Chapter 56
“Honey, I’m home!” Lee yelled.
“Didja get everyone settled?” George’s voice answered him.
“Nope.” Lee yelled back. “I brought ‘em for tea, first.”
“What!?” George squawked and there was a clatter and a few thumping noises, closely followed by a familiar thunder of feet. Within seconds, the thunder of feet was a stampede as he reached the stairs and descended them, he came to a halt at the base of the stairs and just stared at his brothers. “Bill… Charlie…” He whispered.
“Get over here.” Bill growled and handed his daughter to Lee, leaving his arms open to catch George as he leapt at the eldest Weasley. Bill’s arms closed around his younger brother and pressed him close, resting his head against George’s. He blinked as George’s ear pressed against his cheek, before a frown grew on his face. He pushed the younger redhead back and looked at him, not sure what he was looking for, but sure that he’d know when he saw it.
When he did, his eyes went wide and his jaw went slack. George only had one ear, but the brother in front of him, had two. “Fred…?” He whispered silently.
“Yeah, Bill?” A shaky smile and wet eyes looked back at him.
“Fredrick Gideon Weasley…” Bill growled.
~~~
November 14th 2925
“What!?” Charlie squawked, looking from Bill to the brother that he’d thought was George.
“Uh… Hi?” Fred grimaced.
“Fred?” Fleur gasped.
“Fleur…” Fred gasped back, as he was now clutched between his older brothers and could barely draw in enough breath to answer his sister-in-law.
“Where is George?” Fleur asked. “Didn’t ‘Arry say ‘e was ‘ere?”
Bill and Charlie blinked and shoved Fred away from them, to glare at him some more.
“Yes… where is your twin?” Bill was still a little growly.
“Fruit needs to be harvested when it’s ripe.” Fred shrugged, or tried to, Bill’s grip on his arms limited his movement. “He’s finishing up the last of the plum harvest. Wanted to get it done before the party, this evening. Then he’s got three or four days, before he needs to go back for the next wave of apples and the last of the pears.”
“Plums?” Bill frowned.
“Apples?” Charlie asked.
“Pears?” Fleur added.
“George’s our orchardist.” Fred answered all three. “Apples, apricots, pears, cherries, peaches, nectarines and plums.”
“George…” Charlie gasped, “is a… farmer(?)... Our George…?”
“Yep.” Fred grinned. “Our George is a farmer.” He’d spotted his twin outside the kitchen door and knew that the last word was going instigate a sharp rebuttal from the younger twin.
“Ex-cuseyou!” George objected as he walked into the kitchen, not looking up from the box in his arms. “I am an orchardist, not a ruddy, scrabbling in the dirt, farmer.” The last word sounded more like a curse. The gasping squawk that his argument caused, made him lift his head and look away from the box he was carrying, as the argument was familiar enough to Fred, to not provoke that sort of reaction.
Seeing their two older brothers standing with Fred, caused George to blink and swallow, the glare that Bill was giving him was enough to have him rethinking the last few seconds. He laid the box down on the bench and started to turn around.
“Freeze.” Bill said, his voice hard and cold.
George stopped his turn and looked at Bill. “Hey, Bill.” He made sure that his voice was warm without being overly-bright.
“Don’t you ‘hey, Bill’ me, George Weasley…” Bill snarled.
“Okay, steady on.” Fred stepped between the two. “He’s my twin, if anyone’s going to rip into him, it’s going to be me.” He laid a hand on Bill’s chest. “And anyway, Harry’s already given both of us, mum’s lecture.”
“Humph.” Bill grunted.
“Anyone home?” A voice called from outside.
“Yeah, we’re here.” Fred grinned, anticipating the reactions, both that of his brothers and of those coming in.
“So, you going to the par-” The new redhead paused as he crossed the kitchen threshold, ignoring the second redhead that pushed him forward.
“Oi, move your ass, Gid.” The second grumbled, only to come to a stop, himself, when he saw the living room’s occupants.
“What the hell?” Charlie demanded.
“Uh…” the newcomers wordlessly exclaimed.
“You remember them?” Fred asked the room, in general.
“I…” Bill trailed off.
“Yeah…” Gideon nodded.
“Uh...” Charlie gawked.
“Of course.” Fabian grinned.
“Non, I do not.” Fleur shook her head.
