Author's Notes:
Hey everyone. I'm really sorry its been a while since my last update. I just got a new computer and the dumb thing wouldn't let me transfer all my old files, including chapter three. On the bright side, it doesn't take me an hour to download chapters now.
Lemonwedges4, I'm glad you like the story so far.
Chapter Three: March
"You're sure you want to know?"
"Positive," said Ginny. She was holding Harry's hand and both were very nervous and excited to find out the genders of their twins, despite already having a boy and a girl.
"Well, it seems the MPU was right, you're having two girls. Congratulations," said Healer Lynch., turning the monitor so that they could see their babies.
"Great," said Harry. "Bethany and Nathalie it is."
"Bethany and Nathalie? What ever happened to Ileana?" asked Ginny with a frown on her face.
"Honey, we can't go with something so uncommon when we'll have to go with at least one simple name like Bethany and Nathalie, I'm sorry but it's true," he said matter-of-factly.
"He's right, you know. It would seem kind of odd," Lynette said as she stood up, ready to leave.
Ginny crossed her arms over her chest, not liking being outnumbered or left out of naming her children. "Fine," she said. "But if in ten years they don't like their names, I'm blaming it on you two."
"Hey, you helped in picking them out. We're just narrowing down the list," Harry said as he wrapped his left arm around the Healer's shoulders and grinned.
Two Hours Later
"Welcome to King Calvin and Prince Ron's birthday!" said Fred as he opened the front door to his and Angelina's house for Harry and Ginny.
"Hey! That's King Ron and Prince Calvin!" called Ron from the next room.
"Is not!" yelled Cal.
"Is to!"
"I think Ron's taking that crown a little too seriously," said George, peering into the living room where his brother and nephew were seated. Both twins were dressed in jesters costumes, something Harry didn't even notice until Ginny pointed it out.
"I knew you shouldn't have given him that sceptre."
"Well how was I supposed to know he'd act like a spoiled brat?! I mean, there was that one Halloween he went as Godric Gryffindor … but I thought he'd changed!"
Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes as they walked through the doorway into the living room and saw identical red and gold thrones set up at the opposite end of the room. Ron sat in the left one while Calvin was in the right. Both had on large crowns and in Ron's hand was the sceptre. After sending Alroy off to talk with Scott and Rona and letting Rachel explore the room, the couple made their way over to the "kings".
"Your … Er … highnesses," Ginny said, curtsying as best she could in her long gold satin gown while Harry bowed in his knight's armour beside her. "Thank you for inviting us commoners."
"You're welcome, peasant. Now go get me some punch, will you?" said Calvin, not even bothering to look at his aunt and uncle. Ron shrugged his shoulders.
"I though they said Ron was the one getting into character," Harry said as they walked to the refreshment table.
"Merlin, Harry, look at the cake!" cried Ginny, looking at the large rectangle slab of pinky- brown cake seated beside the punch bowl. It had lime green squiggles on the top where the writing should be and there were what looked like deformed snitches with hippogriff-sized wings on the sides.
"Oh, dear, you noticed," said Angelina as she, Katie and Hermione walked up behind them. "I wanted to make the cake but Fred insisted on doing everything by himself." She pointed at the cake. "That's the result. He said he was trying to make it red."
"What's that green stuff on top?" Harry asked as he examined Fred's handy work.
"That would be the writing gel." Angelina sighed.
"What's it say?"
"It's supposed to say 'Happy Birthday, Ron and Calvin', right now I think it says 'Hap B-day, Ro an Clvin'."
Hermione shook her head. "I tried to offer to help him, seeing as its Ron's birthday too, but he refused. He said he wanted it to be really special since Calvin's been kind of sad or something."
"Oh, yes," said Angelina. "He doesn't like celebrating his birthday on the first. But I suppose that's the downside of being born on Leap Year."
The five spent the next few minutes talking while they waited for the rest of the family to arrive. A half hour later everyone was seated to watch as the "kings" opened their gifts. Later on a dinner of roast with potatoes, carrots, corn on the cob and a Caesar salad was served, which was, as George said, a meal fit for a king. After dinner the family retreated back into the living room for desert.
"Are you sure this is edible?" asked Al, poking at his piece of cake.
"Of course!" said Fred. "Here, I'll prove it!" The red-head, dressed in a jester's outfit, took a bite of his cake and quickly spit it out. "Er, Angelina …"
Shaking her head, Angelina moved around the room, exchanging pieces of Fred's cake with pieces of her own. "Next time, let me take care of the cake."
"Yes, dear."
Later That Night
"I'm surprised, except for the cake, the twins didn't do that bad a job on the party," Ginny commented as she slid into bed beside Harry.
"Yeah," he replied rolling over to face her. "The fifteenth is coming up, you know."
"Your point, please?"
"Well, don't you think we should start planning? Al won't be pleased if we try to ignore his tenth birthday."
"But I'm too tired to plan," Ginny whined.
"Fine, but you know if I plan it I'll make a cake worse than Fred's and it'll be Quidditch themed." Harry smirked as Ginny immediately sat up and conjured a navy blue binder with 'Alroy' written on the cover.
"So, same guests as Rachel's?" she asked.
"I suppose. Except for your dad's friends, of course."
"Okay. Now, mum offered to do the cake again, but I think I'll do it this time. Do you want to make dinner? Oh, right, stupid question. So, I'm sure Hermione and Fleur wouldn't mind cooking again. That covers the food. Any ideas for gifts?"
"Brooms; candy; a book – maybe."
"We just got him a broom two years ago. And he had enough candy tonight. As for the book, that's a good idea. He's been wanted to read The Lord of the Rings like his classmates; we should get him the whole series. Oh, and his own chess set too."
