Just A Mother
Chapter 1
Ginny Potter would be turning 40 soon, something that increasingly bothered her more and more for some reason.
Perhaps it was the thinking that it somehow now made her old. She certainly didn't have the energy that her children did, that was for sure.
Constantly running after them always seemed to wear her out and lately it felt like it was only getting worse.
Yet she loved her children, she really did, all 11 of them.
Most people were simply amazed that they actually had that many children but both she and Harry had wanted a big family and unlike her parents, they had had plenty of money to take care of them with.
They hadn't originally planned on having that many, it had just happened.
It really began during her first game as a professional quidditch player after being drafted by the Holyhead Harpies right out of school.
The game had ended up costing her a great deal as she hurt her arm pretty badly and magic failed to fully repair it.
With only limited use in her arm, she had had to effectively end her dream as a quidditch player, but what was worse the arm she had injured was her wand arm, forcing her to relearn to use magic with her other arm.
It was definitely not easy and she wanted to cry every time she failed to do a spell correctly.
Through all of it however Harry had stuck with her and patiently helped her or listened to her many unhappy rants.
With everything that had gone wrong in her life, with her injury and the death of her brother Fred in the final battle, Harry had been the one good thing during that time.
Despite her fears of losing him, they stayed together and on her 19th birthday, he proposed.
She had been totally overjoyed, more happy than she could ever imagine, marred only by the concern that Harry might one day grow tired of her or her injured state.
Yet that had never happened and upon finding out that Harry wanted a big family, she decided to give him that.
With her quidditch dream over, she opted instead to live Harry's dream which quickly became hers.
Since Harry was very well off from the inheritance that his parents and Sirius had left him, and already gotten a high paying job as the head of the auror force despite his young age, neither of them saw any reason not to start having kids right away.
Only a month after marrying, Ginny learned she was pregnant with their first child and 8 and a half months after came their oldest son James.
A year after that came Lily, followed a year later by Amber, before she skipped a year and had twins, a boy and a girl.
By now, she had 11 children, the youngest now 3 and she had decided that she was now done.
Her many pregnancies, 8 in all after 3 sets of twins had definitely taken a toll upon her once thin frame.
There was no denying that she was fat, but she had never dreamed that she would eclipse even her own mother in size. It wasn't something she was particularly proud of, but Harry at least didn't seem to mind, assuring her frequently that she only got more beautiful everyday. It was these moments that contributed greatly to her love and appreciation for him...and to their still very active sex life.
Perhaps it went without saying when you have as many children as they had, but both her and Harry did it like rabbits.
Yet to herself, she felt unattractive.
What with spending as much time as she did simply being a mom, she just didn't have the time to exercise and she had difficulty dieting.
There was no weight loss potion or spell and she was highly skeptical of the muggle equivalents.
After a long hard day of trying to potty train their youngest little Danny, homeschooling her other 5 children who were not yet old enough to attend Hogwarts, cleaning house, preventing her children from killing each other while grocery shopping, or saying no to most of the many seemingly desperate pleas for candy or other treats from them, making breakfast, lunch, and dinner she was understandably exhausted.
She was only just now helping the children finish cleaning up the kitchen after dinner.
With 11 kids, each of the children had learned to pitch in.
"Mommy!" Her 9 year old daughter Lisa cried.
She spotted Lisa now sporting totally blue hair.
"Look what Jenny did!" She pouted as she pointed at her hair.
"It was an accident!" Miranda claimed as she came in.
Jenny was 7 and was just now showing signs of accidental magic...such as this one.
"Don't worry, I'll fix it," Ginny said as she bent down to look at her hair, "explain to me what happened."
It took awhile to figure out the story and prevent the two girls from fighting and by that time she heard a familiar chime, which was Harry's way of announcing he was home.
"Daddy's home!" One of her 5 year old's named Becky said
Her twin sister followed right after her.
"Daddy!" Both Becky and Sarah squealed as they went to go give him a hug.
As he hugged them, Harry looked over in her direction and they shared one of their looks.
Harry somehow had an uncanny knack for knowing when she had had a bad day and so gently got the kids off of him and gave her a long hug.
