"Well, I'm glad you made it," Harry said as he looked up as the door to Ginny's room opened and Spencer stuck his head in. "I wasn't sure if you would not since I know was very early in America.
"We couldn't miss this," Spencer chirped enthusiastically. "I haven't felt this excited since my sons were born."
"It's just a good thing that it was very early Saturday morning since I don't usually have to work the weekends unless me and the rest of the team are already on a case," Hotch said as he and Spencer entered the room and walked over to sit beside Harry, who had conjured two more chairs.
"So how did the birth go?" asked Spencer.
"It wasn't as hard as when she had James," Harry answered, "but then again first babies are often harder and take longer than any others. She had a relatively easy birth actually even though it was twins. Our sons were apparently anxious to come and meet their parents because there wasn't any problems, other then the obvious tiredness you get whenever you are working to push the baby out of the birth canal."
"So where are they?" asked Hotch as he looked around the hospital room and at Ginny's sleeping face her vibrant red hair spilled out over the pillow.
"The nurse should be bringing them in any minute so that Ginny can feed them. They had to be cleaned up and checked over, you know the usual weight, length, and things like that. They're small and weigh less then any of Ginny's and I's other children when they were born, but then again they are a month premature and twins do tend to weigh less than a single baby or at least that's what mum said."
"So what have you named them?" asked Spencer and it was Ginny who answered as she had woken up doing the quiet conversation.
"We decided to name them after my mother's brothers who died during the first war as they were also identical twins. I never met my uncles since they died years before I was born, but their names were Fabian and Gideon Prewett. Mum was really choked up, when we told him what names we had decided on as she was very close to her twin brothers who were a couple years older than her. She was apparently the baby of the family. Even after all these years she still misses her brothers and she told Harry and I that she was glad that their names would live on in the family."
Before either Hotch or Spencer could respond there was a knock on the door and it was opened by a nurse wheeling a pram big enough to hold two babies at the same time. Both twins were wailing at the top of their little lungs because they were hungry.
"Well they certainly have a good set of lungs on them," Spencer said with an amused smile as he watched the nurse wheel the pram beside Ginny's bed.
"Yes, they do and that is despite them being a month premature," the nurse told Spencer with a half smile thinking he was very handsome and that his companion was even handsomer.
"Come here, my little darling," Ginny cooed to one of the twins as she picked him up out of the nurses arms. "Now that's a good boy, isn't it?"
"So how do you tell them apart?" Hotch asked curiously. "They appear absolutely identical to me with the same hair and eye color, facial bone structures and they even appear basically the same length and size."
"Well Fabian here is a little smaller weighs a little less then Gideon does," Ginny said, "but that's really to be expected. I'm sure they'll catch up to each other in a few months. As for telling them apart well they each have a bracelet on their wrists that give their names, date of births, etc...etc."
"What are you going to do after you get home though?" asked Spencer.
"Well, I did ask mom for some ideas as she had trouble telling George and Fred apart to at least when they were young. Actually correction, she still does," Ginny giggled.
"But the twins work at fooling her you know," Harry said. "They acted so much alike when they were younger on purpose and now it's just become part of their personalities."
"At least since the war we can now tell them apart," Ginny said.
"How?" asked Spencer curiously.
"Oh you only met Fred and George briefly, but George lost half an ear to a dark curse when he and several others were trying to get me away from Privet Drive which is the street where I grew up. We were ambushed by about a dozen Death Eaters. Everybody had taken Polyjuice in order to look like me so it was less likely that I would be hit and a Death Eater got in a lucky shot and cursed off the bottom half of George's right ear," Harry explained.
"Dark magic for the most part cannot be healed," Ginny explained. "If George had lost his ear to a light spell and if he had been able to retrieve it, it probably could've been reattached."
"You can actually reattach a limb," asked Hotch in astonishment looking so flabbergasted that Harry and Ginny tried not to laugh, but then again magic could do many things that technology couldn't and vice versa.
"Yes, we can," Harry said. "I had all the bones in my arm removed once and they were regrown overnight. Our idiot professor at the time by the name of Gilderoy Lockhart tried to heal the fracture and ended up removing every single one. We found out later that he was a complete fraud and that all the stuff he had written in his books he had stolen from other people. The only spell he was really good at was the memory charm, which is the reason he had never been caught before then. I hope I never have to go through having my bones regrown overnight," Harry said with a very realistic shudder, "because it is a very painful process and it makes it almost impossible to get any rest at all."
"If that idiot had left Harry's arm alone Madam Pomfrey could've healed his broken bones in an instant instead of Harry having to go through the painful process of having them regrown," Ginny snorted.
"He used his fame to get the gullible to believe he could do things he couldn't possibly pull off if you know what I mean as I'm sure you met people like that," Harry said.
"So what happened to him?" asked Hotch knowing exactly what Harry was talking about for he had met people like Gilderoy Lockhart in the course of his job.
"Well my brother Ron's wand had been broken and spellotaped back together so wasn't really working properly," Ginny explained. "Lockhart stole his wand tried to curse him and Harry with a memory charm which backfired and he lost his memory instead. Last we heard he was still here in St. Mungo's in the permanent spell damage ward."
"Personally, I hope he never gets his memory back," Harry muttered.
"There is more to the story isn't there?" asked Spencer knowing that a lot was being left out.
"Yes, and we'll have to tell you the whole story later what happened during my first year and Harry's second," said Ginny.
As they had been talking Ginny had been feeding the twins one at a time and finally they had quieted down and gone back to sleep.
"There full now little man?" Ginny asked quietly as she rubbed one of the twin's backs and heard him burp gently onto the burp cloth on her shoulder.
"Would you like to hold them?" Harry asked.
"Sure," said Spencer eagerly and Hotch echoed him almost as eagerly for it had been years since Jack was so small and he had missed a lot of his son's infant and toddler years because of his work, which he regretted.
Harry gently lifted Gideon out of the pram and handed him to Hotch and then he took Fabian from his mother's arms and and handed him to Spencer. Both men looked down at the two infants who were so exactly alike that it was impossible to tell them apart. The boys slept peacefully hardly moving at all in the two men's arms.
"They are adorable," said Hotch as he gently leaned down and kissed Gideon on the forehead.
"Well, we think so, but then again we are their parents so we are supposed to be prejudiced," Ginny said with a grin.
"So did you give them middle names?" asked Hotch.
"Yep," Harry said with a grin knowing they were about to be very shocked. "Fabian's middle name is Spencer and Gideon's is Aaron.
"What?" exclaimed both Spencer and Aaron in shock, just remembering to keep their voices down at the last moment so as not to disturb the twins sleep.
Both Potters broke out laughing at the two men's reaction and Ginny said giggling, "Yep, we really did name them after you two."
"We knew you would be shocked, but the two of you and your family have come to mean a great deal to us and we hope that if we make you two the godparents it will make you come and visit us as often as you can," Harry said.
"You want to make us the godparents?" Hotch exclaimed in astonishment.
"Yes, we do," Ginny assured them. "Harry and I discussed this at great length and so it was a mutual decision. We hope that you both will accept. We want Spencer to be Fabian's godfather and you, Aaron to be Gideon's, thus the middle names."
"But we live thousands of miles away," Hotch protested thinking that it wasn't very logical to ask them to be godfathers. "Shouldn't you ask somebody that actually lives in England?"
"We know that," Harry assured them patiently, "but you've got to realize that you can be transported here instantaneously even if you want to spend just a few hours thanks to magic and in fact Dobby has offered to come and pick you up anytime you want to spend a few hours in England or even a few days. All you have to do is write us a letter first and let us know at least a day ahead of time. You could come for some of the Quidditch games for example just to spend a few hours with your sons, who are already hooked on the sport by the way."
"Don't we know it," Hotch muttered with a grin. "We've had letters filled with nothing but the mention of Quidditch."
"What can I say most witches and wizards of any age are mad about Quidditch," said Harry with a grin. "I still remember when I first started at Hogwarts and how I had never heard of Quidditch until Ron told me all about it. I ended up making Seeker my very first year. I found out by accident I could fly like the wind. Apparently Quidditch is a talent that is often passed down through family lines. Over half the Weasley family is very good at the game and are mad about it. Ron is an excellent Keeper, Fred and George are two of the best Beaters ever, Ginny is an excellent Chaser and also a pretty good Seeker and I've heard that Charlie was also a pretty good Seeker to when he went to Hogwarts. The only two that don't seem to have any interest in playing it are Bill and Percy."
