"Daddy, your home." Emily yelled as she ran to him, "Where did you go? Hi Ms. Abby. Who are they?"
"I had to go to the police station." Harry answered.
"Officer Cole said you did. Why did you have to go? Are there more bad guys after you? Are you alright? You aren't going to leave me are you?" Emily's questions came rapid fire.
"Will you let me answer your questions or are you just going to keep asking?" Harry interrupted her while getting down on the floor to talk to her easier.
"Sorry." Emily said.
"Ok your second question was who are these guys." Harry said, "These are my friends from England. Ron, Hermione and Ginny."
"Ginny? Is it your Ginny?" Emily asked, "I heard you telling Mommy about her. I thought you said she was killed."
"I thought she was but I was wrong." Harry said, "I'm quite glad about that too."
"So is she going to be my new Mommy?" Emily asked, "Cause I know you love her."
"Not right away sweety." Abby helped Harry defuse the situation quickly, "That's really a subject for another time. They've been apart for a long time and have to get to know one another again. Sometime in the future it may be possible but not right now."
"Ok." Emily said turning away from the group, "Are you here to visit me again?"
"Yes if you feel like it." Abby said, "Let's go to the kitchen and have some milk while we talk ok?"
"I already had milk with my snack." Emily said as they walked off, "Can I have juice?"
Harry was still on the floor rather stunned by Emily's question. After several moments he still hadn't moved so Ginny decided to do something about it, "Do five year olds always ask such forward questions."
"Yes." Harry said, "I really can't believe it shocked me so much. My first day in class was full of questions like that. Sorry I didn't warn you."
Harry finally got up and the group moved to the living room and sat to talk. Ginny was trying to stifle her giggles at Harry's red face but the struggle was too much. Before long the rest of the group was laughing with her. "You know the one thing I'm not looking forward too is her meeting Fred and George."
"Well we can turn this to our favor." Hermione giggled, "You know do it to them before they can do it to you."
Harry had ran his hands into his hair and was looking up at the ceiling when Hermione made her suggestion. As he thought he got a wicked kind of grin on his face and said, "I have the perfect plan."
Mary had left as soon as Harry had returned so when Abby was finished talking with Emily they returned to the living room. They found the teens all laughing and talking.
"Daddy. I like your friends."
"Good cause we like you too." Ginny said.
"I think I'm going to like England." Emily said, "Who's your Mommy?"
"You remember I told you that you'd have a grandma in England?" Emily nodded remembering he had said so, "Well Ginny and Ron are two of her kids."
"So does that make us related?" Emily asked.
"They'd be kind of like an Aunt and Uncle." Harry said.
"Ok, so how are you related to them?" Emily was very confused.
"Remember I told you my Mum and Dad died." he said, "Mrs. Weasley, their Mum, always treated me like I was one of her kids but I'm not really related to them. But she'll treat you like you were one of her grandkids."
"And if you marry Ms. Ginny she really will be my Grandma." Emily said putting it all together.
"Yes baby." Harry said, "But you need to let us decide that if you please."
"Sure." Emily moved on, "So now I have an Uncle Ron."
"Yes."
"And an Aunt Her.. Herm…" She tried to say the difficult name.
"How about Aunt Mione?" Hermione suggested.
"Aunt Miney?" Emily tried again.
"Close enough." Hermione grinned and hugged the little girl.
"What about me?" Ginny asked.
"I'll stay with Ms. Ginny." Emily said, "It would be weird to call you Aunt Ginny then change to Mommy Ginny later."
"You're not going to give up on that are you?" Harry asked exasperated.
"Nope." Emily said then skipped off to her room, "Bye Ms. Abby."
"Bye dear." Abby called, "Harry she's really fixated on Ginny. Evidentially she's heard you and Elizabeth talk a lot without you knowing."
"I know. She was just so easy to talk to. We had so much in common." Harry said, "Although now it's less that it was. I wonder what she thinks of her father? Elizabeth didn't always talk positive about him."
"Emily only remembers what she wants to." Abby stated, "She's a smart girl and she's incredibly strong. You'll have your work cut out for you with that one."
"Oh well better preparation for when she gets siblings." Harry shrugged looked down the hall where Emily had gone, "I better check on her. I'll be right back."
"Did he just say WHEN she gets siblings?" Ginny whispered.
"I think he's rather fixated on you too." Abby smiled also talking low so Harry couldn't hear, "He talked about all three of you quite often. It was the hardest on him to lose you Ginny. If you're not willing to marry him in your future, I'd suggest you make sure he knows that as soon as possible."
"I intend on marrying him if he ever asks." Ginny sighed.
"She's only been dreaming about it since she was about Emily's age." Ron snickered, "Back then it was hero worship. Now she really cares for him. I don't know anyone else who could deal with him like she can."
"Walk me to my car Ginny?" Abby asked. When they were out of ear shot she asked, "Do you love him?"
