A/N: guess whose photo I've seen in a magazine in an 18th century girl's costume? Daniel Radcliffe's! No kidding! He played a girl's role in "The Play What I Wrote" in Wyndham Theatre. I was rotfl when I saw the pic of him, wearing that frilly, long pink dress with a huge ribbon on the front! (Allegedly he even wore a blonde wig just took it off before that photo was taken – does that remind you of something? Hm… Dudley – pig in a wig? ;)
This chapter is dedicated to JenniferW, who wrote the 1000th review for this fic!
Chapter 14
Love your neighbour as yourself
David Dursley had much fun playing the tourist guide for his (grand)parents. Vernon and Petunia Dursley did not want to stay at Hogwarts for a single hour after the Halloween events, but they had missed the train on 1st November, so they just had to wait for the next one – that meant that they had to spend another day in the castle. Knowing his aunt and uncle's absolute hate of magic, Harry had suggested that they should spend the rest of their stay at Hogsmeade, in Mrs. Figg's pension, but David had insisted that he wanted to show his granny and grandpa the school after he was done with his classes. Seeing the worried glances on the Dursleys' faces after Davie's announcement made Harry have a hard time fighting back his laughter.
Vernon kept saying that David should have invited Dudley and Millicent instead of Petunia and him, but Dave insisted that both his parents had already been to Hogwarts, but his grandparents hadn't. Once Vernon almost blurted out that 'we are your parents, for heaven's sake!', but he restrained himself, because he and Petunia had an agreement with Dudley and Millicent: David must never get to know that the people he believed to be his parents were in fact his brother and sister-in-law, while the people he believed to be his grandparents were his real parents. Harry thought that it was wise – it would have been rather awkward for Petunia and Vernon to explain to David that they had once felt disgusted by the mere thought of him being a wizard.
Petunia, who was a bit pale after the shock she had gone through, wanted to breath some fresh air, so Dave and Harry decided to escort the Dursleys to the greenhouses first. They didn't spend much time there, because the Venomous Tentacula almost snapped Vernon's hand off, and Professor Sprout was beside herself when 'that mad Muggle' wanted to strangle her cute, little, flesh-eating flower…
The next thing the Dursleys had been shown was the Quidditch pitch, where the Ravenclaws were having practice. Harry had to jerk Aunt Petunia out of the way of a Bludger that made her scream and jump into his arms. The charmed comet still vividly lived in her memories...
"Get your hands off my wife!" Vernon rumbled at his nephew, who was more than happy to put Petunia down.
"I'd like to make it up for you, auntie. For everything that happened to you here," he said with a smile. "Would you like to… fly?" he asked, seeing the woman's longing expression.
"Fly?" both Muggles gasped.
"Yes, fly. Just like them," Harry pointed at the Ravenclaw Quidditch team members. Liu Chang was scoring with the Quaffle – no doubt, she was just as good a flier as her mother.
"But… that's dangerous," Petunia muttered. "You could fall off…"
"Come on, aunt… don't pretend that you never ever wanted to try… especially when mum kept taking her broomstick home… you wanted to know what it feels like, didn't you?"
Petunia pursed her lips, blushing. "Well… I suppose so. But…"
"No buts… Accio Rocket 5000!" Harry waved his wand and his faithful broomstick arrived from the castle in no time.
"Now wait a minute…" Vernon began, when Harry grabbed Petunia by the hand, pulled her on the broomstick behind himself and took off.
"Aaaarrggggghhh!" she screamed, holding on to her nephew as tight as she could, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Open your eyes, Aunt Petunia!" Harry shouted.
"Come back down this instant, you hear me!" Vernon bawled, shaking his fists at the young Charms professor.
"No way!" Harry yelled back. "Open your eyes, Aunt Petunia!"
The woman gulped and squinted a bit through half-closed eyelids. They were already flying above the lake.
"Don't worry, you can't fall off if you hold tight on to me!"
She nodded, fearing that if she opened her mouth, she'd be reacquainted with her breakfast. So, she only watched as the lake's surface mirrored their swooping figures, and in the next instant, they were already flying over the little dusty road leading from the castle to the village. Trees zoomed under them, then rooftops came into view and they had arrived at the main street of Hogsmeade. Petunia had to admit that she found the village downright cute with all those thatched houses and pretty little gardens – she hadn't given it a look when she and Vernon had arrived by the Hogwarts Express the previous day.
Suddenly they started to descend.
"Are we gonna fall…?" she mumbled, but Harry shook his head.
"Don't worry, we are just having a stop."
Soon their feet touched the ground and the young man helped her off the broom. For a second Petunia felt instable and stumbled into Harry's arms, then let out a "Wow."
"You liked it, didn't you?" Harry grinned.
"Sort of," she grimaced.
"Come on, I'll buy you a butterbeer then we'll go back to Uncle Vernon – he must be apoplectic with rage…"
He was right. By the time they got back to the school grounds, Mr. Dursley was already tearing his hair and almost attacked his nephew. Indeed, if David hadn't stepped between Harry and Vernon, Harry would have needed to spend a bit of time in the hospital wing again.
"Doooon't do that, Veeernon!" Petunia giggled. "I'm aaall right…hic, really!"
"She's… drunk!" Mr. Dursley hissed, totally scandalised.
"Well, you know… the butterbeer," Harry shrugged. "It seems that three glasses of it are too much for a Muggle…"
After Harry cast an Anti-alcoholicus charm on Petunia, David decided to show the northern tower to his grandparents. Petunia and Vernon were dumbfounded by all the moving pictures and armours, and Vernon almost destroyed the painting of Sir Cadogan, who dared compare Petunia's face to that of his apple-grey pony.
"Not that your little wife Violet looks any better," Harry told Sir Cadogan. "My aunt is downright pretty compared to her!"
