Wolfkin's Recyle Pile of Assorted Stuff

Disclaimer: All of the materials borrowed from the world of Harry Potter are the property of JK Rowling and anyone else she's granted rights to. I have borrowed them for creative and entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been or ever shall be received for the writing below. No copyright infringement is intended.

Spoilers: All books through GoF and well after DH

Comments and Feedback: Yes, please. Any type you wanna send. Can't fix what I don't know is broken, right?

Oh, and thoughts look like this: [These are just thoughts]

* * *

Chapter 1

"No really, Mrs. Weasley, I'll burst if I try to eat another one!" Harry Potter deftly deflected the Weasley matriarch's offer of a fifth sandwich, giving a half turn and handing the sandwich to his best friend(male), Ron Weasley. "Here, Ron. It's too good to go to waste." The raven haired boy winked at his other best friend(female), Hermione Granger when she snarled her nose up in apparent disgust at Ron's expression of happiness of the offer of his seventh sandwich. Harry knew she didn't truly feel that way, as evidenced by the tolerant look in her medium brown eyes.

Looking across the table, sitting beside Hermione, he smiled at the only person in the room younger than him, Ron's sister Ginny. The pretty redhead(and Harry could admit that, if only in the abstract) smiled back and rolled her eyes, both teens well used to the antics of their siblings, blood and adopted both.

That was how Harry felt about Ron and Hermione(well, most of the time, anyway), that they were his brother and sister in all but blood. He suppose that that would also make Ginny his sister as well, but, for some reason he couldn't name, that idea was always rejected by his mind. For whatever reason his crazy brain came up with, he couldn't think of Ginny as a sibling, so she was simply a very good friend, second only to her brother and Hermione.

Harry shook his head slightly, trying to dislodge his weird thoughts, trying also to preserve the good mood that had pervaded the Burrow for the last thirty hours or so. The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione had come home at the request of the youngest of them, who didn't want to celebrate her birthday the day before in the dreary surrounds of Grimmauld place. Though Molly was initially concerned with the safety of such a move, even she agreed quickly, all of them being rather sick of the depressing atmosphere of the ancestral Black estate. Ginny had wanted Sirius to come with them, but Dumbledore wouldn't allow it, so he'd wished them a good time and Ginny a happy birthday, then the last scion of the House of Black sent them through the floo network with a forced smile.

Harry looked around the table, smiling slightly as he observed the assembled family, his family, or, at least, as close to one as he was ever likely to get. Arthur and his eldest son Bill were discussing various Wizarding World events. The younger Weasley was also fending off his mother's attempts to get more information about the girl Bill had just started dating, as well as her attempts to get him to agree to a haircut. The next two Weasleys were absent, Charlie unable to get time off and Percy in his self-induced exile. Of the two, Harry wished Charlie could be there, as he'd only seen Charlie a couple times, but those times had been fun and Harry hoped to get to know the big dragon-tamer better. The twins were no longer at the table, having eaten quickly, then excused themselves, saying they were in the middle of something for school. Molly had looked at them dubiously, then allowed them to escape.

Harry refused to waste more than a thought on Percy. If even half the things Ron told him Percy had said were true, he owed the great prat at least a punch in the nose, maybe even talking Ginny into a Bat Bogey Hex. Not that he thought it would take a lot of talking. He remembered the anger in her normally warm eyes as Ron had relayed the story to him. He suppressed a shudder at the memory and offered a prayer to any god out there listening that he never made the redheaded girl that angry with him! Boy-Who-Lived or not, he was at all confident of his ability to survive the wrath of Ginny Weasley! Looking at Ginny laughing and giggling over something Hermione had whispered to her allowed Harry to nip the return of his seemingly perpetual bad mood in the bud.

He started to ask what was so funny, but was stopped by what sounded like an argument in the living room of the ramshackle house. That confused him, since, except for the aforementioned Charlie and Percy, they were all there and weren't expecting anyone. Especially not, if his hearing was accurate, children, since that's what the high pitched voices sounded like. They were louder now and the various conversations around the table died off as more people registered the ever-louder disturbance. Faintly, Harry began to be able to distinguish words as the voice became more strident and even louder.

" . . .t my fault James! I told you to put it down!"

"YOU DID NOT!!" A similar voice roared back. "You're the one who dared me to pick it up, didn't she, Rosie? She dared me!"

Another voice, softer than the other two, said something that Harry couldn't hear, then the second voice was back. "Gee, thanks a lot, Rosie! See?! THIS is why Nikki is my favorite cousin, not you!"

The voices all sounded far too high pitched to be Death Eaters or any similar kind of intruders and Harry was sure he'd never heard them before, though they did sound faintly familiar. Looking around the table, Harry found everyone looking back at him and each other, the same perplexed, half apprehensive expression on their faces. Holding a finger before his lips, Arthur Weasley quietly stood, signaling Bill to come with him. Everyone stayed silent as the two men drew their wands and approached the door. By equally wordless assent, they all slowly stood and started to follow them, Molly first, then the trio and Ginny bringing up the rear. Ron nearly shouted a complaint when Ginny hit him hard in retaliation for his repeated attempts to shove her behind them all. Nudging Ron, Harry and Hermione both shook their heads at him, silently telling him to leave his sister alone. Ginny flashed them both a smile, but remained just behind Harry anyway.

The arguments had escalated to all three voices shouting various things about blame, apparent parental reprisal and how much they didn't like each other. Arthur looked directly at Bill and nodded firmly to one side of the doorway, then tossed his head a bit back the other way and the younger man nodded his understanding. Mouthing a countdown, on 'one', Arthur threw open the door, flattening himself along its open length while Bill slid along the wall on the other side, Molly left standing in the doorway, all of them with their wands drawn and pointed at where it sounded like the intruders were. Motion on the stairs caught Bill's attention and he spotted the twins stealthily descending, their own wands out.

