A.N.: Sorry this took so long to get out, I was waiting to hear from my beta. Thank you to all who have been reading and taking time to review. Too all of my new readers, welcome. I'm glad you are all enjoying this story. As always a special thank you to Beeker for being my unofficial beta reader! You're a doll!
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Harry woke up the next morning to the sound of childish giggling. He grabbed his glasses from the side of his bed and looked around the room to find the source of the sounds. The two girls were sitting on the floor at the base of the bed they slept in, throwing an array of things into a tiny plastic cauldron that was setting on the floor between them.
"Girls, what are you doing?" Harry asked his daughters, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"We's making a potion, papa." Rachel squealed happily.
"A potion?"
"Uh-huh."
"And what kind of potion, may I ask, are you making?"
"One to drink," Abigail answered, her voice indicating that it was the most obvious thing in the world and her father was stupid for not knowing the answer.
Harry rolled his eyes at his daughter's tone of voice, thinking she sounded too much like a younger version of himself for his own liking. Sitting up, he held out his hand for the piece of paper that they kept consulting.
"Give me the directions, girls."
Both of them pouted as Rachel handed their father the piece of paper. Harry scanned over it a minute and realized that they were making a simple kool-aid type drink. It was just one of the many things they could make with the ingredients and recipe booklet that had come with their toy potion kit. It had been a gift to them, each receiving their own kit, designed to teach young witches and wizards the proper way to follow directions and combine ingredients. It was supposed to give them a head start before they began their formal education. The ingredients were mostly simple kitchen ingredients or harmless herbs and spices, there was no way possible of making anything dangerous, but Harry hated the kit all the same. Luckily the girls had chosen to make something simple this morning, there was more than one recipe that's result was an absolute mess.
"And just why were you making a 'potion' this early in the morning?" Harry asked the two.
"Because it's fun, papa!" Rachel exclaimed, obviously surprised that her father would have to even ask such a question. Abigail was nodding enthusiastically in agreement.
Harry groaned in dismay, leave it to his daughters to actually ENJOY potion making. When they were old enough to go to Hogwarts Professor Snape was going to either love this, or not know what to do. He'd have not one but two Potters that not only LIKED Potions, but would probably even be good at it. Harry had to groan again at the mere thought of his children actually looking forward to Snape's class. This was assuming the older man was even at Hogwarts anymore. Harry had no idea if his old professor was even still alive, let alone teaching.
Quickly Harry brought his wandering mind back to the present. He still had six years before he had to worry about the girls being at Hogwarts. Right now he had other things to deal with.
"Abigail, Rachel, you both know you aren't allowed to be playing with this with out me."
"We wasn't, papa," Rachel defended herself and her sister. "You was right there."
"I was sleeping, that doesn't count. You're not allowed to play potions with out my supervision because you tend to make a miss, and you know it. Not to mention that this was in my bag, which means you got into my things with out asking me and you know you're not allowed to do that either."
"We sorry, papa," The girls chorused in unison, hanging their heads because they knew they were in trouble.
"You should be, but being sorry isn't going to keep you from being punished. No potions kit for two weeks, and no flying until the weekend, that means three days."
"But papa . . . "
"No. You broke the rules and you know better. Now get in the bathroom so I can give you a bath, we've got to get ready to go. Papa has an important meeting this morning."
Both girls grumbled unhappily at their fate, but obeyed and followed their father into the bathroom. After he had given them their bath and got them dressed, he sent them back into the bedroom while he showered, and gave them the strict instructions that they better behave or their punishment would be increased.
When he came out twenty minutes later the girls were laying across their bed, coloring in a muggle coloring book that he had bought them. Rachel looked up as her father entered the room and smiled brightly at him. Harry knew that the girls were up to something, they only ever looked that innocent when they wanted something from him.
"Whatever it is that you want . . .the answer is no," Harry told the girls, answering them before they even had the chance to ask the question.
"Papa, please? We want to stay here while you go downstairs."
"After what the two of you were doing this morning? You broke two rules and now you want me to allow you to stay here by yourselves? Absolutely not! Besides, you're too young."
"We big girls, papa!" Rachel whined in protest.
"And we be good, papa. We not gonna do anything bad. We promise," Abigail chimed in, arguing their case.
"I said no and I meant it. Now come on before I'm late. You can take the crayons and books with you."
The girls whined momentarily as they got up from the bed, but stopped at the stern look they were receiving from their father. They both knew better than to argue with him when he was giving them that look.
When they got downstairs Harry sat the girls down at a table and got them started on their coloring then looked around to see if he could find who he was supposed to be meeting with. Nobody had told him who he was supposed to be meeting, and he was more than a little surprised to see one of his former schoolmates at a table across the room waving him over. With one last warning to the girls to behave, he walked over to the young woman who was waving at him enthusiastically.
"Cho? What are you doing here?" He asked in surprise, not quite sure if this was who he was to be meeting, or if it was just a coincidence. Never in a million years had he expected to run into his old school crush.
"I work for the teen mission, I was sent to discuss your placement with you."
"You? I had no idea you were involved with the teen centers. I've never seen you at any of the conferences."
"I've never been to any of them. I've been involved with the centers around here for about a year and a half, but mostly just as a chaperone," Cho explained as she motioned for him to sit with her. "I just got promoted to personnel about three months ago. Now I'm in charge of the hiring for the two local centers."
"Oh. Um, congratulations," Harry told her as he sat down across from her, feeling a little uncomfortable. After the two of them had briefly tried dating during his third year, things had always been awkward between them.
