Romance in Italy

by SpencerandHotchlover

Hermione meet David Rossi in Italy, where she, her parent and Harry moved after there fifth year at Hogwarts and Dave who is a wolf shifter discovers that she is his mate. However Hermione has issues of her own and doesn't trust herself where relationships are concerned. Will the two of them get together?

Romanza in Italia

Or

Romance in Italy

Part One

David Rossi sipped his scotch and sighed. Here he was a man of 40 who had graduated top of his class from his magical school in Sicily and unlike many of his classmates he had never married as he had never truly fallen in love. That wasn't to say that he hadn't had plenty of sex over the years, as he was a man in his prime particularly for a magical after all, having sex was different from truly making love with someone you loved with every fiber of your soul. He had a string of girlfriends over the years and he was rarely without a woman in his bed but that could be rather tiresome and tedious after awhile. All he wanted was someone he could love and wouldn't mind spending the rest of his centuries with, someone he could have children as many as the two of them wanted, someone he could love and settle down with as he was getting tired of having a different woman in his bed most every night and sometimes more than one as he was a young, vigorous Italian man after all and most Italians had quite a bit of stamina and he had to be able to hold it up for all Italians everywhere.

He was also a shifter and for one of his kind to not be at least married at this point of their lives was rather unusual, although not unheard of, because most shifters had at least one marriage under their belt and likely more than one depending on the age as a shifter was always searching for their mate but they tended to get lonely rather easily, particularly wolf shifters who craved constant companionship and preferably of their kind, but humans or magicals would do. He had decided on his own that he wasn't going to get married unless he found his mate, although that didn't mean that he hadn't had plenty of intercourse but over the last five or six years he didn't have much enthusiasm for having sex with random women. He had heard that having sex with your mate was a thousand times better then sex with somebody that wasn't and he would love to experience it for himself, but he knew it was very possible that he would never find the one that was meant for, because there was so many people in the world and they could be a different nationality, the same-sex or even much younger then he was.

He strongly believed in not getting married until you found the one that was meant for you and this was mainly because his parents were lifemates and so much in love that that was the example he had grown up with and it had made a very deep impression in his psyche and the same could be said for a lot of his fratelli and sorelle, although not all of them.

Dave sighed taking a sip of his drink, thinking that he loved his scotch, but most magicals had never heard of the drink as they tended to stick to the magical world and this was doubly true in places like England which he had visited years ago.

Oh, well that wasn't his problem, Dave mentally shrugged those magicals that just wanted to stick to what they knew and were unwilling to learn were missing out on life, but again that was their problem not his. As for him, he just immersed himself in the best of what both worlds had to offer and knew a few magicals that did the same, but then all of them came from partly mundane backgrounds at the very least which was likely why.

Dave was paying no attention to his surroundings as he sipped his scotch feeling very melancholy when somebody slipped onto one of the stools that was empty and right next to him.

"Butterbeer," a woman's voice told the bartender.

Dave stiffened and his entire body felt electrified as the unknown woman's voice was low and somehow sexy, which made his inner wolf instantly sit up and take notice.

Dave turned towards the sound of the woman's voice only to find that the woman was looking at him at the exact same time, so their eyes met and Dave immediately knew that she was the one. The one he had believed that he would never find because it was so many people in the world and just as he was working on getting himself at least tipsy his mate sat down right beside him. What were the odds? Had fate finally decided to give him a break or was this all some kind of trick? Would he find happiness only to have it snatched out of his hands before he could grasp it?

"My name is David Rossi, what's yours?" Dave asked as calmly as possible although his entire body felt electrified as the two of them of looked in each other eyes.

"Hermione Granger," the lady offered, not giving out any further information, which Dave thought showed good sense on her part as there were a lot of predators in the world.

Dave turned away and took a sip of his scotch, but studied the young lady in question out of the corner of his eye. This, Hermione Granger was beautiful, Dave noted. Shifters had excellent eyesight even in very dim light and he noted that she had deep brown hair, hair that was extremely bushy and the same colored eyes. She was also considerably younger than him as he would guess no more than 20 or 21 at most, not that that mattered to a shifter that had found their mate, because even though most of the ones that did were close in age that wasn't always the case. She was also British if her accent was anything to go by. Of course, for all he knew she may have been born somewhere like America and just spent a significant amount of time in England as a child.

Dave studied her further and noticed that she was ignoring him completely as if she was indifferent and Dave hoped and prayed that she wasn't attached to anyone or worse married.

Dave managed to get a good look at her right hands as she lifted it to put the mug of butterbeer to her lips and immediately noticed that she wasn't wearing a wedding ring, although she did have a ring that looked like a heir ring.

The symbol with the flanking Griffins and the P in the middle, was familiar for some reason, but Dave couldn't quite place where he had seen that coat of arms before.

Hermione for her part couldn't help, but notice the gorgeous man that she had sat beside and thought that there was no way that this fella could be interested in a plain little bookworm like her.

Her adoptive brother Harry Potter had assured her more than once that she was a very beautiful witch, but Hermione truly thought that he was just saying that because he loved her like a sister, not because it was true.

Hermione often felt like a third wheel as her brother was happily married to another friend of theirs Luna Lovegood and they had a child, with more in the future, although they'd only been married since Luna was 17 and Harry was 18. There was only three months between their birthdays but because of it Luna had been a year below her and Harry all because she had been born in October which was after the cutoff date for attending Hogwarts was August 31st.

Hermione well remembered how Harry had gotten fed up with the way people kept using him for their own ends and never told him anything and so after he had taken his own O.W.L.s he claimed his inheritance when he learned he could've done that at 11 from Sirius since he was the last surviving heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. He had soon found out he had a family property here in Italy and he along with his godfather Remus Lupin and her and her parents they had settled down in Italy. They had studied hard for a year and taken their N.E.W.T.s when they were 16 a whole year early.

Albus Dumbledore had tried numerous schemes to get Harry back to Britain, but all had failed and eventually Luna had joined them after taking her own O.W.L.s and with her father's permission as Xeno Lovegood knew that his only daughter would be safer out of the country with Voldemort back.

Her experience at Hogwarts had not been a happy one as she was constantly bullied by her own housemates and Harry had known this, so he had promised her that he just wanted to be her friend and that he and Hermione would help study for their N.E.W.T.s as they had already taken them.

Harry had promised that Luna would always have a home with him no matter what she decided to do with her life and if she wanted to go back to England after she had finished her education that was okay.

Hermione well remembered how the two of them had fallen in love in the two years they were together almost constantly and Harry had somehow known that Luna's talk of imaginary creatures and how she could appear spaced out were all because she just saw things differently and kept an open mind. Luna was also a seer, which is why she often appeared to be spaced out and not paying attention to her surroundings.

Hermione well remembered the training that Sirius, Remus and several other people some from Britain and some from Italy had given them.

Hermione remembered how Susan's Aunt Amelia Bones had been outraged when she learned about the prophecy that concerned such a good friend of her niece's and how he had been given no training whatsoever. She'd also been more outraged when she discovered Sirius innocence and that he had never been given a trial. Once she and Harry had showed her the Pensieve evidence they had gotten her onboard and she had started doing her job in trying to get Sirius Black a trial, but she had to be extremely subtle about it, because certain people like Lucius Malfoy and Albus Dumbledore didn't want that to happen and she had known how her life could possibly be in danger if it got out beforehand. They had also extracted her witch's oath to not reveal that she knew where Sirius was and this way it couldn't be forced out of her.

Hermione came out of her thoughts suddenly when a voice that positively oozed charm asked her.

"Can I get you another butterbeer?" asked Dave.

Hermione then realized that she had finished her drink while she was lost in her thoughts.

"Thank you for the offer, but I can buy my own drink," Hermione told him politely, "and no offense, but I make it a rule to never accept drinks from strangers and despite our earlier introduction that's what you are."

So his mate was cautious around people she didn't know, which was good to know, however, it also made things more difficult, but Dave just loved the challenge and was determined to win her love. He knew however, that he couldn't afford to fail as this wasn't just going to be a one night stand but the rest of his life and as it was he was having trouble controlling the wolf in him as that part of what made him just want to jump this Hermione Granger without her permission, but Dave knew that would likely drive her away from him forever as she would likely consider it rape, since she wasn't a shifter, although she was a magical or she wouldn't be here.

Dave wanted nothing more than to show his mate how much he already adored her, but he knew that he was going to have to take things slow if he wanted any chance at all.

"So David Rossi do I want to know why you've taken an interest in me?" Hermione asked suddenly.

"I prefer Dave actually," Dave answered with a charming smile.

Hermione wasn't about to admit this to anyone, but that smile made her go wild with desire and also caused a reaction down much lower as she was suddenly very wet and it wasn't that she had never had this type of reaction around handsome men before, but most of them had not been interested in her and the reason for that soon became clear as it turned out that all they wanted was a one night stand and weren't interested in a longer term relationship or in marriage.

Italian men could be very charming, but they were just like anywhere else and could also be very shallow or have ulterior motives.

Hermione was still trying to work out why this David Rossi was interested in her as he was at least 5 to 10 years her senior and possibly more, although it was really hard to tell since magicals aged much slower than anyone else, so even though he looked 30 or so he could be 40 or even 50 and that Italian blood didn't help as Italians tended to look younger than they really were as they had good genes.

"Why have I taken an interest in you?" Dave asked in no little astonishment. "Well, for one thing you're a gorgeous woman and if you tell me that no one has ever been interested in you romantically before and then I'll have to call you a liar because I don't see how that's possible."

That was rather blunt, Hermione admitted, although she appreciated Dave's honesty.

She had realized that he had made her blush, by being so blunt, which was a pretty hard thing to do as no one had called her gorgeous before besides, her brother Harry and she had believed that he was just being kind as that was Harry down to the bone.

"I never said that I haven't had dates before," Hermione admitted, "but they never amounted to anything and were mostly of short duration, but somehow I think that you want more then a one night stand or a very short term relationship."

Just the rest of our lives, Dave said in his head although he wasn't about to admit that out loud quite yet as he didn't want to send his mate fleeing away before they had a chance to truly get to know each other.

"I suppose I should be getting back home as my brother Harry will start to worry about me if I'm gone to much longer even if he knows I'm perfectly able to take care of myself. He's very protective of the people he cares for as let's just say his life as a child wasn't very good and leave it at that."

Likely abused, Dave silently profiled, although there were different kinds and levels of abuse. Was it just neglect or something much worse? But if her brother Harry was abused did that mean that Hermione was as well?

That thought enraged Dave, although he was careful not to show it because he had no proof at the moment and again he didn't want to frighten his mate away from him not knowing that Hermione Granger was made of extremely stern stuff.

"So what's the girl from England doing in Italy?" asked Dave not wanting his mate to leave, although his brain was already formulating a way to romance her from a distance if necessary.

"Harry owns an estate here as Britain is rather oppressive unless you have the proper bloodline," Hermione explained briefly. "Harry's family is very wealthy and owns properties all over the world including America, France and several other places."

Dave took how Hermione said Harry's family and not her own, which led him to believe that she was likely adopted, well either that or Harry had discovered that she was his half-sister, which wasn't all that uncommon really as wizards sowed wild oats just like anybody else.

"Besides, the wizarding people in England thought of Harry as a saint one minute and the new Dark Lord the next all because of the Daily Prophet so it's just well that we got out of Britain. Of course, once the wizarding public realized that there savior had left them there was a great hue and cry, but Harry refused to come back and I don't blame him."

Once Harry had found out about Dumbledore's betrayal and discovered that the headmaster had known all along about the abuse he was suffering at the hands of his aunt and uncle Harry had lost all the trust he had in the old man who he had once believed was, if not infallible at least a decent human being. He had immediately vowed to leave Britain entirely and luckily, that had only happened after they had taken their O.W.L.s as the wizarding youth of Britain only had to complete up to their fifth year of schooling in order not to lose their magic by having it bound away from them, not that that would've happened since they had left the country and really it only seemed to apply to muggle-borns like herself.

She and Harry and later Luna had trained, so that they could defeat the Dark Lord that was going to go after their friends in order to get Harry to come back to England and face him. Most of the student body Harry could care less about as they had turned on him twice in five years once when a giant basilisk had been released and was petrifying people in the school if only because they never looked directly into its yellow eyes and saw it's gaze through puddles of water and camera lenses.

Dumbledore had swept it all under the rug and he was damn lucky that the giant snake roaming around the school hadn't caused untold deaths, including her own since she to had been petrified by the basilisk. The second time had been doing their fourth year and the Triwizard Tournament where the whole school bar a few like Neville Longbottom ndafew others had believed that Harry had somehow crossed the age line and placed his name in the goblet of fire including their so-called best friend at the time Ron Weasley. That incident was enough to show Harry that Ron was nothing, but a jealous prat and so they were glad to be shot of him entirely when they had settled here in Italy after their O.W.L.s.

Despite the way that their home country had treated them Harry trained himself to exhaustion until he felt he was able to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort even if he personally, didn't believe in the prophecy, but knowing Voldemort did was enough to let Harry see that he had to believe it as well or at least train for that final confrontation as if he did.

Hermione well knew that it didn't matter if she or Harry believed in the prophecy or not, the fact of the matter was that Voldemort did and he would keep coming after Harry through all his friends until he was destroyed.

Harry and her had kept in contact with all the people they trusted to give them the news and not a single one of them besides, Amelia Bones, Sirius's cousin Nymphadora Tonks, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt was an adult. All the adults beside those named had betrayed them in one way or another either indirectly by not defending themselves when Voldemort made an appearance or directly by actively working to keep Harry unaware of his heritage and the money he possessed, such as Dumbledore and Molly Weasley. It had been discovered that Dumbledore had been stealing from him for years and once he found that out the goblins were able to reclaim all the money that had been taken from him illegally with interest, which left Dumbledore almost destitute, but she or Harry had absolutely no sympathy for the old headmaster at all, because anyone that would steal from a toddler and then a young teenager who didn't even have a clue that he had that much gold was reprehensible in the extreme. The fact that Molly Weasley had also been stealing from him and had been planning to potion Harry into falling in love with her daughter almost from the moment his parents bodies had been buried had made Harry so mad he had nearly destroyed the Burrow, with everybody inside in his rage. She had calmed him down and convinced him to contact the DMLE and Amelia Bones directly and it had turned out that only Molly and her two youngest were in on the plot and none of the other Weasleys had been aware of what was going on and so the others had all been forgiven while Molly and Ron and Ginny, well they had been in serious trouble. Molly had been told that her attempts to potion the last living member of the a noble and ancient house was considered attempted line theft and had been sentenced to several years in Azkaban and Arthur had not done a single thing to save her for he had found his wife's actions so vile that he had disowned her on the spot, demanding a divorce.

Ginny had been inundated to believe that she was destined to marry the boy who lived and she now had trouble telling what was reality as to her, her fantasy was so real and strong she believed that someday Harry would see that he loved her and get rid of Luna, although the chances of that happening were absolutely zilch as Harry and Luna were absolutely besotted with each other.

Hermione was well aware that it was only partly Ginny's fault as she had been read stories of the boy who lived since she was a young child and been encouraged to believe that she was destined to someday marry him. No, Hermione and Harry both placed the blame squarely where it belonged and that was on the shoulders of Ginny's mother Molly Weasley.

Once Molly had gotten out of Azkaban she had been told that if she came anyway near Harry or any of his family or friends that she would be killed on the spot and to stay away or face the consequences, which the former Weasley matron and had not taken well.

"Harry got tired of the oppressive atmosphere in Britain and so he decided to leave and his godfather agreed with him. The two of us were best friends and so it was decided that we would leave the country together because I wasn't treated any better than he was because I'm a muggle-born and Harry is a half-blood. My parents who were dentists came with us as they wanted me to be safe and once we explained the situation to them and how dangerous it was for us to stay they agreed that it was a good idea to get out of Britain for at least a few years. It was also decided after we got somewhere safe that Harry would adopt me as his sister because he loved me like one anyway and it would give me a certain amount of protection, since his father was pureblooded and left his entire fortune to his only child," Hermione explained quietly.

Dave thought about what he had been told and immediately realized that he wasn't getting the whole story but then again that wasn't surprising Hermione had no reason to trust him, although he was hoping to change that soon, but he would have to be patient.

"I've told you as much about myself as I'm going to why don't you tell me about you," Hermione suggested.

"Well, I'm also shifter as well as a magical," Dave explained quietly, hoping he wasn't giving out too much information, but he knew he couldn't afford to not be honest here because if Hermione figured out for herself that he had left out vital information about himself his goose would be well and truly cooked. "I went to school right here in Italy, although it isn't as big as Hogwarts in Scotland as a lot of our population is homeschooled. I have quite a few fratelli and sorelle but then most shifter famiglie do, so it's not the least unusual. I am 40 years old, even though I know I don't look it and am a writer by profession, though I did try to work within the system for awhile, but it just wasn't for me."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Hermione said with a nod having no trouble translating the Italian words that Dave automatically used instead of their english counterparts, which was only natural since he was Italian, even if he spoke excellent english with a light Italian accent. "I did think that I wanted a position in the ministry in Britain once I graduated, but once I learned how bigoted it was I knew I would never be able to work there because even if I managed to get a position I knew that the purebloods would do their best to hold me back. I knew that I would never be listened to and I'd have been regulated to some unimportant job. Britain is so bigoted towards non-purebloods that less than 2% half-bloods and muggle-borns work at the Ministry of Magic and most of them are in unimportant positions. People aren't hired because they're qualified, they're hired because they're pureblooded, so no wonder the ministry is so messed up."

"I don't know much about the situation over there, although I have visited a few times," Dave admitted, "although not for years, especially once Voldemort was reborn. Even after he was defeated I felt that I wouldn't be welcome so I haven't been back. I'm not too bothered as I say let them reap what they've sowed as they'll eventually die out because of inbreeding if nothing else. The other countries of the world are well aware that most muggle-borns and a lot of half-bloods leave the the country after they graduate as they realize that the bigotry that they put up with at school is just a small portion of what they'll face once they're out on their own. The rest of the world is laughing at how stupid the British purebloods are as they lose many qualified witches and wizards due to their supposed superiority and welcome them with open arms in places like Australia or America, even France or here in Italy."

"I think you and Harry would get along famously as he feels the same way and he was so determined to leave Britain behind that he moved all his funds to the Gringotts here to Italy as this is where he's made his permanent home," Hermione said.

"You wouldn't be talking about Harry Potter would you?" Dave asked as the identity of Hermione's adoptive brother suddenly snapped into place in his mind and he was sure he was right. The only half-blood Harry he knew about was Harry Potter and he was famous but then he was treated like garbage one minute and Britain's hero the next and of course, there were plenty of rumors about how Harry Potter had left the country due to a lot of personal reasons and problems he had with the British wizarding world in general, not that Dave could really blame him for that.

Those reasons had never been specified, although the Daily Prophet took great pleasure in speculating.

Hermione blinked at him and then answered, "I never imagined you would put it together, although I suppose it's not surprising since Harry is quite famous, much to his displeasure, which is another reason that he left Britain as he was tired of being everyone's darling one day and their villain the next, when all he really wanted was to be left alone to live his life and not be manipulated or taken advantage of."

"I don't blame him for removing himself from the situation I can guess that everybody wanted a piece of him or that they wanted to use him for their own ends. Don't look so surprised," Dave told his mate with a smirk. "I do read the papers and even over here you hear things, most of which is rubbish."

"I suppose that's true," Hermione admitted thoughtfully, "but then again not many people know that I'm related to Harry Potter as we keep it between ourselves so that I'm not harassed, although I admit it's not as likely over here in Italy where he's not as well-known as he would be England. Harry's godfather lives with us and Harry's married to one of our best friends Luna Lovegood, Remus Lupin who was the best friend of his parents and also his godfather's lives with us as well, but other than those people and a few that we trust over in England no one else knows, although the adoption papers did have to be filed with the ministry in England."

"So does your brother have any children?" asked Dave curiously.

"Just one," Hermione answered, "at least at the moment as they've only been married three years. They had a son just a couple years ago that they named after Harry's father James. I know they are planning on having more because Luna wants to preserve the Lovegood line just as Harry does his and so they had a betrothal contract between them and the second son will have the last name of Lovegood. This was something that Harry readily agreed to and I believe they plan on having at least five or six. Harry would do almost anything for Luna."

"So he's besotted with her is he?" Dave asked with the grin. Personally, after what he had heard about Harry's life all of it second and third hand news and if it was even partly accurate he felt that the young man deserved some happiness. Besides, he was Italian and some said that they had invented love or at least romance although the French would disagree with that, but that was their problem. In any case, he was glad that Harry Potter had finally found someone to love considering what he had heard about his crappy life and he was hoping for the same thing for himself.

"He really is, but Luna is a sweetheart, a little strange, but a sweetheart. Personally, I think that they match very well," Hermione said.

The two continued chat but it was a good thing that Hermione had put up a Muffliato so that no one could overhear their conversation, not even the bartender as they were talking about things that Hermione rarely brought up and she definitely didn't want many people to know.

Hermione would wonder later after she and Dave had parted why she had told this virtual stranger so much and would just come to the conclusion that he was very good at drawing people out, but it would never occurred to her it was because she felt really comfortable with Dave for some odd reason, despite the fact that they had just met or that he might be a major part of her future. Not until much later.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Harry," Luna began.

The two of them were simply enjoying some quiet time together out in the magnificent garden and that was maintained by the house-elves.

"Yes, honey," Harry said, as he relaxed back into one of the chairs that had been set up out here in a small area so that people could enjoy eating out in the garden, when the weather was right.

"I just had a vision that could change the life for our Hermione, so long as she doesn't reject it out of hand," Luna said staring off into space.

"What did you see?" Harry said opening his eyes, sitting up and then looking at his wife intently.

"Well, Hermione goes to this magical bar that she sometimes frequents and she and this handsome man begin to talk. Hermione doesn't know it, but this man I believe his name is David something as I didn't quite catch the surname, is a shifter and she is his lifemate. However, if we let her precede like she normally does she will reject his offer out of hand, because she doesn't trust herself to get into a relationship and making it last. While she does trust us she keeps a lot of her life private as she is afraid of being hurt again. In this case though it will only lead to misery not only her, but this David."

"You're about this?" Harry asked uncertainly.

Luna glared at him and Harry knew that she was telling him she wouldn't have said anything if she wasn't.

"Alright then, what can I do to help as I want Hermione to be happy and you're right that she hasn't been truly happy ever since she was about 14 and that was almost seven years ago," Harry said caving under his wife's glare.

"Oh, thank you for volunteering to help," Luna squealed all happy again flinging her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately.

"Well, I do want to see Hermione happy with her life and not just faking it. I'm not saying that she's not happy staying with us and she'll always be welcome here, but there is a major difference between being content with your lot in life and being truly happy and if this David can accomplish that then I'll welcome him with open arms," Harry said.

"As for what you can do she will soon be receiving roses both red and yellow and the note will ask her for the honor of a date and if you do not interfere then she is going to reject the offer out of hand without really thinking it through. From what I can see this David will keep sending her more and more elaborate gifts until she finally loses her temper and orders him never bother her again as she is sure that he is just setting her up for rejection. You know how Hermione is when her emotions are involved instead of considering something in a logical manner. She is going to make a decision that will affect her for the rest of life unless someone interferes, as she is so afraid she is being set up like the two Weasleys tried to do to her that she is shutting herself off from truly falling in love, as she is afraid of being under love and loyalty potions again. What Molly did and Ron went along with truly shattered her self-confidence in that area and if I ever encounter either one of them they will feel my wrath as love potions are some of the worst potions around and should be banned and considered as liquid Unforgivables even if they aren't spells as they are just plain evil. Incorrectly named love potion like Amortentia don't really make you fall in love, they just manufacture false emotions and while you are under the influence of whoever the potion is keyed to you would be willing to do anything they wanted. After the effects fade whether you're given a flushing potion or they fade on their own because the person under their influence has not received another dose you will remember exactly, everything you have done to please the new person in your life. Love potions cause more trouble than they are worth and there's a lot of people that take their own lives they're so ashamed, even though it isn't them that took the potion on their own free will and are usually tricked into it. The Weasleys are lucky that I didn't raze the Burrow to the ground for their crime."

"That wouldn't've been fair to the rest of them," Harry told Luna gently kissing the side of her head. "It was only Molly really involved because she's the one that told Ron that Hermione was perfect for him and all she needed was a little nudge in that direction. I know that he went along with it, but then he is used to doing what his mother orders and that he has a jealous streak a mile wide, doesn't help."

"That's no excuse," Luna growled.

"Maybe not, but it is what it is," Harry shrugged. "We stopped him from actually raping Hermione, even if he did have her under the potion, for months so there was nothing we could legally do because he didn't actually get around to forcing her to have sex. So back to the subject at hand. What exactly do you want me to do?"

Luna told him what she saw and Harry nodded knowing that it was probably the only way to get Hermione to accept this David's offer and that was to be tricked into it. Of course, once she actually went on a date with him and enjoyed herself she wouldn't be so opposed to a second one, but it was getting her to actually take that step that was going to be rather tricky.

"You do know that Hermione will have our hides if she finds out she was tricked into that first date," Harry said eyeing Luna.

"It's the only way," Luna said with a certain tone of voice that let Harry know it would be pointless to argue. "If we try any other way other than trickery she will reject his offer out a hand and no amount of persuading will do any good. We both want to see our sister happy and trust me when I say that this is the only way that's going to work."

"Alright then," Harry gave in, "if you're sure then I will do as you say."

"Trust me, I'm very sure and if this works out like I hope it will she will have many children due to a shifters ability to have multiples as the norm instead of just one. She and David will move in together before they officially tie the knot, but she will be very happy with her relationship and when he actually does propose she will accept. I see this David being a part of all our lives for many decades to come and Hermione will always by his side and so happy that she practically glows," Luna said with absolute certainty in her words.

There was a certain tone and Luna's voice, that let Harry know that she was actually having a vision even as she talked and so Harry had no choice but to give in to his wife's request, not that he objected actually, because if what Luna saw came to pass and his sister was truly happy then his wife would be receiving a special gift from him for her part in it even if Hermione never knew the part she had played.

"Alright then, when do I need to be ready to play my part?" Harry asked.

"I believe that the roses will arrive sometime tomorrow, as I can see the decision on David's part to go ahead and try to get her to accept his offer of a date because he fears if he waits too long that she will not remember the pleasant conversation with him and really it's not so much about remembering the conversation, but the way she reacted to his presence," Luna said casually. "She will forget or think it was just her imagination how comfortable she was just talking to him and how she revealed more than she intended to, all because she trusted him for some odd reason. Her fears of rejection or of being placed under another love potion will hold her back, which is why I can see David deciding not to wait to try to get her to accept an offer of a date."

"Alright, I'll be ready to mention Ron to her then and how I don't want to see her as an old maid for the rest of her life just because of her fear," Harry said looking at Luna wanting to know if this was the right tact to take.

"Yes, that should work," Luna agreed after a moment, "and in fact it might be the only way to convince her to go out on a date. You'll make her feel guilty, for sponging off you, even though you and I certainly don't mind as this house is too large just for the two of us and our son."

"There's also Sirius and Remus," Harry reminded his adorable wife.

"Yes, but they live in the guest house for the most part leaving this huge place just to the three of us and Hermione," Luna said. "Yes, they visit often, but they don't actually live with us, even if they live on the property."

That was true, Harry reflected as Sirius and Remus had moved out once he and Luna had tied the knot as they had thought that the newlyweds needed time to themselves, even though the estate was huge with more room then they would ever use.

"I think I'll make sure to avoid her until then so that I don't give the whole game away, Harry wisely decided. "She reads me entirely too easily unless she is distracted, but then I suppose that's the consequence of us knowing each other for so long."

"Yes," Luna said after a moment, "that's a very wise decision. Oh, and avoid mentioning the fact that David is her lifemate as she won't react well and it will turn out much better if you allow him to tell Hermione the news himself or the other way is if she figures it out for herself as both those scenarios turn out well."

"Alright, I won't mention it," Harry agreed as he knew that Luna, just like him had Hermione's best interests at heart and besides, he knew that his gorgeous wife was right and Hermione would likely react badly if the news came from him or Luna and not Dave, if she didn't figure it out for herself that is, so thanks to his wife's ability to see the future they could avoid that particular pitfall.

The two of them quit talking and just sat there together enjoying each other's company before they finally rose and headed into the house where they know the house-elves would have a magnificent lunch prepared.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Is there something you want to tell me, Hermione?" Harry asked his sister the next day after 50 roses had arrived by owl.

"What?" asked Hermione looking up from her book and seeing the package that Harry had placed on the table in front of her, which looked suspiciously like a flower box. "Is that for me?"

"Of course, it is," Harry said looking at her and then at the package obviously curious as it was clear that it had to be some kind of flowers from the shape of the box.

Hermione opened the box after casting several spells to make sure there was no dark magic or other dangerous spells placed on it as it never hurt to be cautious considering that she still had many enemies, although Harry had many more.

"Oh! They are gorgeous!" Hermione said enthusiastically.

In the the box were 50 roses half of which were red and the other half yellow.

"So who are they from?" Harry asked unable to contain his curiosity.

"David Rossi," Hermione said after she read the note. "I met him at that bar I go to totally by accident and we got to talking.

"Hermione, I need details," Harry told her seriously. "I know you're capable of taking care of yourself, but still I'm your brother and you know what that means."

"You need to make sure of his intentions," Hermione said, as if by rote looking extremely displeased to be reminded of that. Unfortunately, the British wizarding world was extremely old-fashioned in some ways and brothers or fathers always looked after their female nieces, cousins or sisters, if under their care. When she had been adopted into Harry's family not only did she get half of the Potter fortune transferred to her she had gotten the crash course in the rules of society of the pureblood elite. Basically, what it boiled down to was that Harry had to check out any man to make sure of his intentions and if they were bad then he would scare them off. However, if she was hurt by some guy like raped for instance then he would duel him and it would be perfectly legal for Harry to take that person's life. Of course, Harry wouldn't take offense over every little thing like if say the man that Hermione was dating made negative comments for example about her family or her looks, but if the person she was dating wanted to have sex with her and then forced her into it and it would definitely take offense at that as it would be considered rape.

"I know you don't like it, but that's the way it has to be," Harry told her gently, even as he hugged her and kissed on the cheek. "If I don't do my duty by you word will get out and my enemies will think that they're free to attack you just to hurt me. Yes, I realize it's not really fair, but you also have to remember that the wizarding world is very old fashioned particularly in England even if here in Italy it is much better and more modern."

"Well, there's no need for you to check him out quite yet as I am not sure that I'm going to say yes, to his suggestion of a date because after all, all we did was talk for a little while at that bar the other night."

"Hermione," Harry told her sternly, "I'm going to say this for your own good and I'm sorry if it hurts you, but you need to get out more and this David Rossi seems like a nice guy as 50 roses unless conjured aren't cheap. You need to stop isolating yourself and mourning what Ron tried to do to you. I know that the fact that Ron tried to potion you with love and loyalty potions with the help of his mother, hurt you, but it also taught both of us a valuable lesson about not giving our trust too easily. At least give it a try and accept his offer of a date and if it doesn't work out and you tell me honestly that it didn't go well, then I won't badger you about it. You haven't truly been happy, ever since that incident with Ron and that was back when we were 14 even if you claim you are."

"He's twice my age," Hermione tried.

"That doesn't really matter so much in the magical world and you know it, because we live on average three or four times longer then muggles or even shifters and look younger a lot longer as well," Harry reminded her. "I admit I wish he was a little younger, but most people your age or even five or six years older are going to be insulted by your intelligence and you shouldn't have to dumb yourself down just so you don't dent their fragile male egos, which was partly Ron's problem, but also partly your childhood upbringing due to the bullying you endured. You would never be truly happy with someone who tried to stifle your intelligence, your passionate nature, or your enormous sense of justice. If this David Rossi can accept you for everything that you are, then you should at least give him a chance. Of course, if he hurts you I'll kill him. Luna will tell you the same thing I have when I tell her about this."

He didn't mention that Luna was the one that had told him and that they had then planned out how to get her to accept the invitation to dinner with this David Rossi.

Hermione smiled at that because she knew that Harry would do exactly that if this David Rossi hurt her.

"Alright, you've made some very good points," Hermione conceded. "I'll accept his offer of a date and if all goes well I might even accept a second one."

"Good," Harry said pleased.

"Bringing up Ron though was a low blow even for you," Hermione told him giving Harry a stern look.

Harry shrugged unrepentantly. "I just don't want that bastard to have you being single for the rest of your life just because he had all the feelings of a toad and no sensitivity to what you wanted as only what he wanted mattered."

"Which was one reason and I convinced my parents to move to Italy with you," Hermione said. "By the way comparing Ron to a toad is an insult to amphibians everywhere."

Harry smiled at that and said, "To bad, he's lucky I let him live after what he did to you and I only did that as a favor to the Weasleys that didn't betray us."

"I know," Hermione said softly, "I know. I want you to promise me that you will give Dave the third degree at least not after our first date."

"I can wait until your second one," Harry cheekily said grinning unrepentantly.

"You will not interrogate him at least until after we've been dating a month if we ever get that far is that understood Harry James Potter?" Hermione demanded her eyes glimmering furiously with her emotions.

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said soberly, but with a distinct twinkle in his eyes.

Hermione rolled her eyes to let Harry know that she wasn't fooled at his pretend contriteness.

Hermione well knew that Harry would be checking into this David Rossi if only for his own peace of mind and she couldn't help, but love him for that, as he was acting as a big brother should and protecting her while at the same time letting her live own life.

"You had better go write this Rossi saying you accept his offer of a date," Harry urged her not wanting her to change her mind

"Yes, sir," Hermione said with a mock salute causing Harry to laugh.

"Luna will be thrilled when I tell her that you actually have a date and you know it," Harry told her. "It shouldn't matter what age this Rossi is so long as you love him and he loves you. If anybody gets on your case about it tell them to shove it and mind their own business, especially since it happens in the magical world all the time particularly in England."

"When did you get so wise?" Hermione asked Harry with an impish smile.

"Finding out you've been betrayed by the people you thought would support you through anything has a way of changing you," Harry told her quietly. "I stopped giving a damn or trying to live up to what people wanted and started caring just about what I wanted. Don't get me wrong I will support my friends the ones that never betrayed me like Neville or Luna or you, but the rest can go fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned."

The venom in Harry's voice didn't surprise Hermione in the least as she knew very well how bitter he was at certain people and for that she couldn't blame him a bit, because if Albus Dumbledore was still alive she would kill him, herself for all the pain and misery he had caused her brother in everyway, but blood. If the sheeple of the British wizarding world did not learn how to defend themselves Harry had already promised that he or his family weren't going to save them a second time from the next Dark Lord, as their selfishness, laziness and inaptness had caused him his parents and quite a few of his friends pain and death, so as far as he was concerned they could just stew in a situation that was of their own making and Hermione fully agreed and supported him in this.

Finally Hermione picked up her roses, conjured a vase filled it with water and then put them in it, before she headed to her room with the roses in her arms to write that letter.

She was unaware that Harry was watching her with a small smile on his face and it was just as well that she would have been immediately suspicious for the reason behind it.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"I'm glad you accepted my offer of a date," Dave told her sincerely while admiring how gorgeous his mate looked all dressed up. Hermione was wearing a dress the color of autumn leaves, kind of a brownish gold that was off the shoulder and looked absolutely speculator on her body and made his mind immediately go in the gutter and think of all the ways he would just love to peel it off her gorgeous body. Her hair was done up in a style he knew was called a chignon, with just a few curls hanging down over her ears on either side. Dave was well aware that his opinion would be considered biased, not that it mattered as his was the only one that mattered, even if Hermione didn't know it yet. Well, correction her brother's and his wife's mattered or any of her friends, but his was the most important, since the two of them would be together for the rest of their lives, well, they would be if he played his cards right, which was why he was taking things slowly instead of just trying to get his mate into bed as he had a strong suspicion that that would ruin everything, which was the last thing he wanted.

"Thank you," Hermione said blushing prettily.

Thanks to the short notice Hermione had really had to rush to get all her shopping done as Dave's letter had said to dress fancy as he was taking her somewhere that required it and so she'd had to do all her shopping in a single day instead of spread out over a week like she normally did.

"You're more then welcome," Dave said with a sincere smile that reached all the way to his eyes causing Hermione to blush again for it was clear that Dave meant what he said and wasn't just being polite. "So as I said I'm glad you accepted my offer, as I was afraid you'd reject it."

"You can thank Harry for that, as he told me that I should accept your offer and to give you a chance, but also told me to warn you that if you hurt me you will face him in a duel, which you don't want, trust me," Hermione said with a distinct twinkle in her brown eyes.

Considering her brother was Harry Potter, Dave wasn't about to disagree, as he was sure that the man-who-defeated-Voldemort would have no problem cleaning his clock if he hurt his sister and he expected to be warned about doing that sometime in the near future as it's what he would do as the oldest for any of his sisters. Dave wouldn't deny he was very good at defense against the dark arts, but from what he knew Harry was a supreme master duelist which had to mean that he had reflexes to burn and instinctively knew when to throw his spells at his enemy and personally, Dave never wanted the man who had defeated the Dark Lord mad at him as not many people had ever had the title of supreme master and Harry had earned his the hard way.

"Your brother doesn't have to worry as I have no intention of doing that," Dave promised his mate seriously. He'd rather plunge a dagger through his own heart then hurt the woman he already loved, as hurting her was not on the menu, although romance certainly was.

"He'll be glad to hear it as he won't have to bring mean Harry out to play and if you're extremely lucky you will never have that side of Harry pointed in your direction," said Hermione shivering, as she remembered the last time Harry had lost his temper and she had been present and she would be perfectly happy to never see that side of Harry again, although intellectually she could understand it, but she knew very well that there was a big difference between understanding something in your head and understanding it in your heart.

Her brother likely had a temper, one that frightened whoever it was directed at and probably anyone in the immediate vicinity, Dave thought, but then that shouldn't be a surprise considering what he knew of Harry Potter, which really wasn't all that much. Besides, everyone had a temper and had different triggers as what caused different people to lose it.

"I'll make sure I never get him mad at me then," Dave promised solemnly, being totally serious.

"That's definitely the way to go," Hermione said approvingly. "Harry, is usually pretty easygoing and one of the nicest, most generous people you will ever meet, until someone ticks him off, which isn't easy to do really and then all you want to do is find somewhere to hide when he loses it. Very few people will face him head on when he is furious as he leaks magic like a sieve and it makes most people run in the other direction."

The two of them changed subjects as they both felt that they had discussed Hermione's brother enough and Dave took seriously Harry's gentle warning through his sister not to hurt her. His mate had delivered her brother's warning and once he had gotten the message had dropped he subject.

"This is a really nice place," Hermione said looking around at the décor appreciatively. It was a muggle restaurant which was fine with her as she had grown up as one until she had gotten her Hogwarts letter at 11. The lighting was low, so as to create a romantic atmosphere and so that candles could be used on each of the tables. The food was superb and Hermione believed that the chef here could give even Harry or the house-elves that he and Luna had a run for their money, which was really saying something.

"The food is as good as something that Harry could come up with and he is a superb cook," Hermione said. "It's a good thing that he and the house-elves can cook, because I definitely cannot and I'd either starve or be eating out all the time."

"Well, I can cook and perhaps, sometime you can come to my place and you can tell me if I'm as good as your brother," Dave suggested with a twinkle in his eyes.

"We'll see," Hermione said cautiously.

"The offers open anytime you like," Dave said immediately easing his mate's fear that he just wanted to get her alone to rape her, "although I realize that likely won't be for awhile, which is fine as we need time to get to know each other first."

Although I am certainly going to have trouble controlling the wolf in me and keep him from just pouncing on her as her scent is driving me crazy, but it has to be done, as I never want Hermione to fear me and wouldn't even without her brother's warning.

"Thank you for being so understanding," Hermione said relaxing.

"There's no need to thank me, because if I were to force you into something you weren't ready for then I would be a bastard and a cad and I guarantee you my mother taught me better," Dave said with a genuine smile. "I am not unaware that today's youth put expectations on whoever they are seeing and a lot of times expect their dates to have sex after the first or second date, but a lot of woman need time to get to know someone before they'll be comfortable sleeping with him and any man that tries to force the issue should be taught a lesson about forcing a woman into something she is not ready for, as it is nothing more then rape."

"Well, I see there are some advantages to having a date with an older man," Hermione said smiling relaxing more and more in his presence.

"Oh, now there's a boost to my ego," Dave said in such a lighthearted manner that Hermione just had to laugh, which had been Dave's intent in the first place. "Seriously though a lot of Italian men, even older ones are total, I believe the British term is gits, but I'm not one of them."

"Good to know," Hermione said smiling in spite of herself for Dave was nice and funny and could even laugh and make teasing remarks at himself and all to make her laugh, which was a pretty rare quality. Hermione admitted if only to herself that she liked David Rossi a great deal and in fact liked him so much would even agree to a second date with him as she was sure now that he would ask even if he was to well mannered to hint in that direction while they were on their very first date, although she was sure it was on his mind.

The rest of dinner passed far to quickly in Hermione's opinion and before she knew it Dave was escorting her out of the restaurant with a gentle arm possessively around her waist as if he was subtly letting other's know that she was taken. Hermione gave him an admonishing look, which Dave ignored and her heart wasn't really in it as having his arm around her waist felt so right and yet she couldn't understand why as she barely knew him, although she silently admitted that would really like to get to know him better as she was strongly attracted to him.

"So I hope I'm not rushing things, but how about a second date?" Dave asked at the Apparition point trying not to show his hesitation as it was very unlike him and he truly did not want to scare his mate off and he was hoping that he had impressed her enough to get her to agree to go on a second one. He was good at reading people so he knew that Hermione had enjoyed herself, but the question remained as to whether or not she had enjoyed herself enough.

"You are rushing things," Hermione told him and seeing his worry rushed to reassure him, "but in this case I don't mind and that's a yes, to a second date. Just owl me with the details when it is and I'll meet you there just like I did this time."

Dave visibly relaxed a breathed a silent sigh of relief as his heart started to calm down from the scare it had just had. He had been sure that his mate was about to tell him that it had been fun and that she had enjoyed herself, but that she had to say no to a second date.

That Hermione had almost immediately said yes, filled his heart with relief, intense joy and happiness so that he felt as if he was walking on air instead on the ground.

"I'll do that," Dave promised smiling and kissing the back of her hand.

"Just give me a little more warning, so that I don't have to feel so rushed," Hermione told him with a smile that lit up her face. "Thank you for a wonderful evening. I enjoyed myself more than I expected to tonight."

"What you thought it would just be something to be endured?" asked Dave teasingly understanding what his mate was getting at without taking it as an insult as he had been on plenty of boring dates in his time, ones he couldn't wait to get over with. "I think I am insulted."

Hermione laughed as it was clear that Dave was just joking.

"Believe me, I can sympathize as I've been on plenty of those kinds of dates as well," Dave said, "so I am glad you enjoyed yourself enough to accept another."

"Someone is fishing for compliments," Hermione teased him causing Dave to smile. "I had a wonderful time and that's all I'm going to say on the subject as I don't want or need to give you a big head because if I did you might not be able to Apparate properly and I would hate for you to leave pieces of yourself behind, since I like you just as you are."

Dave laughed heartily at that glad to know that Hermione had a sense a humor and wasn't afraid to use it. "I'll see you soon," Dave promised ever the gentleman kissing her on the back of the hand a second time causing his mate to blush prettily again, which filled him with delight.

"I'll be looking forward to it," Hermione said sincerely with a smile as she kissed his cheek boldly, causing herself to blush at her rather unusual reaction, especially for the first date.

Dave looked stunned before grinning broadly and giving her another kiss this time on the cheek and made sure she was away before Disapparating himself.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Oh! Someone had a good time on their date tonight," a familiar female voice singsonged in a tone of voice that she used when she knew something for sure.

"Why don't you give me a heart attack?" Hermione mildly scolded the female sitting on her bed, which also happened to be Harry's wife and one of her best friends Luna Lovegood Potter.

Luna simply grinned looking unrepentant as she enjoyed surprising people with her sudden appearances and had gotten good at sneaking around. Hermione didn't really appreciate being scared half to death, but she should have known that Luna would be waiting on her to get all the juicy details of her date so it was at least partly her fault for being too distracted to notice or think about the possibility, although Luna could certainly understand why Hermione was distracted in this case.

Hermione sighed and said, "Yes, I had a good time so I'm glad that Harry convinced me to take the chance. I actually had a better time than I expected to tonight."

"Oh!" Luna exclaimed quite happily clapping hands together almost gleefully, "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you," Hermione said puzzled, "but it was only one date not a marriage proposal."

Luna didn't mention that the marriage proposal would be coming up in six months or so, but for now she simply said, "No, it's not a proposal of marriage as you said, but I'm very proud of you for getting back out to the dating scene and that you actually admit you had a good time instead of closing yourself off and going on a date with some guy that doesn't deserve you just so you can say that you're dating."

Hermione blushed at being figured out so easily because that was exactly what she had been doing for the last year or two. She had simply been going out on a few dates with a guy that she knew she normally wouldn't give the time of day just so she could tell Harry that she was actually dating and just hadn't found the right person to settle down with.

"No, Harry, doesn't know," Luna informed her friend before Hermione could ask the obvious question, "but then again a lot of men are clueless about that kind of thing and as much as I love him Harry is one of them. I know he's wondered why you've been going out with such losers, but hasn't felt it's his right to interfere, since you are a grown women and actually older than he is by almost a year. However, I've known for sometime that you went out with those losers, ones you wouldn't normally give the time of day to, because you were still hurt from Ron's betrayal and you let that asshole effect you more than you should have, although I can certainly understand why you did since you considered him a friend until that event. You thought he was your friend and then he went and gave you a love potion without your consent."

"I'm just glad I was able to fight off the effects enough, to let people know something was wrong," Hermione whispered, as she still remembered how she had fought with all of her might to let people know that she was not herself. It hadn't been easy for those potions if brewed correctly were very strong, particularly Amortentia, which controlled your emotions and your brain although not your thoughts. It was as if she had been trapped in her body unable to let her real self out while under the effects of the love potion that Ron had slipped her. If Ron hadn't forgotten to dose her as often as he should have she doubted she would have ever broken free.

"I hate to bring up bad memories, Hermione," Luna said her voice filled with sympathy and understanding, "but you're really lucky that you were only under that love potion for a short time and that Ron never got around to actually raping you, as that would have been 1000 times worse as you likely never would have recovered from having your body violated in such a way, so you should be grateful that you managed to break free enough for people to notice your odd behavior, which just goes to show that you have a very strong will because most people would never have been able to throw off the effects even as much as you did."

"I certainly can understand why Harry hates being controlled," Hermione admitted, "even if that was by lies and manipulation and not by a potion, but it basically amounts to the same thing, although we both know that was in Harry's future if we hadn't left."

"Magical Britain will have to learn to survive on its own until the wizarding people learn how to stand up and demand more fair and just laws, and equality for all magical beings or things will stay as they are. If things stay the way they are the purebloods that refuse to marry anyone other then their cousins will die out in a few hundred years and their family lines will cease to exist due to all the inbreeding. However, in that timeframe there will be several more Dark Lords one right after the other that will decimate the rest of the wizarding population if things do not change. None of them will have Horcruxes, so will not be as dangerous as Voldemort was, but still unless people learn to fight back for what is right there will be hundreds even thousands of deaths, mostly because the ministry or the wizarding population in general will sit back and do nothing and expect a Potter to save their asses even after Harry made it clear that none of his family would help them ever again unless they changed, got rid of their bigotry and created more fair and just laws for all magical beings."

Hermione shook her hand knowing that Luna wasn't just saying that, but that it was a prediction, one that was extremely grim, but although her heart ached wanting to help she knew very well that she could never make the needed changes on her own and she couldn't really blame Harry for his stance. The fact that she happened to agree that the purebloods that controlled the power in Britain needed to change or they would die out in just a few generations, because even now they were having trouble conceiving and were lucky have one child per generation and very rarely two, the Weasleys being one of the few exceptions. Also inbreeding caused mental and physical defects, like Crabbe and Goyle that she had known before she had left Britain, who might be purebloods, but they were also as dumb as bags of stone and that was just one prime example.

"Well, I happen to agree with Harry stance on this because I didn't enjoy being treated as somebody's chattel and while I know that Ron was just an idiot, who is easily controlled and that was mild compared to what I would face once I graduated the rest of the wizarding populace seems to be willing to put up with it, except for those individuals that escape to other countries like the three of us did, although that's muggle-borns for the most part with a few half-bloods thrown in for good measure. I admit it's a large problem, but the only way to change bigotry is to chip away at it a little at a time," Hermione said. "Oh, well, I'm not going to worry about it, as I am perfectly happy here in Italy and I can go back and visit my parents in England anytime I want."

"I wonder why you're so happy living just outside of Florence," Luna teased her friend. "It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with a certain man that you've just gotten back from your date with, could it?"

Hermione blushed, which normally wasn't a very easy thing to do, but Luna sure did know how to push her buttons when she was of a mind. Come to think of it Dave also had a way of making her blush and he and Luna were the only two she knew of that could do that so easily as they just had a way that got under her guard.

"Alright, I admit he intrigues me," Hermione admitted. "I'm not sure that anything is going to come of it, but he's the first man that I've come across in a long time, even if he is older that I like. He's a gentleman for sure, which is pretty rare in today's world and he just has this way of making me laugh, as I certainly did that more tonight then I have in a long time, but the one quality I find most intriguing probably because it is so rare is that he's able to make jokes about himself and actually laugh at them. He seems to have a good sense of humor and doesn't take offense at very much at least from what I can tell from spending three or four hours in his company. He seems like a good man, even if I'm well aware that people can be extremely two-faced."

"So did you agree to go out on a second date with him?" Luna asked curiously.

"I did, because I really did enjoy myself," Hermione admitted. "I'm expecting owl from him in the next couple of days."

"Good for you," Luna said a approvingly. "I'm glad Harry convinced you to take a chance on this guy you met at that bar the other night. I can't wait to meet him."

"I don't know that our relationship will ever be serious enough for that to happen," said Hermione cautiously.

"Don't ruin your chances with this decent guy now, just because you're unsure of his motives," Luna told her seriously. "Not every man is out to feed you a love potion you know and you have to take a chance sometime if you ever want to be truly happy again."

"Harry said basically the same thing," Hermione admitted with a little smile.

"Well, Harry is right—on occasion," Luna quipped causing Hermione to laugh. "There is no harm in being cautious until you get to know him, but don't ruin your relationship before it has even begun by letting your doubts get the better of you because basically that would mean that Ron and his mother would have won even if they'll never know it. You should get your revenge by allowing this handsome guy to have a chance to court you if that is his intention and you should allow yourself to fall in love unless he proves himself a bastard. Don't allow your logical side to tell you that you don't deserve this, as it will make those taunts of those that bullied you as a child true and that will be a great tragedy. I don't know what all those bullies said to you before you came to Hogwarts, since I can only see the future not the past, but I can guess, as I went through basically the same thing after I started school and was bullied by my own housemates for being different. You cannot allow those schoolyard bullies to have power over you all these years later even if they will never know. I know one thing and that is they would be jealous of the beautiful, confident woman that you have become if they saw you now. Besides everybody needs a little romance in their lives"

Luna didn't mention that that wasn't about to happen at least if she played things right, but she needed to be cautious here because Hermione was still very unsure of David Rossi's intentions and she didn't want to cause her friend to break it off their relationship before it had even really begun, as that would be tragic as she saw a very grim future for her friend if that occurred.

"Alright, alright," Hermione said holding her hands up in self-defense. "I won't allow my logical side to take over and ruin this opportunity."

"Good, then I won't have to slap you upside the head to get you to see sense," Luna chuckled, as Hermione gave her a shocked look.

"You wouldn't actually do that, would you?" Hermione asked her expression still extremely shocked.

"If you dumped David Rossi, before you even really gave him a chance then yes, I would," Luna told her in a serious tone of voice, "as you can't allow your insecurities, especially where it concerns relationships get the better of you if you ever want to be truly happy and not a lonely old maid. There are great things in your future, but you have to accept them and not reject them out of fear. Yes, this means you have a chance of being hurt emotionally, but you can't close them off, as that would be very detrimental to your mental and emotional well being."

Hermione knew that Luna was absolutely correct in what she was saying and that she couldn't close off her emotions just because she was afraid of being hurt or taken advantage of again.

For now she would take Luna's advice as her friend was very rarely wrong about such things.

"Good, I see you've given into the inevitable," Luna said before Hermione could say a word sounding pleased.

Hermione stared at her friend for a moment and then shook her head, as always amazed by her friend's perception, as she supposed that came with being able to see the future and also being bullied by your own housemates just for being a little odd and open to abnormal possibilities. Her friend had to grow up fast because she refused to change for anyone and Hermione thought that showed a very strong character on Luna's part, one that refused to be broken by what other people considered normal, no matter the amount of peer pressure that was put on her.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Luna said before getting up from her spot on the bed and departing without another word, Hermione watching her go not even having a chance to respond.

Hermione again shook her head in amazement when she had recovered from her shock at her friend's abrupt departure, but then started to prepare for bed not bothering to prevent the little smile that came to her lips as she thought of one David Rossi. She was sure that for once her dreams would be extremely pleasant.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"So?" Harry asked as soon as Luna had entered their suite

"I convinced her to give David a chance. She still has massive doubts, but that's her logical side, which is what is afraid of giving into her feelings. Of course, it also has a lot to do with how she was bullied when she was younger and likely told that she was ugly or plain or any number of negative description phrases and that kind of thing can have an effect on a child no matter how intelligent, as I ought to know. When you are young you are very impressionable no matter how much you believe you know or how immune you believe you are to taunts. Hermione likely believed that the past was behind her and then Mrs. Weasley and Ron put her under a love potion, so she decided to never allow herself to be vulnerable again and I've only partially convinced her that David won't hurt her, quite the opposite in fact. I am going to have to keep a very close eye on the situation and head trouble off at the pass, because Hermione will never be happy otherwise and neither will David for that matter as shifters only have one mate just like veelas do and Hermione is his. We need to allow time for her to develop undeniable feelings for David, ones she can't just brush aside as her imagination and that's going to take a few weeks at least, or more likely a month or two, as that part of her future is kind of vague at the moment as there are two many things that can happen to interfere with it. I see several paths this can take, but only one will allow her to have a fulfilling and happy life and the others aren't as good. Once she admits that she does love him and her logical side, which is really just a scared little girl afraid to give into her feelings won't be able to convince her to break it off before she gets hurt. We need to give time for those feelings to develop to where she can't dismiss them as her imagination."

"Yes, I see what you mean," Harry said thoughtfully. "Hermione is very stubborn though, so we're going to have to go about this very carefully, so that she doesn't become aware of our plan until it's too late as you know she will likely feel betrayed even if that's not the way we intended it and we are only doing it in order to give her feelings for David time to develop."

"If we do this right she'll forgive us, because she's so happy," Luna said, "but in the meantime you're right we need to be very careful."

"I'm surprised that she hasn't already figured out that we set her up, or at least got her to accept going out on a date with him," Harry said, "because as we both know Hermione is very intelligent."

"But she also has a blind spot, when it comes to certain kinds of situations and she's so distracted with thinking about David at the moment that she hasn't realized that we were in on getting them together. She will eventually realize it though, so we better hope that it doesn't happen until after she and David have bonded because she'll be so happy at that point that she'll forgive us for our perceived betrayal, because she will know that we were only doing it with her best interest in mind."

"Well, there's nothing more we can do about it for tonight," Harry said, as he began to get dressed Luna doing the same, "So what do you say we try to create a little brother or sister for James as he's getting so big now?"

"I was going to suggest it soon," Luna admitted, "as I am more than ready to have another as James is over two now."

"So can you tell if we will succeed?" Harry asked with a little smile.

"No, there is no way to tell at this point, although I should know once I'm pregnant, long before magic will be able to tell," Luna said matter-of-factly.

"Well then, let's get started shall we?" Harry suggested with a full blown smirk as he gazed at his wife's lovely body with her breasts that were the perfect size for her chest and weren't overblown like some women's were. Harry absolutely adored his wife's breasts, but then he adored everything about her so that wasn't really saying much. Luna was the light of his life and she well knew it.

"Yes, let's get started, as that potion I've been taking to prevent pregnancy should have worn off by now and if I'm not pregnant by the end of the night it won't be for lack of trying," Luna said.

"Well, we'll just continue to practice until you are," Harry suggested with a smirk.

"Yes, I believe we will," Luna agreed with a smirk of her own, as their bedroom activities were always more than enjoyable and a lot of times they just didn't stick to nighttime or even to their bedroom in order to show each other how much they were loved.

Luna walked towards her husband and Harry gazed at her naked body with a very desired filled expression and it wasn't long at all before Harry was on top of her making sure that he didn't crush her with his weight, since he had bulked up considerably since he had been a kid and his relatives had starved him. Thanks to Dumbledore, he would never reach his full height, which he suspected would at least be close to his father's and the original James Potter had been well over 6 feet by the time he was fully grown. As it was he was barely average height for a man at just 5'8', but since Luna loved him just as he was he wasn't going to complain, although he hoped Dumbledore was burning in hell for all his machination and manipulations. Dumbledore along with Voldemort had been the two most evil man at the time, because even though the former headmaster had never killed anyone directly he had still caused untold deaths by not telling people they could be possible targets so they could protect themselves or by manipulating events that had led to their deaths, which was even worse and his parents fell squarely into that second Caitgory as they had trusted him and because of that Dumbledore had manipulated the situation until Voldemort had the information he needed to find them and kill them leaving him an orphan.

Harry made sure to put up a silencing charm before he really started to make love to his gorgeous wife trying to make a little brother or sister for their son.

And that was how the two spent several hours before they drifted off to sleep in each others arms fully sated and satisfied with expressions of bliss on their faces.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Well, David, this is a rather unexpected visit," Salvatore Rossi greeted his son kissing both his cheeks as this was the Italian form of greeting. "So are you just here to visit your old parents or for some other reason?"

Dave had to admit that his father was incredibly perceptive, although he did just drop by for a casual visit and see his parents every few weeks at least.

"Can't I just come and visit my mamma and my papà?" Dave asked using the Italian forms for mom and dad.

"Of course, you can," Salvatore said, as he guided his son into the den where so many family discussions had taken place over the years, "but I can tell when you have some news to share, as you are so happy at the moment that you're practically bouncing and since not much gets you really excited, that means that you must have some good news for your mamma and me."

"Alright, you're right," Dave said giving in as he was just so happy that he couldn't stop the wide grin from splitting his face. He should really know not to try to keep something from his father as he was incredibly perceptive and it didn't help that he knew his children, but then that wasn't surprising considering that he had helped raise them from the time they were born.

"Well, I'm glad you admitted it," Salvatore said with a chuckle, "just let me go get Silvia so that you can tell us this good news together."

Dave well knew where his mother would be this time of day and so it didn't take long for his father to come back with his mother in tow.

"Oh, it is so good to see you, figlio," Silvia told her son as she hugged him and kissed both his cheeks.

"It's good to see you too, mamma," Dave told his mother, as he returned her hug.

"Now that we're both here what is it this news you have to share with us?" Salvatore asked as eager as his wife to hear what this son had to tell them not much could get David so excited that he was practically vibrating with it as he was usually the calm and steady type much like Salvatore himself.

"Well, I wanted to tell you much sooner, but I've met my lifemate," Dave began only to have both parents yell in excitement and hug him one on each side.

"When can we meet her?" Silvia asked wants things have settled down a little.

"And what's her name?" Salvatore added.

"Her name is Hermione Granger," Dave told them.

"Hermione," Silvia said rolling the name on her tongue. "Now there is a rather unusual name, although it is beautiful all the same."

"It comes from Shakespeare The Winter's Tale," Dave told them with a little grin. The only reason he knew this was he had always liked Shakespeare so he had read them all on multiple occasions. "It seems that her parents liked rather unusual names. As for when you can meet her that's going to be awhile," Dave said. "I haven't actually told her that we're mates yet as she's rather leery of relationships, as something happened to her as a teenager, although I don't know specifically what and it's probably just as well because I suspect that I would want to go murder someone. I'm having to be very careful about my intentions, if I don't want to lose her completely."

His parents absorbed that, then nodded.

"So this Hermione who is your mate has had a bad experience long before you met her and so is rather untrusting at least in the area where relationships are concerned," Silvia said. "It's more likely that she doesn't trust herself to be a good judge of character then anything to do with you, figlio, but still you're right to take things slowly instead of rushing into things."

"Tell that to my libido," Dave groaned dramatically, although he was deadly serious as well.

"It'll work out," Salvatore told his son sympathetically.

"I certainly hope so," Dave said. "Even though we've spent quite a bit of time together over the last month she's still rather wary of trusting me and isn't entirely sure of my motives, although she has relaxed somewhat. I offered to cook for her at my place whenever she was ready, but that hasn't happened yet and it probably won't for awhile."

"So it's clear that this Hermione isn't a shifter otherwise you wouldn't be having this problem so is she a mundane or magical?" asked Salvatore.

"A magical, so I'm not going to have to worry about telling her at some point and expecting her to disbelieve me," Dave said. "We met in one of those bars that I go to regularly, one that serves both magical and mundane drinks. I was there enjoying my usual scotch and she sat down beside me and ordered a butterbeer. I was feeling rather melancholy that I still hadn't met my mate and was just tossing back my drink when I happened to look over at her and our eyes met. I felt the connection immediately and had to force myself to look away before she asked me why I was staring."

"So you met at someplace you go pretty regularly," Silvia said slowly. "If your Hermione goes there at least at irregular intervals I'm surprised that you haven't met before now."

"Because for one thing she's originally from Britain," Dave explained and both his parents looked surprised at this. "She only moved to here when she was 16, along with her brother Harry Potter who adopted her into his family because they thought of each other as sorella and fratello. She is considerably younger than I am as she's only 21 so it's no wonder that we really haven't run into to each other before now."
"So that's 19 years of age difference," Salvatore said slowly. "That's not really so bad considering that you're both magicals and they live considerably longer than your average mundane or even a shifter."

"And you look considerably younger than the 40 years old that all of the know you are," Silvia added as she patted her son's cheek.

"I'm surprised that she moved here to Italy though," Salvatore added, "as I heard that the British are rather stiff and proper."

What Salvatore didn't say was that they were also very and arrogant and full of themselves, particularly the magicals, not all of them of course, just a lot of them.

"Hermione isn't like that," Dave promised his parents as his expression rather goofy. "For one thing she's not a pureblood she's mundane born and from what I've heard they treat mundane borns over there little better then house-elves. It doesn't matter how qualified or intelligent you are, as mundane borns can't get a job in the ministry or if they do it's a very low paying and unimportant one, with no hope for advancement or marry into a pureblooded family, with a few exceptions of course, like Harry's madre and padre. The British society is controlled by those purebloods with plenty of money and they work hard to maintain the status quo, because if things change they lose their power. In any case, Hermione is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, even if she's rather wary of trusting me at the moment. Trust me, you'll love her once you meet her eventually, just as much as I do just in a different way. She is extremely intelligent, generous, kind, compassionate and warmhearted. In fact she reminds me of you both in many ways."

"We can't wait to meet her," Silvia said and Salvatore nodded in agreement.

"It's going to be awhile," Dave warned, "I'm not exactly sure how long, but it won't be for a few months at least."

"We can be patient," Silvia said. "As you said you need to take things slowly, as she's apparently been hurt deeply sometime in the past and so you will have to gain her trust before you can get anywhere."

"I'm working on it, mamma," Dave promised her, "even as sexually frustrated as I am right now I know I have to be patient."

"I know it's not easy son," Salvatore told Dave, "but it will be worth it of that you can be sure."

"I'll manage," Dave said, "I know it will be worth it just as you said. Really that's why I'm taking it slowly, as I don't want to ruin my chance with her as I know that I won't likely get a second one, which is why I'm not taking things as fast as I really want to."

"Have you thought about giving her gifts? Just little things to show that you care," Silvia asked Dave who nodded.

"I sent her roses, after we had met, as she wouldn't let me buy her another butterbeer as she said she didn't accept drinks from strangers and while I appreciate her caution it made it much harder to get her to go out on a date with me. Luckily, she accepted the roses and the date and it's just gone on from there."

Silvia nodded approvingly at this as roses spoke volumes particularly if they were red which meant love.

Dave had no idea that both Harry and Luna had been working behind the scenes to get Hermione to accept the gifts and also that first date from him, but even now they were working to not get Hermione to break it off out of fear and not because it was anything that Dave had done. If Dave ever learned of the work that Hermione's brother and sister had done behind the scenes to get Hermione to not break off the relationship with him then he would be forever grateful.

"She's enjoyed herself every time, but I can tell she still has doubts about my intentions, even though I've never pushed into anything that she's not ready for," Dave said.

"Well, so long as she doesn't break it off with you because of fear of your intentions, then you're doing good," Salvatore said slowly.

"I hope she doesn't because I have no idea how I'm going to get her back if that does occur," Dave said looking fearful, as Hermione had his entire life in her hands and she didn't even know it.

"Don't borrow trouble, figlio," Silvia warned her son sternly. "It hasn't happened and hopefully, it will not. I'm hoping we'll soon hear about how you and your Hermione finally bonded."

"I've never wanted anything so much in my life," Dave said fervently.

"Which is only natural as the wolf in you is likely going crazy and demanding that you just complete the bond without her permission," Salvatore said understanding Dave's trouble, because that kind of thing happened on occasion when the mate wasn't also a shifter themselves and Hermione while magical couldn't turn into a wolf and therefore, she wouldn't be able to feel the bond that she shared with his son until after it had already been completed and even then it wouldn't be as strong as the one that David had with her, because humans or magicals weren't meant to feel the full strength of a shifter bond as it would short circuit their nervous systems if they did since they weren't designed to feel such strong emotions or in this case connection so it was somewhat muted or filtered in case of non-shifters, but still present.

"I know you're aware that such things have happened in the past, although it's always a shifter and a mundane or a magical and not two shifters together."

"I have no intention of forcing myself on her," Dave vehemently denied, "no matter how sexually frustrated I am personally, as I'm not about to ruin my chances with her, not when I've been searching for my lifemate ever since I was old enough to understand such things."

"It'll work out, figlio," Silvia told Dave, patting him on the arm even as she was internally worried that it might not and that her son would be unhappy for the rest of his very long life.

"I hope so," Dave said softly, "I truly hope so."

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Enjoying yourself?" Dave asked Hermione softly, as the two of them swayed to the music.

The two of them had been dating for over two months now and Dave decided he was going to take Hermione dancing. Of course, he couldn't resist thinking about being able to hold his mate in his arms for the entire night and he only hoped that Hermione knew how to dance.

It turned out that Hermione did indeed know how to dance, as she had taken lessons as a child, but she hadn't had much of a chance to practice the skill.

"Yes, yes, I am," Hermione admitted as she kissed Dave on the cheek. "I haven't been dancing in years and I didn't realize how much I missed it."

Dave made a mental note, to make sure that he took Hermione dancing a lot after they got together, now that he knew that she liked to dance and he certainly enjoyed himself as being able to hold his mate close as they swayed to the music was heaven, even if it was also very hard on him as well.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself as I wasn't sure if you even knew how to dance, but thought that you had probably been taught as a child," Dave admitted.

"And what was Plan B if it turned out I didn't know how to dance?" Hermione asked him with an adorable little grin, which Dave loved. "Come on you can tell me I know you had one."

"Well, if it turned out that you didn't know how to dance or that you didn't enjoy it, I planned to take you to a poetry reading at a place I know, since most woman love that kind of thing and we can still do that sometime if you like. The place I know has different activities about every night, poetry readings, musical bands and just about everything in between. They even had a comic there once that was pretty funny."

"I should have known that you had a backup plan," Hermione laughed, as she enjoyed dancing in David Rossi's arms

She admitted, if only to herself that she was falling in love with the handsome David Rossi, although she wasn't quite ready to tell him that yet as she did wanted to go to his head. The two of them had been dating exclusively for just over two months now and she admitted that she would not willingly let him disappear out of her life unless he did something that forced her to break it off, but the more time they spent together the more that Hermione realized that it probably wouldn't happen.

Why Dave, such a handsome man wanted to date her of all people, was beyond her as he could have any woman he wanted. She might have been ignoring it, however, she was not unaware how several females had been eyeing him like he was a piece of meat that they would just love to have a chance to devour, but Dave had ignored all they're subtle and unsubtle hints completely and it was as if nobody existed except for her at least when it came to paying attention to other females in more than asexual way, although the same could not be said for those females who obviously wanted something from him and Hermione knew very well exactly what it was they wanted,

She admitted if only to herself that David Rossi was a perfect match for her, as he was polite, intelligent, well-educated, read just as much as she did even if he books weren't entirely his life, like they had been hers for a very long time. He was certainly a better match for her then Ronald Weasley had ever been no matter what his mother had believed. One thing she really liked about Dave was that he was honest as the day was long and he was also certainly more driven to succeed just like she was then Ron had ever been. In fact Dave already had a successful career as a writer and he was obviously very good at it because he made scads of money, not that that really mattered, but the fact that it showed that he wasn't lazy and unmotivated to succeed in life was what impressed Hermione and it certainly didn't hurt that he was also drop dead gorgeous, but wasn't arrogant about it like so many men she had known.

"Ready to take a break?" Dave asked her softly after the two of them had danced together for over an hour.

"Yeah, sure, I would really like to get off my feet for a few minutes," Hermione agreed.

Dave led her over to one of the few empty tables and then offered to go to the bar for drinks and Hermione told him exactly what she wanted.

"I'll be right back," Dave promised, as he strode towards the bar ignoring all the women on either side of him who were doing their best to attract his notice.

Hermione watched this and wondered what it was she had done that made Dave ignore all those women obviously sexual offers, as he didn't glance to either side of him as he strode quickly to the bar through the sea of humanity.

It wasn't long before Dave was heading back in her direction with two drinks including the white wine that she had requested for herself, since this was a muggle bar and they didn't sell things like butterbeer or firewhisky.

"Your drink, my lady," Dave said, as he placed the wine in front of his mate who he thought looked absolutely gorgeous with her hair all done up on top of her head, with little tendrils of curls escaping over her ears, and extremely light makeup instead of caking it on like so many woman did, so that it enhanced her natural beauty instead of making her look like a whore who was looking for her next man. He thought that Hermione was naturally the most beautiful woman in the world with or without makeup, but convincing her of that was not easy, as she saw herself as moderately pretty, but not as the gorgeous woman she really was.

"Thank you, kind sir," Hermione told Dave with a smile feeling like a little girl who was way into her first crush, except with the obvious difference that she loved Dave and knew that it wasn't a mere crush on the handsome older man. She still didn't see what David Rossi could possibly see in someone who was not only 19 years younger than he was, but who couldn't compare to him when he came to looks. However, unless something happened to change her mind she wasn't about to break it off, although she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop to ruin the happiness she had found.

"You're more than welcome, my lady," Dave told her graciously, but with a smile. "I'll be happy to get you as many drinks as you like."

"Are you trying to get me drunk, so that you can get me into your bed, good sir?" asked Hermione teasingly.

"Of course not," Dave promised her with a smile, although he would like nothing more then to have sex with Hermione and complete the bond but he wasn't about to force the issue.

"So some more dancing, my lady?" Dave asked as soon as Hermione had finished her wine and he had drank his scotch.

"That sounds wonderful," Hermione agreed accepting Dave's offer of a hand to help her rise to her feet.

Dave was always so nice and courteous, something that was so rare in the men of today, that Hermione couldn't help blushing a little at the attention he paid her, but without making her feel as if she was incapable of taking care of herself. How he did that she didn't have a clue, but only knew that not only did she appreciate his old-fashioned manners, she appreciated how he didn't make her feel incapable or make her feel like she supposedly needed a man just to do things for her, which was a load of tripe as women were just as capable as any man, which Dave seemed to agree with. This was another reason she was falling in love with him she realized, because unlike so many men Dave treated her like an equal something pretty rare in today's world.

Dave took his mate into his arms and held her close, as the two of them begin dancing to a slow song that had just started and Dave couldn't help thinking that this was the life as he had his mate in his arms, so he was an extremely happy camper at the moment, as he loved holding Hermione close to him and smelling the scent that emanated of her skin and hair, even if it also drove him absolutely wild with desire and made him even more hard down in his nether regions then ever before, but he would gladly put up with a torture of having an extremely hard cock in his pants just to be in his mate's presence. He would need to relieve his sexual tension when he got home, but he still wished that he could remain dancing with his mate in his arms for the rest of the night, but knew that wasn't really feasible, unfortunately.

The two of them danced for another couple of hours before Dave proudly escorted his mate out of the club and watched as she Apparated home, before doing the same.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Three months later

Hermione was finally comfortable enough in her relationship with Dave that she wasn't about to break it off unless he did something that she considered a betrayal, which she suspected wasn't going to happen, but still kept an eye out just in case, although she had relaxed considerably. The night of dancing several weeks ago had certainly helped with that, because Dave had not let his eyes stray from her the entire night and they had danced for hours, where he had held her close the entire time and she had to admit that she had more than enjoyed having Dave arms around her, although she had noticed quite a few females trying to get his attention, throughout the night, but he either ignored them completely or didn't notice.

It was partly that night of dancing that had gotten her to agree to allow Dave to cook for her at his place, although she had made sure he was aware that she wasn't quite ready to sleep with him and Dave had accepted it without even a grumble, although she was well aware he must be getting very sexually frustrated as relieving your own sexual tension wasn't the same as having sex with someone else. Hermione was amazed that Dave was being very patient with her and had so far not even mentioned or tried to force her into going to bed with him and she thought that he must have an absolutely iron will, to go so long without having sex because he was still very young by wizarding or even shifter standards. Hermione knew that there was no possible way that he could be cheating on her for they were together nearly every day and he would have absolutely no time to have sex with a mistress or even a random woman. She spent more time with him and she did with her brother or her sister and she had noticed that Harry and Luna did not seem displeased with this turn of events, but she was too happy to wonder why this was, although in the back of her mind she knew she should be suspicious.

Hermione still hadn't figured out what the handsome and debonair David Rossi saw in her, but so far he seemed to be content to be in her presence and with the slow progression of their relationship. He had made no demands on her whatsoever other than that they spend time together, which showed considerably more patience then most men had, so David Rossi really was one-of-a-kind.

Hermione sat at the kitchen counter and watched as Dave expertly cooked some spaghetti.

"Well, you weren't joking when you said you knew your way around a kitchen," said Hermione amused, but also impressed. "I don't know many man who know how to cook, much less wizarding men, but then I realize that wizarding Britain isn't exactly very modern."

"My mamma taught all her pups, but some of us are better at it than others," David admitted with a little smile, so glad that he was finally being allowed the opportunity to cook for his mate at his place. Dave well knew that the time was coming up rapidly where he would have to reveal what he had been hiding from her and he could only hope that she didn't order him to never to see her again. Dave knew that he was pushing it and that Hermione might feel betrayed that he hadn't said anything before now, but he had never felt like the time was right to tell her exactly why he had invested so much time into their relationship without making any demands on her. He knew that his mate was still a little suspicious that he seemed content with the pace of their relationship, even if that couldn't be farther from the truth. He was extremely sexually frustrated, if truth be known, but he also wasn't about to push the issue because that would destroy any progress he'd made and likely any chance he had of completing the bond and he wasn't about to take the risk until his mate indicated she was ready to take that step. No matter how many nights he woke up with his sheets covered in his semen or how many erotic dreams he had been having about actually making love to Hermione, which he already knew would blow his mind and make any other sex he had ever had pale in comparison, he wasn't going to take the risk.

"It's a way for me to pass the time and help me to relax or at least used to be before I met you," Dave said. "I love to cook so I don't mind spending time in the kitchen doing that and I rarely eat out, except occasionally when I'm not in the mood to cook."

"We've been eating out a lot lately," Hermione observed and Dave shrugged making no comment. "Yes, I know that's my fault as I didn't really trust you at least not in the beginning," Hermione admitted after a moment. "I have a hard time trusting people if you haven't already noticed that, particularly those that are interested in me as anything other then friends."

Dave had indeed noticed how wary and cautious Hermione had been of his intentions in the beginning, but she had relaxed a great deal since then, although it was obvious that she was still a little tense around him just not nearly as much as before. It was as if she was waiting for the other shoe to drop to ruin the happiness she had found and the only way to get like that was through experience and Dave was indeed curious what had made his mate this way, but he wasn't about to ask about it as he doubted Hermione would answer and it would only make her even more wary of him, so he kept his curiosity to himself.

"Dinner is served, my lady," Dave said with a flourish, as he finished setting the table refusing to let her help as she was his guest.

"This looks delicious," Hermione told Dave appreciatively, as she took a bite of her spaghetti, winding the noodles around her fork expertly. Hermione closed her eyes as the flavors hit her tongue and she knew instantly that this was probably the best spaghetti and meatballs she had ever had.

Dave had yet to take a bite of his meal as he wanted to see Hermione's expression before he started on his own spaghetti.

"You weren't joking, when you said you could cook," Hermione finally said, as she opened her eyes to gaze into Dave's. "I've never had spaghetti this good and I'm totally serious about that and not just trying to stroke your ego."

"Thank you for the compliment," Dave said relaxing now that he knew Hermione liked his cooking. "It's mostly my mother's recipe and I've just added a few ingredients of my own to make it even better."

"If you keep preparing meals like this every time I'm over here I'm soon going to look like a whale," Hermione said, as she took another bite of the delicious spaghetti that Dave had taken so much time preparing.

You could never be anything except gorgeous, Dave said in his thoughts, although he didn't voice it out loud.

"Does that mean, then you'll let me fix you a meal again?" Dave asked instead.

"If you can cook like this, definitely," Hermione said, as she took a sip of her wine, that complimented the meal perfectly as it was a nice Chianti.

"Good, because I can cook more then spaghetti, which is relatively simple and easy to prepare," Dave said. "I didn't want to do anything complicated tonight."

"You call spaghetti, garlic bread and salad uncomplicated when you wouldn't let me help?" Hermione asked him in astonishment. She had watched amazed as he had expertly cooked the noodles and made the tomato sauce from scratch, then added the perfectly cooked meatballs from the skillet he had cooked them in that were a light brown on the outside.

"It's something I cook often just for myself, so no it really is fairly simple to do, since I am Italian and most Italians love spaghetti," Dave explained. "I always have the ingredients on hand for this particular dish, as it is considered something of a national treasure, even if it has spread all over the world. Everyone has their own version of tomato sauce, and originally spaghetti wasn't done with meatballs as that was created in another country."

Hermione listened as she enjoyed her spaghetti and wine and realized that Dave was a fount of knowledge but then again he was Italian and he was bound to know things about his country that people who weren't Italians didn't, but then again most people didn't bother to learn facts about anywhere except their own country, so that wasn't very surprising.

"I didn't mean to blather on," Dave apologized as he stopped speaking suddenly, "but you kind of got me on the subject that I know a lot about."

"It's alright, I enjoy learning new things and I'm not surprised you know a lot about Italy since you are Italian after all. Before we met I guarantee you I would've spent most of my time buried in books as Harry's estate has an enormous library. I'm something of a bookworm, although not as much of one now as I was when I was growing up, as I used reading to compensate for lack of friends. My parents despaired that I would ever make any friends and even after I went to Hogwarts I feared that I would be lonely, because most people didn't want to put up with my tendency to bury myself in books or get my homework done the day I received it, but especially my pushy nature. Harry was the rare exception from the beginning, but I believe that's because he had also been bullied and abused when he was growing up and therefore, latched onto the first person that was nice to him. We became best friends and our other friend at the time Ron Weasley didn't like me at first, mostly because I urged him to get his homework done or corrected his pronunciation of spells. He was too lazy to do his homework until the last possible minute and would have flunked out if I hadn't read over his work or at the very least he would have graduated with poor qualifications and he probably did actually since I wasn't there for the last two years."

"I don't know why you'd bother, as he sounds like someone who you should've allowed to make his own bed," Dave suggested. "He sounds like a slacker, someone who does the bare minimum to get by."

"Well, he was friends with Harry, and I really wanted to be friends with him, so I put up with Ron as well. You're right Ron was a slacker, but I had never had friends before and after awhile Ron and I became friends as well. When you've been friendless all your life sometimes you're willing to put up with more then if you thought you could. Part of the problem was that Ron inherited his mother's temper, but he also had five older brothers all who were extremely intelligent and accomplished. The two oldest brothers Bill and Charlie had graduated by the time I went, Bill was a curse breaker for Gringotts bank, although he has since retired from the field once he got married and Charlie still works on a dragon preserve in Romania and as far as I know still is not even in a serious relationship. The third son Percy was still at school when I went, but he graduated at the end of my third year and he was a bit of a asshole with a stick up his butt."

Dave actually chuckled at Hermione's description as it was like her to cuss, so she must really dislike this Percy.

"Percy was a rule follower much like I was back then. Fred and George, identical twins are next and although they are extremely intelligent their mother wanted them to go work at the ministry like their father and so they fudged their grades and instead developed a whole line of pranks and they opened a whole chain of joke shops Weasley's Wizard Wheezes after they graduated, although Harry gave them the initial startup capitol, since their family wasn't exactly very well off. Percy actually wanted to go work at the ministry, but Bill and Charlie chose professions that their mother didn't approve of, but they were strong enough to do it without letting her change their minds and now we come to Ron Weasley who had five older brothers that were very successful in their chosen fields. I'm not sure if he felt like he would never measure up to his siblings accomplishments or if he decided that he wasn't even going to try or if he was born with no motivation, but not only did he feel like he was in the shadows of his older brothers he had a younger sister Ginny, who was just as determined to get good grades and succeed in the field she had chosen."

Of course, she was also determined to snag the boy who lived, but that didn't work out thank goodness as nothing good would have come of a relationship under a love potion and it would even have been considered line theft since at the time he was the last remaining heir of the ancient and Noble House of Potter. It's just as well they didn't succeed, as there are severe penalties for attempted line theft and if any child had come from the union that would have been 1000 times worse.

"Ouch! That must've stung," Dave said not feeling any sympathy for Ron Weasley as he refused to even try. "To not only be outclassed by your older brothers, but also your younger sister must've been like pouring salt into an open wound."

"Not only was he in his family's shadows he was also in the shadow of the boy who lived, as at the time Ron was Harry's best friend," Hermione said. "In any case, if you haven't already figured it out from what I've been saying our friendship didn't exactly last, as we finally had had enough when his jealousy got the better of him during our fourth year. I'm not sure how we put up with his lack of table manners or his refusal to study and play chess instead for so long. I don't feel any sympathy for him because he refused to even try."

Of course, Hermione didn't mention that was when she had discovered that she had been under a love potion for several months and that was what had ended her and Harry's friendship with the youngest Weasley male and also his mother.

"If only he had put some effort into his studies I would've helped him more than I did," Hermione said. "I'm not sure how he turned out to be so lazy and uninterested in getting good grades when the rest of the family is the exact opposite, as even the twins put a lot of of effort into creating pranks and now have their own chain of joke stores and are making Galleons by the bucketload. The twins are extremely intelligent, as they taught themselves arithmancy and ancient runes as their mother wanted them to take care of magical creatures and muggle studies so they could get jobs at the ministry and she could be very pushy about how she saw her children and how she wanted their lives to turn out. She didn't seem to care that Fred and George would be miserable if they actually did get jobs at the Ministry of Magic as it wasn't in their natures to be serious."

"She sounds like a right harpy," Dave said.

"Oh, Molly Weasley is indeed a harpy," Hermione agreed, "as she's overbearing and tended to treat Harry and I like members of her own brood. Harry didn't mind at first as the only examples of parental caring he'd had was his aunt and uncle who absolutely loathed magic and by extension magic users, but eventually even he got tired of her ordering him around as if he was one of her sons. I on the other hand already had parents whom I love very much, but I put up with it, because it was only for a couple of weeks in the summer when we stayed with the Weasley family. Despite living in Italy now we still keep in contact with friends including the Weasleys."

Most of them anyway, Hermione added in her thoughts.

"We even go back to visit occasionally since there is only an hour time difference between here and England," Hermione added.

"So are you ready for dessert?" Dave asked as he soaked up the last of the tomato sauce with his garlic bread.

