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The Rise of the Drackens	By : StarLightMassacre Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 769457 -:- Recommendations : 72 -:- Currently Reading : 220
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
- 126
- 127
- 128
Last Time
He rolled onto his stomach carefully, and buried his face in his pillow. The tears came before he even realised that he was upset. It was hard and messy as he cried out everything that he was currently feeling, damning his awful luck once again for what had happened, cursing all four of his mates for ruining everything, for fighting and threatening one another. Harry did eventually cry himself to sleep, his eyes puffy and sore, much too cold in the big bed, and due to get up again in a few short hours to feed Taren, his Valentine’s Day utterly ruined.

Chapter One Hundred-Twenty-Seven – Repairing Relations

It was horrendously difficult to drag himself out of bed the next morning. He just wanted to stay put, cover his head with the duvet, and ignore the world, but he had nine hungry children to sort out, so he forced himself up to start the day.
He picked up Taren, before going next door to the nursery, and those babies who weren’t already on the floor clamoured to be picked up and freed from their prisons. It was only Farren and Regan still in their cots, and Harry picked them up with one arm, trying to ignore how much it pulled on his muscles to do so, and got them safely to the floor, before going to get Braiden from his own room down the hall, and then into the second nursery to pick up Eva and Ave, and then finally into Leolin’s room to pick him up.
Harry carried Taren and Leolin, who had woken up on the wrong side of the bed and was trying to attack Taren for daring to be carried in his beloved Ma’s arms, to the top of the stairs while trying to keep an eye on the other seven.

“Leolin, stop it.” Harry said, in no mood to deal with any Faerie quirks as he juggled the newborn baby and his Faerie baby to open the damn baby gate without dropping either of them.

“Ma!” Leolin screeched indignantly.

Harry got them safely down the stairs, Eva and Ave sort of sliding down backwards while on their bellies, and the kids all knew exactly what was next, as they all ran into the kitchen for their breakfast.
Several of them had even climbed into their own booster seats by the time he’d followed them in, and he placed Taren down in the tableside bassinet and pulled out Leolin’s highchair.
Unfortunately Leolin did not want to be put down, and he struggled and screamed, refusing to let go, and Harry had to peel his son from his neck, unhook his nails from his skin, and force him into the chair, to much screaming and thrashing, and when Harry turned to leave him, Leolin started crying out for him, even as Harry pulled out two more highchairs, for his twin girls.

“Leolin, sweetie, please, I’ll be with you soon.” Harry tried, dropping a kiss to Leolin’s cheek, hissing when Leolin’s little nails clawed at his face.

He turned away and set up two more highchairs, finding Eva and Ave crawling under the table and putting them into the highchairs and buckling them in securely.

“Muma, want bowl!”

Harry had to smile at Farren, even as he hit his hand against the table.

“Give me a minute, sweetheart.”

Harry got Regan up into his booster seat, and then went around strapping all of the kids in, especially Calix, who wouldn’t stay in his seat if he wasn’t securely strapped in.
He made them eggs and toast. Probably not his wisest decision, seeing as he was on his own and it took some time to boil seven eggs and butter seven pieces of toast, but Harry wanted to follow Max’s meal plans, mostly because he knew all of the food for the meal plans was already in the house. If he deviated from that plan then he’d have to go shopping, and that was Max’s job. Harry hadn’t gone shopping in months, and he didn’t know how to drive yet, so he’d have to walk, and carting nine kids to a supermarket was not going to be pleasant. Max only ever took two or three kids at a time.
The kids were all rowdy, calling for their breakfast, and fighting with one another, despite that Harry had tried to distract them with drinks. Leolin was screaming, Taren was screaming, and Harry was ready to crawl back into bed and leave them all down here when the floo sounded a warning, alerting Harry to someone visiting. He remembered that Myron had promised to come around that morning, but he still didn’t take any chances as he moved to stand in front of the table of kids with his wand out, his wings vibrating against his spine.

“Harry? It’s just me and Myron.” Richard called out loudly.

“In the kitchen.” Harry called back, relaxing himself with a deep sigh and turning back to peeling the eggs.

“Ganda, up!” Calix cried as soon as he saw who had arrived, holding up his arms, tears falling, making him look all the more heartbreaking.

“You need to have breakfast first, Calix.” Harry told him.

Calix screamed, and threw himself onto the table, kicking his legs.

“Does he need to go in a time out?” Myron asked.

Harry shook his head. “It’s my fault for not getting breakfast ready on time. It’s messing with their schedules. They don’t normally have to sit and wait so long.”

“You normally have four others here to help you.” Myron said, rolling up his sleeves and coming to help him.

Harry nodded. “Max usually comes down and starts breakfast right away, so when the kids come into the kitchen he’s almost done and they only have to sit for five minutes before they’re eating.”

Harry managed to serve the kids their egg and toast, but Calix was too wound up to eat, and he ended up picking up the egg and throwing it in a fit of rage.
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He turned and filled the kettle with water and started setting up the bottles for Taren and Leolin.

“What can we do to help?” Richard asked him, even as he was trying to soothe the hungry Taren in his arms.

Harry just shook his head as he made up the bottles. A wave of his wand had them cooled and he handed the smaller one to Richard for Taren, then turned to Myron, who was being hit and clawed by Leolin, and he took the Faerie into his own arms, offering him the bottle. Of course, just like Calix, Leolin was too angry and frustrated to eat, and he was taking out all that anger on Harry.

“Give him to me.” Myron said, after a particularly hard slap echoed around the kitchen.

