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Restoration of Magic	By : Bickymonster & CelticKitsune Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 10396 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter or any concepts or characters associated with it. We are not making any money from this this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Huge thanks to Emily for beta reading this for us!
And Happy New year to everyone! We look forward to a wonderful new year ahead of us! And we have lots in store for you all! See notes at the end of the chapter!
Chapter 12

23rd December 1995

Over the next two days, the boys began to make themselves at home. Frank had confirmed that Sirius had been officially granted temporary custody of the boys until the case was resolved, and that had certainly put Sirius’ mind at ease.

Remus, however, had had his work cut out for him. Harry kept insisting on trying to help with everything, so Remus was trying to find little odd jobs around the house that the boy could do. He just didn't have the heart to tell Harry no. Finally Sirius stepped in to save his boyfriend.

“Come on, Harry, I’ve got something you can help me with,” Sirius said, grinning as Harry turned away from Remus quickly. Sirius earned himself a grateful smile from the werewolf as Harry hurried over to where Sirius was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

“What is it?” Harry asked, following Sirius as the man started walking upstairs.

“There are some boxes in the attic that Remus and I were trying to dig out the other day. We found most of them, but they never quite made it downstairs. I wanted some help bringing them down to the sitting room,” Sirius explained, leading Harry all the way up to the landing, and summoning down the ladder to the attic.

“What’s in the boxes?” Harry questioned as Sirius climbed the ladder, following him and poking his head up into the attic once Sirius had gone all the way up.

“Christmas decorations. Things have been a little hectic recently, so Remus and I haven’t had time to start decorating yet. We’re cutting it a bit close this year, but if you boys help out I’m sure we’ll manage,” Sirius said as he started grabbing the boxes and stacking them up by the hatch.

“What’s Christmas?” Harry blinked, looking at the boxes curiously when he saw some shiny bit of tinsel hanging out of one of them.

“You don't know what Christmas is?” Sirius asked, pausing in what he was doing to turn and look at Harry. “Did you celebrate any holidays at all?”

Harry frowned, tilting his head and looking a little confused. “We don’t have holidays,” Harry said. “But we do celebrate Ambas-ilarey.” Harry smiled widely as he thought about the wonderful feast the Fae held each year, and how everyone would go down to the Ilarey River. But it was now Sirius’ turn to look confused.

“Never heard of that holiday. Well, I guess that makes us even then,” Sirius said with a chuckle. “Let’s get these boxes downstairs, and you can explain your holiday to me while we do that, and then later I’ll have Remus explain Christmas to you,” Sirius said.

“Why can’t you do it?” Harry questioned as he waved his hand over one of the boxes, causing it to rise about an inch and levitate there. He didn’t want to wait to find out about this unknown celebration.

“Because my explanation wouldn’t go beyond ‘you get presents on Christmas’,” Sirius said with a wink, grabbing the last box and stacking it with the others.

“Does everyone get presents? Is that what’s in the boxes?” Harry asked curiously, moving the levitating box closer to himself and lifting the corner of top and trying to look inside.

Sirius chuckled. “No, those are the decorations, remember,” he pointed out with amusement. “But yes, everyone should get presents at christmas.”

“So Christmas is about presents?” Harry asked, feeling confused as to why Sirius needed Remus to explain that to him.

“Oh, no, there’s a lot more to it, or at least Remus will tell you there is,” Sirius told him, taking a seat next to the small stack of boxes. Harry, however, was still watching him expectantly. “Like ‘it’s a time for family’, decorations, some religious stuff and all that,” he explained vaguely. “Besides, I’m really curious about this holiday of yours.”

“It’s when we say thank you for our magic,” Harry told him matter-of-factly. “But we don’t get presents. How does everyone get presents for Christmas?” Harry questioned, seeming unable to leave the topic of Christmas alone.

“How about this, we get all these boxes downstairs first, then I’ll drag Remus out of the kitchen for a while and you can ask him to explain it to you in as much depth as you like,” Sirius said.

“Okay!” Harry said excitedly, backing down the ladder and then waved his hand in a gesture that summoned the floating box down out of the attic.

Between him and Sirius, they managed to get all the boxes down from the attic and into the living room in less than five minutes, and they both headed back up to make sure they had everything.

Harry looked around the attic curiously as Sirius checked the contents of some of the boxes, making sure that they weren’t missing anything that they would need. There were quite a lot of things stored up there, and Harry found himself wondering what else Sirius kept up here, if it wasn’t all Christmas decorations.

Harry wasn’t sure what else they would need, but he was eager to help still. So picking his own stack of boxes, he started going through them. He could tell after the first couple boxes that there wasn’t any Christmas decorations in them, but they were full of other curious items. The one box he had opened had small bits of clothing, and what looked to be brightly colored toys. Another box held a few pictures that were still sitting in broken picture frames.

Curiously Harry picked up one to get a closer look. There were three people in the picture, and Harry was sure he had never seen them before, not even when Sirius had had all those people over before. “Sirius?” Harry turned to face his godfather. “Who are these people?” Harry asked, holding the picture out toward Sirius.

“Hmm?” Sirius hummed, as he turned to look at what Harry meant. “Oh,” he said, as he realised what Harry was holding and he moved across the attic towards him. He stared at the picture; he had seen multiple times before, looking at it now brought up bittersweet memories. It took Sirius a moment to realise that Harry was still waiting for an answer.

“That is a picture of my best friend, his wife and their son,” Sirius said, mentally kicking himself as he once again avoided talking to Harry about his parents.

“They look so happy,” Harry said, looking at the picture and smiling. “The lady is really pretty,” Harry handed the picture over to Sirius, who took it with a trembling hand.

“They were happy, one of the happiest couples I knew,” Sirius said sadly. “But… they’re gone now.”

“Where did they go?” Harry asked, frowning when Sirius just shook his head.

“Come on. I’m sure we’ve got all the Christmas stuff. Let’s go back downstairs and see if we can pull Remus out of the kitchen for a few minutes,” Sirius said.

Harry watched as the man practically ran from the attic, leaving the picture of the happy family behind. Harry stared at the picture for another moment before making up his mind, taking the picture with him as he followed Sirius downstairs. His main thought was that a picture of such a happy family shouldn’t be shut away in an attic.

Harry descended the ladder at a slower pace than Sirius had, smiling when he realised that Blaise was waiting for him at the bottom of the ladder.

“You okay?” Blaise asked, looking concerned as Harry reached him. “Sirius came charging down the stairs, nearly knocked me over too,” he explained, reaching out and brushing a clump of dust from Harry’s hair.

“Everything’s okay, I think,” Harry said, glancing down at the picture he was still holding. “I found this, and I think it upset him,” he said, showing it to Blaise.

Blaise took the picture looking at it closely, a small frown forming on his face as he studied the people in it. “Did he say why he was upset about this picture?” Blaise asked.

