Growth Spurts

adamolupin

Rating: PG
Genres: Romance, Humor
Relationships: Draco & Ginny
Book: Draco & Ginny, Books 1 - 6
Published: 02/08/2006
Last Updated: 22/10/2006
Status: in_progress

I wasn't sure which ship to put this under, so I put it under Draco/Ginny just because they were the first ship in the first story. This isn't the sequel to "Sink or Swim" but more like a dumping ground for stories involving my Lessons universe I feel are too short to post individually. Each story should stand independently of the other in "Growth Spurts," although they will sometimes reference situations and characters found in other Lessons universe stories so it might help to read those stories first. "Growth Spurts" will also contain ships from R/L and H/Hr. If I find that one ship dominates, I might change that. After all that, enjoy!

Chapters

1. The Pest

2. Table Manners

3. Yunohoo

4. Am Not, Are Too

5. Mad Eye Moo Moo: Wotcha!

6. Mad Eye Moo Moo: Pway!

7. Marco Polo

8. Over Protective

9. Caught

1. The Pest

A/N: A little Lessons cookie for you! I have a tendency to write short little drabbles that pop into my head, but I have nowhere to place them, so I've created this as a dumping ground. They won't be in any particular order, so you may see Harry and Hermione at the beginning of their relationship in one chapter, the kids grown up in another, and then the kids much younger in the next. So try not to be frustrated, they're meant to stand alone within “Growth Spurts.”

Oh and the djinni mentioned is from Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy which I highly recommend if you haven't read it.

He was five and she was three when he made his first attempt. He took her hand and led her into the fireplace, giving her her stuffed puffskein so she'd be quiet and sit still then he dragged a chair over to the mantle. He crawled up on the chair and reached as high as he could until he found the porcelain vase that held the floo powder. After a quick check to make sure that all was quiet, he hopped off the chair and tossed the powder on top of her shouting, “Anywhere but here!”

Twenty minutes later his dad received an urgent floo call from the proprietor of Borgin & Burkes that his daughter somehow ended up in his store and gotten ahold of a jar containing a particularly nasty and sarcastic djinni named Bartimaeus. The two of them were now effectively destroying his shop playing “Smash the Monkey,” the monkey being him and would they be so kind as to pick up their wayward daughter? No, no, there would be no need for recompense for the damaged merchandise or injuries, just please, take their daughter home and if they wanted the djinni, they could have him too.

He looked over at his mum who fixed him with a steely eyed look of death and he knew that he was in deep doo doo. “Oh bollocks,” he muttered which earned him a gasp and a wide eyed look of death which was much worse than the usual look of death.

“Alaric Malfoy!” his mum hissed. “Watch your language! Where did you hear that word?!”

He sullenly looked over at the spot where his dad had just occupied before coming up with an idea that would save his and his father's hides. “Uncle Ron!”

His mum pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes in the narrow eyed look of death which often was much much worse than the wide eyed look of death and he knew Uncle Ron was definitely in for it. He ducked his head to hide his smirk.

“Don't think you've gotten out of your punishment for what you did to your sister!” Ginny said sharply, snapping him out of his fleeting joy.

He crossed his arms and pouted.

The second time he tried, he was seven and she had just turned six. She still looked up to him adoringly as only little sisters could to big brothers. That adoration made this attempt a bit harder, but he needed to do it. Their little brother was only a year old, still a bit young to get rid of yet, but by the time he was old enough to chuck, he'd be at Hogwarts, so that only left Cissy.

He wrapped her up in brown paper and twine while she giggled at the new game. “Where'm I going?” she asked as he tied the last knot.

“Dunno. North Pole maybe.”

“Yay! Do they have tigers on the North Pole?”

“Dunno. I don't think so.”

Cissy pouted. “But they might have penguins,” Alaric offered so she wouldn't start bawling and attract the attention of their parents upstairs.

“Penguins are cute,” Cissy replied albeit a bit reluctantly. “Are you sure about this?”

“One hundred per cent.” He whistled softly for three owls. “I want you to take her to the North Pole.”

The owls looked at the heavy, squirming package warily, but took it by the twine and flew awkwardly and heavily out the kitchen window. “Alaric, I have to pee,” Cissy said on her way out the window.

“It's like this far,” he held up his index finger and thumb about four inches apart, “to North Pole on the map, so you should be there in no time. Can you hold it?”

“Yeah,” she called down from the second story.

There was a shriek upstairs and the rushing of many feet down the stairs and across the room to the window just above the kitchen window. Alaric scampered to the door and watched Uncle Harry, his dad, and Uncle Charlie bound down the stairs and bolt to the back doors.

“But I wanna go to the North Pole!” he could hear her sobbing moments later. “I wanna pet the penguins!”

“Alaric?”

He froze at the hard and cold voice behind him. “Yes mum?”

“Turn around.”

He did as he was told, albeit very reluctantly, his head hung in shame.

“Did you wrap Cissy up like a parcel and try to ship her to the North Pole?”

“No mum.”

“So this isn't your handwriting?”

He lifted his head just enough to look at his scribble on the brown paper. “Er -“

“I'm giving you a chance to tell the truth and perhaps come away with a less harsh punishment than if you were to open your mouth and lie to me again. So I'm going to ask you once more: did you wrap Cissy up and try to ship her to the North Pole?”

Alaric knew when he was defeated and tried to at least save his skin. “Yes mum. But she really wanted to go, it was -“

“STOP!” Satisfied that he wasn't going to make another peep, his mum sighed. “Go to your room, your punishment will be given to you momentarily.”

He winced knowing that a punishment talked about and agreed upon by both his parents was far worse than an on the spot punishment given by just one of his parents. “Yes mum.”

His punishment, which would make him shudder for years to come, put him off from trying to get rid of Cissy for a while. His third and final attempt had been when he was thirteen, she was eleven and he'd become a bit sneakier about it. Well perhaps not sneakier, but certainly more clever. Somewhere in the back of his mind he'd grudgingly realized he did like his sister for all her goody goody Gryffindor shoes and he did sorta love her a little, but he had to give it one last go. He had to give it one last try.

“ALARIC DRACO MALFOY!”

Everyone in the Great Hall stopped eating and fell silent, turning to look at the second year and his Howler.

“IF I EVER SEE YOU'VE PUT AN ADVERT IN THE DAILY PROPHET PUTTING YOUR SISTER UP FOR SALE EVER AGAIN, YOUR PUNISHMENT WILL MAKE THE ONE SIX YEARS AGO LOOK LIKE A WALK IN THE PARK! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.”

The last growled, nay snarled, part had Alaric looking as though death had warmed over. He swayed on the bench not even noticing the Howler destructing before him. Ok, maybe he'd gone a little overboard.

It was dusk at the Burrow and Alaric took advantage of the fragrant balmy summer air to step away from the festivities in the garden and inside the house to grab some peace and quiet. He couldn't even remember what they were celebrating, but it didn't really matter. He'd come for Nan's cooking and maybe to see his cousins.

