Okay, folks, life sucks. I spent six days driving around BC, and nary a glimpse of Orlando Bloom did I get. Not one. Darn. Double darn. I'm doubting the authenticity of the source that told me he's filming there. Well, at least I got to see some beautiful country...and it made for a great field trip! Any of you who are considering a trip TO or AROUND Canada, be sure to include BC, it's gorgeous.

On the up side, me and the kiddies are back safe and sound, and my little car gave a huge sigh of relief when we pulled in the driveway at home. I don't think she knew what hit her. Hyundais and mountain passes simply don't mix. Especially in August when you have no air conditioning, and you're stuck behind a line of motorhomes that stretches to the horizon on a single lane highway... Ah, well, enough rambling, on with the story!!!

Again, I own nothing.

CQ


Chapter Eleven: Family

Maura Kennedy's first foray into tabloid journalism was an unqualified success. The first article ran the next day, as promised, and almost immediately, calls started pouring in. Many of the people calling, in Maura's opinion, were raving nutcases, but a few – more than a few – were simply ordinary people with bad feelings about the state of the world, and a glimmer of hope that things could be different.

Harry had provided her with a work room, and Ron had somehow moved most of the things from her flat into it. She had her couch and television set up in a corner where she could watch the newschannels, and her entire work area, which he had somehow managed to move without shifting a single sheet of paper. And in the corner opposite to the television stood her refrigerator. He'd removed the moldy fruit and vegetables, but the freezer was well stocked with her favorite brand of ice cream.

And she had telephones. Three of them, which were currently ringing off the hook.

After the first hour of answering calls, taking names and contact information, and promising that someone would come to speak to the caller, Maura gave up trying to keep up and bellowed from the doorway for reinforcements. Molly, Ginny, Janie and Amelia were all begged for help and the five women, between them, came up with a schedule to keep both the house and Maura's new office running smoothly.

With three extra families in the house, they required a full time housekeeper. Molly happily offered to take over the running of the house, to leave Ginny free to help Maura full time. Ginny was more than happy to hand over the running of things to her mother. She'd been quiet and introspective, almost brooding, since the attacks, and it was beginning to worry everyone.

Janie and Amelia happily began answering the phones, and Maura sighed with relief. With the two Weasley sisters-in-law taking information, and Ginny organizing people to follow up the calls, she was left free to write more articles for Stephen Lewis' tabloid.

And it all worked fine. At least, until the first mail delivery, on Maura's second day after returning to Harry's home, the first day after the publication of the article in The Sun.

The post office called that morning, quite early, Maura thought. They were informed that they needed to come and pick up their mail immediately. Maura thought this strange, as she'd never known the Royal Mail to be overly concerned with the time of day that one emptied their box, but complied, asking Ginny if she would be so kind as to run down to the office and bring back the mail.

Ginny, also thinking it odd, headed out, her wand handy, because she had an odd feeling about this. Maura was surprised when her friend returned, quite quickly, in a taxi. As a matter of fact, Ginny nearly fell out of it she was laughing so hard. It was so good to see her laughing for a change that Maura didn't notice, for a moment, the taxi driver who got out to help unload the bags and bags of mail. Seven huge canvas sacks of it, actually. Ginny was giggling so hard she had tears running down her face.

The sound of the two women's laughter drew the men from the house. Harry and Bill stood, smiling, while Ron stepped up next to Maura on the front walk. He grinned down at her.

"Told you so," he said in an undertone.

"Yes. You did," Maura whispered back, looking up at him, smiling and shaking her head. If this was an indication of the response they were going to get, they were going to need more people.

Harry stepped forward, and paid the disgruntled-looking taxi driver, who suddenly stopped looking disgruntled when he noticed the number of bills Harry was handing him.

Nothing strange as folk, he thought as he drove away.


"Gin? What's wrong?"

Ginny turned from where she'd been staring out the kitchen window into the darkness of the back garden to see Harry leaning in the doorway.