“He said it was a picture of his best friend, but he didn’t say who it was…” Harry admitted.

“This guy looks a lot like you,” Blaise pointed out, and Harry looked at the picture again. “And this lady has the same color eyes as you do,” Blaise said, letting go of the picture when Harry snatched it back and peered at it closely, as though wanting to verify what Blaise had said.

“Maybe I’ll go ask Remus about the picture. I don’t want to upset Sirius anymore,” Harry decided.

“I’ll go with you. I am kind of curious now too,” Blaise said, taking Harry’s hand and lacing their fingers together as they both headed downstairs.

Theodore and Draco were in the sitting room, each of them going through a box of decorations trying to figure out what everything was actually for, but there was no sign of Sirius or Remus.

“Where did the werewolf go?” Blaise asked.

“Sirius came in here and dragged Remus into the kitchen,” Draco told him, holding up a shiny sphere and looking at his reflection in it curiously. “I think they put up something to keep us from hearing what they’re talking about,” he added without looking up.

“Is everything alright?” Theo started to ask, but Harry was already heading off towards the kitchen.

“Hope so,” Blaise told him vaguely as he hurried after Harry, knowing that Sirius and Remus had probably put up wards for a reason, and he suspected it had something to do with the strange picture that Harry had shown him.

Harry pushed the kitchen door open, shuddering as he passed through the wards that had been placed up. However, he didn’t have time to focus on that, as he had walked in on what appeared to be a heated argument between Sirius and Remus.

“I can't tell him! How can you tell a kid that their parents are dead, when the whole reason they're here, is to meet them!” Sirius yelled, and Remus didn’t look too impressed with his boyfriend. “He’ll leave, Remus. If Harry knows they’re gone, he’ll leave, and we’ll lose him all over again!”

Harry could only stand there as waves of sadness radiated from both of them, though Remus’ was tinged with frustration. Harry was shocked by how scared Sirius seemed to be at the idea of losing him; the fear and panic his godfather was feeling was almost overwhelming. He was only vaguely aware of Blaise’s hand on his back, but his mate’s presence was helping to clear his mind enough that Sirius actually words were starting to sink in.

“My parents are dead?” Even though Harry’s voice was soft, it stopped the argument between the adults immediately. Both Remus and Sirius turned to look at Harry and Blaise. “That’s what you two are talking about right? That’s who’s in this picture, isn’t it?” Harry turned the picture around so they could see it.

“I…” Sirius stared at the picture, then looked at Harry.

“Yes, Harry,” Remus answered. “Those are your parents, Lily and James, but they died not long after you were taken,” he explained. “We’re sorry we didn’t tell you, but…”

“Sirius thought I would leave,” Harry finished for him, turning the picture around and looking at it again. He wasn’t sure what to think now that he knew he was looking at his parents, but knowing that he would never meet them. He could feel Remus and Sirius’ sadness still, but he couldn’t feel much of an emotional connection to the people in the picture.

“I’m really sorry, Harry,” Sirius said, “I hadn’t intended to keep this from you,” he explained.

“It’s okay,” Harry said, smiling at Sirius and hoping that he could reassure the man that he wasn’t going anywhere. “I can tell that you’re both still really sad about it. I don’t know what happened to them, and… I’m a little sad that I’ll never meet them,” Harry admitted, glancing back down at the picture. “But, none of us really understands what a parent is. I think the closest we ever had to them were our mentors, but even then I feel like a parent is someone different.”

“I’m not happy that you two were lying to Harry about this,” Blaise spoke up, once he was sure Harry was finished talking. “But… I think I can understand why. I just hope you don’t make lying to us a habit,” Blaise said.

“We weren’t really lying,” Sirius said hesitantly. “I just never said that I knew Harry’s parents…”

“Sirius, that is still considered lying,” Remus let out a small sigh. “As we have both said, we are sorry we didn’t tell you. The details about your parents death are still difficult for us, and I promise that we won’t intentionally lie to you again,” Remus said.

“That is a pretty big promise to make,” Blaise pointed out, and Harry grinned widely as he looked from Blaise to Remus.

“How about if we ask you for information and you know something, you’ll tell us and not hide it again?” Harry compromised and Remus smiled.

“That sounds fair enough,” he said, glancing sternly over to Sirius, who nodded his agreement. “So now that’s settled, why don’t we go sort those decorations in the other room.”

“And you can tell me what Christmas is,” Harry said enthusiastically, holding out the picture for Remus to take.

“No, you keep it. They’re your parents,” Remus told him, resting his hand on top of Harry’s. “Sirius and I have plenty of pictures of them, not to mention our memories.”

“Really?” Harry asked, his face lighting up as he looked at the picture again, before he turned and ran back into the sitting room.

“Where’s he going?” Sirius asked, a twinge of panic in his voice as he watched his godson disappear through the door.

“Probably to show Draco and Theo his picture,” Blaise said with an amused smirk. “You’ll come to realise that you can’t tell Harry anything without expecting him to share it with Draco.”

Blaise turned and followed Harry into the sitting room, and didn’t have to look to know that Remus and Sirius had followed him. Sure enough, Harry was sitting next to Draco; the blond boy was holding Harry’s picture, comparing the people in the picture to Harry; Theodore had come to stand next to Draco, doing the same. Blaise moved to join them.

A flash caught their attention, and the four boys looked up to see Sirius standing there holding an odd object in his hand.

“Smile!” Sirius said, and there was another flash.

Harry abandoned his picture, going to investigate what it was that Sirius had, while Remus settled down and started sorting through the boxes, handing off decorations to Theo, Blaise and Draco and telling them where to put them for the time being.

“What’s that?” Harry asked curiously, trying to examine the strange box in Sirius’s hands.

Sirius smiled indulgently as he handed the camera over, and settled himself in to explain cameras and photographs to Harry. It was bittersweet how much Harry’s excited curiosity reminded him of Lily; and though he had only seen a little bit of it, Sirius was also sure that Harry’s stubbornness could rival James’. The boy was a perfect combination of both his parents, in looks and personality. Sirius hoped that one day he would be able to share some stories with Harry, about the people his parents had been.

-------------x

Fabian knew he shouldn’t find the situation amusing, but he couldn’t help but laugh as he watched his sister trying to gather her children into one room. Fabian loved each one of his nephews and his niece, but they all certainly gave Molly a lot of trouble sometimes, particularly the seventeen year old twins, Fred and George. Charlie and Ginny both encouraged their twin brothers’ behaviour, and Percy’s disapproval did nothing to dissuade it either.

“You know, you could help her, instead of standing here laughing,” Gideon pointed out.

“You could be helping her just as easily as me,” Fabian pointed out, taking a sip of his tea as he watched Fred and George run through the kitchen, the identical smirks on their faces indicating that they were up to some sort of mischief.

