Esther's Samhain party was the talk of the Season. Esther had found a dark blue gown sprinkled with sparkling stars, which went well with her dark hair. Her husband wore a plain dark blue robe of an ordinary business cut. He knew HE wasn't on display! He was proud of his sparkling and popular wife. He considered that he had gotten the best of the match, for she was far younger than he was, yet she loved and had chosen him! Other members of their family, including Ingrid and her parents, were also dressed in blue, though Ingrid's gown was a pale sky blue that went nicely with her fair coloring. They had all been Ravenclaw except Ingrid.
Ron had escorted Ginny, as expected. Ron wore deep red robes over a cream under layer, with Fireball Dragon boots, to match Ginny's Russian gown of cream with deep red. Her skirt was of the alternating colors, with the panels in a full-length swirl cut. The tight v-cut bodice was cream satin, with a high open collar, and full sheer cream sleeves bloused to jeweled wristlets, under a furred vest. She wore a ruby choker, with diamond-and-ruby clips in her hair. Her tiny feet were in cream suede half-boots, with deep red fur at the ankles matching the vest. With the heels on the boots, and her hair piled high, Ginny was almost as tall as her brother.
One difference between Esther's parties and Ginny's was that the Tremblewhites allowed the Press to stand out on the steps to take photographs and sometimes get quick comments from the guests. They had also been escorted in earlier and allowed to photograph the decorated dining room, ballroom, and Solar. After they were escorted out the entire floor had been checked for spy spells.
Their guests had a choice of arriving through the Floo, by-passing the paparazzi, or arriving at the gates and walking up the stairs. Ginny, of course, chose to arrive at the gates, but few paid any attention to Ron. The Society gossips didn't overlap the Business section, though perhaps they ought to pay more attention. They did, however, notice that Arthur and Molly Weasley were also on the guest list. This was understandable as Arthur's Ministry position gave them a higher status than they had held for many years. The growing business links between the families were not yet well-known.
Ginny overheard the comment on the steps, as she twirled to show her full skirt, Ron obligingly holding her hand high. Rita Skeeter whispered to Bozo the photographer, just loudly enough to be heard, "I wonder if she and Harry are having marital problems? It would explain why her brother is escorting her so often, and why Harry isn't seen much. It would be SO delicious to find out!" Her green quill almost poked through the scroll, taking her notes with malice.
Ginny finished her twirl, still smiling for the cameras, but as she and Ron continued through the grand doorway she muttered, "Someday, I'm going to hex that witch, just you wait and see!"
In the corner of the dining room a string trio - real people - was playing Classical music. After dinner they moved to the Conservatory, where Esther had arranged an entertainment, with comfortable seating for all. Celestina Warbeck was the guest of Honor for the event. She sang over a dozen songs, all of them soft and lyric. She really could sing well, but somehow the songs that received much play on the wireless were her attempts at modern music. After she sang, the string trio resumed in the opened ballroom, and Celestina circulated with the guests who chose to linger in the Solar.
Molly was thrilled to visit with Celestina. "I think I have all of your albums! I even have that one of funny songs, though I admit I don't get the joke on some. That 'A Cauldron Full of Burning Love' for example. I don't think my children know it is a joke, and I can't explain it."
Celestina laughed quietly. "You should ask your husband - he might have caught it! Those songs are all popular mundane songs, some with a few words changed to make them more appropriate for us! That particular song was sung by a man, an American. I think I may have a copy in my phone...," she pulled out a muggle phone, and tapped at it a moment, "Here it is!" Molly watched the tiny screen in amazement as the song played, with the man gyrating awkwardly, shaking his long black hair.
"That is amazing! I will have to ask my son Ron to show me how to play music on my pocket Floo!"
"Tell me, do you like the 'Sneaky Snake?'"
"Oh yes, that one is so funny even the children sing it! That is a MUNDANE song? What did you change?"
