The Seasonal Sisters' 1st birthday fell on the same day as the Dracken Ball that year. The morning and early afternoon was spent with a massive party that took full advantage of all the extra room at the Kiln. The evening was spent wrestling Cory, Fuyu, Haruhi, Summer, and Autumn into dress robes. The Elemental Five would be staying home under Dobby and Holly's watch, given they were less than a month old and a bit young for formal outings. Once they were all gussied up, Harry grabbed onto one of his mates and was Apparated to the Dracken Halls.
The guards silently opened the doors and the Potter clan followed the werelights to the cavern where the party was held. They gave their names at the entrance to the Elder taking attendance. Then they made a beeline for the playpen to drop off the kids.
"Okay, Cory. I want you to have fun but keep any eye on your sisters. Okay?"
"Okay," Cory said, nodding like he'd understood his mother's words.
"Ooh, you're just too cute, my little man. Have fun!" With one last hug and kiss, Harry left the playpen and deliberately didn't look back. He reached his mates waiting by a bar table and asked "Can I get a champagne? I'm finally not pregnant at one of these things, I want to see what the big deal is."
"It tastes like flat alcoholic ginger ale," Etienne revealed even as he passed a glass to his Submissive.
Harry sipped it and found Etienne was right. "You know, on second thought, I'll take a butterbeer. Now, for the traditional food crawl!"
Chuckling, his mates shadowed Harry as he walked around the edge of the party, eating all the little bites and appetizers laid out for the guests. They stopped to chat with Drackens they recognized. Most people still remembered Harry giving birth at the last ball in front of the ancients and everybody. Harry took the gentle ribbing with good humor. Ysabeau and Philippe found them at one point and Harry had to explain that he'd left their newest granddaughter at home.
"It just didn't seem like the kind of party you bring a 2-week-old to," Harry defended himself.
"I suppose you have a point," Ysabeau allowed.
"We're still invited to your 19th birthday, yes?" Philippe checked.
"Absolutely!"
Elder Titus appeared from the crowd. "Harry, dear one! You're not pregnant! I owe one of the other Elders money now."
Harry chuckled. "Two weeks too late. My quints are resting at home."
"So now you have 10 children? Ancients willing, I might manage one of their Submissive gathering meetings," Titus gushed.
"We'll find out in about 15 years," Harry shrugged.
"Ogden?" asked a female voice.
"Oh, Merlin's scabby knees," Harry's tallest mate muttered.
A woman practically dragging a wisp of a girl that couldn't even be 16 came from the crowd, both their eyes locked avariciously on Og. "I was wondering where you were. Do you remember me from my daughter's meeting?"
"Vividly, Janice," Og said neutrally.
"Well, her sister is set to turn 16 just next week! Look at her, look at those wide hips. She'd have no trouble even with a part-giant child!" Janice said, talking about her daughter like she was a mare.
"You're out of date with the news, Janice. I'm happily mated. My Submissive has already given me 3 sons," Og said, pulling Harry to him in a side-hug.
As the women's faces fell, Harry felt like being snide. "You just wanted him because he's the biggest. Well, I got him. And he's big all over, if you know what I mean."
Janice and her unnamed daughter left in a huff.
"I left her first daughter's meeting, they made so many demands. They basically wanted a House-Elf who doubled as a living dildo," Og shuddered.
"Well, lucky for both of us, you came to my meeting and I picked you." Harry pulled Og down into a searing kiss.
They stayed for a few hours, picking up Cory and the Seasonal Sisters from the playpen when Harry felt like leaving. Cory babbled at him as if making a report about what happened to his sisters. They Apparated back to the Kiln and laid their kids down for sleep. Harry, whimsically, sang a lullaby.
('Blackbird')
Finished crooning the last note, Harry left the nursery and went to the master bedroom. He tossed his dress robes carelessly in the hamper and joined his mates in the shower.
"So, any bets on when I go on my heat cycle again?" Harry asked as he lathered up, admiring all the naked male flesh around him.
