Ch. 15
When everyone arrived home, they noticed Andi in the drawing room knitting.
"Mum, where's Teddy?" asked Dora.
"Upstairs. He wouldn't go down for his afternoon nap, so I brought him here. He went right to sleep." With the look of relief on Dora's face, she asked "What'd you think, I'd left him at home?" she laughed at the guilty look on her daughter's face. "So, how'd the day go?"
"Great." Luna said from her perch next to Nev. "By the time we left, it wasn't the franticness of the morning but an organised chaos."
"That's exactly how I viewed it too!" Hermione responded happily. "We left for lunch and by the time we got back everything was under control. We need another register though."
"And we came up with some ideas for new products at lunch." Luna was beaming.
Andi laughed. "Well, that's more for you to work on and you now don't have to open another store to sell them."
At everyone's instant laughter, Andi looked confused. Sirius answered the unspoken question. "I said the exact same thing Andi."
She smiled. "Great minds. . . I knew I liked you for some reason."
They continued talking about who they'd seen in the store. "Did you know Minerva came in to buy mobiles for all her staff?" Hermione asked.
"She said last night she wanted to." Sirius reminded her.
"Oh. How'd that go?" Andi asked. "Wasn't last night the Board meeting?"
Harry nodded. "We got all the changes passed. The only fight was the muggle classes being approved. That passed but two of them were against it. I really don't understand why"
"Don't tell me, Carlyle and Richards, right?" Andi inquired.
"How'd you know?" Nev asked
"I went to school with them. They're blood-purists all the way through. Not Voldemort supporters but they don't like muggles or muggleborns." She explained. "What about the class Dora wants me to teach?"
The quartet grinned, Luna said, "That got passed. They even agreed to your salary for this year because you'll be putting the class together. I think you also have an office at Hogwarts. You should get something from Minerva soon."
"Great. I'd like to get started soon." She smiled happily.
They heard the floochime then. Hermione jumped up and ran to the sitting room. "Hi Ang, Katie." She offered excitedly. "How'd the day go? Did you sell all the stock? Did we at least break even today? Will we make enough to pay everyone?"
Ang put her hands on Hermione's shoulders. "Calm down Hermione. We'll tell you everything." She laughed as they came back to the drawing room.
"Merlin, how can you ask so many questions without breathing?" Katie whispered, in awe of the girl's breathing ability.
"It's a talent she's had for as long as I've known her." Harry smiled.
"Dinner is served." Dobby pronounced. Everyone went to the kitchen table.
"So. Answers please." Hermione nearly demanded.
"Great. No. Yes. Yes." Ang recited the answers to Hermione's questions. At the exasperated look Ang was getting from Hermione, she continued. "It was great. Even when we closed, there were people saying they'd be back. We still have plenty of stock to last a little while. If things are as busy as they were today, I figure we'll need to get more stock by Wednesday. I'm ordering more for the Friday delivery."
"We are making a profit on each item and we're selling a lot, so I think we'll make payroll. It depends on how busy we are. If we do this kind of business for about a week, we can make all the initial investment back." Katie added.
They kept talking about the shop and what needed to happen tomorrow and how many employees they needed each day. It was a lot to go over but well worth it.
When dinner was done, so were they. Ang and Katie left soon after and everyone went up to the game room to relax.
"Want to watch a movie?" Nev asked.
"Sure, which one?" Harry returned.
"The Lion King." Luna and Hermione chorused loudly.
Sirius laughed. "Do you girls have a preference?" he asked sarcastically as Harry put it in. They watched it and the girls sang to all the songs. As Teddy had woken up a little before dinner, he was snuggled into Harry by the end of the movie. Of course, at the beginning, he had been handed around to everyone and cuddled for a bit. However, Harry eventually claimed him and they had cuddled most of the last half of the movie.
"I have to say, tellies are the most amazing inventions—muggle or magic." Nev said wonderingly.
