A/N: thank you for the wonderful reviews as always. You have no idea how much they mean to me. Originally I wanted to upload this chapter on Thursday, but I decided to upload the rest of the fic quicker than planned, so that I'm done with this one earlier and then I can give all my attention to the third story.
Some of you didn't understand the first wish. I thought it was obvious: Harry wished for Aberforth's life. So that is why Aberforth almost died, but – as he said – 'got dragged back' into life in the last second. Anyway, I'm going to do so with the next two wishes as well: mention that Harry wished something at the end of the previous chapter, and show its result at the beginning of the next one. You'll see below the result of Harry's second wish – I hope that all of you will understand it this time.
It was particularly funny for me that STILL NO ONE managed to come even close to Harry's second wish. Many of you voted for Dannie becoming a wizard or Harry getting his powers back, some of you mentioned Harry wishing some happiness for himself, others thought he'd wish for Ginny getting together with Malfoy (though you KNOW that I wouldn't do such a thing!), and one reader also voted for Harry wishing Mileta to be happy. Mileta! LOL, I particularly liked that idea!
Bucky: Darth Agi can reassure you that Harry won't wish for Aberforth and Minerva's youth. About the other part of your review – you're damn close. Clever as always :)
Cassandra Anythemist: Harry will not wish anything in connection with Malfoy. He doesn't like him that much, you know.
Eclectus: I have already given my reasons to another reviewer why I don't upload my fics on schnoogle: number one: 90% of the authors there are H/Hr and D/G shippers. Thus, they wouldn't like my story. Number two: I have no idea how to upload there and how to view the reviews I'd get there. I have tried to view other people's reviews and always could read only 4-5 reviews. Number three: in order to upload your fic there, you need a beta (possibly from the site) and I know no one there. My beta was my mum, thus I'm sure that my fics are full of grammatical mistakes – thus they aren't appropriate for a site like schnoogle that only accepts 'perfect' fics.
Moony Lover: thanks, my grandpa is feeling a bit better.
zzxm: you didn't even know that J.K. got married???? You cannot call yourself a diehard HP fan, then! (no offence, but…) On Boxing Day last year she got married to a young (younger than her) divorcee called … Murray. (I don't remember his given name. Neil, perhaps?). The guy's a doctor (and anaesthetist, if I'm not mistaken), and what the coolest is that he looks like James Potter! Black hair, dark eyes, glasses. Hm, J.K. really has a good taste.
NuttyBuddy: the sex ed was in this story, in chapter 12 – Harry was in The Dancing Bear with Mileta Krum and reflected on the past, remembering that particular class.
Alexander Pheonix: don't worry, Harry isn't THAT stupid.
C-chan: what fic did ffnet delete?
Black Ice: I guess everyone's like that: everyone likes writing cliffies but hates reading them.
Elfangor19: your 200-points-worth guess was false. Sorry…
Katie Bell: Hermione is due in September.
Kristen Michelle: I'm glad you caught my Beauty and the beast reference. I also like that movie, though it's a bit sad.
romina: you pronounce Guillaume as 'giyom'. I don't know yet what the third fic will be called, perhaps it will be 'The greatest enemy ever faced', but that's just a work-title. I usually name my stories when I'm ready with them, no sooner.
Pamela-potter-24: do not worry. Trust me.
apple-pie: in my first story there were 17 chapter that ended with a cliffie – exactly the half of the chapters. In this one 18 chapters end with a cliffie – so less than the half. People shouldn't complain about cliffies all the time – there's not even that many of them!
Kamatazi Yumi: I cannot start uploading the third fic as long as it's not totally ready. The reason: I usually change things in the first couple of chapters when I have written the thirtieth, because writing the thirtieth I suddenly realise that I should have mentioned something in the first one, and if that's already uploaded, I can no more change it. The delay will only do good to the fic, it will be better if it's written more thoroughly. Thanks for volunteering for the editing, but I have two betas for it, and that's just enough. I didn't have a warm and fuzzy cat to hug on the cold nights, but one night I dreamed about reading HP book 5 – and Hagrid announced that Olympe was expecting his baby :)
K. C. Hunter: I'm sorry that your parents are going to divorce. Mines did it long ago.
xenocide: what? I HAVE updated – twice (no, thrice)! Perhaps your computer wasn't working well?