“Oh, right.” Fred grimaced. “You weren’t around then. These are our uncles, mum’s brothers, Gideon and Fabian.” He turned to the older twins. “This is Bill’s wife, Fleur and…” He turned back to Fleur. “You want to introduce the sprogs? I don’t know their names.”
“Oui, of course.” Fleur nodded. “Lee ‘as Victoire and zis is Dominique.” She ran her hand over the head and down the back of the baby in her arms.
Charlie and Bill slumped down into the nearest chairs, their faces wearing matching looks of stunned amazement.
Harry apparated to the hospital’s apparition point and went in search of Alice Longbottom. He needed to know what was had happened to the babies, so that he, Alice and Isengar could make a plan for what would happen to them, in the future.
The screaming wails of an upset infant was the first thing he heard and he quickly headed in that direction. The sight that met his eyes was almost amusing. Lily, Gina and Tonks were doing what they could to feed and comfort the babies, one of whom was having none of it, while Alice flitted around, casting charms over each child, before moving to the next.
“Alice?” Harry called, having to raise his voice to be heard over that one particular baby. “What’s the verdict?”
“Harry. Oh, you have good timing.” Alice’s grin was slightly distracted. “Right, we have a girl and two boys. All three have been de-aged to ten days old, young enough to be re-named.” She paused. “Or rather, back before the point of being named. Although, one is documented as not having been named, to start with.”
Harry flicked a glance at his mother, who was trying to calm the upset baby, before re-focusing on Alice.
“How are they, physically?” He asked.
“Physically?” Alice said. “The girl’s fine, no issues with her, none at all.”
“Which one was she?” Harry asked. “The one that’s mother died in childbirth, the one that’s mother was assaulted or the one with the anti-magic mother?”
“Uh…” Alice checked her notes quickly. “Anti-magic mother.”
“Right.” Harry nodded. “So, are there likely to be any problems about re-homing her? Finding a family for her?”
“No.” Alice replied. “Gina’s already put in an application for her. She spoke to Isengar, just a few minutes ago.”
“Right.” Harry paused, shook his head and huffed sharply. He took a few steps over to his mother and scooped the baby boy out of her arms and quickly slipped over to the bench that had a large sink in it, for bathing the babies. He used a short warm-water version of the aguamenti, to lay a few inches of water in the base of it and stripped the baby of his clothes and nappy, before sliding him into the water. A few more seconds went by, before the boy hiccupped a few times and stopped screaming, his cries settling to heavy breathing, that eventually slowed, to normal levels. Five minutes after removing the boy from Lily’s arms, Harry eased him from the water and with a practised hand, dried, dressed and settled the boy into a carrier, that automatically went on his chest.
He turned back to Alice, to find that he was the focus of five women. McGonagall had joined them and was now sitting beside Lily.
“What?” He asked, looking from one to another.
“Nothing.” Alice smiled, as she shook her head. “The young lad in your arms, is a different story.”
“Oh?”
“His mother was the one that claimed she was assaulted.” Alice grimaced. “Gringotts did ID testing on him. He’s documented as the son of a muggle.”
“Do we know anything about the man?” Harry asked. “Do we need to know anything about him?”
“All we know is that he’s an Englishman, called Dudley Dursley. Other-”
“Dudley!?” Harry gasped, then quickly resumed the gentle patting of the boy’s back. “He’s Dudley's son?”
Alice blinked. “You know him?”
“Aw, crap.” Harry huffed. “Yeah, I know him. I though he was past all that. He seemed to get over it when the dementors attacked. He was almost… pleasant… when I saw him last.”
“Ah, well, that’s the thing.” Alice grimaced. “The mother was adamant, in calling it assault, but the tests that Gringotts did, they don’t register the lad as being the result of assault. In fact, according to them, it’s probably the opposite. But, when she approached Gringotts and stated that she wasn’t keeping the child, they did a little research and quietly approached Mr Dursley.”
“Dudley or Vernon?” Harry asked, not seeing the confused faces of the ladies around him, as he was looking at Alice.
“Mr Dudley Dursley.” Alice corrected.
“Right.” Harry nodded. “What did he say?”
“Mr Dursley is reported to have stated that leaving any child, let alone a magical child, in his family’s care, would have dire consequences for the child. He went on to say that-”
“Dire consequences?” Harry interrupted. “Dudley said… dire consequences…?” His eyes were wide with disbelief.