"Harry's father was also an excellent Chaser and his name is on the Quidditch cup that sits in a glass cabinet at Hogwarts. We walked past it during the tour we gave you."
"Yes I remember several glass cases," Spencer said. "We didn't actually have a chance to stop and examine what was in them though."
"Just awards for services to the school, the Quidditch cup and the house cup, along with several other things," said Harry not mentioning his award for services rendered to Hogwarts.
"So do you accept being godfathers?" asked Ginny getting back to the original subject.
"Well I don't know," Hotch said looking undecided. "I'm not sure how much I would be actually able to visit them with how busy I am."
"Well, when they are older they could always visit you," Harry suggested. "It would be no trouble to ask Dobby to transport them to your place."
"Well, okay," Hotch decided feeling honored that Harry had asked him even though they didn't know each other very well, but Harry was apparently a good judge of character and knew he was an honorable man that would do his best. Besides this was a way to get to know each other better and tie their two families closer together, which might be some of the reasons for the decision come to think of it and if it had been it was a very clever thing to do as it would ensure that their two families would always remain close no matter what.
"All we expect from you, is for you to love them like they were your own. They're going to be spoiled enough with Molly as their grandmother not to mention all their aunts, uncles and cousins."
"They will be spoiled with love as well as material possessions," Ginny said. "The Weasleys have always been a very close family and have always loved each other no matter what. We even accepted Percy the prat back into the family after he abandoned us just as the war was really starting thinking he was doing the right thing by walking away and working for Fudge and then Scrimgeour. We all forgave him in the end for abandoning the family when we should've all stuck together."
"The Weasleys might love him and have forgiven him, and I can understand why they did since they are his family, but I will never like him and haven't from the first time we met. To me Percy has a stick up his ass and believes in rules so much that he follows them even from someone who is corrupt or when they don't make sense. He's very stiff and proper and he even wrote a letter in Ron's and our fifth year to his brother that told him that he should stop being my friend, because I was deranged and dangerous. He's always gone along with other authority figures opinions without bothering to think for himself and how he can be like that while the rest of the family is warm and loving I don't know."
"Sounds like you're carrying a grudge, which isn't very healthy you know," said Spencer.
"I'm not carrying a grudge," Harry denied shaking his head from side to side in denial. "If he got himself in trouble I would still go and help him if I could. I don't have to like someone to do that, although I wouldn't do it for his sake I would do it for his family's. Really my main complaint against Percy's abandonment of his family in a time that they could've used him the most is the fact that I never really had a family at all until I met the Weasleys as the Dursleys don't count. I would do anything for them, as to me having a family that loves me is everything and Percy at that time just didn't realize how lucky he was to have a family that would take him back even after all he had done."
"People make decisions and they are not always good ones, but this is the way that we learn," Hotch said softly, knowing this very well not only thanks to his job, but also because Haley had made the decision that she wanted a divorce because he was gone so much. It might not have been the best decision as it hurt, him and Jack and probably Haley as well, but it had been done all the same.
"Percy, really is so self-absorbed that he doesn't realize how much he has hurt his entire family with his actions," said Ginny softly. "I'll admit he has gotten better, since he came back and apologized to the family for his actions and since then we have accepted him back, but that doesn't mean that all the family has forgiven him. Fred and George are always playing pranks on him, even more then is normal for them to do that to one of their siblings, I avoid him as much as possible and Ron has made it plain that he'd rather face a giant spider then be in the same room with him and since my brother hates and fears spiders with a passion that is really saying something. We will always love him, but his actions doing the war hurt all of us, although they hurt mom and dad the most, which is the main reason we are all still pretty disgusted with him, even over a decade later."
"And yes, we realize that people don't always make the best of decisions since we are human and humans make mistakes," said Harry, "but Percy had plenty of chances to come back and mend the rift that he had created and yet he didn't see how much his actions hurt everyone until right before the very last battle. One of the reasons most of the family has never really forgiven him is because he has never really apologized for what he did. His actions were something a Slytherin might pull, but that are reprehensible for a Gryffindor who value loyalty and honor."
"My brother might have been a Gryffindor, but he should have been a Slytherin instead," Ginny snorted. "His excuse for separating from his family was that we should follow the ministry and not Dumbledore and we should have nothing to do with Harry at all. He claimed that both were attention seeking liars and were trying to make trouble by causing the wizarding population to stop listening to the ministry. Fudge didn't want to admit that Voldemort was back and so buried his head in the sand about the whole thing. Fudge did his best when Harry was fifteen to drag both his and Dumbledore's names through the mud in the Daily Prophet, which is our newspaper."
"He gave Voldemort a whole year to recruit and plan instead of enlarging the budget so that more Aurors could be hired and trained. He allowed Voldemort to gain more of a toehold then he would otherwise have had," Harry said. "People died that might have lived if he'd only done the right thing from the beginning."
"There are a lot of things Fudge could've done, but he didn't want to admit that Voldemort was back, which I can understand since he did terrorize the wizarding world for a number of years before he was supposedly killed," Ginny said, "but that doesn't make it right."
Harry snorted. "Fudge was a coward and Scrimgeour who took over after wasn't much better. Scrimgeour wasn't a coward, but he still lied to the wizarding public and said that everything was fine. He arrested people that had nothing to do with Voldemort, people who were just innocent citizens and then refused to release them, because he wanted to look like he was actually doing something."
"Well, you really are going to have to give us a more thorough wizarding history lesson at some point," Spencer commented, "so that we can understand what was going on back then and why non-magical folks didn't really hear about it."
Hotch nodded in agreement with his lover's statement, but knew that now was not the time.
"We will," Harry assured them, "but it will take all day, maybe even more, so you will have to set a large chunk of time aside for it and now is not that time."
Hotch and Spencer spent a couple of hours in that hospital room leaning even more about the wizarding world then they had known before heading back home.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Lochlan and Landon 12 years old
"We've got another letter from the twins," Spencer's exclaimed as he came out of his and Hotch's study.
"Well go ahead and read it Uncle Spencer," Jack said as he thundered down the stairs from his room after hearing the announcement.
"Why don't we all go into the family room and get comfortable before Spencer opens the letter," Hotch suggested and everybody nodded trooping into the den.
Once everybody was comfortable Spencer opened the letter from the twins and read it quickly before he started speaking around.
Dear family,
We hope all of you are doing well. As for Lochlan and I we are doing very well even though classes are getting more difficult this year, which really is to be expected. I heard that the O.W.L.s are tough when you take them at the end of fifth-year and that the N.E.W.T.s even worse. Apparently, they're called nastily exhausting for a reason. Still O.W.L.s are years away and right now Landon and I are concentrating on learning as much as we can while making some very good friends.
Our friends are Grey, short for Greyson Owens, who is a half-blood, like Uncle Harry and Michelle Bones who is the great-niece of the head of magical law enforcement Amelia Bones and pureblooded. I am told that the Boneses have a tradition of being Hufflepuffs and that Michelle is the very first one to break that tradition, which shocked her mother and aunt, but not her father, since he was a Ravenclaw. I was told by Michelle herself that her father was absolutely ecstatic that his daughter had gotten into the same house as he had been in.
Once her mother and aunt and gotten over the shock they were also very proud of her to.
Apparently a lot of old pureblood families share similar traits and end up being in the same house as their parents and grandparents before them all the way back to when their family lines began. Of course Lochlan and I have also found out that you can ask the Sorting Hat to put you in a different house if you feel that the house it picks for you isn't one you want. Some people apparently have more personality traits and will do well in more than one house.
Anyway, my twin and I are going to try out for the Quidditch team and Art already offered to loan us his broom for the tryouts. If we do well we really will need brooms of our own, so we hope you agree to get us brooms because we can't study all the time and Quidditch is about the only way to break up the monotony around here, especially in winter, well other then stealing some time with your girlfriend or boyfriend if you happen to have one and getting into trouble.
Flying is apparently a Potter family talent as they all appear to be some of the best flyers around and seem to have a natural talent for it. Harry told us that he made the Quidditch team in his first year and that is very unusual, especially since he had never been on a broom before than. Also his father James Potter was apparently quite good as well, at least from what Harry knows of him. Normally most first years have never been on a broom or if they have they aren't good enough to get on the Quidditch team, if they even bother to try out thanks to that no broom rule for students in their first year.
