A/N As I am waiting for my 15 year old daughter to come home from her boyfriend's tonight, I am looking through some of these chapters and realising how long they are. In later chapters, I've limited it to about 4000-5000 words, so I may break-up future chapters for ypu. Please let me know what you think.
Ch. 6
Thursday 21 May, 1998
Hermione woke up first. Her head was still on his chest. Why couldn't her mind and heart get on the same page? Was there something wrong with her that she couldn't get them to agree? Or were things just moving too fast around her? Things had changed very suddenly for her in the last few weeks. In the last 18 days, she'd gained a boyfriend (not the one she'd thought for years she wanted), an Uncle, Aunt and pseudo-Godson. She'd moved in with this family, gone to Australia to find her parents, moved them home. She'd witnessed three trials and testified in one. That was a lot for one person. Maybe she had the right idea, taking her time.
"What are you so concerned about?" Harry muttered as his arm went around her tighter. She was biting her lower lip, so he knew something was wrong.
"Just thinking of all the changes. Do you realise it's been only 18 days since the battle?" She wondered.
"No. It seems like much longer but we've been busy."
She looked up at him. "I love you Harry."
"I love you too."
"Well, we better get up if we want dinner." Hermione added when it looked like Harry was going to fall back asleep. "I'm sure Teddy's up and feeling like playing." At that Harry's eyes sprung open and he started getting up. Hermione just laughed at her idiot's behavior.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" He queried as they walked down to the drawing room where they heard talking.
"Who? Me?" she asked innocently, her eyes sparkling. She wasn't able to hold it though and gave in to the laughter. "Of course, love. He's the only one that can get you up."
"Not the only one." He whispered as Hermione giggled as they walked in on Sirius, Tonks, and Minerva holding Teddy. Harry went over to take him when Hermione put her hand on his shoulder, clearly telling Harry to let Minerva play with Teddy. He shot an irritated look at her and sat down unhappily.
"What's wrong Harry?" Minerva asked. Sirius, Tonks and Hermione all burst out laughing
"Someone else is holding his Godson. He doesn't like it." Tonks answered, nearly snorting with laughter.
"Oh. So he's like Sirius was with him." Minerva smiled knowingly.
Sirius suddenly went red and stopped laughing, which made the other two laugh even more.
"James used to complain that whenever Sirius was around, he didn't get to hold his own son. Why, I remember Order meetings where Lily would hand Harry off at the beginning and Sirius would still have him at the end a few hours later. And Harry would be all tired out and fast asleep on Sirius' shoulder at that point." Minerva laughed at the guilty look Sirius had.
"So, you giving me a hard time about spending time with Ted is a bunch of bunk! You can leave off." Harry glared at Sirius. Sirius just smirked back.
"Hello, Hello." Everyone heard as the front door opened.
"In here Dan." Sirius yelled. "Do you have Em?"
"I'm here Sirius." Emma smiled as she walked in.
"Have you no manners Mr. Black?" Minerva scolded her old student in her 'Professor' voice.
Sirius bounced up and went to greet the newcomers with a terrified look on his face. He shook Dan's hand "Welcome to the Madhouse." He stated formally. He then kissed Emma's hand. "Welcome my dear." He then turned to Minerva and said petulantly "Better Professor?"
"Much." She replied primly as he let out a sigh as everyone laughed at the relief on his face.
"She's scary when she's in Professor mode." Sirius added.
"But it's when she uses that voice that you know she gives a da—hoot about you." Harry looked at Hermione as she nodded in approval of his change of language.
"Whipped." Sirius coughed.
"Shut that mouth." Minerva said sternly as she handed the baby to Harry when she stood. "I'd best be going. Like I said, if you would like to help with the rebuilding, we'll be at it all summer. So just come to the castle and we'll put you to work." She concluded as she floo'd away.
"Are all the fireplaces available for floo passage?" Emma asked as everyone settled back down.
