„We have an important announcement for you, Harry," Alduin said one evening after dinner. „Alexandra is expecting another child."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't expect it, not when Wynn was still so little, and at the thought of another cute little miracle in the house, he almost began to cry.

It was incredible, he thought, that he was part of this. When he still lived with the Dursleys, he sometimes looked at the happy families he saw, with siblings playing together and the older ones taking care of the younger ones, and thought about how much he wished he had that, and about whether his parents would have had another child if they lived a bit longer.

He had thought it was forever out of his reach.

And now he spent his afternoons with a precious little boy who seemed to adore him for some reason, and there was another one to come?

He beamed at his cousins. „Really? That's great, congratulations! Boy or girl?"

„Another boy," Alexandra replied. "His name is Edric, after Alduin's grandfather."

"The one from the Travers side," Alduin clarified. "I'm leaving the Potter names to you to possibly name children after."

Harry blushed a little at the idea. For now, he was perfectly content imagining other people's children to play with. "I'm happy Wynn will have a brother."

Alexandra smiled at him. "For all intends and purposes, he already has one brother, Harry," she said. That made him blush even more.

"When do you expect him to be born?" He mumbled his question.

"Some time at the end of the year, or perhaps beginning of the next one."

"So maybe when I'm home on Christmas Break?"

"Yes, maybe, though I'm not sure the birth is something you really want to be at the Manor for," Alexandra said. "It involves a lot of stress and hurrying around with healers in the house."

"At least I could watch Wynn for you during that time?" He suggested.

"You could indeed do that, and I would feel very grateful if you did."

That sentence made Harry beam with pride.

"You've been spending a lot of time with him," Alduin observed.

"Well, he's amazing. And isn't it great how quickly he learns things? He didn't know my name just before the exams, and then he did, and you said he only knew five words when I came back from school but I heard him saying bye bye to Geralt Ollivander just yesterday."

"He's at the age when children learn very quickly," Alduin agreed. "And I think Geralt is a good influence on him, being older and all."

"I dunno," Harry muttered. He wasn't sure about the Ollivanders' little boy. "He seems to always be bothering Wynn when he's here!"

Alexandra laughed. "That's because he's older, and more inclined to play together already, while Wynn still prefers to be solo. You should see it when the Odgens come to call. Salome is almost a year older than Geralt, and she's really desperate to get the boys' attention and get them to play with her, but they don't really understand what she wants...it's fun to watch."

"It's more fun to watch Lucilla try and tell her brother and Wynn what to do."

"Oh yes, I saw that," Harry agreed. "How old is she?"

"Five. Really, much too old for the boys. I always feel guilty when I see her frustration. I should ask my brother's family as well when I ask Patritia and her children, that way she'd have someone to play with."

When she said this, Alexandra exchanged a look with Alduin that Harry didn't understand. He wondered whether it had something to do with how he always though Alexandra's dad was a little fishy. He had nothing against her brother, though, and both of their wives were great. The kids, at the very least, were cute, though no one could match Wynn in cuteness to Harry's mind.

"Neville's coming tomorrow," he said. "Can I tell him about Edric, or is it still a secret?"

"Perhaps not just yet. It's not quite a secret, but you were the first we told, and I'd like for my family and close friends to know before other people do," Alexandra explained.

"Okay, no problem. Can I take Wynn to play with us?"

"I'm not sure your friends want to spend so much time with him," Alduin said gently. "You shouldn't bother them."

"Oh no, Neville loves Wynn!" They never talked about it, but Harry was pretty sure it was for the same reason he himself did: always dreaming of having a younger sibling.

It was Ron who had grimaced, during Easter break, at the idea of playing with the boy. His loss, Harry thought, though he did realize that Ron had no lack of his own siblings and cousins.

"We should probably do some training in the morning," Alduin added. "I don't want to drive you too hard directly out of school, but you don't want to lose your touch, do you?"

Harry shook his head. He didn't, if only because Snape would eat him alive when he returned to school.

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After the timely reminder that Theodore was one more task Alduin had before him, Alexandra asked her brother to come over for tea one afternoon, and after some pleasant opening chat while Harry and the small children were present, they moved on to the real purpose as soon as the children left for the gardens to have fun with Wynn's toy broom, supervised by Litty.

"We need your expertise," Alexandra said plainly. "In particular, your expertise about the Horcruxes."

Theodore stared at her for a moment, then his eyes moved to Alduin. "I know you're worried about the security of your family line," he said, "but this is a little extreme, don't you think?"

"Very funny," Alduin replied, desperately hoping it was truly a joke.

"Riddle's horcruxes," Alexandra clarified.

"Ah. I see. And since Dad's not here, I assume I'm not to share this information with him?"

"If you could be so kind," Alduin confirmed. "It's not that I don't trust him, exactly, it's that he's sometimes a little...overeager about his research interests."

"Indeed. So, what is it you need to know?"

"At the moment," Alduin took over, "we're trying to figure out a way to destroy a Horcrux without destroying the object itself."

