Hey thanx for the reviews!

What I'm just noticing is that if Arabella had a nickname (and she won't. Haha.) it would probably be "Bella". And Jacob is her brother. For all you fellow Twilighters out there know what I'm talking about. It's just weird and totally not intended. It just happened. Haha. Anyway, just wanted to point that out.

I was thinking of starting a new story. I know I know. But this one is really good. It's going to be called "Bound". Another one word title. If you haven't guessed, I love one-word things. Haha. It's going to be about Harry and Hermione's souls bound together. I know I know. Another rotten soul bond story, but this one will probably be good. Harry's parents might be alive in this story.

Here's ch. 3!

Chapter Three

Friends

Jacob and Charlotte Granger had come over to the Potter Manor the next day to see Hermione's new swollen stomach. They had known for a while now, but had been too busy to come over. As Harry said he would, Jacob was proud and happy they were using his name for the new baby.

"So, guess what we're going to call him?" Hermione had said smiling.

"What?" they asked anxiously.

"Jacob James!" Arabella cried out, not able to hold it in any longer.

Jacob dropped his jaw. His grandson was going to be named after him. "No way!"

They laughed at him. "Yes way!" Arabella said.

He hugged Hermione close, with a tear dropping down his face.

Christmas and Arabella's birthday were near. Snow had been beginning to fall for a few days now and Arabella wanted to invite her best friend over. "Mummy? Daddy?" she asked as she walked into the library where her parents were. Her Daddy was sitting on the couch, with her Mummy laying across his lap, reading a book, while he stroked her hair. At her voice, they looked up.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Um, it's snowing! Can I invite Tad over to play outside in the backyard?" she asked innocently with her hands clasped behind her back, rocking back and forth on her heels. This was their weakness...and she knew it. Whenever she would do that innocent little girl pose, they would cave and give in, not able to say "no". However, this was a time where they didn't find anything wrong with the situation, so there was no need for her to do it.

"Of course, he can!" Hermione said. "I'll go call Mrs. Harrow and see if they would like to come over." She sat up and kissed Harry's lips, then getting up and walking out of the room.

Arabella smiled and jumped for joy. "Yay!"

The Harrows lived not far away. Just a twenty minute walk from the Manor. Of course, the Harrows did not walk. They drove their Mercedes Benz the five minute drive to the Manor. Harry pressed the newly-installed automatic gate-opener that connected to a speaker that Jack Harrow had spoken into.

Once Harry recognized his voice, he opened it for him. The first one other than themselves to use the new opener. The Harrows parked on the semi-circle driveway in front of the Manor. When Arabella saw her Daddy letting them into the property, she ran to the entrance hall and jumped for her coat to go greet them. Hermione close behind her. She got her coat on for her, her mittens, her scarf, and her pink, knitted hat that she made.

Arabella went to go outside, but Hermione stopped her. "Wait for Mummy, Arabella!" She waited half-patiently, and the other half-impatiently. Basically, she was impatient, but didn't show it.

Hermione got her coat on over her five-month pregnant stomach. Then her other accessories. The two went outside to greet the Harrows. Harry caught up with them after putting on his warm attire.

When they got outside, Jack Harrow was helping his wife get his son out of the car. Once Tad touched the ground, he was off to greet his best friend. "Arabella!" he cried hugging her. She hugged him back.

"Hey, Tad! I've missed you!"

"It's only been a day!"

"I know!" she giggled. "Come on!" She took his hand and led him inside.

"Hey!" Pauline Harrow said as she and her husband walked up to Harry and Hermione. She hugged Hermione as best she could without squishing unborn Jacob.

"Hey, Pauline!"

They greeted each other and the Potters invited them inside.

The children were petting Crookshanks, who was licking Arabella's hand.

"He's so soft," Tad said as the cat purred against his hand.

"Yeah, sometimes Mummy lets him sleep with me in my bed," Arabella said. "Come on, I'll show you to my room." She once again took his hand and began to lead him upstairs, but Hermione stopped her.

"Arabella!" she called.