That rule has been known to be wavered if a first year is discovered to be really good on a broom and wants to join the Quidditch team, like it was for Uncle Harry.
In any case I hope you don't mind if we try out for the Quidditch team as Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny and Art seem to think we are pretty good. I suppose all that training that we did when we spent time with the Potters has paid off and everyone seems to think that we will be shoo-ins and are better then the Chasers that are currently playing for Ravenclaw.
In other news although I'm sure that Loch would disagree I believe he has a little crush on our friend Michelle, although he would never admit it, but the sappy looks he keeps throwing in her direction when he thinks nobody is watching say otherwise.
The three adults in the room laughed at the the fact that Lochlan at twelve was beginning to notice girls, but then Spencer continued reading.
I believe the feeling is mutual as I've seen Michelle look at my brother with a very weird look on her face more than once, again when she believes no one is looking. I wonder how that will turn out in the end?
In any case that is all the news for now.
Love,
Landon
"So are you going to let him try out for the Quidditch team?" asked Sara. "It sounds like a very dangerous game from what you've told me."
"Yes," Spencer said after looking at Hotch and then thinking about it for a moment. "It is dangerous, but they can also heal any broken bones in an instant as their form of medicine is much more advanced in some ways then our own. They can heal a lot of injuries that would disable somebody without magic or kill them outright."
"And can they be used on somebody that doesn't have magic?" asked Sara.
"Yes, I believe so," Spencer said after a moment, "but from what I know most magical folks won't go out of their way to help somebody that doesn't have the ability to do what they can even if they are connected to the wizarding world through their children or parents. In some ways their society is a lot like our own in the fact that they are very prejudiced against anybody different from themselves."
"Their society as a whole has improved a lot," Hotch said, "as Harry told us all about what it was like before Voldemort was finally defeated."
"It takes time to undo thousands of years worth of prejudices," Spencer said and Hotch nodded in agreement.
"Yes, it does and there will always be people who think they are better than anyone else and that's not only true of witches and wizards, but for those who are non-magical like all four of us," Hotch said using the word non-magical without any hesitation or stumbling for he had accepted completely that magic was real, that his adopted sons indeed had magic and that it was possible that he would have grandchildren with magic a few years down the road. "It is human for people to hate other people just because they are different and despite the fact that magical folks can do strange things that go against the laws of science, they are still human."
"I think what they do instead of going against the laws of science, some things just haven't been discovered by our scientists yet," Spencer suggested and Hotch nodded as that made perfect sense. Breakthroughs were being made every day in the realm of science and who knew what the human race would be able to do a hundred years from now?
"It is a very rare talent to learn to think outside the box if you know what I mean," Spencer said. "A lot of people just don't have that kind of imagination and the ones that do are often discredited."
"You're right," Hotch agreed that he had seen such things happen before and a lot of times the paper was filled with stories about people thought to be crazy when really they were just brilliant, but unrecognized for that fact, just because they didn't conform to what other people considered normal.
"Well, I suppose I had better go start dinner," Sara said finally after a few minutes of silence. "I'm glad the boys are doing so well, but I still miss them."
"So do we," Spencer told Sara, "but Harry was right and their talent needed to be trained so that it doesn't erupt when their emotions are high. When they finally graduate in a few years they'll be all grown up and I have to admit I hate missing those years when they're still teenagers, but we still get to see them in the summer and during Christmas, so that is something anyway."
"And they write frequently which helps," Hotch said and Sara and Spencer nodded in agreement. "At least we know they are doing well and Harry would contact us if something were to happen. Besides it's no different than thousands of parents around the world who send their children to a year around boarding school, except that they are learning magic, potions and the history of the magical world, instead of reading, writing, and arithmetic."
"That makes sense put like that," Sara said as she headed towards the kitchen to start dinner. "Still parents that can do that to their children and not see them every day are tougher than I am because I never could have done that to any of my kids when they were growing up as I love them to much. It was hard enough when they were all grown up and moved out to live on there own."
Spencer and Hotch nodded in agreement for they knew that the day was coming for their own three not so very far in the future.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Lochlan and Landon age 13
Dear Spencer and Aaron
I just wanted to let you know how your godsons are doing. They're growing like weeds every day. It doesn't seem like a year and a half has passed since they were born for it has gone much faster then either Ginny or I anticipated, but then again the twins are keeping us busy.
Both Ginny and I wish that you could see them more often although we understood when we made you the godparents that with your job Aaron that probably wasn't going to be possible. In any case one of the reasons I am writing to you is to let you know that the twins have shown their first bit of magic or at least the first in front of witnesses. It is unusual to show magic at such a young age as most magical children are at least three or four before they begin to show the signs and Minerva, Ginny and I agree that this means that they are going to be very powerful, more then is average.
In any case they have gone from crawling to walking in what seems a matter of a few weeks as time seems to have been passing much faster than it should just because we are all so busy.
Another reason that I decided to write this letter to you was to tell you that we are considering having at least one more although it has yet to be determined.
When I was living with my aunt and uncle all I wished for was a family of my own, especially when I discovered that I was the last of the Potters, since I didn't want my family line to die out. I've always dreamed of having at least eight or nine children, especially since I have plenty of money to support them. It is well possible for Ginny to have another half a dozen children since witches can have babies up until their mid-sixties unlike muggles who usually can't have them past forty-five or so, although I know it is unusual to have them so old. Our researchers believe that it is the magic in our bodies and allows witches to have healthy babies up until their mid 60s and also why we live at least twice as long as those without magic and in some cases three times as long, depending on the size of your magical core.
It's true that Ginny and I were happy with the three we had, but when my wife forgot to take her contraception potion we remembered the joy that raising a baby brings to your life, even if they are also a lot work.
Ginny and I haven't fully decided if that's the route we're going to take after the twins are a little older, but I just wanted to let you know that it is a very real possibility and we're swinging in that direction.
If we do have another it will be our last one as birth is hard and although Ginny truly loves children, like her mother, she told me that if we did decide to have another one there would be no more. I believe if we do go in that direction that we're both hoping for girl this time for we have plenty of sons but only one daughter. Unfortunately the Weasley genes tend to produce only sons and it's been that way for generations as Ginny was the first girl to be born in about 600 years, according to family history, which is rather well documented, well at least until Ron and Bill both had daughters.
Spencer whistled at that and Hotch stopped reading looking shocked.
"If Harry is telling the truth there hasn't been a girl born into the Weasley family until his wife," Hotch said.
"He has no reason to lie," Spencer pointed out. "I'm sure he's telling the truth at least as he knows it."
"I know," Hotch said, "It's not that I think he's lying just that I'm just thinking that the odds are against anybody having just boys especially if they have more than one or two at the most. If all the Weasleys had 4 or 5 children for the last 600 years and they turned out all to be boys the odds of that happening must be 1,000,000,000 to 1."
"Yes," Spencer agreed, "although I can't give you the exact odds. Anyway what else does Harry have to say?"
"Well, let's see," Hotch said looking back at the letter and finding his spot near the bottom.
"In any case to change the subject were hoping that your family can come visit us doing the summer for at least a couple of weeks so we can all get to know each other better. We can do some sightseeing of muggle and magical sites. The children are always asking when you are going to visit as they enjoy your company and I keep telling them when you can get away, which isn't always easy as Ginny and I know very well.
I'm sure you've discovered by now that Ginny I have included some photographs of the whole family including the twins who are much bigger than the last time you saw them so now I'll close this letter with saying that we'll hope to see you this summer and that you will always be welcome whenever you can get away to visit.
Harry
PS Ginny says hi.
PSS Only your family will be able to see the photos move as they have been charmed so that to anybody else who are not a witch or wizard will see the pictures as normal photos.
"So do you think that they will decide to have another child?" Spencer asked his mate as he began to flip through the stack of photos one by one.
"Well," Hotch said thinking about it, while also looking at the photos as Spencer flipped through them. "I don't believe that Harry would have written us a letter about it if it wasn't at least a very strong possibility."
"Yes, I agree," Spencer nodded. "They aren't the type of people to bring it up if they weren't seriously considering it. Really they remind me of us in that way, as we're both very private people and they seem to be that way as well. I believe that the only reason they have shared so much of their history with us is because we are family."
Hotch nodded for he agreed completely. Harry wasn't one to brag about his accomplishments or to tell his history to just anyone, especially since a lot of it had to be very painful for him to recall.
"Aren't Fabian and Gideon just adorable?" Spencer asked as he admired the pictures with his and Hotch's godsons in them.
