Plotting
Sunday, 20 September 1998
The next morning came far too quickly in Harry’s opinion.
He woke up to Theo’s alarm. His boyfriend gave him a quick kiss good morning before he got out of bed, pulled on his clothes from the night before, and headed back to the 8th Year Tower to get ready for the day, “you should really just bring some of your stuff here,” Harry called out, “there’s room.”
Smiling, Theo nodded, “alright, love, I’ll do that later.”
“Good.” Harry responded before yawning, “alright, I’m going to shower. Don’t wake Ginny up if she’s still asleep, she kicks.”
“Noted,” Theo said with a laugh.
“I am not joking, Theodore.”
“Alright,” Theo said, holding his hands up in surrender, “I swear not to wake her up.”
“Good boy,” Harry mumbled, “see you later.”
“See you later, love.”
Harry gave it another five minutes before he literally rolled out of bed. He showered as quickly as he possibly could when it felt like his entire body was revolting against his very existence. He got dressed in jeans and a hoodie before pulling out another pair of joggers and a hoodie for Ginny, knowing she’d likely refuse to hike back up to the tower before breakfast.
He guessed right, when he walked into the living room, Ginny had just flopped onto the floor, rolling off the couch in the exact way Harry had rolled off his bed.
“Here’s fresh clothes, Gin” Harry said, “you can shower if you’d like then we can go to breakfast.”
“Alright, thanks, Haz.”
“Course.”
Harry sat down on his couch and tried his level best not to fall back to sleep (he failed, miserably) while Ginny showered and got dressed. He was woken up by a pillow to the face and opened his eyes to a grinning redhead.
“I hate you.”
“You don’t.”
“You can’t read my mind.”
“Whatever,” Ginny said, yanking Harry off the couch, “let’s go.”
* * *
Up at the head table, Mary was trying her hardest not to laugh at the 8th years and select few 7th years in various states of disrepair across the Great Hall.
“What happened last night?” Bill muttered under his breath.
“Hermione’s birthday,” Fleur reminded him.
“Ah,” he said with a nod, “that explains it.”
“It appears Mr. Potter-Black is so out of sorts he’s forgotten he’s no longer a Gryffindor,” McGonagall commented in a tone that only someone who knew her personally would be able to tell was amused.
“I’m about 80% sure my sister is wearing his clothes, so I really don’t know what’s happening.” Bill commented.
“I thought they were together?” McGonagall asked, obviously trying not to sound too interested in the gossip.
That had Bill laughing so hard he drew the attention of several students.
“I must be mistaken,” McGonagall commented, the corner of her mouth quirking into the smallest of smiles.
“Sorry,” Bill wheezed, “sorry, wow, no, they dated very briefly during her 5th year, Harry’s 6th year but they decided pretty quickly that it was weird. They’re like siblings.”
“Ah,” McGonagall said with a nod, “that makes sense.”
“Neville was making fun of Harry for something involving his dating life when we last spoke though,” Mary mused, “it sounded like he was dating someone.”
“It’s Theodore Nott,” Fleur said.
“How do you know that?” Bill asked.
Rolling her eyes, Fleur responded, “though your family has adopted Harry, I am very close friends with him and that friendship started when Harry was getting into his first relationship. I know what he looks like when he’s in love.”
“Whatever do you mean?” McGonagall asked.
“You really didn’t know?” Fleur responded, sounding rather shocked.
“No, who was he dating his 4th year?”
“Cedric,” Fleur said with a sad smile.
“And then everyone spent a year calling him a liar and blaming him for the boy’s death, Merlin,” McGonagall breathed out, “he has put up with too much.”
“He’s happy now, that’s what matters,” Fleur said with a decisive nod.
30 minutes later, the professors got the joy of watching Susan Bones drag one Harry Potter-Black out of the Great Hall by the ear, shouting over her shoulder, “government takeover meeting in 30 minutes, don’t be late!”
The professors all looked at each other, trying to see if any of their coworkers knew what the fuck that meant before Bill said, “ah, I see.”
Before anyone could ask what he meant, he pointed toward the door and they watched as every sitting Lord and Lady as well as every Primary Heir to the Wizengamot made their way out of the Hall.
