A Fond Farewell...
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Thank you all for sharing in Harry and Dan's lives - it's been wonderful chronicling them. For those of you who want to know how the story goes from here on in, the rest of their tale can be found underneath the lj-cut below...
For those of you who might be interested in following the tale of another version of Draco Malfoy, and an entirely different Harry - there's a new roleplay project just beginning; information on that, and the names of the journals involved, can be found here.
And now, I present the rest of The Story of Dan Madison:
In the short term...
After furnishing their new house and settling in, and spending a week of fun in the sun in Tortola alongside Aunt Hermione and her beau, Beth, Brian and Arianna, the family will settle into a routine just in time for the girls to begin school at the Norcross School of Wizardry - Lisha in the fourth grade, Kim in the tenth.
Kim will have trouble, at first, settling into a routine of schoolwork and study, but eventually she'll get used to the idea that with a little effort, she can be good at school - she'll average high C's and low B's, with the occasional A. Her unusual, handmade earrings, which she'll wear daily with her school uniform, will garner much attention; she'll start taking orders, at a greatly reduced rate of $15/pair, and it will swiftly become a status symbol to be wearing a pair of Kim's earrings. This will help her gain a certain popularity - as will the party that Dan suggests she throw, in the beginning part of the school year, inviting her whole class to drop by for pizza and soda, video games and movies, and maybe a dip in the pool. They'll expect perhaps 30-50 kids at this party; they'll get, over the course of the night, a total of about 250 dropping in, leading Dan to call in emergency aid in chaperoning from Beth, Brian and Arianna. Kim herself will be rather bewildered by the hugeness of "her" party, socializing mainly with the same group of girls and boys who she's already become comfortable with - but for a long time afterward, she will be well-known around her school, and spoken of admiringly for having the type of parents who would allow a party like that.
Lisha will have a bit more trouble finding her place in her school's social structure. Quiet and shy, she'll make friends more slowly than Kim. One of the boys will tease her because she's quiet, but really, he just thinks she's pretty - and it will bother her until Harry explains it to her, at which point it won't trouble her anymore. Her social "settling point" is the party celebrating her birthday on December 4th, complete with bouncy castle and cotton candy machine, to which her entire class and ballet class are invited (she takes ballet and piano lessons). By that point, she'll have found friends, who come over regularly to do homework and for play dates.
Dan and Harry will be active in their girls' lives, getting to know their friends and encouraging them to have friends over, and keeping close ties with the parents of the girls' friends. Dan's standard modus operandi is to call and introduce himself, invite the parents over for dinner. The evening will begin with wine or drinks in the formal dining room, punctuated by the wafting aroma of Harry's heavenly cooking drifting in from the kitchen, during which Dan and Harry and the parents - children having been banished to the family room, rec room or playroom - will discuss matters of mutual interest, Dan turning on the patented Malfoy charm to put the parents at ease. Dinner will be next, and of Harry's usual exquisite quality (prompting many requests for recipes), followed by more playtime for the kids and conversation for the adults. Dan will be candid about his concerns for his girls, and quick to identify and try to allay the other parents' concerns - such as, for example, the appropriateness of a young girls' sleepover being hosted by two male parents with no female in attendance. In the end, the other parents will go away with a positive impression of Dan and Harry, and reassured that their own children are, when visiting Dan and Harry's home, in good hands.
Kim will continue with her tutoring for at least the first half of the school year, and will keep making jewelry in what spare time she has left - mostly for friends and parents of friends, but selling some on consignment at various shops to augment her healthy allowance. Pressured to take up an afterschool activity, as all the kids at school do, she'll drift into the Drama Club, and find a surprising aptitude for it. She'll be cast in two separate roles for the first production of the year, one with three lines in Act 1, the other with five lines in Act 2, and will wander around the house for weeks beforehand, practicing her lines to empty air. When the time comes, she'll do a splendid job. For the second play of the year, she'll have a more major role that lasts the duration of the play, and do equally well with that.
Dan, in the role of supportive parent, will spend a great deal of time helping to build scenery and doing backstage work to help in Kim's drama-club productions. He'll also fill the same role for Lisha's class plays, learning carpentry and painting and such as he goes along. Meanwhile, Harry will help chaperone class trips for the girls (except Kim's drama club's end-of-year overnight trip to see two plays on Broadway; Dan will chaperone that one) and become extremely well-known, and much lauded, for his role in bake sales and cake auctions, producing massive, artfully-decorated cakes and confections of incredible quality and flavor. Both of them will make a point of being home wherever humanly possible when the girls get home from school, to provide snacks and supervision and help with homework and just generally "be there". Sadly, their active parenting roles will leave no time to devote to the Portal - however, the Portal has much more funding and many more volunteers than it once did, thanks to their efforts; and they'll continue to donate liberally to the Portal, in perpetuity.
