SO CUTE, YEAH? {potters!}

[ginny]

Ginny still had not gotten quite used to the idea of having enough money lying around to do whatever she wanted with it. She had grown up on a tight budget and had lived with it her whole life. A few years of marriage wouldn’t change the part of her that was used to saving money and bargain shopping whenever she could. Just because Harry had money, it didn’t mean that she was used to the idea or knew how to spend it. Harry had the habit of spending twice the galleons on one trip as she did when she bought the same things, it seemed. Looking at price tags and comparing was part of what she did when she had to go out to buy things for their growing family.

Beyond that, though, she couldn’t get passed the idea that she could possibly not work, and they would still be fine. They could probably both sit at home and be fine when it came to paying expenses. Harry was still working as an auror, though. Really, it was odd to think that the department would keep working without him. She had gone straight from her Gryffindor team to one that really made the news – the Harpies. Certainly that made good money, but it didn’t seem to count the same as work. You weren’t supposed to enjoy work that much, were you?

That had been brilliant but short-lived, she found. Yes, she loved Quidditch and being the captain and being famous and signing autographs after a game, but other things had happened in her life. She’d gotten engaged and married in between games, and she knew what that could mean. Teddy was getting older at the time, and she had felt like she had to do more for him than she had been. Bringing the little boy along to some games didn’t seem to fit her part as she wanted it to. Teddy’s age was just a reminder to her that she would have her own family sooner or later. She couldn’t very well continue playing when she had to be gone for so much of the time. She couldn’t raise a family like that.

Her parents had proved that it didn’t matter what you had. They might not have had the money that they really needed to keep them comfortable, but they hadn’t complained about it much. When she was little, she had barely even known that they were lacking anything. Her parents were always there to care about what was going on and what she was doing. It didn’t seem like she could do that when she had to be at the Pitch a few days a week and across the world the next weekend. When it became obvious to her that a family could happen, her thoughts on her job had changed rapidly.

It all had to come to a main decision when she came back from an appointment at the healer’s with some interesting news. She had been expecting that something could happen, but it was weird to think that she would be starting her own family just like her parents and Harry’s and everyone’s had before her. It would have been simple to turn in a request for maternity leave so that she could come back when it was safe to be on a broom again. It hadn’t seemed like the easy thing to do, to give up her job and position on the team and everything she had worked for, but she couldn’t think of another solution. She didn’t know how to put a family and Quidditch together if it involved her going off to other countries to fly all of the time.

It hadn’t ended up being as hard as she thought. Almost as soon as she was recovered from James and ready to go back to some kind of work, she had gotten an offer to write for the Prophet. Of course, she had been hesitant at first. It was the same paper that had slandered her husband years ago, after all. It had changed to a reliable paper since, though, and it seemed like the best job she could have found. Writing about Quidditch was almost as good. Then she could live and breathe Quidditch without having to leave her new family and Harry out of it. He was busy at the office a lot of the time, and she could work office and home hours to get her articles in. She could take care of James and still do something with her time.

It was even easy to keep working when Albus was expected. There was nothing else to do, after all, when she had to sit around and wait out her nine months besides write about the latest Quidditch news and who might be switching to which team. Lily had come soon after him, and it was easy to keep her job up when she stayed home with the kids so that they could be taken care of. Her presence was better than hiring someone to take care of them because she wanted to keep a job. In her mind, they would be better people if they had their mother with them when she could. So, she had made her job a stay at home one and still managed to have the satisfaction of getting her own check at the end of the week and spoiling herself and the kids.

Ginny yawned as she scratched out her last sentence on her new article. Her preference to the team that gave her season passes (Harpies, of course) was hard to contain sometimes, especially when they were getting back into the league. As Harry would tell her often, they weren’t as good as the years that she had been on, but they had a pretty good chance for a Cup, and it was hard to not write about that. Now she had to write something about the teams people still cared about, even if they could hardly even win a match.

It was early. So early, really, that she wouldn’t be surprised if the kids stayed asleep. Even Harry was still asleep at the last time she checked, and she almost never woke up before him. He usually had to shake her awake on weekends or his alarm would go off for work, and she would get up with him. Today was a Saturday, so neither of them technically had work for the day. They would just spend it with their three little ones that were enough of a job in themselves. She couldn’t help herself from getting up early to finish the articles she really should have the night before. She always tried to have her work done so that she wouldn’t have to worry about it over the weekend, even though it wasn’t due until that Monday. She only had a little more to write, and maybe the rest of the people in her house wouldn’t even awaken to know that she hadn’t finished when she liked to and had instead stayed up playing with James.

