A/N I went back to change Lavender in Chapter 13. That's why you've gotten so many updates today. I couldn't figure out how to just edit it. Yes. I've figured out now so that won't happen again.

Ch. 21

17 July 1998

That night, at around midnight, Harry and Hermione were still up in their room reading. Mione put her book down and got a mischievous grin on her face. "Want to go swimming?" she asked innocently.

"Now?"

"Well, there's no one to bother us. We could do anything we wanted." She offered suggestively as she ran her hand over his bare chest.

He looked up into those laughing eyes and understood exactly what she meant. "Yeah. Let's go." He grinned, getting out of bed and into his suit—almost as quickly as she did. They grabbed each other's hand and ran downstairs and into the pool house.

Harry just dove in and came up next to Mione as she used the steps. "Come here." He growled as he pulled her all the way in and up against his chest. He began to kiss her fervently as he reached up to undo her bikini top.

HP

Later as they laid in bed curled up as tightly as possible, Mione said softly, "I love you so much Harry. I can't wait to start our life together."

"Me neither, Mione. I love you more than I ever thought possible." He murmured as he fell asleep.

HP

For the first time in 10 weeks, Harry did not get up to Teddy crying. Instead, he woke up to a pressure being placed on his chest. He opened his eyes to find Teddy dressed but asleep curled up on him. Looking around, he saw Dora standing there smiling.

She whispered, "He wouldn't calm down until we were on our way here and fell asleep the minute he was on your chest."

He smiled at the boy he was starting to see as his son. His hair was the light brown of his father. His eyes, when they opened, were the chocolate brown of Dora's for a second until they matched Harry's and his hair became jet black. Harry loved when Teddy instinctively decided to look like him.

"Okay little man. Time to get up, I guess." He whispered as Dora left the room and Harry got dressed.

Eventually, he and Teddy arrived in the kitchen to see Dobby whirling around preparing food. "Hey there Dobby. Sorry I didn't get up earlier." He apologised as he was given a mug of hot chocolate.

"Do not apologise Harry Potter Sir. I like making breakfast." He smiled.

"So, how are you doing these days, Dobby?"

"I'm fine. I am going to lessons with Mitzy about my speaking and I'm taking care of my family. I am happy." He grinned.

"Should Nev and I be talking about an elf wedding yet?" Harry teased his friend.

Dobby stopped and looked at Harry. "Elves don't marry because they are usually related to other elves in the home."

"Then how do you mate?" Harry asked.

"Our owners usually make deals to have us mate with elves from other families. The first elfling is usually kept by the mum's family. The second by the da's."

"Well, if you like we can arrange something so you both might serve both houses and live and work together. I'm sure something can be arranged so you can live as a family." Harry concluded. At that Dobby perked up. "You like Mitzy, don't you?" Harry laughed as Dobby's entire body went Weasley red. "Well, let us know, yeah?"

"Of course, Harry Potter Sir." Dobby replied as he went back to work.

"Who exactly does Dobby like?" Nev asked as he came in.

"Mitzy." Harry grinned as Nev laughed.

"Well, we'll have to figure something out so they can be a family when they decide." Nev knew this would happen when he was told about the lessons from Dobby. He just wasn't sure how to deal with it. Better talk to Gran and Sirius, he thought amusedly at the idea of Gran having to deal with the very independent Dobby. For an old lady, she was very progressive but Nev was unsure how she'd respond to this. The Gran from before the battle would have arranged a typical agreement with Sirius. However, the Gran that was listening to Harry and Mione might do something different and new.

"Nev, you want to go to Three Broomsticks for lunch today—just us?" Harry asked.

"No girls?"

"No. I need some advice and they can't hear."

"Sure then." Nev grinned. He had an inkling of what Harry wanted to talk about but didn't want to ask in case he was wrong.

"Hey guys." Sirius greeted as he sat down at the table.

"Hey Pads." Harry acknowledged with what the family had begun calling his 'thinking face' evident to everyone.

