Thank you for all the encouraging reviews, I love them! Hope you enjoy. Mina

7. The Nanny

It was a week since school had started for the Hogwarts students and Harry too had started to look at the course work he was supposed to follow at home.
Trying to determine how many different transfiguration spells he knew, at the same time as feeding Rose was turning out to be a bit harder than he'd thought.

A whole week had passed since he visited the twins last and he'd sent them a note, the night before to expect company this morning. It wouldn't be him visiting though.

He'd been watching the clock all morning, waiting for the knock that now sounded at the door, to come. He walked towards the front door carrying Rose and opened it for their first real guests.

"Harry mate! What a lovely house!" George gushed in an overly impressed tone. Fred just shrugged, handed Harry some daisies and looked around calmly.

Harry waved at Dobby, who couldn't stay.
He had realised that he could ask Dobby to tell the twins where the cottage was as he was the Secret Keeper. Dobby was happy to help and had been round for his own visit on the Friday, but Sundays were busy as the students were off from lessons and he hadn't wanted to stay away from work so soon again.

"You need to do something about the garden though, it's too big to be without a Quidditch pitch." Fred said, grinning.
"So this is it? The training headquarters for the famous Harry Potter." He added stepping in through the door.

"This is it, welcome to our home." Harry said, grinning back widely at them whilst Rose stared at them intently.

"Well hello there, madam." Fred said bowing gallantly, before shaking her foot. She gave him a smile in return for his efforts.

George made a loud squealing noise and stuck his tongue out at her, making her frown in fright at the noise.
"Why does she keep frowning at me?" He asked, looking bewildered.

"Must be your fat, ugly face." Fred said thoughtfully, making George glare at his twin.

Harry hoisted Rose up on his shoulder and led them towards the kitchen, where he'd prepared lunch.

"Do you guys want a butterbeer?" He asked, as they walked past the living room.
He had made sure to order in a floo shop full of goodies for his first human guests. The twins both nodded in affirmation, looking around curiously.

"You should send a copy of this one to mum!" George said, looking at one of the photos hanging on the wall. Dobby had snapped Harry and Rose outside on a blanket, practising push-ups in the garden. Rose was getting stronger all the time, Harry was proud to say.

"Yes, she loves the one from your birthday. Keeps it with her all the time." Fred agreed after glancing at the picture George was indicating.
"It's a real nice place, mate." Fred said looking around appreciatively.

"Bit too isolated for my taste, but then I don't have Dark Lords and Dumbledores looking for me." George interjected. Fred snorted at his brothers wit and sat down at the table where Harry had laid out a feast.

"Nice spread!" Fred said approvingly, helping himself to the potato crisps.

Harry grinned and enjoyed the novelty of having company.
Fred and George could eat just as much as Ron, Harry found out as they dined.
He laughed at their comments on the strange customers they sometimes had and enjoyed hearing how the Order were resigning themselves to not finding Harry.

"Moody is right proud of you, says that if you can hide from him and the Headmaster you must know what you're doing. He thinks we should leave you be and concentrate on finding Deatheaters and the like." Fred said in between bites of barbecued chicken and roast potatoes.

"Mm, Mum wants you to come back though. Says you're far too young to be living with a baby on your own." George said in a good imitation of his mothers scolding voice. Fred snorted up his drink and Harry had to put the sleeping Rose down into her basket as he was shaking with laughter.

"I think she just wants some distraction from having Fleur in the house." Fred said as soon as the laughter settled down.

Harry eyed him surprised.
"Fleur Delacour?" He asked, wondering what the Beauxbatons champion was doing at the Burrow. Fred and George eyed him equally surprised.

"You mean you haven't heard?" Fred asked. Harry shook his head.

"So, Ron decided to not share that titbit eh?" George said with an evil grin.
"Prat has been falling all over his feet in order to impress her this summer." He added with a smirk.

"Bill asked her to marry him and she said yes." Fred finally revealed, making Harrys brows rise high.

"I still say he befuddled her." George interjected seriously.

"Where on earth did they meet?" Harry asked curiously, last he'd heard she was going back to France.

