Author's Notes: Thank you Arnel for beta'ing!
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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Chapter 90
They were setting new traditions, for which Teddy was extremely thankful. They'd had everyone together at Lily's place for Christmas, because her house was the biggest, but now it was January and they were all going to take turns rotating between houses for a family dinner for whomever was available. It was nice to set special occasions for Lily's house and certainly Lily liked to throw the parties, but it wasn't fair for her to have to shoulder all the meals.
So, they were splitting it between everyone who had a house. He and Victoire had taken the first dinner for January because it was both Emma and Ireland's birth months. His oldest was six and the youngest was now a whole year.
"What else?" he asked as he, Teeny, and Victoire worked in the kitchen while the girls played in the playroom with Claire supervising. Rose and Andrew had taken a weekend long holiday over to France, just the two of them, and Claire was staying with Teddy and Victoire while they were gone. Rose's parents would have happily taken them, but Claire had asked to stay with the Lupins because she'd have someone to play with. Apparently, Hugo wasn't nearly as much fun as his four girls. To be fair, Hugo had started his Auror training so he was busy and exhausted all the time. Teddy was glad to have his younger cousin on the team and he was finding the young man to be smart and steady. In places he lacked talent, he made up for them in hard work and diligence. He was very smart, capable, and analytical and he knew it was going to be an asset to the Aurors.
"Start on the sprouts," Victoire told him as she pushed a piece of her blonde hair off her face. She was dressed in these tight black pants that her mother had found in a Muggle shop and a plum colored top that molded nicely to her body. The pants had a funny name the Muggles used that Teddy couldn't quite remember, but he didn't need to know the name. He only knew he very much liked the look of them and he'd asked his mother-in-law to pick up more the next time she was in London shopping. "Focus, Teddy!"
He jumped when he realized he'd been focused… but not on the sprouts. He shot her a grin. "I am focused."
She waved the peeling knife at him. "Sprouts!" Teeny giggled. She was a fully grown elf now and she had a certain elf she liked to visit. He worked at the Ministry. Teddy didn't know where that would go, but he liked that she was happy.
They had dinner well in hand by the time the family started to roll in. He hugged Gran and took Poppop Arthur's hand for a hard shake before taking their coats. Most of the older generation had arrived before the ones with small children started to trickle in, but that was to be expected. It took a lot more work to get the kids out of the house than the adults.
He hugged and cuddled babies as first James's family arrived with Honor and Rick in tow, and then Fred's and then Lily's. Lorelei reached for him from Scorpius's arms and he plucked the little girl up, snuggling her in for a kiss on her soft, red curls. She had the most intense, silvery blue eyes he'd ever seen on a child and he hugged her tight, knowing even now she saw too much for someone her age.
Ireland ran straight for him and he bent and picked her up so she could babble at her cousin. They were just about three months apart in age and already they were chatting away at each other in a language only the two of them could understand.
Sometimes they included Asher in their conversations, but sometimes they didn't. Asher, who was also a year, gravitated toward George and Eva's son, Jonah, who was only eight months old… but also walking. He'd started cruising at Christmas and now he was up to full on sprints.
He watched Asher and Jonah run towards Rufus the wonder horse and shook his head at the dog's patience.
"I can't believe he's already walking," Scorpius commented as he helped Lily out of her coat. "They're in for some serious trouble," he said on a laugh.
Ireland had begun to walk, but she wouldn't walk if someone would carry her and often times Emma was more than happy to haul her around. "They're all growing up quickly," Teddy agreed. "Come in and get a beer. Lily, do you want some wine?"
"No, I'll just get some water," she told him with a sweet smile. "I'll see if Victoire needs any help."
Ginny came over with Harry and they each took a baby from him, carrying them over to where Asher and Jonah were playing. He didn't see Alex, so he assumed the boy had already scooted off to the playroom where Claire was still holding court. He'd have felt bad about asking her to do so, but she so obviously enjoyed being the boss of all the little kids that he let her have her reign.
