Unofficial Portkey Archive

Hey guys! This next chapter is somewhat of a filler to introduce the rest of the family. I hope you still enjoy it though and just to make it easier to follow, I put a little cheat sheet at the end of the chapter so you guys can keep up with who belongs with who. This is one big family! Anyway, enjoy and the next chapter will be a good one!

~HM

Chapter 10

The bedroom door to Ava, and now Nora's, room slowly crept open and three identical pairs of bluish gray eyes peeked through the crack. The clueless victims were fast asleep in both beds so the surprise attack they had planned would be most affective.

"Okay, team," Patrick Malfoy, the oldest of his two twin brothers by a few minutes, whispered urgently. "There's three of us and two of them…they're out numbered."

"Suckers," Ben Malfoy snickered, who had been born just three minutes after Patrick. "Nate…you take Nora…A.J. will have to be double teamed."

Nathan Malfoy, who had followed Ben into the world just a mere minute and a half later, chuckled in anticipation. "She's toast."

"All right, ready?" Patrick said with a grin. "One…twooo….three!"

The door burst open and on a battle cry they charged the beds and attacked. Patrick and Ben jumped on Ava's bed and tackled the lump under the covers, while Nate jumped a couple of times on Nora's bed before plopping his butt right on Nora's back. "You three…are evil!" Nora groaned under the covers as she tried to hide herself further under the covers.

"What they are," Ava grunted when they continued to pounce on her. "Is dead!"

Patrick and Ben both let out a boyish squeal when Ava suddenly flew up from under the covers to attack them. "You will never defeat the great and powerful, A.J.!" She grappled with the little brats she loved so much and poked and tickled as much as possible.

"Noraaa," Nate giggled as she shook her with his butt "Aren't you going to attaaaaahh!"

Nora had suddenly sprung up and threw her covers over Nate before tackling him on the bed. "Gotcha!"

"Ahh, let me go!" he laughed as he squirmed against Nora's hands that tortured him through the covers. She then flew the covers off of him only to pin him his arms against the mattress with her knees and then rubbed her knuckle hard against his chest. "Ahh, not that! Guys! Help!"

Patrick lifted up his head to see Nate getting tortured. "Ben…we have underestimated Nora's torture abilities. Nate needs our help!"

They ducked and squirmed out of Ava's grasp and ran over to Nora's bed to rescue their brother. Patrick jumped on Nora's back, while Ben tugged on Nate's leg, trying desperately to free him, while Ava laughed as she watched the show.

With one last tug, Nate was finally freed and landed on the floor with a loud thump. "Freedom!" Nate exclaimed as he got to his feet. "Patrick, I'm free!"

"Retreat!" Patrick yelled, but not before licking his finger and sticking it in Nora's ear.

"Why you little…" She tried to make a grab for him but she wasn't quick enough. "Yeah, you better run!"

The terrible trio ran to the door that led to the hallway, only to have a large figure jump out in front the door. "Arrrrrgghh!" the figure growled as he held up his arms.

All three boys screamed, then laughed when they realized who it was. "Uncle Dameon!" they cheered and ran right at him and tackled him to the floor.

Dameon laughed as he fell back on the floor, letting himself be jumped by the three little devils. He grunted when Nate jumped hard on his stomach, but then laughed and lifted him up high by his arms, before carefully tackling him to the floor. Once he got one off him, another came almost right away and that's how it went for a good few minutes, before he finally gave in. "All right, all right…that's enough you devils."

"We woke up Nora and Ava!" Ben replied proudly as he puffed out his chest.

"They weren't the only ones," he said as he nuzzled his head. "Was it a bloody battle?"

"We had to retreat," Patrick said solemnly. "Nora was a lot tougher than we thought."

"And don't you forget it," she said as she smacked him on the back of the head on her way to the loo and closed the door behind her.

Ava sighed when she heard the shower running. "Great…she'll be in there forever." She crawled out of bed and tried not to feel self conscious in her pajama shorts and tank top. Avoiding Dameon's eyes, she tugged down on her shirt and smiled at the three boys that were still sprawled out on the floor with their uncle. "Are your parents and sisters downstairs?" she asked.

