On a Saturday during the first week of November, after deciding that they'd procrastinated quite enough, Harry and Ginny hauled themselves up to London to shop for baby furniture.

The Potters had discovered in August that they could expect twins, prompting special interest by Fred and George, both of whom were as yet childless. Molly also had many bits of advice about caring for twins, and when Harry suggested that they were going up to London to buy two cribs, she threw her arms up in exasperation.

"Why? Why would you do such a thing? They're babies. They don't mind sharing a bed. They like to keep each other company."

Harry and Ginny took her advice, having no other source, and presently entered a shop on Nobles Road, very near to Ginny's old neighborhood.

The store was dank and musty, like all the Wizarding shops in London. This one had a less sinister air about it than most of the others Harry had ever visited, however. He saw a bin full of the leather pouches he'd seen farmers use to feed lambs and foals. Cloth nappies were stacked thickly in a case in the middle of the room. Suddenly, an appallingly old witch darted at them from nowhere.

"Good day, good day. What can I help you with, poppets?" Her eyes traveled over the two of them, landing unsurprisingly on Harry's scar. "Are you Harry Potter?" He nodded. "Well, isn't that nice. Starting a family of your own, now, hmm?" She winked at him and he saw that her eyelids sagged, and then she smiled, and Ginny saw that she was missing teeth, and that her wrinkles seemed to have wrinkles.

"We need to buy a cradle for two babies," Ginny said.

As the lady led them into the back of the shop, Harry whispered, "Now our secret's out. The press will have a field day with this one, you just watch."

The decrepit witch pointed to a beautifully carved cot that looked large enough for two babies. Harry was fully satisfied, but Ginny wisely asked to see more options. After half an hour, they decided on a plain, sturdy, cherry crib. As Harry went to complete the purchase, Ginny reminded him that they needed other pieces. They ended up with some sort of changing table and a wardrobe, plus some of the odd leather pouches that Harry understood Wizards used to feed human babies, too.

Harry bought the items, and then watched as the old witch slowly took out her wand and shrunk each piece of furniture, wrapped it with old newspaper and put it in a brown bag. She said, "You'll need to have these in place before midnight, because that's when the spell wears off." They nodded, took the bags, said goodbye, and left the shop.

When they got home, Ginny arranged the miniature furniture around the nursery, which was freshly painted (after an entire summer of nagging her husband to do it). Leaving the fixtures in their tiny state, she went to start dinner for herself, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Julius, and baby Nicholas.

As Ginny was coming down the stairs, she heard the doorbell ring. 'Aren't they early?' she thought. She went to open it, and found three strangers looking at her expectantly, notebooks out and quills poised. Registering that these were reporters, she shut the door before they could say a word, called for Harry, and went to start washing the carrots.

"What's going on? Who's at the door?" he asked as soon as he came into the room from the study.

"Reporters," Ginny sighed. They'd had incidents like this before: after their first date at the Weird Sisters Concert, several times in the weeks after they were married, and once out of the blue. They both knew the protocol: don't say anything, shut the door, owl the newspapers immediately. Harry had dealt with this since he first knew he was a Wizard, so he was quite jaded. Ginny, however, thought it was the biggest nuisance in the world.

An hour later, they heard another doorbell, and this time Harry answered the door to see the Weasley-Grangers on the threshold, with no reporters in sight.

"Looking a bit jumpy, aren't we, mate?" joked Ron as in one movement he entered the house, clapped Harry on the shoulder and set a bottle of soda water on the kitchen table.

Hermione followed, rolling her eyes and handing Nick off to Harry. Julius immediately checked all round the kitchen for bits of unattended food, but all he found were vegetables and raw meat, which were naturally useless. Hermione motioned for Ginny to sit down and began stirring the sauce herself.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

Ginny giggled. "You probably can remember."

"No, I mean…how does it feel with twins? You're really big, and it's -what- seven months?"

"Yeah, well, it's not exactly fun, but it should be worth it. I doubt I'll do this again, though." It had been rather trying for Ginny. She'd had influenza in October, and was still looking peaked and sickly. She was constantly smiling even though she was emaciated and made a brave effort to cook, though Harry had been doing most of the domestic work. Once she got home from the offices, Ginny was exhausted and in no mood to clean.

She was now sprawled on the sofa, listening to the boys talk as they tried to help Hermione in the kitchen.

"Catriona McCormack is really interested in the neighborhood," Ron said. "She thinks you need to turn your community team pro. I told her she was ludicrous. She's still planning to owl you about it, though." Ron worked in the offices of the Pride of Portree Quidditch team, though he often expressed his wish to work for the Chudley Cannons. It was through Ms. McCormack that Ron got tickets to Weird Sisters concerts, as her son was the lead guitarist.

