Harry had gotten to spend a whole Saturday with his boys. Andromeda had gone with Molly and Arthur for a dancing weekend at a small magical inn in Inverness. So Teddy was staying at Grimald place.
Harry had started the day by making pancakes for breakfast. That was followed by bath's for James and Al to get the syrup out of their hair. Then he and Teddy had taken them to the zoo. Lunch was fish and chips eaten at a park. They had gotten back home in time to settle in to watch Ginny and Lee broadcast a match between the Appleby Arrows and the Wimbourne Wasps.
The match was hotly contested, as was usual for those two teams, and lasted well into the night. Kreacher had served soup and sandwiches to them in the Library so they could keep on watching.
Harry and Teddy turned on the wireless upstairs to catch the action as they bathed and put James and Al down for the night.
Midnight found them still glued to the cable less. The match was a defensive stalemate. Each team had only scoured 4 goals each. The two seekers had been hit by the bludgers so many times it was a wonder either were staying seated on their brooms.
At a quarter past the Arrows seeker rocketed upward out of camera range. Within seconds he reappeared hand held high. He had caught the snitch and won the game.
Harry had checked on the two younger boys and kissed Teddy goodnight. He was waiting up for Ginny. He knew she would be tired, but still need to write and submit her article on the game for the morning paper.
Ginny was beginning to think this would be her last baby even if it was a boy. She knew Harry really wanted a daughter, but being pregnant and so busy with her career was tiring!
Lee apperated with her to Grimald Place, saw her safely in her own front door and went home to his wife.
Harry was waiting for her with a cool glass of pumpkin juice and a foot rub. While she wrote up her article Harry heated up some soup and made her a sandwich.
After the owl had left for the Prophet, Ginny visited each of the boys rooms to kiss their sleeping heads.
Harry had a warm bath ready for her when she got to their master suite. After her bath she was lying contentedly in his arms.
"Mr. Potter you sure know how to treat a lady!"
One week in to the new year Harry and Ron were happy men. Both were sitting on the sofa at the burrow. Hermione and Ron had hosted a family dinner so that everyone could meet Lily and Hugo. Each man had a sleeping newborn snuggled on their chests.
Lily Luna Potter was a petite 5 lbs. She had thick wavy hair, the exact color of her mum's. Her eyes were a deep chocolate brown.
Hugo was a strapping 9 lbs 4 oz.. If Lily looked like Ginny Hugo looked even more like Ron. He even ate like Ron! Constantly.
Ginny and Hermione returned to the parlor from putting James, Rose and Al down for the night. Since Molly and Arthur had given Ron and Hermione the burrow they had added quite a few modern touches but made sure to keep the charm.
Ron had a flat screen TV. hidden behind a painting over the fireplace and Hermione snapped it on with her wand as she sat down. They had gotten in to the habit of watching the news before going to bed.
An advertisement for Madame Markin's was just ending. Gerald Taxman, the anchor, led with a story about the muggles continued unrest in the middle east and how it was affecting the search for antiquities by the goblins of Gringots.
Then the Business report was all about Fleur's company opening a line of boutiques and day spas. "The Pampered Witch" carried a line of natural and organic beauty and health potions. Her product line had outgrown its space at WWW.
The sports report featured the International Confederation of Wizard's Quidditch Committee's inquiry in to the incident involving Boris Houndstooth, beater for the Wigtown Wanderers. In a fiercely fought match between the Wanderers and the Ballycastle Bats Boris apparently became enraged by the taunting of the Bat's mascot, Barny the Fruit bat and conjured a real meat cleaver. Play was interrupted for 45 min as Boris chased Barny throughout the stadium.
Ironically the advertisement after the news was for Butterbear, featuring Barny. "I'm just batty for Butterbear!"
The last segment was Tilda Toots explaining the care of house plants during the winter months.
Hermione snapped off the telly as "Hex your Ex!" A mind numbing game show that had individuals who allowed their ex lovers to hex them for money, came on.