"You've been fascinated since we watched Star Wars." Luna laughed as she cuddled into her boyfriend.
"Well, it's just so interesting. Who would've thought up such a detailed world, then managed to put it on screen—all without an ounce of magic?" Then he thought a moment. "That Lucas guy isn't a wizard, is he?" he looked inquiringly at Hermione.
"No." Mione laughed. "But if you guys like this, you're going to love Phantom of The Opera!" Hermione clapped her hands in excitement, noticing the wizards' and witches' confusion, she explained, "It's a musical that is playing in the West End right now. Mum and Dad took me to it a few years ago. I'll have them get everyone tickets. It's brilliant. It's all done without magic and is amazing." She took on a look of determination. "We'll see it before we go back to Hogwarts"
Sirius looked at Andi. "I guess we're seeing a musical."
"I've seen it and she's right, it is amazing. Count Ted and me in for tickets Hermione." She returned as Hermione grinned. "Oooooh! Teddy's asleep." She pointed to her grandson on his god dad's shoulder.
"Better put him in the nursery." The raven-haired father-figure smiled down at his boy as he got up. "Good thing he ate during the movie and was changed before. I wouldn't want to wake him for that."
"Never wake a sleeping baby." Dora, Sirius and Andi chorused as everybody laughed.
After Harry got back, the rest of the family stayed up talking about the shop, the orphanage and Wizengamot. They were all up until about 11, when Mione started yawning.
"It's been a long day." She commented. "I'm going to bed."
"Me too." Luna concurred as they both got up, kissed their men and went down to their rooms. About half an hour later, everyone else followed.
Sunday 28 June 1998
The next day, everyone slept in—even Teddy. Breakfast happened around 10 with the Grangers. "Hey Dan?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah?" they were sharing beers out on the stone patio while everyone else was in the pool.
"Why don't we go to a Crawly Town game sometime soon. I know we talked about it earlier but we've been busy." Padfoot laughed at the eager look on Dan's face.
"There's one this Saturday but it's not a home game." He replied.
"That's fine. We can take your car or apparate."
"We'll have to apparate. It's up in Newcastle." He grinned.
"Great. One other thing. Is it true that 18 is a big birthday in the muggle world?"
"Yup. It's when you become an adult. We tend to throw big bashes for it."
"Well, can you help me plan one for Harry? I know Lily would've if she'd been here."
"Sure. Why don't we talk to Em about it when she gets out of the pool?"
Sirius sighed. "Brilliant. I want to do it right. I've missed so much of his life, I just want to be the best godfather I can be."
"Sirius?" Dan looked him in the eye. "You're doing an amazing job. You may not have been there for him all the time but you're here now. That's important to him. Just the fact that you came to Australia for us was a big deal to him. He told me so."
Soon people started emptying the pool house and getting dressed for the regular family dinner.
HP
When family started arriving at around 2, the twins were the last to arrive. They both looked harassed.
"What's wrong boys?" Hermione asked.
"You wouldn't believe" Fred
"how hard it is to have the people" George
"running the new store across the Alley" Fred
"be your girlfriends." George
"We're in that store" Fred
"Almost more than ours!" they chorused.
"Sorry, but you offered to help." Hermione reminded them.
"Too true. Better remember not" George
"to help next time." Fred
Hermione laughed as they headed to the Pitch.
Everyone that wasn't playing was sitting at the tables near the pavilion talking.
"So, does anyone know how the orphanage is going?" Arthur asked.
"Harry made some calls this morning and set up some architect interviews for this week." Hermione responded.
"I think Nev was talking about just handing a phone to the one they choose so they could stay in touch easier." Luna added.
"That'd be good." Hermione said thoughtfully. "That way Harry's head doesn't feel like it's coming off his neck when he floocalls anyone. He hates magical travel." They laughed.
"So, Molly. What kind of things would you like to see in our store?" Luna asked.