"Yes," Hotch agreed his expression wistful as he studied the photos. "All the Potter male children are getting very handsome and Lily is absolutely adorable."
"She looks almost exactly like a mother except for the green eyes so she'll be a knockout when she gets a few years older," Spencer said. "I'm sure she's going to have the boys clamoring for her attention in a few years."
"And we'll just have to see how Harry handles that," Hotch said laughing at that thought. "Will he be the overprotective type or one that can let his daughter date without making a big deal out of it."
"Well see," said Spencer smiling. "It'll be another three or four years before she's even thinks about boys since she's only 11."
"Well since we are on our own tonight why don't we go out to eat?" Hotch suggested.
"Alright," Spencer agreed immediately knowing it wasn't something they did two often thanks to Hotch's job and looking after the family. "I'll buy a couple of frames for two of those pictures tomorrow. I think the picture with the whole family and another one with Fabian and Gideon should take pride of place beside the other pictures on the mantelpiece in the den, don't you?"
"Yes, that is a great idea," Hotch said by way of agreement leaning over just enough to give Spencer a kiss on the cheek. "Now why don't you and I go get dressed up a little as I'd like to take you someplace nicer then where we normally go."
"Sounds good," Spencer said. He had long since lost his apprehension at going out in public or trying new places just as long as Aaron Hotchner was at his side. With his mate at his side he was confident in himself and it was only when he was on his own that he began to get nervous in large crowds.
The two men rose from the sofa in the den and holding hands headed upstairs to change for their night out.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Dear family,
We won! We won! We won our first Quidditch match of the year and thanks for the great brooms by the way.
We understand why you couldn't be here to see us play thanks to the time difference between Scotland and America.
I scored 10 goals all unassisted while Landon scored seven and we won by a score of 370 points to 110 for Slytherin. And no there were no injuries, well, besides a dislocated shoulder where the Bludger hit it, but Madam Pomfrey healed that in an instant.
By the way Landon and I were wondering if we could invite Michelle over for at least part of the summer holiday and Grey to if their parents agree of course. We want you to meet them as they really are our two best friends, next to Art.
Let us know your answer as soon as you can.
Love,
Lochlan
"Well, that was certainly a very short letter," Sara said who had been listening from the doorway, "more of a note really. So are you going to give a positive answer to have in their two friends over for a week or two?"
"Yes," Spencer answered after looking at Aaron who nodded. "Their letters are filled with mentions of both of them and I for one I really like to meet the two of them since the twins have never had a best friend before, much less two. I'm not saying they haven't had some friends just not one that they were really close to."
"Yes," said Hotch. "Them finding such good friends is good as I always worried about the fact that they didn't have any. Not ones that you do everything together anyway or that you can depend on."
"It's probably at least partly their intelligence that has set them apart," Spencer said. "I know they haven't been bullied like I was, but that's probably only because they know how to defend themselves now and also the fact that they're far more outgoing than I could ever hope to be."
"Yes, kids can be cruel especially to anyone who they consider different and being extremely intelligent is often looked down upon by children who are not as smart," Hotch agreed.
"I know that it doesn't help that they have always been taught to do their best in school and not to hide their intelligence or slack off just to fit in with those who don't care about their futures."
"No, that wouldn't have helped them make friends," Hotch said, "but at least they had each other and Jack and so weren't alone."
"Unlike I was," said Spencer as he remembered all the times he had been shoved into lockers, by teenagers who didn't appreciate having someone much younger and more intelligent then them showing off or even being there at all. Unfortunately those memories weren't something that he would ever forget considering that his memory was eidetic.
Hotch looked murderous at Spencer's comment and Spencer knew it wasn't towards him that Aaron was so angry, but towards the bullies who had made his live such a living hell when he had been growing up and also towards his father for not being their to support him and encourage him.
Aaron Hotchner wasn't the type to normally lose his cool, but when it came to him, Spencer Reid he was very overprotective, which made him feel good as well as loved and protected. Anytime the subject of his childhood was brought up he looked furious. Spencer knew that his Aaron wanted to go find every single one of those people who made his life miserable, including his father and teach them a lesson that they wouldn't soon forget and even if he would never actually do so the feelings could not be ignored.
Spencer actually thought it was very sweet and adorable that Aaron was very overprotective of him and anybody that was mean to him he wanted to beat up, but then again Aaron Hotchner was an alpha male, a leader and this was normal behavior for them, defending someone they loved while he, Spencer Reid was not the alpha male type, which was fine with him as he knew that Aaron never would have been attracted to someone who was likely to challenge his authority.
"My childhood wasn't fun," Spencer admitted, "but you know this. Think about it though, compared to Harry's mine was a walk in the park. How Harry turned out as well as he did I don't know."
Aaron nodded in agreement for what Spencer said was true. Harry had finally told them the full story behind the defeat of Lord Voldemort and he had gone all the way back to his miserable childhood to do it. In fact Harry had shown parts of it in what he had called a Pensieve, which was almost like watching a movie, except the memories had come directly out of Harry's head and plopped into a silver bowl that had been covered in runes. Harry had stirred to silvery strands that were his memories with the tip of his wand and then tapped one of the runes on the side of the bowl. Aaron remembered how he and Spencer had watched in fascination as a scene had risen out of the bowl slowly until it was fully formed just above the surface and once it had it had started playing the scene from the beginning, complete with sound.
He and Spencer had watched how Harry was treated by his aunt and uncle, which had made Hotch want to go hunt down Harry's relatives and teach them a lesson. They had seen how Harry had gotten his letter and then been sorted into Gryffindor and started to make friends with Ron and Hermione. They saw how he had figured out the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets and how at just 12 years old he'd defeated the basilisk, that must have been at least 80 feet long, which could've killed him if he had ever looked directly into that huge snake eyes, well before Fawkes the phoenix blinded it, and all to rescue the girl that was now his wife. They had seen how Harry, Ron and Hermione had figured out that Sirius Black was innocent and how it was later revealed that Harry's godfather had been thrown in prison without a trial, by a corrupt ministry.
They had seen how Harry had been forced to compete in the Triwizard tournament when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, even though it was obvious that Harry had not entered his name at all and yet they claimed that it was a binding magical contract, even though it wasn't Harry who had entered. It was pretty obvious as the memory was played that somebody had entered his name hoping to get him killed and instead he had faced Lord Voldemort yet another time and instead of him dying the other Hogwarts champion Cedric had. All those misadventures didn't even include Harry's memories of how he had been almost tortured by Snape, picked on and belittled from his very first lesson and all because Harry looked like his father. James Potter and Severus Snape had been enemies from their first day at Hogwarts according to Harry who had learned this from Remus Lupin his father and godfather's old friend.
There had been a lot memories all the way through Harry's seventh year and Hotch thought that he had never seen such bravery even in an adult much less a child who seemed to have the strongest will to survive that he had ever seen. Hotch now fully admitted that Harry was one of the most selfless people he had ever met and didn't seem to want anything other then to be happy with a wife and family of his own. All he really wanted was to be left alone to live his life, without the people of the magical community bothering him, staring at him or following him wherever he went.
"Yes," Hotch said slowly, "I agree. To me and you, Harry is a walking, breathing miracle. It goes against all odds how he turned out so well. He should be bitter, hateful, acting like he owns the world and rude to everybody he meets and instead what do we have?"
"One of the nicest people you'll ever meet who goes out of his way to help others," Spencer answered with an amazed shake of his head. "Someone who sees a wrong and tries to help correct it. Someone who cares about everybody, not just himself."
"Someone who is willing to fight and die for what he believes in, especially if it will protect those he loves and cares about," Hotch added and Spencer nodded in agreement.
"Someone who loves his friends and family unconditionally, no matter their faults, although it won't stop him from turning them into the authorities if they break the law," Spencer added.
"Someone who has an unerring sense of right and wrong and never chooses to take the easy way out," Hotch added.
The two men fell silent for a minute but when Spencer spoke his voice was almost awed. "Someone who is humble and doesn't like to be the center of attention, or rewarded even if he deserves it."
"I have to admit that Harry Potter is something of an enigma," Hotch said after thinking about all he knew about the young man that was only a couple of years older then Spencer.
"Perhaps he just comes from good genes," Spencer suggested. "Both his parents were apparently very brave and willing to die to protect their son and that kind of sacrifice tends to leave an invisible mark on you even if you aren't consciously aware of it."
