Chapter 17- A Caroling, Chaotic, Confrontational, but Cheery Christmas.
(Christmas Eve)
"What about the reindeer?" asked Chloe, as she arranged the cookies on
the plate.
"What about them?" asked Harry, placing a glass of milk next to the
plate.
"Won't they be hungry?"
"Father Christmas feeds them before they leave," he explained.
Chloe looked horrified and gave Harry a disdained look. "That is NOT
fair, Daddy!"
"What?" he said, a little shocked at her outburst.
"They have to fly with ALL those presents around the world. Father Christmas gets
treats at the houses and they get stuck waiting outside in the snow!" exclaimed
Chloe, sincerely concerned for the mistreated reindeer.
Harry was faintly reminded of Hermione's attempt to fight for the house
elves. Not another one! Chloe should have a chat with her about starting a Reindeer Liberation Front. He grinned as he ran a few prospective acronyms for the organization in his mind.
R.A.L.F. Reindeer Awareness Liberation Front. Harry almost laughed outloud. An acronym sounding like Ralph was almost as funny sounding as S.P.E.W..
"Daddy! Why are you smiling? The poor reindeer!"
"Uh, sorry, Angel," said Harry, coming back down to earth and working on a sympathetic look. It wasn't working..
"Do reindeer like peanut butter?"
"I've heard they especially like peanut butter."
Chloe looked satisfied with that response. "We can leave peanut butter on apples for them. And a pail of milk."
"A pail? Of milk? Wouldn't they prefer water?" he asked hoping to sway her opinion.
"Don't be silly, Daddy! You never have water with peanut butter!" She laughed and tugged on his robe sleeve.
"Who is going to make these apple peanut butter. things?"
"We are!" Chloe cried, elated.
Harry imagined the reaction from the house elves when they strolled into the kitchen again. He and Chloe had made the cookies themselves earlier today and he was quite sure he would be taking another bath today if this was anything like the cookie incident.
~*~
"Tell me again, Daddy!" said Chloe pleaded.
"You must like this story an awful lot," said Harry, stretching his legs
out onto the coffee table.
"Please?" begged Chloe making big eyes at Harry.
"Pretty please?" Another voice chimed into the conversation.
"Ms. Ginny!" cried Chloe, jumping off the couch to greet her.
"Hi, Gin," said Harry, standing up also, "this is a very pleasant surprise."
Ginny looked up and smiled at him after she had hugged Chloe.
"May I take your coat?"
"Sure," said Ginny unwrapping her bright blue scarf and letting him help her out of her matching coat, spotted with snowflakes. Harry kissed her cheek lightly and walked off with the coat.
"So, ahem. What have you and your daddy been doing today?" said Ginny, hoping to cease the giggles coming from Chloe.
"We baked cookies! We also made reindeer treats," informed Chloe, pointing to the plates on the table.
"Yes, the house elves were a little surprised to see us in a Christmas baking spirit. They were a little...taken aback with our version of holiday baking," added Harry, shouting from the coat closet.
Ginny laughed. "You two made cookies? I'm sure Father Christmas will really appreciate it."
"That's what I said!" cried Chloe.
"Why don't you have a seat Ginny?" offered Harry, as he sat back down on
the couch.
"Well, I just stopped by for a short visit," smiled Ginny, "but..."
"But, sit down and hear the rest of the story with us," finished Harry.
"What's the story about?" asked Ginny as she sat on the other side of Harry.
"The beginning," Chloe said promptly, crawling into his lap.
"All right then, one last time. You have to go to sleep after this one, okay?"
"If I go to bed earlier, will Christmas be here sooner?"
"Yes," said Ginny.
"Are you going to bed early today too?" asked Chloe curiously.
Ginny saw Harry grin for a fraction of a second. She flushed slightly under his gaze. "Yes. I have to go home and make sure the Christmas tree lights work."
Harry cleared his throat and concealed another broad grin. "Now, where do we begin, Chloe?"
"The part that says Father Christmas is really a wizard!" Chloe said with glee. She then
immediately fell quiet, eager to hear the next part.
"Right," laughed Harry. "He is really a wizard. The Muggles believe that he is a little magical, but they don't really know what he is. That's why he can visit the Muggle children too. "
"Tell the best part, Daddy!" piped up Chloe again.
"Best part? I'm afraid I don't remember which part you like best.."
"The chim-man-ney!"
"Chimney," said Ginny unconsciously correcting her.
Harry squinted for a moment, remembering. "When he climbs out of his sleigh onto the roof, he takes out two things. Remember what they are?"
"The toys are in one bag!" said Chloe. "And Floo powder in the other!"
"Right, then he.." Harry stopped. "Then he-hmm-- I don't remember. What's the next part, Ginny?"
Chloe looked quickly at Ginny. "Do you remember, Ms. Ginny?"
Ginny couldn't say no to Chloe's pleading eyes. "Then he takes a big pinch of Floo powder and tosses it down the chimney to cool the fire, like any respectable wizard."
"Why doesn't he get taken somewhere else by the Floo powder like we do?" asked Chloe.
"Because, most of the houses he visits are Muggle houses and they aren't connected to the Floo network. Plus, for him to go anywhere, he would have to yell out a destination. Father Christmas is always very quiet, so he just uses the Floo powder to cool the flames," explained Ginny.
"Oooh," said Chloe. She looked over at their fireplace for maybe a glimpse of some boots hanging out of it. "Then what?"
"Then he takes out his wand and puts a shrinking spell on himself and hops right down the chimney!"
"Then what happens, Harry?"
"He goes back to his normal size and says another spell, which is-"
"Lumos!" cried Chloe.
Harry nodded. "Yes! He lights his wand so he can see in the dark houses. Then he creeps over to the Christmas tree, and he--"
"Leaves presents!" Chloe cheered.
"Then what?" asked Harry.
"He finds the most comfy chair and has milk and cookies! Right?" said Chloe.
"Absolutely right. Then after he's full from all those cookies, he waddles back to the fireplace. But, he's too fat to climb back up, and he can't climb up a chimney if he makes himself small again. So what does he do?"
"Apparates to the roof!"
"Do you remember why he doesn't just Apparate into the house? Wouldn't that be easier than going down the chimney?"
Chloe giggled. "Because the Muggles made up that silly story about the chimney. They don't know about Apparating, so he has to fool them when he comes down in their house. They don't know that Father Christmas really is a wizard!"
"Perfect," praised Harry.
"Very nice story," added Ginny.
Harry stood up and stretched. "Now it's time for bed for all the little girls and stuffed dragons who are wanting Father Christmas to pay a visit tonight."
"Goodnight, Ms. Ginny!" said Chloe hugging her and holding Norbert out for Ginny to pat.
"Can we really get up as early as I like tomorrow?" said Chloe following Harry up the stairs to tuck her in.
"Within reasonable hours, yes," commented Harry, rumpling her hair.
"What's reasonable hours, Daddy?" interrogated Chloe as they turned at the first landing on the stairs, and continued up.
~*~
Ginny didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation because they had headed up the stairs and out of earshot. She casually flipped through a photo album and about ten minutes later Harry jogged back down the stairs.
Ginny set the album back down. "Is she asleep?"
"Are you kidding? Would you be if you were five and it was Christmas Eve?" laughed Harry.
"Probably not, " she admitted. "So, where did you hear the wizard version of Father Christmas?"
"I read it somewhere, I reckoned it would be a good thing to tell, since the Dursleys never seemed to tell me anything along the lines of him bringing things for me."
"I'm sorry. That must have really been awful as a kid growing up with them."
"Well, I did like Christmas. I could usually play with whatever Dudley would break and forget about."
Ginny shook her head sadly. "Well, you have all sorts of Christmas' left to make up for all of that."
He sat down next to her and took her hand. "This one is already making up for half of them," he said.
"It is nice," she commented laying her head on his shoulder. "This one seems happier for everyone."
Harry put his arm around her and dimmed the lights all except for the Christmas tree. Less than two months ago, he had seen her standing in his foyer practically running back home, and now the same place but different time, she was here with him..
"What would you like Father Christmas to bring you?" he asked as he closed his eyes lazily.
Ginny seemed to think this over for a while and was quiet. Finally she replied, "I don't think I really know."
"No sled?" said Harry in mock amazement.
"No!" she laughed.
"You aren't going to get all philosophical on this question are you, Gin?"
"Fine. You tell me what you want for Christmas then."
Harry looked down at her beautiful brown eyes, and felt his heart give a leap in his chest. "I want a bigger Christmas tree than Dudley," he said, his face completely deadpan.
Ginny looked over at the towering fir in the living room, then back at Harry, grinning. "I think you got your Christmas wish then."
Harry looked very proud of himself. "Yes, that's the great part."
"Give Harry Potter a big tree and he's happy. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you aren't easy to shop for then."
"Seriously?" he said looking her straight on.
"What seriously? That you're easy to shop for?"
"No, do you want to know what I really want for Christmas?" he said quietly.
"What?" said Ginny softly, as he rested a hand on her face and leaned in to kiss her.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Ding-Dong!
Ginny's eyes flew open and Harry drew away.
"Now who is that?" he muttered, trying very hard not to look annoyed.
"IS IT FATHER CHRISTMAS?!" shrieked Chloe's voice from upstairs.
Harry and Ginny glanced at each other and laughed. The lights in the room were pulled back up again.
"No, Chloe, it isn't yet," Harry called back.
Chloe's face peeped out between the banister and her pajamas with feet swung between the rails. "May I come down and check? Please, Daddy?"
Harry shrugged. What the heck, it was Christmas Eve.. "Yes, you
can come down, Chloe."
Knock! Knock! Knock! Ding-Dong!
Percy, Penelope, and all eight of their children were standing in the doorway. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were with them also. But that wasn't the shocking part. All of them were sporting Victorian clothing from head to toe.
The men all had top hats on with their knee breeches and matching coats. All the girls had on very old fashioned dresses with bonnets on and had muffs to go with their cloaks.
"Er, hello," said Harry not exactly sure of what to say to them.