He had to leave soon anyway. He had a pile of reports on his desk leaving him to marvel at his father and how he managed it all on a day to day basis even with help. Alaric wasn't intimidated though. He'd been groomed since he was little to take over the Malfoy family holdings and at nineteen, he was anxious and primed to step into his apprenticeship.

“Merlin, I love my family, but sometimes it feels good to get away from them and breathe,” Cissy sighed dropping next to him on the log he was sitting on at the edge of the forest that bordered the Burrow.

Alaric merely nodded and grinned slightly, his fingers absently picking at the dry and dead bark on the log. “Let me guess. Cat and Sirius at it again?”

Cissy sighed and nodded. “I love them as if they were my own siblings, but Merlin are they exhausting. The thing is they love it! You can see the grins on their faces and the little touches and ugh! They just need to snog and get it over with. And if I hear that stupid cat and dog joke again, I will hex you. It wasn't funny when we were five and it's less funny now.”

A grin quirked at Alaric's lips. “The chase is half the fun,” he replied sagely instead.

His sister shuddered and made a face. “I did not need that mental image, thank you.”

A few moments passed in cricket filled silence, the laughter and talking coming from the Burrow muffled by humidity and distance. “Why are you really out here?” Alaric asked softly.

“I miss you,” Cissy replied softly, her face turned toward the garden.

Ah Gryffindor forthrightness. How he missed that at times. “But I'm sitting right here.”

She gave him a sideways look. “Don't be an arse; you know exactly what I'm talking about.” She sighed and looked away again. “You moved out and even though I'll be moving out soon too . . . it's quiet with just Aries in the house. Besides, he's still too young to do anything with anyway.”

“All I ever strived to do was get you out of the house. You're telling me you miss that?” he asked with amused disbelief.

“Why did you always attempt to get rid of me?”

“It was a manifestation of a few phases in my childhood,” he replied with a shrug.

“Flooing me to Borgin and Burkes?”

“Undecided phase.”

“The trip to the North Pole.”

“Adventurous phase and envy phase all rolled up. After all, you were the one going and I was the one stuck here,” he added to her disbelieving look.

“The advert in the Daily Prophet?”

“Capitalist phase. Which I'm still going through, I've just moved onto bigger and better paying ventures.”

“Ah, I'm glad to know that our little brother is safe then and that I shan't be used as a guinea pig any longer as an outlet for these `phases,'” she couldn't help grin, nudging his arm with her shoulder.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she rested her head against his. “Gryffindork.”

“Slythergit.”

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2. Table Manners

A/N: Hi! This would be considered a Ron/Luna fic. If you don't like this ship, skip this one. Also this one might be considered PG13 just because the word “shite” is used about 3 or 4 times. So if you don't like that word, you can skip this one too. I just realized that “Idle Threats” technically should belong in here, but I don't want to move it and lose all the wonderful reviews, so just consider that one a part of “Growth Spurts.” Have fun!

It was a little known fact that Ronald Weasley liked to eat.

It was a lesser known fact that Ron liked to eat with his son, Ron Jr. or Ronnie. There was something satisfying to Ron seeing a fellow man with the same table manners as he. Whenever Luna would look at him with even a hint of reproach Ron would look over at Ronnie and hide behind his son. If Ronnie could get away with smearing peanut butter on his face, why couldn't he? Luna either couldn't or wouldn't dispute that logic.

At first Ron had been reluctant to name his son after himself. He'd rather have called him Arthur or Harry, but Luna had insisted. She'd said something about karma and since she was the Ravenclaw who'd left Hogwarts at the top of her class, Ron had shrugged and acquiesced even if it did sound a bit too much like Divination. If it meant that much to her he couldn't begrudge her. Besides, with his Weasley genes he knew they'd be having more boys to name Arthur or Harry.

Sitting there at the kitchen table eating lunch with Ronnie, the house entirely to himself since Luna had taken eleven month old Harry and gone out shopping with Ginny, Ron thought he knew what Luna meant by karma. He loved making his three year old giggle in his high chair and loved watching him make a mess of his food.

Ron pulled another face and Ronnie giggled madly, banging his plastic spoon loudly on the tray and kicking his feet in joy.

“And your mum thought I couldn't handle you on my own,” Ron scoffed watching Ronnie pick up cooked carrot cubes that were supposed to be lunch and chuck them off the side of his high chair one by one.

“Hmm, I take it that's a no on the carrots,” Ron mused to himself.

Ronnie blinked up at him and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Uckie! Carros, no.”

“How does soup sound? Nana's soup?”

“Soup!”

“Soup it is!” Ron stood and prepared some soup his mother had brought over the day before. “Cream of chicken soup, a la Nana.”

“Nanny!” Ronnie enthusiastically agreed, holding his hands up for the carefully warmed soup.

Ron set the little bowl down on Ronnie's high chair tray to which Ronnie immediately dunked his hand in the soup. He smiled at his father and licked his chubby hand.

“Er . . . you might want to use a spoon there, mate,” Ron said picking up his spoon and dipping it in the creamy concoction. “Like this.”

Ronnie watched raptly for a couple of bites before looking at his own spoon and the bowl. Ron could see the little cogs working in Ronnie's mind. Spoon, bowl, spoon . . . bowl. “Come on little mate, you can do it,” Ron piped up encouragingly. Fatherhood wasn't so bad. He could do this, easily.

That was until Ronnie put the spoon in the bowl then lifted the bowl and dumped the soup over his head. “Soup!”

“Shite!” Ron yelped lunging forward and snatching up the giggling and utterly messy toddler.

“Shite! Shite!” Ronnie squealed at the top of his lungs.

“Ronald Weasley!” Ginny's outraged holler had him frozen to his tracks holding the dripping baby away from his body.

“Auntie!” Ronnie held out his arms, clenching and unclenching his chubby little hands.

“Ginny, what -“ Luna walked into the kitchen and looked at Ron with a serenely calm if questioning expression. “Ronald?”

“Um . . . care for some soup?” he asked sheepishly.

“Shite!”

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3. Yunohoo

A//N: This is a Harry/Hermione ficlet. If you haven't read “Constance Vigilance” from “Sink or Swim” you may be a bit confused, but even if you haven't, it should still be ok. This is also un-beta'd so any mistakes or Americanisms are my own. I'm working on a prequel for Lessons, but I want to have a couple chapters written (so I have some idea of where it'll be going) before a post it. I hope the little drabbles posted here will make due in the mean time. And before you say it, I know the name Lily's been done about a gagillion times. I have no excuse.

Lily Potter, four and three quarters years old as she liked to tell anyone and everyone who could hear, sat straight up in bed, her heart beating a million miles a minute. At first she was confused as to what had woken her until the room lit up in stark black and white relief followed closely by a bladder quivering sharp retort.

