Chapter Text
16 November 1988
Tonks scowled at the paperwork on their desk, willing it to disappear as magically as it had appeared.
It wasn’t fair, they thought, that they kept getting these boring missions and desk work. Dawlish, of all people, was out in the field right now, and what was Tonks doing? Filling out paperwork!
I miss Moody, Tonks thought to themselves. Their former mentor had finally retired from active duty and was focusing solely on running the training academy. It was a well deserved semi-retirement, but it left Rufus Scrimgeour in charge of the Auror department now, and the man had never been fond of Tonks.
“Auror Tonks!” speak of the devil.
“Yes, Auror Scrimgeour?” Tonks asked, not at all sorry for the interruption.
“I have a mission for you,” Scrimgeour said simply.
Finally!
“We just had a very serious case of serial Muggle baiting come in,” Scrimgeour went on, and Tonks’s hopes of an interesting case were immediately dashed. “Something about an opal necklace... You’re going to be working closely with Arthur Weasley from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. Head down there, now. Dawlish just got back in, he can finish your paperwork when he gets back from St. Mungo’s…”
Well, there’s one silver lining, Tonks thought. Even a boring mission was better than endless paperwork.
***
“So, er, can I ask you a kind of personal question?” Arthur asked. They’d spent the entire morning looking over the case files together. Tonks quite liked the man, unassuming and warm but very serious about his job – and now they ate lunch together in the Ministry’s cafeteria.
“You can, but I can’t promise I’ll answer,” Tonks said, their tone guarded. If this was yet another question about Sirius…
“Fair enough,” Arthur said. “Um… Well, it’s about one of my kids. She’s – I mean – well, my wife and I always thought we had two daughters and five sons. But one of our ‘daughters’ has been saying sh- he’s a boy for awhile now. We thought it was just a phase at first, but it’s been months. And I was just wondering, you know – it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, I know it’s very personal, I just don’t really know who else to talk to…”
“I’m not offended,” Tonks said. Indeed, they were mostly just relieved it wasn’t another question about Sirius. “I’m happy to help. So your child has come out as transgender?”
“Is that what it’s called?” Arthur asked. “Then yes, I think so. I just – how can Molly and I support our d- our son as parents?”
“Well, you’re getting used to calling him ‘him’ and your son, so you’re off to a good start,” Tonks said encouragingly.
“Molly’s Auntie Muriel doesn’t seem to think so,” Arthur said. “She thinks we should make our child ‘accept how she was born.’ And we tried that, for awhile. But he was so unhappy… And ever since we let him cut his hair and dress like a boy, he’s been so much happier…”
“Auntie Muriel can suck it,” Tonks said before they could stop themselves. Arthur chuckled and Tonks went red. “Sorry, that just kinda slipped out…”
“No, don’t apologize, I quite agree, and not just about this,” Arthur said with a wan smile. “Muriel has some – old fashioned views.”
Tonks nodded. “I don’t have grandparents because of ‘old fashioned views.’ I understand,” they said. “Mum’s family – well, I’m sure you’ve heard of the Blacks, you don’t need me to tell you – and Dad’s family are Muggles, and this is one area where Muggles are behind the times compared to us. They were fine with magic, but didn’t accept the whole ‘they/them’ thing. So we just – don’t talk anymore. They've never even met my kids.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Arthur said. “I worry that it’s going to come to that with Muriel, and our kids will be hurt by it – not that they seem to like her very much, but she is family…”
“Believe me, family is what you make it,” Tonks said. “Losing those relationships always hurts, but it’s nowhere near as bad as having to put on a false mask and be someone you’re not with people who are supposed to love you. Trust me.”
“That makes sense,” Arthur said. He sighed. “Now I feel bad that we took so long to get on board.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” said Tonks. “As long as you accept him now, that’s all that matters.”
“We do,” said Arthur. “Molly needed a little time to adjust – she’s got an image in her head of what she wants the kids to be, and it needed to adjust to having six sons and a daughter – but now it’s like it’s always been that way. We still slip up on language sometimes, but we're getting better... Molly actually even insisted we add a bedroom to the house so that our son and daughter are no longer sharing a room – ‘no matter what he was born as, it’s not appropriate for a boy and a girl to share a room at this age, they’re too old,’ she said.”
