A loud knock echoed through the Potter household, waking all the occupants suddenly. Harry's hand flew to the old scar, as it always did when he was surprised. Ginny rolled over in bed, her honey eyes looking to Harry. He sat up, but before he could say anything, another knock sounded. Several screams and stifled shouts were heard.

Ginny jumped out of bed and flew down the hall. She turned right at the second door and threw it open. Inside the large bedroom, a group of girls were clutching at each other in front of the fireplace. Ginny did a quick count in her head. She could see the light brown hair of Susan Longbottom, with her own Lily hiding, clearly terrified, on Susan's lap. Next to them, Rose and Lucy Weasley were in the same position, looking for all the world like sisters with their identical flaming hair, though Ginny knew them to be cousins. She heaved a sigh of relief.

"Are you girls alright?" she asked. She received several nods in answer. Rose spoke up.

"Umm… Aunt Ginny? What was that noise? It sounded like… like…" Rose fell silent, and glanced out the window. Ginny knew what she meant. It had been the same noise they had heard when, a year ago, an old tree had cracked and tumbled over. Several of the girls in the room, along with their brothers, had been in or below the tree at the time, and none of them were likely to forget it.

"I think it's someone at the door. Harry's gone to see to it." The girls nodded, relief evident on their faces. Lily picked herself up off of Susan's lap and ran over to her mother, tears rolling down her cheeks. Lily's black and white cat, Checker, had died in the tree accident. Ginny picked her up, stroking her red hair and speaking soothingly. "8 years old… Come on Lily, don't cry… You aren't even in a tree… there is no tree… Daddy's at the door now… Calm down…"

Lily sniffled and looked up at her mother. "Can we go check on Albus and the other boys?" Ginny nodded, and, immediately, Lily pushed out of her grasp and tore down the hall, Rose and Susan hot on her heels. Ginny looked down at the only girl remaining in the room. Lucy was sitting, looking very lost, and Ginny was struck at how much her niece resembled her daughter. They had been born only a day apart, and could have been identical twins. Ginny held out a hand. The girl looked at if for a second, as if confused, then crossed slowly over to her aunt, took her hand, and joined her in the hallway.

In the other bedroom, Ginny saw that the kids had paired off neatly with their siblings. Lily was engulfed in a hug from her brother Albus, who was murmuring soothing words to her under his breath. Rose looked to be squishing her brother Hugo she was holding him so tightly, and he was rubbing the back of his hand where, she knew, he still had a scar from the accident with the tree. Susan had one arm around her little brother Colin and the other around Lysander Scamander, whose shocking blonde hair stood out in a room of mostly redheads. Both boys were shaking.

At that moment, Ginny heard Harry call for her. She gently shook Lucy and headed back down the hall. Reaching the entrance hall she stopped, staring at the people in the doorway. Anthony Goldstein, Head Auror, and Ernie Macmillan, Minister of Magic. "What… I…" she took a deep breath, let it out, and addressed Anthony, whom she knew better than Ernie. "What are you doing here? It is 3 in the morning, Anthony! There are children in this house!"

"Ginny!" Harry interrupted her. "Breathe." He nodded at Ernie to speak.

"Well, Ginny, um, you see. Well, you know those muggle-born kids, the ones that were stolen? They were found, and, we've got them, just, they havn't got anywhere to go and…"

"You are taking them in," pronounced Anthony with a grin. "They will be your own family. They'll take your last name, too, seeing as they havn't got one right now."

She thought of the 8 kids crammed into a single bedroom down the hall, and of Teddy Lupin sleeping in the basement, and fixed the Minister with a stare. "How many? We havn't got room!" Ernie gave her a confused stare. Harry cleared his throat.

"Minister, in addition to our three children, we have Teddy Lupin living with us and, for the next two days, Rose and Hugo Weasley, Molly and Lucy Weasley, Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, and Susan and Colin Longbottom. It's a sleepover party for Lucy and Lily's birthdays," he added at the end of this litany. Anthony blinked.

"Doesn't matter," Ernie said. "I have four kids here, no, four Potters, who are coming in now, because they've nowhere else to go. Look, Harry," he suddenly dropped the professional manner. "You have to take these kids in, by law, and I have a lot more to drop off tonight. They're big enough to explain who they are themselves, so… goodnight." With that, he turned and opened the door.

Four kids walked in, heads down. The oldest, a girl, held a brown-haired toddler in her arms. Ginny could see that he had bright green eyes, like Harry's. The two remaining were boys of about the same height, one only about an inch taller than the other. The taller had brown hair, the shorter blonde like his sister's. Ginny looked at Anthony in disbelief; Ernie had already left.

At the doorway, Anthony looked back. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter," he said formally. "Meet Delia, Curtiss, Dion, and Geoffrey Potter." He swept out. When the four looked up, she saw that they all had the same shining emerald eyes.