Chapter Twenty-Four: Winter Surprises

Before anyone in the castle knew it the winter break was soon dawning on them, most of the students signed up to go home, even Kushina had signed up to leave while Ron and Hermione had already signed up to leave. Hermione would be spending the first part of break with her parents then on Christmas eve come to stay with Kushina and the others. Ron and his family would be staying a Grimmauld Place, Kushina and a few others would be staying at Jackal's Lair. Dean and Seamus were also heading home so was Neville, Gryffindor was mostly empty of students to be staying behind. Kushina had snagged Astoria and her sister to issue an invitation to come to her house for a small party on Christmas day.

Both agreed to speak to their parents, Kushina had slipped a note to Astoria that asked her to see about dragging Theodore with her to the party. Astoria was conspiring with Kushina to get Lee and Theodore to admit that they like each other. So all Astoria did was smirk and nod before she muttered, "I'll try but I make no promises."

Kushina hugged her and murmured in her ear, "that's all I can ask."

On the sixteenth of December, Sirius had gone to see Madam Pomfrey about the nausea he had been having during the morning. She had conducted a medical exam and after one of the diagnostic charms said, "congratulations, you're pregnant."

Sirius had gaped at her before he exclaimed, "I'm what!"

She looked at the shell shocked man amused and reiterated, "you are pregnant. Would you like me to inform your husband or would you like to handle that?"

Sirius dropped a hand to his stomach and said dazedly, "I'll tell him myself. It'll be a good Christmas present, don't you think?"

She laughed and said, "that it will, that it will."

Kreacher and the guests had decorated the house so when they got there the Weasley's, Potter's and the kids hardly had any decorating to do. James had transfigured a few things into stags, wolves, lions, cheetahs, tigers and leopards. He then hung them all over the place, on the tree on the garland above the fireplace, he even made glass statues to place on the bookshelves in the library.

To Sirius's shock all of the serpent motifs had been replaced with lions and dogs, his mother's portrait had been moved as well. When he asked Kreacher where it was Kreacher told him that he had moved the portraits to the attic so they wouldn't bother masters guests. Kreacher had also repainted the house with blues, greens, reds and golds. It ended up being quite calming and even welcoming to the Slytherins.

Kushina had stood in the hall before she patted Kreacher on the shoulder and said, "I approve, it looks much better than before." Kreacher beamed ecstatically up at her, especially when Sirius had muttered his agreement to her statement.

They all spent the four days before Christmas eve doing last minute shopping while Kenpachi dragged Kushina out with him for advice on what to get Hermione. As they passed through a book shop, Kushina noticed a book on the language of flowers and with a shark grin handed it to Kenpachi who merely asked, "what? Do you think she'd want this book?"

Kushina slapped him upside the head and said, "no, silly. Use this book to give her a bouquet of flowers and then have her open the book on Christmas day. If I know her, she'll look up the flower and you can use them to communicate without actually saying a word to her."

Finally all the shopping was done and the other's arrived before they knew it, Hermione had come by on the twenty-third. Her parents were heading for a skiing trip in the Swiss alps, since she never enjoyed skiing she had them drop her off at Grimmauld Place early. Kenpachi had greeted her with a grin and a hug, Kushina had hugged her friend while Ron merely hung by the door and nodded to her. Hermione's parents were clearly wondering who this large man with the scars was so Hermione dragged Kenpachi over to meet them, Yachiru came barreling out of the house chattering excitedly about her Ka-Chan.

Kenpachi without thinking caught Yachiru around the waist before she could fall and hurt herself, he ignored her tugging on his hair with the ease of long practice. When Yachiru jumped down to hug Hermione, he merely shifted so she'd have less of a way to jump. The whole while he was speaking to the others and then he heard from behind him, "oh, captain… The Head captain wishes to speak to you concerning Ikkaku."

Kenpachi sighed and said, "fine, I'll go talk to him. Watch Yachiru, Yumichika."

The fifth seat pouted but gamely said to Yachiru, "is there a game you want to play, Yachiru?"

Yachiru paused in thought before she grinned and said, "tag!" She then tapped him on the forehead and raced off laughing.

Yumichika sighed but chased after his lieutenant, Hermione's parents looked down at their daughter who was watching the two race around bemusedly. Hermione mother said, "sweetheart." Hermione hummed to let her know she was listening, "just what is that man and girl to you?"

Hermione looked up at her mother and said, "well, I like Yachiru, she's rather sweet. Kenpachi, well…Kenpachi is Kenpachi, he's courting me."

