Chapter 4
The next morning, Harry awoke to a heavy feeling on his chest and sides. He opened one eye and waited for his vision to adjust to the brightness of the room.
On his left side, as well as on top of him was Rue, and on his right was Dylan. Both were asleep but still had slightly mischievous smiles on their faces. It made Harry wonder just what the two did. His question was answered by Finnick's scream, coming from the room Rory and Vick shared.
His children jerked awake, before snickering, much like Harry had seen the Weasley twins, Fred and George, do when they had just pulled a prank.
"What did you do?" Harry asked them. They looked at him worriedly, knowing that their dad's mood for the day was very closely tied to the severity of the prank.
"We used the hair dye Portia gave you and turned Finnick's hair and eyebrows pink with yellow tips." Rue said, waiting for her father's reply.
"You know I'm going to have to punish you for that, right?" Harry said, barely concealing his amusement. The twins and the marauders would be so proud!
"What's the punishment?" Dylan asked timidly. He really didn't want to know, but at the same time, he did.
"You have to find where your mother hid the camera that one TV studio gave us." Harry said. Even he wasn't stupid enough to look for it. Katniss had flat out told him that if he used the camera for anything that Gale would even consider using it for, she'd rip his bits off.
Rue and Dylan paled. They had been listening to their mom and dad's conversation through the wall when she made the threat, and they got the feeling that if they were caught, their punishment would be almost as severe as their father's.
"Why must you be so cruel?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah, can't you just ground us for a month?" Rue asked.
"Or put us in stockades in the town square to be stoned to death?"
"Or have us clean Haymitch's bathroom?"
"Or clean Greasy Sae's kitchen?"
"Or scrub all of the coal dust from all the houses in the Seam?"
Harry laughed at his children's antics. They really were terrified of Katniss's temper. He didn't blame them. She made Molly Weasley look calm.
"HARRY!" Finnick's voice boomed, echoing throughout the house.
"I wonder why he thinks it was me." Harry said to his children, glaring at them slightly.
"Well-ʺ Rue began.
"We might have written him a note on his face that said that you pulled the prank." Dylan finished. The kids jumped off their dad and ran out of the room. Harry jumped up and ran after them, only to be tackled by the pink-haired man from down the hall.
"What did I ever do to you?" Finnick yelled at him as he tried to choke the younger man.
"Nothing! It wasn't me!" Harry yelled back, rolling out from under his pink-haired friend.
"Yes it was! You're the one who accepted the hair dye from Portia!" Finnick said, trying to tackle Harry again.
"It wasn't me!" Harry said, running down the hall, only to be jumped on by Finnick.
"Then who was it?" The older victor demanded, pinning the younger victor to the ground, face down.
"Gale, you idiot! Now get off of me!" Harry said, elbowing Finnick in the stomach.
"I should have known," Finnick muttered, grabbing an umbrella from the closet and stomping off to where Gale was sleeping.
Harry quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbed his kid's wrists and pulled them to his study.
"If anyone asks, Gale pulled the prank, got it?" He said in a hushed tone.
"Got it," His children agreed.
"HARRY!" Gale's voice rang through the house.
"Kids, remember. I love you, no matter how much shit you get me into!" Harry had to yell the last bit as Gale picked him up around the middle and carried him out of the room.
"Katniss! Help! Gale's gonna kill me!" Harry yelled, as Gale tied him down and grabbed a knife.
"Katniss!" Harry yelled again as Gale began to hack his hair off.
"Gale! Put. The. Knife. Down." Katniss snapped at her 'brother'.
"He framed me for a prank I didn't commit!" Gale said, lowering the knife slightly.
"Only after you framed the kids, who then framed me!" Harry said.
"What?" I didn't frame the kids!" Gale said, staring at Harry.
"Yes you did. You dyed Finnick's hair pink and yellow and left a note in Rory and Vick's writing. They woke up to get some water, and found it, so they make a note that blamed Aelia and Felix, who went to prank Vick and found the note. They changed it to blame me and went back to bed. Then Finnick woke up and tried to kill me!" Harry said, glaring at his friend.
"What? That makes no sense!" Gale said, reaching for his knife.
"You know, Portia will murder you, Gale." Katniss said nonchalantly.
"What, why?" Gale asked, suddenly forgetting his weapon of destruction.
"Her two favourite people are now having a hair crisis. Finnick's hair is stupid and girly now, and Harry is missing several tufts of his. And she's due back later today to help plan the wedding. When she sees what you've done to them, you'll be wishing your hair was pink and looking like you went through a meat grinder." Katniss said, crossing her arms over her chest. Gale's eyes widened comically, before he ran out of the room and up the stairs and locked himself in the bedroom he shared with Harry and Dylan.
