Author's Notes: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider following me on face book at Sarah Jaune or on "Patreo_n" (remove the space) for a small fee to get all my original works.

I think I'm down to just another 4 chapters tops and then the story is done... I'm on vacation so I'll be working to rap this up shortly. I won't be posting a new fanfic (maybe ever but possibly not for a long time) so if you want to keep up with me, look above.

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

"If he makes it to the World Cup," Harry began but stopped when Ginny shook her head as she sat at their kitchen table, focused on the paper. "Gin… it's maybe a once in a lifetime thing."

"And we have a major security problem on our hands," she reminded him. "If James is going to the World Cup, you should go to keep tabs on him, but that's it."

"But it's only in France," Harry reminded her. "We can protect Fleur's parents' place, expand it a bit to accommodate whoever wants to go. It's a big deal. You know it's a big deal."

The fact that he was having to argue with Ginny about going to the World Cup when they'd been so many times in the past was telling in and of itself. "We've gone safely before. This time we can buy a box that we can protect. I spoke to Andrew about it. He says it'll be easy between all the families to split the cost of a box."

Andrew had actually said he'd fund the thing himself, but Harry knew they could split it between them and even out the cost.

Harry moved over to her and gripped at her shoulders, looking down at the article she was reading on the solar eclipse that was happening in a few months. "Gin… it's our son in the World Cup."

"Back when I was playing," she said somewhat sarcastically, "They didn't sell luxury boxes for people to buy."

"Yeah, well," Harry bent and pressed a kiss to the place just behind her ear that he knew would make her shiver. "Back in your day they only held the World Cup every four years. We're getting old."

She laughed, but it sounded hollow. "We'd end up bringing the kids with us, Harry! I don't know how to risk it with the kids."

It was a concern, one Harry had as well. "We can move everyone with a Portkey to Claude and Apolline's home," he said, referring to Fleur's parents. "I've already written to ask them if they mind us pitching tents and they're fine with it, especially because they can join us in the box for free. They said Gabrielle and her family might join, as well."

"Goodness, how many years has it been since we've seen Fleur's sister? At least a decade or more," Ginny mused as she shut the paper. "I don't know, Harry. Let's see what happens. He plays Turkey tomorrow and if they lose, they're most assuredly out."

But they didn't lose to Turkey, instead beating them handily in one of James' best games. It was his highest scoring game against a country that was actually worth beating.

So far they'd not had any more problems with James being targeted when he traveled for work, but they'd also taken extra precautions with the whole team. England had hired round the clock security for all of their players and they no longer traveled ahead of time to practice in country. Instead, the team only traveled to the game six hours before, going home shortly afterwards, and it was working well to keep their exposure to a minimum.

If it had just been James as a security risk, they might have done differently, but after their teammate Heather had been coopted by Crabbe for her own purposes, the management had buckled down on security. James being one of their better players didn't hurt, either.

Harry went to his son's practice the day after the match with Turkey and sat with the head coach, Marvis Stanton, and watched the practice. The older man sat back in his seat, his arms crossed in his coat. "I hated when we played against the Harpies, and I'd have killed if I could have stolen Ginny from them."

He smiled a bit, remembering when Ginny had been playing, Marvin had been the head coach for the Falmouth Falcons. "She'd never have switched."

"Don't I know it," Marvin agreed with obvious humor. "Then she went off and retired and had James and I'll be honest with you, I wondered if I'd be seeing any of your children in the league." He let out a long sigh. "That day he came in here with that bruise on his cheek… he was a wreck. He played better for the next few days, but I was wondering if I was going to have to bench him. Another baby… that's three of them, right?"

"It's three," Harry agreed. "Between all the kids I'm going to finish out this year with eleven grandchildren."

"That is something," Marvin told him. "I only had the one son and he decided not to marry or have kids. I didn't think I'd miss it, but I do. I'm glad I have these players. It's not family, but it's something like it. But I expect you aren't here to talk about the grandchildren."