"Not one single word! Everyone thinks it's about Slytherin House, particularly because it's right after one called 'Lion Walks Tonight' on the recording, but actually both are pure mundane! The one I really get a lot of questions on is 'Colors of the Wind'. A lot of the mundane-born and half-bloods seem to have seen that movie, and want to know if I meant Ravenclaw. These same people seem to think the set is complete - with 'Hi Ho' being about Hufflepuff - when actually none of the four are meant! THAT is why I call it the funny album! Now that you are in on the joke, you can laugh at people's faces as they try to figure the songs out!"
Kingsley, standing near, joined the conversation, "I always wondered what species of dragon you are referring to in the 'Flying Purple People-Eater.' For that matter, I have wondered whether it's the dragon that is purple, or if he he eats flying purple people? You have to admit, it IS unclear! You say that is a mundane song? My children sing it with abandon! That explains the odd references of 'TV' and 'Rock and Roll,' which the children do seem amused by!"
Celestina returned her eyes to Molly and said, "I hope you will like the new album I'm working on now. It's love songs from around the world, so there will be a great variety of musical styles. I'm having fun mixing them up! You'll be hearing selections from it on the wireless, and on the muggle wireless, after the New Year, and the album will be available before Valentine's Day in both magical and mundane stores."
eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven
Harry never left the house on Samhain. Everyone knew that, and a surprising number could detail at least some of the events that had happened to him on that Holiday. He didn't answer the Floo or his phones, he didn't receive guests, he didn't do email or anything detectable on the computer. The house lights were darkened, and the outside lights along the pathways and in the gardens bright. The wards were all turned up to maximum - Merlin help any rabbits that tried to cross the gardens tonight! He said "Good night" to Ron and Ginny in the foyer where they left through the Floo.
The wall between the worlds was thin on this night, and Harry could hear the whispering Spirits, just as he had heard them when he was near the Veil. No one except the elves knew he slipped out, after Ginny left, to Godric's Hollow, where he spent the evening talking to his parents. He had reclaimed the cottage, and restored it, though he never stayed there except the one night each year. He lit two tall red candles in the living room, and his parents came to him. He had given up on trying to lose the Stone, which always reappeared in his pocket, just as the Elder Wand reappeared on his arm in an invisible holster no matter how many times he sealed it in the Tomb. The Cloak seemed to stay where he'd put it, in a drawer in his hidden bedroom, but if he reached in any pocket he could feel the soft cloth next to whatever he was wanting. He had given up trying to get rid of them, without telling Ginny, who thought they were creepy. He wasn't sure what they meant, except that he could talk to his parents. Now about the same age they had been when they died, Harry was developing the strange relationship of being actual friends with his parents. His hurts were deep, but he was slowly healing.
Ginny danced all night. She was discrete, being careful to only dance with men whose wives were also there.
Ron had needed to discourage only one man who seemed to have had a bit much to drink. The quietly summoned elves had administered a sobering potion, and slipped the man upstairs to sleep it off. It was no mystery to Ron why so many younger sons, daughters, and cousins were coming to these dinners with their parents. He had decided to treat it as sort of a high profile job application, so he was patient about sounding them out about their interests. There seemed to be two separate sets of conversations. The first were the (expected) airhead friends of his sister, and 'spare' pure blood sons of families looking for social connections to his high-profile relatives; and second, young relatives of his business contacts, who were also looking for connections but who had some idea that he was not 'just' a relative of Harry's wife. Any that seemed to actually know something about the mundane world, especially technology, were given cards with contact information to his Human Resources Department. After dancing with his sister and a couple of her friends, Ron located Jefferson, and the two of them gathered some other businessmen into a corner and spent the evening talking about Wizagamot proposals.
Esther's cousin Rhianna turned out to be older than Esther, and completely obsessed with fabric. Tall, dark-haired, and thin, she was dressed in a dark-blue Sari with flying eagles embroidered in gold. She told Ginny the sheer fabric was called 'King's Muslin', and was more costly than silk! She and Ginny had a wonderful time at dinner discussing embroidered silks from the Far East. At the end of the night she confided to Ginny, "Ron is cute, and a good dancer, but he'd never be able to afford my wardrobe running a joke shop." Ginny agreed, and they spent a few moments considering younger sisters of friends who had not been raised as high-maintenance. Ginny conveniently forgot that she had not been raised that way, either, though she had expected to marry Harry when she was old enough.
