Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

The Rise of the Drackens	By : StarLightMassacre Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 769456 -:- Recommendations : 71 -:- Currently Reading : 219
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights for the creation of the Harry Potter novels go to J. K. Rowling. I make no money from this piece of fictional writing

Chapter List
- 114
- 115
- 116
Last Time

Harry nodded and he took in a huge breath and held it for a moment, before slowly letting it out. He took a gulp of tea and sighed. It was going to be difficult, but there was nothing that he wouldn’t do for his baby. He would do as Healer Almus had suggested. He would try to stop his worrying, he would try to relax more and sleep more. Nothing was going to harm his baby, not even himself. He would try his hardest now to keep things calm and relaxed. He was still fretting over the Jury’s verdict, he couldn’t help that, but during the next few days while they waited, he could try and do his utmost to keep everything else calm. He would sleep more, he would sit down and relax more, he would try to curb his thoughts or fretting over the court case. His unborn son needed him to do as such and Harry had always done everything that was best for his babies. He took in another deep breath. He could do this, for his little thunderer, he could do almost anything.

Chapter One Hundred-Fifteen – Final Freedom

The morning came like any other. Harry had slept in late, waking up twice and choosing to roll over and go back to sleep instead of getting up. He slept a further three and a half hours this way and he finally woke up and got up at twenty past nine, instead of his usual six am. He blamed it on all the fun he’d had yesterday at Myron’s fifty-fifth birthday party, Richard had certainly kept them all well entertained, or completely horrified in Max’s case. He and Caesar, and their younger sisters, had spent most of the day screeching and covering their eyes or ears as Richard and Ashleigh both took turns in snogging the face off of Myron or describing how they were going to give him the best night of his life. They’d turned it into a game and to Harry’s understanding of this game, the one to get the biggest reaction from the party guests won, or at least that was what he’d deduced, but it might also have been which one could rile up Myron the most and get him to explode, either with embarrassment or anger, it didn’t seem to matter which. That had naturally been Richard, who always pushed too far.
He finally decided to get up, out of bed and he padded to the master en suite and took care of several pressing matters before he walked down the stairs and he went into the empty kitchen and from there he followed the baby screeches and giggles into the family room. He took a moment to survey his family, then he was noticed by Farren, who hefted himself up and came running.

“Mama!”

Harry smiled and he hunched down and braced himself as Farren bowled into him. He hugged his son tightly and he pulled back to give Farren a kiss.
He then had to turn to the horde of other children who had come running from all over the room to greet him.

“Bo da, Mummy!” Came Braiden’s usual three language greeting as Harry answered him happily.

“Ma! Ma! Ma!” Came Leolin’s demands from Max’s arms and Harry had to laugh as he sent the kids back to their games and made his way over to Max and sat beside him, accepting Leolin into his arms. He noticed immediately that Leolin was holding the creepy Harry doll, it was almost a permanent attachment these days.

“Would you like some tea, my glorious, gorgeous mate?” Max asked him.

Harry laughed happily. Max had been doing this since Healer Almus had told them that laughing every day would help to relieve his stress. Max had been wonderful in taking up that mantel and doing his utmost to keep Harry laughing all day, every day. He was incredibly apt at doing so and he relished the chance to make a clown of himself for Harry’s health. As he insisted, he now had the perfect excuse to be as entertaining as he liked.

“Please, love.” Harry agreed before turning his attention to his Faerie baby, who’d been laid in his arms.

Leolin reached up and placed a teeny, tiny hand against his chin, looking into his green eyes with his own huge golden ones, grinning up at him with his own single tooth. He looked adorable to Harry.

“Why, hello there.” He greeted enthusiastically. “How are you today, Leolin? Mummy’s alright. He’s just been a lazy bones and stayed in bed all morning, so your Daddies had to look after you, didn’t they?”

“We didn’t mind.” Draco said with a snort of amusement at his antics.

“Not in the slightest.” Blaise agreed. “Me especially, I only got up forty minutes ago myself. I wanted to stay in bed with you for longer.” He laughed.

Harry grinned too. “You should have woken me up, lover. Nothing drains stress quite so much as some shared alone time in bed. Naked alone time.” He added in a soft purr.

Blaise laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind for tomorrow morning.” He winked.

“If that’s the case then I’m not getting up either.” Draco insisted. “We just won’t tell Max or Nasta.” He added in a conspiratorial whisper. “They can get up and look after the kids.”

Harry laughed loudly at that. “How diabolical of you. How very Slytherin.”

Draco looked proud of that and Harry chuckled before looking back down at his entranced baby. He bent his head and he kissed Leolin, whose golden eyes went cross-eyed as he watched Harry’s face come closer to his own. It took him several seconds to react and refocus his eyes when Harry pulled away and Harry smiled at the adorable sight that he made.
Max came back with his tea and gave him a loud, smacking kiss for good measure. Harry had to laugh again and he bent forward to kiss Max properly, on the lips.
He sat back to enjoy his tea and the rest of his morning as he cradled Leolin and watched his other children play on the floor. The only thing that was missing was Nasta, who had been called into work to deal with the fools that he’d put on probation. Being the only senior Dragonologist at a reserve did have some draw backs, it went with the larger wage packet.
Things took a bad turn when they heard the chime on the floo, indicating that someone they knew was coming into their house, someone who wasn’t Nasta.

“Boys, where are you?” Richard’s voice called out.

“I thought you were going to enjoy your morning with Dad?” Max called out. “You scarred me for life telling me how you were going to treat him for his birthday yesterday and how it would mean you’d spend the day in bed today.”

Richard came into the family room and Harry’s heart almost stopped as he saw Richard in an expensive, designer suit.

“The Jury have decided, haven’t they?” He asked, barely recognising the strangled words as his own voice.

“Yes.” Richard nodded. “Do you have your suit waiting?”

Harry nodded and with his heart in his throat and his stomach dangling down by his knees somewhere, he passed Leolin to Blaise and he stood on shaky legs, putting his half full cup of tea on the coffee table.

“It’s alright, Harry, I’ll be with you, as always, it won’t even take ten minutes once we’re there, I promise.” Richard soothed. “Just go and get dressed and we’ll go straight there and we’ll be coming almost straight back. It’s almost over with now, I promise.”

Harry swallowed and he nodded, moving to go and get ready. Draco came with him and Harry was strangely grateful as he felt like he was moving on automatic.
Draco helped him to get dressed, sorted out his hair for him, fixed his tie and his collar and even tied his shoes for him.

“You’ll be fine, Harry. We’ll get you all your favourites for when you come back, tea, chocolate, I could even poke Blaise into giving you a massage if you wanted.”

Harry smiled at that.

“Poking Blaise into a massage it is.” Draco nodded.

Harry laughed then and he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Draco, hugging him tightly. “Thank you.” He said gratefully.

“Anything for you, love. You know that.”

Harry nodded. He did know, but he often forgot and he needed reminding. He loved his mates so much.
Draco led him back down the stairs, where Richard was waiting for them with Max in the smaller living room.

“You’ll do just fine, Harry. Stay with Richard and we’ll see you soon.” Draco told him, bending to kiss his forehead.

“You really will.” Max insisted as he pulled him from his feet in a backbreaking hug. “We love you and we’ll be here when you come home. I’ll floo Nasta now, once you’re gone, and tell him what’s happening and he can wrap up his tongue lashing and dole out punishment and he can get his fine arse back here.”

Harry chuckled weakly at that and he held on tight to Max for a moment.

“Okay, I’m ready.” He insisted, even though he didn’t really feel like it.

Richard took his arm and they went through the floo rather quickly. They landed in Myron’s home and Harry was led to the kitchen where the man himself was sat at the kitchen table with a newspaper and a coffee, in a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, looking like a sexy, older version of Max. He had the entire week off because it had been his birthday yesterday.

“I’m sorry for ruining your plans.” He said immediately.

Myron, who hadn’t noticed them, startled slightly before he folded down the newspaper to look at him.