"How's it been?" Teddy asked Scorpius as there was a quick knock at the door and Louis opened it, followed by Lena. This was another new change to their dynamic. Louis had asked for Lena to be let in fully and so she had been. Now she was part of their security and Louis brought her to family gatherings when she could come. They weren't together, although Teddy knew that's what his brother-in-law wanted, but he could still see the shy wonder on Lena's face at having been allowed past all the security measures to hang out with them.
She'd get over it soon enough.
"It's going well," Scorpius said as he grinned at Louis and Lena. "How are you two doing?"
"Fine," Lena said as Louis said, "Good."
"Who isn't here yet?" Scorpius asked.
"Just Al and Nat and the baby," Teddy told him, "Roxy is working but will be here in an hour, Rose and Andrew are in France, and Molly and Brayden are having lunch with his parents for their anniversary, but will be here when they can."
"So, we have almost the full crew then," Scorpius said with a grin as they began to move to the door. Before they'd made it even five feet, it opened and they turned to see Al and Nat coming in, the new baby in Nat's arms and Al's arm around her, keeping her steady.
"There they are," Teddy said with a laugh as he moved over and helped keep Nat steady while Al extracted her from her coat. "How is he doing today?" he asked, peaking into the soft, thick royal blue blanket to peer at baby Wyatt.
"Good," Nat said as she beamed down at her son. "He needed to eat and a new nappy just as we were about to leave."
"That's why we're always late," Teddy assured her with a grin. He didn't offer to take the baby, although he would have been happy to. Nat was still a brand-new mother and he knew she felt the need to hold the baby most of the time. Victoire had speculated that it might be because she hadn't had the experience of a pregnancy, but Teddy suspected that Nat would have been that way even if she had given birth. She'd been longing for, dreaming for, and hoping for this baby for years now and she wasn't willing to give up moments except to Al. "Come sit down. Do you need some water, Nat?"
"Yes, please," she agreed as he led her over to a big stuffed chair and came back with water.
Everything was going very well. They would eat dinner, have cake and ice cream, and after all the children were tucked in, he was going to peel his wife out of those very nice, tight pants that molded perfectly to her very pretty—
"Earth to Teddy," Harry said, grabbing his attention. He had Olivia in his arms, her head rested on her granddad's shoulder and two fingers in her mouth.
Teddy smiled for Harry, but focused on Olivia. "You okay, Livvy?"
She nodded, but turned her head into Harry's neck. "She wanted to be held," Harry told him, rubbing a hand along her back. "Did you hear what I asked you?"
"I completely missed it," Teddy told him with a smile. "What's up?"
"Victoire said to call everyone to the tables, we're ready to eat."
If he weren't an Auror, Teddy would have missed the look that Nat shot Victoire when she finally saw his wife. It was a look that made his heart flip straight over in his chest because it was one he'd seen nearly two years before, one hot, summer day.
But he didn't say anything and neither did Nat when she caught his eye and he shook his head.
Later. It could be discussed later.
When Molly and Brayden arrived, he was thankful he'd done just that because after cake and ice cream, when the kids were bouncing off the walls and the adults were cleaning up, Molly announced she was pregnant and due in early August.
They toasted the new baby and he kept quiet until he had a moment to pull Nat away from everyone, just to confirm it.
"She's pregnant?" he asked her quietly, knowing she'd know he meant Victoire.
Nat's mouth flattened into a thin line that he realized was her trying very hard not to laugh. "Twins. Identical again, but she's very early on."
Well.
He took a deep breath and blew it out. "Alright, I'll let her know later," he told Nat as he bent and kissed her cheek. "I appreciate the heads up."
He was in a daze for a good ten minutes as the thought of twins, again, ran through his mind, but the bottom line was he loved his children and he was going to be very happy with two more.
When they finally had everyone settled down, Teddy did peel his wife out of her very fine pants and loved her slowly and tenderly, thinking of just how much she'd given him over the years.
After, when they lay together, skin to skin, he told her. It wasn't every day a man was able to tell his wife she was pregnant and he was going to savoir the moment.
His wife was quiet for almost a minute before she snorted out a laugh. "You know, I had a dream last night that I was pregnant with kittens."
