"Maybe the Ministry did you a favour when they declared you, undesirable number one." Bill muttered, thinking about Harry's trial and subsequent Exile.
"Yeah, I think they might have." Kannan nodded.
"Alright, shall we speak to the healers and book in?"
"Yes. Maybe for later in the week or next week?"
"Sound good to me." Bill nodded and laid out his hand, palm up silently asking for Kannan's.
"It does." Kannan laid his hand in Bill's and leant back to watch the stars, content with their plan.
The wedding went off without a hitch, the two brides debated with each other and with their families, but in the end only three people from the UK were invited. And only one knew what was going on.
Minerva McGonagall received an invitation to what she thought was Hermione's graduation from the University of Otago's magical campus, but she has no idea what Hermione had been studying or how she's managed to graduate in under a year. Filius Flitwick thought he was being invited to view one of Luna's fabulous creatures, he knew that at least some of them were real, if extremely reclusive. Both were completely stunned when told what they were actually there for.
Kingsley Shacklebolt smirked at their slack-jawed expressions, knew he was being invited to a wedding, after all, he'd been asked to officiate for the couples.
Both brides were resplendent in traditional robes in deep indigo, trimmed by silver and gold. The grooms wore dark grey robes trimmed with matching silver and gold. The ceremony itself was short and simple, Kingsley asking each pair to face each other and make their vows, they were then to step forward so he could perform the Matrimonial Bonding. The Bondings were similar enough to Unbreakable Vows that the witnesses knew these Bonds wouldn't be breaking any time soon.
Then it was the signing of the documents for those that had the authority to bear witness, namely Kingsley as their Bonder, McGonagall, Flitwick and Airini as ICW recognised professionals. McGonagall and Flitwick were both pleased for the couples, and although both were slightly surprised at Hermione's choice, neither were displeased. Kingsley happily handed Neville his junior Auror's badge, pinning it to his Bonding robes, beside the Longbottom crest.
The reception erupted into loud cheers when Luna and Augusta announced that Luna was pregnant with their first child, the witches had gone in a week earlier to check the progress of the embryos, only to be told they were all stable and would Luna like one transferred immediately? Then they had to explain to McGonagall, Flitwick and Kingsley exactly how the situation had come about. All three were speechless and McGonagall smiling through tears. Her only comment was 'if Mr Potter had been here, I would consider this a near perfect day for you, my dear'. Hermione replied that they were keeping a pensieve memory for those that weren't in attendance, to watch at a later date.
Two days after the Bonding, when the guests returned to the UK, Kannan and Bill made their way to the Gerard Majella Clinic in Salem. They had fourteen days of potions in front of them and neither were looking forward to it. But to get the end results of a family of their own, there wasn't much the two wizards weren't prepared to do.
The first day as fine, purging potions are foul but the actual process is over and done with fairly quickly. The second day they both took the gender-swap potion and suffered through the uncomfortable experience of their reproductive organs being reverted to 'primordial goo', as Luna called it, before being regrown to match their physical ages. All within a matter of hours. By day four both had reached the point of accepting outside intervention, as neither of them were able to cope with the emotional upheaval that the process had caused and accepted the sedation that had been offered immediately after taking the gender-swap potion.
The two wizards surrendered to unconsciousness with a sigh of relief, comforted by the knowledge that Augusta and Padraig were monitoring the healers that interacted with them. They were woken on their thirteenth day in the clinic and told that it was time for them to take their next purging potion. Another four hours of discomfort and they were back in the bodies that they preferred, with both Augusta and Padraig laughing at their self-groping and sighs relief as their hands found the right equipment.
The following morning the two wizards gagged their way through the sperm-boosting potion and entered the treatment room. Each was briefly stunned as the sperm retrieval process was an extremely painful one, though thankfully one that left no after-pain. Once the two had been through this, the head healer offered them another purging potion stating that the sperm-booster can leave one feeling like a case 'blue balls' for the next twelve hours. And as both men were having a little difficulty walking and were finding it almost impossible to ignore the feeling, they happily accepted.
They left the clinic some fourteen days and six hours after entering it, they would stay in Salem for two nights while the already fertilised eggs were assessed for health and magical potential. Then it was back to Dunedin to the local magical hospital, St. Damian's, where they would stay until the embryos reached the six-week safety mark, when the embryos would be placed under a medical stasis.