Her father raised his brow and said dangerously, "courting you?"

She glanced up at him and laughed, "courting is different in the wizarding world, a man will only court a woman if he's serious. Since I'm currently under seventeen he has certain rules that he has to follow."

Her mother stared at her curiously before she asked, "like what?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "simple, during the first stage of courtship both parties must have at least one person representing them present. During that stage it is expected that the pair converse to see if they are compatible, if they are they can proceed to the next stage which is wooing and gift giving. The female or the one being wooed must not give a gift unless they have been given one. Me and Kenpachi have barely entered the second stage of the courtship. Third stage allows us to go on public dates, such as to dinner and a movie. Fourth stage is marriage proposal, the fifth is if I accept the proposal, if I accept then he will take me to a dance where it will be formally announced and a wedding date will be set." The whole time she was explaining the pair chasing each other had finally collapsed, or rather Yumichika had collapse while Yachiru was bouncing on her heels before she came over to Hermione who scooped up the child and set her on her hip.

After several moments of conversation and repeated reassurances by Hermione to her parents that, "yes, I'm happy. No I won't rush into this, and of course I'll be careful." With a wave she sent her parents off to their trip before she walked into the house and glared at Kushina before she said, "that was an awkward conversation."

Kushina laughed then dragged Hermione upstairs to her room where they got her settled in, Kenpachi's room was below hers.

The next day, Kushina, Molly, Sirius and Lily prepared the dinner with Kreacher's help, Kreacher was assigned to keep all hungry mouths away from the dinner. Ichigo had come by briefly to say hello and inform them that he would be by tomorrow with his family and Byakuya. Kushina sent Ichigo off with a small cake and said, "share it with Byakuya!" Ichigo waved in acknowledgement before disappearing toward Jackal's Lair.

After dinner had been eaten and dessert savored, everyone gathered in the living room where Sirius stood in front of the fireplace and announced, "it's a bit of a tradition that was started in 1975 by myself, Remus and James. We would open one present before we went to bed then opened the rest the next morning before breakfast. I would like to keep this tradition so, Kreacher will hand everyone a single gift of theirs that they may open." With that Kreacher popped a single gift either in their lap or in front of them.

Kushina opened her present to reveal a book, it was a very rare defense text that she had been looking for ever since she had seen it referenced by several other books. She squealed before hugging Neville. Neville laughed and said, "I thought you might like that book."

Her gold eyes gleamed as she said, "like it? I love it!" She then started paging through the book while Neville opened his present, he took one look at the present then fainted, Kushina leaned over and said, "you okay Neville?"

He sat up and with shaking hands took out the seeds inside before he beamed up at Kushina, "I'm terrific, Kushina. Can you thank your fiancé for me?"

Kushina raised her brow but said, "sure or you can wait and thank him tomorrow."

The pair heard a shriek from Ron while Hermione whooped, they looked over to see Ron being fanned by Rukia while Hermione was salivating over five books. In front of Ron was a set of Quidditch robes in bright orange, Kushina laughed and said, "I guess Kisuke present for Ron was a hit."

Remus had received a gold cashmere sweater from Hermione, while James had gotten a subscription for a year for transfigurations monthly from Lily. Lily had gotten Kimono from Kushina that had dragon lily's embroidered on it. As last minutes gifts she had gotten some humorous tee shirts for the Arrancar and shinigami that she thought they might enjoy. The shirts had saying written on the front only four got their shirts that night since they had to get back to soul society that night. The ones who received their presents laughed about them, luck of the draw had Jushiro getting that present as his single one to open until Christmas day.

For Shunsui it was 'When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then find someone whose life has given them vodka, and have a party!' He snickered over it and said, "huh, that fits me to a tee."

For Jushiro she had gotten him, 'Lead me not into temptation…I can find it by myself.' Shunsui laughed and said, "suits you, Jushiro." Jushiro slapped him on the shoulder but smiled at the shirt.

Kensei and Shuhei got one each as well, Kensei's said, 'I know the Voices aren't real. But they have great ideas!' Shuhei's said, 'Why be difficult when just with a little effort you can be impossible!'

Shuhei had laughed and after hugging her said, "thanks. This will be fun to wear when I'm not working."

Kensei had shook his head before he said, "still giving crazy shirts out for Christmas I see."

She shrugged and said, "why get off a winner."

The rest had gathered their presents and went up stairs to sleep while Shunsui, Shuhei, and Kensei left. Before Shuhei and Kensei left Kushina handed them four parcels, Shuhei looked at her curiously, she explained, "those are the presents for Uryu, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra and Renji. Can you give them to them for me?"

