Disclaimer: Neither Acherona nor trulywicked have any claim on Harry Potter or any characters or locations thereof.

Warnings: Angst, lots of it, Male Pregnancy, mental torture, infant in peril, boys in love, friendships broken and new friends gained. Disregards canon in so many ways.

MOCKINGBIRD

Chapter Twenty-One.

Harry looked around the large, dusty rooms. "I want every portrait gone." Harry closed his ears to the outraged shrieks of ancient Black family members. Harry didn't have anything against them really but this was about starting over, making something theirs and theirs alone. He couldn't do it with old portraits watching and judging him.

Draco moved up behind him to rub Harry's arms, "Why don't we move them to Grimmauld Place then? They'll still be in a Black property but they won't be nattering away at us and-" he broke off as the shrieks grew louder and he put every ounce of pureblood ice and aristocracy he possessed into his voice, "That is quite enough. You can be moved to Grimmauld or you can be burned, continue behaving in such a manner and we will choose the latter option understood?"

The shrieks died down to quiet grumbles at the threat of being burned and Harry breathed a breath of relief. "Thank you." He said to Draco. "Yeah, let's move them to Grimmauld, at least for now. They can keep Walburga company and tell her all about the half blood, blood traitor moving in to her manor. Harry pulled off the sheets covering the furniture and wrinkled his eyes at the heavy, dark pieces. "Some new furniture seems to be in order too. Most of them are nice but look at this monstrosity." Harry pat the couch he'd just uncovered and coughed when a cloud of dust rose from it.

The blond eyed the heavily ornate furniture, "Lighter more modern pieces would be best for you, Squiggles and me I should think." He looked at the walls covered in the dark purple and knew that most every room would have a variant of the same theme, "New paint job too, leaving a few rooms with accents in the Black colors."

Harry nodded. "I agree completely, I don't want to remove every trace of the Black legacy but we need to make the house our own and I don't think either of us would be happy with all these dark, murky colors looming over us daily." Harry smiled but then there was a loud pop, startling him and causing him to fall backwards on to the stuffy couch, making even more dust rise up from it.

Blinking green eyes open Harry's hands went to his stomach immediately as he scrambled for his wand. When the dust had cleared he saw to small figures...House elves.

"We be Mipsy and Tooty." The house elves bowed, large, ball like eyes looking around curiously. "We be sent by Mistress Malfoy to finally serve our Master when he is home starting with his huggles." Mipsy walked over to Draco. "Mipsy looked after her Master Dragon since he was a babe, changing nappies, bathing and dressing. Mipsy will be so happy to serve her Master Dragon and his family."

"Tooty too!"

Harry gave Draco a questioning look, rubbing his stomach as his heart rate slowly returned to normal when he realized there was no threat.

Draco was already putting his wand away and reached down to help Harry to his feet. "Er well Harry, meet our house elves? Apparently Maman sent a surprise," he looked at the elves, "Mipsy it's been some time. And," he studied the other, "Tooty, you're one of the kitchen elves yes?"

Large bat-like ears fluttered excitedly as the smaller of the two house elves bowed deeply. "Master Dragon remembers Tooty! Tooty be so proud, will cook anything tasty for Master and Master and even tiny Master when he comes." ¨

"Oh...Oh well it's nice to meet you then." Harry scratched the back of his head as he watched the house elves.

Suddenly there was another crack and Kreacher appeared. He glared at the other house elves and moved closer to Harry. Harry wondered how on earth Kreacher would even know where he was, much less any other elves.

"Kreacher will care for Master Harry, he is Kreacher's responsibility." He glared at the other house elves and even Draco.

Draco lifted a brow, "There will be no fighting over who is taking care of whom. The Manor is too large for a single elf," he looked at Harry, "if you agree I suggest Tooty handles the kitchens, Mipsy assist us with the babe, and Kreacher continues to look after you and remains Head Elf pet." He brushed a kiss over the bridge of Harry's nose, "We should look into hiring a few more as well since the Manor is so large we'll need to have some who specialize in keeping things neat and clean and a laundry elf." He looked at Kreacher, "I'm not disparaging your abilities Kreacher but wouldn't it be nice if you had some time to rest for yourself every now and again?"

