Author's Notes: This is a chapter a lot of you have been waiting for! Hopefully it's what you expected or better ;) Please leave a review. I reply to all of them (if you aren't logged into an account I can't reply).

It's a weird time here, this is posted Christmas of 2020 (Happy Holidays to all of you) but we're in the middle of a plague. I'm so thankful for all of you reading. If you want to support me, you can join my (Sarah Jaune) and read along as I publish original stories. It's only $3/month.

Thanks for everything!

Thanks to Arnel for beta'ing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

James stretched out his legs as he sat in his bed and tried not to think of the sore muscles. He glanced at his schedule next to him and noted it was May 2nd already. He had a game the next day, when Alex would be two months old. He'd wanted Caroline to bring him to the game since he would be starting, but realistically she couldn't manage the crowds without him by her side. So he hadn't asked and he contented himself with the progress they'd made. He needed to get to sleep shortly or he'd be a wreck for the game, but he couldn't settle yet. Alex was asleep again, and hopefully would be until at least three. He glanced over at his wand to see the charm was still active for him to hear if his son woke. Caroline had told him to turn it off, that she'd handle it since he had a game, but he simply couldn't do it. He glanced over at his open door and off to where his wife and baby slept and couldn't believe how much their lives had changed.

He had a baby. He had a son whom he loved more than he thought possible. He was only nineteen. His mates on his team knew about the baby, but of course they thought Caroline had given birth to him. They'd taken the mickey when they'd first heard. Still, they had been supportive. When he'd needed time off to be with her, they'd all covered for him and no one said a word about him missing practice. He knew his playing had suffered some in the first few weeks after he'd gone back to work, but now he was getting the hang of functioning on interrupted sleep. Alex typically only woke once a night and it was getting later and later every single week. Soon enough, his mother had promised, he'd be sleeping through the night.

How had he been here already two months? He didn't know. It felt like just yesterday his father had come to collect him and tell him he was a daddy. He came back to this absolutely miniscule baby he wanted desperately to protect from everything. He wanted to keep his son safe from any harm. His dad hadn't told him right away what that poison had done to Alex, or what Nat had healed him from, but he understood why his father had put it off. His father was protecting him, his son, from a hard truth. Nat had told them what she'd done after she'd pulled the brown muck from his little body, but it hadn't sunk in, not then. It had taken his father bringing it up again for him to fully grasp what had been done to Alex. Thank Merlin for Nat. He didn't know if Alex would have survived with that stuff in him, but he knew how much pain his child had been in and there hadn't been any way he could fix it. Holding him wasn't working. The dogs weren't helping. Nothing helped until Nat had healed him.

And Caroline… he could not love her more than he did now. She'd said she was going to nurse him and she'd done it. It had been… he didn't have the words for it. It had been stunning to see her feeding the baby at her breast. He'd never even touched her there, but she'd done this for him, for Alex, and he knew now for herself. It was healing her. She was getting stronger for the bound she had with their baby.

He was their baby. He still felt bad about Alex's biological mother, but Caroline was here and doing the work and she loved Alex with all of her heart. There was no denying she would do anything for him. She was so patient and loving, even when exhausted. She doted on him and thanks to her hard work of feeding him, he was nearly half a stone. He was still small for his age but he was quickly catching up.

He glanced once more to the door and was surprised to see Caroline standing in the doorway, chewing on her lip. She had on a light cotton shirt that snapped in the front to make it easier to nurse and a pair of his old boxers, which she'd stolen for sleepwear. "Is Alex okay?" he asked her, pushing further up in bed and wishing he'd put on a shirt. He'd meant to, since he often went into her room in the middle of the night, but he hadn't bothered yet.

"He's fine," she said as she moved into the room and shut the door.

"But…"

"I told the dogs to watch him," she explained as she moved slowly to the bed and sat down on the end, staring at him with huge eyes. "Plus, you didn't listen and your wand is still monitoring him."

James' grin was a little crooked as he tried to squash down any thought of why she was in his room, sitting on his bed. His body had a very definite idea of what it wanted, but he hadn't let his body rule him once in his relationship with her. "Well, I was never one to listen."

