Harry hopped off the train at King's Cross to find only Alduin waiting for him. "Alexandra stayed at home with Wynn," he explained. "Say goodbye to your friends, I promised I would be back soon."

Harry nodded and turned and waved to everyone present. Sophie was already running away to greet her brothers, and Dean and Seamus waved at him distractedly before they wandered away together. Neville greeted Alduin properly first, and Ron, seeing his example, followed a little belatedly.

"Good evening, boys," Alduin said. "How was your winter term?"

"It was nice, thank you," Neville replied. "Professor Yaxley was certainly much better than Professor Quirrell, even just as a teacher, I mean."

"Well, I should certainly hope so! From what I heard, Quirrell was a disaster." Alduin paused. "Say hello to your families from us, we really do have to be going."

"Of course, and give my regards to Mrs. Travers and your son," Neville said formally.

"I will. Come, Harry, take my arm."

Harry did, and after the usual short moment of feeling squeezed out of breath, he found himself in the receiving room of Travers Manor. "Can I go meet little Wynn straight away?" He asked immediately, no patience for the Christmas decoration around him. He was sure it was amazing, but come on, there was a brand new baby in the house!

"Of course," Alduin said with a smile. "Come with me."

They ascended the stairs to his – and now Alexandra's and Wynn's, Harry supposed – wing of the house, where Harry had never really been before, except that one time right after he arrived. Alduin knocked on a door and then entered a bedroom done in shades of blue, where Alexandra was lying in bed, with a baby sleeping in a crib next to her.

Harry bent over it, and his breath was taken away.

He hadn't seen many babies in his life, and those he had, it had only been from a distance. Wynn was just so very cute! He looked extremely fragile as he lay there, tiny and almost lost among the white of the blankets. His tiny little hands curling above the blanket with their itsy-bitsy fingers were simply inviting Harry to touch them, and once he did, very lightly and carefully, Wynn opened his large blue eyes and looked at him, and looking back, into that innocent and perfect face, Harry promised himself in that moment that he would always take care of Wynn and protect him and do anything he could for him, because, he decided, he simply adored the boy.

Then, Wynn started to cry.

"Oh," Harry said, "I think I woke him."

"It's all right," Alexandra replied, smiling. "It was about time he ate anyway."

"Come, Harry, let's get changed for dinner – it's about time we ate, too!"

They left the room, and his cousin commented: "It was fine this time, but in future, take care not to do anything to wake him. It can be a chore getting him to sleep, and Alexandra is very grateful when he does and she can rest. So am I, for that matter."

"Does he sleep so little, then?" Harry wondered.

"Well, like all babies, he needs to eat during the night. He wakes about every two to three hours and Alexandra has to get up and feed him, so she doesn't get so much sleep and is tired during the day."

"Uh, every three hours? That's pretty terrible," Harry said sympathetically.

"Actually, as far as babies go, that is quite a good record. And don't worry, it is only like this the first several months, then babies learn to sleep longer." Alduin paused at the door to his bedroom. "See you at dinner, then. I will explain more about the proper way to act around Wynn."

Harry left to change, musing about how he hadn't known babies were so complicated.

Still, he hadn't known they could be so amazing either. He thought it was mostly girls who went crazy when they saw a baby, because they like to play with them like with dolls, but this was something else. Wynn didn't look like a doll at all, he was a living and breathing tiny human, and Harry felt like he was his in a way no one else was – he would know Harry from the moment he was born, and he would live in the same house, and Harry would hopefully be free to tell him stories and play with him when eh got older. There was something amazing about that that he couldn't quite name. No, he was not going to let anyone hurt Wynn, ever.

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Alduin was looking through the reports from the Muggle Research Institute, feeling rather morose. Most people, he supposed, would be happy if an institute they funded started to produce results. He, however, was decidedly not.

With Wizengamot and Harry and Wynn and running his own house, he had enough work for four people, and now he was being handed results of a study on Muggle rights in the wizarding world and a proposal for a new law. Apparently, he was expected to annotate it and then help push it through Wizengamot.

