A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I really appreciate it. You guys are awesome! I don't own HP but I'll live. And Tardychick06, you're the best! Your reviews and advice are always good, welcome, and appreciated! And you're welcome! (By the way, I am addicted to reviews. And if you review my stuff, I'll try to read and review your stuff.)
On August 20, the Weasleys all went over to the Potters' flat to say good-bye to Ginny, Callie, and Oliver before they left for Hogwarts. Percy and Penny didn't come. Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Ron hauled Oliver into the kitchen. "All right, listen to us. Treat Ginny well. Be good to her and make sure that she's fine. Take good care of her and no one gets hurt. It's very simple, Wood," Bill said.
Fred cracked his knuckles and Charlie punched his left hand with his right fist. George had a sneer on his face and Ron was giving Oliver the evil eye. "All right," Oliver said. "I get it. I'll be good to her. You don't have to worry about her. And cut the mafia act, guys. I'm not going to try anything with your sister."
"Good," George said. "If you do, we're going to come after you and well that isn't going to be fun for anyone."
Charlie raised his eyebrows. "And we wouldn't want to hurt your pretty little face."
Ginny walked in. "Okay, boys, cut the tough guy act. You all know Oliver and it's a well-known fact that he's very respectful of women. Besides, I'll be at Hogwarts. Do you think he'd try anything there under Albus Dumbledore's nose?"
"It's a very crooked nose," George said.
"He's probably taken at least two bludgers to that nose," Fred added. "It's really a shame. It was probably quite the good-looking nose when he was younger."
Ginny sighed. "All right, well, Oliver and I will be leaving now. I'll see you at Christmas holidays."
Fred began to blubber. "Don't leave us, Ginny. You can't go now!"
As his twin began to cling to her, George kissed both of Ginny's cheeks. "I'll miss you every night. I'll soak my pillow with my tears to the point of mildew."
Ginny patted her brothers on the head and sighed. "I'll write you both letters if you'll be good boys and let go of me."
Oliver said, "Oh and Dumbledore has taken four bludgers to the nose."
Instantly, the twins were off Ginny. She hugged her other brothers and her parents. Then holding her trunk with one arm and Callie with the other, she stepped in to the fireplace and yelled, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
As soon as Ginny had vanished, Oliver took his trunk and stepped in to the fire and called out "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
A minute later, they both came out of the fireplace in Professor Dumbledore's office. He looked them over. "Well, if it isn't Professor Weasley and Professor Wood? Would you like me to ask Mr. Filch to help you take your things to rooms?"
Ginny stood up with Callie in her arms. "That would be great."
Oliver nodded. "I'd appreciate it."
"Oh, in an interesting turn of events," Professor Dumbledore said. "You two have classrooms right next to each other. True, Charms and Arithmancy have always been next to each other but with you two, this is in some ways a blessing. And Oliver, many of our female students believe everything that Witch Weekly says. Ginny, you also would do well to remember that."
Mr. Filch walked in a minute later and took Ginny and Oliver down to their classrooms. The charms classroom now had a sign over the door that read, "Charms, Professor Virginia Weasley." Ginny remembered when the sign had read, "Charms, Professor Filius Flitwick." The sign over the door to the Arithmancy classroom read, "Arithmancy, Professor Oliver Wood." Oliver smiled. "I remember when that said Professor Larissa Vector. I feel so weird replacing Professor Vector. I mean, my mum remembers having her as a teacher."
Ginny smiled. "Hey, my grandparents had Flitwick."
"Mine didn't," Oliver replied. "But I had Grandmum as a teacher."
Filch unlocked the doors of their classrooms. "Here you are, professors," he grumbled. "I remember when you two were students and look at ye now. You're professors, strange things this school is coming to. Oh, and yer keys are yer desks."
Ginny smiled at him. "Thank you, Mr. Filch."
"You're welcome, Professor," he mumbled.
Mr. Filch had only carried Ginny's trunk into her classroom. She went into her classroom and looked around. It seemed so empty without Flitwick standing at his podium going on in his squeaky voice, sounding so excited even about the most dreary of charms. It was so strange how such a small man could seem so large. His persona was captivating. Ginny hoped that her students would like her half as much as they'd liked Flitwick.
Oliver walked in. "It seems empty with out Flitwick."
