Thanks to everyone that's reviewed! It makes me all warm and fuzzy on the inside. I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to get out, but between work and computer problems, it wasn't easy.
The next chapter may take a little longer, as I've been working two jobs this last week, and will be for a couple more until I get settled into my new job and quit the old one. The same goes with A Green Flamed Torch. I will try my best to get them written quickly, but it depends on how many hours of rest I get on the weekends.
And as for questions:
kathy stgqvk - Draco may change or he may not. He doesn't even want to be in the story at the moment, and we won't be seeing a whole lot of him for the moment. He isn't as arrogant as he would be though.
SStar Luna - yes, Hermione has read up on male pregnancies (with the one book available in the library - it's not a hot topic at all), but she doesn't quite understand the mechanics of such a thing.
As for the godfathers, Sirius is Helena's godfather, and Remus is Hugh's godfather. When they were deciding on a godparent for Helena, James and Severus didn't want to replace Lily as Harry's godmother, so he doesn't have a living godparent. But he still gets lots of attention from ole Padfoot and Moony anyway. ^_^
Chapter 5
James raced to the hospital wing, Severus at his side. The feeling that something was wrong had been bothering him all day, culminating in a frantic floo call from his husband that Harry had been injured.
"How did it happen?" he asked as they rounded another corner in their quest for the hospital wing, breathing heavily because of the speed they were traveling at.
Severus answered, slightly out of breath himself, "Our son decided that, since he could not find the headmaster, he could tackle whoever was attempting to take the special project the other teachers and I have been working on."
James threw a sideways glance at his husband as they finally came to the hospital wing. "He didn't come to you?"
Severus shook his head. "I was down in the dungeons all afternoon with the Slytherins. The door was shut, and the students know not to disturb me when it is. I told Harry to disregard it if it was important, but he probably was persuaded to think differently by his friend Weasley."
The two finally made their way over to Harry's bed and looked at the pale boy who lay sleeping in it. There was a healing gash along his left cheek, and his right hand was wrapped up in layers of gauze. James brushed back the damp hair on his son's forehead, revealing a swollen scar.
"Why is his scar like this?" James asked as he held Harry's left hand in both of his.
Severus laid a hand on his husband's shoulder. "Albus said it was because it was who we suspected it to be."
James turned shocked hazel eyes to Severus, clutching Harry's hand. "What? Why didn't Harry...?"
Severus quirked an eyebrow at James, even though his eyes never left the still figure of his son. "You know how Harry is. As much as I regret his refusal to interrupt me, I am glad that he didn't decide to go along. Even if he was being the idiotic Gryffindor he is."
"You're not angry?" James had to ask, surprised at his husband's seeming complacency about the entire situation.
"I am extremely angry," Severus replied in soft, velvet, even tone. "However, I cannot do much about it at the moment." He moved his hand to wrap his arm around James' waist. "When Harry is well enough to do so, he will be grounded. Poppy said she would release Harry in time for the feast two days from now. After he recovers, once we get home for the summer, Harry will be helping me make potions for the infirmary."
James nodded. It seemed as if Severus had been able to come up with a suitable punishment while James had been arranging for their younger children to stay with Remus. He leaned into Severus' side, glad that the school year was almost over and Harry couldn't get into any more trouble until September.
******
"Urgh, Patri! How can you stand this stuff!?" Harry exclaimed as he tried to skin the salamanders his father had set before him. "These really stink!"
Helena giggled at this from the doorway. He turned and glared at her and Hugh, who both thought it funny that he was grounded a day after arriving home from school.
Severus stepped closer. "Helena. Hugh." He looked at his younger children sternly. "I believe that you were to be helping in the garden, were you not?"
Hugh didn't even begin to look guilty as Helena answered, "Dad sent us in to tell you he needs help with the man-eating venus plant."
"He was swearing!" Hugh added.
Severus moved quickly to the door. "Helena, make sure Harry skins the tail, too. I *will* be checking it." He swept out of the room, leaving a sulking Harry sticking his tongue out at his sister.
