Bring Me To Life : A Continuation
by I Got Tired of Waiting

Part I : The Past to the Present
Intermission Four : A Case of Law and the Order of Things

"It's the law, sir. Multiple partner marriages between opposite sexes are not allowed. Now if all three of you were men..." the hapless clerk at the Registry Office said, wanting to do anything but face one of the most respected and feared Aurors on the force. He sincerely wished he could help him, not because he had any special feelings on the subject, but because he wanted Ron well away from his office.

Disgusted, Ron turned on his heel and strode back to his office in another part of the Ministry, wondering how on earth he was going to tell Draco and Hermione. He was confused, too, for he'd never heard there would be difficulties and didn't think his partners knew either, or they wouldn't have sent him to get the license.

On his way, he stopped by his father's office on the off-chance Arthur was about; he knew the odds were slim to none and worse if he wanted to actually see him. As the Minister of Magic, Arthur was a very busy man. However, his luck held and the first secretary he came across, Esmelda, showed him in.

Arthur looked up from the parchment he was reading, a rather boring petition from a rather boring wizard out in the sticks. With one look at Ron's face, he set it down on his desk, grateful for the interruption. He would soon regret that thought.

Ron flopped into the chair across from his father, disheartened with residues of the previous anger mixed in for good measure. He glanced around the office, pausing at all the photos of the family covering the walls. That's all I want... a family, damn it!

"Problem?" Arthur asked.

Ron huffed, blowing the hair out of his eyes and, recognizing his father's concern, let loose some of his suppressed anger, responding in an unreasonable voice, "Yes, I suppose you could say that. Hermione, Draco, and I decided to make our relationship official, but some officious toad just told me we can't... unless we're all blokes."

Arthur was pleased with the decision. He and Molly had secretly hoped they would marry before the first child, for there was no doubt they were devoted to each other and wouldn't allow something as small as public opinion stand in the way of procreation. But not permitted? He'd never heard that before, but then again, their triple was the first he'd ever known to survive.

Leaning back in his chair, he perused the books on the shelves next to his desk. Finding the one he wanted, he levitated it to his desk. A mumbled spell opened it to the section he wanted and he bent over the tome, trying to decipher the tiny crabbed writing on the page. After reading a few paragraphs, he closed the book and sent it back to the shelf. He stared long at Ron.

"Technically, they're correct. A multiple partner, same-sex marriage is permitted with any number of partners, although personally I would call that an orgy, not a union." Arthur smiled half-heartedly at his own joke when Ron failed to respond.

He continued, "A multiple partner marriage of one male and any number of females is also permitted providing they all cohabitate in the same house and take the traditional surnaming of all resultant issue." Privately, he thought of exhaustion and screaming Harpies, but didn't voice the sentiment aloud.

"A union of the type you want is permitted only if all male partners but one are sterile, and it must be proven by public Medi-witch certification. Simply put, the law allows for either no children or non-magical proof of only one father. Since I'm assuming that both you and Draco are fully functioning males and neither one of you is willing to be sterilized, then no, you wouldn't be permitted to marry as there's no way of proving parentage." He sighed. "I'm sorry; it's a question of bloodlines. The law is specific that clear bloodlines must be established through the marriage. You would, however, be allowed to adopt."

Ron stared at him, the incredulity warring with his black sense of humour. He shook his head and rising from the chair said, "Thanks Dad, I appreciate the help, but now I have to go home and tell Draco and Hermione. They'll be so thrilled."

Understanding his son's frustrations, Arthur replied, "If you need my help changing the law, just let me know."

"Huh?"

"Well, you're not going to just accept it are you?" he asked, thinking some positive action might erase the forlorn slump in Ron's shoulders. "I mean, I assume you're going to change it--for the children and all." Something akin to panic flitted across Ron's face. "If you're not married, they'll have no bloodlines, not to ment--"

"Uh, thanks Dad, I appreciate the support. I'll see what Hermione and Draco want to do." Suddenly Ron couldn't get out of there fast enough and as he bolted out of the office, Arthur allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. He sighed again, and went back to the petition.

"I'll do it." Draco said after hearing about Ron's trip to the Registry Office.

"Do what?"

"Get tied. After all, the Malfoy name's not exactly popular right now and the Weasley name is well respected; it is important we make it official," he replied reasonably, a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Like bloody hell you will," Hermione and Ron cried together. "I'd rather our children be illegitimate than have you do that," Hermione finished. "So don't even think about it."

Relieved despite his bravado, Draco accepted their loving embrace.

"We'll just have to fight it, that's all. There's got to be a way we can do this," she continued, her ire sparking in her eyes. "Besides, there's nothing stopping us from being bound, we just can't make the marriage contract official."

