Meet The Godparents


A/N – All portions of the Harry Potter universe belong to JK Rowling and her assorted corporate partners. No infringement is intended or has occurred.

Is there a site policy about whether the author's note is longer than the chapter it's attached to? Hopefully not. And for those who've complained about extended passages in italics, I'll do this in normal font.

The line in the author's notes from the previous chapter about the 90s was, apparently, a bad attempt at humor since no one seemed to get that. I'm sorry if that confused people, I was simply trying to lighten the mood a bit by that point. Apparently I'm not any better at humor than I am at writing fanfiction.

This entire thing has snowballed beyond anything I expected. Before I get sidetracked, I would like to sincerely thank all of you readers and reviewers out there who have either enjoyed the story up to this point or are willing to wait and see where this is going before deciding if it's 'utter crap' as one person put it. I really do appreciate the time and attention you've invested in this story and I'm very sorry that this has blossomed into so much drama.

I was particularly struck by one reviewer who seemed to sum up the entire problem very succinctly, if not elegantly. As Illian, and that's what he or she used in the review since it was unsigned if there's an actual site member out there with that name and didn't leave the review I apologize in advance, so quaintly put it, the people who are upset about the issue of Ron and Hermione having developed a physical relationship in what would seem a very short period of time to be the deciding factor and nothing else I write could matter until that point is fixed in the story.

They decided that without knowing the background of what's brought them to this point. They jumped to the conclusion that the physical relationship began in the last twelve days of story time. They decided that without knowing what interfered with the relationship between Harry and Hermione that allowed such a relationship between Ron and Hermione. They decided that without thinking that maybe, just maybe, I had thought this out and that line wasn't just a throwaway line I put in just for the heck of it. And they decided this without knowing exactly what part that relationship plays in how the story moves forward.

All righty then (channeling my inner Jim Carey for a moment – this is to let people know that those three words were meant to evoke humor), it's time to see what you've got.

Give me something cogent and workable that meets the following three criteria and I'll go back and change it. The remark that Ron makes to Hermione has to be, at least, remotely applicable to the situation they're discussing. The remark that Ron makes to Hermione has to be able to be construed by Hermione, rationally or not, as an attack on Harry. The remark that Ron makes to Hermione has to be less than two sentences and only mildly tasteless. That's all you have to do. Give me something that really works given those restrictions and I'll gladly go back and fix the scenes that have already happened and spend a goodly amount of time rewriting all of the stuff that hasn't happened yet to accommodate the disappearance of the prior relationship between Ron and Hermione.

However, give me nothing and that'll be it. One of you needs to come up with something that works and leaves me with a way to go forward with the story beyond this chapter. And before anyone quibbles about not knowing what comes next, and even the ones who've read the story elsewhere don't know everything that's coming next, I really have no sympathy with that. You condemned the story without knowing any of the particulars except for that one salient point, you can come up with a fix without knowing any of the particulars.

And as a freebie, Ron propositioning Hermione wouldn't meet any of the three criteria since it wouldn't be critical of Harry, applicable to the current situation unless he was including getting her preggers as part of it, and definitely over the 'mildly tasteless' threshold.

And back to my original author's note, this wasn't the scene that I had envisioned quite this many people having a bad reaction to. And, in my defense, I did say that I wouldn't necessarily pull the story apart to change something that wasn't universally well received. I will plead a mea culpa on how many chapters it's taken to get past the canon relationships, I should have been more specific.

Let's see what I get to allow me to make the changes you want.

Well, that's all for now, I'll see you … Oh, that's right.

(end whiney rant mode)

And now, on with our story. It's Friday; do you know where your favorite fanon couple is?


Chapter 12 – Moving Day

Friday dawned bright and clear, and with it Grimmauld Place was finally declared 'ready for habitation'. Kreacher appeared with his customary "pop" during breakfast to announce that the changes that Mistress Hermione and Miss Ginny had requested had been made and he would be available to help them move.

Kreacher then proceeded to assist in the kitchen, which flustered Molly to no end. Harry finally had to intervene and ask her to sit and enjoy her breakfast since Kreacher was going to be here and he really wanted to take care of things. Hermione flashed an annoyed look at Harry, but he shrugged it off as Kreacher began bustling around making certain everyone had more than enough.

