Ch 50 November

It was Friday November tenth. Ginny woke up and looked at her two babies. Gregory looked huge, growing like only newborns grow, and was close to doubling his birth weight. Close enough, anyway.

Monica Jane had gained weight, but she was still not all that far over the weight for healthy babies to be at birth. She was still on oxygen, a little device sticking up her nose, although the healers said she was needing less oxygen.

She was wearing an outfit that would sound an alert if she stopped breathing, and it had gone from going off every day or two to, Ginny thought, only going off once the last week.

Harry picked up Gregory. "How is my big boy?" Harry asked. Gregory rewarded his with what might have been a smile, and let Harry change his nappy. Mitzi had just come into the bedroom, reliving the night Elf who watched Ginny and the babies overnight. Mitzi changed Monica and put her on Ginny's breast, and Ginny used her wand to help with the nursing. Monica was finally latching on and nursing reasonably well, but was always more tentative than Gregory, and never ate as much.

"Ready for Gregory?" Harry asked.

"Ready as I will ever be," Ginny replied, and together they positioned Gregory so he could eat as well. Gregory set to work on the serious business of getting as much milk as he could as quickly as he could. The contrast between the two babies could not have been greater.

Halfway through Harry took Gregory to wind him, the eager nursing having caused him to swallow a fair amount of air as well as his mother's milk, before letting him finish. Ginny was totally tapped out on that side when Gregory was done, and he was eager for more.

Harry walked the big baby as Ginny finished up with the little one, and then let Gregory try and finish up on her other breast. Nursing two such different babies was complicated and tiring and emotionally draining.

The couple asked for breakfast to be brought up to their bedroom. After eating, "I will be back a little after noon, and have all weekend off," Harry told Ginny.

"I let Lily know that I will text her when she should come over," Ginny let Harry know. "I'm going back to bed for a while, as long as the babies are sleeping."

Right after the Friday morning meeting James approached Lily. "I want you to watch the Ballycastle Bats play the Falmouth Falcons tomorrow," James told Lily. "I am thinking of trying to recruit Alfred, one of the Ballycastle beaters, and I'd like your opinion."

"I don't know if mum will let me," Lily retorted, "but if I do, how much will you pay me?"

"Don't you want us to win?" James asked, a little shocked.

"Yes, so Bill can make more money, and we can get a better apartment, or maybe a house," Lily replied, hands on her hips looking like their mother. "Meanwhile we are going to need the money I am making, and I'm not about to risk my boss lady's wrath to please my second, no third, favorite brother."

"Ouch, that hurts," James replied in mock anger. "Find out from mum if you can watch the match and get back to me."

Lily saw the text message from her mother. It was ten-thirty, a little late, but her mother was fighting getting enough sleep with the two babies. She took the Floo to twelve Grimmauld Place, and went up to her mother's office.

"Hello, Mum," she said as she went into the office. "How are you this morning?"

"Awake, finally," Ginny responded. "It was not an easy night. Are we all set for tomorrow's games?"

"All of the reporters are able to be there," Lily replied, looking at a list on her tablet. "Since we have one assigned to each team we should have two at each game, so even if one has an emergency at the last minute and cannot attend we should be covered."

"Thank you for taking care of the scheduling, Lily," Ginny replied.

"James wants me to watch the Ballycastle Bats play the Falmouth Falcons tomorrow, Mum. He wants me to report on one of their beaters, one he may want to recruit."

"What did you tell him?" Ginny wondered.

"I asked if he was going to pay me to scout for him," Lily grinned. "I also said that I needed your permission, since you are paying me for the work I am doing for you."

"When did you get so responsible?" Ginny wondered.

"Since I have been paying for things," Lily growled. "We looked at house prices and Mum, houses cost a LOT of money! With what we are earning now Billy and I are POOR. Well, maybe not poor poor, but we have to be careful with our money."

"I grew up poor, and I still have a problem spending money on some things," Ginny told her daughter. "There is a biblical passage about being good stewards in little things before you can be given responsibility for big things. If you are good stewards with your money now I am sure your father and I can help you later."

Lily nodded. She wasn't sure how much later her mother's later would be, but so far this growing up had been harder and more expensive than she had anticipated.

"You can watch the Ballycastle Bats as far as I am concerned," Ginny let Lily know. "Once the scores start coming in I will need you, so you may have to leave the game early if it goes on and on."

"Thank you, Mum," Lily replied. They moved on to other assignments and gaming news before the babies woke up and pulled Ginny back to them.

"How was the Ballycastle beater?" Ginny asked her daughter when they gathered Saturday night to compile the scores and get the Sunday Prophet Quidditch column ready.

"He has a good arm and aim," Lily replied. "The Ballycastle team has some good players, but they don't seem to work together very well. I noticed a few places where I would have had Alfred do something very different. I'm not sure if it is bad leadership, bad tactics, or just players who are not working together. I've a report I'm going to send to James."

"Is he going to pay you?" Ginny wondered.

"Yes, but I'm not sure how much. He is not sure how much. It depends on how useful my scouting ends up being." Lily frowned. "I don't know why he is bargaining with me like that. I am his SISTER and he says this is all business."

"Your brother's pay is highly dependent on how profitable the team is," Ginny told Lily. "That is why James and the rest of the team has to promote themselves, not just win games."