"The bedrooms being used, the entrance room and in here are. The study is incoming only for now." Tonks answered since she was the one who hooked them up.
During dinner that night, they talked of Umbridge's trial and they learned her fate. "After you left, we debated endlessly. Many of the pureblood faction were for just a slap on the wrist—no time in Azkaban, just a fine. Others, like myself, thought death was too good for her but would settle for it. The middle ground we came up with was Azkaban for life." Sirius explained.
"I can live with that." Harry stated as Hermione nodded. "So was McGonagall here to get your help with the castle?"
"Yeah." Tonks said. "I think I'll go up Friday. Do you want to join me?"
"Why not?" Hermione replied.
"Why don't we talk to Nev and Luna and see if they'd like to join us?" Harry suggested.
"Sounds good. Then we can leave Teddy here with Sirius." Tonks looked at her cousin, who did not seem averse to this.
"I can live with that. I've got to train him as a Marauder—best to start early" Sirius smirked at the horrified looks on their faces.
"I was thinking I might take Harry, Luna and Neville for a walk down High Street tomorrow. Then maybe take them to Pizza Express. I doubt either one has had pizza before. What do you think mum?" Hermione asked.
"I think that's a great idea. You can show them what muggle window shopping is and how much fun it can be." Emma smiled.
After dinner, the little family watched a little telly and let the little man have tummy time-laying on Goddad's belly. Around 10, Harry took his Godson up to be fed and put down.
As they came down from the nursery, Harry got a little nervous. He had been throwing around an idea all afternoon, wondering if Hermione would agree or not. Finally, as they were sitting next to the fire in Harry's room, he looked down at their joined hands. "Would you like to sleep in here tonight? Just sleep, nothing else." He then admitted tentatively, "I really liked waking up with you this afternoon. I can see waking up with you in my arms every day and I like that feeling." He then looked up into the depths of her chocolate eyes and saw the love. . . but also fear.
She took his cheek in her hand. "Not yet. I'm not ready. It's not that I don't want to Harry. It's that I want to too much that I'm scared of what might happen. I love you so much and I can see us starting out just sleeping together. But after this afternoon, do you really think we could stop ourselves if we were that intimate? Really?" She gave him a sad smile.
He was quiet for a few minutes. She could see him come to a decision. "You'll tell me when?" He confirmed
"You'll be the first to know love." She leaned over and kissed him before she got up to leave. "I love you Harry."
"I love you too." He replied as she closed the door.
Thursday 21 May 1998
The next morning, Harry and Teddy went to the kitchen after their morning routine. Harry put Teddy in his bouncer on the island and began breakfast for everyone. He hadn't cooked in so long because he didn't seem to have time. Today, however, he'd decided to beat Dobby to the kitchen. He really missed cooking. Of course, it was always nicer to do something when you know it will be appreciated and you get to taste what you've cooked. In Harry's case, he was really looking forward to that.
As he started getting ingredients and putting them on the island he said "Don't worry Ted. I'll teach you how to do this when you're older—just not as young as I was." He snorted. "I understand that girls especially like breakfast in bed, so you and I will have to do that for Hermione. Maybe we can do it for your mum too for her birthday." If anyone was watching, they would have thought a master chef was cooking, he was moving around the kitchen so effortlessly, keeping everything at different stages so it all came out at the same time. As he kept moving, he noticed that Teddy was tracking him loads better than usual. "Are you already growing up, little man? I mean, you seem more alert each time you're awake and you seem to be concentrating more. I really wish I had access to my dad or yours—at least they were fathers and could teach me how to handle helping to raise you. Your dad asked me to take over in his place if he didn't survive but I'm not sure I know how to do it." He paused in his cooking to lean down and kiss his godson. "I love you, kiddo. Maybe I should get some parenting books. That's what Aunt Hermione would do and we all know she's smart." Harry just kept up a stream of consciousness babble with Teddy. "You know, your Aunt Hermione is amazing and I love her so much. I want to spend the rest of my life loving her. I just hope she'll let me. I can't imagine my life without her." He sighed while he was flipping the bacon. "You know, Granddad Dan asked me if I wanted to marry her and I answered quickly but the more time I think about it, the more my answer feels right. I wanna ask her this summer." He looked down at his little man. "Maybe she'll say yes if you help me." He paused his speech when he heard people coming down the stairs.