"I don't want to do this," Harry whined as the knife slide across the table.
Hugh came over and picked up the knife and tried to poke the salamander skin. "You do the crime, you do the time."
Harry glared at him as Helena came over and sat on Patri's stool.
"Where'd you get *that* awful saying?" Harry asked as he grabbed the knife back.
"Uncle Padfoot sent me a whole bunch of books and comics," Hugh said excitedly. "They're really cool!"
"Are they good?" Harry asked.
Helena shrugged her shoulders. "They're ok. A couple look like Hugh drew them, though."
Hugh moved over to swat at his sister. "They are not! Padfoot said they're artsy."
"They're stick figures, Hugh," Helena said.
Harry burst out laughing, almost jerking his knife through the skin of the salamander he was skinning. "Oh crud!" He hurriedly put the sharp utensil down and looked at Helena. "Stick figures?"
She nodded. "Yep. *I* think Padfoot just grabbed them off the shelves because two were in Japanese."
"Really?" Harry asked, snickering. He turned to Hugh. "Did Dad translate it for you, or did you just try to figure out what's really going on?"
Hugh's face reddened, and Harry and Helena laughed.
"What's so funny?" came their Dad's voice from the doorway.
The three children turned to fin their parents standing in the doorway. Hugh moved first, bouncing over to them. "My comics, Dad!"
Severus raised an eyebrow at the enthusiastic half-shouted exclamation. "And where did you get the comic books?" he asked.
"Uncle Padfoot."
He nodded before coming over to inspect Harry's workmanship. "Acceptable, Harry. However, you have three more to finish for today."
"Cool," Harry breathed. "I don't have to skin any more salamanders?"
Severus *looked* at him before replying, "no. I will have something just as equally horrendous for you to do tomorrow but they are not salamanders."
James and Hugh started laughing, but Helena was already asking what it was that Harry was going to have to do.
Once they all settled down, the others waited while Harry finished his chore. When Severus was satisfied, all five of them moved into the dining room for lunch. As they ate, James and Severus were talking about the plants in the garden while Harry grilled his little brother about all his comic books.
As they finished up, Maddy popped in, agitated. "Master Severus! Master James! Maddy caught a house-elf creeping into Master Harry's room! He took Master Harry's letter from Master Harry's friend!"
Both parents abruptly stood as Harry looked at Maddy, shocked.
"Where is this elf, Maddy?" Severus asked.
"The kitchen, Master Severus," Maddy squeaked.
Severus strode out of the room, the rest of the family following him. They all arrived to find Maddy standing over a cowering house-elf with large, green eyes and the longest, pointiest nose Harry had ever seen.
"Dobby will tell Masters why Dobby here," Maddy scolded the other house-elf.
Dobby tried to band his head against the counter Maddy had him up against. Maddy stopped him, and he looked fearfully at Severus.
"You - you," the elf stuttered. "Yous was with Master Lucius..." The elf's eyes grew even wider as he tried to break out of Maddy's hold.
"Why is a house-elf from the Malfoy household in our kitchen?" Severus asked in the voice that Harry knew there was trouble ahead.
Dobby struggled for a moment before accepting defeat. "Harry Potter must not go back to school!"
"And why *mustn't* he?"
"Because Harry Potter is in danger!" Dobby's eyes darted frantically between Harry and Severus.
"Do you think I am incapable of protecting my son?" Severus demanded, his voice barely above a whisper.
The elf quivered. "Dobby is sorry, but Harry Potter will be in danger at Hogwarts!"
James stepped forward. "Dobby, who wants to hurt Harry?"
"Dobby cannot say!"
"Is it Voldemort?"
Dobby shuddered violently at the name. "It is not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"
"Is it someone close to him, though?" James asked.
The elf nodded. "Yes!"
James and Severus looked at each other before James turned back to Dobby. "Thank you, Dobby, for telling us. We will take it from here."
Dobby quivered slightly and nodded. "Dobby can help?" he asked in an excited voice.
"No, Dobby," James answered. "Bit if you hear anything else, please let us know."