"Fine with me, but I still think we should get him a new broom. I mean one that'll last when he goes to Hogwarts."
"Harry, first-years aren't allowed to bring brooms to school, you know that."
"You mean McGonagall hasn't changed the rule yet? Well, we can get around it – or he'll take it in his second year," he added, after seeing Ginny' scolding glance.
"No broom, that's final. If he wants one in his second year, we'll get him one. Now, are we in agreement about the books and chess set?"
"I guess."
"Good. We should go to the Party Palace tomorrow. It can't hurt to be prepared a little early."
"All right. What theme do you want to go with?"
"Theme?" Ginny suddenly looked very thoughtful. "Alroy's turning ten this year, maybe we shouldn't use a theme, he might be too old for them."
"'Too old'? For themes?!" Harry pretended to faint, and then sat up a minute later. "I honestly didn't know there was an age limit on them. I would've liked to have had a themed party."
"Yeah, right."
"No, I'm serious. I want a themed party this year." Harry had a straight face.
Ginny put all her papers back into Al's binder and put it on her end table. "Let me get this straight. My husband wants to have a theme for his thirty-second birthday?"
"Yep." Harry had a grin on his face that reminded Ginny of Alroy when he got excited. "Please, Gin," he pleaded. "I'll even let you plan it."
'That's his idea of a bribe?' Ginny thought. "Okay. But if you think I'm doing Quidditch everywhere, you're crazy."
Harry had to think about this for a moment. He smiled again. "Deal!"
Alroy's Birthday
"Harry, can't you hurry up? They'll be here any minute and I don't want them seeing the house like this!" Ginny exclaimed, watching Harry drag five heavy-looking bags out of their closet and down to the living room. He stopped when he reached the stairs.
"I've really got to remember to keep my wand on me," he said, jogging back into the room to retrieve the Holly wand. A minute later the bags were floating down the two flights of stairs to the living room. Just then the doorbell rang.
"Oh no!" said Ginny fumbling to take the rollers out of her copper hair. "They're here already and I'm not even dressed!"
"Calm down. It's probably just Hermione and Fleur," Harry said, making his way over to the front door. Sure enough, his sister-in-laws walked in and after saying hello led themselves to the kitchen.
Twenty minutes later things seemed to be going more smoothly. While Hermione and Fleur were tucked away making Sheppard's pie (Al's favourite) in the kitchen, Ginny sat in a navy blue wing-back chair in the living room watching Harry put up decorations. They were lucky enough to have Alroy's birthday fall on a Friday that year so at the moment he was away off at school and wasn't expected back for at least three more hours.
"A little to the left," Ginny instructed as Harry put up a Happy Birthday sign with his wand. "Perfect! Rachel, stop that!" It was too late, the toddler had managed to climb onto the back of the couch and pull down one of the red and blue streamers.
"It's okay," Harry said as he fastened the banner to the wall. "It's easy enough to fix."
The last hour before Alroy arrived was the most hectic. Harry, dressed in multi-color socks, blue jeans and a jumper Mrs. Weasley made him last Christmas, was the doorman and had to seat everyone in the living room. Ginny, wearing an over-sized white apron over her lilac skirt and floral blouse that showed off her protruding stomach, was putting the finishing touches on her oval two-tier blue cake in the kitchen. It was at two-thirty that Al finally arrived home via Floo.
"Surprise!" yelled everyone in the room, save for Rachel who was working on saying a third word after 'snitch' and 'cake'.
The day went on perfectly. Alroy loved his presents. He got the Lord of the Rings books series and an antique chess set from his parents. He also got candy, clothes, Muggle movies and C.D.s (from Hermione and Penelope), many more books, and a poster of Orlando Garvey's famous Tortoise Sneak move in the 2007 Quidditch World Cup that had Canada against Ireland, it also happened to be the only game Alroy had ever seen.
Later on, as everyone was enjoying their cake, Mrs. Weasley decided to have a little chat with her only daughter and found her seated in her favourite chair by the fireplace, eating a rather large piece of her chocolate cake. "How are you feeling, dear?" Molly asked.
"Fine," Ginny said with a grin, unaware of the chocolate smudges around her mouth.
"Good." Molly was trying to stall, but failing miserably. She just had to ask. "Have you, by any chance--?"
"No." Ginny let her smile fade away.
"You haven't?" Molly couldn't keep the shock from showing in her voice.
"No, we have. I'm just not telling you," the thirty-year-old said around a mouthful of cake.
"Ginny, I have to know."
"No, you don't. I remember what happened when I told you Alroy's name three months before he was born. You told me I should go with something more traditional, perhaps a family name."
"There's nothing wrong with Ignatius, you know!" Molly said, raising her voice a little louder than she meant to. "That was my father's name."
"I know, I know. I did meet the man, after all." Ginny began looking around the room, searching for Harry or someone else that could rescue her from her mother.
"Please, Ginny. I need to know their names if I'm going to finish the jumpers in time for the birth." This was Molly's last excuse and Ginny knew it.
"Sorry, Mum. I really can't tell you." With that, Ginny stood up and starting walking towards the kitchen, planning on getting a second piece of her cake.
Author's Notes:
Okay, people. One more chappy to go, so this is your last chance to let me know what you think before it all ends. So, will Ginny make it to her ninth month before the stress gets to her? Will Alroy get a new broom before he attends Hogwarts? Will Alroy even attend Hogwarts? Will the Potters ever have another Quidditch-themed party? Will Harry get his dream party? –sigh- Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself now. Truthfully, only one of these questions will be answered in this story, bet you can't guess which one. Lol.
Byes,
Miss Lizzy