Author's Notes:
Hi all,
Well, here it is, the sequel to Five Months. I'm sure you've all been waiting for it, especially after that kinda cliffhanger ending. But, before we begin, I'd like to say Happy Belated Christmas, Birthday, and Mother's Day to my mom/Beta Reader who I wrote this, A Christmas to Remember and Five Months for. So, Happy Holidays, mom!!!
Now, on with the show. Enjoy!
Some Things Never Change
Chapter One: Acceptance
"Attention, please," Fred called out as he stood on a chair in a St. Mungo's waiting room. "George and I are now taking bets on the genders of the Potter babies."
George, standing beside the chair, conjured up a blackboard and started writing down his own bet of two boys. Fred then climbed down and wandered around the room collecting more bets.
"Let's start with immediate family, shall we? Al, what's your choice?"
Alroy Potter looked up from the game of wizard's chess he was playing with his cousin Calvin. "Uh, two boys, I think."
"And is there a specific reason for your vote?" Fred asked as he held out his hand like a microphone.
"Wishful thinking. Another girl would be torture," Al said, pointing in the direction of his two sisters who were playing with Joseph and Emmett Weasley, Ron and Hermione's seven-month-old son.
Fred nodded sympathetically, knowing how troublesome his nieces could be, even at this young age. He then went to speak to Rachel Potter. The two and a half-year-old was happy to report that she wished to have two more sisters.
The toddler's reaction to having new siblings was in contrast to how she took to becoming a big sister the first time around. For the first three or four months everyone was sure that Rachel was plotting a way to kill the twins. Thankfully a weekend alone with Joseph, Ileana and their grandparents convinced her that there was no getting rid of them. She had been a great help taking care of them ever since.
The transition from older brother of one to older brother of three hadn't been that hard for Alroy. At least, not as hard as becoming a brother in the first place. He was happy to have the summer vacation from his Muggle school almost immediately after their birth to spend time with them, and the situation was the same with the new arrivals.
A few moments passed while Fred and George continued to ask the entire family for their choices before Remus and Tonks entered the room with Xavier and Kylie, the siblings they had adopted nine years before.
"Hey, Al," said Xavier, walking up to his best friend while the adults talked and his sister played with the babies.
"Hey." Alroy grinned. Aside from his cousins, Xavier had been one of few people who had been like a brother to Al during the years his mother was in a coma. The fact that they were the same age helped matters greatly. "Did you get it yet?" he asked excitedly.
"No. But Dad said it should arrive any day now," Xavier replied with a frown.
"Yeah, same here."
Ever since the boys turned eleven they only had one thing on their minds: getting their Hogwarts acceptance letters. There wasn't really any doubt in their parents' minds that they would come. Alroy had been showing signs of magic since he levitated a jar of Floo Powder on his first birthday. And Xavier's birth parents both came from long lines of great witches and wizards, as did Al's. But to the boys, their extraordinary families just made them believe that there was a chance of them being Squibs - which there was, though extremely slim.
Their conversation was interrupted when Harry walked in and invited everyone to come and meet Savannah Jodi and Wesley Michael.
Al groaned as he realized he had yet another sister to deal with. And Fred and George immediately announced Molly, Genevieve, Angelina, Amy, Neil, Neville, and Casey Adams as the only people to guess correctly.
-Fifteen Days Later-
"Harry, please stay in the bedroom until I call you," begged Ginny. She was standed at the bottom of the staircase that led to the second floor of their home.
"Aw, c'mon, Gin. There's nothing to do in there - I'm bored!" he whined from the top of the stairs.
"Don't put me on a guilt trip. You're the one who wanted me to plan a 'surprise' party, so you better stay in that room until it's time to be surprised," she said sternly. "And if you're really that bored you can take Joey and Ileana for me." She grinned as she handed the babies off to her husband and watched him slowly walk back into their bedroom and shut the door behind him.
Suddenly remembering the cake she had baking in the oven, Ginny rushed back into the kitchen to find the cake cooling on a rack and Fred and George munching on the crisps and cookies she had just finished putting into bowls for the party.
"Having fun?" she asked, pulling the snacks away from her brothers to refill them.
"We were," Fred answered, stealing another cookie. "Besides, you should be thanking us. Another second and your masterpiece cake would have burned."
"I have everything under control, thank you very much."
"Is that why I saw you giving Harry the twins?" George asked while Ginny magicked the bowls out into the living room.
"He said he was bored, so I gave him something to do," she explained with a grin. The siblings followed the snacks into the living room.
Balloons and streamers of every color imaginable hung from the walls and ceiling along with a huge "Happy Birthday" sign. Angelina, Katie, Scott, Calvin and Alroy were doing finished touches on the decorations while Amy and Neil played with Rachel and the younger twins slept in their baby carriers. Just as Fred and George reached the refreshment table a 'ding-dong' was heard coming from the door and Ginny rushed over to them.
"I've just found the perfect job for you two," she announced mysteriously, though both of her brothers had doubts about how exciting their new 'job' truly was. "You're the new doormen!"
"Well, I guess that's a promotion from babysitter," George said, leading the way out into the foyer.