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly!"
Chloe looked up at Harry in amazement.
"They're carolers," he explained with a smile.
Harry looked from one matching caroler to the next.
Mr. Weasley was positively elated with the whole scene. Harry assumed this was his idea to begin with, since they were all dressed in old-fashioned Muggle clothing.
Mrs. Weasley was holding Baby Henri who also matched everyone except for the absence of a top hat. She seemed to be mildly enjoying herself also.
Penelope was being perfectly neutral as usual, and smiled pleasantly at her children as she sang along.
Percy looked rather cross in his top hat as he sang with the group. He kept glancing around to see if anyone could see them causing a scene.
Mortimer, the eldest of Percy's children stood to his father's right and was an exact replica, same attitude and air of distinction. Mortimer was the only child that Harry had ever met that was seven years old going on thirty.
Catherine, the next oldest, stood by her mother and daintily sang every word.
Meghan was singing, but she seemed to be trying to untie her bonnet without her parents noticing, much less Catherine.
Four-year old Kyle was having his own glorious time as he danced a little jig as he sang. Kyle always seemed to be in his own dreamy little world, happy and agreeable about everything.
Little Hunter was trying desperately to keep his top hat on, as it kept slipping down over his eyes. Poor little blighter, thought Harry, he was always trying to make up for the fact that he was small for his age.
Then the two-year old twins, Madeline and Alexandria, were singing for all they were worth, but couldn't seem to remember any of the words except for the Fa-la-la-la parts. But, they screamed that part enthusiastically when it came around.
After they'd finished, Harry, Ginny, and Chloe clapped politely.
"Very nice!" laughed Harry.
Mr. Weasley beamed, "Isn't it wonderful? I read a Muggle Christmas book, and Muggles do this door to door!"
Mrs. Weasley adjusted her bonnet. "Ahem...well, Arthur wanted to spread some Christmas cheer with the grandchildren...and he went all out...to say the least."
"I think it's a great idea, Dad," Ginny said.
Percy sighed. "I don't mind taking part in some Muggle traditions, and in fact it rather gives people a good impression of us. But is it really necessary to go traipsing about in these Muggle
costumes? Imagine what the public eye will think, seeing the Minister of Magic running amok on Christmas Eve performing a side-show!"
"Mummy! Meghan has her bonnet off!" screeched Catherine out of the
blue.
"Meghan, darling, put your bonnet back on," said Penelope calmly.
Harry nearly spoiled their little scene of Christmas joy by laughing at Meghan's face. She had all the proper attire, as the others, her curly red hair was even tied neatly a bow...but the scowl on her face that she had for Catherine certainly didn't have the intent of "Christmas
spirit."
He choked back his laugh and invited them all in for hot chocolate.
"Hello, Chloe sweetheart! When are you going to come over and play at my house with the grandchildren?" asked Mrs. Weasley kindly.
"Your house looks very festive!" commented Percy to Harry as he removed his top hat and looked around at the Christmas decorations.
"Thank you," said Harry.
"You should really give tours Havenwood during the Holiday season, people would really love to see the inside of your home. It would go over well with the general public."
"Tours? Of my home?" said Harry incredulously, doing a double take to see if Percy was really serious.
"Why of course! All types of famous people do that sort of thing. I heard that one headmaster of Hogwarts was famous for his Christmas decorations. I know it wasn't Dumbledore, but I think it might have been-"
"It's a first-rate idea, Perce, but I think I value my privacy a little too much for all that," said Harry closing the subject the quickest way possible.
"Paying Harry and Chloe a visit, Ginny dear?" asked Mr. Weasley sipping his hot chocolate.
"Er. Yes, Dad, I was. I had just popped in, too, for a short visit," said Ginny blushing darkly and busied herself with her hot chocolate.
There came shrieks of laughter from the children as most of them had foregone the hot chocolate and went after the bowl of marshmallows which had been set out. Then they went to investigate some of the presents already set under the tree from the many shopping excursions that Harry had been on.
"This one has my name on it!" gleefully exclaimed Hunter recognizing one of the handful of words he could read.
"Children! Manners!" chided Percy loudly.
All of the children stood up guiltily and faced Percy.
"I told you we wouldn't be allowed," Mortimer whispered loudly to his
siblings.
"It's okay. It is Christmas Eve after all, just as long as the presents stay wrapped. Besides, there will be more from Father Christmas, right?" said Harry quietly siding with the children.
Percy hesitated. "Well, if Uncle Harry says it's okay... and I do suppose it is Christmas."
The children bolted off to go look at the tree again and the laughter commenced.
"Aren't you afraid they'll work out what some of them are, and ruin the surprise?" asked Penelope.
"Well, that's only a fraction of the presents, and no, I don't think they'll be able to guess what they are, I've taken a few little Do-not-open- until-Christmas precautions.".
"What do you mean prec--"
There was a deafening noise from the living room.
"ROOOOOOOAAAAAAR!"
The children scattered away from the tree screaming in fright. There was chaos for a good minute or so until Harry walked over and picked up the Christmas gift that sat abandoned in the middle of the living room floor.
He turned and faced the wide-eyed children and grinned. "I told you not to try and open them yet. I've got a few spells on some of these," he said patting it and setting it back under the tree.
Meghan was giggling uncontrollably along with Chloe. "Make it do it again!" Meghan cried with glee.
The other children looked horrified at the mention of that idea, and two- year old Alexandria shook her head vigorously in a no sign. Hunter peeped out from his fingers over his eyes and gazed warily back at the tree.
"I told you it wouldn't be allowed," voiced Mortimer again.
Catherine leaned over from behind her grandmother's skirts and made a face. "It was Madeline, Uncle Harry."
"Enough, Catherine," said Mrs. Weasley.
"It's quite all right, lesson learned," said Harry shortly, "and no, Meghan and Chloe, I don't think we need anymore roaring boxes this evening."
Ginny muttered something along the lines of "evoking lasting psychological trauma", as she patted Kyle's head who had run to her lap for refuge.
"Fred and George will be sorry they missed that one," chuckled Mr. Weasley
"Speaking of which, Father, shouldn't we be going out again? It's going to get too late for the children," said Percy.
"Why don't you, Ginny, and Chloe come along with us, Harry dear?" suggested Mrs. Weasley.
Harry smiled. "Well, it was bedtime for Chloe, but I think the rules can be bent a little for some caroling."
"Chloe can have my bonnet!" cheered Meghan loudly, above the other children.
"Chloe may have her own bonnet, Meghan, but that was very generous of you to offer yours to her," said Percy taking out his wand to conjure up some clothes for the three of them.
Meghan pouted slightly and retied her bonnet again.
"What size top hat do you wear Harry?" asked Percy. He still looked slightly annoyed about this whole ordeal.
"To be honest, Perce, I don't buy too many top hats," laughed Harry.
~*~
Chloe Potter opened her eyes slowly; she kicked her covers sleepily and yawned. Bright realization struck her immediately.
"Wake up, Norbert! Wake up! It's Christmas!" she said snatching up her stuffed dragon and jumping up and down on the bed.
Chloe ran down the hallway to her daddy's room, and dove onto his bed and snuggled next to him.
Harry didn't wake up and put his arm around her and mumbled something incoherent.
Chloe looked back and forth between Norbert and Harry, who was still sawing logs.
"He's asleep," she explained to Norbert in a whisper. "We should really wake him up and tell him it's Christmas."
Chloe wriggled from Harry's grasp and took a flying leap off the bed. She tiptoed to his side of the bed and poked him with Norbert's snout. "Wake up, Daddy!" she screamed.
Harry groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. "What the bloody hell are you doing, Ron? Leave me alone!"
Chloe's eyes widened. Uncle Ron? Leave him alone?! Didn't her daddy know what day it was?
Not to be discouraged, Chloe slung Norbert over her head and hit her father over the head.
"WAKE UP, DADDY! It's CHRISTMAS!!!!" she shrieked.
Harry nearly fell out of bed. "What!? What?! What's going on?!" he yelled, panicking.
Chloe smiled sweetly at him. "Merry Christmas, Daddy!"
Harry stared at her for a second and then he finally got his bearings sorted out. Of course, putting his glasses on helped also.
"Merry Christmas," he yawned and rumpled her hair.
"Norbert too!" she said.
"Merry Christmas, Norbert," said Harry methodically patting Norbert on the head as he glanced at his bedside clock. "Do you two know what time it is?"
"A reasonable hour?" said Chloe hopefully.
"Six in the morning is debatable," he commented swinging his feet over the edge of the bed.
"You weren't waking up," said Chloe.
"I wasn't?"
"No, you were dreaming...you called me Uncle Ron and," Chloe lowered
her voice dramatically, "Daddy you said a swear word! You said bloo--"
"Chloe Grace, don't you dare," he said hastily, "How about we go and see if Father Christmas has paid us a visit?"
Chloe's face lit up. "Come on Daddy!" she said pulling his hand as he
stood up.
~*~
Joyful chaos...was the best description of Harry's living room that morning.
The living room was bursting at the seams with presents and people all comfortably crammed together in a huge circle. The children could hardly contain themselves. Harry found much entertainment by watching all the kids squirming as they all waited for everyone to arrive. But, what kid wouldn't find the towering piles of presents exciting?
It had been decided that Christmas morning was to be a casual affair, so everyone was told to come as they were. Which meant...show up in your pajamas and make yourself at home.
Percy of course had taken this to mean that his family would sport matching red pajamas, with the first initial of the wearer's name monogrammed on the right side. (This was much to Meghan's dismay!)
Chloe still had on her warm, fuzzy pajamas with feet, and Harry had finally managed two decent looking braids.
Fred and George, although they lived separately had unintentionally managed to wear the exact same shirts. Harry figured it had to be some sort of twin thing, although he did own the same shirt, which read 'Gryffindor House Team.'
