Thanks for the reviews! I should be doing work but procrastination has led me to uploading the next batch of chapters, lol.
As a reward for their good behaviour – though, truthfully Harry had been planning this for some time – they took the kids to visit the Romanian Dragon Reserve.
There was a reserve far closer to home, but the Welsh reserve only hosted the slightly more docile Welsh Greens, keeping them away from the diverse and more aggressive ones. Elia had nearly drowned him when he told her – an accident, she claimed, as Harry had picked their time attempting to learn how to harness water. The look of satisfaction she insisted came from her magical progress had left Harry wary of any potential incidents.
"Papa, are we there yet?" Aegon asked, for what had to be the third time in the last hour. They had walked across a small plain field when their portkey arrived, the sight of rolling hills there destination.
"Nearly," Harry told him. "Just a few more minutes until we get to the top of the hill."
Of course, the kids had decided to rush forward at his words, and Harry rolled his eyes as he and Elia trudged after them.
A silencing ward to keep people from coming too close kept the sounds of dragons quiet, and at the sudden stop the children came to Harry knew they had seen the reserve.
"Papa," Aegon whispered in awe. "Are those…"
"Dragons," Harry grinned, grabbing hold of Elia's hand as he saw the slight widening of her eyes.
"You know they will be begging to take a dragon home with them," Elia murmured, leaning lightly against his arm.
"I'm sure we can handle that," Harry said confidently, willing the small flush away.
Roars filled the air as they crossed the sound barrier, and Harry laughed as he grabbed hold of Aegon before he could run off. Next to him, Elia was keeping a tight hold of Rhaenys, the seven-year-old princess itching to explore the reserve as much as her brother.
Teddy's hair flashed a series of colours, the little boy mimicking the flames of the dragons, and Harry gave him a light nudge to get moving.
"Oi! Welcome to the Romanian Dragon Reserve," a blond-haired man greeted them. He was tall and stocky, an easy smile on his face as his blue eyes lit up at the obvious delight the children showed. "Name's Adam, I'll be your guide for this trip. This all of you?"
"It is," Harry answered, gaze flicking over the few dragons he could see.
"Alright, we'll get right on it then. You've signed your waivers, so we can head deeper into the pens."
Adam turned to walk them through the path to visit the dragons. "We'll start with the Antipolodeans. We've got a couple Opaleyes here, fantastic to see when the sun shines on their scales. The Vipertooth is next; just got a mating pair over from Peru, and their eggs are due to hatch soon."
"Can we see the eggs?" Rhaenys asked, leaning forward in excitement.
"Can do, kiddo," Adam laughed. "We'll see as many of the eggs as we can, though most have hatched by now. Next we'll see the two Fireball species we have. Fantastically small, but they're some of the fastest out there. We'll make a visit to an old Ridgeback friend for your da."
"Norberta is still here?" Harry asked in surprise. He'd not seen the small dragon since first year, but he knew Hagrid kept in touch with the reserve.
"Oh aye, she's got hatchlings of her own now. Then it's off to the Horntail and Ironbelly, though those two ha…"
"Norberta?" Elia questioned.
"Hagrid won a dragon and named her Norbert, though it turned out to be a female dragon."
"I did not think they had specific genders here," Elia said, eyes flicking to where the children were badgering Adam with questions. The guide was taking it all in stride, laughing as he told them tales of his work and stories about the dragons.
"The ones you knew of were different?" he asked lowly, wary of unwelcome ears even as far into the Romanian wilderness as they were.
"Two-legged, with a fluidity in gender," she replied.
Harry felt his lips curve into a fond smile as he watched her go on about what she had learned of the dragons; it was rare that she took to lecturing him on the differences between their worlds, but Harry was finding it harder and harder to turn his gaze away from Elia as she spoke.
Of course, things had to fall apart not long after.
He had stalled a little bit, watching as Teddy laughingly translated the words of the Vipertooth for another dragon keeper. It was not exactly the same as Parsel, but the differences were minor, and Harry had to bite his lip to keep from spoiling the terrible job the boy was purposefully doing. They were almost at the Ironbelly when chaos broke out.
In the midst of it all were a smiling Aegon and Rhaenys, the two damn near gleeful despite the small animals curled up in their arms and the dozens of dragon keepers staring in horrified awe.
"Look, Dad," Rhaenys said, skipping forward in excitement. Harry felt his heart stutter slightly, unknowing of whether it was her form of address or the exceptionally dangerous dragon curled up on her shoulder that caused it.
"Rhae," he said, mouth dry as he blinked owlishly. Clearing his throat, Harry closed his eyes and counted to ten.
No need to panic, Potter. You've handled much worse, he reminded himself.
"You look as if you might faint," Elia murmured, her hand lightly pressed against his cheek. He didn't know when she had come closer, but as he opened his eyes Harry felt his breath catch at how close she stood.
"And you don't," he retorted, seeing the eerily calm look on her face.
"I was there," she replied dryly, and he saw a dark look flash quickly through her black eyes. "I also expected something like this, though far more disastrous."
"Papa," Aegon cut in, sheer glee noticeable in his tone.
"I need a drink for this," he told her. Elia laughed in agreement, stepping back to look sternly at their troublesome children.
There was a Horntail nesting comfortably on Rhaenys's shoulder, the small hatchlings dark scales blending in with her hair. Next to Rhaenys, Aegon held a pale Ironbelly, it's grey scales glinting silver in the light.
Teddy stood next to his siblings, eyes wide as he attempted to speak to the dragons.
"Aegon, Rhaenys," Elia said sharply, eyes stern as she glanced at the two dragons. "You can't keep them."