The worst part was that it was a good law, too, one that would be beneficial to all if it passed. But it would still be a pain getting it through, a fierce and exhausting battle with Lucius and his allies, and Alduin absolutely did not have time for that. H desperately needed someone else to do at least some of his work, but there was no one competent available.

And now that Harry was at home for the break, he had even less time than usual, since he was overseeing Harry's exam revision every day for a few hours. Sometimes he was tempted to give that up, but he promised himself he would not. Harry's education was important, and he would never give the boy an occasion to feel that he came second after Wynn. It was only too frequent in siblings, Harry with his trust and confidence issues was probably in even more danger than some others, and Alduin wanted nothing else than good camaraderie to exist between his children and his ward.

For Harry, this determination to have classes was irritating, but also provided an opportunity to talk to his cousin alone, something he needed at the moment.

"Alduin..." he said, shuffling his feet a little.

"Yes, Harry? What do you want?"

Harry straightened his back. "Well," he said, "it will be Sophie's birthday on Friday, and I was wondering if maybe I couldn't ask her for a visit? I mean, I know you normally don't really invite Muggle-Borns, but she's my friend and it is her birthday and so I thought..."

Alduin frowned, and Harry wilted. "It was just an idea..." He muttered. He really didn't want to impose on his cousin.

"Harry," Alduin said, "when have I ever given you the idea that it was a problem to ask your Muggle-Born friends to the house?"

"Well," Harry pointed out, a little defensively, "there has never been a Muggle-Born person here, as far as I know."

"You are wrong here, in fact – some members of both my and Alexandra's group of scholarly friends are Muggle-Born – but I realize you don't know that. But what you should have realized is that even if there were no Muggle-Born at the parties and dinners we threw, it was because we simply moved in social circles where they were rarely to be found, not because of any blood prejudice on our part." He paused, seeming to think about how to phrase things. "Yes," he said then, "we would object to a visit from an adult wizard who did not know our social customs – as you know, this is why I was so unhappy about asking the Weasleys, initially – but one can hardly ask that of children, and how are they to ever learn if they are never shown? You are right that I would not ask Sophia to a big party we were throwing, precisely because she likely doesn't know how to act yet – but I would be delighted to have her as part of your group of friends." He paused. "But not right now, Harry. Alexandra is still in her confinement after the childbirth, and we are not receiving visitors at the moment, except for close family and friends."

Harry hung his head. "I'm sorry," he said. "I should have realized. It's just that Sophie seemed so sad after the last break that she didn't get to meet with us..."

Alduin frowned. "Perhaps something could be arranged. Not here, but what would you say to a meeting in Diagon Alley? A fun afternoon in shops and ice-cream parlours?"

Harry immediately brightened. "That would be great! Should I write to her? Can I invite more people?"

"Certainly, as long as it won't be more than three or four." Harry nodded and turned to leave, already formulating the letter in his head, when Alduin's voice stopped him: "And Harry, this Friday is Good Friday. We do not observe it, as you know, but Sophia's family might be religious, and some of your other friends certainly are. Perhaps you'd better make the celebration a different day – Thursday or Wednesday. Ask what would suit her better."

"All right, I will, thanks!"

Harry ran off to compose his missive, internally considering that it was great that his cousin thought of all these things. He would have never realized, and then maybe it would have been awkward or Sophie would have had to decline or something. He generally didn't have much sympathy for the Ravenclaw approach to things, but sometimes considering matters in detail was preferable, he had to admit.

Alduin's admission that there were Muggle-Borns in the study groups also made him think of Hermione Granger again. Yes, it really seemed that even the normally pureblood-oriented Claws had no problems making exceptions when the witch or wizard in question were clever enough…

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Before the birthday party, there were other social occasions to go to, and Harry found himself once more in Malfoy Manor. He couldn't quite keep quiet about the planned outing, and Draco couldn't quite keep his sneer in control. "I don't know why you talk to her," he said.