"I don't care as long as I get a washer and dryer." She sighed, knowing they couldn't afford one. "Those just looked extremely handy. Right now, I wash clothes on a washboard with a spell and drip dry them. I can dry them magically but they tend to get crunchy when you do that."
Luna and Hermione looked at each other as everyone else talked around them. They nodded to each other. As everyone sat down to dinner, they pulled Arthur off to the side. "Arthur, when can we deliver a washer and dryer for Molly?" Hermione asked.
"We can—"
"We're giving it as a present for housing us all the times you have." Mione interrupted.
Arthur shook his head bemusedly. "I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?" he smiled.
"Nope." Luna answered definitively.
"Friday. I'll take her out to lunch. You better be there to explain yourselves." He shook his head as he walked to the table.
After dinner, they were sitting on the patio when the floo chimed. Sirius went in to answer it. He brought Kingsley back with him.
"Hi King." Harry got up to shake his hand
"Hi Harry. I've got some interesting news for you." He took a breath. "Greyback was caught." Hermione, who had been standing next to Harry, leaned on him more. Having almost been given to him by Bellatrix, she was very relieved about this.
"Amazing." Dora smiled. "The bloody bastard that bit my husband has been found!"
"Well, all of you that are on Wizengamot need to be there by 9, earlier if you want to talk to any allies." He smiled. "I will see you tomorrow. By the way, I was in the Alley today and there was a line out the door for MIT—good work Hermione, Luna." He then left.
Everyone then began talking over each other as they talked about Greyback. "Am I going to have to testify?" Hermione asked Harry.
"Probably." He looked at his girlfriend sitting on his lap. "Are you going to have trouble doing it?" He asked as he held her close.
"I don't think so but I'll have to recuse myself from the vote. I'm too close to it." She burrowed her face in his neck.
"That's fine love. I'll be there." He reminded her softly as he stroked her back.
Monday 29 June 1998
The next morning, everybody in the house had a nearly silent breakfast. It was when they had apparated to the ministry that Harry said, "At least we have an architect appointment to go to after this so we have something to look forward to."
"Yeah, a plain, boring meeting will be good for us." Nev smirked.
"And we're going to go check on the store." Luna added as they walked down to Courtroom 10.
They walked to the witness' area and sat down. It was a nightmare for everyone concerned. When Greyback was brought in, Hermione seemed to curl in on herself. It took them nearly an hour and a half to get to Hermione's testimony. When she talked about Bellatrix offering her to Greyback, Harry heard his godfather whisper, "I'm so glad Molly put her down for me. I couldn't live breathing the same air as that bitch."
Harry just humphed. By the time lunch came, the defence had rested. Sirius and Dora had recused themselves because of their ties with Greyback's victims, both Remus and Hermione.
At lunch, the family decided to go home. There, Andromeda was playing with Teddy on the floor of the drawing room.
"Hey Andi." Sirius sighed as he sat down.
Andi looked up from her grandson. "You okay Sirius?"
"No. I really want to be in Wizengamot right now deciding that bastard's fate." He growled.
"That's why you can't, love." She looked sympathetically. "He hurt two of the people you care most about in the world. That just wouldn't be fair."
"What he did isn't fair And. But yeah, I know." He sighed again. "They should be deciding his fate now."
"So, what do you have planned for this afternoon?" Andi asked, trying to get his mind off of Greyback.
"After three I'm going to go back to the ministry and see if I can round up some of my committee members so we can put together a schedule of meetings."
"Why after three?"
"Cause that's when they'll most likely be done with the trial." He responded as they walked into the kitchen for lunch.
After lunch everyone headed off in different directions. Andi to Hogwarts, Sirius to the Ministry, the men to Gringotts, the women to MIT.
When the girls came through the floo, they were overwhelmed by the noise. There was no noise from the actual equipment like the CD players or tellies, which they found odd, but the noise was from the number of people in the store.