Eventually, the boys will adopt the girls - simple by wizarding law, more complex by Muggle law as Harry's still a British national. The girls take the boys' last names as middle names, keeping their own surname (Rosado) to avoid confusion and having to change records and the like.
As time goes on, Kim...
Kim will continue through high school, getting decent but not outstanding grades, learning to drive and Apparate and driving Dan's old beat-up Corolla, hanging out with friends, having the occasional date - never getting serious with any boy; her earliest experiences with a boy left her leery of anything more than a casual date and a few chaste kisses. She'll go to her junior prom with a boy who likes her much more than she likes him; she'll go to her senior prom with a boy she considers a friend - and on both occasions, Harry and Dan will be misty-eyed as they watch their little girl walk to the ceremonial limousine. Her graduation will be an occasion of great celebration, and will be commemorated by a gift of a brand-new sporty convertible, which Kim will adore.
From there, Kim will go on to attend Georgia State's wizarding studies program - with no idea what she might like to study, but propelled by Dan's insistence that she go to college regardless, she'll aim for a "general studies" degree. She'll move into the dorms, live there for her first half year - then, at Christmas, present her fathers with a carefully reasoned series of arguments for why she wants to move back home again, culminating with the simple and indisputable, "I miss being here." Since Lisha is, by this time, using Kim's closet as her overflow space, and because Kim does want a measure of autonomy, the boys will remodel (with the aid of magic) the third garage and part of Lisha's old playroom and underlying rec room into a quirky little three-story studio apartment, with loft bedroom upstairs and bathroom downstairs. Kim will still hardly see her family on weekdays, being preoccupied with school and social activities - most of her high school friends are going to either Georgia State or nearby Georgia Tech - but she'll derive comfort from being close to home regardless.
In the beginning of her third year, a sciences class chosen out of curiosity will fuel an unexpected interest in Kim; she'll decide shortly thereafter to pursue a degree in wizarding biology and life sciences. She'll also meet a young man who provokes a similarly unexpected interest from her. Warren is older than she is, a serious, soft-spoken young man, light-skinned African-American, observant Southern Baptist, pre-law student and active volunteer for several causes about which he is most vocal - and a Muggle. They'll start dating casually, then more intently, then exclusively. After about a year of acquaintanceship, when things have gotten too serious between them for such things to be ignored any longer, Kim will break the news to him about her magical nature. He'll be startled, shocked - will tell her he needs time to think, and not talk to her for many weeks. In this time, Kim will cry buckets, and come to terms with how much Warren means to her, yet despair of ever seeing him again. But one day, he will show up at the front door of the house, bouquet of roses in hand, and ask to see her - and as Dan and Harry stand by, protective of their little girl, he will tell Kim, in simple yet emotional tones, how he has given thought to the matter, how he has come to terms with her magic even though it disturbed him greatly at first, how he realizes that it is an integral part of her and thus must be embrace, not merely endured - and that he loves her, deeply and sincerely, and wants to spend his life with her, if she'll have him. And Kim will throw her arms around his neck and cry in his arms, and sniffle, yes, yes...
They will not be married for many years, however. Warren refuses to be wed until he can properly support a wife and family (meaning, until he has finished his law degree, passed the bar exam and obtained a full-time job) and will not hear of being supported or aided financially by his fiancee's family, or even by his fiancee. Kim will finish up her own degree, and prompted by her fathers' urging, take an apartment of her very own while she begins working in a research position in the private sector, while Warren studies intensively and works part time as an intern at a law firm; the two see each other only on weekends, and only rarely, yet remain devoted to each other. Eventually, the two sets of parents meet - a meeting made awkward by their cultural differences, and the fact that Warren's parents' devout faith expressly prohibits the boys' male-male partnership. In the end, though, it'll all work out. Warren's father is an easygoing man who's inclined to accept the boys based on the fact that they've raised such a "good girl", and Warren's mother - more religious and hesitant - will eventually be won over by Harry's cooking. Harry will try to get them all together, parents and kids and all, for dinner at least once a month.
Eventually, Kim and Warren will be married, in the little Southern Baptist church in which he was raised... Kim's never been religious, but because it means so much to Warren, she's been reading the Bible, attending church with him when he goes. Some eyebrows will be raised when both Harry and Dan escort Kim down the aisle - but that was one point on which she would not budge, and Warren did not even try to argue. Lisha will sing at the wedding, a song so lovely it brings tears to people's eyes; and the reception will feature a mix of down-home Southern cooking, expensive nouveau cuisine (canapes AND chitlins) and Harry's homemade wedding cake, a thing of great beauty to behold.
As a wedding gift, Harry and Dan will buy the newlyweds a house - a home of their choosing, outside the Atlanta city perimeter, about an hour's drive from the boys' house. Warren will be adamant that it's too extravagent a gift, and will insist on making monthly "mortgage" payments to the boys, despite the fact that his salary as junior lawyer for a nonprofit firm is less than lavish. This will continue until the birth of Kim's first child, at which point she will quit working to be a stay-at-home mom (by mutual, prior agreement with her husband) and Dan will lobby intensively until Warren gives in and agrees to accept the house as a gift, "for our grandchildrens' sake". Kim will have three children in all; they will see their grandfathers a minimum of once every two weeks, and both boys will be active, eager grandparents.
