Chapter 45 – Strike three, You're Out!

When Draco arrived that afternoon, he walked into chaos. Children of all ages were rolling around on the floor like newly washed puppies. Somewhere close, a baby or toddler was screaming – in pain or delight he couldn't tell – and his sensitive hearing picked up the ear-splitting wails of some high-pitched, just barely past pre-pubescent female attempting to sing about someone breaking her heart. (what he couldn't know was that the teens who had been playing around with the old radio were staring at it with a horror that matched his)

"I found one Mama Pea!"

Draco almost leapt out of his skin at the strength of the child's shout.

Harry walked into the room, wiping his hands.

"Good boy," he said as he held out his hand expectantly. "Now what have you learnt?"

The boy stood and sheepishly handed what looked to be a small bead to the black-haired teen.

"Not to shake a container unless I've double checked the lid was on properly," the boy stated, scratching the back of his head, "and that even though it looks tightly closed doesn't mean it is."

"Exactly. Now you have found your share, you can go wash for dinner then join the others in room for some dancing."

With a nod, the boy walked off towards the nearest bathroom while Harry returned to the kitchen. Draco followed him.

"What was that about?" he asked after the door closed behind them.

Harry jumped and eeped as he spun around with wide eyes.

"Draco!" Harry leapt at his mate and engulfed him in a hug before smacking him playfully on the arm. "Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm sorry," he chuckled, pulling the smaller male to him. "I hadn't expected you to not notice me. Normally you know exactly who is in your kitchen and where."

Harry snacked his chest once more, just because he could then put his head on the area with a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad you are here," he whispered. "I missed you."

Draco felt himself soften slightly and smiled gently.

"I missed you too, Kitten," he mumbled. "The Professor's met with the Board of Governor's about me leaving between my last lesson and curfew. While they weren't happy about it, I got permission. Headmaster Dumbledore really pulled through for us."

"Let me guess," Harry snorted, "the majority of the Board are not of Ancient Clan decent or do not understand or care about the intricacies involved in Dominant/submissive courting's in general."

"Right in one," Draco chuckled. "Father was present as he is a member of the Board, but they had the gall to tell him that since I was his son, he had no say in it. The Headmaster hit them with the laws they were walking the line on and then stated that as I was his son, Father was, in reality, the ONLY person who had a say."

Harry snorted at his mate's words and reluctantly let him go.

"So, what are the kids doing rolling around like puppies?" Draco re-asked once Harry returned to chopping vegetables.

"We thought an hour of craft would be a good, calm activity for the older young ones to do while those who wanted or needed to, napped." Harry shook his head with a grimace, "wonderful idea on paper, but in practice …"

Draco chuckled softly.

"That bad?"

"Three girls ended up covered in glitter when they decided to run with the container," Harry explained. "Hermione and Hedwig are currently attempting to clean them. One boy discovered the delights of paper-cuts and now screams every time he sees a sheet of it, and the rest of them were handed containers of items that they shook; ending with everything everywhere."

"It sounds as though you had an eventful afternoon," Draco murmured as he heard feet running in their direction.

"We did," Harry agreed, preparing himself for the inevitable result of his door being slammed open by excited children, "an eventful morning as well. We started on writing."

Both males flinched at the loud BANG! The door made as it was pushed into the wall behind it with the force of a running child.

"Mama P! Mam P! We gots them all!"

Harry hid his face in Draco's chest and inhaled slowly and deeply.

"What have I said about running in the kitchen?" ha asked once he was semi-calm.

The young boy's face fell from his proud smile and looked at the door guiltily.

"Not to because it isn't safe," he muttered softly.

"That is correct," Harry responded. "Now, I am very happy to hear that you all finished picking up the beads, but I am annoyed at how you just acted."

The boy flinched as harry placed his hands on his shoulders, having finally moved away from Draco and crouching to the kid's level.

"I know all this is new to you, Sweetling," he stated softly, "And that it will take a while for all of you to follow the rules. It is, however, very important that you learn two things. The first is to never run into the kitchen because there are a lot of dangerous equipment in here that can hurt if it falls or is thrown at you if you scare someone. The second is to knock on closed doors before opening them. People deserve to have their privacy and if you don't knock, you might hurt someone who is behind the door or in case of our games room, you could get hurt from someone playing darts."

