Author's Note: This is not technically a challenge fic, but I got a bunch of prompts from Cheeky Slytherin Lass anyway. The one I used for the prologue is "begging."

This is the sequel to "Never Tell." For anyone who found parts of "Never Tell" confusing because of the format, this fic should eventually clear up the way things occurred.


Prologue

"Harry! Harry, get up!"

Harry groaned and rolled over, burying his face in his pillow. "Nngh."

There was a moment of silence, and then a voice right in his ear. "HARRY! GET UP!"

"All right, I'm up," Harry grumbled. He turned over again and sat up, groggily rubbing his eyes. "Now go away, Draco."

"Not until I know you're getting ready," Draco insisted. "It's Christmas, Harry! Remember? Literally everyone's going to be here!"

"I'm sure it's not literally everyone," came Hermione's voice from the doorway. Harry, who had been about to remove his pajama shirt, dropped it quickly back into place and glared at his friend, but she ignored him. "There are billions of people in the world, and even if you're only counting witches and wizards, that's still thousands."

"When did you get here, Hermione?" Harry asked, before Draco could start arguing with her.

"Just now. I heard Draco shouting and came up to investigate." Hermione walked over and perched on the edge of Harry's bed.

"I didn't mean everyone in the world," said Draco, undeterred by Harry's attempted change of subject. "I just meant the whole family and all our friends."

"Pansy's here already too," Hermione informed Harry, "and I'm sure Blaise and Neville will be here soon. And there are some other people –"

"Aunt Andy and Uncle Ted," Draco clarified. "So come on, Harry, get dressed and let's get downstairs and open presents!"

"Maybe I would already be dressed if there wasn't a girl in my room." Harry glared at Hermione. The girl huffed and stalked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Draco flopped down on Harry's bed as soon as Harry was out of it. "So what'd you get me for Christmas?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"I hate surprises. Tell me now."

Harry tugged a shirt over his head and rolled his eyes at Draco. "Aren't you supposed to be the mature older brother?"

"I'm only six months older than you," Draco pointed out. "Are you ready? Let's go, I think Mum's making pancakes."

They stampeded down the stairs. Draco reached the bottom just slightly before Harry and made a beeline for the kitchen, but Harry went down the hallway and into the living room, where the Floo was located.

"Harry!" A pair of arms latched onto him. "There you are! I was starting to wonder if you didn't want to see me."

"I was sleeping," Harry admitted. "Pansy, I can't breathe."

"Sorry." Pansy released him and took a step back, looking at him critically. "How could you sleep in on Christmas morning?"

Before Harry could answer, he was enveloped in another hug, this one from his Aunt Andromeda. "Harry, darling, it's so good to see you."

Over Andromeda's shoulder, Harry could see Blaise covering a snigger with his hand. Neville, who appeared to have just arrived through the Floo, shot Harry a sympathetic look – he was no stranger to overenthusiastic relatives.

"Hi, Aunt Andy," said Harry dutifully. He let out a sigh of relief as he was released from the hug. Uncle Ted offered him a handshake rather than trying to hug him, and Harry accepted gladly. "Happy Christmas. Hi, Uncle Ted."

He was about to sidle over to his friends when his mother's voice rang out through the living room. "Harry? Come help me set the table, please."

Harry made a face at Blaise, who was now in a fit of laughter. As Harry walked out of the room, he heard Hermione saying behind him, "Blaise, stop being a prat."

The dining room was two doors down, on the other side of the parlor. Harry stepped inside, but it was empty except for a large table. "Mother?"

"Here, Harry."

Harry turned around and found himself face to face with Narcissa. She held out a stack of plates, and he dutifully put out his arms for them, trying not to grimace at the weight.

"Can't you just set the table with magic?" Harry grumbled as he set the plates around the table.

"I could," Narcissa agreed, "but then you'd never learn how to properly set a table. Your education in that respect has been woefully neglected." She waved her wand, and a pack of utensils flew into the room and settled on top of one of the plates. "Silverware next."

"What about Draco?"

"Draco's helping in the kitchen. He can set the table for the New Year's party. Silverware, Harry."

Harry sighed and picked up the forks.

Ten minutes later, when the table was set to Narcissa's standards, the guests trooped into the dining room, and Harry seated himself between Neville and Hermione. Neville sat next to Blaise, and there was a space for Draco before Pansy's seat at the end. Harry's Metamorphmagus cousin Nymphadora was on Hermione's other side, her hair colored red and green for the occasion. Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted were across from Blaise and Neville, but all the other seats remained empty.

"It looks like you're expecting a lot more people," said Hermione. "Are they all family?"