“Don’t be ridiculous now, Harry.” He said in a gruff voice that spoke of him only recently getting out of bed. Harry wondered what exactly his trial had interrupted, and he blushed.

Myron stood and hefted him right from his feet, as easily as if he’d been Calix or Ave. He was hugged tightly and held even tighter.

“We love you and this trial has gone on for long enough, it’s time that you get the closure that you deserve.” Myron told him.

Harry managed a small smile. “I want it to be over with too. I want to move on with my life now. I never even wanted to do this in the first place, I wanted to just leave it all alone, it was the guys who convinced me to prosecute them.”

“Good, you can’t let people who hurt you get away with it, Harry. They deserve to be in prison for what they did, for their vile way of thinking and the atrocities that they committed. No one deserves to be treated in such a way, no one, for any reason. I’m glad that you’re so brave and so courageous as to go through with this trial and see justice done. You know that we’ll be here for you, Harry. Always.”

“I love you.” Harry declared, burying his face into Myron’s neck and holding onto him tight.

“We love you too, son.” Myron told him, cradling the back of his head with one huge hand. “I’m not doing anything today, I’ll go over to yours and wait for you to come back, your boys will likely need a hand with the kids as they’ll be distracted too.”

“They were already out of it when we left.” Richard agreed. “Go on over now. Harry and I are Apparating to the court anyway.”

Myron nodded and set Harry back on his feet gently. A kiss to the forehead, Richard got a kiss to the lips, and then Myron was gone. Richard huffed.

“He never cleans up his damn cups!” Richard muttered as he took Myron’s coffee cup and dumped it into the sink. “Right come on then, sweetie, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave and celebrate!”

Harry took heart from Richard’s confidence and he breathed more normally, patting his barely there bump to remind himself why he had to stop stressing. Soon, very soon, and this would all be over and all stress would be gone. Well, the stress from this court case would be gone.
He took Richard’s arm and tried to keep his stomach in place at the sensation of Apparation. They arrived at their usual spot, in the alleyway behind their favourite café.

“Do you want a decaf coffee, sweetness?” Richard asked him.

Harry nodded. “A muffin too, please, I never had a chance to eat breakfast. I got up late because the Healer said to sleep more. I’d only just come downstairs when you arrived.”

Richard grimaced as he heard that. “Two muffins and a bacon roll then, can you eat bacon?”

Harry nodded. “I can’t stand the smell of it cooking, but I can eat it fine.”

“It won’t be long either. You’ll see.”

Harry sat down for a few minutes while Richard ordered, it didn’t make sense to stand up and put pressure on himself when he could easily sit in a chair for ten minutes and try to relax a little.
Richard came back all too soon and Harry wrapped his hands around the large roll that was overflowing with bacon. Harry smiled as his stomach growled as loudly as his Dracken side did. Richard laughed.

“You weren’t kidding about the missing breakfast.”

“Nope.” Harry said before taking a huge bite, barely chewing and swallowing. “I didn’t even have time to finish my first cup of tea before you arrived, I’d only managed half of it. This is great though, thank you.”

“Think nothing of it, love.” Richard said, taking bites out of his own bacon roll.

They’d finished the rolls before they even reached the courthouse, and Harry was happily eating a blueberry muffin, washed down with the decaf coffee, when they arrived at the glass building.

“Come on, sweetie, you’ll be just fine. You’ll take your seat at the table, and you won’t have to see or say anything else. Ignore the press too.”

“What press?” Harry asked, his heart jumping.

“Unfortunately this case has been high profile in the Muggle world, and the magical world alike. The press has been following it and it has appeared in the papers. With the verdict being today, they might well be outside waiting to hear the sentencing but let me handle it if that’s the case, sweetie, okay?”

Harry nodded, about a million times more nervous now than he had been before and a million times more stressed too. He hated this, and he couldn’t wait until it was finally over for good.
They made it to the little benches outside of the courtroom and Harry sat on the nearest highly polished bench, that made him feel like every shift was going to send him to the floor, and he sipped on his coffee, trying to keep himself calm. He kept his hand on his little bump, reminding himself that he couldn’t stress himself overly much, he needed his baby to be safe and healthy.
Harry had finished both muffins and half his large cup of coffee before they were called into the room and he took a moment to touch Richard, almost like a grounding stone, just to anchor him to reality and to remind himself that he was safe here, with Richard, and he was finally going to get the justice that he deserved, the justice that his younger self had needed a decade ago.
It was true he hadn’t been hit all that often, though stupid pushes had often led to him falling and being injured, injuries that were never looked at or tended to properly, and then there were the ridiculously dangerous situations that he’d been put in needlessly, such as cooking unsupervised, but there were the odd backhands, the slaps from Petunia, having his head yanked around by his hair, but the emotional and mental abuse had been much worse than even he’d realised. It hadn’t been until he’d gone to a Mind Healer that he’d even realised how fucked up keeping a child in a cupboard for ten years was, it had just been normal for him, and that was what was the most fucked up about all of this, that it had become normal for him.
How all the missed meals had contributed to his small height and overly thin frame. Then there were the lies about him that they’d spread, the lies about his parents, the neighbours all thinking that he went to some secure school for incurable criminals and being frightened of him. Never being allowed to go on holiday or the little day trips. Going with them to Dudley’s eleventh birthday trip to the zoo had been the very first time that he hadn’t stayed at home with Mrs Figg and her cats. It had been the last time too after the snake incident. He hated that he’d missed out on so much purely because the people he’d been left with as a baby were so vile and cruel and he hoped that the Jury had seen that. He hoped that he would get the justice that he needed to move on from all that they’d done to him.
The Judge had been talking, and Harry hadn’t been listening, but he swallowed hard and tuned in as soon as the stern looking man turned his gaze to the members of the Jury.

“On the count of mental abuse towards a minor, how do you find the defendants?” He barked at the presiding juror.

“We find the defendants guilty.” The man said firmly, his head high and his back straight.

There were actually cheers from some of the court attendants and Harry had to look at Richard to see if he’d heard rightly, and wasn’t just hearing what he wanted to hear. Richard was looking very pleased and satisfied.

“On the count of physical abuse towards a minor, how do you find the defendants?” The Judge asked again.

“We find the defendants guilty.”

“On the count of incarcerating a minor, how do you find the defendants?”

“We find the defendants guilty.”

“On the count of negligence towards a minor, how do you find the defendants?”

“We find the defendants guilty.”

Just like that, it was over. Harry felt like he was in shock, he couldn’t breathe. He looked at the grey faced Dursleys and he knew that they were going to prison for all that they’d done to him, from the bullying, the mental and emotional abuse, the physical abuse, the neglect he’d suffered and all the pain and tears that they’d caused him over the fifteen years that he’d been stuck with them.

“Mister Vernon and Missus Petunia Dursley, you have been found guilty of all charges brought against you.” The stern Judge told them, his eyes glaring down at them. “This case has been one of the most disturbing and horrific cases of child abuse that I have seen in my many years as a Judge and it has been a great pleasure to bring justice to your young victim, who somehow found the strength of character and the courage to bring these allegations forward against you. It is my hope now that he can continue with his therapist and overcome the heinous things that you did to him in his formative years. It is my absolute belief that you set out, on a single-minded path, to completely destroy the boy who had so trustingly been given into your care. You sought to crush everything that he was for reasons that you refuse to mention in this court, cruelly denying your victim the closure he deserves for all that you’ve done to him. For this clear-minded, singular mission of utterly breaking one so young, for showing absolutely no remorse or repentance for what you did to him, and for refusing to ease the recovery of your victim even slightly it is my belief that nothing less than a life-sentence is warranted.”

Harry watched as Petunia swayed where she stood, looking to be on the verge of fainting. Even Vernon looked shell-shocked, as if up to now, he’d thought that he and his wife would get off scot-free.
He listened with bated breath as the Judge outlined the years they were getting in prison for all that they’d done to him and he was almost hyperventilating from shock. He tried to add up the years in his head, but he couldn’t focus properly, it was like he’d turned to stone.
Richard wrapped an arm around him and rubbed his back, trying to ease his breathing. It did help and he was able to breathe more normally as he watched the Dursleys get sentenced to prison when he hadn’t even been sure that this court case would fall in his favour. There had been a niggle of doubt, a voice in the back of his head telling him that no one could see what he had, no one could know of what had happened to him, and his lies about the magical aspects of everything would be caught out and no one would believe him.

