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Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot line, the rest of it, aside from the unfamiliar, belongs to JK Rowling.
A/N: This is a Harry/Sirius Slash story, mixed in with a Lily & James come back to life (later in the story). It's timed to after Hogwarts & Voldemort's defeat. I'm thrilled at the response this is getting, and hope you all continue to like it. Keep reading!
Responses to Reviews:
Ciri: Thank you!! I'm thrilled everyone loved Harry's speech. I think it rather makes points, and he challenges the Wizarding World as a whole to grow the hell up, in more words, and to look beyond what they've been raised to believe to what they themselves believe and what is actually true. About Hermione's husband - I'm rather surprised someone commented at all! No, I simply wanted to point out that the war effected ALL of Europe, and most of the world. Not just England. How they met will be explained in more detail through the story. Arto, Hermione and Aila Taneli are just one of the many now blended families that resulted from the war. However, no, I don't believe I'm Finish. But as I say that I'm likely spitting on someone's grave in my family. I'm a rather blended American, with strong German & Swedish, though also with Irish, Native American (very little though), and tons of other cultures/countries that I've yet to figure out. So to be honest, I dunno. I have both sides of my family background tied down to when they registered in the US, but beyond that I've had little success finding out just where my family comes from. Not that all of you wanted to know, and not that any of you need to know, but there it is. : )
A.Dee: Only five slash? I have several that are VERY good on my favorites list, that I recommend you reading. (along with anyone else that checks it out). If the male-pregnancy thing bothers you, it did me at first too. But then I figured, hey, it's a magical world, wouldn't they have found a way to survive if there weren't enough females around? Or if someone simply wasn't attracted to females (or males if that was the situation)? Anyhow, I STRONGLY recommend 'Time After Time' by 'The Red Dragons Order'. It's a simply wonderfully written Harry/Severus fic involving the clichéd time- travel, but so well written I simply love it and read it over & over & over again. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever told that Author that. (Oops. My bad. If you're reading this, well, there you go.) Also, 'Love Bite' by 'Richan', which is a Remus/Harry, Severus/Sirius story. I think this one does the Harry/Remus pairing wonderfully, and good for someone who's warming up to it. Anyway, there are several other slash stories on there, that I recommend whole-heartedly. Another one I insist you try ~ 'Sleeping with the Enemy' by 'Maeglin Yedi', it's a Harry/Lucius fiction, and beautifully written with a Harry/Draco scene in there as well. Oh, that's enough about that though. I'm thrilled you're reading mine though, and that you like it. : )
Everyone else I'm forgetting - thank you for reading my story and I'm glad everyone that's reviewed so far enjoys it hope you all keep reading!
Review please!
(Try to keep negative comments to yourself unless they're constructive criticism please!)
Slight Warning: There is an actual sexual encounter that is detailed that is between two men, nothing overly graphic and nothing that someone couldn't see in an R-rated movie, though I've seen worse in R-rated, but, none the less, you should be warned.
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After the War
Chapter Three: The Set Up
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"Harry! Come ON! This shirt will go brilliantly with those pants. You DO want to look your best for tonight, don't you?"
Harry glared at his so-called friend and said, "Of COURSE I do. Aside from the minor fact that I think I'm in love with my own godfather, this date might actually turn out alright! Whoever this guy is, we have so much in common it's almost freaky."
Draco inwardly cheered, but simply smiled and said, "All the more reason for you to wear THIS green shirt instead of THAT green shirt. That one simply isn't the right shade of green! THIS one matches your eyes -perfectly - AND it's SILK!"
Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Fine! I'll wear the damn silk one! I'd just rather wear the cotton one, it's more comfortable. I only have ten more minutes anyway. And I have to apparate two blocks away from the restaurant. Not to mention I still haven't done my hair!"
Draco simply couldn't take it anymore, he burst out laughing, falling onto the bed in Harry's room, giggling hysterically. Athena chuckled along too, but in a more controlled manor as she was sitting on the bed with Damien and a sleeping Alexandria. Damien didn't quite understand, but giggled along with his parents, who were nearly hyperventilating they were laughing so hard at Harry. Harry glared, but rushed into his walk-in closet to throw on his clothes for the date and ignored the giggling coming from the bedroom.
Two minutes later, Harry stepped out and Draco and Athena immediately stopped laughing as their jaws dropped at their freshly picked out ensemble on Harry. Harry was dressed in tight-leather pants that hugged his hips and muscular legs perfectly, which at 5'10" were rather long. The green silk shirt hugged his chest perfectly too, only hinting at the Greek-God-Like chest under it.
Damien voiced their thoughts for them by grinning and exclaiming, "Uncle Hawwy pwetty!"
Athena, Draco and Harry smiled and laughed with the giggling little boy, though Harry had turned quite a shade of red. Athena rolled her eyes slightly before saying, "You do look wonderful Harry. He'll love you, and the way you look. Should Draco and I bother waiting up for you?"
Harry grinned and replied simply, "Maybe, Maybe not."
Draco smirked and said, "Athena, darling, you know better. We won't hear from either of them for at least a week the way he's dressed. Hell, we'll be lucky if Harry's house elves hear from him before then."
Harry blushed and before he could say anything else, Athena was on her feet pulling him into the bathroom with her to do up his hair. Athena had it fixed and ready for him in a matter of seconds, still unruly as ever but a subtle control to the 'out of control' hair. Draco, Athena, Damien and Alexandria (who had started to wake up a bit) were all impressed, bid their goodbyes and flooed home.
Nothing else left to do, Harry apparated to the alley that connected to the street Roberto's was on, and made his way to the restaurant. Harry was nervous, ungodly nervous. As much as he didn't want to admit it out loud, he was starting to really like the man he'd been writing to, and he wasn't sure he liked it. He knew he was in love with Sirius, if only he had the nerve to actually say it to the man.
The walk to the small Italian restaurant went by too quickly. Harry sighed one last time, and walked into the door of his absolute favorite Muggle restaurant. The hostess, a young woman named Libby, recognized him immediately and called out, "Hello there Mr. Potter! You didn't tell me you were meeting someone here in advance silly! I would have reserved a better table for you!"
Harry smiled and said, "Libby, call me Harry. I'm here enough to drop the formalities."
Libby tutted slightly and said, "Alright then Harry. He's sitting at your usual table waiting for you."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but went towards his 'usual table', nodding at the waitresses and bus boys that he knew on the way. He was nearly there when he caught sight of the person sitting at the table and stopped dead in his tracks. He knew the back of that head the way he knew the back of his hand and would recognize it anywhere.
Swallowing uneasily Harry quickly made his way over to the table and sat down before smiling slightly and saying, "Hello Sirius."
