All characters are property of JK Rowling and I do not make a profit from this story.

Beta: Roman's Sundial

Chapter Forty-Three: Sharing the News

Harry Potter – Present Day

May 31, 2000

"You got my sister pregnant?" Ron asked for what was probably the fifth time that minute. Harry took a deep breath; he didn't expect Ron to take the news well, and he hadn't.

"Yes, Ron," he said. "We've been together for several years and we love each other and-"

"You aren't married."

"We will be!"

"You're only marrying her because she is pregnant!"

"No, Ron, I love her, I've always wanted to – Oi!" Ron had just flung himself at Harry and it took all of Malfoy's strength to pull him off. "What the bloody hell was that for?" Harry yelled.

"You got my sister pregnant!" yelled Ron, trying to fight off Malfoy's grip on him.

"Yes, I did, the same way you could have gotten Jessica or Essa or Lavender pregnant!"

"Lavender?" whispered Hermione, but nobody was listening.

"But I didn't get them pregnant, did I?" Ron yelled.

"I didn't plan it!"

"You should have been more careful! You should have waited until she was your wife!"

"I'm going to get this lecture from you?"

"Yeah, Harry! Things are done a certain way in the Wizarding World. There are Rituals and things that need to be done first!"

"I didn't plan it!"

"You've ruined my sister!"

"I haven't ruined her!"

"You wouldn't know what you've done since you know nothing about this world!"

"Well, sorry for being raised by muggles!"

"You should be sorry! Since your parents died you should have taken it upon yourself to find out how this world works!"

"Ronald!" said Hermione, but it was too late. This time, Harry had lunged at him. The pair were rolling around on the ground punching and kicking whatever body part they could find and it took all of Malfoy's efforts as well as some stunning spells from Hermione to finally break them apart.

"Get out!" Harry said, spitting blood onto the floor. "Get out of my flat!"

"No problem," said Ron, fuming just as much as him. "You get out of my sister!"

"I've already been in there, mate, and I plan on going back everyday!"

"Harry!" yelled Hermione. "Draco, help me get Ron out of here please!" Without another word, Ron left Harry's flat but struggled the whole way out as Malfoy was still trying to restrain him. "Don't you think you could have told him a little differently?" she asked Harry, once Ron and Draco were gone.

"No," he said angrily, wiping up blood from his lip. "He's such a prat."

"How did you expect him to take it? Ginny is his sister."

"That I have been dating for years and am engaged to her!"

"I understand Harry, but you aren't married yet…"

"So what Hermione? They know that I love Ginny! This is ridiculous! And to bring my parents into this!"

"He's upset, Harry…"

"SO THAT MAKES IT OKAY?" Harry yelled.

"I didn't say that."

"The entire Weasley family is ridiculous!"

"I expect that they would be upset, too."

"Why? What did I do that's so wrong?" Harry was beyond irritated. "I'm marrying her!"

"Because you got her pregnant!"

"THAT'S NOT THE REASON I'M MARRYING HER!"

"I know, Harry, I know! But that's what it looks like to them. Put yourself in their shoes."

"I have, Hermione. I would be happy if someone like me would marry my daughter!"

"Harry, they are happy that you're marrying her, you saw them when you announced it!"

"Until they found out she was pregnant," he grumbled. They heard the door open behind them and Ginny had walked in through the door.

"Hey Hermione, hey Harry," she said, giving the latter a kiss.

"All done?" Harry asked her, looking at his feet.

Ginny nodded. "I announced it, and I guess you know too, Hermione?"

Hermione smiled and rushed over to Ginny. "I'm very happy for you, Ginny!"

"Are you?" she asked skeptically, but returned the hug regardless. "Everyone else isn't."

"It's unexpected so I'm sure everyone is shocked, but I wouldn't say that they aren't happy."

"I would," said Harry, collapsing from exhaustion onto his couch.

"I take it that your bloody lip is a sign that Ron knows, then?" asked Ginny, sitting next to him.

"Why couldn't you just stick to our plan?" Harry blurted out.

"Hermione…" Ginny said nodding.

"I'll see you two later," said Hermione, understanding what Ginny wanted.

"Harry, I didn't mean for it to come out, but-"

"But nothing, Ginny! They were supposed to have thought that you got pregnant after the engagement!"

"It wouldn't have made a difference; we still wouldn't be married."

"It would have been better than this! Now I have your Mum looking at me like I ruined her daughter and your dad looks so disappointed in me."