"Thanks, luv." Harry said as he shrugged out of the bonds.
"You might want to regrow your hair." She said. Portia would kill him along with Gale if she saw his hair.
"Why? Do you only love me for my looks?" Harry asked as he shifted his appearance back to normal.
"Your looks are what got my attention." Katniss told him.
"Ah yes, because every woman is attracted to a dirty, wet, blood-covered, injured mess in the middle of the woods." Harry said, kissing his fiancée's cheek.
"I try to keep your reputation intact and this is the thanks I get," Katniss grumbled.
"How did you do that?" A small voice asked from the doorway. Then the couple remembered; Gale had left the door open. Harry quickly ushered his children into the room and closed the door. He placed wards around the room that prevented people from coming in, as well as ones that ensured that nobody outside could hear the conversation.
"Magic." Harry told his children after closing the blinds.
"There's no such thing as magic." Dylan said. He'd found that out when his parents screamed at him for asking about it when he was four.
"Remember the medallions I gave you?" Harry asked, taking a seat behind the desk. They were in Katniss's study.
"Yeah, the portkey." Rue said. What did her dad's Capitol worthy creation have to do with magic?
"Well, I lied about all the circuit boards and solid gold gears and stuff. Portkeys are magical items, normally made of normal, everyday items. The ones I gave you had extra enchantments to do the things they did. Normal portkeys only transport you places."
"Wait, you actually expect us to believe that magic is real, and that you're some kind of witch?" Dylan asked.
"I'm a fully train wizard, not a witch. Witches are female. Wizards are male." Harry said, glaring slightly at his son. Hadn't the boy ever heard of wizards?
"Prove it." Rue said. She really found this hard to believe. There were hundreds of Capitol products that seemed like magic. Were her parents crazier than she thought?
That was when her father turned into a perfect replica of her mother.
"Harry! You promised you wouldn't do that anymore!" Katniss exclaimed. She hated it when he stole her body.
"Sorry luv." Harry said, shifting back. Dylan and Rue didn't look convinced. For all they knew, Harry had some kind of Capitol implant that scanned the people you were with and created a holographic costume for the person pretending to be someone else.
Then Harry transfigured the desk into a lion. That broke the kids' resolve a little, but they still thought it could be some new Capitol technology.
"Harry, that elf of yours, can you summon it?" Katniss asked.
"That's not nice, mom." Dylan said.
"Posy's five, she's not an elf." Rue finished her brother's thought.
"Posy's my apprentice, not my elf. My elf's name is Dobby." Harry said. Seconds later, a small popping noise sounded, and the green-skinned, tennis ball eyed, floppy-eared creature popped into the study.
"The Great Master Harry Potter has summoned Dobby!" The elf cried, bursting into tears. The elf latched onto Harry's legs in a hug while blubbering incoherently.
"What's that?" Dylan asked his eyes wide.
"This is Dobby, my House Elf." Harry said. He pried the elf off of his legs and sat down next to him.
"Dobby, this is my new family. My fiancée Katniss, my son Dylan, and my daughter Rue. You will come to them when they summon you." Harry introduced, pointing at the person as he named them.
"What 'bout Great Master's family in 1999? Great Mistress Ginny be's planning you's wedding. She be's saying when Great Master comes home, she be's marryin' you's and never lettin' you's get aways." Dobby said.
"You had a fiancée in your time and didn't tell me?" Katniss demanded.
"No, you're the only girl I've ever considered marrying, Katniss. Ginny Weasley thinks that because I saved her life once when I was twelve that I loved her, when in fact, I can't stand her. The only reason I saved her was because one of my old friends is her older brother. The fact that her mother has been telling her that someday she'll be my wife and having twenty black-haired green-eyed babies with me really isn't helping the obsession."
"Great Master isn't marryin' the girl missus Weasel-bee makes Dobby call Great Mistress?" Dobby asked.
"No, and I would really appreciate it if you brought all of my belongings here to my home, and bring along all newspapers that I'm mentioned in. I'll set up a room for you and have a uniform made for you so you can be a real House Elf for the Potter family." Harry told the short, odd little creature. Dylan and Rue's mouths were hanging open as if they were trying to get their jaws to touch the floor.
"Yes Great Master, right away Great Master Sir!" Dobby said. He was about to pop away, but Harry stopped him.
"Dobby, one last thing. No more of this Great Master crap. Got it?" Harry told the elf.
"Yes Sir, Master Harry!" The elf responded before popping away.
"We believe you now," Dylan muttered, closing his mouth. Rue nodded in agreement.
"Why did that Dobby thing say 'your family from 1999'?" Rue asked.