Harry watched the play, watched the assistant coaches who were up on brooms, directing the game, and sighed. "It's about safety at the World Cup."

"We haven't even made it into the finals," Marvin said with a snort of laughter. "Here you are talking about the cup…"

"We have to plan now, just in case," Harry told him seriously. "I need to get steps in place. The players have to travel there days before and they will be exposed."

"We have a World Cup every year and she never targets the other teams," Marvin pointed out.

"Are you willing to let James sit it out?"

The man shot Harry and incredulous look. "I finally have Ginny Potter's bloodline on my team and he's playing damn well right now. Of course I'm not going to let him sit out."

"Then the team is at risk," Harry told him bluntly. "We need a plan."

He let out a long sigh. "Yeah, all right then. Let's make a plan."

~*~

Victoire shifted from one foot to the other and tried not to rub at her aching back. It was only the second week in March and she was only four months pregnant, but she was already as big as a house and she knew it was only going to get worse. She'd used the Floo to get to work for her one shift a week and she'd ended up on bedrest in the hospital for the whole rest of the shift.

There would be no more using the Floo for her, which meant she was no longer working. Teddy had to fetch a car to pick her up and drive her home and she didn't know what they were going to do about family dinners. She didn't want to be housebound for the next five months. That would be seriously depressing.

"Is he coming?" one of her fellow Healers, a lovely woman with chestnut brown hair and dimples named Lisa, who was about ten years older than Victoire, asked as she came around the hall.

"Yes, he had to fetch a car," she told her friend. "I'm not sure how long it will take, but he said he'd park out front and security would let me know."

"Why don't you get off your feet," Lisa suggested gently. "You look exhausted."

"No, I was in bed all day," Victoire told her. "I'm done laying down for a bit. I'll have to sit for an hour in the car."

"Probably more like two," Lisa told her sympathetically. "There's a big storm blowing out there. Traffic is likely to be a mess."

That was just great.

"Anyway, I have to get to a patient, but I am wishing you well!" Lisa told her as she patted her arm.

"Thanks," Victoire told her as she continued to wait. She wasn't in the waiting room, as that was too exposed for Teddy's liking, but she wasn't far down that first hallway past the security. Hopefully he would get there soon.

"Victoire?"

She turned at the sound of her name being called and saw one of Teddy's old classmates, Catherine, coming her way from somewhere inside the hospital. She had her auburn hair styled perfectly and her blue eyes flashed as she studied Victoire's face. If there was anyone Victoire would have liked to avoid, it would be this woman.

Catherine was beautiful, which wasn't the problem. Victoire knew she was also beautiful, but even so they weren't in a competition. Teddy had chosen her and not Catherine and she'd had to contend with her feelings over that for the first few years of their marriage. They'd even gone to a very posh party at Catherine's parents' house, as they were wealthy Muggles, and she'd tried desperately to insult Victoire.

Teddy hadn't noticed a thing, simply told this viper of a woman just how beautiful Victoire was to him.

"Hello, Catherine," she said as she painted on a smile she wasn't sure anyone would think was genuine.

"My," she said as she stopped and stared down at the huge belly that was obvious beneath her robes. "You're certainly letting your Weasley side show."

Victoire could only stare at this woman. At one time, she'd have been mad and possibly embarrassed, but this time she only felt a little bit of pity that this grown woman, who was now nearly thirty, was still playing these catty games. "Lovely to see you, too," Victoire said dryly.

"How many is this now?" Catherine asked her as her lips pinched into a disapproving line. "Four?"

"Actually, these two make six," Victoire told her with a big smile as she spread a hand over her belly. "My husband can't keep his hands off me."

Catherine's mouth fell open, but then she laughed. Only it wasn't humor that came out of her mouth, but derision.

It was Teddy's voice that she heard next. "I'm here," he called from behind her and she turned to see her husband along with Andrew walking in from the waiting room. "Sorry, my luv," he said as he stopped to press a kiss to her mouth. "I would have been here earlier today, but I was out on surveillance and they couldn't reach me. Are you okay?" He ran a hand over the mound of her belly as he took in every inch of her face.