"Have you already had dinner?" He asked.
"Yes," She replied, "I saved you some, it's over in that container on the counter with a warming charm still on it."
"Thanks love," He said before giving her a quick kiss.
As he ate his dinner, he got information from all the kids on how their day went as they regaled him with stories.
Ginny listened to this while Harry kept their attention for awhile.
He really was a wonderful father, she thought. Even after long hard days of work, he always took some time to spend it with his kids, and he made sure that he was always home early enough to at least tuck them in at night.
On the weekends, it was a common sight to find him playing games with them or teaching them how to fly using children's brooms.
After finishing dinner, he asked her if she'd needed him for something.
He always asked this, and she tried not to take too much advantage as she knew he was usually tired from work.
"Just go play with the kids," She urged, "I think I'll go take a bath while you're doing so."
He nodded, and quickly suggested some games that he and the kids could play.
She filled up the big bathtub they had with warm water and bubblebath soap, but as she waited for the tub to fill up a bit, she undressed and looked herself over in the mirror sighing to herself at her appearance.
Long gone were her toned and thin quidditch days, she had put on over a hundred pounds and a few wrinkles since then. At least a good deal of that weight had gone to the right places, her breasts were simply enormous, the size of her head and so very, very heavy. Harry had spent countless hours playing with her massive funbags and she was more than happy to oblige him.
before undressing and getting in, allowing the water to soak into her aching muscles.
Since becoming a mom 20 years ago, she had come to appreciate the small things in life, one of her children's laughs, getting an I love you from one of them or Harry, eating chocolate, and of course getting the time to take bubble baths, a rare but enjoyable thing.
Finally with it now late in the evening, Harry came in to find her.
He grinned seeing her still lying there in the tub.
She struggled to get up.
"I was just about to go help you tuck the kids in bed," Ginny said.
"Don't worry, I already took care of it," He answered, "you can stay longer if you'd like."
"Teeth brushed and everything?" She asked.
"Yep," He said still unabashedly staring at her, "you need me to help you get ready for bed too."
Harry's idea of helping her get ready for bed was altogether different from helping the kids...not that she ever complained about the...help.
However she was still feeling very tired and she told him so.
He nodded, and she noted that even though he had made such a suggestion, he seemed even more tired than she was as he struggled to get his clothes off as he got ready for bed.
Now clad only in his underwear, she unabashedly stared at him and admired how attractive she still found her husband.
Unlike her, he had maintained his physique and still had a solid 6 pack despite doing mainly desk work for the last decade due to a habit of doing physical training with those under him every day for an hour.
In addition to helping him stay sharp it also helped him get to know the people under him, something that they highly respected him for.
It struck her not for the first time how different she and he were body wise. Most women would have still found her husband quite attractive yet she knew many wondered why he had such a fat and ugly wife when he could have done much better.
Harry however always ignored or outright confronted anyone who made such comments or women who tried to offer themselves to him.
She supposed it came with having a rich and famous husband, but she never liked it when women came on to him.
However it was another testament to her feeling like she really didn't deserve him as he remained so totally devoted to her.
Once they had both gotten into bed, he gave her a kiss and asked how her day was.
She immediately told him about what she had been thinking about all day while he listened patiently and waited for her to finish before answering.
"Well Love you've told me all this before and my answer is still going to be the same," Harry told her, "I don't care about your weight, or only being a stay at home mom, or what others think about you, I love you just the way you are and I can't think of anyone else I could possibly want to be married to more than you."
"I just don't feel like I'm good enough for you," She confessed, "you're so wonderful and I'm so not."
"You've given me 11 beautiful children. Most women would never have done that and I fully appreciate the sacrifices you've made over the years," He replied.
"That's just it," She informed him, "you've tried so hard to make me happy and the only thing I seem to be able to do in return is keep having your children."
"Do you regret having so many?" He asked.
"No, it's not that, I love all my children, it's just that it feels like since I'm not going to be having anymore that I don't really have as much value to you," She answered.
"Oh, I can think of plenty of things that I value about you," He told her as he kissed her lips.
A rush of warmth spread through her. Even after so many years, Harry could still make her melt.