Meanwhile, in Lisha's world...
Lisha takes a year of ballet before becoming bored with it, recognizing that with her late start, there's only so much she'll ever be able to do - next year, she drops ballet in favor of modern dance. The boys convert the third garage into a dance studio, complete with mirrored walls, for her use; she practices diligently every night. (Later, when Kim moves out, Lisha will take over Kim's old room as a studio instead.) She'll also start singing lessons as well, over Harry and Dan's protests that she's doing too much and will overstrain herself - to counter their claims, she continues to get A's and B's in school, and is her normal happy, smiling self throughout.
At the age of 13, in the eighth grade, Lisha forms a "girl group" with two of her friends, with herself as "front man", singing and dancing along to, first pop songs, then songs of her own invention. As a companion to the singing group, she organizes a backup band, guitar and keyboards and drums, also comprised of her classmates. Lisha's influence is sharply visible in the band's music and videos, which feature not only shades of pop, rock and soul, but also streaks of big band and jazz influence. The group practices regularly in the converted garage, culminating finally in a performance at Lisha's school talent show that garners a standing ovation from the kids and parents there. Harry and Dan are, naturally, exceptionally proud; and Dan will tell people later that he knew, from that performance, that Lisha would go on to great things.
As well she does. The singing group and backup band stay together, driven by Lisha's determination and focus, rehearsing and performing intermittent shows at other schools, wizarding and Muggle alike, even a few colleges and other venues. When Lisha is 15, the group performs at a Muggle private school's fundraising variety show, which contains in its audience a talent coordinator from the Cartoon Network. He is smitten by the group, and arranges for them to film a series of clips to be shown as "bumpers" around their Adult Swim lineup at night and during the day.
Immediately, Lisha and the group are catapulted into stardom, appearing on talk shows and magazine covers. They are courted by major record labels, finally signing a deal that - while apparently modest in scope - allows them to retain creative control of their material and a greater than average percentage of royalties. Their first album is a massive popular success, spawning several radio hits; their second album, hard on the heels of the first, is just as successful. Hollywood comes calling, with offers of television and movie roles. Lisha is quickly rich in her own right, and famous.
Throughout it all, Lisha remains remarkably level-headed and practical, relying on her fathers for advice and guidance. Despite the pressure to "go Hollywood", she insists on finishing out her school years at her old school, recording and doing television appearances scheduled to fit around her classes. While her bandmates are seen in the hippest and hottest places, cavorting with young stars and starlets, Lisha goes on dates only with her father Harry along as chaperone. Similarly, she's always accompanied by one or both of her fathers in the recording studio, and on the sets of the television shows and movies from which she accepts small but meaty parts. She builds a reputation as being hard-working and exacting, but also pleasant and even-tempered - no "diva" dramatics here! Very few people realize how determined Lisha is, how driven - the personality she projects is one of openness, honesty, a wholesome "good girl", and she's embraced as being a rare good influence for the young people who flock to buy her records, see her concerts, and occasionally, camp out on Harry and Dan's front lawn in hopes of seeing her.
But there's resentment from, especially, the other two girls in the group, who become tired of eternally being "backup" to Lisha's stardom. The band breaks up when Lisha is 20, after recording their fourth album. Lisha doesn't waste time mourning the group; she's ready for new things by this time, anyway. She takes on more acting work, slowly but steadily building a reputation for herself as an actress of worth beyond her name and fame - traveling to Hollywood from Atlanta, where she still lives in her old bedroom with the family, accompanied still by one or more of her dads. She also continues recording music, with studio musicians for backup. Her first solo album features mainly pop tunes, what the fans are familiar with - her second is an album of children's songs, with proceeds donated to charity. During this time, she also takes on a role in a PBS children's show, the only human in a cast of Muppet-style puppets, dancing and singing and storytelling. This role, which she keeps for three years, will eventually garner her more attention than any other: the show is rerun for years, to scores of young children.
By the time Lisha is 24, she's ready to take a break. For awhile, she spends her time relaxing at home, playing aunt to her sister's (then) two children, and vacationing with her fathers in Tortola while she considers what the next great challenge might be. She finds it in an offer from an off-Broadway company, wondering if she might be interested in auditioning for a role in their newest production... she goes to New York to do so, surprising the company greatly (they didn't think she'd actually accept!) and winning the part hands-down. The decision causes her some anguish, though - there's no way for her to commute via Floo or Portkey without it looking strange to Muggles, and she's never lived alone before, and is really in no rush to do so. Dan and Harry solve the dilemma for her by moving to New York with her, taking an apartment some ten blocks away so as to be at hand when needed. Thus, Lisha moves into her first apartment, begins a grueling schedule of rehearsals and, later, shows almost every night with a matinee on Saturday. Despite the demanding schedule, she comes to love acting before a live audience immediately, and is exhausted but happy.