Kreacher grumbled but nodded his head slowly. He might not agree with the resting thing but even he didn't think he could handle the entire manor on his own.

"Then it's settled." Harry said. "I agree with you Draco, we should hire some more elves as well. This house is much too large for us to be able to handle it on our own, especially with the baby coming and your apprenticeship. Oh speaking of, I saw a room on the ground floor that would be perfect for a potions lab, that way no matter where you'll work eventually you can work on your potions at home, too." Harry beamed at his boyfriend.

Draco kissed the brunette lovingly, feeling warm all over just knowing that Harry wanted him with him for a very, very long time. "Sounds perfect. Why don't we go see if our small army of friends has finished clearing out the last of the dark spells then?"

"Yes, let's." Harry agreed and took Draco's hand. "Pansy seemed to have way too much fun with the dark spells she was battling when I saw her last; Neville will have his hands full with her." He chuckled, Harry loved Pansy but she had endless energy and a mouth that could make even the most seasoned sailor blush.

The blond smirked as they walked out of the room, heading for the wing where the dark spells seemed to be centered. Draco rather thought it was a wing that had been used to store the Black family's more closely guarded secrets, "I doubt Longbottom minds at all."

"No I don't think he minds in the least." They heard their friends' voices before they could see them. Harry was so grateful that their friends had taken time out of their summer to help them get the house ready. It meant more to him than he could express.

Just as they stepped into the wing, Hermione shook her head as Pansy finished removing the final spell, a flush of triumph on the Slytherin's face, "You're insane."

"If I am then I embrace it completely." Pansy said grinning, still holding her wand raised, almost wanting there to be some more spells she could dig her teeth into. After doing this she had started to wonder what schooling was necessary to become a curse breaker.

Luna shook her head fondly; they had done a good job though. Not a single dark spell was left. The house was free now.

Hermione snorted, "That was never in question." She moved over to the huge picture window now that the spell was gone and pulled the curtains back flooding the room in light. "There that's better." She turned and her eyes found Luna and for some reason she caught her breath at the way the sunlight made her seem to shine. Luna really was a very beautiful woman, from the inside out. The dreamy blue eyes met hers and Hermione felt a vaguely familiar tug that had her blushing.

Backlit by the window, Hermione's brown hair shone, turning a few of the brown strands into dark gold. Luna smiled at her and walked over where Hermione stood, opening the window, pushing it wide open. "Let's get some fresh air in here shall we?"

Pansy rolled her eyes at the two girls who never seemed to get their act straight. She moved over to a large wingback chair about to flop down on it when something small, furry and dark blue? Shot out from underneath it and ran out the window. Pansy shrieked. "By Salazar, what the fuck was that?"

Luna leaned out of the window, spotting a cowering little ball of fur out on a ledge. "Oh my, it's a brillwhistler. They are very, very rare. I wonder how it has ended up here, they usually lives in forests." She kicked her shoes off and gathered her hair into a ponytail. "I need to save it, they are gentle creatures, she's just scared." Luna swung her leg over the window sill and moved out on the ledge.

The bottom of Hermione's stomach dropped out as the blond girl was out of the window before she could say anything and creeping along the ledge. She lunged at the sill and gripped it, whispering so that she didn't frighten the creature Luna was trying to save into jumping, "Luna get back in here, we'll lure it back with food or some such thing, it's dangerous out there you could fall."

"It's okay; I climbed the walls and ledges at Hogwarts all the time. Besides I'm almost, almost there." Luna whispered back to the brunette girl as she moved further along the ledge. She reached out her hand towards the trembling creature and she was so close to getting her fingers around it when her foot slipped on a loose brick and she found herself scrambling for something to hold on to but not finding anything.