"We have a very complicated family," said Harry.

"Well, I knew that. Your brother is only six months older than you."

"We have two different mothers, but the same father," Harry explained. "And our mothers are married. Dad is married to Mother's cousin Regulus, and Regulus has a brother who is also married to a man. Then Mother has two sisters – Aunt Andy and Aunt Bella. Aunt Andy is married to Uncle Ted –"

"And they're my parents," Dora interrupted. She grinned when Hermione and Neville both looked at her in surprise. "Shocking, right?"

"And they're all coming?" said Neville incredulously. "But it's just breakfast."

"Christmas breakfast is a family tradition. Mum started it years ago. We've been doing it for as long as I can remember." Harry smiled faintly at the fond memories. "There was this one year Dad thought he'd get us a Kneazle, and he had it in a box, but the Kneazle broke out while we were eating and came running into the dining room and jumped on Draco's head."

"Hey, you can't tell that story," Draco protested as he came into the room bearing a platter of pancakes. "It's bad enough when Mum tells it to everyone we meet!"

"Hush, Draco," scolded Narcissa. "Put the plate on this side of the table." She walked over to the other side and set down her own platter in front of Harry and his friends. Harry's mouth started to water just looking at the food.

"Is your mum a good cook?" Neville asked.

"You have no idea," said Harry and Dora at the same time. They grinned at each other.

"We're here, we're here!" a male voice called out from the living room. "Sorry we're so late, Lily. Haven't missed anything, have we?"

Harry pushed his chair back at the same time that Draco tore out of the dining room, shouting, "DAD!" at the top of his lungs. Without even an apology to his friends, Harry followed his brother out into the hallway, nearly colliding with his mum.

"Sorry, Mum!"

Lily laughed and ruffled his hair. "Just make it quick, sweetheart. It's time to eat."

Harry ran into the living room and was swept up in a hug almost immediately. He squirmed, and Regulus let him go.

"Hey there, kiddo. Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas, Regulus," said Harry, grinning in spite of the undignified manner of greeting. "Happy Christmas, Dad."

James released Draco to grab Harry up in an embrace, leaving Regulus to greet Draco. This hug lasted longer than any Harry had had yet today, but Harry didn't care. Things were always a little different with his dad.

"All right, we'd better get our seats before Narcissa comes looking for us," said Regulus when Harry was finally let go again.

The four of them traipsed back into the dining room, ignoring Lily's knowing look and Narcissa's withering one. Harry flopped back into his seat as Regulus sat at the end of the table, next to Dora. James was on Regulus's other side.

"We're still missing a few people," Regulus observed.

"Their loss," said Lily. She smiled at all of them from her position at the head of the table. "Well, what are you all waiting for?"

There was a clatter of plates as everyone tried to be first to get pancakes. Harry fought and lost a tussle with Dora over the fork, so he used his fingers to grab from the platter, ignoring Hermione's quelling look. Neville and, to Harry's amusement, James followed his example, but the fork passed to Hermione and then Regulus. Everyone at the other end of the table took from the platter there.

"So you're missing… an aunt and two uncles?" said Hermione.

"That's right," said Harry.

Dora looked impressed. "You've got a good memory there, Hermione."

"She's top of our class," Neville put in. "The only classes she's not top of are Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Regulus's eyes traveled down the table from Harry to Draco. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the Floo. A moment later, Aunt Bellatrix stumbled into the room, looking rather the worse for wear. She had a black eye and a cut on her cheek, and her robes were torn. Narcissa and Andromeda both stood up and led her to the empty seat between them.

"What happened?" Narcissa asked when Bellatrix was settled. "I thought you had the day off."

Bellatrix shook her head. "Not work. Malfoy."

Everyone at the table shuddered, even those not part of the family. The Hogwarts students were all aware that Lucius Malfoy had caused the Chamber of Secrets fiasco, and as for the family… well, Harry mused, it was a good thing his mother had gotten out of an arranged marriage with the man.

The table was silent for the next few minutes, partly because everyone kept shooting glances at Bellatrix as Narcissa coaxed her to eat.

Harry checked his watch. His uncles were almost always fifteen minutes late.

Right on cue, the Floo flared in the other room. Harry pushed his chair back slightly so he could get a good look at both Neville's and Hermione's expressions.

The dining room doorway was suddenly filled with the tall figure of Harry's Uncle Sirius. He posed heroically and stated, "The party has arrived!"

"If you're going to stand there and be melodramatic all day, at least let me in first," said a dry voice from behind him. Hermione's mouth dropped open, and Neville paled.