Harry let Myron take Leolin back into his own arms, and handed over the bottle, and he turned to make Calix another egg, seeing as he was now suitably calm and was trying to dip his toast into Farren’s egg, which was going to end in tears. Farren would occasionally share food, but only on his own terms and from the scowl on his face, today was not one of those sharing days.
Harry quickly peeled the freshly boiled egg and put it on Calix’s plate, distracting him with it, before he went to help Braiden scoop out the white of the egg so that he could eat it.
Eva and Ave had made a damn mess of their food, they had egg in their hair and under their little nails, their toast was half eaten, chewed up, and was a soggy mess on the trays of their highchairs.

“Mummy, I done.” Braiden told him.

“Good boy, Braiden. Well done for eating all of your breakfast.” Harry praised, kissing his buttery cheek.

“I play now?”

“We need to wipe you off first.”

“I do it.”

Harry smiled as he took a baby wipe from the pack and handed it to Braiden, who scrubbed at his mouth with it.

“Make sure you eat as well, Harry.” Myron told him sternly, now holding both of Leolin’s arms with one hand and feeding him with the other.

Harry got himself a single piece of toast, and he made tea for the three of them. He ate his breakfast while the kids finished up, and as Richard winded Taren, Harry stood again and started wiping off hands and faces. He unstrapped the kids, and they ran, one by one, to the family room to wreak havoc. Harry hadn’t cleaned up yesterday, so all of their toys were still out and all over the place.

“How are you actually feeling?” Myron asked him.

Harry shook his head. “Best not to ask.” He said softly, following his kids into the larger family room.

“Harry, you need to talk things through, you can’t bottle it up.” Richard told him. “You know that from when we went through the courts.”

“I just…I just can’t believe it actually happened. I was tossing and turning all night, trying to look at it objectively, and…I still can’t believe it happened. Why did they do that to me? To us?!”

“They’re idiots.” Myron told him calmly, matter-of-factly, and the candid tone made Harry smile.

“We had such a nice evening planned, we were going to have a lovely meal, and maybe some cuddling because…well it’s too soon after Taren was born for anything else. I was looking forward to it so much. I can’t tell you with mere words how much I was looking forward to it. I needed a few hours away from the kids, to destress, to reconnect with my mates, and they ruined it just because Nasta had a few tragedies in his family tree!”

“Again, they’re idiots. It’s not up to them who is in your mateship, it was your decision, and by agreeing to mate with you, they agreed to the others as well.” Richard told him, snuggling Taren, who was fast asleep and doing some more growing.

Harry watched the kids for a while, smiling at them as they played alone, or together.

“How…how was Max last night?” He asked.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes, because if he was behaving at all normally I’m going to be furious. It sounds sadistic, but I want to hear that he was devastated and upset, that it threw him off his own personal schedule. If…if he was doing all the things he normally would have, I don’t know how to feel about it.”

“Well, I’m sure you already know that that wasn’t the case. He didn’t sleep, refused to eat, and spent most of the afternoon sat in the back garden, freezing his balls off, staring at the sky.” Richard told him. “I doubt any of your mates were behaving at all normally yesterday, Harry. I can almost guarantee it.”

“I had to physically drag him inside and lock the doors to stop him from staying out there all night.” Myron added.

Hearing that didn’t make him feel any better. He thought that maybe it would, but all it did was make him tear up.

“Don’t cry, Harry. Things will work out.” Richard told him, coming to sit beside him, sandwiching him between the two men.

“Max knows exactly what he’s done. He will grovel.” Myron promised him.

“I’d forgive them all here and now if I thought it would never happen again, but…I…I’m quite a trusting person. I barely knew them when I chose them as mates. I was abused for so long that I wanted to trust that other people would…that they’d like me. I keep putting my trust in them, and they keep letting me down. I just want it to stop. I don’t want us to be this way.”

Richard stood and put Taren in the bassinet, and then came back to hug him tight.

“You have every right to be upset, honey. Just remember that you have family now, not just your mates, but us too. We love you, you’re our son, these are our grandbabies.” Richard told him, looking out at the playing kids. “We’ll look after you.”

“And knock a few heads together while we’re at it.” Myron grumbled. “You’re our son too, as much as Max. We might not have raised you, but we love you as our own and we will not accept anyone treating you badly, especially not your mates.”

The tears spilled over, and Harry sat between Myron and Richard, and he just cried. He was disappointed more than anything. He had been looking forward to their evening, and their plans had been ruined, but more than that, his mates had all promised him that it would never happen again after the massive fight that had almost torn them apart, but they had broken that promise to him.

“I need to know how the others are behaving.” He said, rubbing his face with his sleeve. “If…if they’ve all shown remorse they can come and see the kids this afternoon. I don’t want to keep them separated from their own children, but I can’t be around them if they’re acting normally, as if nothing’s happened.”

“I’ll go and catch up on them for you.” Myron said, before kissing his forehead and he stood to go and floo over to check on the other mates.

“What do I do if they have been normal?” Harry asked Richard.

“I’m sure that won’t be an issue, honey.” Richard soothed him, stroking his hair.

Harry nodded, but he was still worried and scared. He didn’t want to think what he’d do, or feel, if any of his mates had been normal when he had cried himself to sleep, and then tossed and turned all night, as well as doing all the night feeds by himself.

“Is there anything else we can do for you, Harry? Do you need some more sleep? A pain potion?”

Harry shook his head. “I couldn’t sleep if I tried, and I’m not in any pain. It’s not even sore.”

“Did you eat last night?”

“Yes.”

“Harry, look at me and say that again.”

Harry looked up, but couldn’t keep eye contact. “I ate a bit.” He said.

Richard sighed and pulled him into a tight hug. “We’ll get you through this. I can only speak for Max, because I actually saw him, but he is kicking himself for the argument. I’m sure the others are as well. They know better.”

“I just don’t want it to happen again. I’ve never gotten a baby stuck while in my nest. I’m a man, I have to go straight for the section anyway. I’m not going to die in my nest just because Nasta’s mother, and great-grandmother, did.”

