Wednesday 29 July 1998
When both couples had floo'd to Gringotts, Hermione took Harry's hand. All the sudden, she was a little nervous that they were on the wrong path with the company. Well, nothing left to do but forge ahead, she thought.
Although Luna looked like her normal dreamy self, Nev could see she was worried. "Everything will work out, sweetheart. I love you." He murmured to her. She gave him a bright smile and a hug.
"You know just what to say, you know that?" she mumbled into his ear. It was then they heard Harry knocking on Ted's door.
Swordback answered. "Hello everyone. How are you today?" he asked
"Very well, thank you." Hermione and Luna bowed to him. "How is your wife feeling?"
"Tired." Swordback responded. "She is always tired in the beginning of her pregnancies."
"If you don't mind answering, how long is a typical Goblin pregnancy?" Hermione inquired.
"Twelve months." He smiled at the shocked look on the humans' faces. "Here they are Ted." He brought them to the desk.
"We have to go. We have a meeting at 8.15." Harry kissed his fiancée (he loved thinking that) and they left.
"Sit down ladies." Ted offered as they sat at his desk. "From what Hermione told me this morning and the problems I've seen you working on, what you really want is someone who can organise all of the little bits of your enterprise, yeah?"
"Yes. We need someone who, once we've invented something, can mass produce it and market it, without us having to do anything." Luna agreed.
There was a knock at the door and Swordback let them in. It turned out to be Fleur. Both girls looked from Ted to Fleur and back to Ted until Fleur sat at the desk with them.
"I didn't know you were interested in business management?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. It's what I've always wanted. My Papa is a prominent businessman in France and I want to get business experience that I take back to the family businesses." She smiled. "Every Sunday, I bite my tongue because I know you need someone with more experience than Angie running things. But William tells me to wait, so I wait for you to seek out help."
"William should've kept his mouth shut!" Hermione growled almost playfully as the others laughed.
"So, tell me how you've been running the business so far." Fleur suggested, getting out her computer.
"Well, it's really been a fly by the seat of your pants approach." Hermione started. "It started out with simply magicking normal muggle devices to work with magic. We got several prototypes such as the phone and computer. Then we bought other appliances from the muggle world and had our employees rune and charm them to sell in the shop. Then we started using only the cases for things like phones and computers. After taking the electronics out, we then rune and charm them a little differently but get the same result. However, we still have to buy the muggle devices because we have no way to manufacture the cases. That's where our hold-up to becoming an entirely magical company is."
"Well, that in itself can be easily fixed. I know of several magical plastic manufacturers in France and the States. My family owns one in fact." She smiled at the relief on their faces.
"I haven't been able to find any in Britain." Hermione said.
"No. You wouldn't. Britain is about a century behind in the manufacturing sector." She sighed. "For now, we could contract out the plastic or glass manufacture while we build a base here in Britain. Then we can streamline the production of the actual runing and charming of the devices. I know both the Potters and Longbottoms have abandoned factories in their portfolios. We could take one and manufacture plastics and such there. We could also turn part of it into an assembly line for putting the runes and charms on. Then we deliver it to the warehouse in the store." She was typing as she was speaking.
"So how would all this work?" Luna asked as Fleur turned her computer towards them and explained the structure of the new company.
When Fleur was done explaining, Hermione had a much better idea of how business worked and just how bad she'd be at it. "So you think that we can eventually send you the devices that we invent and you can then set them up to be manufactured and sold?" Hermione confirmed.
"It might not be me but someone." She smiled. She really loved these girls. They were both so smart and dedicated to making the world a better place for everyone.
"You'll need a salary. How much are you making here?" Luna asked.
"15000G."
Luna, who had gotten her computer out earlier, looked at the sales numbers Angie had sent her for the first month. "Net income for our first month was 50000G, so we could give you 20000G as a salary. Then use the rest to refurbish and start the manufacturing side of things. That's not including the initial investment Sirius made, which was 100000G. So in reality we have 150000G to play with to get this sorted out." Luna looked up at Fleur. "Will 20000G work?"
"Yes. That will. I know there is an office building not too far from here we could turn into our headquarters. Should I look into renting it?"
"Yes. Rent as much space as you need and hire who you need." Hermione approved.
HP
While the girls were hiring Fleur, the boys were hiring a Head for the Dairy. This was actually quite simple because they found a father-son team that had had their own dairy before this last war. It was destroyed by Death Eaters because the owner and his wife were both muggleborn.
