Chapter 29
Carol Burns sat on the bus having what had come to be known as 'a Potter moment' while she contemplated the effect the former object of their torment had on her life, Hermione had literally saved it.
The Lily Potter clinic was more like a high class hotel than a hospital and the treatment had been world class, Carol knew that there wasn't a hope in hell her family could have afforded their 'little girl' to be admitted here, far less have her mother stay as well. The Burns girls had been treated like princesses and Carol had been cured of a disease that should have claimed her life.
Her return to school had not been what she expected, her 'friends' had been pleased to see her but Carol felt unable to participate in their usual gossip which was basically character assassination spoken just loud enough for the target to hear. Carol already felt unworthy of the precious gift she had been given by Hermione and swore she wouldn't repay her by slipping immediately back in to her old ways.
This change was soon picked up on and it didn't take long for the first jibes to be aimed in her direction, well they all knew she was wearing a wig so it was an easy target. When she got home Carol found herself wondering how Hermione had dealt with it and decided to take away their power over her, she went to school without her wig and a few people commentated that her short blond hair was nice.
When Hermione had invited her to their island home over Easter Carol assumed that was just the kind of thing that people say over the holidays 'oh you must come to our house' thing. When they received the letter arranging a meeting with Miss Black two weeks ago Carol was shocked and Tina suddenly became her best friend again after practically ignoring her for weeks.
Tina's father apparently knew the Grangers and had been trying to get an invitation to the golf course without having any luck; they were planning on using this as an opportunity to invite themselves.
Tina Elliot's adventure was over before it began and Carol had to bite her lip otherwise she would have laughed her head off at the way Miss Black deflated the pompous prick that was Tina's father. He had claimed that he was unhappy at his teenage daughter being unaccompanied on some unknown lord's private island.
Miss Black just said "OK" and turned to Carol, "Lady Hermione prepared for this eventuality, rather than have you travel and holiday alone, Lord and Lady Gryffindor would like to extend their invitation to the entire Burns family."
Carol just glanced at her mum and dad before replying, "Please thank Harry and Hermione for us and say we would be delighted to accept."
Tina was fit to be tied at her father costing her the holiday of a lifetime and, to make matters worse, Carol would still be going. The Elliot's stormed out leaving a now smiling Narcissa with the Burns's, "Sorry but Hermione's parents thought he might try something like that and I'm under orders that there's no way our family wants to put up with them for a week. Now we are very informal on the island with sleeveless and shorts being worn only when swimwear isn't." Robert Burns glanced towards his wife and daughter, all had the same thought – the boys would be over the moon.
"Now unfortunately we have a formal function that I am not allowed to speak about yet but our tailor will visit your home and get your measurements, look at colours, fabrics, styles and whatever you choose will be waiting when you reach the island."
Carol just sat there finding the whole thing surreal as her mother asked, "Is there anything we need to take with us?"
"Just turn up at the airport with your passports and remember your bikinis, the sun can get quite fierce so we have our own skin care products, we are going to just have a week of fun on the beach, good food and even better company. There will be plenty of golf for anyone who plays and I know there's a shopping trip planed to one of the nearby islands. Everyone on the island will be there for a well eared break."
The boys were certainly excited but by the time they got to the airport James was bouncing off the walls, hyper didn't even begin to describe her youngest brother but the rest of the family soon joined him when they discovered that a private jet had been arranged for them and the Grangers guests. James had never flown before; Josh and her had been much younger so to say this was an experience would easily qualify as the understatement of the year.
She looked out the window of the bus as it pulled into a harbour and there, right in front of her, was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen – the 'First Kiss'
Waving to the group from the bridge was Miss Black and two people who could only have been the Grangers, Carol was worried she didn't have enough films for her camera, she already knew Tina was going to be so green with envy, she couldn't wait to show her pictures and they hadn't even reached the island yet.
They cast off and, after a quick tour of the "First Kiss', everyone was gathered on the main sun deck with a glass of something cool and refreshing in their hand, Narcissa spoke to the excited holiday guests.
"Hello again everyone and sorry for the air of mystery but we have some extra special guests staying on the island for the next four days and we have to lay some ground rules down."
"Hey Dan, you got royalty staying?" he was laughing at his own joke until he noticed the smirk both Grangers were wearing, "royalty? Are you serious?"
Emma just couldn't resist it, "No, Sirius is Lord Black, Harry's Godfather. We actually have the Queen and Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Diana as well as Princes William and Harry staying with us."
