Chapter 16: Decisions

"Do you think she looks like me or you?" Draco asked. He was hovering over Persephone who was lying on the play mat in the front room. Harry sat on the couch, looking over Sebastian who stretched over the other two seats.

"She looks exactly like you," Harry said playfully, rolling his eyes, "She has since she was born. Her hair reminds me of you too, really dark black, like yours is really light blonde."

"Yes," Draco agreed, "She'll be a heartbreaker, just like her father, won't you?" He kissed her lightly on the cheek, and she turned her gaze to him quickly, blinked and gurgled.

"I take it you mean you then?" Harry teased, looking fondly at his son.

"Of course," Draco said, slightly arrogantly, raising an eyebrow and teased, "You didn't think I meant you did you?"

Harry laughed, "Not for a second." He shook his head at the man, in slight disbelief.

"Harry, you know hearts were broken all over Hogwarts when I came out as gay," Draco said, sighing dramatically, and grinning.

"Draco, you never came out," Harry reminded him gently.

His face fell for a minute, then brightened, "Well, we all know they would have, if I had chosen to bestow this information on their lowly selves."

Harry looked at him for a minute, then fell about laughing, "Christ, you really are too much sometimes Draco."

"Thank you," he said, smiling saucily at Harry, then turned his attention to his son next to Harry, "Hey mate, have you just woken up? Is Daddy Harry ignoring you? Tut tut, we'll punish him later, " he ignored Harry's snort of laughter, "Do you want to lie next to Sephy? Yeah, OK." Draco picked him up and raised him high, causing him to smile, "He smiled, Harry!"

"Yeah," Harry grinned, sliding off the couch next to Draco, "Well, they're three months on Saturday, it's about time!" Draco laid the baby on the floor, and he and Harry gazed at them for a moment.

"You know," Harry said thoughtfully, "I think that it would have been nice to call Bast, Adam." Draco looked at him incredulously as he carried on, "Maybe Evelyn for Sephy."

"Evelyn and Adam … Adam and Eve…" Draco laughed helplessly as he caught on, and said to Harry, who was barely containing his mirth, "Oh, Harry, how long did it take you to think of that? And how long have you been waiting to say it?"

Harry laughed again, "About 20 minutes!"

Draco chuckled, and shook his head, "No. If Sephy had been a boy, and I was here, it would have been nice to call her Timothy. I like that name. I mean, Sebastian's great too, but I do like that name."

"Yeah," Harry said rhetorically, "Maybe. What about if 'Bast was a girl?"

"I'm not sure," Draco said thoughtfully, and looked at Harry, "What about you?"

"I got to choose my name, didn't I?" Harry said rolling his eyes, glancing at Persephone, "What do you like?"

"Em… maybe Rebekah, or Annaliese…" Draco said, looking into the distance.

"Annaliese?" Harry said thoughtfully, sounding it out, "I like it. Where have you heard that name?" He asked curiously.

"It was my mother's middle name," he said quietly, "I always did like it."

"Oh," Harry said eloquently.

No one quite knew what happened to Narcissia Malfoy during the war. As far as Harry knew her death had never been reported, but it had been speculated greatly. There had been many rumours, none of which Harry had believed, that she had taken her own life, that she'd been poisoned, that Lucius had killed her. Harry didn't want to believe any of these things, but knew something had happened to her. Draco had never told him whether he had found out what had happened to his mother while he was at Malfoy Manor. Nor had he mentioned her at all since he'd been back. Harry really had no idea about the kind of relationship they'd shared, or if there even was one. He'd heard some terrible things about the childhoods of the "Junior Death Eaters". He didn't actually think that the things he'd heard were true, but there was some truth to every rumour. He'd known if Draco wanted to talk about it, he'd manage to steer the conversation around to that. Maybe he was finally going to talk about it.

"Anyway," Draco carried on brightly, "Maybe I can choose the next one?"

Maybe not today. Wait… "The next one?" Harry spluttered.

Draco nodded, a bit unsure, "I want more. I want more than two. I would like to be here the entire pregnancy and everything…"

"I don't know, Draco…" Harry said hesitantly.

"Why not?" Draco asked, slightly desperately.

