When Doves Cry
Chapter 1: That's Amore
Disclaimer: Okay…I'll do a real one for the first chapter I guess…. I DO NOT own Harry Potter or anything in this story. They belong to J.K Rowling, her publishers, and whoever else owns a little piece. So yeah that's all I need to say right???
A/N: Hey everyone! I know this took a really long time. I'm sorry. I sort of lost inspiration for a while, and I was super busy. But here it is. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. Right now my personal opinion is the general rule that "sequels are never as good as the original." But only time will tell. I hope you all enjoy it.
Ginny Weasley sat down at the breakfast table and let out a yawn. Hermione was already seated at the table, eating her breakfast as Winnie and Gia sat in their highchairs
Once again the entire Weasley family was gathered at the Burrow for Christmas, which was less than two weeks away. While the stay was cramped, as always, Ginny was curious as to what changes her parents had made to make the addition of eight new people less noticeable.
"Morning Gin," Hermione said before biting into her toast.
"Good morning," Ginny replied as she pulled the Daily Prophet towards her and unfolded it. She let out a groan as she read the front page's headline. Hermione raised an eyebrow and her sister-in-law and Ginny read aloud:
You-Know-Who Gone for Good?
As the four year anniversary of one of the greatest victories in recorded wizarding history approaches our community must ask If The Dark Lord in truly gone. And with a 'return from the dead' under his belt already, and all of the missing facts about his final battle with Harry Potter (who disappeared for three years after the battle), the answer to this question is a gray area.
Ginny rolled her eyes and tossed the paper aside.
"Don't show that to Harry," Hermione commented.
"Honestly, you'd think people would have moved on by now! Let it go!"
"People have Ginny. That's why people have stopped reading the prophet, and why you should too! You're the last person besides Harry who needs to be reading crap like that."
Ginny smiled at her friend. " I did. Harry and I don't get it delivered to the house. But since we've been here I can't help but be curious." Hermione laughed and shook her head at Ginny.
"Did Harry leave for practice already?"
"About half and hour ago. You know, I thought his schedule was bad when he was playing for Oliver! Ever since England recruited him I never know what his schedule is going to be."
Hermione chuckled. "Ron was so mad when he found out Harry was leaving the Cannons. And then when he took Oliver with him… 'The only chance we had,'" Hermione imitated Ron.
Ginny joined in Hermione laughter, recalling the evening she and Harry had had some of the family over for dinner to announce that England has asked him to play for the national team.
"Well he'll forget all about the Cannon's come August when he's the best friend and brother-in-law of the Seeker of the team that wins the World Cup," Ginny shrugged.
"I will not," Ron said entering the kitchen.
"Sure Ron. Sure," the women both replied.
Harry pulled one of his many green Weasley sweaters over his head ad then stuffed his sweaty practice robes into his bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder and turned to leave when someone called his name.
Potter!" Harry turned back at the sound of Oliver Wood's voice. "An owl just dropped this for you," he finished, holding up a letter. Harry set down his bag and snatched the letter from Oliver's fingers before sitting down on the bench to examine it. "What have I told you about getting personal letters at practice?"
"Sorry Wood, your not in charge of me anymore," Harry grinned.
'Well your still would trained! Since the beginning!" Oliver defended himself, smiling.
"Besides," Harry said. "It's not personal. It's from the ministry." He flashed Oliver the back of the envelope, showing him the official seal on it.
"Ministry eh?" What's it say?" he asked as Harry quickly skimmed the paper.
"Nothing," Harry said hurriedly, folding the letter back up and hastily shoving it into his pocket.
"Whoa there Potter. What's gotten you all shaken up?"
"Nothing," Harry said calming himself. "Look Oliver I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow."
With that Harry left, leaving behind a very confused Oliver Wood.
When Harry arrived back at the Burrow he set his stuff down and made his way to the kitchen, which he found empty. This was a rare occurrence in a house with thirty people residing in it. Thirty people. It honestly didn't seem like that many people. After all, it was just immeadiate family. And that's what it felt like. The family; not thirty people. Harry had to laugh when he thought of his non-existent family as a child and the family he ended up with.
Harry sat down at the table and pulled out the ministry letter yo read more closely.
Dear Mr. Potter-
As I am sure you are aware, there have been scattered reports of Death Eater activity around the country during the past few months. The Department of Investigations in cooperation with The Department of Illegal Magical Activity, has confirmed these reports and the Ministry must now face fears of what may happen if these activities are not more thoroughly investigated and put to stop.
In light of the situation the ministry has decided to set up a temporary department made up of a special task force, dedicated to investigating Death Eater activity and preventing them from causing harm to innocent families as they have so many times in the past.
Your past work with ministry operations, you involvement with the order and/or your current job, has brought you to our attention as someone who would be an important member of the team we are forming.
