After The Bell

Chapter 6

After the hell of the potions the wedding seemed like a piece of piss to Harry. Sadly before the day came it leaked to the press. Harry wasn't sure how. The article in the Daily Prophet made him feel ill. They said that they'd ignored the relationship because Harry had saved them. They ignored the "orphanage" because they thought he was seeking a family. But now he'd gone too far and they had to question his sanity. He'd managed to keep his anger below his skin. He walked the kids to daycare and then Apparated into the press room.

"I'd like to see the Editor in Chief please." His tone was deadly calm. And he was led, instantly, into a large office. He didn't poke around the subject, sit down, exchange pleasantries. "You attacked me when I was a child. You called me a nut job, a villain, a hero weekly. You got away with it because I was a child. There was nothing I could do and I had no one to protect me. But you will not attack my family, my kids, my decisions. You call me a hero. Treat me like one and leave me alone. It isn't an orphanage, it's a house, it's a family. I could sue for liable. Moreover, when you spoke of my crazy head pains you were speaking of the mental link between me and Voldemort. If he learned from those articles, which I'm not sure he did, you could be tried for treason. I'm not looking for retribution. I want privacy. I want my kids to grow up happy and I will not stand for their being scrutinized the way you did me. You printed it because it was salacious. I'm not news anymore. Unless one of my kids becomes Head Boy or does something news worthy I want them kept off the page. Is that clear?" The woman nodded. "Then have a nice day." He Apparated home and made a cup of tea.

"Useful visit?" asked Remus.

Harry snorted. "We'll see." He rolled his head on his shoulders. "I did my best to be intimidating. And it wasn't hard as I was fuming." After a pause he said, "I'm going to go clean all the brooms."

"That does calm you down," agreed Remus.

Sitting in the cold air outside Harry finally felt like he could breathe again. He trimmed the ends, stripped the polish, repolished them, waxed them, and checked the balance on each. By the time he was done with all of them he felt contented, over his fury. Still not quite himself, he went and steam cleaned the landings between the floors. Afterwards his mopped the back hallway and changed one of the light bulbs in the downstairs toilet. Finally he sat down to another cup of tea with Remus. Then he went to pick Terry, Mark, and Jenny up. It felt good.

He danced with the kids, skipping most of the way home and laughing at a story about Mark accidentally making every pencil in the room vanish. Thinking about it later he asked Severus, "Why do they all have one innate power? When I was young I did a lot of weird stuff."

Severus rolled his eyes. "You're Harry Potter. You're the most powerful wizard on Earth. I know you think it's hyperbole or flattery. It's not. The Ministry sort of fears you. If it weren't for the fact that it's Kingsley in charge they probably would have paid an assassin by now. You're scary; if you were anyone else you'd be ruling the world."

"That would suck."

"And that's why you're not a threat." Severus kissed his forehead.

"What could you do?" asked Harry.

Severus remained silent for a moment, watching Harry. "I could perform Legilimency."

"Wow."

"I could do it before I had a name for it. It was terrifying. If there's anything worse than my father, it was knowing what he would do before he did it. It made me pickup Occlumency very quickly. I had to block out everything I saw in his head."

"I'm sorry." Harry didn't touch him, knew it would only comfort him, not Severus.

Severus shrugged, "It helped you in the long run, kept Voldemort out of your head. Anything that gets us a step closer to here isn't too bad."

That night's Evening Prophet held several interesting articles. The first announced a misprint in the article they'd run on Harry, replacing orphanage with house. The second was a retraction of the morning's story. The third was a well wishing to Harry Potter and his family at the announcement of the pending nuptials and their future endeavors. The fourth and final was about giving heroes space, privacy, and respect. It made Harry laugh while Severus thought they were cowards.

The wedding approached quickly. Harry kept his mind off it by doing tons of Christmas shopping. The closer it got, the more nervous Harry became. Severus pointed out that if he bought much more there would be nothing new to give the kids for their birthdays. The night before the event they stayed at the Burrow. Harry paced and paced, worrying. He went into the hall to go to Severus.