"I never thought about having any more," he said honestly, "I mean… it was really hard last time… obviously… but…"

"It'd be different now, though," Draco said eagerly.

"Yeah… I suppose it would," Harry agreed, running his hand through his hair, and looking at the twins, drawing his gaze anxiously away from Draco, "It would, I know that."

Draco pressed on. "I don't mean having another baby right now, of course not, we couldn't handle it, but maybe in a few years, when they're older."

Harry looked at him, and took in the anxious, sincere look on his lovers face, "There's no way we could handle three children under five," Harry said, trying to lighten the mood.

Draco laughed a little bit, "No. But… think about it, yeah? Maybe I could even…"

Harry smiled widely, "Really? You want to carry it? There is that potion for male pregnancy that Snape mentioned a while ago. I think it would work. We could just… stop taking the Contraception Potion for a while, I mean we couldn't…" he mimed a switching motion, "But… yeah. Maybe. When they're older. We can really think about it."

Draco smiled sincerely, and leant forwards and kissed Harry gently, "And, you know, I'm not only suggesting it so you'd be my servant for 9 months."

Harry laughed, "No? Could have fooled me."

Draco mocked a hurt expression then let it drop, "OK, it is a bonus… but I would like to know what you went through and shit."

Harry snorted, but nodded, believing him. Neither of them spoke for a minute, glancing at each other. Harry started laughing awkwardly, and Draco scratched the back of his head, before laughing too.

"This is silly," Harry said, then scowled as Draco began to laugh at him, "What?"

"You… silly…" he burst out laughing again.

Harry smiled, but scowled, his mouth twitching. "Can't swear in front of them, they'll pick up bad habits."

Draco calmed down and said, "Harry, they're three months old, I hardly think they even know who we are, never mind what we're saying."

Harry looked at them, "Of course they do. They can tell the difference between us, who's speaking, where our voices have come from. They can see us and hear us… and everything."

"Yeah?" Draco asked dubiously, "Are you sure they're not just reacting to the light?"

"Yes," Harry said stubbornly, "They're smarter than you think… don't know how, with you as their father."

Draco looked shocked, "Harry!"

Harry grinned, and Draco rolled his eyes at him, "That was mean."

"But, I don't see you denying it," Harry reasoned, wiping away a spot of… something from Sebastian's cheek.

"Of course I'm denying it!" Draco said, outraged.

"Denial," Harry sighed, "So sad!"

"Oh don't be such a fuckwit Harry," Draco said.

Harry opened his mouth, closed it and opened it again, "Don't swear in front of the children bitch."

Draco looked pointedly at Harry. Harry looked pointedly back. Their front door opened, and closed, drawing their attention to the door. Draco stood up, holding his hand out and helping Harry up.

"This isn't over Harry," he said sternly.

Harry faked fear, "Oooh, I'm scared. And count on finishing this later. I still need to punish you for earlier…"

Draco suddenly remembered, "Hey, I'm punishing you."

"We'll see about that."

--88—

Sirius walked through to the front room, picking up Sebastian as he did so, "Hiya mate, all right? You've grown since that last time I saw you…."

Draco raised his eyebrow, "And the last time you saw them was… when?"

"Two days ago," Harry filled in, rolling his eyes. He sat down next to Sirius, picking up the pieces of parchment that Sirius had placed there before he did so, "What's this?" He asked, waving them.

"One's a newspaper article about the arrest and trial of Avery. I don't know what the other one is. A letter that arrived for you at ours. Came with a Hogwarts owl." Sirius told him.

Harry nodded, "Could be Ginny." He opened the sealed envelope and began to read.

I Harry,

I don't know whether this will get to you. I assumed you were still in contact with Sirius, so I sent it there. I addressed a letter to you before, but the owl come back with it, soaking wet and I couldn't read it, so I sent another, with a charm so if it's returned again I'll find someone else to send it to.

But if this does get to you:

How are you? I'm fine. It's only three months until exams begin, so we're all really busy. It's nice to take a break, go to Hogsmeade for a Butterbeer (well that's what they think we're drinking), write a letter or play a game of chess (I officially stink). I think I'll do quite well. I'll at least pass them all I think. I'm taking Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Potions and Muggle Studies. Herbology and Potions are still my favourites, even though I'm (technically) better at Transfiguration.