If you our willing to join the force, please respond to this letter as soon as possible and plan on attending and informative meeting on January second of the new year. Also, I must stress the importance to you that all of this be carried out in total secrecy. Inform no one of this letter, the meeting, or our mission. It is a crucial that none of our plans, or knowledge is leaked to anyone.
Thank you and hope to see you January second.
Sincerely,
Lorcan Nepot
Head of The Department of Investigations
Harry shifted his eyes downward to the personal note at the bottom.
Harry,
I know that you've far more than your share for the wizarding community during your very short life. However, I cannot stress to you enough how crucial your role will be in this mission. I'll explain more to you on the second. I beg you to attend the meeting. I know I'm asking a lot of a man who had already given so much, but sometime, the sacrifices of one must be made for the good of many.
-Lorcan
Harry sighed tiredly and shaved the letter back into his pocket. Her buried his face in his hands, willing away his headache. He'd never been good with medical charms.
As he was about to go in search of Ginny, Harry heard a squeal and saw Hermione sprint into the kitchen holding a bowl, followed by Fred who also has a bowl in his hand. Both were splattered with substance that Harry identified as Gia and Winnie's lunch. Or what should have been their lunch.
Hermione ran to where Harry was seated at the end of the table and ducked behind him as Fred scooped a hand full of baby food out of the bowl he was holding. Harry could feel Hermione contemplating her next move behind him. Finally she dashed toward the door along the opposite side of the table of Fred. However, Fred caught up with her and then froze in a standstill, one of them on each side of the doorway.
Hermione smirked and placed her hand into her bowl before taking aim at her husband's head.
"You wouldn't," he dared.
"Oh but I would," she said, standing her ground.
"Not if I do first," Fred said as he raised his own fistful.
They stood their ground, staring menacingly at each other. Harry watched as they both pulled their arms further back. Just as they were about to fire, the door flapped open and Ginny was greeted by baby food hitting her in the face from two directions.
The room suddenly stilled and all eyes were on Ginny who's mouth had fallen open in surprise. The silence was broken when a laugh escaped Harry, followed by Hermione and Fred, who could no longer hold it in.
"You think that's funny?" Ginny questioned her husband.
"Extremely," he responded. Harry has never been one to fear Ginny's temper. Slowly Ginny approached him wiping the substance away from her eyes with her hands.
Harry winced as he felt Ginny's covered hand come down on top of his head and proceed to rub the baby food into his hair. She then grinned at her husband before rubbing her face up against his, as if giving him an Eskimo kiss. She pulled away when his face was sufficiently covered and they stood there staring at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing.
Ginny shook her head still chuckling and gathered four dish towels, handing them to Fred, Hermione, and Harry.
"Where're James and Hope?" Harry asked curiously as he used the towel to clean his face.
"Oh haven't you heard? It's official 'Grandma and Grandpa day.' They have all the kids locked up with them in their bedroom. Through I'm pretty sure there has been some extensive expansion done to it…"
"You're seriously letting your parents try and take care of 14 children under the age of four?"
"More like our parents kidnapped fourteen children under the age of four," Fred commented.
"Fred and I were getting ready to feed Winnie and Gia when the ambushed us. Stole them right out of their highchairs."
"So naturally, we couldn't let the food go to waste…"
Ginny and Harry laughed as Hermione took the opportunity to wipe the last traced of baby food off the tip of Fred's nose.
"Well I'm going upstairs to take a bath," Ginny said heading for the kitchen door.
"Wait! Gin! So you're mom and dad have the kids all day?"
"And night I do believe."
"Well are you sure you just want to go upstairs to take a bath?" Harry asked and Ginny frowned in confusion. "Well we could go back to our house for an hour…or two…or however long you'll need."
Ginny put a thoughtful look on her face for a moment before responding. "Okay, let me see if I got what you just said, 'Ginny, since your mum and dad have the kids today and we no longer have children to worry about how about we go to our place so we can have sex.' Is that right?"
"Yeah, you got it," Harry nodded.
"Okay," Ginny grinned. "Let me just get something from upstairs," she said as she left the room.
Harry stood up and put his plate in the sink; oblivious to the death glare Fred was giving him.
"Honestly Fred," Hermione shook her head, " They're married with two children. Maybe you should be spending a little less time right now glaring at Harry and a little more time following his lead."
"Wha?" Fred looked as his wife, confused. "Oh! You mean you want to…."
Hermione nodded her head, as Fred understood.
"Well why didn't you say so? Well see you Harry!" With that Fred grabbed Hermione's hand and they disapparated.
Harry shook his head and waited for Ginny to come back so they could leave.
Ginny and Harry arrived back at the Burrow a little before dinnertime. The arrived in the front yard, to witness Charlie and Tara having a snowball fight. The couple was to involved in their war however to notice their presence. Harry smiled at Ginny and grabbed her hand as he led her into the house.