"I'll give you 'before your birthday' at 2-1 odds," Morgan chuckled.
"I'll be hopeful and say 'not until after September 1st'," Etienne contributed.
"It will happen when it happens," the twins said, looking up from soaping each other.
Og cleared his throat. "What the twins said. We have no control over your biology, Harry. Best to just take things one day at a time."
Harry took that advice to heart. For the rest of May and the first half of June, he just appreciated each day he woke up in a loving marriage with loving children and loving friends and family. On the 17th, when he began craving meat, he just sighed and told Kreacher about the change in the meal plan.
"That means my heat starts the day after my birthday. Oh, no! We're going to miss Cory's birthday while we're on heat!" Harry told his husbands when they'd all gathered at the dinner table.
"He'll be 2, love. He won't care that we celebrate his birthday a couple days late," Og comforted.
Harry shook his head. "Anyway, our next big outing is to see Ginny when she gets off the Hogwarts Express. You three can get off work, right?"
"Well, I'm Senior Healer now, so I was promised more days off," Morgan mentioned casually.
"You got promoted? Congrats! You get the good loving tonight," Harry cheered.
"And goblins don't care when you show up so long as the work gets done. We'll have the time," the twins revealed.
They had dinner and then celebrated Morgan's promotion in their bedroom.
Harry figured 2 months was old enough to see the outside world. So he had the House-Elves dress his quintuplets for a day outside, his quadruplets and Cory already dressed like little people as opposed to bodysuits. Then, with his mates carrying two babies each, Harry held on as they were Apparated to Platform 9 ¾. They met up with Molly who was also waiting for her last child to come home from Hogwarts. Harry turned to ask her how that made her feel, that all her babies were considered legal adults.
"In a way, the whole point of a parent is to get a child to this point, where they can take care of themselves. In another, I'll always love and be ready to take care of my babies. But this is the cycle of life. Children grow into adults who have their own children. In the blink of an eye Cory will be making me a great-grandmother, you mark my words."
"Never thought of it like that," Harry mused as the scarlet steam engine pulled into the station. Harry just then noted Draco waiting a little ways away. Harry would bet a Galleon on who Ginny would go to first.
Sure enough, Ginny came out and ran right into her fiance's arms. They kissed just this side of propriety before Ginny pulled back and turned to her mother and Harry's family. Dragging Draco by the hand, Ginny gave her mother a hug. "Hey, Mum. Did you get my letter?"
"The one about how you'll be living at Malfoy Manor from now on? Yes. I packed a bag of your stuff and sent it already along with your dog," Molly said with mixed pride and sadness.
"Thanks a mil, Mum! Harry!" Ginny hugged Harry and then counted all the kids. "You had more! Like, 5 more!"
"Quintuplets in April. And I'm already on my 'diet' again. I'm a machine," Harry shrugged helplessly.
"Well, good luck. Oh, and thanks for the Firebolt! My flying's never been better. I already got a try-out for the Harpies Reserve team!"
"Congrats, Ginny. See you at Sunday dinner, or the wedding, whenever you're free," Harry wished his surrogate sister.
"Don't worry, I'll still remember you when I'm flying at the World Cup," Ginny promised loftily. She gave him another hug then joined Draco. They Apparated away.
"It's times like these I'm glad she got me Rascal," Molly sighed, referring to Indy's pup she was owner to.
Harry talked a bit more with Molly and then it was time for the Potters to return to the Kiln.
June passed and so did July. Harry spent his days either enjoying a life of leisure or playing with his kids all day in their nursery or around the house. Etienne finally got around to picking his wandmaking apprenticeship back up, getting a job at Ollivander's doubling as student and shopkeep. Og spent most days in the office, working away at his Arithmancy Mastery. The twins continued to do their job that they never actually gave concrete detail about at Gringotts; for all Harry knew, they were money launderers. And Morgan had even more work as Senior Healer to offset all the extra benefits.