It is during this time that Lisha first meets Jason, stagehand and part-time artist prone to wearing all-black, skinny and long-haired and intense; the two strike up a friendship, as he takes her around the city, showing her the tourist spots and the sites known only to a native, and teaching her to appreciate them all. Jason is protective of Lisha, and over time their friendship becomes a romance - Lisha's first true love affair.
Her first production finishes its run, after receiving great critical acclaim; she auditions for and wins another role, a lesser part but on Broadway this time, and receives critical acclaim for that as well. About a year after her initial move to New York City, during a luncheon date with her fathers, Lisha breaks the news to them very gently that, while their presence is always wanted, she doesn't *need* them there anymore, and they're free to move back to Atlanta if they want. This is a bit of a blow for both men, who've become quite accustomed to being there for their "baby" - Harry more so than Dan. They agree, however, to return to Atlanta, leaving Lisha on her own in the city, where she flourishes and thrives... for about six weeks, until an on-stage accident results in a broken ankle, ending her run with the Broadway production and sending her back to Atlanta to be cared for by her fathers until she heals. Jason follows her, Portkeying back to New York to his job as needed, staying by her side as much as possible. Harry, in particular, is a bit jealous - but copes.
Eventually, Lisha heals and moves back to New York City, where she picks up a part in a third production, again winning critical acclaim - this time in a role that requires no dancing. She shifts her interest toward choreography instead, taking classes on the few days she isn't on stage. When her latest role ends, she starts collaborating with a playwright of her acquaintance on a musical production, contributing dialogue as well as choreography... a year and a half later, the production debuts, to moderate critical acclaim but without much financial success, closing a month after its opening. The show will have more success as a traveling production, some years later. In the meantime, she's recorded another album, which reaches #14 on the charts, and has taken up cohabitation with Jason in an apartment that serves as both residence and painting studio for him - after much consideration, and believing in his talent, Lisha has opted to take over the household finances, offering him the opportunity to paint exclusively. Jason's style undergoes many changes and much maturation during this time; he eventually gains quite a following. They also take in a foster child, a male toddler named Nicholas, who they end up adopting shortly thereafter, and start proceedings to adopt a girl from Nicaragua.
After a span of years, Lisha and Jason will decide to step back from the hectic pace of New York, and will move back to the Atlanta area with their son so as to be closer to the family - who will welcome them back with open arms and much joy. The adoption proceedings finally come to an end, bringing them their little girl. They're eventually married in a simple civil ceremony, with their families close at hand. Lisha will continue to choreograph and collaborate with various playwrights, occasionally recording music, or traveling to Hollywood or New York for a few weeks to take on a TV or movie role, even participating in a reunion of her group and managing a few simple dance steps.
In the end, Harry and Dan...
After being parents for so many years, the nest is far too empty after Lisha's gone, especially after her return home with broken ankle and second departure. Harry and Dan spend time traveling, spend extensive time in Tortola, but still it seems lonely without kids around. Harry, especially, is missing being a daddy, and even visits from their beloved grandchildren can't quite fill the gap.
Shortly after Lisha's ankle finishes healing and she's back in New York again, there's a tragedy, publicized across both wizarding and Muggle news: a wizarding family of six children aged 3 to 14 left orphaned and penniless after a house fire. Harry and Dan discuss the matter briefly, then apply to take them in and are accepted. This keeps them happily occupied for the next twenty-five years or so, after which there's another group of kids... and another... and another... They build expansions onto the house as needed, adding more bedrooms, more recreation space, occasionally remodeling to fit the needs of their growing and shrinking family, learning how to parent children of all ages and both sexes, and having a merry time of it all.
On Harry and Dan's 100th anniversary (they marry, eventually, once Georgia adopts same-sex marriage laws, but they always count their anniversary as the day they pledged their love to each other in that San Francisco hotel) the kids get together to throw a giant party for all of the family - five sets of "children" in all, plus their kids, and grandkids, and so on... A picture will be taken, of their great-great-great-grandchild via Kim playing happily in a playpen with their current infant foster-child. Another will be taken, at a ridiculously large resolution, of the entire family - all 100+ of them. The latter photograph will be blown up to massive size, framed, enchanted, and hung on the living room wall, whereupon every time Harry or Dan enters the room they'll be greeted by a massive chorus of "Hello, Dad/Granddad/Pop/Papa". And they'll look up at the photo and wave. And the photo's occupants will wave back. And Harry and Dan will smile.
They'll go on to a ripe old age, loving each other and surrounded by the love of their family, fostering and adopting children for as long as they can parent them successfully, so that the love just grows and grows and grows.
And they'll live happily ever after.
