Hello all my fine readers, it's Tuesday night here, and my house is filled with teenage girls who are quite excited about the Premier of the Half Blood Prince tonight at midnight. They're all in costume and we're going to partake in Golden Snitch Cake in a little while. Deep thanks to my beta, Peter, because apparently Anwen's pregnancy has effected my brain and I lost the ability to add punctuation to the ends of sentences. He will begin posting his amazing and epic "The Hogs Head" on FanFiction next week, and honestly, it deserves to be called the 8th book in the series, it's that good. He makes my writing better by simply reading and supporting me. Well, enjoy this chapter, some very interesting things happen here. I don't own Harry Potter, but, I do have a house full of giggles. It seems like a fair trade right now. Mutt
Chapter 9:
Family Meetings
Sirius POV:
"Okay, Daffodils are your favorite flowers. What about them? You can speak seventeen languages, translate it into something else," I suggested to my wife. Anwen and I were lying in bed. She was propped up on pillows, half sitting, half lying; I was resting with my head next to the very pronounced bulge in her belly. I could watch the little hand or foot or whatever it was moving across her, doing some sort of dance. We were still 'discussing' names. She wanted to go with my family tradition of star and constellation names; I didn't.
"Well, in Italian it's Guinchiglia which is a mouthful, and not very pretty. In French, it's Jonquille which I do like, but you do know that daffodils are from the botanical family, Narcissus, right" she asked me. "Sounds a little too much like a name that's already in your family; and don't go with the name beautiful either, because in romance languages it sounds something like Belle or Bella, which we aren't using," she said sounding so smart. I hate it when she knows more stuff than I do, which is unfortunately most of the time.
"What about your name. You told me Anwen Llyn means beautiful lake. What if we used your name, but in English instead of Welsh," I asked her. The baby kicked again, and even though it was making Anwen grimace, I was fascinated with the movement.
"Amy. The name in English is Amy. We can do better than Amy Black. A little dull, darling. After all, her parents names are Sirius and Anwen. Come on, just listen to the names that I have come up with, please. And nothing that starts with a 'b'. Names that are full of alliteration are silly. I know that the Wizarding world is full of them, but they sound like a childhood tongue twister," she begged me, and I just decided that I needed to relent, she was getting wound up too quickly here.
"Okay, I'll listen to your ideas, but we do still have three months until we have a name. I'm not saying that we will use any of these," I didn't want her thinking that she had won this battle. I want to distinguish us from the rest of the family. I want us to be different.
"I really want to name our first daughter after Lily. She is my best friend, and she means everything to me. But I also want to honor your family, and I know that your cousin Andromeda is important. So, what if we gave her the name Lilyan, L-I-L-Y-A-N, for both of them, and then the middle name, Vega, to keep with the stellar theme. Lilyan Vega Black. I like the sound of it, and Lily could be her godmother," my wife told me, and as much as I hated to admit it, I loved the name. It was beautiful, just like our little girl would be. I can see our little green eyed, brown haired little girl. I could see her running and laughing in the sunlight, with Padfoot of course. I was so lost in the thought that I blurted out:"Anwen, it's beautiful, I love that name, and Lily will be so honored. James was right, I should have just listened to you from the start," I said, oops, so much for not letting her have the upper hand, better go with it. I lifted myself up so that I could kiss her. "Why don't you tell me what you think we should name our son?" I asked, assuming that she had given this some thought as well.
"Um, this one took a little more research. I had an idea, and went searching for the right name to fit it. Well, I like the name Ethan Seren Black. Ethan means strong in Hebrew, and Seren is star in Welsh. And it somehow, a name that represents a strong star seems perfect for this family," she said.
"That's it. It's a good name, Ethan Black, sounds like a Quidditch player to me. Who would you want to be the godfather," I asked her. She smiled gently at me. "I think we should make Albus his godfather. I don't know how we would pick between James and Remus, and I've gone over it a hundred times in my head, and I keep changing my mind, and then when I think about Albus doing it, it just seems right," there were tears in her eyes.