The soon-to-be-four-year-old looked at her mother. "Yes, Mummy?"

"Manners," she reminded looking at Jack and Pauline.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Forgive me. Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Harrow," the little girl said cutely.

"That's quite alright, Arabella. Tad, don't make a mess up there, okay?" Pauline warned her son.

Tad nodded. "I won't, Mummy."

"Arabella, that goes for you, too," Hermione replied.

"We won't!" came her daughter's call.

It was noon, so they had all day to play inside and outside. They were going to play inside for a little bit and then go outdoors to the backyard to play.

Harry and Hermione led their guests into the living room after they took their coats off and put them on the coatrack by the door. They looked around the magnificent Manor, gazing at its beauty and sparkle. They wondered how could two teenagers keep this place so sparkled.

"Your home is lovely," Pauline said in awe.

"Thank you, it was my parents' home," Harry said with a smile.

"So...this is where it...happened?" Jack asked cautiously.

Harry nodded sadly. "Yeah, it did. We use the nursery as Arabella's room even though it's full of bad memories. But so many good memories came after in that room. The one room we leave alone is my parents' bedroom. Too sacred to mess up."

They nodded understandingly.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Hermione asked politely.

"No, thank you," they said.

They continued to talk about Hogwarts and their times there. The Potters felt confident enough to tell them, even though they probably already knew, that Hermione had gotten pregnant at the end of their Fourth Year. They didn't seem to mind. They were nice people and didn't care that they had gotten pregnant at fourteen.

Their talk was interrupted when Arabella and Tad came downstairs with their coats, hats, mittens, and scarves in their arms. "Mummy, can we go outside now?"

"Sure," Hermione said helping her daughter put on her warm outerwear. Pauline did the same with Tad.

Outside, they had a blast. Arabella and Tad immediately had a snowball fight. Arabella winning, of course. But it was only because Tad let her win. They made a snowman and rolled around in the snow.

The Potters and Harrows watched them with amusement. Soon, getting into the action. At least, their fathers did. Harry threw a snowball at Jack. It hit him in the back of the head. Harry laughed innocently. Jack mock-glared at him and said, "It's on, Potter." Soon, a snowball fight between the two Dads broke out, while their wives watched on with laughter. Their husbands were so immature.

Nobody really won. They declared it a tie.

The Potters asked the Harrows if they would like to have dinner at their home that night. They accepted happily. So, Harry had Kit and Torry work on dinner, which would be salad, spaghetti, and garlic bread. For dinner would be a lovely pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

They ate in the dining room. The children were sitting next to each other, still giggling about their fathers' snowball fight. After dinner, Hermione asked Arabella if she would like to play the piano for the Harrows. She smiled and nodded eagerly. And she ran upstairs to the piano room. The others soon followed. She was already sitting at her small piano, waiting for them. They sat down on the couch, all except Hermione, who sat at the grand piano. Arabella looked at her and she nodded, telling her to start.

Arabella shocked the Harrows with playing a beautiful and perfect tune of Pachelbel's Canon in D. When she was finished, she looked at the family and giggled at their dropped-jaw expressions. Tad was the first to speak. "Wow! That was sooo cool, Arabella!"

"How-how old is she?" Pauline asked Hermione. "Four?"

"Almost," Hermione replied. "She's a prodigy. She wanted to learn and caught on very quick. I taught her."

"That was amazing," Jack said.

Arabella smiled at the praise and looked at her mother. "Mummy, 'Heart and Soul'."

Hermione nodded and they began their duet for their guests. Tad began to clap along with it, enjoying himself. It was a lovely affair, that night, with new friends. They felt they had more people they could trust and have fun with. They were glad their offspring had met each other.

Soon, it was time for the Harrows to leave. Arabella didn't want Tad to leave. He said he was going to see her Monday and that it would soon come.

