Ch 61 The Autumn of Twenty-Twenty-Six
"Just the normal precautions for the Hogwarts Express this year?" Dennis Creevey confirmed the morning of September First, twenty-twenty-six. The key department heads had gone over everything Monday August thirty-first, and Dennis was just reconfirming what they had decided the day before.
"Nothing unusual about this trip," Harry reconfirmed. "No Weasley's or Potters. My cousin Dudley has children on the train, and there are children of some of the professors on the train, but no student who has had the issues I had, or Albus, when we rode the train.
"I'm still going to ride ahead of the train in the special Auror Range Rover, but we've decided not to use the old train as a decoy. The center of the troubles in the world of the Magi is no longer Great Britain."
"You are not the only one who has had enough trouble for a lifetime," Dennis shook his head, "Although you have had it worse than any of us."
Ginny Potter went up to her office Tuesday morning, September first, twenty-twenty-sixth. She had just come back from bringing Minerva and Gregory over to her mother's for school. Schooling didn't really stop in the summer when you were home schooling children, but it was at a much less intense level. Ginny knew that the teaching of the children would begin in earnest this week.
Minerva was nine this past summer. Two more years and she would be off to Hogwarts.
Minerva was an excellent student, according to Molly and the other teachers at and around the New Burrow. Schooling was a combination of home schooling lessons plus a smattering of group activities. French and Elfish were learned almost by osmosis at first, by speaking the languages exclusively for periods of time. Formal instruction in the languages started at six to eight years old, depending on the student.
Eventually Lily came bounding up the stairs, almost six month old Eileen in a carrier on her back, a large bag that contained both baby clothes and nappies, plus her tablet and other work material, stuffed in.
"Hello, mum," Lily breathlessly intoned. "Do you have the Floo in the basement kitchen and your office on the sixth floor just to make us exercise?"
"You could Apparate up here," Ginny replied, smiling.
"Eileen doesn't much like the feeling of Apparating, you know that!" Lily exclaimed. "Then I'd spend a half an hour calming her down."
Lily put Eileen in the playpen, and handed her a stuffed unicorn. Eileen looked at it suspiciously, threw it away, and yelled "Uuuupt," holding her hands up. The baby wiggled over to the edge of the playpen and tried to pull herself up.
"I have an interview to write up, Eileen," Lily sighed. "I cannot spend all day holding you!"
"Uuupt," Eileen insisted, holding on with one hand as her legs wobbled.
Mitzi levitated the child out of the playpen and started to talk to her in Elfish.
"Thank you, Mitzi," Lily told the Elf. Lily proceeded to take out her tablet, and two notepads, a scrap of paper with something written on it, and two biro's, putting them on her messy desk, pushing some other things off to the side. She dug into her bag and pulled out several business cards, going through them, before reaching back into her bag and finding more business cards. She finally found the one she was looking for, and put it on the desk with a victorious expression.
"Everybody keeps asking me how the new Cannon's seekers are doing," Lily huffed. "I keep telling them that they will have to wait and see. Erica and Viktor are good together, not like Erica and James, but Erica and James grew up together almost.
"Marylyn Merryweather, the other seeker, is a tiny little thing. She is shorter than I am, and I think she weighs half as much." Lily patted her stomach and felt up to her breasts. "Having and nursing two children will do that, I guess. She took her husband's last name. Marvin Merryweather is related to the toy store Merryweather family, but his family doesn't work there, and Marvin didn't want to. He loves Quidditch, but he is nowhere near the flyer his wife is, so it works out. As long as she doesn't get pregnant!"
"You have an interview to write up?" Ginny asked, trying to get Lily back on task.
"The bastard told me I was beautiful, and preened like he was some pretty boy I would be interested in," Lily snarled. "He is a nasty beater, and I'm not sure how to write about him and the team. If you are too nasty people won't talk to you, but the team is not going to be good this year."
"Write what you can, and I'll try and edit out some of the rough edges, Lily," Ginny smiled. Lily was fantastic at getting interviews, partly because she was just fanatically persistent, but when Lily was upset it came through in her writing, and Ginny had some serious editing to do.
"You have your own desk in mum's office," Rose told Elanor September first. Elanor was sitting at a chair her size, at a table sized for the chair. Rose was sitting cross legged on the floor next to Elanor, eight month old Gardner in her lap listening. "You and I will work on reading and numbers this morning, and then this afternoon we will go over to Grandmother Weasley's for school there."
