Pilfered Progeny - Stolen Dreams

Angel ran forward to fling her arms about the neck of her waiting grandfather, who knelt down on one knee and held his arms open for her, hugging her warmly in welcome. Draco stepped aside from the hearth to let Harry come in as well. He appeared in the flare of green flame and stumbled out, unsteady on his feet.



"Graceful as ever, Potter?" Lucius smirked.



"One of my endearing charms, I suppose…" Harry sighed, dusting off. "It has been a very trying day."



"Not that I\'m complaining, mind you, but what has brought about this visit?" Lucius asked, straightening. Angel clung to his hand, smiling up at him adoringly.



"It\'s for their protection, plain and simple." Harry said softly.



"Come along, Angel, let\'s get you and Tia settled in your room." Draco said, knowing that Harry needed to explain to his father and that Angel did not need to be involved.



"Okay Papa!" she smiled, taking his hand and allowing her to lead him away, curls bouncing as she skipped. "I\'ll see you later, Nonno, I want you to give me a goodnight kiss!"



"Of course, I will be along shortly, my dear." Lucius smiled after her, and then he moved to the bar to pour a drink. He waited until Angel had not only left the room, but was clearly out of hearing range before he spoke again. "So what is it that has you convinced that there is danger to my son and grandchildren?" he asked quietly, gesturing to Harry to have a seat as he himself sat on one of the plush barstools.



Harry took a deep breath, sitting on another of the stools clad in deep green leather and trimmed in silver. "We\'re getting close to closing the investigation." he began. He had to explain this without telling every detail, but how? "And… in the process of the investigation we found that our loss of Andie was no accident."



Cold fury flashed in his father-in-law\'s eyes, turning them steely grey. "Who killed my grandchild?!" he snarled, his voice as cold and hard as a glacier.



"Andie was not the only child who was killed; several others were as well." Harry said softly. "Angel is the only girl of my blood who was allowed to live. I\'m fairly sure that the reason for her health is because the ones doing the killing didn\'t know about her existence."



"You will tell me WHO, Potter." He said again, his voice steady and sounding calm, but with deadly, poisonous undertones.



Harry\'s eyes met Lucius\'; more filled with fury and hatred than the older wizard had ever seen. "She is not yours to kill, Lucius. She is MINE." He growled in a dangerous tone.



Lucius paused a moment, meeting that gaze with his own, then he handed his drink to his son-in-law. "Indeed, Harry; it is your right." He agreed, calling Harry by his first name was an extremely rare occurrence. "But we must do this in the proper manner, following the legal channels for just such occasions; we don\'t want you to end up in Azkaban. Your children and my son need you to remain a free man."



Harry looked at him through narrowed eyes. "You\'re telling me there\'s a way to legally hunt down and destroy this bitch…?"



"Oh, of course; it\'s quite possible. You would know of this had you been raised in a proper wizarding family, but we can\'t undo Dumbledore\'s foolish choices for your youth." he waved a hand as if to brush off the past. "You must file blood-feud at the Ministry."



"Blood-feud?" Harry repeated questioningly.



"Yes. You register exactly what offenses have been done against your family and almost any means of hunting them down and anything used in a duel is excusable." Lucius explained. "Including the Unforgiveable Curses. And you have sufficient reason to place a Blood Feud on them all."



Harry gave him a cold, calculating "I could hunt her down and make sure she pays for every death without worrying about any consequences."



"Not just her; you have right to hunt all of her kin." Lucius agreed with a wicked smirk. "All who were involved -- because I can assure you, someone else was pulling her strings. I knew Pansy in her youth and her self-centeredness was only surpassed by her greed, unfortunately she did not have the intelligence to know when to stop."



"I suppose it\'s possible, but she has profited greatly from her actions, and there are several who had a hand in the death of the children. It will be quite a list when I\'m through…"



"I will need the names of those who were involved, and I will be assisting you in the destruction of those involved. I fully intend to file my own Blood Feud against them as well."



"I don\'t have all the names yet." Harry admitted, much to Lucius\' disappointment. "I\'m working with an Auror and my partner Damitri Zabini to get as much information from the inside as we can. Hopefully we can we will wrap all of this up in the next week or so. That\'s why I wanted to ensure that Draco and Angel were here; somewhere that I could be absolutely certain that they would be completely protected."