Later that evening, during the eating of the cake, everyone split into groups and began playing games or just talking. Alroy's group consisted of nine kids: Jeremy, Timothy, Scott, Rona, and Genevieve Weasley, and Xavier Lupin, Maddie Longbottom, Lex Thorn and himself.
"Don't sweat it, we still haven't gotten ours either," Jeremy said, motioning to Tim and himself.
"Maybe McGonagall forgot to send them out this year," Maddie joked causing Rona to choke on her punch and start laughing.
"Stop teasing them, guys," scolded Scott.
"Yeah, I'm sure they'll arrive soon," Lex chimed in.
Out of the group, Al, Gen and Xavier were the only ones who hadn't attended Hogwarts. All the others were entering their second year. And for those who had friends attending school before them, waiting to know if you've been accepted to Hogwarts was absolute torture.
Harry had just finished collecting his winnings from the game of Exploding Snap when a large barn owl swooped in through the open window holding several envelopes in it's talons and landed on the table Alroy was sitting at. Carefully, the owl dropping one envelope in front of each person at the table then took flight again and left the party.
Al's mouth hung open as he stared down at the Hogwarts seal in front of him. Mentally he pondered whether or not people usually got rejection letters before he followed everyone else's lead and opened the letter. Enclosed were two pieces of parchment. One appeared to be a list of some sort while the other was a letter. It read:
Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you cave been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than August 10.
Yours sincerely,
Vlad Damek
Deputy Headmaster
"This should be a good year," Jeremy commented, looking at his list of things to buy. "The books look interesting, at least."
"Yeah, let's just hope Damek minds his own business," replied Rona scrunching up her face in disgust.
"Speak for yourself, Gryffindor. Professor Damek loves us Ravenclaws," Scott said with a grin.
"You're only saying that because he's your Head of House. Professor Gannon's the best!" announced Timothy. Jeremy, Rona and Maddie all nodded in agreement.
"Hold on a second, you're all forgetting Kohana. Now, she's good," Lex said, though he had no one to back him up.
The letters started an arguement between the six friends (though it turned out to be a losing battle for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, with four Gryffindors against one). Meanwhile, the parents were more concerned about exactly who their Heads of Houses were.
"What happened to Professor Flitwick? I've never heard of this 'Damek' person," said Penelope.
"Yeah, and what about Sprout?" added Casey Adams. She had been a Hufflepuff.
"Madison told me about Damek last year," began Luna, Maddie's mother. "Apparently Flitwick retired ten years ago. Moved to Russia too, I believe. And I heard Sprout opened up her own greenhouse in Canada."
"Who's the fourth Head, then?" asked Bill.
"Veda Singh. She's very experienced in Transfiguration," Remus answered.
The arguement carried on another hour, along with the discussion about the new Hogwarts faculty, until finally it turned eleven o'clock and Remus announced that he had to get to work early the next day so he had to leave. This prompted the Weasleys, Longbottoms, Thorns and Casey to leave as well, though not without wishing Harry a happy birthday.
"Well, that was interesting," said Ginny, more to herself than anyone.
"Yeah," agreed Harry, a little surprised about the changes that had happened at Hogwarts over the sixteen years since he graduated.
Alroy was still sitting at the table reading his letter in disbelief.
"We should probably go to Diagon Alley tomorrow," Ginny said as she said down beside her son and began reading his shopping list.
"I've got a better idea," said Harry, sitting down on Al's other side, "why don't I take him shopping and you take a day off?"
"'A day off'? And how do you expect me to do that with a toddler and four babies?"
"We'll take Rachel with us. And I'm sure we can split the twins and hand them off to some of your family for the day."
"I've got a better idea. How about you two take Rachel, I'll keep Wes and Vanna and we'll give the others to my mum."
The three agreed and decided not to clean up the house that night in favor of going to bed and getting some much needed rest.
Author's Notes:
Okay, there are a few things I want to say to you all in this chapter.
First, I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!
Now that I got that out of my system: When I wrote the ending of Five Months (more specifically the naming of the twins) I did not intend for Joseph to be called Joey, making his name Joey Potter. This was a very stupid mistake on my part and I apologize to all Dawson's Creek fans.
Next, I'd really appreciate any reviews from y'all. I'm not sure if this chapter was any good compared to the previous stories in this series, but keep in mind that I had a lot to say. Like the introduction of Wesley, Savannah, Emmett, Xavier, Kylie, Lex, and Maddie (I hope you like the names), and how Al and Rachel are coping with the older twins. Then there was the whole Hogwarts ordeal. Yikes! So let me know whatcha think. :-)
By the way, for those of you who don't remember: Casey Adams is Harry's favorite Welcome Witch at St. Mungo's. And Davis Thorn is a pediatric Healer, Elvira is his wife, and Lex and Leila (actually, they were never mentioned before) are their children. Hope this isn't too confusing.
If you have any more questions put them in a review, or you can pm or email me.
-Lizzy
P.S. For a detailed Weasley/Potter family tree, go to my profile and you'll find a link to it in my 'Extras' section.
Also, as I'd like to get feedback as you read the story and not just when you've finished it all, I'll be posting a chapter every other day. See you soon!