AN:

Timeline: Christmas '03.

"I'm itchy..." Daisy complained for the tenth time.

Harry shushed her, as the priest giving the sermon paused and smiled at Harry. He gave an apologetic look to Fleur, who had tutted at Daisy.

Ginny, who was sitting on the other side of Daisy, promptly propped Daisy on her lap and stared deadpan at Fleur. Little Victoire said something in French, taking back Fleur's attention.

The kids had been forced to nap all day. After the war and around the time Fleur got pregnant with Victoire, Fleur started coming to the local church more often. At first she went because she felt a sense of calm and was at peace with the decision she'd made to get married early. She would talk to her unborn child as though talking to God. Then Fleur started becoming more active at church, volunteering in local community projects. The small church built in the 1800s were neither grand nor big. But it's parishioners were devoutly good people. The church was one of the first to officiate a civil union at the heights of the LGBTQ movement in Great Britain. The Christmas Mass was headed by Fleur and the Weaslyes this time. Fleur and the parishioners worked since dawn on Christmas eve and were done just a few critical minutes before midnight mass.

Fleur smiled a little as she looked around the warmly lit church. She was glad to be able to share this experience of calmness with her family. The Weasley's had turned up in full strength, with George, sullen but sober, coming in past midnight. Fleur caught Father Beckwith's eye, as he bemusedly looked at her direction. Fleur at first rearranged her features, wondering if she looked obscenely pleased. It was only after a few moments that she realized that Father Beckwith was looking right behind Fleur. She followed his gaze to see Teddy Lupin, standing on the bench he was sitting on, his hands outstretched towards the sky, trying to get Father Benedict's attention.

Fleur looked alarmed at Harry, who realized what Ted was doing as little to late.

"Yes, child." Father Beckwith said, indulgently. "Why don't you come on up here?"

Ted hopped out of the bench. Harry quickly rose to his feet while Ginny tried to subdue an increasingly fidgety Daisy. Father Beckwith signaled Harry to sit back down. He beamed widely as Ted got closer.

"What is your name, sweet child?" Father Beckwith asked, as he put a small hand-held mic to Teddy's mouth.

"Teddy Lupin." replied Ted, his voice small. He apprehensively got closer to the mic.

"What is your question, dear Teddy?" Father Benedict asked.

Harry and Bill exchanged meaningful glances. The rest of the Weasley family looked alert, with Mrs. Weasley taking Victoire on her lap, one hand on the wand. Charlie quietly moved to the back of the church, using the shadows of the dimly lit church to his advantage.

"Was Jesus a wizard?" Teddy asked, his voice shaking a little.

"Well..." Father Beckwith said, smiling indulgently and straightening up. "That is a very good question Teddy. It is good to wonder about what God might be like. God may have been a wizard. His miracles are well-known. He may even be a superhero!"

"We celebrate Easter because Jesus came back to life." Teddy asked, this time his words pouring out faster. "Do you know what magic he used for that? Maybe Uncle Harry knows the spell."

The Weasley's fell silent. Harry clenched his hand but remained seated. It was better that they didn't create a scene and scare the children on their first real muggle outing.

Father Beckwith glanced at Harry with a solemn look before smiling kindly at Teddy.

"We don't understand all of God's ways." Father Beckwith said, his voice gentle. "But know that, if you live a good and righteous life, the ones you lost never truly leave you."

"Grandma says mom and dad are with Grandpa Ted." Teddy continued, his words quick and voice hopeful. "Maybe you can talk to God and find out the spell. Uncle Harry is a hero. He didn't go to be with Grandpa Ted. Can..."

A lot of things happened simultaneously. Harry rose to his feet, his wand concealed but ready. He hadn't even thought of the Confundus charm, when the candles flickered. He watched as Ginny sprang to her feet, holding a positively howling Daisy who had been trying to get out of the uncomfortable frock with "extra frills" (as was requested by Daisy), frowning at her icy breath. Harry quickly made his way to Ted.

The muggles shivered collectively, huddling closer together. After many winters by the rocky seashore, the muggles were quick to blame a sudden cold front for the unusual chills. They quickly chalked out the sinister feeling that was creeping in to the shadows cast by the flickering candle lights. After all Christmas Mass was the only time these muggles spent in poorly lit areas. Teddy, who had suddenly become quiet, was being cajoled by Father Beckwith. He was the first one to cry. One by one, the kids in the audience started crying, last of whom was Victoire. Fleur looked at Bill, a look of pure terror on her face.

"Dementors." She breathed, as Charlie and Mr. Weasley raised their wands simultaneously. Harry recognized the familiar copper brown sparks of Salvio Hexia. His thoughts went to Hermione and Ron, as he prepared to join the wizards and witches casting sleeping charms on the muggles. Ron and Hermione were on a way-too-late extended honeymoon. The protection spell would theoretically keep out the worse of the dementor attacks. But in the back of his mind, Harry could hear somebody screaming his name.