"Of course, they and you are welcome to stay here and enjoy the protections of the Manor. But you must understand, they will need to stay longer than a few days." Lucius poured himself another drink. "Blood feuds are not things that are settled in only a few days. We need to bring all the other children home as well…" he glanced at Harry out of the corner of his eye. "How many are there?"



"Draco has four, not counting the twins; two girls and two boys. I have four boys, and one on the way. No daughters."



"No girls?"



"None. They were all destroyed when they found they were female." Harry said in a tone that revealed his pain and slowly simmering fury over that fact. "Other wizards had been targeted as well; there are several Weasley children…"



"Weasley? She used her own husband?"



Harry took a deep drink, and then sighed softly, shaking his head. "No. Ron\'s was never collected, though I hear that Pansy had already sold it, the greedy bitch." he glanced at Lucius. "I won\'t deny that Hermione is involved, as you\'ve so clearly figured out. But she\'s our insider. She\'s surrendered her wand and she\'s doing everything we ask, and risking herself to dig up information she\'s not required to get. She\'s providing a lot more than we expected of her, to be honest. I really don\'t believe that she knew what was done to kill Andie until she heard it from Pansy\'s own mouth. The grief she showed… I know she didn\'t have any part in what happened.” he said in a soft tone.



Lucius nodded thoughtfully, swirling his drink in his glass, watching the liquid\'s movement. "Then I shall leave her fate in the hands of the courts and the Aurors. Tell me; how did Draco take the news? He seemed calm enough when he arrived."



"I only told him of the murder of Andie. He\'s holding up a lot better than I did." Harry admitted. "I couldn\'t keep it from him."



That eased some of Lucius\' anger and actually put a bit of a smile on his face, one of pride. His son was much stronger than others gave him credit for. And that meant it was time for something else, as well. "Then I believe he\'s strong enough to meet the kittens." He commented.



Harry nodded, taking another drink. "He knows that I have kids out there, but I don\'t think he knows that he does, as well… he needs to know before we bring them home." He agreed.



"Shall we?" Lucius smiled, leaving his glass on the bar as he rose smoothly to his feet with his typical liquid grace. "I need to get back to the nursery; little Remus Severus is so restless…"



"Sounds like a good idea." Harry agreed, setting the glass aside.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.



Draco was kneeling on the floor, Angel standing with her back to him as he buttoned up her new nightgown. He knew his father must have come into the room because suddenly the task got a lot harder as Angel began bouncing with delight. "Nonno and daddy are here, Papa!" she said happily.



"All settled in, my own?" Lucius asked as he held out his arms to the girl.



She ran to him, hugging him with all her strength. "Good night, Nonno. Thank you so much for letting us stay over!" she said, her eyes sparkling.



"You need to learn that you never really need to ask to stay over here. You see, my sweet, this will always be your home." He said, scooping her up into his arms, causing her to squeal and giggle in delight. He gave her a kiss as he strolled to the bed to and set her down upon the sheets. "You are always welcome in this house. Never doubt that for a moment."



She giggled and squirmed as he pulled up the blankets, tucking her in gently, but she finally settled. "Good night Papa, goodnight, Daddy…" she said, smiling at her fathers. The stuffed dragon toy she\'d found at Draco\'s home was held tightly in her arms.



Lucius smiled at the girl. "Sweet dreams my own… if you need anything, just call. We will hear you wherever we are."



She sighed happily and closed her eyes, clearly happily content and comfortable.



Harry kissed her cheek and then slipped his arm about Draco. "Come on, love; we\'ve something we want to show you.”



"Where\'s mother…?" Draco asked as they moved out of the room.



"She\'s tending the kittens." Lucius replied.



"So I finally get to see them?"



"It is time." Lucius agreed, leading them down the hall to the nursery. "You really do need to meet them."



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.



Narcissa was seated in the rocking chair with a pale yellow blanket over her lap, wearing her white silk nightdress with a lacy almost veil-thin robe over her shoulders. She held a baby in each arm as she crooned softly to them to try to soothe them; one of them was whimpering. She looked over at them in surprise. "Oh… Draco…" she murmured, looking questioningly at Lucius.



