Meet The Godparents

a/n – I had hoped my plans to take over the world would have borne fruit by now, but I've arrived at the end of MTG (and no, it's not Magic the Gathering which is owned by Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast), and I'm happy to state that the Harry Potter Universe is still owned by JK Rowling and her various and sundry corporate partners. No, really I'm happy to announce that. After all, would I try to pull the wool over your eyes on this day?

Chapter 38 – Sunday Brunch and a Monday Morning Meeting, Reprised

The rest of the month of May passed in a blur for the young couple and Teddy. As the final two weeks passed, they had settled into a comfortable rhythm with caring for Teddy. Grimmauld Place was transformed into not only a home, but a nexus for their friends and families.

Ron and Ginny continued in residence there, and Luna became a constant fixture there, much to the amusement of her father and the Weasleys. While Harry was quick to assure anyone who would listen that Hermione and Luna both had rooms of their own, no one ever questioned how many evenings those rooms were actually occupied.

Sunday afternoons quickly become a tradition of spending the late morning/early afternoon at the Burrow as a gathering of the rapidly expanding Weasley clan, by blood or otherwise. Molly and Fleur, having arrived at an arcane power sharing agreement understood only by the two of them, had taken to joining forces in providing a Sunday meal for the family and the friends who were as much a part of the family as any born with red hair.

Though both eagerly embraced some of the cooking expertise that the other possessed, there were some lines that would never be crossed by either witch. The look on Molly's face when Fleur explained exactly how Vichyssoise was prepared was only rivaled by Fleur's during her adamant refusal to even contemplate preparing Toad in the Hole, though both witches graciously nodded pleasantly when the gathered group praised those dishes.

The last Sunday in May was one such gathering, marked by mirth, fellowship and the inevitable family quidditch match following brunch. The game was a fun, lighthearted thing between all of the players except the two seekers, Harry and Ginny. Although their relationship on the ground had blossomed into a deep and abiding friendship that mystified some of their friends, their competitive natures caused each to sound 'No Quarter' when they faced off on the pitch.

After almost two hours, the game ended in a draw when Ginny snagged the snitch out of Harry's outstretched hand as they both rocketed towards Hermione, who had been dragooned into playing beater to make the tenth in the five on a side match.

The snitch had taken up a position just beneath Hermione's broom and while her mental connection with Harry enlightened her to the situation just as soon as Harry spotted the elusive snitch, her decision to move towards Harry rather than Ginny afforded the rocketing red-head to chance to deftly snatch the winged prized from Harry just as Harry was preparing to take possession of the elusive snitch.

As the entire group, participants and fans alike, returned to the tables setup in the backyard of the Burrow, Ron's complaints that they had had to settle for a tie because Harry was 'thinking more about snogging the beater than catching the snitch' elicited amusement from most, threats of hexing from both his sister and his ex, and an amused observation from Luna that Harry's skill with a broom would ensure his catching the snitch later this evening, so Ron would be better served by focusing on keeping his own beater happy if he wanted similar success later on. The ensuing blush on Ron's part and the riotous laughter from the rest of the crew lasted until well after they had seated themselves at the tables for dessert.

As twilight descended, the crowd around the table laughed as the game was recounted from various perspectives. With Luna's amused permission, copies of The Sunday Prophet were brought out and, along with a couple of copies of this month's edition of The Quibbler, passed around. Charlie's amused snort of derision brought looks from everyone around the table as he shook his head and gave the Society page a bewildered look. Seeing Charlie shaking his head in disbelief, Arthur nodded to his son.

"Charles, what's so unbelievable in the Prophet this time? The fact that an entire issue managed to make it into publication without something mildly libelous about Harry or Hermione is amazing, but the two of them usually aren't on the Society page."

"That is amazing, but that's not what has got me stumped." Chuckling evilly, Charlie shook his head. Turning to Bill, he smiled knowingly. "Remember the Parkinson girl that went through most of the wizards in your year?"

