Just Another Day in Paradise

The kids screamin',

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Wake up!!!"

Harry groaned. "Okay, okay, I'm up."

He sat up slowly and pushed two small redheaded children off of his chest. They giggled and scampered down the hall. "He's up, Mommy!"

Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed and put on his glasses. He glanced at the clock and gasped. "Seven-thirty? Damn! I'd better get going!"

He entered the kitchen and almost smiled at the madhouse before him.

The phone ringin',

He forded a way through the mass of children. The phone was ringing like mad. "All right, all right!" he shouted. He grabbed the receiver and held it to his ear. "HELLO?" he bellowed, covering an ear. The children were instantly silent.

"Gee, Harry, you don't need to shout," said the voice on the other end in amusement. "I can hear you perfectly well without it."

"I can't hear myself," muttered Harry. "At least the kids are smart enough to know that when I'm on the phone, they need to shut up. Oh, and by the way, hello, Ron."

"Hello, Harry," replied Ron. "Listen, I know you're in a hurry, so I just wanted to let you know...he's been spotted."

"Damn," muttered Harry. "Where?"

"About halfway between Hogwarts and the Ministry. No one's sure which way he's heading. Just wanted to let you know that you might not get home 'til Friday, when you normally do. Tell Hermione I said hello...and don't forget to say hi to Ginny."

"I won't. Bye, Ron."

"Bye."

The dog barkin' at the mailman bringin'

Harry hung up the phone and heard Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, howling. A stack of mail appeared on the doorstep, and Harry picked them up.

That stack of bills,

Overdue.

"Bill, bill, bill, bill, bill--Hon, I thought you paid all these bills!" he called into the kitchen, unearthing the final letter, one he hadn't seen in years--a Hogwarts letter.

"I did," she called. "There shouldn't be more, unless they're addressed wrong."

"You're right, they are," he said

Good mornin', baby, how are you?

Got a half hour,

A quick shower,

He grabbed his clothes, then stumbled across the hall to the bathroom. He locked the door and switched on the shower. Then he clambered in.

"AARGH! Well, that's one way to wake up!" he gasped. "Ooh, that's hot!"

When that was finished, he switched off the tap, hurriedly pulled his robes on, and rushed down the hall. He went all the way into the kitchen this time. Hermione was sitting at the table, pleading with Ginny. "Come on, sweetie, you have to eat, it's not healthy to starve yourself..."

"Ginny, listen to your mother," called Harry, pulling a bottle of milk out of the fridge. "You don't need to lose weight." He sat down next to them. "By the way, Uncle Ron said hi. He said hello to you too, 'Mione."

Ginny smiled and took the toast Hermione held out to her. Harry opened the bottle of milk and poured a glass, then picked up the glass.

Lily, his eldest girl, who was sitting across the table, glanced up. "Um, Dad..."

"Oh, Lily, you got a letter," Harry said, sliding the Hogwarts letter across the table. "I think it's your school letter."

Lily took the letter. "Um, Dad..." she said again.

"What?" asked Harry as he took a drink of milk. "Eurgh!"

Take a drink of milk but the milk's gone sour.

His face twisted in a mask of disgust and he stared at the glass of milk. "The milk's gone sour," Lily finished, opening her letter.

My funny face makes you laugh,

Hermione began to laugh at Harry's face.

Twist the top on and I put it back.

Harry twisted the top back on the milk bottle and put it away. He was just pulling out a couple Clementines when he heard a funny noise. There was a kind of sputter, a fizz, and then a loud BANG! He whirled around and saw smoke coming out of the washing machine. Hermione groaned.

There goes the washin' machine.

"Stupid--useless--piece of--Muggle--crap!" she cried, kicking it.

Baby, don't kick it,

I promise I'll fix it,

'Long with a million other things.

"Don't kick it, 'Mione," said Harry wearily. "I'll fix it this weekend, if I survive the week."

Hermione looked up at him. "Why did we decide to have electricity?"

"Hey, you're the one that wanted all these kids," he said, gesturing around him. "You're also the one that decided, with eight small children running around, it would be safest not to have candles all over the place."

Well, it's okay; it's so nice,

It's just another day in paradise,

"True," said Hermione, smiling ruefully.

"Don't worry," Harry soothed her, kissing her cheek. "I was told last week that if I make it to this Friday, I'm getting a promotion. Then we'll be able to get a better place to live...without electricity," he added, making her smile again.