Thank you all, again, for your attention and your support.
ms_semicolon and nessime_lisen
Thank you all for sharing in Harry and Dan's lives - it's been wonderful chronicling them. For those of you who want to know how the story goes from here on in, the rest of their tale can be found underneath the lj-cut below...
For those of you who might be interested in following the tale of another version of Draco Malfoy, and an entirely different Harry - there's a new roleplay project just beginning; information on that, and the names of the journals involved, can be found here.
And now, I present the rest of The Story of Dan Madison:
In the short term...
After furnishing their new house and settling in, and spending a week of fun in the sun in Tortola alongside Aunt Hermione and her beau, Beth, Brian and Arianna, the family will settle into a routine just in time for the girls to begin school at the Norcross School of Wizardry - Lisha in the fourth grade, Kim in the tenth.
Kim will have trouble, at first, settling into a routine of schoolwork and study, but eventually she'll get used to the idea that with a little effort, she can be good at school - she'll average high C's and low B's, with the occasional A. Her unusual, handmade earrings, which she'll wear daily with her school uniform, will garner much attention; she'll start taking orders, at a greatly reduced rate of $15/pair, and it will swiftly become a status symbol to be wearing a pair of Kim's earrings. This will help her gain a certain popularity - as will the party that Dan suggests she throw, in the beginning part of the school year, inviting her whole class to drop by for pizza and soda, video games and movies, and maybe a dip in the pool. They'll expect perhaps 30-50 kids at this party; they'll get, over the course of the night, a total of about 250 dropping in, leading Dan to call in emergency aid in chaperoning from Beth, Brian and Arianna. Kim herself will be rather bewildered by the hugeness of "her" party, socializing mainly with the same group of girls and boys who she's already become comfortable with - but for a long time afterward, she will be well-known around her school, and spoken of admiringly for having the type of parents who would allow a party like that.
Lisha will have a bit more trouble finding her place in her school's social structure. Quiet and shy, she'll make friends more slowly than Kim. One of the boys will tease her because she's quiet, but really, he just thinks she's pretty - and it will bother her until Harry explains it to her, at which point it won't trouble her anymore. Her social "settling point" is the party celebrating her birthday on December 4th, complete with bouncy castle and cotton candy machine, to which her entire class and ballet class are invited (she takes ballet and piano lessons). By that point, she'll have found friends, who come over regularly to do homework and for play dates.
Dan and Harry will be active in their girls' lives, getting to know their friends and encouraging them to have friends over, and keeping close ties with the parents of the girls' friends. Dan's standard modus operandi is to call and introduce himself, invite the parents over for dinner. The evening will begin with wine or drinks in the formal dining room, punctuated by the wafting aroma of Harry's heavenly cooking drifting in from the kitchen, during which Dan and Harry and the parents - children having been banished to the family room, rec room or playroom - will discuss matters of mutual interest, Dan turning on the patented Malfoy charm to put the parents at ease. Dinner will be next, and of Harry's usual exquisite quality (prompting many requests for recipes), followed by more playtime for the kids and conversation for the adults. Dan will be candid about his concerns for his girls, and quick to identify and try to allay the other parents' concerns - such as, for example, the appropriateness of a young girls' sleepover being hosted by two male parents with no female in attendance. In the end, the other parents will go away with a positive impression of Dan and Harry, and reassured that their own children are, when visiting Dan and Harry's home, in good hands.
Kim will continue with her tutoring for at least the first half of the school year, and will keep making jewelry in what spare time she has left - mostly for friends and parents of friends, but selling some on consignment at various shops to augment her healthy allowance. Pressured to take up an afterschool activity, as all the kids at school do, she'll drift into the Drama Club, and find a surprising aptitude for it. She'll be cast in two separate roles for the first production of the year, one with three lines in Act 1, the other with five lines in Act 2, and will wander around the house for weeks beforehand, practicing her lines to empty air. When the time comes, she'll do a splendid job. For the second play of the year, she'll have a more major role that lasts the duration of the play, and do equally well with that.
Dan, in the role of supportive parent, will spend a great deal of time helping to build scenery and doing backstage work to help in Kim's drama-club productions. He'll also fill the same role for Lisha's class plays, learning carpentry and painting and such as he goes along. Meanwhile, Harry will help chaperone class trips for the girls (except Kim's drama club's end-of-year overnight trip to see two plays on Broadway; Dan will chaperone that one) and become extremely well-known, and much lauded, for his role in bake sales and cake auctions, producing massive, artfully-decorated cakes and confections of incredible quality and flavor. Both of them will make a point of being home wherever humanly possible when the girls get home from school, to provide snacks and supervision and help with homework and just generally "be there". Sadly, their active parenting roles will leave no time to devote to the Portal - however, the Portal has much more funding and many more volunteers than it once did, thanks to their efforts; and they'll continue to donate liberally to the Portal, in perpetuity.