"Yeah," she assured him. "Aunt Audrey checked me over after all the cramping this morning, but I'm fine. Hi, Andrew."

"Hey," he said with a small smile. "I'm going to be your chauffer for the evening. I was in London for business, anyway, when Teddy contacted me for a ride."

"You're… your Grace…" Catherine stammered stupidly.

All three of them turned to her. Victoire hadn't exactly forgotten that the woman was there, but neither had she been sorry to ignore her. She was pleased that Teddy hadn't acknowledged her.

"It's…" Teddy hesitated and cleared his throat. "It's Tammy, right? Or Courtney?"

Victoire barely held onto her composure, but it was a close thing. Teddy had an excellent memory for names and faces and there was no way he'd have forgotten who Catherine was or that they'd been to school together, even if that had been a long time ago.

He also wouldn't have forgotten that Catherine had tried to humiliate Victoire at her parents' party or that she'd insulted Victoire and made her feel bad on more than one occasion.

"It's Catherine," she said through gritted teeth. "Catherine Withers." And it seemed that Catherine knew exactly who Andrew was…

"I'm sorry," Andrew told her politely. "I don't think we've met."

"No," Catherine agreed, trying to school her features as she turned her full attention on Andrew. "I was in Teddy's year at Hogwarts, but I am Muggle-born. My parents are Margot and Henry Withers. I believe you know them."

"Oh, yes," Andrew agreed with a very polite smile. "I've done business with your father. He's a good man."

"You're not really a chauffer," she said with a giggle. It might have been meant to be sweet or flirty, but it came out as grating. "You're a duke. I'm sure you can Apparate home. If you're not busy, maybe we could have dinner."

Victoire was so appalled that she didn't have the words to express it. Andrew was married to Rose and it wasn't as though Catherine would have missed that. It had been all over the papers!

"Did you just proposition a married man in front of an officer of the Magical Law Enforcement?" Teddy asked her very quietly.

It was very, very illegal to make advances on a married magical person in England. Victoire didn't love all of their laws, but she wasn't sorry about that one.

"I…" Catherine stumbled over her words. "No! Of course not! I was just suggesting dinner. We could discuss business and investments. I wouldn't do anything… anything like that."

The three of them stared at her. Teddy finally turned to Andrew. "Do you want to press charges?"

Andrew shook his head. "Let's go," and he turned without another word for the woman. He led the way with Victoire between Andrew and Teddy behind.

"We have umbrellas waiting. You're in the front," Teddy told her as they reached the doors. "You can recline the seat back."

"I am not making you sit in the back," Victoire told him as she waited for them to get ready to leave the hospital. "You're too tall."

"My darling, I can make myself shorter," Teddy reminded her before pulling her in close to escort her to the car under the umbrella.

She didn't want to admit it, but she was tired and with the rain as heavy as it was, the traffic was horrible getting out of London. She dozed in and out with her head resting on the pillow Teddy conjured for her. At least the car was very comfortable. She didn't know what kind it was, but she imagined it was a very posh Muggle car and the ride was the smoothest she'd ever had.

"I can't believe her," Teddy said in one of the moments that Victoire was half awake. "She was never nice to Victoire, although I didn't know it at the time. She's tried to reconnect several times, but I haven't seen her since Victoire was pregnant with Emma. I kept ignoring her letters until she gave up."

She drifted for a moment, but then heard Andrew say, "Her father talked about setting me up with her. I told him I was engaged, but the Muggles… they don't see things in the same way. I didn't hold it against him. Clearly, she still sees things like the Muggles."

Then Victoire knew she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she heard was Andrew saying, "We're going to start trying shortly."

"That's great," Teddy told him sincerely. "I know Claire will enjoy having a baby around."