Her eyes dropped down to the spread and she ran a finger along it as her blonde hair fell in a curtain around her face. She'd gained some weight with nursing Alex. Her finger had definitely rounded out, but her cheeks had as well and it only served to make her even more stunning to him. "You do listen, though. You've always listened to me. You've always put me first. You've always… been everything."

"I love you," he said simply. There was no other explanation.

"I love you, too," she replied with a hitch to her voice. Then she climbed over to him on the bed, kneeling a bit as she pressed her lips to his, running her hand along his jaw and into the hair that needed a trim.

His whole system fired to life, begging him to kiss her back, to run his hands along her body, to do anything but passively kiss her with his hands firmly fisted into the covers. He lasted almost two minutes before he pulled back, a harsh breath forced from his lungs. "Okay, that's enough."

She shook her and bent in to kiss him again.

"I can't!" James closed his eyes and turned away. "Sweetheart, I can't."

"Why?"

He took a moment to try to steady himself, to try to be the man who she needed and he fought the rush inside him so he could meet her eyes. "It's too much. I want you too much."

"I want you too," she told him quietly with her eyes steady on him. He couldn't breathe and didn't move, not even when she sat back and let her hands flutter in the air. "I don't know how to do this."

"Do what?" he asked, though he couldn't understand how he could still speak coherently.

"I want to be your wife," she told him and then her eyes fell to hands, still clenched in the sheets. She reached over and slid her fingers along his until he was forced to take her hand. "I want to make love to you."

All the blood left his head and he shook it, trying to clear it. "Say that again."

"I'm ready," his wife whispered. "I'm scared out of my mind, and I can't promise I won't freak out sometime, but I'm ready."

James pulled in a breath, but still felt like he couldn't breathe. "We don't need to do this. You don't need to rush anything. We can—"

"I've been thinking about this for almost two months," she told him. "I want this!"

"But—"

Caroline let out a shaking laugh. "I honestly didn't think it was going to be so hard to get my husband to sleep with me."

Instantly chastened, he shook his head. "No! No, I just don't want you to be hurt. You know how beautiful I think you are, how much I want you."

She leaned forward to kiss him again and took his hand with her, placing it where he hadn't been allowed to touch. It was wonderful and terrifying in so many ways.

They had to stop several times for her to get comfortable and she, for some stupid reason, thought he wouldn't like what she looked like without her top on, but he did everything he could think of to reassure her.

When they finally came together it was the most magical thing he'd ever done in his life and he took no small pleasure in knowing she'd felt the same level of passion he had as they joined for the first time.

When it was over and he held her close, whispering to her how much she meant to him, how much he loved her, he knew nothing but an intense level of love and happiness.

"Are you okay?" he asked her finally as he caressed her back lightly.

"I wasn't afraid at all," she said after a moment. She glanced up at him, her blue eyes shining a bit. "It was nothing like I expected and it was wonderful and I was never afraid, just a little unsure sometimes."

"It's okay to say if you were, if you are," he reminded her. "It's okay to be upset."

She shook her head. "You made love to me. You made me feel loved. You didn't hurt me or humiliate me or use me. It's what it always should be."

"It will always be this way," he promised as he pressed his lips to her brow.

They heard Rufus' low chuffing before Alex's small cry.

"I'll get him," James said as he threw on pants and handed her clothes to her. He went over to her room and found his tiny son had wet himself straight through his pajamas. "Well, I'd be unhappy too, little man," he cooed to the baby as he carried him to the small changing table to clean him up. "I bet you were cold."

He carried his baby back to his wife where she still waited in his bed as the dogs followed along behind him to settle along the foot of the bed. "Here," he said as he handed the baby over and she settled him at her breast. He watched and marveled again that she was here, she was doing this with him, and that their son was safe and growing. "Will you stay in my bed? Will you make this our bed?"

He saw something he couldn't identify in her eyes and he instantly tamped down on the hurt. He waited for her, as he'd been waiting for her for so many years. "I don't want him alone," she said finally as she glanced over to her room.

"Well," he breathed out the relief, thankful he'd kept his mouth shut, "I'll go move his cot and his things in here. We'll all share this room."

"Are you sure?"