"Love, it's perfect. You're prefect," I told her. She smiled at me, again, even though she was crying. I pulled up so that my face was next to hers. "You're so beautiful," I told her, kissing the tears from her lashes. She sighed at my touch and I kissed her deeply. Her tongue danced with mine and my hand slid up inside of the tee shirt she was wearing to bed. I went to caress her, but she shied away. "Winnie, love, what's wrong" I asked her, kissing the side of her face and her jaw.
"I just,...I feel...Sirius, I'm as horny as well, you, right now; but at the same time I feel rather fat and undesirable. If we're going to do this, can we at least turn off the lights so you don't have to see me...so I don't have to see me," she begged. My hand moved back down to her swelling mid section. I opened it full, so that I could stretch my fingers and cover as much of her as possible.
"Anwen, this does not make you fat, this makes you so beautiful, so sexy. This is my, our baby. You are growing a little life in you, a little life that will have your patience and kindness. I hope it has soft brown hair and big green eyes. You have given me something that no one in my whole life has given me, a family that is mine and that loves me. My parents didn't love, not the way you do. Having a child was their duty. This baby, it's a sign of how much we love each other. We will love this little boy or little girl and teach it to embrace life. Pup will be loved the way you love me. So Anwen, don't ever think that way about yourself. I want you, I want to feel all of you and be with you, and this, here," I said, squeezing her with the tips of my fingers, "this makes you that much more desirable" I told her. "Now, as for your being horny, I think that is something that we can..."
She hit me with a wave of want so strong that it would have knocked me off my feet, and then she attacked me. Her fingers were twined in my hair, and her lips traced down my throat and I was lost in the way her soft flesh felt beneath my fingers. We were then interrupted by a stag bounding its way into our bedroom. It pranced around the room, clearly trying to get our attention. I was half tempted to ignore it, but Anwen stopped kissing me.
"We need you here, now. Problem with Harry." James voice announced and then it evaporated, and we looked at each other. This is the third damn meeting in four weeks. What the hell is going on up at that school? I slid off the bed, and then helped Anwen off. I went to the closet and quickly dressed. When I got back to the bedroom proper, I nearly laughed at my wife as she was attempting to get her shoes on. She was sitting on the bed, trying to get her foot up to put her shoe on, but she couldn't get it close enough. She looked like she was going to cry.
"I can't reach my feet anymore," she said glumly. My laughter wouldn't have helped here, no matter how funny it was so I simply went over, knelt down and slipped her shoes onto her feet, and then stood up and kissed her lightly. "Come on, let's go see what he's gotten himself into this time, and then we can finish what we started here," and I gave her my hand. Within minutes we were in the hallway at Potter Manor.
Anwen POV:
We came through the floo, and James was waiting in the entry way for us. I was thankful for it, I had forgotten to let Sirius go through first, and with my growing mid section, I tended to fall out of the floo. Thankfully, James was there to catch me.
"Thanks for coming at this late hour," he started. I was tired and very horny, and I let loose on him without thinking.
"James, this had better be important, because I am one now really horny pregnant lady who was about to..."Sirius came through the fireplace and was standing behind me "...have mind blowing sex with her very devoted and creative husband," when the words were out of my mouth, I realized what I had said, and I could feel the blush crawl up my neck. James looked at me in shock.
"How do you know it would have been mind blowing," Sirius asked me in a voice no louder than a whisper. James turned and walked away, shaking his head, muttering something under his breath like "How does he do it?" Might as well go with it. "Always is dear, always is," I smiled back at him, and he kissed my neck, under where my haphazard pony tail hung. We followed James into the library, and went to our usual seats.
Remus and Lily were already hitting the books, and to my surprise, the Potter family tree diagram had been brought out, and was spread out on the far end of the table. It was much larger and more complete than the Black Family one that I had been working with at home. Much more useful than the darn tapestry as well.
"Okay, what happened this time? Has there been another attack?" Sirius asked.
"No, thankfully, no one else has been petrified, it's something that could be a potential wrinkle in our understanding of Harry's power and it's quite puzzling..." Lily mused from where she was sitting at the table, her head never leaving the book that she was looking through. Okay, it must be bad if Lily is willing to be rude to us.