Rab: Anor did have his wand. So did Aaron. They both had wands. Why didn't Aaron kill his brother? Hm… brotherly love? Thanks for the two links, though I had already heard of poor Natalie's case and also read the Rowling interview somewhere else. Anyway, thanks :)
Jeanine23Dr: I promise you that this chapter is the LAST one in this fic that ends with a cliffie. The remaining three won't have cliffies.
Any last requests: you wrote: "or maybe he'll have to make a choice between his own powers and his son's? Nah, surely you wouldn't be that cruel". My answer: don't be sure that I wouldn't.
LilGinny: I have also been sick lately – a nasty cold, just like yours. I hope you're feeling better and your grandpa, too.
Myr Halcyon: the term 'everyone' would be a bit… er… well, dunno. I'd rather not use it. So, Minerva is ooc? Well, she's in love, that's why. Rowling would never write a Minerva in love, I guess. You know what? Some people said that my Harry and Ginny were ooc, but you said that they were very well written. Thanks, I'm happy that at least you think so! In story #3 I'll try to make Minerva be in character, but I can't promise anything – Aberforth's silly behaviour will a bit rub off on her (don't worry, not much – she'll be rather strict in fic #3).
Whit2005: I'm 21 years old (see my bio) and I live in Hungary's capital, Budapest. (NOT Bukarest – that's the capital of Romania and people keep mistaking the two cities for each other, and that makes us Hungarians rather mad :) I guess I'll write other fics after the third one.
goldenstar555: I'm glad I managed to make you feel happy and sad at the same time. It always delights an author to know that people are touched by what he/she writes :)
thebiggesthpfan: how do you know that Rowling's baby is a boy? It cannot be told when a woman is just three months pregnant, can it? Sometimes the doctors mistake the gender of the baby-to-be-born at a later stage of the pregnancy as well – for example several of my acquaintances said that they had been told they'd have boys, because the stupid doctors mistook the umbilical cord for a penis, but the babies were born and turned out to be girls. I seriously doubt that Rowling already knows the gender of her baby – unless Sybill Trelawney told her – but then again, if it was Trelawney, then we can be sure that the baby is a girl :)
Also thanks to: Silver Wolf, casvv, X-Tow-Naga, jona, Lana Riddle, baybe_xoxo, Kit Cloudkicker, The-Girl-Who-Lived, Colibi, White Raven, Molto Bella, Indigo Ziona, waldomier, AmandaPanda, Puck, ArtisticNightmare, 2Coolio, Arif, PadmeSkywalker, Saphron, Sirius B, figgiesblazin, Houou, Blondie in Disguise, princesswitch, princess Ginny, Wood's Secret Lover, twinkle toes
Okay, and now, on to my favourite chapter of the whole story! (It is mum's fave chapter, too, I hope you'll like it just as much as she did :)
Chapter 36
Realisations
Hogwarts, the same evening
Professor Lupin heard a knock on the door. "Who's there?" he shouted, hoping that it was not a student. He didn't want to be seen by a student now – just a couple of minutes before the Moon came up.
"It's me, Padfoot!" came the answer.
Remus opened the door and saw a widely grinning Sirius standing there.
"What are you doing here?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Well… I've been spending a bit of time at Hogsmeade, and…"
"A bit of time?" Remus found this rather funny. "You haven't even left Hogsmead for more than two weeks!"
"Have you been spying on me, or what?" Sirius folded his arms.
"No. But my students saw you there yesterday… and heard from the owner of Gladrags that you had spent two weeks at The Three Broomsticks."
"What if I have?" Padfoot shrugged. "I was kind of visiting… someone."
"Someone, oh sure." Lupin smirked. "You haven't even been to Black Manor for two weeks?"
"No. Should I have? Ginny's taking care of the house pretty well." Sirius replied, having no idea that Ginny had left for Durmstrang.
