m just a big brain but fail and fail at becoming a mother!”
“Oh Hermione, you’ll never be a failure in my eyes,” said Ron. “I’m so sorry for the baby we won’t have, but I still think you are the most fantastic, smartest, most wounderfulest witch in the world.”
“Wounderfulest?” asked Hermione, laughing and crying at the same time.
Ron went over and hugged Hermione tightly. “You are absolutely the wounderfulest woman ever, smartest and bravest and wounderfulest.”
After an extended period of hugging, Hermione and Ron sat down next to each other. Hermione had the back of the little jumper, and said “Your mother was knitting this for us, for our baby.” Hermione pointed out the RBW and HJGW, and then her finger went over the blank space.
Ron looked at the back of the little jumper, and began to tear up. He looked at Hermione, and at Molly, and then the tears really began to flow. Ron and Hermione sat next to each other, Ron’s arm around Hermione, Hermione leaning against Ron, for the next hour, as conversation slowly started again.
As Ron and Hermione got ready to leave, Hermione shyly handed back the little jumper back. Molly said, “Please keep it, Hermione. Here’s evidence of the pregnancy that did not last, with hopes that you will have one that will last soon.”
Chapter 20: CH 20 Revelations
Author's Notes: I should be back to posting regularly, after a brief break. Jet
It was Tuesday, January 3, 2005. Harry, Gawain, and Arthur Weasley were in Kingsley Shacklebolt’s office talking about the upcoming months.
“We know the fate of almost all the people who went missing during the reign of Tom Riddle,” Arthur said. “It was a stroke of genius to use the tapestry with the family trees at Harry’s house to find out if people were alive or dead. We have rescued almost all the people who are still alive. There are a number of people we cannot find, but because of the tapestry we know they are dead. Many of them we may never be able to find.”
“Is the Middy family the one group of people that are still missing?” asked Kingsley.
Harry answered, “Yes, and we do not have any good leads. The missing people are mostly shown as working. We have had a house elf working on the tapestry for months, tracing family lines back and forth. Most of the English Wizarding families are related, if you go far enough back. It has just taken a lot of tracing back and forth to find people.”
“I see Al VanLente wants you to do more mapping in the Caribbean,” Kingsley said.
“It is a combination of mapping and a vacation,” Harry said. “This year we seem to be taking quite a few people. Ginny and I are taking James, and Jim and Sue Shook are coming along as guards, and taking their daughter Sheryl, who is a month older than James. We are bringing Mitzi, of course, and Dobedo. Kreacher wants Fritz, Mitzi’s mate, to come as well.”
“Fritz, the Finance elf?” asked Kingsley.
“You know him?” asked Harry.
“House elf finance is getting to be very complex, Harry,” Kingsley said. “We know him at the Ministry.”
Harry let the subject drop. He did not want to get into a long discussion about the Potter/Weasley elves and finances.
Monday January 17 Harry and the entourage took the closet network from Grimmauld Place to the Ministry and from there over to France and up the coast to where it connected with the North American network. One advantage of the closet network was the ability to take things like rolling suitcases along, or, in Ginny’s case, a pram. The pram had James in it, plus a lot of shrunken luggage. Pushing it Ginny did not need Mitzi holding on to her.
Tuesday morning Ginny and Sue went over to buy new bathing suits. Both of their figures had changed since having children. In addition they were both still nursing. One suit style had separate tops and bottoms, but the tops were more than just bra’s. They had cloth that went down to where the swim suite bottom was.
“It’s called a Tankini,” the sales person said.
Ginny examined the garment, and tried one on. She felt something in the spells she was given, and looked more closely at it. There was some small writing on the inside.
“Sue, see this,” Ginny said, as she pointed at the writing.
“That sure looks like Middy writing,” Sue said.
“Where do these Tankini things come from?” asked Ginny.
“From an American company,” the sales lady said.
“Where are they made?” Ginny asked.
The lady looked at the garments and at the boxes they came in. “I think Pakistan,” she said.
Ginny and Sue each bought one of the swim suits, and brought them back to the house where everyone was staying. The whole group was in one house, set apart from the main complex, with four bedrooms and its own kitchen and living room.
“Harry, when we were given the instructions on how to do the levitation spells for these bras something reminded me of the way the Middy’s make bras. Then I saw this writing, and the style just reminds me of the Middy family. They are made in Pakistan. Could this be a lead to find the Middy family?”
“Maybe, but you would be better talking to Joey and Laura La’Lanna than me. I don’t know much about bras.”
“I cannot imagine why not,” Ginny said, grinning. She called Laura, and they had a long talk about bras and levitation spells and other things Harry knew little about.
“Laura and Joey are going to be here in a couple of days,” Ginny said. “We have a spare bedroom, so they are coming with their four year old twins Mary and Maggie, and two year old Mark. Laura did say she was pregnant again!”
It was Thursday before Joey and Laura La’Lanna could get away, but Friday morning they were at the shop selling swim wear. Between the three women you could get just about every size of bra. Sue took a smaller size, Ginny was reasonably busty, and Laura was big. All the suits in the shop could adjust to a range of sizes with magic, so the three women had a good excuse to look at all the swimwear.
The one brand said “Middy” all over it. Harry and Jim looked in wonder as Joey and the three women talked about levitation spells, all the subtle ways a bra could change your appearance, and how the spells and fabric, working together, made a difference.
Finally Joey said, “If we can find out where these were made I am almost sure we will find my family.”
Harry contacted the International Auror’s Association, and it was agreed that after the vacation Harry and Joey were going to follow the trail of the swim wear back to Pakistan and from there to wherever it lead.
Meanwhile the four couples finished out their vacation. Harry did map the island, and took some time to map a couple of other islands as well. He kept feeling that there was a major evil presence in the Caribbean, and was very glad there was an Auror couple close to them. The North American Ministry even sent over another Auror couple to fly alongside Harry whenever he was mapping.
Taking a vacation with a baby was not quite the same thing as taking a vacation with just the two of them. Harry and Ginny did have some time to talk about how their life had changed. For a few years they would be tied up with little children, especially if they had more children. Ginny was gradually becoming resigned to having to focus on a limited number of things at a time. Quidditch was over, she was not going to be an Auror, so she would be focusing on being a mother of small children for a few years.
“Harry,” Ginny said after they were at the resort a couple of days, “I just feel bigger and slower than before I was hurt and got pregnant.”
“I still think you are the most beautiful witch in the world,” said Harry. “There is a little more of you, but it is nicely distributed.”
“I don’t have a flat stomach anymore!” said Ginny. “I’m not shaped the way I was before I had James. That is why I wanted to get a couple of those Tankini things. They cover your tummy.”
“You look like a cute young mother, and you are one,” said Harry. “James is worth it! You’re a fantastic mother.”
“I love being a mother,” said Ginny. “I love nursing James, and when I think that he is part you and part me he is even easier to love. It’s just that I have to give up something for everything I get, sort of. It’s never going to be quite like my childhood dreams, is it, doing everything at the same time?”
“No” said Harry. “The priest at St. Mungo’s and Merlin’s talked about a bible passage, that there is a time for everything. Sometimes you are building and sometimes you have to tear down. There is a time for war, for fighting, and a time for peace. I guess this is our time for having a family.”
Ginny said, “A time for me to be a little fat mum. Boggarts!”
Harry smirked, and said, “A time for you to be very curvy, which your husband likes!”
Ginny stretched, and smirked, and proceeded to show all her curvy parts to Harry. Since they were alone, and James had just started a nap, they took advantage of the vacation time to act like a young, married couple.
Monday February 21 Harry came home from work and asked Ginny, “Do you remember me saying that Cho Chang was not working so hard, and that something had happened Christmas Eve?”
“Maybe? Sort of?” Ginny responded.
“Cho got married last Saturday,” Harry said. “She’s pregnant, became pregnant between the engagement and the wedding.”
“Some couples don’t WAIT until their Wedding Night!” Ginny said.
“You don’t expect our children to wait?” asked Harry.
“That’s different,” said Ginny. “Of course I want OUR children to wait.”
Harry gave Ginny a funny look; he didn’t see any difference. Ginny didn’t say anything more.
For Ginny the next few months were all “mummy” months. She was able to write a weekly column on Quidditch, focusing mostly on the Harpies. Once Quidditch season started she ramped up to two columns and a piece Sunday reporting on all the scores.
Ginny was also part of the large group of mostly women who took part in the parenting and home schooling of the children at and around the New Burrow.
Harry called together a meeting of the International Auror’s Association shortly after everybody got back from the vacation. He let everyone know that they finally had a lead on finding the Middy family.
Harry and Joey Middy laid out all the information they had from the vacation.
Al Van Lente held a private conference with a couple of Aurors from North American and Asia, and then the three of them met with Harry and Joey.
Al said, “This is Joey’s show, Harry. We do not want you involved.”
“Why?” asked Harry.
“All you need to do is to put Joey officially on leave, so he can plausibly be working for his family in trying to find out where these bras are made. We will have undercover people close at hand or working with him.
“You are too easy to recognize. Besides, Asia is a dangerous place for you to be.”
“Why is Asia any more dangerous than any other area?” asked Harry.
“I will tell you later,” Al said, as he dismissed Harry. Harry felt like he was back in his student days, when Dumbledore did not tell him everything.
Al finally came out of the meeting with Joey. Harry cornered Al and said, “I don’t like people keeping important information about my safety from me! What is going on?”
“Come with me to the Prophesy department,” Al said. Harry sullenly followed Al. He was getting real tired of being the subject of prophesies.
Al had Steven and Valerie Bushman, and Nausicaa Scheria, all meet with Harry. Al said, “Please tell Harry about the prophesies that are keeping me from sending him to Asia.”
Valerie said, “There are, as you know, two bad wizards that we are very concerned about. There are a lot of prophesies that say with these two, or their successors, are killed or gotten rid of, there will be a new era for magical people. They are both very bad people heading a network of very bad people and beings. Both use Dementors.
“Harry, you are a sworn enemy of the Dementors, and of using them in any way. I agree with you that we should not use them. They are headquartered in Asia, in the Himalayan Mountains. They want you dead, no matter the cost, since you are destined to father the next ruler, the ruler who has a chance to overthrow for good the close relationship some individuals have with Dementors.”
“So I just stay away from that part of the world?” Harry asked.
“For as long as you can,” Valerie said.
“Am I going to have to go over at some time?” Harry asked.
“I think it is far more likely that your son and his soulmate will have to go over,” Valerie said.
“James?” Harry asked.
“We do not think so,” said Valerie. “Perhaps you’ll have another son.”
“Just what are this son and his, his soulmate? Just what are they supposed to do?”
“Take the two ancient wands, the two Elder wands, and defeat the Lord of the Dementors,” Valerie said.
“And where will my son get this Elder wand?” Harry asked.
“From you, that is what these prophesies say,” Valerie said.
“You’re taking about, Dumbledore’s wand?” Harry asked?
Valerie nodded.
“NO BLOODY WAY!” Harry yelled. “I do not see how anyone would expect me to give a child, an adult child, any of my children that cursed wand! No way.”
No one said anything else.
“Soulmate?” Harry asked.
“Like a close couple, golden threads on the Tapestry, even before they are married. A couple before they are a couple, sort of,” Valerie said.
“You are sure of these?” Harry asked.
“Reasonably sure,” Valerie said. “That’s why we really don’t want you to test the prophets by going into danger you should avoid.”
Harry felt very unsatisfied and unsettled leaving that meeting.
Harry was involved in the Wizengamot, in mapping various spaces, and other things in addition to his major responsibilities as 2nd in command of the Auror department. About twice a month Harry accompanied Hermione and Jean to church, where he continued to ask Jack Lewis questions. By the end of April he had pretty much finished with the CS Lewis books, leaving him with more questions than answers. He was gradually going through the bible, book by book working with Jack Lewis.
Harry spent a couple of days a month February, March, and April in Switzerland helping with some mapping there. They were finding some hidden spaces there. They did not know how to get into the hidden spaces, but there was some indication the “the wizard that was to come” was involved. There was also a prophesy about “the gods coming back,” but no one could make any sense out of that or be sure of the timing or even if it was valid.
The middle of April Harry came home after work and told Ginny, “Joey did it! He rescued all of the family that was held captive in the Himalayan Mountains. It sounds like he had quite an adventure!”
Ginny could read Harry pretty well, and she asked, “Are you sorry you were not there with Joey?”
Harry sighed, and said, “I guess, a little. I just feel useless dealing with paperwork and personnel issues, although I know it is important.”
“I’m glad you are not in danger, Harry,” Ginny said. “I want you around for a long time, raising our children with me.”
“Children?” Harry asked. “Am I missing something?”
“Not yet,” Ginny said. “I’m still nursing James. After James is weaned we will have to talk about another one.”
Harry put on a crooked grin, and said, “I didn’t think talking, was what made babies.” He gave Ginny a big kiss, which was promptly returned.
In May Harry gave a speech at the anniversary of The Battle of Hogwarts.
The week after the anniversary Gawain Robards came into Harry’s office and said “I’ve been asked by my adopted children to see if I can get you to come to a party we are giving for them as the last of them graduates from Hogwarts.
“I did not know you had any adopted children, Gawain” said Harry. “You never talk about your family.”
“It was painful to talk about,” said Gawain. “Painful and difficult, and there were good reasons not to say anything. I just got used to keeping that part of my life private.”
Harry tried to be open to what Gawain was trying to say without prying. “I hope it’s not as painful now,” said Harry.
“My wife and I had three children, two girls and a boy. The oldest two joined the Auror department and died fighting in the first war against Riddle. Our youngest moved to North America, got married, and we have a couple of grandchildren. Because of the troubles she did not ever want to come back to England, and she has not. My wife has seen the grandchildren a couple of times a year, but I am lucky to see them every other year. Maybe when I retire I can spend some time with them, but it is too late to really establish a good relationship with them.”
“You adopted children?” asked Harry.
“After the Battle of Hogwarts we found an old camp, attached to Hogwarts, where the Death Eaters had taken 97 of the Muggle born children. Snape kept the Death Eaters from killing the children, citing the secrecy act. The Hogwarts house elves made sure the children had enough to eat, although otherwise it was a little rough. After the battle we found out that of the 97 children 17 had lost all their parents over the last year. My wife and I took in five, two that graduated last year and 3 that are graduating this year. We did not want to say anything about it because we did not want any of the Death Eaters that may have been out there to find out.”
“What happened to the other children who lost parents?” asked Harry.
“Other witches and wizards took them in,” said Gawain. “Some of them had other family, but a lot ended up with people not closely related to them. Having the last three graduate from Hogwarts is a little like a victory celebration to my wife and me. It’s almost like we are going to end up with more family instead of less.”
Harry agreed to come to Gawain’s party, and Ginny came along, to the delight of all five of the adopted children and the spouses or intended of three of them. His respect for Gawain had grown each year as he had worked for him. Al VanLente’s dismissive remarks about Gawain had turned out to be quite wide of the mark when you knew the entire history of what had gone on.
By the end of May everybody was sure Hermione was pregnant again, but there was no announcement. It was obvious to most of the Weasley/Potter family that Hermione was terrified of making an announcement after losing her first pregnancy.
The end of June all the children were home from Hogwarts, and the pond was again becoming a center of activity during good weather. The weather was good the last Saturday in June, the Harpies had an acceptable season but not good enough to have them playing in any post season games, and Harry and Ginny were free. By the middle of the morning Harry and Ginny were at the pond, as were most of the children who lived at or around the New Burrow property.
The first surprised was a young couple that reminded Harry and Ginny of themselves around the time of the Battle of Hogwarts, young but somehow grown up. They booth did a double take, Harry saying “Who is that young couple holding hands. They look like the Appleleaf children, but those two are not children.”
Ginny said, “They’re not acting like brother and sister, that’s for sure!”
The couple came over. Tom Appleleaf said, “Hello Mr. & Mrs. Potter.”
Cinnamon said, “Is that James? He sure is getting big!”
Ginny said, “I might say the same thing about you two. You’re sure not the little children we met after the Battle of Hogwarts.”
“You’ve seen us grow up,” said Tom. “We’re both 17, with one more year of Hogwarts left.”
Harry asked, “What are you going to do after Hogwarts?”
Both Tom and Cinnamon looked at each other, and then said at the same time, “We’d like to teach.” Tom said, “We both want to go to Wizarding College, maybe in Switzerland. When we’re done we hope to be able to teach somewhere.”
About this time another couple came up, Dick and Corriander Appleleaf. “Hello Mr. & Mrs. Potter,” said Dick. “I see you’re talking to the love birds.” At this Tom and Cinnamon, who were holding hands, gave each other a little kiss, and Dick and Corriander rolled their eyes. Harry and Ginny laughed. “Last one in the lake is dragon poop,” said Dick and he took off toward the pond. Corriander followed, and then Tom and Cinnamon followed at a slower pace, holding hands and smiling at each other. The rest of the Appleleaf family followed, George and Rosemary and 4 more children, Harry, 13 and Cardamon, 12 and finally the two George and Rosemary had together, Jonathan, 6 and Gala, 4.
About this time Tom and Cinnamon got out of the water to greet his father and her mother and the rest of the family. Ginny looked at the couple and said “They look way too young to be in love like that.” She looked at Harry and said “I wonder how their parents are handling it?”
“And just how old were you when you married me?” asked Harry.
“But they’re just children,” said Ginny. “They have a year of school left.” Ginny looked at Tom and Cinnamon again, then at Harry in amazement and maybe a little horror, and said, “Was I really that young?”
“Younger,” said Harry. “How old were you when you yessed me into marrying you?”
“I was almost 17,” said Ginny.
“Just a short 3 months shy of 17,” said Harry.
“They sure seemed like the longest 3 months ever waiting for you, waiting for us to be married and … well … waiting for the wedding night,” said Ginny looking a little embarrassed.
“And how old were you when we had our marvelous spring before Dumbledore was killed?” asked Harry.
Ginny looked at Harry in astonishment. “Fifteen?” she said.
Harry grinned and said, “The same age as Dick and Corriander.”
Ginny looked at the Appleleaf family some more. Harry said, “And how old was I when I rescued you from the Chamber of Secrets?”
Ginny looked at Harry with a quizzical look on her face.
“I was 12, the same age as Cardamon and a year younger than the Appleleafs’ son Harry. You were a year younger, only 11,” said Harry.
“Harry,” said Ginny in horror, “we were only children!”
“We were students at Hogwarts, Ginny,” said Harry. “Of course we were children.”
“Oh Harry,” said Ginny. “We had to grow up so fast. I hope our children can be children a lot longer than we were.”
“You’re sorry you got married on your 17th birthday?” asked Harry.
“If we have a daughter I hope she is not as horny as I was,” said Ginny. “From what McGonagall says it’s a family trait.”
“It must be traits you are passing on to all the witches you know. Everybody seems to be having babies,” said Harry.
“Could we invite the Lionheart family?” asked Ginny, thinking of witches having babies. “It would be fun to have them here.” Harry agreed, and Ginny called Donna, who readily agreed and said they would be there within the hour.