“I know those looks! Who was the target of your prank this morning?” Fabian asked his passing nephews.

“Well, it was supposed to be a prank for Percy,” Fred said as he and George stopped and turned to grin at Fabian. “But…”

“We sort of forgot that we currently have two book nerds in the house,” George explained, when Fred trailed off. “And well…” He shrugged his shoulders, feigning a look of innocence. Gideon simply raised an eyebrow in question. “The wrong person got caught up in the prank,” he said, looking amused by this.

Fabian couldn’t help but laugh. “So you accidently pranked your girlfriend?”

“Yes,” Fred admitted bashfully. “And right now I’d rather not face her until I know she’s not actually angry at me.”

“I completely understand,” Fabian said, unable to keep a smirk from his face. “Hermione is a very frightening girl, especially when you think about all the spells and curses she probably has memorised by now.”

“Like I need reminding,” Fred grumbled, with a wince, which caused George to chuckle evilly. Fabian wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Well if you two are looking for a place to hide, that’s probably not the way you should be going,” Gideon said, gesturing the way his twin nephews had been heading when they had come charging into the kitchen. “Try Bill’s room, that’s full of hidey-holes.”

“Of course,” Fred exclaimed, as though he had been foolish not to think of it himself. He didn’t get to say anything else though, because George already had him by the hand and was dragging him back the other way, towards the stairs.

“I suppose that’s one way to help,” Fabian chuckled. “I have to wonder if Sirius knows what he’s getting himself into by inviting this bunch over.”

“No one knows what they’re getting into when they invite the whole family over,” Gideon pointed out with a smug grin. “Though we’ll never get over there at all if we don’t try and help Molly.”

Fabian hummed in agreement and finished his tea, setting the cup down on the counter behind him. “You’re right, so why don’t you go find Fred and George, since you’re the one who just sent them off to hide.” Fabian grinned at the look his own twin brother gave him. “I’ll go find Percy and Charlie, see if either of them actually plan on joining us, and Molly can work on getting Ginny and her friend down here.”

Giden had just opened his mouth to speak when a shrill shout sounded through the house.

“Fred Weasley, You get back here RIGHT now!”

It was only a few seconds later that Fred came running through the kitchen again, Hermione right behind him. It was easy to see why the teen girl was so angry though; her normal bushy brown hair had been changed to a combination of red and green streaks, with gold sparkles that seemed to resemble blinking lights when the light caught it just right.

“I already said I was sorry!” Fred exclaimed, darting around the table, putting himself out of arm's reach of his girlfriend. “You weren’t supposed to be the one caught up in that prank; it was for Percy,” he explained urgently.

“I don’t care who it was meant for!” Hermione retorted, going after him.

Gideon and Fabian quickly moved themselves out of the way as the two teens started circling the table. The last thing they wanted was to be trampled by Fred as he tried to remain out of reach of an angry Hermione.

“You’re going to undo what you did, right NOW!” Hermione exclaimed.

“I will! I will!” Fred yelled, changing direction when Hermione did. “If you stop CHASING me!” At his words, she did actually stop, though Fred strategically kept a table between the two of them while he caught his breath.

“I stopped. Now you fix this,” Hermione insisted. Fred turned to look at her and smiled charmingly.

“If you’re quite sure you want me to. I mean, it looks a lot better on you than it would have on Percy, that’s for sure,” Fred said. “And it will wear off before tomorrow either way.”

Hermione took a deep breath to calm herself down a little, before speaking more calmly. “It doesn’t look horrible,” she agreed reluctantly. “But this isn’t really what I want to look like when meeting new people, Fred,” Hermione explained.

Fred took on a more serious look and hesitated only a moment before stepping around the table. Now that he was sure Hermione wasn’t going to hex him, he pulled her into a hug.

“I’ll fix it,” he promised earnestly. “I still think it looks cute, but we’ll get it back to normal. It will only take a couple minutes,” Fred said, pulling away to look down at her. “Come on,” he said, taking her hand and leading her out of the kitchen.

“That was amusing, and almost too sweet, to watch,” Fabian said, watching the two teens leave the kitchen.

“Like you’re one to talk,” Gideon said with a smirk at his twin.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Fabian chuckled, before quickly changing the subject. “Come on, we really should help get these kids together, or else we’re going to be late,” he said and left the kitchen. Gideon shook his head in amusement, following his brother.

Between the two of them and Molly, they managed to get all the kids in the same room in just under half an hour, which Fabian was convinced had to be a personal family record. Even Percy and Charlie had both decided to join them, and were standing with their younger siblings.

“Now why isn’t getting these kids ready for school this organised?” Fabian asked the room in general, as Gideon moved to stand by the fireplace.

“One of the great mysteries of the universe I suppose,” George said with a long, exaggerated sigh, and Ginny giggled next to him.

“Dunno, but I'm sure that Bill and I were never this much trouble,” Charlie declared with a ear-to-ear grin. Gideon and Fabian didn’t even dignify that with a response, both shaking their heads in silent amusement.

“Alright, everyone line up,” Molly instructed loudly as she came bustling back into the room, holding the small pot of floo powder. “Fabian, I think you should go through first and let Sirius and Remus know we’re on our way,” she said.

Fabian gave his sister a salute, taking a pinch of floo powder and throwing it into the fireplace calling out “Wit’s End,” and disappearing in a woosh of green flames.

“Wit’s end?” Hermione asked incredulously.

“A strangely fitting name for Sirius and Remus’ home, trust me,” Charlie told her with a grin, before grabbing a pinch of floo powder and following his uncle.

-------------x

Fabian watched his sister’s sitting room vanish, as he spun and whirled through the floo network before arriving on the other end, stepping out into Remus and Sirius’ sitting room. Even having just come from a house full of Weasley madness, he had to laugh at the sight that met him.

There was tinsel just about everywhere, draped over every surface, and the large pile of it in the middle of the room seemed to be alive, given the way it was moving and the muffled shouts coming from inside.

“Oooph,” said the tinsel pile before a head of black hair poked out of the top of it. “That was my stomach, Draco, watch where you’re putting your elbows!”

“Harry, Draco, get out of there,” Remus said with exasperation, and Fabian watched as the man rushed over to them and helped Harry climb free, before digging out a blond boy from under the shimmering mass.

“Looks like the fun started without us,” Charlie said, as he stepped out of the floo and moved to stand next to his uncle.

Sirius looked up from where he was seated on the couch, looking far too amused with the whole situation. “This has been going on most of the morning, as soon as we started pulling things out of the boxes. You missed the drama over the tree lights,” he added, gesturing over to the far side of the room.

Fabian and Charlie looked over to where a large tree stood. It wasn’t clear what the drama had been but the tree was certainly well lit, and the lights seemed to also be dotted around much of the room, and Fabian thought he could see them out in the hallway and going up the stairs as well.