After they were done, they decided an ice cream at Fortescue's was in dire need. "Boy am I glad we got all that hiring done before it opened." Harry sighed as he sat down with his cup of ice cream.
"Me too." Nev sighed. "It's hard to believe that we started this a little over a month ago and it will be open less than two months after we first conceived of the idea."
After sitting there quietly for a few minutes, Harry suggested, "We should head home. An updated list of orphans should be at the house sometime in the next few days and I'm interested to see how many there are."
"Sure Harry." Nev said as they disapparated.
HP
When Harry got home, he could hear scrambling down the stairs. Looking up, he saw Dora who looked more disheveled than usual. She was carrying a screaming Teddy in her arms. As she saw Harry, her face lit up. "Here ya go." she said, handing her son to his godfather.
"What's wrong?" Teddy just kept crying.
"Cold, I think. He's been fussy and crying all morning. I've been sucking snot out of his nose since soon after you left. Sirius is at the apothecary right now. I'll go move his Moses Basket into your room and I've already stocked up for you." She finished as she turned around and ran back up the steps.
Nev and Harry looked at each other. Harry just rolled his eyes. "Come on little man." He called up the stairs. "Dora, where's the sling?!"
"Be right down with it!" she yelled back.
"Okay. Let's go check your diaper, yeah?" he looked at the tears running down Teddy's face and felt his heart tug again. He really didn't like seeing Teddy sick. "Come on little man. We'll get through this." He took Teddy to his room and checked his diaper, then sat in the rocker with him. "Come on little one. Everything will be okay." He soothed as he began rocking.
It was about a half hour later when Dora brought the Moses Basket and set it up, that they noticed Teddy was asleep. He put Teddy in the basket and they tip-toed out of the room and warded it so sound couldn't get in.
"I hate that he calms for you and not for me." She whined as they went downstairs.
"It's like Sirius says, he feels your worry because you are his mum but I'm more removed from the situation, so he likes me." Harry smirked at Dora as they walked into the kitchen.
Sirius was there with the vials of medicine. "Got it. But he's asleep, isn't he?" Sirius smirked at his godson.
"Yeah. I got him down. Took a while though. Have you eaten?" He asked.
"No. We're still waiting on the girls." Nev contributed. They heard the pop of apparition. "We're in the kitchen!" Nev yelled as the girls came in.
Mione looked at her watch. "It's nearly half twelve. You waited for us?" She asked.
"Yeah, but I was putting a sick Teddy to bed." Harry confirmed.
"Is he in our room?" she pondered as they sat down.
"Yeah. Right now, he's asleep but I doubt it will last." Harry looked at Mione. "I hope you don't mind love but he'll probably be in our bed tonight at some point."
"Yeah." Mione grinned. "He likes to sleep on your chest. After all, it's a comfy place to sleep—I should know!" Her fiancé went bright red as she kissed him quickly.
"Come on. I'm hungry!" Sirius whined as they followed him to the table. As everyone, including Dobby, sat down to eat, they began discussing their day. Dobby began. "I went to Mitzy's house today to learn more about what a Head Elf of an Ancient and Noble Family will need to know." He then looked very shyly at Harry and Neville. "I told Mitzy what you said about marriage and we started talking." He looked a little sad. "It is a very hard thing to think of because house elves do not marry. We have always been viewed as nothing more than property. When we have children is not up to us, it is up to our masters. A male house elf will never see his oldest elfling again, most likely. The same for the second child and its mum. Just the idea that we could have that is amazing and we're both talking about it now."
"That's good. I'm glad it's more than an idea now." Mione smiled.
"So, how'd your appointment go with Ted today?" Harry asked Mione.
Luna and Mione started giggling. "It went great. We hired Fleur to take over the business."
"Why Fleur?" Nev inquired.
"Well, apparently she's had ideas of how to run the business more efficiently but Bill stopped her from bringing them up on Sunday's because he didn't think it was her place. I'm going to hex Bill to next Sunday for that." She paused. "Anyway, did you know her dad was a big-time businessman in France?" Both boys shook their heads. "Well, Fleur learned a lot from him and working at Gringotts has helped. Now, Fleur is going to solve all our production issues. She wants us to turn one of your guys' abandoned warehouses into a factory for manufacturing our devices."