"Yeah, we just got here," Nate informed her as he stood behind Dameon and casually put his arms around him. "We came with Uncle Al and Aunt Mia and all them."

"Well, let me throw on something real quick and I'll…"

"A.J.?" Liam appeared at the door looking very tired, agitated and definitely hung over. "What the hell is going on around here? I'm trying to sleep."

Still miffed from last night, she showed no sympathy. "Sorry, Liam…but my family is here. You know there are a lot of us."

Ben leaned towards Liam, sniffed, than wrinkled his nose as he took a step back. "You stink."

"Thanks so much," he said dryly and then looked over at Ava. "Where…"

"Who are you?" Patrick asked suspiciously. "You're not family."

"No, I'm not," he said with a little impatience in his voice. "I'm A.J.'s boyfriend."

"Eeeuuuw," all three chorused together.

Dameon snorted out a chuckle and Ava couldn't help but sneak one out as well. This just annoyed Liam even more. "Charming kids," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Just lovely."

Dameon immediately got to his feet. "They have more class then you'll ever have, Kelson."

"Dameon," Ava warned softly, shaking her head when he looked at her. "Why don't you take them downstairs and I'll be down in a minute."

Dameon's eyes shifted to Ava's and held just long enough to make her uncomfortable. "Fine," he said stiffly. "C'mon guys…let's go downstairs."

"Uncle Harry is making pancakes!" Nate announced as he ran out of the room first while Ben quickly followed.

Dameon lingered when he realized Patrick was still eying Liam with speculation. "Patrick? Let's go, kiddo."

Patrick turned and started to head out, but at the last minute, whipped back and glared at Liam. "We don't like you," he stated bluntly before walking over to Dameon who smiled in admiration. "Good boy," he murmured, patting him on the head before closing the door behind him.

"Those kids need a good whipping," Liam said with disgust. "Horrible parenting."

"Careful, Liam," she warned. "That's my family you're insulting."

"Oh, come on, A.J.," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Don't get all defensive…you yourself have told me how horrible they were."

"In a loving, playfully, way," she pointed out with an edge in her voice. "There's a big difference…plus, they're mine, not yours, so you don't have the right."

"You're right," he said in his best, pleading voice he used when he realized he was in trouble. "I'm sorry…forgive me?"

Ava placed a hand on his chest when he knelt down for a kiss. "Not this time. I'm very, very angry with you Liam, and not just for your snide remarks about my nephews, but for last night."

He narrowed his eyes. "You're the one who just took off."

"Why would I stay around when you're too busy talking to another girl?"

"Who? Dede?" He waved her off. "She means nothing…we were just talking about Quidditch."

"I don't' give a crap what you two were talking about," she said, batting his hand away when he tried to touch her. "That's not the point…the point is you were talking to her and not me."

"Ava…"

She let out a sarcastic laugh. "Wow, now you're using my real name to soften me up. Sorry, Liam…it's going to take more than that, this time around. Now…if you'll excuse me, I need to get dress so I can go downstairs and see my family."

"All right," he finally said after awhile. "I'll find a way to make it up to you."

"You can start by coming down for breakfast and spending time with my family."

Liam sighed. "Sweetie, I would, but…I should get some more sleep. I have a big game today and…"

"Of course you do," she said in a tired voice and then started to shoo him backwards out of the room. "Go on back to bed, Liam. I'll just see you when I see you."

Thinking she was softening up, Liam gave her a hearty grin. "Thanks, love…you're the best. Hey? How bout a kiss?"

Ava glared up at him. "How bout…not." She then slammed the door in his stunned face. "Stupid jerk."

"Gooo, A.Jaaaay," Nora cheered as she started to clap.

Ava turned around. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Since Patrick told Liam he didn't like him," she said. "He was always the smart one. That was quite a show."

"Glad you enjoyed it," she muttered as she stalked over to her dress of drawers to pull out some clothes. "He makes me so mad sometimes."

"Please tell me you're going to beak up with him now."