Petunia had no idea who this Violet was, and couldn't even comprehend how paintings could get married, or talk and insult, but she was grateful to her nephew. She couldn't really put a finger on it, but somehow she didn't hate Harry with such passion as she used to…
"Ah, Mrs. Dursley!" said a sing-song voice as Sybill Trelawney rounded the corner.
"This is that woman!" Petunia shrieked and hid behind her nephew. "Save me from her, Harry!"
"Don't worry, auntie…" Harry smiled, "I'm sure that Professor Trelawney here only wanted to greet you and tell you that tomorrow you'd be meeting the Grim, but before that you'd be run over by the Hogwarts Express. Right, professor?"
"Well…" the Divination teacher gave him a rather nasty look. "You never considered my subject as anything important, did you, Mr. Potter?"
"Come to think of it… no," Harry grinned.
"I wouldn't be grinning, if I were you," Sybill replied haughtily. "You may not think much of my subject, but it is true magic. The only magic that really counts… besides, someone who has just lost a good friend shouldn't be grinning like this," seeing Harry's raised eyebrows, she continued. "I foretold you, Mr. Potter: shock after shock, grief after grief… and a terrible, lethal danger at the end. It has started, with the shock you got when your son got sorted into Slytherin. It continued with the grief over a friendship you lost. And it shall continue… shock after shock, grief after grief…"
"…and the terrible death at the end, yeah, I know," Harry rolled his eyes. "Come on, Aunt Petunia, let's get as far from here as possible."
As they left, Sybill looked after them with a haunted expression. "Why don't you ever believe me, Harry Potter?"
* * * * *
After Petunia and Vernon had got acquainted with the rest of the castle – and Peeves, to their greatest regret – they could finally leave Hogwarts and take the express back to King's Cross. Harry told them to ask the old guard who used to stand by the ticket barrier to help them get back to the Muggle part of the railway station.
At three p.m., Harry escorted them to the Hogsmeade station (Petunia had insisted that Harry took her there on his broomstick, so Vernon had to walk behind/under them, giving his nephew 'I'll-get-you-for-corrupting-my-wife-and-making-her-like-this-rubbish'-stares.)
As the train left the station with the Muggles onboard, Harry couldn't help but feel relieved. This little Dursley-visit to Hogwarts had been absolutely unexpected, although it had also given him a bit of fun. He had started to have the feeling that Petunia wasn't that terrible a person he used to remember her being… perhaps it was true that love could change you to the better – and Petunia's love for her little wizard son had truly changed her. She had not only grown to love flying, but she had seemed to like the moving and talking paintings, too. According to Mrs. Figg, she had no one to talk to all day when Vernon was at Grunnings – no one but a stupid parrot. So, Harry decided that he'd surprise his aunt with a wizard painting for Christmas.
Thinking of Christmas – it wasn't that far away at all, only seven weeks. By that time, hopefully he, Ginny and the kids would have made themselves comfortable in their new house.
Harry stopped in front of the house they had bought from the Sanders – it was now empty, the former owners had moved out a week earlier. But it wouldn't stay empty long – the Potters were going to move in during the weekend. He couldn't wait to spend a bit of time with Ginny again – at the Halloween ball all he had been able to do was dance with her and hold her a bit, but he had had other things in mind as well… especially now that they didn't need to worry about Ginny getting pregnant again.
As he was standing in front of the house, his gaze fell on the neighbouring house to the left that looked very similar to the Potters'. *Ah, the Malfoy residence,* he thought, making a grimace. *It seems that good old Draco's taste is quite like ours. I wonder how we'll get along with him as our neighbour…* he saw a petite blonde figure coming out of the house to the right. Gabrielle Delacour. So, she was their other neighbour… he had been told by Ginny about Draco and Gabie's little disagreement during the Halloween party… *It seems we are going to play the role of the lightning-rod between Malfoy and Miss Delacour… not to mention that the relationship between Malfoy and us won't be rosy, either. Hm… well, that belongs to the future. To the near future, though…*
* * * * *
"Too bad my great-aunt and uncle left," Daniel pouted over dinner. "They were having so much fun…"
"You mean your father and cousin were having so much fun," Gilda corrected him.
Dan shrugged. "Yeah, possible. Anyway, how are you feeling? Are you over the shock…?"
"What shock?" Norbert asked, munching a pumpkin pasty.
"Oh… sorry," Dan shot the girl an apologising stare. He had forgotten that it was supposed to remain a secret.
"Well… I suppose I could tell you, too… you're also my friend," Gilda whispered and beckoned young Malfoy closer. "Someone cast Imperius on me during the party and then wiped my memories!"
"No!" Norbert's eyes widened. "How dare they?"
"Dunno… but they did it," she replied. "Fortunately my grandpa is a memory-back-lurer and he managed to retrieve the lost memories, so I could tell Dumbledore what happened."
"You have a memory-back-lurer for a grandpa? How cool is that!" Norbert said admiringly. "And what did he help you remember?"
"Imagine… I was forced to give Snape some note and pour something into Professor Potter's and Professor Lupin's drinks!"
"What?" Daniel seemed just as dumbstruck as Norbert. He had known that Gilda had been memory-charmed, but he had had no idea that she had got those memories back. "What happened to dad and Professor Lupin?"
"I don't know," she shook her head.
"So… if anything happens to those two, say they drop dead, then it was caused by you," Norbert told Gilda.
"Very funny, really," she knitted her eyebrows. "I don't know what that thing I spilled into their drinks was, but they seem to be healthy to me… besides, I was under Imperius… you wouldn't…" she turned to Dan, "you wouldn't blame me if something happened to your dad, would you?"
"No, silly," young Potter shook his head. "But I'd like to catch that bastard who did it to you and…" *…and imagine him being in terrible pains,* he added in thought. "By the way… forget that thing about the imagining, Gilda. I was wrong. Lupin froze the spiders, not me."
