Chapter 14 – Meeting Mr-in-law

Lucius took a deep breath and knocked on the door before him. He had told the people in the Ministry and the businesses he owned that he would be unavailable for anything bar the most pressing of emergencies. Many of his associates accepted it, but there were a few people – the Minister included – who were less than happy with him for it and it wasn't until he put his foot down and threatened to put them up for criminal charges with the creature's rights department that they finally stopped.

He nodded his greeting to Remus as he opened the door and stopped cold at the sight before him. Draco and Blaise were seated side-by-side on the two seater lounge with their respective mates seated sideways on their laps so their legs were entwined. The thing that caught his attention the most however was the sight and scent of saltwater that was surrounding the four of them.

"What happened?"

Draco murmured something to Harry who nodded.

"Tom left this morning," Blaise stated softly as he gently stroked Hermione's hair. "A few moments ago the mentor bond between him and them snapped."

"How have they taken it?" Lucius asked as he moved into the room to stand behind the two couples.

"We will be alright," Hermione said with a sad smile.

"We know he will come back," Harry murmured sleepily, "it was just a shock because we weren't expecting it."

Lucius gave into his desire and ran one of his hands through both Harry's and Hermione's hair, smiling when they both slightly leaned into his caress.

"Harry, I'm sorry but I have to go to class now. Will you be alright?" Draco asked.

Harry and Hermione smiled at their mates. "We will be."

Draco nodded and stood, blinking when he and Blaise ended up with an armful of animal rather than their mates.

Remus and Sirius laughed softly. "Looks like you will be having company of two sleeping kits, Lucius."

Lucius chuckled and sat on one of the seats. "It's a good thing I bought some things to do, isn't it? Now," he said with mock firmness, "pass me my soon-to-be son-in-law and his sister and head off to class."

Draco and Blaise laughed and with one last pat/scratch/snuggle type thing with their mates, they placed the two of them beside the older blond, who had pulled a book from his pocket and started reading it, absentmindedly patting the combined ball of kitten and fox.

With a chuckle, everyone left the room heading out for the day.

-bunny bunny bunny-

Lucius chuckled as a black blur launched itself at the paper he had just pushed to the opposite side of the table. It was just after eleven and while Hermione had changed back after she had woken, Harry had remained in his kitten form.

"I hope that isn't important," Hermione said with a smile as she waked into the room with a tea set for two and a saucer of milk.

Lucius smiled and shook his head. "Not important at all. My businesses have an annoying policy of separating the sections of their reports with a blank page. It's such a waste because they won't use the paper again. I normally put it into a draw in my desk and use it for notes, drafts and letter to people who would faint at the sight of the Malfoy parchment."

Hermione nodded as she placed the tray down before picking Harry up and scratching his stomach. Her laughter joined Lucius' when Harry attempted to latch onto her hand.

I have everything ready for lunch; I just have to put it into the oven in about fifteen minutes so it's ready in time for when everyone gets here."

Lucius chuckled when Harry purred happily and licked Hermione's hand before jumping down and running to the saucer. As he and Hermione stated with their own drinks, Lucius bathed in the knowledge that his son would be happy with his somewhat quirky mate.

-Turtle tonga line-

Sirius, Remus, Severus, Draco and Blaise all closed their eyes as they inhaled the slightly spicy scent coming from Remus' rooms.

"Smells like Hermione is cooking today," Sirius said after making sure he wasn't drooling.

Remus nodded his agreement. "I don't know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing."

"Why? Is Miss Granger not a good cook?" Severus asked.

"No, quite the opposite, in fact," Remus hastened to reassure his guests. "It's just … Harry normally only allows Hermione in any kitchen he views as his without his presence if he is sick, inured, depressed or she spends several hours begging him to allow her free reign."

"Then instead of staying out here wondering, why don't we go in?" a female voice asked. Everyone in the group tensed and spun around, only to relax when they saw who it was. "One of Harry's humdingers invited me to lunch. I also have a request for Lord Malfoy from Daddy. I thought since he was here anyway, I could ask him his thoughts before daddy makes another mistake like the plimpy soup disaster." She shook her head mournfully. "He still hasn't accepted that wizards cannot eat food of the Seelie or Unseelie court."