Hermione wore a proper dressing gown and Ron shuffled in with, -what else- maroon pajamas complete with matching slippers. Harry noted that he sat on the opposite side of the room from him, and had barely muttered a hello to him, although he was acting perfectly normal to the rest of the family
Harry also went the comfortable route and wore his dark green pajama bottoms and C.I.A. t-shirt (Confederation of Innovative Aurors).
Harry couldn't help but smile as Ginny sat down beside him in pastel lavender nightdress with tiny white flowers embroidered on the neckline.
Now that they were all here...Harry spoke up.
"Happy Christmas!" he yelled above the noise.
A chorus of greetings answered him, and Harry couldn't stand to let the children wait any longer.
"Well...are we going to open presents?!" he said.
The children squealed and dove into the presents. Harry leaned back on his hands and watched it all...completely enveloped in joy as he watched Chloe tear open a present. Her face was amazing...the belief of Christmas still shining in her eyes.
"I got paints! I got paints!" yelled Meghan, leaping up and down with a new art set.
Even dainty Catherine couldn't restrain a shout of happiness as she opened a package filled with dress up clothes.
"Fairy Tales!" cried Chloe hugging a gilded book to her chest, with a picture of fluttering fairies on the cover.
"Look at them," laughed Ginny, poking Harry and grinning.
Mortimer gave a yelp of surprise as he pulled the cover off a present revealing a gorgeous tawny owl, "I got a REAL owl!"
The other children gave impressed 'oooohhhs' as they turned and saw Mortimer's present. They soon returned their attention back to their own presents.
The little twins were perplexed over their present.
"What this?" demanded Alexandria, the more vocal of the two.
Arthur beamed, "They're tricycles! Muggle children play with them!"
Molly laughed, and set Madeline on the seat of her tricycle and showed her the bell.
Madeline rung the bell, and her eyes opened wide with delight.
"Madeline's!" she announced as she rang the bell on her trike.
Mr. Weasley was elated, "I told you they'd like them," he said to Molly.
Chloe unwrapped a fish aquarium from Ron and Hermione and she was already reciting to them from one of her favorite books, "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish," chanted Chloe and Hermione together. Ron looked on smiling...but utterly lost.
Hunter and Kyle were having the time of their lives playing with the set of pretend dueling wands they had received.
"AAaaah! You got me Hunter!" said Kyle dramatically pretending to collapse into a heap of wrapping paper.
Since the children were busy playing with the toys they had just opened, (even though there were still plenty more to unwrap...) the adults took the opportunity to pass their presents out to each other.
"How lovely!" cried Hermione holding up a set of robes Ginny had bought for her.
"Why, why, how amazing!" proclaimed Mr. Weasley upon opening his gift of an electric can opener, "What does it do?"
"Opens cans," laughed Hermione.
"How ingenious!" marveled Mr. Weasley poking at it...already itching to take it apart.
"Thanks, Charlie!" shouted Harry as he ripped open a new set of Quidditch balls.
"We're playing after dinner!" grinned Charlie.
"Hear, hear!" said the "grown up" twins hooting with anticipation of a Quidditch match.
"Why Molly! This is exquisite!" said Penelope admiring a finely sewn quilt and held it up for all to see.
Molly flushed and smiled at Penelope, "I knew you'd love the colors dear! I just love pretty quilts myself...I had to make at least one this year!"
"Oh, Mum! Thank you!" said Ginny opening another quilt, "It's beautiful!"
"These are fantastic Harry!" said Bill pulling on a pair of new calf-high black boots, "My others have just about had it!"
Charlie looked at Bill's boots closely. "I hope that isn't dragon hide!"
"It's not," said Harry working on opening another gift, "It's charmed cow leather...made to be as strong as the dragon hide ones. More dragon- friendly."
"Wow!" gaped Ron, unwrapping his present. It was a large frame, with an original Chudley Cannons robe, neatly tacked and displayed.
"Well, I decided if you're going to display all that ridiculous bright orange all over your study, I thought it should at least be displayed properly," smiled Hermione.
"You're the greatest!" said Ron kissing Hermione.
"Do my eyes deceive me, or did I really have the honor of receiving a famous Molly Weasley jumper?!" said Sirius holding a navy blue sweater up.
"Well, you are part of the family," smiled Mrs. Weasley.
"Your knitting needles must have caught fire this year," said Remus doing a quick head count as he opened a sweater and admired it. "Thank you, Molly!"
Molly sighed, "My word, yes! I don't mind a bit, although if our family gets any bigger I might have to recruit an assistant. Then again, I won't be making three quilts at the same time again!"
"Three? I thought there were only two," said Ron.
"Three! Thank you Molly!" said Hermione admiring hers that she just opened.
"Here's two more, this looks like it's to Harry," Sirius raised an eyebrow as he read the next portion, "From Ron."
"What?" said Ron looking up sharply, "I didn't g-"
"Hush dear," said Mrs. Weasley.
Sirius read the other package and looked amused, "This one is to Ron, from Harry."
"Hermione," snorted Ron, "This is in your handwriting," he said reading the tag.
Harry noticed that the tag on his present was also in Hermione's handwriting, but he didn't say anything.
The air was very tense as the whole family watched them carefully, as they opened their gifts.
"Socks," said Ron flatly, "just what I wanted. Thanks, Harry."
"No, thank you, for my socks," responded Harry tonelessly.
"Really, thank you, Hermione...for meddling," snapped Ron.
Hermione, who had been looking hopefully at both of them, started crying.
"You idiot!" said Charlie. Ginny rushed over to comfort Hermione.
"Now children," scolded Mr. Weasley loudly, "There is no need for all of this on Christmas morning!"
Harry knew he was talking about them, rather than the real children...but then again, they would always be children to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
Catherine's lower lip quivered, "Why is Aunt Hermione crying? And why are people calling Uncle Ron an idiot?"
Hermione was clutching yet another lace handkerchief that Ginny had provided, and was trying to act as nothing had happened, "Oh Catherine, I'm not really crying! I thought that Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron were fighting and that makes me sad. But I was wrong," she said quickly, to avoid upsetting the other children.
"Uncle Ron and Daddy can't fight," said Chloe, "They're best friends. Best friends don't fight...."
"That's enough, Chloe," said Harry softly.
Harry felt extremely guilty as she looked up at him with a confused expression.
The silence in the room was deafening, as they all looked at each other...very uncomfortably.
Ginny stood up and grabbed a present from under the tree. "Harry, this is from me."
Harry's face lit up as he unwrapped the canvas. "Chloe! Come here and look at this!"
Chloe still clutching one of her new books ("A Child's Encyclopedia of Dragons" from Charlie) came and leaned over on her tiptoes to look at the painting.
"Does it move?" she asked suspiciously.
"No," laughed Ginny, "Not this one."
"Aren't the little girls in the painting pretty?" asked Harry.
Chloe looked thoughtful. "Yes. But Ms. Ginny should've drawn her shoes
in."
"What?" laughed Ginny.
"Well, it would be more real, Ms. Ginny. Because that's what you do. When we all lay on the rugs, you walk around us and make sure we stay quiet. Your shoes aren't in the painting and no one will know that you do that now!" explained Chloe.
"Oh. Well, maybe next painting I'll add my shoes in," said Ginny, "I mean, we really want it to be realistic." She grinned at Harry and poked him in the ribs.
Meghan nodded seriously, and was examining the painting also, "I don't usually sleep on the blue rug, mine is almost always the purple one."
"Okay, you little critics," laughed Harry, "I happen to love the painting, and with Ms. Ginny's shoes or not, it's going to hang in my study."
"It's your painting, Daddy," pointed out Chloe.
Harry nodded, "Yes it is. Thank you, Ginny, it's a wonderful gift."
Harry leaned over and kissed Ginny's cheek, and most of the family members smiled or chuckled. With the exception of Ron, of course, who was still being uncharacteristically quiet.
Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box and turned to Ginny.
Half the adults leaned forward expectantly and Mrs. Weasley made a small squeaking sound.
"Oh Harry, it's beautiful!" said Ginny lifting the box.
"What's beautiful?!" said Ron craning his neck nervously.
Hermione reached over and swiftly hit him in the arm, meaning to make him shut up.
"The bracelet Harry got me, you nut," said Ginny holding it up.
"A bracelet?" said Mrs. Weasley a little disappointed.
"A bracelet?" said Ron blankly. "Ooohhhh, a bracelet!" he repeated.
"It's a Charmed Charm Bracelet," explained Harry putting it on Ginny's wrist.
"What does that mean," said Ginny admiring it.
"Do you see the little schoolhouse charm?" said Harry.
"Yes."
"Well, there's a spell on it. As long as you wear that bracelet, your Nursery School will be safe."
"That's so wonderful," said Ginny, hugging Harry and kissing his cheek. "You're so thoughtful!"
Harry blushed and the children tittered. "Thanks."
~*~
Christmas music swelled above the noise of talking and laughing in the parlor.
It was much later in the evening and after an eventful day of using new Christmas gifts, the family was ready for dinner. They had all changed into their nicest Christmas attire and visited in Harry's parlor, waiting for dinner to be announced.
The children sat in a circle playing with a bright red ball that they passed to each other, laughing with anticipation of receiving it.
"That Quidditch set is fantastic," said Charlie
"That's a lucky set, we flattened your team!" laughed Harry.
"Unfair!" protested Charlie, "You had the twins on your team! They
have loads of experience flying with you in a team!"
"Over a decade ago!" exclaimed Harry
"We had Bill and Percy, come on now," laughed Charlie.
"And me," said Ginny putting her hands on her hips.
"Yes," said Harry, putting his arm around her, "You had an excellent
Keeper.."
"You would've won by more except for Remus accidentally hitting Sirius
with that Bludger," pointed out Bill. "Face it Charlie, we were being flattened..."
"That was no accident," Remus grinned.
"Remind me to put them on opposing teams next time," said Harry shaking his head.
There was a loud cracking sound as the ball the children were playing with exploded and showered them with confetti and glitter, especially little Alexandria who had been holding it at the time. The children squealed with delight and put it back together to start the game again.