When the door slammed open, the argument ceased and the 'intruders' stopped and stared in surprise and a little fright that quickly changed to relief. As for the Weasleys, they were all surprised to find three children, two girls and a boy, standing in their living room. All appeared to be young, within a year or two of each other. The little boy had messy black hair, dark eyes and looked to be maybe six or seven. One of the girls looked to be about the same age, with straight Weasley red hair and big, bright green eyes. Both were slender and looked familiar to everyone. The second little girl looked like she still had the faintest bit of baby fat left and seemed to be a little younger than the other two. She had bright blue eyes and bushy red hair, again in a shade most of the people who knew of them called Weasley red.

When they realized who it was standing there, the children relaxed for a second, then the little boy scowled at the girl with straight hair and charged toward Arthur, loudly declaring, "Grampie, it's all Lily's fault! She gave it to me and she dared me to touch it, so I was just doing what she said, right? So how can it be my fault if she said to do it!"

The girl he indicated was named Lily screeched in protest and ran straight to Molly, hugging her tightly around the waist and looking imploringly up at her. Molly returned the child's embrace automatically. "Grams! I didn't do anything! It was all James! I told him to leave Daddy's things alone, but you know how he is!" She turned her head and looked at the boy, James and stuck her tongue out at him, then looked back at Molly. "You believe me, don't you Grams?"

Molly's eyes were wide as she looked back and forth between the two children clinging to her and her husband, feeling a little faint. The girl hugging her looked so like Ginny when she was younger, except for the eyes, that she felt her heart ache for those long gone days. Looking at Arthur, she saw that he was just as much at a loss as she was. Of all the things she'd imagined they'd find, children claiming to be her grandchildren wasn't on the list anywhere. Seeing that Arthur wasn't going to be a help for another few minutes, she let her gaze sweep to the other little girl, who promptly came running over to stand in front of her, looking down and wringing her little hands a bit.

The bushy haired girl hesitantly looked up, then back down, obviously waiting for something. When it didn't come, she looked up at Molly again. "Grams? I saw it everything and they're both fibbers. They were both playing with Uncle Harry's necklace, even after he said not to!"

Before Molly could answer, the boy, James apparently, growled out, "Shut it, Rosie! You are such a little tattletale and 'sides, you know it was all Lily's fault!" He looked up at Arthur again, his brown eyes full of pleading innocence. "Grampie, you know she's always making up stories, pro'bly from all those books Aunt 'Mione reads to her. I didn't do nothin' that Lily didn't make me do."

The little girl hugging Molly released her and turned toward the boy. "I didn't make you do anything, James Sirius Potter and you know it!" Lily screamed at him, stamping her feet. "I wasn't even touching Daddy's necklace, you were! And besides, you're the one who messed with the pendant part of it!"

"Well, you gave it to me, didn't you? I wouldn't have bothered it if you hadn't started everything, so see? All your fault," he declared triumphantly.

Bill shook himself and looked at his parents, but both still looked a little out of it, then he looked at each of the children, seeing familiar things in all of them. When Lily had said the boy's name, the eldest Weasley brother's eyes snapped up and over his mother's shoulder to lock with Harry's confused ones. Bill's eyes widened a little and he looked back at the girl, Lily, but her back was to him. He next looked at James and it finally clicked why the kids seemed so familiar. Those were his sister's eyes he was looking at in the little boy's face. A little boy that looked exactly like Harry except for his chocolate eyes and no scar, and a girl that looked like Ginny except for emerald green eyes he'd noticed minutes before. His gaze shifted again and he studied the last child, the one James had called Rosie. She looked on the verge of tears, but her eyes were the same blue that he and Ron had inherited from their father and her hair was as red as any of his family's, yet she looked exactly as he imagined Hermione had looked at five or so. It sank into his mind that he was looking at the children of his youngest brother and sister, as impossible as that seemed.

[And yet,] he thought to himself, [with magic, is anything really impossible?] Giving himself another shake, Bill smiled reassuringly at Rose and touched his mother on the shoulder. "Mum, since there doesn't seem to be any danger from this lot, why don't we all sit down and talk about what's happened here and how the children got here, okay?"

Molly looked at her eldest, confused by his words a little for a few seconds, then she shook herself out of her stupor and said, with a touch of her usual briskness, "That . . . That sounds like a good idea. Children, come with me, alright?" Molly took Lily's hand and took a step toward the living room, heading for her chair. As soon as she cleared the doorway, Rose spotted the trio, Hermione standing between Harry and Ron, Ginny looking between Harry and Hermione.

"Mummy!" Rose half screamed, running straight to Hermione. Wrapping her little arms as tight as she could around Hermione's waist, Rose buried her face against the startled brunette for a moment before looking up at the surprised teen. "Mummy, why does James have to be so mean to me? I was only telling the truth and you and Daddy always tell me that telling the truth is always best, so that was what I was doing! Tell him to stop being mean to me, please?" Fat tears squeezed from the corners of the child's eyes and rolled down her cheeks and Hermione found herself returning the child's embrace without thought. Getting no other response from Hermione, Rose looked to her right, straight at a very shocked Ron. "Daddy, you'll tell James to leave me alone, won't you?"

Before either confused teen could respond, Lily turned and looked back as well. Pulling away from Molly, she ran straight to Harry, hugging him tightly, exactly as Rose was Hermione. "Daddy, you believe me, don't you? I told James to leave your necklace alone, but he didn't and I think he broke it, but I didn't do anything so I'm not in trouble, right?"

