21 – Conclusion: Finally, A Family
Ginny was brought home to Hogsmeade three days later with her and Harry's babies; they had already prepared a room for them across the hall from their own, but once they were older, fully expected them to want separate ones—particularly given the fact that they were of the opposite sex. She especially wasn't fond of Harry's mollycoddling her, but there wasn't much she could do to stop him, particularly not when he had virtually the entire Weasley family behind him. Sirius wasn't much better, and even then only because he had to be looking after his and Harry's own child for the duration. Even at that, they were already discussing the possibility of bringing the children together to meet each other at the first opportunity.
Still, it was nice to see that Sirius mollycoddled Harry (or at least he saw it as such) just as much when they were together, especially when they were spending that time with their little girl, who was looking more like Harry every day. He had owled the Healer and asked if there was any type of contraception which would work for wizards in his position, disconcerted to say the least when he received the reply that they were still experimenting with various subjects, methods and means and would let him know once they discovered one that would work. At this rate, he might have several children with Sirius before he and Gin could have another! Maybe he ought to have Ginny and 'Mione start working on something along those lines; if any two could do it, they could.
He really didn't want to forego the tenderly passionate sex life he shared with Sirius, but once again, might not have a choice in the matter, and in fact had a standing order for potion filled with testosterone in order to build up his male hormones again so he could one again impregnate Ginny at the proper time. If he'd had any idea it was such a problem to maintain two monogamous romantic relationships, he'd definitely have thought twice about starting the second one. As it was, however, it was too late to do anything about it, even if he wanted to.
It was roughly a month after his and Ginny's twins had been born that he had suggested a family portrait with all of them be made, including all the babies. She was open to the idea, but raising twins wasn't easy, to put it mildly, so it was hard to find time to set aside for having the portrait made. Of course, where there was a will, there was a way—so Harry was confident it would happen eventually, even if they had to get Molly and every other Weasley involved in order to pull it off. Sirius wasn't too put off by the idea either, but wanted to make sure he looked at least halfway decent when the time came, and he still looked entirely too thin, even though he had gained considerable weight ... mainly due to virtually constant food packages from both Harry and Ginny and Molly.
It was shortly after this that he even suggested to Harry that they have a 'commitment ceremony' in order to re-affirm their love and determination to stay together for life—the closest thing the wizarding world had to a marriage ceremony for gay (or bisexual) wizards such as themselves. Harry promised he would think about it, but since he was already officially married to Ginny and intended to remain so, it wasn't going to be any cinch to pull off, much less discuss it with her or either of his friends at any length.
They might even have to do something unofficial to mark their commitment to each other and keep it to themselves as much as possible because it would definitely not be a good idea to make their romance public. Merlin, what the Ministry would do with this, not to mention Rita Skeeter …and Voldemort—the only reason he wasn't a worry was because Harry and company had already effectively vanquished him. And even then, it wasn't so much what he and his friends had done as it had been due to one of the Dark Lord's own followers.
At one point after they had confronted each other, in the midst of the battle, only Ginny's warning kept Harry from being Kissed by one of the dementors; in fact, he had moved out of the way only to have the soul-sucking fiend set itself upon the Dark Lord himself, since it was going too fast to stop itself before Voldemort had been totally and thoroughly Kissed. Because of this, he no longer had any soul to speak of, and was a permanent resident in an isolation ward in the London branch of St. Mungo's and those who tended him didn't tend anyone else. Of course, no one was stupid enough to allow him his wand.
That, in fact, had been put on display under various charms and spells as well as armed guard as a prized artifact representing the triumph of the Light over the forces of Darkness, at Hogwarts. Of course, only the Light would know otherwise, that the forces of Darkness had essentially defeated themselves, although there had been talk among their ranks as to the possibility of spreading the truth about Voldemort's defeat in order to totally and thoroughly demoralise the remaining Dark forces. After all, if it could happen to the Dark Lord, it could happen to anyone.
By the time of the twins' birth, of course, preparations were well underway to get Ron and Hermione married, and their friends had already been chosen as best man and matron of honour respectively. Molly and Hermione's parents together were taking care of the myriad details, and had in fact, bickered many times as to how Hermione would be dressed, where the wedding would take place, what kind of food would be served, what time of day it would be held, you name it.
So much so, in fact, that the couple was strongly tempted to simply run away and elope with just Harry and Ginny as witnesses. At least that way, they would have the knowledge that they were already married to sustain them through all the madness presently ensuing.