"Come again?" he asked, sure he couldn't have heard her correctly.
"I had a litter of kittens and the girls were so thrilled. Dreams are weird. I'm glad it's just two more babies." She tipped her head up to grin at him. "Six children, Teddy."
"Yeah," he said as he pressed his mouth to hers. "It's going to be fun."
~*~
"What has she done now?" Harry asked Teddy as he took the parchment his godson handed him as he strode into the room. It was almost the end of January and the temperatures outside were absolutely frigid. They were looking at an average all time low for London that year if it kept up.
"She's set off two explosions," Teddy told him grimly. "One was near Rose and Andrew's place, which could have been a Muggle issue, but we investigated because it was within half a mile of their home. That was yesterday. Today, she set off an explosion within half a mile of James and Caroline's house."
"What?" Harry asked as he jumped to his feet. "Are they alright?"
"They're fine," Teddy assured him, but Harry knew the anxiety over his son and his family wasn't going to go away until he saw them in person. "I checked in with Caroline. James was already at work but he's going to get home as soon as he can. She and the boys are fine. Honor stayed home from work and Ginny went over there, as well. The house is protected. Even if she'd set the explosive on their doorstep, it couldn't have done anything."
He let out a long sigh and then said, "Alright, tell me about the explosions."
The next day they had an explosion near Molly and Arthur's place. The day after that, it was near Ron and Hermione's home. The day after that, it was outside of Harry and Ginny's home.
It made it to every single family member except Lily and Scorpius. Then the bombings stopped.
"Either she doesn't know where Lily and Scorpius live," Harry muttered as he skimmed through the reports, "or she's trying to lull us into a false sense of security there and make us think Lily's home is completely secure."
"It could be either or none of those things," Teddy said wearily as he dropped into the chair closest to him at the conference table with a long sigh.
Teddy's house had been targeted the week before and they'd actually been able to hear the blast from inside the protection. It had scared Harry's granddaughters, which left him feeling enraged and helpless.
They'd set up surveillance around the houses, but a half-mile radius around a house was a lot of ground to cover and they hadn't been able to spot anything.
But things had been quiet now for four days and he had to hope this was just a show from her.
She was telling him that she knew where everyone was, except perhaps Lily, and maybe she was having them watched.
They had been driving to dinners at each of the houses, but from here on out they'd all need to use the Floo and that meant leaving the dogs at home. It wouldn't make Caroline or Lily happy, but they had to be cautious.
It was not easy taking an infant through the Floo, but he and Ginny had found that strapping the baby up in a carrier did make it significantly easier.
Someone would have to go to Teddy's to help get all the girls through.
This was turning into a logistical nightmare and he felt like they were all becoming prisoners in their own homes. Caroline hadn't stopped teaching at the cheer gym and Emma still went for classes. Several of the women in his family worked, of course, but most of them had to take extreme measures to ensure their own safety.
He heard a knock at the conference room door and looked over to see Hermione. "Can I speak to you?"
"Sure," he said as he nodded his head to Teddy. "Just me or can he stay?"
"Teddy's fine," she said as she closed the door and leaned back against it. She looked simply worn out. She'd had her own home bombed, as well as Rose's, and the Muggle press were all over the bombing of a duke's estate. "We've had word that a mysterious illness has hit one of the African countries."
"Alright," Harry said as he gestured to a chair and they all sat to hear it. She wouldn't be telling them this if it wasn't relevant.
She took a deep breath and grimaced. "It's in Kenya, but it's spreading. It's causing boils to form on people. The Muggle doctors were at a loss, so magical Healers were sent in and it's from a magical bug that shouldn't be able to live in Africa."
"A… bug?" Harry asked slowly. "Like an insect?"
"An insect," Hermione agreed. "I contacted Rolf Scamander and he and Luna are already there. Thankfully their children are at Hogwarts because the bugs are multiplying rapidly. They're supposed to only be found in a small pocket of the rainforests of Bolivia. There is a specific magical fruit that they eat to live and it's what makes them toxic. They don't kill people, but the boils are very painful and can take months to go away, even with magical treatments."
