I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Extended Family

Chapter 4 – Potter Panic

Takes place a few years after Dahlia's birth but before the final chapter.

"Hey, relax, what's the worst that could happen?" George regretted his words at Katie's glare. "We got it," he said soothingly. "There are two intelligent blokes here, we can handle a little girl for a while. We have our own sprogs you know."

Oliver held Dahlia easily, showing the truth to George's words. "You two take it easy. Enjoy your day. You can trust us."

Katie looked at Harry who shrugged. "They should be fine," he said slowly.

"I really wish Angelina or Alicia were here too," Katie muttered.

"You don't trust us? Your old teammates?" they asked with hurt tones.

"Because you idiots were my old teammates," she replied severely. "Okay fine. We'll trust you." She kissed her daughter. "We'll be back later, okay sweetie?"

Dahlia fussed a little, trying to hold onto Harry when he kissed her next. "I want to go," she said.

"Not this time. Mummy and I have to go do some things at the bank for a while and run some errands but we will be back soon, okay?" Harry sighed as Dahlia's grip tightened on his shirt. "Maybe I should stay."

"Nah we got it," Oliver said as he gently got Dahlia to let go. "Go on, if I can manage a team, not to mention two of my own, then I can handle this little one. And George manages his own and a store. We got it."

After some more words and kissing and waving, Harry and Katie apparated away from their home, leaving the two men and the little girl.

"I have half a mind to be offended," George sniffed.

"Only half? What, Fred has the other half?" He laughed at George's glare. "Nah, you know you and I reacted the same the first time we parted from our own." He smiled down at the pouting Dahlia. "Come on Dahlia. You'll have a good time with Uncle George and Uncle Ollie."

"What do you want to do that Mum and Dad won't let you do normally?" George asked her with a wide grin.

"I want Daddy," she grumbled, crossing her arms as only an irate toddler could.

"Aww, poor thing," George said. "You and so many other witches," he added in a very soft tone, unable to resist.

Oliver snorted. "Come on, let's go raid the kitchen and get some snacks. Then we can build something together. Won't that be fun?"

Dahlia, momentarily cheered up by the ideas, nodded and they entered the home. The men found biscuits and fruit and ate them with the little girl, before sitting down in the living room with her block set. They played for a while before Oliver dozed off.

After a while he woke, blinking slowly. He looked around, trying to shake the sleep away. "Uh, George?"

George was engrossed in the castle he was building. "Yeah?"

"Where's Dahlia?"

"Helping me build the castle."

"Where?"

"Right…here." George looked to the last place he saw her. "Where did she go?"

"George, not funny."

"I'm not trying to be!"

The men jumped up, pulling out their wands. They ran around the house, making sure all the windows and doors were closed. George cast the spell to reveal people in an area and he breathed a sigh of relief when three people were found but he frowned.

"What?"

"Dahlia's still here but the spell doesn't know where. It's like…scattered or something."

"Dahlia is scattered?!"

"I don't know! At least we know she's in the house somewhere!"

They ran around the house, looking into each room and calling for her. They heard nothing and were getting more and more panicked.

"Close the Floo!" Oliver yelled. "In case someone calls and she slips through or something!" He checked the ward stone hanging by the door. "No one's entered the property but us. I'm going to cast a trip wire charm around the house to let us know if anyone crosses the boundary."

After more searching, they were starting to panic.

"What do we do?!" George said, voice rising. "Katie is going to murder us!"

"If anything's left after Angelina and Alicia are through with us!" Oliver felt queasy. "How did this happen?!"

"I don't know! I'd expect this from my kid but not theirs!" George was turning pale. "I think I'm going to pass out."

Oliver flinched, feeling his spell trigger. He opened the door and ran out, almost running into Daphne. She stopped short when he appeared, flicking her wand up. "Oh, hello Oliver," she said. Her eyebrow rose, taking in his agitated state. Her other rose when she saw George stagger out behind him. "What is the matter?"

"Nothing," Oliver said insincerely. "What're you doing here?"

"I knew Harry and Katie were busy today and came after I finished my work to see if my assistance was needed. As in, to play with Dahlia. I could take over babysitting if you would like."

"That sounds great-" George said and began to leave.

Oliver snagged the back of his shirt. "No, no, we're fine. All's fine. We're good. Thanks for coming but we have it handled."

She narrowed her eyes, taking in their guilty faces. "What happened."

The men looked at each other. "We might have…misplaced her," George said slowly.

"Misplaced…her," Daphne repeated.

They nodded.

"She is not a key nor is she a vial that you misplace!" She grabbed them by their shirts and pulled their heads to her. "Where did she go?!" she shrieked.

"Ah right in my ear!" George howled, trying to block her banshee scream with his hand.

"Trust me, if we knew we wouldn't be like this," Oliver moaned.

She pushed them aside and stomped into the house. She waved her wand and felt relief that the revealing charm showed an extra person there but she too found that it could not accurately locate her. "Dahlia!" she said out loud, trying to keep her voice calm. "Dally, you are not in trouble. Come out please, Auntie Daffy wants to play with you."