"Oh, no, I'm way too full," Hermione said patting her stomach. "Perhaps, we can save it for a little later once I've had a little time to digest, although to tell you the truth I don't normally eat dessert, except on very special occasions as it's bad enough that Italian food is made up of all these carbohydrates, which only lead to someone getting fat, but eating desert would only speed up the process."

"All you need to do is exercise a couple of times a week and than you likely won't gain any weight," David advised. "I know most magic users don't believe in exercising, but I do because while both my parents are shifters only one of them is magical. I was told that if I didn't want to look like Babbo Natale with his very round belly then I would exercise to maintain myself at my most ideal weight for my height and musculature. Running in my wolf form out in the forest behind the house certainly helps with that, but I also have exercise equipment in one of the room upstairs."

Hermione knew that Babbo Natale meant St. Nick, Father Christmas or Santa Claus in Italian and that he was called something different in every language in the world, but they all meant the same thing no matter what tongue they were in.

"So you have a gym of your own then," Hermione said impressed, because she knew that gym equipment particularly things like an exercise bike or treadmill weren't cheap, but then she had already known that he had money because he had sent her several expensive gifts, although he had been careful to keep the price down to stop her from protesting. However, it was clear to her that he was gently courting her and what his intentions eventually were, although she still hadn't figured out why as David Rossi could have any woman he wanted or even more than one every night if he so desired.

"Oh, yes, I installed it so I didn't have to get a membership to some gym as simply running a wolf form isn't enough to maintain my figure as much as I enjoy it, not with all these carbohydrates as you said," David admitted. "I've learned to actually enjoy my time in the gym, although I'm sure I'll enjoy it more if you join me sometimes."

"We'll see," Hermione said, saying neither yes, or no and Dave was careful that he didn't show his disappointment at that response.

"Why don't I show you the house so that our dinner can digest. Cleanup can wait," Dave suggested.

"That's one thing I really like about magic being able to do the dishes by using it," admitted Hermione. "I had chores as a child of course, and I didn't mind most of them, but I absolutely hated cleaning up the kitchen and washing the dishes and I'm so happy that I don't have to do that anymore."

Dave filed that that piece of information away in the file that he was creating on his mate her likes and dislikes, personality traits, friends, associates and so forth, everything that made up a person's life.

"This is a pretty big place, although it isn't as big as the Potters estate, but still much bigger than most people have nowadays," Hermione said, as Dave showed her around.

"I bought this place, once my books started to take off and I was raking in not only European euros, but also Galleons as my books are sold in both worlds."

"There is plenty of room to raise a large family if that's in your future," Hermione observed watching closely how Dave reacted to her statement.

Dave looked utterly shocked at her words, but once he had gathered himself which took him a few moments he said, "Someday, I sincerely hope that is in my future, but it will not be for awhile."

And I truly hope that you will agree to marry me and bear my pups sometime soon, because you are the only one for me and if I can't have you then I will never have pups of my own nor will I ever look at another woman in a sexual way. You will effectively make me an eunuch even if you never know it.

Dave's message couldn't be clearer and his response about having pups somedays made Hermione extremely happy, although she was careful not to show it in her expression or her body language. Hermione knew that she was falling deeply in love with David Rossi, although she had yet to decipher what he could possibly see in her, it was clear where his interest lay.

"So ready for dessert?" Dave asked after he had finished showing Hermione his house, trying his best to keep his voice normal, although that was extremely difficult, as he couldn't help imagine getting his mate pregnant with a whole litter of pups and being there for her every step of the way. The thought of his mate carrying his pups made it extremely difficult to control his libido not to mention the wolf in him was getting more and more unruly the longer the bond went uncompleted, but he managed to control himself.

"Yes, I think I've digested enough to fit in desert," Hermione told him with a smile, which lit up her entire face.

"Good, because I made cannolis from scratch yesterday so that they would be ready for dinner with you," Dave said.

"You sure do know how to tempt a girl, don't you?" Hermione mock scolded him and Dave grinned.

"Hey they're as much for me as they are for you since I love cannolis," Dave said.

"Well, lead the way to the cannolis," Hermione said. "I have to admit that when I do eat something sweet I just love a good cannoli. Somehow British desserts unless they are homemade just don't measure up to Italian ones."

"You have to remember that Britain is the society that created blood pudding," Dave teased her, "and who also overcook their meat until it is almost tasteless, particularly their beef."

Hermione made a face at that as she absolutely detested blood pudding and she didn't understand how anybody could eat it. "England has a lot of good desserts, but blood pudding is not one of them or spotted dick either."

"Definitely not," Dave agreed vehemently.

Dave led the way back to the kitchen and took a tray of absolutely mouthwatering mini cannolis out of the fridge.

"You really are trying to tempt me aren't you," Hermione scolded him as Dave's cannolis looked like works of art.

"That wasn't really my intention, as I just wanted to fix something that I thought you would enjoy," Dave denied.

Hermione didn't respond as Dave provided plates. Hermione picked up one of the cannolis placing it on the small dessert plate provided.

"Hmm! You really are an artist in the kitchen is there anything you can't do?" Hermione asked. "Come on you can tell me as you can't be as perfect as you appear."

"I can't sing worth a damn," Dave volunteered causing Hermione to chuckle.

"Any other faults I need to know about?" Hermione teased him. "And by the way I can't sing either, so unless you want your eardrums busted don't ask me to."

"You can't be any worse than I am," Dave rejoined enjoying the banter. "And as for my other faults, Hermione, I promise you, I have plenty just like anybody does no matter the species. I don't particularly like to wash clothes, so I always procrastinate for as long as possible."

"There are such things as cleaning charms, you know," Hermione grinned.

"I know, but I've never been very good at them unfortunately, for if I was I guarantee you that I wouldn't mind doing my laundry so much," Dave said. "Sometimes certain charms just take a certain knack and unfortunately, I lack that knack for that particular charm."

"Luckily, for you I'm quite good at it as I used to hate doing laundry too, but it's much easier when you can use magic," Hermione said.

"You know if you keep volunteering to help me, with the chores I absolutely detest doing then I might just have to keep you around forever," Dave teased her.

"I don't think I would mind that at all," Hermione admitted, "but let's discuss it at a later date."

Dave perked up at Hermione's quick response as it gave him hope that soon he would be able to complete the bond that he had with her.

"I have to agree that it would be much easier if I could use magic to do my laundry," Dave said giving no indication that he had found his mate's statement at all unusual, although at the same time his mind was again coming up with scenarios of his mate permanently moving into his home.

"Perhaps, I can teach you the charm," Hermione said.

"You can try, but you won't succeed. My mother tried to teach me before I went to school and I was absolutely hopeless at it," Dave said.

"I think you can be forgiven for that one fault considering the way you can cook," said Hermione, as she finished off her second mini cannoli.

"I have many, many more faults I promise you," Dave said, "they just haven't been revealed yet. I'm stubborn as a mule for one thing."

"Well, so am I, so I'm sure at some point we'll butt heads, but then we'll make up and have a better understanding of each other," Hermione said.

Dave wasn't sure if Hermione was aware that the way she was talking because it was as if she had already decided to spend the rest of her life with him, but he wasn't sure that she consciously realized that quite yet and he wasn't about to mention it because she would come to the same conclusion he had in her own time and he didn't want to chance of voiding the progress she had made.

Hermione checked the time and was quite shocked to realize how late it was. "Oh, I had no idea that it was after 11 I had better be getting home before Harry really starts to worry."

"You're big girl you can look after yourself," Dave said.

"True, but that won't stop Harry from worrying. I'm afraid that it goes all the way back to when England was at war a few years ago as we both lost many friends and people we had known in school at least in passing. Besides, Luna and his godfather Sirius Black I am the one that is closest to him as we've been friends ever since we both went to Hogwarts at 11."

"I suppose you had better go then so your brother doesn't worry," Dave said not really wanting his mate to leave, but knowing that she wasn't ready to take the next step by completing the bond with him, so it was probably just as well that she was going home as he was having more and more trouble controlling himself and stopping the wolf within him from taking over and then attacking her in order to mate with her.

"I'll show you out," Dave said.

"We'll see each other probably tomorrow," Hermione returned, "although it won't be until at least 9 or 10 o'clock as I plan on sleeping in."

"You can just drop by anytime as I'm used to staying up late working on my novels," Dave offered. "Or you can send me a Patronus or an owl and ask me to meet you somewhere as either is fine with me."

"Goodnight," Hermione said kissing Dave on the lips which she had initiated more than a month and a half ago, which had made Dave extremely happy.

"Goodnight," Dave said escorting his mate to the door and then watched as she Apparated away.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Have a good time on your date?" Harry asked Hermione as soon as she entered the parlor where he was waiting.

"Yes, I did," Hermione told him honestly. "Dave told me sometime back that he would love to cook for me, but I still wasn't sure what to expect, but I'll tell you now he's a lot like you and an artist in the kitchen. He fixed spaghetti and meatballs, and I tell you I've never had such good spaghetti in my entire life and I've had a lot of it over the years. He said it was his mother's recipe, but that he had added ingredients of his own and I'll be honest and say that while I can't wait to see what else he can cook, if I keep eating like I did tonight I'm soon going to look like a baby whale."

"Well, it seems like you had a good time," Harry said, not mentioning that he had confronted Dave about his intentions about a month into their relationship, just as he had promised Hermione he would. He had known from Luna that Hermione was Dave's mate, but still as Hermione's brother, even if technically she was 10 months older, it was his responsibility to look after her until she was officially married and then it would be her spouse's responsibility. He knew very well that Hermione hated that part of wizarding British customs, even if she loved him and he could practically hear her say that she could look after herself, but in many ways the British world was still extremely old-fashioned and very male-dominated. Even if they no longer lived in Britain it was still his responsibility and Hermione only accepted it because she loved him like a brother, which was one of the reasons that he had officially adopted her into the Potter family in the first place, even if she preferred to go by Granger instead of his last name, which was understandable since his surname was well known in the magical world and while Potter was a very common surname in the muggle world it wasn't in the magical one.

He was also aware that Hermione knew somewhere in the back of her mind that he had confronted her boyfriend about his intentions, but she was of the philosophy that if she didn't see it happen then out of sight, out of mind. In other words, if she didn't see it then it hadn't occurred.

"I had an absolutely wonderful evening over spaghetti and meatballs and a very nice Chianti. Then for dessert Dave made cannolis from scratch or at least that's what he says as he had them already prepared, but I have no reason to doubt him," Hermione said causing Harry to smile at the look of bliss on his sister's face.

He was astonished that Hermione still hadn't figured out why Dave was spending so much time with her and why he wasn't making any demands of her other than what she was willing to give as normally his sister was so intelligent and curious that she would have been puzzling over that mystery until it was solved. Luna had said that Hermione had a blindspot when it came to relationships in particular and most men in general, which probably had a lot to do with why she wasn't aware exactly why Dave was gently courting her.

"Maybe I could invite Dave and have him give me some cooking lessons in Italian dishes," Harry mused. "I can cook true, but it's mostly British dishes and a few Italian ones I picked up in the years of living here, but I'm sure that Dave could improve my skills."

"You can probably exchange lessons and teach him how to cook some British meals," Hermione suggested. "However, I'm of the opinion that, for a lot of dishes Italians are much better cooks because us British tend to overcook our beef in particular until it loses most of its flavor. I knew this, even as a child because my parents always took a trip to some exotic locale, although we never did come to Italy until we moved here, but we did go to France several times for vacations and if you love desserts then you'll love the country because they have some really good ones. Believe me, I noticed the difference in the quality of cooking between most British dishes and the way that the French ones."

"It's not all bad, although I do agree with you about the way that us British tend to overcook our beef," Harry said.

"You don't," Hermione told him, "as you know how to cook it so it's nice, tender and flavorful, but most British, except perhaps, for true chefs...well you get the point."

"I do, and I agree," Harry said with a nod. "There're so many ways to cook something, and every country has its own special recipes or things that they are famous for and the British wizarding world at least denies itself so much just because they are extremely set in their ways and refuse to change."

"It's a problem," Hermione admitted, "but I don't see it as yours no matter what the British wizarding population believes."

"You mean the ones that aren't pureblooded believe, except for a few rare exceptions like Luna or Neville," Harry corrected.

"Alright, the majority of the wizarding population," Hermione corrected with a little smile.

"That's better," Harry teased her with a grin.

"In any case, I'm for bed because while I enjoyed tonight, it is now after midnight and it's time for me to get some sleep."

"I'll see you in the morning, sis," Harry told his sister.

"Don't bother to wake me as I plan on sleeping in if at all possible," Hermione said and Harry nodded.

"So do you have another date with Dave tomorrow?" asked Harry.

"Are you asking in an official capacity on unofficial one?" Hermione asked instead.

"Unofficial, because I know that Dave will never hurt you," Harry said seriously, "as I think he's more than proved that over the last few months."

"Then the answer is not officially, but we probably will be spending the day together unless something comes up," Hermione said.

"I'm very happy for you, sis, just make sure you don't ruin your relationship with your insecurities, because I already know that Dave cares for you a great deal and you could even say loves you because I know of no man who would spend almost every day with a woman without making any demands on her unless he cared for that woman more than has actually been stated."

"I had actually figured that out for myself thanks," Hermione told him with a little smirk. "However, I have yet to figure out what Dave actually sees in me as he could have any woman he wanted, ones much more beautiful than I am."

"Hermione you are a very beautiful woman, even though I know that you don't see yourself that way," Harry told her seriously. "Don't think I don't realize that you were bullied as a child and likely told that you were plain and ugly and would never have a man or get married and have children. Well, let me just say that those taunts are absolute bullshit! I can understand that they had power when you were young and impressionable," Harry told his sister basically repeating what Luna had told him some months ago. "My point is though that you are a very beautiful woman, especially since you tamed your hair to where its not so bushy anymore. I can very easily see what Dave sees in you and I'm your brother not a possible suitor. I want you to stop putting yourself down, as while I know those times that you were likely taunted effected you when you were a child and had power over you then, now you should be able to get past them and see yourself as the gorgeous woman you really are."

"I've never heard anything so beautiful in my life," Hermione said her voice sounding close to tears.

"Maybe so, but it's still true," Harry told his sister. "I don't doubt that Dave has told you basically the same thing on multiple occasions and you need to learn to accept that what he is saying is sincere and not just a way to get you into his bed, as I think he's proved his honesty and integrity by this point. If I hear you put yourself down just one more time I'm going to take you over my knee."

"You wouldn't," Hermione gasped shock.

"Watch me," Harry told her seriously. "I am so tired of hearing you make disparaging comments about your looks and how you're too intelligent for your own good. You should accept the gifts that you were given and ignore what people say about you as they don't know shit. People make nasty comments just to make themselves feel better and to hurt someone else a lot of times deliberately, you know this. You have more beauty and more class then most other people because that beauty shines from inside and isn't just on the surface like so many other peoples are. People can't help but be nasty when they see someone that has everything they could possibly want, but you don't have to listen to them much less accept it as being true."

"What brought this on?" Hermione said her voice very shaky as the many emotions swirled through her entire being.

"The fact that I don't want you to ruin your relationship with Dave just because you believe you aren't worthy of him," Harry said bluntly causing Hermione to flinch. "You're so noble that you would likely end it, just on sheer principal, so he could supposedly find someone more worthy of him then you are, which is a load of crap. Trust me, if you did that you would break Dave's heart as I already know that he loves you."

"Has he told you that?" Hermione asked her voice trembling.

"No, but to me it's obvious as the nose on my face and you know that I don't usually pay attention to stuff like that. I don't see any man taking so much time getting to know someone without putting any demands on them in return unless he truly loved them as a man has needs after all."

Harry gave Hermione time to absorb his words and then added much softer, although still serious voice, "No man puts as much time into a relationship, as he has without making demands on the other person unless they have honorable intentions. I know for a fact that Dave is trying not to push you into anything you aren't ready for and I applaud him because that can't be easy as I'm sure his libido is demanding that he just take you to bed without your consent, because I know mine would be doing the same if I was romantically interested in you as he is still quite young by wizarding standards."

"By shifter standards too," Hermione said her voice extremely shaky with her emotions.

"Well, that just proves my point," Harry told her still in that serious tone of voice. "Personally, I think Dave must have a will of iron."

"You've given me a lot to think about," Hermione finally said.

"I know, but it needed to be said," Harry told her. "My last piece of advice before we both head to bed is to listen to your heart and not your brain when the time comes. You're heart will not lead you astray, as you're brain often will, as it is looking at it from a purely unemotional perspective and doesn't understand things like love or the commitment to another."

"Is that what you did before you and Luna got together?" Hermione asked curiously and Harry nodded solemnly.

"It is, and it was my godfather that gave me that piece of advice and I have never regretted that decision as Luna is the light of my life and she well knows it."

"So can I expect anymore nieces or nephews in the near future?" Hermione asked teasingly as she tried to get her emotions under control.

"You can as Luna just found out that she's pregnant again," Harry told Hermione with a smile. "Of course, as much as we've been practicing with no protection she should be."

"That's great news," Hermione said enthusiastically, as she loved babies and wouldn't mind having a few of her own, which was looking more and more likely the longer that she and Dave were together. She certainly hoped having those children was with Dave, but she still had a few doubts that she kept herself after the lecture she had just received. "I can hardly wait for him or her too arrive."

"Neither can I as Luna and I have been trying for several months," Harry said.

"So are you going to have anymore after this?" asked Hermione.

"We'll see," Harry said cautiously. "I would love to have at least 10 considering that the Potter line is hanging by a thread and you know my crappy childhood where I always dreamed of having siblings. However, Luna and I haven't discussed it, although I'm sure she wants at least a couple more, but after that I don't know. It all depends on how each pregnancy goes like if she has too much trouble giving birth and if that happens then I'm going to have myself fixed immediately because I won't lose her to something, as preventable as trying to have another child when her body isn't suited for it. We both know that a lot of pureblooded women have trouble conceiving and then giving birth, which is why they often only have one child and Luna is a pureblood."

"But you're not and that usually make a difference as half-bloods often don't have as much trouble having children as two purebloods together," Hermione pointed out logically.

"Still, we'll see. I'd love a large family, but I won't lose Luna for such a stupid reason, so if the healer tells us that we shouldn't try to have another then we won't no matter what Luna wants."

"I'm sure Luna doesn't want to die in childbirth anymore than you want her to as she is very logical and practical, just like I am, well when she isn't being all weird and mystical that is," Hermione said with a little smile. "You should talk about your fears with her, so that you're both on the same page, as keeping stuff from your spouse is not good for any relationship."

Harry thought about that then nodded, as he knew Hermione was right and he should discuss his fears with his wife who he loved more than his own life.

"I will," Harry said.

"Good because it's the thing to do because keeping your emotions, your worries and concerns to yourself is not only not good for you it's not good for your marriage either. Of course, Luna is also very intelligent and perceptive so she might already know about your worries and concerns and is just waiting for you to bring them to her before she says anything," Hermione said.

"That sounds like Luna," Harry laughed, "as she can be very tricky when she wants to be."

"Well, she was a Ravenclaw, which means by definition that she is extremely intelligent, but without the ego like Gryffindors tend to have," Hermione said, as she disparaged her own house causing Harry to laugh again. Many people believed she should have been a Ravenclaw, because of her love of the written word, but because of her ego she was placed in Gryffindor and also at that time she had begged the hat to put her there because that's the house that Professor Dumbledore had been in when he had been a student. Of course, it was only years later that Dumbledore's manipulations had come to light, but she was still happy to be a Gryffindor, because she had met Harry who was the best friend she had ever had. Besides, if she looked at it from that perspective she knew she never would have likely met Dave if she and Harry hadn't moved here after their fifth year exams, so for that reason alone she was very happy she and Harry had met and become brother and sister.

"Well, as pleasant as this conversation is I am definitely going to bed," Hermione finally said yawning hugely as she rose from where she had been sitting.

"Goodnight," Harry told the kissing her cheek before the two of them headed off in opposite directions to go to bed.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Hermione accepted the package from the owl after she scanned it just to be on the safe side. She released the owl as soon as she was sure that the package was safe and had removed it from the owl's leg.

She already suspected she knew who it was from and it made her smile as she thought about the handsome, intelligent and kind David Rossi.

She still wasn't entirely sure what Dave saw in her, but she wasn't about to complain. They had been dating for over four months now and Hermione was beginning to realize that Dave was one of the most honest men she had ever met in fact in that area he reminded her of Harry as he was as honest as the day was long and had unshakable integrity, ethics and morals.

Hermione tore off the wrapping of the package and saw the jewelry box it contained. Dave had already sent her several pieces of jewelry none of it is so expensive that she was likely to yell at him for it, so he was being very careful not to go overboard in his gifts.

Dave was slowly and gently courting her, Hermione realized suddenly, but he had been so subtle about it that she hadn't really realized it until right this moment, at least not consciously.

What could David Rossi possibly see in her as he was so very handsome and wealthy that he could have any type of female he wanted by merely snapping his fingers.

That kind of life got rather stale after awhile, Hermione realized suddenly. Dave was looking to settle down, but the question still remained, why her when there were plenty of other women out there just as gorgeous as he was? And likely as shallow as a puddle of water after a spring rain, Hermione thought sardonically, which was probably why Dave had decided that she was the one because not only was she intelligent, she definitely wasn't shallow like so many men and women were.

It's still didn't make sense though, because you didn't not make demands of your girlfriend if all you wanted was marriage. You courted them sure, but you also got plenty of sex out of the deal as well and Dave had not indicated any desire in that direction probably because he knew that she was still a little suspicious of him. It still didn't make any sense why Dave was putting so many months into their relationship when he wasn't getting anything in return as so far as all the effect had been on his part and she hadn't contributed other then by simply being there for him, but then perhaps, that was enough for Dave for the moment.

Hermione finally opened the jewelry box and inside was a beautiful bracelet of interlinking hearts and Hermione gasped in awe as she lifted the delicate bracelet out of the box.

The bracelet was simply stunning as it was gold, with puffed up interlinking hearts with small rubies in their center. Oh, actually it looked like rubies and sapphires, Hermione noticed there was a rubies in the center of one heart and then a sapphire in the next until all in all there were probably a dozen little hearts that were no more than a half an inch in diameter.

Hermione briefly wondered how Dave kept finding such exquisite jewelry and if those sapphires and rubies were real it was likely worth at least two or three hundred pounds, probably more.

What am I going to do with you? Hermione said to herself shaking her head, as she admired the bracelet.

Should she return it? Break it off with Dave before he broke her heart? Or should she truly see what his intentions were? Hermione admitted that she couldn't see Dave spending so much gold on her or the months he had already put into their relationship, just to set her up for a fall. No, Dave was too honest for that kind of thing and he would have broken it off with her long ago if that was his intention, but since he hadn't, Hermione was just going to have to try to figure out what his true motives were.

She had fallen in love, deeply in love, Hermione realized, and although she still couldn't see what Dave saw in her, although his intentions were obvious, there was no way she was going to break it off unless she was forced to do so or he ended things himself, which was looking less and less likely with each passing week.

Hermione decided that she would keep the gift, but she planned on scolding Dave next time she saw him as it must've cost him several hundred pounds at least, because there was no way that Dave would give her a piece of cheap costume jewelry as that just wasn't in his nature, so that meant that gold and the sapphires and rubies were likely real.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Hermione called out enter before she truly thought about her words.

Luna came in and said, "I saw somebody receive a package by owl and I just had to come see for myself."

"You knew about this," Hermione accused her only halfway joking.

"Despite what you think, I don't see every little thing, that happens in people lives, even those I'm close to you," Luna told Hermione rolling her eyes sounding insulted and not much at all ruffled Luna. "All I got was a flash that you had received a package and I made a logical assumption that it was from Dave and came to see if I was correct. Now don't you feel rather guilty for accusing me of something that you had no proof that I knew beforehand?"

Hermione flushed guiltily, because Luna was right and she knew it. "Alright, I'm sorry," Hermione apologized. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"You're forgiven," Luna said serenely unperturbed at her sister's original accusations, but it was a principle of the thing.

Normally Hermione was one to think out things logically before jumping to conclusions, but when her emotions were involved it was different and Luna wasn't entirely sure if her friend had admitted even to herself or not that she had fallen in love with the handsome and debonair David Rossi as there were many things that she did not see and she was actually glad about that as having visions of the future constantly would drive her crazy otherwise.

"So let's see what David sent you?" Luna asked trying not to appear to eager as Hermione's beau really did have excellent taste. It wasn't that Harry also didn't give her things, but still she had a rather proprietary interest in Hermione's and David's relationship, as she wanted to see her sister happy and she hadn't been, not really, until after she and David had met. She was good at faking happiness, but only to people who didn't know her very well, like she and Harry did.

Luna wondered if her friend realized yet that David was gently courting her. Probably as Hermione wasn't stupid, although Luna wouldn't be surprised to discover if her friend still hadn't figured out why he was as she did have a blind spot when it came to relationships and also trust, but after what had happened with Ron that wasn't surprising. Luna knew that her friend didn't consider herself beautiful at all and that she would be struggling to understand how someone as handsome as David could be interested in someone like her, but despite what Hermione believed her friend was a very beautiful person both inside and out, but she had been told so often as a child and then a teenager that she was ugly or plain, that she didn't have a hope of finding true love as no man would be interested in her for any long term relationship and while this was not true as she had told Harry several months ago when you heard stuff like that often enough you began to believe it and young children were very impressionable, so while you didn't want to pay attention to their taunts you couldn't help it.

"So let's see what David sent you this time," Luna repeated and held out her hands for the bracelet that Hermione had yet to release her grip on.

Hermione reluctantly handed the bracelet to Luna and her sister immediately began to ohh and ahh over it as it really was a thing of beauty.

"It's stunning," Luna told Hermione sincerely. "Your David has good taste."

"He does, but it's also ultraexpensive," Hermione said. "I wouldn't be surprised in the last if those are really rubies and sapphires and even though they are only chips really it still must have cost at least two or three hundred pounds and likely more."

"What's that in Galleons?" asked Luna who refused to believe that the pieces of paper that nonmagicals used were real money and Hermione had given up explaining the concept to her, as she understood that Luna had been raised in an entirely different culture from her or Harry. Luna did enjoy many of the things that the nonmagical world had to offer, movies, museums, clothing fashions, shopping, the sheer variety of food and so forth, but she never ventured out into the mundane world alone without Harry or her and Hermione could certainly understand that.

Hermione did some quick calculations in her head and said, "Roughly around 60 to 65 Galleons."

"Yes, that is a lot, but also if he has the gold and wants to spend some of it on you, why not just accept it?" Luna inquired. "Don't let your pride or your upbringing get in the way of a gift given with genuine affection and not just because David wants something from you."

Luna's blunt remark stung, but Hermione knew that she was also correct.

"But I was taught to never accept such and expensive present from a stranger," Hermione argued, even though she already knew that her argument wouldn't hold water as Dave was hardly a stranger since they had been dating for four months after all.

Luna gave Hermione's argument the respect it deserved and that was a roll of her eyes to show what she thought of her friend's words.

"David sent you this lovely bracelet with no expectations of getting anything in return other then what you have been giving him already and that's your company, unless the note that came with it implies otherwise," Luna said.

"No, it said that he hoped that this brightened up my day and that this was just a small token of his affection and he wants me to wear it to dinner tonight," Hermione said not adding that it also said I love you in Italian, although she already suspected that Luna was aware she was not being completely forthcoming about the contents of the note, but that last bit was private as they were words she would treasure forever as it made her relationship with Dave seem more real somehow.

"There you see," Luna said with triumph in her voice.

"Alright, I'll accept this ridiculously expensive in the spirit it was given," Hermione said in an exasperated tone, probably because she knew Luna was correct.

"Good," Luna said in a satisfied tone, ignoring her friend's exasperation. "I'm sure David will be pleased to see you wearing it on your date tonight."

"I know he will as he wouldn't have asked me to wear it if he wasn't expecting to see it," Hermione agreed. "You know I've been meaning to ask you why do you call him David instead of Dave, since that is what he prefers to be called?"

"I don't know really, except to say that I don't really see him as a Dave even if that's is the name he prefers. David is a lovely name, very biblical and classical and it is one of those names that will never fall out of style. If he doesn't like me calling him by his full name, then once we meet all he has to do is tell me and I'll stop, unless I'm annoyed with him and then I'll call him by his full name just to prove my point."

Hermione laughed in spite of herself for that was exactly the kind of subtle revenge Luna preferred and Dave was intelligent enough to understand what the use if his full name meant and would likely go out of his way to get off Luna's shit list because one didn't want the blond mad at them as her forms of revenge were quite unique.

"I'll make sure I warn him that getting on your bad side is not a good idea," Hermione laughed.

"That would be good," Luna said without blinking. "He won't like me being mad at him anymore then you and Harry do, but luckily, for all involved I'm usually pretty easygoing."

"Until someone pisses you off, like by putting someone under a love potion," Hermione teased her friend.

"Molly Wesley is lucky I didn't raze the Burrow to the ground, but I suppose that would have been a bit much since only she, Ron and Ginny were involved and really she was the main instigator and as Harry pointed to me awhile back Ron is used to following his mother's orders, but Ginny is a totally different Snorkack all together."

Hermione didn't bother to correct her friend as the meaning was obvious and Luna had her own unique way of saying things that were no stranger then a saying like a whole different kettle of fish would be to her.

"It wasn't really Ginny's fault either as she had been brainwashed practically from infancy into believing that she would one day marry the boy who lived," Hermione said, "so no the person I'm most furious is Molly Weasley because it was her scheme. Basically what I mean is that Ginny had been programmed by her mother telling her that one day she would marry her prince, until she had this whole fantasy in her head that was just as real as all her true memories."

"Still, she's lucky I didn't shoot a killing curse up her ass for what she did and not just because I love Harry, although that certainly plays a part, but because those love potions are an abomination and should carry a life sentence in Azkaban just like the Unforgivables do, particularly Amortentia."

"You'll get no argument from me," Hermione said, as she remembered the feeling of being under the potions control and shivered.

"You don't have to worry about David dosing you with a love potion as he is an honorable man and would never do such a thing," Luna assured her friend more seriously.

"You've 'seen' this?" asked Hermione and Luna nodded in confirmation.

"I have," Luna confirmed.

Of course, she didn't tell Hermione that she and David were mates as she wasn't ready to hear that quite yet. Besides, it would be better if either David told her or she figured it out for herself as both those futures had happy endings and the only slight difference really was that in one of them she ended up pregnant before they got married and in the other afterwards on their honeymoon. The point however, was that mates could not harm each other and feeding Hermione a love potion would definitely be considered harm as well as betrayal, so there was no way that David would do that to her as that would end his life as well or at least make him miserable.

"Well, if you've seen it then I'll quit worrying about that particular scenario," Hermione decided as she trusted Luna's vision because they had gotten her and Harry out of quite a few difficult situations over the years and also because she trusted Luna to not steer her wrong where her health and safety were concerned.

"You do that," Luna agreed as the two friends as well as sisters continued to chat for awhile before Luna took her leave, so that Hermione could begin to get ready for her date with Dave.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"I have something to tell you," Dave told Hermione seriously six months to the day that they had gotten together.

Dave was silently hoping and praying that she wouldn't reject him for not telling her that they were mates sooner as the time had never seemed to be right.

"I already know what you're going to say," Hermione told him seriously, but with a little smile to show that she wasn't mad at him. "I figured it out two months ago and I was just waiting for you to come clean."

"So you know…" Dave began until Hermione interrupted him.

"Yes, I know that we are mates as it's the only thing that made any sense considering how much time and affect you have been putting into our relationship, while at the same time you haven't made any demands on me or at least not more than I was willing to give."

"And you haven't said anything?" Dave asked hardly daring to believe that Hermione was still sitting here calmly and hadn't rejected him completely for not telling her much sooner.

"I told you I was waiting for you to come clean, as I thought you deserved a little torture for not telling me at least after the first month or two, although I understand why you did not at least at first," Hermione smirked at him. "I know I was very untrusting of your motives until we had been together for months. To tell you the truth I wasn't precisely sure of my conclusions at first, so I found myself watching you carefully and soon noticed that I was right after another month or so as you always treated me with respect and love and never demanded anything more than I was willing to give, which I know couldn't have been easy on you, so I do appreciate your patience. I don't know many men, except perhaps, for Harry, who would have your patience and not make demands on a female very early into the relationship."

"A mate's needs always come before a shifter's own," Dave recited, as if it was something he had learned by rote as a child and that was likely the case. "This only comes into effect when mates are not both shifters and one is a mundane or a magical because if both are shifters they know instantly that they have a lifemate bond and sex comes nearly immediately after they have met or at least that's usually the way it happens, although it does depend on circumstances and whether or not they are in a public setting."

"I know I've done my research," Hermione promised him with a little smile, as she sat beside Dave close enough that she was practically on his lap. Dave had his arm around her and there was no other place she'd rather be then in his tender, but protective embrace.

"I love you David Rossi and I didn't realize that for a long time so thank you for never giving up on me," Hermione said, kissing his cheek.

"Never," Dave swore vehemently. "Tell me that you'll be mine for the rest of our lives together? That you'll agree to complete the bond that we share. That you'll bear my pups, because if you reject me I will live the rest of my life alone never being able to get close to another in that way."

Dave's voice was just a little unsure which was unlike him, but then considering how long he had been waiting for her to be ready to take the next step Hermione couldn't really blame him.

"Wow! Laying it on a bit thick aren't you," Hermione teased him, although she was also very touched, because she knew that Dave was putting his feelings for her on display. Saying things that were the deepest desires of his heart was not always easy and she had to admit that he had been extremely patient with her, but considering her background...

When Dave looked devastated Hermione was immediately sorry for her humor and rushed to reassure him. "Yes, Dave, I'll be your lifemate and we'll share everything equally. When I said I loved you I meant it, as I've never said that to another man before except to Harry, but that's a different kind of love. I love Harry as a brother, just like I love my father as a daughter, but for you my feelings are totally and completely different, which is as it should be."

"You mean it?" Dave asked hardly daring to believe, as he had been starting to despair that he and Hermione would ever complete the bond that he knew he had with her, but now it looked as if his patience had been rewarded and the wolf in his chest howled his satisfaction in his head.

"Yes, yes, I do," Hermione told him silkily, even as she started peppering his face and the side of his neck with soft kisses.

Dave groaned, as the lust and desire he'd had for his mate from the very beginning surged up within him so strong that he nearly flung Hermione onto her back on the couch they were occupying and took her right there. The only thing that prevented him was that he didn't want his mate's first time to be on the couch, but in his bed as he wanted to make it the most perfect, pleasurable experience of her life so that she would agree to repeat it often, preferably several times a day since he still had a very active libido as he was only 41 as they had celebrated his birthday with dinner at his place just a month ago, but he would take what he could get as he would never force his desires on her.

"Does that mean you're going to allow me to take you to bed? Let me show you how much I adore you? To complete the bond I have with you?" asked Dave wanting confirmation that that was what his mate had meant when she had him that she loved him.

"Yes, it does," Hermione immediately answered, as she continued to place kisses along the side of his neck and the soft skin there. Dave's scent was absolutely mouthwatering to her and since it was strongest in the crick of his neck that was where she turned her attention so she could inhale his wonderful scent while kissing him at the same time.

"You understand that once we have sex for the first time you'll never be allowed to leave me?" Dave cautioned wanting to make sure that his mate truly understood the consequences of completing the bond.

"I know," Hermione promised, as she switched to his lips kissing him passionately and thoroughly, Dave instantly returning the kiss with the same amount of passion. "I told you I did my own research, I know exactly what I'm agreeing to and I never would have told you I was ready unless I really was."

"Alright then," Dave said his voice extremely strained, which caused Hermione to smile at this evidence that Dave was indeed very effected by her as a woman. She had known that for sometime, but it didn't hurt her ego any to have evidence of it right in front of her eyes.

"One last question and then the two of us will be heading upstairs," Dave said his voice hoarse with his suppressed desire. "Do you want to have pups right away because if you're not taking anything to prevent it is very likely you'll be pregnant by the time I'm done with you, then I will use cast a sterility charm on myself so I can't get you pregnant."

"I want to have children or pups as you call them right way," Hermione told Dave making him extremely happy at this response and a mile wide grin split is face.

"Maybe you had better send a Patronus to your brother to let him know that you won't be home for the foreseeable future before we get started, as I intend to keep you in bed for several days or longer if at all possible," Dave suggested eagerness in his tone and his body language, causing Hermione to laugh at him, even though she was eager as well for Dave to make love to her and make her his.

"I told him that I likely wouldn't be home for several days, before I left," Hermione told Dave causing him to smirk, as it seemed like his mate had had plans all along to get into his pants and if he hadn't been willing to confess the information he had been holding back, she likely would have revealed that she knew. Or perhaps, she had sensed that the time had come for the truth to be revealed and so had made preparations in advance so that her brother wouldn't worry about her, but no matter how it had come about it didn't matter and so he swept his mate up into his arms and begin to carry her towards the stairs causing Hermione to laugh.

"I hope you plan on feeding me in between bouts of lovemaking," Hermione said, "as I suspect that we'll both need our energy."

"Oh, we will," Dave promised her with a leer, "and don't worry as I've been dreaming of this day ever since the two of us met six months ago and I would never neglect feeding you in between bouts of sleep and me fucking you senseless. By the time I'm done with you over the course of several days to a week, you'll have trouble walking for several hours, if not longer. I have a lot of pent up sexual frustration to get rid of and it will take me a very long time to be satisfied, even temporarily."

"So you plan on shagging me until I can't walk under my own power?" Hermione asked him with a smirk and Dave nodded looking smug.

"I promise you by the time I'm done with you'll want to have sex with me frequently," said Dave. "I won't be surprised if that by the time I'm finished with you you're pregnant with at least triplets or even quadruplets."

"I am aware that shifters and their mates almost always have multiples of one sort or another," Hermione said, "but just so you know I have no intention of being a babymaker and if I do get pregnant this time once the children are born I have no intention of having anymore for at least three or four years."

"But you do want more?" asked Dave. "I would never force you into anything, but I would like a large famiglia since I come from the same and I have plenty of money to support them."

"So do I, as I got quite a large portion of the Potter fortune once Harry officially adopted me as his blood sister. It was done magically, so even though I still look like I've always looked, I am officially a Potter by blood and by magic. I won't give you exact amounts, but let's just say that even without your fortune we would never want for money."

"Well, I hope that sometime soon you'll officially be Mrs. David Rossi," Dave commented plans already forming in his head to propose in the near future. He started to climb the last flight of stairs that led to what was officially now his as well as Hermione's bedroom.

"Whenever you decide to propose I'll be happy to accept," Hermione promised him. "I knew the minute that I was ready to make love with you, that I would be yours anyway so we might as well make it official so that our children have legitimacy. Besides, I want the whole world to know that I am yours, just as you are mine."

"Definitely," Dave agreed immediately with that statement. "Yours and no one else's."

"One thing that reassured me actually once I knew I was your mate, was that you would never cheat on me because shifters are always loyal to their other halves. That's one thing I feared the most you know. Getting involved in a relationship only to discover that the person you believed you loved was cheating on you and that they didn't return your feelings at all or at least not enough to remain loyal," Hermione explained.

"I would rather plunge a dagger into my own heart then ever lose your trust in me," Dave told her vehemently.

Hermione was startled at Dave's choice of words, but she supposed she shouldn't be surprised because from what she knew about shifters and their lifemates they were very passionate, loyal, loving, kind and generous. A shifter's mate if not a shifter themselves, never had to worry about being betrayed or cheated on. A shifter always treated their mate with kindness and generosity and would never abuse the person that was the most important to them, which was one reason that Hermione had no fear that Dave would suddenly change for the worst and start turning into a person she did not know and by that she meant abusive in the extreme, as she was well aware that people could be kind and generous until they had what they wanted and then return to their true natures once they had it. All a shifter asked for from their lifemate was for them to return their love and affection and so long as they were able to do that then the shifter would go out of their way to make their mate happy. Of course, Hermione was also well aware that in the past some shifters mates, ones that were not shifters themselves had cheated on their other halves and when that happened it never ended well. In her case that wasn't about to happen as she loved Dave so much, although she hadn't realized it for a long time, probably because she had been unsure of where their relationship was actually going and so hadn't wanted to involve her heart anymore than it already was. Now though her heart was fully involved, but she knew that so long as Dave was beside her she would be happier than she ever dreamed, as Dave would show her that he loved her every day just like he had been doing for the last six months.

"Don't even talk about things like that as I want you beside me for the rest of our lives," Hermione admonished him seriously.

"Don't worry, so long as I have you I won't be going anywhere," Dave promised her silkily, as he climbed up the last stair and finally put his foot on the floor of the landing that led to the master bedroom. "I was just trying to make a point and unless you missed it, it was there is no way in heaven or hell that I would ever cheat on the woman I love with all my heart. You are it for me, so you never have to worry about my loyalty to you or our relationship."

"I know that already," Hermione said, as Dave finally opened the door to his bedroom with one hand, managing not to drop her and then placed her gently on the bed. "Just so you know I love you, just as much as you do me and I have no intention of ever cheating on you either, although I do know that has happened with shifters and they're non-shifter mates in the past."

"Yes, I know and it always ends in tragedy," Dave admitted looking sad. "How a shifter's mate could do it to the shifter in question I've never understood, as they should be able to feel the bond that they have with their mate's once it has been finalized. They should have felt extremely ill just contemplating such an action, much less actually going through with it."

"Perhaps, the bond wasn't as strong as it is with other shifters and their mate and therefore, they didn't feel that sick," Hermione suggested as she got out of her clothes. "Or it happened before they actually completed the bond."

"Yes, both of those scenarios are possible, particularly the second one, " Dave said after a moment of contemplation, as he had never thought of it in that way before, but then all the shifter mated couples he knew would never consider cheating on their other halves so that had to be the reason why. There were different strengths to shifter bonds and it all depended on how compatible a shifter and their mate was, how many common interest they shared and how many secrets they kept from their mates and how similar their personalities were. For example he and Hermione both complemented each other extremely well, as they were both calm, passionate, cautious, intelligent, kind, generous and warmhearted individuals. They were both always willing to lend a helping hand to someone in need, so long as they were sure it was genuine and not some kind of trick just to get a free meal or some of their money, since there were a lot of conmen in the world who took great pleasure in tricking somebody into giving up some of their money, so it was a good thing that they were so cautious.

"Make love to me," Hermione begged, as she lay on the bed where Dave had gently placed her, totally bare, already dripping wet and more than ready to have sex with Dave for the first time. "Join us in the most intimate way possible, so that I know without a doubt that you love me and that I am yours for the rest of our lives."

"That is a request I will happily comply with," Dave said with a shit-eating grin, as he too had stripped out of his clothes in record time. "Do you have any objection to me marking you? I don't have to, as some non-shifter mates prefer not to have a mating mark where everybody can see it, but it will offer you a certain amount of protection from other shifters, because they will see the mark and know that you are claimed by another of their kind. Once one of my kind knows that you are taken they will not try to come between a shifter and their mate as that would be suicide."

"Go ahead and mark me," Hermione decided, "as I want everybody to know that I'm off limits to everyone, except you."

"Yes!" Dave exclaimed softly looking extremely pleased at that response as the wolf in him wanted nothing more than to mark his, Hermione as his property, but if his mate had objected then he would not have as much as it would have pained him to not do so, because a mate's needs came first—always.

In most situations that mark didn't mean anything as the only time it really had any significance was when they were approached by another shifter or they encountered another one of his kind while they were out and about. Marking his mate like he wanted to sent out a very powerful message that Hermione was off limits to anyone except him in a sexual way. Of course, it wouldn't prevent others who were not shifters trying their best to get her into their clutches, but if or more likely when that happened Dave or Hermione herself would deal with it.

"Normally, I would object to you marking me like I was your property because I am my own woman with just as many rights as a man, but as I said I did very thorough research, so I know exactly what it means and that it offers me protection from other shifters just as you said and that is nothing I can possibly object to," Hermione said. "The only reason I'm allowing it though, is because I trust you not to abuse it and start treating me as a slave and only capable of bearing your children or keeping your house, because while I don't mind helping out with the chores, I will not be a kept woman and have you expecting me to do it all."

"I would never treat you like that," Dave said, as of the very idea sickened him as his, Hermione would not be treated as a whore or a house-elf

"I know, which is why I'm allowing you to mark me," Hermione told him with a tender smile, as she leaned up to kiss Dave on the lips very passionately her tongue entering his mouth to battle with his for a long moment. "If I believed any differently I wouldn't still be here and I would tell you that I never wanted to see you again. That I'm still here and that I'm willing to be bonded to you, not to mention marked by you like I'm a piece of property ought to be a very strong indication that I know you are a good man David Rossi, one that I love with all my heart."

"Ti amerò per sempre. Da questo momento in avanti tu sei mia e io sono tuo e non ci sarà mai nessun altro, ma voi. Giuro che vi supporterà in tutto ciò che si sceglie di fare con la tua vita e ti amo attraverso il duro, come pure i tempi facili. Io amerò e proteggere qualsiasi bambini che abbiamo da tutto ciò che avrebbe fatto male a loro. Giuro che io non darò mai di te, un motivo per essere sospettosi delle mie motivazioni o le intenzioni. Prometto di mostrarvi ogni giorno quanto amo e ti adoro e continuerà a farlo fino a quando ho, arrivare alla fine se la mia vita e andare a incontrare il mio creatore. Giuro che sarò al tuo fianco quando si sono ammalati e infermiera si torna alla piena salute fino a quando non sono di nuovo bene. Prometto di non dimenticare il tuo compleanno o il nostro anniversario, troppo sempre tesoro voi come il mio compagno e come la donna bella, tu sei dentro e fuori. Tutto questo lo giuro sulla mia vita. Noi siamo l'altro ora per il resto del nostro tempo su questa terra! So mote it be," Dave told her in Italian, except for the last sentence, which was in english as there was no Italian context for those few words for put like that they came out meaning something totally different then they were supposed to and when you were making a magical oath it was best to be clear and precise or there could be unexpected consequences. Something that someone giving a magical oath definitely didn't want. (I will always love you. From this point on you are mine and I am yours and there will never be anyone else but you. I swear I will support you in whatever you choose to do with your life and love you through the hard and the easy times. I will love and protect any children we have from anything that would hurt them. I swear I won't ever give you a reason to be suspicious of my motives or intentions. I promise to show you every day how much I love and adore you and will continue to do so until I reach the end of my life and go to meet my maker. I swear I'll be by your side when you are sick and nurse you back to full health until you are well again. I promise not to forget your birthday or anniversary, too always treasure you as my partner and as the beautiful woman, you are inside and out. All this I swear on my life. We are each others now for the rest of our time on this earth! So mote it be!)

"Ti amerò per sempre. Da questo punto in sei mia e io sono tuo e non ci sarà mai nessun altro, ma voi. Giuro che vi supporterà in qualunque cosa scegliate di fare con la vostra vita e l'amore attraverso il duro e i tempi facili. Io amerò e proteggere qualsiasi bambini che abbiamo da tutto ciò che avrebbe fatto male a loro. Giuro che non vi darò mai un motivo per essere sospettosi delle mie motivazioni o le intenzioni come mio cuore apparterrà sempre solo a te. Prometto di mostrarvi ogni giorno quanto amo e ti adoro e continuerà a farlo fino a raggiungere la fine se mia vita e andare incontro a coloro che hanno superato prima di me. Giuro che sarò al tuo fianco quando sei malato e infermiere si torna alla piena salute fino a quando non sono di nuovo bene. Prometto di non dimenticare il tuo compleanno o il nostro anniversario, troppo sempre tesoro te come mio marito e il caldo, divertente, gentile, generosa, passionale, uomo che sei, così come l'amore della mia vita. Tutto questo lo giuro sulla mia vita. Ogni altri siamo ora per il resto del nostro tempo su questa terra! So mote it be!" (I will always love you. From this point on you are mine and I am yours and there will never be anyone else, but you. I swear I will support you in whatever you choose to do with your life and love you through the hard and the easy times. I will love and protect any children we have from anything that would hurt them. I swear I won't ever give you a reason to be suspicious of my motives or intentions as my heart will always belong only to you. I promise to show you every day how much I love and adore you and will continue to do so until I reach the end of my life and go to meet those that have passed on before me. I swear I'll be by your side when you are sick and nurse you back to full health until you are well again. I promise not to forget your birthday or our anniversary, too always treasure you as my husband and the warm, funny, kind, generous, passionate, man that you are, as well as the love of my life. All this I swear on my life! We are each others now for the rest of our time on this earth! So mote it be!)

Just as Hermione finished her oath along with the required silver flash Dave not having time for foreplay, as he was desperate to be inside his mate at the earliest opportunity, plunged into Hermione before the silver flash had faded. Considering he had been waiting six months for this day and every day of them had been torture, especially in the last couple of months, Dave plunged his manhood into her very center causing Hermione's body to buck off the bed as she felt extremely intense pleasure surge through her like a tsunami. The longer he had gone without completing the bond the more sensual and erotic his dreams became and it had gotten to the point that he was waking up to his sheets covered in his seed at least three or four times a night. It wasn't that the dreams weren't enjoyable, but at the same time they were driving him absolutely batty with lust and desire for the real thing, but today was the day.

Finally! The wolf that was just as much a part of him as his magic howled in his head, as Dave's cock plunged into his, Hermione for the first time where he instantly released his seed as he didn't have time to push in and out even once before he almost literally exploded into the warm, moist body of his mate, whose back instantly arched off the bed as her climax went through her a strong unstoppable force. Oh! Her passage is so wet! So warm! So tight! And yet it fits my cock perfectly as if Hermione's passage was made for my manhood alone, Dave thought distantly lost in intense, earthshaking pleasure, even as he felt his mate's passage squeeze his cock milking it of every last drop of his semen, before releasing it. Dave pulled his cock out of his mate's passage and both he and Hermione groaned at the loss as she felt so empty without Dave's manhood inside her. I knew making love to Hermione would be spectacular, just from those dreams I've been having, but they didn't even come close to how it would feel to make love to the real thing, Dave thought.

"I don't mind admitting that that was the best sex I've ever had, despite it's rather short duration," Hermione said finally coming back to herself.

Dave simply smirked at that, as he had intended it to be so that his mate wouldn't mind repeating the act as often as possible, because after all he was still a young man with a very active libido and he had been extremely frustrated for the last six months, as he had not had sex in all that time, except for what he did for himself or what the dreams did for him, but still it wasn't the same and he had known that.

"I hope you realize that that was just the appetizer to help get rid of six months of sexual frustration," Dave said after quite a few minutes of recovery time as his orgasm had been so strong that it had nearly knocked him unconscious—almost, "as I've been an eunuch and quite frankly incredibly horny for all that time. I had begun to give up hope that I would ever be able to complete the bond I had with you and you made me so happy and ecstatic tonight when you told me that you loved me and that you were ready to be mine," Dave added, as he reached over to kiss Hermione on the lips softly, almost reverently, as he was still struggling to believe that she was finally his forevermore.

"I'm truly sorry that it took me so long to realize that I loved you, but I had already had one bad experience and I wasn't about to get myself into a similar situation. I was very unsure in the beginning and it took some very frank talks by Harry and Luna for me not to break it off because of my fear. As I told you months ago Luna is a seer and she didn't come out and directly say so, but she implied that if I gave into my fear I would never be happy and why would I want to give the person who hurt me anymore power over me even if they would never know it?"

"Who hurt you? I want a name!" Dave demanded his voice a growl. "I'll rip them limb from limb!"

"You will do no such thing as Harry has already taken care of the situation," Hermione told Dave in a forceful tone, not at all intimated by seeing Dave's usually warm brown eyes turn the gold of the wolf or the fierce snarl on his lips, as she knew that Dave would never hurt her. "It was a long time ago and there was this boy that wanted me for himself, so dosed me with Amortentia, when I showed no signs of wanting him as anything other then a friend. I was under his control for several months, but I was never actually raped, although I knew that was in my future if I didn't break free. Let's just say that Harry noticed the difference in my attitude, but at first didn't think anything of it as this boy and I had just started dating and he figured that it was just because it was a new relationship and so he gave me the time alone that I seemed to want. It wasn't for another month that the boy didn't dose me as often as he should have and therefore, while I was still under the potion's control it wasn't as strong. At that point I managed to fight it off enough that Harry knew something was wrong and he rushed me to Madam Pomfrey, our school healer, who dosed me with a flushing potion. Well, when Harry found out that I had been under one of the strongest love potions known he punched the boy in the nose and broke it in several places and he didn't even get detention for it when Professor McGonagall found out exactly why Harry had done what he did. Let's just say that the boy was expelled on the spot. Dumbledore was against it, as he felt that the lad had learned his lesson, but McGonagall who was charge of discipline at the school, as she was also the deputy headmistress disagreed and raked the headmaster over the coals. You'd probably like Professor McGonagall, as she is very fierce in protecting her students particularly the Gryffindors since she's also head of that house."

"Was he at least charged with the criminal act?" Dave demanded having calmed down considerably, although was clearly still furious over the matter.

"No, because not only was I muggle-born and he was a pureblood I hadn't actually been raped, even if I was under his control for about four months, besides, he was underage as well, which was also taken into consideration. I was so happy when my parents agreed to Harry's plan to move here to Italy after our qualifying tests at the end of our fifth year. The law in England is that if you don't at least finish your O.W.L.s, then your magic is bound away from you and all memory of the wizarding world is erased from your mind, although this only seems to apply to muggle-borns, like myself. Of course, if Harry and I had moved to Italy after our fourth year, the British government couldn't have done anything as they doesn't have any clout over here, which is one of the reasons it was chosen in the first place. In any case, we studied for our N.E.W.T.s and took them at the British ministry instead of in the normal way and finished them a whole year early to. Of course, we were also training like mad, which is another reason we chose Italy in the first place, as it doesn't have the same laws about using magic outside of school until you're 17 like England does since so many Italians are homeschooled, but again that law seems to apply only to the muggle-borns."

"I can certainly understand why you left," Dave said, "and I'm certainly happy that you chose Italy as your destination."

"Of course, you are," Hermione giggled more sated and satisfied from the fast hard fuck that Dave had just given her then she ever had with any of her previous partners. She certainly felt better than she had in her life ever before as she now knew with absolute certainty that she was loved and that Dave would never leave or cheat on her. She had felt the bond she had with him snap into place as soon as Dave had released his seed into her, even while she had been in the midst of the strongest climax she had ever had. Of course, she knew logically, that although she could feel the bond, that Dave's connection was much stronger due to the fact that he was actually a shifter. She was being very silly and she knew it, which wasn't like her at all, but she couldn't seem to help herself, as she felt as if chains she hadn't even known existed had been released setting her free.
"Ready for another round?" Dave asked hopefully, as his cock was more than ready to go.

"Are you going to be insatiable from now on?" Hermione queried looking at him mock sternly.

"Absolutely," Dave said, as he kissed her in the crick of her neck causing her to shiver with desire feeling her lust for this gorgeous specimen of a man start to rise again. "When it comes to you, I will always be insatiable."

"Well, there are times you're going to have to control yourself, as I tend to get involved in research or in a delicate potions experiment where I absolutely cannot be interrupted," Hermione cautioned him.

"I can control myself if I have to you know, as I did so for six months after all and didn't jump you like I really wanted to. If you knew how many times I came very near to my control breaking, well, you probably would've told me you never wanted to see me again, because I guarantee you I would've pounced on you, well, like a wolf," Dave told his mate seriously with a smirk.

Hermione giggled at that, as she found it very amusing, although she also knew that Dave was deadly serious.

"Harry reminded me several months ago that a man had needs and that you must have an iron will to not force yourself on me or at least force me into making a decision," Hermione admitted.

"And I never will no matter how hard it is on me personally," Dave promised her solemnly. "However, it will be considerably easier now that we are officially mates as the bond has been completed instead of me just feeling the immense potential and energy begging to be finalized. I'm not saying that we won't have a lot of sex, likely much more than most couples do, but now that we are officially married in the shifter way a least it will be much easier for me to not jump you, as I know with absolute certainty that you are mine, which was part of the problem before you know, as I had no idea if you would eventually agree to complete the bond I had with you. Now that we have however, things are different."

"Well, I know one thing for sure and that's Harry will want to welcome you officially to the family and will likely urge us too tie the knot in the magical way, as the shifters version of a wedding ceremony doesn't have much clout in England or most other places, except in the shifter communities. Come to think of it my parents will to even if they will understand that technically we're already married, they will want to see me tie the knot and my father will want to walk me down the aisle."

"Well, as I told you just a short time ago I was going to officially ask you to marry me and I don't particularly care if we have two other weddings, one for your mundane parents, family and friends in the mundane world and one in the magical world, because really all that means is I have you tied up in all three," Dave said with a shit-eating grin.

Hermione laughed at that not against that possibility, as all she really wanted was for Dave and her to be officially wed even if she was well aware that the shifter ceremony counted, but only within the shifter community for the most part. "I have a lot of female friends that would love to help me plan, but I don't need anything elaborate or complicated. Something small with no more then 40 or 50 people tops and most of those will be from England. Of course, whoever you want to invite will increase the amount that I need to get done."

"Well, I know a lot of people," David admitted, "and most of them will be invited because I want them there on the happiest day of my life, but there's a few that I'd rather not have there, but I don't want to insult."

"So invite them, be polite and then escape as soon as you can," Hermione suggested knowing exactly what Dave's problem was, as he'd probably have to invite some high muckety-muck he didn't like very much, but that could not be invited for fear of insulting them.

"So I didn't know you could speak Italian," Dave commented suddenly. "You certainly shocked the bloody hell out of me when you responded to what I was saying in Italian as I expected you to just say your own vow in English and I was expecting you to ask me later exactly what I said."

"You don't know everything about me, as we only met six months ago," Hermione said with a twinkle in her eyes and laughter in her voice.

"So are you going to tell me how you speak Italian and why you didn't tell me before now?" asked Dave more curious than anything else now and he definitely wasn't unhappy about it.

"Well, there's a potion that helps you speak the language, although you really have to live in the country and hear people speaking it to really pick it up, particularly the accent, but it helps to learn it rapidly. The potion is complicated, some of the ingredients are extremely rare and it's very expensive, even if you brew it yourself because the ingredients are so hard to come by, but if you make it correctly it helps you absorb the language both spoken and written at a very rapid pace. Not many people bother to use it, at least those in England as they're very set in their ways and they figure the language they speak is more than enough and they don't need to communicate with beings lesser then themselves. In any case, a lot of the common people that might actually like to learn another language have to do it the hard way because who has 150 Galleons to waste on the ingredients for just one potion, especially since if you want to learn more than one language you have to take another dose? Luckily, a standard cauldronful of the potion was enough to cover me, Harry, Sirius, Remus and my parents, although we had to brew another one for Luna as she didn't join us until a year later. Unfortunately, the potion doesn't keep for more than a few months, so we only brewed one cauldronful."

"I've never heard of this potion, but I suppose that's not surprising if it isn't widely used and if it was created in England..." Dave mused, "well, a lot of potions never leave their country of origin, as there isn't a lot of communication going on between different countries, particularly England or they fall out of favor."

"It used to be different, and Polyglot potion was more widely used then it is now, but that was several centuries ago, as the purebloods of England got so inbred and set in their ways," said Hermione. "Even a hundred years ago, knowing another language looked good on your resumé, now, well, since communication between countries has kind of fallen by the wayside it wasn't so important so the potion fell out of favor and it's been mostly forgotten about. Of course, Voldemort is largely responsible for it falling out of favor and also the way things are now with so much bigotry, which has of course, always existed."

"So if I wanted to learn say French, I would actually have to be in the country, for the potion to be effective?"

"Or at least hear someone speaking it on a regular basis," Hermione said. "I have a friend who's married to Bill Weasley who is actually French, so speaks the language. Her name is Fleur Delacour and she's half veela or I could teach you since I also speak it."

I really like Bill, Hermione added in own thoughts, as he was furious when he found out his mother had brewed a love potion for Ron and Ginny so they could ensnare us. He yelled at her and told her that anybody under a love potion that has sex is nothing more than rape, because consent wasn't given on that person's own free will. Bill had disowned his mother and his younger brother on the spot, while Ginny had been put on probation as Bill had told her that she had better straighten up and stop wanting a relationship with Harry unless he to wanted it on his own free will. Hermione had heard through the grapevine as she and Harry had friends that kept them informed of the going-ons in England that Ginny had been devastated when she had heard that Harry had married Luna Lovegood and had cried on and off for weeks as she still believed at that time that Harry was hers, but then again she had been raised on stories of the boy who lived, so that wasn't really surprising, which was also likely why Bill hadn't disowned Ginny as well as he'd likely realized that it wasn't really her fault that she was so fixated on Harry marrying her.

"I'm sure that if you really wanted to learn French that way she would be happy to help you and I wouldn't mind visiting some friends in England at some point, but as I said the potion is really ultraexpensive, but it's not like you and I don't have the money if we didn't want to go through the trouble of learning a new language the old-fashioned way."

"I'm not very good at learning new languages and if I hadn't been taught both Italian and English before I could actually talk, I doubt very much I'd speak anything, but Italian, so this potion for me will be a godsend even if as you say it's really expensive because some of the ingredients are so rare."

"If you really wanted to go that route I could brew it for you as I've done it before, unless you want to do that yourself," Hermione offered.

"I'll think about it, but right now it's just a possibility and nothing we need to rush into," Dave said, "and I believe we have better things to do for the foreseeable future."

"That we do," Hermione agreed immediately with a grin, as she started to kiss him passionately, as she was done talking for the moment anyway and Dave couldn't agree more, so returned the kiss, which soon led to other things that were far more pleasurable for the two newly bonded mates then mere conversation could ever be.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"I suppose we should get up and go see my brother," Hermione said lazily. It was three days later and neither she nor Dave had left the bed, except to bathe, use the loo and to eat. Bathing had been it's own type of fun, as they had played like young dolphins in the Jacuzzi tub, that was big enough for at least four people that Dave had in his bathroom floor. Hermione had immediately fallen in love with it and wished she'd had something like that at the Potter estate, but it had never occurred to her to ask Harry about having one installed, but now she wished she had. Oh, well, it didn't matter as she was going to moving in here immediately anyway so she could use her mate's anytime she so desired and she was sure that Dave wouldn't mind and in fact he would probably join her more often than not.

It had certainly been an intense three days and she was sure that she was going to be very sore as soon as she tried to rise to her feet, but it had to be done as she didn't want Harry to start to worry about her, even though she had warned him that she'd likely be gone for a few days. On some level, she was aware that Harry would always worry about her, even when he gave her away at her wedding ceremony whenever that was, but then he might not have been born her brother, but he was now and that was all that mattered.

"Do we have to?" Dave playfully whined feeling extremely lethargic, not really wanting too move from where he was very comfortable.

"Yeah, we do, or I need to at least contact Harry and tell him that I'm fine and he'll likely invite us to dinner. As much as we might want to we can't just close ourselves off from the rest of the world except for short periods," Hermione said with regret in her voice, as the things that Dave had done to her over the last 72 hours had been bloody spectacular and she wouldn't mind repeating the experience sometime in the near future, although not at the moment. She remembered this morning very early like two or three a.m. and how she had fallen asleep exhausted after their latest round of lovemaking only to wake up several hours later to find Dave kissing her all over, leaving her all tingly, before licking the spots that he had just kissed and finally nipping gently at the soft skin and by the time he had reached her thighs she was just a puddle of jelly as her body felt absolutely boneless. Just Dave's touch was enough to send a spike of desire through her entire body and make her extremely wet down in her pussy and all he had to do was touch her gently on the back or the arm or anywhere really and she wanted him so bad that she could barely stand it. She was hoping that the intensity would die down after awhile, because she'd never be able to get anything done otherwise. Was this what it felt like to those people who were deeply in love even when they weren't shifters? Did they want their spouse all the time even when they were old and gray? Or was it something about shifters and their mates that made her body yearn for Dave's touch constantly? If that was the case ordinary if people knew about the intense feelings of love and desire that came after you had bonded with your mate, they would be extremely jealous and would likely tear someone like her, limb from limb because they would want the same, as they would believe they to could feel that intense need and desire and even if that wasn't true it wouldn't stop people from wanting to tear her apart.

"I suppose if we must," Dave reluctantly agreed, as he tried to lift his body from the bed, but he was so satisfied and sated that he didn't want to move. His legs even now felt rubbery, but then he and Hermione had made love yet again just a few minutes ago before his mate had mentioned that they needed to get up, although it was clear that she was just as reluctant as he was. "Do you need any help?" Dave asked solicitously, once he had finally managed to rise to his feet on shaky legs.

"I don't know," Hermione said, as she checked out her muscles one by one. She was indeed sore, particularly between her legs, which wasn't surprising, considering what she had been doing for three days straight with short periods of sleep and food in between.

Dave had actually gone down to the kitchen and cooked her a magnificent breakfast and she had never had anyone do that for her before. She had a feeling he was going to spoil her as much as she would allow and she didn't really mind it actually, because she knew that Dave was doing it because he loved her and not because he believed that she was incapable of taking care of herself.

Her breakfast tray had contained all her favorite foods and she had asked Dave to help her eat it, for it was far too much for just her alone to consume and Dave had happily complied, so that the two of them had shared a very pleasant and sensual breakfast in bed together as they had fed each other waffles, and pieces of fruit. Hermione had liked the experience of being fed by the man she loved and she hoped that Dave would repeat the act, since it was one thing she'd never be able to do as bringing Dave breakfast in bed wasn't an option for her, but only because she couldn't cook to save her life not because she didn't want to. How she could brew a complex potion, but not cook when the two of them shared many similarities was beyond her, but since she had once burned water she had just given up on learning, so she was glad that Dave like her brother was such a master chef.

"I am pretty sore, particularly in my lower body, but that's not really surprising considering," Hermione said, as she sat up slowly Dave hovering at her side to make sure she wasn't going to fall as she tried to get to her feet and Hermione didn't even feel like scolding him for it, because she just thought it was so sweet and thoughtful, although normally she hated being taken care of unless she was extremely ill, as she was very independent, but somehow Dave didn't irritate her when he felt like taking care of her. Was her not being irritated at his hovering because of the bond they shared? Or just because she loved Dave so much? She supposed it didn't really matter she just knew that things that normally irritated her didn't when it was Dave doing them.

"So when will you be able to tell if you're pregnant or not?" Dave asked as soon as Hermione was on her feet and he was she was steady.

"Oh, not for a couple weeks at least, more likely a month," Hermione admitted, "although that's much, much sooner than a muggle or a mundane as you call them would be able to tell, but magic can do many things that muggle technology cannot, but then the reverse is also true. Considering that I'm likely carrying more than one we should be able to tell in a couple weeks for sure instead of having to wait a whole month to be 100% positive."

"So you're saying that the spell you use has been able to tell at two weeks, but it's not 100% certain until you do it again at the end of 30 days," Dave said after translating what Hermione had said in his head.

"Exactly," Hermione told him and she leaned over and kissed him on the lips very tenderly, which Dave accepted with obvious pleasure.

"So shall I wash your back, my lady?" Dave asked with a big grin.

"Sure, just so you know that we will not be having sex in the shower this time as I am way too sore," Hermione said and Dave readily agreed to that, as he didn't necessarily need to make love to his beautiful mate again so soon. It wasn't that he wasn't eager for more, but his libido was more than satisfied at the moment and he would just enjoy washing his mate's beautiful body, which he would love until the day he drew his last breath. He would be happy to save the sex for a later time when his mate wasn't so sore as he wasn't going to demand more than she was ready to give, especially considering that they had been making love for three days straight. His mate's needs came first, always and the wolf in him agreed, as he was more than satisfied for the moment.

"I'll be happy just helping you wash your body and your hair and you can do the same for me, but we don't have to have sex, since I know you're sore," Dave said. "I hope I've more than proved that I will never force you into doing something that you're not ready for and considering that we've made love for three days straight I can certainly understand why you don't want another round right this minute."

"Alright then, you're certainly welcome to join me in the shower," Hermione said kissing him again for being so understanding. "We might want to brew up some of that cream for sore muscles, as I'm sure we'll be using it frequently, so we should always have some on hand.

"You can do that as I'll be happy to set up one of the spare bedrooms as a potions lab for you, but I'm afraid that I'm not much of a brewer," Dave admitted.

Hermione laughed and when Dave looked puzzled she explained why she had suddenly burst into giggles. "I just realized that while you can cook like a master chef, you can't brew worth a damn while I am exactly the opposite as I am quite handy at potions while I can't cook to save my life."

"Ah, yes, I see what you mean," Dave said now understanding why his mate was giggling. "That is rather ironic isn't it? That we have exactly opposite skills at least when it comes to cooking and potions?"

"Yes, it is, but now I really need a shower because of our recent sexual activities," said Hermione pushing Dave gently towards the bathroom.

"Yes, ma'am. Happy to be of service, ma'am," Dave said bowing outrageously causing his mate to burst into giggles again, the sound a delight to his ears as he thought Hermione's giggle was gorgeous, so he planned on getting her giggling as often as possible.

If he had asked anybody who knew her before the two of them had met they would have told him that she was very serious, bossy and a bookworm who hardly ever laughed, but this Hermione was a totally different kettle of fish then the bookworm that her schoolmates had known for so long.

The two of them entered the bathroom already buck naked so they didn't need to bother with stripping off any articles of clothing. Dave turned on the hot water and it didn't take long at all for it to heat up and then he adjusted it to a comfortable temperature for both of them before he escorted his mate into the extra large shower stall.

"You're so gallant, are you bucking for knighthood?" Hermione teased him.

"No, my lady, as I have no desire to be anybody's knight except yours," Dave said bowing gallantly, even as the hot water poured down on both their heads, plastering their hair to their scalps and even flattening down the usual bushiness of Hermione's hair.

"Well, you are certainly welcome to be my knight in shining armor alone, kind sir," Hermione answered with a smile as she kissed him.

"Good, because I don't need to please anybody else except you since you became the very center of my life once we met," Dave said seriously, even as he picked up the shampoo that his mate used and dabbed some onto his hands before ran those hands through Hermione's hair. Hermione had been spending so much time over here ever since they had shared that first dinner of spaghetti and meatballs that she had left some of her bath things in his bathroom, as well as one of her robes which hung on a hook that was on the back of the door. He didn't mind at all really and he was hoping that Hermione would agree to move in with him now that they had officially completed the mating bond as he no longer wanted to be parted from her considering that he had spent to many nights alone dreaming of her as it was. Besides technically, they were now married and a husband and wife should be living to together.

They finished washing each other and then they both dried off before heading back into the bedroom to get dressed. Hermione had also placed a few of her clothes in his closet and again he didn't mind and in fact liked seeing them there.

"I would like to request that you move in as soon as possible," Dave said, as soon as he had gotten dressed. Dave made it a request because he knew how his mate responded to being ordered to do something and so he was going to do his best to not do that unless necessary. "Now that we've completed the bond we really don't need to be apart for awhile anyway as it needs time to strengthen and we're definitely going to be very touchy feely for the foreseeable future, at least the next year anyway. We're going to want to touch almost constantly, even if that's just holding hands. Besides, technically we are now husband and wife and therefore married and we need to live together."

"Don't worry," Hermione told him, as she turned to face him. "I was already planning on doing just that and was just wondering when to mention it to you. I no more want to be parted from you then you do from me, as I can now feel the bond as well, although I realize that what I feel is weak in comparison to what you do since I'm not a shifter."

"Good," Dave said extremely pleased taking his mate into his arms and pulling her close before peppering her face with gentle kisses. "I'll help you move your things over here if you like."

"That would be a big help as I have a suite of rooms at the Potter estate and while the furniture came with the room the rest of it is mine. I had to put a lot of things in storage, stuff that I think that our daughters will enjoy, just as I did as a child, mostly children's books, but also a few stuffed animals that are still in excellent condition."

"We'll just shrink it all down and bring it over here," Dave agreed.

"I should warn you that I do have some electronics that shouldn't be shrunk down as it would likely destroy them. I have a laptop computer for example where I figured out how to hook it to the internet using magic and thanks to my tinkering it also gets it's power from magic, but still I wouldn't want to risk shrinking it down just in case."

"Probably a good idea, as there is only so much magic that one piece of electronics will take, particularly something as complicated and sensitive as a laptop computer," Dave said speaking from experience.

"Exactly," Hermione agreed with a smile. "The British wizarding world for the most part believe that electronics and magic don't mix, but us mundane born and some half-bloods know differently. I believe the purebloods like it that way as they don't want their control to slip and it would if British wizarding society advanced much past the Victorian era it is currently stuck in. I think they like it that way mostly because of fear, they don't understand the muggle world and they refuse to go out there and even try to, which is why more and more of British wizarding folks stick out like sore thumbs when they are out and about in the muggle world. You said you've been to England before so you know what I mean."

"I do," Dave agreed, "and them sticking out is only going to get worse."

"I know, but again what can we really do about it?" Hermione asked. "If I try, I wouldn't be listened to I guarantee you because I'm a muggle-born. I always felt that Harry should throw his hat into the political arena as he has a great deal of influence as the man-who-defeated-Voldemort, even more than he did as the boy who lived, but he decided that he just wanted to live the quiet life with his family and I can't really blame him for that, considering what he's already been through."

Hermione dried her hair rapidly using a charm and then fixed it how she wanted it and she was ready to go.

"I'm ready to go see my brother and tell him the news when you are," Hermione told Dave who was just buttoning the last button on his shirt.

"Just let me get my shoes on and then I'll be ready to go," Dave said, as he sat down on the side of the bed and pulled on his socks and then his shoes. "Alright, I'm ready to go. Do you want to Floo or Apparate?"

"Apparate as I don't want to get soot in my hair considering it was just washed," said Hermione. "Besides, that way we would have to call ahead and warn Harry and Luna we were coming, as the fireplace is blocked off for anything without a special powder. You can use it to communicate, but not actually Floo without someone throwing that powder onto the flames."

"So you want to surprise them?" asked Dave.

"I doubt very much that they'll actually be surprised, since Luna is a seer after all, but occasionally you can slip one past her if she's not concentrating on actually seeing future events," Hermione explained. "Besides, as she reminded me not to long ago she doesn't see everything only what those that control such things want her to see."

"Alright then, Apparating it is, but you'll have to side along me this first time because I've never been to the Potter estate," Dave said.

"I can do that," Hermione agreed, "as I mastered double Apparating someone unlike so many in the British wizarding world. I can't really blame them actually as is it is a hard skill to master and takes at least double the amount of energy to Apparate two people instead of one."

"You sure you can do it?" Dave asked.

"Yes, I've done it before, and under battle conditions to," Hermione promised unoffended.

"Alright then," Dave agreed easily, as he believed that if his mate said she could do it then she could as she wasn't one to overstate her skills or brag about something even if she could actually do it.

"Let's get going," Hermione said

Dave just nodded and escorted his made out of the big moon and then to the Apparition point.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Congratulations you two, I'm very happy for both of you," Luna squealed as she flung her arms about Hermione's neck giving her a tight hug.

"Well, that's one way to break the news," Dave said with a grin, as he watched a blond lady around Hermione's age and that he assumed was her brother's wife greet his mate enthusiastically.

"What can I say I love Luna to death, but she can't keep a secret to save her life, well, correction she can if she absolutely has to, but not about something like this, especially since there is really no need to," Harry told Dave with a smile shaking the older man's hand. "Congratulations to you and welcome to the family."

"Thank you," Dave said with a broad smile feeling so happy and contented at the moment that he felt as if he could literally fly without a broom.

"So we don't need to know any of the intimate details, but you could tell us in general how it happened?"

"What hasn't Luna already informed you?" Hermione teased her brother who laughed.

"You know very well that's not the way Luna's talent works as she doesn't see every little detail just major events, which personally, I think is healthy as she doesn't need pieces of other peoples lives even those she is close to in her head 24/7," Harry said.

"Well, Dave fixed a wonderful dinner and after we had eaten we moved into the living room as he said he had some important information to share but refused to say what it was until after we have eaten," Hermione began.

"To tell the truth I was absolutely terrified that she would reject me for keeping the truth from her for so long, but it turned out that she had already figured it out for herself and was just waiting for me to come clean," Dave added with a smile, as he looked adoringly at his mate.

Harry laughed appreciatively and then said, "That does sound like, my sister."

"Oh, brother dear, I have a bone to pick with you and Luna for keeping the truth from me for so long," Hermione butted in looking extremely pissed off.

"I'm really sorry sis," Harry told her gently, as he kissed her cheek. "Luna said it was for the best to either let Dave tell you or for you to figure it out on your own. She explained that if we told you the truth that it would ruin things and that you would break it off with Dave before even giving him a chance and that all we could do was gently guide you in the right direction, so that you could lead a happy life and since I wanted nothing more for my sister, whom I love, I agreed. I was actually astonished that you didn't figure out exactly why Dave was so interested in you while putting no pressure on you within the first week or so because normally your brain works so rapidly putting puzzle pieces together that it still surprises me, even though we've known each other since we were eleven. It also utterly shocked me that you didn't realize that Luna and I were withholding information from you for your own good, as I really expected you to confront us about it within the first month at least."

"I ought to be mad at you for withholding information from me, but I do understand why you did it, just never do it again at least where directly involves me or there will be hell to pay is that understood Harry James Potter?" Hermione replied.

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said with a little smile not seeming at all intimidated by his sister's anger, but then the two had known each other ever since their first year at Hogwarts school, so that wasn't really surprising.

"You had better promise," Hermione threatened.

"Sorry, Hermione, we can't because Harry and I have no idea if I will see something in the future that involves you and if telling you will be the best choice," Luna said. "You know we would never deliberately keep something from you unless it was for your own good. You know that you never would have allowed David to get so close to you if we had revealed what we knew. Would you rather us have revealed the information to you and then you choosing to break it off?"

"I actually did that?" Hermione asked in astonishment.

"You did, and you led a very sad and lonely life, never getting married or having children of your own and although you had Harry, me and your friends it wasn't the same," Luna said. "You forget how far you have progressed in getting over what happened to you when you were 14, as six months ago you never would have trusted David to get close to you and would have held him at arms length."

Hermione thought about it and she finally realized that she agreed with everything that Harry and Luna had just said and they really had kept the information from her so she would have a chance to develop feelings for Dave. She had been deeply affected by what had happened with Ron, even though her body had technically never been violated, but she had considered Ron a friend until that event and that's what had affected her the most, which was that her friendship had not been returned. Her innocence had been shattered by that one event and she laid the blame at the door of the people that it really belonged to and that was Molly and Ron Weasley as well as Dumbledore as they all bore some of the blame.

She had become somewhat embittered, from that one event realizing that she had allowed herself to be used because she had trusted the person involved and that was when she'd decided that she was never going to trust anybody so deeply again except for Harry, but then Dave had come along and rapidly changed the way she thought

Had she really become so jaded at just 14? She had never considered herself so, more cautious then jaded, but now she realized that she had indeed been very jaded due to that one event.

"Alright, you're correct, I had become very jaded about relationships at least, although I didn't consider myself so," Hermione said.

"I for one am glad that they didn't tell you the truth if it would have kept me at arms length," Dave said speaking for the first time since the initial greetings, although he had been paying attention to the conversation.

"I just bet you are," Harry smirked at him getting a smirk in return.

"Alright, perhaps, it was better that you didn't tell me what you knew," Hermione finally admitted, even though she hated not knowing something in advance, but if it would have caused her to break up with Dave before their relationship even got off the ground then she was glad she hadn't been told until after the fact.

"So are you staying for dinner?" Luna asked changing the subject.

"We'd be happy to," Dave said and Hermione nodded as she would enjoy spending a few hours with her brother and sister. "So now that the serious conversation is over when are you due?" Dave asked Luna having noticed immediately that she was pregnant, due to the fact that Luna was extremely slender and so she showed more quickly then somebody who wasn't.

"Oh, I'm only about three months along so not for awhile," Luna said.

"So do you know if it's a boy or girl?" asked Dave next.

"It's a girl, and Harry and I are very happy about that, since we already have a son," Luna said.

"So are you going to have anymore after this?" asked Hermione.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask me that," Luna told her friend with a giggle.

"Well, I have been kind of distracted lately," Hermione admitted with a blush as she glanced at Dave, who shot an adoring look in her direction.

"So you have," Luna said slyly, as she glanced between the couple who hadn't released each other's hands since they had arrived, but then she knew very well that shifters and their mates touched a great deal, particularly when the bond was as new as this one was. "To answer your question yes, Harry and I would like a few more, but we'll see how this pregnancy goes first before we make any definite decisions. There's no need to rush as I'm only 20, so there's plenty of time to have a dozen children if we so desire."

"You're right there is no need to rush and wear yourself out by giving birth to close together as the human body can only take so much and you can never tell what that threshold will be, because everyone is different," Dave agreed.

"So let me show you where the dining room as dinner should be ready any minute now," Harry said, as he led everyone in the direction of the informal dining room. "So I have to ask are you planning to officially tie the knot or just go with the shifter ceremony?"

"We are planning to get married in both the magical and muggle worlds, if only because I'd like to invite more people who don't have any magic then my parents," Hermione explained."

"And because magical people tend to stick out like sore thumbs or at least the ones from England do as they don't know how to dress properly and a lot of them are unwilling to learn that you decided to have two ceremonies," Luna said.

"Exactly," Hermione agreed. "With my luck those magical people would ignore the fact that it's a muggle venue and wear dress robes or something even more strange. I really wish I could just have the one here in Italy with all of Dave's family, my parents and my friends in attendance, as that would be much simpler and less expensive."

"So just have a quick magical ceremony and then have a muggle one as I've noticed that Italian magicals know how to dress properly for the most part," Harry suggested.

"That's not a bad idea, love," Dave told Hermione who thought about it. "My famiglia for one will get a kick out of coming to a mundane ceremony and if anyone doesn't like the fact that it's at a mundane venue or if the the ceremony isn't magical then they don't have to attend so long as they've been invited."

"That's a good solution and I'm surprised that it didn't occur to me," Hermione said leaning over to kiss Dave on the cheek.

"It would have eventually," Luna told her friend. "You can invite your friends from England, but tell them that unless they can dress properly that they don't need to attend and that may insult a few of them, but that's just too bad. If you do it this way, you can skip doing the magical ceremony at all unless you just want to do that for yourselves so that you're married in all three worlds. However, if you do a magical ceremony you only need a couple of witnesses if that's what you want instead of a big wedding and Harry and I will be happy to volunteer."

"I think you're right Luna," Hermione eventually agreed. "We do a big muggle ceremony and then do just a small private magical ceremony with you and Harry, as witnesses is the way to go."

"So Dave do we need to discuss dowry?" Harry asked.

"Harry James Potter don't you dare!" Hermione flared up enraged. "I am not a piece of property to be sold to the highest bidder."

"Hermione, you know this is the way it's done and as your brother it is my responsibility to make sure all the little details are taken of. Only once you are officially married whether that's muggle or magical ceremony will you be Dave's responsibility and not mine anymore. As it is Dave didn't officially ask me for your hand, which is a breach of custom, but since I knew what was happening, thanks to Luna I think we can ignore that one," said Harry soothingly

"Calm down, love," Dave told Hermione gently, as he put a hand on a her arm as he saw how enraged his mate was and although he could understand it, Harry was only doing what he was supposed to. "You know that the magical world is still stuck in the past and although us Italians are much more modern then the British there are still certain customs that we abide by for the most part. I love you and that should be all that matters not that your brother and I are discussing a dowry, as this is just the way things are done, even though I don't need his money since I have plenty of my own. It was only about 100 years ago dowries and asking your padre or some male member of your famiglia for your hand in marriage was just the way things were done by the mundanes and in the magical world that is still the custom in a lot of European magical communities."

"You need to think about this logically," Luna told Hermione. "My father offered a dowry for me, but the Lovegoods aren't as well off, as some of the older family's like the Potters and so it was an extremely small one."

"Which was fine as I wouldn't have accepted a single Knut from Xeno if it hadn't been kind of required and I didn't want to insult him by refusing. I wanted Luna because I love her not because of what her family would give me for our marriage," Harry added. "There is a betrothal contract between us as you know, but that's only because Luna doesn't want the Lovegood name to die out and so it specifically states that the second son born to us will have the last name of Lovegood in order to maintain the family line. If there are no other sons, then James will become the heir and our daughter will be the heir for the Potter line as the head of the Potter line doesn't have to be gender specific, although it usually is male, simply because more boys are born into my family line then girls."

