Telling Ron and Hermione
Sunday, June 4th, 2000
Harry looked at his two closest friends for the past going on nine years, Ron and Hermione. Everyone else would find out later, but it only felt right for these two to know first.
But, before he could let them know about Sage, he wanted to show them around his new house, that's why they were standing outside the gate right now.
“Okay! So, this gate is warded so only a few certain people can apparate in. Me, you two, Madame Pomfrey, and a few others. They go across the whole property and also serve to keep any children or animals from running off.” Harry explained before leading the other two in.
“Now, we enter into the front yard. As you can see, there's nothing here, just some grass. I pretty much plan on keeping it this way.” Harry led them across the yard and up onto the porch. “Following me, you will see you can walk completely around the porch, it encircles the whole house.”
Once the group made it around the house and back to the front door Harry made them follow him around the circle again stopping at where the first edge in the backyard would be if there were edges. “Now, from here the porch also has a small path connected to it which leads to a pool area.”
Opening a gate to the pool area you saw that it it also had a similar 'porch area' circling the pool which almost appeared to be in the ground. On the pool's deck there were a few chairs and a black cabinet filled with beach towels and other swimming necessities. The pool cover was on, but there was no mistaking what it was.
“As I'm sure you noticed, diagonally from the pool, on the other side of the yard, next to the fence, is a trampoline. Otherwise there is a lot of space back here the same as the front yard.” This all being seen Harry led the group back to the front door which was glass but covered by a floral patterned curtain on the inside so you couldn't see in.
“Now, the front door opens into the kitchen which has all the expected amenities.” Harry informed, Hermione and Ron stepping into the house behind him.
“Amenities? When have you ever said that word before now?” Ron laughed, only half-joking.
“Shut up, Ron. Let me live my real estate agent dream!” Harry teased back. “Now, moving into the kitchen, let us look around.”
“What do you have here then?” Hermione asked in a genuinely intrigued tone.
“Next to the front door, about five feet away, you will find a deep freezer containing a multitude of frozen food. But, before you see this, you will find yourself gazing at the average stove. On the other side of this freezer you will see a gap, and then a corner indicating the start of a new wall. From this corner to the corner of the next wall is a counter with two sinks in the center and a row of cabinets above.”
“What's in the cabinets and drawers?” Ron played along, not really understanding why the tour was so in-depth, but willing to go with it for his friend.
“The cabinet nearest to the freezer contains special tableware for special and/or specific occasions, the drawer under it having extra gloves, rags, sponges, the likes. Directly next to it, the cabinet is full of cups with the corresponding drawer having utensils such as an ice cream scupper and can opener. The cabinet next over is designated for bowls and just below it is a drawer for knives and ladles. Finally, the last cabinet in the row, the farthest from the freezer, is the plate cabinet, a utensils drawer, that is to say, forks and spoons, below it. As you might have noticed, there is a second set of cabinets below the sinks and drawers, all of which contain pots, pans, mixing bowls, and the likes.”
“Very organized.” Hermione noticed and Ron nodded in agreement.
“It's the abuse.” Harry gave a comically fake smile before moving on. “A few inches from the corner from where the counter ends there is a built in, four shelf, 'book case' to hold canned food with room under for things such as bags of potatoes. A couple feet in front of this is a four person, brown, square table with four matching chairs around it's edges.”
“What's that door lead to?” Ron questioned, pointing at the closed door which sat right next food shelves, ending just a couple inches from the corner indicating the start of the last wall.
“You'll see later, let's finish this room first.”
The rest of the room was rather bare. There was enough room for the mystery door to open and sit against the wall, before you got to the refrigerator. It was a simple thing, white and about five feet eight inches tall with a small freezer on top. Next to the fridge was a large, black, garbage can which had a swing in lid. Finally, next to the garbage can, was a light yellow door that opened inward.
“Opening this door you will find yourself in the living room.” Harry informed before ushering the other two in. “On the right of the door you find an open space till the corner, while the left has two arm chairs with a small brown table in-between. Next to the second armchair, against the wall, is a small wastebasket.”
“Next to the wastebasket, abut a foot-and-a-half away from the corner telling you you are on a new wall, there is a window with a red draw curtain, currently open.” Ron mimicked lightheartedly.