The Prewett family arrived, Patrick and Mary Sue, their children Joan Joy, 4 , and Fabian, just 2, and Mary Sue’s parents Damian & Genevieve McDivvott. Mary Sue was very pregnant, due in about 6 weeks. The Hudson family came next, Cindy Base Hudson and Henry Hudson with Richard Hudson, 5, and Robert Hudson, 3. There was a play area for children under 5, and the children all went into that area.
Frank Longbottom, 6 1/2 came with his parents and siblings Alice 5 and Dolly, 3. When he knew Frank was there. Teddy, 7, came flying out of the New Burrow to play with him. The Longbottom Mansion, the Lovegood house, and the Baker’s Street were not on the Potter property, but were reasonably close and were considered part of the “village” of people who used the pond and shared the area.
Shortly after Teddy came out Fred Weasley, 6, came out, and shortly after that Grandmother Molly followed with Roxanne, 4. When Fred and Angelica’s children had found out that their cousins would be over playing around the pond they wanted to be there, and since WWW was going to be open Molly agreed to let the children stay over.
The Stanford’s’ showed up, Sidney and Kim with her daughter Elisa Williamson, 6 1/2 and their daughter Ruth, 2. Kim was pregnant again, due in August. The Stanford family was living in another of the new houses that had sprung up on the Potter property, making the area a regular small village, one with lots of children.
Grainer and Grunt had been retained by Harry to maintain the pond and the area around it, and as part of maintaining it maintaining the castle like-play structure-climbing thing. It had grown over the years; Harry was not very good at turning down the children as they came up with ways to expand the structure. It now was a rather large structure. On what could have been the main entrance there was a sign, “Hogwarts Castle.” There were two rather tall towers, one labeled “Gryffindor,” and the other one labeled “Ravenclaw.” The children’s play area had a label on it, “Hufflepuff,” which caused a few people some consternation. Harry was told there was a way to get under one of the lower decks, with a label, “Slytherin.”
There were charms on the towers so if you fell off you floated down to the ground. The problem was that falling off the towers had become a favorite activity of the older children, and there were a lot of mock battles and other fooling around, resulting in, despite the charms, lots of minor injuries, but nothing major. All of the younger witches and wizards in Ottery St. Catchpole knew of the castle like-play structure-climbing thing, and young witches and wizards were always coming over to play on it.
Today Teddy, Frank, Elisa, Jonathan, Fred and Richard all were running around. When Bill and Fleur showed up with their children Victoria immediately ran into the play structure, and Alice Longbottom followed her. When Percy and Audrey showed up Molly did not want to be left out, so she joined the crowd up on the towers, a little more cautiously than the rest of the children.
The whole Lionheart family showed up, Bill and Donna with Tabitha, 11, and Erica, not yet 1. Tom and Melissa Lionheart came with them, along with Mark, 4 and Matthew, 2.
The little children went into the small child play area, and Donna held on to Erica, but Tabitha stood next to her parents unsure of what to do. Ginny called Harry Appleleaf and Cardamon Appleleaf over, telling them that Tabitha was going to Hogwarts next year, and asked if they could tell her more about Hogwarts. Talking to a slightly younger child who was just getting ready to go to Hogwarts was always fun for a slightly older child. The older child could become the all knowing expert in starting to use a wand and all the fun and magical places at Hogwarts, and Tabitha stuck to the Appleleaf children like glue for the rest of the day.
Harry was playing with the younger children with the biggest smile, letting them climb into his lap, putting them on play structures, just enjoying being with the 2 to 4 year old crowd. Bill Lionheart was with Harry, and it was touching seeing those two men play with the little children. Ginny and Donna sat next to each other with their first biological children in their laps. Ginny looked at all the parents, and all the children, and said to Harry, “This is what we were fighting for! This is so good!”
“And they lived Happily Ever After,” said Harry. “Well, at least some of the time.”
“Most of the time, Harry,” said a wistful looking Ginny. “It’s most of the time, at least for me. I think I’m pretty happy.” Looking at James she said, “This was always part of my dream, part of my Happily Ever After.”
“Mine too,” said a grinning Harry. “I feel somehow complete when I am with you and James, like this is what life should be.”
Ginny was talking to Donna, and said, “They will be in the same class at Hogwarts.”
“Do you think they will be friends?” Donna asked.
Ginny looked at her son James and Donna’s daughter Erica and said, “What if, when they grow up, they become a couple, give us grandchildren?” Ginny realized at that moment she had really crossed over from being a young adult to being a grown up mother. Thinking of her son marrying, thinking of grandchildren, Oh my, what a grown up thing to do!
Chapter 21: Chapter 22
Author's Notes: Some about Molly, Narcissa and the Malfoy household at the end, if the business things bore you.
Everyone knew Bill Weasley was smart. He had been Head Boy at Hogwarts, and when he went into banking it was assumed he would make good money. What even Bill was not prepared for was just how much money he was going to be responsible for, and how well he was going to manage it. Once he saw what was involved in the Harry Potter Estates he got the best advice he could, from both Wizard and a few Muggle sources. He spent some time with the Wizard of Omaha in the USA, who had excellent advice on managing businesses, when to sell a business and when to buy one. Most of the businesses the Wizard of Omaha owned were Muggle, but there were a few hidden Magical businesses that were not in the public record.
With some of the foreign estates there was no logical government that should get a share of the money. (In some cases there was a government, but they did not want that government to get any more money.) All that money went into the Harry Potter Estates, making them even more valuable.
The charitable foundation was very generous, but it was not easy giving away as much money as the foundation had, and some of the best good that the Potter Estates did was in starting or expanding business that employed witches and wizards, something that just ended up making more money.
One of the new businesses that seemed to have a tremendous potential was a partnership between Dudley Dursley, who was the very desirable Muggle partner and a good engineer who also happened to understand magic, Harry because his estate had the bulk of the money, and at the insistence of Harry and Dudley and several other advisors, Bill Weasley. Dursley, Potter and Weasley Ltd was the partnership that was making a lot of investments in Muggle machinery and using it to make Muggle parts in a way the was partly magical.
Bill and Dudley wanted Harry and Ginny to look at all that was going on. Besides Ginny was also a minor partner in DPW Ltd; Bill was investing some of the money she had earned in the new company. Belinda Shashaguay’s family was involved as well, and they were in the process of transferring ownership of everything in England to her, with the provision that her brothers would end up with everything in the US. Hermione was also very interested, as was her mother Jean. They were totally redoing the Muggle Studies program, and for the upper classes they needed examples of how Wizard and Muggle technologies used together were more powerful that the same technologies used separately.
In addition the laws governing house elf and goblin relationships were being pushed way beyond what had normally been allowed by the businesses, and Hermione wanted to know what the businesses were doing. Her department was always issuing permits for house elves or goblins or Muggles to work in the expanding businesses, and since Hermione had to defend issuing all these exceptions she needed to know what all these beings were doing.
So the middle of June Harry, Ginny and James, and Hermione and her mother Jean, met in a conference room with Bill Weasley, Dudley Dursley, Belinda Shashaguay, and the house elves Kreacher and Harriet for a tour of Dursley, Potter and Weasley Ltd.
Bill explained, “Dursley, Potter and Weasley Ltd is the name for a corporation that holds majority interest in several businesses. We have partners in most of them. Some of them are branches of existing businesses.
“In many cases businesses want to establish a branch in England, because we are pretty good at keeping secrets. China is notoriously insecure. We also seem to be able to work with goblins easier than anyone else in the world.”
The first place they went was an office where design work was being done. There were several office buildings that were part of the complex, most of them dating back to the 19th or early 20th century. On the outside they seemed to have been well maintained but not changed a lot. (This was an illusion; DPW was investing significantly in restoring the buildings, doing as much of the work with much less expensive magic as they could.) On the inside everything seemed to be new or newly refurbished, with beautiful refinished wood floors in many of the buildings. All were sprinklered, but Dudley said that was mostly for show; there were better magical ways of fire protection.
As part of his job as an Auror, Harry had been in a lot of modern Muggle offices. Most of them seemed to have some closed offices but many had more semi-open spaces, which were divided by office partitions, many of which had the desks and shelves suspended from them. The DPW offices seemed to have many more closed office spaces, many of them shared between 2 or 4 or even 8 people. Almost all of them had either walls that went up to the ceiling or had roofs on them, little boxes within the larger box that was the office space, and many of them had something other than the wood that was in the hallways and other open areas on the floor. Belinda said all the individual rooms were to contain the magic, and keep too much magic from interfering with all the computer and communication technology they were using.
Most of the wizards designing parts were using Muggle CAD computers, but they seemed to be able to show amazing 3 dimensional views, with the objects being suspended in space. One of the designers said that Muggles were working on similar technology using holograms and lasers, but that magicians had been displaying things in 3D for years, and the trick was in merging the two ways of displaying things, magical and Muggle. There were also several Muggle CAD designers, and allowing them to work with the Magical designers and use the magical technology was one of the issues that Hermione was working with. The combination of Muggle and Magic was so productive, and so against established policy, that it was driving Hermione crazy issuing permits for it and defending it.
The designer showed the people a tiny part, one so small you could barely see it, made of plastic. “There are difficult problems in making very small plastic parts,” the designer said. “The parts are so small that it is hard to keep the plastic melted until it gets in the mold, and in the end there is little magic in keeping the plastic melted.”
They went to another station and a designer had a strip of metal that showed how they made a very small part. “One trick to this part is that the metal is actually two metals bonded together, with a third metal, gold plating, on one side. Keeping the metal at the proper thickness through this bend is difficult. Another trick is the severity of this bend,” as the designer showed them a particularly sharp bend. “Making this without breaking the metal is also not easy.”
Dudley said, “Everything we ship out is totally Muggle. None of the parts has any magic in it. The magic all comes in how we make them.”
Dudley led them down to the factory floor. There was a Muggle receiving department. “Because we get raw materials in from Muggle trucking companies we need a totally Muggle receiving department,” said Dudley. “We also bring used machinery in through these doors.”
One of the advantages of being an Auror is that you saw all sorts of buildings, went into all sorts of interesting places. Harry knew that the factory complex comprised a number of buildings, all of which had a sawtooth type of roof, with the angle parts being roofing and the vertical parts being windows. Inside the windows were usually filthy, the ceilings and girders that held up the roof were covered with 50 to 150 years worth of dust and dirt, and despite the large windows the places were usually dingy, drafty places.
The windows in all the DPW Ltd. factory buildings looked clean, the frames of the windows looked like they were new or newly refinished, and had been painted off-white, none of the windows were broken, and sunlight was streaming in. The slanted ceilings were painted a luminescent white; Dudley said that the ceilings did give off light, by magic, but none of the Muggle guests noticed anything but how bright the factory was. All the girders and support structure were painted in a gray that was just enough different that you could see the intricate and in some cases very old details that held the building up, giving the factory a lot of visual interest. Dudley said that everything you could see when you looked up was done by magic, getting rid of the dust, fixing the windows, painting the ceiling, hanging the light fixtures, a mixture of Muggle and magic light fixtures. “Watching the contractors work their magic was the most amazing thing,” Dudley said. “I spent most of one day just watching.”
The floor in contrast seemed to be brand new concrete with some sort of highly polished coating. “The wizards prepared the surface for the concrete,” said Bill, “but it is a Muggle concrete floor complete with a very high tech epoxy coating. I should know; we paid the bill for the floors in these shops.”
They went into a shop building where there were several pieces of machinery in various stages of being taken apart and put back together. It was a fascinating process to watch. The machines that came in were dirty, but Dudley said, “Dirt is the least of these machines problems. Most of them are worn out. Because they are worn out we usually buy them for 20 percent of the new price, sometimes even less.”
If the receiving department was Muggle, the machinery rebuilding area was magical. They saw a machine being taken apart. “This is a small special-purpose stamping machine,” said Dudley. “They are excellent in making small parts, and most of the parts we make are very small. They operate at very high speeds, several hundred strokes a minute.”
The group watched in amazement as the wizard started to take the machine apart. First he touched the machine with his wand and all the dirt and grease disappeared. Then he touched it again and several clear plastic containers filled with fluid. “That is all the hydraulic fluid and other lubrication from the machine,” explained the wizard. “We will make sure that it conforms to the original machine specifications or is better, then with a variation of the repair spell restore it back to its original condition.” The rebuilding wizard then conferred with some prints that seemed to be suspended in air, touched the machine again and certain bolts unscrewed themselves and flew over to a large table that was on wheels. The wizard explained, “Most of the parts of the machine will be restored to their original condition by magic, but certain parts are replaced. We are not sure if the bearings are to the original specification or not, and we will replace any bearing with ones as good as or better than the original. If there is any way to make this press better than a new one we will.”
Dudley explained, “Just using magic to restore the machine will put it back to some time, usually some time when it was running, but will give very unpredictable results. Most machines have a constantly changing set of tools put in them, and just by magic you can not tell how the machine ought to be set up. So we magically rebuild them, referring to the original prints, with good records both magical and Muggle. Once we have the machine in the condition we want it in then at a later time we can use magic to restore any worn parts back to their original condition.”
Belinda said, “As I think most of you know magic is really magical; if you had to unbolt every fastener and do what Muggles have to do to rebuild a machine you would recognize how magical it is. At the same time magic done right takes more work than just waving a wand and everything happens. We can rebuild a machine like this in a few days instead of the weeks and weeks it takes to do it the Muggle way, but doing it right still takes time and lots of care.”
They went over to another machine that was being put back together. There was a big shaft on the top of the machine with more than a dozen big cams on it that was being levitated onto the machine top. After it was in other parts of the machine flew into place and bolts fastened themselves in place. Belinda said “All those bolts must be fastened to a certain torque specification, just so tight, not too tight and not too loose. Our magic has to indicate that the bolts are not just put in, but put in to the right torque. We do not want to restore the machine to a previous condition when someone put the bolts in wrong.”
The assembled crowd looked at several more machines in various stages of repair, talking to several wizards who were doing their magic on these machines.
“Time to see parts being made,” said Dudley. The factory was obviously divided into a number of spaces of different sizes. “Part of the magic is that we can move a whole department at once without having to take machines down, unhook them from electrical power and compressed air and data cables and the like. We do have to know how the power and other lines are going to be expanded or moved, however. Moving a department takes less than a day, but can’t be done instantly.” The department they were in had injection molding machines making small plastic parts. At a couple of machines there were two wizards and two goblins looking at parts and prints and fussing with controls.
One of the wizards said, “See that black box with the long rod pointing into the press? That is a goblin made device that can keep control of heat when a wizard is not right here to do a spell. Otherwise we would have to be at the machine all the time to make the plastic work right. We are working on adjusting all the variables on the machine, not just the magic ones, to make the parts come out right.”
Ginny looked at the little part. “What is this?” she said.
Dudley spoke to one of the wizards and said “This goes inside a tiny hard disk drive.”
Ginny said “What is a hardy disk drive?”
Dudley answered “It contains memory for your computer.”
Ginny pointed to her head and said, “Memory?”
Dudley said, “More like photographs or books, things like that.”
Ginny was slowly learning about the Muggle world, and had used a computer, but most Muggle things were still very strange to her. The idea that somebody had to make the mechanical parts that went into a computer, or that there even were mechanical parts in a computer, was a surprise to her.
They saw another press with robot arms going back and forth. First the arm would pick up some very tiny metal parts and put them in the mold, and then after the metal parts were molded into the plastic part another arm would take the part out. Belinda said “The magic here is picking up the little metal parts. See that black box,” and she pointed to one attached to the robot arm. “That goblin made box changed the robot arm so instead of picking up the part correctly 75% of the time it does it correctly 100% of the time.”
They finally came to an open area surrounded by factory buildings. There seemed to be little children in the area. Bill said “That and a corner of one of the factory building are reserved for Goblin families. There is a rumor that there are also going to be some house elves here as well.”
Hermione said, “I never knew where Goblins lived. All we have records of is where they work. We do not have any records of children, but just of working adults.”
Bill said, “Goblins usually live in areas attached to their work. There are living quarters at Gringotts, and at all the shops and mines that Goblins own. That is why they are here.”
The last area they came to was the packaging area. There was a magical box modifying machine. The noticed that there were several stacks of boxes, and a wizard looking at a list suspended in the air. When he got to a point on the list he would point his wand at a pile of boxes, and they would fly into the air, a tape dispenser would tape the bottom of the box, and deposit the box on a conveyor. Then the wizard said a spell and the box or boxes would get bigger or smaller. Belinda said “One of the basic principals of magic is that you can not make something out of nothing. Especially since we are sending these boxes out into a Muggle environment we need them to be totally Muggle. When we make a box smaller the extra material goes to a holding area where we store all the extra cardboard, and that is where we get the cardboard for expanding boxes.”
Harry asked “Do you have a saw that can add lumber as well as cut lumber?”
Dudley said “Yes, and wizards do not know how magical it is to cut lumber longer, or cut a piece of metal longer.”
As they were leaving Bill said, “We think that within 4 years we could employ between 100 and 200 wizards and witches that otherwise would not have jobs, making good money for the Wizarding community.”
That evening Harry was talking about what they had seen to Ginny. James was down and Ginny’s reaction was to start to touch Harry in an erotic way. This was not a totally unusual reaction; since the accident Ginny seemed to want sex more frequently, and sometimes at unusual times. Especially when things were happening that were unfamiliar to Ginny she would not infrequently want a brief session of lovemaking instead of a discussion on something she did not want to talk about. Harry found it almost impossible to resist Ginny, but when they were back in the drawing room Harry asked, “Ginny, do you want me not to talk about DPW to you?”
Harry was sitting down, and Ginny was lying on the sofa with her head in Harry’s lap. Ginny looked up at Harry and asked, “Do I have to learn about all that stuff?”
“No, not really,” said Harry. “It’s just where some of your money is being invested, and we thought you might like to know what Bill is doing with some of your money.”
“We have enough money, don’t we?” asked Ginny.
“We have more than enough money,” said Harry. “You have plenty of money just in your account.”
“I thought so,” said Ginny. “I can’t remember worrying about money since we’ve been married. I just can’t remember everything I think I used to be able to remember.”
“Is that why you are not interested in some of the things I try to tell you?” asked Harry.
“I want to listen to everything you want to tell me,” responded Ginny “but I just can’t remember all of it.”
“You seem to remember all the Quidditch games,” Harry responded.
“I have to if I’m going to write about it,” replied Ginny. “I take notes and go over it, and there are even recordings of the games, like television recordings sort of, and I look at all of them to remind me. Anything to do with James is also very important, and you are the most important person in my life and … but … Harry I just can’t remember everything you tell me. If it’s not about you and me and James and the family it’s just not quite as important. I do the best I can.”
Harry looked at Ginny and nodded. He stroked her hair, and took a good look at her. “I love you and always will,” Harry gently mouthed. Ginny sort of curled up with her head on Harry’s lap. Harry spent the next couple of hours reading as Ginny just rested on his lap. Just because they had made love that evening did not mean Ginny did not want to do it again before going to sleep; she seemed to need constant reassurance that Harry loved her. Actually Harry thought it was not the worst problem in the world. In fact it was a rather delightful problem to have. Ginny’s memory was another concern. Harry was not sure just how much of a problem Ginny was having. If it was a big problem Ginny was sure hiding it well.