"Oh… what a pity," the girl seemed a bit disappointed.
Dan felt an urge to say 'hey, I was just joking, it was me, I'm an Imaginer!', but he refrained from it. He had promised Dumbledore to keep his mouth shut about it and persuade his two best friends that he had been wrong and didn't possess any extra powers. The time would come when he'd be able to tell his friends the truth – but only when he was fully trained. And that wasn't tomorrow.
For the time being, he only thought of his first Imaginer-training that was about to start that very evening. Dumbledore had entrusted Harry (as the only teacher who knew about Dan's talents) to make up something and send Dan into 'detention' for quite a while. He was to serve his 'detention' once a week, in a disused dungeon classroom where he possibly couldn't imagine-break or imagine-explode anything. He couldn't wait to get started.
"Anyway, yesterday evening wasn't that bad after all, was it?" Norbert said, spooning his pudding.
"Well, I couldn't say so…" Dan replied, blushing. "Dad caught me making out with Liu," (here Gilda gasped and turned as white as a sheet), "and now I have to go to detention once in a week to the dungeons."
"You poor one," young Malfoy shook his head. "You barely finished your first detention and you're already on your second!"
"You deserved it!" the girl snapped and left the table.
* * * * *
Sunday, 5th November
"I can't believe this day has finally come!" Ginny sighed happily, leaning into Harry's embrace, staring at the pretty building in front of them. The garden was still full of green plants, given that the autumn had been unusually long and warm with only a couple of storms here and there. The house with the still leaf-covered bushes and colourful flowers in its garden looked enchanting. "Home sweet home."
"Yeah," he smiled. It was a nice feeling to have an own house, really. Never in his life had he owned a house before. With the Dursleys, he had been happy enough to have the cupboard, then the smallest bedroom, and after that he had lived in Sirius' house which was nice and roomy, still not his.
This one was his and Ginny's, though. Their things had been transported into the house the previous day and the triplets, Lea and Dinky had already occupied their rooms and were making a cheerful racket that could be heard through the closed windows as well.
"I'm going to prepare lunch, dear," Ginny kissed Harry on the cheek and disappeared into the house. He followed her with his eyes, heaving a dreamy sigh at the sight of her swaying hips. *Oh, get those dirty images out of your head, Potter!* he scolded himself, blushing at the thought that tonight, they'd inaugurate their new, king-sized bed…
"I see you have arrived," a drawling voice came from the garden of the neighbouring house. Draco Malfoy was standing in the flowerbed in a rather baggy-looking green gardening suit and straw hat, with a pair of garden shears in the hand.
"Wow… the high-born Mr. Malfoy is actually… gardening? Dirtying his fine hands?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"No way, Potter," Draco grunted. "I've been using a dirt-repelling charm."
"Still… what makes a Malfoy take care of his garden in person instead of ordering a house-elf to do so?"
"Believe it or not, I do think that a bit of movement does good to everyone, even me," Draco replied. "I'm sitting in my bank all week, and I seriously need a bit of movement."
"I believe you," Harry shrugged. "I bet you never got too good marks in Herbology, though."
"Why?" the blonde man scowled.
"Because Professor Sprout would die of fright if she saw how you are holding those garden shears…" Harry stepped to the fence between their gardens to have a better look at Malfoy's flowerbeds. "Not to mention that you are overusing the fertilizer… or is that just your smell?"
"I thought it was yours," Malfoy crossed his arms. "Anyway, how do you know that I'm using too much of the fertilizer?"
"I had to take care of Aunt Petunia's petunias…" Harry said. "I'm an expert on the topic. If I were you I'd cast a strong smell-repelling charm on the flowerbeds, or… you may never know, a nasty neighbour might report you to the Magical Law Enforcement with the charge of tainting the air."
"Threatening me, are you, Potter?"
"No, Malfoy. Just admonishing you to behave nicely… or we'll be making each other's lives a living hell."
"Now you tell me," Draco wrinkled his nose – because of the smell of the fertilizer, or because of Harry's remark, Harry couldn't tell. "And now let me admonish you, too, Potter: if your precious kids make such a racket all the time, then a nasty neighbour will report you to the Magical Law Enforcement with the charge of breach of the peace. You have my promise."
"Harry!" came Ginny's voice from the porch. "Come on in, lunch is ready! Oh, hello, Malfoy."
"Ginny… you look as pretty as always," Draco slightly raised his straw hat.
"What were you two talking about so animatedly?" she asked, ignoring Malfoy's compliment.
"Oh, Mr. Charmingly Arrogant Charms Professor here has just been giving me gardening tips," Draco grimaced.
"And Mr. Green-fingers here has been giving me upbringing tips," Harry commented with a grin to Ginny. "I guess we are going to hit it off with our new neighbour… right, Malfoy?"
"Without the shadow of a doubt, Potter."
* * * * *
"So… what about checking on our new bed while the kids are playing outside?" Harry asked with a kinky smile, snuggling his face into Ginny's neck.
"Not now, Harry!" she playfully slapped his hands that had already encircled her waist. "I want to make sure that they don't set anything on fire while we are um… occupied. Be patient for a couple of hours, and I'll be yours," she placed a small kiss on the tip of his nose and Harry was just about to catch her lips in a thorough kiss when the bell rang. They had installed a Muggle bell that the visitors could push on the garden's gate and it rang in the house as well.
"Are we expecting visitors, honey?" Harry asked, letting her slip out of his arms. "Your parents will only come over next weekend, right? And they'll surely come through the floo-network…"
"One way to find out," Ginny said and opened the door to be able to see the garden gate.
There was a tiny, but rather familiar figure standing there, waiting to be let in.
"Dobby!"
"Harry Potter, sir!" the house-elf waved happily. "Dobby has come to visit Harry Potter and his family as he had promised. Dobby thinks that Harry Potter and Ginny Wheezy have a good taste – the house is very beautiful."