"Thank you," She replied cheerfully, a joyful smiling stretching across her face, before looking down at a file folder she had open in front of her. "Now, let's get down to business, I'm sure you'd rather spend the day with your girls than be tied up inside."
"Y-yeah. They don't like being cooped up, and neither do I."
"That's understandable. Now, I see you come very highly recommended. Your file says that you began as a counselor. Did you enjoy that position?"
"Yes, very much so. A lot of the kids I worked with came from broken or unhappy family backgrounds, and I can understand where they are coming from. I was able to relate to them and help them talk about their problems."
"I also see that you were involved in both the back-to-school program, the tutoring program, and the rehab programs. It seems that you were very successful at those and that your clients had a good success rate and post-program success rate. How did you find yourself to be in those positions?"
"I think my favorite was the back-to-school and tutoring programs, being able to see the kids turn their lives around and make something of themselves. I just got an owl right before I left from one of the kids I helped. She had just gotten an internship at a wizarding school over in America. She said she credits me for helping her get through school, that if it weren't for me she never would have finished. It's a good feeling to know you've helped someone that much."
"I see. Your former supervisor noted in here that you seem to have a certain rapport with your clients, that you put them at ease and really tend to take them under your wing. He said that you take a real personal interest in their lives."
"I just want to see them all succeed and I'm willing to do anything I can to help make that happen. I've given money to some, gotten jobs for others. I've even given more than one of them a place to stay when they needed it."
"And it didn't worry you having kids off the street staying in the same house as your little girls?"
"Cho, somebody needs to give these kids a change. You have to trust them and show that you trust them, otherwise they will never trust YOU. I never had any of them into my home that hadn't been coming to the center for at least six months, that gave me time to get to know them and know what they were like. It never worried me to have them near my babies, the girls often accompanied me to work and the teens loved them, treated them like younger sisters . . .or even children of their own. I've seen some of the clients stand up for and protect my girls. I knew I never had to worry about them."
Cho nodded her head and made a comment on a sheet of paper before closing the file folder and looking up at Harry.
"Well, Harry, I think I've heard enough. You seem to really care about the clients, and honestly want the best for them. You're willing to go to any lengths to make sure they all get a fair shot in life. Our centers around here definitely need somebody like you to work at them. Most of our employees are there to make a buck. They put in their time and when the day is over, it's over. You're obviously not like that. Off the top of my head I can think of several cases at either one of our centers that could benefit from having someone like you in their life. Our center in Hogsmeade is looking for a new director. You have the experience, the qualifications, and the heart for the position, it's yours if you like."
"D-director? Me? Seriously? Th-that would be great. But will I still have the personal interaction with the kids?"
"You'll be director, Harry. The amount of your involvement is up to you."
"I'll take it then. I will have free reign over decisions and changes I might wish to make at the center?"
"Of course, it's yours to run as you please."
"When do I start?"
"Let's see, today is Tuesday . . .why don't we wait until next Monday? That gives you about a week to prepare, and then a full week once you're in charge."
"Sounds good to me."
"Great, that's my center so I'll be able to get you into the swing of things," Cho said brightly. "The only thing left to discuss is your children."
"What about them?"
"The district supervisor here won't allow you to bring them to work with you, especially if you're a center director."
"What am I supposed to do with them then?"
"There's a great day care near the post office. Several of the teachers from Hogwarts leave their children there, as well as many of our center employees and other Hogsmeade workers. You can leave your girls there."
"Do I have a choice?"
"No, not really."
"Then I guess I'll leave them there then. However, my children come first. If anything about this job keeps me from them too much, I'll have to resign."
"Of course," Cho conceded as she stood up. "Now, take your family out and enjoy the rest of the day."
Harry nodded and stood, shaking her hand before returning to where Abigail and Rachel were still sitting at a corner table, coloring. Rachel looked up at him and smiled when he walked over to them.
"You done, papa?"
"Yep, all done. Papa is going to be the director of his own center. But, papa's boss doesn't allow me to take you with me, you'll have to go to a day care while I'm at work."
"No papa! Please? We be good girls, we not get in trouble no more."
"I have to, doll baby."
"Please don't send us away. Please, papa!"
Rachel was beginning to get tears in her eyes, and Harry could see the fear of him leaving her gleaming in her young eyes. He picked her up and cuddled her close to his chest, rubbing her back lightly.
"Sh, don't cry my precious. Let's not think about this now, we'll talk about it later. How would the two of you like to go into the alley today, and maybe we'll even get some ice cream?"
Abigail nodded her head eagerly, excited at the chance to shop and to get a special treat. Rachel on the other hand just sniffed and buried her face into her father's neck, just barely moving her head in an agreeing nod.
Harry sighed, wishing he had a different choice. He tried not to play favorites with his girls, but there was no denying that Rachel had a special relationship with her father. She had almost died when she was a baby and continued having health problems on and off through out her young life. Harry had spent many nights in a hospital room holding the little girl while Abigail stayed at home with sitters. During that time the two of them had formed a deep bond, making the two of them close.
As a result of her constant illness, Harry had become very protective of Rachel and very rarely left her anywhere with out him. It was no wonder she was reacting so badly to the prospect of being left at day care. Unfortunately Harry knew he had nobody to blame for the problem but himself.
Sighing again, Harry shifted the trembling and crying child so she was propped up on one side and he held his free hand out to Abigail, who didn't look any happier about the situation than her sister. The only difference was that Abigail was the tough one of the two girls, and refused to cry.
As Harry led the two girls out the back entrance of the Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley, he prayed for the strength and wisdom to be able to make the right decision for both himself and his children.