Tonks smiled. “How are the rest of your family doing with it, if you don't mind me asking?”
“Very well,” Arthur said. “Our other kids have been the most accepting of all – the boys – well, other boys I guess – have embraced him as one of the brothers, and our daughter Ginny doesn’t seem to mind being the only girl at all. In fact, she’s over the moon to have her own bedroom now.” Arthur chuckled. “As for my extended family, well, frankly, it’s so large that I honestly don’t think anyone has even noticed we didn’t always have six sons – nobody can keep track of how many kids everyone has, there’s just too many of them. The only one that really knew my kids by name was my brother Bilius, but he passed away recently…”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Tonks said.
“Thank you,” Arthur said. “The kids all loved Bilius – he was their favorite uncle, since my other brothers all have gaggles of kids of their own and Molly’s died in the first war. At first, we thought our kiddo’s new name was a grief response – he chose Bilius as his middle name, Ronald Bilius – but he insists it’s not and he was always going to call himself after his uncle Bilius anyway. Either way, we just want him to be happy.”
“He sounds like a good kid,” Tonks said.
“He is,” said Arthur, smiling fondly. “He can get lost in the shuffle a bit – that’s just what happens when you have seven kids – but he’s a good boy. He’s absolutely obsessed with the Chudley Canons – he says it’s because someone has to root for them. Always the kind of kid to stick up for the underdog.”
“How old is he?” Tonks asked.
“He turned eight this past March,” said Arthur. “You have little ones of your own, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Tonks said. “Teddy turned seven in April and Hope turned six last month. Remus’s cousin lives with us and has two boys the same age as your Ron, though – Henry and Evan, they’re twins – so it’s almost like having four.”
“Twins? Oh boy. I hope they’re not as much of a handful as my Fred and George,” Arthur said. “They’re ten, and as much as I’ll miss them, I can’t wait for them to go off to Hogwarts. If they don’t tear the house down by the time their letters come, it’ll be a miracle…”
Tonks laughed. “Yeah, that sounds very familiar,” they said.
***
“I dunno,” Sirius said. “It’s a huge risk…”
“I know,” said Tonks. “And we won’t do it if we’re not all on board. But I really think it could be good for the kids – they need some friends, and it’s not like we can just enroll them in Muggle primary school.”
Muggle primary school had been briefly considered when the kids had reached schooling age, but it didn’t seem fair to make Harry and Dudley wear false identities so often, and Teddy still couldn't always fully control his morphing, and Hope would be missing a suspicious amount of school with the full moon – all in all, it was just easier to keep them home.
“Friends they have to keep secrets from,” Remus reminded them.
“Exactly!” Sirius said. “And kids that age aren’t exactly very good at it. We figured Remus out by second year – no offense, Moony-”
“None taken,” Remus said.
Tonks sighed. “I know,” they said. “But we can’t keep them hidden forever, can we? Do we really want their first social experience to be Hogwarts? No interaction outside the family at all and then bam, boarding school? How is that better?”
“What we need to do is find that damn rat,” Sirius said. “Then we can clear my name and there would be no more hiding…”
“Yes, but we’re no closer to that than we ever were,” Tonks said. “And we can’t let life pass us by until we find him. That’s exactly what he would want.”
“Or maybe what he would want is for us to make ourselves known!” Sirius said.
“I don’t think so, Padfoot,” Remus said. “Peter is a coward, first and foremost – he’s not going to come out of hiding for us. He’s in a good place right now – we can’t find him and the Ministry doesn’t even know to look. He’s not going to jeopardize it just for us.”
“Are you sure about that?” Sirius asked. “He never seemed the type to betray Lily and James, either, until he did. We don’t know what he’s capable of or willing to do.”
“Well, no,” Remus admitted. “But I don’t think the risk is very high. If Peter is smart, he’s probably left the country by now. Probably changed his name and everything. Remember, it’s not just us he’s hiding from; a lot of Death Eaters are likely blaming him for Voldemort’s downfall since he fed him the information. What are the odds he’s just hiding with some random family in Ottery St. Catchpole?”