Well there's no place that I'd rather be, yeah,

Well, it's two hearts, one dream,

I wouldn't trade it for anything

He stared at the children around him. There were indeed eight of them. The eldest was Lily. She was eleven, and she was starting Hogwarts that year. Ginny was ten. Harry and Ron both knew that she was insecure about her weight, although she was very skinny, and that was why Ron had said hello to her even though the first three children were his godchildren. Rowena was nine, and she was the compromise on Ronald, which they had sworn to name their first child, and when it was a girl they had to change it to Lily. The twins, Morgana and Lavender, were eight. They were identical except for one thing: for some reason, Morgana had a lightning bolt-shaped birthmark on her forehead, almost identical to her father's famous scar. Amber was seven and an extremely talented artist. (Harry and Hermione didn't know if any of the children had Harry's talent with a broomstick, as they didn't buy toy broomsticks for them, but with so many children it was bloody likely.) Irene (named after the song her parents had danced to the first time) was six. She was a wonderful creative writer. She and Amber, together, wrote and illustrated many stories together. By the time their youngest child, now five, was born, they were out of girls' names. Unfortunately, this child happened to be a girl. She came out complaining at the top of her lungs, so they named her Myrtle, in homage to Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who haunted the girls' bathroom at Hogwarts. Myrtle, who was at the moment sitting at the kitchen table quietly eating her oatmeal, was the most unusual of the children. She had Harry's green eyes, as did Lily, Rowena, and Amber, but she alone had jet-black hair. Somehow or other, they had wound up with seven redheads. She also wore round glasses, and her unruly hair never seemed to yield to the taming of a hairbrush.

And I ask the Lord every night,

Ooh,

Harry shook his head and kissed Hermione once more. "I probably won't be back until Friday, but don't worry. I'll see you then, at the usual time."

"You'd better," she said with a smile. "Remember, we have reservations."

"Right," he said. "See you then."

"Bye, dear," replied Hermione.

"Bye," said Harry, and Disapparated.

For just another day in paradise.

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It's Friday,

You're late.

Harry arrived home two minutes late on Friday. "Sorry," he said to Hermione, who looked a little upset. "Fudge wanted to talk to me a little longer than I expected. I got the promotion, and there's a new house in Godric's Hollow in the bargain. He wanted to tell me about the house."

Two minutes he'd counted on were gone. He took a hurried shower and jumped into a suit. After giving hurried instructions to the baby-sitters, he and Hermione quickly Apparated to the restaurant.

I guess we'll have to break our dinner date

At the restaurant.

They rushed to the Maitré D. "Potter, party of two," Harry said calmly.

The host consulted his list. "I am sorry," he said. "Your table was given away two minutes ago." Then he escorted them to the door and slammed it in their faces.

You start to cry.

Hermione began to cry.

"Oh, Mione, I'm sorry," Harry said, putting his arm around her.

"It's not your fault," she said tearfully.

Baby, we'll just improvise.

Harry couldn't stand seeing her like this. "Don't worry, honey. We'll--we'll improvise."

Hermione looked up. "How?" she asked.

Well, plan B looks like

Domino's pizza in the candlelight.

Harry opened his mouth and drew a blank. Finally he said, "Well, all I can think of is a candlelight dinner at Domino's."

Hermione sighed and nodded. "Fair enough."

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Then we tippy-toe

To our room,

Finally, they crept home, paid the baby-sitters (who had put all the children to bed, including Lily) and crept to bed themselves.

To make a little love that's overdue.

They planned to climb in bed and go right to sleep, forgoing their pajamas, but there was a sharp rap at the door.

But, somebody had a bad dream.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Hermione and Harry looked at each other, then quickly slipped on their pajamas and opened the door, exposing Amber, who was sniveling.

"Mommy, Daddy, I had a bad dream. I dreamed that my pillow was a monster and it tried to eat me." Amber clutched her teddy bear, sniffed, and looked up.

"Momma and Daddy,

Can me and my teddy

Come in to sleep in between?"

"Can me and my teddy come sleep in between you without my evil pillow?"

Hermione chuckled slightly. "Come on, sweetie," she said. They climbed into bed and fell asleep. Before he drifted off, Harry sighed. Truly, he thought, this is paradise.

Well, it's okay; it's so nice,

It's just another day in paradise.

Well, there's no place that I'd rather be, yeah.

Well, it's two hearts, one dream,

Wouldn't trade it for anything,

And I ask the Lord every night, ooh,

For just another day in Paradise.