Sirius was the first one in. "Smells good kid. Can we eat?" He asked
"Where's everyone else?" He replied.
"We're here." Hermione and Dora returned in unison.
"Can someone set the table?" They turned at the crack of Dobby entering the room.
"Sorry Master Dogfather, Harry Potter Sir. I was plucking apricots and forgot the time."
"That's okay, Dobby. I wanted to cook this morning." Harry assured the little guy. "Come sit down." He waved to the table Dora had made.
As they sat down, Dora asked. "So, why'd you cook this morning Harry?"
"I haven't cooked in a year and I wanted to. For my real family, not my relatives." He shrugged.
"Well, this is really good Harry." Sirius grinned as he took more bacon. "Bacon—Merlin's gift to humanity." He mumbled as everyone laughed. When the table was quiet, Sirius said. "Tomorrow Harry, I'd like to take you to Gringotts and have you declared my heir. I want to make sure that it's all legal. I'd also like to introduce you and Neville to Ted who's going to help you get a handle on your finances. Maybe we'll have Nev meet us there."
"Sure thing. Although I'd appreciate it if you stayed alive to at least long enough to meet our children." Harry waved at Hermione. At her blush, he realised what he said and hastily added. "As long as she's willing." He noticed a minute nod and his heart leapt. Sirius and Dora laughed at the blushes growing on the teens faces.
HP
That afternoon, the quartet of friends decided to apparate to High Street and window shop. The sexes separated as the girls went into the boutiques and the boys went into sports stores.
"So how is everything going with you and Harry?" Luna asked Hermione.
"Great. I think we're finally over the issues of moving from best friends to potential lovers." She smiled as she looked at some pretty lingerie. She looked up at Luna and motioned her over. "Last night, he asked me to move into his room. Then this morning, he was talking to Sirius and he mentioned Sirius being around for our children. We've not really talked about the future except very casually. This seemed more permanent to me." She sighed as she chose some matching undergarments and a blue teddy.
"Sounds like he wants to move things along to me." Luna smiled happily for her friend. "Have you decided to move in yet?"
"I don't know." Hermione had a very thoughtful look on her face.
"It seems like you've made up your mind." She nodded to the lingerie Hermione was now standing in line to buy. Hermione looked down and it came like a bolt of lightning. I'm ready she thought with a newfound confidence.
She began smiling as she looked at Luna. "I think I have." She said with wonder in her voice. "I feel as though a weight had been lifted off of me. I don't know. It's like my heart has always known what it wants but finally convinced my brain to agree. Maybe talking it out has helped." She grinned at Luna as she purchased the items.
"I knew dragging you in there was the right idea." Luna looked smugly at Hermione.
"Did you plan that?" Hermione was incredulous.
"Not really but I had an idea you needed to talk. You've been a little distracted today. So, I thought I would get you talking and see where it went."
Hermione just shook her head as they went in search of their men. After finding them, she took everyone to Pizza Express for a late lunch.
"Neville, I know you don't really eat much non-English food but this dish was originally Italian and was changed by the Americans. It's really good. You'll love it." Hermione assured both purebloods. And they did, Luna going so far as to talk to the bakers about how they made it. Like any good Ravenclaw, she was taking notes on napkins as they talked. The baker even invited her back to watch the baking process earlier in the day sometime.
While Luna was busy grilling the baker, the other three just sat there patiently talking amongst themselves. "I guess this is what I get for dating a Ravenclaw—always interested in new knowledge." Neville mock moaned as they laughed.
"At least it's not as bad as your friend getting an idea, and she abandons what she's doing to run to the library." Harry pointed to Hermione.
