Sirius came stumbling down the stairs to greet them. "What was so urgent that you had to come in the middle of the night?" he grumbled, not looking at the group properly, and he stumbled towards the kitchen. They all followed him.
"I believe there is a story to be told," Dumbledore said calmly, looking briefly at the two babies and the house-elf.
Sirius surveyed the group now and shouted out in shock, causing the baby in Mrs. Weasley's arms to start crying again.
"Sorry," Sirius looked sheepish.
"We don't know much of the story," Arthur spoke for the family. Ginny was thankful that her dad spoke for them; she didn't think she could speak.
"This elf, Dotty, appeared in Ginny's room less than an hour ago with those two babies," he gestured to his wife and daughter, each holding a baby. "We tried to get some information out of Dotty, but it seems her memory has been tampered with. However, she does think that Ginny is her mistress." He paused briefly, partly because his sons gasped, and partly because he didn't know how to say the next part. He quickly continued, "she also thinks that Harry is her master and that these babies belong to Ginny and Harry." There was a stunned silence.
Ginny tried her best to focus on the baby in her arms and not on the reactions of her family, Dumbledore, and Sirius.
"Of course, that can't be true," Mrs. Weasley added quickly. "Dotty is confused; her memory has been manipulated. We need to get these babies back to their parents as soon as possible. They must be worried sick."
"House-elf magic is very complicated and different from our own," Dumbledore said. "Dotty cannot lie about who her master is. It simply wouldn't be possible, no matter how much her memories have been affected."
Ginny knew what that meant. It meant that this elf was hers and Harry's, and these babies were most likely theirs too. She had no idea how any of this happened, but as she stared at the sleeping baby in her arms, she started to think it didn't matter. What mattered to her now was protecting these babies.
Wordlessly, Sirius stood up and walked over to stand behind Ginny and her mum. He let out a low breath. "That could be Harry when he was a baby," he said quietly, gazing at the sleeping baby in Ginny's arms. Ginny silently agreed that the baby did seem to have many of Harry's features.
"Well, it's not," Mrs. Weasley said shortly. She turned to address Dumbledore. "There is simply no way that these babies are Ginny's. It's just not possible."
Instead of replying, Dumbledore turned to Dotty. "Hello, Dotty," he greeted the elf who stood in the corner of the room. "Could you tell me who you serve?"
Dotty smiled proudly. "I serve Mistress Ginny and Master Harry, and I will serve the young mistress and master as they grow."
"How did you come to serve Ginny and Harry?" Dumbledore pressed. "They are not married; they have no relation." House-elves serve families.
"Through the young master and mistress, they have relation," Dotty explained.
Dumbledore sighed. "Alas, I do not know. I will have to think on that. In the meantime, I think it's important that we get Madam Pomfrey here to check on the babies, make sure they are healthy."
Ginny nodded, feeling guilty that she had not thought of this herself.
Dumbledore got up to leave, but Ginny shouted after him, "Harry! We have to tell Harry!"
Dumbledore hesitated. "We will have to talk about that later. Harry is safer where he is at the moment."
"But these are his children. He has to know they are here; he has a right to know they are here."
"We will have to discuss that later," Dumbledore said again and then disappeared before Ginny could say another word. Ginny was left shocked and angry.
Now that Dumbledore wasn't there, the occupants of the kitchen sat in stunned silence.
Ginny looked around the room, seeing the shock and fear she was feeling reflected on everyone's faces. She decided she would have to be brave, if not for herself, then for the babies, her babies.
"They need stuff," Ginny said, standing to her feet. "Mum, what do they need?" she asked. "Where can we get it?"
"Dotty can get anything you need, Mistress!" Dotty said, eager to help.
Ginny kept forgetting that Dotty was there. She thanked the elf and turned back to her mother. "What do we do now?" Ginny asked, trying to hide her fear as the baby in her arms started to fuss.
Mrs. Weasley spoke to Sirius instead of Ginny. "I'm sorry we are being such imposing guests, Mr. Black, but could you possibly show us to a room where we can settle these babies?"
Sirius stood. "First of all, don't call me Mr. Black. That goes for all of you," he looked around at the Weasleys, "it's Sirius. Follow me; I'll put you in a larger room. I apologize that the house is not in good shape. No state for young ones."
"With all these extra hands, we'll get the place sorted in no time," Mrs. Weasley stood to her feet and followed Sirius out of the room.
Ginny rushed after them, followed by her dad, who told his sons to stay put. As Ginny left the room, she could hear the twins erupting into conversation. It seemed that Ron was still too stunned to speak.