"I was just thinking that," Ginny replied. "I remember spending hours in here, just mesmerized by him. You know, I think he was the only teacher here who never gave Harry a detention. Well, then, Trelawney and Hagrid probably didn't either but pretty much everyone else must have. And those who didn't give him one were filled up by all of Snape's detentions."
"It's hard to believe Snape's dead," Oliver said.
Ginny nodded. "I remember when he died Harry just looked at me and said, 'I thought he was immortal or something.' It was just completely out of the blue. But thankfully, he didn't die at the hands of Voldemort." Snape had been found dead in the middle of nowhere about two months after Voldemort's death. No suspects had ever been named but most people believed it was the work of some Death Eaters.
Oliver looked at her trunk sitting on the floor. "Would you like me to put that in your office for you?"
She nodded and rubbed Callie's back. Oliver looked at her and knew that the past month had been hard for her. Having Michael Corner tell everyone who would listen that Oliver Wood was the father of your child had to be difficult especially when Oliver Wood wasn't the father of your child. He knew that Ginny hadn't wanted to have kids before she got married so this whole situation had to be all the more difficult on her. How she handled raising Callie by herself, he would never understand. She was so strong.
She unlocked the door to the office and Oliver followed her inside. Inside the office there was another door, which Ginny also unlocked. These were her new quarters. Inside were a bedroom and a small sitting room with a couch and a rocking chair. The bedroom had a big, soft bed and a crib. Ginny smiled as Oliver said "Grandmum must have gotten it ready for you."
"How can you tell?" Ginny asked.
He pointed to the cradle. Inside was a red tartan blanket. "That was the blanket that she used when she was nursing her babies. I remember hearing my mum talk about it. You know James was the baby of the family. Mum is like six years older than him and she tells stories of Grandmum sitting in a rocking chair with James wrapped in a red tartan blanket and nursing. When Uncle James died, Mum was heartbroken."
"Had you ever met him?"
Oliver nodded. "He would come visit us whenever he could. He and Aunt Lily would bring Harry with them for Sunday brunch once a month. Harry was the cutest baby you ever saw in your life. The last time I saw him he was just learning to walk and talk. Sirius reminds me of him so much. You know how Sirius calls me Owie?"
Ginny nodded as she sat down on the bed.
"The Sunday before Uncle James and Aunt Lily died they came over for brunch. Just before they left, Harry said to me, 'Bye-bye, Owie.' I didn't see him again for ten years. And I never saw my aunt and uncle again."
Ginny looked at him sympathetically. "That's why you joined the order then?"
Oliver nodded. "I wanted Voldemort to pay for what he did to my family. It hurt so badly watching Mum after that happened."
"How old were you?"
"I was five. I didn't really understand but I understood enough to know that Uncle James was gone and he was never coming back. And I didn't see Harry for ten years because Grandfather thought he would be safer with his Muggle relatives. I still don't understand that one completely. I still think that in some ways Harry would have been safer with my family or Katie's family or Alicia's family."
Oliver sat down next to Ginny who, with her free hand, ran her fingers through his hair. "But Harry lived. I mean, being with the Dursleys was terrible for him but it made him a stronger person. Oliver, you have to get past all of that. It's in the past and you need to look to the future."
Oliver nodded. Then he was looking at Callie. She had brown eyes. He'd always thought she had green eyes. Ginny had green eyes and Michael had blue eyes. It stood to reason that Callie would have either blue eyes or green eyes but not brown eyes. Oliver looked at the baby's eyes again. She gurgled and blew a raspberry at him and he laughed. Then he looked at Ginny. "Where did she get brown eyes from? You're a Weasley and you have the Weasley green eyes. Michael has blue eyes. Where did she get brown eyes from?"
Ginny's face was immediately as red as her hair and it seemed like there were tears in her eyes. Oliver felt awful for asking her and was about to apologize when Ginny said, "I don't know. I've never known why her eyes were brown. I guess it was just God's gift to me making her look nothing at all like Michael. But that's why Fred said she has your eyes. She really does look like she has your eyes. But they're not really your eyes. It's just the color of her yes. I don't know why they're brown; they just are."
Oliver nodded sensing that she really didn't want to talk about it. "Well, I should go get settled in my rooms."