There was no spitting of drinks, chins hitting the floor or eyeballs popping out, they were all to shocked for that. Narcissa continued, "there will be a ceremony in a couple of days where certain people will receive awards for services to the crown. Isn't that right Sir Daniel?"
Dan and Emma weren't stupid and they didn't hang around with stupid people either, one of there friends put two and two together, amazingly producing four. "Oh my god! That was you?"
Just like the attack on the church, two princes being kidnapped was always going to leak to the papers and the palace were forced to make a statement saying that the princes had been rescued by a combined force of the Army and a private company. The people who carried out the kidnapping were dead and there were some injuries on the part of the company but everyone was hopping they would make a full recovery. The press had dug and came up with Stag Industries and went from there.
"What do you know about Stag Industries?" Dan could see his friend Jake's calculator eyes engage full power.
"Quite a lot actually since Emma and I are on the board of Directors. It's a private company conceived and owned by Harry so there's no money to be made Jake, but the kids have short fuses at the moment, as we're all worried about the triplets. So the quickest way to get your arse booted off the island is to try annoying them with financial deals."
"Everybody needs more money," said Jake, repeating the motto he lived by.
Emma took his breath away, "Jake this yacht was my Christmas present from the kids, Dan got his own golf course, and we're going to their private island home where the Royal Family is staying. Trust me when I say they're not hurting for money."
Jake's wife grabbed him by the arm, "don't worry Emma, if Jake here mucks up my chance of meeting the Queen he'll be sleeping on the sofa until next Easter."
"The Royals are staying in the guest house while everyone else is in the main house, you may have to bunk up for a few days as everyone wants to be at the ceremony so were a bit crowded" as Narcissa finished speaking they had come round the island and could see the house, there also looked to be a party in full swing on the beach.
-oOoOo-
Harry sat at breakfast knowing that their non-magical guests would be arriving today and wishing this ceremony would just go away, he supposed they had a lot to be thankful for but the uncertainty over the triplets hung over the Potters like a black cloud. Since awakening from the duel they both had found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on anything else, they were both overjoyed that the princes were unhurt but the thought of something being wrong with their own babies was haunting their every waken moment as well as their dreams.
Godric's portrait suspected that Hogwarts herself had recognised her heirs and placed a protective shield around them but since the castle still hadn't recovered enough to be able to communicate with Godric it was pure guesswork at the moment. The portrait reckoned it would be at least another three weeks before Hogwarts was strong enough to hopefully put their minds at rest.
The goblins had to put wards around the school, as it would be September at the earliest before Hogwarts could even attempt that. It was just as well, the non-magical media had printed the princes had been rescued at an exclusive school in the Scottish highlands and had been sniffing about. The castle now appeared as an ancient ruin with compulsion charms making the non-magical people pass it by. The goblins had made tokens that could be handed out to those non-magical's as required.
While the Potters were unconscious the Prophet had run with the story of Dumbledore's duplicity and the picture of the once great wizard firing that most hated curse at a pregnant woman in the audience was both sickening and yet strangely fascinating. The expression of achievement on his face bewildered both readers and everyone who was present, Ginny's comments had cut deep but surely they weren't that bad that Dumbledore thought he could commit murder and get away with it, were they? This thought, more than anything else, started changing people's opinions, looking back at what Dumbledore and before him Voldemort had accomplished with very little opposition.
The fact that an elf had dispatched Dumbledore, with as much ease as if he was just another piece of dirty laundry that needed taken care of, terrified the wizarding public until the Prophet ran a follow up article in which the new Elvin village was featured. It also contained interviews from wizards praising their work and elves ecstatic that they could now choose which kind of work they liked. The elves presented themselves as a hard-working, dedicated, non-grudge holding, family orientated race whose devotion to the Potters knew no bounds. The message in the story was very clear, leave them alone and everybody benefits, mess with them and you'd be sorry, and only an imbecile would attack a Potter.
Breakfast was busy as all the house potter kids were there with Parvati and Lavender as well as most of the staff of Hogwarts, who were having to bunk on the 'First Kiss' – no hardship there.
Everyone had worked their socks off getting Hogwarts back up and running and all were looking forward to a well earned break, they were originally all coming after Dan and Emma's guests but the awards ceremony followed by the party meant they all wanted to be here for that and Harry didn't have the heart to say no. All three Potters had to continually say no to students desperate for an invite though Susan and Hannah were arriving shortly with Amelia.
Amelia Bones had seized the momentum and started pushing through reforms and restructuring in the ministry, departments were now more closely linked and a muggle born headed the expanded non-magical liaison department. This had swallowed up Arthur Weasley's old department 'Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office' and had a much wider remit; the use of the word 'muggle' was now actively frowned upon. The revolution that started with Hogwarts had actually reached the ministry.