Penelope shifted Henri on her hip and continued talking to Hermione and Mrs. Weasley, "You've done so much work for that school already, Hermione, I can't imagine why Dumbledore just doesn't retire and appoint you headmistress."
"Well, it's not just his opinion. The Ministry has to approve it, and the remainder of the teaching staff also, "said Hermione knowledgeably.
"My dear, the Minister for Magic is your brother-in-law, I think he's going to put in a good word for you," smiled Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh, I would hate to be appointed just because of my connections with the Ministry, " said Hermione looking appalled.
"Oh no!" said Penelope quickly, "Everyone knows you'd be perfect for the job. Besides, I doubt Percy would really appoint even his sister-in-law, if he thought that she wasn't qualified. You know how he is," she added with a fond smile.
"Who knows, in a few years, I might not even want to do that. Dumbledore isn't going to be retiring anytime soon anyway. He absolutely adores that school...and he'll stay there as long as he can."
"What about Professor McGonagall?" said Penelope curiously.
"Oh, Professor McGonagall has expressed more than a few times that she
would never want to be anything besides a Deputy Headmistress."
Harry looked down and one of his house elves bowed deeply. "Dinner is
ready, sir."
"Thank you Ibis," he said smiling, "You and the rest of the staff will
find some packages in my main library. Merry Christmas."
Ibis bowed again. "Merry Christmas."
Harry opened the doors leading to his dining room, and the table was filled with food.
After they were all seated and staring fixedly at the Christmas dinner delicacies in front of them, Harry spoke up from the head of the table.
"Who would like to say Grace?" he said, very pleased at the sight of his dining room table packed with family.
Percy cleared his throat and lifted a finger. "Actually, Harry, the children and I have rehearsed something small for the blessing."
"Why am I not surprised?" whispered Ginny leaning over from Harry's right side.
Harry grinned. "Let's hear it then!"
The family reached out and took the hand of the person next to them and they bowed their heads solemnly.
"Go ahead, Mortimer," prompted Percy.
"Dearest heavenly Father, we take this moment to pause and thank you for everything you have bestowed upon us this lovely Christmas day," Mortimer recited importantly.
Catherine added on. "First of all, dear Father, we would like to thank you for this time we have been able to spend with our family, and we will cherish it always," she said perfectly.
Percy looked up after the long pause. "Meghan!" he whispered loudly.
Meghan jumped, a curl falling on her forehead. "Thank you for this food," she said quickly.
"Meghan," said Percy, "It's 'Thank you for the bountiful feast, that you have laid before us, oh exalted Lord,'" he corrected in a stage whisper.
Meghan gave him a look. "Thank you for the food," she repeated.
Harry heard a very indelicate snort come from Hermione as she fought to keep from laughing out loud. Ginny's shoulders were shaking from laughter and she bowed her head even more, to disguise the broad grin on her face.
"That will do, Meghan," said Penelope quietly. "Carry on, Kyle."
"Thank you, dear Jesus, for the people who so thoughtfully prepared this meal for our...our.."
"Nourishment," said Percy. "Okay, Hunter."
Hunter furrowed his brow. "Thank you for the greatest gift that we
could ever.. Thank you for the greatest gift that we.we-"
And with that, three-year old Hunter burst into noisy tears.
"Good gracious!" said Mrs. Weasley, "Hunter, what ever is the matter?"
"I forgot!" wailed Hunter, huge tears plopping on his dinner plate, "And now...we'll never get to eat, because I can't finish my paaaaarrrt."
The table erupted into laughter.
"The poor thing," gasped Charlie, laughing heartily. "He thought we'd never be able to eat."
"Oh Percy, they're just so young for all those big words," said Mr. Weasley wiping his eyes.
"I think we've been blessed enough," Harry finally managed to get out. "Let's eat."
"Amen!" shouted Sirius still laughing.
~*~
"So, is it true that you and Ron are looking at houses in a different
area?" asked Charlie.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, we've just accumulated so much stuff, our house has just become so small," she smiled.
"That house? Small?" laughed Ginny.
"I think Hermione just wants a house with a library," grinned Ron.
"Do you want to live in a different area?" asked Harry, cutting up a piece of turkey for Chloe.
"We love this area over here, and all the property near Hogwarts is really beautiful also," said Hermione.
"How about a nice house in the country?" asked Mr. Weasley, "like the Burrow."
"Dad, don't get me wrong, I love living by the chickens and everything...."
"Ronald," warned Mrs. Weasley.
"Well, you all needn't worry for a good while. Believe me, Hermione will research an area for months before she even decides if it's a proper place to move into in. Nothing happens with spontaneity around her," Ron sighed.
"Pardon me, Ron. I'll just have us buy the next shack we come across. When it falls down around our ears, you can spontaneously pay to have it repaired," snapped Hermione.
"Now dears, it's Christmas," said Mrs. Weasley softly.
"Are you saying I have bad taste?" said Ron ignoring his mother.
"No, I'm saying you act too much on silly little whims of yours. One of these days you're going to be sorry you dove into something without looking!"said Hermione as she stabbed at some Brussels sprouts her plate.
"Don't you think that all your research gets old after awhile?" yelled Ron.
"Ron, Hermione," said Harry coolly, as the children stared open-mouthed at them.
"Do you ever think that your leaping into things gets chaotic sometimes?" said Hermione in a tone that was quickly crescendo-ing to ear splitting volumes.
"They're tuning up..." whispered George poking Fred with a knowing grin.
"You need a little chaos in your life, I have never seen the day when you have just decided to do something at that split second!" said Ron with a smirk.
"Chaos? You want chaos?" said Hermione slamming her fork down.
"Uh-oh," whispered Charlie.
"Yes, I'd die laughing seeing you try!" bellowed Ron to Hermione.
"FINE!" said Hermione standing up and pitching her napkin from her lap.
"Hermione," said Ginny wringing her hands, and glancing nervously at Harry.
"I'm pregnant!" screamed Hermione right in Ron's face, "How's THAT for spontaneity, you inconsiderate prat!"
Ron seemed to be trying to speak, much less...breathe...as he stared wide eyed at his wife, who was still boiling over with fury and on the verge of more tears.
"That's..that's..." he stuttered.
"That's wonderful!" shrieked Mrs. Weasley.
"That's...that's..." said Ron again.
"You're going to be a dad!" said Mr. Weasley slapping Ron on the back.
"I'm a-a-a-a what?" said Ron
"A dad, Ron," laughed Charlie.
"Think of that," said Bill, gazing upward as if in the future. "You might actually turn responsible."
"Fat chance!" laughed Fred.
"A baby," muttered Ron, apparently still turning the idea over in his mind.
"Yes, a baby," said Hermione, now smiling at Ron, "our baby."
"Are you sure it is Ron's?" said George thoughtfully, "Cause if not, we could really have a fighting chance for a Weasley with something besides red ha-"
"George Amadeus Weasley!" shrieked Mrs. Weasley, "How dare you accuse Hermione of something like that!"
"I-I-I-I don't know what to say," stuttered Ron.
"Excellent!" cheered Fred. "We should have more announcements like this, if they simply just shut you up!"
"Actually Ron doesn't have much of an argument with that spontaneous thing, because SOMETHING was obviously happening spontaneously," said Charlie chuckling into his wine glass.
Percy wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Now really Charlie, mind the children!"
Hermione patted Ron's arm. "Ron, I know you really didn't mean all that about the spontaneity. I was a silly argument. I forgive you."
Ron was still in a daze. "We're having a baby?"
"Yes," smiled Hermione.
"This calls for a toast!" cheered Bill.
"That's right! Give a toast Harry!" called Fred.
"Me?" said Harry.
"It's your house!" pointed out Lupin.
Harry stood up and thought a moment, a little embarrassed, especially after all that had happen between him and Ron this week. Nevertheless, he thought, he should forgive him for a few moments, and congratulate his two best friends, "To the newest Weasley," began Harry. "May he or she be just as chaotic as both parents."
"Cheers!" chorused the table clinking glasses and laughing.
Harry made his way over to give Hermione a hug. As he did so, Ron had turned too quickly to give his mother a hug, and his glass went sailing. Right onto Harry.
Harry cleared his throat and attempted to calmly wipe the pumpkin juice that was dripping all over him.
"I hope this kid has Hermione's brains..." said Bill to Ron and handing a napkin to Harry, "because we all know you don't have any."
"Thanks for the apology," said Harry shortly.
Hermione hit him sharply. "Ron!" she hissed, "Apologize to him!"
"I'll apologize the moment he apologizes to me," replied Ron shortly.
"I've had enough," sighed Harry, "I'm going upstairs to change. I'll be back down after awhile. Go ahead and start dessert without me."
He tossed the white napkin splotched with orange onto his plate and turned to stalk upstairs.
The family was very quiet.
"I'm going after him," said Ginny pushing her chair back sharply.
"Good idea," said Penelope quietly.
"Upstairs? Alone? While he's changing!?" said Ron glaring at her.
Ginny turned slowly. "Yes, Ron, alone! Why don't you tag along and see if you can rip the relationship apart with some more tacky comments," she said very calmly.
Ron didn't reply. They all watched Ginny walk gracefully to the dining room door, and then most ungracefully slammed the door shut as hard as she could.
"Aunt Hermione?" piped up little Hunter after it became silent.
"Yes?" said Hermione.
"Is the baby in your tummy, like Henri was in Mummy's?"
"Yes," smiled Hermione.
"How did it get there?" asked Hunter curiously.
"Well you see, it all starts when two people go upstairs, alone," muttered Ron a little too loudly.
"Pie anyone?" called out Mrs. Weasley loudly, and hoping to silence Ron and Hunter both, she plopped two slices of pie down in front of them.
~*~
Thanks to Anne for betaing and all the readers who reviewed!
Disclaimer: The acronym RALF is probably not mine. If it does belong to anything at all.I do apologize profusely to any RALFers for using it in an insulting manner. For anyone that didn't get the joke, from where I'm from the word "Ralph" is a synonym for throwing up. Yes, please don't throw vegetables at me, I love stupid jokes. Of course, Dr. Suess' "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" is not mine.
