Ch. 17
A/N I'm hoping I will be with my niece tomorrow, so I thought I'd publish this chapter early. R and R please. Merry New Year.
Friday 3 July 1998
"Hello ladies." Molly greeted the girls from in the kitchen as Mione and Luna floo'd in.
"Hi Molly." Both returned as they strode into the scullery. They saw she had a steel cylinder about half a meter high and a third a meter across out. She was filling it with the aguamenti charm. "Does that have clothes in it?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, but only a few." She replied.
"Why is it not bigger?"
"Well, I've never really thought about getting a bigger one. This is the standard size you buy in Diagon Alley."
"So, everyone uses this size?"
"Yes."
"Would you like one bigger?"
"Of course." She put in some detergent, put the lid on it and spelled it to start washing. Molly went to the kitchen to put some tea on.
"Could you tell me the process you use for washing clothes and what charms you use?" Hermione asked with a dicta-quill at the ready. Molly brought the tea over.
"After I've begun the process, like you just saw, I will have to reapply the charm pura vestis every 10 minutes.I've learned each load takes about 30 minutes. Then I banish the tub's water using depulso, scourgify and refill it. After I refill it, I put the clothes back in and set it to rinse with the same charm I use for washing but without detergent. Then I put each piece of clothing through the wringer—the actual wringing is done through spell work, constringo vestis but I have to move each piece of clothing, either by hand or by levitation. Then I either line dry or use the drying charm."
"That is a lot of spell work to do in one hour or so." Hermione commented.
She laughed. "That's why I only did one load a day when Arthur and I got married. It took me a year or two to do a few loads without getting tired—at least magically tired."
HP
At 10.00 on the dot, the floo chimed and the boys got up to receive their guests, Teddy in Harry's arms.
"Hello Akron, Ariana." Harry welcomed.
"Hello Harry, Neville." Akron said as he turned around to help his daughter clean off.
"Please come this way." Harry began leading them to the study as the floo chimed again.
"I'll get that." Nev said as he went back to the sitting room.
"That's the head of the Orphanage." Harry answered the unasked question as they walked into the study and sat around the two desks. "She wasn't in our first meeting because we wanted to see if the interviewees could deal with two 18-year olds as equals."
"Oh. I guess that's understandable." Ariana chuckled. "That's why dad comes on the interviews with me—even if I'm the one designing the building. They want to see the experience on my dad's face rather than my youth."
"Yeah. Something like that." Nev said as he brought Venus in. Greetings were eventually finished and they got down to business.
For the next hour and a half, they agreed that Ariana would play the main go-between with the contractors. They agreed to contact three different contractors to get bids. These were long-established companies that they'd worked with or had good reputations.
They had decided that Ariana would schedule the interviews for next week and send them copies of the drawings for them to base their bids on.
"I'll schedule them for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Do you want them here or at Gringotts?" She asked.
"Gringotts. Once we've decided, then we can meet with them here. I want to keep this place for people we know." Harry answered.
"Paranoid much?" Nev teased.
"You try having a Dark Lord after you your entire life and tell me I'm paranoid?" Harry shook his head. "No. I'm protective."
Nev hmphed as Akron got up. "Ariana will call you when we get things set up. Is that alright?"
"Of course." Nev replied as he led them to the floo and said goodbye to both the Baylees and Venus. Then he looked at his watch. "We should head to the Burrow soon."
"Yeah. Let's get changed and go." Harry started upstairs to change into muggle clothes. When he came back down to the entry hall, Nev, Dora, Teddy and Sirius were there. Sirius was carrying a large picnic basket. He shrunk it down and put it in his pocket.
"Hey there Prongslet, ready to go?"
"Sure Sirius. But should we pick up the machines first?"
Sirius pulled out his mobile and asked Hermione. After hanging up, Sirius replied. "She says that'd be helpful. Apparently, Molly has already left."
