A/N: thanks for your reviews, they mean a lot to me. It was nice to see how many of you learnt: 'kiváló fejezet!' Thank you :)
Crazycutee831: No, we don't get the show Charmed. What is it about? I'm not telling anything about the sequel – especially not the title, because I don't have one yet. I always give titles to my fics when they are almost ready, because at the beginning I don't know what kind of title would suit the story. It turns out later, as the story evolves.
LilGinny: you asked what kinds of holidays we have in Hungary. Well, we celebrate New Year, Easter, Whitsun, we have a St. Nicholas' Day (kind of Santa Claus Day) on 6th December and of course we celebrate Christmas- Besides that we have a couple of national holidays when we remember the revolutions of 1848 and 1956. On 20th August we remember our first king, St. Stephen – I love that holiday, because there's firework every year on that day. We don't have Halloween and Thanksgiving and things like that. The temperature nowadays is okay: +20 Celsius degrees. Finally I'm not cold! :))
Nefertiri: I'm not telling about the next task yet. Harry will spend 4 chapters at home.
PadmeSkywalker: I'm going to ask you one Latin phrase before I upload chapter 24, because that will be an important one, but I'm not telling what it is yet, because that single phrase would reveal too much. Remind me to ask you when I'm around chapter 22!
Gwen Fifortry: thanks for the Philosopher's stone in many languages!
Rose: better than the last? I'm happy :)) No, I don't speak Latin, I got everything from a dictionary (and I got them with wrong Grammar, I know, but it doesn't really matter:) All I know in Latin is 'in vino veritas' and 'alea yachta est'. Oh, I've just learned a new one from our ethics teacher: 'homo homini lupus est'. I was so happy when I understood 'lupus' at once! (you know, from Lupin!:))
Sean Mulligan: no, Harry won't outlive Daniel – at least I don't think so.
X_Tow_Naga: I just wanted them to use a portkey for a change, that's all. I love portkeys, they're cool, better than floo, IMHO. Anyway, I thought it'd look stupid if Harry and Hermione came out of the fireplace of The Dancing Bear (the only fireplace in Russia that has connection to Durmstrang) carrying all their packages. You know Harry's knack for falling whenever he goes by floo – he'd scatter the luggage. Viktor gave only one portkey to Harry and Herm – a 'privilege' portkey, with which they can directly go back to the school at the end of the holidays, but Hagrid wouldn't get a portkey from Vicky, because he has no business at Durmstrang and Krum wouldn't let him go there just to frolick with Maxime. Those who don't have any business at Durmstrang, aren't welcomed there. Durmstrang is a rather unfriendly place, as you know. Hagrid cannot go there by floo, either – it will be explained in chapter 26 (as I have mentioned for a dozen times, I guess.)
Thanks for the compliment. Dennis isn't a bridge constructor, either. I think that he, being a sixth year student, isn't supposed to be able to conjure whole bridges – is he? Why not 'accio Yeti'? Hahaha, that would look gross: a yeti flying down from the hill just like that… the pure mental image of that is hilarious! How did Harry and Krum find the yeti? Well, they KNEW that it was at the foot of the Devil's Slope, stunned. Why don't Russian characters have accents? Because I don't know how to write Russian accent – should I have made them speak like 'Vot is it?' all the time? That drives one crazy. However, I find the French accent cute. How did Aberforth get booze? Hey, he's a wizard. Wizards can conjure stuff if they want (not bridges, but drinks they surely can), remember McGonagall conjuring dinner for Harry and Ron when they went to Hogwarts in the Ford Anglia and missed dinner. Aberforth could also have some 'hidden' flasks of Quality Wizard Vodka from the wizarding St. Petersburg in his room, who knows? :)) No, the Dursleys will be in next chapter, not this one. Really, you AREN'T a huge HP fan and still read fanfiction??? I'm surprised to hear that.
Almah: Mileta won't die, sorry.
