Muhammad came to Travers Manor only a week after Alduin's drink with Abdullah, to tell him about his conclusions regarding strengthening Harry's love. "Wynn is definitely a blessing in this," he said, drinking tea in the afternoon parlour. "Every study I could find indicated that very young children, particularly for those who aren't they primary caregivers, can serve as the strongest impetuses."

"For those who aren't primary caregivers?" Alduin frowned. "I'd have thought that it works best for parents."

"Well, yes, of course, parental love is a separate matter entirely, and one that is more complicated, but we can hardly expect Harry to experience that any time soon. What I'm talking about here is that when you're not a parent, biological or otherwise, but are by circumstances forced to become a primary caregiver, the love you feel for the baby can sometimes be equalled by the frustration and tiredness you experience, so the net result might not always be beneficial. The same goes for people who are not primary caregivers, but are forced to spend equal amount of time with the child or children as if they were." He paused, and seemed to hesitate. "There's another exception to this rule, and that's sibling jealousy. Do you think that is likely?"

Alduin considered it. "I don't think so," he said. "I can't be sure, of course, but Harry didn't seem upset about Wynn at any point, and, on the contrary, seemed excited. So, fine, have Harry spend a lot of time with Wynn, but not too much time. Anything else?"

"Animals often help in this case, especially dogs or other kinds that like interacting with people."

Alduin grimaced. "Could we perhaps get a dolphin for our garden pond instead?" He asked rhetorically.

Muhammad rolled his eyes at him, and continued: "Given the nature of the task Harry will be faced with, I think some kind of animal that shows affection while at the same time requires a degree of care and responsibility on his part would be best."

"I can't get him a dog," Alduin pointed out. "He couldn't take it to Hogwarts, and being away from it most of the year would be rather counter-productive."

"That's for you to decide, of course. I'm only presenting what I found."

"Fine, dogs and children. Anything else?"

"Copious reading."

"Really?" That was, finally, some good news.

"Novels, to be precise."

Well, that was a little worse, but still, not too bad. "Anything more specific?"

"Well, obviously preferably novels where the heroes display the capacity you're trying to strengthen in Harry. I don't think modern literature would be particularly useful."

"That's unexpectedly conservative of you," Alduin said archly.

"Oh, give it a rest. I don't mean to say that all modern stuff is immoral. But books that are strong on narrative and character psychology are best for this, and neither of this is true about the modern things, you know that. I'm aware that you swear by Korai, but reading about a guy living one day of his life over and over again is more likely to make Harry want to kill himself than save others."

Isn't that the point, Alduin wanted to ask, but bit his tongue. No need to be unpleasant.

"Actually," Muhammad was continuing, "I know this might be uncomfortable for you, but Harry was raised a Christian, right?"

"In a manner of speaking..."

"Refreshing the gospel story in his mind might be beneficial for him."

Alduin groaned. "Don't tell me your research showed that Christians were, on average, more moral? Have you forgotten the witch burnings?"

Muhammad rolled his eyes. "No," he said. "What the research does show is that people who hear about self-sacrifice in positive light are more likely to be willing to risk their life for a cause down the road."

Clearly, Muhammad had been inspired by his own suicide witticism, too. This was entering uncomfortable territory. Alduin was fully ready to do anything to improve Harry's chances of survival, he had been preparing to do that since he first heard the prophecy in winter and came to terms with it. But he was much less comfortable with grooming Harry to lay down his life. He was far from accepting the Horcrux as a fact, and though ever since his talk with Abdullah, the constant feeling of being on the verge of a panic attack if he allowed himself to think about it lessened a little, he still needed copious amount of drink to forget every night. He was by no means ready for this conversation.

He gritted his teeth and reminded himself that if Riddle won, they'd all be dead, Harry included. There still might be another solution than having Hary die, but it was almost certainly going to involve some degree of selflessness from Harry. This was no time to balk. He would get through this, and get drunk later. "Can I just tell him about Prometheus, then?" He asked lightly.

"Jesus, Prometheus, Hussain, I don't care. He just needs to be shown that this is a positive trait. And reasons to fight for, as well – Wynn is fine, but let's face it, you aren't exactly the family most endangered by Riddle."

Alduin stared at him. "You have got to be joking."