"Sounds good." Harry smiled. "I didn't know Fleur was so well versed in business."
"I spent the morning brainstorming ideas with some of the other Alliance members about your idea with the taxes." Sirius changed the subject slightly. "Some were really interested, some not. It's going to take a while to get those like Arthur on board because he doesn't have much money and can't see giving the government any as a good thing."
"Just tell him that the taxes will be based on what you make." Hermione suggested.
"Yeah. I don't know. I'll work on him. Did you know, he's planning on giving the Prewitt seat to Percy?"
"Yeah. It was brought up on Sunday." Harry answered.
At that moment, they heard Teddy wake up and an owl knocking on a window. Harry jumped up and rushed up to his room while Hermione let the owl in. She untied the parchment and the owl turned around and flew out.
She looked down at the parchment and muttered "Really not a nice owl. Oh, Nev. Here."
She handed him the parchment and went to sit back down. "What is it, love?" Luna asked.
"Oh, it's the list of all the orphanages the DCS gives funds to and how many kids of each age group there are in each. It also suggests an appointment tomorrow with the Head of DCS."
"That's good." Harry agreed as he walked in with Teddy. "Do you have that potion Sirius? He's got a temperature."
"Sure kid." He got up and poured out the dosage. The rest of the day was spent with each person having a go at trying to take Teddy's mind off his cold. It was finally ten o'clock when Hermione, Harry and Teddy went to bed. "It's awfully strange to be our age and be so used to taking care of a baby, you know?" Hermione said.
"Yeah but he needs us right now." Harry responded looking at his now sleeping godson in his basket. "Can you watch him while I do my nighttime routine?"
"Sure, love." Mione replied as she pulled her top up.
Harry looked at his beautiful fiancée get unclothed. "Boy is a sick kid a mood killer." He muttered as he went to the loo and Mione laughed. By the time he was done, he was disappointed that the strip show was over. "Like I said-mood killer." He muttered again as he got into bed. He could hear her chuckle as she took her turn in the loo.
By midnight that night, Teddy was laying on Harry's stomach asleep again. He and Hermione were taking turns trying to get him to sleep. The most he'd sleep was an hour and a half at a time. At six when Teddy woke, Harry was exhausted because as much as Mione helped, Teddy was most comforted by Harry. Consequently, he was up the most.
"Harry, I'm going to take Teddy to the library. You have the appointment with DCS today, so you need some rest." Hermione explained as she took Teddy from him.
"Thanks love." He replied as he wiped his eyes and fell back on the bed. He was asleep when his head hit the pillow.
HP
Later that morning, Harry awoke much livelier than before. He took a nice, long shower, got dressed and went up to the library. Hermione was putting books on shelves but Teddy was nowhere in sight.
"Where's Teddy?" He asked the room.
"Hi Harry. He's in the game room, I think. It was Sirius' turn last." Mione smiled as she got up to kiss her love.
"Okay. I'll head up there." He turned around to head upstairs. When he got there. Nev, Dora, Luna and Sirius were playing monopoly. However, it was a virtual set of some kind. "What's this?" He asked. "It looks like a hologram of a monopoly board."
"It's based on that idea, yeah." Luna spoke slowly as she moved her piece. "We've basically created charms that will display a board, either wizarding or muggle, and you move your physical piece around by throwing real die. There's also another charm that another player can do to be the banker."
"You should take that to Hogwarts this fall." He then turned to his best friend. "Happy birthday mate. You'll get your present tonight." He smiled at his friend.
"Thanks Harry." He grinned. Teddy began crying and Sirius started to unhook the sling.
"Harry, he was fed, changed and potioned half an hour ago. I think he needs sleep and you're the best for that, so here ya go." Sirius grinned as he handed the teen his godson.
"When is our meeting with DCS, Nev?" he asked.
"I changed it to one and it's here in the study."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "I called to cancel and he said he was more than willing to come here if we weren't comfortable leaving."
Harry nodded. "Good. Hopefully, this one'll be asleep then." He started doing the walk-and-jiggle that usually calmed Teddy down. "You know, I've played this game a few times." He began as he took another pass near the table. "It's always been a boring game but this version actually looks fun."
"Who'd you play it with?" Sirius wanted to know.
"My cousin. I actually won the first game, but was told by Vernon that I would be whipped if I won again." Harry said as his godfather scowled. "Point is, I'd actually like to play this."