Sirius looked better then usual, his shoulder length hair pulled into a loose tie at the back of his neck. He was wearing a blue button down shirt, with tan slacks, both of which hugged his form in all the right places. One of the things Harry had always loved about Sirius was how strong the man's arms were, and the shirt showed the strength perfectly, pulling slightly at the slight bulge of muscles underneath it.
Sirius smiled back uneasily before saying, "Hello Harry."
Harry shifted uneasily in his seat before asking, "You are him, aren't you?"
Sirius looked down at his plate biting his lip slightly before looking up and nodding in response. Before Harry could say anything else, Sirius said, "If you aren't okay with this I can leave. I don't want to push you into something you don't want."
Harry chuckled slightly and then shook his head before saying, "Sirius, I've been slowly falling in love with you since my fifth year at Hogwarts."
Sirius blushed and then said, "That's about when I started to realize I was falling in love with you as well."
Harry turned slightly pink in the cheeks and then asked, "Well, what are you having for dinner then?"
Sirius smiled and the two turned to talking over what they would have on the menu, both relishing in that they'd finally told one another their true feelings. Neither man was going to play stupid and think that the talking part was done with, both had several issues to bring up that needed to be discussed before their relationship went any further, and then they needed to talk about just how far it was going to go.
Once they'd ordered their food (Harry - his favorite, Lasagna, Sirius - A simple Chicken and Pasta meal), a nice bottle of wine to share (Merlot of course, Sirius's favorite and one of Harry's), they talked about anything not related to 'dating' waiting for their order to come. Their meal came quickly, Harry rather suspected their order had been rushed, but refused to think about anything aside from Sirius.
Harry blushed when Sirius took the incentive to start the first of the intimate touching by reaching across the table to hold Harry's hand in his as they talked after they finished eating. It gradually got less awkward and finally Sirius said, "Harry, I know you've said you're in love with me, and I do love you, but I need to make sure that the age difference, and really the whole situation, doesn't make you uncomfortable."
Harry nodded and squeezed Sirius's hand gently before saying, "It honestly doesn't bother me, the age difference or the situation. I'm in love with you Sirius. But as long as we're talking about this. . . . it doesn't bother you does it?"
Sirius shook his head before answering, "No, it doesn't bother me. I wouldn't have bothered with all those letters if it did. That and I wouldn't be dying to get out of here and back to one of our houses."
Harry snorted and then said rather sarcastically, "Houses? More like Mansion and Manor."
Sirius chuckled and then said, "Alright, I'll agree with you on that one."
Harry smiled and said, "So, your place or mine then?"
Sirius smirked and then said, "I honestly don't give a damn Harry."
Harry grinned and then said, "Fine then. My place. Let's go, Libby will send me the bill anyway."
Sirius raised an eyebrow and asked, "Libby?"
Harry nodded before saying, "Tonight's hostess, she's also the Owner's daughter. For some reason she's almost always here when I am."
Sirius just chuckled and pulled Harry up with him as they left, before turning and throwing some money on the table. Harry went to protest at Sirius paying and was silenced with a single look from Sirius who then said, "I'll be damned if I let you pay for our dinner when we're going back to your house now."
Harry pouted briefly, but Sirius's only response was to shake his head and pull him out of the restaurant past a giggling Libby. Once on the streets, they walked (still holding hands) quickly to the alley Harry had apparated into earlier, only to apparate almost immediately to Harry's home in Godric's Hollow.
Almost immediately there was a slight *pop* before one of Harry's house elves appeared and asked, "Master Harry and Master Sirius wanting anything, Sir?"
Harry smiled and said, "No, Cassie, thank you though. We'll just be up in my room, and do tell anyone who either shows up, calls, floos or owls that I'm busy and will get back to them later. Understand?"
Cassie nodded and disappeared with another pop after saying, "Of course Sir."
Sirius just chuckled and they stared at one another uneasily for a moment before Harry decided to act on their confessed feelings. Harry muttered barely loud enough for Sirius to hear, "Some Gryffindors we are, staring at one another like this."
That of course, was all the warning Sirius had before Harry almost literally pounced on him, kissing him passionately. Sirius responded to the kiss, wrapping his arms around Harry and pulling Harry closer to him. The kiss which had started out full of passion and emotion, quickly turned into a rather heated, full out snog fest in the middle of the entry way to Harry's home.
They broke apart for only a second, and only long enough to catch a breath and for Harry to mutter distractedly, "Must find bedroom quickly."
Somehow, nearly fifteen minutes later they managed to fall into Harry's bed, both without shirts, and both struggling out of their slacks as well. Both men were in heaven, everything they'd wanted for the past several years was finally theirs. Finally they were in one another's arms, showing one another just how much they loved each other.
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Harry woke up the next morning warm and content, snuggling into the warm embrace of his newly found lover. He grinned when he heard Sirius's soft snore and lifted himself off the bed slightly to stare down at the gorgeous man in bed with him. Smiling, he began exploring his lover's body with his lips and tongue, kissing and licking down Sirius's chest slowly.
He grinned when Sirius unknowingly arched into his touch, and spent a short time sucking just below Sirius's navel over the soft wispy black hairs that trailed down to Sirius's now fully hard and erect cock. Sirius still hadn't woken up, but had stopped snoring by the time Harry kissed the tip of his lover's erection. Harry licked down the length of the erection, before sucking his lover's balls into his mouth.
He could tell Sirius would be fully awake any second now, so he slowly let go of Sirius's balls and licked back up the full glorious seven inches of Sirius's hard cock. Grinning widely he took a deep breath before fully relaxing his throat and taking every inch of Sirius into his mouth and sucking, Hard.
Sirius woke up just as Harry had taken Sirius's erection into his mouth. Sirius moaned and arched up into his lover's mouth before gasping, "Harry!"
Harry's eyes connected with Sirius's as he sucked, moving one of his hands to cup Sirius's balls and the other to lightly trace the side of Sirius's leg. Sirius's hands flew to Harry's hair and pushed the back of Harry's head in encouragement. It didn't take long for Sirius to arch up into Harry's mouth and cum with a final hoarse cry of, "Harry!"
Harry swallowed every last drop that came from his lover's cock before sucking gently on the now softening erection. Smiling, he then kissed up Sirius's torso before kissing Sirius gently. Harry pulled away from the kiss after only a moment and said, "Morning, love."
Sirius smiled and then moaned at the erection that was digging into his thigh before pinning the younger man underneath him and answering, "Morning indeed. If that's the way you plan on waking me, I may just insist that we sleep in the same bed every night."
Harry smiled up at the man he was in love with and replied simply, "Works for me."
Harry's smile grew broader when his erection was suddenly ground against by a renewing erection, and Sirius leaned down to kiss him before they repeated the previous evening's actions. They hadn't planned on moving so quickly with one another physically, but who where they to argue? When it's right, it's right.