"Oh, she works part-time at Gringotts now, has been for the better part of a year. Bill thought it would be a good idea to bring her home to meet the family." George answered, grinning at the last bit.

Harry frowned at his tone.
"What's wrong with bringing her to the Burrow?" He asked confused.

"Mum's worried they're moving too fast and Fleur is all pretty and girly. Mum hates her and so does Ginny." Fred said cheerfully, making Harry even more confused. Why would Fleur being pretty and girly be a reason to hate her?

"Ok." Harry said, shaking his head in bemusement, he'd never understand girls.

"They've been looking for a place to stay though, so they might have left the house already." George said thoughtfully.

They relocated into the study where Harry showed them his school stuff. Fred offered to help with any potions queries he had as that was one of the subjects he'd actually passed with an Exceeds Expectations.

George then offered to help with Transfiguration, as he had received an E as well for his hard work. Harry wondered if they'd decided who was getting an O.W.L in what subject and then ignored the others.

Whilst George stood paging through one of Harrys books, Fred leaned against the desk eyeing Harry thoughtfully.

"Remember how you asked if we knew anyone looking for a babysitting job?" He asked Harry, who eyed him with a sinking feeling. He really hoped Fred hadn't told some stranger where the cottage was.
"Well, I do happen to know someone, Angelina had to quit her job working as a Quidditch support player." Fred said casually.

"Fred and Angel…oomph." Georges chant was interrupted by a stunner from Fred.

"As I was saying, Angelina is looking for a small job and she has looked after her cousins baby lots. I didn't tell her it was you looking for help of course!" He said, correctly interpreting Harrys worried look.

"I'm not sure Fred." Harry said uncertainly. He glanced down at Rose who'd woken up and was playing with her foot contently.
He did need to get on with his schoolwork, if he was to have any chance of getting ready to do his N.E.W.T's at the same time as his friends.
And he really did want to get a degree, if only because he'd need to find a job at some point, if he was to support himself and Rose.

"She wouldn't tell anyone about you or Rose, you know you can trust her!" Fred hurried to say.
Harry did feel like he could trust her, they'd been playing Quidditch for years together and she'd joined the D.A the previous year.

"Ok, she can come for a trial, but if it doesn't work she'll have to swear on her magic not to reveal where I live!" Harry said, stressing the last.

"I'll Obliviate her myself if I need to." Fred promised.

Harry was slightly worried that Fred knew how to use a memory charm, but nodded in reluctant approval. If that was what it took to keep them safe, then he wouldn't say no to removing her memory. Fred looked pleased and turned to gloat at his brother, only to remember that he'd stunned him.

"Sorry George, old chap." He said sheepishly, cancelling the spell. George glared at him and looked ready to retaliate but was interrupted by Rose, who decided she had investigated her own feet long enough, she wanted up.

The twins left with the promise of coming over again soon and Fred promised to bring Angelina over in two days time.

Harry was rather nervous about seeing the tall girl again but hoped it would work out for the best.

During the two days before Angelina's imminent arrival, Harry kept himself busy with setting up a study schedule for himself.
The home study manual said that working in one-hour per subject was a good study format. And that he should have small breaks in between each hour.

He had decided to study Defence, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbiology and Potions. He figured that if he managed to actually get five N.E.W.T's, he at least had the option of trying out for Auror training, if he still wanted to in the future.

Professor McGonagall had responded to his letter as well, which Harry had opened expecting sharp words.

Dear Harry

I must say that it came as quite a shock, not only to have the Quidditch badge back but to have you leaving school altogether. I am rather curious to how you are planning on reaching your ambition on becoming an Auror without N.E.W.T's and caring for a small baby, if the Headmaster is to be believed?

I do wish you had stayed on, but understand your reluctance to leaving a small baby with your relatives. Worse family to leave a magical child with, if ever I saw one. Told Albus so myself the night he left you on their doorstep.

If you are ever in the need of help or advice, do feel welcome to contact me as I never stop looking after my lions.

I believe I managed to lose the badge and have had to give young Katie Bell a replacement.