Harry's eyes were glued to the pleading little girl as his mind struggled to catch up. Finally, the words made sense to him and he decided she was expecting some kind of response from him, so he stuttered out, "T-trouble? Umm . . . I don't know. I . . ." He looked helplessly around, not really knowing what to do or say. Seeing that Ron and Hermione were having similar problems so they would most likely be of no help, he turned and looked at an equally startled Ginny. His eyes widened and he looked back down at the little girl's upturned face, then back at Ginny. Sweet Merlin, they looked so much alike!

[Wait. She called me 'Daddy' and her eyes look just like mine but she looks so much like Ginny otherwise . . . Does that mean . . .?] His thoughts slithered to a halt as he locked eyes with the youngest Weasley and saw the same conclusions registering there. The raven-haired teen felt like he should say something, but, for the life of him, he couldn't think of anything to say.

Fortunately, all four teenagers were saved from trying to answer questions that they simply didn't have answers for when Arthur spoke. "I think Bill has the right of it, everyone. Come on, now, all of you," he said as the group in the kitchen doorway looked up at him. "Come on in here and we'll talk about what happened. You too, boys." Arthur glanced up the stairs, then smiled a little when he saw the twins trooping obediently down to the first level.

Walking beside Hermione, Rose stopped and stared at Fred and George, then looked up with her nose scrunched up in confusion. Lily had a similar expression, Hermione noticed absently before paying attention to the moppet holding her hand. "Mummy, why are there two Uncle Georges? Did he do magic wrong again?"

Everyone looked at the small girl, the room quiet enough to hear a pin drop. After a long look at the twins, Hermione looked down into the trusting blue eyes and smiled reassuringly. "Sweetie, there's only one of, um, 'Uncle George'." Hermione gave Ron a dirty look as he muttered that one "Uncle George" was more than enough, they didn't need two. "The other one is Uncle Fred."

Instead of clearing up her confusion, as Hermione expected, Rose looked even more confused, maybe even a little scared. "Mummy, you know I don't have an Uncle Fred. Freddie is our cousin, right Lily?"

The little redhead holding Harry's hand nodded vigorously. "Rose is right, Aunt 'Mione. Freddie is Uncle Percy's son. We haven't ever met an Uncle named Fred." Her face screwed up in another expression of confusion. "You know all this, so why do you look so funny?"

Hermione turned her gaze to Lily, then looked at each of the room's occupants. All of them, except the children and Fred himself, were looking from Rose and Lily, then over to Fred. George had a look of dawning horror on his face as what the little girls were saying began to seep into his mind, only to be rejected instantly. If these kids knew him, they had to know Fred. There was just nothing else his mind would accept.

Once more, the tableau was broken by the Weasley patriarch. "Come now, we can worry about all that later. Everyone find a place to sit, alright?" Everyone started moving again, Harry, Ron and Hermione automatically heading for the couch they usually shared during such meetings. Unfortunately, they had all grown enough that there was room now for only the three of them and maybe one of the children now crowding around them.

There was definitely no room for Ginny, who was currently being pushed that way by Lily even as the little girl said, "Come on, Mum. You and Daddy always sit together." She stopped and looked at the couch as they got there and scowled at Ron. "Uncle Ron, you gotta get up! Mum doesn't have enough room to sit down and I wanna sit on Daddy's lap, so you gotta move."

Before Ron could say or do anything, Rose hopped up on his lap and stuck her tongue out at her cousin. "No, Daddy, stay here! My Mummy and Daddy are sitting here already, Lily, so you go somewhere else! Just cause you're older than me, that doesn't mean you always get your way all the time, you know."

A sharply barked, "Girls!" stopped the budding argument and caused both of the redheaded children to look at Molly, both looking defiant and a little guilty at the same time. "There's not enough room on that old couch for all of you and no room to expand it so there's no point in arguing about it. Now, I assume you all three want to sit with your . . . um, parents?" Three nods answered her question, though a glance at the aforementioned 'parents' netted her one horrified and two thoughtful expressions, along with one of burgeoning happiness. "Alright then, you lot can sit over here on the floor in this corner and Bill, you, Fred and George can sit there instead." Satisfied with her arrangements, Molly sat down with the air of a queen assuming her throne, confident her instructions were being obeyed.

Her assumptions were correct, save Bill. He elected to stand by Arthur's chair, one shoulder leaned into the wall. After trading a glance back and forth for a second, all four of the room's youngest occupants, not including the children, of course, moved to where Molly had pointed, then sat in the floor, automatically breaking into couples without any prompting from the children. As soon as they stopped moving, Ron and Harry both found their laps full of squirming little girls, while James plopped down in front of Ginny, wiggling until he was sitting between her legs. He jerked away from his father and sister suddenly as Lily poked him sharply in the ribs. With a growly look, he started to poke her back but Ginny caught his wrist and gave him a stern look, so he subsided.

Finally taking his own seat, Arthur leaned forward, his attention focused on their visitors. "Now, then. Are we all comfortable? Good, good." He smiled for a few seconds, then looked serious again. "Now, James, what's all this about you playing with a necklace of your father's?"

Almost bouncing in place, James said, "I told you Grampie, that was all Lily's fault! She told me to pick it up and . . ."

"I. Did. NOT!" Lily shrieked. Raising her fist at him, she demanded, "You take that back James Potter! It was all your fault, so . . ."

Arthur raised his hands, gesturing for silence, but before he could say anything, Ginny and Harry, moving in eerie symmetry, each slid a hand over the twin's mouths, both admonishing them to be quiet with a soft, "Shh." Harry added, "We can worry about that part later, alright, guys?" before he and Ginny realized what they'd done. He turned to look at her as she looked at him and their gazes locked for a moment, a surprised expression on both their faces before they both blushed and looked away.

From across the room, Molly carefully hid a smile as she watched her youngest children, counting Harry and Hermione as her own, and their surprise visitors. As she observed the children and the teenagers they were sitting with, she completely accepted that she was looking at her own grandchildren. How they'd gotten there wasn't important right now. Lily and James looked exactly like their parents except for the swapped eyes and little Rose was the spitting image of Hermione with Ron's hair color and eyes.