"All right, tell me, what brought you here now?"
"Well, you know… I was in a mood of… nostalgia. I felt like reviving the old habits, Moony."
"What old habits?" Remus frowned.
Sirius gave him a mischievous look. "It's going to be full Moon tonight. Let's make Moony and Padfoot ride again!"
"Are you out of your mind?" Lupin gasped.
"Why would I be? You aren't dangerous now that you're drinking Wolfsbane. You are going to turn into a peaceful werewolf and we are going to have fun. Give it a try!"
Remus' mouth tucked into a smirk. "All right."
An hour later they were running on the dewy grass of the Hogwarts park. The Moon had already risen, bathing the ground and the treetops with its white light, making the lake glitter in an ethereal way.
Even as a wolf, Moony felt joy to see something so beautiful. He still feared the moonlight, but all those years had taught him how to live together with the inevitable.
Padfoot ran in front of him, friendly wiggling his tail, beckoning him to follow. Just like in the old days, when all the four Marauders had been together...
Moony's heart ached that Prongs couldn't be with them now... as for Wormtail… he had also been a great friend back at school.
However, those times were over.
Moony decided not to let sad thoughts into his heart tonight… Padfoot wanted him to enjoy himself, and that was exactly what he was going to do.
He followed his friend onto the meadows next to Hogsmeade, trying to overtake him. The shaggy black dog barked mockingly, as if saying: "You'll never catch me, old boy!"
Sirius kept looking back at Remus, who was enthusiastically following him. Suddenly he heard something out of place.
He looked back again to see his wolf-friend double up in pain. What happened to him? Had someone shot him or what?
Padfoot turned back into Sirius and ran up to Lupin.
"What happened? Remus!" he shouted, having no idea what to do. It wasn't wise for him to stay near a werewolf in human form, even if that werewolf had drunk Wolfsbane potion. Sirius, however, didn't consider the dangers – he wanted to help his friend.
Poor Moony seemed to be suffering terribly for minutes – and then… his mane began to thin, his tail began to shrink and his claws began to turn back into nails.
It was like seeing the opposite of a man turning into a werewolf.
This was a werewolf turning into a man… while the full Moon was still brightly shining above.
The howls of the wolf changed into human yelps, then even the yelps ceased and only panting could be heard.
"Moony!" Sirius dropped to his knees, gently shaking the huddled body of Lupin. "Moony!"
Remus slowly raised his tousled head, his eyes meeting that of his best friend. Sirius saw the consternation on his face. Lupin looked down at his hands… there were no claws on them. He reached out with his right hand to touch his left arm… there was no animal fur on it. He felt his face… it was smooth. Remus slowly sat upright, gazing up at the Moon. For the first time for more than three decades, he could look at the full Moon as a human being. It was nothing but a celestial object, after all. White, bright, harmless.
He felt tears in his eyes but blinked them back, gulping. "Padfoot…" he croaked, seeing the appalled expression of his friend. "What… what… happened…?"
"You're human again… I think…" Sirius breathed. "But… how?"
"I don't know…" Remus shook his head. "I don't know."
"This is… a miracle." Sirius reached out to place his hand on Lupin's shoulder. "A real miracle."
"I never believed in miracles." Remus whispered. "Never."
"Then you should start believing in them, my friend." Sirius smiled.
"But… but… how could this happen?" Remus clutched at Black's hands. Tears were now pouring down his cheeks. "How?"
"I don't know. You might have a well-wisher out there somewhere… or a guardian angel."
Lupin smiled at his friend through his tears, sending a silent thank-you to whomever who had done this miracle.
* * * * *
Harry was walking back from the lake, deeply immersed in his thoughts. According to the noises coming from the great hall, people there were still celebrating. He heaved a sigh and started down the path to the castle when he heard another noise as well… sleigh-bells.
He looked to the left, seeing that he was close to the stalls. With a sudden thought he headed for the shabby building. He couldn't explain what made him go there – he just went.
As he entered, the reindeer all looked up, as if welcoming him.