“Not exactly.” Alice replied. “He gave a list of things that would likely happen to a child and examples of how it would probably be treated and Gringotts were the ones to summarise that, down to ‘dire consequences’. Two words, as opposed to half a page.”
“Okay, yeah, that sounds more like Big D.” Harry nodded.
“Mr Dursley stated that the boy’s mother and he had been in a relationship for some months, when she just… up and vanished. This clashes with the mother’s statement, but given the results of the child's testing, Gringotts have speculated that this is more likely to be the case, even if they weren’t able to prove it.” Alice went on. “It was only after talking to him, that Gringotts agreed to take the child and re-home him.”
“Right.” Harry sighed. “Leave that with me, for a bit. What about the other boy? His mother died in childbirth? Right?”
“That’s correct.” Alice nodded. “And his father is physically impaired. Squib that joined the Muggle military and was injured in some muggle accident, shortly thereafter. Lost one leg from the knee down and the foot on the second leg. Plus, one arm from the middle of the forearm. And being a squib, St. Mungo's refused to treat him, calling it a waste of potions. That leaves him physically incapable of raising a child alone and not terribly pleased that his wife disregarded that, to get pregnant in the first place.”
“Ouch.” Harry winced.
“Yes.” Alice nodded. “I’ve spoken with Frank and we’d like to take him.”
“Right, that’s two sorted.” Harry nodded and looked down at the child now dozing on his chest. “Bollocks...” He huffed a sigh.
“Harry?” Alice asked.
“Did this little guy have a name?” Harry avoided answering Alice, by asking his own question.
“No.” Alice shook her head. “His mother refused to name him and Mr Dursley said that it would be better for the boy, if his new parents named him.”
“Jaxon. His name is Jaxon. J-A-X-O-N.” Harry said.
“Harry?”
Harry shrugged. “Dudley always said that if he ever had a son, he wanted to name him, Jackson. J-A-C-K-S-O-N. It’s not quite the same, but it’s near enough for me.”
“For you?” Alice frowned.
“I’m keeping him.” Harry said. “I’ve no objection to you or Gina taking the others, but Jaxon is mine.”
“Harry…” Alice cautioned.
“No, Alice.” Harry shook his head. “Dudley’s my cousin, that makes Jaxon my family. Okay, mum might be one step closer, on a family tree, but she and dad have Rosen, Briar, Monty and Daisy, all under five. She can’t cope with another child. I can.” His arguement caused Lily to gasp, as she figured out who Dudley Dursley must be. He was her sister Petunia's son.
“But…” Alice trailed off, not quite sure why she was objecting.
“But nothing, Alice.” Harry’s voice went hard. “I’m just as capable of raising a child as anyone else. And I’ve had plenty of experience. I had Teddy for months and if we hadn’t met up with Remus and Tonks, I’d still have him.”
“Alice?” Lily called for her friend’s attention and once the healer was looking at her, continued. “Harry’s right and you know it. All the young mothers go to him when their babies are unsettled. He’s better at calming a baby than anyone else in the village, even Sirius. He has a home of his own and a business that brings in an income sufficient to provide for a family. The fact that he’s currently single, means nothing.”
Alice studied Harry and the now-calm boy in his arms, before sighing. “True…” She made a few notes on a sheet of parchment. “Alright. Baby girl, is now Felicity and she’s going to Gina and Matt. The other baby boy coming with Frank and I, and we're going to name him Harfang, after Frank’s grandfather. And Jaxon(?) is going to Harry.”
“Yes, please.” Harry nodded.
“Blood adoptions, all ‘round?” Alice asked.
“Yes, please.” Gina nodded.
“Eventually, yes.” Harry agreed. “But I can wait until you get done with the de-aging stuff.”
“Same.” Gina nodded.
“That would be helpful.” Alice sighed in relief. “Professor McGonagall tells me that Hermione has the parchmentwork for that?”
“So I’m told.” Harry shrugged. “I can go and check?”
“Please do.” Alice replied. “And while you’re at it, you can take Jaxon’s cart out of my courtyard.”
“How am I supposed to know which is his?” Harry asked. “It’s not like it has his name on it, does it?”
“No, but his file was labelled ‘baby two’, as was the cart and all of the boxes on it.” Gina answered.