When Hermione declined the offered seconds on the bangers, Kreacher retreated to the pantry with a hurt look on his face. Blushing, Hermione avoided Harry's look of disappointment and excused herself from the table. Following the elf into the pantry, she stopped just inside the door and cleared her throat.

Kreacher was looking through the shelves, moving jars and cans around.

"Is Kreacher's service not to Mistress Hermione's liking?" Not looking at her, he continued with his inventory of the pantry.

Shaking her head, Hermione answered in a small voice. "Of course not, Kreacher. Your service is impeccable as always."

"Kreacher has served the House of Black for his entire life. Master Harry is the Head of the House and the Master of Grimmauld Place. Mistress Hermione is Master Harry's Companion, and she is due the service I would offer to any of the House. Why is Kreacher unsuitable to Mistress?"

Still with his back to her, Hermione could see that Kreacher was moving the contents of the shelf around simply to have something to concentrate on while they talked.

"Kreacher, I want to make a difference in how house elves are treated here in Britain. You shouldn't be enslaved to wizarding houses simply because of birth or fate. Your service is a credit to the house and to Harry, but I'm uncomfortable with being waited on by anyone." Stepping further into the pantry, she started sorting jars on the upper shelves that were beyond the reach of the house elf.

"Mistress Hermione doesn't understand the relationships between elves and humankind. Very few do, these days. The Queen under the Hill has decreed that we should serve to discharge her obligation to humankind, for the customs of the People dictate that obligations such as that must be met."

Pausing for a second as he banished a jar of pickled plimpy eggs that had gone bad, Kreacher summoned a fresh jar from somewhere and continued.

"The majority of elves retreated from the sunlit lands of men, but the lesser houses, those you call house elves and fairies, were left here in the lands of men. We are obligated by geas and oath for service. There is much to be improved in the lot of house elves, some wizards and witches are too dismissing of elves and their service, but if you would deny our service, you would make us forsworn. And for an elf, that is a terrible fate."

Turning to face her, Kreacher looked up and his eyes shown eerily in the pantry.

"You are a key to a turning for the People, and service is required to you and your House. Take care you do not unmake the People in your effort to make things better for us."

Kneeling so her face was level with his, Hermione held her hands out to the elf.

"Kreacher, if I'm to do that, I'll need your help. I know that I want to make things better for you and yours, but I don't know how. You can let me blunder along blindly, or you can give me your help." Taken aback at the snort that came from the elf, she grinned. "What's so funny?"

"Mistress Hermione sees more than most, she never blunders blindly. But she needs to listen to her inner voice, not just her outer mind if she wants to help the People, or Master Harry." Nodding to her, Kreacher slipped his hands between hers.

"Kreacher will serve Mistress Hermione and offer the help of the People in her cause, which is ours." Looking at her for several seconds, it seemed as if the elf was appraising her on a set of standards she was unaware of.

"Now, if Mistress would care to make a suggestion as to the menu for tonight's dinner at Grimmauld Place, I will endeavor to make certain her meal tonight will be more to her liking than Mistress Weasley's breakfast."

Laughing, Hermione stood and shook her head. "What say I find my manners and return to this excellent breakfast?" As she stepped aside as Kreacher headed back into the kitchen, she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Kreacher, I would consider it a personal favor if you could manage to keep fish or mushrooms off the menu for a while. Not forever, mind you, but we both had quite enough to last us for a while." Giving a slight involuntary shudder as she thought about the months they had spent in the tent, Hermione smiled guiltily.

Smiling, the house elf nodded to her. "Kreacher will think about menus for the household with that in mind. Master Harry has no suggestions, other than pumpkin pie, so I think we will be doing most of the menu planning for the household." Nodding towards the door, Kreacher followed her into the kitchen as they returned to the family and breakfast.


Earlier in the week, the Fidelius charm had been recast upon Grimmauld Place. Hermione was the secret keeper, this time, and the location was repassed to their friends and family that they wanted to come visit them. A second charm was placed upon the dining room fireplace, with a much more restricted list of persons being privy to the existence of a floo at the house.

Only the intervention of Kingsley allowed the floo to be shielded so quickly, usually the request for an unlisted floo address took months to approve and this one lacked the usual file copy of the secret in the Ministry archives as an added security precaution.