"You are my wife and he is our son," he whispered as he leaned in first to kiss her and then to lay his lips on his son's brow as the baby continued to eat. "Your place is here with me, and it's what I want."

He rose from the bed and went to move his son's things. Alex would soon enough be in his own room, and until then they could share. He'd wanted to be in with Alex and Caroline all along anyway, but he'd only had that a few times when he'd fallen asleep with them.

Now he would have it every night and he didn't think there was anything he wanted more.

~*~

"This might be one of the more insane ideas you have ever had," Teddy whispered so only Harry could hear him as they unloaded babies into pouches and gabbed toys and nappies for everyone.

Harry didn't have a single word to say in his defense, except that his son was starting today for the first time and he remembered what that had been like when it was Ginny. She'd been so hopeful, so excited, and the entire family, save Charlie and Hermione, who was still at school, had turned out to cheer her on.

He glanced around at his entire family as he watched Ginny tuck a sleeping Olivia into the wrap on her front after helping Caroline secure Alex. He wished he could have one of the babies, but that wasn't his reality, not here in the real world. In the real world, he needed his hands free to defend his family at all costs.

"Come now, young lady," Arthur said to Emma as he held out his hand for the three-year-old. "You hold Poppop's hand."

Emma smiled up at her great-grandfather and beamed. "Can I has a lolly, Poppop?"

Arthur cleared his throat as Teddy groaned. "Really?"

"Shh," Arthur whispered to Emma as he shook his head. "You're going to get me in trouble?"

"No lollies," Gran Molly said as she bustled over shoot her husband a withering look, "but I made some lovely biscuits and I have strawberries."

Harry turned as Caroline moved to his side with the tiny baby in the wrap as Victoire laughed with Molly, Dominique, and Fred's fiancé, Eva. Victoire swayed with Amelia in the carrier on her front while Bill, Percy, Ron and George all stood together, seemingly talking but in truth watching. It was a last-minute surprise for him to have bought the tickets and to make sure they could all make it.

Hermione weren't here yet, but that wasn't terribly surprising. She'd said she'd be late and he'd left her ticket for her at the box office.

"Let's head up," Harry called out to the group as they headed for the top box. Emma didn't even make it up a flight of stairs before Fred had hauled her into his big arms to carry her up. Harry was right behind them as she laid her head on her cousin's shoulder and smiled at him.

She absolutely melted his heart.

They settled in the stands, all of them save Louis and Charlie, and those still at Hogwarts just as the announcer called out the names of the players. He kept Caroline between himself and Roxanne, who was absolutely smitten with the tiny baby and completely ignoring the start of the game.

He smiled and kept his eyes on the crowds and their surroundings, but he couldn't help the flush of pride as his son streaked out onto the field, waving to the crowds as everyone cheered.

James Potter. Chaser.

He felt Caroline shift in her seat, her eyes trained on James as she beamed to see him play. This was her first time at one of his professional games. How he'd managed to talk her into surprising James for this game, he had no idea. She'd been bubbling and bright the whole morning as he and Ginny had come to collect her and the baby.

Alex let out a small squeak Harry knew all too well. It meant he'd want to nurse. "Did you bring a bottle?" he asked her.

She shook her head and pointed to her bag. "Can you hand me that?" she asked Roxanne who pulled out a blanket.

"I'll help you," Roxanne said as she helped cover Caroline.

To his astonishment, Caroline nursed the baby in the stands with only that blanket covering her. He glanced to Ginny, who only smiled. She had a look in her eyes that told him she knew something he didn't. He sighed and went back to watching the crowds as the game pressed on.

James was the top scorer for their team, but they'd have lost to Greece if the Seeker hadn't caught the Snitch when she had. Final score was three hundred twenty to three hundred.

They all stood and cheered for James as he swooped in for a midair hug with the rest of the team. It was only then that he noticed his entire family in the top box.

His face lit up as he spotted them and waved, raising his fist in the air as the commentator continued to shout about England's victory. He broke away from the team and flew over to them, jumping off his broom and rushing up to get to Caroline. "I'm all sweaty," he laughed, kissing her firmly before leaning down to kiss their sleeping son. "You're here," he grinned.

