Adventures in Motherhood

A/N: This story is written as part of the Quidditch League, for Round 10. I play Chaser 3 for the Tutshill Tornadoes, and this week was a teamwork challenge! The platonic pair which was shared with my fellow Chasers is Ginny/Luna. Please enjoy!

Optional prompts: (dialogue) "Was the sarcasm really needed?"/"Absolutely." (Genre) humor (setting) amusement park

WC: 2279

"Mum!" shouted James Sirius through the house. "I can't find my broomstick again!"

It was a sound Ginny Potter was familiar with. Even when they had company, it never failed that one of her boys would inexplicably lose something.

Luna laughed from her spot on the couch at Ginny's predicament.

"Did you check under your bed, where it was the last time?" she called back tiredly.

The women heard scrambling of several pairs of feet, likely James, Albus, and Luna's son Lorcan all clamoring to dig under James' bed.

"Why ever would he do that?" Luna asked, tilting her head with a smile.

Ginny quirked a brow, reaching for her mug of tea from the coffee table in front of them. "Sarcasm, Luna? I'm surprised."

"I've no idea what you mean," she replied in a simple manner, before grinning widely.

"Got it!" was shouted through the house, then a parade of boys ran past their mothers and out into the yard.

"Do they never tire?" Ginny wondered aloud. "I mean, they've been this active since practically the womb, and now James is almost 11 and getting ready for Hogwarts!"

"I know what you mean," Luna commiserated. "Lor and Sander are always trying to outdo each other with the childhood magic attempts."

Ginny turned to watch the kids out the window. They were already racing around the Potters' yard in Godric's Hollow.

"Odd that Lily and Sander aren't out there," she commented. From the other side of the couch she heard Luna choke on a sip of her tea. Turning to look at her friend, Ginny questioned her.

"Is that not all right?"

Luna shook her head, pinching her brow as though fighting off a headache. "When Lysander isn't with Lorcan, he is usually up to some mischief or another. His magical accidents tend to allow him to wander places he shouldn't be…" she trailed off.

Ginny's eyes widened. "So you're saying…"

"Sander tends to go places that are vividly described, taking others with him," Luna explained with a sigh. "Rolf finds it entertaining, but really it is worrisome. Any sort of creature could take hold of his mind when he wanders off. Lorcan usually tempers him and keeps him from going places, but…"

Ginny stopped her friend there, worry in her eyes.

"It could be nothing, and they're playing upstairs or something. You check this floor, I'll check the bedrooms."

A few minutes passed as both women searched the house for their missing children. Outside, the three remaining boys were oblivious, having broomstick races with hoots and hollers.

"Nothing?" Ginny asked when they reconvened. Luna shook her head with a sigh. Ginny groaned and flopped onto the couch.

"Harry will kill me if he finds out I've lost one of the kids again!"

Luna stifled a laugh. "Again? Wasn't it only the one time when Hermione took us all to the zoo on the muggle tube?"

Ginny shook her head with a groan. "There have been a few times, usually not my fault, but I'm pants at finding them when they wander."

"You? Never." Luna replied with a grin. Ginny glared at her.

"Sarcasm? Now?"

Luna shrugged. "We just ask the boys what they were talking about, and we should be able to figure out where they went," she said simply. "You would've thought of it eventually."

Ginny grumbled at her friend but admitted that her idea was sound. Putting on their walking shoes, they went outside and called the boys down from their flight.

"What's wrong, Mum?" Lorcan asked, the first one to the ground at seeing the mums outside.

"Lysander has run off again," she said simply. "Any ideas this time?"

Ginny watched as her sons landed and posed her own question. "What were Lily and Lysander doing while you were flying out here?"

James shrugged. "They were just talking with us about Aunt Hermione's last big trip to the muggle world."

Lorcan piped up then. "Probably a 'muse mint park' since that's what Lily was telling us about. Sander seemed really interested in it."

"Bugger," Ginny muttered. She had been hoping for anything but that. Luna looked at her with a tilt of her head.