"Thanks, Dobby," Ginny smiled as Harry opened the gate with a flick of his wand. "We were just about to have lunch. Join us, Dobby."
"Oh…" the house-elf went pink, "Dobby has not come to be fed, Miss Ginny, but…"
Before he could finish his sentence, a small squeak came from the door. The Potters turned around to see Dinky standing behind them, blushing furiously. "Dobby…" she mumbled.
"Oh, I understand," Harry hid a grin. "Come in, Dobby, and have lunch with us. Ginny and Dinky have cooked something delicious, judging by its smell…"
* * * * *
"Dad…"
"Yes, dear?" Harry turned to little Lea after lunch.
"What happened to Dinky?"
"Well…" her father glanced over at the elves cuddling in the corner and had to fight down the urge of laughter, "they are… talking, you know…"
"But what are they talking about?" she asked, looking at Harry with her huge green eyes.
"Sex, what else?" interjected Richard, who was just loosening some screws on the Muggle aeroplane that he and Robert had received from Uncle Dudley for last Christmas.
"What is sex?" Lea asked, her eyes showing even greater curiosity than before.
"It's…" Richard began, just to be silenced by a shut-up-sort-of-look from his father.
"I forbid you," Harry said, then turned to his little daughter. "You know, honey, Dinky and Dobby like each other very much… it is possible that they will get married some time…"
"…yeah, and make cute little elves…" Rose added, sticking a pin into her favourite woodoo doll's stomach.
"But how do they make little elves, dad?" asked Lea.
"It seems you'll just have to tell her," Rob grinned, helping his brother take the aeroplane apart.
"I think Lea should go to bed," Harry said.
"But I'm not sleepy, daddy!" she protested.
"Oh, yes, you are," he replied. "Every good little girl gets drowsy and takes a nap after lunch, sweetie."
"Who said I was a good little girl?" the youngest Potter asked with the most innocent expression imaginable.
"Your sister should be kept away from you three," Harry scowled at the triplets. "You are corrupting her."
Harry had to promise Lea three huge Honeydukes chocolate bars to make her forget about the topic of 'little elves'. Dobby left around six p.m., but promised Dinky to be back soon.
* * * * *
"You haven't even told me about Dan's first Imaginer training session," Ginny told her husband as they walked upstairs, hand in hand.
"Oh… he said it was okay. Dumbledore chose a disused dungeon classroom for the purpose, so that Dan wouldn't ruin anything by mis-imagining things… He said he had been given an easy task, he had to imagine a match turning into a pin. You know… just like in Transfiguration, but without a wand. According to Dumbledore, he managed to do it quite quickly – after having turned the match into a hedgehog and a veloci raptor, he succeeded…"
Ginny gave him a smile. "I'm so happy about Dan, Harry… He has always had an inferiority complex because he was never as talented as the rest of the family… now he might turn much more talented than any of us."
"Yes… but it scares me a bit, you know…" he turned to her to look into her eyes. "He has such a great power that he cannot control… it can lead him in the wrong direction… he could become… evil."
"Don't even say anything like that, Harry!" she pleaded. "Our son is a good boy, and can't turn evil. He is so much… so much like you."
"I'm not perfect either, Ginny," he sighed. "Remus and Malfoy were right… sometimes I'm conceited… arrogant. And I fear that Daniel has inherited both qualities… only in a larger amount."
"How could you be conceited?" she frowned. "I know no one who is more generous and selfless than you are."
"Selfless? You mean the three wishes?" he shook his head. "That was not selflessness, just a bit of realism. I had been conceited already then… remember what terrible things I told you when I got my youth back, but not my powers… I practically chased you into Malfoy's arms because I couldn't accept the fact that I was not the 'great' Harry Potter anymore… what is this if not self-conceit?"
"It's stupidity, that's what it is," she replied and pulled his head down to hers, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. "You can be really stupid sometimes, Harry, but I still love you… and don't worry about our son. Dumbledore will teach him to control his powers, and he won't turn a second Voldemort. He won't use his powers for wrong purposes…"
"You have persuaded me," he smiled. "Um… you haven't told anyone about Dan's talents, have you?"
"Of course I have not. No one but you, me and Dumbledore know, and none of us is a gossip. By the way… Dumbledore said you had to give Daniel 'detention' so that he could train without waking others' suspicion. What have you brought up against him? I'm really curious…"
"Ehm…" Harry's cheeks coloured a bit, "I gave him detention for making out with Liu Chang in a bush."
"What?" she gaped. "Did he… did he really…?"
Harry nodded.
"Like father, like son," she made a playful grimace.
"That's not true!" he protested. "I never even kissed Cho!"
"But in thought you surely did… given that she was the first girl to make you have a…"
"Okay, okay, yes, I did!" he laughed. "I did have fantasies about her, but all teenage boys do…"
"You don't need to make excuses…" she pulled him closer with one hand, while opening the door to their bedroom with the other. "I don't want to hear any excuses tonight…"
"I understand, milady," Harry grinned. The kids had been sent off to bed after dinner and nothing could prevent him anymore from trying the new bed with Ginny.
Almost nothing…
They had already stripped and slipped into the bed when some terrible noise caught their ears.
"What on Earth…?" Harry fumed, getting up and peering down into the garden. At the gate there was a little figure (that Harry supposed was Dobby although he didn't see well without his glasses) standing, holding an accordion and singing something that must have been an old elven love song.
"Dobby?" Ginny raised an eyebrow, stretching on the bed sensuously. "He said he'd be back soon, but I didn't expect him to be back this soon."
"Neither did I," Harry shook his head in an amused way. "Never thought that elves could be… just like us, you know… I mean… in love and everything. This reminds me of Aberforth giving McGonagall serenades early in the morning. At least Dobby is doing it at the right time. Well, not exactly the right time," he added, hungrily sizing up Ginny's gloriously naked body.