"So what, they'll get over it!"

"That's not the point! Look, I don't have a family-"

"Harry, don't-"

"It's true! Your family is becoming mine and it's all I have and I don't want that ruined!" Before Ginny could say anything else, Harry got up and headed out the door.

Remus Lupin – Present Day

June 1, 2000

"Harry?" Remus asked, as he tried to sit up. His head was pounding and his stomach was killing him. He tried to reach for his head, but he realized that he was under the body-bind jinx.

"Remus!" Harry said excitedly. "It is so amazing to see you again!"

"What's going on?" Remus asked confused. "Teddy, where's Teddy?"

"He's fine, everyone is fine! It's going to sound confusing but basically you were put under a spell that mimicked death so everyone thought that you were dead, but we recently discovered a way to wake everyone up, so here you are."

Remus didn't know what to think. "That is quite confusing," he said slowly.

"Everyone will fill you in properly when you see them at Headquarters."

"So, we haven't defeated Voldemort yet?"

"Oh, he's long gone! He died in 1998."

"1998? But then, what year is it now?"

"2000."

"I've been asleep for two years?"

Harry nodded. "Tonks too, but we woke her up a little while ago."

"Dora is alive?" He felt his heart fill and he was overcome with emotion. "But why is there still a Headquarters if Voldemort is gone?"

"Er, Grindelwald is back," Harry answered.

"Wow. I suppose a lot can happen within two years." Remus looked around the room and recognized an archway to his left. "Is that the arch where Sirius…?"

"Yes it is; that's where you've all been, too."

"You mean Sirius can be woken up as well?" Remus could not believe what he was hearing.

"I think so," said Harry, although Remus could tell that there was some sadness in his voice. "His situation is a little bit different though; it isn't guaranteed that we can."

"If there is a way, Harry, we will find it," he said reassuringly. "May I ask why I am under this spell?"

"Oh, uh, I was worried that you might transform because you missed a bunch of moons."

"Very practical thinking, Harry. Is it the full moon tonight?"

Harry shook his head. "Not until the sixteenth. Today is the first," he added.

"Well then, Harry, I believe it is safe to remove the jinx." Harry lifted it immediately and Remus stretched out his very stiff limbs. "Thank you," he said, standing up and looking at Harry. "You have grown quite a bit," he said.

Harry shrugged. "Not compared to Teddy; he's two now."

"Merlin knows I cannot wait to see him. Harry, thank you; how can I ever repay you?"

"You don't have to, you're family; the only family I've got, really."

"I will always be your family, Harry, but you are blessed with much more than me. You have the Weasleys, for one."

Harry snorted. "Not lately."

"What do you mean?" asked Remus, frowning.

"Ginny and I are engaged…"

"That's marvelous!"

"…And she's pregnant."

"Even better news!"

"Yeah well, not to the Weasleys. They think that I proposed because she was pregnant but that's not the reason."

"Ah, I see. It'll blow over, Harry. I know it seems difficult now, but once you're wed and there's a baby here, it will change; I promise you."

"How do you know that?"

Remus contemplated his answer. "You do know that there is a fairly large age gap between Dora and I, don't you?"

Harry nodded. "So?"

"So, most parents don't want their daughter with an old man."

"You aren't an old man!"

"Well, I am much older than Dora, and I'm a werewolf."

"So what, that isn't your fault!"

Remus smiled. "It means a lot to me that you don't see my condition as something dreadful, but the majority of the world does. You'll see, once your child is born, you're going to start feeling differently."

"I'll never think of you differently."

"Perhaps not, but if you have a daughter and she tells you she's dating a vampire or something, you'll have quite the opinion on that."

"But I know that you're responsible and wouldn't hurt anyone."

"You know that, but Dora's parents didn't. They wanted better for their daughter and I don't blame them. Any parent would; I know I would for Teddy. But the point is, Harry, once we got married and announced that we were having a baby, things changed."

"Announcing the baby is what made it worse for me though."

"For now, but it won't always be like that. They will be happy, Harry. In the meantime, you have me. I am thrilled to hear that you're going to be a father! James and Lily would be so proud of you."

Harry gave Remus a hug. "I've missed you, Remus."

"I'm not going anywhere again, I promise."

