Standard Fanfic Disclaimer that probably wouldn't last ten seconds in a court of law: this story is based on situations and characters created by J. K. Rowling, CH, OBE. No copyright infringement is intended; I am merely building sandcastles in the inimitable J. K. Rowling's sandbox. (If she's so inimitable, why do so many of us write fanfic based on her work?) This story earned a FanQ Award (Honorable Mention) for Best (Gen) Harry Potter Story, 2017, and was originally published in the fanzine Grimmoire #4.
Twins
a post-Harry Potter and the Cursed Child short story
by Susan M. M.
London, October, 2025
Chief Auror Harry Potter nearly dropped his tea cup. "You're what?"
"I'm pregnant," his wife, Ginny Weasley Potter, repeated.
"But how?" Harry asked.
"In the usual way," Ginny pointed out. After three children, Harry didn't need to have 'the wand and the cauldron' explained to him, or at least he shouldn't. She blushed, more embarrassed that she'd been careless about renewing the contraceptive charm than about reminding Harry where babies came from. (Any Healer or Medi-Witch could have told her that was a mistake; she was too young for what women of Cedrella Black Weasley's generation would have euphemistically referred to as the Change of Life. She was only 44, which was still fertile for a Muggle, let alone a witch.)
"Nappies and two a.m. feedings," Harry murmurred under his breath.
"I don't know what the children will say when they learn they're getting a little brother or sister." Ginny reached for her own tea cup.
Harry nodded. Lily was Head Girl at Hogwarts. Al was a reserve Chaser with the Chudley Cannons. James was in his final year attending Cambridge, where he hoped to get a degree in Muggle Chemistry before completing his Potions Mastery.
"They'll be delighted," Harry predicted. "Surprised and delighted, just like me."
When Harry went to the Healer's office with Ginny, they had another surprise.
"Twins?"
"Twins," Healer-Midwife Nanette Desford-Fawcett confirmed.
"Well," Ginny said after a long pause, "we'd better start thinking of names, then."
Harry nodded. They'd need four names, two boy names and two girl names. He wondered if the twins would be identical, like Ginny's brothers Fred and George, or fraternal.
As they left the healer's office, Harry and Ginny began a discussion that lasted months. Harry suggested naming the children after friends: Neville, Rubeus, Hermione, or Katie. Ginny suggested traditional Wizarding names: Aradia, Rhiannon, Gwydion, or Jambres. She put her foot down against cutesy-wutesy twin names . Given that Ginny had the traditional redhead's temper and hadn't lost her skill with a Bat-Bogey Hex, Harry acceded to her wishes, and never suggested Lester and Chester again. He had the good sense not to even mention Darlene and Marlene.
After considerable discussion and debate, Harry convinced Ginny to name the twins for four people who had loved him and taken care of him for his own sake, and not because he was the Boy-Who-Lived: Arthur Remus and Molly Minerva. Teddy Lupin was delighted to have an honorary baby brother who shared his middle name. Molly Minerva Potter quickly became Candy, for her initials, and to avoid confusion with Percy's daughter Molly.
And they lived happily ever after ... once the twins learned to sleep through the night.
Credit where credit is due: This story was inspired by an Internet meme by Wiseyoungravenclaw.