Thursday July 7th started out like any ordinary day for Harry Potter. Then he received word that bombs had exploded on buses and a subway in London. It was very quickly theorized that Islamic terrorists were at the heart of the troubles. Getting enough intelligence was apparently a problem, because the Prime Minister got in touch with Kingsley, and before the end of the day Harry was meeting with a very secret group. Harry had been given a brief meeting with the Prime Minister and Queen, and then introduced as the head of a super secret group of the government that could go through locked doors and otherwise get intelligence that otherwise would be impossible to get. There were a few apartments, ones that the intelligence officials thought the terrorists lived in, that needed to be entered in total secrecy; Harry had a couple of his Aurors go into them and report back, in some cases with magically duplicated copies of incriminating documents that they showed to key people, but would not give to them.
From then on Sir Harry Potter was an occasional presence at the most secret meetings, with a super high priority diplomatic passport and a reputation for having done some very dangerous job for the crown and having gotten knighted for it, which was true, in a way, if you knew of the history of Harry and Tom Riddle. Only a few people at the highest levels knew of Harry, and he received as much intelligence as he gave, helping the International Auror Association and getting from the International Auror Association much needed information for British Intelligence. It was just one more way the Muggle and Wizarding worlds were being pushed to work together.
Harry got Ron involved with the work with British Intelligence early on, plus had a couple of the Muggle born Aurors assigned as the key operatives when British Intelligence needed help that only magic could give.
Other than Harry working with the British Government in addition to everything else, nothing special happened to the Potters that summer. Harry and Ginny always remembered it as a relatively stress-free and magical summer. There was enough good weather, schooling continued but at a much slower pace, and with one very small child Ginny’s life was as stress-free as it was going to be for a very long time. Harry was busy at work, but he was still not head of the Auror department, so there was less stress than he would have as head of the department. Even though he was still pulled in a lot of different directions, nothing was taking too much time.
Molly and Narcissa had continued to meet ever since their first meeting. Molly was the only person Narcissa could talk to about the drama in the Malfoy household.
Narcissa said, “The grandmothers, Druella and Godiva, don’t agree on much.” (The grandmothers are Druella Rosier Black, Narcissa’s mother, and Godiva Greengrass Malfoy, Lucius’s mother.) “Even their house elves, Druella’s Rapier and Godiva’s Gritrude, do not get along, as far as I can see. The only thing they both agree on is that they want a great grandchild.”
Molly asked, “Are they still putting pressure on Astoria?”
Narcissa said, “I’ve told you there are two master bedrooms on the second floor of Malfoy Manor. The one that the youngest master of the Manor lives in, has two bedrooms. One is for the couple, and the other is traditionally used as a nursery. Astoria has moved into the nursery. Until she has relations more often with Draco she is never going to get pregnant.”
Molly said in horror, “It is not even a marriage if they are not having marital relations! Sex isn’t exactly an option that one of the couple can just decide they don’t much like.”
“Draco isn’t very happy,” Narcissa said. “From what he has hinted at something may happen soon. We all hope so.”
Chapter 22: CH 22 James at 1 and what came next
Author's Notes: I want to thank my faithful beta FriendofMolly for helping with this chapter, especially with Ginny’s announcement to her family
Harry and Ginny could hardly believe it. James Sirius was almost a year old! Where had the year gone? Although his birthday was on Monday they were going to celebrate it on Sunday the 16th. The family had taken to celebrating only grandchildren’s birthdays, and those on the closest Sunday. Since there were now 8 grandchildren (with another one on the way) there were a lot of birthdays, and the children really enjoyed it. The family had agreed that at all the birthday celebrations every one would get something, even if it was only a pack of chocolate frog cards.
Harry had wanted to give James a toy broom, like the one he had been given as a one year old.
Ginny was ready to stop nursing James. Ginny told James that he was a big boy, big enough to have a toy broom but also big enough to stop nursing. James loved the toy broom, and all the other children became jealous.
Hermione was 7 months pregnant, and had finally accepted the fact that she was going to have a baby.
Monday October 31 was one of those very busy days. Harry had to work late, and did not get back home until almost 12:00 PM. Ginny was already in bed, and she hardly woke up when Harry got into bed.
Tuesday November 1 started out as a normal day. The family had breakfast together as usual. Harry told Ginny, “You look especially beautiful today, love. I hope tonight I can make up to you for getting in so late last night.”
Ginny felt rather sexy, for some reason, gave Harry a huge kiss and hug, and said, “I would really like that!” Ginny hugged and rubbed up against Harry in that particularly sexy way that indicates that there is more coming later, and Harry thought of Ginny’s eagerness on and off during the day.
Ginny spent a good portion of the day with the family at the New Burrow, although she did spend about three hours on her Quidditch column. Louis and James played together or parallel to each other, and Ginny and Molly and Fleur took turns watching them and working on vocabulary and other skills. They spent some time in play with the older children. At 5:00 PM Ginny went back home to talk to Mabel about dinner, and by the time Harry got back at 6:00 PM dinner was almost ready. Teddy was at dinner, but proudly took the Floo home all by himself right after dinner. Harry played with James after dinner, and by 9:00 PM James was in bed, Harry having read him a story and put him down.
As Harry came out of James bedroom Ginny said, “Want to take a shower together?” Taking a shower together was always pleasant, and after washing each other and some play in the shower they were almost always ready for more play in bed. Lovemaking was very pleasant, and afterwards, as Harry quickly drifted off to sleep, Ginny just lay on her back enjoying, leaving a little bit of Harry inside her.
Ginny woke up in the morning still horny, and before James was up they made love again. Tuesday night Harry got back at the normal time, and again Ginny indicated that she was in the mood for more lovemaking, and again after Teddy was back home and James was down in bed Harry eagerly helped Ginny satisfy her need. Harry always thought Ginny was beautiful, but she seemed even prettier and sexier than usual.
By the middle of November Ginny started to feel a little different. Her breasts were starting to grow a little, and her food tasted just a little different. Her stomach was not exactly upset, but it was not exactly the same either. It certainly was not like the changes her body went through when she was in San Francisco, but something was a little different. She had not gone on birth control potions after stopping the potions you took when you were nursing and did not want to become pregnant, and she knew that she and Harry wanted another child or two, but it had just been a month since she had stopped nursing James.
By Friday November 25 Ginny knew that something was happening. She was determined not to be like she was for James when it took her 2 months to figure out she was pregnant. So right after lunch, while the children were down for a nap, Ginny took Fleur aside and asked, “Fleur, could you examine me, medically?”
Fleur waved her wand over Ginny starting at her head and going down to the start of her legs. “I wondered when you would ask,” said Fleur. “Three to four weeks. You know when?”
“I kind of jumped on Harry November 1 & 2. Could that have done it?” asked Ginny.
“Oui, ees very sexy, body ees saying now, Arry and Genny making baby,” said Fleur, smiling as she piled on the French accent.
“I am pregnant, then,” said Ginny. “I thought so. Two weeks! I went two weeks between nursing James and getting pregnant.”
“I will tell no one until you tell Arry, but women will guess quickly,” said Fleur.
Ginny pondered how to tell Harry. Finally she though she had just the right way. Ginny was in the kitchen at 6:00 PM as Harry came thru the Floo. Ginny had put on a bra that pushed up and out her breasts, and had on a low cut top that was also tight around the bottom of the bust. There were spells you could use to make your husband look at you, and Ginny used all the ones she knew. Harry looked at her, his eyes drawn down to her already slightly expanding bust, and Ginny said quietly, “Quit looking at my breasts, Harry. They are big and are going to get bigger.” Ginny had an almost guilty smile on her face as she quietly said, “I’m going to get all big and fat and ugly, and it’s all your fault.”
Harry listened to Ginny and thought, is she trying to tell me what I think she is? Is she pregnant again? He had the biggest smile on his face. He thought that would be wonderful. Can I touch her? Her breasts look so inviting and she is almost asking me to touch her. He gently put his hands on the side of her breasts, felt down to the bottom of the breasts, and then felt the top of them. They did feel a little fuller than they had earlier, although with her bra on he could not really tell. He went around her a couple of times, just because it felt good and he knew it drove her crazy. Ginny just smiled, a big smile that said ‘I’m enjoying what you’re doing to me.’
Harry pulled Ginny into him and said, “You’re really pregnant?”
Ginny nodded yes.
“Fantastic!” said Harry. “That’s just the best news.”
“We probably did it the first of the month,” said Ginny.
“You were very eager that Tuesday and Wednesday,” said Harry. “I will have to say that making a baby is lots of fun.”
“You don’t have to carry it for the next 8 months, and then push a quaffle out your bottom,” said Ginny. “But it was fun!”
“Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy,” came a little voice from the floor. “UP!” James pulled on Harry’s pants leg “Up. Hug.”
Harry picked up James and kissed him and gave him a big hug. “I love you, James,” said Harry, “almost as much as I love your beautiful mother.”
“All my dreams are coming true, Harry,” said Ginny, as she squeezed him tightly, James squeezed in between them as part of the hug, “Just one at a time not all at once.”
Harry said, “There is a passage from the Old Testament that says ‘for everything there is a time,’ and I guess this is our time to have babies. I’m going to enjoy it.”
“I’m going to do my best to enjoy it, too,” said Ginny. “Even when I’m as big as a house and have a baby kicking at my bladder. I have a few months before that.”
“You are very sexy when you’re pregnant,” said Harry.
“Sexy?” asked James eagerly. “What sexy?”
“Get your broom, James,” said Harry, trying to change the subject. For the next hour, before dinner was ready, Harry was chasing James on the broom and roughhousing with him. They came to dinner tired and happy. When they had put James down to bed Harry and Ginny took advantage of James sleeping through the night and not having anything scheduled in the morning.
Sunday November 27 Harry and Ginny were at the New Burrow with the rest of the family. Ginny turned to Molly and asked, “How did you tell Bill that he was going to be a big brother?”
Molly caught on real quickly, and asked, “Is James going to be a big brother soon?”
“Not soon, but next August, or the end of July,” Ginny said, ending with a huge grin.
Molly was delighted. “Ten grandchildren! Two more and I’ll have a dozen!” She looked around the room for volunteers, but Angelina and Audrey just sat there not saying anything.
“Bill and I have given you three already,” Fleur said, indicating that she felt she had contributed at least her fair share to the number of grandchildren.
Hermione did a little quick calculating, and said, “James is going to be at Hogwarts a year before Rose and your baby, but Rose and this baby will be at Hogwarts together.”
Hermione was due December 9, and she was ready to have the baby at any time. All the other women encouraged her, but she was not exactly happy. “I don’t see how we are going to keep the department running if I am out too long with this baby,” she said.
“Harriet should be capable of running the department,” said Harry.
“Yes, but she is pregnant and due a couple of weeks after I am,” said Hermione.
Tuesday November 29 one of the wizards from DPW Ltd. wanted to take a couple of elves and a couple of goblins with him to China to see a factory and maybe recruit a wizard and a couple of goblins. In order to travel with house elves you needed a supervisor with documentation, and both of the witches that were familiar with the documentation were on other assignments. There was a house elf, Jenna P/W, one of the expanding numbers of Potter/Weasley house elves that was very familiar with the documentation. She had been very active all over Europe, and had even gone to North America with documentation. So it was natural for Hermione and Harriet to send her to China.
When Jenna got to China and presented the documentation the official in charge immediately became belligerent. He said “House elves do not have the authority to carry this documentation around! Only witches and wizards can do this! I need to see your supervisor immediately!” There was much argumentation back and forth, but in the end the official send a Howler to the British Ministry of Magic insisting that Jenna’s immediate supervisor come to China immediately to explain the situation. Even with Howlers taking a little time to get from China to Britain, and the group was delayed a couple of hours waiting for a reply.
Hermione and Harriet got the Howler about noon. Hermione looked down at her huge stomach and said, “There is no way I am going to China. My midwife would never let me travel when I could deliver any time, and after losing one baby I am not about to lose another!”
“I can still travel for a couple more weeks,” said Harriet. “I will go.”
When Harriet got to China she asked to see the officials in charge of customs and immigration. She was let up to offices where the groups from Britain were detained. “I Jenna’s supervisor,” she announced. “What is the problem?”
The official looked at Harriet and everyone there thought the official would have a heart attack on the spot. “House elves are not supposed to be in charge of this type of documentation,” he said. “House elves are not supposed to be in charge of other house elves! House elves are not supposed to work for the ministry! All of this is irregular.”
“House elves do this work in Europe and North America,” said Harriet.
“Not at my office in China!” said the official. He sent another Howler to the British ministry. Hermione got it about 3:00 PM. She went into see Harry with the Howler, and he took the Howler and Hermione into see Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry and Kingsley sent Patronus to WW Chang, the Chinese Minister of Magic. Harry called Ginny and let her know what was going on. Then Harry and Kingsley left for China.
It was 5:00 PM British time, but early morning Chinese time, when Harry and Kingsley finally arrived in China at the immigration station. There to meet them was WW Chang. It only took an hour or so to get the original group released, but Harry, Kingsley, Harriet and WW Chang took another day to change the standards that the immigration officials would use in letting in beings and to get the right Chinese standard documents so a house elf could accompany other beings with documentation. This was another area where the International Council of Witches and Wizards was going to have to get involved and change some laws, and suggest different standards for different Ministries of Magic.
Harry and WW Chang did tell Harriet not to try this in the Mid-East or some other countries in Asia, as the house elf could be confiscated or executed for presuming to have authority they were not suppose to have in those countries.
Harry came back very frustrated. As he told Ginny the story of what had happened he told her that Jenna was a P/W house elf, and Ginny asked, “How many P/W house elves are there?”
Harry looked at Ginny and said, “I have no idea.” He called for Kreacher and asked him, “How many P/W house elves are there, Kreacher?”
Kreacher looked a little embarrassed, but said “Over 100 and growing.” The then showed Harry a list of all the P/W house elves, where they were living, and what they were doing. The area above the New Burrow was filling up, all the other attics that had P/W house elves were getting full, and there were some house elves at the DPW Ltd. Factory living in the same general area as the goblins.
“Much subversives” said Kreacher. “House elves not suppose to be in big group like this.” Within the week Kreacher, Harriet, Harry, Bill, Hermione, Kingsley and several other members of the ministry has a couple of discussions about the P/W house elves, elves working for the Ministry, and its implications.
Early in December, Hermione, Ginny and James went to Diagon Alley to pick up some more supplies for Hermione. Hermione was due in about week and felt as big as a house, the baby not having dropped but sticking way out in front. Rose was not a small baby, and Hermione was not carrying her in a way that minimized how much she had grown. As they were walking in the store that carried baby supplies they saw Astoria Malfoy. It was obvious that she was pregnant. She not only had quite a bump in front but she had also put on a little weight on her hips, and she had a very modest but noticeable bust line. Ginny knew from her discussions with the midwife in San Francisco that you were suppose to put on a weight when you got pregnant, more if you were very thin.
“I see someone else has gotten fat,” said Hermione.
Astoria looked at Hermione in shock. She quickly gained her composure and said, “I see the Mudblood is having a half breed baby.”
Ginny could see how much Hermione and Astoria loathed each other, and she quickly pulled Hermione away and said, “She is not worth getting into a fight. She is a particularly unpleasant person, though.”
“I’m sorry for Narcissa having to live with her,” said Hermione. “Draco does not deserve anything better than that BITCH, but Narcissa tried to be nice to me the few times we met.”
“You’re not fond of the Malfoys?” asked Ginny, knowing full well how Hermione felt.
“I was tortured in their house!” said Hermione. “I loath Draco, and I think the feeling is mutual. Astoria’s family is almost as bad. The only one in the whole family who has ever done anything nice or said she was sorry is Narcissa. I never thought I would feel sorry for Narcissa Malfoy, but I do.” Hermione did not tell Ginny or anyone that Narcissa had indicated that she had been abused when Riddle was at the house. She could not be sure but from what she said and how she said it Hermione was reasonably sure Narcissa had been raped. (Many years later Hermione did find out just how often and brutally Narcissa had been raped, one of the things that turned Narcissa against Riddle and the Death Eaters and that caused her to lie for Harry Potter.)
December 9 Rose Weasley was born. After all her fears Hermione’s labor was not too bad. Rose was an easy baby. She took to nursing without any problem, and was easy for Hermione to take to work from the earliest days. Jean Granger was living with Ron and Hermione, and was delighted to help with Rose.
Harry was still going to church about every other Sunday, sometimes three or four Sundays in a row, sometimes missing three or four if something else interfered. Christmas was of course originally a Christian holiday and Ginny thought that she probably ought to go to Church with Harry the Sunday before Christmas. Saturday December 17 Harry and Ginny accompanied Hermione and Jean Granger to church, Hermione carrying Rose. Ron said he would come Christmas Eve if he could get away from WWW, but as it was just before Christmas he needed to work at the store.
The Gospel reading was about pregnant Mary visiting Elizabeth and John the Baptist jumping in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary approached because he ‘recognized the mother of my Lord.” Ginny felt real funny in the stomach when she heard this, but thought ‘This is stupid! It’s way too early to feel the baby moving.’
When they were done one of the witches came over to Ginny, touched her, and said “You too are going to have a holy child.”
“I’m sure not a virgin!” Ginny exclaimed, rather flustered and upset. She turned to Harry who just shrugged and looked confused.
“Neither was Elizabeth,” the witch sweetly said.
They went to church again Christmas Eve. Ron joined them at the last minute, coming right from WWW with his store robes still on. After church the same witch smiled at Ginny, who tried to smile back but failed. Looking at the little diorama set up with a sanitized stable and immaculately dressed figures Ginny said, “Doesn’t look like any stable I’ve seen. Harry, I’ve read one of your books about Christmas, and the stable was full of shit and nobody was all this pretty.”
Harry nodded in agreement but didn’t say anything, not quite sure what Ginny was getting at. Finally Ginny said “It’s a strange way to save a world, having a savior born in a bunch of shit.” Ginny’s stomach felt upset again. ‘If I keep feeling this way I’m going to have to see the Healers again,” she thought, but the sensation never came back.
In addition to the Christmas scene there was a statue of the Madonna holding a small child, and Ron, who seldom went to church with Hermione and her mother, was especially touched by the statue and the story of the little baby.
There could not have been more of a contrast between the Christmas of 2004 and the Christmas of 2005 for Hermione. Oh you could see that she still grieved for her father, and she did mention it a couple of times. Generally she was very content. Although she tried to be a little more discrete nursing than some she was way more at ease than anyone had expected. Ron was very protective of his new daughter.
All the children knew of James' broom, so every one of the children except the babies wanted a broom of their own. This was the broom Christmas, and Harry and Ginny were the ones giving the brooms, a new one for Teddy, 7 , and brooms for Fred, 6 , little Molly, 5 , Victoire, 5 , Roxanne, 4 , Lucy, 4, Dominique, 3, and Louis, 1 . The only infant, the only one not getting a broom, was Rose.
