AN: I've done some editing to this, mostly I fixed some names, and spelling changes.
Disclaimer: Though everyone should know this already, many of the characters and The Burrow are the property of a much luckier person than myself. I'm doing this for fun, and get no profit.
A Somewhat Traditional Weasley Christmas
By: Labraid.
Ron Weasley stared at the picture on the mantle of his fireplace. In it were his three best friends. The two to the right he had been friends with since his first year of Hogwarts. The third, though, was Severus Snape and had anyone told him that the greasy haired Potions Professor would one day be counted among his best friend he would have called them insane. In the picture Hermione and Harry each had an arm around the other and they were grinning madly. Snape stood to the side, he had a gentle, fond smile on his lips, and his arms crossed over his chest. As Ron watched Harry suddenly had a very mischievous look on his face and he leaned his head over to whisper something to Hermione and then she had a mischievous look too, she nodded, and with a flash Harry and bounded over and launched himself at Severus, jumping into the man's arms that, had been outstretched to stave off the young man, and attacked Severus's face with kisses, in a second the pair toppled over and fell out of the range of the picture, all that could be seen was Hermione hunched over laughing. After another second the men stood up, Severus rolling his eyes, Harry laughing, both flushed with their hair a bit mussed. Harry then walked back to Hermione and stood on the opposite side he had before and quickly dropped a kiss on her cheek to before grabbing hold of a Severus's robes and pulling him over to stand on his other side.
"Ron, shouldn't we be going now?" Bethany, his wife called from down the hall where she had been fixing her red hair in front of the bathroom mirror.
"I suppose. Are you ready for the total chaos of a Weasley Christmas?" He said to her as he walked to the bathroom door leaning heavily on his cane.
"You bet I am." She said with a smile as she turned away from the mirror to face him.
"You are the most beautiful witch I have ever met."
"You say that at least once a day, fool."
"And everyday, it's even more true than it was the day before."
She rolled her eyes and pecked him on the cheek. "Let's go, shall we?" He nodded still smiling at her. She rolled her eyes and kissed him on the cheek and they apparated away.
"Harry!" Hermione yelled, Harry couldn't tell where in the house she was, but he could tell that he was in trouble. He gave his daughter a guilty look, and the little devil giggled at his misfortune. He had been telling Celine how they were going to pull the perfect prank on Uncle Fred and Uncle George when the cry had gone through the house.
"You're in for it now, Daddy." The black haired seven year-old told him with a certain glee in her eyes.
"Shush now, Snow White." He said calling her by the nickname she had been given, because of her hair color and fair complexion. "Go find your Papa, and your brothers."
The little girl slid off his lap and left the living room just as her mother stormed in. Hermione's hair was pulled back in a bun, and her make-up was done subtly but beautifully, but her eyes were wild with anger, and her posture said that she was about to go into a yelling tantrum. Of course all Harry could think, as he stood up, was that he was one of the luckiest men alive to be married to her.
Before she could start, he thought he would already start apologizing, "Whatever I did, I'm sorry, it won't happen again, I swear."
She gave him the look. The You don't mean that now, but you will by the time I'm done with you look.
"I'm sorry?" He squeaked.
"You sure as hell better be, Harry James Potter-Snape!" He cringed. She had pulled out the whole name. This was going to be ugly, he could already see it. He was going to be hexed at least once, probably more than that. And he could foresee a long time of sleeping on the couch.
Just when he thought all hope was lost Severus walked into the room.
"What in the name of Hades is going on in here?"
Harry looked up at his husband with pleading in his eyes. "I've done something horrible. I don't know what it is but I'm about to find out." Save me, Severus, please save me, He added with his eyes.
Severus folded his arms over his chest and looked to Hermione, who was looking even more angry now. She brought her arm up and waved a piece of parchment viciously. He only saw what it was for a second then paled considerably. Something that didn't escape either Severus's or Hermione's attention. Hermione suddenly gave up being angry and tears started to well up in her eyes, and suddenly Severus was at her side with no more than a flash of black robes. He grabbed the parchment and scanned the page quickly, his breath catching as he came over the words that Harry knew would catch his attention.
Harry closed his eyes and bowed his head.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Severus asked as gently as he could.