While everyone else stood blinking at the odd girl, Remus turned to the door and opened it. Lucius' laughter was the first sound that hit their ears, followed closely by Hermione's. Intrigued, the odd group crept into the dining room doorway and laughed. Lucius was in the process of shredding paper, only to use it to entice a surprisingly active kitten into pouncing, clawing and chewing on it, making the paper even harder to use it in an attempt at blackmail.

Luna was the first to notice something different about Harry-the-kitten and before anyone could protest, she reached out and pulled him to her chest, scratching his head with a finger. "You should change back Harry," she stated. "The Humdinger's would like their nest back before the nargal's discover them."

In reply, Harry just cuddled into her before delicately biting her nose, making her giggle and put him on the ground. Once he was a fair distance from anyone Harry transformed back into his human form where he stretched leisurely before circling around Draco, rubbing himself on the older teen.

Lucius, Severus, Sirius and Blaise laughed at the dazed look on Draco's face. Remus smirked slightly when he was the next to receive the same greeting, making Draco growl possessively one moment then grin goofily the next at the thought of being the first to receive said treatment.

"You spent all morning in your animal form, didn't you?" Remus asked, amused.

Harry nodded happily as he greeted Sirius, Severus and Blaise in the same fashion. Everyone looked surprised when Harry turned and included Luna in his greeting.

"Um … what are you doing Kitten?" Sirius asked as he happily settled into the seat beside Lucius.

"Now you smell like family," Harry stated, bouncing in his seat. "Family is good. Family is safe."

"Family is forever," Hermione finished with a small smile, getting an answering grin from Harry.

"You do realise that the reason Lucius is here is so you get used to him and get to know him properly don't you?" Sirus teased gently. "Not to kitty-sit."

Everyone laughed when Sirius failed to duck the plate that Lucius swung at him playfully.

"For your information, I thoroughly enjoyed my time here this morning and I think I passed muster considering he is seated beside me, poking at my ribcage at this very moment." Harry giggled and poked him higher up on his ribcage, making the Malfoy Lord twitch as he struggled not to give into the demand of the ticklish sensation. "If I'm completely honest, Harry has only really been awake for just over an hour. Even though he woke when Miss Granger did, he decided that he would rather curl up on my lap or my paperwork for a few hours."

"And I found out a lot of things about him," Harry said determinedly. "I found out he has a strong sense of family, he is a cat person, he has an odd sense of humour …"

"Hey!" Lucius pouted, making Harry giggle.

"And he's a real charmer," Harry continued. He sent Draco a slightly heated, yet innocent flirtatious look. "It's no wonder I didn't stand a chance when Draco turned on the charm: He definitely takes after his father."

Draco cleared his throat nervously and fidgeted slightly, very happy that he was wearing loose robes. He sneered at the knowing looks on Remus', Blaise's, Hermione's and his Father's faces, cursing their heightened senses.

"Anyway," Harry continued, "just wait until you try what 'Mione has made for lunch. It's yummies."

"What is it Kitten?" Draco asked with a smile as he moved to place a kiss on his mate's head.

"Spicy chicken salad," Harry announced happily, only to pout when Luna was the only one to react the way he wanted everyone to.

Hermione laughed at his face when this happened. "They don't know what it is, Hun," she giggled. "It's an Asian-styled salad with a chicken breast that was marinated in a mix of Thai Red Curry paste and coconut cream before being crumbed and roasted. It is then set aside to rest before getting sliced and arranged on top of the salad."

"That sounds absolutely delightful!" Blaise said with a smile.

"That's good," Hermione responded with a sweet smile, "Because that is what you will be getting regardless."

Blaise blinked in shock as everyone laughed at him.

-and the rhino's rumba in a tonga line-

Lunch was filled with lots of laughter, gentle teasing and – in the case of the two couples and the absence of Tom – mild flirting. It wasn't until lunch was almost over that everyone realised what a bad idea it was to have Lucius and Harry in the same room when Lucius mentioned Blood Magic and the Ministry's outlook on it.

"The Minister is an idiot," Harry stated, making everyone stop what they were doing and look at him. "The normal, everyday average wizard can't even USE blood magic."