"Have you hugged your stuffed dragon today?" Join Chloe's Bookshelf
(Christmas Eve)
"What about the reindeer?" asked Chloe, as she arranged the cookies on
the plate.
"What about them?" asked Harry, placing a glass of milk next to the
plate.
"Won't they be hungry?"
"Father Christmas feeds them before they leave," he explained.
Chloe looked horrified and gave Harry a disdained look. "That is NOT
fair, Daddy!"
"What?" he said, a little shocked at her outburst.
"They have to fly with ALL those presents around the world. Father Christmas gets
treats at the houses and they get stuck waiting outside in the snow!" exclaimed
Chloe, sincerely concerned for the mistreated reindeer.
Harry was faintly reminded of Hermione's attempt to fight for the house
elves. Not another one! Chloe should have a chat with her about starting a Reindeer Liberation Front. He grinned as he ran a few prospective acronyms for the organization in his mind.
R.A.L.F. Reindeer Awareness Liberation Front. Harry almost laughed outloud. An acronym sounding like Ralph was almost as funny sounding as S.P.E.W..
"Daddy! Why are you smiling? The poor reindeer!"
"Uh, sorry, Angel," said Harry, coming back down to earth and working on a sympathetic look. It wasn't working..
"Do reindeer like peanut butter?"
"I've heard they especially like peanut butter."
Chloe looked satisfied with that response. "We can leave peanut butter on apples for them. And a pail of milk."
"A pail? Of milk? Wouldn't they prefer water?" he asked hoping to sway her opinion.
"Don't be silly, Daddy! You never have water with peanut butter!" She laughed and tugged on his robe sleeve.
"Who is going to make these apple peanut butter. things?"
"We are!" Chloe cried, elated.
Harry imagined the reaction from the house elves when they strolled into the kitchen again. He and Chloe had made the cookies themselves earlier today and he was quite sure he would be taking another bath today if this was anything like the cookie incident.
~*~
"Tell me again, Daddy!" said Chloe pleaded.
"You must like this story an awful lot," said Harry, stretching his legs
out onto the coffee table.
"Please?" begged Chloe making big eyes at Harry.
"Pretty please?" Another voice chimed into the conversation.
"Ms. Ginny!" cried Chloe, jumping off the couch to greet her.
"Hi, Gin," said Harry, standing up also, "this is a very pleasant surprise."
Ginny looked up and smiled at him after she had hugged Chloe.
"May I take your coat?"
"Sure," said Ginny unwrapping her bright blue scarf and letting him help her out of her matching coat, spotted with snowflakes. Harry kissed her cheek lightly and walked off with the coat.
"So, ahem. What have you and your daddy been doing today?" said Ginny, hoping to cease the giggles coming from Chloe.
"We baked cookies! We also made reindeer treats," informed Chloe, pointing to the plates on the table.
"Yes, the house elves were a little surprised to see us in a Christmas baking spirit. They were a little...taken aback with our version of holiday baking," added Harry, shouting from the coat closet.
Ginny laughed. "You two made cookies? I'm sure Father Christmas will really appreciate it."
"That's what I said!" cried Chloe.
"Why don't you have a seat Ginny?" offered Harry, as he sat back down on
the couch.
"Well, I just stopped by for a short visit," smiled Ginny, "but..."
"But, sit down and hear the rest of the story with us," finished Harry.
"What's the story about?" asked Ginny as she sat on the other side of Harry.
"The beginning," Chloe said promptly, crawling into his lap.
"All right then, one last time. You have to go to sleep after this one, okay?"
"If I go to bed earlier, will Christmas be here sooner?"
"Yes," said Ginny.
"Are you going to bed early today too?" asked Chloe curiously.
Ginny saw Harry grin for a fraction of a second. She flushed slightly under his gaze. "Yes. I have to go home and make sure the Christmas tree lights work."
Harry cleared his throat and concealed another broad grin. "Now, where do we begin, Chloe?"
"The part that says Father Christmas is really a wizard!" Chloe said with glee. She then
immediately fell quiet, eager to hear the next part.
"Right," laughed Harry. "He is really a wizard. The Muggles believe that he is a little magical, but they don't really know what he is. That's why he can visit the Muggle children too. "
"Tell the best part, Daddy!" piped up Chloe again.
"Best part? I'm afraid I don't remember which part you like best.."
"The chim-man-ney!"
"Chimney," said Ginny unconsciously correcting her.
Harry squinted for a moment, remembering. "When he climbs out of his sleigh onto the roof, he takes out two things. Remember what they are?"
"The toys are in one bag!" said Chloe. "And Floo powder in the other!"
"Right, then he.." Harry stopped. "Then he-hmm-- I don't remember. What's the next part, Ginny?"
Chloe looked quickly at Ginny. "Do you remember, Ms. Ginny?"
Ginny couldn't say no to Chloe's pleading eyes. "Then he takes a big pinch of Floo powder and tosses it down the chimney to cool the fire, like any respectable wizard."
"Why doesn't he get taken somewhere else by the Floo powder like we do?" asked Chloe.
"Because, most of the houses he visits are Muggle houses and they aren't connected to the Floo network. Plus, for him to go anywhere, he would have to yell out a destination. Father Christmas is always very quiet, so he just uses the Floo powder to cool the flames," explained Ginny.
"Oooh," said Chloe. She looked over at their fireplace for maybe a glimpse of some boots hanging out of it. "Then what?"
"Then he takes out his wand and puts a shrinking spell on himself and hops right down the chimney!"
"Then what happens, Harry?"
"He goes back to his normal size and says another spell, which is-"
"Lumos!" cried Chloe.
Harry nodded. "Yes! He lights his wand so he can see in the dark houses. Then he creeps over to the Christmas tree, and he--"
"Leaves presents!" Chloe cheered.
"Then what?" asked Harry.
"He finds the most comfy chair and has milk and cookies! Right?" said Chloe.
"Absolutely right. Then after he's full from all those cookies, he waddles back to the fireplace. But, he's too fat to climb back up, and he can't climb up a chimney if he makes himself small again. So what does he do?"
"Apparates to the roof!"
"Do you remember why he doesn't just Apparate into the house? Wouldn't that be easier than going down the chimney?"
Chloe giggled. "Because the Muggles made up that silly story about the chimney. They don't know about Apparating, so he has to fool them when he comes down in their house. They don't know that Father Christmas really is a wizard!"
"Perfect," praised Harry.
"Very nice story," added Ginny.
Harry stood up and stretched. "Now it's time for bed for all the little girls and stuffed dragons who are wanting Father Christmas to pay a visit tonight."
"Goodnight, Ms. Ginny!" said Chloe hugging her and holding Norbert out for Ginny to pat.
"Can we really get up as early as I like tomorrow?" said Chloe following Harry up the stairs to tuck her in.
"Within reasonable hours, yes," commented Harry, rumpling her hair.
"What's reasonable hours, Daddy?" interrogated Chloe as they turned at the first landing on the stairs, and continued up.
~*~
Ginny didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation because they had headed up the stairs and out of earshot. She casually flipped through a photo album and about ten minutes later Harry jogged back down the stairs.
Ginny set the album back down. "Is she asleep?"
"Are you kidding? Would you be if you were five and it was Christmas Eve?" laughed Harry.
"Probably not, " she admitted. "So, where did you hear the wizard version of Father Christmas?"
"I read it somewhere, I reckoned it would be a good thing to tell, since the Dursleys never seemed to tell me anything along the lines of him bringing things for me."
"I'm sorry. That must have really been awful as a kid growing up with them."
"Well, I did like Christmas. I could usually play with whatever Dudley would break and forget about."
Ginny shook her head sadly. "Well, you have all sorts of Christmas' left to make up for all of that."
He sat down next to her and took her hand. "This one is already making up for half of them," he said.
"It is nice," she commented laying her head on his shoulder. "This one seems happier for everyone."
Harry put his arm around her and dimmed the lights all except for the Christmas tree. Less than two months ago, he had seen her standing in his foyer practically running back home, and now the same place but different time, she was here with him..
"What would you like Father Christmas to bring you?" he asked as he closed his eyes lazily.
Ginny seemed to think this over for a while and was quiet. Finally she replied, "I don't think I really know."
"No sled?" said Harry in mock amazement.
"No!" she laughed.
"You aren't going to get all philosophical on this question are you, Gin?"
"Fine. You tell me what you want for Christmas then."
Harry looked down at her beautiful brown eyes, and felt his heart give a leap in his chest. "I want a bigger Christmas tree than Dudley," he said, his face completely deadpan.
Ginny looked over at the towering fir in the living room, then back at Harry, grinning. "I think you got your Christmas wish then."
Harry looked very proud of himself. "Yes, that's the great part."
"Give Harry Potter a big tree and he's happy. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you aren't easy to shop for then."
"Seriously?" he said looking her straight on.
"What seriously? That you're easy to shop for?"
"No, do you want to know what I really want for Christmas?" he said quietly.
"What?" said Ginny softly, as he rested a hand on her face and leaned in to kiss her.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Ding-Dong!
Ginny's eyes flew open and Harry drew away.
"Now who is that?" he muttered, trying very hard not to look annoyed.
"IS IT FATHER CHRISTMAS?!" shrieked Chloe's voice from upstairs.
Harry and Ginny glanced at each other and laughed. The lights in the room were pulled back up again.
"No, Chloe, it isn't yet," Harry called back.
Chloe's face peeped out between the banister and her pajamas with feet swung between the rails. "May I come down and check? Please, Daddy?"
Harry shrugged. What the heck, it was Christmas Eve.. "Yes, you
can come down, Chloe."
Knock! Knock! Knock! Ding-Dong!
Percy, Penelope, and all eight of their children were standing in the doorway. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were with them also. But that wasn't the shocking part. All of them were sporting Victorian clothing from head to toe.
The men all had top hats on with their knee breeches and matching coats. All the girls had on very old fashioned dresses with bonnets on and had muffs to go with their cloaks.
"Er, hello," said Harry not exactly sure of what to say to them.