There was a covered space between the two wings of the house, and Harry charmed the space, so the children could not break anything and let the older children fly on their brooms. Teddy and Freddy immediately tried to outdo each other on the brooms. Victoire was not far behind. Roxanne was enough younger that her broom had been charmed not to fly very high, but as much as she could she tried to keep up with the older children. Little Molly and Lucy were much more timid, but they did fly. Dominique stayed with Molly and Lucy. Louis was confined to the floor, and he flew along with his cousin James. It was hard to get the children off the brooms, but the brooms had been charmed so an adult could call them and the brooms would come, bringing their riders with them. The children concluded that this was a glorious Christmas!
There was a birth December 25 of a witch that was going to have as much influence in her own way as Albus, the great granddaughter of the Pirate Witch Queen of the Caribbean. There were powerful but disturbing omens concerning the great granddaughter. Always before when they were disturbing omens the wicked witches that controlled that part of the world had taken care of it, killing any potential good people and rescuing their offspring from anything good and wholesome, or else killing them and anointing someone else as successor. This witch had killed so many of her decedents that she was running out of people to kill. The great grandmother celebrated the way she always celebrated; by taking the glass knife that the Aztecs had used to slaughter so many thousands of people, that the witches of the Caribbean had used to sacrifice thousands. She took a family that had gotten lost at sea, cut the heart out of the 3 year old daughter in front of her 6 year old sister and parents, and offered it up to the powers of evil. She then did the same to the older sister in front of her parents, then the wife in front of her husband. By the time she was ready for him the husband had nothing left to live for. To the witches' great disgust both the parents died praying, robbing Hell of souls. This was not a good omen. It was always better when her sacrifices died cursing, or at least afraid.
Harry was happy in his job the beginning of 2006. He was training Mary Lou Creevey, and she was learning from other people, including Gawain, what she needed to do to help Harry manage the department. Harry’s life was as fractured as ever, but he realized that that was going to be his life for many years. Meanwhile he had a wife and child at home, and when he was not traveling they were there every morning before he left and every evening when he came back home. This was a normal he had never known, and it was fantastic, besides Ginny seemed to be happy, and that made Harry happy.
Ginny was happy. This pregnancy seemed to be going well. Ginny did not really get sick during her pregnancies, and knowing what she was going through this time made the first weeks more pleasant.
Harry and Ginny did go to the Caribbean for a week in January, to still another island for more map-making and vacation. Being there with a baby and a pregnant wife was different than when they were there before children, but it was still a pleasant break from the bleak British weather.
Molly had continued to meet with Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa confided to Molly that she was worried about Astoria’s approach to being a mother. She announced that she was going to nurse the baby, but that someone else was going to have to do some of the caregiving. Her mother had house elf help and tutors for her and her younger brother and sister, and she was not going to teach little Scorpius. Narcissa had home schooled Draco, and she was preparing to home school her grandson as well. “I don’t trust the type of people Astoria would hire to home school my grandson” said Narcissa. “There are too many unemployed pure blood fanatics, not nice people.” Molly told Narcissa about all the things Hermione and the rest of the people at the New Burrow were doing to provide a more up to date curriculum for home schooling young witches and wizards, and Narcissa said she would get the material and probably use it.
In February Dan VanLente gave Harry one of his regular updates on the Caribbean. “We have an undercover person on the Unplottable island about a third of the time, young men and occasionally a young woman of exceptional bravery. We lose almost half of them, and not one had gotten away uninjured in the last 200 years,” said Dan. “We had another one escape the end of December. He got over the curses in six weeks, exceptionally fast, although he is going to live with some side effects. He is also crippled, having lost part of his right arm. None of the rest of his limbs works quite properly, but he will learn how to live with that. He will be able to function with a very responsible office job. Considering the dangers of the job he got off lightly.” Dan then filled Harry in about his report, including the birth of the heir apparent to the head of the island.
At about five months, during a regular appointment with her midwife, Ginny learned that she was having another boy. When Harry came home he asked, “How are you, and how the appointment with the midwife was?”
“Your wife is just fantastic,” said Ginny, “healthy as I can be. Our new son is also as healthy as can be.”
“Another boy,” said Harry. We picked a boy’s and a girl’s name last time, but I guess we are not naming our second son Lily Luna.”
“I don’t think so!” said Ginny.
“I think I would like to name this son after Hogwarts headmasters,” said Harry. “Albus.”
“Albus,” said Ginny. “I like that name. Do we have a middle name?”
Harry thought. The longer he had worked as an Auror and the more he had learned about all the good things that Severus Snape had done the more he admired the wizard. Harry had helped get Severus Snape’s portrait in the headmaster’s office, and was doing all he could to rehabilitate his reputation. Snape had also loved Harry’s mother all his life. “I said I wanted to name him after headmasters, the last two headmasters,” said Harry.
“Minerva?” asked Ginny with a concerned look on her face.
“No, Severus, Albus Severus,” said Harry.
“After Snape?” asked Ginny. “I know you have been finding out more that he did, but he hated you!”
“He hated the memory of my father,” said Harry, “and from what I have been able to find out, my father could be an arrogant bastard when it came to people he did not like. But despite me looking like a clone of my father, Snape always tried to do what was best for me, even in giving me a very hard time. He was a very conflicted man, but in the end a good one who gave his life for the good of our world.”
“Albus Severus,” said Ginny. “Give me a while to think about that name.”
About a week later when Harry came home Ginny said, “Albus Severus has been busy today.” And that was the way Ginny told Harry that the name was acceptable to her. Ginny never told Harry that she liked Albus’ middle name, but she accepted it.
“Is Albus being a wild man like James was?” asked Harry.
“No,” said Ginny. “He seems to be pushing as much as James did, but much more cautiously.”
That night as Harry and Ginny were going to bed Ginny said, “See, Al is moving now.”
Harry loved this, watching the bump on Ginny move. When James got going he could see there was a riot going on inside Ginny, and when he gently put his hand on Ginny’s bump he could feel it. Ginny was always reluctant to let Harry feel her much with James because of the riot it could cause. But tonight Ginny put Harry’s hand on her moving bump, and Harry gently felt the moving bump. At one point he thought he could feel where the feet were and where the head was, and he gave Ginny’s stomach a push. Harry thought he could feel a tentative push back. He gave another little push, and again there was a push back.
Over the few weeks Harry and Albus began to get acquainted with each other with the pushes. At one time Harry tried two pushes, and eventually they got to the point where Al would give one push for one push, and two for two. For quite a while three pushes was way too confusing, but by 8 months Al could handle 1, 2, or 3 pushes.
Chapter 23: CH 23 The Birth of Albus
Author's Notes: More thanks to FriendofMolly, my Beta, who helps me keep descriptions clear.
It was the summer of 2006, and Ginny was very pregnant. Anyone who says that you can’t be a little pregnant doesn’t know how much more pregnant you feel when you have a huge round hump sticking out in front, pushing against your lungs and making it hard to breathe. James was a year and a half old, and very busy. James was always busy. He seemed not to have any halfway in him.
“I don’t think he can walk anymore,” said Ginny. “He wants to run everywhere. No fear. I’m not always sure it’s a good idea to heal all his hurts. It’s just like giving him permission to get hurt again.”
Harry looked at Ginny and James in amusement and said, “He’ll make a good Seeker, then.”
Ginny groaned, remembering all the time Harry spent in the infirmary at Hogwarts. The Harpy's Seekers were always getting hurt as well. Ginny wasn’t sure how she felt about James being a fearless Seeker.
The end of June school let out, and Saturday June 24 was the first Saturday that all the children, including the older children, were available to meet at the pond. This year was very different than the previous year. James was not a baby anymore but a toddler, speaking some and into everything. Harry took James over to Hufflepuff, the area where small children would play. James gladly went into the play area and ran around the area, up and down all the stairs, flew down the slides. Abraham Stanford was not quite one, having been born the previous August, but he confidently went into the play area as well. Harry ended up spending a couple of hours playing with the small children, occasionally thinking that this was what he had always been fighting for and working for, these moments when family and friends, happily playing small children, were the focus of life.
About noon a picnic lunch appeared, with dishes coming from all of the surrounding houses. About this time Tom and Cinnamon Appleleaf showed up with an invitation.
George and Rosemary Appleleaf invite you to the wedding of their children, Tom the son of George and the late Grace Appledorn and Cinnamon the daughter of Rosemary and the late Bill Bayleaf on July 22, 2006, at 5:00 PM, the pond at the New Burrow area. Dinner and dancing will follow the ceremony.
Tom and Cinnamon stopped to talk to Harry and Ginny. Harry asked what they were going to be doing next year. Tom said “We are both going to be going to college in Switzerland next year. We would like to teach Charms or Transfiguration somewhere. It would be fantastic if we could teach at Hogwarts!”
Ginny was pretty uncomfortable for the wedding, feeling very large and pregnant. She still wanted to make love that evening, something that required more gymnastics for Harry the larger Ginny got. When they were done, in their bedclothes in case, James suddenly needed them. Ginny said, “Cinnamon is a virgin. Rosemary told me yesterday, when I was at the New Burrow. Cinnamon is worried.” Ginny looked at Harry, shook her head, and said, “I was so nave.”
Harry said, “I doubt she is still a virgin, unless they decided to wait, for some reason.”
Ginny said, “I guess not. She had her period a couple of weeks ago, and is on birth control potions. I wonder how George and Rosemary are handling it. I wonder how we will feel when our children get married.”
Harry said, “That’s years and years in the future.”
Ginny was a week overdue on Tuesday morning, August 8th. Her labor had started, but it was very mild. There had not been one hard contraction; Al had not dropped.
“Go to work, Harry,” Ginny said. “I will tell you if my contractions get harder or closer together. I’m going to the New Burrow.”
“I’m going with you,” Harry said. “After I talk to Molly I will go to work.”
Ginny sulked, but did not protest, as she went through the Floo with Mitzi, Harry and James following. Harry has a few clothes for James with him.
When they got to the New Burrow Harry told Molly, “Ginny’s labor has started. She says it will be a while, and wants me to go to work.”
Molly said, “I will let you know if you need to come back in a hurry.” Then she said to James, “James, you are going to stay overnight with Grandmum and Grandfather.”
“And Teddy?” James exclaimed. ‘Teddy’ had been one of James first words.
Molly replied, “Yes, you will stay here at the New Burrow with Teddy as well as with Grandfather and me.”
Harry arrived back at the New Burrow about 3:00 PM, much concerned, but although Ginny’s contractions were more regular they still were not hard.
Mitzi said to Ginny, “Mistress should go to St. Mungo’s.”
“I haven’t had one HARD contraction yet,” Ginny said.
“I agree with Mitzi,” Molly said. “We will keep James, but you ought to seriously consider going to St. Mungo’s.”
“It took FOREVER last time,” Ginny said. “I’m not going until my water breaks, or Albus drops, or I start having HARD contractions.”
About six o’clock, after a light dinner at the New Burrow, Harry took Ginny home. James went over and held Teddy’s hand as he watched his mother, father, and Mitzi leave through the floo. Everyone went up to the drawing room, where Ginny paced back and forth. Mitzi was walking besides Ginny, but not saying anything. Harry could tell Mitzi was not happy, but Mitzi would not contradict Ginny when she was in one of her moods, not unless it was life threatening.
Mabel had appeared, and she was very agitated. “Mrs. really ought to go to St. Mungo’s,” she said.
“Albus has not dropped, Mabel,” said Ginny. “I’m not going!”
“How far apart are your contractions?” said Harry.
“They’re not hard,” said Ginny. “It’s not the force of the ones last time. They are easy. Al has not dropped. When he drops into position then we can go.” Meanwhile she kept pacing.
Harry and Ginny, Mitzi and Mabel were in the drawing room, and Harry was trying to time Ginny’s contractions. He finally said, “Ginny, the contractions are three minutes apart! You have to go to St. Mungo’s.”
“Harry James Potter,” said Ginny, “Albus…” this was the hardest contraction yet. 'I hate to admit he’s right,' she thought. 'Oh Oh.'
“Albus has not dropped yet, and until …”
Ginny was thinking ‘Oh … Ahhh … he’s dropping … Al has slammed into my pelvis … my water is breaking … Oh … how long can one of these last …’
Harry could see something was happening. The baby had obviously dropped, Ginny’s water had spectacularly broken, and she was standing there surprised if not stunned. Actually she was a lot more than stunned. She was obviously having one massive contraction. It seemed to go on forever.
“Get my knickers off, Harry,” said Ginny. “Right now!” She pulled up her skirt up and Harry tried to pull off the wet knickers. He finally ripped them apart to get them off. Ginny was squatting down and her legs were not in their usual position.
After by far the longest and hardest and most productive contraction she had ever experienced Ginny just had a few seconds break, just time to ask Harry get her knickers off. She could feel the baby’s head moving down. She couldn’t have this baby right here in the drawing room, could she? Then there was another very hard very long contraction, and she could feel the baby move through her. Ginny was concentrating as hard as she could, knowing that she had to push, had to get the baby out.
Ginny was still, somehow, holding up her skirt. Mitzi was helping hold up both Ginny and the skirt, a look of panic on her face.
Mabel said, “Catch baby, Harry. Mabel is going St. Mungo’s get help.” She disappeared with a crack. Harry did what he had to do; as Albus appeared he got hold of him, kept him from dropping on the floor.
Ginny could feel the baby move through her. She looked down. Harry was catching the baby. For the first time in her life Ginny was totally at lost for words. She held onto Harry with one hand, Mitzi with the other, trying to stay standing, trying to not do anything but wait for help. Harry could see Albus moving through the birth canal, his black head of hair coming out, and as Albus came out of the birth canal Harry gently grabbed hold of his head and tried to hold him as he came out, one hand on his head, then another hand on his shoulders and then moving up to his back. Harry was thinking he could not drop Albus, but did not want to hold on to him too tightly. Albus was bloody and rather messy and not the easiest thing to hold on to, although he was not wiggling at the moment.
Harry heard a, “WAAAAAA pause WAAA pause WAAA pause.”
“WA WA, like one two?” asked Harry as he squeezed Albus two times.
Albus looked startled. “WAA pause WAA,” he went again.
“One two,” Harry went again, with two squeezes.
“WAA,” Albus went.
“One,” Harry went with one squeeze, then “One, two, three” with three squeezes.
Albus went, “WAA WAA WAA,” and looked around, then went, “WAAAAAAAA.”
“A lot of work for one just born, Albus?” asked Harry. “You’re a bright one.”
“Wa WAAA Wa Wa long pause,” then lots of arm and leg wiggling and turning of the head. Not hard wiggling, just trying to see where he was.
Within a couple of minutes a witch midwife was running up the stairs, following Mabel. Harry was sitting on the floor holding Albus. Ginny was still standing up, holding on to Harry and Mitzi, breathing deeply and trying to catch her breath. She was looking at Albus with total shock. The afterbirth had not come out, and the umbilical cord was still intact and pulsing. Neither Harry not Ginny was saying anything. Ginny was standing there, shaking, one hand on Harry’s shoulder, another holding on to Mitzi the house elf, who went almost everywhere with Ginny helping her with her balance.
The witch waved her wand over Al quickly, took a little more time with Ginny, then she touched the umbilical cord. It sealed and parted. She waved her wand and Ginny’s skirt flew up over her head and off. She then got out a sheet of some substance and had Ginny lie down on it, and got a blanket to put over her. She checked over Albus more carefully, cleaned him with her wand. She summoned a nappy.
“Do you want to nurse, Albus?” Harry asked as he saw the ‘I want to eat’ mouth motions.
Ginny unbuttoned her blouse and took off the two pieces of cloth that were a witch’s bra. Harry put Albus on Ginny’s breast and he eagerly nursed, a little too eagerly. Something startled him, and he let go of Ginny, letting all the milk in his mouth spill out all over Ginny’s breast. Al then grabbed back on to Ginny’s breast and started to nurse again, a little more tentatively this time.
Ginny finally said, “Is Albus healthy?”
The witch midwife said, “The baby is perfectly healthy. A little battered from coming out so fast, and he’ll probably be black and blue tomorrow, but he’s fine. How are you?”
When he heard his mother’s voice Al let go of the breast again, trying to figure out what that was. He lost less milk, but this first nursing was turning into an awful messy occasion. Ginny could feel milk running down her side and drip on the floor.
“It was a lot easier than the last time,” said Ginny, “but not at all what I expected.” Looking at Al she said, “Nursing is a lot different, at least this first time. James seemed to know just what to do.”
“They are all different,” said the midwife.
“He has your hair, Harry,” said Ginny. “Black and messy.”
Al looked up at his mother. “I think he has your eyes too,” said Ginny.
Harry looked at Albus smiling and said, “How many times will you hear ‘you have your father’s eyes,’ Albus. I don’t know how many times I heard ‘you have your mother’s eyes. I just hope they are kind eyes.” When he heard his father’s voice Albus stopped nursing, looked over at his father, and then went back to the breast.
After some more fitful reasonably productive nursing, punctuated by letting go and looking around, Albus fell asleep with his mouth still on his mother breast, and it was not easy getting him off without waking him up. Harry had to hold Albus close to him with some pressure to keep him asleep. Harry lay down on the drawing room floor with his newborn son on top of him.
Ginny, Mitzi and the witch midwife went up to the shower and got her cleaned up. Mabel cleaned up the drawing room floor. Harry sort of dozed off until the midwife said Ginny was ready, and then he went upstairs to their bedroom carrying Albus. Harry put Albus in the small cot that they kept by the side of the bed the first couple of months. Ginny had on a white pajama top, low cut and buttoning down the front. She could almost nurse without opening it, and it was easy to unbutton the two buttons on the front and expose both breasts. It and the short knickers had small flowers on them, printed or on by magic Harry did not know, and it reminded Harry of the Burrow and the flowers of spring.
Ginny came into the bedroom with the top open, and after sitting down on the bed started to button the top. Harry said, “No need to button. You’ll just have to open them when Albus wants to feed again.”
“You want to look at my boobs, Harry?” asked Ginny with a smile.
“Of course! I want to look at my beautiful wife and mother of our two wonderful sons,” said Harry taking off his clothes. Yes he wanted to look at Ginny. She was just beautiful, and he always enjoyed looking at her.
Ginny really did not mind. She didn’t mind her shape on top. The boobs were too big, and she thought she looked way more matronly than cute and curvy, but Harry didn’t mind the abundance on top at all. She enjoyed having Harry look at her. The extra weight was less a problem for a witch with levitation spells. She sure didn’t have the stomach she had when she was playing for the Harpies. Ginny thought she was really beginning to get fat, and even Harry had to admit that she had gotten a little ‘chunky’ at and below her waist.
Harry stripped down to his boxers and sat next to Ginny. “I suppose we should let your mother know she has another grandson,” he said, giving Ginny her mobile. Even Molly had succumbed to using a Wizarding mobile. She had to have one when Harry and Ginny were attacked the first Christmas after they were married, and she had gradually gotten used to it, not without some grumbling at first.
“As long as we are not using the mirrors this is fine,” said Ginny looking down at her exposed front. She then went to the menu and called up her mother’s number.
“Hello Ginny,” said Molly. “Are you at St. Mungo’s yet?”