"Hullo." he said with a small smile, stepping to Rudolph, gently patting his neck. The animal cuddled his muzzle into Harry's hand, radiating warmth and sympathy. "I thought you didn't like me." the young man whispered. "I thought you always hated me."
*Not always, only when you were saying nasty things about us reindeer.*
"Sorry, I know I shouldn't have." Harry replied with a sad smile. "I apologise."
*No offence taken, kid.* a female reindeer answered through the mind-link Harry shared with these animals.
"Really… can you tell me… how can I still be talking to you now that I'm a Muggle?"
*The ability of understanding us has nothing to do with magic. Good ol' Santa's also a Muggle but there's no one who understands reindeer better than him.*
Harry was surprised. "I thought Aberforth was kidding when he was talking about Santa Claus. I thought he was just… you know… the crazy old guy." he looked around just to make sure that no one was overhearing him, then leaned close to Rudolph: "Does Santa Claus really exist?"
*Of course he does.* the oldest reindeer replied. *You never believed in him? Not even when you were a small child?*
"Not really." Harry shook his head. "My childhood wasn't the type of childhood that allows one to daydream and believe in fairy tales… or to believe in magic."
*That's sad… that children nowadays are deprived of the beauty of believing in magic.* Rudolph replied. *There's magic everywhere… and in everyone…*
"Not in me." Harry said bitterly.
*Oh, yes, there is.* a young reindeer replied. *Maybe not in the way you would like to have it… but it's in you. Not in your cells, not in your blood anymore, but… in your heart, Harry Potter.*
"What do you mean…?"
Before Rudolph could answer, someone cleared his throat.
Harry turned around to see Draco Malfoy standing at the door.
"What do you want?"
"I was looking for you, Potter." the blonde boy replied coldly. "Ginny's worried about you."
"Is she?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "I thought she was too occupied with you to notice me."
"Ha-ha. Don't be ridiculous." Draco growled. "Just to inform you, she loves you. I don't know why she does, because you don't deserve her at all… but she does."
"She'd better forget me." Harry replied, heading for the door. He was about to walk past the other boy, but Draco grabbed his arm.
"You are going to listen to me, Potter."
"Why would I be listening to you, Malfoy? What do you have to tell me, huh? Are you here to brag about getting my wife? Well, congratulations. Now let me go." he ripped his arm out of Malfoy's grip and exited the stalls.
"I never slept with her." Draco said quietly, still loud enough for Harry to hear.
Harry stopped, then slowly turned around. "What?"
"I said I never slept with Ginny. Never even kissed her. We did nothing at all."
Harry made an incredulous expression. "But… your agreement…"
"She and I bet. She won, so I cancelled her debt."
"That's not why you cancelled it, is it?" Harry put his hands into the pockets of his pogrebin-fur coat, trying to look and sound as nonchalant as possible. "You did it because you love her."
Draco crossed his arms. "All right, Potter. I do. I love her, there's no point in denying it. I never even meant that debt. It was a good excuse for me to come with her, watch over her and protect her if needed… Had you died, I would have done anything to make her be mine, but… she was so happy that you lived… She chose you even as an old man, because... she loves you. She loves you and no one else." his glance met that of Harry and Harry was surprised to see the sincerity on Malfoy's face. Sincerity, painful sincerity. "I love her and I want to see her happy… even if her only happiness is a git like you. Be worthy of her love, Potter. Forget this 'oh-shit-I'm-no-wizard-anymore' whining and go back to her!"
Harry's eyes were still fixing Draco's features, trying to find a trace of deception on them, but he couldn't. He had heard Malfoy lying so many times back at Hogwarts, he had heard him mocking and seen him bullying people into doing what he wanted… but this time he wasn't bullying anyone. He wasn't even deceiving anyone. The usual Malfoy-trademark-derisive-grin was nowhere to be seen, those cold-grey eyes didn't radiate malice – they radiated something else. Encouragement? Resolution? Harry couldn't tell, but he was sure of one thing: this wasn't that typical 'I-get-any-woman-I-want'-stare Draco had worn so often. No, this was rather an 'I'm-willing-to-give-up-the-woman-I-love' sort of stare.
