Chapter 19:

At long last, Christmas morning was finally upon 12 Grimmauld Place. They awoke to what they thought was a surprise earthquake. "Bloody hell, what was that?" Ron asked, lying down on the floor where he was thrown. Ginny and Hermione tiptoed into the room, both rubbing various body parts where they were tossed out of bed.

"I think we were feeling the aftershocks of my cousin waking up and realizing it is Christmas morning," Harry said, sliding on his glasses. The others looked at him, shrugged and then proceeded downstairs for gifts.

Discarded wrapping paper lay everywhere, as everyone ran off to pursue other activities. Kiki fiddled with the plush lion Albus and Minerva had given her and Severus—for Samantha of course. She smiled as she remembered it was the one from her dream, the one little Samantha had been clutching onto for dear life. Maybe her little daughter would be a Gryffindor after all.

"Don't think that…she's got mostly Slytherin blood in her," Severus whispered in her ear. To prove his point, he laid out the green emblem blanket he had returned to his manor to retrieve just for her for Christmas. His own mother had covered him with it and now his daughter and subsequent children would also use it to keep warm.

Kiki fingered the silver snake as she leaned back to rest on his couch. "I hate it when you do that," she whispered. "Anyway, what color are we going to paint the nursery?"

"Which one? Hogwarts' or the Manor's?"

Kiki looked over Severus. "You really want us to move in there?"

"Just for the summer," Severus said. "It is my ancestral home and with the two of us filling it, what could go wrong?"

"Any psychotic house elves I should worry about?"

"They are intensely loyal to me and already to you. They are the ones who actually want to know what color to paint the nursery," he said. "Unless you want to?"

"Mmm, I don't think that's such a good idea. They say paint fumes can harm an unborn child."

"All right. Now, I will not allow my daughter's nursery to be entire in red and gold with lions everywhere."

"Okay, nor will it be done completely in green and silver with snakes everywhere."

"Agreed. I will concede to pink, but I know even you aren't that girly-girl."

"Good," Kiki said with a smile. "I think that lavender would be the perfect shade for a nursery, don't you? With some flowers and a few butterflies."

Severus grunted but agreed anyway. He adjusted his emblem blanket so that it covered his fiancée's belly perfectly and then covered the two of them with the larger version.

Nearby, Harmony fiddled with two little lockets—one engraved with "JML" and the other with "LRL". They were for her twins—a gift from her parents. Remus' mother had knitted the cutest pink booties, which would actually go perfectly with the two pink sweaters that Molly had knitted (one with a "J" and one with a "L" just like Molly did for Fred and George). She had even knit a sweater for Harmony and one for Remus. Hers was the same color blue as the bridesmaid dresses that had been at her wedding and Remus' was gray, reminding Harmony of his wolf form's fur.

Even Kiki and Severus had gotten sweaters, plus the one for little Samantha that Molly was finishing knitting now. Severus' was Slytherin green and everyone had half-expected Kiki's to be Gryffindor red. Well, not everyone. Harmony, Remus and Sirius were not surprised to find Kiki's was orange. Molly stood up and crossed the room to hand the couple their unborn daughter's sweater—a beautiful lavender color. Apparently, Molly must've overheard the conversation about what to paint the nursery.

Upstairs, all the kids sat around with some of their new gifts—mostly the ones that were sweet and edible. Harry was a bit nervous since he hadn't given his big gift to Ginny yet. He had given her something small inside—a small charm for the charm bracelet Harmony and Remus had given the girl. But everyone had contributed a charm for the bracelet.

He took a deep breath and helped Ginny stand up, saying he had to talk to her in the next room. She was a little worried—after all, his gift hadn't been as romantic as she expected. Was he going to break up with her? There hadn't been many signs, but maybe with the prophecy weighing down on him, he would let her go?

They entered into one of the bedrooms—Harmony and Remus'—and Harry turned towards the desk. He had asked permission to hide the present in here from Ginny and Harmony had agreed, especially when she saw what it was. He took out a small box that was brightly wrapped and handed it to Ginny. "Happy Christmas, Gin," he said, a bit nervously.

She looked at it weirdly and then tore the wrapping off. Lifting up the lid carefully, she pulled out a small black box. Opening it, she staggered back upon seeing the small gold band with a beautiful peridot gem set on it. "Ha—Harry?" she stammered out, unsure what it meant.

"I'm not proposing marriage, Gin," he assured her. "It's a promise ring. I promise that if we live through the war, then I will propose to you."

Ginny's eyes filled with tears as she threw her arms around Harry's neck. "I love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried, kissing him passionately.

"Alright, now everyone knows the drill, right?" Molly said, eliciting groans from the others around the kitchen table. "Don't you starting moaning and groaning now! We will NOT have a repeat of last year, do you understand me?" A series of "yes, Molly" went around. "Good.