The child nodded, still trying to avoid Harry's eye. Harry sighed softly and pulled him into a gently hug, softly flicking his nose as he pulled away. The boy giggled, despite his apprehension and slowly left the kitchen.

"Everyone seems more tense today," Draco stated, "What happened?"

Harry moved until he was once again dicing things up for the pot.

"In a few days, the families of those we rescued will be starting to arrive and it has everyone on edge," he eventually admitted. "The teens and older pre-teens don't want to leave while the ones who held them captive are still out there, and the younger ones don't know what to think about new people coming into the house."

"Understandable," Draco murmured as he slowly embraced his mate while doing his best to not inhibit his movements. "If I'm honest, I'm not too comfortable with them leaving here while they Weasley females are still loose. I don't even like you being away from me at the moment and I know you can and will take care of yourself."

He nuzzled the back of Harry's neck, relishing in the small hitch in his mate's breath.

"That," Harry bit out as he scrapped the full cutting board into the pot, "Is cheating."

Draco waited until the now empty board and knife were placed down before spinning the smaller male around and pulling him forward to trap him in his arms.

"I hadn't realised there were rules outside those we agreed on in our contract," he smirked, "and this is not one of them."

Harry shuddered at the deep rumble the last part was said in and he didn't know if he was happy or furious that the kitchen door was half thrown open and Hermione stormed in, ranting about something she had received by mail.

Draco let his head thump down onto Harry's shoulder with a groan of annoyance.

"You have to have the worst sense of time, Hermione," he said from where his head landed.

"Oh, you're here," Hermione paused in her rant before brushing it off, "anyway …"

Harry reacted instantly and pushed Draco's head into his neck, stimulating his bite reflex.

Hermione," he said as he fought his desire to submit to the onslaught of emotions he was experiencing. "Go. Just … Go. I can't deal with you right now."

With an almost identical gesture as Hermione made towards Draco, Harry's magic gently deposited the shocked girl outside the kitchen and firmly closed the door, leaving behind silent witnesses and a resigned Hedwig.

~~~Ithinkwecanallagreethat2020sucked~~~

That night, the entire house was tense. As soon as dinner had been served, Draco had vanished with Harry without a word spoken by either of them. This, to Hedwig's amusement, caused most of the remaining people in the house to glare or pout at Hermione. While only a few knew what had occurred, it seemed everyone knew who was responsible for Harry's mood and none of them were all that impressed.

As for Hermione herself, she looked annoyed and more than a little confused. Hedwig sighed. She had noticed that while Hermione was intelligent, she was hopeless when it came to real life experiences.

It took until bath time for the youngest members for the bushy-haired fox-demon to snap. The child she was bathing was happily splashing as he normally did and got the girl completely soaked, which seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. It was just luck that one of the older teens was nearby and took over when the child started to sob and Hermione stormed out.

Hedwig first checked on the young one and his new bather, before heading out after the frustrated younger woman. She found her pacing and ranting at a quietly observing Blaise, who had a book in his hand.

"There is something that confuses me," she stated when Hermione paused to draw breath.

"What's that?" Hermione sighed, rubbing her temples.

"How you think your behaviour tonight has been acceptable for someone of your age."

Hermione spun around, ready to argue, only to come face-to-face with Hedwig's naturally fierce gaze.

"What do you mean?" Blaise asked, putting the book down. The Headmaster decided to allow all those with mates to visit with them in the evenings as long as their schoolwork was unaffected.

Hedwig turned her gaze to him and gave a nod of acknowledgment, "Young Mr. Zabini."

"Miss Hedwig," he nodded back.

Hedwig turned her attention back to Hermione.

"That,' She stated, "was how you greet someone. Not 'Oh, You're here.'. Forgetting basic manners when interacting with people is understandable if you are surprised by them, but you should apologise and greet them properly when you are over it"

Hermione looked away, cheeks flushed.

"I will be honest with you, Young Lady," Hedwig stated, causing Hermione to flinch at her cold tone, "If anyone had done to me what you did to young Mister Malfoy this afternoon, I would have happily frozen them solid. If they had spoken to Severus like that, I would have done it one cell at a time. Be thankful that Harry used his presence to calm him before you were torn apart."

Blaise watched the two silently, mind racing as he tried to work out what had happened.

"Another thing is one of the children got in trouble only moments before for running into the kitchen, then you do it right in front of him. Now has Harry EVER let you do that?"

Hermione, who was now looking down, shook her head in silence. Harry had never allowed anyone to run into the kitchen – especially if it was during the time a meal was being cooked.

Hedwig nodded and stood.

"If you ever take your frustrations out on a child who is just being a child again, you will regret it."

"I did nothing of the sort," Hermione snapped with a glare at the older demon.

"So, it wasn't you who yelled at a three-year-old for splashing you with water while he was having a bath?" Hedwig asked, raising an eyebrow and causing Hermione to flush once again and look away.

With a sigh, Hedwig walked towards Hermione and made her look at her.

"You are an intelligent young woman," she said as she wiped away the few tears the girl had released, "but you must remember that it is no longer just you who is important to Harry now. You also have to realise that he has hit his majority now and has, as a consequence, matured greatly in a short period of time; Something you have not completely finished doing."

"I guess this is another facet of him being a submissive," Hermione said with a sad smile.

"It is young one, and one that those of us lucky enough to not have the gene will never understand, no matter how many submissives we know."

Blaise chuckled softly as Hermione giggled at the truth in that statement and returned to his book. He would need this period of quiet while it lasted.