How is Malfoy? Draco… yeah, you know who I mean. I still can't believe it. I'm happy for you though, of course I am. As long as you're happy. I'm sure your judgement of him is a lot better than mine could ever hope to be. Like I said, as long as you're happy! I'm with Benjamin Chadwick, a Ravenclaw 7th Year. He's lovely, we've been together for three months now.

I hope I'll see you again soon, but at least write to me!!

Love Ginny xx /I

Harry smiled at the letter, and Draco smiled at the fact that Harry was so happy to hear from the wizarding world. He was never going to give up hope that one day Harry would feel comfortable enough to return. He liked being in the Muggle world, it was… fine, to say the least. But his home wasn't there, not really. Anywhere with Harry was home; but somewhere with magic would be even more homely.

"Harry?" Sirius asked.

He held up the letter and said, "It's from Ginny. We saw her when we went to Hogwarts, and she said she'd write. You don't mind her writing to your address do you?" Harry asked, knowing he wouldn't.

Sirius shook his head, "No of course not."

Harry nodded, "Thanks."

"No problem," Sirius said, "Have you read the article?"

Harry shook his head.

"Are you going to?"

Harry nodded, and began to read it. He sighed and tutted as he read through it, sighing deeply and looking troubled as he finished reading, turning it over to check it, then passing it to Draco, who quickly read it, and sat stony faced.

Harry looked at Sirius as Draco placed it down. "How can they write that shit?" Harry asked, disgusted.

"They didn't write about anything he confessed, they're ignoring it all, the fucking…"

"Language!" Harry hissed.

Draco rolled his eyes and continued, "They only charged him for buying bloody Magic Mushrooms!! They gave him Veritaserum, right?"

Sirius nodded, "Yes. Every trail of a suspected Death Eater, anyone with a Dark Mark automatically is disallowed the right to refuse Veritaserum. Dumbledore told me, well, he mentioned it to Remus, and then when this came out, he told me." Sirius now knew quite a lot about the Wizarding Laws, having had many of them falsely used against him.

Harry nodded, and said, "Right, but they're doing it again. Dumbledore would have questioned him, right? He would have made Avery confess something about the plans. And it would have leaked, there might have even been a reporter there. Why isn't it in the bloody Prophet."

"They don't want to cause a scandal," Sirius sighed, and Draco nodded, "They did it before when Voldemort came back. They're scared, they want some peace."

Harry stood up furiously, "Ignoring it won't make it go away though. If it's faced now, it can be gone before anyone is hurt, or dies! They could send in Aurors, or old Order members. There are no more than 50 of them, are there?" He directed his question to Draco.

The blonde studied his shoes intently, and shook his head, "I only saw about 10 different people, but I heard some of them talking – they didn't stop in front of me… I was supposed to die, and even they don't know how many people are there, for security. They all know Lucius is their 'leader', and I think I recognised my aunt Bellatrix, and her husband, but other than that, I couldn't guess. With the list of who died I could. They estimate there being about 35 – 45 people there."

Sirius nodded, "Makes sense really, if there was a traitor, or some one got caught like Avery they couldn't say who was there. I should think your father's name was mentioned though," he said, sounding sorry.

Draco sighed, "I should think so." After that, he didn't quite know what else to say.

Harry shook his head, and sat down, putting his hand on Draco's thigh, "I don't know what to do." He told then all simply.

'Yes, I do,' he thought, 'I should go back, tell people what's happening. The daft buggers will believe me now Voldemort is gone by my hand… or wand, whatever. I mean, there are reasons I don't have to. But I feel obligated, it was home for so long. I planned on living there 'til… forever, when I first got there, I never expected to have to leave. Fuck. I do, I want to go. And… maybe I could keep this house, let it or something. Maybe Sirius would let us stay with him for a few weeks, to see if we could… OK, I could cope. Uhhh… I'll talk to Draco. He'll tell me whether I'm being daft or not. The man doesn't mince his words.'

"OK?" Draco asked, noticing Harry's pensive expression, and the slight frown on his face.

"Just thinking," Harry answered honestly.

"Want to talk about it?" Draco asked him quietly.