It was nearly lunchtime by the time the two roused from the bed, and then it was only to take a quick shower, eat lunch, and go back to bed. Shortly before dinner however, there were loud shouts coming from Harry's lower floors that they had to get out of bed to check out. Both merely put on boxers and grabbed their wands before heading towards the main stairwell that lead to the entryway.
They didn't need to go any further; they could already hear the loud and angry voices. They smiled at one another before moving into one another's arms to listen to the arguments for a while. They had to stifle their laughter a few times, which they did by burying their heads in one another's chests or in the crooks of the other's neck, letting their hands run up and down one another's backs comfortingly.
"LISTEN YOU BLOODY HOUSE-ELF! I DON'T CARE WHAT HARRY TOLD YOU, I'M GOING UP TO SEE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"
"NO YOU IS NOT MASTER DRACO! MASTER HARRY NO WANT INTERRUPTIONS! MASTER HARRY SAYS NO OWLS, NO GUESTS!"
A sane, somewhat quieter voice finally said, "Gemma, right? That's your name?"
A slight sniffle and then a response, "Yes Mistress Athena."
"Is Harry alone up there?"
Then there was a rather sly, "No Mistress Athena."
Draco's sudden burst of giggles could've been heard throughout the entire house, and rather then letting them further interrogate his house-elf, Harry and Sirius decided to go downstairs and answer for themselves. Once they'd started to walk down the stairs, Harry called out, "Gemma? Who is that yelling down there? I thought I told you all not to allow anyone into the house."
His house-elves, Gemma, Cassie, Dobby, Tally, Hattie, Canella, Bernie, Daisy and Lynx all appeared at the bottom of the stairwell, stating their apologies for disobeying their Master. Draco and Athena appeared behind them, carrying two rather giggly children. Harry smiled as Sirius's hand slipped into his before raising an eyebrow and saying, "I see. It's all right, all of you. Someone make a note that dinner will include the Malfoys, and Sirius tonight, and that we'll start communicating with the rest of the world now."
There were several, "Yes Master Harry"s, before a series of *pop* sounds happened and the house-elves disappeared to prepare for dinner, and to ensure that the house was properly cared for. Smiling, Harry turned towards the Malfoy family and then said, "Hello, Draco, Athena, Damien and Alexandria."
Athena smiled as two very loud children answered, "Uncle Hawwy!"
Draco smirked and then said, "Guess things worked out then?"
Harry nodded and blushed slightly as Sirius's arm slipped around his waist and pulled him closer to the older Wizard. Sirius smiled and said, "Why don't you all wait for us in the sitting room? We'll be down in a bit once we're, uh, properly dressed."
Athena and Draco giggled but nodded and carried their children into said sitting room as Sirius and Harry turned and headed back up the stairs. They quickly made their way back into Harry's room, where they threw on clean clothes (Sirius merely borrowed some of Harry's), and headed back down quickly.
Both men smiled as they entered the sitting room and then sat and talked with Draco and Athena in-between playing with Damien and Alexandria. Draco teased both Harry and Sirius mercilessly, who responded in kind the way any Potter and Black would, with pranks. By the end of the evening Draco had been hexed and charmed so much that a full-out war broke out between the three, leaving Athena to be the adult in the house and take care of Damien and Alexandria.
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"AND HARRY POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH, BRINGING PUDDLEMORE UNITED INTO THE NEXT WORLD CUP!"
Harry was grinning as he and his team landed, and they all jumped, cheered and hugged one another. They'd worked long and hard for this, and Harry had all of his family sitting in the box reserved for family of the Puddlemore United's team-mates. He barely listened to any of the talking around him, the voices from the stands that were both cheering and disappointed that the Wasps weren't going to the Cup, he wanted to see his lover and celebrate with him in private.
He and Oliver pushed their way through the crowd to their respective partners, and he nearly cheered when he saw Sirius's grinning face waiting for him in the sea of family members. His own family knew better then to get in his way, but the other's didn't as he and Sirius had yet to make their still growing six-month relationship public. However that fact seemed to slip from his mind as he finally stood in front of Sirius.
Without a thought to anything or anyone around him, Harry jumped straight into Sirius's arms and planted a furious and passionate kiss on his lips. There were several wolf-whistles from the rest of his family that waited to congratulate him behind them, and several gasps as the rest of the public got their first glance of Harry and Sirius's relationship. Sirius and Harry, however, ignored the crowd completely, even when the cameras started flashing as the press finally realized what was going on.
After several minutes they pulled away, completely breathless from the kiss, grinning from ear to ear at one another. Sirius's grin seemed to get bigger as he said, "Wonderful catch there, Griff."
Harry responded with a kiss before saying, "Thank you Padfoot."
Harry didn't fully separate from Sirius, but accepted the rest of his family's warm hugs and congratulations while holding Sirius's hand, not caring anymore who saw what. Harry made his way through the various members of the Weasley family before he talked briefly with Draco and Athena, all of which he and Sirius invited over to Harry's home the following day for a 'little' get-together.
Then they said hello to Remus and Severus, who were sitting with five, nearly six-month-old, Tatiana Lupin-Snape. Who was, despite Sirius's teasing, an absolutely adorable little girl. She had, luckily, been born on a day that did not fall on the full moon, and was saved from the curse of being a werewolf. The three only stayed to congratulate Harry, and agree to stop by the next day.
Eventually it came to the point where Harry needed to go back with Oliver and the rest of the team to change before heading back to either his house or Sirius's, as they tended to switch between the two. Harry smiled at Sirius, kissed him and asked, "Your place or mine?"
Sirius looked at the swarming press and said, "Yours, it has better wards."
Harry chuckled slightly, which Sirius stopped with a warm and passionate kiss between the two. Harry smiled into the kiss, and wrapped his arms around Sirius, drawing the older Wizard closer to him. They only kissed for a moment before Harry pulled away and left with Oliver for the changing rooms.
Sirius had roughly thirty seconds to watch before he was hounded by the press. Sirius blinked and smiled as they were taking pictures before apparating to Godric's Hollow, and entering Harry's home. Of course, he went straight to the bedroom where he would wait only a short time for Harry, who was always rather enthusiastic after a good game of Quidditch - especially when Puddlemore United won.
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The next day all of Sirius and Harry's friends were gathered at Harry's home in Godric's Hollow, all enjoying the food, entertainment and company. Harry smiled and greeted everyone as they came, while Sirius was busy talking with Remus and Severus, all three shifting their attention between their conversations and little Tatiana.
Draco, Athena, Damien and Alexandra were sitting with Hermione, Arto and Aila, and both families were happily conversing while Damien and Alexandra attempted to play with Aila. Ron, Annette, Chester and Aubrie were talking/playing with Neville, Dean and Frank.