"Okay, Dora why don't you take Ted over to the Burrow, we'll get the washer and dryer, yeah?"
"Sure Harry. See ya!" she yelled as she floo'd out.
"Let's go." Harry floo'd to MIT. "Hey Ang!" he yelled as Nev and Pads floo'd in.
"Yeah, what?" She yelled back from the register. Harry came up to her.
"We're here to get the washer and dryer for Molly." He let her know.
"Sure." She smiled. "Wish I could be there but we're swamped."
"Yeah, well you have responsibilities now." Harry grinned as they went into the back warehouse. They went through the game room, to the extensive warehouse. "Okay, where would Hermione put them." He muttered to himself as he headed towards the back. When he found them, he pulled out a washer and dryer and had Sirius shrink them. "Okay. Back to the Burrow, yeah?" He asked the others.
"Yup." Nev agreed. They then took the floo to the Burrow.
"Hey Nev." Hermione said as he came through the floo. "Where are the machines?"
"In Sirius' pocket." He laughed as Harry and Sirius came through. Sirius pulled out the food and began setting it up while Nev and Harry helped Hermione set up the washer and dryer. It actually took a little time because they had to move things around to fit both the washer and the dryer into the scullery.
"This is so much easier than doing it the muggle way." Harry smiled at their finished work.
"Yeah. I bet. Without the levitation charm, we'd have to move it by hand." Nev groaned as they came out of the scullery. Everyone sat down to eat their lunch.
"So, how'd your time with Molly go?" Harry asked the girls.
"Well." Hermione paused. "We got a lot of interesting information on how most witches do their laundry. Just to let you know, I'm never doing laundry that way."
Harry laughed at the disgusted look on his love's face. "That bad, yeah?"
"Yep. It would take me days to do the laundry the way she does. To get the wash done, she has to reset the charms twice to keep the clothes moving. Then she hand wrings them and rinses them in the same tub. It's crazy." Hermione just shook her head
"That's how I did it before moving to the Madhouse." Dora contributed.
"And isn't the laundry much easier now?" Hermione demanded.
"Yes, it is. Especially with all of Teddy's clothes" Dora smiled.
HP
About half an hour later, they had cleaned up their lunch and were just sitting at the table when Bill and Fleur floo'd in.
"Hey Fleur!" Hermione reached out and gave her a hug. Over the next 20 minutes, George, Fred and Ron (who was currently working at WWW) floo'd in. So did Percy and Audrey and Ginny.
"What are you doing here Potter?" Ron spat venomously.
George and Fred simultaneously slapped him on the back of the head. "None of that"
"Dear brother or you go back to work" Fred finished. Harry just shook his head sadly at his ex-friend.
"Here to buy off my mum Harry?" He spat again.
"Enough of that Ronald." Bill said as he came closer to the group. Harry realised that Bill was pissed off. "You say one more thing and I'll body-bind you and put you upstairs, do you hear me?" He prompted in a very cold, steady voice.
"Fine." Ron huffed as he went to sit in the drawing room. A few moments later, Molly and Arthur came through the floo.
"Hello Ronald, why are you home so early?" Molly asked.
"Just came back for a sandwich." He returned as he got up and they headed to the kitchen.
"Surprise!" Everyone yelled as Hermione took Molly's hand as she clutched her chest at the noise.
"Oh my! Why are you all home? Are you staying for dinner?" She asked.
"No Mum. Patience. All will be explained." Bill nodded to Hermione
"Come with me Molly." Hermione said as she grabbed Molly's hand and walked to the scullery.
"Oh my! Oh my! Merlin! Is that the washer and dryer from your store?" she asked Hermione.
"Yes. You can do much bigger loads and you don't have to stay around for the next cycle. You can put the washer on, leave for Diagon Alley for an hour, come back and put the clothes in the dryer." Hermione elaborated.
"How much does it cost?" Molly started looking in her money bag.