The next day, Harry and Arabella went get a Christmas tree, while Hermione went Christmas shopping. They had an artificial tree, but they wanted a real one now, to really bring in the Christmas spirit. Plus, it gave the pair some father-daughter time and bonding. Also, it gave Hermione some time to do some Christmas wrapping so that her husband and daughter couldn't snoop around and see what she got them. Hermione and Harry had both gotten cell phones months ago, and Harry was number one on Hermione's speed dial, so she would call him if there was an emergency, particularly about the baby. Only when Hermione said that she would call him if there was something wrong did Harry let her go alone.

Harry and Arabella were looking through the rows and rows of trees, trying to find the perfect one. Too small. Too plain. They couldn't seem to find a good tree. Until, Arabella cried, "Daddy! Look!" She pointed to one tree that was almost seven feet tall. Harry smiled and thought it was it. It was a fir tree. Full and perfect. They bought it and Harry and the helper tied the tree to the top of the SUV. He was glad the found something that would fit.

They brought it home and Harry was free to use his wand. Making sure nobody was looking through the gate, he levitated it off of the roof of the car and into the house, putting it in the living room in the spot they had cleared for it that morning. Deciding to wait for Hermione to dress it up with colorful ornaments, they went Christmas shopping for Hermione. Of course, they never met up with her.

When they were done shopping, they went to have lunch at a cafe. People looked at them and smiled as they saw the father and daughter on a day out together. Harry got whatever his daughter wanted. He loved to spoil her. Arabella, though she loved it, felt as if she was being selfish, so she told her Daddy to stop and think about him once in a while. He smiled at her consideration. His daughter was so sweet. His little mini-Hermione.

After lunch, they went home and found Hermione there as well. She had finished wrapping gifts and was sitting on the couch in the living room, watching TV, waiting for them to come home. Harry, upon seeing her, quickly disillusioned her presents so she would see them. She smiled when she saw them.

"I love the tree!" she said standing up and giving them both hugs. Harry smiled and went upstairs to hide the presents. He took the charm off of them when he got upstairs. He hid them in the attic in suitcases that he knew Hermione wouldn't look in.

When he went back downstairs, he noticed that Hermione had gotten the Christmas decorations out. The ornaments were by the tree already. The family soon began to work on bringing the Christmas spirit into their home.

First came the lights. Hermione cleverly charmed the tree to not catch on fire since it was real. Next came the ornaments. Each member of the family had an ornament. Their own ornament. Harry's was a small, toy broomstick. Hermione's was a book. Arabella's was a piano. And even baby Jacob James had one. It was a pair of small baby blue booties. It was placed below Arabella's. There were baubles of all colors, mostly green and red.

Last to put on the tree was the angel. "Can I put it on, Daddy?" Arabella asked as he was holding it. He smiled, "Sure. Come here, princess." He gave her the angel, got behind her, and lifted her up. Arabella reached to put it on the top, setting it down so it didn't fall. They smiled when she put it on. Hermione kissed her cheek. "It looks beautiful, precious."

Five stockings were hung on the mantlepiece over the fireplace. They had even gotten Jacob James a stocking. His was the smallest. Harry charmed them to engrave their names on them. Even Crookshanks had one. Arabella had picked it out when her and her Daddy were out shopping that day. It had a knitted picture of an orange cat that had reminded her of her feline. Harry bought it and when they got home, put his name on it with a spell. Although, the cat didn't know he was getting anything. They had wanted to get Kit and Torry each a stocking, but that morning, they had told them they already had two for them in their quarters.

They had a grand, old time putting up Christmas decorations as a family.

Arabella's fourth birthday came soon enough. The had a small party, consisting of the Potters; Hermione's parents; Remus; Tonks; Teddy, who was now almost two; Sirius; and the Harrows. It was on Arabella's birthday, which was a Monday, but since it was the Christmas holidays, everyone was free.

Arabella was especially happy when she got a red velvet cake, made by Kit. Tad had gotten her a picture of the both of them with their school things on. Pauline had taken it in November when she just so happened to have her camera.