"It looks like we might reach maximum occupancy soon." Luna whispered to Mione
"Yeah. It sure is crowded." They both grinned at that.
"Hey girls. How are you doing?" Ang smiled at them.
"Good. We just came to see how things were." Hermione filled her in.
"We're doing great. We had to put silencing charms around each table so you could only hear the item you were looking at. It was getting way too loud in here." She looked around the room. "You want to help out for a while, I can give more breaks at once then?"
"Sure. After all, the boys are at Gringotts right now." Hermione answered as she and Luna relieved two employees.
HP
Meanwhile, the boys were walking into Gringotts and being taken back to Ted's office by Swordback.
"So, how'd your weekend go Swordback?" Nev asked.
He got a funny look but Swordback answered. "Well. I spent time with my 2 year old son and 1 year old daughter."
"I didn't know you were a dad!" Harry exclaimed. "Congratulations, even if it is a bit late."
"Thank you." He returned as he opened the door.
"Hi boys!" Ted greeted them. "Come on in and have a seat. Venus should be here soon so we can go over strategy before the meeting."
"Will the meeting be in here?" Nev asked.
"No, it'll be in the next room." Ted replied as Venus came out of the fire. "Hello Venus." Ted smiled.
"Hello Ted, Neville, Harry." She nodded to each. They sat down at Ted's desk.
"So, let's talk strategy." Ted smiled shark-like.
So, they talked about the fact that they wanted the architects to show them what they envisioned before they brought in their own plans to see if the architect understood what they were going for.
At 2.30, Swordback let them know the architects were here. The boys left with Swordback leading the way. Ted and Venus were listening in but not there. Because of their age, they had to make sure Harry and Nev's decisions would be respected, so they didn't want someone who might be seen as a go between in the meeting.
Before he opened the door, Swordback said, "You will do fine. Don't get nervous, you're Lords Potter and Longbottom. You have dueled Voldemort and lived to tell the tale. You are great warriors, you can handle this. Don't let them mess you around."
Both men nodded as they put their shoulders back and stood as Gran had taught them. Swordback announced them. "Here are Lords Potter and Longbottom to see you." As they strode in, they saw a man in his fifties and a woman in her 20's. They both stood.
"Hello, my name is Akron Baylee and this is my daughter, and usually the face of Baylee Architecture, Ariana. For most everything, if you choose us, you will be dealing with Ariana." The older man said as they all shook hands and sat down.
"I am Harry Potter and this is my best friend Neville Longbottom." Harry introduced as the other three chuckled. Harry looked at Nev for an explanation.
"Do you really think you have to introduce yourself?" Nev smiled. Harry grinned sheepishly. Nev looked at the Baylees. "He never has been comfortable with his fame, so please just call him Harry."
"Well, Harry." Ariana began. "We know that you want to build an orphanage and I drew up some sketches last night. Would you like to look at them?"
"Yes please." He took the folder from her and opened the folder. The first drawing was a depiction of the outside. Just like he'd described to Akron, it was a beautiful, elongated White Tower.
"You talked a little with Dad about what you wanted but I was not on the call." Ariana said. "This was my best approximation."
"It's beautiful." Nev breathed as he turned the page.
"That is the main entrance hall. I'm also assuming that will be the apparition point." She smiled.
"It's grand and inviting." Harry mumbled. He looked at Nev and saw the same look of awe that must be on his face. "You know why this looks so comfy?"
"Yep. It looks like the entrance hall at the Estates." Nev smiled as he turned the page and saw a scaled down Great Hall. "Bloody Hell!" He looked up at Ariana. "What'd you do? Take pictures of the Great Hall and transfer them here?"
"No." she laughed, truly enjoying the wonder on the men's faces. That's why she did this work. "You mentioned how you thought of Hogwarts as home, so I took many elements from there."
They saw the kitchen below, the game room, the library—"Oh no" both boys groaned.