"What is Lil?" I asked her. Her head popped up and she looked at me. "Harry can apparently speak Parseltongue," she said. I looked at Sirius and then we both sat down. Wow, that is one really really rare gift, and one that typically only runs in certain family lines. I can see why is concerned. I looked at my best friend again, and I could tell that she was barely holding it together here. I reached over and took her hand. "Lily, you need to take a deep breath, this isn't inherently bad," I told her, but she looked at me oddly.
"Really, you know anyone good who has this skill," she queried, sounding somewhat perturbed.
"Lil, it's a skill, nothing else. People choose to use dark magic, a skill isn't inherently light or dark. Believe me, if there was a change in Harry's magic, I would know it. The color is the same as it's always been," I told her. I was checking on Harry daily now, and practicing projecting a shield on him from London to Scotland. "And, no, I don't know anyone who can do it, but I'm not sure that anyone alive has the skill, Lil. And I know what you fear is, that it somehow means that Harry is the 'Heir of Slytherin' or whatever the dumb writing says, but there may be a logical explanation of this. Remember there wasn't a projecting visualist born in Great Britain for 100 years before I discovered my talent. It's just rare. That's all," I squeezed her hand and I felt Sirius shoot me a pulse of pride and thankfulness. I smiled gently at him, and then looked down the table. "Remus what are you reading there?" I asked, he lifted the tome so that I could see the cover.
"Huntley's Wizarding Registry." I nodded my head, and knew that it was indeed the book that we needed. Generally, unique gifts did not need to be registered with the Ministry. There were of course exceptions to that rule, like being an Animagus--because it could be devastating to have animals roaming around with the skills and intelligence of full grown witches and wizards; or being an incendium--someone with the ability to manipulate and control fire without the use of a spell or wand. Mastered Elementals were registered for the same reason. Huntley's however, is an unofficial registry, where different skills could be researched. It was important to pure blood families, who were making arranged marriages, so that they ensured the best skills would be handed down to future generations. It also provided them to track Squibs, so that you could avoid marrying off your child into a line that produced children who were without magical talent. Pure blood mania may have produced the book, but it was a helpful reference.
"Have you found anything yet?" I asked him.
"Well, there are only seven listed in here," he said, and I nodded, "and the last was Voldemort—well Tom Riddle" again I nodded. But if we go to the one before him, it was someone named Squire Flint, born in 1823 and lived until, 1944. Had six children," he said, something about that name rang a bell.
"Can you read off the names?" I asked him. Everyone else stopped what they were doing, to listen to us. "Sure," Remus replied, and he started listing them, "Matthieus, Agnes, Millicent, McClaine, Stimmerman and Ursula."
"We're not using any of those, love," Sirius teased, and I appreciated his desire to lighten the mood.
"Good," I said making a face. "Ursula Flint, she married Phinneas Nigellus Black. She was the grandmother of Dorea Black, so she would be Harry's great, great, great, great, great aunt, since it was Charles brother that had the family line that lead to James," I had to count them off on my fingers to get it right. Yeah, six generations, I think I got that right. "Granted, the Potter family is and older and stronger family," I turned to Sirius, "Sorry, dear, but genetically they are because they were far less concerned about the whole pure blood marriage thing. Most families don't realize that outside blood actually makes the bloodline more stable than less," I told him.
"Anwen, I could have told you that. You are clearly the stronger of the two of us. No doubt in my mind. But how did you know that about my family?" He asked me.
"Name research dear, name research," she mused. "Anyway, it's in the bloodline, so it wouldn't be unheard of for Harry to have it, so I don't really think that we should flip out here. We can talk with him when he comes home next week. When does the train get into London?"
"He won't be on it," Lily said, shooting her husband a look. That must be the look that the old saying, if looks can kill was based on.
"Lily, he will be fine. The Weasley's and Hermione will be at school with him, and Albus and Minerva will be keeping an eye on him..." James said, and Sirius, Remus and I looked at each other. None of us liked to be in the room when James and Lily didn't agree on something.
"He's spending Christmas at school with his friends rather than coming home. James told him that it would be all right. Told Harry to enjoy himself," she was seething over this.