Harry's 19th birthday dawned and he got ready for a big party. Everyone he knew, or at least everyone who could magically transport themselves to the Kiln, united to celebrate the passing of another year since his birth. Harry hoped everyone had fun, caring more for others' pleasure than his own.
The party started at 1. The children placed in a playpen under Holly's watch, Harry mingled with his friends and family, sipping on butterbeer and the vegetable snacks Dobby made just for him, given his heat cycle demanding he only eat fruits and vegetables, birthday or otherwise. Remus and Tonks had brought little Teddy, who was making friends with Cory in the playpen. Lilac Weasley was in the playpen too. Harry reflected that over the next decade or so, every guest would have kids to bring to parties like this. Well, except for the grandparents, that would just be weird.
The party lasted until dinner, which Kreacher and Maple had gone to extra trouble to prepare. Harry made a wish that each child of his find love before blowing out the candles. They all had cake and alcohol, match made in heaven, Harry opened everyone's presents, and then he was waving people away through the Floo. The House-Elves had already dealt with the clean-up. Maple's pregnant status didn't impede her at all; she and Kreacher had asked that he bless their union back in April before the quints were born. Dobby and Holly were making slower progress but it was obvious both cared for each other. Harry mused some might accuse him of breeding an army of magical slaves, to which he'd respond 'yes, so what?'. He needed helping hands with the amount of children he was bound to have. And he offered pay and time off, that was better than most House-Elf masters.
Harry and his mates tucked in all 10 of their kids. Harry decided that Cory deserved his own bedroom once he turned 2, so they already had that set up. His plan was to give each clutch their own room, since they'd need to expand the Kiln to the size of Chateau LaFortier to give each child their own room. That done, Harry got naked and sat on the bed. "Let's just talk. We never just talk anymore."
"That's ALL we do," the twins protested.
Og shrugged. "Sure, what will we talk about?"
"Where are you in your Arithmancy lessons?"
They chatted the hours away until Harry's heat hit. Then they did unspeakable things behind locked doors while the House-Elves took care of the kids and Indy for 10 days. Harry, in the tiny corner of his mind that was capable of thought, hoped the soundproofing for their room didn't fail. Some of the noises they all made during feral sex could scare the kids.
Harry woke up, reflecting that he was kind of getting used to waking up post-heat feeling like he'd been tenderized by some giant butcher. And the feeling of being pregnant, that was getting overly familiar too. "Do I really have to ask?" Harry called out.
Etienne, gentle as if Harry were a crystal figurine, carried him to the bathroom and the toilet. Harry found Morgan sitting in the tub. "Well? Quads? Quints? Merlin help us, sextuplets?"
"Twins. Just twins, due early March," Morgan grinned.
Harry almost slumped off the toilet in relief. "Oh, thank the ancients. We can handle just a dozen kids for a year."
Etienne carried Harry once he was done into the potion-laced bath. Og, Hisoka, Minori, and Morgan already looked better after the soak they were currently taking. Harry leaned back into the porcelain, enjoying the hot water on his poor muscles.
They sat in silence for the most part, just focused on recovery. Then Harry got out under his own power, dried off with a wandless wave of his hand, and went for the windows to air out their bedroom. It smelled like a monkey cage.
"One forgets you're a powerful wizard in your own right, not just a damsel. Then you do wandless magic and make it look easy," Og chuckled, following Harry into their bedroom.
"It's not that difficult. You just have to get the knack," Harry shrugged. "Now, I'm getting a few hours sleep before my baby's belated 2nd birthday starts. Feel free to join me." With that, Harry laid down on the bed and all but passed out.
Harry woke up at 8 in the morning to Etienne shaking him. "Cory's calling for you," the French Dracken told his Submissive.
Harry resisted the urge to sprint to the nursery. "He has to learn that I'm not always going to come when he calls. Just let me get dressed."