"I still don't like it," Hermione growled, although she had calmed down considerably.

"I didn't particularly like it either, Hermione," Luna promised her friend, "but I accepted it, because I knew that it would look extremely strange if things weren't done properly. You know how some people keep a close eye on anything that they can use to get above one of their enemies and even if the lack of the dowry was just between the four of us it might still get out and cause all sorts of trouble as people might say that your marriage wasn't a real one because there hadn't been one. Now if Harry hadn't adopted you as his sister and you had remained just Hermione Jean Granger, then it would be normal for two people to get married without discussing such archaic notions as a dowry, but since Harry did adopt you into our family this is what is expected and Sirius and I made sure that Harry knew this, even though he doesn't like it anymore than you do."

"I will not have people start rumors that I did not do my job as your brother and your guardian in the magical world," Harry told Hermione. "It's bad enough that people gossip about my defeat of Voldemort and don't consider my feelings on the matter and even if they did they likely wouldn't care. There are enough wild rumors floating around about me as it is, I will not deliberately start anymore, especially not ones that could come back to bite us in the ass at some point."

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't consider your feelings in the matter," Hermione said looking contrite. "You just mentioned the word dowry and I saw red, as I consider such notions just as Luna said archaic as I am nobodies property and that's what the word implies."

"Think of it this way," Luna said. "You allowed David to put his mark on you, even though it kind of makes you his property, because it gives you an enormous amount of protection in the shifter community, but mostly because you trust him, so think of the dowry that Harry and David are going to discuss as the same thing. You know that David loves you for who you are and doesn't really consider you property, but appearances must be kept."

"Appearances matter," Dave said and Luna and Harry nodded soberly in agreement, "and if we do this properly this just adds another layer of protection for you, which is the only reason I'm going to go along with it."

"To offer a dowry is tradition as are betrothal contracts, which goes back before even the founders of Hogwarts and if you ask the purebloods to change their traditions they would rise up in protest. Harry's every action is scrutinized enough as it is without giving the purebloods something to flap their lips about. Besides, if we do this those in power will see that despite being raised in the muggle world that Harry is upholding the traditions of the magical one and that will only make his life easier."

"Alright, I can see that," Hermione finally agreed after she had thought about it.

"Do we need to discuss a betrothal contract as well?" Harry asked Dave with the distinct twinkle in his green eyes.

"No, there's no need unless Hermione wants one in order to preserve her family name," Dave said after Hermione glared at him.

"Alright, that's enough you three," Hermione ordered. "There will be no betrothal contracts as there is no need for one since I have dozens of relatives. Being given to any man even if I love him, like a piece of property is bad enough, don't make it moreso or I'm going to start hexing people."

Everyone laughed, but also knew she was serious and so changed the subject.

"So can we expect any nieces and nephews in the near future?" Harry asked Dave and Hermione slyly.

Dave just looked smug and Hermione blushed and Harry took that to mean that yes, he and Luna could expect some, which explained at least partly why the two of them wanted to get married so quickly. People would still be able to count the months between the wedding and the birth, but that didn't matter, as Dave and Hermione weren't the first couple to get ahead of themselves and get the female pregnant before the actual wedding nor would they be the last. Besides, if everything he knew about shifters was true they almost always had multiples either twins or triplets, although they could have more than that, just that those were the most common and since multiples were always notoriously early, there would no be no telling with any accuracy when they had actually been conceived, but still people would gossip.

"Harry Potter that is it that type of question you ask," Hermione scolded her brother.

"It was a perfectly legit question," Harry protested mock offended, although he couldn't prevent a smile from tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Can I help it if you embarrass so easily? From what I know about shifters most of them have large families and there's no reason for the two of you not to get started on that right away since it's not like your relationship is temporary."

"Yes, my family was pretty well-off so I have quite a few fratelli and sorelle," Dave agreed, "and trust me, it's not the least unusual for a shifter to have a 20 or even 30 children if they so desire, so long as they have the money to take care of them. Of course, to have that many children is most common with lifemates and not just shifters who marry so they won't be lonely or because they believe they've fallen in love. I'm not saying that those relationships a lot of times don't work out, just that they aren't as deep a one as you can have with the person meant for you whether male or female. I'm not saying that Hermione and I will have that many pups, just that it's a possibility."

"I doubt very much that I'll go through pregnancy and labor enough times to have that many," Hermione said, "as I am no one's broodmare."

"Of course not," Dave agreed as he kissed her cheek tenderly. "I'm just speaking about what is common not about what will happen to us. I will never think of you as property, even if I marked you as such, as that was more to protect you from other shifters who might get ideas that they could have you with or without your consent as we have bad people in our community, just as humans or magicals do. I love you way to much to treat you in any other way except as my equal, as you are not my whore or my broodmare and only good enough to bear my pups."

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," Hermione said a little embarrassed that she had just jumped to conclusions without getting all her fact first. She might not know everything about Dave yet, but she knew him well enough to know that he would never treat her with anything other than respect and love. Besides, if she had believed otherwise she never would have agreed to date him for so long and then to complete the bond.

"It's alright, I understand that you're very independent and some of the things that we've been talking about just go against your grain and the way you were raised, they go against mine to, since I certainly don't see you as my property. I do understand that you were raised to be self-sufficient and to look after yourself and there is nothing wrong with this. Besides, I've told you before as lifemates I will never treat you as anything, except the love of my life and that's with respect, kindness, love and devotion."

"I know that, I just jumped in before I really thought about what you were saying," Hermione admitted looking embarrassed.

"I will always love you and that includes your passionate and fiercely independent nature," Dave told her sincerely. "I would never try to change you from who you are because I fell in love with all of you, your thirst for justice, your passion, your intelligence, your kindness, your independence, your stubbornness, your determination, your large heart that often forgives no matter how much you were hurt by someone and your compassion for everyone even those who don't deserve it. I love every single part of you and even when you get angry at me as that's bound to happen since even lifemates argue sometimes, I'll still love you."

Hermione listened and she had tears in her eyes, as Dave told her exactly how he felt about her. She knew intellectually at least that Dave loved her completely, but not deep in her heart at least until that moment, even if she'd known that she and Dave would be together forever. Even despite the bond she felt with him or the magical oath they had both taken she had still had her doubts, but not anymore as Dave had banished them forever.

Hermione flung her arms around Dave's neck not caring that Harry and Luna were on the other side of the table as she had forgotten their presence for the moment.

"I love you so much," Hermione said, as she kissed him passionately on the lips.

"And I love you," Dave told her tenderly, as he ran one knuckle over her cheek returning the kiss just as passionately. "I will always love you, no matter what and that's a promise."

"I know," Hermione said simply not stating that she had still had her doubts despite the magical oath or the shifter bond, just not anymore.

Everything else faded into the background as brown eyes met brown and a whole conversation seemed to flow between them in a matter of seconds and when they finally looked away they found Harry and Luna trying their best not to pay them any attention, but both of them had tears in their eyes from the tender, touching scene they had just witnessed.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"So you wanted to discuss a dowry for Hermione," Dave said after Harry had invited him to his study while Hermione was not present, as he knew very well that discussing such things would offend her. Hermione might know it was necessary, but that did not mean that she wanted to be present for such a discussions, as it would only make her mad that she was being talked about like a piece of property, even if neither man thought of her that way and they just had to comply with the tradition. Both Harry or Dave could understand Hermione's point of view, as the idea of a dowry was extremely old fashioned, but then the British wizarding world was stuck in the Victorian era, so it shouldn't be such a surprise that such things as dowries were still used.

"I did, and I'd much rather not bother with it," Harry admitted, "but Sirius insisted that I had to offer a dowry for when Hermione married since I adopted her as my sister. He told me it would look wrong if I did not and like I didn't care about Hermione at all and so my enemies would think that they were free to attack her. Since nothing could be farther from the truth, as I do love her, here we sit to discuss a subject that neither of us particularly care to."

"So here we sit," Dave repeated by way of agreement.

He found that he liked Hermione's fratello and his moglie a great deal and he suspected that they would become very good friends over the next few years, which was just fine with him as it was always good to be on friendly terms with your brother and sister-in-law. He had expected to find someone as famous as Harry Potter to be arrogant and full of himself and think he was God's gift to the wizarding world, despite rumors to the contrary, but nothing could be further from the truth. Harry was nothing like he expected, but what he did know about him he liked a great deal, as the younger man was kind, generous, intelligent, even if he wasn't at his sister's level, but then few people were, passionate about justice and even if he did have a few faults like leaping into danger to help someone he loved he guessed that was mostly due to the fact that he had been expected to be the savior of the British wizarding world from the moment he had stepped onto the platform that led to the Hogwarts Express when he was eleven. It was just so ingrained into his personality now that it was unchangeable. It had been drummed into his head during every adventure while at school and had led him to thinking that way, which he knew very well was not only Dumbledore's fault, but the other adults for just sitting back and letting it happen, even if Dumbledore held the most blame.

"Alright, let's get this started so we can get it over with," Harry finally said, as he and Dave sat silently lost in their own thoughts. "I don't like discussing Hermione like she's my property, but as her guardian at least in the magical world, we both know this is what is expected, even if I think it's a very archaic custom that needs to be done away with. I'm offering you 100,000 Galleons as her dowry, even though as she has already stated she doesn't need it, but as she is very valuable to me since she has been my friend and never left my side since our first year at Hogwarts and if my parent's had had a daughter before they died I would hope she was as intelligent, passionate and kind just as Hermione is."

"5,000 Galleons," Dave countered and the bargaining truly begun, although he was touched by Harry's words as he knew that Hermione's brother meant them.

"95,000 Galleons," Harry offered in return.

"15,000 Galleons, Dave countered yet again.

"That's not nearly enough for her value to me," Harry said shaking his head in denial. "80,000 Galleons."

"25,000 Galleons," Dave countered, even though he thought that was way too much as Hermione's value to him had nothing to do with gold and he wouldn't accept a single Knut for her if there was any other way, but Harry was correct that they had to discuss a dowry, just so they could be seen to be doing things properly since Harry was a very powerful, rich influential young man, one with many enemies that would pounce on any sign of weakness and he didn't want Hermione to fear for her life every time she set foot in her home country to visit friends or her parents.

"50,000 Galleons, and this large estate that one of my ancestors bought in Switzerland and that's my final offer," Harry said with finality in his tone.

"Alright, 50,000 Galleons and the estate you mentioned," Dave agreed knowing that he couldn't get Harry to go any lower, although he thought it was way too much, though he did understand why this was necessary it didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

"If it makes you feel any better put the gold into a trust fund to send any children you have to some magical school whether that's Hogwarts or elsewhere," Harry suggested. "Since we have agreed on an amount and once the contract is signed it doesn't matter how the gold is used, just that the proper traditions and appearances have been kept."

"I would rather not take a single Knut from you or any property for that matter," Dave told Harry who nodded having already known this.

"I know," Harry told Dave with a little smile, "believe me, I didn't particularly want to offer you Hermione like she was a piece of property as I said a few minutes ago, but I as well as Hermione have enough enemies, that they would go after her the second she set foot in England if they thought I didn't care about her."

"I know, which is why I was willing to go along with this as it offers Hermione at least some protection from those that feel she didn't have a right to learn magic much less be a witch and believe me, that is worth more than all the gold you offered me here today," said Dave.

"My beautiful wife informed me that would be the only reason you would accept that you had to take a dowry for Hermione," Harry told Dave with a smile. "She said that you were a good man that wouldn't have taken a single Knut if it hadn't been necessary to protect your mate from certain people."

"No, I wouldn't have, as I have plenty of money of my own and I've never been the greedy type," Dave explained and Harry nodded. "Not only is my family fairly well off, even if they aren't in the Potters league, when it comes to ready treasure, I've made my own fortune due to my writing career. No, I wouldn't have accepted a single Knut, if it hadn't been absolutely necessary. Your idea of putting it into a fund for our children's education is a good one though and I believe that Hermione will immediately agree, as she didn't want us to particularly discuss this subject anyway."

"She will, as she will think it's a splendid idea and it might not pay to put all your children through seven years of schooling depending on how many you have, but it will pay for a great many of them," Harry said.

"It will," Dave agreed, "though back when I was born it would have paid for every single pup of my parents to go to school for all seven years, but then that was 30 years ago and prices have gone up since then due to inflation. Still, I accept the 50,000 Galleons and the estate in Switzerland as Hermione's dowry."

"Splendid, let's get the paperwork out of the way so that we can forget about it entirely," Harry suggested eagerly ready to close the subject and if he had his way he would never think about it again.

Harry handed Dave some paperwork after filling out the blank spaces and the older man read over it carefully before nodding. It wasn't that he didn't trust Harry to be honest and do the right thing, but still it was expected that he read over the contract just to make sure it was correct and that no mistakes had been made.

Dave signed with the already inked quill that Harry handed him and then the younger man signed as well. There was instantly a magical golden light and two copies instead of just the one appeared.

"You take the original and I'll keep the copy in my files," Harry said handing Dave the original contract while he picked up the magical copy. "Now that all that stuff is out of the way I intend on filing this with Gringotts and then I'm never going to think about it again."

"I don't blame you, as it was as hard on me as it was on you," Dave chuckled relaxing now that all the nasty business was out of the way, "I don't intend to ever think about it ever again either, since I no more wanted to go through with it then you did, but as has already been stated appearances must be kept. So how large is this estate you were talking about?"

"I thought you might ask that so I had the goblins compile a folder with all the information that they had on it," Harry said pushing a blue folder in Dave's direction.

Dave opened the folder and slowly read the information it contained, not that there was more than a couple of sheets.

"Whoah!" Dave whistled appreciatively as he read that there was 60 acres of land and that the chalet that had been built on the property had well over 50 bedrooms with 10 bathrooms, along with multiple other rooms like a parlor, a lady's solar, a game room or sunroom, a vineyard as it was built down in a valley that was excellent for wine and it had been producing such, even after the Potters had been murdered as it also came with six house-elves, who he was sure had kept the place in excellent shape, even though there had been no occupations in several decades at least and likely longer than that.

"It could easily be retrofitted for electricity, as I'm sure the goblins could find you a squib electrician since it's under multiple wards and the general muggle population doesn't even know that it exists and they don't think to require where the wine comes from since it also sold in the muggle world," Harry said.

"Hermione isn't going to be too happy about the house-elves you know," Dave said. "She believes they've been brainwashed, into accepting slavery."

"I know, believe me, I know," Harry admitted with a grimace, "however, we both know that house-elves would die if they were set free because they take pieces of magic from their masters. Hermione has gotten used to Dobby, Winky and the other house-elves here and know that they're much happier here than they would be with other families and so accepts it, but the only reason that the six elves have survived so long without somebody in residence is because the estate is built on a nexus of several minor ley lines. However, even if you and Hermione only spend a week or two there every year or so it will make the house-elves happy and it will have the added benefit of also helping them keep their magic. Hermione has yet to understand that house-elves love to serve and the only thing that really needs to be changed is the way they are treated and not simply pushing freedom on them when that is the last thing that they want. You might consider asking a couple of them to help you look after your children whenever Hermione gives birth as taking care of one baby is hard enough much less two or more."

"You know I was thinking about hiring a nanny, but having house-elves that are loyal to the house Potter and also Rossi would probably be better," Dave mused

"All a house-elf really asks for is a roof over their heads, a family to care for and meaningful work to do, as they don't need to be paid like Hermione insists they should be. I'm not saying that she doesn't have a passion for justice, but in this case she is wrong as house-elves have no use for gold and being turned out of their family is the worst thing that can happen to them," Harry said.

"Have you tried explaining this to Hermione?" Dave asked

"Luna did as she knew much more about house-elves and others creatures in the wizarding world then I did back then, but at the time Hermione wasn't ready to hear it," Harry explained. "However, we're going to have to find a way to explain it to her and actually get her to listen instead of going off on a rant about how they've been brainwashed into slavery."

"I'll get her to listen," Dave promised. "I think Hermione has grown a great deal ever since the war in Britain ended as war changes people and forces children and even adults to grow up fast, so I think she'd be willing to listen to an explanation now and if she doesn't believe me, I'm sure she'll believe Luna."

"Yes, she has grown in the last several years, ever since the defeat of Voldemort and the process began even before that," Harry admitted, "and maybe you're right and she'll be more ready to listen to our explanations instead of knitting hats for house-elves like she did our 5th and final year. She actually thought she had freed a great many of the house-elves that worked to maintain Hogwarts and cook the food, but Dobby confessed to me that it was him that cleaned Gryffindor tower as the other house-elves refused to for fear of Hermione's hats."

"I've never met anyone with her passion for justice," Dave admitted, "but in this case, I agree with you that her efforts are misplaced."

"Yes, normally Hermione researches everything, but as far as I know she never did the same to find out the real reason that house-elves were bound to families or someplace magical like Hogwarts. Of course, it's also possible that she couldn't find out anything about why they were bonded in the first place, as it could very well have been forgotten either over time or on purpose."

The two men continued to talk quietly for a few minutes before Dave took his leave and with the contract in hand he headed to the Floo, so he could get back to his mate.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"I would like you to meet my family before the actual wedding, so that you can start to get to know each other," Dave told Hermione. "They'll love you I guarantee it and they would just because you make me so happy, but they will love you for yourself once they get a chance to know you."

It was just shy of three months after they had completed the bond and this was the first time that Dave had brought the subject up. Dave and Hermione had discovered that she was indeed pregnant and according to the spell that Luna had done over her belly, since she had learned a lot of healing spells over the years Hermione was carrying triplets, although at the time Luna had done that spell it was much too soon to tell the sex of the fetuses not that it mattered to either Hermione or Dave because they would be having others, so if they got all of one sex this time then they had an opportunity to try again. When Dave had learned that she was carrying triplets she knew him well enough by that point to not be at all surprised by his ecstatic reaction nor had it surprised her at the way he'd picked her up and spun her around happily. After Dave had learned of his impending fatherhood nothing had been able to erase his grin for a week.

"I would be happy to meet your parents," Hermione said sincerely causing Dave to break into a happy grin.

"They know all about you as who do you think I went to for advice, when I needed it? I was so sexually frustrated that I was ready to spit nails and my father advised me to be patient and that if I rushed things I would ruin my chances with you. I remember his exact words to and they were, 'I am very happy, David that you have finally found your lifemate, but you must remember that your mate unlike us is not a shifter and she apparently already had one bad experience with a man trying to push her into something she wasn't ready for. You must treat her with all the love and respect she deserves, but you also must be careful not to push your own agenda onto her, because if you do you will likely lose her and I doubt very much that she'll give you a second chance, so go carefully son and it will all work out in the end. For the moment all you can do is be a shoulder to cry on, be supportive and above all be honest with her, because if you lie to her even once she will likely never trust your word again. Son, I want nothing more then to see you happy and you haven't really been so in longer than I care to remember, or at least not the complete happiness that your lifemate brings, so whatever you do be extremely solicitous of your Hermione's feelings, listen to her opinion and take it under advisement and always give her honest advice when asked for it. I know that I'll see both of you here when she is ready to complete the bond with you, but remember in the meantime don't push her and wait for her to be ready, because remember I taught you that your mate's needs come before your own. I know it's really frustrating son, but trust me, your patience will be rewarded in the end. Papà told me that about a month after you and I had met as I was having trouble controlling myself around you."

"He sounds like a wise and wonderful man," Hermione said.

"Oh, he is," Dave promised, as he kissed her passionately. "I always go to him when I need advice about something in my life, even though I'm 40. I know the two of you will love each other and he'll treat you like a daughter."

"What about your mother?" Hermione asked.

"She's a wonderful woman," Dave said in an affectionate tone. "You'll love her just as much as you will papà, and she'll love you in return. She did everything a mother should do when we were growing up, she taught us responsibility by giving us chores and considering that there was so many of us, this helped her out as it gave her time to look after the younger ones. She taught all of us how to cook, although not all my fratelli and sorelle are as good at it, as I am. She also taught us social responsibility and to help those in need as sometimes all that requires is you giving a little bit of your time to listen to what somebody has to say. She is one of the most genuinely warmhearted and kind woman I have ever known before I met you. The two of you share many similar personality traits and yet each of you is an individual with quite a few differences as well."

"I'm really looking forward to meeting them," Hermione said sincerely. "They sound like wonderful people and I can't see you turning out as well as you did unless they were, as parental influence has a lot to do with what a child grows up to be like, although environment and a person's role models also plays a part."

"Well, they are certainly looking forward to meeting you," Dave said, "and expect to be hugged after the introductions by my mother at least and my father will probably do the same. Also expect to be fed like a queen every time we stop by as my mother like me loves to cook and she always spoils whatever company she has, particularly family."

"So I'm assuming that at least some of your siblings are married?" said Hermione.

"Some of them," Dave agreed, "as I do have a few fratelli and sorelle that met their lifemates years ago. However, as I'm sure you can guess I still have plenty of siblings that are not married and a few that decided to get married, even though that person wasn't their mate and so far those relationships seem to be working out."

"I bet you have several dozen nieces and nephews," Hermione suggested with a smile.

"More than that," Dave laughed, "but then shifter families tend to be large, so by the time you count married couples and all their children our family is huge. I tend to lose track of all my nieces and nephews I do have, but it's more then three or four dozen I promise you."

"Yes, I know that shifters have the largest families in the world for the most part as very few muggles and especially magical families can't match you for sheer size," Hermione said.

"It might seem strange that outsiders that we would have so many pups, but that's those people problem as us shifters have are own priorities," Dave explained and Hermione nodded. "Unlike a lot of humans or even magicals, we always love our pups, even if they come from another marriage or a one night stand. We always accept responsibility for the pups we have created whether that's through a legitimate marriage or because one of us was careless and got some woman pregnant. Let's just say that those that don't, are shunned in the shifter community, as we have our deviants to, those that abandon their pups at the first sign of bumps along the marriage road or refuse to accept responsibility for their offspring from a one night stand or due to an accident, like where the condom broke for example as that does happen sometimes. Getting a divorce is acceptable so long as that person isn't your lifemate, but you still have to keep in contact with any pups that were born during the marriage or at least accept responsibility for them if your former spouse doesn't feel like raising them all by themselves. You make sure that they grow up to understand their responsibilities within the shifter community and also that they turn into decent people. We do have our criminals, but we seem to have a much lower percentage then humans or magicals."

"That's the way it should be," Hermione said approvingly. "You raise your children to be good people, so that they don't turn out spoiled rotten brats who demand things or cause nothing but trouble. I met quite a few people in England who think they're better than anyone else simply because they have plenty of Galleons in the bank and because they're purebloods, who came from generations of other purebloods and a lot of them believe that makes them better."

"So who have you met like that?" Dave asked curiously.

"The Malfoys spring to mind immediately," Hermione answered. "I went to school with their son Draco and you would not find a more spoiled rotten brat then Draco Malfoy. He had been raised to think that he was better than anyone else unless they were in your social circle, which of course, meant purebloods with many generations of other purebloods on either side of their family. To him he was free taunt and bully me, because I was a lowly muggle-born and he had been told his whole life that people like me were barely magical and definitely did not deserve to learn it. He believed like his parents did that muggle-borns needed to be wiped out along with muggles like my parents and that only purebloods had a right to learn magic. Of course, it didn't help any that I was top of every class, but of course, I studied my butt off for the grades I got and Malfoy only did good enough to please his father and no more. It wasn't that he wasn't intelligent, just that he had been told his whole life that the purebloods and others of similar status were soon going to rule the wizarding world, so getting good grades didn't matter. He was always threatening me and Harry and other people he considered below him with 'when my father hears about this' and he was very dependent on his father using his influence to get him out of trouble. It didn't help that the potions master the time Severus Snape coddled his Slytherins while making the other three houses miserable with his insults or undeserved point loss whenever they were in his class and a lot of times outside of class. He went out of his way to hover over the students and to stalk around the room making many of them so nervous that they made mistakes and you can't really make mistakes in potions, as some of the ingredients are dangerous and could cause the potion to explode. Snape had a personal grudge against Harry because his father when he was younger was a bully and Snape was one of those he picked on often by pulling really mean pranks on him and it didn't help that Snape came to owe James Potter a life debt for saving his life and since he wasn't alive that debt was transferred to his son. He was really nasty to Harry in particular all the way through to fifth year when we moved here to Italy and I don't know how Harry put up with it for so long, but the headmaster refused to curb Snape's behavior."

"The more I hear the more I don't think we'll be sending any of our pups to Hogwarts unless the situation improves," Dave commented.

"It has improved quite a bit over the last five years or so, Dumbledore who had his own agenda is dead through his own foolishness and McGonagall is a much better headmistress than Dumbledore ever was a headmaster, as she really does want the best for her students and she has curbed all the bullies behavior and replaced Binns who was a ghost and the history professor. All Binns could talk about was goblin rebellions and you would think history would be such a enthralling subject, but he put his students to sleep and very few of them ever took their N.E. for the subject unless they studied it themselves, like I did," said Hermione.

"I've heard rumors that the curriculum at Hogwarts was a joke, except for very few classes, but I didn't want to mention it before, because I didn't want to talk badly about your old school," Dave said.

"It's alright, I don't expect you to keep your opinion to yourself just so you don't upset me as we should be able to be frank with each other," Hermione said kissing him. "To answer the rumors some of the classes at Hogwarts were great, but some are way behind the times and need updating, but that is going to take a lot of political pull, not to mention cost considerable Galleons."

"So the history of magic course at least is a joke," Dave said.

"So was defense against the dark arts as we had a new teacher every year I attended as something always happened to the teacher by the end of the year. Besides, most of the teachers were a joke and couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag except for Harry's honorary uncle, Remus Lupin in third year as he really knows his stuff."

"And from what I know Hogwarts used to be one of the best magical schools in the world," Dave said shaking his head.

"It will be again, as Professor McGonagall is doing her best to get changes made. Besides, it was discovered after the war was over that Tom Riddle aka Voldemort had left a kind of bad luck jinx that was focused on the defense position that had been somehow been cast within the wards where it was almost unnoticeable unless you went specifically looking for it, although to be fair the wards were a right mishmash instead of how the founders originally set them up, because every headmaster or mistress added their own contribution, but in recent decades more effort was put into making sure that muggles wouldn't be able to see the castle then in preventing dark creatures or things like poison from getting through. From what I have heard from our friend, that actually works there the defense position has been taught by the same teacher for the last five years and that means that the jinx on the position is no longer there, which means that Voldemort is truly dead. I believe that the purebloods like the school the way it is as they want to keep the general wizarding population behind the times, because they are stuck in the Victorian era and since they are the ones in control for the most part..."

"Yes, I see what you mean," Dave said slowly

"Things are improving slowly, but surely. For instance McGonagall has been trying to get Harry to come teach defense since he's quite good at it, but so far Harry has refused. He could do it you know and still make his home in Italy since there is only an hour time difference, but considering how he was treated in school for the five years he was there I don't really blame him a for not wanting to go back," Hermione said. "Personally, I think he would be an excellent teacher, as he had a defense club our last year there when we had a ministry flunky that refused to actually teach us defense and just had us reading out of the textbook and considering that we had very important exams upcoming, ones that would determine what we could take for our 6th year it was a good thing I convince Harry to teach some students defense. In any case, anybody that Harry taught passed their exams with flying colors while the rest of the school wasn't so lucky."

"It sounds like your ministry is just as messed up," Dave said shaking his head. "When will the British purebloods learn not to care just about themselves, but about their children's futures whether they be purebloods, half-blood or mundane-born."

"When they stop being so selfish, which I don't see happening, as not only are they very inbred, they are to set in their ways and somebody really has to want to change in order to accomplish it," Hermione said. "Personally, I think certain family lines should just be allowed to die out Malfoy, Jugson Carrow, Crabbe, Flint, Goyle, Lestrange, Nott, Avery and Macnair, as they were all high ranking members of the Death Eaters and believe that their world needs to be purged of those they feel are unworthy to learn magic, which is a very large percentage of the population. I would add Black in there as well, but there have been a few light sided members of the Black family including Harry's godfather so I don't want to lump them in with the other Death Eaters."

"If what I've heard is right those lines will be dead within a few generations if they don't change their ways and continue to only marry other purebloods anyway or at the least if they don't marry foreign purebloods, since they will not be related to them," Dave commented and Hermione readily agreed with that because it was true.

"So when do you want me to meet your parents and are you going to take me to their place are you going to invite them here?" asked Hermione.

"Well, mom will probably insist that we come for dinner, particularly for the first meeting," David admitted. "As I said she loves to cook, and she will likely insist that she does just that, as she considers that a way to start to get to know you and that's over the dinner table. My mother believe that if you don't take second helpings then something is wrong with you and I have to admit that most of the females in my family take seconds and even thirds."

"If I eat seconds and thirds I'll be fatter then a whale," Hermione said amused. "I doubt very much that I'll take seconds, because I've never eaten so much at one sitting not even when Harry and I used to spend part of the summers with the Weasley family as the matron of the family knows how to cook almost as well as you do."

Of course, Hermione didn't mention the fact that Molly Weasley had later betrayed her and Harry, but she still remembered those meals with the entire family fondly despite what had happened later.

Was she still very furious and pissed at Molly Weasley for what she had done, of course, she was and she would never forgive the matron of the Weasley family as long as she lived, but despite her numerous faults she really was an excellent cook and that was the only compliment that Hermione could think to give her. Besides, just because she hated Molly Weasley's guts along with Ron of course, that didn't mean the rest of the family weren't good people, even Percy who had a stick up his ass.

"Well, Italian hospitality is famous, as we just love to feed people and this is doubly true when you're joining the family or are a guest in an Italian house," Dave admitted, "and in your case both are true, although you will be family soon enough, even if technically you already are. Besides, this is your first meeting and some of the traditions are different, but in any case, as I said expect to be welcomed warmly as my parents have really wanted to meet you ever since I told them about you about a month into our fledging relationship."

"I'll look forward to it," Hermione promised.

"I'll make all the arrangements," Dave promised.

"You do that," Hermione said, as she cuddled into Dave side perfectly content just to absorb his body heat.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Welcome, welcome," Salvatore Rossi greeted his son and the woman on his arm who must be his mate Hermione. Unusual name that, even if he knew it came from Shakespeare due to David telling him and Silvia as much.

He slapped his son on the back in greeting and kissed both his cheeks, before turning toward Hermione and greeted her cordially before kissing both her cheeks as well and also giving her a hug.

"Welcome to the family, Hermione," Salvatore told the beautiful young lady warmly.

"Thank you," Hermione said trying not to blush, for the warm genuine greeting was unlike any response she had received before except in the Weasley home.

Dave sniffed the air appreciatively and I said, "I just knew that mamma would cook up a storm. I've been looking forward to some good home cooking all week."

"You know your madre, figlio," Salvatore told Dave who nodded. "She insisted that she had to cook a five course meal."

"Just so you are aware I do speak Italian," Hermione told Salvatore who looked surprised then pleased.

"Well, that is a surprise, a pleasant one to be sure, but still a surprise as most magicals from England only know their own language no offense, young lady."

"No offense taken," Hermione promised Salvatore with genuine smile. "I'm not so thin skinned that I'm going to take offense at an innocent comment like that, especially since it also happens to be the truth. I'm mundane born, although we do call them muggles over in England and I just love to learn new things."

"So how long did it take you to pick up our language?" Salvatore asked curiously, but also genuinely interested in the answer.

"Not very long at all because my brother Harry and I kind of cheated and took this magical potion called polyglot. It helps you absorb the language and understand what's being said immediately, but you really need to live in the country and hear the native speakers for you to really get the subtle nuances of it. Since Harry and I have been living here since he was 15 and I was 16, we picked up the language in just a week or so. It also extends to the written language."

"That's pretty amazing, even for an old man like myself, who is used to being around magic because his wife is a witch after all and so are a lot of his children," Salvatore said impressed. "Do you think you would walking an old shifter like me?"

"Yes," Hermione responded simply, "because it worked on my mundane parents who are dentist. They've moved back to England now, but they did live with Harry and I for a few years."

"I thought you said Harry was your brother?" Salvatore said puzzled.

"He is, but Harry and I weren't born to the same parents as he adopted me into his familyl because we thought of each other that way and we were both only children. We started school together at Hogwarts in Scotland, became best friends the first week and it just evolved from there. His father was a pureblood, his mother mundane born although his parents were killed when he was just a baby. In any case, his father's family was extremely wealthy and influential and he knew that adopting me would also be giving me, a mundane born, a measure of protection from those who would like to see me dead simply, because I don't have the proper bloodline. I'm afraid I'm pretty well known in England, because I excelled in school and outclassed those pureblood children in every class and I also fought in the battle against Voldemort and so as I said there are many magical folks in England, mostly purebloods, that would like to see me dead, but most of them won't dare go against Harry as he's too powerful to defy directly," Hermione explained leaving out a lot of details, but then the two of them had just met and she wasn't about to give him the full history of her life anytime soon, if ever.

"Oh, yes, David mentioned that when he visited about a month after he met you to tell us that he had met his lifemate, but I had forgotten," Salvatore said.

Salvatore said nothing more, although he seemed to realize that there was much more to Hermione's brief explanation, but was polite enough not to ask as he knew that his new daughter-in-law had no reason to trust him, although hopefully, that would come with time. He was puzzled though that how such a young woman as she couldn't have been more than 17 or 18 at most, when that battle had taken place could be involved in such a fight against evil, as that should've been the job of the adults and not young pups who had barely even reached adulthood and had a chance to really experience life.

"Son, why don't you go introduce show made to your madre?" Salvatore suggested. "I suspect dinner will be ready in just a few minutes."

"Of course," Dave agreed. "I can hardly wait to taste some of mamma's good home cooking."

Dave led Hermione towards the kitchen where he knew his mother would be cooking up a storm and going overboard on the meal, so he suspected that there would be plenty of leftovers after they finished eating, enough for several days at least.

"Mamma," Dave said, as he and Hermione entered the large kitchen, which was the center of any Italian home.

"David," the beautiful woman greeted her son with a kiss on both cheeks. The older woman had black hair except much longer and curly, like her son's, except Dave's was straight like his father's.

"So introduce me to this beautiful young woman, figlio," the older woman admonished Dave.

Hermione knew that figlio meant son and madre mother and that padre was the word for father.

"Yes, ma'am," Dave said and then carried out the introductions. "Hermione, this is my madre, Silvia Rossi. Mamma this is my mate, Hermione Granger."

"I'd like to welcome you to the family, Hermione," Silvia told the beautiful young woman sincerely with a warm genuine smile.

"Grazie, apprezzo il vostro caloroso benvenuto," Hermione responded politely in Italian with the same sincere smile that she had given Dave's father. (Thank you, I appreciate your warm welcome.)

Silvia looked rather surprised at this English woman speaking Italian then extremely pleased.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect you to know Italian," Silvia chuckled as she was not often surprised anymore and yet Hermione had not been here more than half an hour and she had already astonished the older woman.

"As I was just telling Dave's padre a few minutes ago there is a potion called polyglot that will allow you to learn any language, but you really need to be in the country for awhile. It'll allow you to understand whatever language you want to learn immediately, but you really need to be around native speakers in order to pick up the accent and really learn the pronunciation of the words," Hermione explained.

"Well, I have never heard of this potion," Silvia said perusing her lips in thought, "but I suppose that's really not so surprising considering there are a lot of potions out there that are only used in the country that they were created in and a lot more that fell out of favor for one reason or another."

"In this potion's case it's incredibly tricky to brew, kind of like the Felix Felicis or aka the liquid luck potion, but unlike the luck potion it's also incredibly expensive. I don't know many people that are willing to pay 150 Galleons just to learn another language more easily at least not in the current political climate in England. Back before communications broke down between countries, this potion was more widely used as knowing another language a hundred years ago looked better on a person's resumé, but now the purebloods have become so inbred that it's fallen out of favor as they believe they don't need to communicate with anybody who doesn't speak English," said Hermione.

"Yes, I had heard rumors anyway, although it's been second and third hand information for the most part," Silvia admitted. "Most magicals here in Italy were aware of the dark wizard that was trying his best to take over and we all knew that eventually Voldemort would turn his eyes on us as he just didn't want England, but the entire world. Us Italians were so happy when we found out, that he had been killed by Harry Potter, even though I still think that Voldemort should've been handled by adults and not a young man who was barely out of his childhood."

"I and my brother Harry Potter agree with you," Hermione told the older woman liking Silvia Rossi a great deal as she was warm and genuine and was genuinely outraged that a child or at least someone who had barely finished growing up had been forced to deal with such an evil wizard. "The adults sat back and did nothing and let Harry deal with it, all because they were too lazy or scared or secretly thought he was doing the right thing so didn't do anything about it, so that left a bunch of children to face Voldemort and his Death Eaters. However, every magical over the age of about 11 carries a deadly weapon in their hand, it's called a wand. Now I understand that none of them could face Voldemort and not risk death since he was deadly, but his Death Eaters were another matter entirely and if they had only banded together they could have taken down many of them and without forces or money if the wizarding government in England had done the proper thing and fined the Death Eaters families heavily..."

"Yes, that does make sense," Silvia said slowly as she continued preparing the meal. "I get what you're saying. You mean that if Voldemort hadn't had forces in order to spread terror or money for bribes and supplies then he would have been hamstrung and no matter how powerful he was there's no way he could wage war by himself with no followers."

"Yes, I firmly believe that he would have been easier to take down then and that he only would've been able to escape justice for so long before he was finally eliminated," said Hermione.

"However, I think we need to talk about more pleasant things," Silvia finally said. "Like for example if you're going to get married in either the mundane or magical world or even both."

Hermione accepted the change subject gratefully and answered Dave's mother. "Yes, we were planning to do both, a small magical ceremony with just my brother and his wife as witnesses and then a larger muggle one. We've already decided to warn the magicals in England that if they can't dress properly not to attend, because they would probably wear dress robes or something equally obvious, so that they stuck out like sore thumbs. I don't think any of the friends that Harry and I went to school with will have a problem dressing appropriately, as they are much more flexible than their elders. Our friends might need advice on what to wear, but at least they'll listen to that advice and let us help them, but the older generation not so much."

"I want you to call me Silvia and Dave's father Salvatore, as you are family now and to most Italians family is very important," Silvia said. "You make my son so happy that he is almost glowing and I have not seen him this way since he was a child, which as you know was many years ago."

"He makes me very happy too," Hermione said, as she leaned over and kissed Dave on the cheek causing him to give his mate's hand a gentle squeeze. The two of them had been holding hands ever since the had sat down at the kitchen table to talk to Silvia as she cooked, but then for shifters and their mate, this was not at all unusual.

"Do you need any help planning?" Silvia asked pleased to see her son and his mate showing affection for each other and her new daughter-in-law not being to shy to do so when she was with other people. She noticed the way her son lit up every time Hermione spoke or even looked in his direction and it was clear that David adored her and that those feelings were reciprocated. Silvia had feared for awhile that Hermione would never be able to return on her figlio's feelings because of what had happened to her years ago had scarred her to the point that she simply could not, but luckily, that was not the case and once David had earned her trust his and his mate's story had had a happy ending and she thanked every deity she knew that was the case as she wanted her son happy and because of Hermione he definitely was. She was very happy to welcome this beautiful young woman that was David's lifemate into the family and it was already clear the her David's mate was pregnant as she was several months along and even babies that had only one shifter as a parent grew much faster then a mundane's or just an ordinary magical's baby did. For those two peoples the gestation period was nine months for the babies to be ready to be born, but for shifters, especially ones with magic as for some reason that seemed to speed up the process a little the gestation period was much shorter and lasted only six months, so soon she would have more grand pups although she had plenty of those already, just not from David, so that would make their births doubly special.

"No, mamma," Dave said speaking for the first time since his initial greeting. "We already have Hermione's sister-in-law Luna helping her out, and also Harry's insisting that he's going to pay for the whole thing as it's his job as brother of the bride, as her parents though they make a good living could not afford to thanks to the lavish bash they are planning."

"I tried arguing with him, but when Harry decides he's going to do something there's not much you can do to convince him otherwise," Hermione said making a face. "I told him that since he adopted me as his sister I have plenty of money of my own and Dave also has more Galleons then he knows what to do with and we were going to split the cost between us."

"You should let your brother do this for you because he loves you," Silvia told Hermione gently. "He never would have adopted you into his family if he didn't truly care for you and I can tell that you care for him as well. I can see that you are a fiercely independent young lady and while there is nothing wrong with this you need accept help when it's offered, so long as you are sure you can trust the individual that made the offer. You do not need to do everything yourself as that just means that you're taking on more of a burden then is really necessary. You must cut yourself some slack sometime and allow people who genuinely love you for who you are to help you."

"You're right," Hermione admitted, "and I know you are, but as you said I'm fiercely independent and I don't like anybody trying to change that even if intellectually I realize that's not what's happening it's just that my stubborn streak kicks in before I can stop it. I know it's something I need to work on in the future and allow those people I trust to help me."

"So long as you recognize that you do have a problem with accepting help particularly when it comes to financial aid, then half the battle is already won as admitting that you have a problem is a major step in the right direction," Silvia said with a pleased smile. "You are young, and have only been out on your own for a few years, but you will hopefully, learn from experience and through that learn to temper that stubborn, independent streak of yours. I have an independent streak just as you do, but I allow my husband to help me when I have a problem because I trust him to do right by me, but it took us awhile for us to get to that stage despite being lifemates, just like you and my figlio are, you are still having to learn to trust each other with your worries, concerns and fears and that takes time and a willingness to talk about your problems. Now enough of this serious conversation for dinner is ready. Figlio, why don't you go get your padre, dinner is ready."

"Sì, mamma," Dave agreed as he rose from where he had been sitting and headed to find his father and tell him dinner was ready.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Dinner at the Rossi was loud and boisterous as several of Dave's siblings had arrived right before dinner was to be served and all of them had greeted each other affectionately. Dave had proudly introduced her to his siblings that had shown up and they had accepted her immediately and welcomed her to the family, which made Hermione feel all warm inside. She had a feeling that she was going to love Dave's family just as he had told her she would and so far what he had said was true as she really was beginning to get very fond of all of them.

"So when are you due?" asked Armida

"Oh, in about three months give a take a few days," Hermione answered honestly.

"Do you know how many you're having?" Armida asked.

"Three," Hermione answered.

"Do you know the sexes?" asked Silvia who had been listening to the conversation.

"It doesn't matter either way, so we decided not to find out," Dave answered before Hermione could. "There will likely be others after this, so if we have all of one sex this time likely we'll have another chance and if we don't then we don't."

"So, do you have any brothers or sisters?" asked Alberto, one of Dave's younger brothers.

"If you mean did I actually grow up with siblings the answer is no. My parents wanted more, but they were never able to have them. I know they wanted at least three, but it was just never meant to be. However, Harry who was my best friend when we went to school together adopted me into his family as I'm mundane born. He's an only child to is his parents were killed when he was just a baby and he has a lot of influence and knew that this would protect me from the pureblood faction in England because his father was a very influential pureblood or rather his family name is very influential."

"So this Harry…" asked Armida.

"His last name is Potter," Hermione said smirking at everyone astonishment, except for the three people who had already known.

"The Harry Potter?" Alberto asked in amazement.

"Yes, the Harry Potter and if you meet him and if you act like that trust me, you'll only annoy him and he'll just brush you off," Hermione warned Alberto and everyone else. "He hates his fame with the passion and if you treat him normally then he'll be your friend for life, but if you treat him like some kind of hero he won't want anything to do with you. I'm sure you'll meet him eventually, Dave already has. Really all he wants is to be left alone to raise his family in peace. As I said he hates his fame and if your eyes flick up to his scar well, he realizes that's just what people do when they hear his name, but you had better not think of treating him any differently than you do anybody else or he'll resent it. The reason we got so close was I treated him as just Harry and not as the boy who lived or later the defeater of Voldemort."

"And that is what most people want to raise their families in peace, without everyone hounding them or wanting a piece of them," Salvatore said looking at his other two children at the table sternly and both Armida and Alberto actually blushed.

"Yes, just as Hermione said I've met Harry and he really is a very nice guy, who loves his sister, his wife and his son, with a little girl on the way. We're already starting to form a friendship, but I'm also careful to treat him as just Harry and not as anything else," Dave said.

"We just heard so much about him," Armida tried to defend herself.

"And you're old enough to know that most of it is likely false or at least exaggerated," Dave told his two siblings with twinkling eyes. "I had heard rumors to, and every preconception I had concerning Harry Potter turned out to be false. You can't really know someone unless you actually have met them and gotten to know them personally, because people will talk and most of them have never met whoever they're talking about personally, and so how can they really know what that person's like?"

"I wonder why he's living here in Italy instead of in England," Alberto said.

"You ought to be able to answer that for yourself," Hermione told Dave's younger brother. "He moved here because he got so tired of people wanting a piece of him and his family had an estate here and so he decided that he wasn't going to go back to England at least permanently, unless of course, somebody forced him and he would have fought to his last breath to prevent that from happening. However, Italy doesn't have a treaty with England, and so they can't force him to go back. Besides, Harry is his own person, not some sort of criminal on the lam and so even if Italy did have a treaty they still couldn't force him to go back, not legally anyway. England is going to have to live without the Potters and learn how to handle their own problems instead of depending on some kind of mystical hero to save them. Had Harry stayed in England he wouldn't've had a moment's peace, but as it is not many people know where he is, except his closest friends that's not likely to be a problem. I'm sure that a majority think that Harry is somewhere within their borders and he's just living very quietly and if they do then why dissuade them? Where Harry lives is none of their business, even if they believe it is."

"Yes, I see what you mean now," Armida admitted. "I never thought of it like that, but you're right if Harry Potter has stayed in England it's very likely that he wouldn't of had a moment's peace. He would've been hounded no matter where he went."

"Precisely," Hermione agreed with a smile. "He wouldn't have been able to walk down Diagon Alley for example without people at least staring at him."

Silvia tactfully changed the subject and Harry Potter wasn't mentioned for the rest of the night.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Dinner had been absolutely wonderful, Hermione thought happily, as she cuddled into Dave's arms in what was now their bed. Dave's parents had been genuinely warm and welcoming and she had felt very at home from the instant that she had stepped into the Rossi home, which was quite large, although not as large as Dave's place. The elder Rossis had proudly given her a tour of their home after dinner and she had noticed some of the rooms seemed bigger than the actual dimensions of the house and knew that Silvia had cleverly used expansion charms, which was considered a difficult spell to master.

Dave had been correct when he had told her that she would fall in love with his parents because she definitely had. Salvatore reminded her a little of Arthur Weasley, in that he was honest, kind, generous and had unswerving ethics and morals, but unlike the elder Weasley, he would never put up with people walking all over him like a carpet or of someone else getting him to do their dirty work without at least questioning their motives, like Arthur had with Dumbledore following his orders without question. Not to mention Salvatore had more commonsense in his little finger then most of the British wizarding population put together bar a very few that she had actually met. It was very easy for her to see how Dumbledore had subtly manipulated things in the direction he wanted them to go. However, Silvia Rossi was not like Molly Weasley at all except for the fact that she loved every single one of her children unconditionally, but she certainly wasn't overbearing like the Weasley matron and she definitely would never brew up a love potion for one of her children and tell them to give it to her. Of course, another similarity was that she could also cook as well as the former matron of the Weasley family and Hermione had to say that it was even better. The Rossi home reminded her of the Burrow in many ways, not in the way it was decorated, but in the atmosphere. An atmosphere of comradery, friendliness, love, but without the overbearing presence of the matron of the family who would come up on you and decide to assign you some job to do just because she thought ideal hands got into trouble and it didn't matter whether you were one of her children or not. Silvia was more the type, to allow you to talk about your problems, listen without judgement and when asked for advice offer it.

"I absolutely love your parents, you were right about that and your brother and sister once we got off the subject of Harry that is," Hermione told Dave finally. "Your parents are so kind, warm and caring, they remind me of my own parents in many ways."

Dave said nothing for a moment and simply held his mate close extremely happy that Hermione did love his parents just as much as he did. He had known that she would fall in love with them, but still it was nice to see that he had been right as he wanted his mate and his parents to get along and act like a real family.

"I knew you would," Dave said finally. "I'm glad I was right though, as I would like my mate to love my parents just as much is do.

"That won't be too hard to do," Hermione promised him with a smile kissing him again. "You know it will take time to develop a close relationship with them, but I like them both so much that I don't mind putting in the effort."

"Yeah, it will take me time to develop a close relationship with your brother and his wife too," Dave agreed readily, "even though I like both of them quite a bit. I always figured that the man that defeated Voldemort was some kind of arrogant braggart, even though the rumors I heard were quite the opposite, but you can't really trust what you hear second or third hand, but instead I find an extremely nice man who has been through too much in his young life because people foisted it upon him, a mere child and he shouldered the burden admirably. Many people would have broken under the burden that they were placed under from 11 until Voldemort was finally defeated and how he didn't I don't have a clue, except to say that he has a very strong will and a stubborn streak a mile wide."

"He is extremely stubborn, and has an innate goodness about him that many people wish they possessed," Hermione said. "I've always been pretty amazed myself at how he could turn out to be such a good person considering his upbringing due to Dumbledore placing him with his muggle aunt and uncle who absolutely loathed magic. The only thing I can figure is that his mother Lily died for him and because of her undying love for her child, it was absorbed into baby Harry's very skin and love is a powerful force and has a magic all it's own."

"So you think his mother's love protected him even after she died in order to save his life," Dave said running that theory through his mind.

"That's what Dumbledore always believed and despite his later revealed manipulations in this one thing I believe he was correct, as I've done my own research, as much as I can," Hermione said, "although it's a good thing that Albus Dumbledore is dead or I would make sure he died in a very painful way, for what he did to Harry in particular, but also for all the people he manipulated for his own ends. Normally I'm not a violent person at all, but just thinking about Albus Dumbledore makes me so mad I want to strangle someone, even though the object of my anger has been dead for several years. I guarantee you if I had the chance there is no way whatever I sent him would be traced back to me and he would die a very painful death."

"I like this new side of you," Dave told his mate sincerely. "It's not that I condone murder, but my family is of the philosophy that sometimes people just need killing because they cause, uncalculatable damage otherwise and Dumbledore was one of these people, because in his own way he was as bad as Voldemort, even though his methods were different."

"Well, that's a different response and I expected," Hermione said with a little grin as she kissed Dave on the nose. "If I had said something like that to someone in England, except perhaps, Mad-Eye Moody, I guarantee you that anybody else, well most of the older adults that didn't deal with the problem the first time around anyway, would think I was turning into a dark witch. Why do you think we had such a large problem even after Voldemort was supposedly defeated. It was because some of those Death Eaters deserved death for what they did during the first war and instead they were put in prison where Voldemort later rescued them, but if they had been thrown through the veil of death then he wouldn't've had as many followers. The government didn't take care of the problem the first time around even after the Potters were killed and Harry left an orphan and if they had, even if Voldemort had returned he at least would have been denied many of his followers as dead people can't cause trouble, but because they were purebloods they were put in prison as that was considered an appropriate sentence. Now normally I'm against killing, but I've come to realize that some people just don't deserve to continue to exist as they will never change their views and they keep on doing what they don't want until someone takes them down like the animals they are and anybody that can kill or at least try to kill a child is definitely an animal."

"I agree with that 100%," Dave said liking this fierce side of his mate, even though it was clear that she was normally a gentle, understanding person, but had learned that sometimes people just needed killing, particularly those that raped and murdered and showed no remorse for their actions. "I don't condone killing unless it's absolutely necessary, but I agree that some of those Death Eaters should have been executed doing the first war as putting them in prison wasn't going to change their views as they were fanatics. They certainly wouldn't have been able to cause such a large problem when their master came back if things had been handled properly."

"Well, Voldemort is gone forever now, as he has no way back to come back like he did in my fourth year, so let's just concentrate on happier things like you and me," Hermione suggested and Dave could definitely agree to that.

"Your madre is one of the most sensible, grounded woman I have ever met and she has commonsense to spare, which I can't say for the majority of the wizarding population in England as most of them seriously lack that trait, with a very few exceptions, although I also realize that I only know a small portion of the wizarding British population, so perhaps, it is unfair to tar them all with the same brush. Still most of the children I knew at Hogwarts as much as I liked some of them didn't have enough commonsense to fill a thimble and since children inherit traits from both their parents that implies that neither one of their parents had that trait."

"I think it's more that they're intellectually lazy not that they're not intelligent," Dave said thinking about it. "They've been depending on their magic for generations and so it's gotten to the point that even older magicals cannot think for themselves, because that was the way they were raised and that means that the younger generation is the same way. They haven't been raised to think for themselves, as for the most part of they're a nation of followers, but as you said there are a few exceptions like yourself."

"That's a good theory for the way that most purebloods are," Hermione admitted, "but it doesn't explain how mundane borns like myself seem to lose their ability to think coherently by the time they finish their magical education."

"I believe that most mundane borns become so enchanted with being able to do magic as they get more absorbed into the magical world they forget their mundane roots," Dave suggested. "After all they start their education at 11 and finish it at 17 or 18, but my point is that they are indoctrinated with the way magicals do things when they're young and impressionable, most of them simply don't know any better and in fact don't even realize it's happening."

"So I'm assuming that the way things are done here are different," Hermione said and Dave knew what his mate was asking and that was how did they do things in Italy that they were able to actually think for themselves and why didn't they become so enchanted with magic that they forgot they had a brain.

"Well, for one thing we mix with mundanes much more than you do in England, which has a lot to do with it, as we see how inventive they are and believe me, when I say that helps us to be able to think for ourselves because we see how mundanes are often so intelligent and inventive as magicals. We do not separate ourselves from mundanes like they do in England and other than keeping magic a secret well we go to the movies for example, to the opera, we eat in mundane restaurants, so in other words, we mix with normal people so that we do not become arrogant and think that we are better then they are simply because we have the ability to do things that most mundanes can only dream about. The consequence of this is we are able to think for ourselves and we're definitely not as inbred as they are over in Britain. For another we believe in love or at least most Italians do and allowing our pups to marry who they love whether that's their own sex or their opposite and we're definitely not all stiff and proper and afraid to show emotion, particularly in public like a majority of the British. We believe that every magic user is special and that every mundane contributes in their own way to society as in many ways they are more advanced, then us magicals are."

"Yes, I can see how that would make a difference," Hermione agreed thoughtfully. "I'm glad Harry and I moved here when I was 16 as I definitely don't have people being jealous of my intelligence and a few people that I consider friends here just accept it as part of me. And I definitely don't have pureblooded magicals wanting to eradicate me as if I'm some sort of disease just because my parents and grandparents aren't like them."

"I'm certainly glad you moved here," Dave said with a twinkle in his eyes, "as we likely never would have met otherwise."

"I'm happy we moved here too," Hermione said softly, as she shifted until she was looking directly into his warm, loving dark brown eyes. "You helped me get over my fear of commitment and relationships in general without even knowing it just by being who you are and that's the warmhearted, kind, patient, generous man that I see before me. It was because of you that I agreed to complete the bond and I'm only sorry that I didn't get over my fear sooner, as I know how hard it was on you to wait until I was ready to make a commitment."

"All that matters is we're together now, because the rest is in the past and we must not regret what happened before because some people just aren't ready to commit to someone right away and I can certainly understand that. In our case, we couldn't even have sex until you were ready because that would have completed the bond although we certainly did make out rather heavily, didn't we?" Dave said, as he gently ran a knuckle over the mark that he had gifted his mate with on the side of Hermione's neck. "This mark right here tells me all I need to know about how you feel about me, because you allowed me to mark you as my property, even if that's not the way I think of you. I admit it's an old custom, but shifters have been marking their mates down throughout the centuries ever since they have existed actually and it's only in recent decades that we have started giving our non-shifter mates a choice as to whether or not they are to be marked or branded if you prefer as belonging to a particular shifter. If both people are shifters then they automatically know that they're going to be marked and they don't mind at all as being branded as that person's property because the animal in them demands it, but for people like you who are not shifters themselves, it's different."

"And this gorgeous ring with the Rossi crest on it that you gifted me with? I know that it has some meaning or at least you implied it did when you gave it to me, although you never did explain why it was so important," Hermione said, as she lifted her left hand to show a gorgeous gold ring.

"Well, I didn't think you will ready to hear my explanation at the time I gave it to you," Dave admitted, "but I'll be happy to explain it to you now. The Rossi family is an ancient one," Dave begin to explain and Hermione listened closely. "At one time we were purebloods, but we realized the error of our ways centuries ago, because we were dying out and we were within a few generations just like the British purebloods are when we realized something important."

"What did your ancestors realize?" Hermione asked intently wondering where Dave's little history lesson was going.

"There was this young man, my ancestor," Dave continued his story. "His name was also Davide and in fact I was named after him, even though he died centuries before I was born. According to his journals, which have been kept preserved my ancestor fell in love with this beautiful young woman, but he already knew that his family would not approve of her for she was very common and had only had one generation of magic users or one side of her family. They started dating in secret, but when this Davide's parents found out and they were extremely enraged that their only son had gone against their wishes and fallen in love with someone they considered far, far beneath them. It didn't matter that this young woman was loving, gentle and compassionate and they still ordered their son to never see her again and while they did that they were determined ruin this woman's reputation, someone who had never done anything to them as they didn't care about their son's feelings or that he loved her."

Dave paused for a moment and Hermione demanded, "So what happened?"

"Well, Davide loved this young woman so much that he and she decided to run away together, but just as they were preparing to flee his parents found out about their plan and confronted them and demanded that their son obey them and give up his love. When the son refused to be parted from his lady love in a rage the father struck out at the woman who be considered nothing but a common whore who had ruined his son and unfortunately, the lady in question fell her head cracking open against the marble fireplace mantel. She died in Davide's arms and once she was dead Davide turned to his parents in a rage and told them that he disowned them and he took a magical oath on it. Davide gathered a few things that belonged to him, that he still treasured from his childhood and left the rest of the trappings of wealth behind and departed never too enter the house he had grown up in again. The parents were devastated and came to realize that they had caused this simply because they had refused to accept their son's choice of a wife. They looked for Davide for many years and they couldn't find him and it was like he had disappeared of the face of the earth, but they found out several decades later that he had killed himself not long after leaving their house, as he had wanted to be with the woman he loved."

"That is such a tragic tale," Hermione said having tears in her eyes.

"It is, but that's when the Rossi family begin to change for the better, as they became less selfish and that was when it was decided that so long as their children were happy the parents would no longer object to their choice of spouse. Really that one tragic event saved our family, because they were not many generations away from dying out. I'm not saying that it shouldn't have happened, just that and a lot of good came out of it."

"So this Davide must've had a brother if the Rossi name lives on," Hermione said.

"Actually he was an only child, but the father did have several brothers all of who had children of their own and that is why the Rossi name didn't die out. We are now quite numerous, with relatives all over Italy and even a few that moved to places like Australia and America."

"Well, I'm glad that your family turned out for the better even if it's tragic that Davide and his lady love died just because the parents wanted him to marry someone more his social status," Hermione said shaking her head. "I've never understood why people care about such things, as it separates them from the rest of humanity and only leads people to thinking that they're better then those they consider not of the same social status than them, which is most of the human race."

"Because human beings whether shifters, magicals or mundanes are seriously flawed," Dave told Hermione who nodded.

"So one thing confuses me," Hermione finally said she went over to Dave's story head.

"What's that?" Dave asked.

"I thought shifters only had one mate, so why would your parents object to your ancestor falling in love with this girl?" Hermione asked.

"Because my family weren't shifters back then," Dave explained. "We didn't merge with a shifter family, until about a century after that. No, we were simply a pureblood family and had been so for quite a few generations, which is why we were, so close to dying out before that event."

"Oh, right," Hermione said embarrassed that she had not thought of that very obvious explanation herself. "So you're saying that because of that one event your family changed, but that still doesn't explain about the ring you gave me."

"That ring is a symbol," Dave explained. "It is a symbol of an ancient time, back when my family were still purebloods. Also my family crest is well known in all three communities so this offers you even more protection from those that would try to take advantage of you. Every single member of my family wears a similar ring, which magically resizes to fit the wearer. This is why I didn't give it to you until after we had completed the bonded, because even though you were my mate you weren't technically a member of my family until after that."

"So I had to be committed to our relationship before I was allowed to have one," said Hermione in understanding.

"Exactly, because if I had given it to you before and you had broken it off for some reason, I would have been forced to take the ring from you, which would have hurt you further as only somebody who is a member of our family can wear one. Also they have been charmed to reject anyone who is not a member of my family. Say one of them is stolen for example and the thief puts it on his finger what do you think happens?"

"The ring disappears when they're not looking and comes back to its owner?" Hermione suggested.

"Well, yes, but it also chops off the finger in question," Dave admitted. "It was felt that this would keep whoever had stolen it a lesson and if they're magical the finger can be reattached, but if they are a shifter or a mundane, well, it teaches them not to steal things that don't belong to them, but only if they actually put it on their finger and not just in their pocket."

"This is the reason you didn't tell me, about the significance of the ring before," Hermione said with certainty in her tone looking appalled.

"Yes," Dave admitted a little sheepishly. "I'm afraid that while we're very generous and warmhearted we're not very forgiving of anybody who tries to steal from us or from others for that matter, but we can't do anything about other people, just ourselves."

"So you had this ring made with the same protections that all the others have," Hermione said.

"Actually as head of this branch of the family papà took care of that," Dave admitted.

"Padre was so sure that you would agree to be my lifemate that he presented me with a ring box shortly after that conversation I told you about where he offered me advice. He just arrived at my house one day and luckily, you weren't here at that time and when I opened the door and saw him there, well I was really surprised as he doesn't visit my place often. as I usually end up going to him when I need advice. He told me once that he doesn't visit often, because he feels that I'm a grown up and he doesn't need to check up on me and that I'm free to I come to him and madre just for a visit or for advice or both. In any case, I invited him in and once we had been seated with a scotch each in our hand he told me that he was so sure that we would complete the bond and that he would soon have a new daughter, that he had gone ahead and taken one of the family rings out of our family vault at Gringotts. When one of us dies, the ring is automatically taken off the finger and put into the family vault until such time as someone new joins the Rossi family."

"It seems cruel to deny your dead relatives something they probably treasured all their lives and so I would think it would be buried with them," Hermione said studying her ring in a new light.

"It's not, because despite being extremely well-off we don't see any point in wasting gold and having yet another ring made unless it's absolutely necessary, even if that does happen occasionally, since their are plenty of rings stored in the vault. For one thing there are such things as grave robbers you know, and once one of my relatives dies off well the ring can be taken from them because they're not alive anymore, although it still chops the finger off of the thief if they dare to put it on their finger, but it has nobody to return to."

"Maybe you should do a charm that makes it automatically return to your family vault if the person that owned it is dead," Hermione suggested

"Yeah, that's a good idea and I wonder why none of us thought of it before," Dave mused. "I'll make sure I mention it to papà the next chance I get. In any case, Rossis have been wearing our family crest even before that day and even our pups get them once they turn eleven, as is that is considered responsible enough to take care of it even if it is magical."

"And that is just before they start their schooling," Hermione said seeing the sense of not giving the children their family rings until they were basically on their own.

"Well, yeah, but that's just for the magical pups, the nonmagical Rossis as that does happen get just a plain family ring that is not magical in anyway like my padre who didn't inherit the family magic. Some of our family don't even know that they have magical cousins, because they've been nonmagical for a long time, so they have forgotten."

"I'm afraid that happens to any family magical or not," Hermione said, "particularly the really large ones as the parents have children, then those children have children and there's just too many to keep track of."

"So I hope you're not mad, that not only is the ring not new, but if somebody steals it, it not only comes back to you after no more than an hour or two, it chops off the thief's finger, but only if they actually put it on."

"No, I'm not mad that it's not new as it means more to me that way as it means that this ring has a lot of history behind it and that it was worn by several of your ancestors," said Hermione sincerely. "As for the other thing I don't want to think about it as it could be a child that steals it and if he or she puts it on..."

"Don't worry the rings knows the difference between stealing because your desperate and stealing out of sheer greed, so you can sell it for a lot of Galleons," Dave assured her. "These rings will never hurt a child, who is stealing just because they're desperate to pawn it for a few coins so that they can get food."

"Oh, I'm so relieved that your ancestors thought of that," Hermione said feeling much better about the ring on her finger. She felt that people who stole for the sheer desire of owning something that didn't belong to them or because they wanted it in order to sell it, because it was valuable was a different kettle of fish then stealing because you were desperate for a way to put clothes on your back and food in your belly as unfortunately, there were many homeless children out on the streets not just here in Italy, but anywhere.

"I'm going to have to thank, Salvatore for this, as it really does mean a lot to me," said Hermione tapping the golden ring on her finger.

"I'm glad," Dave said his voice holding a depth of emotion that wasn't easy to express in words, so he kissed Hermione lips which she responded to instantly. "I was just going to have a new one made for you after we had bonded, not before," Dave admitted after the kiss had broken. "Instead when my father brought this ring to me in a jewelry box I simply buried it in my underwear drawer until the time came to give it to you. That my father had confidence that you and I would indeed bond like I dreamed about, made me happier, although still sexually frustrated. When the day finally came and you confessed that you did love me and that you were ready to make a total commitment to our relationship and complete the bond with me was the happiest day of my life."

"A new one wouldn't have meant half as much as this one does," Hermione told him sincerely kissing Dave throughly. "I know I've said this before but it bears repeating your parents are wonderful people."

"I'm glad you think so," Dave said with a grin, "not that I don't agree with you, but still I'm glad all the same. So where do you want to go on our honeymoon once we are officially wed in the mundane world?"

"Well, there are a lot of places I'd like to visit," Hermione admitted, "but we have plenty of time to do that once our children are grown, but if I get to choose the place we go for our honeymoon I vote America, someplace like San Francisco or New York."

"What not Las Vegas?" Dave teased, as he knew that his mate absolutely abhorred gambling and it wasn't so much the gambling that bothered her, but that most places were rigged so that the person who was playing the games would lose more often then not.

"Definitely not," Hermione said, "not unless you will agree to stay away from all the gambling establishments as you know they're rigged, so you just lose your money."

"I would promise to stay away from the slot machines, but I'm pretty good at poker and that's not the kind of game you can rig easily," Dave protested.

"Still, you'd likely lose more then you made and I say it's just not worth it," Hermione said. "A friendly game with your friends is one thing, going someplace like a casino is Vegas is quite another."

"I suppose so," Dave agreed.

"I've never understood people's addiction to gambling, particularly someone like you that already has plenty of money of his own," Hermione said.

"It's fun, the thrill of winning over your opponent, not to mention the bragging rights you get until you get beaten," Dave told her with a smile.

Hermione shook her head still not understanding it, but she wasn't about to prevent Dave from doing a little gambling, as he was her mate after all not her child and he was also a grown man, so as long as he didn't become addicted to it she wouldn't object when he wanted to have a poker game with some of his buddies, because if she tried to control him and stop him from participating in a little harmless pastime it would likely only cause ill feelings and although they would get it sorted out in the end she'd rather not cause any bad feelings as Dave definitely deserved some time with his friends as he didn't have to be at her side 24/7.

"So if you want to go somewhere like New York or San Francisco for our honeymoon that's fine with me," Dave said changing the subject. "I don't see why we can't take at least a month and maybe visit several different cities, as it's not like we have a time limit or limited funds."

"That sounds wonderful, a month or two alone with you, with no family or anybody else interrupting," Hermione said with a wistful expression.

"We could even take more than a month if we really wanted to," Dave said, "we might miss our family if we did that, but we don't have to decide right this minute, as we'll just leave our honeymoon plans open ended and take as long or as short a time as we want to."

"That's a good idea," Hermione approved. "We could take two or three months if we really wanted to, although I doubt we'll take that long, but I'm thrilled at the possibility."

"I'm definitely looking forward to time alone with you with no chance of interruptions," Dave growled possessively sending a little thrill of lust through Hermione's body making her instantly get wet down in her pussy. "I can smell your arousal, my mate and the wolf in me wants nothing more then to mate with you. I for one can't wait until we have our wedding, so that I can take you away from everything, so it's just the two of us and I can have my wicked way with you, with no interruptions."

"Well, it won't be long now, because I want to get back from our honeymoon before the babies are due," Hermione said laughing a little at Dave's words though she also knew he was deadly serious about being able to smell the wetness that was between her legs as a shifter's sense of smell was second to none, particularly a wolf shifter's. Hermione patted her belly lovingly where it was obvious that she was very heavily pregnant. The two of them had been officially mated for just under three months now and due to the fact that she was carrying multiples she was showing much more then for a normal pregnancy as her lower belly was quite the large bulge and it had gotten to the point that she was already wearing maternity clothes and had been for several weeks. Hermione liked the fact that the gestation period was so much shorter, but she didn't much appreciate the fact that she had to eat way more than would be recommended for anything other than a shifter pregnancy in order to keep the triplets and herself healthy as she felt like she would literally explode after every meal, although luckily, that quickly faded, as the triplets seemed to absorb the food she ate extremely fast. Hermione was always amazed at how quickly she didn't feel so full and then shortly after that how she was hungry again. Dave had gotten out of bed more than once to fix her a midnight snack and he hadn't complained even once, which Hermione appreciated when she woke up in the middle the night feeling as if she was starving, even if she had eaten a humongous dinner with second and even third servings.

"Yes, our wedding is coming up rapidly, as it's only a few weeks away now," Dave agreed with an excited glint in his gorgeous brown eyes. Before their mundane wedding they were due to go through the magical ceremony, which was only going to be the two of them, Harry and Luna, Sirius, Remus and Dave's parents as witnesses.

"Also the magical ceremony is in just a few days," Hermione reminded Dave who nodded, as he was really looking forward to it because and they would officially be married at least in the magical community. Of course, technically they were already married, but only within the shifter community.

"I'm really looking forward to it, because then I'll have you tied up in two worlds and the mundane ceremony will complete the trilogy," Dave said.

Hermione simply laughed, although she did agree with Dave's statement.

"You've changed my life completely David Rossi did you know that?" Hermione asked rhetorically. "You've changed it for the better simply by being who you are and always making sure I know that you love me. I'm looking forward to both ceremonies, because then I'll have you tied up in three worlds as well and there's no other man that I've ever met that I'd be happy spending my life with other then you."

"I'm glad to hear that," Dave said his voice choked with emotion, even as he kissed his mate tenderly while at the same time being extremely gentle entered her pussy with his cock, which was more then slick enough to grant him easy access causing Hermione to sigh and then purr as intense, earthshattering, pleasure exploded in her belly and it didn't take long at all for her to reach a climax.

"Ti amerò fino al giorno che posso disegnare il mio ultimo respiro," Dave murmured in his mate's ear as he felt his climax building rapidly. (I will love you till the day that I draw my last breath.) Dave always seemed to slip into his native tongue whenever he was making love to the most gorgeous woman in the world to him, his mate and Hermione didn't mind at all as if somehow made their sex even better, although how that was possible considering it was always bloody spectacular she didn't know, but she wasn't about to complain.

Hermione repeated that exact same words and in the same language, which only made Dave move faster in and out of her until finally he exploded and released his seed into her pussy which caused her to have a second climax not long after her first and this one was just as strong.

Hermione simply laid there as her second climax within less then five minutes surged through her and she wasn't sure she could move anyway so she didn't bother to try.

"You speaking to me in Italian is so, so sexy," Dave told her, "particularly during our lovemaking."

"Well, if that's your response to me speaking to you in Italian when you're busy fucking me senseless then I will be happy to do it again," Hermione told him still looking rather dazed. "I probably need to practice up anyway, simply because I'm going to be around more Italians than I'm used to and I'm sure that some of them don't speak English."

"Some don't," Dave agreed, even as he rolled onto his side of the bed, then pressed his very warm body against his mate's, causing Hermione to sigh in content and simply bury her face into the crick of his neck and for Dave to kiss the top of her head tenderly. "Mostly older people as ones like me for the most part do speak it, unless they come from a really rural area. You know I've been meaning to ask doesn't it bother you that you're going to be showing much more by the time our mundane ceremony comes up?"

"Not really, as I'm already showing quite a bit, because the gestation period for the shifter babies is so much shorter and that I'm carrying triplets only exacerbates it. Now I admit that the shorter gestation period is really nice, it also means I'm going to show that much sooner," Hermione admitted. "I always swore I would never get pregnant until after I was officially married, but when you and I met all those plans I had made went out the window. I went from being a scared little girl afraid of people's reaction to me being pregnant and unmarried, except in the shifter community, to not really caring what people think of me and that's all because of you. If people that I've known for most of my life believe that I'm marrying you just because I'm carrying your children then they're not my true friends. I'm sure that some of them really will believe that the only way you would marry someone like me is because you got me pregnant, but so long as they keep their thoughts to themselves I don't really care. Anybody who knows me knows I would never agree to marry you just for the sake of our children and that I might give you visitation rights whenever they're born, but I would raise them myself, rather than marry any man that I didn't love just to give my children a father."

"Alright then," Dave said extremely pleased with Hermione's response.

"Besides, anybody who thinks that will likely be from England and I doubt very much I'll see them again since I live in Italy now, except possibly in passing," Hermione said. "Anybody who thinks that doesn't know a thing about shifters and their lifemates and that's their problem as far as I'm concerned."

"Well, good," Dave said, as he pulled his mate closer to him and rubbed her belly lovingly. "I think it's time that we get some sleep, as you in particular need all the sleep you can get since these babies will be more and more a drain on your system the farther along you get."

"That's probably a good idea," Hermione said, as she cuddled up into Dave's warmth since he put out a great deal of body heat naturally, but then all shifters did, as they just seemed to have a slightly more elevated temperature then anybody else. It was definitely convenient though because he could keep her toasty warm in winter with only a light blanket thrown over them. "Buonanotte, Dave. Ti amo," Hermione said in Italian. (Good night, Dave. I love you,)

"Buonanotte, Hermione. Ti voglio bene anch'io," Dave repeated before closing his eyes perfectly content to have his mate cuddled closely into his side and it wasn't long before he drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face. (Good night, Hermione. I love you too.)

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Part Two

"Thank you for everything, Harry," Hermione told her brother as she kissed his cheek. The reception had just ended and now she and Dave were dressed for traveling with their luggage shrunk and in their pockets. There really were certain advantages to magic and one of those definitely was being able to shrink down your luggage, so you didn't have to lug it with you everywhere.

"You're more than welcome, Hermione," Harry told, as he gave her a hug. "Now you and Dave enjoy your honeymoon in America, alright? Don't you worry about me or Luna, as we can look after ourselves."

"I hate to leave Luna, with her due pretty soon," Hermione fretted.

"Don't worry about Luna she'll be fine," Harry soothed his sister, "and you can meet your goddaughter when you get back."

Hermione and Dave had been named the godparents of this new baby and both had been honored to accept the role, which was a very important one in the wizarding world.

Dave in particular had been more than honored to accept, because he and Harry hadn't known each other very long and yet the young man was willing to trust him with such an important role and he knew that meant that Harry trusted him and he swore never to betray that trust.

"It was a beautiful ceremony and I thank you for it," Dave said and Harry nodded slightly in acknowledgment of Dave's words.

"No thanks necessary, I was happy to do it, as it was only a little gold after all," Harry said.

"A little gold nothing, it must've cost you a fortune as there must've been 150 people at least at Dave's and my wedding," Hermione snorted still surprised at how Harry could understate what he had done for people every single time. Harry was modest to a fault and had been ever since she'd known him, which she knew was a least partly his childhood upbringing.

"Not quite that many," Luna said speaking for the first time as she came up on them as silent as a wraith, "Although it was pretty close that number, I admit. All that really matters is that you had the kind of wedding you wanted and you know that spending a few Galleons on someone he loves doesn't really matter to Harry. A lot of purebloods might be selfish with their gold and only use it for themselves, but both Harry and I would rather use it to make our friends and family's lives a little easier. Yes, you could've thrown just as lavish a ceremony and reception afterwards with your own gold, but Harry wanted to pay for it, because he loves you both even if he would never admit it without prodding. He's beginning to think of you as the brother he never had Dave and that he likely would've had if his parents had not been murdered. Both of his father's two best friends Sirius and Remus have told Harry many times that he was not meant to be an only child and that his parents wanted at least a few more, but that it never had a chance to happen and we all know why so I won't bother bringing something up that all of us already know."

"Luna…" Harry warned his cheeks as red as fire from embarrassment.

Luna gave him one of her looks and he knew then that she would say exactly what she wanted because she felt it was necessary and she didn't necessarily do it to embarrass him although that was probably a nice side benefit.

He had to admit that he did have trouble expressing his emotions, due to his childhood upbringing, as he hadn't exactly had the best role models in his aunt and uncle who he wholeheartedly hoped were just as unhappy as they had been when he lived in their house but even if they weren't he didn't really care just so long as he never had to see them again.

"I'm happy to accept the role," Dave told Harry as if they were just carrying on a normal conversation and that he didn't notice Harry's embarrassment. "I have plenty of brothers, so what's one more? Besides, it's always good to be on good terms with your relatives particularly parents, brothers and sisters," He added with a grin causing everybody, even Harry to laugh, the red having faded from his cheeks and the back of his neck by this time.

"We'll see you after you get back," Luna said, looking as if she was holding onto a secret, but none of the three others present asked because they knew she wouldn't tell them unless they absolutely had to know. "Go have a good time and don't worry about me I'll be fine."

"Alright, alright," Hermione gave in, "we had better get going before we miss our Portkey."

"Yes, we had," Dave acknowledged, as he took the Portkey that was an old tin can out of his pocket and held it out to his mate so she could put her finger on it. Portkeys could be absolutely anything, old shoes, pieces of string, really any old piece of junk would do, although it was better if it wasn't something to valuable that somebody would likely steal because who would want to steal an old piece of trash?

Dave looked at his watch and then counted down, "Five, four, three, two, one." On the last word there was a swirl of magic, almost like a mini hurricane and Dave and Hermione disappeared instantly transported across the ocean to America, as San Francisco was their first destination in just a matter of a few seconds.

"So now that they're gone do you want to tell me exactly what you're keeping to yourself?" Harry asked his beautiful wife, as soon as Dave and Hermione disappeared.

"Sure, but let's going to the house first," Luna said. "I'm in the mood for a nice cup of tea and some of those delicious biscuits that the house-elves make. I just didn't want to say anything while Hermione and David were still here. They're in for something of a surprise on their honeymoon."

The two Potters walked into the house arm and arm and once inside Luna told Harry exactly what she had 'seen'.

"I can see why you didn't want to say anything until they left," Harry said after he had listened to the vision that Luna had just had. "You're right, they're in for quite a surprise, although at least it's a nice one and not one that puts their lives in danger, particularly with Hermione pregnant."

"If that had been the case I would have warned them not to go there, but they are going to have a very good time on their honeymoon and come back with many happy memories and plenty of photos," Luna said and Harry nodded knowing this was likely to be true.

"And if Hermione wasn't already pregnant she'd come back that way," Harry smirked.

"It could have happened that way," Luna said her eyes looking distant. "If Hermione had made the decision not to have any children before she and Dave were officially married like she was originally planning to do then she would have indeed come back from her honeymoon that way."

"What changed?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, it was partly the fact that we had those talks with her awhile back, but mostly the fact that she figured out for herself that she was David's mate. I saw months ago that if David had actually had to tell her that she was his mate and she hadn't figured it out on her own then she still would have completed the bond with him because she would have more than understood why he hadn't told her for six months, but she would have requested that he not get her pregnant until after they were officially wed. The future can be rather tricky and it's all about decisions that people make. Since she did figure it out on her own she knew for a couple of months that she was a shifter's mate and thanks to that she had extra time to do her own research to find out that when a shifter finds their lifemate it was a forever kind of thing and that reassured her that her relationship with David was permanent and allowed her to reach the decision that she wouldn't mind being pregnant before the actual wedding."

Harry thought about that and then said, "Actually that makes a great deal of sense. I can actually picture of that in my head with incredible clarity. I can see Hermione figuring out that she was a shifter's mate and then going into research mode and finding out everything she could about it, just like she does with anything else that is important to her."

"Yes, one decision leads to another and it all follows along a logical path," Luna agreed. "Of course, the opposite future would also follow along the logical path as one decision leads to many. It's kind of like ripples in a pond when you skip a stone on it."

The two continued to talk quietly while enjoying their tea, finally the talking petered out and another sort of activity took its place, the kind that a couple never got tired of doing no matter how long they had been married, at least not when you were as in love as these two were.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Welcome to San Francisco, Portkey authority, please step aside as we're expecting another Portkey momentarily," a rather dumpy looking woman told them as if speaking by rote, which told the pair that she had likely spoken this line at least several hundred times before and it was probably thousands.

Dave had his arm about Hermione's waist so that she wouldn't fall when the Portkey released them as that would be bad considering that she was heavily pregnant. She might not have come to any harm from the tumble, but still Dave was taking no chances with his mate's health and safety, nor that of their pups.

"This way," called a voice from the doorway and both Dave and Hermione looked at the man that was standing there, then followed him out of the little office where the Portkey had landed them.

"Welcome to our fair city. We hope you enjoy your visit. Here is a list of the sites both muggle and magical."

Hermione accepted the sheet of paper, but she had already done her own research and had already decided what she most wanted to see while they were here, it was only polite to accept something offered to you even if it got thrown away immediately after they were out of this place. Dave looked around and noticed that, even though they were underground this place looked pretty modern just as Italy was as they had electric lights for one thing.

"Could you show us what we need to do to get out of this place as it's quite late back home and Hermione and I are ready to find our hotel and head to bed," Dave said his Italian accent quite obvious.

"Yes, there is a nine hour time difference between Italy and San Francisco, so even though it's only about 12 p.m. here back home it's 9 o'clock in the evening and Dave and I just had a very full day by getting married and all that."

"Of course, let me take you through the procedure of registering your stay in our beautiful city," the man offered barely holding back a snort of laughter as it was very clear that these two were newlyweds and would have been even without the female's words because it was clear the young woman was heavily pregnant. "My name is Peter Norris and I will get you through the registration procedure as quickly as possible so that you can get out of here."

"Thank you," Dave said politely, as he took his mate's arm in order to guide her up after the little man. It was clear that, even though Hermione had said nothing that she was exhausted and he couldn't really blame her for that as she was four months pregnant after all with triplets no less and the two of them had had a very full day already. They had to rush to get ready in the morning for the ceremony and the wedding had been in the very early afternoon, with the the reception following directly after and even though all the major tasks had been assigned to a small army of helpers, his mate was still exhausted, so he wanted to get her to the hotel as quickly as possible as he knew that she would feel much better after a goodnight's sleep. Some of the non-shifters had tried to suggest that they spend the night at separate residences per tradition and both of them had nixed that in the bud instantly.

Hermione already tired of being polite by that point had quite rudely told that person that the only way she could get to sleep was that if she was curled up against Dave's warmth as it helped her to relax enough to actually be able to drift off despite the fact that she was four months pregnant and very uncomfortable most of the time as her body was rapidly changing what sometimes seemed like every day as it was preparing for the birth.

Dave had backed up his mate and told one of Hermione's friends from England, that once a shifter and their mate had bonded that shifter didn't like to spend a night away from them unless it was absolutely necessary and this was not one of those times.

Of course, what they didn't tell that very rude person was that it wasn't just Dave's body heat that helped her to sleep, but also the fact that he had taken to rubbing gentle circles on her back that helped to relax her enough to be able to drift off.

Dave had been absolutely wonderful and didn't like her to lift a finger to do anything herself ever since she had reached the beginning of her fourth month and she had really started to show even more then she had been. Now while Hermione appreciated everything he did that made her pregnancy easier she was trying to gently break him of the habit of hovering over her as it drove her crazy. She did try her best not to snap at him too much, because she knew he only did it because he loved her, but it was extremely difficult to put up with it because she was used to doing things for herself. However, she did realize that at the moment there were a lot of things that she normally did that she couldn't anymore at least until after the triplets were born, which was why she appreciated everything that Dave did for her and made sure he knew it, which made him always tell her not to worry about it that he loved doing things for her.

