24th December 2010
"Teddy." Harry knocked impatiently on the door of the room Teddy occupied during his stay at the Manor.
"It's open!" Teddy shouted from inside.
"Hey, come on buddy. I need you get dressed and in the entrance hall in 15 minutes." Harry said entering his room and shutting the door behind him.
"Dad! Relax. The ball starts at 7:00, it's not even 6:30 yet."
"Yeah. Go tell your Gran and Mum about it." Harry muttered.
"Dad. I am not stupid. Mum and Gran would kill me."
"Hey, how much time do we have to the ball?"
"It's 6:15, dad!"
"Okay. So, you won't mind if I just lie down on your bed with my eyes closed for 10 minutes, do you?"
"Be my guest and leave some space, I might join you too."
"I am glad you are not too old to sleep next to me."
"Keep talking dad and I would move you to the couch. And remove your formal robes! Merlin knows, Mum and Gran would not care that you are the saviour of wizardkind, they will kill you for the creases."
"Good point. Hey do you think maybe I should change and sleep?"
"Sleep?"
"Lie down with my eyes closed?"
Teddy laughed, "Yeah you should."
"Okay, I am transfiguring your clothes; remind me to put them back."
"Sure."
It seemed that Harry had just closed his eyes when the door to Teddy's room banged open.
"Ted. You need to save us." James' panicked voice floated to Harry.
"Oh man!" Teddy groaned. "Why are the four of you covered in soot?"
"Well, we didn't want to get dressed, so we decided to hide somewhere." Roxanne explained.
"So, you hid in a fireplace?"
"Don't be stupid." Louise said, "We hid in the children's room."
"That does not explain the soot."
"Yeah! I might have nicked an untested product from the shop." Fred said, "And I might have let it lose and it is quite possible that it blew up."
"So? Go clean yourselves, you have 20 minutes to the ball. Enough time to get ready."
"That's not the point." James said earnestly. "The room is a mess. Mum would kill us if she finds out."
"Ask Grumpy to clean it. You know he helps you out the most."
"Grumpy is busy in the kitchens and then they have to get ready for the ball too."
"Okay. What about Uncle Ron? Or Uncle George?"
"Oh yeah! Dad would be thrilled with us." Roxanne said sarcastically.
"Don't get snarky with me, Roxy. Ask uncle Bill, he is cool about such stuff."
"Nuh-uh! Dad is not cool when I am involved." Louise said.
"I will look into it." Harry said finally, removing the sheets covering him.
The four kids jumped.
"Dad." James started. "I can totally explain it."
"No need. I heard all of it. Now, go get dressed I will clean the mess up."
"You are the best, Dad. If I ever put a toe out of line-"
"I will know you are back to normal, and that would happen twice before the night is over. Now go. Shoo."
The four kids bounded out of the room relieved.
"Can we put him up for adoption?" Harry asked flipping back on the bed.
Teddy snickered. "You will miss him. It would be too quiet here, without him."
"I can do with the peace and quiet."
"No family would ever knowingly adopt a child who is named after James Potter and Sirius Black."
"What was Ginny thinking when she named him James Sirius Potter?"
"That he would take the legacy forward, since I am such a good boy."
Harry snorted. "If you are such a good boy, what were you doing in the kitchens after curfew, on the last night of your term?"
"How do you know that?"
Harry raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"I mean, I was doing no such thing, whoever told you was mistaken." Teddy said trying to control his hair colour.
Harry laughed. "I am actually proud of the fact that you never get caught."
"I have wolf senses. I sense people from a mile away. It's difficult to get caught like that."
"You would make a great Auror, you know."
"Dad. You know I don't want to become an Auror. I have seen you in the hospital too many times; I don't want to put you through that. I will be a curse breaker."
"Oh! You think that does not involve risks?"
"It does." Teddy said with a shrug. "But it is such an exciting thing to do." Teddy said, his eyes gleaming.
Before Harry could respond the door burst open again, this time Victoire entered with Dominique, Lucy and Molly in tow, the four girls were already dressed for the ball.
"Honestly! Who came up with the idea that dresses were a good option for a ball?" Victoire asked throwing her hands in the air. "Oh Hi, Uncle Harry. Are you hiding from Gran and Co. too?"
Harry grinned. "Maybe."