[headauror]

Harry's blurry gaze semi focused in the early pre-dawn light filtering through the window. Really is was closer to still being night than having turned time over to the new day. His sleep had been restful.. a good night.. free of the nightmares, memories revisited..whatever you chose to see them as. His eyes, limited to blurry shapes of limited color without the glasses resting on his night stand and the in the low lighting, settled on a small patch of what he assumed was Ginny's hair peaking from beneath the tousled covers on the pillow next to his. Smiling his hand reached out to stroke through the silken locks.. though as his fingers touched on it three things occurred simultaneously.. the first was that he realized the texture of the hair was very, very wrong.. rather than the smooth locks of his wife's beautiful tresses he instead felt something that though it was very soft, was also very much fur. At the same time a contented humming resonated from the small patch of fluff and a long thin tongue was suddenly shooting across the length of the pillows and up into the left nostril of his still sleep groggy head, on a quest no doubt for its most favorite of treats...bogies.

At once Harry's hand jerked back from the fluff and he sat bolt up right in the bed.. coughing and gagging a bit. His hand wiped at his nose and a few choice curses accompanied a severely grossed out expression as he caught a blurry glimpse of the fluff ball he now knew must be Ginny's Pygmy Puff rolling over the edge of the foot of the bed and disappearing out the door way. "Arnold!.. you gross little...!! " Harry shook his head and got up, making his way to the private bath in his and Ginny's room by familiar touch more than sight. The little pastel colored rat..no, actually a rat would be better.. their damned tongues were shorter.. but Ginny loved the little bugger.. and when it came to the kids he had to admit he couldn't want for a more passive, gentle and trustworthy pet. It just wasn't in a puffskins nature to harm anything bigger than a house spider. Making it to the shower he felt his way in and spent a good thirty minutes under the hot spray, breathing in the refreshing steam and looking forward to a full day spent focusing on nothing more than being an attentive husband and father.

Finally emerging he'd 'blind man'd' his way back into the bedroom and caught up his glasses from the the night stand. Sliding them on he blinked as the world came into real focus. Right.. now to dress. Rather than heading to the closet for the array ranging from jeans to dress shirts and slacks that he used for work, instead he dug in a dresser. He pulled out an old set of black shorts and an old blue tee shirt bearing the Puddlemere United Crest of two crossed gold bulrushes. The perfect uniform for daddy duty.. grass stains from roughhousing in the yard and smears of pink icing due to cupcake riddled fingers inpatient for a hug would be no threat to the old garments. It was Saturday.. his day to make breakfast, give Ginny a break from it whether she liked it or not. He glanced at their empty bed and frowned.. If she hadn't already beat him to the stove.. stubborn woman.. Godric did he love her though.

First though he'd do as he did every morning.. as had become his routine.. though it usually occurred much earlier before light as he got ready to head into work. Leaving his room he made rounds on those of his children. Pulling the covers up to tuck them more snugly about James's shoulders, knowing after staying up a bit late with his mum the boy would likely sleep in for awhile yet. Next on to Al's room.. a smirk striking him as it often did as he gazed down on his sleeping look alike curled beneath the covers. He stooped by the bed to run an affectionate hand gently across the boys head, ruffling the mass of black locks that splayed, each in which ever direction it pleased, across his pillow. And finally he found himself in the doorway of the room of his youngest. A silent chuckle pulled a large grin to his lips as he crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder against the frame. In a sleepy ray of sunshine spilling in her window, Lily sat on the floor, struggling into a pale purple shirt she'd wrestled out of one of her drawers. She'd already managed to get on a pair of slip over pink pants, but the shirt was giving her quite the row. She'd gotten one arm in right..but had put the other through the neck opening and was trying unsuccessfully to shove her head through the span of cloth between the two that wasn't having any of it. He waited as she fought with it.. giving her time to figure it out for herself. His little girl had developed quite the independent streak on turning three. I can do it myself !.. and..I don't 'need' help!.. were phrases that had caused her rather doting father's heart to ache in the last few months.. but it was all part of it, so what could you do? ..children grew up.. he was simply grateful that they now had a peaceful world to do so in.

Finally, after a great deal of rearranging, huffed sighs, and determination, Lily's head popped out the top of the shirt and on sight of him the red headed little girl beamed with pride.. I Got my shirt on ! Smiling Harry strode across the room to her, bending down as she stretched out her arms to him. " I see that! Your getting so big! " Lifting her up he swung her gently around to sit on his shoulders, grasping both her feet in a hand to steady her around his neck. Lily giggled and caught a gentle hold of random tufts of his wildly messy hair. Though one hand was quick to release its hold and dart down to pull his glasses free of his face and raise them to her own.. Harry found the world gone a bit to fuzzy for his liking with his young daughter perched where she was. Looking down at the floor he caught site of a pink blur shifting about and reached down to scoop up the little creature.. " Here sweetheart.. hold Arnold so we can go get him something tastier than daddy's bogies to eat.. right?.. I'll take those so you don't drop him ok? " As Lily made a grab for the pink fluff ball Harry caught hold of his glasses and placed them back on his face, pushing them onto his nose with a finger. Arny!!! Lily squealed happily and cuddled the ball of fur to her face in a tight hug. A cat would have scratched.. nearly any other creature protested as no doubt Lily was probably unintentionally squishing the little thing. Arnold however simply set to vibrating with something between a purr and a hum of contentment. That, harry thought.. was worth having his nostrils violated every day of the week if it came to it.