“Oh.” Harry grunted. “Didn’t see that. Thanks.” He gave Gina a smile.
“Are you going to give Jaxon a middle name?” Lily asked. “Oh, and you get to tell your father, that he’s a Grampa. Expect denials or fainting.”
Harry snickered. “I can so see that…” He turned to Alice, again. “So, it’s fine to take him home?” He didn’t realise that he hadn’t answered his mother’s question.
“Of course, Harry.” Alice nodded. “His cart will have everything he needs. And his bag, over there,” she pointed at a shelf near the ward’s door, “has enough formula, bottles, nappies and clothes to get by for a day or two.”
“Great.” Harry sighed in relief, again. “I’ll track Hermione down and either bring her here with the parchmentwork or if she’s gone visiting, I’ll bring it, myself.”
“Thanks, Harry.” Alice smiled. “I want to get started on that as soon as possible. Professor McGonagall’s top of the list, the rest can wait until tomorrow.”
“Be back inside the hour.” Harry nodded to each woman, gave him mother a kiss on the cheek, patted McGonagall’s hands and left, grabbing Jaxon’s nappy bag as he went.
A few minutes later, he was pulling the cart behind him, Jaxon still on his chest, when he saw Hermione and friends making their way down Hill Street.
“Fancy seeing you here.” He grinned at the quartet.
“Harry?” Hermione looked at the baby strapped to him, her question clear as day to him.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “His name’s Jaxon and he was Dudley's, but once Alice is done with the de-aging stuff, he’ll be mine. Oh, and that reminds me… Alice needs the parchmentwork for the de-aging and you’ve got it.”
“Oh, right.” Hermione grimaced. “Forgot about that.” She turned to Padma, Parvati and Kellah. “Duty calls, sorry, girls.”
“Of course.” Padma nodded. “We understand. We’re going have a wander and then head back to the Quad.”
“Great.” Hermione smiled. “We’ll catch up with you there, later.” She turned back to Harry. “Dudley’s and he’s magical? No wonder Gringotts sent him here.”
“I know.” Harry sighed. “I wish Gringotts had to told me who his father was, when the portal was open, I’d have asked them to let Dud know that I have him.”
“Hopefully, they will anyway.” Hermione said, as she fell into step with him. “So, daddy-Harry?”
“Papa.” Harry corrected.
“Papa-Harry?” Hermione rocked her head. “Okay. You’re the one to get up to him, during the night, not me.”
“Of course, Hermione.” Harry nodded. Neither of them realised what they’d agreed to.
The walk up the hill was quiet and calm, disturbed only by excited chatter, as they went past the MacDonald’s new house and Natalie’s voice babbled from a window, to be answered by Marla or Kevin's. Reaching Harry’s house, Hermione held the gate open for Harry to pull the cart through into the farmyard, at the house’s rear. He absently flicked his wand and all the items on it, floated into the air and trailed after him as he entered the house.
At the stairs, he gestured for Hermione to go first, then followed her up to the first floor. A right turn and the little precession made its way into Harry’s bedroom. It was a large and airy room, easily thirty-foot square, with windows on three sides, and Harry sent Jaxon’s boxes over to line up, against the eastern wall.
While Hermione was pulling shrunken trunks and bags from her own keyring-pouch, Harry was setting up Jaxon’s crib and unshrinking the few pieces of furniture that Gringotts had sent. Five minutes and his son’s section of the room, looked like it had been there for months, not minutes. It took him another minute or two to hunt up the belt satchel that he'd used for Teddy’s bottles and attach it to his belt, then he dug out a couple of bottles, the tin of formula and a few clean nappies to stock the satchel.
Harry turned and saw Hermione watching him, a carpetbag sitting on the bed in front of her.
“Ready to head back to the hospital?” She asked.
“I need two minutes in the kitchen to make up a couple of bottles, first.” Harry objected.
“Sure.” Hermione nodded and followed him back downstairs.
Water from the filter-jug and formula were added to bottles in a practiced move, Harry not really taking much notice of his actions. He’d done this so many times and even though Teddy was now five, Harry still did this for his siblings and the other babies in town. With the bottles filled and tucked into his satchel and the stasis charms activated, Harry offered Hermione his arm and the pair left the house, her carpet bag in his other hand.