Ginny Weasley – Present Day

June 1, 2000

The reunion between Remus and Tonks had been an emotional one. Ginny (although she blamed her pregnancy hormones) had joined in on the tears. Once the celebrations were over, Remus was filled in about everything that he had missed, (which took over an hour of explaining), and everyone present at the Order meeting had helped to tell the story. "Congratulations, Bill, a daughter, how marvelous!" Remus said, after learning about the birth of Victoire.

"Thank you!" said Bill, raising a glass. "She'll be a month old tomorrow, can you believe it? You must come by and meet her! She's at Shell Cottage with Fleur of course, resting."

"I would be delighted to! To Victoire!" said Remus, holding up a glass.

"To Victoire!" shouted the rest of the room, drinking from their wine flutes.

"Another toast is in order, I think," said Remus, magically refilling everyone's glass. "To Harry and Ginny on their engagement, and the wonderful news of their child on the way!"

"To Harry and Ginny," echoed the room. Ginny looked over at her mother and of course saw the enraged look on her face.

"Don't bother toasting, Mum; we all know you hate the news." Ginny couldn't help it. Harry had left their house the night before and hadn't returned because he was angry with her outburst, yet here she was doing it again. It was something she had to do, however, regardless of how Harry felt. This was her engagement and her baby, how dare her mother act this way! She's gone on and on about what she is wearing to Percy's wedding, a wedding that she knew nothing about, yet here she was treating Ginny poorly for announcing her news right away. So what that they couldn't complete a stupid Ritual Knot ceremony! She wasn't even invited to Percy's ceremony, yet she was already over it! In Ginny's mind, if her mum had moved on from Percy's big surprise, then she needed to move on from Ginny's, too.

"You're right, Ginevra, I am far from pleased!"

"Really, Molly?" asked Remus, before Ginny could reply. "I'm sorry to hear that; I had thought that you would be thrilled!"

"My daughter is unwed and pregnant, why would I be thrilled?"

"Your daughter is engaged to the man that we all knew would eventually marry her, a good man, better than every man here, I would say – You are Harry; let us not forget all of your accomplishments throughout the war with Voldemort – and she is about to start a family with that man. I say, bravo!"

"Of course you of all people would think so!"

"Is that a shot at my husband, Molly?" snapped Tonks.

Molly blushed. "No, of course not, I just meant that, well, you two completed the Ritual Knot ceremony before you had Teddy!"

"Because Ted and I were concerned of what would be said of our Dora, considering the other factors that followed Remus," replied Andromeda. "And we were wrong for doing so," she added, looking at Remus. "However, Molly, had Dora been pregnant with Teddy before all of that, I wouldn't have made Remus or the baby pay the price for it."

"What my wife means, Andromeda," said Ginny's dad Arthur, as he slowly removed his glasses and cleaned them on his robes. "Is that she had hoped the situation would have happened differently. Neither of us hate Harry; he has been our son since before he even started to date Ginny. I cannot say that I am not disappointed that the Ritual Knot ceremony will not take place, but I am of course quite pleased to be welcoming a second grandchild."

"Is that true, Mum?" Ginny asked her mother. "You're pleased, then?" She knew she was instigating, but she didn't care.

"No, I'm afraid that I cannot say that I am. I'm sorry, Arthur, but my views are quite different than yours. I will not hate this child of course, but I am very far from pleased."

"That's quite a shame," said Remus sadly. "But that will not change anything for Harry, Ginny, or the majority of us. This baby, for most of us, is highly celebrated."

"Well then," said Molly angrily. "I shall leave you to your celebrations, then. Clearly, I am not welcomed here." Nobody said anything as Molly left the room.

"I suppose I'll go after her," said Arthur. "She'll be upset."

"She'll be upset?" Ginny said exasperated. "What about me? I'm the one getting married and having a baby!"

"Ginny, you must understand-"

"No, Dad, you must understand! Harry and I are happy and the rest of the family should be too!"

"Arthur, I don't want any problems," Harry interjected.

"Harry, I believe this is something that should have been said to you along time ago," he replied, turning to Harry. "You are very much wanted by this family and I am very pleased that my daughter has found someone like you. With that said, however, there are also things that a magical family expects when their son or daughter starts a family of their own. It was an error on our part for not informing you; if I am to be honest, I often forget that you are not familiar with the wizarding world traditions."

"Arthur, I didn't mean for Ginny to get pregnant; it, uh, wasn't planned… But I don't regret that there is a baby coming."

"Nor should you, Harry," added Remus.

"Dad, even if Harry knew about our traditions, this still would have happened," Ginny said.