I shall miss seeing you on your broom and wish you all the best for the future.
Minerva McGonagall, Gryffindor Head of House

Harry had almost been brought to tears at finding the Gryffindor Captain badge in the bottom of the envelope. He had placed it on a shelf in the study, next to one of the first pictures he'd taken of Rose.

Ron and Hermione had written back as well, complaining about Snape taking every moment of their class to make small digs at Harry, who wasn't there to defend himself.
Ron had received a detention for talking back in class and was now living in terror of what he would be subjected to.
Hermione had written that Snape did seem to know what he was teaching, in all honesty.
Harry had sighed contently, happy he didn't have to suffer under the man anymore.

Both of them said that the Potions lessons were far better lessons now that they had a new teacher, a former Slytherin student, called Slughorn.

Slughorn, Hermione wrote, had been heartbroken at not having the chance to teach Harry in his class.

Ron was only bemoaning the fact that he had to have a second hand book from the potions cupboard, as he'd not been aware that he could take the subject. He wrote that someone had scribbled all over the pages, making it hard to follow the directions correctly.
Harry figured Ron could have the Potions book he'd bought to compare with the home study one and sent it off with a letter back.

He wrote to Hermione, that he'd managed to find some tutors to help him with his studying if he got stuck and that she didn't have to worry about him.

Dumbledore had written back as well. He'd written that the things he wanted Harry to learn were far too important to send in letters. He also wrote that he was rather proud of the fact that Harry was so successful at keeping hidden.
He wrote that he'd decided to let the rest of the world believe what the prophet wrote, as it was a rather good excuse.
He also apologised for his earlier tone in the previous letters and hoped that Harry would forgive him.

Harry was rather suspicious of this sudden change of heart and wondered if it was a new tactic to try and catch him. Well he wasn't coming out from hiding until he knew for certain that Dumbledore wouldn't try and take Rose from him.
Besides, he was getting used to being a stay at home dad. And he was excited to try and prove that he could do both the daddy and the study part, just fine without any of the adults helping.

Harry and Rose were waiting by the front door for Fred and Angelina to finish the walk up the pathway. Fred had apparated himself and his girlfriend to the edge of the garden, now knowing where Harry lived.

"But…I thought it was your…Harry?" Angelina stared at him gob smacked and Harry smiled at her feeling more at ease now that she was here.

"Hi Angelina, how have you been?" He said, letting them in. Fred chuckled at her confusion but went quiet at the glare she gave him.

"I can't believe you lied to me!" She snapped at him before turning on Harry.
"And when did you get a baby and aren't you supposed to be getting special training?" She demanded forcefully.

"She was born on the fifteenth of June and I'm teaching myself." Harry answered making her stare.

"He needs someone to look after the cutie whilst he studies, Angelina." Fred said, making her huff at him.
"I told him that you were on the lookout for a job and it just seemed perfect." He added giving her a pleading look. She eyed Harry again and then gave Rose her attention.

"When my cousin had her baby last summer I helped out loads, so I know what to do. Is she ok with strangers?" Angelina said, letting Rose grab a hold of her fingers. Rose gave her a smile and Angelina chuckled.
"Guess she is." She said happily.

Harry too felt relieved. She seemed to be fine with the people they had met so far, well George was the exception so far, as he had managed to make her wary of him.

"Harry I was wondering if I could connect the floo to out flat, make it easier to get here without anyone tagging along?" Fred asked.
Harry squirmed uncomfortably, the house was becoming more and more exposed.

"You can always lock the floo at night or when you don't want people to come through." He added making Harry eye him stupidly.
He really needed to read the chapter about the floo in the Homeowners manual. He nodded at Fred, who bent down and did some fancy spell work which resulted in him flooing to the Weasley boys flat, with a wave.

"So do you want me to try caring for her today?" Angelina asked, nodding at Rose who was drooling as a result of trying to eat her own hand. Harry nodded slowly and reluctantly handed Rose over.

He showed her where the formula was and led her upstairs to Roses room where the changing table was. Angelina had gushed at how cute the baby's room was before asking where she slept.
Harry had blushed at the look she'd given him when he revealed that Rose slept in his room. Not that he understood what was so amazing about that.
He'd then told her that Rose usually slept in her basket during the day, just so he could keep an eye on her.