Molly saw him, blocked the door, and said, "Bad luck to see each other before the day."

"It's also bad luck if I hyperventilate, pass out, and drown in my own vomit. I can't… I need to be by him tonight." She moved aside and Harry said, "Thank you," before opening the door. Severus was in bed, reading.

"It's bad luck to-"

"Be quiet and budge over," he said pulling back the covers and crawling into bed next to Severus.

"You alright?" Harry shook his head. "It's not too late to-"

"What if I trip? What if… oh God, what's your middle name?"

"Markus, calm down. We could elope; we can still go out through a window."

"No, we can't. Molly would cry."

"Possibly true. But she'd forgive us."

"There's only thirty-five guests. What if I fall?"

"I'll laugh and clap, and make it alright. We'll make it look like a planned joke."

"Whose last name are we taking?"

"No ones. We'll keep our own. The kids will most likely talk, ask questions, and generally cause distractions. It won't matter. And so what if something big happens? They're your friends. They'll forgive it."

The next morning Molly forced them to separate after breakfast. Harry struggled into dress robes. "Why can't I just wear jeans?" he asked Neville.

"Because then Severus will look foolish."

"Is he wearing dress robes? Merlin, that is so hot. I don't have cufflinks. What am I going to-"

Arthur Weasley came in holding a box, "Calm down, Harry. It's a tradition in our family to give the groom cufflinks on the day. I just dropped Severus' off."

Harry smiled, "You gave him a set?"

"He's a groom and he's marrying into the family."

"Thank you."

Arthur nodded. "Neville do you have the rings?" Neville nodded. "Then we should do this before Harry starts vomiting."

Outside music started to play. Harry didn't know the song, had left the music up to Molly. But it was played on a glass harmonica and sounded ephemeral and beautiful. They walked out and down an aisle. He saw Severus making his way with Remus to the front and felt Hermione's presence behind him. He hoped to God he didn't faint. At the front Severus smirked and took Harry's hand as he approached.

Mr. Junebid cleared his throat. "We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Harry and Severus, to share in their joy, and to give them our blessing." He faltered and Harry turned to see where the man was looking. Kelly had a hand up in the air. "Um, yes?"

"I'm sorry, but I need to do a wiz." He had his hands over his crotch.

Suddenly the tension was gone. Harry laughed as Severus said, "We can wait. Go on up to the house. We won't do anything without you. Anyone else? Now's as good a time as any other." Seth, Jim Davies, and Terry stood. Harry managed to keep his laughter quiet until George stood.

"Honestly!" Molly protested.

"Well Severus offered," he replied before shepparding the children back to the house.

The vicar cleared his throat and Severus rolled his eyes, "Mr. Junebid, if you're ever to have children you must learn to relax. This is genuinely funny. And unless you want wet pants, embarrassment, and possible tears the only option is just go with it. It isn't a problem unless you decide to take issue with it."

There was a silence and Harry asked, "Heard any good jokes recently?"

"As it happens, I have," said Fred. "It's about you two."

"Am I going to be ashamed?" interjected Molly.

"Not at all. So, Severus and Harry walk into a pub. And the barman says, 'I hear you're getting married.' And they say, 'Yes, that's right.' The barman says, 'But you can't'. Affronted they say, 'Why not?' And he says, 'Because you're both made of honor.'."

There were groans and laughter. Dumbledore told his joke about a troll, hag, and a ghost that ended with "That's not a horse; she's my wife!"

By the time the kids came back everyone was relaxed and having fun. The ceremony continued smoothly and then there was dancing and a bouncy castle for the kids. Harry and Severus went to the Bahamas directly after the party. Harry started to strip the moment they were in the room. Severus watched him appreciatively until Harry pulled on jeans.

"If I never have to wear dress robes again it will be too soon."

Severus laughed and changed into slacks and a button down, as close to causal as Severus really got. "Why don't we go down to the beach, have a walk, order room service, and crash unconsciously into bed?"

