Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 5/30/1983, 16:36
Harry was roused from his short nap by Carina letting him know she was awake with a high pitch cry.
When Narcissa warned him that newborns were a handful she wasn't kidding, Harry hadn't had more than a few hours of sleep at a time since they were born.
Bella seemed to be handling the lack of sleep much better than he was. She was very glad to finally have them out of her and thrilled not to waddle around anymore. His wife had been full of energy for the last week much to his amazement, as he felt bone tired.
Narcissa had come by three days ago and brought Bella a potion that would slowly restore her body as close as it could to her pre-pregnancy shape, much to his wife's delight.
Out of the twins, Carina was the fussy one, she was the one who cried the most especially when she was alone. The only sure way Harry had found to get her to calm down was to hold her.
Ignotus seemed more relaxed and only cried when he was hungry or needed a change, though he seemed to enjoy being cuddled as well but didn't have to be held to go to sleep.
"Well good morning, your majesty," Harry said as he gently lifted Carina out of her bassinet and brought her to the changing table.
Hungry§, Carina hissed making Harry jump a foot in the air and he was very thankful that he had already put her down.
This was something he had never heard of, was it common for babies this young to speak in a magical language?
Parsletongue was such a rare and vilified gift in this country that there would be no way to find out so his only option would be to look into countries where it is more common. Egypt and India were the ones that immediately came to mind.
Considering both countries association with snakes there was no doubt he would visit both places in the course of his work.
Harry quickly got Carina's messy diaper off of her before putting on a fresh one. Gently scooping her up so that her head was resting against his left shoulder he made his way to the master bedroom.
Hungry§, He heard her hiss again this time next to his ear.Soon little one§, Harry soothed as he stepped into the room and went to Bella's side of the bed.
Harry gently shook Bella who woke at once, " Is it feeding time again?" Bella asked groggily.
"Yes, she just told me she was hungry," Harry said in amazement as he gently passed Carina to her mother.
"What do you mean, told you?" Bella asked as she began feeding Carina.
"She told me in parseltongue, she actually said the word hungry," Harry said softly looking at his daughter in awe.
"I've never heard of something like that before," Bella said thoughtfully.
"I don't think anyone has... at least not in this country," Harry amended.
Before Bella could say anything else Harry heard Ignotus cry letting them know he was awake and needed tending to.
" I'll be back," Harry grinned as he went to take care of Ignotus.
This had become sort of a routine lately, Harry would wake up and get the kids changed and bring them to Bella one at a time for feeding. Then the twins would get sleepy and they would put them back down for a few hours.
Time to eat little one§, Harry hissed to Ignotus after he finished changing him.
"I can't understand you now," Bellatrix whined as they switched babies and Ignotus began to feed.
"The babies might explain why you could a few months ago," Harry said thoughtfully as he gently pat Carina's back getting a tiny burp for his trouble.
"It's possible," Bella said distractedly as she stared into Ignotus' eyes that were so similar to her own.
"They are already getting bigger," Harry grinned as he took a seat beside Bella on the bed with his back resting against the headboard while Carina drifted to sleep in his arms.
"I know they even stay awake longer now," Bella cooed down at her son.
"We're going to miss this soon enough," Harry chuckled.
"You mean when they learn to walk like Cissa's brat?" Bella asked.
"Yep when they learn to walk they will be causing mischief at every turn," Harry chuckled.
"That won't last long," Bella said dismissively.
"Then there will be the day that I am going to have to start scaring away Carina's suitors," Harry said only half-jokingly.
"I will help you with that, only the best will be good enough for our daughter," Bella said not joking at all.
"You had better hope that old wives tale isn't true," Harry smirked.
"What old wives tale?" Bella asked suspiciously.
"May born witches marry muggles," Harry grinned at the incredulous look his wife shot him.
"No daughter of mine will marry some dirt veined muggle," Bellatrix hissed incensed at the thought.