“She can’t literally mean government takeover,” Sprout muttered.
Bill was counting under his breath and whistled as the last student left the hall, “if every sitting Lord and Lady votes the same way they have 21 votes. That’s not counting the Houses that generally align with Black, Bones, Longbottom, and Potter.”
“She literally meant government takeover,” Sprout said with a sigh.
10 minutes later, Harry’s patronus galloped into the hall, “Gin, I need you, thanks, bye.”
Groaning, Ginny pulled out her wand and cast her horse patronus, sending it ahead of her to inform Harry she’d be right there before finishing her breakfast and walking out of the hall.
“Since when can she do that?” Bill asked.
“Since her 4th year when Mr. Potter-Black was running an illegal defense association, most of his friends can cast one.” McGonagall informed him.
“I wish any part of that sentence shocked me,” Bill said with a sigh, “does anyone have any normal siblings I can borrow for a day? Just to see what it’s like?”
He then asked, mostly to himself, “what would he need Ginny for?” before thinking for a moment, “no,” he muttered, shoving his chair back and darting out of the Hall grumbling something about stupid little siblings and suicide missions.
“What was that about?” Mary asked.
“My husband is under the impression that he can temper his siblings’ behavior,” Fleur responded with a mischievous grin, “my husband is wrong.”
* * *
Once everyone was in the classroom, Harry looked up at Susan with a grin, “what are we rockin’ with?”
“I need you to talk less.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Shaking her head and trying to suppress a grin, Susan continued, “there are three things we need to do before we can get anywhere. First, I need to confirm who is going to be sitting as a Lord, Lady, or Proxy. Second, I need to confirm which faction each house is planning to align with. And third, I need to hear whatever harebrained scheme Harry has cooked up to make sure Fred and George are confirmed as the Prewett Lords.”
“One second,” Harry said, pulling out his wand and casting his Patronus, “Gin, I need you, thanks, bye.”
He then cast a second one, “Freddie, Ginny and I are going to invade your home this afternoon. You have two hours to tell me no. Love you.”
“How does anyone put up with you?” Susan sighed.
“I was raised for slaughter, I’ve decided that I deserve some leeway, you know, behavior wise.”
“You know,” Susan mused, “every time you use that as an excuse it loses its efficacy.”
“I’ve never once heard him use that as an excuse,” Parvati commented.
“That’s because you don’t see him arguing with Godric Gryffindor at 5:00 in the morning.”
“That was a mind-boggling sentence,” Aidan Rowle, a cousin of the main Rowle line and a current Ravenclaw 7th year, muttered.
“You have no idea, mate,” Ernie MacMillan muttered back.
“Getting back on track,” Susan said, clapping her hands, “please raise your hand if you’re sitting as a Lord, Lady, or Proxy and when I point at you state your title or titles.”
She then went around the circle, pointing and jotting titles down on a sheet of parchment.
“Maxwell Avery, Lord Avery.”
“Aidan Rowle, Lord Rowle.”
“Simon Yaxley, Lord Yaxley.”
“Pansy Parkinson, Lady Parkinson.”
“Luna Lovegood, Lady Ravenclaw, Lady Rosier, Proxy for the House of Ollivander.”
“Millicent Bulstrode, Lady Bulstrode.”
“Daphne Greengrass, Proxy for the House of Greengrass.”
“Neville Longbottom, Lord Gryffindor, Lord Longbottom, Lord Fortescue.”
“Theodore Nott, Lord Nott.”
“Hadrian Potter-Black, Lord Peverell, Lord Potter, Lord Black, Lord Slytherin, Proxy for the House of Shacklebolt.”
“Kings gave you his proxy?” Susan asked.
“He sure did.”
“That is an insane decision,” Susan laughed, shaking her head, “anyway, Susan Bones, Lady Hufflepuff, Lady Bones.”
After she finished writing her own name, she turned around and pinned the parchment to the bulletin board.