The poor house-elf's shoulders drooped in disappointment. Dobby understand. Dobby will give Harry Potter his letter, because he is a great wizard!" Dobby pulled a letter from under the dirty pillowcase he wore. Harry saw Ron's messy scrawl on the front. 'Probably already complaining about Fred and George.'
Harry took his letter from Dobby, turning it over once. "Thanks, Dobby."
Dobby's eyes widened even further than the first time. "The great Harry Potter should not thank Dobby!"
Harry felt his cheeks grow hot as Helena and Hugh giggled behind him.
"Maddy, please release Dobby," Severus said in a more normal tone of voice.
Dobby bowed to Harry, then to both his parents before disappearing in a small puff of smoke.
All of them were silent for a moment before Hugh asked, "Who's the letter from, Harry?"
The question broke the tension that had been gathering in the kitchen.
Harry broke the wax seal and saw it was from just who he thought it was. "Ron," he answered Hugh, moving towards the door that led to the stairs.
"So, is he nice?" Hugh asked.
"Yes, although you have to watch out for his twin brothers," Helena answered as Harry sidled out the door and raced up to his room to read in peace.
******
"Where to next, Harry?" James asked as the family walked out of Eleyop's Owl Emporium with owl treats for Hedwig. He could still see the look in the owl's eyes when he'd walked into the shop a year ago to get Harry an owl. Hedwig had been the calmest bird in the store, and James had somehow known that she would be good for his oldest son.
"Um, Flourish and Blotts," Harry finally answered. "Hermione's already in the store, probably."
James had to smile at the resignation in his son's voice at the mention of his friend. All summer, Harry had been telling James about his two friends between trying to get out of his chores and ignoring his homework.
"Is that where you're going to meet Ron and his family?" James asked as they slowed down because of the crowd.
Harry nodded. "Yeah. They were going to floo in around two. Ron said that after they're done shopping, they were going to stop at Fortesque's. Can we go, too?"
James sighed as all three children began begging for ice cream when they were done. He looked behind him at Severus, who quirked an eyebrow, meaning it was up to James. He almost sighed again, but he figured all of them would need the sugar before they went back to their rooms at the Leady Cauldron for the night. They were spending the night here in London so that, tomorrow, they would venture into Muggle London for some shopping, as well as visiting a couple different museums. Once they were done with that, they would head to St. Mungo's to pick Neville Longbottom up. Then they would make their way home after visiting for a while with Neville's parents.
James was happy to have Neville over for the rest of the summer, since his grandmother had been invited to Rome to visit friends. Neville looked out for Hugh, who was often left out of whatever Harry and Helena were doing. It also served to help Neville with his confidence, since he was very protective of James and Severus' youngest child.
As they entered the crowded bookstore, James shook off his thoughts. He would need to keep his attention on the crowd, to keep his children safe.
~~
Severus was going to murder Dumbledore the next time he saw him. Then hide the body. Then pack his family up and moved to the Amazon and become lost in the jungle.
He glared at the simpleton Albus had hired for the Defense Against the Dark Arts potions. Who had dared to touch his son and drag him up on his little stage for a photograph. The blond idiot was using Severus' *son* to sell books. Well, he wouldn't be by the time Severus got through with him.
Severus glared at Lockhart, who still had Harry practically glued to his side as another photographic flash went off. Harry's green eyes were huge in his face, the slight fear of what was happening awakening a fierce emotion in Severus' chest. He knew what it was, and he was ready to follow through with it.
He stalked up to the man still clutching Harry and pulled his son back up against himself. Once he had Harry settled comfortably against him, he leaned over and whispered in the idiot's ear, "if you so much as touch my son again, you won't have a smile to win you any more awards. And it won't be by magic, either." Severus pulled back, a small smile pulling at his lips at the expression on Lockhart's face. "I'll be watching you at Hogwarts, Lockhart."
Lockhart gave a shaky, forced smile, then turned back to the crowd, welcoming anyone who wanted autographs.
