Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his universe does not belong to me. The idea for this story comes from grugster.
Chapter Three – A Relaxing Afternoon
"Any ideas on how to occupy the boys for the rest of the afternoon?" Remus asked Narcissa, towelling his hair dry. The two had finished their lavender infused bath and were taking the time while the boys were still asleep to relax.
Once Aquila was born there wouldn't be any quiet time. Narcissa had already purchased some new things for her daughter. But plenty of things Ivy had given her. After all, the twins were only a few years old and there was no sense in letting that go to waste.
"Are you ready?" Remus asked, placing a hand on Narcissa's arm. "It seems so close now. No more time to prepare and everything will be upon us in such a short time."
Narcissa snuggled into Remus's warm arms once they'd pulled on fresh robes and settled on the couch in the upstairs sitting room. "There is still a few days and our bonding, our marriage, it will be something special. I can't wait. It's going to be amazing." She smiled and looked at Remus' face.
Remus held Narcissa and waited. "Is everything ready for the ceremony? Timothy agreed to serve as your partner. The male in a stable, happy relationship."
"Ivy said she'd be happy to help too." Narcissa told Remus with a yawn. "Is there any reason for us to still be awake?"
Remus chuckled. "Feel free to fall asleep. I need to do some more work on decorating that ballroom and some more paper work." He ran his hand through Narcissa's long blond hair. "Or we could stay here. If you want."
For almost half an hour that was what they did. Sitting on the couch, wrapped in each other's warmth. Remus carding Narcissa's hair with his left hand. She was rubbing his right hand with hers. It was quiet and peaceful. Even the child inside her wasn't awake. It was a special time.
But when the clock began to chime and Remus had to shift under Narcissa, her tail-bone was starting to press into his legs painfully, the moment was over. Narcissa got up and smoothed out her robes before casting a warming charm on them.
"I'm heading up to bed." She murmured. "Just a short nap. It'll be warmer there and quiet." Narcissa yawned and walked slowly to the stairs, climbing them carefully.
Remus watched and waited for her to reach the top before summoning a heavy winter cloak and casting warming charms over everything. He had a feeling that the boys were going to want to play Quidditch or at least fly outside and in the bitter cold he couldn't think of a more unpleasant thing to be doing.
The boys' cloaks were their rooms. Remus climbed the stairs and peaked in through Draco's open door. The blond boy was beginning to stir and within a few minutes he'd opened his eyes and looked over at Remus, fully aware of his surroundings.
Draco yawned and sat up. "Remus." He glanced to the side and noted the time. "Why did you let me sleep so late?" He bit his bottom lip. "I wanted to play with Harry!"
Remus crossed his arms. I have to remain firm. If Draco is allowed to get away with things then he'll never respect me as a parent. "Draco, there's no rush. Harry still needs to sleep for another ten minutes. Is there something you would like to do when he gets up?" Remus asked, "you could get it set up now."
"Flying!" Draco jumped out of bed and headed to his huge closet. "Will you come flying with us?" He asked, trying to make doe eyes at Remus. He really, really wanted to go flying with Harry. And it was always more fun with three.
Remus nodded. "Make sure you dress warmly. And don't wake Harry up. Let him sleep as long as he likes."
Draco scowled but continued looking in his closet.
"I'll be in my office when you're ready." Remus told Draco before leaving the room and heading to the Master bedroom. He needed to tell Narcissa their plans and locate and dress in his own Quidditch gear. Not to mention long underwear, it was freezing outside.
Remus entered the bedroom quietly, but Narcissa was simply sitting on the bed reading, she hadn't gone to sleep yet. "My love." He whispered, giving her a quick kiss before summoning the clothes he wanted to change into.
Narcissa smiled. "The boys roped you into going flying with them?"
"I don't really mind. It's fun and this way they'll stay out of trouble." Remus smiled.
"And the house will be nice and quiet. Conductive to sleeping." Narcissa added. "But I'll miss you. We should do something together tonight. Something fun that doesn't happen everyday."
Remus pulled on his winter robes and woollen pants. "Something like listening to the Wireless, or something like going horseback riding?" Although horses weren't too fond of Remus due to his lycanthropy, he was amazed and awed by the magnificent beasts.
"Skating would be fun." Narcissa said, speaking more to herself rather than Remus and trying to make a plan in her head. She turned excitedly to Remus. "We could head up to the little muggle town. They've got an amazing outdoor rink and the boys could have their fun and we could have ours."
Remus smiled. "That sounds like a good idea. You want to tell the boys?" She nodded and he gave her a quick kiss. "I better be off before those wild children tear me to bits for taking so long getting ready."
Narcissa laughed and picked up her book and Remus left the room and closed the door behind him.