Lucy laughed. "Why do you throw the ball every year then? If you dislike it just as much."
"Tradition." Harry replied. "When I started living here, all my ancestors insisted that I keep this one Potter tradition alive."
"Sucks to be you. I can always disappear after a few minutes and go to the library." Molly said lounging casually on the couch in Teddy's room.
"Sucks to be a girl in a nightmarish dress too." Victoire grumbled.
"Please Vic." Dominique said, "The dress is beautiful. You need to stop walking like a troll and you will be fine."
"Dom. You like to play princess. I feel like I will fall over the dress and break my neck and I haven't even tried out for the Quidditch team yet." Victoire complained.
Dominique rolled her eyes. "Vic. You will be fine. Teddy tell her. And in a few years my team would be creaming your team at Hogwarts."
"Hah!" Molly said, "I would like to see you try. We Ravenclaws would be creaming the rest of you, we have the smarts."
"Mol, Dom. You guys have not even reached Hogwarts." Lucy said, "What if Dominique became a Ravenclaw? And you became a Slytherin or something."
"I would never be a book worm!" Dominique said, "I am too pretty for that." She added sticking her tongue out at Victoire and Molly.
Victoire and Molly rolled their eyes, and Victoire complained about the dress again and the argument came to a full circle.
A lot of people assumed that Victoire with her golden hair and Veela looks would be a vain child, but she wasn't, in fact Victoire was someone who always looked at a person's heart rather than face. She was mature for her age and had a natural grace that she rarely acknowledged. Dominique with her strawberry blond hair and blue eyes was as pretty as a peach and knew it, something that her mother's side of the family approved of. Molly was the calmest of the lot, not that she didn't possess a fiery temper; she generally couldn't bother about anything, other than the characters in her books. She had inherited her mother's chocolate curls and her father's brown eyes but she possessed an innocence which was solely hers and Lucy had fiery red hair and brown eyes and was a true copy of her aunt Ginny, she was just as adventurous, snarky, manipulative and brave.
Harry watched the four girls bicker about their dresses and the ball and he watched how each of them turned to Teddy for his opinion. They had barely finished talking when Al walked in.
"Hey Teddy, Can you help me with this tie, please?" He asked. "Oh hey dad. Are you hiding from Mum and Gran and Andromeda? They are looking for you."
Harry groaned, making to get out of bed.
"Relax." Al said with a grin. "I am kidding. They are actually looking for James, Fred, Roxy and Louise. Apparently our room is a mess and they want answers."
"Oh no." Harry said, "I promised the four of them that I would clean it up."
"Dad." Al said seriously, "When will you learn to pick my tell? I saw the room, I asked Sleepy to clean it up, it's done. Now, Ted, help me with the tie please."
Harry looked at his youngest son, Albus was not loud like his brother but he was deadly. With Albus, no one ever knew whether he was telling the truth or lying, Harry knew that Albus had made it his personal motto to not lie but he could be one of the most manipulative creatures out there. Albus was also someone who was greatly influenced by both Andromeda and Dorea Potter. He kept family at a pedestal and valued traditions for their significance. To Harry Albus at times was too mature for a 5 year old.
Harry watched as Teddy helped Albus with his tie before giving over to Victoire who fixed him up in no time. Albus sat beside Molly and started discussing the newest theory Percy Potter had taught him and Teddy disappeared to change for the ball. As Harry climbed out of the bed, Rose came running in followed by Lily who was giggling madly and Hugo who looked pleased with himself.
"Teddy!" Lily exclaimed loudly before seeing Harry. "Daddy!" She shrieked running to him. "How do I look Daddy?" She asked twirling around in her the red dress that he had helped select.
"And me uncle Harry? How do I look?" Rose chirped from Lily's side twirling in her dark blue dress.
"Me too!" Hugo exclaimed and Harry was surprised to see him in a yellow dress.
"Lilypad, Rosie. You both look so beautiful! And Hugo, you look wonderful, but shouldn't you be wearing your dress robes?"
Lily and Rose giggled, as Hugo smiled at Harry and said, "But I am not Hugo. I am- I am- Minnie. Rosie's little sister."
"Dad, I think you should get dressed too. We have to be down there in 5 minutes." Teddy said walking into the room, dressed to perfection. "Oh! Look here, Lily, you look so pretty, and so do you Rosie. And who is this beautiful little girl here?" Teddy asked bending down in front of Hugo.