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly!"
Chloe looked up at Harry in amazement.
"They're carolers," he explained with a smile.
Harry looked from one matching caroler to the next.
Mr. Weasley was positively elated with the whole scene. Harry assumed this was his idea to begin with, since they were all dressed in old-fashioned Muggle clothing.
Mrs. Weasley was holding Baby Henri who also matched everyone except for the absence of a top hat. She seemed to be mildly enjoying herself also.
Penelope was being perfectly neutral as usual, and smiled pleasantly at her children as she sang along.
Percy looked rather cross in his top hat as he sang with the group. He kept glancing around to see if anyone could see them causing a scene.
Mortimer, the eldest of Percy's children stood to his father's right and was an exact replica, same attitude and air of distinction. Mortimer was the only child that Harry had ever met that was seven years old going on thirty.
Catherine, the next oldest, stood by her mother and daintily sang every word.
Meghan was singing, but she seemed to be trying to untie her bonnet without her parents noticing, much less Catherine.
Four-year old Kyle was having his own glorious time as he danced a little jig as he sang. Kyle always seemed to be in his own dreamy little world, happy and agreeable about everything.
Little Hunter was trying desperately to keep his top hat on, as it kept slipping down over his eyes. Poor little blighter, thought Harry, he was always trying to make up for the fact that he was small for his age.
Then the two-year old twins, Madeline and Alexandria, were singing for all they were worth, but couldn't seem to remember any of the words except for the Fa-la-la-la parts. But, they screamed that part enthusiastically when it came around.
After they'd finished, Harry, Ginny, and Chloe clapped politely.
"Very nice!" laughed Harry.
Mr. Weasley beamed, "Isn't it wonderful? I read a Muggle Christmas book, and Muggles do this door to door!"
Mrs. Weasley adjusted her bonnet. "Ahem...well, Arthur wanted to spread some Christmas cheer with the grandchildren...and he went all out...to say the least."
"I think it's a great idea, Dad," Ginny said.
Percy sighed. "I don't mind taking part in some Muggle traditions, and in fact it rather gives people a good impression of us. But is it really necessary to go traipsing about in these Muggle
costumes? Imagine what the public eye will think, seeing the Minister of Magic running amok on Christmas Eve performing a side-show!"
"Mummy! Meghan has her bonnet off!" screeched Catherine out of the
blue.
"Meghan, darling, put your bonnet back on," said Penelope calmly.
Harry nearly spoiled their little scene of Christmas joy by laughing at Meghan's face. She had all the proper attire, as the others, her curly red hair was even tied neatly a bow...but the scowl on her face that she had for Catherine certainly didn't have the intent of "Christmas
spirit."
He choked back his laugh and invited them all in for hot chocolate.
"Hello, Chloe sweetheart! When are you going to come over and play at my house with the grandchildren?" asked Mrs. Weasley kindly.
"Your house looks very festive!" commented Percy to Harry as he removed his top hat and looked around at the Christmas decorations.
"Thank you," said Harry.
"You should really give tours Havenwood during the Holiday season, people would really love to see the inside of your home. It would go over well with the general public."
"Tours? Of my home?" said Harry incredulously, doing a double take to see if Percy was really serious.
"Why of course! All types of famous people do that sort of thing. I heard that one headmaster of Hogwarts was famous for his Christmas decorations. I know it wasn't Dumbledore, but I think it might have been-"
"It's a first-rate idea, Perce, but I think I value my privacy a little too much for all that," said Harry closing the subject the quickest way possible.
"Paying Harry and Chloe a visit, Ginny dear?" asked Mr. Weasley sipping his hot chocolate.
"Er. Yes, Dad, I was. I had just popped in, too, for a short visit," said Ginny blushing darkly and busied herself with her hot chocolate.
There came shrieks of laughter from the children as most of them had foregone the hot chocolate and went after the bowl of marshmallows which had been set out. Then they went to investigate some of the presents already set under the tree from the many shopping excursions that Harry had been on.
"This one has my name on it!" gleefully exclaimed Hunter recognizing one of the handful of words he could read.
"Children! Manners!" chided Percy loudly.
All of the children stood up guiltily and faced Percy.
"I told you we wouldn't be allowed," Mortimer whispered loudly to his
siblings.
"It's okay. It is Christmas Eve after all, just as long as the presents stay wrapped. Besides, there will be more from Father Christmas, right?" said Harry quietly siding with the children.
Percy hesitated. "Well, if Uncle Harry says it's okay... and I do suppose it is Christmas."
The children bolted off to go look at the tree again and the laughter commenced.
"Aren't you afraid they'll work out what some of them are, and ruin the surprise?" asked Penelope.
"Well, that's only a fraction of the presents, and no, I don't think they'll be able to guess what they are, I've taken a few little Do-not-open- until-Christmas precautions.".
"What do you mean prec--"
There was a deafening noise from the living room.
"ROOOOOOOAAAAAAR!"
The children scattered away from the tree screaming in fright. There was chaos for a good minute or so until Harry walked over and picked up the Christmas gift that sat abandoned in the middle of the living room floor.
He turned and faced the wide-eyed children and grinned. "I told you not to try and open them yet. I've got a few spells on some of these," he said patting it and setting it back under the tree.
Meghan was giggling uncontrollably along with Chloe. "Make it do it again!" Meghan cried with glee.
The other children looked horrified at the mention of that idea, and two- year old Alexandria shook her head vigorously in a no sign. Hunter peeped out from his fingers over his eyes and gazed warily back at the tree.
"I told you it wouldn't be allowed," voiced Mortimer again.
Catherine leaned over from behind her grandmother's skirts and made a face. "It was Madeline, Uncle Harry."
"Enough, Catherine," said Mrs. Weasley.
"It's quite all right, lesson learned," said Harry shortly, "and no, Meghan and Chloe, I don't think we need anymore roaring boxes this evening."
Ginny muttered something along the lines of "evoking lasting psychological trauma", as she patted Kyle's head who had run to her lap for refuge.
"Fred and George will be sorry they missed that one," chuckled Mr. Weasley
"Speaking of which, Father, shouldn't we be going out again? It's going to get too late for the children," said Percy.
"Why don't you, Ginny, and Chloe come along with us, Harry dear?" suggested Mrs. Weasley.
Harry smiled. "Well, it was bedtime for Chloe, but I think the rules can be bent a little for some caroling."
"Chloe can have my bonnet!" cheered Meghan loudly, above the other children.
"Chloe may have her own bonnet, Meghan, but that was very generous of you to offer yours to her," said Percy taking out his wand to conjure up some clothes for the three of them.
Meghan pouted slightly and retied her bonnet again.
"What size top hat do you wear Harry?" asked Percy. He still looked slightly annoyed about this whole ordeal.
"To be honest, Perce, I don't buy too many top hats," laughed Harry.
~*~
Chloe Potter opened her eyes slowly; she kicked her covers sleepily and yawned. Bright realization struck her immediately.
"Wake up, Norbert! Wake up! It's Christmas!" she said snatching up her stuffed dragon and jumping up and down on the bed.
Chloe ran down the hallway to her daddy's room, and dove onto his bed and snuggled next to him.
Harry didn't wake up and put his arm around her and mumbled something incoherent.
Chloe looked back and forth between Norbert and Harry, who was still sawing logs.
"He's asleep," she explained to Norbert in a whisper. "We should really wake him up and tell him it's Christmas."
Chloe wriggled from Harry's grasp and took a flying leap off the bed. She tiptoed to his side of the bed and poked him with Norbert's snout. "Wake up, Daddy!" she screamed.
Harry groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. "What the bloody hell are you doing, Ron? Leave me alone!"
Chloe's eyes widened. Uncle Ron? Leave him alone?! Didn't her daddy know what day it was?
Not to be discouraged, Chloe slung Norbert over her head and hit her father over the head.
"WAKE UP, DADDY! It's CHRISTMAS!!!!" she shrieked.
Harry nearly fell out of bed. "What!? What?! What's going on?!" he yelled, panicking.
Chloe smiled sweetly at him. "Merry Christmas, Daddy!"
Harry stared at her for a second and then he finally got his bearings sorted out. Of course, putting his glasses on helped also.
"Merry Christmas," he yawned and rumpled her hair.
"Norbert too!" she said.
"Merry Christmas, Norbert," said Harry methodically patting Norbert on the head as he glanced at his bedside clock. "Do you two know what time it is?"
"A reasonable hour?" said Chloe hopefully.
"Six in the morning is debatable," he commented swinging his feet over the edge of the bed.
"You weren't waking up," said Chloe.
"I wasn't?"
"No, you were dreaming...you called me Uncle Ron and," Chloe lowered
her voice dramatically, "Daddy you said a swear word! You said bloo--"
"Chloe Grace, don't you dare," he said hastily, "How about we go and see if Father Christmas has paid us a visit?"
Chloe's face lit up. "Come on Daddy!" she said pulling his hand as he
stood up.
~*~
Joyful chaos...was the best description of Harry's living room that morning.
The living room was bursting at the seams with presents and people all comfortably crammed together in a huge circle. The children could hardly contain themselves. Harry found much entertainment by watching all the kids squirming as they all waited for everyone to arrive. But, what kid wouldn't find the towering piles of presents exciting?
It had been decided that Christmas morning was to be a casual affair, so everyone was told to come as they were. Which meant...show up in your pajamas and make yourself at home.
Percy of course had taken this to mean that his family would sport matching red pajamas, with the first initial of the wearer's name monogrammed on the right side. (This was much to Meghan's dismay!)
Chloe still had on her warm, fuzzy pajamas with feet, and Harry had finally managed two decent looking braids.
Fred and George, although they lived separately had unintentionally managed to wear the exact same shirts. Harry figured it had to be some sort of twin thing, although he did own the same shirt, which read 'Gryffindor House Team.'
Hermione wore a proper dressing gown and Ron shuffled in with, -what else- maroon pajamas complete with matching slippers. Harry noted that he sat on the opposite side of the room from him, and had barely muttered a hello to him, although he was acting perfectly normal to the rest of the family
Harry also went the comfortable route and wore his dark green pajama bottoms and C.I.A. t-shirt (Confederation of Innovative Aurors).