“…As a result of these offenses, I sentence Missus Petunia Dursley to life in prison, with a tariff of twenty-two years before being eligible for parole.”

Petunia made a soft sound, like a mouse being trodden on, and she wobbled backwards, her legs going from under her as she collapsed into her chair. Her reputation would never survive being handed a twenty-two year life sentence, even when she got out, at the age of sixty-four, no one would want to associate with her now that she was a convicted criminal of offenses against a minor. Harry thought this was a rather sweet victory, as they had spent so much of his life painting him as a criminal, as a delinquent who went to a school for criminal boys, but now they were the ones with a life sentence hanging over them, now they were the ones who were convicted criminals.

“I sentence Mister Vernon Dursley to life in prison, with a tariff of twenty-nine years before being eligible for parole, as though I see the both of you as bad as one another, I have no doubts that the majority of the heinous injuries seen in this courtroom over the course of this case have been at your own hands.” The Judge said, glowering down at Vernon, who had shrunk into himself as he heard the sentences placed on him and his wife.

Harry watched as the Dursleys were handcuffed by police officers. It all felt like a dream. Like he should be waking up at any moment, still in his cupboard, or perhaps even locked in his small bedroom with all of Dudley’s broken toys, back to bleeding all over the place, urinating in that one corner, and not being fed enough to feed a bird.

“Mister Potter.” The Judge called out to him and Harry snapped back into reality to look up at the Judge, who didn’t seem quite as fearsome as he had before. “It is my genuine hope that you continue to show the courage, confidence and defiance that you exuded in this courtroom. It is my hope that you continue with your therapy and you live a long, happy life from this point onwards. I want to hear that you have overcome all that they’ve done to you by denying them the total destruction of your person and character. They tried their hardest to stamp you out and crush you underfoot, now I want you to stand tall and deny them what they had tried for so long to do.”

Harry smiled then. “I’m doing well with my therapy and I have surrounded myself with those who do truly love me and care for me. I’ve needed their support and they’ve given it to me and they gave me the strength I needed to pursue this case when I was too scared and too nervous to do so on my own. I was always stronger than those people, I was never going to let them keep me down and now that I have the closure that I came for, I can carry on working towards putting everything that I went through behind me, moving forward with my life.”

He actually got a round of applause for that as the Dursleys were led away, back to the holding cells before they would be transported to the prisons they would be staying at…their new homes for the next two decades, just a single year off of three decades in Vernon’s case.
Richard was practically beaming and Harry felt almost boneless with relief and now that the adrenaline had worn off, he needed to sit down or he was going to fall. Soon, very soon he would be home and he’d never have to come back here ever again. He was done. It was finally over.
Richard chatted to several people, while Harry relearnt how to breathe, and then they were making their way out of the courthouse. Harry had completely forgotten about the mentioned press being outside waiting, so he was startled when as soon as he appeared on the steps that voices started shouting out to him.

“Stay by my side, but don’t worry, this will be quick and easy.” Richard said, pulling a piece of parchment from his top pocket, clearly prepared for this eventuality.

Richard stepped forward one step, so that he was in a better position for all the swarming press to hear him and he cleared his voice, getting them to quieten down.

“My client wishes to express his joy that today, justice has been done.” Richard started loudly and firmly, in his clear, slightly stern courtroom voice. “The Dursleys have both been sentence to life imprisonment, by the judicial system of this country, for the heinous crimes committed against my client, who was a minor at the time that the crimes were carried out. My client wishes to thank you all for your patience and your respect of his privacy as he went through this difficult period. My client wishes to thank also the Judge and Jurors who gave him the closure that he sought, the police officers who were so prompt and professional when he first made his claims against the Dursley family and to those witnesses who heard of this case and came forward with new evidence to help him receive the justice that he deserved. My client now wishes to live his life in peace as he overcomes what was done to him and he finally heals from the events of his past. Thank you.”

Harry was surprised that the press let him walk through them all without once accosting him or shouting out questions as Richard steered him through them and then down the road. He was grateful that they didn’t try to question him, as at the moment he was having trouble walking, let alone stringing together a sentence. His heart was racing, he couldn’t truly comprehend what had just happened, it was like all of his dreams had finally come true and the scared, abused little boy he had once been was finally set free from the cupboard under the stairs. He could finally, fully let go of his past, he could truly forget about the Dursley family and all that they’d put him through. One tear slid down his cheek, quickly followed by another, and he sniffled.
Richard looked at him when he heard the noise, then he did a double take when he realised that Harry was actually fully crying.

“What is it, Harry? Are you okay?” He asked in alarm.

“I never thought I’d see this day.” He said, brushing away his tears.

“Come on, silly, let’s get you home and to your mates.” Richard said, understanding the cause of the tears and putting an arm around Harry’s narrow shoulders to comfort him. It likely was very overwhelming to the young man to finally have this all over with, especially when Richard knew he’d had his doubts throughout the trial and had fretted over every question and answer given.

Harry nodded and brushed away more tears, but they kept falling. He couldn’t stop crying, so that when he and Richard landed in the front garden of his home, he was almost all out bawling.
Richard went to his one knee and rubbed his thumbs under his eyes.

“Thank you.” Harry said thickly, through his tears. “I couldn’t have done it without you. You should have put yourself in that list of people I thanked in that letter to the press, you were always the one beside me, helping me.”

“Oh, hush now.” Richard told him. “You’re my son, I see you as my own, and I would do anything for you. All of us would. You deserved the chance for justice and closure, you needed it more than you ever thought that you would, especially in the beginning when we were trying to convince you to prosecute them in the first place. We love you, we adore you. You’re one of us now, a part of our family, and we’re not letting you go. So get used to it.”

That made Harry laugh and he huffed and sniffled, moving to the door and fishing out his key. He unlocked the door and made his way through the straight corridor to the kitchen. He could hear a lot of voices in the family room, so he headed there. He needed his mates.

“Did it not go well?” Myron demanded as soon as he walked into the room and Myron saw that Harry was crying. He sounded so angry, so protective, that Harry’s heart almost stopped.

“They’re happy tears!” Richard soothed his angry mate quickly. “Happy tears for justice.”

Harry chuckled again and wiped his face, but Nasta reached him first and swept him up into his arms, holding him tightly. Harry just started crying again, hard and messily. He couldn’t stop as he got rid of all the stress of the case, the nerves over the verdict, the pain of his past and the fear of being found to be a liar when he actually wasn’t one.

“They got life sentences.” Richard was saying over Harry’s cries. “She got twenty-two years, he got twenty-nine. They’ll be in their sixties and seventies before they get out, if they don’t die before that. A lot of people take exception to child abusers, even in prison.”

“Max, can you get Harry some tea?” Nasta asked, sitting down on the settee with Harry in his lap, Harry’s head still buried in his neck, sobbing on him, as he clutched at his top dominant desperately.

“Sure thing.” Max said gently, stroking Harry’s hair a little more before moving to get him tea.

Harry knew that Nasta was releasing his calming pheromones because he was calming down too quickly for it to be entirely natural, but he was grateful for it. His tears were making his head throb and the last thing he needed right now was a headache.
Several hands were stroking his body, from his head, to his back, his arm, his leg. He kept his face in Nasta’s neck, holding onto his top dominant like a lifeline.
They let him cry himself out, talking to him softly, in gentle voices to help calm him down. Once he was all cried out, he sat quietly on Nasta’s lap, in his arms, his mates all touching him and he absorbed what had just happened.
He peered up, peeling his face from Nasta’s wet neck and he looked around him, at all of his mates.

“There you are, hello.” Max greeted him and Harry chuckled wetly, mopping his face up with his hand. “Here is your tea.”