"Let's see, in addition to being stunningly beautiful," He said as he continued to plant kisses all over her, "you're smart, a fantastic mother, a wonderful cook..."
"I'm just a stay at home mom Harry," Ginny claimed.
"I can't think of a better profession," He answered, "I doubt there are many women who could do what you do everyday with all of our kids."
"Thank you for trying to make me feel better Harry," Ginny said, "I guess I'm just wishing I could do more."
"Okay, well what else can I do to make you feel needed and loved?" He asked, "I hate to see you feeling like this Ginny."
"That's just it, you shouldn't be the one to have to make such an effort, it's only going to make me feel more guilty, I should be the one trying to come up with ways to make you happy," Ginny argued.
He lay there for a moment and then suggested, "Well, my birthday is in only a couple months, maybe you could get me something nice for that?"
"I was thinking something a bit beyond a birthday present," Ginny pointed out.
"The last time you said that you got pregnant with Becky and Sarah," Harry replied.
Becky and Sarah were there 9th and 10th children and the last ones they had planned on. Danny, their youngest had been something of a surprise.
"No, not that, but something else," Ginny said.
"Well as soon as you think of something, feel free to surprise me with it, I'm sure it'll be good Love, you always know just what to get me for presents," Harry told her.
"All right, I suppose we can talk about this later, besides we've spent so much time talking about me that we haven't gotten to you yet," She pointed out.
He sighed and said, "Not much to really report. Crime has been the lowest its ever been and the only things I really have to worry about most of the time is making sure all of the paperwork is filled out correctly."
"Come on, you must have had at least something interesting happen to you today," She urged.
"Kingsley Shacklebolt came to see me," He confessed.
"The Minister? What did he want to talk to you about?" She asked.
"He came to tell me that he's planning on retiring. You know he's never really liked that job, he just did it because he felt he needed to sort things out after Voldemort. With everything now running so smoothly and lacking any real problems, he's decided to step down," Harry confided.
This was certainly big news, the implications of which could not yet be seen. Shacklebolt was widely considered the best Minister of Magic they had ever had and for him to choose to now step down was a huge thing. She couldn't think of anyone who could do as nearly a good of a job as him.
"Did he mention who he was thinking he might choose to support as his replacement?" She asked.
"That's actually what he came to talk to me about, he wants me to be the one to replace him," Harry admitted.
Her breath caught at that.
It hadn't actually occurred to her that this might happen, but she had to admit it would have been at least likely.
With over 20 years under his belt, 2 as an auror, another 8 as head of the auror force and then another 10 as Head of Magical Law Enforcement, he was quite high up in the ministry and fabulously popular. Along with his friendship with Shacklebolt he would indeed seem to be the logical successor.
"How come you didn't tell me before?" She demanded.
"Since I said no and I didn't want you to overthink things," He told her.
"Why did you say no?" She asked.
"I'm busy enough as it is and I don't want to take anymore time away from being with you or the kids than I already do," He explained.
"What if the wizarding world needs you though?" She asked him.
"I dealt with that enough as a teenager, the only ones who I feel need me are my family and you know that I would always put you first," He insisted.
She got emotional at that, touched by this declaration.
"I'm glad you feel that way Harry," She said, now choking up.
"I feel bad enough for the time we lost when we first got together and I promised myself I'd never make you go through that again," He reminded her.
"I know," She said, "I just want you to know if you ever had to again that I would support you, no matter what."
"I'm sure you would Love but being Minister just isn't for me," He said.
"Then don't take it," Ginny urged, "whatever makes you happy."
"Thanks Ginny," He answered, kissing her again.
She snuggled into him as she usually did and both of them fell asleep quickly.
They were both awakened in the middle of the night however by a tapping on their window.
"Is it one of the kids?" Ginny asked, still half-asleep.
Harry, who was more of a light sleeper and trained to awaken at the slightest noise, got up and went to where the sound was originating from.
He let in a large barn owl with a letter attached to its leg.
"Who could be trying to contact us at this time of night?" She asked him.
"It's from Tracey Davis," He admitted.
"The head of magical child services?" She asked with surprise.
