Ch. 57
A/N My students are having a flex friday, so I thought I'd post some written I say middle school boys are a handful! There will be more postings soon. I'm currently writing Ch. 63.
Last Time:
Harry is hurt in a Quidditch match when his broom is hit by lightning. While Pomfrey says his broken legs and ribs are repairable, she limits his visitors to two-Sirius and Hermione. She has told them they must leave by dinner and no one is allowed back until the morning. He has not woken up from his possible concussion and they are all worried.
Saturday 6 February 1999
Hermione and Sirius sat there for several hours almost silently. Finally, Dobby popped in. "Master Dogfather, Mistress Mione dinner will be in about half an hour. Would you like me to bring it here or are you coming home? Everyone is staying here tonight."
"They will be going home." Poppy stated firmly as she moved silently towards them.
"Yee Gods!" Sirius jumped a bit as he looked at the medi-witch. "Don't scare an old man like that!"
"Yes. You are sooo old, Mr. Black." she said sarcastically.
Hermione chuckled. "Thanks Pads. I needed the laugh."
"Dobby, they will be home in a few minutes. They're leaving soon." she told the elf.
"Yes Ma'am." Dobby popped out.
"I'm not leaving him, Poppy." Sirius contradicted.
"Yes you are. This is my ward and you are not staying. You need your sleep because Harry will need you to be at your best tomorrow." Then she added softly. "Besides that, that little girl needs you tonight."
"Oh shite! Penny's here." Sirius groaned.
Hermione, who had been silently staring at her love, put his hand on her belly. "Say good night to daddy, kiddos." she whispered. Then she leaned down and softly added to her Harry. "I love you, sweetheart. Please wake up for us in the morning."
She got up and headed out, looking back at the love of her life before she left, Sirius following behind.
"What're you thinking Mione?" Sirius asked.
"Just that he has to wake up tomorrow. I can't parent two kids alone, Pads. Along with teaching and working on my mastery." She sighed.
"You won't have to, love. Harry's going to be just fine. Even if he's not, you've got us here to help." He took her hand and squeezed it. "You've seen how much a communal effort raising Teddy has been, we'll do the same with your two." He stood in front of her to stop her. "I will always be here for the twins, no matter if Harry's there or not. So will everyone else."
"You won't hare off somewhere to do something stupid, yeah?" she half-smiled thinking of the near disaster at the Ministry.
He barked a laugh. "You are never going to let me forget that, are you?"
Hermione put her finger to her chin and cocked her head, pretending to give it thought. "No. I don't think so" they laughed as they walked into the Playhouse, where Hermione's legs were attacked by a redheaded missile.
Mione and Sirius laughed as the little girl transferred her hug to Sirius, who promptly picked her up. "Is Harry okay? When will he come home? Is he awake now?" she fired off in quick succession.
"I wonder where she learned to do that?" Dan laughed from the archway to the game room.
"Hey Dad." Mione smiled at her father.
" How's our boy?" He asked and Mione realised, not for the first time, that her parents had truly accepted Harry as part of the family.
"He hasn't woken up, so we don't know about how damaging the concussion was." She sighed as she glided into the game room, where everyone, including Augusta who must have come after the accident, was waiting.
She got up and sat next to Emma, put her head on Em's chest and cried. "Mum, what if he doesn't know who I am? What if the last seven years have been erased? What if he doesn't love me anymore?"
"Come here love."She settled her daughter into a more comfortable position. "He'll be fine, lovie. And even if he's not, he'll make it back to you. Your love is strong. If he doesn't remember you, he'll soon fall in love with you again."
Hermione's head perked up. "You think so, Mum?"
"I know so. Your dad and I talked in Australia about how strong you two were and you've only gotten stronger, Mya-girl." She used a childhood term of endearment she hadn't used in many years and Mione smiled. They looked around the empty room and wondered where everyone was.
Mitzy popped in. "Dinner is ready." Then she looked into the worried young woman's eyes. "Master Harry will be fine. Magic says so, so he will be." she popped out.
Emma and her daughter got up and made their way into the kitchen. "Let's hope the little elf is right." She sighed as she sat next to Dan and grabbed his hand.