Harry quickly got to his knees, and spoke directly to Daisy and Teddy. He could hear Bill doing the same with. It was difficult to get their words across to the howling children.

Please...Harry heard the voice. Take me instead.

Harry clenched his fist, pushing the voice away and bringing Daisy and Ted into stronger view.

"Daze.." Harry said quietly. "Remember what I said? About what I did for a job? Well, the bad guys are nearby. We're gonna go take care of it."

"No..." Daisy hiccuped, as she started becoming more coherent. "Don't...go...I'm...sc-waed..."

Harry hugged Ted and Daisy, who'd stopped crying by then. Victoire calmed down too, as she held onto Fleur and Bill. Ted stopped too, more because he didn't want to be the only one crying. Ted stepped back a little as Harry released the pressure. But Daisy held on.

"No..." She said, her voice oddly calm for a five year old. "I won't let go. I'm not going to let go. I know what is out there."

Ginny shot an angry look at Harry. Harry had been telling Daisy bedtime stories, snippets from their parents life. Once he told Daisy all he could about the Maruarders, their mum and Snape, he proceeded to tell her about his life. Though he skipped over most of his early childhood, he'd decided to be honest about the events of his school life. Ginny was staunch against it. But Harry knew what it felt like to be raised in the muggle world with no real knowledge of the wizarding world. He was adamant about Daisy getting the best of both worlds. So he painted a real picture of the magical community, trying to show that with recent events, both muggles and wizards were the same. He made Daisy believe that magic was sort of like an extra arm; doesn't make wizards more or less special. It just meant that they could do more.

Harry had recounted the events of his third year. Daisy squealed gleefully as Harry had finally met the infamous Sirius Black. When Daisy squinted in confusion at the definition of dementors, Harry had hesitated. However, Moody's voice rang in his head.

Constant Vigilance.

He'd decided to leave out the Kiss. But he accurately described that like humans have wands, dementors have the power to suck out happiness from their victims mind. He explained how he had heard their mother's voice and how Lupin had taught him the patronus charm to protect himself.

The result of the inappropriate brutal honesty was that Daisy refused to turn off any lights in the house and slept in a sleeping bag next to Harry's bedside. No amount of cajoling, bribing or pleading worked with Daisy, who was convinced that there were dementors everywhere. Daisy refused to go to school, forcing Harry to spend his days in a kindergarten classroom. Obviously, Kingsley was not happy.

When Ginny had visited during Quidditch off-season, a week later, she was not amused with the paper mache heart the siblings had made in Art class together. Instead, she was livid. She was joined by a furious Mrs. Nottingham, who yelled at Harry from the foot of the stairs, raspily breathing into her oxygen mask. Ginny immediately put a stop to it, instead making Harry stay in the room with Daisy till she fell asleep. She even pulled out the baby monitor from storage and positioned it as a walkie-talkie to Daisy. After several shouting matches, dire warnings and tears of blackmail (mostly from Harry), Daisy relented to the idea.

Harry and Ginny had a big fight recently, again over his parenting style. Ginny had refused to even speak with him until he toned it down with Daisy. But Daisy was more mature in a lot of ways that Ginny didn't acknowledge. Harry didn't want to take his parents place in Daisy's life. He only wanted to be her big brother. But Ginny accused him of wanting to be Sirius. They were both adamant about whose was at fault. It wasn't an easy decision for Ginny, when Harry had said that he wanted to adopt Daisy. She'd decided to give it time, to wait and see if she'd wanted to be a pseudo-mother at such a young age. But she hadn't expected to fall in love with Daisy. And every-time Harry talked about Daisy, she loved him more because of the twinkle in his eyes. Daisy helped him in ways Ginny never could. But she constantly worried about the effect of a non-parental relationship that Harry and Daisy shared. She didn't want Daisy to start hating her just because she was forced to play the bad-cop all the time.

Harry glanced a Ginny before talking to Daisy, trying to gently pry them apart. But Daisy held on with all her strength, tightening her grip in each unsuccessful attempt.

"Daisy." Harry said, is voice stern. Daisy didn't loosen her grip.

"DAISY!" Harry said, his voice angry and strict. Harry shouted at Daisy all the time. Daisy felt that he didn't appreciate her vision and plans, the resultant mess was just an insignificant by-product. But this was the first time that Harry startled her. She loosened her grip for a moment and Harry took the chance to push her away.

"This isn't the time to be scared." Harry said, as he adjusted the bright white bow on Daisy's head (again, her idea). "Remember what I told you. About how the good guys always win. We're going to be quick. Just in-and-out. There is nothing to worry about."

Harry rose to his feet as he said the last sentence. Daisy didn't like looking at Harry when he was standing up. He seemed to tall, too out of reach. She tried to wrap herself around Harry's ankle but Harry was quick.

He joined the other wizards already at the doors, as the three scared children, their heads no taller than the benches next to them, looked on with quiet tears. Victoire rubbed the cross on the chain on her neck, a keepsake of her mother's promise to come back. But Victoire just couldn't shake off the fear and stop crying. Her papa had always complimented her smile and that was how she always saw him off.