She would be glad when the triplets were born, but she promised yourself that she wasn't going to get pregnant again for at least three years and had already got Dave to agree, as she didn't want to go through the experience again quite so soon. She did promise him that after three years, she would stop taking the potion that prevented pregnancy, so that they could have more children and Dave accepted that and acknowledged that he didn't want to wear his mate's body out by getting pregnant too many times close together and Hermione was young enough to get pregnant every three years and have at least a 20 pups, if she wanted to, although Dave doubted they would have that many just that it was a possibility.

Peter Norris took them through the registration process and then showed them the exit.

"You do have the coordinates to your hotel, so you can Apparate, correct?"

"Yes, we do and there's an alley right beside it that we should be to Apparate into and it is doubtful that anybody will see us because it's in shadows for most of the day," Dave told Peter who nodded.

"Yes, the city is filled with people, but there's still plenty of places that you can Apparate unseen and so long as you know where they are you'll have no trouble getting to most of the places you want to go in an instant unless you want to take muggle transportation just so you can see the scenery. If anybody does see you it's likely to be a bum or a drunk and even if they told people they would never be believed."

Dave and Hermione nodded for what Peter told them was correct. Homeless people or drunks were almost never listened to, because if they saw anything at it was thought to be a hallucinations of a drunk or a bum's overactive imagination and while it was sad in a way that there were so many homeless people on the street it did come in handy that almost nobody paid attention to them.

Peter wished the couple a good honeymoon before leaving them.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Dave and Hermione arrived at the hotel and both studied the façade moment before entering.

"This looks like a really expensive place you chose for us, Dave," Hermione told her mate.

"It doesn't really matter," Dave told Hermione with a shrug, "there's no way I'm going to stay in some fleabag motel just to save a little money, especially not on our honeymoon. I understand that you grew up solidly middle-class, but you do have plenty of money now and there's nothing wrong with wanting to splurge occasionally."

Hermione didn't answer, because Dave was absolutely correct in what he had said, so she had no defense.

"Besides, I like spoiling you and I know we've been together officially for four months now, but we were together unofficially six months before we actually completed the mating bond, so technically we've been together for a year, even if we only got married today."

"I know I have noticed that you like spoiling me," Hermione admitted with a little grin on her lips. "After all don't you give me roses at least once a week? Despite the fact that we live together now. Even before we completed the bond that is between us, you kept sending me little presents just to let me know that you were thinking about me and you managed not to go overboard—mostly."

"Now that were officially wed though in all three worlds expect to be spoiled rotten," Dave told her with the grin.

"You already do plenty of that and you don't need to be doing it even more than you already do," Hermione told him with a roll of eyes, as two of them approached the reception desk.

Dave didn't have a chance to answer as they finally reached the front desk.

"Can I help you sir? Ma'am?" asked the handsome man behind the desk.

"We have reservations for the honeymoon suite, under the name of Rossi, David Rossi," Dave told the man.

"Of course, sir," the man behind the desk answered immediately as he checked for the reservation on the computer.

"The bellboy will take you to your suite," the man behind the desk said and tapped a little bell that was sitting there only to have a bellboy instantly appear.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rossi have the honeymoon suite," the man behind the desk told the bell boy whose name was Frank. "You are to escort them there."

"Yes, sir!" the bellboy said giving a crisp salute.

The bellboy took both they're pieces of luggage, which was on wheels as Dave had unshrunk it in the alley. What the bellboy or the man behind the desk didn't know was that the suitcases were much bigger on the inside then they appeared to be on the outside as they both had undetectable expansion charms and also a charm to fool the x-rays into thinking that it was just normal clothes and toiletries and to make the inside of the suitcase look normal to the scanners.

The elevator ride didn't take long at all considering that they were on the top floor of the hotel and it was only a few moments later that Frank opened the door to the honeymoon suite with a keycard.

"Is there anything else I can get it for you, sir? Ma'am?" asked Frank.

"No, thank you," Dave said giving Frank a tip for his help.

Frank took the tip and disappeared out the door of the suite Dave closing the door behind them.

"Do you want anything from room service?" Dave asked Hermione as he escorted her to the couch so that she could sit down and get off her feet.

"No, I think I'm just going to get undressed and go straight down for a nap as I'm exhausted," Hermione admitted. "I know it's only 1 o'clock or so in the afternoon here, but I'm just too tired to do anything else except go straight to bed. I'm sorry I'm being such lousy company at the moment as this is our honeymoon after all."

"It's all right," Dave told his mate gently as he kissed her forehead. "I understand that your body is changing almost every day due to you being pregnant and both of us have had a very long day already so a nap sounds like a good idea. Just holding you in my arms is pure pleasure for me and I don't need anything else to be happy. We can worry about getting some food after our nap and anything else can wait until after you feel better and aren't so tired."

"Why are you so good to me?" Hermione asked with a little smile playing on her lips, although she was also touched deeply by Dave's understanding as she knew that many men would make demands on their pregnant wives even when they were extremely exhausted and just wanted to be left alone. Most men would demand to be waited on hand and foot even when their wife or their girlfriend or their fiancé was heavily pregnant, but Dave never did that as he was always solicitous of her feelings and never made any demands on her that she wasn't more than willing to give him. There was something to be said for being married to an older man, Hermione acknowledged, although she knew that was only partly the real reason that Dave was so understanding with her mood swings and never took offense when she snapped at him or was grumpy. He understood that at the moment she weighed quite a bit extra and her body was rapidly changing as shifter babies were born at just six months instead of the usual nine, so she was more than halfway through her pregnancy already and only had a couple of months to go. While she was grateful that the gestation period was much shorter, she had to eat a great deal more at every meal then she would if she was pregnant with just a magical or a mundane baby required. Because it was, shifter babies, that meant that even when one of the parents was not one, because the shifter genes were dominate, unless several generations of shifters married normals, pregnancy so much shorter. She felt so stuffed sometimes that she felt as if she was going to explode and yet only a few hours later she was hungry again and she knew that the triplets she was carrying absorbed the food she ate almost as fast as it got to her stomach. Dave was so nice to her that it nearly brought her to tears more times then she cared to think about for usually she wasn't one that cried at the drop of a hat like she had felt like doing so often lately. Hermione was thankful every day that she hadn't broken it off with Dave, because of her fear, as he was everything she could possibly want in a mate or a husband. He was kind, caring, generous, compassionate and never asked for anymore than she was willing to give him. Even her parents had liked him, although they thought he was too old for her, but had to acknowledge that a shifter only had one mate that Dave treated her impeccably, so they had accepted him, although it was made easier by the fact that even though Dave was nearly two decades older he only looked about half that due to his magical blood. Dave was always fixing her, her favorite foods in these big elaborate meals and she was always embarrassed at how much she ate, but Dave seemed to think nothing of it and had ordered her to not stint herself because not only did the babies need nutrients she had to eat to remain healthy and so Hermione did as he bid her, as he watched her eat more than she ever had at every meal and snacked quite often as well. It was going to be a pain to lose all this weight, once the babies were here but she also knew that a great deal of it would go straight to the children she was carrying in her belly, so she would only gain perhaps, thirty or forty pounds, no more really then for normal multiples who weren't shifters. She had to admit she hadn't understood how a woman other than another shifter could go through this more than once, but now she knew it was because she loved Dave so much that she was willing to have more babies by him a few years down the road of course, simply because any children they did have were an acknowledgment of the love the two of them had for each other.

"Because you're mine," Dave answered simply. "You've have to put up with an awful lot, like a much shorter pregnancy due to the babies shifter genes, which means that your body is changing more rapidly than it would if you were married to another magical, one who wasn't also a shifter or a mundane and if that wasn't hard enough you have to overstuff yourself at every meal just to keep pace with the babies growth, so if I treated you like just a bed warmer or somebody to carry my pups and treated you shabbily or made demands because of it what would that make me? Yes, I realize how a lot of men mostly non-shifters treat their pregnant wives or girlfriend, but not only do I love you, because of the pups you are carrying in your belly, I love you for yourself and I wouldn't care if we couldn't ever have children so long as you were mine and you loved me just as I do you. Like for example if you decided you didn't want anymore pups after this I would accept the decision, because I would already have had three with you, my mate and the light of my life and that would be more than enough for me."

Hermione had known that that would likely be his answer, because she knew Dave pretty well by this point, but still the acknowledgement of his feelings for her made her burst into tears and all Dave did was wrap his arms around her and hold her close all without saying a word.

Finally Hermione's crying quit as they were more tears of relief and happiness then of grief so they ended after only a few minutes, although she felt like a limp dishrag by the time she was done bawling.

"Don't you dare apologize," Dave told his mate in a fierce whisper when Hermione opened her mouth to do just that. "You needed to have a good cry to unleash your emotions and you can't keep them pent-up all the time as it isn't good for you, particularly in your current condition. You are allowed to not be perfect, even though I know that many people would tease a grown woman for crying over what seems like nothing, but then they don't understand how your body is rapidly changing due to the triplets you are carrying. You have to truly realize that your body is changing every day in order to prepare for the birth of our children and therefore, your emotions are going to be a little bit out-of-control until after they are born. Our pups are due in just two months and that's not really long at all. You are welcome to cry on my shoulder anytime you want and I don't particularly care what other people think about it, as they can just go jump in a lake or a volcano as far as I'm concerned."

Hermione giggled tiredly at that as it sounded funny even if she knew Dave was deadly serious that he wouldn't allow anyone to make disparaging remarks just because she seemed to be crying over nothing and would quickly put them in their place and if they did make a comment, which would send them would quickly be scurrying for cover for Dave could be quite fierce in protecting her. Dave said nothing simply picked up his very pregnant mate into his arms easily, despite the fact that she was much heavier then normal and started to gently strip her out of her clothes, so gently in fact that Hermione didn't even realize that she was soon completely naked and lay in on the turned down bed.

"Sleep," Dave ordered gently, even as he ran a hand gently up-and-down his wife's side. "I'll be here when you wake and that's a promise. We can worry about seeing some of the sites after you wake up from your nap."

Dave stopped talking as he realized that Hermione was already fast asleep laying on her side her dark brown hair falling in into her face. Hermione's hair could never be tamed by mere hair gel, not unless she used a lot of it and Dave was glad she she didn't bother as he absolutely adored his mate's long bushy brown hair and the way it felt sliding through his fingers when he ran his hands through it. To him her hair was part of the woman he adored, so of course, he loved it, along with every other part of her, of course.

"You are so beautiful," Dave whispered tenderly even as he kissed her behind her ear sweeping aside her bushy, soft, silky hair as he did so. "Anybody who called you plain or ugly when you were a child should see you now as they would die of envy on the spot, but it doesn't matter what man cast covetous glances in your direction for you're mine and I'll never let you go."

Dave watched his mate sleep peacefully for a few minutes longer before he to got out of his clothes and climbed into the king sized bed beside his mate pulling her into his arms, where Hermione immediately snuggled into the warmth of his body, automatically tangling her legs with his and it was in this position that Dave also drifted off to sleep quite content to just hold the woman he loved more than life in his arms.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Hermione awoke slowly and leisurely only to open her eyes to see herself laying half on Dave's chest and half on the bed, her legs so tangled with his that it would take a few minutes to actually separate them so that either one of them could get to their feet.

She felt rested, she realized as her brain got into gear. She felt better then she had in quite awhile actually at least a week and that was considering that she was heavily pregnant. She was carrying quite a bit of extra weight around and so she needed to watch how much energy she used and how many projects she got involved in until after their births. She was simply going to have to learn to take it easy whenever she was pregnant particularly by the end of the third month, because she now knew that she had been overdoing it and Dave had tried to get her to take it easy several times, but she had refused not realizing how much carrying triplets would put a strain on the body, especially since they were growing much faster then if she had married just a mundane or plain magical man.

Apparently because of the shorter gestation period it put more of a strain on her body then if her pregnancy was the normal three trimesters instead of just two. Now that she realized that she promised herself that she would take it easy and not overdo just because she was used to always being busy. Dave had tried his best to warn her, but she had been too stubborn to listen and thought that she could continue to do what she normally did despite the fact that she was carrying triplets. Hermione acknowledged that that was one of her faults, she didn't like to listen to others advice not even her husband's that she loved so very much. She promised yourself she would do better, and do as Dave's mother had suggested and that was learning to listen to what Dave told her just as he did her. Dave would never steer her wrong, especially if he was concerned about her health or that of his children and so she promised yourself that she would listen to him from now on and at least think about his words instead of just getting mad because it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

Dave was extremely clever Hermione realized, as she now acknowledged that he had likely allowed her to overdo it on purpose, so that she could discover for herself how tired she was, just because she had insisted on going about her normal routine without harping on the subject or hovering over her, which would have just annoyed her. Dave had known that she learned her lessons better if she basically brought her troubles on herself and in the meantime he was there for her when she needed him to be and to make sure that she didn't go to far as to harm herself or the triplets. He was trying his best not to hover over her or smother her because he knew that she hated that.

The sly dog, Hermione silently acknowledged not bothering to stop the admiration in that thought for his subtle tactics. Hermione suspected that if Dave had gone to Hogwarts he would've ended up in Slytherin because while he was an extremely brave man he was also sly and cunning, which were not necessarily bad traits at all. Of course, really he had personality traits to fit into any of the four houses as he had the loyalty of a Hufflepuff, the bravery and loyalty of a Gryffindor, the slyness and cunning kind of Slytherin and the cleverness and intelligence of a Ravenclaw even if he wasn't quite as book mad as she was. She knew that she should have been a Ravenclaw when she went to school, but she had wanted to be in the same house as Headmaster Dumbledore, though that was long before she learned of his manipulations. Besides, she doubted very much that she and Harry would've ever become such good friends if she hadn't been sorted into the house of the brave so it was just as well.

Hermione came out of her thoughts to find Dave watching her silently not having said a word.

"You're a devious, sly wolf you know that David Rossi?" Hermione asked speaking out loud for the first time since she had awoken.

Dave didn't bother to ask what she was talking about, because it was clear in his mate's expression that she had figured out exactly what he had been doing, so he didn't bother to deny her accusation.

"You let me overdo it on purpose just because I wouldn't listen to you, didn't you?" asked Hermione poking him in the side, already sure she knew the answer, but she still wanted to hear Dave tell her that had been his plan all along.

"Yes," Dave admitted not at all abashed that his plot had been discovered. "I knew, that the more pregnant you got the more our pups would be a strain on your body and that soon enough you would discover for yourself that you can't go about your normal routine like you can when you're not pregnant, because for one thing these pups are growing much faster than if you were pregnant just with normal triplets and for another thing you also weigh a great deal more, then you did before you got to this stage of your pregnancy. I know you don't exactly take well to being ordered about, but I only do it when you're putting your health, not to mention the pups you're carrying at risk. Basically, my plan was to let you discover for yourself that you had a lot less energy than you believed you did due to your pregnancy and be there for you whenever you crashed. Even with a normal pregnancy of a single baby you need to take it easy, particularly in the last trimester then you would if you weren't carrying a precious little life within you, but when you're carrying triplets, especially when they're also a shifter's that grow so fast, because the gestation period is a full trimester shorter, then what you are used to, so you need to take it even more easy. Now the lesson has been learned and you'll know in the future that you need to take it a lot easier when you're pregnant, even if I know that you like to keep busy. You need to make concessions when you are pregnant, instead of being stubborn thinking you know what you are doing."

"I can't even be mad at you, because you're right," Hermione admitted ashamed of herself, as she could have hurt her's and Dave's children by overdoing it just because she was used to being active. She had told herself over the last month in particular that she was fine and she could do all that she normally did until finally she had worn herself out and it didn't help that she hadn't been sleeping well even curled up against to Dave's warmth, although luckily, it wasn't every night she didn't sleep well just sometimes and she knew the problem would only become worse the more that the babies grew and became more active.

"Don't worry I was watching out for you," Dave promised, "I was all prepared if you exhausted yourself to such an extent that you got dizzy and perhaps, fell for instance as that has been known to happen when somebody who's pregnant with a shifters babies if they don't take it easy, especially if the female isn't a shifter herself. You're really lucky you know that all you did was exhaust yourself so much that you slept like a proverbial bear in hibernation."

"You were there to make sure I didn't overdo it too much," Hermione said and Dave nodded.

"I've seen enough of my sisters and sisters-in-law go through the same thing that I was aware of the effects that a shifter of pregnancy could have on you, especially since you're not a shifter yourself as pregnancy tends to be easier on a female of my kind then on somebody who is not, although it does vary from woman to woman."

"As I said you're sly, cunning wolf, David Rossi," Hermione said with no heat behind her words if only because she knew that Dave had been right all along. "You tried to warn me and I didn't want to listen because I was too stubborn."

"Most of the time I don't mind your stubbornness, but when it comes to your health and that of all pups it's different," Dave told her to staring into her brown eyes intently, his eyes deadly serious and with just a hint of the wolf within him in their depths. "Promise me from now on that you'll listen to me particularly when it concerns your health. I don't order you around because I think of you as my property, I order you about for your own health and safety, because I love you. I've just found you after 40 years of searching and I will not lose you something that could easily have been prevented just because you're being stubborn, is that understood Hermione Jean Rossi?"

Dave drove his point home by gently taking his mate into his and kissing her very fiercely, but tenderly. The kiss was so fierce that Hermione felt as if her whole body was on fire, but she immediately understood that Dave was making a point and it was one that she could understand his need to reinforce considering that she had been extremely foolish and thought that she knew best than somebody who grew up a shifter and therefore, knew more about his species, even pregnancy, then somebody who wasn't. She also realized that she was still learning to trust Dave and take his advice, even though she loved him, but giving up her independence, even if only a little was still very hard for her. Normally Dave did his best to not put any control over what she chose to do with her life, but in this case she had to acknowledge that she had been in the wrong, even if she didn't like admitting that even to herself, which was a fault that she needed to work on.

Hermione promised himself that from now on she and Dave would talk about any concerns that each of them had and that they would listen to each other, although that was more her problem then his.

"Yes, I understand," Hermione said not bothering to argue because in this case Dave was in the right.

"You will promise me that you will listen to me from now on," Dave ordered, as he had been frightened by how driven his mate was on whatever she was working on and knowing that if she didn't slow down that something bad would likely happen that might not be easily fixable or even fixable at all. While this trait was admirable in most situations, as she had a work ethic that would put most others to shame, Hermione had yet to realize that she was pregnant and therefore, her routine would have to change until after their pups were born.

"You will promise that you will no longer work yourself into exhaustion, that you will take a nap when you feel tired and that you will not get lost in whatever you are doing. You will swear to me, that you will do these things, because if you don't I will make you take a magical oath and if you break your promise to me I will extract that oath even if I have to take you over my knee and spank you until you listen to reason," Dave ordered his voice a growl, his eyes turning to the gold of the wolf, which told Hermione that she would not be wiggling out of this situation, which she had to acknowledge to herself anyway that it was of her own making because she had been being so stubborn.

"You wouldn't!" Hermione exclaimed not really surprised that Dave had threatened to spank her if she didn't give her oath, because she knew very well that for Dave to lose her, his lifemate, it would likely destroy him as well, so if she wouldn't listen to reason any other way then Dave would do it even if he would regret his actions afterwards even knowing that they had been necessary. It would not be abuse, as it would be appropriate punishment for her not listening to what Dave was telling her and then something happening that risked her or her babies health. She would not appreciate his actions at first she knew, but afterwards she would likely acknowledge that he had been correct and that her punishment had been deserved.

"I would, even if it would hurt me to do that to you," Dave said his voice deadly serious, his eyes still holding the fierceness of the wolf within him, "but I'm used to doing things that I don't necessarily like to do. However, I do them anyway because a lot of times they are necessary. I will not have you put your health or our babies health in danger, just because you're too stubborn to slow down when necessary and you then exhaust yourself where I find you passed out on the floor and all because you refused to acknowledge that you can't afford to push yourself like you normally would, particularly now that you are past the three month mark which is when it gets harder on females like you who are not shifters themselves. Do you know how much you have hurt me every time I saw you pushing yourself beyond what I knew was safe and all because you were too stubborn to admit that you needed to stop for awhile take a break or a nap? I watched, and I waited for you to acknowledge that you just couldn't do some of these things that you've been doing at least all at once while you were pregnant and that you didn't have as much energy or stamina as you would normally, especially not once you reached the second trimester. You shouldn't be lifting heavy things for example, as that could harm you or the babies and you definitely should not be climbing ladders in the library as you might have gotten dizzy and fallen. You need to learn to pace yourself when you're pregnant, as you terrified me on a few occasions."

Dave had a nice large library that went up all three stories of the house and held thousands of books, many of which he had bought, some of which had been in his family for many years and others he had picked out of the family vault as most families collected a lot of memorabilia over the centuries and it all went into the family's vault at Gringotts as things were almost never thrown away. Hermione had been in ecstasy, when she had seen Dave's library and had spent many hours curled up on one of the leather couches reading, although luckily, she could read Italian as many of the books were in that language, which only made sense, since it was Dave's native tongue.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Dave," Hermione acknowledged looking embarrassed that she had been so caught up in doing exactly what she wanted that she had been hurt one of the few people that she loved and would do any thing to protect. "That was never my intention, as I would never deliberately hurt you for anything in the world. I'm sure you figured out by now that one of my very bad faults is that I never like to admit that I can't do something for myself, but your mother was right that I need to learn to depend on you, because you are my husband and my mate and I love you with every atom of my soul. If I had realized I was hurting you with my actions, it might have woken me up to the fact that you were worried for my safety, but still I refused to acknowledge, even in my thoughts, that things had changed when I agreed to become your lifemate and we bonded. You've made me realize that I'm not just responsible for myself anymore, but to you as well just as you are me. From now on I promise that I'll be more careful and not get so involved in whatever I am doing that I exhaust myself, and that I'll listen when you tell me that I need to take a break or a nap."

"Promise me you'll ask for help like when you want to get a book off the top shelf in the library or for anything similar and that you won't try to do it yourself, because you're only going to become more unbalanced the more the pregnancy progresses and your balance is going to be even more off," Dave added and Hermione looked rebellious for a moment, but did acknowledge that it was probably for the best, because as it was she had trouble seeing her feet and that would only get a worse in the next few weeks.

"I promise I'll ask for help when I need it," Hermione added meaning it, "and that I'll work on my worst faults so that this won't happen again. I realize now that I truly need to work to improve my two major faults and those are that I don't like to ask for help no matter what, as I learned as a child and that was to do things for myself and to depend on no one, not even my parents and the other is that I don't like to admit that I'm wrong, even when I am. I was very wrong not to listen when you tried to tell me that I needed to take it easy, as I didn't think that my pregnancy should change my normal busy life, but now I realize that of course, it does as even a normal pregnancy puts a strain on a woman's body particularly in later months."

"Fine you're forgiven," Dave said calming down as he kissed her tenderly. "Just make sure you remember your promises to me, because I really don't want to have to force you into taking a magical oath for your own protection."

"If you do have to I forgive you an advance, because I know how stubborn I can be," Hermione told him and Dave nodded in acknowledgement filing his mate's promise away in case he needed to use it later.

"I also realize that, even though we've been together for a year, but only been live together for four months of that and we are still are learning how to live together," Dave said. "Every couple has their struggles in the first years of their marriage even lifemates like we are, but the main thing is that we work it out and instead of getting angry about it or too stubborn to listen. I would like you to work on talking to me about anything that comes to mind, whether that's the project you're currently working on, a worry you have or anything in between. I know that childhood habits depending on how ingrained they have become are hard to break, but I'm asking you to try."

"I will," Hermione swore even as she kissed him fiercely, the kiss being returned immediately.

"That's all I ask," Dave said much calmer now the wolf receding from his eyes. "As I told you awhile back I will love you no matter how stubborn or angry you get at me because I love you for every single thing that you are, faults and all. We agreed awhile back that we were bound to clash as we're both stubborn, but that does not mean that I don't love you or you don't love me, just that we'll argue and fight sometimes, but then make up afterwards."

"I really am sorry that I hurt you, Dave, as you're the most important person in the world to me. All I can say is I learned from an early age not to depend on adults because I was quite severely bullied while at school for any number of things that I won't go into and the adults would never do anything as they never seemed to catch the bullies at it and if they didn't it was just hearsay. I thought that when I went to Hogwarts it would be different, but found out that people are the same anywhere some are nice and helpful, some are selfish, some get so caught up in their lives that they ignore what going on around them, some like to be nasty to others, just because they don't fit into their narrow worldview and some are just plain evil, with different degrees of each. I know it's all a matter of an environment, upbringing, role models and even the personalities of the parents plays a part in how a child turns out," Hermione said.

"You did hurt me, but as I said all is forgiven so long as you learned your lesson," Dave said and Hermione nodded fervently.

"I definitely did," Hermione said.

"Then it is forgotten about," Dave promised her. "I'm not one to hold a grudge so long as the lesson is learned. You have promised to be more careful and to listen to me from now on and that's all I wanted."

"You're way more understanding and forgiving then I deserve after all the worry I put you through over the last month at least," Hermione told Dave even as she kissed him by way of apology.

"That's because I know that all of us have faults and it's acknowledging those faults that will make us better people in the end," Dave explained. "As I told you months ago I have plenty of faults of my own, but now that that's settled, if you're feeling better, perhaps, we could go eat at one of the hotel restaurants, as it's nearly dinnertime as both of us slept quite a long time."

"I at least needed it," Hermione acknowledged. "You know that there have been some nights that I haven't slept well due to the babies kicking."

"Yes, believe me, I know," Dave said with a happy grin as he rubbed the soft skin of his mate's enormous belly. "It's perfectly normal during pregnancy though so it's nothing to worry about it just means that the babies are alive, healthy and active."

"I know," Hermione agreed, as she rubbed her belly protectively realizing that she really had been an idiot. Her commonsense had gone out the window, and normally she had plenty of it, certainly more then a lot of British magicals had, but she had been so sure that she was in the right that she had ignored the little niggling doubts that she'd started to have over the last month. She well remembered how her subconscious had started to prick her quite often, but she had ignored the little voice in her head telling her that she should listen to her mate's advice, that he knew what he was talking about, but instead she had been determined to go her own way, which was something she was going to have to work on in the future. Now that she had acknowledged she had been wrong she felt extremely foolish and glad that her babies had not been harmed by it, although Dave never would have allowed her to go so far until that actually happened.

"Well, this is our honeymoon," Hermione suggested with a grin as she gazed up and down Dave's naked body with a lust filled expression.

Dave's brown eyes darkened until they were almost black and his cock immediately perked up in interest he said, "While I would like nothing more then to make love to you to show you how much I adore you, we both need to eat, but you especially. You haven't eaten since about 6 or 7 o'clock last night, although I realize that's on home time, you still you need to eat before we can really start to enjoy our honeymoon."

"I am starving," Hermione and admitted.

"And it's a good idea to make sure that you get plenty to eat as that will only help you and the babies. A pregnant woman, especially one carrying multiples should not go without food for to long," Dave said and Hermione nodded not about to argue in this case as Dave was right.

"Alright then, I feel well enough to go down to one of the hotel restaurants, instead of ordering room service like you originally suggested before our little nap," Hermione said, as her stomach growled as if on cue.

"Your wish is my command, my lady," Dave said, as he kissed her ever willing lips and then her stomach. "I can hardly wait until our pups are born as I've wanted a family for many years, but I wasn't going to have one unless it was with my lifemate unlike some of my brothers and sisters decided to do."

"Well, you are you going to get your wish in just a couple more months," Hermione said touched at the way Dave had kissed her belly and then begin to unconsciously rub it with one hand.

Dave was going to be a great father and she knew that he was really looking forward to experiencing having children of his own instead of just spoiling his nieces and nephews. She certainly respected his decision to not have any children, before the two of them had met, even if she knew very well that it must have been hard to see members of his family get married and have children of their own and yet he didn't have any. She wasn't saying that he didn't adore his nieces and nephew, but that was different from having kids of your own, so she was glad that he would finally get his wish thanks to the two of them meeting.

"As much as I hate to get out of bed, I have to pee and then we need to get dressed if we are going to eat in one of the restaurants down in the lobby. Besides, while this is our honeymoon and as much as I love us making love we need to take in at least some of the sites, as who knows if we'll ever have a chance to come back."

"We will come back, even if it's not until our children our grown as we have centuries to do whatever we want," Dave promised.

"Well, despite that, I'd still like to see some of the sites since that's partly what a honeymoon's all about and not just staying in our hotel room," Hermione said.

"Yes, I agree and besides, this technically, might be our honeymoon, but we've been making love for months now, as neither one of waited for our wedding night. Shifters have different priorities as you know, so as soon as we had sex that first time we technically became married right then. My point is that I agree that we need to see some of the sites while we are here and so us making love in the nice big bed can wait until we get back. Besides, I don't have so little control of myself that all I want from you is sex, sex and more sex, even if I always enjoy it. So what do you want to see first as we might as well get the things we want to do the most out of the way and save the other things that want to do until later just in case we don't have enough time."

"Alright then," Hermione said, as she started to rise from the bed as she really did need to pee right this minute before she had an embarrassing accident. "I'm surprised that I wasn't up even once during the night, considering that my bladder has been taking a beating from the children I'm carrying for the last couple of weeks anyway, although come to think of it that's probably why I need to pee so bad now."

"You were deeply sleeping, so even your need to pee didn't wake you up," Dave said and Hermione nodded in acknowledgement, as she hurried to the bathroom that was part of the honeymoon suite.

Dave heard his mate as she did her business and then flushed the toilet and only a few seconds later he heard the water in the sink start and Dave assumed that she was washing her hands.

"So showers now or after we get back?" Hermione said poking her head out of the bathroom still buck naked and Dave didn't bother to force himself to look away for he was the only one allowed to see Hermione like this and that was totally completely unclothed and in her full glory, with full breasts that he just loved to squeeze gently with his hands, as he would not hurt his mate for anything in the world, but also he liked to play with them by licking nipping and kissing the sensitive skin. He often took the one of the little nubs into his mouth and sucked on it, which always caused a very strong reaction in his mate and he just loved watching her, come undone due to his ministrations. It was one of his greatest pleasures because Hermione was normally such a controlled individual and that she allowed herself to accept his ministrations and let go of all control let him know that despite they're earlier argument she really did trust him, as he knew that there was no way that his mate would be so passionate in bed if she didn't truly love him. She might not even allow him to touch her or they might not have bonded at all if she didn't trust him to a certain extent. He knew that Hermione would work on her worst faults and that the more they got to know each other the more his mate would trust him until she listened whenever he said something to her instead of stubbornly going and doing what she wanted. After all you could love someone with all your heart, but not trust them completely and Dave knew that he would have to build the trust between them until Hermione knew not just in her head, but in her heart that she could trust him with anything and he would never betray her or give her bad advice. He knew something had happened to her when she was 14, and although he didn't know the details he could guess at least. In any case, he was hoping that Hermione would tell him what happened what she learned to trust him completely and when she did he could help her work through her trust issues due to what occurred. He suspected that he would want to go hunt the person down and rip them to shreds, which was likely one reason that Hermione not to mention Harry and Luna who also knew what had happened didn't want to tell him the full story. It didn't matter, Dave decided, at least at the moment as he intended to concentrate on his mate and her needs and save what had happened to his wife when she had been a teenager for another time.

Besides, the two of them were bound to clash sometimes as they were both stubborn and had plenty of other faults, so they weren't always going to coexist peacefully.

"I say now, as neither of us has had one since the morning of our weddings and that was nearly 2 days ago," Dave said.

"Okay, but it will have to be a quick one, so no horseplay as I'm starving," Hermione said and Dave readily agreed to save the horseplay for later.

Dave entered the bathroom to find that Hermione had already started the shower and since the water heated up so quickly both of them had a quick wash before getting dressed so they could go downstairs.

"Shall we, my lady?" Dave asked solicitously, as he offered his mate his arm and Hermione giggled like a little girl, as she now knew that she had been truly forgiven her for her last month of stupidity just from the way that Dave was acting towards her and she thanked every deity that she knew that Dave didn't hold a grudge like so many people did.

Once she had promised that she would listen to him from now on and not push yourself until she could barely see straight he had immediately forgiven her, trusting that she would keep her promises to him and she had every intention of doing so.

She admitted that she also had a very quick temper, especially when certain subjects were broached, like when the subject of her dowry had been mentioned just a few months previously she had flared up at Harry, as if he was a personal enemy when he was only trying to do right by her in order to protect her. When she had been offered like a piece of property to Dave, that was what had caused her temper to flare up so fast, before she had really thought about why such a thing was being discussed as she had just seen red like waving a flag of that color in front of a bull, as she believed it was outdated custom that should be allowed to let die. Intellectually she realized that the British wizarding world in particular was very archaic in its customs and the purebloods liked it that way, but because of this things like betrothal contracts and dowries were still in common usage. She supposed she was lucky she wasn't a pureblood, as she would probably have been bound to some stranger that was around her age by the time she was three years old if she had been, someone of similar social status to herself of course. At least Harry and Dave had only discussed a dowry in order to protect her farther from being attacked by the pureblood bigots who believed that muggle-borns should be eradicated, even after the war with Voldemort had been won. They wouldn't dare attack openly, as that would be suicide, but what was to stop them from some kind of subtle attack likes sending her a letter filled with poison for example, or slipping something nasty into her drink or food when she was in public. She hated being so weary and suspicious all the time, but since it had saved her life on several occasions she would rather be that way then be dead.

"We shall, kind sir," Hermione responded as she took Dave's arm causing his face to light up, because she had just let him know that he to was forgiven for the little lecture he had given her if only for her own good, but since she had deserved it she couldn't really stay mad at him for he was only looking after her welfare.

The two of them walked out of the room together and towards the elevator, with Dave's arm about his mate's waist protectively, as he had already seen several men yesterday cast envious glances at his wife, even though she was heavily pregnant. She hadn't noticed them looking, which was the only thing that had prevented him from moving to protect his territory. However, his arm around his mate's waist was a subtle message to any man that thought that Hermione was available to let them know that she was officially off the market.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"So what do you want to do for first?" Dave asked as he and Hermione enjoyed their meal at the hotel's finest restaurant.

"Well," Hermione said thoughtfully as soon as she had swallowed her current bite of food.

"At some point I'd like to pick up souvenirs for Harry, Luna, James, your parents, mine and several other people, although that can wait a few days anyway. As for actual attractions, there's Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Park and Bridge and Union Square for some of our shopping for souvenirs that I mentioned a minute ago and besides, it is a very historic area. I think however, that we can avoid Alcatraz Island as I don't think I need to be going to such a place with me pregnant."

"Even I've heard of Alcatraz," Dave said, "and I agree that is not a place for pregnant woman because likely there will be a rather heavy and evil atmosphere for people who are sensitive to such things, so why take the risk? Some places just have a certain dark energy about them and considering that there used to be a federal prison there that held some of the worst of humanity I think is just as well that we avoid it."

"You didn't even mention that there will likely be ghosts such as Al Capone and the many others that died there," Hermione said, "and just because most people cannot see them does not mean that they do not exist."

"Well, I didn't think about that because those people weren't magical after all and I didn't think that mundanes could be ghosts," Dave said.

"Doesn't happen too often," Hermione admitted, "but as you just said Alcatraz was where some of the worst criminals were housed and that evil would've seeped into the very stones and sometimes that will allow mundanes to become ghost or at least that's what I've read. We know that technically ghost can't really affect the living world, or at least not physically touch something, but they could do things like causing all the lights to flicker on and off or the power to go out using all that ghostly energy. Besides, I've learned over the years that there are many things in the world that have yet to be explained by science. When I was younger I used to believe everything that was written down and thought it to be true, but I've since learned that books are just an opinion, not fact and not necessarily how things are or the only way to accomplish something. Magicals for the most part, at least the ones that England tend not to question things like when Sirius Black, Harry's godfather was thrown in prison without even a trial for example. He looked guilty of Harry's parents murders and therefore, he was guilty and so they didn't even bother to question him under truth serum, just threw him into a tiny cell and threw away the key. Mundanes on the other hand question just about anything and don't accept something as fact until it's been proven and from more than one source. English magicals at least just assume that magic wanted it to be and therefore it is."

"It likely has to do with that inbreeding you were telling me about," Dave suggested and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"That's part of it certainly," Hermione agreed, "but we can continue this discussion later if you want as I'm far more interested in seeing some of the sites and then perhaps, going to Union Square near the end of our stay in San Francisco, because they have some of the finest shopping in the world including a maternity store where I'd like to at least look and possibly pick out a few outfits. Yes, I realize that I won't be pregnant for much longer, but there's always next time."

"Yes, there's always next time," Dave agreed readily. He didn't mention the fact that he intended to buy Hermione anything she wanted, even things she didn't ask for, but looked at with longing, but didn't go ahead and buy because she didn't want to spend the money, mostly because of her middle class upbringing would have told her that it was just too expensive and not something she necessarily needed. Besides, he was sure that there was a jewelry shop at Union Square, probably several of them and he intended to buy Hermione several pieces of fine jewelry, even though he knew he was spoiling her rotten, but he didn't really care, because Dave felt that she deserved it, as she never asked him for anything at all, except that he love her, which he did with every atom that made up his body. When he had presented her with the engagement ring he had bought at the finest jewelry shop in Florence and had actually proposed on bended knee Hermione had stared at him for a moment before flinging her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately before accepting.

Dave knew that she loved her engagement ring as it was extremely beautiful and also ultraexpensive. When Dave had learned that rubies and sapphires were her favorite stones he had been determined to get her an engagement ring that told her exactly how he felt about her even if he had to design it himself and no plain diamond no matter how big would do for the woman he adored.

He had gone to quite a few jewelry shops before finding something he felt was perfect at one of the best shops in the city.

Dave had bought it on the spot not even wincing at the price and had the inside of the band engraved. To him money didn't really matter as it was just a way to make life easier and to buy his mate things that she loved or desired, even if she berated him for wasting so much money, but what was the point of having so much money both in Galleons and euros if it just sat in a bank gathering interest? It wasn't like either he or Hermione were going to go broke if they splurged, especially since he was still writing and in fact he had been working on his latest book while Hermione and some of his female relatives took care of the wedding details, along with Luna, his new sister-in-law. He knew that eventually Hermione would get out of the habit of protesting every time he presented her with an expensive gift when she truly realized that both of them had plenty of money and between them they were likely the wealthiest family in Italy as each of them had been individually wealthy before they had met. If they weren't the wealthiest they were certainly in the top five of richest people in Italy and not many people could claim the wealth that they had between them particularly since Hermione was good at investing and so was he, so that meant that their money would only increase, even if both of them did make a bad investment occasionally.

There was also the fact that the goblins had been given permission to invest a portion of both their Galleons and therefore, their wealth was slowly, but steadily increasing.

There was no way that the two of them could ever go broke, so why not splurge?

Dave was sure that at least part of the reason that Hermione always berated him for spending so much gold on her was that she didn't feel worthy of it or he suspected of his love, but someday, hopefully, soon, she would realize that everybody deserved to be loved and spoiled no matter what she had been told during her childhood by those bullies and others that had likely picked on her as they were likely just jealous of her intelligence, her beauty and her drive to do her best and so bullied her to cover it up.

"The idea of actually having a store that sells clothes for pregnant females, has not caught on in the British wizarding world, as they can just enlarge whatever they're wearing. I haven't seen anything like that in Italy either at least not in the magical section of Florence. I know a couple of girls when I went to Hogwarts who were absolutely mad about fashion and if they weren't already involved in careers they would likely go mad with a store of their own that sold clothes, any type of clothes not just wizarding, including maternity."

"Well, there's no harm in making the suggestion to them if you like it and offer to back them on this venture," Dave suggested. "They don't have to accept you know, but they might not be happy in their current careers and jump at the opportunity if they're still as mad about fashion and clothes as they were when you knew them. Personally, I think it sounds like a good investment just so long as you have an attorney write up a business contract and they come up with a halfway decent business plan."

"I can't see Parvati's and Lavender's madness about fashion changing about them as they were very flighty when they were younger and loved to gossip about anyone and anything," Hermione said. "They used to drive me crazy, because our dorm room was gossip central and I was never into that kind of thing. All they could talk about was fashion and boys, and it always amazed me particularly with Parvati because her identical twin Padma was in Ravenclaw, where many say that I should've ended up instead of Gryffindor. Padma was a much better student then her sister was."

"Now those are unusual names," Dave said running the two names through his mind. "They're certainly not British."

"No, the girls were of Indian descent. Their family moved to Britain when they were young," Hermione agreed. "I haven't really heard that much about them actually, so I'm not sure if they have careers or if they're the typical housewives as both were purebloods, although the Indian twins were looked down on because they weren't British. It's likely if they didn't marry someone that their parents approved of by the time they were 21, that their marriages would be arranged for them if they weren't already. Going to Hogwarts isn't so much about getting an education I've learned, at least not for the purebloods it's about meeting your peers and perhaps, falling in love and marrying right out of school. A lot of magicals grow up outside small towns and therefore, they're very isolated, so is it any wonder that they are sent to Hogwarts to meet their peers and not just get an education? Of course, that's mainly the ones that know about the magical world, the purebloods or the half-bloods, but us mundane borns well we mostly grow up in a city. It's as if it's some kind of law that wizarding children have to grow up in isolation, with only their siblings to play with if they have any that is, which is something I think needs to be changed and that magicals need to become more integrated into the mundane world or at least the way it is in Britain. Not every magical grows up outside small towns or out in the middle of nowhere, but the vast majority as far as I know do."

"It's totally different here in Italy, as we are more integrated into the mundane world," said Dave and Hermione nodded for she had noticed this for herself.

"Yes, I know I've been living in Italy long enough to notice that most of them know how to dress appropriately when out and about and that they don't seem to have the fear of mundanes, that the English magicals do and personally, I think that's healthy."

The two of them were talking quietly so that nobody who wasn't within less than a foot of them could possibly overhear what they were saying, but they stopped talking and just enjoyed their dinner and each others company.

"So you want to take in some of the nightlife?" Dave asked his mate and Hermione knew if he was asking if she was too tired.

"I'm fine," Hermione promised Dave. "We did sleep most of the afternoon after all. I wouldn't mind taking a cable car ride as San Francisco is the only city here in America at least that has cable cars that you can ride all over the city. I hear that it is more dangerous at night then in the daytime though, but I guess it all depends on where we go. Perhaps, we can ask the concierge at the front desk as they can make some recommendations as to what to do at this time, because in a fine hotel like this the concierge will know about every attraction in the city even some that aren't as popular as others will be, because that's part of their duties to inform their guests about what's available in the way of dining, entertainment and so forth."

"That sounds like a fine idea as they're bound to know about every major and minor attraction in the city," Dave said approvingly.

Dave watched as his mate finished her meal, which had been double the size of his own, but then again he wasn't pregnant, and Hermione had been eating a great deal particularly since she had reached the beginning of the third month. Anybody who paid attention to what other people were doing, even if it was none of their business that looked at his mate like she was crazy for eating so much even while she was pregnant he simply glared at and he didn't care if it was man or woman. It was mostly the females that looked at her as if she was crazy for eating so much, even though it was very obvious that she was soon going to give birth, but then a lot of women ate like birds, even when they were pregnant, and besides, those people didn't understand the unusual circumstances here and he wasn't about to explain it to them because they were just being rude.

Dave was sure that those ladies were hoping that he would show an interest in them once his little woman was out of the way, but the chances of that were zero. He knew very well that he was a healthy fit, handsome man and that a lot of handsome men cheated on their girlfriends, fiancés or wives all the time, but those women's didn't realize that he was a shifter and that they only had one mate and that Hermione was his, so the chances of him cheating on her were absolutely none. Besides, even if he had married someone who wasn't his lifemate he still wouldn't have cheated on them even if they got divorced somewhere down the road, even if he realized that many men would have done the exact opposite, but unfortunately, for those women his ethics were set in stone. He had seen the many envious glances that Hermione had been getting from women and he knew those were the ones that were intensely jealous that she was with him an extremely gorgeous specimen of a man instead of themselves. They probably thought that Hermione didn't deserve him and that she was plain compared to themselves and only someone who was as gorgeous as he was should have him, but even if he and Hermione weren't lifemates he wouldn't give such shallow women the time of day as his tastes had always been better, even as a young man.

The waiter appeared if on cue and handed Dave the check, which he accepted and presented the waiter with his credit card without comment. The waitstaff here was very good and also very discreet as their particular waiter had been by their table several times asking them if they needed anything more and so Dave signed the check and added a large tip before the waiter took it back and disappeared with his credit card in order to complete the transaction at the checkout.

It wasn't long before the waiter was back with Dave's credit card and a copy of the check.

"We hope you enjoyed your dining experience and that you'll come again," the waiter said and by the tone of his voice Dave and Hermione knew that it was something that he said probably several dozen times a day to the various diners.

"The food was excellent," Hermione complimented the waiter, "and I really enjoyed it so I don't see why Dave and I can't come back before we leave."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, ma'am," the waiter said with a smile thinking that this Dave's wife was a very beautiful woman and that she and her husband were obviously very much in love.

Dave watched his wife and the waiters interaction and wasn't jealous, not only because he knew that Hermione was loyal to him, but because this was a very common occurrence whenever they went out to a play or a restaurant. Instead it made him proud to have such a beautiful woman as his mate and he didn't really mind when other men cast her envious glances just so long as they didn't do more than that, because for one thing a man couldn't help, but admire a beautiful woman whether or not she was married and so he took it as a compliment. He had certainly admired his share a beautiful women over the years and still did, even if he wasn't interested in any of them beyond that and since Hermione did the same and admired gorgeous men even if that was as far as it went then there was no need to be jealous, as it was just a natural part of any species.

"Well, shall we, my lady?" Dave said, as he got up from where he was sitting and offered Hermione his arm.

"Why yes, sir, I believe we shall," Hermione answered and Dave helped her to her feet since she did tend to have trouble standing up, because of how big she was.

Once Hermione was on her feet she took Dave's arm and he proudly escorted her out to the lobby and towards the front desk and the waiter watched them go thinking that he had rarely seen a couple who was obviously very in love.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Dave and Hermione stepped into Amir H. Mozaffarian's a renowned jewel that had set up shop in San Fran in 1978 and started browsing.

"Oh! They have some really lovely things," Hermione said, as she browsed the large selection.

"Yes, they do," Dave agreed.

"Can I help you, sir? Ma'am?" The gentleman behind the counter asked them cordially.

"Not at the moment," Dave told the guy politely. "Hermione, if you see anything you like I insist on buying it for you."

"I already figured as much," Hermione told him with a little grin. "I'm not even going to bother to protest as I know it won't do any good since you've made it clear that you like spoiling me and I like being spoiled, but still think you spend too much money."

"It's my money to spend however, I like," Dave told her with a smile glad to know that his mate wasn't going to argue with him.

The man behind the counter listened to this and chuckled to himself as apparently the couple had had some arguments about how much money was spent. The female seemed to think that they needed to watch what they spent, but the man had said that he could spend his money however, he liked and he liked spoiling his wife or at least the guy assumed that the female was his wife since she was very pregnant.

Yes, yes, the female was definitely the man's wife, just because of the looks they sent to each other which were all gooey and tender told him that the two of them were very much in love.

The man behind the counter could tell that the man at least came from money just from their conversation and the way they dressed, although he certainly didn't put on airs like a lot of rich people did, as he seemed more genuine somehow.

The man behind the counter tried to puzzle out what it was that caught his attention and then realized exactly what it was. He didn't treat his wife as if she was just there for other men to admire, in other words, as an object, but not actually as a person, as he treated her with love, tenderness and warmth. It was clear that the man adored his wife and that the woman adored her husband.

In other words, the man treated his wife as his equal partner in everything, someone with intelligence, passion and goals of her own and in fact if he was any judge the husband helped her achieve those goals whatever they might be as he could tell that he wasn't one for holding a woman back from living their life or to get jealous at his wife's accomplishments and in fact if the man behind the counter suspected the husband would be proud.

"Find anything you want?" Dave asked his mate.

"It's all so beautiful," Hermione said, as she looked at the display case and all the beautiful, but expensive jewelry. "As much as I would like to buy at all not only is that ridiculous there's no way I could wear it all."

The man behind the counter snorted with laughter and Dave looked at him.

"Your wife is not the first one to make such a comment, nor do I think she will be the last. We create and sale only the finest items here as you will not find that cheap costume junk in our store."

"Many women have an eye for beautiful things," Hermione told the man behind the counter with a smile. "Of course, it's not often that a lot of them can afford to buy such incredible jewelry, if at all."

"Thank you for the compliment on our merchandise, ma'am," the man behind the counter said sincerely with a smile.

"You're quite welcome," Hermione told him.

The couple moved off, but the man watched them as the woman continued to look at all the beautiful necklaces bracelets and queens and even a few watches.

"Perhaps, we should get you a new watch or some cufflinks," Hermione told Dave, "for fancy occasions, but not every day wear. We go out to eat at exclusive restaurants often enough that cufflinks or a elegant watch would be appropriate."

"Yes," Dave said slowly, "that's probably a good idea. I've been needing some new cufflinks for sometime anyway, something simple but elegant and expensive."

"Yes, most men do have more than one pair of cufflinks as I know my father certainly does and he wears them quite often as he takes mom out to a fancy dinner for her birthday or their anniversary.

"Why don't you pick something out for me," Dave said with a smile meaning what he said, "as you have excellent taste."

Hermione nodded looking pleased kissing Dave on the cheek if she continued perusing the items that were for sale.

Dave watched as Hermione concentrated on what she was doing and thought that he had definitely pleased her when he had told her to pick out cufflinks for him, even though he was perfectly capable of doing that himself. However, he hadn't been lying when he said that Hermione had excellent taste and if doing such a little thing for him instead of him doing it for himself made her happy who was he to deny her? Besides, most wife's shopped for their husband's as a matter of course, simply because the man had no idea what to do, like picking out his clothes for example and while he didn't have that particular problem it was still considered a wife's job. He didn't really mind her picking out some jewelry for him or if she was shopping somewhere a shirt or pair pants or even shoes, socks and underwear. She knew his sizes just as he knew hers and if Hermione wanted to take on the traditional role of a wife shopping for her husband's clothes he didn't really mind it.

"What do you think of these?" Hermione asked pointing at a jewelry case and a specific pair of cufflinks.

Dave examined them and knew that they were exactly what he would buy for himself simple but very elegant.

"Simple and elegant, just like I like them as you well know," Dave told her with a smile.

The cufflinks in question were gold with a very fancy pattern engraved on them. They were simple, elegant and understated, but spoke of great wealth.

"As long as we're here do you need a new watch or anything?" Hermione asked

"No my old one is just fine and in good condition," Dave told her and Hermione nodded not pushing the issue.

"Alright then, I think we're ready to go," Hermione said and Dave called the man from behind the counter over once his wife had made her selections.

It was only a few minutes later that all the jewelry they had bought had been put into their boxes and then into a bag and they were ready to go.

"Please come again," the man that had rung it all up for them said

"Maybe if we ever manage make it back to San Francisco, since we're only here for a couple of weeks," Dave told the man with a smile, before he escorted his wife out the door with a gentle hand on her back and the bag of jewelry in the other hand

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"So enjoying yourself?" Dave asked Hermione.

It was several days later and the two of them had been to a lot of fine restaurants and also some of the major attractions, although Dave made sure that his mate sat down at frequent intervals considering how advanced her pregnancy had become. Hermione never complained, but he always watched her closely and could usually tell when her feet pained her or her back. She had potions that she could take to help with this, but still getting off her feet was the best solution.

"You know I have," Hermione said with a grin. "It's been wonderful. You know that I've traveled a lot to other countries with my parents for vacation when I was growing up, but we never came to America so it's all a new experience. I mean I've been to France several times, Spain once, even Australia and Switzerland, but we never did make it here to the States. Once I started going to Hogwarts, even though I still took vacations with my parents I spent a great deal of time with my magical friends. I think that my parents were so happy that I actually had friends instead of being all by myself that they allowed me to stay at their house, although come to think of it, it usually happened just doing the last few weeks of summer so I could go to Diagon Alley for my school supplies with them."

Dave know that Diagon Alley was the British shopping district for all the magical supplies that were needed for attending Hogwarts or any magical school really.

"Do you miss Britain to any? Your friends?" asked Dave.

"A little," Hermione admitted, "but I can go visit them anytime I like, as I told you awhile back, because it's only an hour time difference between Italy and England, but to tell you the truth the only really good friend I made was Harry and since I see him all the time it's really not all that bad. I do like Neville, and we do see each other sometimes, but he was the only other boy in Gryffindor that was nice to me as a rest tended to ignore me for the most part considering me to bossy. Fred and George are okay to and those are the only people I can think of that I really miss besides, a couple of the teachers Professor Flitwick for example, he taught charms. He's half goblin but he's also a cheerful and genuinely nice person and quite an expert at his subject. I learned a lot from him. Professor McGonagall and Professor Vector are the only other two I can think of that I really miss. To tell you the truth if it hadn't been for Harry I probably would have requested to go home after Halloween of my first year, as people considered me to bossy to really become friends with as unfortunately, I had picked up that habit because I had never had friends when I was younger, so I wasn't used to interacting with others my age."

"They are certain disadvantages to being so intelligent," Dave said and Hermione nodded, as she ate a bite of her salad. "I'm not just talking about you, but myself as well as while I had a couple of casual friends it wasn't until after I have finished school, that I made some good ones. I might not be quite as intelligent as you are, but still I have a high IQ to, but then my parents are also intelligent people like you have discovered for yourself, so I inherited that from them as well as everything else. It took me time to develop skills to be more sociable and while I wasn't bossy like you were, I seemed to get good grades with very little effort and that annoyed the other children around me. Of course, like you I studied my butt off to get the grades I got I just didn't do it where anybody other than my genitori and my fratelli and sorelle could see me."

"What you didn't play any sports?" Hermione asked surprised. "I mean at the mundane school you went to before you went to that Italian magical school."

"I could have, I admit," Dave said shaking his head, "but I didn't really have any interest, even though I was pretty athletic. I'm not even sure I would've had time, because unlike in England we got lessons in magic at home, stuff that isn't taught at that school I went to."

"Yes, I envy you, as unlike England there are no laws preventing a child from using magic just as long as it is not seen by someone who isn't supposed to," Hermione said.

"But it does need to be under adult supervision a parent or guardian or someone else qualified," Dave said.

"Still, the laws in Italy make more sense than the ones they have in England, particularly in a time of war where a child should be allowed to defend themselves if they're attacked, without getting in trouble for using underage magic. Also I've never liked the fact that the magical's in England expect non-magical parents to just put their children on a train and basically forget about them. That might have been fine a few hundred years ago, but nowadays, I always thought that something should be done to involve the parents of the young mundane borns in the wizarding world. Bring them to the castle for example and let them see where their children disappear to for nine months of the year, there are so many more things that could be done, but the gulf between the mundane and the magical world seems unbreachable, mostly because of witches and wizards fear of those without magic, but then they've been taught to, so it's not entirely their faults. Well, I'm not going to worry about it as I think that the British wizarding world should be allowed to fade out of existence eventually if they don't change. Mundane borns and half-bloods are already fleeing to other shores because they don't have the proper bloodlines and the ones that stay don't have the money to go elsewhere, but..."

"Can't get the good jobs because they don't have the proper bloodline, it's certainly a crazy mixed up system," Dave said shaking his head definitely glad that he was Italian and not British.

"And someday it's going to come back and bite them," Hermione said, "and considering the way that they treated anybody who's not a pureblood I would say it's deserved, except that there are a lot of good people that I know that are purebloods that don't deserve that fate Arthur Weasley for example, Amelia Bones, or Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"Well, it probably won't happen in their lifetimes or ours," Dave said.

"Probably not," Hermione agreed and changed the subject.

"So when do you want to move onto New York?" Dave asked. "We can stay here for the full two weeks, but we don't necessarily have to."

"Not for another few days anyway," Hermione said. "After that we'll see."

"Whatever my lady wants," Dave said gallantly and Hermione laughed, as it was a little game between the two of them.

"It shouldn't be just about what I want, but what you want to," Hermione told him.

"I'm having a good time," Dave told Hermione seriously, "just so long as the two of us are together I'm happy, but I have enjoyed myself the last few days where it's just been the two of us and no possible interruptions from your brother or sister or my parents and siblings."

"Yes, that has been rather nice," Hermione smiling. Hermione ate her last bite of chicken and then looked at Dave. "So are you ready to continue after this very fine lunch?"

"Of course," Dave said smiling, as he two ate the last bite of his steak. Dave ate steak at least a few times a week as he absolutely loved it and as rare as possible. Hermione suspected that it had a lot to do with the fact that he was a wolf shifter, although she couldn't be certain unless she asked him, but she suspected that all wolf shifters loved a good steak just as real wolves did.

"Well then, let's pay the check and then get back to seeing some of the sites," Hermione said and Dave nodded paying the check with his credit card as soon as the waiter appeared and it wasn't long at all before the two of them were on their way.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

A week and a half later

"I think in another day or two I'll be ready to move on to New York," Hermione said and Dave nodded agreeably.

"Yes, I believe it is time as we've seen most of the major tourist sites, eaten in many fine restaurants, and seen some of the sites off the beaten track as well," Dave agreed. "Yes, we've done quite a lot in just a week and a half we've been here."

Hermione was about to answer when something caught her eyes and Dave looked in the same direction.

Both of them walked quickly to where they saw a large man manhandle a boy who could be no more than six or seven, while a girl who looked around the same age tried her best to get the boy free. Nobody else who was on the street was paying attention at all to the scene going on mostly because it was happening in the mouth of an alley and nobody wanted to get involved. The boy whose hair appeared a dark brown was filthy dirty so it was very possible that his hair was lighter when it was properly clean.

"You will not run away from me," the man breathed. "You will never get away from my employer again, as you and your sister are his property now your father sold you to us in good faith. You will learn to obey, because my employer will have no problem disciplining you and believe me, you will like that even less then your current fate."

"You let him go, you brute," The girl said trying her best to get the boy free, by kicking and hitting him but he was so big that he seemed unaffected.

"Now the two of you will come with me and you better not cause me any trouble, because I will have no trouble killing you and leaving you dead in this alley. I don't care who I kill if they're man, woman or child as I've done it before and I take great pleasure in it I promise you."

"Let me go," The boy yelled as he tried his best to get free, but having two children trying to kick and hit him, which didn't seem to be having any affect. "Our father had no right to sell us as we are human beings, not animals."

"Oh, but he did," the big man chuckled as he continued to hold the boy by the arm, "and you might have rights up here in, but in the underworld you belong to my employer. Now you will tell me where your other brother and sister are as they to belong to my employer as well and if you do not you will be whipped within an inch of your lives."

Suddenly Dave charged the big man and Hermione only watched with her heart in her throat terrified that Dave was going to get himself killed.

The big man who had not been expecting such an attack was so surprised that he let the boy go and the boy and girl immediately ran out the other side of the alley disappearing quickly.

"Let's see how you like it, as I'm certainly not a child, that you can easily control," Dave challenged, as angry as Hermione had ever seen him, although he certainly had a right to be as she knew that seeing a child, much less two being so mistreated enraged Dave beyond anything.

"You should never have interfered," the man said getting to his feet, as Dave had knocked him completely off them and several feet along the dirty alley just by the way he had rammed into the man's form. The man came forward brandishing a switchblade that he'd had in his pocket, Dave looked unafraid at this. "You've only prevented inevitable, I'll find the four of them again you'll see, but before I do I'll teach you to interfere in things that are not your business."

While Dave had the man distracted Hermione had moved slowly, so as not to attract attention to herself and when she was out of view of the main street and therefore, multiple witnesses she silently took out her her wand and cast a spell that stunned the man, so that he simply stopped and suddenly fell unconscious into the dirty alley.

"Oh, I was so worried," Hermione said flinging herself into Dave's arms, before bursting into tears.

"I'm fine," Dave soothed sorry for the fear he had caused his mate, but he couldn't have let the manhandling of that child go down right in front of him as nothing angered the wolf in him more than seeing pups in danger, as he could imagine a dozen fates for the boy that the man had ahold of, his sister or at least he was assuming the girl had been the boy's sister and that thug had mentioned another boy and girl who he was going to assume were the other twos siblings. Considering that the boy and girl he had rescued looked around the same age and assumed the other boy was as well, so they were likely quadruplets. "I'm sorry I frightened you, but while this guy is knocked out we need to find those four children."

"Yes, I agree," Hermione said finally releasing his waist, although she did not release his hand and held it tightly.

The two of them left the alley silently walking hand-in-hand, nobody having paid attention to the slight scuffle.

Finally they found somewhere they could sit as there was a park close by to where the scuffle had taken place and Hermione silently cast a notice me not charm so that nobody would pay attention to them just like she had done during that slight scuffle in the mouth of the alley, which is why no one had paid attention to Dave. Of course, considering that nobody wanted to get involved when that young boy and girl had been being kidnapped, that told her how much people cared, but on the other hand she could understand that they wouldn't want to put their lives in danger for strangers even two children

"Again I'm sorry I frightened you, but I couldn't just stand by and let that bastardo do whatever he was going to do. I mean you heard him the bastardo say that their father sold them. Their own father!" Dave exclaimed before going into a string of curse words in both English and Italian that had Hermione blushing deeply.

"I should scold you for your language, but in this case I can't really blame you," Hermione admitted once Dave had run down. "Personally, I'd like to castrate the bastard myself. I can easily imagine what he wanted the four children for because beneath the dirt and the grime they're adorable and a lot of adults go for children instead of someone who's of age as nasty as that is to think about."

"Believe me, I know. I can easily imagine over a dozen scenarios just from off the top of my head of what that man wanted those children for, which is why we need to find them ASAP. It sounds like to me they escaped once from whatever their situation was and they've been living on the street. If they are caught again I have no doubt that whoever that man's employer was would feed them some sort of drug to keep them pliable or perhaps, beat them within an inch of their lives until they learned obedience."

"But how are we going to find them? We don't know the city," Hermione asked Dave who seemed deep in thought. Those four children's situation enraged her, but she needed to stay calm so that she could help Dave figure out a solution. "You know if one of those children left behind something that belonged to them in the alley whether they dropped it and didn't bother to retrieve it or didn't want to take the time it doesn't matter, but if they did I can do a spell on whatever it is and it should help us find wherever they're hiding. I have to ask though what do you intend to do once we find them as we can't return them to their father considering what we just heard."

"I have no intention of returning them to their father and in fact, their father will be lucky if I don't show up on his doorstep and murder him. What I intend to do is adopt them," Dave begin to explain. "As you know a person with money has a great deal of influence and I'm sure that if I spread a great deal of money around, despite being from Italy we will be allowed to adopt them. As much as I hate the thought of it I'll use magic on whoever does that kind of thing if necessary. Besides, getting them out of the States for a few years will likely be the best thing for them."

"While I agree I see a couple of problems," Hermione said. "One is we didn't come into this country by a mundane method, so there will be no record of us ever entering it and the social workers or whoever will definitely check our visas and so forth. Now while we have visas they were issued by the Ministry of Magic in Italy and even though they look like the real thing they will not be found in any computer system. In fact the only thing they will find on us is things like school records up until we were eleven and our marriage license. For all intents and purposes we do not exist in the mundane world or at least it looks that way, because our records are so incomplete. I fear that we might have to use magic on them, even though the idea appalls me, because it goes against my ethics and morals, but it might be necessary and I'll do it, simply because there are children involved who deserve better."

"We'll have to make sure that the ministry here in America never finds out," Dave said deep in thought, "as we we might really be in deep trouble if they found out we used magic on mundanes, even if it's to help four children."

"It's worth the risk," Hermione said and Dave nodded in agreement.

"It really is because it goes against my grain to see four children living on the streets and in constant danger from that same person that you stunned with magic, not to mention the elements. The wolf in me really wanted to tear that man into little teeny tiny, itty-bitty bits and find his employer and do the same, but I think getting the children away from him will be the best we can expect," Dave said much more calmly then he had been a few minutes ago.

"But what if he has other children?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know what we can do about them if whoever this employer has more," Dave said shaking his head looking sad. "For all I know he has several child brothels in the city as really they're quite common, even if you don't usually think about them because they are so well hidden. Unfortunately, there are a lot of sick individuals in the world and they make their money on the fear and pain of others, but it particularly sickens me when it involves pups."

"Me too," Hermione immediately agreed thinking that she had a good man here. Of course, she had already known that. "You're right, there's really nothing we can do about that man I stunned or his employer, as we are strangers to the city and I doubt very much that the police would listen to us. They would probably just brush us off and even if they didn't there's no guarantee that they aren't being bribed to report back to whoever this employer is, which would then reveal our hand and might put our lives in danger, no we're going have to be sneaky about this. We need to find those children before that man wakes up and finds them and then we need to cut our honeymoon short and whisk them to Italy."

"Thank you for this," Dave said he kissed his made on the lives and put all the love and passion into it that he could. "I'll make it up to you."

"No need," Hermione promised him, "because it enrages me to that these children are living on the street and that their father sold them to whoever this man's employer is. I'm not naïve, so I know that there's a lot of evil in the world considering I did fight in the battle at Hogwarts, but really I've been fighting evil since I was 11. However, this particularly repulses me as children should be protected, loved and provided for not sold to some slimy character to be used. Believe me, I share your feelings about tracking down their father and making sure he never hurts anyone again and normally as you know I'm against killing, but I do realize that sometimes it's necessary, which would surprise anyone who doesn't really know me or knew me as a child and a teenager, people like you or Harry or Luna."

"Well then, we have a plan, although I want you to stay out of it as much as possible considering that you're heavily pregnant and you're not exactly as mobile as you usually are because of it."

"I can't just wait in the hotel room for you worrying myself to death," Hermione protested, although she knew that it was safer.

"I'll be careful," Dave promised, "and I do have my mobile phone on me and I'll make sure I call you every half an hour if it will make you feel better."

"It would," Hermione said, "but I'm going to worry anyway until you return to me, even if I know that you can protect yourself. I would still worry, even if it wasn't for these dratted pregnancy hormones."

"I'll be fine," Dave promised his mate tenderly, "as I plan on doing my best to track them down, but I will also be very careful. Besides, this plan is only viable if we find something of theirs that they dropped in the alley and we might not, so if we don't we're going to have to come up with another plan."

"So let's go back to the alley and look," Hermione suggested as she started to rise to her feet.

Dave also got to his feet and took and took Hermione's arm in order to steady her.

"You know I've been meaning to ask why nobody noticed me fighting that thug or that he just toppled to the ground unconscious when that red beam hit him," Dave asked suddenly.

Hermione blushed and responded, "I kind of placed a notice me not charm up around the alley so that people would walk by and not pay attention as I figured that we didn't need to attract the authorities attention just in case."

"I figured it was something like that," Dave admitted, "as it could only be magic to get so many people to ignore two men having a scuffle, not to mention two extremely filthy children. On second thought maybe not considering that they were ignoring those same two children being kidnapped, even if they were putting up quite the fight as they couldn't've been more than 5 or 6."

"You know I'm wondering what this employer will do once he can't find those four children. Do you think he'll take it out on that man I stunned?" Hermione asked her voice calm, but her eyes sparking with a furiousness that Dave was glad was not directed at him. Dave was well aware how fierce his mate could be, even though she was not a shifter herself and she considered what had happened to those children a great wrong. Dave almost felt sorry for the quadruplets father if she ever got her hands on him or this mysterious employer or the man in the alley. Almost.

"You know as bad as it is for me to say it would be sort of poetic justice if he did, wouldn't it?" Dave suggested.

"Yes, yes, it would," Hermione agreed immediately. "However, if what we suspect is true then he definitely deserves it.

"You'll get no argument from me," Dave said, as the two of them walked slowly out of the park arm in arm and back towards the alley where Dave had fought that big hulking thug.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Here I think I found something," Dave said lifted up a small gold locket, which had likely belonged to the girl. "If something like this is still in the alley then it couldn't have been here very long or it would've been found and taken. The chain is broken, which explains why it's laying here and the girl might not even realize it's missing. I suspect that at the least it has sentimental value because it is likely that their mother gave it to her."

"I agree that this likely belongs to the girl," Hermione said, as she brushed the little bit of dirt and grime off it.

Dave looked at the thug that was still lying in the alley and stunned him again just to be on the safe side so that he didn't wake up suddenly and attack them, when they were distracted.

Hermione looked at him and he said, "Just a precaution, love, as we don't want him to suddenly wake up and attack us."

"Probably wise," Hermione admitted.

Hermione held the locket by its broken chain and took out her wand and muttered some words that were too soft for even Dave's advanced hearing. Suddenly the gold locket begin to glow softly, although after a moment the glow faded.

"Mostrami il tuo proprietario!" Hermione told the locket her voice sharp with command. (Show me your owner!)

Dave was startled as what his mate had said, as it was not precisely a spell, but more of a command, but he assumed that whatever she had muttered before she had said that in Italian had been the actual spell.

Dave waited for something to happen and quite suddenly a picture begin to form just above the locket and both he and Hermione watched, as it became a pretty little brown haired girl the same one that had been trying to free her brother.

"Yes, it definitely belonged to her," Hermione said, "now all I need to do is cast a proper spell on it."

"What was I spell you cast before?" Dave asked curiously.

"The spell of contagion and yes, I'm aware that usually means the spread of a disease by touch, but in this case it means that it identified who had touched it most recently and in this case it was the girl, simply because the owner would be the most likely to come in contact with it on a regular basis and have the most regular contact."

"That last thing you said wasn't really a spell," Dave said in curiosity, "or at least not any type of spell I've ever heard about."

"I have learned over the years that magic wants to help you and that it is largely intent based," Hermione explained. "Magic can do so much to the trained will, even if there's not a proper spell for it, so basically, I focused with every particle of magic in me on exactly what I wanted, after I had put the spell of contagion on the locket and then commanded it to show me the owner. Not many people can do this or even know it can be done, but magic is just a form of invisible energy in every living thing and really it's almost alive. There is so much about magic that our kind don't know and really it's a good thing because people able to focus and the proper intent would be able to kill with just a thought and wouldn't need a spell at all or even a wand to do considerable damage to someone, not even to turn them inside out or rearrange all their organs."

"Yes, I can see why you kept this to yourself," Dave said shuddering at the possibility of someone with evil intent knowing that they could do magic with just their focused will alone with no spell or no one. "It would prevent me from sleeping at night to have some of the people I've known over the years know how to do magic by their will alone for they were a lot like this Malfoy family you've told me so much about."

"Of course, if they are intellectually lazy and don't want something bad enough it often doesn't work, but that doesn't mean they would not learn, especially if they had al ot of hate of anger in them, just for example," Hermione said.

"So does anybody else know how to do this?" asked Dave.

"Harry," Hermione said, "but then he's the one that figured it out if I'm honest, because it never occurred to me that there was more to magic then I learned in school or from books, but it takes much more effort, then with a wand, as having a focus object does make the magic easier, which is why not many people have figured out how to do it simply because they're too lazy mentally. Why it never occurred to me that magic users didn't necessarily need a wand to practice magic as Merlin never had one I don't know, but Harry had to point this out to me that wands hadn't always existed and that it was probably a form of control by the Ministry of Magic in England."

"You used your wand," Dave pointed out.

"Yes, I did, but as I said it makes the effect easier, not to mention more powerful, but really I don't need my wand for many forms of magic, like the spells that I use often. I probably could have done the spell without one, but why exhaust myself, considering I just had a lecture against doing that very thing?" Dave looked abashed, but nodded at the point Hermione had made. "If it was something I was going to use every day or at least often then I would likely try to learn to use it without needing a wand since doing magic without one allows you to do it in public without putting up notice me not wards," Hermione explained. "Say someone was coming onto you and we were in a bar for example and you were trying to brush them off, but they refused to listen, so say I did some magic by causing a tray of drinks on the bar to fall to the floor and shatter creating a mess. Say I did all this without taking out my wand, so where would be the proof that I had done anything at all if I was questioned about it?"

Dave could very easily imagine that scenario, as women tended to make subtle and unsubtle hints about being interested in his direction even after he displayed his wedding band and this had happened long before he met his mate so Hermione's scenario made a great deal of sense.

"I can very easily imagine that actually as women come on to me all the time, even after I display my wedding band, as a lot of them don't take that as an indication that a man is off the market because a lot of men respond to that kind of thing, even after they're supposedly married," Dave said.

"I figured you could," Hermione smirked at him, "as believe me, I've seen it happen when we go out to a restaurant or occasionally have just one or two drinks at a bar. I noticed it the night we met actually, as several single woman looking in our direction, but it wasn't me they were focusing on."

"It doesn't matter," Dave shrugged, "you know that I'm not interested in anybody except you. They can try to get me into their clutches all they want, but it isn't going to work."

"If I didn't already know that I never would have agreed to have sex with you that first time," Hermione told him practically, as she kissed his cheek. "Now though, I should get back to the hotel and you can escort me there if you like, as I know you'll worry if you don't, and then you can be on your way after I show you how to tell when you are getting close."

"You know I can't imagine the father being able to sell his children unless the mother is either someone who doesn't care or more likely is dead," Dave began furious all over again, as he thought about that.

"Well, hopefully, we'll know as soon as you rescue those three children, but you had better be careful, as I doubt they'll trust you to not have ill attentions if they've been living on the street for any length of time, because I certainly wouldn't if the same thing had happened to me. Actually scratch that they are like to be wary and suspicious just on principal considering we suspect that they've been raped on multiple occasions for at least a few months. Of course, our theory could be wrong, but there is really no other scenario that fits when it comes to children, except perhaps, child pornography," Hermione cautioned him and Dave nodded, knowing it was his mate's way of telling him to be extremely careful and keep an eye out just in case they decided to attack him and escape as there was four of them after all and although they likely couldn't overcome him a grown man in his prime, still the warning did not hurt and Dave accepted it in the spirit it was offered.

The two of them left the filthy alley not hurrying at all, because it would only call attention to them, which they didn't need, but before they did, Hermione turned towards the alley and muttered something under her breath and Dave felt the magic that had been erected disappear with a pop almost like a soap bubble.

"There, so long as nobody who has magic thinks to check for traces of it, it will fade completely in a few days," Hermione said in satisfaction.

"Even if they do, they have no way of tracing it back to us unless there are witnesses," Dave said.

"True enough," Hermione admitted, as she took Dave hand just as she had before and the two of them walked silently until Dave spotted a cab up ahead.

Dave attracted the cabs attention and the two of them got into it with Dave helping his mate considering that she was heavily pregnant and had trouble entering things like vehicles, particularly those that were low to the ground.

"Where to?" the cabbie asked his English heavily accented just like their own was.

Dave gave him the address of the hotel that he and Hermione were staying at and the cabbie nodded before getting back into traffic.

Dave and Hermione rode back to the hotel in silence, although it was a very comfortable silence as Hermione had no reservations about leaning against her mate's shoulder and Dave naturally put his around her.

"Here we are," the cabbie said finally as he pulled up to the front of the hotel.

"Thank you," Dave said, as he handed the cabbie his fee.

"Anytime," the cabbie said, as he watched as the man and his wife exited his cab and headed straight into the hotel and that was the last he saw of them as he pulled away and back into traffic

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Promise me that you'll stay here in the room," Dave said, as soon as they had closed the door to the honeymoon suite. "Take a nap or something as I know you're exhausted."

"I don't know that I'll be able to sleep until I know you're safe," Hermione admitted. "I know I'm no shifter but my instincts are screaming at me to go with you and watch your back, even though I know I can't because I'm pregnant."

"I'm sure you've figured out by now that's the bond," Dave said and Hermione nodded in confirmation.

"I know, but just because I do it doesn't mean that makes it any easier, because you'll likely be going into very bad parts of town in your search for those four children," Hermione said.

"I doubt very much that they're more than a few miles away from where we saw that boy struggle with his assailant," Dave said. "I wouldn't be surprised in the least if they're living in some kind of abandoned building. An old warehouse perhaps, one that hasn't been used in many years."

"Still, that's a lot of ground to cover," Hermione said, "even if you keep it to a 5 mile radius because that abandoned building could be in any conceivable direction and that could be 20 or 30 miles."

"Oh, I don't plan on transversing that all alone on foot, I'll take a cab or something," Dave said.

"And the cabbie will likely think you're nuts, because he won't know what the heck you're doing," Hermione snorted.

"If I pay him extra I don't think he'll care," Dave said, "but I think I'll memory charm him just in case after we find them."

Hermione made a face, but knew it was likely necessary, however she had never liked memory charms, as she had never liked the way that the British wizarding world casually charmed any muggle who saw even the smallest hint of magic, even if it could easily be explained away, but then again it was also the person who saw the magic fault for talking about it, so that the ministry officials found out.

"I know I don't like memory charms either," Dave admitted, "even if I know sometimes they are necessary. I'll see if I need to after I find those children, but I can't transverse that whole distance myself, particularly if we want to find them quickly.

"No, as that charm that I put on the locket has a very limited distance, no more than half a mile at most, so you're going to have to keep your eye on that locket at all times," said Hermione.

"You know a better idea is perhaps, I should have the cabbie drop me off as he's bound to know where all the abandoned warehouses and other buildings are in that area or even in the city," Dave suggested suddenly as the thought had just occurred to him. "There can't be too many abandoned places within a 5 mile radius of that alley."

"Now why didn't I think of that," Hermione said in her aggrieved tone, as normally she would have thought of that almost immediately.

"You need to cut yourself a break, sweetheart," Dave told Hermione gently seeing that she was working herself up to being angry at herself for missing something so obvious. "You have to realize that you're pregnant, you're tired and you've been pushing yourself too hard again, as you haven't been telling me when you need a break. Yes, finding those pups before that thug wakes up and does is important, but so is your health. No matter what you think you can't think of everything, particularly when you're already exhausted and likely aching. You're not perfect and you don't have to be the one to think of such a simple solution, as it might not even be the right one, even if it's a likely possibility."

"You're right," Hermione said calming down, not even getting mad at Dave's gentle lecture, probably because she knew she deserved it for pushing herself—again. "I'm so used to being the one that figures out a solution to a problem that I've begun to think that I'm the one that has to, that it's kind of my job, but then Ron couldn't think for himself to save his life and Harry was the same way when he was younger, although he's broken that habit since then."

"It's not, but luckily, you have me here to remind you to take it easy," Dave told her with a smile, as he kissed her tenderly. "Besides, I think Harry can be forgiven for not thinking for himself when he was young considering he was manipulated practically from the first moment he stepped back into the wizarding world and he grew up in an abusive home to boot and when you do you just try to survive and don't really learn to think for yourself. He was trying to find his way in a world that was unfamiliar to him, even if he was part of it as a toddler before his parents murder and stuff kept happening to him that most adults would have been afraid to tackle, so he really didn't have time to learn to truly think."

"You're right," Hermione admitted. "He had a lot going on and so he never really learned until we moved to Italy to think for himself and make his own decisions without being manipulated the way that people like Dumbledore wanted him to go. Of course, Ron was also a distraction as well, which didn't help."

Hermione didn't mention the fact that the original plan had been to get Ginny to marry Harry and for her to get pregnant, so that the three Weasleys that were in on the plot could get their hands on the Potter fortune and Hermione very much doubted that Harry would have survived long after the child's birth, because if it was so easy for Molly to brew up a love potion then a poison or something similar would have been simple or even just a trip down the stairs to where Harry broke his neck as that would likely be untraceable if it was done right.

It wasn't really her story to tell and she wasn't sure that Harry would ever tell Dave exactly what happened doing their years at Hogwarts and she wasn't sure she'd ever tell him about who had given her that love potion and it wasn't out of any sense of misplaced loyalty to Ron just that she didn't want Dave to get in trouble for killing the bastard. She knew that Dave really wanted to name and that he was still furious about what she had told him and that was the main reason she had refused to divulge who it had been.

How Ron could be so good at wizards chess and so crappy at everything else had always astonished her. He was a good tactician because he was so good at chess, but other than that he didn't have a lot going for him, but only because he was too lazy to do anything except play Quidditch and wizards chess.

"Now tell me exactly what I need to do and then I'll be on my way," Dave told her gently and Hermione nodded.

Hermione explained exactly how to spell worked and Dave listened intently the entire time as he realized not for the first time that his mate truly was one of the most brilliant people he had ever known and he wasn't just saying that because she was his, but because it was true.

And she's all mine, Dave thought happily, even as he concentrated on what Hermione was telling him.

Finally Hermione ran down and Dave headed for the door after kissing Hermione goodbye and trying to ignore her worried expression.

"I'll be fine," Dave said pausing before he opened the hotel room door. "I'll call you every half an hour, as I have my phone and it's fully charged."

"You had better," Hermione told him severely trying to conceal her worry for him. "Hopefully, it won't take you to long to find them, if they are in some abandoned building near where we first saw them," Dave told her with a smile. "If they are I'll be back in a few hours if they're not, I'll probably be gone all night. You try your best to get some rest while I'm gone."

"I can't promise I'll succeed, as I'll be too worried about you," Hermione said.

"Try not to worry, as it isn't good for you in your current state," Dave told her gently and Hermione nodded, although her face still showed that she was extremely worried, no make that terrified that something was going to happen to him and he wouldn't come back to her.

"I swear to you I'll be back," Dave told her and Hermione looked into his gorgeous eyes and saw confidence that he would be back.

"You had better be," Hermione told him severely the worry evident in her expression and so Dave accepted the rebuke in the spirit it was meant.

Dave said nothing simply kissed Hermione one more time and then was gone out the door.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Hermione begin to wake up when she heard the door to the hotel room open and suddenly she tried to bolt upright, but didn't quite succeed because of her enormous belly, but finally she managed to sit up just as Dave and four children came in the door. All four were around the same age, Hermione judged, which meant that they were likely quadruplets, just as she and Dave had suspected as they looked enough alike with their deep brown hair and golden brown eyes and the same general features that they had to be siblings.

"You're back," Hermione said in relief, as she rose to her feet as fast as she was able and hugged the life out of Dave as she had slept very uneasily, because she was so worried about him.

Dave looked exhausted, Hermione noticed, but as far as she could tell he had no injuries other than being extremely tired, which relieved her no end.

Hermione wanted details as to how Dave had gotten the four children to come back with him, as she had figured that they'd try to run from him and probably end up being caught by that thug or someone else that worked for the same employer, but she was relieved to see that that hadn't happened.

"So, would you like to eat first or take bathes?" Hermione asked them as she saw how truly dirty and ragged they were.

"Food?" asked one of the boys hopefully, with such a longing expression on his face that it broke Hermione's heart.

"Food first then," Hermione decided. "Well, order from room service menu for now as you're certainly not fit to enter any public place. I'm actually astonished that they didn't try to chase you out."

"I used magic on them them to make them look like they were clean and normal, I told the staff at the front desk that they were my nieces and nephews that I hadn't seen for a long time," Dave told Hermione who nodded. None of the children looked surprised at the word magic and Hermione was curious as to why. "Apparently, their father abandoned them when he caught Linc here performing magic and he never knew that his children had such a talent and from what I've been told his wife Diana never performed any magic so she was likely from a long line of squibs or perhaps, it comes from his line, though we'll likely never know, but what makes it worse is that their father was a wolf shifter just like me and for a shifter to abandon their pups..."

"Well, we can talk about this later, as these children need nice, long hot, bathes and to be fed," Hermione said, as she heard all four children's stomachs growl at the same time.

The children had had to be on the street for at least six months as they were all just skin over bone, which proved that they hadn't had a proper meal in months, at least two or three, although it was likely longer. Hermione was wondering silently what happened to the mother, but it was possible that she had died giving birth to them or sometime later.

"What do you intend to do with us once you've fed us and you get us clean?" The question came from the other boys who seemed to be the leader of the group.

This boy had a depth of intelligence and a thirst for knowledge in his eyes that reminded Hermione of herself when she had been young and knew that this boy understood more than most people gave him credit for.

"Well, are you going to tell me your names or am I going to have to start calling you hey you?" Hermione asked with a little smile to show she wasn't upset.

"It's Spencer," said the boy who had spoken just a moment ago. "This is my brother Lincoln, although as you heard Dave called him Linc and my sisters are Caitlyn and Bethany or Cait and Beth."

The now named Spencer pointed to each one as he spoke, since they really did look similar to each other, except for the obvious differences between boys and girls.

"Now are you going to keep avoiding my question are you going to answer me?" Spencer demanded making Dave look amused.