Sirius sighed. “I guess you’re right,” he said. “But we’ve still never used our Howell disguises in person in front of Magical people before. Dumbledore warned us not to, remember?”
“Dumbledore warned us not to try it at Gringotts or the Ministry or anywhere with high security,” Tonks corrected gently. “He didn’t say anything about not making friends. But if you want me to call him-”
“No, thanks,” Sirius said shortly. “I swear I’m not trying to be a buzzkill, but if we get caught-”
“I know,” said Tonks. “Believe me, I do. But our kids are too isolated. They don’t know anyone their own age except for each other. And it really sounds like little Ron could use a trans adult in his life, too. I know you can’t be out in front of them, it would be too suspicious, but I’m better than nothing...”
“This isn’t just about our kids, is it?” Sirius realized.
“Of course it’s about our kids!” Tonks snapped, but Sirius had gotten too close to the truth and he knew it.
“I’m not denying you think this is also in the best interest of our kids, but you really want to go play hero to this Ron kid just as badly.”
“And you don’t?” Tonks retorted.
“Well, as you pointed out, I can’t, because we still haven’t found Peter and cleared my name,” Sirius said.
“That wasn’t the question,” Tonks shot back.
“There’s no point in what I want,” Sirius said. “I can fantasize about being a trans superhero to every trans kid on the planet, but that’s not reality. The only thing that matters is our own kids.”
“Our own kids come first, but if we really believed they were the only thing that matters, we wouldn’t have Dudley,” Tonks said.
“That’s different!” Sirius insisted. “Dudley’s birth parents were horrible people – you said yourself that Arthur Weasley is a very nice man and supportive of his kids.”
“So were my parents, but I would’ve done anything to have a trans adult to guide me,” Tonks said. “Arthur’s trying, but I can tell he’s still getting used to the whole thing, and I don’t like the sound of that Muriel woman…”
Remus decided to interrupt before the conversation could go any further. “We’re losing track of the point,” Remus said. “Do the risks to our family outweigh the benefits – to our family and the Weasleys – or not? Are we comfortable doing this or not?”
“’Comfortable’ is a very strong word,” Sirius said. “But… If you’re both in, I’m not going to be the party pooper. We’ll do it – but it will be at their place. I don’t want them seeing the cottage until we know them a lot better. And we’ll do it on a day Kreacher is home, and I’ll have him on standby to come in and pull us out if needed.”
“They have seven kids, I don’t think they were ever going to fit in our place anyway,” Tonks said, smiling. “But yes, that does seem fair. I’ll let Arthur know tomorrow.”
21 November 1988
“Hello! You must be the famous Tonks. Welcome to our home!” The plump red haired woman looked up from her cooking to greet Tonks as they stepped through the fireplace.
“Thank you,” Tonks said. “The kids are coming through now, then Remus and Romulus…”
As if on cue, Harry, having just taken his Polyjuice Potion, stepped through the fireplace holding a broomstick. Dudley’s broomstick, and Tonks immediately knew what he was trying to do.
“Henry, come meet Mrs. Weasley,” Tonks said.
“I’m not Henry, I’m Evan! Can’t you tell us apart, Auncie?” Harry protested.
“Yeah, nice try, but next time you try to swap clothes in order to trick me, you should remember to change your shoes, too,” Tonks said.
“Well, how do you know we didn’t? Maybe we just swapped shoes to make you think we swapped robes!” Harry said cheekily.
“Because I know you can’t tie your shoes that well,” said Tonks. “Kiddo, I’m a trained Auror, you’re going to have to get up a lot earlier than that to trick me, sorry.”
Harry pouted and Molly chuckled.
“My Fred and George do the same thing to me all the time,” she said. “It’s one of the joys of raising twins, isn’t it?”
Before Tonks could answer, Dudley stepped through the fireplace next, holding Harry’s broom.
“Hey, Evan!” he said.
Harry shook his head. “It’s no good, they caught onto us,” he said sadly.
