|
Family Photos | ||||
|
Category: Post-HBP Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Other, Ron Weasley Genres: Comedy, Fluff, General Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: G Reviews: 24 Summary: Harry Newton is nervous. And with good reason. His next appointment is with the new Minister for Magic and his family. What begins as a potential nightmare for the photographer ends as the beginning of a beautiful relationship with Arthur Weasley and family. Hitcount: Story Total: 7940 |
|
|||
|
Harry Newton was nervous, more nervous than he had ever been. He had an important session in about five minutes and he didn’t want to muck it up. When he got the call last month, he was excited and honoured to take the job. Now, he was more nervous than ever. Arthur Weasley, Britain’s Minister for Magic, was coming to get his picture taken with his family. He began pacing the tiled floor of his reception area, checking over each settee and chair for dust, and hoping he had enough film. The front door of his shop opened, causing the little bell over the door to peel into the silence of the room. There he was. When compared to the past Ministers, Arthur Weasley was more approachable and likable. He was known for his eccentric obsession with Muggle items, a fact that earned him much ridicule from those on the outs with the Ministry. He was a tall, lanky man with friendly eyes and a decreasing amount of red hair on top of his head. His eyes were wizened with experience and hard-fought battles, but still emitted kindness and a general sense of calm. His wife stood next to him, a bit of a contrast, one might say. She had the look of a woman who never got more than five minutes peace and was a bit nervous at the prospect of the photo session. But her face, like her husband’s, was kind and full of love, even underneath the wrinkles Newton was sure were caused by years of worrying about her children and husband. She wasn’t dressed like he had expected. Her clothes, though well-made, weren’t what one would expect to see on the wife of the leader of the British Wizarding World. They looked comfortable and not overly stylish. Looking at her, Newton would have to say that she never really had fine clothes and wasn’t about to change anytime soon. “Welcome, Minister. Mrs. Weasley,” Harry Newton said, holding out his hand. “Please, call me Arthur. I am a husband, father and grandfather today. Not the Minister for Magic. We are all looking forward to today,” Arthur Weasley assured him. “Mr. Newton, my wife, Molly.” She took the hand offered her and firmly shook it, not the limp fish handshake he’d been expecting. Pointing them toward some chairs and a table, the three of them gathered to finalize the plans. “Now. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, what types of shots are you looking for today?” He sat down nervously across the table from them, fiddling with a quill in his hand. They looked so normal. So regular. But Mr. Weasley intimidated him. After all, he is the new Minister for Magic, he thought. Dear Merlin, help me. Please don’t let this be a disaster. Shaking his head, he said, “Your children and grandchildren will be coming, is that right?” “Well,” Mrs. Weasley began, “Arthur and I are celebrating our thirty-seventh wedding anniversary and our children are doing this for us. There’s been nearly a wedding a year and now all these grandchildren keep popping up...” She smiled, obviously very proud of her family. “They’re all doing this as a gift.” She quietly dabbed her eyes. “So how many all together?” “Hmm, help me out now Molly. Bill and Fleur have two; Charlie and Amanda have one. That’s nine so far.” Mr. Weasley paused to take a breath. “Uh, Percy and his fiancée Charlotte make eleven.” He smiled at his wife as she nodded. “Well, eleven is a nice sized group, lots of options,” he added, trying to picture the set up. “Oh, that’s only half!” Mrs. Weasley fairly beamed. “Fred and Angelina have baby twins, Thomas and Theodore, and then George and his wife Gwen, who’s a Muggle, by the way, are expecting in a few months. That comes to seventeen...” “...Is a bit more of a challenge, but we’ll manage.” He interrupted her, hoping that was the end of it. “But then Ron and Hermione have Graham and Harry and Ginny have three of their own already! So let’s see...twenty-five!” “You’re joking, right?” “No,” they said together. “So how many children do you have?” His worst professional nightmare was starting to come true. “Six boys and one girl,” Mr. Weasley informed him. “Six married, one engaged.” “And how many grandkids are there?” “Um, there are nine; eight boys and one girl. The girls get the short end of the stick in Arthur’s family,” Mrs. Weasley laughed. “Ginny’s got the only girl, too.” “And you wanted some pictures with all twenty-five of you?” He swallowed hard as the couple nodded enthusiastically. Maybe some will forget, he thought, and they’ll have to reschedule and then my assistant can be here. I should charge by the head for this one. About five minutes later, the door opened to the beginning of the logistics nightmare. “This is Charlie and Amanda,” Mr. Weasley said as the young man shook his hand, followed by his wife. “And here we have Kristoffer.” The little boy backed up towards his mother. “I’m six,” he said bravely. “Well, hello