“Albus came a little quicker than I expected, Mum,” said Ginny. “I think I had two very hard very long contractions and Albus was out.”
“Oh, he’s born already? Do you want me to come to St. Mungo’s tonight?” asked Molly.
“We never got to St. Mungo’s,” said Ginny. “Albus was born while I was standing up in the drawing room. Harry caught him as he came out. It was quite a shock.”
“Oh my!” said Molly. “I never had one come that fast.”
“He has Harry’s black hair and we think he will have Harry’s eyes as well,” said Ginny. “I hope he learns how to nurse better; the first time was the messiest ever.”
“If you are still having problems tomorrow I will come over,” said Molly. “I have worked with a lot of new mothers with nursing problems.”
“It’s not my problem, its Albus’s problem,” said Ginny. “He seems interested in everything! James took nursing seriously, but Albus seems to be interested in everything else!”
“Do you want me to tell the rest of the family?” asked Molly.
Ginny said, “Please, Mum. I’m still getting over the shock of … I can’t believe it … I had a baby in the middle of our drawing room, standing up, and Harry caught the baby! The nurse midwife came over after. Please, call before you come and tell everyone else not to call or come until one of us says it is OK to come. Thank you, Mum.”
Molly was chuckling. “Albus will be fine. James is doing fine staying here for a couple of days.”
“Good bye, Mum,” said Ginny.
“Good bye, Ginny. Dad sends his love,” said Molly.
Harry was smiling, looking at Ginny. “Your breasts are like two fawns, the fawns of a gazelle, like fruit, the fruit of a palm tree.”
“Where did that come from?” asked Ginny.
“The Bible,” said Harry. “Love poetry from the Song of Solomon.”
“I did not know the Bible had that in it,” said Ginny. “Erotic love poetry?”
“There’s a lot of stuff in the Bible,” said Harry.
Ginny looked at her breasts. “Albus is the only one getting anything out of these for a little while,” said Ginny, and then with her trademark snarky smile “Oh, you’ll have your turn. Two fawns are a lot more poetic than baby bottles, or boobs, I guess.”
“They are a lot prettier than baby bottles, Ginny. They, and you, are just beautiful,” said Harry.
“Even with a flabby stomach?” asked Ginny. Of course the bump that held the baby had not gone away. Ginny always had a tummy after having her children.
“That’s where the baby was,” said Harry. "That’s beautiful in its own way.”
“You’re silly, Harry,” said Ginny, but she enjoyed the compliments.
Harry and Ginny held on to each other, just enjoying each other’s bodies. There was a great comfort in knowing that you were not engaged in foreplay, but were just relishing the feeling of flesh against flesh. They both sort of dozed off, but it was really too early to fall asleep. Eventually they heard the little whimper that indicated that Albus was awake again. Harry got him up and changed his nappies, and then carefully gave him to Ginny. Ginny put Albus on the other breast and said, “Maybe the second time you will not spill so much of your mother’s milk.”
“Sometimes I think James only has two speeds,” said Ginny, “frantic and asleep. Albus seems much more tentative.” Albus was nursing without spilling so much milk, but instead of working hard at it he was playing with the breast, nursing then just holding on and looking around before going back at it. He finally emptied the one breast and was getting a little concerned, so Ginny switched him to the other breast. He started in on that one, kind of looked back flailing his little hands, let go of the breast before latching back on. If a less than one day old baby could concentrate you would say he was concentrating.
“I do have two of them,” said Ginny. “Usually when you empty one there is some more in the other one.”
Harry was looking at Albus and Ginny. “Is he really that different than James?” he asked.
“He was sure different inside,” said Ginny, “and I can already tell that he is a very different baby than James.”
By the time Albus was done it was late enough to go to sleep, and Harry and Ginny quickly fell asleep. Albus woke up once during the night. Harry changed Albus and went back to sleep, but Ginny spent some time nursing a still tentative Albus. James you could almost nurse in your sleep, but at least this first day you had to pay attention to Albus. By the time she was done Ginny was tired, and she was very glad Harry could change Albus once again and she could go back to sleep.
Albus nursed better the next morning, but he continued to be a much more tentative baby than James. When James cried, he would start out at full volume, and when he stopped he usually stopped. Albus would cry, wait, and then, try out his voice a little more, like he was trying to figure out this making noise stuff. James as a baby would lie quietly occasionally, but when he wanted to move he was in full wiggle mode. Albus was much more tentative in moving as well, and when he was quiet he usually was still looking around. The first morning Albus's face was black and blue. A midwife came over and said that although he did look rather ugly he was fine. The midwife was just leaving as Molly arrived, a good thing because Molly was horrified at how black and blue Albus’s face was.
Wednesday Harry was still home, recovering from a rather short couple of nights of sleep and just enjoying being with Ginny and Albus, when Mabel asked with the scowl she reserved for unexpected visitors, “Will you see Mrs. Valerie Bushman of the Prophets office in Switzerland?”
“Send her up here,” said Harry, curious why Valerie would be trying to see him. He and Ginny were sitting in the Drawing Room, and there was a cot next to them.
“The Prophets are going crazy, Harry,” Valerie said without any introduction. “Your family seems to be involved as usual. WHAT is going on?”
“Nothing unusual,” Harry said.
“WHAT?” Ginny said. “Maybe giving birth is not a big deal for you, but I can tell you carrying a baby for nine months, getting huge, and then pushing a Quaffle out your bottom is a HUGE deal for me!”
“You weren’t over here when James was born,” Harry said to Valerie, keeping a wary eye on Ginny in the process. “Is Albus that much different?”
“What is his name?” asked Valerie.
“Albus Severus Potter,” Harry said. About that time you heard a small “Wa Wa Wa … pause … Wa Wa Wa” from a cot next to the sofa the Potters were sitting on.
“I’m coming, Albus,” Harry said.
“Wa,” Albus responded.
Harry picked Albus up and checked his nappy; it was dry! He showed Albus to Valerie, and she waved her wand over him. “Oh my,” Valerie responded. “I’ve never felt this much magic from a baby!”
“Wa Wa,” Albus responded, beginning to look concerned.
“You want Mummy and some milk?” Ginny asked. Albus tried to turn in the direction of his mother, and when Ginny exposed her breast he eagerly latched on, sucked down a little milk, and then tried to nurse and look around at the same time. He lost hold of Ginny a couple of times and kind of panicked, but at the same time it looked like he wanted to see the visitor.
Ginny held Albus close and tried to focus him on nursing, which eventually worked until Ginny’s one breast was emptied. She gave Albus to Harry who put Albus on his shoulders to get a burp out of him. This would have been easier if Albus had not been eagerly looking around. Harry said, “Calm down, Albus. Calm down. You will get your chance to see our visitor. She’s a mother too and she’ll hold you, after nursing. Calm down, calm down.”
Albus did sort of calm down, gave up a little “burp-p-p” and a little milk, and went back to the other breast. Harry eventually changed him and gave him to Valerie, who held him and looked at him.
“Are you responsible for all the Prophets going crazy, little Albus?” Valerie asked the baby in one hand and her wand in another. About this time her wand flew out of her hand towards Albus, fell on him which startled him, and then the wand fell on the floor.
“Don’t tell anyone else,” Valerie said to Ginny, “but you just might be the mother of our next king, sort of like Mary the mother of Jesus.”
“Bollox and Boggart, what nonsense. I’m no virgin, and I’m not going to be!” Ginny fiercely replied. “I’m not going to raise someone sweet and vapid like Audrey either.”
“You’ve seen that horrible picture of Jesus too,” Valerie said, laughing. “Jesus looking like a bearded vapid baby faced momma’s boy, not the man who drove the money changers out of the temple with a whip.”
Harry gave Ginny a hard look, with that unspoken communication that frequently goes between spouses, and Ginny said, “Maybe I’m being a little hard on Audrey, but …”
Thursday afternoon Harry went to the New Burrow to pick up James and bring him home. “Ready to come home, James?” asked Harry. James nodded yes. “Did you enjoy staying with Grandma and Grandpa?” he asked.
“And Teddy,” said James, nodding to indicate that his stay was good. Then James said “Teddy big boy! Teddy come dinner?”
Harry looked at Teddy and said, “You may still come to dinner with us if you would like.”
Eight year old Teddy Lupin said, “I would like that. I was hoping that I could still come to dinner at your house.”
Harry said, “As far as I am concerned nothing has changed. You are still my godson and you are still welcome at dinner.” So after thanking Molly and Arthur, Harry took the Floo back to 12 Grimmauld Place with the two boys.
Ginny was upstairs in the drawing room. You did a lot of stair climbing in Harry Potter’s house, from the sub-basement where the Potions room was (and Harry’s very private office and some storage) up to the kitchen and pantry, where the main Floo was, up to the formal living and dining room, where you entered the house from the outside, and up again via a large staircase to a large room that was always being rearranged, the drawing room. From there you went up to three floors of bedrooms, the lowest with Harry and Ginny’s bedroom and what was now a nursery, then up a floor to James’s bedroom and Teddy’s bedroom, and another one that was going to become Albus’s bedroom eventually, and finally up again to a guest bedroom and a room that had started out as a bedroom but had become a sort of study/play area, with a desk for Ginny and a tiny work table for James. Above that was an entrance to the attic, where the house elves had taken over more and more space.
Harry and the two boys climbed the two flights of stairs to the drawing room. Albus was in a little crib next to Ginny. James said, “Mummy, Mummy, is at Albus?” Teddy and James looked into the crib. James poked at Albus, who woke up with a start and let out a little wail.
Ginny said, “James, don’t touch Al. He was asleep.”
“Not bed time,” said James.
“Babies sleep most of the time,” said Ginny.
“What’s he do?” asked James.
“Not a lot right now,” said Ginny, as she picked up Albus. Al looked at Ginny and made the mouthing motions that indicated that he was hungry, and Ginny put Al on her breast. James looked at his mother and little brother.
“I fed you like this your first year, James,” said Ginny. “Aunt Hermione is feeding your cousin Rose like this.”
“I big boy,” said James, with some doubt in his voice and appearance. Harry decided he needed to take the boys away to play until dinner.
At the dinner table Teddy asked Harry, “Daddy Harry, are you going to show Albus to your dead parents on Saturday?”
Harry looked at Ginny, who looked back at him. Harry could tell she was waiting for him to say something, with that silent communication that married people have, saying it was up to him to decide. “I think I will,” said Harry. “Do you want to go with us again?”
Teddy took a brief moment to decide, and then said, “I would like that. I’m older now, and I need to tell my mummy and daddy that I am all right.” He was very serious. “I think I will see if Victoire wants to go with me again,” Teddy said. “She is also much older.”
Ginny made the arrangements to take the Floo to the New Burrow, pick up Teddy and Victoire and Bill, and go to Donna and Bill Lionheart’s house, and then walk to the cemetery. So Saturday for the second time about 1:30 Harry and Ginny took the floo over to the New Burrow to pick up Teddy. This time they were expecting Victoire and Bill. Harry took James and Teddy, Ginny and Mitzi took Albus and Bill took Victoire over to the Lionheart House.
Ginny worked with Donna on the column, but just during the Quidditch season. Since it was not Quidditch season they had not seen much of each other that summer. Between trying to keep writing for the Daily Prophet and taking care of James she was busy, and there was a growing group of families around Godric’s Hallow that kept Donna busy. Donna was pregnant again, something that Ginny knew. “I’m due in October,” said Donna. “This one is a boy. We are going to name him William Jr. after his father. We both hope he is not going to be another Wild Bill and get injured playing Quidditch!”
The small group walked over to the graveyard. Teddy remembered where the graves of his grandfather and parents were, and walked right up to Ted Tonks grave. “Hi, Grandpa, I hope you can hear me,” said Teddy. “I’m proud to be named after you. Thank you for marrying grandmother Tonks and taking care of her.” Teddy then went over to his parents graves. “Hi, Mum and Dad. Daddy Harry and Mummy Ginny Potter had another boy, and they want to show Albus to his grandma and grandpa Potter. Daddy Harry and I are both orphans. I cried because you were dead the last time I was here and I may cry a little more. I love you and miss you. You did just the best thing by making Daddy Harry my godfather. Thank you.” This time you could see tears just below the surface, but Teddy did not bawl like the last time he was at the graves.
Teddy looked over at Victoire, who was at 6 a lot more aware of what was going on than she had been at 4. He said, “This is Victoire Weasley. She is sort of a cousin, and her mummy and daddy help take care of me as well. You know Mr. Bill Weasley. Victoire IS a girl, but she is still sort of my best friend.”
Victoire did not know what to say or do. She looked at Teddy while all this was going on, and finally took his hand and said, “Thank you, Teddy.”
“You are welcome, Victoire,” Teddy said very seriously. “I am sorry you can’t get to be friends with my mummy and daddy.” Teddy looked at Bill and said, “Thank you, Uncle Bill, for helping me. It’s sort of hard when you don’t have a daddy, and Daddy Harry does his best, but I’m very glad you are helping me too.”
Teddy got a look on his face like he wanted to move on, so Harry took everybody over a couple of rows to where his parents were buried. Harry said, “I present to you Albus Severus Potter, your second grandson. Thank you again for giving me life, for saving my life in the forest, and for praying for me all these years. If you are up there with Nymphadora and Remus, tell them how proud we are of their son. He has found his own place in the family, eating dinner with Ginny and me four days a week, with Bill Weasley and his family once a week, and living at the New Burrow with Andromeda and Ginny’s parents. Andromeda helps take care of Teddy, but Teddy helps take care of Andromeda too. You could not ask for a better son.”
Harry looked around him, and said, “Quite a family we have. I am so blessed.” The small group walked back to the Lionheart house, where they took the floo back to the New Burrow.
Harry’s parents James and Lily Potter, Ted Tonks, Nymphadora and Remus Lupin, looked at Teddy. “He will need lots of protection when he grows up,” Remus reminded the group.
A much larger group of people were looking at Albus. “The prophesies are heavy on Albus, “James Potter said. “We need to pray for his protection.”
There were Alleluias in the background. Lily said, “Hear the rejoicing, James.”
“There were Alleluias for Jesus, and he was crucified before he was thirty-five,” James reminded Lily.
A rather large group of the saints joined James and Lily praying for the Potter and Weasley families, to give them strength for what they were fated to live through.
Victoire went home with her father shortly after they got back to the New Burrow. Teddy was unusually quiet, and also unusually willing to let others comfort him. There were a lot of hugs that afternoon. By Sunday Teddy was back to normal.
The following Monday Harriet Tubman and Dobedo came to see Ginny and Albus carrying the smallest baby Ginny had ever seen. “Is our son Martin,” said Dobedo proudly. “Is supposed to be friends with Albus.”
Ginny said, “That would be nice.” They put both babies down next to each other, and they looked at each other. From then on both babies would spend a little time together most days, usually early in the morning when Harriet and Dobedo would eat breakfast with the Potters, or later in the evening.
What Harriet and Dobedo did not tell anyone was that another elf baby was born about the same time, Rosa, daughter of Debbie and WJ at the Malfoy house. She was going to be the other house elf the elves in Britain were going to try and raise with a Magical child. They were going to try and teach Scorpius elfish and elfish morality as well.
Over the next two weeks a parade of Prophets from all over the world came to see Albus. Finally, about three weeks after he was born, Valerie Bushman and Nausicaa Scheria came over to talk to Harry and Ginny after all the children were in bed.
After some polite introductions and small talk Nausicaa said, “Albus is the subject of at least two prophesies. He will be, if he survives, and wins battles he must win, one of the next rulers of the Wizarding world. There is some disagreement over how many rulers and what the next governing of the Wizarding World will be like. I cannot help but think it will be more democratic, and not just have a dictator at the head. That’s sort of what the prophesies imply, but there is a huge amount we don’t know.
“The one thing we do know is that you must not tell Albus he is going to be the next ruler. Also, he can violate the prophesies, by not being a good and courageous person. That would be bad for him and for our world.”
“So what do we do?” asked Harry.
“Raise Albus to be a good person,” Nausicaa said. “Why did you give him the initials of a snake?”
“What?” asked Harry and Ginny together?
“Albus Severus Potter, ASP, the snake,” Nausicaa said.
“Is that in the prophesies?” Harry asked.
“In some,” Valerie said. “That and the prophesies about the next king wielding the Elder Wand, the wand given to him by his father.”
“NO! NO! No way,” Harry said. “I cannot imagine giving any child of mine the Elder Wand.”
“You have to do it freely, to fulfill the prophesies,” Nausicaa said. “The great-granddaughter has to fight and kill her great-grandmother, but she will fight alongside her soulmate.”
“You said he was the subject of two prophesies,” Harry said. “What is the other one?”
Valerie said, “Over the last two thousand years we have about twenty-two cases of soulmates, a boy and girl who, when they meet, are a very strong couple from the start If they are forcibly separated you could have a tragedy. If they are allowed to continue to be a couple there have been some fantastic marriages and partnerships.
“There are prophesies that suggest that Albus and the great-granddaughter of the Pirate Witch Queen of the Caribbean MAY be soulmates. IF that is the case, and IF they meet, and IF they are immediately a couple, then they should not be forcibly separated.”
“How would the great-granddaughter of that Queen get here?” asked Ginny.
“It does seem unlikely,” Valerie said. “It is hard to imagine her sending her great-granddaughter to Hogwarts.”
“So Albus is going to have to fight battles, just like I did?” Harry asked.
Nausicaa said, “Your job is to equip him to fight the battles. It is much riskier to try and prevent him from facing the dangers, as real and deadly as the dangers will be.”
“I thought it was hard being Harry Potter when I was going to Hogwarts,” Harry said. “In some ways this is worst.”
“Albus was terrified that you were going to be killed, Harry,” Valerie said. “He was worried that the Weasley family would be killed. He was worried that if Harry was killed it would be hard on Ginny and Molly, and if either of them were killed it would be horrible for Harry. I don’t have any easy words if comfort for you, Harry.”
“Do the right thing, not the easy thing,” said Harry.
Ginny looked at the little child in her arms. He was wide awake, and if you did not know better you would almost think he had been listening to the conversation.
Albus started making his mobile move by magic when he was two months old, and like everything else he did Albus seemed to concentrate and work at it. By three months Albus had figured out that the same magic that made the mobile move could also pull at his mother’s nursing bra, and he started doing that as well as fussing when he wanted to nurse.
Early in December Ginny was awakened one night by what felt like someone pawing at her breasts. “Harry, stop it,” she said.
Harry was not all that close to her, and he said something like “humptff?” and relaxed, still obviously asleep. The feeling happened again, and she realized that it was probably a hungry Albus. She pushed Harry again and said, “Get Albus, he is hungry.” Harry got Albus and changed him, and he eagerly nursed.
Ginny asked all the mothers she knew if any of their children could use magic to indicate that they wanted to nurse; none had and no one had heard of a child doing that.