Harry shifted a little to turn outwards, so that he could drink his tea without the risk of spilling it over himself or Nasta.

“Do you feel better?” Draco asked him.

Harry nodded, gulping his tea down in several large swallows, until the cup was empty. “I just…I think there was still a small part of me that was worried that they’d get off, so when it finally sunk in that they were being prosecuted, it was a shock.”

“It’s alright, it’s all over now and we have you, we’re not letting you go either.” Nasta told him, hugging him with those strong arms wrapped around his waist while Max took his empty cup from him and placed it on the coffee table. He refilled it with the teapot that was on a tray before handing it back.

“I’m glad it’s all over and they got what they deserved.” Harry said, sniffing hard before sipping on his fresh cup of tea.

“They got exactly what they deserved.” Richard told him. “You can just relax and celebrate now. You have the justice that you wanted and now you can heal with the help of Healer Vasey.”

“He’ll want to see me tomorrow.” Harry said with a sigh.

“I’ll make the appointment for you.” Draco told him, taking his hand from Harry’s knee and standing to go to the living room, to make the floo call for his appointment.

Max waved a chocolate bar at him and Harry let out a weak, watery chuckle as he took it and opened the wrapper, nibbling on the chocolate bar.

“Where are the kids?”

“Farren’s by there.” Blaise told him, pointing out Farren who was sleeping on the floor wrapped in a blanket. “The others are all up having naps. Farren didn’t look like he was going to go down, neither was Braiden for that matter, but they both gave in, though we decided to leave Farren down here. You just know he’ll wake up if we try to move him.”

Harry nodded and he settled himself against Nasta, calming himself down by breathing deeply and nibbling his chocolate and sipping his tea. Draco came back into the room with another tray of tea, including another teapot, and the jar of imported honey that Blaise had gotten him for his birthday, just in case.

“You were right, Healer Vasey wants to see you tomorrow.” Draco told him. “He said that your usual time of half one in the afternoon was alright when I asked, so you can go while the kids are down for their naps.”

Harry smiled at that. “Thank you. I would rather go when the kids won’t miss me. I’ve missed so much since this court case started. I don’t like it.”

“Just think though, Harry.” Richard told him. “It’s over with now. You never have to go back and you got the justice that you deserved for what they did to you. You’re free from them now, and they’re in prison, where they belong.”

Harry smiled wider. “I’m glad it’s over and that they were sentenced. Hopefully our thunderer can settle down too.”

Several hands touched his belly, including his own, and he laughed, a little too loudly it seemed as Farren stirred and wriggled in his blanket wrap. He twisted and rolled, fighting to get free.

“Daddy!” He called out sleepily when he realised that he couldn’t get himself free from the twisted blanket.

Harry shifted from Nasta’s lap, put down his tea cup and the chocolate bar on the coffee table, and he hurried to where Farren was struggling and grunting.

“Daddy!” Farren called out again, more desperately.

“I’m here, baby.” Harry said, picking Farren up and setting him on his feet, unwinding the blanket that had wrapped itself twice around his body.

Once free Harry picked Farren up and cuddled him tightly, giving him a big kiss.

“Mummy!” Farren said happily, wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck and squeezing.

“Oh, wow, your grip is getting tight.” Harry chuckled.

He moved Farren to his lap and he sat flat on the floor so he wasn’t putting so much pressure on his body.

“We should celebrate your justice, Harry.” Richard told him.

Harry laughed at that. “You just want another party. I don’t think I could deal with it though. I’ve been so stressed and so uptight about this, I just want to relax in the quiet now. I couldn’t stand the excitement at the moment.”

Richard sighed, but he agreed. “Fine, we’ll have a party in your honour.”

That made Harry laugh harder. “Carry on. I’m staying at home today. I want my kids all around me and I want the comfort of my mates, I…oh, Nas, do you have to go back to work?” He asked, remembering that the verdict had interrupted his work day.

“No, I cleared everything up. If you want us here, we’re not going anywhere.”

Harry nodded and smiled happily.

“We’ll leave you to it then, boys.” Myron said.

“Yeah, is it alright if we spread the word around, or would you rather do it yourself?” Richard asked.

“I’d rather you do it for me, please. I’d rather not be disturbed right now.”

“Wonderful. To your Father’s house, Myron!” Richard urged, giving his mate and husband a poke.

Myron just sighed and stood. He came to Harry first and hunched down, wrapping him and Farren in his huge arms.

“Take care of yourself, Harry.”

“I will.” Harry smiled, accepting the kiss to the forehead. Myron kissed Farren’s forehead next.

“Gwanddad.” Farren declared.

Myron chuckled and he ruffled Farren’s dark brown hair. He went to say goodbye to Max and Nasta, Blaise and Draco and Harry waved goodbye one last time and Max saw his Fathers’ out.
Harry cuddled with Farren and tried not to think too much. The case had gone in his favour, the Dursleys had been locked up for their awful treatment of him and at last people would know the truth about them, especially all the neighbours who had once believed their lies about him, as they would assuredly see it in tomorrow’s newspaper, or on the evening news later. That was what the greatest thing about this court case was, after getting justice for himself obviously, and it was that people now knew the truth about what the Dursleys were like, what liars they were, and how vile and cruel they had been to a young child that they were supposed to have loved and looked after.
He held Farren tighter and rested his chin gently on the top of Farren’s head. Everyone would know the truth soon, when all of the details of the trial came out, including his mates. He sighed heavily, there was nothing else for it, he would have to sit them down and tell them. He didn’t want them getting half a story from a newspaper article, he still remembered the rubbish that Rita Skeeter had written about him in his fourth year, and for every nugget of truth she had written, there were five mistruths or downright lies to go with it. His mates deserved the actual truth, from his own lips. He would have to tell them, but not today. Today was for him to savour the victory in the courtroom, over the Dursleys and his past demons. Today was for him to let go of everything that had happened to him, moving seamlessly from his horrible, abusive past with his blood relatives and onto his bright and love filled future with the family that he had created for himself. Today was for him, and he was going to enjoy it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

October came wet and overcast, but now three and a half months pregnant, Harry didn’t much care what the weather was doing as he spent all of his days inside. He didn’t feel the need to go out and he spent all of his time with his children as the weather stayed wet and windy and his mates trudged in and out of work.
Nasta was by far the worst, as he worked outside mostly, and on some days he came back bone cold and sodden. They had all known that it was only a matter of time before he came down with a cold or the flu and he had been taken from the nightly baby duties, as Harry refused to allow him near Leolin when he could be harbouring an infection or a disease. Nasta didn’t fight this restriction, he’d actually tried to fight them into letting him check into a hotel until the illness he could feel creeping upon him passed, but none of his mates had agreed.

‘We have no idea how long it could take for you to fall sick, nor how long it’ll stay once you have it. I am not being apart from one of my mates for that long! This is your home, you stay here, where we can damn well look after you.’ Harry had raged to Nasta, and after that, no one had said anything more, and Nasta hadn’t brought up leaving for a hotel again either.

But, it came as absolutely no surprise that a few days after that, on the seventh, just the day after they’d flooed back from Australia for Harry Jackson’s first birthday (which was technically on the seventh of October, but as he lived in Australia, they were a day ahead, so they’d gone on the sixth to celebrate his birthday at his home), and just four days before Blaise’s twentieth birthday, Nasta woke up with a headache, a sore throat and a fever sweat.
Draco had gone up to check on him, as they’d been doing every hour since he hadn’t woken up that morning, and he’d come back down to tell them that Nasta was awake and that it looked like he had the flu, and to send up Max, who as their first aider was in the best position to actually help Nasta and not just fuss over him.
Max had come back down and he’d confirmed what they’d all already known, that Nasta did in fact have the flu.

“Always during the wet season.” Max had groaned as he got out his cauldron and started brewing more headache relievers. The strongest one that he knew, as Nasta was going to be going through them like water for the next few days. He also started a cauldron of stomach settlers and another one which he was using to brew fever reducers. Max wasn’t an expert Potions Master for no good reason as he kept an eye on all three potions brewing at once.