“Well this is festive!” George declared as he too stepped out of the floo, closely followed by Fred and Hermione, all three of them taking in the half-decorated room, and the mess of decorations that littered the floor.

“Looks like our kind of decorating, wouldn’t you say, George?” Fred said with a grin.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I don’t suppose it would make any difference if I was to remind you that we are here to help not hinder?” she asked with resignation. Fred, George, Charlie and Fabian all laughed. “Yeah, I didn’t think so,” she huffed, as they were joined by Percy and Ginny.

“I suppose some introductions are in order,” Remus said, when he saw that Blaise and Theo had both moved closer to Harry and Draco, and were watching the newcomers with uncertainty. Not that Remus blamed them; the four boys had seen a lot of new faces in the three days they’d been back in the wizarding world.

Remus moved over to stand with the boys as well, putting one hand on Blaise’s shoulder, while the other came to rest on Draco’s as they seemed to be the most wary of meeting new people.

“So you four already know Fabian,” Remus said, the red headed man nodded his greeting. “This is his family,” Remus said and introduced everyone by name, going from oldest to youngest. “That there is Charlie, then we have Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny, and that there is their friend Hermione,” Remus indicated the bushy haired girl that was standing between Fred and Ginny.

“And we’re still waiting on Molly and Gideon,” Fabian pointed out.

“How many of you are there exactly?” Blaise asked curiously. Harry was at his side, holding his hand and watching the newcomers with curious interest, though his main focus seemed to be on the identical twins. Blaise was relieved though that Harry was remaining by his side, at least for the moment.

“Too many,” Fabian answered Blaise with an amused smile.

“Here today, there are nine,” Percy stated, pausing to consider this carefully for a moment. “Though that does include Hermione, who is not related to us. And excludes our eldest brother Bill, as he was busy, and our youngest brother, as he is still missing. Plus Dad is at work at the Ministry.”

“You like to talk a lot, don’t you?” Draco asked, looking at Percy.

Theodore chuckled glancing down at his mate. “No more than you or Harry,” he said, earning a glare from Draco and a pout from Harry. Before either of them could protest to Theodore’s comment, however, the fire lit up green again.

“Did we keep you waiting?” Gideon asked as he stepped out of the fireplace and found his family facing Sirius, Remus and the four boys. “Molly decided she just had to bring the sugar cookies she made yesterday,” he explained with the exasperation known only to a long suffering sibling. Sure enough, his sister followed him out of the fire, a huge tin in her hands, and a smile on her face.

“They look alike too,” Harry whispered to Blaise, looking between Fabian and Gideon, and then back to Fred and George.

“That’s ‘cause he’s my twin,” Fabian explained, throwing an arm over Gideon’s shoulder. “You not seen twins before?” he asked, and Harry, Blaise, Theo and Draco all shook their heads. “Fred and George are twins too.”

“Oh,” Harry said, though still looked a little confused.

“I’ll explain it to you later,” Sirius promised, ruffling Harry’s hair, smiling when his godson giggled and ducked behind Blaise.

“These are the boys that everyone is talking about?” Molly asked, beaming at the four of them. Harry peeked back around Blaise and looked over at the woman who had spoken.

“Yep, this is them,” Sirius said. “Blaise, Harry, Theodore and Draco,” he introduced, gesturing to each of them in turn. “Now what was this Gideon was saying about you bringing over sugar cookies?” the animagus questioned, eyeing the tin that Molly was carrying.

“I thought these boys might like to try some,” Molly said, her warm smile lighting up her face.

“Don't listen to her. She just realised the same thing she does every year,” Gideon said, sharing a smirk with his twin.

“That giving her kids any kind of sugar is a bad idea,” Fabian added with an amused grin. “And that this is a great chance to fob these off on someone else.”

“Oh nonsense,” Molly scoffed, waving off her brothers’ comments and looking at the group of four boys. “Would any of you like a biscuit?” she asked.

Taking the lid off her tin, she moved around her own children in order to offer the sugar cookies to the four boys. Fabian let out a snort of laughter when his sister swatted away George’s hand as the seventeen-year-old reached for one. Charlie and Ginny couldn’t help but laugh at the pout that Fred and George shared.

“Oh good, Harry and Draco on sugar; I don’t see how that can go wrong,” Remus said quietly, and Sirius snorted in amusement. However, neither of them made any move to stop the boys when they moved forward cautiously.

“More strange food?” Draco asked, peering into the tin that was offered them.

“They smell good,” Harry said, taking one and popping it into his mouth before anyone could stop him.

“Harry,” Blaise said, letting out a long sigh as his mate looked up at him. Harry stared at him for a long moment, swallowing the cookie that was in his mouth.

“...you’re mad at me.” Harry frowned.

“No, I’m not,” Blaise said.

“Irritated then, but that’s still the same. What did I…?” Harry began to ask but paused again when he realised exactly what it was that he was doing, that he had simply trusted this woman without a second thought, based only on what he could feel from her.. “Oh… right, shielding,” he sighed. “Sorry! It’s not that easy!” Harry exclaimed with imploring, wide eyes, not wanting Blaise to be mad at him.

Blaise smiled, resting a hand on Harry’s head. “I know, but try to remember okay?”

“Okay!” Harry grinned widely, reaching into the tin and taking a couple more cookies. “Now you have to try one of these,” he insisted, practically shoving the cookie into Blaise’s mouth before his mate could protest. Theodore laughed, only to receive the same treatment from Harry, and hummed his approval as he took a bite.

“Harry! Stop force feeding my mate strange things!” Draco snapped, taking a step back as Harry turned toward him, another cookie held in his hand. “Oh no you don’t!” Draco yelped, turning and taking off running, Harry giving chase.

“Harry…” Remus said wearily.

“Now this looks like a fun game. Mum, hand me one of those,” George requested with exaggerated sweetness.

“Who are you going to force feed?” Fred asked eagerly.

“Percy. You can hold him down for me.” George grinned, which was mirrored by Fred as he stalked toward Percy, who had been slowly edging his way toward the kitchen.

“Fred, George,” Molly protested, as the twins darted off after their brother. She was not best pleased that her sons were already causing such trouble. The two of them, however, ignored her, continuing to chase after Percy, and dodging Harry and Draco, as the two younger boys’ chase wove between them.

Hermione stood next to Ginny, watching the chaos unfold. She had known that Fred wouldn’t be able to resist for long, and as he moved off to join his twin she let out a long sigh. “Sometimes I have to wonder why I like him so much,” she said.

“Because despite Fred being an idiot, he is apparently both hilarious and charming,” Ginny said, using the same words that Hermione had once used to describe Fred.

“Not to mention ridiculously handsome,” George added, as he darted off to one side, trying to cut off Percy’s escape route.