~~~Whydoesittakesolongtocleanahousebutsofastforittobecomemessy~~~

It was well past ten before Harry and Draco returned, escorted by a dark-haired beauty who was greeted warmly by both Blaise and Hermione.

"Hedwig, meet Bellatrix," Harry smiled when the woman turned to the older demon. "Bella, this is Hedwig. She is the person Severus exchanges daily letters with."

"It's wonderful to meet you," Bellatrix grinned as she kissed her on both cheeks. "Sev speaks of you often enough we are convinced you had taken place of potions as the topic he is most passionate about."

Hedwig blinked at the woman, completely overwhelmed.

"Aunt Bella," Draco sighed in amusement. It often amused him at how rambunctious she could be around those she didn't know. "You are overwhelming her."

"I'm terribly sorry about her," he stated, turning to Hedwig, "she doesn't seem to comprehend the word 'restraint'."

Bellatrix blushed heavily and coughed lightly.

"I apologise," she said with complete and open honesty, "I've known Severus since he was eleven and have seen him as the little brother I never had ever since. I'm just so happy he has found someone to share his life with that isn't already family."

Hedwig, who was more ruffled at the fact someone she didn't know had accosted her, burst into laughter as she realised what had occurred.

"Sorry, sorry," she giggled, holding her ribs. "I had heard of people who treat friends and other significant people of their family as if they were family to them, but I had never met one until now."

She gratefully received the handkerchief Draco gave her and dabbed gently at the tears that were still in her eyes.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Bellatrix. You mentioned knowing Severus from a young age?"

Bellatrix's grin was more than a little predatory as she guessed what the younger woman was hinting at.

"Since he was a first year," she confirmed with a twinkle in her eye that could compete with the Headmaster. "I don't have time to chat tonight as I am really only supposed to be an escort for Draco and Blaise as we will be back after curfew. It would have been Sev, but he had to supervise a detention; however, now I am here … would you be interested in joining 'Cissa and I on our next spa day? We asked Harry but he has something planned for that day already."

"I would be delighted to," Hedwig accepted with a thrill of delight making its way down her spine. She had never been to a spa before – neither had she ever had friends to go with it she had.