“See? I told you we should’ve tried to trick Uncle Rem instead,” Dudley said.
A third identical looking boy stepped out of the fireplace, stumbling a bit as he did so. “Hey, Evry and Heaven, how’s it going?”
Molly looked confused and Tonks groaned.
“And this is my son, Teddy,” Tonks said. “He’s a Metamorphmagus like me, and apparently thinks he’s really funny…”
Teddy reverted to his usual appearance, grinning.
“Oh, Fred and George are going to love you three,” Molly said with a laugh.
Hope came out of the fireplace next, thankfully without any more tricks, followed by Remus and Sirius together to keep up the guise that Sirius was a Muggle and therefore unable to use the Floo by himself.
“My children are out playing Quidditch in the backyard, why don’t you go ahead and join them?” Molly suggested to the children after introductions were done.
Harry, Dudley, Teddy, and Hope needed no further encouragement and ran out to the Weasleys’ backyard.
“They are darling,” Molly said. “A real handful, I’m sure.”
“I’d say you have no idea, but you have one less adult and almost twice as many kids,” Remus chuckled.
Molly laughed. “It’s not always easy, but there are advantages to a large family, as I’m sure you know,” she said. “Our kids don’t really know that many other kids – there are a few other Wizarding families around, but they mostly keep to themselves, and the village nearby is all Muggle. Arthur would love if ours befriended some Muggle kids, but we couldn't possibly have Muggle guests over without breaking the Statute of Secrecy – present company excluded, of course,” she added, smiling at Sirius.
“We’re running into similar issues,” Tonks said. “We were so glad Arthur invited us, I think it’ll be good for our children to have some friends that aren’t their siblings or cousins – where is he, anyway?”
“He’ll be out in the shed, fiddling with his Muggle junk,” Molly said with an exasperated sigh. “I told that man to be in by noon, but he must’ve gotten side tracked again… He’s got an old car that he’s been taking apart and trying to see how it works.”
“Oh, I love cars,” Sirius said. “Maybe I can lend him a hand sometime.”
“I’m sure Arthur would love that,” said Molly. “I’m sorry in advance if he crowds you – he’s obsessed with Muggles and would love a firsthand account from someone who knows about Magic.”
“Well, I’m a little out of touch, living in a Wizarding home and all, but I’ll do my best to answer his questions,” said Sirius uncomfortably. Would he really be able to pull off being a Muggle to someone as undoubtedly knowledgeable as Arthur Weasley? He’d spent more time in the Muggle world than most Wizards, especially Purebloods, but he was no expert by any stretch of the imagination.
***
Meanwhile, the four Black-Lupin children went outside to find three boys flying in the orchard and a girl watching them and looking put out. Two of the boys were throwing a Quaffle back and fourth while the third tried in vain to catch it.
“Hi!” Teddy said to the girl. “You must be Ginny. I’m Teddy, and this is my sister Hope and our cousins Henry and Evan.”
“Hello,” Ginny said.
“How come you’re not playing Quidditch with them?” Hope asked, nodding at the boys. “Do you not like it?”
Ginny scowled. “They won’t let me play,” she said. “Of course, Ron is allowed to play even though he’s only a year older than me, but apparently I’m too little. But I know it’s really because I’m a girl…”
“That’s dumb,” said Harry. “Hope plays Quidditch, and she’s a girl. And our M- Auncle Tonks isn’t a boy or a girl, but they like Quidditch, too. Quidditch is for everyone.”
“That’s what I said, but they wouldn’t listen,” said Ginny.
“Well, let’s make them come down and we can all play together,” said Harry. “If they won’t let you play, we’ll go inside and do something else!”
“No, wait,” Teddy said. “Let’s confuse them like we tried to with the grown-ups first.” He turned to Dudley and studied him very closely, altering his appearance so that he was once again a perfect copy of his brothers.
“Cool!” Ginny said. “How are you doing that?”
“I’m a Metamorphmagus,” Teddy said.
“Can you teach me?” Ginny asked, but Teddy shook his head.
“It’s something your born with,” he explained. “My Mum’s one too, I got it from them.”