"Is there something wrong? I can fix it?"
"No. But the library is huge. If we fill it, we'll never see our girlfriends again." Nev and Harry laughed. "Did you see the new shop across from WWW?" Nev asked.
For an answer, both held up mobiles. "We got these today." Akron said.
"Well, our girlfriends worked out the runes and charms and started that store. They love experimenting and for that you need books." Harry groaned as the others laughed.
"Well, let's move on." Akron got them back to work. They spent the next few hours talking through ideas of how to mesh what the boys wanted and what was possible.
At five o'clock, everyone felt like they were done. The boys felt comfortable with the Baylee's and the Baylee's understood this wasn't just a flight of fancy for the young Lords.
"We have a few more interviews this week. We will let you know what we decide on Friday." Nev offered as they left the room and said goodbye.
The boys went back to Ted's office where Venus was. "What'd you guys think?" She grinned.
Harry plopped the portfolio down next to her. "It's brilliant and exactly what we want." Harry grinned as he sat down.
"It sounds like you got on well with them." Ted contributed.
"Yeah. We did. I would've said yes today if I didn't want to seem too eager." Nev replied.
"Let me take this home." Venus prompted. "Then we can talk about it tomorrow at our usual meeting."
"Okay." The boys agreed. "We'll see you at 10 tomorrow then." Harry confirmed as he stood up. Both boys gave her hugs before they left.
Harry looked at his brother. "Want to check on the shop before we leave the Alley?"
"Sure. Don't know whether the girls will be there though."
"Yeah but you know if they think we've been in the alley and not visited, they'll be hurt." Harry agreed. They walked to WWW and crossed the Alley to MIT. When they walked in, it was almost as busy as Saturday. They ran into Ang first. "Ang, have you seen Hermione and Luna?" Harry asked.
"Yeah." She said absentmindedly. "They just went home."
"Oh. Okay. How's the shop doing?"
"Good. Harry, I've got to go." She said as she walked off.
"Guess we should head home." Nev thought aloud. They left the store and apparated home.
HP
When they got home, they found the family in the game room. Sirius and Dora were playing darts while Mione and Luna were watching Teddy in the bouncer.
"Hey guys! How'd the interview go?" Mione asked as they sat down.
"Really well, actually." Harry answered. "They seemed to be thinking along the same lines we are and we love the drawings."
"So, you liked their designs?" Dora asked. She was friends with Ariana at school and recommended the Baylees to them.
"Yeah. They were grand and still homey." Nev added.
"Mum went to Hogwarts today to start on the class." Dora informed them.
"That's great. We need that class." Mione sighed.
"I just wish Remus had lived to see Greyback brought down." Dora whispered.
"Do we know the verdict?" Harry asked softly.
"Yes. The Veil." Sirius stated.
"When?"
"Tonight. Didn't want to give his friends any time to get him out."
"Good." Nev agreed. Putting a hand on Dora's forearm, he said, "Remus did see that, Dora. I believe that. And I know he'd be proud of you and how you're raising Teddy."
Dora put down the darts and hugged Neville. "Thank you, Nev." She said as she choked back tears. Then more arms wrapped around them.
"It's okay to cry Dora. I miss him too." Sirius' eyes were wet, remembering how Moony tried so hard to deny Dora. "He loved you so much. Sometimes, I'm amazed you got through that thick skull of his." Soon the whole family was comforting her. They were standing in the middle of the room in one giant group hug.
Fortunately, Sirius had to crack. "You know, Moony'd be quite upset knowing we were all standing here crying over him." He grinned as he sat down. He summoned a butterbeer for everyone. "He'd want us to celebrate."
"He would but I don't know if I can." Dora sighed. "I went to Godric's Hollow today and set up the Christening for Teddy for the 12th. We talked about it. Although his mum was muggle, she was still a practicing Catholic and raised Remus that way. So, he wanted Teddy Christened" She looked at Harry. "You were Christened in the same church. Having to set that up was nearly as hard as the funeral."