Over the next few months, Kannan and Bill spent a lot of time together, learning about each other. Bill learned that Kannan had nearly been sorted into Slytherin. Kannan learned that Bill had shared a dorm with two members of the Weird Sister and still wrote to them regularly. Bill learnt about Kannan had during his memory-locked exile, purchased the exact same model of motorbike that Sirius had modified. Kannan learned that he wasn't the first to teach an underground DADA class, Bill had done that during the twins' first year.
Sometimes they'd go to St. Damian's and just watch the tiny bean-shaped things that one day would become their children. It was gutting to both of them to watch three of the dozen falter, as they approached the six-week mark. After a five hour assessment and an in-depth and very technical explanation, that probably only Hermione understood, the healers from Salem told them that four of the embryos were failing, one due to not splitting properly, the other three were distorted, possibly due to being transported via floo-travel, but just as likely due to extreme motion or magical sensitivity. Either way those four were not going to develop correctly and if allowed to grow would develop severe physical and mental impairments, even now their chemical levels indicated that all of them were in significant pain.
The healers all recommended that the pair terminate those four, it was unfair to them to allow them to suffer, far better to grant them mercy now, than to make them live in pain. After the terminations, Kannan and Bill brought the still encapsulated embryos back to the resort where the local Maori tribe held a traditional farewell for the young lives that suffered so much before they even drew a single breath.
The week leading up to the September were quiet. Neville and Luna had returned to the UK, Neville was an Auror on active duty and Luna wanted to go through the contents of the Quibbler's office and print room, before her pregnancy was too far along. Hermione and George had bought themselves a smaller, older version of the bus, wanting to give themselves a little more privacy, but at the same time, they wanted to stay with Kannan, Bill and Padraig. Kannan who'd claimed the entirety of the Potter estate, bar the title, had given each of them a substantial vault, which Padraig and Charlie had only added to.
Late on the evening of the September solstice, Bill and Kannan waited for their guests. The first to arrive was Kingsley, of course.
"Kannan. Bill." The British Minister for Magic greeted the two younger wizards with a smile in his deep voice. "How are you?"
"We're good, Kingsley." Kannan gave him a bright smile.
"Ready for this?" Kingsley nodded towards the lake where their Bonding would happen.
"Yeah." Kannan nodded and his smile grew.
"Definitely." Bill agreed.
"So, who else is coming?" Kingsley asked.
"Neville and Luna, of course. McGonagall. She was head of house, you know. And Charlie will be along, soon enough." Bill answered.
"Bill's invited Kirley Duke and Myron Wagtail." Kannan waggled his eyebrows. "They were dormmates."
"Oh my, are they bringing the rest of the band or is it just them?"
"No, just them, at this point. Charlie's hoping that Donaghan might turn up, I don't know if you knew but they were dormmates." Bill replied.
"I'm sure Minerva will be pleased to hear that." Kingsley boomed a laugh.
"What shall I be pleased to hear, Minister?" Minerva McGonagall asked primly.
"Oh, we were just discussing who's coming, Professor." Bill laughed. "Kirley and Myron are due any minute and Charlie's hoping that Donaghan will turn up, he hasn't responded yet, but we're hopeful."
"Oh, lord. Any more of them?" Alarm was written all over McGonagall's face.
"No, Professor." Bill shook his head. "Heath's father is ill. Gideon's wife is due any day, now. Orsino's a single parent to young infant, his wife up and left him, last month. Merton and Herman are working with an orchestra in Canada, converting Myron's songs for a full orchestra for their next album. And well… They weren't in my year, so I wasn't as close to them as Kirley and Myron."
"Oh, thank heavens." She sighed in relief. "And may I say…? Thank you for the invitation. I rarely receive letters from past students. It was lovely to get Miss Grang- Mrs Grimm's invite and now to receive one from yourself, Mr Weas- Mr Prewett." She huffed. "I apologise for mangling the names, I have been addressing you as Weasley and Granger for many years, now."
"Well, perhaps it's time you called us by our first names, Professor." Hermione added as she joined the conversation.
"I should like that, Mrs Grimm… Hermione, I mean." McGonagall gave a regal head bow.
"Good. Kannan? Didn't you want to have a private word with the Professor?" Hermione asked.
"If I'm to call you be your given names, I expect the same curtesy in return, Hermione." McGonagall informed them.