BlueIce: you'll see Albus in chapter 18, and the Dumbledore bros will meet in the final chapter (a long way to go until then!) Sorry, but not much of Abu.
Waldomier: you asked how old the kids were now. Lily is one and a half year old, Daniel is a half year old.
VVhit2005: Harry and Hermione could leave the Durmstrang grounds in only three ways:
walk far away from the castle to apparte (that would be too much with their luggage)
on Aberforth's sledge (I didn't want to use the reindeers here)
by floo to The Dancing Bear (my reasons for not choosing this way are written in my answer to X_Tow_Naga.)
Mage: no, Mileta's not a f*cking bad guy. She's bad, but not f*cking bad.
The Face of Evil: where does he do it alone? Well… his room at Durmstrang? :))
J-Kid: hahaha! I guess the Romanians must have been very mad about that! I know how mad we, Hungarian are when people say Bucharest instead of Budapest! It must work the same way for the Romanians as well.
Black Ice: Lily won't tell anything obscene here. James… James… in my third story I'll call someone James, but it won't be a son of Harry's.
LupinsLover: yes, you'll see Remus! I like him very much. IMHO it'd be great if Ewan McGregor played him! Yes, I do have tickets for AotC, I bought tickets for myself and my friends – imagine, one of my friends told me that since the day I gave her the ticket, she's been pulling it out of her wallet every day just to *look* at it! She's such a huge SW fan!
blaubaerin: I do think that Dennis would call the Muggles Muggles – Hermione also says sometimes that her parents are Muggles. The Sound of Music is really sappy, but it's worth watching it, because its music is soooooo great! There aren't too many drindles and lederhosen in there. Oh, so l'ecole des sorciers means school of wizards? Strange, I have a CD with the trailer of the HP movie in lots of languages, and when I watched it in French (just for fun), there was the text: l'ecole des sorciers (while in every other languages the text was the Philosopher's stone, so I thought it must mean the same. I should study French… but no, I'm going to study Spanish.) No, I don't know Heino, is he a German singer? "You two, Aberforth…" LOL, I didn't notice that! :)) No, we don't have a May dance, but we celebrate the first of May – you know, it's kind of a remainder of the socialist era: before 'die Wende' (I don't know the English word for that), Hungary used to celebrate 1st May as the holiday of work with balloons and festivals (I was a very small child then, I don't really remember). Now we don't have festivals anymore, but we still have a day off and go for a trip into the nature or just stay at home and relax.
Cassandra Anthemyst: should I? :)))
Elfangor19: no, you haven't reviewed yet, but I'm glad that you did now.
Mikey: right? No :)
Moony Lover: I love The sound of music! Sooooo cute! And captain von Trepp is so hot!
Tessa: no, I'm not going to write about the squib things as Rita at all. I'll be rather nasty to the other players of the RPG, just as nasty as Rita usually is :)
hermioneqc: sorry, I don't know much of ice hockey.
diana levy: no, Dan being a squib has nothing to do with the orb. Its reason will be revealed in next chapter (finally!)
thebiggesthpfan: maybe Durmstrang should be in Bulgaria, but Rowling writes that it is very far in the NORTH, and it's VERY COLD there, so I put it into Russia, because Bulgaria is in the SOUTH, and NOT COLD. Anyway, Karkaroff is rather Russian than Bulgarian, IMHO.
Lavendar Brown: no, Harry won't walk in on anyone. And Mileta will survive this story, sorry :)
Kristen Michelle: thank you.
Toby Haine: you've just become an SW fan??? And because of EP1???? Wow! I don't think I would have become an SW fan, had I only seen EP1, because it's not as good as the original trilogy. Have you seen episodes 4-6? My favourite is EP5, The Empire Strikes Back. I also can't wait for Attack of the Clones. According to the greatest film magazine of Europe it is the best SW film so far – even better than the original trilogy. You really think my fic is exciting? That means a lot to me, because people said (for chapters 8-11) that it was downright boring. I'm happy that you don't find it dull.