Harry smiled as Fred, Katie, Andrew, Daniel, George, Oliver and Julia showed up together and said, "Hello everyone. Just go on into the other room, we're still waiting on Lavender, Bill, Charlie and their families to show up. Fleur might not come with though, Bill said she was having a rough week."
Rough week was an understatement, and Katie and Oliver flinched at the term. Fleur's latest pregnancy was going about as well as Oliver's had with Julia. It was common place for the entire family to get fire-called or receive an owl to let them know that Fleur was in the Hospital yet again. She was having twins, and they were reacting badly between their magic and Fleur's magic, causing problems with the pregnancy.
Katie just smiled and took Andrew and Daniel into the next room, where she joined the Weasleys and Longbottom-Thomas's, who greeted her and the boys affectionately. George and Oliver followed, but took Julia over by the Malfoy and Taneli families to say their hellos to them first.
Fred grinned at Harry and asked, "So, when are you and Sirius going to tie the knot and have a kid?"
Harry blushed and said, "We've talked about it. We both want to, but not just yet. I've been reading up on the potions for the male-pregnancy though. Just to be sure we know what we're doing, and before you ask, Severus has already agreed to brew the potion for us when we're ready for it."
Fred smiled and was about to say more when Lavender and Amanda appeared, both looking excited to be here. Amanda smiled and said, "Hi Uncle Harry!"
Harry smiled back and pulled her into a hug before he kissed her forehead and said, "Hello Mandy!"
Amanda wiggled out of his arms, giggling, and ran into the other room to say hello to Julia. The two girls got along wonderfully, making both of them easier to control when they had something to distract them. Lavender smiled and hugged Harry before saying, "I'd stay and chat, but I have to talk to Hermione about the jerk-off she set me up with last night."
Harry smiled back and said, "Now, now, Lav. Some of her set ups work brilliantly."
Lavender shook her head, laughing, and wondered into the other room to give Hermione a good verbal lashing about her awful date the night before. Fred and Harry were alone barely a second before Bill, Fleur, Gabrielle, Thomas, Timothy and Savannah appeared. Harry was about to say 'Hello' when Gabrielle, Thomas and Timothy ran into the other room towards their cousins and friends to play with them.
Savannah was squirming in Bill's arms, who promptly put her down and watched as she waddled as fast as she could into the other room after her older brothers and sister. Fleur shook her head at her children and said, "Hello 'arry! Ho' wonderful to see you! Where is that wonderful sister-in- law of mine, Annette?"
Harry smiled and said, "She's in there with everyone else, why do you ask?"
Fleur grinned and said, "Now wouldn't you like to know? I don't think so 'arry."
She walked into the other room, and all three men grimaced slightly when she yelled, "THOMAS WILLIAM WEASLEY PUT YOUR SISTER DOWN THIS INSTANT!"
Bill shook his head and said, "Hello Fred, Harry, I have to go uh, control the situation."
Harry and Fred snickered as Bill disappeared, both moving to follow when the last of the group, Charlie, Theodore, Miriam and Adrianne arrived. Harry smiled at the little girls who saw him and Fred standing there and immediately Miriam chimed, "Uncle Fred! Uncle Harry!"
Both grinned and said, "Hello Miriam, Adrianne."
Charlie and Theodore smiled, said their hellos, and the group made their way into the room with all the other guests, which was starting become over- filled with red-heads. Harry walked over and sat down next to Draco and Athena, who passed him a squirming Alexandra and left him to take care of her.
Harry smiled down at his goddaughter, who was giggling and pulling at his hair when Annette and Ron stood up and sent sparks up in the air for attention. Both were smiling broadly as Ron said, "Everyone, we have an announcement to make! Annette and I are having another baby!"
Harry nearly dropped Alexandra, Ron couldn't be serious, Chester was two, almost three yes, but Aubrie had only just turned one! And Harry knew that they'd only just started to toilet train Chester. Draco was blinking and looking between Annette and his wife at an alarming rate and then exclaimed, "That's what you two were talking about the other night!"
Athena flushed and said, "Yes, well, Annette and I needed someone to talk to other than our bull-headed husbands before we told them the good news didn't we?"
Harry looked at Athena and Draco and asked, "Are you two having a baby as well?"
Athena nodded and smiled before saying, "We're both due in the same month too, well, I'm due a week before Annette is."
Harry shook his head and said, "That's it, everyone in this room is behaving like a pack of rabbits."
George and Oliver chimed, "Hey! We only have one!"
The group chuckled and then started to file into Harry's formal dining room, as Dobby had announced that dinner was ready. After getting all the numerous children settled into their chars and everyone else in their chairs, they all started to eat the feast the house-elves had prepared. It was half way through dinner when Harry started to notice all the side-way glances and encouraging looks Sirius was getting.
He fully ignored it, until he noticed Sirius looked to be steeling himself for something. He looked curiously at the older Wizard, who smiled and stood, sending off sparks to get attention from everyone. It looked to Harry like he hadn't needed to, they were all on edge about something, and Harry didn't like that he had no idea what was going on.
Just as Harry was about to demand some answers, Sirius smiled nervously and then said, "Uh, well I suppose I should say something breathtaking right about now, but I can't seem to think of much to say other than a certain question that's been in the back of my mind for the past six months."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that, Sirius had a question unanswered for more than two minutes? Who was this person using Polyjuice to impersonate his lover? He was about to get up and demand at wand-point that whoever he was damn well stopped and told him where his real lover was, when Sirius walked the short distance between them, and kneeled in front of him.
Sirius took a deep breath and pulled out a black velvet box, and opened it so that Harry could see the set of engagement and wedding bands, and the ritual binding cords. Shaking slightly he asked, "Harry, these past six months have been wonderful, and I've fallen more in love with you every second of the way. Would you do me the honor of becoming my bonded husband?"
At this point all the looks, uneasiness, made sense to Harry. He smiled, leaned over the box and kissed Sirius before leaning back slightly and saying, "On one condition."
Sirius smiled and said, "Name it."
Harry grinned and cheekily answered, "You bring a dog house to put outside this house, because once we start having kids, that's where you'll be sleeping most nights."
The adults in the room that understood, burst out laughing, and Sirius would have laughed along if he wasn't busy slipping the engagement bands onto Harry's finger, and his own, and answering, "Of course I will, as long as I get to decorate the inside of it however I want to."
Harry grinned and said, "Whatever you want, Padfoot."
They kissed, and everyone clapped, and started announcing their congratulations to the newly engaged couple. Sirius had one of the house- elves take the wedding bands and binding cords up to Harry's room. Both Harry and Sirius were grinning from ear to ear as they showed off their new engagement rings, sharing kisses once in awhile and already starting to plan their wedding and bonding ceremony.