"He followed me," Aegon defended, hand stroking the little dragon. To their astonishment, the bloody thing practically purred in contentment, and Harry saw the dragon keepers inching closer in wonder.
"She hatched for me," Rhaenys chirped, her smile wide as she untangled the Horntail from her hair.
She, he thought with mild panic. Of course Rhae had to bond with the most vicious dragon out there.
"I-I…Lord Potter-Black," a man stammered, grey eyes flitting between the dragons and the small family. "Per-perhaps a private conversation?"
Glowering at the dragons, Harry asked their guide if he could keep an eye on them.
"Course," Adam answered, wonder in his tone. "They don't breathe flame yet, so we should be good. And they can't talk yet," the guide told Teddy, and Harry saw his boy's eyes light up in delight.
Oh God, he's going to try to teach them parsel.
Had it not been for Elia's arm holding tightly to his, Harry wasn't sure whether he would have obliviated the others in a panic or done something more.
They were ushered into a small office, nothing he expected from the head of the reserve, but it was the closest thing they had at the moment.
"I think it might be impossible to separate the children and the dragons," the man stated immediately, forcing Harry to breathe deeply lest he swear up a storm.
"Why do you think that is?" he asked calmly. Elia pressed harder against his arm, and Harry tried to run through his occlumency exercises.
"The nesting mother's are notoriously territorial over their eggs and hatchlings, as I'm sure you recall," the man told him nervously. He had sweat plastering his dark hair to his forehead, despite the cooler temperatures outside. "The Ironbelly let her little one follow your son, and the nesting Horntail was practically sleeping as your daughter touched the egg. I've never seen them so calm. They practically bonded."
"It is illegal to keep dragons," Elia cut in, stopping his rambling. "As I am sure you are aware. Nor can we keep travelling to Romania to allow them to be close."
Harry felt his brow twitch, but he held his tongue as she pressed lightly against his arm.
"Whatever the reason," she added lightly, "You will have to find a way to separate them."
"Sep-separate them?" the man said in a horrified tone. "My lady, to do so would harm my workers and the dragons. I cannot do as you ask."
"Then how are we to resolve this?" Harry asked smoothly. He pinned the shorter man with angry green eyes, waiting for a satisfactory answer out of this mess.
"T-the ICW, Lord Potter-Black," he answered. "There are special exemptions for people who have bonded with dragons."
"People don't bond with dragons," Elia said sharply, black eyes glittering.
"No, they don't," he agreed nervously, mumbling "not anymore."
"These exemptions," Harry pressed, ignoring the slight tingle of unease at the man's words. A coincidence.
"We grant you class five licenses, so long as you agree not to breed the dragons. To be kept in your records and ours."
"You understand that we will require a contract," Harry said casually, "for safeties sake, of course."
His eyes were cold and hard, practically daring the man to disagree. To his credit, the head keeper had a relatively good head on his shoulders, swiftly agreeing to sign a contract to keep their agreements silent from all but those involved. Owen Temperton, the head keeper, had also agreed to have his workers sign a secrecy contract.
It would take them the better part of two days to figure out how to transport the dragons. The contracts had been signed within hours, their legal team on hand to comb through the wording even as Harry and Elia did the same.
Their original portkey was a no-go for their dragons, and Harry booked a private portkey from the reserve to bring them back to England that would send them straight into Potter Hall.
Valiantly ignoring the cackling of his ancestors – little wonder, considering they enjoyed the sheer chaos the terrible trio caused – Harry immediately set to work strengthening a portion of the grounds as a pen for the dragons roam in.
They would grow quickly, he remembered, and he did not want to have to deal with a burnt family home in addition to dragons.
He walked in to a fierce discussion between the three children regarding names.
"…can't name her Noctis," Teddy said scandalized.
"What's wrong with that? She's all black," Rhaenys argued.
"I'm going to name mine Hercules," Aegon boasted.
"You're not naming the dragon Hercules," Harry said with an exasperated sigh, seeing the shaking shoulders of Aunt Dorea in the portrait. "Or Draco."
"Why not? Aunt Dorea said Hercules fought a dragon. And I can't name him Herakles, Papa," the boy said with such certainty.
"Pick another name," Harry told him, shaking his head as Teddy and Rhaenys continued to argue. "No help from you, then," he said, poking Elia lightly in her side as he fell into the empty spot next to her.
"Only if you want a dragon named after you," she teased, laughing at the look he sent her.
"Herakles is a terrible name for a dragon," he murmured, hand wrapping around hers.
Elia leaned her head against his shoulder, and Harry took a deep breath, simply basking in the scene of home and family.
"I'm glad it was not quite as exciting as I thought it would be," she said quietly, eyes fastened on the two dragons as they warily eyed each other.
It had been a surprise to realize that they were relatively docile at the moment, but Harry was waiting for the other shoe to drop when they hit dragon puberty.
Dragons and children going through changes, someone send help, he groaned at the thought, before startling at the idea of being able to see Egg and Rhae through their teenage years.
"What did you expect?" he asked, shoving those thoughts away.
"Fire and blood, and a price I was unwilling to pay," she answered after some time. "Another Summerhall."
"Which we won't let happen," he soothed, thumb running circles on her hand.
He did not notice the looks the portraits were sending Elia and him, nor did he catch the conspiratorial exchange between his grandmother and great-aunt.
Just to answer a point in the reviews from kodavati13:
I'm glad you're a fan of the Harry/Elia pairing! In regards to Hermione and Harry's relationship, it's not a bashing but a shift in how they each dealt with the aftermath of the war and some slight resentments that lingered years later. We won't get a true look into it because it happens before the start of this story. Will this story show them resolve their issues? No, but tbh I try to do a different take on the characters in each story I write or that I plan to write. Cheers!