She hated thunderstorms. They were loud, fierce, violent and most of all unpredictable, but one thing she did like about thunderstorms was that they were a perfect excuse to bug her older brother.

Hastily she slipped out of bed with her stuffed dragon and scurried on her tip toes away from her bed in case a yunohoo came after her. She wasn't sure what, precisely, a yunohoo was, but with the way some of the adults spoke about it in whispers with tinges of fear and awe, she figured it had to be big and slimy with at least a thousand tentacles, green, and had a mouth full of teeth. She didn't know where yunohoo's lived, but under her bed or in a closet were as good places as any. At any rate, she wasn't about to find out any time soon. Thunderstorms might be the perfect cover for them to abduct little girls as they snuck out to find their brothers.

Like a little wraith clad in bright pink pajama bottoms and a yellow pajama top, she skittered down the hall still on her tippy toes.

“Psst.”

Lily paused just outside her brother's room and stood very still. That definitely wasn't Crookshanks or her kitten Droobles. Did yunohoo's hiss?

“Psst. Lily.” A slightly translucent face of a girl appeared through the wall down the hall behind her.

“Connie! You scared me,” Lily said clutching her dragon closer to her and stomping her foot indignantly.

“Sorry,” the little eight year old ghost girl whispered. She slid through the wall wearing her customary frilly white dress and big bow and hovered near her. “I hate thunderstorms.”

“How come you're not with your daddy?”

“He's in the garden,” Constance replied with a roll of her eyes. “He keeps trying to teach me about electricity and ions and other stuff, but as soon as there's a bolt of lightening, I get scared and run back inside. You would think after a hundred and fifteen years I would stop being scared of storms and he'd stop trying to drag me out to watch them.”

Lily giggled softly. “I'm going into Sirius's room. D'you wanna come with?”

“Yes, please,” Constance replied with no amount of relief.

Constance slid through the wall and Lily crept through the door, peeking her head around the door jamb.

Her five and eleven twelfths year old brother lay in bed with his butt straight in the air, his head buried under his pillow and the blankets in a pile down around his feet. He seemed completely oblivious to the bright flashes and thunderous claps invading his room.

“Connie?” Lily whispered. “Could you check under the bed for a yunohoo?”

Constance dove under the bed and came back moments later. “It's all clear. Nothing but dust, some socks, and that Quidditch figurine Sirius lost last month.”

Lily scampered over to her brother's bed and climbed up, sitting at the foot. “Sirius . . . Sirius!” She poked the bare underside of his foot.

He started and muttered something like, “No peas” before settling back into sleep.

If she were like his best friends, the twins Cat and James, she'd jump on his bed until he woke up or if she were sneaky like Ronnie or Cissy, also Sirius's best friends, she'd get a quill and tickle his ear or nose. But they didn't have to live with him or their parents, so she was content to run her finger up and down the tender underside of his foot, poking the arch until he woke with a groan and flipped over. He gave her a bleary eyed squint and groaned again, curling up with his pillow. “Whaaaat?”

“Can Connie and me sleep with you?”

“It's Connie and I and no.”

“Please? I don't like the thunder and Connie doesn't like the lightening. And I think there're yunohoo's under my bed.”

“You know whats?” Sirius asked blearily.

“Can we please please please sleep in here?”

Sirius sighed and scooted over. “Ok, but Connie can't sleep in my bed. She's too cold.”

“Can I just stay in the room?”

“Yeah, ok.”

Lily pulled up the sheet and duvet cover and snuggled in close next to her brother's scrawny chest finally feeling safe.

“Ok, now what in the world are yunohoos?” Sirius mumbled into his pillow.

“I'm not sure exactly, but I think they have a billion teeth and they're green and slimy and have a billion tentacles and I think they come out in thunderstorms to steal kids from their beds.”

Harry woke with a frown. What in the world? He glanced over at the clock and barely made out the words If you're awake, it's probably because your kids are staring at you. And sure enough his kids and Constance were standing right next to his bed staring down at him. Spooned behind him, Hermione stirred, draping her arm over his waist. “Hey,” he mumbled muzzily. “What're you doing up?”

“The thunderstorm woke Lily up so she came to my room with Connie then Lily told me about the yunohoos and so, we came here,” Sirius whispered. “Can we sleep you and mum?”

Harry yawned and nodded. “Yeah, climb on in.”

“Harry - what -?” Hermione mumbled waking when two little bodies climbed up into bed and insinuated themselves between her husband and herself, pushing her away from his warmth. “Sirius, Lily, what's wrong?”

She slid over then wrapped her arms around her baby girl while Sirius explained why Lily and Constance were there and why he was there.

Hermione met Harry's eyes over their children's heads torn between drowsy amusement and something else.

“Oh, I do beg your pardon,” Sir Geoffrey, Constance's father popped his head through the floor just beyond their open door. “Constance, I'm finished watching the storm. Come back downstairs and let them sleep.”

“Thank you for letting me stay here,” Constance smiled.

“Any time,” Harry replied.

When Constance and Sir Geoffrey had left, Harry, Hermione, Sirius and Lily all snuggled under the covers. “Let me tell you a story about where You Know Who came from and why you should never be afraid,” Hermione murmured, Lily snuggled up to her side with her head on her chest and Hermione's hand comfortingly running her fingers through Sirius's messy black hair. Harry curled on his side and stretched his arm across Lily and Sirius to rub Hermione's slightly swollen stomach.

-----------------

Lily, as usual, woke up before everyone else. Sirius was sprawled out on their dad's chest while their mum had her wrapped securely in her arms. Lily squirmed gently away from the arms wrapped around her, giving her baby sister (at least she hoped it was a sister), in her mummy's belly a kiss before crawling over her mummy's legs and off the bed.

She walked to the open window and stood in the soft breeze and bright sunlight. She was glad her mum had told her that story about Voldey-mort and how he was the first and last yunohoo. She still didn't like thunderstorms, she felt as though she was going to end up like Constance, a hundred years old and still afraid of them, but at least she felt safe knowing that she didn't have to worry about monsters under her bed.

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4. Am Not, Are Too

A/N: Keep moving people, nothing to see here. That's it, nothing to see but some un-beta'd utterly pointless and plotless brain vomit. Sir, ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to step away. Keep moving, there're better fics out there than this one.

Age 6

“Don't touch me, Sirius.”

“I'm not touching you, Cat.”

“Don't touch me.”

“I'm not touching you.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“MUM!”

“Sirius, stop teasing Cat.”

“Wimp.”

“Am not.”

“Are too. And don't touch me!”

“I'm not touching you.”

Age 10

“Cat, don't touch me.”

“I'm not touching you.”

”You are too. I saw you.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“DAD!”

“Cat. If Sirius can't tease you, you can't tease him. Understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“You can't touch me and you can't stick your tongue out at me either Cat.”