Grinning he turned and headed from Lily's room, ducking to keep both daughter and pet from hitting the the top of the door frame. Once down the stairs he turned into the kitchen and swung his daughter, puff ball and all, gently down into a chair at the table. Stepping over to a cabinet he pulled out a box of animal cookies and placed a handful in front of Lily to tide her over, eying one and popping it into his own mouth with a shrug before replacing the box in the cupboard. He then poured a sippy cup of milk for her and placed it on the table before setting to work pulling out the needed pans and utensils for making breakfast. While setting the pans on the stove and the rest on the counter he looked up to eye a clock on the wall. If Teddy's gran planed on bringing him over this Saturday to stay the day as he often did they should be getting an owl shortly letting them know when to expect his Godson.

[mgirl03]

As soon as he woke up, he could tell that it was early, earlier than morning quidditch matches and earlier than he wanted to be up. It was the hand that was going over his hair that got his mind whirring into action, and as he blinked his green eyes groggily, stretching out a bit from his cramped up position, he saw the form of his dad retreating from his room silently. Al laid there for a minute, yawning and snuggling under his blanket into the pillow. He didn't like being up very early, because then he got tired during the day and fell asleep before everybody else, and then he missed things that happened. Teddy could always stay awake longer than him, and even James could, and he didn't like to be left out; so getting more sleep sounded good. Finally, though, his stomach gave a tiny rumble and he climbed out of bed and turned on the light (with difficulty) and moved over to this his dressers.

Dressing himself was easy, now that he was so old--five years old! Quickly he picked out a pair of plain black shorts and changed into them, before taking off his over large Gryffindor shirt and tugging a slightly smaller striped one on--red and gold, of course. That done he moved out of his room, not bothering to comb his hair, giving him the distinct look of just coming from bed, even if he was dressed. He still felt sleepy as he moved into the hallway, his feet slowly beginning to freeze because he had forgotten socks. Without any real thought he made his way to his parent's room, peeking inside to see it completely empty. He checked on James, who was asleep still, and didn't bother to wake him. Last time he had gotten pushed off the bed and scraped his knee, and he didn't want that again. Lily wasn't in her room either, so Al padded his way back into the hallway and down the steps.

When he made it down Al heard noises coming from the kitchen and shuffled in just a bit, to see Lily eating some animal shaped biscuits and his dad making breakfast. Al's stomach gave a tiny rumble again and he looked down and patted it absentmindedly, looking back into the kitchen. His mum was nowhere to be seen, so Al, feeling curious, left the kitchen before either of his dad or sister could spot him. Moving in the other direction, Al walked into the sitting room and smiled at the sight of his mum sitting on the couch, yawning and writing something. She did that a lot, and she said it was something about her job--the thing she did to get money and stuff. He didn't fully understand, but he knew that she usually wasn't writing on days when his dad made breakfast. Those were the days where his dad didn't have to leave, and they all spent time together.

Walking over to the couch, Al got up on it and sat down next to his mum, one of his tiny hands reaching out to take the quill from his mum's hand. He turned it over in his fingers and then looked up at her, smiling as he leaned into her side and pulled up his feet to get warm. Albus tried to count the freckles on his mum's nose like he did almost every morning, and after he gave up he finally decided to speak. "You don't do this on dad's breakfast days," he said, voice soft and raspy from the sleep he had awoken from not long ago. Al glanced down at the quill as he snuggled closer to his mother. "Do you have to now? Will you get in trouble if you don't?" For some reason, the thought of his mum having to write on days like today was a tad upsetting. She was usually free all day, and so was their dad. Days like today were fun, but if his mum had to do this stuff now...

It was amazing how much of a crisis the tiniest things could be to a five year old. Al's smile tugged into a frown as he peered up anxiously at his mum.

[lils]

Ah...The life of a three year old. No cares. No worries. Just complete utter contentment and pure bliss. It was such a simple life, such a wondrous life. Well, to most at least. To Lily Potter, the moment she began walking, which wasn't that long ago mind you, was the day she began to think 'time to explore this world!'. Perhaps she didn't have much cares or worries, unless you counted the timeless occassions in which she and her brothers got into their pointless little arguments that made no sense whatsoever. Of course, she was only three so these pointless arguments would most likely, undoubtly, increase over the next years of her life within the Potter household.

