James and Lily followed Harry down to the Great Hall, happy to see Lily and Millie chatting merrily outside in the Entrance Hall. They both looked up and smiled as Harry approached them.
“Hello girls,” he said happily. “Had a nice day so far?” The girls nodded giving identical affirming sounds as they reached in to give him a hug.
“How’s yours been?” Millie asked.
“Yeah, we heard you had the first years today,” Lily added. Harry smiled warmly at the both of them.
“My day has been fine, thank you very much.” Lily was just about to speak again, when a black man about the same age as Harry came up to them.
“Hello Harry. Hello girls,” he said merrily.
“Hi Professor,” the girls answered giggling before they turned to their father, gave him another brief hug and turned to head inside the Great Hall.
“I wonder what is going on with those two,” the man said as they moved into the Hall. “They have been acting very strange all morning. I had transfiguration with them directly after breakfast, and they kept giggling like that the whole time,” he said waving his hand in the direction of the Gryffindor table, where the girls had sat down next to Eddy and Jordan.
“Dean, you know better than to try and understand what goes on in the minds of 15-year-old girls,” grinned Harry. “I mean if we couldn’t do it when we were 15, why would we be able to do it at 36. Let’s face it, we’re too old.”
“Hey, who are you calling old?” the man exclaimed with pretended indignation. “I’m not the one with three teenagers at home,” he finished giving Harry a pat on the back. Harry grinned back at him.
“Ok, I’ll have to admit, that does tend to make you feel a whole lot older,” he said as they sat down at the Head table. “Talking about home, how’s Susan?”
“She’s fine, thank you. And Ginny?” he asked receiving a positive grunt from Harry as he tried to answer and swallow his food at once.
James and Lily left the two men talking as the man called Dean started to tell Harry about his summer vacation in Italy and slowly started to make their way to the Gryffindor table, taking in as much of their surroundings as possible.
They reached the table just as the girls were finished eating. They were now talking to Eddy and Jordan, or rather Eddy and Millie were talking; Jordan and Lily were once again bickering.
“You know I’m going to keep asking until you say yes,” Jordan said with a teasing voice and a grin playing in the corners of his mouth.
“Then you are going to be a very lonely boy at the ball, because I am not saying yes!” Lily said in a very annoyed voice.
“You will if I have any say in the matter,” continued Jordan in the same tone.
“Luckily for me, you don’t!” said Lily leaning in over the table to face him. “Besides for your information, telling a girl that you are “willing” to go with her, is not the same as asking, and it isn’t seen as flattering.”
“I’m only telling the truth, Potter. It’s not my fault if you can’t handle the fact that I want to go with you.”
“And it isn’t mine if you’re to slow to get a no when you hear it! Let me put it this way, there are plenty of guy’s in this school that are “willing” to take me to the ball, and the fact that you happen to be one of them doesn’t matter one bit!”
James stared at his granddaughter. He didn’t hesitate one moment that she was right; any guy that didn’t want to take her would be a fool. What made him most surprised was that he hadn’t seen before how much she looked like Evans.
“Come on, Potter! You make it sound as if I asked you out of pity. I can insure you that is not the case!”
“I’d be surprised if it was, Jordan, since that would require compassion for someone other than yourself. So why don’t you give me the real reason, huh! Come on, what is it, dated everybody else already?” Lily said sarcastically.
“Ouch, Potter!” Jordan said with a hurt expression on his face that didn’t look entirely pretended. “You make me out to be some Casanova, here…”
“Aren’t you? Could have fooled me!” Lily interrupted heatedly. “Is there anyone in my year or above that you haven’t dated?”
They were both cut off by Eddy whistling.
“Blimey you two, knock it off! Sounds like you’re going to hex each other next!” he said looking sternly at his cousin and his best friend. “Jordan, Lily said no, face it! And Lily you could be a bit less harsh. He is asking you for a date, not to go jump off the Astronomy tower!” Eddy sighed. Jordan and Lily both looked rather insulted. Millie however was giggling so hard she had to strain herself not to choke on her pumpkin juice. Lily shot her a dark look.
“What? Someone had to tell you,” she said grinning. “What's more, we better go, don’t want to be late for Potions,” she finished.
“You have Potions?” asked Eddy with a frown watching them get up from the table. “Watch out, we had it this morning and Snape is in a foul mood today,” he warned.
“Since when is Snape not in a foul mood?” retorted Lily with a laugh as she swung her bag over her shoulder. They all grinned as the girls said goodbye and started to walk towards the door.