"I'm going to buy Park Place." Luna stated as numbers changed in the bank. What was truly fascinating was the sound of clapping and whistling coming from the board itself that accompanied the change in status.
"Does that happen every time you buy a property?" He laughed.
"No. Only when you collect a monopoly." Luna answered.
Harry looked down at his godson to discover he was asleep. Harry put Teddy in a basket and sat down to watch them play. "I really don't know how you do it." Dora sighed and shook her head as she looked at her son. "When he's sick, he only usually sleeps for you or Sirius."
"I don't know. Just be glad he sleeps for someone, I guess." He smiled.
Mione came upstairs then. "Hey everyone." She greeted as she sat next to Harry. "Luna, I did a count. We need more books on ritual magic and special celebrations."
Luna looked up from the study of the board. "Shall we go while the boys are talking to DCS?"
"Sounds good. How's the game working in actual play?" She queried.
"Great." Sirius enthused. "Even if I am being beaten by Neville, it's fun!" he laughed.
HP
At one o'clock, the Head of DCS, Summer Snokes, came through the floo in the office. Dora had added it to the incoming floo list so associates could floo right to them and not have to see the rest of the house—security reasons.
They found out that there were over 250 orphans of all ages from this war that they had already found. They were being slept three or four a room in such tight spaces that they were running out of room. Overall, there were 25 newborns in the system, 90 toddlers and preschoolers, 110 school age, and 28 Hogwarts age.
"So, we'll be able to take all the newborns and 40 of each of the other age groups." Harry rattled off. "Have each orphanage make a list of the oldest of each age group and we'll come talk to them about where they're going to live and get to know them."
"Are you going to need any funding from us?" she asked.
"Not for at least two years and by then we're hoping to be making money on our dairy farm and nursery." Nev answered. "Although, I'm nearly positive the nursery will be making a profit next year."
Soon, the meeting was over and Harry had to switch from the very uncomfortable role of businessman to the more familiar, and much more enjoyable, role of godfather.
HP
That evening, they had Emma, Dan and Augusta over for a birthday dinner for Neville. Dobby baked his favorite food for dinner, a pepperoni and sausage pizza, and a large, very moist and delicious vanilla cake.
After cake, came presents. "Well, Nev, the eight of us have gone together to get you your own greenhouse at Hogwarts. Professor Sprout has approved and we bought and have funded your own playhouse at Hogwarts." Harry was nearly being choked by his best mate.
"That's amazing." He sighed after he'd hugged everyone within an inch of their lives.
"If you look upstairs in the library, Nev, you'll find a whole new section on Herbology." Hermione stated as Luna grabbed onto his arm.
"Mione, why'd you say that? We're never going to get him out of there unless he's apparating to Hogwarts." Luna groaned as she kept him seated by simply sitting on him.
HP
The next morning, Harry got a call from Summer Snokes who told him to be at Mary's House at nine o'clock to have their first meet and greet with the kids there. Then at half ten, they were to go to St. Mary's. Finally, they were to go to St. Matthew's Home at one.
"So, who wants to go see these kids with us?" Harry asked at breakfast.
"We do." Both girls piped up.
"We should stay here and share Teddy Duty." Sirius commented.
"Yeah. I really don't want any orphan getting sick because of Ted." Dora sighed. "Otherwise I'd be with you."
Harry and Nev got up. "Let's go then." Harry looked at the girls as they cleared their places.
"I really wish you'd stop doing that." Dobby said softly.
"What?" Mione asked.
"Please stop clearing your places. That is my job." He replied adamantly.
Hermione's eyes went wide. "Sorry Dobby. Habit. I was raised to clean up after myself. It's a hard habit to break."
At that, Sirius let out a bark-like laugh. "Weird habit to have to train yourself out of!"
HP
So at nine o'clock, the quartet floo'd to Mary's House. It was a nicer place than St. Mary's but not as nice as Hufflepuff House. They floo'd to the entrance hall where an older lady, with a smile on her face, was waiting for them.
"Hello, I'm Mrs. Closworth. Welcome to Mary's House. As I understand it, you will be taking all of my newborns, we have fifteen. You'll be meeting fifteen toddlers, 20 school age and 8 Hogwarts age. Follow me please, they are out on the lawn waiting." She led them outside. "Children, gather round." She said as they all sat down in rows. Some of the older kids had toddlers on their laps. "I'd like to introduce you to Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood. They're here to tell you about where you're going to be living soon." She stood back and Harry stood forward.