Harry couldn't help but smile as Ginny sat down beside him in pastel lavender nightdress with tiny white flowers embroidered on the neckline.
Now that they were all here...Harry spoke up.
"Happy Christmas!" he yelled above the noise.
A chorus of greetings answered him, and Harry couldn't stand to let the children wait any longer.
"Well...are we going to open presents?!" he said.
The children squealed and dove into the presents. Harry leaned back on his hands and watched it all...completely enveloped in joy as he watched Chloe tear open a present. Her face was amazing...the belief of Christmas still shining in her eyes.
"I got paints! I got paints!" yelled Meghan, leaping up and down with a new art set.
Even dainty Catherine couldn't restrain a shout of happiness as she opened a package filled with dress up clothes.
"Fairy Tales!" cried Chloe hugging a gilded book to her chest, with a picture of fluttering fairies on the cover.
"Look at them," laughed Ginny, poking Harry and grinning.
Mortimer gave a yelp of surprise as he pulled the cover off a present revealing a gorgeous tawny owl, "I got a REAL owl!"
The other children gave impressed 'oooohhhs' as they turned and saw Mortimer's present. They soon returned their attention back to their own presents.
The little twins were perplexed over their present.
"What this?" demanded Alexandria, the more vocal of the two.
Arthur beamed, "They're tricycles! Muggle children play with them!"
Molly laughed, and set Madeline on the seat of her tricycle and showed her the bell.
Madeline rung the bell, and her eyes opened wide with delight.
"Madeline's!" she announced as she rang the bell on her trike.
Mr. Weasley was elated, "I told you they'd like them," he said to Molly.
Chloe unwrapped a fish aquarium from Ron and Hermione and she was already reciting to them from one of her favorite books, "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish," chanted Chloe and Hermione together. Ron looked on smiling...but utterly lost.
Hunter and Kyle were having the time of their lives playing with the set of pretend dueling wands they had received.
"AAaaah! You got me Hunter!" said Kyle dramatically pretending to collapse into a heap of wrapping paper.
Since the children were busy playing with the toys they had just opened, (even though there were still plenty more to unwrap...) the adults took the opportunity to pass their presents out to each other.
"How lovely!" cried Hermione holding up a set of robes Ginny had bought for her.
"Why, why, how amazing!" proclaimed Mr. Weasley upon opening his gift of an electric can opener, "What does it do?"
"Opens cans," laughed Hermione.
"How ingenious!" marveled Mr. Weasley poking at it...already itching to take it apart.
"Thanks, Charlie!" shouted Harry as he ripped open a new set of Quidditch balls.
"We're playing after dinner!" grinned Charlie.
"Hear, hear!" said the "grown up" twins hooting with anticipation of a Quidditch match.
"Why Molly! This is exquisite!" said Penelope admiring a finely sewn quilt and held it up for all to see.
Molly flushed and smiled at Penelope, "I knew you'd love the colors dear! I just love pretty quilts myself...I had to make at least one this year!"
"Oh, Mum! Thank you!" said Ginny opening another quilt, "It's beautiful!"
"These are fantastic Harry!" said Bill pulling on a pair of new calf-high black boots, "My others have just about had it!"
Charlie looked at Bill's boots closely. "I hope that isn't dragon hide!"
"It's not," said Harry working on opening another gift, "It's charmed cow leather...made to be as strong as the dragon hide ones. More dragon- friendly."
"Wow!" gaped Ron, unwrapping his present. It was a large frame, with an original Chudley Cannons robe, neatly tacked and displayed.
"Well, I decided if you're going to display all that ridiculous bright orange all over your study, I thought it should at least be displayed properly," smiled Hermione.
"You're the greatest!" said Ron kissing Hermione.
"Do my eyes deceive me, or did I really have the honor of receiving a famous Molly Weasley jumper?!" said Sirius holding a navy blue sweater up.
"Well, you are part of the family," smiled Mrs. Weasley.
"Your knitting needles must have caught fire this year," said Remus doing a quick head count as he opened a sweater and admired it. "Thank you, Molly!"
Molly sighed, "My word, yes! I don't mind a bit, although if our family gets any bigger I might have to recruit an assistant. Then again, I won't be making three quilts at the same time again!"
"Three? I thought there were only two," said Ron.
"Three! Thank you Molly!" said Hermione admiring hers that she just opened.
"Here's two more, this looks like it's to Harry," Sirius raised an eyebrow as he read the next portion, "From Ron."
"What?" said Ron looking up sharply, "I didn't g-"
"Hush dear," said Mrs. Weasley.
Sirius read the other package and looked amused, "This one is to Ron, from Harry."
"Hermione," snorted Ron, "This is in your handwriting," he said reading the tag.
Harry noticed that the tag on his present was also in Hermione's handwriting, but he didn't say anything.
The air was very tense as the whole family watched them carefully, as they opened their gifts.
"Socks," said Ron flatly, "just what I wanted. Thanks, Harry."
"No, thank you, for my socks," responded Harry tonelessly.
"Really, thank you, Hermione...for meddling," snapped Ron.
Hermione, who had been looking hopefully at both of them, started crying.
"You idiot!" said Charlie. Ginny rushed over to comfort Hermione.
"Now children," scolded Mr. Weasley loudly, "There is no need for all of this on Christmas morning!"
Harry knew he was talking about them, rather than the real children...but then again, they would always be children to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
Catherine's lower lip quivered, "Why is Aunt Hermione crying? And why are people calling Uncle Ron an idiot?"
Hermione was clutching yet another lace handkerchief that Ginny had provided, and was trying to act as nothing had happened, "Oh Catherine, I'm not really crying! I thought that Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron were fighting and that makes me sad. But I was wrong," she said quickly, to avoid upsetting the other children.
"Uncle Ron and Daddy can't fight," said Chloe, "They're best friends. Best friends don't fight...."
"That's enough, Chloe," said Harry softly.
Harry felt extremely guilty as she looked up at him with a confused expression.
The silence in the room was deafening, as they all looked at each other...very uncomfortably.
Ginny stood up and grabbed a present from under the tree. "Harry, this is from me."
Harry's face lit up as he unwrapped the canvas. "Chloe! Come here and look at this!"
Chloe still clutching one of her new books ("A Child's Encyclopedia of Dragons" from Charlie) came and leaned over on her tiptoes to look at the painting.
"Does it move?" she asked suspiciously.
"No," laughed Ginny, "Not this one."
"Aren't the little girls in the painting pretty?" asked Harry.
Chloe looked thoughtful. "Yes. But Ms. Ginny should've drawn her shoes
in."
"What?" laughed Ginny.
"Well, it would be more real, Ms. Ginny. Because that's what you do. When we all lay on the rugs, you walk around us and make sure we stay quiet. Your shoes aren't in the painting and no one will know that you do that now!" explained Chloe.
"Oh. Well, maybe next painting I'll add my shoes in," said Ginny, "I mean, we really want it to be realistic." She grinned at Harry and poked him in the ribs.
Meghan nodded seriously, and was examining the painting also, "I don't usually sleep on the blue rug, mine is almost always the purple one."
"Okay, you little critics," laughed Harry, "I happen to love the painting, and with Ms. Ginny's shoes or not, it's going to hang in my study."
"It's your painting, Daddy," pointed out Chloe.
Harry nodded, "Yes it is. Thank you, Ginny, it's a wonderful gift."
Harry leaned over and kissed Ginny's cheek, and most of the family members smiled or chuckled. With the exception of Ron, of course, who was still being uncharacteristically quiet.
Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box and turned to Ginny.
Half the adults leaned forward expectantly and Mrs. Weasley made a small squeaking sound.
"Oh Harry, it's beautiful!" said Ginny lifting the box.
"What's beautiful?!" said Ron craning his neck nervously.
Hermione reached over and swiftly hit him in the arm, meaning to make him shut up.
"The bracelet Harry got me, you nut," said Ginny holding it up.
"A bracelet?" said Mrs. Weasley a little disappointed.
"A bracelet?" said Ron blankly. "Ooohhhh, a bracelet!" he repeated.
"It's a Charmed Charm Bracelet," explained Harry putting it on Ginny's wrist.
"What does that mean," said Ginny admiring it.
"Do you see the little schoolhouse charm?" said Harry.
"Yes."
"Well, there's a spell on it. As long as you wear that bracelet, your Nursery School will be safe."
"That's so wonderful," said Ginny, hugging Harry and kissing his cheek. "You're so thoughtful!"
Harry blushed and the children tittered. "Thanks."
~*~
Christmas music swelled above the noise of talking and laughing in the parlor.
It was much later in the evening and after an eventful day of using new Christmas gifts, the family was ready for dinner. They had all changed into their nicest Christmas attire and visited in Harry's parlor, waiting for dinner to be announced.
The children sat in a circle playing with a bright red ball that they passed to each other, laughing with anticipation of receiving it.
"That Quidditch set is fantastic," said Charlie
"That's a lucky set, we flattened your team!" laughed Harry.
"Unfair!" protested Charlie, "You had the twins on your team! They
have loads of experience flying with you in a team!"
"Over a decade ago!" exclaimed Harry
"We had Bill and Percy, come on now," laughed Charlie.
"And me," said Ginny putting her hands on her hips.
"Yes," said Harry, putting his arm around her, "You had an excellent
Keeper.."
"You would've won by more except for Remus accidentally hitting Sirius
with that Bludger," pointed out Bill. "Face it Charlie, we were being flattened..."
"That was no accident," Remus grinned.
"Remind me to put them on opposing teams next time," said Harry shaking his head.
There was a loud cracking sound as the ball the children were playing with exploded and showered them with confetti and glitter, especially little Alexandria who had been holding it at the time. The children squealed with delight and put it back together to start the game again.
Penelope shifted Henri on her hip and continued talking to Hermione and Mrs. Weasley, "You've done so much work for that school already, Hermione, I can't imagine why Dumbledore just doesn't retire and appoint you headmistress."