“Of course you’re not, honey. That’s why we were calling them idiots yesterday, but dominant Drackens aren’t really known for brain power, they’re supposed to be all brawn.”

Harry snorted, and chuckled a little bit.

“Well, it’s true, you get the odd slim and lean dominants, like me, and your Blaise, but we do better in a mateship with another dominant added in, to cover the brawn area. Unfortunately all brawn and no brain means that the meat head dominants go for aggression and violence at the first sign of something upsetting. It’s a mind-set, and it can be changed, Harry. I changed mine.”

“You did?” Harry asked, finally seeing a glimmer of hope.

“Of course. I’m a barrister, Harry, my entire job depends on me being able to keep my temper in check. On keeping my Dracken side locked away so it doesn’t interfere in my cases. How many times do you think I wanted to leap over the desk and rip out the throats of your so-called family in court? But I’ve taught myself to keep it in check, to push aside my Dracken, and the instincts that come with it, so I’m able to still do my job, without losing my temper, or indeed ripping out some throats.”

“So it can be done? They can change their Dracken mind-sets?” He asked hopefully.

“They just need some more therapy, some more time to change that instinctual mind-set. Keep at them for it, don’t let them worm away from their responsibility. Everyone complains about the submissives for following their instincts, for clamouring and smothering their children as their instincts tell them too, but no one holds the dominants to the same standard when they go all feral over their submissive’s protection.”

“I fought my instincts because I knew it wasn’t what was best for my children. I…I was locked up for my childhood. I had my childhood stripped from me because of those people, and…I’d never want to do that to my children.” Harry said. He blinked and more tears fell.

“Oh, honey.” Richard run his thumbs under Harrys eyes, catching a fresh fall of tears, wiping his cheeks clean for him.

“They aren’t doing the same. They promised me…they promised that it would never happen again, but they were squaring up to one another, threatening to kill Nasta…I can’t take it.”

“You shouldn’t have to. They need more therapy. We’ve got Max booked in this afternoon. He’s agreed to go.”

“He has?” Harry asked, peeking up nervously.

“Of course. He’s stupid, we know that, but he does love you. All of you.”

“They act like they hate one another sometimes. First when Draco was the one who…when he…” Harry made a vague motion over his stomach. “They all turned on him, they wouldn’t let him back, they threatened to kill him as if he was a nobody. And now they’re doing the same thing to Nasta. How the hell is it his fault that his mother died? That his great-grandmother died? It’s a coincidence! It doesn’t mean I’m going to die, I just…I wish they’d stopped and thought a little more, I feel sorry for Nasta. They basically turned his mother’s death against him, he must be feeling like shit right about now.”

“Do you want to see him?” Richard asked him.

Harry considered it, but he realised he’d have to give an inch if he had any hope of resolving this latest mess. He nodded. “Yeah, I think I want to see Nasta first. The others not so much. Not just yet.”

“Wait a little while then, Myron will be back soon, and we’ll see about bringing Nasta over to grovel.”

Harry snorted a little, but sniffed right after, rubbing his face.

“They’re all dickheads, but they’re still mine.” He said.

“There’s nothing quite like laying claim to your very own dickhead. I’m Myron’s.” Richard said with a grin.

Harry laughed, and wiped his eyes. “I just wish this hadn’t happened. We were doing so well, we were getting over that massive fight from last May. I thought, perhaps foolishly, that everything would be better.”

“No one got hurt, Harry. The kids were safe, you were safe. You called us very early, everything was fine.”

Harry inhaled, and he nodded. That was true, but he was still disappointed that this had happened.

“You have every right to be angry with them.” Richard told him, likely reading his thoughts in his expression. “But remember the upside too, no one was hurt, nothing like that fight back in May happened again. It might have, we don’t know because you were clever and acted so quickly, but keep that in mind, honey. Nothing happened, not like the last time.”

Harry nodded once more. He understood that, and he was relieved that nothing like that had happened again. He never, ever, wanted anything like that fight to happen ever again, and if it had happened, he would never forgive his mates for it.
Myron flooed back over, coming back to them in the family room, and he looked pleased, so Harry thought that perhaps his mates were suitably distraught that he’d thrown them out.
Myron sat back beside him and threw an arm around him, cuddling in.

“Well?” Richard demanded.

“I’m most impressed with Nasta.” Myron said.

“What’s he done?” Harry asked curiously.

“He stayed with his uncle last night, but he wasn’t there when I went to call on him. Idris told me that he spent yesterday afternoon with his therapist, and he went back today to have another talk. He’s being very mature about all of this, as well he should as a forty year old man.”

“Draco and Blaise?”

“Blaise is, unfortunately sulking.” Myron sighed. “Draco, having gone through this before, has calmed himself down and he has a face to face meeting with his anger management teacher later today.”

Harry bit his lip. “I never expected this from Blaise. He’s normally the one on my side, and seeing things from my point of view.”

“I believe that his head injury is messing with his rationality.” Myron said simply.

Harry shook his head. “No, Healer Odell said he was doing better than expected. His Dracken blood is helping him to heal faster, better.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s completely one hundred percent, Harry.” Richard pointed out. “Blaise has been prone to fits of emotion since his head injury. You might find that under the surface this is likely linked.”

Harry considered that, but Richard was right, Blaise wasn’t one hundred percent and he did have little emotional outbursts since the injury, most particularly anger, but it was usually aimed at himself, or his frustration at his memory, and his inability to remember specific things that he definitely knew. He became very angry with himself when he would call one of the kids by the wrong name, and would even hit himself in the head afterwards, as if that would somehow help him remember. They all knew how much it got to Blaise, how much he hated that his memory had been so greatly affected, and they knew how angry it could make him when he did forget something so simple as his own child’s name. Harry would need to sit and speak to him, and see if this fight had come about because of the injury, or if there might not be something deeper lurking in Blaise’s mind, and in his words about killing Nasta.

