oooOOOoooOOOooo Chapter 10
The next day was the first day of the Grangers watching the babies in the trunk for the day on their own. Even though they had Winky and Dobby to help, Harry still worried they'd be overwhelmed.
"You can have Dobby or Winky come get me immediately, if there are any problems. Winky? Dobby?" Harry said. The two elves popped into the room.
"Please keep your ears open for either of the Dr. Grangers to call for you. They'll be watching the twins from now on but they still want your help," said Harry.
"Please Harry, it's Emma and Dan. We'll be very glad to have the help. We won't go out today, but sometimes it will be okay if we take the twins out for the day? To the park or to baby enrichment activities?" asked Emma.
"Yes, that's fine with me. I wish we could have phones around here," Harry fretted. "You can both also call on my godfather, Sirius Black, or our surrogate uncle, Remus Lupin, if you need magical assistance. If the twins do accidental magic and you need help but we're in class, you can always call them. We showed you how the floo works, right? They'll be in their trunks at either Lupin's Lair or Padfoot's Place. Do you need anything else?"
Emma smiled gently at Harry. "We'll remember, Harry. Don't worry, we'll be waiting for you here when you're done with classes for the day."
Harry let his shoulders sag and smiled a little smile.
"Thank you. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that, well," Harry said, waving at his tiny, helpless babies.
Emma smiled back at him, "I understand, Harry. Now, get to breakfast. You don't want to keep your new friends waiting," she said, shooing him out of the trunk. Harry kissed the babies one last time then followed Hermione out.
They arrived at breakfast to find an annoyed looking Fleur ignoring about a half dozen boys who were trying to get her attention. Gabrielle was sitting across from her, being ignored. Hermione noticed. That showed the allure definitely wasn't working for Gabrielle yet.
"Bonjour," Gabrielle said, smiling at the two as they came to sit down beside her. Boys were literally plastered to the shield at Fleur's back.
"Bonjour," Harry and Hermione echoed. Harry nodded at the unwanted suitors with his head.
"Does this happen all the time?"
Gabrielle sighed. "Non. Zere are just many undisciplined wizards in your school. It seems zey do not teach you all occlumency?"
"No, it's not offered as a part of our coursework," said Hermione. "Will they do this all year?" Hermione asked, honestly concerned for the other girls' safety.
"Non. Zey will only behave so until they get used to the allure. She is blocking as much of it as she can but it is not possible to completely block it," said Gabrielle, despairing.
"Well, if you need a place to unwind without them around, please feel free to come to my dorm. I have family housing, for obvious reasons. No one can get into our rooms without our permission," Harry said. He winced when he realized he'd said we. They didn't want anyone to know Hermione wasn't staying in her own rooms.
"You and Hermione are allowed to share rooms? Zat is surprising to me," said Fleur, tuning back into the conversation.
"We're not technically allowed. We just do. Please don't mention it to anyone," said Harry, pleadingly.
"We won't. Do zey supervise you at all? We have bed checks every night before bed," said Gabrielle.
"In Gryffindor, we don't. I understand they have bed checks in Slytherin and Hufflepuff but not in Ravenclaw, either," said Hermione.
"Zat is strange," said Fleur, tossing her hair over her shoulder to get it out of her way.
"It really is," agreed Harry. "Anyway, if you do want to come to our rooms after classes today, you'd be welcome."
Gabrielle looked at Fleur pleadingly. "Alright, but I must study, so we cannot stay long. I 'ave NEWTS this year."
"I have a library in my rooms, if you'd like to use it. I'm still in the building phase but I have a robust reference section thanks to Hermione," Harry said with a fond smile at the girl. Fleur perked up at that.
"You have a private library? I would be very interested in seeing zat. It is very 'ard to study with 'ormonal boys at your back all the time," Fleur said. "'Ard to eat, too," she said, disgruntled.
