Karina Potter, Aunt Marauder

Chapter 7

After they had said goodbye to Alice and Frank and left St. Mungo's, Mrs. Longbottom turned to Karina uncertainly.

"Karina... I was wondering... Well, hoping... Would you take Neville to the Christmas party with you and Harry?" She asked her. "Family's coming over tomorrow, and I want to fix the house up before they arrive." Karina suspected she just needed a break and some time to think, but she nodded.

"Of course I will! Everyone will love to see him!" She told her cheerfully, taking Neville's hand that wasn't being held by Mrs. Longbottom. "After all, they haven't seen him since, well..." She was about to say "before the funeral", but couldn't seem to form the words.

Mrs. Longbottom understood, and nodded. "Yes, thank you, Karina." Then she apparated away.

Karina sighed, then squatted down to the boys' level. "Alright, boys. Hold on tight!" The two little boys jumped up and down, and Karina apparated them to the Burrow, where she knocked on the door, and was answered by Molly.

"Karina!" Molly exclaimed, coming out and hugging her tightly. "I knew you'd come! I just knew it!" Then she saw Harry and Neville, and her smile got bigger. "Well, look at you two!" She squatted down carefully to the boys' level. "Come here you two! Come give your Aunt Molly a big hug!" Harry dove right into the hug, but Neville was a little nervous. He hadn't seen the Weasleys in a while. But Molly understood, and gently wrapped her arm around him. "Hello, Neville!" She said kindly, looking him up and down. "Goodness, you seem to have grown a foot since the last time I saw you!" Neville blushed, smiling.

Molly then stood up and gestured for them to follow her. "Well, come on in! Boys, Ron's in the living room if you want to play with him." Harry's eyes lit up.

"Ron!" He exclaimed, running into the house. "Ron! Ron! Ron!"

"Harree?" Came Ron's little voice from the living room, exaggerating the e a little. "Harree!" And the boy, big enough to be mistaken for three years old, popped his head out of the living room. Harry ran at him.

"Ron! Ron! Ron!" Neville followed them slowly, a little nervous as the other two boys began to play with little toy figurines that looked like Quidditch players. As well as Ron and Harry, Fred and George were also in the living room. They were using chess pieces and making them fight in a pretend war.

Harry waved at Neville. "Nev-ill! Play!" He demanded. Neville looked at Karina nervously, and she nodded, smiling.

"Go ahead and play, Neville. I'll just be in the other room with the grown ups." Neville still looked nervous, but he toddled over to the other boys, who gave him a figurine and the three of them began to play.

Karina then followed Molly into the kitchen, where she found many people there, including Remus, Arthur, Bill, Kingsley, but most surprisingly the Tonks!

"Andromeda! Ted! I didn't know you were coming!" She exclaimed, going over to hug them.

"Well, I thought things might be a bit tense, after what's happened." Andromeda explained. "But, Nymphadora begged us to come. Charlie actually invited her, and I thought it'd be okay if I came to make sure things are still okay between us?" She looked a little nervous. "You know, after everything with Sirius?" Karina nodded.

"Of course! Don't worry about that, Andromeda!" Andromeda breathed a sigh of relief.

"Speaking of Charlie and Dora..." Ted said, a mischievous look in his eye. "Charlie came up to me the other day. He said, " Mr. Tonks, I'd like to ask for your blessing now, before anyone else gets it!" I ask him, "why's that now, Charlie?" He tells me, "because Dora's my best friend and I want to marry her, but I know she'll be really pretty when we're older, and I don't want any horrible, ugly, prat of a bloke getting her!" Can you imagine that?" All of them had a huge laugh, though Bill looked a little disgusted.

"He's only eight years old!" He exclaimed. "And he should know that girls have cooties and are big tattletales!" Remus raised his eyebrows at him.

"Is that so? Well, there was this girl, lovely girl. I used to run around with her at school, all the time, along with James and Sirius."

"Did she ever rat you out?" Bill asked him. Remus shook his head.

"Nope! She used to cause mischief just like the rest of us! Best at it, I think!" Karina put her hand on her cheek dramatically.

"Gosh, Remus! You're making me blush!" Everyone laughed again, and Bill stared at his cup, which was filled with juice, unlike the adults.

After they had stopped laughing, Karina remembered something. "Oh! I've just remembered! You'll like this Arthur! So, I heard about these Muggle Healers called Dentists, recently. They Heal your teeth." Arthur raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" She nodded.

"Naturally, I was curious, so I went to one of their offices to see it for myself! My teeth have never been so clean!"

"What's their names?" Remus asked. "Perhaps I'll go."

"They're a married couple, actually." She replied. "They're called the Grangers, and they have the loveliest little girl, about Ron and Harry's age! And she's got the most gorgeous name! Have you ever heard of someone called Hermione?" Molly's eyes went wide.

"I can't say I have! Though that is a lovely name!" Then she smiled. "Perhaps that will be our new child's name." Karina nearly dropped her drink.

"Molly! You're pregnant again?" Molly nodded, her and Arthur smiling happily.

"Yes, and we've been waiting for the right moment to take the Pregnancy Potion!"

"Boys! Nymphadora! Come to the kitchen!" Arthur called. "Your mother's doing the Pregnancy Potion!" Fast, thumping footsteps came from the stairs and the living room, as well as slower footsteps from the stairs, as if the walker hadn't wanted to come.

"Percy, put the book down." Arthur scolded, taking Percy's picture book. Percy grumbled under his breath, before going to stand by Remus. The three little boys ran over to Karina, Charlie and Nymphadora stood by Andromeda and Ted, and Fred and George joined Bill at the table, climbing up on top of it so they could see better.

Arthur took the potion and handed it to Molly, who pulled a strain of her hair from her head, and dropped it in. They waited, until...

"Pink!" Molly exclaimed, her eyes as big as saucers. "The smoke is pink! Its a girl! Our first daughter!" Everyone cheered loudly for her, Arthur hugging her tightly.

"What is her name gonna be?" Fred asked. Molly rubbed her belly, thinking.

"Hm, well, Hermione is a lovely name, but Arthur and I have had a name in since Bill." Arthur smiled and nodded.

"Ginerva Rosella Weasley. Ginny, for short."

"Oh, Molly! That's a beautiful name!" Andromeda told her.

"Can we open Christmas presents now?" George asked impatiently. Karina gasped.

"Oh no! I left my presents for you all at home!" Remus put his hand on her shoulder.

"We'll get them later. For now, we've all got some more right here!" And they all hurried to the living room to get the presents.