Other things matched up, things only a mother would notice. James pouted like Ginny did at that age, right down to the crossed arms while the slumped body was pure Harry. Lily held herself like her daughter had when she knew she was in trouble and was trying to get out of it. With Rose, it was a little harder, but there were a few little things, like her expression that told Molly the little girl was fighting not to cry. Ron had looked exactly that way when he'd fought tears when he was that young. The main difference between the girl and her youngest son that she could see was, where Ron hadn't wanted to be touched when he felt like that, Rose was curling into her son's body, obviously seeking comfort and reassurance. Molly's chest swelled in pride as she watched Ron respond to the child's need. He cuddled the little girl close and stroked her hair, even though Molly could tell he wasn't aware he was doing it. [He's going to make such a good father,] she thought, her eyes misting a little. [So like Arthur in that way.]

Suddenly Molly's breath caught as she truly realized what the children's appearence meant. If Lily, James and Rose were here, then they must have won the war and Harry had lived through it if he and Ginny were married with children. The same applied for Ron and Hermione and, since Lily mentioned she knew Percy's children(More grandchildren!), obviously her stubborn son's estrangement must have ended with him returning to the family. That thought eased the ache his recent departure had caused as well as the worry that Percy would get himself killed without her ever getting to see him again. Wait. Lily and Rose had said that Percy's son was named Fred and that . . . She was pulled from her thoughts by Arthur's voice.

"Harry's right, James. We can worry about who's fault things are later. Right now, I want to talk to you about the necklace, alright?" He smiled when the little boy nodded. "Excellent! Now, do you still have it with you?" He sighed as James shook his head vehemently. "Alright then, can you describe it to us or draw a picture of it?"

James crunched up his face in thought then slowly nodded. "I think I can, Grampie, but shouldn't Dad know what it looks like?" He looked at Harry, confused.

For his part, Harry was caught flat footed and without a clue what his . . . son(And, boy, did that sound weird!) was talking about. "I, um . . . I only just got it and I haven't, uh . . . I haven't really looked at it?"

James seem to consider this for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, Dad. You want me to draw it now, Grampie?"

Arthur smiled at him and gestured for Bill to find some parchment, quill and ink. "Yes, James, I do. And thank you. Why don't you come over here and sit so you can work on your drawing, alright?" He conjured a child sized table and chair waved at it. James looked up at Ginny, unsure of what do to, but when she nodded, he scrambled to his feet and did as his grandfather asked.

Lily watched as her brother obeyed but she was confused. Why did he need to draw anything when . . . she turned a little and whispered to her father. "Daddy? Jamie still had your necklace just before Grampie and Uncle Bill came in here. Why does he have to draw it when he still has it?"

Harry stared at the girl for a second, then faced his son. "James? Is your sister right? Do you still have the necklace?"

James shook his head quickly. "No, Dad, I don't have it anymore, see?" He turned his pockets inside out.

Harry accepted James' word, but Ginny's eyes narrowed. "James," she said, her voice sounding strict and, to Harry's surprise, a lot like Molly's. "Did you hide your father's necklace when Dad and Bill came in? Is it in this room right now?" James blushed a bit and looked down, but otherwise didn't answer. Sternly, Ginny said, "James, get the necklace and give it to Bill. Now."

Slowly, the little boy shuffled over to the fireplace, then reached down and behind a coal scuttle. As his hand came back into view, everyone saw a chain dangling there with a largish pendant hanging from in. It was shaped sort of like a very fancy shield(a heater shield Harry's half remembered history lessons whispered) cast in gold, with what looked like a stylized bird of some kind surrounded by a blue material. It was hanging from a heavy looking gold link chain and flashed in a beam of sunlight lancing into the room. Harry thought he might have seen something like it somewhere, but wasn't certain, so he nodded toward Bill.

James complied, handing over the piece of strange jewelry, and, once Bill thanked him, he ran back over and sat down with Ginny, trying very hard to radiant innocence and obedience. Ginny rolled her eyes a bit, but still curled one arm around the boy loosely.

Bill studied the pendant closely, running his wand cautiously over it in a diagnostic spell he normally used for booby-trapped tombs. Finding nothing that way, he tried another spell, then another, totally absorbed in what he was doing. A soft sound of satisfaction drifted up from him as a revealing spell caused runes to appear on the back of the pendant, then a little growl of frustration as he realized he couldn't read any of them.

Across the room, Rose watched everything from the safety of her father's lap and slowly, she calmed down, allowing her to begin to process what had happened to her and her cousins so far. She might have had her father's temperament most of the time, but, even at five, she was already showing signs that she had more than inherited her mother's formidable intellect. Carefully, she observed everyone in the room, even looking up at her father for several seconds. Frowning, she repeated the process, then crawled out of Ron's lap, causing him to look down, startled to find his arm had been around the little girl and his hand tingling from where he'd been stroking her hair. Quickly, the little redhead crawled into Hermione's lap, sitting there so she could turn and face the room or her mother, whichever she needed. "Mummy, can I ask a question?"

Hermione looked down at the urchin ensconced on her lap and smiled at her gently. She had never really given serious thought to being a mother, since that would normally be years away. But now, seeing this beautiful little girl, one who seemed to be such a perfect blend of her and Ron, she found she loved the idea and wasn't sure she could wait until they had her for real. Combing her fingers through Rose's hair and brushing it off her forehead, Hermione replied, "It's may I ask a question, and yes, Sweetie, you may."

Rose started to roll her eyes, exactly like Ron normally did when she corrected him, but stopped herself in time. "Okay, I'll 'member, but, where are Uncle Bill's scratches? And why isn't Daddy bigger?"

