Okay, so this is a small series of events centring around naming Albus Severus Potter, though the name itself isn't mentioned much but rather how Harry and the people whom he cares most about react and interact with him in regard to this issue.

Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter belongs to Jo.

Even the Little Things

The sound of light rapping on the main door caused Hermione Weasley to look up from her book distractedly. She got up, annoyed that she'd been disturbed during the late hour of the night, but as soon as that thought entered her mind, she was overcome with fear; it was half past eleven and anyone arriving now who wasn't able to access the floo network, was definitely unusual.

It had been seven years since the war had reached its due conclusion but none of the participants of war could find it in themselves to live a completely normal life, free of fear and worry. The immensely difficult years of their teenage life had left them with insatiable paranoia and one that was perpetual in its existence, it seemed. So, anything out of the ordinary, even slightly, would have Hermione thinking the worst and preparing for the most perilous.

Still, she assumed she was not as bad as Ron in the matter, or even Harry and perhaps that was what made them such brilliant aurors as well.

Shaking her head to rid it of irrelevant thoughts, Hermione grabbed her wand from the table it lay on and held it tightly in her hand as she walked towards the door with caution.

Before she could open her mouth to ask who it was, a familiar voice called out from the other side of the door,

'Hermione...it's me, Harry.'

Hermione sighed loudly, relaxing instantly and rushed forward to open the door.

'Harry, you scared me, I thought it was someone else.' She said as she let her best friend in.

'Sorry', Harry mumbled. She caught the troubled look in his eyes and the feeling of panic started to settle in her stomach again.

'Harry is everything all right?' she placed a hand on his arm, apprehension coming through in her voice, 'Is Ginny okay? And James, there is nothing wrong with him, is there? '

'Everything's fine...Ginny's doing as well as she can and James is brilliant.' Hermione sighed with relief as Harry offered her a small smile still refusing to meet her gaze.

That's when she noticed that he looked quite distressed, his shoulders slumped, a clear indication that he was worried about something. Hermione knew, from over fifteen years of experience, that you couldn't really get anything out of Harry if you pushed him unnecessarily; he would talk once he was ready and like always, she would wait patiently till he decided to open up.

She silently led him into the lounge where he collapsed heavily against the cushions on the sofa, adjusting his glasses miserably as he stared deliberately at the table.

'I'll make some tea.' Hermione said and Harry barely nodded. She shook her head in concern as she turned around and started to make her way towards the kitchen.

Sometime later she returned with two steaming cups of tea in each hand, she handed one to Harry as she flopped down beside him with the other held firmly between her hands and the two began to sip their tea in silence. Taking a swig of her tea, Hermione chanced a glance in Harry's direction and she could guess by his demeanour that he had had a fight with Ginny. The two of them hardly ever fought, not too seriously at least, but Ginny was only a few weeks away from delivering her second baby, which meant that her mood swings and her temper were at an all time worse.

A couple of minutes passed and Harry finally pulled his mouth from the rim of the cup long enough to take a deep breath as he prepared to voice his concerns,

'Hermione you're Ginny's best friend...and by that I mean you know her really well, better than I do at least, " Harry sounded upset, "so can you please tell me, why she's been acting so stubborn these days.'

Hermione smiled knowingly before raising her eyebrows, 'Maybe it's got something to do with her being pregnant.'

'I know that Hermione, I've been dealing with her for the past eight months and there were the nine months with James as well, but she's never been this bad.' He sighed exasperatedly.

'What happened?' Hermione asked calmly.

Harry sighed, yet again, and ran a hand tiredly through his messy black hair.

'You know it's her eighth month of pregnancy and that means only about a month is left till the baby arrives and we've been discussing baby names for a very long time but we couldn't really agree on anything. I...I want my younger son's name to be just as special as my older son's is; I mean James is named after my dad and godfather, I don't want my other son to grow up thinking that we hadn't given him a name like that because we thought he was somehow less important to us.'

A small smile made its way onto Hermione's face as Harry paused briefly to gather his thoughts. He looked completely flustered, struggling to voice his anger on his wife and his completely unneeded worry about his unborn son. However irrational her friend's worries might be and no matter how much she thought that he only needed a smack over the head, she knew where this was all coming from. Having spent all his childhood with the Dursleys, who couldn't care less about him, had made Harry extremely sensitive to matters concerning his family. Their importance in his life was unprecedented, to say the least, and especially his children, so deciding the name of his second son was a very significant issue for Harry.

