Chapter Five:
Harry Potter and the Burgeoning Breakfast
Harry cautiously opened his eyes and groaned. It couldn't possibly be morning yet! He closed his eyes and turned over. The blankets were in just the right place, creating just the right temperature. Harry was perfectly comfortable; he didn't need to go anywhere. He moved to snuggle closer to his wife, the only thing that could make this situation even better. He reached over and felt nothing but empty space. Where had she disappeared to? Harry opened his eyes and squinted through the pale light coming through the curtains. Her robe was missing from its usual place and so were her slippers. This told his overly cautious Auror mentality that it was perfectly normal, she had only gotten up early.
Relieved, but no longer in much of a mood to sleep, Harry got up and padded down the hallway looking for her. He found her in the baby's room, sitting in the rocking chair and humming.
"Morning, Ginny," he said. "Did you sleep alright?"
"Well good morning sleepy head! I slept as much as I could with this belly of mine. He was not in the mood to sleep last night. I didn't wake you did I?"
"No, I slept like a rock."
"Good well, get it in now. Once the baby comes you will be getting up at all hours to change nappies," she said playfully.
"Oh is that how it's going to be Mrs Potter?"
"Yes, Mr Potter. But since you're up now, how about making me some of your famous eggs and bacon?"
Harry laughed and bent down to kiss his wife. "I will get right on that."
Harry made his way down to the kitchen remembering the reason why his eggs were famous. He had been used to cooking without magic, but in the first week that he and Ginny had been married he had decided to cook her some eggs and bacon for breakfast. He had decided it was about time he used magic to do it and had heated the pan, scrambled the eggs, and put them in the pan all magically. He whispered his incantation so as not to wake Ginny in the next room of their small flat and had somehow mispronounced it. The pan began making more eggs than he had originally put in and then it all turned to rubber. He had stood there aghast as the eggs started running over the side of the pan and over the stove, not sure what to do. By the time Ginny had found him, he was nearly knee deep in eggs in their small kitchen.
Once Ginny had dried the tears of laughter on her face she managed to help Harry clean up the mess and start the eggs the right way. However, she refused to let Harry forget the incident and had no qualms about telling all their relatives occasionally so that they didn't forget about famous Harry Potter's Burgeoning Breakfast.
The good that came out of the situation was Molly had taken the time to teach him how to make eggs and bacon with magic. Once he had some practice he was really quite good. So good in fact, that Ginny usually asked him to make breakfast on Saturdays and it had become a little family tradition.
Harry smiled at the memory and deftly started the breakfast, saying the spell correctly, and began setting the table. There was a soft peck at the window and Harry saw Hedwig and another owl waiting outside in the chilly morning air with the mail. He opened the window and let them both in out of the cold and bunged them both an owl treat.
Hedwig had the usual mail, letters from worried first year's mothers, the latest sale on down at Madam Malkin's, letters from the Ministry asking him to back their latest scheme, the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler. The other owl had one single letter with child like handwriting scrawled across the front:
Harry Potter, Headmaster of Hog-warts School
Curious, Harry opened the letter and started the coffee. Of course! It was from Daniel. Harry had not expected to hear from him until Monday at the earliest.
Dear Mr Potter,
I was thinking and I would like to go to your school, if it is what my father wanted me to do. I can not say I will be any good at magic, but I will try. Mum said you would help me get my school supplies.
Sincerely,
Daniel Waikely.
Harry smiled at the scrawled letter, Jude would have been proud. He folded it back up and put it in his pocket to return his attention back to the… eggs! He had forgotten about the eggs! He sighed deeply and muttering under his breath flicked his wand to banish the eggs and start over again.
Ginny sauntered into the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Hmmm, smells like something burnt in here. Do you know anything about that darling?"
"Who me?" asked Harry innocently.
"Yes you!"
"Oh, I was reading the mail and yes, I burned the eggs, alright? Nothing a simple wave of the wand couldn't fix."
"I see. You just keep giving me stories to tell at Thursday night dinners, Harry. Really, you make my job too easy," she said grinning. "So, anything interesting in the mail?"
"It's just the usual stuff and a letter from Daniel. He decided to go to Hogwarts."
"Oh really? That's wonderful! His father would be proud, but how is his mother taking the news?"