She did a quick walk around the house, trying to poke her head in every room. She checked the ward stone.

"That's what we did," Oliver said. "As far as we can tell, no one appeared or left. So we don't think she had been kidnapped."

"She might have apparated," Daphne muttered chewing on her lip.

"She's barely walking," George protested.

"Harry once apparated up an entire building as a child through accidental magic," Daphne said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a mirror.

"No wait, we can fix this," George said weakly.

"You ruined your chance at this," Daphne said angrily, making him flinch. "Hermione!" she yelled into the mirror.

"Oh no," Oliver and George moaned together.

"Hermione! Answer the mirror damn you!" Daphne yelled loudly.

"Okay okay what?!" Hermione appeared in the mirror. "It hasn't been but a few seconds since you called!"

"Come to the Potter home, now," Daphne said.

Not even asking for an explanation Hermione nodded and the mirror went dark. Barely a few moments later, a loud crack heralded her arrival and she ran up the path. "What? Is everything okay?!"

"Yes," the men said insincerely.

"They have misplaced Dahlia!" Daphne shouted.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MISPLACED DAHLIA?!" Hermione screamed, grabbing George by his shirt.

"Ah my bloody ears!" he howled.

Daphne swiftly explained the situation and what they had done so far.

Hermione glared at the men who shrank from her blazing eyes. "Okay, okay. Let's just approach this systematically. We go room by room, search it, close the door behind us so we know it's clear. How long has she been missing?"

"Barely an hour if that," Oliver said.

"Right, let's go."

They started with the master bedroom. They checked the cabinet and drawers, above and below the bed. Hermione opened the closet and bent to look below the hanging clothes before leaving. They systematically went through Dahlia's room and then the guest room before the outer door opened.

"Dahlia?" Hermione yelled as she skidded around the corner.

"Why are you calling for Dally?" Lyla asked. She and Luna were standing at the door. "Also who closed the Floo?"

"You two look awful guilty," Luna said severely, staring at Oliver and George.

They confessed what happened.

"HOW DID YOU LOSE A LITTLE GIRL?! YOU TWO ARE FATHERS!" Lyla screamed.

"Three bloody times!" George screamed back, grabbing his ears.

"We're searching the house but I'm starting to freak out," Hermione said, hands wringing. "Should we call Tonks or Aurors? Or find Harry and Katie?"

"I have an idea." Lyla ran outside and dis-apparated with a loud pop.

Luna glared at Oliver and George before she walked into the kitchen. She pulled out a handful of bacon from the ice box and grabbed a pan, running into the yard. Over the firepit she conjured a blazing fire and threw the bacon onto the pan and slammed it down on the pit.

"What are you doing?" Daphne asked.

"Summoning help," Luna said, staring into the sky.

The others looked at each other, perplexed.

A loud crack made them jump and Lyla reappeared with Samantha and Bailey. Bailey groaned in canine distress, panting fitfully. "I know baby," Samantha said soothingly, rubbing her belly. "I'm sorry, I know you hate apparition but we need you here."

A loud hunting call split the air. They turned and watched with open jaws as Luna cupped her mouth again and made the sound again, louder than before. An answering call came back and Hedwig swooped down from the sky.

Luna held her arm out and Hedwig landed on it. "Hedwig, Dahlia is missing. We need you to find her," Luna said urgently.

Bailey picked her head up, as if understanding Luna. She rose on all fours and barked loudly.

"That's right Bailey. We need your help too. Go find her," Lyla urged.

Bailey tore off, running around the property a few times, head to the ground. Hedwig glared at Oliver and George who shivered from her amber eyes, feeling like mice being hunted. Hedwig launched herself into the air and fluttered about the house a few times, making big circles, before flying back down. Bailey ran into the house with Hedwig following her. The humans tore after them.

Bailey sniffed around a few times before running to the master bedroom, barking loudly. Hedwig landed on the doorknob, trying to scrabble for purchase to remain upright.

"I thought we checked it," Hermione said as she opened it.

The dog and the owl pushed in and they went straight to the closet. There was a minor traffic jam as all the people tried to enter the walk-in closet at the same time. Hermione backed off, dragging George and Oliver with her. Samantha and Luna peeked into the closet. Bailey was lying down on something, panting with satisfaction while Hedwig perched on something that was not there.

Luna reached out and felt around, fingers touching something unseen. With a sigh of relief she pulled, making Hedwig flutter up slightly. She held the invisibility cloak in her hands, revealing Dahlia waking from her nap. "Grandma!" the little girl said cheerfully, arms outstretched.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Samantha walked out, holding Dahlia in her arms. Bailey barked proudly, dancing around Samantha's legs and trying to jump and lick Dahlia. Hedwig flew and roosted on Hermione's head, glaring daggers at George and Oliver.

"How does she know it was our fault?" Oliver asked.

"I have no idea, bloody bird is a menace," George muttered. He tried to smile winningly. "Alls well that ends well yeah?" He gulped at the expressions of the younger witches and the owl.