As Daisy watched the doors of the church close and click behind Harry, a new sense of dread overwhelmed her. She ran to the door as fast as her feet could carry her, Victoire and Teddy right behind her. They collectively pulled at the door, banging on it until their little fists were sore, each shouting out the names of their beloved family outside.

Teddy was the first one to calm down. He squeezed Victoire shoulders. Ted though Victoire was a lot like his Aunt Fleur. He thought that they both spoke in a weird way and were always able to rearrange their faces very quickly to resemble the cherubic faces in plain clothing painted on the murals around them. But Daisy was inconsolable. It took the combined effort of the other two to pry her from the door.

"Daisy..." Ted groaned as he held onto Daisy's ankles and tried to pull. "Stop... We've.. To help.."

Daisy suddenly stopped, as Victoire and Ted renewed their efforts, causing them to stumble and topple over each other.

"But how?" Daisy said, tugging on her bow. She tore it out of her hair and threw it on the nearest sleeping muggle.

It was then that she noticed the bulge of his coat pocket. She quickly reached inside and pulled out what looked like the new cordless phone at Mrs. Nottingham's house. Daisy had used the phone several times to talk to Valerie and Cookie, as she waited at Mrs. Nottingham's after school.

"Is that a muggle phone?" Ted asked, as he hesitantly touched it. "Who can we call? Muggle Aurors?"

"No..." Daisy said, clutching the phone. "Hermione has this same exact thing. Ron gave it to her before they left for their honeymoon. But I don't know her... SHE GAVE IT TO GINNY!"

Daisy sprinted to the front of the church and grabbed Ginny's purse.

"She wanted to call Ginny from Bulgaria." Daisy said, as she started rummaging through Ginny's bag. Ted tutted and grabbed the bag from Daisy, turning it over and emptying the contents.

Victoire got to her knees and followed Ted's search for a paper.

"It was a small.." Daisy said, as she pulled a pile of papers towards her and started searching. "The paper was hard. Like a birthday card."

"This?" Victoire asked uncertainly.

"YES!" Teddy and Daisy exclaimed together.

Daisy quickly dialed the matching numbers. But all she could hear on the other side was static.

"Hello?" Daisy said, her voice urgent. "Hello? Hermione? Please. Help us. Hello?"

But Daisy could only hear static.

"It can't work around magic." Daisy said, slowly. "That's why Harry couldn't get a phone. He said it won't work because he knew magic."

Ted looked crestfallen. Victoire started crying again.

"Val's dad doesn't like these..." Daisy continued slowly. "Said they mess with your brain.. The signal.. I think that's what he said..."

The others didn't seem to acknowledge Daisy's train of thought.

"We've to make the signal go out." Daisy said, turning towards the others, holding the phone out.

"How?" Ted said, his voice cracking. It looked like he was going to start crying again.

"Magic." Daisy said, as she took Ted's hand.

-X-X-

"Colloportus." Harry murmured as he stepped out into the biting cold. The sea roared next to them, crashing into the rock shore as though trying to get away from the cold themselves.

Harry looked around at his friends and family, beads of perspiration on every cheek. It was odd that the cold did that. Harry looked for Ginny, wanting to draw strength from her touch.

"Expecto Patronum." Mr. Weasley said, his voice shaky. A small silver light leaked out of the wand, dissipating before falling to the wet grass.

"I can't seem to send any messenger patronuses out, either.' Charlie said, looking back hesitantly at the church.

Harry followed Charlie's gaze and in doing so, realized that there were dementors coming in from all directions. He reached Ginny, as the shrill and violent night suddenly fell quiet. Ginny's eyes widened in shock, as dark cloaked skeleton like creatures rose from the shore underneath them. The sea stopped crashing to the cliff, frozen in fear as a swarm of dementors started descending on the old church.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Molly yelled, as a dementor approached George, who seemed to be having a glassy look in his eyes. A silver bear erupted from the wand and charged towards the dementor, scaring it away. Molly pulled George to his feet with surprising strength and dragged him towards the center of the circle the Weasley's were forming. George looked up to see Percy's small shoulders standing square against the advancing darkness.

They all formed defensive formations, couples and siblings staying tightly knit.

"Expecto Patronum!" Mr. Weasley said, forcefully and a quick, strong weasel shot through the dementors, as Molly's patronus started to fade.

Harry could hear his mum's voice, his vision being clouded by images from that fateful Halloween. A weak silver whisp flickered on the tip of Harry's wand. The scenes of his parents death were interspersed with Sirius falling through the veil and the Battle of Hogwarts. The blank empty eyes of his mother, a nightmare that he would get on the coldest Halloween nights, flashed through his mind, until it was all he could see. And in that image, below some of the debris was Daisy's journal. And suddenly Daisy's face burst into his mind, invading every other image.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry shouted, as a silver stag erupted from his wand, pushing back the ever closing dementors a bit longer.