"I didn't want to worry you over something that might be nothing."
"This is most obviously not nothing, Harry."
"I know. I didn't get that until yesterday. And then it was so close to the holidays, I was going to wait, I didn't want to ruin Christmas for you and the children." A tear fought it's way out from behind his closed lids and ran down his cheek.
He was hit by something solid and it knocked him down and back into the couch, he opened his eyes and looked down to the frizzy brown head that was now attached to his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around his oldest son and started to rock back and forth.
"You're not going to die, Daddy, I won't let you." The twelve year-old, told him. The boy looked up at him, green eyes blood shot and tears running down his face.
"I'm not going to die, Ali. Where'd you get that idea?" He said and wiped the tears from his cheeks.
"I saw that paper first. I showed it to mum."
"I'm not going to die."
"That's not what that paper says."
"It's what I say, who are you going to trust more? Some paper, or me?"
"You." He said a bit timidly.
"I promise. Go wash up your face we have to be at your Granddad's in time for dinner, and you know how your grandmother gets if we're late."
"I love you, Daddy" He said giving Harry one more hug before swiping at his nose and stalking away.
"Ali?" Harry heard Severus say, he hung his head and hunched forward holding his forehead in his hands and leaning his elbows on his knees. He felt Hermione come sit next to him and fold her arms over his back and lean her head on it. He let out a sob and heard Severus murmuring something to Ali before the boy left the room. Then Severus came and sat at his younger husband's other side. Harry just cried. He had felt a good cry coming for some time, he'd been fighting it under, wanting to be strong for his family, not wanting to ruin their holiday together.
"You fool." Severus said next to him, Harry looked up at him, trying to smile a bit. Severus reached out and held his cheek. "How could you not tell us?"
Harry just shook his head. "The one thing I want most in the world is for you and children to be happy. I could live without anything else, so long as you five were happy. I would do anything to keep you happy."
"You Idiot!" Hermione said and slapped him.
Harry didn't flinch, he knew he probably deserved it.
Severus reached across him and grabbed her wrist before she could start the whole rain of blows she had been planning on. "Shhh, he's sorry, and you know him, it's in his nature to be like that. Bloody selfless Gryffindors." With that some of the tension went out of the room. Hermione and Severus wound their arms around their husband and there were some sniffles and for a couple seconds before Severus asked, "How long have you known something was wrong?"
"About a month now."
"That day you woke up and had to vomit." Hermione said.
He nodded.
"I thought you said that you had eaten something." Severus said.
Harry just shrugged.
"You idiot." They both said in unison, then kissed one of his cheeks each.
"We need to get going," Severus said and stood, pulling them both with him. "Why don't you two wash up. I'll gather up the children."
Harry and Hermione walked to the bathroom, Hermione keeping a tight grip on Harry's hand all the way. She had streaks of eyeliner and mascara running down her face, but Harry still thought her to be the most beautiful woman he had ever set eyes on, he told her so. She just smiled and fished a couple of flannels out of a cupboard and handed one to him and turned on the cold water.
Once they had washed there faces and charmed the redness of their eyes away, they walked out to the main hall to see Severus, holding Celine in his arms, Ali standing to one side of him, and Richard, the middle child at ten years old, standing to the other side, Harry couldn't help but smile at the joy he felt at seeing the four of them. He looked to his side and saw that Hermione was smiling too.
"You've got all our bags, Sev?" Hermione asked.
He patted his pocket and nodded yes.
She smiled and went to join them, and Harry felt even better looking at all of them. He smiled more brightly and just looked at them a moment longer, fixing the picture in his mind, trying to preserve the moment, wishing he had a camera.
"Daddy? Aren't you coming?" Richard asked, snapping Harry out of his reverie.
"Yes of course," and he walked over to them. Severus held out the the old ticket stub that was to be their portkey. As they all put a finger on it, Harry whispered to them all, "I love you, every single one of you." Then he felt the old familiar feeling of a fish hook behind his navel.