"How did she get them to live in Africa?" Teddy wondered, asking the same question Harry had.
Hermione spread her hands wide, which was the answer they always had about how Crabbe did anything. "We are trying to contain them. It's become an international effort with the Kenyan magical government because they understand just how vital it is to stop this quickly. We're sending in resources and we can hopefully get it contained. I just wanted you to be aware that she may spread it to other places."
Harry let out a long sigh. Just what they needed… more problems.
He went home to his wife and held her tight. "I just feel like we can't catch a break."
"I agree," she said quietly as they swayed together in the kitchen. "We just have to keep rolling when things are unsteady."
~*~
James studied his brother as Al held his son, Wyatt, and marveled at just how easily this seemed to be for Al. Granted, he had a lot of practice with nieces and nephews, but it still made James smile to watch.
The men, James, Al, and Scorpius, were sitting together in Al and Nat's living room while Alex, Asher and Lorelei played in the rug with some toys that Al had dug out of their parents' attic. Teddy and Victoire were supposed to bring his girls over for an impromptu Valentines dinner, but just as Teddy made it home from work, Amelia began throwing up so they'd bowed out.
The ladies were in the kitchen, but not cooking. Polly was cooking and she'd told them all to sit and enjoy some time while the men played with the children.
"It's weird to think that we're here," Al said as he studied the kids. "We were all kids ourselves just yesterday."
"It does feel like it's been moving faster and faster," Scorpius agreed as he reclined back in his seat. "Lily is starting to make noises about having a second, but then she has a night where Lorelei doesn't sleep because she's having visions, and she changes her mind."
James thought about his baby sister, who was still a baby herself at only nineteen, alright, soon to be twenty, and shook his head. It was easier thinking of Al having just had his first baby. But Lily and Scorpius were good parents and they were in a rough place with their daughter. "How has she been?" James asked as he studied his niece. She was playing with the boys, but she was also playing off on her own. She'd brought along a doll and she moved between the doll and what the boys were doing with blocks.
"It's been a rough week," Scorpius admitted as his expression fell. It had to be so difficult to watch his child suffer when he couldn't do anything about it. "We had Rick come over and he was able to get the prophecy out of her. It was almost plaguing her. It was nonsense, too, but Rick took it to the Ministry anyway. Whatever she was seeing, it didn't sit well with her, but she couldn't express it."
She wasn't talking in words yet. She had a few simple words, like Mumma and Daddy and dog, but she couldn't yet communicate what pictures were going through her mind on a regular basis.
"I'm sorry Nat can't help," Al told him quietly. "She feels badly about it."
"No," Scorpius waved that off. "She was always fragile, Al. We've always known that. Rick does an okay job at it. When he shows up now, Lorelei knows she's going to get relief and she's almost pushing them into him. It's going okay. He's just busy so sometimes it can take him a day to get over to us. It's not Nat's fault, and if we didn't have either Nat or Rick in our lives, she'd have been forced to suffer." Scorpius closed his mouth and shook his head, clearly overcome with emotions.
Lorelei stood and walked over to James with her doll. "Thank you," he said as he took the baby doll from her. She frowned at him, scrunching up her nose and shaking her head until he held the doll correctly, then she climbed into her father's arms and hugged him before settling into his lap.
Alex and Asher hadn't noticed their cousin's desertion of them and toppled the block tower town while yelling 'crash'.
Lorelei pointed to Wyatt, then stuck her fingers in her mouth and said, "beebee."
"Yes, he is," Al agreed. "Do you want to hold him, Lorelei?"
She made a sound that was almost a yes, as she scrambled out of Scorpius' lap and went to sit next to Al. He pulled a pillow up next to her small body and then set Wyatt's head on the pillow with the rest of his body in her arms. She started to talk to the baby and she beamed at all of them.
"You're brave," James told him with a wry smile. "I'd never have let Asher hold a baby."
"She told you off for holding her doll in the wrong way," Al pointed out.
James couldn't help but laugh. It was true.