“No, you’re just an idiot.” Ginny smiled sweetly at her older brother.

“I agree, Fred is by far the better looking out of the two of you,” Charlie said, unable to help himself from joining in on teasing his little brother.

“That’s like saying that Uncle Fabian is better looking than Uncle Gideon!” George stated.

“Sad, but the truth does hurt,” Fabian said happily. But before anyone else could comment back on this, Draco suddenly darted past them, hiding himself behind Ginny and Hermione.

“Don’t let him get me!” Draco said, laughing as Harry came to a sudden halt in front of the two girls. Hermione and Ginny looked over their shoulders at Draco for a moment, before Hermione looked back at the dark-haired boy standing in front of her.

“No fair, hiding behind the girls!” Harry pouted, the cookie still held in his hand as he attempted to get around Ginny and Hermione.

“If he doesn’t want the cookie, he doesn't’ have to eat it,” Hermione said, watching Harry curiously as the teen tried to dart around her again. “Are you even listening to me?” she asked.

Harry paused in his antics for only a moment. “No,” he said, and moved again to get round her. “Draco only doesn’t want to eat it because he doesn’t know how good it is!” Harry insisted with a wide grin. Deciding that Hermione wasn’t going to let him pass, he tried to get around Ginny.

Hermione, however, didn’t let him get very far, stepping in his way once more, reaching out and snatching the cookie away from him before tossing it into the fire.

“It’s not right to force people to do something they don’t want to do,” Hermione snapped, hands on her hips as she glared down at Harry.

Draco frowned, standing up straight from where he had been crouching behind Ginny and watching the interaction carefully. The playful mood shifted to something far more serious, everyone waiting with baited breath to see what Harry would do next.

Harry, however, simply stared at the fireplace where Hermione had thrown the cookie before shrugging and turning away. “I can just get another,” he said, seeming unfazed by Hermione.

Hermione wasn’t the type of person to get physical, always more willing to solve things with her words first. However, Hermione also disliked being ignored, and this was the second time Harry was ignoring her in the span of just a few minutes. “Will you stop and listen to me for one second?” Hermione said, reaching out and grabbing hold of Harry’s arm before he could get too far.

Harry’s head whipped back around to stare at Hermione the moment she came in contact with him. Green eyes went almost impossibly wide as he stared at the bushy haired girl. He could feel everything; even though he was shielding against everyone in the room. It was harder to block someone when he was in direct contact with them.

Right now, Harry was aware of everything Hermione currently felt. There was irritation and frustration directed at him, along with a deep anger that didn’t seem to have anything to do with him personally; but something he had done, or said, had obviously upset this girl.

He wanted to pull away, to break the connection. Hermione’s grip on his arm wasn’t that tight and he could have done it easily if he wasn’t losing himself in her emotions. Thankfully his mate was close by.

“Don’t touch him!” Blaise exclaimed, pulling Harry free of her hold. “Are you okay?” he asked urgently, as he gave Harry his full attention.

Harry nodded vaguely, leaning past Blaise to look at Hermione. “Why are you so mad at me?” he asked sadly, bemused as to what he could have done to make her feel that way.

“You… you were trying to force him,” she said, gesturing toward Draco, “to eat something he didn’t want to. That’s not right.”

“We were just playing,” Draco said, frowning at Hermione. “At least, Harry was just playing,” Draco added, giving his friend a pointed look.

“You’re mad at me because I wanted Draco to try something tasty?” Harry asked in confusion.

“I’m not really mad,” Hermione tried to explain, aware now that everyone else was watching them. “It’s just… if someone doesn’t want to do something, you shouldn’t force them to do it,” she told him.

Theodore stepped up to the group, wrapping his arms around Draco and pulling him close as he glanced around at the occupants of the room. “I think perhaps everyone just overreacted,” he said, looking toward Hermione and Ginny. “It may seem strange to you, but that is how Harry and Draco play around sometimes. If Draco truly didn’t want to eat that cookie, he could have made Harry stop on his own,” Theodore explained.

“I didn’t want to be force fed the cookie,” Draco huffed, leaning against Theo and throwing a half-hearted glare at Harry.

“That still seems like a very strange way to play,” Hermione said, sounding sceptical.

“Not when you’ve grown up with brothers like Fred and George,” Ginny added with a small giggle, gesturing over to where Fred and George were standing in front of Molly, looking a little sheepish as they had finally been stopped by their mother.

“How about we split into groups and try to sort this mess,” Remus suggested, gesturing to the decorations that had been spread even more thoroughly around the floor.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea!” Molly said, giving her twin boys a look. “Fred, you and Charlie can start in the hallway. Gideon, perhaps you could keep an eye on them.”

“I’m twenty-three years old, mum,” Charlie protested with a laugh. “I don’t really think I need my uncle looking over my shoulder.”

“Of course you don’t, my dear,” Molly said indulgently, moving over to him and reaching up to pat his cheek affectionately. “Now, I was thinking I might cook some dinner for us all,” she suggested happily.

“Draco, perhaps you could help Hermione and George with all this tinsel, while Theo and I help Molly?” Remus suggested, knowing that the boy had enjoyed helping in the kitchen the night before. Remus smiled when he saw the look of carefully masked excitement Theo gave him.

“What about me?” Harry asked from where he was still standing wrapped up in Blaise’s arms.

“You’re not going to be much help standing around like that,” Sirius said with a chuckle. “Why don’t you two come outside and help decorate out there?” he suggested, gesturing to Harry and Blaise. “Perhaps you could help us too, Ginny?” he asked the red-headed girl, who nodded eagerly, giving Harry and Blaise a shy smile.

“Percy, Fabian, why don’t you two start unpacking the rest of the boxes so that we can see what else we have,” Remus suggested. “You can also take the empty boxes back up to the attic.”

“Hear that Percy, you get to do tidying,” George teased.

“And sorting. Try not to get too excited,” Fred added with a grin, giving his older brother a nudge.

Percy grumbled something that sounded like ‘I should have just stayed home’ before he went to start the task he had been given.

“Alright everyone, get to work,” Molly said, making sure that everyone was heading in the direction that their job was before she turned and went into the kitchen. Theodore and Remus followed her.

----------------x

Sirius lead his small group of helpers outside carrying a box of lights that he had set aside to decorate the house with. He set it down on the bench nearby and turned to look at the three teens. “Alright, I would love to do this the quick and easy way, but seeing as how it’s probably a bad idea for me to use magic around you two,” he said nodding toward Harry and Blaise, “we get to do this the fun way instead.” Sirius grinned.

“What’s the fun way?” Blaise asked, sounding a little apprehensive.

“I’m so glad you asked!” Sirius exclaimed with a grin. “We need to climb onto the roof and hang these lights up there.”

“I’ll do it,” Blaise said quickly before Harry even had a chance to open his mouth to volunteer.