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong?" he asked again. "You've been so quiet."

"Oh, Harry," she smiled sadly. "I'm just being a mum. I miss my girls, and I want them here with me."

"They're perfectly safe at Hogwarts."

"They're not entirely safe anywhere unless I'm with them, Harry."

"Bill and I..." Harry started, then pushed away from the door frame and came across the room towards her. "We reinforced all the wards in Hogwarts, Gin'. We wanted the girls to be safe, and Fred and George's kids, and eventually Charlie's. We took no chances. Not with anything."

"What about yours, Harry?"

"Mine?" He frowned. "My what?"

"Your children."

"Gin'..."

"You should find someone, Harry. Settle down. Have babies."

"I don't think that that is in my future, Ginny," he said quietly.

"It should be," she smiled over her shoulder at him, then turned back to the window. "It should be. Then, maybe, you'd understand why I want them here with me."

Harry felt helpless. He knew she was right, that he didn't fully understand, and that he couldn't unless he had children of his own.

"I love the girls, too, Ginny. Not like you do, of course, they're... they're not mine. But I would do anything to keep them safe. I made as many modifications as I could possibly think of to the wards at the school. They're safer in Hogwarts than they would be... anywhere."

"No, they're not, Harry." Ginny said. "They're safest when they're here, with us. No one at Hogwarts is willing to die for them."

Harry sighed. "Meg is in fifth year, Gin'. She's got her OWLs at the end of the year..."

"And," Ginny turned to look fully at him. "She'll be first out through those doors if Hogwarts is attacked, Harry. You know that."

Harry sighed again, he didn't like feeling like this, like he was keeping her separated from her babies. "You're their mother, Ginny. It's your decision."

"It's your home, Harry." Ginny looked surprised. "I wouldn't bring them here without your consent!"

Harry looked at her, dumbfounded. "Ginny, this is your home, too. You're not a guest here..."

"Harry, Potter Manor is... Potter Manor. I'm your housekeeper."

Harry was, quite literally, speechless. He drew a breath, looking directly into Ginny's brown eyes. "I never realized that you thought of yourself as... Ginny, you are not my housekeeper."

"Harry, I live in your home to keep it running smoothly for you. You pay me a wage to do this. What else would you call me?"

"You're my friend, you're... you're family!"

"You don't pay family, Harry."

"Ginny, I never..."

"Harry, it's okay. Really. I've accepted that role. It's okay."

"Ginny, I don't want you to be... you're not my..." He stopped and took a deep breath. "You're not an employee!"

"If I'm not an employee, Harry, then what would you call me?"

Harry stared hard at her for a moment. "I told you, you're my friend..."

Then, with a strangled sound, he took one more step towards her and pulled her to him.

"You're my sanity, Ginny Weasley," he stated in a low, gruff voice, then, surprising both of them, he leaned down, and kissed her.


"Oh!" Maura had been on her way to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. The scene she'd just walked in on put all thoughts of tea completely out of her head. She pulled back into the hallway and leaned against the wall.

Harry was kissing Ginny in the kitchen. And Ginny was kissing him back. They both appeared completely oblivious to anything going on around them, including Maura walking in on them.

"What's up?"

Maura looked up to see Ron sticking his head out through the study door.

"Sorry?"

"I thought I heard you say something?" He lifted his eyebrows. "Maura? You okay?"

"I..." Maura pushed herself away from the wall and moved towards him. "I guess I was just surprised at what I just saw..."

"Why? What did you see?" Ron's posture changed. He went from fully relaxed to stiffly ready to take on anything, his hand reaching for his wand as he stepped out into the hall and around her to be between her and the kitchen door.

She glanced back at the door and then up to him. In a whisper, she said, "They're kissing in there!"

Ron's brow furrowed. "Kissing? Who?"

"Harry, and Ginny!"

Ron's eyes widened, then took on a definite gleam. When he spoke again, it was also in a whisper. "Really?"

Maura nodded. "And they didn't seem to notice... me. Or anything else, for that matter."