"Okay, um, is he coming home at all, or are they all staying through?" I couldn't help but think about Ginny and worry about her being there. She seemed so sad when I had seen her the last time I was in the castle, and I was hoping to spend some time, alone, with her.
"They will all be coming here for New Year's, but that's it. The rest of the time he will be in the castle, with his friends," she stopped talking and dropped her head down onto her hands. "He's so upset about his being able to talk with snakes, and people were shying away from his before, I can only imagine what will happen now..." she stopped talking, and James got up to comfort his wife. She slid off her chair into his arms.
"Lily, he's a strong boy, and he's got good friends and he has us, he'll be fine," he whispered to her. I felt that they should have a minute alone with each other, so I turned my head to talk with Remus.
"What brought all of this about? I mean it's a Thursday, I somehow doubt a snake just slithered into the common room and Harry decided that he'd try to talk to it...damn it Sirius, he tried to tell us that he could talk to snakes when he was five," I said, remembering his strange behavior at the reptile house when he was little.
"What are you talking about" he asked me.
"You remember when we took him to the zoo, right after you got back from Greece?" I asked him and he nodded at me. Those were not days that we talked about often, in fact, never. August 1985 had essentially been removed from our lives. "We were in the reptile house, and he told us this whole yarn about the, something, wanting to be left alone so that he could molt or something. I was so freaked out about having to be in the building that I wasn't really paying attention to him then, and we sort of just brushed him off, but it turns out he was telling us the truth,".
"Love, that was over 7 years ago, I'm impressed you remembered at all, the only thing I remember is being how well you took care of Harry. That's the day that I knew I wanted to have babies with you," he told me, bringing his hand to rest on my belly again, and nuzzling his lips to the side of my face.
"Aww," I said, leaning over to kiss him. I couldn't quite make it however, my belly got caught on the arm of the chair. "I can't believe I have three and a half more months of this. I swear, I will be as big as a house by then," I threw my arms up in frustration.
"James, Anwen and Sirius remember Harry being able talk to snakes as a child, so if that's true, then it's probably something that he was born with. That reduces the concern that this is some sort of spell that he's under or something like that," Remus said, and James nodded.
"Well, that's good news. Would we be able to tell if Harry had been put under a spell, or if he was somehow being controlled to make this thing happen, Anwen," James asked me.
"Unless it was some sort of really powerful spell, and he was under it when I went to check in on him, I doubt that I would see it. Most spells will leave a magical signature, but the magic of the person being cursed would mask it. I can try seeing if it's something that I can develop being able to do, but I'm not sure. Perenelle never talked about being able to do it, and if after 400 or so years of perfecting her skills, she can't, I don't think that it can be done. But, I can try," I told him. He nodded at me.
"All right, let's sum up what we know." Remus started. "Someone or more likely something has petrified a child at Hogwarts and it's threatening the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, which may or may not exist. We haven't been able to read a magical signature on the scenes of the crimes, correct Anwen," he asked me and I nodded my head, "which has lead us to believe that it is some sort of mythical or magical creature that is responsible. We don't however know what this creature could be. Albus is working on a way to restore the boy, so we don't need to worry about that. But our newest wrinkle is that Harry is a parseltongue, and has been one since he was a small child. Am I missing anything?" He asked.
"Just some sleep, Moony." Sirius added.
"We all don't need quite as much beauty rest as you do there Padfoot," he retorted, and I was thankful to see that we could still joke with one another. "So what do we need to do now?"
"I'll keep working on beings or creatures that can petrify. Of course, it could simply be something that has been enchanted by a witch or wizard, and then we're back to square one," Sirius said.
"I'll see if I can improve my skills to see if someone is under a spell or curse. I'll go and see Perenelle when we get back from Canada as well," I said.
"I'm going to see what I can find out about these 'hidden rooms' in Hogwarts. We knew a lot when we made the map, but obviously, there were things that we didn't know. Albus has given me permission to go investigate the building. Feels like something that the Marauder's should do together," James said with a familiar glint in his eye, and I looked at my husband and the other third of their group and realized that they were all looking forward to reliving some of their glory days. Lily and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes, together.
"I'm going to continue with the research on the parseltongues of the past. The link back to Flint is good, and it does at least let us know that it would be possible for this to simply be a gift that was passed down," Remus said, and we all nodded.