The office was barren and depressing compared to Draco's room or the Master bedroom. There was parchment, files, quills and an assortment of books. And a special safe that Remus had purchased and always brought with him whenever he moved. It was the best protection the wizarding and muggle world could offer. His wolfsbane potion and now the potion for his daughter would never be damaged or tampered with.
Remus took a seat at his desk and pulled a piece of parchment toward him. It was a birth registry form and as much as both he and Narcissa were abhorred by the idea of their daughter being controlled by the Ministry and considered a 'beast' they didn't have much of a choice. Even the Black and Malfoy name couldn't help them now.
After all of five seconds, Remus pushed the form aside. It was so invasive and rude, most werewolf treatment didn't bother him any more. He ignored it, there would always be stupid people and he accepted that. All he wanted was for them to accept him and his new family.
Remus leaned back in his chair and looked around the room. He was tempted to ask one of the Dumbledores to place one of the moving pictures they were so famous for on his office walls. Narcissa had pictures of him and Draco on the desk in her office. His seemed so plain in comparison.
Remus took out his wand and conjured a picture frame. It wasn't his best work, but the wood held up and looked quite nice, as if it had been polished by caring hands and delicately cared for. The second part was more difficult, it was sort of like putting memories into a pensieve but required more work from the holder of the memories.
With the tip of his wand at his temple, Remus focused on all his thoughts of Narcissa. Her beauty, the long blond hair she was so proud of, the love that was shared between them. Everything he loves about her came to the surface and poured out through his wand into the picture frame.
It wasn't a true wizarding picture. That would require a camera and getting Narcissa to pose for him. Not that it wasn't a bad idea, Remus planned on taking photographs of his new family. His creation smiled at him and waved a hand happily. It was not truly Narcissa, just his interpretation of her. Remus set on his desk facing him and gazed at the face of his beloved happily.
It seemed only seconds later that there were feet pounding nosily down the hall, disrupting him and bouncing the papers on his desk. Remus was shaken out of his love stupor for a moment before catching sight of his Narcissa's amazing eyes and being drawn in yet again.
"Hurry up Remus!" Draco bellowed from the first floor. "You're so slow!"
Remus smiled to himself. He wanted Draco to feel comfortable teasing him, as long as it was teasing. Hurtful comments had no place in the Malfoy-Lupin household. Narcissa and Remus were both very firm on that point.
"I'm coming, boys. Give an old man some time," Remus said, amused as he lumbered down the stairs and pulled on heavy winter robes. "Draco get back here!" He demanded when the boy tried to leave with only a light jacket on. "You need a better coat then that." He handed the boy a water proof garment with heat charms added on. "Now you may head out."
The two children left the house as if it were on fire and Draco mounted his broom and took to the air as soon as he'd cleared the door. He turned back, smiling happily. "C'mon Harry!"
Remus groaned, the flying field had safety charms on it and getting Draco hurt would not be a good thing, especially right before the wedding. "No flying outside the flying field," he said, even though he knew the boys couldn't hear him. After throwing one last glance back at Malfoy Manor, thinking of his love, he swung himself on his broom and raced after the boys.
The game was fun. Remus brought out a snitch and the three of them chased it around. Harry caught it three times, same as Draco. Remus swore that he felt his finger tips brush it once but that was all. They changed the game.
Out came the red quaffle and the three players formed a triangle. They passed the ball up and down, moved around and tried to score on each other. That was something that Remus could beat the boys at. Draco wasn't bad and Harry struggled as he tried to block and catch at the same time. It was different from what he was use to.
Remus looked over the boys and cast heating charms on their cloaks. It was colder than he'd originally thought and nearly time to go in if they wanted to avoid freezing to their brooms. He glanced at the frozen mud on the bottom of the flying field. The hardest part of going inside would be getting the boys to land and not return to the air.
"Remus! Draco! Harry!"
The voice was almost lost in the wind. But Remus' werewolf ears caught onto the sound. Narcissa was standing on the field, her thick black cloak pulled tightly around her. "Come inside before you freeze!" She called, a charm helping her voice carry high into the sky.
Remus landed beside her quickly. "A little to late for that. I can hardly stand straight." He smiled and squeezed one of her gloved hands with his own. "Will it be too cold to go out tonight?" He whispered, not wanting to let the boys in on the surprise outing.
Narcissa shook her head. "The way the grounds of the manor are set up make it colder. And we can apply better charms for on the ground. No worries." She gave him quickly kiss and as soon as Harry landed they proceeded back up to the house where it would be nice ad warm and comfortable.
Remus smiled as Narcissa became a lioness. She ordered the three of them to sit down on the couch in front of the fireplace and wrap up in blankets. Draco and Harry protested at first, but once they began to thaw they were grateful for her ministrations.