Harry shook his head, then stopped, "Maybe later, yeah?"

"Of course," Draco answered and rubbed Harry's hand soothingly.

The tension in the room was heavy, and Draco smirked, "So… I was thinking…"

"You think?" Harry asked sarcastically, "Does it hurt?"

"Probably not as much as it did for you to think up that joke, but, anyway, are all Gryffindors gay?" Draco asked, half joking, half not.

Harry opened his mouth in outrage, and Sirius raised his eyes from the babies, wide in shock.

"What?" Sirius spluttered.

Draco explained, "Look at what I know. I am on sexuality notification of five Gryffindors, right. All of them are gay, or bi," he rolled his eyes at Harry, "Is… I… Do they make you sign a pact in your first year signing that when you're older you will fall in love with another man? Or is it all that red and gold? Feminine colours will do that when you're surrounded by them so much. Look at Hufflepuffs and yellow."

"What about you? How do you explain that?" Sirius asked, choked with laughter. Harry couldn't breathe.

"I'm unique," he said in 'isn't it obvious' voice, "But how do you explain you lot?"

"Coincidence?" Harry shrugged. Sirius nodded.

Draco raised an eyebrow, "No. I don't think so. I don't know what it is," he said thoughtfully, "If I figure it out, I'll make sure you're the first I tell.

Harry blinked, "Thanks?"

Draco nodded, "That's OK."

--88—

"So what was it you wanted to talk about before?" Draco asked as he sat down to the dinner table. He leant over to the sideboard and placed the baby walkie-talkie in the middle of the table.

Harry swallowed his mouthful of chicken curry and began swirling the sauce around, "I've been thinking…." He didn't carry on.

"Right… and what was it about?" Draco asked carefully.

"Living here. Living in… maybe with Sirius for a while." Harry said.

Draco didn't understand and said quietly, "You want to leave here? Me?"

"No!" Harry said outraged, "You come too. See… see what it was like."

"But…" Draco said.

Harry interrupted him, "I know what I said, what I've said. But, what if I'm wrong. We could be happier there. I love living here, but… doesn't if feel like something's missing?"

"There is Harry, it's part of you, you can't ignore it. At least not well, and not happily." Draco said.

"Exactly. Exactly. I don't like it. I miss it... I mean, going to Hogwarts wasn't good, but maybe that was the anticipation of it. It wasn't too bad once I got used to it, and I was concentrating on feeling bad because I didn't want to be there, and that can't have helped, can it?" He said all this very quickly and Draco had trouble catching it all.

"So you want to go back?" Draco asked, trying not to get too excited about the idea.

"Maybe. I mean, it won't be good to start with, with the twins, and people will find out... but, I think we'd be happier there, don't you?" Harry asked.

"You want to tell people about the twins?" Draco asked, hoping Harry wasn't getting his hopes up for nothing, "Tell them they're mine?"

"Well, they can't be your second cousins can they? People know your family. And I don't want to lie, and it can't be easy for you." Harry said, looking at Draco scrutinisingly.

"Well it's not, but at the moment there aren't many people we lie to is there?" Draco admitted.

"No," Harry said, expelling a long breath of air, "I mean, it's an idea, and it feels wrong living here. It might feel right at Sirius's. We shouldn't buy anywhere until we're sure we want to stay. We can keep the house, rent it or something."

"You mean it?" Draco asked, grinning.

"Of course!" Harry said, "I wouldn't have mentioned it unless I was sure, I know how much it means to you."

"You're not only doing this for me, are you Harry?" Draco asked, "If it is, don't, we can live here."

"It's not for you. Well, not only you. Me, and the twins. They need to be around magic, so they're not gormless like I was when I started Hogwarts." Harry said.

"Harry…"

"I know, I know, I'm gormless now, shh. It's be good for them. And us." Harry said nervously.

"OK."

"OK?"

"OK. We'll talk to Sirius, then… see what happens. Too much is happening in there, with us involved for us not to be there, isn't it." Draco said, saying one of the main, unspoken reasons of why Harry felt they should move.

Harry nodded sadly, "Yeah. There is."

"How shit."

A/N - I'm not sure about it. Tell me if you like it, thanks. Review responces (actual responces) at Thank you.