"I wasn't avoiding your question," Hermione told Spencer calmly. "I simply wanted names, so I can address you properly. To answer your question after we feed you and you're clean, I'll shrink down some of my and Dave's clothes so that they'll fit you and then we'll buy you your own, after you get some sleep, because all four of you need it. In the meantime Dave and I have already discussed it, since we saw your fight with that thug and we both agreed that we're going to adopt all of you, so long as you have been abandoned and your mother I'm assuming has passed on as I can't see your father getting away with selling you if that wasn't the case. Both of us love children and you can see we're expecting our first three in just another month and a half."

"You be willing to take on four strange kids?" asked a little girl identified as Caitlyn, speaking for the first time since she had entered the hotel room.

"Yes, we would and I told you this when I got you agreed to come back to the hotel with me," Dave told the four. "I knew at the time that you didn't believe me, and thought I had some kind of nefarious purpose in mind, but as my wife said we love children and what happened to you, well, it wasn't right and you are going to need counseling to get over it, something that I doubt you'll get it in a foster home and definitely not in an orphanage. You need someone who understands about shifters in general and wolf shifters in particular and I seriously doubt that you will be placed with another shifter family since very few of them ever become foster parents or at least in Italy they don't."

Not to mention a lot of foster parents sometimes pass all the checks and balances and turn out to be abusive in one way or another as I saw that happening a lot in Italy and he had no doubt that happened here as well, Dave added in his head.

"If that's true then why are you willing to adopt us?" Linc asked speaking for the first time ever since he had asked for food.

"Well, as I said both of us love children," Hermione begin to explain, "not to mention Dave and I have been blessed with an abundance of wealth, him due to his writing career and me because I was adopted by Harry Potter as his sister, because it gave me protection in the magical world since I'm not from an established magical family and he is and in England where I was raised that is very important if you want a good job and so forth. A lot of families, shifters or not don't have a lot of extra money to take in four children out of the blue not even on the money that the government gives them or have the room for that matter. If you go into the foster care system, it's likely that you'll be split up and go to several different families maybe even in different States and there's no guarantees that you'll know where your siblings are. I doubt very much that more than two of you will be placed together while the others go somewhere else."

Spencer seemed to seriously consider Hermione's and Dave's words as if weighing the truth of them, but slowly he nodded.

"Alright then, we'll trust you—for now," Spencer finally said giving in and with his words the other three relaxed.

Dave and Hermione got the message loud and clear: betray Spencer's trust and there's no way he would give you a second chance as his siblings came first, always, which was as it should be.

"So food?" Linc asked so hopefully, that Dave a Hermione had to laugh, but couldn't blame Linc at all for his total focus on getting fed as soon as possible.

"Food," Hermione promised the adorable little boy as she went to get the menu for room service. "Choose whatever you like, although don't overdo it on sweets and stuff and you probably need to keep it light, because it doesn't look like the four of you have been eating well for awhile and we don't want you to throw up, because your stomach is no longer used to regular meals," Hermione gently warned them. "It's going to take a few weeks at least before you'll be able to eat as much as you're used to. Once we get back home I can brew you a nutrient potion that will help your body fill out quickly and make you feel hungry and full of energy, but while I can probably get the ingredients here at the nearest apothecary I don't have any place to safely to brew it, nor the equipment to do the brewing, so it will have to wait until we get home."

Once the four children had made their selections and so had Dave and Hermione, the order was called in Beth asked shyly, "So where do you live? Somewhere nice?"

"Yes, it is very nice place," Dave promised the little girl who he thought was absolutely adorable and he couldn't help, but think about what his three children would look like once they were born in just a few weeks. Would they look like him or Hermione? The more likely possibility however, was that they would look like a combination of both of them. Would they have his black hair with Hermione's curls? Or would it be the opposite and they got Hermione's hair color with the straightness of his? Dave didn't bother to think about the color of their eyes because both he and Hermione had different shades of brown so it was 99% certain that all their children would inherit brown eyes, although whether they would be dark like his or the lighter shade of his wife's or something in between was yet to be determined.

"Hermione and I live in Italy where I was born," Dave continued to explain gently. "Italy is far across the sea as it is another country entirely. We have an estate that is outside Florence which is a very large city just like here and there is plenty of room for the four of you plus whatever children Hermione and I decide to have. Since you are magical it will be easier to adopt you that way instead of going through the America court system, since we didn't come here by the mundane travel methods."

"You came by magical means," Spencer said understanding immediately and Dave looked at him in surprise before slowly nodding.

"Yes, we only came for our honeymoon, we weren't planning on taking up permanent residence and even if we were we would be able to fade into the very fabric of the city considering how many people make their home here and no government would know we were here illegally by their standards," Dave said. "However, Italy is our home and although we might visit other countries for brief intervals our hearts will always yearn to return."

"You'll love Italy," Hermione promised them. "I've only lived there since I was 16, but I wouldn't have met Dave if Harry and I had moved there, so for that reason alone I will always be grateful that we did. However, it is also beautiful country with many things for every type of person whether magical, mundane adult or child to enjoy."

"My estate is huge, with quite a few bedrooms so that you can each have your own or share if you like."

"But won't we be in the way?" Caitlyn asked, "after all you're about to have children of your own."

"No, you won't," Hermione promised them. There was a knock on the door before Hermione had a chance to continue and Dave strode towards it in order to answer it.

"The food is here," Dave said a minute later as the waiter rolled the trolley into the room piled high with all the food they had ordered.

"Thank you," Dave told the waiter politely giving him a tip and shooing him quickly out the door before he could ask why the children were so dirty and wearing rags as he had dropped the illusions as soon as they had entered the hotel suite.

Once the waiter was safely gone Dave removed the domed lids to all the trays of food and the smells were absolutely heavenly.

"Well, just don't stand there, come get your tray," Hermione told them gently and all four children including Spencer came forward eagerly as they were starving, which considering they had been living on the street and hand to mouth for awhile that wasn't at all surprising.

The children needed little encouragement to dig into the food and soon all four plates were completely clean as if a scour charm had been used on them.

Dave and Hermione had watched this with carefully hidden sympathy, as they didn't want the children to think that they were being pitied because that couldn't be farther from the truth and if the truth be known it made both of them furious that they had been sold by their own father and that somehow they had escaped and had been living on the streets.

"Bathtime," Hermione said firmly, once the four children were done with their dinner. "Luckily, there's a large sunken tub in the bathroom that will easily hold all four of you at the same time."

None of the children objected, like Hermione half expected him to as a lot of children hated bathtime, but then again they had been living without a decent bathing facility for quite sometime, so that likely made a difference. Besides, they were old enough they were likely past that stage if they had ever gone through it in the first place and just because some children didn't want to take baths did not mean that they all did

"This way," Dave said, as he rose to his feet looking exhausted and all Hermione wanted to do was put him to bed as well, but that was not possible until the four children were put down for the night.

Hermione heard the water in the bathroom running and not long after children's laughter as they splashed and played in the water.

Soon the children would be exhausted and they would have to sleep out here on the couch which she would enlarge for the night. While Dave supervised the children's bathtime, Hermione went into the bedroom and transformed some of her and Dave's clothes into things for the four children.

She could've just conjured something temporary, but those sorts of things never lasted more than a few hours, unless you had some material to work with you so you could transform it into anything you liked and the change was permanent unless you reversed the spell.

She left four little night outfits on the counter in the bathroom so they wouldn't get wet and Dave nodded at her with a tired smile.

It wasn't long after she had left out the outfits on the bathroom counter that she heard the four children clamber out of the sunken tub and probably Dave pulling the plug, so the water could drain.

It wasn't more than half an hour later that their four guests were tucked in for the night on the couch that had been enlarged into bed comfortable enough for the four children.

"Well, they're out for the night," Dave said in tired satisfaction, as he looked at them sleeping peacefully.

"Yes, and we are going straight to bed, as you're exhausted and so am I." Hermione told him sternly. "I'm going to put an alert ward on the room door though just to make sure that none of them leave without alerting us. I know very well that they could, because Spencer who seems to be the leader doesn't trust us quite yet, as that will take time."

"Probably a good idea," Dave admitted tiredly. "I haven't told you how I found them though or how I got them to come with me."

"You can tell me after you've had some sleep," Hermione told Dave with a smile kissing his cheek. "I'm not saying I'm not all afire with curiosity, but still you're exhausted and your needs come first."

Dave nodded giving in, because Hermione was right and he was dead on his feet a rather unusual occurrence.

"I think you need a quick shower though before you go to bed," Hermione said. "While you're certainly not as dirty as those four children were before they had their bath, still you'll sleep better if you're not all sweaty."

"Quite right," Dave agreed, as he did sleep better when he wasn't all dirty or at least sweaty. "I'll take a quick shower then as I have no intention of doing more than a sketchy washing up, since I can do a more thorough one in the morning. You go ahead and get ready for bed I'll be there in five minutes."

Hermione nodded and kissed his cheek again before she disappeared into their bedroom Dave following.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"So what happened?" Hermione asked as soon as she and Dave woke up after over 10 hours of sleep as it was 5 a.m. but then they'd both gone to bed incredibly early.

She didn't remember stirring the whole night not even to get up and use the restroom which was rather unusual for her lately.

"Well," Dave said, as he gathered his thoughts. "First off I hired a cab for the entire day..."

Dave took her through everything he had done that day and Hermione listened intently.

"So that spell I did on the locket really helped you," Hermione said and Dave nodded, as he gently took her in his arms.

"It really did," Dave agreed giving Hermione a kiss. "We were right that there were abandoned buildings within a 5 mile radius and if we could figure it out so fast then what was to stop that thug and his employer from doing it to? They were probably closing in on those four kids, although that's not a sure thing of course, as we didn't bother to question that thug, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were pretty close to finding their hiding place. Even if they moved every few days for safety, eventually they would have been caught or killed all four of them, unless they were incredibly lucky. I really don't think they've been on the street for more than a few months at most because I can't see any of them surviving the winter, although turning into their wolf forms would help with that, since their fur would keep them warm enough that they wouldn't freeze, but food becomes scarcer in the winter then it is the rest of the year and eating out trash cans is not exactly healthy."

"No, there's any number of diseases that they could have come down with, even being shifters who are normally very healthy or having magic would prevent, especially not if you deliberately put it in your system by eating something that gives it to you as one way to get past a shifters or even a magical natural defenses is to actually consume it," agreed Hermione.

"Yes, shifters are normally pretty healthy, although we can get sick we just don't get sick as often," Dave agreed. "It has something to do with our body heat or at least that's what the general belief as it is so high that a lot of diseases just don't have a chance to take hold, but that's only if you don't actually eat something that makes you sick, like spoiled food or stick a needle in your vein with some sort of drug. Still they are ways to survive on the street or not so many people would be able to do it, but they are also all grownups and not five or six year old kids that aren't wise to the dangers that living on the streets bring."

"It's a lot harder for a child to survive in that environment then an adult no matter how healthy their constitution," Hermione said.

"Not unless they have an adult that actually looks after their needs, take them to one of the free health clinics and the like, a mother or a father for example," Dave corrected and Hermione nodded.

"I hadn't thought of that, but you're right," Hermione agreed.

"Some do survive of course, but not enough," Dave said looking sad, as that sort of thing always upset him every time he thought about young pups living hand to mouth on the street, but since there really wasn't much he could do about it he tried his best not to think about it too much, since it just made him mad as well as sad. Well, hopefully, they'd be able to save these four from that fate as hopefully, they'd be allowed to adopt them. It would be just as well if they got those four kids out of San Francisco and to another country entirely until they had learned enough to protect themselves because once that thug woke up, although he likely had by now he would continue looking and when he couldn't find them well that wouldn't necessarily mean the search would stop.

Even when those kids were grown up it might be a good idea if they avoided San Francisco, at least until they were sure that the people who were looking for them were dead because if they wanted them for some sort of child prostitution ring, then once they were grown up they wouldn't be of interest anymore. However, if they were found out to be the pups that had escaped the man who had wanted them in the first place and had actually bought them from their father, well, they might end up dead, because somebody had paid their father an awful lot of money for his pups and they wouldn't appreciate losing their merchandise, even decades later.

"So while the locket was helpful and we were also right about them living in an abandoned building so they weren't really very hard to find and it only took me a long time to return, because it took awhile to convince them that I meant them no harm. It was the locket that I brought back to Caitlyn as her mother had given it to her just before she passed away that made them trust me in the end I believe."

"Well, then I'm glad we found it then," Hermione said. "I was surprised that at least Lincoln is magical and probably the rest of them to since they are quadruplets, although not necessarily, since they are fraternal, so it's very possible that just one or two of them got it since neither one of their parents apparently had it and they aren't identical so that doesn't necessarily mean that they all got the ability, as genetics are rather tricky and throw up oddities all the time."

"I was surprised that they were shifters, as usually, as a general rule shifters no matter the species love their pups, even if they're spouse dies or it ends in divorce and it surprised me more that their father would abandon them then them having magical ability did."

"Yes," Hermione said slowly, "I can certainly understand that. I've known enough shifters in my time to know that you're right about that protectiveness, so for their father to sell all four of his children just because one of them displayed magic means that something must've seriously gone wrong in his head either before or after his wife died."

"I'm sure we'll get the whole story eventually, but I don't want to push the issue right now," Dave said and Hermione totally agreed with that as she thought that those four children had been through enough and they needed a chance to heal from their ordeal, at least as much as was possible. She was surprised that they hadn't been awakened in the night with nightmares, which was why she had put a silencing spell on all four walls the floor and ceiling of the suite just in case, as by doing it that way it blocked all external as well as internal sounds and so nobody would be able to hear if one of the kids woke up screaming from a nightmare. Of course, it also had the added benefit that they couldn't hear any outside noises, the cars on the street for example or people talking in the hallway.

"I think that we had better get up, as I expect that those pups will be up at anytime now considering how early they went to bed," Hermione suggested. "I'll be very surprised if they sleep much past seven, since they went to bed around the same time last night."

"They probably need to sleep as long as they can, as I doubt they've been sleeping very well for sometime now," Dave said. "I'd be very surprised if they didn't set up some kind of guard to let them know when somebody enters their domain."

"Yes, they probably did keep watch," Hermione said. "If they did do that then that's very logical and well thought out for a group of young children, but I saw the intelligence and the drive in Spencer's eyes and he reminds me a lot of myself when I was his age. He's much more intelligent than most people likely give him credit for, just like I was at his age. My parents were one of the few that realized that I wasn't just ordinary when it came to my intelligence. I started to find children's books very easy and boring by the time I was four years old and I started reading books meant for older children and then teenagers, so that by the time I was eight or nine I was reading adult novels mostly non-fiction. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if his IQ is extremely high maybe even at genius level."

"The others are likely just as intelligent, although it does vary even when you're born from the same womb. If they were identical then they'd have identical intelligence as well as they would have the same DNA, but since they are fraternal they are no more related than ordinary fratelli and sorelle that were born at different times, which means that their intelligence might also be vastly different," Dave said.

"Or it could be very similar, although I understand what you're saying," Hermione said. "Now how are we going to adopt them? I know absolutely nothing about the wizarding world here in America."

"Don't worry I have a plan," Dave promised and told her exactly what they were going to do.

"Aren't you worried that they're going to deny us our application?" Hermione asked

"I don't think so, because I'm pretty sure that those four children don't come from this city, as I can't see their father being stupid enough to leave them somewhere where people know them or they might find their way back home, which would be the last thing he would want. No, if he is at all intelligent, he would've brought them here to San Francisco on some pretext and I doubt they had any idea that he was going to sell them or they likely would have run away."

"Yes, I can see somebody who's willing to sell their children into slavery doing it that way," Hermione said slowly absolutely sickened at what she had come to realize just as she knew that Dave was without even having to ask. "How he's going to explain the disappearance of his children though?"

"Oh, that's easy he could say that he sent them away to boarding school, as there are schools that accept children as young as 3 and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they're at least seven or eight despite how small and underweight they are," Dave said. "If the man was planning to sell his children for awhile he would've thought of a reasonable explanation, as to why they're not present when people ask after them. Something that wouldn't make other's that know them suspicious."

"You know I really want to kill this bastard and that's normally not like me at all," said Hermione her expression grim.

"Believe me, I share your feelings, but we must concentrate on Spencer and his fratello and sorelle right now," Dave said his tone making it clear that he'd like to find the quadruplets father and rip him to shreds, shreds so tiny that there wouldn't be enough left of him to identify, even with today's technology.

"I would think it would just be easier to send them to a private school, then to sell them, as that risks being uncovered, even if is not too likely," Hermione said.

"But then we have to consider the money involved," Dave said, "as private schools that are year around aren't cheap and most of them are like college were there are no classes in the summer. Even if the quadruplets father had the money I can't see him wanting to spend it on his pups considering he was willing to sell them to whoever this mysterious employer is, as that means that he likely made quite a tidy sum from whoever they were sold to."

"Which is illegal, although I understand what you mean," Hermione admitted. "This way he isn't responsible for killing them and he assumes that the life he sold them into will either kill them or break them to where they kill themselves eventually. You know I hate to say it, but it kind of reminds me of how Harry's life was until he finally realized that he was being manipulated and started to fight back. I'm actually surprised that the Dursleys never thought about abandoning Harry in some city far away from England or even selling him and making a lot of money."

"They would've lost their unpaid servant that way and they would've had to do things for themselves," Dave said grimly.

"A point," Hermione acknowledged. "Of course, if Harry had never been placed with them I'm sure their lives would've been much better if they had never even heard that Lily had a son, not that's an excuse or anything, but it might be an explanation as to why they treated Harry so terribly. I mean they had their own young son to care for and finances would've likely already been stretched tight and yet Dumbledore dumps him on their doorstep without even a ringing of the doorbell or arranging for them to be paid a stipend for his care. I would certainly have resented having a baby dumped on my doorstep without even coming into talk to me about it? I mean it's rude just to leave them a letter as they deserve at least a home visit, right? The proper thing to do is to take the time to actually talk to them and see if they're willing to take in a young toddler when they already have a son of their own. Not that I would've taken it out on a baby who is totally innocent in the whole affair, but the Dursleys just went to the other extreme, that's all. However, I can understand how that could happen considering they already hated magic, even before the Potters met their deaths it was probably like pouring salt on an open wound."

"I agree with everything you just said," Dave said, as he kissed her, "but you didn't even think about the fact that they could've been under a magical contract as once they opened that letter they likely sealed the charm that was probably on it or maybe it happened the minute that they took Harry's basket into their home, because that would've been accepting him into their household even before they knew what they had done."

"That's possible and that would be just like Dumbledore to not inform them until after the fact in that letter. By taking Harry into their home likely before they even had a chance to read the letter they probably sealed a charm that was placed on him or even the basket itself and so even though they likely wanted to just dump him in some orphanage, perhaps, they couldn't. The letter probably specified that they had to give him houseroom until after his 17th birthday," said Hermione.

"So the plans for today are to do a lot of shopping and get Spencer and his fratello and sorelle at least some clothes, although we don't need a whole new wardrobe until we get back to Italy," Dave said changing the subject as he felt that everything had been said that could be on Harry's upbringing.

"Even if we do buy them a lot of clothes we can always, pack them in our suitcases, which has undetectable expansion charms," Hermione said accepting the subject change. "We have no idea how long it's going to take us to adopt the four of them and it depends on how agreeable the American wizarding government is going to be. They have a way of detecting children with magic just like every country in the world does, although I'm not exactly sure how they do that. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the magical government already has Spencer and his siblings on their list to be contacted when it's time for them to go to a magical school. In England we have a book that automatically records every magical child born from the moment that they do their first bit of accidental magic and I'm not sure if they have the same thing here, at Salem Institute of Magic or in some government office or if it's done entirely differently. I believe that once we explain the situation and how we found these children living on the street, even if we didn't know that at least Linc was magical at the time that they will allow us to adopt them, because for one thing they'll no longer be the problem of the American Ministry of Magic or whatever it's called over here. I don't believe that the father will worry at all about his children considering that he sold them."

"They'll likely be glad to be shed of the problem and happy that they're going into a good home even if it's not an American one. By the time they're 11 years old and go to the magical school in Sicily if they want to they'll speak Italian and everyone will think they are Italian, even if they don't have any Italian blood, although if we adopt them magically they will indeed be Italian, as they will be related to me and our family has been Italian for a very long time," Dave said. "Even if we don't decide to adopt them magically Italians look just like anyone else in the world whether that's England, or France or anywhere else, although it does depend on the region they come from. Some people have this weird idea that all Italians are supposed to be heavily tanned, so our skin looks kind of olive and while some Italians do look like that it's only a small percentage."

"Yes, I know, but then those people have likely never met a real Italian or if they have it was one who was olive skinned," Hermione snorted to show what she thought of those people's reasoning processes.

"We should get up," Dave said reluctantly, as he liked laying here in bed with Hermione cuddled up to his side.

"Yes, we should, why don't you go take a shower first, while I go see if the children are awake yet, although I haven't heard anything so I doubt it. Do you want to go somewhere to eat this morning or order room service?" Hermione asked.

"I say we go out to eat, as we can always change the sleepwear that the children are wearing into day clothes, until we can get them some clothes of their own. Shopping for the four of them will take all day as they need everything, underwear, pants, shirts, socks shoes," Dave said.

"Well, we don't have to replace their whole wardrobe today," Hermione said, "as I don't believe we can anyway, as they need to much, so let's not wear ourselves out trying to get everything, but let's get a decent amount for each of them and then we can go some other time and finish up. I think doing the shopping in stages is smarter than rushing through it trying to get it all done in one day and exhausting ourselves."

"That's likely very smart as they're still young enough that they're not going to want to spend all day trying on clothes," Dave said, "and I don't blame them for that, as I definitely don't like to spend all day clothes shopping, especially when I was young."

"Well, we wouldn't have to do so much clothes shopping if their father wasn't such a louse," Hermione snorted her contempt for the quadruplets father loud and clear in her tone of voice. "I knew there were people that don't like magic, but I've never heard of them abandoning their children before, as usually they just decide to have it bound away particularly if it is their children. Now with Harry that was different as it wasn't his parents that treated him so shabbily, but his aunt and uncle. Oh, well, I certainly don't mind taking them in, as I'm falling in love with them already and they've been with us for less than a day."

"So am I," Dave said, "but then it's hard not to fall in love with them considering all they've been through they're still very sweet children and haven't let their experiences turn them for the worse. They are still suspicious of us naturally, but that will fade over time, once they truly realize our intentions are honorable and we do not mean them any harm."

"We'll probably never know everything that they went through, but we really do need to get them to see a psychologist. I was actually surprised at least one of them didn't wake up screaming from nightmares last night, as night terrors are a way for the intelligent mind to cope with traumatic events, to force a person to face them before you're ready to do so. Harry used to suffer from them terribly and still does occasionally, though certainly not as often anymore. They'll probably have them on and off for the rest of their lives," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I was expecting them to have nightmares too, but I also suspect that they will happen, probably soon and we'll have to be prepared to deal with it when it does," Dave said.

He and Hermione got out of bed and begin to get ready for the day, so that meant that Dave headed for the shower to take a more thorough one then the one he'd had last night because he had been so exhausted and Hermione simply put on her robe headed into the living area to see if any of the four children were awake.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"So do you have a preference for where we go for breakfast?" Hermione asked the four children once they were up and about.

"Not really," Spencer admitted a little shyly, as his wary and untrusting attitude was beginning to wear off because so far they had been treated well and been fed a great meal, last night, before having the first bath that they'd had in a very long time and being tucked into bed even if it had used to be the couch. No demands had been made of them and although he was still not sure that this Dave and Hermione could be trusted so far it looked like he and his siblings had been extremely lucky.

Actually Spencer couldn't come up with a logical reason why Dave had tracked them down, unless he had truly been worried about them, as he was sure that there was easier ways to get children for some kind of nefarious scheme. He would keep his guard up for now, just in case it was some kind of scheme that he wasn't aware of, but if that was the case, it was a very strange one. So far though he believed that he could trust these two adults or at least the wolf in him told him that he could, but he wasn't about to trust that part of him completely, even though he had never truly trusted his father's intentions or at least the wolf within him hadn't, but his human half unfortunately, didn't have the same instincts, so he and his siblings had been caught by surprise when their father said that he was taking him to San Francisco for a vacation and now he knew that his father just wanted to get rid of them and make a lot of money at the same time and so had sold them to a guy he knew and he didn't particularly care about their fates after that. In fact he seemed rather glad to get rid of them, which made Spencer wonder why their father had bothered to get married at all or have children.

Spencer still didn't understand how a father could not love his own children, as he and his siblings had never done anything that he knew of to make him hate them, but then Dave had told them that it happened sometimes and that didn't make it right just that humans were a very messed up species and even though his dad was a shifter it still happened sometimes, just not as often.

All four of them had learned that shifters usually loved and were very protective of their pups or children, or at least that's what Dave had told him, so in other words, most of them would never think of doing what his father had done and that was selling his children into what amounted to slavery, but that it did happen even amongst shifters, even if it was a very low percentage compared to other species. Dave had tried to explain in simple terms that he was sure the four children would understand that sometimes something went wrong in a shifter's head and that was likely what had occurred with their father, not that it excused actions just that it did explain a possible reason for them.

The explanation did make sense, but Spencer and his siblings would still hate their father for as long as they lived, as they had been raped in the most brutal way possible again and again by old women for him and his brother and old men for his sisters, but all of who should have known better. They had been captives for just over a year before Spencer along with his siblings had managed to work out a plan and managed to escape right under the adults noses, but then security hadn't been as heavy as it could be, because nobody expected defiance from children. There had been other children at that place too, but their wills were mostly broken as they been there for years and he and his siblings were just this bastard's newest acquisitions. Spencer knew that it was lucky that all four of them had extremely strong wills and definitely the instinct to survive so they had not been broken, even if they had decided to act like they were so they could fool the adults, to make it easy for them to escape and it had worked to perfection, because they had acted all nice and pliable instead of defiantly and that had fooled the adults in charge of the place they had been held into believing that their wills were broken or at least on the way to being and that all the brutality had broken their spirits and that they had accepted their fates.

Dave had explained that he and his wife were going to take them to see a psychologist just as soon as they got back to Italy and that the psychologist would help them work through their problems and aggression towards their father, so that they could lead normal and productive lives when they were grown.

It had mostly been the fact that Dave had brought along his sister's locket that he had found in the alleyway that had Spencer wanting to trust this man, because it had been the last thing that their mother had given to Cait before her death and so it was very special to her. Dave had promised to get a new chain for it as soon as possible and Spencer believed that he would do exactly as he said he would.

"Well, then if you don't have any place that you specifically want to go, we'll choose somewhere that's child friendly," Hermione said pulling Spencer out of his thoughts.

"I'm sure the concierge downstairs can recommend a place since we're not really familiar with the restaurants in America."

"Denny's," Beth piped up, "I remember going to Denny's before my mother died and how we all loved it."

"That sounds fine," Hermione told the little girl with a smile causing Beth's little face to light up. "If they have one here in San Francisco well simply ask for directions."

"They should as they're all over the United States," Spencer informed Hermione in a very sure tone of voice. "It's a very large chain of diners."

"Well, if that's the case and I'm sure they have one or even several here in San Francisco," Hermione said.

"What are we going to do after breakfast?" Cait asked Hermione.

"Well, I told you last night that we were going to go clothes shopping for the four of you and although we won't be able to get it all done today now is as good a time as any to get started, as you need absolutely everything, shorts, pants, undergarments, shoes, socks," said Hermione ticking off what they needed on her fingers. "Also some toys and books if you've been taught how to read."

"We've been reading since we were three years old," Spencer informed her.

"Well, that's really quite young to be taught how to read, but I was reading around that age to and some children are just smarter than what is average," Hermione said accepting Spencer at his word, which surprised the little boy as he had expected disbelief at the very least.

"The shower's free," Dave called from the doorway startling all five of them.

"I'll just go get my shower then I'll be out in a few minutes," Hermione said kissing Dave on the cheek, as she entered the bedroom.

Dave looked after his mate and thought that he'd much rather be in the shower with a naked Hermione helping to wash her beautiful body, which was still absolutely gorgeous to him despite the fact that she was extremely pregnant at the moment. If the truth be known he found her even more sexy than he had before she was carrying their pups and she had certainly been no slouch in that area before, although Hermione found that hard to believe, but then she wasn't a shifter for if she was she would understand that the act of creating life, to feel it growing within their mate's body until they were ready to be born was an almost sacred act to their race. If Hermione was a female shifter she would understand this, but because she wasn't she had trouble understanding that he found her extremely sexy in her current state even more than he normally did, which was why he wanted to make love to her all the time.

It was true that most shifters adored their pups, bar ones like William Reid, but typically those that were born to their lifemate were doubly special. Hermione didn't truly understand that just having the privilege of watching her body swell with the life within her was a very special event in most shifters eyes, including his. He knew very well that Hermione felt she looked like a beached whale, but that wasn't how Dave saw her, as he knew the only reason she was so big at the moment was because she was carrying their pups, not because she had gotten that way from overeating at every meal or eating too many sweets.

Dave was sure that once their pups were born, which would be soon, Hermione would do her best to get the weight off as quickly as she was able and he would have to make sure that he didn't go overboard and make herself ill, although normally that wasn't like Hermione at all, but you never knew, so he intended to keep a close eye on the situation and make sure she didn't starve herself just so she would lose the weight more quickly. He feared that Hermione would do herself a mischief by starving her body, just because she feared that his feelings for her would change because she had gained so much weight with the babies when nothing could be farther from the truth. Either that or she would get some kind of ridiculous notion in her head that she was ugly just because she had gained weight with the babies she had been carrying which was only natural. Hermione really didn't see herself as all that beautiful, as she considered herself merely pretty at best and not as the gorgeous woman she really was. Of course, he readily admitted that he was prejudiced where his mate was concerned, but his opinion was the only one that mattered since Hermione would never leave him for another man.

Dave was determined to break her of the habit of thinking and seeing herself as plain, although he was well aware that these views went all the way back to her early childhood and how she had been taunted for her looks and her bookish nature.

They had only been together for a short time though, so if Hermione heard that she was gorgeous often enough she would hopefully, start to believe it over time.

"So where are we going for breakfast as I'm starving, like, well, a wolf," Dave asked the four children, with a mischievous grin.

The four children and giggled at that, which Dave was happy to see happen as they seemed to be losing their wariness of him and Hermione.

"Denny's," Linc said enthusiastically. "It used to be our favorite place, before mom died, but dad never took us anywhere and in fact he barely went grocery shopping as he preferred to eat out and he often didn't think about us at all."

Dave almost growled out loud at that, as the wolf in his chest really wanted to hunt down the quads father and tear him to shreds, but he managed to contain himself in front of the children as he didn't want to frighten them, especially since it wasn't them he was mad at.

Pups needed a great deal of food when they were young much more than would be recommended for a mundane or a magical and definitely plenty of meat at least double the amount of what was considered normal, because they needed the protein in order to grow big and strong. Luckily, the damage was reversible because the four were still so young, but in another couple of years it probably wouldn't have been and they likely would never have reached their full heights at the very least.

"So as long as there is one in the city Denny's it is," Dave said and the four children cheered.

"There should be, as I informed your wife that Denny's is a very large chain of diners and I wouldn't be surprised to discover that they are at least two or even three in the city as they have over 1,600 diners located all over the United States and several other countries as well," said Spencer sounding like he had swallowed an encyclopedia.

Dave had to work hard not to chuckle although he was also very impressed at the 7 year old's knowledge, so knew that he likely read a great deal to pass the time and had probably done so to avoid his father as well as for enjoyment, well, before that same father had betrayed him and his siblings in the worst possible way, by selling his own flesh and blood.

That thought made Dave ready to rip something in two and so he tried his best not to think about it, since he couldn't do what he really wanted to.

"Well then, that sounds like a fine place to get ourselves some breakfast before my wife and I take you shopping," Dave said.

"Your wife has already informed us what we would be doing today," Linc said and Dave felt that all four children speech patterns were very advanced for their ages, which just went to show that Hermione had been right and they all were extremely intelligent, which would've gone to waste if William Reid had had his way.

Now though these four children had a chance to grow up with him, his wife and plenty of siblings. To reach their full potential, which likely wouldn't have happened if he and Hermione hadn't come upon the scene of that thug trying his best to force those two kids into doing what he wanted. Dave well knew that he eventually would have succeeded as two seven year olds were no match for somebody of that size and strength, especially since they hadn't been fed very well since their mother had died.

"I had better go check on Hermione, as she does have trouble with some things now that she's so pregnant," Dave said

"So when is she due?" ask Beth.

"It won't be long now," Dave said with a massive grin on his face. "It's less then two months now. About six weeks actually give a take a few days, so pretty soon the four of you are going to have three siblings."

"But we aren't related to you," Spencer said tilting his head back in curiosity.

"You will be if you don't mind Hermione and I adopting you just like I promised we would," Dave said. "There is a magical ritual that will make you blood of our blood and flesh of our flesh and although your looks won't change, you will be related to us by blood and by magic and it won't matter whether or not you were born to us."

"Wow! Magic can do that?" asked Beth with awe in her expression.

"It can indeed," Dave assured them. "It isn't used to often anymore at least not in places like England, where Hermione was born and raised, but in Italy it's a little more common."

Dave didn't mention that the reason this ritual had fallen out of favor in England was that the purebloods had become so inbred that they would never think about adopting a magical child into their family, as they would have considered that child far beneath them and their blood tainted, unless of course, they were veelas that were both the same sex as adoption was the only option for two male veelas and for two females a lot of times they simply had a male friend of theirs donate some sperm and then did the magical version of artificial insinuation, but when it was two males together it was different.

Dave headed to the bedroom without another word to check on his mate to make sure that she wasn't having trouble getting dressed without his help, since Hermione had a hard time bending over at the moment because of her extremely enlarged stomach.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"You guys can pick our your own clothes and don't worry about price, as there is no point since we have plenty of money. Forget everything your father ever said about you, as it is apparent that he didn't even feed you properly or buy you things like clothes, because children your age outgrow clothes on a regular basis and so need new ones every six months or so sometimes more often. I doubt every much that he kept all your clothes or toys or whatever else you had as he probably just threw it away or possibly gave it away to charity. Besides, you would have outgrown the clothes at least by now."

"How do you know?" Linc asked curiously.

"Commonsense," Hermione told all four children. "You're not going to keep your children's possessions if you sell them to be used and abused, because they'd be no point, as it's not like you're ever going to be returning to your home. He might even have sold the more valuable items if you had anything worth any money and given the worthless stuff or at least worthless in his eyes to charity."

All four children saw the sense in that, although it saddened them to think that all their possessions had likely been given away or sold. It wasn't like the stuff they had was particularly valuable for the most part, but that their father cared so little about them that he had sold them to be raped and then likely given away all the books and toys they had owned, told them just how much their father hated them, when he should've loved them.

Spencer thought about the books that his mother had given him before her death, as she had known that he loved to read and had taken an interest in authors of the past, ones that had been born in 14th and 15th centuries just as she had as she had been a teacher at the University of Nevada. She had gifted him with many books, that might not have been valuable in and of themselves, but had been special to him because his mother had given them to him.

"I'll take the boys over to the boys section and get them everything they need," Dave offered. "It'll go faster if we split up."

"Thanks, I appreciate the help," Hermione told Dave kissing his cheek.

"No thanks needed, I'm happy to do it," Dave said. "Come along Spence, Linc we'll go to the boys section and start getting some clothes for you."

"Just make sure everything matches," Hermione told Dave teasingly. "Most men wouldn't know how to pick out matching clothes unless their wives or girlfriends did it for them," Hermione teased him.

"Hey, I do better than most men as I was on my own for years if you remember," Dave said accepting the teasing with good grace. "I know how to make sure clothes match and that they look good."

"I know," Hermione said with a smile. "Yes, you are certainly better at that than most men I've known including my own father, because if mom didn't buy his clothes for him, well, I doubt very much that he'd match at least."

"Let's get going as the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go and do something more fun," Dave told the two boys who brightened up immediately at that.

"I'll meet you up at the cash registers, amore."

"Va bene, ti amo...," Hermione agreed in Italian. (Okay, I love you.)

"Ti voglio bene anch'io," Dave said also in Italian hugging Hermione and kissing both her cheeks. (I love you too.)

The four children watched this and giggled thinking that their two guardians for the moment were really in love.

Spencer for his part was starting to truly relax around them, because he couldn't see somebody who had evil intentions showing so much affection to each other right in front of them.

"We'll meet you at the at noon because remember you have to eat at regular intervals because of the three pups you have growing in there," Dave said speaking English again patting his wife's tummy. "We can always continue shopping after we eat."

"Alright then, we had better get going that only gives us about three hours," Hermione said checking her watch. "I'd like to get as much done as possible today before we all go have some fun."

Dave and the two boys departed while Hermione led the little girls to the girls section and began to slow laborious process to make sure that everything fit.

Before she knew it, it was nearly noon, but they had gotten more done than she had expected so she was extremely happy with their progress.

"Alright, girls, it's time to go meet your brothers and Dave," Hermione told them.

"These are some of the most beautiful clothes I've ever seen," Beth said fingering the soft fabric.

"Well, we'll go get them and go get some lunch and then do some more shopping," Hermione told a little girl gently giving her a hug. "Dave's right that I need to eat at regular intervals because of what swimming in here," Hermione said patting her stomach. "Just think pretty soon the two of you and your brothers are going to have three new siblings with many more to come over the years, likely even after you have grown up and are out on your own."

"Oh! New siblings!" Cait squealed excitedly. "We never got to meet our siblings that momma was carrying before she passed away as they hadn't emerged from momma's belly yet."

"So how far along was your mother before she died?" Hermione gently.

"She was this big," Beth said indicating several inches in front of her own stomach.

"So probably at least halfway along then," Hermione calculated.

Hermione was aware that the gestation period for shifter babies, even when one of the parents wasn't one was just six months. Unless something had gone terribly wrong there was no way that the quads mother or the babies should have just died mysteriously. Of course, something could've gone seriously wrong, but she had a suspicion that perhaps, William Reid the quads father had done something, so that not only had the children his wife had gotten pregnant with had died so had she.

Of course, she could very well be wrong, but considering that William Reid had abandoned his own children and put them in a situation where they were raped on a daily basis once his wife was safely dead spoke volumes about his character and none of it was good. She would make sure to mention this to Dave first chance she got when she was sure that they were alone as she didn't want to upset the children anymore with the thought that their own father had deliberately killed their siblings and their mother as they had more than enough to handle at the moment and it would only cause them pain and heartache to know that their father might have deliberately killed their beloved mother, so it was better not to say anything, especially since it was just a suspicion nothing more.

If she had her way they would never know, because for one thing there was no proof, it was just a suspicion, even if it was a very strong possibility considering the character of William Reid.

"Well, let's go meet Dave and your brothers, shall we?" Hermione gently suggested shelving what she had been thinking for the moment. She wheeled the shopping cart she had gotten with quite a few items in it for each girl, which they had helped pick out with her gentle guidance. "Then after lunch we can do another couple hours of shopping and then maybe do something fun for the rest of the day."

"Yeah!" Beth and Cait both cheered causing Hermione to smile at them and lead them towards the front of the store where the registers were.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Once they were alone and the children were asleep on the transformed couch Hermione told Dave the suspicions she'd had in bed and she made sure that she put up a Muffliato charm just in case so that no young ears could overhear their conversation.

"You know I was thinking the same thing," Dave admitted. "Unfortunately, there is no way to prove it one way or the other, but I wouldn't be surprised if William Reid did do something that caused the death of his wife and whatever children she was carrying. I agree about not mentioning it to the quads, because for one thing we have no proof and for another why upset them that the mother they loved might have been murdered? They have enough to deal with and will for many years to come, so why make an already difficult task of getting over what happened to them even harder?"

"Yes, I totally agree with that," Hermione said, even as she snuggled into Dave's arms. "According to Beth her stomach was enormous, much like mine, so she was likely at least halfway along and if that's the case then whatever children she was carrying would not suddenly have developed problems, unless something unusual happened because with a shifter pregnancy that happens within the first month, but not usually after that. I'm not really sure we can trust the quads memories considering that they were so young, at the time, but on the other hand it wasn't all that long ago and all four of them seem to be much more intelligent then is average with better memories."

"I doubt Beth was mistaken on the size of her mother's stomach, since they were certainly old enough to remember that their mother was pregnant in the first place, so we'll just accept it as fact unless somehow proven otherwise," Dave said. "We'll likely never know if Diana Reid was murdered, as we definitely don't have the authority to have the body exhumed and even if we did that would alert William Reid that his pups are no longer in the situation he put them in and possibly the man that bought them as well. I believe it's better to just leave well enough alone. If the quads father did murder his wife and the pups she was carrying, he likely did it in such a way that it wouldn't be easily discovered by the coroner, not unless they were specifically looking for it. Unfortunately, there are plenty of ways to murder someone and get away with it as most coroners are overworked so if there were signs then they were likely missed if they were particularly busy and that's only if there was an autopsy in the first place."

"It what we suspect is true it is very sad that those infants never even had a chance to live just because their father is a despicable human being, particularly for a shifter since most of them love their pups," Hermione said shaking her head. "I truly want to do something to William Reid, but not just kill him as that would be to quick, no I have a more nefarious idea in mind."

"What do you have in mind?" Dave asked with a grin wondering what his genius of a wife had thought of to punish William Reid, as he did agree that killing him would be much to quick, even if that's what the wolf in him wanted to do, but the man in him thought that the quads father deserved a much more prolonged and inventive punishment so that he could suffer just as his pups had suffered even if it wouldn't be exactly the same sort of punishment.

"I was thinking that I could make him permanently impotent," Hermione grinned.

"You can do that?" asked Dave shuddering at the thought of never being able to get his cock to respond. For most men to no be able to have sex with a woman whether that was their wife or girlfriend or just a random women would destroy them, as being able to get their cocks to perform was usually a big part of their egos. In other words, to be able to have sex whenever they wanted to. Dave suspected that William Reid was that way and that he had gotten tired of the quads mother and instead of just divorcing her, which would have been the logical thing to do he had killed her instead and the pups she was carrying as well. Of course, there was no proof just his and Hermione's suspicions, so as had already been decided there was no point to mention it to any of the quads. Of course, it was barely possible that something unforeseen had happened and she had died a natural death along with her pups, but considering that William Reid was such a despicable human being particularly for a shifter that was rather unlikely.

"I can, but only if the wizarding authorities allow me to," Hermione said, "since the elder Reid is apparently a mundane. I can even make it, so that he has very sexual dreams to where his cock responds, but when he actually tries to do what he dreamed about to a woman his cock will remain flaccid."

"You do that to a man like that and he'll kill himself probably within five years, if not sooner," Dave said liking the justice of it.

"He'll suffer for however, long he lives, because a man like that well he gets a large dose of his arrogance and confidence from being able to have sex with any woman he wants to, whenever he want to, but then most men think like that and if their cocks didn't respond anymore, they would be a shadow of themselves and the authorities would likely have a lot more suicides on their hands," Hermione smirked.

"Please don't ever get mad enough at me that you do that to me," Dave told her perfectly seriously. "Just kill me instead, as it would be much better then you making me impotent permanently."

"I have no intention of doing that to you, because how would I get my sexual satisfaction if you couldn't get your cock to respond?" Hermione told him with twinkling eyes. "Besides, unless you're planning to do something equally as evil as what William Reid did, like selling your children, cheating on me or abusing us in anyway then you are perfectly safe from my wrath. We'll argue sometimes sure, like that lecture you gave me for pushing myself to hard because I was pregnant, but then we'll make up and life will go on. Since I know you have no intention of doing any of those things I mentioned your manhood is safe."

"Thank God for that," Dave said fervently causing Hermione to laugh. "I know you could be vicious when somebody pissed you off, but that's just too much."

"You know that normally I'm not, but what the quads father did was just so despicable that I feel a little revenge is not only appropriate, but necessary," Hermione said. "I learned that I have a very vicious side to my personality as you said during the war, one that thirsts for justice and I consider what I will do to William Reid if I get the chance more in the line of delayed justice, not revenge."

"You do have a point," Dave admitted thoughtfully. "I for one certainly hope you get the chance to do that to him, as it would be appropriate punishment for what he did to his own children and possibly his wife as well as just killing him would be to quick. I think that we should get some sleep now as the pups will likely be up early."

"Yeah, they likely will be," Hermione agreed. Buonanotte, ti amo." (Goodnight, I love you.)

"Buonanotte, ti amo troppo," Dave said kissing his wife tenderly before closing his eyes enjoying having Hermione curled up against him just like he had from that very first time after they had bonded. (Goodnight, I love you too.)

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"So we haven't discussed any names," Hermione told Dave one day when the two of them were enjoying lunch with the four children, "and they'll be here soon, so I thought we should get that out of the way and not wait until the very last minute."

"Well, I'd like him to have Italian names," Dave said. "Technically my name is not only biblical, but Italian to if you just add an E onto the end."

"Well, there are many beautiful Italian names so what were you thinking?" Hermione asked not objecting to that.

"Well, if we get a little girl I'd like to name her Gavriella. It's a little bit more unusual than Gabriella and I've always loved it," Dave said.

Hermione tried out the name in her mind and really loved it as it was very beautiful and so she nodded. "That's a very beautiful name, so yes, if we have a little girl we can call her Gavriella. Of course, if we don't have one this time and have all boys is always next time."

"Good, I'm glad you approve," Dave said with the mile wide grin.

"I think we need to come up with six of each just in case we have all boys or all girls," Hermione said.

"That's a good idea and therefore, we aren't scrambling to come up with names after they're born," Dave said

The four quads listened to this and Spencer asked a question. He was slowly getting more comfortable with the Rossis over time for not only were they treating them like normal kids they had bought them a whole bunch of nice clothes, books and toys and had told them not to worry about the price and just to get what they wanted as they deserved a little bit of spoiling considering what they had gone through.

"Why name them with Italian names?" Spencer asked.

"Well, for one thing we live in Italy," Dave said, "and yes, I know that doesn't mean that we necessarily have to name them with Italian names and maybe when we have more pups in a few years we won't do that, but with these three I just want to name them with names from my country."

"There are many beautiful names in Italy, so I really don't mind at all and as Dave said maybe next time we have children we'll name them something from England where I was born. Besides, a lot of names span a lot of countries and a lot of Italian names are also Spanish. Really a lot of names just have a different spelling to make them native to that country like Dave's name can have an E on the end and that's the Italian version. Albert for example is originally British, but you put an O on the end and it becomes Italian."

"I have a brother by the name of Alberto, although he usually goes by Al, just as I do Dave," Dave added with humor twinkling in his eyes.

"It's all a matter of preference and if Dave wants the triplets to be named with Italian names, then it's okay with me and perhaps, we can make the middle names English," Hermione said. "If any of you ever get married someday you need to know that it's all about compromise. You can't always have exactly what you want, as that's a sure way to ruin your marriage, well, if you're not married to your lifemate that is," Hermione added after a moment and she leaned over and kiss Dave on the cheek.

"Still, compromise is good, whether or not your married to your lifemate and also making sure they know that you love them no matter the circumstances. You'll see what I mean as soon as we get back to my house outside of Florence Italy," Dave said.

All four quads listened to this, but kept their thoughts to themselves, because at the moment they were only seven years old and so really didn't have an opinion on the subject of marriage considering that they were too young to even think about such things, but none of them ever believed they would get married and perhaps, have a few pups of their own when they were old enough considering what had happened to them.

"So we need to come up with five more girls names and six boys names," Hermione told Dave as the two of them ate their lunch.

"What about Gianna?" asked Dave. "its just a different version of Jane although nobody would ever know that unless they looked it up or were told.

"Gianna," Hermione tried it and thought it was very pretty and definitely unusual. "That's really pretty, but then there are so many beautiful Italian names that it's going to be hard to choose."

"That's true, but we'll have plenty of opportunity to use some of those names as the pups come along," Dave said grinning at his mate so happy that he was practically vibrating with it.

It was clear to all four quads that Dave really loved children just as he said he did, which is why he had taken the time to track them down.

"Yes, every three years until I'm 40 just as we agreed to," Hermione said with a smile, "but only if each pregnancy goes well and if the healers say we shouldn't try to have anymore, then we won't."

"Yes, remember I agreed to that, because I'm sure we'll have plenty of pups to look after if that does happen and I would never risk your life just to have a few more," Dave said. "It took me 40 years to find you, so there's no way I want you to die doing childbirth when it could have been easily prevented. I love you too much to lose you over something so stupid."

"I love you too," Hermione told Dave quietly but with sincerity in her eyes. "I would never want to leave you just because I died during childbirth, although luckily, that's not as common nowadays as it was a few decades ago. There are some things that nobody expects to happen, but still it's a much lower percentage of women who die during childbirth then it used to be. I'm young and healthy, and trust me, that has a lot to do with pregnancy and giving birth safely."

"I'm well aware since I do have quite a few sisters that have gone through it," Dave said, but with a smile.

"We have several weeks to come up with appropriate names, for all three children that we're having this time and we can always save whatever names we thought of that we don't use for next time," Hermione said. "For right now I think it's important to concentrate on other things."

Hermione didn't say so, but Dave knew immediately what she was referring to since the quads were sitting at the table to.

"I think after we finish eating that we need to go and do something fun," Dave suggested. "I'm open to suggestions."

The quads who had been listening to the conversation immediately started making suggestions on what they should do and Hermione and Dave looked at each other glad to see the four children so happy after all they'd been through.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Part Three

"Wow! This place is huge!" Beth said, as she looked around the house that they had just entered in Italy. It was hard to believe that they had been whisked all the way across the ocean in just a matter of a few seconds by something called a Portkey and yet here they landed just outside this beautiful house on an estate that had a high walls surrounding it that meant that nobody would be able to see over them, not without climbing the wall.

It had been easier then either Hermione or Dave had imagined to adopt the four shifter children, who were magical from the streets of San Francisco, as all four of them were listed to be contacted as soon as they were 9, because in America they could start school two years earlier, but didn't necessarily have to. It was true that they couldn't go somewhere like Salem Institute for Magic until they were 11, but still Hermione appreciated the way the American government did introduce those children and their parents that did not know about magic two years in advance and taught them things like banking, how to use the Floo and many other things that you needed to know about the magical world, even if in America they were considerably more modern then England.

The people in charge of child services in the American Ministry of Magic had been outraged when they had learned that after the Reids children's mother had died their father had practically ignored them, until he had caught his son Linc performing accidental magic and after that he had started to plot a way to get them out of his life. Unlike most shifters he didn't even really like children that much and he found that even as young as they were they were outstripping him in a lot of areas when he had been the same age and that made him insanely jealous.

The wizarding authorities had questioned William Reid under Veritaserum, because unlike in England, the government was totally different from the corrupt one that Hermione had grown up with and they did things totally differently.

She and Dave had been allowed to come along, while an old witch had looked after the children after Dave had extracted promise that they wouldn't go anywhere.

Several of the people that were questioning William Reid had to stop Dave from ripping him to pieces, once everyone present had learned exactly what contempt he held his children in and how he had never liked them very much, even though they were his by blood. The people in the American magical government took a very dim view of child abusers, which pleased the Rossis immensely. What had caused Dave to want to rip the elder Reid to pieces was the fact that he knew exactly what he was selling the children into and didn't particularly care if they were abused, raped and used by old men and women who should know better just so long as they never darkened his doorway again and that he had gotten 100,000 thousand dollars out of the deal was just icing on the cake as far as he was concerned.

All four of those children had been through hell and would need serious counseling to even partly get over being raped by old people who should know better. It was the worst crime imaginable as someone forced themselves on you without your consent, and brutally entered your body not caring for your pleasure only theirs and when you were a virgin it was even worse. What was even worse then raping a virgin was when it was done to a child, like the four Reid children who were only 7. Them being sold and raped had started shortly after their mother had died when they were five, it was even worse because no matter how intelligent you were you didn't really understand why this was happening to you or what you had done to deserve such a fate.

After they had learned what an utter, slimy and complete bastard William Reid was Hermione had requested the privilege of giving him a rather unique punishment and the officials from the American ministry had agreed so long as she did not kill him.

"It isn't that we don't want to kill this slimy bastard," One of the magical cops informed Hermione and Dave with a deep furious rage burning his eyes, as he had a family of his own and he couldn't figure out why the father had done what he had, particularly a shifter, since they were known for being extremely protective of their pups. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to divulge into the mind of William Reid come to that, as it would likely lead him to a very dark place.

Hermione explained exactly what she was going to do and everyone in the room thought it was an appropriate punishment and more than he deserved, although they all believed that just killing him would be much to quick considering what he had done.

Dave in particular had been enraged when he'd learned exactly what a shifter had done to his own pups and it had taken three men and Hermione doing some fast talking to stop him from pouncing on William Reid and literally ripping his body in two. If Dave had truly gone through with what he had wanted to do then there wouldn't have been enough left of the quads father to identify and would have landed him in a great deal of trouble and maybe even prison.

Dave was well aware that there were some shifters who didn't care, about their own pups or their spouses, but unlike with magicals or mundanes this uncaring attitude was a rather unusual occurrence, so unusual that they were considered aberrations, because it really didn't happen all that often as no more then 10% were like that and that was all over the world so this was very, very low, percentage of shifters who turned out to be criminals of one type or another, because with the other two species on the planet, the percentage of criminals was considerably higher. Those that didn't love their pups and therefore, took their responsibilities to them seriously were no more then 2 or 3% at most if that much.

Once Dave had calmed down he thought that his mate's punishment was more than appropriate, which was to make William Reid permanently impotent. He would no longer be able to get it up as the saying went when it came to having sex with women or even men for that matter if they thought that the elder Reid swung in that direction. To top it off he would start having intense sexual dreams, and yet when he actually tried to do the things in those dreams with another, he wouldn't be able to complete it and in fact a lot of females were soon going to be looking down on him in disdain. He was going to start being extremely sexually frustrated, since he was still quite young for a shifter and had always been extremely proud of his ability to get his cock to respond no matter what, even though he was now in his 50s and for a man like that to no longer be able to get his cock to swell with his seed, well nobody would be surprised if he killed himself within five years, although they would like him to live until the end of his days with the shame that he was now totally impotent, but considering the abuse he had heaped upon numerous women, not to mention his own children they thought that this punishment was well deserved.

"It is indeed huge as you put it, Beth," Dave told the little girl as he picked her up easily and swung her around causing her to giggle as he tickled her tummy. "I bought this place once my books started to take off, as I figured that I would eventually find my mate, get married and I needed a large place since shifters usually have numerous children. I did indeed find my mate, although it took many more years than I expected and the first of our pups are due any day now. However, the four of you are no longer Reids, but Rossis so you to are part of our family. My parents are looking forward to meeting you, as I contacted them and they will treat you as their own grand pups from the very first never doubt it."

"Why would you do this for us?" asked Spencer still trying to understand, even though his mind was brilliant he hadn't been shown much love since his mother died and neither had his siblings as their father had never loved them, not truly anyway.

"Because I already love you, Linc, Cait and Beth," Dave told Spencer who looked so astonished, then disbelieving that Hermione nearly laughed, but since she knew Spencer and his siblings wouldn't understand the reason for her mirth she contained herself. "I can guess very well what your father told you, all of it untrue. Men like your former father like to lie to their own children and the people around them just to feel better about themselves and you were way smarter than he was and he was insanely jealous."

"How do you know this?" asked Spencer with just a little wariness.

"We know this because the authorities of magical America questioned them," Hermione told the four gently. "Us magicals have very powerful truth serum and it is almost impossible to work around and lie while under its influence. You have to be able to turn the truth serum into something harmless like water without using a want and your father does not have this skill. Wandless magic is particularly difficult to master, not impossible, but extremely difficult all the same as it takes a lot immense concentration. There was no way that your father could have lied, because he doesn't have any magic to turn the truth serum he was fed into something harmless."

The four children listened to this and seemed to understand, and Dave remembered what Hermione had said that Spencer in particular was brilliant or at least that was her opinion just from the intense look of intelligence and understanding in his eyes and since he knew that his mate was rarely wrong about such things, he knew that he and Hermione were going to have to watch what they said in front of them.

"My brother and his wife, are also eager to meet you," Hermione told the quads. "In a way, you and Harry have quite a bit in common as he was abused as a child too, although not in the same way you were. If he feels like it I'll let him tell you his story, as it isn't mine to tell. Now I'm sure the four of you are tired so I'll show you to your rooms and then it's not long until dinner."

Hermione led them upstairs and showed them two rooms, one for boys and one for girls both that were big enough for three people each. The quads had requested that they share as that was what they had done at home, so they were used to it and Dave and Hermione had no objections.

"You can decorate your rooms, however, you want," Hermione told the four of them.

"When's dinner?" Beth asked in a quiet voice.

Hermione checked her watch and then said, "In about an hour. Dave will be doing the cooking and trust me, you'll love it, as he's a much better cook than I could ever hope to be. I'll come up here and get you when it's time for dinner or Dave will and after that if you're not too tired we'll give you a tour of the house."

"Thank you," Spencer finally told Hermione his little face very serious.

Hermione understood what Spencer meant without him having to explain so she leaned down just enough to give him a hug. "It was our pleasure," Hermione told Spencer. "The four of you are Rossis now and that means that you are mine and Dave's firstborn sons and daughters and it doesn't matter that none of you were actually born to us as we magically adopted you and therefore, magic deems that you are ours by blood as well as magic, so don't be surprised if you start being good at certain things that you had trouble with before, because the ceremony we did for the four of you means you will inherit at least some traits from both Dave and I even if your looks do not change. When these three are born you will have younger siblings right off the bat and more in three years. It won't be many years before this house is filled with the laughter of children which is just the way that Dave and I like it."

All four children including Spencer who was, especially wary of trusting anyone was looking at Hermione in complete awe.

Hermione was well aware that it would take time for Spencer in particular to trust her and Dave, but once he did than the others would as well, as he was the leader of the four of them, but then he was the oldest and so that was only natural, even if it didn't always work out that way.

Hermione was sure that Spencer's instinct that came from the wolf within him were telling him to trust Dave and her, but since he had not been taught how to trust his instincts it was no wonder that Spencer was so wary and untrusting of the two of them as he wasn't sure that he could trust that part of himself to not lead him astray.

Well Dave would soon fix that, but it was going to take time, Hermione knew so she would have to be patient

Hermione left the four of them to sort themselves out and went to find Dave who was already starting to cook supper.

"So how did it go upstairs?" Dave asked as soon as his mate entered the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"It went fine considering," Hermione said, as Dave passed her favorite beverage that he'd already had prepared, but no alcohol was allowed until after the triplets births. "It's going to take time, for Spencer particular to truly trust us and when he does then the others will as well, since he is the leader and they trust his judgement. I can't really blame him for being so suspicious of our motives considering that he and his siblings were raped on multiple occasions by old men and women until they managed to escape. I'm still amazed that the four of them managed to basically escape right out from under the adults nose, but then again and they really are brilliant, Spencer in particular and a lot of adults tend to underestimate what children can do, so let their guard down. I won't be surprised if the man who bought them took his anger out on a few of his employees for letting them escape and I would say it's just what they deserve considering that they stood by and let it happen instead of finding an honest job."

"I totally agree with that," Dave said with rage still shimmering in his dark brown eyes.

"I do know how you feel," Hermione told Dave gently, even as she leaned over and gave his hand a squeeze as he walked by. "I know I'm not a shifter, but rape isn't something that just shifters hate, but anybody with decent ethics. Besides, that's what that boy who put me under the love potion would have done to me if I had managed to break free."

"Are you ever going to tell me who it was?" Dave asked with a winning smile.

"No," Hermione told him in a tone that told Dave that there was no way he was going to get it out of her, "not unless you promise not to go after him like I know you want to do. As much as I would enjoy seeing him get what he deserves, killing him would only get you in a great deal of trouble and I don't want to see you go to Azkaban or some other wizarding prison for killing the son of a bitch."

Dave nodded at that for that was the answer that he had expected, as he hadn't really expected any other. Hermione cursing told Dave that she must still be extremely upset at the man who had put her under that love potion in the first place and there was no way that Dave could really blame his mate for that at all. To put somebody under a love potion and then have sex with them, well that was nothing more than rape just like what happened to Spencer and his siblings. If he had felt like ripping William Reid into teeny tiny pieces for selling his pups and for what happened after that event and he had only known them for a few days then it wasn't very hard to imagine how he would feel about doing the same to the man that had put his mate under a love potion, even if he had never gotten around to actually raping her.

"So it won't be long before these bambinos are born," Dave said, as he rubbed Hermione's tummy lightly changing the subject.

"No, it won't be," Hermione agreed with a smile, "and it can't be soon enough for me, because while the potions I'm taking help me with my swollen ankles and my aching back I'm still having to carry around a great deal of extra weight."

"Well, at least that gestation is shorter," Dave said and Hermione nodded.

"Yes, and believe me, I'm ever so grateful that it's a whole trimester shorter then if I had married someone magical or mundane. I'll just be glad when this pregnancy is over that's all and then I have at least three years where I don't have to worry about getting pregnant again."

"I'm really sorry that our honeymoon was so curtailed," Dave told his mate.

"It's alright," Hermione promised Dave. "Considering the circumstances you don't really need my forgiveness, but if you're worried about it then you are forgiven. Besides, you promised to make it up to me and perhaps, it would be a good idea to go on a trip sometime when I'm not so pregnant so that we can fully enjoy ourselves."

"Yes, that's a very good idea," Dave said with a wide grin, as he thought about possible destinations to take his mate on a long getaway after the triplets were born. "The only reason that we got married before these babies were born was because we wanted to give them legitimacy in the mundane as well as a magical worlds. I'll plan something for next year maybe and we can have my parents look after the children, but it's going to have to wait until Spencer fully trusts us which is going to take awhile."

"You can't really blame him for being, so untrusting know, can you?" Hermione asked and Dave shook his head negatively.

"No, I really can't, as they came out of what must've been held up pretty well from what I can tell, but they're going to have issues about intimacy when they grow up, unless we get them to talk to a psychologist and even then they might have issues. I'm not sure that any of them will ever get married and settle down even if they do find their mates, but there's no way of telling at this point. I suspect that all of them have a great deal of anger at their father, the man that was supposed to love them no matter what, but at Spencer in particular, although they hide it well, I can't really blame them for that anger. They need somebody to help them work through it, a professional and deal with the nightmares we both know will likely erupt soon. I'll be very surprised if they haven't had nightmares while they were in hiding and if they didn't wake up whoever was close by with their screams as abandoned building aren't exactly soundproof."

"Now that's the understatement of the century," Hermione said seriously. "I'm surprised that something more didn't happen to them like having part of the building collapse on them for example since those places aren't exactly the safest."

"They were lucky," Dave said by way of agreement, as he finished cooking the chicken Alfredo. "Why don't you go Spencer, Cait, Beth and Linc as dinner will be ready in just a minute. I'll have it on the table by the time you get back. Be careful on the stairs and make sure you hold onto the railing," Dave added. "You have to remember that your balance isn't what it should be and won't be until after these babies are born in a little more than a month."

"Will do. I'll be careful," Hermione told him as she rose from where she was sitting and kissed Dave's cheek before heading for the stairs to get the four children for dinner.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Hermione came back into the kitchen with four hungry looking children trailing behind her, although Dave heard them long before he actually saw them as they weren't exactly trying to be quiet.

Dave couldn't suppress his joy, as he had long hoped that this large villa would be filled with the laughter of children, but he had given up on ever finding his mate or having children by her, but he was so glad that he had been wrong as Hermione was the light of his life and now he had four pups with three more due soon.

He would be perfectly happy with just the seven children he would have if his mate decided that she didn't want anymore after the three she was carrying were born, but he was hoping that she would agree to get pregnant in another three years just as she had promised she would.

Actually he was hoping that there would be many more pups, spaced three years apart, of course, as Hermione was plenty young enough to have 20 or 30 if she so desired, but as Dave had told Harry and Luna awhile back he doubted they would have that many just that it was a possibility and one he couldn't be more thrilled about as he had waited for years before having a family of his own as he had refused to get married or have pups until he had discovered his lifemate, as just no random woman would do like a few of his siblings had decided on doing.

"Dinner is served," Dave said, as he served up heaping platefuls of Chicken Alfredo. He gave each of the four children smaller plates of the dinner he had cooked and if they wanted more all they had to do was ask for it, while he gave Hermione and himself much bigger plates and piled them high.

Italian cooking was full of carbohydrate and calories, which had helped Hermione gain weight quickly, especially considering she was eating double the amount that she usually did and in this case that was good considering that she was pregnant and needed to gain weight quickly since the pregnancy was a full trimester shorter due to the babies shifter genes.

"This is really good," Cait said, as she took a forkful and sampled it. "What's this called?"

"Chicken Alfredo," Dave told her. "The sauce is what makes it so good, but it's extremely fattening since it's made with double butter, but it will help you gain weight quickly which you definitely need. You need a lot of high caloric meals for awhile until your bodies fill out and you are the weight you're supposed to be for your ages. It's just lucky that you weren't malnourished for much more time, because then it is unlikely that the four of you would ever reach your full heights, because if you're malnourished for too many years, particularly if you're really young when it happens it can have very detrimental effects on a child's body. Luckily, we ran across you and corrected the situation by taking you in and you've only been malnourished for a couple of years, so it's likely that no permanent harm has been done."

"Wow! Hermione did say you could cook, but I had no idea what she meant by that," Spencer admitted. "I thought it was always the woman that cooked."

"It is a traditional role for a woman," Hermione admitted as she ate her Alfredo. "However, be glad I'm not doing the cooking because we would all starve if that was the case, since I can't cook to save my life. Dave's tried to teach me and so did my mom when I was growing up, but both of them were unsuccessful, so it's just as well that Dave can cook as well as he can."

"A lot of men enjoy cooking in what is now the 21st century," Dave told the four children, "and they are proud of their skills. I learned to cook at my mother's knee when I was young and Harry, Hermione's brother has taught me some traditional English dishes. I'm always willing to learn new recipes and I don't care if they're from this country England or even America, which is why I picked up several cookbooks while we were there."

"So we can expect some dishes from America then?" Linc asked.

"Yes, you can as there is nothing wrong with variety," Dave said. "I doubt we'll eat out very much unless its just Hermione and you, or I'm too tired to cook because normally I love spending time in the kitchen as cooking for my family is one of my greatest joys and gives me a sense of immense satisfaction."

Spencer was one confused little boy because his father had ranted again and again that it was not a man's job to spend time in the kitchen cooking, as that was a job for a woman and whether that was a housekeeper, a wife or a maid. He had always been extremely disdainful of men that decided to cook as a profession and thought it made them wusses, weak in other words.

And yet one of the strongest, nicest men he had ever met had just admitted that he loved spending time in the kitchen and that he loved to do something that other people considered women's work. Of course, considering how his father had sold him and his siblings into slavery to be violated very brutally again and again Spencer knew that he shouldn't take anything his father said to heart, but still he had so little experience with the world that he knew that, even though he had been told it was the women that cooked and cleaned house, just as his mother had done before she had died due to complications with her pregnancy that apparently wasn't always the case.

His mother had been pregnant, but she hadn't been far enough along for them to survive out of their mother's womb. It was probably just as well considering how their father treated the four children he already had and if he'd had two more to look after, especially considering that they would have been extremely vulnerable Spencer wouldn't have been surprised if he killed them on accident or even on purpose. He was not unaware that things like that happened even as young as he was, mostly because of all the reading he did and it saddened him to know that his new siblings had never had a chance to live, even if he thought it was a good thing in this case, because of who their father would have been.

Of course, Spencer well knew that if the babies had lived their mother likely would have too, although it wouldn't've been a sure thing.

Hermione and Dave shared a look over the children's heads and seemed to communicate silently and in that look they communicated that they had both seen Spencer's and other children's confused expressions and they could guess the reasons behind them without too much trouble.

The four children had likely been told that men did not cook and that was a woman's responsibility and centuries ago that had been true, but men had been cooking for a long time now even if they were looked down on for it until fairly recently, although not so much in Italy.

They knew they would just have to keep acting normally, so that the children could form their own opinions and learn more about the world than they had in the last seven years of their lives. Unfortunately, all four of them were now aware of the darker side of humanity, which was something that Dave and Hermione would have liked to have protected them from, but couldn't, no matter what they wished.

"I'll start brewing that nutritional potion, tomorrow," Hermione said, "as that will help them fill out faster and give them more energy."

"And what about that polyglot potion?" asked Dave.

"I'm going to have to find the ingredients for that first," Hermione said, "and I might have to go rather far afield."

"Polyglot potion?" Spencer asked, more curiously then suspiciously, because he doubted they would be talking about something that would harm him and his siblings right in front of them.

"It's a potion that will help you learn Italian really fast," Hermione explained. "It works much better if you are in the country or at least around native speakers. Once I manage to find the ingredients for the potion as some of them are going to be hard to come by, I'm going to have to brew it and it's a rather tricky potion. I can do it, because I've done it before, but I'm going to need total concentration with no interruptions. It will help you learn to read and write Italian with ease and in a week you should be speaking Italian like a native, although learning to write it will be a little slower, but it will still be much faster then normal, unless you grew up reading and writing the language which I know you four did not."

Hermione didn't mention how much it was going to cost, because it didn't matter, as it wasn't like either she or Dave were short on funds.

"It's always convenient to know another language particularly if people don't know you do. Really we could all learn a lot of languages this way just so long as we went to the country where they were spoken and stayed for at least a week," Hermione said.

"Personally, I'd like to know French," Dave said, "so perhaps, will take a trip to France at some point."

"And I already speak passable French, although that doesn't mean I can't improve," said Hermione, "thanks to all those family trips when I was a child."

"Now that you four have finished your dinner and would you like a tour of the house?" asked Dave as he saw that the four plates were completely empty, "or would you like seconds?"

"I'm too full for seconds," Linc said patting his very full tummy as he had eaten this well ever since their mother had died.

"Me too," Cait said and the other two echoed her.

"Well, then we'll just save dessert for later," Dave said, "but don't ever be afraid to ask for seconds or even thirds if you're still hungry, as I always cook plenty. If us Italians know anything it's how to eat, and my mother would think there was something wrong with you if you didn't at least eat seconds helpings."

"We're not used to such big meals, not even when our mother was still alive," Spencer said and Dave nodded in understanding.

"That's okay too, but here in this house you'll learn to eat well and certainly have a more balanced diet then a lot of families, as nutrition is also important and my mother made sure that all her pups knew this," Dave said.

"I wouldn't call what we ate tonight a balanced diet because if that sauce is really made a double butter that's not exactly very healthy at least not without other things to go along with it," Spencer said.

"True enough, but I wasn't doing anything complicated tonight," Dave admitted, "as I'm kind of worn out from all that's happened in the last few days. Besides, Hermione needs plenty of carbohydrates right now, because of her pregnancy as shifter babies are born after just six months instead of nine like it is for the other species as they grow and develop much faster, so she's been eating double the amount that she normally does at every meal and snacks in between. The four of you also need the carbohydrates right now as well as they will help you gain weight much faster, which you need since you weren't exactly eating healthy living on the street."

"And I can hardly wait till these babies are born so that I can go back to my normal diet," Hermione said patting her tummy lovingly.

"It won't be long," Dave said a massive grin appearing on his face. "The month will just fly by, just wait and see."

"It can't come soon enough for me," Hermione said. "I never did understand how women could go through this more than once, particularly if it's more than one at a time, but now I do because I love you so much that I'm willing to go through the swollen feet, backaches and everything else having to do with pregnancy again a few years down the road."

That statement caused a wide grin to split Dave's face and he leaned over to kiss his wife's temple.

The four children watched this and Spencer gradually realized that they had been lucky and fallen into the cream as the saying went. There was no way that two people could act so in love, unless they really were and it definitely wasn't an act that they were putting on just for them.

It was too natural how Dave leaned over to kiss his wife's temple after she had announced that she was willing to have more children in a few years and how her body automatically melted into her husband's arms obviously very content just to be held by the man she loved. Spencer remembered very well being loved by his mother at least, so he did know what love was, even if this was a different type and not the parental love that one had for their children, but love was love.

Finally the couple broke and Dave rose to his feet.

"Don't worry about cleaning up. I'll take care of it later," Dave told Hermione who nodded seeming to expect that particular command.

"It's not like I have to wash the dishes by hand," Hermione said, "all it takes is a little magic."

"I know that as I do the same, but still I don't want you to strain yourself, not until after these bambinos are born," Dave said rubbing her tummy gently.

"I want to pull my weight," Hermione insisted.

"And you can start doing that again after these bambinos are born," Dave said with a stubborn glint in his eyes. "They're only going to be more and more strain on your system you know and you don't need to be pushing yourself. You promised to listen to my advice when it came to your health."

Hermione sighed and gave in, knowing that Dave was right and she had promised to not exhaust yourself to much.

"Alright then, but I hate feeling like an invalid," Hermione said.

"I know," Dave said, "Neither of us like just lazing about doing nothing, but you must think of your health first and then the bambinos health. It should be okay for you to get back to that research that you like so much so long as you stay off your feet as much as possible and take breaks."

"Well, I suppose I haven't read my way through even a quarter of your library yet," Hermione murmured.

"It'll take you years to read through every book in there, since there are thousands of them," Dave said smirking in satisfaction, making sure that Hermione couldn't see it, as he didn't want to be scolded, just because he had won the argument.

He looked over at the four children winking at them as if to tell him that this was a common occurrence and that it was nothing major.

"And I added quite a few more," Hermione added with a smirk of her own.

"And there's still plenty of room to add even more as I couldn't fill up that huge library all on my own, even if I took quite a few books out of the family vault, ones that my family had been collecting for centuries, most of which have been out of print for years."

"Books?" Spencer asked interested in spite of himself, as he loved to read and not just books that most people considered appropriate for children but grown up material.

"Most of them are probably too advanced for you," Dave said.

"I doubt it if he's anything like I was as a child," Hermione disagreed. "I was reading books that most people wouldn't have considered fit for somebody my age, by the time I was eight or nine years old as children's books or even ones for teenagers were incredibly boring. I agree that some stuff he doesn't need to be reading at his age, but I'm sure he would understand most adult books."

Spencer shot Hermione a grateful look and Dave sighed, but supposed if the young boy really was as brilliant as Hermione believed that children's books or other things considered appropriate for his age would indeed be incredibly boring for him and brilliant minds needed nurturing above all else. Dave wouldn't hold Spencer back or any of his children if they were as intelligent as his wife was just so long as he knew they wouldn't use the knowledge they had gained to just show off or worse use it to hurt someone. Showing off only created resentment and made you no friends as he ought to know, as he had been pretty intelligent himself, although certainly not on his wife's or apparently Spencer's level. Then again both his parents were of above average intelligence so it wasn't surprising that all their pups had also taken after them and not just in looks or personality. There wasn't really anything in the library that was overtly dangerous, because he definitely didn't own any dark arts books, so it wouldn't do any harm for Spencer or any of the children to read through his library and if they didn't understand something they could always ask him or Hermione. Hermione in particular loved explaining things, so she would be the natural person to go to.

"Well, let's commence with that tour and then I'll show you the library last," Dave said by way of agreement, "Although I warn you that probably 75 to 80% of the books are in Italian and not English so you are going to have to learn to read Italian before you can understand them, even if Italian is very similar to English in many of the words, but since it is also based off Latin that is not surprising."

A happy grin split Spencer's face and Dave knew that he had done the right thing, however, he would not allow his new son to isolate himself from other children, as that would make him socially awkward when he was older and he wanted Spencer and the other three children to be able to go anywhere with confidence and interact with people flawlessly.

Dave could guess that Spencer had spent a lot of time by himself just reading, as it was a way to avoid his father and he was sure that the other children had their own ways to stay out of sight and therefore, be out of mind.

"Wow! This place is really huge!" Linc said, as Dave gave them a tour of every floor, although a lot of those were bedrooms.

"I think I said that," Beth commented slapping her brother on the arm.

"Yes, you did, but I had no idea it was this big," Linc said rubbing his arm were Beth had hit him as Dave continued the tour and listened to their comments in amusement.

"It has nearly 60 bedrooms if you must know and ten bathrooms," Dave said. "I have to admit I didn't really need a place this big, but the price was right as it was something of a fixer upper, as it had been abandoned for years because the family had mostly died off and this place had been forgotten about. The family that remained couldn't afford to keep up such a big place and so I got it off their hands for quite a reasonable price and most of the stuff that needed repairs were easy to fix with a little magic. I just leave wings closed up when I don't need them as I doubt Hermione and I will ever have enough children to fill even half these rooms, even if they didn't share like the four of you are. On the other hand this leaves plenty of room for friends of yours to come over and stay for a sleepover."

"Friends," Spencer said sounding melancholy. "I've never had friends before. No one wanted anything to do with me when they knew how intelligent I was. It was as if they considered it some sort of disease."

"I know how that feels, figlio, as I didn't have any friends either until I was already grown, except a couple of very casual ones. Sometimes those that are really intelligent are set apart from the rest of humanity, as they don't understand us and sometimes it's hard to interact with those that on as smart as we are, because even if you don't mean to be insulting or to show off you often do. I learned a very valuable lessons when I was about your age and that was that children don't like someone who answers every question in class or act more intelligent than they are. It doesn't really matter if you are smarter than average you don't show it off if you want any friends. However, smart people like us should not be forced to dumb down to make other people who are less intelligent happy, so you have to find a way to still be yourself, while not hiding how intelligent you are."

"Other children don't like to be shown up," Linc said and Dave nodded surprised that a seven year old would understand such a concept.

"Most of them grow out of it, although some don't," Dave said, "and tend to pick on the ones that don't fit in. All of us have to learn to deal with people like that, I did, Hermione did and you will as well. One thing you must remember is that you must always remain true to who you are inside and you must not let people who do not understand you change you from who you are. The four of you or any child really have to decide on who or what they want to grow up to be. Do you want to let peer pressure turn you into what they are or do you want to turn into someone who is kind, patient, compassionate, generous and turn into a better person than those who abused you? That is a decision you must make for yourselves and I or Hermione can give you advice, but we can't make the decision for you."

All four children listened and Spencer knew that they were being given wise advice and even though he was only seven he recognized it for what it was and that was the words of a man who had come to care about them in a very short amount of time and wanted them to turn into good adults who were compassionate, kind and caring, not only about their own needs, but others, but also didn't want them to be taken advantage of. He was a man that wanted all his children or pups as he called them to grow up to be healthy and happy, but knew that he and his siblings had a lot to work through before that could occur. All his new parents wanted was for the four of them to someday get married perhaps, have a few pups of their own, but Spencer wasn't sure that he at least could ever trust anybody in that way considering that he had been brutally raped several times a day for over a year, by disgusting old men and women who should have known better. His young pubescent body had been forcibly violated several hundred times in that year and so had his siblings. He didn't know their thoughts on the matter as they didn't like to talk about it, though he couldn't really blame them for that because neither did he. He suspected however, that they felt the same way he did and if they ever truly got past what happened to them it would be a miracle, although a psychologist was supposed to help with that.

He knew that he and his sibling needed to talk about what it happened to them, but he wasn't sure that he could force himself to and he was sure the other's felt the same.

Finally Dave showed them the library, which extended all the way up to the top floor and held thousands of books, although it was clear that more than half the space was empty.

"Wow!" Spencer exclaimed in awe as he looked at all the books.

"As you can see there is room for many more books," Dave said. "One of the reasons I bought the house was because of the huge library, even if it was empty at the time. Just by getting books from the family vault, and bringing my own I filled about 35 to 40 percent of the shelf space, but there's still plenty of room for generations of Rossis to add to it."

"Wow! Look at all these books," Cait whispered in awe, as she to liked to read just like her brother Spencer.

"There's still plenty of room for more though," Linc said studying the shelves.

"There is, but I've only owned this house for a little bit over 10 years, as I bought it when I was 30, after my own books begin to take off. The shelves will all be filled eventually," Dave said. "Now that you seen the house I think it's time for baths and bed."

"Ahh!" The children whined and Dave was glad to see them acting like normal pups who didn't want to go to bed or take their baths, because they had been acting too mature for their ages, so he was glad to see them acting like normal children for once.

"You know Hermione is going to insist that you take baths before you go to bed so you might as well get it over with," Dave said amused. "You don't want Hermione mad at you trust me."

"You mean she's been mad at you before?" asked Beth in astonishment.

"Yeah, she has," Dave admitted with a chuckle, "don't get me wrong we love each other, but no matter how much you love someone you can still get upset at them on occasion and Hermione and I have only been together for a little over a year so we're still learning to live together, and also each others foibles. We're bound to clash sometimes, as we're both extremely stubborn, but the key is that we make up afterwards and have a better understanding of each other. That's really what marriage is all about, it's a partnership, where you're supposed to love your spouse no matter what, even after you have argued. You are supposed to love them in the good times as well as the bad. I admit, it doesn't always work out that way as a lot of people don't have any staying power, but that's certainly not true of Hermione and I, since as lifemates we'll never get a divorce and we'll always love each other, however, that doesn't mean that our marriage doesn't take work if we want to remain as close as we are now, because it does. It takes patience, understanding and a willingness to talk about what is bothering you, which is something that both of us need to work on, since our natural inclination is to keep whatever problems we have to ourselves, but if you don't talk about it then those worries, concerns and problems will just fester and become bigger until they might not be fixable and even if they are they might take a lot more time then they should, because one us kept it all bottled up, perhaps, for a long time, instead of just talking about it."

"So you're saying that if we someday get married we need to talk about our worries and concerns with our spouse," Spencer clarified.

"Exactly," Dave said. "You mustn't let your problems in a marriage become so big that it won't be easily fixable and secrets in a marriage are never good. It is better to be open and honest about everything so that the one who loves you will never doubt that you love them in return."

Hermione who had been listening from the doorway had tears in her eyes, but she agreed with everything Dave had just said. Hopefully, these four children would remember this little lesson when they grew up and would treat whoever they finally married with respect and love just like Dave treated her.

Of course, it was very possible that they would never trust anyone enough to open up any part of their life to them and if that happened Hermione wouldn't be able blame them one bit considering all they had been through since they were five.

She would also like to see them happy and married to their life partners, but since that was still years away there was no point of even thinking about it the moment.

"Bathtime," Hermione said announcing her presence.

"Ahh! Do we have to," all four of the quads whined at the same time.

"Yes, you do," Hermione said in her sternest voice causing Dave to grin in amusement his brown eyes sparkling with laughter.

"I did warn you," Dave told the quads. "You might as well go quietly as there's no way you'll escape bathtime."

"Come on," Spencer told his siblings, "you know how much we craved baths while we all living in that old abandoned building. Now that we have this nice house to live in that has plenty of hot water I for one am going to look forward to being nice and clean for a change."

The other three fell silent at this and followed Hermione out of the room, dragging their feet as if they were heading towards their doom instead of just to take baths and then to bed.

Dave watched them go and amusement as he was pretty sure they were only complaining, because they knew it was expected of them not because they really disliked bathes, but he could be wrong so he wasn't about to say anything to Hermione, as he was sure she would figure it out for herself at some point and if she didn't than he had no intention of telling her unless she asked him directly, then he wouldn't lie.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"What you told Spencer, Beth Linc and Cait earlier was so beautiful," Hermione told Dave that she snuggled into his arms contentedly. Both of them were buck naked and Hermione for her part just enjoyed laying almost completely on Dave absorbing his wonderful body heat, which was several degrees higher than her own. If she'd had body heat as high as Dave's was she would be very, very ill, but in Dave's case it was only natural as shifters no matter the species just naturally had body heat that was several degrees higher than a magical's or a mundane's.

"It was no less true though," Dave told her quietly, as he kissed the top of her head from where it was laying just under his chin. "I meant every word I said about us arguing and making up. We agreed that we were bound to clash, because we're both stubborn and sometimes have different views on things, which is only natural, but what's important is that we make up afterwards and don't let that stubbornness and anger fester, as that only leads to problems that could have been avoided if a couple just talked to each other, even if that's not your natural inclination. Talking to each other is one way to keep a marriage strong, even though as lifemates we'll never get divorced. However, we can lose the closeness we share and I have no intention of that happening."

"It's mostly me that likes to keep whatever problems I'm having to myself," Hermione realized feeling ashamed, "which is why you wanted me to practice talking to you about everything, so that I would get into the habit for when a problem, worry or concern does pop up."