"We wanted to surprise you," she told him beaming up at him in a way Harry hadn't seen her do before.

Almost like… oh. Well that would explain Ginny's smile. He let out a sigh of relief. She was truly on the mend.

"Can you come meet my team?" James asked and then turned to his father. "Can she come down to say hi to everyone?" He turned back to her, scanning her face. "Is that okay?"

"It's okay, I think," she asked, biting her lip as she turned to Harry.

"Yeah," Harry said around a lump of emotions. "Yeah. Bill and I will bring her down to the locker room shortly."

"Alright," James laughed and kissed her again. "See you soon."

They sent everyone else on their way save for Ginny who wanted to come with them and then went in search of the locker room, which was normally out of bounds for everyone except the team. They found the security guard at the entrance, a brawny man of about forty who held out his hand for Harry and waved them through.

They followed the sounds of shouts and cheers down a long corridor.

"Oh, this brings back memories," Ginny laughed as she held Harry's hand. "Remember how many times you met me in the locker room?"

"I absolutely do not want to hear about you two in any locker room," Bill grumbled even as he gave Caroline a wink.

Ginny only laughed. "Sadly, nothing like that. But it was always such a rush to win a game."

"You could have played for England," Bill reminded her.

She shook her head. "I wanted children. I didn't want to be Gwenog Jones and married to the game. I had my fun and I made a good career out of writing about Quidditch."

"Do you miss that?" Caroline asked her as they rounded a corner and pushed into a celebration.

"Not even a little bit," Ginny told her as the young woman stopped at the volume of the boisterous men. "But this, I miss."

Harry watched the trepidation creep back over Caroline's face. He'd been afraid of this. He almost opened his mouth to tell her they'd go, when James spotted them. "Hey!" he called out in a commanding voice which stopped everyone else. He had his eyes fixed on her. "Everyone shut up a minute so you can meet my wife and son." He came over and took her hand, linking her to him. "Everyone, this is Caroline and my son Alex."

Everyone called out a loud hello as the only two women on the team came forward to greet Caroline and get a peek at the baby.

Unfortunately, the noise startled Alex awake and he began to cry.

"Here," James said as he gently took the baby from the wrap and cradled him against his chest. "It's okay, son."

"He's going to need a bath," Caroline laughed tentatively as the men began to crowd in.

Harry nearly stepped in to rescue her, but he watched James tuck her into his side as he introduced all the men. Several of them said hi and then zeroed in on Ginny.

"How does it feel to not be the celebrity?" Bill wondered as he stepped over to Harry.

"Pretty damn good," Harry admitted as he continued to watch James sooth Caroline's nerves while holding the baby.

James' captain, Marvis Stanton came in a moment later. "Alright, everyone! Let's get changed and get out of here."

"Wait for me," James told his dad. "I'll only be two minutes."

"You won't be," Ginny reminded him. "They'll want to rehash the game."

James shook his head and grinned as he passed the baby to his mother. "Two minutes."

It was more like four minutes, but James jogged out of the locker room shortly after he left and swept his wife up into a hug, twirling her around. "Let's go home!"

Harry left the locker room first and scanned the area and when it was clear, told everyone else they could come out.

He was very glad they'd made the effort to get to James' game as he chatted with them, telling them he hadn't wanted to look into the stands because he didn't think anyone was coming, only to realize everyone had come.

Yes, it was a very good day.

~*~

James woke the next morning with Caroline in his arms, her soft breath on his neck, and a cold nose nudging his bare foot. He glanced over to see Rufus staring at him. The dog's low grumble sounded before he turned to look at Alex's cot.

James nodded and closed his eyes, slowly extricating himself out from under Caroline to go and see to his son.

He found the baby, with his dark brown eyes, no longer deep blue, staring up at the ceiling and gurgling happily. James grinned down at him. "My little man," he said softly as he picked the baby up and carried him from their room, hoping to let Caroline sleep a little longer. He kissed the baby's soft cheek and inhaled the smell of the recently bathed baby.

It was definitely a coffee morning, James thought as he went to get it started only to find the coffee done and a breakfast left waiting for them on the table. Polly did that some mornings, popped in to see to breakfast, and then left again to help Victoire who unquestionably needed the help more with three small children.

