Man, I've had a very interesting work week and a lot of other things that needed (and still do) need my undivided attention.
I don't own Harry Potter.
Harry and Mercy sat at the dinner table together, Harry had a small spoonful of yellow colored baby food, coaxing it into Mercy's mouth.
"There's a good girl, you like bananas don't you?" cooed Harry as Mercy took the food off the spoon and eating it happily.
"That aint bananas." said Ron looking at the mush on the spoon.
"You should see the peas." said Harry with a smirk.
"Harry..." said Hermione looking worriedly at Mercy.
"Yeah?" asked Harry.
"Are you going to leave Mercy here..." said Hermione.
"No." said Mrs. Weasley, Remus, and Sirius together.
Harry looked between the three of them. "Something wrong?"
"She wasn't happy when you had to leave her behind." said Sirius with an embarrassed smile. "She screamed bloody murder all the time."
"Wow...really?" said Harry looking down at Mercy, "You gave them a taste of what it's like to be daddy...didn't you shortcake?"
Mercy gurgled happily.
"What?" said Ron. "She doesn't cry for you!"
"The hell she doesn't! When she gets fussy...oh man...I just want to cry along with her." said Harry. The baby in the high chair began giggling and reaching for the spoon. "Yeah, that's right, I'm talking about you." he added with a smile as he tapped a few spoonfuls of banana onto her tiny plate, allowing her to play and eat at her own pace.
"When she was born, I remember reading that only Grace's grandfather could get her to eat if Grace wasn't there. Mercy would tug on his beard and at eat at the same time." said Harry. "It took a while for her to eat for me." said Harry.
"So...would she have calmed down after a while?" said Fred.
"How should I know? This is my first kid." said Harry.
"So is she coming to Hogwarts with us?" asked Ron.
"Well, if Dumbledore says she's not allowed, I'm not going." said Harry.
"But Harry...you have to, you need your education." scolded Hermione.
"And Mercy needs her parent more. I don't need to work, I have more than enough money to last me the rest of my and Mercy's life and beyond. As for Voldemort...he's not my problem to fix." said Harry firmly.
The room went silent.
"Dumbledore got the world in this mess." said Harry. "He can get the world out."
"But Harry...You-Know-Who killed your parents...you should..." said Hermione softly.
"I should what? Want revenge? Look what revenge almost cost Sirius...it cost him twelve plus years in Azkaban. Let the adults take care of it..." said Harry.
"But..." said Hermione stammering. "Even Grace..."
"Voldemort got a hold of Grace because Dumbledore couldn't be bothered with protecting her." said Harry sternly.
The rest of the room looked uncomfortable.
"I'm done sacrificing my family for others, they come first now, and if no one likes it, then forget you." said Harry wiping the yellow gunk off his shirt after Mercy had thrown it at him.
Sirius pulled Harry over to him. "Self-preservation at last." said Sirius with a smile.
Harry looked up at his godfather and began to snicker.
"What's so funny?" asked Sirius.
"Mercy's got quite an arm on her, she managed to nail you in the hair with banana mush." said Harry with a gleeful smile.
Days later but just before the summer holidays were over and done with, Harry had planned out a day of shopping before the school started. However, with as protective as the adults were being about him, he knew he wouldn't be able to go, alone that is.
"Hey Professor Lupin?" asked Harry.
"Hmm?" said Lupin taking a sip of coffee.
"Would you be willing to take Mercy and I shopping for clothes...she's going to need some to grow into while we're at school."
Remus looked at Harry, then smiled: "Sure, why not, as long as we aren't too far, and we'll need more than just me going with you."
"We'll take whoever, but I hope they aren't in a rush." said Harry. "It's been a while since Mercy's been outside."
"Can we go?" asked Ron.
Mrs. Weasley looked at her children worriedly.
"We're just going to muggle baby stores, you'd all be bored." said Harry. "And maybe a fabric store."
"What do you want in a fabric store?" asked Hermione.
Harry only smiled.
Remus, Harry, Mercy, Tonks and Mr. Weasley walked around in the business district, stopping in at different stores finding different things for Mercy to use while in school. Mr. Weasley would lean over to Harry a few times and whisper advice on what to get and what could just be renewed with magic at school.
Harry picked out several different outfits for Mercy, some she could wear now, and some she would grow into. He picked up plenty of toys for her to play with and even a few storybooks to read to her at night.
Dumbledore had granted her permission to come and even offered to create a stroller to levitate up the steps to make taking her to classes easier. Every teacher that was at the school were notified of the new arrival and ensured the Headmaster and Harry there would be a child-safe area for Mercy to play in. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher wouldn't promise nor accept Mercy in the class, so Dumbledore offered to watch her for that period...Harry was still upset for what he did, but there was no other alternative.
Snape was...silent about the entire thing, he didn't say yes or no to her coming, but advised Harry, (more civil than Harry had ever seen him be) that there was plenty of dangerous aromas that could bloom from misbrewed potions therefore it wasn't safe in his class. So Dumbledore got to play babysitter for two classes.
It was a tough choice to let him watch Mercy, but if he wanted to make it up to Harry, he could at least give him a chance to do so. But the first wrong thing to happen, no more chances, also, Hagrid would have been his first pick, but he was not back to school as of yet.
Harry pulled a small dress with little butterflies decorating the skirt and a large glittering butterfly on the shirt. "What about this one?" asked Harry holding the outfit up against Mercy, it was just her size, if not slightly bigger. Mercy giggled and patted the butterfly.
"Yeah, I think so too..." said Harry with a smile. He placed the outfit in the cart he was pushing and continued looking for another one.
"How many outfits does a baby need?" said Remus.
