Purple Petals: The Story of a True Potter

Chapter One

Iris Potter was sprawled cross-wise on her bed, peering beneath it with her messy brown, loose curls flopping over to pool on the floor. She jerked her head up, her brow furrowed and her hazel eyes confused.

"MUM," Iris yelled to be heard through out the three story house, "I CAN'T FIND MY SHOE! I'VE LOOKED EVERYWHERE AND I CAN'T FIND IT!" The fourteen-year-old pushed herself from the bed and moodily tromped down to the kitchen on the first floor.

Most of the nine Potter offspring were at the large kitchen table, eating breakfast. Harry, the eldest at twenty-one, lived, of course, with his wife Hermione. The eldest set of twins at eighteen, Gloria and Zachy also were out of Hogwarts and lived away from home. Gloria lived with her fiancé and trained with the Mangrove Mystics Quidditch team in Florida. Zachy, on the other hand, lived in London near St. Mungo's for easier access to his job at the hospital.

The triplets, Marco, Louie, and Elizabeth, all sixteen, Iris and her fraternal twin, Laurel, and the youngest at twelve, Jake Potter, would be returning to Hogwarts and were to go shopping in Diagon Alley for their things.

"Mum, I can't find my-" Iris started to complain again, but was cut off by her godfather, Sirius, who had offered to help with the shopping in Diagon Alley.

"Shoe," he finished for her, grinning broadly. "We know. I'm glad to hear that you inherited James's, er...ahem...wonderful lungs." The room erupted into laughter and Iris joined in. James had been known in his youth that when he was angry, anyone could here him yelling and screaming from where ever he happened to be.

"Sit down, dear," Lily instructed her daughter. "I'll find your shoe. Accio shoe! There that should do it." As the still beautiful forty-two-year-old mother finished, a brown shoe came zooming through the open kitchen door. Lily picked up a platter of fresh pancakes and placed them on the table. Sirius, ever eager for food, reached out to grab one with his fingers, only to be halted by a sharp smack on the hand from Lily, sending the present children into laughter again as he swore softly and clutched his hand to his broad chest.

"Lily!" the grown man whined. "That hurt! I was only a little hungry!" He pouted, making his brown eyes big and round, trying to look like a sad puppy and ... succeeding.

Lily sighed. "Siri, you are never only a little hungry! And you already ate six waffles when you arrived! Goodness, where do you put it all?" She grinned as her friend silently opened his mouth and pointed in. Iris patted her godfather, who was sitting next to her, on the shoulder while shaking her head with a smirk on her lips.

"Mum!" Louie, the sixteen year old ladies' man, exclaimed, looking out the window. "Mum, Dad's home! I wonder how the round-up of all those Death Eaters went last night." Elizabeth, or just Lizzie to her friends, smacked her fraternal twin brothers on the backs of the head as first Marco, then Louie, mimed horrible, choking deaths in their typical comic way.

The front door opened and Lily went to go greet her husband while Sirius kept an eye on the six resident kids. Jake yawned and Laurel brushed her black hair back from her emerald green eyes.

She looked quite different from her twin, Iris. Iris, the outgoing one, had mid to light brown hair cut, angled, and layered to the bottom of her shoulder blades with red-gold undertones, and curious hazel eyes, unusual in a family with mainly green eyed offspring; meanwhile, Laurel had the typical Potter black hair, worn long, and their mother's eyes. She was also quiet, kind-hearted, and slightly shy.

James Potter stepped into the kitchen, Lily right behind him heading back to the untended stove. He smiled at his family and his best mate since Hogwarts, Sirius Black, who had four of his own children and a beautiful wife, Hannah. He grabbed the back of his chair and pulled it out to sit at the head of the table.

"Well?" the bespectacled man asked his children. "Are you excited to go shopping today?" A loud chorus of 'yes' and 'no duh' from the youngsters satisfied him. He continued. "Iris dear, your brother is going to meet you in Diagon Alley and help you with your shopping, also getting more time to spend with you." Iris perked up and smiled at the thought of time alone with the favorite of her loud, troublesome brothers. "I hear he has a surprise to tell you." James finished and put a forkful of pancake in his mouth with his usual mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Papa," Laurel began, she was the only one to ever speak using French words, "may I buy a new broom today? My old one is slowing down a bit."