"Calm yourself Bellatrix it's just a stupid superstition," Harry soothed regretting messing with her.
"Hmm," Bellatrix muttered shooting him an annoyed look.
"Oh, I have to make a visit to the alley this afternoon, I'll try and time it in between feedings," Harry said deciding it would be best to change the subject.
"Alright, we'll be fine here just bring Bella a treat when you came back," Bella said distractedly.
"I will," Harry promised.
Diagon Alley, London, 5/30/1983, 15:34
Harry appeared at the apparition point and began crossing the alley heading towards Gringotts. He had a few things to handle at the bank before he could go pick up some equipment for the expedition to South America.
Harry had received a letter from Mr Sanjay Patil who informed him that his work in Bhutan would take a couple of weeks longer than expected but hoped they could set out for South America by the end of July. Mr Patil had also informed Harry that the main goal of this trip was to collect venom from as many species as they could, both magical and mundane so the venom could be studied and used to develop antidotes for snake bites. They had quite a bit of funding for the trip as this job was contracted by a major potions company in the region.
He also sent a list of supplies Harry would need for the job. Harry wouldn't be going on this job as an apprentice like he was with Newt, he would be going as a peer and learning as he went. Patil was quite blunt in the letter informing him that if he couldn't keep up or he slowed them down he would be removed from the team. Harry was determined to prove himself and swore he would impress this man when the time came for them to work together.
Harry entered the bank and made his way to the nearest teller, " I wish to see the Peverell account manager," Harry said when the goblin looked at him expectantly.
"Follow me, Mr Peverell," The goblin who according to his name plaque was named Gorloc said as he slid from his chair and led him down a familiar hallway.
After the teller goblin announced him, Harry stepped into his account manager's office.
"Mr Peverell, what can I do for you?" Longblade asked as he gestured for Harry to sit in the chair on the other side of his desk.
"The house of Peverell has recently... expanded. I would like to set up two new trust vaults," Harry explained not bothering to hide his grin.
"Very well, I shall need the children's names," Longblade said grabbing a quill and a slip of enchanted parchment
"Ignotus James Peverell and Carina Lily Peverell," Harry said, a faint smile tugging on his lips at the mention of their names.
"I shall also need a drop of their blood to activate their keys," Longblade said once he had written the names down.
"Very well," Harry said pulling out two tiny vials each containing a single drop of blood from the twins.
Harry passed Longblade the vial with an 'I' set into the cork, " this one is Ignotus'," Harry said.
Harry watched as Longblade took out a blank key from his desk and chanted over it in goblin tongue before uncorking the vial and pouring the contents onto the key. There was a flash of red smoke obscuring the key from view, when it cleared the key was now decorated with the letters I.J.P set over the Peverell family crest.
After the process was repeated for Carina, Harry and Longblade worked out how much gold would be deposited in the trust fund vaults each month.
Every month a hundred galleons would be deposited into each of the twins' trust vaults from the Peverell main vault until his children reached maturity. The twins could draw money from their trust vaults if they wished but Harry would take care of their school expenses and the like from the Peverell main vault.
This way when the twins finished school both of his children would have a modest amount of money, (around twenty thousand galleons) to start making their mark on the world.
After all of that was sorted out Harry thanked Longblade and took his leave to finish his business in the alley.
Harry stepped into the main alley and made a beeline for the 'Wanderer's Wizarding Explorer' a small shop that sold outdoor equipment, wizarding tents, as well as magizoology equipment, and inoculations for travelling abroad.
Walking to the counter he saw the shopkeep sitting behind his desk reading a Quidditch Quarterly, the man looked up when he spotted Harry approaching him.
"Good day, Mr Peverell what can I do for you?" Mr Wanderer asked recognizing Harry from his last visit.
"I will be going to South America around mid-July so I will need the standard inoculations for typhoid, malaria and yellow fever and any others you recommend as well as an advanced serpent milking kit, three handling sticks, and the basic protective clothing for handling venomous snakes," Harry said as he read off the list Mr Patil had sent him.