After breakfast, Harry decided to go for a ride. Maybe he'd think better in the sky. Before he left, he asked Hermione "When are we going to that musical you want us to see?"

"Next Saturday. We got tickets for the Tonks', us and my parents." She answered. "Why?"

"Just wondering that's all. I'm going flying." He gave Mione a kiss before he left. While out on the property, free to just fly and think, he began thinking about the last few days. While he had been setting up the staff for the orphanage, he had been thinking about his own life—life with the Dursleys, life at Hogwarts, life with Mione. He had come up with the same solution every time. He wouldn't be here if not for Mione. She had stuck with him through everything from the Heir of Slytherin to the Triwizard Tournament to the Horcrux hunt. She was the one constant in his life and he couldn't imagine his life without her. So, what to do about it, was the ultimate question.

Did he ask her to marry him now? They were, physically, so young but were so old in experience, he wasn't sure that they were actually too young for this step. Just thinking about this made his head hurt. That's why he needed to talk to someone. He couldn't talk to Sirius because he wouldn't be able to be objective. Harry knew how much Sirius wanted Mione as a legal part of the family. So, he'd talk to Neville. When he finally came to that conclusion, he looked at his watch. It was almost time for lunch so he went inside.

When he hiked up to the game room, he saw the family just sitting around talking.

"Hi Harry. You ready to go out?" Nev inquired.

"Yeah." He reached over and gave Mione a kiss. "I'll see you later love." He and Nev were about to maneuver down the stairs when Teddy cried. Harry went back and took him from Dora. "I promise Teddy, I'll be back soon and we can play then little man." He tickled Ted's feet and handed him back. He left before Teddy could whine.

HP

The boys apparated to the Three Broomsticks and went in to get a booth. They ordered from Rosmerta and put up the muffliato charm to keep others from hearing.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Nev asked.

"I have a question for you. How sure are you that Luna is the one?" He asked.

Nev blanched, this was not where he thought this was going. Was Harry getting all 'older brother' on him? He took a deep sigh and decided that honesty was the best policy. "Positive."

"How do you know?"

"I can't imagine my life without her." Nev looked seriously at Harry. "She's the one that calms me down, knows when I need to be left alone, can read me better than anyone else. I just know."

"I've known I was going to marry Mione since we started dating." Harry said contemplatively. "Do you think it's too early to ask Hermione to marry me?" He blurted out.

Nev thought for a few minutes. "Well, when did you want to get married?"

He considered. "I was thinking after we graduate."

Nev smiled, leaning over to slap his back. "Well then, no. I think it's just right. I know you love her and would never hurt her, so I think it's a great idea."

Harry looked relieved like Neville had never seen him. "I'm so glad you think so. I've been worrying about it for a few days now and didn't know if I was rushing things." He laughed and took a deep breath. When he let it out, he asked one of the most important questions of his life. "So, how do I ask?"

"Do you want this to be a private affair between you and her, or do you want the family to witness it?" Nev returned.

They waited until Rosmerta delivered their meal to continue the conversation. "I think I want the family involved." He finally answered as they began to eat.

"Well, I see two possible ways to approach this. First, you could do it at a Sunday dinner. Second, you could do it when we go out to dinner somewhere." Then he paused and said thoughtfully. "What if you did it at the musical Hermione's taking us to?"

"What about going for dessert afterwards and my proposing then?" Harry offered, to which Nev just grinned.

"That's perfect." Nev enthused. "Better watch out Potter. When I want to propose to Luna, I may need your help."

To that, they both laughed. "No problem, mate."

HP

That evening was an Alliance Dinner. Consequently, Sirius spent the afternoon in the study reviewing who the Longbottom-Black-Potter Alliance had as members. It seems as though their little Alliance had grown considerably over the last two months.