Kensei nodded before the pair left for Karakura Town via Jackal's Lair's basement. Kushina then walked upstairs to her room and set aside her newest book before she flicked her wrist and put of a privacy ward then called out for Dobby. Dobby took her straight to Naruto's apartment, she easily jumped up to his window and knocked on it. After seeing who it was he let her in with a grin and as soon as she climbed inside he gave her a hug.

After she hugged him she handed him a present and said, "it's a local tradition where I'm currently at to give a present to someone on today." He blinked but shrugged and opened the present, he looked down at the handheld mirror confused and looked up at her questioningly.

She smiled and explained while making him dinner, "it's a communication mirror. If you call out my name it'll send me a message and I'll answer it. I'll be able to see you and you'll be able to see me. Try it out," she said while putting the plate of food in front of him.

Naruto shrugged and said, "Ryuu-Okaasan."

To his surprise he heard a small beeping sound from Ryuu's Kunai holster and she reached in and said, "accept."

When he looked at the mirror he was startled to see her mask staring out at him and she said, "hello little one." He heard it from both the mirror and from the kitchen where she was standing. He then heard as she said, "disconnect," once she had said that her image disappeared and his image took it's place.

As he ate she explained that her mission was taking her beyond the veil surrounding the elemental countries and that his mirror was only connected to hers, she laughed softly, "all of my friends believe me to be killed in action the only ones who are aware otherwise is my husband and you. That's why I told you before not to go asking around about me." As she explained she washed the dishes.

Naruto blinked and commented, "so I shouldn't ask about you any more than I ask about Crow."

She cocked her head to the left and asked curiously, "who's Crow and why can't you ask about them? He must have been given the position after I was given the assignment outside the veil."

Naruto laughed and said, "he probably was promoted after you left. As for why I can't talk about him is simple. He was given an order by the Idiot Trio on the council but he disobeyed his orders by allowing a child to live so he was forced to become a missing nin. Crow was Itachi Uchiha and his assignment was to eliminate the Uchiha Clan, he disobeyed by allowing his little brother to live."

Kushina stared at him in shock before she snorted and said, "well that figures. Knowing Mikoto though she probably had an escape plan in place, the Uchiha that had been killed were more likely to be blood clones than actual people. How old was Itachi's brother at the time?" She asked quietly.

Naruto shrugged, "eight I think. Either eight or nine years old. Why?"

Kushina snorted, "because eight year olds cannot have a blood clone made. But anyone over that age can. If Itachi did indeed kill his clan except for the youngest member than the clan is still alive. I should know, I'm the one who came up with the back up plan." She then looked at Naruto oddly and asked, "who in the frilly heck is the Idiot Trio?"

Naruto giggled and explained, "Crow used to call a certain three members of the Village Council that."

Kushina looked up at him and asked, "which three?"

Naruto looked at her and blinked but answered, "Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utantane and Danzo Shimura."

Kushina snickered and said, "I quite agree with my little godson. They deserved to be called the Idiot Trio!" She then collapsed into a giggle fit and managed to gasp out, "if you see him, tell him that Ryuu-Chan congratulates her little Crow on his name for the Idiot Trio."

Naruto shrugged but said, "sure. If I run across him anytime soon I'll tell him you said that."

She reached up and gave him a kiss on the forehead before she said, "you are the sweetest boy I've ever met." Naruto blushed both at the kiss and for the words, she laughed at his blush and then said, "if you want to make him do something, just give him some pocky. He'll follow you to hell and back if you do."

Naruto laughed but made a mental note to himself to always keep some pocky on him just in case he ran into Crow. The pair talked for a few hours before Naruto began to yawn and Kushina tucked him into bed. After making sure the house was secure she left Konoha and disappeared. During the two hours they were talking she had put the second seal on him, this time it was located on his lower back at the base of his spine.

As soon as she got back to Grimmauld Place she flopped back into bed with an amused smile on her face and thought to herself as she fell asleep, 'Minato-love, you'd be so very proud of our son. Well except for his pranking ways then you'd wail about how you should have known he'd be just like his mother.'

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While Kushina was off in Konoha, Sirius and Severus were in their room getting ready for bed. Severus had noticed that Sirius was acting nervous and asked, "what's wrong?"

Sirius jumped and said, "nothing, absolutely nothing is wrong." but he was twitching and not looking at his husband when he said it.

Severus raised a black eyebrow at him and said, "don't lie to me, Sirius. Now what is wrong?"