"Oy, you lot. Get away," said Harry. Professor McGonagall heard him and added her own remonstrations. The boys moved reluctantly away to sit in their own spots.
"Zank you," said Fleur, gratefully. She wasn't sure if any of the teachers here would help her or not. Britain wasn't exactly friendly to the Veela population.
"Let's meet on the seventh floor, right off the stairway, after our last class," said Hermione, smiling at Gabrielle. Gabrielle grinned in return.
"Sounds magnifique. See you then!" The students all meandered away to their first classes. The day dragged by for Harry. He was excited to see Gabrielle again but he was also worried about the twins. It all combined to make him wish classes were over already. Hermione noticed his inattention and gave him a look. He sighed and got back to taking notes.
Classes were finally over. Harry and Hermione had taken to holding hands as they walked through the hall. No one said anything about it. They'd honestly all been expecting it.
When the two teens arrived on the seventh floor landing, they saw that Gabrielle, Fleur, Claudette, and Marie were already waiting for them.
"Come on, let's go inside," Harry said, smiling at Gabrielle. She gave him and Hermione each a nice long hug in greeting.
"It is good to see you again," Gabrielle said, smiling at the two other teens.
"Please, come inside," Harry said, leading the group into his rooms. They arrived inside and looked around.
"It's kind of small, isn't it? How do you live here with Hermione, her parents, and your babies?" Fleur asked. She was prone to asking questions that were on the edge of impertinence. To be fair, the two small bedrooms and small sitting room weren't big enough for a family of that size.
"We live inside here," Harry said, leading everyone to the trunk in the center of the back wall of the sitting room. "We pretty much don't use these rooms," he said with a shrug.
Harry showed them all how to get inside the trunk, then followed them inside. The girls were squeeing with Hermione over the beautiful scene in the trunk.
"Oh, Harry! This reminds me so much of home!" said Gabrielle, grabbing him up in another hug.
Harry hugged her back and grinned at Hermione over her shoulder. Hermione beamed in return. Dan and Emma came walking down the beach towards them with the babies' bassinet floating between them.
"Mum!" Hermione said, running forward to hug and kiss her mum and dad. Harry was right behind her, though he saved his kisses for his sons.
"How were they today?" Harry asked, anxiously.
"They were sweet as little angels. Dobby and Winky are great helpers. Winky spent most of the day with us. She honestly did most of the childcare work. She changed them," laughed Emma.
Dan grinned. "We just did the fun parts. The holding and the feeding. They're so smart already. Watch, watch!"
Dan leaned over the bassinet and cooed at the now awake babies.
"Where's Grammie? Where's Grammie?" he cooed at the babies. They smiled and looked at Emma.
"Where's Pop Pop? Where's Pop Pop?" he asked, the boys kicked their legs and waved their little arms, staring right at Dan.
"They already know us!" he said.
"I doubt that," said Hermione, unsurely. The books she'd read on parenting did say that very young children knew who their caretaker were but this was their first day of caretaking!
"Watch. Where's your Da? Where's your Da?" he asked the little boys in a silly voice. They kicked excitedly and looked at Harry. Hermione's mouth dropped open.
"Where's MiMi? Where's MiMi?" asked Dan the twins turned to Hermione and started cooing. She squealed in delight and covered the little boys' faces in kisses.
"My lovelies. You're so smart. I bet you'll be able to read before you can speak. Yes, you will. I'm going to teach you," she said in a cutesy voice.
Everyone laughed. The Grangers took the twins inside to settle in the sitting room and wait for everyone else to return from their tour.
"Your babies are adorable," said Fleur, waving goodbye to the little darlings who watched them all walk out of the room.
"Thank you. I've only been a da for two months. It all still feels so new. I'm learning to be better every day," Harry said, leading the group of witches on a guided tour through the house. They ended up in the library.
"This is my library," said Harry, leading the group into the library. "Or maybe I should call it Hermione's library. She uses it more than I do and chose more of the books, too," he said with a grin at the girl. Hermione smacked his arm, playfully.