Nodding a bit warily, acutely aware of his wife's presence beside him at the table, Bill flashed his brother a warning look before answering. "I do believe I remember her, vaguely. What's she up to now that's so unbelievable?"

Glancing across the table at the offending page, Bill deftly avoided eye contact with Fleur as she gave Molly a knowing look and rolled her eyes at her husband's antics.

Smiling at his brother's discomfort, Charlie nodded before answering.

"Would you have thought her the contemplative and spiritual type?"

Bursting out laughing at the unexpected question, Bill shook his head. "Merlin, Azalea would be the last witch that I would classify as 'contemplative' or 'spiritual'. Not unless you count her working her way through all four house quidditch squads as a vocation."

Blushing at the realization of what his outburst implied, he hazarded a quick glance at his wife and was relieved to see the amused expression on her face as she shook her head at him.

"That was my reaction. The Prophet has a small article announcing that Azalea had had some sort of epiphany and has gone to some sort of spiritual retreat up in the Orkneys to 'reevaluate her life and find her place in the wizarding world' according to this interview with her parents."

Puzzled, Bill turned towards George, who was the only other wizard present who might remember the witch in question, when he noticed the amused and knowing looks on both Harry and Hermione's faces. Intrigued, he gave the pair a questioning look.

"You two wouldn't remember her, by chance, would you?"

Schooling his features into a 'who me' expression, Harry shook his head. "I think we might have run into her once, but I don't think I've ever spoken to her." Turning to Hermione, Harry quirked an eyebrow as he noticed that Crookshanks had managed to appear in his wife's lap and was noisily demanding attention. "Do you remember her?"

Leaving off petting the ginger familiar, Hermione tilted her head. "Not from school, but I do remember hearing her name come up in a conversation not that long ago. It seems she had some sort of religious experience that changed her life," she replied drolly.

"That doesn't sound anything like the witch I remember." Looking puzzled, Bill shrugged and looked over at Charlie for confirmation.

Smiling knowingly, Hermione hugged Crookshanks to her before replying. "I believe they said she had quite a vivid encounter with some saint that left her eager to reevaluate her life."

Turning towards Harry, she smiled. "It was during that afternoon when Mr. Bethune so graciously gave us a tour of his department last week. A couple of his associates were chatting about it."

"I remember now. It seems she had some sort of encounter during an afternoon tea that left her very shaken." Tilting his head, he reached over and ruffled Crookshanks fur a bit, eliciting a contented purr from the kneazel mix. "What was that name they mentioned?"

Without batting an eye, Hermione quipped, "St. Ophelia of the Gardens. I believe she's the patroness of familiars and village idiots."

Shaking his head, Ron sadly eyed the last piece of pumpkin pie as Hermione wandlessly guided it to the plate she and Harry were sharing.

"Village idiots? Why would they need someone looking out for them?"

"Ron, I do believe they need looking after to protect them from themselves, they run afoul of avenging angels and familiars when left to their own devices quite often." Chuckling, Harry fed Hermione a bit of the pie from his fork.

Laughter erupted around the table at Harry's assessment, and the pair exchanged a knowing glance as the conversation turned to the prospects of the Cannons in the upcoming season.

The first of June dawned particularly bright and clear for an early summer Monday in Scotland. Instead of Harry going alone, Hermione and Teddy joined him as they made their way to the Headmistress' office. Standing quietly outside the door, they listened to the murmuring of conversation in Minerva's office for a couple of seconds before entering. As they silently stepped into the entrance, they could hear Minerva sighing. "It's not my story to tell, Andromeda. You'll just have to wait until they arrive..."

Dumbledore's cheery voice interrupted. "Well, the waiting is over. Good morning, you three." All eyes in the office were fixed on the young couple standing in the doorway, hands clasped while Harry held Teddy in his off arm. Both Kingsley's and Andromeda's eyebrows were raised just a bit at the sight of the intertwined fingers of the two.

Smiling uncertainly, Hermione nodded to the adults in the room. "I'm sorry if we kept you waiting, things were a bit hectic around the house this morning." Stepping into the room with Harry, she brightened at the reassuring nod she received from Minerva.