"Hey guys. My name is Harry Potter."
He grinned as someone yelled out, "Of course you are—everyone knows that."
"True." He rolled his eyes. "What you may not know is that my best mate, Neville and I have started an orphanage that will have a nursery and dairy farm on it called the Lily and Alice Refuge or LAR. All of you are going to be some of our new residents." He turned back to Luna. "Luna could you bring out some of the drawings and photos we've taken." She did. "Come up here and look at these." He said as he conjured a table for the kids to sit around. One little girl, maybe four, came up to him and pulled on his hand. He looked down and saw a little girl with stick straight copper coloured hair and freckles all over her face. She held her arms up in the universal 'pick me up please' sign. He bent down on his knees and said, "What's your name little one?"
"Penny. Can you pick me up? I can't see over everyone." She looked sad but resolved.
"Of course, Penny. Come here." He got up and picked her up. He pointed at a picture of a finished tower. "You'll be staying in a tower like this when you come to live at LAR. How many kids do you share a room with?"
She raised three fingers.
"Well, you'll only have one when you move in. Won't that be nice?" he asked as she nodded vigorously. "What do you like to do Penny?"
"Look at books." She replied shyly as he smiled and started over to Mione who was holding a little boy about the same age. "Mione, guess what Penny here said was her favorite thing to do?"
"What?"
"Look at books."
Mione smiled. "So she's a minnie me! This is Kyle here. He likes Quidditch!"
"So a Minnie me then!" he laughed. Looking at Penny he whispered. "Mione hates it when I play Quidditch because she thinks I always get hurt." Penny giggled.
"That's because you get hurt nearly every game!" she replied mock-indignantly.
"But I catch the snitch every time!" and he high-fived Kyle. Mione leaned down to Penny. "Boys are strange." Which just made Penny giggle more.
"Yes we are." They agreed nearly together.
They really did enjoy the day. At each orphanage at least one of the four bonded with a kid. Neville bonded with a boy named Richard who liked to play in the soil—just like he did at the same age. Luna became attached to a new blond boy named Alex who liked to make up stories. However, it was hardest for Harry and Mione to leave Mary's House and leave Penny and Kyle—so much so that while changing for dinner, they talked about adopting them.
As Mione was getting dressed, she lamented, "I know we can't adopt them but let's at least keep track of them so we can go see them and maybe be a big sister or brother to them."
"I like that idea." Harry responded as they walked to the kitchen.
Sirius, The Family plus Em and Dan were there waiting. "Okay. Harry, you know we're taking you out to dinner for your birthday." He conjured a blindfold and handed it to Mione. "Put this on him." She did and all of them apparated. "We're here. You can take off his blindfold, Mione."
She grinned as Sirius did a countdown with his fingers. At the appropriate time, Mione undid the blindfold and there was a wave of "SURPRISE!" so loud he took a step back.
When he got his bearings, he noticed they were in the party pavilion with the entire family plus some of the Alliance kids he was close to. The place looked like a regular restaurant with a dance floor.
As he was taking all this in, he noticed The Family looked a little worried. "Why'd you do all this?"
"Well, let's see." Sirius tapped his finger to his chin. "My godson only turns 18 once. I think that's good enough. Come on, say hi to some of the people who wanted to see you enjoy your birthday. I wanted to do something much bigger but Dan and Hermione convinced me that smaller was better." He grinned at the relief that ran across Harry's face.
So, Harry spent the evening of his eighteenth birthday eating, dancing and talking to friends. At one point, Harry asked Emma to dance with him.
They soon went back to a table of friends and Alliance kids who were talking about the idea of taxing everyone.
"I've been doing some research about how muggle governments work on the internet—thanks to Mione and Luna—and I've found some very interesting things." Daphne stated. "Did you know how many forms of governments muggles have. They have absolute monarchs, which is one person tells everyone else what the rules are. They have a one chamber legislative body like we do, they have a two-chamber legislative body—both popularly elected-and they have a two-chamber legislature that has one chamber popularly elected and one chosen by the monarch."
"Yes. The last one is how muggle Britain works. The two-chamber, popularly elected is how it runs in the States." Hermione added.
