Albus Potter, Friends and Foes

Ch 7 Not Much of a Christmas

Very minor changes by my fabulous beta readers for a change.

*

Monday December twenty-first, twenty-twenty-one, Ginny showed up at the Ministry. All the members of the Department of Law Enforcement, and their spouses and anyone else living in their household, were going to be receiving their Covid-19 vaccine.

Ginny grumbled to anyone who would listen, "I wish that the Hogwarts students could be vaccinated and come home for Christmas. It is not going to be much of a Christmas with the children stuck at Hogwarts."

Ginny was reminded that Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and the surrounding area were scheduled to start receiving their jabs the middle of January, and they hoped that the whole magical community would be fully vaccinated by the end of January. That was good news, but it didn't much help this Christmas.

*

Harry looked at the report. This was going to be one of the most difficult conversations he could imagine. Rosa, the woman they were calling Pippa Lewis, was pregnant with Teddy's baby, and she was living at the New Burrow. He was going to have to tell Andromeda, and Victoire, and the rest of the family. Once the baby was born it was probably going to be at least suggestive if not obvious that Teddy was the father. He scheduled a meeting with Rosa, Arthur and Molly, Bill and Fleur, and Victoire for Tuesday evening, at the New Burrow. Ginny had to know too, so she and Minerva, who was too young to understand, would accompany him. He had already told Ginny, and she had cried and cried. Teddy going undercover had turned out to be more difficult than anyone could have imagined.

Rosa was obviously pregnant, and Harry started out, "Pippa, we ought to make sure we always refer you by that name, I have some information that the immediate family, and only the immediate family, needs to know.

"We know you are pregnant, and that is not a problem. Any new life is worth celebrating. We know who the father is. I know that because of the immorality, forced immorality, on the island it is not always certain who the father is, but we have ways of confirming it. The father of your baby is Edwardo Wolfman, who is an undercover agent. His real name is Teddy Lupin."

"MY Teddy?" Victoire shrieked.

"Your Teddy, Victoire," Harry confirmed.

"Are you married?" Pippa wondered.

"We are engaged to be engaged," Victoire mumbled. "You cannot go undercover if you are formally engaged, but we were going to get married as soon as Teddy is no longer undercover.

"Pippa, does Teddy have any more children?"

"One that I know of," Pippa confirmed. "The mother is evil, and ... that whole island is such an evil place.

"Edwardo is better than some. Many of the wizards just rape you, and you get used to it, but at least Edwardo tries to make it acceptable for both of you. You cannot be a good person and survive on that island, but there are plenty of wizards who are worse. I guess. I never want to go back.

"I am going to be happier staying hidden here until I die, instead of risking having them find me and torture and kill me."

"Do you want to marry Teddy, Edwardo?" Victoire wondered.

Pippa shook her head no. She put her head in her hands and started to tear up. "If your Teddy wants to marry you, I think you should. He is going to need love and understanding, if he escapes."

Harry added, "He is going to need to forgive himself, and accept love he does not think he will deserve, Victoire. If he escapes, and has maps of the island, it will be the most successful undercover operation we have ever had. He will be a hero, and just like Pippa he may have to be a hidden hero until we can capture the island."