Looking coolly amused, Kingsley nodded to them both. "I'm finding that being Minister of Magic has much less import than I once thought. In the last two weeks, I've found myself being politely told on numerous occasions that certain records and files were sealed until released by you two." Sitting back in his chair, with his hands folded across his knee, Kingsley was shaking his head.

"That would have been the doing of Evangeline verch Dafydd from the Bureau of Permanence. She said something about making certain details weren't released until we were ready, but I never understood that she included your office in that." Looking over at Hermione, Harry smiled guiltily at the knowing look she was giving him.

As they made their way to the sitting area, they took the two remaining seats that were available. Looking to Minerva for permission, Hermione quickly conjured a portable cot and smiled as Harry gently lowered Teddy into it.

"And you wouldn't believe the number of people from old families, all of whom are on our 'suspected Death Eater sympathizer' list, who have come complaining that Gringotts has informed them that their stipends and contractual arrangements with the Ancient and Honorable House of Black have been revoked by the new Mistress of the House." Smiling at the delighted grin on Hermione's face, Kingsley tried to look thoughtfully neutral.

"You two wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"While Harry hasn't been formally invested by the Wizengamot as Head of House for either the House of Potter or Black, the goblins have their own standards for such honors and their own criteria for establishing such relationships." Composing her features to match Kingsley's poker face, Hermione continued, "It would appear that whoever the witch is that holds the key to Harry's heart has decided that enough is enough and the House of Black isn't going to finance a bunch of bloody pure-blood supremacists and Death Eaters in training."

Trying to look shocked, Harry chided. "Language, Hermione. Is that any way for the hypothetical Mistress of the Ancient and Honorable House of Black to talk?"

Arching an eyebrow and staring at him imperiously, Hermione coolly nodded. "I should emulate Walburga's example of decorum and deportment?"

The room erupted into laughter, which Hermione joined in with after a few seconds of staring Harry down. Shaking his head, Harry leaned over and kissed Hermione gently on the cheek.

Looking amazed, Andromeda stared at the pair. "We had heard that there had been some changes, but I thought it was just the aurors gossiping about things." Smiling, she chuckled. "It seems as if it were just weeks ago you two were assuring us that you could be Teddy's godparents even though you weren't romantically linked to each other.

"We were, and we were very sincere about it. Three weeks ago we weren't romantically linked." Nodding at Andromeda's raised eyebrow, she shrugged. "We were also both too stubborn to realize that we were hopelessly in love with each other at the most fundamental of levels." Blushing a bit, she looked over at Harry and nodded.

Fiddling with a coin in his off hand, Harry smiled. "With a bit of help, we finally realized what we had been ignoring for the better part of seven years." Nodding to Kingsley, Harry smiled mysteriously. "I know your objections at our first meeting were more to get us to think about the commitment we were undertaking, but the change in our relationship made us realize that we couldn't in good conscience be Teddy's godparents, he deserved better than that."

Both Kingsley and Andromeda erupted in protest. Fiercely trying to be the first to speak, to tell them that they were wrong in their assessment, both were preventing the other, or anyone else, for that matter, from getting a word in.

Shaking her head, Hermione lowered her eyes to the cot and cast a spell to ward the infant from the storm of noise and emotions that were swirling around the office.

Minerva, with a strange smile on her face, vainly tried to silence both the Minister and Andromeda, but neither one was listening. Just as she was about to raise her wand, suddenly a bright golden light flared into existence and all of the voices in the room were shocked into silence by the sound of a song that stilled all of the emotions and voices with its calm and beauty.

Harry felt a weight settle on his shoulder and saw every eye in the room, painted and otherwise, focus on him. A rustling of feathers startled him, but a flash of reddish gold out of the corner of his eye told him the identity of his passenger.

"Hello Fawkes." Harry said simply, trying not to move suddenly so as to not startle the phoenix. "I take it you have something to add to the conversation?"

