Diane inspired a section of this chapter. Thank you.

*

Mid-morning the twenty-fourth of March Harry called up healer Dr. Kearney, telling him, "I had a bad night last night, but feel much better today."

"I am going to send someone over to take another test, Harry," the Dr. responded. "Magi have better immune systems than No-Mag, so we usually recover much quicker. We are just beginning to understand the way it works, but there seems to be some magical component in the immune system that just makes it work better. That does not mean that all the virus is gone from your system, however. I am real worried that Magi can seem to have recovered, and feel fine, and still spread this illness."

*

The evening of twenty-four March Hermione received a call on her mobile from Dr. Kearney.

"Hello, Dr. Kearney."

"Hello, Hermione. Jane's grandfather just died of Covid-19. There are not many Muggle deaths from this illness yet in Britain, but I am very worried that there will be many more. The No-Mag, Muggle, Prime Minister does not seem to be taking it all that seriously. Millions could die worldwide, tens of thousands in Great Britain, if the British Government doesn't take this virus more seriously.

"Do you want me to tell Jane?"

"The good news is that the magical medical masks seem to work. Our simple magical masks work better than the, I have to remember you call them Muggles instead of No-Maj, the Muggle N95 masks. There is even a store selling a variation of our mask that you can make invisible, or make so it is invisible to Muggles but Magi can see you are wearing it. Is George Weasley related to you?"

Hermione laughed. "George is my brother-in-law, and that sounds like him. My husband Ron is a partner in that business. I will ask Ron about the masks.

"I assume you want me to tell Jane about her grandfather."

"Yes, and I still want Hogwarts quarantined. We need to make sure every Magi is paranoid about masking and not gathering in groups without masks."

"How is Harry?"

"Feeling better, but still contagious. The marvelous magical Magi immune system has kicked in. He should be raring to go in a couple of days, but we need to quarantine him for another week at least."

*

"Hello, Hermione. What now?" Lavender wondered.

"I am sorry to call you in the evening, but Jane Clark's grandfather just died," Hermione replied. "I can tell her, if you want, but I know you have been working on her case, and I wondered if you would be the better person to tell her."

"Sometimes I think half of my work, and most of the more difficult parts of it, are after what one would call normal business hours. It was a little rough when the children were small, but we lived with my parents during those first years, which helped. I guess you could say they live with us now; they have their own flat in the same complex where we live, and we both own the sections where we live.

"I would like to visit Jane at Hogwarts. I can be there first thing in the morning. I will call and let Minerva know, and then either use her Floo or the one at the Hogsmeade Auror office."

*

Jane Clark noticed a masked Mrs. Lavender Blackburn waiting for her as she exited the Gryffindor common room to go to breakfast, and Jane sniffed, "It is grandfather, isn't it?"

Lavender nodded yes. "You still have your Aunt and Uncle Smith, and they would like you to live with them, if you want to. Mr. and Mrs. Potter love you as well, and it is your choice. It is not like you have lost everyone who loves you, although this is very hard. I am so sorry for you."

"I like Mr. and Mrs. Potter, but they are not family," Jane thought. "They live a very complicated life. Everybody is very intense.

"I like Uncle Smith's wife. She's pregnant, you know. I think I would like to live with them, but we should talk first."

"I may be able to arrange a visit this weekend," Lavender suggested. "We will have to stay a couple of meters apart, but at least you can talk face to face. I'm trying to arrange something called a Zoom call, with computers in the Muggle Study building, as well. It is not as good as meeting in person, but it is better than just talking on a mobile, and it is usually better than a Floo call."

"I'd like that," Jane replied, still sniffing. "Grandmother was, with her memory, so much of her was gone already, but losing both of them, grandfather too, it's so hard."

*

Cleo noticed Jane as the Gryffindor girls walked to breakfast. She seemed exceptionally sad this morning. As they reached the Great Hall Harry Gudgeon walked up to her, and they hugged, as Jane broke out into big sobs. Roseanne Creevey told the people who were gathering around the couple, "Jane's grandfather died last night. She has just lost both of her Muggle grandparents this week."

Scorpius wondered, "Is Harry Gudgeon sweet on Jane Clark?"

"They are a good match," Cleo quietly let Scorpius know. "I have made shampoo and soap for both of them. They are both very young, and Jane isn't ready for any perfume yet, but I've altered the scents a little after seeing that they are a pair. I think it will last, but I am not forcing anything."

"Isn't his father one of those awful families that supported Voldemort?" Scorpius thought.

"His father is an Auror, but works for Mrs. Lavender Blackburn in the Domestic Affairs department," Albus let the group know. "Both he and his wife lost a spouse during the war, well after The Battle of Hogwarts, as they were capturing the last of the people loyal to Tom Riddle. They are related to the nasty Gudgeons, but I gather that the cousins do not get along."