Draco stopped, shock on his face. The tableau before him immediately made him jump to the wrong conclusion. His mother hadn’t seemed to be pregnant at all, how had she kept it so secret? And why…? "Mother? Merlin, mother…! Why didn\'t you tell me you were expecting?” He asked, looking at her then his father.



"I wasn\'t expecting, Draco." She interrupted him in a soft tone, a smile on her lips.



"I\'d have told everyone in the wizarding world if I had had twins, son." Lucius said with a soft chuckle.



"But…" he frowned, completely confused now. "They\'re so… I mean, aren\'t they Malfoy children? They have the coloring, the fine boned faces, they even have the Malfoy nose.”



"Oh, yes, most certainly they are Malfoys." Lucius said firmly.



Draco moved to his mother, kneeling at her feet, gazing at the twins. "But… how…?"



"Want to hold one of them?" Narcissa offered in a soft voice, smiling tenderly at her son..



"Oh, yes please, may I?" Draco held up his hands and his mother passed him the tiny girl, who had drifted peacefully to sleep. Draco brought the baby closer, gazing at her.



"These are your children, Draco." Harry told him softly. "They were created the same way that Angel was…"



"Mine?" he repeated in a soft whisper, tears glistening in his eyes. He had fathered twins… "But… how did you find them?"



"Severus found them in the hospital; they had been orphaned."



"Their mother; she died in childbirth?" he gazed at the child in his arms, his heart torn between grief and joy.



"No. She chose to take her own life, and tried to take them with her.” Lucius answered quietly.



"But why…?" Draco asked in a pained voice.



"I don\'t think she wanted to take your children from you… and she didn\'t want her father to get hold of them." Harry answered.



Narcissa touched his shoulder with a gentle hand. "They aren’t orphaned, my son. They will always have you, and they have us…"



"They\'re beautiful…" Draco whispered. "Who was the mother?"



"Lestrange\'s youngest girl."



"But she was only a child herself…"



"Just fifteen; we know… but it clearly didn\'t matter to her father."



"I\'ve given them names until you could meet them… its perfectly fine if you wish to rename them." Narcissa said in a tender tone.



"What are they?" he asked, sitting comfortably at his mother\'s feet, gazing down at the sweet girl in his arms.



"You\'re holding your daughter Lillian, and this…" Lucius moved to his wife, relieving her of the boy as well and giving her a soft kiss. "This is your son…"



"Remus Severus…" Narcissa added. "He\'s been a bit fussy today… colic, I think."



"I still think we should call Severus." Lucius grumbled softly. “It could be something far worse, you never know. The poor child needs his rest…”



“Nonsense, Lucius. It will clear, you will see.” Narcissa smiled at her husband tolerantly. He scowled in response but said no more.



"A boy and a girl…" Draco said softly, stroking his daughter\'s delicate cheek.



Harry smiled as he watched his husband. The scene was so beautiful… his husband sitting at his mother\'s feet, both of them gazing down at the babe in his arms with love and adoration on their faces, lit only by soft nightlights in the dusky dark of the room. "Your kittens are absolutely beautiful, love." he said with a teasing smile.



Draco looked up at him with a soft smile. "I know; they\'re stunning, but why not tell me of them?"



"None of us wished to do anything that would endanger you or our grandson. We would not risk it this time." Narcissa stroked his hair.



He gazed up at her. "He\'s a strong child, mother; nothing will stop him from coming into our lives now. Even if he were born today, he is full formed and could survive."



"Well, my dragon, we wished to be certain before we told you. And the little one needed so much care; they were so frail and delicate when they arrived here…"



"I do have one more question.” Draco said softly, glancing at his mother. “Why in the world would you tell me they were kittens?"



She laughed softly. "That is your father\'s fabrication. That is what your father thought that I had brought home the first night." she explained.



"They did sound like kittens; they were making little mewling sounds…" Lucius chuckled softly. "And she brought them in a little basket, not a proper carrying bed."



"They were simply hungry." she said with a smile.



"So they\'re why you were asking me about baby names… Lilly, after Harry\'s mum…"



"They needed to be called something, son." Lucius said.