Bill and Fleur Weasley sat on the couch in the living room of the Borrow. They had arrived early the day before. Right now they were talking quietly to each other, and staring reverently at their infant daughter. They had been trying do hard and so long to have children they had almost given up, they were both so grateful to have their daughter. She looked exactly like her mother. Bill held one of her tiny hands in one of his large ones and was still amazed as ever at the difference in size, he cooed to her that when she grew up that he'd have to fight the boys off with a stick just to keep them away. Then there came the familiar crack of apparation out side and a knock on the front door. Bill kissed his wife and stood to go answer the door.
When he swung it up it was to the grinning face of his youngest brother.
"Ron! Get in here!"
"Bill, how've you been?" Ron asked as he guided Bethany through the door and stomped the snow off his shoes.
"The best. Bethany, you look as lovely as ever, my dear." He said with a suggestive wink.
"Bill, we're both married, we've talked about this." Bethany said picking up the old joke between them. "Where's Molly? I have to get this pie to her before I ruin it." She said, pulling a shrunken and charmed to stay warm and intact apple pie from her purse.
"She's in the kitchen, of course," He said, hugging her quickly before turning to Ron to ask him about a letter he'd received form his younger brother, expressing his belief that South Africa was going to make it to the Quidditch World Cup next year. They walked while they talked going back to the living room where Fleur was still sitting holding a sleeping Noelle in her arms, the conversation came to a halt as Ron spotted the infant.
"Bill," He said looking at his brother with pride as he slowly moved closer to get a better look. "She's adorable." Leaning his cane against the sofa, crouched down and looked to Fleur, "May I?" She nodded and he picked the baby girl up. Ron opened his mouth to say more, but there was a loud crash in the middle of the room. Ron stared for a minute on registering of what had just happened, because where his brother had been standing a moment before was now a pile of people.
He shook his head and realized what had happened, when a joyous three part harmony of "Uncle Bill!" The Potter-Snape branch of the Weasleys had arrived. Bill had been tackled by the three children, and Harry, Hermione, and Severus were standing up, Ron smiled at them, and they cam over to stand next to him and Fleur.
Hermione looked down at the baby's tiny face and let out a high pitched "Awww." And leaned over to take her from Ron's arms. Bill had managed to get out of the dog pile sending the boys to the kitchen to say hi to their honorary Grandmother, and held Celine in his arms. He walked up to the group surrounding the baby. Harry was staring at her as if she held all the secrets of the world in her eyes.
Harry looked up to Bill as he neared. "She's going to be a heartbreaker Bill."
"Yours too," Bill said with a smile when His mum called from the kitchen.
"Pictures, we need everyone out front for pictures!"
Everyone was in front of the burrow they had all huddled together to fit into the view of the camera. Ginny's husband, Neil, was looking through the camera and directing them so that they all fit. then he levitated the camera to stay at the right height then ran to stand next to his wife and two daughters. "Cheery Christmas faces everyone!" He called and then there was a flash.
"Now I want pictures of all the little families," Molly called out. "Harry, why don't you and yours go first?" So the six of them huddled together and had their picture taken, next went Ginny and Neil and their girls, followed by Charlie and his five, then Bill, Fleur and Noelle, after them each of the twins went with their families then Arthur and Molly and all their red-headed progeny, followed by Percy's bunch and they finished with Ron and Bethany. After everyone was completely photographed they all rushed back into the kitchen and after much clamoring, jostling and several spills, one prank and a minor burn, everyone was settled in the living room with a mug of hot cocoa, tea or coffee.
There were several different conversations going on, but Harry at the moment was content just to sit back and watch the room full of people he loved interact. He was holding Charlie's three year-old Jesibel in his arms where she had fallen asleep in the middle of regaling to her favorite uncle, the tale of how her older brother had snuck a dragon egg home. Harry felt a hand descend on his shoulder gently and looked up to the long pointed face of his husband.
"You're going to have to tell them that you're ill, Harry," He said plainly.