"This will be the group that will be having butterbeer rather than champagne: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harmony and Kiki. Especially the last two since you are expectant mothers. Sirius, Fred and George are limited to one glass each. The rest are limited to two glasses, except for those who think they can handle three glasses and in that case, I will be the judge of that.

"Now, I want the kids to their rooms promptly at twelve-thirty, lights out and complete silence by twelve-forty-five. Bianca will room with Tonks for the night, understand, Sirius?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Sirius mock saluted his cousin. Molly wielded her Spatula of Death and promptly hit Sirius over the head with it.

Remus sighed and leaned over to whisper in his wife's ear. "With as many people who do that to his head, I'm surprised his intelligence levels don't drop," he said.

Severus leaned over. "I wouldn't be so certain of that." Harmony started giggling, which caused Molly to turn on to her.

"And what is so funny?" Molly asked, arms crossed. She tapped the Spatula of Death dangerously against her forearm.

Remus and Severus shrunk back, suddenly fearing for the blonde witch. Harmony, however, had everything under control. Without blinking an eye, she smiled sweetly. "Nothing, Molly," she said.

"Nothing? You weren't laughing at my orders?"

"Me? No, Molly, why would I do that? It was merely a mood swing." This answer seemed to please Molly, and she returned to finish the few orders she had left. Remus leaned over and kissed Harmony on the cheek. She just flashed him a victorious smile and leaned into his chest.

Midnight crept closer and closer. All those in Grimmauld Place were either anxiously awaiting the New Year or plotting to somehow knock Molly unconscious. Harmony was stuck on a couch since she wasn't getting up anytime soon. Kiki plopped down next to her friend and the blonde sent her a glare. "What?" Kiki asked.

"I hate you."

"Really? Why?"

"Because you don't have a humongous belly," Harmony said. "You're movement isn't impaired that much as mine."

"Aww, honey!" Kiki leaned over and hugged her friend. "Just think about it, in January how many months will you be?"

"Seven."

"See, and then in March you'll have your twin little girls," Kiki said.

Harmony smiled. "And then the real fun begins," she said. Kiki nodded as Severus came by and sat down. "What's the matter?" Harmony asked.

"Those damn Weasley twins. Keep pestering me for a potion to help with the creation of their latest product," Severus said, sourly. "Like I'd give it to them now."

"Of course not," Kiki replied, leaning against him. "You'll give it to them tomorrow."

"Of course. How many more minutes to the New Year?"

"Thirty," Remus replied, sitting down in a chair next to the couch the other three were taking up. He took Harmony's hand and kissed it gently. "How are you feeling?"

"Rather large," came his reply. "Extremely large." Remus chuckled and squeezed her hand. Harmony closed her eyes and just continued to rest up for midnight. Eden walked over and took a seat on the other side of the couch.

"So, do you guys make resolutions?" she asked, leaning back.

"Resolutions?" Kiki asked. "What are those?"

Severus smirked. "Those are promises you make for the new year," he replied.

"Oh. No, why make promises that I won't be able to keep?"

Eden giggled and looked over to the Lupins. "We hold the same position," Remus said, with Harmony nodding furiously. "You make resolutions? And don't let the fact that they aren't popular among us influence your answer."

Eden shifted in her seat into a more comfortable position. "I used to and then I realized that I always abandoned then by February. So I just gave up on them completely a few years ago."

Albus walked by and patted his daughter on the shoulder. "Fifteen minutes till New Years," he said. "Has anyone seen Sirius? He's normally good at opening champagne bottles."

Remus shrugged. "Last I checked, he was in on the plan to knock Molly unconscious so that her alcohol limits wouldn't be enforced."

Albus laughed. "Ah, so that's where Minerva went as well," he replied. "She loves New Years—only time she really lets herself go!"

Kiki and Eden shook their heads. "Too much information, Dad," the Dumbledore daughter said. Albus laughed and walked out of the parlor. "And my mother planning on Molly's demise as the militant head of the house—imagine!"

"I wish I was part of the planning, but what would it do? I wasn't having alcohol anyway because of little Samantha," Kiki sighed, patting her stomach. "Can't hurt my little girl, now can I?" Severus smiled and pulled Kiki closer. Eden smiled at the sight and sighed.

"Okay, everbody!" Sirius called, holding open a bottle of champagne. A few others were charmed to go off when he uncorked the main bottle. "Let's start the countdown…ten…"

"Nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The cork was popped and all the couples shared the first kiss of the new year. Molly, however, was never properly knocked out and cut the party short at one in the morning. Everyone groaned as they trudged up the stairs.

The last thing heard that night was: "SIRIUS BLACK, I SAID THAT BIANCA WAS SLEEPING IN TONKS' ROOM TONIGHT!"

"YEAH? WELL, THIS IS MY HOUSE AND I SAY MY GIRLFRIEND STAYS IN MY—oh, no…NOT THE SPATULA OF DEATH!"