"Good luck with that."

"Our present idea is using the Veil."

Theodore frowned. "You know...that could actually work, if you made certain arrangements."

"Like?"

"I'll have to think about it in more detail, but essentially, what the Horcrux ritual does is entangling the soul fragment with the object, the entirety of it. You need to...disentangle it, to make sure the object doesn't crumble after it comes in contact with the Veil."

Alduin nodded, considering that this was also very much what Mrs. Gerard told him was needed for Harry. "Do you know how to do it?" He asked.

"Not off the top of my head, no, but I do think it's possible, and I have some ideas. It'll take me a while, but...it's not impossible, which is what I thought when you first said you wanted to destroy the soul fragment without damaging the object. So, good news, I guess?"

Alduin mutely nodded. He was quietly impressed by Theodore's lack of curiosity. He didn't ask a single superfluous question, not even what the object was that they wanted to avoid destroying it so much. And this, he thought, is precisely why we haven't asked his father. Or one of the reasons, at least.

Alexandra was apparently taken aback by this restraint, too. "You don't seem very thrown by any of this, Theo."

"Well, dearest sister, I do speak to Isobel occasionally, and while she never said anything in particular, she hinted enough that I knew you were up to something. So when you communicated I should come both without Perpetua and our parents, I figured something was up. I must say, I wouldn't have guessed the Horcruxes, though."

"Trust me," Alduin muttered, "I would much rather if it was something else."

"Well, it is the most reliable way to immortality, so I am not surprised he picked it. My surprise, to be honest, was mostly ensured by the very interesting plural form you used."

Ah. Damn. "Yes, well, Riddle was a bit of a megalomaniac."

"And certainly not afraid of the dark. Yes, you are right." Theodore's light tone disappeared for a moment, and he turned to Alexandra. "You were right not to call in Dad. He could have never resisted something like this, and the last thing I want is to see him go the way of Uncle Leopold."

"If he let his knowledge of the matter slip," Alduin said grimly, "he wouldn't have enough time to be lured to Riddle's circle. Riddle would kill him as soon as he caught whiff of it."

Theodore looked at Alexandra. "Your husband sure knows how to cheer one up, doesn't he?"

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It was one July morning over breakfast that Harry was surprised out of his plans for the following week – which mostly consisted of training with Alduin, playing with Wynn, and seeing Neville, Ron or Draco a time or two – by Alduin saying: "So, Harry, I thought we could pop by to Paris for a few days tomorrow or the day after."

Harry blinked. Paris, in his experience, was not a place you just popped by to, though he had to concede that with magic, there was no reason not to. So he thought about it for a moment and then said: "What about Alexandra and Wynn?"

"I'd stay here, mostly, though I might oin you for lunch once or twice," she said. "Wynn is too little to enjoy travel, so there's no need to subject him to it, and thankfully, France is close enough that you can get there by simple two-step Apparition."

Now Harry was confused. "Two-step Apparition?"

"You Apparate to Dover, and then in another jump you skip too Paris," Alduin explained. "Some people prefer to book a Portkey, but frankly, it's too much hassle. If you know Paris well enough to know where to Apparate..."

Which, no surprise, Alduin would. Harry thought about it some more. He didn't want to be away from Wynn for too long, but he was curious about Paris. He'd never been abroad except for that trip to Germany where he only saw the Quidditch pitch and the tent restaurant.

"All right," he said. "But – just for a few days, right?" His eyes darted to Wynn, and Alduin smiled.

"Yes, Harry, two or three, depending how you like it there," he promised. "And we'd be coming back here for the night, so you'd be able to see Wynn in the morning at least."

Well, that sounded well enough. "Alright!" Harry said. "When do we leave?"

They left the next morning, and appeared in what was a large, old-looking hall inside a sort...enclosure, Harry suppose, a small space separated by a low wall from the rest of the hall. Harry could see there were many more such space sin the hall, and as he looked, someone appeared on the other side of it.

"What is this place?" He asked.

"The Apparition hall," Alduin explained. "You can rent a space to Apparate here that makes sure you won't just land on top of someone's head. All the big tourist hubs have them, London included."

"So you have to rent them in advance?" Harry wondered.

"Yes, though in our case the Traverses simply bought it many generations ago, when the hall was first built, so we can use it whenever we want. Potters have one too, I'm sure, but I don't know where. You'll have to ask once you're old enough to Apparate yourself."

It was endlessly fascinating to Harry what ingenious solutions magic led to.

The hall was, unsurprisingly, connected to the wizarding zone of Paris, so that was where they spent their morning. In the afternoon, however, they went to see the Eiffel Tower and the Triumphal Arch, and the next day it was Notre Damme and other medieval buildings around it. Harry like these especially well, as well as the park his cousin took him to afterwards. "It's a pity you couldn't see this in May," he said, "the chestnut trees are all in bloom, and it's beautiful."

Yes, Harry imagined it had to be.

The last morning, they took in Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, and Alexandra, as promised, joined them for lunch in one of the small restaurants that were scattered about the place.

