Come Again?

Come Again?

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"Can we all come in now?"

"Sure, come on in!"

Harry, Luna, Ginny and Neville all filtered into the room. Once inside, they were all greeted by the beaming faces of Ron and Hermione, along with the balling face of their newborn son.

"Oh, he's so perfect!" Ginny squealed. Luna also rushed forward to get a better look at the lad. "What name did you finally decide on?"

Ron smiled down at his howling son.

"Everyone, may I introduce the youngest Weasley, Arthur Harold."

"How goes it, Artie?" Neville said.

"Wait until you meet your twin cousins," Ginny said as she breathed in the new baby smell. "Frank and Billy are going to love you."

"I think he may have a career as an opera singer, he's definitely got the lungs for it," Luna said as the child continued to wail.

"My god yes, he could give Myrtle a run for her money," Harry said.

"We can't seem to be able to quiet him," Hermione said. "He's not hungry, he's not wet, we just can't figure out what to do. Ron even tried walking around with him, but he just keeps on screaming."

Ginny quickly leaned over and picked up the child, rocking him back and forth in an effort to calm him down, but it didn't work.

"Well, this usually worked with my two. Here, Luna, see if you have any luck."

Luna took the child and peered down at him with her saucer like eyes. The screams seemed to trail off for a second or two, but built back up to its previous intensity quickly.

"Oh dear, I don't seem to be doing any better. Neville, you've always had a way with children, why don't you give it a chance?"

Neville's eyes widened slightly as Arthur was passed to him. If anything, the child only seemed to begin crying louder.

"Bloody Christ, are you sure this isn't a baby banshee? Can't someone just cast Silencio on him and get it over with?"

"Neville, he's a newborn baby! You could cause him permanent damage. Here, I'll give him back to Hermione," Harry said as he stepped forward to take the child away from the now sweating Neville.

The effect was instantaneous. As soon as Harry touched the child, it fell silent. In fact, it distinctly could be heard to make a quiet gurgling sound and smiled up at its biological father. Hermione clapped her hands together in joy.

"Thank the lord! I thought I would go spare any minute. Thank you, Harry."

"Well I'll go to the foot of my stairs, you're a natural, mate! Hermione and I couldn't be any happier, and we've got all of you to thank for it. It's all so incredible, you know? Two people going in and three coming out, it's just so...magical," Ron said.

"Speak for yourself, Ron," Hermione said. "It may have been a magical experience for you, but it was sheer pain for me. If you'd like to experience it yourself, why don't you try to pull this pillow through one of your nostrils?"

There was an awkward silence before Ginny decided to try and lighten the mood a little.

"Well, little Arthur here sure is lucky. He's got three parents who all love him very much."

Ron, Hermione and Harry all smiled at one another. Ginny was right, the child was surrounded by people who loved him, even if their "family" structure was a little...unconventional. The important thing was that the child was happy and healthy and that, being a Weasley, he would always have family to stand by him.

"Look at that hair," Ginny said as she rubbed the top of the child's head. "I've never seen a baby so young have such bushy hair. Talk about taking after his mother!"

Everyone laughed. It was true that little Arthur did have an extraordinary amount of hair on his head. Ginny smiled thinking about how her mother was always going on about Bill's hair. She would now likely have a new Weasley to harp on.

"What about those eyes, eh? Harry, isn't it odd to look into your own eyes?" Neville asked.

Harry had also noticed this right away. The eyes that he looked at now were an exact match to his own.

"So much for the people we know not to guess who the father is. Maybe we could dye his hair red, or something. That might help."

"He has Ronald's knees," Luna said serenely.

Everyone stared at her. Was this her attempt at humor? They quickly decided that Luna didn't go in much for subtle humor, and they instead nodded in approval, despite the fact that Ron hadn't had any actual role in the child's production. Ginny decided to change the subject in an effort to cut Luna off from any other possible strange proclamations.

"Look how perfect he is. Look at his little toes, and his little fingers, and his little tummy, and his little...whoa...that isn't little."

Luna took a look over Ginny's shoulder to see what she was commenting on. A smile broke across her face when she realized what it was.

"Well, that's another trait that he got from Harry."

Harry blushed a deep crimson as he repositioned the blankets over the child. He didn't see where the endowment in question was any great shakes, really. In fact, he often felt it was more of a nuisance. He had a flashback to third year when he was told to go up to the blackboard to write out an incantation for a spell and flipped his desk over. He was humiliated by the experience and had been then given "the talk" by Professor McGonagall. It wasn't a pleasant experience. He decided that he would be the one to give little Arthur "the talk" when he was old enough. He hated to think if Professor McGonagall still had the puppets she had used before. Ginny was still looking longingly at her little nephew.

"Wow, seeing him makes me think that maybe I want another one."

Neville choked.

"Another one? We've got two as it is! What if you had another two? Besides, we had enough problems getting the twins. I had to wear those ice charmed boxers for weeks! I'm not about to go through that all again. Wait, I know how it could work! Harry, what would you say to filling in again? I mean, you did a great job with Hermione. What do you think?"