"Thanks Dad," Harry whispered as Severus pulled him into an empty aisle. "He just grabbed me when I was talking to Ron."
Severus nodded. He'd seen the entire thing, but had been trapped by the screaming women who'd fallen under the idiot's spell. Including Molly Weasley. Whom Severus would be having a talk with about the safety of his son.
"It's okay, Harry," he said gently. "Let's get the rest of your books and find the others."
Harry nodded happily, the incident probably forgotten by now. Severus looked after his son as he ran up the aisle, spotting James at the other end. Sometimes he was so much like his other father it was uncanny.
On the other hand, Severus knew he had his hands full the coming year, keeping an eye on the new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. There was something off about him that had him worried.
Fifteen minutes later, he wasn't as worried about Lockhart as he had been earlier. It had been quite a shock to find an emaciated Lucius Malfoy near the entry of Flourish and Blotts, waiting for his son and wife to come out. Severus had avoided him, but Arthur Weasley and Malfoy had started arguing about the purity of blood - which was ridiculous in Severus' eyes as Lily Evans had been one of the most powerful witches he'd ever met and she had been Muggle-born - and begun a fight.
The shock had come when Malfoy was strong enough to punch Arthur, considering he was less the two months out of Azkaban. And he was sane, which was even more dangerous than the strength he displayed. The strength could be applied by any sort of Dark spells and potions, which Severus knew Narcissa could brew.
Once the excitement was over, Severus and James herded their three children to get ice cream before heading back to their suite at the Leaky Cauldron. This was definitely something he needed to discuss with James once the children had gone to bed.
******
James wearily rubbed his forehead, exhaustion almost overwhelming him. He berated himself, wondering just why he hadn't been firmer with Dobby about not helping keep Harry safe. They had arrived at Kings Cross by floo. All but Harry. James had gone back through to their house to find Harry frantically trying to get through the floo.
Once James had gotten him calm enough to explain, he had yelled at the invisible house-elf, probably on the platform at the train station. Then he told Harry he would go back and get his younger siblings, get Neville on the train so that his grandmother wouldn't make a fuss about this, and they would go to Hogwarts a different way. As much as Harry protested he wanted to ride the train with his friends, James wasn't going to take any more chances that Dobby would somehow stop Harry from getting to school.
Now he was here at Hogwarts, tired from dual-apparating his son to Hogsmeade. They had eaten lunch at the Three Broomsticks before heading up to school, stopping at Honeydukes for some much needed chocolate. As they made their way to the school, they met Hagrid as he was strapping the Thestrals to the carriages. Harry couldn't see them, but James certainly could. The horse-like creatures were ugly and shied away from Hagrid's touch. He knew they roamed around in the Forbidden Forest, having first seen them once they had completed their animagus training and joined Moony that first full moon. He hadn't been able to see them in his human form for the longest time, though, and he would have been happy with that.
"What's this?" Hagrid asked as he saw them approach.
James shook his head. "There was a little trouble at the station, Hagrid. It's fixed now, but by then it was too late to put Harry on the train."
Hagrid chuckled. "Well, Severus and t'others are in their meeting at t'moment. It'll be out soon enough."
James nodded his thanks and levitated Harry's trunk once more. As much as he would have liked to shrink it, student cauldrons did not like to be shrunk. As Severus had been telling him since their own seventh year when James had brought his own cauldron in a like condition to one of their tutoring sessions. James and Harry waved goodbye to the tall man and made their way slowly up to the entrance doors. Hagrid had offered them a carriage, but James had declined, wanting to spend just a little more time with Harry while he could.
James was about to knock on the door when Argus Filch, nemesis of all Marauders everywhere, opened it.
"What'chu doing here, Potter?" the old man snarled. Mrs. Norris lay still in his arms but for a wildly flapping tail.
James let a sneer cross his face. "None of your business, Filch." He moved past the other man. "I know the way to the staff room." He and Harry were halfway across the entrance hall when Filch called to them.
"You're not taking *him* to the staff room, are you?"