"Yes, that's why," Dave admitted not looking at all embarrassed at being figured out, since he had already knew that Hermione was very intelligent, "however, I also have a problem about talking about things sometimes depending on the subject, so it's not just you that has that problem. I'm usually a pretty private individual, but as I told those four pups keeping secrets is not good for any marriage and so I have to fight my natural inclination."

"You wanted me to get into the habit of talking to you about everything, because you know that problems will likely come up in the future and you don't want me to hold back in telling you about them," Hermione realized.

"Every couple has problems throughout their marriage, but my point was that most of them are minor, so long as you don't let them fester and become larger ones, because you refuse to acknowledge that you have a problem or at least refuse to talk about it. I'd been on my own for over 20 years before you and I met so I was used to dealing with my own problems, but now that I have you as my confidant I need to remember that we're equal partners and we need to solve problems together, instead of me handling some minor problem on my own. At the very least I need to tell you that there is a problem, just as you do me," Dave explained.

"If we get into the habit of talking about our day then it'll avoid minor problems and also more major ones down the road," Hermione realized knowing immediately where Dave was going with this, but then it was hard not too.

"Exactly," Dave agreed. "I'm not claiming my genitori never argued when I was a pup, because both are stubborn just like we are and they had some really knock down drag out fights, but eventually they forgave each other, made up and their marriage was stronger afterwards. They've been married over 60 years now, although they're only considered middle age for shifters and not even that for my madre who's magical. I have no idea how my madre is going to take losing my padre in another six or seven decades as they are so close, and she is going to live much longer than he is, unless she dies of grief, which is possible as it has happened in the past."

"Since both of us are magical, although one of us will likely die before the other it won't be so long before whoever dies last to join them," Hermione said feeling the spasm that was akin to pain at the thought of losing Dave, as he was likely to die first simply because he was 19 years older than she was. She immediately suppressed it for they were still both incredibly young by even shifter standards and they had centuries before them, unless something dramatic happened.

"Let's talk about something happier," Dave said, as his gorgeous brown eyes turned incredibly sad and Hermione had no trouble deducing that he was thinking basically the same thing she had been a moment ago, except about her.

"Yes, there is no point of talking about such a morbid subject when we're both still young by either shifter or magical standards," Hermione agreed, as she snuggled even deeper into Dave's chest and Dave's arms came up to surround his wife's body protectively and also keeping her from moving not that she wanted to go anywhere.

"Like the birth of our pups for instance which is only a few weeks away?" Dave asked with amusement clearly in his voice.

"Well, while that is certainly a happier subject I think we've exhausted that one," Hermione told him with a grin. "I know you can hardly wait for their births, which is just a few weeks away, but then again neither can I, even if it's for different reasons. You're going to be a great father, I know that already, but then again how could you not considering the great example you grew up with? Children learn from their parents after all and if you had a lousy childhood and that's likely to translate into being crappy at fatherhood, although not always. Sometimes though having a crappy childhood makes you a better father as you don't make all the mistakes that your parents did with you."

"I've met people like you're describing," Dave admitted, "ones who turn out to be better fathers, because they refuse to be like their parents or whoever raised them. In any case, what about this suggestion? When do you want to present the quads with their family rings, even if they're a bit young for such a responsibility."

"Well, they are more responsible than most children their age and we both know why," said Hermione and Dave nodded as he definitely did. "I know the reason that you don't present the Rossi family ring until a child is 11 is because your family feels that they aren't responsible enough to accept the responsibility that it brings until then, however, in Spencer's and his siblings case they are more than responsible enough, which isn't surprising considering all they've been through, so to answer your question I think you should present the four of them with rings as soon as it is feasible. For one thing once you explain the meaning behind it they will know that they are truly accepted into the family, even though we did that adoption ritual with them. I believe that in their minds if we give them those rings now it will cement their place in our family."

"So you believe that they will accept that they truly are our pups now once we give them the ring with the Rossi crest," Dave said.

"Yes, I do, once you explain how important it is and nobody that isn't part of your family has one," Hermione said. "I believe that Spencer at least will understand the significance of it and the others probably will to."

Dave thought about what his mate had said and then nodded slowly.

"Alright then, we'll present them with their rings sometime in a few weeks once they've had a chance to truly settle in," Dave agreed.

"It also might allow them to loosen up a little and talk to us about what happened to them," Hermione said, "as they have been rather reluctant to discuss what they've been through, not that I can really blame them for that, but it's not exactly very healthy for them."

"No, it isn't," Dave agreed, "which is why I'm going to start looking for a psychologist. It would be nice if I could find one that was a shifter and a magical as well, but the likelihood of that they are astronomical. I'll likely be able of find one that is a shifter, but as for being a magical too, that's rather unlikely. Magicals don't usually go into such careers even here in Italy, so we'll have to do with one that's just a shifter."

"Maybe we can find the next best thing, someone whose a squib or a close relative of a magical," Hermione suggested. "In other words, someone who knows about magic even if they can't use it themselves."

"That's more likely," Dave admitted as he thought about the possibility that Hermione had presented. "It's still not too likely, just more likely then the other possibility."

"We'll just have to tell the quads not to mention magic if we can't find a psychologist who also knows about magic," Hermione said.

"Luckily, magic isn't really central to their problem, so they could talk about all they went through without mentioning it and making whoever we find suspicious because their story has holes in it," Dave said.

"I'm surprised that they didn't turn into their wolf forms and escape much sooner," said Hermione, "as all they would've had to do was bite someone if they tried to stop them, not enough to fatally injure them or anything just enough to make them get out of the way."

"The people holding them captive probably threatened each one of them with the death if one of them if did transform," Dave suggested. "They probably threatened to kill one of them a day, or even an hour until they came back and then put the blame squarely on their shoulders and said something along the lines that all their siblings were dead because they just wouldn't obey what they were told and if they had it never would've happened. They would've had to find a way to coordinate their escape so that they all got away together because leaving one of them behind would not have been an option for any of them, as whether shifters or not fratelli and sorelle tend to be incredibly loyal to each other, particularly ones that shared their mother's womb."

"Yes, that's probably what happened and it's definitely something that these bastards would do," Hermione said her voice angry and menacing. "It's a form of power and control and that's all those types of people care about."

"Those four have a long hard road ahead of them, but we'll help them every step of the way and that's really what family's all about," Dave said.

"Definitely," Hermione agreed immediately kissing the love of her life before she added, "We had better get some sleep though as those four children will likely be up early, well either that or they'll have nightmares and we'll be up most of the night helping them deal with them."

"Yeah, we probably should. If they do start to have nightmares as we must remember that it's a good sign as it means that their subconscious is finally forcing them to deal with what happened to them, something that should never happen to anyone, much less young pups," Dave agreed, as he allowed his mate to roll off his chest only for to her to curl up at his side, in a much more comfortable position for sleeping.

"I definitely agree with that," Hermione said, "but unfortunately, we both know there's a lot of evil, selfish, uncaring people in the world and some aren't as blatant as Voldemort was and are much more subtle, which only makes them more dangerous. By the way, I did something a bit wicked."

"What's that?" Dave asked curiously.

"Well, when I put that spell on William Reid to make him permanently impotent and give him sensual and erotic dreams, I also made it so he could never kill himself."

"How did you do that? There is no spell for that that I am aware of?" Dave asked curiously.

"There isn't," Hermione confirmed then smirked and explained, "I told you in that alley that magic is all about intent and not necessarily knowing the correct words or wand movements, even if that's what most magicals in England believe. Basically, what I did was I focused my magic and told it exactly what I wanted it to do and that was to not let the man known as William Reid kill himself and that includes stepping out in front of the car, slashing his wrists, shooting or hanging himself or any other way he can think of to try to end his life, including requesting someone do it for him. Unless somebody, kills him without him trying to do it himself he'll live until the end of his days, but he won't be able to commit suicide or be able to deliberately step into a situation that he knows is dangerous and that he could possibly lose his life, it will have to be some kind of outside agency. It's almost like a compulsion, say he buys a gun at a gun shop, takes it home and tries his best to get up the courage to pull the trigger, however, he won't be able to do it, I guarantee it."

"Have I told you that I love you?" Dave asked with a mile wide grin. "If I loved you before I love you even more now and the wolf in me definitely approves of your punishment, as barring any outside agency or some natural disease he can't subconsciously or consciously try to kill himself."

"Oh, he can try, he just won't succeed," Hermione giggled, as she and Dave just lay there together while Dave peppered her face with kisses. "I'm glad you approve, but I tell you a few years ago I never would have done that to even someone like him, but in this case I think it's more than deserved."

"It definitely is," Dave agreed immediately, as he kissed his mate's lips passionately pouring all the love, desire and lust that he had for his wife into it.

"Whoah!" Hermione said, as the two of them finally came up for breath. "You can kiss me like that anytime you like or tell me what I need to do to get more kisses like that."

"You need to do nothing except continue to be who you are," Dave told her softly. "I know you're normally a gentle soul, but the war that you were involved in made you realize that some people just deserve what's coming to them and William Reid definitely falls into that category. I now admit that even though I wanted to tear him into 100 different pieces that would have been much too quick and this way if we're lucky he'll live until the end of his days unable to get his cock to come erect and when he finally dies he'll likely get what's coming to him from the quads mother and numerous other ancestors and I hope he's tortured for a very long time for his actions, as he caused serious harm to four gentle, young souls who had never done anything to him and yet he sold them to somebody for money and then left them to their fate. He knew exactly what that fate was going to be, yet he went ahead and did it, all because they were starting to outstrip him in their intelligence. I'm not claiming that we don't have some shifters that think just like he does, but luckily, they are few and far between."

"Look at it this way, we'll treat them like they should be treated and help them get over their problems. I know that they'll never forget, what actually happened to them even as young as they are because some memories are just so powerful that you can never forget them and considering that they were forcibly violated for over a year before they escaped, that is something they will remember for the rest of their lives and will likely color them trusting people and also being wary of others motives from now on."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing even if I hate what they had to go through to gain it," Dave said. "A little wariness is really a good thing, even if I hate the experiences that brought it about."

"Oh, yes, on that we can agree," Hermione said. "Buonanotte, ti amo. Ci vediamo domattina. Dormi bene. (Goodnight, I love you. See you in the morning. Sleep well.)

"Buonanotte, ti amo troppo. Ci vediamo domattina. Dormi bene," Dave replied kissing Hermione one final time before closing his eyes Hermione immediately doing the same.(Goodnight, I love you too. See you in the morning. Sleep well.)

It wasn't long before both were asleep, Dave's soft snoring the only sound in the quiet room.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

The few weeks before Hermione was due went incredibly fast and Dave rushed his mate to the hospital with an emergency Portkey after making sure that Spencer and his siblings would follow them through the Floo. The quads had known the plan weeks ago and Dave felt relatively comfortable leaving them on their own, because they were so intelligent and know exactly what to do in case of an emergency like Hermione going into labor. Dave was now sure that the four children wouldn't be going anywhere, except directly to the hospital to wait on Hermione giving birth because they had become much more comfortable in the last few weeks about their place and that they weren't going to be abused.

Spencer, Cait, Linc and Beth had started seeing a psychologist just a couple of weeks ago once they had settled in and they had started talking about their problems, but it was going to take time and neither Dave or Hermione cared about the gold it was costing them and wouldn't have even if they didn't have more than they could ever spend as the quads were more than worth it.

Of course, it was going to be a slow process, because none of the four children wanted to open up and talk about it which was more than understandable, so it was a very slow, but ongoing process

Dave, of course, was right by his mate's side through the entire process, something they never would have allowed at St. Mungo's in England, although he had made sure to contact his parents first who would then contact the Potters and it wasn't long before the waiting room was completely filled with numerous Rossis and four Potters as their baby girl had been born just a month ago.

"It shouldn't be long," Salvatore told Harry and Luna trying to sooth the anxiety that Harry in particular felt.

"Hermione will be fine," Luna told Harry her tone certain and Harry looked at her and then nodded slowly. Harry had come to trust his wife's visions and if Luna said Hermione would be okay then she would be okay.

Salvatore looked between the two of them and wondered why Harry would relax when Luna had said that Hermione would be okay, because how could she possibly know?

"I can see the future," Luna quietly explained to Salvatore. "It's not a talent I advertise, but when I say that Hermione is going to be okay then she will be and that's why Harry relaxed, as he knows I would never mislead him on something as important as the health of the woman he considers his sister."

"Why are you telling me?" Salvatore asked. "You hardly know me."

"No, but I've come to know your son quite well, as he and Hermione come to dinner at least once a week and so do the four children that they adopted into their family. You're a good man Salvatore Rossi and so is your wife and I think that it's important that you know about my talent, as it could well be important in the future," Luna explained in a very certain tone of voice. "However, I would request that you don't spread around, except to your mate Silvia."

"Thank you for your trust," Salvatore told the blonde woman with the weird silver eyes that were slightly protruding. "I give you my word that I won't say anything, except to Silvia."

"I never would have told you if I didn't know that already," Luna told him with a mysterious smile.

"Can you tell whether are going to be girls or boys on both?" Salvatore asked curiously.

"Oh, yes, I've known for months now, but Hermione and David didn't want to know, because to them it didn't really matter, as they were planning on having more a few years down the road and so they would have other opportunities to get the opposite sex if they got all the same sex this time."

Salvatore was extremely happy to hear that and he knew that Silvia would be as well, because both of them had thought that perhaps, Hermione wouldn't want anymore after these three were born as that happened sometimes when the female wasn't a shifter or sometimes even the male decided that they didn't need anymore, even if he wasn't the one that had to bear them. Of course, a lot of times money was an issue as well, but that wasn't the case with his son and his mate. Besides, sometimes there were medical reasons that a female couldn't have anymore children and in that case it was more than understandable as pregnancy did tend to be harder on some females then on others.

His mate had never had any trouble giving birth, but then again she was a shifter and that was their way, but Hermione definitely was not and so it was different in a lot of ways.

"So are you going to tell me the sex?" Salvatore asked Luna.

"No, I'm not because they'll be here pretty soon, as it's going to be a relatively fast birth considering that it's three instead of one and it is also Hermione's first pregnancy, which does make a difference a lot of times. I can tell you that both David and Hermione will be extremely happy with what they do get and don't particularly care about the sex so long as they are healthy."

Salvatore nodded, because wasn't that what any parent wanted shifter or not for their pups? While shifter babies were normally born healthy sometimes problems did develop just not as often as with the other two species on the planet as after all they weren't perfect as look at what happened to the four children that his son and his mate had taken in.

He didn't know the whole story there, but then it likely wasn't something to spread around, but Salvatore suspected that the father or the mother had done something that had made one of them dump his children on the street. He and Silvia only knew the barest details, but that was all, but he also knew that his son and Hermione wouldn't have adopted them if it hadn't been necessary to do so and he already loved them like they were his own.

In fact they were going to be given the Rossi family crest rings right after Hermione had recovered from giving birth, as his son and his wife had wanted to allow the four children to settle in.

Salvatore thought that they were still to young for the responsibility, since the usual age was 11, but David had assured him that they had been through so much that they were much more responsible than most children their age and so Salvatore had agreed as his son wasn't one to jump the gun and neither was Hermione for that matter, as both were far to sensible.

If either had believed that the quads weren't ready for the responsibility that being presented with their family ring brought then that would have been the end of it and since both believed they were more than ready Salvatore went along with it.

Salvatore somehow knew that Luna wasn't going to change her mind and therefore, didn't bother argue with her, because as the blonde said the babies were going to be here relatively fast and so they would be here soon enough.

"Anxious to meet your fratelli and sorelle?" Salvatore heard Silvia ask the four quads.

"Yes, ma'am," Cait answered before Spencer could as he was usually the spokesperson for the four of them.

"I insist you call me nonna," Silvia told all four of them, "and my husband nonno, as it means grandmother and grandfather in Italian because that's what we are just as you are our grandchildren or our nipoti."

All four children tried out the unfamiliar words as they had yet to be given polyglot potion, because Hermione and Dave had been extremely busy preparing for the birth of their triplets, but they had been promised that they would receive it soon, but since everybody in the household spoke English it wasn't really necessary at the moment.

All four children had understood this as Dave and Hermione or mamma and papà as they insisted they be called or at least aunt and uncle if they weren't comfortable calling them by those titles, had been waiting patiently, because everybody in the household did speak English including all of Dave's siblings, since they had been taught English along with their native tongue from the time they were old enough to talk.

Spencer had been the first to call Dave and Hermione mamma and papà as he didn't care about his father's feelings at all considering what he had done and he knew that his mother wouldn't mind as she would have just been happy that they had somebody to love them and help them with all the trauma they had endured.

Both Dave and Hermione had been very pleased with this development for it indicated that the quads were beginning to trust them and they both promised themselves that they would never betray that trust.

Suddenly everybody turned to the sound of footsteps and waiting anxiously for whoever it was to make an appearance and finally Dave appeared in the doorway and looked tired but happy.

"Everybody, Hermione and I are happy to announce that we now have two sons and a daughter."

"Are they healthy, Dave?" Silvia asked her son before anyone else even had time to absorb the news.

"According to the guaritore they are and as cute as can be," Dave said with a happy grin, so wide that it nearly split his face in two. "Before you ask, Hermione is fine to just very tired and she won't be up to visitors at least until tomorrow."

"That's as it should be, as Hermione has every right to feel exhausted considering she just went through quite a few hours of labor and with triplets no less," Luna said from somewhere in the crowd. "I suggest that we all go up to the nursery to see the new members of our family."

"So have you picked names?" Salvatore asked his son before he followed his family towards the nursery.

"Oh, yes, we picked names months ago," Dave said, "and extra ones since we didn't know the sexes."

"So are you going to tell your old man?" Salvatore asked.

"Let's go up to the nursery see my pups, and then I'll tell everybody the names we picked out all at once," Dave said.

Salvatore looked disappointed that he wasn't going to be the first to know the name of his new grandchildren, but accepted it with no argument.

Father and son and walked out of the waiting room together heading for the nursery where they knew the rest of their family would be waiting.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"You wanted to see us, mamma, papà?" Spencer asked as he and his three siblings entered Dave study.

All four children looked anxious, and Dave was quick to sooth their fears.

"Don't look so nervous and anxious, you're not in any trouble and you're definitely not going anywhere. Hermione and I just had a gift for each of you."

"But you already have given us so much," Spencer said relaxing slightly. "You've given us a home bought us a ton of toys and clothes."

"That's nothing more than any parent would do for their child," Hermione told the four. "It is a parent's responsibility to provide for their children not only love, attention and care, but also clothes and other necessaries, such as an education and at least a few toys since a lot of those can also be considered educational as well."

"You've had a very untraditional upbringing," Dave continued, which was the understatement of the century. "You said that your mother died while she was pregnant again and something went wrong. While this is rather unusual it does happen. If your mother had lived I'm sure that she would have made sure that you knew that you were loved even if your father didn't, but sometimes bad things happen to good people."

"You've been through things that nobody should have to go through much less children," Hermione continued, "which is why Dave and I know that you've been so untrusting of us, which we understand believe me."

"In any case, what we are about to present to you is something that all pups in the Rossi family receive once they reach a certain age and it is something that all of us treasure for the rest of our lives," Dave finished before bringing forth a ring box and handing it to Spencer who was the oldest.

"Go ahead, open it," Hermione urged the little boy.

Spencer did so and then gasped as he looked at the beautiful gold ring with some kind of crest. It was the same ring that he had seen on his papà's and mamma's hands, even if Hermione's was smaller because she was a female.

"This is the Rossi family crest and nobody who is not a member of our family can wear one," Dave told the four. "It has magical protections on it so it can never be stolen and if it is it comes back to its owner within an hour or two."

Dave and Hermione had agreed not to mention the other protection it had on it, because they considered the quads to young to know about it, although they would be told at 11 just like all the Rossi pups were.

"Don't ever doubt that we love you as if you were our first offspring by Dave and I," Hermione told the four, "and that the four of you are Rossis permanently now not only by the blood ritual that was used to adopt you, but by love, which is a powerful force even in the nonmagical world."

"The ritual we used would not have worked if we didn't actually love you like you were ours as it requires the element of love in order for the ritual to work properly," Dave added, as he passed out the other three boxes. "Make sure you never take these of for any reason, because even though they cannot be stolen that does not mean that you cannot lose them if you take them off and while we would be upset with you if that happen that does not mean that we will not love you anymore. These rings are very important to the Rossi family as it goes all the way back to when they were pureblood and had not yet merged with shifters. Our family is one of the oldest family lines in existence as we can trace our lineage back over 1200 years, but just because we can we must never be arrogant and full of ourselves for that would dishonor the man who I am named for that died so that our family changed."

Hermione and Dave then took turns explaining the whole story to the four 7 olds.

"So you're saying that the man you are named for died, so he could be with the woman he loved?" Cait asked thinking it was very romantic, but also very sad at the same time, even if it had happened centuries ago.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying," Dave agreed calmly. "It was after my namesake death that the family stopped being so arrogant and full of themselves, as they realized that they had basically caused that Davide's death by not accepting his choice of bride. They became the kind of people that you have met over the last several weeks, people who are kind, honest generous, compassionate, but strong and not to be taken advantage of and who will always do the right thing, but always protect those they love."

"How do you know?" Beth asked before Spencer could.

"Because the story is a written down in the family journals," Dave explained, "and it boldly spells out what occurred instead if it being slanted to make my ancestor who wrote it look good, which happens a lot of times. Both Davide's parents were heartbroken at their son's death, as he was an only child if it wasn't for the fact that Davide's father had several brothers our family name would have died out right there. The journals have been preserved for hundreds of years and they stay in the family vault until the next generation comes along. It is required reading in our family so that they understand the mistakes of the past and hopefully, gain wisdom, so they don't repeat them."

"So when can we read them?" Spencer asked immediately looking eager because he prized knowledge above all else and he didn't care what that knowledge was as he was he would find a use for it.

"Not for awhile as all the other pups have read them when they turned 11, before they head off to magical school," Dave said evasively.

Dave didn't mention that he didn't want them reading them until then as some of what it described was quite gruesome, not in a scary kind of way, but more along the lines of how it boldly spelled out all the cruelties that the writer had done in the name of the pureblood movement as back then things had been different in the magical community and Italians had been a lot like the British until they had grown out of that after many minor and major skirmishes. They had eventually learned that it was wrong to treat anyone who wasn't a pureblood like chattel or even worse and so their society had advanced and such ideas had been nearly forgotten, but it certainly gave the Rossis a better understanding of at least some of of the evil in the world and what some people would do in the name of a cause they believed in even if that cause was wrong.

Spencer looked disappointed, but accepted Dave's explanation without argument.

They were probably things in the journal that he was considered to young to know about and even if he disagreed he knew that mamma and papà didn't want to risk more nightmares, as the four of them had had quite a few over the last several weeks over what had happened and were still having them, even if less frequently. They were having enough problems dealing with their nightmares as well as having three new babies in the house and even with the two house-elves to help out that they didn't need anymore problems.

Dave was surprised despite himself how mature Spencer was acting and that he didn't argue and just accepted his evasion, even if what he had said was also true.

Perhaps, he realized that they had enough to deal with with his and his siblings nightmares as well as having three new babies in the house and so knew now was not the time to insist that he be allowed to read those journals.

Spencer was much more mature at just seven years old, then most of the children he had known over the years, but then again the quads had been sold into slavery and had their young bodies violated repeatedly for over a year, so it wasn't surprising. When that sort of thing happened it tended to give you a different perspective as you realized that there was true evil in the world and that not everybody would protect you because you were a child.

However, it was why he had insisted to his father that the quads they had adopted were more than mature enough to accept the responsibility for their family rings and a whole three and a half years early to.

So far he'd been proven right as all four slipped them on the correct finger, to where they shrunk to fit

"We understand why you gave these to rings to us," Linc said speaking for the first time. "It was to let us know that we'll always be your pups and that it doesn't matter that we are adopted as you love us just the same."

"That's exactly why," Hermione told the four of them, "I'm glad you're mature enough to realize that."

"Always remember that you are Rossis and so will your children and your children's children be, from now and for as long as our family name exists. We Rossis always do the right thing and protect those we love. We never take the easy way out of a difficult situation unless it's also the right way. We're always honest, brave and true and never steal from others or act all arrogant and put others down just because they're a little odd or don't fit in. We always help those that're less fortunate than ourselves. We always protect those weaker then ourselves and always take the life lessons we learn to heart, instead of just giving lip service to them. I know that you four will do Hermione and I and the rest of your family proud in how you live your lives once you are grown and out on your own," Dave said and was gratified when the four children nodded solemnly seeming to stand just a little straighter, as if determined fulfill ethics and morals he had set just told them that Rossis lived their lives by. "If you remember all these things that I have told you then I know you will lead lives of honor and integrity and I could ask no more from my pups."

Hermione was trying her best not to laugh as Dave's little speech seemed to have electrified the quads as they stood a little straighter, and determined glints came into all four pairs of eyes and she had a feeling that they were going to take her husband's words to heart, which really wasn't a bad thing at all because she really appreciated the values and ethics that the Rossis lived their lives by and in fact they reminded her a great deal of Harry's actually. Actually they reminded her of the Potter family for she had done a great deal of research into Harry's family tree so that she could tell him as much as she could about his family since he had known almost nothing. No Potter had ever supported the dark and always fought for just causes and what was right, whether that was in an actual battle or on the Wizengamot.

They never took the easy road and always did what was right unless they were manipulated to their deaths by an interfering old man, several generations of Potters had trusted and they had all died. Hermione had no proof that Dumbledore had caused Harry's grandparents deaths, although she did know that he had caused his parents, but she wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. She had no intention of mentioning it to Harry, since she didn't need him furious at Dumbledore all over again, particularly since he was so happy at the birth of his daughter and the old manipulator was dead anyway. Besides, what was the point of hating a dead man? Hermione had seen how Snape had continued to deeply hate James Potter even a decade after he had met his death and had transferred that hatred onto Harry and she didn't want the same type of situation for her brother.

"You may go," Dave told the four of them gently. "Why don't you go check on your new siblings and then it's nearly time for lunch."

The quads nodded solemnly, as they loved their two new brothers and one sister so much already, even though they were less than a month old and they would do anything to protect them from the evil in the world, as nobody needed to face what they had, particularly not someone they loved.

The quads filed out and Dave and Hermione watched them go.

"Well, that went rather well," Hermione commented as soon as she was sure they were out of earshot.

"I already knew it would," Dave said, "but even I was surprised at how maturely the four of them handled it. We already know that they're much more mature than most other seven year old and we know the reason why that is. I suspect that they never really had a chance to be children at least not for the last couple of years anyway."

"You suspect that they never really had a chance to be children at all," Hermione said, as she looked over at her husband.

"After what we learned from their former father? No, I really don't think that they did, because they would've had to be careful around him as he's the type to take offense at every little thing, whether that's too much noise or he believed that they were doing something they shouldn't, even if they weren't. They're more than intelligent enough to know that if they weren't careful they'd likely at least get a paddling if not worse and I suspect they got worse once their mother died for whatever reason. I don't have any proof of course, but I've seen enough of that kind of thing in my time that I can definitely make some educated guesses."

"We really should've questioned William Reid more thoroughly," Hermione said with a grimace, "although what we heard was bad enough."

"Yes, we should have and yes, I agree with your statement that what we heard was bad enough," Dave said, as he put his around his wife's waist.

Hermione had already lost several pounds just in the few weeks since the triplets births and at the rate she was going, she would soon lose the 40 pound she had gained, but at least she wasn't overdoing it and skipping meals in order to lose the weight faster like Dave had feared she would and although he kept a close eye on the situation so far things were going at a normal pace.

Maybe Hermione had actually taken his lecture too heart about overdoing things and in this case if she had gone too far she could have made herself sick.

"I suppose that we should head towards the kitchen, so I can fix us some lunch as the quads are going to be ravenous," Dave said.

"I love you, David Rossi and I don't tell you that nearly often enough," Hermione said suddenly out of the blue as she leaned in to kiss him, which he responded to immediately and passionately.

"That's enough of that, or we're going to head upstairs and forget about feeding our ravenous pack of wolves," Dave teased her causing Hermione to laugh.

"You would never do that," Hermione told him with twinkling brown eyes. "Consider it as a sign of things to come after all the children are asleep for the night."

"Did the healer give you a clean bill of health then?" asked Dave with such hope in his expression that Hermione laughed again.

"She did, so we can get back to our normal sexual activities and trust me, this is much sooner then if I couldn't be healed with magic. I've already brewed up a contraception potion so that I can't possibly get pregnant before we're ready and I've already taken the first dose."

"This is great news indeed," Dave almost whooped happily, as while he'd enjoyed having his mate cuddled into his side or sprawled across his chest they'd had to just do some heavy petting with no penetration for the last few weeks until she had healed significantly from the birth of the triplets, which she'd had naturally instead of having to have a c-section done, which was pretty amazing.

"I knew you'd be happy about that," Hermione chuckled, as she knew very well that a man needed a certain amount of sexual activity on a regular basis. Unlike most men Dave had been very patient with waiting for her to be cleared in order to have full sex again and hadn't grumbled about it even once like a lot of man would have, particularly ones that were used to being sexually active and having, several makeout sessions a day, usually at night. Hermione wasn't sure if it was because Dave was a shifter and she was his mate that he had a particularly active libido, if it was just him in particular or because he was Italian as a lot of Italian men tended to have a very active sexual drive more so then say the British. It didn't really matter though for Hermione always enjoyed everything Dave did to her when it came to their bedroom activities, as she had never felt so sated and satisfied with other men right after sex and Dave always satisfied her—every single time. The things he did to her… Hermione closed her eyes as she remembered some of the things that Dave had done to her to give her pleasure and felt that they must be illegal in some countries. He didn't always penetrate her right away either, although he did eventually satisfy his own desire, but he certainly had more self-control then any other man she'd had sex with. He always made sure she got her pleasure first, before taking his own, which Hermione thought was very thoughtful of him, as she knew that a large percentage of men couldn't be bothered to care about their partners needs, but Dave definitely wasn't one of them.

"Of course, I am, as I've had trouble holding myself back from what I really want to do for the last few weeks, but your health was more important than my own needs and I would never do anything that setback your recovery," Dave explained leering at her only half playfully. "Now that the healer has given you a clean bill of health, however..."

Hermione knew with that statement that she was in for at least several hours of intense lovemaking and it was likely to be an all-night session, because even though they had been making out heavily for the last several weeks there had been no penetration as that had been the healer's orders.

Now though… Things were different.

"That can wait for tonight," Hermione told Dave smiling as she kissed him again. "Right now we have four ravenous children to feed and three more that will need to be fed soon, even if the house-elves can take care of them."

Hermione was already looking forward to after the children were in bed and she knew that Dave was as well. She had never imagined that she'd want to have so much sex, but she found she really enjoyed it likely because she loved Dave with all her heart and knew that he loved her in return.

Besides, Hermione knew that Dave went out of his way to satisfy her own desires before taking his own pleasure, which had a lot to do with it as well. He didn't treat her just like a sexual object, but an equal partner in all things, which thrilled her no end because Hermione couldn't imagine the same thing happening if she had ended up married to Ronald Weasley because of a love potion. If that had actually happened she suspected that she would have taken her own life by now just to save herself from the torture of being his slave.

She did not convey these thoughts to Dave, since he was still furious at what she had told him after they had bonded and while she couldn't blame him she didn't need to bring up a sore subject.

Really it was just best forgotten about.

"Do I have to?" Dave playfully groaned winking at her.

"Yes, you do, and if you're good boy perhaps, I'll even agree to make love all night," Hermione told him in her sternest voice, but with twinkling brown eyes.

Dave's eyes widened at that for that was more than he had expected. "I'll be good," Dave said hastily. "If that is my reward for being unable to penetrate you for several weeks I'll happily go along with it."

"It's more your reward for being so sexually frustrated the last several weeks and being so even-tempered about it," Hermione informed him, but with a smile. "Yes, you have satisfied both of us without penetration, but since I'm well aware how men think and how I know they like to penetrate their wives bodies on a regular basis, this is your reward for being so patient until I had completely healed."

"While I appreciate it there is no need, as I would never hurt you by penetrating you before you were completely healthy," Dave said, leaning over to kiss his mate tenderly. "I realize that a lot of men would, but for a shifter and their mate it's a different kettle of fish."

"I know, you've certainly told me that often enough," Hermione informed him with a smug smirk. "However, what makes you think it's just your reward? I missed your cock penetrating my pussy to you know. We can't afford to make love all night long too often, but this is a special occasion. I brewed up some Pepperup potion fresh and it should keep us going throughout the day, even if we need several doses of it."

"You've been planning this," Dave playfully accused her.

"For the last several days yeah," Hermione admitted as she kissed his cheek. "I knew at my next healer's appointment that I would likely be given a clean bill of health as recovery time after giving birth is much faster for a magical than it is for a mundane and so I knew it would only be a matter of a few weeks before I would be completely healed. If I had been wrong about that both the Pepperup and the contraception potion store well and don't have to be used immediately, so I just would have put my plans on hold."

"Well, I'll be more than happy to oblige you tonight after all the children go to bed," Dave said with a grin so wide that it could be termed shit-eating. "I'm glad to know that you missed us having full sex just as much as I have."

"I figured you would be," Hermione said laughing at him, but Dave was in to good a mood to even notice as he rose from where he was sitting automatically pulling Hermione to her feet and headed out of his study in order to start fixing lunch for the six of them, his mate following.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Three years later

For the last three years life had been good, Spencer and his siblings were now nearly 11 years old, as hard as that was to believe and the triplets were now three, which was even harder to believe as the time had just flown.

In those three years Harry and Luna had had their third child a son and they were planning to have several more, although at least not for another year.

Spencer, Cait, Beth and Linc had started to turn into outstanding little witches and wizards as all four excelled in most forms of magic. Unlike in Britain it was not illegal to teach your magical child or children in the home so long as it was under an adult's watchful eye.

They were all excellent at potions, but then Hermione didn't hover over them menacingly like Snape had used to do to her and her classmates. They were good at charms, transfiguration and defense against the dark arts and Hermione had even started them on arithmancy and ancient runes.

Harry was the one that taught then defense against the dark arts since he was so good at it, while Luna taught them charms, Hermione transfiguration, arithmancy and ancient runes.

Even Sirius and Remus got in on the fun and helped out with the lessons. As for Dave he taught them the history of Italy and not just magical history, but mundane history as well, while Remus taught them British history and helped out with the defense lessons.

All in all the quads were excelling in their classes, although all the adults made sure that they had plenty of time to relax and have fun. All the adults were amazed at how they absorbed these lessons and remembered everything and so it had been discovered that all four of them had eidetic memories, which while unusual among mundanes and magicals wasn't so unusual for shifters or for all those that had been born at the same time to inherit it, even though they were not identical. All the adults had realized that by the time they were nine years old that not only were all four absolutely brilliant, but to have eidetic memories allowed them to absorb facts and remember them forever.

They might not be able to think of something right away they had learned it a long time ago, but they would never actually forget it and it would come to them if they thought about it long enough.

Spencer in particular seemed to have a large learning capacity and seemed to absorb information like a sponge. He had already read several hundred books out of the library and it wouldn't be long before he had read them all certainly by the time he was 17.

Dave and Hermione however, had made sure that none of the quads became isolated and so they had introduced him to other children both magical and mundane as neither believed in sticking to one or the other. Because Dave and Hermione could pass in both worlds very easily they wanted the same for all their children, which would give them limitless options when they were older.

Actually most Italian magicals could pass in the mundane world without giving away the fact that they could do magic, which Hermione thought was very healthy and wished that the British wizarding world would get with the program and come into the 21st century, although she knew that was wishful thinking on her part, not so long as the pureblood movement was in control.

It didn't really matter anymore for she considered herself more Italian than English as Italy was her home now and she would be content to remain within the country for the rest of her life, except for short visits to England to visit her family and friends.

She and Dave did intend to travel once all the children were grown, but since that was decades away there was no point of even thinking about it right now.

Hermione was well aware of the date and that the triplets were three years old. She well remembered her promise to her mate and that was they could try for some more children once their first set of multiples reached that milestone and since that date had just passed she was surprised that Dave hadn't mentioned it as she was sure that he could not have forgotten.

Perhaps, he was waiting for her to remember before he said anything and if that was the case she well knew that he could be extremely devious when he wanted to be. It was likely that he was trying to see if she would mention it first and therefore, let him know that she remembered her promise of three years ago.

She hadn't forgotten in fact as she had known that the date was approaching and she was more than ready to have a few more because the triplets were getting so big and thanks to the house-elves they had working for them they weren't even very much of a handful.

She still hated the thought of house-elf enslavement, but as Dave had explained to her over three years ago now that house-elves got their magic from their families or extremely magical places like Hogwarts and without the bond then they would die a slow, painful and lingering death. What needed to be change was how magicals treated them not the bond itself.

Hermione agreed with that once she had learned and about how house-elves would die without the bond and at least theirs were very well treated. She had been a fool not to listen to Luna's explanation years ago, but she had still gotten so angry over the house-elves supposed enslavement and brainwashing that she had brushed her friend off rather rudely and had refused to listen until Luna had given up. A few days later they had agreed to disagree and that had been the end of it.

Now though she knew better and felt deeply ashamed of her actions from all those years ago now. However, now was not the time for such thoughts as she and Dave had better things to do like get her pregnant for example.

"Dave," Hermione said and Dave looked up from where he was working on his next book.

"Sì amore?" Dave asked not seeming to mind the interruption. (Yes, my love?)

"Feeling like speaking your native tongue today, do you?" Hermione teased him with a smile.

"Ma, naturalmente, mia cara come italiani è una delle lingue più romantiche del mondo, dopo tutto. Perché dovrei parlare inglese, quando preferisco parlare la mia lingua madre particolarmente con la donna che amo più ogni giorno siamo insieme? Se ho fatto che qualcosa potrebbe perdersi nella traduzione," Dave told her in Italian barely able to contain his mirth. (But of course, my dear, as Italian is one of the most romantic languages in the world, after all. Why should I speak English when I prefer to speak my native language especially with the woman I love more every day we are together? If I did that something may be lost in translation.)

"That is so corny, Dave," Hermione told him giggling.

"It got you laughing, which was my intent in the first place," Dave informed her with a smile in English. "So seriously what can I do for you, my mate, the love of my life?"

Hermione couldn't help laughing again before she got serious. "I just wanted to tell you that I remembered my promise from three years ago and that it's time."

"What promise is that?" Dave asked, even though it was clear he knew very well what Hermione was talking about if the massive grin on his face was any indication, but he just wanted her to say it.

Hermione sighed in mock exasperation and rolled her eyes. "You're going to make me actually say it, aren't you? Even though you know very well what I'm referring to."

Dave just sat back with his hands in his lap and waited and Hermione sighed again then said, "Fine," Hermione huffed in fake indignation causing Dave to grin, "have it your way then. I promised you three years ago that once that amount of time had passed that we agreed to have some more children and that time is now."

Dave's grin widened and suddenly he stood up and swept Hermione up into his arms quite easily. "I was hoping you would say that and in fact I've been quietly hoping for two or three weeks now."

"I finally figured out that you expected me to come to you instead of you just mentioning it," Hermione said with a smile. "You wanted me to remember my promise on my own without you having to remind me as I know very well you can be devious like that."

"Would I do that?" Dave asked with a massive grin, as he continued up the stairs carrying Hermione easily, even though she was certainly no light weight.

"You would," Hermione told him immediately, but with a smile of her own.

"If you hadn't mentioned it sometime in the next few weeks I would have," Dave said more seriously, "but I wanted to see if you would bring it up first."

"Like I said, devious," Hermione repeated peppering his face with kisses causing him to groan with awakening desire. Then again, really, he wanted his mate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, in other words, every second of every day he wanted her. "The only reason I haven't mentioned it before now was that potion I've been taking to prevent pregnancy just wore off yesterday and I wanted to make sure it was completely out of my system before I said anything."

"Well, I'll be more than happy to get you pregnant again as I've been wanting more pups for the last year, but I wasn't going to pressure you as we did agree to three years before you had anymore."

"You're always so considerate of my feelings and I really appreciate it," Hermione told Dave, kissing him again, which he responded enthusiastically too.

"I know, you show me every day how much you love and appreciate me and that's all I need to be happy and the rest is just extra," Dave said sincerely. "This was a good time to get this little project underway since Spencer and his siblings are staying at a friends for the next few days since it is summer."

"Yes, even they need a break from all the lessons that various members of the family have been giving them," Hermione agreed. "I'm not saying that they don't enjoy the lessons just that they need time to truly have fun and be kids. Besides, I planned it that way on purpose."

"I should have known," Dave laughed, as he easily continued to carry his mate up the stairs to their bedroom. "Of course, you would want the pups out of the house for the night, so there would be no interruptions, because even as much as we love them we really don't get very much time to ourselves and yet we don't want to insult them and make them think that they are unloved and unwanted."

"Exactly," Hermione agreed unsurprised that Dave had figured it out so quickly.

"Besides, the quads can't learn all the time as they do need time to decompress and just have fun even if learning is fun for them," Dave said.

"Are we going to send them to the same school you attended next year when they try 11?" Hermione asked.

"That will depend on what they want," Dave said seriously. "It's not really required here so long as they take their qualifying tests by the time they are 21, but only if they want jobs within the magical community because otherwise it is not required. You know that in this country a lot of magical children are homeschooled as there is only one major school in this part of the world and that's Hogwarts in Scotland. You do have English citizenship and so do your children, but since you're married to an Italian that means that any pups we have will also have Italian citizenship and therefore, they don't necessarily have to attend Hogwarts or any other magical school when they are 11."

"Yes, yes, you're right," Hermione agreed. "Luckily, Harry and Luna also have Italian citizenship as the Italian government was more than willing to give them what they wanted after they defeated Voldemort and therefore, their children will also have it through their parents. Of course, Harry and Luna might want to send their children to Hogwarts, but they should be able to choose without being forced into it. Just because a Potter has always attended Hogwarts every generation does not mean that they can't attend say Salem in the States or the small school here."

"After the way he was treated for the five years he was there I wouldn't be surprised if he decides to send James when he's old enough elsewhere or even teach him at home like we can do for ours if that's what they want," Dave said.

"They'll likely beg him after that, because it would be like the beginning of the end," Hermione giggled. "Everybody likely knows that Harry left Hogwarts at the end of his fifth year, but at least he attended for those five years, but if the next-generation of Potters don't attend Hogwarts, when they've been doing that ever since the school was founded, the purebloods will scream bloody murder and claim that Harry is turning his back on his heritage."

"What a load of crap," Dave snorted, as he climbed the last step to where his and Hermione's bedroom was located. "They should check their own attitudes, before they claim that as it was their narrowmindedness and the fact that nothing really changed, even after he defeated Voldemort, so is it any wonder he turned his back on England. The purebloods went right back to doing what they do and making laws that exclude half blood and mundane borns, making them more and more exclusive towards purebloods only. If they don't change soon then they're soon going to fade out of existence and I have no sympathy for them if that happens. Now we have better things to do," Dave added with a massive grin. "I believe you mentioned something downstairs about getting you pregnant with our second batch of children."

"So I did," Hermione agreed, as she kissed Dave passionately, so passionately in fact, that the wolf within Dave took over and ripped her clothing to shreds and then had her on the bed underneath him in a split second.

"Sorry about the outfit, I'll buy you another," Dave promised his voice a growl and his eyes the gold of the wolf.

"Don't worry about the outfit," Hermione said already withering beneath him enticing him with her body. "Just get on with it, I want you so bad right now."

"It will be an absolute pleasure," Dave promised her, as he began to make slow and gentle love to his gorgeous mate, who he would love until the day that he passed on. Hermione completed him, in every possible way and the two of them shared almost everything, although they were still learning about each other even after three years and Dave knew they would be learning for many more years to come.

And he for one was more than looking forward to the journey and the pups they would have along the way even if that was just every three years.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Part Four

Spencer had made the decision to move back to America as soon as he had passed his qualifying test at just 16. He wasn't a legal adult until he was 17 and so he continued to live in the house of his parents until he was 18.

Spencer had told his parents that he wanted to attend Columbia in America which was a nonmagical college in New York and his parents had agreed to send him with no trouble thinking that it was a wise decision on his part, because he truly was brilliant and there were subjects that he wanted to study that were not really available in the magical world, engineering for one, advanced calculus and other maths and not just the arithmancy that was known in the magical world, also ancient languages and several other things.

Dave and Hermione were sad to see Spencer go, but knew that he would be back to visit them every chance he got and they would certainly be visiting him to. Cait, Beth and Linc were also out on their own, but they had decided to go into magical careers and so they were still in Italy and would be able to visit their parents and siblings, much more frequently than Spencer could.

Spencer was fascinated by history, because Dave and Remus had always made it come alive and he knew much more about Italian and English history then he did his own country's and that was why he was here and that was too learn.

"You make sure you call us at least once a week," Hermione admonished her son, as she hugged him fiercely, kissing his cheek. "All of us will miss you and you make sure you come home and see your siblings and tour old parents at least once in awhile okay?"

"I will," Spencer promised his mother as he hugging kissed her back. "Don't think I'll be surprised if you don't had a few more, while I'm gone," he added cheekily, "as it is about that time."

Hermione blushed and Dave laughed, as he was so proud of his son, of all his children, but Spencer and his siblings had come so far in just over ten years. Gone was the abused ragamuffin that they had taken in when they were seven years old and before him stood a tall, confident man as Spencer was now 18. Spencer was nearly as tall as he himself was at 6'2' and Dave wasn't sure if that was because his father was that tall or if it had something to do with the ritual that they had undergone, not that it mattered.

"Was that a request? As we have 15 children already if you count yourself and your three siblings that is, even if the four of you are all grown up," Dave asked his son.

Hermione had been pregnant three more times after her first set of triplets was born and had had twins the second time and triplets the third and fourth time for a total of 15 altogether and Hermione was still plenty young enough to get pregnant several more times before she reached forty, which was when they had agreed that they'd stop having children, but that was nearly 7 years away and Hermione could go through at least two more pregnancies, between now and then, but it had also been agreed that if Hermione said she didn't want anymore before then she would be allowed to have herself permanently fixed so that she couldn't in case she forgot to take her contraception potion and Dave had readily agreed to that, as he would never put his wife's life in danger by getting her pregnant at an age where pregnancy was much harder on the body as not only could she miscarry but it could cost Hermione her life. Still Hermione had agreed to get pregnant at least once more and if that was all the pups he would get then Dave would be very happy with the family he had as fifteen to twenty was plenty. Even if Hermione didn't want anymore pups from right this minute he would be perfectly content with the 15 he had, since he realized that the older you were the harder a pregnancy was on the woman's body even a shifter's.

"It's not really a request, but I know very well that you will have a few more while I'm in college, so I don't see any point of dancing around the subject," Spencer begin to explain not even blushing at the subject matter. "Just make sure you keep me up with the news, because I'm still very interested in hearing everything that happens while I'm gone as I have no intention of losing contact with my family."

"Glad to hear it," Hermione said brightening immediately, as she had taken it hard when the other quads had left the nest as well, but at least they were close enough to visit often, but for her oldest son it was different.

"I'm very proud of you, Spencer," Dave told his son as he also hugged him and kissed both his cheeks. "You've changed so much in just 10 years and I know that you'll do well in all your classes."

"That's the plan," Spencer said with quiet confidence good humor sparkling in his eyes. "Well, I had better go, as I need to look for an apartment and the school starts in just a few weeks."

"I'm going to miss you," Hermione said hugging him again. "Why couldn't you just have gone to college here in Italy so that we could see each other almost every week? In fact you could've just lived at home."

"I love you so much mamma," Spencer told her gently, "but although I can't really explain it, logically I feel as if my destiny is in America and I can't explain it any better than that."

"You have to do what you think best, figlio," Dave told his son. "If you feel that your destiny is in America then we are just going to have to let you go and live your own life as much as both of us would like you to stay. Pups eventually grow up after all, because me and all my fratelli and sorelle certainly did. You have your own life to live even if that's not here in Italy near your family."

"My family is still important to me, papà," Spencer assured his father. "I'll make sure I call often, maybe even more than once a week if I get homesick and I'll be home in the summer and probably at least on some of the weekends."

"We'll look forward to it," Hermione assured her son with a sad smile. "Remember you can come home at anytime and you will always be welcome."

"I know," Spencer assured his mom gently, as he kissed her cheek, having to lean down quite a bit to do so for Hermione was quite a bit shorter than he was as she was only 5'5'.

"Thanks to the permanent Portkey you made me I can go back and forth from here to my apartment anytime I like. Once I find an apartment and settle in your welcome to visit, just give me a little warning."

"Why so you can clean up before we arrive?" Hermione teased him causing Spencer and Dave to laugh, because they knew that Hermione was something of a neat freak as she hated to see a mess. Of course, Dave was a pretty neat person himself and so was Spencer, but as for the rest of their children not so much. They would learn, Dave knew as most of them were still quite young as the oldest were only 10, nearly 11, the twins being three and a half years younger at seven and half and their second set of triplets were about the same distance apart from their twin siblings and were five and the youngest triplets were only one and a half.

And they would be more pups, although not for awhile, which was fine with Dave as their newest set of triplets were still incredibly young. Dave was suddenly glad however, that he didn't have a full time job because he wouldn't be up to spend as much time with the woman he adored or his children if he worked 9 to 5. He did spend a few hours every day in his study working on his newest book, but then he spent the rest of the day with his family as he never forgot that they were his number one priority—always. He could stop writing after his current book was finished and have enough money to leave every single one of his children a healthy trust fund, with plenty leftover for himself and Hermione, to last them until they were old and gray. However, Hermione had urged him to continue as everybody needed something to do and since he enjoyed writing so much and was so good at it he might as well continue with it until he was considerably older and it also gave Hermione a few hours to herself or to spend with their children as everybody needed at least a little alone time every now and then.

"Of course not, mamma," Spencer told her with a teasing grin. "Who knows I might have company over."

Both Hermione and Dave laughed at that, because that was extremely unlikely, since their son was very shy around the opposite sex, but considering his early childhood that was unsurprising, although it was possible that he still would have been, even if what had happened to him as a child hadn't occurred.

Dave however, was well aware that Spencer might like his own sex and he wouldn't be surprised if that was the case considering he had been raped for over a year from the time he was five until he was six. Dave wasn't sure if his mate was aware that this was a possibility, but there was no point of bringing it up until they knew one way or the other. Spencer and his siblings had made great strides, but Dave was unsure if they'd ever be able to bring themselves to get involved in any serious relationships unless they found their mates, because that was really the only way that he could see them taking the chance, even if their mate was not a shifter.

If that's what happened, Dave wouldn't be able to blame any of the four a bit because rape was the worst crime out there, even worse than murder. At least with murder you only ended up dead, but when it came to something like rape it violated your sense of self as your body was brutally violated again and again, your most intimate parts touched, not gently with tenderness and love, but with roughness as hurting the body underneath them would be all those types of people had in mind. Your soul shattered, your will was broken or at least bent and somebody's likely foul breath was in your face the entire time. Rape was all about the domination of another, but what made it worse was that Spencer and his siblings had been only five when it had begun, as they had been nowhere near adulthood at the time, far from it. No matter your age rape was a brutal crime that should see the people who participated in it put to death, because people like that never changed, because they seemed to have the urge to do it repeatedly, even if they were put in prison and then released, but unfortunately, most countries in the world didn't see it that way and treason and murder and a few other high crimes were the only things that got the death penalty. Most people thought that even rapist could be redeemed and in that they would be wrong, but there was nothing that Dave could do about it, except help the ones that he had taken in get past it as much as they were able, so that they wouldn't go through their lives as bitter individuals, but productive members of society.

"I had better be going," Spencer said finally said, as he gave his parents final hugs and kisses and then took out the Portkey that he was too use to get to New York. This Portkey was a necklace and would not activate without a special code word, actually two of them as one ward took him straight to a place in New York that was well shielded from mundanes and the other took him straight back home to Italy. He also had to be touching it at the time, as it was activated upon contact with his skin. This particular Portkey was blood bound to him and so nobody else could use it unless he was touching some part of them before he said the code word. Blood bound Portkeys were very hard to create, but Hermione had done it with no trouble and the reason she had she had explained was that it was safer considering that he was going to be among people without magic for the most part. This way no mundane could activate the Portkey on accident if his necklace happened to be stolen as the magic was in the Portkey itself.

"You contact us if you need anything at all," Dave told him sternly, but with twinkling brown eyes. "If you need more money—anything."

"I will," Spencer promised, "but you set me up with a healthy bank account and wouldn't even allow me to dip into my trust fund, not to mention you're paying for my college education as well and I think that's more than enough."

"We are your parents, we're only doing what we are supposed to and also because we love you," Hermione told him. "You're not to stint yourself, just because you don't want to ask for more money is that understood Spencer David Rossi?"

Spencer had decided that he was going to change his middle name as well as his last when he had gone through that blood adoption ritual when he was seven as he'd had the middle name of the man that had abandoned him and his siblings and he wanted nothing more then to get rid of it entirely.

Hermione had been the one to suggest that he use his new father's first name and he had immediately agreed to that, so from that moment forth he had been Spencer David Rossi instead of Spencer William Reid and he had felt extremely happy at the time to be shed of the man's name that had done such a foul thing as abandoning his own children and he couldn't even have abandoned them at an orphanage or even the police station, no he had to sell them to a man he knew that had several whore houses and made a ton of money off of them since it catered to individuals who enjoyed raping young children.

Spencer supposed that it was probably smart on his former father to not abandon them at a police station or even an orphanage for they were old enough to remember what he had done, and might have gotten in the authorities involved.

Spencer admitted that his father had had a well thought out plan as he had probably figured that abandoning them on the street was not a good idea even in a different city as they might eventually find their way back home or find someone who would listen to their tale of how they had been abandoned by their own father no less. Spencer was sure that their father had thought that they would never escape the fate that he himself had put them in, but hadn't counted on his children's intelligence, will to survive or the magic they possessed. All of them had gotten quite good at wandless magic by the time their year in that hellhole had come to an end and so they had used it to knock out the adults and undo the locks on the chain that was attached to the bed in order to prevent escape. They had only been allowed out of those chains three time a day in order to use the toilet and to take quick showers, with their guards there the entire time.

Spencer didn't like to remember that time and he'd tried his best to forget it entirely but knew he couldn't due to his eidetic memory and neither could his siblings.

"I'll probably see you this weekend," Spencer told his parents before he said the code word. "Phoenix!"

Once Spencer had spoken the code word he disappeared in a swirl of magic and Hermione and Dave stood there for another couple of minutes just looking at the spot where their son had been a moment before.

"I miss him already," Hermione sighed, as Dave automatically put his arm around his mate's waist.

"I know, I do too, but he stayed an extra year just because he couldn't start at Columbia until he was 18," Dave told Hermione who nodded. "The other three have been out on their own for all that time, so we've had time to adjust to their absence and it is going to take us a few days to adjust to Spencer being gone as well."

"I know, I know," Hermione sighed as she put her head on Dave's shoulder. "I know we still have 11 children at home, but this house already feel so empty just because one more of them is missing."

"It will be many, many years before we have to deal with the empty nest syndrome," Dave said, "so we might as well enjoy it while we can."

"Yeah, you're right, it will be at least another 16 or so years before all our children are grown unless we have more like we were planning," Hermione said her expression melancholy.

"So long as you agree I do want more," Dave said, "but if you decide that you don't want anymore then I'll be happy with the ones we have as I think 15 is plenty."

"Well, I did agree to get pregnant at least once more as really I'm still quite young for a magical or even a mundane since I'm only 32," Hermione said, "but not for another year and a half or so at least. After that, well, we'll see, but I make no promises."

"That's more than enough for me," Dave told her truthfully, "as just the thought of more pups fills me with joy and I just love watching your body swell with them and I love to feel them moving under my hand when they're kicking up a storm, even if I know that's very uncomfortable for you."

"You're probably the only man on the face of the planet that enjoys seeing a woman get fat," Hermione said making a disparaging comment about how she looked when she was pregnant.

"That's not true and you know it," Dave told her somewhat sternly. "All shifters enjoy watching their mates grow with their pups. Every single one I've ever talked to enjoy the process, as they know that soon they will be fathers with plenty of pups to raise and that it was their seed, along with the woman's eggs of course, that brought it about."

"Alright then, only shifters enjoy that sort of thing then," Hermione amended.

"That's also not true, as I know plenty of men who are not shifters that enjoy the process of watching their life partners grow with their children, even if I know a lot of men do not like their women to get fat even with pregnancy, but those that truly love children, also usually love the process that brought it about," Dave told her sternly. "I admit that there are all kinds of men on this planet and some do not like children or the process of a woman carrying them, but that is only a small percentage, not all of them."

"Alright, you're right," Hermione acknowledged "I suppose I'm just feeling sad that now four of our children have moved out even if three of those did that a year ago."

"I figured it was something like that," Dave admitted, "but it's nice to know that you don't really think like that."

"No, I don't, I'm just feeling sorry for myself that's all. If you love me, even though my body has changed shape considerably because I've had so many children, then you're not going to love me any less just because I'm pregnant, especially since you seem to relish in the process and truly enjoy it," Hermione admitted with a little smile.

"Yes, your body has changed shape considerably, but that's only natural considering you've been pregnant four times now, but personally, I think you look wonderful and you are definitely not overweight. You're by no means fat, as you've just filled out quite a bit from the shape you had as a younger woman, long before you had our pups. Every living thing on the face of the planet grows and changes almost on a daily basis, even if for the most part that isn't noticeable. Birth is a totally natural event, but it does change the shape of your body considerably, particularly if you have more than one at a time like you have," Dave said. "And of course, I enjoy the process as all most shifters want is a family of their own and while many of them marry just to have that, I wanted to wait for my lifemate, even if I had almost given up hope by the time we met just over 12 years ago."

"The happiest 12 years of my life," Hermione admitted, as she snuggled into her mate's arms.

"Mine too," Dave told her sincerely leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Spencer looked around him in satisfaction. He had found a small apartment, that was in a much better part of town and nearer Columbia then he had expected and the price wasn't too dear, even through his papà had given him a generous account for his expenses, an account that always stayed set at a certain amount, so it couldn't go below it as New York was an expensive city after all.

He had been told that once he finished his education the account would be added to his trust vault and although he had protested that they had already given him a generous amount of money, neither of his parents had paid attention and he could only be grateful for it. He could live very well off the principle of his trust account alone, but he had also been taught that he needed a job he loved because idleness only led to unhappiness and therefore, getting into trouble. However, that did not mean that he had to live the life of a monk, just because he worked for a living. He suspected that his main indulgence would be books, with maybe a little art thrown in for good measure as he had learned to appreciate such things thanks to his papà. He doubted he'd even buy TV set because he had never been much of a movie or television show watcher, as he had always preferred to spend his time curled in one of the comfortable chairs in the library absorbed in whatever book he had picked out. When he just wanted to enjoy a good story he didn't read as fast as he could if he was just absorbing information, but still he had gone through over half of his parents library by the time he had left for New York and it contained thousands of books.

Well now that he had found an apartment it was time to start shopping for a few pieces of furniture.

Spencer whistled as he exited his apartment and locked the door behind him. Luckily, for him he had decided to come a few weeks early just in case his apartment wasn't furnished so that he could shop for the necessaries. He knew very well that most college students would not be able to afford such a nice apartment in such a nice part of town much less decent furnishings, but although he never made a big deal about it he did have a very hefty trust fund, which he was not allowed to touch until after he had finished his education. He was the only one of the four of them that had chosen this option as the others had chosen to get started on their careers right away but none of them were as much bibliophiles as he was and they also wanted to work within the magical world so that had something to do with it as well.

Spencer wasn't exactly sure why he felt his destiny was here in New York or at least in America, just that it was. He had a feeling that he would soon meet his destiny, although he had no idea where this feeling came from just that it was very real, which was one of the reasons that he had insisted that he wanted to come to college at Columbia and he had passed the entrance exam easily.

"Just moving in?" asked a female voice and Spencer turned to see a lady that was at least 10 years his senior looking at him.

"Yes, ma'am," Spencer answered politely. "Spencer Rossi at your service."

"Lori Klein," the woman said.

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Klein," Spencer told the older woman.

"Actually it's Mrs.," Lori corrected gently.

"Is nice to meet you Mrs. Klein," Spencer repeated with a smile.

"Well, aren't you a polite young man," Lori said.

"I was raised that way, ma'am," Spencer told the older woman, "and I took my parents lessons to heart."

"I've been trying to decipher your accent," Lori said. "You're certainly not from around here and definitely not from America at all."

"Actually I was born here, but I was adopted by a couple from Italy and so I have dual citizenship," Spencer said not going into detail. "I've lived in Italy ever since I was seven years old and I'm here for college."

"I had already figured that out young man if you don't more than 18 and so I figured that was the likely explanation," Lori said with a smile.

"You're exactly right ma'am, I am just 18," Spencer told the older lady with a smile.

"What you didn't want to live on campus?" asked Lori. "I would think that your parents would insist so that you would have some supervision or at least so they wouldn't have to pay for an apartment."

"My parents insisted actually that I get an apartment, saying that I would study better and they were likely right about that as I like my peace and quiet. They'll quite well off and they said they didn't mind, so here I am. They didn't want me distracted by the usual things that go on in places like that frat parties and the like. I was just heading out to shop for some furniture, so I'll have to say goodbye and perhaps, we'll see each other again sometime."

"I'm surprised you just didn't get a place that was fully furnished," Lori said.

"The price was right," Spencer shrugged, "and its near to the campus, which was my two requirements, because even though I can drive I'm not sure I'll be staying in the States after I finish my education, so I didn't see any point of buying a vehicle if I'm only going to be here long enough to finish college."

Lori nodded thoughtfully and watched Spencer walk towards the elevator and thought about what she had learned about the young man that had just moved in right across from her own apartment.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Several months later, Spencer entered the Met the largest museum in New York. He had been wanting to come here ever since he had arrived in New York, but he had been so busy furniture shopping, not to mention picking up other necessaries like tools for the kitchen, frying pan, cooking knives silverware and the like that he just hadn't had time. If there was one thing that his padre was great at it was teaching his pups how to cook and he might not be quite as good as his papà was, but he could certainly cook up an edible meal. His papà had complimented him on his skills and told him that he would be able to look after himself when he was out on his own, so that he didn't have to eat out all the time or order in. Spencer had to admit that he had never believed that he would enjoy cooking, but when someone wasn't hovering over your shoulder or yelling at you it was quite relaxing and his papà had always been patient in giving him instructions. One of the advantages of his memory was that once he learned a new recipe he never forgot it so he didn't even need a file full of recipe index cards or a bunch of cookbooks.

In any case, he'd had to have the perfect pots and pans cooking knives and silverware as nothing cheap would do. He had probably spent more on things for the kitchen then he had his bedroom or even the rest of the apartment put together. His furniture while comfortable wasn't all that expensive, which was fine, as he had not planned on taking it with him if he didn't stay in America, even though it could be shrunk down and transported in a large trunk quite easily.

He had started classes and so far they were going well and he definitely wasn't having any trouble with the coursework, in fact at the moment it was dead easy as he finished his homework in no time, as he was such a fast reader. Of course, he knew that the classes would get harder as they progressed but right now, while he paid attention in class, he had his homework done not long after it was assigned, thanks to the laptop computer that his papà and mamma had bought him to make want homework easier. He'd also had bought a small printer as soon as he had reached the States as you couldn't really shrink down that kind of thing. Spencer wandered around the exhibits and appreciated the older paintings that were done by artist from long ago like Van Gogh of da Vinci, Picasso and many more.

He was admiring a particularly well done painting, by unfamiliar artist when someone came up behind him.

Spencer turned, as he didn't like it when people stood behind him, without speaking and considering his background that wasn't surprising, what was surprising however, was the dark eyes of the most handsome man that he had ever laid eyes on. His hair was black like his papà's except styled much differently and his eyes were close to the same color, but just a little lighter. He was also tall, just an inch or two taller than he himself was, had extremely broad shoulders that went down to a tapered waist and very long legs. Suddenly the man's natural scent hit his nostrils and he felt as if he had been hit over the head with a sledgehammer and the wolf within him reacted violently, wanting to jump this man's bones immediately not caring that they were in a public place.

No! It couldn't be, could it? His papà had described exactly what would happen if he met his mate, but he had never expected to meet the one meant for him or that it would be another man.

He admitted that he had never been that interested in females as the aggressiveness of a lot of them terrified him, but he just figured that he needed to work himself up to it. He had never imagined in a million years that his mate might be someone who was the same-sex he, himself was. He had never even considered the possibility actually and he suddenly couldn't help wondering if his papà had at least suspected that this might occur.

He knew intellectually of course, that sometimes shifters found mates that were the same-sex, he had just never bothered to apply it to himself, when he had bothered to think about it at all.

"Well, this was rather unexpected," the man finally spoke, his voice just a little strained, as if he, Spencer was still having an effect on him, even though he had mostly recovered himself, having gone through the same identifying process that the older man had.

"It is rather unexpected," Spencer admitted holding the wolf back from jumping this man's bones through sheer force of will.

The man looked at him sharply and then relaxed and said, "So you're a shifter as well, so you know?"

"I do," Spencer admitted a little shyly for some reason trusting this man and he didn't even know his name yet. "I feel the bond just as you do, however, we're going to have to talk before we get around to completing it and you'll understand why soon enough. I certainly never expected to meet my lifemate when I've only been in the city for a few months going to Columbia."

"So you come from overseas," the other man observed. "Your accent is quite thick."

"Italy," Spencer told him not bothering to explain that he had been born here in America, because for one thing they were in a public place and even though he knew he could trust this man with anything he had to figure out a way to explain his past. "My padre did explain the effects I was to expect when I met my lifemate I just never expected it to occur to me or at least not so soon."

"Your father, did his job then in explaining the facts that all shifters grow up learning," the man said approvingly. "By the way let me introduce myself, I'm Aaron Hotchner and I'm one of the curators here at the museum."

"Spencer Rossi," Spencer introduced himself politely shaking his mate's hand and as soon as the two touched an electric surged up both their arms that just confirmed what they both already knew.

"I get off in about an hour, can I take you out to dinner?" Aaron offered.

"Sure, I don't have any classes and I've already done all my homework, so I have the weekend free. I've been wanting to come here ever since I arrived just a few weeks before the term started, but was just to busy settling in," Spencer answered immediately causing Aaron's expression to visibly brighten at his mate's instance acceptance of his offer.

"I certainly never expected that my mate would be someone who's only 18 or 19," Aaron said not seeming unhappy with that prospect at all. It was just an observation.

"It happens," Spencer shrugged nonchalantly. "My mamma and papà, are 19 years apart and yet they're as close as can be. My mother, is considerably younger than my father as he was 40 and she was only 21 when they met. She's not a shifter like my father is and so he had to gently court her, but they've been together for quite a few years now and although they argue occasionally they are still very happy together, so I'm not against a relationship with someone who is considerably older than I am, since I grew up with my genitori example right in front of me everyday."

Aaron looked confused at the Italian word genitori for a moment and then figured out it probably meant parents.

It was odd how Spencer spoke excellent English but tended to use Italian for certain words.

"We'll talk more over dinner, as I really must get back to work, so why don't you meet me upfront at the main doors in 45 minutes or so and we can go to dinner from there?"

"Sounds fine," Spencer agreed immediately. "I'll be waiting."

It was clear that Aaron didn't want to depart, but that he had no choice and so soon the older man was out of sight.

"What are the odds?" Spencer muttered to himself as soon as he was sure that Aaron was out of hearing range.

He knew he had felt for the last several years that his destiny was back in the country he had been born, but he certainly hadn't expected to discover his quite so soon, as he just knew that this is what the feelings he had been experiencing for the last several years meant.

He knew that his genitori would be excited and happy for him, but he had no intention of telling them until he and Aaron worked things out between themselves. He knew very well that this feelings of trust and the fact that he missed his mate even though he had only been out of sight for a couple of minutes were only natural. He'd had no intention of getting involved in any relationships for at least a few years, as he still had considerable trust issues in that area, but he knew that he could trust Aaron with anything and the older man would never betray him, which was the only reason he was contemplating completing the bond just as soon as the two of them talked, since he knew that the sex would be spectacular and that the older man wasn't about to stab him in the back either literally or figuratively. He had watched his genitori for years and how they were extremely close and the other would rather cut off a limb then betray the person that they loved the most, which was how Spencer knew that Aaron Hotchner could be trusted with anything, because unlike his genitori both of them were shifters so there was absolutely no way they could betray the other, like had happened to couples sometimes when only one of the pair was a shifter.

His old feelings of being raped when he had been five tried to surge up in his memories, but he forced them back and locked them away, so they wouldn't interfere in his relationship with Aaron.

The psychologist that he and his siblings had seen for years had helped all of them deal with the abuse they had endured, so that all four of them didn't have nightmares hardly at all anymore, but that didn't mean that the internal scars didn't remain, even if the external damage had been healed by the healers.

When he had been younger he had wanted to work at the Behavior Analyst Unit of the FBI or BAU for short, but now knew that he would likely do something drastic whenever they had a case where the victims were raped and he knew that at the very least his old nightmares would come back with a vengeance and so it was just better if he chose another career. Thanks to his bastard of a father one of his dreams for the future had been shattered forever, but since he had just met his lifemate he supposed it was just as well, because he might never have met him if he really had joined the FBI, but then again he might have, because after all he might still have chosen to come to Columbia College.

Spencer loitered looking at the paintings and then glanced at his watch and noticing the time hurried towards the front entrance knowing that Aaron would be getting of work in just a few minutes.

He arrived at the front entrance with only three minutes to spare, so he waited patiently and it wasn't long at all before Aaron Hotchner came striding from off to the side, which he assumed was where the offices were.

"Shall we go?" Aaron asked smiling in relief when he saw Spencer waiting for him, just as he had promised.

"We shall," Spencer agreed easily and the two men walked side-by-side out the front entrance not saying a word, as they didn't want anybody to overhear their private conversation or even know that they were a couple until they'd had a chance to get to know each other at least a little.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"So why don't you tell me about yourself," Aaron requested after the two of them had been escorted to a private table at a very fine restaurant and Spencer knew immediately that Aaron must have made reservations in advance.

"Well, I can give you some general details, but there're some things that are going to have to wait until we have more privacy," Spencer said calmly and Aaron nodded in understanding. "Alright then, I have 14 siblings so far, but my mother is still young enough to get pregnant several more times. I won't be surprised in the least if I have several new siblings when I visit home sometime in the next two or three years. I am the oldest of quads, so I have one brother and two sisters that are the same age I am and I grew up out on my parents estate outside of Florence. My father is David Rossi and he's a writer and his books are sold all over the world in many different languages."

"I've actually heard of him," Aaron said and Spencer nodded unsurprised. "I've actually read a few of his books. He's a very good writer."

"Thank you the whole family is quite proud of him and he knows it as we all tease him that his head needs deflating before it won't fit through the doorway," Spencer said causing Aaron to laugh, which had been Spencer intention. "Despite the way we all tease him he really was the best father that all of us could wish for. He was always patient and kind and never made a big deal when we made mistakes like pups do. We were punished sometimes of course, but never beaten or even spanked, as both my genitori were of the opinion, that if we did something wrong that we needed a punishment that fit the crime and not something silly like a timeout. Papà taught us everything that we needed to know to survive in the real world once we were out on our own including how to cook as he's the chef of the family as my mother couldn't cook to save her life and she would immediately agree with me if she were here, while blushing madly, as she doesn't like to admit that there's something she can't do. Luckily, so far all of us pups seem to have at least some talent for cooking, although some of them are too young for us to know yet. My mother's name is Hermione Granger Rossi and she is extraordinarily talented in many ways, just not in the kitchen," Spencer said causing Aaron to chuckle again. "My mother was born and raised in England and she and her parents moved to Italy for a few years and she decided to stay once she was old enough. My mother like my father is one of the kindest people you will ever meet and she normally has extraordinary patience, but there are a few times I remember her losing her temper and it was not a pretty sight, so you definitely don't ever want her mad at you. As I said she has many talents and is one of the most intelligent individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and I'm not just saying that because she is my mother. She is kind, compassionate and caring just like my father, but also a bibliophile just like I am and it is rare event if she doesn't have a book nearby, even if he's busy doing something else at the time. My parents met at a bar, someplace papà went frequently when he was feeling rather melancholy that at 40 he still hadn't met his mate, because he had made of vow that he would not have any pups until that happened. I well remember the both of them saying that dad was just finishing his scotch when this beautiful woman sat down beside him and ordered a drink of her own. Papà admits that he had no interest really in knowing who had sat down beside him, as he was too busy feeling sorry for himself until he looked over her way and stared directly into her eyes after he had heard her voice."

Aaron snorted at that because it would appear that Spencer's father had been feeling sorry for himself because he still hadn't met his mate and did it happen when he least expected it.

"Yes, quite the coincidence, isn't it?" Spencer chuckled.

"It does happen that way a lot of times I mean just think about how we met," Aaron admitted.

"I think the reason he was feeling sorry for himself because quite a few of his siblings had already settled down, some with their lifemates, or just because they fell in love. He could've married whether it was with his lifemate or not, but he had made a personal vow that while he wasn't going to be an eunuch, he wasn't about to marry or have pups until he had met the 'one'. I believe it was my grandparents example as they are also lifemates and I'm sure dad saw how close they were while he was growing up. Both of them are still hale and hearty, so I've had the pleasure of spending plenty of time with them and listening to their wise advice. All my siblings have actually."

"That's a likely possibility," Aaron agreed fascinated by what Spencer was telling him. Spencer was painting a picture of a happy Italian family that were extremely close to each other, but then mates always were so he knew that had a lot to do with it.

"Mamma was very cautious around papà at first as she had been nearly raped by a classmate of hers when she was just 14 as she went to a co-ed boarding school, so it took quite a bit to win her over and to get her to trust papà, but as you can tell it all worked out in the end, even though it took a few months before mamma realized that she and my papà were mates, since he hadn't told her yet, as he told us that he was just waiting for the right time, as he didn't want her to break it off before they had a chance to get to know each other. As I've said my mother is extremely intelligent and she figured it out on her own because my father and her had been dating exclusively and yet he had made no demands on her, not more than she was ready to give him. Once she had figured it out she went into what her family affectionately calls research mode. She researched everything she could about shifters and their mates and what she found reassured her that papà was the genuine deal and would never try to force himself on her or turn abusive once the bond was finalized."

"No, he wouldn't as he would never even contemplate such an action, as it would be absolutely abhorrent to him," Aaron agreed solemnly. "It wouldn't matter how sexually frustrated he became he would never force himself on her or force her into a decision she wasn't ready to make."

"No, he wouldn't," Spencer agreed easily. "It was six excruciating months later when he finally decided that it was time to tell her the information he had been holding back, except she kind of told him that she had figured it out on her own two months before he was ready to tell her and that she hadn't told him because she had been waiting for him come clean. Although my mother understood exactly why my father hadn't said anything at least at first that didn't mean that she didn't get a little harmless revenge on him for his act of keeping it from her for so long."

"Ouch! Sounds like I don't ever want to get on your mother's bad side," Aaron chuckled.

He was laughing and smiling more in the last hour or so then he had in a very long time, perhaps, ever, as normally he was a very serious individual who hardly ever smiled, but then again he had reason to laugh and smile since he had found his mate and he was sitting across from him. He was seriously hoping that the bond could be completed that very night, but he remembered that Spencer had said there were some things he wanted to tell him before that could happen and that he wanted privacy in order to say what he had to

Aaron wondered briefly exactly what his, Spencer had to tell him, but he was sure that it wasn't something he could guess, especially since he didn't really know that much about his mate so he was just going to have to be patient, although he normally had plenty of that, but this was not a normal situation.

"You don't trust me, because in some ways her temper is worse than papà's," Spencer said smiling as well.

"In any case, he sent her flowers every week and also several pieces of jewelry that's she still wears even today," Spencer continued. "Why don't you tell me some of your past as I'm tired of talking and it seems only fair."

"I suppose it is," Aaron chuckled. "My childhood wasn't exactly like yours sounds to be and that's happy."

Aaron began to talk and first gave Spencer a general outline of his life and then started to fill in some of the details, although there was a lot of things he can't back until they had some privacy, as he definitely didn't want most people to know how abusive his childhood had truly been.

The two men finished their dinner in comfortable silence and once Aaron had paid the bill they rose and headed for Aaron's car as Spencer didn't have one.

"Why don't we go back to my place and talk farther?" Aaron suggested Spencer nodded. "You can tell me all about what you didn't want to say in a public place and I'll do the same."

"That's fine as I have my own apartment as I don't stay in the dorm, so I don't have to be back at any certain time," Spencer agreed. "I don't even have classes tomorrow, because it's the weekend so we have until Monday to get to know each other."

"Sounds like a fine idea," Aaron agreed grinning hoping against hope that including completing the bond.

"And yes, that will include completing the bond just a long as you accept what I have to say," Spencer said in an uncanny echo of Aaron's thoughts.

"It can't be bad," Aaron said.

"We'll see if you still think that way once you hear what I have to say," Spencer said internally worried about his mate's reaction.

"I'll love you no matter what," Aaron promised him firmly.

I certainly hope so, Spencer said in his thoughts, as my whole heart is invested now and it doesn't even matter that we've known each other only a couple of hours.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Make yourself at home. Would you like anything to drink?" Aaron asked after the the two of them had entered his condo.

The trip back in Aaron's car had been silent, as each contemplated exactly what they wanted to tell the other.

"I'm fine," Spencer promised him.

Aaron sat down and he and Spencer studied each other for a moment. Spencer gathered his courage and took a deep breath.

"I suppose I will begin," Spencer said. "What I'm about to tell you will be hard to believe, but it's the truth nonetheless. I've told you a lot about my family over dinner and while I did not lie I did not tell you the whole truth. Every single member of my family besides, being shifters have another special ability. It is an ability that is shared by thousands of people the world over and most of them are not shifters."

Aaron tried his best to figure out where Spencer was leading with this and couldn't.

"So you're saying it's kind of like a secret society?" Aaron asked.

"In a way," Spencer admitted, "although at the same time not really. Why don't I just give you a practical demonstration so that we can get the disbelief out of the way."

Before Aaron could say anything at all and although Spencer didn't move from where he was sitting, but he gestured muttered something. Suddenly the coffee table that was in front of them transformed into what looked like a real live bengal tiger who stared at him in confusion for a moment before roaring at him and looked as if he was about to leap on him in order to eat him before Spencer muttered something again and suddenly it was a coffee table again.

Aaron had never felt more frightened of anything in had in his life as he had stared into the deadly eyes of one of the most deadly predators ever known.

"How in the hell did you do that?" Aaron asked calming down, even though his heart was still pounding quite rapidly.

"I'm sorry I frightened you," Spencer told him with true regret shining in his golden brown eyes. "I felt I needed something fairly impressive to get you to believe what I'm about to reveal to you."

"Well, turning my coffee table into one of the most deadly predators to ever walk the earth certainly convinced me that you can do something in most of the people can't, the question though is what?"

"Magic," Spencer answered simply and Aaron stared at him, but saw that his mate was serious.

At first Aaron was disbelieving, but the truth was he had no idea how else Spencer could have turned his coffee table into a bengal tiger if it hadn't been magic. Spencer had said that he felt he needed something fairly impressive to convince him that this magic was real and he didn't know how he could deny it considering that Spencer and he had just met today and therefore, his mate had never been to his condo and he hadn't been alone long enough to set up some sort of gimmick.

"Don't think I don't know how hard it is to believe," Spencer told Aaron with the little smile, but with worry in his eyes. "Both my genitori are magical, even if only one of them is a shifter and so there was no disbelief from either one of them. When both genitori are magical it is a 99% possibility that any pups will also get the ability, although the unexpected happens sometimes and a child does not inherit the magic."

"Well, considering that you just turned my coffee table into one of the most deadly predators known I don't know how I can disbelieve you," Aaron said still trying to absorb what he had been told.

"But there is a difference between belief and acceptance," Spencer said. "I'm sure you understand why most of the world does not know that magic is real."

"People would want what you have," Aaron realized a chill going down his spine. "It would be a modern day witch hunt. Even if the governments of the world accepted that there were magic users in their countries and said that they had the same rights as everybody else people wouldn't listen."

"And it's more likely that the government would want to try to somehow copy it," Spencer said. "I doubt they would succeed, but that doesn't mean that numerous deaths and tortures of others would not go on with government sanctions. Certain key people in the Italian government do know as it was decided it was a good idea several hundred years ago, but the general population, no. I'm sure the same is true in places like England or here in America. In any case, magic can do much more than what I showed you and a lot of it is harmless, but as I said I felt I needed something impressive so that you wouldn't argue over the possibility that magic was real. I was afraid that if I didn't show you something fairly impressive that you would think it was some kind of parlor trick and dismiss it entirely."

"Well, you convinced me, even if you also frightened the life out of me, although I understand why that was necessary in this case, as I'm not usually the type of person that believes in something like magic," Aaron said.

"Does that mean that you accept my ability to do magic? I cannot change who I am and although there are others in the past that have stopped using magic because their partner didn't accept it I don't want that to be the case with us. Magic is a way of life in Italy and although you don't go telling the general population about it nor make it obvious that you can do magic, that does not mean that it does not happen all the time right in front of ordinary people, but most of them just dismiss it as something else entirely a trick of the eyes for example. Mamma has taught us that wands are used in England and it's kind of hard to be inconspicuous when using magic in front of others with something like a magic wand in your hand. She said that the British wizarding world for the most part are incredibly lazy and having a wand makes focusing the magic much easier, even though they don't need one if they would just learn to concentrate. Most of the British wizarding population don't realize this, because they've been taught that a wand is necessary in order to perform magic. She also said that the British magical government likes it that way, because it's easier to track who is doing magic in a mundane area and if they're underage or not. In other words, they like to be the ones in control. Technically, you're not supposed to use magic without some kind of adult supervision until you're 17, which is considered grown-up, but sometimes it is necessary to defend your life and although there is an exemption for this, but if the government is corrupt like it is in Britain then a lot of times it doesn't matter. In Italy though it's totally different and we're taught to focus on magic through our bodies and that a wand is nothing except a crutch. It takes more concentration sure and a trained will, but you can do just as powerful magic without one."

"I don't know how I can't accept that magic is exists considering that the tiger was very real it looked like it wanted to eat me before you turned it back into my coffee table," said Aaron still feeling rather shaky, which was unusual for him, but in this case definitely understandable.

"I would never have let the tiger I transfigured out of your coffee table harm you," Spencer promised, "but it was a good way to get you to believe me, as a lot of magic can be dismissed as something fake magicians can do on stage."

"Well, you convinced me and since we are mates of course, I accept it, although it's going to take me a little while to get over the fact that magic is real. I still love you with all my heart and that's not going to change just because you turn my coffee table into a tiger. I would request that you show me some more of this magic, but later."

Spencer slumped in relief and Aaron immediately moved over to where his mate was sitting and took the younger man into his arms and his mate came willingly and eagerly. "I can understand your fear that I wouldn't accept what you had to tell me, but you forgot that with mates, particularly when both are shifters, well once they have found each other there is no turning their lifemate away as that would be destroying both of them."

"I didn't precisely forget," Spencer denied, "as papà told me the same thing often enough, but you'll understand my fear better once explain certain portions of my past to you, which was the other thing that I wanted to tell you in private."

"This isn't going to be good is it?" Aaron asked as he eyed his mate who was as tense as a taunt bowstring.

"No," Spencer said shaking his head. "Definitely not."

"Well, go ahead and get it off your chest and I promise you now there's no way I'm going to reject you, because I can feel the bond thrumming between us just begging to be finalized and I'd like to get to that portion of our evening as soon as possible, as I plan on keeping you in bed for the rest of the weekend," Aaron said.

"Very well," Spencer said squaring his shoulders with determination, "but I warn you now you're not going to like it."

"That much is obvious, as you're so tense I'm surprised that some of your bones don't snap in two," Aaron told his mate rubbing his back soothingly and Spencer leaned into the touch.

"Originally my name was not Spencer David Rossi it was Spencer William Reid," Spencer begin to explain. Spencer went ahead and explain his early childhood, about how their father had sold them and how his mamma and his papà had been on their honeymoon and happened to run across him and his sister struggling with one of the men that worked for the person they had been sold to as all four of them had managed to escape and had been living on the streets and been discovered by the newly married Rossis.