"Perhaps," said Arthur, looking directly at Harry.

"No, it wouldn't have," Harry said sighing.

"What do you mean?" asked Ginny.

"Because if I had known, I would have done the Ritual with you the minute that I defeated Voldemort."

"Really?"

"Of course! I've always known that I wanted to marry you, I just didn't do anything while Voldemort was alive because I didn't want him coming after you to get to me. But once he was gone, if I knew there was a way to guarantee that you were mine forever, I would have for sure secured that."

"If that's the case, you would have married her right after the war, then," said George. Ginny couldn't tell if George was trying to be funny or if he was actually mad at Harry.

Harry shook his head. "Your family had just lost Fred and I was going through some stuff; it wasn't the right time for an engagement. Besides, we weren't ready in that way. I didn't have a place to live or a job yet; I wasn't going to marry her and have no way of providing for her."

"Well then, son," said Arthur, emphasizing the last word. "I, too, take responsibility for the Ritual not being completed."

"As do I," said Remus. "With your parents and Sirius gone, I was the only one you had left and I should have taught you the wizarding world traditions. I'm sorry."

"So, you're okay with it?" Harry asked hopefully, looking up at Arthur.

Arthur smiled in response. "Of course I am!"

"And Mum?" Ginny asked.

"I will deal with Molly," her dad replied. "As long as I am around, you'll always have me in your corner." He walked over to his daughter and gave her a hug, then turned to Harry and gave him a hug, too. "Welcome to the family, Harry!"

Vernon Dursley – The Past

November 8, 1986

"Petunia! Petunia!" Vernon trudged angrily through his front door, trying to kick the snow off his boots. "PETUNIA!" he loudly bellowed again.

"In here, Vernon," she responded from the kitchen. He burst into the kitchen and angrily sat on the chair as he started to remove his winter clothing. "Vernon, what's the matter?" she asked, as he slammed his wet gloves down onto the table.

"There is too much bloody snow!" he barked, rubbing his hands together to try and warm them up. "I can't even get from my car to the front door!"

"Mr. and Mrs. Polkiss hired one of those snow plow companies; she was telling me just last week. They do your entire driveway as well as the front entrance. Maybe we should inquire?"

"I'm not spending that kind of bloody money! Why can't the boy do it?"

"My Ikkle Diddykins, shovel snow?" Petunia asked, horrified.

"Of course not! The Potter boy!"

"He wouldn't be able to, Vernon, he's too young."

"What do you mean? Isn't he eight by now?"

"He's five."

"Five, really? Could have sworn he's been making our lives miserable for longer than that."

"He'll be busy with school soon enough, then you'll see less of him."

"Hmph," grunted Vernon, still irritated. "Still, Petunia, five is definitely old enough to start doing things. He can shovel the snow, he can clean the toilets, he can cook breakfast! This boy is not going to be living here for free! It's bad enough that he was dumped on our doorstep."

"He is my sister's son; my father is dead and my mother is too frail to look after him. Where else would he have gone?"

"An orphanage, or do they not have those?"

"Vernon, shh!" Petunia whispered, looking around to make sure that the windows weren't open. "He is not to know that that even exists!"

Vernon frowned. "Well, I still think he can start doing things around here. You've coddled him since he was an infant; it's time for him to work."

"What was I to do, Vernon? He was a year old. I had no choice but to feed him and change his diaper and potty train him and teach him to walk!"

"And you did a fine job, Petunia Dear, but he is five now!" Vernon said furiously. "Where is the boy now?"

"In his room playing."

"In his – playing? Petunia!"

"Vernon, he is a child!"

"Hmph, a child!" Vernon got up and headed towards the upstairs bedroom where Harry slept. "He won't be a child for much longer."

Author's Notes: Alright friends, a couple of things! First, something that has always bothered me was Harry's childhood. We know of course that The Dursley's hated Harry, but as a baby, Petunia had no choice but to do things like change his bum, teach him to walk, etc. So, I will explain in "past" scenes just how that all came about. As you can see, at age 5, Petunia did not yet hate Harry.

The next chapter will be the last one before a little time jump that will be a game changer - You'll have to wait and see what I mean!

Shout out to the Canadian reviewer - I too get plenty of snow (I'm from Toronto) so yes, snow days will equal writing days! In terms of Dramione, I'm using it to really build Draco's character.. But a Malfoy will always be a Malfoy (hint hint)

Thanks as always!