Julius currently waddled up to Ginny and attempted to crawl into her lap, but couldn't fit and slid to the floor. Feeling very embarrassed about this, Ginny scooped him up and sat him close to her on the couch with her arm around his little shoulders.

"Why have you gotten so fat?" he inquired.

Hermione looked horrified and shrieked, "Julius! You are a naughty, rude little boy! You apologize to your Aunt Ginny right now!"

He looked shocked that people were disciplining him, and scooted a little away from Ginny on the sofa, but obediently said he was sorry.

Ginny ineptly explained to him that she was going to have a couple of babies, and encouraged him to recollect that his mother was fat like this before Nicholas was born, but he did not remember, and anyway seemed not to really accept that his brother, who was eighteen months old, was permanently living with them.

The four old schoolmates chatted for hours about everything they could think of, generally returning to politics and Harry's Auror work. Hermione was now on a team in the labs researching the effects of Billywig stings on small children, which might bring about radical changes to Fizzing Whizbee production and consumption. They spoke of Julius starting local Muggle school, and of a probable transfer to Wheffle's down the road. He was a handful enough when in the company of Wizards, but they couldn't figure out how to get him to not mention magic when around Muggles, so they were going to pull him out after the summer term.

Ginny was working on her last project before she had leave. It was an exquisite autobiography written by Firenze, the centaur who was still co-teaching Divination at Hogwarts. It was a tricky political situation to handle, because the centaurs were generally so secretive about their customs and culture. Firenze had been banished long ago from the herd, and his book might prove to be damaging to the publishing house if the centaurs in his herd became involved. Magnus Higgs had put Ginny on the job because she had proven herself to be a really genius diplomat on that first book by the Mermaid. That had nearly escaladed into a nasty legal contest over some misconstrued or paraphrased sentence, but Ginny had seen to it that both parties sit down and reason with each other and had altered the text so that it agreed to the terms set down by the offended faction. In the end, it had gone very well and the book had sold half a million copies world wide, an unmatched number for Whizz Hard Books.

By nine, both children were asleep, and Ron and Hermione said they'd have to leave. The Potters bade them farewell and goodnight, and went to bed early themselves.

On Christmas Eve, exactly one week before his wife was due to give birth to their children, Harry Potter became abruptly aware as to what, in reality, this commitment meant.

This was nothing compared to his decision to get married. He had been so in love with Ginny, so young, and hadn't seen that anything could go wrong as long as she agreed to marry him.

Now, however, with more years behind him and more responsibilities, he was suddenly terrified that he would make some poor decision and ruin his children's lives. He didn't know how Ron seemed so happy, allowing his kids to run round eating bugs, flying toy brooms and playing with gnomes, knowing that at any moment, they could be seriously injured or killed. Or how Hermione was comfortable screeching at Julius as she did. Didn't she think maybe she was being a little hard on him? But then, Charlie never said a word to his son, Marco. And what was up with that child? He was having prophecies at the age of four…Harry supposed there was some Seer blood on his mother's side of the family. Now Percy was stern with Corinthus, and he was a fine, intelligent boy, but he also never gave his father a hug or kiss and was clearly a little intimidated by him. What was a parent to do?

Ginny, Harry was pleased to see, didn't seem too anxious about her parenting abilities. What he didn't know was that she had already stressed about this months ago, and by now was concerned primarily with the physical aspect of child-bearing.

In their respective states of anticipation, the Potters were obliged to make the snowy trek to the Burrow for dinner on Christmas Eve. Because Ginny was on bed rest, this was more difficult than ever before. She could not safely Apparate or go by Floo, so Harry arranged for the Knight Bus to take them, as it was all he could think of doing.

As the bright purple Knight Bus skidded to a halt in Ottery St. Catchpole, Harry stood on shaky legs and tried to maneuver his wife out of the vehicle. She wasn't very good on her feet, what with the forty-some extra pounds on her thin frame, so the conductor (not Stan Shunpike this time) grabbed one of her elbows and dragged. As the men heaved her out of the bus, Ginny was numb with embarrassment. For a woman who had always considered herself independent and mobile, she was feeling very feeble. She also didn't like that the conductor had started nudging her bum in an effort to get her out.

The moment both Potters were finally completely out of the triple-decker, they heard a thunderous engine start and Ginny barely had time to see a flash of purple before all evidence of the thing was gone. Seizing Harry's arm, she dragged herself to the driveway of the Burrow. When they were five feet away from the door, it opened and the twins and Charlie poured out, all running to help Ginny inside.

They were greeted inside by several small children running near the door, each of whom had red hair of some degree: Corinthus and Bertram, Penny and Percy's sons; Marco, Charlie and Camelia's; and Julius. Nicholas was sitting under the Christmas tree, looking happy about the fairies that had been bewitched to perch on the branches. Ginny smelled things baking. Charlie helped her into a chair; she gave a yelp as her back gave a twinge.

"You okay?" five people shouted at once.