"Yes, I know, I'm going to wait until after the holiday has gone by, tomorrow evening, I think, after the children have gone to bed, and everyone will be a little tired." He looked down at the young girl in his arms, and pushed a strand of hair that must have been tickling her nose behind one of her petite ears. "They're all going to take it so hard. After what happened to Mary." Mary had been Charlie's wife. She had died, not a year and a half ago, of the exact same illness that Harry himself now had. Everyone had called it "Voldemort's Revenge." As it seemed to have came from Deatheaters who had died in the final battle, and then spread from there. It killed slowly, usually starting out as it had for Harry, vomiting, then for the most part a person felt fine but very slowly it seemed to just suck the life out of anyone who was unlucky enough to contract it. No one could figure out how exactly it spread, or what it was that it did to the body, but they did know that the ultimate result was death. They did know however that it didn't spread through any known methods. Harry was sure his family was safe from him, or else he would have already left, but the doctors had assured him that they were in no danger what so ever from him.
"I'm not going to let it take me away from you. Not after everything I went through to make sure the evil man himself couldn't take me away, I won't let his petty 'Revenge' pick up where he left off."
"From a man who's sole reason for existence seems to be to spit in the face of Death, I have no doubt of it. Besides, do you think that we were just going to let it take you from us? Because I can call our wife over here and she will quickly disabuse you of that notion."
Harry was about to reply with a teary eyed heart felt sentiment when Molly called out "Alright people, I need my chefs and cooks in the kitchen if we're to have our Christmas Eve dinner tonight."
That included Severus so he simply bent down and kissed Harry's forehead before sweeping out of the room.
Most of the afternoon went very quickly for Ali. He had gone out to play a game off Quidditch in the orchard with all the other kids ten or older. Kids including most of the parents who weren't cooking. The teams had been pretty even talent-wise, he had been pitted against his father as seeker, on his team had been Charlie's oldest Jonathon and Uncle Fred as beaters, with Aunt Angelina, Richard and Percy's Anna as the chasers, and Uncle Neil as keeper. On his dad's team had been the triplets, daughters of Charlie, as Chasers, his mum as keeper, and Uncle George and Jo, Aunt Ginny's oldest daughter, as beaters. It was a good match, and close through out the whole thing, but Ali had gotten the snitch and one the game for his team.
As they were walking back to the house his dad walked up behind him and ruffled his hair. "You're good, kid, but that was luck today, You couldn't beat your dad if you hadn't inherited his sheer blind luck."
"Whatever you say, old man" Ali returned with a roll of the eyes. "You're just getting old, and you know it."
"Perhaps you're right, but without that luck of yours I'd've kicked your scrawny little butt."
"Are you challenging me to a rematch, dad?"
"Maybe I am. What do you say about Easter Break? I'll give you some time to train up get ready to get beat."
"I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment, but whatever you say dad." Ali said with a smile and suppressed the chill he felt at the thought that his dad might not be there, or might be too sick to play him by the time Easter rolled around, but he squashed those feeling before they really had a chance to form. He had promised that he'd be ok, and his dad always kept his promises.
It seemed that the next thing he knew they were all sitting around a magically elongated table in a magically elongated room. He was proud of himself, this was the first year he was able to sit at the 'grown-up table' he was seated at a stretch of the table where he was surrounded mostly by his cousins, but still. The grown-up table, He'd been wanting sit here for years. For the first course he talked to the triplets, who were in his year, about the up coming test they were going to have in Herbology, and how great it was to be related to his Papa, because that meant life was just in general easier.
He tried to keep up with a conversation among his Uncles Fred, George and Charlie, but gave up after getting lost a couple times. Everything seemed to be moving much to fast and much to slow. He wanted the night to last forever but after what seemed to be no time at all, he was being gently shaken awake by his Papa, and he was a little embarrassed to find that he had dozed off while still at the table.
"Time for bed, I think." His Papa said and he nodded yawning, getting out of his chair a little unsurely, and his father put a hand against his back to keep him from falling and to propel him forward. When he got to the room he was sharing with his brother and most of his male cousins, he bid good night to his papa and told him to give a hug to Mum and Daddy from him before he was left alone to get into his pyjamas and slip into the comfy warm bed. His head hit the pillow and he heard someone snoring gently. He thought with glee that the next day was going to be Christmas, and with that thought fell asleep.
Harry woke up and felt the need to vomit again. He was trying to think of a way to speedily get out of the bed without alerting either Hermione or Severus, when he remembered that he didn't have to hide this from them anymore. So he just climbed over Severus and lit for the bathroom that was adjoined to their bedroom. A rare commodity in the Weasley household, but they had helped to pay for the construction of the new wing, so Molly and Arthur had thought it only fitting that they get their own bathroom for when they visited. At first they had protested, but Harry was now glad that they had been persuaded to keep the room.