James was mildly surprised that such good brooms as his family owned would be losing their power so quickly. "Of course, m' dear, but I thought you got a new broom last year..." He trailed off, a pensive look on his handsome features. His most quiet child smiled.

"No, Papa that was Lizzie. She needed one for Quidditch." Her father nodded his assent to her request and breakfast continued and ended with the normal good humor present in the Potter home.

~*~*~*~

Iris had said her 'see you later' to the main group of her family and stood fidgeting outside Flourish and Blotts. She looked through the passing crowd, using her more than average height for a good advantage, hoping for sight of Harry. The young girl spotted her older brother weaving his way towards her. He wasn't trailing as many fans as he had before defeating Voldemort in his seventh year at Hogwarts.

"HARRY!" Iris shouted over the hustle and bustle of students and their parents shopping. "HARRY, OVER HERE!" The young man smiled as he gained on her position. Harry put a hand calloused from Quidditch on his favorite sister's shoulder.

"How are you, Iris?" He asked, his own green eyes sparkling with inner excitement. "I haven't seen you in a few weeks, and already you've grown! How tall are you now?"

Iris laughed at a comment she'd heard too often from her parents and siblings. "I'm almost five eight now, just as tall as Mum. I'm fine, how are you and Hermione?" Harry smiled as they walked into the book store, Iris pulling her book list from her robe pocket.

"We're good," he replied. "That's part of my news." Iris looked up at her tall brother and moved her head in a manner indicating her eagerness to hear what he had to tell. "I'm going to be a father. Hermione's pregnant!" In his joy, Harry lost self control and let out a loud whoop of happiness, startling some nearby customers.

"Wait!" Iris was excited and happy and surprised all at once. "Wait, that means...I'm going to be an aunt! At fourteen! WHOA!" She broke down into laughter at the thought that when her niece or nephew would be starting school she'd be twenty-five! The happy pair of siblings bought all of Iris's new books, replenished her Potions stock, got new robes suitable to her new height and even had time to get some treats at the Magical Menagerie for Iris's cat, Starling, before they stopped to eat lunch.

After they had placed their orders at a little, out of doors café near Quality Quidditch Supplies, Harry and Iris sat in a comfortable silence before rapidly being interrupted by Iris's friends from Hogwarts. The small mob consisting of three girls and four boys moved over to their table and pulled up chairs. Iris laughingly introduced her famous brother to her closest friends: Isabella Shapiro, a werewolf, Candice Black, Sirius's second youngest child, Rose Johnson, Angelina's cousin, Jordan Hampshire, Erico Brone, Ryan Black, Bellatrix Lestrange's disowned son, and Flynn Weasley, Charlie's eldest son.

Ryan had made it obvious to his parents at an early age his dislike of the Death Eaters and Dark Magic, and therefore had been quickly disowned. The young man had left his parents home to live with his second cousin, Sirius Black, and had been welcomed with open arms by the whole family. Unfortunately, Ryan had not felt that he could relate to the Blacks as well as he might have. He left them, but kept the last name of his adopted family, and had been sharing Draco Malfoy's flat in London with his cousin since third year. Draco had also been rejected when he showed his own disloyalty to Voldemort in the Last Battle, fighting side by side with Harry.

"Guys, how ya'll been?" Iris exclaimed, practically bouncing out of her seat to hug her friends. "I haven't seen you since last year!" Isabella smiled weakly, amber eyes glittering in the afternoon sunlight. Flynn, Candice and Rose greeted Harry cheerily; they had met him before, of course.

Ryan ended up seated next to Iris. The bright young woman didn't seem to notice it much, but Harry had seen the young man purposely maneuver so he could be seated where he was.

"So, Ryan," Harry asked, leaning forward, his elbows on the table, "how's living with Malfoy?" Ryan looked up. He had dark hair, light gray-green eyes, and a well shaped mouth.