A warm feeling in the back of Harry's mind blossomed, and he 'heard' a voice within his mind. A dark velvety baritone chuckled and stated, "Fawkes no longer. You have been chosen, once again." Harry could feel the mental equivalent of a wry smile as the weight of the phoenix's regard turned to his partner in life. "I am now 'Locke', for her."

The whispered "Goodness!" from Hermione told him that she had heard the exchange as well as he. Smiling he nodded. "I apologize, Locke. Do you have something to add?" Ignoring the shocked looks on the faces around the room, Harry vainly tried to carry on a one-sided verbal conversation with someone sitting on his shoulder without looking too ridiculous.

Locke trilled a series of notes, and Harry felt a small pop as Hermione's spell shielding Teddy's cot melted out of existence. Teddy began laughing and clapping at the sound. "This is not well thought out, they worry that you two are abandoning your commitment to the child."

Shaking her head, Hermione pulled a sheaf of parchments from her bag and laid them on the table sitting in front of Kingsley and Andromeda. "As Harry was just reminded, we could have phrased that better, but essentially we realized that just being 'just' Teddy's godparents was being unfair to him. We decided that he needed parents."

Smiling at the dawning looks of comprehension on Kingsley and Andromeda's faces, Harry continued.

"We discovered that the Bureau of Permanence, along with tracking inconsequential things like our being soul bound and oath-bound in marriage, has an important function. They, which means Evangeline, decide upon the suitability and appropriateness of adoptions for wizarding families."

Picking up the thread, Hermione smiled. "The top set of parchments in front of you formalizes our adoption of Teddy as our son." Feeling tears beginning to form in her eyes, she paused for a second. "We were hoping that your three would see fit to witness this and give your blessings." Smiling, she saw Harry nod and put his coin away as she spoke.

Looking shocked, Kingsley leaned forward and scanned the parchments in front of him. "You've designated Teddy as the primary heir for the House of Black and a co-heir for Potter?" Shaking his head in disbelief, he looked over at Andromeda, who was equally stunned.

Smiling, Hermione sighed. "Well, yes. We thought it best that way. Teddy will be equally a part of the family with any children we have in the future, but we thought it would be best if the primary reins of the House of Black remain with him. That way we can sever the seats in the Wizengamot at some appropriate time, but primarily we intended it as a way of Teddy not losing sight of the fact that he is Remus and Dora's son as well as ours."

Nodding towards Andromeda, she grinned. "Of course, this action totally cancels out any ill advised and questionable actions regarding Teddy's line of the Black family, so Andromeda's status in the family is clarified after far too long. This is also why we also stipulated that his name will remain 'Theodore Remus Lupin' until he turns fifteen so he can decide how he wants to be named. We owe the both Dora and Remus so much that we decided that Teddy should be the one to decide that."

Wiping tears from her eyes, Andromeda smiled. "This isn't necessary, but I know that both of them must be very happy about your doing this."

Hermione smiled in return and answered, "It is necessary…," before being cut off by the voice of Albus coming from Severus' portrait."

"Both Nymphadora and Remus are very pleased with this turn of events." Smiling, Albus was leaning against Severus' chair, ignoring the smirk on the face of his former Potions Master at the inevitable fallout of the use of 'The name that must not be uttered' that would be coming soon. "Harry, phoenixes make their own decisions about choosing, both their names and their persons, so I think congratulations are in order. Though I'm certain you two know that your relationship means that you both were chosen by Locke."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione nodded, giving her former Headmaster a warning look. "As I was saying, it is necessary, we didn't want any confusion or hard feelings to erupt at some day far in the future. Also, this formalizes Teddy's role in the House of Black in a manner that even the Wizengamot can't overturn." Chuckling, she smiled. "I suppose they named it the 'Bureau of Permanence' for a very good reason."