"Mamma and papà were furious, papà in particular and he wanted to go rip my father in two," Spencer continued.

Aaron nodded, because that was exactly the correct way for a shifter to respond when he saw a child being so mistreated. He was sure that once Spencer's adoptive father had learned that it was Spencer's own father that had sold him and his siblings into slavery to be raped and abused that it would have taken almost an act of God to prevent him from seeking revenge, even though Spencer and his three siblings were not his by blood, as all shifters were very protective of pups even those that were not their own. Of course, a lot of times nothing could be done, not even when something like that happened right in front of you, but sometimes it could.

"So I take it he didn't rip William Reid in two," Aaron asked Spencer shook his head.

"No, my mamma convinced him that it wasn't a good idea as she didn't want him arrested and thrown in prison, but they did do something that's almost as good," Spencer said.

"What?" Aaron demanded his voice a furious growl. "What could possibly be better then just killing bastard?"

"Magic can be used for a lot of things," Spencer explained smirking, because he had been told exactly what had been done to his birth father when he was 17, so just a couple of years ago. "My mother is quite good as wandless magic, even though she used a wand in school so what she did was make my birth father permanently impotent. He can no longer get his penis to come erect and to top it off she gave him very sensual and sexual dreams where his cock responds like it used to, but whenever he tries it out on a real woman it won't perform. His own imagination will keep giving him dreams of all the things that he'd like to do to women where it concerns sexual intercourse, but when he actually tries to perform what he dreamed about he won't be able to. Now normally this would drive someone like my birth father insane and he'd commit suicide, but as a final punishment, he will be unable to kill himself. He will be unable to step off the curb in front of a car for example, shoot or stab himself, slash his wrists, walk into a dangerous situation knowingly or ask someone to kill him. He can't even starve himself to death deliberately, as my mother thought of everything. The only way he's going to die is either of old age or if he steps into a situation that he doesn't know is dangerous beforehand and he happens to get himself killed."

"So he can't deliberately plan to meet his death, because the magic that your mother put on him won't allow it," Aaron smirked. "I consider that a very appropriate punishment and I believe that, I'm going to like your mother. I hope your birth father lives all 150 years of his existence and doesn't die due to poor health or because he is killed."

"You will love my parents and both of them are going to absolutely love you, as all they want for me or any of their pups is to be happy," Spencer said. "I suspect that my papà suspected all along that if I ever allowed myself to fall in love or met my lifemate that they would be the same-sex I was, considering what I went through when I was a child. However, as intelligent as my mother is I'm not sure that she's even thought about the possibility, since such things are heartily frowned on in England, except in the shifter community. Yes, she's been living in Italy for quite a few years now 18 actually, but she was born and raised in the small town of Crawley, which is in West Sussex, so it's possible she never even thought of the possibility. Still, when she knows I'm happy she'll love you, just as much as I already do. Besides, she's very well aware that when a shifter meets their lifemate that it is as unchangeable as the sun rising every morning or setting every evening."

"We'll have to have some nice long talks sometime soon," Aaron said, "but for now why don't we head to the bedroom?"

"Yes I am, I know you'll never hurt me, because we are lifemates we are absolutely incapable of hurting our other halves at least physically. If it wasn't for the bond that is absolutely thrumming between us I'm not sure I could ever bring myself to trust somebody getting so close to me in that way," Spencer said. "Or that I would ever take the chance."

"I wouldn't blame you at all if that was the case," Aaron admitted soberly. "A lot of people who have been violated the same way you were close themselves off from friendship or love or both and basically become hermits and a large percentage take their own lives. Considering that you and your three siblings were violated more than just one time, but repeatedly several times a day for over a year I'm surprised that you are as normal as you are. I'm astonished that the four of you just didn't close out the world and perhaps, commit suicide. I mean it's hard enough for an adult to handle when they're forcibly violated like that, but the four of you were only five and it probably happened several hundred times over the course of a year."

"You can thank my genitori for that," Spencer said. "They helped us get over it and not only did we go see this child psychologist for many years, they sat with us through every single nightmare we had and never complained about the disruption of their sleep schedules. Both of them gave us good advice and in fact, I can remember my papà's exact words. They were: One thing you must remember is that you must always remain true to who you are inside and you must not let people who do not understand you change you from who you are. The four of you or any child really, have to decide on who or what they want to grow up to be. Do you want to let peer pressure turn you into what they are or do you want to turn into someone who is kind, patient, compassionate, generous and turn into a better person than those who abused you? That is a decision you must make for yourselves and I or Hermione can give you advice, but we can't make the decision for you. Papà told all four off this shortly after we had gotten back to Italy. He also told us several years after that, that if we let what happened to us change us for the worst then even if they would never know they would have won."

"That's definitely good advice," Aaron agreed, knowing that he was going to really like Spencer's father David Rossi.

"My father is a very wise man and has really seen a lot in his life, but then so is my grandfather, so I can definitely see where papà gets his intelligence and wisdom from. You'll like both sets of my grandparents if he ever meet them I'm sure, even though my mother's parents still live in Crawley in England, so I don't see them all that much, but my father's parents, well, we see them pretty frequently actually," Spencer said. "Now that you know all about the abuse I suffered when I was a child and you've accepted the fact that I have magic I believe it's time we head to bed."

"Absolutely!" Aaron agreed enthusiastically rising to his feet causing Spencer to laugh, though the truth was he to was pretty eager, so he couldn't really blame Aaron at all for being anxious to complete the bond, considering that it was thrumming between the two of them very strongly.

"I would like you to move in with me as soon as possible," Aaron requested, as he led the way to the master bedroom.

"I don't know why I bothered to rent an apartment, since I haven't been there very long at all and the lease is still good for another six months," Spencer said smiling.

"There's no way that you could predict that you and I would meet," Aaron pointed out.

"No, there really wasn't," Spencer agreed. "Still, I'm sure that my landlord is going to wonder why I bothered to move in and buy furniture and things if I'm already moving out just a few months after I signed a lease, although at least I only did a year lease with the option to extend. My answer to your request is of course, I'll be happy to move in with you, although I do have classes and things on the weekdays."

"So I have to work during the week to and you'll be done with your classes long before I'm done with work for the day," Aaron pointed out.

"This condo is actually closer to Columbia then my apartment is and I've simply been taking the subway. I can drive, but I didn't bother to buy a car, as I figured I'd only be here for a few years, so I didn't see the point. Besides, most magicals don't drive, not unless they come from a mundane background like my mother as we have other faster ways of getting around."

"What do you mean mundane background?" Aaron questioned.

"All it means is that neither one of mamma's parents are magical and in fact they're dentist. In other words, there might be magicals so far back in her family tree that it's been lost to history, but so far she knows she is the very first one in her family. My siblings and I, are the same way, because as far as we know there have been no magicals in our family as my father definitely didn't have the ability or he never would have sold us, because that's why he did it you know he caught my brother Lincoln performing accidental magic and apparently he started to plot how to get rid of us after that, although to be truthful he never did like us much, so that had a lot to do with it as well. I've since learned for a shifter to not love their pups is such a low percentage that it doesn't happen very often."

"No, it does not," Aaron immediately agreed looking furious. "The both of us seem to have come from similar type backgrounds, but you know in a way that makes sense, as to why we are mates because we out of everybody else in the world truly understand what the other is talking about, because we experienced it for ourselves. Only somebody who has been through something similar to what we have experienced can truly understand where we are coming from."

"You do have a point," Spencer said thoughtfully.

"We can discuss it later as I'm sure we'll be learning about each other for quite a few years to come, but for now I believe we have better things to do. If I don't enter you soon I'm going to go insane from sexual frustration," Aaron said. "I can wait no longer to take you, make you mine."

"I know, me too, as I want nothing more than for you to enter my virgin hole as I've never had sex before or even done heavy petting. Thanks to my experience as a child I've never been able to get interested in anybody in that way, although I know that's rather unusual. I've had several girls around my age that I knew were interested in me, but I could never bring myself to actually trust them enough to ask them out," Spencer admitted blushing a little, but he felt that he should be honest.

"That's not at all unusual," Aaron told Spencer sympathetically. "I will never tease you about your lack of sexual experience, because I more than understand the reason behind it. Besides, I might be a curator at the Metropolitan Museum, but I did take a criminology course when I was in college and it's always been a sort of hobby of mine. I might very well have decided to join the FBI, except that history has always been my passion and therefore, I got my degree in art history. My father wanted me to be an attorney just like him, but considering my upbringing he shouldn't be surprised that I decided that I wasn't interested in that particular profession. Just so you know the wolf in me is very excited that you've never been with anyone at least not on your own free will, even though the man in me more than understands why you absolutely have no sexual experience, not even making out as it is called. I'll try to be as gentle as I can be, as I want your first sexual experience at the hands of another to be the best that you've ever had."

"Thank you for being so understanding, Aaron," Spencer choked out.

"There's no need to thank me, because if I teased you for something that wasn't really your fault, I would be a bully, since there is a fine line between teasing someone playfully, out of friendship and going out of the way to make fun of someone just because they don't have the same experiences you do. You would probably have been with it at least one female by now, if not for your experiences as a child and therefore, you wouldn't be a complete virgin and not I'm not forgetting that fact that technically you aren't a virgin now, but the rape you endured as a child doesn't count in my opinion. I have to admit in a way I'm glad you have never been with anyone freely, because that means that you're heart belongs solely to me and you don't have any girlfriends or boyfriends in your past. You've never been in love before, like so many shifters have before they meet their lifemate. Of course, once a shifter meets their mate their heart is fully involved with that person and it's as if there has never been another, but that does not mean that you do not remember those girlfriends or boyfriends fondly."

Spencer considered that thoughtfully then nodded.

"Now I want you to strip, as I want to see your body completely naked before me!" Aaron commanded forcefully and Spencer hastily obeyed getting out of his clothes faster than he had ever before in his life.

It was only 30 seconds later that he had shed his shoes and socks, then his pants and shirt and finally his underwear to where he was completely naked standing in Aaron's bedroom with the older man watching this with a satisfied smirk on his face.

As he had been busy, Aaron had also gotten undressed and turned down the bed so that he too was totally naked.

Spencer just stood there waiting for another command from his mate as he could immediately tell that the older man liked being in charge and he didn't really mind that a bit, because he knew that Aaron would never do anything to force him to debase himself and that their sexual relations would be kept between them as Aaron didn't strike him as one to brag about his love life.

From what he could tell considering that they had only known each other for a few hours Aaron Hotchner was a very quiet and self-contained man, who kept his private life exactly that, private. Of course, Spencer already knew that he also had a very forceful personality and he didn't really mind that at all because his trust in his mate was total and knew that Aaron would never hurt him, although he was sure they would argue occasionally. It had been an often repeated theme in his life after the Rossis had adopted him and his three siblings that mates could never hurt each other, but only when they were both shifters, because mates that were not shifters themselves had betrayed their shifter mates in the past, but Spencer knew that he didn't need to worry since both he and Aaron were shifters. Of course, he was assuming that Aaron was also a wolf shifter because he had never heard of two different species of shifters being mates, like a wolf shifter and a lion shifter for example. It just never happened at least as far as he knew.

"Lay down on your stomach," Aaron ordered and Spencer immediately obeyed.

"I want you to relax, as it will make the penetration much easier," Aaron told him gently with eagerness in his tone. "I'm afraid I don't have any lube, as I wasn't exactly expecting to meet my lifemate."

"I'll pick some up, after classes on Monday, as I suspect that we'll be using a lot of it," Spencer promised, "but right now I'm desperate for you to enter me, as I to can feel the potential of the bond that has yet to be completed. You better get on with it before I jump you."

Aaron smirked at his mate's words, but got the message, so immediately got started, without another word.

Aaron was as gentle as he could possibly be, because he truly wanted to make his mate's first consensual sexual experience at the hands of another to be the best of his life, but the alpha wolf in him was demanding, so he wasn't as able to be as gentle as he would have liked.

Aaron stuck his tongue into his mate's hole trying to lube it up as much as he could and Spencer whimpered, as he felt appendage enter his body leaving a slick trail of saliva in its wake.

"That feels so good," Spencer sighed.

"I'm afraid the next part isn't going to feel nearly so pleasant," Aaron warned him.

"I know," Spencer promised him. "I know you'll be as gentle as you possibly can be."

"Alright then, I can wait no longer," Aaron said his voice a growl and Spencer had no trouble imagining that his mate's brown eyes had turned the yellow gold of the wolf within him.

Spencer groaned as his hole was penetrated for the first time, but he knew that Aaron was being as gentle as he possibly could be considering that they were both desperate for release and that they didn't have any lube didn't help, it wasn't as painful as it probably would have been if Aaron hadn't cared about not hurting him too much.

Aaron forced himself to stay still waiting for Spencer to indicate that his virgin passage had stopped throbbing with pain before he continued, as he knew that Spencer was bound to be hurting considering this was his very first time into the realms of consensual sex, as the rape he had endured as a child didn't really count and that they didn't have any lube didn't help matters. Spencer finally looked at him with pleading brown eyes and Aaron took that as the silent signal it was and started thrusting in and out of his mate's rapidly, because he knew he could not hold himself back much longer and it was only a minute later that his extremely engorged cock, which was one of the largest that Spencer had ever seen, released its seed into his mate. Spurt after spurt, after spurt was released into the warm, moist body of the man he already loved deeply and Spencer immediately cried out his pleasure to the room as he went into an earthshattering climax, his first at the hands of anyone besides, himself or old woman who should have known better. He was used to releasing his own sexual tension by masturbating, but doing it himself was nothing compared to climaxing at the hands of his lifemate, one Aaron Hotchner, as his climax was at least three times as powerful as when he had done it for himself.

As he felt his mate's seed enter his body he distantly noticed that there were quite a few more spurts then he had thought possible for any one man at one time, but apparently he had been wrong about that.

Finally Spencer lost consciousness as his climax continued to rip through him like a particularly violent thunderstorm and as for Aaron himself he found himself losing consciousness as well and unconsciously rolled off his mate, so that he didn't crush or smother him with his weight to flop down on his side of the bed before he too was out for the count.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Are you alright?" Aaron asked anxiously as Spencer's eyes finally blinked open to find Aaron looking at him in concern from his side of the bed.

"I'm fine," Spencer promised him. "In fact I feel...free. It was as if when the bond snapped into place that I was mentally set free from what happened to me as a child. I now know I am loved unconditionally and will be for the rest of my life and so what happened to me as a defenseless pup no longer has any power over me. I suspect the nightmares I still have occasionally are gone for good, but I'll just have to wait and see."

"So you felt as if you would never completely be free of what happened to you as a pup, which I can certainly understand, but that when the bond finalized it released the mental chains," Aaron summarized.

"More or less," Spencer said. "I've never heard of this happening, but that doesn't mean that it hasn't. Papà might have heard of something like this happening before, or he might not have, but I'll ask him next chance I get, unless you have heard of this sort of thing happening."

"I haven't," Aaron admitted readily, as he began to playfully pinch his mate's nipple causing Spencer to groan with desire as Aaron played with that very sensitive part of his anatomy. His nipples seemed to have become extra sensitive ever since the bond had been completed just minutes ago, but then again they had never been touched by anyone other than himself and he hadn't done that all that often. "but I doubt very much it has happened more than a few dozen times and there are shifters all over the world, in every culture, so I'm not really surprised that this kind of thing is not exactly well known."

"Please finish what you have started," Spencer begged him causing Aaron to smirk, as it had been his intention all along to have his mate beg for him to enter him for the second time, of what would hopefully, be many more times before Monday rolled around and they both had to get back to their lives.

"I'll be more than happy to," Aaron promised him his voice a soft, sexy growl causing Spencer to shiver with desire. "We'll be making love a lot in the near future, so you had better prepare yourself to spend a lot of time in bed. It's bad enough I have to work, Monday through Friday and occasionally on the weekends too and you have classes and homework."

"Don't worry about that," Spencer told him in a pant, "I read quite a bit faster than average and I only have to do that once because my memory is eidetic. Once I learn something it is permanently learned, so I guarantee you that I won't have to study too hard to get excellent grades in all my classes and so long I don't come down with a cold or something I'll have perfect attendance and a 4.0 average. I was planning on getting myself several degrees and I'm already well on my way to completing my first, even though I've only been here a few months. The teachers have been amazed at how brilliant I am, but then my mother was really intelligent as well before she died due to complications, when she was pregnant with my siblings. Me or my other siblings still aren't exactly sure what went wrong, as she was in good health before that event and had no problems that I am aware of."

"Could be anything, as it happens a lot of times and there is no logical explanation as to why," Aaron said and Spencer nodded because he knew this.

In the back of his mind Aaron wondered if perhaps, Spencer's father had something to do with his wife's death, but it seemed extremely far-fetched even to him, but then he had a very suspicious nature and there was no point of causing his mate more pain with the thought that his birth father William Reid might have deliberately knocked his wife off while she was pregnant with his pups.

"So what's your major?" asked Aaron.

"History actually, ancient history," Spencer said with a smirk. "I've been fascinated with history ever since I was about eight, because magic is taught at home in Italy for the most part, as it has only one very small school and while I was taught subjects like transfiguration, charms and defense against the dark arts by my mother and my Uncle Harry, papà taught us Italian history while an old friend of my mamma's and my Uncle Harry's and a kind of honorary uncle to all of us Remus Lupin taught us English history, not just magical history either, but also mundane history and they gave all of us a very thorough grounding in the subject. I did a lot of studying on my own as papà has plenty of books on Italian history in his library and also some on American history and I had all those books read in just a couple of years, even though there's a couple of hundred because I read so fast. I spent quite a bit of time when I was younger curled up in one of the comfy chairs in the library reading. If anybody was actually actively looking for me they normally didn't have to look very far, since I was usually in the library."

"So how fast do you read, because to read that many books in just two or three years is quite an accomplishment," Aaron asked.

"Well, once my mother got over her astonishment at my reading speed and she quizzed me to make sure I had actually read the book and wasn't just flipping pages she clocked in at about 20,000 words a minute."

Aaron whistled appreciatively and said admiringly, "That's really impressive. I'm not sure anybody else in history has ever been able to read that fast. It's certainly an unusual talent and one that I think would be extremely useful when you're reading something for your homework."

"I only do that when I want to absorb the information a book contains and not actually enjoy what I'm reading," Spencer explained. "I could've gone through those history books much more slowly, but I knew I'd never finish them all if I read at such a slow speed or at least it would have taken me much longer and then what are the things I wanted to do. I might not even have finished them by the time I came here to America for college, because I spent a lot of time doing other things and not just reading, my genitori insisted on it actually, as they didn't want me to become isolated. I took my qualifying tests by the time I was 16 as the Italian magical government requires you to take them by the time you're 21 if you want to get a decent job within the magical community. I would have liked to have started college after I finished, but I had to study for the entrance exam and although that didn't take me very long, since I already had such a good head start my parents wanted me to stay at least until I was 18. My other three siblings, had already started magical careers of their own as they didn't want to go to college like I did as I love to learn. It's not that they're not just as intelligent, it's just that they were tired of studying and I can't really blame them for that. Besides, they didn't want jobs in the mundane world, so there was no point of them going to college."

"So the magicals don't have any colleges then?" Aaron asked, even as he continued to play with his mate's nipples and also started placing kisses along his neck, including directly on the mating mark that he had gifted his mate with just before he had lost consciousness.

"Not really," Spencer shrugged, even an intense pleasure went through him at Aaron's ministrations. "You finish your education and depending on country and how well you do on your qualifying tests, well, it's almost like an apprenticeship program if you want to be an attorney or a healer or for a lot of other careers. There are plenty of careers to choose from, just as many as there are in the mundane world actually."

"It amazes me that you can hide all this for him I believe you called them mundanes like myself," Aaron said.

"It helps when you don't need a wand to use magic as a lot of people dismiss something, even if it happens right in front of their eyes. Their minds most of the time will come up with the most logical explanation as to how an event occurred even if there was no other way it could've happened except by magic. Of course, there is also such things as memory charms, but they are only used in the most direst of circumstances, at least in Italy. Like if someone refuses to dismiss what they have seen as anything other than magic and starts to spread rumors that magic is real. Of course, if that someone is a child, well, what most children see is ignored as their imaginations and eventually they'll stop talking about it when they're told often enough that what they saw wasn't real. Eventually they'll forget entirely what they saw or by the time they're grown they'll think it was just their childish imaginations."

"The magical community depends on the fact that our society is based on what we can see and touch or what can be logically explained," Aaron realized. "Something that doesn't have a logical explanation is immediately dismissed by most humans and shifters."

"Yes, but also the children eventually grow up and sometimes they become the worlds greatest writers, artists, scientists, explorers and inventors, ones that believe in the unexplainable, even without any concrete evidence that since things exist and they spend their entire lives trying to prove their theories. The world needs more than the logical and explainable, even if it is geared that way, because if we lose our wonder then magic will likely die with it or at the very least the mundane population will cease to believe in themselves and stop striving to advance our society and stop making discoveries that make our life so much easier things that were never thought possible by those scientist of centuries past. Whoever would have believed that something like polio could be cured until Jonas Salk discovered it? If all the mystery and the magic goes out of the world then we will lose our greatest explorers, inventors and experimenters."

Aaron listened to Spencer's passionate speech and realized that his mate was correct, even though he had never thought about it in that way before. If humans ceased to strive, then many things that were reality today might never have come to be. Both the races on this planet had made so many advances, in the fields of technology, medicine, economics and so many other fields in the 20th century alone, but a lot of what had been accomplished was only because people like Leonardo da Vinci and Nikola Tesla had come before them with their own ideas, things that had not been possible back in the centuries they had been born, but that the concepts had existed for long before they became a reality.

"I never thought about it that way, but you're right if any species on this planet stop striving to find answers to the unexplainable, if we stop believing that we can accomplish something thought to be impossible then we'll no longer strive and learn," Aaron said. "You help me see the world in a new light and for that I sincerely thank you."

Spencer blushed at the compliment.

"You're welcome even if that was not my intention. I'm afraid that you just hit something I'm very passionate about," Spencer admitted.

"And there's nothing wrong with that," Aaron said. "If you're not passionate about something then you don't keep at it until you accomplish your goal and then there would be many less wonders in the world. So if you're major is ancient history, at least at first what was your plan for after you get your degree?"

"Well, I was going to get several the degrees, but now I'm not so sure about that, although I might still do that in my spare time. I could get degrees online if I really wanted to, but I thought I would enjoy the college experience," Spencer shrugged. "If I had decided just to get my degrees online at an accredited university, well, then you and I likely never would've met because I never would have left Italy."

"Well, I'm definitely glad you decided not to do that then," Aaron said fervently looking and feeling horrified at the very thought that he never would have met the man he adored so much already and it didn't matter that the two of them had just met.

"Me too," Spencer agreed immediately, "Me to," he added more softly. "You've changed my life so much already, even though we've only known each other for such a short amount of time. Papà did describe exactly what I could expect if I met my lifemate, but him telling me and me actually experiencing it for myself are two different things."

Aaron nodded for he agreed totally with that and he really was going to have to meet his mate's parents as he had a feeling that they would get along famously. He was glad to know that even if Spencer's early childhood had been so horrible that he wanted to go rip his birth father into little teeny bits, that it had been good after that due to David Rossi and his mate adopting him and his siblings. It had likely taken many days of effort to get Spencer and his siblings to trust them completely and they would have had to be extremely careful to make sure that they didn't do anything that would be considered a betrayal or give the impression that they couldn't be trusted and that made Aaron respect the Rossis all the more for it. He knew very well that not many people, individuals or couples, would have gone to so much affect for four children who weren't even related to them or at least related to somebody they knew, likely not even a shifter.

"How would you like to go visit my parents next weekend?" Spencer asked his golden brown eyes glittering mysteriously as if he had some kind of secret.

"I would think that there are too many arrangements to make to do it so soon," Aaron pointed out. "I'd have to take off from work, we'd have to get plane tickets..."

"I was only talking about visiting them for a few hours not staying for days," Spencer said and Aaron looked at him.

"How could we possibly do that if we flew on a plane to Italy it would be many hours," Aaron asked curiously.

"I have what is called a Portkey," Spencer explained. "A Portkey can be anything and it can transport you to any destination you so desire, although it can only be one destination per Portkey. Mamma made me a permanent Portkey and all I have to do is put my hand around it and say the code word and it transports me instantly from wherever I am to my parents house outside of Italy in just a matter of seconds. I go for a meal or just to talk a lot and they are always more than happy to see me."

"And you can take someone with you?" Aaron asked amazed that such a device existed, but he suspected he'd be learning about magic for sometime.

"Yes, so long as you're holding onto some part of my body, it will take both of us," Spencer promised. "We can go for just a few hours just to enjoy a meal or we can go for the weekend and both my parents not to mention my siblings will be very happy to see me and they'll be happy to see you to once they get to know you."

"As much as I would like to I think that you need to visit your parents by yourself this one time and tell them about me at least as it would be rude for me to show up with no warning and that's the last impression I want to make for a first meeting," Aaron suggested, "but after that I'll be happy to accompany you."

"Alright then," Spencer agreed easily. "My parents wouldn't mind, but I do understand where you're coming from so that's the way it will be. Perhaps, I'll wait a few weeks to visit them because they'll know immediately that I have met someone, as they're very good at telling that sort of thing. I just want to keep you all to myself for a little while before I introduce you to my family."

"I have no objection to that I promise you," Aaron said with a massive grin feeling so happy that he felt as if he could fly all by himself without a plane. He had never expected to meet his mate in a million years considering that he was 35 years old. It was too bad that he and Spencer couldn't have pups, but they could always adopt and that would be more than enough for him. He wasn't about to bring the subject up however, for at least the next couple of years, as he wanted his mate all to himself for the foreseeable future.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Well, this is a nice surprise," Aaron said sniffing the air appreciatively, as he came in the front door of his and Spencer's condo.

It was several days later, and Spencer had moved all his things over to Aaron's place, but had decided to keep his apartment until the lease ran out.

"I like cooking," Spencer shrugged. "I usually cook just for myself, except when I don't feel like it, but it's much better to cook for someone else. You'll have a chance to see for yourself if papà taught me as well as he believes he did."

"Well, if the smells are any indication I'm sure I will enjoy whatever you are preparing," Aaron told his mate sincerely causing Spencer to smile.

"Well, I thought it was time that I proved I could actually cook just like I told you I could after we had first met," Spencer said pleased.

"I can already tell that you're not the type of brag about something unless you can actually do it," Aaron promised him, "but still I haven't had a homecooked meal in—I don't know how long—because while I can cook it's not usually anything complicated or elaborate. I eat out a lot, and while I enjoy eating out it can get expensive."

"Yes, it can be," Spencer agreed. "We didn't eat out a lot in my house, but that's because my padre enjoys cooking for his family and besides, if it's expensive for one person to eat out just imagine how expensive it would be for 15 children plus 2 adults. Mamma and papà do go out on dinner dates occasionally just the two of them, but for the most part papà enjoys cooking at home for his family, with some of his children assisting him so it's not such a big job, although being able to use magic does help with that. I'll be happy to cook for you every night if you want and if you want to learn to cook more than simple meals then I'll be happy to teach you just as my papà taught me. Of course, you could be like my mother who can't even prepare a simple pasta dish without burning it and if that's the case I'll still be happy to cook for both of us. I'm sure we will still eat out occasionally like I can join you for lunch on the days I don't have classes around that time, but my papà taught all his children that while eating out sometimes is okay that it's much healthier and better if the meal is fixed in the home. It took me and my three other siblings a long time to learn to eat really well, because we had been consisting on what didn't have to be cooked, cereal and the like before our birth father sold us and after that well, we were only rarely let out of the rooms that we were were in. I'm not saying that we weren't fed well, because we were a valuable commodity after all, but still as I said we rarely left the rooms that we were assigned, except to shower and use the bathroom and our meals were brought to us. We were allowed to see each other once every few days to assure us of the others health, but other than that, no and we were also watched very closely the entire time we were together."

"I want to tear the man who did that to you apart," Aaron growled looking suddenly ferocious.

"You're not alone in that feeling," Spencer promised him, "as my papà feels the same way you do, but we managed to escape and survive and that's all that matters. The people who did that to us will get theirs eventually, even if that's not until after they're dead."

"If they would only allow to see each other for a few minutes every few days how in the world did you plan your escape?" Aaron asked curiously.

"My siblings and I have always been telepathic with each other only," Spencer explained a little shyly as if he would be disbelieved. "Of course, it depends heavily on distance, but since we were all in the same house we communicated with each other that way and no one ever knew."

"Is that common in the magical world?" Aaron asked not even blinking at the explanation.

"No, not really, except perhaps, among identical multiples, who often share a passive mind link with each other, but my siblings and I had no idea that it might be a manifestation of our magical ability, only that we'd been able to do it ever since we were very small and we never told anyone because we knew that either we would be disbelieved and called liars or we would perhaps, be taken to some lab to be studied if the wrong people found out about it or at the very least we would never be left in peace as scientist or whatever would want to study our ability and figure out if they could duplicate it."

"I will not say your fears are groundless," Aaron admitted, "so it's probably just as well that not many people know, although I'm assuming you did tell your parents."

"After we had been with them for awhile, over a year actually, we we told them because we trusted them enough by that point and knew that they would never do anything to hurt us. They were somewhat surprised, as it is extremely uncommon, but it has been known to happen among multiples with magic before," Spencer said with a shrug. "Now over 10 years later we all know that we were extremely lucky to be discovered by the Rossis and adopted by them, even though they were expecting their first set of triplets at the time. If I actually believed in fate I would say that she was extremely kind in that instance."

"You really were very lucky you know," Aaron said, as he shivered because he could easily imagine all that could've happened to not only Spencer, but his siblings on the street, but miraculously hadn't.

"Don't think we're not aware of it," Spencer said. "I would like to think that our mother is watching over us from heaven and she's the one that guided the Rossis into discovering our predicament and then let their innate goodness do the rest."

"Who knows, maybe she did," Aaron said, "as she would have wanted the best for her pups. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that's exactly what occurred because there are more things in heaven and Earth then that are dreamt of in our philosophy. I mean magic exists after all even if most of the population believes it's just fantasy, so who's to say that your mother isn't really watching over you? I mean if I had pups, and I had died for some reason, then I would want what was best for them, and I'm sure that your mother would be furious to discover that the husband she loved had sold their pups to someone who procures young vulnerable pups for their whore house. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that the man you were sold to owns quite a few of these whore houses in San Francisco and not just of pups either, since those with exotic looks are often highly prized. I won't be surprised at all if she's waiting to meet him when he dies and if she's furious at what he did, because any parent who loves their pups, would be."

"You do have a point, although usually I'm a man of logic and science, things that can be explained because they have been proven to exist, but you do have a point when you say if magic is real what's to say other things are not, things that you can't necessarily see, but that does not mean they do not exist," Spencer said. "In any case, dinner is served."

Aaron had set the table without a word as they had been talking and so Spencer simply put all the food on the table and made sure he turned off the stove.

"This looks and smells absolutely wonderful," Aaron told him, as the two of them sat at the dining room table and dug into the meal that Spencer had prepared.

"This is delicious," Aaron told Spencer sincerely after he had taken his first couple of bites.

"I'm going to have to really work out at the gym if I'm going to keep my figure or I'm soon going to be extremely overweight."

Spencer laughed and then explained why he was, "My madre often says the same thing, and my padre and her work out in the gym that he has in one of the rooms of the house. Unfortunately, Italian cooking is a lot of carbohydrates with all that pasta and papà advised all his older children awhile back that if they truly wanted to enjoy their food and not be extremely overweight that they would need to exercise either by running in their wolf forms or using exercise equipment or even both. My madre who had never exercised a day in her life wasn't very enthusiastic at first, but after the birth of her first set of triplets her figure changed and each time she got pregnant every three years or so her figure kept changing due to the birth of so many children. In any case, my papà didn't want her stinting herself when it came to food just to lose weight and so she agreed to start using the exercise equipment and now she seems to actually enjoy it, although she certainly didn't at first. Her figure is much different, or least that's what papà says, as he's the only one that remembers what she looked like before she was pregnant, well, besides, my mamma's brother, my Uncle Harry and his wife, my Aunt Luna before she got pregnant that first time, but that's to be expected and papà had to keep reassuring her for awhile that he would love her no matter what. Her figure is now much fuller than it was before the birth of her first children and papà keeps telling her that he believes she looks healthier than she was before because Italians believe in not stinting yourself when it comes to food and many of them are overweight, because they are to lazy to exercise. Personally, I think she looks wonderful not only because she's so happy with papà, but because her figure is fuller than it was, as I've seen pictures as well as heard descriptions of what she looked like before. She was always a beautiful young girl and then young woman I just think that the way her body has matured makes it even more beautiful and that's definitely true in the eyes of my papà. You'll understand what I mean once you meet her, because she is by no means fat, even if she's not as slim as she was when she was young."

Aaron now understood why Spencer had chuckled at his comment, because he must've brought up good memories for his mate when he had made that comment about exercising so that he didn't lose his muscles and washboard stomach.

"Unlike so many other people us Italians enjoy our food and we see no reason to stint ourselves," Spencer commented, even as he took obvious pleasure in eating the pasta dish he had prepared. "I haven't had to exercise too much yet, I think it's my metabolism, but I'm sure that as I get older I'll have to start exercising more if I want to keep from gaining weight."

Aaron openly admired his mate's body from his seat directly across from him as he knew exactly what it looked like under his clothes which was lithe and slim, without a single extra ounce of fat anywhere on his body and he definitely appreciated it.

"I might add that us Italians believe in taking seconds or even the thirds, although I normally don't as otherwise I'd have no room for dessert," Spencer said. "Nonna Rossi believes that if you don't eat at least seconds then there is something seriously wrong with you."

"So what kind of desert did you fix?" Aaron asked.

"A chocolate cake actually, the recipe was originally created in France, but then my father just doesn't cook Italian food and knows a lot of different recipes from a lot of different countries. My parents have taken several trips over the years to different countries for a few weeks while we were being looked after by our grandparents or when we were older and I and my three siblings were allowed to stay on our own but also babysit our younger siblings, with nonna and nonno checking up on us frequently to make sure we were getting along okay."

"That's the way it should be," Aaron said approvingly. "Family should always be willing to help out family and I'm sure that your parents needed a vacation every once in awhile to just be by themselves without all their pups around even if they loved you."

"Yeah, it is tiring to look after so many pups," Spencer said remembering his experience with babysitting when he had been like 15 and 16. Of course, he'd had to babysit for just a few hours while his parents were at dinner or a movie or something when he had been much younger like 12 or 13. "I remember doing it for just a few hours when I was 12 when my genitori wanted to go to dinner or to a play or a movie. They didn't start leaving all of us alone for longer than that until I and my siblings were 15. All of us were very responsible at just seven and eight years old, but my genitori didn't feel right leaving us alone, even though they knew we could likely look after our younger siblings. We understood that though, because most children that age aren't responsible enough to be on their own for even a few hours and if somebody knew they were alone well they might have called child services or something or at least that's what happens in the mundane world, but thanks to my parents estate being far out in the country we don't really have any neighbors that are to close."

"It sounds like your parents were very responsible," Aaron said and his tone was again approving. "Yes, you were more mature the 99% of other children your age, but still it wouldn't have been right for them to leave you with the responsibility of looking after your younger siblings even if that was only the triplets at that time."

"I know and me and my brother and sisters understood that," Spencer said with a smile, "even as frustrating as it could be wanting to be grown up but still years away from it."

"That's normal I'm afraid," Aaron chuckled. "Pups are almost always smarter than the adults in their lives give them credit for and the parents just don't realize it. A large percentage of them want to be grown up and get away from home and not because they don't love their parents or their siblings, but because they are so smart they have their own ideas of what they want to do with their lives."

"Yeah, I often felt like I was being held back, not that I don't adore my genitori and my siblings and even though I knew that that was largely due to the fact that I was so intelligent," Spencer said. "Oh, well I managed to keep myself occupied, I spent most of my free time in the library, I learned how to cook an excellent meal, all of us older children had lessons in magic, transfiguration, charms, defense against the dark arts, arithmancy, ancient runes, history and even astronomy. We learned so much from the various members of our family that I could've had any career I chose in the magical world if I had wanted it. I admit that I seem to have a higher learning capacity then most other pups, probably about 90% of them actually."

"And there's nothing wrong with that, that just makes you special," Aaron told his mate sincerely with a smile. "There are plenty of really intelligent people in the world, but a lot of them are so arrogant that their intelligence gets lost in their attitude or if it doesn't people can't stand be around them."

"Yeah, I have met some people like that at Columbia," Spencer admitted laughing a little. "Not just the students either, but some of the teachers as well."

"Yeah, we have several people like that at the museum to," Aaron admitted. "I just try to avoid them as much as possible. Most of the people I work with are really nice though, so if you decide you want to work at the Met after you graduate I'll give you a recommendation."

"I haven't decided," Spencer admitted. "I'd like to get my degree in math for instance, since arithmancy is just the magical form of math and I'm quite good at it if I do say so myself, probably right up there with my mamma who is excellent at that subject. Of course, mamma is excellent in most any subject as she really is that talented even if she would disagree."

"But being able to work together would be a bonus even if we didn't see each other for most of the day we could at least share lunch or dinner when we have the late shift," Aaron tried to wheedle.

"I promise I'll think about it," Spencer said. "I was thinking more along the lines of getting the job at a university either Columbia or somewhere else in the city, especially since we met, as I was intending to perhaps, get a job back in Italy once I graduated to be nearer my family, but not anymore unless you're coming to."

"I don't speak Italian, not to mention I don't have a Italian citizenship," Aaron said.

"When we marry, as I'm assuming we're going to do that at some point you will," Spencer said. "As for speaking Italian there is a potion called the polyglot potion that I could brew up for you, but you really need to be within the country in order to absorb the language more efficiently, particularly the pronunciation of some of the more difficult words and the accent. This is how my siblings and I picked up the language within just a few weeks after arriving, but since then I have learned several more language the old fashioned way and have found out that I have a real talent for it. Mamma brewed the potion and once we had taken it they spoke to us in nothing, but Italian for a week or two and by the time they were done, we had learned the language. It also helped make it easier to learn to read and write it as well, although that took longer."

"Would it work on me though since I don't have any magic?" Aaron asked.

"Yes," Spencer answered with certainty, "as it was used on my mamma's parents who don't have an ounce of magic in them and it worked just fine."

"So how many languages do you speak?" Aaron asked

"About eight," Spencer admitted and Aaron blinked at him in astonishment.

"Eight different languages that you not only speak, but read and write as well?" Aaron asked in amazement.

"Yes, as I said I seem to have a talent for them and thanks to my memory I have no trouble remembering the pronunciation of the words once I hear them off a CD. I simply listen to those CDs mostly when I sleep and my subconscious remembers exactly what I heard. Of course, I had to practice and practice some more, but that's easy enough, especially since I've been to all the countries to which I know the languages for and that gave me plenty of practice."

"So what languages do you speak?" Aaron asked.

"Let's see, English of course, which is my native tongue technically, Italian, French, German, Gaelic, Spanish, Polish and Latin to which all the other languages I speak have their roots in. Many of the words are similar, although not all of them, but at least 25%," Spencer said with a self-deprecating shrug. "I believe that's what enabled me to learn languages so easily was that I noticed a similarity in many of the words as a lot of them just have a letter added on usually at the end, but it's still basically the same word that we know in English. In fact a great many words in the English language are of Latin origin you know, but since English gets it's roots from it that's not really surprising. Almost all my siblings have Italian names, even if they're also Spanish as well."

"I have to admit I'm impressed as I don't know anybody that can speak, read and write that many languages, although I do know one person that I can speak four, but not eight," said Aaron.

"Well, most people can only speak their native tongue or at the most two, normally English and whatever other language they speak depending on what country they were born in as not many are bilingual anymore and the ones that are, are highly sought after. My mother speaks three different languages French for example, English of course, and Italian. However, she doesn't brag about it or anything and it's just a skill she has in case she needs it."

"If I told the director about how many languages you speak he would want to snap you up after you graduate immediately, as a lot of times we get people who don't speak much English and although we do have several docents that speak something besides, English, still your skills would come in very useful," Aaron said.

"Well, I am getting a degree in history," Spencer mused. "It's something I'll seriously consider, but that's all I'm promising as I never imagined myself working at a museum. At one point I wanted to work at the FBI, the behavioral analyst unit specifically, but considering my experiences as a pup I decided that probably wasn't a good idea. I'm not sure I would be able to stop myself from shooting someone that had raped someone, particularly a pup for instance, so it's just as well that I forget about that particular career."

"Well, I for one am glad that you don't want to do that anymore, even though I'm sorry for what happened to you when you were a pup as that stole your dream from you."

"I blame exactly who is responsible and that's my birth father," Spencer said with fire burning in his eyes. "I'm not sure I would have chosen that career particularly now, but it was one of my dreams before my mother's death. I would have liked to have had the option at least, but now I know it would be a very bad idea, because I'd probably end up killing a rapist or something and getting myself thrown in prison."

"Yes, it's not very pleasant to have your dreams all trampled on and destroyed," Aaron agreed. "I mean you might not have gone ahead with it, but you're smart enough to realize that it's not an option now, just because of the experiences from your childhood."

Aaron took the last bite of his pasta. "I believe that dessert will have to wait as I'm full," said Aaron patting his stomach.

"That's okay it will keep," Spencer promised. "Just let me clean up right quick and then I believe that I'm in the mood to have you fuck me senseless."

Aaron eyes lit up at that, but like David Rossi before him he would never force his mate into doing something he wasn't ready for, but he was glad to know that Spencer wanted him just as much as he wanted the younger man. Of course, the fact that they were both shifters had a lot to do with it he knew, but he had truly feared his mate's childhood experiences might make him a little wary of having sex at all frequently, even if that hadn't been the case so far. Aaron was sure that while the fact that both of them were shifters had a lot to do with his mate's willingness to let him make love to him as frequently as time allowed, he was also sure that it was largely because of Spencer's papà that the younger man had been willing to trust what he felt for him at all. If not for David Rossi, Aaron suspected that it would have taken much more effort to get Spencer to trust him, as the young man would not have trusted what his inner wolf was telling him and he wouldn't have been able to blame Spencer at all if that had been the case, so he was grateful to Spencer's father.

"I'm always in the mood for that," Aaron said enthusiastically causing Spencer to laugh, because normally Aaron Hotchner was the calm and steady type, but when it came to the subject of sex between them he always got excited and enthusiastic at least when they were alone.

"I figured you would be," Spencer told him affectionately. Spencer got up from the table and made a simple gesture while muttering something under his breath and all the dishes that they had just been using for their dinner rose in the air and marched in a line towards the kitchen where Aaron knew that they would be in the sink and washing themselves.

"It sure is nice not to have to worry about a long cleanup anymore," Aaron chuckled, as he led the younger man towards what was now they're bedroom.

"It's nice to know I'm useful other then in your bed," Spencer snarked at him sarcastically, but with a grin.

"Hey you were the one that suggested we head to the bedroom after you cleaned up," Aaron protested with laughter in his voice.

"I know," Spencer said in his more normal tone. "I never imagined I'd enjoy making love so much or spending time in bed, even though papà told us exactly why he loved to spend time in bed with just mamma and himself where no one dared disturb them unless it was an emergency, especially if the door was closed. He said he used to hate spending time just lazing around in bed, especially when he was fully awake and that mamma was the same way, but now he doesn't mind at all. However, him describing exactly what to expect, and actually experiencing it for myself are two totally different things. I like spending time with just you and me and I don't care if we're in our bedroom making love, or sitting on the couch watching TV, just so long as we are together."

"I'm sure you know it's because we are mates and they like to spend a lot of time alone together particularly right after they have just met," Aaron said quietly. "The fact that both of us are shifters and not human like your mother just exacerbates those traits."

"Yeah, I know," Spencer agreed, as he gave Aaron a gentle kiss that promised so much more, "but still I'm amazed that I don't mind spending so much time in bed, as normally I like being active and busy, but the wolf in me is always eager for our bedroom activities and wouldn't mind spending weeks doing nothing else."

Aaron smirked at that, even though he knew it wasn't really practical, but the wolf in him definitely agreed with that statement, even if both he and Spencer had their own lives, as he had his job and Spencer had his classes.

The two men walked into the master bedroom of the condo and both of them stripped out of their clothes silently before climbing into bed and starting to make slow and gentle love, even though they were both desperate for each other as they hadn't had sex since early that morning when Spencer had to get up for his classes and Aaron had had to go into work.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"I think it's time that I go visit my genitori," Spencer told Aaron as a the two of them were getting dressed for the day. "I used to visit about every other weekend and it's been three times as long since I've actually seen them, although I still talk to them on the phone frequently. I'm sure they suspect that something's up, considering that I've been so cheerful whenever I've talked to them, as they are definitely not stupid. I'm also sure that they won't be surprised by my visit at all and in fact they're probably expecting it."

"They probably are," Aaron agreed with a smile. "I'm looking forward to meeting your parents, but as I said I want them to at least be aware of our relationship before I show up at their door, even if you say that won't cause a problem it would still be rude."

"Yes, I suppose so," Spencer agreed. "I'll make sure I tell them all about you when I go and see them right after classes are done for the day, although Italy is like six hours ahead so it'll be like really early morning there. I usually try to go like 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon here, because it's like 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning there and papà usually fixes breakfast around 8 or 8:30. Sometimes though my classes don't end until after 4 o'clock and so I go directly after class is over for the day."

"I'm going to miss you while you're gone," Aaron said looking sad that he and Spencer weren't going to get to spend the time together, but knowing that this was necessary. His family had made sure that he and his siblings learned good manners and they'd had no problem hitting one of them if they weren't paying attention.

His parents were extremely abusive, although it had mostly been neglect, but still you had to at least pretend you were paying attention to the lessons in etiquette as not only was his mother's tongue very sharp, she tended to use a ruler to rap you across the knuckles if she caught you not paying attention. Of course, a rap across the knuckles was nothing, but she had been known to do much worse if you continued to not pay attention to her lesson. She did it to set an example for his brothers and sisters unless they suffer the same fate he knew. All in all he and his siblings had been so glad to go off to college and get away from home and once grown they had never gone back. He was sure that both his parents were just as hateful, narrow-minded and bigoted now, as when he and his siblings had been growing up not that he cared as he hadn't seen them ever since he had gone off to college at 18, as he preferred to not go home in the summer. As far as he knew his parents had no idea where any of their children were and that was just fine with him, because they definitely wouldn't approve of his relationship with another man much less one that was much younger than himself. They wouldn't care at all that Spencer and he were mates and they would try their best to control him just as they had as a pup and get Spencer out of his life. He wasn't even sure that they believed that lifemates existed as the two of them definitely were not mates, in fact they weren't even very compatible as their marriage had been arranged 40 years ago. Arranged marriages almost always weren't happy at the very least and they very rarely worked out, so why families bothered to force their pups into marrying each other was beyond him.

"It will only be for a few hours," Spencer promised him. "I do miss my family, although I haven't been as homesick ever since the two of us met, but I really want to go see my genitori and my siblings and have some of my papà's good Italian cooking."

"You should be able to go and do what you want," Aaron said, "as I certainly do. I'm not saying that I won't miss you, but if you want to go spend a few hours with your family there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, as we don't have to be together all the time. If I insisted we spend all our time that I'm not working and you're in classes together then I wouldn't be paying attention to your needs just like you do mine and that is unacceptable to me, because it's not like I have to fear you cheating on me if you're out of my sight for a day or two, as we both know that's not possible."

"I'll miss you," Spencer told him truthfully, as he kissed Aaron very tenderly on the lips. "You've never forced me into doing anything that I don't want to do and I appreciate it, but then I know by now that that's not you and definitely not me. Believe me, I understand that it has to do with the bond, which is still pretty new, even though we've known each other a couple of months and completed it just hours after we met, but I should've told my genitori about you before now, but I've just been so happy with you that I've been putting it off. However, they'll be rightfully upset if I don't tell them about you pretty soon and that's the last thing I want, especially since we're really close."

"You're right," Aaron agreed, "You're absolutely right. Just because my own relationship with my parents is nonexistent that does not mean that you aren't close to yours and that you share everything."

"Well, not everything," Spencer laughed to relieved at Aaron's agreement, "but yes, I know what you mean I'll be back in a few hours, so you'll have to you get yourself fed tonight, but I've put plenty of readymade meals in the freezer that you can just heat up."

"I'll manage, I've been looking after myself longer than you've been alive," Aaron promised him tenderly. "Perhaps, this weekend we can go visit them once they know about me that is."

"I'll look forward to it," Spencer promised, kissing him again.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Figlio! To what do we owe the pleasure?" Dave greeted his son as he entered the house. "I mean we were beginning to think you had abandoned us, as we haven't seen you in a couple months now."

"I've talked to you a lot on the phone," Spencer pointed out calmly, even as he hugged his father and kissed both his cheeks, which was the Italian greeting. "I've just been really busy that's all."

"So why have you suddenly come home now as we certainly weren't expecting your visit in the middle of the week?" Dave inquired suspecting that he already knew why his son had come to visit as he had sounded different on the phone, more happy and content, even if it wouldn't've been obvious to someone who didn't know him really well.

"Why don't I just wait until we are together before I tell you my news," Spencer suggested and enjoyed seeing the disappointment flash across his father's face.

"You just want to keep me in the dark," Dave mock accused him.

Despite being over 50 David Rossi still looked like he had when he and Hermione had first met and nobody who wasn't magical themselves would never believe that he was indeed over 50, as he really didn't look more than 30 or so. The only difference really was the laugh lines around his eyes and mouth that showed he had been happy for quite sometime. Spencer knew that his father worked hard to maintain his weight so that he didn't end up looking like Babbo Natale, which was Italian for Santa Claus.

His father was still the strong, invincible man he had known for nearly 13 years now, and he would remain so for quite some time considering that magicals lived longer then even shifters.

Spencer just grinned unrepentantly at his father with his golden brown eyes twinkling mischievously.

"That's not really the reason, you know, I just don't want to have to a repeat myself that's all," Spencer told his father with a smile.

Dave pouted in mock disappointment, but then grinned at his son, "So how are classes going?"

"They're going fine, papà," Spencer promised his father. "I'm already well on my way to getting my first degree and the professors have been amazed at how fast I am learning. I get the impression that that my professors have had many intelligent students over the years, but not many like me, someone that seems to absorb information like a sponge. I believe that my professors are starting to expect great things from me and likely won't be too surprised when I get several degrees as most students in college only get one degree, sometimes two and it takes them years."

"Well, you do have several things that help you along, figlio," Dave told his son. "Not many people have your combination of gifts if any, so you really are unique and special. You have an extremely high IQ and that's only going to increase the more you absorb and learn, you have an eidetic memory, which means you can't technically forget anything you learn even if it takes you a few minutes to think of something and you read 20,000 words a minute, which is definitely a very unique talent and I doubt very much that anybody else has ever been able to read so fast before, absorb information and remember every word afterwards. If anybody ever has your unique combination of gifts again, well, it likely won't be for a very long time."

Spencer knew that what his father said was the truth as he doubted anybody in history had had his unique combination of gifts and likely wouldn't happen again, at least for several hundred years, if ever.

"The only thing that really matters is you use what gifts you have been given for the good of mankind and never use them for evil purposes, you never use them to copy another students report for example and then claim it as your own, well there are many ways that your talent can be misused and I don't want you to go down that very dark road," Dave added.

"I have no intention of doing anything of the kind, papà," Spencer promised his father solemnly. "Perhaps, if I hadn't met you and mamma and my siblings and I had been living on the street, I would have thought of using my talent in that way just as a way to get off them if we had survived that long, since I'm well aware of how dangerous they are, particularly in winter, but why would I use my talents, in that way when I can do good in the world even if nobody ever knows or at least live my life quietly, but with honor and integrity? You and mamma taught all of us about ethics and morals and how our talents should be used for good and not to hurt others or just to advance ourselves. You don't have to worry about me going to the dark side, by using my talents for something that is going to hurt others. Besides, if I did that Aaron would likely have my hide and I'd rather avoid that if it all possible."

"Aaron?" Dave perked up with the name. "Who is this Aaron? I can certainly make an educated guess, but are you going to tell me if I'm right or not?"

"What do you think?" Spencer asked his father with a grin. "You're even probably correct in what you're thinking, but I'm not going to confirm that until after mamma gets home."

Ahh! Why do you torture you old papà so?" Dave mock whined and Spencer just stood firm while grinning at his father. "Fine!" Dave finally exclaimed pretending to be insulted when he saw that his act was having no effect on his son who was really too intelligent for his own good or perhaps, it just was that Spencer knew him to well as did all his pups.

Both father and son laughed and headed towards the living room arm in arm.

"It's really good to see you, figlio," Dave told his son sincerely. "Your mamma and I miss you and your fratelli and sorelle of course, but at least they visit more often then you do, but then you're much farther away, as there is six hour time difference."

"I'll try to visit more frequently, or maybe you and mamma can come and visit me and leave your children with nonna and nonno," Spencer suggested.

"Maybe we'll do that," Dave mused. "We did want to give you a chance to settle in and so we decided that we wouldn't be visiting you for at least a year, although that doesn't prevent you from visiting us, since the time difference is much better on your end. If you come at 6 o'clock pm America time it's just about lunch time here and vice versa of course."

"You're welcome to come visit for a few weeks, and even bring at least my older siblings with you since I do miss them," Spencer suggested. "I'm sure they would enjoy exploring some of New York."

"It's hard to believe that they're nearly 13," Dave sighed sounding melancholy. "It won't be many more years before they're fully grown."

"Yes, but just think of the fact that you'll have three less pups to worry about," Spencer pointed out, "especially since I know you're planning on having more. I mean mamma is still really young as she's only in her early 30s after all. The two of you could have several more sets of pups before it won't be as safe for her to get pregnant anymore."

"Yes, we are planning on having more probably early next year," Dave told Spencer who nodded.

"I would think 15 was enough for anybody even if four of those are all grown up and out on their own," Spencer said, "but then again I doubt very seriously that I'll ever have pups of my own so maybe it's just me that I don't see why you would want more when you still have so many living at home."

"Some people just really love pups, figlio and can afford to have them. Your madre was an only child and so I can understand her motivation as to why she wanted quite a few of her own, so that none of her pups would be lonely. It helps that the gestation period is three months shorter since the babies grow much faster then for a mundane or magical pregnancy. Both of us have it down to a routine now, every three and a half years some more pups come along and we know exactly what to do, so that your madre doesn't overdo it. You know how she is."

Spencer did indeed as he knew that his mamma liked to keep extremely busy, because she hated tedium. He couldn't really blame her for he hated boredom himself and he tried to keep constantly busy, but when she was pregnant she'd had to learn to take it much easier and slower than she normally would, as overdoing it when she was pregnant with multiple pups was not a good idea.

"Yes, I know very well how she is," Spencer agreed. "I don't really blame her actually, as the intelligent mind hates boredom and you have to admit that mamma is extremely intelligent, even though I know her IQ has never been tested. However, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if it was at least 150 or 160 and probably more."

"You're likely likely right there, figlio," Dave agreed.

Just then the front door opened and Dave knew that Hermione was finally home, as she had been visiting her brother and sister-in-law who had just had another baby their sixth. Luna like Hermione was plenty of young enough to have a few more pups if she wanted to as she was two years younger then his wife, which meant she was 31. That was the way it was with a lot of magicals who tended to marry early in their lives, like as young as 17 or at least by the time they were 20 and therefore, had plenty of time to have as many children as they wanted. With shifters however, it was different due to the fact that shifters like veelas had a lifemate and some like him simply didn't want to get married until they found them, although many never did, but still went ahead and got married and had pups. He had been lucky and he knew it when he and Hermione had met at a bar they both frequented, although her more irregularly then him.

"Dave?" Hermione called.

"In the living room, love. Come see who came to visit," Dave called back.

Hermione came into the living room and saw Spencer and immediately she squealed happily and rushed forward to give him a big hug and kiss cheek.

"How long have you been here? How long can you stay? Why haven't you been to visit us in the last several months?" Hermione asked in a rush.

"Slow down, mamma," Spencer laughed, as he hugged her back. "We have plenty of time to talk before I need to head back to New York. As for how long I've been here a little over an hour, as I came as soon as my classes were over for the day. I can stay at least through lunch, but then it will be six or seven in New York and I really do need to get back and as for the reason I've come in the middle of the week is that I have some news to share and papà already suspects what that news is, but I refused to confirm or deny."

Hermione studied her son and sat down on the couch beside Dave who immediately put his arm around her waist

"You've met someone," Hermione told her son with certainty and Spencer blushed right on cue.

"I believe it's more than he's just met someone, I believe that he's met at his lifemate, as he did let the name Aaron slip earlier," Dave teased his son.

Hermione appeared shocked for a moment, because not only was that a male name she never expected her nearly 20 year old son to have met his lifemate already, much less for them to be male.

"Yes, I did meet my lifemate when I was least expecting it," Spencer admitted a little shyly. "His name is Aaron Hotchner and he's one of the curators for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which is also one of the largest museums in the world. I was at the Museum looking at all the beautiful art since you papà instilled that love in me and this was the first chance I had gotten to do so, between learning my way around the city, classes, homework and so forth. I was in the classical art's studying the paintings when I felt somebody come up behind me and I turned. The connection was immediate."

"I'm so happy for you, figlio," Dave told his son sincerely. "You will have to bring Aaron to meet us sometime very soon."

"Thank you, papà," Spencer said then looked at his mother who still appeared to be in shock.

"I'm happy for you to, although I never imagined that your lifemate would be another man," Hermione said. "It never even occurred to me actually."

"I'm not surprised," Dave told her gently as he squeezed her hand affectionately. "That kind of thing is looked down on in England so much so that you can even get yourself killed if you're caught dating your own sex, particularly in the very old-fashioned magical community over there. There's a lot of hatred for gay couples in England at least, as the English are very conservative, although you can find hatred anywhere. In Italy however, it is much more accepted, although there's still some hatred of course, because some people still consider it wrong. I have suspected for sometime that if Spencer ever did meet his lifemate it was likely to be another male, because I couldn't see him getting close to any female except as a friend considering what he went through when he was a pup. Now if what happened when he was only five had never occurred it's possible that his mate would have been female, but we'll never know, will we? I'm not saying that I suspected that Spencer would meet him when he was only 19, but then you never know when you will meet your mate, so how could I? Besides, you have to remember that you were only a couple of years older yourself when we met."

Hermione considered that, then nodded.

"So when can we meet this Aaron Hotchner?" Hermione asked.

"Well, he doesn't have to work most weekends and I don't have classes, so I was thinking that maybe Saturday or Sunday we could come for lunch or something, perhaps, stay the night.

"That would be ideal if you could come and spend the whole weekend, so we can get to know Aaron," Dave said. "You could leave at maybe two or three in the afternoon on Sunday and you wouldn't get home to late at night."

"I'll talk to Aaron, but I'm sure he'll agree, as he's been looking forward to meeting you ever since I told him all about you," Spencer said. "We've talked a lot."

"In between other activities I bet," Dave said leering playfully at his son who blushed a brilliant red. "Papà!" Spencer exclaimed.

"Dave!" Hermione admonished to husband. "There's no need to embarrass the boy."

"He's hardly a boy, Hermione," Dave told his wife with his eyes twinkling mischievously. "He's a young man who is nearly 20, I don't consider that a boy even if he still quite young and he's certainly much more mature than his peers."

"He'll always be my boy," Hermione said. "Even if I know that he and his three siblings are all grown up on us."

Spencer listened to his parents bantering and blushed again, as he knew where this sort of conversation usually led, but since they had company they would at least wait until he headed back to New York or at least he hoped they would.

"I'll always be, your son," Spencer told Hermione, "and I'll make sure I come and visit more often from now on, but I just wanted Aaron all to myself for a little while before I introduced you to him and I knew that if I came and visited you that you would immediately know that something was up and so I didn't want to do that until I was ready to tell you about him."

"So why didn't he come with you?" Dave asked raising his eyebrow questioningly.

"He thought it would be rude to just show up when you didn't even know he existed," Spencer explained.

"You told him that Italians don't really stand on ceremony right?" Hermione asked with a little smile. "He's family, just because he's your mate and therefore, he's always welcome here."

"I told him," Spencer promised them, "but he's extremely old-fashioned in certain ways and in fact he's considerably older than I am, although the age difference isn't as much as between the two of you."

"I for one one had already figured that out if he is already a curator of a department at the Metropolitan Museum," Dave said. "I would say he had to be at least in his late 30s or early 40s, but since you're only 19 and you say there's less than 20 years age difference I would say he's probably between 32 or 33 to 36 or 37, but I would guess he's in the upper range of those ages considering that he's a curator and they require years of experience before a person gets that kind of position."

"He's 35 actually," Spencer admitted. "I'm sure you two will like him, as he's absolutely brilliant for one thing at least in his chosen field."

"We won't like him just because he's brilliant, we'll like him because he loves you and so treats you well," Hermione told Spencer with a smile. "Besides, he would have to be brilliant in order for him to be your mate you've got to share at least a few similarities and since you're so intelligent he would have to be is well, even if it's not in the same things."

Dave was nodding in agreement with this.

"So I forgot to ask is he another shifter or is he completely mundane as I can't see a magical working in a museum, although I could be wrong about that," asked Dave.

"He's a shifter, just like I am," Spencer answered. "I'm not sure I would have ever completely trusted him if he weren't considering that sometimes the ones who aren't shifters themselves have betrayed their mates in the past, even if it doesn't happen very often. I believe I would be too afraid to ever truly get together with him, to afraid of betrayal."

"Well, I'm glad he's a shifter then, because I know you would be miserable without him just like I would be if I hadn't agreed to complete the bond with Dave, even if it took him six months to convince me," Hermione said glancing adoringly at her husband of 13 years and Dave brightened noticeably and returned the look even going so far as to lean over and kiss her cheek. "Luna did tell me that I would be completely miserable if I turned down Dave's offer of spending my life with him and now I'm glad I listened to her. Of course, she couldn't just tell me straight out she had to dance around the subject, but I understand why she didn't so I forgave her a long time ago."

"We'll look forward to meeting, your Aaron, this weekend, figlio," Dave told Spencer who nodded.

"I'll make sure we come this weekend so long as nothing pops up," Spencer promised. "I have to admit that having a Portkey that takes me instantaneously from one place to another is very convenient. Just think of all the time and money you save instead of taking a plane. I wouldn't be able to visit half as often as I do if not for that Portkey you made me mamma."

"You're more than welcome," Hermione told him with a smile. "I was hoping it would encourage you to visit as often as time allows."

"Well, I did visit quite often before I met Aaron because I kept getting homesick," Spencer said and his parents nodded. "Now though things are different and Aaron is my home, so whenever he, is I am."

"That's the way it should be, figlio," Dave told his son with a pleased smile. "We'll always love you and you'll always love us, but that's different from having a life partner male or female. You're always welcome to come home and bring Aaron with you anytime you want, but parents have to know when to let go and let their pups grow up and you are of age and much more mature than most young people."

"So do you have a picture of Aaron so we know what he looks like?" Hermione asked.

"Sure I snapped a few on my phone mostly when he wasn't paying attention, as it is more natural that way," Spencer said, taking out his cell phone and bringing up the pictures he had taken of his mate Aaron Hotchner.

He then showed the pictures to his parents and Hermione said, "He's a very handsome man."

Dave made no comment, but he agreed with that statement and felt that Aaron Hotchner was indeed a very handsome man and he could already see why his son was madly in love with him. Dave didn't bother to get jealous at his wife's comment, for he still admired beautiful women, even if it went no farther than that, just like she did handsome men. However, just because they did, did not mean that the two of them were not totally devoted to each other, because they were.

"I think so, but then I realize I'm prejudiced," Spencer admitted with a smile. "I'm glad I met him, although I certainly didn't expect it when I went to the Metropolitan Museum to look around, since I had never been there before and I had been wanting to go, since I knew it was one of the biggest museums in the world."

"Well, you did say that you felt your destiny was in America," Dave reminded his son who nodded for he had said exactly that.

"I know, but even though I knew I felt as if I needed to go to college in the States I had no idea what was actually waiting on me," Spencer said.

"I think you found it," Dave told his son with a smile.

"I know I did," Spencer told both his parents with the mile wide grin. "My plans certainly changed once Aaron and I met as I had planned on getting three of four different degrees and then maybe coming back and finding me a position here in Italy, so that I would be closer to my family, but wherever he is, I will be."

"And that's the way it should be," Dave told his son very happy that Spencer had found his lifemate because nobody deserved it more, besides, his three siblings of course.

"We'll miss you, but if all you can do is visit I will be happy with that," Hermione said, "as I can certainly understand where you're coming from considering that I could never leave your father anymore then you can leave Aaron."

"Look on the bright side Aaron and I can visit every week or two instead of only a few times a year thanks to the Portkey you made me," Spencer told Hermione. "This is definitely one advantage of having a magic as a Portkey allows me and Aaron to travel back and forth in just a few seconds."

"Our figlio, does have a very good point, love," Dave told Hermione who totally agreed with that. "They could come to dinner on a regular basis or at least lunch. They could spend Christmas with us or we can go see them instead."

"It would be better if we spent Christmas with you, because you need to spend it with all my siblings and Aaron only has a small condo with one guestroom. It's nearly impossible to travel with so many children, except with magic and staying in a hotel would be impossible unless you rent an entire floor. Once the two of you stop having pups and they're all grown up it will be different."

"It would be complicated, but it could be done we would just rent a house that was big enough for all of us even if we ended up using sleeping bags," Dave said. "I'm sure that all your siblings would think it was an adventure to sleep on the floor."

"It's feasible, but I think it's better if Aaron and Spencer come for Christmas this year and then maybe we can plan something for the year after," Hermione said. "It will take a whole bunch of organization, something I excel at, but it can be done."

"I would think that Aaron would want to spend time with his family at least for part of the Christmas holidays," Dave mentioned

"He's not really close to his genitori," Spencer explained. "Both of them are shifters and they're definitely not lifemates and let's you say he was glad to get away from home."

Hermione and Dave exchanged looks at that, as both of them knew that Aaron and likely his siblings had been abused just like Spencer had been, which also explained why Aaron and their son were lifemates.

"I know what you're thinking without even having to say it," Spencer said with a smile. "You're thinking that's another reason why Aaron and I are lifemates and that's because we've shared some of the same experiences so we can truly understand what the other went through."

"Are we that easy to read?" Hermione asked plaintively to the two men in the room.

"No, you're really not I just know both of you well considering I lived here for just over 13 years," Spencer told his mother. "Besides, you'd be right that's another good reason that we're lifemates, because we do understand the depths of the horror we went through, although Aaron was certainly never forcibly violated like I was, but still he was abused to just in a different way and yet he turned into a good man and he certainly didn't have the good influence that you had on me and my siblings."

"I would think he had plenty of siblings to spend the holidays with," Hermione said, "since every shifter I've ever met seems to have a ton of them."

"He does have a few," Spencer admitted, "but they're not really close and their parents liked it that way. The only ones he's close to are his brother Sean and his two sisters Leanne and Vivianna and that's only because they were born at the same time and so have the same experiences. He doesn't like to talk about his family and I don't blame him, because what little I know is bad enough and makes me want to hunt down both his genitori and turn them into slugs."

Both Spencer's parents winced at that and Dave said, "That bad, huh?"

"That bad," Spencer confirmed his expression grim.

"Well, then we will welcome your Aaron with open arms and hopefully, in time we will become as much family to him as you are," Hermione said her expression determined. "I know we can never truly take the place of his parents, since he is not a child after all like you and your siblings were when we took you in, but hopefully, he'll come to enjoy spending time with us whether that's for a few hours or for a week or two."

"Thanks a lot, mamma," Spencer told Hermione.

"You're more than welcome," Hermione told Spencer with a warm smile. "You're my son after all and I don't want you to stop visiting just because I make it clear I don't approve of who you've taken up with. I'm very well aware that a lot of families would never accept two men being together and that it often breaks those families apart and the child, now a grownup never goes back to see their family again. I am determined that that's not going to happen to us as, you can't really help who you fall in love with as feelings aren't always logical, for non-shifters who don't have lifemates. The heart wants, what the heart wants and a lot of people don't understand this or if they do they don't care."

"That's very wise of you," Dave told his mate with a warm smile kissing her on the cheek.

"Thank you, but I might not have made the same decision if I didn't know very well that once a shifter meets their lifemate they aren't going to give them up just because a parent or some other member of that family disapprove. They'll cut off all contact with those members of their family instead, so either I accept your relationship with Aaron or Dave and I lose you completely, which would devastate us, so it is just better to accept then to cause that to occur."

"I think even if you and I had never met and you had married someone else and one of your sons had turned out to like his own sex even without the inevitability of a lifemate bond, you would still have wanted him to be happy," Dave said. "It's just not in you to make one of your pups miserable just because of whom they choose to love."

"You might be right or you might not be," Hermione said finally neither agreeing or disagreeing with Dave's statement. "It doesn't really matter anyway."

"I had better go fix lunch," Dave said, looking at his watch as he heard his stomach growl, "as Spencer needs to get back to Aaron."

"Yes, I miss him," Spencer admitted, "no matter how much I've enjoyed talking to you both."

"That's only natural," Dave told his son with affection in his tone. "You and your Aaron haven't been together all that long and I'm afraid you're going to miss each other badly when you have to be apart because of his job and your classes. When you've been together for awhile like your madre and I it will be different and you won't miss each other quite so intensely if you have to be apart for a few hours."

"I'll help you with lunch," Spencer volunteered and followed his father into the kitchen. "You have to feed the mob upstairs after all, even if the house-elves you have help with that."

"Yes, I don't know how we could get along without them," Dave said, as he started to get out the ingredients for one of his son's favorite dishes.

"And it will only get worse if you have more children," Spencer said.

"Well, then it's a good thing that your mother is so good at organization," Dave said brightly causing Spencer to laugh.

Father and son chatted amiably as they started fix the food that would feed all 11 children that were still at home with more in the future.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"Welcome, welcome to our home," Dave greeted Aaron Hotchner shaking his hand and then kissing both his cheeks.

"Thank you for the warm welcome," Aaron told the older man with a smile, even though he looked even younger than he himself was, but then he had been told that was because he was magical and that magicals tended to look younger then any other species simply because they lived so much longer due to their magical cores.

Aaron found it hard to believe that David Rossi was over 50, simply because he didn't look more than 30 or 35 at the very most.

"You're more than welcome, because you're family now," Dave informed him. "We don't stand on ceremony with family, as ours is very close as I'm sure Spencer has told you."

"He did, as he talks a lot about his family," Aaron admitted. "I don't hold that against him, it only makes me wish my family was as close as yours is."

"Come this way," Dave said, as he headed into the house Aaron and Spencer following. "Lunch is almost ready, as I started preparing stuff in advance, so that we'd have more time to get to know each other since you're only staying for a few hours instead of the weekend."

"We'll visit frequently," Aaron promised Dave, "as that Portkey makes it awfully convenient to visit you here in Italy every week or two instead of just seeing you a few times a year."

"Spencer said the same thing when he visited a few days ago to tell us about you," Dave admitted causing Spencer to blush.

"Well, you know what they say great minds think alike," Spencer said speaking for the first time since he had arrived.

"Spencer why don't you introduce Aaron to your madre. She's in the living room. I've got to go check on lunch."

"Yes, papà," Spencer agreed

"I'll call you when lunch is ready," Dave added and headed towards the kitchen.

"The living room is this way," Spencer said leading the way to where his mother was waiting.

The two men found the very beautiful woman curled up on the couch with a book in her hands

"Mamma," Spencer said quietly as he walked into the room Aaron following.

"Spencer?" Hermione asked looking up in for a confusion moment. "Did I lose track of time? When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago," Spencer told his mother with the little smile his eyes sparkling with laughter, as he was the same way getting himself lost in a good book, but only when he was reading for enjoyment and not just absorbing information.

Hermione blushed, because even after all these years she tended to get lost when she was reading depending on the material.

Aaron watched all this silently and liked the way that his mate interacted with both his parents. It was clear that Spencer loved them and that they loved him in return, which was the way it should be. Technically he had known before even coming here that Spencer adored his parents, but it was still nice to see it all the same as it confirmed for him that his mate's parents were good people who adored their pups even those that were adopted.

"Mamma, I'd like you to meed my mate Aaron Hotchner," Spencer introduced. "Aaron, I'd like you to meet my madre, Hermione Granger Rossi."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Aaron told the woman sincerely who really didn't look much younger than her husband Dave, even if he knew that she was actually nearly 20 years younger and was only 33, which meant that technically she was only a couple of years younger then he was.

"It's nice to meet you too," Hermione told him with a sincere smile that lit up her entire face. "Dave and I have been looking forward to meeting you ever since Spencer told us about you a few days ago."

It was hard to believe that the two of them were so close in age, because even though Hermione was 33 she really didn't look anymore than in her early 20s.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you ever since Spencer told me all about you, when we first met," said Aaron. "It was clear to me that he loved you and so I really wanted to meet you for myself."

"Well, apparently you've known about us longer than we known about you," Hermione said glaring at her son mock severely.

Spencer shrugged looking unrepentant. "I told you when I came to see you in the middle of the week that I wanted to keep him all to myself for a little while, so if I had visited any sooner then you would have known something was different."

"I can certainly understand that," Hermione chuckled finally relenting, since her son was not affected by he glare. "I'll have to tell you how Dave and I got together sometime and if it wasn't for some outside interference it probably never would've happened. Of course, at the time I was furious about it, but now I know that I would never have been as happy as I am if certain people that shall remain nameless for the moment hadn't stuck their noses into it."

"I'd love to hear all about it," Aaron told her sincerely with a warm smile.

"Well, perhaps, another time as I suspect that lunch will be ready in just a few minutes," Hermione said, "since we usually have lunch around this time, even though I know it's around dinnertime for you."

"That's okay," Aaron promised her, "the only way we're going to be here for dinner is if we are here for several days since there is a six hour time difference, which means it's around 7 o'clock back in New York, while it's only around 1 o'clock here."

"You're welcome to come anytime you like whether that's just for a few hours or for a week or two," Hermione told Aaron. "Dave, will tell you the same, if he hasn't already."

"Perhaps, we'll spend some of our summer vacation here as I have a lot of vacation time saved up and Spencer doesn't have classes in the summer."

"That would be excellent," Hermione said her face lighting up. "Dave and I miss Spencer so much, even though we know he has his own life. At least the other three are nearby and visit every few days, Spencer wanted to go to college in America and chose Columbia since it's one of the best schools in the country."

"I'm certainly glad he chose to come to New York to go to college," Aaron chuckled, "as we likely would not have met otherwise or at least the odds against it are astronomical."

"I'm certainly glad to," Spencer said speaking for the first time in quite awhile, as he had just quietly watched the interaction between his mate and his mother. Spencer was beyond pleased that his mate and his mother were getting along and were prepared to start building a relationship and all because they loved him, but then both his parents were very welcoming people and so long as you didn't try to hurt any of their family then they were usually very, friendly, amiable and cordial.

"I just bet you are," Hermione told him with a smile in her voice. "If I had never come to Italy I never would've met Dave, so I can certainly understand your feelings for Dave is my present, my future and also quite a large chunk of my past. I'm not really sure if I would have trusted anyone enough to accept marriage to them if it wasn't for the fact that Dave was a shifter and I was his lifemate, because let's just say I had one bad experience with somebody trying to use me for their own ends and it seriously shattered my self-confidence in that area. I started not to trust my own judgment when it came to men who were interested in me romantically and I probably never would have accepted that first offer of a date from Dave if not for my brother and sister-in-law who urged me to go for it, as they wanted me to be happy. I'm glad I listened to them now."

"So what did this man do to shatter your self-confidence?" Aaron asked looking furious on Hermione's behalf, although he had heard from Spencer that she had nearly been raped when she was a teenager, although he hadn't gone into detail, but then it hadn't really been his story to tell.

"I was fed a love potion against my will," Hermione begin to explain calmly. "Really love potions are misnamed, as they don't really make the recipient fall in love as it's more a form of control and they just make you think you are in love as they take over your mind and although you know what is happening you have no control over it it. A boy that Harry and I used to be friends with wanted me for himself, but I wasn't really interested in him as anything other than a friend and so he snuck a love potion into my drink. The potion has to be renewed every few days or it loses its effectiveness and the boy didn't feed the potion to me as often as he should have and I managed to fight it off enough that Harry noticed my odd behavior and rushed me to our school nurse Madam Pomfrey who gave me a flushing potion which flushes all potions out of your system. That was a very unpleasant experience," Hermione said making a face as she remembered that, "but once it had done it's work I was completely free for the first time in months. When Harry learned the type of potion I had been under he punched the boy in the nose and shattered it in several places and didn't even get detention for it because when Professor McGonagall who was the deputy headmistress back then learned of what had happened, well, let's just say that the boy was expelled on the spot. Luckily, the boy never had gotten around to violating me in that way, although he certainly did take great pleasure in making me do derogatory and demeaning things. You can understand why my self-confidence was shattered by what happened. However, both Harry and I were well aware that the boy never could have brewed the potion on his own, as it's pretty complicated and tricky, so he didn't have the skills, but his mother just happened to be in a potion apprenticeship before she had her oldest son and it was her that brewed the potion and therefore, carries the most blame on her shoulders for her youngest son was easily led around by the nose. His mother kept telling him that I was absolutely perfect for him and he just needed to feed me a little love potion to get me interested, although without that potion I never would have given that boy the time of day. My point in this little story is that if Dave wasn't a shifter and if I wasn't his lifemate I doubt very much I ever would have agreed to marry any man and lived my life alone. I did my own research after I figured out on my own that I was his lifemate and what I found reassured me enough that I agreed to complete the bond with him, which was the best decision I ever made, so I'm certainly glad I didn't allow my fear too overrule me."

"So are you going to tell me the name of the person that did this to you as he is not a boy any longer," Aaron said his eyes glittering dangerously.

"No, I did tell Dave just recently, but only after he swore he wouldn't go after the people responsible for not only has too much time passed he would end up being arrested and thrown in the wizarding prison of Azkaban and that's the last thing I want. I just wanted you to know that in my own way I too was abused, if not by my parents then by somebody I considered a friend, up until that incident in my fourth year. I do appreciate that you want to go teach this boy that is now a man a lesson, even though it was nearly 20 years ago, but I've gotten over what happened, although that likely would not have occurred if Dave and I hadn't gotten together, but now I'm happy and have been happy for many years. I can't say that I don't truly hope that the man and his mother are miserable until they meet their maker and that they get what they deserve, but other than that very unworthy thought they're not much to worry about."

"I don't consider it an unworthy thought," Aaron told Hermione firmly. "Considering what you went through, I think you've done very well in just having a few such thoughts of what you would like to happen to the people that put you in such a situation in the first place, because they wanted something you weren't interested in giving. If a love potion controls your mind, then there's no way you could have made such a decision on your own free will and if the boy had had sex with you it would have been rape and nothing else, because you wouldn't have been free to give consent, not to mention you were underage at the time, which just makes it worse."

"Perhaps, if I wasn't so happy all the time now and have been for over a decade I would have had more than a few such thoughts, although I likely never wouldn't have acted on them," Hermione admitted, "but in this house I know my actions will never be controlled and in fact Dave goes out of his way to make sure I know I have the freedom to do anything I want with my life."

"No, trying to control you goes against everything that a shifter and their mate means," said Aaron and Hermione nodded.

"I know, which is one of the reasons I agreed to complete the bond with Dave in the first place, because as I said I did my own research and what I found out about shifters and their lifemates reassured me that Dave would never cheat on me or try to control me as such actions would be anathema to him. I was very happy when I discovered that because I had fallen in love with him by that point and it would've deeply pained me to turn him down, but if I hadn't known exactly what I was getting into I likely never wouldn't have taken the risk, as I would have been too afraid to."

Aaron nodded at that, because he could certainly understand that particular decision and considering that she had already nearly been raped once, since she had been under someone else's control for months, he wouldn't have been able to really blame her in the least if that had happened, although luckily, it hadn't, because then the Rossis never would have gone to America for their honeymoon or adopted Spencer and his siblings and therefore, the two of them never would have met, so yes, he was certainly glad of Hermione's decision, although not just for himself, but for Spencer's family as well.

"I for one am certainly glad that you agreed to complete the bond with me," came Dave's voice from the doorway, "as I certainly would've been miserable without you, but thanks to your agreement I've been happy for the last 13 years."

Everybody turned towards the doorway to see Dave standing there looking relaxed.

"So have I," Hermione promised Dave, as she got up from where she was sitting and walked over to him and Dave automatically took her in his arms and kissed her gently.

"I just came to tell you that lunch is ready," Dave added once he came up for air looking very smug, while Hermione looked dazed from the kiss, which had been tender and passionate at the same time.

Spencer and Aaron witnessed this tender, touching scene and smiled at each other.

Neither Hermione or Dave paid attention to the other two people in the room and simply looked deeply into each others eyes their love for each other obvious for all to see.

"We had better go before lunch gets cold," Hermione said finally looking reluctant to leave Dave's arms.

Aaron knew that he had been right that Spencer's parents were definitely deeply in love, but also genuinely welcoming and warmhearted, which was the way it should be, because the world would be a much better place if more people were as deeply in love as he and Spencer were or Dave and Hermione, but unfortunately, humans didn't have lifemates and that caused many tragedies because they did not, but since there wasn't anything that anybody could do about it what was the point of worrying? No he definitely had better things to do then worry about such a huge problem that likely didn't have just one answer or solution.

Aaron glanced over at his mate and saw him chatting quite rapidly with his parents and couldn't help, but smile as seeing the man he loved interacting with his parents brought him joy, as it appeared that the three of them were quite close, which was the way should be.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"We're sorry to see you leave so soon," Dave told Aaron and Spencer. "Make sure you come back and visit often as you will always be welcome here."

"We will," Aaron promised. "It would make Spencer unhappy to not see you very much and I would never do that to him. He's welcome to visit you anytime he likes, even if I can't come along for some reason, likely work commitments. Of course, you and your family are welcome to visit us anytime you want to, since transportation isn't exactly a problem."

"And believe me, I for one really like the magical forms of transport," Hermione said, as she came to stand beside Dave who automatically put it an arm around her waist. "No, spending hundreds of pounds on a plane ticket, or hours on a plane having a child kick the back of your seat, or having to squeeze past someone so you can use the loo, no more not having enough room to stretch out your legs unless you're flying first-class, not that that matters so much to someone of my height, but it sure would bother the three of you. No, you get where you want to go in a matter of a few seconds, it's much more convenient even if you do miss a lot of scenery."

"You've flown a lot," Aaron commented.

"When I was much younger sure, as my parents and I took a vacation just about every year to some exotic locale. I've been to France several times, including the French Rivera, Spain, Australia, Germany and several other places before I even started Hogwarts and then we still took a summer vacation for a few weeks after I was home at the end of the school year. Still I couldn't help, but think about all those hours wasted on a plane with your legs cramped and I was ever so glad when I moved here to Italy and there isn't a ban on Portkey creation unless you're authorized to do so. The British Ministry of Magic tries to control so much of magical lives, so is it any wonder that it's stuck in the Victorian era? Wizarding Britain is very primitive compared to Italy or America and they don't even have electricity and still see by gaslight."

"I'm certainly glad you moved here to Italy," Dave told Hermione with a grin and Hermione chuckled for this was something that Dave said often and she didn't mind it, because it also happened to be true and she knew Dave meant it. It was like an old joke between them and she was certainly glad she had moved to Italy to and that she had convinced her parents that it would be safer for them.

"I think you've made that obvious by this time," Hermione told him with a smile of her own, kissing his cheek.

"It was nice meeting you both, and I'll make sure we visit often," Aaron promised shaking both their hands.

"Good because we missed seeing our son, even though we know that he has a life in America now," Hermione said.

"Are the two of you going to get officially married?" Dave asked next. "Yes, I realize that when the two of you completed the bond, you became technically married within the shifter community, but that doesn't count in many places."