"Well, that's saved us plenty of time!" Hermione huffed.
"I know love. I'm just taking the mickey. You know I love that about you." Harry laughed as he hugged his girlfriend. "I've learned to appreciate those library runs because they have saved us."
"Okay." Luna skipped up to them. "I'm coming back on Tuesday at 11."
Nev laughed as he wrapped his arm around Luna and mumbled. "That's my girl."
They left the restaurant and apparated to the Madhouse. When they arrived, they heard Teddy screaming bloody murder from upstairs. Harry muttered "See ya later, guys" as he took the stairs two at a time, worried about Teddy. He heard Nev say "And he's off like a broomstick! He worries more about that boy than any kid our age should have to."
"He's my Godson!" Harry yelled back as they all laughed.
He got upstairs and burst into Dora's room. She was sitting there in the rocker trying to get Teddy to eat. "Dora what's wrong?" He asked a little panicked.
"We think Teddy's got a cold. Sirius is at the apothecary getting a baby safe pain reliever." Harry took a deep breath.
"We got home and heard him crying." Harry yelled over Teddy's crying when it suddenly stopped as Teddy latched on to his mum. "And it sounded like hell had broken loose, so I came as quickly as I could." He sat down on Dora's bed. "What happened?"
"He woke up after his nap and was so irritable that I couldn't put him down. He wouldn't eat. He didn't want to play with Padfoot. Then we noticed a runny nose. Sirius recognised a cold, so he's out getting the stuff Lily got for you." She smiled. "You should have seen his face when he realised he could help fix it." Dora laughed. "Apparently, you had one about the same age and Sirius says he took care of you at night so Lily and James could sleep."
"Well I'm glad he knew what to do." Harry sighed as he looked down at his now sleeping Godson. They got up and went down to the drawing room where they put him in his cradle and sat near the fireplace—away from Ted so they could talk. Hermione joined them with three butterbeers.
"You're going to make a great dad someday Harry. I'm just hoping Teddy hasn't killed me before then." Dora smiled tiredly at the couple.
Harry went red at the compliment. "Well, I'll make all my mistakes with that one so I'll know what I'm doing when we have ours." Harry replied. He looked critically at Dora. "Dora, you need to go rest. We'll watch over him here. You look exhausted."
Dora looked hesitant. "I shouldn't. He may need me."
"We'll come get you when we can't handle it." Hermione assured the new mum.
"Okay." She got up and headed to bed.
"Wow. She must be tired. She usually doesn't acquiesce so quickly." Hermione marveled.
"She's been alone with him for a while, it must be draining—knowing nothing you're doing is helping." They heard a pop from the entrance hall.
Sirius came through the sitting room to the drawing room. "Where are Dora and Teddy?" He asked.
"Teddy's over there asleep." Harry informed, pointing to the cradle. "And Dora is upstairs resting. Did you get the potions?"
"Yeah. One fever and pain reducer and one decongestant. We don't want to wake him up though to give it to him. I made that mistake with you and you did not want to go back to sleep. The only thing I could do was lay with you as Padfoot and lick you to make you giggle." He smiled at the memory.
"How much time did you spend with my parents? Didn't you have your own place?"
"Yeah but my place was lonely so I spent most evenings at Jamie's. Especially after you were born. I moved in for the last month of the pregnancy and your first six months. I was there when your mum went into labour." He laughed. "Had to firecall Jamie at the office, then floo to hospital with Lily-stayed with her till your dad got there. Then Remus and I wore holes in the tile as we waited."
"So you helped take care of me, sort of like me with Teddy." Harry grinned.
"Yeah. But you won't run off and get put into Azkaban." Sirius shook his head at his own foolishness.
About an hour later, Dora came downstairs just as the little man was waking. She picked him up as he began to cry. Sirius left the room and came back with two phials. Telling her what he was doing, he gave Teddy a dropperful of each. He nearly instantly calmed down and Dora just rocked him.