*

Harry woke up the fifth of April just as Ginny was climbing back into bed. He arose and used the loo, shaved, and did the spell that both brushed his teeth and freshened his breath. The then went back to his and Ginny's bed, and pulled her into his body, relishing at the flesh to flesh contact. He dozed off, waiting for Ginny to wake up.

Ginny felt Harry pull her body into his, relaxed, and let herself fall asleep. When she awoke it was to find herself still pressed against Harry, her way too soft body presses against his hard body. All the exercise that Harry did had kept him, she thought, just as handsome as when they were first married. She loved snuggling into Harry. Ginny wiggled, knowing that wiggling her body against Harry would wake him up and get his attention.

...

"It is probably selfish of me," Ginny reflected, as she and Harry were getting ready to separate, "but this is my idea of heaven. You and me and our naked bodies touching."

Harry laughed. Life was very good at the moment.

"Minerva is probably awake," Harry reflected, as he and Ginny finally separated. Harry promptly dressed.

Ginny summoned the clothes she had set aside the night before, and dressed, sitting on their bed. Ginny really did not want to call Mitzi to help her until she was dressed in the morning, partly to give Mitzi more time, and partly to keep the times when she and Harry were in the bedroom together private.

Harry and Ginny went into the nursery together to find that Minerva was already awake. Mabel, who still insisted she was a house elf, was there.

"I will get breakfast ready for master and mistress," Mabel announced. "Little mistress has been very good, as always."

Mitzi appeared, and Ginny let go of Harry's hand. Minerva was indicating that they should go over to the loo, and she pointed to the small loo and said, "Did. I did it in there!"

"You went in the loo? Good girl!" Harry exclaimed.

Minerva beamed.

"Do you want me to carry you downstairs?" Harry wondered.

"Carry," Minerva replied, hands up in the air.

There was a totally different kind of pleasure carrying your little daughter down the stairs, Harry thought. Too soon they grow up, and this pleasure is gone. "Down, down, down, down, down," Harry repeated as they went down one flight of stairs.

"Down, down, down, down, down" Minerva repeated as they went down the next set.

Harry put Minerva in her high chair, a bowl of "O" cereal in front of her. Minerva carefully picked up the "O's" one at a time and put them in her mouth, patient and precise. "O's" she said. "O's in mouth. O's in my mouth."

"O's in my mouth?" Harry asked, as he put one of the O's in his mouth.

"MY O's," Minerva insisted. "Milk," she asked.

Mabel had a sippy cup with milk for Minerva. Minerva looked at the cup, carefully grabbed it, and put it up to her mouth. Harry remembered how wild and messy Lily Luna could be. He was not sure how he and Ginny had created two such different little girls.

*

The sixth of April the Ministry IT specialist set up the conference room for the meeting, and Hermione pointed out, "Everything on the Wizarding World Wide Web is encrypted. The IT specialists on the West Coast of America and the Department of Paranoia in Switzerland insist that we secure our internet connections so there is no chance of anyone other than Magi getting in."

Harry Potter, sitting right next to Hermione, remarked, "I am glad I can be here in person. It is hard not being able to see the children, though."

"You still have one at home," Hermione noted, as other people were still filing into the conference room.

"Minerva will be two next month," Harry reflected, shaking his head. "They grow up so fast. Every day she has more words. Grandmother Molly is an expert at playing with and teaching the very young, and Audrey is not far behind. Molly says Minerva is very smart, and the easiest child she has ever taken care of."

"Rose was a good baby and toddler," Hermione thought. "Hugo was more of a challenge, and I am glad Molly and the people around the New Burrow took care of him most of the time."

WW Chang came on, speaking from Switzerland. "I thought it would be easy to pass on the post of Chinese Minister of Magic to BD Wong and just take on the part time job of Chief Mugwump of the International Confederation of Witches and Wizards every second or third year," BD groaned. "The first part of this 2019/2020 term was easy, but ever since this Covid-19 illness started to spread it has been a nightmare.

"I have learned more about the magical immune system than I ever wanted to know. I am turning this meeting over to Dr. Pfister, our infectious disease specialist."

"There are very few Magi in the world," Dr. Pfister started out. "With only a few millions of us, having enough people with all the specialized knowledge we need is a problem. We are very lucky that we have a group of scientists and medical experts that have worked with the Swiss pharmaceutical industry. Several prominent Magi have funded advanced research both here in Switzerland and at Mayo Magical Medical in North America, and that has been critical to understanding what we are facing. Most magical hospitals do not have an infectious disease specialist, not because we cannot catch infectious diseases, but because we usually do not get sick from catching them.

"We are very lucky that our magical genes give us protection and keep us healthy well into our second century, but eventually we do wear out. Many of us will have a few months to a couple of years when we just run down, and then we die.