At the moment, Lily was fast asleep in her bed, nestled comfortably under her comforter which was coincidentally decorated with pink, white and lavender colored lilies. She was currently in her little dreamland, dreaming about her future magical school of Hogwarts, followed by soaring through the sky on a broomstick in a game of Quidditch and then eating freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, made by Grandma Molly. A smile formed on Lily's lips as she began to long for the taste of cookies, resulting in her to open her bright hazel eyes. Blinking for a moment, Lily looked around feeling a slight disappointment in the pit of her tummy to discover she was not surrounded by cookies in any shape or form. Letting out a yawn, she sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes before looking out the window. Her face split into a wide smile as she saw the sun shining outside.

"Morning! Morning!" she squealed in delight. This was perfect! Absolutely perfect! When morning came she was able to do one thing. One very important completely wonderfully fun thing! Pick. Out. Her. Clothes. Oh, but not only did she get to pick out her clothees which she would be wearing until she got the urge to randomly change again. But...She also had the ability to now...Put. Them. On. Wait...hold it now, not finished. All. By. Herself. Why? Of course it was because Lily was a big girl now! She obviously didn't need any help putting on her clothes. Now that she could walk and talk and run and play, Lily automatically classified herself as 'grown up'. Because her mother and father could walk and talk and run and play too.

Giggling in delight, Lily hopped out of bed and walked to her drawers. Rumaging within the contents she pulled out one of her many favorite pairs of pants, this one being her pink ones. She had been very proud of herself for the past few days as she was able to put on her pants on perfectly, with I must add, no help needed. Holding up the pair of pants, Lily smiled before lowering them to get her little feet into the first hole. Hopping up and down on that one foot, Lily almost fell over before she caught a hold of her dresser. Finally slipping her foot into the first pants leg, she steadied herself, using her dresser for support, as she placed her other leg into her pants. Now having both of her legs in her clothing, she pulled up her pants and grinned broadly, feeling pleased with herself.

Now it came to the T-shirt. Pulling out a pale purple shirt from her drawer, Lily's eyes widen as it usually did when it came to her upper body of clothing, her eyes observing the many openings the shirt held. Gulping, she gave th shirt a determined look before placing her head through the first hole it sought out. That didn't work as the shirt began to feel less comfortable, causing the little redhead to remove her head from said opening and try another. Her struggle may look rather adorable to passerby, but to Lily this was war. A battle between herself and her pale purple shirt. She had to dominate it, it was her goal. Arms flailing in the air, Lily huffed and heaved at her uncooperative shirt. Placing her arms here and there and her head in one area, she finally managed to put in on correctly. Her head popping out from her shirt, she giggled happily. Looking up, Lily saw that her father was watching her the whole time. Beaming with utmost pride, Lily happily exclaimed, "Daddy daddy! I got my shirt on!"

Watching her father walk over to her, Lily stretched out her arms, silently pleading to be carried or lifted up from the ground. She absolutely adored her father, there was no denying that. Feeling herself be swept from the ground, Lily giggled as her father perched her onto his shoulders. Being as high as she was, it was something Lily often enjoyed. She liked being able to view things from above rather then her point of view from below. Considering she was much smaller then the rest of her family members, Lily often considered this to be unfair. Gently grabbing a hold of her father's messy locks of hair Lily happily soaked up the view of her being the tallest in the house now. She looked over to see her father's glasses and happily reached over to seize it from his line of vision. Lily smiled happily as she placed his glasses over her own eyes, blinking at the lenses and observing the world around her with them. They were obviously much to big for her and in danger of being dropped as it was in the hands of a three year old.

Hearing her father's voice followed by being offered an adorable fluffy creature, Arnold the Pygmy Puff, Lily's attention drifted away from her father's glasses as she let out a squeal of delight. "Arny!!!" she giggled, happily reaching to take the fluffy critter from her father and snuggle it, unknowst to her as it was being traded for her father's glasses. The vibrating sound of contentment issuing from Arnold caused Lily to smile as she patted and cuddled the Pygmy Puff lovingly(her way of lovingly at least). As her father began to walk out of her room, Lily continued to pet Arnold, giggling slightly as her father ducked to avoid collision with the door frame. Enjoying the ride, Lily was then directed to the kitchen on Express Way Daddy before she was swung off his shoulders and into a chair.

Lily always loved being in the kitchen, any kitchen to be exact. She loved the smells and sounds that usually came from the kitchen, especially when something delicious was being made. Another thing that Lily enjoyed about being in a kitchen was watching others cook, usually her father, mother or grandmother. It intrigued her beyond all levels and what made it more amazing to her was how small little things put in a pot or pan or bowl or whatever together and mixed around could turn out to be so yummy!