Angelina seemed to be a confident baby handler and Rose was happy being in her arms, which made it easier to leave them in the nursery looking at toys.

He walked to the study half an hour later, after they had chatted about schedules, money and how to best care for Rose. He'd made a sandwich for himself in the kitchen for lunch, so that he didn't have to leave the study once he got going with the work.
Angelina had assured him she was very capable of rooting in his cupboards for something to eat when she got hungry. She told him to leave so that she and Rose could have some girly time.

It felt somewhat strange to have abandoned Rose in someone else's care and he wasn't sure he'd be able to concentrate on the work after all.

He was reading from the Hogwarts book about the characteristics of an Inferi, when Roses cry pierced the silence. He steeled himself from getting up as Angelina had insisted that she knew what she was doing. She'd seemed confident enough when he'd left them an hour earlier.

Five minutes later Harry got up to investigate why Rose still cried, maybe something had happened. As he got closer to the kitchen, the baby's cries got more heart wrenching.

He rushed in through the doorway and spotted Angelina juggling Rose, her wand and an empty baby bottle.

The tub of formula stood open and it looked like she had spilled a couple of scoops of powder, onto the counter. Rose had gone red faced and cried loudly with her bottom lip trembling miserably. She was clearly not happy at all with the level of service provided.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Harry demanded, relieving a surprised Angelina of Rose.

"She's fine! I just couldn't get the formula out of the bottle and then I remembered that you use the muggle kind." Angelina said, looking downhearted at having him come in to the room.
"My cousin uses Mrs Coons refilling baby bottles, they just need the water added to the bottle. You can go up again, I'll sort her out." She added ruefully, watching as Harry checked Rose over.

"I bought all the tubs of muggle formula before I knew there were magic baby bottles." Harry said, fixing up a bottle expertly.

"I can do that!" Angelina said, reaching out for Rose and the prepared bottle. Harry didn't see her attempts at getting the baby back as he stood gazing down at Rose adoringly.

The little girl was suckling down the formula greedily, whilst Harry tidied away the tub and the mess on the counter, before clearing up the toys from the floor.
He gave Rose a soft kiss on her dark curls and turned to find Angelina seated by the table, staring at him with an unreadable look on her face.

"What?" He asked, making her grin wickedly at him. She stood from the table slowly and moved closer to him.

"You're really good at this Harry." She said softly.
"It's really sweet to see a guy handling a baby as confidently as you are, hot even." She added coyly, reaching out to touch Rose but somehow ending up stroking his arm instead. Harry gulped.
"I wish more guys were like you." She said moving even closer. Harry cleared his throat nervously.

"Er…I should probably…er…get back to my book…yes, here." Harry mumbled, suddenly rather hot under the collar.

Angelina accepted Rose back with a victorious smile and watched as Harry escaped back to the safety of the study.

Was she flirting with him, Harry wondered? He hoped Fred didn't find out.

The next time Rose cried, he didn't leave the study. He opened the door slightly and heard Angelina humming a Weird Sisters tune, which seemed to quieten Rose down again.

He managed to go back to focusing on the Home schools sixth year paper of Charms, he had to tic all the ones he felt confident on and later try them out on the little test stone. He'd done rather well so far on the papers he'd done today. Defence had been a breeze and he'd totted up a long list of spells.

He startled at a sudden knock on the door a little while later.
Angelina entered the room with a wide-awake Rose on her arm.

"Sorry Harry, but it's five o'clock and I promised to be back home in time for tea tonight. My parents are really scared about me leaving the house, since you-know-who got back." Angelina said sounding sorry for interrupting him.

Harry looked up at the clock on the wall surprised. Where had the time gone, he wondered.
"Sorry Angelina! I didn't realise that it had gotten so late." Harry said, standing up from the cluttered desk. He held his arms out for Rose, who gave him a big smile as way of greeting.

"Was it ok?" He asked, hoping Angelina would consider coming back again.

"Oh, Yes! She's so cute and really easy to look after." She gushed, smiling at the baby.
"What time do you want me to come tomorrow?" She added, much to Harrys immediate relief.