"What about a silencing charm?" she suggested.
Harry nodded and started groping for his wand in the dark. Although there was a crescent moon, it didn't give enough light for him to find it at once. Once he found it, he pointed it at the window and said Quietus, then turned to his wife to see that she was eyeing him in a rather peculiar way.
"What?" he raised an eyebrow.
"I'm just looking at you," she whispered.
"That's fine, but…"
"You look gorgeous, wearing nothing but a wand…" her comment made him blush. "Oh, Harry… after thirteen years of marriage I can still make you blush?" she giggled as a stripe of the moon's light illuminated his face. He shrugged with an embarrassed little smile as she held out her hands for him: "C'mere, my sweet liquorice wand…"
"As you wish, madam," he put his wand on the bedside table to join her in the bed. "You know what? Somehow I have the impression that this silencing charm isn't effective on house-elves…"
"You might be right," she said. They were still hearing Dobby, only in a bit muffled sort of way. "Although I don't know this song, I'm quite sure that he's singing totally out of tune. But if that is what Dinky loves… let them be happy."
"Yeah… let them," he nodded and started nibbling on her right ear. "And let us be happy as well."
"Okaaay…" she laughed and kissed him fiercely. Before they could really get down to 'business', an angry voice shouted from the neighbouring house 'shut up, you sodding bastards!'
"Damn it," Harry punched the pillow. "It seems we aren't getting any tonight," with a sigh he pulled on his dressing gown, put on his glasses and opened the window-panes.
"You shut up, Malfoy! Don't you see that Dobby is just giving our house-elf a serenade?"
"Then tell him to stop this caterwauling and beat it!"
"Caterwauling?" Harry yelled back. "This is music, if you didn't notice! I for one found it rather pleasant. So did Ginny. Right, dear?"
"Absolutely, dear!" Ginny shouted so that Draco could also hear it.
"Did… Harry Potter and Ginny Wheezy like my music?" Dobby was touched. "Then Dobby is going to sing a song just for Harry Potter and Ginny Wheezy!"
"Stop making such a rhacket, will you?" the window of the other neighbouring house opened and a rather miffed Gabrielle Delacour leant out of it. She was wearing hair curlers and a mask of some green moisturising cream.
"Oh my gosh! The Green Goblin has just jumped out of a Spiderman comic!" Draco smirked. Harry wondered how he could have such good eyes to see Gabrielle from such a distance.
"What?" Gabie asked.
"Muggle stuff," Draco waved irritably.
"Since when are you reading Muggle comics?" Harry asked, now really curious to know.
"Since I got bored of Martin Miggs. Anyway, none of your business, Potter! Just tell the fellow to sod off and let me sleep!"
"Ehm, Dobby…" Harry began.
"Dobby is leaving now, Harry Potter," the house-elf said sadly.
"Listen, Dobby… come back next Saturday afternoon, and then we'll listen to the song you wanted to sing Ginny and me, okay?"
The elf's face lit up a bit. "Does Harry Potter want to hear Dobby's song?"
"Yes, of course," he nodded and watched as Dobby blew a kiss to Dinky who had her room right under Harry and Ginny's.
"Next time, tell me what musical programmes you are planning so that I can prepare!" Malfoy shouted after the elf disapparated.
"You really had to be so rude to poor Dobby?" Harry snapped.
"Stop, you two!" Gabrielle yelled. "And listen to me, Drhaco! As long as ze elf was singing I could sleep… but as soon as you stahrted to 'owl I woke up!"
"Oooooh, sorry, sweetheart, are you going to have dark shadows under your eyes?!?" Draco mocked. "How guilty I'm feeling now!"
"Now shut up, everyone, or I'll curse you!" came a fourth voice from a house over the street.
"Okay, sorry!" yelled Harry, Draco and Gabie in unison, then all of them shut their window-panes and silence fell on the street.
"So… where were we, dear?" Harry turned back to his wife. "Dear? Awww…"
She was asleep. Harry had no idea how she could have fallen asleep while everyone was shouting – maybe it was to be put down to her pregnancy. He tucked her in and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Good night, my angel."
* * * * *
Since the first class on Monday started at 10:30 for Harry, he could have breakfast with his family in their new Hogsmeade home.
"Pity that Sirius insisted on staying at Black Manor," said Rose, pouring an immense amount of ketchup on her sandwich.
"Yeah, I also miss him," Richard nodded. "Though mum and dad have a bit more freedom now… right?" he shot his parents an impish grin and Robert started to snigger.
"What do you mean?" little Lea asked.
"He means that they can spend more time alone," Rose told her sister. "In their bedroom."
"Rose," Harry gave her an admonishing stare. "Enough of this."
"You're no fun, dad," she pouted and added a bit more ketchup to her sandwich – and her snow-white blouse. "Oooops…"
"I'll have to use Mrs. Skower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover to take that out!" Ginny scowled at her daughter, stuffing the last chunk of the third sandwich into her mouth.
"Mum, you're gonna get fat if you continue like this!" Robert said.
"Then I'll go to Lockhart's beauty salon for a slimming charm. Anyway, you'll have to get used to the thought of me getting fat in a couple of months…" their mother gently caressed her still flat stomach and reached for a new sandwich. "Your brother needs one more of this."
"How do you know it's a boy?" Richie asked, his face smeared with hazelnut cream.
"I don't really know… just feel it," Ginny smiled sweetly and Harry felt his heart melt.
Soon the kids left to play in the garden and Harry followed them out of the house, only to spot Malfoy pruning a bush – a bush that belonged in the Potters' garden!
"What do you think you are doing?" he demanded. "That's my bush!"
"But one of its branches came through the fence, into my garden!" Draco snapped. "I don't want anything in my garden that is yours."
"The same here," Harry nodded, flicking his wand and cutting a flower that jutted through the bars of the fence, into his garden.