"THERE ARE PEOPLE INSIDE WHO NEED OUR PROTECTION." Harry roared. "WE WILL NOT LET THEM GET THE KIDS!"

Fleur was the next one to cast a patronus, an ethereal veela, joined the stag as he tapped the ground with his hoofs, shaking his antlers at the circling dementors. The veela flicked her hair and circled the wizards, chasing away any stray dementors.

"We need back-up." Ginny said, as a horse burst out of her wand and joined the stag, forming his flank. "There are too many..." Ginny's patronus flickered before becoming bright again.

"We need to create an opening." Percy said, as he waved his wand. "One of us needs to get out..."

George laughed a little.

"Looks like it has to be me..." He said, his voice shaky. "Can't produce a damn patronus..."

Percy frowned at George but nodded.

"Remember juggernaut?" George said, as he placed himself behind Bill and Charlie, with Percy taking the flank. "Mum would have a fit!"

Molly laughed as her bear started to diminish.

"I'll be back soon." George said, as he pulled his mom into a hug. "In-and-out."

Mr. Weasley nodded, his face firm. His patronus looked oddly still, but it held.

"There are nine of us." Mr. Weasley said, taking charge. "We're all that stands between the dementors and the kids. George has to get through. That's our only option. We cannot lose."

The others nodded and their patronuses shot through the dementors trying to clear the way. But the dementors were not going to let them go that easy. After their "dismissal" from Azkaban and Voldemort's defeat, dementors had started sticking together because they were unable to get any wizards to feed on. They subdued their insatiable hunger with muggle souls, suddenly careful of attracting too much attention. When the Ministry found out about it, they weren't too happy. Dementors were the hardest creatures to regulate. And with the new initiatives for strengthening all ties, magical and non-magical, Kingsley couldn't look away. The Ministry officially issued pamphlets and public interest brochures talking about the dementor activity and encouraged the magical population to protect their muggle neighbors.

The program was hugely unsuccessful as the resultant interruption in muggle feed caused the dementors to openly swarm on small groups of wizards. Harry had been keeping busy dealing with dementors for almost a year now. But his patronus had never failed him. He tried to enter the part of his mind which was the Auror. He tried to push away images of Daisy getting hurt from his mind. But it was unsuccessful. All he could think about were the three littlle kids huddled behind him. All that stood between those innocent kids and the hungry dementors were nine wizards and one 18th century church. That was also why he wanted to educate Daisy on dementors. He took a calming breath as he held Ginny's free hand, whose wand was still up steering the powerful steed through the dementors that were trying to close in on her brothers. It glowed brighter when she felt Harry's touch.

The small smile that was forming on her face was immediately replaced by loud screeches.

Harry intensified his concentration, focusing on Ginny doting on Daisy and pushing away his mother's voice, forcing his stag to hold the formation..

No.. He thought desperately as the heads of red hair charging through the dementors suddenly disappeared. Fleur screamed, her veela disappearing. Molly and Arthur fell to their knees, their patronuses disintegrating together. Harry felt the tear drops fall on his eyes, as Ginny's horse disappeared. Harry's stag flickered in and out of view, Harry forcing his mind on Daisy. And with a small flick the stag disappeared and Daisy crying as he closed the church door was the only image in Harry's head.

-X-X-

Harry hugged Ginny who had fallen to the ground. Fleur screamed freely into the night, each sound of terror only revving the dementors more.

The dementors closed in on their victims, their hunger driving them insane.

"Harry!" Harry heard a distant voice shouting. He was surprised that he recognized the voice.

And almost immediately, silver patronuses of a lynx, otter and jack russel terrier burst through the dementors, scattering them behind. They closely circled the surrounded wizards. Ginny was the first to react.

"Ron!" She exclaimed gleefully, as a silver horse burst from her wand. "They made it! They made it!"

The weasel and the bear attacked the dementors with renewed energy while a veela threw silver balls of light at the dementors flicking her hair with each hit. Harry saw a faint silvery haze trying to burst through the dementors. The haze slowly grew brighter to reveal tens of magicians on brooms and flying carpets, aiming patronuses at the dark lump of dementors below them.

"HARRY!" Ron shouted, as he made his way to the center, his terrier bounding up to clear a path for him.

He stumbled as he landed near his family.

"It's the kids." Ron said, as he ran towards the church.

Kingsley and the Aurors scattered the dementors as Hermione got down from her flying carpet.

"They want the kids!" Hermione exclaimed, as Ron struggled to open the church door.

With small pops nine of the seventy seven patronuses disappeared.

"Harry!" Ginny said, urgently, pulling Harry towards the church door. Harry quickly unlocked the door to find Daisy flying into his arms.

"I'm sorry..." She said, taking huge gulps. Teddy held onto Harry's legs. Harry lifted him off his feet and the children cried freely on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry.." Daisy said, repeatedly, sometimes coherent and sometimes with a lisp. Teddy looked up to see men in official looking badges were fighting with the night. He buried his head into Harry's shoulders again.

Ginny looked inside the church to see the contents of her purse strewn about. She also saw a charcoal black charred lump of...