“Oh,” said Ginny. “Too bad.” She turned to Hope. “Are you one, too, then?”
Hope shook her head. “No, only Teddy and Mum got it,” she said.
“Huh,” said Ginny. “Well, whatever. Let’s get my dumb brothers down here and see if we can confuse them. Fred and George are always switching to confuse everyone else, let’s see how they like it!”
Ginny put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly.
The three boys looked over and saw that their sister was no longer alone. They flew right over to the gathered group of kids, landing right in front of them.
Like their sister, all three boys had flaming red hair and freckles. The two tallest and presumably oldest boys looked completely identical, both with a rather stocky build and the same brown eyes as Ginny. The younger boy was only slightly shorter, with a more slender build and blue eyes.
“Hi,” said Harry. “You must be the famous Fred, George, and Ron. I’m Evan, and this is Henry,” Harry pointed to Teddy, “and Teddy,” he said, pointing to Dudley.
“We’re identical triplets,” Dudley added, trying not to laugh.
“Really? Because Mum told us there would be twins and two younger cousins,” one of the identical looking boys said. “By the way, I’m George, and this is Fred.”
“No, he’s not, he’s Fred, and the other one is George,” said Ginny. “It’s not nice to try and confuse our guests, you know. At least give them the chance to learn to tell you apart.” She had a remarkably stony expression as she said this, not even cracking a smile.
“Aw, man, foiled by our own little sister,” Fred sighed. He turned to Hope. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to do the same?”
Hope grinned and mimed zipping her mouth shut.
“Your mum must’ve been mistaken,” said the real Teddy. “It’s just the three of us triplets and little baby Hope…”
“Call me a baby again and I’ll bite your hand off,” Hope threatened.
Ginny giggled while the other twin, apparently George, looked the three boys over.
“Nah, I’m not buying it,” he said. “It was a good try, but you look too identical. Fred and I look completely different to the keen eye, but you three don’t have any tells.”
Harry, Dudley, and Teddy looked at each other, no longer worried about the prank. Was George going to figure out then and there that Harry was using Polyjuice Potion?
Teddy decided to take one for the team. Grinning, he returned to his normal appearance once again, his blond hair turning back to bright turquoise and his eyes a deep brown. He gained about an inch in height as well, being the tallest boy in spite of being the youngest.
“Okay, you caught us,” Teddy said with a grin. “I’m actually their cousin, Teddy. I’m a Metamorphmagus – I can change my appearance at will. And I copied Evan here,” he pointed to Dudley this time. “To mess with you. They’re actually twins, though,” he added.
Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny all burst into laughter, having been successfully distracted by Teddy’s antics, and the Black-Lupin kids joined them, relieved that the crisis seemed to be over for the time being.
“Oi, that was brilliant,” Ron said when he could speak again. “I don’t think anyone has ever tried to beat Fred and George at their own game before…”
“Speaking of games, how about we get a game of Quidditch going?” Harry asked. “We have enough people for four a side.”
“As long as you don’t mind letting us little girls play,” Hope said with a mocking grin.
“Alright, but only if our Mum doesn’t come out and yell at us for being ‘too rough with your little sister!’” Fred said in a decently accurate but shrill imitation of Mrs. Weasley.
Everyone laughed.
“We can’t use Bludgers or a Snitch, they might fly off into the village,” George said when everyone had grabbed their brooms. “So we’ll do three Chasers and a Keeper a side. We’ll play to 150 points, or whoever has the most when the adults call us inside. Whichever comes first.”
“Works for us,” Harry said. “How are we deciding teams?”
“Well, Fred and I should be on different teams – since we’re so much bigger and older, it’d be unfair to you ickle little ones otherwise,” George said.
“I’ll show you,” Ginny grumbled, but so quietly that only Hope could hear.
“Well, if we’re splitting up one set of twins, it’s only fair that we split up both,” added Fred. “Evan, you can be on my side, and George can have Henry.”
“Okay,” said Harry. “We’ll take Ginny, too.”
Fred grinned. “Sure, we’ll take Ron, then,” he said before George could protest.
“Then we’ll take Hope,” said Ginny. “Let’s show them what these girls can do, huh?”