“Now,” she continued, “Harry, Hermione, and I made a list of where we think each house is aligned, I’m going to pass it around, please double check and correct it if we were wrong. If you’re not sure where to align yourself or if you want to switch your alignment from where your family has been in the past, you can absolutely come talk to Harry, Neville, or me when the meeting is over, and we’ll do our best to help you figure it out.”
As the parchment made its way around the room, Ginny stepped through the door and grinned at Harry, “what sort of chaos are we causing?”
Harry grinned back and started to respond but was cut off by Bill bursting through the door, “what, exactly, do you two think you’re doing?”
“Can the Weasley family circus take the party into the hallway? I’ll brief everyone on what bills are being introduced tomorrow and then you can come in and tell me your insane plan.”
“Course, Bones, see you later. Yell if you need me,” Harry responded with a grin.
Susan just waved him off.
As soon as the door was closed behind them, Bill repeated his question, “I know that look in both of your eyes, what are you planning?”
“Fred is home.” Harry said.
“What are you planning, Hadrian?”
“Oooo, you got full named,” Ginny teased.
Harry shot her a rather ineffective glare before turning back to Bill, “it made sense for Aunt Muriel to maintain her proxy during the July session because Fred was still in hospital, but he’s home now and, while he’s not back to 100%, he’s able to move about, he’s been working in the shop in the mornings and has been working on inventing again. He’s not in a wheelchair anymore, he’s using a cane. He looks like himself again.”
“What are you getting at?” Bill asked, wanting confirmation.
Taking a deep breath, Harry said, “it’s time for Fred and George to take the Prewett Lordship. Aunt Muriel graduated with Bathilda Bagshot and Dumbledore’s mum. She was the dowager before Fabian and Gideon took their place and it made sense for her to maintain that proxy after they passed away and I understand that she didn’t think Fred and George were ready for the responsibility when they turned 17, but they’re, as you know, incredibly intelligent. They’ve built a successful business, and they’ve spent nearly as much time as I have studying Wizengamot history and getting ready to take on a Lordship. And they don’t have Susan and Hermione forcing them to study.”
Bill thought over that for a moment before nodding his head, “alright, I see where you’re coming from. I agree. But that doesn’t answer the question of what you two are plotting.”
“Ginny is Muriel’s favorite.”
“Correct.”
“I’m going to sweet talk her into letting Fred and George step in without a fuss.” Ginny chimed in.
“Exactly,” Harry said with a nod, “they could show up tomorrow and just say they’re taking their spots, and she wouldn’t be able to stop them but that doesn’t feel like the kind thing to do so we want to do it with her permission.”
“Why did you wait until today to do it?”
“I asked her a month and a half ago to meet with the four of us and this is the date she gave.”
“She must know what you’re going to ask,” Bill said.
“I’d assume so, but she didn’t send an outright no, she agreed to a meeting so I’m hopeful.”
“Alright,” Bill sighed, “that is far better thought out than I was betting it’d be.”
“Thanks,” Harry said with a grin, “Ginny why don’t you go up to your dorm and get ready and meet me back here in an hour. We can floo to the shop from my quarters.”
“Alright,” Ginny said, hugging both Harry and Bill goodbye before she headed toward the staircase.
“Before you leave,” Harry said, turning to Bill, “can you confirm what sect the House of Weasley is aligning with?”
“The Light,” Bill said, “I still can’t believe you lot got the House confirmed as the replacement for House Malfoy after the war.”
“It was Draco’s idea,” Harry said with a shrug, “and I happily put my weight behind it.”
“Well, thank you,” Bill said with a smile, “it made Dad incredibly happy.”
With another smile, Harry bid Bill goodbye and walked back into the room where Susan was still running down the docket for the next day’s meeting.
* * *
40 minutes later, the meeting adjourned. Harry, Susan, and Neville stayed behind to talk to the students who’d sort of just been thrown into their roles following the death or imprisonment of the main branches of their families.
When Ginny poked her head in the door, Harry excused himself and the pair headed for his quarters. Harry quickly got dressed in his official dress robes and then they made their way through the floo to Fred and George’s apartment.
“Harrikins!!” Fred cheered, “and my favorite little sister, I’ve missed you!”
“I missed you too,” Ginny said, running over to hug her brother.