"Are you sure?" young Potter breathed. "Do you really think I could make her be happy – even like this?"
"You're a complete fool if you have misgivings about it, Potty." Draco gave Harry a penetrating stare. "Come on, move your ass. Run back into her inviting arms!"
A small smile appeared on Harry's face, but he still didn't budge.
"Listen, if she was in love with me," Draco continued, "I would have long left you here to wallow in self-pity, but it's not me she loves, but you, Scarhead. So… what the hell are you still waiting for???"
Now that small smile that had appeared on Harry's face started to grow, until he was practically beaming like a sun at the zenith… and he started to run… then suddenly stopped and doubled back. "See, you can be normal if you try, Malfoy!" and with that, he was off.
"Yeah…" Draco sighed, leaning to the doorframe of the stall. "Normal…"
* * * * *
"Ginny!" Harry burst into great hall. Not many people were still left there – most students had already gone to bed.
"Harry!" all his friends shouted, surprised to see him.
"Harry, what happened?" Ginny asked with a worried expression.
"I'll tell you, just come…" Harry took her by the hand and dragged her out of the hall.
"Is he gone mad?" Ron knitted his eyebrows.
"No idea. But it's good that he finally put in an appearance, don't you think?" Hermione added.
"Well… I guess we'll get to know about it by tomorrow morning." Aberforth shrugged. "Let's go to bed, shall we?" he shot a meaningful look at Minerva, who only wrinkled her nose and said NO quite resolutely.
* * * * *
"Harry, what happened?" Ginny panted as they entered Harry's room after having run up all four floors. She was clutching a stitch in her side, worriedly eyeing her husband. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I am! I feel wonderful!" he pulled her into an embrace. "I can't say I have never been better, but… hell, I was being so stupid! Shame that there had to be a bunch of reindeer and one Draco Malfoy to make me realise it!"
"I still don't understand, dear." she replied. "What happened? What did Malfoy say?"
"He said I was a jerk."
"And since when do you care what Malfoy says?" she furrowed her brow.
"Since he made me see after being blind… since he made me realise that if you loved me, then nothing else mattered… not even my lack of magic. Nothing." with that he pulled her to himself, catching her lips in a searing kiss.
"You're really a jerk, Harry Potter." she grinned when they parted. "A jerk because you needed to hear Malfoy's opinion to come to your senses. I guess I'm in Malfoy's debt again."
"This time try to find something else to settle the debt." he grinned, placing a small kiss on the tip of her nose.
"I'll try." she laughed, flinging her arms around his neck. "And now, Mr. Potter… what do you reckon we should do?"
"I don't know… go and build a snow-man?"
"Nooooo… the snow has started to melt." she replied, pushing the coat off his shoulders. "It's getting quite warm, you know…"
"Exactly, quite warm." he breathed, nibbling on her left ear. "You can't imagine how warm I feel."
"Then maybe you should take your clothes off." she suggested.
"Not a bad idea, Mrs. Potter."
In the middle of the night, Harry awoke to see Ginny tossing and turning in her sleep. She was shouting, waving with her hands, as if trying to chase something away, and she was speaking in… Parseltongue.
"Gin, wake up!" Harry shook her gently. She opened her eyes, gasping for breath. "It's okay… sssh… just a nightmare…" he pulled her into his embrace, kissing her temple.
"That nightmare again…" she whispered. "That returning nightmare of the snake Malfoy and I fought against…"
"What snake?" he asked.
"Well… as Malfoy and I were coming to Durmstrang, we had a bit of a fight with a huge sea-serpent in the Finnish Bay."
"Oh…" Harry breathed. He remembered to have had a dream/hallucination when he had been unconscious with pneumonia. He had seen Ginny and Draco fighting against something on a snowy field.
"It's a bit long story, but the main point is that it made me realise that…"
"…you were Parselmouth?" he finished the sentence.
"Yeah." she nodded. "According to Draco I became one when you resurrected me with Apophys' torch. But… how did you know?"