All smiles, Andromeda, Kingsley and Minerva all affixed their signatures and magical seals to the document. Harry and Hermione both slid their thumbs across the magical seal point, allowing the documents to be sealed with their blood. A complex magical chime was heard in the room, eliciting a joyous trill from Locke as their intent became fact. A brief flash of warmth from the pendant hanging around Hermione's neck surprised both of them as they could sense the magic of the soul stone encompass Teddy as well.

Nodding in satisfaction, Minerva turned to Kingsley. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to answer any of your questions about what their intentions were, but the three of us thought that the fewer people who knew about this, until it was official, the better."

"You're correct on that account. A copy of this has probably appeared in the Archives by now, and I can imagine that the gossip and owls have already started flying." Turning to Hermione, Kingsley tilted his head a bit, as if he were trying to formulate a question.

Smiling, she nodded. "You're wondering about the 'patents, assigns, and formal duties of the Grangers' clause, aren't you?"

Looking a bit sheepish, he nodded. "Well, yes. It seemed a bit out of place in the midst of paragraphs of legalese defining seats in the Wizengamot and heirs and assigns of wizarding families."

Smiling mysteriously, Harry laughed. "Hermione is nothing if not far from ordinary and it seems her family history is just as extraordinary as she is." Nodding to her and watching her amused smile, he grinned. "Unless her parents have another child, she's the only heir for her branch of her family and we've discovered that she's not as totally mundane and ordinary as she would like to believe." Smiling at the faint colouring of her cheeks, he nodded. "This just clarifies that Teddy is just as much an heir of her side of the family asylum as he is mine."

Still looking a bit confused, Kingsley shrugged. "If it makes sense to you two and Evangeline, who am I to argue?" Looking at the final parchment on the table, he shrugged. "Still more surprises?"

Laughing, Hermione shook her head. "Not really, it's just a matter of us making certain that our responsibilities to Teddy are discharged in an adult and orderly manner."

Before she could continue, a dreamy voice interrupted. "Ronald, I think that's our cue."

Looking up, everyone could see Ron, Luna and Ginny standing in front of the Headmistress' desk. All three were smiling, and Ron and Luna were holding hands as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Right on time, you three." Turing back to the others, Harry glanced down at the paper sitting on the table. Hermione picked up Teddy and placed him on her lap, propping him up so he could look around.

"We decided that we needed to make provisions for Teddy's future. This document formalizes the decision that we made in conjunction with our closest friends." Nodding at the three as they came up and stood beside Hermione' seat, he smiled.

Hermione placed a tender kiss on the top of Teddy's head before speaking. "We decided that in the event we were unable to care for Teddy, his guardianship would pass to these three, though the document is so worded that it allows us to name a fourth." Shaking her head, she shrugged. "Harry and Ron said it's a 'Keeper to be named later' clause in Quidditch parlance for when Ginny gets around to finding someone." Smiling at the furious blush on Ginny's face, she laughed kindly at her embarrassment. Holding up the baby, she grinned.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, Luna Aranrhod Lovegood, Ginevra Molly Weasley, meet Theodore Remus Lupin, your godson." Hermione intoned. Smiling as the three all nodded gravely while smiling madly, she continued. "Teddy dearest, meet the godparents."

A/N2 – Well, this is the end of this portion of the story. First, I'd like to thank JK Rowling for her creation of the Harry Potter Universe and her willingness to allow everyone to have their turn playing in her sandbox.

Next, I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to read all or part of this story. I hope you enjoyed it. Those that took the time and thought to leave a review, even the ones that were less than positive. If the Shipping Wars taught us anything, it's that the people who make up this audience feel very passionately about Harry, Hermione and the rest of them.

This story changed quite a bit from the first time it was posted, mostly because of two reasons. When I first started the story, I had intended for it to end a different way. And found out that I just couldn't write it that way. The second difference is that I had to incorporate the revelations regarding Albus' betrayal of them into this story rather than revealing it much further in future of the storyline. This has made a total hash of the plans I had for the next installment of this story.

Thanks again to everyone who's contributed to this story. I hope to see everyone wandering the halls of fanfiction sometime in the future.

apAidan