“I want to see Nasta.”

“He was with his therapist, leave it an hour, Harry, and then we’ll try again.” Myron told him. “Just rest and relax as much as you can for now.”

Harry nodded, and he tried to keep the kids on a normal schedule, as he took them upstairs one by one to brush their teeth and change them into their day clothes, changing nappies and overnight pull ups, and then going to put all of their pyjamas in the wash once that was sorted. He opened the doors to the smaller living room, opened the curtains to let in the daylight, placing them up on the windowsill to stop any adventurous babies climbing them, namely Calix. He turned on the TV and switched it to cartoons to distract the kids, and then he went and sat back between Myron and Richard.

“Thank you for coming and being with me.” Harry said softly, once the kids were all suitably distracted. Even Leolin had calmed down and was rolling the light up ball between his hands, watching in rapt fascination as it flashed a different colour with every turn.

“Of course we came, Harry.” Richard told him immediately.

“We would never have left you to struggle through on your own. You gave birth less than two weeks ago, and need to rest and recover. You shouldn’t have to set that back because your mates have been idiots.” Myron insisted, pulling Harry in closer to him, giving him a comforting squeeze.

Harry cuddled in closer and he smiled to himself. This was nice. Not quite the same as his mates, but it gave him the same sorts of feelings of comfort and love. He felt safe, and he relaxed fully onto Myron.
A huge hand rubbed over his back, and Harry let out his breath, and allowed himself to be a small child again. Almost like he was back in the cupboard, but this time he had two father figures to help him, to love him, and comfort him as he’d always wanted….needed. They would never have locked him in a cupboard. They would never have starved him, or beat him.

“Thank you for loving me.” Harry said, tearing up.

“Oh, honey.” Richard said, laying his own hands on his back, stroking along with Myron.

“Never thank us for that.” Myron told him. “Of course we love you, you’re our son.”

“Thank you…, Dad.”

Harry felt the two men jump in surprise, and then he was almost crushed under the arms that rushed to grapple him into the tightest hug he’d ever received. His chest was squeezed, and as the air was forced out, he let out an uncontrollable giggle.

“I’m so proud of you.” Richard told him, pulling his head back gently and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “You’ve come so far, and now you’re truly figuring out your own self-worth. Good on you, Harry.”

Myron just held him tight, refusing to let go of him. Not that Harry wanted him to. He was enjoying this moment, of opening himself up and making himself so vulnerable, only to be reassured and comforted in all the ways that he’d always needed.

“I do love you both too, you know.” He said softly, once he was sure his voice wouldn’t waver too much. “You’ve always been there for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

“You’re going to make me cry in a minute.” Richard laughed, but Harry heard him sniffing too, so he assumed that Richard was serious about crying, and wasn’t just teasing him.

“Sorry.” He said softly, but he snuggled in happily, instead of pulling away as he normally would have.

He sat there, between Myron and Richard, and he let go of everything, letting himself be the small child, allowing himself to be comforted. This truly was a breakthrough for him, and he was enjoying it.
He fell asleep without meaning to, relaxed and comforted, and tired too from his restless night, which was disturbed frequently by the needs of a twelve day old baby, and Myron held him throughout his nap, not once letting him go.

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

It was a screech that woke Harry, and he startled, only to be shushed and stroked gently. He reached up a hand to rub his eyes, and groaned as he realised what had happened.

“Sorry.” He whispered.

“Don’t tread backwards now, Harry.” Myron said gruffly. “You needed the sleep, and I loved holding you and keeping you safe as you did so.”

Harry smiled and looked around the two rooms. Richard was playing with the kids, and it was their shrieks of joy and happiness that had woken him.
He eased away from Myron, and he sat up and stretched, his back clicking in a very satisfying way.

“Does anyone want tea?” He asked.

“Yeah, you’ve been asleep for a while.” Richard said with a grin.

Harry looked at the clock on the wall and groaned as he saw it was closer to midday. He’d been asleep on Myron for more than two hours, almost three.

“Oh, these kids need their lunches soon.” He sighed.

“You could always tell Max to make their lunches. You said you didn’t want to separate them for too long. You keep Max in the kitchen, you stay here…” Richard trailed off and shrugged.

“I wanted to see Nasta first.”

“He should be done with his therapy, I’ll go and get him.” Myron said, standing himself.

Harry hurried out to the kitchen and started making tea. Nasta always had green tea in the mornings, so Harry made him a cup, hoping that he would come.

“You actually look nervous, Harry. He’s still your dominant mate, he’s not going to stand you up.”

“He might be angry that I threw him out.” Harry said, as he put the tray of cups and two bottles down.

“If he is it’ll be directed at himself, not you.”

“Mummy, juice?” Calix asked, looking at the tray as if he could see a beaker for himself.

“Oh, of course, sorry, sweetie. I’ll get you some juice now.”

Harry hurried back into the kitchen and made up the small, plastic beakers of fruit squash that most of the kids were drinking from now. Eva and Ave had progressed nicely to sippy cups, though Leolin was still firmly refusing to wean and wouldn’t accept anything other than his bottle in his mouth.
Harry managed to carry the second tray into the room, and he handed the cup to Calix.

“Be careful with it, sweetheart.” He warned.

“Yeah.” Calix answered distractedly, as he gripped the cup with both hands and took a deep drink.

The rest came hurrying over to grab a beaker, Harry handed the twins their sippy cups, and then he went to try and tempt Leolin with a bottle of milk.
He was feeding Leolin when Nasta came into the room.

“Daddy!” Braiden cried out. “Bo da.”