Harry made it just in time to make his morning tribute to the great white porcelain bowl alter of the god of stomach illnesses, and up ended what little contents his stomach had held. He sat there and gagged for what felt like hours, but soon he felt a hand rubbing gentle circles on his back, and another holding back his hair that had grown long sometime during his last years of school, and had never quite gotten shorter. Once he was done he leaned back into the warm, terry-cotton robed body of his wife, and had a glass of water gently put into his hand. He sipped it warily, hoping that it wouldn't start his stomach convulsing again, it did for a second and he spit the water into the bowl, but after that he felt fine and drank it down.
"Thank you, Severus." He said and was disgruntled to find he was shaking, and his teeth were clattering. Hermione wrapped her arms around him and rubbed vigorously at his forearms, trying to warm him up.
"You foolish, foolish man. How could I not have realized your new found morning persona for what it really was?"
"He's a good liar, that's why."
"Well I was taught by the best, wasn't I?" He paused and lifted the glass, asking for more water, Severus gently took it from his hand and refilled it. "I'm so sorry."
"None of that. Are you feeling better?" A nod. "Can you stand?"
"I think so." Severus helped to haul him up, and then half-carried him back to the bedroom.
"Do you know what I still find unbearable?"
"You're Gryffindorish tendencies?"
"Almost thirteen years and they're still no closer to figuring out anything about this damn 'Revenge.'" Harry finished as if Severus hadn't said anything.
"Harry you know that almost every healer in the world is trying their hardest to figure it out."
"That just worries me all the more, Hermione. Millions of people working on this one problem and they still have no clue what it is, or what it does even. All they know is that it makes you vomit, and then you die." Harry huffed out an angry breath. "Severus where's that glass of water?" Severus went to go get it from the bathroom and handed it to Harry, who drank it down. "Where's my robe? I'm going to go down to the kitchen and find some crackers, or maybe some toast."
Hermione and Severus saw that he was done talking seriously for then. They helped him into his robe and slippers and then went with him to the kitchen. They offered to let him lean on one of them, knowing even as they offered that he'd refuse with all the Gryffindor pride he could muster. It was very quiet and most of the house was asleep, not even the children were up, but for one that was, and they found Celine sitting on the table in the kitchen having a whispered, but no less enthusiastic for the volume level, conversation with Fred and George, who never seemed to sleep.
"Mum! Daddy! Papa! What're you all doing awake so early?" She said it as she bounced up on the table and held her arms out for Severus to pick her up. Severus said something to her, about going to wait in the living room, that they'd be out with some toast and hot cocoa in a minute, she gave him a kiss on the cheek then went to hug her other parents before doing as she was told.
In the mean time Harry and Hermione had been exchanging hugs, 'Good Mornings,' and 'Merry Christmases' with the twins. Then they went into the living room to sit with Celine, and to get ideas for new pranks from her. They had been quoted at times to calling her their muse and that she deserved to be an equal partner in their business with all the ideas they got from her. Everyone was sure that she was going to be a Slytherin like her Papa.
Harry and Hermione made up a toast assembly line, while Severus set to starting tea, coffee and hot cocoa for all those who were awake and yet to wake. While they worked they all hummed in unison a Christmas song that Richard had always loved, and because of that had pretty much come to mean Christmas to them.
It was about twenty minutes before the other kids started waking up, and they were all given some toast and a mug of hot cocoa and told to wait in the living room where the Christmas tree had been set up. Then the three set charms on the toast and the three different pots of beverages to keep them warm. They brought three pieces of toast each and Harry had a cup of tea, Hermione had some hot cocoa and Severus had his coffee, they sat on the couch that had their kids on it, and they each had a piece of their toast stolen from them. Celine crawled into Harry's lap and stole her mother's drink.
"You could at least ask, Celine."
"Sorry, Mum. You don't mind do you?"
"No," She said and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Just don't drink it all this time."
"I won't I promise."