Tracey had been in Harry's year at Hogwarts and ultimately decided at the last minute to go back and fight for Hogwarts in the final battle, one of only two Slytherin students who did in addition to her friend Daphne Greengrass.
After the war, she decided to take a job in magical child services, a largely thankless and low paying job, but one that was of vital importance.
In the years after the second war with Voldemort, it had become more busy what with all of the children left orphans, but eventually it started to become less and less needed as children grew up.
The department had even been in danger of shutting down and added to the tasks of another department, but fortunately Tracey had managed to persuade the minister to add additional duties to her job including training muggle or squib parents how to handle their magical children long before they got their Hogwarts letters.
It proved to be invaluable as parents knew right off the bat what was going on with their children and the many strange things that accidental magic may cause.
"What does she want with us?" She asked.
"It just says she needs to see both of us immediately," He answered.
"Both of us?" She asked in surprise.
"Well if she sent it in the middle of the night, then I suppose it must be important," He observed.
"Who will watch the kids?" She asked.
"We'll apparate over to your brother George's first. Knowing him, he's probably still up. He can watch the kids until we get back," Harry suggested.
Once they worked things out with George, they apparated over to the ministry.
It was dark, but they spotted a couple people wandering the halls, evidently working the night shift.
Admittedly she hadn't been to the ministry in the middle of the night since that time many years ago back in her 4th year and fought with all those death eaters.
The memory seemed to somehow come back as the ministry seemed to still look exactly the same from then.
When they got in front of the correct room, Harry knocked on the door.
It was immediately opened by Tracey.
"Good, you're finally here," She said as she beckoned for them to come in.
As she looked over at Tracey, she couldn't help but notice that the years had evidently been good to Tracey.
Tracey had never married, and never had children of her own even though she had adopted two and dedicated her life to helping other people's children.
Nevertheless she looked rather fit and younger than her actual age.
Tracey on the other hand was currently looking at Harry, but soon looked away when she realized she was staring.
She then however had the decency to be entirely professional.
As they entered the room, she immediately spotted a girl with long blonde hair, probably around the age of 7 currently sitting in a chair in the corner, looking forlornly at the ground.
"Who's this?" Ginny asked kindly, directed both at the little girl and Tracey.
Tracey sighed and said, "this is Emily. She's actually the reason why I had to bring you in here so late at night."
"I'm guessing that she's an orphan," Harry guessed.
"Not exactly," Tracey admitted, "her parents actually just decided they could no longer take care of her and I found out that you are actually her closest relatives."
Ginny's eyebrows rose as she asked, "I wasn't aware anyone in my family had a daughter named Emily."
She was also wondering just why Tracey would contact them. It was possible one of her cousins had had a daughter she hadn't known about although if they were giving her up for some reason, she wouldn't have guessed she would be first on the list for people to adopt her.
"Actually I was referring to your husband," Tracey answered before turning to Harry, "this is the daughter of your cousin Dudley and his wife Priscilla."
"I haven't spoken to Dudley since before I turned 17," Harry admitted, "I've sent a Christmas card to him every year but they've always been returned unopened. I had no idea he even had a daughter. Are you trying to say that she's a witch?"
Before now Emily had been totally quiet but at being called a witch, she yelled, "I am not!"
Tracey looked at her and gently said, "It's okay Emily."
"I'm not a freak," Emily said, now looking like she might cry.
"Nobody said you were," Tracey tried to tell her.
Tracey made some additional efforts to talk to her, but Emily had gone back to looking at the ground.
Finally she gave up and explained: "She's obviously been taking this whole thing hard, but that's to be expected."
Looking over at Emily, she gently asked, "Would you mind going and waiting just outside for a few minutes, sweetie? We'll all be right in here if you need anything, okay?"
Emily said nothing, but did as she was told and went outside.
When they were alone, Tracey then explained, "I usually make it a point to meet with a muggle or squib parent as soon as their magical child turns 7 or when they first start to manifest magical abilities. My initial attempts at contacting the Dursleys through muggle post were ignored so I was forced to visit them in person. I finally managed to talk to them on their doorstep and convey the message that their daughter was magical. Admittedly there was a lot of anger and screaming on their part before they slammed the door. I was notified a couple of hours ago that the Dursleys had evidently dropped her off in the middle of the night in front of the house of a Ms. Arabella Figg, a squib and told Emily that they didn't want her anymore."