"Thank you so much! If you could come for after ten again, I really seemed to make some progress today?" Harry said, looking down at the desk which held several started essays. The one-an-hour subject approach worked well for him.

Angelina nodded looking very pleased.
"Great! My mum's been badgering me to find a new quieter job. I had to quit the other one as she says it's too risky to work in busy places now, with the risk of being attacked." Angelina said.

"Will you make sure not to mention where you work though, and please don't tell anyone that I'm the parent!" Harry pleaded.

"I told them I was going for a babysitter interview at one of Freds relatives. I'll just say I got the job, they won't have to know that you are the relative." Angelina said casually. Harry grinned at her candour.

"Thanks, I really appreciate you helping out. I'll make sure Gringotts transfers the money we agreed on for this week." Harry said, making her smile again.

"Great, I've been living on air for the past week. My mum won't give me money for non-essential things as I'm now able to earn my own." She said, rolling her eyes.
"But she forgets that she ordered me to quit my job." She added pointedly. Harry laughed at her tone, as he and Rose walked her to the kitchen where she grabbed her bag and slipped on her cardigan.

"Bye then Rosie. See you tomorrow!" She said, waving at Rose who ignored her in favour of staring at Harry.
"Bye Harry." She said, flashing another white smile.

"Bye Angelina, thank you!" Harry said, watching her disappear in a flash of green fire, headed to Fred and Georges flat.

That had gone so much better than he had imagined it would.

"So what do you want to do now then Rose? Do you want to have a bath? Maybe some bubbles?" Harry said, smiling when she babbled back at him.

"Bubbles it is!" He said before blowing a raspberry on her tummy. Rose gave a small squeal of laughter, which still managed to make Harry go all soft inside.

He glanced into the study and sighed at the state of the desk. He'd clear it up as soon as Rose had gone to sleep that evening, he vowed. But he wanted to spend some time with her before that.

Half an hour later he carried the pyjama clad Rose downstairs and opened the cooling cupboard for something to eat. He had been reminded by his stomachs loud rumblings, that he'd not had dinner yet.

The floo activating behind him, had him pointing his wand at a very surprised looking Fred.
"Damn it Fred!" Harry scolded, making both Rose and Fred blink at his tone.

"Sorry Harry, guess I should have warned you before coming." Fred said, somewhat sheepishly. Harry lowered the wand slowly after taking a deep breath. His deepest fear after revealing the cottage to the twins and Angelina was that someone else would find out and come after them.

"It's fine." Harry said, somewhat calmer. He was definitely locking the floo network down before going to bed tonight, he decided.

"Hiya, mate!" George said, appearing through the fire, he enlarged Harrys trunk which he'd brought with him.

"Oh, where did you get that from?" Harry asked surprised.

"Nicked it from the Headquarter. Dumbledore had it under a charm to prevent Kreacher from removing it in case you gave the order, but it didn't stop me!" George said cheerfully.

"Thanks, now I can add all the old books to my shelves, I wanted to have them as reference books on what I've learnt so far." Harry said happily, missing the look of pain on Georges face.

"Yes, well I thought you might want to have your broomstick back. Especially as you have that big garden outside." George said.

Harry who hadn't flown for months felt a pang of longing hit him.
"Oh, will you hold her for a while so I can give it a go?" Harry asked, making George shake his head at the offered Rose.

"No way, she doesn't like me. See, she's already scrunching up her face at me!" George said pointing at Rose, who indeed was frowning at him.

Fred chuckled at his twin and held out his arms for the baby.
"She just knows that I'm the better twin! Don't you Rose, my dear?" Fred gushed at the now smiling baby. George frowned, eyeing them crossly.

"Yes, well I guess you can marry her instead of Angelina then!" George said, snidely. Harry snorted as he made his way towards the garden holding his broom.

"Hey, I can't help it if the girls like me better!" Fred said winking at Rose, who blew a raspberry at him.

George scowled at them and stalked after Harry. Clearly having Rose like Fred more was becoming something of a sore point.

End of chapter.

Yay, another one done! I don't know why this story is so much easier to write than my other ones…
Poor George, the baby doesn't like him. : ) Mina