"Yes, they do… but… Remus Severus?" he looked up at his father, surprised that his father would approve of such a name.



"Severus named him." Narcissa chuckled.



Draco laughed softly "That figures… he does have a bit of a narcissistic bent."



"Well can you blame him? He has no children." Lucius reminded.



“But they have Teddy…"



“Remus and Nymphadora had Teddy…. Severus has fathered no children." Narcissa corrected.



"I like it, anyway. Uncle Severus has always been good to us." Draco decided.



"We thought perhaps you\'d prefer the use name James for the son you are about to bear." Lucius answered in a cool tone, considering the face of his grandson as he spoke.



He gazed up at his father. "Really…? You will allow me to name him James?"



Lucius smiled softly at his son, meeting his gaze. "Yes, I will allow it. But you must choose a proper middle name for him."



"I will, I promise father." Draco smiled.



"Severus saved their lives. He\'s the one who found them at the hospital." Harry agreed, moving over to touch the baby\'s fuzzy hair. "Without his potions they never would have survived at that muggle hospital."



"Why were they in a muggle hospital…? Their mother was young but she was definitely a witch." Draco asked, confused.



"She must have run away from home; she was nowhere near a wizarding community when she took her life. She was found by muggles, and they tried to save her; they rushed her to the hospital in an ambulance. They tried to save her, but it just wasn\'t enough." Harry explained.



"I owe Severus a great debt for saving them." he found his eyes drawn back to the face of the baby in his arms. She squirmed slightly, opening her eyes, gazing up at him. A smile graced his face. "Oh… her eyes are so blue!" he murmured, clearly falling in love with the baby.



"They may change over time… I hope they\'re like yours." Harry said, and then couldn’t help but chuckle. "We\'re going to have our hands full…"



"And a house full." he smiled at Harry. "We\'ve finally got our family."



"You know what they say, Draco… Be careful what you ask for; you just might get it."



"I don\'t care… Our house has been too empty for too long; I can\'t wait to hear it full of the voices of children."



Harry kissed him. "It seems like we\'ve been waiting a lifetime…" he agreed.



Draco returned the kiss, and then looked back down at the baby, his smile fading somewhat as a realization of the truth dawned on him. He lifted his eyes back up and gazed at Harry, his eyes full of questions and worry. "These two aren\'t the only ones, are they?" He asked softly. "There\'s more of them out there, not just these two and Angel, surely…"



Harry nodded: there was no use in hiding the truth any longer. "You\'re right; there are more. I\'m hoping we can find them all. And we were not the only ones used in this scheme; there are other fathers out there who have no idea they have offspring."



"Oh Merlin…" Draco murmured. "Let me guess. All pureblood wizards?"



"Yes. Traced back by paternal lines only, I understand."



"Four is going to be quite enough to handle… how are we going to deal with more? How can we care for all of them properly?"



"You know, Draco…" Lucius started. "Your mother and I are more than capable of raising these two… in fact, even Severus himself has said that we\'ve done quite an impressive job with them…"



"Lucius!" Narcissa interrupted him.



"It IS true, Cissa!" he defended with a slightly petulant look on his face for just a moment. He hated it when she didn’t let him manipulate things as he wished…!



"Fallen in love with them, have you father?" Draco smiled softly.



"How can I not, son? They look so much like you…"



"They are beautiful." he sighed contentedly and his father agreed.



"No decision has to be made immediately anyway; we will be here for a few days, at least." Harry said.



Lucius looked at his son. "There will be no debating this subject; you and Angel at the very least will be remaining under my personal protection until this is all settled. And of course, you can stay as well Potter." He added as an afterthought.



"Thank you father." Draco smiled at him, though he did note the hesitation before his husband had been welcomed as well.



"Yes, Lucius. Thank you. I\'ll feel much better knowing they are safe." Harry said.



Narcissa rose to her feet gracefully. "Come now, my handsome men. It is time the kittens were laid down to rest." she smiled at her husband and son.



"They\'re so sleepy…" Draco smiled.



"And little Sev has calmed; perhaps he can finally get sleep now." Lucius said, moving to delicately lay his grandson in his bed.