Nasta greeted all of the kids, but his eyes were focused on Harry, he could feel his mate’s gaze, even as he fed Leolin, trying to ignore how his son’s fingernails were trying to gouge out a lump of flesh from his neck.
Nasta came and sat beside him, and he reached out to grip Leolin’s tiny hand.

“You know he doesn’t like being disturbed while he’s eating.” Harry said, as calmly as he could manage.

“He’s about to draw blood.” Nasta said, just as calmly.

Harry wanted to shiver as that voice washed over him. It had been a day, that’s all, but he had missed them all so much in just one day that he felt himself getting choked up.
They sat there, side by side, neither of them saying anything, as Harry finished feeding Leolin, then snuggled and rocked him back to sleep. The silence was getting awkward, and Harry didn’t know what to do or say. He hadn’t felt awkward around his mates since the beginning of their mateship, when they’d all been relatively new people to him.
He stood abruptly, and went to put Leolin in his favourite bouncer, strapping him in so that he didn’t fall. He stood and watched Leolin sleep for a moment.

“Why did you have to fight?!” He burst out suddenly, hunching himself over as the tears got the better of him.

Strong, warm arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a solid chest, and the familiar scent of Nasta surrounded him.

“I’m sorry.” Nasta told him.

He didn’t say anything else, he didn’t make any excuses, and it was exactly what Harry needed to hear as he turned fully and buried himself into Nasta’s front, clenching his arms around his mate as he cried.

“Mummy, sad?”

Harry’s breath hitched, and he tried to wipe his face free of tears, before turning and smiling at Tegan. “No, sweetie. I’m fine.” He insisted, and even to his own ears it sounded like a weak lie.

“No be sad.” Tegan told him, running over to the doll house in the corner and extracting her favourite penguin from a window, before hurrying back to him and passing him the stuffed toy.

Harry smiled, and he kissed her. “Thank you, Tegan.”

He made a show of cuddling the penguin, and she nodded and turned back to whatever game she’d been playing.
Harry’s lip trembled, but he held himself together. His kids didn’t need to see him crying. Nasta came and wrapped him back up in a hug, and Harry felt the ghost of a kiss being pressed to his head, so light he half thought that he’d imagined it.

“I love you, Harry.” Nasta told him. “Please, never forget that.”

“I love you too, it’s just…it’s so hard when you all do stupid things like this.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have risen to the bait, and I did. I need to work more on myself. I…I went straight back to my therapist, and I realise now how I should have handled the situation. I’m just so sorry that it came at the expense of our plans.”

Harry nodded, still clutching on to Nasta tightly.

“You don’t believe that you’re in any danger having my children, do you?” Nasta asked insecurely.

Harry realised then that the fight had unsettled Nasta too. He wrapped his arms around his mate tighter.

“No, not at all, Nasta. They’re all idiots and I’m so angry at them for using those tragedies against you. That’s why you’re here before them.”

“I thought that Max…” Nasta cut himself off, but he had looked up at Myron and Richard.

“We’re here for Harry.” Richard said immediately. “He shouldn’t have to struggle through, looking after nine babies all by himself, twelve days after he gave birth no less, just because you idiots decided to allow your feral Drackens to take over.”

Nasta winced at that, but he didn’t defend himself, or correct Richard.

“Max might be our son, but we want what is best for Harry.” Myron added. “He’s our son too.”

That made Harry smile. He’d finally bitten the bullet and called them ‘dad’ and they hadn’t corrected him, hadn’t made him feel stupid for calling them that, they’d reassured him and still loved him afterwards. It felt nice to have real parental figures again.

“I do want Max here next.” Harry said.

“Do as I said, force him into the kitchen to make the kids lunches, and that way here’s here, but if you don’t want him around you, he’s out of the way.” Richard shrugged.

Harry nodded, but he held onto Nasta tighter. His grip became almost crushingly tight when Myron left the room to use the floo.

“I’m sure it was just a momentary lapse.” Nasta told him, rubbing his back, feeling his stress and anxiety. “They were just shocked, and they reacted from that, and the fear of losing you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Harry said firmly.

Nasta cupped his chin and tilted his head up, giving him a proper kiss, and Harry melted into his mate. One kiss turned into two, then four, before they finally had to stop to breathe properly. Harry could kiss Nasta for hours and never get tired of it.

“They would have calmed down by now.” Nasta said soothingly, a breathless note to his voice. “Like me they would have been reliving those thoughtless few minutes over and over again in their heads, now with the hindsight of what they should have done and said, instead of what they actually did say and do. I couldn’t sleep at all last night because I was reliving those moments over and over again.”

“I missed you last night.” Harry said softly, almost shyly. “I never realised how big and cold that bed is when I’m the only one in it.”

“My bed was too small.” Nasta told him. “But equally as cold.”

“I didn’t even go to bed. I’m so sorry, Harry.”

Harry looked up to see that Max had arrived, and he was hovering in the doorway to the other room, just watching him and Nasta together.

“I’m not the only one you should be apologising too.” Harry said sharply.

“I know. I’m sorry too, Nas. I…I was just…I don’t even know what I was thinking, but I’m so sorry that I let my instincts take over. I love you too.”

Nasta sighed, and turned away from Max. Harry saw exactly how devastated Max was that Nasta had turned away from him.

“I had a nightmare last night. The first time I’ve dreamt of myself killing my mother again in years, decades. I was thirteen the last time I had a dream like that.”

“You didn’t kill her!” Harry raged.

Nasta looked away from him too, his entire posture screamed dejected, and Harry wanted to cry all over again, but he was angry too…angry at the others for making Nasta feel this way.

“Nasta…” Max tried, but Harry held up a hand to him angrily, stopping him before he could voice anything else.

“If I had died giving birth to Taren, would you have held it against him?” Harry asked Nasta seriously, an edge of his Dracken coming through. “Would you have hated him? Treated him as less than the others?”