Harry and Hermione liked having their friends at home but they just weren't in the mood right now but that quickly changed when the strongest pulse of emotion Harry had ever felt hit him through their bond, leaving him breathless. He looked towards his wife who was wearing the biggest smile he'd seen in months, she said three words that lifted everyone's mood into the stratosphere, "our baby kicked!"
Relief was quickly followed by elation as Harry picked his wife up, swung her round a few times before jumping into the pool with her still in his arms, Hermione didn't even break the lip-lock she had on her husband when they hit the water, nothing could upset her today. The pool took seconds to be full of people celebrating with even Amanda Granger jumping in to hug her grandchildren. Filius sat with two weeping witches as Poppy and Minerva cried tears of joy, both women felt they had failed the Potters and the sight of them genuinely happy again left two strong witches helplessly crying and not caring who saw them.
The group were leaving the 'First Kiss' when they noticed Harry and Hermione hurrying towards them, the bounce in their step and smiles plastered on their faces told Dan and Emma they were not bearing bad news. When Emma heard that the baby kicked she held on to her children and cried tears of relief so it was Dan's job to explain the significance.
"When we rescued the princes these two were seriously hurt and left with the side effect that no scans have been able to be taken of Hermione, today's kick is the first positive sign that things are going to be ok. As you can imagine we are rather relieved and I'm guessing that's what brought about the party on the beach."
The adults headed up to the house while Harry and Hermione took the three Burns kids down to the beach, Hermione and Carol were catching up on how they were while Harry was organising a tournament on the video games machine for tonight after dinner.
Ginny and Neville were first over and when Hermione introduced the red head as her daughter Carol just asked, "when you said that you had adopted a daughter I kind of thought you meant someone younger than James."
"You will be sharing Ginny's room as we're rather crowded at the moment and the boys will be in with Neville," said Hermione.
When everyone was familiar with the newcomers Pansy was looking at James and had an idea to break the ice, she got down on her knees in front of the seven year old and said, "Excuse me kind sir, I have a dance to attend in two days and no-one to go with. Would the cutest boy on the island kindly consent to being my date for the evening?" she winked at the young boy to show she wasn't serious.
"If there's going to be ice cream then I'd love to go with you." James answered causing everyone to burst out laughing.
"Oh thank you kind sir" she said giving him a hug, "Carol your youngest brother is going to be a heartbreaker and Josh doesn't look half bad either, once we get him to relax a bit."
Greg was in like a shot, "excuse me Miss Burns but would you do me the honour of accompanying me to the party?" she looked to Hermione who just smiled before Greg answered her unasked question, "everyone on this island are friends or family of Harry and Hermione, this is the safest place in the world and everyone gets treated with the utmost respect."
Carol's answer of "I'd love to!" got the back of her hand kissed, which in turn, earned a loud "YUK!" from James.
Harry found it hard to believe that this was the same boy who used to follow Draco about as mindless muscle, if they could change Crabbe and Goyle so successfully then the rest of the world should be easy!
Josh was looking at the other girls without a clue what to say next when two Zabini sisters took an arm each and said, "don't worry, we'll all share you." This had the opposite effect as Josh was now extremely worried.
By the time they all headed back to the house they were all comfortable with one another and had fun just being kids. Harry and Hermione went for a lie down as the strain of the past couple of months began to catch up on them, they would need to be woken for dinner.
Ginny and Carol went to their room where the view onto the balcony combined with the most beautiful dress she had ever seen, just sitting there waiting on her approval, proved just to much and she burst out crying.
Ginny was comforting the crying girl trying to find out what the matter was.
"Hermione's been so good to me, my whole family in fact, and I don't deserve it. We treated her terribly all through school then she appears like a beautiful Christmas Angel and saved my life, now I'm going to the ball dressed better than Cinderella and there actually will be real princes there – I really don't deserve any of this."
Ginny made Carole look at her, "I know exactly how you feel, I can't tell you everything but my old parents had been stealing a lot of money from Harry and had entered into an illegal agreement where Harry and I were going to be drugged to have his children. When Harry and Hermione got together one of my brothers, their best friend, tried to kill Hermione but Harry hit him too hard and Ron died. My parents were in prison and my brother lay dead, I thought my life was over but those two believed me when I said I didn't have a clue what had been going on and held me through the worse night of my life. When we awoke Harry told me that he knew I loved him but it would always be Hermione for him. He said that the position of Mrs Potter was no longer available but asked would I settle for Miss?"