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Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot line, the rest of it, aside from the unfamiliar, belongs to JK Rowling.
A/N: This is a Harry/Sirius Slash story, mixed in with a Lily & James come back to life (later in the story). It's timed to after Hogwarts & Voldemort's defeat. I'm thrilled at the response this is getting, and hope you all continue to like it. Keep reading!
Responses to Reviews:
Ciri: Thank you!! I'm thrilled everyone loved Harry's speech. I think it rather makes points, and he challenges the Wizarding World as a whole to grow the hell up, in more words, and to look beyond what they've been raised to believe to what they themselves believe and what is actually true. About Hermione's husband - I'm rather surprised someone commented at all! No, I simply wanted to point out that the war effected ALL of Europe, and most of the world. Not just England. How they met will be explained in more detail through the story. Arto, Hermione and Aila Taneli are just one of the many now blended families that resulted from the war. However, no, I don't believe I'm Finish. But as I say that I'm likely spitting on someone's grave in my family. I'm a rather blended American, with strong German & Swedish, though also with Irish, Native American (very little though), and tons of other cultures/countries that I've yet to figure out. So to be honest, I dunno. I have both sides of my family background tied down to when they registered in the US, but beyond that I've had little success finding out just where my family comes from. Not that all of you wanted to know, and not that any of you need to know, but there it is. : )
A.Dee: Only five slash? I have several that are VERY good on my favorites list, that I recommend you reading. (along with anyone else that checks it out). If the male-pregnancy thing bothers you, it did me at first too. But then I figured, hey, it's a magical world, wouldn't they have found a way to survive if there weren't enough females around? Or if someone simply wasn't attracted to females (or males if that was the situation)? Anyhow, I STRONGLY recommend 'Time After Time' by 'The Red Dragons Order'. It's a simply wonderfully written Harry/Severus fic involving the clichéd time- travel, but so well written I simply love it and read it over & over & over again. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever told that Author that. (Oops. My bad. If you're reading this, well, there you go.) Also, 'Love Bite' by 'Richan', which is a Remus/Harry, Severus/Sirius story. I think this one does the Harry/Remus pairing wonderfully, and good for someone who's warming up to it. Anyway, there are several other slash stories on there, that I recommend whole-heartedly. Another one I insist you try ~ 'Sleeping with the Enemy' by 'Maeglin Yedi', it's a Harry/Lucius fiction, and beautifully written with a Harry/Draco scene in there as well. Oh, that's enough about that though. I'm thrilled you're reading mine though, and that you like it. : )
Everyone else I'm forgetting - thank you for reading my story and I'm glad everyone that's reviewed so far enjoys it hope you all keep reading!
Review please!
(Try to keep negative comments to yourself unless they're constructive criticism please!)
Slight Warning: There is an actual sexual encounter that is detailed that is between two men, nothing overly graphic and nothing that someone couldn't see in an R-rated movie, though I've seen worse in R-rated, but, none the less, you should be warned.
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After the War
Chapter Three: The Set Up
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"Harry! Come ON! This shirt will go brilliantly with those pants. You DO want to look your best for tonight, don't you?"
Harry glared at his so-called friend and said, "Of COURSE I do. Aside from the minor fact that I think I'm in love with my own godfather, this date might actually turn out alright! Whoever this guy is, we have so much in common it's almost freaky."
Draco inwardly cheered, but simply smiled and said, "All the more reason for you to wear THIS green shirt instead of THAT green shirt. That one simply isn't the right shade of green! THIS one matches your eyes -perfectly - AND it's SILK!"
Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Fine! I'll wear the damn silk one! I'd just rather wear the cotton one, it's more comfortable. I only have ten more minutes anyway. And I have to apparate two blocks away from the restaurant. Not to mention I still haven't done my hair!"
Draco simply couldn't take it anymore, he burst out laughing, falling onto the bed in Harry's room, giggling hysterically. Athena chuckled along too, but in a more controlled manor as she was sitting on the bed with Damien and a sleeping Alexandria. Damien didn't quite understand, but giggled along with his parents, who were nearly hyperventilating they were laughing so hard at Harry. Harry glared, but rushed into his walk-in closet to throw on his clothes for the date and ignored the giggling coming from the bedroom.
Two minutes later, Harry stepped out and Draco and Athena immediately stopped laughing as their jaws dropped at their freshly picked out ensemble on Harry. Harry was dressed in tight-leather pants that hugged his hips and muscular legs perfectly, which at 5'10" were rather long. The green silk shirt hugged his chest perfectly too, only hinting at the Greek-God-Like chest under it.
Damien voiced their thoughts for them by grinning and exclaiming, "Uncle Hawwy pwetty!"
Athena, Draco and Harry smiled and laughed with the giggling little boy, though Harry had turned quite a shade of red. Athena rolled her eyes slightly before saying, "You do look wonderful Harry. He'll love you, and the way you look. Should Draco and I bother waiting up for you?"
Harry grinned and replied simply, "Maybe, Maybe not."
Draco smirked and said, "Athena, darling, you know better. We won't hear from either of them for at least a week the way he's dressed. Hell, we'll be lucky if Harry's house elves hear from him before then."
Harry blushed and before he could say anything else, Athena was on her feet pulling him into the bathroom with her to do up his hair. Athena had it fixed and ready for him in a matter of seconds, still unruly as ever but a subtle control to the 'out of control' hair. Draco, Athena, Damien and Alexandria (who had started to wake up a bit) were all impressed, bid their goodbyes and flooed home.
Nothing else left to do, Harry apparated to the alley that connected to the street Roberto's was on, and made his way to the restaurant. Harry was nervous, ungodly nervous. As much as he didn't want to admit it out loud, he was starting to really like the man he'd been writing to, and he wasn't sure he liked it. He knew he was in love with Sirius, if only he had the nerve to actually say it to the man.
The walk to the small Italian restaurant went by too quickly. Harry sighed one last time, and walked into the door of his absolute favorite Muggle restaurant. The hostess, a young woman named Libby, recognized him immediately and called out, "Hello there Mr. Potter! You didn't tell me you were meeting someone here in advance silly! I would have reserved a better table for you!"
Harry smiled and said, "Libby, call me Harry. I'm here enough to drop the formalities."
Libby tutted slightly and said, "Alright then Harry. He's sitting at your usual table waiting for you."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but went towards his 'usual table', nodding at the waitresses and bus boys that he knew on the way. He was nearly there when he caught sight of the person sitting at the table and stopped dead in his tracks. He knew the back of that head the way he knew the back of his hand and would recognize it anywhere.
Swallowing uneasily Harry quickly made his way over to the table and sat down before smiling slightly and saying, "Hello Sirius."