Fifteen minutes later, Blaise and Draco escorted a madly grinning Bellatrix out of the house to allow their hosts to prepare for the night ahead of them; and what a night it would be.

~~~IthasbeentoolongsinceIpostedforthisfic~~~

Harry woke to the sound of his door opening and soft, barely audible sobbing. He immediately sat up and wordlessly enchanted his ceiling to glow softly.

"Olivia? Sweetheart, what's wrong?" he asked the pixie-like girl who was in his doorway.

The girl let out a sob and ran towards Harry's bed before leaping at him.

"Th-they're after me!" she sobbed, "They're going to take me away!"

Thinking quickly, Harry pulled the girl into his bed and covered them both with his blankets, making a nest.

"Who is after you?" he asked softly as he began to lick her cheek to sooth her.

"The red monsters," she hiccoughed, calming down now she was in the safety of Harry's presence. "They said they are sending people to get me."

"Shh, Sweetling, shh. They may try to get you back, but they will fail. Do you know why?"

Olivia shook her head while taking in deep, shuddering breaths. The soft lap, lap, lap of Harry's rough tongue that was now on her temple and the hairs that could be found there calming her faster than normal.

"Because they will have to get through my wards, me, Rinie, Hedwig, Blaise, Willa, Nicholas, Draco, the Delacour's and everyone else who knows you are here. Add that to the people who are hunting down the red monsters, and they don't stand a chance," Harry snuggled further into his nest, pulling her closer to him.

"Tomorrow, I will ask Rinie to look for runes to engrave around the doors and windows of each room to add an extra layer of security against the monsters. You are safe in this nest so you can sleep peacefully."

Harry then curled around her and soothed her to sleep with his purring and lapping. He had expected some of the children to have nightmares bought on by their fear of strangers appearing in their sanctuary.

He was more correct than he had hoped, and by the time early morning had arrived, his bed was hosting not only him and Olivia, but five other children of various ages. Needless to say, Harry had not had a peaceful night's sleep.

~~~Ihopeeveryoneissafeandwellafterthepastyear~~~

Another person who hadn't had a peaceful night's sleep was one William Delacour. That night he had been paired with one of Zelenia's mates – a member of the rare Hellhound Clan that could freely change between humanoid and Hellhound form – and set off to one of the houses he had mentioned. While the Weasley family only had the one house to their name, they did have a lot of places they could hide away that had been … appropriated … from families who had gotten in their way.

Together, the paired men crept towards the distant building, pausing frequently for William to make scans of the surrounding area for any wards that may be present. Neither one of them trusted their eyes and both began to softly cast every spell they knew that could – and would – remove any illusions that may have been put in place. When their spells had completed their work, they quietly entered through the front door.

Diligently, they went room by room checking for any sign that the animals they were hunting had been there recently. No sign was found. Every surface was covered in a thick layer of dust, there was no food to be found anywhere and, most importantly, no magical presence registered by the ward stone in a least six months.

"Well, that was a waste of time," Dreyquim (pronounced Dra-Qu-em) sighed in disgust. "We could have been sleeping instead of being here."

William rolled his eyes and ignored the complaints with practiced ease. Compared to the new trainees he had to deal with in Egypt, Dreyquim was an amateur. Instead, he turned his attention turned towards an anomaly he had noticed while looking through the rooms. In each room was at least one cupboard, draw or chest that was locked beyond what a simple unlocking charm could undo.

"Drey … shut up and come look at this for a moment," he interrupted the larger male.

Though he would deny it later, Dreyquim pouted at being ignored and walked over to where the red-headed male was, dragging his feet.

"It's a locked door," he stated, pout fully audible, "nothing interesting about it at all."

"Yes, it's a locked door," William sighed in exasperation. Now he knew why the other male's female mate was mated with both of the twins … No one would be able to deal with this one by themselves. "A locked door to a cupboard that is resistant to every human unlocking charm I know. Think you could give it a shot?"

"That is rather odd," Dreyquim murmured, finally becoming serious. "I'm afraid spells of unlocking aren't my forte. I'll do my best, but we may need to call Grinwheld (pronounced Gwen-veldt)"

To both their surprise, the second spell Dreqyuim tried succeeded and the cupboard door popped open, shooting paper and parchment everywhere like confetti. William picked on sheet up and glanced at it before doing a double take. Almost painfully slowly, he read the paper in his hand. The further he got down, the wider and more blood thirsty his grin became.

"Dreyquim, my friend," he breathed, "we have just hit the jackpot! Help me gather all this up then let's hit the other rooms."

Even though he didn't understand, Dreyquim did his best to help William collect every slip of parchment in the house: William's enthusiasm and excitement had awakened his own lust for the hunt, and gods forbid he ignored his own instincts.