"Mercurius called this morning," she said once they settled down. "He left you a note."

Alduin took it from her and read it, and then smiled and said: "He's been working on his boyfriend, and it seems he will join us for the next transcendental meeting."

Harry choked on his lemonade, and the adults gave him a look. "Sorry," he muttered, "but I thought Mr. Mercurius was married? Or is this a different Mercurius?"

Alduin frowned. "No, it's the one you know, and yes, of course he's married. You know his wife as well. Why?"

"Well, you said he has a boyfriend," harry pointed out.

"So he does," Alduin agreed.

"But...but..." Harry trailed off, completely confused.

"But what?" Alduin asked. "I already told you that many marriages among the Ancient families are not for love, and that many couples have open relationships."

"Yes, but...Mr. Mercurius is a man," Harry tried.

"So?"

"Well, I mean, if he is...gay..." Harry blushed as he said the word, "how can he be married?"

"Well, he could hardly marry his boyfriend, as I'm sure you'll agree. And even if he could, there wouldn't be many children born from that union to continue the house of Ollivander."

"No, but...I thought that means he doesn't like to..." Harry was now red as a brick. "Doesn't like women, I mean."

Alexandra and Alduin exchanged a look. "That's Muggles and their labels for you," Alduin said then. "Stuffing everyone into tight categories real people will never fit. Yes, there are indeed people who are only ever attracted to their own gender, but it's relatively uncommon – just as people who are only ever attracted to a different gender are. Most people like both, with varying intensity."

Harry stared. "But I thought...I thought you were either gay or normal."

Alduin laughed at that. "And by normal, you mean only attracted to a different gender? That's a very humorous notion. I do know a few people who never felt any attraction to the same gender, but like I said, it's rare. Normal just means varying preferences."

"You mean that you..." Harry swallowed, and shook his head. "Forget I asked," he said.

"No, it's quite alright, Harry, truly," Alduin said.

"Maybe you'd feel more comfortable discussing this if I wasn't here?" Alexandra suggested, and when Harry gave a mortified nod, she smiled and talke dof something else till the lunch was over.

Once she was gne and Harry and Alduin were headed towards the Louvre, Alduin got a gleam in his eye that Harry only saw rarely but that he knew meant some mischief, and then said: "To give you a more particular example, so that it's not all so abstract...I had a prolonged affair with Mercurius when we were both at Hogwarts, before I fell in love with Eliza."

Harry stared. "What?" He asked. "You?" He wasn't entirely sure his cousin wasn't making fun of him.

"Yes, me," Alduin confirmed. "And there are other men I've been sort of infatuated with. Kingsley, for example, when I was in my early teens. He was that unattainable older man for me. Alexandra, on the other hands, tells me she never felt attracted to feminine people in the slightest, but as I said, that's the exception rather than the rule."

Harry felt like he got much more information than he ever wanted. "And the people who are...well, who are really gay...do they get married too?" He tried to change the topic a little.

Alduin shrugged. "Depends. If they're heirs to their family, yes, they do, unless they prefer to give up the inheritance to their sibling. It's family duty. My own grandfather was one such case. Edric, I mean, the one my second son is named after."

Harry blinked. "Really? And he still got married?"

"Yes. As luck would have it, he found a woman whose preference was almost exclusively for her own gender, too – my grandmother. It worked out quite well for them, as far as I know. I knew a few of their boyfriends and girlfriends, and they were usually lovely people, always welcome to the family party."

Alduin smiled in memory, and Harry had to concede there were things he simply couldn't understand. "So your father knew? That his parents weren't…?"

Alduin shrugged again. "Not when he was very little, I assume – it doesn't usually come up in conversations with small children – but by the time he went to Hogwarts, certainly. I remember how he told me that in his first year, he and Mr. Ollivander tried to set up their fathers and mothers up as lovers, so that they'd have a reason to spend all of the time together. Needless to say, it ended up in a complete disaster. My grandmother, especially, didn't take kindly to the attempt."

"So Mr. Ollivander's parents were gay too?" Harry wondered how common it really was in the wizarding world.

Alduin rolled his eyes at the term. "No," he said, "not as far as I know. Certainly Mr. Ollivander mentioned both of them having lovers of the opposite sex as well, during the years. But they were a match made of friendship and understanding, not love, and both had romantic partners of both sexes outside of marriage through their lives. That still didn't mean my grandmother was keen on being set up with her husband's sister, though."

Harry couldn't hep it, he began to laugh.

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AN: Just to be clear, it's not my intention by any means to devalue any category of sexual identity anyone identifies with. I'm simply working with the assumption that since the development of these categories only occurred in the Muggle world after the wizarding one separated from it, the wizarding approach would be different. One possibility is "more homophobic", but who wants to write that? So I picked something closer to ancient Greece for example, where there were no categories like gay or straight and people just slept with whomever they felt like, and married people of opposite sex to continue the family line.

I'm also sorry about Alduin's casual dismissal of same-sex marriage. Different time, different world.