'I don't see how that has anything to do with Ginny being stubborn.' Hermione was waiting for the truth to make its way out of Harry's mouth and at this point she knew he needed a push.

Harry at long last raised his gaze to meet Hermione's and for the first time that he had entered the house Hermione noticed the fear in his eyes; he was scared.

'I-I suggested a name and Ginny didn't really like it, we...had an argument, I lost my temper and Ginny just went spare...'

'What was the name you suggested Harry?' Hermione didn't at all like the tone Harry was talking in.

Harry hesitated for a moment, 'Uh...Albus...Severus...we-we could shorten it to Al...' he trailed off.

Hermione was speechless for a moment before she snorted loudly and began to laugh lightly.

'Don't take the mickey, Hermione.' Harry said in a whining tone that would much rather suit a four-year old.

'I'm sorry Harry...I really am but you can't blame Ginny for losing her temper. I know you respected Dumbledore a lot and you still do and he will forever be one of those people in your life that you think most highly of. And Snape, he was undoubtedly an extremely brave man and we wouldn't have been able to win the war if it wasn't for him; honestly our feelings are very much similar in this regard but...Harry...Albus Severus Potter doesn't make for a very good name.'

'But Hermione this is important, he'll be named after the two greatest headmasters of Hogwarts and-and he won't ever feel that his name wasn't as special as his brother's.'

'Harry, are you only doing this because you want his name to be special?' Hermione narrowed her eyes at this.

'Of course not Hermione!' Harry looked scandalised. He took a deep breath and calmed down before speaking again, 'I chose the name James Sirius only because these two people are very close to my heart, they've been very important in my life and naming my son after them was what I wanted. I can assure you, it's the same with Albus Severus. I dunno if this shows my respect for them or my appreciation but yes, I do feel connected to them and I reckon it's bloody fantastic if my children can bear the same names as some of the best people that I ever had the good fortune of knowing.'

Hermione smiled, 'You present quite a convincing argument, Potter.'

Harry smiled back as he leant forward to put his empty cup on the table, 'My wife clearly doesn't think so.'

'Don't worry Harry, it's Gin, I highly doubt she'll stay mad at you for long.'

'She literally hexed me out of the house, didn't even let me use the floo! Do you really think she'll even consider talking about it now?'

'As I said Harry, give her some time. She's eight months pregnant, her mood swings and hormones get the better of her even if she doesn't want them to. She'll definitely consider it once she's cooled down.'

Harry sighed and ducked his head as he quietly muttered, 'I hope so.'

Hermione placed her empty cup next to the one Harry had put on the table and waved her wand once, making them hover in the air in front of her.

'I should wash these.' She said as she started to walk towards the kitchen, cups carefully levitated in front of her.

Harry followed her inside and leant against the counter, his hands supporting his weight as he watched Hermione rinse the china with water,

'You know, this would be a lot quicker if you use magic.'

She rolled her eyes at that, 'Not everything we do should be done using magic, Harry. Besides, I like doing it this way.'

Harry shrugged nonchalantly, 'How long till Ron's home?'

Hermione turned around to peer through the open door into the lounge at the clock hanging on the wall, 'About...an hour and a half.'

'I would have to apologise to him tomorrow seeing as this is my fault he has to work this late.'

'Oh shush Harry! He doesn't mind really, Ginny is his sister after all and he is still the over-protective older brother he was when we were sixteen. He understands it must have been something important that prompted you to take a day off today.'

'Yeah...it was.' Harry groaned, remembering what had happened the previous morning, 'Honestly, I think James has the most extraordinary pair of lungs. He could shout for England, that boy!'

Hermione just laughed in response.

'You wouldn't be laughing if you knew what I went through.' Harry scowled and Hermione raised her eyebrows indicating him to elaborate, 'I was making breakfast for Ginny who had a nasty headache. She hadn't slept all night 'cause James just refused to go to sleep and had kept crying till five in the morning. I had just put the kettle on for tea and the bacon in for frying when James started wailing again, so obviously I rushed to his room, picked him up and brought him back to the kitchen with me but he wouldn't stop crying. Ginny took him from my arms and he started bawling even louder which somehow lead Gin to start sobbing as well because she thought she wasn't a good mother and couldn't even handle her own son, which is shite obviously but pregnant women do tend to be extremely stubborn, so along with James I had to calm her down as well and during this whole fiasco I absolutely forgot about the breakfast I was supposed to be making...until, of course the kitchen started to fill with smoke. The bacon was completely obliterated and Merlin knows how it happened but my cooking apron was on fire...'