"Yes, I suppose that would explain part of it," Hotch admitted, "and the rest of it probably comes from that fact that the rest of the wizarding world expected him to save them from Voldemort and to have that kind of pressure put on someone makes that person start to believe it and children, especially are very impressionable."
"And the populace didn't even know about the prophecy that Harry told us about," said Spencer.
Hotch snorted at that. "I don't believe in prophecies. I don't believe that some people are able to predict the future and yet their predictions come out as riddles that are not really clear except in hindsight."
"I agree with you," Spencer said, "and you know that Harry does as well. Remember he told us that..." Here Spencer closed his eyes for a moment and Hotch knew that he was pulling Harry's exact words from the depths of his perfect memory "...I don't have to believe in the prophecy, the point is that Voldemort believes it or at least the part that he knows. I knew that he would keep coming after me and not just me, but my family and friends so if that means that I am this 'chosen one' then so be it, for I knew that I would have to keep fighting. If I gave up then not only would I die, but so would those I loved and to me that was unacceptable and so was letting Voldemort destroy not only magical England, but eventually the world."
Spencer's brown eyes opened as soon as he finished speaking and looked at his lover. "I'm not sure I could have survived all Harry has been through or at least not sane. I'm glad I never met his headmaster Albus Dumbledore for I would be very tempted to sock him in the nose. It really is largely his fault that Harry went through everything he did. I know that all that blame can't be placed on his shoulders, but he is totally responsible for leaving him with his abusive aunt and uncle. I mean the man didn't even bother to check up on Harry to see that he was loved and doing well and from what we've been told he could have done that and the Dursleys never had to know he was there since he could make himself invisible. I mean it is only common sense to check up on the child you placed there periodically until you are sure they are alright and yes Harry's mother Lily was apparently the complete opposite of her sister, but Dumbledore was warned that they were the worst sorts of muggles to raise a child by two people who knew what Petunia was like and yet he didn't listen. You know me I'm not usually prone to violence, but what Dumbledore did to that poor child, by leaving him with his abusive relatives, by not telling him about his heritage, by putting the weight of the world on his shoulders, but not bothering to train him to actually survive his inevitable confrontation with pure evil. He should have been arrested for child abuse, child neglect, child endangerment and if it was actually punishable by law complete idiocy."
It wasn't very often that Hotch saw his mate get upset like this and Spencer had been furious at the time he had been told all about Harry's life up until he had been 18 and had quite a few things to say to him then as well that he kept to himself until they were alone in their room at Potter Manor as he hadn't wanted to upset Harry by venting his feelings in front of him.
"You knew then that I agreed with everything you said to me in anger back when we were first told just as I agree with your feelings now," Hotch said gently putting an arm around Spencer's waist and pulling him close not sounding at all ruffled about how Spencer was ranting at him and that was because he knew that Spencer's anger wasn't directed at him, but at the idiots who had put so much on a child's shoulders, prophecy or not.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell at you Aaron," Spencer said looking incredibly sheepish. "I know it isn't your fault for how Harry was treated and here I was yelling at you."
"Hey, don't apologize, you can vent at me anytime you want as it isn't good to keep those feeling all bottled up you know, you taught me that. Besides I know your anger isn't directed at me, but at those idiots who put so much on the shoulders of a defenseless child and left him in a home where he was unwanted and unloved," Hotch said. "Believe me I share every single one of your feelings and just the thought of Jack or the twins in such an environment makes my blood boil as it does for any child in such a situation."
"You're the best," Spencer told him and leaned over just enough to give Hotch a very passionate kiss on the lips.
"Harry's aunt, uncle and cousin are really pieces of work and I am still astonished that they were never reported to child services for the abuse of their nephew. Child services should've been down on the whole family like a jackhammer. I mean come on Harry wearing those to big clothes that were at least three sizes too big for him should have been the first clue that something was horribly wrong."
"Yes, I agree," Spencer said shaking his head. "How Harry fell through the cracks of the system that is specifically designed to protect children, especially when it was so obvious that something was wrong I don't have a clue."
"Well, it did happen England and not America," Hotch pointed out. "Things are different over there."
"But not that different," Spencer argued. "Yes, I know it's a monarchy over there and not democratic, but there are still child endangerment laws very similar to our own. I mean from what Harry has told us he lived in a good neighborhood, so people should have noticed that something was wrong and instead all the neighbors accepted the Dursleys lies that he went to a school for criminal boys." Spencer snorted in derision at that. "Come on! It was so clear that he was crying out for help and nobody bothered. I mean are you telling me that no one noticed that all he did was chores and more chores and never had a chance just to be a child? Much less get in trouble? Or that he wore clothes three or four sizes to big for him? The very idea is ludicrous unless they're all as dumb as rocks."
"Or just didn't care," Hotch suggested softly agreeing with Spencer completely and knowing exactly where he was coming from.
"I could understand some of the people of the neighborhood feeling like that, but all of them?" Spencer said looking incredulous.
"Yes, it would seem to be almost impossible for the whole neighborhood to just ignore Harry as if he didn't exist," Hotch had to agree.
"And yet it happened," Spencer said shaking his head in disgust. "How can a whole neighborhood of people be so unfeeling that they ignore a little boy's, then a young teenager's silent cries for help? How could Dumbledore have put a toddler into such a situation in the first place? Harry clothes should have been the first clue for god's sakes that something was rotten in the Dursley household and yet all the neighbors just accepted that Harry was a budding criminal instead of trying to find out the truth."
"I think," Hotch said slowly thinking back to some of the conversations he'd had with Harry, "that Harry never went far from the street he actually lived on, so it was just people in the immediate vicinity of Privet Drive, say no more then a mile, maybe two."
"Alright so maybe it wasn't the whole neighborhood, but that's still a lot of people and at least one of them should have noticed his situation," Spencer said, "and reported it."
"I believe Harry told us that the Squib Mrs. Figg did as she lived on the same street as him and in fact just a few doors down, at Dumbledore's request to look after Harry and yet if she reported his neglect he ignored those reports."
"You know it's a good thing, that Albus Dumbledore is dead, or I'd hunt him down and teach him what it's like to be abused for your whole life, to be denied your heritage, to be ignored and mistreated..." Spencer paused then sighed the anger running out of him like water through a crack. "I suppose that it's just as well that Dumbledore is no longer among the living for I wouldn't want to be put on trial for murder."
"If you could even get near him as he was supposedly a very powerful wizard and you're not," Hotch pointed out although he was also smiling at the image that Spencer's words had put in his mind.
"Yes, well, I suppose that's another reason is just as well that he is beyond any mortal retribution, although I hope he's getting what he deserves now that he's dead. What he did under the supposed moniker of the 'greater good' makes me feel all slimy and in need of a nice long, hot shower and I'm not even sure that would do any good. I'm not saying Dumbledore was totally evil like Voldemort just that he focused so much on Harry supposedly growing up too defeat him that he took actions that were not his to take like putting him with his relatives and sealing his parents will, so that it wouldn't be discovered who they had named as guardians."
"Yes, if what Harry found out is correct Sirius Black his godfather was supposed to look after him if anything happened to them and if he had been allowed to take Harry and raise him he never would've ended up in Azkaban and he'd likely still be alive today," Hotch said shaking his head. "Harry did say that his godfather had always been impulsive and that his father was like a brother to him and when he and his wife were killed he went after the traitor since he couldn't take care of Harry. If Dumbledore hadn't stuck his long nose into the situation Harry would've grown up in a happy home although I suppose there's no point in discussing it now. I just hope that Kingsley will stop anybody from having so much power like Dumbledore did again. Dumbledore had so much power that he lost sight of the fact that people need freedom of choice and don't like being manipulated like some kind of puppets."
"Well, you know what Baron John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton once said," Spencer said in a much calmer tone of voice then he had been using previously. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely. In other words nobody should have so much power that they can control people just because they are greatly respected, loved, adored or in some cases feared. When somebody is respected or adored to much people think that they can never make mistakes and tend to forget that they are human, with human weaknesses." Spencer shook his head as he thought about all his distant cousin had gone through all because of one man. "Thank you for listening to me rant," Spencer added after a moment leaning over to kiss Hotch on the cheek. "I feel better now and you're right when you said a few minutes ago that it's not good to keep negative feelings all bottled up."
"You're welcome," Hotch said giving Spencer's hand a squeeze. "I know there's nothing we can do about the situation now since Harry's all grown up, but if only we had known back then what we do now."