"Someone had to make sure you have a solid foundation for your library. You might have filled it with quidditch books only," she joked.
It was truly an impressive library. It was two stories high and took up a quarter of the house before it was magically expanded. It looked half empty right now but it still had an impressive amount of books.
There were several small study carousels and a few large tables around the room. There was even a library cart that would return the books to their proper spot if you left the books on the cart when you were through with them.
"This is fantastique," Fleur enthused, rushing to the shelves to look at the books. Gabrielle smirked at her.
"She has a researcher's heart," said Gabrielle.
Hermione couldn't stand to watch without joining in. She rushed over to give Fleur the library tour of where all the books could be found, and best of all, the modern card index.
"We've lost them," said Harry, forlornly. The other girls laughed and set their books and bags down on one of the tables.
"Can we go get tea with your parents before we sequester ourselves away in the library? I'm hungry and I want to hold the babies," said Harry. At the reminder of the twins, Hermione and Fleur agreed to continue their review of every book in the place later.
Harry smiled and led them back to the sitting room.
Someone was waiting for them there. A few someone's actually.
"Padfoot! Remus! Bill!" Harry said, hurrying forward to meet the men. While Harry shook their hands and slapped their backs. Fleur froze in the doorway.
"Who is zat beautiful man?" asked Fleur. Hermione looked confused.
"Which one? They're all attractive?"
"Ze one wiz the gorgeous red hair down to his perfect arse," she said, dreamily. Hermione giggled.
"That's Bill," Hermione said, just as Harry turned to introduce his friends.
"Padfoot, don't embarrass me," Harry said sternly. Sirius laughed and turned to see the people who'd entered the room. A full grown veela stood before him, in all her schoolgirl glory.
"I see what you mean," said Remus, wryly. He smacked the back of Sirius' head.
"She's too young for you, Padfoot," said Remus.
Sirius jerked. "Ouch! Don't hit me. I'm just appreciating beauty when I see it. Hello, ladies. Gorgeous, every one of you," he said, grinning at each lady in turn. Most of them melted under his charms. Only Gabrielle was unmoved. She thought he was hilarious.
"Padfoot, Remus, Bill, these are my friends. Gabrielle and her sister Fleur, and their friends Claudette and Marie," Harry said pointing to each person in turn. They all said a round of hellos. Fleur positioned herself to stand next to Bill. She didn't even realize she was leaking her allure but Sirius certainly felt it. Neither Remus nor Bill reacted.
"Wow, lady. Tone it down or I won't be held responsible for the lame lines that come out of my magnificent mouth," said Sirius.
Fleur blinked and toned it down. "My apologies."
"No apology needed. Just trying to keep my dignity in tact," Sirius said, winking at Claudette, who giggled.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Bill said, kissing each ladies' hand in turn. He lingered over Fleur, but not in a creepy way. It was obvious his interest was returned. Gabrielle giggled at her sister. Fleur didn't even notice.
"What's brought you all this way?" asked Harry.
"We caught up with Bill in Diagon Alley. He said he was coming to Hogwarts to have a quick chat with his siblings and to see you. I thought we'd tag along and see you and the kiddos!" Sirius said, making silly faces at the babies who smiled and kicked their legs at him. He tickled their little feet.
Harry looked at Bill. Bill grinned at Harry.
"Ginny wrote to mum about what happened with the twins. She keeps going round about how you cheated on her. Mum is elated to be a grandma. She has been knitting up a storm. Get ready, mate. You're about to be inundated," Bill grinned.
Harry huffed out a breath. "I don't know what Ginny's going on about. We weren't dating. We weren't even sort of talking about dating. I don't think of her that way! She's like an annoying little sister to me, not a love interest."
Bill laughed. "I know. Mum says she knows you weren't dating. She hates that Luna trapped you like she did. Mum's right peeved off at her for that one, but she doesn't blame you. She thinks you're an innocent little lamb. Ha!"