"Oh yeah! We were telling them all about the big wood coasters that work with the whole gravity thing!" Albus supplied. Ginny groaned again.

"An amusement park…of all things…"

"Should be amusing, if nothing else," Luna supplied with a grin. Ginny barely resisted banging her head against the wall of her house.

"Boys, pack up the brooms," she said tiredly. Her sons shared a look, let out a 'whoop,' and dragged Lorcan into the house chattering about how excited he should be.

"You know where they are then?" Luna asked simply. Ginny nodded.

"Chessington World of Adventures. Hermione took the family there for a big day out a few weeks back. The kids can talk about nothing else," she explained.

"Is that the place where muggles go to play sports then?" she asked.

Ginny shook her head this time. "They build these massive contraptions, not unlike their cars, and put them on tracks or spinning motors to simulate danger and have fun. The kids liked the roller coasters best, which are very fast, very tall, and slightly whippy."

"Not unlike flying," Luna quipped.

Ginny grinned. "More secure than flying, almost confined, but in essence it was similar."

"You must have loved it," Luna observed, jostling her friend's shoulder. Ginny couldn't reply as the boys ran out of the house, each grabbing a hand and looking pleasingly at their mother.

"Are we going back to Chessington?" Albus asked hopefully.

"Briefly," said Ginny firmly. "Only to retrieve Lily and Sander."

Luna looked at her directly, rolled her eyes, and said, "If you say so."

Ginny's jaw dropped, and the boys snickered. "Sarcasm again, Luna?"

She shrugged in reply, and Ginny apparated them in two trips to the parking lot of Chessington World of Adventures. She was grateful that Hermione had made them park near a copse of trees the other day, so she knew they wouldn't be noticed.

The small group rushed to the park entrance. Ginny led the way to the ticket booth, babbling the whole way.

"We will need to buy tickets. Nobody will believe there are two unaccompanied children who somehow got into the park without adults…oh, I hope I have enough muggle money changed over…"

Her babbling was unnoticed by the children, since James and Albus were busy explaining every ride they could remember to Lorcan. For his part, Lorcan quietly absorbed all the information. Luna's elder son, though only by minutes, was quite mature for his age.

At the ticket booth, Ginny bought the proper number of tickets for entry and cursed that it was an admittance fee instead of "by the ride" as Hermione said some parks were wont to do. Through ticketing, Luna and Ginny grabbed hold of their excited boys as they attempted to run straight to the large coaster, Vampire, which they'd ridden three times on their last visit with the rest of the family.

"Where do we look first?" Ginny asked Luna, at a loss. She was great at many things, but hunting down her children was not one of them. She felt frantic inside even as she kept her cool for Albus and James.

"I was going to follow the large sign that says 'Lost Children' over there, but if you have a better idea?" Luna quipped, heading toward a large sign that indeed indicated that lost children were off to the left.

"Was the sarcasm really needed?" she groaned, following her friend.

Luna turned her head and grinned. "Absolutely."

At the building labeled "Guest Services", there was a tent outside with two contrite-looking seven-year-olds sitting with a security guard. Ginny let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank Merlin," she whispered, rushing to Lily.

Lily, seeing her mum, burst into tears and ran to her. "I'm sorry Mummy!" she cried, hugging Ginny around the waist tightly. "We didn't mean to wander off!"

"I know, baby," Ginny shushed her, hoping to all hopes that nothing Lily said would accidentally break the International Statute of Secrecy.

Lysander had a slightly different reception from his mother. Luna crossed her arms and looked down at him.

"Really, Sander?" she asked simply. He bowed his head and grumbled apologies.

"What made you do it?" Luna added.

Lysander shrugged, replying simply, "It sounded really fun, and Lily said she wanted to go again."

Luna sighed, making eye contact with Ginny and shaking her head.

"Accidents happen," Ginny supplied. "Just try to work on controlling when you want to go somewhere and ask instead."

Lysander nodded his agreement. Luna looked gratefully at her friend. Ginny may not be very good at finding kids, but she certainly knew how to right their spirits.

