Chapter 6: The Fairy Godmother
*****
The next morning, those currently staying at the Burrow met up again to eat a relaxed breakfast. As it was the weekend, Arthur didn't have to work and he was looking forward to being able to spend some time puttering in his shed with all his muggle toys. Molly had some shopping to do before their family and friends descended later on that afternoon for the official welcome home party. The girls and George would be visiting Colin and family, while Harry went to morning practice.
They were just finishing up when the owl post arrived. In among the normal random assortment of mail were two additional letters, one for Alinora and the other for George.
After glancing at the return address on his, George hastily ripped it open and scanned the contents. "Bloody hell!" he muttered under his breath before looking up at Alinora, who was looking puzzled. "I'm going to have to visit Colin and the rest later. There appears to be a bit of a problem at one of our manufacturing plants. It's not a major problem," he explained, "but it will take most of the morning. Maybe I can meet you all for lunch instead?" He could tell that Ali was a bit disappointed, but she still gave him a smile and a nod of understanding.
"There'll be other times to visit. You need to take care of your company. Besides, I'd hate to see the havoc a problem in manufacturing could cause, considering what you guys make!" They all laughed and Ali turned to look at the letter that had come for her. She chuckled. "Colin wrote again…"
Ali-
I know you're coming soon, but I still wanted to tell you that we finally decided on names! Ariel Marie and Jeffrey Roan. We finally came up with a combination that we both could agree to. Considering how long it took us to agree on these, Anna joked that we probably shouldn't ever have more kids. She was only joking, right?
Get here soon! Anna swears the three of you and anyone else that comes as well won't be too tiring for her, and that if it becomes so, she'll happily kick you all out. Quite bloodthirsty, my wife!
See you soon!
Colin
"That poor boy!" Molly shook her head in amused sympathy as she bustled around the kitchen putting things into a basket. "Now, I've put together a few things for you to take to the two of them. They say they don't mind the company, but if too many show up they'll soon find out differently. I'll visit in a few days."
"Did you include the patented Weasley guide for raising and dealing with twins?" George asked with a cheeky grin.
"As a matter of fact I did include a few hints, but, for the most part, I think they're going to have to learn the same way the rest of us do by trial and error. LOTS of trial and error…" She sighed, but smiled fondly at her children.
"Well, you guys ready to be going? Molly, we'll grab lunch in Hogsmeade if that's alright with you. We need to check some things at the flat anyway. We'll be back early enough to give you a hand though before everyone begins showing up this afternoon. George, if you get done in time, you can find us there. Okay?" Alinora got up from the table, gave George a quick kiss and Molly a hug before picking up the basket Molly had prepared. The rest gathered up the items they were taking with them as well and, with a last wave, the three Apparated out of the room.
*****
"Oh Colin, Anna, they're beautiful!" Katie exclaimed softly as she gently stroked the dark hair covering Jeffrey's tiny head. Alinora and Ginny nodded in agreement as they stared in amazement down at Ariel, who was currently sleeping peacefully.
Anna's dark brown eyes looked tired, but happy, as she gazed contentedly around at her children and the friends who held them. Her long brown hair had been pulled up into a messy bun and she'd obviously gotten very little rest the night before, but even that couldn't hide how happy she was. The looks she gave Colin were full of love and neither could stop smiling. Colin appeared almost like normal, vibrating with energy, though they could tell how much more excited he was by the state of his hair. He appeared to have been running his hands through it compulsively as it was standing almost on end by this point. And it was still fairly early in the day…
They had been quite grateful for Molly's basket as she had included many useful gifts for their new extended family. They had been able to have their babies at home, as they'd wanted, but Anna was now lamenting the fact that since she was unable to be up doing things, Colin was creating too much of a mess in their home.
With one last smile down at the lighter haired twin she held, Ginny looked over at Anna, "We can help with that while we're here. No," she held up a hand to stop Anna's automatic refusal, "it's not a problem. In fact, it's the least we can do. Here Katie, give Jeffrey back to his papa and you can give me a hand in the kitchen. Ali, you stay here. I know the three of you have some details to work out concerning the godmother stuff. You worry about that. We'll be fine." Ginny regretfully handed Ariel over to Alinora, who took her eagerly, and quickly drug Katie out of the room.
"Anna, your Disney fixation is showing. You named your daughter Ariel?" Alinora grinned over at Anna, who was blushing slightly. Colin was quick to come to her defense though.
"It seemed appropriate as her godmother is a mermaid… of sorts. Why not name her after another one? Of course it would've been too much if she'd been born with red hair… but since she wasn't I had no problem with it. Besides, who else is going to make that connection?"
Alinora laughed. "True. So, when should we see about formalizing things? No real hurry I guess, but we might as well get it taken care of it while it's still on our minds." She felt a bit of a shiver run up her spine and Colin looked at her in concern.
"Sorry about that! I'd opened a couple windows earlier to air out the place, but I forget how drafty it can get and just how chilly is now outside. Need to remember that now that we have the babies as the drafts aren't healthy for them." He walked carefully to the door and called out to Katie to please shut the windows in the living room before resuming his seat.