Harry blushed and looked at Hermione who was shaking her head at him and Gabrielle who just looked confused.
"Is Luna your surrogate?" asked Gabrielle.
Harry shot Bill a nice going look. Bill just grinned wider. He was an older brother. He considered Harry to be one of his little brothers at this point. Seeing him in hot water made Bill's day.
"Er, yes, but… it's a long story. Tell you later?" he asked, pleading with his eyes. Gabrielle agreed.
"So mighty Molly's on your side," said Sirius, grinning at Harry. "Your kids are going to have two sets of grandparents." He nodded at the Grangers who beamed.
Harry thought about it for a moment. "That'll be nice, actually. I can't wait for them to meet the boys. If they meet them. With the way things are going between Ron and Ginny and Hermione and I, it might be a while."
"Mum's afraid of that. It's why she sent me here to talk some sense into the two of them. I yelled at Ron, which got through to him a little, I think. I got Ginny to admit you weren't dating. She won't admit you weren't close to doing so. She thinks you had an understanding," Bill said, rolling his eyes. He really wondered if his little sister needed some mind healing.
Hermione was thinking the same thing. "Did she ever see a mind healer? After the possession?"
"No. I plan to talk to mum and dad about it, right away. They said Dumbledore said everything would be fine but I am not buying it. The man isn't omniscient and he's not a mind healer," said Bill.
"Too right," said Sirius. He didn't trust Dumbledore much anymore, not since he refused to help Sirius get a fair trial. The man was Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot! If he couldn't make certain justice was done, there was no hope for any of them.
The group chatted for another half an hour or so before it was time to get ready to go to the feast. Padfoot and Remus declined to go, saying that they'd eaten earlier. They were just going to relax in the trunk until the group returned.
The group headed down to the Great Hall. They sat in the same place they did before, only Bill joined them this time. Ron and Ginny refused to look at him or at them, though the twins stopped by to say hello.
When everyone was done eating, they all settled down to see the champions being chosen. The lights went out and the blue flame in the spooky goblet turned from blue to red. The first piece of paper flew out.
"Fred & George Weasley?" said a confused Dumbledore.
"Yes!" "We did it!" came the shouts from the twins. They took off for the side door. Dumbledore looked flabbergasted at the other school heads.
"What is this Dumblydore?" asked Madame Maxime. "Hogwarts will be given two champions? No. We will all have two champions."
Dumbledore didn't have time to argue, the cup lit up a second time.
"Viktor Krum," read Dumbledore.
"I demand a second champion as well. Draw a second name from the cup," boomed Karkaroff.
"I can't," said Dumbledore. He tried to explain but he couldn't. The flame had lit for a third time. A slip of paper flew out. Dumbledore caught it and read it.
"Fleur Delacour."
Fleur stood up gracefully and walked to the front of the room. The entire group sitting at the end of the table with Harry cheered loudly for her.
"You must choose anozer champion for us!" said Madame Maxime.
"The cup won't just choose an extra wizard," tried to explain Dumbledore. "It's only supposed to choose three and it has chosen three slips of paper. I think I didn't account for combined ages of the champions. They're twins. The goblet might have considered them one person," Dumbledore mused. His pontifications were cut off when the goblet lit again. His mouth dropped open. He caught the slip and read the words.
"Harry Potter."
The hall erupted in pandemonium.
Harry sat, gaping at the Gryffindor table. "No!" he said, loudly. "I won't do it. I didn't put my name in the goblet!"
"Liar!" shouted Ron, like he'd been vindicated. "You're a cheater!"
"Your brothers are cheaters. Sit down!" said a Hufflepuff.
"Harry, you must come to the chamber," Dumbledore said, loudly.
"Hogwarts has three champions now! No Durmstrang will have three champions too! We will not be shamed in this way. Hogwarts is the cheater!" Karkaroff shouted.