He chuckled as he looked at the list, remembering how hard Augusta and he had campaigned for each member. Some, such as McGonagall and Weasley, they knew they'd get. However, some, such as Wood, were a lot harder. Although Oliver Wood fought in the Battle, his family was fairly traditional. The Greengrass family was new as an alliance for Longbottom and Potter as well and boy did that take time. In the end, Silas had told Sirius that the reason he joined was not anything he or Augusta did, it was serving on the Awards Committee with Harry and Neville. He believed they could do wonders for their society and he didn't want to miss the chance of influencing them if he could.

Sirius spent a lot of time that afternoon going over everyone's track record of votes and what they knew about each family. Augusta and he had put dossiers together on each of the new and old players in this game of politics. Because Sirius was so absorbed in understanding each family, he did not notice the young men coming home around four.

HP

When Nev and Harry got done with lunch, they decided to go to Honeyduke's for their girls. Then they went to Tomes and Scrolls.

"You know, Nev. It might be easier to get them gift cards rather than books, since we can really only guess what they want."

"Yeah. Sounds good. Although probably don't want to do that for their birthdays or Yule."

"Yeah." Harry shivered dramatically. "Don't want to face the look she'd give me if I showed up with a gift card for a special occasion."

When they got home, they found the women of the family in the library, or rather on the balcony outside the library, each with a book in hand. Teddy was in the bouncer happily playing with his fingers and feet. When he saw Harry, he focused on his godfather and stretched out his arms and legs.

"Hi, little man." Harry grinned at his godson as he bent to pick him up.

"Hi Neville." Luna got up to give him a kiss.

"Hi love." He returned as he held her close.

Harry looked down at his beautiful girlfriend as she stood to give him a kiss. "Looks like you've got your hands full." She smiled at Teddy.

HP

That evening, Alliance members started arriving at around 6.30. Neville, Luna, Harry, Hermione, Sirius and Augusta waited to greet each member as they exited the floo or apparated in. It took quite a while but the younger folks were very glad to see many of their classmates with the older generation.

When all the greetings were done, everyone went outside to the back patio. As Harry was looking around for his godson, he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned around to see Silas Greengrass with his daughter Daphne. "I don't know if you have formally met my heir Daphne, Lord Potter?"

"No sir." He nodded to Silas as he turned to Daphne and took her hand to kiss it. "It's very nice to make your acquaintance Heiress Greengrass. I have heard my girlfriend Hermione tell me how smart and honest you are at school. Welcome to my home." He smiled, noting that the manners lessons with Gran paid off as Daphne looked a little surprised at his formal greeting.

"Thank you, Lord Potter. I look forward to getting to know you. As Hermione is probably the only Gryff I know and like well, I anticipate we will get along once we get to know each other. Quite frankly, I am surprised it took the two of you so long to get together. We all thought until fourth year that you two would end up together." She laughed as Harry turned beet red.

"Well, she's the one who admitted to me how she felt. Honestly, I had always loved her but was so scared of losing her as a friend that I didn't even think it. That is until she told me how she felt the afternoon after the battle." He smiled softly as he remembered their first kiss.

Daphne just shook her head and laughed. "Sounds like a guy."

"Hey Harry." Dora moaned as she came up to him with a crying Teddy. "Here. I can't stop him. He's been fed, nappied and shouldn't be tired. Maybe you'll work." She handed him off to Harry. Teddy looked up at his raven-haired godfather and changed his looks to match as he stopped crying.

"He's a Metamorph?" Daphne asked

"Yes. He's Harry's godson. And right now, Harry is the only person that can truly calm him down." Dora grinned at the flummoxed look on the young girl's face. "My name's Dora Lupin." She reached out and shook Daphne's hand.

As both turned to check on Harry and Teddy, Daphne gasped. "He really loves that boy, doesn't he? You can see it on his face."

"Yeah." Dora smiled as the boys moved off to talk to others as Dora asked, "So how are you doing these days?"

As Harry left Dora and Daphne, his waist was attacked. He looked down to see Devon giving him a hug and laughed. "Hey there Dev."