James knew he and Sirius should have pulled that last prank on Filch when they had had the chance. He wouldn't have to be dealing with the old man now. He turned and leveled a glare worthy of his husband at the caretaker for the school. Filch was taken aback enough for James to guide Harry through the school towards the staff room. Once he told Severus what had happened, they could get Harry settled and James could rescue his other children from the neighbor down the road.
The door was closed when they arrived, so James transfigured a nearby pedestal for a currently missing suit of armor into a comfortable couch.
"Dad, why doesn't Filch like you?" Harry asked when they had been sitting there a couple of minutes.
James had to laugh as he thought of all the trouble he and his friends had caused the caretaker when they were in school. "You know how Padfoot, Moony and I were the Marauders?" At Harry's nod, he continued, "Well, Filch seemed to have a personal vendetta against us, even though he couldn't prove it was us. He was always looking for ways to get us in trouble, but he was the one who failed."
Harry was silent for a minute. "Dad?"
"Hm?" James turned to look at his son. "What is it, Harry?"
The eleven-year-old shrugged. "I really missed you last year, you know?"
James had to hide his smile. His eldest child was brave, but he rarely ever admitted something like this. Harry was much more independent than the other two and he was also at the stage when any form of affection was taboo to a growing boy. Still, it was sweet of him to finally admit he had missed James, even if it was an hour before he would see his parent until Christmas.
"I know," James finally said. "I missed you, too." He let the smile out. "It wasn't the same without you and your sister fighting over who gets to hang out with me after school."
Harry nodded and shifted slightly so that he was leaning into James. His father took advantage of this and wrapped an arm around his shoulders and hugged him close.
******
"A dueling club?!" Harry bounced excitedly as he waited for Severus to finish locking up his office for the weekend.
Severus looked at his son, wishing that something less sweet than cake had been served with dinner.
"Yes, Harry. Unfortunately, Professor Lockhart is leading it," Severus replied as the two of them made their way to Severus' chambers off the wing that led to the Slytherin dungeons. "I will be helping him, to keep him from leading all of the students into trouble."
"Good," Harry said as they stopped. "Um, Patri?"
Severus looked at his son. "What is it, Harry?"
Harry shuffled his feet for a brief moment. "Nearly-Headless Nick invited me to his deathday party on Halloween and I kinda said I'd go. Is it okay?"
Severus chuckled. He'd heard several of the ghosts complaining about the Gryffindor ghost going over and over what he wanted at his party. He did warn his son, "just eat extra at lunch, and try to take extra so that you can snack before going – and only this once. I doubt you'll find the food at his party very appetizing."
Harry grinned. "Thanks, Patri!" He waited by the door as Severus moved over to the bookshelf, to get the book he had promised Harry could borrow.
"Here you go, Harry. And please, try not to let your friend Granger take it from you. She made read it, but only in your presence. The last book you borrowed, I discovered several pages had been turned down. I doubt Miss Granger appreciates the age of these books."
Harry nodded. "I will, Patri." He paused. "So, did you like your birthday present?"
Severus smiled as he thought of what his children had gotten him, with a little help from James. "Yes, Harry. I very much like the book you gave me for my birthday." Severus turned to look at the clock. "Now, I believe that you have little more than twenty minutes to make it back to your tower before curfew, Harry. I will see you in the morning."
Harry shuffled out the door. "G'night, Patri!"
The door partially slammed shut behind him, making Severus wince as several of his more delicate vials shuddered along the door wall. Severus sat at the desk in his chambers, muttering, "One of these days that boy will have to learn to shut a door like a normal person."
******
It was finally Christmas, and Severus was glad that they were heading home for the holidays. This past term had been very stressful on both Harry and himself. He'd known that the dueling club had been a bad idea, and to top it off, even after he'd worn Lockhart not to pair Harry with Malfoy, the idiot had done so anyway.
And now the entire school thought that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin because he was a parseltongue.