She wanted to be excited for that, but she truly fell asleep then and didn't wake until her husband picked her up out of the car. "Hmm? Teddy, no, I can walk! You're going to break your back!"

"Nonsense, woman," Teddy chided her as she saw Andrew get the door and heard her mum's quiet greeting.

"Everyone is asleep already," Fleur told them as Teddy carried her in and started up the stairs. "Thank you for bringing them, Andrew," she heard her mother say from down by the front door.

"Thanks, again, mate!" Teddy called down before carrying her into their room and setting her gently on the bed. "Let's get you ready for bed."

She needed the loo and she gratefully accepted the sandwich her mother brought up for her. "Mum, seriously… thank you."

"Of course," Fleur assured her as she sat and studied Victoire. "We need you and the babies to be healthy. I'll come back in the morning. I promised the girls we would do manicures after breakfast."

"That would be lovely, thank you," Victoire agreed as she finished off her sandwich.

Her mother was off and then Teddy was back, having gone to check on all four of the girls. Ireland had recently weened herself, so Victoire was no longer nursing and while she missed the connection, she wasn't sorry to have a full night's sleep.

"I forgot to tell you what Al told me today," he said as he pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. "Nat knows what the babies are and she wrote something in here, if we want to know. You wanted to find out the last two times, but if you want to be surprised this time, that's fine."

Victoire considered the envelope and ran her fingers along it. "We didn't really have time to talk at the family dinner. Teddy… what are we going to do about the dinners? I want to go! We'd have to drive there."

"Yeah," Teddy agreed quietly. "You should go. We'll bring extra protection with us and we'll drive. You can't be stuck in the house from here on out when the car is probably pretty safe."

She nodded, grateful he understood. It wasn't far to Lily's, exactly. They were all in the same general area, but if someone was watching… "Oh… we're going to need a bigger car," she said as she stared down at her belly. They'd just bought another car when Ireland was born, but it only sat seven and they'd need eight. "Or will you magically expand it?"

"I think we'll just magically expand the one we have," Teddy told her. "I don't fancy trying to find something that will hold these two and whoever else comes along after."

Victoire's eyes flew to his and she saw he had a small grin on his face. "Catherine told me the Weasley was really showing in me."

"That we love our children and value all of them?" Teddy asked her as he bent forward and left a lingering kiss on her lips. "Yes, that's exactly right."

She thought about that kiss and let out a sigh. "Aunt Audrey says no fun time for us for a week."

"Damn," he swore, but he was still smiling. "I don't care. As long as the three of you are safe, we're fine. I knew you were fine, because she'd said so in her note to the Auror office, but it still gave me a jolt to know you'd been hurt going through the Floo."

"I thought I'd have more time, but I'm already so big." She looked down at the envelope from Nat and traced her name on the outside of it. "I think I want to know. You?"

"I'm good to know," Teddy promised and waited while she opened it.

Victoire read off the words just as Nat had written them. "I'm sure you're not surprised to learn you're having two more girls, and you already know that they're identical. But in a fun twist, these two are both just like Teddy… Metamorphmagus."

She stared at the words and then looked up at her husband's surprised face. They hadn't really thought much about that power. It was very rare, not uncommon to skip a generation or two. Neither of Teddy's mum's parents had that power.

"Wow," Teddy whispered as his smile spread. "Well, that will be fun when we're in public. I was constantly changing my hair color."

"It'll be fine, now," Victoire told him as she scooted down, knowing he'd crawl in behind her and spoon up close to her back. "Everyone is dyeing their hair all sorts of colors these days."

~*~

Rose hadn't cooked meals since before she was married and she'd wondered how she'd feel about it with them living in the smaller house.

Smaller was a bit of a joke, since this house was at least as big as Teddy and Victoire's house, and they'd had to add on rooms magically because of all of their children.

It was within walking distance of Al and Nat's place, if she could actually walk there. But she couldn't.

And she remembered how to cook, thankfully. She remembered she actually liked cooking, especially now that all of her coursework was done and she'd turned in her final assignment to become a potions master and they'd fully moved in.