"Wait until after you speak to Kannan, you might feel different about it then." Bill snorted. "Oh and don't forget to take Padraig with you."
Kannan offered McGonagall his arm and led her towards the bus, Padraig trailing along behind them with Teddy in his arms.
They emerged twenty minutes later, a sniffling McGonagall hanging on Kannan's arm, occasionally patting him arm, as though to remind herself of his presence.
The ceremony itself went smoothly, both grooms wearing red and gold and speaking calmly when they recited their vows and made their Bonding Oaths. The late evening darkness making the bright glow of their Bonding even more visible than expected.
Afterwards, they and their guests gathered for a small meal, Kingsley and Minerva giving them a brief update on the Weasley family and the troubles they were having. Apparently, Ron's actions made him a pariah in the wizarding community, no one wanted any connection to him. Ginny had returned to Hogwarts and the new head of Gryffindor, Ralph King had caught her in a compromising position with Andrew Gainsborough, her Hufflepuff prefect counterpart, while on their prefect rounds. They were married the day after term ended and the new Mrs Gainsborough was quite visibly pregnant at her graduation. Percival had offended the wrong person with his officiousness, one too many times and Kingsley had been forced to remove him from the Minister's staff. Molly was still lamenting the exile of Harry Potter and every week would send Kingsley a letter demanding that Harry be absolved of any wrongdoing. Arthur was still bumbling along, in his position, letting Molly bury herself deeper and deeper into the public's dislike, Kingsley said that he had met with Arthur on hte quiet and Arthur had told him that eventually it would reach the point where Gareth, the head of House Weasley would be forced to take action, which would probably be something along of the lines of disowning Arthur and his family, or casting them from the main family. This would give Arthur the chance to act for himself and declare that Molly's actions were the cause of said disownment and have their marriage dissolved, thankful that it was a marriage and not a Bonding. Then he would be free to approach the new Lord Black and request a claim-and-purge. Doing this he might get the chance to be a part of Bill, Charlie and George's lives.
Bill, Charlie and George were all emotional at hearing this. They thought they'd lost their previous family for good, only to be told that Arthur had a plan that was worthy of a Slytherin.
A month later Charlie, George and Hermione joined Bill, Kannan and Padraig for dinner and their monthly family meeting, it wasn't until after little Teddy had been put down for the night, that the adults gathered around a fire pit.
"Um? News?" Charlie offered, holding up a hand.
"Yeah, Char?" Bill said.
"I'm not… the rescue centre here isn't working for me." Charlie huffed a sigh. "Their protocols and methods are too different to what I'm used to, we're clashing. I handed in my notice."
"Charlie?" Bill asked, a frown on his face.
"I've been offered my own section by the Welsh Reserve. Some idiot stole a clutch of Welsh Greens and shrunk the eggs, unfortunately dragons don't take well to magic being cast at them, and so far, they haven't been able to reverse the charm. The eggs have hatched but the dragons stayed shrunken sized. The Reserve is trying to get them recognised as a separate species, but to do that there's a lot of testing involved, and the dragons have to breed true to three generations. Unfortunately, the unshrunk dragons aren't liking the shrunken ones and the Reserve wants to create separate refuge for the little ones." Charlie answered in a hurry.
"And they want you for that?" Hermione looked at him.
"Yeah, they're working with the Ministry and Gringotts. They're pretty much leaving it to me. If I want to stay on the mainland, there's a limited choice of locations, but they're offering up a selection of islands that are either unplottable or have the same sort of muggle-repelling charms that Hogwarts and Diagon Alley have." Charlie nodded.
"Where are the islands?" Padraig asked.
"One is between the Isle of Mull and Tiree. There's two in the straights between the Isle of Skye, Harris in the Hebrides and the Scottish mainland." Charlie replied. "And one in the Irish Sea."
"Interesting locations." Bill hummed.
"I'm leaning towards one of the two between Harris, Skye and Northern Scotland." Charlie shrugged. "No other dragons close by, both islands are unplottable, all the usual muggle repelling charms. And I get to start a reserve pretty much from scratch."
"So, you're heading back to the UK?" Kannan asked.
"I haven't said yes, yet. But Kingsley is getting pushy, he wants an answer by the end of the month." Charlie sighed.
"That's only a week away." Hermione warned.