"I can read!" Rose replied, holding up one of the early reader books she was just starting to read. Rose was teaching Elanor the same way grandmother Granger had taught her and her mother. Unfortunately, Grandmother Granger was not well, having what they were calling T.I.A.'s, little strokes that were causing dementia, so she was not able to help teach her great-grandchildren.
Rose was determined to be the kind of hands on mother her grandmother Granger was with her mother. Although it was going to be more difficult, with two children to take care of and teach, two children that were different ages
"Where are you going today?" Cleo asked Adam and Morgana Tuesday morning at breakfast.
"School!" Adam shouted. "I learn to read today!"
"It may take you more than one day to learn to read," Albus told his son, smiling at his son's eagerness. "You are doing a good job with your letters, though, and you should learn quickly enough."
"And numbers, too!" Adam shouted. Adam had always liked to learn, and was usually enthusiastic for anything new.
Morgana looked suspiciously at Adam. Morgana had not learned her ABC's. and counting stalled at the start of the teens. She was neither as smart nor as disciplined as Adam, although she was not dumb. She was just a more typical three-year-old.
"It is a small class, and everybody learns at their own pace," Cleo reassured Morgana.
Morgana was not reassured, as the frown on her face showed. She did not like change.
Albus marveled at just how different the two children were. They were raised the same way, as much as you could raise such two different personalities the same, but the difference was striking, a real testament to the nature side of what made people different, nature or nurture.
Well, they had formed a small Castle School in the castle, for Magi who lived in or worked in the castle, with the kind of very small class size that you could only have if money was no object. The children would be fine.
Harry did stay for the Hogwarts sorting. He didn't know very many of the students, or even recognize their parents last name. Of course he did recognize Ruby Appleleaf, one of the Professor Appleleafs' children, who was sorted into Ravenclaw like her parents. And Mary Granger, daughter of Lilly and Henry Granger, Gryffindor, and James Gudgeon, son of Gus and Wanda Gudgeon, Slytherin.
The surprise was the sorting of the Lovegood-Scamander twins. Lorcan, the heavier and darker of the two, was sorted into Ravenclaw like his mother. Lysander, the thinner, shorter and blonder twin, was sorted into Hufflepuff. It was very obvious that they were fraternal twins, not identical.
Saturday September fifth Ginny was working on the Prophet column with the Quidditch scores when Lily, carrying Eileen, came in and flopped down at her desk.
"The Harpies won their first game!" Ginny beamed. She had watched the Harpies play this Saturday.
Lily growled, "The Cannons lost. Really, they were not bad. They were almost even in points when the opposing seeker caught the snitch. I'm anxious to talk to Erica and Viktor, as well as Marylyn and Marvin. The seekers are not bad, but they are not as smooth as Erica and James were."
Before Ginny and Lily were finished Billy came in, carrying a sleeping Will. "The seekers were very apologetic that they were not better," Billy told his wife and mother-in-law, "but Jake says that they were just learning, and things will get better. And the rest of the team is used to James distracting some members of the other team from time to time, and that will come with practice.
"Besides, we were playing one of the better teams, unlike the Harpies. If they had lost today it would have really been embarrassing."
"The Harpies were good," Ginny told Billy, "but you are right. A loss today would have been embarrassing."
"I told Viktor that coming to Sunday brunch was easy when you win," Erica told Molly as they came through the Floo Sunday morning. "He needs to come when the Cannons lose and take the mickey."
"I don't like to lose," Viktor admitted. "The team is good, and we should get better. It is just that the teamwork that the Cannons are used to takes a while to learn. We will get better."
For the rest of the day Viktor did adsorb a certain amount of grief from some of the members of the Weasley family, which he adsorbed with grace and humility.
"Don't say it," Lily muttered. "It would have been embarrassing if the Cannons had not won their second game, considering who we were playing."
Billy was in one of the unused bedrooms of Grimmauld Place this evening of September twelfth, resting next to a sleeping Will while Eileen slept in a cot next to the bed.
"Their seeker isn't very good," Lily admitted. "Viktor is better than Marylyn, but the team really needs an adequate second string seeker, and she is better than some of the first string seekers. She caught the snitch, but it was partly because Erica and Viktor had spotted it and told her husband.
"I don't want to write too much about how they communicate, and give away the Cannon's secrets. It is not just that they communicate, but how, that makes the difference."