Harry rose and helped Draco up, following him to the crib where he laid Lillian beside her brother. Draco touched each as if still convincing himself that they were real, and then he drew his hand away with clear reluctance to allow them to rest.



"Angel is going to be so excited." Harry smiled.



"Yes; she\'ll be a wonderful big sister."



"Have you two eaten yet?" Narissa asked, turning to lead them out. "We tend to alter our schedules about the children\'s meals and naptimes now."



Draco shook his head. "No, we haven\'t… I was waiting for Harry. I did feed Angel her supper hours ago."



“Come along then, and dine with us." She offered. Harry slipped his arm about Draco as they followed Narcissa to the door.



"Coming, father?" Draco asked.



"In a moment, son…" he said. He was only half paying attention to Draco, adjusting the blankets over the babies with obsessive fussiness.



"He\'s grown quite attached to them in these past days." Narcissa said as they moved through the mansion to the dining room.



Draco chuckled softly. "It\'s easy to get attached to little babies… Was he like this when I was a baby? I don\'t remember much of him when I was a child."



Narcissa sighed softly. "He does not speak of his own childhood, but I know it was not pleasant. I think he tried to stay away as much as he could so he would not repeat the things that happened to him. He was away quite a bit when you were a baby. He missed so much of your youth I think he regrets it now."



"He missed it all?"



"Quite a bit of it, yes, and our home felt so lonesome and empty before the kittens came."



"It must be very lonely in this big place…" Harry said softly. "Like you\'re the only living thing on earth."



"It’s not so bad at night, when you\'re in your own room. It\'s good to feel that way when you\'re lying down to rest. But during the day…" she sighed.



"I\'d go crazy in a big place like this."



"I made do chasing the house elves about the place…" Draco grinned softly.



"Oh, it\'s not so bad at all when there are children in it. Why do you think I love it so much when Draco comes to visit?" she smiled.



A house elf popped into view the moment they stepped into the dining room. "Shall I serve, Missus?" it asked.



"Yes. But hold Lucius\' until he comes to join us." She nodded.



"Master is with young master." the elf replied. "Young master is being very cranky all day long…"



"Yes, and check in on little Angel as well." She instructed. "Take her some warm milk if she\'s having trouble sleeping, and come tell us if she is still awake."



"Yes mistress!" The elf piped in its squeaky voice, bowed, then popped out of view. Dinner appeared upon the table on fine silver dishes; a lovely spread of roast beef, potatoes, vegetables, soup and salad with fresh bread and butter.



"Come, son, that child you carry must be ravenous by now."



"This looks absolutely wonderful…" he sighed, picking up his fork as he took a seat.



"Eat all you wish my dear." she smiled warmly.



Draco looked up, pausing before he put the first forkful of roast beef in his mouth. "What\'s for pudding?"



She laughed softly. "Anything you wish, of course."



Draco smiled happily. "Um… something rich and decadently creamy sounds fabulous."



"He\'s had a penchant for cheesecake lately." Harry chuckled.



"Then that is what he shall have."



"I\'d noticed your friend Ronald Weasley brought that to dinner the other night." Lucius commented as he strolled into the dining room to join them at the table.



"Oh yes; that was delicious…" Draco agreed. "We need to find out where he bought it, Harry; I\'d love more of that."



"It was rather tasty, but I must admit; I did enjoy the cookies more." Lucius commented in a slightly aloof tone as he moved to a seat.



"Cookies, Lucius?" Narcissa asked curiously.



“Angel wishes to make some for you, you know…" Draco smiled at his father.



"I\'m sure they\'ll be delicious."



"She talks about you all the time…" Draco told him. "She tells all her dolls and plushies about her wonderful Nonno."



"Of course; the girl is very astute and clever…" Lucius said, unabashed.



"…and knows when she has someone who loves her." Narcissa added with a smile.



Harry smiled softly, listening to the conversation about his daughter and felt he had to speak up. "Thank you, Lucius and Narcissa…" he said.



"For…?" Lucius prompted, lifting an eyebrow at him questioningly.



"You\'ve given Angel something I have never had. A family that loves her."



"No need for thanks regarding Angel… she\'s given me something I never had, and never realized I needed." Lucius assured, eating lightly. "She will never be wanting for anything in her life if I have anything to do with it."