Sirius looked better then usual, his shoulder length hair pulled into a loose tie at the back of his neck. He was wearing a blue button down shirt, with tan slacks, both of which hugged his form in all the right places. One of the things Harry had always loved about Sirius was how strong the man's arms were, and the shirt showed the strength perfectly, pulling slightly at the slight bulge of muscles underneath it.
Sirius smiled back uneasily before saying, "Hello Harry."
Harry shifted uneasily in his seat before asking, "You are him, aren't you?"
Sirius looked down at his plate biting his lip slightly before looking up and nodding in response. Before Harry could say anything else, Sirius said, "If you aren't okay with this I can leave. I don't want to push you into something you don't want."
Harry chuckled slightly and then shook his head before saying, "Sirius, I've been slowly falling in love with you since my fifth year at Hogwarts."
Sirius blushed and then said, "That's about when I started to realize I was falling in love with you as well."
Harry turned slightly pink in the cheeks and then asked, "Well, what are you having for dinner then?"
Sirius smiled and the two turned to talking over what they would have on the menu, both relishing in that they'd finally told one another their true feelings. Neither man was going to play stupid and think that the talking part was done with, both had several issues to bring up that needed to be discussed before their relationship went any further, and then they needed to talk about just how far it was going to go.
Once they'd ordered their food (Harry - his favorite, Lasagna, Sirius - A simple Chicken and Pasta meal), a nice bottle of wine to share (Merlot of course, Sirius's favorite and one of Harry's), they talked about anything not related to 'dating' waiting for their order to come. Their meal came quickly, Harry rather suspected their order had been rushed, but refused to think about anything aside from Sirius.
Harry blushed when Sirius took the incentive to start the first of the intimate touching by reaching across the table to hold Harry's hand in his as they talked after they finished eating. It gradually got less awkward and finally Sirius said, "Harry, I know you've said you're in love with me, and I do love you, but I need to make sure that the age difference, and really the whole situation, doesn't make you uncomfortable."
Harry nodded and squeezed Sirius's hand gently before saying, "It honestly doesn't bother me, the age difference or the situation. I'm in love with you Sirius. But as long as we're talking about this. . . . it doesn't bother you does it?"
Sirius shook his head before answering, "No, it doesn't bother me. I wouldn't have bothered with all those letters if it did. That and I wouldn't be dying to get out of here and back to one of our houses."
Harry snorted and then said rather sarcastically, "Houses? More like Mansion and Manor."
Sirius chuckled and then said, "Alright, I'll agree with you on that one."
Harry smiled and said, "So, your place or mine then?"
Sirius smirked and then said, "I honestly don't give a damn Harry."
Harry grinned and then said, "Fine then. My place. Let's go, Libby will send me the bill anyway."
Sirius raised an eyebrow and asked, "Libby?"
Harry nodded before saying, "Tonight's hostess, she's also the Owner's daughter. For some reason she's almost always here when I am."
Sirius just chuckled and pulled Harry up with him as they left, before turning and throwing some money on the table. Harry went to protest at Sirius paying and was silenced with a single look from Sirius who then said, "I'll be damned if I let you pay for our dinner when we're going back to your house now."
Harry pouted briefly, but Sirius's only response was to shake his head and pull him out of the restaurant past a giggling Libby. Once on the streets, they walked (still holding hands) quickly to the alley Harry had apparated into earlier, only to apparate almost immediately to Harry's home in Godric's Hollow.
Almost immediately there was a slight *pop* before one of Harry's house elves appeared and asked, "Master Harry and Master Sirius wanting anything, Sir?"
Harry smiled and said, "No, Cassie, thank you though. We'll just be up in my room, and do tell anyone who either shows up, calls, floos or owls that I'm busy and will get back to them later. Understand?"
Cassie nodded and disappeared with another pop after saying, "Of course Sir."
Sirius just chuckled and they stared at one another uneasily for a moment before Harry decided to act on their confessed feelings. Harry muttered barely loud enough for Sirius to hear, "Some Gryffindors we are, staring at one another like this."
That of course, was all the warning Sirius had before Harry almost literally pounced on him, kissing him passionately. Sirius responded to the kiss, wrapping his arms around Harry and pulling Harry closer to him. The kiss which had started out full of passion and emotion, quickly turned into a rather heated, full out snog fest in the middle of the entry way to Harry's home.
They broke apart for only a second, and only long enough to catch a breath and for Harry to mutter distractedly, "Must find bedroom quickly."
Somehow, nearly fifteen minutes later they managed to fall into Harry's bed, both without shirts, and both struggling out of their slacks as well. Both men were in heaven, everything they'd wanted for the past several years was finally theirs. Finally they were in one another's arms, showing one another just how much they loved each other.
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Harry woke up the next morning warm and content, snuggling into the warm embrace of his newly found lover. He grinned when he heard Sirius's soft snore and lifted himself off the bed slightly to stare down at the gorgeous man in bed with him. Smiling, he began exploring his lover's body with his lips and tongue, kissing and licking down Sirius's chest slowly.
He grinned when Sirius unknowingly arched into his touch, and spent a short time sucking just below Sirius's navel over the soft wispy black hairs that trailed down to Sirius's now fully hard and erect cock. Sirius still hadn't woken up, but had stopped snoring by the time Harry kissed the tip of his lover's erection. Harry licked down the length of the erection, before sucking his lover's balls into his mouth.
He could tell Sirius would be fully awake any second now, so he slowly let go of Sirius's balls and licked back up the full glorious seven inches of Sirius's hard cock. Grinning widely he took a deep breath before fully relaxing his throat and taking every inch of Sirius into his mouth and sucking, Hard.
Sirius woke up just as Harry had taken Sirius's erection into his mouth. Sirius moaned and arched up into his lover's mouth before gasping, "Harry!"
Harry's eyes connected with Sirius's as he sucked, moving one of his hands to cup Sirius's balls and the other to lightly trace the side of Sirius's leg. Sirius's hands flew to Harry's hair and pushed the back of Harry's head in encouragement. It didn't take long for Sirius to arch up into Harry's mouth and cum with a final hoarse cry of, "Harry!"
Harry swallowed every last drop that came from his lover's cock before sucking gently on the now softening erection. Smiling, he then kissed up Sirius's torso before kissing Sirius gently. Harry pulled away from the kiss after only a moment and said, "Morning, love."
Sirius smiled and then moaned at the erection that was digging into his thigh before pinning the younger man underneath him and answering, "Morning indeed. If that's the way you plan on waking me, I may just insist that we sleep in the same bed every night."
Harry smiled up at the man he was in love with and replied simply, "Works for me."
Harry's smile grew broader when his erection was suddenly ground against by a renewing erection, and Sirius leaned down to kiss him before they repeated the previous evening's actions. They hadn't planned on moving so quickly with one another physically, but who where they to argue? When it's right, it's right.
