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New chapter.
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Chapter 17: The Riddles' Magical Orphanage
At the first day of the summer Ginny and Tom's orphanage was ready to operate.
Ginny reached out to the ministry of magic and got all the permits and financial support to the first magical orphanage in Britain.
The house had a lot of bedrooms, each bedroom had: four beds, big closet, writing desks and chairs. On the floors were rugs of every color. And on the walls paintings and tapestries of the four houses of Hogwarts and other magical elements.
There was a big library with arm chairs, sofas, cushioned window sills and a fire place attached to the Floo net. There was a lounge on every floor each with fire place, carpet, and sofas.
On the first floor were a big kitchen and a dining room, a big lounge that was also a playroom with a lot of games and toys, and a study.
At the moment, the house had four floors but if they will need, Tom and Ginny were ready to expend their orphanage.
"Ginny, can you open the door? JJ got herself and me covered with ink," called Tom from the study. He could hear Ginny's laugher.
Ginny opened the door.
"Ginny!" called Lizzy.
Ginny opened her arms for the small blond.
Blaise smiled. "She is going to be your first kid,"
"That's great. Tom is working on a letter to Dumbledore and the ministry, that a child that need a home will get to us. Hogwarts usually learn about those children when they reach the age of eleven, but the ministry may know about the younger ones," said Ginny, inviting them in.
"Can I go explore?" asked Lizzy.
"Of course," smiled Ginny and watched the girl run up the stairs.
Tom came out of the study with JJ on his arms.
Ginny giggled. It seemed that Tom missed a few smudges of ink.
Ginny waved her hand and instantly both JJ and Tom were clean.
"Here, take the little demon. Hello Zabini." Said Tom, handing JJ to Ginny.
"Hello, Riddle. Fatherhood is tough on you?" asked Blaise with a raised eyebrow.
"You try handle this little demon. She is definitely half Weasley," said Tom, making Ginny laugh.
Lizzy was rushing down the stairs when she lost her balance and fell against Tom's legs.
"Hello again, Lizzy, was it?" asked Tom, offering her his hand and pulling her to her feet.
"Yes. Sorry sir,"
"Don't worry, and it's Tom," he smiled at her, she smiled back.
"Can I play with the baby?" asked Lizzy.
"Sure. Her name is JJ, and you can play in the playroom, behind that door," said Ginny, showing her the way.
In a week they got three more children. Two girls – Sara and Juliet that were at the ages of three and four, and one boy – Alexander that was about to start his first year in Hogwarts.
"Alexander, dinner," called Ginny, knocking on his door.
"Not hungry," said Alexander.
"May I come in?" asked Ginny.
"Sure." Said Alexander.
Ginny walked in to the room. Alexander was sitting against the wall on the carpet.
"Do you miss your parents?" asked Ginny, taking a seat on the carpet next to him.
"No. They are bad people," said Alexander.
Alexander's last name was Avery.
"Maybe so, but they are your parents and it's o.k. to miss them," said Ginny.
"I don't want to be in Slytherin like my father was." Said Alexander.
"Well, first you can ask what house to be. The sorting hat consider your opinion. Second, the head of the house is a good man, and Lizzy is in Slytherin, and Tom was in Slytherin too,"
"Tom was in Slytherin? But weren't you at Gryffindor? How does that work?"
Ginny laughed. "It's a long story, sweetie. Just know you have nothing to worry about,"
He nodded.
"Come on, I am hungry, and if we don't hurry, Tom will eat everything."
The boy chuckled and followed her to the dining room.
As the summer was coming to an end, Ginny took Lizzy and Alexander to shop for Hogwarts in Diagon alley. Tom was left at the house with the younger girls. It will take some time until he will be able to go out without risking being arrested.
When it was time to escort them to the station, Ginny was the one to do that too.
"Ginny, can I come home for Christmas?" asked Alexander as they were standing at the platform.
"Of course. Although Hogwarts can be fun on Christmas. Think about it until December, if you want to come home send me a letter and I will wait for you here when the time will come, alright?" asked Ginny.
He nodded and she hugged him, kissing the top of his head.
"Alex, you will miss the train!" called Lizzy as the train was starting to move.
Alex waved at Ginny and jumped on the train next to Lizzy.
"Have a nice year you two, try to be good!" called Ginny after them.
"Bye Ginny!" they called back, and they were gone.
"How was it?" asked Tom as Ginny entered the house, kissing his cheek.
"Alex seemed to be worried, and you know Lizzy, she is a ball of energy. They will be alright," said Ginny.
"I am sure they will be. Will you be alright mama bear?" asked Tom.
She laughed and suddenly was hugged by two little girls.
"Sara made the ball explode!" called Juliet.
"No! it was Juliet!" called Sara.
"Not true!" called Juliet.
"Girls!" called Ginny.
They looked at her with trembling lips and teary eyes.
"It's alright. Children sometimes do accidental magic, it's natural and it's o.k." explained Ginny.
"And I will fix the ball, why don't you go and bring me the pieces?" suggested Tom.
The girls nodded and rushed to the playroom.
In two years they had about six girls and four boys in the orphanage, most of them pre-Hogwarts age.
Ginny herself was pregnant with their second child, and she was about eighteen while Tom was nineteen.
"Children, dinner!" called Ginny and the kids run down the stairs.
"Don't forget to wash your hands!" called Tom.
The children washed their hands, the older ones helping the little ones.
As they sat to eat, Alex, Lizzy and Michael talked about their letters from Hogwarts.
"Can we go tomorrow to buy everything?" asked Michael. He was about to start his first year at Hogwarts.
"Of course," smiled Ginny.
"Can you handle three school lists?" asked Tom.
"Sirius is coming with me, and since we hired Luna, she will be here to help you," said Ginny.
"How are they, those two?" asked Tom.
"Good, they are getting married in the end of the summer," said Ginny in a smile.
"That's great!" called Tom.
"Yes," she giggled.
"Are we invited?" asked Lizzy.
"Yeah, Luna wants all of you, children in her wedding," smiled Ginny.
"Cool," said Lizzy.
"We need to get them dress-gowns," said Tom.
"I will check tomorrow if someone from the store can get here, if not we will bring them over to the store sometime next week," said Ginny.
"Sounds good," said Tom in a smile.
"Papa Tom, can I have cake now?" asked Libby.
His eyes glowed with his smile. He loved it when the smaller children called him 'Papa Tom'.
"Did you eat your peas?" asked Tom.
She nodded vigorously.
He laughed "alright then."
At the next day, while Ginny and Sirius were shopping for school with the three older children, everything changed for the worst.
Hi,
Some stuff I forgot to tell you.
Small bold writing = Tom handwriting.
Small regular writing = Ginny handwriting.
Big regular writing is the story. (Big bold too).