"Why didn't you let me go? I am his Godfather. You shouldn't have been alone Dora!" Harry couldn't believe she would exclude him from helping plan this milestone in Teddy's life.
"It was fine Harry. You were busy and it needed doing." Dora smiled ruefully.
"I would've changed my schedule for Teddy!" He replied harshly. "I will not be left out of these kinds of decisions. Do you understand that Dora? I am his godfather and I will act the part!" He was so irritated he stood up. "I didn't have my godfather or Godmother, Teddy will know his! Do you understand?"
Dora got up and took his hands. "I understand. I'm sorry Harry; I didn't think you'd want to be involved. I won't make that mistake again, yeah?" She looked into his eyes and saw the anger receding but not the hurt. "He loves you, you know?" and there was the smile Dora was after.
"And I love him, more than almost anyone." He replied quietly as he took a deep breath to calm down. They both sat down and Harry noticed everyone staring at him. "What?"
"Nothing mate," Nev said.
"You know, the Christening is going to call for a party—and a big one at that." Sirius grinned mischievously.
"Oh bugger!" Dora exclaimed. Then she had an idea. "You can do the party Sirius but only with Mione being the final decision-maker."
"You don't trust me?" He asked hurtfully.
"NO" shouted the rest of the family.
"Fine." Sirius huffed like the man-child he was at times.
"I'll keep him in line Dora." Mione giggled at the affronted look on his face.
Harry was thoughtful. "Dora, would you like Teddy to use my Christening outfit? I think I remember seeing it in my vault."
"That would be great Harry. I need to go buy one if not."
"Don't worry, I'll get it." Harry smiled thinking at least he was doing something for the Christening.
They spent the rest of the evening just being a family. Whether it was Sirius and Harry gloating over beating Dora and Nev at pool or telling stories of their years at Hogwarts, everyone was relaxing and having a good time just being family.
Eventually, talk came back to the orphanage and its appendages. "You know, Nev, we ought to hand the initial vetting of the heads of Departments in the orphanage and the Heads of the Dairy and Nursery over to Venus." Harry suggested.
"Well, I have someone in mind for the Nursery Head. He taught me everything I knew until I went to Hogwarts. His name is Dirk Frisbie. But we should probably put out some feelers for more applicants." He grinned. "Dirk is amazing at Herbology. But yeah Venus should do the initial vetting."
"We've got to remember to bring our computers tomorrow." Harry sighed. "We should also print off the list of positions so she'll see what we're talking about." He frowned.
"What's wrong Harry?" Dora asked.
"Just thinking." He paused. "I'd really like to get the Heads of these different enterprises hired before school starts."
"I'd like to get it built before then too; we need for these orphans to have a home before winter." Nev worried. "I just hope the Baylees were right and they can build it in a month."
"That's fast." Hermione commented.
"Things move much faster in the magical world for this sort of thing; at least from what the Baylees were saying." Harry replied.
Soon, it was half nine and Harry decided to put Teddy down for the night. After getting him sorted, Harry and Hermione went off to bed.
"So are you and Luna going to start researching longer lasting charms for kitchen equipment tomorrow?" He asked Hermione.
"I think so. We're also planning on adapting a few board games to work with magic."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, like Monopoly. Maybe we can give it a magical bank rather than a physical one."
"Sounds interesting." He said thoughtfully as he stripped to his boxers. "Come to think of it, why don't muggleborns bring board games to Hogwarts. I mean there's Chess and Gobstones but not much else."
"That's what Luna and I were thinking but we're thinking about instead of streets in London or New York, they could be wizarding sites. Instead of the traditional three streets, we could have three wizarding places to a country. If you get all three from one country, you have the monopoly. For instance, for England we could have Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. You see?" She asked as she got into bed.