“Alright, I’ll go up there first, Blaise you follow. Harry, Ginny, you two can hand stuff up to us when we ask for it,” Sirius said. Blaise nodded his understanding, and waited for Sirius to set up the ladder, watching as the man climbed up to the roof.

Harry stood back, giving Blaise a small knowing smile as he knew why his mate had insisted on being the one to climb up on the roof. Though Harry wasn’t going to complain, as he was still trying to center himself again after being swarmed by someone else’s emotions.

Letting out a small sigh, Harry turned his attention toward the house again; he couldn’t see the bushy haired girl from where he was currently standing in the backyard. He was still confused about why she had been so upset by his and Draco’s playing around.

“Are you okay?”

Harry turned quickly to look at Ginny. He hadn’t noticed her watching him. “I’m fine,” he replied quickly,

“That was the most unconvincing ‘I’m fine’ I’ve ever heard,” Ginny scoffed. “I mean, it’s not like you have any obligation to tell me, I was just curious. You seemed a bit upset.”

Harry frowned and looked up to where Blaise and Sirius were on the roof. “It’s nothing really important,” Harry said softly. “It’s just…I don’t think anyone’s just not liked me before,” he admitted.

“Who doesn’t like you?” Ginny questioned.

“That girl from before. I really don’t think she likes me. She was so upset when I was playing with Draco…” Harry said looking back toward the redheaded girl.

“You mean Hermione? She doesn’t hate you,” Ginny said, seeming surprised that Harry thought so.

“She does,” Harry insisted, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest.

“She might have been a bit upset when you ignored her. She really doesn’t like being ignored, and you trying to run around us while she was trying to talk probably didn’t help either,” Ginny explained.

“So… I shouldn’t play with Draco when she’s around?” Harry asked as he sat down in the snow, glancing at Ginny when she knelt beside him. “This place has more rules than the Fae city,” he mumbled.

“It’s not really a rule. I’m just trying to help you understand why Hermione was upset,” Ginny said, watching as Harry started picking up handfuls of snow and shaping them into little snow bunnies with practised ease.

“All I know is what I felt, and the only reason I can think of for her to be so mad was that she hates me,” Harry said, waving his hand over the bunnies made of snow, giggling as they started hopping around.

“What do you mean, what you felt from her?” Ginny inquired, watching Harry and the ten snow bunnies. Harry looked up from the little creatures he had made, a thoughtful frown on his face.

“I’m Empathic. I can feel what other people are feeling, almost all the time,” Harry said, and saw the look of disbelief that Ginny was giving him.

“Give me your hand,” he said, reaching out.

“Why?” Ginny pulled her hands tighter against her. She had grown up watching Fred and George too often to trust anyone who just asked for your hand.

“You don’t believe me, so I’m going to show you,” Harry said.

Ginny studied him for a long moment before hesitantly reaching her hand out for his. Harry’s smile widened, and he wrapped his hand around hers; he had done this with Blaise, and a few times with Draco, but he had never purposefully opened his mind to someone he didn’t know.

He felt every surface emotion from Ginny; the curiosity she felt not only toward him, but toward Blaise, Draco and Theo as well. That was something Harry was getting used to though, nearly everyone he had encountered in the wizarding world so far was very curious about them, and where they came from.

Under that, however, Harry felt traces of other emotions, amusement, kindness being the loudest next to the curiosity. And determination. Harry didn’t get much further than that, when concern suddenly flooded his senses and the connection was broken suddenly and he found himself lying in the snow, staring up at the red-headed girl, who was leaning over him.

“Harry, are you okay?” Ginny asked.

“I think so. What happened?” Harry asked, sitting up slowly. Ginny was hovering as if she wanted to help him, but was unsure if she should touch him again.

“I don’t know. You suddenly went really pale and looked like you were going to pass out,” she said.

Harry frowned. “Weird. That’s never happened before,” he admitted, turning around where he sat and looking up at the roof. Blaise was still up there, following orders from Sirius, who was showing him where to hang the christmas lights.

The tan teen apparently hadn’t noticed anything, and Harry silently debated with himself if he should tell Blaise or not. However, the last thing Harry wanted to do was give his mate yet another thing to worry about, so he decided to keep his mouth shut for now, unless it happened again. Nodding to himself, he turned his attention back toward Ginny, who was still hovering nearby.

“Do you find me amusing?” Harry asked. He laughed at the shocked look Ginny gave him.

“What?” she asked.

“That’s what I felt from you,” Harry giggled, “you were amused, and I was wondering if you found me amusing.”

“Maybe,” Ginny said uncertainly. “I don’t mean that in a bad way, but you are kind of… different. A little weird. Part of it was probably that I found your snow rabbits kind of funny,” she told him, gesturing to the little snow creatures that were still hopping around nearby.

“Do you think that girl, Hermione, would like one?” Harry asked, suddenly sounding eager. He still wanted her to like him, and a gift seemed like a good place to start.

“I think she would love for you to teach her how to make them,” Ginny told him with an amused smirk. “Hermione always likes to learn new things,” she explained.

“Me too,” Harry said, as he rolled over onto his knees and crawled a few paces to one of the snow bunnies. “I think I’ll give her this one,” he said softly, picking it up with great care.

He moved to get to his feet, but it was kind of an awkward maneuver with both his hands occupied by the bunny. He gasped when he felt a hand on his arm, instinctively flinching away, but he felt nothing but amusement and a kind affection, and when he turned to look up at Ginny, she was smiling sweetly.

“Thanks,” he said sheepishly, as she helped him up to his feet, snow bunny still safely in hand.

“No problem; looked like you were having trouble,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “And I didn’t want you falling over and ruining your creatures. Or breaking your nose.”

“We need the next lights up here,” Sirius called down, causing both Harry and Ginny to jump in surprise, their eyes turning upwards to the roof, where Blaise and Sirius were watching them. “If you can get them out of the box I can probably levitate them up.”

“I’ll get them,” Ginny said, spotting the pensive expression on Harry’s face, as he tried to work out how he was going to sort lights and keep hold of the snow bunny. “Why don’t you go give that to Hermione.”

“Thanks!” Harry said excitedly, turning back toward the house and darting across the patio as Ginny went to pull the lights out of the box.

“Harry, where are you going?” Blaise called after him.

“I’ll be right back!” was Harry’s rushed reply as he used his magic to open the back door and close it behind him.

---------------x

Draco watched as almost everyone else left the sitting room, leaving him alone with four people he didn’t know. The two Remus had referred to as Fabian and Percy moved over to the couple of boxes that still had anything in them. So Draco turned to look at the other two, waiting for someone to tell him where to start. He crossed his arms over his chest when neither Hermione or George moved.

“If you’re waiting for me to start giving orders, it’s not going to happen,” Draco informed them.

