Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no claims to ownership.
Stepping out of the fireplace, Harry shook the ash from his hair, glad that no one was in the living room to see him stumble. Forty-one years old, and he still hadn't figured out how to use the Floo system properly. His only consolation was that Al was almost as bad with it, although Al, thankfully, never had any issues like getting lost in the system.
"Anyone home?" he called.
Instead of his family answering, another boy poked his head out of the kitchen.
"Hey, Uncle Harry," said Sirius. "Mrs. Potter took the other Potters to the Burrow. It's just us here."
That was one of the odd characteristics of the three Black children. Though they referred to Harry as an uncle, they didn't provide the same familiarity to Ginny. Harry had never found the reason for it, other than perhaps it was because he was Regulus' godfather.
Harry frowned. "When you say 'us'…"
"Me and Reg." Sirius paused. "And James and Al and Lily, but they're still sleeping."
"Of course they are," Harry sighed, glancing at the clock enviously. He was taking a break for lunch, and his children hadn't even woken up yet.
Entering the kitchen, he found Regulus sat at the table, stealing banana chips from Sirius' plate while his brother wasn't looking. He gave Harry a small wave, and Harry ruffled his godson's hair in response. Sirius and Regulus were at the Potter house almost as often as Rose and Hugo, so Harry wasn't bothered to find them in his kitchen and eating his food.
"Uncle Harry, how do you use this?" Sirius asked, examining the toaster. "And what's it for?"
Harry glanced at Regulus, who was leaning forward in his seat to get a better look at the toaster. It reminded Harry of when he and Ron briefly lived together after graduation; Ron, as a pureblood, had been just as clueless and curious about the Muggle items Harry sometimes used.
"Isn't your aunt a Muggle?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, but Aunt Elara and Aunt Paige always order take-out," Sirius answered.
"Chinese food is the best," Regulus added, completely seriously.
Harry opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a loud explosion from Al's room upstairs, shortly followed by a bellow from James, "SOME PEOPLE ARE STILL SLEEPING!" before he slammed his door closed again.
"Well, two of them are awake," said Sirius cheerfully, his hazel eyes sparkling when Harry threw him a mock glare.
"Lily, hurry up, I need the bathroom!" Al shouted.
"Five more minutes!" she yelled back at him.
"Lily, please, these blankets are on fire!"
"I SAID FIVE MORE MINUTES!"
Regulus and Sirius snickered as Harry looked up at the ceiling with his hands raised in a 'why me?' position.
Minutes later James arrived in the kitchen, his black hair ruffled so it stuck up even more, and he cursed under his breath as he opened the pantry. Harry pretended not to hear anything, although he was somewhat impressed at the creative mixing of English and Parseltongue.
"I hate Mondays," James grouched, slamming the cereal box onto the counter. "And where's the sugary stuff?"
"Your mum is trying to put us on a diet again," Harry said, his lips lifting as James rolled his eyes. "We'll see if she can last more than a week this time."
Every so often, Ginny tried to restrict Al's access to chocolate, since the mixture of Al and chocolate usually led to fiery catastrophes. So he wouldn't feel like he was being singled out, she'd also remove all unhealthy food from the house, but it was a well-known secret that they all just hid their sweets from each other until she caved in to her own craving.
Sirius offered his plate to James. "Banana chip? They're a little sweet."
"Not sweet enough," muttered Al as he entered, his eyebrows singed and an irritated twist to his mouth. "I need chocolate."
"After what just happened, that's the last thing you're getting," said Harry sternly.
Spots of color appeared in Al's cheeks. "But there was a stain, and it looked like blood –"
"I saw it, Al, and it was the exact shade of lipstick I let Rose borrow yesterday," interrupted Lily.
As Al flushed even more, his face turning the standard bright shade of Weasley red, the Floo alert signaled another impending arrival. Harry knew it was Ginny with the other Potter children because even though he heard her voice, Jase, Albus, and Lina were completely silent.
"Boys! Princess! We're back!" Ginny called.
Harry went to greet her, the children following him like little ducklings. It was sort of strange, for even Regulus, who was extremely close to Sirius, tended to be too independent for his own good. Harry supposed it was because they were all so curious about the other Potters.
"You're the princess, Reg," said Sirius.
"Is it because I'm prettier than you?" asked Regulus, just the slightest bit of teasing slipping into his usual monotone.
"If the princess is the prettiest person, then clearly it's Dad," said James, and Harry knew without looking that his son was smirking. "Those gray hairs make the ladies go wild."
"And some of the men, too," Lily added, and from her tone, Harry knew that she was grinning, too.
He paused to look in the hallway mirror, making a show of admiring his own reflection. There wasn't actually that much gray in his hair, and he was proud to say that it was still thick, unlike the receding hairline that Draco possessed.
Harry smelled the familiar scent of flowers before Ginny pressed up against him.
"Do I need to hex some potential admirers, dear?" she said into his ear, which was rather difficult as she had to stand on her toes and Harry had to bend down to her height.
"Just Neville," he replied with a grin, watching in the mirror as the children made faces at each other. "I have a date with him later on tonight."
She pouted. "Without me? Harry, I thought we agreed this would be a threesome. Do I need to seek comfort from Draco?"
James made a gagging sound from behind them.
"Ew," Al whined. "Now I have all of these gross mental images of you and my best friend's father."
"You're welcome, sweetheart," said Ginny, turning to look at him.
"Trust me, there was no gratitude in there," he said snippily.
