Thank you so much for reviews and PM's

I don't know why it wouldn't let some of you review,

Hopefully that's not a problem this time.

I really do appreciate everyone waiting for updates I do.

But again, they won't be as frequent as they used to be.

That baby that used to lay in my lap is now almost 2,

I can't just sit and write nonstop anymore.

I'm sorry. Please understand.

The mommy moments come first.

My family comes before Harry's, I'm sorry.

I hope you continue to read and that you understand.

Chapter Thirty-five

Of Ties, Birthrights, and Girls

Teddy had gotten up early and was dressed and ready, waiting in the Gryffindor common room for either, Victoire, Ollie, or James, whoever showed first. He sat on the armrest of the couch, his tie loose around his neck as he waited, he heard the voices of several younger boys on the steps and he smiled as he listened to their conversation.

"At least tuck your shirt in. Really, it's not that much to ask." Came Freddie's exasperated voice.

James was heard next. "I like it like this…there's no reason to tuck it in."

"Other than dress code." Came a voice Teddy didn't know as the boys came around the corner of the stairs.

"Yes, thank you Ant. Other than dress code." Freddie pointed out.

"I didn't care about dress code at the academy, I don't care here." James said, shaking his head. His face brightened when he saw Teddy, "Ted! Hey!" he said, rushing up to him.

The four other boys followed him, Fred smiling amusedly.

"Heya squirt….How was the first night?" Teddy asked him. "I was surprised I didn't see you in my office already." He teased.

James grinned widely. "I thought about it…but I thought that mum would be really mad if I caused trouble on the first day…I'll let Albie set that record."

"And we didn't know where your room was…we did think about sneaking to find you though." Fred admitted with a matching grin and a slightly crooked and loose tie.

Teddy laughed loudly and pointed to the door tucked into the corner of the room, "That goes to my private common room, and only admits whoever I teach it to. I'll get you set up tonight before I go to bed." He promised both boys.

"Wicked." They said in unison.

"Oi. Baby brother…that shirt's untucked." Tarryn said as he walked up behind James and ruffled his hair.

James rolled his eyes as he tilted his head back to see Tarryn behind him. "Thank you Tarryn, I don't know how I missed that." He said sarcastically, making Teddy, and Ollie who was beside Tarryn, laugh.

"I gotta hand it to you. You're good for laughs kiddo." Ollie said, looking at James. He laughed when he took in his appearance. "Ted…at least fix the kid's tie." he shook his head.

Teddy laughed, James' tie was loosely tied and hanging low around his neck. "Come here squirt." He said, leaning forward and grabbing the tie, pulling James with it.

"But I like it like that!" James protested as Teddy undid the knot and tied it properly. "I'm not tucking in my shirt." He declared stubbornly, to everyone but Teddy's mutterings.

Teddy looked towards the girl's stair cases when he finished James' tie. "What is keeping them?"

Ollie shrugged. "They're girls, who knows?" he grumbled to Tarryn's laughter.

"Er…why are we waiting on girls?" James asked, confused.

The three older boys grinned. "You'll understand one day." Ollie said evasively.

"Well, can we go ahead and go? I'm starving.,,I don't want to wait till one day to eat." Freddie whined as Anthony, Colton and Blake nodded in agreement.

Teddy shrugged. "Fine by me, we'll see you five around, stay out of trouble in class." He said with a knowing smirk as they started to walk off.

"If we ever get there….shoot we may not make it to the great hall, someone really needs to make a map of this place." James muttered.

Teddy froze at his words for a second and then jumped up. "Change of plans….Ollie, T….you two take those three down to breakfast. I'll be taking these two." He said, grabbing a protesting James and Fred both by the backs of their still undone robes. "Tell Vic I'll meet her there." He said, pulling the two boys through the door he had told them earlier led into his own common room.

"TEDDY! You're messing up my shirt!" Fred protested.

"Stop pulling me…I need food." James whined as they were yanked through the door.

Teddy released them and pointed to the black suede sofa in his personal common area. "Sit." He instructed before running up the black wrought iron stairs and into his room.