"The sales lady said to give them every three to four hours. What I learned with Harry was to not wake the kid to give him potions. It makes babies angry." Sirius grinned.
By this time, it was nearly seven and Dobby called them for dinner. They had called the Grangers and let them know it wasn't safe to come over if they didn't want to get sick. They agreed. So it was just the four adults and Teddy, who was in the bouncer on a widened chair.
"So Harry. Tomorrow we meet with Ted for the will, then we'll meet Neville at 10:30 at Gringotts for formal introductions to Ted." Sirius laid out. "On Monday morning, we shall go to Augusta's house to talk politics and give you a weekly crash course and come up with Alliances for all." He laughed at the pained look on Harry's face.
"Lovely." Harry replied sarcastically. They then turned the conversation to more mundane things. When Hermione told Sirius about Luna's interest in pizza, all he could do was laugh.
"That sounds so much like the Luna I'm getting to know." Sirius barked.
"Seems like an interesting person, she does." Dora laughed. "I haven't talked to her much but I like her."
HP
Later that night, as Harry was giving his brown eyed girl a kiss near his door, she piped up with "Would you like me to move in here tomorrow?"
He looked surprised and brought her into his room and sat her on his bed. "Are you sure?" He asked looking her directly in the eyes.
"Yes, love. I'm sure."
"Why now? What's changed since last night?"
"Well, I talked to Luna and realised my heart and mind were actually on the same page. I think I needed to talk it out with someone not involved in the situation." She explained.
"Then of course. I'd love you to move in. And I've got to thank Luna." He replied fervently. Hermione just laughed as she went to get nightclothes; she could move the rest of her stuff later.
They just laid down and cuddled as they fell asleep.
Friday 23 1998
The whole house did not sleep well that night. Each adult was up with Teddy at least once that night. He actually ended up in Harry and Hermione's bed around 2.00 and all three of them catnapped when Teddy was able to sleep. The poor guy couldn't sleep for more than half an hour at a time.
Unlike most days, they stayed in bed until 8.00, so they could all sleep as much as possible. By 9.00, Harry and Sirius were about to head out.
"What are you going to do while we're gone?" Sirius asked Hermione at breakfast.
"I think I'm going to work on the Rune project Professor Babbling and I have been working on together." She smiled enthusiastically.
"What is it?"
"Oh, we're trying to find a rune sequence that will allow our electronics to work in places like Hogwarts. When we left Hogwarts, Professor Babbling and I had made significant progress but were stumped a bit by the rune set we were developing for making the batteries get their charge from magic or protect the battery from magic. It would be better if magic actually charged the batteries but I'm not sure if it's possible." She babbled.
Sirius laughed as he said "Calm down Hermione. You'll figure it out. Mooney was really good at Runes, maybe I can find his school books and notes and you can look through them?"
She bounded up and ran around the table to Sirius and gave him one of her patented hugs. "Thank you. Thank you."
"Neeed. . . To. . . Brea" he tried to say as she let go sheepishly. He took a deep, dramatic breath. "Thank you." He smiled as everyone chuckled at their antics.
"Sorry." She smiled back as she sat back down. Teddy began to whimper as he woke up. Hermione got up to hold him, as she was done eating. "I'll try a bottle, yeah." She looked at Dora who smiled sleepily as Hermione summoned and warmed a bottle.
"You know, Mione, you might call Luna for help with your project. She's supposed to be good with Runes and her mum experimented and invented Charms. She might know some charms to help." Harry suggested.
"I'll do that." She smiled at Harry as he and Sirius got up to leave. He kissed her and Teddy's cheeks as he left.
"Now, Harry, I want you to apparate to the Cauldron because we need to talk about how to deal with the Goblins and Humans we're going to deal with." Sirius said before he apparated. Harry followed.