"I heard you speaking in Parseltongue in your sleep." he smiled. "It seems that even if my magic powers are gone, I still possess the ability of speaking Parseltongue. You were screaming in your dream."
"And… what was a I screaming?" she snuggled into the crook of his arm.
"As far as I remember, you were asking the serpent to leave Malfoy alone."
"Was I?"
"Yeah…" he nodded, then suddenly sat bolt upright as though having been struck by a lightning. "That's it!"
"What?" she yawned, curiously watching as Harry threw a dressing-gown over himself. "Where are you going?"
"Into the library! I'll be back soon!" he shouted excitedly and hurried off.
*What got into him?* Ginny wondered, pulling on her night-dress. With Harry gone there was no one for her to share body heat with.
* * * * *
Harry rushed downstairs, feeling a bit cold. He wasn't wearing anything under the dressing gown, after all.
He opened the door of the library and entered. Thanks to the full Moon, the whole room was bathed in light, so Harry didn't even need a candle or a lamp.
He rushed into the foreign language section.
"English-Latin dictionary… Latin-Russian dictionary… A wizard's guide to effective language-study… oh, Mr. Crouch surely read this book… Easy German in three magical steps… Aha! The Encyclopaedia of Parseltongue…" he took the book off the shelf, then sat down at a table and started turning over the pages. He remembered to have read this book back at Hogwarts, but he couldn't recall every detail of it… still, there was something he had a very faint memory of… but he wasn't sure. He couldn't be sure…
On page 113 he finally found what he was looking for:
'The first Parselmouth couple were Salazar Slytherin and his second wife, Selena Slytherin. They had eighteen children. For years and years they had been trying to prevent conception, however they never succeeded, no matter what potion or charm they used. Only at their old age did they come to the conclusion that their incredible fertility could be put down to their both being Parselmouths. If two Parselmouths copulate and the woman is not yet with a child, nothing can prevent her from getting pregnant. No charm or potion at all.
The Slytherin couple's theory was proved by the second known Parselmouth couple, Gottfried and Griselda Grindelwald,(ancestors of the dark wizard Grindelwald) in the sixteenth century. They had 'only' fifteen children, but at least they already knew the reason for their unaccustomed productivity. Up till now no other Parselmouth couples have been registered.'
Harry closed the book. It had been published in 1995. So, it seemed that Ginny and he were the third such couple in the whole wizarding history.
"Great. Just great." he sighed. "We haven't used condom tonight… how am I going to explain her this? She might be already… arrgghhh…" he slammed the book shut and decided to take it upstairs so that Ginny could also read it. It was easier to let her know that way, after all.
He exited the library and turned right on the corner to reach the staircase when he bumped into someone. He fell on his butt, the book flew out of his hand, and his dressing gown opened.
He jerked the cloth back into place, then slowly looked up to see Mileta Krum madly grinning down at him.
"What are you doing out of bed in the middle of the night?" he demanded, feeling himself turn ruby-red.
"I could be asking you the same." she replied, still unable to stop smirking.
"All right. I'm not asking you and not telling anyone that I saw you on the corridors at two a.m., if you also keep your mouth shut about what you have just seen."
"Deal." she grinned and hurried down the corridor.
Harry bent down to pick up his book, feeling rather embarrassed. *What could Mileta be doing up so late?* he wondered.
He was just about to start climbing the stairs again when he heard steps. He barely could hide behind a statue of Peter the Great before Dennis Creevey stormed downstairs, disappearing in the direction Mileta had also gone.
*Aha!* Harry thought, grinning. *The little imps have finally found each other. Great. Now Mileta will probably stop following me around.*
With a bit lighter heart he climbed the stairs and entered his room to see Ginny wide awake, waiting for him.
"So?" she crossed her arms. "Where have you been?"
"Ginny, you won't believe what I got to know…" he began, dropping himself down on the bed, handing her a huge book. "Read this."