It was nearly lunchtime by the time the two roused from the bed, and then it was only to take a quick shower, eat lunch, and go back to bed. Shortly before dinner however, there were loud shouts coming from Harry's lower floors that they had to get out of bed to check out. Both merely put on boxers and grabbed their wands before heading towards the main stairwell that lead to the entryway.
They didn't need to go any further; they could already hear the loud and angry voices. They smiled at one another before moving into one another's arms to listen to the arguments for a while. They had to stifle their laughter a few times, which they did by burying their heads in one another's chests or in the crooks of the other's neck, letting their hands run up and down one another's backs comfortingly.
"LISTEN YOU BLOODY HOUSE-ELF! I DON'T CARE WHAT HARRY TOLD YOU, I'M GOING UP TO SEE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"
"NO YOU IS NOT MASTER DRACO! MASTER HARRY NO WANT INTERRUPTIONS! MASTER HARRY SAYS NO OWLS, NO GUESTS!"
A sane, somewhat quieter voice finally said, "Gemma, right? That's your name?"
A slight sniffle and then a response, "Yes Mistress Athena."
"Is Harry alone up there?"
Then there was a rather sly, "No Mistress Athena."
Draco's sudden burst of giggles could've been heard throughout the entire house, and rather then letting them further interrogate his house-elf, Harry and Sirius decided to go downstairs and answer for themselves. Once they'd started to walk down the stairs, Harry called out, "Gemma? Who is that yelling down there? I thought I told you all not to allow anyone into the house."
His house-elves, Gemma, Cassie, Dobby, Tally, Hattie, Canella, Bernie, Daisy and Lynx all appeared at the bottom of the stairwell, stating their apologies for disobeying their Master. Draco and Athena appeared behind them, carrying two rather giggly children. Harry smiled as Sirius's hand slipped into his before raising an eyebrow and saying, "I see. It's all right, all of you. Someone make a note that dinner will include the Malfoys, and Sirius tonight, and that we'll start communicating with the rest of the world now."
There were several, "Yes Master Harry"s, before a series of *pop* sounds happened and the house-elves disappeared to prepare for dinner, and to ensure that the house was properly cared for. Smiling, Harry turned towards the Malfoy family and then said, "Hello, Draco, Athena, Damien and Alexandria."
Athena smiled as two very loud children answered, "Uncle Hawwy!"
Draco smirked and then said, "Guess things worked out then?"
Harry nodded and blushed slightly as Sirius's arm slipped around his waist and pulled him closer to the older Wizard. Sirius smiled and said, "Why don't you all wait for us in the sitting room? We'll be down in a bit once we're, uh, properly dressed."
Athena and Draco giggled but nodded and carried their children into said sitting room as Sirius and Harry turned and headed back up the stairs. They quickly made their way back into Harry's room, where they threw on clean clothes (Sirius merely borrowed some of Harry's), and headed back down quickly.
Both men smiled as they entered the sitting room and then sat and talked with Draco and Athena in-between playing with Damien and Alexandria. Draco teased both Harry and Sirius mercilessly, who responded in kind the way any Potter and Black would, with pranks. By the end of the evening Draco had been hexed and charmed so much that a full-out war broke out between the three, leaving Athena to be the adult in the house and take care of Damien and Alexandria.
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"AND HARRY POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH, BRINGING PUDDLEMORE UNITED INTO THE NEXT WORLD CUP!"
Harry was grinning as he and his team landed, and they all jumped, cheered and hugged one another. They'd worked long and hard for this, and Harry had all of his family sitting in the box reserved for family of the Puddlemore United's team-mates. He barely listened to any of the talking around him, the voices from the stands that were both cheering and disappointed that the Wasps weren't going to the Cup, he wanted to see his lover and celebrate with him in private.
He and Oliver pushed their way through the crowd to their respective partners, and he nearly cheered when he saw Sirius's grinning face waiting for him in the sea of family members. His own family knew better then to get in his way, but the other's didn't as he and Sirius had yet to make their still growing six-month relationship public. However that fact seemed to slip from his mind as he finally stood in front of Sirius.
Without a thought to anything or anyone around him, Harry jumped straight into Sirius's arms and planted a furious and passionate kiss on his lips. There were several wolf-whistles from the rest of his family that waited to congratulate him behind them, and several gasps as the rest of the public got their first glance of Harry and Sirius's relationship. Sirius and Harry, however, ignored the crowd completely, even when the cameras started flashing as the press finally realized what was going on.
After several minutes they pulled away, completely breathless from the kiss, grinning from ear to ear at one another. Sirius's grin seemed to get bigger as he said, "Wonderful catch there, Griff."
Harry responded with a kiss before saying, "Thank you Padfoot."
Harry didn't fully separate from Sirius, but accepted the rest of his family's warm hugs and congratulations while holding Sirius's hand, not caring anymore who saw what. Harry made his way through the various members of the Weasley family before he talked briefly with Draco and Athena, all of which he and Sirius invited over to Harry's home the following day for a 'little' get-together.
Then they said hello to Remus and Severus, who were sitting with five, nearly six-month-old, Tatiana Lupin-Snape. Who was, despite Sirius's teasing, an absolutely adorable little girl. She had, luckily, been born on a day that did not fall on the full moon, and was saved from the curse of being a werewolf. The three only stayed to congratulate Harry, and agree to stop by the next day.
Eventually it came to the point where Harry needed to go back with Oliver and the rest of the team to change before heading back to either his house or Sirius's, as they tended to switch between the two. Harry smiled at Sirius, kissed him and asked, "Your place or mine?"
Sirius looked at the swarming press and said, "Yours, it has better wards."
Harry chuckled slightly, which Sirius stopped with a warm and passionate kiss between the two. Harry smiled into the kiss, and wrapped his arms around Sirius, drawing the older Wizard closer to him. They only kissed for a moment before Harry pulled away and left with Oliver for the changing rooms.
Sirius had roughly thirty seconds to watch before he was hounded by the press. Sirius blinked and smiled as they were taking pictures before apparating to Godric's Hollow, and entering Harry's home. Of course, he went straight to the bedroom where he would wait only a short time for Harry, who was always rather enthusiastic after a good game of Quidditch - especially when Puddlemore United won.
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The next day all of Sirius and Harry's friends were gathered at Harry's home in Godric's Hollow, all enjoying the food, entertainment and company. Harry smiled and greeted everyone as they came, while Sirius was busy talking with Remus and Severus, all three shifting their attention between their conversations and little Tatiana.
Draco, Athena, Damien and Alexandra were sitting with Hermione, Arto and Aila, and both families were happily conversing while Damien and Alexandra attempted to play with Aila. Ron, Annette, Chester and Aubrie were talking/playing with Neville, Dean and Frank.