"It's good," Ryan responded easily. "Draco understands me better than the Blacks could, because of our similar positions." Harry nodded and hid his surprise as his younger sister leaned her head on Ryan's shoulder sympathetically.

Rose and Candice shared a secret smile and Flynn placed his arm around Rose's shoulder to whisper in her ear. She giggled and nodded.

"Harry," Isabella asked quietly, "are you going to be teaching DADA again, like last year?"

The young man smiled at the pretty young werewolf and shook his head. "Nope, sorry guys. Your new professor is Remus Lupin." Bella perked up at this news. Erico and Jordan also looked excited.

The other fourteen-year-olds weren't really paying attention. Rose and Flynn were enjoying a kiss, and both Candice and Iris were talking to Ryan about their summer vacations.

"Isabella," Jordan asked his friend in his thick Irish accent, "why are you excited 'bout getting Lupin to teach? I'm happy 'cause I heard he's a great teacher."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Danny, don't be so silly! Remus Lupin is a werewolf, like me...so I won't be alone." Jordan smiled self-effacingly for his faux pas.

"You're never alone, Pup," Erico stated vehemently. Bella laughed and Harry smiled at their interactions. He remembered having such carefree conversations with Ron and Hermione when they were still young enough to be at least a little oblivious to the doings of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

The small crowd ate their lunches and continued talking before Harry suggested that he and Iris finish their shopping and then meet up with their parents and siblings.

"Aw! Do you have to go?" Candice whined. She hung on to Iris's arm and pulled the other girl down. "We were having such a good time!"

Iris laughed at her friend's slightly childish behavior. "Candice! I'll be seeing you on the train, and likely before then, too! Besides, your dad is helping my parents keep track of my brothers and sisters!"

Candice rolled her eyes and let go of her friend's arm. "Oh, fine! Go finish your shopping without me!" Rose and Erico nearly tackled Candice in their mock anger over her exclusion of their own feelings. Ryan smirked in a way that reminded Harry eerily of Draco Malfoy, Jordan laughed in his seat, and Isabella just raised one eyebrow in a manner she must have picked up from Ryan.

"Good-bye, all!" Iris called to her friends as she left the table with her eldest brother. "Try not to kill each other before September first, will ya?" Harry laughed and thought he heard the seven teenagers' laughter in the distance as he and his favorite sister walked towards Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

~*~*~*~

The small bells over the door tinkled softly as Harry and Iris stepped into the brightly lit joke shop. Iris grinned as she gazed at the wonderful mischief making objects all around her. She and her siblings mightn't have been naturally troublemakers, but with a father like theirs' it was hard not to be at least a little mischievous.

"Harry!" cried two red-headed men from near the counter. Harry grinned at them and walked over.

"Fred, George! I see business is booming," Harry commented on the multiple customers browsing the shop.

"Yes, yes, it is," replied George. Fred had moved off to see if Iris was interested in anything in particular. Harry turned towards them.

"Stop trying to corrupt my sister, Fred! She's only a Fourth Year!"

Iris looked towards her brother, stuck her tongue out at him, and made her reply. "Only a Fourth Year, Harry? I've done just as much rule breaking at Hogwarts as you and probably half as many pranks as Dad! I'm not your average Forth Year!" Fred laughed at her shrewd retort.

"Sounds like she doesn't need to be any more 'corrupted', mate, she's a fine girl." The two went back to their perusal of items.

George looked at his youngest brother's best friend. "How's it going, Harry? Our lives are great, as you can see. Tell me about yours."

Harry smiled. "Well, the job's great. Being an Auror isn't as bad as it might have been had Voldemort decided to stick around a bit longer. Oh, and Hermione's pregnant." The young ministry employee slipped this last in casually, though he was bubbling with excitement inside.

"That's fantastic, Harry! When's she due? 'Mione hasn't been giving you any problems, has she?" George was just as excited as Ron was when Hermione and Harry told him.