"She's a girl! She has to look her best!" said Tonks looking adoringly at a pair of tiny shoes. "Harry, you have to get her these!" said Tonks picking up a pink pair of tennis shoes and a pair of black dress shoes with sparkling glitter bows on the toes.
"They're just too cute!" said Tonks squealing with glee.
"She doesn't even walk yet." said Remus looking at the shoes with a smile.
"Oh, she may start at the school..." said Harry taking both shoes and putting them in the cart. "She doesn't have a sleeper yet...uh...here we go...here's a kitty one...you like this one?" He extended it to the baby and Mercy tugged on it, feeling it against her skin.
"I'm taking that as a yes." said Harry with a smile. "Lets see...she's got plenty of day to day clothes...toys and books for right now, blankets, pacies, bottles...Let's head to that fabric store we passed."
"Why do you want to go to a fabric store, again?" asked Tonks.
"You'll see at some point." said Harry. "But I hope I haven't lost my touch."
Tonks looked confused.
As they walked around the fabric store, they saw Harry pick up soft fabric of various colors and styles, and textures.
"What's this for?" asked Remus.
"Well, I'm getting enough to make her a new one, but you'll see if I can get it done tonight." said Harry.
"I can't wait." said Tonks. "I want to finally know what the hippogriff you're talking about."
After dinner, Harry took Mercy into the parlor and began to cut and sew the fabric together. He only had the practice in making clothes for taking in most of Dudley clothes so they could fit his smaller frame. It shouldn't be too hard to make an outfit from scratch.
"I wonder what he's going to make?" said Tonks.
"He's not making an outfit, is he?" said Hermione. "He can't make clothes."
"He seems to think he can." said Remus.
"I can, at least little girl's clothes." said Harry's voice. He came into the room, with the his daughter in his arms. She wasn't wearing her usual plain pink onesy, this time, she was wearing a miniature Hogwarts uniform, with a gold and red bow in her hair.
"Oh! She looks so cute!" said Ginny smiling at the giggling baby.
"Seems she likes the color scheme." said Harry with a smile.
"Of course, she's a Potter...they all love gold and red." said Sirius picking the baby up and tossing her lightly in the air.
"She's all set for school, Remus, I'll leave my card with you, if I need anything for Mercy, I'll send you to the stores to get it." said Harry.
"Why not magical stuff?" asked Ron.
"Her mother was muggle...I don't want to just abandon her mother's world, I want to keep Mercy grounded in both." said Harry. "Though...taking her to a magical school for about two years of her life is anything but grounding her..."
Finally the day came. Mercy was all washed, brushed and made absolutely adorable. They boarded the train, Ron and Hermione, both being Prefects, had to patrol the train and keep the students from hexing each other before they got to school. Harry held onto Mercy as he tried to find an empty compartment, gaining several confused looks as he walked past students his own age.
"What's up with the baby?" asked one of them as they passed.
"She's a cutie though." said a girl as she gushed over the tiny baby.
"Pardon me." said Harry as he opened a door and people began to shift around him trying to find their own compartments.
He found one that was completely empty, allowing him to deposit Mercy's diaper bag and set up a small baby chair to sit and play in. Ginny came in behind him and sat in the same compartment to keep him company, but once the train ride started, company wasn't something he was lacking. Once all the girls heard that there was a baby on board, they flooded into the compartment and wanted to hold and play with her.
None of them mentioned if they believed Harry or not, they just wanted to hold the baby and dote on her shamelessly. After a while, Mercy was getting upset by being passed from one girl to the next and began to cry. Harry reached over and took her back into his arms.
"Come here, shortcake." said Harry. "Daddy's got you."
"Daddy?" asked a few of the girls together.
"You were passing her around and didn't ask who she was...she's my daughter." said Harry.
"...adopted?" said one of the girls.
"No...biological." said Harry.
"You..." said the girls, blushing slightly.
Harry placed his forehead on Mercy's and smiled. "Yup, she's my little girl..." said Harry with a smile.
A few girls continued blushed and gave a sigh and 'Awwed'.
"Uh...who's the mother?" asked one of the girls.
"...No one that goes to school here." said Harry softly. Mercy yawned and blinked her eyes slowly. "Someone's sleepy, can you all leave for a while, she needs to sleep."
"Aww..." said the girls once again, though this time, they were a little put out.
"She's going to be at school all year..." said Harry. "You'll have more than enough time to spoil her rotten for me."
The girls giggled and pooled out of the compartment and left Ginny and Harry to rock Mercy to sleep.
"Those girls were sure taken with Mercy." said Ginny. "I've only seen a few of them go gaga over a baby unicorn or kitten."
"Well, I can see why...she's like a little living doll they can play with." said Harry with a smile. Mercy rubbed her small fist in her eye and continued to sleep.
"I'm amazed that you let her be passed around like that." said Ginny. "Especially after what happened with Dumbledore."
"As long as she was fine with it...I don't want her upset if I'm not the one holding her all the time, I need a break too." said Harry.
"So you're trying to get her used to not having you around all the time?" said Ginny. "Pretty clever, Harry."
"Yeah, hopefully she'll be used to Dumbledore at least before my first Defense class, the teacher won't let her in there." said Harry.
"Stupid teacher." said Ginny.
"My feelings exactly." said Harry with a smile. "Put if she's not happy with her in there, I'm not going to push it. Last thing I need is someone to emotionally abuse her while she's still in diapers."
Thanks for reading, please review!
Question of the chapter! It's close to Valentines Day...What are you going to get YOUR sweetheart?
And if you don't have one...What famous person would you love to have as your Valentine?
Mine would have to be...well, if we are going to go with living...I'd have to say...Liam Neeson or Chuck Norris one of those two.
And if we are going with people of the past...Jeremy Brett. Definitely Jeremy Brett.