Ron grinned suddenly. "Well, it's about bloody time."

Maura turned a surprised look on him.

"What?" Ron said, pulling her with him into the den. "They've been tiptoeing around each other for years. Ginny's been wild about him forever."

"You knew?"

"Maura, you could hardly have seen them together at Hogwarts and not known. We knew..." he swallowed, glancing at her, his voice took on a note of pain. "Hermione and I... we thought they'd marry right out of school, but then Voldemort... and Dean..."

"But why didn't Harry fight for her, if he loved her?"

"Harry's got a noble streak a mile wide, in case you hadn't noticed." Ron shook his head.

"...I don't poach..." She heard his voice telling her that day at Hogwarts.

"And Harry..." Ron sighed. "Until Voldemort was defeated, he thought he didn't have a right to be happy, or endanger Ginny. And after, well... It was a while until Harry got over the fact that he'd killed someone, taken a life, even if it was Voldemort..."

"He never thought he was worthy of her." she stated, suddenly understanding.

"I don't know if he even does now," Ron said. "You know how..."

"What?"

"Well, Harry makes out that his aunt and uncle weren't that bad, but, well, I've met them, and it's a bloody wonder he came out of that house as good as he did. I don't know if Harry knows how to love, like that, anyhow."

Maura smiled sadly, "Do any of us, Ron?"

His blue eyes studied her for a moment. "Maybe not, but some of us get better role models than others."


Back in the kitchen, Harry slowly pulled back from the kiss.

"Harry?" Ginny whispered, confused.

"I'm sorry, Gin'. I..." He swallowed hard, then took a deep breath. "No, I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry at all. I've wanted to do that for a very long time."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because I didn't want to lose you. Because having you here means so much to me, I never wanted you to feel pressured. I didn't want to endanger what I had of you..." he sighed. "I don't want you to feel... You'll always have a home here, Ginny. I know you don't feel that way about me, and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable..."

"Who says I don't?" she smiled up at him. Harry felt it wash over him, that smile that had consistently turned his world upside down every time he'd seen it since he was sixteen years old and wised up to what had been under his nose for five years. His startled green eyes met her calm chocolate brown ones.

"Ginny?"

"Harry, I've always felt that way about you."

"Ginny?" His gruff whisper told her that he was quickly losing what little self control he had had.

"I've always loved you, Harry Potter. For years. And I've felt guilty about it for years, as well, because I thought you didn't see me that way."

"But..."

"I married Dean because I knew..." she sighed. "You're going to think I'm a horrible person."

"I could never think that of you, Ginny. Never."

"Oh, yes, you will," she looked up at him. "But I have to tell you. Just please understand that I was always completely honest with Dean. Maybe I wasn't fair to him, but I was always honest. He knew I didn't... couldn't love him."

"Then why on earth did you marry him?" Harry's voice was full of pain.

"Because I thought that I'd never have the one I did love. You had told me... that you couldn't be with me..."

"Ginny!" Harry cried, pulling her back into his arms. "I didn't mean forever! Dear God, Ginny... I meant until I could be sure that you'd be safe with me! When you married Dean... I thought... I thought that you'd never really cared about me at all, that I'd been some... teenage thing..."

"Oh, Harry," she said quietly, "you were never that!"

He buried his face in her hair, and she clung to him. Eighteen years of pain were gone in the blink of an eye.


"Do you think it's safe to go in there yet?" Maura asked from her seat on the couch. She was staring directly into the fire.

"I don't know," Ron said from his seat beside her. "But I wish they'd bloody hurry up. I'm starving here."


"Come on," Harry pulled away and took her hand.

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked as they headed for the fireplace.

"To Hogwarts."

"Harry?"

"You want our girls home, then our girls are coming home."

"Oh, Harry!" She threw her arms around him. "Thank you, thank you!"

"But I have to tell you, Ginny, they are safe there. And I want you to agree to talk to them about it, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded eagerly.