Harry dressed for a casual party and went to the nursery to find Cory standing up in his crib. He was so tall he could probably climb out of it if he were determined. Moving him to his own bedroom was now top priority in Harry's book. Cory noticed the two of them. "Mama! Dada Tien!"
"Oh, who's such a smart boy? You are, yes. And have you been keeping count? You're 2 years old now. Two years," Harry said holding up two fingers.
"Two," Cory repeated like a parrot.
"Oh, we've got a Ravenclaw on our hands!" Harry gushed and he hiked Cory up on his hip. He carried Cory downstairs and laid him at the head of the kiddy table they'd set up in the dining room for the children to take their meals. Holly popped his meal in front of him, and Cory, his fine motor skills advanced for his age, maneuvered the food from the bowl to his mouth using the spoon.
It was an average morning for the Potters, but the excitement started as soon as Molly Flooed in with Arthur carrying a stuffed dragon as big as Harry. "Did you make that yourself, Molly?" Harry asked, wondering where the bloody hell they'd keep a toy that size.
"Took me most of spring," Molly answered. "Cory seems to like it," she noted proudly, and indeed Cory was walking around, examining the dragon from every angle. Harry gave it a minute before Cory climbed on it.
"Is it animated?"
"I'm good, Harry dear, not that good."
"So, Harry, you get in touch with the local Muggles?" Arthur inquired.
"The nearest neighbor is 3 miles away. Didn't seem worth the effort. And we put up a Muggle Repelling ward when we cast protections over the house. As far as the Muggles are concerned, there's nothing here but an abandoned farm," Harry told his sort-of dad.
"So, are you pregnant again?" Molly asked, well aware of Harry's heat cycle.
"Just twins, thank Merlin," Harry sighed with relief.
"Mama! Look!" Cory said. He was bouncing on the dragon's back.
"Very good, Cory. Maybe one day you'll get to ride a real dragon… over my dead body," Harry muttered at the end.
Remus, Tonks, and Teddy came through the Floo then. And then the party got started.
It wasn't that different from Harry's own birthday over a week prior, just with a more excitable guest-of-honor and Harry didn't have a restricted diet. The Seasonal Sisters, Elemental Five, and other babies played in the living room while the adults gathered in the kitchen and dining room, going outside in the back garden when they started to overflow. Cory loved his birthday cupcake and his presents even more. But Molly's dragon was the clear favorite. Cory named it "Ryu,", which made the twins extra proud because it was the Japanese word for 'dragon'. Both they and Etienne had made a habit of speaking to the children in their native tongues in the hope they'd absorb them as easily as they had English.
After dinner, Harry waved all the guests goodbye, either Flooing or Apparating. Indy, who'd volunteered as a second pair of eyes on the kids, begged for a walk. Harry took her out the front into the field of heather, letting her run and do her business wherever she wanted. When she was done, Harry let them back in the house. Harry grabbed a butterbeer from the fridge and settled down in the living room, his mates having had similar ideas. Cory was dozing on Og's lap, the Seasonal Sisters were crawling on the carpet and the Elemental Five were already in the nursery.
Dobby and Holly chose that moment to pop in front of Harry. "Master Harry?" Dobby asked hesitantly.
"Yes, Dobby, what is it?"
"Will… will you bless Dobby's union with Holly?"
Harry reached out and laid his hand over their clasped hands. "I, as your master, bless your union. May it be long and fruitful." There was a spark of magic and Dobby and Holly were good as married.
"Thank you, Master Harry!" Dobby and Holly chorused.
"Happy to help. Now go polish the silver or make babies or whatever you do when we can't see you," Harry waved off in a fake posh tone.
They popped away.
"2 years… has it been that long already? Seems just yesterday he was this newborn I could fit in my hand," Og mused, looking down at Cory, who had luckily not inherited Harry's hair, just his eyes.
"And in 9 more years, he'll be going off to Hogwarts. It's like, slow down universe," Morgan said after a sip of his Gillywater.
