Growing Up von Pris ================================================================================ Many Conversations and Deeds ---------------------------- Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The delay of this chapter is due to personal problems of my beta. I thank her that she could look over this anyway. Many Conversations and Deeds Fred and George went to the apparition point in Diagon Alley, both deep in thought. They knew what they had to do. They apparated to Hogsmeade and made their way up to the school. When they reached the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office they knocked it on the head. "We need to speak to the Headmaster. It's urgent." One of them said. The gargoyle leapt aside and revealed the staircase. They were told to come inside as soon as they reached the top of the stairs. "Messrs Weasley, I expected to see you today. What can I do for you?" Dumbledore greeted them. "Well, we were wondering..." Fred began. "...if we could adopt Harry, sir." George ended. "Why do you want to do that?" The Headmaster asked. "One, it's our fault that he was deaged and lost his memories permanently." Fred said. "Two, we both can't have children of our own." George continued. "We know this because we considered donating for a sperm bank to get funds for our shop." Fred elaborated. "They told us that both our sperm was completely useless." George went on. "Wanting to know more, we went to specialists once we had established the shop with Harry's help." Fred stated. "It's a new mutation of our Y-Chromosome that our father obviously doesn't share." George elaborated. "We even discreetly collected blood samples from our brothers and had them checked." Fred continued. "None of them shares this mutation." George finished. "Well, I see you want to take responsibility for your actions. What would you do if you could adopt Harry?" Dumbledore asked. "We would move to a bigger house with a garden, somewhere in a nice Village." George said. "Then we would hire some shop assistants." Fred continued. "That way one of us can keep inventing while the other looks after Harry until he is old enough for Kindergarten." George elaborated. "We would send him there for contact with other children." Fred finished. "I'm surprised about your level of planning, boys." The Headmaster mused. "Well, we may seem like irresponsible and thoughtless idiots,..." George started. "...but we are actually quite sober individuals." Fred continued. "Being pranksters was our niche, and everyone needed a good laugh in times like these." George finished. "I never thought about it that way. Do you consider a full magical adoption?" Dumbledore asked. "Is that even possible?" The twins chorused. "Indeed it is. You would both add a drop of your blood to the potion. As you have slightly different magical signatures this will be enough to satisfy the need for a complete set of new parents. Your DNA is the same though, so only James will be replaced as his father. Lily will stay his mother. And he won't inherit your genetic defect as the potion is specifically designed for those purposes." Dumbledore said. "We would both be Harry's father, and Lily Potter would stay his mother?" Fred asked. "Exactly." The Headmaster said. "We will do that, then." George decided. "Splendid! Will you change his name?" Dumbledore asked. "Well, first name would be Henry. It's better than Harry and he can keep that as a nickname." Fred started. "Middle name Arthur, of course." George continued. "And last name Weasley." Fred finished. "Henry Arthur Weasley. Has a nice ring to it, if I may say so. When will you tell the rest of your family?" The Headmaster asked. "We will confront them with the fait accompli on Sunday." Fred said. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. We will be through with everything by Saturday." Dumbledore laughed. "Great. We will go then, sir." George said. "We have a house to find and job offers to place." Fred added. They bid their farewell and left. Then they made their way back to London and went to a realtor in Diagon Alley. [c]***[/c] "Good morning, sirs. I am Miss Greensleeves. What can I do for you?" The secretary asked. "Good morning, miss. We are looking for a house somewhere in a Village." Fred said. "We have a catalogue of all the properties we are offering. If you have something special in mind I could advise you personally." Miss Greensleeves said. "Well, we want something with a garden, three bedrooms, and two guestrooms big enough for two." Fred started. "It should be somewhere quiet, in a place good for children." George finished. "I think I have just the thing for you. It is near Abington Pigotts in Cambridgeshire, a two-storey house from the Victorian era. Kitchen, living room, a dining room, a bathroom and a library on the ground floor, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and two guestrooms on the first floor. It also has a basement. The house is surrounded by a garden. The price would be one hundred thousand Galleons." The secretary said. "Could we look at it before we decide?" Fred asked. "Of course. Follow me, please. We will take a portkey." Miss Greensleeves said. Fred and George followed her and portkeyd to Abington Pigotts. The house was just what they wanted. After they went back to London they bought it without further ado. Then they went to the Floo Regulations Office and had their new house hooked up. Afterwards, they acquired two young house-elves. After sending them to the house they went home via the Daily Prophet to put in their job offer. [c]***[/c] Snape brought Harry back at exactly five o'clock. "Did you sort out what you had to talk about?" He asked. "Yes. We are going to adopt Harry." Fred said. "You are?" Snape asked incredulously. "Yes. We already bought a house and put our job offer in the Prophet." George said. "It will be a full magical adoption." Fred continued. "We accidentally found out that we are both sterile because of a genetic defect." George elaborated. "And we wouldn't wish us on any male or female as a partner anyway." Fred finished. "You actually thought through all that." Snape stated. "Yes. The Headmaster is handling the paperwork." Fred said. "In that case I should better return to Hogwarts, as he will have a potion for me to brew." After bidding his farewell Snape left. [c]***[/c] In the following days the twins had to struggle through a mountain of paperwork and furnish their house. The guest rooms were simple. Each got a double bed, bedside tables with some drawers, a wardrobe, and two easy chairs. One was done in blue, one in green and one in yellow. Their own bedrooms were easy as well. Fred got a hammock instead of a bed, a sofa, with a low table and some shelves for knick-knacks and books. Everything was done in black and white. George's room was the same, except he chose a futon. The rest of his furniture was Japanese styled as well. He covered his wall with moving anime posters. Harry's room was the most difficult. After much arguing they charmed the ceiling to look like the night sky and painted the walls sky-blue. The shelves and wardrobes they filled with toys and clothes. Besides the usual furniture they put a charmed TV set complete with DVD player and sound system in the living room. They moved in on Friday. On Friday evening they gave Harry the adoption potion. Both twins couldn't sleep that night because they were wondering what Harry would look like in the morning. "Good morning, dear brother. You look as nervous as I feel." Fred said. "Ditto, Fred. Do you think he will have red hair and freckles?" George asked. "We will see in a minute." Fred answered. Together they went into Harry's room. He woke up as they were looking into his crib. His eyes were still green, but of a slightly lighter shade. His hair was a dark red and he had a few freckles on his cheeks and nose. He was a bit taller as well. "Good morning, Henry Arthur Weasley. What do you want for breakfast?" George asked. "Bikkits." Harry slurred tiredly. "Okay. While I wash and dress you, Papa Fred will prepare breakfast." George said. "I hope Papa George will manage to wake you up!" Fred laughed. Fred and George spent a wonderful day with their son. Harry even took to calling them Papa Fred and Papa George and he never confused them. A/N: Abington Pigotts really exists. I found it like this: Go to Wikipedia, look for the county 42 (Cambridgeshire) and find a small village to which information is available (e.g. the census). Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)