"Maybe Severus knows. Harry said he's had to deal with all kinds of legal issues over their marriage, especially the name. Can you believe they made them hyphenate their name?"

"If I recall," Hermione said, "It had something to do with the legality of your guardianship and the way Severus executed your father's estate, Draco. We all know he did exactly as you wanted and even with our testimony, they still gave him a hard time." She shook her head. "I guess we should be grateful we're not as scrutinized as they are and everyone pretty much leaves us alone; seems someone is always gunning for Severus."

Ron chuckled. "It's because Harry is so young. As if Harry was ever that young." They all laughed at that.

Draco, ever the pragmatist, said drolly, "Now that we're agreed that everyone picks on Severus who, by the by, is perfectly capable of taking care of himself, what are we going to do?

"It's too bloody bad we can't run the family lines down the mother's side," Ron chuffed. "Then there would be no question as to the bloodline. You always know who the mother is."

Hermione and Draco stared at Ron. Draco recovered first. "Ron that is abso-fucking-lutely brilliant! We're in the presence of genius! Change how the family line tracks, then it doesn't matters who the father is."

"Let's go see Severus," Ron suggested.

Severus had a headache. A really stupendous headache composed of the entire percussion section of the London Symphony pounding Tchaikovsky in the upper lobes of his brain. On the desk in front of him was a thick booklet with birthing and genetic charts so complicated they made the star charts he regularly churned out look like a child's crayon drawing.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, willing it to go away. He'd begged for weeks for these charts and now that he finally had the time to go over them, he knew he had to master them quickly if he was ever going to employ them in a timely manner.

The more he thought about why he had to learn them, the deeper his headache crept until his whole head pulsed in time with his heart, the throbbing robbing him of thought. He put his head in his hands unable to summon sufficient energy to walk across the room to retrieve a pain potion, which would at least reduce it to a dull roar.

A gentle kiss was tenderly placed on the back of his neck, the lips moving against his skin in cadence to a spell. With the gentlest of touches, strong cool fingers appeared at his temples and stroked the skin back into the hairline, each sure soft touch timed to the words spoken by the lips. Stroke by stroke, the headache receded until he shivered at the now-silent lips nipping his neck.

"I wish you wouldn't sneak up on me like that," Severus growled.

The lips smiled against his nape. "You're welcome," they said and then they were gone, the room as empty as it had been a few minutes before.

Damn, I keep forgetting I have my own private health barometer now. Even after the four years they'd been together, he couldn't help but wonder if Harry did things like this to help him or to allay his own discomfort.

Idiot. I heard that. He felt the smile coming along with the words and realised, once again he was being foolish. He heard the distant laugh. Much better! And then Harry was gone.

Shaking his head over the incident, he bent back to the charts.

The Trio sat on the couch Harry and Severus usually occupied while they sat on the old love seat. Need to get the springs fixed, Harry thought as he shifted again, trying to find a comfortable spot.

Severus leaned forward. "Let me see if I understand you correctly. You want to change not only the law, but centuries of tradition to run the bloodlines down the cognate line instead of the agnate line. Damn, and I thought you wanted something complicated. We should be able to do that in a couple hundred years, give or take a century." Severus was at his sarcastic best.

Hermione laughed, "Oh nothing quite that simple, Severus; we also want to get married."

Severus sputtered. He was beyond words. This was impossible.

She continued in a low serious voice, "I... we want babies--"

Severus noted Ron's wince and Draco's panic and smiled to himself.

"--Lots of them. And we want them legitimate."

He could feel Harry suppressing his laughter.

"Do you know how much time you're talking about?" he asked seriously.

Hermione studied him, her head cocked, "I have the time, Severus. I'm on sabbatical from the University and with our degrees finished, I'm free to do as I please."

Harry interrupted before Severus could open his mouth. "Really? How about we make a trade, then," he said thinking of Severus' headaches the last few weeks. "We'll help you with the legal language and paperwork you need to change the law as well the Summation of Arguments and you help Severus trace the bloodlines he needs for his succession plan. They're your charts so it should be fairly easy for you to figure them out."

Severus blinked. Now why didn't I think of that? Then the full import of what Harry had said hit him and he almost choked. He silently urged Hermione to accept for he realised that in typical Potter fashion, Harry had just made them one sweet deal.

Hermione stared at him suspiciously, trying to find the catch, for she knew there had to be one; Severus was just being too quiet. She looked to Ron and then Draco. When both shrugged and nodded, she made up her mind; it really didn't matter in the long run. She knew it would take them years and even if it took her the same amount of time, at least they were experts in what she wanted and she certainly was the expert in what they wanted, so it would at least be done--expertly.

"Deal!" she exclaimed.

