Harry paced back and forth
in his study. He looked out the window and sighed.
Draco was sitting in a
large overstuffed chair, reading a book. He looked over the top of it at Harry.
“You know, staring out the
window isn’t going to make them get here faster,” Draco said.
“I know,” said Harry. “I’m
just…I don’t know.” Harry stared out the window and put his arms on the window
frame.
“Really nervous,” Draco
said, putting his book down. Draco crossed the room and put his arms around
Harry’s waist.
“That might be it,” Harry
said, giving Draco a wry smile. Draco kissed the back of Harry’s shoulder.
“Hey, look there,” Harry
said and pointed to a small black dot in the sky.
“Could be a bird,” Draco
said, squinting over Harry’s shoulder.
“Could be a flying
carpet,” Harry said, reaching for a pair of omnioculars.
“Flying carpet?” Draco
frowned. “Certainly not in
“She’s here with
ambassadorial status,” Harry said, focusing his omnioculars. “It’s registered
with the Spanish Ministry.”
“You’ve got to be
kidding,” Draco said, snatching the omnioculars.
Harry waited a few moments
so Draco could see the flying carpet. Then he snatched the omnioculars back.
“Bugger off and get your
own,” Harry laughed. “Or lose the carpet fetish.”
“It looked like an Allegro
2004!” Draco said, lunging for the omnioculars.
Harry sighed and handed
Draco the omnioculars. Draco started rattling off statistics as he stared at
the sky. Harry crossed the room to get Draco’s omnioculars. They were a better
model, anyway. Lazy git.
When Harry got back to the
window he smiled at the sight upon the carpet.
Ron sat in an easy chair,
reading a newspaper. His hair was beginning to thin, like his fathers. Hermione
was next to him in a comfortable chair. A portable desk sat in her lap and she
scribbled furiously upon a parchment. Small twin redheads lay on the carpet
nearby, their heads in a large book. Harry grinned furiously.
Near to the twins, a
smaller dark haired boy played with a few stuffed toys. A basket lay near Ron’s
feet. Harry suspected it contained the youngest.
“Gods, they’re sweet,”
Draco said, surprising Harry. Harry couldn’t believe Draco stopped prattling
about the flying carpet.
“Quite,” Harry said.
There was a loud pop
behind them and Harry and Draco turned to see Arthur and Molly apperate.
“I couldn’t stop her,”
Arthur said, looking pained. He unwrapped a scarf from around his neck and took
his cloak off.
“Hello, Molly,” Harry went
to her and kissed her on the cheek. “We’ve just spotted them.”
“And they’ve got an
Allegro 2004!” Draco crowed.
“Do they really?” Arthur
said, snatching Draco’s omnioculars from Harry and going to the window. Harry
sighed.
“Couldn’t imagine keeping
you away,” Harry said as he and Molly made their way to the kitchen. “Put the
kettle on and I’ll rustle about in the pantry.”
Molly smiled and took her
cloak off. “You do that.”
Harry and Molly had just
finished laying out the kitchen table when they heard a clatter from the stairs
leading from the study.
“They’re landing in the
yard,” Arthur said as he scuttled everyone out.
By the time they were out in
the yard, the twins and the dark haired boy had left the carpet and were
chasing each other around.
Molly flung her arms
around Ron, practically knocking him off his feet.
Hermione ran to Harry and
did the same thing.
“Save me from my children,”
Hermione murmured near his ear.
“10 hours on a carpet
enough for you?” Harry chuckled.
“AUGH!” A small voice
screamed near their knees.
Harry and Hermione looked
down to see her three small walkers pointing sticks at Draco. Hermione looked
startled.
“We three,” one of the
twins proclaimed. “Arrest you in the name of truth, justice, and jammy tarts
for all.”
“Goodness me,” Draco said,
laying the back of his hand across his forehead. “Whatever shall I do?”
“Surrender!” the smallest
squeaked out.
“You’ll never take me
alive!” Draco screamed and reached for his wand. He felt Hermione stiffen and
Harry tightened his grip on her.
Draco puffed out a sweet
smelling cloud of smoke and dashed across the yard as the children screamed
delightedly and ran after him.