"I know, I know," Viktor told several groups of people the next Sunday. "Two games and I still haven't caught a snitch."
"The Cannon's still won," Bill Weasley consoled Billy. "I still expect the team to finish with a winning season, and to be a respected and profitable team."
"Do you actually manage money for the whole family?" Viktor asked.
"Not exactly, but there is a family office that handles finances for much of the family," Bill let Viktor know. "James and Erica were part of it from the day they married, because the Cannons and the family investment in the team was always going to be key to their finances."
"When I first met her Erica was worried about money, but she isn't now," Viktor quietly told Bill. "What has changed?"
"All of the Potter children and grandchildren will have all the money they need to do almost anything productive they could want to do," Bill explained. "They just won't be allowed to do nothing. The finances are complex, but Harry is quite well off. Erica is never going to be poor or even lower middle class."
"It is really none of my business," Viktor frowned, but then smiled. "I'm glad for Erica, though."
"You are finally earning your most generous salary, you cocky bastard," Ron kidded Viktor the following Sunday.
"Do you know what it is like confronting not only fans but also owners every Sunday?" Viktor responded. "I have it on good authority that at the Battle of Hogwarts you bled Cannon colors."
Ron's face turned solemn. "We joke about many things around here, but never that. I lost a brother in that battle, and good friends."
"I'm sorry," a visibly chastened Viktor replied. "I will remember that, and thank you for telling me."
"You are welcome," Ron muttered. "You learning how to work with the team, and Erica?"
'Yes, we are really working as a team. Not just me with Erica. The whole team works better together than any other team I have ever been on or watched. James Potter and Billy Lionheart put together an excellent team."
The following Sunday Viktor was not with Erica Sunday. "His mother is visiting," Erica explained.
"Do you like his mother?" Ginny wondered.
"No," Erica mumbled, "and she doesn't like me either. It doesn't really matter, though. It is not like Viktor and I are dating or anything. We are probably going to see a little less of each other, now that the spotting is going as well as it is."
It was the eight-thirty Tuesday morning, the first of December, twenty-twenty-six. Ginny's mobile rang, and she saw that it was Erica calling.
"Good morning, Erica," Ginny answered.
"Good morning, mum Potter," Erica replied. "Could I come over to talk?"
"Come up to the drawing room," Ginny told her. "I've not gone up to the office yet, and it may be more comfortable to talk there. I'm just back from bringing Minerva and Gregory over to the New Burrow."
"James is at the child care and preschool area of the Cannons," Erica let Ginny know. "I will see you in a few."
Erica came into the room a short time later, and plopped down on the other end of the sofa where Ginny was sitting.
"James was my only boyfriend," Erica started. "I guess. If a boyfriend is someone who woos you, ask you out when you didn't expect it or when you hoped he would but you were not sure, well, it is like we just always expected that we would be together. He never really asked me to a dance; we just both knew we would go together. We didn't talk about getting married until I was pregnant, and then it wasn't a decision, exactly. It was just expected. Besides, once I was pregnant I wanted him, physically, and he was … he was happy with it too.
"He was happy we had James Jr., but he really wasn't into children. When I asked if he wanted another he was rather indifferent, more worried about it interfering with Quidditch than eager. We had a good marriage, and were happy, but I really didn't have anything to compare it to."
"James was rather fanatical about Quidditch," Ginny admitted.
"Fanatical about Quidditch and he liked me," Erica sighed. "Then he killed himself, the idiot, and," Erica sighed, close to tears, "I still miss him. We were best friends and partners and even if I had to pull him away from Quidditch, maybe because I could, we would have had a good marriage. But that died when he did. I miss being part of a couple."
Ginny wondered if this conversation had anything to do with Viktor. Erica was silent for a couple of minutes, like she was trying to figure out what to say next. Finally, Erica said, "Then Viktor was hired to be a seeker, and he and I started working together. We just meshed as seeker and spotter, and he is really good at the tactics of the whole team as well. Jake and Billy and I have been able to teach him all about how we work together as a team, and he has contributed his own ideas. That part has been good.
"The other part is more awkward. He likes to cook with me; James never did. He likes children; James liked his son but …"
Erica looked at Ginny like she was a little lost, trying to figure out what to say. Ginny nodded, trying to give Erica a sympathetic smile.