Severus almost expired on the spot. He couldn't believe she'd bought it. "Done," he said quickly holding out his hand, afraid she was going to change her mind before he could bind her to it. They shook on it, magically sealing their contract.

Severus showed proper gratitude to Harry that night starting right after they left and continuing well into the wee hours of the morning.

Severus is very lucky I have an abundant capacity for humour and the absurd, Hermione thought as she put the quill down for the last time on the genealogy charts she'd put together for him over the last five years. 'Trace the bloodlines Severus needs for the succession plan', my arse. He forgot to mention the little detail about how bloody long the bloody-line would be. Git.

Writing finished, she tried to summon a sense of pride concerning her work, but it had taken so long, so much energy, she couldn't dredge up more than gratitude it was over. She looked over the hundreds of pages in the document and realised that not only would Severus been unable to finish it, but now that she knew how important it was, she was assured it had been done correctly.

Actually now the real work has to begin and he has his work cut out for him. Should take him about sixty-five years to finish it. She chuckled, knowing she really had got the better end of the deal.

And she knew Severus hadn't been idle, either. Somehow, and she suspected it had been Harry's idea, he'd gathered the support of the women of the Wizarding community through Molly Weasley. With this subtle but powerful support, public opinion had turned faster than they'd thought. They already had legislature pending to change the bloodlines to the Cognate (maternal) Line and with Arthur Weasley backing it, it was certain to pass. Then they only had to reckon how to establish paternity and overcome the public's stigma against triple marriages. One down, two to go.

When she'd first learned she was pregnant with Seth, they'd asked Severus to bind them regardless of the law. After much research, Severus found the right combination of spells and they'd been bound over a period of three days, in much the manner as Severus and Harry. By ancient custom, they were married and that would have to hold them until they could get legal recognition of their joining.

Then Seth was born, looking like both Draco and Ron. Her charts showed conclusively that neither one of them alone had the genetic material to have made Seth as he was. She hypothesized that the special spells binding them had, over time, affected the resulting children and increased their magic; the bloodlines melded in a triple, blurring the genetic lines as the children inherited the genetic and magical material of all parents. The genealogists would have fits.

Knowing the resulting confusion would only delay the law allowing them to marry, she sat on her discoveries and continued more mundane work at the Oxford Genealogy Centre. But when it did pass... She had her own ideas on how to proceed... As if drawn by the thought, little Seth came bouncing into the room with typical two year-old energy. She picked him up, wincing at the pain in her back from this, her second pregnancy, well advanced. Any day now, she thought, and not a moment too soon for me.

"Hi, little man," she cooed. He gave her a wet kiss, trying to sit on her tummy. The baby kicked at the pressure and Seth laughed delightedly. Any time now would be very good!

C'mon, Seth, let's go look at the baby's room. You can help me get it ready, all right?"

"Ah-ri'," he said and together they went to the new nursery.

Arthur danced with Hermione, but drew the line at Draco, so Molly did the honours with him and with Ron. He first had to find her in the witches' room trying to recover from her children's first dance as husband, wife, and husband.

It had been a long time coming. Twenty years, in fact, from the time Ron had first come to his office seething with frustration to this auspicious day when the three of them had been bound under the new law, their seven children legitimized. They now all bore the Malfoy-Granger-Weasley name.

So far it was a wild and noisy wedding.

As Arthur caught his breath, he thought about the ceremony. Hermione had asked Ginny and Molly to stand as witnesses for her, while Harry and Neville had stood for Ron. Draco surprised everyone by asking Seth. When objections were raised about the boy's age, Draco calmly reminded them that the 'young man' was no younger than he'd been when he'd stood for Severus. When Draco had asked Seth solemnly if he would stand as witness to his binding with his others, the maturity with which Seth responded with the ancient acceptance had been reason enough to allow it. That Draco had asked him as well was a personal surprise, but the others seemed to expect it.

And of course, there'd never been any question that Severus would bind them. He recalled the gentleness gracing Severus' normally harsh face when he'd joined the three of them, the silk cords wrapped in a new significant pattern around their three joined right arms, their bodies forming the ancient Trivarium.

Then came the speeches. He was especially touched by Draco's heartfelt thanks to the Snape-Potters and the Weasleys for their efforts in passing the new law (despite the accusations of nepotism) and their support of their relationship and family. The boy had really grown on him over the years.

Everything had been fine until the first dance of the evening. When The Trio had begun their sensuous three-way dance, Molly had gasped and covered the eyes of the littlest ones, the youngest being two. Arthur, after recovering from the initial shock of the thing had privately thought their... coordination especially entertaining.