"Yeah…just another casualty of pregnancy, I guess," she joked.

She couldn't have known then that halfway through the bread pudding, just as Harry said they needed to get home, she would leak amniotic fluid all over her mother's dining chair, or that she would be hoisted back onto the Knight Bus by several of her brothers and be driven straight to St. Mungo's, her uneaten bread pudding lying on the table. She didn't know that she would give birth to a girl first, then a boy, while the entire Weasley band congregated in the waiting room, everyone sadly yearning for their own bread puddings. She couldn't possibly have known how happy her mother would be at the news that she had had a girl, but she soon discovered the above details to be true.

As these events unfolded, Harry was quickly swept into a daze. Perhaps it was all the sherry he'd had earlier in the evening, but most likely, he was simply overwhelmed. He had heard Ginny's squeal as she wet herself, felt his hands lift her back onto the bus, and vaguely remembered the Healers driving him out of the delivery room. He couldn't remember anything about waiting for two hours, or anyone speaking to him during this time, though he was sure that Percy, Ron, Charlie, and Mr. Weasley had seen fit to lend him a couple kernels of wisdom.

What he did remember was when the Healer finally beckoned him back in, and he had seen his lovely Ginny with her hair damp and large, dark circles under her eyes, looking more beautiful than he'd ever seen her (though maybe this was also the sherry talking). She was holding a bundle of emerald blankets. Another Healer was holding a second: these blankets were violet. Harry's eyes grew very wide at this sight, and he didn't know which to reach for first, so he ended up lunging for Ginny. He held her and thanked her incoherently for a while, and when he straightened back up, the Healer handed him the purple blankets.

The blankets were peculiarly heavy. Harry shifted one and budged the swaddling a little so he could see the baby's face. Then, he began to cry.

Most people haven't had to suffer through the emotional turmoil that Harry Potter had had to. Beginning with the deaths of his parents and his exile as an infant into the home of relatives who didn't love him, Harry had not had an easy time with loving or trusting people. When he thought about all the time his parents had missed from his life, and all that he had missed from theirs, he couldn't help but fear that the same would happen for his children. And as he looked into his newborn daughter's cloudy, grayish eyes, he wept for his parents, for his children, for anyone who was lacking in love, because at that moment, he was the happiest man in the world.

When he had calmed down after a few minutes, he handed one baby to Ginny in exchange for the other. He held his son, and knew instantly what he would name him: James.

"He'll be James, alright, Gin?" His voice quavered.

"Of course. It's a fine name. But, Harry…" she looked into her daughter's pink, pudgy face, "I want to name this one Alba. After Dumbledore."

With the names decided upon, the Healer disappeared for a moment, and a second later the rest of the Weasleys poured into the room. Camelia and Penelope were near the door, trying to keep the children at bay, but Julius wanted to give them Nicholas, and Corinthus thought that at age nine, he at least should be allowed to see the babies up close.

Molly swooped in and picked up her granddaughter. She looked at the baby and, like Harry, broke into tears.

"They're each just over five pounds," Ginny said.

Mrs. Weasley passed Alba on to Arthur, who also looked about to cry. Soon, all of Ginny's brothers had held at least one of the babies, and the Healer kicked everyone out. The Potters chuckled at Corinthus' groans as he was shooed into the hall.

Ginny was naturally exhausted, and as soon as she had seen that her babies would sleep for a while, dozed off. Harry was likewise fatigued, and fell asleep in a chair next to the hospital cradles.

He was awakened by a faraway voice…who was that? Harry sat up straight, rubbing his neck. He barely opened his eyes before he was engulfed in a hug. He saw billowing blue robes out of the corner of his eye, and a strand of long, white hair.

"Dumbledore…what are you doing in here at-" he checked his wristwatch "-four in the morning?" He was whispering as Ginny was still asleep.

"Arthur sent me an owl and told me Ginny'd had the babies. He also told me that you'd named one…well, after me." He paused for a long time. "I am truly, deeply touched by that, Harry." A tear slowly streamed down his face. "Arthur told me that it was actually Mrs. Potter who decided on it, but I'm thanking you all the same." He paused again and drew a large breath. "They're beautiful." he nodded toward the bassinet.

Harry had just realized that Albus Dumbledore had never before embraced him; not during his lonely childhood, not during his Hogwarts years, not even after the War. This made him again very emotional. What was with these babies? They were making grown men cry, right and left.

Harry stood up and led Dumbledore to the sleeping infants. The two watched them for a while, unconscious of each other, although each was thinking the same thoughts. Dumbledore stood watching little James and thinking how much he looked like his father, and for that matter, his grandfather; Harry saw his own reflection in his new son's face and remained in awe. They stayed like that for a long while, moving only at five o' clock, when Ginny sensed the absence of Harry's snores and awoke, demanding to cuddle her children again.