Sirius sighed but patted the bed beside him, Severus took the seat and after Sirius took his hand he said, "nothing is wrong per se. However I have something to tell you and I don't quite know how to put it."

Severus frown and asked tentatively, "are you sick? I know you went to see Madam Pomfrey about something since she told me that although you would throw up for a while that would pass fairly soon."

Sirius winced and said, "well that has something to do with it. And all of my symptoms will be over with in about oh, seventh months." When he noticed that Severus was beginning to panic he blurted out, "I'm pregnant."

Severus gaped and said, "pregnant? You're pregnant? Poppy's sure?"

Sirius nodded and said, "yeah. We're both pretty sure, near as Poppy can figure I got pregnant on November 4th or 5th." Severus swayed and Sirius looked at him nervously before he asked, "you're not upset about it, are you?"

Severus smiled slightly but pulled Sirius on top of him, falling back onto the bed and said, "no, I'm not upset. I'm ecstatic." He then turned onto his side then placed his hand low on Sirius's stomach and thought to himself, 'I can't believe we created a life together.'

Sirius looked down and when he saw the awe on his husbands face he smiled and thought to himself, 'nope, he's not upset at all.'

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The next morning Kushina woke up early and went downstairs to start breakfast for everyone as well as the guests that would be dropping by, although it would only be Isshin, Yazu, Karin, Ichigo, Byakuya, Coyote, and Lilynette.

She decided to make a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast and pancakes, however for those from Japan she decided to fix a traditional Japanese breakfast. She decided to make Tamagoyaki or rolled omelet, while she was preparing the egg mixture she had some rice steaming. Hermione came into the kitchen right as Kushina began mixing the ingredients for the omelet and she asked, "Kushina, what are you making?"

Kushina looked over her shoulder and said, "Tamagoyaki, its basically a rolled omelet and it's pretty good. Wanna watch me make it?"

Hermione smiled and said, "sure," before she hopped up on a bar stool to watch.

Kushina got out six large eggs and beat them until fluffy, she then set aside the eggs and mixed the dashi stock with two tablespoons of mirin, one tablespoon of superfine sugar, one teaspoon of soy sauce and one teaspoon of salt. Once the ingredients were thoroughly mixed she poured them into the eggs and stirred it together. While she was doing that she had set a rectangle pan on the stove, it had one wooden handle and it measured six and three quarter inches on the long sides and four and three quarter inches on the short sides. The pan was about an inch deep, Hermione noticed a set of chopsticks off to the side but didn't ask why Kushina had them near the pan.

Kushina poured a small amount of oil on a paper towel coated the bottom of the pan with the oil. She then poured an amount of the egg mixture into the pan, coating the bottom of the pan evenly, once the omelet had started to set she rolled it up toward the far end of the pan. She then coated the exposed pan with oil again and poured some more egg in the pan repeating the process, however this time when pouring the egg into the pan she lifted the omelet up with the chopsticks she had used to roll it, thus allowing the egg mixture to go underneath.

Once the second layer of egg started to set Kushina rolled the finished omelet in it making in larger, she repeated the process until all of the egg mixture was gone. She had made a total of three rolled omelet three layers thick, she had moved the rolls as they were finished gently to a sushi rolling mat covered with a clear sheet of plastic wrap. She had rolled the omelets firmly into the mat and left them to stand rolled for five minutes while she was making the other omelets.

Kushina then grated a one inch piece of daikon on a very fine grater, she squeezed the juice out of the grated daikon with her hand. She then cut the rolled omelets into one inch slices crossways, once she was finished cutting the omelet she placed the slices onto a platter and put the grated daikon off to one side.

During the making of the second omelet the rice had finished and Kushina dished it into several bowls, placing warming and preservation charms on the food. Kushina had prepared Miso soup earlier and had it ready to eat by the time the first omelet was finished. After all of the food was prepared, Kushina had Hermione watch it and went upstairs to wake everyone for breakfast.

Kreacher had completely made over the house, the ground floor now held the kitchen, the dinning room, the living room, and the library. Kreacher had remade the library from the ballroom. The first floor had only five bedrooms with attached bathrooms now instead of ten bedrooms sharing a single bathroom. The second, third, and fourth floors shared the same plan as the first. But the fifth floor was the master suite, as well as three other bedrooms with attached bathrooms. While the attic now held all the portraits and was also used for storage of items they no longer used.