"So, we'll bring them home, and you'll discuss it?"

"We'll discuss it together, Harry."

"And if they want to go back?"

"I'll try and convince them otherwise, of course," she grinned.

Harry smiled down at her, "I love you, Ginny."

Her breath caught. After so many years, she'd never thought she'd hear him say that.

"I love you too, Harry Potter."

Professor Minerva McGonagall had seen some surprising things in her time, but walking into her office in the middle of the night to find Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley...er, Thomas... in a clinch was probably one of the most startling things she'd witnessed.

Certainly, as head of Gryffindor House, she had been aware of their fondness for each other. She even admitted to being mildly disappointed when their short-lived... very short lived... romantic entanglement in Harry's sixth year had ended.

But in the years since, she had all but convinced herself it had merely been one of those... teenage things. Merlin knew, there were enough overactive hormones in this school, especially when the students hit about sixteen...

"Well, Mr Potter, I think ten points from Gryffindor ought to do it?" she remarked dryly as she advanced into the office, hiding a smile as the two jumped about like guilty teenagers. She loved doing that.

"Min...Professor...I..."

"Minerva," Ginny smiled, "You are aware that we're no longer students here, aren't you?"

"Are you telling me, Miss Weasley, that the two of you never got up to... that... and subsequently enjoyed the benefits of not being caught? Perhaps in a certain third floor broom closet?"

Ginny and Harry glanced at each other, guilt and embarrassment washing over them, both remembering that night.

"Professor," Harry began.

"Minerva McGonagall!" Ginny cried. "How did you know about that?"

"I was a student here once, myself, my dear. And Mr Potter isn't the only one with a charmed map of the school that shows some... interesting things."

Ginny squeaked. Harry grinned.

"Now, what can I do for the two for you at..." she glanced at the clock on the wall. "...one o'clock in the morning?"

Ginny took a breath and looked to Harry.

"Well, you can get the girls for us, Minerva." Harry stated quietly.

"The girls?" Minerva raised her eyebrows. "Is there a problem?"

"I'd like to take my daughters home with me for a couple of days, Minerva." Ginny explained. "There are some things going on which I need to discuss with them."

"Mr Potter," Minerva turned to him, "Is there anything that I, as headmistress of this school, and a member of the Order, should know?"

"Minerva, everything is fine. Ginny just needs the girls to be close for a couple of days. I assure you, it's a... personal situation that Ginny needs to discuss with them."

Professor McGonagall's eyebrows arched as she glanced back to Ginny. "Indeed?"

After a moment, she turned back to Harry. "I understand that you and Bill Weasley have been inspecting the wards on the school. Does that have anything to do with this unexpected visit?"

"Minerva," Harry put a hand on her arm. "This is not a question of the safety of Hogwarts. Bill and I have made every possible modification to keep your students safe. I... all students at Hogwarts are as safe as it is possible to be. There is no place more secure, I assure you."

"Very well, Mr Potter, Mrs Thomas. I would like it to be understood that this may not be a security issue for you, but others may well look upon it as such, from the outside. The lack of faith in Hogwarts security of two people of your... stature... in our community... well, I wouldn't want it to be common knowledge that your children, Ginny, are out of the school?"

"I don't want anyone to know that, either, Minerva. I'm taking them home for... a short while, on a personal issue."

"Very well, then," she said, after a moment. "Come with me."

They walked through the dimly lit stone corridors towards the entrance of the Gryffindor tower. As they walked, Harry smiled. He wondered if, by some chance, they were even now being watched by a student out past curfew who was lucky enough to own an invisibility cloak.

"Where is it?' Ginny asked suddenly, in an undertone.

"What?"

"Your cloak. I haven't seen it in years."

Harry was stunned. "How do you do that? How do you know what I'm thinking about?"

"It's not that hard, Mr Potter. You've been peering into shadowy alcoves, and I was under it a time or two with you in those shadowy alcoves, so..."