As her father placed animal cookies in front of her, followed by a sippy cup of milk, Lily reached for the animal cookies. She picked up an elephant and lion, deciding to make them become friends. (Because lions and elephants get along so well together right?) Smiling as she ate a giraffe shaped cookie, Lily looked over at her father. "Daddy? What you goin' ta make? Is Teddy gonna come tew our house?"

[jenn]

Oh, mornings. Sometimes she hated them. But today, when her mum had come into her room and ran a hand through her hair to wake her up, she had actually wanted to get up. Her eyes had popped open with a grin, and she’d tumbled herself out of bed, landing on the floor in a tangle of sheets and limbs. She didn’t care though—she was tough. And when she was all grown up one day (which couldn’t be too far away, could it? I mean, she was already five) she was going to be just as tough as her dad. She’d turned to her mum with a big smile, asking the question with her gaze, and her mum had laughed and said that yes, she really was going to Uncle Harry’s today. Rose had squealed and begun to run around her room in a frenzy—the faster she got dressed the faster she could leave.

Her mum, however, had made her sit down while she picked out clothes that matched, which turned out to be a green shirt with a daisy on the front, and a pair of black stretchy pants. Rose wriggled impatiently—she wanted to go already, but she knew better than to argue with her mum. Even at five, Rosie wasn’t stupid. So she bounced up and down and imagined all the fun stuff that she would do today while her mother ran a comb through her mane of red curls and put a bow in part of it. Rose frowned. She hated bows, but maybe she was done now?

Sure enough, Mummy smiled and told her to go downstairs to see Daddy, and Rosie practically skipped out of her room. Her bow itched. She wished she could take it out. She stopped on the top step and hopped her way down them, two feet at a time, making a lot of noise. But that was okay, because Hugo was being woken up by Mummy already. She got to the bottom with one final, giant hop, running towards the kitchen at top speed and sliding around in her socks. She stayed upright though, because she was tough. She was going to be a Gryffindor someday, and Gryffindors didn’t slip and fall in their socks.

“It’s morning, Daddy,” she said, attaching herself to his leg and tilting her head way far back to look up at him. She was going to be as tall as her daddy someday too, she decided. He reached down to pick her up, scooping her up into a hug. ”Glad you noticed,” he laughed, and she wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. ”You know what morning means—I get to go to Uncle Harry’s today!” This morning was different. Not like all the other mornings, or even the mornings that both her parents were home and they all got to play games. Even different from the mornings when she went to see her grandmas and grandpas. Today was special, exciting. Her daddy laughed again, and asked her if she was sure. Rosie nodded furiously. ”Yes, I’m sure. Are you gonna take me?” ”Patience, sweetheart. I will. Let’s just get some shoes on you first. We can’t have your Aunt Ginny thinking that I don’t take care of you.” Rose tried not to bounce as her daddy helped her wriggle into her shoes. Finally they were on. She hated getting ready. It took too long.

She ran to the fireplace and waited there impatiently as Daddy kissed Mommy goodbye, who had just come down to the kitchen with Hugo in her arms. Rosie waved to the sleepy-eyed Hugo, and gave a toothy, excited grin to Mommy. Then Daddy picked her up again, and she squealed in anticipation as he grabbed a handful of foo powder, stepped into the fireplace, and gave the fireplace directions. She tightened her hold on his neck as the flames got really big and bright, but she wasn’t scared—she was a big girl now, and the foo didn’t scare her like it used to. Still, she buried her face in Daddy’s collar until it was over.

She knew when they’d gotten there, because she could smell food. It smelled yummy. She was hungry, and she hoped that she could eat soon. She squirmed around, wanting out of the fireplace. This was all so exciting—she was going to get to spend the whole day with Al. Daddy grinned at her impatience, then checked his watch and his eyes widened. ”I’ve got to get going, Rosie, so you go have fun. Tell your aunt and uncle thank you for me, okay? And be good.” She kissed his cheek in her customary goodbye, a little sad. Maybe Daddy could’ve stayed and had a fun day with her. But he had grown-up things to do. Exciting things. She wanted to be a grown-up and do exciting things too, sometime soon. ”Okay, bye Daddy,” she said, and then he smiled, set her down, and gave the fireplace directions again.

Rosie waved at her daddy, then turned around and dashed towards the couch, where she saw Al and Aunt Ginny. She leapt up onto the cushion next to Aunt Ginny, wiggling around until she was situated nicely next to her Aunt, her tiny feet dangling off the edge of the couch. She wiggled her feet in the air and gave Aunt Ginny a wide, excited smile. ”G’morning. Daddy says thank you. And it smells nice in here.” Then she turned her hazel eyes to Al, and shared that happy, anticipatory smile that many children possess, and then giggled a bit at his hair. She wished she could wear her hair like that.