Luna grabbed both hands and looked in her eyes. "Hermione and I are giving this to you because you've been so good to all of us. I may not have come over a lot after mum died but I have fond memories of this place and you. You've been a big part of our lives. This is a thank you."
With this, Molly burst into tears and she grabbed each one of 'her kids' and gave them her patented hug. "Okay mu-u-um. I n-n-eed to brea-the." Bill strangled out as everyone laughed at his predicament.
"Oh! I'm so sorry dear." She let go of her eldest. "Thank you all." She looked at her new machines. "I can put three loads in one of these machines. How do you use it though?" She looked at the kids.
"Don't worry Mum. Ang taught me how to use them last night. She has one in her apartment." Ginny volunteered.
"Okay. The three of us" Fred
"have to leave." George
"Come on Ron." Fred finished as they floo'd out.
"Yes. We have to get back to Gringotts." Bill contributed. Soon everyone, including Harry and Hermione left Molly and Arthur with their new gadget.
"Did you know about this Arthur?" She asked as she gathered clothes.
"Yes." He smiled." They told me last weekend."
She laughed. "After 30 years, you can still surprise me." She said as she stopped to reach up and give him a kiss. "I love you."
HP
The next day, Harry was woken up by his Teddy Alarm. As he was wandering upstairs to the nursery, he mused on the fact that while at Hogwarts he never got up before seven. Now, here he was voluntarily getting up at before six o'clock to get a baby ready for the day—just so his aunt could have an extra hour of sleep.
He mentally chuckled. He would have never gotten up voluntarily for his blood aunt, but for his adopted aunt, yup. Anything for Aunt Dora. Although he'd never called her that—partly because he knew he'd get teased endlessly- that is how he thought of her.
"Hi little man." He greeted his cooing godson as he walked into the room. "How are you today? We're going to go to London and visit Westminster Abbey today. Don't worry, it won't be the only time. Aunt Mione and I will take you when you're a little older. She loves history, so I'm sure we'll go to lots of places while you're little. There, you're dressed! Now on to feeding." He declared as he sat in the rocker and picked up the bottle. "Thanks Dobby." He grinned down at Teddy as he gulped his breakfast. "I don't know what we'd do without Dobby."
Soon, Teddy was fed and burped and they were on their way to his room so Harry could get dressed. After that they went to the kitchen where Dobby was working and Dora was drinking her coffee very slowly.
"So, are you and Teddy coming to Westminster with us?" Harry asked.
"Why do you think I'm drinking coffee rather than tea?" she growled as Harry put his godson in the bouncer. "My idea of early has changed since I got pregnant, you know?"
"Yeah, I was just thinking that I would've never gotten up this early at Hogwarts. Just didn't happen. Now, however, I freak out if he doesn't wake me up by six." They both laughed.
"I totally agree." Mione came in the room. "I could never get you boys up before seven. The only person that could was Oliver. It used to completely annoy me."
The floo chimed and they heard "Hello, Hello." From Dan, very jovially and too much like Sirius.
As Dan and Emma came into the kitchen, Mione groaned. "Dad, you did not learn that from Sirius." At the mischievous look on her father's face, she looked to her mum. "Mum, please tell me he's not turning into a Sirius clone! We don't need two of them." She groaned as her mum grinned.
"Hello, Hello!" They heard Sirius yell from the entrance hall as he bound into the kitchen and slapped Dan on the back. He was dressed in jeans and a Crawley jersey.
"There's your answer honey. They're turning into clones—of each other! You should see him with patients. You know how your dad has always been a little reserved with patients?" At Mione's nod, she continued. "He's talking their ears off. And guess what his favorite topic is? You my dear." She laughed at the sour look on her daughter's face. "He talks about you almost as much as Sirius talks about Harry. It's actually funny. He's so much more outgoing, I can't believe you haven't noticed."
"I've been a little busy Mum." She shook her head.
"So, when do we leave Dan?" Sirius asked when they sat down to breakfast.