James and Freddie looked around in interest before taking a seat on the couch.

"You know…it might be worth it to behave just to get these rooms." Fred said in awe.

James shook his head. "Naw…one year of a cool room is not worth 6 boring years."

Fred burst into laughter. "Somehow I don't think Teddy has had six boring years." He countered.

"You're right." Teddy said as the sound of a closing door was heard. He walked down the stairs and into the sitting area. "It has not been boring." He laughed as he sat between them.

"I have something for the two of you. On the promise that when Albs gets here you share it with him. Because it's his birthright too." He said firmly.

At his words James and Fred both forgot about eating and looked at him curiously. "Course we'll share with Albie…I always share with him." James said sincerely as Fred snorted and Teddy chuckled.

"Sure you do…." Teddy said, patting his little brother on the back. "Now, I have it memorized by now…but this was made by your grandfather James, and our Uncle Sirius, and my father." Teddy said pulling out a ragged parchment.

"By uncle Harry?" Freddie asked.

Teddy shook his head. "No, by my other father, the one that died in the war." He explained.

Fred's face fell slightly, as did James'. "Oh….like Uncle Fred?" Freddie asked.

"Yeah, like my dad's dad and mum…the James I'm named after….and Sirius too." James added, nodding along.

Teddy smiled at the two eleven year olds, it had never occurred to him how being named after war heroes would affect either boy, it made his mind wander to Albus as well. He smiled softly.

"Yes, just exactly like them. Well my father Remus and Dad's..er.. Uncle Harry's father, they were best friends with Sirius. Moony was Remus, Padfoot was Sirius, Prongs was James and Wormtail was their fourth friend…though no one seems to want to tell me where or who he is, I'll let you know when I find out more in depth information on that."

Both boys nodded along silently.

"Well, all of them are dead, as you know." Teddy said rather bluntly. "But, they made this." He held up the blank parchment. "While they were at Hogwarts, and somehow, Uncle George and Uncle Fred got it, and they gave it to dad…who gave it to me. I have it memorized now, and if it gets close…I can always morph and not get in trouble…but you two, and eventually Albs…will need this, it has been like my best friend. Now…I'm going to give it to you." He said with a smile.

James and Fred looked at him curiously and then each other. "Er…Teddy…we don't understand." James said, ruffling up his own hair as Fred nodded in agreement.

Teddy smiled. "This was my father's, then Freddie's father's, then your father's James….it's only right that I had it and now the two of you have it." He pointed his wand at the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

He sat the map in his lap so both boys could see as the lines started to trail out like a spider's web across the old map. James and Fred's eyes widened as they realized what it was.

"That is…" Fred started.

"Wicked, it's bloody brilliant." James finished.

Teddy laughed at the two eleven year olds. "It shows all the grounds…and passage ways, though, most of them have been closed up since this was made….Before the end of the year I'll show you the passage that I most want you to be able to use. Until then, just focus on the grounds. You see, it shows everyone in the castle." He said, pointing to their dots on the map.

"Awesome, absolutely the coolest thing EVER." Fred exclaimed, leaning over the map.

James was smiling widely. "This is wicked, like….I can't even….Teddy, are you sure you want me to have this?" he asked looking up at his older brother.

Teddy nodded. "I have never been more sure of anything. This is your birthright, both of yours. Oh, and dad told me to remind you that he slipped something in that trunk of yours…but you're going to be late for classes….you really should get to breakfast, I would hate to have to give you detention on your first day." He teased before walking both boys down to the great hall, the map tucked securely in James' robe.

0o0o0o

Teddy was sitting in his common room on the couch, with homework spread before him, Kirstie sat on the floor with the prefect's schedule in her hands and a quill that she kept chewing on.

"Well….we could pair up Lucy and Clayton…" she suggested.

Teddy nodded idly. "That's fine…though, I don't think Tarryn will be thrilled." He commented as he wrote his final paragraph.

"Tarryn will be fine…he needs to learn to trust her sometime, he leaves this year and she'll still be here for two years right? If he can't trust her on rounds then how can he trust her when he leaves?" she sked idly.