"With all my heart." Ginny said, "Ron's right, it started that way. The first several years I couldn't even speak when he was around. It wasn't until I got over the crush that I learned who he was and fell in love with him instead of the Boy Who Lived. Now he's just Harry, my heart."
"Good." Abby smiled, "He said you have six older brothers."
"Yes." she grinned, "Bill's a curse breaker, Charlie works with Dragons, Percy works for the ministry, Fred and George, the twins, own a joke shop that Harry is a silent partner in, Ron is spending his last year in school looking for Harry instead so I don't know what he's going to do. And I hope I'm going to be a world famous quidditch player some day. Quite a family I'd say. I don't know anyone else who's brave enough to date me with the knowledge of my brothers."
"How are they doing with it?" she asked.
"They all love Harry and think it's great that we're dating." Ginny said, "At first they were mad we hadn't told them but they got over it. They realized that Tom used my death to break Harry. They understand he loves me even he doesn't get it."
"He always claimed he was a bit slow when it came to girls." Abby smiled.
"Terribly slow but he has his reasons. We kept our relationship a secret to keep me safe from Death Eaters." she said, "I still consider him my boyfriend. But it's a bit confusing I'm not exactly sure where we sit."
"Tell him you want a clear direction." Abby said, "Be frank and honest and tell him like it is. You don't know where your relationship sits and you want him to discuss it with you. The sooner the better."
"Ok." Ginny said, "I can do that. I'll just have to get Ron and Hermione to go play with Emily so she doesn't decide for us."
"Good idea." Abby hugged Ginny and left grinning because she knew Harry was in good hands. He would be just fine.
When Ginny returned Harry opened the door for her, "Hey, is Abby gone?"
"Yes. Where's Ron and Hermione?"
"Emily is showing them her toys." Harry grinned, "They'll be there a while. Do you want some tea?"
"Sure as long as we can talk while we drink it." Ginny said, deciding to follow Abby's advice.
"Ok." Harry agreed, this was going better than he thought it would. Once the tea was ready he poured and that sat at the table. He coughed and then said, "I don't really know where our relationship sits right now. I want to be with you but I'm giving you the option. Would you be my girlfriend?"
"Really?" Ginny said, thinking Abby really knows how his mind works, "I'd love too."
"We need to take it slow." Harry said, "I can't get Emily's hopes up if you don't want to stay."
"I'll keep that in mind." she responded.
"Good so, sorry about going first I should have let you start." Harry said as he ran a hand through his hair, "What did you want to talk about?" He asked.
"The same thing." Ginny grinned, "And just so you know, if I wasn't planning on sticking around for the long haul I wouldn't go out with you at all."
Harry grinned and started to lean towards her when he heard Ron yell, "Hey what are we going to do about dinner? I'm starving."
"When are you not starving?" Harry grumbled. Aggravated because the interruption. He got up and went to the refrigerator and pulled out a box, "Here's some cold pizza, have at it."
"What?"
"Just eat it." Harry said, "It has sausage and pepperoni on a thin crusty bread with tomato sauce and cheese. It's Em's favorite so I'm sure you'll like it too."
"Never heard of it." Ron said.
"I'm surprised. I've heard Dean talking about going out for pizza." Harry said.
"I just didn't realize it was a food." Ron said taking a bite, "Not bad."
Harry tapped it with his wand, "Here try it hot."
"Even better." Ron moaned.
"Hey, don't eat it all." Emily said from the door, "I want a piece for breakfast in the morning. Besides Daddy promised to make breakfast for dinner tonight and you don't want to spoil your appetite. My Daddy makes the best chocolate chip pancakes ever. In the whole wide world."
Ron handed the box back to Harry, "Fine I'm saving room for pancakes and letting her have her breakfast. Pushy isn't she."
"I'm not pushy." Emily stated, "I just insist you follow my rules. Now you have to come play tea."
Harry was trying to hide his laughter but wasn't very successful. Ron gave him a mock glare as he followed the little girl out of the room.
"She is going to be so good for him." Ginny snickered, "Now where were we?"
They both leaned forward and their lips met. For Harry it was waking after a long sleep. Ginny thought, I'm home. Several hours later Ginny helped Harry place two large stacks of pancakes on the table.
"Why did you make so many Daddy?" Emily asked.
"Because I'll eat them all." Ron said pulling one of the large stacks to himself.
"Uncle Ron stop it. It's dinner time not play time. You tend to get that mixed up don't you." Emily stated, "We'll just have to practice."
Harry had grabbed one pancake and put it on Emily's plate. He prepared it how she liked and then cut it into bite sized pieces so she would be less messy. She quickly dove in and the others followed. After dinner Ginny volunteered to give Emily her bath while Ron and Hermione cleaned the kitchen. Harry gathered her night clothes and cleaned her room quickly. He deposited the clothes into the bathroom and laughed at how wet Ginny was getting.
"A little less splashing please Em." Harry instructed, "What movie are we watching tonight?"