On the first floor Isane had the room across from the stairs while beside her was Nanao's room, across from Nanao's room was Jushiro's room. By Jushiro's room was Tia's and Nel's, since neither Arrancar had felt comfortable being alone in a room, they shared. Across from the female Arrancar was Yumichika. Kushina knocked on all of the doors and said, "breakfast is ready." Once she heard the thumps and groans of people dragging themselves out of bed she went up to the second floor.

On the second floor, Kenpachi had the bedroom nearest the stairs while Yachiru's bedroom was next to his, across from Yachiru's room was Rukia's bedroom while Tetsuzaemon's room was next to hers an across from his was his captains room. She again repeated the method of knocking on doors and calling out that breakfast was ready. She waited until she heard most of the floors inhabitants moving around to go up to the third floor.

On the third floor Hermione's room was in the same place as Kenpachi's so she skipped that door as well as the one beside it since that was her room. Ron's room was right across from her own so she knocked once then stuck her head in and said, "Ron, you've missed breakfast!" She snickered as her red haired friend jumped out of bed and shot past her down the stairs. Rukia had just come out of her room when Ron had raced down the stairs so she walked up to the third floor to ask whoever was laughing up there what was going on.

When she saw Kushina leaning against an open door laughing she smiled and asked, "why did Ron just run down the stairs?"

Kushina laughed before she said, "simple, it's 'cause I woke him up by telling him he missed breakfast."

Rukia laughed but went back down the stairs to go to the kitchen, Kushina on the other hand knocked on the room by Ron's to wake up Ginny, Ginny opened the door and asked, "is breakfast ready?"

Kushina nodded and from behind her, she heard the door open and the twins ask, "was that our youngest brother's lovely voice screaming that breakfast is gone?"

Kushina looked at them with her eyes twinkling, "well it was the only way to get him up as fast as I wanted him too." The twins snickered before they ducked back into their shared room, Kushina turned back to Ginny and said, "well I'm going to wake up the adults and Neville next." With that she turned and walked up the stairs to the fourth floor, she laughed quietly to herself as she walked up them, it never ceased to surprise her how gullible Ron is in the morning.

On the fourth floor, Molly and Arthur had the bedroom directly across from the stairs and in the room beside them was Neville. Across from Neville's room was Percy's room, Percy had gotten into the house around eleven o'clock last night. Kreacher had woken her up and asked what room to put him in, she told him to put him in the only empty room in the house before falling back asleep. Beside Percy's room was Bills and directly across from Bill's room was Alice and Franks room.

Molly and Arthur were already awake and getting dressed when she knocked on their room, same with Percy and Bill. Neville was still asleep so she woke him up by tapping on his shoulder, he had learned to sleep deeply or lose sleep while sharing a dorm room with Kushina's nightmares and Ron's snoring. Alice and Frank were asleep but woke up when Kushina knocked on their door to let them know that breakfast was done.

After everyone was awake on the fourth floor Kushina made her way to the fifth floor and woke up her parents who had the room across from the stairs while her Aunt Lily had the room beside them. Kushina decided to err on the side of caution and sent Kreacher to wake up Sirius and Severus. She then bounded downstairs to find everyone waiting in the kitchen, but before she could enter the kitchen she heard a knock from the door.

When she opened the door she found Coyote Starrk, Lilynette Gingerbuck as well as her cousins and her Uncle on the other side along with Byakuya Kuchiki who was actually wearing blue jeans and the shirt she sent him for Christmas. She snickered as she read it and she knew that only Ichigo could have made Byakuya wear a shirt that said, 'If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.' She invited them in and after everyone made it downstairs they ate breakfast, the pair of Arrancar were also wearing their shirts and upon seeing the words on the shirt both Nel and Tia snickered.

Lilynette's shirt said, 'Dear Karma, I have a list of people you missed.' However it was Coyote's that made them laugh the hardest, even Lily laughed when she read it, Coyote's shirt said, 'I'm not lazy. I'm physically conservative.'

After breakfast was finished they all went into the living room to open the presents left there last night. After the gifts had been passed out it was decided that the youngest among them would open their presents first, since everyone had sent the present to the Kurosaki's to open in Karakura it was Ginny who was the youngest.

Ginny had received her usual sweater from Molly while Kushina had given her a Kimono, it had images of winged feathered serpents embroidered on it. From Hermione she got a set of Quidditch armor. Ron and the rest of her brothers gave her a signed note stating that they wouldn't try to sabotage her relationship with Tetsuzaemon Iba. Sirius had given her one half of a set of communication mirrors along with a note stating that Tetsuzaemon had the other one.