"It wouldn't have done any good since I'm a couple years younger than he is," Spencer said with his first smile of the evening. "Harry says that the situation has improved and Kingsley has put through laws so that an orphaned child should not be put into such a situation again. It was one of the first things Kingsley did when he became Minister of Magic."
"Yes, Harry said that when Kingsley found out what his childhood had really been like he was furious, but he wasn't about to confront Dumbledore and perhaps have his memories erased so he waited until he had the power to do something. That was probably smart," Hotch admitted. "Kingsley is smart enough to realize that the abuse Harry suffered but is not an isolated incident and some wizarding families do the same thing to supposedly keep their children in line, although it's not always the parents who are abusive."
"Yeah, but getting people to report it especially the children…"
"No system is perfect," Hotch said philosophically. "What happens in the wizarding world happens in the normal one too and not every case of child abuse his caught."
"Yes, I know it's somewhere around 60 or so percent and that's just for neglect not for other types of abuse, like physical," Spencer said. "Children carry that abuse with them for the rest of their lives, you know and a lot of them turn bitter and hateful. Dumbledore is just damn lucky that didn't happen with Harry for it was very possible at that time that Harry could have turned into someone who was like that and if that had happened he never would have been willing to put his life on the line to defeat someone like Voldemort. You would think someone who was as smart as Dumbledore supposedly was would have been more careful with someone who was supposed to defeat such an evil, experienced villain."
"Just because you're intelligent doesn't mean you have any common sense," Hotch commented. "Or perhaps it was just because he had too many irons in the fire so to speak. He took on too much. In other words he let the littler things slip through the cracks."
"You're probably right," Spencer conceded, "but now I'm going to do my best to put those memories that we saw in Harry's Pensieve to the back of my mind, once again, as I don't want to think about than any longer since they'll just make me furious all over again and you know how much it takes to get me really mad."
"What you need is a distraction," Hotch suggested with a leer that he reserved for Spencer alone his dark brown eyes filled with lust roving up and down his lover's lithe, slim body that he hoped to have unclothed shortly.
Spencer's pupils immediately became just pinpricks of color with a large ring of white surrounding the brown. Spencer knew that Aaron only used that expression and tone of voice for him and him alone as his lover knew it turned him on immensely.
"We had better head upstairs then," Spencer said immediately grabbing Hotch's hand in his and heading towards the stairs at top speed for it was obvious that his cock had reacted to his lover's tone of voice and look as there was visible bulge in the front of his pants.
Hotch just laughed for Spencer's reaction was the one he had been hoping for and so allowed his lover to pull him upstairs to the bedroom.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Lochlan and Landon, age 14
Several months passed and Hotch and Spencer had almost forgotten all about Harry's letter since there had been no others and soon it was almost time for the twins to be home for the summer when another letter arrived.
"Listen to this," Spencer said as he brought the letter into the den where Hotch was sitting and watching the football game, which was a rare occurrence since normally he was gone on a case and rarely got to watch one at all as he always forgot to record them to, but thanks to Spencer's memory football games were now recorded for when he had time to watch them.
"Who is it from?" asked Hotch as he recognized the parchment as a letter from someone in the wizarding world since they were the only ones that used it and since the only people they kept in contact with were the Potters and the twins it had to be from one of them.
"It's from Ginny," said Spencer as he read the entire contents of the letter in just a few seconds.
"Well, what does Ginny have to say?" asked Hotch.
Spencer sat down beside his lover and curled up into his side he began to read.
Dear Aaron, Spencer, and family,
I just thought I'd write this letter to you to let you know that I'm pregnant! I'm pregnant! I know that Harry wrote you a letter several months ago to let you know that we were considering the possibility, but it hadn't been fully decided upon at that time. I know that you were excited to find out that we were considering having another child and now there will be one more in our now combined family, although whether it is a boy or girl, we are not yet sure of at this point, but this will be the last one.
As much as Harry and I both love children, giving birth is not exactly a walk in the park even if you have a couple years rest between each child and carrying more than one is even worse, what with nausea, strange food urges, back aches, feeling like a beached whale the further along you are and everything that goes along with pregnancy.
I have a healer's appointment at St. Mungo's next week and will let you know how that goes and what the healer has to say, although at this stage it would be impossible to tell what sex we are having, since I believe I am only about a month or a month and a half along.
As you can guess both mom and dad were very excited when Harry and I told them that I was pregnant once again as both of them truly love children which is the reason they decided to have so many.
Mum is particularly nervous with excitement as she can't wait to hold get another grandchild in her arms, although I think she would prefer for it to be Charlie's, but he seems determined to stay a bachelor for the rest of his life, not it is anything wrong with that so long as he's happy, although mum disagrees. (Imagine eye roll here)
Spencer and Aaron snorted at that. They both knew that Molly Weasley was something of a busybody and extremely bossy trying to rule her children's lives, even now that they were all grown up with lives of their own. So what if the second oldest Weasley son wasn't married? Why did it matter so long as he was content and happy with his life as it was. Not everybody wanted to marry or have children and Charlie just happened to be one who was perfectly content being single and their was nothing wrong with that.
You would think 17 grandchildren, 18 with this newest one between all seven children would be plenty for anybody, but mum wouldn't mind having 30 or 40 to spoil rotten.
Both Harry and I are hoping for another girl this time as I'm sure you are aware of from Harry's letter a few months ago. Unfortunately the Weasleys and Potters both have been known for producing boys instead of girls, although there are at least a few girls in the Potter family tree in the last five or six hundred years even if there are many more males then females.
I hope when this baby is finally born that the two of you can come and see him or her at St. Mungo's, although that is still months away I know.
Harry and I just want you to know that we consider you, the twins, Jack and Sara as part of our family now and my husband and I both agree that you can never have to much family. Family has always been important to the Weasleys and we aren't ones to just throw you out on the street if you are suddenly bitten by a werewolf for example, unlike some families would. Our family motto has always been family first, always and that was one of the reasons why the prat, also known as Percival Ignatius Weasley was accepted back into the family fold.
I'll write you again after my healer's appointment next week.
Sincerely,
Ginny
"Well it looks like another son or daughter will soon be joining the Potter family," Spencer said as he put the letter down on the coffee table that was in front of the couch.
"Yes, but Ginny and Harry have both agreed that there won't be anymore after this," Hotch said, "Personally I think that six children are more then enough even if three of those are well on their way to being grown up."
"I can certainly understand your point of view, but then again there aren't many people I've actually met that truly love children and would love to have a dozen or so if they could afford to," Spencer said. "Harry and Ginny are perfectly matched in that way since both would truly love as many children as possible to love and spoil. Harry's that way at least partly I'm sure because he grew up without a family of his own, ones that actually shared his blood and no I'm not counting his aunt and cousin considering how he was abused by them and his uncle."
Hotch nodded for what Spencer said was perfectly logical.
"And Ginny probably loves children just because she got that love from her parents," Hotch suggested and Spencer nodded in agreement. "Her mother and father truly love children which is why they had seven and our childhood has a great deal of affect on we grow up to be as adults."
"And why do I have a feeling that if they'd had another boy as number seven they would have kept trying until they got to girl?" asked Spencer his brown eyes sparkling mischievously.
"Because you know from what Ginny has told us that her parents always wanted at least one girl?" Hotch suggested with a grin of his own.
Spencer laughed at that, but also nodded in agreement. "You're absolutely right."
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Several months later another letter from the Potters arrived and as soon as the box that sat on his desk had finished glowing Hotch who was working in his study opened the lid. The magical box at the Potters had given them in order to receive letters from their sons while they were at Hogwarts always glowed for a few seconds whenever something arrived in the box and also when you were sending a letter as well.
Hotch read the letter quickly, although not as quickly as his lover could have done it, but when he got to one part his eyes widened in astonishment and then he got up and headed out to find Spencer.
"Another letter?" asked Spencer as soon as he saw the parchment in Hotch's hand. "Who is it from? The twins? Or one of the Potters?"
"It's from Harry," Hotch confirmed as he sat down next to Spencer on the couch in the den reading a book.
"Well what does it say?" asked Spencer as he put the book he had been reading aside not bothering to mark his place.