"Anything else?" The shopkeep asked and Harry could swear he saw galleon symbols appear in the man's eyes.
"Lightweight jungle boots enchanted to stay dry, a rucksack with an undetectable expansion charm, and an enchanted machete," Harry added as the shopkeep wrote all of this down.
"It will take me about a week to get the inoculation potions together, but the rest of the order I can have delivered today," The shopkeep said after he finished writing.
"Very well, just charge it to my vault, what is the total?" Harry asked knowing the portions alone would cost hundreds of galleons.
"Five hundred and forty-three galleons nine sickle and two knuts, the potions are very pricey I'm afraid," The shopkeep explained.
"If they work then they're worth it," Harry chuckled as he pressed the Peverell ring to the transfer slip the shopkeeper had filled out and watched it flash blue signalling Gringotts had authorized the transaction.
"Too right, it's a pleasure doing business Mr Peverell," Mr Wanderer grinned.
"You two Mr Wanderer," Harry nodded politely.
"You just made my day's sales quota, call me Warren," The shopkeep grinned.
"Then you may call me Harry, I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of each other," Harry nodded before exiting the shop.
Unfortunately, Harry would not be able to take Bella and the children to Brazil with him as he had originally planned.
When he saw the list of viruses that could be contacted in the jungle he realized it would be reckless to take his newborns into the rainforest with him.
He would have to make a trip to the ministry before his trip to arrange a set of portkeys to travel back and forth between Britain and Brazil on weekends.
Luckily they would only be in Brazil until monsoon season started in early to mid-October, then they would be going on the next leg of the trip in North America.
Harry stepped into Fortescue and ordered himself and Bella a cone before turning on the spot and heading home, hopefully, the babies were still asleep as they were when he left.
Peverell Bach House, Cornwall, 6/1/7/1983, 14:59
Harry was sitting on the deck with Carina resting on his chest her little head was on his shoulder, while Ignotus slept in the pram beside him.
His daughter had become quite fussy if she wasn't held and often refused to go to sleep unless he or Bella were holding her.
Ignotus was not nearly as fussy and could sleep just fine as long as he knew his parents were close by.
Both children had begun to sleep longer between feedings now and Harry and Bella had adjusted to taking care of them and running on limited sleep. The twins were still tiny, hardly bigger than a loaf of bread but there was no doubt they were getting bigger.
Bella had left with Narcissa a few hours ago, they had gone to get fitted for dress robes for Amelia and Sirius' upcoming wedding. The wedding would take place in two weeks on the summer solstice and Bella was a bridesmaid.
Harry was currently reading the book on serpents he had bought last May, he had to use his wand to levitate the book where he wanted it, every so often he would flick his wrist to turn the page.
Harry was interrupted in his rare moment of peace by the floo flaring to life, a moment later his godfather came out onto the deck and grinned when he spotted Carina on Harry's shoulder.
"Afternoon Harry," Sirius grinned as he took a seat at the table after turning the chair slightly so he could look at them.
"Hello Sirius, come to meet the new Peverells have you?" Harry grinned as he flicked his wand sending the book floating to the table.
"Thought I might sneak over while my cousin was getting fitted for her dress robes," Sirius shrugged.
"Well the little lady on my shoulder is Carina Lily and the fine chap sleeping over here is Ignotus James," Harry said indicating the pram where Sirius could just make out Ignotus' tiny face.
"He looks just like you did at the age," Sirius said after gazing at the Peverell heir for a moment.
"He's got Bella's eyes though, he's the better behaved of the two. This one will be trouble I can already tell," Harry grinned as he gently pat Carina's back.
"So, Ted said that you have made some arrangements for my stag party?" Sirius asked with a nervous grin.
"I'm calling it a wet the babies head/stag party, but yes, I have already made the arrangements for the night. Bella has asked Cissa to stay with her while I'm gone, these two can be quite the handful when they wake up at the same time," Harry chuckled.