In fact, they ended up deciding to do just that …and not only them, either. Harry had managed to find someone willing to conduct a commitment ceremony for him and Sirius and they ended up arranging it for after Ron and Hermione's own secret wedding. It was fortunate that the latter already had their own place picked out and a down payment placed on it so they could make plans to move in. For that matter, one of them already had—Hermione.
Even so, all the younger ones were convinced that the parents concerned at least suspected that they had been lovers for some time, even if they weren't officially living together. Harry and Ginny knew it from the start; had, in fact, been the only ones their friends had told …and sworn them to secrecy. Of course, Harry had also told Sirius and he had kept his counsel and silence on the matter, if only as a favour to Harry.
But if they were going to keep the ceremonies secret from the family at large, at least for the moment, they had to dress somewhere other than the Burrow …so Harry and Ginny offered the use of their home. Ron and Hermione were dressed in blue and she entwined roses through her chestnut tresses, charming the flowers to be the same colour as her formal dress, not technically a wedding dress but in this case, it would serve.
Again, Ginny definitely wasn't fond of the idea of Harry going through any kind of ceremony, 'commitment' or otherwise, with anyone other than herself, but there wasn't much she could do to stop it. If it made him happy, so be it—but that didn't mean she had to like it. It was a good thing she would have the children to keep her occupied for at least the majority of the time; otherwise she was sure that she would literally climb the wall at the mere thought. The older women were too occupied with wedding plans for their respective children to babysit, so the young parents had to look after their babies themselves, although all concerned shared responsibility for their care. Wouldn't be any cinch, not with three babies, but with all of them pitching in, it should work, with any luck.
They Apparated to the Ministry at the appropriate time, then made their way to the Department of Marriage and Children, told them they had an appointment for a wedding and were ushered inside almost immediately, Harry carrying baby Stephanie, Ginny their son, small Jacob, and Hermione their little girl, Brittany. However, once it came time for the wedding(s), Ginny was left alone with the three babies, at least for as long as it took to conduct the one for Harry and Sirius (Ron and Hermione had agreed to stand up with them, since it was required to have two witnesses) after they had confirmed that Harry was of age and it was therefore legal for him to enter into such a committed relationship.
When they returned, arm-in-arm, Ginny couldn't help noting that Harry wore a gold ring in his left ear to accompany his ring from her on the corresponding finger—but this one signified his commitment to Sirius. Of course, they dropped their arms upon seeing her and each of them took charge of the babies: Sirius little Stephanie, Harry small Jacob, and Ginny baby Brittany. The group decided to have a meal at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade before returning to Harry and Ginny's home, and upon returning there, they put the babies down for their naps after feeding them.
While waiting for them to awaken, they decided to discuss how to go about setting things up for the family portrait, then after that their future plans regarding both themselves and their children. There was too much to go into here, of course, but what mattered most to them was the fact that they were all family in one way or another, and intended to remain so. It had taken almost Harry's entire life for him to acquire the family he had always dreamed of—a family he himself had created—but now, in his twentieth year, he had accomplished it. He had three children he loved dearly, two partners he was madly in love with and two married friends he loved like the brother and sister he had never had …and that was just the beginning!
He was smiling so much, in fact, that both of his partners pointed it out to him. He had said, still holding and cuddling little Stephanie with one arm while holding Ginny's free hand with his other hand even as he rested his head on Sirius's shoulder as they held the other two babies, "I'm just happy. Happier than I've ever been in my life. I finally have the family I've always wanted—and if I can help it, I don't intend for anything bad to happen to any of you ever again!"
"That goes double for us," Ginny replied, her gaze meeting Sirius's, then Ron and Hermione's, before returning to Harry. It was scarcely believable that she was actually his wife and the mother of two of his children. So far, he had managed to divide his time and affections fairly equally, but she had given a standing warning to them both: if that ever changed, the Bat-Bogey Hex would be the mildest thing they would experience!
Both Harry and Sirius knew well the wrath of a redhead, so they didn't push their luck—mainly because they were both too fond of their bits to want to lose them any time soon. And once they finally did do the family portrait, with all appropriately dressed with the babies prominently displayed by their proud parents. Sirius was again holding little Stephanie, while Harry held baby Jake and Ginny small Brittany. The Weasleys surrounded the group en masse and everyone concerned made sure to get copies of the family portrait for themselves to display in a prominent place in their respective homes. It wasn't a traditional family unit, of course, but the most important thing was that they were all, finally, a family …and had no intention of that fact changing, now or ever.