"What is that?" Ginny said, confused, as she walked towards her purse to retrieve a chocolate she'd been saving for later.

"We couldn't call..." Victoire said, she slowly looked up from her grandmother's shoulder, a single tear still stuck to her eyelashes.

"Because you said magic wont allow it..." Ted said, straitening up to look at Harry.

Daisy clung onto Harry harder.

"We used magic.." Daisy said, her voice small. "I know you said I could'nt use magic until I was seventeen. But I didn't know what was happening... You locked me in!"

"You used mageek?" Fleur asked, confused.

"But it caught fire." Ted answered, looking at Fleur.

Daisy didn't raise her head.

"Will they let you come with me to jail?" Daisy asked in a small voice.

Ginny immediately put her hand on Daisy's back, trying to comfort her.

"Nobody is going to jail, love!" Kingsley said, as he entered the church. Harry saw the Ministry employees hanging around outside casting locator spells.

"What you did was very brave..." Kingsley said, ruffling Victoire's hair.

But Bill caught him by the collar and tackled him to the ground. It was just the sheer surprise of the attack from a dear friend that caused Kingsley to fall to the ground. Ginny moved to stop Bill, but Fleur was already at wand ready, the tip of her wand a few inches from Kingsley's nose.

"You zed ze dementors are acting strange." Fleur said, her french accent making her voice sound more sinister. "What did Ron mean when he said they want the children? What are you hiding?"

If Harry hadn't been holding Daisy, he would have probably launched onto the Minister too. The Aurors quickly stepped inside, waiting for further orders. But Kingsley was quiet for a long time.

"Do you really think that I would hide something like this?" Kingsley said, his voice stoic. But it was easy to see that Kingsley felt hurt.

"When Hermione contacted the Auror office for support..." Kingsley started. He instead got to his feet and asked the Aurors to call the clean up crew. He wished them a Merry Christmas and dismissed them, leading the way for the Weasley's, Harry and Hermione to file out after him. Ron and Hermione took Ted and Victoire, deciding against taking Daisy who was still wrapped around Harry's neck.

"How did Hermione know?" Percy wondered aloud. "We didn't make it through. We were barely able to keep them at bay when the Aurors found us. We told them to get to you and the church."

"I called her." Daisy replied in a low voice. "On her new phone."

The mystery of the burnt object had been solved.

"But that's not magic..." Ginny said in a soothing voice.

Daisy didn't reply.

"Daisy." Kingsley said quietly.

"Can you not make me go to Azkaban?" Daisy said, slowly raising her head. Dark streaks of tears lined her face.

"Using a phone is not magic, sweetheart!" Mr. Weasley said, kindly.

"The call wouldn't go through." Daisy said quietly. "I don't know why. So we had to use magic."

"You used magic to make a call?" Bill asked confused.

Daisy nodded and put her head back on Harry's shoulders.

"What do you mean?" Kingsley said, frowning. "Did you use somebody's wand?"

Daisy shook her head.

"How did you do magic then?" Kingsley asked, his expression confused.

But Harry and Ginny gave each other meaningful looks. They knew what Daisy meant when she says she used magic. Magic was very primitive in Daisy, something which responded to the power of her will. The situation must have been so, that her magic carried the signal to Hermione. So when she made the toaster waffle cook faster or when she changed the channel on the TV telepathically when she can't find the remote, the source of the magic was not her wand. It was just her desire just subconsciously fueled her magic, causing her to do things which Harry didn't remember doing when he was five.

"She just really wanted to call Hermione." Harry replied, giving Kingsley a meaningful look.

Kingsley decided against pursuing the issue.

"Daze.." Harry said gently, his hand on Daisy's head. "I know we talked about how doing magic without being properly trained is illegal. But this was a special circumstance. You did the right thing by calling Hermione and you'll definitely not be going to Azkaban. I promise that."

"You do?" Daisy said, digging her head deeper into the curve of Harry's shoulders.

Harry nodded, clutching Daisy harder. He gladly accepted the tiny piece of chocolate that finally made his way to him. But decided to give it to Daisy as she seemed to still be shaking.

"Maybe ve can go home." Fleur suggested, as Ron and Hermione came back with Ted and Victoire. Victoire yawned hugely and Ted slipped in and out of sleep.

Harry nodded as they made their way back to Shell Cottage. Daisy looked up over Harry's shoulder. She smiled at Ginny who was following them. Behind Ginny, Daisy watched as wizards arrived with small pops near the church. She smiled. She had always liked that sound.

-X-X-

The smell from the steaming cups of never-ending hot chocolate filled the cozy living room of Shell Cottage. Ginny sat on Harry's lap, their fingers interlaced. Ginny studied the lines on Harry's palm. Luna used to say how the lines on the palm talked about the future and how Professor Trewlaney had predicted that she will marry a man named for a lizard. Ginny tried to focus on the memory, trying to see if she could remember exactly what Luna had said. Ginny remembered Venus being mentioned.