"I don't know how about something funny?" Emily asked, "Something with clowns in it."
"Em tell Ms. Ginny why dragons won't eat clowns." Harry said.
"Because they taste funny." Emily yelled laughing her head off.
After watching the movie Harry was tucking Emily into bed. She asked sleepily, "Where is everyone else sleeping?"
"I don't know where do you think I should put them?" Harry asked.
"Ms. Ginny and Aunt Miney can have Mommy's room." Emily yawned, "Uncle Ron can sleep on the foldout."
"We actually still have a hotel room for tonight." Hermione said, "We can go back to that and see you in the morning."
"But I want Ms. Ginny to stay." Emily pouted, "I want to take her for show and tell."
"What would you say about her for show and tell?" Harry asked.
"I promise not to tell everyone I want her to be my mommy." Emily said, "I'll just say she's my friend from England and that I'll be staying with her. Then my friends won't worry about mean people anymore."
"Who's worried about mean people being there?" Harry asked.
"Susie, Carmen, Jacob and Michael." Emily said, "I used to be scared but I'm not anymore."
"Why were you scared baby? Your Mommy and I are both from England and we're not mean." Harry rubbed her head.
"But you both left because of the mean people." Emily said, "I was worried that there weren't any nice ones left."
"Baby you should have told me you were scared." Harry chastised her lightly.
"Can Ms. Ginny stay the night. Please?" Emily begged.
"If she wants to she can." Harry said, "She'll have to sleep in your Mommy's room though."
"Ok." Emily snuggled under her blanket, "It will be good practice for when she becomes my Mommy."
Harry rolled his eyes as he slipped from the room and closed the door part way.
"I'll stay if you think it will make her feel better." Ginny offered.
"Tomorrow she may not even remember that she wanted you to stay ." He replied.
"Yes I will." Emily called from her room.
"Go to sleep Em." Harry called back rolling his eyes again.
"As long as you promise to sleep in the other room I don't see any problem with it." Ron said.
"I have to leave the house by seven to get to school on time." Harry said, "Are you ok getting up that early?"
"Sure." Ginny agreed grinning, "Do I get to go to show and tell?"
"Sure." Harry grinned, "Are you two coming?"
"Not by seven." Ron said, "How are you getting to England and when are you leaving?"
"We're going muggle." Harry said, "My passport is muggle to keep magicals from finding me. Which reminds me, how did you find me?"
"Kingsley got your letter and brought it to the Burrow so we could stop worrying so much." Ginny said, "While he was there the Americans returned Malfoy's body. I knew two of your emergency portkey choices were here. We decided you were going to use the farthest one. None of us could remember what the coordinates were so we started in Denver and hopped around looking for clues."
"We had a portkey set for Breckenridge but they were having blizzard like conditions and we'd have to stay for hours at the portkey office." Hermione continued, "Instead we jumped on the next one to leave and it ended up coming here."
"Lucky break." Harry grinned, "I'm glad you found me. If I'd have known you were alive I would have been home before now. But it's truly worked out for the best. I'd hate to think what would be happening to Emily without me here."
"For that alone you can be forgiven for running and hiding." Ginny said hugging him, "Of course if I thought I had watched you three die I would have done the same I'm sure."
"Me too." Ron said and Hermione nodded.
"Let's hope your Mum agrees." Harry said, "I have a feeling I'm in for a lot of yelling when I get home."
"No just hold up Em and Mum will melt." Ron said chuckling, "Giving her a grandbaby is a sure path to forgiveness."
Ron and Hermione decided to go back to the hotel. It was already dark and cold and they didn't want to wait for it to get darker and colder. Harry and Ginny sat on the couch and talked until his watch beeped.
"Sorry, bed time for me." Harry looked slightly embarrassed, "If I don't get enough rest those kids will eat me alive."
"I just remembered I didn't bring any clothes." Ginny smacked herself on the head.
"I'll give you a shirt to sleep in if you want." he offered, "I also have a brand new tooth brush you can have."
"Thanks." Ginny smiled. After he had brought her the shirt and tooth brush he kissed her and then went back to his own room and shut the door. Ginny did the same and crawled into the bed. Within five minutes she felt something moving on the bed and opened her eyes to find Emily staring at her, "You want to join me?"
The little girl nodded and Ginny lifted the covers so that she could snuggle in. Harry had finished getting ready and went to check on Emily. Not finding her in her own bed he went through the shared bathroom and saw the two girls snuggled together sleeping peacefully. He leaned against the door and watched for several minutes before turning and going back to his own bed.
He was looking at the ceiling with his arms tucked behind his head. But instead of the ceiling he saw to girls. One almost adult with long fiery red hair that was spread across the pillow and one small baby with short curly black hair that stayed in place. One pair of brown eyes and one pair of blue. So different and yet so alike. Both had a temper and both knew what they wanted. Neither had an easy life. But both were living it with gusto. He had no idea what time it was when he was finally able to sleep.