"Hot chocolate." Narcissa handed Harry a cup and made sure that Remus' was still hot. He loved all things chocolate and could tell with a quick sniff that something was off with the drink . "Drink it Draco." Narcissa ordered, shooting Remus one of her looks that promised she'd explain it later.
The beverage was rich and creamy as always. Remus located one of the chocolate chunks and gave it a good suck. He took another hearty swallow and clapped his hands to his ears. There was steam pouring out them in the most unpleasant way. It didn't exactly hurt, but it wasn't fun either.
"Gak!" Harry felt up to his ears and Draco scowled when he felt the steam leave his head. All three of the men glared at Narcissa.
She simply smiled. "No one is getting sick. There's not a lot of potion in there and it will just make you feel better and stronger, not to mention warmer if you weren't becoming ill." Narcissa picked up her own mug and took a delicate drink, smiling as no steam emerged from her ears.
"Let's go to my room." Draco announced as soon as he'd drained his cup. The steam stopped quickly since it wasn't a full dose of potion and he gave his head a quick shake to get rid of the yucky feeling that it left behind.
Harry stood up and set his mug down. "Thank you for coming flying with us. And for making hot chocolate." He said, wondering why Draco hadn't said anything to his parents after what they'd done for them.
"You're very welcome." Narcissa told him with a smile. She snapped her fingers and directed the house elves to pick up the dirty dishes and leave. They were quiet and before they knew it the adults were once again alone in front of the fireplace.
Remus caressed her face gently. Letting his arm fall around her shoulders and they leaned on each other in an awkward kind of way. Narcissa moved up and down slightly each time Remus breathed in and out.
"Are you ready for the ceremony?" Narcissa asked. "I had the house elves do some basic set up, but you should look it over and make sure that everything Timothy will need is in the right place."
Remus nodded. "My robes arrived and there was another package for you. The clothier was suppose to send a set of proper clothes to Ivy and Timothy has already owled and confirmed that he received his." He smiled. "I can't wait. It's going to be so amazing."
Narcissa laughed. "It will be and soon Aquila will be here. Our sweet child." She ran a hand over her stomach. "We'll need to get a healer though. Poppy is only a mediwitch and she hasn't got a lot of experience with childbirth."
"Children aren't suppose to be born at Hogwarts." Remus said. "Thankfully, all those seventeen and sixteen year-olds. . ."
Narcissa shook her head. "Honestly Remus. I'm sure that they are responsible. After all, it is a school. There's probably charms on the building to prevent that kind of thing."
Remus just shook his head. He loved laughing with Narcissa. But sometimes their happiness made them a little too giddy and he didn't want Draco to hear them speaking of such things in a light way. He needed to take important issues seriously.
The couple relaxed in front of the fire for the next hour. Remus had some papers to mark from the Defence classes at Hogwarts, but there was still a week and a half of vacation left. Now was the time to relax and enjoy themselves. They were warm, comfortable and excited for the skating trip they were planning on taking that night.
Almost three hours had slipped by when the two woke up again. Remus stirred first, rising Narcissa as she was moved off of him. "I should prepare supper." She murmured after glancing at the clock. "We'll have to leave for skating soon."
Remus nodded and stumbled off to his office. Even if he was able to mark a single paper before the meal, he would be one paper closer to finished.
The meal bell rang throughout the house at five thirty. Remus left his office and stopped off at the door to Draco's room. He knocked lightly, "Supper time you two. Wash up and come downstairs please."
The boys cleaned their hands and filed down the stairs, all more awake then they'd been five minutes ago with the promise of food.
They were into the noodle dish and eating quickly when Narcissa asked, "What do you think about going down to the town after supper? The lake is lightened, and you can go skating."
"That's great, mum. Harry can use my old skates," Draco said enthusiastically, a smile brighting his face as he glanced at his friend.
"I can't skate," Harry said insecurely.
"I will teach you," Draco countered, self-confident. Remus' expression fell slightly at his statement. Draco was still far too cocky for his tastes. He needed to learn humility and modesty before he would be able to survive in the adult world.
"There are a lot of muggles there, Harry. So please be careful of what you say," Narcissa warned.
"Of course, ma'am," Harry said, lowering his eyes in what he hoped was a respectful gesture.
"No need to be so formal, Harry. Narcissa is fine." Narcissa smiled softly at Harry. She was happy that Draco was making friends. She didn't want him to be lured into the same trap that Lucius had gotten caught in. Friendless and alone the elder Malfoy had made great prey for the Dark Lord.
"All right Narcissa. Skating sounds fun." Harry said slightly more self-confidant then before. "I'm looking forward to it."