-0-

"What the hell?" Katie said when she and Harry returned.

George and Oliver were dangling upside down in the yard with Hedwig flying around them, hooting angrily. Alicia, Angelina, Daphne, and Hermione were throwing things at them, joining in with the angry owl noises. Luna was cooking bacon and roasting bones and grilling steak over the fire while Lyla patted a happy looking Bailey.

"Daddy! Mummy!" Dahlia squealed, squirming in Samantha's arms. Samantha let her down, shaking her head as Dahlia charged at Harry. He picked her up and put her on his hip with practiced ease.

"What happened?" Harry asked, trying to take everything in.

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione and Daphne yelled at the same time. They came stomping over and Harry had no problems holding his daughter between him and the witches as an adorable shield.

"You need to put your cloak somewhere your daughter can't find!" Hermione yelled.

"I do! I ward it in my cabinet!"

"Well she somehow got a hold of it and nearly gave us all a heart attack when she disappeared!" Daphne said very loudly and irately.

After hearing the story in its entirety, Katie laughed uproariously while Harry hugged Dahlia very firmly, something the little girl returned in spades, snuggling against her father.

"Oh sure, you can laugh, you weren't here," Lyla said.

"I'm sure I would have been foaming at the mouth," Katie said. "Thank you all for coming. It really means a lot to know you did that."

"Of course, she's our Dally," Luna said.

"Dahlia, how did you get the cloak? I know I put it in my warded cabinet," Harry asked.

"It was in there," she replied in a very small voice.

"Then how did you get it?"

"Auntie Miney taught me."

"What?" Hermione looked shocked. "I most certainly did not!"

"Yes you did," Dahlia said petulantly. "Last week when you came for dinner. You said I could use daddy's magic to get through daddy's magic."

Everyone blinked at that.

"I uh…I remembered talking with Harry about how magical signatures recognize each other for enchantments," Hermione said slowly.

"Did you reach through the ward with something your daddy enchanted?" Daphne asked, astonished.

"I used the cloak he charmed for Mummy."

"Why didn't you just snuggle in her cloak?" Lyla asked.

"It didn't feel like Daddy."

Everyone cooed at that.

"I think we're in trouble," Harry said with a proud smile to his equally smiling wife. "We have a smart one on our hands."

"I'm so proud," Hermione sniffed, wiping away a tear. "Only a few years old and was able to apply a magical theory."

Harry grinned. "Well, since the fire is already up, how about a nice big dinner for everyone to thank them. I'll be right back. Make sure you thank everyone for coming to help and promise you won't do it again, okay little flower?" He kissed her and set her down so she could start. Eventually she was sitting on the ground, cuddling with an affectionate Bailey and Hedwig.

"Sorry Sir Harry," Oliver said sheepishly, having finally been released.

"Yeah sorry mate," George said. "We weren't looking for just a minute I swear."

Harry smiled. "It's okay, I mean, luckily nothing bad happened. You two and get us some food and things and we'll call it even."

Without questioning their good fortune, they nodded and ran down the path before apparating away.

"Where are your little ones?" Harry asked Alicia and Angelina.

"At my place. Mum came to watch them for a few minutes so me and Alicia could come and teach our idiot husbands a lesson," Angelina growled.

Katie laughed. "Well go on home and bring them over for dinner. They can play with Dally and be exhausted for early bedtime."

"I'm going to murder him," Alicia hissed. "A father two times already and he pulls this shite."

"Wait until I tell your father," Samantha said with an arm around her daughters. "He's going to love it."

"You better keep that thing in a safe place," Daphne said, poking Harry.

"Would you have ever anticipated a child figuring out a way around a ward like that?" Harry retorted.

"No not really. Certainly not one of your children," she sniffed. "Clearly she got her brains from her mother."

Katie laughed. "Hey, Harry took more N.E.W.T.s than I did and did really well. But I guess with so many clever aunts and uncles, our kids will be really smart and menaces."

"Too clever is better than not clever at all," Luna said sagely.

-0-0-0-

FanfictionFanGirl59 - I love Hedwig and the chapter worked way better than it should have. Glad you liked it.

diffident-serpiente - Oh yeah, it's a real drink. I haven't had it but the drink part sounds good, the shot version sounds intense. Hedwig was trying to stop mischief really, by being very mischieviously.

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - The name part was my favorite. I was way too happy with how Hedwig Jane Potter and Crookshanks Gene Granger just worked. At first it was only supposed to be one very large chapter but then I decided I wanted to give it some proper attention so it became more. I'll probably do a Quidditch Captain one. I'm not limiting ideas from people as long as I feel like I can write it.

BlackJaxCXXIII - Hedwig is the best. We can agree on that.

minerdude - Glad you thought so.

Katie2001 - It's a little freeing to take an idea and run with it. Not having to worry too much about making it flow from the previous chapter to the next. Glad you've been liking them.

alix33 - Hedwig is very good at communicating through mooning.