As soon as the girls were out the door Millie started to talk.
“You know that is the second time in less than a week that Jordan asked you to the ball. Did it ever strike you that he actually wants to go with you?”
“So? That doesn’t mean I want to go with him,” Lily said irritably.
“You don’t find him even a little bit cute,” Millie said tilting her head and smiling.
“It’s not his looks, Millie,” responded Lily. “Everyone knows Jordan looks good! It’s his behaviour. The way he dates…well everyone!”
“Give him a break. Ok so he’s dated a lot, but far from everyone! I mean he hasn’t dated, Nesta or Abby to name two…”
“Wow, that’s impressive “ Abby is overweight and has so much acne her whole face looks like a spot, and Nesta’s face look like she ran it straight into a wall,” said Lily sarcastically. She stopped and looked seriously at Millie. “Look, the only reason Jordan asks me, is because I say no! If I were ever to say yes, he would treat me like he does everyone else “ that is dump me before the week is over!”
“You don’t know that!” said Millie.
“I know enough to know that I don’t want my heart trampled on by the likes of Jeff Jordan,” Lily said hastily. “Now we really have to get going, or else we will be late,” she finished as the girls speeded up their pace.
By the time they reached the dungeons they were nearly running. Lily shot a glance at her watch.
“Good, we have three minutes to spare,” she said panting. They opened the door and headed inside.
Snape was standing in front of his desk, facing the door when they walked in. He noted the girls arrival by crossing his arms and raising his eyebrow slightly.
“Miss Potter, Miss Malfoy, you’re late!” he sneered.
“No we’re not, we have three minutes left…” Lily retorted automatically, making Millie flinch and look very unhappy.
“That is two points of Gryffindor each for being late, and three more off for your insolence Miss Potter! I see nothing has changed over the summer,” Snape said softly. “Now will you keep disrupting this class or will you find yourselves seats?” he asked with another sneer.
Millie grabbed Lily’s arm and pulled her in to a desk where they started to set up their caldrons when Manning walked through the door.
“Miss Manning, you should be more careful in the future,” said Snape quietly. “You’re almost late,” he added turning his eyes from Manning to Lily, whose arm was squeezed very hard by Millie. Snape watched Lily intently for a while, as if waiting for a reaction, then quickly turned around and headed to the front of the class.
Lily was stunned. She knew Snape was a first rate git, but to see a teacher treat his pupils in such an unfair manner was almost more than she could stand. James however, although angry, didn’t seem at all surprised.
“I told you, Evans! I told you! Snivellus deserved everything he got in school! Do you even remember how many times he called you….well you know what he called you!” James exclaimed. For once Lily almost agreed with him.
The rest of the lesson did not go better. Snape moved between the desks watching their attempts to brew Draught of Peace, making sneering comments about their sloppy work. As the mists from their nearly finished potions started to fill the air Snape stopped in front of the girls, looking displeased at what he saw.
James and Lily couldn’t begin to understand what it was he looked so disgruntled at. Millie’s potion was one of the few that looked the way it was supposed to and Lily’s while not perfect looked more than satisfactory in comparison to the rest of the class.
“Miss Malfoy, why did you choose to add the beetle wings whole instead of pulverising them like most in this class, including Miss Potter here, did?” asked Snape in a low voice.
“Because it says so on the blackboard, sir,” Millie responded carefully. Snape’s upper lip curled.
“Very clever Miss Malfoy, but I think we both know that what I am asking is why you should add the beetle wings whole and not pulverised,” Snape sneered.
“I don’t know that, sir,” answered Millie quietly.
“If you had had any remnants of your father’s wit you would know that, Miss Malfoy.” Snape retorted viciously. “As it is now, I am not surprised that you do not know the answer to such a simple question. You were after all raised by a man with more mediocre skills in potion brewing,” he added. “One point from Gryffindor for failing to answer, Miss Malfoy, and another one of for a sloppy job with your potion, Miss Potter,” he finished with a sinister look at Lily before he turned on his heal and stalked to the front of the classroom.
James and Lily were appalled. How could he even begin to say anything remotely positive about a man like Malfoy? With a shudder they remembered what they had heard Harry tell about him earlier.
“This proves it, doesn’t it Evans? He must have been a Death Eater. Why else would he talk like that about Malfoy? What I cannot fathom is why he hasn’t been caught or why on earth is he allowed to teach at Hogwarts. Something is wrong, Evans. I can feel it. This is not the way the world should be,” James said as they watched Snape absentmindedly scratch his left arm while he waited for the students to bring forth their potions.