While Ginny and Luna thanked the security guard for finding their children, and were chastised to ensure the kids knew their "mobile numbers" for emergencies, the boys were left momentarily unattended. Turning to collect them and head out, Ginny groaned.

"I think my kids are at fault this time," she said to Luna, who laughed.

Luckily they were pretty easy to find. They were arguing with the attendant at the front of the Vampire coaster.

"But if he stands on his tiptoes, he's tall enough!" Albus was arguing profusely.

"Sorry, mate, tiptoes don't count," replied the teenage employee, looking amused.

"What if he wore my Mum's tall shoes?" James plied.

"I'd be impressed, but still no dice," the employee replied.

Ginny chose then to clear her throat. Both boys turned sharply and had the sense to look sheepish.

"Lorcan isn't tall enough, I take it?" she asked. They shook their heads and Lorcan just stood looking blankly at his mother and brother.

"That's a shame," Luna said, looking almost longingly at the rides. "I think the snarfblats seem to have a small colony here."

Ginny chuckled, not understanding her friend's fascination with unseen creatures.

"Can't we at least do a few rides, Mum?" James asked. He and Albus turned on their pleading looks, and Lily even tugged her hand and added her own.

Looking to Luna for help, she saw her friend giving her the same look while the twins looked around in wonder. Ginny sighed.

"Well, we already paid for the tickets…" she conceded. The group let out a whoop and James and Albus each grabbed a twin and dragged them all to the large log flume at the center of the park.

So the rest of the day went by in a blur of rides, some larger for the older boys or smaller for Lily and Lorcan, who did not reach the height restriction on some of the larger coasters James was insistent on riding.

Arriving home, they were greeted by a pacing Harry, with Rolf seated at the table lazily holding a mug of tea.

"What happened?" Harry shouted, rushing to Ginny and holding her at arms length. "You didn't leave a note, and all of you were gone when I got home. I was worried sick!"

As he looked her over, Ginny knew he would notice the wrinkles on her blouse from the fastenings of the rides, the churro dust the kids had chosen to wipe on her jeans instead of on napkins, and the bulge of her purse from the prizes that Lily was "too tired" to carry herself. As an Auror and a former Seeker, he surely didn't miss much.

"We took Lorcan and Sander to Chessington World of Adventures!" James proclaimed loudly, before Harry even had a chance to look her over thoroughly. "And I won a lion at Skee Ball!"

"I ate cotton candy!" Lily yelled, running to her dad for a hug. Stepping back, Harry scooped her in his arms. Turning to look at Ginny, his face showed hurt.

"Without me?" he asked longingly. Luna chuckled at the two as Ginny smiled and shook her head.

"Fun day?" Rolf asked Luna simply. Lorcan and Lysander sat on either side of him, each telling their story of the day at the same time.

Luna smiled and nodded. At that point, however, Lysander decided to be too honest with his dad.

"I took me and Lily so we could go on the big log ride she wanted to show me, but the guys got all confused when we said we didn't bring a mum or dad," he explained.

Harry's puppy eyes turned unreadable in a second, staring at Ginny. "So… you lost Lily this time?" he asked.

"I prefer the term misplaced," she replied cheekily. She knew he wouldn't be too happy about it.

Harry went and grabbed his owl, penning a quick letter while the kids continued chattering to Rolf. Pulling out his coin purse, he emptied almost a handful of golden galleons into the envelope and sent the owl out the window. Ginny saw the name "Ron" on the envelope.

"How did he know you would lose Lily again?" he grumbled, pouting at her.

Ginny shrugged, grinning. "I don't know, but you need to stop betting against him. Your kids are too crafty for me."

"Technically, this one is on Luna, but a bet is a bet," Harry said.

"And I did find them again," Luna chimed in. "So I believe it's a wash."

Rolf shook his head. "If you say so, dear."

Harry and Ginny laughed loudly, as the Scamander family got up to head home with Luna slapping her husband on the arm lightly for the retort.

"Same time next week?" Ginny asked Luna as she passed them to the floo.

"Absolutely," Luna replied with a smile.