Once inside, Harry held his finger to his lips, signaling for Ginny to stay quite, as he noticed the dimness of the living room. Percy and Penelope were curled up beside the fire as Percy read aloud from a book. Ginny and Harry smiled at each other again and headed upstairs.
After dinner Ginny decided she'd like to go read in the bedroom for a while and Harry decided to go in search of Ron. However, when he found him, he and Allison were writing their Christmas cards. Well, Allison was writing the cards while Ron did his best to try and distract her. Harry noted that Allison still had an adoring smile on her face as she tried to ignore Ron's antics. He decided not to disturb them and headed for the kitchen.
He couldn't help but laugh at what he saw when he got there. George was covered head to toe in flour; standing next to a half amused half perturbed Angelina.
"Um. What are you doing?" Harry couldn't help but ask.
George threw his hands out. "Baking cookies! What does it look like?"
"Life you got in a fight with the jar of flour," Angelina rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I was here the whole time and I still don't know how he ended up like that."
Harry laughed.
"He said it would be a bonding experience. I think he just wanted to make a mess." Angelina explained further and George feigned a hurt look. "Don't give me that look George Weasley," she said not even having to look at him. Harry chuckled as they continued bickering and slipped out of the kitchen.
He made his way upstairs to see Ginny. On the way he could lightly hear Ginny's music playing. Outside of her closed bedroom door he spotted Bill and Christine, dancing to the slow beat.
"Ginny has really horrible taste is music," Bill commented to Harry as he approached.
"I like this song!" Christine protested.
"And you also, have really horrible taste in music."
Christine swatted him, but her head quickly found its place on his shoulder again.
Harry went into his room to find Ginny scrawling in her notebook.
"What are you writing?"
Ginny jumped. "Nothing!"
That was what she said every time he caught her writing. As curious as he was as to what was inside her collection of notebooks, he'd never violate her privacy and read them without her permission.
He hopped onto the bed with her and snuggled up against her, enjoying the warmth of her body from being in bed.
"I think I could fall asleep right now," he said lazily, nuzzling his face against her neck.
"I wouldn't have a problem with that."
"I love you"
"I love you too."
Ginny and Harry had only been lying there a few minutes when Hermione appeared at the door.
"They're letting us in to say goodnight," she informed them before continuing down the hall. Ginny and Harry looked at each other before jumping out of the bed and racing down the hall toward Molly and Arthur's room. There they found a crowd of Weasley's already waiting outside the room.
They hadn't even been apart from their children for twelve hours and they were each bursting at the seams to see them When the door finally opened, George tried to wiggle his way in first, only to be tackled to the ground by Fred.
Molly Weasley ushered everyone in saying "Say your goodnights then OUT!"
Harry was more than impressed with the charms the Weasley's had placed on the room, and couldn't imagine how long it must have taken them. In addition to the normal furniture, there were now enough sleeping places for everyone, and there was a substantially more living space.
Harry's room inspection was interrupted by a tug on his leg. James was there grinning up at him. Harry quickly swooped his son up into his arms.
"Hey buddy. Are you having a good day with Grandmum and Granddad?"
"Da best," James nodded his head. Harry grinned and then too James over to where Ginny had stolen Hope from her father. He watched frown as she attempted to tame Hope's out of control red curls.
"Hermione, are you sure you didn't give any of your genes to my baby?"
Hermione shook her head and smiled. "Hope will wish that hair was a result of my genes. My hair calmed down a little once I got older. I'm afraid I can't say the same thing for the person who actually blessed her with her messy hair." Hermione eyed Harry who blushed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Don't worry Harry. I'm the one who gave her the curse of being a red head. She'll hate us both."
Later that night after the children had been left with Molly and Arthur and Ginny had fallen asleep, Harry found himself still awake in bed.
As he tried to sleep, his mind kept flashing back to different parts of his day, reminding him of how important all twenty-nine other people in the house were to him, and how important they were to each other.
Slowly, as not to wake Ginny, Harry climbed out of bed and went to the desk where he pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write.
Mr. Nepot-
You can expect my presence at the meeting on the second.
-Harry Potter
He folded the letter and gave it to Hedwig who was alert on her perch. Harry sighed as she flew away. As much as he wished he didn't, he had to do it. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to the family. His family. This was the only was to make sure it didn't.
A/N: So what did you think?? I hope you liked it. When will chapter two be out? I'm not sure but we'll see. Anyway, hope you liked it. Review! If you read "I'll be Home For Christmas" (which if you haven't…………I really really recommend you do to understand things in this. It is after all…….a sequel.) then you know how inspirational reviews are too me. Hey, they pushed me to post a whole story between Thanksgiving and Christmas! No procrastination or anything. For me, that's a very big deal. Anyway, talk to you soon.
Love,
Bella