"But there is no way we ever get the actual legislature changed." Melanie Ogden said. "We, as an alliance, may have the majority in Wizengamot but there is no way all of our parents agree to adding another, popularly elected, chamber to our government."
"If Harry says he wants it, it'll get done. Especially with Sirius advocating for it." Susan laughed.
"Me?" Harry asked. "Why would anyone listen to me? Haven't you all been hearing how raving mad I am these last few years?" They all laughed. It is good to look back and be able to laugh about that lunacy, Harry thought.
"Harry, having killed Voldemort, you have a lot of clout right now." Bill chuckled. "Even the Goblins like you because of your friendship with Swordback, rather than treating him like vermin. I'd say use it to make the world better."
"Yeah, Harry." Katie Bell encouraged. "If we strike while your popularity is at its highest, we might change the world for the better."
"Shouldn't we start with the taxes and get that passed, then move onto the legislature?" Mione wanted them to concentrate on one issue at a time. "The restructuring of the government can wait until we have the money to run it."
"Wizengamot confiscated money from all the Death Eaters that were convicted." Elaine Ogden offered. "I had a talk with my dad a while back and he said they had enough money to run the government for at least two years. So yes, it's important to reorganize taxes but also the structure of our government, making it more equal to all is as well. That should be our main goal right now."
"Okay." Nev spoke for the first time. He was watching body language so he could talk to the others about what people really thought about the ideas being discussed. Gran had always told him not to trust what people say. To truly understand what people believed, watch their body language as they talk. "Why don't we do this? Why don't we elect eight of us to write a proposal we can present at the dinner next week?"
"Sounds good." Harry confirmed. "Why don't y-"
"No way! No way in hell Harry!" Hermione and Luna started laughing as the others looked confused at his near screech. "Don't even think it! I ran the Awards Committee; you can run this one."
At the disappointed look on Harry's face, Hermione explained, "When they were forming the Awards Committee, Harry's nomination of Neville was deliberate on his part. He told me, he wanted to make sure the new assertive Neville stayed around." At that explanation, everyone busted up laughing.
After she got ahold of herself, Katie addressed her former teammate, "Well, I guess you're it, Captain."
They elected Harry, Hermione (so she could write the report), Bill, Ernie, Melanie, Susan, and Elaine. They decided to meet Sunday morning at the Madhouse. It was a very interesting but odd birthday for Harry.
He went to bed pleased that night.
HP
The next morning, Harry rose bright and early to make breakfast. He knew that Mione and Luna would be spending the day, or at least the morning, at Longbottom Estate setting up for the Lammas Ritual both families were doing that night.
"Hey kiddo." Sirius greeted Harry as he strode into the kitchen. "How are you today?"
"I'm okay. I was just thinking of last night and the conversation with the other heirs."
"Yeah. What about?"
"Well, they were positing that this was the perfect time to restructure the government to allow more popular consent. They basically were telling me that you and I could get it rammed through if we want." Harry paused. "If I were power hungry, would Wizengamot just let me lead them? Would I get whatever I wanted? And where does that leave the country? And me for that matter?" As he was talking, he was getting more vocal and more panicked.
Sirius took him by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Harry, calm down. We would never let that happen to you. You are part of a family now and family protects family." He saw the panic begin to recede in those green orbs. "First, yes you have a lot of influence right now. Hell, if you wanted to be Minister, I think we could pull that off." He held up his hand at Harry trying to interrupt him. "I know you don't want that. I'm just saying the influence is there. Why not use it to change the government from the inside? Why not spend the next few weeks campaigning for a new kind of government? Especially if it's what you want. Let me ask you this: do you want a government that is more responsive to the peoples' needs or do you want the government that let's one class rule them all? And yes, I'm paraphrasing Tolkien!" Sirius and Harry laughed. Mione had given him Lord of the Rings when they were in Australia and he loved them.
"I guess I see what you're saying but it's not going to be easy or fast. Another thing Mione and I talked about last night was no citizen of Magical Britain has experience with having a say in the government; we will need to teach them how to think like a voter." Harry shook his head. "This is not going to be easy."
"Is anything worth doing easy?" Sirius asked pointedly.
"No." He sighed as he and Sirius started making the table. "But why can't I just be Harry?" He whined
Sirius laughed. "Sorry kid. It's not in the cards for you."
"Hello, Hello" They heard from the entrance way.
