It's now 12:30, and I send James and Lily on a packing mission. They don't really seem to get why they have to pack, but understand that Mum will freak if they don't. So very true.

I'm sitting at the kitchen table, going through a mental checklist, when Teddy comes through the fireplace.

"Hi, Teddy," I smile at him as he smirks at me in greeting. Teddy also seems to know that I really hate these parties. Is it that obvious?

"So, Aunt Ginny, why aren't we halfway to Jamaica already? Is our plane leaving late?"

"No. Your idiotic godfather wouldn't let me take you guys and run this year."

"And my idiotic wife is the one who's so stubbornly afraid of these parties." I whirl, and there's Harry standing at the bottom of the stairs. Teddy laughs so hard that I'm honestly scared that he will break a rib.

"How's my favourite 17-year-old godson today?" Harry asks as he walks over. He eases into a chair at the counter, then reaches over and ruffles Teddy's hair. Teddy glares at him, but there is no true annoyance behind it. I can tell that he actually enjoys it.

Aw.

"Stop it, old man," Teddy smirks up at his godfather. "So, where's the brats?"

"Upstairs packing, just like their mum ordered." Harry says, accentuating it with a roll of his eyes.

"Packing? What the hell are they packing for?" Teddy is honestly confused by this as he looks at me.

"The party," I say delicately, and Teddy snorts and changes his hair from bright blue to his traditional Weasley party red.

"Bullshit," he laughs. "I bet you've secretly got them packing for a last-minute vacation to wherever the hell you decided to go this time."

"Language!" I say as scandalized as a person can be when they've got my subconscious to deal with. "And no, I'm actually being forced to go."

"Good, 'cause rumour has it that if you guys are another no-show, Uncle George is actually planning to call in the Mafia!"

"MAFIA! Teddy, will the Mafia be there tonight?" James comes bounding down the stairs. James has a lot of hero worship issues when Teddy is involved, so he is constantly listening for Teddy's voice in the house. Should have remembered that he has really good hearing. And has a major love for any sort of crime ring.

We really should have tried to instill some values in that kid when he was little.

"Maybe," Teddy said jokingly, "if we're really lucky."

Sigh. Him too.

Then again, Teddy has never understood why I hate these parties so much, but that's because he's in love with Victoire. It's so cute!

I really am my mother.

Quarter to one.

Almost time now. But we're sure as hell not going early. I might even arrange it so that we're slightly late. Or maybe not, because believe it or not, I actually don't want to be hunted down by the Mafia.

Lily and Al come downstairs together, Lily on her tippy toes as they walk so that she can whisper in his ear. I'm thinking that there is a very good chance that my daughter got my height. Hm... I wonder what they're plotting. Should I stop them?

No, whoever it is probably deserves whats coming to them.

"TEDDY!" Lily screams when she sees him. "Are you coming to the party too?"

Teddy scoops her up into a big hug when she runs toward him.

"Of course I am," he stage-whispered, "gotta help gate-crash!"

"You weren't invited?" Lily whispers, her eyes round.

"Nope, but I'm going to come along anyways, because that's what Lupins do!"

"Oh." She turns to me, and says "Mum, can I be a Lupin?"

"If you want to be." Go ahead, honey, as long as your dad allows it. I don't care. If I were a Lupin, I wouldn't be going!

"But being a Potter is way cooler!" Al says, looking at his litttle sister disgustedly. "At least, that's what Teddy's always said."

Harry gives Teddy the you-better-agree look, and Teddy just smirks. Because of the whole adoptive big brother thing, he's always been able to rile the kids up like this. I remember when he got James and Albus to stage a protest about the colour of cheese. Those were back in the days when they actually believed what people told them.

Technically, they still believe Teddy.

"Yeah, Potter is definitely way cooler." He almost sounds convincing, but not quite. James just looks at him with the eyebrow thing that all my bloody kids can do, including Teddy.

How unfair is that?

"But Lupin means wolf! That's so much cooler than being like someone who puts plants in pots!" James says in response to Teddy's declaration of Potter coolness.

"Or makes pots! Pots are so boring!" Lily whined to Teddy, accentuating in a way that only little girls can.

"Well..." Teddy's looking at me in a sort of helpless way. I really don't have anything to tell him, partially because I agree. "We can't all be cool like wolves, so you guys just have to accept your role as Potters."

"Does that mean we have to be potters when we grow up?" Lily asked him curiously, and Harry and I burst out laughing.

"Well, you don't have to be a Potter, but James and Al do..." Teddy looks so confused as to where this conversation has gone. I'm sure as hell not going to help him, this is the most I've laughed all day!

"So James and Al have to be potters? They don't even get a choice?"

"Well... er..."

DING DONG!

Merlin!

Teddy, Harry and I turn to face the clock simultaneously.

"Shouldn't we be there by now?" Teddy laughs, but I can feel him looking at me suspiciously. He really doesn't trust me when it comes to this, does he?

"We're going to leave now," Harry says, calm as ever.

"Teddy, you can go first."

"Ok," he agrees, but I pull him aside right as he's about to enter the fireplace.

"I'm coming last with Al, but make sure that nothing happens to the others before I get there, ok?"

He nods in acknowledgement, side-steps around me, and goes through the floo.

Good luck, godson. I'll see you on the other side.