"Excellent, how did you manage to talk her into letting you go?" Sirius asked curiously.
"She didn't let me go, we made a deal. I will go out to your stag party, get ripping drunk, leer at strippers, and toast your last days of freedom with her blessing. In exchange, she will be doing the same at Amelia's hen-do on Sunday night, so you and Harry will be giving me a hand here," Harry smirked.
"What, I never agreed to that!" Sirius protested loudly making Carina stir.
"Apparently Amelia already volunteered for you," Harry shrugged.
"Fine but you had better have a stock of hangover potions on standby Sunday morning," Sirius demanded.
"Oh believe me I will," Harry assured him.
Stranger§, Carina hissed by his ear as she eyed Sirius curiously.Shh little one, he is safe§, Harry cooed rubbing her back softly.
"She's a parselmouth?" Sirius asked in surprise.
"Yes, though I don't think Ignotus is," Harry shrugged.
"What did she say?" Sirius asked curiously.
"Stranger, she can't speak in sentences just one word like tired or hungry, I don't think she is consciously doing it though," Harry admitted.
"Can I hold her?" Sirius asked hopefully.
"Sure," Harry grinned and rose to bring Carina over.
Harry was surprised at how well coordinated Sirius was with a newborn, it was obvious he knew what he was doing. Carina didn't seem to mind Sirius holding her and snuggled into his shoulder.
Reaching into the pram Harry gently scooped up Ignotus who had woken up when Harry had moved.
Harry placed him on the same shoulder Carina had just been laying on and took his seat again.
"She seems to like me," Sirius grinned.
"She likes being held, she throughs a fit if you try and put her down," Harry grinned.
"From what I hear Cissa was like that," Sirius grinned.
"So how long ate you free today?" Harry asked curiously.
"Not long, to be honest, I just wanted to swing by for a minute and see the babies. I have to meet with Lord Bones to finalise the betrothal contract in an hour or so," Sirius
"Pretty soon you and Bones will have one of those," Harry grinned, gesturing to his daughter who Sirius was making funny faces at.
"Not too soon I hope, Harry has become a terror lately," Sirius chuckled.
Sirius stayed for a little longer before he had to leave to make his appointment with Lord Bones and more likely he wanted to avoid Bellatrix.
Leaky Cauldron, London, 6/11/1983, 17:59
Harry sat at a big round table sipping on a pint while raucous laughter filled the room. He wasn't drinking very heavily just yet as he had plans to finalise.
Currently, he was having a whispered conversation with Alastor Moody while Sirius, Ted, and the aurors were getting steadily drunker courtesy of Harry buying them drinks.
..."Alright lad, I'll do it but I want a case of Glenlivet twenty-one year old scotch and you will tell no one about this, understand," Moody agreed looking him in the eye.
"Done, I won't say a word. Just be there at the time we discussed," Harry whispered back.
"Aye," Moody agreed back and shook Harry's hand under the table.
Peverell Beach House, Guest room, Cornwall, 6/12/1983, 11:39
Sirius groggily opened his eyes and hissed when bright sunlight from the opened window hit him in the face. Sirius tried to move but there was a heavy weight wrapped around him holding him in place.
"Are you awake lad?" A familiar gruff voice asked from right behind him.
Sirius paled, the voice was unmistakeably that of Alastor Moody and if he wasn't mistaken that was who was holding him all... intimately.
"Moody, what are you doing here!?" Sirius stuttered out in alarm his heart rate speeding up as the possibilities of what could have happened last night ran through his mind.
"After the rogering, I gave you last night, you actually have to ask?" Moody chuckled into his ear the arm wrapped around him squeezing him tighter.
" What?!" Sirius exclaimed borderline hysterically as he tried to get out from under the heavy weight pinning him to the bed.
"Don't worry lad everyone knows you're light in the loafers already but if ya like, this can be our little secret, my little Padfoot," Moody whispered in his ear.