Everyone was sitting with quiet conversations. Mostly the children wondering what their presents were going to be once opened. Another twenty minutes and they were all getting restless, staring at the presents with obvious desire. Ten more minutes and they were twitching with the need to open presents most complaining now about the stupid rule about having to wait until all the grown ups were awake to open their presents. Five minutes more and the adults took mercy on the children and let them open their stockings.
They all ran to the fireplace, and the portion of wall that held the hanging stockings. The older children helped the younger to reach theirs and then everyone went to settle back down where they'd been before. Most of the stockings had pretty much the same things inside of them. Varying on age and whether the recipient was a boy or girl, and allergies, but other wise they all had some candies, an orange, and four little toys, or things that the person should find nice.
This preoccupied the children for another half hour and by then all the parents were awake and sitting in the living room in bath robes and slippers with mussed hair and sleepy eyes. Everyone had gotten some toast and something to drink. All they were waiting for now was Molly to start the ceremony of the opening of gifts. Every year they gave out the gifts according to age, one year they'd go oldest to youngest, and the next they'd go youngest to oldest. This year was the oldest to youngest and Molly would get to start. Being the matriarch of the whole family Molly pretty much got one gift for everyone, as did Arthur, but everyone else picked four names out of a hat, two children and two adults to get big presents for. This pretty much ensured that everyone got a couple big presents without completely breaking anyone.
"Alright I guess we'll start now." Molly said standing up and walking over to the tree, where she levitated nearly thirty packages off the floor and set them flying off to the recipients. As soon as Harry caught it he knew that it was this year's Weasley sweater. He opened it this one was bright scarlet red, with gold HPS on the front, Hermione's matched his, only it was a bit smaller and Severus's was emerald green with silver SPS. Harry looked to each of his kids, Ali's was like Harry's and Hermione's, and Richard's and Celine's were in Christmas colors. "There were so many this year that I started in June and ended up getting help to finish all of them." Molly said after having sat down again. "I had to make so many that I didn't have time to get any more presents, except..."She raised her wand and levitated a largish tin to an adult in every family, "I did make some fudge and biscuits for everyone to take home with them though."
Next went Arthur, he got everyone a muggle gadget or toy that he had thought was fitting. Then Severus, he had gotten something for Ginny, Anna, Fleur, and one of the triplets.
After that everything seemed to pass in a blur. Everyone was happy, at times people sang, old jokes were said and everyone laughed. There were tons of gifts, and lots of laughs over pranks. Around noon everyone got dressed had a quick meal of leftovers from the day before and headed out side for another three Quidditch games, they held a mini tournament of sorts. The team that had Ali as seeker, the twins as beaters, Angelina, Charlie, and Anna as chasers, and Ginny as keeper won.
Then they went inside and all the adults chipped in to whip up a quick spaghetti dinner. Next thing Harry knew he was leaning back in his chair, and all the kids were getting up to go to bed, they were giving everyone hugs, and saying good night, and Harry realized that the time had come. He was going to have to tell everyone. As if reading his thoughts and feeling his sudden apprehension, Hermione laced her fingers through his squeezed his hand tightly. "You can do it, Harry." He nodded to her, and when their own kids came to say good night, he asked them to stay a couple minutes, Ali seeing what was about to happen leaned against his dad, showing his silent support of him.
A couple seconds after the kids were gone, and it quicklyly dawned on everyone that there was something wrong with the Potter-Snapes. They were all silently waiting for them to cough it up, and say what was wrong. Harry took a deep breath, and started.
"I'm so sorry to be the downer after such a great day, but I thought it would be better, to tell everyone sooner rather than later, and since we're all here already."
"Harry, just tell us what's wrong." Bill was sitting straight across from him.
Harry took another shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sick, guys. Really sick."
Celine looked at him from where she was sitting in Severus's lap. "Do you have a sore throat like I did, Daddy?"
"No, pumpkin, it's much more serious than that." Harry now had tears streaming down his face. "Do you remember your Aunt Mary?" He sobbed, he didn't want to explain this to his daughter. Something just felt absolutely wrong about having to tell his little girl that he might not be there for the next Christmas.
Of course everyone knew what he had as soon as he made the reference to Charlie's deceased wife.