Eventually, the boys will adopt the girls - simple by wizarding law, more complex by Muggle law as Harry's still a British national. The girls take the boys' last names as middle names, keeping their own surname (Rosado) to avoid confusion and having to change records and the like.
As time goes on, Kim...
Kim will continue through high school, getting decent but not outstanding grades, learning to drive and Apparate and driving Dan's old beat-up Corolla, hanging out with friends, having the occasional date - never getting serious with any boy; her earliest experiences with a boy left her leery of anything more than a casual date and a few chaste kisses. She'll go to her junior prom with a boy who likes her much more than she likes him; she'll go to her senior prom with a boy she considers a friend - and on both occasions, Harry and Dan will be misty-eyed as they watch their little girl walk to the ceremonial limousine. Her graduation will be an occasion of great celebration, and will be commemorated by a gift of a brand-new sporty convertible, which Kim will adore.
From there, Kim will go on to attend Georgia State's wizarding studies program - with no idea what she might like to study, but propelled by Dan's insistence that she go to college regardless, she'll aim for a "general studies" degree. She'll move into the dorms, live there for her first half year - then, at Christmas, present her fathers with a carefully reasoned series of arguments for why she wants to move back home again, culminating with the simple and indisputable, "I miss being here." Since Lisha is, by this time, using Kim's closet as her overflow space, and because Kim does want a measure of autonomy, the boys will remodel (with the aid of magic) the third garage and part of Lisha's old playroom and underlying rec room into a quirky little three-story studio apartment, with loft bedroom upstairs and bathroom downstairs. Kim will still hardly see her family on weekdays, being preoccupied with school and social activities - most of her high school friends are going to either Georgia State or nearby Georgia Tech - but she'll derive comfort from being close to home regardless.
In the beginning of her third year, a sciences class chosen out of curiosity will fuel an unexpected interest in Kim; she'll decide shortly thereafter to pursue a degree in wizarding biology and life sciences. She'll also meet a young man who provokes a similarly unexpected interest from her. Warren is older than she is, a serious, soft-spoken young man, light-skinned African-American, observant Southern Baptist, pre-law student and active volunteer for several causes about which he is most vocal - and a Muggle. They'll start dating casually, then more intently, then exclusively. After about a year of acquaintanceship, when things have gotten too serious between them for such things to be ignored any longer, Kim will break the news to him about her magical nature. He'll be startled, shocked - will tell her he needs time to think, and not talk to her for many weeks. In this time, Kim will cry buckets, and come to terms with how much Warren means to her, yet despair of ever seeing him again. But one day, he will show up at the front door of the house, bouquet of roses in hand, and ask to see her - and as Dan and Harry stand by, protective of their little girl, he will tell Kim, in simple yet emotional tones, how he has given thought to the matter, how he has come to terms with her magic even though it disturbed him greatly at first, how he realizes that it is an integral part of her and thus must be embrace, not merely endured - and that he loves her, deeply and sincerely, and wants to spend his life with her, if she'll have him. And Kim will throw her arms around his neck and cry in his arms, and sniffle, yes, yes...
They will not be married for many years, however. Warren refuses to be wed until he can properly support a wife and family (meaning, until he has finished his law degree, passed the bar exam and obtained a full-time job) and will not hear of being supported or aided financially by his fiancee's family, or even by his fiancee. Kim will finish up her own degree, and prompted by her fathers' urging, take an apartment of her very own while she begins working in a research position in the private sector, while Warren studies intensively and works part time as an intern at a law firm; the two see each other only on weekends, and only rarely, yet remain devoted to each other. Eventually, the two sets of parents meet - a meeting made awkward by their cultural differences, and the fact that Warren's parents' devout faith expressly prohibits the boys' male-male partnership. In the end, though, it'll all work out. Warren's father is an easygoing man who's inclined to accept the boys based on the fact that they've raised such a "good girl", and Warren's mother - more religious and hesitant - will eventually be won over by Harry's cooking. Harry will try to get them all together, parents and kids and all, for dinner at least once a month.
Eventually, Kim and Warren will be married, in the little Southern Baptist church in which he was raised... Kim's never been religious, but because it means so much to Warren, she's been reading the Bible, attending church with him when he goes. Some eyebrows will be raised when both Harry and Dan escort Kim down the aisle - but that was one point on which she would not budge, and Warren did not even try to argue. Lisha will sing at the wedding, a song so lovely it brings tears to people's eyes; and the reception will feature a mix of down-home Southern cooking, expensive nouveau cuisine (canapes AND chitlins) and Harry's homemade wedding cake, a thing of great beauty to behold.
As a wedding gift, Harry and Dan will buy the newlyweds a house - a home of their choosing, outside the Atlanta city perimeter, about an hour's drive from the boys' house. Warren will be adamant that it's too extravagent a gift, and will insist on making monthly "mortgage" payments to the boys, despite the fact that his salary as junior lawyer for a nonprofit firm is less than lavish. This will continue until the birth of Kim's first child, at which point she will quit working to be a stay-at-home mom (by mutual, prior agreement with her husband) and Dan will lobby intensively until Warren gives in and agrees to accept the house as a gift, "for our grandchildrens' sake". Kim will have three children in all; they will see their grandfathers a minimum of once every two weeks, and both boys will be active, eager grandparents.