"Hey, that was my prettiest chrysanthemum!" Malfoy gasped, scandalised.
"And that was my prettiest… bush!" Harry replied, having no idea what kind of bush that was – bramble, perhaps. It was hard to tell when it had neither blossoms, nor fruit.
"It wasn't pretty at all! It had lice!" Draco growled. "And the lice could have come into my garden from that branch!"
"Not that there aren't any louses in your garden!" Harry replied mockingly, lifting the pink flower off the grass and throwing it back into Malfoy's garden, then turned on his heels and walked back into the house.
Malfoy, who was still clutching the branch he had cut off, flung it over the bars of the fence, into the Potters' garden.
* * * * *
"You were fighting again," Ginny tutted as her husband entered.
"What if we were?" Harry shrugged. "That stupid git started pruning my bush!"
"Oh, Harry…" she shook her head, laughing. "You two are behaving like little children…"
"No, we aren't!" he protested.
"Oh, yes, you are!"
"Good…" Harry smiled. "Jesus said you had to be like little children to enter the eternal life…"
"Yes, but he also said 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother and love your neighbour as yourself'," she added sarcastically.
"Then I fear I'm going to rot in hell… loving Malfoy!" Harry shook his head at the absurd idea, feeling surprised that Ginny should be able to quote the Bible. Most witches and wizards never read that book… not that Harry had read it too much... He remembered once or twice dipping into it in the Dursleys' house – Dudley had received a Bible from someone but it was standing on his shelf in his second bedroom, along with the other books he had never opened. The Dursleys weren't religious, the few times they talked about religion was at Christmas. 'See Dudley, the little Jesus was born in Betlehem…' and Dudley would answer 'I don't care about the little Jesus, I want my presents!' The Dursleys weren't churchgoing, too – they only visited the church of Little Whinging at Christmas. Harry had to admit that he hadn't entered a church since he was ten – the last time he had been at one was at the last Christmas he had spent with his foster parents. He had never really cared for all the religious stuff, for two reasons: the first was that the Dursleys weren't into things like this, the second reason was his resentment towards the Almighty… if he existed at all, which Harry sometimes doubted… If there had been a God, then why did he let Voldemort rule over the world? And why did he let Lily and James Potter get killed? Truth be told, Harry was mad at God. Even Jesus had a loving mother and a stepfather who was much nicer than Uncle Vernon… it just wasn't fair in Harry's opinion. So, after dipping into the Bible once or twice, he had never taken that book into hand again – a wonder that he still remembered parts of it.
"You have read the Bible?" he asked Ginny.
"Of course I have. My family's not downright religious, as you know, but we did have a Bible and sometimes I sat down to read into it," she shrugged. "It was never as exciting as a Lockhart book, but… it has its points… I mean… the things it says. Those are good. I take you have also dipped into it."
"Yeah… but I liked Flying with the Cannons more," he grinned. "I must have been baptized, given that Sirius is my godfather, but I don't think that I have been to a church for more than five times in my whole life."
"Then maybe you should visit the Hogsmeade chapel," she suggested. "I've already been there – a nice place. Small and cosy… Vicar Diggle is a pleasant man."
"Diggle?" Harry blinked. "Is he related to…?"
"Yes, he is Daedalus Diggle's younger brother… He's really nice, although he gave me the impression that he likes wine a bit more than a priest should…"
"Honestly… I had no idea that Hogsmeade had a chapel at all."
"It's at the end of the village. A small white building. Your parents got married there."
"What?" his eyes widened. "How do you know?"
"Simple. If you look at their wedding photo, you see that they are standing in front of a door that has a flower-pattern above it. I saw the same pattern over the door of the chapel."
"You made me curious," Harry said. "We'll visit it some time. Say, at Christmas. I've got to go now."
"All right, dear," she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Give my love to Lily and Dan! And try to keep our little Imaginer out of trouble!"
"Easy to say, darling, easy to say."
* * * * *
"Fighting a bit too earhly, aren't you?" said Gabrielle Delacour, standing in front of Malfoy's gate, peering into the garden. She had obviously witnessed the latest Potter-Malfoy disagreement. "Just like two leetle kids!"
"None of your business, how Potter and I are fighting," Draco grunted, dropped the garden shears and smoothed his elegant banker robes. He had just wanted to leave for his bank when he had spotted that branch and immediately had to get rid of it.
"You are enjoying zis," she perceived.
"What?" he raised an eyebrow and shut the gate behind himself.
"Fighting wiz Harry. And I think zat 'e is also enjoying it."
"Rubbish. Why would someone enjoy fighting?"
"'ow should I know zat?" she smiled. "Off to your bank, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yeah," he nodded, wishing she'd leave him alone. No such luck.
"I'm also heading for ze flohrist's shop. It's in ze same direction as your bank. We could walk togezzer."
"Now you tell me," he grunted.
"Is your bank running fine? No mohre attacks from ze goblins?"
"Yeah, fine. Not that you'd know much about running a bank…"
"On ze contrary, Mr. Malfoy," Gabrielle replied. "Maybe you don't know, but my fazzer is a Muggle and 'as an own bank in Pahris. 'E wanted Fleur to take over ze bank after 'is death, but she just wasn't interested in anything else but beauty rhecipes… So 'e taught me."
"You don't mean that you could actually run your father's bank if he died?" Draco gave her an incredulous look.
"But I do," she said, drawing herself up proudly. "Perhaps I don't look it, but I'm quite intelligent. You men just don't rhegard us women good enough to do zings like zis. Well, I'm 'ere," she stepped to the door of Fleur's shop. "Good-bye, Mr. Malfoy."
Draco stared at her as she closed the shop's door behind her back for quite a while without realising that he was actually staring…
A/N: originally the H/G bedroom scene was a little bit racier, but my mum told me to cut it because some of my readers would not appreciate some stuff in there… so I left out things, unfortunately some of the humour also got left out, but… everything for the readers' morals! :))
Nefertiri: I can't promise you that Draco and Norbert would reconcile… perhaps they will, perhaps they won't.