People, children and teenagers were everywhere. Checking out this tree or that corner of a garden. Running across a yard. Climbing a tree. Using magic to place pieces of furniture, inside and outside. Stringing up clotheslines. Unshrinking boxes, pot-plants or play equipment. The MacDonald’s yard now sported a row of aviaries, colourful canaries and budgerigars, clearly visible.
“I thought Kevin raised chickens and ducks? And wasn’t he going to keep them in a trunk, or something?” Harry asked, as they walked past.
“He does and it’s wizard-spaces, inside an extended trunk.” Hermione answered. “The canaries and budgies are Natalie’s. Kevin put her in contact with Edward Fischer, he’s a muggle, his wife Sophia is a muggleborn. Edward was panel-beater, who had to retrain because he found that the fumes from the chemicals were affecting his health. He and Natalie spent months writing to Flitwick, to find something that would allow two pieces of wire to be welded together, once they had something that a muggle could use, he started to make birdcages, kitchen and garden stuff. Climbing frames, hanging racks, drying racks, that sort of thing. And Glenis Bowles is muggle, but Andrew’s a muggleborn. Glenis spent a fair bit of time, in the leadup to coming here, taking classes in basket-making and weaving. She’s also making birdcages for Natalie, just for extra pocket-money.”
“Will Natalie want a shop, do you know?” Harry asked, as they reached Potter’s Row and turned towards the Pond and the hospital.
“Maybe a market stall, I’m not sure.” Hermione shrugged. “She never said, either way.”
“Oh, well. We have stall spaces and shed-shops.” Harry explained. “She can have her choice, there’s a few of each, available.”
“Do you want me to let her know?”
Harry shook his head. “Nah, Isengar, Alicia and I plan to meet with each person and find out what more they need to get settled. We’d like you to sit on them, too, everyone knows you. Plus, we have start-up purses for everyone.”
“Most of us have money, Harry.” Hermione objected.
“Sure, and that’s fine.” Harry agreed. “But when it was just Fred, Lavender, Colin and I, we were doing a LAD Summons, every time we went through a settlement and we continued that until we got here. And we decided, that to be fair to everyone, we would give everyone that we found, a start-up purse. It’s a set amount of money and that’s it. Spend it, it’s gone. Never to be replaced.”
“Ah.”
“Not just money though.” Harry went on. “Homes, too. We bought this place, the whole place, outright. We split it into blocks, some for homes, some for businesses, some for crops. Our first town meeting, one of the things we decided was that a certain number of homes would be given to those in need. Your arrival has seen that number increase on the dwarven side, so to keep it fair, we’re going to increase them on the hobbit side, to match. Now, probably the most important thing is that, while we provide a home for someone, they have to have an occupation and it’s not until they’ve lived here and been in employment for an entire year, that the home is signed over to them. So far, we’ve not had any failures on this, our people are all eager to make new lives for themselves.”
“That’s good.”
“It is.” Harry nodded. “We have a town meeting, once a month and anyone can raise a subject. But our meetings are getting shorter, because we no longer have to spend the first hour, just giving a summary of what’s happening, as Dennis’ newspaper is doing well at keeping people informed.”
“Dennis?”
“Dennis Creevey.” Harry answered. “McGonagall went to give Jessica Carbonelli her introductory visit and minutes after she left, Jessie’s father tried to drown her. Dennis stepped in and… we think he was killed on Earth and the pair were... transported... here.”
“They were.” Hermione sighed. “There was a bit of a what-to-do about it, it was in the muggle world, but it was magical children, but they were muggleborn. The Ministry was divided, some wanted the girl’s father sent to Azkaban, others wanted it left to the muggles. Eventually, it was left to the muggles, as the father attacked the police and that increased his jail-time. The whole thing was a bit of a mess. Ended up, it was just fuel for the anti-muggleborn brigade.”
“Wonderful.” Harry huffed as he led Hermione into the hospital. “Here we are. The hospital. Alice Longbottom is our primary healer, with Katie and Edris to assist her and mum if things get really bad.”
“What’s it like having your parents around?”
“Remember the summer before fifth year, at Grimmauld Place?”
“With Sirius, Remus and the Weasleys.” Hermione nodded. “Yes, I remember.”
“Pretty much like that, only with more pranks.”
“More pranks?”
