The rights to Rex Milligan belong to the late Anthony Buckeridge. Those to Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling. Those to the Dana girls, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and others to the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Other rights belong to Marvel Comics, DC Comics/Warner Brothers/Hanna-Barbera, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, the BBC, Jim Butcher, Joss Whedon, Terrance Dicks, the estates of the late Enid Blyton, the late Charles Addams, the late Malcolm Saville, the late Ian Fleming, the late Peter O'Donnell, the late and more. I own nothing and make claim to the same nothing.
February 2019, St Mungo's Hospital
"Just one more push, love!" Ron spoke encouragingly. "Our child shall be born soon."
"I know, darling," Hermione replied. "This is my third time, you know. Giving birth is bloody hard!"
"We have the crowning," the midwife noted. "Any minute now…"
Within a few minutes, Hermione heard a slap and a cry. "Mr and Mrs Weasley, you have a daughter. Would you like to see her?"
This was the moment Hermione was dreading. Nine months before, she had been effectively raped on the Caribbean island of Saint Marie, having been forced by a muggle gangster Buonaparte Ignace Gallia IV to sleep with her to save a fellow captive from torture or worse. Whilst the fact that Detective Sergeant Florence Cassell of the Saint Marie police was safe had made her forced participation to in Gallia's "breed a seer" scheme, facilitated by one Mundungus Fletcher, worthwhile, not knowing if her husband or her rapist was the father was killing her. True, Gallia was dead (like his namesake great-grandfather, eaten by fauna after a confrontation with one James Bond), Fletcher in Azkaban and Ron had assured her many times that he would be the father regardless of paternity, but now was the real moment of truth…
"She's gorgeous, love!" Ron said, clearly entranced.
Hermione had to admit that the new-born infant was beautiful. She has my brown curly hair, but her nose and skin tone… Harriet's her half-sister! Gallia had a previous daughter by another witch, whom he had named Bernadette Imogene Gallia. After his death, two muggle friends of hers had adopted her as Harriet Jean Luna Milligan. The new daughter clearly resembled Harriet more than Rose.
On the plus side, Ron had been great. She had never been so sure of her love for him and his for her. The Potters and Weasleys were as great as ever. Pansy and Tracey (rape victims both themselves) had been an ever-present source of comfort and support. Three years ago, I would have laughed if anyone had said Pansy Parkinson would be one of my most treasured friends. Well, Pansy Potter is, and she is to be rewarded…
"Hope Pansy Weasley," Hermione said softly but clearly. "Ron, do you…?"
"It's perfect, she's perfect and you're perfect, my darling," Ron assured her, kissing her softly on the lips.
"Ron, we have to face facts. Hope is a cuckoo in the nest…"
"The cuckoo is a fine bird he sings as he flies,
He brings us good tidings and tells us no lies.
He sucks the sweet flowers to make his voice clear,
And the more he cries cuckoo, the summer is near."
As Ron finished singing the first verse of the old folk song, Hermione smiled despite herself. Yes, this cuckoo might be female, but she's a bloody fine bird alright! Ron, Rose, Hugo, Hope and I shall all be OK…
Pansy Potter cradled her ten-month-old son Sirius in her arms. Tracey and I may have been raped over a longer period than poor Hermione, but those bastards never got us in the pudding club, as hers might have done. Oh Merlin! I hope it's Ron's!
Everyone in the now vastly extended Potter-Weasley family was there. Luna, Rolf, Neville, Hannah, Susan and the Patils were also gathered around for support. Rex Milligan was nearby, his arm around his wife Louise, the elder of the two Dana sisters. Their adopted daughter Harriet was staying with her Auntie Jean and her wife Linda Dana-Craig at the Rancho del Sol in South California, learning how to rope a steer when not at the Serafina Picquery Elementary School on the outskirts of New York, taken there each day by Portal. As a squib daughter of a witch, Harriet was welcome at the school Gomez Addams had set up to provide a good primary education for mages, squibs and the relatives of no-maj-born wizards. The Quibbler's Muggle Correspondent since late 1999 and the honorary big brother of Luna Scamander, Rex was considered very much one of the British Wizards' own. The four Scamanders were gathered along with the Milligans, very much one family.