TO THOSE WHOSE REVIEWS I HAVEN'T ANSWERED: I'M GRATEFUL TO ALL OF YOU FOR REVIEWING, BUT YOU MUST HAVE ASKED SOMETHING THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO ANSWER YET, SO I DIDN'T. FORGIVE ME PLEASE, I JUST DON'T WANT TO SPOIL IT FOR YOU.
Chapter 16
Come home for Christmas
A loud bang came from the large living room of Black Manor.
"What was that, Sirius?" Ginny yelled down from upstairs.
"Just fixing the Christmas tree!" the man shouted back.
"Fixing it or setting fire to it?"
"Dunno. We'll see!" Sirius laughed, pointing his wand at the pine-tree – his wand was emitting golden bulbs and white, sparkling, snow-flake-shaped ornaments. "There. It looks cool." with a last flick he placed a fluorescent star onto the top of the tree.
"Beautiful." Ginny smiled as she walked down the stairs, holding Lily's hand. The little girl tore her hand out of her mother's and ran up to the Christmas tree that was glittering gold and silver and practically all colours of the rainbow… the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
"Tee, tee!" she exclaimed, pointing at the tree, jumping excitedly.
"Not bad, huh, kid?" Sirius grinned. "Uncle Siri did a good job, eh? Well done, Siri, well done." he patted his own shoulder, giving Lily a wink. "When is Ron arriving?" he turned to Ginny.
"In an hour I suppose. But that's not what I'm interested in… what I'm interested in is when Harry is arriving."
"'Arry?" the little girl asked.
"Yes dear. Your daddy." her mother replied with a radiant smile. "He's coming home at last."
The little girl ran up to the fireplace to examine the stockings hanging from it.
"I'm not sure she remembers Harry at all." Sirius pointed out. "He's been away for two months. For an eighteen-months-old child it is hard to remember someone who they haven't seen for months."
Ginny pursed her lips. "Could be. But she'll remember again… Harry is going to stay for more than a week, right?"
"Exactly. I wonder what he'll say when he gets to know the news."
"The news? About…" Ginny asked with a smirk. "He'll be delighted, I'm sure."
With a pop, Ron apparated next to them. "Hi, everyone!"
"Hullo, Ron."
"Is Hermione here yet?" he asked.
"Nope. But they might arrive anytime now." Sirius replied. "A bit excited to see her, Ron?"
"To see her?" Ron laughed. "I have more interesting plans than just seeing her. Um, where can I dump my packages?"
"Put them there, next to the others." Ginny pointed at the packages lying under the Christmas tree.
Ron put his presents under the tree, then turned to his niece. "Hello there, Lil. Look, what uncle Ron's brought you!" he pulled a Honeydukes chocolate bar (suitable for children over one year) out of his pocket to hand it to Lily, who didn't even cast a glance at it – she practically pushed Ron aside and started running in the door's direction, yelling: "'Arry!"
Ginny, Sirius and Ron turned around to see two figures standing at the other end of the huge room. One of them crouched down and closed the little girl into his arms.
"My sweet little angel!" he held her close, as though not wanting to release her. "Daddy's sweet princess! You still remember me?"
Lily nodded, putting her little arms around Harry's neck. "Give Daddy a kiss, princess!" Lily stuck her lips onto Harry's cheek with a smacking noise. "Thank you, angel." he smiled, standing up, holding her.
"Hello, Harry." Ginny said with a small smile, stepping to him.
"Gin..." he leaned forward to peck her on the cheek, which made her furrow her brow. "A second." he put down his daughter, then reached out with both his hands and pulled her into a long, passionate kiss.
"That's more like it." she sighed happily as he released her. "Welcome home, dear."
"That was a really nice welcoming, sweetheart." he grinned, and gave her another lingering kiss.
"Ehm…" someone cleared his throat.
"Oh, hello, Sirius." Harry looked up, blushing.