"Well is there anything else that we need to discuss," James asked. Suddenly, something came to me.
"Yeah, how exactly did Harry figure out that he could talk with snakes, or maybe I should ask, how did everyone else," I wondered.
"There was dueling club tonight, and he had to duel Malfoy," James started telling the story. "That little git released a snake from his wand, which is a skill that a second year shouldn't know how to do," a shiver went down my spine at why that child might know how to create a magical snake, and I could feel the bile rise in my throat. Thankfully, James continued, "and it went after a student, but Harry talked it back from the kid. Snivelus finally dispatched the thing," James concluded. "Apparently everyone heard him, and Harry caused a great deal of panic among the other students there, and he was quite upset when he mirror called me. He never knew that it was a rare skill," he said quietly, clearly shaken that he didn't know this about his son.
"Well, at least they are teaching these kids to duel. I mean if it was Albus and Snively that are leading it, they will at least be skilled..." Remus started, but James interrupted him.
"Not Albus, Lockhart," he said. Sirius, Remus and I groaned. Lily already knew, but the look on their faces matched ours.
"Honestly, that guy wouldn't get through the entrance exams for the Auror program. I would love 60 seconds alone with him...what he wrote in Wanderings with Werewolves was simply a load of rubbish. He's a fraud, and the fact that he even puts his incorrect and stupid ideas forth..." I was getting angry. I had lived with a werewolf for much of my life, and he was completely wrong in what he had suggested in that sham of a book, the fact that he had made it required reading at Hogwarts was the worst though. The thought was making my blood boil.
"Anwen," Sirius said, putting his hand on my shoulder, "you need to calm down, love." I looked up at him, and saw the surprised look on his face.
"What?"
"You're glowing dear, you got so upset that you're glowing," I looked down to where my hands were resting on the table and they were indeed glowing yellow. I calmed myself down, surprised at the reaction I had just produced. "Well, we all know not to cross the pregnant lady."
"Winnie, thank you for your concern, but his attitude is that of most Wizarding folk as well. I stopped worrying about it a long time ago. I have a good life, and a good and rewarding job and a family that loves me, what more do I need?" he asked me. You need someone to love my dear friend.
We talked for a while longer, but the mood in the room had gotten thick. We were sure that what we didn't understand far outweighed what we did. There could be grave consequences for that. A funny thought did cross my mind however, and I decided that I would share it.
"Well, one good thing did come from all of this," I said, and everyone looked at me strangely. "Harry is finally better at a language than I am," I beamed. Even Sirius shook his head at me.
We said our goodnights, and decided that we would meet again on Monday, before Sirius and I portkeyed to Canada for the Christmas holiday. We would be back before New Year's. When we got back home, true to his word, my husband did indeed pick up on our activities, right where we had left off.
The next day, I found myself again in Dumbledore's study. There had been another attack, and he had again called me in to investigate. This was the third such attack since school had started, and another student had been petrified. To make matters worse, it was the student that the snake had gone after while the kids were dueling the day before. Rumors were now swirling that it was Harry's doing, and that Harry had in fact, sent the snake after the boy. Sirius was trying to talk with Harry in one corner of the room, while King and I were dealing with Albus.
"We can keep this as quiet as possible, but, it's going to be hard. Something is going to get out, especially since there will be paperwork filed now. We'll be the leads on this, but it's bound to hit the papers. I'm sorry, not just for you, but for Harry. The Prophet will find a way to bring his name into it, I'm sure," I said, looking over to where Sirius was trying to calm down Harry. We hadn't called James and Lily yet, Harry just wanted to talk with his godfather, and since he hadn't done anything wrong, there was no need to notify them, just yet.
"Did you find anything to go on, Anwen, I mean Auror Hodgson-Black," he said correcting himself, I shot my old Headmaster a frustrated look. "I will always simply be Anwen to you, sir. I'm here as your friend and a member of the Order before I am here as an Auror," I told him, and he looked on me with that look of gratitude and kindness that disabled me so. "Anyway," I said, trying to push down the rush of tears that had come to my eyes, "I have nothing new to go on. There isn't a visible magical signature, and there is nothing left at the crimes to indicate who might be behind this. I took a sample of the blood, but given that there was another dead rooster, I would feel safe guessing that it will come back as poultry blood. Not really much to go on, though. We'll keep searching, I promise."