Millicent "Millie" Potter (nee Bulstrode), blood-adopted as a sister by Harry back in Summer 2016, held her beloved wife Pansy close, planting a soft kiss on their son Sirius' (conceived by IVF, with Harry as the sperm donor) forehead. After being forced into a plot against the Potters, Millie had changed sides after an encounter with the extradimensional entity known as Aslan. The story of the bullying inflicted on Millie, Pansy and Tracey (and rape in the case of the last two) during the Carrows' reign of terror at Hogwarts had come to light. Harry had arranged with Diana Prince for the three women, plus Tracey's long-term girlfriend Daphne Greengrass, to receive training and therapy on Themyscira. Millie had been chosen by the Six Goddesses to become the alter ego of Wonder Witch, the British Wizard World's very own superheroine. It amused her that the "fattest and ugliest girl at Hogwarts" had ended up as the British World's most popular pin-up! Well, the costume flattered her tall muscular form far more than Hogwarts' robes ever had. Having found True Love with Pansy and a loving family in the Potters had done her good too. Harry and Ginny also got the couple jobs as the Auror Department's Archivist and Ginny's PA respectively and converted 12 Grimmauld Place's attic into a self-contained flat for them.
Daphne Greengrass had been forced to consort to Harry by a law restored when Lucius Malfoy had briefly taken over the British magical world just over a year before, despite her own pre-existing marriage to Tracey Davis. The now Daphne and Tracey Greengrass-Potter were cooing over their three-month-old daughter Dora Greengrass-Potter (conceived by Daphne and Harry in the traditional manner) asleep in her crib. Harry was close to the cot as well, his arms around Ginny and Wednesday. The former Wednesday Addams had had a three-way with Harry and Ginny when they were imprisoned in another dimension nearly two years before. The Potters had proposed to her the next day and married her that summer.
Susan Bones had been caught by the same law as Daphne and asked Neville and Hannah Longbottom to marry her, having been secretly in love with them both for many years. She was very pleased with being Susan Amelia Bones-Longbottom. Now, Pansy, Daphne, Tracey, Ginny, Susan, the Patil twins, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, Astoria Malfoy and Gabrielle Delacour were the alter egos of the Furies, Wonder Witch's superpowered support act. Their true identities were closely guarded by the wizard authorities, as they went by Wrath, Protectress, Vendetta, Lioness, Nemesis, Justice, Grace, Tracker, Pursuer, Warrior and Allure respectively when Furies.
Ron poked his head out of the delivery room. "Can you all come in briefly, please? Hermione and I have a little someone to introduce you to!"
The little gang went in. "This," Ron said proudly, "is Hope Pansy Weasley, our daughter!"
"She's beautiful, my dears," Molly Weasley said softly. "I can't wait to hold my new granddaughter. Congratulations to you both."
"Pansy, can you pass Sirius to Millie please?" Hermione asked. "I want to hand Hope to her namesake and godmother…"
Pansy gasped in delight and then kissed Hermione's forehead softly before hugging her tightly. Once the two had ended their embrace, Pansy picked Hope up and kissed her forehead. "I'm pleased to meet you, Hope.
"Thank you for the honour, Hermione, Ron. I'll be there for you all…"
"As you have been throughout," Ron smiled, pulling Pansy in for a quick cuddle.
Pansy handed Hope to Molly. "Thank you, dear.
"I meant it, Hermione my dear. Hope is a Weasley. Whatever contribution that monster made, you were a victim and Hope is not his child, but Ron's!"
"Thank you, Mum," Hermione choked back a sob, before looking at her own parents. "Mum, Dad…"
"You were raped, Hermione," her father told her softly. "You may have consented technically, but I dread to think what that bastard would have done to that poor detective woman that was your fellow captive. Hope is our granddaughter and we love her just as much as Rose and Hugo."
Hermione shuddered. Luckily, poor Florence wasn't fed alive to Gallia's crocodiles, but it was a damn close-run thing! Now, Hope will always be a reminder of those minutes chained naked to Gallia's bed. Unlike the nightmares, though, I will welcome this result as my beautiful little girl.
"I don't think that I would have had the guts to do this, Hermione," Ginny said softly. "To carry and keep a child born not through Harry's love, but forced on me by a monstrous stranger.