“Well, this is your house isn’t it?” George asked.

“I don’t have a house,” Draco stated. “I am currently staying here with my mate and friends, but this is not my house, and I have never done anything like this before,” he gestured to the tinsel on the floor, and the large christmas tree.

“You’ve never hung decorations before?” Hermione asked incredulously.

“We have never done Christmas before,” Draco amended, causing George to gasp.

“No Christmas?” George asked, as though he couldn’t imagine anything more scandalous. “What rock have you guys been living under?”

Draco frowned in confusion. “No rocks. Well, there were rocks on the ground, but we lived over them not under. We did live under trees though. The Fae really like their trees. I like them too.”

“Did you live in the trees?” Hermione asked, eager to find out more.

Draco stared at her, blinking a couple of times before he answered. “No. We lived in a big house. Though the Council Halls did have a tree inside,” he added after a moment of thought.”

“Fascinating,” Hermione declared, taking Draco by the hand and all but dragging him over to the sofa and sitting down, pulling him down next to her. “What else can you tell me?” she asked excitedly.

“Really, Hermione?” George asked with a exasperated sigh. Draco continued to stare at Hermione, looking briefly toward George when the red head spoke, before returning his attention to the bushy haired girl.

Draco slowly removed his hand from hers. “Are trees really that interesting to you? I don’t think you need me to tell you about them, seeing as there are plenty around this house,” Draco said.

“No, it’s not really the trees that I’m interested in. You said the Fae liked trees, and you mentioned a Council Hall. What else can you tell me?” Hermione asked.

Draco narrowed his eyes and moved to stand up. “I’m not telling anyone how we grew up,” he said defensively. He didn’t know why people kept asking them about the Fae, or how they grew up. What Draco did know, however, was that he, and all the other kids, had been used by the Fae their whole lives, and he wasn’t about to be set up in a position to be used like that again.

“I… I’m sorry,” Hermione said. “I was just curious. I’ve read lots of books about Fae, but most of the information I have doesn’t really make sense; they just seem like stories to me,” she explained.

“Hermione is a walking library,” George said, gaining Draco’s attention again. “Ask her anything and she probably knows the answer, any chance of gathering new information is really exciting for her,” George explained.

“So, you weren’t asking because you want to know where the other kids are?” Draco asked, looking back at Hermione.

“No, I really am just curious, even if you only tell me how the government works, or what the Fae are like,” Hermione said and Draco sat back down on the couch.

“That should be okay I think,” Draco said, glancing at George as the redhead leaned over the back of the couch also seeming interested. “I don’t know much about the government, but I know the Council is in charge. I could tell you about the Healers though,” he said with more enthusiasm. “They were teaching me how to use my magic to heal.”

“Really?” Hermione perked up, her hands twitching like she very much wished she had a quill and parchment with her to take notes. “Wizards aren’t generally taught much in the way of healing in my experience. Did the Fae teach you all healing?”

“The basics, yes, but nothing in-depth” Draco told her, shaking his head. “That was just those of us with an affinity for it.”

“I see. I wonder if there are witches and wizards with an affinity for such magic too,” she pondered, more to herself that to anyone else.

“We’ll find you a library to look it up in soon,” George promised, looking like he was having trouble keeping from laughing at his twin’s girlfriend. Hermione distractedly hummed her approval of that idea, her brain still on what Draco was telling her. “She loves her books,” George explained to Draco.

Draco seemed unsure what to make of either of these people, but he resisted the urge to go hunting for his mate or Harry and instead nodded. “Should we maybe sort the tinsel?” he suggested, hoping that Hermione might save whatever other questions she had for when the others were around to answer them.

“Yeah, we probably should at least make a start at it,” George said, moving around the couch to sit on the floor in front of the pile that Draco and Harry had been hiding under earlier. Hermione moved to join him, and Draco hesitated for a moment before sliding to the floor as well to help separate the pile.

“So have you really never decorated for Christmas before?” Hermione asked.

Draco refrained from sighing and shook his head. “No, we’ve never even heard of Christmas,” he admitted. “Remus explained a little bit of it to us, but I still don’t understand what the big deal about it is, or where the tree even comes into it…”

“I could try and explain it to you,” Hermione offered. Draco frowned, looking down at the tinsel he was working with before nodding, deciding that he was far too curious about the whole thing to wait for Harry and the others. “Alright then,” Hermione said happily, before launching into a detailed explanation of the origins of the festival.

Fabian hid his smile, which formed at the sound of the three teenagers bonding. He was glad that Draco seemed to be opening up; even though he had only seen the boys once before today, he had gotten the impression that Draco was more shy than the other three.

As he listened in on the teens’ conversation it was becoming clearer to him now why the four boys were reluctant to talk about their past. Saying the boys had a sheltered life until now really didn’t describe them at all. To him, it seemed more like these four boys were a failed attempt at brainwashing. He would definitely need to pass that along to Frank, Sirius, and Dumbledore.

“Uncle Fabian?” Percy came to stand in front of his uncle, blocking the older man’s view of the three teens sitting on the floor.

“Sorry, Percy, spacing out for a moment there. Come on, why don’t we start moving these boxes,” Fabian said, taking out his wand and waving it at the empty boxes, stacking them up by the doorway leading out into the hall so they could take them back up to the attic after. “I’ve got these. If you want to take that box there into the kitchen, it’s full of all the kitchen decorations.”

“Of course,” Percy agreed easily, picking up the box in question.

He followed the direction that his mother and Remus had taken the Theo boy earlier, frowning disapprovingly at the mess that was all over the floor still. He couldn’t believe how much mess the four boys had managed to make before they had arrived. And with the chasing each other around the living room, it was apparent to him that Harry and Draco were just as childish as Fred and George, if not more so.

Percy glanced at Draco as he passed him. He wasn't sure what to make of the four boys, but as he entered the kitchen, he was glad to see that Theo at least knew how to behave like a civilised person.

“That’s right. Then we just add that to the pan,” his mother was saying, and Theo followed her instructions before stirring whatever it was they were cooking.

“You okay, Percy?” Remus asked, spotting him standing near the doorway, box still in hand. “Decorations for in here?”

“Fabian asked me to bring them through,” Percy explained as his mother and Theo both looked up as well.

“Thank you,” Remus said. “You can just put it on the table.” The werewolf went to the sink to wash his hands and dry them, before turning to go investigate what was in the box. Percy watched him, before glancing back at Theodore, frowning when he saw the other teen was still watching him.

They stared at each other for a moment, and Percy wasn’t fond of the way Theo seemed to be studying him. “What?” he finally asked.

“You look a lot like someone we know,” Theo said, however he didn’t elaborate further, and he continued looking at Percy, as if trying to solve some sort of puzzle.

“I look like the rest of my family,” Percy pointed out, “and quite a few of them are here today so yes, I would have to agree that I do look like someone you know.”

