A young girl shrieked, followed by the harsh slamming of a door and the sound of little feet clamoring down the hall up above. Her mother worked busily in the kitchen of the quaint little house.
The woman had orange red hair that was pulled unceremoniously into a loose bun, tendrils of hair framing her beautiful features. Her dark eyes twinkled only slightly as she anticipated the arrival of her youngest. Meanwhile, she was working on the mashed potatoes. Carefully dicing up the boiled potatoes, the woman began to mash them with the strange-shaped metal…thingie…that her husband had given her. After a few moments of mashing, the young woman slammed the masher down and pulled out her wand.
"Bloody hard-working Muggles and their bloody old-fashioned cooking…" she mumbled to herself as she magically mashed the potatoes. She looked up sharply when Serena came zooming in.
"Mummy, he's home, he's home!" a little voice cried. A flash of red hair flew past as the five-year-old ran as fast as her young legs would carry her to the Apparition point outside the front door. The young woman in the kitchen smiled to herself as she anticipated what was sure to happen next. She began to whisper a soft countdown.
"Three...two...one..."
As soon as she finished, the other two members of her terror triplets came bursting through the door to the kitchen. Jet-black hair covered the heads of both boys, identical in every way except for their eyes. Samuel's eyes were midnight blue like his mother's, while Sirius's eyes flashed emerald green, like his father and grandmother before him.
Sirius and Samuel stopped short in front of their mother. Sirius began to sneak towards the tray of cookies on the stove, while Samuel snatched a handful of mashed potatoes from his mother's bowl. She slapped his hand away. The oldest triplet gave his mother an awestruck look before snatching another bite.
"Go on, Samuel! Find something to do!" his mother cried.
Samuel gave her a mischievous look and the woman instantly regretted what she had said. Sirius saved her by remembering why they were down in the kitchen in the first place. He looked towards the door, cookie in hand, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.
"Is he here yet, Mum?"
The woman smiled and nodded towards the door. The boys made a mad dash for it. Just as soon as they reached it, the door burst open, revealing the arrival.
Samuel and Sirius promptly joined their sister in climbing all over their father. The tall, lean young man ruffled their messy locks as he struggled to lift the three little ones. Even with his muscular Auror figure, three five-year-olds was a little too much. His wife rescued him from the calamity.
"Serena, why don't you go tell Mr. Bear that Daddy's home?"
Reverence filled the green eyes of the little girl as she scampered upstairs to the large room she shared with her brothers. Her fluffy white teddy bear would be delighted to hear that his grandpa was home from work. Down in the kitchen, Samuel grinned mischievously and nudged Sirius, who returned the grin. The two of them were off in a flash, chasing after Serena. A shriek from upstairs told the young parents that the boys had succeeded in their mission.
Harry Potter let out a breath and grinned at his beloved wife.
"I just can't get used to being called that," he told her. She smiled.
"Called what?"
"Daddy."
"It's been five years, darling."
Her eyes flashed mischievously just as Samuel's had. Harry smiled softly as she approached him and wrapped her smooth arms around his neck. She sighed with contentment when his strong arms pulled her close. He kissed her gently, watching her eyes close peacefully. When he pulled away, Harry took her chin in his hand, massaging the corner of her mouth with the pad of his thumb.
Now he could greet her properly.
"Hello, Ginny."
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There was a flash of light and Ginny woke with a start, clutching the sheets and breathing heavily. It had been a dream … or had it? She'd had dreams of Harry before, but never with her in them. Usually the dreams were dark and full of foreboding. They were frightening enough to cause her to wake up in a cold sweat, tears running down her cheeks. It pained her more than word could express to be forced to watch Harry be blown to bits with a Killing Curse. But, now that she stopped to remember, those dreams had ceased when Harry had finally destroyed Lord Voldemort for good. Hmm.
Rubbing her temples wearily, Ginny tried to remember every detail of the dream. To her surprise, the memories came quickly and clearly. She could still see the dream as crystal clear as when she had dreamed it. Why did it seem so real? The other dreams were so…hazy…and fuzzy…why was this one so different?
Before Ginny could turn this over in her mind for very long, her fellow Gryffindor seventh-year stirred in her sleep in the next bed over. Ginny silently curled back up underneath the covers and began replaying the wonderful dream as she lulled herself to sleep. Tomorrow she'd be home, she'd see i him /i again. Ron and Hermione would be there, too, of course, along with Fred, George, and the rest of the Weasley clan. Pushing that thought from her mind, Ginny fell asleep murmuring the best part of the dream, in her mind anyway:
"I'm married to Harry……I'm married to Harry……"
hr
i A/N: And that's the first chapter. There's much more to come after this, so keep checking back. Thank you to my friends Kitty and Kitchi for being so supportive as I tried to get this up. I love you guys! Reviews are much appreciated, as is positive and not-so-positive critique. Thank you for reading! Alora /i