Meanwhile, in Lisha's world...
Lisha takes a year of ballet before becoming bored with it, recognizing that with her late start, there's only so much she'll ever be able to do - next year, she drops ballet in favor of modern dance. The boys convert the third garage into a dance studio, complete with mirrored walls, for her use; she practices diligently every night. (Later, when Kim moves out, Lisha will take over Kim's old room as a studio instead.) She'll also start singing lessons as well, over Harry and Dan's protests that she's doing too much and will overstrain herself - to counter their claims, she continues to get A's and B's in school, and is her normal happy, smiling self throughout.
At the age of 13, in the eighth grade, Lisha forms a "girl group" with two of her friends, with herself as "front man", singing and dancing along to, first pop songs, then songs of her own invention. As a companion to the singing group, she organizes a backup band, guitar and keyboards and drums, also comprised of her classmates. Lisha's influence is sharply visible in the band's music and videos, which feature not only shades of pop, rock and soul, but also streaks of big band and jazz influence. The group practices regularly in the converted garage, culminating finally in a performance at Lisha's school talent show that garners a standing ovation from the kids and parents there. Harry and Dan are, naturally, exceptionally proud; and Dan will tell people later that he knew, from that performance, that Lisha would go on to great things.
As well she does. The singing group and backup band stay together, driven by Lisha's determination and focus, rehearsing and performing intermittent shows at other schools, wizarding and Muggle alike, even a few colleges and other venues. When Lisha is 15, the group performs at a Muggle private school's fundraising variety show, which contains in its audience a talent coordinator from the Cartoon Network. He is smitten by the group, and arranges for them to film a series of clips to be shown as "bumpers" around their Adult Swim lineup at night and during the day.
Immediately, Lisha and the group are catapulted into stardom, appearing on talk shows and magazine covers. They are courted by major record labels, finally signing a deal that - while apparently modest in scope - allows them to retain creative control of their material and a greater than average percentage of royalties. Their first album is a massive popular success, spawning several radio hits; their second album, hard on the heels of the first, is just as successful. Hollywood comes calling, with offers of television and movie roles. Lisha is quickly rich in her own right, and famous.
Throughout it all, Lisha remains remarkably level-headed and practical, relying on her fathers for advice and guidance. Despite the pressure to "go Hollywood", she insists on finishing out her school years at her old school, recording and doing television appearances scheduled to fit around her classes. While her bandmates are seen in the hippest and hottest places, cavorting with young stars and starlets, Lisha goes on dates only with her father Harry along as chaperone. Similarly, she's always accompanied by one or both of her fathers in the recording studio, and on the sets of the television shows and movies from which she accepts small but meaty parts. She builds a reputation as being hard-working and exacting, but also pleasant and even-tempered - no "diva" dramatics here! Very few people realize how determined Lisha is, how driven - the personality she projects is one of openness, honesty, a wholesome "good girl", and she's embraced as being a rare good influence for the young people who flock to buy her records, see her concerts, and occasionally, camp out on Harry and Dan's front lawn in hopes of seeing her.
But there's resentment from, especially, the other two girls in the group, who become tired of eternally being "backup" to Lisha's stardom. The band breaks up when Lisha is 20, after recording their fourth album. Lisha doesn't waste time mourning the group; she's ready for new things by this time, anyway. She takes on more acting work, slowly but steadily building a reputation for herself as an actress of worth beyond her name and fame - traveling to Hollywood from Atlanta, where she still lives in her old bedroom with the family, accompanied still by one or more of her dads. She also continues recording music, with studio musicians for backup. Her first solo album features mainly pop tunes, what the fans are familiar with - her second is an album of children's songs, with proceeds donated to charity. During this time, she also takes on a role in a PBS children's show, the only human in a cast of Muppet-style puppets, dancing and singing and storytelling. This role, which she keeps for three years, will eventually garner her more attention than any other: the show is rerun for years, to scores of young children.
By the time Lisha is 24, she's ready to take a break. For awhile, she spends her time relaxing at home, playing aunt to her sister's (then) two children, and vacationing with her fathers in Tortola while she considers what the next great challenge might be. She finds it in an offer from an off-Broadway company, wondering if she might be interested in auditioning for a role in their newest production... she goes to New York to do so, surprising the company greatly (they didn't think she'd actually accept!) and winning the part hands-down. The decision causes her some anguish, though - there's no way for her to commute via Floo or Portkey without it looking strange to Muggles, and she's never lived alone before, and is really in no rush to do so. Dan and Harry solve the dilemma for her by moving to New York with her, taking an apartment some ten blocks away so as to be at hand when needed. Thus, Lisha moves into her first apartment, begins a grueling schedule of rehearsals and, later, shows almost every night with a matinee on Saturday. Despite the demanding schedule, she comes to love acting before a live audience immediately, and is exhausted but happy.