“Always in the autumn you mean.” Harry sighed, bouncing Eva on his hip.

“The cold, rainy season.” Max nodded, watching the three potions, giving this one a stir, giving another one a tap with his wand, before he added a sprinkling of…something.

Harry bounced the fussy Eva a little more, ignoring her tiny heels digging into his ribs as she tried to climb him. Her little toes dug into him and her teeny nails scored his skin, but he held her securely and let her grizzle.

“See if she’ll eat anymore prunes, love.” Max said, looking at her as she made little pained noises. “Of all days for her to be constipated.” Max shook his head. “If she won’t take any more then I’ll brew her something to help, once all of this is done.”

Harry nodded. He hated to add to Max’s work load, but Eva hadn’t dirtied a nappy in two days, and he was worried. Since they had been weaned, both she and Ave had been dirtying a nappy a day, sometimes twice a day. This was a break in the routine and Harry had noticed immediately. He’d then noticed Eva straining more, as she was doing now, her face going red and her toes and feet digging in to him.
They’d realised that she was constipated and they had offered her more fruit, especially apples and prunes to try and boost her fibre intake, but thus far it hadn’t worked.
Harry took the bowl of pureed prunes, that Max had made himself, from the fridge and he sat at the table with Eva on his lap and he offered her the spoon. As before she pushed away the spoon, cried, whined and grizzled, kicking out her little feet.

“Come on, sweetie.” Harry cooed. “Just a few spoonfuls, you’ll feel much better.”

He prodded the spoon into her mouth as gently as he could. She spat the spoon back out, dribbling the prunes back out of her mouth and all over her bib.

“Come on, Eva. Just eat a bit of these lovely prunes.” He said, prodding the spoon back into her mouth as she screamed and struggled on his lap.

“No luck?” Blaise asked, bringing out Leolin’s empty bottle.

Harry sighed. “No. She’s not eating the prunes, she might need to have that potion after all.”

Blaise nodded and he picked up one of the chairs and placed it on the end of the table, he took the spoon from Harry and he tried to prod more prunes into her mouth, but as she had done for Harry, she pushed it back out of her mouth with her tongue and grizzled harder.

“She’s in so much pain.” Blaise sighed unhappily, frowning as he tried again, encouraging her to eat.

“I think she’s afraid of eating because she knows it can’t come out.” Harry said.

“I’ll get her a laxative now.” Max said as he ladled out one of the cauldron’s contents into premeasured vials, that were already labelled, that he’d lined up on the island counter behind him.

Once done, he scoured the now empty cauldron with a simple spell and he measured out an exact amount of water and he set it to boiling as he went searching for more ingredients, his daughter’s heart wrenching screams in his ear.
He kept his eye on both the other cauldrons as well, but he was a dab hand these days at brewing multiple potions at once, he wasn’t worried and he knew exactly what he was doing with each of the potions and what steps came next, even as Blaise tried to spoon more prune mush into Eva’s mouth with little success.

“She’s not having it, it’s just upsetting her more.” Harry sighed as he sat her forward and pulled off her bib, using it to wipe her mouth before he threw it at the door to the utility room. Her messy top followed and so too did the little leggings, leaving her in just her little white bodysuit.

“Pass her here, I’ll wipe her face and then get her into something clean.” Blaise said.

Harry let his mate take Eva from him and he stood to go and wrap his arms around Max’s waist, nuzzling his back.

“Everything will be alright, love.” Max told him, patting his hands and carrying on brewing.

“It’s just…well, a bit of bad timing I suppose.” Harry sighed. “Nasta sick with the flu, Eva being constipated, Blaise’s birthday is in four days, Eva and Ave’s dragon pox vaccines are next week too, the week after that it’s Beatrice’s first birthday, then Halloween will be upon us. It’s just, it’s a full month.”

“You’ve seemed to have a bit on your mind too, these last few days. Are you alright?” Max asked, looking over his shoulder and down to Harry pressed against his back. “Is it our thunderer?”

“No, he’s fine as far as I can tell. I just…I wanted to talk about the trial, after I banned the papers from the house because I wanted to explain what had happened myself, in my own words, but I needed to work up to it, then all of this has happened and I still haven’t had a chance to explain.”

Max turned then and hugged him tight. “Nasta will be feeling better by the morning, if you wanted we could hand the kids over to their grandparents and have a morning where you can talk about everything you want to talk about and get it all out.”

Harry sighed and he nodded. “I know I need to explain, I wanted to do it last week, but I wanted to straighten out everything I wanted to say first. Then Nas got sick.”

“I’m fine.” Nasta groaned as he hobbled into the kitchen.

“What are you doing out of bed?!” Harry shrieked.

“I needed the toilet and then I wanted a drink.” Nasta explained. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” Max said sternly. “Here, headache reliever.” He thrust one of the newly stoppered vials at him.

Nasta took it gratefully and he knocked it back with barely a grimace. His headache must have been really bad for him to all but pounce on the potion.

“Has anything happened while I was in bed? How’s Eva?”

“She’s still constipated. I’m making her a laxative.” Max said as he went back to the three cauldrons, lining up more empty vials, these ones smaller than the ones he’d used for the headache relievers.

“Nothing else has happened, thankfully.” Harry said as he pushed Nasta back into a chair and got him a glass of water.

Nasta sipped the water, but as he couldn’t breathe through his blocked nose, he had to stop often to gasp in some air as he drank. Harry’s heart ached to see it as he stroked Nasta’s back lightly and encouraged him to drink some more.

“Do you want some soup?” Harry asked lightly.

Nasta grimaced, but he nodded. “I know I need to eat, but it’s the last thing in the world that I want to do.”

“I suppose it is when you’re so sick, but it does help though, I swear by homemade chicken soup.” Max said. “I made some up this morning.”

“I’m sorry I’m causing you so much work.” Nasta groaned.

“Think nothing of it, between you and Eva I’m getting in some much needed practice, you’re keeping me on my toes.”

Harry started heating up the soup, ignoring Max and his three cauldrons on the counter, with their little fires burning underneath. Apparently the cooker hob didn’t get hot enough for some potions. Max had explained that some potions even required being placed over certain wood, like cypress or hazel, so the kitchen hob was out of the question. Harry had pointed out that Max had a fully functioning potions lab downstairs, but he had insisted that he didn’t want to leave them up here on their own with a sick Nasta and a pained Eva, he wanted to be close at hand, so he was using the kitchen counter.
Harry laid out two bowls and two spoons, puttering around to get everything ready before Max held him still for a moment and Harry looked over his shoulder to see that he was ready to ladle out another one of his potions.

“Do you want bread, Nasta, or do you just want to have the soup?” He asked as he waited for Max.

“Just soup, Harry.” Nasta said thickly from the table.

Harry nodded and he watched the soup simmering, listening as Nasta sneezed and coughed behind him, groaning and struggling to breathe.

“You’ll feel better after Max’s magic soup.” Harry insisted. “It always makes me feel better.”

“The potions will help too. Take this one.” Max handed another of the newly dosed out vials to Nasta and he knocked that one back too with a visible, prolonged shudder this time as the fever reducer iced up his insides.

When the soup was bubbling, Harry turned off the heat and he doled out two bowls full of the chicken soup. He took Nasta’s over to him before he went back for his own. He sat next to Nasta and snuggled up to his side.

“I don’t want you to get sick too, Harry.” Nasta said, before turning away and sneezing.

“If I do, then I do. We sleep in the same bed, love. Just let us take care of you.” Harry said firmly.

“Harry’s right.” Blaise said, carrying in a red faced Eva. “We want to look after you, Nas. Hey, Max, is that laxative ready? She’s really straining now, she’s going to hurt herself…or pull a muscle.”

“Ten minutes, lover.” Max said, stirring both potions at once in opposite directions. He stopped stirring the one, but carried on with the other. “See if she wants something to drink.”