“Hey, Freddie,” Harry greeted with a smile, “you look great, is George ready as well?”
“He’s just getting dressed,” Fred confirmed, “he should be out in a minute or two.”
As if summoned, George came skidding into the room wearing an identical outfit to Fred’s; well-fitting black slacks, a pressed white button down, and a dark grey dress robe with burnt orange silk lining.
“Ginny! Harry!” he greeted, “are we ready to get a batty old woman to listen to us?”
“I sure hope so,” Harry said with a laugh, “I have the floo address she’d like us to use so just follow me, Fred do you want to floo with someone or are you alright?”
“I’ll go with Georgie,” Fred said, “I’d probably be fine, but I don’t want to misstep and make a fool of myself.”
With a nod, Harry turned around and stepped into the floo, calling out “Prewett Manor, Main Hall.”
He was followed closely by Ginny and then a minute later by Fred and George. George steadied his twin slightly on the landing, but Fred recovered quickly. The group stepped away from the fireplace and Harry waved his hand, silently banishing the ash from each of their clothes.
“Thanks, mate,” Fred said with a smile.
Ginny and George both nodded their thanks.
A second later, an elf popped up in front of them, “good afternoon, Pippy will be showing you to the Lady.”
“Thank you, Pippy,” they all chimed, following the elf out of the room and down the hall. They eventually made their way into a sitting room where they found Great Aunt Muriel.
“Good afternoon, Dowager Prewett,” Harry greeted, bowing his head.
“Good afternoon, Lord Peverell,” she greeted in return, “and hello, children, it’s lovely to see you.”
“It’s wonderful to see you as well, Aunt Muriel,” Ginny greeted with a smile.
“Great to see you again, Aunt Muriel,” Fred and George chimed in unison, both bowing their heads.
“Please, sit,” Muriel said, gesturing to the couches and chairs surrounding her. Harry and Ginny took one couch and Fred and George took the other.
“Well,” Muriel said once they were all seated, “let’s get right to business, are you two prepared for the responsibility of being Lords.”
“We are,” Fred said with conviction, “we’re respected in the community, we are responsible business owners, and we’ve worked diligently to prepare ourselves to step into the Wizengamot.”
“Moreover,” George continued, “we’d have an advantage that only Neville Longbottom can share, we would be able to turn to you for council.”
“Is young Neville accepting the help of his grandmother?” Muriel asked, directing her question toward Harry.
“Yes,” Harry easily confirmed, “and Gran isn’t only helping Neville, she’s been an incredible help to me as well.”
“That’s good to hear,” Muriel said, nodding. She then sat silently for a few minutes. No one dared interrupt her, “alright, I will announce the two of you as the Lords Prewett at tomorrow’s session and I will be more than happy to assist you in whatever you shall need. We will need to go to Gringotts to get you your rings and then we can discuss whether or not you’d like to move into the manor. We don’t have other properties anymore, they were sold off over time, but the manor is your home should you like it to be.”
“Thank you, Aunt Muriel,” Fred said, grinning, “we truly appreciate it.”
“And we promise not to let you down.” George said, sending her an identical grin.
The group finished their tea, chatting about Fred’s recovery and how the family was doing. An hour later, they stepped through the floo back into Fred and George’s living room.
“I wasn’t even needed,” Ginny said with a sigh, “I could’ve stayed in bed.”
“You never went to bed Ginevra,” Harry said, “you were on my couch.”
“Well, I could’ve stayed on your couch.”
“Whatever,” Harry said with a laugh, “but you’re right, that was far easier than I was expecting it to be.”
“What are you doing the rest of the day?” Ginny asked the room.
“Nothing.” Fred and George said.
“Well, we should probably get some stuff done in the shop if we’re going to take a long lunch tomorrow to go to Gringotts.” Fred amended.
“I need to go get Teddy and then head back to school,” Harry said, “what about you, Gin?”
“Can I come with to get Teddy?”
“Of course,” Harry said, smiling, “want to floo, apparate, or walk?”
“Let’s walk,” Ginny decided, “it’s rather nice outside.”