Kushina and Neville were the next youngest, so they opened their presents one after the other. Kushina had gotten a sword care kit from Kenpachi, while Kensei had given her a motorcycle (it was stored at Jackal's Lair), she had gotten a Shoji set from Shinji and Hiyori. Love and Lisa had managed to find a very rare set of books beyond the veil surrounding the elemental countries. They had gotten her a set of autographed Icha Icha Books. Ichigo gave her several sketches from around the Seireitei, while Yoruichi gave her a scroll describing several Shunko moves. The shinigami and Visored who couldn't make the party sent her photos and letters.

Hermione had given her two cartridges of the newest Nintendo games including one that was called Pokemon, she thought Kushina might enjoy playing it. Ron on the other hand gave her a book on strategy, Kushina joked that it was quite the reversal of the pairs gift giving habits. Molly had given her the usual gift of a sweater and fudge, while Lily and James gave her several memories of the first fifteen months of her life. Severus and Sirius had bought her a pensive for all the memories that they knew she would end up watching. Remus had commissioned a trunk like Mad-Eye's for her earlier in the year. From the rest of Gryffindor and those who knew her but didn't know what to get her, she got vouchers for various stores.

Kisuke had given her an invention that she adored, it was her own Denreishinki, which looked exactly like a cell phone but it could detect the prescence of hollows and allowed communication between the living world and the Seireitei.

Neville had gotten a book on caring for rare plants from Hermione, while Ron gave him a voucher for a plant nursery in Hogsmeade. James and Sirius had given him several photo's of his parents days at Hogwarts. While Lily and Severus had brewed him several potions that would help him care for the seeds that he got from Kushina last night. Remus had given him a book that had no words on the cover but on the first page inside was the words 'tips for wooing the woman of your dreams,' the author of the book left it unsigned. Kisuke had given him cutting of several plants that the fourth division uses in their medicines.

Ron received his usual gift from his mother, Hermione had given him a broomcare kit exactly like she'd given Kushina for her thirteenth birthday. Kushina had given him his own set of keeper gear while Ginny gave him an autographed picture of the Chuddley Cannon team. Rukia gave him a photo of his deceased grandfather who had taught him how to play chess, he was grinning up at Ron from beside Rukia. She had wrote on the back of the photo, 'I'd thought you'd like this more than a sketch of him. Love, Rukia.' James had to think long and hard about what to get the boy who was his daughter's only male best friend, and after he heard how much of a Chuddley Cannons fan he was, James made a decision. He made Ron a partner in the ownership of the Cannons, James' grandfather had been a huge fan of them however James never cared for them.

Remus teamed up with Lily and Sirius to give him a book on tips for Keepers, it had tips from several previous players at Hogwarts. Rabastan Lestrange sent them a few tips, while Frank had also gave them some, Remus had been backup Keeper for the Gryffindors. While Alice had been a beater, however Nymphadora had played Keeper until her Sixth year which had been the trio's first year. Severus had given him a book on muggle chess masters while Neville had given him a voucher for Honeyduke's.

Hermione had received a set of drawing and photos' of Yachiru and Kenpachi in the Seireitei from Yachiru. Ikkaku had given her three jars of the salve he kept in Hozukimaru's hilt while Yumichika had given her a book on hair care tips for bushy hair. Ginny and Luna had pooled their money to buy her a set of matching necklace and earrings. Neville had gotten her a book on wizarding myths while Ron and Kushina had chipped in to get her something she'd wanted since her third year, a Library trunk. A library trunk could hold up to twenty thousand books before it even weighed twenty pounds and every ten thousand more books would only make it weigh ten pounds heavier. In other words it was perfect for Hermione, she had gotten the usual gift from Molly and Kisuke got her several copies of some of the scrolls from the Daireishokairo or the Great Library of the Seireitei.

Kenpachi had been the odd one in the fact that he got her a book on the language of flowers, her favorite scented bubble bath and a bouquet of flowers. The bouquet contained, there was Snapdragons with Aster wrapped around them, while Gladiolus was entwined with Heather. The Honeysuckle and Blue Salvia was wrapped up in Jonquil, Tulips were entwined around them and interspersed in the bouquet was Chrysanthemums, Aloe, and Magnolia's.

She looked up the meanings of the flowers and found that Snapdragons meant desire while Aster meant patience, so the Aster wrapped around the Snapdragons probably was meant to mean, 'I desire you but I'm patient.' Gladiolus meant Strength of Character while Heather meant Admiration, so that meant something along the lines of, 'I admire your strength of character.' Honeysuckle meant Devoted Affection while Blue Salvia meant I Think of You, Jonquil meant I desire a return of affection. So the three together was probably meant to mean, 'I think of you with devoted affection. Will you return my affection?' Chrysanthemum meant Fidelity while the Yellow and Red Tulips meant Declaration of Love, and finally the Aloe meant Wisdom and Integrity.