Muhammad grimaced. "Okay, no, sorry, that was completely thoughtless of me. Obviously you were one of the most targeted families, but what I mean is, you can hide pretty effectively, and you're still pure-blooded, so unless you fight, you're fine. Harry will probably need someone he perceives weak and unprotected and in danger, for whose defence he could fight – since concentrating on the hatred he might feel would obviously be counter-productive. Does he have any Muggle friends from his old life?"

"Not...exactly, but there are two Muggle-Borns he's friendly with in his year in Gryffindor, and another in Ravenclaw."

"Not exactly defenceless, but I suppose it will have to do. Perhaps meeting their families could be beneficial as well. I know I'm asking a lot of you here..."

Alduin rolled his eyes. "I think I can handle a couple of Muggle families – honestly, it's more time that's the issue here. But I'll do my best. Anything else?"

"Not that I've discovered so far. But I'll let you know if I find something."

"Thanks, Muhammad. I owe you."

"No you don't. It's the future of our world at stake. It's just coincidence that it was born into your family..."

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It was a strange feeling, leaving Hogwarts for two months. Harry and his friends walked through the halls and grounds on the last day, chatter with Sir Nicolas and went to say goodbye to Hagrid, flew together for the last time, and faithfully promised to write to each other and visit each other if possible. Sophie and Dean were looking a little morose in this respect, and Harry didn't want to give too many promises, not knowing if Alexandra was fit enough for visitors again. But they could all at least agree on meeting in Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies, and did so.

The ride home on the train was cheerful. Their compartment was completely full and the door was open, and Harry was wandering to the Slytherin one from time to time, or Draco to theirs, though Harry noticed that he never entered it. Some things took time to change, he guessed.

The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were sitting a little down the train, and Daphne, who had argued with Pansy, was spending the way with the Eagles. Harry felt sorry it hadn't been Pansy who had left. He was still not on speaking terms with her, and this way, Daphne couldn't be part of his conversations with Draco and Theo like she usually was. He visited the compartment once, to speak to her and Hermione, and was surprised to actually discover them in conversation. Would wonders never cease?

But he didn't fit into that compartment, so he didn't stay long and returned to his own House mates soon after.

"What are your plans for the summer?" Draco asked, leaning on the corridor wall.

"I dunno," Harry replied, "garden parties and visits, I guess? Do you know the schedule?"

"Yeah, my parents are throwing one this week, to celebrate me coming back from first year at Hogwarts. Then there's one at the Burkes and one at the Crabbes, but I guess you won't be going to that one. After that, I don't know."

"There's probably going to be one for my birthday, too," Harry mused, "but I don't know if the Traverses are planning anything else. I mean, I know they hosted a couple of events last summer, but I'm not sure how much time they'll have with Wynn around."

"I don't think your cousin would let that stop him," Draco replied. "Or his wife, either."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they're very...driven. Ambitious."

Harry bristled. "And your parents aren't?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Harry, it was a compliment. Of course they are."

"Oh. Okay."

"You've been spending too much time with the Gryffindors," Draco assessed, smirking.

"Well, you've got the whole summer to undo the damage."

"Ha! Don't tell me you won't be hanging out with them all the time."

"Not all the time...but yeah, we'll see each other quite often, probably, especially with Neville and Ron." Harry looked at him challengingly. "Will you not be seeing Pansy?"

"Point taken." Right on clue, Pansy raised her voice inside their compartment about something Blaise had said, and Draco grimaced. "Sometimes I think you made the right decision," he muttered.

"Of course I did."

Seamus called a question to him at this moment, and he stuck his head in to answer, and when he turned back around, Draco wasn't there any more. Shrugging, Harry made his way back to his House mates, plopping down next to Neville.

"Dreading the holidays?" He asked quietly, mostly masked by the others' loud conversation about Quidditch League.

Neville gave him a look. "Not as much as I thought," he replied after a moment. "Gran really does treat me better lately, and I know I'll be seeing you regularly, and Ron too, so that helps me feel better about it. And I do look forward to seeing my family, really, only...well, I'd be happier if it wasn't for two months."

"I'll ask you over as often as I can, as long as Alexandra doesn't mind," Harry promised. "Maybe you could even stay at the Manor for a few weeks?"

Neville shook his head. "Gran would never let me," he said. Harry sighed.

"What about you," Neville continued, "are you looking forward to spending time with Wynn?"

"I'm looking forward to seeing him, yeah, though I don't know about spending time – I mean, he's just so little..."