there, Kristoffer. My name is Harry. Harry Newton,” said the photographer. The little boy’s eyes widened. “I have an Uncle Harry!” “Really? It’ll be nice to meet him.” “Don’t you know him? I thought EVERYONE knew Uncle Harry, Mummy!” He ran to greet his grandmother. Typical kid. Must really love his uncle, he thought. The little boy was a miniature of his father, down to the stocky build and curly auburn hair. His head snapped up to the door upon hearing the piercing cries of two very small babies. They were about four months old, and each held by identical young men with red hair and blue eyes. “Angie, can you take this one? I don’t remember which it is,” asked the twin on the right. The one on the left held the door open for the two women that followed. The dark woman reached for the baby, who immediately stopped crying, and kissed the one who held the door open. “Thank you, Fred,” she told her husband. The blonde-haired woman walked nervously into the shop and looked for her husband. Her belly swelled against her dress. She looked about six months pregnant. “For heaven’s sake, George, get Gwen a chair!” Mrs. Weasley said while soothing the other baby. George helped his wife into a settee and joined her, holding her hand with great admiration in his eyes. “Mr. Newton, this is Fred and Angelina. The babies are theirs.” He shook Fred’s hand. “Do you have some place private? They’ll settle down after they eat,” Angelina asked. “Oh yes, right this way.” He led her back to another sitting area and her husband followed with the other baby. “They have their hands full,” he said to no one in particular. “I do hope so. Fred and George were the most devious young boys I’d ever met. Invented all sorts of ways to get into trouble and make jokes,” Mrs. Weasley told him. “Wait. Are you ‘Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes’ in Diagon Alley?” “That would be us. Hello, I’m George and this here is Gwen. Fred is the trouble maker, Mum, and I’m the brains.” He smiled at his wife, who nodded at him. “Oh, by the way, Mum, looks like we’re doing double-duty, too.” “Three sets of twins! That’s a record!” Mr. Weasley flashed a smile at his son and turned to Newton. “Ginny has the other set.” Newton nodded. The door opened again and the most beautiful blonde woman entered with her equally handsome husband, who was another redhead. There were scars mapped across his face, but didn’t take away from his strong features, or the fact that his wife adored him. Two boys ran between them to their grandparents and cousin. “Molly! Arthur! How are you? I ‘ope all eez well!” She was French. She kissed them both on the cheeks. Mrs. Weasley led the newcomers over to the photographer. “This is Bill, the oldest, and his wife, Fleur.” They shook hands. “And the moppets here are Jean-Paul and Bill, Jr.” The door opened again to reveal two couples and a toddler. He did a quick head count. Twenty. Five more to come. “This is Percy and Charlotte.” They shook hands. The young man was dressed smartly in a suit and had neatly trimmed red hair, a perfect match to his equally dressed red haired fiancée. “Nana! Nana!” A little boy toddled past him and was scooped up by Mrs. Weasley. “Hello there, Graham!” He pinched her cheeks and gave her a tentative kiss. “Ha-ee! Ha-ee!” “He wants Harry, Mum. It’s his new word,” explained Graham’s father, a familiar looking redhead who towered over his mother. “Sometimes he even calls me Harry.” “That’s because Harry is a good father who doesn’t earn his living by being away from his family to play games while flying on a broomstick.” The young woman, who was obviously his wife, stood on her tiptoes and kissed her husband. “Hi, I’m Ron and this is my wife, Hermione. I guess you’ve already met Graham.” Newton suddenly remembered why Ron looked familiar. “You’re Ron Weasley! Keeper for Puddlemere!” His eyes grew in admiration. “Yes, that’s me. A fan?” Ron blushed lightly. Newton nodded. “My son, actually. He starts his second year at Hogwarts, hoping to get onto the House team this year. He’s Ravenclaw. “ “Weasleys are Gryffindors all around, even Hermione and Harry. I’ll sign something for him later, all right?” “Brilliant,” said Newton. “Uncle Ronny! Are you on the National team for the Cup next year?” asked Kristoffer, jumping up and down. “He gets recognized more than Uncle Harry now!” Everyone laughed. Who is the Uncle Harry that everyone loves so much? “Afraid not, Chris. Your aunty here talked me into retirement.” The little boy’s eyes saddened. “But I won’t forget your flying lesson, though!” He rubbed the little boys’ head. “Ron! When did this happen?” asked his mother. The other Weasley eyes turned toward Ron. “Well, I retire after this coming season, so I’ll be a normal father in May. Okay, ‘Mione!” He glanced over at his wife with a smile and then turned to Mr. Newton. “Don’t tell your son, sir. Haven’t made the announcement yet.” “Not a problem. So we’re waiting on...” “Harry and Ginny,” the entire clan answered. “Ha-ee! Ha-ee!” added Graham. “Never on time, those two,” said one of the twins. He thought it might have been George. “Can’t keep his hands off our little sister, you know,” added Charlie, elbowing Percy in the ribs. “Good Lord! Don’t tell me she’s pregnant again!” Percy looked shocked. “Adrienne’s not even a year yet!” “No, you