“Can too.”

Age 14

“Don't touch me, Sirius.”

“I'm not touching you! I'm just sitting here, staring at the lake.”

“Sirius, I mean it.”

“I'm not! If my shoulder happens to brush yours, it's not my fault. It's my shoulder's. Take your grievances up with it.”

“You know what you are?”

“What?”

“You're like a giant git ball.”

“Git ball?! That doesn't even make sense!”

“Giticus Maximus. Minister of Arses.”

“You're enjoying this, aren't you.”

“Loving every moment, King of Gits.”

“Oh ho, so if I'm the King of Gits, what does that make you?”

“Queen of Perfection.”

“You're the queen of something all right, but I don't think it's perfection.”

Age 18

“I'm not touching you Cat. That was a pre-emptive not touching.”

“Well . . . good. Because I don't want you to.”

“Good. `Cause I'm not.”

“Good.”

“Fine.”

“Fine. . . . Because I - mmph!”

“Mmm.”

“Mmmm.”

“Does this mean I can touch you now?”

“What do you think?”

“I think I should kiss you again.”

“Smart man.”

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5. Mad Eye Moo Moo: Wotcha!

A/N: First let me apologize profusely for the confusion on the kids. This story should clear that up, but if not here's the list of the main five (I won't bother with their siblings because then that'd get way insane):

Harry + Hermione = Sirius

Ron + Luna = Ronnie (Ron Jr.)

Tonks + Remus = Cat and James

Draco + Ginny = Cissy

Secondly, if this two-parter violates Portkey rules, please please PLEASE let me know and I will take it down without question and without complaint. This story has only a glancing mention of Harry and Hermione, but it is in the “Lessons” universe and deals with the kids whose parents are Portkey's ships so I thought it'd be ok. PLEASE let me know if it isn't. Thanks!!!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Part 1: Wotcha!

Sirius was the only one brave enough to approach him. Mad Eye Moody looked down at the three year old toddler with an amused quirk of his eyebrow. Of the other toddlers and children running around the backyard of the Burrow none had dared attempted to come near him. The boy was certainly a Gryffindor and a Potter through and through.

Sirius blinked up at Moody with wide vibrant green eyes he'd inherited from his father and poked Moody's leg with a small index finger. “`Lo,” Moody replied, startling Sirius enough from his scrutiny to cause the kid to jump.

“Sirius, don't be rude,” Hermione sighed with exasperation, picking up her wayward son. “I'm sorry Moody, he's normally not like this around adults.”

Moody nodded. “No harm done.” It wasn't as if he had a face that inspired trust in children anyway, not that he minded. He was definitely not a kid person. They were expensive, loud, smelled and prone to unpredictability. To someone who thrived on unpredictability, kids should have been easy, but not when they were also easily influenced and often took orders from adults without any question. No, he did not like kids - too corruptible, too trusting and never vigilant.

Sirius watched Moody intently until Hermione deposited him with his cousins and sister playing with the gnomes in the garden. Moody was impressed with the toddler's distrust until Sirius caught sight of a gnome Ron Jr. was chasing around and abandoned his Moody-watch to play. Maybe he should have a talking to with Potter and Weasley for that matter.

Moody was content to sit in the shade watching the children run pell-mell around the garden and the adults socialize with easy familiarity and laughter. Someone had to guard the party and he happily took on that role. It didn't matter that Voldemort had been dead and gone for nearly seven years, Dark Magic never slept. Constant vigilance!

If he hadn't seen Lupin, Tonks, John, and the twins James and Cat walking up the drive and around to the back of the house with his eye, Moody would've been just as startled and even more on alert when Cat let out a happy shriek. She came barreling into the garden running on her stubby little legs, her long hair coke bottle green. She ran to the kids and flopped onto the ground with them but before they could say hi or barely even acknowledge her presence she was up on her feet and running around to the adults. Lupin, Tonks and the boys walked more sedately into the group, smiling and greeting everyone. James and John joined the children where they sat poking at a gnome hole.

Cat, on the other hand, let out another girly squeal and ran toward Moody, her face alight with joy. “MOO MOO!!”

Everyone stopped and turned toward Moody who actually blushed at both the nick name and the scrutiny. Harry and Tonks had the guts to snicker while the rest of the adults bit their cheeks or lips, covered their mouths or turned away to hide their laughter. “Wotcha Moo Moo!” Cat held her arms up and jumped up and down, her hair bright pink with from enthusiasm. “Up! Teddy! Up!”

Pick her up and hug her, Tonks mouthed and pantomimed.

Cat was making little begging noises in the back of her throat, trying to crawl up into Moody's lap when he leaned down and picked her up. He held her under her arms, away from him, uncertainty crinkling his face. The last time he'd held her was about a year ago, but she had been dropped into his lap by Tonks and had squirmed away about five seconds later much to Moody's relief. Now she was giggling and squirming, reaching out to him. “Moo Moo! Teddy!!” she whined.

“Teddy. What's teddy mean?” Moody grumbled looking around the squirming three year old to her parents.

“What do you do with teddy bears?” Tonks asked.

Moody's face was blank. “Open `em up to see if there's contraband inside? Isolate `em to make sure they aren't portkeys or charmed with dark magic?”

Tonks sighed and rolled her eyes. “You hug them. She's asking you to hug her, so you'd better do it quick because she looks about ready to let loose a thunder storm.”

Cat's hair was turning dark pink and shading into black, her face screwing up with frustration and hurt. “Moo Moo! Teddy!” she sobbed.

Moody sighed and sat her on his lap, wrapping his arms awkwardly around her. “Are you happy now?” he growled down to her with more affection than annoyance in his voice.

Cat clapped her hands, her hair back to bright pink. She reached up and patted Moody's scarred cheek. “Love Moo Moo,” she grinned up at him, snuggling into his arms.

Moody sighed, glancing around to see if anyone was watching him. He reached up and ran a tender hand over Cat's long silky hair, both eyes watching the little girl happily nestled in his arms. A little piece of his heart that he'd always made sure was hardened against distractions thawed just enough to worry him. He couldn't let himself get sidetracked by such thawing. He knew he was going to have to pull away sometime soon, but for now he'd enjoy the new sensation, just this once, constant vigilance could wait a few minutes . . . a few hours . . . ok, the afternoon, but after that . . . “Love you too, squirt.”

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6. Mad Eye Moo Moo: Pway!

Part 2: Pway!

Cat's ability to sit still lasted all of five minutes before she was squirming on Moody's lap as she watched the other kids play. She turned her wide amber eyes that she inherited from her father up at him. “Down, pease.”

At least she has manners, Moody thought to himself, setting the toddler back on the ground already missing her warmth and comforting weight against his chest. Must be her father's work, Merlin knew Tonks could probably use some manners.

“Pway,” Cat said jerking Moody from his thoughts.

“What?”