It is during this time that Lisha first meets Jason, stagehand and part-time artist prone to wearing all-black, skinny and long-haired and intense; the two strike up a friendship, as he takes her around the city, showing her the tourist spots and the sites known only to a native, and teaching her to appreciate them all. Jason is protective of Lisha, and over time their friendship becomes a romance - Lisha's first true love affair.
Her first production finishes its run, after receiving great critical acclaim; she auditions for and wins another role, a lesser part but on Broadway this time, and receives critical acclaim for that as well. About a year after her initial move to New York City, during a luncheon date with her fathers, Lisha breaks the news to them very gently that, while their presence is always wanted, she doesn't *need* them there anymore, and they're free to move back to Atlanta if they want. This is a bit of a blow for both men, who've become quite accustomed to being there for their "baby" - Harry more so than Dan. They agree, however, to return to Atlanta, leaving Lisha on her own in the city, where she flourishes and thrives... for about six weeks, until an on-stage accident results in a broken ankle, ending her run with the Broadway production and sending her back to Atlanta to be cared for by her fathers until she heals. Jason follows her, Portkeying back to New York to his job as needed, staying by her side as much as possible. Harry, in particular, is a bit jealous - but copes.
Eventually, Lisha heals and moves back to New York City, where she picks up a part in a third production, again winning critical acclaim - this time in a role that requires no dancing. She shifts her interest toward choreography instead, taking classes on the few days she isn't on stage. When her latest role ends, she starts collaborating with a playwright of her acquaintance on a musical production, contributing dialogue as well as choreography... a year and a half later, the production debuts, to moderate critical acclaim but without much financial success, closing a month after its opening. The show will have more success as a traveling production, some years later. In the meantime, she's recorded another album, which reaches #14 on the charts, and has taken up cohabitation with Jason in an apartment that serves as both residence and painting studio for him - after much consideration, and believing in his talent, Lisha has opted to take over the household finances, offering him the opportunity to paint exclusively. Jason's style undergoes many changes and much maturation during this time; he eventually gains quite a following. They also take in a foster child, a male toddler named Nicholas, who they end up adopting shortly thereafter, and start proceedings to adopt a girl from Nicaragua.
After a span of years, Lisha and Jason will decide to step back from the hectic pace of New York, and will move back to the Atlanta area with their son so as to be closer to the family - who will welcome them back with open arms and much joy. The adoption proceedings finally come to an end, bringing them their little girl. They're eventually married in a simple civil ceremony, with their families close at hand. Lisha will continue to choreograph and collaborate with various playwrights, occasionally recording music, or traveling to Hollywood or New York for a few weeks to take on a TV or movie role, even participating in a reunion of her group and managing a few simple dance steps.
In the end, Harry and Dan...
After being parents for so many years, the nest is far too empty after Lisha's gone, especially after her return home with broken ankle and second departure. Harry and Dan spend time traveling, spend extensive time in Tortola, but still it seems lonely without kids around. Harry, especially, is missing being a daddy, and even visits from their beloved grandchildren can't quite fill the gap.
Shortly after Lisha's ankle finishes healing and she's back in New York again, there's a tragedy, publicized across both wizarding and Muggle news: a wizarding family of six children aged 3 to 14 left orphaned and penniless after a house fire. Harry and Dan discuss the matter briefly, then apply to take them in and are accepted. This keeps them happily occupied for the next twenty-five years or so, after which there's another group of kids... and another... and another... They build expansions onto the house as needed, adding more bedrooms, more recreation space, occasionally remodeling to fit the needs of their growing and shrinking family, learning how to parent children of all ages and both sexes, and having a merry time of it all.
On Harry and Dan's 100th anniversary (they marry, eventually, once Georgia adopts same-sex marriage laws, but they always count their anniversary as the day they pledged their love to each other in that San Francisco hotel) the kids get together to throw a giant party for all of the family - five sets of "children" in all, plus their kids, and grandkids, and so on... A picture will be taken, of their great-great-great-grandchild via Kim playing happily in a playpen with their current infant foster-child. Another will be taken, at a ridiculously large resolution, of the entire family - all 100+ of them. The latter photograph will be blown up to massive size, framed, enchanted, and hung on the living room wall, whereupon every time Harry or Dan enters the room they'll be greeted by a massive chorus of "Hello, Dad/Granddad/Pop/Papa". And they'll look up at the photo and wave. And the photo's occupants will wave back. And Harry and Dan will smile.
They'll go on to a ripe old age, loving each other and surrounded by the love of their family, fostering and adopting children for as long as they can parent them successfully, so that the love just grows and grows and grows.
And they'll live happily ever after.
Thank you all, again, for your attention and your support.
ms_semicolon and nessime_lisen