Wood's secret lover: yes, I kind of took that line from Spiderman, but I just 'translated' it from Hungarian, because I never saw that movie in English. Did Peter Parker's uncle say the very same words in English? Yes, Rhea is just as nasty as Rita, but hey, I love Rita's character, because she's just as evil a writer as I am! :)) (my mum thinks I'm crazy because I like Rita!)
Lady Schezar: no, why would Draco do such a thing?
Kit Cloudkicker: yes, I've raised more questions than I have answered, and even more questions will be raised soon. But don't worry, all of them will be answered by the end, even such little ones like 'why do the Skeeters have it in for Albus?' :))
rebkos: are you also related to Trelawney? :)
Katrina: why does your brain hurt?
Sky: you're also named after that ice cream? LOL! :D
starheart20: it's okay that you don't say much as long as you like the story :)
Houou: no, there won't be a new heir of Slytherin. The Skeeters won't shut up, of course. Another nasty article coming soon. Mr Bradley isn't possessed. I don't think that anything happened if the heirs of all the four founders were in one room, but they couldn't even be in one room, because Voldie was Slytherin's last heir and he had no heirs when he died.
X-Tow-Naga: I hope your exams went well.
Eclectus: I didn't want to make Albus be Godric's descendant, because then he'd be related to Harry and I can't imagine Harry and Albus being related. Glad you liked Snape's costume :D
Altered Emotions Productions: no, Harry isn't related to Voldemort, because Rowena Ravenclaw died shortly after giving birth to Godric's son and she never had a child with Slytherin. Yes, all the Potter children are descendants and heirs of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.
Altec: yeah, I deliberately gave Dumbledore's ancestor a name starting with 'A' :)
VegaKeep: yeah, and more trouble's coming.
Bucky: okay, no torturing, I'm telling you: Dan and Gilda will get together, don't worry, it never even occurred to me to make Dan get together with Julie. About Cho and the acromantula… LOL, my mum asked why I was laughing so hard ;)
2Coolio: no, Voldemort had no children at all.
AmandaPanda: Vernon and Petunia are just there for comic relief, believe me, this story needs some comic, because dark times are coming – very soon.
zzxm: glad you liked the article, I love writing articles in Skeeter-style :)
Alexander Phoenix: well, of course the 'becoming a man' had a reason. Most things that happen in this fic have a reason.
Maureen: why were Gilda's memories erased? Because if they hadn't been erased, she would have remembered the person casting Imperius on her. No, Griselda Grindelwald wasn't the person Albus defeated, she was an ancestor of that guy (I first mentioned her in chapter 36 of TGSaWCS when Harry read the Encyclopaedia of Parseltongue). The target of the spider-attack was Snape, not Harry or Lupin. No, there's no reason for Jamie talking so much, I just loved Colin Creevey and C3PO in Star Wars, and wanted to insert a character that behaved like that. Yeah, Dan is likely to end up with Gilda. I deliberately made Dan and Norbert wear 'common' costumes, because I didn't want them to win this competition. You'll understand why later.
Red Ridding Hood: no, this time you DIDN'T review late! What? A girl of your grade is pregnant? How old is she? 15? Oh, my…
King Jasbon: of course I have heard about Panama :) And, what is your friend's impression about Hungary? Do you still keep in touch with him?
Malena: glad you think that this part of the trilogy is the best, because that's my opinion, too :) Well, Dan's problem with his cousins will continue, but it won't last for ever, I promise. I'm happy to hear that you find Dan's character amusing and interesting, it was hard for me to make up a character that is a lot like Harry, still a lot unlike Harry.
sabby: Dumbledore didn't want anyone to get to know about Dan's powers, that's why he can't tell his friends. Don't worry, Snape isn't in love with a student. I've read some Snape/Hermione fics but in general they repulsed me, I wouldn't write anything like that.
Cassandra Anthemyst: no, I don't get that much inspiration from my dreams, there were only two things that I dreamed and wrote into my fics: 1: the Moon Run, 2: Voldemort in a shower cap. But don't worry, I'm not going to write this 'Voldie looking like Mozart and Harry singing the Ode to Joy in French', at least surely not as a sequel. A friend told me to write it as a spoof, so I might, but for the time being I'm working on short outtakes from my fics. The first one is coming around Valentine's Day, it'll be a Ron/Hermione outtake from TGSiHH. After that I might write something about Albus and the goat ;)
Princess Ginny: you'll find out who the evil character is in chapter 27, no sooner.
FireBolt9000: Snape might be gay. But don't be sure that he is. You may never know when I'm misleading you ;)
Any last requests: yeah, and you know what? If I had a copy of Hogwarts, a History, I'd definitely read it! Btw, I hope that when Rowling is done with the seven books, she'll write a nice, long, Hogwarts, a History for us :)
C-chan: Gimli/Sauron? Gosh, you have no idea how much I was laughing when I imagined it! :)) It seems that no one besides me likes Rita… why? *Agi pouts, while her mum tells her that she's being crazy if she likes a person like Rita.* But I'm a lot like Rita – I love writing, and I love writing evil things! Rita and I could be great friends! I found only one of the Latin phrases you mentioned: "to make a copy" = describo/transcribo. The other two would need a real Latin knowledge, not just a dictionary.
heavenly182angel: glad you liked the Imaginer stuff. You know, I never even though it through that Albus and Aberforth, heirs of Hufflepuff were in Gryffindor and Slytherin… good that you pointed it out! (not that it'd change anything in the story, but it's funny that it never occurred to me that I put a Hufflepuff heir into Slytherin:)
ruffled owl: thanks :)
Myr Halcyon: glad you didn't find any awkwardness in the last chappie. Heh, I also loved my dream! But a couple of days later I had another, nasty dream about HP: Harry was dead and Hagrid built a huge mausoleum for him, but it wasn't made of stone, but of fir trees.