After bidding goodbye to Fred and George and calling for a Hogwarts elf to take their outer robes back to Harry’s quarters, the pair made their way through Diagon Alley and out the Leaky Cauldron.
* * *
Ginny was right, it was incredibly nice outside. It was about an hour long walk from Charing Cross Road to Islington. The pair passed the time chatting about classes and laughing about everyone’s drunken shenanigans from the night before. About 40 minutes in, Ginny turned to Harry with a grin, “so, Theodore Nott.”
“I told you this summer I had a crush on him.”
“I’m aware,” Ginny said, still grinning, “but you didn’t tell me you were actually together!”
“Sorry,” Harry said, “we only told a couple of people. We were going to keep it quiet but sort of just decided we didn’t care if everyone found out.”
“Well, I, for one, think you two are adorable.”
“Thanks, Gin,” Harry said, smiling over at her, “he’s all but moved into my quarters. We haven’t even been together a full month, but I already feel like he’s a permanent fixture in my life.”
“That’s a good thing,” Ginny said with a nod, “he’s good with Teddy then?”
“He’s amazing with Teddy. This past week, he’s gotten him up and ready for the day while I’m down at training so the three of us can eat breakfast together instead of me running around trying to get everything ready. He knows how to calm him down, he knows what toys are his favorites,” Harry cut himself off, shaking his head and smiling, “I don’t know what I’m saying, but the main point is that, yes, Theo is wonderful with Teddy.”
“Good,” Ginny responded, as they turned the corner onto Grimmauld Place, “Teddy obviously comes first, so I’m incredibly happy for you that you’ve found someone who agrees.”
“Thank you,” Harry said, approaching the door to Number 12.
When they stepped through the door, Kreacher appeared in front of them, “good afternoon, Lord Black, Miss Ginny, what can Kreacher be doing?”
“Hello, Kreacher,” Harry greeted, “I’m just here for Teddy.”
“He’s in the nursery,” Kreacher said, “can Lord Black tell Kreacher how many will be coming for dinner tomorrow?”
“Eight,” Harry responded, “Draco, Pansy, Millicent, Greg, Neville, Gran, Theo, and me.”
“Thank you, Lord Black,” Kreacher said before bowing and popping out of the entryway.
Harry and Ginny made their way upstairs to Teddy’s nursery where they found him just waking up from a nap. The little boy was beyond happy to see Harry.
After taking a minute to get him changed, Harry happily handed the babbling infant over to Ginny while he collected the things he’d sent along.
Once Teddy’s bag was packed, the little trio made their way to the sitting room where Harry thought Narcissa and Andromeda likely were.
Harry found the pair gossiping like a pair of high schoolers, smiling, he greeted them, thanked them for having Teddy over, and confirmed that the group would be there for dinner the next night after the Wizengamot session.
* * *
With that, Harry, Ginny, and Teddy stepped through the floo back into Harry’s quarters where they found Theo waiting for them, “give me my Teddy,” Theo said as soon as they appeared.
“Wow I feel appreciated,” Harry teased, but happily handed Teddy over, “thanks for coming, Ginny.”
“Course,” she said with a nod, “always happy to help. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Gin,” Harry said while Theo picked up Teddy’s little hand to wave goodbye as well.
Once the door closed, Harry all but collapsed onto the couch.
“Tired, love?” Theo said with a laugh.
“Exhausted, but he just woke up so he’s full of energy.”
“Why don’t I bring his playmat and some of his toys out here and I’ll sit with him while you take a nap?”
“You’re a wonderful person, Theodore Nott.”
“Don’t forget it,” Theo said, leaning over for a kiss.
By the time Theo got back to the living room with Teddy’s things, Harry was asleep. After getting Teddy set up on his playmat, Theo turned around to pull Harry’s glasses off his face, performed a quick switching spell to get him out of his dress clothes and into sweatpants and a tshirt, and pulled a blanket up to his shoulders.
Brushing Harry’s curls back, Theo pressed a kiss on top of his scar then sat down on the floor to play with Teddy.
In that moment, with Harry peacefully sleeping on the couch behind him and Teddy playing on the floor in front of him, Theo decided he’d never been happier.