"Here here! 'Ogwarts is ze cheater!" Madame Maxime cried. "We will 'ave three champions each, as well! Light the goblet again!"
"Let's discuss this in the side chamber. Harry?" Dumbledore said, looking exhausted. Harry stood but looked at Hermione and Gabrielle, then at the Grangers and his sons.
"Come with me. I'm not leaving any of you here," he said, looking viciously at Dumbledore, daring him to say something about it but Dumbledore was already ushering the other Heads into the side chamber. Harry and his entourage hurried to follow.
They came into a room packed with pandemonium. The Weasley twins had set off some kind of spinning firework against the back wall. The other two champions were trying not to be hit by the sparks. Karkaroff and Maxime were yelling full stop at Dumbledore who was trying to placate them.
The entire scene angered Hermione greatly. She cast a silencing ward on her parents, the twins, Harry, and herself then set off a charm that sounded like a loud gong.
"Mrs. Weasley taught me that. I expect I'll be speaking with her soon if that firework isn't put out," she threatened. The twins turned and stopped the madness. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves," she said to the Heads. "Whose job was it to charm the goblet? Something obviously went wrong. Rather than yell about it, why don't we agree that each school will have a team of three? Durmstrang and Beauxbatons can choose their additional students by hand. The goblet truly won't light again until the next tournament. It was attempted in 1427 and 1592. It failed in both attempts," Hermione said, sternly. Even the teachers found it hard not to obey. They looked into one another's eyes and silently agreed with Hermione's plan.
Karkaroff and Maxime swept from the room. They returned in just a few minutes with two additional, elated, students each. These students merely signed magical contracts with a blood quill that they would continue to compete unless they were grievously injured or deceased. The students happily signed.
"Thank you, Ms. Granger, for your assistance with regaining order. Now, you may go," Dumbledore said.
"No," Harry said, firmly.
"No?" Dumbledore asked.
"No. They all stay with us. The Grangers and the babies will stay here, too," said Harry.
"And Gabrielle will stay here," said Fleur, just as firmly. Bill just leaned against the door and grinned. He didn't plan to say anything but he also didn't plan to miss the show.
Dumbledore sighed. "Fine. Ludo?"
Ludo Bagman came up from under a table at the back of the room. He was laughing nervously.
"Right. Where's Barty?" the man asked. Barty Crouch, Sr. came into the room. He had been standing outside the door, waiting for things to calm down before he entered.
"Right," said Ludo again. "Champions! Which of you are champions? Raise your hands, maybe?" The nine champions all raised their hands.
"You three teams of three, you'll be competing, in what will have to be a different challenge now, won't it?" he asked. "Anyway. We'll worry about that later. Er… the first task will be in November? Good luck."
Ludo hurried away. He'd taken bets based on three champions but now there were nine champions. He needed to recalculate his betting pools. Barty shook his head and followed. This was an international relations nightmare. Maxime and Karkaroff swept off out of the room, leaving their students behind.
Fleur spoke quickly with the boy and girl also in light blue robes. They planned to meet the next day to begin researching and strategizing.
Gabrielle came over to Harry. "Are you okay?" she asked him.
"I'm still in shock. This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm not even old enough to be in this competition. I don't have time to worry about this! I've got babies," Harry said, starting to panic.
Hermione took one of his hands and Gabrielle took the other.
"We need to go talk to Padfoot, Harry. I don't think you'll be able to get out of this but I do think he'll be able to provide some sound advice. Remus, too," said Hermione, squeezing his hand. Her eyes met with Gabrielle's for a moment. They both looked at Harry, sympathetically.
"Oui. You will need your family and friends around you now," said Gabrielle. She kissed Harry gently on the cheek. Hermione did the same on the other. Harry started to relax.
"Did we hear someone say Padfoot?" asked Fred Weasley, most likely.
"Would Remus be Wormtail or Prongs?" asked George Weasley, probably.