As they began to arrive from the Burrow, the changes in the formal dining room were evident as they stumbled out of the fireplace. The room had been redone in a bright and airy Edwardian décor, but with a touch of 'other' that made it far from ordinary.

Gone were the dreary wall hangings, heavy blackout curtains, and eerily gothic Slytherin inspired furnishings. The formal dining table had a whimsical look to it, and there were other fanciful touches around the room. Shaking her head, Ginny looked at Hermione in dismay.

"I guess Kreacher likes you best." Walking over and running her hand over the back of one of the chairs, Ginny sighed.

"This is so you."

Grinning, Hermione took Teddy from Harry through the floo connection.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Gin. Kreacher listened to both of us equally. I'm certain he employed your ideas in the rest of the house." Cradling Teddy to her, she straightened up and backed out of the hearth. "I'm clear Harry." The words were barely out of her mouth when Harry tumbled out of the fireplace as the green flames danced.

"Did you say something?"

Grinning, Harry brushed himself off, and straightened his glasses. Looking around, he smiled. "This place looks great."

Missing the distressed look on Hermione's face and the scowl on Ginny's he wandered around the room, waiting for Ron and the rest of the family to arrive.

"I hope Kreacher has done the same job on the rest of the house."

"I'm certain he has," Gin replied icily, scowling at Hermione. "I'm going to go out and see if the rest of the house looks like Thomas Sheraton channeled Morgan LeFay."

Sweeping towards the doors the led to the rest of the house, she scowled as they opened at her approach with a tinkling of crystal bells.

"That has so got to go."

Looking at Hermione, who was standing there looking distressed, he shrugged. "Was it something I said?"

"Ginny wanted more of a modern look to the place. She had all kinds of ideas and sketches for Kreacher to work with." Looking around, Hermione sighed as she surveyed the room.

"All I said was that I thought Edwardian would be nice, with a touch of whimsy to soften some of the lines." Looking back at Harry, she smiled guiltily.

"Kreacher seemed to find my idea more to his liking."

The rest of the family started to arrive and all were staring at the changed décor once they exited the floo.

"Harry, are we in the right house?" Ron asked as he looked around the room. "If this is Grimmauld Place, this is excellent."

Not waiting for a response, Ron looked over to his mother as she came through the floo connection. His head jerked around as a strangled yell, bordering on a shriek, came from somewhere in the direction of upstairs.

"Harry. Bedroom. Now!"

Looking up, Molly frowned. "Did Kreacher move Walburga's portrait upstairs? That doesn't make any sense."

"Mum, that's your darling daughter." Laughing, Ron shook his head.

"My guess is she's unhappy about something in Harry's bedroom."

"And just what is she doing in your bedroom?" Molly turned her attention to Harry who was glancing at the door, wondering how long he could delay responding to Ginny before she would explode.

"Mum, I have no idea. I probably should go up there and check and see." Looking towards Hermione, who was trying not to smile, he sighed.

"Mi, why don't you see if you can scare up Kreacher and then you can take everyone on a tour of the house when the rest get here." The fireplace erupted into green flames again as George made his appearance. Just as he was brushing off some soot, an emphatic "NOW!" was heard from upstairs.

"Walburga's upstairs now?" George asked, grinning.

"Ginny," Molly and Ron chorused as Harry ran out the room, blushing.

Rounding the corner and bounding up the steps, he raced down the hall to Sirius's old bedroom, which was the one he had picked to use until after Gin's birthday. Skidding to a halt in front of the door, he peaked around the corner to see Gin glaring at him, hands on hips and tapping her foot.

"What took you so bloody long?" she fumed.

"Your mother was asking me a question when you called," Harry replied blandly.

"Mum is here already?" Blushing she glanced towards the hallway. "I thought she was going to be a few minutes finding some things to bring for the kitchen? Please tell me my brothers didn't hear me shrieking like a fishwife."

"Not all of them, just Ron and George."

"Harry, don't be a git. Those were the only two coming over this afternoon." Turning around, she pointed at the room.

"I suppose you have an explanation for this."

Looking around the room, Harry noted the open airy look, the elegant understated furnishings and the pictures hung on the walls taken from some of his favorite photographs from Hogwarts.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team his second year. A picture of him, Ron and Hermione under their favorite tree along the shore of Black Lake. Him and Hermione studying in the Gryffindor Common Room for their OWLS.