“Pway,” she repeated pointing to the children sitting in sandpit Bill had conjured not moments before.

“No, I don't think so,” Moody replied emphatically.

“Moo Moo, pway!” Cat said stomping her little foot and pouting. “I tell mum!”

Hmm . . . that sounded like something John would say. James wandered up to them, watching Moody with wide curious, yet unafraid eyes. “Moo Moo, pway?” Cat asked again her lower lip quivering, threatening another bout of waterworks.

“Merlin's bloody beard,” Moody sighed, standing. “Fine, fine, I'll play!”

“Yay!!” Cat squealed grabbing her brother's hand and running to the sandpit. They stopped half way and the twins turned in unison to watch Moody limp his way over.

“I'm coming, I'm coming, don't get yer knickers in a twist,” he grumbled. “Potter, if you open your mouth, I swear to Merlin I will hex it shut for life,” he growled as he passed the younger man whose shoulders were shaking with silent laughter.

“Wouldn't dream of it Mad-Eye,” Harry replied innocently.

Moody growled threats and dire warnings under his breath as he sat the edge of the pit with a sigh. He was going to have sand in places he never knew existed, he was sure of it.

Cat settled into Moody's lap again and made her introductions, pointing to the other children as she went. “Hullo,” he said to them in his gravelly voice.

They blinked up at him in wide eyed awe tinged with a bit of fear. “Moo Moo pway!” Cat said, patting his knee and with that the fear was gone and the children returned to what they were doing. Moody watched this dynamic with interest. He knew who was going to be alpha female when she grew up if she wasn't already.

Tonks leaned into Remus's side, wrapping her arm around his thin waist. “I don't think I've ever seen Moody so besotted before,” she murmured with a grin up at her husband.

“Cat does have that effect on men,” Remus murmured back, grinning over at the scene. It was an odd sight seeing a grizzled battle scar-ridden ex-Auror sitting in a sandpit surrounded by children ranging in age from Lily who was two to Etienne who was eight, building sandcastles and getting sand in his hair. “Think we can parlay this into getting Moody to baby sit?”

“Not on your life, Lupin!” Moody growled looking up.

Remus's only response was an innocent expression he couldn't quite pull off. “I didn't say a word, Mad-Eye.”

“I'm sure you didn't.”

“Enjoying the sandpit, Moody?” Harry called out with a wide grin he shared with Ron standing next to him.

“Harry,” Hermione muttered, elbowing Harry in his side.

Moody narrowed his eyes into a glare. “Someone has to protect the children since all of you have let your guard down. Constant vigilance!”

Unlike the others except perhaps Harry and Ron, Tonks didn't even bother to hide her grin. “Sure Moody.”

“I know where you live, Tonks.”

“Good! You can come over Friday night around seven. Cat and James should be in bed and John goes to bed at seven thirty. We'll be home around eleven. Thanks for volunteering!” Tonks smiled happily.

Moody scowled at her. “Not on your life, Tonks.”

“We'll even set up a sandpit,” Lupin piped up.

“All right, that's enough teasing Moo Moo,” Molly spoke up walking out with a platter full of sandwiches, Arthur behind her with a pitcher of cold pumpkin juice for the children. “Lunch is served inside. These are for the children, Ronald Weasley,” she smacked at his wandering hand.

Moody sighed and rolled his eyes to the heavens. What did he do to deserve this? He looked down at the pink haired little girl who stood from his lap and kissed his cheek before toddling off for a sandwich. Oh yeah.

But if he heard any one of them saying he was wrapped around her little finger, he knew a few well placed hexes that would deter them from ever saying that again . . . even if it was the truth.

-->

7. Marco Polo

A/N: Ok, a D/G story for real this time. This takes place about 9 months before “Lessons.” It's also un-beta'd so any mistakes are my own. The quote “I'm some place I don't know where I am” comes from one of the Simpsons Halloween episodes where Homer is trapped in the 3D realm. “If you see towels, you're lost in the linen closet again!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ginny stared up at Malfoy Manor with some amount of trepidation. The last time she had been here had been in the final days of the War. As a member of the Order she had gone with a team to act as a diversion so another team could infiltrate and raid the house. She hadn't known it at the time, but her future husband had given them critical information, albeit reluctantly, that made the raid a success.

Now, she was married to that informant and six months pregnant with their first child. How times had changed. “Draco, we don't have to move here you know,” Ginny murmured softly taking his hand and looking up at him. They stood just at the end of the long walkway that cut off from the drive and curved across the expanse of lawn toward the front door of the house. “We could stay in our townhouse.”

Draco squeezed her hand to let her know that he heard, but made no comment. She knew where his mind was and that mind had been fixed and would remain fixed. Draco's stubbornness would put a mule's to shame.

Ginny sighed and let him lead her up the walk to the silent sprawling mansion. “I want to turn the entire upper floor into a large apartment,” Draco said releasing the security and stasis wards around the house and opening the door. He ushered her in with a gentle hand at the small of her back. “And leave the bottom floor for more formal occasions and guests.”

The all marble foyer itself was as large as the Burrow and Ginny felt dwarfed by the sheer size. “I like the sound of that,” she replied, quirking a grin up at him. “It'll make this place feel a bit cozier.”

Draco nodded and grinned down at her. “That's the plan.”

“How long will that take?”

He let out a deep sigh. “A year. At least.”

“Why so long?” Ginny asked, looking up at him, surprised.

“Well, I figure it'll take about a month or two for us to fight over what we want, have lots of make up sex, compromise, and be stubborn about,” Draco explained. “By then the baby will be born and I highly doubt we'll want to be interviewing contractors, so that'll be another month maybe two perhaps. After that we'll actually need to find one, that'll take some time and since I have a feeling we'll be extremely specific about what we will and won't want, it'll take a few months for the contractors to complete the work.”

Ginny nodded with a grin. That sounded about right actually.

“I'm going to do a check of all the rooms and see how the stasis charms are holding up,” Draco said turning to her, his hand unconsciously falling on her slightly protruding stomach.

“Ok. I think I'll wander around a bit,” Ginny nodded, eyeing the main set of stairs that lead off from the foyer.

Draco grinned and leaned down to give her lips a soft kiss. “Stick to the main hallway and don't get lost!” he called over his shoulder as he walked away.

“Famous last words, I just know it,” Ginny muttered to herself.

She watched Draco disappear down the corridor and into one of the parlor rooms before heading upstairs. The paintings eyed her warily and some even gasped. “A Weasley!” one of Lucius and Narcissa on their wedding day scowled down at her.

Ginny cocked a haughty eyebrow she unconsciously learned from Draco. “That's Malfoy actually.”

“Well!” Narcissa huffed. “I'm going to have a word with my son about this.” She turned and marched out of her portrait leaving Lucius to scowl at her.