Hermione swayed a bit before she carefully set the bouquet into a vase that James transfigured out of wrapping paper. Before she said, "let's go talk in the kitchen Kenpachi." A very nervous Kenpachi followed Hermione into the kitchen where she shooed Kreacher out of and closed the door firmly.

Kushina stared after her friend and said, "huh. She didn't take that like I expected then again I never expected Hermione to say, 'but there's no wood!' either." Ron snickered at the memory of Hermione forgetting she was a witch and could light a fire with a mere wave of her wand.

Kushina shrugged then pounced on the twins and said, "open your presents!"

Fred and George laughed but did as she said; most of everyone got them joint gifts, Kushina had given them another donation of money for their joke shop while Ron and Hermione had gotten them muggle pranking supplies. Ginny ended up giving them several books on pranking the muggle way, while Neville gave them some plant materials that they used in some of the potions in their pranking items. Lily had written several tips and tricks for pranking in the muggle world with magical methods, Alice had helped her with it. Frank on the other hand had slipped them a deed to a building for their future shop. But what had made the twins swoon and faint were three books, each one a pranking journal written and signed by a Marauder.

Remus, James and Sirius looked down at the twins and Remus asked, "what's wrong?"

Fred looked up at him and said dazedly, "wrong? There's nothing wrong! But how did the three of you come across these journals? Did you know the Marauders?" George looked up eagerly at the trio of men.

The three loyal Marauders looked at one another and James asked, "why do you want to know?"

The twins chorused, "because they're our idols!"

James hummed and said, "well I'm sure the Marauders never thought that they'd be held as idols. What do you think Padfoot?"

Sirius looked up from beside Severus and said, "true I certainly didn't think so, Prongs old boy. What about you Moony?" With that he looked over at Remus pretending not to see the ever widening eyes of Fred and George.

Remus chuckled and said, "well back when we were in school I didn't but after I taught for a year. Yes, I knew."

Fred and George gaped at them and exclaimed while throwing themselves on the ground at the marauders feet, "we're not worthy! We're not worthy!"

It took over thirty minutes to get the twins to stop worshiping at the feet of Padfoot, Moony and Prongs. Once they figured out that Kushina had conned the Marauders into this prank they threw themselves at her feet repeating the same gesture they had at the Marauders feet. It took them over twenty minutes to get them to stop this time by the time they were through with worshiping at her feet, Kenpachi and Hermione stepped back into the living room. Kenpachi had his arm around Hermione's waist and both were wearing smiles they couldn't contain.

When Hermione saw the twins at Kushina's feet she said, "they found out who the Marauders are didn't they?"

Kushina nodded at her, before she imperiously gestured for the adults to open their presents now.

Arthur opened his presents and gasped, Kushina had gifted him several how to books for dummies, while Hermione had got him several Do it yourself handbooks. Ron had decided to get his father some muggle toys to play around with, the twins and Ginny had done the same, Molly had groaned in despair. She then saw what the rest of the adults got him, Sirius had gotten him a set of the Muggle studies books, James had made a deposit into the Weasley family account at Gringotts. Remus had got the way of his daughter and her friends and had gotten him some muggle items.

Kushina had gotten Molly several skeins of yarn in various colors, she had bought them while they were on clearance so she was able to buy a large amount for a small amount of money. Molly exclaimed over the types of colors Kushina had picked out for her. Ron had bought some pattern books for both knitting and crocheting. Hermione had found an old-fashioned sewing machine that ran off a foot pedal. Lily had decided to get her a loom so she could make her own fabrics, Sirius on the other hand gave her a steady supply of food since she loved cooking and made sure that she would have a standing delivery of certain good via Kreacher. Severus had brewed several complex potions for her house, potions he knew she didn't really have time to brew anymore and were expensive to get from an apocathary.

The trio had gotten together and gave both Alice and Frank memories of their years at Hogwarts, all of them starring Neville. They of course left out certain parts of those years, like the giant three headed dog and the end of the year stunt by the trio. Remus had also given the pair memories starring Neville, except these only concerned his third year and only really of his defense class. James had gifted the pair with new wand holsters, his excuse was if they were going back to being Aurors or even just training Aurors then they would need good wand holsters.