A picture after the first trial of the Tri-Wizard Tournament right after he and Ron and started speaking and Hermione was hugging both of them, and others. Most of them showing the eye and talent of Colin Creevey, they were a montage of Harry's six years at Hogwarts. Stalling for time, Harry searched for something amiss.

"Well, it's not Gryffindor colours, maybe Kreacher was trying to make it house neutral since this is going to be a guest room eventually."

Turning an alarming shade of red, Ginny clenched her fists, closed her eyes and started mumbling under her breath. Finally she stopped. In a much calmer, controlled voice, she asked, "Would you care to explain why there are no pictures of your girlfriend anywhere in your bedroom? I'm not even going to ask about why it's decorated in Hermione's preferred style, just about the pictures."

Looking around, he realized she was correct. With the exception of Ginny's hair being in the corner of one shot in the common room his third year, she was in none of the pictures.

"Gin, if you'll remember, this is the first time I've seen the house since Kreacher started working on it. I gave him a huge stack of pictures to use." As an idea struck him, he asked, "Have you been to your room yet?"

"Well no. This was bad enough, I'm afraid to see what the two of them have concocted for my room."

Shaking his head in exasperation and holding his hand out to her, he smiled. "Let's look; I think we'll find the some of the rest of the pictures there." Leading her out into the hallway, they passed the Nursery and Hermione's room and went down the hall towards the old Master Suite.

"Your bedroom is off the Master Suite. That's not going to be redone until later, when we can use it, and your current room will go back to being a study for you to use while you're here."

Pushing open the door, he handed her into the room. Decorated with a modern decor, the room was up to date in style, but also reminiscent of Ginny's room at the Burrow. On the walls were a collection of pictures of her and Harry.

Flying in their Quidditch robes, laughing by the pond at the Burrow, him carrying her while she slept to a couch in the Common Room, and others she had forgotten about or never realized had been taken.

"Harry, it's gorgeous." Tears were rolling down her cheeks. "How big an idiot am I?" Staring around the room she sat on the bed and looked back to him.

"Harry, I don't mean to be a bitch, it's just that sometimes I think everyone is conspiring against us."

Walking over to her, he knelt down and wrapped his hands around her waist.

"You're not an idiot. Things have been a bit stressful recently. Your boyfriend became a parent and it's going to take some getting used to." Smiling at her, he tried to be reassuring.

"I notice you didn't say anything about me not being a bitch." Smiling at the shocked expression on his face, she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Mum told me not to push you too hard about things, and here I am making a public spectacle of myself the first day we move into the house."

"Speaking of Mum, she wasn't too happy you were in my room, let's go back downstairs before she decides to come up and see if we've been testing out the bedrooms, one by one." A dry voice from the hallway interrupted them, causing both of them to start.

"Too late for that Harry, though I am happy that all of the beds still seem to be made up." Standing in the doorway, Molly Weasley was watching the two of them with an amused expression on her face.

"I thought you'd be with Hermione on her tour of the house?" Harry added, trying to look innocent while kneeling between Ginny's legs in front of a bed.

His best friend's face popped around the doorsill on the other side, sporting a very large grin.

"Oh, this is the tour Harry. Trust me, everyone wanted to see the bedrooms first for some reason." Smiling as the two of them groaned, she stepped into the doorway beside Molly.

"Why don't the two of you join us, and we can go down and see some of the more public areas of the house?"

As the group assembled in the hallway, to good natured teasing from Ron and George, they headed back down the hall towards the stairs; Harry noticed that the door to Hermione's room was ajar.

Quietly stopping, he stepped into the room for a second and surveyed the room. Almost a twin to his, the room was light and airy, with fanciful turns that made it look whimsical. Staring at the photo that was centered beside the window overlooking the gardens, he smiled fondly before shaking his head.

The photo was one taken the day after Dumbledore's death. Hermione had been crying and Harry had been comforting her when they both fell asleep in the Common Room. The two of them were fast asleep, wrapped around each other, and the expressions on their faces were ones of contentment and peace. Hands clasped, they were at peace with each other, at least for the moment.