He sat down at the table and took his first long sip of coffee before unfolding the paper and nearly choking on what he saw.

"Potter's Family Comes Out to Show Support."

He didn't bother to read the story, which he was sure was tactless and uninteresting, but he studied the picture snapped of Caroline with the blanket over her shoulder, nursing the baby at the game. "You're under there," he told Alex, thankful the cameras hadn't captured his face.

But then he turned the page and found a close up of the baby blown up and right next to his own. It was the portrait the team had taken for his promotional materials.

This headline read, "No Doubt It's Potter's Baby."

He laughed, despite himself. Alex's skin, which had been so tan at first, had lightened considerably since his first few days. His aunt had explained it was a bit of jaundice which was normal for babies, but it had cleared after Nat's healing of him.

He wanted to never tell Alex the truth of his birth, but knew at some point he would. Until then, he and Caroline could easily pass for Alex's parents. It was the two of them listed on his birth certificate. They didn't even know what Alex's mother's name had been. He glanced down at the baby and found he'd fallen back to sleep in James' arms.

He scanned the article and was amused to see the catty reporter was annoyed at Caroline for getting her figure back so quickly. If only they knew. He glanced up when he heard Caroline come down the stairs with both dogs following behind her. She stopped before him to kiss him, lingering for a moment as he cupped her cheek. She sighed and straightened and finally noticed what was on the table.

"Oh, bless Polly," she said as she quickly made herself a plate of eggs and bacon.

"I was thinking the same," James said as he popped the piece of bacon she handed to him in his mouth. He turned the paper to show her.

"Well, shit," she groaned as she picked it up. "I was hoping no one was going to take a picture of him."

He watched her read and studied her beautiful face, the line of her jaw, and the fall of her blonde hair as she pushed it behind her ear. "You did well yesterday."

She snorted and shook her head, dropping the paper back on the table as she sat with him. "I nearly lost it. It was close. I didn't think about how it would be with all those men in that small locker room."

"But you did it," he told her and didn't tell her how several of the blokes had told him she was hot. "The girls really thought Alex was cute."

"He is cute," she agreed as she took another bite of eggs. "I can't believe he's sleeping in this late."

"It was such a busy day for him yesterday," he laughed as he carefully shifted the baby. "He had to sleep through his daddy's first big game."

"It was very trying for him," she agreed as she smiled at them both. She rose and leaned over to kiss him, lingering for a bit before settling back in her chair. "I was thinking we should have a soul bonding this summer, after your brother and our sisters are home from school."

Joy flashed through him and he could hardly contain himself. "You sure?"

"I am absolutely sure," she said as her eyes met his and he read her thoughts on their loving the night before.

"Thank you," he breathed out as Alex began to stir again.

"You're welcome," she replied with a gentle smile which turned mischievous. "It's your turn to wash the diapers."

James groaned but it quickly turned into a laugh. "Fatherhood," he told the sleeping baby, "is not for the weak of stomach." His son expressed his disinterest by sleeping through his commentary.

~*~

"I can't believe we're done," Rose said from her seat next to Andrew on the boat facing Al and Nat. "I can't believe it."

They were four to a boat as they'd been on their first trip, all except Nat who had gone up to the castle on a stretcher that first time they'd arrived at Hogwarts.

Well, not all of them. Scorpius had flat out refused to leave Lily's side and had insisted on going back in the carriages with her. It was down to Neville who hadn't argued, so it was just Al, Nat, Rose and Andrew in the boat.

"She's going to have to get to school without him," Rose had pointed out when he'd first said he wasn't coming with them.

"I'm not sure logic has anything to do with this," Nat had told her and both girls had rolled their eyes.

Al was shot back to reality as Nat shivered next to him.

"How can you possibly be cold?" Rose demanded as Al hooked his arm around her shoulders and she took hold of his hand to warm hers up. "It's hot out here!"

"Merlin's beard, Natalie!" Al yelped as her icy fingers took hold of his. He didn't let go, simply pulling her in closer.

"Hang on," Rose sighed as she pulled out her wand and cast a warming charm on Nat's hands.