"If you're going to – oof!" Sirius stumbled to the side as Severus Snape, professor of Potions at Hogwarts and Harry's uncle, pushed past him into the dining room. He swept over to the middle of the table and took the seat across from Harry, raising an eyebrow at the students.

Neville was now a curious shade of green. Hermione seemed to realize that her mouth was still open, so she closed it and cleared her throat. "Er, hello, Professor Snape."

"Miss Granger." Severus's eyes were unreadable. "I thought I might be seeing you here. Mr. Longbottom, this is not Potions class, it is Christmas breakfast. You will receive neither detention nor points loss from me here."

Neville swallowed and nodded.

"I didn't know you were married, Professor Snape," Pansy piped up as Sirius fell into the seat across from Hermione.

"It is not something I typically broadcast to the world," said Severus. "However, there are occasions, such as this one, in which I cannot avoid being seen with my husband."

Sirius draped an arm across Severus's shoulders, and Severus stiffened. "Don't let him fool you," Sirius told the students. "He's madly in love with me."

Harry had to cover his mouth to hide his laughter as Severus tried and failed to push Sirius's arm away. Neville and Hermione looked like they weren't sure if they should be amused or not. Severus finally gave up and sat back with a sigh, letting Sirius fork pancakes onto his plate for him.

"So let me get this straight," Blaise was saying. "I've taken Potions classes with you two for more than four years, and somehow never found out you're related to the professor?"

"It's not a blood relation," said Draco. "Actually, it's sort of convoluted –"

"He comes to your family gatherings!" Blaise insisted. "I don't care how convoluted it is! How could you hide it from us for so long?"

"It's not really that hard," said Harry. "Uncle Severus doesn't like to display affection in public."

"That looks pretty affectionate," said Pansy sweetly as Sirius reached up to toy with a strand of Severus's hair. Severus scowled and swatted the hand away.

"I cannot control the mutt," he said. "Draco and Harry have actually been raised with manners."

"Hey, I object to that," said Regulus.

"My apologies, Regulus. I did not mean to imply that Sirius didn't receive lessons in manners; he simply never paid attention to them."

Sirius responded to this accusation by sticking his tongue in Severus's ear, which got a yelp out of Severus and a laugh from the rest of the table, even the recovering Neville.

The rest of the breakfast passed by pleasantly. By the time Lily and Narcissa got up to clear the table, Harry was feeling uncomfortably full and eager to get to his presents. The other students looked just as excited, but it was Dora who finally shouted, "PRESENT TIME!" and got them all running into the living room.

Harry situated himself next to the tree with Draco, as he usually did on Christmas. Neville, Hermione, Blaise, and Pansy spread out behind them on the floor, while Dora sat on a chair nearby, tapping her wand against her knee. The tradition was that Harry and Draco would pull out the presents, and Dora would float them to the proper person. They started immediately, not even waiting for the adults to settle in chairs around the edge of the room.

"There's something I've been wondering," Hermione said as they watched Draco gleefully opening a new broomstick. "How did you get such a complicated family? I don't know of anyone else with two mothers, a father, and a stepfather, not to mention uncles and aunts. Or is that a wizard thing?"

"It's not exactly common, even in the wizarding world." It was Regulus who answered. He sat on a chair next to the tree. James sat on his other side with his hand on Regulus's thigh. "But Narcissa and Lily both wanted to have children, and since we were all so close already, it made sense for James to take care of it."

"Most same-sex couples just adopt," Lily added from the doorway, where she stood with Narcissa, "but when four of your best friends are male –"

"I think you've answered the question," said Draco loudly. "I don't need to hear about my parents having sex, thank you."

There was some general laughter. Hermione sat back on her heels, looking thoughtful. "How did you end up so close?" she asked.

"Merlin, that's a long story," said Sirius. He had draped himself artfully across Severus's lap, his legs and body stretched out across two more chairs. Severus had a long-suffering expression on his face. "I think it would take all day to explain."

There was a moment of silence as all six children and Nymphadora turned around to gaze imploringly at the adults.

"You cannot be serious," said Regulus.

"I have to admit, I'm a bit curious myself," said Bellatrix, who was leaning against Andromeda on the opposite side of the tree from Regulus. "I know the end of the story, but I don't know anything that happened before you graduated."

"All right, all right, fine," said James with a grin. "I'll start, then."

"Please try to remember that you're explaining this to children," said Severus.

James made a face at him. "I'm not likely to forget. Two of them are mine." He turned back to the eager students. "It all started when I was at breakfast one morning and noticed that Sirius had this giant bruise on his jaw…"