"Because she is fun," Harry replied, rolling his eyes.

Theo sniggered. "That's a very Gryffindor response," he said.

Harry only shrugged in answer to that. "Well I am a Gryffindor," he said. "And I don't get your problem, Draco. I mean, I can sort of see how the Muggle-Born can be a danger to wizarding traditions if their customs spread, but it's not like I'm planning to marry her." Then he remembered something Alduin had said. "Besides," he added, "how is she supposed to learn our traditions if no one talks to her? If the pureblood don't talk to the Muggle-Born, the Muggle-Born will of course never learn and will keep following the Muggle customs instead."

Draco frowned at this. "They come to our world," he said, "they should adapt."

"But, I mean, do they get some classes for that? Explaining them what the wizards do differently?" He hesitated, knowing he was not supposed to mention that, but then said: "It took me a while after I moved in with my cousin to learn everything, and that was with him explaining stuff to me all the time and in great detail. It must be sort of hard for them, you know."

Draco kept frowning. "You're right that there should be a class for this. I don't know why there isn't."

"Probably Dumbledore," Theo commented sagely. "He seems to love Muggles and their customs."

Draco nodded, and Harry did as well. "Alduin told me some strange things," he said, "about how Dumbledore runs the school, and my own experience with him has been a little strange too. Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if it was his fault." He thought of Hermione Granger again, and how she probably didn't have this problem because Horatio took her under his wing. And how he and Neville and Ron, and even Seamus, were helping Sophie and Dean. But what if someone didn't become friendly with any purebloods? "Maybe houses should have some kind of system in place where they make sure every Muggle-Born has someone to explain things to them," he said aloud.

Draco shrugged. "It doesn't really concern Slytherin, but yeah, I guess it would be useful. You can try proposing that if you ever become a prefect."

Harry nodded, considering. Even if he didn't, it would probably be Neville who got the position in that case, and Harry was sure he could convince his friend it was a good idea.

In fact, he took the opportunity to bring it up at Sophie's birthday celebration. "So does that mean the Muggle-Born would have to have more classes than you?" She said immediately. "That doesn't seem fair to me."

"Hm, you're right," Harry admitted. "Maybe if it was offered instead of Muggle Studies? But that's only in third year..."

"That might be enough," Neville said, swallowing a bite of his chocolate cake. "I mean, we're only really allowed to attend any interesting events once we're fourteen, and by that time, the Muggle-Born would already have gone through the basics – those that were interested, anyway – and so I think it would work out fine."

"What kinds of events are we allowed to attend once we're fourteen?" Dean asked curiously.

"Well, balls and theatre and dinner parties..."

"Uh," Dean made a disgusted face. "Doesn't seem like reason enough to bother with a class."

"Dinner parties can be fun," Harry argued. "Most of those I've been to were."

"Wait," Sophia said, "but if you're only allowed in them once you're fourteen, how do you know?"

"It's super-complicated. Children can go to small ones, like when it's just family, but not when it's something big."

"And how can you tell who's family? Didn't you tell us basically everyone was related in the wizarding world?" Dean, this time.

Harry gave Neville a helpless look, and the boy answered: "Um, it counts when it's in direct line, plus siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins...I think. Maybe second cousins at most? And people you're really super good friends with."

Sophia laughed at them. "I think," she said, "that you'd need that class yourselves!"

They finished their cake and wandered out into Diagon Alley. They checked Quality Quidditch Supplies, and Magical Menagerie, and the Owl Emporium, and because it was Sophia's birthday, Harry didn't even insist on visiting the bookshop, though he could not help casting longing glances at it as they passed. He would have to ask Alduin to stop by before he returned to Hogwarts. They ended up back at Florean Fortescue's, having ice-cream in spite of the weather not really being that warm. It was a lovely day, and Harry reminded himself to thank Alduin for the idea. Maybe, he thought, this would become a tradition!