In the early, misty morning, Ginny slipped into the house. Harry was asleep in his bed. She assumed he had gotten quietly drunk, waiting for something to go wrong, and Dobby had put him to bed. She smiled fondly at him sleeping there. She shrugged out of her gown, took a shower, and slid into her own bed.
Outside in the mist, the garden elves were doing the clean-up, walking the paths. Each flowerbed was sealed in a small golden bubble shield, now spangled in droplets of fog. Some of them had small creatures caught in them, unharmed but unable to escape. The elves released the harmless ones, like rabbits and birds, into the woods across the river. There were a dozen adders bearing irritation spells encouraging them to bite. Relieved of the spells, they were taken to a snake farm to spend the rest of their lives being useful, producing anti-venom. Two small statues were found, pressed up against the outer wards; surprised-looking statues of elves carrying gift-wrapped boxes. One box contained poisoned chocolates, the other filled with powdered Sarin with a small pressure-trigger explosive. Neither statue wore any identification, so they were simply delivered to the DMLE labs to have the poisons deactivated safely. A Tyrannorabbit was left in its gold bubble, safe enough in the flowerbed. Last, there was one spot by the front gates that looked as though lightning had struck. There were shreds of blasted fabric all around it.
Much later that day, though Ginny was still asleep, Kingsley Shacklebolt sat in Harry's Study, sharing some very good wine. "So, the labs reported your elves brought us some very nasty poisons to dispose of. Was that all that happened this year?"
"No, though there wasn't anything really major. Most of it could probably be classed as 'nasty pranks,' and my elves dealt with it without trouble. They are still cleaning the beds of noxious seeds, things like Tentacula and, amusingly, American Poison Ivy. Nothing made it into the greenhouses or this house. I left an illusion on the front gate, making it appear to be left slightly open - someone ignored the verbal 'keep out' alarm, so they were struck by lightning. Either they were not alone, or they were not badly hurt, because nothing was there except shreds from a robe. They did not have a Dark Mark, or they would have been bounced into your holding cells. Their magical signature was automatically added to my Floo ward. The elves are building a hutch for the Tyrannorabbit they found, and want to keep it for a pet. Luna says it likes tuna fish. I'm thinking we will work it into next years wards. Meanwhile, I've filed the proper papers with the Dangerous Creatures Office.
eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven
While others had Parties during the holidays, and even Harry and Ginny had several small ones, Ginny's thoughts had turned to her upcoming Ball. She had decided to continue with the theme using her home as a Palace, so she chose 'Kings and Queens'. Obviously, this required a dress fit for a Queen! It needed to be fancier, prettier, than the dozen new gowns she had bought for the dinner parties. None of them was good enough for a Ball! Opening her laptop, she began to search for pictures of famous gowns. She stopped, staring at one antique gown completely covered in pearls. The notes said it had weighed about 50 kilos. The price made even her blink. Still, this was clearly the right direction. She would see what she could find. She printed the picture to show at the shops.
Thinking about the probable price of the dress, and the Ball, Ginny decided she needed to sweeten Harry. She needed to think of some good Christmas presents for her family, and find something for him. Her project with the orphans had interested him. Maybe she could think of something similar? She needed to keep him out in public more, before Skeeter's nasty ideas spread.
eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven
At the monthly Board meeting for WWW in November, Harry turned to Ron to remind him he would need a date for the Ball. "Do you intend to ask Ingrid? We'll be writing up the Invitation lists soon, so it would help to know if she was coming with you or needs a separate invitation."
Ron turned an amazing shade of beet red. This, of course, caught his family's attention. He turned away from his lip-reading brothers, and muttered low toward Harry's feet, "IdratherbringHermione."