"Much better," Nat sighed, even as she continued to hold Al's hand, resting halfway between their thighs.

"I still can't believe Fred and Eva are getting married this summer," Rose told them as the boat bumped along.

"I can't believe we've all graduated," Nat reiterated. "How are we not all still in first year? Where did the time go?"

"I'm ready to move on with everything," Rose agreed as she grinned at Andrew. "I have three years to become a potions master and then I'll have a job in the Ministry which won't be as insane as my mother's job."

"Cheers to that," Andrew laughed as he bent to kiss her.

"Seriously, she should just live at the Ministry," Rose sighed as she glanced around them. "I thought I might cry to be leaving, but this feels good. I'm ready."

Al wasn't sure if he was ready. He would start Auror training in a week and he'd be in that for three years. It was the right path for him, he was sure, plus they had another recruit joining him, one of the Ravenclaw girls he didn't know well. His father was ecstatic to have another girl on the team.

"You and Scorpius still going to get a flat?" Andrew asked him.

"Yeah, that's the plan," Al agreed. Scorpius could live with them at Ivy Run, but he'd said he didn't feel right living with Lily all the time and Al didn't have a single reason to argue with that. "My Uncle's flat above the shop is empty so we're renting that one. It's already been secured by my dad, as far as I know. You'll have to come over and we can go for a pint down at the pub."

"Am I invited?" Rose wondered.

"Boys only," Al told her grinning.

She stuck out her tongue at him. "That's just fine, then. Nat and I will go into Muggle London and go shopping without you."

"No," Al said and realized suddenly he meant it. Also, he'd sounded just like his father with his stern voice as he'd said it. "Uh…"

"No chance of me going off on my own," Nat sighed. "I'm going to be lucky if they even let me get a job."

"Well, Uncle Harry talked to Ollivander and he's agreed you'd only be making wands and that could be done anywhere," Rose reminded her. "That would be a job."

"Sure," Nat agreed. "It won't pay much. I can live in my parents' flat downtown but it doesn't seem practical. But still, it will be weird if I'm the only one living with your parents," Nat said as she poked Al's ribs. "They probably like having their privacy."

"Please let's pretend that's not actually happening," Al grumbled and fought off the image of his parents as anything even remotely interested in… anything. "Anyway, they're going to be okay with you being there, Nat. You know they love you."

"I know that they will want their house back," she said. "I'll think of something."

He wanted to argue but the boats were bumping up against the shore and it was time to get on the train.

It was both the longest and the shortest train ride they'd ever taken back home. By the time he was back in his parents' house, he was itching to get moved into the flat.

"You could have bought a house," his father told him as they moved in the last of the boxes. It was mostly his mother's doing, he knew. There was no way he actually had this much stuff.

Al glanced around to make sure Scorpius was in his room and couldn't hear him. "He couldn't afford it," he told his father.

His dad nodded. Scorpius was going to work at Gringotts but he was starting off as a trainee, which didn't pay much. He'd move up fast, Al knew. Scorpius had graduated top of their class, right along with Rose, and he had a head for numbers. But without his parents' help, and just the small nest egg his aunt had given him, he couldn't spend much.

It wouldn't have mattered to Al if he'd bought the house and Scorpius had lived with him for free, but it mattered to Scorpius. He'd tried to talk to him about it once, but his best mate had shut it down and said he had to pay his own way.

So they were living above the joke shop in Diagon Alley with the understanding they'd both pitch in in the shop if they were around and his uncles needed help.

What could possibly go wrong?

"I think we'll give Nat your old room," his dad told him as he opened up a box. "I've started considering how to make a workshop for her out back so she can work on the wands."

Al thought about Nat's comments earlier and decided he'd better warn his dad. "She thinks you don't want her to live with you."

Harry glanced up sharply. "What?"

"She," Al shifted uncomfortably and tried to think of how he could phrase this without actually saying anything he didn't want confirmed. "She, uh, thinks you'll want your space since, uh, everyone else is gone."

His dad frowned in concern. "It really isn't an option. She can't just move into a flat by herself."

"Well, I sort of told her that, but she's an adult too, so she can do what she likes, right?"

His father shook his head as Scorpius came into the living room. "What's up?" his best mate wondered.

