Family is Everything
Alternative Version
Disclaimer: While I love the books, if I owned the rights to them, the story would have been different.
Summary: The war is over and Harry is starting his life with Severus and Lucius. The arrival of his godson changes his perspective on the men in his life causing him to flee the country. This is an alternative to my original story line. BRIEF HP/SS/LM, HP/SS. Ignores HBP and DH. AU/OOC MPREG
Sorry for the wait. My husband was in the hospital for a few days and when I finally got time to sit and write this, nothing seemed to work right. I'm not sure if it's the stress of what has happened in my real life the past week or if it's just writers block but this chapter just didn't want to come.
Ok so it's finished now and I'll be starting to work on the original version by the end of the week. I'm hoping to have the next chapter of it up by Monday.
A note about the previous chapter. A couple of people commented in reviews or in private message about wanting confirmation, Yes Severus was the father of all 3 children. I assumed it was obvious since all the children were given his last name and two of them were named after his family. I guess I really didn't take into account that he'd been referring to them as his children since he found out about them.
August 20th 2010
"Harry I do not understand why you insist on traveling on these stupid muggle contraptions. You know as well as I do that when we get to London, we'll be traveling by port-key so why not save us all the time and headache and just take the blasted port-key now?"
They had had this argument many times in the past. In fact, they had this same argument in June and August of every year for the past eleven years. Severus never could understand Harry's reluctance to travel such a long distance with the children by magical means and Harry never could understand Severus reluctance to fly in an airplane.
"Love, you know as well as I do that international port-key is not safe for young children. And before you start on the floo system, I don't care what you or anyone else thinks, I do not think it's remotely safe for a young child to spend that much time spinning and ingesting ashes! If your so insistent then you take the blasted port-key and I'll travel with all of OUR children by myself and we will see you at the castle!"
Severus had never been accused of being a man lacking in intelligence so he knew better than to argue with his husband. He knew from experience that his temper would flare easily at this stage of his pregnancy. He also knew that this particular trip was having more of an effect on his husbands emotions than any of the others had. This was the trip that would be their last for some time to come.
Albus was well past the phase where people would say he was getting on in his age, and had finally been convinced to retire. It came as quite a surprise when Albus appointed Severus and not Minerva as his successor. While honored, it also meant many changes for his family. No longer would they be able to travel back to their Unicorn Alley home as they had every summer since the triplets were born. Now they would reside in the castle year round and giving up their sanctuary was having an enormous effect on Harry's already frazzled emotions.
Pulling his husband into his arms he tried to calm him down.
"I am sorry. I did not intend to upset you. I have just never felt comfortable in something that can fly with no magic involved preventing it from crashing. I know it is safer for you and the children than any other form of traveling such a great distance."
Having calmed down Harry turned and started to escort the children onto the plane. Having learned his lesson from his first trip with just him and Teddy, Harry insisted on traveling in first class, claiming it was better for the children to have the extra room for such a long trip.
He thought about his family and the life they've lived as he got the children buckled in and sat in his own seat with their youngest two children seated between him and his husband.
Teddy was twelve now and had finally learned control of his Metamorphmagus powers. He would be starting his second year at Hogwarts in a few days, having been sorted into Gryffindor like his father and adoptive father before him. A few years ago, they had sat Teddy down and told him about his parents. At first he was hurt and confused. Then he became fearful that his dad and papa would abandon him since they had their own children. Severus had really saved the day when he told Teddy that he may not be their child by blood but he was special because they chose to raise him. He meant so much to them that they chose to take him in and no matter what he would always be their son.
The triplets; Veridian, Krymsin, and Cyan, had always been a handful. Harry knew that they would be sorted into Slytherin. They were much to sly and conniving to belong to any other house. They had definitely spent too much time around their Uncle Draco.
Two years after the triplets, the family welcomed Caydin James into the family. His namesake would probably be rolling in his grave to see him. Caydin was more like Remus than James. He was sure to be a Ravenclaw with as much reading and studying as he did. While two years younger, he had surpassed the triplets in their muggle education.