Blaise nodded and he sat Eva on his hip and got down a bottle from the cupboard, filled it with water and then brought it over to the table so that Harry could screw on the teat for him. He offered it to Eva, and she actually latched on and took a drink.
Harry finished his soup first and he turned to fuss over Nasta a little. His oldest mate thought he didn’t know that he liked to be fussed, especially when he was sick, but Harry knew and he enjoyed fussing his mates.

“Let’s get you back up to bed, love. Come on.” Harry chided, poking at Nasta. “You shouldn’t have even gotten up, I could have brought you your soup in bed. Now get your gorgeous bum up those stairs and into bed.”

“You’ve been told.” Blaise chuckled. “Go on, get.”

Nasta managed a tired smile, but Harry escorted him up to their bedroom and got Nasta tucked in with a glass of water on the bedside table.

“I don’t want to leave any of you to struggle.” Nasta said weakly.

“You’re not and we’re not struggling. Draco’s got the kids, he will only be alone with them until Max is finished with the potions and then they can both watch over them. Blaise has Eva and she’ll be fine in an hour, as soon as that laxative has worked and you know that I’m fine.”

“You’ve still got morning sickness.”

“Yeah, but you just watched me eat, it literally is morning sickness at the moment, just after I wake up. I’m fine throughout the day, I promise. Since all that stress has gone, I’ve been feeling much better. Hmm…I wonder if stress contributes to morning sickness or something or if it’s a coincidence. Either way I feel fine, Nasta. I’m worried for you, I’m worried for Eva, but I know that you’ll both pull through and that in a few days you’ll all be better.”

Nasta smiled and rested back against the pillows. “If you need anything…”

“Then I’ll call in the in-laws, not you.” Harry said sternly. “You will not move from this bed unless it’s to use that bathroom.” He said, pointing at the en suite. “You will not be disturbed, you will rest and you’ll get better because I love you and I can’t live without you. I need you.”

Nasta smiled then and he patted the bed next to him. Harry shuffled up and he laid down next to Nasta, stroking his sweaty hair from his forehead. The sweats would be stopping soon, with the fever reducer in his system. He would be feeling better by that evening, and completely healed in a few days.

“I love you so much, Harry. I will get better, it’ll just take a little while.”

“We know. Until then we’ll look after you and baby you a little.” Harry chuckled. “We don’t have much chance to look after you, you’re always the strongest, the most together of all of us, so when we get the chance to look after you, we’ll do it in spades. I’m sure Max will be up as soon as your last potion is done. He’s going to baby you too.”

Harry continued stoking Nasta’s hair, murmuring to him gently, mostly about nonsense, but after every blink, Nasta’s eyes stayed closed for just a little longer each time. It took only seven minutes for him to be snoring softly through his mouth, his nose still being blocked up.
Harry sighed and kissed Nasta’s cheek, tucking him in more firmly and making his way carefully off of the bed and then back down the stairs. Max was just stoppering the last of the potions when Harry entered the kitchen.

“How’s our baby?” Max asked him.

“He’s sleeping right now.” Harry answered with a smile. “He’s having trouble breathing though.”

“I’ll go and check on him in an hour. I’ll see if he needs a decongestant, I’ll brew that this evening if he does.”

“How’s Eva?”

Max laughed. “She’s just given Blaise the biggest, most explosive poo to deal with after taking that laxative. Poor Blaise was almost sick. He’s in the downstairs bathroom with her, trying to clean her off. Her nappy leaked, it went all over her legs, she needs another change of clothes.”

“I’m glad I missed that one!” Harry laughed. “I don’t think our thunderer would have let me get off scot-free from that.”

“How has he been since breakfast? Are you feeling better?”

“Much better.” Harry answered. “He’s actually been quiet today, it’s almost like he knows that his Daddy is sick and needs my attention.”

Max went to his knees and kissed Harry’s belly. Harry snorted a laugh. “Go and sit down. You’ve been brewing potions all day. I want some tea, do you want some?”

“Sure, let me just put these away safe.” Max said, turning back to the potion vials, putting them into his potion case and then tucking it away on the highest shelf while Harry filled the kettle and set it to boiling.

Max put a single vial up by the kettle, right at the back of the counter.

“That’s for Nas as soon as he’s awake.” Max explained.

“Alright, now go and support poor Draco. I’ll bring you both some tea.”

Max chuckled and swatted Harry’s arse and then strutted to the family room. Harry heard little baby screeches, calling out for their Daddy Max. It made him smile.
Blaise came back into the kitchen with a newly dressed Eva.

“Do you want a coffee, my big brave man, for dealing with such, in Max’s own words, an explosive poo?”

Blaise snorted. “I had no idea so much could come from such a tiny body. I need several coffees after that.”

“I’ve got it, go and settle in the room, Nasta’s fast asleep so he’ll be alright for an hour or so.”

Harry finished off the four cups, got them onto a tray, got a plate of biscuits and a pack of rusks, adding two extra for Eva and Ave, and he sorted out two bottles of water and five beakers of juice from the jug on the counter.
He carried it all into the family room and he smiled happily at the swarm of playing kids. He placed the tray down, handed out tea, and the lone coffee, and then handed out rusks to his babies along with the beakers of juice.

“Are you okay?” Draco asked him as Harry sat next to him with a groan.

“Yes, I just need a moment on my arse.” He chuckled. “A little tea break is just what the Healer ordered.”

“I’ll go up to see Nasta next.” Max insisted. “I’ll take the potion up and if he’s not awake, I’ll leave it on the bedside table. Whoever goes up next, if he’s awake, jam it down his throat for me.”

Harry rolled his eyes, even as Blaise snorted with laughter. He took a deep sip of his tea and he let out a breath happily. This was definitely what he’d needed, a sit down and some tea.

“Ma!” Leolin called out from his baby gym. He’d rolled over onto his belly and he was pushing up with his hands, looking up at him.

“Ooo, look at you, sweetie.” Harry said moving immediately to get to his knees in front of Leolin’s little baby gym. He hefted Leolin up by his underarms and he moved back to the settee…and his cup of tea.

He sat Leolin up on his lap, reclining only slightly, so that Leolin was supported, but he could also support himself up a little bit too, and thus make himself stronger little by little, without putting too much pressure on his body.

“I love it when he does that.” Blaise said, leaning over to stroke one of Leolin’s soft cheeks. “Sitting up I mean. He looks like a proper little baby sitting up.”

“I know what you mean.” Harry said. “It’s good to see him doing something, anything, other than lying on his back or in our arms.”

Blaise nodded his agreement and smiled at Leolin, who scowled back.

“I wish his little scowly face wasn’t his thinking face. I keep thinking that I’ve done something wrong.” Blaise laughed.

Harry smiled then and kissed Leolin’s head, waiting for his Faerie baby to catch up to the movement and peer up at him. Harry moved back just as Leolin grinned widely, showing off his lone little tooth.

“Now that grin is just adorable.” Max insisted. “At least he seems okay.”

Harry nodded worriedly. “He’s alright at the moment, but we don’t take any chances, okay? He’s not allowed in that bedroom and Nasta’s not allowed out. This time last year he and Calix were severely ill and it is almost the anniversary of him coming home from the hospital and I never want to go through that again.”

His three mates nodded seriously. Draco sat forward and cupped Leolin’s cheek and then his forehead and then his neck. He got a scowl for his efforts.

“He isn’t any warmer than usual.” Draco told them. “But one of us is to have eyes on him at all times until Nasta is better, no exceptions. We can’t take our eyes off of him because those fevers can hit him so quickly and as soon as that happens, he needs to go to the hospital. We can’t afford to miss those signs and let any illness take hold of his body.”

Harry nodded seriously and he held Leolin a little closer to his chest and he bent for another kiss, which got him another grin.

“We’ll look after you, baby.” He promised. “Your Daddy too, because he’s really not well either.”

“Da.” Leolin echoed. Those big gold eyes turned to the three men beside them, looked at each one of them and then seemed to look for a fourth.

Harry’s breath caught in his throat. “He…he’s looking for Nasta! He knows how many of us there are!”