Ava sighed as she pulled out a simple white tee shirt and a pair of gray cotton shorts. "I'm seriously thinking about it."

"What's to think about?" she asked as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Guy's a fucking prick."

Ava lifted a brow. "Nice. Anyway, I don't want to think about Liam right now. All I want to do is throw on these clothes and go downstairs to be with the family."

Nora nodded. "All right…sounds like a plan. Did I hear correctly that Dad is making pancakes?"

"Yep."

"Hot damn," she whooped as she sprung to her feet. "I'm starving…see you down there."

Ava tore off her sleeping shirt, ignoring Nora's slight wince when she tossed it on the floor. "All right."

Nora itched to pick up the top, but managed to resist. "A.J.?

"Hmm?" she hummed as she poked her head through her shirt.

"Hang in there, okay? No matter what happens with you and Liam…I'm here for you…we all are."

Incredibly touched, Ava gave a quick nod of her head while she felt tears threaten to fill her eyes. "Thank you."

Nora smiled and then disappeared from the room and as soon as she was alone, Ava sunk herself onto the bed, and treated herself to a good cry, before heading downstairs.

Breaking down had helped and in her opinion, she had deserved a good cry. But now, she would push everything else aside, including her disastrous relationship with Liam and her very confusing one with Dameon. All she wanted to do now was go downstairs and be with her family.

She heard the loud commotion as soon as she stepped out into the hallway and the sound warmed her heart. She always loved being part of a big family and couldn't imagine what it would be like not to have one. Thankfully, she didn't have to.

When she finally did make it downstairs, she lingered at the edge of the room and took a moment to soak it all in. The round kitchen table that had been magically expanded to a much larger round kitchen table was jammed packed with her family. There was Scorpius and Rose, sitting in between the triplets to keep them a part. Through the years they've discovered that they behaved more when they weren't together…plotting.

Rose was between Ben and Nate and Scorpius sat on the other side of Ben as he helped Patrick, who was at his other side, cut his pancakes. Next to Patrick was his oldest sister, Kristin who was chatting with Michelle Potter, Albus and Mia's only daughter. The two girls were very close in age, Kristin only being two weeks older, so they had always been super tight growing up.

It was the same with Albus and Mia's youngest son, Mason, and Scorpius and Rosie's youngest daughter, Meredith. They were sitting next together on the other side of Michelle, hardly touching their food while they jabbered on with excitement. Probably talking about going to Hogwarts for the first time, Ava thought with amusement. Those two had just turned eleven back in April and had gotten their Hogwarts letter soon after.

Next to them, were Blake Weasley, Hugo and Braiden's oldest, and he was sitting with Zoe Williams, Lily and Jack's oldest. Those two were fairly close in age, only being four months part and were just a year shy away from going to Hogwarts themselves. The next seat filled was Lily, Jack, then Hu and Braiden, followed by their two youngest, Whitney Williams and Parker Weasley. They both turned seven towards the beginning of the year and have also been inseparable through the years.

Sitting next to Parker's other side, was Dameon, but she quickly discarded him and moved onto Jacob Potter, the oldest of all her nieces and nephews. He was only a year younger than her and was about to go into his seventh year at Hogwarts. He was talking to Dameon about something, which wasn't a surprise to her since he totally worshipped him and the ground he walked on.

Jacob's younger brother, Luke Potter, who was going into his fifth year at Hogwarts, sat on the other side of him as he leaned anxiously forward in his seat so he could be apart of the conversation as well. Hannah Potter, Luke and Jacob's little sister, who was starting her third year at Hogwarts, was sitting next to Luke, but didn't pay him any mind. She was too busy talking with her Mum, Samantha, who was on her other side. Samantha was listening to her patiently then murmured something to her daughter that made Hannah laugh, before shoveling her open mouth with gooey pancakes.

Beyond the dining room and into the kitchen, Ava saw her parents and her oldest brother, James, rummaging around the kitchen. Her Dad was at the stove, minding the bacon, while her mum was mixing a new batch of pancake batter. Ava smiled when her dad reached over to rub some flour off of her cheek then leaned in for a quick kiss. They were so darn cute sometimes. James was making a fresh pot of coffee then turned around when her mum snuck up behind him. James immediately circled an arm around her and pulled her to his side, kissing the top of her head before pouring her a fresh cup.