Severus and James had found out early on that Harry could speak with snakes, when they had happened upon him in the garden at the age of five talking to a snake as Helena cried behind him. When he'd seen his parents, the little boy had told him he was yelling at the snake for scaring his sister. It had jumped out from underneath the bushes when they had gone skipping down the path to the big sand pit further into the garden.
When Severus had tracked Harry down after the dueling club, his son had sworn up and down he hadn't even realized he had spoken parseltongue at all. He had just wanted the snake to stay away from a Hufflepuff by the name of Finch-Fletchly.
Of course, this was after the debacle at Halloween, when the entire school had happened upon a petrified Mrs. Norris while Harry and his friends had stood horrified in front of a bloodstained wall. Even then, many of the students believed Harry had had something to do with it, since Filch seemed to carry a grudge against Severus' son for being James' son. It hadn't helped that Harry and his friends hadn't been at the Halloween feast, but had been at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party in the dungeons.
Harry hadn't protested leaving for the holidays, either. Not after what had happened at the first quidditch match of the year. Gryffindor and Slytherin had opened up the season, and Harry had seemed excited to be playing again, even if Severus had had to give Draco Malfoy a spot on the team. Personally, Severus couldn't stand the brat, but Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy had presented the entire Slytherin team with new Nimbus 2002 brooms, and there was no way Severus really could turn down such a generous gift. Sure, the Malfoy brat had some talent, but it was nowhere near Harry's. Plus there was the fact that Malfoy practically radiated hate at Severus' son, and that made him queasy about the whole situation.
Then a rogue bludger had targeted Harry, finally hitting him hard enough to break his arm, and then that stupid idiot Lockhart had gotten to Harry before Severus and spelled the boy's bones gone rather than repairing him.
The only good thing to come out of that incident was the fact that Dumbledore had reprimanded Lockhart at the last staff meeting and told he was never to use any spell on a student. If he had to demonstrate a spell, he would have to use a dummy. Severus had snickered to himself that the only dummy in the school was Lockhart himself, and that was fine with Severus if the idiot cursed himself into a knot.
That night, Severus had been woken by a worried Dumbledore, who had found a young, Gryffindor first year petrified in the same manner as Mrs. Norris. While Severus hadn't really cared one way or the other about the cat, the child, on the other hand, caught his attention. He and Sprout had consulted with Madam Promfry on how long it would take for the mandrakes to grow so that Severus could make the potion the school's nurse was have to administer to the Gryffindor. When they had finished in the infirmary, Severus had gone over to Harry's bed to check on his healing. Instead of finding his son sleeping, he had found the elf from the Malfoy household there, warning his son that he should have stayed home.
Severus had not been amused. It hadn't been until later that he remembered that the Malfoys had come to see their son play his first game, and that the elf would have accompanied them. The Malfoys had demanded a room to be readied for them, since Lucius still held his position on the school board, no matter that he'd been in prison for the last ten years on bribary charges.
Severus was shaken from his thoughts as an entire herd of Gryffindor and Hufflepuffs – who had been shunning his son for the past month – came through on their way to the train station. Most of them quieted down when they caught sight of the Head of Slytherin House, who was scowling at the students who avoided Harry the most, namely his yearmates, other than Weasley and Granger.
As those two headed past, they both said a quiet greeting to them, and Granger had told him that Harry was finishing, and that he had gone up to the Owlry to send a note to Black in time for it to get to Canada for Christmas. Severus had held back his scowl at that. Even though he knew Black hadn't been the main culprit all those years ago, he still didn't like the other man all that much. But he would put up with him because he was James' friend, and the children adored him.
"Patri?" Harry asked as he came up to stand next to Severus in the front hall. "I'm ready to go."
Severus held back a sigh. He knew that Harry was depressed about leaving his friends, who had been prepared to stay behind, but was ready to be with his family, who had sent encouraging letters to Harry.
"Very well, Harry," Severus said, picking up his own bag. "Then we shall head to Hogsmeade, where we will be using Madam Rosemerta's fireplace to floo home."
Harry nodded and gave a little grin. "Let's go home, then."
"Yes," Severus said to himself as Harry pulled ahead of him. "Let us go home."