A low appreciative whistle echoed down the hallway as Ginny walked past. She stopped in front of a younger Draco, probably painted for his seventeenth birthday. “Hello, Weasley,” painting Draco flirted leaning against his frame with a handsome smirk. “So when're you going to get a portrait around here?”

Ginny rolled her eyes but couldn't help grinning. “Keep dreaming, ferret.”

“You wound me,” smiled painting Draco, dramatically clapping a hand over his heart.

Ginny laughed and kept walking down the hallway. Door after door offered ample opportunities to satiate her curiosity and she finally gave in when she found one door that didn't have a snake for a handle. This room was a dusty old bedroom with another door that led to another set of suites. All the rooms seemed to be connected somehow and so caught up was she in examining the old furniture and paintings that she was quickly lost from the main hallway. “Bugger,” she muttered, opening a door and stepping out into a side hallway that led to a spiraling staircase. “Who the hell builds a house like this anyway?”

“Ginny?”

It was faint, but she could hear him. “Draco?” she shouted back.

There was a pause. “Ginny? Where are you?”

“I'm some place I don't know where I am!” she shouted back.

“That doesn't help you know! Come toward my voice!”

Ginny eyed the stone staircase in front of her warily. It didn't sound like Draco was coming from that direction anyway. She closed the door and headed back to the room she was just in. “Marco!”

“Ginny!”

“Marco!”

“Who?!”

“It's a Muggle -“ she started shouting then shook her head. “Nevermind,” she muttered opening doors and running through rooms that never seemed to stay the same.

“Ginny!”

His voice was much closer this time. She opened one last door and there he was and there was the main hallway too. “Oh thank Merlin,” she murmured, running into his arms, relief pouring through her.

“I told you to stick to the main corridor,” he murmured in her hair, wrapping her arms around her. “The Manor was charmed to shift and change to trap intruders. It probably remembers you from last time.”

Ginny rolled her eyes and smacked his arm. “You could've told me that!”

“I told you to stay in the main corridor!”

“But you didn't say why!”

“You've been in this house before; I thought that should've been obvious.”

“If I remember correctly, you disabled the wards to prevent that so the last time I was here the house didn't move, thank you very much!”

Draco ran an agitated hand through his hair and she could tell that she'd won or at least he thought he was letting her think she'd won. “I'm finished so we can go now,” he muttered.

Ginny crossed her arms and huffed. “Well if you're going to be like that, I'll just run off with your painting!”

“I'll treat you the way you should be treated, principessa,” painting Draco smirked earning him a glare from the real Draco.

“Eyes off or else there's a gallon of turpentine with your name on it,” Draco retorted, taking Ginny's hand and leading her back downstairs.

“If you ever get tired of him, you know where to find me!” painting Draco called after them.

“Not him too!” painting Narcissa wailed.

“Did you have a good talk with your mother?” Ginny asked sweetly with a mischievous grin while Draco locked up the Manor and they headed back down the drive to the apparition point.

Draco shuddered. “If you could call it that.”

They were half way down drive walking hand in hand when Draco spoke up. “So tell me, who is this Marco and will I have to kill him?”

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8. Over Protective

A/N: Hey all! I haven't forgotten about the kids. This had been knocking around in my brain for a while and it wasn't until today I was able to get it on “paper.” It's un-beta'd (as usual) so all mistakes blah blah blah. You know the drill. Enjoy!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sirius sighed with disgust and sat back in his chair with a huff throwing his Quidditch magazine on his desk. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled.

“Easy there, mate. Are you trying to set your desk on fire?” James asked, lounging negligently in a comfy chair that twisted and tilted. He had one leg draped over the arm while he perused a magazine with the newest broom models that had come out that summer.

“No,” Sirius growled sinking lower in the chair and pouting.

James glanced at Cissy and Cat sitting on Sirius' bed and grinned crookedly.

Cissy and Cat stole glances at each other and grinned evilly. “Hmm . . . what do you think they're doing now?” Cat asked innocently as she applied a second coat of garishly purple nail polish on her toes. She sat back slightly and eyed them critically while casting covert glances at Sirius.

Sirius shuddered, his scowl deepening. He knew what went on in his seventeen year old head when it thought of a certain someone who would forever remain nameless, so he didn't even want to think about what Ronnie was thinking about - let alone doing with - his impressionable and innocent sixteen year old baby sister.

“I bet Ronnie's wining and dining Lily right now,” Cissy went on, her tone light and casual. “And she's being utterly charmed and swept off her feet.”

James had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing at the green tint suffusing his best friend's face.

“Lily's too young to drink,” Sirius growled refusing to turn and look at the girls lounging on his bed.

“That didn't stop her last year when we won the Quidditch Cup you know,” Cissy spoke up helpfully. “And she was only fifteen then.”

Sometimes he really hated his friends. They knew exactly which buttons to push, how to push them and when. Right now there was no delicate pushing or precise timing. No, they were mashing their hands on those buttons over and over just hoping for an explosion. Well, if they weren't careful, they were going to get one!

“Don't forget that time last month we all got pissed, or have you forgotten that little tattoo on your chest?” Cat grinned impishly, winking over at Cissy.

“I'm sure Ronnie's being a perfect gentleman,” James spoke up trying to even out the odds since the girls seemed intent on ganging up against Sirius. “Right Cat? You went out with him for a few months.”

“He's a Weasley, how could he be anything less?” Cat replied honestly. “But he can give one fantastic snog.”

Along with his father's eyes, Sirius had also inherited his father's quick fire temper and that had been the last straw. Cat, Cissy and James settled in for the long haul as Sirius leapt up yelling and cursing Ronnie's birth and existence, promising to hex his manhood off if he so dared to lay a finger on his baby sister! Outwardly he ranted at the thought of his supposed best friend snogging Lily, but inwardly he wasn't so sure that was the only reason he was so angry.

Remmy opened the door and stared at his older brother with an expression eerily similar to the expression their mother got when their father went on a rant. “What the bloody hell is going on with you?” he asked leaning against the door jamb.

“Remmy! Language,” Sirius scolded half heartedly. “Just because mum and dad are out doesn't mean you get to curse like a bloody sailor.”

Remmy rolled his eyes at his older brother. He didn't like cursing much anyway; he was only twelve and he always felt no matter where he was he'd be caught by his mother whenever he did it. “You didn't answer my question.”

“Lily is out with Ronnie on a date and Sirius is pulling his big brother routine,” Cat spoke up helpfully.

Remmy frowned. “Lily didn't go out with Ronnie tonight.”

“What?” Sirius whirled on his little brother. “Why?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “She said she was sick so she cancelled. She's been in her room the entire night.”

“Then where's Ronnie?”

Remmy shrugged again. “I dunno. Home?”

The four friends and one little brother trooped down the hall to Lily's room passing Sir Geoffrey floating hurriedly downstairs muttering something about the bloody clouds obscuring the Perseids that night. “Lily?” Cissy called out softly, knocking gently on the door.