Mid-December Dudley and Belinda came over for dinner. Ron and Hermione were also there. During dinner Dudley said, “Belinda and I want to get married, but we have a problem. Both of us want a magical wedding, but for it to be a proper magical wedding both my parents have to be there. My mother is upset. She knows Belinda is a witch, although she has not told Vernon. I think my mother would reluctantly accept Belinda, but she and I know that if Vernon knew I was marrying into a magical family he would not accept it. As it is, he is not nice to Belinda. He’s even more not nice to her than he is to most people.”
“Your dad’s a real case,” said Harry. “One of the great joys of my life is not having to see him. I haven’t seen him since we took James over to see your father.”
“You are lucky,” said Dudley. “I see him more days than not.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Harry.
“We are going to get married in a civil ceremony without any guests present, not even my parents, and then decide what to do next,” said Dudley. “I have talked to Bill and the house at the end of the block, 15 Grimmauld Place, is owned by you and will be available in a few weeks. We would like to move in there, if you agree.” Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione all agreed that it would be acceptable to have Dudley and Belinda as neighbors. Harry said, “14 Grimmauld Place has just become available, and Bill has indicated that they are going to buy it and fix it up for house elves.
Dudley and Belinda were married before Christmas, and they spent the Christmas holidays in California with Belinda’s family. When they got back they went over the changes they wanted to 15 Grimmauld Place. Grainger and Grunt were going to be working at 14 and 15 starting right after the first of the year, with both finished by spring.
Chapter 24: CH. 24 Two Christmases
Author's Notes: A year and a half in this chapter.
The fall of 2006 was a busy one for Ginny, with two children to take care of. With the help of her family she did keep up with her Quidditch reporting, with two columns and a report on the weekend games during the Quidditch season, and one column a week after the season was over. Ginny had kept working with Donna Lionheart on the columns. Every week she would spend some time with her talking about Quidditch, asking Donna’s advice about some article she was writing. Donna was not much of a writer, but her memory of what had happened during any particular Quidditch game was better than Ginny’s. Ginny was still having a little problem with her memory.
The two families usually got together two or three days before Christmas, because Harry worked Christmas Eve, and they got together Christmas 2006 as usual. Tabitha was twelve, Erica two and a half, and William Jr. was just two months old. Ginny looked at Donna nursing her second child, Albus at her breast, and though how different their lives where than when they were playing together for the Harpies. Harry had been an Auror since the fall after the Battle of Hogwarts. She had been a student, then a full time Quidditch player with hardly enough time to be a wife, seldom home, and working even harder than Harry. Then when she got injured she had to suddenly switch to the wife staying home person, and then a mother to Teddy, and then to James and Albus.
Christmas Eve the Potters went to Church again. Harry and Ginny had two little children, James at just over a year and Albus, three and a half months. By this time Rose was a year old, and with Jean Granger there were two small families with four people each, Christmas Eve being one of the few times Ron accompanied Hermione and his mother-in-law to church.
Harry and Ginny thought that Christmas’s and summers around the pond were always major markers for how big the children were getting, Christmas because of the presents, summer because you could see the differences in the way the children played.
Teddy was eight and a half. He was growing up to be as nice a young boy as you could hope for. Harry and Ginny were both shocked when someone mentioned that Teddy was going to be going to Hogwarts in two and a half years! There were going to be quite a number of years where either a Weasley or a Potter was going to be at Hogwarts, but that was a few years away.
Fred, at seven and a half, was more under control, although that was relative. Little Molly, at six and a half, was more confident than she was a five and a half, smart and nice. Victoire at six and a half was just a year older version of the five and a half year old Victoire. Roxanne at five and a half was less in the shadow of her older brother. Lucy at five was just much more grown up, and as a pair Molly and Lucy were more confident in their interactions with their wilder and more energetic cousins.
Dominique at four was all girl, not quite as outgoing as Victoire, but fully able to keep up with the cousins. Dominique looked like her mother, with just a little bit of Bill in the facial structure, hair, just a touch darker, eyes not such a light blue. Victoire’s reddish hair had continued to get darker, although there was still quite a bit of a darker blond in it, and her blue eyes reminded you of Bill’s. Victoire showed a little of the Veela influence, but obviously looked like Grandma Molly’s granddaughter. Dominique was already a thinner version of Victoire.
Louis was obviously Bill and Fleur’s son, beautiful blond red hair, and a face that, like the hair, was a beautiful blend of his mother and father. Louis at two and a half wanted to be a boy like Teddy and Fred, but he was just too young. He ended up spending a lot of time with his father, and occasionally Bill would take him to work, where he had a little desk where he drew and looked at pictures. Louis also spent a lot of time playing with James, who was also almost two and a half. James was definitely one of the more energetic of the grandchildren, occasionally too wild for Louis. Because James was born in October and Louis was born in August Louis was going to be at Hogwarts a year before James, but they were almost the same age.
Rose was a year old, a very bright toddler. She was ahead of her age in talking, although not at walking. She received a broom for Christmas, and flew it a little, but really did not take to it. Hermione had never really gotten the hang of flying. She could sort of do it, but she did not like to and had never practiced enough to get even moderately competent, and it sure looked like Rose could be the same way.
Albus seemed to be a very inquisitive baby, not quite a toddler yet, active but not wild, not speaking much, but interested in everybody and everything. Harry was taking having two children in stride, but of course he was not the one who was with small children all the time. Ginny was very grateful that her parents or sister-in-laws would there watch the children, or even just watch James, so she could get things done. It was only because of the babysitters that she could write her Daily Prophet articles.
The beginning of 2007 Harry and Ginny took their usual vacation to the Caribbean, again to another island where Harry could do some mapping. As before there was quite an entourage, with families getting larger. Dan VanLente spent most of the week with his family at the same resort. Dan told Harry more stories about the Bermuda Triangle, old and new stories about a hidden island and very wicked things going on around these islands.
Ginny always enjoyed the beach and the relaxed atmosphere. Young Bill VanLente was eighteen and in college in San Francisco. He brought along a girl friend, and she was delighted to help take care of the babies and show Bill how domestic she could be. Bill was eager to show that he could be a good father. Harry and Ginny enjoyed watching the young couple, as did Dan and Willimena, and James just enjoyed being the center of attention. Albus never warmed up to new people quite as quickly as did James, but by the end of the week even he was eager for the extra personal attention.
The end of January Albus discovered a new trick. He was given O’s cereal, but his hands were not quite coordinated enough to pick them up. He started to see if he could levitate them. He could, but then getting them into his mouth was difficult. Al could get a whole bowl of cereal all over the kitchen without getting more than two or three of the O’s in his mouth. This did not seem to be too much of a problem for Al; he enjoyed seeing the O’s fly. Ginny ended up finding a spell that could corral the wayward O’s and deposit them back in the bowl, giving Al even more O’s to practice with.
It took Al a month, but eventually he could eat a whole bowl of O’s by levitating them one at a time into his mouth. It took a while, but Al was very content to get most of his nourishment at Ginny’s breast and just eat a little cereal from time to time.
Once Al discovered he could levitate things he really started to work at it. The heavier something was the harder it was, but Ginny quickly learned that she had better place weights or charms on any piece of paper she did not want Al to levitate somewhere where she could not find it. This was something James could not do; it was very unusual to develop such a skill so early, and James was not amused. Ginny and Harry could already see that James liked being the center of attention, and became jealous when people were paying attention to Al and not to him.
The first of February Bill came to Harry with a problem. “We want to hide Fourteen Grimmauld Place, because it has been remodeled to have shorter floors and be quite obviously a house for elves. At the same time we want to make your house visible and at least public enough that there is a Muggle address for you. Your house will still be very well protected.
“The problem is that your house has never existed in Muggle records.”
Harry answered, “Change our address to Thirteen Grimmauld Place, and Ron and Hermione’s to Fourteen Grimmauld Place.”
“We cannot do that,” Bill said. “Some of the magic connected to the house is tied to it being ‘Twelve Grimmauld Place.’ We are going to formally change Muggle records, but it is going to be an expensive and messy business.”
When everything was done Twelve Grimmauld Place was quite visible, but Muggles usually stayed away from the entire end of the block.
The beginning of March Harry came home and Ginny had a letter. “A Mr. Larry Lau and his wife Laura, from China, want to test Albus, Harry. Their family has developed tests of magic for centuries, I guess. The Chinese have always had testing. They have a test of magic in a baby.”
“Why do they want to test Albus?” Harry asked.
“It has something to do with the prophets, I guess,” Ginny answered. “I don’t know if the prophets in Switzerland contacted them, or if it has something to do with prophets in China, or both, but Valerie sent a letter along with the letter from Larry and Laura.”
Harry grumbled, and he and Ginny had quite a discussion. In the end they did allow Larry and Laura to come and test Albus, at Grimmauld Place, when James was at The New Burrow. The Potters did not want James to see someone giving Albus special attention.
The first tests seemed to involve some general observations, and examining Albus with their wands. Then they brought out a device with a couple of balls behind glass. Laura asked Albus, “Albus, can you move this ball from here,” pointing to one side of the instrument, “up and over to here?”
Albus looked, and moved the lighter of the balls from the one side to the other, by levitating it.
“Excellent, Albus,” Laura said. “Now can you move this heavier ball over?”
Albus promptly moved the heavier ball over.
The instrument became more and more of a maze, with Albus moving the balls reasonably quickly each time. Finally there was one last maze, and at the end a passageway that was too small.
“Is there any way you can force this ball through this passageway?” Laura asked.
Albus focused, and concentrated. Finally the barrier moved and the ball moved through. “Did!” Albus said. “Hoo…ray!”
“How hard was that?” a shocked Laura said.
Albus scowled. “H…hard.”
After a couple of additional tests they were through. Ginny said, “Albus, would you like to go over to see Rose and her grandmother?”
“Rose,” Albus said, as Ginny took him next door.
Larry and Laura spent some time looking at results, and calculating. They kept shaking their heads. Finally Larry said, “When we developed these tests we tried to use a scale of zero to one-hundred, with almost all Muggles being something over zero, but usually under ten.
Harry snorted, “I bet Vernon Dursley is about a minus ten.” Ginny laughed.
“Most magical babies test in the forty to sixty range. We have had a few babies test in the ninety to ninety-five range.
“We have been trying to make sense of Albus’s scores. They just don’t make any sense. He did things we put in to challenge young adults. The numbers are either in the hundreds, or the calculations do not make sense.”
“So what do we do?” asked Harry.
“Keep on doing whatever you are doing,” Laura said.
The end of March Albus discovered levitating liquids. This was a disaster. There was no way Al could contain the liquids and make them behave, and it always ended up in a huge wet mess. It took about a month of telling Al “No” whenever he tried it, with James very eager to tell his younger brother “No” as well, before Al started to learn not to try and levitate liquids. Al always looked so sorry whenever he was corrected. Ginny would tell Harry, “Al seems to be trying to figure out the way the world works, like he really cares, but some things are hard for his little mind to figure out.”
James liked it when he was read to, but usually only had patience for two short books or one longer one. Al at less than a year old was much more patient. Jean Granger found out when Al was about nine months old and hardly walking that he would crawl or toddle over to her if she was reading to Rose, and he wanted to be read to as well. Rose would occasionally take out one of the picture books or simple alphabet books she knew by heart and “read” them to Al, and he was amazingly patient listening to her and looking at the books. Rose at a year and a half already knew much of the alphabet and could read simple words. Her grandmother Jean was doing the same thing to her granddaughter that she had done years earlier to her daughter, and Rose was as willing a student as Hermione. What was amazing was the Al seemed to be as patient and willing to learn. Al ended up spending more time with Jean and Rose than anyone had anticipated.
The other surprise was that Al and Rose spent some time almost every day with Martin, sometimes an hour or two up in the elves quarters where they were learning elfish, sometimes downstairs at the Weasley’s where Martin was learning English and his English letters. Eventually Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione learned that Martin’s full name was Martin Luther King P/W, the P/W always used as a last name to indicate that they were part of the ever expanding group of Potter/Weasley elves.
Since Albus and Rose were spending time every day with Martin and his parents, Harry and Ginny also were learning how Kevin was doing. Kreacher’s little son was still alive, but not doing well. He and his mother seldom left the rooms above the Grimmauld Place attics.
In May both Fourteen and Fifteen Grimmauld Place were done. Kreacher had a small suite of offices on the first floor, sized so a full size witch or wizard could enter and talk to someone although with seven foot ceilings so full size people always felt a little uncomfortable. There was a large meeting room on the first floor, which Harriet Tubman P/W had named ‘The Drinking Gourd.” The upstairs floors had five foot ceilings, and you could pack a lot of elves in Fourteen Grimmauld Place. The back yard was all garden, with a play area for the elf children below.
Fifteen Grimmauld was laid out totally differently than the rest of the houses. The ground floor level had a garage covering the entire back half of the property and from the garage there were a couple of big doors that led to a work area or basement. Harry thought you could put a modest sized machine shop there, and there were some indications that something like that was what Dudley and Belinda had in mind. There was a small office with desks for both Dudley and Belinda in the basement.
The kitchen and a family eating area and sort of a family room were combined into one great room on the main floor. Outside of the kitchen, which was in the back, there was a garden area, with space for a small children’s play area when that was needed. The level above that had a formal living and dining room, and with magic the area was set up so it could be a large formal living room if Dudley had a big gathering over, or a smaller living and dining room if a smaller number of people were coming over for dinner.
Above that were four bedrooms, a master bedroom, master bath, small bath small bedroom setup that was ideal for a nursery on one floor, then two bedrooms with a bath between on the next floor. The top floor was unfinished. As soon as it was done Dudley and Belinda moved into it.
Dudley and Belinda wanted to start a family soon, but the inability to talk to Vernon about Belinda being a witch was still in the way of a magical wedding. Vernon had continued to gain weight, and as he got less and less healthy his temper was getting worse. Dudley thought that even his mother was having a hard time living with Vernon, although Petunia would never say anything.
The end of May Gawain announced that he was going to retire the end of August, and over the summer he gradually turned over all the work he had been doing to Harry and Mary Lou, so by the first of July he was only in about half of the time, covering unusual things that he had forgotten to teach or giving some appreciated advise in a few matters. He announced that he was going to be on vacation for much of August before formally retiring the last day in August.
Nothing striking unusual happened that summer until August when Albus turned one. Albus had been very reluctant to stop nursing, and was not taking to drinking out of a cup all that well. He had become, if not real talkative, very capable of expressing his own opinion. He was at the same time extremely eager to please and equally determined to get his own way in a few matters of great importance to him, a usually pleasant but at some times maddeningly frustrating child.
August eight Harry and Ginny gave Albus his first broom, and announced to him like they had to James that he could fly the broom, he was a big boy now, but he was going to have to stop nursing. Albus refused to get on the broom, and announced “Mum’s milk” for all to hear. The rest of the day he refused to drink, pulling at Ginny’s bra with his levitating skills and getting more and more upset. By evening he was crying and when he was put down to bed he kept at Ginny’s breast with more and more insistence. Finally about 4:00 AM, exhausted, Ginny let Albus nurse, and for the next two days Albus eagerly got back to a nursing routine with Ginny. He would look at the broom and say, “No broom. Mum’s milk.”
Ginny tried to spend more and more time away from Albus, but although he would take modest drinks from a cup from time to time he would stop drinking and wait for Ginny if she was away from him for too long. Meanwhile Albus was trying to be the nicest most cooperative baby he could be, learning more and more from Jean Granger and being among the easier babies the group at the New Burrow had ever taught.
The end of August Harry and Ginny again looked at the group of children at the pond. Teddy was nine, Freddy eight, Molly and Victoire seven, Roxanne six, Lucy five and a half, Dominique four and a half, Louis three, James almost three, Rose one and a half, and Albus just one. Teddy, being the first “adopted” grandchild, plus 10 biological grandchildren, made Molly and Arthur extremely proud of their growing brood.
James had been picking on Albus about only sliding down the little slides in the little children’s play area, and the very end of August Harry noticed that James and Albus were climbing up to the top of the play structure where the huge slide was. It took Albus a very long time to climb up, and Harry went over and sat at the bottom of the structure in case anything went wrong. When they got to the top James promptly slid down the slide, then motioned for Al to follow. Al just stayed at the top looking at the huge slide. Finally James got back up to the top, put Albus between his legs, and went out to the top of the slide. James pushed Albus away from himself and let Albus slide down the big slide all by himself. When he got down to the bottom Albus looked up at the slide in amazement, then toddled over to Ginny and wanted a long period of holding, ending with some nursing which always seemed to comfort him.
About an hour later Albus was again at the top of the slide, this time all by himself. Harry and Ginny watched as Albus gingerly maneuvered himself to the top of the slide, sat at the top, and then went down again. Again he looked like he was terrified, and again he went to Ginny for some holding. Unlike James who at times seemed had no fear, Albus was very concerned with a lot of things. He seemed to have not so much the lack of fear that concerned Ginny about James, but the ability to conquer his fears, and to do what had to be done.
The first of September, 2007, Harry Potter was formally named Head of the Auror department. He was twenty-six years old, the youngest Head Auror anyone could remember. He was also a prominent member of the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Witches and Wizards, and one of the area directors of the International Auror Association. He had managed to avoid becoming too involved in the African or Mid-Eastern problems, but his responsibility was mostly European including Eastern Europe and parts of Russia. He had some minor connection to the Caribbean, and somehow always felt that he was going to be more deeply involved with what was going on over there. Al and Dan VanLente did keep Harry apprised of any developments taking place over there.
For the first time Harry had the freedom to build the Auror department the way he wanted to. One of the first things he wanted to do was find out how they could integrate Muggle and magic to produce a better Auror. He worked with Hermione and WWW, especially Angelina and Ron, who were very interested developing another line of products, to develop armor, combining Muggle bullet proof vest, with spells to deflect curses. They worked hard to develop a magical equivalent to the little radios that SWAT teams wore to keep in constant communication. The whole ministry was being computerized, with of course magical displays and magical ways to input data, and the Auror department was not being left behind once Harry became the Head of it. Harry and Hermione were also very instrumental in getting Arthur to modernize the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Arthur was delighted with all the new technology, although he was particularly incompetent in using it.
The first part of September Albus was in the bathroom with James and noticed that James was going to the bathroom in a small potty chair. Ginny (or Harry when he had James) carried a very tiny potty chair in a purse or pocket that they enlarged when James needed to go to the bathroom. It had spells with it to automatically empty into the nearest conventional loo. James was telling Al how big boys do not wet their pants but go potty in the potty chair. Albus sat down by himself on the potty chair and did get a little urine out, and from then on he wanted to use the potty chair. Within a month he was dry all day and most nights, and the occasional accidents at night had ended within another couple of months. He was still nursing, however, which was driving Ginny crazy.
By November Ginny had finally had it with nursing Albus. She told Harry that she needed to get away, and the first two weeks she managed to wean Albus by just letting him cry. He got dehydrated after the first forty-eight hours, but then started to drink, still trying to get Ginny to nurse him. Of course after almost two weeks Ginny’s milk had dried up, but Albus was still trying to get at her breasts. She finally told Harry, “I need to get away for a week so Albus knows that nursing is not going to start again.” Harry told Bill, and someone at the office found a cruise that was leaving in twenty four hours that would put Harry and Ginny out of touch for a full week. There was room on the cruise for two couples in adjoining bedrooms with separate bathrooms, but with a shared living room. It was expensive, but because it was available at the last minute it was less than half of the normal price. Ginny told Hermione about it, and Harry told Ron. Both couples were feeling a little burned out, and could free up the next week, so with only hours notice they packed up and went over to take the cruise.
