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Birth of the Potter Children | ||||||
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Category: Post-DH/AB Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Nymphadora Tonks, Ron Weasley Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama, General, Romance Warnings: Death, Intimate Sexual Situations, Violence Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 59 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. Hitcount: Story Total: 123101; Chapter Total: 5248 Author's Notes: Thank you FriendofMolly for the title of this chapter, and for many of Molly’s words to Ginny. |
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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. |
| Reviews 59 |
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