HP
When they got out of the Cauldron and headed into Diagon Alley, Sirius started talking. "Harry, the first thing you need to know is that there are both Goblin and Human account managers. Your family has always had a Goblin account manager until James changed that when Ted came to work there. He knew Ted married my rebellious cousin and wanted to support them. He was a firm believer in marrying for love, not contract, so he decided to give Ted his first big client." Sirius smiled fondly. "Ted was so grateful to him that the fees normally associated with the transfer to James were waived. The Goblins hated that. Even though most accounts always have a Goblin and Human working on them—especially the large ones—because you were not able to make any of the financial decisions, they decided to leave Ted as the only manager. I understand, he now has a trainee named Swordback for your accounts." Sirius continued. "Since the managers take a commission on how much they make for each client that year, I guarantee Ted will be getting a sizable commission by December." He looked at Harry. "Understand this about the Human-Goblin relations Harry. They don't like us because they see us as rude, vulgar, racists. If you treat Trainee Swordback with respect, you will get much better service from him. After this summer, most of your exchanges will not be with Ted but with Swordback. Treat him with respect and you'll have a better relationship with Gringotts."
"What do I call him?" Harry asked, a little worried about offending the Goblin that deals with his money.
"Trainee Swordback will do for now." Sirius smiled encouragingly. "Good question." He patted Harry on the back as they came up the stairs at Gringotts.
As the Goblins opened the door, Harry said, "Thank you sir." As he went through. Sirius smiled as he noticed the strange looks they gave each other.
"Good job Harry." Sirius smiled.
"What?" Harry was confused.
"Most wizards don't say thank you. You just earned respect from those two."
Harry just shook his head. "That's crazy. They keep our money. It'd only hurt us if we were rude." Harry answered as his Godfather laughed.
"James said the same thing to me in 1st year." Sirius smiled as he walked up to a desk. "Master Ragre, we're here to see Master Tonks and Trainee Swordback. We have an appointment."
"Of course, Lord Black." Master Ragre picked up what looked like a cordless phone, spoke a few words in his own language and hung up. "Please have a seat over there." He pointed to some marble benches. "Trainee Swordback will be out momentarily."
"Thank you Master Ragre." Harry made a small head bow as they left. Sirius noted the look Master Ragre gave them. I've got to tell Dora, she'll love this, the older man thought.
A few minutes later and Trainee Swordback came out to lead them back to a very large office, richly decorated with a large man a few years older than Sirius. He came out from behind the desk.
"Hello Sirius. How's my grandson?" He asked smiling. Harry had the impression he smiled a lot.
"He's fine Ted." His Godfather smiled back as he shook Ted's hand. "He's got a cold but that's under control."
"Well, that's good." He returned as he turned to Harry. "Hello Harry." He shook Harry's hand. "Well, sit down and we can get started." Once everyone was seated, Ted began. "I understand you want to officially take your Lordship Sirius and designate an heir, am I correct?"
"Yep. That's about the size of it."
And they were signing parchment with blood quills for the next hour or so. Sirius went through the blood ritual he needed in order to take his Lordship.
"Now Harry, you can take your Lordship now—you are of age—however, I would advise you to do it after this summer's training." Ted said.
"Why?"
"Well, you'll have a better idea of what you have and be more aware of a Lord's responsibilities. I think it will mean more once you've done that."
"Makes sense." Harry replied thoughtfully.
At that moment, a knock sounded. "Enter." Ted commanded as Trainee Swordback came in with Neville.
"Hello Neville." Ted said as Harry and Sirius said "Hey Nev."
"Come in and sit-down Neville." Ted offered. As everyone sat back down, Ted continued. "Now, what Sirius, Augusta and I have agreed to is that I will teach you about your holdings from Tuesday to Friday each week until I believe you are ready to handle your own finances. In the beginning, it will be a lot of parchment work getting you familiar with your holdings, then you'll be going through your vaults and itemising what you have; you may even take some home if you wish. Then you will be choosing a property to renovate. The renovation, including the hiring and firing of construction companies and people to work these properties will take at least most of the summer." Ted laughed at the overwhelmed look the boys were exchanging. "Don't worry. I'll walk you through the process and help whenever you need it. Also, Trainee Swordback will be able to help as well."