Carol was thinking that this story was unbelievable but then thought back to her own encounters with the Potters, yes she could believe this girl.
Ginny continued, "Hermione was my best friend, now she's my mum and I couldn't be happier. Apart from Dan and Emma's guests, Harry and Hermione have affected the lives of everyone on this island and in every case that change has been overwhelmingly positive."
Carol had a thoughtful expression on her face, "how can I possibly repay them?"
Ginny smiled at the memory that came to mind, "I told dad I would change to try and be worthy of them and he told me no, he wanted me to be Ginny Potter. So my mission in life is to be the best Ginny Potter can be while remaining true to myself."
Carol thought she understood, be the best you can be without deciding to become a surgeon even though you faint at the sight of blood. She was distracted when Ginny insisted she try on her new dress. "Oh that really looks great on you, Greg is going to flip when he sees you in it."
The nervous look from Carol was dissipated with Ginny's next comment, "he will hold your hand, dance with you all night, treat you like a lady and the most he'll be hoping for is a goodnight kiss, even then it will still be your choice. Dad believes passionately that it is always the lady's choice so you will never be pressured from a boy in house Potter. Nobody wants to disappoint mum and dad, it doesn't even bare thinking about."
Carol stood looking in the full-length mirror unable to get the Cinderella thoughts from her mind, completely unaware that the young girl next to her was quite capable of transfiguring a coach and horses for the occasion.
After a wonderful dinner Sirius watched as the 'kids' played some video game that had all of them roaring with laughter, the news from this morning had been a great relief for everyone hence the number of people in the pool. It did his heart good to watch them just having fun and relaxing with their friends, saving the world could be put on the back burner for a little while.
Rose Parkinson was, as usual, sitting beside him and Sirius knew he would need to have a talk with her soon. Twelve years in Azkaban could put a dent in anybody's confidence and sense of self worth, Sirius knew this was not going to be a fling, Rose was just not that type of witch, and if she was interested in him then he'd be a fool to let her go. He tried to overlook the fact that he was head over heels in love with her and failed miserably. His relationship with her daughters was very good and both girls seemed keen on the match, all that remained was for Sirius to get a dose of courage and ask the lady how she felt about him. Easier said than done!
Remus and Tonks were also slowly building their relationship, Remus had asked her to be present at his last transformation so she had sat with Sirius as Remus underwent his 'little furry problem' inside his cage and wept at how painful it looked. Even taking the wolfsbane potion Remus insisted on using the cage, more for his own peace of mind than anything else. Tonks had patted the wolf on the head before retreating to her own room for the night. She had seen him at his best and now at his worse, as far as she was concerned the good far outweighed the bad.
The princes joined them on the beach over the next few days, with no paparazzi, no strangers and a group of people around them who could whip anyone's arse, they had the rare privilege of just being kids and messing about with everyone else.
Harry was asked by Dan to play a round of golf; Jake had won every round so far and was becoming a bit of an arsehole. It was actually fun to watch, every time Jake hit a good shot, Harry's was better and he grew more infuriated as the round progressed. While Jake's frustration grew, Harry started applying slightly more magic and his opponent seemed to find every hazard left on the course. There would be no more boasting from Jake for the rest of the holiday as he was mauled by the lion clubs, heavily assisted by some wandless magic.
The Dursleys had moved out to allow the Queen the guesthouse and were currently residing in Potter Manor, they portkeyed in for the ceremony and dance. They were currently walking passed the pool, through the garden and into the giant marquee erected there especially for this event.
The Queen was awarding the Royal Victorian Order to each of the group in recognition of services to the royal family, this is a personal award for services performed on her behalf and doesn't have to involve the government. Ragnok, as leader of a nation, had deferred the award to Griphook for warding the royal palaces, Griphook was now a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.
Dan and Dobby became Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order; Sir Daniel Granger GCVO had been well warned by Emma and Amanda that he was not refusing this one.
Winky and Ginny were now Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, the little redheaded witch had went from poor little Ginevra Molly Weasley to Dame Ginny Potter GCVO, director of Stag Industries in such a short space of time.
Harry and Hermione remained Lord and Lady Gryffindor but now had GCVO after their titles. The Queen didn't require her ceremonial sword for awarding Royal Victorian Orders but after hearing how the abductor of her grandsons met his end she asked Harry if they could use the same sword for the ceremony. The irony of an elf being knighted by a non-magical Queen using a goblin sword brought a smile to Harry's face as he thought of Sir Dobby Potter GCVO living up to the family's new motto, Potters don't do normal.