"I'm planning on being up at 6 and being at hospital by 7. Dobby can you make sure there is something for Harry to eat by 8?"
"Of course." he smiled.
HP
After dinner, the family moved into the game room and sat down with hot cocoa. It was then that a patronus African Elephant burst into the room. "Hermione, please bring an extra chair like yours for Harry. He may not want to walk on his new legs."
Luna bolted up. "I'll get his desk chair charmed."
Hermione smiled. "Thanks Luna." Then she looked at Nev. "How does she read my mind like that?"
"She's your best friend, love." Nev smiled. "She doesn't want you to worry about it."
Mione reached over and kissed Nev on the cheek. "Thanks Nev. For everything."
Nev just smiled, knowing she meant her earlier crying jag on his shoulder. "That's what I'm here for." He put his arm around her.
"Dadadadadadadada" Teddy looked confused.
"Harry's not here, lovie." Hermione sighed as she got up to pick him up from Dora. "Can I hold you? Give you a bottle maybe?"
"Babababa" Teddy nodded as he reached out for his Dada's favourite person.
They sat down and a bottle was already there. As she fed him, she began singing the song her daddy used to sing her at bedtime. "Goodnight, sweetheart, well it's time to go,
Goodnight, sweetheart, well it's time to go,
I hate to leave you, but I really must say,
Goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight.
Goodnight, sweetheart, well it's time to go,
Goodnight, sweetheart, well it's time to go,
I hate to leave you, but I really must say,
Goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight.
Well, it's three o'clock in the morning,
And baby, I just can't do right,
Well, I hate to leave you, baby,
I don't mean maybe, because I love you so."
It was when she sang "Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do" that Dan joined in. Then they both sang "Goodnight, sweetheart, well it's time to go,
(Do-do-do-do-do)
Goodnight, sweetheart, well it's time to go,
(Ba-do ba-do)
I hate to leave you, but I really must say,
Goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight." By the time they were done, Teddy was asleep in her arms. She moved him to her shoulder and he burped without waking. She grinned at her dad, who had a soft smile on his face, remembering singing that to her. "I'm going to put him to bed." she smiled at her little man. She moved to her chair and left.
"God, I haven't sung that song since she was 9." Dan smiled.
"Dan sang that every night when she was a baby. As she got older, they sang it together. I tried to join in once or twice but they didn't like that." Emma laughed.
"That's a brilliant way to put him to bed." Dora smiled. "I'll have to come up with a song."
"That's my song. Leave it alone." Dan growled playfully. It was obvious to everyone that they were worried about Harry but they wanted to avoid the subject and pretend they weren't worried.
Around nine o'clock, Sirius decided to take Penny to bed. "Now, love." He said as she cuddled in after the storytime. "If you get scared tonight or just want an adult, come in and Jaime and I will make room for you in our bed, yeah?" He smiled as he kissed her.
"Can I go with you to see Harry tomorrow?" she asked quietly.
"Of course, love. As soon as we're up, yeah?" He smiled at the relieved look on her face.
"Thanks Sirius." she yawned as Sirius moved out of the room and left her door a little open before he went downstairs. He looked around the family. "All the kids down for the night?"
Sarah and Dora laughed. "Yep. Thank Merlin." they said together.
"You guys seemed pleased at that." He laughed.
"We get to be adults not moms"
"Yeah. As much as I love Teddy bear, I like being Dora too." His cousin laughed.
Sunday 7 February 1999
The morning after the accident, Hermione was down in the kitchen making her morning tea when Sirius, Jaime and Penny came down.
"Hey guys. Eat quickly so we can go see Harry." She commanded.
"Aren't you bossy today?" Sirius grimaced. "How'd you sleep last night?"
"Does it look like I slept?" She looked at her Uncle.
Sirius took a long look at her and did not like what he saw. There were rings under her eyes, she was paler than usual and she just generally looked worn out. "You need to sleep, love." he squeezed her hand as they sat to eat. "Those little ones need you to eat more too."