"After the first of the year, I'll be the lead on any further attacks. Anwen will be strictly on teaching duty, to keep her and that little Auror in there safe," I shook my head at my partner's overprotective nature. Could I be surrounded by more overprotective, silly men? "But, if you were to happen to call her in to consult, as your friend, I would have no control over that, now would I," he added. Albus nodded his head in agreement. I smiled at them, my work here was done, King was going to fill out the paperwork at the office, and I would proof it and sign it. I walked over to my husband and his godson. They were standing by Fawkes, who was very small and obviously newborn. "Albus, I missed his burning day again. You forgot to call me, I could have sat here and read while I waited for his burning," I admonished my friend. I was quite interested in the process, and Albus had been promising me that I could come and see Fawkes burn for months now. There is something spiritual about his death and renewal. I had become fascinated with mythical creatures since my patronus had changed. Fawkes was the only phoenix that I could study, thankfully, his Wizard and I were friends.
"I didn't think it would happen for a few days, but young Mr. Potter got to see it, didn't you Harry?" He said, and Harry grimaced at the words.
"Yeah, it was a great privilege, bloody hell scared me, figured that I wouldn't just be expelled, I'd be sent to Azkaban as well for killing the ruddy bird," Harry sighed, and Sirius put his arm around his shoulder. I was upset that I had missed the burning, and wanted to quiz Harry on what he had seen, but I was sure that he wouldn't appreciate it right now.
"You want to fire call your parents now? They'll want to know what's going on, and that you're okay," he told the young man.
"Can't you just tell them? I mean, Mum will throw a fit, and insist that I come home and Dad will get on my case about everything, and I just don't want to deal with them right now, please, for me," Harry begged his godfather. I knew Sirius was about to crack.
"Fine, you can mirror your Dad after supper, but you take the responsibility for not getting in touch with him sooner, don't lay it off on Professor Dumbledore or me, got that. Neither of us want to deal with your Mum when she gets her feathers up," Sirius said. Just then King flooed back to the Ministry, leaving us alone with Albus and Harry.
"Speaking of supper, how about if you stay and enjoy the repast in my private dining room with Harry and his friends. I am sure that you would like to avoid the Great Hall right now," Albus said, looking at Harry who nodded in agreement. "and I believe that both Miss Weasley and Miss Granger would be happy to see you Anwen, and the baby," his eyes drifting down to my swollen belly. I smiled at him.
"I would love to see them as well," I said, glad that I would have a chance to see Ginny. I had been really worried about her. She had stopped writing me all together. I hope that it's as Sirius said, that she's just gotten involved in school and with friends, and I am not that much fun to write to anymore, but there was something off about her the last time I was with her. It would be nice to spend just a little time alone with her.
"Splendid, why don't the three of you head down to the Dining Room. I believe you know where it is, Sirius, and I will have Minerva send over Mr and Miss Weasley and Miss Granger," he said, giving my husband that look that let me know that at some point while he was at Hogwarts, Sirius had been caught in there.
"Do I even want to know with whom you were with or what you were doing in there?" I questioned. He shook his head at me, and I pursed my lips and took a deep breath. Don't think about it, it was a long time ago, just don't even think about it.
"Do I get to know," Harry asked, getting somewhat excited at the idea of learning of one of his godfather's stories. I raised my eyebrows.
"Yeah, um, when you're older, Harry. When you're much, much older," I shook my head at him, and he wrapped his arm around me. "You're the only one I want to sneak off and snog now dear," and he kissed my temple, while gently rubbing the baby.
"Good thing for you too, because the baby here might hex you if you get Mummy upset," I reminded him. I had gotten frustrated at him the other night, for something rather stupid, and we were both surprised when he suddenly knocked off his feet. I hadn't done anything, and we came to the conclusion, that it was Pup that had done it. It wasn't unusual for a baby's magic to show itself before birth, but it was still a little early in my pregnancy. The Healer had let me know that it was most likely due to the strength of our combined magic coursing through me, that the baby was able to tap into theirs already.