"Bigger?" Hermione frowned slightly, then realized what Rose meant. Ron was going to get taller? How much taller? He was second only to Bill now!

Rose nodded and leaned over toward Ron. "Last time I sat in Daddy's lap, I only reached up to here," she touched Ron at a point about a third of the way up his ribcage. "This time . . ." She scrambled back onto Ron's lap and lay against him, her head resting neatly on the lower part of his shoulder.

Hermione watched Rose's demonstration and nodded absently, one part of her mind on the girl's words, one part of the thought that Ron was going to be an absolutely huge man and the rest on how to explain to the little girl, as well as the other two nearby, that they had travelled into the past. That led to the question of just how far into the past had they come?

Smiling reassuringly at her daughter, Hermione took a little hand in her own. "Rose, Sweetie, I need to ask you a couple things, okay? They may seem weird, but I promise, I wouldn't ask if I didn't need to know the answers. Do you understand?"

Rose smiled and nodded. "'Course I understand, Mummy. Daddy's always saying I got your brains and that he's glad."

Hermione blushed at that, carefully not looking at Ron. She wasn't sure how to deal with that rather backhanded compliment from him. Or from the future him, really. Or however that worked out. "That . . . that's good, honey. Okay, then have Ron or I ever told you stories of our third year at Hogwarts? Especially mine?"

Rose looked like she was concentrating hard, then slowly shook her head, her red curls bouncing slightly. "No, Mummy. Only that that's when you met Teddy's daddy."

"Teddy?" Ron spoke for the first time, a growl in his voice. Hermione recognized it as the same sort of growl he got when talk turned to Ginny and dating. "Who the . . ." He stopped at a fierce glare from Hermione. "Who's this Teddy bloke?"

Hermione turned a cross look on Ron, demanding harshly, "Oh, honestly Ron! I think she's a little young for you to be worried about having to beat off hordes of boys, don't you?" Ignoring Ron's grumble of "No.", she turned back to the little girl in his lap. "Rose, who's Teddy?"

Rose stared at her mother in confusion. "You know Teddy Lupin, Mummy! We call him our cousin, but he's really not."

Lily, who had been listening in rather shamelessly, leaned over and added, "Yeah, Aunt 'Mione. You know Teddy. You were helping him with his transfig . . . transfig . . ." Lily's face screwed up in an expression of annoyance.

"Transfiguration?" Hermione offered.

"Yeah!" Lily smiled at her. "You helped him with that last summer. You remember, right, cause it was just after that when Hogwarts wanted you to come teach the same thing."

Harry had been listening with half an ear and now he smiled a little at the stunned expression on Hermione's face. Shaking his head a bit, he couldn't figure out why she was so suprised. Even McGonagall had commented on how much of a waste it would be if Hermione didn't eventually return to Hogwarts as a teacher.

Patting her mother's arm, Rose asked, "Mummy? Are you alright?" She was worried since she'd never seen her mother so shocked and speechless.

Absently, Hermione nodded, most of her mind on the thought of Hogwarts wanting her as a professor. Rose's tightened grip in her arm caused her to look down. Seeing the scared look on her little girl's face, Hermione pushed all the thoughts that Lily's casual comment had caused from her head and forced a smile onto her face. "I'm fine, Rose, just a little startled. Now," She paused and pressed a kiss to the girl's forehead, trying to reassure her that all was well. "The reason I asked if I'd talked about my third year was because I had a special necklace that year. It was called a Time-Turner and it would let me go backwards in time. Do you understand?"

Harry and Hermione watched as Rose thought hard about what her mother was telling her, though Harry had to supress a laugh. Leaning around Lily, he whispered in Hermione's ear, "She looks just like Ron does when he's trying to figure out one of your leaps of logic." The raven haired teen laughed and ducked back as Hermione blushed crimson and slapped at his shoulder.

Rose ignored them both as she thought about what her mother was telling her. It seemed like she could almost figure it out, then it would slip through her fingers and be gone. Just as it seemed like she might be finally understanding what her mother was telling her, Lily got there first.

"Is that what Daddy's necklace is, Aunt 'Mione? One of those Time-Tuner things?"

Hermione smiled at her niece, then hugged Rose when she spotted the petulant scowl the smaller girl gave her cousin. "I'm not sure, Lily, but it could be a kind of Time-Turner. What's the year right now?"

Lily and Rose looked at each other, identical looks of confusion on their faces. Finally, Lily shrugged and said, "It's 2010, Aunt 'Mione. Did you forget?"

Ignoring Lily's question, Hermione persisted. "And when is your birthday?"

Lily looked shocked for a second, then bewildered. "Don't you remember when Jamie and me were born, Aunt 'Mione?" Before Hermione could answer, she looked up into identical eyes and pouted. "You remember when our birthday is, don't you Daddy?"

Harry looked at Hermione, then Ginny(who had her own problems as James looked expectantly at her with a wide eyed/hurt look as she didn't immediately respond) helplessly. Before he could even try to come up with a reply that would satisfy the little girl, Rose spoke up. "You didn't forget my birthday, did you, Mummy?"

Hermione felt her heart break a little as she gazed down into trusting blue eyes, Ron's eyes, and shook her head a little. As tears began to well up, she rushed to explain. "Hey, don't cry, either of you." She combed her fingers through her daughter's hair. "Remember how I said I had a necklace that let me go back in time a little bit?"

Rose and Lily both nodded, then the older girl asked, "Is that what happened, Aunt 'Mione?"

Hermione smiled encouragingly. "That's it exactly. See, for the three of you, it's 2010 but, for the rest of us here, it's 1995, understand?" She watched as all three children absorbed the information. "So, see? It's not that we forgot your birthdays, it's just that they haven't happened for us yet."