“Alright, Teddy, you’re with us,” said Dudley.
“Spectacular,” said George, and the teams split into huddles.
“Alright, Henry, I’m thinking you’ve got the best Keeper’s build out of all of us,” George said, but Harry and Hope both shook their heads.
“You’ll want him as a Chaser, believe me,” Hope said. “He’s faster than he looks, usually plays Seeker at home.”
George quirked his eyebrow but shrugged. “Alright, I’ll be the Keeper,” he said. “You three be the Chasers; Hope and Ginny are too small to block the goals.”
Ginny scowled, but she didn’t protest – she wanted to be a Chaser anyway. Hope just rolled her eyes.
They broke the huddle and got into the air. Ron had been chosen as the Keeper for the other side, while Teddy, Dudley, and Fred were the Chasers.
Harry got in between Hope and Ginny in the lineup, and he hoped his necessary “Henry Evans” disguise wouldn’t hurt his game too much. Dudley was taller and bulkier than Harry, and it made his movements both on the ground and in the air a little awkward as he got used to it, but if Teddy and Mum could do it – albeit with a little bit of clumsiness – all the time, he could do it for one Quidditch game. Or so he hoped.
“I’ll let you have the first serve,” Fred said, clearly thinking his team was at some sort of advantage.
Ha! Harry thought. We’ll see about that! Even in a different body, flying was more natural to him than walking, and Hope, with her strong vision and reflexes, was no slouch on the Quidditch field either.
Dudley wasn’t bad, but he had more of a Beater or Keeper’s build and the skills to go with it, and Teddy was a fairly decent flier but his natural clumsiness made him fumble the Quaffle more than any of the others during their matches at home.
The Weasleys were still unknowns, but on the strictly Black-Lupin side of things, Harry felt his team had the advantage.
Harry threw the Quaffle to Hope, who caught it easily and took off like a bullet for the other team’s goalposts, and the game began.
Ginny, Harry noticed as they started playing properly, was a very talented flier for someone who apparently didn’t get to do it very often. After Hope scored for the first time, Fred tried to pass the Quaffle to Teddy, but Teddy fumbled the ball and Ginny was quick to intercept it, soaring toward the goal and putting it right past Ron.
“I think I figured out why they don’t let you play with them,” Harry crowed loudly to Ginny as they returned to center. “You’re too good! They don’t want to get beat by their little sister!”
Fred, George, and Ron all went bright red and sputtered protests, insisting that they just didn’t want their mother to yell at them for being “too rough” with their little sister.
“Well, you know, Henry, not everyone is used to a little girl beating them at everything,” Hope teased.
Harry rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue at her before jumping back into the game to intercept the Quaffle as Teddy passed it to Ron.
In the end, Harry’s team had beaten the others a very solid 150 – 70.
“Wow, you’re all really good,” Ron said.
“You weren’t so bad yourself,” said Harry. “But we had our own star player…”
“Seriously! I didn’t see that coming! Ginny, how did you learn how to play like that?” Ron asked. Fortunately, he sounded more impressed than truly annoyed.
“I’ll only tell you if you promise not to tell Mum,” said Ginny. “I don’t like her coddling me, either, you know…”
Ron mimed zipping his mouth shut like a zipper.
“Dearest little sister, we would never,” George said, sounding a little insulted.
“Who do you think we are, Percy?” Fred added.
“Alright, alright, I just had to double check!” Ginny said. She allowed herself a small grin. “I’ve been sneaking out every night to fly while everyone’s asleep for the past year.”
Fred and George looked at each other and howled with laughter.
“Oh, thank Merlin, our baby sister really is one of us!” Fred said. “Not another Percy…”
“We have passed on our trouble making torch!” added George.
They both lifted Ginny up on their shoulders and carried her back to the house, cheering and hollering all the way.
“They’re mental, both of them,” Ron said, shaking his head, but he was smiling. “Ginny, too, come to think of it.”
“Good,” said Dudley. “Normal people are boring.”
Hope poked him. “How would you know what normal people are like?” she teased. “You’ve never met one.”