They'd also decided to leave the full staff on at the manor house so no one would lose their position.

They didn't have any Muggle servants. No one to cook, clean, or do the laundry.

But they had magic. Rose smiled to herself as she studied the home with its lovely blue walls and all the comfortable furniture she could find. Everything was squashy and wonderful. They had a week where Claire would have been on her Easter hols and they were going to enjoy it together, all three of them. Andrew only had two meetings in London this week and both were back to back later this coming week.

He'd sent word through their two-way mirrors about Victoire and how she needed a lift home, but Rose didn't mind the wait to see him. She was glad he could help Victoire out by getting her home safely. Besides, she and Claire had worked together and Rose taught her how to make chicken and then they'd cleaned, using magic.

After that, they'd taken turns reading a book that Claire was currently obsessed with before she'd tucked her in.

Rose had gone to see Nat earlier in the day and she'd had the potion removed. She was now able to get pregnant and it sent a small thrill through her to think of it. The more she'd dwelled on the idea, the more she wanted to.

Yes, they definitely had babies coming out of their ears in their family, but life was short and it was precious. Andrew had his parents, three brothers including his identical twin, and Aunt Emma die in the span of a few years. They had reached a good place in their life and Rose knew what it was to grow up with cousins her own age.

Al was her best friend growing up. It had morphed into including Nat and Scorpius and then changed again to be Andrew. But it had started with Al. She adored her big, messy, loud family and she wanted that to continue on and she wanted to be a part of it continuing on.

Things were scary with Crabbe out on the loose, but they couldn't stop living. She'd been after them for thirty years now. They couldn't just stop.

She heard the car and smiled, heading for the door and barely having it open before Andrew was there, pulling her into his arms and kissing her soundly. "Hi," she said at barely above a whisper.

"Is it out?" he asked gruffly as he moved her back into the house and closed the door, waving his wand to lock it.

"It's out," she confirmed as he groaned and boosted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. He hauled her up the stairs, kissing her the whole way, and to their bedroom, although how he didn't run into the walls she would never know. He set her on the bed, settling over her for just a moment before he went to their door and locked it, sealing out the sounds so they wouldn't wake Claire.

"God, I want you," he said as he stalked back to her, discarding his tie onto the floor and going for the buttons on his shirt.

No more words were said, not until they were cuddled together, warm and sated, kissing and smiling for each other. "I love you," she said dreamily, wondering how she could possibly be so happy.

"I love you, too," he told her. Then he let out a grunt. "I have to tell you about the hospital."

She opened her eyes and saw something on his face. "What is it?"

"This woman who went to school with Teddy asked me on a date," Andrew told her with a grimace. "Right in front of Teddy and Victoire, mind you!"

Rose tried to comprehend it, but just couldn't. "Is she daft? What's wrong with her? Did she not know you're married?"

"Oh, she knew," Andrew told her and she could see his anger. "She's Muggle-born, but that's no excuse. She knew exactly who I am. I do business with her father. He's a nice enough chap, but his daughter… what's worse is she's at least eight years older than I am. It felt gross."

"I'm sorry that happened to you," Rose told him, tracing a finger along his jaw, feeling the stubble there from the day's growth. "I would not like that to happen to me."

He let out a long breath and took her fingers, kissing each one. "I didn't press charges, but I will if you want me to."

"Hm," she mused as she studied him. "I can see you'd rather forget it. I think you can let it go if she doesn't contact you again. If she does, file that complaint. You have witnesses, including the next in line to be Head Auror."

"She was impressed by my title," Andrew told her as he scrunched up his face in a way that always made Claire laugh.

It did the trick on Rose, too. She grinned and kissed him sweetly. "Well, she just doesn't know you like I do. That's the least impressive thing about you."

Andrew let out a groan and rolled, pressing her back into the bed. He seamed his mouth to hers and said, "Let's see if I can keep impressing you."