* * * * *
Ron had already left for breakfast when Hermione was still up in their room, writing a very long entry into her diary. She needed to jot down everything that had happened in the last two weeks: their kidnap, Harry's lost powers, Harry as an old man, Draco and Ginny coming to save them, the Weasleys and Lucius turning up, the evil couple's death, Harry's miraculous change back into a young man, Aberforth' miraculous healing, the engagement… simply everything.
She was just about to add a sentence about the outcome of the second task, when there was a knock on the door.
She opened it to see her sister-in-law standing there with a rather pale and nervous complexion, holding a large book.
"Hello, Gin, come in." Hermione motioned with her hand and Ginny entered. "You look troubled. What happened?"
"I'm… a Parselmouth, Hermione." the red-haired girl muttered, sinking down into a chair.
"What?" Hermione's eyes widened in surprise.
"I… must have become one when Harry brought my soul back from the netherworld… using the Green Flame Torch." Ginny sighed. "I only realised it about two weeks ago…"
"And? What is so terrible about that?" Hermione asked. "Since You-Know-Who died, I don't think people would find you dangerous just because you're a Parselmouth."
"That's not the point." Ginny opened the book on page 113, placing it on the table before her sister-in-law, pointing at a paragraph.
After Hemione finished reading it, she looked up, an incredulous expression on her face. "So that's why you two had Daniel despite all precautions."
"Yeah." Ginny nodded, still looking very nervous about something.
"What is troubling you?" Hermione frowned.
Ginny gulped. "During the Christmas holidays I didn't get pregnant because we were using your… gift." she turned slightly red. "But last night…"
"Oh!" Hermione breathed. "I see. You believe you might be carrying a third Potter baby."
"Exactly." Ginny nodded. "Is there… is there a charm or something to get to know if it's true or not?"
"Well… there is one… but I'm not sure it can detect pregnancy only a couple of hours after conception. But it's worth a try."
"Then do it." Ginny pleaded. "I want to know… I need to know."
Hermione gave her sister-in-law an encouraging smile, lifting her wand, then touched its tip to Ginny's belly. "Profero graviditas!"
A very tiny little spark emerged from the tip of the wand – then another… and another.
Ginny blinked, not really understanding the meaning of the little sparks that neatly arranged themselves into a triangle and hovered in mid-air. "What… does this mean?"
"This means, Gin…" Hermione put a hand on the other girl's shoulder, "that you two must have been unusually fertile last night, my friend."
Ginny blinked down at the small triangle, feeling dizzy, then warily looked up at Hermione again.
"Yes, Gin… you are going to have triplets."
Hermione barely could catch Ginny as she blacked out.
"Tri… triplets?" Harry gasped, slapping his forehead. "My gosh!"
"Hey, Harry, look at the bright side of it!" Fred interjected. "Now you can have sex without worrying that you might get her pregnant."
"Oh… very comforting thought, really." Harry snorted.
"Aren't you a little bit happy, Harry?" Ginny asked, tears brimming her eyes.
Harry had a feeling of deja vu – she had had asked him the same at their wedding when she told him about the arrival of Daniel. Back then he could easily say that he was delighted – and he really felt it. Back then he had no idea about his family's regrettable tendency to produce squibs.
He turned to Ginny, taking hold of her hands, cupping her chin to make her look into his eyes. "I cannot say that I'm delighted, Gin, but I would lie if I said that I didn't feel proud at all. This whole thing was a bit… quick… but we'll manage it."
"Oh, Harry." she flung her hands around his neck, burying her face into his chest. "Of course we'll manage it… of course we will!"
"All's well that ends well." George grinned at the embracing couple.
"I don't think this is the end." Fred shook his head with an expression that seemed unaccustomedly stern for him. "I think this is just the beginning for them. And I hope that this is the beginning of something wonderful… even without Harry's powers, they love each other so much that they deserve to be happy."
"Fred, what got into you?" Arthur was surprised to hear his impish son talking like that.
"I've been thinking, dad." Fred shrugged. "About life… love… and stuff. And I came to a conclusion."
"What?" Arthur and George asked in unison.