Harry stopped short as he caught sight of Hermione who was staring, unseeingly at the far wall and as he observed her more carefully, he could spot the tears brimmed in her eyes as well. He knew talking about James had brought about this reaction from Hermione; she was after all, going through a very painful experience in her life. The longing covering her features was heart-wrenching.

He extended his hand to place it gently on his best friend's arm. Hermione turned her head sharply, looking startled. Spotting Harry's worried expression, she seemed to quickly gain back her composure as she hastily wiped at her eyes, forcing a smile onto her face.

'Are you okay?'

'Yeah...I'm fine...' she trailed off.

Harry seemed unconvinced by the answer. He then seemed to suddenly remember something as he narrowed his eyes and fixed her with an accusing glare, 'I saw the book you were reading before I came.'

Hermione casually rolled her eyes, 'I was a reading a book that just happened to be about children. I see no point of making a fuss about it!'

'That's bollocks!' Harry said furiously, 'I haven't a bloody idea as to why you seem so adamant on furthering your misery by reading those books.'

Hermione sighed as she ran a hand over her face, 'What would you have me do then Harry?' she looked exhausted and it pained Harry to see her in this state.

'I have had two miscarriages in the last three years and the healers don't seem the least bit hopeful. In fact the last time I went to see them, they all but suggested we adopt because they don't know if my body will be able to endure a pregnancy!' Hermione shouted angrily but deflated almost instantly as she quietly whispered, 'I...don't know what to do Harry...I just... I'm wretched...'

Harry wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, 'It's going to be okay 'mione...it will be all right...'

They pulled back after sometime and Harry smiled at Hermione whilst wiping at the few stray tears that had managed to escape from her eyes.

'Thank you Harry.' She whispered smiling back.

'Just promise me that you'll stop reading those sodding books.'

She chuckled at that, nodding, 'All right.'

'That's my girl.'

'Harry, as much as I love your company, I think Ginny would appreciate it more right now. It's been two hours since you came and Gin would've cooled down by now.'

Harry looked at his wrist watch, nodding his head, 'You're right, I reckon. Can I use your floo network?'

'Of course'

'Okay, I'll see you tomorrow at the Ministry then.' Harry said walking to the fireplace.

'Hopefully', Hermione grinned.

'You take care.' Harry leant forward to place a kiss on Hermione's cheek, 'G 'bye!'

'Good bye Harry'

With that Harry stepped in the fireplace and vanished in a burst of green flames.

-oooooOOOOooooo-

Harry opened the door to his bedroom as quietly as he could. He stepped inside and just as soon he felt himself staggering backwards with the sheer weight of someone knocking into him quite forcefully. He looked down to find a head of flaming red hair that he recognised to be his wife's. It took him another second to realise that Ginny was clinging to him, embracing him so strongly that it was almost painful.

'Blimey!' Harry exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around Ginny, hugging her back just as tightly, 'You okay, Gin?'

'No' Ginny sobbed into his shirt.

Harry felt panic course through his body, 'What happened? Are you all right? Is-is the baby okay?'

'Nothing's happened...I'm okay and so is the baby...' Ginny said her voice muffled as she refused to loosen her grip on Harry's shirt.

Harry felt relief wash over him at her words. He ran his hands through her hair and started rubbing her back comfortingly. He leant his head against Ginny's as he softly whispered, 'What's wrong Gin? I don't like seeing you cry like this.'

His words were met by none from Ginny as she continued to cry softly into his chest. After what felt like an eternity she finally pulled back, wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper. She sniffed before looking at Harry, 'I'm so sorry Harry...I'm sorry for shouting at you and I'm sorry for hexing you and I'm sorry for not letting you use the floo...Oh God...I'm the worst wife...' there was an almighty sob and she started crying again.

Harry knew that the pregnancy hormones were at work. It was extremely unusual for Ginny to be this emotional, especially about something so trivial. Had the fight between them happened under normal circumstances, he would have had to spend at least a night at Ron and Hermione's, not to mention the gruelling work he would then have to put in to apologising and making it up to her.

But since this could not be considered a normal situation, Harry only felt it necessary that he do something to calm his wife and relieve her of the obvious stress that she was feeling.

