Princes in Exile

Hi everyone. Well, it's time for Jon to go in the hospital again, so writing's going to be sporadic at best.

I hope everyone reads adn reviews. I love hearing from everyone!

Until the next chapter,

Marti


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chapter 14


Minerva brought the five girls down to the main entry of the castle, meeting their parents there for their trip to the Burrow. The girls looked well-rested and had bonded well with Minerva.

“Are you ready, girls?” Mina lifted one twin into her arms, while Toby took the other.

“It was wonderful seeing you again, Mina, Toby. Don’t be strangers, and don’t forget what I told you before. You’re always welcome here, and if Jennifer decides to attend, I’ll assume we’ll see more of each other.”

“Of course, Minerva. Thanks you for your hospitality.” Toby reveled in the hug his youngest daughter gave him as he led the older girls out the door and onto the grounds of the castle, his wife by his side.

“Ready, everyone?”

“As I’ll ever be. Ready to meet a whole bunch of red-headed kids?” Mina put a smile on her face, belying her nervousness. The talk she and Toby had had helped, but she didn’t think she’d get over it completely. The Weasley boys all looked alike; what if she took out her fear of Percy on one of the remaining brothers? She would never forgive herself if she hurt one of them because of her own issues. With her free arm, she hugged Jennifer to her side. The girl looked up at her mother with a smile, but her eyes held the same worry her father’s had.

“It’s alright, Jenna. We’ll be fine.”

“Okay, Mom.”

They walked to the edge of the school’s boundaries, where Toby took Seri and Milana in hand before Disapparating in an instant.

“Wow! Will I be able to do that?”

“Not for a few years, sweetheart. Hold on to my arm, Jenn, Em and don’t move. We don’t want to get splinched.” A moment later, before either of the girls on either side of her could say anything, they had appeared at the end of the drive at the Burrow, only a few feet from her husband.

Toby came to her, took her left hand into his and lifted it to his lips, kissing her knuckles gently before giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. With Marika in his right arm and Milana in Mina’s left, husband and wife led their daughter’s through the gate into the heart of Weasley-dom.


!@!@!@!@!@


“There they are!” Molly looked up from setting the table, whispering shakily to her daughter and daughter-in-law. Fleur cocked her head at the approach of the family then returned to her chore. With all the Weasleys to feed this Sunday, it was best to hurry.

“Look at those little girls, Mum. They look just like Hermione and Snape. They’re beautiful,” Ginny noted, smiling at the sight of Severus Snape cradling a toddler to his chest and holding her friend’s hand.

Instantly Arthur appeared next to his wife, one hand on her shoulder as they watched the Princes advance to them.

“Molly, Arthur,” Snape nodded his head to each of them. “Thank you for inviting my family to have Sunday dinner with you and your family.”

“Of course, Sev—Toby. You and He—Mina have always been a member of our family. Who are these lovely ladies, sir?”

Toby let go of Mina and gently urged the three older girls ahead of their parents. Serenity came forward first, smiling brightly at the older couple.

“Serenity, this is Mr. Weasley and his wife, Mrs. Weasley. Jennifer, Emily, say hello and thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.”

“Thank you for having us.” The oldest, the only one with auburn hair stepped forward and extended her right hand. Molly’s gasp was the only sound heard as Arthur shook his granddaughter’s hand solemnly. He could tell the girl knew the truth and could equally tell that she was her father’s defender through and through.

“Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.” Emily followed her big sister’s lead.

“It was no trouble, girls. We haven’t seen your parents in a long time.” Molly smiled at the girls, wishing she could hold her granddaughter close, but was satisfied with knowing she was a happy girl in a happy home. She turned her attention to the twins who were shyly watching the witch approach them.

“And who are these little angels?”

“Marika and Milana, say hello to Mrs. Weasley?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Hi!” Marika waved to Molly and pushed on her father’s chest to get down. “Down now, Daddy.”