“I…no. Of course not, Harry.”

Harry went and picked up Taren from his bassinet, and he smiled so lovingly at his son as he cradled him to his chest. Taren squirmed a little, then settled.

“I love him so much.” Harry told the silent adults, who were all watching him. “I know for a certainty that if my life had been at risk while I was birthing him, I would have done anything in my power to get him out, so that he had a chance at life, even if I didn’t.”

Harry flicked his eyes up to Nasta.

“Your mother was a submissive Dracken, she would have felt exactly the same as I do. She did what any mother would have done, she got you out and gave you a chance to live, Nasta. I would have done the same for any of my children, it almost did happen when I had the quintuplets. I wasn’t expecting to birth them when I did, or how I did. I almost lost Leolin and Calix that day, and despite that I had pretty much ripped my abdomen in half to get them out, that I could still feel that pain even though I’d drank the two bottles of blood to close the wound, my thoughts were still all for getting them breathing. I didn’t think of myself. I didn’t let the pain or exhaustion I felt stop me from doing everything I could to save my babies. I made my choice, the same choice I will make every single time. I will always choose my babies over myself, and your mother chose her baby, and I’m glad that she did. I’m glad she made that sacrifice, because you’re my mate and I love you. I couldn’t imagine my life without you, but I don’t think I could live with any of you if you blamed any of our children for a decision I had made.”

“My father never once blamed me for what had happened.” Nasta said thickly, his voice shaking with the tears he was trying to suppress. “I asked him once if he had ever blamed me, even slightly, or at the beginning when it was so hard for him to deal with everything, and the look he gave me…I’d surprised him, he was shocked to hear me voice that to him, and I knew then that the thought had never crossed his mind. I would never do any less for my own children. If you had…if you had died birthing Taren, I would have loved him enough for the both of us.”

That set Harry off, and he started crying hard. The sort of crying that got messy and made his face go red and blotchy.
Nasta came to him, and held him tight. Another pair of arms wrapped around him which only went to prove that Max had been unable to keep away in the face of his upset.

“Thank you.” Harry sobbed. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me for that, Harry.” Nasta told him. “They’re my babies too, and I will always love them. Even if you weren’t here, I’d still love them.”

“I’m sorry.” Max whispered again. “I never meant….I would never have…I shouldn’t have said any of what I did yesterday, and I’m sorry.”

“We both lost control of our Drackens.” Nasta said.

“You only did after the rest of us had turned on you.” Max pointed out. “If we hadn’t…if one of us had kept a clear head and stood by you, I doubt you would have lost your cool at all.”

“I was very angry.” Nasta sighed. “I would have likely still lost my temper regardless of how many had stood by me. I was angry from the moment it was mentioned.”

“It shouldn’t have been brought up.” Harry said, sniffling and rubbing his face clean now that he had cried all the tears he’d had left.

“It’s only because we all love you so much.” Nasta said, bending to kiss the top of his head. “We can’t handle the thought of you dying, either.”

“I’m not going to die.” Harry huffed.

“No, you’re not. We’re going to take such good care of you.” Max said, with just the smallest hint of his usual cheeky self.

Harry smiled a little. “Better.” He insisted.

“Oh yes, much better than we usually do.” Max agreed.

“Muma, Daddy, bisky?”

The tension broke like a wave over the shore, and the three of them just laughed. Harry turned, smiling to Farren, who had come over to them, frowning at their laughter.

“Daddy Max is going to make you lunch now, Farren.” Harry explained.

“Oh, I knew there was an ulterior motive to you asking me to come around.” Max laughed.

“Well, honestly I struggled through breakfast, and I hated it, so yeah, you’re here to sort out lunch.”

“Got it, come on, Farren, you can help me in the kitchen.”

“Me too!” Braiden shouted, immediately abandoning his toys and running over.

Harry wiped his face as much as he could with Taren still tucked in his arm, but Nasta came to help him, rubbing his face gently with his hands.

“Will we get over this?” Nasta asked him.

Harry considered it. “I suppose we will, though it depends on how Blaise and Draco are going to handle it when they come back. But I demand a makeup meal to replace the one we lost yesterday. You know how much I was looking forward to it.”

“I do, which is why I hate myself for losing my temper and ruining it for you. I should have handled it better, and I swear to you that if there ever is a next time, I will be better.”

“There better not be a next time.” Harry grumbled, sitting down on the settee.

Nasta came and sat beside him, and slipped his arm around Harry’s back to cwtch him, while he put his other arm under Harry’s, so they were both holding Taren.

“It seems that I can’t promise that there won’t be another fight in the future, I did that before and I couldn’t keep that promise, so I won’t make it again, Harry. But I can promise that if another fight does happen, I will handle it better. I will be a better person, and I will put you and the kids first. I can promise that.”

Harry nodded, and he rested himself on Nasta. He was aware that he had been right at the heart of the previous fight, the one from May that still haunted them. He knew that they were all still trying to come to terms with that fight, or rather the aftermath of it, Blaise especially, who was still having problems with his memory almost a year on, and still needed to see his specialist neurologist, Healer Odell, every month for check-ups. He knew that he hadn’t been as calm as he could have been, and though all of his thoughts had been towards protecting his children when the fight had actually started, he was equally aware that he had a temper too, and that his temper had helped to escalate the fight from verbal to physical, despite that he hadn’t been the first to swing a punch.
He’d had his own therapy, but more than that he had taken in everything he’d been taught and he’d put it to use. He knew one hundred percent that that was why he hadn’t lost his cool during this fight, he knew that the reason he’d called for backup so soon was because he’d remained calm and objective. If he could go through his therapy and learn from it, then so could his mates, but they hadn’t, and that was why he was so disappointed in them.

“When will you allow them back?” Nasta asked him, obviously thinking of Draco and Blaise.