[ginny]

Ginny yawned again and wrote another line of her article. It was almost done if she didn't forget anything earlier in it, she thought to herself as she scratched out another sentence. Harry was probably up now, and the kids would be up soon. She had finish up any how. The kids wouldn't take to her working on the weekend very well. They were used to being able to do whatever they wanted when Mummy and Daddy didn't need to go to work like they did every day during the week. She leaned over to work on her last paragraph when she felt a warm body move to her side that was much too small to be her husband's. She felt the small body move close to her and snuggle into her side. The she felt her quill leave her hand when it was taken from her.

Ginny smiled and looked down to see her son at her hip. Without saying anything, she pushed her article aside and pulled Albus onto her lap. She hugged him to her and ruffled his hair affectionately. The poor little guy. He didn't like her writing when it was a weekend day that was usually his. "It bothers you when Mummy writes on Saturday, Ally?" She kissed his forehead and with no more warning than a smile, tickled him until he was laughing in her lap. She did love her kids, especially when they were this age. Well, she didn't know what happened when they got older than this... But now they did the cutest little things sometimes without even knowing it. Albus looked genuinely upset, and Ginny couldn't help herself when she grabbed him up and kissed the poor boy to make him feel better.

"Daddy is making breakfast, isn't he?" she asked once she had turned him in her lap so that she could look him in the eye. She leaned her forehead against his smaller one and rubbed their noses together in a normal morning eskimo kiss. While Harry doted on Lily like she was the queen of the world and needed to be treated as such, Albus was her baby who always had to deal with her cuddling. Luckily, he was still at the age where he usually laughed and enjoyed her affection rather than the embarassment that would come when it got older... if she let him get older, that was. Ginny smiled at him again. "Did you sleep well, sweetheart?"

Her moment for the morning with her son was broken when the familiar pop of a floo appearance came at her fireplace. She looked up and waved at her brother. He said good bye to his daughter, nodded a greeting and farewell to her, and sent Rose over to her. She had said that it would be fine if Rose decided to come over for the day while he worked. She didn't mind watching Rose. She was a well behaved girl most of the time and got on quite well with Albus. It was nice for him to have someone to play with more than just James and Lily without meeting with all of the Weasleys at once. It would be a nice surprise for Al to have Rose over.

Her neice sat beside her, and Ginny turned to kiss her head in greeting. Yes, they could take one more kid in the house for a day without a problem. She was used to having a lot of people with her most of the time, anyway. "Good morning, Rosie. How are you this morning?"

[.THEODORE REMUS LUPIN !]

"Teddy, you've got to get up now," a soft voice called from the doorway, well intentioned but entirely unwarranted before at least noon. A smiling, elderly woman stepped into his room with surprising ease; Gran was a spry old lady with a lot of spunk for her age. Teddy knew she worked hard to take care of him and be the parents he'd never had, and she was excellent at it. He loved her dearly and she was always telling him she loved him too, and those crinkly brown eyes always lit up when she saw him. His mother had had the same brown eyes, she explained to him once when he was little, and that's why his were brown, too. Except, at the time she told him they were actually gray, so that had Teddy confused for a while.

"Teddy, come on now, or you'll sleep your life away!" Gran moved quickly about his room, sidestepping piles of clothes and books to open the heavy curtains covering his windows. She pulled them back with relish, letting in the light that splashed Teddy across the face violently. He groaned, reaching up from under his covers to shield his eyes with a tired hand. "Oh, none of your complaining young man," she tutted, reaching over and shaking his foot. "Up up up, Theo-Theodore!" She sang using her nicknames for him, smiling at him as left the room. Teddy could hear her humming to herself as she walked down the hallway.

Oh Godric, it felt like it was about two o'clock in the morning. Squinting at the clock on his night stand Teddy saw that this was in fact not the case, and the sun has risen to sit in the sky at 9 am. Teddy sighed, mentally preparing himself before he got out the bed, trudging to the mirror with his eyes closed. "Okay, Teddy," he breathed, fisting his hands at his sides as he readied himself to face the mirror, "let's see what you look like today."

It was like a game with him now, always wondering exactly how he's wake up looking the next morning. His Gran said it used to happen to his mother all the time, and that though it wasn't necessarily common for it to happen to metamorphmagus, it wasn't unheard of. She said it was because he was so relaxed when he slept that his body had free reign to settle into whatever guise was most comfortable. It did create some problems with self-esteem for Teddy though, as most often he'd wake up looking like a completely different boy. He often wondered how his grandmother recognized him.