"A full tenth of the Hogwarts population will be Potters by the time Cory's in Seventh Year," Harry postulated.
"We'll have a bit of a reputation, I'm sure," Etienne shrugged.
Harry gave a long yawn. "Let's get Cory settled in his new room before we call it an early night."
They took Cory up to his room, which the elves had already packed with all his favorite toys and gifts from that day, including the massive Ryu. Harry sang a quick lullaby to help Cory nod off after he was tucked into his child bed. Then Harry followed his mates to their bedroom and passed out after stripping nude on the bed.
It was halfway through August when Neville and Luna unexpectedly visited. They brought their dog, Bamboozle, one of Indy's pups. Harry welcomed them, surprised but delighted. "Sorry about your gran, Neville," Harry gave his condolences.
"She was old, she lived a life. Now, where are my godchildren? I haven't met them yet."
Harry proudly showed off the Elemental Five. Neville admired the babies, while Luna had a smile like she knew something.
"What is it, Luna?" Harry asked.
"Nothing, nothing. Just that Aqua will have even more Dominants than you. He's a powerful little Submissive."
"Luna, are you having a 'moment' again? What do you mean, Dominant and Submissive?" Neville asked his fiance.
Harry shrugged. "Well, if you're meant to raise them if I die, you ought to know. The quints are all Drackens. Like their mother, fathers, and siblings."
Neville gaped. "Drackens? Well why didn't you tell me? Your disease was really your heats, wasn't it?"
"Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead. It was confidential. Luna just blew the whistle on us."
Cory tilted his head. "Mama? What draka?"
"Drackens are magical creatures like human-shaped dragons, Cory. The whole family are Drackens," Harry explained to his firstborn. "You'll turn into one when you're 16."
Cory nodded, then went back to a toy that played a musical tune when you put the right block in the right shaped hole.
"I think I need a drink," Neville admitted.
Harry took Neville and Luna downstairs to get them beverages. Harry answered all Neville's questions about Drackens, clearing up some assumptions and misunderstandings. After a couple hours, Neville and Luna left, with an invitation to the wedding on the winter solstice.
The time flew by, Cory proving they weren't called 'Terrible Twos' for nothing. His tantrums all but cracked the windows, they were so loud. Harry learned the best policy was to just let him exhaust himself. The Seasonal Sisters babbled at each other like gossiping teenagers and the Elemental Five learned to sit up. For Halloween, Harry decided to tempt fate and throw their own party. It was an open invitation to all they knew, Harry even Apparating (he'd gotten his license in June) to pick up Dudley. The theme was casual, no costumes. People were mingling, enjoying food and drink, and Harry dared to hope the curse was broken.
Then Hermione Apparated in with a guest.
"Hey, Hermione. Who's this?" Harry asked approaching them.
Before she could respond, the man pulled his wand and cast at Harry. He recognized a scan from all the times Morgan checked him. The man got a demented grin. "I knew it! Die, Dracken!"
Harry wandlessly cast a shield, blocking a cutting curse aimed for his throat. Then he threw a stunner and knocked the man out cold.
"Oh, Merlin. Harry, I'm so, so sorry!" Hermione said in horror.
"You need better taste in men, Hermione," Harry sighed. "Hisoka, Minori!"
"Yes, Harry?" they asked, coming over.
"You two are Legilimens. Wipe his mind of any thought that the Potters are Drackens, then give him a hangover so he doesn't remember the party."
Both nodded, Hisoka pulling his wand and pointing at the unconscious man. His wand tip glowed white for a minute. "Done," they told their husband.
"I met him at work. He seemed decent," Hermione said almost to herself.
"Well, Drackens ARE considered Dark. He might have thought he was being the hero," Harry consoled her.
"Know what I need? A stiff drink and a good shag. Who here is single?" Hermione asked.
"Um, my cousin Dudley is the only one who springs to mind," Harry answered.
"The cousin who had a Damascene conversion? Good, I'll take it."