"We've got to be there by eleven, so you need to figure that out." Dan grinned. Emma really did enjoy this new Dan.
"After this, we're leaving for Westminster Abbey." Luna jumped in as she looked at her best friend. "I expect a trip to Waterstone's afterwards." The other five that were going just laughed.
"Yes ma'am!" Harry saluted.
After breakfast, Dora gathered "Teddy's stuff" and the six were about to leave.
"Have fun kids." Sirius smiled at his real family.
"We will! Don't get arrested, Dan!" Emma grinned back as Mione apparated Harry and a moment later they were back. Harry took Nev and Luna, Mione took Dora and her mum.
"Well, they're gone. Now we can have fun!" Sirius grinned at Dan and they high-fived.
HP
When they all had gotten their bearings, Emma still got fairly dizzy during apparition, they got tickets and went into the Great West Door. "Wow. This place is huge." Nev whispered.
"Yeah." Luna was looking down. "Who was Winston Churchill?" She asked as she looked at a slab of stone dedicated to him.
"He was Britain's Prime Minister during World War II or the War of Grindelwald as we know it." Hermione went into lecture mode as she talked about WW II as they walked to Elizabeth I's monument in the Lady's Chapel. "This is interesting. Elizabeth I, Mary I, Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots are all buried here."
"But they all hated each other!" Harry exclaimed, having started reading some of the books about Tudor history they'd bought at Waterstone's. The Tudors reminded him of his aunt Petunia's shows-everything complicated and everyone sleeping with one another.
"Why do you say that?" Dora asked.
"Well, Henry VII was the first Tudor monarch and grandfather to both Mary and Elizabeth, so he and his wife make sense. However, if I understand right, Mary I was his son Henry VIII's first daughter with his first wife Katherine but he divorced Katherine and made Mary illegitimate when his second wife gave birth to Elizabeth. Am I right?" Mione nodded proudly. "But then he threw Elizabeth's mum over for someone else who gave him a son. Then when the son and Harry had both died and Mary became Queen, she put Elizabeth in the tower because she was afraid Elizabeth would take her throne. I didn't understand why though. So them in the same Chapel makes no sense. Then Mary Queen of Scots was killed by Elizabeth, so why's she here?" He took a breath.
"Oh Harry!" Mione reached over and gave him a Mione hug. But he could feel her crying.
"Why are you crying love? Did I get something wrong?"
"Oh no! I just can't believe you learned all that!" Mione stopped crying but was sniffling.
"Why not? The Tudors are bloody fascinating."
"Language Harry." She admonished after she got control. "You must have read one of the books we bought."
"Yeah. I haven't finished it but it's a good read." They continued to look around, letting Mione teach them some history.
It was when Neville began asking intelligent questions of Hermione that Dora leaned over to Emma and whispered, "She'll make an excellent history teacher. I'm so glad she'll be teaching by the time Teddy's at Hogwarts."
Emma laughed. "When she came home first year and told me how boring History of Magic was, you could see the disappointment on her face. Before Hogwarts, we got her all sorts of books from Diagon Alley. Most of those were history books. I think she'd memorized Hogwarts A History—"
"She had!" Harry interrupted laughingly.
"The history of a culture gives you a greater understanding of that culture. Thus, I learned about a culture I had never encountered before!" Mione defended herself. "I was coming in with no knowledge, so I decided to immerse myself by studying history."
"I know, love. And you knew much more on the first day than most purebloods." Harry took her hand. "I love you."
"I love you too." They walked over to Sir Isaac Newton's tomb and Mione started lecturing about his contributions to science.
Around two o'clock, everyone had gone through the main building and still there was more to look at. They had looked into every nook and cranny of that building. They'd been to Poet's Corner, The Cloisters, Royal Tombs, basically anything that was open. Hermione had tailored the visit so they wouldn't get bored. Really, she could walk around Westminster and never get tired. However, she had not made history nerds out of all of them and could see they were flagging.