Toby bent and let the girl run to the older witch. Marika hugged Molly’s leg. Molly wiped her misty eyes and bent down to hug the toddler properly. “Aren’t you a little sweetheart.”

“Yep.”

“Remember that when they’re getting into things, Molly.”

“Oh, piffle! I’ve got fourteen grandchildren. Anything worth keeping has an anti-break charm. Come along, girls.” Molly took Marika in one hand and Seri in the other, leading Emily and Jenna around to the back of the house.”

“Milana’s a bit shy. I’ll bring her ‘round in a minute.” Mina needed one of her daughter’s to hold for security.

“You’ve no idea how happy we are to see you, all of you! Ron and Harry despaired of seeing you again, Her—Mina. And everyone worried how the two of you were getting along.” Arthur shook Toby’s hand and kissed Mina’s cheek lightly. “You’ve hardly changed at all, Mina.”

“I’ve given birth four times. I’ve changed a lot, Mr. Weasley.”

“Call me Arthur. We’re all parents here.” Arthur turned to Snape—Tobias and smiled softly.

“They’re beautiful girls. And very well behaved.”

“They’ve been known to raise hell the likes of your twins, Weasley. Don’t let the angelic faces fool you,” Toby returned dryly. The two men laughed together slightly. Who would have thought that fatherhood would have been the thing to bond the two different men?

“Are you ready to face everyone, Mina, love?”

“As ready as I’m ever going to be.” Hugging her youngest daughter close, she allowed her husband to guide her, following behind the Weasley patriarch. Taking a deep breath, Mina turned the corner and almost turned back around if Toby’s hand wasn’t on the small of her back. She hadn’t seen this many red heads since Fleur and Bill’s wedding. There were at least 50 Weasleys, mostly children running around the back yard.

She noticed the two older of her daughters in the field chasing Garden Gnomes with some older Weasley grandchildren, only a little younger than Jennifer.

“Easy, love.” Mina let out the breath she’d been holding when she felt Toby’s breath in her ear, whispering the calming words to her. “Everything is fine.”

“I know. There are so many, though!”

“You know the Weasleys: rabbits propagate slower than they do. Come along.” He guided her to a group of adults at the table, recognizing both Potter and the youngest Weasley son.

Both men held a red headed infant in his arms, probably thrust there by their mothers to keep the two men from rushing their old friend.

“Mione!” Harry and Ron called together. Toby felt his wife’s step falter, but she continued ahead, the brave Gryffindor through and through.

“Ron, Harry. You boys look so grown up.” She allowed Toby to take Milana from her arms as she stopped in front of her two childhood friends. Uncertain what to do, she kept a couple of feet in front of them for a moment, before Harry stepped forward and pulled her into a tight one-armed hug, his infant son securely in his other arm. Tears ran freely done his cheeks as she buried her face into the ‘chosen one’s’ neck.

Toby kept from rolling his eyes, but barely.

Within seconds, Ron had joined the hug. From behind him, his wife took the little red-headed baby from his arms before he squished the little girl.

“Harry, let me have Jamie and we’ll leave the three of you to get caught up again.” Arthur held his arms out for his youngest grandson and then returned to Toby’s side. “I’ll introduce you to the rest of the family, Se—Toby.”

“Mina, will you be alright?” Her husband’s voice came from behind and she turned to nod her head gently.

“It’s alright, Toby. We’ve a lot to talk about. Try not to scare your former students too much, love,” she teased when he bent to kiss her cheek.

“I need do nothing. My reputation speaks for itself, woman. You’ll be able to find me when you’re finished, as I’m one of the few without red hair,” the former Potions professor added dryly, returning to his teaching persona quickly. Mina shook her head and pitied her former schoolmates married to Ron’s siblings.


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“You’re not boys anymore! Every time I think of the two of you, I see the boys I used to harangue and nag to finish their homework. You’re grown men now!”

“Well, yeah. It’s been almost twelve years, Hermione.”