Harry shook his head. “I don’t know. Draco was the one who brought it up in the first place, so I’m angry with him for that, and Blaise was the one who said about…about…”

“About killing me.” Nasta told him blandly, his voice devoid of any emotion, despite the fact that it had to have hurt like hell to hear someone you love so much saying so coldly that they wanted you dead.

“I won’t let him!” Harry hissed. “You’re my mate. Mine!”

Nasta turned to nuzzle into his neck, and it was more tickly than normal because Nasta looked like he hadn’t shaved in a week, despite the fact that it was merely twenty-four hours. As a result it made Harry giggle.

“It’s nice to hear you laughing at least.” Myron said as he came into the family room from the smaller room, where he and Richard had gone to give them the semblance of privacy, obviously checking up on them, just in case.

“Nasta’s beard is tickly.” Harry explained.

“It looks like it should be more abrasive, considering I’ve seen neater nettle thickets.”

Harry laughed loudly, and turned to grin at Nasta, who smiled at him, and kissed his mouth. His mate got his own back when he rubbed said nettle thicket all over Harry’s face.

“All of my razors are here.” Nasta told him. “I never packed any to take, so I’ll shave when the kids are eating, or when they’ve gone down for their naps.”

Harry turned to see said kids, and he surveyed them all, checking up on them.

“Do you want Draco or Blaise?” Myron asked him.

Harry shook his head. “No, I’m fine with just Nasta and Max for now.”

“Will you forgive them?” Richard asked.

“That depends on them. I’m not going to side with them over Nasta.” Harry replied firmly. “I’m not going to agree to kill off one of my mates over something so terrible, and coincidental.”

“What if they insist?” Richard pressed.

Harry breathed in deeply, and clenched his free hand.

“I forgave Draco when he almost fucking killed me!” He hissed deeply. “He almost killed me and Blaise, and I forgave him. If he dares demand that I hold this against Nasta…” Harry stopped and breathed hard. “I will not side with him over this. I won’t side with either of them over this.”

“And Blaise?”

Harry’s anger left him, and he just felt cold and sad. He thought about Blaise, his first mate, his first love, and his eyes prickled. “I never expected him to put me in this position. Not him. But I am siding with Nasta on this, I will not stick by Blaise if he insists on removing Nasta from our…my mateship.”

“It won’t come to that, even if I have to take them to task myself.” Nasta swore to him. “I’ll go and talk to them myself, Harry.”

“What if they hurt you?” Harry said, his eyes wide.

“Harry, I’m your top dominant, and I took that position for a reason. I won’t kill them, I promise you, I still love them myself, even though they have hurt me. I do need to sit them down and talk this out, however. I’m the one that they have a problem with, so it’s only right that I’m the one to talk it out with them.”

Harry licked his lips nervously.

“Everything will be fine, Harry.” Nasta soothed gently.

“I want to believe that so much.” Harry said. “I’m just scared. I hate that this has happened. I never wanted yesterday to end like it did.”

“We knew you were excited to have that meal, and I’m sorry those plans were ruined. I will make it up to you personally, I swear.”

“Harry, sweetheart, now’s your chance to demand a meal from each of them.” Richard faux whispered to him. “You’ll get four dinners!”

“Five if I demand a meal with all of them at the end.” Harry grinned.

Richard made it a point to gasp in excitement. “Yes, Harry. Now you’re thinking big!”

Harry laughed.

“I will give you anything you want.” Nasta swore. “I’ll speak to Blaise and Draco, and make them see sense.”

“What if they won’t?” Harry voiced his greatest fear.

“They will.” Nasta said with such certainty that Harry started to actually believe him.

“Lunch is up.” Max said, coming in from the kitchen. “Damn those two made a mess of lunch today. I have peas where there should never be peas.”

Harry gave him a look. “Do we want to know?”

“Probably not.” Max told him. “Kids, come on, it’s lunchtime.”

“Daddy, no!” Calix cried out, before making a run to the other room. Thankfully Myron was blocking his way and scooped him up quickly, and held him even as Calix screamed and kicked.

“He’s been unsettled since breakfast.” Harry admitted. “He didn’t like it when it was just me. Regan’s been unduly quiet too. I haven’t heard him all morning.”

Harry looked at said toddler worriedly. It was sometimes easier to forget about Regan, because he was so quiet, and usually so well behaved, but it was very unusual to not hear him at all during an entire morning. Harry was worried about what these awful fights, and the continual separation of their family, was doing to his children, and how it was going to affect them and their views on relationships if their own parents carried on having such terrible arguments and fights in front of them. It needed to stop.

“They’re probably playing up because of the argument we had, Harry. We remember the massive fight, and likely, on some level, so do they.” Nasta comforted. “If…are you allowing me and Max to stay?”

Harry only took a moment to think of that, before he nodded. “Yes, I want you both to stay.”

“Then we can work on settling them back down. Starting with lunch, and me shaving so I look more like I normally do.”

“You’re going to shave? Thank Merlin! I was worried you had birds or something in there.” Max said with a grin.

“Might be a few dragons.” Nasta teased.

“We have enough of those.” Harry said with a grin, standing and moving to the kitchen, where Braiden and Farren were already eating heartily.

Harry put Taren down in the tableside bassinet, and he went to get himself a cup of tea. He would sit at the table while his babies ate.

“Did you actually manage to eat anything?” Max asked him, as he escorted Tegan and Regan into the kitchen, and carried Eva.

“Yes. I had toast.” Harry replied.

“He had one piece and didn’t even eat his crusts.” Richard reported.

Harry rolled his eyes. “I had as much as I wanted.”

“He didn’t eat much yesterday either.”

“Stop throwing me under the bus!” Harry demanded.

“Sorry, son, I love you, but your health comes first. Always.”

