That weekend Draco had all of the invitations ready for Nysus' party. Normally he would've owled them out weeks ago, but with all that had been going on, he was delayed. Plus, he thought that delivering them in person would be the perfect opportunity for Harry to meet all of his friends and family prior to the party. Because they wanted their children to get used to the idea of them dating before it became public knowledge and he knew that many of his friends were gossip whores, he had told only a few of them. These deliveries would come as a total shock to most of the invitees and he wanted to judge their reaction in person, so that he'd know who needed to be uninvited to the party. He did not want a scene at Nysus' seventh birthday party.
The family dressed nicely and started the circuit with the Goyle's, because as Harry's healer, Greg was one of the few people who knew. Draco had arranged their list in order of least likely to cause problems, to most, so that they wouldn't get bogged down at the beginning and the children wouldn't see the worst of the reactions. Those who were sure to object to the relationship would receive their invitations tomorrow, without the children present.
They flooed into the Goyle family home, landing in a parlor. Nysus was out first, invitation in hand, followed by Scorp, Draco, and Harry carrying Cori. Greg was waiting there with his wife Tracey and their two young boys.
"We will be delighted to attend your birthday party, Nysus, as usual," Greg said accepting the invitation.
"Party! Yay!" the older of the Goyle boys shouted, as he began running around the room hollering in excitement. The younger boy copied the older, except that there were no intelligible words in his excited yells. They were both large for their ages, a little taller than average and a lot wider, with brown hair and light brown eyes.
Draco stepped forward, clasped his hands around Greg's larger ones, looked Greg in the eye, and said, "Thank you. Your support means a lot to me Greg."
Greg nodded and said, "You're my best friend."
Draco smiled and replied, "And you will always be mine. Now if you will excuse us, we have a long list of people to see today."
Tracey stepped forward to hug Draco and whispered in his ear, "I'm so glad you finally found someone. It's about time."
Draco nodded, hugging Tracey back as he wondered how much the woman knew. He'd assumed Greg would tell his wife about Harry being an Incubus and the father of Draco's children, but if Greg had, then Tracey would've known that he'd found Harry ages ago. It was only now that he was keeping Harry. But if Tracey didn't know, he wasn't going to tell her, so he let the comment slide.
Next on their lists were Ron, Hermione, and their two children. They flooed into the small, cozy living room of Harry's best friends'. Again Nysus handed over the invitation, but with less excitement and more nervousness, because he didn't really know these people.
"A birthday party on Halloween? How wonderful! Thank you ever so much for inviting us!" Hermione said cheerfully taking the invitation.
"I know, right? Something happy to celebrate is just what Halloween needs to make it fun again," Harry agreed. For too many years Halloween had been about his parents' double murder. Now that he knew it was also the day his second child was born, he thought that it was a fitting coincidence. It was the day two people were stolen from him, but also the day one was given. He could think of no better way to honor his parents than to give them a grandchild. From now on he was determined to make Halloween a happy and fun-filled day for his son.
"Rosie, did you hear that? We are going to a party for Nysus," Ron said to his three-year-old daughter, who he was carrying on his hip.
"Yay! Princess party?" Rose asked excitedly.
"I do hope we are allowed to wear costumes," Hermione clarified Rose's question.
"Yes, absolutely. It's a costume party, right Nysus?" Harry asked, to get Nysus involved in the conversation.
"Yeah," Nysus answered, still unsure of the Weasleys, but beginning to realize that these ones were nice.
"Fantastic. Rose already has her princess dress picked out and I have the cutest little lion costume for Hugo," Hermione replied.
"This is going to be brilliant, isn't it Rose?" Ron asked, again to the toddler in his arms.
"Yep, bill-ant," Rose seconded with an enthusiastic nod.
Ron leaned in to Harry as he spoke in a quiet voice, "I have it from Bill that he and Fleur are really impressed with Draco. Apparently he apologized to Bill for Bill's face, even though he hadn't meant for Greyback to be let into the school that night. There should be no problems there. Percy will go along with whatever, as long as he's seen with you, to further his career at the Ministry. Ginny has to attend the usual holiday party with her team, so she can't come. George is still being a bit of a prick about it, but I think Angelina can get him to come around. Mum and Dad are on your side, of course."
"Thanks. It's good to hear it," Harry replied. This fit with his prior assessment of where the Weasley family stood on the matter of his relationship with Draco. He'd seen Bill and Fleur being friendly with Draco at last Sunday's get together, but he hadn't been aware of the apology Draco had given Bill. He wondered now when that had happened.
This time Harry hugged his friends and exchanged pleasantries, while Draco stood back. Hermione and then Ron didn't stop at hugging Harry and Cori, going on to hug Scorp and Nysus too. Draco was taken off guard, as first Hermione and then Ron with Rose, hugged him.