Lily groaned in response which Cissy took it upon herself to interpret as “Come in!”

She opened the door slowly, squinting into the darkness. The light from the hall revealed a huddled mass under a fluffy butter yellow duvet. “Lily, Remmy said you were sick. Do you need anything?” Cat called out softly.

“C'mere,” came a mumbled response.

Cissy and Cat walked forward and knelt next to the head of Lily's bed. She whispered something that none of the boys could hear and like lightening the girls leapt up and ran out of the room. “I just hope we don't have to brew it!” Sirius heard Cat mutter as she went past.

“Are you ok, Lils?” Sirius asked worriedly.

“Yeah, just don't feel so good.”

“D'you know where Ronnie is?”

“At Wheeze's I think. Fred and George did something and they needed reinforcements to clean up the mess,” Lily mumbled back. She stirred on the bed, turning over to grin up at him. “Glad I didn't go on the date?”

Sirius crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. “Yeah, so?”

“I rescheduled for next weekend, so don't get comfy,” Lily replied with a wicked grin she'd learned all too well from Cissy and Cat.

Sirius groaned and James clapped a hand to his friend's shoulder. “You win some and you lose some,” James said with a chuckle.

“And Sirius,” Lily called out just before he closed the door. “Ronnie is a great snogger.”

Cat and Cissy looked up from scouring the potions stores in the kitchen and then at each other at the sound of an inarticulate howl from upstairs. “He's too easy!” Cat snickered.

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9. Caught

A/N: Thanks to Pips (she came back!!) for the beta. There's a very minor Jurassic Park reference, the rhyming hex is from a different fic (alas, I can't remember which one, I think it was a L/J fic) and the `help me' hex is based on a prank my dad pulled on his best friend. I wish I could claim credit to those.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Gryffindor common room was emptying quickly but that was more than fine by Cat. She eyed her prey over her Runes book, tense and waiting. “Bloody move!” she growled under her breath.

Almost, her prey was almost -

Seizing her moment she pounced. Closing her book with a snap, she darted forward and finally seized control of her favorite sofa. The spots of the previous occupants (“Bloody seventh years,” softly muttered under her breath) were still warm. Cat sighed and stretched out on the settee, settling into the soft leather. “Now this is the life,” she grinned, opening her textbook again. It would be a better life next year when she was a seventh year and able to lay claim to the sofa.

“Talking to yourself again?”

Cat whipped her head around and frowned at her best friend. “You hush. I caught you giving your mirror a good snog last week, so me talking to myself is positively normal compared to your perversions,” she replied with a cocked eyebrow.

Cissy flushed, her eyes darting away in embarrassment. “Anyway,” she began, nudging Cat's feet out of the way so she could sit at the opposite end of the couch. “I overheard the boys talking in the library a few minutes ago.”

“Mmhmm,” Cat murmured, her eyes straying down to her book.

“They had a most interesting plan,” Cissy went on, critically eyeing her flawless nail polish.

Cat sighed and closed the book giving Cissy her undivided attention coupled with a weary sigh. “They're always cooking up some get rich quick scheme or some prank or another.”

A truly evil grin graced Cissy's patrician features and Cat found herself unconsciously leaning forward feeling a familiar thrill shoot down her spine. “Ah, but I think you'll absolutely love this one.”

********

“Have Cissy and Cat gone to bed?” Ronnie whispered to James.

James glanced quickly around the corner of the boy's stairwell taking in the common room with one very fast sweep of his eyes before flattening back against the wall. “Yeah. About bloody time too. We're in the clear.”

“Men, we boldly go where no Gryffindor male has gone before,” Sirius murmured quietly standing a couple of steps above where Ronnie stood a few steps from the bottom. He clutched his Phoenix broom as if it would provide extra courage. “Are we Gryffindors?”

“Yes!” Ronnie and James whispered excitedly.

“Are we brave?”

“Yes!”

“Are we bold?”

“Yes!”

“Are we stupid?”

“Er . . .”

“Well, not exactly.”

“Are we gonna get caught?”

“NO!”

“Then men, let's fly!”

The three boys tipped the handles of their brooms together in salute and marched out the portrait hole.

“A little late for flying don't you think?” the Fat Lady inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“It's not curfew yet,” Ronnie retorted defensively.

“Hmm, that little defense never worked for your father or your uncles either,” she replied to Ronnie while eyeing all of them warily.

James rolled his eyes and began walking away. “C'mon. We have fish to shoot.”

“It's `fry,' James,” Sirius rolled his eyes in a way that James found eerily reminiscent of Aunt Hermione.

James rolled his eyes back and gestured for their fearless leader and all mighty thinker-upper of their latest plan to precede him. “After you, my liege.”

They made it out of the castle in short order, their eyes open and watching for professors, Mr. Morris, Mrs. Norris' replacement, and the aging Filch, who in his advancing years had grown even more crotchety and spiteful.

“Where -?” Sirius frowned up at the tower above him.

“That's the Ravenclaw tower you twit!” Ronnie hissed striding confidently past Sirius and around the corner. “This is Gryffindor's.”

“You couldn't tell Gryffindor's tower from your own gigantic feet,” James whispered. “Our tower's on the other side of the castle! That's the Headmistress's tower.”

“I'm telling you, Gryffindor's around the corner back that way!” Sirius whispered loudly, jogging up to them.

“Are you telling me that this is your grand master plan and we're lost outside our own school?” Ronnie asked incredulously.

“Oh shut it. I know where we are!”

Ronnie and James' identical expressions of disbelief had Sirius sighing. “Ok, fine! We're lost.”

“Ok, now that you've admitted that, stand aside and let a real wizard get us out of this mess,” James murmured cockily. “We can see the lake from the common room windows yes? Do you see the lake on this side of the castle? No. Therefore this is not our tower.”

Sirius snorted, but followed James nonetheless. “You were the one who told me to lead,” he grumbled.

“Trust me, I won't make that mistake again,” James cheeked with a grin.

“Wanker.”

“Git.”

“Ponce.”

“Oi! Don't involve me in this,” Ronnie held up his hands defensively when they turned on him.

“Just trying to share the love,” Sirius grinned. “Didn't want you to feel left out.”

“That makes me feel so much better.”

They darted around the castle, two keeping an eye on the darkened grounds, the other keeping an eye on the towers above them until they came to the only tower on that side of the castle.

“Ready?” Sirius whispered. The other two boys nodded, mounting their brooms.

They rose steadily and swiftly into the sky, circling the tower windows until they found their intended target.

“Cor,” Ronnie whispered in awe, his bright blue eyes wide.

“The rumors were true,” James whispered in the same quiet awe.

On the other side of the window were six seventh year girls in t-shirts and short pyjama tops laughing and having a pillow fight. It was as if every male fantasy had come true. “Am I right or am I right?” Sirius whispered, flying just a bit closer to the window.