He laughed and grabbed her to cuddle with. "Sounds good. You've got lots of ideas, just see what you can make happen." He kissed her softly. "I love you Mione and I can't imagine my life without you."
"Me neither love." She found a comfortable spot to sleep on his chest. "And you are ever so comfortable to sleep on." She smiled and kissed his chest as he laughed.
"Glad to know I'm good for something." He laughed.
HP
The next morning Harry woke up with his godson but because no one had to be up early, he decided to take Teddy into their bed and try to get more sleep. Soon, he had Teddy sleeping on his chest and Mione cuddled up to his side and all he could think was This is how life should be: kids, and loved ones safe and happy.
Before he knew it, he felt his wi—girlfriend stir. Where the hell did wife come from? He asked himself. He looked over to see Mione tossing the blankets away.
"Time to get up?" He enquired.
"It's half eight. If you have to be there at 10, you've got to get up too lazybones." She smiled as he got up and put Teddy in the Moses Basket they'd kept in their room.
Soon, all three were ready to go to the kitchen for breakfast. When they got there, the family was sitting at the table talking.
"Well good morning sleepyheads." Sirius greeted the pair as Dobby started putting food on the table.
"Did Teddy even get up like usual this morning?" Dora asked, taking her son.
"Yeah but we decided to have a lie-in since we don't have to be at Gringotts till 10. And yes, he ate at six." Harry answered.
They ate breakfast and the boys left for Gringotts while the girls left for Flourishes and Sirius went to the ministry for his committee meeting.
When Nev and Harry got there, Trainee Swordback was waiting to bring them to Ted's office. This was strange because they usually let themselves into Ted's office.
"What's going on Swordback?"
"Nothing." He grinned without showing his teeth. He looked at these wizards who had actually become friends. "Only the fact that my wife is pregnant again."
"That's great!" Both boys were happy for their friend. In the little over a month they'd known Swordback, he had asked them to call him by his first name not his title and had seen pictures of his kids as they swapped stories of what it's like for a human family verses a goblin family. They had actually become good friends with him.
"This will be number 3 right?" Harry asked.
"Yes."
"How many children is average for a goblin family?" Nev inquires.
"Four although Hallback and I are thinking six or seven." At the dumbstruck looks on his friends' faces, he laughed.
"Is Hallback okay with that number? One is tough enough but 7-that's a full Quidditch team!" Harry squeaked. Nev and Swordback laughed.
"She suggested that many." Swordback chuckled as they walked into Ted's office.
At the looks on the boys' faces, Ted said "I see you've told them how many kids you want Swordback." Ted laughed.
"Ted? He wants a full Quidditch team of kids. He's blooming crazy!"
"Yes, he is. Now let's get started." They sat at the table with Venus and nailed down a tentative hiring schedule. They decided to hire an architect by Friday, a contractor by the next Friday and have groundbreaking the following week.
"Is that schedule even possible?" Harry asked.
"I don't see why not." Venus said. "When my parents built their place, it worked that fast. If everything goes to plan, we should have it built by the middle of August." She looked a little concerned. "Do they not work this fast in the muggle world?"
"No, they don't. It takes multiple months to build one house." Harry responded thoughtfully. "That means we need to hire heads of departments soon. Can you whittle down the list for us?" He got out his computer and they went over who they'd need to hire. Venus also decided she'd bring the boys in on the final candidates for each position. Apparently, she'd already started the process of advertising for the positions. "I knew that there was a reason we went with you." Harry laughed at the stern-Professor look Venus was using. "You're so much like your Aunt. You think 2 steps ahead of everyone else. You know what's needed and just do it."
"If we look at your list of positions to live on campus, we need to provide housing for a potential number of 17 families—all of different sizes. Some of our employees may want to live on campus and bring their family with them. Are you going to have a problem with that?"
"No. Not at all. I want this to be their home too." Harry answered quickly.
"Some of these folks, like the head of the nursery and the head of the dairy farm will have their own places and would probably prefer to stay there." Venus continued.