Harry turned as well to see that Albus, Lina, and Jase had gathered with the other children. He was pleased to note that none of the three looked particularly surprised at Harry and Ginny's small, teasing display of affection. That was good, at least. His experience from growing up with the Dursley family had taught him that never showing affection or love, both to his spouse and his children, could lead to the children having a bad judgemement of what love looked like. Harry still feared how he would have understood Snape's memories if Ginny hadn't been there to teach him about real love.
"Are you staying for lunch?" Ginny asked him. "Apparently it was a bad time for Mum to meet the kids and she shooed us out, so we haven't eaten."
Harry faced her again, his brows rising. "Is that your way of asking me to cook?"
"I can cook instead if you're busy," Lily said before Ginny could answer.
He paused, thinking about it. He really did need to get back to the case and figure out how to get the other Potter children back to their own universe, but just as he opened his mouth to accept Lily's offer, Lina's shoulders dropped. When Jase stepped closer to his sister, she immediately hitched them up again.
"You know what, I think I can make some time," Harry decided aloud.
To Ginny, there was nothing better than the smell of freshly baked cookies. Her husband often joked that she loved them more than him, and on days he woke her up with his snoring, she would gladly declare it. Having her mother kick them out without getting any snacks first had given her a craving now.
"Mu – Mrs. Potter?"
She glanced over her shoulder. "Ah, Jase, did you need something?"
He shuffled his feet and said hesitantly, "I was just wondering if I could get something more to eat…"
Ginny smiled at him, well aware of the eating habits of teenagers while still in their growing phase. Both James and Al had tremendous appetites, although James' was tapering off to his frustration and Al's delight. Even Lily, who was fourteen, was starting to eat more. It had been an interesting diet change to which Ginny and Harry had to adjust, as they had to buy enough food not only for their own family but also the people who visited so often.
"Well, if you help me with these, I might let you have the first bite," she offered.
"Sure," Jase said. "What do you want me to do?"
She handed him some dough. "Roll this out and then use these cookie cutters. It's best to dip it in flour after each cut. Trick my mum taught me."
"Does it actually work?" he asked curiously.
"No idea, but I do it anyway," Ginny replied with ease.
They worked together in silence, rolling out the dough and cutting shapes out of it. Ginny watched Jase as he made the stars she had chosen for Sirius and Regulus, noting absently that he had Harry's hands. Once the cookies were arranged properly on the sheets, Ginny bent down to place them in the oven.
"I could have done that," said Jase.
Ginny straightened and turned to face him with one finger raised. "Lesson number one: if a woman is already doing something or says she'll do it, let her. If she says nothing about it, then offer to do it for her."
"Noted," he said with a smile, and again, Ginny could see Harry clearly in him.
"Good."
With a flick of her wand, glowing numbers hung in the air to remind her of the time. Then she reached for the small remainder of cookie dough and popped a piece in her mouth. She made sure to chew with her mouth closed and swallowed before speaking again; Andromeda had hammered good manners into the Potter family so, in Andromeda's words, Teddy wouldn't return to her an impolite beast.
"So, tell me," Ginny said mischievously, propping her elbows on the counter between them and leaning forward, "do you have a girlfriend?"
Jase blushed slightly and began fiddling with the cookie cutters. "Er, yeah. We began dating a few months ago." He paused, glancing up at her briefly before looking down again and adding, "It's Ivy Nott."
Ginny's brows rose. "Now that's interesting. Do I need to give you the Talk?"
"No, Uncle Ron covered it," he said quickly.
She bit the inside of her cheek. It was usually something discussed by the parents, and she wondered why she and Harry's counterparts hadn't done it.
"Ivy's different here," said Jase. "Actually, I didn't know most of the people there yesterday."
Ginny frowned as she tried to remember everyone in attendance. Draco, always eager to make his children happy after Astoria died, had invited everyone who had spoken even a single kind word to Scorpius.
"Well, there was Phoenix. She's in Gryffindor, so you probably know her…" Ginny trailed off as Jase shook his head. "Was Rabastan Lestrange caught after the war in your universe, then?"
Jase shrugged. "No idea. Dad wasn't very good at catching Death Eaters, though. I mean, you'd think they'd have stricter security after Dad's godfather escaped Azkaban, and yet Rodolphus Lestrange somehow managed it. So maybe Rabastan is still free, too."
"Interesting," Ginny repeated in a much different tone. "Well, anyway, Phoenix Strange is his illegitimate daughter. Best not to ask her about it, though."
Jase's eyes widened. "Wait, then did you catch Delphi, too?"
"Delphi?"
"Delphini Riddle. She's the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort," Jase explained.
Surprised, Ginny let out a burst of laughter.
"Voldemort's daughter?" she said incredulously. "From what Harry's told me, Voldemort didn't even have the right, ah, equipment to have children."
Jase shrugged again helplessly. "That's what Albus said. She could speak Parseltongue, too."
"I think your brother is extremely gullible," said Ginny. "Harry used to be guilty of it, too. He'd take almost everything at face value without questioning it." She shook her head. "It's more likely Rodolphus or someone else is this Delphi person's father. Parselmouths pop up sometimes in pureblood families."
The timer went off and Ginny pushed back from the counter to check on the cookies. Finding that the edges were slightly brown, she removed them from the oven and used a charm to cool them. Then she handed one to Jase.
"As promised. Don't worry, it should be good," she added at his look of suspicion. "I might not be able to cook, but I can bake pretty well."
Jase bit into the cookie and she watched as he closed his eyes, savoring the taste.
"Give me that entire plate," he demanded.
Ginny laughed and let him select how many he wanted. Accounting for having six teenage boys in the house along with Lily and Lina, she had made more than enough for them to share, and she sent him upstairs with the rest of the cookies.
It was only once she heard his footsteps on the landing that she spoke her thoughts aloud.
"That is one fucked up world."