They got on the boat early in the morning having traveled overnight to where the boats were docked, put their clothes away, and went to one of the pools to swim and relax. They ate a fantastic lunch, and went back to take a brief nap. When both of the couples were up Hermione asked Ginny, “Do you have any birth control potion. I left mine at home.”
Ginny said, “I got some just before the trip, because Albus has stopped nursing, but I must have left it at home.”
Hermione said, “What are you going to do, Ginny?”
Ginny said, “Maybe try for a girl this time. I’m not going to be like my mother, and I would probably be on birth control for a year before trying again, but getting pregnant again is no big deal.”
Hermione said, “I know Ron would like another child, and Merlin knows Rose is easy enough, but I’m not sure.”
Ginny said, “Be a little spontaneous.”
Hermione answered back with some concern in her face, “About a baby? That’s not just a minor problem. A baby is forever.”
“I’m going to enjoy having sex with my husband this week, no children, no worries, what happens, happens,” said Ginny. “What you do with my brother is up to you.”
Hermione’s problem was that as worried as she was about getting pregnant, she was even more horny, really wanting a sex filled week with Ron. In the end the decision was made very quickly.
Saturday night both couples were back in London. Rose stayed with Grandma Granger, but James and Albus were with their Weasley grandparents. When Harry and Ginny arrived at the New Burrow both James and Albus ran to greet their parents, James of course arriving first since he was the larger and by far the faster of the two boys. When Albus got to his parents he hugged Ginny and said, “Mum’s milk?”
Ginny sat down and said to Albus, “There is no more Mum’s milk. It’s all gone.”
Al had a look of sorrow with just a little apprehension on his face. “All gone?” he said. “Where go?”
Ginny said, “Mummies only nurse babies. When babies grow up to be big boys and girls then mummies stop nursing them. I stopped nursing James long before you were born, because James was becoming a big boy.”
“No Mum’s milk?” asked Albus again.
“Albus is not a baby anymore,” said Ginny.
Albus looked at himself. “Not a baby?” he said.
“Not a baby. Albus is growing up,” said Ginny. “I like Albus growing up, learning to do new things, getting bigger.”
“Not a baby. No Mum’s milk?” said Albus again. From the look on his face Ginny was glad Albus had not learned any swear words.
Ginny turned to Harry and said, “Let’s take our two big boys home. Neither one is a baby any more.”
“Al’s still little,” said James. “I’m bigger!”
The next day before dinner Al brought out the broom he had been given for his birthday. Harry and James were down in the big room under Ron and Hermione’s house flying around, and Al asked Ginny “Broom?” Al said again, “Big boy?” while he showed her the broom. Ginny helped Al on the broom and helped him learn how to ride it. Al did not spend near as much time on the broom as James, but he did learn to ride his little broom reasonably well.
Shortly before Christmas both Ginny and Hermione approached Fleur, and she said both of them were pregnant. “You always did like doing things together,” Fleur said.
Hermione looked at Ginny and said, “We hardly did this together! We just happened to do it at about the same time.”
Ginny said, “We both forgot our birth control potions. I don’t mind. I hope we have a girl this time.”
Hermione said, “I hope I’m ready for another child.”
Ginny said, “When shall we tell the family?”
Hermione said, “How about Christmas?”
The two women talked about how they were going to tell the family, letting Harry and Ron know that they had to keep the pregnancies a secret until they had revealed it. Finally they decided to give Molly a joint Christmas card with the announcement inside. “August of 2008 Ginny and Hermione will unveil their latest presents to Molly, two more grandchildren.” They gave the card to Molly, who looked at the envelope. It was the last present. “A card from both of you?” she asked.
Hermione said, “You are going to have to be very patient waiting for these gifts.”
Molly had a very confused look on her face, looked at the rather conventional card, and opened it up. She then looked at the two girls grinning at her. “Both of you?” she asked.
“Well, we both forgot birth control potions when we went on the cruise, mum,” said Ginny.
“Your son is way too sexy to resist,” said Hermione. “I can’t really say it was an accident. As hard as it was to get pregnant the first time, I sure didn’t have any problems this time.”
“I think Harry and I will take a break after this one,” said Ginny. “I am going to end up with almost six years straight of being pregnant or nursing.”
“I was not sure if I wanted a second” said Hermione. “This is the last grandchild you are going to get out of this daughter-in-law.”
Molly gave Ginny and Hermione each big hugs. She looked around at the room, abuzz with the news that both Ginny and Hermione were pregnant. She finally went up to Arthur and gave him a big hug, looked around the room with all the children, their spouses, and of course Andromeda and Teddy and Jean Granger, who were always part of these gatherings. “I’ve always wanted a big family,” she announced, still holding tightly on to Arthur. “I don’t think I could be any happier.”
Chapter 25: Chapter 25
Author's Notes: Thanks to FriendofMolly for the title, and for all her help.
There are busy years in the life of a family that do not have any striking things happen. 2008 started out like that for the Potters. James was a reasonably good student, up to where he should be for his age. The “home” schooling and almost one on one attention had all the children being taught in and around the New Burrow advancing very rapidly.
Rose and Al were another case. Rose was already reading and could write her own name, not well, but she could write it. Jean and the other people who taught Al said it was sometimes hard to tell just how much he knew. He seemed to be able to read as well as Rose even though he was over half a year younger. He did not have the coordination to be able to write. He tried, and you could see the concentration on his face, but his muscles just would not allow him to make readable letters. It was also hard to tell just how much he could understand. His spoken vocabulary was large for a year and a half old child, and Jean and Ginny both said “He understands a lot more than you would think one so young should understand.” Both Al and Rose were a little shy, however. Al was very bright for his age but not very big.
Ginny would sometimes take James with her when she went to interview Quidditch players. James never tired of seeing people fly, and he always basked in the attention he was getting. Ginny found out that even with the men players having a small child with her sometimes broke the ice, and she could get a much better feeling for the personalities of a player. Quidditch sort of bored Al, and he really preferred staying with Rose and Jean. He was such an easy child for Jean to have around that she did not mind. Al always obeyed Jean; he had discovered that his parents and brother were stuck with him, but Jean and Rose were not his immediate family, so if he was going to spend time with them he had better be real good.
The first part of April, Harry was called into a meeting with Kingsley Shacklebolt. Minerva McGonagall was there. After polite greetings Kingsley said “The board of directors of Hogwarts has unanimously nominated you for a position on their board. We would really like to have you on the board. We have a several real challenges ahead of us the next few years.”
“Is there a problem?” asked Harry.
“Our biggest problem is success and growth,” said Minerva. “We have had periods in the past when Hogwarts had a significant number of foreign students, and we have begun to have more and more applying. So far we have been able to fit them the traditional house structure, but we could easily have a whole house of nothing but foreign students if we opened up the enrollment a little more.
There’s another problem we have even less control over. It seems like since the Battle of Hogwarts a reasonably large number of people have moved back to Britain, bringing small children with them. In addition a larger than usual number of our former students has married and has begun to have larger than normal families. From 1950 until the Battle of Hogwarts the average number of children in a household headed by a witch or wizard was never over 2 and frequently as low as 1. The only reason we were able to maintain the size of our population was the number of witches or wizards marrying a Muggle and producing a witch or wizard, plus a steady number of Muggle born.
Harry, your generation seems to be producing more children. Right after the Muggle World War II there was a baby boom, a large number of children being born to those veterans of the war wanting to get back to a normal life. There seems to be something like that happening to us now. Older couples who put off having children because of the troubles having a child or two or even three, more than the normal number of marriages and more than the normal number of children.
Those children are starting to appear at Hogwarts, and for the next fifteen years or so we will have to be dealing with our own little baby boom.”
“I can’t say too much,” said Harry, “except to take responsibility for my part in the baby boom. Ginny is expecting our third. Teddy Lupin, my godson, starts in a year and a half, Freddy Weasley the following year, and from then on you are going to have, ” Harry had to stop and do a little calculating, “Eighteen or more years with a Weasley or Potter or both, twelve total plus Teddy at last count.”
“Merlin, help us! Eighteen years of Weasleys and Potters. That’s a challenge all by itself,” said Minerva rolling her eyes in mock horror. “We also have the challenge of introducing some of our witches and wizards to modern technology. Some of them have never even seen an electric light, have no idea how to turn an electric light on.”
“Like my mother-in-law before we built the New Burrow,” said Harry.
“We need a building, some distance away from Hogwarts, where we can introduce out students to modern technology, including the Wizarding World Wide Web,” said Minerva. “We have to get out of the nineteenth century and into the twenty-first, just like you have been doing with the Auror department.”
“With three children who are going to be going to Hogwarts, plus Teddy, I have a stake in having it the best school possible. I’ll be on the board,” said Harry.
“And help advocate for the necessary changes,” said Minerva.
“And even get Cindy to help publicize the changes,” said Harry.
“Thank you,” said Minerva.
“This year is the 10th anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts,” said Kingsley. “We did not do anything special for the fifth anniversary, but if we do not periodically celebrate our victory over Riddle we will forget how much we sacrificed to defeat Tom Riddle and his fanatics.
“We’ve talked about holding a moderate size public celebration at Hogwarts every five years. We are also talking about adding markers or some type of memorial at some places in the castle, something so people will not forget what happened.”
“I expect you are going to want me to say something,” said Harry.
“Every five years,” said Kingsley.
“Every five years,” repeated Minerva.
“We have some personnel issues we have to talk about,” Minerva said. “We are replacing Binns as History of Magic teacher.”
“It’s about time,” Harry said.
“Most of the classes are going to be taught by one of Horace Slughorn’s grandsons, Henry Slughorn,” Minerva said. “He is also going to be assistant head of Slytherin. Horace is getting old and tired, and he is looking forward to retiring in a few years.
“I have an assistant for Henry. Willie Nutting will be teaching Modern History. Since she is 145 she is going to be teaching the history of the last 125 years, the years she has lived through.
“We have an assistant for Horace, teaching some of the middle Potions classes, Julia C. Kettleburn.
“We have an assistant for Poppy, a new healer out of St. Mungo’s, Genevieve Swan. This is going to allow Poppy to take over as head of Hufflepuff house. Pomona will stay on as assistant head, but with her expanding family being head of house is just too much.
“Within the next couple of years we are going to want two teachers for most of our classes.”
Harry and the rest of the board members looked over the information Minerva had on each of the candidates, and spent some time talking about them, before approving everything.
The middle of April Teddy turned ten. A year and a half before he went to Hogwarts. Ginny said to Harry, “I nursed Teddy! Is he really that old?”
Harry responded “You are pregnant with our third child.”
“I was really dumb thinking I could be a mother and play for the Harpies and help you fight dark wizards,” said Ginny. “Writing a column for the Daily Prophet is hard when you are also home schooling children. I feel like Jean is doing far more to teach Al than I am. Jean is not ready for someone as busy as James. He can be a challenge to teach.”
“Al is a different kind of challenge,” said Harry. “He wants to know all about everything. He was asking about my job and what I did the other day. He really likes coming down to the Potion Room when I am making mapping paper.”
Ginny looked at Harry and said, “Did I tell you I went to the midwife today? Everything is going well, and we are having our Lily Luna this time.”
“That is just fantastic!” said Harry.
“I’m just worried about what my Mum said,” said Ginny. “What if we have a wild emotional red head?”
“I like wild emotional red heads,” said Harry. “I married one.”
“I think I was a difficult child to raise,” said Ginny. “Mum calls it payback, ‘may you have a child like you were.’”
May second, two thousand and eight, was a Friday. Hogwarts was set up very similar to how it was set up nine years earlier at the first year anniversary. Of course this year there was enough distance that the pain evident in so many people that first year was not near as evident. This was not a command performance, no awards were being given out, and witches and wizards like Andromeda who had a very hard time still remembering those dark days and their losses just did not come.
Harry and Ginny came with their two and a half children, as did Ron and Hermione with their one and a half. Harry and Ginny thought over half of the weekend was taken up with finding out who was married to whom, and how many children they had. Most of the class had gotten married and had not just a child but children, two or three, a few with more. Harry and Ginny spent almost the entire time in the main hall, greeting a huge number of people.
If you dug below the surface you could tell there were still people recovering. In every class there were a few people like who had not made it, and along with all the victories there were still sad stories.
Gawain Robards met Harry briefly at the Anniversary, and asked if he could meet with Harry. Harry said that of course, they could meet, and they set up a time the next week to get together.
The next week Harry welcomed Gawain into Gawain’s old office, now Harry’s office. It had changed quite a bit, with a few of Harry’s maps on the walls, and a computer with two magical screens and a conventional screen, tied into the World Wide Web and the Wizards World Wide Web as well. One of the magical maps was of England, and it showed where every Auror was. Harry touched the map with his wand and suddenly there were a number of other dots. “These are the undercover Aurors” said Harry. “I can enlarge the map to see in detail just about anything,” said Harry. “There are limits to how much detail, depending on how well I know the area.”
Finally Harry asked, “What brings you here, Gawain.”
“Harry, I’m bored,” said Gawain. “My children love me, but they do not want me around all that much. My wife says she married me for better or for worse, but not for lunch every day. I don’t want my old job back. I’m happy not to have the responsibilities of heading the department. At the same time I want to do something. Do you think there is a part time job for an over the hill old Auror in this department?”
“You are hardly an old over the hill Auror, Gawain,” said Harry. “Let me try to find a place for you.”
A week later Harry had Gawain back and said, “How would you like to teach new Aurors? That way you would not have to work full time, or be on call all the time.”
“What would I teach?” asked Gawain.
“What would you like to teach?” asked Harry.
“Anything,” said Gawain, “but if I can help new Aurors learn how to work together, that would be good. It could include how to make the laws work for you. Perhaps,” he said with a twinkle in his eye, “how to do the right thing even if it means operating a little close to the edge of the law.” Gawain had managed to have the Aurors do the right things while the awful laws from the years before the Battle of Hogwarts were changed, and knew when you had to use your judgment and not rely on the word of the law.
Harry pondered a moment. “Some of our younger Aurors are a little too full of themselves. Learning a little humility and judgment at the wand of an old pro cannot hurt.
“We start the last full week in August,” said Harry, “and are off September first so Aurors can take their children to the Hogwarts Express.”
“You have a few years before you have to worry about that, Harry,” said Gawain.
“My godson Teddy Lupin starts Hogwarts this year, Gawain,” said Harry.
For many years Gawain was one of the key teachers of new Aurors, with a couple of weeks off around Christmas and most of the summer off.
The first week of June was the normal meeting of the International Confederation of Witches and Wizards. Harry and Hermione needed to go over a week early to work on issues, and Ginny, Jean Granger, and the three children went along. Harry had to spend some time on the phone or conversing with his staff with the mirrors most days, but he had a full working day each day with the Confederation. Ginny and Jean took the children on tours of the whole Swiss valley. James was bored on some of these trips, but Rose and Albus were fascinated.
The first nice Saturday in July the family was again at the Pond. Harry and Ginny thought that among their friends and acquaintances there was always a new baby somewhere. Jacob Stanford had been born that February, the third of Sidney and Kim Stanford’s children. Kim was keeping up her Auror certification but really not working at all as a Auror, just working hard as a mother with Ruth, five, Abraham, almost three, and Jacob, plus of course her daughter Elisa who was nine and quite grown up for a nine year old, having helped her mother with the younger children since Abraham was born.
Kim told Harry, “Once Jacob is weaned I am going to start helping Sidney teach, if Minerva will have me. I help him a little already. We think I will teach the early grades, but probably starting second year. Sidney still wants to teach the first years and get a feeling for them.”
Harry replied, “We need the extra help. I do not know many families with just one child.”
“Harry” said Ginny, “Did I tell you who else is having another baby in August.”
“Who?” asked Harry?
“Donna,” said Ginny.
“Donna Lionheart?” said Harry.
“Well Donna never did do anything half way,” said Ginny, sort of laughing. “That’s probably what made her such a good Quidditch player. I guess now that she is a mother she is going to have a respectable sized family. She loves being a mother, and is determined not to be like her mother but just to enjoy this time of her life.”
“What happened to the lady that cursed at her teammates?” asked Harry.
“That’s my line, Harry!” Ginny said laughing again, remembering the first time she said it. The longer they were married the more common experiences they had to look back on and refer to. It was a very comfortable feeling. “Are we an old married couple?” asked Ginny.
“Not yet!” said Harry, “Not an old married couple, but we’ll get there. For better or for worse, forever. As long as we are both living we’re stuck with each other.”
“Good,” said Ginny as they squeezed each other’s hands. Just about that time Lily Luna decided it was time to announce her presence. “This one’s more like James,” said Ginny. “There’s nothing tentative about her. OH!” as the baby hit her bladder. “I have to go to the loo, again! The things I put up with to have your babies.”
“Like it’s all MY fault?” said Harry.
“Absolutely! I get the glory and you get the blame,” said Ginny as she grinned at Harry and went off to the loo, again
Harry loved these moments. Most of life was work, or sleep, breakfast with the family. Dinner was always interesting. Teddy was very interested in what Harry was doing. He had decided that he wanted to be an Auror like his mother and his godfather. He had always been a reasonably good student, but when he was told you needed good grades to be an Auror he had been working even harder at it. Al wanted to sit where he could listen to Teddy and Harry, and occasionally asked questions. Al was always asking questions!”
Harry loved to read to his boys, to fly on the brooms with them. He took them for walks, sometimes with Al in a stroller of some kind, usually but not always with Ginny. They had a two person stroller for longer walks. When they were going outside “safe” magical space there was still an Auror guard. There were still dark wizards out that would sacrifice anything if they could be the one that had killed the famous Harry Potter. Two-Thousand and Eight had started out to be a very good year for the Potters.
Eventually Dudley and Belinda appeared. They usually worked Saturday mornings, but tried to do something fun together Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. They occasionally went to church Sunday mornings, but usually slept in. “Occasionally we go to lunch with my mum and dad,” said Dudley. “Dad’s in terrible shape. He misses work occasionally, and goes home early some days. He refuses to go to the doctor.”
“Belinda, can you examine Vernon with your wand without him knowing about it?” asked Harry.
“I have, Harry,” said Belinda. “I do it every time we get together. Every time his heart is weaker and his blood has less oxygen. We’re going to lose him in the next few years, maybe by the end of the year.”
Wednesday, August sixth, in the afternoon Ginny and Hermione left the children at the New Burrow with the Grandmothers while they went out shopping for birthday presents for Albus. Both Jean and Hermione thought that Albus would like Beginning to Read Books, and both mentioned that one of his favorites was ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ by Dr. Seuss. Jean had heard Rose and Al talking, Al saying, “Real eat green eggs and ham?”
Rose said, “My dad never eat green eggs and ham.”
Al said, “Mum, make green eggs and ham. Mum n dad n Albus eat them. James eats them! Funny, eating green eggs and ham.”