“That’s amazing.” Max said with an excited grin on his face.

“I don’t think it’s counting, per se.” Draco said. “He looked us all in the eye. He knows the colours of our eyes and that’s how he identifies us. We all have different eye colours!”

Harry’s grin was so wide it hurt his mouth, but he didn’t care. “I can’t wait to tell everyone else! I wonder if he can recognise his brothers and sisters in the same way. Tegan and Regan might be a bit difficult, as they have the same hair and eye colour, the same with Eva and Ave, because they are actual identical twins, but I wonder if he could recognise the difference between Braiden and Farren, or Calix.”

“If he does tell us apart by our eye colour, what will that mean for Braiden and Blaise? Is it only the eye colour he notices? Or does he see height and age too?”

“I…I don’t know. I’ll have to ask Dain and Kailen.” Harry said. “They’re due a visit, they missed last week because of all that court business, that they are going to tell me about when I ask!” He said firmly. “If something is going on in the city, I want to know what it is.”

“And if they won’t tell you?”

“There’s always Eitri or Ezrah.” Harry said. “But I will find out what’s happening. I won’t have Leolin going there if there’s trouble.”

“You know that we agree with you wholeheartedly.” Draco insisted. “We don’t want him going there if there’s any danger to him either.”

Harry nodded and he cuddled with Leolin and used his free hand to pick up his tea.

“I’m going to go check on Nasta and then I’ll sort out the kid’s lunches. I’m thinking dippy eggs and toast soldiers, something nice and quick to get them down for their naps so we can concentrate on Nasta a little more. He needs the fussing.”

Harry nodded and looked at the kids happily playing on the floor, or climbing all over the settees in Calix’s case, and then to the clock. Nasta needed to be checked on and the kids did need their lunch soon. It was going to be a busy few days.
Harry had just finished drinking his tea when he heard Max clattering around in the kitchen cupboards.

“Where are the egg cups?” He demanded a few minutes of banging and rummaging later. “Who’s messed with my cupboards?”

Harry sighed and stood up, he handed Leolin over to Draco and he went to give Max a hand.

“No one has messed with the cupboards, Max. You moved them to a higher cupboard when Braiden got into the lower one and smashed two egg cups and cut his hand.”

Max ran a hand through his hair and then turned to the higher cupboard and to the collection of small little egg cups.

“I completely forgot about that. I’m sorry for shouting.”

“You’re stressed, Max. Just let me deal with this.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not going to go and do nothing, sitting on my fucking arse while my three month pregnant mate slaves over a hot stove.”

Harry rolled his eyes, but instead of arguing, he set to helping, laying out the little plastic plates and putting an egg cup on each one ready, using a sticking charm so the kids couldn’t move them, as Max set to toasting bread and soft boiling eggs.

“Shit, are you okay with eggs? I didn’t even ask.”

“We’ll find out soon enough.” Harry answered, eyeing the eggs bouncing in the saucepan of boiling water warily. He couldn’t smell them yet, but as soon as they were cracked open, that would change.

“I don’t deal well when Nasta’s ill.” Max moaned, coming to hug him from behind.

Harry patted those muscled arms and kissed a hand. “It’ll only be a few days, a week at most. We’re all alright, you’ve finished all the brewing now and Eva is going to, hopefully, be back to her normal self by tonight. I want Nasta to be better for Blaise’s birthday, but if he isn’t then we’ll deal with it.”

“All of us are getting sick now. You, Nasta, Eva…”

“I have morning sickness, it’s not the same, Eva was constipated, it’s not the same. Only Nasta is sick, Max, and he’s going to be fine.”

“Unless he passes his illness onto the rest of us.” Max mumbled, moving over to lightly butter the toast once it popped from the toaster and slicing each one into little strips.

“We’re all feeling fine, stop fretting, that’s my job.”

Max laughed then and shook his head. “I just…I know I couldn’t be the top dominant, I suppose that’s why I worry so much when it’s Nasta who’s sick.”

“He’s still a Dracken, he’s not going to die from the flu.” Harry said, watching as Max fished out the soft boiled eggs and sat each one into the little egg cup on the plates.

The two of them hit the eggs and removed half the shell and Harry breathed tentatively, but his stomach didn’t so much as waver. He was fine…though looking into the dippy eggs, he just knew that he wouldn’t be able to eat one. Thankfully though, none of them were for him as he took two plates and placed them in front of booster seats.

“Draco, Blaise? The kids’ lunch is up.”

Of course Farren came hurrying into the kitchen first, followed almost immediately by Braiden, who climbed his own chair and sat himself down, picking up his first strip of toast and plunging it straight into the runny yolk. It made Harry smile to see how far he’d come, even as he helped Farren into his own booster seat so that he could eat his lunch.

“How are you holding up?” Max asked, bringing over another two plates and setting them down while Blaise herded in Tegan, Calix and Regan.

“I’m alright. I couldn’t eat it myself, but the smell isn’t bothering me.”

Both he and Max laughed then, when Blaise had to grab Calix and lift him up to stop him from running down the corridor to the front door that Calix liked banging.

“Daddy, no.” Calix complained.

“You need to eat your lunch first.” Blaise said sternly, sitting Calix down on the last booster seat and strapping him in securely so he couldn’t escape.

Calix went to complain some more, but then he realised what was in front of him and he made a soft ‘Ooo’ noise and then dipped two fingers into his egg yolk before putting them in his mouth. Harry sighed. This would be a messy lunch.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

Harry had been right about lunch being messy, by Calix’s hands in particular as he’d dug out his egg with his fingers and eaten his toast separately. By the end he’d been wearing more egg than he’d eaten and Max had spent more time cleaning up from lunch than he’d spent on cooking it.
Calix had gone straight into the bath as the wet wipes were just not effective enough to clean him up. It was almost a relief to drop him into his cot and let him and his brothers and sister go down for their naps. Not that any of them did easily or immediately, but Harry just left them all to it as he went to check in on Nasta.
His top dominant was fast asleep when Harry went to check on him and it made Harry smile. Nasta didn’t often get much rest, he was always up and doing something. It was strange to see him like this, but it was a good thing too. He needed his rest.
Harry checked on him, checked his temperature, which was coming down now with the aid of the potions, and he tucked him in before going back downstairs.

“Are you alright?” Draco asked him.

Harry nodded. “Fine. Nasta’s still asleep and those kids should be dropping off now, even if they do climb out and sleep on the floor with their teddies. The doors are shut, so they can’t get out onto the landing or into the master bedroom.”

“Here you go.” Blaise said, handing over a cup of tea.

“Thank you, Blaise.” Harry said sincerely, taking the tea and gulping.

“Perfect?” Blaise questioned with a smile.

“As always.”

Blaise sat on Harry’s other side and cuddled into him, as Harry rested against Draco. It was always peaceful at this time of day in the house, and it was the only time that they had to relax in such a hectic day. They all looked forward to it, even if Leolin, Eva and Ave were still awake.
After looking after eight babies, six of them hectic toddlers, who were all over the place and into everything, having just three of them awake, one of them who couldn’t even move around by himself yet, it was just blissful.
Eva and Ave were wriggling around the floor, playing with the toys that their older brothers and sister had left lying on the floor and Leolin was back in his little baby gym, this time he was staring at a brightly coloured butterfly. Leolin liked butterflies.
Everything was, sort of quiet. The only noises came from their twin girls, or the sparse conversation they were having between one another. Things were kept light and happy, as with Max’s birthday, they said nothing about Blaise’s in four days, they were going all out this year, because they hadn’t celebrated his nineteenth birthday last year…because this time last year Leolin and Calix had had bronchiolitis and Leolin had almost died from it. This year they were going to go all out and give him two birthdays in one to make up for the one that they hadn’t celebrated properly last year.

“We need more than two hours of this a day.” Draco sighed.

Harry hummed his agreement. “Get used to it, love. Very soon those kids won’t be having naps anymore and we’re getting a new baby in the New Year.”

“Just the one new baby.” Max said happily. “Our little thunderer.”