Harry gave a weak smile to his teammates. "Moony, actually. Wormtail is the traitor. We don't speak of him."
The twins exchanged a look, then spoke together. "The Marauders."
"That's right," said Harry, warily.
The twins grinned and said, "We're in."
Harry rolled his eyes and turned to look at Bill, who shrugged. "Alright, then. I guess it won't hurt for you to meet them. You'll have to keep it an absolute secret, tricksters' honor," said Harry, seriously. Both twins quickly put a hand over their heart.
"We solemnly swear…"
"We are up to no good." They grinned when they were done.
Fleur walked over, her two teammates hurrying off to celebrate with their school. Fleur honestly didn't care. She didn't need the accolades of her peers. She wanted to be a champion to prove to herself she could do it. Not for anyone else.
"Do you want to come with us back to the Potter Hideaway?" asked Harry.
Fleur nodded. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and gave Bill a small smile. He returned it with a grin.
"May I escort you?" Bill asked with a bow. Fleur blushed a little.
"Oui, monsieur," she said, taking his arm. The two walked in their own world up to the Gryffindor Tower.
They entered the room through Harry's private entrance, avoiding the party in the common room for now. The Weasley twins were impressed with the trunk.
"We should get one of these …" said George, Harry was pretty sure.
"What a great lab and resting place it could be…" said Fred, Harry thought.
"It really is a wonderful home," Harry said, letting everyone inside.
He followed behind. They came into the trunk. They decided to give the older twins the tour later. Harry got everyone settled with drinks then went upstairs with Emma to tuck the babies into bed.
Harry and Emma came back down to the patio and sat with everyone else. Sirius and Remus were already there. Sirius was talking in an excitable manner with the Weasley twins while Remus chatted with Bill and Fleur. Hermione and Gabrielle were walking arm-in-arm down the beach in an obviously private conversation. They returned when they saw Harry was back.
"Padfoot, I just don't know what to do. This tournament has killed people. Why is there an attempt on my life every school year? Is it Voldemort that's really behind this? It usually is him," Harry asked, sounding paranoid. It's not paranoia if someone really is out to get you.
Remus spoke up. "I don't see how Voldemort could have planned for the tournament to happen but we do need to be cautious. Someone put your name in that cup. Someone who might have meant you harm."
"You're a wonder, pup. I know you didn't want to be in this tournament, but Remus here tells us there's no way out, so you'll just have to win and prove to everyone what a phenomenon you really are," said a boastful Sirius, grin firmly in place. The twins matched him in his mania. Harry shook his head at them.
"I'm already dealing with too much drama! I've got babies! How am I supposed to take care of babies and be in a tournament?" Harry asked, stressed.
"It is a bit of bad luck that it's all coming together at once," said Sirius. "You've got all of us to help you, with both the babies and the tournament."
"That's true, Harry. We'll all be here to support you. All of you," Hermione said, including Fleur and the twins in the statement. "Our main goal is for you to survive."
Harry agreed. He could tell that Fleur and the twins didn't so much. He just shook his head.
"I'll do my best, if I have to, but are you sure there's no way out of it for me?" Harry asked, desperately.
Remus looked at him, sadly. "I'm afraid not, cub. The goblet of fire forms a magically binding contract with each participant. That's why they had the four other contestants sign a magically binding contract. So they would be on mostly equal footing with you all."
"Mostly?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, the goblet of fire will take your life or magic if you breach the contract. The other students will only be disqualified from the competition," Remus explained.
Bill whistled. "Almost my arse."
Remus couldn't help but agree. Harry turned to look at Hermione and Gabrielle.
"It is not ideal but I believe in you," said Gabrielle, quietly, taking Harry's hand again.
"You are amazing, Harry. If anyone can make it through the tournament, it's you," Hermione said compassionately, squeezing his arm.
Harry didn't look so sure.
The group talked for a few more hours. Making plans and hashing through what happened, over and over again. They would all need to be on their toes.