"Luna!" Hermione's heart jumped into her throat as the blond fell and her wand was in her hand and she was casting a silent levitation spell without any conscious thought on her behalf, catching Luna just before she hit the ground. Her hand shook as she gently brought the blond back up and floated her back into the window. She snatched the blond back in, her arms clenching tightly around Luna, her heart still racing. She'd never been that terrified, not even when they'd been hunting the Horcruxes or when Harry had been face to face with Voldemort. The mere thought that she might have just lost Luna, forever, had a vise clenching around her heart and the wave of love she felt for the blond girl hit her in the face. The overwhelming force of that feeling brought what she'd been experiencing around Luna for some time now into sharp focus and she realized that she felt a great deal more for Luna than she would just a friend.

"Don't you ever do something like that again!" She trembled, "You could have died!"

Luna wrapped her own arms tightly around Hermione, trying to calm both herself and the other girl down. "It's okay, I'm fine. You caught me, kept me safe and whole." She reached up to cup Hermione's face, startled when she felt wetness there. "No, don't cry. Please don't cry Mione." Luna wiped away the tears with her thumb and looked into those beautiful, brown eyes she loved so much.

"I could have lost you, before I even realized how much you mean to me." Hermione bent to press her face into Luna's shoulder.

"But you didn't lose me." Luna's hand cupped Hermione's neck, underneath her fall of thick curly hair. "I'm right here and I'm all yours...Always have been." Her other arm snaked around Hermione's waist, holding the other woman as close as she could.

Draco caught the attention of the others in the room and gestured towards the door, shooing everyone out to give the two young women privacy. He caught Harry's hand, brushing a kiss over the knuckles before they also left, shutting the door quietly.

Hermione shuddered and took comfort from Luna's gentle touch and warmth. "I've never been so scared before, you slipped and I thought I was going to lose my mind."

"I'm sorry I scared you, I didn't mean to." Luna rubbed her hand up and down Hermione's back, her other hand still cupped Hermione's neck. This was like one of her dreams and she was almost afraid to believe that it was true, that the girl she loved was really in her arms, telling her that she had feelings for Luna as well. "I never want you to be upset or sad."

The brunette nuzzled her face against Luna's shoulder, "Just from now on don't go creeping along any ledges unless you've got a safety net or a rope in case you slip please." She'd never ask Luna not do go out along the ledges at all because that would change part of who Luna was. She lifted her head and looked into the other girl's eyes, "How long have I been missing what's been right in front of me?"

Luna just shrugged, how long she had pined for Hermione wasn't really important to her, what was important was that now she could actually show how she felt. "As I told you when we worked on the baby shower, you weren't ready to see just yet. Now you are." She smiled softly.

Hermione smiled back, "You are the most amazing person Luna." She pressed a tentative kiss to the very corner of Luna's mouth, "Thank you."

"You're the wonderful and amazing one, I saw it the moment I met you." Luna hesitated for a moment before pressing her lips very, very lightly against Hermione's, just a brushing of lips. "Thank you for being you."

The brunette returned the kiss softly, a little thrill slipping up her spine at the gentle rush she felt at the contact. Pulling back she reached down to lace her fingers with Luna's, "Would you like to go out with me this weekend?"

Luna beamed. "I would like that very, very much." She nodded and squeezed Hermione's hand. She had waited and hoped for this moment for such a long time now that she felt giddy and as if she could take on the world barehanded.

Hermione squeezed back, her mind already poking at where the best place to go would be. "Do you think the others are eavesd-" she made a squeak as something landed in her hair and made a whistling noise.

"She came back!" Luna grinned broadly and plucked the blue furball from Hermione's hair carefully. "It seems she likes you. It's been told the brillwhistlers know quality when they see it but I've never seen it before. Now we know it's the truth." The tiny critter whistled again and waved furry little legs in the air, trying to get back to the brunette girl.