"If any couple can do it, it is you and Ron. Ron's brawn and your brains have always made a formidable team. Raising Hope will test you both like nothing before…"
"It won't be easy, Gin," Hermione agreed, "but our love is strong.
"By the way, you, Harry and Wednesday are strong yourselves. Don't do yourself down!"
Shortly afterwards, a tired Hermione said goodbye to her friends and had a well-deserved nap. Later, Ron brought Hugo to Saint Mungo's, with Hannah bringing Rose there from Hogwarts. Both children immediately took a liking to their baby half-sister.
When they had gone, Hermione fed Hope and went back to sleep. All was well.
At no stage over the previous few hours, however, had anyone noticed what looked like a beetle on the nearest windowsill…
"Harry, Millie, Wednesday," rumbled Kingsley Shacklebolt the following morning, "have you all seen this?" He produced a newspaper entitled The Daily Owl Post.
"That is a ghastly wizard tabloid, with a certain Ms Skeeter as the chief feature writer," Harry noted. "It was first established nearly three months ago, Kingsley, with a pro-pureblood-elite agenda. You know that as well as I do!
"We established press freedom back in 1998, after the Battle of Hogwarts. If she has libelled someone, that is a civil court matter, not for us Aurors to deal with!"
"There is a picture of Ron and Hermione on the cover of that issue, mon amour," Wednesday noted. "I take it that this is today's issue, mon cher Kingsley? What are they saying about Ron and Hermione?"
"Read it for yourself, Wednesday! It is a new low even by Rita's exalted standards…"
Wednesday quickly scanned the first few pages of the newspaper Kingsley had been brandishing. "Ms Skeeter has outdone herself, Harry. Apparently, women can't conceive a child by rape, so Hope's skin colour can only be a sign that Hermione merely had a casual sexual encounter with Gallia!"
"What?! Surely not even Rita…?"
"It gets worse! Even if Hermione did save a muggle detective's life by her actions, that was insufficient reason for jeopardising the bloodline of a Sacred Twenty-Eight Family. Indeed, the Weasleys and allied families giving this FitzGallia infant the surname Weasley is a sign that these Houses should be stripped of senior status.
"All of us should be removed from our positions of power forthwith and replaced by the right sort of mage. Those who support muggle moral degeneracy shouldn't be Aurors, teachers, prosecutors or hold any senior ministry position.
"I must tell my Dad…"
"What can he do, Wednesday?" Millie asked. "Gomez Addams doesn't have any shares in The Daily Owl Post. As tempting as it is, Wonder Witch and her Furies and the Secret Circle can't offer anything more than moral support against a journalist with a poison pen." The Secret Circle was a wizard task force founded by Dr Stephen Strange.
"None of the official press statements have mentioned Hope's skin colour," Harry mused. "Rita could only have known about that, and Ron and Molly's comments, if she was at St Mungo's in her Animagus form. That is criminal trespass and a breach of privacy at the very least…"
"Equally, it could be an investigative reporter looking into people of public interest, Harry. Rita could easily make a strong case for that."
"You are right, Millie. We must tell Ron and Hermione. Luckily, our homes, the Ministry and Hogwarts all have wards against Animagi in place.
"I'll also contact the Scamanders. We might need to counter Rita's Alternative Facts with The Truth…"
"Well, mon amour, we have an investigative journalist of our own…"
Southern California, near to the border with Mexico, is divided into two basic environments, the so-called Coastal and Desert Regions. Rocky Beach, home to the Three Investigators, and Crystal Cove, where Mystery Inc were based, were in the densely-populated Coastal Region. The Rancho del Sol, however, was in the much more sparsely inhabited Desert Region, an area of corals and ranches far from the glamour of Hollywood. The siblings Bob and Linda Craig had inherited the ranch from their late maternal grandparents and live in its hacienda. Linda is rated as the finest horsewoman in the former young adventurers' community and Bob is a skilled mechanic. Chica d'Oro (Golden Girl) is Linda's beautiful golden palomino, kept young like Bob and Linda themselves by the Royal Jelly Honey elixir vitae that Sherlock Holmes had developed by exposing honeybees to a rare flower and fragments of an irradiated meteorite from Yorkshire. Horse and rider have developed such a rapport that it is almost telepathic. Linda jokes that it is due to their shared Hispanic blood.