"I thought you'd never notice me." Sirius smirked, then, with a sudden move, he pulled Harry into a firm hug. "Good to see ya again."
"Good to see you, too. I hope you haven't taught my daughter more bad words."
"Her? No. Now I'm teaching Dannie." he winked at his godson.
"Really, where's he?" Harry asked.
"Up in his room, sleeping." Ginny replied.
"But he's all right, isn't he?"
"'Course he is. Strong little tyke, I tell you." Sirius replied. "Resembles his father a lot."
Harry's mouth tucked into a grin, then he turned to his best friend. "Hi, Ron."
"Huh?" Ron opened his eyes and cast a side-ways glance at Harry, never releasing Hermione's lips. They had been snogging for the last three or four minutes. Eventually Hermione was the one to end the kiss, gently pushing her husband away.
"Oh, hi, Harry." Ron turned red, shaking his best friend's outstretched hand. "Nice to see ya in one piece… and not frozen. You were in luck with that pneumonia, you know."
"Pneumonia?" Ginny raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Ron?"
"Ugh, I never knew you hadn't been told, sis." Ron shrugged.
Seeing Ginny's confused expression, Harry put an arm around her. "I'll tell you later, okay? Now I'd like to see my son."
* * * * *
Little Daniel Potter was still asleep as his father walked up to his crib, but he might have heard the steps or the door creak, because he opened his eyes and flashed Harry with a chocolate-brown stare. "Hello, little one." Harry reached out for his son, who instinctively gripped his index finger. "Ooooh, how strong you are!" Harry laughed as Dannie kept tugging at his finger. "A very tough young man, indeed." he gently pulled his finger out of Dan's grip and scooped up the baby. "Oh my, how big you've grown! You are getting heavy, young man… or is that just the weight of a full nappy, huh? I think you need a change, sonny."
"Leave it to me." Ginny, who had followed him into the room, said.
"Let me do it." her husband smiled at her. "I haven't changed nappies for two months! I've been missing it… and of course I've missed feeding and bathing him as well… and telling him bed-time stories…"
"As you wish." she said with an understanding smile, watching as Harry removed Daniel's nappy. "I'm going to send up Dinky with Dan's dinner so that you can feed him, okay?"
"Thanks." he nodded, reaching out for the baby powder.
"The pleasures of parenthood, huh?" she leant to the door-post, examining the sight: her husband tending their little son. It was an endearing sight. "I'm going to leave you alone with him… be nice to your dad, Dan! I'll be in the living room with the others, dear." she told Harry and left the room.
Harry watched her leave, letting out a longing sigh at the sight of her swaying hips. "Your mother's a wonderful woman, d'ya know that, Dan? All right, let's see the clean nappy!"
* * * * *
Since it took him long to feed and lull Daniel into sleep, it was past eight o' clock when Harry joined the others. He also placed his presents under the tree, then lifted Lily from an armchair, sat down and pulled her into his lap. She was already sleepy and soon dropped off, her red head propped against her daddy's chest. Harry looked down at her, and felt something warm engulf his whole being – it was so good to be with his family again, to hold and kiss them… to have his little daughter sleeping in his lap, one small hand gripping the hem of his robes…
Peace. That was what he felt. His glance met that of Ginny, whose stare radiated the same peace and warmth. Maybe… maybe everything was going to be okay, after all. Maybe all his fears had been unfounded. Maybe there was still a chance that his relationship with his wife would take a turn for the better.
*Have faith, Harry, it's Christmas, after all… the holiday of love and hope… and I need to hope that our love with Ginny can be saved. I mustn't give up hope…* he told himself.
"Harry!"
"Huh?" Harry looked up. "Sorry, I was a bit distracted."
"I thought you were more interested in the family matters." Ron gave him a reproachful stare.
"Sorry." Harry apologised. "What exactly were you saying?"
"I was saying that Percy got engaged to Penelope. They are going to get married on the first of January."
"Oh, that's cool. They must be very happy, then."