"I know Dirk, if we hire him, will want to live at his place with Helen." Nev concurred.
"Since the school is going to be in the main building, I suggest we have a small apartment for every school grade teacher next to their classroom like Aunt Minnie has at Hogwarts. After that, I'd like myself, my Deputy, Head of Dining, Head of Dormitories, Head Librarian, Head of Discipline, Head of Nursery, Head of Hospital, Headmistress of the school, and Head of Primary and Secondary schools to each have their own flats. Physically, they can be rather small because we can put on expansion charms and such." Venus was pointing to each of the titles on Harry's computer. "Does that make sense?"
Nev and Harry looked at each other, they looked thunderstruck. "I think you broke them Venus." Ted laughed.
"Boys, does that make sense?" Venus laughed as she repeated herself.
Nev was the first one to grasp the enormity of what they were doing. "We're responsible for all those incomes." He breathed.
"Yes but I'll use my resources from Hufflepuff House to help bring in donations. This is a big project but it will work." She said with McGonagall steel in her voice.
"Then we best get hiring." Harry smiled. "What do you think Nev? We are brought in for the top 4 candidates on each position?"
"That's fine for everyone else but I want to run the Plant Nursery Head interviews myself. I'm running with this. I'll talk to Sprout about who the best candidates are. She should be able to help."
As Nev talked, his eyes got a brightness to them that Harry only saw one other time—when he was looking at Luna. That's how he knew Nev loved Luna in the first place. Harry loved to see Nev happy like this.
"So, in other words, you're not going to just hire anybody—you're hiring the best." Harry grinned.
"It's going to have our mothers' names on it. Of course." They both laughed.
"Ted, can we use that conference room we used yesterday to do the architect and contractor interviews in?" Harry asked.
"Are you boys okay doing the architect interviews tomorrow by yourselves? I'd like to get started on the hiring." Venus queried.
"Could you be here for the first one at 9, then you can leave?" Harry asked.
"Of course. Again, the question I keep coming to when dealing with you is: How can you possibly be nervous about meeting new people when you killed Voldemort?" She laughed.
"That was a life and death thing; I didn't think about it. This is planned and I have plenty of time to worry." Harry smiled.
"I will reserve the conference room for tomorrow and Thursday." Ted got them back on track.
They talked through what they wanted for qualifications for each job. Pretty soon, the three had a full list of what each job would entail and what type of person they wanted in that role. The three worked really well together and came to a consensus about everything. Soon it was noon and they decided to quit for lunch, promising to get back after the first meeting tomorrow.
The boys floo'd home.
HP
The family was already sitting down at the table when they got to the kitchen.
"Hey boys. Nice to see you." Pads greeted sarcastically. "We were going to start without you."
"Well, thanks for waiting." Harry replied as he leaned over and gave Mione a hug. "How was your morning love?"
"Wonderful. We went to the Burrow and talked to Molly about helping us come up with some charms for kitchen tools." She smiled. "Anything we build with her help, she'll get profit from the patent."
"That's wonderful." Nev smiled at the two inventors. "You know, now that you're inventors, maybe you should ask Minerva for an unused classroom while you're there this year."
HP
That afternoon, the boys chaired the second awards committee meeting. They decided that everyone who fought at the Battle of Hogwarts deserved at least a third-class Order of Merlin. This took a lot of wrangling by the young men and it was exhausting but they got what they wanted.
To Harry's surprise, it was Neville talking about the fact that Dumbledore's Army held out in the RoR for nearly two months that got the older politicians to see their point. Every one of those that fought were brave—no matter their age—and deserved to be recognised for it.
When they had decided this, they decided they'd leave 2nd class until next Tuesday. The boys then went to Children Services Department and asked them to put a list together of all the orphans in the country and their ages. Because they had been warned by King, they said it'd be ready Friday. Apparently, they were already working on it. The boys went home content.
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