Chapter 7 – A New Day

Ginny and Harry slept about four hours when James' cries woke them. Ginny was going to take care of him, but Harry was out of the bed almost immediately and made his way to James' cradle.

Looking down at his son, Harry asked "okay Ginny, what do I do?"

Ginny yawned and smiled. "Well first thing you do is pick him up rather than stare at him like he's a particularly troublesome garden gnome."

Harry bent down and very slowly retrieved his son. As he brought the baby closer, the problem became obvious.

"Good morning James. You smell!"

"Well Harry, ready for your first nappy change?"

Harry shrugged and followed Ginny to the dresser she had set up as a changing table. It took a couple tries, but Harry shortly made work of his first nappy change. James immediately calmed down after and Ginny took him to the bed to feed. Harry crawled in next to her and fell back to sleep. After James was fed, Ginny settled back and soon fell asleep with her son on her chest. A few hours later Arthur came to wake Harry and stopped in the doorway as he looked at Ginny with James asleep on her chest and Harry curled up on his side with his arm around them. As a father, the situation with Ginny had been one of the hardest he had faced, but now he finally felt that maybe everything would start turning right. He delayed in the doorway long enough that Charlie soon joined him and also stood entranced.

"Bloody hell, that's a beautiful sight. Especially after everything, huh da? "

"Indeed Charlie."

"Think he'll marry her?"

"He better."

"So I guess that means he has your blessing?"

Arthur snorted. "Like I was given much choice. Anyway, I need to wake them. Kingsley has been named the interim minister and will be here in about an hour and I wanted to give them some time to wake up. I imagine he'll want a full briefing."

Arthur entered the room and was going to shake Harry when Ginny stirred first. Seeing her father, she leaned over and gave Harry a kiss to wake him. As Harry started to wake he looked up at Arthur with a sigh.

"Good morning Harry. Kingsley will be here in about an hour. He didn't say exactly, but I think he will want a full briefing of everything you three have been up to and how everything happened last night."

"Alright Arthur, but Ron and Hermione need to be there to…Actually, I suppose everyone is due some explaining. Can you give me ten minutes and I'll be out? And can you wake Ron and Hermione and have them meet me in the living room?"

"Sure thing Harry."

Arthur left and Harry leaned over to kiss Ginny and James before climbing out of bed. He realized though that he had nothing to wear except the torn, bloody clothes he had taken off last night. He rummaged around in the old wardrobe in the room, found an ancient looking robe and put it on. Then he headed for the bathroom before leaving to talk to his best friends.

Meanwhile Arthur left to wake Ron, who was sharing a room with Percy. When he entered the room, he was in for another shock. Hermione was curled up in bed with Ron. They were both clothed and Percy was across the room, but still. Percy was awake and nodded at his father's stunned face.

"Morning dad. Bit of a sight aren't they? Can't believe they finally got together. Only took almost dying a couple times. Hermione showed up a couple hours after we all went to bed. She had some kind of nightmare. She was shaking so bad I thought I was going to need to fetch mum, but Ron settled her down. Don't worry, all they've been doing is sleeping."

"It's fine Percy. I hadn't suspected they would have the energy for anything more. I guess we'll all take some adjusting to…to everything. Now though I need to wake them. Kingsley is on his way and Harry wants to talk to them before."

Arthur crossed the room and shook Ron and Hermione awake. As they came to, Hermione startled and seemed a bit scared when she looked up at Arthur. Ron tightened his arm around her with a fierce glare at his father.

"Calm yourself Ronald. Percy explained what happened and I guess I really can't say anything after all you have been through. Now, Kingsley has been named the interim minister and will be here in a while and Harry is in the living room waiting to talk to the two of you before he arrives."

Arthur left the room and Ron and Hermione changed into clothes from Hermione's fabulous beaded bag before making their way down the hall to meet with Harry. He hugged them both before sitting down to discuss how they wanted to approach the impending questioning. They all decided that it was time for family and friends to know everything. They also realized that this would probably be the first of several briefings and none of them wanted to have to relive it all too often. So, they decided it would be best to invite a few others who deserved to know. With that decided, they left the room and went to the solarium, where Muriel was lounging with her tea. She raised her eyebrows and nodded at the three young people as Harry began to speak.

"Good morning Muriel. We're all grateful for your welcoming us into your home. As you probably heard, Kingsley is the interim minister and is coming to question us. We all feel it is time to let those closest to us know the full details of what we've been doing. I'd like to invite a few more people over, if that's alright with you?"

"Fine. It will be good to know what the bloody hell has been going on. Too many lies and rumors. How many do you expect in addition to the twelve of us already here?"

Harry conferred with Ron and Hermione before answering. "About fifteen, maybe seventeen. Would that be too many Muriel?"

"No, we should be able to manage. By the time you finish it will be lunch time. I'll send Twinky shopping. Hopefully the market will be open."

"Thanks Muriel and when things get sorted, I'll be able to repay you."

Muriel rolled her eyes and waved the three of them out of the room before summoning her house elf.

The trio made their way to the kitchen where Molly and Arthur were waiting. Molly was ready to start fixing food but desisted as Harry spoke.

"Thanks Molly, but I think we should hold off. Kingsley will be here shortly. I know he wants a full briefing and we've decided that if we are going to do this, we want to tell as many people as possible. I asked Muriel and she is kindly opening her home. She is going to have Twinky prepare lunch for everyone after we all talk. First though, we want Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, any other Order members, and any DA members that can be found to be informed. Can you help with that?"

Arthur looked at his wife as a bit of unspoken communication passed between them. "I'll go to Hogwarts straight away. Molly, can you round up the couple other Order members?"

Molly nodded and both of the elder Weasleys left to do Harry's bidding, leaving him a bit stunned. Hermione brought him around as she grabbed his arm.

"Come along Harry. You need to clean up a bit if you're going to meet the minister. I have your clothes and razor in my bag. That robe you're wearing is hideous."

Harry smiled and took the items Hermione produced before making his way back down to his bedroom to talk to Ginny. Meanwhile Ron and Hermione went to spread the word to the rest of the Weasleys throughout the house.