"In here Dan!" Sirius yelled as Mione and Luna came in.
"Uncle Sirius. Stop yelling. If you need to talk to someone, find them, don't just scream out." Mione said in an exaggeratedly soft voice.
"Okay Hermione." Sirius responded just as softly as he came closer to her. "I'LL DO JUST THAT!" he screamed into her face.
Everyone but Hermione started laughing as she muttered "Man-child." And laughed as well.
After breakfast, the girls, and Dora went to Longbottom Estates.
HP
At Longbottom Estate, the three younger witches were met by Augusta. "Hello everyone." She smiled. Hermione was always amused that Augusta met them at the floo—even though she knew it was just them. Neville had explained, when he had done the same at The Madhouse, that it was just built in reflex to them both. Which made Hermione enjoy it more!
"Well, ladies. First, here in Longbottom Estates, we have a ritual room we use for these events. It is on the western side of the house. This morning we are going to be decorating the altar. Tonight, at sunset, we will perform a Harvest Ritual. This is going to be very basic altar and ritual so you know what to expect." She explained as she opened a door. The room inside was rather large with the walls painted as a forest. In the center of the room was a medium-sized dining room table. On a small side table were what looked to Hermione like ingredients for the altar. "Because this is a Harvest Celebration, we modern practitioners don't celebrate it the way they used to. As we have become more used to having food all year, we are not as concerned with the physical harvest of food. Instead, Lammas has become about planning for things ahead. Are there things you know are coming in the next year that you need to be thinking about now?" Looking at Hermione, she smiled, "For instance weddings and births. Is there something you must sacrifice now to make sure it's available later? Traditionally, you would be thinking about surviving the coming winter; having enough food stores, that kind of thing." Augusta moved to the side table where there were things that simply looked odd to the younger people. "Now, as it's a harvest festival, the color scheme is going to be what?" She asked.
"Yellow."
"Orange."
"Red."
"Exactly." She smiled. As she handed Hermione a red table cloth, Hermione spread it on the altar. She then handed Dora and Luna an orange and yellow candle respectively, which they placed on the altar. She handed two old goblets to Hermione. "These are for the wine we'll use in the ritual." When all three were back, she looked at the table. "All the fruit and grain here are harvested during this time, so they shall be on the altar too."
"What will the ritual be like tonight?" Hermione prompted curiously.
"I will cast a circle for us around the altar to stand in." She said as she put several corn dolls on the altar. As Hermione took several stalks of wheat to the altar, Augusta said, "Please count the stalks to make sure there are enough for everyone. We will then recite a few prayers and light some candles and drink some wine." She looked at the altar and smiled. They had put grapes, bread, apples and carrots on the altar. It was a full altar, like they had when Frank and Gerald were here. She hadn't celebrated the holidays much since her beloved Gerald died. "That looks amazing girls." She smiled happily at them. "Mitzy."
"Yes madam." The little elf popped into being.
"Can you get us seven more of the goblets please Mitzy?"
"Yes madam." She was back a minute later with them and Hermione and Luna started placing them on the altar.
"It doesn't seem Neville knows much about these celebrations. Why is that?" Luna inquired.
"Our family slowly stopped celebrating holidays after Frank and Alice were hospitalized. After Gerald passed, I saw no reason to go to the trouble." She replied.
They left before lunch to spend some time at home.
HP
When they got home, they went to the game room where everyone was located. Hermione noticed Teddy was asleep in her mum's arms.
"Hey mum. You got him to sleep. That's amazing. When he's sick Harry's usually the only one that can help."
"Well, he's feeling better today and he was just fed. He went out like a light when I burped him." She smiled. "Sort of like you after we read you a book."
Hermione just shook her head and went to give Harry a hug. "So, how'd your day go?"
"Pretty well. I think we get our room back tonight." He grinned at her.
She slapped him playfully. "You love having Teddy in bed with us, don't deny it!"
"Sometimes but I want you to myself." He winked at her. She just rolled her eyes and laughed as she sat down.
As they went down to lunch, Sirius started talking about the Ball the next night at Hogwarts. "So, the ball tomorrow starts at six. We will have awards, then dinner then dancing. King told me to make sure you all understood that you would be expected to dance." He laughed at the boys' uncomfortable expression. "Since there are so many of the Dragon Heart recipients, he is going to make a speech about some of those he knew and there will be a plaque set up in the entry hall at Hogwarts that has all the names on it. The actual award is being sent to the recipient or their next of kin. The OM 3rd class recipients will be seated together and will come up as a group to have their awards sealed magically to their robes. The OM 2nd class will be called up and their next of kin will receive it on their behalf. The 1st class recipients will be given their awards individually by King."