“And hopefully never will!” said Dudley. The others laughed.
When they got inside the house, Molly had just finished preparing lunch. Tonks, Sirius, Remus were already sitting at the table chatting.
“Go on and get washed up for lunch, kids,” Molly said. “Arthur should be in any minute, I’ve just sent Fred, George, and Ginny to fetch him.”
“Knowing those three, it’ll be an hour,” Ron muttered just quietly enough that his mother couldn’t hear.
Harry, Dudley, Teddy, and Hope snickered as they followed him to the bathroom.
Contrary to Ron’s teasing, Fred, George, Ginny, and a freckled red haired man who could only be their father were already seated at the table when Harry, Ron, Dudley, Teddy, and Hope finished washing their hands and joined them.
“So, tell me more about batteries,” the man said to Sirius. “I’ve heard they can do eklectricty even without being plugged in – fascinating.”
“Now, Arthur, don’t bombard our guests with questions, it’s rude,” Molly chided gently. “I’ve made Cornish pasties – everyone dig in and help yourselves.”
“Excellent cooking, Molly, thank you,” Sirius said though mouthfuls of pasty.
“They’re as good as yours, Dad,” Dudley said.
“That’s high praise,” Remus said with a smile. “Romulus is the cook in our family – Tonks and I were mostly living on takeaway before he came to live with us.”
Molly went slightly red and beamed. “Thank you, I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” she said. “Perhaps we can cook together sometime, Romulus.”
“That would be nice,” Sirius said.
After lunch, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny decided to take their new friends on a tour of the house.
“This is my room,” Ginny said as they went up to the first floor. It appeared to be the only bedroom on the floor, and was rather small and overlooked the orchard.
“Mum and Dad just built it recently,” George said. “Ginny gets her own room because she’s a girl, so unfair…”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “You and Fred like sharing a room.”
“It’s the principle of the thing!”
“Ron and Bill both have their own rooms, too.”
“Because Bill’s the oldest and a Head Boy, and Ron is…” George hesitated.
“Mum’s favorite? I know,” Ron cut in.
“A prat,” George corrected, shoving his little brother. Ron kicked George back.
“Hope has her own room at home, too,” Harry chimed in, cutting off the potential wrestling match. “She usually comes in to sleep in ours, though… I guess she finds Teddy and Evan’s snoring to be relaxing…”
Dudley and Teddy, standing on either side of Harry, both punched him in the arm. “I do not snore!” they said in unison.
Everyone chuckled at the expense of their respective siblings, and Ginny opened the door to show her new friends the inside.
“Is that Gwenog Jones? She’s so cool!” said Hope, eyeing the poster on one of the walls. “The Arrows are my favorite team, but the Harpies are a close second…”
“The Harpies are the best!” Ginny gushed. “Appleby is alright, I guess – at least you’re not a Canons fan, they haven't won a game since before I was born…”
“Oh, shut up,” Ron grumbled. “The Canons will make a come back any day now…”
Ginny closed her door and led everyone up the stairs again, bickering with Ron about Quidditch the whole way. The next floor had two bedrooms.
“That’s Percy and Charlie’s room,” Fred said, pointing to one. “We’re not allowed in there while they’re at school – not for lack of trying, mind you…”
“Mum and Dad locked it up tight,” George added. “As if they don’t trust us or something!”
“And are they right not to trust you?” Harry asked with a sly grin. He seemed to get the measure of the twins by now.
“Of course,” said Fred with a smirk. “Here, our room is across the hall.”
He opened the door opposite Percy and Charlie’s room and they all stepped inside. The room had two twin beds on opposite sides of the room and a bunch of random clutter, including a large collection of Muggle prank items and an odd assortment of hairpins, scattered all around it.
“We heard there’s a Muggle trick for opening locks with hairpins, but we haven’t figured it out yet,” George explained sadly.
“Entirely unrelated to our brothers’ unattended bedrooms, you understand,” Fred added.
“Of course,” said Harry with a straight face.
“Bill’s room is on the third floor and Mum and Dad are on the fourth,” Ron said when they’d finished. “I’m all the way up top, right below the attic.”