When Caydin was four the family again welcomed a new addition. Well two actually. Dyson Severus and Dante Albus. At five they were driving their parents crazy. They were the epitome of the Marauders reincarnated. Severus was positive that he would be replacing at least half of the teaching staff by the time the twins graduated from Hogwarts. Many had either taught or been in school with the Marauders or the Weasley twins and he wasn't sure that they would survive the Dumbledore-Snape twins.
Harry rubbed his bulging belly. By Halloween they would be welcoming another set of twins. These little ones were the result of a birth control potion that obviously failed and Dante and Dyson were the result of a contraception charm that failed as well. After much discussion and finally coming to an agreement, Severus began working on a potion that would in effect make Severus sterile. The hope was that this potion would finally allow them to stop expanding their family. At seven children and two more on the way, they had certainly passed the Weasley family in offspring and it was time to stop. They loved each of their children dearly but were worried that having more children would deprive the others of some attention. The most important reason being that Harry's healers were concerned about him being able to survive another pregnancy. They had been warned that attempting another pregnancy could kill Harry. As it was, when they arrive at the castle, Harry would be placed on bed rest for the remainder of his pregnancy with him and the twins being closely monitored.
Despite the danger to his health, Harry thanked Merlin for each and everyone of his children. He had always wanted a family and now he had one larger than he could have ever imagined. Certainly much larger than he thought he would have when he took Teddy and fled Britain. He still found it hard to believe how much their lives had changed since that day.
Draco was still an important part of their family. He had settled down a few years ago and married a witch named Monique and a wizard named Zachariah. Monique and Zachariah had only recently begun dating when they stumbled into Draco at a club. The triad had been going strong ever since with four children of their own. Lucius had been outraged when he learned that not only was Monique carrying a child, so was Draco. The ensuing argument put an end to the last of the communication that Draco had with his father.
Not long after that, The Daily Prophet had issued out the news that Lucius Malfoy had taken his own life. Oddly enough, he'd chosen muggle means to do it by. The article stated that a house elf discovered his master slumped over his desk with a gun that had fallen from his hand after shooting himself in the head. Aurors reported that he had a massive amount of alcohol in his system and would probably have succumbed to alcohol poisoning if he hadn't taken his own life.
Lucius left the world a bitter lonely old man. After the fall out that he had with Severus, he was seen gracing the gossip pages with many different witches and wizards, none of which ever lasted long. Long enough to satisfy his itch yet never long enough to be called a relationship. In fact, hardly anyone could tolerate to be around him. His normally snobbish attitude had become increasingly brutal towards the end until he was left entirely alone.
Harry awoke to his husband nudging his shoulder. He hadn't even realized that he had fallen asleep during his musings.
"Harry, love, time to wake up. We'll be landing shortly."
"Thanks Sev."
When the plane touched down, they quickly hustled the children to the port-key terminal. Everyone was tired and cranky after such a long flight and Harry was itching to remove the glamour he was using to cover his stomach. Magic may have become more open in the past decade but Harry still didn't feel comfortable with all the stares a pregnant man would receive.
When all of their family was finally huddled around the port-key, Severus muttered the activation word and with a tug of the navel they were swept off to Hogwarts. As soon as their feet touched the ground, Severus quickly reached out to grab his husband to keep him from falling.
"I don't think I'll ever get the hang of that."
"Well at least it is the last time you will have to travel that way while pregnant. Welcome home love."
Looking up a smile lit Harry's face. Up ahead were the gates that would lead him and his family up to his home. Hogwarts. Yes, he loved their home in Unicorn Alley but Hogwarts would always be his home. This is where he learned about magic. Where he made friends and enemies. This is where his family started. That's what really made this his home. His family had started here, and his children were growing up here. He was sure that someday he'd be walking across the grounds with not only his children but also his grandchildren. His smile grew a little bigger at that thought. He'd made a lot of mistakes in his life but he'd never regret the ones that led to him having his family. His family was what kept him going even in the darkest times of his life. His family kept him moving on. To him, family was everything.
Thank you to everyone that read and reviewed this story.