"They fit, don't they?" Ginny said, in a low voice, as she studied their intertwined figures.

"Yeah..." Harry replied, who was watching Hermione giggle as Ron, who had the sappy look of a newlywed, whispered something in her ears.

Mr and Mrs. Weasley were putting the kids down to sleep as Bill and Fleur arranged the master bedroom for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's night. Kingsley and Charlie were deep in conversation. Percy stood next to them, cutting in from time to time. George, who sat in an armchair right next to them, sipped his third mug of hot chocolate. Unbeknownst to anybody in the room, George had been adding a clear liquid from his hip flask since the first sip. Everybody straightened up as Bill and Fleur entered the room, dressed in comfortable night clothes.

"Nice long shirt." Ginny said, grinning at Bill's choice of blue and white nightshirt with a sky blue night cap.

Fleur was dressed in pajamas and a comfortable t-shirt. Harry, who was used to seeing Fleur always primly dressed, was surprised at the line "Disturb me at your own risk" written in bright red hues across Fleur's T-shirt. They settled on the armchair as a spoon stirred the marshmallows in their hot chocolate. Everybody turned their attention to Kingsley who waved his wand. A parchment appeared with a floating quill impatiently tapping on the parchment, ready to take notes.

"Bill..." Kingsley said in a low voice. "Before we begin, I want to understand why you tackled me. My side of the story is a bit long and I promise I will be as honest as I possibly can. I ask the same from you."

Bill looked at Kingsley, appraising the situation with gritting teeth. He looked at Fleur, who nodded.

"I'm sorry." Bill said, his tone humble and apologetic. "It was a knee jerk reaction. We knew to expect dementors. But we never imagined there could be so many and that they were after the kids? It just awoke every paranoid fear in me. I didn't think."

"I feel ze same." Fleur added, her tone earnest. "Je suis vraiment désolé. I am so sorree."

Kingsley nodded and accepted Bill's hand to shake. He then reached into his pockets and took out a small piece of paper.

"D.O.M.." Ron muttered, under his breathe. The Department of Mysteries was the only Department in the Ministry to use paper instead of parchment.

"I received this report three months ago." Kingsley said in a low voice. He didn't need to speak up. He had the entire rooms undivided attention.

In response to Event 346-5 (Read Magical Surge), and in corroboration with many eye witness accounts, the first ones to dessert The Dark Lord's cause were the Dementors (Desertion: Event Horizon+1). After a brief disappearance (663 days 3 hours 1 min 14 seconds), the earliest report of their reappearance emerged. (Read Muggle Dementors) Protocol was followed and it was logged. Researchers Warawick and Merlin studied further reports and drew out a basic map. Result: Starving dementors were attacking lower creatures. Species extinct: 23 (two magical). Status update.

"I received this one a few days later." Kingsley continued.

Further research on dementors (Read Dementer Revolution) and change in behavior patterns after the Dark Lord's defeat reveal a possible connection. (Read Magical Surge). It was noticed that muggles were soon becoming a choice food source. Data also indicates a never-before-seen nesting behavior from the dementors. Approved for released Urgent.

"I received this a few hours ago." Kingsley continued. "I would've almost missed it if my neighbor's cat hadn't shouted at the exact time."

Further pattern analysis with the MBC, revealed that the attacks were frequent in areas with more muggle-born wizards and witches. Infants and toddlers are prime targets. Unusual stealth behavior displayed by Dementors. Possibility of alpha proposed. Further research approved. ((FOR EYES ONLY))

"I tried to get in touch with the head of DOM." Kingsley added, an angry expression on his face. "He says he is on holiday in Bermuda and that he will look into this when he gets back. If Banner wasn't a genius, I would've shut down the whole department. But look at how much they accomplished just because they looked into an absence of Dementer attacks."

Kingsley took George's offer for his seat and slumped on the comfortable armchair, his hot chocolate left unattended.

"What is this magical surge?" Ron asked, breaking the silence after a while. Harry had decided to discuss the memo (which he had found in his mother's journal) with the rest of the Weasley's. On Mr. Weasley's advice, Harry spoke to Kingsley. Banner asked to raise a "Request Release" which takes anywhere between five minutes and five decades, depending on the sensitivity of the information, to process. Obviously, the magical surge research was top clearance with an estimated reply time to three years. Kingsley rowed with Banner, who reduced the reply time to 600 days and went to Fiji for "research". Kingsley threatened Banner with dire consequences.

And for the first time Banner played his Unspeakables card.

"You know, Minister." Banner said, putting his hand on Kingsley's shoulder, his hooded robe and mask hiding his features. Kingsley frowned but didn't react more than that.

"You're a good leader." Banner said, a small smile on his face. "You're intelligent, cautious and the people trust you. You use the information we know for certain is true and you use it well. If we release research too early with too many unproved assumptions, we not only endanger the research but also the lives of everybody who reads the research. We simply will not let that happen. So, lets not try to pull a Radolphus Lestrange, shall we? We've faced so many obstacles trying to separate us as a government, as a community. Let's move forward with trust and respect, why don't we?"