"Yeah, they are. But not the rest of the family." Ron made a wry face. "You know Percy: if he starts fussing about something, you cannot hear anything else from him, and now he's been driving us all mad with this wedding-thing for weeks. 'Course the whole family is coming on the 26th, and Percy's going to bring Penelope, so be prepared for the most boring Boxing Day you've ever had."
"I'm not going to ask him about the wedding, then." Harry shrugged. "His detailed descriptions about cauldron-thickness were enough."
"Trust me he can talk about his wedding in a much more boring way." Ron replied. "Compared to that, his cauldron-thickness reports were highly enjoyable."
"So…" a thoughtful expression fell over Harry's face, "…Percy getting married means that he hasn't had his er, problem since last Christmas, has he?"
"No." Ron laughed, leaning closer to Harry. "Unfortunately. We were enjoying teasing him about that."
"I bet you were." Harry grinned back.
"Did you realise at all," Ginny interjected, "that some superstitions have proven themselves true?" everyone gave her a confused look. "I mean… when I threw my bouquet, it was Penny who caught it. And now she's going to get married to Perce."
"Really." Hermione nodded. "My bouquet was caught by McGonagall, though…" her glance met Harry's, and they burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Sirius asked.
"McGonagall… catching Herm's bouquet…" Harry chuckled. "You're right, Gin, this superstition might be right…"
"Huh?" Ron raised an eyebrow. "Wha'd'ya mean?"
"Minerva," Hermione began, "has an admirer."
"A what?" Sirius gaped. "That old spinster… who?"
"Dumbledore." Harry smirked.
"What? The headmaster?" Ron grimaced. "I thought he fancied Arabella Figg!"
"Not that Dumbledore, Ron." Hermione replied. "His brother, Aberforth."
"Oh, yeah, once he mentioned a brother..." Ron said. "What is he like?"
"Funny man." Harry replied. "A bit younger than Albus, but just as um, crazy as he is."
"Crazier." Hermione voiced her opinion.
"Well, maybe a bit. But he's an excellent singer and a great friend of animals. He befriended a yeti and treated him like Hagrid treated Norbert or the skrewts."
"Then he's really crazy." Ron remarked.
Suddenly there was a tap, tap on the window. They all turned to see Hedwig hovering in front of the window-pane.
"Would you open it, Sirius?" Harry pointed at his daughter sleeping in his arms. "I don't want to wake her."
Sirius opened the window, and Hedwig soared in, directly onto the armrest of Harry's chair. "Hello, Hedwig." Harry reached out with his free hand to tap his owl's head. "How are you? I hope nothing bad happened to you due to my crazy old godfather." he blinked at Sirius, who tried to look as innocent as one could. "So, nothing amiss with you, right?"
Hedwig nipped his fingers reassuringly, then hooted in a funny way – Harry had never heard her hoot that way before. As soon as she finished hooting, the noise of wings could be heard, and some other owls flew into the room, all perching themselves on Harry's armchair. Harry looked around, surprised too see that all owls were snowy, and slightly smaller than his Hedwig. Apart from that, they all looked the spitting image of her.
"Hedwig…" Harry whispered, as understanding downed on him. "Hedwig… are these… your babies?"
Hedwig nodded, nipping his finger again.
"One, two, three, four, five… six." Harry counted them. "Six little Hedwigs! This is… cool! You're a mommy, Hedwig! I can't believe! But… where's the father?" he asked with a frown.
"Ah, the father…" Sirius waved. "You know them… just like men, you know… that Henry just, um… knocked her up, then left."
"Bloody bastard!" Harry spat. "I hope you weren't too sad, Hedwig."
The mother owl shook her head, giving all her children a loving look.
"I understand. You don't mind that he left, because now you have your kids to love instead." Harry said. "And what are their names?"
"That will be your task, Harry." Ginny said. "We decided to wait for you so that you could name them. You are their grandpa, after all."
Harry grinned. "All right. How many of them are males, and how many are females?"