“We've got Sirius, Remus, dad, mum, Tonks, Gideon, Fabian, Frank, Fred, George, Colin and Dennis, all in one village. And a handful of Tooks, too.” Harry replied, as he entered the ward where he’d left Alice and McGonagall.
“Oh, lovely…” Hermione sighed in resignation.
“Pretty much.” Alice agreed. “It’s not so bad, now that they have to keep it child-friendly.”
“That’s something, I suppose.” Hermione nodded. “You’re Neville’s mother and the town healer, right? I have a box of files and potions for you from Gringotts. Most of it’s in regard to the de-aging, but I think there’s other stuff in there, too.”
“Well, pop it on the bench and let’s have a look.” Alice directed, then looked at Harry. “How’s he doing?” She nodded at Jaxon.
“Fine. Not exactly sleeping, but he's dozing off now and then.” He tapped his belt satchel. “I’ve got some basic supplies with me, just in case.”
Four hours later, Harry left the hospital to escort a much younger Minerva McGonagall back to her rooms in the Quad. The Professor had undergone the de-aging that Gringotts had recommended, suffering through nearly an hour of potions and ritual-based charms. The end result was a stately dwarrowdam, just approaching middle age, probably the equivalent of a dwarf of one-hundred-and-seventy or a witch of mid-forties. Basically, they’d halved her age.
But it had left her a little unstable on her feet, initially. Alice assured Harry and Hermione that it would wear off, the more she moved about. By morning, she'd be fully recovered. The others that were going to be de-aged would be called into the hospital by Alice, starting in the morning. But tonight was a village-wide party, to welcome the incoming residents to their new home.
Harry and Hermione left Minerva, as she was asking them to call her, at the door to her rooms, before heading around to check in with those staying in the Quad. Then it was out into the village, Harry wanted to introduce Hermione to his father and siblings. He tapped on their door and when his father yelled, he pushed the door open and led Hermione in.
“Settle down, horrors.” James was busy trying to feed Poppy and Monty, at the same time. “Hey, Harry, grab Monty for me, will ya?”
“Sorry, dad, no can do.” Harry said. But he did slip forward and take the bottle from his father’s hand and hold it steady, for his baby brother to suckle from. The ten-month-old babies were just starting to crawl and while they could hold their own bottles, they often dropped them, before they were empty.
“Thanks, kiddo.” James blinked at Jaxon in his carrier, on Harry’s chest. “Who’re you babysitting for, this time?”
“No, dad.” Harry shook his head. “Not babysitting. This is Jaxon. He’s… he’s going to be mine, when Alice gets around to the adoptions.”
James’ eyes went wide. “What?” He exclaimed.
“Remember Aunt Petunia?”
“Yes…?” James looked dubious about that.
“Her son Dudley was involved with a woman and Jaxon here, is the result.” Harry said. “She didn’t want him and Dudley said that leaving a child with his family wasn’t going to be good for the kid, so Gringotts were asked to find another home for him. He’s mine, now.”
“Oh, Merlin…” James whispered.
“That makes you a Grampa.” Harry grinned.
“… …” James made a gasping, wheezing sound and slumped to the floor, as his eyes rolled back in his head.
Harry shook his head and sighed. “Well, mum warned me…” He looked at Hermione. “Grab Rosy’s bottle for me, will you?” Seeing as his sister had spat out the teat of her bottle and started to climb onto her father, he figured she was finished drinking.
The party was still going strong, when Harry shared a speaking look with Hermione and gestured to the sleeping child in his arms, then towards the road. Hermione smiled and nodded back and the two began the slow process of extricating themselves, from their family and friends. It took a few minutes, but eventually, they stood at the gate to Hill Street.
“Merlin, I’m tired.” Hermione moaned.
“Know how you feel…” Harry heaved a sigh. “I am so ready to get some sleep.”
“Oh, yes…” Hermione nodded, fervently. “Sleep would be glorious, right now. A bed or any flat surface, I can find.”
Harry laughed quietly. “Beds are up at the house. Come on.” He held out a hand to her and smiled when she took it. He led her out onto the road and up the hill, around the corner and into his house.
Up the stairs and in his room, Harry turned to Hermione. “The bathroom’s through that door.” He pointed. “You get a shower, while I feed someone and change a stinky nappy.” He tickled a chubby leg as he spoke and grinned, as Hermione just shook her head.