Rarely could siblings look less alike than Bob and Linda. Whilst both are tall and slender, Bob is sandy-haired and freckled, reflecting the Craig Scottish ancestry. Linda (short for Rosalinda), two years his junior, is dark-eyed and olive-skinned, with a mane of raven hair, taking after her Hispanic mother. The pair were in the hacienda's kitchen, Bob cooking the dinner whilst Linda was passionately kissing her wife. Jean Dana-Craig is also tall and slender, but with blonde hair. At a nearby table, Harriet Milligan, a curly-haired dark-skinned brunette, was drawing happily. Her adopted parents Rex and Louise were keeping an eye on her. Rex is tall and dark-haired, whilst Louise is a tall slender brunette with soft brown eyes. Louise and Rex had agreed to join Jean, Linda and Bob for a few days, wanting to spend time together.
Rex's mobile ringtone sounded. He answered it. "Hi Luna!... I'm at the Rancho del Sol… Yes, it is hot and sunny in the Californian desert, funnily enough… Louise, Harriet, Jean, Linda and Bob are all well… And Rolf and the twins?... That's good!... What?! Fossilised Fishhooks!... Come through the portal later… Love you too, little sis! See you then… Bye!"
"Is something wrong, my love?" Louise asked.
"Everyone's least favourite witch journalist Rita Skeeter has struck again, apparently. Luna is going to be taking the portal to here from The Quibbler office shortly.
"That reminds me, darling. We need to get Harriet to the Serafina Picquery Elementary School soon. Are you ready, Harriet dear?"
"Yes. Coming, Mommy, Daddy. Goodbye Aunties Jean and Linda and Uncle Bob." Harriet kissed them quickly on the cheeks before following her adoptive parents to one of the full-length mirrors off the hall that could be activated as portals to various destinations.
A few minutes later, Rex and Louise came back through the same portal, just before a second glowed right and Luna Scamander came through. After hugging them both tightly, she followed them into the kitchen. Linda was out riding Chica d'Oro and Bob was busy repairing a tractor, so Jean was acting as hostess.
"This is the latest edition of The Daily Owl Post. Please read the first five pages, Rex, and let me know what you think."
"Certainly, Luna. I take it that poor Hermione has been given yet another pasting in print by the human beetle?! Well, I did warn Ms Skeeter that I would give her a lesson in investigative journalism that she will never forget should she target my friends again.
"And… Crystallised Cheesecakes! What century is Rita living in?! Who believes that genuinely raped women don't conceive these days?!
"It is a good job that pureblood witches and wizards are rarely if ever racist. The only interest Rita has in Hope's colour is that it shows who the biological father is."
"I don't know, Rex," Jean commented. "Some politicians here in the States have expressed similar views on legitimate rape rarely if ever producing children. They are usually extreme anti-abortionists, trying to justify no exceptions for rape and incest.
"I don't know Ms Skeeter as well as you both do. Is she a fervent pro-lifer?"
"Only if it suits her, Jean! Perhaps if a Sacred Twenty-Eight or similar Old-School Pureblood line was in danger of dying out, she might oppose a member of said clan getting a termination. A muggle-born getting an abortion would probably be encouraged by many of her supporters.
"Basically, Rita Skeeter is a fame-obsessed muckraker. She will write anything if it either hurts those she dislikes or suits those who pay her wages.
"What do you think, Luna?"
"That's easy, Rex. Everyone knows beetle animagi are particularly prone to suffer from infestations of wrackspurts."
"Would you like a cup of tea, Luna?" Louise asked. Somehow, she, Rex and Jean all kept straight faces. After a while, you get used to the Luna Scamander Experience…
"I'll strangle that bloody bug with my bare hands! Ron, Harry…"
"Don't kill her, my love, however sorely tempting it may be!"
"I know." Hermione looked to the cot in the corner. "How could she write such things about my little angel?" She went over and picked the gurgling Hope up.
"Technically, her ire was aimed at the grown-ups, Hermione," Luna sighed. "That said, nobody writes those lies about my family and friends and gets away with it.
"If Rita wants a press war, we'll give her a press war!"