"It's in my old Hogwarts trunk in my closet." He grinned. He was amazed that their connection was still so strong.

"Here we are," McGonagall stopped in front of a set of double doors and waved her hand in front of it, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like "lemon drops". The doors opened, admitting the trio into the common room of Gryffindor tower.

"Mr Potter, if you would be so kind as to wait here, Ginny and I will rouse the girls."

Harry nodded, already drawn to the room, one which he hadn't been in since he graduated, seventeen years before.

Each year, students added several framed photos to the walls. Harry automatically walked over to the wall between the huge fireplace and the long windows. Looking up, he smiled. There it was. Taken nineteen years before, when they were in fifth year... Dear God, they looked so young!

Harry and Ron stood, arms around each other, with Hermione sitting between them, raised on their shoulders. Colin Creavy had taken the shot. It had been right after a Quidditch match in which they had soundly kicked the collective butt of Slytherin house. Ron and Harry still wore their Quidditch uniforms. They were dirty and beaten up, Ron had the beginnings of a black eye where the Quaffle had clipped the star Keeper. Ron never let one past him, even if he had to stop it with his face.

Yes, they were dirty, but victorious. But Hermione, wearing muggle jeans and sweater, with her Gryffindor scarf wound around her neck, looked perfect.

Her hair was wildly flying around her face, and she had a look of shock and mild fear on her face... and complete joy. As Harry remembered it, he and Ron had come up behind her and hoisted her up before she knew what was happening, just as Colin turned and took the photo.

They'd been so incredibly young then.

Hearing soft footsteps on the stairs to the girls dorms, Harry turned. Meg, Ginny's eldest, came down, pulling her trunk along behind her.

"Uncle Harry?" There was mild fear in her voice. "What's going on? What's happened?"

"Meggie, it's fine. Everyone is okay."

"Then why are you and Mum here in the middle of the bloody night?"

Harry smiled. Meg was so like her Uncle Ron in so many ways.

"We'll explain everything the minute we get home. I promise. Just trust me, okay?" He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly.

"Uncle Harry, I'm scared," she whispered.

"No reason to be, munchkin. Your mum and I would never let anything hurt you."

"I'm not scared for me..."

"I promise you, nothing is wrong, Meg. Believe me?"

"Okay. Are Grams and Grandpa okay?"

"Everyone is fine, and you'll see them all at home."

"Everyone is at the house?"

"Everyone but your Uncle Fred and Uncle George and their families."

"Why?"

"Because it's safe there, Meg."

Meg studied him for a moment. She knew full well that he'd never lied to her, but she also knew that he had a thing about not saying everything, either.

For a moment, he looked into her brown eyes, so like her mother's, then he smiled. He was about to say something when they heard Ginny's whispered voice.

"Megan?"

"Here, mum." She held on to Harry, who kept an arm around her as four people returned to the common room.

Ginny and Minerva were closely followed by Mary and Maddy, thirteen and just twelve respectively, and in third and first years.

When they saw Harry, they both ran forward to hug him. He wrapped his arms around all three girls and hugged them close.

"Uncle Harry! How come you're here? Why are we going home?" Maddy would have continued with her questions had Meg not shushed her.

Harry smiled down at the tiny redhead, She was the walking image of Ginny in her first year, but where Ginny had had freckles, Maddy's skin was perfectly smooth and clear. She was an absolute beauty.

"Uncle Harry said he'd explain everything when we get home," Meg said. "Now shush up until you're told otherwise."

"May I suggest," Minerva said as they exited the tower, "that you use my floo instead of walking out to the gates?"

"Thank you, Minerva." Harry smiled tiredly at his old professor. "The sooner I get them home the better, I think."

"Mr Potter," Minerva looked over her half-moon glasses at him. "I do expect you will call me? Tomorrow?"

"Absolutely, Minerva. I will call you first thing."

Their arrival back at Potter Manor went reasonably unnoticed. Ron was still up, and kissed his nieces before turning an inquiring look to Harry.

