Harry and Ginny are no longer sitting in a tree

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.


Chapter two:

The years passed slowly in some ways, yet in other respects they flew by too fast for Harry’s tastes. Too soon it was time for his little Lilypad to go to Hogwart’s and he wouldn’t be able to see her everyday anymore. The separation would be worse for him than her, he thought. She was so excited to be going to Hogwart’s finally, and she wouldn’t be alone, most of her cousins would all be there, including Charles Dursley, Dudley’s 14 year-old son who was nothing like his father had been as a child luckily. This was most likely because of his mother’s influence. He was in Ravenclaw, and was a chaser for the house Quidditch team. Dudley had had a heart attack at the young age of thirty, just after Charles was born, and now was only slightly bigger than Harry, because of the diet his wife had him on, and the exercise regiment she had the whole family following. She had also been responsible for the family’s reconciliation Harry, when it had become apparent that there was another ‘freak’ in the family. Surprisingly, Dudley had been the one to tell Petunia and Vernon off for calling his son that to his face, making Charles cry. Bill and Fleur had three daughters, only their youngest Melodie was at Hogwart’s still. She and Charles were dating, in fact. Thinking of this, made Harry think of the fact that Lily would soon be interested in boys, soon after that get married and have kids of her own, and he’d be a grandpa… ‘Whoa, Harry, don’t get to ahead of yourself!’ he told himself. He was just glad that Ginny had kept her word and had never again darkened their doorstep. He was glad in a way, that Lily had gotten his black hair, and in fact looked just like him. When she was a baby, he had gotten her checked out, and found that she was indeed his daughter, and there were no spells that had been used on her to make her so.

Just then Lily through the backdoor with her cousins Marybell and Susan, Fred and George’s daughters, their only progeny in fact. There had never been a mother in sight, nor was one mentioned, despite the number of women that were in and out of their lives. In fact no one knew how they had gotten the girls. Just one day, when Lily was 9 months old, they had showed up with the girls in their arms, saying that these were their daughters, well that Susan was Fred’s and Marybell was George’s. Both girls had red-hair, and blue eyes, but no other similarities to their fathers other than a tendency for pranks. They would be first years with Lily. Harry had a feeling they would be the Marauder’s of their day, and he had a plan to help them do it, and was sure Fred and George had already prepared them.

“Daddy! What you making? Can Bell and Su stay for dinner? Uncle Fred and Uncle George are having a business dinner with an important potential investor, so wanted you to baby-sit, but I ahh, said I checked with you and said it was okay, and that you’d watch ….Hey, where’d he go?” Lily ran back outside, and was soon dragging behind her a small shy-looking blonde boy, who looked to be about eleven or twelve.

Harry approached wiping his hands on his apron, before walking towards them, and holding his hand out to shake the boy’s hand, “Well, hello, I’m Mr. Potter, Lily’s father. And you are?”

The boy quietly but formally said, “I am Ardyn Malfoy, Mr. Potter, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I sincerely hope that my presence here is not too much of an imposition.”

Harry quickly replied, “No, no. Lily was right, I don’t mind. But it is a good thing your fathers’ thought to call me, and ask if it was okay. So, I made enough for everybody. We’re going to have spaghetti and meatballs,” Harry moved back to the stove, before calling over his shoulder, “You kids clean up. Lily, once you’re ready, set the table and make a salad. Your cousins can help. Mr. Malfoy, once you’ve cleaned up, you can watch TV or help the girls if you like. Your father’s Draco Malfoy, correct? Oh, you can wash you’re hands in the kitchen sink, those girls, will be a while in there.”

The girls were out of the kitchen and in the bathroom washing up as soon as he had finished his instructions to them, while Ardyn stayed behind, “You can call me Ardyn, sir. Do you know my father? Do you think he’s a good man?”

Harry wasn’t sure how to answer. Then he remembered the gossip Hermione had just told him about Malfoy. He had recently acquired a son, apparently his ex-wife had kept the existence of the child from him and had returned to France to her mother to hide away. “Ardyn, I knew your father in school at Hogwart’s, but we weren’t friends. We don’t really run in the same circle, but since the war I’ve never heard anything bad about him. Everybody I know that has had business with respect him.”

“Thank you, sir. Mother and grand-mère didn’t like him. But they died and Father came for me. He says that he would have kept me in his life if he had known about me, and that he loves me and wants me to live with him now.”

“I don’t know about your dad, but I know if I had just found out about Lily, I would do anything to have her in my life. I would love her, even if I hadn’t had her in my life for the past eleven years, and I’m sure your dad feels the same way,” Harry said.

Just than the girls came back, and Ardyn shared a smile with him, before asking Lily how he could help. After they finished eating, Harry had the kids help him clean up and sent them off to play, only interrupting them for dessert, spaghetti ice cream that he had made. The ‘noodles’ were vanilla ice cream that he had pressed through a potato press, and kept in the freezer before serving. The sauce was strawberry, and the ‘meatballs’ were blackberries, and ‘parmesan’ was grated white chocolate. It had been a hit with all four.

Two hours later, Fred came and picked up the three children. That’s when Lily hit him with her question.



(o.o)



Lily closed the door to her room, and smiled at her two cousins and new friend. They had just eaten the spaghetti ice cream.

“Lily, Uncle Harry must be the best dad ever. Why isn’t he married? I mean I know your mom left him, but that was eleven years ago,” Susan said, once everybody was seated.

“Does he ever even date?” Bell asked.

“No. I’ve never even had a babysitter,” Lily admitted.

“You don’t have a mother either?” Ardyn asked, “Mine just died. I’m living with my father now, too.”

“Yeah, she left my dad after I was born, but I’m happy with just my dad. Daddy’s really the best. But I wish he had someone, now that I’m going to school. I don’t know what he’ll do without me,” Lily said, pulling her teddy bear onto her lap as she leaned against the headboard, “But I don’t know any single woman.”

Susan and Bell looked at each other before saying, “We don’t either.”

Then Susan said, “But, Lily, isn’t your dad gay? That’s what I heard Uncle Charlie, our dads, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, and everybody else talking about a couple of times. They’re always saying that they’ve never seen him date a woman since your mom left, so it must be true that he’s gay.” Bell nodded in agreement.

“Really? So, does anybody, know any gay men, then?” Lily asked.

Susan and Bell shook their heads, but Ardyn cleared his throat, “Umm, I think my father, um might be. At least that’s what I heard mother and grand-mère saying.”

“Is he seeing anyone?” Bell asked, as she hung upside down over the edge of the bed, looking at Ardyn and Susan sitting on the floor.

“I don’t think so. He told me he wasn’t dating anyone, and hasn’t dated for two years now, because he was busy with work,” Ardyn said, “Do you think we should set them up or something? Like a blind date?”

“Ok, I’ll tell my dad, and you can tell yours. We can set up the date so that they can go see a movie and have dinner afterwards, for the night we go to school.”

“Okay. But you have to set it up, I don’t know anything about do that kind of stuff,” Ardyn finally said.

Bell was the one who answered, “My dad and Uncle Fred can help us set it up.”

“Yeah,” Susan agreed.

For the next hour and a half the four played one of Lily’s many board games, until the three had to go home.

“I’ll tell my dad,” Lily told them as they left.



(o.o)




“Daddy, I’ve set up a date for you with Ardyn’s dad since you’re gay,” Lily said matter-of-factly, “I want you to have someone when I’m at school.”

“Okay, Lilypad, you can tell me the details tomorrow…Wait did you say Ardyn’s dad,” but in his head Harry was thinking, ‘Because I’m gay?’

~*~*~