That was it, with a massive effort Sirius freed himself from the heavy body pressing him to the bed and rolled over ready to punch Mad-Eye in the face for taking advantage of him.
He expected to be looking at Moody, only to find the same training dummy he had used to prank Harry months ago staring back at him with one abnormally large blue eye spinning wildly in its socket.
As soon as it registered in his mind that it was a prank the dummy burst from under the covers and started dancing around the bed.
The exaggerated breasts he had added when he had pranked Harry were gone from the dummies chest. Instead, it was sculpted to look very male in appearance with cut pecs and washboard abs. When the dummy started dancing something started swinging below its waist that was also very male in appearance.
Suddenly music seemed to blare from the very walls reminding him of the massive hangover he was suffering through the music was very jazzy and seemed to echo inside his skull.
Sirius scrambled around looking for his wand to end this hell on earth, the song was grating on his nerves and he felt last night's tequila churning in his stomach.
He went to look under the bed for his wand only for the dummy to start doing the helicopter near his head making him leap back in disgust as the floppy fake appendage nearly hit him in the face.
As the main chorus repeated, he could make out two women were singing about it raining men, the dummy started coming towards him again wiggling its hips suggestively.
"Oh for the love of God, please make this stop!" Sirius screeched into the room.
At the word stop, the music cut out and the dummy stopped moving. It slowly turned its head to look Sirius in the eye and winked its large blue eye at him.
"Paybacks a bitch, Padfoot," the dummy said in Harry's voice before it collapsed to the floor motionless.
Sirius exhaled a tired sigh of relief and took a seat on the bed only for the music to start back up louder than before.
" Buggering fucking wanker, I'll kill him!" Sirius growled as he stomped out of the room to find his host.
He found Harry and Bella out on the deck enjoying breakfast, Ignotus was in Harry's left arm while Harry ate with his right, he looked up when he heard Sirius approaching and grinned happily at the look on Sirius' face.
"Good morning Padfoot, sleep well?" Harry smirked.
"The sleep was great, the waking up was awful," Sirius scowled before noticing Bella feeding Carina and yelped in embarrassment.
"You do that at the table," Sirius exclaimed pointedly looking away from his cousin's exposed breasts.
"The kids have to eat too and it is important to eat as a family," Harry pointed out.
"I don't want to see my cousins... bits while I eat breakfast," Sirius protested.
"Then don't look," Bella shrugged as she nibbled on some toast.
"Here Sirius, this might improve your mood," Harry said as he dug a hangover potion and Sirius' wand out of his pocket and set them on the table.
"How did you replicate Moody's voice?" Sirius asked after he had downed the potion and had taken a seat.
"I didn't. I paid Moody to let me record what I wanted him to say, it wasn't cheap now that you mention it," Harry admitted with a wide grin.
"I will get you for this," Sirius threatened half-heartedly as food appeared in front of him.
"You can certainly try," Harry shrugged.
"How much trouble did we get into last night?" Sirius asked as he tucked into his breakfast, his appetite returning now that the hangover potion had started to kick in.
"Not too much, I had to stay sober-ish so I could set up the prank, though I think that Proudfoot bloke left with one of the strippers from the gentlemen's club," Harry said thoughtfully.
"That's a relief, Amelia would do her nut if I went and embarrassed her before the wedding," Sirius sighed.
"Well, you might want to define embarrassed because that dance you did on stage... it was... it's hard to look you in the eye after seeing that," Harry said feigning disgust.
"Alright, they are both fed," Bella said as she covered herself and began to burp Carina.
"Where is Amy having here hen-do?" Sirius asked looking at Bella.
"Cissa's, I think my sisters hired the entertainment for the night," Bella said thoughtfully.
"Oh, then it will probably be a wine tasting or something girly," Sirius said looking relieved.
"Andi took us to a male strip club for my hen-do," Bella pointed out.
"Oh bugger," Sirius muttered.