Harry once again pulled her to him in a comforting embrace. He kissed the top of her head as he quietly said, 'It's okay love, it was just another fight. There's hardly anything to worry about...I'm here with you. We've fought before, yeah? And do you remember last time I had to sleep at Ron and Hermione's!' Clearly that was the wrong thing to say as Ginny gave a particularly loud sob and Harry mentally slapped himself for the lack of tact.

He sighed loudly as he pulled away slightly, Ginny still refusing to look at him. He grabbed her face with both his hands and forced it up so he was looking directly into her swollen, red-rimmed eyes.

'Ginny,' he said firmly, 'I love you...more than anyone in this world. You did me a favour when you agreed to marry me and I think it's absolutely bollocks that you've even let yourself think that you're not a good wife. Merlin knows I couldn't even last a bloody day without you in my life. You're fucking brilliant, gorgeous, fantastic, witty and the most tremendously outstanding woman that a sod like me could have ever ended up with!'

When Harry finished, Ginny still had tears in her eyes but there was a distinct change. These tears were flooding her eyes because of sheer love and joy rather than the remorse that they held before. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him down towards her and crashing her lips to his. The kiss was anything but soft, fuelled by passion and fire with Ginny entwining her fingers in his hair. Harry responded with equal fervour as he tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her even closer. They finally came up for air, both breathing heavily.

Harry looked down to see that his hand had left its place on her waist and was now resting at her swollen stomach directly above where he could feel his son kicking. Ginny pulled one hand free off his hair placing it on top of the one Harry had on her stomach while the other remained at the nape of his neck, gently fiddling with the hair there.

She pulled his head down and leant up to place a soft kiss on his lips. Pulling away she smiled at him and tightened his grip on his hand as she quietly said,

'Let's name him Albus Severus.'

A brilliant grin made its way onto Harry's face as he, quite unbelievingly asked, 'Are you sure? I-I mean I wouldn't ever want to you to take a decision because of me which you may regret later.'

'Harry...I'm sure.' She caressed his cheek lightly, 'I've had a lot of time to ponder things and I think I now understand the reasons you had behind choosing that name. I can't say it's anything better than what I would've chosen but as I said; I understand your reasons.'

He felt speechless as he stared with complete affection and awe at his wife, 'I love you' he said before kissing her again.

Harry could feel her smiling as she murmured against his lips, 'I love you too.'

Pulling away completely she gave him a playful grin and started walking towards the bed. Looking over her shoulder she said, 'Just so we're clear, you'll be the one to explain all this to him once he starts hating us for naming him that.'

'I promise to try my best when the time comes.' Harry responded with a smile as he proceeded to follow Ginny towards their bed.

-oooooOOOOooooo-

Harry was practically buried in paperwork, sitting at the desk in his office he was checking the files that had been completed yesterday during his absence from the office. He was the Deputy Head of the Auror Department and taking a day off unexpectedly from work left a ridiculous amount of significant cases and work in general to be dealt with once he returned. This time was no different.

Still, he reckoned he shouldn't be the one complaining, he only had to re-check after all. Ron had taken care of everything in the office, completed all the pending paperwork and devised strategies for going about new cases; basically he had taken over for Harry for a whole day while dealing with his own work as well. Just as Harry was thinking of buying him a drink or five after they finished, the door to his office room burst open and in walked none other than his best mate, Ron Weasley looking positively frazzled for some reason that he wasn't aware of as yet.

He raised his hand as a way of greeting but Ron seemed to ignore it altogether, walking around the desk and standing over Harry as he looked at him oddly.

'Harry, do you feel all right?' Ron asked as he put a hand to his brother-in-law's forehead, presumably checking for a fever.

'Yeah...I'm fine...' Harry confusedly pried away Ron's hand, 'Why do you ask?'

'Are you absolutely sure?' Ron pronounced every word with clarity as if talking to a very young child.

'Yes Ron.' Said Harry, looking annoyed

'Then you must be drunk!' Ron seemed worried now as he seemed to come to this conclusion.

'No Ron I am not drunk!' Harry said loudly, he was certainly losing his patience it seemed, 'Would you mind telling me what you're on about?'

Ron seemed unfazed by this, turning his head to contemplate, suddenly though his head snapped up as he looked at Harry with wide eyes, 'You're not using drugs, are you?'