"Neither one of us has really thought about it," Spencer said after glancing at Aaron who shook his head. "We probably will at some point, although I doubt very much that we'll have the big ceremony that you told me the two of you did, as I certainly don't need all those people staring at me as I say my vows. I know how I feel about Aaron and how he feels about me, but I consider that a private thing."

"If we do decide to officially tie the knot and have a regular wedding ceremony I don't need a big wedding either, although there are a few people I'm close to that I work with that I'd like to invite, but other than that and perhaps, my three siblings that I'm closest to is more than enough for me," Aaron said.

"And I would want my family to be there if we just don't decide to do a civil ceremony that is, but other than that I don't need anyone," Spencer said.

"If we do decide to go through a wedding ceremony we'll make sure we invite you," Aaron promised, "but Spencer and I need a chance to discuss it, as both of us are shifters and we're already technically married in the shifter community, so what's the point? I mean its not like we can have pups since both of us are men and Spencer and I being together isn't going to affect my career in anyway, as that kind of thing is more accepted where I work then say in the FBI, although I hear things are rapidly changing there to."

"You don't really have any reason to get married in a normal ceremony unless you want to," Hermione realized.

"Not really, because even if we do get married we'll still be looked down on by many people for being two men in a relationship and we won't be more accepted if we do get legally married, so what's the point? Now if Aaron I could have pups we'd want to tie the knot just to give them legitimacy just like the two of you did."

"Actually we kind of got married, because since Harry is my brother it would've looked wrong if I had just moved in with Dave and then had children," Hermione admitted. "Of course, it was partly to give any children we had legitimacy as well, but mostly it was because Harry's every action is scrutinized and since he adopted me as his sister, if he hadn't thrown a big wedding for us, even more rumors would have started on him about not upholding British wizarding traditions, even though he lives in Italy now."

Spencer nodded at this showing he understood, but Aaron knew that he was not even hearing half of the context but that's only because he wasn't familiar with the people involved."

"I'll explain it to you later," Spencer promised him softly and Aaron nodded. "There's a lot about the wizarding world that you don't know about yet and it will make sense once I explain it to you."

"It's rude to talk about things that Aaron has no idea about," Hermione told the other two men, "and yes, I know I brought it up. He's only known about the wizarding world for a few months after all and I'm sure they've had other things on their minds then Spencer getting him up to speed on old family history."

Spencer blushed right on cue and everybody else laughed, even as Aaron kissed his cheek affectionately, as he loved the way his mate blushed so easily.

"We had better get going," Spencer finally said, as he gave his parents final hugs.

"Well, see you soon," Dave told the pair.

Spencer and Aaron took their leave and disappeared in a swirl of magic as Spencer activated his Portkey.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"That's some story," Aaron said

Spencer had just finished telling him all about the wizarding war in England quite a few years ago now and the part his mother and his Uncle Harry had played.

"It's true though," Spencer said, as he cuddled into Aaron's side.

"I never said it wasn't true, I just find it amazing that this supposed wizarding war in England was kept so quiet. I would think there would've been something about it on the news in England at least," Aaron explained.

"There were a lot of unexplained deaths around that time," Spencer admitted. "Death of mundanes and mundane borns, where there were no marks on the body. I'm sure if you read old English newspapers you will discover quite a few articles like that, deaths that were never explained. If there are no marks on the body, then they were likely murdered by the killing course. The final battle took place at Hogwarts, which is out in the middle of a moor in Scotland with many protective charms covering it and it is so isolated that it's unlikely that anybody would have heard or seen the actual battle. Really most of the war against Voldemort wasn't fought on your traditional battlefields, it was more hit and run tactics and the magical population of England was so afraid to standup to him that he nearly succeeded, but a lot of good people did die in both the first and second war. If they had only stood up to him the first time there would likely have been no second wizarding war, as they outnumbered him and his followers probably 1000 to 1. If they hadn't let Voldemort and his Death Eaters get away with murder, just because most of them were purebloods the problem would've been solved a long time ago."

"So because the Ministry of Magic in England didn't deal with the problem the first time a prophecy was made to where it was your Uncle Harry's responsibility to deal with it," said Aaron shaking his head, "and all the adults sat back and let him just because they were too afraid to do anything."

"More or less," Spencer admitted, "although truthfully Dumbledore was in his way just as powerful a figure as Voldemort was and he was the one that was so against killing and they listened to him. Purebloods or not they weren't going to reform and suddenly come back to the light as Dumbledore often said at least according to my mother. It should have been dealt with the first time around as anybody who murders on their own free will and enjoys it needs to be dealt with more permanently than just life in prison, especially since dead magicals can't help Voldemort take over. Voldemort actually did break them out of prison in the second war and if they had been dead or at least stripped of their wealth they would've have been able to help him so much."

"Why do you think they were like they were?" Aaron asked, not upset at all that Spencer was advocating killing people, because there was a saying and that was that some people that just needed killing. These purebloods had committed many murders and other crimes and therefore, to only put them in prison seemed a little tame, especially since he assumed that the punishment for treason was the death penalty, just like it still was in many countries.

"Madre believes it has to do with the fact that they're so inbred," Spencer explained. "The purebloods of England have been marrying their cousins for centuries now just to keep their bloodlines supposedly pure. Merlin forbid that it gets tainted by shifter or mundane blood or even mundane borns or half-blood. You inbred too much and you start to get defects, not necessarily physical, but mental. Humans because that's basically what magicals really are not cattle or horses. It's gotten to the point that a lot of the older purebloods families are only having one child per generation and it won't be long before they die out completely if they don't change their ways. She also says it was pure blind arrogance on their part as well, but mostly because they've been marrying their cousins for generations."

"I see," Aaron said. "I don't know much about inbreeding, but you're likely right as we weren't meant to marry our relatives, so is it any wonder that the purebloods and magicals in England started develop problems."

"Yes, but the point I was trying to make was that entire wizarding war likely wouldn't have happened if they didn't do that," Spencer said.

"I would say let them stew in their own juices as they created the situation and I'm sure they know how to get out of it by marrying mundane borns or half-bloods. Just because they're too stubborn to do that is not our problem or Harry's problem, no matter how guilty some of those people in England try to make him feel."

"The only problem with that is a lot of good people got killed and they're family lines wiped out or almost wiped out," Spencer said looking said. "Families who certainly didn't deserve to be destroyed by a megalomaniac. I know it's not really my problem, but still it makes me sad that so many people who didn't want to become involved in the war or if they did their only reward was having their whole family wiped out."

"There's nothing you can really do about it as it's in the past so there's no point of worrying about it," Aaron said. "Yes, it's sad and shouldn't have happened except for selfish people who wanted things their way and also the magical government's who didn't take care of the problem when they should have so all those dead sits squarely on not only the people that killed them, but on the magical government of England for not taking care of the problem before it got out-of-control. Of course, if I had been personally, involved in that war like your mamma and Uncle Harry, well, I would probably feel differently. War is a nasty business no matter how it is fought people die in wars, but I do understand what you're saying that there're so many more things that the people of wizarding Britain and also the government could have done differently, and perhaps, so many good families lines wouldn't have been wiped out or many families brought to the edge of extinction if things had been done like should have been. I understand more now about the wizarding history of England in particular and how your mother and her brother were involved in it, which was all I wanted to know so I could understand what your parents were discussing better. I'm sure I'll learn plenty of more over the years, but now we have other things to do."

"That we do," Spencer grinned up at his mate, "that we do. I'm always in the mood for that particular activity and I never believed in a million years that I would ever say that until you and I met."

Aaron said nothing, simply laughed, as he and Spencer headed to their bedroom

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

One year later

"Did you ever think about trying to adopt a few pups, since we can't have them naturally due to the fact that we're both the same-sex?" Spencer asked an idly, as he and Aaron lay on the sofa. Aaron was laying on the sofa itself while Spencer was stretched out on his chest with his legs intertwined with his mate's.

"I have been thinking about it," Aaron admitted. "I was going to bring it up to you in another year or so, as I wanted it just be the two of us for awhile before we even thought about adopting. I've happier in the last year then I have ever been in my life and I didn't want to disrupt what we have. I do want pups, but I never imagined that my mate would be male before the two of us met, even if I did fool around with a few men, but it was mostly women that I slept with."

"I think we should go ahead and get our names on a list because it will likely be awhile before we can adopt. We'll likely end up adopting older pups and not infants or toddlers since older pups hardly ever get adopted," Spencer said.

"Which would be fine, as we could raise them and then they'd be out on their own much sooner. It doesn't even matter if they're shifters like ourselves, although I would love for them to be just like the two of us, but it's not necessary," Aaron said.

"Who knows we might find a few wolf shifter pups who need to be adopted because their parents die on them and although it's rare sometimes they don't have any relatives or any that are willing to take them in at least," Spencer said. "So how many do you want to adopt?"

"Well, shifters usually always have multiples with a few rare exceptions, so if there's three or four all from one birth we'd have to take them all. Of course, it's possible that they'll be more than that from two or three separate births that're siblings and we'd have to take them all as well," Aaron said.

"Yes, I know shifters like large families particularly ones like my parents who can afford them," Spencer agreed. "Mamma is pregnant again did you know?"

"No, I hadn't heard," Aaron said. "So this is her what? Her fourth pregnancy?"

"Fifth," Spencer corrected smiling. "If you had seen how papà was prancing around so happy last time I visited while you were still busy at the museum you would have known something was up immediately. He was so happy and ecstatic that he could have burst.

"She can't be that far along as we just visited together a month or so ago," Aaron said.

"Just a couple of weeks," Spencer admitted. "You can tell much sooner with magic then you could if you didn't have any. It does make it easier that mamma has given birth several times before which means she's pretty fertile than if she had never given birth before."

"So did they know how many they are having this time?"Aaron asked.

"It's likely to soon to tell, although next time we go to visit in a few weeks they should be able to tell how many their carrying just not the sexes. You know come to think of it we should probably think about getting married before we try to adopt a child or two because you know that we'll have a better chance to do that if we officially tie the knot."

"That's true," Aaron admitted with a smile kissing the top of his mate's head. "Maybe we should wait to adopt until after you graduate. I mean you've already gotten one degree and you're going for another. I know originally you were planning to get four of five different degrees maybe even six or seven."

"So I can do that in my spare time online if I have to," Spencer said. "Besides, we can always leave any pups we have with mamma and papà in Italy as they'll have to know about magic, even if they don't have magic themselves. I guarantee you that any pups we adopt will love anytime spent with their nonni. We should see about adopting some right away and it doesn't matter how many we take in as money isn't a problem, although we will have to get a house somewhere, since your condo isn't exactly big enough for anyone, except for the two of us."

Aaron knew because Spencer had told him that he had a trust fund set up for him, just like all his siblings did and so they would never have to worry about money for a single day in their lives if they chose not to work, the both of them agreed that they'd be extremely bored if they didn't have something to keep them busy which is why Spencer wanted a college education so that he could get a job that he could really sink his teeth into. Of course, if he had gotten one in the wizarding world then he wouldn't have needed the college education and the two of them would never have met, so he would just be grateful that Spencer had decided unlike his siblings that he wanted to go to a regular college.

"Well, let's see if we can adopt first before we consider moving," Aaron suggested. "It'll likely be a long drawn out process, and we'll probably have to jump through more hoops then a male/female couple simply because there is still a lot of bigotry against two men or two women in a relationship and you know it likely won't matter that the two of us are lifemates as most people don't understand what that term really means unless they are a shifter themselves."

"Yeah, you're right," Spencer agreed. "It won't matter that there's not supposed to be any discrimination against two males or two females adopting a pup or pups, there still is a lot of it regardless. Still we can take it to a higher court if we have to and likely win because the laws are clear."

"I'm willing to take up the fight and I know a good lawyer that we'll be on our side in this," Aaron said.

"Yeah, there's no way that somebody against same-sex relationships is going to be able to tell us that we can't adopt because we're two men as both of us are very familiar with the laws. I could practically be a lawyer myself, that's what I wanted to do, even though I don't have a degree just because I like to know as much as I can about every subject under the sun. I can quote you laws right off the top of my head that say that there is not allowed to be any discrimination when it comes to couples who are the same-sex. You can't be fired from your job for instance, or denied a job you are qualified for if it's found out you're in a relationship with your own sex and you definitely can't be denied the opportunity to adopt children just so you can prove that you have the money to take care of them and that you are responsible."

"Yeah, you're an information sponge which does come in useful occasionally," Aaron chuckled. "You really amazed Morgan, Emily, JJ and Garcia with your knowledge when you came to have lunch with all of us at the Café at the museum and they are all highly intelligent people they just don't have your ability to absorb information at such a rapid speed and remember every detail."

"I think they were more shocked at our age difference anything else," Spencer mentioned. "I mean I am only 20 after all nearly 21, but you're 16 years older than I am."

"They might've been shocked at first, but everybody knows that a shifter doesn't get to choose their lifemate and so they accepted it. Besides, age difference doesn't really matter so much anymore like it did a few decades ago and even if it did it's not going to affect my career in the slightest. Now if I was a member of the FBI and so were you it would be different, but that kind of thing is more accepted among the staff that works at a museum then it would be elsewhere, simply, because creative people like that don't really care about that kind of thing like some other type of people would. They're artist in their own way after all and people who are artist tend not to care that society that same-sex relationships are wrong. Anybody who doesn't accept our relationship whether because of the age difference or because we're both men isn't a true friend and I will have no problem telling them so," Aaron said.

"I did enjoy having lunch with your coworkers," Spencer admitted.

"Well, you're welcome to do that anytime as you need to get to know them and they need to get to know you," Aaron said. "I'm sure we'll do many things together over the years, dinners, spending part of the holiday together that type of thing. I won't be surprised if Morgan starts inviting us out for drinks once you officially turn 21 and yes, I know you've been drinking since you were 17 since that's of age in the wizarding world, but they don't know about that."

"Actually before that as Italians are not really strict about that kind of thing as Americans," Spencer admitted with a little laugh. "We were about 15 I believe when papà gave us our first glass of wine."

"Well, Italy does produce excellent wine," Aaron said amused.

"I remember that mamma wasn't exactly pleased, but she had to admit that one glass of wine with dinner wasn't going to hurt us. She's always been very strict about following the rules, although she does know that sometimes rules are meant to be bent or even broken," Spencer remembered.

Aaron actually snorted at that.

"You know if there are shifter of pups in an orphanage or foster home that would be ideal," Spencer said idly. "Sometimes shifters pups do lose their parents for one reason or another, although it's rare that they don't have some kind of relative whether that's aunts, uncles cousins or grandparents."

"Well, even if they do a lot of times they don't have the money or at least the room to take all of them in particularly if they have families of their own," Aaron pointed out, "even if they want to. Even if they do have the money and the room a lot of times their spouse objects unless they are another shifter of course."

"So if we get extremely lucky we'll find some shifter pups that have been put in either an orphanage or a foster home probably at least four of them," Spencer said. "You know I was just thinking that it might be a good idea for us to get married anyway, because even though I technically do have American citizenship, I'd rather not have to go through all the bother of proving that I'm here on something besides, a student visa. I could have Gringotts produce documents if I needed them, because I really do have American citizenship, but it seems like a lot of bother to go to when getting married will solve that problem."

"I haven't thought that far ahead, but you're right lifemates or not, technically you are only here on a student visa," Aaron admitted. "If we get married and then proved that, to the proper authorities then there's no way they can separate the two of us just because you're only here on a student visa. So if that's the case..." Aaron said rising to his feet making sure that he held onto Spencer so that his mate didn't slump to the floor at the sudden movement. Aaron made sure that Spencer was on his feet and then knelt down, "I know we said that we weren't planning on getting married, because there was no need to do that because we can't have pups, but despite that I would like nothing more than to marry you right here and right now, so Spencer David Rossi, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" Spencer exclaimed happily as he pulled Aaron to his feet and kissed him passionately.

"Wow! I'm going to propose to you every day if you are going to kiss me like that!" Aaron said not joking in the least as he felt totally dazed from the scorching fire and passion that had been behind the kiss.

"What about I just kiss you like that every day, so you only have to propose once," Spencer suggested with a quiet laugh.

"That works too," Aaron said taking his mate into his arms and began to kiss him just as passionately, as he had just been kissed and this time it was Spencer's turn to look dazed once the kiss had broken.

Aaron grinned in smug satisfaction at the dazed look on his mate's face. "We can pick you up a ring sometime in the next couple of days."

"Alright, but we are not going to buy an ordinary engagement ring or wedding band as we're going to buy one that cannot be stolen," Spencer begin to explain once he recovered his facilities from the kiss.

"So magic can do that?" Aaron asked with a raised eyebrow quite calm.

"Yes, it can and in fact all magical engagement rings or wedding bands cannot be stolen. Oh, sure the thief can make off with the ring, but it always returns to its owner within a few hours and it also shrinks to fit the wearer so we buy one that is slightly too big and then it will automatically shrink down once it gets past the knuckle."

"Won't the thief notice it missing?" Aaron asked.

"Oh, sure, but they always assume that it just fell out of the bag or whatever along the way and that they lost it somewhere. It's kind of a safety feature of magical rings," Spencer said.

"Well, then we'll get you a magical engagement ring and also two wedding bands," Aaron decided.

"Once we get everything arranged even if it's a ceremony down at the courthouse I'd like to invite my genitori and my brother and sisters. I'd like to invite my other siblings to, but some of them are too young to behave or even understand what's really going on."

"So just invite the ones that're old enough and have a babysitter look after those to young to really enjoy something like a wedding," Aaron suggested. "I'd really like to plan a ceremony, even if it's a small simple one and not just get married down at the courthouse, because it's not like your student visa runs out anytime soon so why rush?"

"I don't need a bunch of fanfare," Spencer said in mild protest. "I know I was raised in luxury from the time I was seven years old, but still I'm a pretty simple man and I don't go for a lot of bother or frills."

"Neither do I, but I'm sure we can pull off a simple straightforward wedding ceremony with your family and my friends from the museum all without having it down at the courthouse," Aaron suggested. "Weddings are mostly for family and friends anyway not for the couple getting married, even if I know many females would disagree with that statement."

"Alright then," Spencer gave in. "We can plan a simple straightforward ceremony that doesn't have a lot of frills to it with an equally simple reception afterwards. I suppose we should do it that way instead of just down at the courthouse so it doesn't look like we're rushing just in case the government officials checks on that kind of thing."

"It won't look like we are rushing or anything after we explain that we didn't see any reason for a big wedding ceremony since we were lifemates and the only reason we decided to tie the knot was so that we could adopt children together," Aaron said calmly, as he held his mate close trying his best to calm him down for Spencer was not exactly in panic mode, but not his calm normal self either. It was nice to see that he wasn't mature in some ways despite being nearly 21 as he was most of the time. Aaron had always thought that Spencer was way more mature at 19 when they had met, then most other young adults he had known, but in this situation his age and inexperience was starting to show and Aaron thought it was nice to see that in some ways Spencer wasn't as mature as he was in others. In other words, he was acting more appropriate for his age instead of the maturity he showed most of the time, although he wasn't about to say so out loud and insult the man he adored.

"Don't worry so much things will work out," Aaron promised him even as he led his mate towards the bedroom as he knew that likely the only way to calm Spencer down quickly was to distract him and so that was exactly what he planned on doing.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"So you decided to get married after all," Hermione squealed excited for her son.

"Only because we want to adopt a few pups if at all possible and we figured that it would be easier to do that if we tied the knot first," Spencer told his mother in a mild tone of voice. "Not to mention that while I do have a student visa I don't have a permanent resident visa, even though I was technically born in Las Vegas in the United States, but considering that you adopted me and my brother and sisters through the magical childcare department, well, if it's better not to bring up old history. Once Aaron and I do get married I will be able to get a green card automatically. I doubt very much that they'll delve far enough back to find out that I was actually born in the States, especially since my name was changed and I look about as Italian as papà does."

"The fact that he speaks with a slight Italian accent considering how long he's lived in this country will only help him and make the officials believe that he really was born in Italy," Aaron added.

"I've never told anyone that I know in the States about my past except for Aaron, because it's painful for me, as you can imagine to even think about it much less talk about, even if I know I'll never be able to forget it, as the memories will always remain sharp and clear due to my memory," Spencer said. "To anybody except you, papà and Aaron I'm Italian and you adopted me and my siblings because our mother died and my father left us. If anybody asks for more details it's none of their business."

"That's a very good tack to take," Hermione told her son approvingly. "People can be nosy, but you don't have to give them information no matter how much they wheedle, cajole or beg if you don't want to."

"Exactly and they might think that I have something to hide, but really everybody has parts of their past that they don't like to talk about," Spencer said. "Aaron and I are still planning the wedding ceremony, which is going to be simple, nothing elaborate or complicated and there probably won't be more than 30 people there. Really just a few of Aaron's really good friends from work, and my family, as I'm not really close enough to any of the college students or teachers to actually invite them."

"I think we can leave the younger ones here," Hermione mused, "and the house-elves can look after them as we won't be gone more than a couple of days."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Spencer agreed. "I thought maybe the older ones, the ones that were born about the time that me and my siblings joined the family would like to come and maybe the ones that were born three years later, but the others I think are too young to really appreciate the fact that their brother is getting married or mature enough to behave."

"Maybe Dave and I can take a bit of extra time because only having five children to look after will be practically a vacation. I've never been to New York, and maybe we could take in some of the sites, while we are there," Hermione said thoughtfully. "We have taken a few short vacations and left Dave's parents to look after the pups as well the house-elves while we were gone, but this will be the first one we've had in several years."

"As much you love your pups you do need time to yourselves occasionally," Aaron said speaking for the first time since her initial greeting.

"Definitely," Hermione agreed with a smile. "It keeps our marriage strong and healthy if we take occasional breaks from everyday life. I'll bring the matter up with Dave as soon as he gets home, although I'm sure he won't object to taking a few days to see some of New York after we see the two of you get married. So to change the subject have you thought about where to take your honeymoon?"

"Well, considering we can travel anywhere we want without spending hours on a plane we could literally go anywhere," Spencer answered, "but as for where we are going that has yet to be determined as there are so many places that both Aaron and I want to see."

"We could go to somewhere in the States, except giving San Francisco or Las Vegas a miss considering what happened in those places," Aaron said, "but I think it's more likely that we will probably go somewhere like Paris or possibly somewhere like Germany."

"Paris is such a common destination though and even though I'd loved to explore the city with you I think we should go somewhere that not many honeymooners go like maybe Poland or Egypt," Spencer putting his two cents worth. "I do speak Polish and I think we could probably find the ingredients to brew up that polyglot potion for Aaron, so that by the time we left the country he would also be able to speak it and a lot of the people in Egypt do speak English because it is a tourist destination. I would love to see the great pyramids for example."

"Well, looks like you do need to decide on where to go," Hermione said smiling, as she and Dave had had many similar discussions when they had decided that they needed a few days vacation.

"We'll get it worked out," Aaron said. "There's also places like Sweden, Switzerland or Holland, so really there so many destinations we could choose for a couple weeks honeymoon."

"I'm sure we'll have a chance to visit those places, in later years," Spencer said. "We could take a vacation every year if we really wanted to, as you can't work all the time and I won't be a college student forever. I have no intention of choosing a career where I can't take a few days vacation without the chance of getting called in like if I had gone ahead with my original dream and went through the training at the Quantico so I could join the FBI. The BAU in particular rarely gets time off without having a chance of being called in and even if one of the agents takes a vacation it's a rare event if the whole team gets a vacation at the same time."

"So have you decided on what kind of career you want once you graduate?" Hermione asked her son.

"Not yet," Spencer said, "but I'll probably get a job at Columbia or maybe one or the other local colleges. Aaron wants me to get a job at the museum where he works and says that there's always positions open for new docents, particularly ones that speak as many languages as I do."

"We're always getting tour groups, that speak a little English, though it's mostly Spanish and French, but occasionally, we do get ones speak other languages. However, if Spencer decides against joining the staff at the museum then I'll still support him in whatever he chooses to do with his life," Aaron said.

"That's the way it should be," Hermione said approvingly. "Dave told me the same thing once we had officially gotten together."

"It might be nice if we work together, but we wouldn't be able to see each other, except for lunch anyway and we definitely wouldn't be allowed to do what we normally do and let people know that we are in a relationship, except our closest friends, so what would be the point?" Spencer asked.

"You can start your own business as you do have the capital to do that, so you won't even have to get a loan from a bank or your padre," Hermione suggested to her son.

"That's an idea," Spencer mused. "That never occurred to me actually, although I would need to get a business degree, but that's easy enough."

"It's a thought anyway," Aaron agreed.

"I'll have to think about it," Spencer admitted. "That's a good idea, mamma."

"You have plenty of options for your future as you're intelligent and not just book smart like so many people," Hermione told him with a loving smile. "Dave and I will help you in anyway we can, if that's what you decide to do what you graduate from college."

"I don't need the money though thanks to that trust fund that you and papà set up for me," Spencer said

"Think about it as helping out some of those people that can't get jobs nowadays because the economy is so bad," Aaron told Spencer who thought about it then nodded. "A lot of businesses fail within two or three years but that's mostly because of a poor business plan not because they're not intelligent. I would never let you start anything without a decent business plan and I know you're more than smart enough to realize that you need one before you seriously even consider it."

"I'll think about it, seriously," Spencer said. "If I start up a business I could offer some of those people that can't get a job a place to work and make money of their own and that would be good. Its something I'll consider anyway."

"I always thought Dave should start a restaurant that could easily turn into a whole chain since he is such a good cook," Hermione said, "but then he didn't have the capital until his books started to take off, so I could see why he's never really thought about it, as he would have had to have a loan from a bank and that's a rather risky proposition, as there are no guarantees that the business will be successful or if it will fail. Of course, if he decided to do it now the risk is relatively minor because he has the funds and this would barely put a dent in them."

"You can mention it to him and see what he says," Spencer suggested to his mother. "He might decide to go ahead and do that or he might not because sometimes cooking for so many people isn't as satisfying as it is if you're just cooking for your family. You love cooking for your family because you love them, but cooking for total strangers is totally different."

"Maybe I will," Hermione said, "as he's been in kind of a rut with his writing in the last year or two. He's had a major case of writer's block a lot recently."

"It was bound to happen sometime," Spencer told his mother, "as he never had any trouble coming up with a new ideas for his novel until now and he's been writing for what 25 or 30 years?

"Around 27 actually," Hermione said, "but yes, I understand what you're saying. You're saying that he's never had a major case of writer's block before now, which is rather unusual actually and so it was bound to happen eventually."

"I just thought that maybe if he can come up with any new ideas for his novels that maybe he should try something different whether that's starting a restaurant or something else entirely," Spencer said.

"I'll mention it to him when he gets home," Hermione promised.

"Where is papà anyway?" Spencer asked.

"He went to pick up our theater tickets as we're going to a show tonight and also set up a dinner reservation," Hermione explained. "He'll likely be home any minute now probably with at least two dozen roses, since that's his usual pattern. That man never misses a trick, never forgets our anniversaries, or my birthday and never forgets holidays like Valentines."

"I would think you would appreciate that, as a lot of husbands forget their wife's birthday or about Valentine's Day or their anniversaries," Aaron said amused.

"I do appreciate it," Hermione assured Aaron. "I know if I had gotten married to someone else, right after graduation from Hogwarts for example, well they likely wouldn't remember all the special days. That boy that gave me that love potion for example I doubt very much he would even remember when our anniversary was if we had happened to get married, because he wasn't exactly the brightest person and I did not realize until later that he didn't care about anyone except himself."

"I'm really glad that you managed to extract yourself from that situation," Spencer told his mother, "and not just because you never would have adopted me my sibling, but because no one deserves to be treated like you were. Love should be freely offered and given not forced and if you had been under a love potion that's not real love anyway, but manufactured and if you're assailant had forgotten to give it to you every few days like he was supposed to you would've been able to break free just like you did anyway."

"It would've happened eventually, because as I said he wasn't the smartest person and he might have convinced himself that I actually loved him for all I know or just forgotten. In any case, he doesn't matter anymore as Dave is my future and I couldn't ask for a better husband. And by the way, Spencer I agree with you about love being freely offered and not forced, because it's not really love unless it's freely given as that's what a real marriage or even a relationship is all about. You love a person despite their faults and you do your best to support them in whatever they try, comfort them when they're sad or upset, encourage them when they need it and don't cheat on them like so many spouses do. It's about being there for the long haul and not leaving at the first bump in the marriage road or even the second or third bump. Dave and I are so close because we share everything and we keep no secrets from each other. I know I can trust him not to reveal what I tell him unless I say he can, just as he knows he can trust me to do the same. He tempers my independent, stubborn streak and can get me to listen when no one else can, but then I also serve the same function for him, so it goes both ways. I won't say that we don't have the occasional argument, but we don't have any knockdown drag out fights, but then marriage isn't all a bed of roses despite popular belief," Hermione said.

"That's the way it should be," Aaron said approvingly. "Spencer and I are still working towards that harmonious stage of our relationship like you and Dave who have been together for nearly 15 years while Spencer and I have known each other only two years, but the two of us will get there once we learn about each other a little more, as just because we are lifemates does not avoid the pitfalls of getting to know each other's personalities likes and dislikes and so forth."

"Yeah, Dave and I had way more fights to at least arguments earlier in our marriage," Hermione admitted looking nostalgic, "but as you said and we were still getting to know each other. We made up and after that and our marriage was stronger than ever. I was way more independent in those days and my instincts to fight for that independence rose up without warning a lot of times, which caused at least half our arguments I'll admit. Now I still have my independence, but I listen to Dave when he tells me to take it easy or gives me some other advice, as I know he only has my best interest at heart."

"You were still incredibly young when you met papà at just 21 and although I know you were mature in a lot of ways I bet you that in others you were not just like me," Spencer told his mother. "I know you fought in that war against Voldemort and that changed you in many ways, as someone being involved in something like that makes them mature a lot faster than they would have normally, however, you still were not used to depending on anybody except yourself and you had to learn how. It was all about a matter of trust and you truly had to learn to trust papà with anything including your independence, which likely is what caused those arguments early in your marriage."

"When did you get so wise?" Hermione asked her son with a little smile.

"I had to grow up really fast and be there for my siblings and we all know why," Spencer said. "I know I'm immature in certain ways, but in most ways I am much older than I appear to be."

"That you can recognize that you need to mature in some ways it is a very great accomplishment on your part," Aaron told his mate leaning over to kiss his cheek. "I know a lot of young men who would never admit out loud that they were immature, even if it was only in certain ways. However, I always did think that you acted way more mature than most young people your age that I have known over the years, but then you've had experiences that no pup should have to go through, so it's understandable."

Aaron turned to Hermione and added, "Spencer told me of the punishment that he placed on his birth father and I thought it was very appropriate and I've been meaning to tell you so for some time now but I didn't feel that I knew you well enough to say so."

"Thank you," Hermione smirked. "Normally, I'd feel bad for placing such a compulsion on another sentient being when it comes to not killing himself or making someone impotent, but in that case, I thought it was more than deserved and while normally I'm a very nice person I've learned that I have a very tough side that thrives on justice and I consider what I did to Spencer's birth father more in the name of delayed justice then revenge. The war that Harry and I fought in changed both of us along with Luna and most of the other students that were involved in it made us grow up and realize that not every adult was good, nor would they necessarily help us when we need it all even believe us when we told them something. We learned in that a lot of times that adults don't want to listen to a child and just brushes them off. Professor McGonagall is a good person I won't deny that, but she was so set in her ways that she wouldn't listen to Harry when he tried to tell her what was roaming the school petrifying the students and just brushed aside his concerns. It ended up with Harry having to face the giant basilisk that could kill you if you looked it in the eyes and the only reason the students were petrified and not killed was that they had only seen the beast's reflection and hadn't stared into its deadly eyes. I have learned that the wizarding world in Britain a lot of adult wear their superiority like a cloak and therefore, they won't listen to someone they consider beneath them, one who is just a child because they supposedly know better. Children often see things that adults miss and so a lot of adults, not just in the wizarding world either, won't listen to them because they are supposedly too young to truly understand what's going on. To put it quite bluntly I have realized that this is a load of crap. I used to be really rule following until I realized that a lot of adults would never listen to a child and were of the opinion that they should be seen and not heard and that their opinions didn't matter because they were too young to truly have any."

"That's just the way of the world," Aaron said philosophically after hearing his mother-in-law talk about things that he knew she had been involved in when she had been much younger along with her brother Harry of course.

"I know," Hermione admitted. "However, what really annoys me is that the whole incident was swept under the rug and Harry got house points, but no award for services to the school or anything, because Dumbledore didn't want the incident to leave the school as he likely would have been seen as a bad headmaster, which we all know he didn't want and that doesn't even include first year when our vaunted headmaster at the time brought the sorcerer's stone into an environment filled with children, even though he knew that Voldemort wanted it. He didn't even bother to place a Fidelius charm and it could of sat on a shelf in his office and nobody would have known it was there."

"Why would he do something like that when the deadliest dark wizard that had been seen in many a year was after it?" Aaron asked in outrage.

"Harry and I suspect that it was kind of a challenge for him, I'm sure that Dumbledore was hoping that Harry would get himself killed and Voldemort would come back to life so he could supposedly defeat him. There's a lot of things that Dumbledore is responsible for like placing Harry with his mundane relatives who hated magic for example and at that time—I'm not sure if Spencer has told you of Sirius Black and how he was put in Azkaban without even proving his guilt. If he had been allowed to take his godson like his parents wanted he never would have chased after the real traitor and he wouldn't have spent the next 12 years in Azkaban, which is the wizarding prison, for something he wasn't even guilty of and that was the betrayal of James and Lily Potter as Harry's father was like a brother to him and he loved Lily like a sister."

"I have been brought up to date about all that happened to you and Harry, doing your school years and since," Aaron said. "I certainly understand what happened, but I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around it, because I wasn't actually there when it all occurred. Not to mention it goes against my grain to put pups in such danger in the first place as it is an adult's responsibility to protect their students or their children."

"Believe me, I agree with you, which is why I have refused to send any of my children that are old enough to Hogwarts," Hermione said. "I won't say things aren't changing, but still the British wizarding world is a world with adults who don't know how to truly think for themselves and I didn't want any of my children exposed to that. They are taught here at home, although had they requested it they would have been signed up for the small Italian school in Sicily where Dave went or perhaps sent to Salem. With all the capable magical users in this family it's not like they are going to have trouble with the curriculum and then they just take their qualifying tests through the ministry. I can't really blame you for having trouble wrapping your mind around what happened, because even though I know it occurred I still have trouble with it myself. I mean Harry was only 11 when he rescued the Philosopher's Stone and all Dumbledore did was sweep it under the rug and didn't even bother to get counseling for Harry or those that had been petrified which was extremely careless and shortsighted of him, but I considering what we learned about his motives later it's not really surprising, which is another reason I refuse to send my children to Hogwarts as I don't want Dumbledore's portrait to influence them since all portraits can travel from one to another and I wouldn't put it past him to at least attempt to do so. Besides, Professor Snape still works there and there's no way I want my children to have to put up with his bullying ways. He might not know at first that I am their mother, but he would likely find out eventually and bully them, because of it or actually correction he would bully them worse then he would students whose parents he didn't actually hate. There's no way that I want my children to have to put up with his pettiness like Harry, me, Luna and every other child that ever goes to that school is forced to do. I don't know how Professor McGonagall can still employ him, considering that he's a crappy teacher, even if he's an expert in potions. Being an expert in his subject though does not mean that he's capable of transferring that knowledge to his students."

"I can't really blame you for not wanting to send them to Hogwarts considering what you and Spencer have told me about all that's wrong at the school, even if a lot of those things have been corrected in the last few years," Aaron said.

"They get just as good an education with all the teachers they have here and likely a better one, because they don't have anybody bullying them or sneering at them and they certainly learn more useful history then we ever did with Binns and his talk of goblin rebellions. According to Binns it was one goblin rebellion after another, but if you read up on history on your own that is definitely not true. Professor McGonagall has replaced Binns now although it took a lot effort and didn't happen for years because the purebloods kept resisting, but still Binns taught for nearly 300 years and it all had to do with economics. The purebloods in particular don't want to pay more to send their children to Hogwarts as the reason they do that is mainly to meet their peers and perhaps, become engaged by the time they leave school to someone they approve of, so getting an education is really only a secondary concern. Did I mention that Binns was a ghost? A ghost who taught history, although he was alive when he was originally hired and he just didn't pass to the other side when he died."

"So basically you're saying that if they had hired a proper history teacher, that would push the price of sending their children to Hogwarts up, because you don't have to pay a ghost," Aaron said Hermione nodded.

"It's only within the last few years that McGonagall has finally managed to get rid of Binns and replace him, as the Minister of Magic and some of the influential purebloods resisted as I said a second ago as they didn't want real history taught as it would make them look bad. Not to mention if you teach proper history it will make future children less gullible to manipulation and who wants their mistakes or evil deeds highlighted for all to see? The next generation of students will hopefully, become less like sheep now that proper history is being taught, even though they had to bring somebody over from another country since all the British that went to Hogwarts were all taught the same hogwash for the last almost 300 years."

"History is written by the victors," Spencer put in.

"But now at least proper history is being taught like it should be and the children are learning all about how Voldemort was created and what part Harry and others played in the war, but also how the adults of the time failed their most important resource, the children. Hopefully, this will prevent future dark lords from gaining such a foothold, even if certain people certainly don't like it much, but luckily, McGonagall got her way—finally. Hopefully, in another generation the British wizarding world will begin to think for themselves and if they don't..." Hermione shrugged, "Well, they'll die out in a few generations if they don't change their ways the purebloods that is, although to be fair Harry and I do have several friends that are purebloods that aren't stuck up like so many of them are. Enough talk about the past, can the two of you stay for lunch, as I expect Dave home at any time now."

"Sure, but after that we really need to get going as it will be around 7 or 8 o'clock before we get back home," Spencer said.

The three of them continued to talk before Dave finally came in the door carrying roses just like Hermione had expected and once greetings had been exchanged and the roses were placed on the mantle Dave started preparing lunch chatting with his son and son-in-law as he did so.

Spencer brought his father up to date about what he, Aaron and Hermione had been discussing as Dave prepared a simple lunch for all the people in the house.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

"I really like your family," Aaron commented as he and Spencer snuggled in what has become their bed. "I like how relaxed they are and how they accepted our relationship immediately, although I expected that from your father considering he's a shifter himself, but not necessarily from your mother. I can honestly say that they're two of the most intelligent people I have ever met in, particularly your mother."

"I'm glad you like them because we've been invited for Christmas this year since we wanted to spend last Christmas with just the two of us," Spencer said. "I told them I didn't see why you would have any objections to spending at least a week with them, as they have plenty of room. We won't even need to stay in a hotel, because as you've seen how huge my parents place is "

"That sounds fine," Aaron immediately agreed. "I really like your family and it's not like we're going to spend hours on a plane. We can stay for the entire Christmas holidays if we really wanted to, as transport back-and-forth is incredibly easy and fast."

"Thanks, I really have missed my family, even though we go visit every week or two. You'll really enjoy the Christmas holiday, as they're a lot of traditions that are a mixture of my mamma's and my papà's. Each country has its different Christmas traditions and we use a mixture of both considering that my parents were born in two different countries," said Spencer.

"I'm looking forward to it," Aaron promised him. "Last year was the best Christmas I've had in many a year, and I suspect that this one will be even better."

"I can guess that your family wasn't really big on the Christmas holidays considering what you've told me about them," Spencer said sympathetically. "I remember that when my birth mother Diana were still alive she always decorated the house for Christmas, so except for that year where we were held captive to be used by people who should know better and our months on the street, Christmas has always been a good time for us."

"The less said about what happened to you the better, although I'll always help you deal with your demons," Aaron growled looking fierce and protective. "Every time you mention it I just want to go tear your father into little teeny pieces, even though I know he's suffering with every single breath he takes and will be in until he meets his maker, hopefully, not until he is old and gray. I accept it's part of your past and cannot be changed, but the less you bring it up the better."

"I'll try not to bring it up again," Spencer promised. "I've dealt with the memories thanks to that psychologist, although it took years of appointments to be able to do that, but it's not something I'm comfortable with discussing, so I'll try not to bring it up again."

"If you need any help dealing with nightmares or anything else involving that I'll be happy to discuss it with you and help you deal with whatever the problem is, but let's try to forget it happened, although I know you cannot because of your eidetic memory," Aaron said.

"You're right, I can't truly forget, but there's no reason to keep bringing it up," Spencer said and Aaron nodded as that was the point he'd been trying to make.

"Now let's talk about something more pleasant than what a lousy scum sucking bastard your father is," Aaron said.

Spencer chuckled at that for Aaron rarely cussed, it wasn't that he couldn't just that he had been raised in an environment where his parents heavily disapproved of such language and it had stuck with him, but then he rarely cussed himself as not everybody did.

"You must really hate my father to use such language said you hardly ever do," Spencer explained why he was chuckling.

"I have every right to want to tear his guts out his ears and keep him alive long enough to see me do it," Aaron growled.

"You'd have to get in line as there are a lot of people that have prior claims," Spencer chuckled.

"As your mate, no matter who else has a prior claim on your birth father's carcass mine would supersede there's. I'm sure your father taught you this."

"He did," Spencer admitted having momentarily forgotten about that rule.

"The only reason that I'm not heading up to Las Vegas to tear him limb from limb and then conceal what I've done is the fact that I like the punishment your mother placed on him. It causes him a great deal of pain, and discomfort and he can't kill himself, thanks to that compulsion that she placed on him. I want him to suffer for every single one of his remaining years and when he finally dies I'm sure your mother will be waiting on him and continue the torture that he's been going through. He deserves to be tortured for eternity for what he did to his own pups," Aaron said his voice a low and menacing growl, his eyes the yellow of the wolf. "I would still feel like this, even if you weren't my mate, but since you are it just makes my feelings probably five times as strong as they normally would be. What's your father did to you, your brother and sisters was inhuman. He didn't show the love and caring that most shifter's have for their pups, even before your brother Lincoln started displaying magic. I mean he left you on your own way too much and he didn't feed you properly forcing you to survive on things that didn't have to be cooked like cereal. I'm sure you know by now that growing shifter pups need a great deal of meat in order to grow up properly, a great deal more then would be recommended for a mundane or a magical. Luckily, you weren't malnourished for more than a year and a half or two years because if you had been malnourished for much longer than that the damage would likely have been irreversible, because just like any other sentient species we need to be fed the proper foods when we are young to grow up big and strong and at the very least you wouldn't have reached your full height and the damage would probably have been worse then that."

"Let's change the subject," Spencer suggested. "We were just talking about spending Christmas in Italy with my family, which is certainly a happier subject to talk about."

"I believe I said that it's a good idea and I'll be happy to spend a week or two with your parents and your siblings," Aaron immediately agreed dropping the subject they had just been talking about, as nothing else really needed to be said, as Spencer knew his feelings.

"Good, I'll make sure I tell mamma and papà next time I talk to them," Spencer said with a grin. "They'll be thrilled to have us home for Christmas, since we didn't go last year, because we wanted to spend it with just us, which they both understood."

"Perhaps, we can see some of the sites of Florence and the surrounding countryside while we're there," Aaron suggested. "We might want to visit some of the local wineries and get us a few bottles of wine particularly since we don't have to worry about getting it though customs. Some of the best wines never leave the country."

"And here I thought you were such a law-abiding citizen," Spencer teased his mate.

"And normally I am, but I don't consider a few bottles of wine as breaking the law, even though I know there are supposed to go through customs and there's supposed to be a tax on that kind of thing, but thanks to your Portkey we could bring back half a dozen bottles of wine and not have to worry about paying the tariff tax. Besides, you can buy wine at an airport and its tariff free, so really I'm not breaking the law at all, technically."

"But we aren't going to get the stuff at the airport," Spencer told him, "although I do understand what you mean. You're saying that the same concept applies just like it would if we had bought wine at an airport and then transported it across the border by legal means, even though instead of doing it that way we're going to use my Portkey to get all back here."

"Which decreases the risk of one of the bottles of breaking, like they sometimes do when you do it by the mundane method," Aaron added.

"I'll just put an unbreakable spell on whatever bottles we get just in case," Spencer said, "and that way you can drop them and they won't break."

"Convenient," Aaron said impressed, but then he been impressed when it came to magic, as it made a lot of every day chores he hated easier and was useful for lot of other things besides.

"Magic can be useful in a lot of ways," Spencer said in an uncanny echo of Aaron's thought's, "but I don't like to depend on it, because that just makes me lazy, which is the magical world in Britain's problem, as they are not only intellectual lazy they're also physically lazy. Mamma says that it's easy to fall into that trap to use magic instead of just doing something for yourself, but that it's okay to use it just not all the time for every little thing. It's okay to use it to do the chores for example, but say you want to get a book from upstairs, well a lot times it's just more convenient to get up, walk upstairs and get the book you want rather than using magic."

"In other words, use your magic responsibly, but don't allow it to make you lazy either physically or intellectually," Aaron said. "That's really good advice."

"Exactly, because that's what's happened to so much of the magical population in Britain, as I said just a minute ago. The purebloods for example have been using their magic for generations instead doing stuff for themselves and they have servants to clean, in this case house-elves, which would be fine if they actually paid them, or at least treated them well. This is one of the reasons I wanted to come to college, to get an education, because even though I could've found a job in the wizarding world I decided that I wanted to get one in the mundane one as I certainly had dreams even at four years old that I wanted to fulfill if at all possible. Besides, most of the jobs in the wizarding world wouldn't use my intelligence to its fullest and I have a feeling I would quickly become disenchanted with it. Mamma could've done the same if she really wanted to because she's just as intelligent, even if she doesn't have my memory, but then few people do, although its more common among shifters then mundanes or magicals."

"I'm really looking forward to tying the knot with you in a month's time," Aaron said smiling as he thought about their upcoming nuptials.

"Me too, even though we both originally agreed that there was no reason for us to get married because we couldn't have children," Spencer said also smiling, "but at the time we didn't think about the fact that I would automatically get my green card once we officially tie the knot, even though we have to remain married for two years in order to get it, but that's not going to be a problem for us."

"Definitely not," Aaron agreed immediately, pulling Spencer even closer to him. "We've already been living together for two years now, so living together permanently isn't going to be a problem, particularly since we are lifemates."

"Once we officially tie the knot we can put our names on the list to adopt a few children and hopefully, it won't be too long before that happens, even though I know there are many barriers that are in our way particularly since we aren't a male-female couple, which we both know shouldn't matter, but that we both know does depending on who we get and whether they have a stigma against same-sex couples," said Spencer.

"All we can do is try," Aaron said, "as I have a good job and you'll graduate in a few years and get started on your own career.

"So we decided to go to Poland for our honeymoon, right?" asked Spencer

"Yes, we did," Aaron said, "I've always wanted to travel and I have taken a few trips over the years, but it's much more fun to travel with someone and I know we'll have a good time."

"Definitely, although I don't plan on spending the whole time in our hotel room, as much as I enjoy us making love, but we might as well see some of the sites while we're there," said Spencer.

"No, we can make love anytime, and as enjoyable as that always is we are going to see some of the sites and just be together with no interruptions like my work or your classes," Aaron agreed. "I would say that there won't be some of that involved as it is our honeymoon after all, but no we're not going to spend all our time in a hotel room."

"Good, I'm really looking forward to it," Spencer said. "I have been to Poland as mamma and papà took a vacation there once a few years ago and took me and my siblings along. It was a good educational experience, but we didn't get to see every site, as we were only there for a week."

"I'm really looking forward to it too," Aaron said, as he leaned over and kiss his mate on the side of his neck causing Spencer to whimper with desire.

"It's late we should probably get some sleep," Aaron added reluctantly instead of continuing with what he had been doing by kissing the side of his mate's neck directly on the mating mark that he had given his, Spencer the first time they had made love just as Spencer had given him his own. He wore his own mating mark with pride and it let other shifters know that he was off the market, but unfortunately, it didn't mean anything to other people whether mundane or magical, so maybe it was a good idea to get married after all as wedding bands tended to detour a lot of females and even a few males from asking that person out, although some didn't care if someone was married or not. He could just wear a wedding band that implied he was married, because technically he was exactly that, but still he and Spencer could go through a small wedding ceremony, so that they'd be able adopt a few pups and Spencer would automatically get his green card, well, so long as they stayed married for two years which shouldn't count for lifemates, but because most people who weren't shifters themselves didn't believe that every shifter had a soulmate he supposed it was understandable

"Do we have to?" Spencer whined only half playfully.

"Yeah, we do because I have to work in the morning and you have class, although that evening with your parents was fun, with the time difference we stayed must later than we should have, even if it was only late in the afternoon there when we left," Aaron said. "It was an enjoyable evening though and I have no objection to repeating it a lot over the years."

"Good," Spencer said happily, as he snuggled into Aaron's warmth. "I'm glad you like my parents, because they certainly like you a lot and are already starting to consider you another son, even if my mamma's not much younger then you are. Also all my siblings adore you. I am the first of my siblings to find their lifemate, though that's not unusual considering that my other brother and two sisters are the same age I am and it's rather unusual to find your lifemate so young like I did, but the rest of my siblings are too young to really even think about such things since even the oldest are only 13."

"Hopefully, at least some of them will find their lifemates when the time is right, even as the two of us have," Aaron said.

"I certainly hope they all do, so they can be as happy as I have been ever since the two of us met, although I know the likelihood of that happening is astronomical, because there are billions of people in the world after all," said Spencer.

"Think positively, instead of scientifically," Aaron suggested. "You told me that you believe that your mother was watching over you from heaven and made sure you met the Rossis at the right time. Now normally I don't believe in such superstitions, but who knows if magic is real that could be real to, my point being that your mother would want you to be happy and therefore, she might guide your siblings into meeting their lifemates and she might have guided you into meeting me. You told me that you didn't know what made you want to go to the Met that day other than the fact that you had been wanting to see the exhibits, but that you had made other plans, but changed them at the last moment."

"Yes, I did say that didn't I," Spencer mused remembering that conversation that he and Aaron had had a few months after they had met. "It's possible, considering that magic is real, so what's to say that my mother isn't watching over all her pups to make sure that they get the happy life they deserve and that my father feels her wrath at some point, although certainly not until he's an old, old man as he was only in his late 40s, back when he betrayed us so badly so that would make him over 60 now."

"Plenty of time for him to regret his actions," Aaron said with a feral gleam in his brown eyes.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Spencer admitted still feeling the old feelings of hate for his father, the man that he shared half his genes with, although the hate certainly wasn't as intense as it had been years ago, but that likely was because he was so happy now. He truly wished that he had been born to the Rossis, but he and his siblings got the next best thing and that was to be blood adopted by them, so that they truly were the Rossis pups by blood now and that was all that mattered.

Finally the two men fell silent and simply cuddled together before Aaron turned off the light on his side of the bed and Spencer did the same on his, before the two men curled up together and it wasn't long before they drifted off to sleep wrapped in each other's arms.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

The Christmas season was upon Aaron and Spencer before they knew it and they prepared to go to Italy to spend time with Spencer's family for the next two weeks.

"You'll love it," Spencer assured his mate as the two men packed. "We truly celebrate Christmas at my house, or what used to be my house until I came here for college, but now although it will always be my childhood home, my true home is here in America with you."

Spencer and Aaron had gotten married in a small wedding ceremony just three months previously and there had been no more than 30 guest just as Spencer had envisioned as just some of Aaron's closest friends had been there and also his family, as well as Aaron's three siblings that he was closest to.

Spencer now wore his mate's ring just as Aaron wore the Rossi family crest, that had been presented to him on his first visit to Italy with Spencer at his side.

Aaron was well aware of the importance of the Rossi family crest that he wore and although there were other Rossi families out there that weren't related to the family he was part of, so they had a different crest, he was still honored as it was an indication of his relationship to Spencer and the rest of the family.

If and when they managed to adopt any pups they to would get the Rossi family crest, but that was for the future.

"Ready to go?" Aaron asked as he to finished packing his shaving kit.

"Absolutely," Spencer said slinging a duffle bag over his shoulder and taking hold of his and Aaron's one suitcase, which had undetectable expansion charms.

"Well, those undetectable expansion charms that you put in our suitcase sure does make it convenient to carry what we need for any trip as we don't need a whole lot of luggage."

"Yes, it's nice not to have to lug a lot of suitcases around," Spencer agreed. "Just one suitcase has all we need for our two weeks in Italy and there is still plenty of room for souvenirs or Christmas gifts."

"Not to mention not having to spend hours on a plane, with your legs cramped unless you fly first class as the Portkey you have will get us there in a jiffy," Aaron said really appreciating the way that magicals traveled. You missed a lot of scenery true, but you sure did save time and luckily, non-magical like him could also use all of those travel methods, so long as you knew how to land since Portkeys could land you on your butt if you weren't careful once they released you at your destination.

"There are certain advantages to having magic," Spencer admitted. "I'm only been a plane once and that was when my William Reid claimed that we were going on vacation and then sold us almost as soon as we landed, as we had only been in the city for a few hours."

Aaron growled at that, but said nothing and simply took his mate into his arms and held him tightly against his chest.

"I'd rather travel by magical means as it is faster for one thing and if I never have to get on a plane again it will be to soon," Spencer said.

"Considering that the only time you were on a plane you were sold to a slimy bastard just hours later I can't blame you for that opinion," Aaron said. "You were all excited to be going on a vacation, the first one you'd had since your mother died and your father only took you away from home, so that nobody that knew your family would see him do something so despicable and I'm sure he was also preventing you from finding your way home or at least stopping your from running into someone you knew and telling them what he had done as any responsible adult would have checked out your story and your father would likely have ended up being arrested."

"I know, I know," Spencer admitted, as he stood comfortably in the warmth and safety of his mate's arms.

"Let's not talk about your birth father anymore, and just enjoy our Christmas with your family," Aaron said.

"You know they are now your family to," Spencer pointed out. "My genitori adore you and so do my siblings. They think of you as another son and the fact that you make me so happy is just another reason they love you, although they also accept and like you for yourself."

Aaron thought about that then said, "You're right and I'm starting to think of them that way to, as they are the close family I never had. I really respect and like your parents to, as they are certainly more warm and welcoming then mine ever were."

Spencer snorted at that. "It's just as well you haven't seen them since you were 18, because if they show up at our door I'll have more then a few words to say to them and they'll be lucky if I don't turn them into slugs, although that's so passe, so may I'll turn them into toads instead, ugly toads with warts all over."

Aaron actually chuckled at that knowing very well that his mate would do it if his parents did show up, which wasn't to likely since as far as he knew they had no idea where he was since he lived pretty quietly and if he was lucky they would never know.

"Let's get going," Aaron suggested.

The two men stood there silently for a minute just holding each other, but then without a word Aaron took the suitcase, Spencer took his hand and then grasped the Portkey that always hung around his neck and said the code word. "Reborn!"

Instantly the two men and the suitcase were swept away in a swirl of magic until the bedroom of the condo was empty.

~~~Dave and Hermione~~~

Aaron knocked on Dave's study door after he and Spencer had been there for several days and when his father-in-law called come in he entered.

"What can I do for you, Aaron?" Dave asked as he looked up from what he was doing.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about Spencer," Aaron began and Dave dropped what he was doing and listened attentively.

"What about him?" Dave asked.

"Well, I've had this stewing in the back of my mind ever seen Spencer told me about his early childhood," Aaron began. "I haven't brought it up before now, because I didn't want to cause Spencer anymore pain than he'd already gone through before you took him and his siblings in."

"This is about his father," Dave said his expression turning deadly serious immediately.

"No, because as far as I'm concerned you are his father, so we'll just call him by his name shall we?" Aaron denied.

Dave looked pleased at that, but said nothing as Aaron continued, "Call me suspicious, but I was wondering if you thought of the fact that William Reid may have murdered Spencer's mother and her unborn pups to."

"Are you sure Spencer does not within hearing range before we discuss this?" Dave asked, even as he waved a hand and closed his office door completely with magic, so that nobody could eavesdrop unless they opened the door.

"He's extremely busy doing things with his siblings at the moment, which is why I thought that now was the time to come to you while he was distracted," Aaron explained. "I doubt I'll be missed for at least half an hour, maybe as much as an hour, so we have time to talk about this before he comes looking for me. I've been wanting to mention this to you for sometime, but since Spencer and I were always together that wasn't possible until now."

"Alright then, yes, both Hermione and I suspected that William Reid might have murdered the quads mother along with their unborn siblings. We didn't think about this until after he had already been questioned by magical law enforcement and Hermione had put those spells on him and by then it was too late. It's very possible that something happened else to the quads mother that doesn't include murder, just that considering William Reid character it's more than possible. She could've tripped and fell for instance the wrong way on her own with no help, as it is been known to happen with any type of pregnancy particularly shifters because a female stomach grows much more quickly thanks to the gestation period being so much shorter, she could've had an aneurysm in the brain that burst or any number of medical reasons why she died. However, considering what the quads father is like it is mighty suspicious that she did die with at least twins in her belly and according to Beth she was at least halfway along. Neither Hermione and I know for sure as to whether it was an accident or actually murder and it's way too late to find out so I suppose we'll never know."

Aaron contemplated that answer and then nodded, as he knew that his father-in-law was being honest and he just didn't know.

"Believe me, I wish we had asked certain other questions of William Reid, but it just didn't occur to us at the time and by the time it did it was way too late," Dave said his expression stony. "As I said we'll likely never know at least until after we die and ask Diana Reid those questions."

"What do you suspect?" Aaron asked looking at Dave shrewdly.

"Well, if I was completely honest I would say that it's a very strong possibility that William Reid killed his wife in such a way that it wasn't likely to be detected unless the coroner was specifically looking for the signs. Unfortunately, there are a hundred ways you can murder someone and make it look like an accident and if it happened at a time that the coroner was extremely busy for one reason or another it was likely would have been missed and that's only if Diana Reid had an autopsy, as she might not have unless it was a suspicious death," Dave admitted. "It's just a suspicion that Hermione and I and now you have, but really it's nothing more than that and only because we know the nature of the quads father."

"Thank you for being honest," Aaron told Dave.

"You're more than welcome, because I know you have Spencer's best interest at heart and that you just wanted to confirm for yourself what I believe or find out if I knew anything about his birth mother's death, which I do not, not for sure anyway, even if I wish it was otherwise."

"I have no intention of mentioning this to Spencer, as there is no reason to cause him anymore pain when he's mostly gotten over what happened to him as a child. If we actually had proof that would be one thing, but since we don't there's no reason to bring it up," said Aaron and Dave nodded gratefully.

"Hermione and I thought the same thing, which is why we never discussed it unless we knew all the children were elsewhere," Dave said.

"I also wanted to thank you for taking Spencer and his siblings in an for the way you and your wife raised him to be who he is," Aaron said. "I have a very strong suspicion that perhaps, Diana Reid is watching over her pups from above and guided them to you as she knew what kind of people you were and that you would take them in and raise them as your own."

"No, need for thanks," Dave said waving aside Aaron's gratitude. "It was the least Hermione I could do when we saw what kind of situation they were in. Yes, I know that not many people would have done the same and likely would have walked right by the situation, not wanting to get involved, but neither Hermione or I have ever been like that."

"As I said, as far as I'm concerned Spencer and his siblings are your children by the birth, as the less I think of that part of their pasts the better," Aaron said serious his normal brown eyes gleaming dangerously yellow. "The only reason I didn't go up to Las Vegas in order to murder William Reid slowly was because of the spells that Spencer told me that your wife placed on him as I want him to suffer for what he did until he meets his natural death, which is almost a century away."

"Now that is something that both Hermione and I totally agree with," Dave smirked. "Normally, Hermione is a totally understanding and gentle soul, but she does have a very vicious side to her and I'm just glad that it will never be pointed in my direction. Hermione told me the only way that she would do to me what she did to William Reid was that if I sold our pups, cheated on her or abused any of them or her in anyway and since I have no intention of doing any of the above her vicious side will never be pointed at me. There's not really very much that gets her so angry that she'll do something like that, but after she learned what happened to Spencer and his siblings she felt she was justified in doing what she did."

"And I have to agree that she was justified, even if I know many people would call it revenge and not delayed justice, although not other shifters for the most part, particularly wolf shifters, since we're very protective of any child whether or not they are ours," Aaron said. "However, unless you are a shifter yourself, it's hard for normal people to understand how we feel about protecting our pups from all the evils of the world until they are grown up and out on their own."

"And I agree that what Hermione did was totally justified and not revenge at all," Dave immediately, "although you are right that others would not agree with the way the two of us think unless they were shifters themselves, with a few rare exceptions. I truly hope we're wrong about William Reid murdering his wife and his pups, but considering what happened not too long afterwards we are probably not."

"No, unfortunately, we're probably not," Aaron agreed. "I could understand it better if it was a human that had done it, but for a shifter to do such a thing is incomprehensible to me, just as I'm sure it is to you. I know that we do have shifters that turn bad or are simply born that way, even if it is a much lower percentage, but I don't believe I've ever heard of one that did what William Reid did, as it is much worse what he did then what other shifters have done in the past at least in my opinion."

"Yes, I totally agree with that," Dave said with a nod, "but we don't know that another of our species hasn't done basically the same thing that William Reid did or at least something similar, but if it has happened before I haven't heard about it."

"Neither have I," Aaron agreed, "but as you said that doesn't mean it hasn't happened as other shifters that were involved in discovering the atrocity wouldn't want it to get out, as it would be something almost all of our kind would find dishonorable in the extreme and definitely painful to talk about because it goes against everything we stand for, particularly where pups are involved."

"That's the truth," Dave immediately agreed looking pained. "Me just thinking about something similar happening to other pups makes me want to go and kill something and I have nowhere to vent my rage. It's not a sure thing that it has happened to others you realize, even if it likely has."

"I feel the same way," Aaron said his eyes having gone feral, "but as you said there's nowhere to vent our rage so the best solution is not to think about it as is only a possibility after all, even if it's a very strong likelihood, because if it happened to Spencer and his siblings then it has almost certainly happened elsewhere with other shifters, likely mixed marriages and where the couple definitely weren't lifemates, as that's the only way I could possibly see it happening."

Dave definitely agreed with that so he nodded.

"I suppose I had better get back out there before Spencer comes looking for me as that's the last thing we want," Aaron said. "Let's just enjoy this holiday season and hopefully, next year you and your family can come and spend some time in New York with us for a few weeks, because I'll likely have to work next year since the museum only closes on, Thanksgiving day, the first Monday in May, Christmas Eve and New Year's day and I took this year off. I suspect that I'll have to work on the holidays next year except the four days that when the museum actually closes. I've never had anybody in my life to take the whole holiday off before, but we'll probably only be able to do it every other year, so that the people who work at the museum that actually have families can take the time off."

"We'll have to rent a house, but it can be done, as Hermione said awhile back and price doesn't matter as spending time with family is more important," Dave said. "You're right we don't need to think about what happened to Spencer, Cait, Beth and Linc years ago or that it has likely happened in other places, as that just enrages that wolf in both of us and they want to go destroy something. Let's concentrate on the holiday and all the food that my children are helping me prepare well or at least a quads are as they are the oldest and now have homes of their own. They're bringing some of the feast while I'm responsible for cooking the turkey, the lamb and the ham and Gavriella, Santino and Zaira are helping me since they are the oldest and are pretty decent cooks if I do say so myself."

"They are only 14, so their skills will only improve," Aaron suggested and Dave nodded with a smile.

"They still have a lot to learn, but they've come a long way from when I started teaching them when they were eight years old. By the time they're ready to move out their cooking skills will likely be on par with mine or their Uncle Harry's."

"It's a good thing Spencer can cook, because I can't prepare anything except very simple meals and I ate out a lot, before he came into my life," Aaron admitted with a smile. "It's just not a skill that my parents felt necessary, as they didn't cook at all and depended on servants for that as well as everything else. I suspect that they felt that cooking was beneath them, although they never actually said so in my presence."

"I bet you very rarely eat out anymore, since Spencer is just as good a cook as I am, even if he claims he's not as good a cook as me," Dave suggested with a smile of his own. "That's Spencer though, as I'm sure you've noticed that he's modest to a fault."

"I have and I'm not sure if that's just his personality or if it has to do with his early childhood training," Aaron said. "It could even be a combination of early childhood training and his personality for all I know, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

"He does have a stubborn streak," Dave warned Aaron with a grin, "even if it rarely shows up."

"Oh, I know, I showed up a couple of times since we met almost two years ago now," Aaron admitted with a smirk. "I like it if truth be known, because it's nice to know that he isn't so mild as his appearance suggests sometimes, even if that's the main part of his personality. He only gets stubborn or passionate about things that matter to him and I can certainly understand that, but most people would be surprised by his stubborn streak considering the face he shows to the world most of the time. As for eating out I still have lunch at the museum or one of the restaurants close by on days I work and Spencer sometimes joins me and whatever coworkers I'm with if he doesn't have classes. There are several that he's becoming good friends with, ones that I'm particularly close to, but other than that mostly we do have breakfast and dinner at our condo and on days I don't work lunch to, unless we're not at home when lunch or dinner rolls around."

"Well, eating out occasionally isn't as bad as doing it all the time and sometimes Hermione and I aren't home for lunch or dinner," Dave admitted. "We also go out to eat for our anniversary and sometimes our birthdays, but mostly I cook and I don't mind it at all."

The two men chatted for a few more minutes trying to come down from the earlier conversation before they showed their faces where everybody could see what kind of moods they were in. The younger pups wouldn't likely pick up on their bad moods they both knew, but Spencer and Hermione and all the older children certainly would and they wanted to avoid questions being asked, so it was just better to calm down before they showed their faces.

"Well, I think I'm calm down enough now that I can go and enjoy this holiday season," said Aaron finally looking at his watch and discovered that he and his father-in-law had been chatting for just over an hour.

"Yes, me too as I think I've had enough solitude for the moment. I come in here when I want peace and quiet," Dave admitted. "Everybody needs a place that they can come just to be by themselves for a little while no matter how much you love your family, as it helps you stay calm and centered and not snap at anyone who doesn't deserve it."

"Yeah, everybody needs time to themselves where they aren't surrounded by people making demands of them, even if it's only a few minutes," Aaron agreed.

The two men rose from where they were sitting and Aaron who reached the study door first opened it, then strolled out confidently looking relaxed and ready to fully immense himself in the holiday season with his new family.

If truth be known he was really looking forward to it as the Rossis were nothing like his own parents had been as warm, loving and genuinely friendly were not words that were associated with his the elder Hotchners.

No arrogant, cold, proper, hard, and cruel were better words for the two people who he shared his genes with, which is why he hadn't had any contact with them ever since he had left home for college and refused to even acknowledge them as his parents, as they didn't deserve that designation. He didn't even remember ever being hugged, much less kissed by either of his parents not even from the time he was really small, although in this case that was not necessarily a bad thing. No, he had disowned his parents the minute he was old enough and he knew that most of his siblings had done to same. He only hoped that his parents were incredibly lonely where none of their pups ever visited them, as it was more than they deserved or if he was really lucky they could be dead, as they would be in their 70s now, which was only about middle age for a shifter.

"There you are," Spencer called his face lighting up as soon as he spotted his mate. "I was just about to come looking for you."

"Sorry your father and I got to talking that's all," Aaron said being partially truthful, as that was better then lying outright, more believable. "You were busy with your siblings, so I figured it was a good time that we got to know each other better."

Spencer accepted this explanation at face value, as Aaron was a pretty good fibber as all you had to do was mix a lie with at least a little bit of the truth and it made it more believable, although he would never consider lying to his mate normally, but what he and Dave had discussed earlier was not something that Spencer needed to know, as it would only upset him, and bring a past he had dealt with roaring back to life causing his mate unbelievable pain, not something that he wanted to happen, especially when it wasn't really necessary.

"So what's the plan for the rest of the holiday?" Aaron asked distracting Spencer even farther, as his mate immediately begin to enthusiastically tell him exactly what they were planning to do for the next several days.

Apparently the Rossis had a lot of tradition, ones that were a mixture of Italian and English just as Spencer had told him a few months ago. It was the best of both worlds and that was the way it should be, Aaron thought in satisfaction, as neither Dave or Hermione's traditions were scoffed at or discounted and instead they were blended harmoniously.

If only more couples would respect each others traditions then the world would be a much better place and less wars would be fought or fewer murders, where a husband or wife killed their spouse usually for a completely stupid reason, although sometimes, Aaron admitted it was warranted if the spouse was abusive.

Aaron looked around at all the Christmas decorations, which he had helped put up over the last few days and saw the way that the Rossi had combined both English and Italian traditions and smiled to himself thinking that this was definitely the way that all families should be like.

There were several Christmas trees, one in the living room, and one in the den and another smaller one and Dave and Hermione bedroom, which was quite large. Aaron wondered briefly if he and Spencer would have met if his parents had not been so cold hearted and more like the Rossis, because then he wouldn't have been so anxious is to get away from home.

It didn't really matter as he hadn't seen his parents in almost 20 years and if he ever saw them again it would be too soon, but it was Christmas which was a time for happy thoughts and so he pushed them to the back of his mind.

"You been awfully quiet, you okay?" Spencer asked his mate in concern.

"I'm fine," Aaron promised. "I was just comparing what your family's like to what mine used to be like and the difference couldn't be more evident."

"Try not to think about them, especially on Christmas except to hope they're just as unhappy as they have always been," Spencer suggested, kissing Aaron briefly on the lips. "They don't deserve to have you thinking about them, because they weren't the parents that they should have been, just like my father wasn't the parent that he should have been. They'll get what's coming to them for the way they treated their own pups. I hope they live out their entire lives and that they don't die before their time just like I wish the same for my father, but instead of sitting here brooding about what your childhood should have been like you should get involved with all the activities that are going on. It's okay to wish your childhood should have been better had your parents loved you like they should have, but not to brood about it, especially not on Christmas."

"You're right, let's just forget about the people that hurt us so badly and just enjoy ourselves and therefore, we'll get our revenge on them even if they'll never know it," Aaron decided.

"Exactly, the way we get back at the people responsible for our crappy childhoods is to just forget about them as if they never existed and enjoy all the world has to offer," said Spencer. "I know that the way my family celebrates Christmas is a lot to absorb, especially since this house is almost full to bursting with relatives from all over, but you'll get used to having so many people around soon enough if we come often enough on the holidays, even if that's only for a day or two."

Aaron nodded and kissed his mate briefly on the lips before he and Spencer headed to where all the activity currently was in order to join in and truly celebrate the Christmas season which was something that Aaron had never really done before for obvious reasons.

The others welcomed them happily, and Aaron joined right in determined forget about his parents and all they had done to make his life miserable when he was growing up, because now he had Spencer and his family to make his life truly worth living and that was all that mattered.

Epilogue

Six years later

Aaron, Dave and Hermione watched proudly as Spencer walked across the stage to accept his diplomas from the dean of Columbia. Spencer had worked hard and studied hard as well and had ended up with five different degrees in just eight years. He had gotten his degree in math, chemistry, engineering, ancient languages and ancient history and in much less time than most other people. The dean and some of the professors had commented more than once that they'd had brilliant students in the past, but no one had gotten as many degrees as he had.

Spencer's family, Aaron in particular were well aware that he had worked damn hard to get as many degrees as he had in just eight years and that if he hadn't been so naturally brilliant he never could've done it in such a short amount of time or had time for a life outside of studying.

Dave, Hermione and Aaron listened to the dean's speech, as he handed Spencer his diplomas, but finally the ceremony was over.

"Congratulations, son," Dave told Spencer proudly. "You worked damn hard for those degrees and I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you, Papà," Spencer said.

"I'm proud of you too. You completed your degrees much faster than most other students could have, as 8 years really isn't so much for five different degrees," Hermione said.

"Thank you, mamma," Spencer said, kissing her cheek.

"He's one of the most brilliant students that has ever passed through Columbia, the dean was telling me not to long ago," Aaron said as he gave his mate a chaste kiss on the lips.

"We always knew he was extremely intelligent, more so than was average and his eidetic memory certainly helps there, as it means he doesn't have to study too hard to maintain his 4.0 grade average," Dave said.

"Alright, enough with the praise," Spencer said blushing, despite the fact that he was no longer the young 19 year old that had first met Aaron Hotchner, as he was now 25.

"Well, I see some things haven't changed," Hermione said with a smile, as she kissed her son's cheek. "He still embarrasses way too easy."

"Personally, I think it's endearing," Aaron said with a smile.

"Of course you do," Dave smirked at him.

"Alright, enough already," Spencer pleaded.

"I suppose we had better quit teasing him, as this is supposed to be a very special day after all," Dave said, as he watched son turn bright red for the second time in as many minutes. "So what about some lunch?"

"Sounds good," Spencer said latching onto the change of subject gratefully, as he never had liked talking about himself or being praised, which he knew was due to early childhood training at least partially. He wasn't one to toot his own horn.

The family of four walked towards the front of the university, just talking softly with Aaron's arm slung causally around Spencer's waist.

"I'm very proud of you," Aaron told Spencer sincerely. "You worked damn hard, just as your father said, even if I realize that you're intelligence and memory helped. I'm just glad that you didn't have to study half as hard as the other students or we wouldn't have been able to spend hardly any time together."

"Me too," Spencer agreed softly kissing his mate's cheek. The two of them had been married for over five years now and Spencer had gotten his green card two years after that, so even though he was already technically a citizen it had just been easier to pretend he had actually been born in Italy and get his green card then try to explain how their father had sold him and his siblings, as they had been adopted through the magical American government and not through normal means, so there would be no computer records. Besides, he did speak with a slight Italian accent, even though he had been living in New York for eight years now.

His parents and his older siblings of course had visited frequently over the last few years and his parents had introduced him and Aaron to the newest additions to the family, as his mother had been pregnant twice more, in the eight years he had been going to Columbia. Mamma had claimed that this was her last pregnancy, as she was now over 40 and his papà had not disagreed saying he thought they had plenty of children to look after, even though the oldest were now out on their own, as they were the same age as Spencer had been when he had met Aaron, which was 19.

Spencer knew he had around 20 siblings and that didn't even count him and his brother and sisters that had been adopted when he was seven and to him that was way to many, but then his parents truly loved children, so he could understand why they had had so many.

"So where do you suggest for lunch, as it's not like Dave and I know New York as well as you do," said Hermione. "Somewhere nice and not cheap, as this is for your graduation after all and besides, Dave and I very rarely eat out, as you know, so we might as well enjoy this rare opportunity."

"There is the Greenville Château. It's very expensive," Aaron suggested. "I'm not sure if we'll be over to get a table, as it's pretty popular despite how expensive it is, but it's the perfect place to celebrate Spencer's graduation. The food is excellent as Spencer and I have been there only once for my birthday several years ago."

"Sounds just fine," Dave said. "Expensive doesn't matter, as I'm not worried about that, since this is Spencer's graduation after all, so as Hermione said we very rarely eat out at all so this is a rare opportunity."

"It's okay with me if we can get a table, as I had to make a reservation last time Aaron and I ate there for his birthday about three years ago," Spencer said.

"If not we'll make a reservation for dinner and just eat somewhere else for lunch," Hermione suggested.

"That might be how we'll have to do it," Aaron said, "but it doesn't hurt to go and see if we can get in."

"Why don't you lead the way, since you know where it's located," Dave said and Aaron nodded.

"You can follow us in your car, as it's at least 20 minutes from here depending on traffic," Aaron said.

The family of four happily chatted with each other as they headed for the parking lot and Spencer couldn't help but smile, as he enjoyed the fact that his parents had been here to see him graduate, although it was too bad that his siblings couldn't make it, particularly Linc, Cait and Beth, but they had sent their congratulations and also their graduation gifts. Also they had apologized for not being up to be present, but his two sisters had families and so Spencer had understood that, as only Linc hadn't found his mate yet.

In fact Cait had just found her mate last year and she was now heavily pregnant, with their first pups. Now if only his brother would find his own mate then Spencer would be very happy, because if anybody deserved happiness it was his siblings, considering what they had gone through as young children. Of course, if his theory was correct and his mother was watching over her children from heaven she would want them to be happy and not just with their work or adopted family, but with a mate and a family of their own, so Spencer had no doubt that Lincoln would find his own mate at some point, hopefully soon.

Actually it was kind of amazing that he had found his mate at just 19 and Beth I found hers several years later, before Cait finally found hers just last year. For him and two of his siblings to find their own lifemates relatively close together really was amazing, so really this proved his theory that his mother was indeed watching over her children at least in his own mind. He had no doubt at all that she would be waiting on his father when he finally died and at least she would give him a lecture. However, Spencer suspected that once his father died his torture that had begun with his mamma's spells would continue, as his birth mother would probably torture her husband for a good long time for what he had done to her pups and while he was normally a gentle, forgiving soul he thought the torture that was likely to come for the man that he shared half his genes with was well deserved for what his father had done not only to him, but his brothers and sisters as well.

Spencer banished thoughts of his father, as this was supposed to be a very happy occasion, as he had finally graduated after eight years and thinking of the man that had abandoned his siblings and him was not a happy thought at all and in fact it tended to make him brood and so it was better to not think of him at all.

Finally the four of them reached the parking lot after stopping to talk briefly with several people that had spoken to him and Aaron opened the passenger door of his car for Spencer before going around to the driver's side.

"Well, shall we get going?" Aaron asked, as he started the engine knowing that his father-in-law was doing the same.

"Yes, we shall," Spencer agreed. "It's going to take me a while to absorb that I'm finally done with my college education, as right now it still has a lot of unreality about it."

"That will fade," Aaron promised. "I remember feeling the same way when I graduated and how it seemed like I'd been in school forever. It took about a week for me to realize that I was finally free of homework and classes. I didn't want to tell you this until after your graduation ceremony, as I didn't want to distract you, but I planned a little vacation just the two of us once your parents go back to Italy."

"Oh! Where are we going?" Spencer asked looking excited at the idea of being alone with Aaron with no job or classes to interfere.

"Well, I know we went to Poland on our honeymoon after we got married, so I thought somewhere like maybe Belgium. I've already taken the time off, since I knew that your parents were only going to stay for a few days and they should be gone by the end of the week. After they leave, the day after actually, we'll be heading directly to Brussels."

"You're just evil, you know that," Spencer playfully scolded him. "You knew of my love of chocolate and Belgium happens to have some of the best."

"That was a consideration," Aaron grinned smugly, "but also I've never been to Belgium, so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone."

"So how are we getting there? By plane?" asked Spencer biting his bottom lip worriedly, as he hadn't been on a plane ever since his birth father William Reid had claimed that he and his siblings were going on vacation and then sold them just hours after they had landed.

"No, I had your mother make us a Portkey, as I told her and your father my plan," Aaron admitted. "I know how you feel about flying and considering what happened after your one and only flight, I don't really blame you, so I made alternate arrangements."

"Sneaky sneaky," Spencer mock accused him and Aaron simply grinned at his mate unrepentant.

"I will never make you fly in a plane again, unless it's what you want," Aaron promised him softly, giving his hand a squeeze with his free hand. "I will never make you do something like that as I understand why you hate to fly."

"I know my fear of flying is mental, but thanks to my of eidetic memory I can never forget that me and my siblings were so excited to be going on a vacation with our father and what happened just hours after we had landed. You might miss the scenery with a Portkey, but to me they're just faster and more convenient and I don't have to worry about getting my long legs cramped."

"Or worry about jet lag," Aaron added.

"Or the airport losing your luggage to where it ends up in Timbuktu," Spencer added with humor in his voice.

"I like Portkey travel, even if you have to really learn how to land on your feet," Aaron said. "Not only is it free, it's just quicker to take a Portkey and this way we can go back and forth if we want, as its permanent according to your mother."

"Yeah, she'd want to give us one that could be used multiple times, just in case we want to take a few days and so long as we can remember the code ward to activate it we could go over to Belgium, just for a few hours or for the weekend, as they are 6 hours ahead, just like when we go to Italy to visit my parents," Spencer said.

"I can see us taking many trips to Belgium or to other places close by like Germany and seeing the sites. I'm sure that we'll be buying a ton of chocolate to take back home," Aaron said.

"I can't help it if I have a sweet tooth," Spencer mock whined. "I think I developed it after the Rossis adopted me as Italy has very excellent desserts and Italian seem to believe that they have to have dessert with dinner, even if they have to wait an hour or so to digest before they eat it."

Aaron simply chuckled, but didn't respond.

Spencer pretended to sulk, but when he didn't get any response from his mate he immediately quit and just enjoyed the scenery.

"Here we are," Aaron said finally as he drove into a parking lot. "You stay here and I'll go see if I can get us a table."

Spencer nodded and watched as his parents car also drove into the parking lot, after Aaron had already disappeared into the restaurant.

"Aaron has just gone to see if he could get us a table," Spencer explained to his parents once they had popped and exited their car. "We probably should've made reservations though."

"You're probably right," Hermione agreed.

"If Aaron can't get us a table, since we didn't make a reservation then we'll just go somewhere else," Dave said. "We can just go one night before we head back to Italy."

"If Aaron can't get us a table I'll make sure I make us of reservation for sometime before you head home," Spencer promised.

"It does seem like a popular place," Hermione observed as she saw all the cars in the parking lot.

"Oh, it is," Spencer assured his parents. "It's one of only 41% of restaurants that makes it past the first two years, mostly because of a good business plan."

Spencer and his parents chatted cordially until Aaron came back out about five minutes later and gestured at them.

"I managed to get us a table, as they're not as busy right now as they usually are, but still it's very crowded," Aaron said.

"I guess we got lucky them," Spencer said giving his lover a long look, suspecting that he had to bribed the maître d' to give them a table right away, but Aaron just looked back innocently.

Dave looked amused, as he obviously suspected the same thing, but he said nothing, as he escorted his lovely wife towards the front door of the Greenville Château.

"Well, shall we?" Aaron asked, as he offered Spencer his arm.

"We shall," Spencer agreed that he took his mate's arm, ignoring the disapproving look from the maître d once they had entered, although the man quickly smoothed his expression back to neutral.

Aaron gave his last name and a waiter immediately escorted them to one of the center tables handing them each a menu before departing.

All of them studied their menus and it was Spencer who made his decision first, but then he had the advantage of being able to read really fast and he had also had been there once before and the menu hadn't changed in the three years since he and Aaron had come for dinner.

The waiter returned to take their drink orders and also took their dinner orders since they had already chosen what they were going to get.

"This was a great idea," Hermione said, as she glanced around. The lighting was low, but then that was deliberate as it created am intimate atmosphere. Really it was great place to bring your lover, your wife or your boyfriend or girlfriend.

"Yeah, it is a great place for special occasions," Aaron told his mother-in-law. "It's kind of expensive, but if it's only every once in awhile it's not too bad. Even mates need to go out on dates occasionally, so that they can get away from the stresses of everyday life and just concentrate on each other, but then so do ordinary couples."

"Now that's something I totally agree with," Dave said approvingly. "Hermione and I might not eat out much, but occasionally it's nice not to have to cook. Besides, it keeps the romance in our relationship if we take much-needed breaks, which is something a lot of people and not just humans forget."

The four of them chatted quietly, as they waited for their dinners to arrive and neither Dave or Hermione made any mention about Aaron's surprise of a graduation trip to Belgium, although they both kept shooting their son knowing looks.

Spencer chose to ignore the looks and concentrated on Aaron who was the center of his world and had been ever since the two of them had met eight years ago.

Aaron squeezed his mate's hand under the table, letting him know silently that he was loved and Spencer squeezed his hand in return to tell him that the message has been received.

Finally their dinners arrived and the four of them concentrated on their food.

"You're right this is excellent," Dave said after he had taken a few bites.

"Yes, we'll have to come here again next time we're here to visit Spencer and Aaron," Hermione agreed, as she savored the steak she had ordered.

"I'm sure we'll come back many times, love," Dave told his lovely wife of over 20 years with a smile.

Aaron and Spencer watched this and smiled at each other knowing that Dave and Hermione were just as much in love, as they were and that was the way it should be.

Italian words

Amore – Love

Babbo Natale – Santa Claus

Famiglia – Family

Famiglie – Families

Figlio – Son

Fratello – Brother

Genitori – Parents

Guaritore – Healer

Madre – Mother

Mamma – Mom

Moglie – Wife

Nipoti – Grandchildren

Nonna – Grandma

Nonni – Grandparents

Nonno – Grandpa

Padre – Father

Papà – Dad

Sorella – Sister