AN- For those of you who want a bit more of when Lily and Hugo were born please read my fic Teddy. Yes I know some of the time line is messed up and I know I spelled some words wrong. Mia Culpa. I'll fix it the next time the plot bunnies take a break. Grandma Beth
Funny how cute, sweetbabies can turn in to little monsters who can try the patience of a saint. Harry James Potter was no saint, despite what some of his more flattering biographers wrote, and his eldest had wore Harry's patience out!
Harry had a minor domestic crisis on his hands. James, 4 and a half had blossomed into a true handful. His favorite pastime, it seemed, was thinking of ways to a. make his brother Al miserable and b. get the help to quit. In just the past 12 months they had gone through 3 nannies. This morning the latest had turned in her resignation, packed her things and stormed out the door after waking up to find her waist length hair in a pile on the floor.
James had gotten a hold of a pair of scissors and decided to try his hand at cosmetology.
Apparently after using the scissors on Mandy's hair James had entered Al's room and cut up most of his books.
He then entered the parlor and tried his hand at redecorating. The sofa was in shreds.
Ginny was in Bulgaria for a quick visit with Luna and Rolf. Luna had just given birth to twin boys.
Kreacher was so mad that words had failed him and he was sitting at the kitchen table muttering while his ears quivered.
It took well over an hour to reassure Al that his beloved books could be repaired. By then Lily was awake and wanting her breakfast. But before Harry could take care of her he had to find his oldest who had hidden himself after hearing the screams of his nanny.
Harry searched most of the floors of the house. James, the little imp was hiding well. Harry knew when to call for help and he knew just the women to call. Picking up some floo powder he first called Molly and then Andromeda. They both were there in minutes. Molly went to take care of Lily and Andromeda went to repair Al's books and his broken heart.
Naturally Teddy had come with Andromeda, which was fortuitous. He knew James best.
Harry and Teddy set out to find James. Suddenly an explosion rocked the top floors of the house. Harry, fearing the worst, took the stairs two at a time, wand drawn. When he got to what had been the fourth floor, he found his oldest sitting on a pile of rubble in, what now was, a open air terrace.
After reassuring himself that James was unhurt, aside from some singed hair, he evacuated everyone to the burrow until the structure of the house could be checked. Hermione and Ron reassured him they had plenty of room and they could stay until the repairs were made.
They never found out what exactly James had found in one of the unused rooms. Harry had taken him to St. Mungo's to be checked out and aside from the singed hair the only after effects was a temporary ringing in his ears. That is until they got back to the burrow.
Harry thoroughly whipped his little bottom and put him to bed. Andromeda and Teddy volunteered to watch James during the day and Molly would watch Al and Lily until Harry and Ginny could repair the house and hire a new nanny.
The contractor Harry and Ginny had hired was shaking his head. Apparently Grimald Place has in very poor condition. It wasn't worth repairing the damage. The safest and most logical move was to tear it down and rebuild. Magically rebuilding in the center of busy London was going to take a lot of permits and money. Harry was not looking forward to telling Kreacher the house he loved was coming down.
The good news was that they could rebuild in a more modern way. The rooms sizes and layouts would be better suited to the 21st century.
The bad news was they would be out of their house for over a year.
Harry and Ginny knew that 5 children and 4 adults under one roof would most likely be too much for any of their nerves. So they rented a farm house not far from Bill and Fleur.
Charley had a friend who wanted to come to the Uk and improve her english. Harry and Ginny hired her on the spot. Olga was a perfect fit and one of the few adults who scared James.
Kreacher never really trusted James again. Al began an aggressive proactive attack after that. If James so much as looked at him in a way Al found suspicious he reacted. Al's natural magical abilities were impressive. When he was mad they erupted. James soon learned to only push it so far with Al.
Lily, like her mother, learned from watching her siblings. Her first sentence was to James; "No! You bad boy!"