“So all of your family looks like you?” Theodore asked, looking from Percy to Molly, he could see the family resemblance between the woman and her children, though as he looked back at Percy once more he nodded once. “Then you must be Ron’s family,” he said.

There was a clatter next to him, and he turned to look at Molly again. The woman was staring at him and seemed to be a shade paler. “What… what did you say?” she asked.

Theodore now wondered if he should have just kept his mouth shut, but he couldn’t help himself. Since they had arrived in the wizarding world they had met multiple families, most of them having children that were taken by the Fae, children that Theo knew. And in this case, he had actually shared a room with Ron, the missing child of an already large family.

“I was just thinking, if all your family looks alike, then Ron must be part of your family too,” Theodore said.

“You know Ron,” Molly said, and Theo really did wish he hadn’t said anything when he saw the woman’s eyes shining with tears. “So, he is actually alive.” Molly sounded relieved.

“Yeah, he’s alive,” Theo told her a little awkwardly. “He’s a complete pain in the arse sometimes, but definitely alive.”

“Sounds like you know him quite well,” Percy said.

“I had to share a room with him, and spent a lot of sleepless nights with his snoring until I could silence him,” Theo said, wishing he could find a way to get out of this conversation before someone started asking questions that he couldn’t answer.

“What else can you tell us about him?” Molly asked. “Is he well? Does he eat properly? Would you be able to take us to him? Or bring him here?”

Theodore winced as he listened to Molly ask him one question after another, hardly giving him time to answer one before she asked another. “I… I can’t,” Theo said, feeling horribly guilty when he saw the hurt expression Molly gave him. Turning Theo quickly left the room, sidestepping Remus, who tried to stop him.

“Theo wait,” Remus said, though he wasn’t surprised when the teen ignored him. Remus didn’t follow him, instead he turned toward Molly. “I think there’re a few things I should have explained earlier,” the werewolf said.

-------------x

Theodore couldn’t remember the last time he had been this upset over anything; the warring negative emotions clouding his mind right now made him extremely happy that Harry had been taken outside. The last thing Theo needed right now was for his small friend to be subjected to these feelings of anger and guilt.

Stepping into the sitting room, Theo’s gaze found Draco immediately. Without saying a word he stormed over to the blond and pulled him to his feet.

“Theo?” Draco asked, but Theo just shook his head.

Taking hold of his mate’s hand, Theo led Draco out of the sitting room and up the stairs, both of them ignoring the questions from Fred, Charlie and Gideon, who were in the hallway winding decorations around the banister. Theo was barely holding onto his emotions and just had to get away from the strangers, away from Ron’s family.

“Theo, you’re worrying me,” Draco said as they reached the top landing.

“Not here,” Theo said, and he continued leading Draco down the hall and into their room. He didn’t stop until the door was closed and warded tightly behind them.

“Theo…” Draco started to say again, but he was cut off in a gasp, when his mate pulled him into a tight embrace.

He sighed softly and wrapped his arms around Theo’s waist, letting his mate take the comfort he apparently needed. Theo took deep shuddering breaths, which only worried Draco further; Theo was normally so collected, calm and in control, and Draco wasn’t sure how to deal with his mate when he was in this state.

“What happened?” Draco asked, making no attempt to move from his hold.

“Those people down there, all those red-heads, each and every one of them are Ron’s family,” Theo explained, not sure if Draco could even understand why this was upsetting him. Theo felt his mate shift and pull away just enough so that Theo could now see his face, those grey eyes full of worry, and sadness.

“That lady asked if I could take her to Ron,” Theodore sighed, feeling calmer now that he was alone with Draco.

“We can’t,” Draco gasped, looking rather alarmed at the prospect.

“I know. I told her,” Theo said sadly, fresh guilt washing over him. He couldn’t shake the way that Molly had looked at him, the sheer desperation in her eyes. And she had been so nice to him, giving them sugar cookies and teaching him how to cook. He wished he could help her, but it just wasn’t an option. Even if they had the means to get back, he wouldn’t risk leading the Fae to Draco, Harry, or Blaise.

“It was just harder to tell her no,” Theo explained closing his eyes and letting out a long sigh.

“Theo,” Draco said softly, reaching up and cupping his mate’s cheek. “I know I’ve been whining a lot, and I hardly stop complaining about the food that’s here, or the weird people around, and I could certainly live without the pitiful excuse for magic,” Draco said, feeling happy when Theo’s lips twitched into a small smile, even though his eyes were still closed.

“Are you trying to make me feel better?” Theo asked.

“Shut up and listen,” Draco ordered. “Despite how uncomfortable this place and all the new people make me feel, I am glad that Itham helped us get away. Right now we need to worry about taking care of ourselves, and getting used to this new world, and then we can worry about how to get the others out of the Fae city if Itham hasn’t done that already.”

Theo opened his eyes to stare down at Draco. While Theo wished there was more he could do to at least help Molly, he knew it wasn’t possible at this time, and worrying about it wasn’t going to get him anywhere.

Draco smiled up at Theo when he saw his mate visibly relax. They both stood there for a long moment, just looking at each other when a sudden and random thought crossed Draco’s mind. Before he could think twice, the blond leaned up and pressed his lips to Theo’s.

Despite his surprise, Theo moaned softly in approval, his arm tightening around Draco as he let his mate kiss him. He could hear his own blood pumping and let Draco control the moment; he was hesitant to press forward, like he so desperately want to, not wanting to discourage Draco’s spontaneity.

As his mate pulled back, Theo took a moment to let his gaze drift over Draco’s flushed skin and obviously just kissed lips. It was certainly a look he admired. Draco, however, did seem rather stunned, presumably at his own impulsiveness.

“Why don’t we lay down for a bit,” Theo suggested, before Draco had a chance to overthink what had just happened. Draco still seemed somewhat out of it, but he offered no protest as Theo led him over towards the large bed, that took up most of the room. “Draco?”

“Hmm?” his mate hummed, turning to meet his eye, as Theo took a seat on the edge of the mattress. Theo watched Draco with an indulgent smile.

“Want to lie down with me for a while?” Theo asked. “I’m not ready to go back downstairs just yet,” he explained.

Draco said nothing, but simply climbed onto the bed. And as Theo lay down, Draco cuddled himself up against Theo’s side. Theo took a deep breath, relishing the feel of having Draco so close, letting his mate’s presence calm him further. He would just close his eyes for a minute.

Here is a list of things that you can look forward to in 2017!
First up, CelticKitsune has posted the sequel to Unwanted Bonds. Titled Unbreakable Bonds!
Second, we have two other stories in the works that we will be writing together! No details about either of them at the moment, but as the year progresses there may be some things posted on our facebook pages. So feel free to look us up on there!
Celtic Kitsune
Bick Ster
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Restoration of Magic