"It's our wedding night," protested Harry but it was weak. He was tired and wired and the combination sucked.

"Right, but, neither of us has slept well in a week. For the rest of our lives we have wedded nights. So let's go for a walk, have some supper, and go to sleep."

Time went by, delineated by little but weddings, birthdays, and Christmas. Hermione and Neville graduated with honors and moved into the house with their two children. Blaise and Pansy stopped bickering, got married, and moved into the house. Pansy gave birth to twins within the first year of their marriage. Excitement came with David. And even that was business as usual save for the fires. Harry felt a warm hand on his arm and turned over. "Harry?"

"David, it's three in the morning. What's wrong?" He looked at the little boy's face. He was still healing.

The two year old had come to them a week before. The Muggle Children Services had found out about him from his parents' neighbors. Hearing the parents' story the Children Services had contacted the Ministry of Magic. And the Ministry had brought the boy to Harry.

David's parents had turned to their church to help them when they realized that their son could start fires "with his mind". In an exorcism they had tried to brand Satan out of the child. And while Harry thought that there might be some vague wisdom in the phrase "fighting fire with fire" he didn't think this was what it meant.

Severus, Neville, and Madam Pomfrey had done their best. They assured Harry that all the potions and salves would help the little boy and leave very little scarring. But in the time it was taking to heal, Harry's heart ached every time he saw David.

"I'm bad," David sounded sad and frightened.

"I promise I won't be mad," Harry assured him.

"Hot," said David pointing to the door.

Harry leapt out of bed and shouted, "David, stay here!" He ran out the room as David started to cry.

He could feel the heat as he neared the end of the hallway. As he opened the door to the boy's bedroom the inferno's blast pulled the air out of Harry's chest. He stopped the fire with a few spells and set to work on fixing the damage. Within a few minutes the room looked normal again but still smelled awful. He opened the windows and shut the door behind him.

When he got back to the bedroom, he saw a sleepy Severus holding the boy in his lap, comforting David with soft words. As Harry walked in Severus yawned and asked, "Fire?"

"Yes. David, what happened?"

"I bad."

"No, baby, you aren't bad. It wasn't bad. I didn't mean to shout. It was scary. What happened?"

"Monster in the pullies."

"There was no monster in the curtains. That was a nightmare. Next time you get scared come to us, or scream. We're much better at dealing with problems than a fire."

"Di'n't mean to."

"I know," Harry said, climbing into bed. "You did the right thing coming to us. But try not to set your room alight. You're not in trouble, it just scared me. I don't want you to get hurt. Okay?"

"I try."

"Good boy. Do you want to sleep with us tonight?"

"Okay?" he asked looking nervous about the response.

"Of course it is," said Severus. He pulled the little boy under the covers. "You're always safe here," he promised.

Kelly had a knack for asking vaguely inappropriate questions at breakfast. It usually started the morning with a bang. Severus was at school, preparing for his day when Kelly asked. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Why does Severus call you Potter?"

"It's my last name?" Harry hazarded.

"No, but why doesn't he call you Harry?"

"Oh… it's his way of apologizing."

"How?"

"He didn't like me for years before we were together. And you called me Potter. And by still calling me Potter he's saying that he doesn't need to change what he calls me to love me. He isn't separating me from the person he thought I was, he's saying that I was always who I am and that he was wrong."

"When I go to Hogwarts next year will he call me Morgans?"

"No, Kelly, he'll call you what he's always called you. But you, Tom, and the Jims will have to work hard in his class. He's not going to let you muck about. He expects the best from you because he's watched you brew for years and he knows you're clever." Looking around the table he asked, "Does everyone have their books? Dinner money? PE clothes?" The kids nodded three times and Harry looked at his watch. "You should push off then." He walked them to the door, kissing the tops of their heads as they filed past him.