'No!', Harry yelled as he pushed back his chair to stand up, 'What the fuck is wrong with you Ron?!'

Ron continued to look at Harry as if he had grown horns on his head, 'There's nothing wrong with me you wanker! IT'S YOU!'

Harry tried to rack his brains for reasons that might have caused Ron to act this way but he came up with nothing. That lasted for only a moment because within the next couple of seconds he pieced everything together as realisation dawned on him. He looked up to meet Ron's gaze and couldn't help but smile in amusement, 'Is all of this about what I told Hermione last night?'

'Of course it is you fucking git!'

Harry snorted loudly, 'I think you're overreacting a bit mate.'

'I'M BLOODY WELL NOT!' Ron quickly realised that he was being too loud, considering they were at work and lowered his voice as he hissed at Harry, 'Who in the right state of mind would think to name their child Albus Severus?!'

Harry sighed warily, 'Ron, I'm sure if Hermione told you about the name, she's told you about the reasons behind it as well. Besides it's not like everyone's going to call him Albus Severus all the time, we'll call him Al and that doesn't sound bad at all.'

'But-but...' Ron stuttered as Harry raised his eyebrows challenging his best mate to come up with a convincing argument.

'Has Ginny agreed?' Ron looked smug asking this, like he somehow knew the answer would be to his benefit.

'Yes' Harry answered smiling, looking if possible, even more smug than Ron had asking the question.

Ron did a double take as he stared open mouthed at Harry, 'You haven't confounded my sister, have you?'

'What? No!' Ron opened his mouth to add something but Harry quickly cut across, 'And before you even say anything...no Ron, I haven't done any sort of magic to convince Ginny, neither is she under the influence of alcohol or drugs.'

Ron seemed to be dealing with an excessive amount of shock. He sat down heavily in the chair next to Harry's desk and rubbed his hands over his face. Harry though, waited patiently for his friend's distressful astonishment to wear off, he knew that Ron was trying to calm himself and see the matter in a more rational light.

After a whole fifteen minutes, Ron eventually looked as if he had contemplated, argued with himself and reached a conclusion.

He took a deep breath, looking directly and intently at Harry, 'I'm sorry mate. I shouldn't've reacted that way...it was wrong of me to object to your decision, especially when it's your son.' He shook his head and turned his gaze away from Harry, 'You know I was fine till Hermione said you were naming him Albus, well I was shocked but still, it made sense. Then Hermione said that the middle would be Severus and well...you have to admit, Albus Severus is a rather ridiculous name.'

Harry chuckled at that, 'Honestly, I would be lying if I said that I hadn't been expecting this from you.'

'You know how I feel about Snape though. I mean, yes he was brave, perhaps one of the bravest people I've known but even you can't deny the fact that he was just as big a git, Harry.' Ron said matter-of-factly.

Harry again laughed and nodded, indicating that he did, in fact agree with Ron's statement.

'On a more serious note, would you mind explaining how you convinced Ginny?'

'Well as difficult as it is to handle a pregnant wife, sometimes the pregnancy hormones can work in your favour as well.' Harry grinned at his best mate, 'But really, I can't take anything away from her, she's brilliant...understood everything without me having to explain it...though that was after she hexed me out of the house.'

'I know about the hexing already...Hermione told me', Ron said laughing fondly, 'can't say you didn't deserve it mate'

'Ha bloody ha' Harry replied with sarcasm.

'Anyway, I think we need to get back to work.' Ron said as he stood up, 'Gillmore has been on my back for an hour now and we need to take Millen into questioning as well.'

'Right, err you go ahead and I'll meet you at the interrogation room innnnnn,' Harry shrugged his sleeve back and looked at his wrist watch, 'ten minutes.'

'All right' he said exiting the room and Harry began gathering his papers, then just as suddenly Ron re-appeared, popping his head in through the half closed door, 'Before I forget, Hermione told me to invite you and Ginny for dinner tomorrow. She'd have had my head if I hadn't remembered.'

Harry nodded smiling, 'We'll be there!'

Albus Severus Potter came into the world on 23rd October, 2005 and when Harry announced the name of his new-born son in front of the family; Ron, Hermione and Ginny were there, like always, to defend his decisions and keep everything under control.

The three pillars in his life, the three most important people and whose love and support he valued above all others, were, and always will be behind him. That's all he needed and he could take on the world...never mind the incredulous looks that people gave him when he told them Al's full name.

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