Kingsley had decided to let Banner walk away. Banner wasn't an evil guy. He was just a scientist trying to study something which could not be perceived by most humans. It is sure to drive the researchers a tad bit loony. But the DOM was suddenly active within the Ministry, right from joint projects with other departments to releasing timely memos and reports. Their Report Request clearance rate was unfortunately the most efficient system in the Ministry.

When Kingsley discussed this with the group present, Harry said that Banner was lucky he didn't cross paths with him.

"I did some snooping around." Percy said, much to everyone's surprise. George let out a small, loud laugh before returning to his mug. Bill eyed George suspiciously.

"The Department of Magical education is currently discussing a proposal to seek funding for adding teachers." Percy said, pulling out a small piece of parchment from his pocket. He looked nervously at the Minister before tapping it.

"I have some points here which they'd discussed in their meeting." Percy continued. "I was meeting Aubrey and I was only able to get a glimpse of the board in the meeting room. It said that there has been a 200% increase since last year for the total number of babies born with magical abilities. There has been a 150% increase in muggle-borns with abilities, almost doubling the total number of students expected to attend Hogwarts in the coming years They even wondered if they could get a new school."

"It hasn't reached me yet." Kingsley said, as he processed the information. "The number of students at Hogwarts has always remained stable at around 300. We had an positive influx in '99 due to increased demand for a Hogwarts education. But even then, the number stabilized pretty quickly to 500. Daily Prophet and even the Independent Paper of Magic gave it an encouraging review. But to want to open a new school?"

"They estimate that the number of students who would join Hogwarts could be anywhere between one thousand to one thousand five hundred." Percy added, as he adjusted his glasses. "Students born around and after the war."

Hermione leaned forward deep in thought.

"Could this be related to Voldemort?" Hermione said, considering her words carefully. It was a different living room where she'd vehemently rejected the idea of Voldemort leaving a tangible legacy. She just didn't want to believe it.

"He did unspeakable dark magic." Hermione continued, looking mainly at Harry. "He even tried to infuse into himself your mother's protection, which was cast against him, as a weapon. I have been researching on horcruxes and hallows. I even made a contact in Albania, to see if they had some information on horcruxes. But it seemed like all the information simply vanished around the time Voldemort came into power for the first time. But a lot of research went missing too early. The bread crumb trail talks about a lot of lost research. But the way it is written... it just looked like DOMs work. What I know for sure is that something critical is being researched as we speak at DOM. Something with a fast approaching deadline. That would explain why the DOM is releasing so much more information now than they ever did. Dumbledore always said that Voldemort and you have traveled to realms of magic unknown. You were tied in so many ways. And the first memo the DOM released to us. About the conservation of magical energy. What if his death caused a huge spike in the birth of babies with magical abilities? And what if... What if that magic is still out there? What if DOM is studying just that? What if it is spontaneously creating magic in muggles? And that is what is making the dementors stronger."

The other took a deep collective breath, trying to wrap their heads around such an abstract idea. But so far, it was the only theory that made sense.

"Hang on!" Ginny said, looking incredulously at the confused group surrounding her. "You guys are just overthinking it. It may have nothing to do with Voldemort at all. No matter how evil a git he was, he was a powerful wizard. A seventh of his soul even tried to kill me! If you look at the energy law thing from this angle, it just means that enough babies haven't been born yet who can take that much magic. Babies don't have too much of magic in them. This is commonly known. So for successful births only a tiny portion of a large magical pool is being used. Once the pool is drained, the numbers will stabilize. This is a brilliant thing, if you think about it!"

As though to contradict Ginny, Daisy slowly floated into the living room, a half-asleep Mrs. Weasley behind her. She nodded and went back to bed as Daisy settled on Ginny, her face calmly asleep. Ginny pulled down the zip of the sleeping bag Daisy was in and slowly patted her chest. Harry smiled at the memories of Ginny doing this Daisy so many times and a small glimpse of Ginny cooing to a unknown baby with dark brown hair. He automatically looked at Ron and Hermione, who were deep in hushed conversation. Fleur hoped that the kids were sleeping peacefully. She wasn't sure if Molly knew the right amount of calming potion for toddlers. She smiled, wondering if the others had the same serene expressions on their faces.

"She is powerful, no?" Fleur mused, smiling at Daisy. "Thank ze gods zat she was there."

"She just made a phone call..." Hermione said quickly, as Ginny's eyebrows furrowed in anger. Ginny was unsure if enough time had passed for Fleur to start a new conversation. It was quite possible she was being contradictory to what Ginny had said earlier.

"She used magic to get through to you.." Harry said, softly playing with Daisy's cheeks.

"Why would she need magic to call my phone?" Hermione said, confused. "Did she get my number magically somehow?"

"She says that the magic was interfering with the call getting through.." Ginny said, biting her lips. "But I'm sure it was a fluke. I mean, otherwise we would probably get phones too."