Harry nearly dropped the baby in his shock.

"What do I think? Are you mad? Think about what you're asking me! Sleeping with Hermione was enough, thank you!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked as she took the now sleeping baby back from Harry. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself to me."

"Enjoying himself? What does that mean? This was supposed to be a favor between friends. Harry, did you enjoy yourself with my wife?" Ron asked.

"Me? Hey, have you seen the nail marks down my back? I tell you what, she wasn't thinking of England at the time, either. That's not the point, though. The point is this was a one time thing. I am not going to sleep with Ginny now," Harry stated firmly.

"Why not, dear?" Luna asked dreamily. "You've often told me you thought she was an attractive young woman. And the two of you did have that weekend together back in your seventh year."

Reactions around the room were instantaneous. Ron's face went red, Hermione seemed to want to sink under her covers, Ginny blushed a deeper red than even her vivid hair, and Neville was still stuck back on thinking of why Harry would have nail marks down his back. Harry, for his part, stared open mouthed at his wife.

"Luna! I told you that in strictest confidence! That was years ago, long before either one of us were involved with anyone. I was visiting the Burrow, and we got a bit...carried away."

Ron's face was as red as a beet. You could practically warm your hands off of the glow from it.

"The Burrow? You had it off with my baby sister at the Burrow! When did this happen?"

Harry felt a wave of nausea wash over him. Why did everything always happen to him?

"I'm really sorry, Ron. It was the summer before our seventh year. Do you remember the morning that I said I'd spent the night before in the girl's bedroom, talking? Well, we weren't really doing that much talking."

Ron cast his mind back and did recall waking up one morning to find that Harry's bed had not been slept it. He remembered that he was worried, thinking that Harry could have been abducted, or that he may have decided to run away to face Voldemort. He would have never considered the idea that Harry was one floor below, topping off his sister.

"Wait, that can't be right. Hermione always bunked with Ginny. How could you have done anything with her in the room?"

Hermione suddenly looked stricken. She quickly shot a look at Ginny, and then one to Harry. The look conveyed the message that they should allow her to take it from here.

"I, uh, must have been in the kitchen at the time...studying. Luna, I think we need to respect Harry's reluctance to sleep with Ginny. Besides, he's going to be busy again in a few months."

Ron, who seemed to be calming down a little now, nodded his head.

"Maybe even sooner than that. Bill and I were talking last night in the waiting room, and he said they're having problems as well. With Fleur being part Veela, having sex with her can be a pretty daunting prospect. From what he says, she requires a steady stream of nookie, and it's hard to keep up. I had told him that you and Hermione had come up with a schedule, and he thought that you might really be on to something. The problem is his job at Gringotts means that he has to do a lot travel. He's got a two month trip to the States coming up, and he was wondering if you could fill in for a bit, Harry. I mean, it worked out well enough for us, so he thought you might be willing to give Fleur a go."

Harry felt the wave of nausea turn into a tsunami. Sleeping with Hermione was one thing, and sleeping with Ginny wouldn't yield any surprises either, but Fleur? This was off the scale.

"Bill wants me to sleep with his wife? What the hell is wrong with your family? What kind of weird Appalachian group are we now? No way, I'm not sleeping with Fleur. No way in hell."

"What's wrong, Harry? She's every man's dream, isn't she? Hell, I wouldn't mind having a turn with her myself," Luna said.

Harry covered his eyes with his hands. The whole world seemed to be going crazy.

"No! I mean, yes, she's physically perfect, but there's more to it than that. The only person I want to make love to from now is you, Luna."

Hermione and Ginny made a little "ahh" sound and Luna smiled at Harry.

"Ok, Harry. You don't have to sleep with Fleur if you don't want to. Gee, I bet there aren't many wives that get a chance to say that to their husbands. I'm going to miss playing chess now. Still, I suppose a break form it won't be so bad."

Harry nodded. He was glad that Luna had finally seen sense, but what exactly did she mean by "taking a break" from playing chess?

"Luna, what do you mean by 'taking a break'?"

Harry was intently looking at his wife, but it was Ron who spoke up.

"Well, it will be a couple of months before Hermione's ready again. Come on, Harry, a bit keen, aren't you? Maybe by the fall? What do you think, Hermione?"

"Yes, that should be fine. Hopefully I'll have lost some of this weight by then."

Harry was now utterly confused. What were they all going on about now?

"Ron, what exactly are you talking about? What are we waiting until fall to do?"

Ron smiled.

"Didn't Hermione or Luna tell you? We don't want little Arthur to be an only child, that wouldn't be fair to him. Hermione was an only child, and she hated it. We've been talking about having three, but we'll see how this next one turns out first. So, you know what that means, eh?"

Harry's mind reeled. He couldn't believe his ears. He couldn't possibly have heard Ron correctly, could he?

"Come again?"

Ron beamed.

"See, I told you all he'd agree!"

THE END