A pillow ripped, then another almost obscuring the girls in a shower of feathers, but the boys didn't seem to notice or mind much. They still had a healthy view of skin from the girls closest to the window.

“How I want to be one of those pillows,” James sighed longingly.

“Forget the pillows, I want to be the feathers,” Sirius grinned.

“Oo, who's that one?” Ronnie asked pointing to a leggy looking shadowy figure moving about the room. They couldn't quite see who she was with all the feathers, but she had curves and a grace that transfixed the boys and urged them closer to the window. “Think that's Julia Giles?”

“No, that has to be Maria Mackennan,” Sirius replied.

The leggy figure drew closer to the window, the blizzard of feathers parted and the boys came face to face with Minerva McGonagall staring straight back at them.

The boys screamed in panic. The windows flew open and McGonagall pinned them to their hovering broomsticks with a beady eyed glare. “Do not even think of flying away,” she ordered in her stern brogue.

The boys felt as if they'd been petrified. They couldn't have moved even if they wanted to.

“What do you think you're doing hovering outside the girls' window?” McGonagall asked, eyeing each sixth year boy in turn.

“We - uh-“

“Well -“

“I - we - um -“

“Enough!” McGonagall's eyes flashed dangerously. “I know exactly what you were doing and I must say I am disappointed. In all my years as head of Gryffindor House and Headmistress, never have I seen such disrespect and disregard.”

“But -“

“Save your excuses Mr. Potter. I will see you in my office tomorrow morning before your first class. I will give you your punishment then. For now, I expect you to return immediately to your room. I will give you ten minutes before I check on you myself so I suggest you hurry.” McGonagall closed the window with an angry snap and pulled the curtains shut.

James, Sirius and Ronnie sped with all due haste back to the main entrance and ran up the shifting staircases, sliding to a stop in front of the Fat Lady. “Pink pixies!” James gasped, clutching the stitch in his side.

The Fat Lady started awake, glowering at the three as they stepped inside. They hardly even noticed, bounding up the boys' staircase and into their room. Aiden Finnegan and Franklin Longbottom looked up from their game of Exploding Snap, curious about the disheveled appearance of their dorm mates. “How'd it go?” Aiden smirked.

In answer to his question, there was a brisk rap and the door opened revealing the Headmistress. She looked at James, Sirius and Ronnie, her mouth set in a thin line. “Good. I expect to see you tomorrow morning.”

The silence that filled the room lasted all of five minutes after McGonagall had left. “So?” Franklin asked excitedly. “Was it worth it?”

“We need details!” Aiden cried.

Sirius, James and Ronnie looked at each other and broke down laughing. “It was definitely worth it,” Ronnie sighed, placing his broom in his trunk.

Franklin looked over at Aiden and they both sighed regretfully. “We have to get brooms!” Aiden groaned.

*******

“What do you think she's going to make us do?” James asked. The three Gryffindors stood uncertainly outside the gargoyle that guarded the Headmistress's office.

“Whatever it is, it's going to be insidious, I just know it,” Sirius muttered. “Scotch Bonnet!”

The gargoyle leapt aside and they rode the spiral staircase up in tense silence.

McGonagall looked up from the parchment she was reading and eyed the boys over her half moon spectacles. She set the parchment down on her desk, lacing her fingers together. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” they mumbled back, looking down contritely.

McGonagall gave them an assessing look, one eyebrow raised in question. “And why are you here?”

Sirius winced. He hated it when the Headmistress made them recount exactly why they were there when she already knew. “We broke curfew and were caught peeping on the seventh year girls,” he recited with a sigh.

McGonagall's other eyebrow joined its twin somewhere in her hairline. She slipped off her glasses while gesturing for the boys to take a seat. “And when did this happen?”

Sirius, James and Ronnie froze and looked at each other, a strange feeling of unease creeping down their backs. “Last night,” Ronnie spoke up. “You caught us.”

“I did? I don't recall having left my quarters at all last night, Mr. Weasley. I seem to have a doppelganger,” she looked at the three of them significantly.

James groaned and dropped his head in his hands. “I'm gonna kill Cat.”

Sirius and Ronnie looked dumbstruck. “How -?” Sirius muttered.

“Be that as it may, you did confess to two infractions to which I'm sure the seventh year girls can corroborate your stories,” McGonagall continued as if neither had spoken. “Detention for the three of you for two weeks and you will apologize to the seventh year girls. I believe that Mr. Filch was saying just the other day that the statues needed a good cleaning. He will be expecting you after your last class. Good day.”

“Dead, she is so dead!” James muttered on their way to class. “We're not twins anymore!”

“And here I thought Cat would only use her powers for good instead of evil,” Ronnie murmured dazedly. How could his girlfriend do something so . . . so - mean?!

“Men, I believe we vastly underestimated our own allies,” Sirius sighed.

James snorted. “Allies? Evil incarnate more like it.”

“My own girlfriend!” Ronnie wailed softly.

“Morning boys,” Cissy chirped sitting down at the desk in front of them.

“Have a nice night?” Cat kissed Ronnie's temple as she passed them. She sat in her seat next to Cissy, crossing her legs and turning to watch her best friends behind her. She tossed her hair over her shoulder with a grin; today it was straight, long and lavender to match the color of her eyes.

The three boys scowled at the two girls. “How'd you know?” James asked.

“I overheard you in the library,” Cissy replied. She shook her head sadly. “Honestly, if you wanted to make secret plans, do it in your room where no one can hear you, don't make them in the middle of the most used section of the library.”

“Duly noted. We'll remember for next time,” Sirius frowned.

“Why're you mad at us?” Cat asked, indignantly. “You three were being a bunch of perverts. You deserved to get caught!”

“Legitimately,” Sirius retorted. “It's one thing to be caught by an actual professor; it's another to be tricked!”

Cat rolled her eyes. “Any other prank we would've wanted in on, but you guys went too far this time. Spying on the seventh years hoping to see some knockers? C'mon. That's low even for you. Especially when all of you have girlfriends!” She shot a glare at Ronnie.

The three boys looked down in contrition. “Still, you shouldn't have done that,” Sirius muttered. “We're sixteen. We're allowed!”

Cat rolled her eyes. “Consider it payback for the Bogey Bombs and the rhyming hex you placed on me that I never got you back for.”

“And the time one of you hexed me to hear `help me' for an entire day or the jarvey you let loose in our bathroom,” Cissy spoke up. “I never got you back for those either.”

James, Sirius and Ronnie sniggered softly. “I'd forgotten the jarvey,” James muttered.

“So what did McGonagall say?” Cat asked after class on their way to Transfiguration.

“Detention for two weeks cleaning the statues. We have to report to Filch after our last class,” Ronnie sighed.

“Have you learned your lesson?” Cissy asked primly.

“Yeah, we learned not to get caught!” Sirius snorted.

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