"Bill.." Fleur asked getting her husbands attention. Bill looked like he was being roused from deep thought. Fleur rolled her eyes playfully.

"Bill!" Fleur said, as she encouraged Bill to take a sip of the hot chocolate. "I was juz saying how powerful and smart Daisy is. Don't you agree? She did advanced mageek to save us."

"What?" Bill said a little confused at Daisy's arrival. Kingsley appraised Bill quietly.

"Oh.." Bill exclaimed. "Oh.. Right.. You're talking about Daisy calling Hermione? Well, she confessed to Mom who told me that they didn't manage to get through at all. All they managed to do was set the phone on fire. But she did say that she had called before trying to use magic. Dad reckons that's the call that went through."

"Besides..." Hermione added. "The reason muggle technology doesn't work in places like Hogwarts or the Ministry is because of the sheer amount of magic. You can't replicate that in a small church by a single spell. The phone must have been faulty. But Daisy sounded like she was in trouble. I tried to get in touch with you guys but you weren't responding. I called Kingsley, just in case, who alerted us to the possibility of a dementor attack because there were three kids with magical abilities available in a relatively isolated area. That's why we checked on the kids first. To make sure Dementors hadn't slipped in."

Ginny looked at Fleur with a triumphant smile.

"You've to keep at it, Harry." Hermione said, her voice encouraging. "She is a smart kid who worships you. Remember how she learned to walk the weekend you left her with Mrs. Nottingham? She did that because she understood that she isn't supposed to use magic without permission. And I'm glad that she thought of calling for back-up. She can't suppress her natural magic while sleeping, no less under the effect of a calming drought. But don't give up the effort."

But Harry didn't reply. He watched as Ginny smiled at Daisy, tucking away stray strands of her own long, silky hair behind her ear.

"Hmm.." Harry replied as Hermione called out to him. Ron and Bill looked at Harry with a "could-you-not-be-like-that-with-my-SISTER-please?" look.

"I'm sorry, Hermione." Harry said, quickly and carefully getting to his feet. "I'm sorry, guys. But I can't..."

Harry sat on his knees, catching Ginny's hand.

"I know that this isn't how you'd imagined it..." Harry started, as the room fell silent. Suddenly, he could feel eyes digging into the back of his head. Ginny went red, determinedly holding Harry's gaze.

"I know you said you wanted something special." Harry continued, gently kissing Ginny's fingertips. "Somewhere exotic. At some special time. I wanted that to be Valentine's. I planned and I planned. Hermione nearly lost her mind!" Harry said with a small chuckle.

"But I can't wait.." Harry continued, as he slowly balanced himself on one knee. Hermione came to take Daisy away, who was still blissfully asleep.

"Marry me, Ginevra Molly Weasley." Harry said, pulling out an engagement ring from his pocket. "Marry me and make me the happiest man alive. Marry me and I will never have to worry about casting a failed patronus. Marry me on Valentine's."

Ginny was studying Harry with suspicious eyes. They'd been bitterly fighting all morning. This was the last thing Ginny expected. Ginny wasn't sure if she should want what she wanted. Ginny brushed Hermione aside before speaking.

"You chose to ask here.." Ginny said, in a small voice. "In front of everybody. So before I give my answer, I want to clear out a few things. Are you going to be more balanced with Daisy?"

Harry frowned and slowly shook his head.

"I've never been a great student." Harry said, as he looked at Daisy. "But I want to learn. But I promise to talk about how to raise Daisy and the others and we will do it together."

Ginny smiled against herself. Harry grinned as Ginny nodded. Harry quickly put the ring on Ginny's fingers and marveled at how stunning the diamond looked because of her hand.

"Aunt Muriel's ring..." Ginny whispered, before kissing Harry.

The others got onto their feet, silent cheers filling the room. Daisy opened her eyes a little but quickly fell back asleep. Ron and Harry shook hands as Hermione hugged Harry.

George quietly made his way to the door, staggering a little as he reached it.

"George! Percy exclaimed, as Bill tried to get to George quickly to stop him.

Ginny tried to get to her feet quickly, Harry taking Daisy in his arms instead.

"It's OK.." George said, as Bill put his hand on George's shoulders. "No, really. Ginny... Harry... Congratulations! I'm so happy for you guys. I hope Daisy goes back to sleep quickly."

With that, George pulled free from Bill's grasp and disapparated. Daisy's eyes popped open at the sound and she shot right up, looking at the room confused.

"Is that hot chocolate?" Daisy said, as she smelled the air.

Ginny gave Daisy her mug, as she smiled, holding back her tears. Harry pulled Ginny into a hug and kissed her head. Harry had already planned the perfect wedding.

I absolutely loved the twins. Fed and George were my favorite Weasley. Such was the genius of JKR. I apologize that in my AU, George is still struggling with Fred's death and has descended into alcoholism. But for me, for George to get any stability in life, he had to go to the deepest pits of hell and come back alive. I'm changing the rating to M. Not because of expletives, but because of the dark emotions this book hopes to explore.