They went up three flights of stairs, and then Sirius led them into a spacious room with two queen beds against one wall and a sofa and desk in the far corner. The place was so dusty that Ginny was already struggling to breathe.
"Sorry," Sirius said, noticing the dust himself. "I hadn't been in here yet. I've not been here long." He took his wand out and cleared the dust, using some basic cleaning spells. The room was still dark and dingy, but it was in bettercondition. Ginny could breathe.
Mrs. Weasley walked over to one of the beds, performed another cleaning spell on the sheets, and then gently set the baby she was holding down.
"Ginny," she called, "come set your—" she corrected herself, "come set the baby down here so we can look at them."
Ginny hesitated but did as she was told. Miraculously, the two babies didn't cry when they were set down but continued sleeping. Ginny, her parents, and Sirius gazed down at them.
"Which one's the boy, and which one's the girl?" Sirius asked, eventually breaking the silence.
"How do you know it's a boy and a girl?" Mrs. Weasley countered.
"Dotty said 'little Mistress and Master'," Ginny offered.
Before anyone else could say anything, there was a small pop, and Dotty appeared with a lot of stuff.
Ginny jumped and looked around, shocked. "Is that all for me?"
"It's for the babies," Mrs. Weasley corrected. "They'll need this stuff for now."
Dotty had been too busy to pay them any attention. She started setting everything up, and soon they were standing in a light, clean, and breezy nursery with two queen beds in the middle.
"Thank you, Dotty," Ginny said, stunned. "That was amazing."
"Of course, Mistress. Is there anything else you want me to do?" Dotty asked, gleaming with pride.
Before Ginny could reply, one of the babies started crying. She turned to see which one it was but realized they both were. One must have woken the other.
"Mum?" Ginny said, panic rising.
"It's alright, Ginny. I'm surprised they've been so calm. They will need to be fed and changed. Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said, and she and her husband jumped into action. They took a baby each and placed them on the changing tables. With a flick of Arthur's wand, two bottles zoomed out of a drawer and started preparing themselves.
Ginny and Sirius watched, amazed. This seemed to be a well-oiled routine for the married couple.
"I've got the little girl over here," Mrs. Weasley said fondly, breaking Ginny and Sirius out of their trance. They both raced over to see which baby it was. It was the baby with the slightly rounder face and bright red hair.
Ginny stroked the hair. "A little girl," she said fondly and quietly.
"Yep," Mr. Weasley called back, "this one's a boy."
Ginny was distracted by this and wandered over to the boy. Sirius followed her. "He really does look just like Harry when he was born," Sirius muttered. Ginny ran her fingers lightly through his hair too.
Soon, the babies were changed, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were about to feed them.
"Can I feed one?" Ginny asked eagerly.
"Absolutely not," Mrs. Weasley snapped quickly.
"Why not?" Ginny was starting to get angry.
"It's out of the question. You're too young!" Mrs. Weasley sounded shrill.
"Too young to feed a baby?"
"Maybe it's not such a good idea," Mr. Weasley said gently. "We don't know what's going on yet, and we don't want you to get too attached."
Ginny looked at her parents pleadingly, but neither of them gave in.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley fed the babies as Ginny watched, tears running down her face.
When they were done, Mr. Weasley stood and walked over to Ginny with the baby boy in his arms. "Here," he gently handed him to Ginny, whose arms wrapped around him protectively. "You can burp him," he told her.
"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley hissed.
Mr. Weasley ignored her as he watched his daughter burp the baby, pure love on her face. He knew it was too late to try and keep her away from them.
Ginny gently rocked the baby long after he had burped, and Mrs. Weasley watched disapprovingly.
For the rest of the day, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley stayed in the room with the babies, while Mr. Weasley and Sirius came and went. All of Ginny's brothers stayed far away, not sure what to make of the situation.
When night fell, and Ginny started to yawn, Mrs. Weasley said, "Right, we'll find you a room to stay."
Ginny shot Mrs. Weasley a look. "I'm staying here," she tapped the bed she was currently sitting on, near the two cribs.
"I'll stay with them," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Mum!" Ginny got annoyed. "You've been trying to get me to leave all day. When are you going to realize that they are my babies, and I'm not going to leave them?"
"You're not even 15; they are not your babies," Mrs. Weasley scoffed.
The two of them argued back and forth until eventually, Mrs. Weasley gave in and said Ginny could stay in the room with the babies, but she would stay with her.