Privately Hermione thought it probably just thought her hair would make a nice warm nest but it was rather cute, all blue and furry, looking mostly like a tiny guinea pig except it had very large rose ears. She reached out and let it sniff at her finger before stroking it on the head. "We'll have to take her with us, as cute as she is it would be a very bad idea for her to stay here when Crookshanks moves in."

"Mm, yes it would probably be safest for her. 'Sides, it looks as if she's bonding with you." Luna smiled again, feeling all warm over the fact that Hermione had used the word us. It was silly, getting so worked up over such a little word. "And you guys can come in now." She raised her voice a little. "I know you're all behind the door anyway."

The door opened, a sheepish Ginny tumbling in along with a widely grinning Pansy. "So you two are finally together right?"

"I think so." Luna nodded with a brilliant smile as she looked at Hermione.

"About bloody time, you've been given each other smoldering looks forever." Pansy didn't seem at all embarrassed as she straightened up and dusted her clothes off. "It seems we're all paired off then...Perhaps we should have an orgy."

Draco snorted, "I think not. You know all we Slytherins are far too possessive to share." He stepped over Ginny as the redhead didn't seem inclined to move from her spot on the floor, "Granger, congratulations on finally looking past your nose."

"Better to look past mine than get my eye poked out by that needle that masquerades as a nose on your face."

"And here I thought you getting some sweet loving would mellow that sharp tongue of yours but it seems I was mistaken." Pansy grinned and kissed Hermione on the cheek before moving over to wrap Neville's arms around herself.

"Don't worry, I like your nose." Harry placed a kiss on the very tip of Draco's admittedly somewhat pointy nose.

The other man sniffed, "It's aristocratic not a 'needle' nose I'll have you know Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "And hence we see the results of inbreeding."

Ginny giggled and got to her feet with her fiancé's assistance, "Alright no sniping. We're here to help Harry get the Manor stripped down and redecorated now that the spells are gone remember?"

"Don't worry about it, love is much more important." Harry felt himself going misty eyed again and hurriedly excused himself to fetch them all some tea. He was really, really getting over this whole hormone thing.

Pansy smirked knowingly and finally allowed herself to flop down in the chair, after having Neville check it for more furry surprises. "What kind of colors do you want for the walls Dray?"

"We're going for light, airy colors for the most part, a few jewel tones here and there, and occasional accents in the Black colors." Draco eyed one of the sofas, poked it to make sure no wildlife had snuck in, and sat. "We want a welcoming home, one that feels as happy as we are. A home, not a show palace."

She nodded. "A show palace is not your style, neither of you. Light, airy colors sounds wonderful. This is really an amazing house and the park is to die for...I could hardly tear Neville away from the gardens earlier." She gave her boyfriend a fond smile.

Tooty showed up with a large tray filled with tea and cucumber sandwiches and Harry showed up not long after, having got his faulty tearduckts under control again.

Hermione stared at the elf but bit her tongue to keep from saying anything she shouldn't, "Erm I didn't know the Blacks had other house elves."

Draco lifted a brow at her as Harry settled on the sofa next to him, "Tooty and Mipsy were sent here by my mother to help Harry and I get started." He knew how much it bothered the bushy haired girl to see the elves in 'slavery' but there wasn't much to be done about it.

"Tooty is being so very happy to be here and help Master dragon and Master mama start their lives. Tooty couldn't believe his luck when he was chosen." The elf grinned and bowed deeply. "Please call for Tooty if you be needing anything else." He disappeared with a pop.

"Please have some tea." Harry gave Hermione a look, he knew very well how she felt too but there was no way they could run this house without house elf help. Harry would be happy to free them and pay them but the truth was that the majority of house elves didn't want to be free.

Hermione understood that most house elves were very, very happy being 'enslaved' but it still rubbed her wrongly, knowing that there were some people out there who abused them. She knew Harry would never and that if Draco started to then he'd soon get hexed courtesy of Harry though so she could live with it. "You'll be getting a few more won't you?" Her voice was soft and unjudgmental, "The manor's too big for just a couple house elves right?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, Kreacher is not going to like it but we need several more just to keep the place going. Draco and I are going to look into where we can hire some." Harry reached forward and took a small sandwich biting into it happily.