“A couple feet from the window, on the same wall, is classic black grand piano with a black bench in front of it. There is nothing on the other side of this piano until you reach the next corner.” Hermione joined in.
“You're both hilarious.” Harry drawled sarcastically.
“Can you even play the piano?” Ron asked running his hand across the cover.
“Yes! I learned in school before Hogwarts, then re-taught myself after the war. I remembered a surprising amount of it, honestly, I don't know how.”
“I did the same with a flute, but gave it up after I got my letter. I just didn't have time at Hogwarts, definitely not after the war started.” Hermione agreed.
“To deflect from my lack of musical talent, lets continue with the tour.” Ron half-jokingly laughed.
“As Hermione pointed out, there is a corner. Not too far from it there is a bookcase filled with movies. There is an identical bookcase farther down the actually filled with books. In between these two cases, a T.V. stands with a DVD player below it. Entertainment isn't all this wall holds, however, as next to the book bookcase you will see a door. This door leads to a bathroom which I don't believe needs exploring.” Harry took over.
“Look, Haz, another corner.” Ron pointed an inch away from the hinges of the bathroom door.
“You are right, Ron, that is a corner. And a couple feet from the corner you will see a couch which can seat up to three people on it, if there is one to a cushion. About half a foot in front of this couch is a brown coffee table which brings us to the end of this room.”
“Do we get to see what's behind the door in the kitchen now?” Ron asked, surprising himself with how curious he was.
“Yes, indeed.”
Behind the door was a room that was mostly just staircase. Next to the staircase, however there was enough space for someone to open the door under the stairs and enter it. Unlike at the Dursley's house, this led to another staircase instead of a cupboard.
When you went down the stairs underneath the stairs you emerged in the basement.
The first room had a large couch in the middle pointed at the T.V. in between the couch and door which had a DVD player and video game systems on a shelf under it. Behind the couch was a fireplace which could be used to floo through or sit in front of during a cold day. On the last two walls there were identical brown doors just like the one at the bottom of the basement stairs. Next the the doors there were containers of board games, toys, and similar such items.
The door to the left of the room led to a bathroom, but the one on the right wasn't much more interesting.
“This door leads to a currently empty space which will be turned into an office later. I can't give many details on it at the moment, but I don't need an office. If I were to have a kid, however, it would be a good place for them to do school work before Hogwarts.” Harry explained before leading his friends up the staircase from the basement, then up the second on leading to the second floor.
“Now this part of the tour will be quite quick as we don't really need to go into any of the rooms.” Harry explained at the landing before beginning their journey.
“The first door on the right will be explained later, but the first on the left is mine. Next to those to rooms are the two guest bedrooms. Fun fact: every bedroom has it's own bathroom, giving the house a total of eight.”
“Sorry, I lived with eight other people growing up, and we had one bathroom, but you live alone and get eight?” Ron replied incredulously but not really angry.
Harry merely laughed because saying anything would reveal his secret. “The third door on the right is the upstairs bathroom, and the one right across from it is the laundry room. Finally, as you can see, there is a door straight across from the staircase at the end of the hallway. This leads to a small closet holding cleaning supplies.” Harry explained leading the two twenty year olds down the hall.
“Is that all then?” Hermione asked. “Or do you have an attic or something?”
“I do have an attic!” Harry smiled brightly. The Dursley's had an attic, but it was basically just a crawl space so he could never go in it. This was way different.
Harry pulled the attic staircase down, walking up first, Ron and Hermione close behind.
The first room was almost completely bare except a door across from the one leading up, a door on the left, and a cabinet on either side of the left door. The ceiling was made of a magical one way glass, so in the attic you could see the sky, but on the roof you couldn't see into the attic. The cabinets held blankets and telescopes and such.
“I though when Teddy and any of our kids and stuff got old enough for real sleepovers they might like it up here. It's bigger and you can see the stars and stuff. Plus the door in the back leads to a bathroom so you wouldn't even have to go downstairs for that!” Harry dropped his real estate agent facade in excitement. The attic was one of his favorite places in the house for many reasons.
“That's such a cool idea.” Hermione complimented, and Ron nodded while gazing up at the clouds.
“If you like this, Hermione, you're going to love the next room over.” Harry nearly squealed.
Harry was right, but any would be about this. The last room in the house was a library. The back wall was a computer supplies station, but the rest of the room was filled bookcases with any book genre you could think of for any age. Scatter all around there were tables, mini rugs, beanbag chairs, and more.