Arabella had tears in her eyes when she saw it. He looked a little shy, like he always did. He avoided her gaze, eyes focused on the ground, sliding his foot from side to side. "I-I thought you'd like a picture of me," he stammered. She looked at him and everyone held their breath at what happened next. She lifted his chin for him to look at her. She smiled and gave him a peck on the corner of his mouth. Everyone gasped as the fireplace roared to life. Before, it was just a small flame and now it almost set the family's stockings on fire. They both had ignited it with accidental magic.

The two children both blushed. Arabella had her first "almost kiss" at four years old. Hermione and Harry thought she was growing up too fast. Everyone thought it was so cute. It was true. They couldn't be separated. "Thank you, Tad," she said and gave him a hug. That night, she put the picture frame on her nightstand, right next to the picture of her parents and the picture of all three of them. She was running out of table space.

The Potters asked if the Harrows would have liked to spend Christmas with them, but they declined politely, saying that they were leaving the next day to stay with Pauline's parents in Northern England. But they said they were going to be back for New Year's. So the Potters invited them for New Year's Eve and Day.

Christmas came soon enough and Arabella got to open one present on Christmas Eve. It was a pink, knitted scarf. Her other was getting old and small for her, so Hermione knitted her a pink scarf. It fit her perfectly. She loved it, but what really got her excited was the small, white bunny rabbit engraved into it at one of the ends. She smiled and threw her arms around her mother.

"Thank you, Mummy! I love it!"

"You're welcome, sweetheart."

Christmas came and went, and soon it was New Year's. Charlotte and Jacob came over to help the family set up for that night.

"Hey, Jacob, sir," Harry said as he found him in the kitchen putting hot dogs in the fridge for later. Jacob had threatened to call him "Jacob", but Harry could never get out of the habit of saying "sir".

"Yeah, Harry?" he answered looking at him.

"Do you think we should do fireworks this year?" he asked with a smile.

Jacob was such a man. He loved fireworks and things that boomed and made loud noises. A Cheshire grin broke out on his face. "Absolutely, son."

"Alright," his son-in-law said. "I talked to Charlotte and Hermione, and they said we could go."

They got into Harry's SUV and drove to get some fireworks.

The Granger women were shocked at what they had got. It must have been hundreds or thousands of pounds of fireworks. They had to take several trips back and forth from the vehicle, putting the explosives in the house at the entrance hall.

"Oh, my God! Harry! Dad! What did you two get?!" Hermione cried as she saw all of it.

"Fireworks," her husband said simply as it was the obvious thing in the world. He laid one on her lips briefly. She was too shocked to respond. Harry and Jacob laughed at her expression. Soon, people arrived to the Manor. Remus and Tonks with a walking Teddy. Neville and a pregnant Luna. Sirius and his date, Cordelia. She was his age and they had just met at a Quidditch game two weeks prior to Arabella's birthday. She couldn't make the four year old's birthday party as she had to visit her parents. She had not been married before, but she did date a fair share of men. They greeted her with open arms and fell in love with her. She was a right match for Sirius and they could tell they were crazy about each other.

The Harrows came soon enough and a party began. They went out to the backyard. Jacob turned on the fireplace that was on the patio so that people could get warm. They conjured a few couches out there for people to sit on and curl up next to the fire. Sirius was sitting on one of them with Cordelia snuggled into his embrace, wrapped in a blanket. They were at ease.

Teddy ran around in the snow with a pacifier in his mouth. Fully content and didn't care about anything. Arabella and Tad chased him, making him giggle into his pacifier. Remus was at the grill cooking the hot dogs. Tonks was next to him, warming her hands, using the grill as heat. Jacob, Charlotte, Neville, and Luna conversed with the Harrows, learning about them and their family. It turned out that Neville was a distant cousin of Jack. Both were surprised at the uncanniness.

Hermione was watching over the children with a smile on her face. Harry came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and settling them on her stomach, right over Jacob James, warming her up. He felt a light kick hit his hand. They had been feeling that for a while now. Hermione's smile grew as she felt her husband take her in his arms. He kissed her slightly exposed neck, making her shut her eyes at the touch and moan. "Mmmm...I love it when you do that," she whispered.