Ginny hugged him. "I'll see you at the staff meeting at four."
He kissed her cheek. "Okay, I'll see you then."
Hogwarts opened on September 1. At five o'clock all the teachers except for Hagrid and Professor McGonagall had to report to the Great Hall. Hagrid, of course, had to meet the students in Hogsmeade and McGonagall had to meet the first years before they came into the Great Hall to be sorted in to Houses.
Madam Pomfrey was watching Callie during dinner for which Ginny was grateful. As she put on her Hogwarts robes, she thought about the seven years she'd spent in this castle as a student. She'd been a Gryfinndor, a prefect, a Quidditch player, and in her seventh year, Head Girl. Now she was a teacher. She was only four years older than some of the students. She just hoped that they would respect her. She was glad that her first class, eight o'clock on Mondays, was first years. And it was Gryfinndors. They would be easier than Slytherins as her first class. Slytherin was significantly smaller than it had been before Voldemort's death.
Ginny put her long red hair up in a bun and headed for the Great Hall. She found her seat at the Head Table between Professor Sprout and Oliver. Oliver squeezed her hand. Then the students came into the Hall and began filling up the chairs at the tables. Finally, Professor McGonagall led the first years into the room. Ginny could see that many of them were shaking in their boots, or shoes rather. She smiled. She remembered being absolutely terrified of the sorting her first year. But then she'd been thrilled to join her brothers in Gryfinndor.
The first student was a small redheaded girl named Marissa Adams. Marissa was sorted into Ravenclaw. Ginny sat patiently through the sorting of over sixty students only seven of whom went into Slytherin. Twenty-one students went to Gryfinndor and Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw each got sixteen new students. When the last student, Katie Zimmerhoff was sorted into Gryfinndor, Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome, my dear students to another year at Hogwarts! All the school's rules can be found next to the door to Mr. Filch's office. I would like to welcome two new teachers to our staff. As many of you know, Professor Filch retired from our staff at the end of last year. Professor Virginia Weasley has replaced him. Professor Vector also retired over the summer and Professor Oliver Wood has replaced her. I hope you will join me in welcoming these two new staff members back to Hogwarts."
The Great Hall burst out in cheers. Ginny reasoned that many of the students were fans of Oliver's and were glad to have him as a teacher.
The next morning, Ginny walked into her classroom to find it full of nervous first years. She walked to the podium and sat down behind it. She picked up the roll sheet and began to take roll. Everyone was speaking very quietly as if they were all scared of her. After she took roll they all just sat there staring at her. Finally one blonde haired girl raised her hand. Ginny nodded. "Yes, Miss?"
"I'm Maria Wood," the girl said. "Is Oliver Wood really your daughter's father?"
"Miss Wood," Ginny asked. "Are you Professor Wood's younger sister?" The girl was about fifteen years younger than Oliver but he had six younger sisters so it was possible.
The short, slender blonde nodded. "Yes, Professor Wood is my brother."
"Then I'd like to speak to you after class about believing everything you read in the tabloids. As I'm sure your brother can tell you, they like to make things up about famous people. And Oliver is famous."
"So are you," blurted out a short, pudgy boy with sandy blonde hair. "You were one of Harry Potter's best friends when he was at Hogwarts and you helped defeat Lord Voldemort."
"So did Professor Wood, five of my six brothers, my parents, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, Remus Lupin and many other unsung heroes."
"But there's an entire chapter on you in the Defense Against the Dark Arts book," cried out a tall, slender black girl sitting near Maria Wood. "It's over sixty pages long. The only people who have more pages are Harry Potter, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Wood, and the Gryfinndor Chasers."
"Miss Thomas," Ginny said instantly recognizing the girl as Jessie Thomas, Dean Thomas's younger sister. "That chapter is about my entire family, not just me."
"Don't be so modest," Maria Wood said. "There's a fair twelve pages on you."
"And getting back to Charms," Ginny said. "Open your books to page twelve."
After class, Ginny went into the Great Hall for lunch. She sat down next to Oliver. "You never told me your younger sister would be in my class."
"You'll have four of them," he said. "Maria is eleven, Beatrice is twelve, Juliet is fourteen, and Helena is sixteen. They're all in Gryfinndor. I only have Helena; Juliet's never been much of a math person."