Harry smiled as Fred, Katie, Andrew, Daniel, George, Oliver and Julia showed up together and said, "Hello everyone. Just go on into the other room, we're still waiting on Lavender, Bill, Charlie and their families to show up. Fleur might not come with though, Bill said she was having a rough week."
Rough week was an understatement, and Katie and Oliver flinched at the term. Fleur's latest pregnancy was going about as well as Oliver's had with Julia. It was common place for the entire family to get fire-called or receive an owl to let them know that Fleur was in the Hospital yet again. She was having twins, and they were reacting badly between their magic and Fleur's magic, causing problems with the pregnancy.
Katie just smiled and took Andrew and Daniel into the next room, where she joined the Weasleys and Longbottom-Thomas's, who greeted her and the boys affectionately. George and Oliver followed, but took Julia over by the Malfoy and Taneli families to say their hellos to them first.
Fred grinned at Harry and asked, "So, when are you and Sirius going to tie the knot and have a kid?"
Harry blushed and said, "We've talked about it. We both want to, but not just yet. I've been reading up on the potions for the male-pregnancy though. Just to be sure we know what we're doing, and before you ask, Severus has already agreed to brew the potion for us when we're ready for it."
Fred smiled and was about to say more when Lavender and Amanda appeared, both looking excited to be here. Amanda smiled and said, "Hi Uncle Harry!"
Harry smiled back and pulled her into a hug before he kissed her forehead and said, "Hello Mandy!"
Amanda wiggled out of his arms, giggling, and ran into the other room to say hello to Julia. The two girls got along wonderfully, making both of them easier to control when they had something to distract them. Lavender smiled and hugged Harry before saying, "I'd stay and chat, but I have to talk to Hermione about the jerk-off she set me up with last night."
Harry smiled back and said, "Now, now, Lav. Some of her set ups work brilliantly."
Lavender shook her head, laughing, and wondered into the other room to give Hermione a good verbal lashing about her awful date the night before. Fred and Harry were alone barely a second before Bill, Fleur, Gabrielle, Thomas, Timothy and Savannah appeared. Harry was about to say 'Hello' when Gabrielle, Thomas and Timothy ran into the other room towards their cousins and friends to play with them.
Savannah was squirming in Bill's arms, who promptly put her down and watched as she waddled as fast as she could into the other room after her older brothers and sister. Fleur shook her head at her children and said, "Hello 'arry! Ho' wonderful to see you! Where is that wonderful sister-in- law of mine, Annette?"
Harry smiled and said, "She's in there with everyone else, why do you ask?"
Fleur grinned and said, "Now wouldn't you like to know? I don't think so 'arry."
She walked into the other room, and all three men grimaced slightly when she yelled, "THOMAS WILLIAM WEASLEY PUT YOUR SISTER DOWN THIS INSTANT!"
Bill shook his head and said, "Hello Fred, Harry, I have to go uh, control the situation."
Harry and Fred snickered as Bill disappeared, both moving to follow when the last of the group, Charlie, Theodore, Miriam and Adrianne arrived. Harry smiled at the little girls who saw him and Fred standing there and immediately Miriam chimed, "Uncle Fred! Uncle Harry!"
Both grinned and said, "Hello Miriam, Adrianne."
Charlie and Theodore smiled, said their hellos, and the group made their way into the room with all the other guests, which was starting become over- filled with red-heads. Harry walked over and sat down next to Draco and Athena, who passed him a squirming Alexandra and left him to take care of her.
Harry smiled down at his goddaughter, who was giggling and pulling at his hair when Annette and Ron stood up and sent sparks up in the air for attention. Both were smiling broadly as Ron said, "Everyone, we have an announcement to make! Annette and I are having another baby!"
Harry nearly dropped Alexandra, Ron couldn't be serious, Chester was two, almost three yes, but Aubrie had only just turned one! And Harry knew that they'd only just started to toilet train Chester. Draco was blinking and looking between Annette and his wife at an alarming rate and then exclaimed, "That's what you two were talking about the other night!"
Athena flushed and said, "Yes, well, Annette and I needed someone to talk to other than our bull-headed husbands before we told them the good news didn't we?"
Harry looked at Athena and Draco and asked, "Are you two having a baby as well?"
Athena nodded and smiled before saying, "We're both due in the same month too, well, I'm due a week before Annette is."
Harry shook his head and said, "That's it, everyone in this room is behaving like a pack of rabbits."
George and Oliver chimed, "Hey! We only have one!"
The group chuckled and then started to file into Harry's formal dining room, as Dobby had announced that dinner was ready. After getting all the numerous children settled into their chars and everyone else in their chairs, they all started to eat the feast the house-elves had prepared. It was half way through dinner when Harry started to notice all the side-way glances and encouraging looks Sirius was getting.
He fully ignored it, until he noticed Sirius looked to be steeling himself for something. He looked curiously at the older Wizard, who smiled and stood, sending off sparks to get attention from everyone. It looked to Harry like he hadn't needed to, they were all on edge about something, and Harry didn't like that he had no idea what was going on.
Just as Harry was about to demand some answers, Sirius smiled nervously and then said, "Uh, well I suppose I should say something breathtaking right about now, but I can't seem to think of much to say other than a certain question that's been in the back of my mind for the past six months."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that, Sirius had a question unanswered for more than two minutes? Who was this person using Polyjuice to impersonate his lover? He was about to get up and demand at wand-point that whoever he was damn well stopped and told him where his real lover was, when Sirius walked the short distance between them, and kneeled in front of him.
Sirius took a deep breath and pulled out a black velvet box, and opened it so that Harry could see the set of engagement and wedding bands, and the ritual binding cords. Shaking slightly he asked, "Harry, these past six months have been wonderful, and I've fallen more in love with you every second of the way. Would you do me the honor of becoming my bonded husband?"
At this point all the looks, uneasiness, made sense to Harry. He smiled, leaned over the box and kissed Sirius before leaning back slightly and saying, "On one condition."
Sirius smiled and said, "Name it."
Harry grinned and cheekily answered, "You bring a dog house to put outside this house, because once we start having kids, that's where you'll be sleeping most nights."
The adults in the room that understood, burst out laughing, and Sirius would have laughed along if he wasn't busy slipping the engagement bands onto Harry's finger, and his own, and answering, "Of course I will, as long as I get to decorate the inside of it however I want to."
Harry grinned and said, "Whatever you want, Padfoot."
They kissed, and everyone clapped, and started announcing their congratulations to the newly engaged couple. Sirius had one of the house- elves take the wedding bands and binding cords up to Harry's room. Both Harry and Sirius were grinning from ear to ear as they showed off their new engagement rings, sharing kisses once in awhile and already starting to plan their wedding and bonding ceremony.
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