All three children calmed a little, then James smirked. "We went back in time? That's so cool!"

Harry laughed at his son's reaction, thinking he would probably say the same thing in the same situation. Ginny and Hermione, though, shared a look that simply said, Boys! then both rolled their eyes. When Lily scrunched up her eyes and declared "Boys are so weird!"(Rose nodded her head vigorously in agreement), both teens started giggling, then laughing out loud at James' expression of disgust with his sister and Harry's chagrin.

Getting control of herself, Hermione smiled at both girls, asking, "So, will you all tell me when your birthdays are, now? Please?"

Lily responded first. "Well, I'm oldest, 'cause I was born before Jamie was, but our birthday is 27 June and we were born in 2004."

"And my birthday," Rose interrupted, glowering at her cousin slightly, "is 11 August in 2005. Aunt Ginny always says I was the best birthday present you and Daddy ever got her!" Rose smiled shyly at Ginny as she relayed this.

Ginny smiled at that and nodded. "Yeah, I'd have to agree with that. A beautiful niece to spoil?" She grinned wickedly at Hermione. "Best present ever!"

Hermione tried to maintain an expression of disdain, but quickly ended up smiling instead. Before she could say anything else, though, a small noise of complaint sounded from her daughter's abdomen and she looked concerned. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Rose nodded, then stuck her tongue out at Lily's giggle before saying, "I'm okay, Mummy, but can I have a biscuit, please? My tummy's all empty."

Molly Weasley heard her granddaughter's words and swiftly stood. "Oh, I should have thought of that!" She sounded a little put out with herself, but she smiled at her grandbabies. "Of course you can have a biscuit, Rose, but how about a sandwich first? James, Lily? Would you like a sandwich and some biscuits too?"

All three children smiled and scrambled to their feet to follow their grandmother to the kitchen. Lily stopped and looked at her parents with seeming indecision. "Is it okay, Mum?"

Ginny smiled and nodded, adding, "You better hurry and make sure Jamie doesn't eat them all."

Lily giggled. "You always say that, Mum!"

Harry laughed at that and gestured for the little girl to run along to the kitchen. Once she was gone, he looked at Ginny, his eyes quickly noting the similarities to Lily. How had he missed "little" Ginny Weasley growing into such a gorgeous young woman? More importantly, why hadn't he ever thought about it before? Sure, she was his best mate's little sister, but Ron had hinted on more than one occasion that, while he didn't want any boys around his sister, Harry was the only one he didn't have a real problem with. To be honest, Harry felt more or less the same way about Hermione, though he hoped he was better about it than Ron. And yeah, he had, just that morning before his . . . children (he blushed at the thought) had appeared, thought that Ginny was very pretty, but that hadn't meant anything.

Had it?

Harry realized, as Ginny blushed, that he was staring and looked away quickly. "I think . . . I think we need to talk, don't you?" He glanced up and noticed the unholy glee in the eyes of the twins and added, "Maybe outside?" He smiled ever so slightly at Ginny firm nod. "Just us or us, Ron and Hermione?"

Ginny glanced at her youngest brother and her best friend and shook her head. "I think they have their own things to talk about, don't you?" She grinned a little at Ron's ears turning red again and the pink creeping across Hermione's cheeks. "But, yeah, I think we should probably talk. Shall we?"

Harry nodded and jumped to his feet, automatically extending a hand to help Ginny to hers. She smiled at the courtesy and allowed it. He smiled back, noticing how Ginny's smile made her eyes glow a bit. [How is it I've never noticed how nice her eyes are?] he thought. "You two coming?" he asked, wrenching his eyes from the redhead beside him to Ron and Hermione. Both teens flushed harder and surged to their feet, Hermione not waiting to see if Ron would emulate Harry.

Seeing the twins studied disinterest, a sure sign they were watching and listening to everything, Ginny suggested, "Let's go up to the paddock. That way, we can talk and see if anyone," she looked pointedly at Fred and George, "is trying to overhear before we're ready to talk to the others." She scoffed at the innocent expressions the twins were sporting.

"That's a good idea," Hermione agreed, Ron nodding as well.

"Sounds good to me." Harry held out one hand, indicating the others should preceed him from the room.

As they walked through the kitchen, they all had to smile at the sight of Molly Weasley in her element. She was making sandwiches at a steady pace while smiling and laughing at the stories the children were telling her. James, seeing his parents enter the room, jumped up and ran to Harry. "Daddy, can we go flying after lunch? Please?"

Harry looked down into those big, hopeful brown eyes and had no real idea what to say for a second, then he smiled a bit and ruffled James' hair. "We'll see, mate. Go finish your lunch and make sure you mind your grandmum, alright?"

The smaller copy of Harry rolled his eyes, but obediently trotted back to the table and Harry couldn't help but notice the broad, happy smile Molly gave him when he called her 'grandmum'. He smiled in return and followed his friends, chuckling softly as Hermione dragged Ron out the door, her voice holding a familiar scolding quality as she told him, "Ronald Weasley, we just finished eating lunch! You cannot still be hungry and besides, those are for the children! I swear, all you ever think about is food and quidditch and I don't know . . ." Her voice faded as the two teens quickly pulled ahead of Harry, Ron starting to gesture as he answered her, their bickering restarting in earnest.

Ginny stood grinning at him as he caught up with her. Harry rolled his eyes, but returned her mischievously smile as they followed after their arguing friends. Harry started to walk a bit faster, obviously intending to catch up to Ron and Hermione, but Ginny lightly grasped his arm, holding him back.

"Let's let them be alone for a few minutes, yeah?"

Harry slowed again and looked at Ginny, a thoughtful expression sliding across his face before he nodded. "Yeah, alright." He glanced around and pointed to an old oak tree. "Want to sit there and talk about . . . um . . . what we . . . I mean . . ."