"Because, I was born in the year 1980, but when I was 18, in 1999, my idiot of a room-mate accidently sent me forwards in time 380 years." Harry admitted.
"So our dad is 399 years old?" Dylan asked in slight disbelief.
"That explains all of the old references." Rue admitted. Now that she thought about it, it was fairly obvious that her dad and by extension, her mother, had used magic to cheat in the Games. It was a wonder President Snow hadn't picked up on it yet.
"Well, it's not my fault this place doesn't have any pop culture to make references off of." Harry complained.
"Here be's all of Master Harry's things. Dobby be's messin' up the Black Widow's plans now." Dobby said.
"The Black Widow? Isn't she a comic book character?" Harry asked the elf.
"The little Weasel-bee girl be's planning to marry Master Harry, have his babies, then have Master Harry killed. She be's wantin' you's money and babies, Master Harry."
"So when you said she's never going to let him get away, you mean. . ." Katniss said, trailing off at the end. Dobby nodded solemnly at his new Mistress's words.
"Nasty Black Widow be's wanting Master Harry dead as Cranky Old Creep, Mistress Kittyness." Dobby said.
"Who's the Cranky Old Creep?" Dylan asked.
"My school's old Headmaster. He was a manipulative bastard who destroyed my childhood. The man was about 116 when he was killed by my Potions teacher, Severus Snape." Harry told his children, and his wife, who hadn't known about Snape killing Dumbledore.
"So, what kind of stuff do they have in the magical world?" Rue asked. Maybe if her dad found a way, they could visit Magical Britain.
"The magical world doesn't exist anymore. All that's left of magic is a few lone wizards and witches as well as a few magicians." Harry said.
"What's the difference between a magician and a witch or wizard?" Dylan asked curiously.
"Witches and wizards are magical beings with the capability to access magic enough to cast spells. Posy and I fall into this category, although Posy's only beginning her magical training. Magicians are beings with magic, but not enough to do much more than brew potions or read and write Ancient Runes. Some of the more powerful magicians can use some simple healing magic." Harry explained. He had found that little bit of information in a book he'd read as part of his auror training. There were thousands of muggle born magicians in London alone, and none of them were being trained. Muggle-borns like Hermione were born to magicians, and most squibs were actually magicians, but nobody gives a damn about them.
"Are there any magicians here?" Dylan asked.
"Prim, Vick and Rory. Gale and Katniss might be, but they won't let me cast the magic detection spell." Harry said as he glanced over at his fiancée.
"Don't you want to know if you can cast spells like dad?" Rue asked Katniss.
Katniss just shrugged. Harry had checked Apolline's magic levels, and she was just a muggle. Apolline had simply shrugged and said that Prim's magic had probably come from her father. Katniss knew that she had a 50/50 chance, but she didn't want Harry to think less of her if it turned out that she wasn't at least a magician.
"Can you test us for magic?" Rue asked timidly. She had similar fears about Harry's treatment of her, but if he had come to love her without magic, hopefully he would continue to love her.
"Of course," Harry said as he pulled out his wand. He waved it over Rue first, murmuring the incantation-Duis vel illusionist magus - and waited for a slight glow around Rue. Blue meant muggle, grey meant magician, and a shimmery yellow meant wizard or witch. He told them all what each colour meant while they waited for the glow.
As the spell took effect, he watched as Rue glowed blue. The little girl burst into tears. She wasn't like her dad, and she really had her hopes up. Harry scooped her into his arms and began to whisper comforting words in her ear. He began speaking in parseltongue, remembering that Rue found it comforting. Then she hissed back.
"Holy shit!" Harry exclaimed in English.
"What?" Katniss asked curiously.
"Rue's a parselmouth!" Harry said happily, swinging his little girl around.
"I'll teach you what I know about being a speaker. Snakes are easily offended, so I'll practice with you. Once you know how not to offend them, I'll take you out to the forest." Harry told his daughter.
"Alright, your turn Dylan." Harry said. He cast the spell and waited for the glow. Unlike his daughter, his son glowed yellow.
That night, after Finnick had gone to bed- having finally gotten the dye out of his hair- the entire family celebrated Dylan and Rue's discoveries. Posy had been ecstatic to find out that her favorite boy cousin had magic. He was her only boy cousin, but still, it's the thought that counts.
After the large cake had been devoured (they saved some for Finnick and Haymitch), everyone reluctantly went to bed. The Capitol TV crews would be coming back to officially interview the whole family, as well as ask Harry and Katniss about their wedding, so the whole family decided that they needed to be well rested. They would definitely be needing it.
Author's note: Hey! I didn't take too long with this chapter. I won't be updating regularly, but I promise that I'll try to post at least every two weeks. A huge thank you to usmcwolper for editing this chapter! Read and Review! :)