He chuckled and buried his face in her hair, smelling the strawberry shampoo. "You look beautiful," he said against her hair.

"You've already told me that six times today," she reminded him.

"And now seven. My goal is a hundred," he replied jokingly. "But you are. I'm very lucky to have a beautiful wife."

"Eight," she said with a smile.

"Only four more months, give or take," he said referring to her stomach.

"Yep, and soon, we'll have another little one running around," she agreed putting her hands over his on her stomach.

The Potters and the Harrows had decided to let their offspring stay up until midnight. However, Tonks put Teddy down in the new nursery after she fed him dinner and took the baby monitor outside with her. They ate their hot dogs and talked a little bit more until about ten o'clock when Harry, Jacob, Jack, Sirius, Neville, and Remus went inside to get the fireworks. It was a lot of fireworks and Harry and Jacob were glad for the help. They went out a little ways towards the back of the property. They were about fifty feet from the women and Tad.

Harry charmed the ground to be dry so that it wouldn't interfere with the lighting of the fireworks. "Be careful, Harry!" he heard his wife yell at him. He smiled and called back. "Will do!"

Hermione had Arabella in her arms, while Pauline had Tad. Neville decided to stay with the women, wanting to stay with Luna. Remus soon joined them, as he saw he was not needed. Arabella was curious as to what her Daddy was doing. She had never heard of fireworks, nor have seen them.

Harry set the container up while Jack held out his wand for him to see. Jacob and Sirius were busy getting the fireworks out. Jacob gave him a bottle rocket. "Here's the first one!" he called to the others. They cheered. He set it in the container, whipped out his wand and whispered "incendio" as he only wanted a small flame. It caught and they moved back.

It shot in the air and with a pop, blue and gold was shown in the sky. "Whoo!" everyone shouted. It scared Arabella though. She buried her face in her mother's hair. But once she saw the colors, she was in awe. Hermione looked at her concerned. "Are you okay, baby?" She nodded slowly. "I'm fine, Mummy."

As more and more came, she began to get less terrified and instead gazing at the colors. At ten-thirty, they stopped for a bit. Harry ran to his wife and daughter. "Hey, did she like it?"

Hermione smiled weakly. "Well, it scared her at first, but she got over it."

Arabella smiled and nodded. "I thought it was going to hurt me." That broke Harry's heart. "Come here, princess." He gathered her in his arms and held her. "It's okay, Arabella. Daddy wouldn't let them hurt you. I'm not going to do it again for a while." She nodded and kissed his cheek.

At eleven-fifty, they shot off a few more. The were going to shoot the rest at twelve-oh-two, as they wanted to have their midnight kisses with their wives and lovers.

At one point, Harry almost didn't get away fast enough and fell back as it shot into the air. Everyone saw this.

Hermione was mad. Stupid man. "HARRY JAMES POTTER!"

"I'm fine!" he called back getting up. "I'm not hurt!"

"I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU THINK YOU'RE HURT IN A MINUTE!" Everyone laughed a the small spat.

At eleven fifty-nine, they ran to the women. Hermione and Pauline put their children down on the ground and waited for midnight.

"Ten..."

"...nine..."

"...eight..."

"...seven..."

"...six..."

"...five..."

"...four..."

"...three..."

"...two..."

"...ONE!"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Harry and Hermione kissed just as some fireworks from someone's else home went off. Everyone kissed their lovers. What really shocked them and made them want to just die was when Arabella went to Tad and kissed him on the lips. It was a peck, very brief, but still sweet. They both blushed and everyone clapped.

The boys went back to finish off the last of the fireworks.

It was a perfect way to start a New Year. A new millenium.

With friends.

TBC...

Well, there's ch. 3. I thought Arabella kissing was so effing cute! Haha.

As I've said, I'm going to start on a new story called Bound. I'm really looking forward to writing it. Look for it!

This story won't be as long as Positive. It's only going to span Jacob James being born and possibly another baby. It's like Postive's epilogue.

Lekha: I'll try to put it in.

Pleez review!

DREWHHR