"Three and three." Sirius replied. "At least we think so."
"All right, then. Let's see…" Harry mused. "What about… Helena… Hannah and Helga for the females, and Herold, um, Hector and… Hubert for the males." he turned to Hedwig, who hooted her agreement. "You like them? All right. Your kids are named, then, Mommy."
Hedwig hooted once again, then took wing and flew out of the window. Helena, Hannah, Helga, Herold, Hector and Hubert followed her.
"What a nice little family." Harry looked after them, then his stare wandered back to Lily. "I guess you should already be in bed, princess." he slowly stood up, careful not to wake her. "I'm taking her upstairs." he stifled a yawn. "Um, I guess it's not only her who needs some sleep. Good night Ron, Hermione, Sirius."
"'night, Harry." they all echoed.
"What about us going up as well?" Ron suggested, taking his wife's hand.
"Excellent idea." she said with a smile.
"I think you also should get into bed." Sirius told Ginny after the Weasleys departed.
"Yeah. I'm going to go to bed." she smirked back at him and headed upstairs.
"Have a nice night, kids." Sirius whispered.
* * * * *
After Harry had tucked Lily in, he entered their bedroom to see Ginny standing in there, wearing a dressing-gown. Her long, fiery red hair fell down to her waist, and her emerald eyes sparkled in the moonlight that poured into the room. She was as pretty as a picture.
"Um, Gin…" Harry took a step in her direction, uncertain about her reaction. "Er… do you want me to sleep elsewhere or…" he couldn't finish his sentence, because she crossed the room in three quick steps and silenced him with a kiss.
"I think this gives you the answer." she whispered, her breath warm on his cheek.
"A…are you sure?" he asked. "Aren't you afraid…?"
"I am… but we cannot let fear stand between us… we cannot let it ruin our marriage, can we?"
Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "Ginny…"
"Sssh! Let me speak." she put a finger on his lips. "I've thought this over, Harry. I don't know why neither the spell, nor the potion worked last time… I don't know how I got pregnant in spite of all precautions… maybe it was the will of fate. Perhaps it wanted to test us. To see whether our love was strong enough to bear all this… and it is strong enough, Harry. No matter, what happened or what may happen in the future, I will always love you, and I don't care if our future babies aren't magic. We'll still love them. So… I say it's no worth refraining from expressing our love to each other. Express it, Harry. Show me how much you love me."
"Oh, Ginny." he pulled her into a firm embrace, catching her lips with his, clinging to them as though he would die if he let them go. "What was this?" he suddenly released her, having heard some funny, rustling noise. It reminded him of the noise of a falling gown – but Ginny was still wearing hers.
"There!" Ginny pointed at an envelope that had been slipped under the door. Harry picked it up. There was neither sender nor addressee on it. There were only three words written on it in a rather familiar hand: use it well
"What is it?" Ginny wondered.
"No idea." Harry shrugged. "Let's see." he opened the letter, and pulled out a small, flat package. "Hermione, Hermione, you think of everything…" he muttered, looking into the envelope that contained a dozen of such small packages.
"What's this?" Ginny inquired.
"This… um, you know," Harry felt himself turning red, "the greatest Muggle invention ever... funny that it hasn't occurred to me earlier… it's so damn simple and I never thought of it! Of course Snape said even this wasn't 100% safe, but he's too much of a wizard to rely on Muggle things…"
"But what is this? What does it do?" she asked.
"It allows us to make love without worrying, dear… at least I hope so."
She looked at the small package, confused. "How does it work?"
"You really weren't paying attention at Hermione's sex education class, were you?" Harry chuckled.
"No, I admit it." she grinned. "I was reading Witch Weekly under the desk. So, how does it work?"
He gave her a kinky smile. "Let me show you."
A/N2: well, well, Harry has become too much of a wizard to forget about the good old Muggle ways :)) Next chappie: Christmas, fluff, Dursleys, and a revelation. Review!