"I will find out today, I have to go and take Daniel to Diagon Alley. I told Abby I would take him to buy his school supplies. I have to go today because I have too many last minute things to do at the school before the start of term next week. Would you like to go with us?"
"No thanks, it might take a while, and I am not in the mood to go shopping, besides, Hermione is coming by today."
"Oh right, Ron has the kids today," said Harry, grinning at the thought. Ron had said something not too sensitive a few years back and so Hermione had decided that once a week he would take the kids for a few hours so that she could get away. At first, Ron had been a fish out of water, but he usually took them out to the Quidditch pitch, and they played most of the day. Eventually he and Hermione had both begun to look forward to those days. Now that Michael was almost 15 he didn't want to do as many things with his younger brother and sister. But Brian and Delia were 10, and Molly was 6 and still enjoyed their days with their Dad.
Harry scribbled a note to Abby and sent Hedwig back with the note. If he was to meet Daniel by 11:30 he needed to clean up breakfast, take a shower, get dressed and apparate over to their house.
Daniel could hardly eat his breakfast because of a combination of nerves, apprehension and excitement. He was dying of curiosity about where he was to find his school supplies. The list held many things he had either never heard of or had never seen in the local market. There were so many things Daniel wanted to ask his mother, but she was trying to contain her nervousness and was barely controlling herself. She seemed distant and anxious and she was even more fidgety than Daniel.
It seemed an eternity before 11:30 came, but when it did Daniel was waiting by the front door patiently. Daniel heard quite a commotion coming from the living room and found a coughing, sneezing, wheezing wizard covered in soot standing in a pile of dust on his mother's rug.
"Oh my!" said his mother worriedly "I am afraid it has been quite some time since we've used the Floo Network, Harry."
Harry stood there for a minute blinking at her. He was quite a sight to see, the only thing that kept Daniel from giggling was the shock of seeing a man who had just emerged from the fireplace standing in his living room. There was dust in Harry's hair that made it look grey rather than its usual jet black, his face was covered in smudges that hid both scars and his robes rather than black with a touch of red on the sleeves were grey with a touch more grey.
"Don't worry, Abby, nothing I can't fix. I would rather be a little dusty than splinched any day," said Harry after one last cough. He waved his wand in a circular motion and the dust simply disappeared. Daniel was amazed.
"Are we going through there?" asked Daniel timidly, pointing at the fireplace where the soot and ashes had only just settled.
"Well yes, that's why I thought I should try it out, to see if it was still working," said Harry.
Daniel looked at Harry and then looked at his mother. She was acting unfazed by the whole ordeal, but Daniel knew better. Once he left, she would be a basket case.
"Well, we'd best be off. What did you say that vault number was Abby?"
"657," she replied.
"Alright then, ready Daniel?" asked Harry looking at Daniel reassuringly.
Daniel's head screamed no, but his feet moved towards Harry.
"Here, Daniel, hold this small bit of powder and when you are ready throw it into the fire and say 'Diagon Alley' as loudly and clearly as you can. You don't want to end up somewhere else."
"But then what?" asked Daniel.
"Why then you step into the fire," said Harry. Seeing the look on Daniel's face he continued, "I was nervous the first time I used the Floo Network too. Would you rather watch me do it first and then you give it a try?"
Daniel nodded numbly and watched as Harry threw his handful of Floo Powder into the fire and clearly said 'Diagon Alley'. A large blaze of green fire shot up and Harry calmly stepped into it and disappeared.
"Go ahead now Daniel, your turn," his mother said.
Daniel looked at his mother, looked at the Floo powder in his hand and looked at the fireplace. With as much gusto as he could muster, Daniel tossed his powder into the fire and said 'Diagon Alley'. His voice sounded very distant and very small. With one small shuffle that was aided by his mother's little shove, he stepped into the now roaring fireplace.
Daniel shut his eyes tight and winced, but he felt himself whirling unpleasantly in someplace that was neither his destination nor his home. Suddenly, he tumbled out and felt two strong arms catch him.
"You have to be ready to stand up," said Harry. "Don't worry though, my first time I ended up somewhere completely different. You'll get used to it after a while."
Daniel nodded but wasn't sure he wanted to get used it. He brushed himself off and looked around. He couldn't believe his eyes. There was so much to take in. It was nothing like the local market his mother took him to.
Harry looked down into the young boy's face and saw his own first reaction reflected in Daniel's face. "Welcome to the wizarding world, Daniel."