"Will you be looking for elves that have been freed?"

Draco coughed, "Er that's a bad idea actually."

Her eyes narrowed, "And why is that?"

"House elves are rarely freed without good reason, very good reason." Blaise answered as Draco tried to cough up whatever he'd gasped down, "You need to understand, for a house elf being freed is the worse shame they can bear because they did something so awful that they couldn't even be demoted anymore. There is a hierarchy for them. For example Kreacher I would imagine will be the Head Elf here, he'll direct all the others in their duties, act as Harry's valet, for lack of a better term, and have the highest status. After that would be a nursemaid elf, one that helps care for the children in the manor, then kitchen elves, then gardening elves, then cleaning elves which have sub-levels of hierarchy within that title, then pest control, etcetera. There are so many levels and jobs that it's nearly impossible for an elf not to find the right niche that makes them happy. The lowest of the low in house elf rank is the elves that clean up after pets, not feed them, not walk or groom them, just pick up and dispose of the waste. When an elf gets knocked down that far on the ladder that means they're either too clumsy to do anything else or they've done something wrong."

Draco finished coughing and cut in before Hermione could say anything to that, "And we are not talking wrong as in folded the cravat incorrectly or tripped and spilled breakfast. House elves don't get demoted unless they're shite at their jobs or they're a danger to the wizards they serve."

"One thing you must understand too is that it's a voluntary 'slavery' the house elves are in." Pansy spoke up. "House elf magic is very powerful but highly volatile. Before they entered a contract to be bound they were dying out. Fighting amongst themselves and being used as weapons in every war imaginable. They house elves wanted to be bound, to find a way to live and serve in peace. Yes some are abused but that goes for human servants as well. They are not bound to wizards so we can use them and repress them; the contract is mutually beneficial to both species." She gave Hermione a look. "They aren't as primitive as you seem to think, they have a council of their own and as a matter of fact they have a voice at the Ministry too."

Harry had never heard any of this before and he listened with wide eyes. Even Luna was nodding in agreement with the three Slytherins speaking.

Neville inclined his head, "That's why there's a house elf in the fountain statue. I don't know why Dobby was erm," he cast a questioning looks at Draco, who grimaced.

"Dobby was in training to become my valet but he literally threw a tantrum while helping me get ready because I couldn't decide between a green or blue cravat. He was...young, very young by house elf standards, the equivalent of ten years old to a human child so he didn't have control of himself or his magic and it made the lamp in my room shatter and catch fire. Father was...very angry."

Hermione's eyes were wide, "Oh dear."

Harry looked down at his hands resting in his lap. Dobby had been out there, loopy and troublesome but he had saved Harry on several occasions and he gave his life to save them and get them out of Malfoy manor before Voldemort got there. He would never be able to speak ill of the weird little creature, no matter the mistakes he might have done.

Draco cleared his throat, "My father is not what you'd call the...forgiving sort and decided to 'teach' Dobby discipline himself."

Hermione winced, "And ended up using Dobby as a whipping post then."

"Essentially, yes."

"What about Winky then?"

Neville picked it up, "See like Blaise was saying, an elf gets knocked down the ladder until there's just no choice but to free them. In Winky's case she wasn't even demoted before being freed because Crouch was a turnip headed git. He wanted to save face so he used Winky as an escape hatch. Most freed elves though are freed because they're...not right. Violent and a true danger to the wizards they serve. Gran had to free an elf when I was nine because he tried to beat the groundskeeper with a chain. All elves once freed automatically get taken to the elf council within a day to ascertain if they're fit to be 'rehired' or not."

"If they are fit to take service with another family that's handled quickly and silently and the family they were fired from is investigated to see if they should have a right to keep elves at all. Crouch lost all of his after the Winky incident." Luna poured her tea out in the saucer and drank from that. "If the elf is not fit to be hired back in service there is another hearing to judge if they should be allowed to keep their magic or not. Most of them are stripped of everything but the very basic magic since they have proven to be a danger both to themselves and society at large. It's actually a system that works rather well."