Ginny's breath caught at that. What kind of parent would ever tell their child they didn't want her?
"Ms. Figg would likely be the only person with knowledge of the magical world they knew how to contact," Harry admitted, "I don't know where the Dursleys live now but I wouldn't be surprised if Ms. Figg never moved. What bothers me is that they would just do that to their own daughter."
That sounded so awful. Being rejected by your parents just because you were magical. No wonder the girl was so upset.
"I agree Mr. Potter," Tracey answered, "fortunately Ms. Figg contacted me and I picked up the child. She had obviously been crying a great deal but I managed to calm her down and learn that the only thig her parents had left her with was the clothes on her back and this:"
She put an opened letter down onto the table.
"It's addressed to you Mr. Potter," She admitted.
Picking up the letter he held it up in between them so she could read along with them.
It read:
To my freak cousin:
You ruined my life and the life of my parents. My parents took you in out of the goodness of their own hearts and you did nothing but cause them trouble and overburden them with all the care that you needed. I only wish that I had beaten you more as a child when I still could and you didn't have all that freakishness.
In addition to all that, you had to go and put us all in danger because that Voldy guy was after you. We even had to flee the country since some of your freaks decided that was the only way we would be safe.
My dad was forced to get a new job in Germany earning barely enough to scrape by and by the time we were allowed to return to Britain, he couldn't get his job back! When that happened he was so upset he ended up blowing his brains out with a shot gun. My mother ended up dying of a heart attack a year later.
Fortunately they left me 4 Privet Drive which they still owned no thanks to you.
I tried to move past all the horrible things you caused upon me and my family and start over. I married a respectable lady who agrees with me just how awful you and your kind are and we tried to have a family free from all that.
Imagine our surprise when we come to find out our own daughter is one of you! We did the only decent thing we could do and sent her packing and left her the same way you were dumped on my parents' doorstep. In the middle of the night without any explanation besides a letter. Whether you choose to take her in, give her up for adoption, or just simply drown her, it doesn't matter to us. She's not our problem anymore.
I hope that you have a horrible life wherever you are.
Dudley Dursley
As she had read the letter, she had only gotten angrier and angrier and she couldn't imagine how Harry must be feeling.
A lot had apparently gone wrong for Harry's cousin, but it's not like Harry had been treated very well by them either. When he had finally confessed what his childhood had really been like to her when they were dating, he had to stop her from going over there herself and cursing them into giant worms.
What bothered her right now however was how they decided to treat their own daughter. How anyone could do that to their own child was beyond her.
"I can't imagine how you must be feeling Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Tracey said, "however the fact of the matter is, as far as I can tell, you are his closest magical relatives. I know that you already have a large family of your own but I had hoped that you might find it in your heart to take Emily in. It's kind of sudden, but I feel that this would likely be the best option for her."
Harry looked at her as if to ask, What do you want to do?
She knew Harry well enough to know that he wanted to take her in, but he was also looking to her for approval. It was one of the testaments to their strong marriage that they never made any major decisions without the others approval.
"I could give you a chance to discuss it together in private first if you'd like," Tracey offered.
She thought about it for a moment longer. While she already had plenty of kids of her own, she also recognized that it also gave her plenty of experience.
This is something that she felt like she could do, and after already having such a large family anyway, one more child really wouldn't make that much of a difference.
The obvious problem however was that there was bound to be a difficult transition involved, both for Emily, for her children, and for her and Harry as well and with Harry gone at work for most of the day, much of the responsibility would fall to her.
However one thing did stick with her and that was the conversation she had had with Harry earlier.
True she was no longer a quidditch player, nor did she have any other particular skills, but there was one thing she could definitely do and that was be a mother.
"Let's do it Harry," She urged.
He sent her a nod in agreement and then told Tracey,
"We don't need anymore time to decide, we'll take her."
Like it or not, Ginny thought, her life was going to get just a bit more complicated.