Hugo giggled, "I am Minnie. Rosie's little sister."
"Oh! Nice to meet you Minnie, but Rosie where is your brother Hugo? You know your mum and dad would be very sad if they don't find him."
"No, they won't!" Hugo argued, "I will be there."
"Yes but you see, Rosie's parents love Hugo very much too." Teddy said patiently, "They would miss him, you know Aunt Hermione might cry too."
Rose giggled as Lily and Hugo exchanged solemn looks. The rest of the children, including Albus had already made their way down to the entrance hall.
"Oh no!" Lily said sadly, "I love Aunt Hermione, I don't want her to be sad. Teddy can we bring back Hugo?"
"I guess we can, will it be okay if we changed Minnie's dress?"
Lily and Hugo nodded, Teddy looked at Harry who had changed into his clothes already. Harry nodded and summoned Hugo's clothes and Teddy helped him change as Harry went down to the hall with Lily and Rose.
Harry watched Teddy twirl Lily around for a last time before she was whisked away to bed. He looked at the remaining children, Al and Rose were dozing off on the chairs in a corner, James, Fred, Roxanne and Louise were sitting at a table attacking their desserts.
Bill was dancing with Dominique, Molly had conspicuously disappeared after the first dance and Lucy was dancing with Keith Wood, Victoire was dancing with Adam and Teddy was dancing with his grandmother.
"Hey, you alright?" Ginny asked, taking the seat next to his and slipping her hand in his hand.
"Yeah. Just thinking."
"About how beautiful your wife is?"
"No." Ginny swatted his arm and Harry laughed. "I can't think about an accepted fact. I was thinking about the kids."
"Wish we could give James up for adoption?"
"No. No sane family would knowingly adopt a child named after James Potter and Sirius Black. Seriously, what were you thinking Gin?"
"Hey, I blame you. I had just recovered from a difficult delivery, I was emotional. You should have knocked some sense into me."
Harry laughed as he put his arm around Ginny. "They are all so different from each other. I don't even know how they manage to be thick as thieves with such contradicting personalities."
"Because they love each other. They are each other's family. You know someday, when we won't be there for them anymore, they would have each other. They would never be alone."
"Yeah…" Harry said with a sigh, "I worry about Teddy though, at times. I know all of these kids love him but-"
"Teddy is a part of our family Harry. James, Al and Lily see, love, adore, respect and resent him as an elder sibling. Mum has already adopted him. He will never be alone. We are raising our children right."
"I know… I just, I know how difficult it is to be alone."
"But you have not been alone since the day you became friends with Ron. People always assume that I became a Potter by marrying you, but that's just my name. In all honesty Harry, you became a Weasley the day we got married; you had been one much before that, it just became official that day."
"I love you Gin. I really do."
"I love you too, Harry."
"Hey Harry." Ron called, "I think it's time for you two to split up. Rose and Al need to get to bed and James, Louise, Roxanne and Fred are missing."
Ginny groaned. "You know we can always give him away to a muggle family."
Harry laughed before getting up and joining Ron and George to go hunt for the missing pranksters, as Hermione and Angelina took Albus and Rose to bed and Ginny stayed back with Andromeda to fulfil her duties as the hostess.
Harry didn't have to go far before he found the four, huddled under a blanket in the library, with Molly almost asleep, as Teddy read them a story. The thirteen of them were as different as they could be, but they were a family and like Dorea Potter says, love is thicker than blood.
AN: And another chapter. I would however, have to take a break from this fic for a while, till I bring Being Teddy Lupin up to date. So, I would probably be introducing another fic, about the next Gen at Hogwarts, called Hogwarts 3.0. It would probably be up by next week. Also, don't worry, this break won't last for long. Just a few weeks, maybe less and then we would come back to this fic for it's last chapters.
Also, keep looking out for a one shot between Lily Luna Potter and Petunia Dursley. It takes place on this same day and I would put it up soon enough.
Till then, please do read and review. I love hearing from you. If you are new here and you like this fic, don't forget to follow/favorite this fic or me or both.
Also, check out my other fics too, as I keep saying, they are all connected and none of them are that bad.
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Happy Reading.
Much love,
The fishes