"'Mione's been fine, she hasn't been too difficult for a pregnant woman. We reckon she's due in March, or around then."

The two adults were interrupted by Iris and Fred bounding over. "Harry, can I please buy an Arse Squeezing Cushion. It'll be so much fun to put it on Professor Snape's chair!"

Harry looked at the black pillow his little sister had put in his hands. "What's it do?" he asked, curious.

Fred explained the newly developed product. "When you put it on any chair, who ever sits down in it gets pinched on the buttocks by this clever little pillow. It'd be a hoot to see Snape's face when he sits down on it!" The four people, student and three ex-students, laughed at the imagined look on Severus Snape's face.

~*~*~*~

Lily glanced up from the papers in front of her, arrayed on her desk. James closed the door to her dimly lit study quietly and came over to sit in an arm chair across from her. The middle aged red head smiled softly as she finished grading one exam and let her quill fall to the table top.

"The kids are going to school in the morning, Lils. You should get some sleep," her kind-hearted and sweet tempered husband advised her.

Lily Potter stood to walk around the mahogany desk to sit in her husband's arms. "Oh, James, they're growing up so fast!" She rested her head on his shoulder. James rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"We've said that before. That's why we had so many of them remember?" He chuckled softly into her hair. They remained silent for several minutes.

"I don't ever remember planning on nine kids, James," Lily looked into James's hazel eyes. They smirked at her.

"You couldn't have planned on two sets of twins and a set of triplets, Lily. No one could have."

Lily ran her fingers through James's messy black locks that the majority of their offspring had inherited. He in turn did the same to her ginger strands.

"Come up to bed, Lily of my heart. We have a big day ahead of us. Don't worry; they're all old enough to handle themselves with the Tournament coming up."

"James, the Tri-wizard Tournament used to only allow students seventeen and older! Now they've lowered the age limit to Fourth Years! Iris will want to put her name up! So will Lizzie, Marco, and Louis! What happens if they get hurt if they're chosen? I still can't believe what happened to Harry in his fourth year at Hogwarts! What if something like that happens again?" She sobbed into his shirt as he stood, pulling her up with him.

"Oh, Lily, remember how they skipped a year specifically to work on better safety precautions? That's why Forth Years and up will be allowed to compete! The challenges are different now, and you of all people should know! You were made head of the Department of International Cooperation after Crouch kicked the bucket!"

Lily followed her husband's lead as they walked out the door of her study and into the darkened hallway. "James, that was still years ago and I got promoted to a different position soon after that; now Arthur's son heads that Department."

Lily heard James sigh in the darkness as they reached the door to their third story bedroom. "Enough of this for now, Lily, like I said before we've got a busy day ahead of us and it would be good if we got some sleep."

"You're right...we should get some sleep." The couple walked into their bedroom and began their nightly rituals to ready themselves for bed.

~*~*~*~

"Hurry up now! You don't want to be late to the train!" Lily began her usual chant saved specially for the first of September. Each of her children had become accustomed to her voice rousing them from sleep every year. "Iris, get up, now! I do not want to have to drag you out of bed! Harry, Zachy, and Gloria are going to be there every one, so GET UP!" Laurel passed her mother on the stairs, and greeted her good morning.

Iris tugged the blankets higher over her head when she heard her mother's voice in the hallway. "I don' wanna ge' up!" the young woman mumbled when her bedroom door opened and who she thought was her mother walked in.

"Now, now, young lady," a gentle baritone said from the doorway, "that's no way to treat your father! Come on, get up. You do want to see Harry again, don't you?" When an unintelligible grumble came from the heap of blankets in the middle of the bed, James tried to add incentive to his daughter. "I heard Hermione was coming. And she's showing her pregnancy some..." His voice trailed away as a very rumpled brunette pushed back the covers and sat up in her bed.

"I'm letting you know, I'm only doing this to see Harry and Hermione, m'kay?" Iris spoke firmly as she grappled on her bedside table for her glasses. It seemed as if only three of the Potter offspring had received James's bad eyesight; Marco, who wore contacts, Harry, and Iris.