Severus and Lily had brewed them all the potions they would need if they did decided to re-enter the Aurors. Sirius gave them a card stating that if they ever needed a day to themselves or a weekend to themselves he'd take their kid off of their hands. Molly had given her usual gift of a sweater and fudge to the pair.

Remus and James got a matching set of coupon books, when they opened the books up and glanced through the books they both blushed bright red. Remus blushed even redder when he looked up and saw his daughter smirking at him. James blushed but mouthed 'thanks,' to his daughter. The pair received another joint gift from Severus and Sirius, who offered to take Kushina or any other future children off their hands for a weekend or two. (Not that Kushina need to be babysat at her age but it was their excuse for keeping their goddaughter for a few days.)

Lily had given Remus a voucher for Honeyduke's, while Kisuke had given him and James several vials of memories from Kushina's childhood.

Lily had gotten James a subscription to Transfiguration Monthly, while the trio had given the two men memories of the trio's years at Hogwarts, (minus the really dangerous stuff like the three headed dog, and marching into Aragog's nest) but stuff like her Quidditch matches. And when Astoria helped them break into the Slytherin common room to prank Malfoy in fourth year. Ron of course included how she got the entire school to join her in pranking the shiny toothed slime-ball, other wise known as Gilderoy Lockhart.

Lily had received the same give from Ron and Hermione that they had given James and Remus, while James had gotten her a subscription for Charms monthly while Severus had gotten her the Potions Quarterly journal. Sirius had gifted her with a set of blank books that she could write down the charms she invented along with any potions she tweaked or invented. Kushina had smirked when she opened the present she got her, Lily gaped in shock over the rare potion ingredients that her goddaughter had gotten her. Neville on the other hand had given her several plants used often in potions.

Neville had given Sirius enough plants and seeds to start a small garden in the back courtyard of Grimmauld Place. James had given his best friend several blank books to write in, either his prank ideas, transfiguration ideas or those darn ancient runes that he loved so much. Lily ended up giving him a subscription to a motorcycle magazine, Sirius loved it, however Sirius had to hold off on riding a bike until his pregnancy was through. So Hagrid finally giving him back his bike meant that the first ride of the restored bike would have to wait. Kushina had Kensei restore the bike while Remus had recast the spells on the bike. Ron and Hermione had given him the same gift that Lily, James and Remus got, several vials of the trios years at Hogwarts.

Sirius laughed over what the trio had done to Draco in their fourth year, he had watched it in Kushina's pensive and when he found out that Kushina had managed to unite the four houses in the dislike of Dazzle Gums as he called Lockhart, he laughed until he was out of breath. Kisuke gave him two presents, one was a book called, 'what to expect when you're expecting.' The other was a series of letter from his younger siblings from his life as Kaien Shiba, Ganju and Kukaku. Alice and Frank had bought him several Ancient Rune books that had been published after he'd be thrown in Azkaban.

Neville had nervously given him the same gift of plants that he'd given Lily, Kushina had done the same except without the nervousness, Sirius had given him the same gift that he'd given Lily, a set of blank books to write in, one of the first things that Severus wrote in it was last night's date and the fact that he'd found out that Sirius was carrying his child.

James had decided as a joke to give him and Sirius a note stating that if the pair ever had kids he'd take the kids off the pairs hands for a weekend or two. Severus smirked up at James and said, "thanks, James. We might take you up on that in about eleven months."

James gaped at the pair and pointed at them before he asked, "which one of you is pregnant?"

Sirius raised his hand and said wryly, "me."

James groaned but he shot a glaring look at his daughter after she said, "cheer up Dad. At least you're not pregnant, yet!" James snarled then chased after his daughter who lead him on a merry chase around the house.

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The Slytherin members dropped by along with Lee, Kushina made sure that Theodore and Lee got caught under the same mistletoe and had them kiss to get out from under it. She'd done the same to any pair caught under it. Including her parents and godparents, when Lily got caught under the mistletoe with Coyote she insisted on them kissing. Coyote finally kissed Lily just to make Kushina shut up, Lily ended up walking around in a daze for thirty minutes. All of the mistletoe was charmed to only let out a pair after they had kissed to it's satisfaction. For some that was a mere kiss on the cheek for others it was a full blown French kiss.

By the time that the Kurosaki family had left, Coyote and Lily had gotten to know one another and had agreed to send letters. Lily had found out that Coyote would be at the school next year and had agreed to show him around the castle when he got there. Even Lilynette seemed a bit taken with the red haired woman, and had actually giggled and played with the kids outside in the snow.