After class the girls headed fast down to the Great Hall for dinner. As soon as they reached the table where Eddy and Jordan were waiting for them they started to complain about Snape.
“I told you he was in a foul mood today,” said Eddy.
“But we weren’t even late!” said Lily upset. “And Manning was “ he didn’t take one point of her! Not one! And he took 7 from us!”
“What did you expect? You know Snape always favours Slytherin,” Jordan interjected.
“Exactly!” added Eddy. “He did that already when our fathers were in school. You’ve heard them talk with Uncle Fred and Uncle Ron about that, haven’t you?” he asked Lily who nodded.
“But it still didn’t give him the right to treat Millie that way,” she said. “You should have heard him, praising…him,” she finished. At this Eddy looked slightly alarmed and turned his attention to Millie, asking her something in a hushed voice that James and Lily couldn’t hear.
They left the girls when they saw Sirius and a brown haired boy sitting further up the table talking intensely.
“…but you have to try out Alex!” said Sirius to the boy.
“Why? It’s not like I stand a chance of getting picked anyway,” the boy complained.
“You don’t know that until you try!” Sirius said firmly.
“Yes I do! I‘m not like you Sirius, everyone knows you’ll make the team. With both your sisters playing, your cousin being the captain and your father head of house “ not to mention the best seeker that Gryffindor ever had,” said the boy making James give a cry of pride and joy.
“I don’t think that will matter one bit if I don’t perform the way I’m supposed to. Eddy is far too set on winning the Quidditch Cup, and I don’t think my dad would want to part with it either,” Sirius grinned clearly not that worried about it. The boy Alex made a grimace.
“As if that ever were a risk,” he said. “You’ve probably practiced with your father the whole summer. I can’t do that, you know. Trust me I would if I could, but it’s not like I can pick up my nonexistent broom and head out in the middle of the street flying.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything! I’ve seen you fly in class, and you’re actually quite good. Besides dad never sat on a broom before he came to Hogwarts and he was still picked to play in his first year “ the youngest seeker in a century, and that was after his first time ever on a broom!” Sirius said convincingly.
James felt a shill run along his spine. On the one hand he was incredibly proud to hear that Harry had been a legendary seeker, not to mention the youngest for a century being picked already in his first year. On the other he couldn’t help to wonder why he had never sat on a broom before he came to Hogwarts. Surely Sirius would have found a way for him to do that, even if they were forced to live as muggles? Moreover, with Voldemort stripped of his powers, why would they been forced into hiding? He pushed the thoughts away to the back of his mind; he could worry about that later.
They listened inattentively as Sirius finally managed to persuade his friend into trying out for the team and when they saw Harry sit down at the table they went over to him. Harry was sitting next to the black man he had talked to during lunch. James and Lily searched their minds to try and remember his name, but couldn’t come up with anything that sounded right. When James and Lily came up to them, the two men were deep in a conversation about house points.
“I’m surprised we didn’t loose more!” said the man. “Are you sure he had your girls today?”
“Quite sure!” responded Harry. “Double lesson as well. I have to agree with you only 11 points off Gryffindor, that is less than he usually takes.” They raised their heads as Snape walked in and sat down at the table, not looking at either one of them.
“Only 11 points of Gryffindor today, Severus? I’m surprised. You’re not losing your touch are you, going soft in your old age?” Harry said causing Snape’s upper lip to curl with disdain. He shot of a hateful glance in Harry’s direction.
“You won't be so arrogant when Slytherin takes home your precious Quidditch Cup this year Potter,” he answered with a low sneer. Harry raised an eyebrow.
“I would have thought you’ve gotten used to losing by now Severus. After all Gryffindor has won the Quidditch Cup for the past four years in a row,” Harry said tauntingly.
“Why is it that you Potters always think you are unbeatable?” Snape snorted scornfully in reply. “With the loss of a good chaser and your best beater Gryffindor won't stand a chance against Slytherin this year!”
“Care to put your money where your mouth is?” Harry retorted immediately.
“I do not engage in stupid things like wagers Potter!” Snape said hatefully as Professor Flitwick walked in and sat down in between them.
“Did I hear the word wager?” he asked. “For the Quidditch Cup I suppose? You will put me down for Ravenclaw, won't you Harry?” he went on. Harry nodded and smiled at him as Snape rose and irritably strode out of the Hall.