Harry tried to stay mad, but he couldn’t. Not at that. He hid his smile instead.

“I’ll make you lunch, Harry. You’re still recovering, you need to eat.”

“You and Nasta kiss first. You haven’t kissed since you came home.”

“You’re just a little voyeur.” Max accused.

“We are still here.” Myron growled.

“I’d do more than kiss them if you weren’t.” Max said with a cheeky grin, but he went to Nasta and they sort of looked at one another for permission, as if making sure that what they were going to do was alright.

“Don’t be so hesitant, Caru.” Nasta told him.

Max took Nasta at his word and seized him and swung him around into a romantic dip, before kissing him. Harry laughed at them, the kids barely took any notice, and the only one who did notice, Eva, just giggled at her silly daddies.
Harry smiled happily, especially as Nasta sort of wrestled with Max and managed to swing Max down into a dip while they snogged. Nasta however, dropped Max to the kitchen floor when they broke apart from their kiss.

“That was for saying you wanted me dead.” Nasta told him.

“Really Max, how could you think we could live without that hip rolling?” Harry demanded, grinning.

Max laughed and picked himself up off the floor, and Harry laughed with him, but it was cut short when Nasta came to kiss him too.

“We definitely can’t live without that.” Max said, but he was much closer.

Harry opened his eyes to see him pressed up against Nasta’s back.

“Forgive me for being an idiot?” Max pleaded with Nasta.

“Never hold my mother’s death against me ever again.” Nasta said seriously.

“I won’t, I just let my Dracken get away from me, and I was scared for Harry.”

“You wouldn’t think I already had nine babies over four pregnancies.” Harry sniffed.

Max grabbed him and kissed him. “Fear isn’t rational or logical. I still love you, and I still love Nasta. My Dracken didn’t allow me to remember that I loved Nasta too, all I could think of was you.”

“You owe me dinner.” Harry huffed.

“Of course, dearest.” Max swore. “I’m going to take Nasta out to dinner too, just us.”

“You are?” Nasta asked in surprise.

“Absolutely. I have to make it up to you as well.”

That made Harry so happy, and he couldn’t stop grinning.

“But first, Harry needs a proper lunch.” Max went back to the counter and Harry turned to smile at Nasta.

“I told you everything would work out.” Nasta told him, bending and giving him a peck.

“There’s still Blaise and Draco.” Harry said, worriedly.

“I told you, leave them to me.” Nasta told him. “There’s no need for you to be worried. I’ll sort them out.”

“If you can’t, then I will.” Harry growled. “I won’t be happy either, make sure to tell them that. Tell them that if I have to deal with them, they will not be coming back as easily as you and Max did!”

“I’ll be sure to tell them that.” Nasta told him.

“Muma, more.”

Harry looked over to Farren, and he had to smile.

“I’m sure we’ve got some fruit we can give you.” Harry said, going to stand, but Max waved at him with a tea towel.

Harry rolled his eyes and sat back down, letting Max dig out Farren’s food diary, looking through what he already had today.

“Dad, this is your writing.” Max said confused.

“So?” Richard asked. “I fed the kids snacks earlier.”

“We were here all morning helping Harry with the kids, why are you so surprised?” Myron demanded.

“I mean…I…uh, thanks?”

Harry snorted a laugh, and Myron smirked.

“You’re welcome, care bear. I rather enjoyed being able to look after our youngest son for once.” Richard grinned.

“He was very easy to care for.” Myron agreed.

“That’s very unusual for Harry.” Max insisted.

“I think you’re lying. Harry was so easy to care for. Force him to eat toast, ply him with tea, and he slept for almost three hours. Taren was more demanding than he was.” Richard laughed.

Harry blushed a bit. “I took a bit of a mid-morning nap…on Myron’s chest. I just felt so safe and warm, and I hadn’t had much sleep during the night, so…”

“You don’t need to explain, you slept, so that’s all that matters.” Myron told him. “There’s no need to be embarrassed.”

“I’m still getting used to such ordinary things.” Harry said. “Things like being held, and touched, they’re all still…well, not novelties, not anymore, but I’m still not as used to them as maybe I could be. I’m getting better, I know I am, but I still have some way to go before it’s completely normal to me.”

“We’re all proud of you, and everything you’ve achieved, Harry.” Richard insisted.

“Absolutely.” Max agreed, coming to kiss him, while handing him a plate of chicken, rice and vegetables. The same as what the kids were eating, just in a bigger portion.

Harry ate, because truthfully he had missed Max’s cooking, and he was happy to have two of his mates with him. He always felt better when his mates were in the house with him, and his Dracken could scent them.
He wasn’t alone as he ate, as Myron, Richard, and Nasta joined them. Max had his own plate, but he was busy cutting up fruit for the kids, for their desserts.

“Here you go, you adorable little munchkin.” Max said enthusiastically as he handed a bowl of diced and sliced fruit to Farren. Harry could see apple, kiwi, and pomegranate.

Braiden also got his own bowl. Regan and Tegan shared a bowl, but Calix got the fruit scattered on the table in front of him, otherwise he refused to eat any fruit.
Max then sat and started eating. Both of his mates chose to sit as close to him as possible, and Harry didn’t think that was a coincidence. It made him equally sad and happy to know that the twenty-four hours that they’d been separated had affected them as well as himself. Now he just had to hope that Blaise and Draco were as anxious to make amends, and that they were as understanding as he, Max, and Nasta had been over the entire thing, otherwise he was looking at the almost complete destruction of his mateship, and he couldn’t even bring himself to think of what his life would be like then.

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A/N: This one definitely tugged at my heartstrings. I cried a few times while writing this chapter, but good on Harry for growing and realising that Myron and Richard are always going to be there for him. I love that little bit. Next chapter…Blaise and Draco.

StarLight Massacre. X
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The Rise of the Drackens