Shaking his head, he fondly remembered when it happened, but was profoundly glad that this wasn't the room that Gin had wandered into first. Hearing Gin calling to him from the stairs, he smiled at the sleeping couple and quietly closed the door. As the room darkened, the sleeping Harry in the portrait roused long enough to place a tender kiss on his Hermione's head as she snuggled closer and he surrendered himself to sleep.


Dinner at Grimmauld Place was a festive affair in the formal dinning room, which they had never used when the Order was using the house. The dining room table was enchanted to expand to match the number of diners. Most of the Weasley family wandered in as the day rolled on and by diner time, everyone had joined them. Percy and Penelope were fighting, as usual; about something so obscure that no one other than them could fathom what the issue was.

The table was loaded with a number of excellent dishes, even Fleur who was normally dismissive of English cooking was marveling over the dinner. Hermione made a point of allowing Kreacher to serve her and he would spend those moments he wasn't assisting someone standing by her chair as if he were the chamberlain and she were a royal scion, exchanging comments about the meal and other pleasantries. After the meal, the group retired to the sitting room and spent the evening marveling about the house and the changes Kreacher had wrought in it.

Sitting on Harry's lap, Ginny blushed as she looked over at Hermione. "I hate to admit it, but your ideas were much better suited for this place than mine. A house this big, decorated the way I was suggesting would look like a muggle department store, not a home." Shaking her head, she looked around, "Where's Kreacher, I want to tell him what an excellent job he did."

"He's up in the nursery watching Teddy. When we decided that we could make do with coffee and scones for after dinner, he put everything on the sideboard over there and took Teddy upstairs. Hermione will be going up to feed him after a bit, he'll be back down then and you can tell him."

Arthur, looking intrigued, joined in. "Speaking of the nursery, whose idea were those mirrors?" Molly, sitting beside Arthur in a loveseat smiled at Hermione with a knowing look on her face. "I noticed that the matching ones were in all four bedrooms."

"Those are Hermione's," Ron added proudly. "She took the remains of the one that Sirius gave Harry and created a linked set of five that would allow any of us to monitor what's going on in the nursery. Isn't she brilliant?"

Leaning over and gently kissing her on the cheek, Ron smiled at the blush that graced her cheeks.

Arthur sat forward and looked at Hermione, watching with interest as her eyes cut over to Harry when Ron kissed her.

"If it's not too much trouble, could you make up another set of those to show to Kingsley at the Ministry? I can think of several uses we could put those to, in Magical Law Enforcement and other areas." Seeing her nod thoughtfully, Arthur smiled as she almost imperceptibly glanced at Harry again, rather than Ron.

"And since you're not a Ministry employee, yet, I'm going to insist that we set up a fee that will go to you for each set fabricated. Unless, of course, you want to negotiate with someone to manufacture them for you and then sell them to the Ministry and other customers?"

Startled by Arthur's last remark, Hermione noticeably looked over to Harry before answering. "I didn't do this to make anything from it."

Shaking his head, Arthur chuckled at the look on her face. "Hermione, it's ok to put that mind of yours to use and actually get paid for it. I'm certain that you'll have plenty of good ideas that the Ministry will shamelessly steal once you start working there, you might as well get something out of this brilliant idea."

Looking thoughtful, George closed his eyes, as if he were looking at something that wasn't there. "Hermione, if you don't mind, I think we could add these to the non-joke items that we produce for the Ministry and other groups. I'll pay you a royalty on every set that goes out the door, whether we get paid for it or not."

Opening his eyes, he smiled at her. "If you'll trust me, I'll set up a deal that will keep you in galleons for as long as I'm in business. These things are a natural, and we can market them to almost everyone. Nursery monitors, monitoring detention cells, you name it." Watching her nod slowly, he beamed. "Now the only question is, how do you want your name on it? How does 'Hermione's Magic Mirrors' sound? 'Granger's Gaze Multipliers'?"

Everyone laughed as Hermione blushed furiously. Standing, she brushed a non-existent wrinkle from her skirt and sighed.

"You know what will happen to you if you do, George. Try to find something practical to call them that doesn't involve my name and we have a deal." Heading out towards the hall, she stopped by the chair occupied by Harry and Ginny.

"I'm going to go up and feed Teddy and I'll probably put him down for the night shortly after that. I'll get things setup for bed; you come up whenever you want."

Bidding everyone good night, Hermione headed out, still shaking her head.