She sighed happily as she gave one last look over her very large and extremely loud family. She was lucky…so damn lucky to be born into this. She knew the story of course, about the tragedy that brought her family together. She was sorry for the pain that her parents and siblings went through losing them, but at the same time, she couldn't help but be thankful that things in fact did happen for a reason. If it hadn't have happened, she wouldn't be standing there today, watching her family talk and laugh over a plate of pancakes and bacon. It was crazy how life worked out sometimes. Thank Merlin for that.

"Well, look who it is!" Scorpius said suddenly and got up from the table. "Little A.J. decided to join us."

Ava shook her head clear, then laughed as she ran up to him for a hug while she heard shouts of greetings from the rest of the table. "Oh, it's so good to see you all."

"How's it going, Auntie," Jacob said as he scooped her up off her feet in a hug.

Even though she was his aunt, he was a lot taller than she and could pluck her off the ground as if she weighed nothing. "Let me go you, nerd."

He grinned and plopped her down. "I'm sure going to miss you next year at school. What am I going to do without my Auntie?"

She laughed and kissed his cheek. "I'm sure you'll manage."

"Want some pancakes, pumpkin?" Harry asked as he came up to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Just about to finish a fresh batch."

"Sounds great."

"Grab the seat next to Nora…last one available."

She did as she was told and dug into the pancakes as soon as they were placed in front of her. Nothing better than Dad's pancakes, she thought as she drenched them in syrup.

"Where's Liam, A.J?" Lily asked as she pushed her plate away after her second helping.

"He's still sleeping," she stated in a stiffly.

"Oh," she said and wisely kept her mouth shut.

"Okay, troops," Harry said as he finally sat down himself to eat some pancakes. "When we're done here, everyone can go on up and get settled in. As for room assignments, I'm going to leave that with the parents and you can figure out who stays with who."

"Can Michelle and I have a room?" Kristin asked eagerly.

"You two can move into my old room," Nora suggested. "I had to move in with A.J. and her slimy snake."

"Eww, gross," Kristin said with a shudder. "Aunt A.J. I still can't believe you have a snake."

"Baxter's sooo cool!" Patrick exclaimed. "Can we play with him, Aunt A.J.?"

"Sure…he likes you guys," she said with a grin. "He really enjoyed it when you put him in Mer's bed last Christmas Eve."

During Christmas, the family usually packed into her parent's house and on Christmas Eve, the boys had snuck into her room and gotten Baxter from his cage, then let him slither under Meredith's covers. She had woken the entire household with one, loud, piercing scream.

"That was awful," Meredith exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at her brothers. "And not at all funny."

"No putting the snake in anyone's bed, guys," Rosie said calmly although she had to choke down a chuckle. When she had first heard the scream, she had been scared to death, running to her little girl's room, but once she got there and realized what it was…she couldn't help but laugh. Meredith had not been pleased with her. She still got tickled at the remembrance of that little incident, but wisely held back any giggling in front of Meredith. "Don't worry sweetie," she assured her. "They won't do it again."

"If they do," Scorpius added. "They'll be grounded for the rest of the trip."

"Aww, Dad," the three whined in unison, which only proved that without that threat, they would have planned on doing it anyway.

"Are we going to the pool today?" Parker asked Harry with his mouth full of pancakes, so it sounded more like, " Aw fwee foinf fo fe fool fofay?"

Hugo shook his head at his son. "Did you get that, Uncle Harry?"

"It's scary, but yes I did…. to answer your question, I've called ahead and reserved a section of the pool for us. So, once we're done here and we're settled in, we can head over to the pool whenever."

"What are we doing tonight?" Whitney asked as she looked up at her granddad. "Anything fun?"

Harry grinned as he ruffled her red hair she inherited from Lily. "Well, kiddo…that's the beauty of a vacation. We can do whatever we want and no matter what we do…it'll be a blast."

Cheat Sheet

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