Harry chatted a bit to the two men on his sides before he himself rose and declared that it was time for him to go home. He wished the men goodnight and headed for the door.
James and Lily followed him out, but once in the Entrance Hall Lily wanted to head up to the Gryffindor common room instead of going with Harry. James however beckoned her to follow Harry instead as he stepped outside.
“Come on, Evans. I have to see if it’s still there!” he said excitedly.
“If what is still there?” Lily asked confused.
“The…you’ll see if it still there. If Harry uses it that is,” rambled James making Lily very nonplussed. Once outside they saw Harry heading for the Whomping Willow, something that made James very exited and Lily if possible even more bewildered than before.
Once by the willow Harry drew his wand, flicked it and watched it grow. When it was long enough he knowingly placed it on a knot on the trunk of the tree before he walked in and entered a hole in the ground. James smiled triumphantly to Lily as they followed Harry into the hole.
“How did you know this was here?” Lily asked surprised. “Wait, don’t tell me I’m not sure I want to know,” she then quickly added. James laughed.
“Relax Evans. It’s not as bad as you think. This passageway was created so that Moony would be able to leave Hogwarts grounds when he transformed,” James answered happily. “The Whomping Willow was planted above it so that no students would walk in on him as a werewolf,” he then continued. Lily looked hesitantly at him, but then decided that she probably didn’t want to know what else they had used this passage for.
When they came closer to the end of the passage, James noted that it had been rebuilt. It rose faster than it had before and changed angle. He drew the conclusion that this had to be because of the new house, a suspicion that proved right when Harry tapped a seemingly solid wall in front of him and stepped out into his living room.
Ginny was sitting in the sofa in front of them, reading a book. When Harry walked in she raised her head and smiled at him.
“How has your day been?” she asked quietly.
“Fine and yours?” asked Harry as he walked over to her and bent down to give her a long kiss efficiently stopping her from answering.
The kiss was interrupted by a laud crash. Harry shot a glance in the direction of the door which led to the stairs.
“Company tonight?” he asked as he heard the faint voices of two boys discussing how best to fix the mess they apparently just made. Ginny nodded.
“Kevin is going to spend the night, Luna and Colin are at the hospital,” Ginny explained. Harry looked at her with concern.
“I hope nothing’s wrong?” he asked.
“No, not at all!” Ginny smiled. “Luna’s pregnant again, that’s all.” Harry looked at her with astonishment.
“She just had Selene less than a year ago, you’re telling me that she is pregnant again?” he asked in amazement. Ginny smiled and nodded, clearly amused by Harry’s shocked reaction. “How?”
“As a father of four yourself, I thought you knew the answer to that one,” laughed Ginny. Harry quickly shot her an annoyed that would have suited any classroom.
“That was not what I meant and you know it!” he said.
“Well, have you ever seen Luna and Colin have a normal conversation?” Ginny asked tilting her head as she smiled.
“I guess that’s a point,” Harry grinned back. “And this would be number…what?” he then asked.
“This would be number six and seven, actually. She is expecting twins,” Ginny said knowingly.
“Twins? Seven?” Harry said in disbelief. “They are going to have seven children in less than nine years? Merlin, they’re worse than rabbits!” he exclaimed.
“Hey, you are talking to child number seven here,” Ginny said annoyed. “Are you telling me my parents are rabbits?” she asked.
“That’s not what I meant,” said Harry remorsefully, causing both James and Lily to laugh. He would definitely have a bit of a problem getting out of that one. Luckily for Harry, their conversation was interrupted by another large crash from the room above them.
“Shall we tell them to go to bed before they tear the house to pieces?” Harry asked gazing up in the ceiling sounding relieved at the change of topic.
“I think we better,” laughed Ginny. Harry left the room and called up the stairs for the boys. He was soon followed in the room by Christopher, looking his usual messy self, and another boy that James and Lily realized had to be Kevin.
The boy’s appearance resembled Christopher’s quite a bit. Not that they looked physical alike, but they both gave the same untidy impression. The two boys were almost the same height and both their robes were a complete a mess of stains and wrinkles. Judging from the wetness of a few of the stains, what ever they had broken moments before had contained some kind of liquid. Kevin had dark blond hair, just as messy as Christopher’s, and blue protuberant eyes. He grinned widely at Harry showing a gap between his front teeth.
“Hello!” said the boys happily.
“Hello boys,” said Harry. “So Kevin I hear you’re going to have two new brothers or sisters,” he added.