"Is the castle ready for this? Is it fixed?" Harry asked.
"Yes. It was finished a few weeks ago. The Great Hall will be expanded for this event but that's already done." Sirius smiled at Harry's troubled look. "What's wrong pup?"
"Well, I guess I'm a little uncomfortable about the criteria they used to select the 1st class awardees. I really don't like the fact that Nev and I were kept out of that decision. I mean, what if they decide to award it to someone who never fought?"
"Knowing Charles, there's no way that happens. Don't worry pup." He smiled reassuringly at his godson, none of the mirth he was suppressing showing in his eyes.
HP
That evening, The Extended Family floo'd to Longbottom Estates. Since sunset was at 8.49 that evening, Augusta invited everyone over at 8.15. They arrived and were escorted into the sitting room.
"I know that as a group our knowledge of the celebration of Lammas varies. I would like to give you a general idea of what it represents and how it is celebrated now. First, the celebration of Lammas is a celebration of rebirth, thinking of the future and above all, planning for the future. Traditionally, this is a time to celebrate the harvest coming in and planning how to use that harvest to survive the coming winter and spring. If you look at our altar in the ritual room, you will see many nods to the bringing in of the harvest. Like I told the young witches this morning, now that we humans don't have to worry about how we'll extend the harvested foods to last the winter, we concentrate on our general plans for the coming winter and spring. It is a time to decide, for instance, what you might have to sacrifice now to gain something during the winter months. This should be our mindset as we say the ritual prayers at the altar." She instructed as she stood up and perambulated into the ritual room.
"Wow." Emma whispered as she looked at the altar.
"They did a wonderful job on the altar, didn't they?" Augusta smiled at the young witches. "I decided not going to cast a circle tonight. Our family only does that for certain holidays. Come. Stand around the table." She spoke more softly than usual. She lit a candle and handed around stalks of wheat and began the ceremony. "We will begin with the first prayer on the list you have." They spoke together: "The Wheel of the Year has turned once more, and the harvest will soon be upon us.We have food on our tables, and the soil is fertile.Nature's bounty, the gift of the earth,gives us reasons to be thankful.Mother of the Harvest, with your sickle and basket,bless me with abundance and plenty."She then instructed them, "Now, take a minute or two and meditate about what you are planning this winter and what you may need to sacrifice to make that work." She smiled again as everyone closed their eyes and thought. A minute later, she told them. "Now, take your stalk of wheat and crumble it on the altar. After, we will do the second prayer." They all crumbled their stalk of wheat. Then they spoke again together, "The power of the Harvest is within me.As the seed falls to the earth and is reborn each year,I too grow as the seasons change.As the grain takes root in the fertile soil,I too will find my roots and develop.As the smallest seed blooms into a mighty stalk,I too will bloom where I landed.As the wheat is harvested and saved for winter,I too will set aside that which I can use later." She then grabbed the loaf of bread and broke a chunk off. Then she spoke alone, "I pass to you this gift of the first harvest." She passed the bread to Sirius as he did the same. When everyone had a piece of bread, she said, "You may eat you're your bread and drink the wine in the goblets now." When they had all done that, she nodded and they all said: "The bounty is here for all of us, and we are so blessed." With that, she said "Blessed Be" as she blew out the candle. "Please come to the drawing room and relax." She said in her normal voice as she led the way.
"Wow. That was nerve wracking." Dora sighed.
"I thought it was amazingly centering. I feel as though I could take on the world." Hermione contributed.
"I know what you mean, Mione." Luna added. "I feel as though my thoughts are more ordered." They sat down in the less formal drawing room. "High Priestess Longbottom, is that how it is supposed to feel?"
"Luna it is just Priestess or Augusta please. The answer is yes. This is supposed to help you center for the coming year."
"Why is it not High Priestess?" Hermione inquired.
"I never did all the studying that was required of a High Priestess in my family. I was not interested in going deeper than I needed to in order to conduct family rituals." She explained. She smiled at her new family. They talked for a while longer about what they thought of the ritual, then they went home.