Harry blinked as he deciphered that. So that was the way it was going? Well, that was easy enough. "I was expecting to invite her. She'll be in London, helping design a test line for the new Phoenix broom. I'm thinking I'll need to transfer her here soon, because I need her on the team to help work this through the Ministry. These brooms are amazing, but they weren't designed to Ministry specifications, so we'll have to rewrite or work around thousands of parchments. Ask her, and let me know."
eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven
Christmas, Yule, and a dozen more versions of the upcoming Holiday season had Diagon Alley in a tizzy. Harry walked rather more slowly than usual, looking at the decorations and the piles of seasonal goods in the windows. A chandler displayed red, green, and blue pillars in his window, each decorated with wax snowflakes and fir cones. Harry stopped in and ordered an assorted four dozen, divided and delivered to his home and the three magical orphanages. He could have owl-ordered, or had the elves do it, but he truly enjoyed doing at least some of the holiday shopping himself. At the toy stores he handed over pre-written lists of toys to be delivered to the magical orphanages; the toys to be individually wrapped and labeled with the child's name. He did the same at the bookstore, sending a nice case of books for the Home libraries. From Madame Malkin he arranged shipments of warm winter cloaks, boots, mittens and scarves, none to be in Hogwarts colors. The squib and mundane Homes were to have warm jackets instead of cloaks, of course. Dobby was arranging for extra deliveries of groceries and heating fuel. A quick stop at Cellini's, and another at Honeyduke's, took care of his personal gift list.
Then Harry went out into London. Charing Cross Road was a slushy mess, with traffic tossing up sudden showers as the cars and busses lurched through puddles. Harry hurried into the nearby bookstore and handed over his lists. Most of them, of course, were for the two orphanages, and mentioning that got him a gift of a few more "For the kids!" Included on each list were nice sets of Milne's children's books. For his own list, he took 20 more sets, plus all of Milne's other works. He also placed an order for the beautiful, autographed collector sets. He wanted to give a set to each of the family, to become treasured heirlooms, but he realized it would take some time to collect those. He ordered complete sets of Dodgson's works, better known as Lewis Carrol. He knew perfectly well that most of those were scholarly mathematical works, but they would be good for his own Library collection. Other titles and authors on his list included James Barrie and Kenneth Grahame, P.L. Travers, and Beatrix Potter. The Manager asked if she had been a relative, and he had to admit he didn't know. He would have to look at the family Tree. He set up dual charge accounts for future orders: his own personal account and one for his company, using his Gringott's cards. He paid to have the books delivered.
He walked past Ron's new building, which was now completely enclosed and windowed, though the scaffolding remained, blocking half the sidewalk. He knew the workers were still busy inside. He called the Limo service, and they picked him up at the end of the block. He was ejoying his day 'out', and not hurrying. The ride was comfortable, and quiet. Soon they arrived at Harrod's, on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge. He told the driver he would be there about two hours, and would call when he was ready to go back.
Inside the store, Harry found the Concierge desk and asked for a personal shopper to assist him. A matronly lady, who greatly reminded him or Mrs. Weasley, quickly appeared. He held out his lists, and explained that he was shopping for his company, buying for two Orphanages. He also wanted some toys for his nieces and nephews, who were all quite young. She plucked the lists from his hand, reminding him even more of Mrs. Weasley, and bustled him into a flying trip through the toy Department. An hour later he was setting up new accounts and arranging for deliveries. He discovered his wife had an account of her own there, but insisted they remain separate. Pleased with the shopper's efficiency and attitude, he also arranged for her to become 'his' personal shopper, handling any orders he sent in by phone or computer as well as if he came in. He gave her a nice tip as he thanked her, and decided since he was done earlier than expected he would visit the tea shop for lunch. She stopped him as he headed to the elevator, and redirected him to the hidden V.I.P. lunchroom, where he had a nice plate of goulash with his tea before calling the limo to take him back to Charing Cross Road.