"I am." she grumbled as they silently ate. When they were done, they left for Hospital. "What's wrong Penny?" she asked the normally chatty little girl as they walked or glided.
"I'm just worried about Harry. What if he doesn't recognise us?" She asked in a small voice.
"He will, little one." Sirius comforted the girl in his arms. "He'll be just fine."
As they walked in, they noticed the curtain around Harry's bed. Sirius threw it open and looked down at his godson, who seemed to be wide awake with his glasses on. "Hey kiddo, how are you this morning?" he asked in a chipper voice.
"Fine Pads." He grinned up at his Godfather. He grabbed Mione's hand. "Hey love. I heard I scared you yesterday. Sorry about that." She flung herself into his arms and started bawling as she started to hit his chest.
"Don't you ever do that again Harry James Potter! Poppy was saying you might not remember us!"
She continued to cry and hit him until he snatched her wrists. "Mione, I'm fine. I love you but you gotta stop hitting me, love."
At this, her hits grew weaker and she pushed herself off him. "You could've died. I'd have to raise the twins on my own."
"I will never leave you Hermione." He brought her hand to his mouth. "I love you." The strength with which he said that finally got her to stop crying. He looked to Penny in Sirius' arms. "Are you trying to take my girl Pads?" He joked as Penny got down.
She stood next to Harry as Sirius laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it."
"Harry, are you okay?" Penny asked timidly.
"Come up here little love." He patted next to him as she did so. He looked at her very seriously. "I'm fine, Penny. I'll be out of here after breakfast."
"Yes he will." Poppy appeared out of nowhere. "I've tested him. His memory is fine but his legs and ribs are sore." An elf popped in with a breakfast tray and he started eating like he hadn't eaten in a while. "His legs will be weak for about a week. The chair should just be used on the stairs because he does need to build up his muscles. Now onto the concussion. Yes he did have one. Hermione, he needs to come back if he has severe or long term headaches, dizziness, nausea, drowsiness or fatigue. Any signs and I want him back here. Don't use magic until Tuesday. I want to see him Tuesday morning before class."
"Anything else, Poppy?" Mione asked. "Should he teach tomorrow?"
"Why are you telling her and not me?" Harry whined goodnaturedly.
"Because she'll take care of you." She snorted at his complaining. "You just get yourself hurt." Then she looked at the brown-eyed girl. "With you being pregnant, I thought he would keep himself out of here. Foolish me. He shouldn't teach tomorrow Miss Granger." She shook her head in disappointment. "Since you're done eating, you can leave now."
Sirius helped him up and to the loo to change. A few minutes later, they all made their way to the Playhouse, Penny sitting on Harry's lap.
When they got back, everyone was sitting down to breakfast. There was a cacophony of "Harry! You're alive! How are you?" and such as Harry sat down.
"I'm okay." He grinned as he was brought a tea cup.
"You are never to do that to us again." Emma said in her no-nonsense tone.
"Yes ma'am." He saluted her as Penny giggled.
"You act like it's a joke but Siri and Mione were at your side until they were kicked out by Poppy." Jaime noted. "I think they've both lost sleep last night. I know Siri did. He kept me up all night."
He shook his head. "It's weird having anyone worry about me but Mione." Then in a more serious tone. "I'm sorry I scared you all."
"Well, you're okay now." Dora smiled as she got up to hand her son to his Godfather. "Here you go. He's been calling Dadadada all morning."
"Hello, little one." Harry held him as he babbled "Dadadadadada" and pinched Harry's cheek. Harry moved back quickly. "Not so rough little one." he smiled. "You're getting stronger every day."
As they all moved into the game room, Nev pulled Harry aside. "Don't do that to Mione. She was a right mess, constantly wondering if you'd remember her. Sirius had to remind her that we would help raise the twins if needed."
"Honestly, I didn't think she'd freak out like that. She's always been nervous about my playing but not like that."
"Harry, she wasn't pregnant with your kids then." He sighed in frustration. He felt like he was explaining it to a five -year old.
He nodded quizzically. "Never thought of that."
"Just be careful." Nev returned as they proceeded to the game room.