Lavender turned to him with a question about the League teams just then, and so their private conversation was broken. Instead, they got involved in a lengthy discussion about each team's Beaters' ability, causing Parvati to leave for the Ravenclaw compartment. And as the sun approached the horizon, the Gryffindors had afternoon tea and chatted about the summer.

At King's Cross, Alduin was waiting for him with a smile. There was a lot of goodbyes, but also introductions, since Alduin hadn't met Seamus, Dean and Parvati yet, and seemed to have time now. He was very pleasant to everyone and bid them goodbye with a vague promise of seeing them at Travers Manor in the near future. Then, Harry took Alduin's arm, and they disappeared.

Back at the Manor, Harry was welcomed by Alexandra waiting for him in the receiving room, with Wynn in her arms. He had seen his little cousin through the two-way mirror during the term, but he was still shocked by how much bigger the baby had got since the last time he met him in person.

"Can I hold him?" He asked hopefully.

"Of course," Alexandra replied with a smile, and carefully handed him the child. Harry held him like he was made of glass, and stared at him with an entranced expression while Wynn tried to reach for his glasses.

"Yes, he does that," Alexandra said. "Be glad you don't have long hair."

Harry wanted to stay there, holding Wynn, a while longer, but it was time to head to dinner, so he reluctantly handed him to his mother and headed up to his room.

Dinner was used to tell his cousins everything about his last days at Hogwarts, and especially about exams.

"How was Defence?" Alexandra asked. "It must have been hard, an exam from a subject for which you'd had three different teachers in one year..."

"It wasn't easy knowing what will actually be on it," Harry conceded, "but Defence seems pretty easy to me, to be honest. But it's true that Seamus complained about it a lot."

"And how are all your friends?" Alduin asked, surprising Harry a good deal. Surely much more time could have been spent on the exams?

"Fine," he replied. "I wrote to you about the party we did for Dean, didn't I? Seamus was kinda irritated, because his birthday is the day after tomorrow, so he was sorry he'll miss celebrating it with us by just a few days."

"Why? Does he think his parents won't let him visit during the summer?"

Harry blinked. "Um, I think he didn't really think about it that way..."

"I understand his parents might not feel up to hosting such a gaggle of children, but if he wanted, you could all meet here and celebrate here."

"Really?"

"Yes, of course."

"Even with Wynn and all?"

Alexandra rolled her eyes. "Harry," she said, "the last time you suggested asking people over, I was in my confinement. People just don't come to visit during a confinement, that's the whole point. But having a child does not, in fact, prevent me from hosting parties, nor does it handicap me in any other way."

Harry thought of Draco, and grinned a little sheepishly. "I thought...with him sleeping so little, I thought you might be tired or..."

"It actually got better, he sleeps three to four hours in one go now, which is quite decent. So no, I'm not too tired to be able to entertain eight children in a Manor with a small army of house-elves, don't worry."

Harry nodded, and turned to Alduin. "Can I go write Seamus right now?" He asked. "He'd need to know soon..."

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That evening, Alexandra caught Alduin's arm as he was leaving for his study. "Harry is home," she said.

"I'm aware," he replied, a little confused.

"I mean to say," she continued with emphasis, "that while Wynn might be too small to realize what is going on, Harry most certainly is not. If you continue getting drunk every night in your office, he will notice."

Alduin froze. So far, they had never addressed the matter directly between them. Alexandra was even less scathing with her disappointed looks this time around than she had been in winter, though that might just be because Wynn left her no energy for those.

"I'll do my best to be as inconspicuous as possible," he said after a moment.

"No," she replied, still in that hard tone of hers, "you'll get your best to get help. I thought that when I forced you to talk to Abdullah, you would actually continue talking to him-"

"I told him the gist of the matter. He can hardly take the problems away by a kind word."

"When you say told him the gist of the matter, do you mean whatever it is that is bothering you, or the gist of your problem?"

Alduin looked away.

"That's what you need help with," she told him, "not whatever it is that's causing you to relapse this time."

"I will not go to Abdullah to tell him I am a drunk," Alduin said firmly.

Alexandra gave him an arch look. "I know I said I won't treat you like a child," she said, "but it seems you give me little choice. You are the head of a house, Alduin, and you have a son and a ward, to both of whom you have a responsibility." She paused. "If you don't improve, and don't speak to Abdullah," she said, "I will."