Teddy shrugged, uncomfortably aware of how jealous he had been over the summer, and knowing that next year Vic would be here without him…how would they cope, the summer had been bad enough. As if on cue the door that connected his common room to Gryffindor opened and Victoire came through with her bag in hand.

"Hey Ted…Oh…hi Kirstie…I'm er…I'm not interrupting am I?" Victoire asked uncomfortably, as she hadn't ever really thought about Teddy living with the head girl.

Teddy smiled widely, obviously happy to see her. "No, of course not." He said, moving his work aside and motioning to her to join him on the couch.

Kirstie smiled. "Not at all…we were just finishing up the prefect schedule." She said, standing up.

Victoire nodded and walked to the couch. "If you're sure…"

Kirstie smiled. "We're sure. Have good evening…See you tomorrow Ted." She said before walking out.

Teddy waved as he reached out and took Vic's hand, pulling her closer to him. "See you Kirstie." He said as he heard the door close. He looked up at his girlfriend. "Hey there gorgeous." He grinned.

Victoire smiled and knelt on the couch between his legs. "Hey sexy." She said, blushing slightly.

Teddy laughed and put his hands on her waist. "I missed you." He said softly.

Victoire placed her hands on his thighs. "I have stayed in your bed all week." She pointed out as her hands travelled to his belt buckle.

Teddy nodded. "You have, I've loved every minute of it." He said, moaning softly as her hands slipped into his now undone pants.

"Good….I have more things for you to love." She said seductively before leaning down and kissing him passionately.

0o0o0o

Meanwhile….At Potter Manor

Albus was pouting, his arms folded over his chest. "This is NOT what I meant!" he argued.

Everleigh was sitting in his lap facing him, her legs wrapped around his waist as she kept him pinned down. "But you said that you didn't want us to be sad any more." She said sweetly as she applied dark purple eyeshaddow to his eyes.

"Again…this is not what I meant." Albus huffed.

Lily dipped the brush back into the bright red nail polish before brushing it on his toenails. "But we're happy now, I'm not even missing James and Teddy." She grinned.

"Annnd, this makes us happy Al! We can't be said if we're happy." Rose said as she pulled up his hair into several different ponytails.

"I fail to see how this makes you happy." He said with a sigh.

Everleigh began to apply lipstick to his lips. "Shhhh, no talking, you're going to mess me up Albie." She said with a grin as he glared at her.

"Be glad I love you three." He mumbled.

"Shhhh. No talking, you're messing it up." Everleigh declared, holding his jaw still with her hand as Lily and Rose laughed.

"You know…if we were on the pitch right now." Albus said threateningly.

Everleigh grinned angelically. "I'd still be making you look like a little girl." She giggled as he scowled.

A knock sounded and Harry walked in. "Hey…What do you four….ah….." he fell silent at the sight of his youngest son. Everleigh was completely in his lap, her legs around him, Lily sat on his knees and was painting his toes, Rose was standing behind him with a brush, all four kids looked up at him. The three girls smiled innocently and Albus turned beet red, it was visible even beneath the blush that that Everleigh had applied.

"Hey Uncle Harry." Coursed Everleigh and Rose.

"DADDY!" Lily squealed.

"Hey Dad." Albus mumbled.

"Ah….what's going on here?" Harry asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Rosie and Lily missed James and Teddy." Everleigh explained.

"And Ever missed her sisters and brother." Lily added.

"And Albie said he'd do anything to make us happy." Rose said with a smile.

"So we did a makeover!" all three girls said in unison.

"Help me." Albus whined.

Harry burst into laughter. "Son…you'll have to work this out on your own." He chuckled before walking out of the room.

The girls all giggled and Albus moaned. Lily went back to painting his toes and Rose added a bow.

"Alright Albie….now close your eyes, so I can do mascara." Everleigh said with a wicked grin. "You have great eyes you know."

Albus sighed "Like I said, be glad I love you three." He mumbled, as he obediently closed his eyes.