Today was a real winner. Teddy peeked one eye open, his body stiff with worry... "Oh, ugh," he groaned, opening the other eye and rolling them, hands on his hips as he examined his boxer shorts-clad reflection. Today he happened to be an incredibly scrawny thirteen year old with cotton candy blue hair, wispy and wild like the actual candy floss. His eyes were a golden-brown color that he knew wouldn't last long as they preferred instead to act like mood rings, revealing whatever he was feeling in embarrassing ways. Teddy frowned, hands on his skinny hips. Couldn't he for once look normal? Fill out a little more than this pathetic bit of pubescent human? He couldn't wait to hear his Gran's jibe when he came downstairs.

He walked to his closet and began dressing, pulling on a blue tee shirt with an orange collar and a pair of jean shorts. He threw on some socks and a pair of sneakers, and by the time he was ready to go downstairs, his eyes had only intensified in color. Now they were orange? Ergh.

"G'morning Gran," Teddy greeted as he walked into the kitchen where his grandmother was eating a bowl of cereal and reading the paper. She looked up and smiled at Teddy's goofy appearance. "Good morning Teddy. Bad night?" She pointed to his hair and chuckled. Teddy scowled. "I'm working on it," he muttered, making for the refrigerator.

"I sent Odo to your god father's house while you were getting ready," she went on while Teddy rummaged through the fruit drawer. Odo was Teddy's crow, a trustworthy messenger if less than affectionate than an owl. Just the same, Teddy had picked out Odo from Diagon Alley before his first year at Hogwarts, and he loved him all the same. "Wha' for?" He asked through a mouthful of apple, closing the fridge door and sitting at the table opposite Gran. Now his orange eyes made sense - color coded for confusion. She hadn't mentioned needing to talk to Harry...?

"I'm sending you over there for the day. I've got errands to run all day and I'm still nervous about leaving you home alone. You don't mind spending your day with them, do you?" Gran cleared her dishes as Teddy grinned. "Not at all!" He said again with his mouth full. "Good, I've told them to expect you in a few minutes, so finish your apple and start working on getting your eyes back to that beautiful brown. Orange is a bit much," Gran laughed, and Teddy smirked.

Moments later, Gran was offering him the pot of floo power they kept next to their small fireplace, going over the rules and tips again for floo travel. "I've got it, Gran." Teddy reassured her, grabbing a fistful of powder. "You be careful, Theo-Theodore," she said, ruffling his pale hair. "Be back before it gets to dark and you've overstayed your welcome!" She waved as Teddy shouted directions into the green flames, turned and was gone.

Stumbling out onto the floor of his god father's house, Teddy coughed the ash out of his lungs. He tripped and fell sprawling to the ground, still not used to his lanky just-barely-teenage frame, and ground the soot into their clean carpet with his heels by accident. "*cough* Er, sorry Ginny," Teddy said quickly as he pushed up from the ground, wiping his hands on his short and leaving black hand prints on his thighs. "I'll get better at it soon," he gestured to the fireplace, grinning.

He waved to Al and Rosie but left for the kitchen where he heard Harry talking to Lily. Harry was definitely Teddy's favorite person, even if he didn't yet understand why. "Hi Harry," he greeted, walking over to Odo who had arrived a while ago and petting his feathers. "Need any help?"

---

teddy at age thirteen

[headauror]

Harry's mouth had opened to answer his daughter and he'd just been cracking an egg on the side of a pan when the rapping of a sharp beak at the window drew his attention. Glancing up he grinned at the black bird eying him sideways through the glass. Odo.. he should have expected as much rather than the arrival of an owl. The bird was really quiet a brilliant choice for a messenger..especially during the daylight hours.. after all it was rather uncommon to see an owl swooping to a house with the sun hanging high over head.. but a crow? they were a common bird that had a fondness for any form of scrap they could get their beaks on. He'd often wondered if Teddy had given that fact much thought when choosing the bird in Diagon. Heading over to the window he let the bird hop in and untied the offered note attached to his leg. Once he'd skimmed over it he lifted his eyes, wide smile in place to nod at Lily. "He sure is princess.. and as for breakfast we'll be having eggs..and toast.. bacon.. and I think.." his brow rose as he walked over to open and rummage in the fridge.. ".. there's some pancake mix in here somewhere.. not that they'll turn out as good as usual.. mommy's much better at them you know.. and I think were out of blueberries to.. that won't make your brother terribly happy.."