We made our way down to the Headmaster's Dining Hall, and Sirius let us in. It was a beautifully appointed room that had a fine dining table in the middle of the room, with a great candelabra over the table. It flamed to life as we entered. Around the edge of the room there were several small couches and comfortable chairs. I was relieved to see them, and without any urging, I went and sat down on one. A small pouf appeared at my feet, and I gently rested my now swelling feet on the small stool.
Harry and Sirius were still standing near the table, chatting, and as best as I could tell, it had something to do with Quidditch. I closed my eyes, and I probably would have fallen asleep, except that the girls and Ron entered the room. Ron went over to talk with the guys, and immediately the girls were at my side. I stood up to greet them.
"Professor Dumbledore went to talk with the house elves about our needs, and he said that he would join us in a few minutes," Hermione said. It was clear that this girl would take charge of just about any situation. I smiled at her. She might have a chance of keeping Ron and Harry in line, but I doubted it.
"Aunt Winnie, I am so happy to see you," Ginny said, coming and wrapping her arms around me. I held her to me, and then pulled back to get a good look at her. She looked ghastly. Her eyes were deeply sunk into her face, and she was as pale as a sheet. Even her beautiful freckles had faded to a dull copper color, rather than their bright brown. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, but it was messy, and I wasn't sure if she had even washed it recently. She felt small and weak in my arms. I pulled her to me again, and looked over at my husband, and sent him a wave of concern. He looked at me, and nodded his head. He knew that Ginny's state had been something that had kept me awake almost as much as the baby's kicking.
"I am so very happy to see you too child. And, so is Pup. Here, put your hand here, you can feel Pup kick. Must know that it's you here. You gave this baby their first name, after all," I told her, positioning her hand to where I had felt the kick a moment ago. When her little hand was opened, she was rewarded with a good swift kick knocked at her hand. She looked up at me and smiled.
"Hey there little Pup, hope you're not giving your Mummy too much trouble," she said, cooing at my belly. I was so thankful that the spark of happiness was back in her eyes. She stood there, moving her hand across the baby for a few minutes, marveling as we could watch something move across the surface.
"Would you mind if I felt," Hermione piped up, and Ginny stepped aside.
"Of course dear, come here and put your hand up here," I said, helping her get her hand in place. A moment later, Pup tapped on her hand as well. "That's amazing, does it hurt," she asked me.
"No dear, it's a little uncomfortable, but it doesn't hurt," I said exhaling. "Would you girls mind if we were to sit down, my feet are killing me," I told them, and we settled down on a couch. I sat in the middle, and each of the girls sat on either side of me, their hands still resting on my belly. A few minutes later, the guys came over and joined us, sitting on the love seat across from us. Sirius knelt down behind the couch, his hands on my shoulders.
"Little one giving you problems today," he asked, using his fingers to knead the knots that seemed to have taken up permanent residence in my shoulders.
"Not really, the girls are just getting a kick out of feeling Pup kick," I told him.
"Pup," Harry asked.
"I thought that we needed something other than 'it' to call the baby. Ginny came up with the name, Pup. I for one, like it a lot," he said, grabbing her ponytail and pulling on it. She actually smiled up at him. Maybe it's all in your head Anwen, maybe she is all right.
"That is the dumbest name I've ever heard," Ron complained.
"Shut up Ron, it's not up to you. Aunt Winnie asked me, and they like it," Ginny retorted.
"Yeah, well she was probably just trying to make you feel better, since it's a dumb name..." he threw back. They were both getting their dander up, and thankfully Sirius put an end to it.
"Okay you two, knock it off. Ron, we like the name, Ginny, don't let your brother get to you," he said. I smiled at him. The kids all seemed to calm down enough that we were able to carry on a civilized conversation. Ginny seemed to shrink back into herself, saying little and eating even less when Dumbledore arrived and the meal started shortly thereafter.