Dear, Spencer and Aaron,
Just wanted to let you know that Ginny had another healer's appointment today and what we found has astonished both of us. Both Ginny and I thought that her belly was looking awfully big for just a single baby considering she is only about four months along and has another five to go. Ginny and I agreed that she was at least double the size of when we had James, Albus and Lily and even bigger than when we had Fabian and Gideon and we thought perhaps it was another set of twins, which while it would be unusual was not an impossible possibility.
Once the healer examined Ginny though and did several spells it was discovered that it's not just twins, but triplets, and from the looks of things so far fraternal as the healer is positive that there is at least one girl and one boy although we're not sure of the sex of the third one since he or she is hiding behind the other two.
Triplets are extremely rare and both Ginny and I were absolutely shocked to the core as we expected a single baby or perhaps twins again, but triplets are so rare in and both the magical and muggle worlds that we never even thought of it as a possibility.
"Triplets?" asked Spencer in astonishment.
"Triplets," Hotch confirmed, "and believe me I was just as shocked the first time I read the letter a few minutes ago before I brought it to you. Not many people have triplets naturally as usually if a woman does have triplets it's because of pregnancy drugs, but as far as I know there's nothing like those kinds of drugs that speed up your ovulation in the wizarding world so it's most likely natural."
"But to have twins and then just a couple years later triplets the odds of that must be at least 500,000 to 1 or more," Spencer said.
"Probably," Hotch agreed as he found his place in Harry's letter and continued to read.
Pick your jaws up off the floor! If your reactions are anywhere similar to Ginny's and mine when we found out.
What we found out that Ginny was on schedule for a mid-June due date and that the babies were healthy we both went home and started doing research into the Potter family history since Ginny was sure that it must come from that side of the family as the Weasleys have never been known to produce triplets or at least as far as she knew.
We looked at the Potter family tapestry much more closely then it has ever been studied by either of us before and discovered several sets of triplets although they were several hundred years apart and that there hadn't been any ever since my great-great-grandfather's time.
Triplets suddenly started being born right around the time that Hogwarts was being built, which means the time of the founders and although I had already known this the Potters are directly related to Godric Gryffindor through their oldest son Tristan. Of course we don't know if their were any triplets before then, since that is as far back as is recorded for the Potter bloodline. If there were other records further back they have since been destroyed or possibly just lost. By the way it isn't exactly well-known that the Potters are related to one of the four founders so please don't say anything to anybody as I already get enough media attention as it is and if it was suddenly discovered that I was related to Godric Gryffindor me and my family would never have another moment's peace, as I'm still treated like a celebrity anytime I go out in public for my defeat of Voldemort and that was almost 20 years ago.
We did a lot more research in the Potter Manor library and read the history of when the triplets in the family were born and we also found out that it's more likely that you'll have multiple babies if you are over thirty-five, although why that is so I don't know, but Hermione assures us that it is a fact. One or more of the triplets born centuries ago of course did not survive since medical practices were very primitive back then, although not as primitive as muggle technology.
In any case our healer warned Ginny that she needs to be really careful and that he might be forced to put her on bed rest the farther along she gets as a precaution and I'm sure you can guess how my wife reacted to that, although she did agree to do it if it became necessary for as a healer she knows it's true, even if she doesn't like it.
I'm afraid that both Ginny and I are terrible patients as we're just to active to enjoy staying in bed with nothing to do. I always hated laying in the hospital wing when I was in school because of some Quidditch related injury and Madam Pomfrey always kept her patients far longer then was necessary in a lot of cases or at least I always thought so.
We'll keep you informed as to how to Ginny's pregnancy is progressing, although right now things are going well, though Ginny does say she feels like she's had around 30 or 40 extra pounds added, which is understandable because she is carrying a lot of extra weight around, right now, so it's no wonder her back is aching and that she can't see her feet even though she is only in her fourth month of pregnancy?
The healer also warned us that multiple babies always come notoriously early and triplets usually come at about 32 weeks, although it would be good if Ginny can somehow manage to not go into labor until she's at least 35 weeks along as the longer the babies stay inside her tummy the more likely that all three will survive with fewer medical problems and lead happy, healthy and productive lives. Our medical field is advanced in a lot of ways, but in other ways we are way behind the muggles when it comes to helping to save lives. The good thing though is that magical folks seem to be hardier in most cases to muggles, even in the womb and since all three triplets are going to have magic, even if it is undeveloped, it is very likely that they will cling to life and be born healthy, we'll just have to wait and see. Besides in the years I've been part of the wizarding world I have seen many miraculous things that muggles can only dream about so I must believe that Ginny's and mine three children will be born healthy and whole for to believe anything else would drive me insane and depress me.
Ginny says that I care to much, but I know it would upset her as well to lose any of her children including the three yet to be born, but she is also made of sterner stuff then I am, but then all the Weasleys are and although she might never get completely over the death of even one of our children she would mourn for awhile then move on. Having to kill Voldemort nearly led to my own death as I had never wanted to have to kill anyone, no matter how much it was deserved or how evil they were and it was Ginny who pulled me out of my depression and made me start to live again. I had loved her even before, Ron, Hermione and left to locate those items I told you about. My main thought before I had to go and face Voldemort was that if I survived I was going to apologize for breaking up with her in order to keep her a little safer for Voldemort would not have scrupled against using her to get to me before I was ready to face him for that final time. I was determined to ask her to marry me and yet when the deed was done all I could think about was that I had killed another human being, even if Voldemort was hardly human anymore.
I was as depressed as a person can be and was thinking that everyone would be better off if I just killed myself, but then like an angel Ginny told me that if I had better not dare leave her. She didn't cut me any slack and told me that Voldemort had to die so that good people could live in peace and raise their families. She said that she was sorry that task had fallen to me and if Dumbledore was still alive she would give him apiece of her mind for leaving me with my relatives and for forcing me to grow up without any love and support. In any case it was then I decided, once I got over my depression, that I wasn't cut out to be an Auror and so decided to be a teacher instead and nurture young minds instead of capturing and possibly having to kill dark wizards. This does not mean that I will not defend myself and those I love, but I hope I never have too, but if that day should ever come I will be ready.
Sorry to be so morbid, but I feel better after getting my feeling out and there are not many people I can say such things to, for everybody expects me to be the strong one and always do what needs to be done with no doubts at all. I could talk to Ginny, but I don't want to put any more pressure on her right now so that only leaves you. (Imagine bitter laugh here) The public expects their heroes to be perfect and don't think for a moment that they are human, with human frailties. Most of the time the public's opinion doesn't bother me, but occasionally when I am under a lot of pressure or am especially tired it does depress me to think that even nearly twenty years after the darkest wizard ever born defeat people are still expecting me to play the hero.
My friends and family understand this and so treat me as just, Harry, not some unrealistic hero out of a comic book. Kingsley also understands where I am coming from and treats me normally to, well, a normally as he can since he is the Minister of Magic, but although we are good friends he has enough on his plate with running the government and all that entails without me ranting about the unfairness of the universe. I could talk to Remus I suppose, since he really is like a father to me in a lot of ways, but again he has enough to worry about with his wife being an Auror and knowing how dangerous that can be even in this time of peace. Thanks again for listening to me vent and again I'm sorry, but I've just been so worried about Ginny lately that I suppose it just all came out.
In any case to change the subject, Ginny knows that she must take it easy until after the triplets are born, so although she is still working at St. Mungo's it is only part time and that is the way it will remain until after the triplets births.
I'm sure you can guess that Ginny and I are excited about having another girl and we're hoping that the third triplet is also a girl, although we won't know until they shift position in Ginny's stomach so that the sex of the third baby is revealed. We'll let you know as soon as we do about the sex of that third baby, but I am going to say goodbye for now and you'll hear from us again soon.
Sincerely,
Harry
P.S. I'm sure you know that when Molly Weasley was told you could hear her screams of excitement from Devon to London since you have met her twice and know how excited she gets about children.
Spencer and Hotch laughed at that for they knew it was true as Molly Weasley did tend to get excited when she heard that one of her children was having a child, or in this case children of their own, no matter how many children the couple already had.
"Well it looks like instead of one baby joining the Potter family they'll be three so long as they are all born healthy of course," said Spencer.
"We just have to hope that they are because from the sound of things Harry might not ever completely recover from the loss of a child," said Hotch understanding completely since he had met people like that in the course of his work. "I've met people that were absolutely devastated if one of their children dies for whatever reason and some never completely recover from it."
"Well, as it happens I'm not sure if I could ever recover if one of the twins were to die on me or Jack for that matter," said Spencer. "When you love someone if they die before their time it leaves a hole in your heart that a lot of times never completely goes away."