“I go by Mina, Mina Prince, now, Ron,” she told her oldest friend softly as the three of them pulled apart from their three-way embrace.

“Sorry. We’ve always thought of you as Hermione. Where did you go off to?”

“After that day, Toby and I decided we needed a fresh start. So, we moved to America. We live in a little town in upstate New York and have our own herb farm and make our own home remedies. I teach the girls at home while Toby runs the farm.”

“You could have come to us. We thought,” Ron paused and looked away from his friend. He swallowed repeatedly as if to keep from crying. “We thought you hated all of us because of what Percy did.”

Mina bit the inside of her mouth to stop her own crying. She’d cried enough in the last few days since the owl had arrived in their backyard. “I would never blame the Weasley family for that. There was just so much going on and I was scared.”

“But for so long, Mina?” Harry pulled a mismatched chair out for her to sit in while they took spots across the table from her.

“After awhile it was home. We’re happy, Harry.”

“But your daughter’s going to start at Hogwarts, isn’t she?”

“We’re still in negotiations with her. Although I think I’m going to be outvoted. She really liked the castle. Toby said she loved the Potions classroom, which makes sense since she adores helping her father with his home remedies.”

The two men shared a look. They knew the girl was really Percy’s daughter, but neither wanted to cause an argument.

“Now, what have the two of you been up to? Minerva didn’t say anything earlier while we were walking the grounds.”

Harry grinned and pointed over his shoulder where Ginny held their newborn son, surrounded by their three young sons. “I married Ginny right after she graduated, but we decided to wait before starting our family. Our oldest is Bryan at six, Fred is five, Sirius is three and James in a few weeks old. Ginny’s determined to have a daughter.” Harry shuddered. He wasn’t sure he could handle eight children like Molly and Arthur. Ron laughed and clapped his old friend’s back. He and Lavender had finished their family a little while ago, with the birth of their youngest, Remus, now three. Like their mother, Ginny wanted to have at least one daughter and if she had to have ten sons first, she’d do it. “I’m working in the Auror Department with Neville and Seamus while Ginny works part-time at the bookshop in Diagon Alley. We’re living in the Grimmauld Place house now.”

“Did you get rid of Mrs. Black?”

“Not exactly. Ginny thought up a way to circumvent the fact that we couldn’t put a silencing spell on the portrait. She told Mrs. Black that she needed to be less of a… witch,” Harry grinned then, his green eyes sparkling. “and stop screaming or Ginny would build a wall around the portrait and put a spell on that. She’s quite manageable now, unless one of the boys gets her going.”

Mina laughed, wondering if the old portrait would remember her. “Oh, Harry. I’m so glad you’re happy. They’re lovely boys.”

“Little hellions.”

“Ron! They’re your nephews. Now, what about you and Lavender, wasn’t it?”

“We stopped at four. Those are mine, over there with their mum.” Ron pointed across the yard where Lavender sat talking with another Weasley daughter-in-law, holding a toddler. Around her stood three red-headed youngsters all wearing purple. She cocked an eyebrow at her old friend and he blushed, turning red all the way to his ears. Mina laughed, having missed that reaction. “My mother thought of the idea that all the grandchildren wear different colors based on parents. And because my wife’s name is Lavender…”

“All the kids are wearing purple. Poor Ron.” She hugged him tight, laughing with Harry. His kids were all wearing green, something to match their hair and eyes.

“I’m working with Dad in the Ministry. He got me a position right after you left after I told him I wanted to ask Lav to marry me. Now I’m an undersecretary to the new Minister. That just means I get coffee, cast warming and cooling charms and have to kiss arse to get ahead.”

“Ronald!” Unsure whether she should castigate him or laugh, Mina just gaped. Ron grinned unrepentantly at her, and then burst into laughter, drawing the attention of most of the people gathered in the Weasley yard.

“We missed you, Mina.” Harry reached over and pulled her into another hug. She rested her head on his shoulder and realized that she could return to her former life, that the fear was still there but wasn’t going to control her anymore.