Everyone followed Ron up the steps and into the last room. Everything in the room was a very bright orange, from the bedspread to the walls. There were several posters of the Chudley Canons all over the walls.
Harry, Dudley, and Teddy all squinted, their eyes feeling slightly overwhelmed by the blast of orange, but Hope didn’t seem phased.
“Oh, it’s nice. Kind of like Ginny’s,” Hope said.
“No way,” Ginny said. “I have much better taste in color – and Quidditch teams…”
Hope shrugged. “Didn’t look that different to me,” she said.
“She’s colorblind,” Teddy explained quickly, before either Ron or Ginny could take offense.
“What’s that?” Ron asked.
“It means she can’t see color, duh, Ron,” Ginny cut in. “That’s the only reason why she’d think our rooms are anything alike…”
“Really? You can’t see color at all?” Ron asked. "Does everything just look gray, then? How do you watch Quidditch if you can't tell the teams apart?”
“No, I can see some color,” Hope said. “It’s just – different. It’s hard to explain because I’ve never seen color like a hu- like a regular person before. But most colors, like red and green, just kinda look the same. I can see blue really good, though, so it’s my favorite. That’s why I like the Arrows – their uniforms are easiest for me to pick out. My gran, she’s a healer, says my eyes are die-chrome-attic.” She sounded out the last word. “It means I can’t see red or green.”
“Huh,” said Ginny. “I guess you wouldn’t want to be in Gryffindor or Slytherin once you get to Hogwarts, then?”
“Who would want to be in Slytherin anyway?” Fred muttered.
Harry glared at him. “Our Gran was in Slytherin, so watch your mouth,” he said.
“No offense meant,” Fred said hastily. Harry rolled his eyes.
Ginny cleared her throat. “Who wants to go back outside and play another game of Quidditch?”
“Okay, but different teams this time!” Ron said. “You and Henry can’t be on the same team again, it isn’t fair…”
“Oh, so now I’m too good to play with you,” Ginny scoffed as the eight children scrambled back down the stairs.
“I’ll take Henry, Ron, and Hope this time,” said Fred as they grabbed their brooms. “George, you can have Teddy, Evan, and Ginny.”
“You’re on,” said George. “To one fifty again?”
Everyone agreed and got back on their brooms in new team formations.
Ron and Dudley both played Keeper this time, and Harry got in formation between Hope and Fred.
Ginny was truly an amazing player, Harry noticed as she slipped easily between everyone on the field. Harry did his best to keep up, but the Polyjuice potion made him slower than usual, and he’d always been more of a Seeker than a Chaser anyway. Ginny, however, looked like she was born to be in the air – it was one thing to witness as a teammate, but as a competitor, she was a whole other level. Harry couldn’t help but be impressed watching her fly, even as her team soundly beat his at 150 to 110 by the time the sun started to set and the adults called them inside.
“I think we should be heading home,” Sirius said, checking his watch.
All eight children groaned.
“Don’t worry, we’ll come back soon,” Remus said. “It was a pleasure to meet you all, thank you for inviting us,” he added to Arthur and Molly. He nudged the kids gently to get them to remember their manners.
“Thank you for inviting us, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,” the four Black-Lupin children chorused.
“Any time, dears,” Molly said. “I’m so glad everyone had a good time.”
After bidding their final goodbyes, the Black-Lupins went back through the fireplace – first Tonks, then the kids one by one, with Remus and Sirius once again bringing up the rear.
“You know, I’m not so sure it was a great idea to have my backstory make me a Muggle,” Sirius commented. “Having to be escorted through the Floo like a toddler is a little embarrassing…”
“Yes, but who would suspect notorious mass murderer and Death Eater Sirius Black to be hiding as a single Muggle father?” Remus said. “Besides, I think it’s cute when you hold my arm like that…”
“Ew!” Harry said.
“Get a room!” echoed Dudley.
“I don’t think the kids approve of our flirting, Moony,” Sirius said, miming a dramatic frown.
“I wonder if they’d prefer we snog instead?” Remus wondered out loud.
Four small voices started booing that idea, and the three adults chuckled.
It had been a good day.