James laughed at his daughter's disgruntled facial expression. "That's fine with me, but I wonder what Zachy and Gloria will think about that?"

Iris tilted her head to the left in a thoughtful manner. "They're gonna be there too, aren't they?" James nodded and his youngest daughter rushed from her bed to her closet.

"I should leave now, shouldn't I?" James laughed some more at her hurried reply.

"Yes!"

~*~*~*~

"Iris is up now, Lils! I'm starting breakfast, unless you want me to get the boys up?" James leaned precariously over the stair railing to see his wife.

"Yes, that would be wonderful if you could get the boys up. I don't think they'd appreciate be woken by their mother, seeing as they're sixteen now," Lily spoke ruefully. James bounded up the stairs again as if he himself was sixteen again.

~*~*~*~

Laurel looked at the two of her sisters that were present. Both Elizabeth and Iris were outgoing girls. Lizzie was outspoken in her opinions, had a horrible temper when she was displeased, and refused to be dominated; Iris was also strongly opinionated and held to her own standards.

Laurel sighed. For all that she and Iris were twins, - and they were as close as sisters could be! - The two girls didn't function on the same level. The only Potter girl who understood Laurel, was Gloria. Although Gloria was herself a true Potter daughter, not that any of them weren't, Gloria held the strongest sense of empathy towards the shyest child, more than any of the others.

"Come on, Relle!" Marco Potter motioned for his shy sister to pass through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. "We don't want to be late, now do we?" Laurel shook her head and moved forward. As she moved past him, Marco put an understanding hand on her shoulder.

~*~*~*~

Once all six of the returning Hogwarts students from the Potter family had entered the Platform, followed by their parents, they were spotted by Harry, Hermione, Gloria, and Zachy.

"Lizzie, Marco, Louie! Look at you!" the exuberant black haired Quidditch player cried as she threw her arms around her siblings. "I hope you enjoyed O.W.L.s last year! Once again, congrats on getting top marks again!"

Zachy hugged his parents while his other siblings talked and reunited. He wore khaki shorts that revealed the burn on his shin he'd gotten while in Romania on a trip with Harry and the Weasleys to visit Charlie, Flynn's father.

"Hermione!" This outburst came from Iris, who rushed forward to hug her sister-in-law. "How are you? Do you know if the baby is a boy or a girl? What are you going to name it?" Hermione laughed at Iris's eagerness and curiosity.

"Harry, go say 'hi' to your parents now," the bushy haired woman instructed her husband.

"But, I already -"

"Harry, we're going to talk about the gender of the babies and I know you don't want to know." Harry grumbled about this, but moved away to say 'hello' to Charlie, Alison, and their family.

"Kids? How many? C'mon, tell!" Iris was nearly bouncing, and Laurel and Elizabeth had joined her in speaking with Hermione.

"Yeah, 'Mione, How many?" Lizzie held on to Laurel's shoulders with one arm around them. "When are you due?"

Hermione laughed again. "I'm due in March sometime. Harry didn't want to know the kids genders, but saw sense and agreed it would be a good idea to know their number."

Laurel spoke up, her voice not its usual passive tone. "C'mon, 'Mione, how many?"

Hermione smiled softly at the girls. "I'm having two girls." The response was very loud squeals from all three teenagers. The three Potters converged on their sister-in-law jumping up and down and hugging her madly.

Iris and Laurel's friends spotted their little mob. "Oh my G-d, what's got her so excited?" Candice asked no one in particular. Isabella shrugged and Rose led the way towards their friends.

The youngest Potter, Jake, walked over to his sisters after greeting the others. He saw Iris's three friends standing on the other side of Hermione. "Hi, Hermione." The brunette turned to see her youngest brother-in-law.

Hermione smiled at Jake, and extricated herself from the girls, who then went to tell their friends. "Hello, Jake, it's good to see you." The boy nodded.

"You, too, 'Mione." Hermione had told all of Harry's siblings to call her by her nickname when they felt comfortable with it. The whistle blew and parents rushed their children on board the Hogwarts Express.