Ginny pursed her lips, "Er then was Mione's idea of SPEW redundant then?"

Hermione grimaced, feeling just a bit like a fool.

Draco shook his head, "Not so much actually. The elvish council can only step in after an elf is wrongfully freed because they don't know abuse has taken place until then. SPEW, really Granger you need to work on your acronyms, could step in before then, as a wizard based organization and investigate or do as Harry did and sneakily free an elf."

"I regret nothing." Harry smiled but it was a smile tinged with sadness.

"SPEW is still a brilliant idea; it simply needs a little tweaking. It is never redundant to care for the wellbeing of others." Luna put her saucer down and ran her hand down Hermione's arm.

The brunette girl gave her a smile, "Well I'll probably be nattering away at you quite a bit over it then Luna. I'll need you to help keep me from stepping in the wrong direction due to lack of information."

"Natter all you want Hermione, your ears will probably get tired as well once I get going about my passions." Luna smiled back and kept her hand on Hermione's arm, loving the simple contact.

"I'll see if there are any books you can use in the Parkinson library, it's a part of wizarding history so something must be written about it." Pansy added and nabbed another sandwich; breaking spells had made her hungry.

Draco heaved a long suffering sigh, "And I suppose, should Lovegood actually not know something about them however unlikely that is, you could owl me as well."

Hermione just shook her head and lean into Luna's touch, murmuring to the blond girl, "I'll be related to that soon I think, if Harry ends up marrying him."

"I believe the question is not if but when. Harry will marry him, of that I have no doubt and you will get Malfoy as a brother...Who would have thought?" Luna kept her lips against Hermione's ear so no one else would hear. Hermione's hair tickling her face.

Hermione chuckled, "Well at least I don't want to clock him anymore. Progress." She decided to lean her head on Luna's shoulder and study the future brother in law in question.

Draco was holding Harry's hand, playing with the fingers, "So what colors would you like for the master suite pet?"

"Hm," Harry looked up at his boyfriend, thankful to have something else to think about than the past. "Light blue and green colors I think, with silver accents...Like water. Calm and restful. How do you want it? We're going to sleep there together after all."

"This is one subject we're in accord on. I like that color scheme, more green than blue in the bedroom but more blue than green in the ensuite bathroom I should think."

"I'd like that, it sounds brilliant. Dark wood for the furniture would be fitting I think, to bring out the light colors. The hardwood floors are beautiful so I think we should keep them, add carpets of course...Woven ones rather than antique ones. I don't want to be afraid to walk on them."

Draco chuckled, "Or afraid the babe will spill or throw up something onto them either right love?"

"Yeah, that has something to do with it too. A baby is messy, that's just how it is and I want Squiggles to be allowed to move and play without restrictions or worry about carpets of fabrics." Harry smiled and leaned against Draco.

"Agreed. We should also rearrange the library so that the bottom meter and a half is just wood paneling so a little monkey can't climb up onto the shelves or get to books he oughtn't."

"Mmmhmm, we must remember to do that yes. At least in this house we don't have to worry about electrical sockets since everything runs on magic." Harry snuggled closer. "I love you."

Draco wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, "I love you too." He pressed a kiss to the top of Harry's head. "A partir de maintenant jusqu'à la fin de l'éternité."

Luna felt like she was spying on something very private here. "Come on, let's go downstairs and start getting rid of the furniture that isn't to be kept." She motioned to her friends, wanting to give Draco and Harry some privacy. "I'm sure you can even use Reducto on some of them Pansy."

Hermione chuckled at the excited gleam the pug-nosed girl got in her eye as they all left the room, giving the two men privacy. She imagined Harry was also likely tired and needed a nap. A whistle trilled in her ear and she felt little paws tugging on her hair. She'd picked up a new companion and a girlfriend all from one incident. It made her wonder what else would happen today.

To Be Continued…