“Have you looked through any more of the baby name books?” Blaise asked.

Harry grinned at him. “I have and you know I won’t share any thoughts on the matter.”

“You’re a meanie, that’s why.” Max insisted.

That made Harry laugh, breaking the peaceful silence. “You’re terrible. You know I won’t know names until after our boy is actually born. Though at least knowing the gender now I can only look at boys and unisex names.”

“That’s narrowed it down to a couple hundred thousand.” Draco pointed out.

“Only a handful mean thunder or can be associated with thunder.”

“You named Farren after thunder.”

“So?” Harry asked. “He cried loud enough to rattle the windows in their frames. His name fits him. That doesn’t mean I can’t call the new baby thunder too. It’s not like they’re both going to be Farren’s, just their names will both mean thunder.”

“What if the baby is Max’s? Will you stop the Maddison naming tradition?” Blaise inquired.

“No.” Harry said firmly. “I’d call him Thor…or Zeus, or Taranis. Surely gods count in the Maddison naming tradition, doesn’t it?” He added looking to Max.

“Gods and goddess do technically count as rulers, so yes, they count. Though I’m not sure about having a son named Zeus.”

“I was using that as an example.” Harry smiled. “There are some nice names derived from the gods, like Seth from the Egyptian Set, or Indie from the Hindu Indra. It has to be better than the Roman Summanus, though I suppose that could be changed to Summer, though perhaps not for a boy.”

“You’ve been doing a lot of research, I see.” Draco told him.

Harry nodded. “A lot of it. Hermione’s been helping. We really need a computer, she can look up anything she wants in minutes! She looked up all the thunder gods for me and printed them off so I could read about them.”

“Anything that keeps you happy, love.” Max told him from his place on the floor. Ave was stood up in his arms, on her tippy toes, trying to see over his broad shoulder. Max had one hand on her back, to support her on her unsteady feet.

“I want to go look at new bassinet linens too.” Harry said. “Once Nasta is better I want to go shopping. I want some new bits for the baby, we can reuse some of the newer clothes, but he needs to have some of his own too.”

“We can go shopping.” Max nodded. “Do you want to renew the actual bassinet too, or just the linens and the mattress?”

“The actual bassinets are still sound.” Harry said. “We have a lot of bassinets thanks to the quintuplets. I’d be happier if we just replaced the mattress and the linens.”

His mates nodded and Harry settled back.

“I wonder if we can get any linens with lightning on them.” Max mused aloud.

Harry laughed again. “Oh, could we look, please? I’d love that.”

“Of course we can. Our little thunderer needs to sleep in style.”

That made Harry happy and he stood up. “Anyone want tea or coffee or a sandwich?”

“Can I have pumpkin juice instead, please?” Draco asked.

Harry nodded. “Max? Blaise?”

“Coffee for me, you should know better.” Blaise winked.

“I think I’ll have pumpkin juice with Draco.” Max said.

Harry nodded and he went to make up three bottles, a cup of tea for himself, coffee for Blaise and two pint glasses of cold pumpkin juice. He took the latter in while the kettle was boiling.

“Here you go. It won’t be a minute, Blaise.” He said, bending down and kissing Blaise’s mouth.

“I can wait as long as is needed for coffee, mio amore.” Blaise told him with a grin.

Harry snorted. “Of course you can. You can have a couple of days now of getting away with as much coffee as you want, what with Nasta being confined to the bed.”

“I’ll give him a bath later tonight.” Max said. “We can air out the room then before getting him back into bed.”

“I’ll go and check on him now.”

“You’ve already done so.” Draco insisted. “I’ll go now.”

Draco took another several gulps of pumpkin juice and then he stood and went up to check on Nasta.

“Make sure those kids have gone to sleep too!” Harry called out.

He went back into the kitchen to make tea and coffee, making up three bottles and he took those into the room next, letting them cool on the coffee table, then he went back to get the two mugs.

“Here you go, Blaise.”

“Grazie, Bello. Ti amo.”

“Ti amo, Blaise.” Harry said happily, kissing Blaise’s hair. It was coming back nicely now, but it would be some months still before it was back to its original length.

“Sit down, Harry. You need to rest.” Max told him.

Harry nodded and he sat next to Blaise again and drank his tea, enjoying the peace. Or he did until Draco came back with a squirming Calix.

“He wasn’t asleep.” Draco said. “As soon as he heard me on the landing he started knocking on the door and he came barrelling out when I went in to look on the others, you’d think that room was a prison by the way he was acting.”

Harry sighed. “Oh, sweetie, you are going to be grouchy in a few hours.”

Draco placed Calix down and he went straight to the pile of toys, clambering roughly over Eva.

“Callie, please be careful with your little sisters.” Harry said sternly.

Calix stopped, turned around and he hurried back to Eva. He hunched down and he gave her a rough kiss and Harry grimaced as he pulled her head around to kiss her properly. He sighed as Calix dropped her head and went back to the toys. Eva on the other hand looked a little stunned, as if she didn’t know what on earth had happened.

“How is our sleeping Prince?” Blaise asked.

“He’s alright. He was awake when I went in. I helped him to the bathroom, helped him to blow his nose, got him to drink half a glass of water and then I tucked him back in. He was asleep again before I’d finished smoothening the blankets over him.”

Harry smiled, happy that Nasta was resting, and that he was still taking in fluids. It was going to be very difficult now with him being very sick, but they’d manage, even if they had to leave him in bed, where he was going to recover more, then that was what they would do, with no arguments from the poorly Nasta.
The most challenging would be Blaise’s birthday, as Nasta would insist on being there, but in four days he should be much better with the potions he was taking. It might take him a couple more days afterwards for him to start feeling more like normal, but he should be able to celebrate with them a little. Harry hoped that he was feeling better by then, he wanted Blaise’s birthday to be perfect. Not that he thought that Nasta being sick would spoil Blaise’s birthday, of course not, but he knew that it would spoil it for Nasta himself to try and keep up with the rest of them while he was so sick.

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A/N: The court business is finally over and we have the verdict, as if anyone didn’t already know that those tossers were going to be found guilty, but Harry is finally free of the Dursleys and his past, now we can move on. He still has to tell his mates, including showing them those photos of his past injuries, but that will come after Blaise’s birthday now, once Nasta is better, because bless him, I had to throw in some sick Nasta, it’s too cute.
Speaking of illnesses though, Jethro lost his battle against his illness and his medication started failing, he was on the highest dosage of furosemide that he could take, and it still wasn’t enough. Another heart attack was only inevitable and I made the decision to take the pain and fear away from him. Jethro was euthanised on the 4^th of October, almost two weeks ago, and it’s only now, in the last few days, that I’ve started coming back to normal myself. He was cremated privately and I now have his ashes in a beautiful urn in the shape of a sleeping cat. I am always going to remember him, but it’s going to take a long while before I can even think of opening up my heart to anyone else. I shouldn’t have had to say goodbye so soon to my boy who was only just six years old, but at least now he’s resting in peace and I have a memorial to him, along with all of my very fond memories.
Massive thank you to all of you who gave me kind words and support throughout the mere eight weeks of Jethro’s illness, particularly those of you on Facebook who were supporting me daily, I can never thank you enough for helping me through my stress and the grief that has followed, but I hope that now I’m back to updating, that the new chapters will help to show how thankful I am. Thank you, lovelies.
Jabsher12: No, a female submissive will give birth vaginally if they can, but they will use a self-caesarean as their male counterparts do if they get into difficulty or the Dracken feels like they’ve been labouring for too long. With multiples, it’s the same, though usually the first baby or two will be vaginally birthed, any after that will likely be caesarean as the Mother tires and the Dracken’s instinct to get all the babies out alive takes over.

This is all for now, lovelies, I hope that you’ve all enjoyed reading this new chapter and I’m hoping to get more chapters out before the end of the year. There are also more Dracken Universe fics to come, so watch out for those and I’ll see you all again soon,

StarLight Massacre. X
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The Rise of the Drackens