Then they were on to the cottage by the beach where Bill and Fleur Weasley lived with their three children. The Malfoy family flooed into the living room and repeated the process of Nysus handing over the invitation, this time giving it directly to Dominique, the girl his age. Scorp exchanged a few words with Victoire, the oldest girl. Luis, the little boy, said hello to Cori, but she hid her face in Harry's chest instead of returning the greeting. Fleur took the invitation from her daughter and said that they would all be happy to come. Bill, standing by his wife's side, seconded her sentiments.
After that they went to the Burrow to deliver an invitation to Molly and Arthur Weasley and then to Percy's house, to invite him and his family. That left only George and Angelina of the Weasley family, but instead of flooing into their home to invite the entire family, they flooed to a pub near their home, where Harry had arranged to meet Angelina and Roxanne, minus George and little Fred.
Nysus eagerly handed over the invitation to Roxanne saying, "We are going to have so much fun at my party! Father says it's going to be fabulous with a haunted house and everything! Even real ghosts!"
"I hope my dad lets me go," Roxanne said anxiously.
"Don't worry about him, Roxy. I will take care of your dad," Angelina said reassuringly.
"Thanks Angelina, I owe you one," Harry replied.
"Think nothing of it. I'm still appalled by what Fred said to your son," Angelina responded.
A short while later, Angelina and Roxanne left through the front door of the pub to walk home. The Malfoy children, needing a potty break, made a detour to the loo. Draco took Cori into a stall and Harry joined their boys at the urinals.
"Harry, why might Roxy's dad not let her come?" Nysus asked innocently. "She and Dominique are my favorite Weasleys. I don't want Fred to come, but Roxy is cool."
"Well after what Fred said to you, his dad and I sort of had a row. Sorry," Harry said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.
"You had a row with your Weasley friend? Over me?" Nysus asked curiously.
"Yes. I didn't appreciate the things Fred said, so I had a talk with his dad, George, about it. I didn't like what George said and we had words. Erm, I sort of told him that I didn't want his kid around my kids."
"You said that?" Now Nysus' sounded astounded. Harry sticking up for him came as a huge surprise.
"Yes, I did. Fred had no right to say those things about your father. I expected George to apologize for his son and when he didn't, I got pissed.
Nysus nodded thoughtfully. He washed his hands next to Scorp and then waited for Draco and Cori to wash their hands. As the family walked together back to the fireplace, he announced, "Father, I've decided that I do want you to sign me up for the theater club."
"Are you sure? You do remember that Harry will be taking you by himself to a number of the meetings, do you not?" Draco asked.
Nysus nodded, but didn't say another word.
"Alright, then I will sign you up," Draco said to his son, before turning to Harry. "Now Harry, don't forget that you are not allowed to report on any illegal or questionable material or activities you may be about to witness."
"I'm not an Auror anymore and I'm not on duty, but if I see a blatant violation, I will be forced to pass the information along," Harry replied.
Draco groaned and said in a deprecating tone, "Gryffindors." He only hoped that all of his friends and family had heeded his warning to hide any and all illegal activities for the day.
They flooed to the home of Druella Black, Draco's grandmother on his mother's side. She was a tall, thin old woman, slightly stooped as she hobbled about with her cane. Her coloring was fair, like Narcissa's, but her hair was as curly as Andromeda's and Bellatrix's. She had the same heavily lidded eyes as her daughters, but they were pink, lashless, and engulfed with superfluous wrinkles. Her face was twisted into a harsh scowl, accentuating the wrinkles surrounding her small mouth. Still, she had a regal look to her, standing there in her designer filigreed robes, wearing enough diamonds to be royalty. She looked like she'd once been beautiful and could still be considered attractive, for her age, if only she would smile.
Draco greeted Druella enthusiastically. Scorp and Nysus were less enthusiastic, but still hugged the witch and returned warm greetings. Even Cori wiggled out of Harry's arms and ran to hug her great grandmother. Harry, however, hung back nervously awaiting what this woman might have to say to him.
Druella barked out orders to an elf, who then served tea, biscuits, sandwiches, and fruit slices to the gathering. The children sat down at the dining table and ate hungrily. Draco held out a chair for his grandmother, before sitting down himself. Only when Draco was seated, did Harry take the seat next to his boyfriend and help himself to a few sandwiches.
After lunch and at Draco's insistence, Nysus reluctantly handed over the invitation to his great grandmother. Being strict and mean spirited, she was not the sort of person one wanted at a children's party, but she was family and so had to be invited. On the up side, she did usually keep to herself at these things and always brought an expensive present. Even now she had a pile of new clothes, books, and toys for each of the children.