After the group looked around for a little while Harry led them to a rectangular brown table. Two of the sides held two seats, while the end sides had one.
Hermione sat in the left seat on the left side of the table with Ron on the same side in the right seat. Harry felt weird sitting any where except across from them, but couldn't pick who to sit in front of. Instead he temporarily removed the left seat and moved the right to be in the center of the right side.
“Alright, finally time to start our big conversation.” Harry breathed out nervously.
“What is it? And why did it mean you had to move houses? Does it have anything to do with that room you wouldn't let us see?” Hermione rapid-fired.
“Is it a good thing, or bad?” Ron joined.
Harry couldn't help but laugh a little. “It's good, at least, I think it is. And it does have to do with the room....The room is a bedroom, set up as a nursery for the next few years.”
“You're having a baby?!” Ron gasped.
“Close.” Harry smiled widely. “As of yesterday morning, I have a baby.”
“What? But, how? You aren't with anyone and you would have told us if you got someone pregnant wouldn't you?” Hermione stammered.
Harry laughed again. “I didn't get anyone pregnant.”
“So you adopted?” Ron confirmed.
“I didn't think I would really get a chance for a bio kid, and one specific kid really needed me yesterday morning, so I did do the adoption.”
“What happened? Like why did the kid need you specifically?” Hermione calmed down a little and seemed conflicted between being excited for the baby and also concerned about its orphanhood.
“To keep things simple: a woman, first generation pureblood, got pregnant with a muggle's baby. He died of a heartattack and a few months later she went in labor. She somehow made her way the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, but died during delivery. She didn't give any information except what I just old you, the baby was healthy, but had nowhere to go. Madame Pomfrey was hesitant about an orphanage, so here we are.” Harry felt bad about lying, but no one could know the truth. Not even Sage.
“Where's the baby now then?” Ron asked biting his lip.
“Madame Pomfrey is watching them. She's sort of adopting a grandmother slash private nurse sort of role at this point.”
“Speaking of grandmother, does Andromeda know yet?” Hermione reminded.
“I'm telling her after you all leave. I wanted to tell you two first, because I have something to ask you.” Harry revealed.
“What is it?” Came the unanimous response.
“Will you be my baby's godparents? I had a lot of options, but I never really considered anyone else. You two have been my best friends for nearly a decade, been through so much with and for me, so you're all I want.”
“Oh, Harry, of course.” Was all Ron could say in his shock and awe.
“You should already know my answer.” Hermione gave a tight smile, not in disgust but as a way to prevent the tears all were close to shedding. “I would love to so very much.”
“So, um, is it a boy or a girl?” Ron eventually managed to ask.
“Actually, I've decided not to assign a gender. I have no idea what they'll end up being, so why bother guessing, y'know? So, it's just They/Them pronouns and other gender neutral stuff until they say otherwise, if they say otherwise.” Harry informed nervous that this would make his friends take back their agreement to being Sage's godparents. Instead they both smiled.
“So, what's their name?” Hermione nearly whispered, still emotional.
“Sage Harlow Potter.” Harry pridefully replied.
“Aw.” The other two adults cooed.
“When do we get to meet Sage?” Ron continued the conversation with a sense of excitement and joy. He really couldn't wait to meet his godchild.
“Tomorrow, I suppose. Really whenever you next visit.”
“I'll be here tomorrow.” Ron laughed along with the other two after saying this, but he was serious. He would meet Sage as early as he possibly could, which the others understood.
Soon after, Hermione turned to Ron and began speaking. “I think it's about time we both head out so Harry can tell everyone else the good news.”
Ron nodded. “You're right. I need to get to Neville's anyway.”
“Alright then, by you two.” Harry told his friends, squeezing them in a group hug. “Love you.”
“Love you Harry.”
“Love ya, Haz.”
It didn't take Harry's friends long to exit the property after that, but Harry knew he wouldn't be alone long. He needed to tell Andromeda, then Molly and Arthur, then the other Weasley's, then his other friends....Should he tell Dudley?
Harry shook his head. He might tell Dudley later, though the two cousins hadn't spoken in years and weren't exactly friends. Right now, though, he needed to floo Andi.
Harry couldn't wait for everyone to know about Sage!