“The Dr. Seuss beginning to read books are better than any ones our world has,” said Hermione. “We are just going to have to go to a Muggle book store and buy some.” They ended up with about 20 books from that series, not all by Dr. Seuss but all with the same easy to read format and great illustrations and copy.
Ginny said, “I think Friday I will go up to Al’s bedroom and read Green Eggs and Ham and then have the house elves make them for breakfast.”
Thursday night a big thunderstorm came through, and both Ginny and Hermione started having labor pains. They were both due in about two weeks, and the labor was not hard, so they did not think much of it.
Friday morning Ginny got up just a little early and went upstairs to Al’s bedroom. “Happy Birthday, Albus Severus,” she said. “You’re two years old! The birthday party with the cousins is Sunday, but I have a present from us.” Ginny showed Al the Green Eggs and Ham book.
“My book?” asked Al.
“Your very own book,” said Ginny.
“Read it right now?” asked Al.
“Do you want to read it to me?” asked Ginny.
“Yes,” said Al, and he started at the start. “I am Sam. Sam-I-am.” Albus went through the whole book. Ginny thought that either Al could read or he had the entire book memorized, or maybe a little of both.
They then went down to breakfast. Harry had been warned, and said to Al, “Do you like green eggs and ham?”
Al said, “Yes I like them, Sam-I-am.”
James looked at the green colored eggs and green colored ham and said, “Yeetch, gross, green eggs? Green ham? From that stupid book?” When nothing else was offered he reluctantly ate them, although not without making lots of faces.
Mid-morning all the children were at the New Burrow again and Ginny told her mother, “My labor pains are getting closer and closer together. I’d better go to St. Mungo’s, just in case.
Molly said, “I’d rather not have a grandchild born in our kitchen, or anywhere in the house, thank you.”
So Ginny left her sons with her mother and went to St. Mungo’s.
Chapter 26: CH 26, Lilly Luna and Hugo
Author's Notes: Authors Notes, by my Beta FriendofMolly.
Lily Luna and Hugo bring an Almost Happily Ever After Moment.
As Ginny was walking up to birthing area she met Hermione, who had come about the same time. “Thunderstorms sometimes set off labor,” said Hermione. Both women used the same midwife, and they asked for her.
“She is sleeping,” said the witch who met them. “Since the thunderstorm moved through every witch who was overdue, due, or due in the next two weeks seems to have had labor start.
The midwife checked them over and said, “It sure looks like we are going to have two more babies today.” She turned to one of the woman and said, “We need two more birthing rooms.”
The other witch said, “We are getting to the end of our ability to make additional rooms. We can add a lot of space, but not an unlimited amount.”
“Now, you can remove everyone off this floor that doesn’t need to be here,” said the midwife. “Let me know when we are discharging these new mums and their babies.”
“Do you want us to come back when you have more room?” asked Ginny.
“And have your baby standing up in your living room, like some idiot mother did a couple of years ago,” said the midwife.
Ginny looked very sheepish, but Hermione laughed, and poked at Ginny. The midwife looked at the two witches and said, “You know each other?”
Hermione said, “We are sisters-in-law. I married Ginny’s brother.”
The midwife looked at the paperwork again. “Ginny Potter and Hermione Weasley? The famous Ginny and Hermione! Lots of Weasleys have had babies here the last few years.”
Hermione said, “My mother-in-law has had nine grandchildren born here the last few years. It would have been ten but Ginny was the one who had her last one standing up in their drawing room.”
The midwife looked at Ginny. “It was still an idiot thing to do. Better call your husbands.” She looked again at the two women. “You do seem to do things together as a family.”
“Neither was exactly planned,” said Hermione.
“Well whatever it was, they were obviously not planned at the same time,” said the midwife, laughing.
“Vacation,” said Ginny, a little distracted.
“It looks like it was a fun vacation,” said the midwife, still giggling. “Let’s get you two into adjoining rooms.”
A short time later both Ron and Harry showed up.
Ginny had never had a normal delivery, but this time everything was about as average and normal as could be, and she delivered Lily Luna about two hours after arriving at St. Mungo’s, with Harry at her side. Lily was a beautiful baby, tiny, and as pretty as a newborn can be, with fine red hair and brown eyes. Ginny fed her, and then said to Harry, “Go check on Hermione, dear.”
Hermione had a reasonably normal and not too difficult labor with Rose, who was a small and generally cooperative baby, so she was looking forward to an even easier time delivering her second child. However Hugo was a large baby, almost ten pounds, and he was not at all in the correct position to be born. They were not going to let Harry in the room, but when the Healer saw who he was he allowed Harry in.
Ron was standing at Hermione’s head, holding her hands. He turned to Harry and said, “Hugo is breach, which means he is trying to come out butt first, which doesn’t work. They are trying to turn him, but it’s not going well.
One of the healers said, “The baby’s in distress. We need to get him out NOW.”
Another healer said, “EMERGENCY EXPANDED DELIVERY.” A couple of additional Healers rushed into the room.
Hermione looked like she was in total agony, not even able to get a sound ou, as the Healers did something, and very quickly Hugo was out.
Hugo screamed. He wiggled, and cried, and made as much racket as Harry had ever heard coming out of a new baby. One of the Healers said, “He has healthy lungs, at least. The baby is fine.”
“How is Hermione?” asked Ron. Hermione was trying to crush Ron’s hand, and it looked like she was in agony, with tears running down.
A Healer said, “Expanded deliveries, where we have to use magic to expand the birth canal way beyond its normal size, are very painful in the best of circumstances. Emergency expanded deliveries are pure agony. It is going to take a team of Healers a couple of days to get your wife back to the proper size, and she is going to hurt.”
Hugo was still crying. He cried and wiggled until they put him on Hermione’s breast. Hermione thought maybe nursing would calm everything down, but Hugo held on with a passion while at the same time wiggling. It took all of Hermione’s concentration to get Hugo fed, and it hurt more than when she had fed Rose. Hermione was in agony where the baby was born, and Hugo was pulling at her breast.
“Ron, what have you done to me?” Hermione screamed, when she could finally talk.
“What?” Ron said.
“It hurts where Hugo came out, and now he is trying to suck my insides out, and beat at me in the process. He’s huge. I gave birth to a toddler!”
Hugo was almost ten pounds, and very long, way bigger than Rose when she was born. When Hugo was done Hermione was very glad to give the not so little newborn to the Healers, who changed him and handed him to Ron.
“Ron, he’s not like Rose at all!” a panicky Hermione said.
“I sort of expect Rose was like you as a baby, but Hugo’s probably more like me,” Ron said with a grin. “More like a normal Weasley boy.”
“I have enough trouble with one Weasley boy,” a horrified Hermione replied. “I’m not sure I’m ready for two immature Weasley boys.”
“Kinda tough to put him back, seeing as it was pretty hard getting him born healthy,” Ron said. “I guess we’re just going to have to raise him to cause trouble like his dad and Uncle George.”
“RONALD,” Hermione yelled. “I think I need help.” She started to cry again. “It hurts where he was born, really REALLY hurts, and he is just different.”
“Here he is,” said Ron, showing a more content little Hugo, who was almost asleep. “He has calmed down.” Ron sat down next to her, holding Hugo, as the Healers continued to work on Hermione.
Harry went back to Ginny. “Hermione had an Emergency Expanded Birth, which is very painful. Hugo is fine, big, but Hermione is sort of a mess and is in a lot of pain.”
“Poor Hermione,” Ginny said. “From what I have been told Expanded Births are very painful, and an Emergency one is pure agony.”
“Hugo is the longest newborn I have ever seen!” Harry said.
“Lily Luna is just the cutest little thing, Harry. I think she is the prettiest baby I have ever seen.”
Ginny felt great by Saturday morning and went home mid-morning. Hermione finally came home late Saturday afternoon, and she was in a wheelchair. When Ron and Hermione came in with baby Hugo, Rose and Jean were waiting for them. Rose looked at Hugo and said, “Baby Hugo?”
“This is your baby brother Hugo. He was inside me, but he was just born yesterday,” said Hermione.
“Where was he?” asked Rose.
“Inside me in a special thing women have called a uterus,” said Hermione.
“You too rus?” said Rose.
“That’s right” said Hermione.
“How’d he get out?” asked Rose.
“He came out down here,” said Hermione pointing down to where Hugo came out.
“Out the hole?” asked Rose. “Can I see?” asked Rose, pointing at Hermione’s bottom.
“No,” said Hermione. “I’m not going to take off my knickers and show you my bottom. Babies come out down there.”
“How’d he get in there?” asked Rose.
Hermione though how to answer this question. Rose was way too young for a big talk about the facts of life. How to give Rose some sort of answer? “When mommies and daddies love each other they sometimes make a baby,” said Hermione. “You will learn more when you get older.”
“Why?” asked Rose.
“Just because some things you learn only when you get older.”
“Can boys have babies?” asked Rose.
“No,” said Hermione.
“Why?” asked Rose. “Do they have a you too rus?”
“No,” said Hermione. “Boys are different than girls. They have different parts.”
“What parts?” asked Rose.
“Different parts,” said Hermione. “You will learn more about that when you get older.”
“Is it fun making a baby?” asked Rose.
Hermione laughed. “It’s lots of fun making a baby,” she said, “but it’s something you should only do after you grow up and are married. No more, Rose.
Rose was not happy with her mother’s explanation. She was Hermione’s daughter, and she wanted to know everything. Later that day she and Al were together at his house and she said, “Mommy said babies come out here. How can a baby come out here? Could you look?” She took off her knickers and had Al look, but he could not see how anything big could come out of the area in the front of Rose.
“How far it go in?” asked Al.
“Not too far. Mummy said boys have different parts,” said Rose. “Are you different down here?” Al took off his pants and showed Rose, and she looked at Al. “What is that?” she said.
“That is where I go pee-pee,” said Al.
“I go pee down here,” said Rose pointing, “but babies come out here too. They won’t tell us.”
Sunday the whole family was at the New Burrow. The new babies were there, and of course everybody had to see them and comment. There was also a birthday cake and presents for Al. After everybody was done Al and Rose were looking at the new babies. Ginny said, “Aunt Hermione and I had babies in our tummies, but the babies came out yesterday.”
Al said, “Girls have a hole there where babies come out. We looked.”
Rose said, “Not in tummies. It’s called a you too rus How did the babies get in there?”
The family started to snicker. Rose got a little upset and said, “I know that mummies and daddies do something to make babies, but Mummy and Daddy will not tell me.”
“Go ahead, Ron” said George. “So are you going to tell Rose how you and Hermione made Hugo?”
“The same way you made Fred and Roxanne,” said Ron.
“And girls and boys are not the same, and no one will tell me why!” said Rose.
“Not now, Rose” said Hermione. Al had gone to sit down next to his mother, and was holding on to her and sucking his thumb. Al was brilliant, but he was still a 2 year old boy.
“Mommy said it’s fun to make babies, but she will not tell me more!” said Rose, getting very frustrated. By this time everybody in the room was either laughing or trying hard not to laugh. Percy was laughing and even Audrey looked amused.
The littler children did not know what to make of the conversation, but the Teddy and Victoire were snickering just like some of the adults. Rose looked at them and said “They tell you?”
Harry had told Teddy about “the facts of life” in stages over the last few years. Especially since he and Victoire were best friends, the families though that it was necessary for Teddy to know enough. Harry was really as much of a father figure to Teddy as Arthur, even though Teddy usually lived with Arthur and Molly.
Victoire had been told as much as she could absorb as early as possible. She was an extraordinarily attractive girl, and was unfortunately subject to a few inappropriate remarks from boys or men from an early age, so her mother let her know as much as she could absorb about sex early on.
Teddy said, “Rose, you’re a little girl. Your mummy and daddy will tell you when the time is right.”
Rose had her hands on her hips in a good imitation of Grandmother Molly as she said, “You tell me.”
Teddy said, “No, Rose! Mummies and daddies tell you when you are older.”
Rose looked at Victoire and said, “Do you know how mummies and daddies make babies?”
“Yes Rose,” Victoire said, getting real red.
“Do you and Teddy do it?” asked Rose.
“NO!” Victoire said. “We’re not old enough yet to do it.”
Teddy looked at Victoire, and she looked at him, and they both realized what ‘old enough YET’ might imply. Shocked at what she had said. Victoire and Teddy were obviously very embarrassed.
Almost everybody in the room laughter even harder, most of them were now looking at Teddy and Victoire.
“It’s not like Teddy and I are engaged, or anything. WE’RE COUSINS, sort of, well, we’re not, but …” Victoire looked at Teddy, and then down at the floor, obviously mortified at her comments.
Teddy looked at Victoire, and then at Harry and Ginny. He took a deep breath. He stared at the floor.
No one said anything, and Rose went away very unhappy.
One even in September Al was reading some of the Dr. Seuss books, and Harry said to Ginny, “Is he really reading?”
Ginny said, “I’m sure he’s reading. Jean says he is amazing.”
Harry said, “I wonder?” He wrote a few sentences and asked Al to read them.
Al looked at the sentences and said, “Will you eat it in a car, will...the ...car ...go... to... a.” Al scrunched his face up and said “ba … bar? What is a bar?”
Harry said, “When we go to a restaurant there is a place where people sit a line. Sometimes they drink there. That part of the restaurant is a bar.” Harry pointed back at the sentences.
Al read, “Will you eat it with a mouse. Does ...the mouse… have a ... louse? What’s a louse?”
Harry said, “A louse is a little insect that lives in hair, and is very bad and causes sickness. Mice have lice.”
Al said, “Mouse. Mice? Louse...lice? Mouse…mice? Louse…lice? House is houses, not hice”
“It’s confusing,” said Harry. “House houses, spouse spouses.”
“What is a spouse?” asked Al.
“Your mother is my spouse, and I am her spouse,” said Harry.
“Boy spouse, girl spouse?” asked Al.
“Lots of words do not tell you if it is a boy or girl,” said Harry.
“Elfish always say boy or girl, young or old, more,” said Al. You could tell from how Al said it he was trying to figure out why elfish was so different than English.
“I can’t believe James is four years old,” Ginny said as she looked at her naked husband.
“We’ve been married over ten years, the best ten years of my life,” Harry replied, looking at his naked wife. “You are just as beautiful as the day I married you.”
“How can you say I’m beautiful?” Ginny asked. “I’m fat. I look like my mum, not like the girl you married.”
“Your mum was the first mum I really remember. I can’t tell you how good it is to call her mum. And her daughter is just as fantastic a mother as she is. I don’t care at all that you look more like your mum.”
“At least the hair is back,” she said as she pulled her long red locks around in front of her.
“You are covering up other attractions” Harry said as he gently moved the hair to behind Ginny’s back and started to fondle her breasts again.
Ginny stretched in manner that was self-satisfied and sexy at the same time. “The boys are down to sleep and our Lily Luna is fed and the evening is still young. You want to make love to me again?”
“I’ve thought about it,” Harry replied. “You usually seem to enjoy it.”
Ginny got a real reflective look on her face. “I’m never going to get my balance back. The Quidditch injuries are always going to be there, as are the scars from the year before the Battle of Hogwarts. I’m never going to look like I did before having three children. Harry, as long as you love me I can accept that.
“The hero and heroine married, and had three beautiful children, and lived happily ever after.”
Harry added, “The hero and heroine took down the wicked wizard together, and got married, and had three beautiful children, and made beautiful love often, and lived happily ever after.”
Harry gave a great big sigh, and finished with “And they did. Mostly.” As Harry went to sleep he thought, ‘how could life get any better?’
A little later that evening Ginny put a three month old Lily Luna down on the bed and looked at the little map they kept by the bedside. Harry had gotten more and more creative in making the maps. This one showed that both boys were in their rooms, sound asleep.
Ginny had in interview tomorrow, but she would take Lily along. The column in the Prophet was popular, and she enjoyed doing it. She felt that the Quidditch reporting, with the stringers she had recruited, was the best it had been since she had been old enough to read. It was a lot of work, but it felt good.
Harry’s job seemed to be going well, and as Head Auror he was not on the line, not in danger. He had the same responsibilities in the International Auror Association, and as the one who made the maps and interpreted them he had to stay away from the direct action, something that was a huge relief to Ginny.
Lily Luna was an easy baby, awake when she was awake, and sound asleep when she slept. She should be out to the world for a good six hours now. Ginny had played with her for about half an hour, and then nursed her. Ginny would wake up Harry shortly, and he would change Lily and put her down to bed in the crib, but she would not even stir. Then he would come back to bed and make love to her, like they did four or five or even six evenings a week.
Ginny looked at the nightgown top, charmed to become opaque if anyone but Harry was looking at her, but to be about as transparent as possible when it was just Harry. Somehow it was sexier when she had the nightgown top on, and Harry could take it off. She loved that!
Ginny still wanted it, A LOT! Her mother and sister-in-laws seemed awed by Ginny’s sexual appetite, but she loved physical things, and as she had lost the ability to do some physical things, fly and even walk without losing her balance, she had not lost any of her ability and desire to shag Harry a LOT, and he didn’t seem to mind.
Everybody at the Ministry knew that, when Ginny was in Harry’s office, and Mitzi was outside with the baby, what Harry and Ginny were doing, and that usually was what they were doing. They both had been kidded about it. They were just jealous that Ginny could come and get a quick shag, and that Harry had a wife so horny that she wanted it that often! That was part of who and what she was; sexy Ginny Potter. She loved it! It was part of her image, and it didn’t hurt with the newspaper column, even though she never wrote about it. It didn’t hurt getting interviews either; lots of male players wanted to meet ‘sexy Ginny Potter.’
All she had to do to get people to roll their eyes was complain when they asked how often she and Harry did it, that with three children, and both of them working, more than twice a day was getting really hard. Actually even twice a day was getting real hard, but she didn’t want to admit to averaging well under twice a day.
Harry still told her she was beautiful. Well, the right knee was a mess, but Harry said knees were never anyone’s most beautiful part. At least the leg was still on, and he didn’t know that there were still plenty of places on the lower leg without much feeling. She still had her scars, but so did Harry; that was just part of them.
The boobs were bigger, a lot bigger than they were when she was so thin playing for the Harpies and definitely bigger than when she was married; Harry liked that! So were the hips, a lot larger than when she was first married. The stomach would never be flat again, and it would never be the same down where the playpen was, where he went in and the babies came out. A hundred and thirty five pounds! She looked like a mum, with a belly like her mum but not as big. Harry said that was a small price to pay for three beautiful children, and besides as long as he could turn her on, make her happy, that’s all he cared about. He’d gotten better and better at that! Almost every session of lovemaking was very satisfying, physically and emotionally.
Was this “Happily Ever After?”
Ginny had to admit, it was pretty close. ‘After lots of exciting and sometimes dangerous adventures, the hero and heroine settled down to raise three beautiful children, a boy and girl with red hair and brown eyes like their mother, and a boy with black hair and beautiful haunting green eyed like his father, and they lived Happily Ever After!’
Life was good.
The next book in the series is Raising Albus.
A note on Lily. St. Augustine says, “The innocence of children is due more to the weakness of their limbs than the purity of their hearts.”