With the children engrossed in sorting through their new loot, Druella was free to turn her attention to Harry. She rapped him on the shoulder with her cane to get his attention and spoke with a sharp, graveled voice, "Potter!"
Harry turned and looked at the old witch. "Yes?"
"Do not think I am letting you off the hook. If I did not know that it was entirely my grandson's fault, I would skin you alive for letting him break up with you when he was pregnant, not once, but thrice. If you let him leave you again, I will hurt you. Consider yourself warned." The first Druella said in a menacing tone, but the last three words were sickly sweet in a manner reminiscent of Bellatrix. She was intimidating, despite her age.
"I won't, I promise. He's not getting away this time," Harry replied.
Scorp gasped in surprise and exclaimed, "Three times!" Upon hearing his grandmother speak, he'd turned to watch her interaction with Harry. She often said things that were nonsense, but Harry hadn't denied knowing what she was talking about. Harry's response confirmed that Harry had dated Scorp's father on three different occasions.
Nysus turned to look then and gasped too, just now grasping what he'd overheard. "Father!? Is this true?"
"Yes, I told you that Harry and I dated before. We dated before Cori was born, before you were born, and before Scorp was born," Draco admitted, waiting expectantly to see if one of the children would put two and two together.
Harry meanwhile was caught up on the fact that Druella had just mentioned Draco being pregnant in front of the children and assumed that this was what a lot of the shock was about. "Now I know it's unusual, but there are some wizards who can become pregnant. Your father is one of the lucky few. There is nothing wrong with being born from a wizard. In fact, I think it makes you all even more special," he said.
Nysus turned to Harry and glared. "Duh. We know that," he said snidely.
"You know?" Harry asked in surprise.
"We have always known that we were made in Father's tummy," Scorp replied.
"It was obvious, wasn't it? Cori came from his tummy and we did too!" Nysus added, his tone snotty and annoying.
"If you knew, why didn't you tell me that back when I first questioned you about having a mother?" Harry asked.
"We did tell you," Nysus replied.
"We told you that we don't have a mother, only Father," Scorp added.
"You didn't ask them if they came out of my tummy, did you?" Draco asked to clarify where precisely Harry had gone wrong in the questioning.
"No," Harry admitted. He marveled then that the children had known all along the answer to his inquiry. If only he'd asked the right question, then Draco wouldn't have ended up in jail.
"You've changed the subject on us!" Scorp accused, pointing at Harry.
"What?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Great Grandmother just said that you've dated Father three times before and you changed the subject. You're trying to cover something up!" Scorp accused again.
"No, I'm not. I didn't know that you knew about your father being the one who was pregnant, is all," Harry defended himself.
"We are not trying to cover up our past relationship, Scorpius. We informed you of it when we told you we are dating. This is our fourth go at it. The first three times I broke it off with Harry without giving him a reason, because I needed to go away to have each of you three. I didn't want him to know I had you or that I could even have children. Not every wizard can carry a child," Draco clarified, again wondering if this would be the moment one of his children realized the truth about Harry. He sighed in relief when he didn't see sudden realization on any of their faces. That was the good thing about children: they could be daft when it came to uncovering the truth, especially when it was something they never considered before.
Scorp nodded, Nysus crossed his arms and pouted, and Cori stuck her fingers in her mouth.
"Now, do you lot have any more questions, or can we move along to visit Great Grandmother Malfoy?" Draco asked.
"Great Grandmother Malfoy promised us Galumphing Gallywags!" Nysus exclaimed.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Scorp seconded.
The revelation about Harry and Draco's past relationship forgotten, the children hugged Druella and thanked her for their gifts.
Lucius' mother was also tall and regal in appearance, but her face was soft and her smile warm. She hugged Harry tightly, kissing him on the cheek in greeting, just as she did with Draco and each of her great grandchildren. Physically she bore a resemblance to her son, but in demeanor she was his polar opposite. She was like an upper class version of Molly and Harry liked her. The children liked the toys and sweets she gave them and Nysus was back to bubbling with excitement as he handed over the invitation for his party.
Having many more invitations to hand out, they had to keep going. Daphne and Theo Nott were next, along with their children and Daphne's younger sister Astoria and Astoria's children. The adults were surprised but unperturbed by Harry's presence at Draco's side, Theo even eyeing Harry with a glint of sudden understanding in his eye. Theo was a smart wizard and it was likely that he'd just figured out that Harry was the missing parent of Draco's children. If that was the case, then he'd know that one of the pair had to be an Incubus and knowing Draco the way he did, it was possible that his guess as to which one was correct. Draco would have to talk to Theo and either convince the wizard that Harry was an Incubus or not to tell anyone else the truth.
The Notts were followed by Blaise Zabini, his current girlfriend, and his four-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. Blaise was clearly a part-time father and in over his head with four children in his home, despite the brevity of the visit. He seemed ambivalent towards Harry's presence, only concerned about the possibility of the children breaking his precious antiques.