"Why don't we go to eat then Waterstone's then home?" Hermione suggested.
"But we haven't seen everything." Nev replied.
"No. But to see everything you need a few days. We can come back some other time." She smiled brightly, glad he didn't want to leave.
"Fine but I want to come back before Hogwarts."
"I'll make sure Nev, even if it's just us." Hermione was so happy it seemed to radiate off her as they left.
"You are even more beautiful when you're excited like this. How on earth did I not know you liked history this much?" Harry asked as they walked to the underground.
"You closed down every time I tried to talk to you about it. I think because of Binns." She sighed as they sat down on the train.
"Well, Binns is a menace." Luna added
"But he was always good for a nap." Nev reminded his girlfriend. At the cold stare Hermione was giving him, Dora and Emma laughed.
When they got to Waterstone's, the crowd split up. Dora and Teddy went to the kids' section, Nev and Luna to the business section, Harry and Hermione to the History section, and Emma to the mystery section. About an hour later, everyone came together near the Information Booth.
"Everyone ready to leave?" Hermione asked.
"Yes." Came the chorus as they headed to check out. Simply Harry and Hermione's 15 books were over £400. The others bought a lot more.
"Emma, do you have a monthly book budget? Every time we come here, you seem to spend about £500." Dora asked.
"Yeah." Emma laughed. "Dan always says that it's a good thing we are dentists just so he can keep me in books."
"I remember I came home after fourth year and Dad told me they'd made their last payment on their student loans the previous month. When I asked how much mum had spent at the bookstore as a treat, he just roared out laughing." Hermione paused. "He never did answer me though." Everyone snickered as they went to an alley and apparated home.
As they apparated into the Madhouse, they all heard a bunch of laughter from upstairs. Harry looked down at his watch and saw that it was four o'clock, looked down at his sleeping godson and whispered to Dora, "I'm putting him in his cot. Go see what Sirius and Dan have broken. That much laughter cannot be good." and headed for the nursery.
After putting Teddy down, he went up to the game room where he stood at the top of the stairs and found an obviously inebriated Sirius and Dan giggling as Dan tried to throw a dart and missed by at least a meter.
"Daddy!" Hermione yelled as she came up the stairs behind Harry, pushed him aside and ran to her dad as she wrestled the darts away from her father.
Harry looked into the sitting area and saw Emma, Dora, Nev and Luna just sitting there. Walking over, he asked. "Why didn't you try to get the darts away from them Emma?"
"Because it's such fun watching Hermione react to this. Watch." She insisted, pulling him down.
He looked over and saw Hermione look pityingly at Sirius and her father. She sighed. It wasn't worth yelling over. "Dobby?"
He popped in with two hangover potions. "How'd you know I'd need 2 of these?"
"Because Master Dogfather and Mister Dan came in very loudly a few minutes before you." He replied as he sat on a conjured stool.
"Thanks Dobby." She smiled at the elf as she walked over to her father. "Father, drink this." She handed him the potion and he drank it meekly.
"Sirius, here." She said with more force and disappointment in her voice as she gave him the vial. He drank it.
"Woooow! I'm not drunk anymore but boy does my head hurt." Dan sat next to his wife.
"Why'd you kill our being drunk Mione? It was fun." Sirius came up to her to put an arm around her as she ducked out of the way.
"Because, I don't deal with drunkards." She sat with Harry.
"Dobby, can you get us some pain relievers?" Sirius asked as Dobby snapped his fingers and gave each a vial.
"Why didn't you hand them out with the hangover potion?" Harry asked.
"I wanted to see if he'ds ask." Dobby smiled. "If he didn't ask, he doesn't deserve it."
"What I want to know" Harry tried to change the subject, "is how it is Teddy can sleep through apparition?"
"That kid can sleep through almost anything. I don't know how he does it but he does." Dora laughed.
"So I take it Crawley won?" Emma asked.
"Yup." Dan and Sirius chorused, laughing.