git! She’s not, but Fleur is!” Bill announced, pulling his wife to him. Congratulations, hugs, and kisses followed. “What’d I miss?” A lovely red-haired young lady entered the door with the only two grandchildren not to have red hair. They had dark brown, almost black hair. They, too, looked vaguely familiar. What is it with this family? “Ginny!” Mr. Weasley walked over to his daughter and gave her a big bear hug. “Poppy!” The boys ran to their grandfather. Strange mix, all this red with a little splash of black. “Ginny, Fleur’s expecting,” Ron’s wife told her. He couldn’t remember her name. “Oh, that’s wonderful!” She walked to her sister-in-law and hugged her warmly, if not a little stiffly. “Ha-ee! Ha-ee!” Graham tugged at his aunt’s skirt. “Harry will be here shortly. Adrienne needed a change.” She stood up with her nephew in her arms. “Where are the babies?” she asked. “Ba-bees! Ba-bees!” “Hey, Gin! Nice to see you made it!” Fred and his wife returned form the other room with two much quieter babies in tow. “Potter needs a new watch!” “What...who?” Newton stammered. Everyone looked at him. Ginny walked to Mr. Newton. “I’m Ginny, Ginny Potter.” Newton’s jaw dropped. “And standing over by the door is my rather picture-shy husband, Harry, and our little girl, Adrienne.” Graham ran over to his uncle. “He hasn’t had much cause to like photographers in the past, you understand.” She smiled over at the tall, young man whom he never thought he’d meet in a lifetime. He set the little girl down on the floor, and she took eight very tentative, very tiny steps toward her mother amidst cheers from her family. “So you must be Uncle Harry.” Newton held out his hand. “You know, I like being introduced like that. So much better and less embarrassing.” He shook his hand. “Harry will be fine.” “So Harry, how’s work?” Mr. Weasley asked. “Boring, Arthur. If you’d let me out of the office once in a while, it would be more fun.” Harry was smiling. “I never thought I would long for the days of rounding up rogue Death Eaters.” “Harry’s the new Auror Department head. Luckily, he hasn’t had much call to go out on assignment.” Mr. Weasley slapped Harry’s shoulder. “We got used to having him around, after all.” “Shall we get started then?” asked Newton. He motioned for them to come into the studio, trying to figure out how he was going to get all these people in one photograph. The family quickly filled the space and it suddenly was quite small. With a quick Enlarging Charm, the studio grew to twice its size. Maybe it won’t be so bad, he thought. “So which is first?” Mrs. Weasley spoke, “We shouldn’t overwhelm him too soon, so let’s just get Arthur and me with the grandkids?” It took several minutes to get them all arranged and coaxed into behaving. “Graham, look at Mummy!” “James, don’t pull your brother’s hair. Philip, stop it!” “Kristoffer, sit up straight.” “Very nice behaviour, boys. Good show.” “Philip Ronald Potter! That’s enough!” Harry went over to take the slug out of his daughter’s hair that Philip had conjured out of thin air. “You’re gonna have problems with that one, mate,” whispered Ron. “Yeah, well, thanks for showing him that little trick, Ron. You know how many times I’ve had to clean up that mess at home?” Harry shook his head. “Are you sure Hermione didn’t teach him that? It took you until fifth year to manage it.” “Me?” Ron feigned shock. “I am innocent here!” A slug suddenly hit Ron on the head, followed by his nephew’s laughter. “Philip, stop it, now!” The little boy looked at the floor and sat perfectly still next to his brother and sister. “How’d you do that?” Harry and Ginny asked at the same time. Ron only blushed. “Are we going to take the picture or not?” asked Newton laughing at the assorted unwanted behaviour. “Hey, George! Got any of those Best Behaviour Buttercreams handy?” Fred asked his brother. “Read my mind, dear brother. This should help,” he said as he walked over to the children, passing it out to the unruly ones. “George, you will not drug my grandchildren!” Mrs. Weasley screeched, reaching for the candies. “Mum, this is for their own good,” George said with a smile. “We are all paying for these pictures, well, Harry mostly since he’s got the most kids.” He flashed his brother-in-law a smile. “And this will only calm them down so we can give you a great present. See, it’s working already.” It was true; the children had settled down and sat quietly, although some needed cleaning before continuing. “Can I order a few boxes of those? Kids are terrors when it comes to taking pictures,” Newton asked, amazed at the quick results. “Sure, we’ll even discount it for you,” Fred chimed in. “Want to warn you though, there’s a debate between the staff of Hogwarts whether or not to add them to the daily menu.” “Well, okay.” Newton took a deep breath, satisfied that everyone settled down. “On the count of three, say ‘Weasley’! One, two, three!” “Weasley!” The room echoed with the sound of the name. This isn’t so bad he thought. Could be a great relationship. POP! The flash sounded, eliciting a cry from the little girl, which ended quickly. “What’s the next shot?” Newton asked, convincing himself today was not the worst day of his professional life, and hopefully wouldn’t be his last encounter with the ever-growing Weasley family. |
| Reviews 24 |
|