Finally pulling his head from the fridge He set the pancake mix with the other items on the counter and suddenly looked rather startled as the faint smell of egg beginning to burn reached his nose. Stepping quickly back to the pan he reached for the spatula and quickly flipped the egg. Eying the pancake mix he pulled his wand from the pocket of his shorts and gave it a wordless flick in the direction of the box..which promptly set to working together with a measuring cup and bowl on the counter. At that point his Godson rounded the corner with a greeting to which he returned a grin and a nod and an offer of help to which he nodded at the package of bacon on the counter. " Sure Teddy.. mind opening that for me and dropping it in that empty pan there? " He indicated the pan next to the one he was using with a nod and then stuck his wand in his mouth holding it between his teeth as he scooped out the slightly over done egg onto a plate and went on to crack two more into it. the eggs set to bubbling and sizzling. That done he moved to the sink and washed up before plucking his wand from his teeth again to pocket it and heading over to take over for the magic in the mixing of the pancake batter.

He'd never been terribly brilliant at kitchen related spells.. growing up with the Dursleys had given him a lot of hands on .. err.. experience.. when it came to cooking. Sure he could have left the spell to measure out the rest of the ingredients.. but he doubted it would have completed the job without some sort of foul up. Reaching into the fridge again he started to measure out the needed milk, glancing over at his Godson as he did. " Enjoying break then?.. Hows school going? " Leaning around Teddy to snag an egg for the pancakes he eyed the boys hair and chuckled gently.. " That's a new look.. 'baby' blue?.. not rebelling against teenagedom are you?.." He smirked playfully at the boy before turning his attention back to the bowl in front of him and cracking the egg to add it to the mix. Glancing at his watch he thought out loud.. " Wonder where Gin's got off to? "

[mgirl03]

Mum's always had the best way of making things better. Al knew that sometimes he didn't get straight answers for questions he asked, but when his mum pushed away her article and tugged him to his lap, he felt a bit better anyways. She wasn't going to get into too much trouble, then, if she could hold him, right? Still, he continued to peer up anxiously at her, and nodded his had when she asked him if he was bothered, using that nickname that James usually made fun of him for. In the next moment, though, he found himself laughing on his mum's lap, her fingers tickling him all over as she laughed along.

As quick as the crisis arrived, it vanished. His mum was laughing and hanging out with him, so her article was obviously not important. Al smiled at his mum and placed the quil to the side as she kissed him, snuggling into her as they rested their foreheads together. He might be a very old age of five, but it didn't mean he didn't like the kisses his mum gave him; especially the nose ones that made him giggle. It didn't cease to work this time, and Albus let out a soft laugh as his mum gave him an eskimo kiss, the crisis of her working long since out of his mind.

"Daddy's making eggs, I smell 'em!" Al exclaimed with a grin, peering up at his mum, his green eyes going cross eyed for a moment as he looked at the freckles on her nose again. Blinking them into focus again, he settled for looking at his mum's brown eyes, wrapping his arms around her as much as he could to hug her. After a moment Al snuggled closer, resting his ear over his mum's heart as she spoke up again. He didn't answer for a moment, listening to his mummy's heartbeat, closing his eyes.

"Yes," he said, the word punctuated with a sudden yawn. He lifted one tiny hand to rub at his eyes, running the hand through his hair after a moment in the habit that he had already picked up from his father. He opened his mouth to say something more about his night--he vaguely remembered a dream that had a flying pig in it--but before he had the chance to say anything more the fireplace was lighting up and Uncle Ron and Rosie were stepping out of it.

Grinning, thoughts of his dreams long gone, Al slid off of his mum's lap to her side again, trying to look more like a big boy as Uncle Ron waved at them and left again. He hadn't known that Rosie was coming over and felt excitement rising in him as she ran over and hopped onto the couch on the other side of Albus' mum. He waited until his mum had kissed her and asked her how she was doing before leaning forward to look across his mummy at his cousin.

Rose and himself were always close--both of them were five, after all, and being the same age was basically the key to being best friends. Plus, their parents were close, so of course they saw each other all the time. Grinning back at his red-haired cousin, Al wondered what they would do today. Together, they usually found a way to get into trouble, even if he tried to keep them from breaking too many things or from getting on his parent's nerves too much.

"Hi, Rosie," he pipped up, kicking his barefeet in the same way she was kicking hers, ignoring the way she laughed at his hair. He was used to that by now, and besides, he could take the mickey out of her later if he wanted to. Right now, though, he wasn't worried about that. Breakfast was really starting to smell good now. Feeling impatient he shifted on his cushion on the couch, getting distracted from the good smells as the fireplace coughed out another person--this time a blue haired one who could only be Teddy.

"Teddy!" he said loudly, waving back as he moved into the kitchen. Looking back to Rosie, Albus grinned even wider, showing off a few missing teeth. Reaching up to his head he presse down his hair to try and tame some of the wild locks, turning his eyes to his mum once more. "Do you think breakfast will be ready soon?" His stomach rumbled to emphasis that he was hungry and he grinned in an embarrassed sort of way.