"It will be fine, Padfoot, it isn't like she can do better than you," Harry said trying to sound sincere but falling short.
"You can be a real wanker sometimes," Sirius scowled as Bella giggled in the background.
Harry tuned out the conversation for a moment, the prank he had set up for Sirius had taken s lot of thought, but judging by the look on Sirius' face when he came downstairs, Harry had gotten his own back.
Sirius may have pranked him pretty good the morning after his bachelor party but Harry was fairly sure he had one-upped the old Marauder.
Diagon Alley, London, 9/15/1983, 14:38
Harry and Sirius made their way through the alley, today they had to get fitted for their dress robes.
"What colour robes are we wearing?" Harry asked as they made their way to Twilfit and Tattings.
"Black with silver trim," Sirius answered.
"Have you already picked out the rings?" Harry questioned.
"Yes, I had them made a month ago," Sirius grinned as they stepped into the shop.
"Boy will Moody be jealous," Harry muttered making Sirius glare daggers at him.
Twenty minutes later the two of them left the shop and made their way to the Happy Hippogriff intending to grab a bite of lunch.
"So where are you two going for your honeymoon?" Harry asked.
"We aren't Amy just got promoted six months ago and the corp is still undermanned after the war so we will have to wait a bit to go on a honeymoon," Sirius said sadly after the waitress had taken their order.
"I get it, you should have seen the auror corp after the second war less than a dozen who hadn't defected," Harry sighed.
"We don't have to worry about that happening again though," Sirius pointed out.
"We hope, I've done all I can on that front... well for now at least," Harry hastily corrected as the waitress arrived with their lunch.
"Then don't sweat it, you have other things to worry about like those cute little kids and my insane cousin," Sirius said with the slightest bit of a smirk on his lips.
"Yes, my beautiful children and loving wife," Harry agreed.
"That's not what I said," Sirius snorted.
"That's what I heard," Harry shrugged.
"So South America?" Sirius asked changing the subject.
"Yes, I will be collecting snake venom for a potions company to develop new antidotes," Harry explained.
"Better you than me, I hate snakes," Sirius shuddered.
"I am glad you reminded me, did you know Bella can transform into her animagus form again?" Harry asked innocently.
"Bugger," Sirius muttered unhappily.
After Bellatrix had gone into her second trimester she could not transform into her cobra form any longer. She had been trying ever since giving birth but something was holding her back. Two days ago she finally made the transformation much to her relief.
"How come you never learned to be an animagus?" Sirius asked bringing Harry out of his thoughts.
"Never had the time and the damn deaths head moth is a bitch to find," Harry admitted as he took a swig of his coke.
" We asked Hagrid to help us find the Ingredients," Sirius explained.
"You know what I might look into it, I always wanted to try it," Harry said thoughtfully.
"You should, I bet you're a deer just like your dad," Sirius said excitedly.
"I would rather be a predator species, like a hawk or something," Harry admitted as he finished his sandwich.
"A bird would be awesome," Sirius agreed before draining his glass of ale.
"Alright, I have to get home," Harry said after checking his watch and seeing he had been gone for an hour longer than he planned.
"Right, I'll see you in France Tuesday afternoon," Sirius said getting up as well.
"Yeah, I am not looking forward to that trip," Harry admitted.
"How are you getting there?" Sirius asked.
"Jet, I can't wait until they build the Chunnel," Harry lamented.
"What's the Chunnel?" Sirius asked as he walked with Harry to the apparition point.
"The muggles will build a tunnel under the English channel that they run a train through, I could get on at Kings Cross station and ride the train all the way to Nice," Harry explained.
"Impossible the channel is twenty miles!" Sirius exclaimed incredulously.
"I promise you they manage it," Harry assured him as they arrived at the apparition point.
"I'll believe it when I see it, take care mate," Sirius said before turning on the spot and disapparating.
'I should have bet money on it,' Harry lamented before he too disapparated heading home to his wife and hopefully sleeping children.