"Thank you Trainee Swordback." Harry replied gratefully.
HP
For the rest of the weekend, Harry and Hermione helped with Teddy. Hermione had moved all her stuff into Harry's room on Friday, in between helping to take care of Teddy and working on her project. She didn't have Luna over because Teddy was sick.
Friday night Teddy ended up in Harry and Hermione's room because he seemed to like being taken care of by his Godfather. At one point, Dora was so upset about Teddy "not liking me" that she started crying.
Sirius took her into the study, sat her down and explained. "Teddy isn't their kid, so they're not as worried as you. They're just doing what needs to be done—without much emotion. You, on the other hand, are his mum. You're worried to bits and are a basketful of emotions. Teddy senses this and wants the calmness of Harry." Sirius explained. "I was the same way with Harry. Lily and James were worrying themselves sick—literally with Jamie- so I took over. We're removed from the worrying by one step. You, Lily and James are that much closer because he's your son."
Dora had calmed a lot during this explanation and finally said. "He doesn't hate me then?"
Sirius just laughed. "Of course not, love." He gave his cousin a hug.
"How do you know all this about what to do with a kid? I feel like I'm just winging it and not getting it right half the time."
"Of course you do, this is your first go round. I've done this age. Ask me in three years how to handle your son. I won't have a clue!" He laughed. They got up and went to the drawing room where Hermione was rocking Teddy to sleep.
"He's just had half a bottle and the potions, so I think he'll sleep a while." She informed Dora. "I was going to let him fall asleep and bring him to the library with me unless you want him." She lifted an eyebrow.
"Just put him in the bassinet in here. I'm going to work on some stuff, so I can keep my eye on him." Dora said as she waved her wand to clean up the toys. Hermione followed her instructions and gave her a hug on the way out.
"Call us if you need us Dora." She smiled. She walked into the study where Sirius was at his desk looking through a file. He looked up at her entrance and smiled, motioning to a seat.
"So, what are you doing in here? Looks like you're going through old records?" She asked him.
"Yeah. I went to Gringotts to go to the Potter Vault to find any information on the Potter-Longbottom Alliance that Fleamont's father, Henry and Frank's grandfather Gage forged right out of school. I understand from Monty that this alliance goes further back but it was formalized in their time." Sirius sighed. "It seems from records that the Longbottoms and Potters go back at least to the formation of the Ministry, maybe further."
"Why are you looking at it now?" Hermione queried curiously.
"Because, you, Harry and I are going to Augusta's on Monday for a refresher course on the politics of Wizengamot and all the old Alliances." Sirius smirked, knowing Hermione's reaction already.
"Sounds like fun." Hermione grinned. "But you might want to warn Harry ahead of time. He won't appreciate new lessons being dropped on him all the sudden." She smirked back.
"Could you tell him?" Sirius asked with a little fake fear in his voice.
"No. You're his Godfather, it's your job." She laughed at his pout.
"Spoil sport." Sirius muttered as she left the study laughing.
Sunday 24 May 1998
Sunday went by with Teddy finally on the mend. Saturday night he actually stayed asleep the usual amount of time. Sunday he was less fussy and Harry and Hermione decided to take him into the mall in Crawley. They came home with a few hundred sterling worth of clothes, Teddy Bears and muggle toys for the little man.
When Dora told them to take it back, Hermione replied with, "Talk to him." As she pointed to Harry. "He's the one blowing his money."
"It is not blowing it if I'm having fun!" Harry protested. "And no Dora. I'm not taking anything back."
She just smiled at the stubborn look on his face. "I'm only letting you get away with it because you seem to enjoy it." She smiled at Harry.
He nodded. Looking at his Godson in the sling around his shoulders, he noticed the boy was almost asleep. "He's almost asleep. He's been awake most of the outing, so I'll put him in his cot." He started up the stairs.