“Dear lord,” Hermione said
weakly.
“No one was more surprised
than me,” Harry said as Draco climbed a tree, shooting bubbles out of the end
of his wand.
“Incendio!” a small voice
squeaked out and the tree erupted into flames.
Draco jumped quickly out
of the tree and rolled around on the ground, the back of one of his shoulders
aflame.
Hermione and Ron ran to
the children immediately. Ron quickly put the flames out on the tree. Draco
picked himself up.
“Leo!” Hermione shrieked,
mostly out of fear. The littlest boy burst into tears. The end of his stick was
charred. Molly rushed to him.
“Wow,” Draco breathed.
Arthur patted Draco down, trying to assess damage.
“Are you alright?” Ron
asked quickly, turning Draco around to look at his shoulder.
“I think he just got the
robes,” Draco said, trying unsuccessfully to look at his back. “Damn Weasley, I
never thought you’d use a sneak attack like that.”
Ron stared at Draco for a
moment. Harry was strongly reminded of a confrontation years before in a
bookstore. Then Ron started snickering.
“Sure you’re ready for
this mayhem?” Ron asked.
“Well, obviously this
child is special,” Draco said, gesturing to Leo, who had stopped crying and had
let go of his stick.
“You’re funny,” Arthur
said. “All wizarding children have little bursts of magic like this.”
“Where did you learn that
incantation?” Hermione was demanding of the little boy. The twins were staring
at him in awe.
“Daddy,” Leo sniffled.
“When he-,” sniffle, sniffle, “dinner-“ then he began crying again.
“Oh,” Hermione said,
pulling the snotty bundle to her. “Last night?” Leo nodded.
“We’ve never been camping
before,” Hermione said to Molly. Molly patted Leo on the head.
“Well, he’s a bloody fast
learner if he could pull that off,” Ron said, slightly annoyed at his son. Leo
looked up at him. “We do not incinerate people!”
Leo buried his head in his
mother’s robes and sobbed.
Hermione pulled him out.
“But we’re not going to do it again, right?” Leo shook his head furiously. Molly
waved her wand and tidied him up. “So go tell Draco you’re sorry.”
“I’m sorry!” Leo wailed
and flung himself at Draco.
“Goodness me, it’s OK,”
Draco said, taken aback. “You’ll learn when you get bigger.”
Leo looked up. “Really?”
“Really.” Draco insisted.
“Now, you and your brothers should go up into the kitchen and get some lunch.”
The little ones needed no
more instruction than that and barreled up the back steps to the kitchen.
“At least you’ll only have
one,” Hermione shook her head. “I swear Adam and Will run interference for
him.” Harry assumed she meant the twins.
“And who is this little
guy?” Harry asked as the bundle in the basket began to wail.
“Kelly,” Hermione said as
she reached for him. “And he’s hungry.”
“Well, I have a nice stone
bench over here,” Harry pointed.
“Or we have a nice cozy
house,” said Draco, visibly annoyed. Ron raised his eyebrows in approval.
Behind Draco’s back, of course.
“I think we’d better check
up on the kids,” Hermione said. She winced as they heard the sound of breaking
glass in the kitchen. Arthur hurried up the stairs as everyone else gathered
the Weasley’s things and brought them in the house.
“It was just a glass,”
Arthur said as everyone piled into the kitchen. Will, Adam, and Leo sat in a
row with napkins tucked in their shirts and fruit and sandwiches in front of
them. “We got it all sorted out.”
“Thank god,” Ron said
under his breath.
Harry showed Hermione and
Kelly to his study.
“You don’t have to go,”
Hermione said as Harry turned. He turned back, a bit uncomfortably. “You’re
going to need to get used to the idea.”
“What?” Harry asked,
startled.
“Well, the pregnancy
process is complete, from what we know,” Hermione said. “Either you or Draco
will be nursing.”
Harry’s jaw dropped. He
barely registered when Hermione slipped a breast out of her robes and into
Kelly’s mouth.
“There,” Hermione said,
wincing a bit.