The repeated kicks from their babies had improved Harry's disposition so much that he'd invited the whole Weasley clan to the ceremony and party, with the strict understanding that the twins were kept in line. Molly was currently crying tears of joy but she was not alone as Emma, Amanda and even Aunt Petunia were amongst those guests in tears.
With people portkeying onto the 'First Kiss' it saved their non-magical guests from having a heart attack at the sight of people appearing in the foyer. Hermione wondered if there were any elves left in Britain, as the all seemed to be here, using glamour's, as were the goblins, to support everyone receiving their awards.
Harry's first instinct was to refuse the award until his wife pointed out that this was the Queen's personal gift from a grandmother who was overjoyed to see her grandson's safe and well. With all her grandchildren now walking about with portkeys that would take them to a safe room at Buckingham Palace, she felt better than she had in years. The grandmother angle had defeated all his arguments and he had graciously accepted.
The Royals even stayed for some of the party with the princes having permission to stay to the end, Dobby and Winky promised to see they got home.
Carol Burns entered the room she shared with Ginny and almost floated onto the bed, the party had been awesome, almost like a fairy tale. Her mum had taken her picture dancing with a prince and a lord, but it would be the one with Greg that would have pride of place by her bed. They had liked each other almost immediately and Carol had her eyes opened watching how a real group of friends behave, their first date had been magical but the goodnight kiss they had just shared was mind blowing. Carol knew she could get used to living like this.
Chapter 30
As Harry sat in the great hall while Minerva presented Cedric, Fleur and Victor with their Tri-Wizard Trophies and a thousand galleons each he couldn't help but think how different things would have been if he didn't kiss the extremely beautiful, extremely pregnant witch who was sitting by his side.
Hogwarts had confirmed that she had indeed placed a shield around her heirs to protect them from the powerful magic being poured into Hermione, unfortunately the castle had drained itself so much that it wasn't able to remove the protection after the transfer and even now they had decided not to take the risk.
Hermione was glowing, pregnancy really suited her and Harry thought he had never seen a more beautiful sight than his pregnant wife. Their life had settled down since discovering the babies were moving and growing, everything else would just have to wait till they were born.
Shifting his gaze to look around the hall made Harry smile as he noticed every table had a mixture of houses with the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students sprinkled around as well, the policy of inclusion rather than exclusion was working better than they could ever have hoped and was spreading through the rest of the wizarding world. It was the presence of Carole and Josh Burns that pleased him the most, his thoughts wandering back to Easter on the island.
-oOoOo-
"Excuse me, may I have a word in private please?" Robert Burns asked Harry and Hermione while his wife waited nervously for a reply, something was clearly bothering them.
The four retreated to a quiet sitting room and sat while the Potters waited to find out what was troubling the couple.
Robert gathered his courage and spoke, "over the last few days we have watched carefully as both Carol and Josh have blossomed into the fine young people that we knew was in there, and while I will admit being on this beautiful island has helped I'm more inclined to credit the company they've been keeping for the changes. I have never seen so many kids who all look out for one another, it's very subtle but you can see it if you look close enough, and they accepted all of our children without a moments hesitation. I don't want them to lose what they've found here and would like to enquire on the possibilities of Carol and Josh attending Hogwarts."
Harry and Hermione weren't sure what the Burns parents were going to say but this had shocked them, though when the facts were presented it seemed logical except for the fact that logical and magical rarely fitted in the same sentence.
Ever since Hogwarts had used Ginny to pass magic on to her parents, their bond had reached the stage that allowed them to talk to each other over it, without thoughts leaking out. Hermione concentrated on Ginny then asked her to bring Carol, Josh and Greg into the room.
"There's a reason why we can't grant your request in full but I have a proposal that might interest you both and the kids but if we wait a minute we can all discuss the solution together." Harry had hardly finished speaking when they entered the room.
When everyone was sitting Hermione attempted to explain, "the reason that Carol and Josh could not attend Hogwarts is because it's a school for the gifted, and this gift is something that you have to be born with, it's called magic!" Harry conjured roses for Mrs Burns and Carol who both couldn't believe their eyes as the roses slowly floated into their laps. "Ginny and I are witches while Harry and Greg are wizards and Hogwarts is where we learn to control our magic."
Carol looked towards Greg who shyly nodded, "I'm not in the same league as Harry here but that's ok as very few are, and they all seem to have Potter as a last name."
"Apart for my Neville." Ginny smilingly corrected.
"Is that how Carol was cured?" Robert asked.