The first cold response Harry received was from Pansy, who eyed him skeptically as she stood next to her dour faced husband, Garrett Avery. Their daughter Primrose was a bright eyed six-year-old who was better looking than either of her parents. She was also Nysus' best friend and the two began to squeal in excitement as soon as he produced the invitation with a flourish.
"I ought to punch you in the nose," Pansy whispered to Harry, so that the children wouldn't hear. Draco, however, was standing right by Harry's side and did hear. Draco raised his eyebrow at his good friend and she stared him down in response, before caving. "But I guess if Draco is willing to forgive, I will save it for when you break his heart. Just know that I will come after you if you hurt him."
"Right. Good to know," Harry said, unsure how else to respond to the blatant threat.
"Now that that is out of the way, can we expect the three of you to attend Nysus' party?" Draco asked as if Pansy threatening his boyfriend was the most natural thing in the world.
"Of course. Prim would never let us miss it," Pansy replied with a sickly sweet smile. "Would it be alright if Garrett drops her off and leaves? I'm afraid I might just vomit if I have to stay."
"That will be marvelous. You might want to get yourself looked at by a healer, if you are that ill," Draco teased.
"Oh don't worry about me, darling. I am told it is a natural response to looking at a Potter," Pansy replied with a smirk.
Draco's smile widened at the inside joke and he threw his head back and laughed.
"Huh?" Harry asked, confused by Draco's response to the insult. He'd been expecting Draco to have his back with Draco's friends and family, just like he'd had Draco's back with his own.
"I think it's the scar. Dreadfully disgusting, it is," Pansy fibbed.
Harry scowled.
Draco stopped laughing, schooling his merriment. "Ignore her, Harry. It's just a joke from our school days," he said.
"A joke about my scar making you nauseated?" Harry asked.
"Your scar among other things. It was mostly your Gryffindorness and your hero complex," Draco clarified.
"Right…" Harry drawled, unamused.
"Don't worry your ungroomed little head about it; it's a Slytherin thing," Pansy said to Harry and then turned to Draco. "You can't teach him to use a comb?"
"Thirty years in? I think not. I am not the sort to take up hopeless causes, you know that, Pansy." Pansy and Garrett chuckled at Harry's expense. "Anyway, if you are done insulting my boyfriend, I am afraid we must be going. We have more invitations to deliver," Draco announced. "Nysus, Scorp, come along now."
"But Father! I want to stay and play with Prim!" Nysus whined.
"You can floo over after dinner, if it is alright with her parents," Draco compromised and Pansy confirmed that it was fine with a nod. "But right now, we have more people to invite. You do want the rest of your friends to come to your party, do you not?"
Nysus grumbled at having his play cut short, but nodded in acquiescence.
There were another dozen pureblood families with children on the list, all of whom disliked Harry, but agreed that their children would attend the party.
Harry and the Malfoys went back to the Manor for dinner. Afterwards Nysus went back to the Avery home to play with Prim, while Scorp stayed and played with Nanny Crabbe's son Joshua. The nanny and her children had received invites the day before, along with Madam Lestrange, the tutor; this was the first year that all of Madam Lestrange's children were off at Hogwarts, so this was the first time she'd be going alone.
Nanny Crabbe watched Cori, leaving Harry and Draco free to visit another dozen homes to hand out invitations to witches and wizards who were far less pleasant.
Most of these people didn't have children the proper age to attend and with Harry's presence at the party guaranteed, they declined their invitations. The majority of the ones who did have children slammed their door on Draco, after proclaiming that their children were no longer allowed to play with the Malfoy children. A few, however, surprised Draco by being more accepting of Harry and agreeing to come. However, they left no doubt that they were coming for Nysus and wanted nothing to do with Harry.
Harry wasn't particularly upset, because he disliked the Pureblood arses just as much as they disliked him. Plus, they had yet to do Harry's friends and he was sure that come tomorrow, there was bound to be doors slammed in their face, because he had Draco on his arm. He hoped that his closest friends, Luna, Neville, Seamus, and Dean, would all be okay with it, but he didn't know if they would. Some of the people he'd become friends with during his time as an Auror he knew absolutely hated the Malfoys because of Lucius and would never accept Draco. But still, after all of the people they told today, it was bound to be in the papers soon, and he needed to tell the people he cared about sooner, rather than later.
Author's Note: What did you think of the friends and family's reactions? Up next will be a visit to Ron and Hermione's. Hermione will finally have taken the time to look into what is going on…
Sorry for the slight delay. All of a sudden a good story idea came to me and I had to stop my other stories to get the jist of it down before I forgot it. It's called The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black! It's another mpreg Drarry. Please go check it out.