As they started racking the balls, Sirius said. "I have a suggestion for Penny. I think that because Penny is spending so much time with us, she should have a wardrobe in both our places. She does spend at least one weekend a month with us."
"I think that's a great idea." Dora smiled. She looked over at Penny handing toys to Teddy and Jordan.
"So do I." Mione concurred.
"I do too." Harry agreed.
"We can take Penny shopping this week." Emma smiled. She loved shopping for kids' clothes.
"Great. I want her to have 2 full wardrobes with different clothes in each." Sirius told her. "And I'm paying."
"Oh God!" Dan groaned. "You've given Em carte blanche to spend money on kids clothes. I'm not going to see her at all this week."
Hermione grinned. "Remember Mum. We need kid's clothes too"
Emma grinned back. Then she looked at Penny. "Penster, I'll pick you up from LAR after school this week."
"I don't want to go back. I want to stay with Harry." She stood and came over to the talking adults. She climbed up on Harry as he sat next to the billiards table.
"You need to go to school tomorrow." He sighed. It became harder and harder not to just adopt the little monster every time he saw her. She lit up around the family and wasn't the shy girl he met last summer. He kissed her on the head. "I love you Penny." he muttered.
"Then why won't you let me live here?" She asked seriously.
"You should live with kids your own age, lovie." Mione sighed. She didn't like Penny going back any more than Harry did.
"But I want to live here!" she stomped her foot in frustration.
"We'll see, love. Maybe soon." Sirius tried to settle her.
HP
That afternoon, as Sirius came down from putting Penny down for a nap, he said loudly, "Family meeting. In the game room, now." He started laughing when people started gravitating towards the game room from all over the house. Honestly, he'd never thought he'd have such a large family. This was just strange.
As everybody gathered and sat down, he yelled, "Dobby!" the elf popped in. "Sit down. This needs you too." Dobby sat down quietly as he nodded.
"What's this about Padfoot?" Harry asked
"Well, I think Penny living at LAR has almost become a problem. When I picked her up Friday, Venus commented that she was having trouble adjusting to going back and forth. Apparently, she really misses us for the first 2 days after she's been with us. Venus thinks she needs more permanence, whether that is living with us full time and going to school every day there or having scheduled visits, not this maybe we'll see her, maybe we won't."
Hermione and Harry looked at each other, talking silently. "We're thinking maybe she should move here." Hermione stated. "But we don't want to do this high-handedly. What do you all think?"
"I think it's a wonderful idea." Luna smiled. "It'll give her time with us before the little ones come."
"More help with Teddy. Cool." Was Dora's response.
"As though you don't get plenty." Harry groused playfully.
"I think it's a great idea." Sarah put in her 2 knuts.
"What about you and Dan?" Jaime asked Emma.
"Fine by us. She'll be our first granddaughter. Nothing changes for us. Will you be adopting her?" Em looked at her daughter.
"Probably this summer if all goes well." Mione nodded. "I'll have to talk to Gran about adoption rituals."
"See Siri. This wasn't a hard conversation." Jaime laughed as she kissed his cheek.
"You thought we wouldn't want her?" Harry almost screeched.
"No. I just want a consensus." He said. "I best go tell Venus and pack her clothes." He put his hand out to Jaime. "Come with me, love?"
She took it. "Of course."
"I'll take care of getting her room set up." Dobby smiled. Another bit of family to take care of. By the time Sirius came back with clothes, Dobby had a replica of her room at the Madhouse decorated in the smaller room next to Harry and Hermione.
Sirius and the two young couples were sitting in the game room when they heard Penny wake up and come downstairs. She sat on Sirius' lap as she wiped her eyes of sleep.
"So, Penny." Harry started. "While you were napping, we decided to have you move in with us."
"Oh my!" She squealed as she hugged Sirius, then jumped off to hug everyone else in the room. "Really? I get to live here?" she said excitedly as she moved around the room, bouncing from one person to another.
"Yes, you do." Hermione laughed. "Dobby did up the smaller room in our suite like the one at home."
"You'll still have to go to LAR for school every day but you'll come home to us." Harry filled in.
"Goody! I get to see my friend Katherine then." She hopped from one foot to the other.