"Yes," answered Harry, "we are slowly trying to integrate our world with the non-magical, I was raised in your world and Hermione's parents are both non-magical dentists. With this in mind I would like to invite Josh and Carol to Hogwarts from a Friday evening to Sunday evening, they would work in the non-magical annex on a Saturday and Sunday afternoons. We have social events every weekend that they would be welcome to attend and of course they would be paid for their work. Ginny and Amanda run a mini mall in the annex and they would be working and staying with them. All we ask is that this remains a secret, you can't tell anyone about magic unless they already know."
"What happens if we tell anyone?" a clearly worried Robert asked.
Hermione gave a reassuring smile, "we would perform a memory charm that would have you forget about magic, at our wedding Tina was amongst the non-magical guests hurt but treated at a magical hospital. I actually spoke to her there and found out about Carol's cancer but she has had her memory modified to forget about magic, the alternative of not treating her and leaving Tina scarred for life just never was part of the equation."
Harry continued, "we need to remain secret or we would be expected to use magic to solve the worlds problems and that's beyond even us – though we are trying."
Carol was still looking at Greg, "we're not allowed to tell anyone about magic, it's one of our strictest laws, but I'm still the same guy. If this bothers you we can do a memory charm, you will forget all about magic and we can be friends but we can't progress from that as I am a wizard and it's not something I could give up. Thanks to Harry we have phones and email now so could still stay in touch."
Josh queried, "what did you use before phones and email?"
Greg actually looked embarrassed, "we used to tie messages to owls legs."
Josh was laughing until he realised Greg was serious, "cool, slow and quaint but cool."
Carol asked a question, which eased Greg's fears somewhat, at least she wasn't running out the room screaming. Greg had grown quite fond of the girl and it never even crossed his mind that she wasn't a witch, she was a beautiful girl who was fun to be around and that was all that mattered.
"Wouldn't we spend most of the weekend travelling up and down to Scotland?" she asked.
Harry was grinning as he called for Dobby, who actually entered through the door. "Dobby could you lose the glamour please?" This brought the reality of magic home to the Burns family a lot more forcefully than the roses.
"Sir Dobby is an elf, and yes the Queen knew that before the ceremony as Dobby and Winky have both been to the Palace. Dobby could you please take Carol for a quick visit to Hogwarts?" asked Harry.
It was an astonished Carol who appeared back less than five minutes later and could only nod her head in wonder when Harry asked if that answered her question.
"You don't have to make a decision today, in fact now that you know about magic you are welcome to stay for the other week of the holidays after mum and dad's guests leave, we can just transport you directly home. We will just make James sleep and he'll think he slept the whole way home." Said Hermione.
"Making James sleep might be just too tall an order," said Robert who was immediately put to sleep by Ginny.
"Oh I so wish I could do magic!" This was spoken with such longing by Robert's wife that everybody just had to laugh.
-oOoOo-
Harry and Hermione lay cuddling in their suite at Potter Manor glad that tonight was over but not looking forward to tomorrow. The Prophet would be running an interview with them and then there was Sirius and Rose's engagement party tomorrow night. Narcissa kept going on at them to attend functions or hold a ball but they just weren't interested in that type of lifestyle, they much preferred their island and the company of friends rather than 'social suck-ups' as Hermione had christened them.
Sirius had actually relieved the pressure by having a massive engagement party in Potter Manor to re-introduce Lord Black back into wizarding society. This meant that the Potter's could attend as guests and leave early, citing Hermione's current heavily pregnant state as an excuse. Harry and Hermione reckoned an hour was minimum but ninety minutes would be the maximum time they could spend there listening to 'you really must do this' or 'someone is dying to meet them'.
The interview appearing in the Prophet tomorrow should cause quite a stir as well. A Wizengamot member named Tim Sharp had put forward a proposal that Stag Industries was getting to large and powerful, it should be broken up into smaller pieces and sold for the good of the wizarding world, and Tim Sharp who was looking for a piece of the company or to be offered gold to drop or amend his proposal.
He obviously must have had his head up his arse for the last eight months if he thought the Potters would try and pay him off, nothing less than total ruination of the man was acceptable.
The Potters had stated in their interview that they would never sell any of their interests, instead they would close every Stag Industries business in Britain and move it abroad, and this also included Hogwarts. They promised not one employee would lose their job as they would be relocated, re-housed and reimbursed for any expenses endured in this process.
The Potters only request was that a decision be reached quickly to allow families time to find alternative schooling for their children and give the Potters a chance to settle in their new country before their babies were born.