"We spend so much time together those first weeks and months, and then decided that we needed a little distance, but that wasn't quite working either. We've eaten all our meals together the last three weeks, and he wants me to go to meet his family before Christmas."
"Do you want to go?" Ginny wondered.
"It is too soon, except maybe it isn't," Erica replied. "I want your advice. I'm not sure I need your permission, exactly, but James was your son and Viktor isn't and it is just very awkward."
"I'd want Harry to marry again if I died," Ginny told Erica. "He would want me to be free to marry again as well. If you had a good marriage you want that for your partner."
"Viktor wants my child to be a Potter and not a Krum," Erica told Ginny. "Even there he is nice and considerate. So maybe we have to wait until this summer."
"Is that what you want?" Ginny wondered.
"Not really, but I don't want it to seem that I'm rushing things, or doing something that I shouldn't but, that is why I'm talking to you, and my mum, and …"
Erica looked down, sniffed, and sighed. She started to cry. "James wants to know why Viktor leaves at night. I think Viktor has courted James as much as me, and I think it has worked. I love Viktor for loving James almost as much as for loving me."
"I think that is a rather good recommendation," Ginny admitted. "I have no problem with you going with Viktor."
"I need a hug," Erica sighed, through tears. "Can you be happy and sad at the same time? That is what I feel like now, happy and excited about what is new and sad about what I've lost, what James and I and the whole family has lost."
Erica and Ginny hugged, and both cried. They were just breaking apart when Lily came flying up the stairs, caught sight of Ginny and Erica when she was several steps up from the floor of the drawing room, and slowly came back down.
"What's going on?" Lily wondered.
"Waah waa pffft Waah," Eileen added from the carrier on Lily's back.
Lily took the baby off her back. Ginny sat down and Lily handed Eileen to her grandmother.
Lily put her hands on her hips and stared at Erica.
Erica looked down, a little embarrassed, and wiped her face.
"Did you have a big fight with Viktor or something," Lily pried.
"I think I'm going to spend the first part of the Christmas holidays, before Christmas, with him in Bulgaria," Erica admitted.
"He's nicer than my stupid brother," Lily muttered. "Well, at least as nice. Not quite as good a seeker, but in all honesty a nicer person in some ways."
"So you approve?" Erica asked in astonishment.
Lily looked at her mother, then down at the floor, then back at Erica. "I'm not sure it is really my place to approve or disapprove," she admitted. "I like him. He will fit in the family, although this family accepts almost anyone. Will he be coming back to grandmum's Sunday again?"
"Starting this Sunday," Erica replied. "I think. I hope."
"Good," Lily replied. "I need to pump some milk so I'm ready for a big interview this morning. If I don't my boobs are going to explode. Mum, you are going to have to feed Eileen."
"I will carry Eileen upstairs," Erica told Lily.
"Thanks," Lily replied as she ran up the stairs.
Erica shook her head looking at Lily. "She never walks, does she?" Erica laughed.
"She and James were alike that way, always busy," Ginny admitted.
Sunday December thirteenth Viktor arose as their meal was starting and said, "Erica and I have an announcement."
The room became very quiet, as every eye was looking at the couple.
"Erica and I are engaged. We talked about waiting until after our trip to visit my family, but decided to get the awkward introductions over all at once. Besides, other things are pushing the timing ahead of what we originally expected.
"We tried to sign up for prenatal classes. Erica wants me as her labor coach. Being in the delivery room when I'm just a male friend and not her husband was, we were told, could be awkward or even impossible.
"Erica's baby is due February twenty-second, and the Quidditch season starts March sixth. So ideally we would be married before then. We are thinking January thirty or thirty-first."
Viktor sat down to a buzz of talk around all the tables.
To Erica and Viktor's surprise, no one objected.
"I'm surprised you have not left for Bulgaria," Ginny told Erica Sunday morning December twentieth. Erica grimaced and looked at Viktor.
"I told my parents last week Monday that I was bringing Erica and James," Viktor replied. "I did not exactly receive a warm reception, bringing my pregnant girlfriend and her son by someone else. That she is carrying James child makes it even worse, I guess.
"I've seen how you accept all these children, no matter what. Morgana is as much a grandchild and great-grandchild as any of the other children, even though there is no biological connection." Viktor sighed. "I'm not sure my mother would accept any child of mine if she didn't approve of my wife. At least Erica is a witch and white."
"I will pray for you," Ginny responded.
2023