The dancing continued and after a few turns with Molly, they retired to the sidelines to let the younger folk take the floor. Draco had come by and put his hand on his shoulder. Leaning close so Molly couldn't hear, he said softly but wickedly, "I'm starting a pool on how long it takes Severus to take Harry home.

Arthur looked up at him and then followed his eyes back to the dance floor. Well, will wonders never cease?

There on the dance floor, gliding across the floor like they were all alone were Harry and Severus. The music currently playing was a slow waltz and Arthur was amazed at the grace with which they covered the floor, their formal robes sweeping out around them. There was a mature sensuality to their movements that made the efforts of the other guests, equally adept at the dance, seem crude and jerky.

Arthur wasn't quite certain what shocked him the most. Was it their solemn movements, lost in the music, or that they were publicly together in the first place? Except for a few rare moments in private while they'd worked together over the years, not really embarrassing in the least, he'd never seen them even touch in public. That they should do so now was astonishing and Arthur began to understand why Draco had made the comment--and offered the bet.

He whispered to Draco, "You're on. Two Galleons on thirty minutes." He passed the coins over to him with a wink.

Draco grinned. "I'll see your two and go for twenty minutes. Hermione's not even certain they'll last that long."

Arthur won the pot, for exactly 31 minutes, 30 seconds later, Severus and Harry made their hasty, distracted good-byes.

Severus was feeling a bit out of sorts. He couldn't begin to count how many times he'd officiated at weddings and bindings and joinings or whatever the current jargon was for a marriage contract. Usually he went alone. On rarer occasions, like tonight, Harry was asked to Witness and when the ceremony was done, like most officiators, they would fade into the background and make good their escape.

He didn't find weddings particularly romantic, not that he considered himself as such in the first place. But over the years, Harry's more romantic nature had worn off on him and he was a bit less crusty than he used to be.

All right, a lot less crusty.

But there was something about The Trio. He'd always liked Draco, finding his irony and wicked insight amusing when he'd been his student; he approved of the precise way Draco went about everything in his life from making potions to stalking enemies. Hermione he could understand and there was a secret part of him which had always admired her ability to be absolutely brilliant yet likable. It was a skill he'd never really mastered.

And he supposed that one could admire Ron's stalwart loyalty, but his appeal to the other two had remained a mystery to him. That is until he'd observed him on some of the Auror raids and realised that Ron carried the most magical power of the three. The calculated risks he took in his job were neither foolhardy nor haphazard; Ron was the master chess player, always a few steps ahead of his opponent and like his chess game he was wicked and usually won.

So today, when three of the people he'd come to admire the most were finally joined, one would think he'd be happy. But he wasn't. Well, he was happy for them. They'd waited longer than anybody had a right to expect. He just wasn't happy for himself. And he was confounded by it. While his normal state was best described as not unhappy--but not ecstatic either--this unwelcome downswing into the doldrums was unusual for him. And even knowing why he was depressed, he couldn't fix it, and that made it even worse.

Everyone was touching. Except him and Harry. Aside from The Trio, (and that was different somehow) no one touched them. And they couldn't touch each other except with their eyes.

Harry zeroed in on him from across the room. He felt Severus' thoughts and wondered what he could do to cheer him up. The choices were very limited. He caught sight of the dancers and sighed; he knew he was a horrible dancer, but...

Severus followed his eyes and saw the dancers on the floor and caught Harry's small wistful tendril. Thinking about it a bit, he watched the others and realised there was a good chance he and Harry could take few spins around the floor, a socially acceptable way of publicly touching without attracting any undue notice.

So when Harry moved away from the group with whom he was talking, Severus went up to him and, almost shyly taking his hand, asked him to dance. Incredulous, Harry stared at him and said yes.

Dancing. After twenty-four years together, it had been the first time Harry and Severus had danced.

It was pure joy and Harry felt no surprise that Severus danced as well as he did everything else. Not knowing what was going to happen, Harry simply followed Severus' lead and found that moving with his husband's graceful body in time to the sweeping music was as arousing as watching him stalk. His movements were powerful and when Severus forgot himself and shifted Harry closer, there'd been passion as well.

Each turn, each sweep of bodies to the music drove them deeper and deeper into themselves until they couldn't separate the music from their movements and the rest of the world faded away leaving only them.

After they'd left early, after they'd gone home, in the privacy of their own quarters, oh! so tender their love-making. In the firelight, their ardour spent, dark eyes captivated green ones. "I love you," spoken lighter than a whisper, stronger than the tide, the first time he'd ever said it aloud, but always known, always implied.

Harry's response, "I know. I love you back," spoken into ardent lips as they fell into the gentlest of kisses, which spun away once more into heated passion.

The spell, finally replete, left them with a feeling of peace like they'd never known before... and rarely experienced since.

TBC