"I know." Charlie huffed.
"I want to go back, too." George whispered. "It's the shop. I know that Lee and Angelina can manage but it was Fred's and my dream. I need to see it fly." He gave Padraig and Kannan sly looks. "Not to mention that someone, or rather two someone's, have given me a heap of new ideas."
"Do you think you'll be right, facing the shop?" Bill asked, he remembered how devastated George had been at Fred's loss.
"I know it's going to hurt, but Fred would be kicking my up the butt if I let that stop me. Besides I can always work from home when I don't want to face the shop." George answered.
"Mione?" Kannan asked.
"Mum and dad want to go back to their practice. It's time to put the war behind us, Kannan. Let's go home." Hermione said.
"Bill?" Kannan turned to his husband.
"McGonagall's letter?" Bill was referring to a letter received earlier that day. "She wrote about how slow the repairs are going, because the construction crew have to stop whenever they encounter something cursed, charmed or enchanted and then they have to get someone in from Gringotts to deal with it. She wanted to know if I was interested in the position or if I knew someone else that was interested."
Kannan laughed. "Oh, boy. She knows you well, doesn't she?" Offering Bill the chance to investigate anything in Hogwarts that caught his eye?
"Yes, she knows which buttons to press." Bill huffed. "But I won't even consider it, if you're against it, Kannan." He reached his hand out towards the younger wizard.
Kannan smiled and clasped his husband's hand. "As long as we can live somewhere on the grounds, I'm good with returning to Hogwarts."
"But what will you do?" Hermione asked.
"Well… I have a couple of options." Kannan smirked. "If my husband lives up to his reputation, I could take on the DADA position next year, but I'm thinking of going a slightly different direction… slightly. I was thinking of asking McGonagall to hired me as a DADA tutor for the seniors. I could work with a different group each day and just small groups, each time. Cover the things they need help in, things that maybe the DADA Professor might have gone passed or things that someone is having trouble with. Or if there's someone exceptionally talented, I could work with them."
"And if she won't or can't?" George asked.
"Again, a couple of options. One, I'm good at cleaning, I could work with Filch. Two, I could help with the reconstruction. Three, I could work with George and Pads. Or four, I can be the househusband and look after the kids, mine and Bill's, Teddy, Luna and Neville's or Hermione and George's."
"Daddy Day Care?" Hermione laughed.
"Why not?" Kannan huffed. "I'll admit that I'd prefer to be the DADA tutor, but it is an option."
"Padraig?" Bill asked. "What about you?"
Padraig blinked. "Me?" He pointed at himself. "I'll be mostly looking after Teddy and working with George. I thought you all knew that."
He was answered by varying agreements.
"Okay, then." Bill laughed. "We're going back to the UK." The others all cheered. "So, I suppose I had best get a hold of McGonagall and see what she can do for us." He stood up. "Give me a few minutes." And headed in the direction of the resort's public floo station, Charlie tagging after him, saying that he should call the Welsh Reserve or Kingsley and give them an answer.
Half an hour later the two flopped down between Kannan and George.
"Well?" Hermione demanded.
"I'm good to go." Charlie said. "I only need to finish out the week here and head over. I'll start on Monday, working out which location is better suited." He leant back in his seat and sighed.
"Bill?" Hermione squinted slightly at the curse-breaker.
"Same. We start Monday. She's giving us the old huntsmen's lodge down between the quidditch pitch and the Hogsmeade Main Gates. We'll have to do some repairs, but it's ours, part of our contract is we can do what we like with it." Bill answered. "Kannan's going to have to sit in with the DADA class for the first couple of days, just to work out what level the students are at and then he's on his own. I'll start Monday with the reconstruction team. Mione? McGonagall's desperately hoping she can talk you into taking over from Binns, there's just no reason for him to stay, the student scores are just getting lower and lower."
"I could do that." Hermione bounced in her seat.
"That's what I thought, too. She's got a couple of options for accommodation for you to consider, there's rooms in the castle for you and George or a secure floo connection to wherever you choose to live." Bill went on. "She's aware of the… children situation and will provide a secure floo connection for whomever we want as carer, whether it's Pads or someone else…"
"So… when can we go?" George asked.
"Kingsley will have international floo permits ready and waiting for us by dawn New Zealand time."
"Excellent." George cheered.
"Let's get packing." Padraig agreed.