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked, honestly curious. "The Malfoy family have always been able to do blood magic."

"I have as well," Sirus admitted. "The rest of my family can't, but I can."

"I mean what I say," Harry stated. "Only very strong wizards can use blood magic and even then it will only work more than eight per cent of the time if the wizard has a close connection to a daemon of some kind. The Malfoy's have always been able to use blood magic because of one reason – their vampiric heritage." Harry shrugged. "Rinie, Tom and I can do blood magic, as can Remy if he chose to. Siri however … Siri is a special case as it could be one of several things. It could be due to the depth and strength of his connection to Remus and my Father, or it could be because he was adopted into my family unofficially or it could be due to his animagus form being that of a Grimm, considering that Grimms are the favoured pets of some of the more … deadly demons."

"Really?" Sirius asked, leaning forwards with interest.

"Yes," Hermione replied, blinking at the unnatural Sirius-like behaviour the man was exhibiting. "Most people associate Grimms with death – but that is incorrect. A Grimm without a demon master haunts the areas in and around graveyards, deserted buildings or lonely tracks in the wilderness. It is their duty to protect the innocent from harm. Muggles call them black dogs or demon hounds because of this. There are stories that are still coming out today about a lady or man seeing a large black dog and then vanishing only to be found lifeless a couple of days later. More frequently, however, are reports of women, children and to a lesser degree, men, seeing a large black dog when they felt unsafe or insecure. They say that the dog followed, guided or romped around them as they made their way back to a place they were safe in before vanishing into thin air before their eyes."

"Oft times," Harry continued, cutting in seamlessly when Hermione paused for a drink, "It is discovered some time later that the time the dog revealed itself to the person, there was some form of danger in the area."

"What type of danger?" Remus enquired.

"One lady was maybe thirty feet away from the hiding place of a well-known murderer who had escaped from prison. Another young lady passed by a supposedly abandoned building only an hour before it was discovered to house a band of sexual predators. The most recently reported was by an eight year old girl and her five year old brother. They had been separated from their mother by accident and a large dog showed up and led them to her. When questioned, the daughter told the authorities where they were. It wasn't until then that more than the older or more superstitious of the force believed her because the children had been right on the doorstep of a building that was under suspicion of being a child abduction ring."

"Mastered Grimms only reveal themselves to the humans whom their master wishes to consume," Hermione said with a smile as Harry went back to eating. "That is why those who suffer death-by-Grimm have been found with various markings or missing pieces."

"For instance," Harry continued, giggling softly at the groans of disappointment that came from Sirius, Remus, Severus, Draco and Blaise as a warning for the beginning of class sounded.

"You'd better put this into a pensieve for us kit," Sirius warned.

"Yeah, anything that actually holds Sirus' attention for this long is gold," Remus teased.

"If you like," Harry began shyly, "When you cover Grimms in class, I could come and talk about it."

Everyone stopped and stared at the madly blushing submissive in shock, making him giggle slightly in nervousness "If you don't leave now, then you'll be late."

Five yelps sounded, making the remaining four laugh.

"Aren't you going as well Luna?" Hermione asked.

"I have a study break for these two lessons because I have astronomy tonight. I hope you don't mind me staying here instead of leaving."

"We don't mind," Harry assured the girl before turning back to Lucius, making both girls giggle softly. "For instance," Harry repeated, "Those who have claw-marks on their shoulders were fed on by demons that devour souls. Those who looked like they had been mauled were the prey of demons who obtain sustenance through blood or flesh."

"Fascinating," Lucius stated, eyes gleaming at the new knowledge. "I can see us getting along simply marvellously."

Harry grinned widely at his soon-to-be Father-in-law before seating himself beside Luna and holding a soft conversation with her. Within moments however, the four of them had stated another deep discussion – this time about, of all things, the use of cutlery while eating certain foods. This conversation took them through to when Luna had to leave and the rest of their family returned.

Everyone could tell that Lucius wasn't the only person who was disappointed when he announced he had to leave for the day. Harry and Hermione said their farewells before disappearing into the kitchen. Lucius hugged his son and left chuckling over their last discussion.