"We have had four Magi die in Italy that we diagnosed with Covid-19. Two of them had the shortness of breath and other symptoms that would indicate to us that they died of Covid-19. One of the other ones was showing symptoms of being close to death anyway, and we are not sure if Covid-19 hastened his death. The other one was in good health for a one-hundred and forty-year-old Magi, but she went into rapid decline and was dead within a couple of weeks. This is not unheard of in Magi, so we have no idea what part Covid-19 played in her death.

"We also have several ways of helping patients' breath and recover from respiratory illnesses, and we have saved a couple of Magi with Covid-19."

Dr. Pfister looked over to WW Chang, who informed the attendees, "Once we knew that we were going to need masks, one of our families that works making things with paper found a mask maker that needed some help to increase production. With some Magi and Goblin magic we increased their yield, and can skim off just part of his increased yield to supply half a million masks a week. We still have to transport them all over our world. The spells you need to know to go to almost one-hundred percent effective are easy.

"In most of Asia people wear masks in public often anyway, so between the masks and the other things we are doing Asia should have Covid-19 reasonably well under control."

Cindy Edington, the longtime North American Minister of Magic, spoke up next. "We have all kinds of problems here in North America, and in all the America's. The Magi in the North America can be a fractious lot, and some of them have told me that they did not migrate to the US to obey silly No-Maj rules. Most Canadians are more obedient, but not all. Mexico and Latin America are not much better, and in many cases worse. We are sure that Magi will fare much better than No-Maj, but we still could have major problems over here. I hear you have invisible masks in Britain. Can we buy some?"

Hermione replied, "Yes. We start with the masks from China. One problem we have is that the masks have to be dipped in a potion, and one of the magic plants that goes into the potion is in short supply. I will be sending out to everyone a list telling you which plants and plant extracts we need. The other problem is that the potion is difficult to make and difficult to apply. We are working on it, but if at all possible please wear the normal magical masks, not the special ones."

The meeting lasted two hours, and when it was finished everyone was much more worried than they were before the meeting. As the meeting was ending TD Cheng did tell Harry, "We need you here Wednesday and Thursday, all day."

TD did not say any more, and Harry worried about what was going on. If it was normal administrative business it seldom took more than a day, and someone would tell him what was going on.

*

Tuesday the seventh of April Victoire asked to have dinner with the Potters. "I was in Italy and caught this Covid stuff. I am not still contagious, and have great magical antibodies for the sickness in my system," Victoire told Ginny on her mobile after asking to come over.

"We both caught it as well," Ginny let Victoire know. "Harry caught it from the Smith family, Jane Clark's uncle and grandparents. I had a foggy brain but was not too sick otherwise. Harry had a couple of rough nights, but he is over it and is not contagious as well. Minerva wasn't even sick. We will see you at six, unless Harry has to work late. I will call him and then call you back if we have to change dinner."

Ginny confirmed the time, and just before six Victoire came through the Floo in the Potters' kitchen.

"We are eating in the dining room," Ginny indicated. "The Elves, Mitzi and her family, Dobedo and his family, and some of the other Elves, are eating in the kitchen."

Victoire took Minerva's hand, and Harry led Ginny up the stairs. When they reached the stairs Minerva crawled up, Victoire carefully watching from behind. At both the first floor and the living and dining room floor Minerva reached the top of the stairs, pointed to the stairs, and exclaimed, "Did it! Up, up, up."

"You climbed up the stairs all by yourself!" Victoire agreed.

"Up, up, up, up, up," Minerva added. "Up stairs."

After sitting down for dinner Harry wondered, "What were you doing in Italy?"

"The healers are really worried, Uncle Harry," Victoire confessed. "Healthy Magi should not have any problem fighting off this illness. We really don't get sick with most Muggle illnesses. Very old or not healthy Magi could be another problem. I was learning, Muggle healers call it respiratory therapy, helping people to breath. You do not need to be a fully qualified healer to do it, but it takes a lot of work. The healers think many of us may need to learn this respiratory therapy if this illness spreads all over the world."

Harry shared what had happened to Jane's grandparents, and Victoire shared more about her experiences in Italy and Switzerland.

Finally, as dinner was ending, Victoire asked, as she often did, "What can you tell me about Teddy?"

"He is undercover," Harry told Victoire. "We've talked about this before. That is all that I can tell you."

"His name on your Tapestry is even fuzzy, like he is there but not really. You are hiding something!"

"Victoire," Harry sighed, "I do not know everything, and what I do know I cannot tell you."

"Is he ever going to be back to me?" Victoire sobbed. "The longer he is gone the more worried I get." Ginny moved over to comfort the distraught girl, glancing at Harry.

Harry became very downcast. "Victoire, I really do not know. I do know that we will do everything in our power to bring Teddy back, but right now I do not have any comforting words. Pray, and hope. That is all you can do."

*

2021