"So it isn't just a game," Lily groused, not really having realized that it wasn't just players playing, but there was other work involved.

"It is a game, but it is also a business, Lily," Ginny confirmed.

Harry woke up as Ginny entered the bedroom. "Put the column to bed?" he asked.

"Nursed the babies too," Ginny told Harry as the two babies were brought in by the night Elf. "Now it is time to put me to bed."

Harry was worried about James and the risks he was taking. He was not only an excellent seeker, but one of the most flamboyant, coming alarming close to crashing into objects all too often. He was not about to mention it to Ginny now, though; she needed her sleep.

Harry looked as his tired wife climbed into bed and pulled up the covers. His Ginny, who wanted sex most nights, before the twins were born, was already sleeping. Between the babies and the Quidditch column she was exhausted. Although even exhausted as she was, he thought she was still the most beautiful woman in the world and made a mental note to tell her that in the morning.

Sunday morning the twelfth Harry looked at the morning Prophet, reading Ginny (and Lily's) column. "Only two more weeks of the regular fall season, beautiful," he commented. "Then you have a break."

"We will still try and do two columns a week, but without the deadlines we have during the playing seasons," Ginny noted. pecking him on cheek for his endearment. "I hate it that Lily left school early, but I could not have managed the last months without her help, or the help of someone else. She is a natural as a Quidditch reporter.

"She still has an attitude, the one that got her in so much trouble at Hogwarts and with us, but that attitude actually helps get interviews. It is like she doesn't understand that no means no, so she pesters you until you give in."

"Do you think the Cannons will win their last two games?" Harry wondered.

"At least one of them, as well as they have been playing," Ginny answered. "The team has come a long way since a somewhat shaky start. James doesn't let his ego get in the way of wanting the whole team to be good. He shows off some, but not when it will hurt the team."

"Your brother Bill says the team has started to make money. Every seat is full when they have to play in one of the smaller stadiums," Harry told Ginny. "I'm just a little worried about James's safety. He hasn't hurt himself since early in his Hogwarts career, but too many of his close calls look too close as far as I am concerned."

"That is part of what makes him such an appealing and marketable player," Ginny replied, "but it concerns me too. Especially after seeing what shape poor Bill Lionheart is in. It has been years since Bill has been able to work, and it is like they are losing him a small slice at a time. I know I hurt my head seriously during my Quidditch career, and ending up like Bill Lionheart rather haunts me as well."

Harry didn't say anything. When Ginny was injured he had been told that dementia late in life was a potential side effect of such a serious head injury. Harry was just resigned to love Ginny whatever the future brought. That was part of the wedding vows. For better or worse.

"It is a rather small group," Molly sighed as Harry, Ginny, Minerva and the babies showed up at the New Burrow. "Bill and his family are in France, Molly and her family are in Switzerland with Albus, George has something going on with Roxanne's family. Hermione is with Rose and that family, working on something, I don't know what."

"Lily said something about seeing the Lionheart family today before she left," Ginny added. "Tabitha is coming over with her children, and Donna wants to get everybody together to plan for Christmas."

"I'm counting on everybody for Christmas day!" Molly emphasized, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Yes, Mum!" a large percentage of the adults answered.

Harry and Ginny left after the noon meal. Ginny was tired. Taking care of Monica Jane was exhausting physically and mentally.

That Sunday afternoon Albus looked at the two babies in their cots. Sometime in the first six months' babies morphed from infants into babies, with more personality. Adam and Morgana were generally good babies. Albus could not complain.

Actually, being Albus Peverell was a rather good thing to be at the moment.

Even changing messy nappies was easier when there was an Elf ready at any moment to help, or to take away the smelly mess.

It helped that the business of governing didn't take all that much time, and much of the details that had somehow fallen to the Crown Prince were at first dealt with by Jesus and Ginny. Cleo handled the details by not paying any attention to them, relying on the others. It was working out rather well.

Twice a week Albus and Cleo worked with the Swiss college and some engineers at various Swiss business on what Albus called 'the science of magic.' These were always intense sessions, where Cleo tried to see what others could not, and Albus had to try to explain. It was hard work, but very satisfying work at times, and more often than not successful.

There was time to practice music, Albus on the bass and guitar, Cleo on the organ. They had a small band, and it looked to Albus like Cleo was working on arranging music. He could ride on her thoughts when she was doing it, but there was too much going on for him to feel comfortable when she was fully into arranging music.

Albus could sing harmony and play his bass, while being aware of the melody, but that was absolutely the limit of his musical ability. Somehow Cleo could hear all the instruments. If she wanted to, which she didn't, she could be a conductor.

"What are you working on, Love," Albus asked Cleo.

Cleo held up some sheet music. "We practiced this last week, but it could be better." She went back to working on the sheet music, making notations with four different colored pencils.

Albus went to get his bass and guitar and to practice.

Life was good.

Sammy Sun looked at the report. Two more Aurors killed guarding the mountain of The Lord of the Dementors. He used to commiserate with his North American counterparts, as they were losing Aurors to The Pirate Witch Queen, but that problem was taken care of.

He had a hard time believing Albus Peverell and his weird wife Cleo would be able to vanquish The Lord of the Dementors, and if they did there would be casualties. Massive casualties, he feared. Sammy was dreading the fulfillment of the prophesies.

2023