Wizzabee: no, Cho isn't the heir of any of the founders. She has only Asian ancestors, I think. I'm glad that your friends like my fics, too :))
Toby Haine: *blushes* thanks, Toby. You took your time to gather all those things, huh? Btw, did you get my latest mail?
goldenstar555: yeah, hopefully Bert won't freak you out later in the story. Or will he? Hm…
nimacu: yes, I think that Rowling is likely to make Harry be the heir of Gryffindor.
The Millenium One: why does everyone – you included - blame Bradley, huh?
Romina: glad you liked my recommendations. Leila B is a really talented author. She's a thirty-something year old Austrian historian, did you know? I exchanged some mails with her and she told me.
Prongs: what will be happening to Dan? Hm… weird things, trust me, weird things.
Inken: I know that making Harry be the heir of Gryffindor is cliché, that's why I added a bonus: made him be Ravenclaw's heir, too, because that's not cliché. Anyway, in my story Harry being Gryffindor's heir will actually have a role – a big role, while in most fics the author just throws in 'and by the way, Harry, you're Gryffindor's heir', but doesn't make it have an impact on the story. In this one it will be of crucial importance. No, how could Sal Slytherin be the greatest enemy? He's long dead. And yes, Daniel told the truth about Liu.
No Longer a Long Wolf: wow, did my stories inspire you to write? *Agi's grinning madly*
LilGinny: which new pic of mine did you see on GTnet? The Ron/Hermione one, or the Third Task? Btw, I've drawn a pic about the Dursleys, hopefully it'll be up on GTnet soon :)
Lana Riddle: thanks :)
jasper: can't tell you what's up with Snape and Bradley – not yet, anyway.
Bamboo Anime: why are your school's hallways too bright? Did they get painted white, or what?
Lavendar Brown: no idea what's up with Ruskbyte. I never talked to him, I don't think he knows that I exist at all (although I kept reviewing him for a while…)
SparkleCharm: Godric's son was called Godwin, and he lived 1000 years ago, Harry and his kids are Godric's descendants. Yes, Rowena hid her pregnancy with an illusion charm.
sk8reagle: thanks, glad you liked it.
Aimee: no, you won't get to read excerpts from that diary, but there'll be excerpts from another one, I promise.
Punky Poet: yeah, I can imagine how much you laughed when you thought of Snape in Neville's grandma's outfit when that director told you about that villain disguising himself as a woman ;)
Katie Bell: once I also took a Star Wars quiz, but not on emode, and according to that I'm Wicket, the ewok. My mother, too, which is strange. I'd rather be C3PO ;)
Tyleet: I've seen your online journal and laughed so hard when I saw the pic of Dan Radcliffe and the text under it: "my future husband". LOL! But you're wrong… he's my future husband! (aren't I a paedophile? ;)
Kristen Michelle: glad I could make you laugh, hehe, I wanted poor Dan to feel embarrassed ;)
apple-pie: the Snape-Bradley line will get even more interesting soon :D No, the Dursleys won't have a real role in the fic, they're just in here for comic relief.
Kamatazi Yumi: no, Desideria the goldfish' unwillingness had nothing to do with Imaginers. You said you were an utter sap and liked things that made you sniffly. Well… chapter 16 won't be really sappy, it will be rather tragic and sad. Yeah, the test-reader was Hungarian, but it wasn't my mum, it was an email-friend of mine whom I have never met, but she thinks highly of my fics and even started to translate my first one into Hungarian!
Shadow Child: glad you liked it :) Do you also have to make up for the 'lost' lessons when you have a bomb threat?
Elfangor19: glad you liked it! Nice to see you again :)
JenniferW: I'm delighted to hear (read) that you love my fics so much, and that I've managed to change your views of Harry/Ginny :) Quite many people have told me that I have made H/G shippers of them ;) I'm always so happy if I get to know that I have some mature readers as well. I'm glad you think that putting Dan in Slytherin and making his cousins turn on him is a nice change from most stories. I know what you mean: most fics put Harry's kids into Gryffindor because their authors don't dare to put him/her into Slytherin. I never even considered putting Dannie into Gryffindor, it would have been way too cliché. Yes, you misspelled Liu's name ;) Exactly as you said, Albus fears that Dan's powers could be used for bad, that's why he wants Dan to keep it a secret. I usually update once a week. Thanks for the lovely reviews!
Waldomier: yes, as I have told another reader, I was aware that what Albus said sounded a lot like that part from Spiderman :) I love the Spiderman movie (strange that at first I didn't even want to watch it, and then my friends talked me into watching it, and I simply fell in love with it!)
Lupin's Angel: glad you found the Skeeter article funny :)
Indigo Ziona: yes, of course Minerva's nice to Julie, she does have a heart :) Glad you liked Skeeter's article, I had so much fun writing it! (I like being evil, you know ;)
amazing typo: no, Remus won't find out about the Imaginer thing, and even if he finds out, it'll be after this story ends, so I won't show how it happens.
Laina: well, Gilda and Norbert might get to know about Dan's powers… some day… So you liked the Skeeter article? :)) There'll be another one soon!
rodhrrypttr: I cannot promise you that… but I can promise you that at the end, you WON'T be disappointed about it.
Inigma: glad you like my fics! And thanks for commenting on my second one! :)
Autumn Dreams: no, you're on the wrong track.
MiST: thanks for the appraisal, you made my day! :D Was this update quick enough?
Harrysgirl: well, did you like Petunia and Vernon's stay at Hogwarts? I tried to make it hilarious, because from the next chapter there won't be too much to laugh at :( Yes, Snape's getting a bit nicer, but not TOO nice :) No, Voldie had no descendants.