"What about your other sisters?" Ginny asked, taking bite of the chicken on her plate.
"Ophelia is eighteen; she graduated last year and she works at Madame Malkin's now. And don't ask why my sister is named Ophelia. Viola will be coming here in two years. She's only nine. My mum is obsessed with the Muggle playwright, Shakespeare. When I was born, she wanted me to be a girl so she could name me Olivia. But when I was a boy, she settled for Oliver."
Ginny smiled. "How was Callie this morning?" Oliver didn't have a class on Monday mornings, so he'd offered to baby-sit Callie.
"She was a perfect angel. She woke up about two hours ago and after I gave her breakfast, she just wanted to play."
"How many classes do you have all week?"
"Five, one Monday afternoon, one Tuesday morning, one Wednesday morning, one Thursday afternoon and one Friday morning. Only one class per year, it's great. I can watch Callie when I'm free, if you like."
"That'd be great. The only times I'm free are Tuesday afternoons from one to five and Friday mornings from eight to noon. I have sixteen classes. Everyone is double-Charms except the first years."
"Well, look at the bright side, on Friday mornings, you don't have to get up until noon," Oliver pointed out.
"Yes but every other morning of the week I have to be up with the birds."
"And two mornings a week you don't have to worry about Callie because I'll take care of her those days."
Ginny smiled. "You're the best. Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey said they'll watch her whenever you can't."
"People love your daughter, Ginny. That little girl is simply irresistible."
Ginny squeezed his hand. "So are you."
Over the next month or so, Ginny's popularity among the students grew. She was, to quote Maria Wood, "The nicest teacher in the school. She never gives out detentions." And she didn't unless it was absolutely necessary. She made her classes fun. If it had been a boring class, she'd put a Cheering Charm on the class at the end of the class. She was a big hit with all the students, especially the Gryfinndor Quidditch team. They loved her for three reasons. First off, she didn't give them homework the week before a match. Secondly, she had played Quidditch at Hogwarts as her siblings. And she was the sister of Charlie Weasley, the second greatest Seeker in Hogwarts history. The greatest, according to Chaser and team captain, Mariana Morris, was Harry Potter. Mariana was a seventh-year who was constantly spending her lunchtime either talking to Ginny or Oliver about their Quidditch playing days. She wanted Oliver's advice on her practicing regimen until one day Professor McGonagall overheard her begging him, "Professor Wood, just tell me how you got your teams to be so amazing! How did you get your team in to perfect condition to win the Cup?"
Professor McGonagall looked at Mariana. "Miss Morris, I do not think you really want your team on Professor Wood's practicing regimen. It was rather brutal. The next time you're in Hogsmeade, go to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes and ask either Fred or George about Professor Wood's absolutely absurd way of practicing and you won't want your team on his regimen. Trust me, I saw it's effects on my students."
Mariana looked at Professor McGonagall. "I'm going to ask the Weasleys because I don't believe you."
After Mariana walked away, Oliver looked at Professor McGonagall. "Grandmum, what was so insane and absurd about how I ran my practices?'
"It wasn't how you ran them, my dear," she said in a grandmotherly fashion. "It was when you held them. Do you think Harry, Alicia, Angelina, and Katie weren't suffering from getting up at five in the morning? And like it or not, the twins were obviously suffering. They didn't pull a single prank in my room the week before the championship. That was the only week in seven years I didn't have to deal with one of their pranks. While ordinarily I would have thanked you, I knew that they were sleeping in my class because you were getting them up to early."
Oliver looked at his grandmother. "Why do you always have to be right?"
"Because I'm your grandmother," she replied. "And if I were you, I'd write a letter to the papers admitting that you're Callie's father and telling them to leave you alone."
"Okay, I'll do that."
"And the twins are right," she said. "Date Ginny for a year, ask her to marry you next summer, and marry her the following summer. Trust me, it'll work out for you two. She loves you too much to ever let go of you. Claiming to be Callie's father has been a lifesaver for her."
Oliver was astounded at how intelligent his grandmother was.
A/N: Okay, so was it good? Not much action but hey, I was fighting with my computer all day. Please review and I'll write more. But I'm leaving on vacation on Thursday and I won't be back until Monday night so I may not be able to update again until next Tuesday but I'll try to update tomorrow.