"Oh, Harry," Ginny said, on the opposite side of Ali, she stood up and wrapped her arms around both him and Ali. She was crying too now. Harry sobbed harder and it was a minute before everyone was huddled around him in a humongous Weasley family group hug. Everyone was crying, crying with memories of how the vile virus had last affected their lives, and how they had thought they were done with it, how they had hoped that it wouldn't affect them again.
"I hate that petty violent man." Harry thought it was Charlie, but he couldn't be sure. "I would bring him back to life just to kill him again for hurting us like this."
"Hush, Charlie." Molly told her second oldest. "You're not helping anything, saying things like that."
"It's alright, Molly. I know how he feels."
There was quiet again for awhile, just sobs and sniffles. Eventually though they broke up the hug, everyone was staying close still, they moved to the living room, and the majority of them smooshed into one couch, Harry in the middle, and the rest either sat on the floor in front of it, or sat on someone's lap. The couch had to have been magical, because there was no way that a normal couch could have supported them all at once. everyone was still sniffling and had tears slowly spilling from their eyes. Celine was sitting in his lap now, Richard was sitting on his left foot, and Ali had wedged himself between Harry and Molly.
"Daddy, I still don't get it. What about Aunt Mary?" Celine, had obviously gotten that it was a sad thing that Harry was sick, but she didn't understand why yet.
"Aunt Mary was Uncle Charlie's wife." Richard said looking up at his sister. "She got sick and died a year, or so, ago. She made that butterfly that you play with all the time." That made Celine cry harder. She buried her head in Harry's sweater, and grabbed onto him as if both their lives depended on it.
He wrapped his arms around her and sobbed as he held onto her, almost as tightly as she was to him. She murmured something into his chest and he lifted her face away from his chest so he could her what she was saying.
"It can't kill you, Daddy. You're Harry Potter. Nothing kills you." Harry couldn't reply to that he just started sobbing harder and so did she. That's when Hermione stood up.
"Come on, time for bed, boys." She leaned over and pried Celine off Harry, and the girl immediately latched onto her instead. "I'll be right back I'm just going to take them to bed." Harry watched the four of them walk away, tears still in his eyes. Ali had grabbed a handful of her robes as he walked behind her, like he used to when he was little and still timid about meeting new people, and Richard held onto his brother's hand, also like they used to when they were a little younger.
Ali laid in his parents bed with his little sister and brother. When their mother had brought them up to put them to bed, Celine had started complaining that she wanted to sleep with Mum, Daddy and Papa that night. Ali and Richard had immediately taken to the idea too. So now all three of them lay in their pyjamas, in their parents' bed crying.
"He can't die." Richard said. "We can't let him."
Ali let a little laugh out. "That's what I told him." He rolled onto his side to look at them both, Celine in the middle and Richard on the other side. "I found out yesterday and that's exactly what I told him. Then he told me that he wouldn't let it kill him, and he wouldn't let it take him away from us. He promised."
That seemed to give the other two heart and after awhile their crying slowed and they were all near sleep, actually Celine was snoring lightly when their parents came back in. Mum and dad went into the bathroom to get changed, and Papa sat down next to him while he took his shoes off.
"Are Celine and Richard asleep?"
"Celine is. Papa, what took so long?"
"Harry wanted to wait until he was done crying before he came up. And everyone wanted to ask him questions."
"Is he really going to be ok?"
"No one knows, but were not giving him up without a fight, are we?"
Ali shook his head no, his Papa leaned over and kissed his forehead. "We're going to enlarge the bed, and your Dad is going to sleep beside you. He's probably going to wake up early and have to throw up, don't let that scare you, he's just going to throw up is all, it'll wake your Mum and me up and we'll go help him. You stay here and take care of your siblings if they wake."
"Ok, Papa." Severus leaned down and kissed his forehead again then leaned over him to kiss Celine and Richard. He got up and walked into the bathroom, just as the other two were walking out.
Mum enlarged the bed, then kissed each of them, before gently settling herself in beside Richard. Dad kissed them each too, before laying down.
"Try and get some sleep, kid. I'll see you in the morning," Harry said as he laid down and closed his eyes.
"Good night, Dad."
"Good night, Alistair." Ali thought it would be ages before he slept, but he closed his eyes and it seemed he was asleep instantly.