"Hey Harry. I saw Neville. He seemed to be stuck with a girl though." He replied disgustedly.

"Hey! That girl is my friend Luna." Harry laughed as they went to talk to others. Eventually, the buffet started and everyone came together to sit at the tables.

After dinner, Sirius got up and stood where everyone could see him. He noticed they might have a problem since they had a lot more people at this gathering.

"Okay. First off, we need to introduce all the new Alliance Members. If you are new please state your name and what house you're with." He sat down.

Minerva stood up and Harry could see her putting on her Professor look. "I'm Minerva McGonagall and am sitting on the McGonagall seat. This is my brother Robert who you will most likely be dealing with." She pointed to a red-haired man.

"Thanks for going first Minnie." Sirius laughed as she gave him her famous stare that had cowed many students. "Oh Minnie, you love me." He grinned as they both sat down.

Others stood. Arthur and Bill Weasley, Xeno and Luna Lovegood, Alex and Katie Bell, Dora and Teddy Lupin, and Hermione all stood and introduced themselves.

"Okay. Now that that's done, we need to talk about which goals we've actually accomplished and what we need to do." He gave everyone a printout of the goals. "We've actually accomplished two of the five goals. First, getting more diversity on the Wizengamot and second, evening out the hiring guidelines. My question is, do we want to add to this list or keep on working until we get all these met?"

"I say we keep working." Bill offered.

"I agree." came several voices.

"Let's vote on it." Harry stood as he spoke. "All those in favor of keeping the goals as they are for now, raise your wand."

A majority came up. "Good." Sirius grinned. "Now the next issue I'd like to propose is that we change these meetings to the Saturday before the monthly session. That way we can all talk about what will happen that week."

A majority vote was taken. After that, they talked about bringing a bill to insist Wizengamot meet every Thursday for the rest of the year.

"I've had several new members complain that it's ridiculous to meet once a month." Lord Abbott explained. "While muggle government bodies meet every day, we're a much smaller community so we don't need to meet daily but we need to meet more than we are." He took a breath. "I was also told that, while each Wizengamot member has served on at least three committees, that is not law. I think we should propose that law."

"What are the committees that we are to serve on?" Arthur asked.

"There are several." Sirius said, handing out another paper. "Here's the list: Budget/ Appropriations, Creature Liaison which has been a joke and has been replaced, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Heath, Education, Muggle Relations, Small Business Regulations and Transportation." Taking another deep breath, he commented, "I think there are enough members for there to be at least three members on each committee. Has any new member been advised about which committee they are on?"

He got a lot of head shaking in return. "I know that Chief Marchbanks is working on it now." Charles said. "I think she's going to have us submit names like she did for our presentations. We should have at least one member of our alliance on each committee."

They spent the rest of the evening deciding who would volunteer for what. At around ten, Harry noticed his godson starting to nod off so he put him to bed. When he got up, he noticed all the girls giving him weird looks. Is it really so strange that I'm taking care of my godson? He thought.

When he came back downstairs, he observed several people leaving. Most of the women were giving him those looks again. Finally, the family ended up in the game room.

"What were those looks people were giving me?" He asked. The response was loud laughter. When it continued, he got angry. "What'd I do wrong?"

"Nothing Harry." Dora said through her laughter. "Girls are just generally drawn to men with babies. They think you're a good catch." She explained.

He looked at Mione. "I'm already caught. And they should know that!"

"Yes." Luna agreed. "But they can still dream."

He just shook his head.

HP

The next few days were very quiet for the family. Sunday, they had a family dinner. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the men hired a Head of Dining, Librarian, and Dormitories.

The Head of Dining was a chef at a fine restaurant in Diagon Alley named Celeste Beasley who was widowed with a five-year-old. The Head Librarian was a man named Julian Stokes who had a two-year-old. His wife disappeared during the war-she was muggleborn. The Head of Dormitories was Arwen Baines a single woman with no kids.