"I love Angelina. I want her to be happy. And it's me who can make her happy." he straightened himself. "So, I guess I'll be proposing to her."
George's eyes popped in surprise. "You? The confirmed bachelor getting married?"
"Why not?" Fred shrugged. "She needs a husband now that the kid's coming. And I guess I could make an all right father, after all."
"And what about me?" George asked. "My rights as a father?"
"Well… there was a Muggle movie about a little girl having three fathers at once. If she could endure three daddies, then this kid could endure two."
"Poor Angelina." Arthur rolled his eyes.
"And that poor kid." Ron added with a smirk.
* * * * *
After lunch the Malfoys departed. Lucius said he had lots to do back in Great Britain and Draco insisted that he was also busy.
Before they could travel to The Dancing Bear by floo, Harry called after Draco:
"Hey, Malfoy!"
"What, Potter?"
"Thanks."
"Save your gratitude, Potter and make sure that she's happy. That's all I want." and with that he was off.
At eight p.m. Harry excused himself from the family and friends and headed down for the lake. He still had a final wish to make.
Now that he knew about the arrival of the triplets, he found this wish-making stuff even more difficult than ever before.
Ha wanted his powers back, but he also wanted his son to become a wizard. He wanted his future children also be magic, but it was simply impossible to make all these things come true through one wish.
He couldn't say 'make me and my children be magic', after all, because there was the word 'and' in there and that damned fish refused to fulfil such wishes.
He could probably use a collective term such as 'family', but he couldn't just say 'make my whole family become magic', because his family also included the Dursleys. If Petunia and Vernon also became magic that would surely be the end of the world!
If he said 'may there be no squibs in my family', it still wouldn't be of any use to him, since he wasn't a squib. Squibs were magicless children born from magic parents, but Harry had been born magic, just lost his powers later. Thus he couldn't be called a squib.
He had never expected this wish-making stuff being so complicated.
He couldn't say 'make all the Potters be magic!', because that wish would contain a family name, and that was also forbidden. In his first two wishes he had to name the beneficiaries as Aberforth and Remus, not as Aberforth Dumbledore and Remus Lupin. No family names allowed.
*Damn restrictions!* Harry kicked into a rock.
"Hey, leave that poor rock alone! Did it hurt you or what?" the voice of the goldfish spoke up as it swam onto the coast.
"It's none of your business what rocks I'm kicking." Harry crossed his arms.
"Have you managed to make up your final wish?" the fish inquired.
Harry sighed, dropping himself down on the rock he had kicked. He felt really miserable – he simply couldn't make a wish that would leave him totally satisfied.
He knew he needed to make a sacrifice… and he would do it for his children.
"All right, goldfish. My third wish: make all my descendants be magic!"
"Are you sure?" the fish asked with a worried expression (Harry was surprised to see that a fish could show expressions at all). "Are you absolutely sure that this is the right formulation of the wish? Don't you rather want your powers back?"
Harry shook his head. "I could do without magic… somehow. My children are the most important for me. I want the wish fulfilled the way I said it." he really didn't understand why the fish was criticising his wish. "I cannot wish for both my powers and theirs, can I?"
"Now that you say…" the fish looked contemplative for a while, "…no. You really cannot compose the wish in a way to make both you and your children be magic. But that wasn't what I meant. Do you really want all your descendants be magic?"
"Of course I do!" Harry jumped up, now really irritated. What was this fish trying to persuade him to do? He told his wish quite clearly, didn't he?
"All right." the fish said. "So be it." with that it disappeared under the surface, but a second later a beautiful, red-haired woman emerged from the lake.
A/N2: this is really the last cliffhanger. Can you guess who the woman is? A clue: I have mentioned her twice, but I'm quite positive that you don't remember :)
Note to Arif: see, there was no 'magical penis' involved :)))))
A question to you all: I have two versions for the final line of the fic. One of them is romantic/sappy, the other one is funny but scandalous. I like the latter better but I'd like to make sure that you won't shout at me 'you evil woman, how dare you do that to poor XYZ!' So, which one would you like to read? The romantic or the scandalous?