Ginny enjoyed watching Harry squirm for a moment, then took pity on him. "I'd love to. C'mon, then." She gave him a small teasing smile, then turned and walked toward the tree. With a sheepish grin, Harry followed her, determinedly trying to keep his eyes off her swaying bum.

Chapter 2

Harry half turned and watched as Hermione led Ginny off a little ways before the girls sat down and started talking. Trying his hardest, he still couldn't make out even the least sound from them, so he turned to Ron as the taller boy plopped down in front of him. "Did you guys talk, too?" Ron's ears were practically glowing, but he nodded. "Did you finally tell her that you like her?" Harry teased.

Ron started to deny it, just as he had been for years, but his shoulders slumped as he realized it was useless. "Kinda hard to deny it, id'n't, mate? I mean, when a little girl pops up lookin' like a near perfect cross of the two of you and starts calling you mummy and daddy, it's just not all that easy to say, 'Well, no, I don't like you like that and I don't know what's going on.'"

Harry had to grin a little at Ron's words and tone, then it slid from his face as he once more twisted around and glanced at Ginny. "Actually," he said, "it's not as hard as you think."

Ron looked a little confused, then he looked over Harry's shoulder to where the girls were. "So what, you told Ginny you didn't like her that way?"

Harry had to chuckle at Ron's mixture of happiness and chagrin as he asked this. "Sorta." He turned and looked his oldest friend in the eyes, though a faint blush stole across his cheeks. "I told her yes, I had noticed that she's become a very pretty girl, beautiful even, but I hadn't really considered her as someone I'd want to date. I told her that I think of her as one of my best friends, after you and Hermione, of course, and my best mate's sister and that I think she's a great person, but, before today, I had just never thought of asking her to go out with me."

Ron's head snapped up and his eyes bore into Harry for a few seconds. "And now? You've changed your mind or something?"

Harry chuckled again and half turned to look at the girls a few dozen metres away. "Like you said, it's kinda hard not to at least think about it after you meet your future children. Besides, Lily is a carbon copy of Ginny with my eyes and, maybe it's a father's pride or something, but I think she's absolutely beautiful. Since I think Lily is so gorgeous and she's a near perfect copy of her mother, it's really hard to think of Ginny as plain or ugly or something, don't you think?" His eyes found Ginny's and she blushed lightly, but still smiled a bit as well before turning back to her conversation with Hermione.

Ron frowned a little as he thought his way through Harry's logic and finally decided what Harry had said boiled down to; 'Yes, I think your sister's pretty and I think I want to go out with her now'. He felt another tug of combined elation/irritation at the idea, then everything Harry had said filtered through his mind again, though this time, he substituted Lily's name with Rose and Ginny with Hermione.

Harry turned his eyes back to his best friend as Ron snorted softly. "What?"

Ron started, then looked at Harry as though just noticing he was there. "Oh. Um, I was just thinking about what you said about Lily looking so much like Ginny, so you can't help thinking Ginny's pretty." He trailed off and turned to look over at the girls himself. "I was thinking about Rose. For some weird reason, I've always wondered what Hermione would look like with red hair. I mean, I like her hair like it is and you'd think I get enough of red hair with this lot, but I do and Rose is just that." He turned back to Harry and their eyes locked. "She's 'Mione with my hair and eyes and that's when I realized she's mine. Mine and Hermione's and that I really do like her like that."

Harry's bark of laughter came out a little strangled, then he released it fully as Ron looked at him with anger starting to cloud his face. "Sorry! Sorry. It's just . . . Ron, aside from Hermione, you are the best friend I've ever had but I could've told you that you liked Hermione like that over two years ago!"

"Why didn't you, then?"

Harry just stared at the redheaded boy and raised an eyebrow. "And you'd have believed me because . . .?" Ron just scowled and swatted at Harry, who dodged backwards a little, laughing at his friend. "Besides, I did try to tell you, remember? I told you you should ask her to the Yule Ball last Christmas but you looked at me like I was mental, so I shut up about it. Then Krum asked her and you ended up being the one who was acting like a jealous prat."

Ron automatically scowled at the mention of Krum's name, but he still blushed a little, his ear tips glowing once more as he remembered how he'd acted, both during the Yule Ball and after. And, to be honest, everytime since then whenever the Bulgarian's name was brought up.

The redheaded teen looked sideways at Harry and decided that since today seemed to be a day for admitting painful truths, he might as well come clean about another one. Looking down at the ground again, Ron started tearing up little tufts of grass as he fought to put his thoughts into coherent sentences. "You know, I was starting to think maybe you wanted to date Hermione." Ron risked a glance up and took in Harry's confused expression. "I mean . . . Well, up until you started making noises about Cho, the only two girls you ever talked to or about were Hermione and sometimes Ginny, so, y'know, I just thought . . . I mean, you and her have hugged a buncha times, so I just thought . . . I mean, I wondered . . ." He trailed off with a shrug, embarrassed with all this talk about feelings and stuff.

Harry just started at him for a few seconds, then quickly looked at the ground, shakling his head. He was trying to fight the laugh that tried to bubble up in him from Ron's misreading of his and Hermione's relationship and if he looked at Ron right then, he'd lose it. Giving it a little thought, Harry quickly came up with a way to explain it to his best mate, hopefully in a way that would forever settle this question between them. "You thought I wanted to go out with Hermione? Tell me, Ron, just how long have you wanted to go out on a date with Ginny?"

Ron's head snapped up at that, a queasy expression quickly taking dominance on his face. "Me? A-and Ginny?!? Merlin, Harry, that's sick! She's my sister! How could you think . . . Ugh! That's just so gross!"