A related article by Gringotts bank highlighting the devastating effect this would have on the wizarding economy followed, it made grim reading. Not only would they lose the tax revenue from the employees, but also those same people would then be spending their wages in a country other than Britain. There would be no Stag Industries businesses buying raw materials in the country either, the development of a washing machine, CD player and microwave oven for the magical world were only some of the projects that would be relocated, not to mention the biggest potion producer in the country.
Ever since the military visited Hogwarts there began a love affair between pureblood wizards and ready meals, and even though they could heat them using magic they apparently preferred that 'authentic microwave taste' – wizards were nuts!
Gringotts were at pains to emphasise that the relocation of Stag Industries would not affect the bank, they were still the company's bankers and should Stag decide on a country that didn't have a branch of Gringotts, one would be opened.
There was also a warning from St Mungo's that without the support of Stag Industries, who paid millions to buy the elves their freedom and now employed them, providing workers to the hospital at no cost, they would be serious consequences to the provision of healthcare in the magical community.
The Prophet then informed their readers that, as Stag Industries owned the newspaper, they would have to find something else to read in the morning. They were at pains to point out that editorial control was completely independent with the only proviso that anything printed must be the truth.
Rose Parkinson then preceded to bludger the point's home with her editorial,
The company motto 'for the benefit of all' is nowhere more apparent than in the refurbishment of Hogwarts, which was totally financed by Stag Industries. It will actually cost parents LESS to send their children, as they are no longer required to purchase books, brooms, potion ingredients, cauldrons, or telescopes as the school will supply all.
Stag Industries have spent a fortune investing in the witches and wizards of tomorrow and instead of being incredibly grateful once again our government is trying to line it's own members pockets rather than what's best for our world.
A few small minded and greedy people are looking enviously at some of the companies more profitable ventures without looking at the bigger picture, the company would be unable to subsidise students who are now attending the best magical school in the world if their gold producing businesses were stripped away.
This journalist is honoured to work for such a reputable company, which holds it's employees in such high esteem, and more delighted than I can express that if the company leaves Britain I will be going with them. My only worry is what we would leave behind as I foresee many like-minded individuals following the Potters out off Britain leaving a tin-pot dictatorship with nothing to dictate over.
The Prophet produced mass panic in the Ministry and an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot was called for that afternoon, and a barrage of owls bombarded the ministry for the remainder of the day.
Harry and Hermione were starting to reconsider their earlier agreement; neither thought they could stick the party for an hour with Harry even taking the extreme measure of dancing with his wife to avoid all the people desperate to disassociate themselves from Tim Sharp. The afore mentioned former member of the Wizengamot was currently having all his affairs investigated by the Ministry, Wizengamot and Gringotts, if he was dirty he was going down.
The Ministry and Wizengamot were falling over themselves to appease the Potters; Stag Industries had quietly made itself indispensable to the British wizarding world with more power than the establishment. This latest attempted attack on the Potters had proved this without a shadow of a doubt, it also confirmed that the Potters had no interest in running Britain and would rather up-stakes and leave than take on that job.
While the Ministry dithered, the Wizengamot argued amongst itself, Stag had being making decisions and slowly but surely changing their world. Both Harry and Hermione were pretty sure what the outcome of the Prophet articles would be; a pre-emptive strike was always better than a war and Hogwarts would never forgive them if they left now.
Harry and Hermione were ready to leave now, apologising to a grinning Sirius and Rose they headed back to their suite and immediately popped to the island. It was still afternoon so they got changed and strolled down to the beach, Harry was currently rubbing sun tan lotion onto Hermione and thinking life didn't get any better than this, the sight of his pregnant wife in a transfigured bikini instantly banished his bad mood and the realisation that they had a week to themselves before Hogwarts finished cemented a smile onto his face.
-oOoOo-
The Lily Potter clinic was not used to screams reverberating along the corridors but with two pregnant women currently in the final stages of labour some noise was understandable and expected. Hermione's water had broken and as they were making arrangements to pop to the clinic, the triplet's uncle decided it was time for him to make an appearance as well. Emma was currently informing her husband, rather vocally, that any more Granger children would have to be carried by him in language that would make a sailor blush, she'd taken to the role of seafarer rather well.
Poppy was looking after the Potters while Ewan Abercrombie dealt with the Grangers, Poppy was concerned as the shield was still blocking her scans but Hermione seemed to be coping well, but having a husband who could not only share power but pain was definitely a boon.
Poppy was effectively a spectator as, with no information, she was relying on the magic of Hogwarts and the Potters to ensure that things went smoothly. Triplets were almost unknown in the wizarding world so information was hard to come by, she read non-magical books but in most cases they would end up with a caesarean section, an option she prayed they wouldn't need here.