When he returned from the kitchen, bottle and baby in hand, the sound of running water greeted him. By the time Jaxon had finished his bottle and Harry had changed his nappy, Hermione had emerged from the bathroom and pulled back the bedcovers, before sliding into the bed. She sighed in pleasure, as she relaxed into the mattress and was asleep in seconds.
Harry stood with Jaxon in his arms, staring at Hermione in his bed.
“Okay…” He whispered to the boy who was going to become his son. “Seems like I’m sharing Mione, then. Not sure that’s going to go down well with the locals, must remember to talk to her about it in the morning.” He eased the boy into his crib and covered him with a soft blanket. “Sleep well, little one, don’t wake me too early in the morning, please?”
~~~
November 15th 2925
Morning came and Harry woke to Jaxon’s quiet whimpers and a face-full of Hermione’s hair. He snorted and blew and watched as wild brown hair fluttered in the air. Then it was a gentle push, to roll Hermione off of his shoulder, so that he could slide from the bed and see to his new son. In the bathroom, it took seconds to cast a baby-safe scent block and change Jaxon’s nappy, followed by banishing the dirty nappy to the covered bucket in the laundry, that he kept for smelly clothes. Another charm, this time to warm the bottle that he’d prepared the night before and he slid back into the bed, beside Hermione, who just shuffled around to lay her arm across his lap.
Jaxon sleepily suckled at his bottle, content in Harry’s arms.
“…morning, Harry…” Hermione whispered, still mostly asleep.
“Morning, Mione. Sleep well?” Harry asked.
“Better than I have in months.” Hermione agreed, her eyes were still closed and her forehead pressed against Harry’s hip. “How’s Jax?”
“Still dozy, too.” Harry chuckled. “Not in a hurry to finish his breakfast.”
“It’s milk, who would be?” Hermione snorted.
“Not you, that’s who.” Harry replied. Hermione’s dislike for milk, was famous in Gryffindor. “So, question?”
“Cast away.” Hermione yawned.
“You slept in my bed last night.” Harry said. “That’s not going to go down well, with the locals. The hobbits or the dwarves.”
“Bollocks…” Hermione grumbled.
“You’ve two choices.” Harry went on. “Either...? You find somewhere else to sleep…”
“Or…?” Hermione opened one eye to look at him.
“Or...? We sit down with Kingsley, McGonagall and dad… and write up a marriage contract.”
Hermione sat up, sharply, looking at Harry. “Excuse me?!” Her voice was just as stunned as her expression.
“You heard me.” Harry answered, calmly. “Think about it, while you wash up and get dressed. I’ll be downstairs getting breakfast together.”
“Harry?” Hermione carefully placed her cup back on its saucer and focused on the eggs on her plate.
“Yes, Mione?” Harry slid a rack of toast onto the table, in front of Padma.
“You gave me two choices.” Hermione still hadn’t looked up.
“I did.” Harry poured fresh tea into Hermione’s cup and placed a jug of orange juice in front of Colin.
“I’ll take the second option, please.”
“I had hoped you would.” Harry grinned. “Let me change stinky and we can go.”
“Thank you…” Hermione finally looked up and gave Harry a smile.
“Morning mum, can we borrow dad, please?” Harry asked when his mother opened their kitchen door.
“Morning, sweetheart.” Lily pressed a kiss to Harry’s cheek, another to Jax’s and a third to Hermione’s before going back to spooning oatmeal into her younger twins’ mouths. “I suppose so. What have you got planned?”
“Need to meet with Kingsley and McGonagall.” Harry said.
“And you need James there?” Lily asked.
“Yes, mum.” Harry nodded. “Dad’s got two masteries and between them, so do Kingsley and McGonagall.”
“Masteries?” Lily asked, absently wiping Monty’s face.
“Contract for Mione and I.” Harry said, ducking his head.
“Contract?” Lily wiped Poppy’s sticky fingers.
“Mum.” Harry said firmly and Lily finally looked up from her children, finally focused on what Harry had said.
“Oh, my…”
“Exactly.” Harry shrugged. “Hence, the borrowing dad.”
“Who’s borrowing me?” James wandered into the kitchen, fresh mud on his hands.
“Us.” Harry sighed, patiently. “We need to meet with Kingsley and McGonagall.”
“Why?” James frowned.
“We’ll explain when we get there, go clean up.” Harry shook his head.
~~~