Mrs. Evans (that was her name) watched the handsome young man go, fingering the notes in her hand. She was also making a nice commission off the huge order of toys. She was going to keep an eye out for things he might be interested in! He had given her a business card with his contact information. Then she headed back to the concierge to give him a cut for connecting her. He had certainly found a good client for her!
eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11eleven11
Back in Diagon Alley, Harry simply wandered through the stores, people-watching as much as looking at the decorations. Near the toystore he saw an unexpected face. He had not seen many dark wizards since the end of the war, though he knew not all of them had died or been imprisoned. He knew the Rowles had been strong supporters of the Dark Lord, though not all were marked. There, wrapped in dark robes and a hooded cloak, he saw Euphemia Rowle. Curious, he followed her at a distance, and was surprised to see her selecting toys suitable for a small child. Perhaps she had adopted one? He rather felt sorry for any child having to live with that sour faced woman, who was clearly still in deep mourning. Perhaps the child did not live with her.
Just then he spotted another, more welcome face, going into the Apothecary, "Lavender! How are the girls growing?"
The scarred woman looked around, and then smiled when she saw him. She was pushing a twin stroller. It looked normal, until you noticed it was floating a couple of inches above the cobblestones. Twin chubby girls of about three years of age were tucked inside thick blankets. They wore identically-styled wrappers and long baby dresses, one red, one blue, and wore tiny boots that flashed fairy lights as they moved. Each clutched a fuzzy bear. Their thick blond hair was pulled up with ribbons, and styled into curls. Each wore thick glasses, which enlarged their slanting eyes. One girl was huddled into the middle of the stroller. Her twin was not only sitting up but was practically popping out of her seat, waving mittened hands and shouting "HI!".
Harry knelt down beside them and greeted the children happily, "Hello Alice, hello Bethany, are you enjoying being out today?"
Alice continued bouncing, with a babbling flow of syllables greeting Harry. Bethany peered up and smiled at him, before cuddling back down with her bear.
"Harry, could you sit for a few minutes while I pop in here and pick up the monthly order for the Pack?" Knowing Harry would watch the children, Lavender grabbed her small bag from the rear basket, darting into the shop. Harry pulled the stroller over to a corner with a bench, and started singing gentle baby songs to the tiny girls. Bethany uncurled, focused completely on him, and soon both girls were hanging on every word. They began humming along, providing an accurate melody. It was a charming little scene.
"Are you coming to the next bonfire on Den Night? We all love to sing, and you have a nice Baritone voice. Rather surprising it's so deep, really!" Lavender had come back and was fitting a small case into the basket. She handed each girl a twisted stick of candy, completely distracting them. Harry accepted his small reward as well, nibbling the end of his treacle-and-honey with pleasure.
Wolfsbane Potion had been a lifesaver for the Weres. Most of the older, more feral ones, had died in the war, but they had 'turned' quite a few new victims (like Lavender) before they were destroyed. But, the Potion worked! The victims had been started on it immediately, and were able to live fairly normally, holding decent jobs. Harry, and the Weasleys, employed quite a few, and many worked as truckers for Black. Others had found work in the Orphanages. The Pack were natural nurturers, being highly protective of children. This led quite naturally to the Pack being interested in adoption.
Even with the Potion, the monthly transformations made it very difficult for a woman to bear a child. Natural Lycanthropes did exist, but had to be born to a were father, with either a human or wolf mother. But all wolves naturally care for all the cubs of their Pack, whether born to them or not. They are even well-known to adopt young pups in the wild. Weres embraced this feeling, and began looking for children to adopt. They discovered a special group of children in the Orphanages: the un-adoptables. Lavender's twins had Down's Syndrome. In the muggle world they could have been abandoned to an Institution, or shuffled around in Foster Care until they were old enough to go into a nursing home. It was unlikely they would be adopted. The Weres needed to be needed, and no one was more needy than these children.
The Weres didn't even face much opposition when they began applying to adopt. These were the really unwanted children. The Pure-bloods didn't want to be reminded they existed.