“Does it hurt?” Harry
said, squirming.
“Since his teeth started
coming in, yes.”
Harry looked horrified.
“Oh it’s not all that
bad,” Hermione said and she and the baby began visibly relaxing. “He’ll get a
rhythm and be fine.”
Harry looked at mother and
son and grinned.
“What?”
“I can’t imagine me or
Draco doing that,” Harry said, reaching up and rubbing the back of his head.
“I can’t imagine you
would,” Hermione said, smiling. Harry went and sat near her on the couch. “Have
you decided who’s going to carry?”
“No,” Harry said. “I don’t
even know if what we’re doing is right.”
“What do you mean?”
Hermione asked, shifting Kelly slightly.
“I mean, we never talked
about kids before,” Harry said, fidgeting. “The whole thing makes me nervous.”
“Want in on a secret?”
Hermione asked.
“Sure,” Harry said.
“You’re never sure,”
Hermione said. Harry looked at her. “Well with the twins it just wasn’t a good
time. We were still getting over the loss of the one we lost and I had flung
myself into all these projects to help distract me. I had to go through my
pregnancy trying to construct a series of import laws to prevent the movement
of Dark Artifacts through Spain. When Leo decided to make his presence known
the twins were just out of diapers. I thought I’d kill myself if I had to start
up again.”
Harry started laughing.
“Oh yea,” she said,
testily. “You think it’s funny now, just you wait.”
Harry slightly composed
himself.
“Then when this little
fella was created I had just picked up my research on Advanced Potions again,”
Hermione sounded a little annoyed. “Can’t very well be around all those fumes
when you’re expecting, can you?”
“Yea, but it was worth it,
wasn’t it?” Harry was feeling nervous.
“Better be,” Hermione
said, looking a bit amused. “Might be another on the way.”
“When do you find the
time?” Harry demanded as Hermione handed him Leo. She did herself up as Harry
burped Kelly.
“I really don’t know,”
Hermione said, sighing.
“Ever regret it?” Harry
asked, making a funny face at Kerry, who seemed very interested in Harry’s
glasses.
“Only on days where I have
to travel with them,” Hermione sighed. “Or when they set things on fire.”
Harry laughed and handed
Kerry back to his mother.
“Do you really love him?”
Hermione asked Harry.
“Yes, I do,” Harry said.
Hermione shook her head.
“Amazing,” Hermione said.
“No one was more surprised
than us,” said Harry awkwardly. “Believe me.”
“That, I can believe,” Hermione
said, grinning. “So tell me what you know already.”
“That I want to spend the
rest of my days with him,” Harry said, blushing.
“I know that, silly. I do
talk to Molly. I meant about the Concubinus Beran cycle.”
“It happens every thousand
years or so and enables wizarding males to get pregnant,” Harry recited. “The
birth itself is a mystery, but the birth rate was higher than for contemporary
pregnancies in the dark ages.
“Very good,” Hermione
said, looking impressed. “But we think we know how the babies are born.”
“Really?” Harry asked. “Is
it terribly unpleasant?”
“Not really,” Hermione
said, reassuring Harry. “It looks as if a magical c-section takes place.”
“Are you saying the child
erupts from the midsection?” Harry asked, paling slightly.
“Something like that,”
Hermione said. “Although not nearly as messy as you would imagine.”
“Well, that’s some
relief,” Harry said. “Are you hungry, we’ve plenty of food?”
“Famished, actually,”
Hermione admitted.
“Well then,” Harry said smiling.
“We should get you fed and settled in. Three of the bookshelves pull down here
to make beds for the boys.”
“Very clever,” Hermione
remarked. “We brought a collapsible crib for Kelly.”
“I’m glad you came,
‘Mione,” Harry said suddenly.
“It’s been too long,
Harry,” Hermione said, her eyes pooling with tears.
“Now there,” he said,
reaching into his pocket and retrieving a handkerchief. “Don’t be like that.
We’re all together now and only one person has been set on fire.”
Hermione hiccupped out a
giggle. “Whoever would have thought?”
“Indeed,” said Harry,
giving her a hand. “Let’s get some lunch.”