Jeffrey began to get a bit fussy and Colin quickly handed him to Anna for feeding. He started pacing the width of the room. Anna and Alinora shared an amused grin at this all too familiar habit of his. "Well, why don't we give it a couple days, see how Anna's feeling, then go down to the Ministry to take care of things at that point?"
Ali considered it for a moment. "That should work. I know we've been summoned to Hogwarts to see Dumbledore midweek and I could swing by here afterwards."
"Summoned?" Anna asked curiously. "Why?"
"Yes, why 'summoned'? Has something happened?" Colin looked concerned.
"Oh dear! I forgot you didn't know! Ah, yes, we had a bit of excitement last night that Dumbledore wants to speak to us about…"
Colin eyes had narrowed to slits and he had stopped his pacing to stare at Ali. "What happened?"
"Death Eaters. I got a premonition that they would be attacking last evening. Luckily George's sources gave him the same information, so we had plenty of backup; once they could make it there of course. We're all a bit concerned as to how they knew to attack us though. That's why Dumbledore wants to see us."
Colin crossed the room and gave her a hug, careful not to squash his daughter in the process. "I'm glad you guys are okay. You should've told me though! We're a team and I should've been there for you."
"Colin, dear, Anna was having a baby, or two as it turns out, we weren't summoning you for anything! This is where you needed to be. Besides," she added, in mock terror, "Anna would've killed me if you'd left to come help us!"
They laughed.
"I think 'kill' is a bit harsh. Only mild torture and I'd make sure I didn't leave any scars." Anna teased back.
"Well, as long as there are no scars, that's fine." Ali replied sarcastically. "Oh, but I forgot to tell you two the good news! Katie and Brad got engaged last night! And Ginny and Harry have been outed. George announced their engagement for them last night as well. He decided that they'd hid it long enough. Can't figure out how he knew though." She rolled her eyes in exasperation, though the others knew she wasn't really upset with him. She very rarely ever was.
"So, it's all out in the open finally? Went over well I take it? Family happy?" Colin asked.
"Yep, they're all thrilled. No date's been set for either, but I can't see them waiting all that long at this point."
"So what about you and George?" Anna asked quietly, smiling slightly over at Alinora.
"It'll happen." She shrugged. "The fact that we will be getting married is a foregone conclusion. I 'saw' that when I was sixteen. I've already lost that surprise, though I'm not complaining too much, and I'd like to leave the rest as much of a secret as I can. Or at least as much as I'm allowed to…" Her voice trailed off as she stared blankly into space. She was slightly startled when she felt something touch her finger, but looked down to see that Ariel was awake and had lightly gripped her finger. Alinora's face lit up as she smiled down at her solemn faced godchild.
"Hello Ariel. My name is Alinora and I'm your fairy godmother," she crooned softly to the baby. Glancing up at the sound of muffled giggles, she winked at Anna. "In some legends Selkies are a type of fairy, and, since I'm the daughter of a selkie, that would mean I have fairy blood in me as well. Thus, I am a fairy godmother." She looked back down as Ariel, who had a most curious expression on her tiny face. Alinora whispered down to her, "Just don't expect me to be turning pumpkins into coaches for you. I'll sing the songs, I'll make the dress, I'll even consort with mice if need be, but I don't do the pumpkin thing. There are much better ways of handling transportation now." She grinned at the mental image she had of herself dressed as the fairy godmother in Cinderella…
*****
Finally, the three said their good byes and headed to their flat in Hogsmeade. They were hoping to get a bit of unpacking done while they were there and go through their mail. Things had a tendency to pile up when you were gone as much as they were.
It was with a sigh of relief that Alinora unlocked the door and canceled the wards that guarded the place so that they could enter. Katie had gone to collect the post, but she and Ginny happily entered and made a beeline towards the living room.
Collapsing into the first chair she came to, Ginny glanced around the cozily decorated room happily. "I love visiting with Mum and Dad, but this place seems more like home now. It's nice to be back."
"I agree." Alinora said with a smile.
They sat there in silence until Katie joined them, and then they got to work setting things to rights within their home. Ginny ran out at lunch time to pick up food from a shop nearby and arrived back with George who had been able to meet them for lunch. They put him to work afterwards helping them move things around while they cleaned and put things away. He grumbled a bit that it would be easier to use magic, but they ignored him.
Finally it was time to return to help Molly with her afternoon preparations. The entire family was expected, with their spouses or significant others as appropriate, as well as various friends from school. It would be another busy and tiring evening, but at least the serious fighting should be kept to a minimum, unlike the night before.
Then again, with this crowd, you never can tell Ali thought, smiling to herself, as she locked up and grabbed a handful of floo powder. At least if they get rowdy, we can use the same tactics on them as we did the Death Eaters… Molly won't mind water balloons as long as we're outside. With that amusing thought, Ali threw the powder into the fireplace, called out 'The Burrow' and stepped into the green flames.
