It was the day Ginny's family was due to move to Grimmauld Place, and Ginny planned to have a lie-in. It would be her last time in her bed for God knows how long, and she intended to spend as much time there as possible.
Ginny's plans rarely worked out, and today wouldn't be an exception. At 6 am, Ginny was startled awake by a shrieking noise. She shot upright in her bed, her hand automatically reaching for her wand on the bedside table as she looked around the room.
Ginny didn't know what she expected to see, but it wasn't this. She was stunned, unable to speak as she looked at the house-elf standing in her room, struggling to hold two very small babies who were both screaming.
"Mistress Ginny!" the house-elf shrieked, its voice almost as high as the wailing coming from the babies. "I am trying to bring the babies to you and Master Harry, but I can't find him." The house-elf frowned and started to walk towards her.
Ginny shrank away from the approaching house-elf and shouted, "Mum!" as loud as she could. This stopped the house-elf in its tracks, and soon Mrs. Weasley came running into Ginny's room, closely followed by Ginny's father.
"What's wr—" Mrs. Weasley stopped speaking when she saw the house-elf and the babies. She, too, was frozen now. This left Mr. Weasley to step into the room. Assessing for any danger, he decided they would be okay for now and turned to Ginny. "What is going on?" he asked calmly.
"I don't know!" Ginny said in a frenzy. "I just woke up because of the noise, and this elf says he was supposed to bring these babies to me and Harry!"
At the same time, the elf muttered, "Dotty is not a he," and Mrs. Weasley seemed to unfreeze as she asked, "Harry? Like Harry Harry? Harry Potter, I mean." She stumbled over her words.
"I don't know!" Ginny was quickly getting into a panic. "I don't know any other Harrys!"
The babies' cries only worsened as everyone in the room grew more anxious.
"Give them here," Mrs. Weasley said, walking over to the elf.
"Wait, Molly!" Mr. Weasley stopped her in her tracks. "We don't know who these babies are, who they belong to, or who sent them here with this elf. They could be cursed or some sort of portkey."
"Oh, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley brushed it off, "who would curse a baby?"
Before Mr. Weasley could reply that some very evil people who were at large at the moment would definitely curse a baby, especially if the babies were supposed to go to Harry, Mrs. Weasley reached the babies and expertly took them both into her arms. Arthur sighed in relief when nothing immediately bad happened to his wife.
"Tell me why you are here," Arthur turned to the house-elf. "Who sent you? Who are these babies?"
"Dotty does not know," Dotty said sadly. "Dotty does not remember. Dotty woke up this morning, and all she knew were her mistress and master. No one could take away her mistress and master. Then a man came and said Dotty had to take his new mistress and master to be with his mistress and master." Dotty was suddenly speaking very fast.
"Slow down," Arthur told Dotty. "Who are your mistress and master?"
Dotty was looking at Ginny now, who had been sitting very still. "Well, Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter, of course!" Dotty said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And my new young mistress and master. Dotty had to bring the babies to her mistress and master, but Dotty could not find Master Harry. Dotty was hoping Mistress Ginny could show Dotty how to get to Master Harry."
"What do you mean?" Ginny spoke now. "I don't have a house-elf, and I don't think Harry does either!"
Dotty looked upset when Ginny said this. "I am here to serve my mistress and master!" she said indignantly.
"What man gave these babies to you?" Arthur asked, ignoring that his daughter and his son's friend now seemed to own a house-elf together.
"I do not know, sir. I can only remember a little. Dotty thinks strong magic was used to remove memories."
"Do you remember what the man looked like?" Arthur pressed on.
Ginny was starting to panic. "Why did you bring the babies to me?"
Dotty ignored Arthur now that her mistress was talking to her. "Young master and mistress should be with master and mistress," Dotty said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
For a second, the only noise came from the babies, who Molly was still trying to soothe.
"Are you saying these babies are mine?" Ginny's voice was so high, she hardly recognized herself.
"Yes, mistress," Dotty said calmly, with a smile on her face.
Ginny passed out.
When she woke up several minutes later, her father was gone. Her mother sat on the side of her bed, and Dotty had the shrieking babies back in her arms.
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley noticed she was waking back up. "Don't worry, dear. Your father is waking up your brothers. We are going to leave straight away. We can't stay here any longer."
"What about them?" Ginny said, her gaze fixed on the house-elf holding the two babies. Her babies, the elf seemed to be saying.
Mrs. Weasley hesitated. "We can bring them with us. The house is under protection. No one could follow us, and the elf won't be able to give away our location. We'll figure this all out when we get to Grimmauld Place. Your father has sent a message. They know we are coming."
It wasn't even 7 o'clock before the whole Weasley group was standing in the street outside Grimmauld Place. Ginny looked around anxiously. Dotty had promised her that she would be able to follow her wherever she went with the babies. It only took a second before Dotty appeared before her with the babies shrieking louder than ever. Ginny felt sorry for the babies. They looked like newborns and had already been through so much in such a short period of time.
Ginny worried about them being away from their mother for so long until a thought came to her that perhaps they were with their mother for the first time, if Dotty was to be believed.
With this thought, Ginny reached down and picked up one of the babies. This baby was dressed in a white outfit and was lighter than Ginny had been expecting. The baby snuggled into her and seemed to relax almost instantly. Ginny's eyes were drawn to the tuft of bright red hair on the infant's head as Ron let out a sigh, "I know you said not to say anything, but what the bloody hell is going on?"
Ron looked disheveled from being pulled out of bed at such an early hour.
"Language, Ron!" his mother scolded him."Language, Ron!" his mother scolded him.
Ron's father fixed him with a stern stare, and nothing else was said.
Ginny continued staring at the baby in her arms, acutely aware of the other baby that was screaming, when Dumbledore seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Dumbledore never seemed to be surprised by anything he came across, and the Weasleys standing in the street in the early morning with two babies and a house-elf was not going to be an exception. "Good morning, all!" he smiled cheerfully before providing them with the address for Sirius' house. The house seemed to suddenly appear, and Dumbledore followed the Weasleys inside.
Ginny stuck close to Dotty, who still held the other baby.
"Let me take the baby, Ginny," Mrs. Weasley approached her daughter. She didn't like the image of her daughter holding a child so young.
Ginny hesitated, then handed the baby over to her mother, only to lean over and take the second baby into her arms. She studied this baby as she had the last. It was also light and bony, but while the other baby had a tuft of red hair, this one had a tuft of black hair—hair like Harry's, Ginny couldn't help but think.