James steps forward eagerly, and I watch as he floos. The grin on his face is so excited, that I almost want to feel excited with him.

"Harry," I whisper-nod at him, and he quickly kisses me on the cheek and steps into the fireplace, disappearing in a cloud of green ashes.

Lily smiles as she floos right behind her father. My little girl.

"Mum," Al whispers to me as I knew he would, "can we just skip it? Please?"

I sigh and consider what would happen if we did. All I can see is a grim picture of travelling from place to place, hiding from the family and the Mafia at the same time. I don't think we could manage that.

So I am forced to turn to my son, look him right in emerald green eyes, and say, "No Al, I don't think we can this time."

I gently guide him into the fireplace, and the last thing I see before I'm left alone is the betrayed look on his face.

I look around our house, at our messy kitchen, and see... the brownies!

I grab the tray, and step into the fireplace, knowing that it is definitely now or never.

---------------------------------------------------------------

I cautiously step out of the fireplace, and it's like a whole new world.

"Wand." Dad says, all professionally. Damn. I was hoping they would forget this year. I quickly step around him, leaving him to guard the floo. He always makes us give him our wands, because otherwise bad things happen. Bad, bad things. Sometimes George can think of a way around it though, but only for him. Stupid brother won't share with the rest of us.

I gaze around in shock for about a second, and feel my jaw drop open. Merlin!

WHAM!

Ow. I look down to see my nephew, Hugo, lying at my feet. What the hell is he doing down there? Oh yeah, he just ran into me, nearly knocked me over, and spilled his milk all over me. Great.

"Sorry, Auntie!" He cries as he jumps to his feet, picks up his cup, and runs out of the living room. I stare down defeatedly at my outfit. What do you know, only about ten seconds here and there's been a disaster!

Then again, no use crying over spilt milk. At least that's what my positivity side is trying to tell me, while the pessimistic one is telling me to run for my life.

Guess what side I want to listen to?

"Hello Ginny, how are you?" Audrey asks me from the corner chair where she is curled up with a book. I just stare at her. As usual, she looks all prim and proper, hair pulled up into a bun. How is that even possible, with two kids?

"Audrey, why the hell are you in the corner?"

"Waiting," she says patiently.

"For what?"

"Time to go home."

Oh yeah. I'd kind of forgotten that Audrey was one of the few that didn't enjoy the chaos of this party. I almost ask her if I can join her then I remember.

IT'S AUDREY!

Joining her would be the ultimate show of weakness. I can not be weak. I can't give them a chance to close in on me, and a corner would be a perfect opportunity for that.

I back away before she can offer me sanctuary. As I back out of the room, I think that I can see a look of pity on her face. Merlin.

I stumble through the hallway, and into the kitchen. Mum's standing there, a look of utter fury on her face. I quickly set down the tray of brownies on the counter, and put my hands up in front of my face in the universal sign on surrender.

"Where," she says, and I can tell that she is pissed, "are Fred and James?"

"What did they do?" I asked curiously. James has only been here for about 10 minutes, what could he have done during that time?

Don't answer that question.

"Your son decided that it would be a good idea to blow up the hot dogs. I'm not sure what he's ever had a grudge against them for. Last time he was over, he ate about four of them."

With what? What did George give them that would actually blow stuff up?

Crap. Now we have nothing to eat.

I vocalize this thought.

"We still have the hamburgers left, but Ginny, it's the principle of the thing. What ever happened during the time when you should have been teaching him some rules of etiquette?"

Mum actually forced us to give them etiquette lessons. Sigh.

I wish I had that kind of control over my children.

Well, if you want to know the truth, we played some chess and discussed the strategy involved in rule breaking. And how you get into Grandma's kitchen without being noticed. Wow. I actually was the one who told him some secrets to his success at the party.

There's no way in hell that I'm going to tell Mum that, though.

"Er, we were teaching him his... manners! Yeah, his manners!" Stupid, stupid, stupid. Isn't etiquette and manners the same thing?

Apparently that was a rhetorical question for she doesn't even acknowledge my answer as she continues to viciously wash dishes.

Why is she washing dishes anyways? Doesn't she remember that little thing called magic? Then again, it is Molly Weasley and for some reason washing dishes has always helped her to abate her anger. But she'd need a hell of a lot more help if she ever wanted to be normal.

What does that say about us?

I sneak out of the kitchen to the backyard before she can yell at me. Why is his lack of self-control always my fault, not Harry's? So idiotic.

George, Angelina, and Charlie are lounging on the picnic table, talking about random things like Quidditch. Apparently I made a sound when I came through, for they all look up at me. Conversation stops in its tracks.

"Hey Gin," Charlie tries to ease me into the conversation but there is a devilish glint in his eyes that I don't trust. There's a reason he's a bachelor, you know.

Angelina looks at me and catches my eye. She shakes her head the slightest bit, and I can see the warning in her eyes. A chill goes up my spine. Very ominous. What does George have planned for me that even his own wife is trying to give me a way out? Nothing could be worse than last time.

Nothing.

"So, I was thinking that we should have a bit of a story later, like always." He speaks like he's talking to an idiot, drawing out all the words. "How does that sound, Ginny?"

Is he suggesting what I think he's suggesting?

"I even have a special book picked out for you to read and everything."

And he brandishes it like you would a sword. All There is To Know About Harry Potter.

Damn.