The boy nodded. “I hope it’s brothers though, sisters are really boring. All they want to play with is dolls and stuff, brothers would be much more fun,” he said still with a huge grin on his face. Harry laughed heartily as he ran his hand through the boy’s hair.
“How about the two of you head of to bed and stop wrecking the house, ok?” Harry then said causing both boys to moan in displeasure. Christopher tried to argue but soon realized that his parents would not budge and the two boys headed dully back up the stairs to go to bed.
Harry went over to the sofa and sat down next to Ginny as they heard the boys go upstairs.
“You never did tell me how your day was,” he said quietly.
“Are you asking because you want to know or because you don’t want to continue our earlier conversation?” asked Ginny.
“Both,” answered Harry truthfully with a grin. Ginny tried to look sternly at her husband but laughed and kissed him before she answered.
“My day was fine thanks. Busy, but fine,” she said smiling as Harry leaned in and kissed her neck. “Harry…” she said hesitantly as he continued to kiss her. “I thought you wanted to talk about my day.”
“Later,” Harry mumbled and pulled her closer to him.
“You are absolutely hopeless, you know that?” muttered Ginny with a faint laugh before she grabbed his head and kissed him back.
“Maybe we should move this upstairs,” whispered Harry after a while. Ginny nodded and they rose and started to walk upstairs. As they reached the first landing a faint sound told them that the boys were very much still up. Harry laughed silently and shook his head.
“I think I told the two of you to go to bed!” he then called out, soon seeing the faces of both the boys sticking out from the landing above. James and Lily positioned themselves so that they could watch both adults and children to see what would happen.
“We’re being really quiet,” said Christopher.
“Yeah, we’re not even breaking anything,” Kevin’s voice added quickly.
“You won’t even know that we’re up, promise dad” called Christopher again. Harry looked at his wife and couldn’t help but to laugh at the boys’ interpretation of what he had told them earlier.
“That does not matter! I want the both of you to bed now, Christopher. Your mother and I want to get some sleep too,” Harry answered in a voice that sounded a lot sterner than the look on his face seemed to indicate.
“Ok, we’ll go,” responded Kevin’s voice so fast that both Ginny and Harry looked surprised. Christopher however started to argue, but Kevin quickly pulled him back.
“It’s no use arguing,” he told Christopher. “When parents want to go to bed early they want you to do so also. It’s because they are going to make a baby,” he said in a very matter-of-factly manner.
When Ginny heard this she folded double with laughter, holding her hands to her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud. James and Lily also found Kevin’s comment to be incredibly funny and even Harry found it hard to control himself even if he was the first one to do so.
“I told the two of you to go to bed, and Christopher I can insure you that you will not be getting any new brothers and sisters. Now I don’t want to hear any more talking from either one of you. Good night.” Harry sighed and turned to Ginny who was standing in the doorway still laughing.
“Where does that kid get everything from?” Harry said grinning and shaking his head.
“Seven children in nine years,” Ginny suggested. “I think you used the term rabbits,” she added with a grin.
“How come that is ok for you to say, but when I did it you jumped down my throat,” Harry asked indignantly. Ginny started to laugh again, leaning back on the doorpost. Harry suddenly looked as if someone thrown a bucket of water over him. “You were teasing…why you little…”
“Well what are you going to do about it Professor Potter?” Ginny said looking both very mischievous and very innocent at the same time. Harry stared at her for a few seconds, shook his head slightly before he walked over to her with only a few swift steps.
“Merlin, woman you’re…” Harry grunted, but what she was James or Lily never heard for as he spoke Harry grabbed his wife by the waist and carried her into the bedroom closing and locking the door behind them.
As soon as the door was closed the two boys snuck out on the landing above looking down over the railing.
“See I told you,” said Kevin knowingly. “Now you will have a younger brother or sister, too!”
“I hope it’s a brother,” said Christopher thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t want someone that only plays with dolls,” he added. Kevin looked at him and nodded.
“Brothers are much more fun,” he said. “We should go to bed now. Trust me, your dad wouldn’t be happy if we disturbed him now,” he finished. He tugged at Christopher’s arm and pulled him with him into the room they were sleeping in. Christopher still looked a bit confused, and mumbled something about a brother again when they closed the door.
“That’s something that will need some explaining in the morning,” laughed Lily. James looked at her and grinned.
“I wonder how long he will wait for his little brother to arrive,” he said highly amused by the situation. They looked at each other and laughed once more.
“I think I rather like this Kevin,” James added and pulled Lily into his arms as they went downstairs to wait out the night together.