Hotch nodded for he completely understood. "Haley was like that for me or she was anyway before I met you. Once we got together that hole in my heart was completely healed, but if anything were to happen to you..." Hotch paused unable to articulate his thoughts.
"You would never be completely whole again," Spencer suggested his voice choked full of emotions and Hotch nodded. "I feel the exact same way I promise you and I know you are very likely to die before me since not only are you ten years older, you have a very dangerous job, but I'll take what time I can get."
Both men leaned towards each other until there was not an inch between them and kissed long and lingeringly.
When they had broken apart Hotch asked, "Remember what Ginny told us?"
"When?" asked Spencer.
"When she commented on how close we were, much closer then ordinary couples."
"Oh yes then," Spencer said remembering Ginny words exactly. "She asked us if we had felt anything unusual when we had kissed for the first time and I remember both of us thinking that it was a rather odd question, but then I told her that we both felt like we were finally complete, like something had snapped into place in both our souls the minute we had shaken hands at Starbucks and when we had kissed for the first time several months later the feeling was intensified.
"Ginny was very pleased at your words I remember," Hotch said remembering Ginny's pleased look of satisfaction as if she had been proven right about something.
"She then asked us if we believed in soulmates and I told her that I had done some research into old myths and legends, particularly the Japanese ones and even though there was a lot of stories on the subject of soulmates I wasn't sure if I believed them and neither were you. Ginny said that I should because soulmates were real and that she and Harry had been soulmates since they had been born and so had you and I. You remember what happened after that."
"Ginny whipped out her wand and said something in Latin while giving her wrist a complicated little twist," Hotch said by way of reply remembering that day perfectly. "After she had finished I could suddenly see this thick cord of dark blue light connecting you and me."
"I saw the same thing," Spencer said, "which you were aware of. Ginny then told us that the cord connecting us meant we had been supposed to meet and fall in love, that we were destined to find each other. She said that not every person on Earth had a soulmate and that not even every magical person had one only the ones that had been born more than once and were mature enough to handle it."
"I remember both of us protesting that we didn't believe in reincarnation and Ginny just shrugged and said believe what you will, but if you ever try to kiss or have sex with anybody else you would have to accept the consequences of your actions and even for muggles like yourselves those consequences would be rather dire," Hotch said remembering. "Besides how much harder is it to believe in reincarnation, when you already believe in magic?"
"Like I would ever cheat on you," Spencer snorted in derision. "I love you way too much to ever consider taking such action even if it wasn't for that blue cord that connects us. I have no plans to ever kiss or have sex with anybody else."
"Good," Hotch almost growled feeling very possessive kissing Spencer deeply, which the other man returned immediately and eagerly, "because I believe you'll find that I am very possessive, if you aren't already aware of that particular trait of mine, and if I ever did find you with anybody else there would be consequences, which you would not like at all."
"The same goes for you," Spencer told his mate returning the kiss eagerly, with equal passion. "Normally I'm not the possessive type, but when it comes to you, well, let's just say I consider you my property and no one else is allowed to see or touch you like I do. I know I can't stop other women from staring at you or asking you out on dates or touching you to get your attention, even when you've made it clear that you're not available, but not a single one of them has ever seen you without your clothes or touched you intimately."
Hotch didn't take offense at Spencer's words for in this case he didn't mind being his lover's property as he thought of his mate the exact same way. They owned each other and nobody else had a right to touch them in an intimate way.
"And they never will for I'm yours, just as you're mine," Hotch assured his mate confidently pulling Spencer onto his lap and kissing the top of his head causing his mate to almost purr like a contented cat, causing Hotch to chuckle. "Just the thought of anybody else touching me the way you do makes me want to throw up everything I've ever eaten and makes me nauseous besides."
Spencer looked up into Aaron's face and noticed that he did look rather green.
"Shhh! It's okay, don't think about it anymore if it really is making you sick," Spencer said soothingly something he normally never had to do with Aaron since he was usually the one in charge not the other way around. That Aaron allowed himself to be taken care of instead of handling it in his own way showed just how close the two of them were and how much they trusted each other.
Slowly the green tinge faded from Hotch's face and he seemed to be feeling better within a few minutes. Of course Spencer rubbing his shoulders soothingly and kissing him on the lips, tenderly every few seconds helped a great deal.
"Thanks," Hotch said as he pulled Spencer as close to him as he could. "I don't plan on ever bringing the subject up again if it's going to make me feel like that. I really did feel as if I wanted to throw up everything I've ever eaten in the last ten years and if that's how you felt on our honeymoon when the subject came up I don't blame you for never bringing it up again."
"You're more than welcome and yes, that's now I felt," Spencer told him as he lovingly continued to rub Aaron's shoulders causing the other man to relax, the tension leaving his body. "I felt exactly the same as you just did as my stomach got all queasy and I felt like I wanted to throw up everything I'd ever eaten," Spencer added quietly remembering that day, when they had been laying in bed and the subject had come up and how nauseous and sick he had felt.
A sigh of contentment, escaped Hotch's lips as he let Spencer continue to rub his shoulder's gently. His head flopped back until it hit the wall gently and he closed his eyes as Spencer continued what he was doing. "Besides how many times over the last few years have you comforted me? It's just my turn to do the same for you since you are usually the strong one."
Both men were silent for awhile but finally Spencer said softly, "It seems like those legends I read after we had met have at least some truth to them as I really did feel like I had come home the minute we shook hands in Starbucks that day. I was never so content and happy until the day I met you, even though I had my sons. I love them and we'd had our happy times, but ever since that day almost ten years ago I've been happier and more content then I have ever been in the whole rest of my life combined. I realize now that I was lonely, despite my sons and Sara living in the same house."
Spencer looked up into his mate's dark eyes and saw all the emotions that he was feeling, love, contentment, happiness, possessiveness reflected back at him in Aaron's direct gaze.
"I feel the exact same way," Aaron assured him softly holding Spencer's body as close to his as possible and enjoying having the weight of the lighter man sitting on his lap. Spencer was lithe, tall and slim, while he was tall true, he was also much bulkier and broader of shoulder and in the chest as he was just built differently. Spencer had more of a runner's or swimmer's body, while he was shaped more like a football player and in fact he had played ball in high school and college.
Spencer sighed contently and seemed to burrow further into his mate's body, seeming to be trying to absorb Hotch's body heat.
"Even if I didn't believe in soulmates, I know without a doubt that we belong together," said Spencer moving his hand to Hotch's shirt and pulling in order to untuck it from his jeans.
Hotch immediately responded by placing his hands on both of Spencer's in order to stop him from finishing the job he had started, which his lover pouted at. "We had better head upstairs and you can finish undressing me in our bedroom and I will gladly let you have your way with me. You can even be on top if you like."
Spencer stared up into Aaron's eyes in surprise for normally he was on the bottom while his lover took the top and therefore the dominant position whenever they made love. For his mate to offer him the top position was an extremely rare event since Spencer had the submissive personality while his Aaron was the alpha and therefore the leader in all things, work, decisions and definitely when they were having sex. For Aaron to submit to him was a privilege that he wasn't about to turn down, not in a million years. It wasn't that he minded being in the normally submissive position, far from it, but he occasionally did enjoy taking the dominant position and now was such a time.
"I would have to be an idiot to turn down such an offer since it happens so rarely and I am definitely not stupid," Spencer said.
"No, you are not," Hotch agreed huskily kissing the younger man on the lips in a show of things to come. "In fact you are anything but. You are intelligent, educated, compassionate, handsome, passionate, especially in bed, and a wonderful father to our sons."
Spencer began to pant and his cock was making a very visible bulge in his pants at the love and passion in Aaron's kiss. "Let's go upstairs so I can strip you naked slowly and kiss and taste every inch of your delicious skin."
Hotch's eyes darkened even farther at the images Spencer's words put in his mind and he couldn't wait to be owned by the man he loved and feel the younger man to enter his body, hitting his prostrate and sending waves of excruciating pleasure though his entire body, causing it to spasm before he reached his climax.
"Let's go, before I lose control completely and take you right here where anybody can walk in on us," Hotch urged heading upstairs immediately, Spencer following grinning for he knew that it was a rare event for him to make his lover lose control like that as usually it was the other way around. Him making the man he loved lose control made him feel powerful indeed and he planned on taking advantage of it in just a few minutes.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