"I'll explain tomorrow, really, Ron. You should be in bed."

"With you and Ginny both gone without a word? Don't think so, mate."

"Sorry about that, I didn't think. I need to talk to the girls for a minute. Can we talk in the morning?"

"You're safe?"

"Yes."

"Everything's fine? Nothing I should know about?"

"Plenty, but nothing that won't keep until morning."

Ron studied him for a moment, then nodded once, quickly. "Right then, I'm off."

Harry watched as he disappeared up the stairs towards his own rooms on the third floor. Until a voice from behind him interrupted his thoughts.

"Uncle Harry? What's going on?"

Harry turned, with a smile, not quite sure how he was going to explain to Ginny's daughters the new relationship he hoped to have with their mother.

As Ron bounded up the stairs, a head popped out of a doorway in the hall to his left.

"Ron?"

"Maura, I thought you were asleep."

"No. I'm worried about Harry and Ginny. I can't sleep."

"They're back. Everything is fine," he assured her.

"They're back? But where did they go?"

"They went to Hogwarts. They brought the girls back."

"But why? Harry said Hogwarts was the safest place for them right now..."

"It is. I don't know what's going on, but Harry said he'd explain in the morning."

"Oh, well..." Maura glanced back over her shoulder, then back to Ron. "I guess I'll see them... then. I...I should get to bed..."

"Yes. We both should," he nodded, but he made no move to leave and head towards his own rooms.

"Well... goodnight."

"Goodnight, Maura," he whispered as she closed her door softly, leaving him to go quietly up the next set of stairs, alone.


To my wonderful, wonderful reviewers....

Saerry Snape: Thanks – I'm enjoying this! Julianna Margulies, huh? I loved her in ER...I'm going to have to get my hands on a copy of this series – thanks!

GiGiFanfic: Romance keeps you young, you know! I wish there were a firm end to it, but the premise of the books by JKR (IMHO) is that there is NEVER an end to it, even if the players change. After all, Dumbledore defeated Grindewald, and that was supposed to be the end, but all the while, Tom Riddle was at Hogwarts, learning to become the next "great evil".

James Milamber: Okay, "hero" it is. Startling suspicion? Hmm...I'll have to look into that... You tend to be far too insightful for your own good, you know. Killing off Dumbledore was really, REALLY hard, but you'll see why when I explain myself. Trust me, the story wouldn't have happened without it. Thanks again, you know your reviews keep me going!

Merlindamage: Thanks, Lewis was a lot more fun than I thought he'd be. I envisioned him originally as this side character who is needed to advance the plot, and then, lo and behold, his eyes twinkled at me... and suddenly he had a personality. He believed so quickly because he KNOWS... he graduated Hogwarts the year after James Potter.

Shotgunn: Thanks, Shotgunn, I appreciate it. I've been wondering if I should include the name of the tabloid or just keep it one of those details that are "assumed"...we'll see. Do I have to make mention of page three if I do include it? ;-}

azntgr01: By "handle" I mean your name... sorry, child of the seventies here – CB radios and all that... okay, now I'm rambling AND showing my age, bad combination, I know. Lewis wasn't GOING to be a wizard... it just kind of, well, happened. And then it felt right, and now he's working his way into the story. It's all because his eyes twinkled at me, I SWEAR IT!

Dkandmax: Thanks – I like the twist myself. I was talking to my son (who is also a huge HP fan) and he asked me what I thought the world would be like if a magical world really DID exist – and I thought, well... and here is the product of my VERY active imagination (not to mention my very active fantasy life... but that's another story entirely....) James' recommendation has sent a LOT of readers my way, and I can't tell you how thankful I am!

Lizliterarius: Thanks, I rather thought that would be a "Dumbledore" kind of thing to do!

Pirate grlEe: Thanks, I've been away for the last week, but I usually update a little more often ;-

Larna Mandrea: Thanks for the kind words. This is a first for me, so I suffer from extreme lack of confidence. It's nice to see people enjoying it!

CQ