When we were done with dinner, Sirius walked with Harry, Ron and Hermione back to the Gryffindor tower to go and get his mirror to call his Dad and let him know what had happened. Sirius had no intention of letting James know that he was there, but he figured that he could support his godson while he made the call. Ginny and I sat back down on the couch. She had tucked her legs up underneath herself and had laid her head on her knees.
"Ginny, sweetheart, what's wrong," I asked her.
"It's just...school isn't what I expected, I'm not doing well in my classes, and I feel like I'm stupid," she said glumly. She looked off into the wall, and I could tell that there was something really bothering her. I kept my mouth shut, and just looked at her. "I don't have any friends, and even my brothers are mean...and then, there is this, thing..." she was just quiet.
"Ginny, honey, don't stay here for Christmas. Let me talk with your Mum. Come home with Uncle Sirius and I and then go to Canada with us. I think you need to get out of the castle for a while. We can work on your school work, and see about making you feel better about your studies. You're a smart girl, with a brilliant mind; I think you've just convinced yourself that you can't do this. Plus, you'll get to see my sister, Eira, and you liked her last spring. You could have a pen pal. How cool would that be," I asked.
"It would be good, I guess. But, I don't know. I think I should just stay here. I don't want to get in your way..." she said.
"You wouldn't be. My Ma has all this baby stuff that I need to go through, and I can't even put my own shoes on anymore, there is no way that I can go through boxes of stuff, trying to figure out what is worth keeping and what's not," I told her, she seemed to perk up when I told her that she'd be helping.
"I wouldn't be a bother, I always seem to be in someone's way lately. Like people have to be nice to me, out of duty or something..." she trailed off again, and I could see tears in her eyes. I scooted across the couch and put my arm around her.
"Ginny, being with you is not a duty, it's an honor. Whoever has filled your head with this nonsense is an idiot. You are never a bother to Sirius and I, I promise you," I told her, and she looked up at me hopefully.
"And I wouldn't be putting your Mum and Dad out," she asked me.
"Of course not, they run a Bed and Breakfast, the more the merrier. I'll call her on the telephone tomorrow to talk with her about it. Come now, tell me that you'll come home with us, please," I asked her again.
"Well, if you're sure..." she said hesitantly.
"Of course I'm sure. Sirius will be pleased too. He says you're much better at Chess than I am, so he will have someone to play. I'll floo over and see your Mum and get everything straightened out. Leave Molly and Arthur to me. We will have so much fun, you'll see. A few weeks away from the castle is all that you'll need, I promise. You can come back for the new term with a whole new attitude," I took her into my arms, and she started crying. This isn't at all like her, she's such a strong girl, what has her so upset. I've seen her put her older brothers into her place, and now, she seems so weak. "There, there now. Shh, it's okay." I rocked her back and forth for a while, and she just sat there sobbing. I was afraid to ask her what was wrong, but knew that we would have time over the break. Sirius came back, and found Ginny still clinging to me. He wasn't sure what to do, and silently asked me if he should leave. I shook my head at him.
"Ginny, Sirius is back, should we tell him the good news," I asked her, pulling away from her slightly, so that she could bring herself to a full sitting position. She nodded at me, wiping her eyes. "Ginny is going to be coming with us for winter break. I'll go and speak with Molly and get everything straightened out, but I really need her help while we are away, and she has graciously offered it. Isn't that wonderful, dear?" I asked him.
"Of course it is. Ginny, why don't you use the purple bedroom on the second floor. I away thought that it was a little too girly, but now I think that it was just made for you," Sirius said, and she smiled at him. "All right, well, you need to get back to the tower before curfew, and we need to speak with Minerva and then your parents. Anwen, love, should we be off," he asked me, and I nodded.
We walked Ginny back to the tower, and told her that we would see her at King's Cross in a few days. The ride home from Hogwarts would be my last active duty shift until after my maternity leave. We went and saw Minerva, and she was thrilled that Ginny wouldn't be staying here over break. Her Head of House was also concerned about the changes that she had seen in Ginny as of late. We finally flooed over to the Burrow, and after a lengthly conversation, Molly and Arthur agreed that Ginny could spend the break with Sirius and I. It wasn't that they didn't want her with us, but rather, they were afraid that we were spoiling her. I assured her that we would keep the spoiling to a minimum.