"Did you know Nat wants to find a place to live?" Harry asked him.

Scorpius' brows rose in shock. "She can't."

Harry scrubbed hard at his face. "Right… well… I'll just get your mother to deal with this."

~*~

"You're staying here," Ginny told Nat gently as she sat her down on a new bed her parents had sent for her for a graduation gift since Al had taken his old bed to the flat.

The poor girl looked miserable. "Mrs. Potter…"

"Ginny," she corrected. "You're graduated, you're an adult, I'm Ginny now."

Nat blew out a long breath as she stared down at her hands. "You do not want to have me living with you all the time."

"I'm sitting here, telling you that I do and more importantly, you have to." Ginny wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her brow. "I love you like my own child, Natalie Leah. I want you safe and happy. You will stay here until you can get a house we can protect or until you get married."

Nat seemed to shrink in on herself. "It's never going to happen! Ollivander can't pay me much and no one will let me get a job that might actually pay something. I'm never going to be able to afford a house or…" her voice trailed off and Ginny knew what she hadn't said.

Yet again she wanted to shake her ridiculous son and tell him to get off his arse and make this girl happy. But it wasn't her right to interfere. "We will look for other work for you that you can do from home. I know this isn't fair, I get that. If I was in your shoes, I would be furious and I'd have marched right out and done whatever I damn well pleased. But…"

"But you can actually cast a Shield Charm," Nat finished miserably. "I totally failed my Defense N.E.W.T. It was embarrassing."

Ginny shook her head and smiled. "You healed my grandson and for that there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."

"But—"

"No buts," Ginny interrupted, running a hand along her strawberry blonde head. "Lily won't leave this house until she's married. You're the same."

Nat shook her head. "But—"

"Stop that now," Ginny told her quietly. "You will marry someday and it needs to be to a man who can protect you and take care of you."

"I feel like a burden."

Ginny slowly pulled in a breath and let it out again before she spoke. "I know this might seem old fashioned or that we're being over-protective. It wouldn't matter if you were a boy, Nat. You are who you are and that comes with things that need to be considered. If anyone finds out what you can do, you could be captured and if you're captured but not cared for properly, you'll be dead in short order. Your body won't tolerate it."

All because of a stupid Egyptian curse… "You could be a boy and I'd be saying the same thing, only I'd have to find a girl to protect you… or I guess a bloke," she laughed. "Well, whoever you marry needs to be up to snuff."

Nat shook her head but didn't argue.

~*~

Isabella Crabbe stared at the Daily Prophet article containing the photo of the baby and knew, without a shadow of a doubt, something was very wrong.

The baby looked content and happy and not a single one of the babies she'd managed to produce was ever content or happy. They were all miserably crying welps who never shut up. Her biggest problem now was the mothers abandoning them and running off when the crying became too much. She'd had to bring in nurses who could take shifts to care for the creatures. She had a few who were past one and they didn't cry anymore, but they weren't normal either.

But then that was the point.

What had gone wrong? Why wasn't this child crying?

She dropped the paper on the table and paced around the room, not seeing the palatial surroundings or the views of the snowcapped mountains beyond her windows.

Potter couldn't have undone her potion. There was no cure for the potion. No one even knew about the potion, not even to have a cure! Fury roamed freely through her until she could barely see straight.

She'd so enjoyed the thought of sending back that damaged child to the worthless Potter. She'd sent them a damaged child, one who might not live very long. Some of the children she'd been experimenting on lived, but a lot of them died. It felt right and just to give him a child, a cursed child, and wouldn't it have been so perfect if that brat had died after they'd grown to love it? Or maybe they wouldn't love it and the crying would drive them utterly insane.

That had been the plan!

She snatched up the paper and watched the baby wave happily as the young woman smiled down at it.

What the hell had gone wrong?!

She didn't know, but she had to find out. Could she risk going back to England? No. No, it was too risky until she made a play for the girl. She'd try for the middle child, too, if he ever left England, but if he didn't, she'd have to be content with the girl.

She would simply have to send someone in to snatch the baby. The mother would surely take it out sometime and then they'd have it. They could run tests and then finish it off.

Yes. Yes, that was what she would do.