Hermione and Harry were probably the calmest people in the clinic, especially considering those in the rapidly filling waiting room. Both had been through too much for anything to go wrong now, they suspected their magic would inform them if anything was wrong with the babies and at the moment it was almost singing a song that Fawkes would recognise. Since bonding with Harry, Hermione had learned to trust her instincts, and just because some book said something was impossible didn't make it so. Everything she'd ever read told her she should be worried but their magic was telling a different story, it had started celebrating and the babies weren't even here yet.
James Daniel Potter was born with so little trauma that his sister, Lily Ginny Potter turned up a mere twelve minutes later. Mandy Emma Potter completed the golden trio, as the sound of babies crying was a welcome relief to Emma's yells as Dominic John Granger was born in between the Potter girls.
It was a very tired but elated Hermione who watched as Ginny and Winky had tears in their eyes while holding her daughters while Harry held his son with wonder, her eyes closed for a deserved sleep after her father introduced her new brother, Dominic to her.
In the waiting room Tonks and Rose were having to comfort two crying marauders, the realisation that the last time they had done this was for Harry's birth hit both men hard, that James and Lily weren't here to see the proudest moment in their son's life was just too much for these strong men and the tears they had held since the night of their murder flowed freely. Both women knew why their men were crying and it just made Tonks and Rose love them more, they glanced at each other with the same thought – these were keepers who would make good husbands and even better fathers.
Petunia was also crying watching Harry as he sat with a daughter cradled in each arm, Ginny brought James over for her to hold, it had been many years since she had held a baby and the feelings all came flooding back. What her life had been like before it was ruined by two insane wizards, one had murdered her sister while the other had cast spells on her mind. Yet the wonderful young man she was proud to call her nephew had saved them all. Dudley was learning just from being around Harry and his friends and the therapy was going splendidly, so much so they were looking at enrolling him into a school in America, with Harry meeting the bills and providing them with a house as well, he really was amazing and matched only by his beautiful wife. These babies had some act to follow.
-oOoOo-
They all stayed at Potter Manor for the two weeks before Hogwarts opened as the wizarding world went crazy over the birth of the triplets, the Potters eventually allowed a family picture to be printed in the Prophet. They hated the idea of a formal posed shot so the picture that appeared had Harry, Hermione and Ginny all sitting on the carpet while holding the babies with Dobby and Winky kneeling by their side. The edition of the Prophet with the front-page picture of the eight Potters completely sold out despite three reprints.
The first freelance photographer caught skulking in the bushes of the Manor was delighted when the Aurors carted him away, the glares directed in his direction from the elves would terrify a braver man than him. The repercussions were that any media purchasing unauthorised pictures of the Potter children were warned they would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and banned from ever receiving any authorised material again. Prince Charles had explained what a luxury it was for them to have a holiday without paparazzi buzzing around like bees round honey, Harry agreed they were right B's and now couldn't wait for the first of September to get back to their sanctuary. They swore their children would not grow up splattered over any publication that wanted to sell more copies and a firm of lawyers were already monitoring the situation.
-oOoOo-
Hermione sat in the great hall of Hogwarts and witnessed history being made as the first of six goblins to attend the school was sorted into Ravenclaw. Harry was explaining what was happening to an attentive Lily who was gurgling away at the sound of her father's voice. Harry always seemed to have at least one of their children in his arms and she had never seen him happier. She was currently holding Mandy while James was asleep in Winky's arms. Winky was giving Dobby that look recognised by females of any species, I want my own one of these! To his eternal credit Dobby looked in complete agreement with that sentiment.
The four babies were all going to be in one big nursery room that was between theirs and their parents, though with elves clamouring to assist with the babies at every turn Hermione and Emma usually only had to feed their children, the elves had the nappies changed almost before they made it out of bed.
She once again watched her husband and reflected on the changes the last year had brought about, from his name coming out of that goblet and the 'Potter Stinks' badges to becoming the man sitting beside her was quite a journey and she wouldn't have missed it for anything. To think it all started with a kiss in a corridor here, she smiled to herself and wondered if one day there would be a plaque placed on the wall – on this spot a kiss was enjoyed and the world would never be the same again!
Minerva smiled towards the Potters as she moved forward to address the students, all Harry could think of was that it wouldn't be long till he could go home with his family – his life long dreams had all come true.
The End.
A/N This is the first story I have ever written, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.
A special thanks to all those who took the time to review – they really helped keep me writing.
My latest story 'Knowledge is Power' can also be found on this site