Harry let Ron rant for another moment or so, then he nudged the disgusted redhead to silence him. "Ron, I know you don't want to date your sister, but, d'you see, now? That's how I feel about Hermione and me being together like that. Like I'd be dating my sister. Do you understand?" He sighed and looked down for a second, then back up. "Look, I love Hermione and I will till my dying day but I could no more date her than you could Ginny and for the same reasons. If you want to ask her out, go for it, but remember," his green eyes turned hard and implacable. "You hurt my sister and you'll find out why Voldemort is afraid of me."

Ron's eyes widened at Harry's words and he felt a shiver race down his spine at his friend's never before seen threatening attitude and the aura of menace surrounding the usually kind hearted boy. For a second, he was truly scared of Harry, then he realized it was just Harry's version of his own 'hurt my sister and die' speech. He smiled in relief. "Hey, that wasn't too bad, Harry! You really had me scared there for a few seconds, but even if she's mental enough to agree to go out with me, I couldn't hurt her if I wanted to." His mind tossed up images of a few of their more vicious arguments and he flushed a bit. "Well, not on purpose, anyway. And hey, if you and Ginny do get together, you know I'll hex the bits off you or die trying if you hurt her, right?"

Harry returned Ron's serious look with a solemn one as he nodded gravely, each boy understanding the other perfectly. Then he broke out in a grin, looking back over at the girls. "You know, all this threatening might be a necessary thing for us blokes to do, but do you honestly think the girls won't kill us before either of us can do anything?"

Ron glanced over at the girls and snorted. "Ever seen Ginny when she's really mad?"

Harry rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Ron, I was there for her birthday last summer, y'know."

The tall redheaded boy shuddered as he recalled what Harry was talking about. The twins had thought it was a good idea to prank and embarrass Ginny on her birthday. They'd apologized and admitted they'd been wrong 3 hours later when Bill had finally managed to dispell the bat-bogeys. Ginny had flat refused, even under Molly's most dire threats of punishment. Ron was sure he'd seen bat-bogeys escaping from the legs of the twin's trousers as well as their noses, and, after thinking about that for a few minutes(and Hermione whispering in his ear), the youngest Weasley boy winced at where he imagined the secondary bat-bogeys were coming from. It would explain why they'd walked so gingerly(no pun intended) the rest of the evening. Come to think of it, he didn't think the twins had pranked Ginny again since that day, which he thought was the smartest thing they'd ever done(aside from the dragon dung they'd owled Percy).

Ron shuddered again at the memory, slowly nodding his head. "Yeah, the was a bad one. I'm not sure I've ever seen her that mad!" He was silent for a few seconds, then he smiled reminiscently. "Hey, remember that time in third year Malfoy really hacked 'Mione off and she broke his nose? That was the sweetest punch I've ever seen," he declared proudly.

Harry laughed and nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty good. Malfoy didn't bug us for over a month after that." Harry's smile turned to a smirk. "Of course, I think she was even madder at you after the Yule Ball."

Ron scowled at his dark haired friend. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you? I apologized for that a buncha times now to both of you, so can we just drop it? Besides, I got other reasons to hate Vicky now, even if he's not a Death Eater wannabe."

Harry sighed and shook his head a little. "Okay, first, you gotta stop calling him 'Vicky'. Even if Hermione doesn't like him as anything but a friend, he still is her friend, so you should call him by his name, even if it's just for her. The second thing is, they're the same reasons as before, not different and third, you liked Victor when we saw him at the World Cup last summer, enough to buy that toy of him anyway and it seems like I remember the twins teasing you about 'liking' him."

Ron just rolled his eyes and gave a look of distaste. "He wasn't trying to steal my girl last summer."

Harry laughed at that, nodding his head. "Yeah, well, that's kinda true, even though she wasn't technically 'your girl' until about half an hour ago. Assuming you actually managed to ask her to be your girlfriend, that is."

Ron once more scowled at the smirking wizard across from him. Movement over Harry's shoulder caused his eyes to flick up and he saw a perfect chance to get even with Harry for all his cracks about Victor Bloody Krum. "Hey Harry? You really think of Hermione as your sister?" His eyes twinkled at the brunette standing behind his male best friend as she froze, her jaw dropping open. She had told him when they'd talked that she thought of Harry as her younger brother, but she wasn't sure if he felt the same way.

Harry gave Ron a puzzled look at his question. Hadn't they covered this already? Shrugging, he replied, "Ron, I already told you I do. Let me make it plainer, okay? The only way Hermione could be more of a sister to me is if we'd had the same mother. Does that make it cl . . . ACK!!"

He was interrupted by a loud squeal behind him as he was tackled in a hug and he suddenly found he had breathing problems. Merlin! He wasn't sure Mrs. Weasley had ever hugged him this tightly. "'Mione . . . can't . . . air . . ." Harry managed to croak out. He turned pleading eyes on the two laughing redheads as the edges of his vision turned a little grey.

Finally, Ginny took pity on him as she leaned down and lightly tapped the back of Hermione's head. "Hermione? I kinda need him alive in seven or eight years, so could you not choke him to death, please?"

* * *

My original plan for this one was to "steal" the Phoenix Gate from Gargoyles, make it large-ish pendant sized, and use it for the back and forth of the time travel. Of course, Harry and probably Bill would need to come back and erase memories after the kids got back home. All in all, it was shaping up to be only a little different from the others in the challenge. Mostly in that I included Rose in the travel and gave Bill a chance to "save the day" by showing off his curse breaking skills, deciphering the runes on the pendant to see how it works, then sending the kids home.

If anyone wants to play with this, feel free. As I said in the notes at the top, the original Challenge was from mid-2008 on Sink Into Your Eyes, a Harry/Ginny shipper's site. Several of the stories from the challenge were good, particularly Not Going Back to the Future: The Twins Arrive by Duelist. Although it was never finished, it came to a good conclusion.