"Did you guys take Arthur and Xeno with you?"
"Yup." Sirius grinned. "Arthur is really a lot of fun if you get him away from Molly. We went to the pub afterwards and he couldn't stop marveling at the game."
"I think Xeno's going to write about it in the Quibbler this week." Dan added.
"Apparently, Molly's been doing all the laundry in the house since yesterday. She's been to Shell Cottage, the twins' shop and Percy's place to collect laundry and do it at home in her new washer. She's also been to the Rookery." Sirius laughed. "Xeno thought it was so funny that he just let her at it. Arthur thinks you've turned her into a monster."
HP
After dinner, Hermione suggested they play Monopoly. It started out with Hermione and Dan against Nev and Sirius. Then it switched around. Soon, Dan and Hermione were forbidden to play in the same game because they got too competitive.
So, they conjured a second board. Harry, Dan, Emma and Luna played one game. Hermione, Nev, Sirius and Dora played another.
Harry found it very peaceful, even if it was loud. He had his family in one room, doing things any regular family would do. Of course, anyone could tell they were enjoying it by the amount of laughter heard.
"You know, we really need to put more space up in the game room." Sirius suggested. "I mean, there's no room for a game table."
"Yeah. When we moved in, we thought it'd be a room for the teens but we all spend time up there." Dora agreed. She looked at a kitchen clock. "Oh my! It's after ten, where's Teddy?" She looked around the kitchen.
"He's asleep. I put him down there a little while ago." Harry smiled at the terrified look on her face.
She relaxed. "Thanks Harry." She paused. "I think it's bedtime for me then." She groaned as she got up from the table. "Can you guys clean up?"
"I will clean up if you're all done with the game." Dobby said firmly.
"Okay, good night all." Dora answered as she stood and left.
Sirius took Harry and Hermione in a hug. "I'm really going to miss these times when you go to school." He whispered as he let them go.
"We'll miss it too." Hermione replied as she gave her mum and dad kisses as they left.
HP
The next day was a lazy Sunday. Harry had gotten Teddy out of his cot and gone back to his bed to sleep. When he woke up around nine, he was laying on his back with Teddy curled on his stomach and Mione cuddled up next to him. They ended up finally going downstairs at around ten.
When they walked into the kitchen, everyone was already at the table. "Hey sleepyheads." Sirius called. "Decided to get up, did you?"
"Yeah." Harry groaned as he sat Teddy at the table.
"Not very talkative, are you?" Dan asked
"Nope." He answered as he hunkered down at the table and started to eat. Soon, he started to perk up.
"Why are you so tired love?" Mione asked.
"I stayed up reading that book about Henry VIII last night. I finished it." He smiled. "I don't think I came to bed until 3 or 4. Then I got Teddy up at six and we came back to bed."
"Merlin, we should meet up next time in the game room!" Nev exclaimed. "I was up till three reading as well. But Luna woke me up at eight."
"Do you want to start a herbology section in our library, Nev?" He asked.
"Sounds good. I can see about bringing some of my books over here since I've basically moved here." He laughed.
"How many subjects are in our library now Mione?" Harry looked at his girlfriend.
She counted them out in her head. "I think we've got 10 categories with something like 400 books. I've been trying to find a way to organise it but it's hard to do."
"Have you looked in the journals I gave you?" Sirius asked. "One of the constant topics between Lily and Remus was how to organise a library in a more easily accessible fashion. Her favorite place in Hogwarts was the library—like someone else I know—but she always complained you had to go to Madam Pince if you wanted something odd because there was no way to look it up on your own. Even in hiding, I remember her working on ideas with Remus. You should look in their journals if you want ideas."
Hermione smiled. "I think I'll do that."
After breakfast they all separated. Hermione and Luna went to the library to look through journals. Nev went back to Longbottom Estates. Harry and Teddy went out to the grass to play. Sirius, Dan and Emma sat out on the terrace drinking beer.