"Well, it's not just his opinion. The Ministry has to approve it, and the remainder of the teaching staff also, "said Hermione knowledgeably.
"My dear, the Minister for Magic is your brother-in-law, I think he's going to put in a good word for you," smiled Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh, I would hate to be appointed just because of my connections with the Ministry, " said Hermione looking appalled.
"Oh no!" said Penelope quickly, "Everyone knows you'd be perfect for the job. Besides, I doubt Percy would really appoint even his sister-in-law, if he thought that she wasn't qualified. You know how he is," she added with a fond smile.
"Who knows, in a few years, I might not even want to do that. Dumbledore isn't going to be retiring anytime soon anyway. He absolutely adores that school...and he'll stay there as long as he can."
"What about Professor McGonagall?" said Penelope curiously.
"Oh, Professor McGonagall has expressed more than a few times that she
would never want to be anything besides a Deputy Headmistress."
Harry looked down and one of his house elves bowed deeply. "Dinner is
ready, sir."
"Thank you Ibis," he said smiling, "You and the rest of the staff will
find some packages in my main library. Merry Christmas."
Ibis bowed again. "Merry Christmas."
Harry opened the doors leading to his dining room, and the table was filled with food.
After they were all seated and staring fixedly at the Christmas dinner delicacies in front of them, Harry spoke up from the head of the table.
"Who would like to say Grace?" he said, very pleased at the sight of his dining room table packed with family.
Percy cleared his throat and lifted a finger. "Actually, Harry, the children and I have rehearsed something small for the blessing."
"Why am I not surprised?" whispered Ginny leaning over from Harry's right side.
Harry grinned. "Let's hear it then!"
The family reached out and took the hand of the person next to them and they bowed their heads solemnly.
"Go ahead, Mortimer," prompted Percy.
"Dearest heavenly Father, we take this moment to pause and thank you for everything you have bestowed upon us this lovely Christmas day," Mortimer recited importantly.
Catherine added on. "First of all, dear Father, we would like to thank you for this time we have been able to spend with our family, and we will cherish it always," she said perfectly.
Percy looked up after the long pause. "Meghan!" he whispered loudly.
Meghan jumped, a curl falling on her forehead. "Thank you for this food," she said quickly.
"Meghan," said Percy, "It's 'Thank you for the bountiful feast, that you have laid before us, oh exalted Lord,'" he corrected in a stage whisper.
Meghan gave him a look. "Thank you for the food," she repeated.
Harry heard a very indelicate snort come from Hermione as she fought to keep from laughing out loud. Ginny's shoulders were shaking from laughter and she bowed her head even more, to disguise the broad grin on her face.
"That will do, Meghan," said Penelope quietly. "Carry on, Kyle."
"Thank you, dear Jesus, for the people who so thoughtfully prepared this meal for our...our.."
"Nourishment," said Percy. "Okay, Hunter."
Hunter furrowed his brow. "Thank you for the greatest gift that we
could ever.. Thank you for the greatest gift that we.we-"
And with that, three-year old Hunter burst into noisy tears.
"Good gracious!" said Mrs. Weasley, "Hunter, what ever is the matter?"
"I forgot!" wailed Hunter, huge tears plopping on his dinner plate, "And now...we'll never get to eat, because I can't finish my paaaaarrrt."
The table erupted into laughter.
"The poor thing," gasped Charlie, laughing heartily. "He thought we'd never be able to eat."
"Oh Percy, they're just so young for all those big words," said Mr. Weasley wiping his eyes.
"I think we've been blessed enough," Harry finally managed to get out. "Let's eat."
"Amen!" shouted Sirius still laughing.
~*~
"So, is it true that you and Ron are looking at houses in a different
area?" asked Charlie.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, we've just accumulated so much stuff, our house has just become so small," she smiled.
"That house? Small?" laughed Ginny.
"I think Hermione just wants a house with a library," grinned Ron.
"Do you want to live in a different area?" asked Harry, cutting up a piece of turkey for Chloe.
"We love this area over here, and all the property near Hogwarts is really beautiful also," said Hermione.
"How about a nice house in the country?" asked Mr. Weasley, "like the Burrow."
"Dad, don't get me wrong, I love living by the chickens and everything...."
"Ronald," warned Mrs. Weasley.
"Well, you all needn't worry for a good while. Believe me, Hermione will research an area for months before she even decides if it's a proper place to move into in. Nothing happens with spontaneity around her," Ron sighed.
"Pardon me, Ron. I'll just have us buy the next shack we come across. When it falls down around our ears, you can spontaneously pay to have it repaired," snapped Hermione.
"Now dears, it's Christmas," said Mrs. Weasley softly.
"Are you saying I have bad taste?" said Ron ignoring his mother.
"No, I'm saying you act too much on silly little whims of yours. One of these days you're going to be sorry you dove into something without looking!"said Hermione as she stabbed at some Brussels sprouts her plate.
"Don't you think that all your research gets old after awhile?" yelled Ron.
"Ron, Hermione," said Harry coolly, as the children stared open-mouthed at them.
"Do you ever think that your leaping into things gets chaotic sometimes?" said Hermione in a tone that was quickly crescendo-ing to ear splitting volumes.
"They're tuning up..." whispered George poking Fred with a knowing grin.
"You need a little chaos in your life, I have never seen the day when you have just decided to do something at that split second!" said Ron with a smirk.
"Chaos? You want chaos?" said Hermione slamming her fork down.
"Uh-oh," whispered Charlie.
"Yes, I'd die laughing seeing you try!" bellowed Ron to Hermione.
"FINE!" said Hermione standing up and pitching her napkin from her lap.
"Hermione," said Ginny wringing her hands, and glancing nervously at Harry.
"I'm pregnant!" screamed Hermione right in Ron's face, "How's THAT for spontaneity, you inconsiderate prat!"
Ron seemed to be trying to speak, much less...breathe...as he stared wide eyed at his wife, who was still boiling over with fury and on the verge of more tears.
"That's..that's..." he stuttered.
"That's wonderful!" shrieked Mrs. Weasley.
"That's...that's..." said Ron again.
"You're going to be a dad!" said Mr. Weasley slapping Ron on the back.
"I'm a-a-a-a what?" said Ron
"A dad, Ron," laughed Charlie.
"Think of that," said Bill, gazing upward as if in the future. "You might actually turn responsible."
"Fat chance!" laughed Fred.
"A baby," muttered Ron, apparently still turning the idea over in his mind.
"Yes, a baby," said Hermione, now smiling at Ron, "our baby."
"Are you sure it is Ron's?" said George thoughtfully, "Cause if not, we could really have a fighting chance for a Weasley with something besides red ha-"
"George Amadeus Weasley!" shrieked Mrs. Weasley, "How dare you accuse Hermione of something like that!"
"I-I-I-I don't know what to say," stuttered Ron.
"Excellent!" cheered Fred. "We should have more announcements like this, if they simply just shut you up!"
"Actually Ron doesn't have much of an argument with that spontaneous thing, because SOMETHING was obviously happening spontaneously," said Charlie chuckling into his wine glass.
Percy wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Now really Charlie, mind the children!"
Hermione patted Ron's arm. "Ron, I know you really didn't mean all that about the spontaneity. I was a silly argument. I forgive you."
Ron was still in a daze. "We're having a baby?"
"Yes," smiled Hermione.
"This calls for a toast!" cheered Bill.
"That's right! Give a toast Harry!" called Fred.
"Me?" said Harry.
"It's your house!" pointed out Lupin.
Harry stood up and thought a moment, a little embarrassed, especially after all that had happen between him and Ron this week. Nevertheless, he thought, he should forgive him for a few moments, and congratulate his two best friends, "To the newest Weasley," began Harry. "May he or she be just as chaotic as both parents."
"Cheers!" chorused the table clinking glasses and laughing.
Harry made his way over to give Hermione a hug. As he did so, Ron had turned too quickly to give his mother a hug, and his glass went sailing. Right onto Harry.
Harry cleared his throat and attempted to calmly wipe the pumpkin juice that was dripping all over him.
"I hope this kid has Hermione's brains..." said Bill to Ron and handing a napkin to Harry, "because we all know you don't have any."
"Thanks for the apology," said Harry shortly.
Hermione hit him sharply. "Ron!" she hissed, "Apologize to him!"
"I'll apologize the moment he apologizes to me," replied Ron shortly.
"I've had enough," sighed Harry, "I'm going upstairs to change. I'll be back down after awhile. Go ahead and start dessert without me."
He tossed the white napkin splotched with orange onto his plate and turned to stalk upstairs.
The family was very quiet.
"I'm going after him," said Ginny pushing her chair back sharply.
"Good idea," said Penelope quietly.
"Upstairs? Alone? While he's changing!?" said Ron glaring at her.
Ginny turned slowly. "Yes, Ron, alone! Why don't you tag along and see if you can rip the relationship apart with some more tacky comments," she said very calmly.
Ron didn't reply. They all watched Ginny walk gracefully to the dining room door, and then most ungracefully slammed the door shut as hard as she could.
"Aunt Hermione?" piped up little Hunter after it became silent.
"Yes?" said Hermione.
"Is the baby in your tummy, like Henri was in Mummy's?"
"Yes," smiled Hermione.
"How did it get there?" asked Hunter curiously.
"Well you see, it all starts when two people go upstairs, alone," muttered Ron a little too loudly.
"Pie anyone?" called out Mrs. Weasley loudly, and hoping to silence Ron and Hunter both, she plopped two slices of pie down in front of them.
~*~
Thanks to Anne for betaing and all the readers who reviewed!
Disclaimer: The acronym RALF is probably not mine. If it does belong to anything at all.I do apologize profusely to any RALFers for using it in an insulting manner. For anyone that didn't get the joke, from where I'm from the word "Ralph" is a synonym for throwing up. Yes, please don't throw vegetables at me, I love stupid jokes. Of course, Dr. Suess' "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" is not mine.
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