Days were quieter now that they were all in the juniors. He only had David to entertain. Neville was at his practice in London, Hermione was in her upstairs study continually sending owls to people, and the children who were in preschool in the mornings. Blaise was at the Ministry, and Pansy had the twins with her at work where she invented designer spells. It was rainy outside so they read stories, David watched Harry doing chores, he played by himself or the Longbottoms if they were home while Harry paid bills. They went to the grocery store, down to the shops for a snack and came back as the kids were coming home from school. Harry watched them doing their homework and thought about how things had changed.

That night in bed he rolled over to face Severus. They were both sweaty and covered in come, and saliva, and were in need of showers. So maybe it wasn't the best time to say it but he asked, "Do you want a baby?"

Severus was still catching his breath and looked dazed. "What?"

"A baby. Would you like one?"

"David's not three for another few months. Do you mean an infant? I mean, if there's a baby we should take the kid in. Is there someone specific?"

"No. I meant, do you want a baby with me? Not right now but someday? Do you want kids?"

Severus stilled, "I've never really thought about it. It never really came up. Yes. I would. And not even in the future. A baby would be good. We need a surrogate."

"Pansy offered, ages ago, after Millie and John. She said if she could do twins she could carry a few for us."

Severus laughed, "Only a few years ago the whole world would have been disgusted by the idea of my having progeny. Now people offer to incubate it."

Five months later Pansy was starting to have a bump. Harry thought it was an exciting time. They were also in the middle of The Little Grey Men which was a great book. They would sit before bed in the living room reading aloud to the kids before tucking them in. Tom was the last for Harry and he went in saying. "It's late, sweetheart, don't read for too long."

Tom sat up and said, "Harry, can we talk?"

"Of course." Harry sat down at the edge of Tom's bed. "What's up?"

"The baby's gonna have three parents?"

"No, not really. People are made of DNA. And the baby has Severus and my DNA. Pansy is keeping the baby nice and warm until he or she is ready to come home to us."

"So when the baby comes it'll live here?" Harry nodded. "So will we have to move?"

Harry was confused, "We have lots of room for the baby."

"No, not you. Us, the boys, and Jenny, and me. 'Cause I get it. But I want to stay with Kelly. I never had a friend before him."

Harry felt bile rising in his throat and pulled Tom into his lap. "Tom, I'm sorry we weren't more clear. No one is moving anywhere. This is your home. No one wants you to go."

"But the baby will be yours."

"You're mine too. You're not my son but you're my boy. This is your family. The baby doesn't change that. We don't want you to go anywhere. How long have you been worrying?"

"Well, we talked about it. And we pulled sticks. And I got the short one so I had to ask."

Harry felt like he honestly might vomit. He'd read Oliver Twist in school. He wrapped his arms around Tom's middle and said. "I'm so angry at myself for scaring you like this. You shouldn't be afraid. We love you, all of you. No one is going anywhere. The baby doesn't change the way we feel about you."

Severus found them forty-five minutes later. He heard Tom say, "Not green, that's the fairy color. They'll come get the baby and leave us a changeling."

"We don't want that. We want our baby."

"Yeah, our baby," Tom agreed. "What about painting the nursery purple? That's the color of magic."

"I like purple, we'll have to talk to Severus."

Severus leaned against the doorjamb, "Boys? It's very late." Harry looked up and Severus took in his expression. "Tom, why don't you come sleep in our bed tonight?"

"I'm ten," Tom said it as though it was a closed deal.

"The first time Blaise saw a muggle scary move he slept in his mother's bed for three days, and he was seventeen. Come sleep in our bed if you want," Harry stroked the boy's hair.

Tom nodded, "Yeah, okay."

They slept with Tom between them, exchanging "I love you"s, before falling asleep.

The next morning at breakfast Harry said, "No one's leaving this house."

"We have school," said Seth.

"Right, no, that's not what I mean. Tom spoke to me last night. When this baby comes no one is being moved out of this house. The baby won't change how we feel about you. We love you and no one needs to leave. We're probably going to be tired more, because babies are up all night, but it won't change anything else. Okay?" There were nods. "Okay. Dinner money? Books? PE clothes?" There were nods. "Excellent, have a good day."