Harry, feeling a tad odd, introduced Hermione to Dudley. Hermione chatted for ten minutes, gulped a full dram of Firewhisky and then dragged Dudley upstairs to find a bedroom. Harry rolled his eyes. But then, he was hardly in a position to throw stones about jumping into bed with a stranger.
The wheel of time kept turning. Christmas was a private, family affair. The big Y2K dawned, proving the world didn't end due to dates on an arbitrary calendar. Valentine's, they had wild sex after the kids were all asleep. And then the time came when Harry was on bedrest for the twins. Harry mostly read or played with Indy indoors or talked with the husband on shift to watch him.
Etienne's twin sons (identical, Harry smelled) were born with little fuss. Harry grabbed his wand and cleaned himself as his mates entered their bedroom after being banished for the birth. Dobby or one of the House-Elves changed the bloody sheets beneath him. "Names? Godparent?" Morgan asked once he pulled out the blank birth certificates.
"Fred and George got their 'F' and 'G' names from their late uncles. Etienne, two good French names that start with 'F' and 'G'," Harry prompted.
"Francois and Gilbert," the proud father told the mother.
"I like those. Francois Potter and Gilbert Potter. Put Fred as godparent for Francois and George for Gilbert," Harry ordered Morgan.
Cory poked his head in "Mama ok? Baby come?"
Harry, heedless of his nudity, went to pick up his first baby. "Yes, Mummy's just fine. You have two new brothers, Francois and Gilbert. I know it's a bit hard to remember 11 names, but you're a big brother to all of them. They look up to you, so treat them nice like I showed you."
"Okay, Mama," Cory agreed.
"Harry put Cory back in the nursery, where he gave a report for the Seasonal Sisters and Elemental Five. Harry scrounged up a nickname for the twins: Les Jumeaux. Unoriginal but Harry's French was limited.
Fred and George were very touched when they learned they were godfathers to identical twins. They Flooed over to see the future pranksters as they insisted any godchild of theirs or grandchild of a Marauder would be. Harry laughed, but he could have sworn the twins (his twins) exchanged mischievous grins at the words. Maybe they'd be James and Sirius reincarnated. If so, Harry foresaw a number of Howlers aimed at his sons.
The Dracken Ball came and they attended for the fourth year in a row, bringing all 12 of their kids. The guards for the playpen had wide eyes as they accepted one toddler and baby after another. Harry might have been misinterpreting, but it looked like his kids took over the playpen and held court over all the other babies, even those older than them. Well, they were Potters, after all. Elder Titus and Ysabeau and Philippe were expected guests they chatted with while Harry did his traditional sampling of all the snacks. Harry grabbed the recipe for an artichoke thing that made him moan in gustatory delight. When they'd had their fun, the Potters gathered their young and returned to the Kiln.
Draco and Ginny's wedding in May was a lavish affair. The kids left home with the House-Elves (including a newborn Oak), Harry and his husbands cheered as Draco and Ginny sealed their union with a kiss. Harry went to fetch a drink at the bar when Narcissa Malfoy approached him.
"I know what you are," she said sharply.
"A guest at your son's wedding? The bride's best friend, practically her brother?" Harry tried to play off.
"Don't make me say the word," Narcissa said coldly.
Harry's face went flat. "What do you want? I know it's not money."
"Draco is a carrier, the blood is strong in the Blacks, my birth family. I want your word you'll support any child of his that inherits it."
"I would have done that anyway."
"Yes, but this way I can be sure."
"You are all a Slytherin, Narcissa. Sometimes you can just ask nicely."
"But why take the chance? Enjoy the reception." She stalked off.
Ginny honed in on Harry. "What did she do to you?"
"Blackmail me into being a good uncle," Harry summarized.
Ginny sighed. "Malfoys. What did I marry into?"
"Obscene wealth?" Harry suggested, waving a hand at the colossal manor behind them.
"Well, yes, that," Ginny chuckled.
Harry caught up with his good-as sister and returned to his mates.