Chapter 2: The many facets of marriage

I don't own 'Harry Potter'

"It's a great day for a shotgun wedding," Harry muttered under his breath.

Orion snorted quietly from his place next to Harry, lips twitching with mirth as the druid completed the ceremony and Alphard kissed his new husband.

It was truly a ridiculous set of circumstances; after Alphard had informed Harry and Orion of his unplanned pregnancy, the three of them had set out to Black Manor the following day to inform Lord Black before the wily man saw the family tapestry and figured things out himself.

Arcturus had not been happy to say the least, but he'd decided not to do anything as long as Alphard immediately got married to the man whose child he was carrying. Seeing as the two of them had been engaged in a fling-cum-relationship for a few months already, but had kept quiet due to the age gap, there was only a slight chance that things would go horrifically wrong in their marriage. A mere half-week later, and Alphard was now married.

To Gideon Prewett.

Alphard's such a dog. Gideon was the same age as Harry in this time, meaning he was a whole two decades younger than the Black he'd impregnated. (And Harry was resolutely ignoring the fact that Orion was just two years shy of being twenty years older than him. Denial was a wondrous thing.) It was an odd couple, to be frank, but Harry had high hopes for them after seeing how they kept gazing at each other with what appeared to be genuine love already. And lust, though he didn't really want to address that within hearing distance of the twins.

The ceremony was a small one, what with next to no prior warning for any potential guests, therefore not everyone from either side of the family could be there. Harry and Orion were there with Ri and Al, of course, and the two were being extraordinarily well-behaved despite having to stand still for hours. Harry would bake cookies for them later as a reward. (And for Orion as well, even though his husband outright denied having any semblance of a sweet tooth. What an adorable liar.)

Also standing for the Blacks were Alphard's brother Cygnus, Arcturus and Melania, Pollux, Cassiopeia, and Dorea and Charlus Potter. Marius would have come if it weren't for the fact that his entire household had come down with the flu, so his absence was understandable. Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa were currently on holiday in Australia, and Alphard hadn't wanted them to cut their break short so they were still on the other side of the world.

Lucretia and Ignatius were essentially representing both sides of the wedding, though the other Prewetts currently present were also supporting Gideon. His parents Silvius and Beatrix, his brother Fabian (of course), as well as his younger sister Molly. Bilius was unfortunately in Saint Mungo's thanks to what seemed to be spell damage from nothing more than idiocy combined with a lack of common sense. In other words, it was his own fault.

Molly looked like she'd swallowed a lemon at the moment, though Arthur looked cheery as ever as he cradled baby Percy in his arms, with a nearly-six Bill and nearly-four Charlie at his side. (Though as cute as the family was, Harry was still baffled how Arthur and Molly had managed to have the exact same children with the exact same names, at least so far. Magic had to be involved in some way, there was no other explanation.)

"So," Harry began slowly, watching Alphard and Gideon exchange looks that provided plenty of evidence as to how Alphard had managed to get pregnant so quickly, "what's going to happen now? You know, what with the … situation?"

Not many people here even knew the reason as to why the unusual couple had gotten married so quickly, so he was trying not to alert anyone of the dubious legitimacy of what would be a child in just over eight months. As far as Harry knew, the only ones in the know were him, Orion, Arcturus, Pollux, and Fabian. Not even Silvius Prewett seemed to know he was about to be a grandfather through Gideon, but in Gideon's defence, his father looked to be a right bastard. Something about Ignatius being Lord Prewett instead of him, despite Ignatius being older. If Harry was right, Silvius had also been gloating at having four children and three grandchildren when Ignatius and Lucretia hadn't managed to conceive a single child in over four decades.

(If there weren't other people – and young ears – around, Harry might be tempted to describe him with a particularly nasty four-letter word beginning with 'c', and he wouldn't exactly be wrong, either.)

"Well, as you well know, it's actually rather common for … things to come to fruition later than expected in these circumstances," Orion murmured quietly. "If everyone who's aware keeps silent, things shouldn't ever come to light. And Alphard's already requested you as his personal Healer, so there won't be anyone else around to interfere."

Harry smiled, relieved at that news. Alphard was a great person and didn't deserve to have this situation affect him negatively in any way. He was going to be a father and get to raise a child; he shouldn't have to put up with strangers demeaning him for daring to conceive outside of marriage. While Harry definitely preferred the idea of only having children after being married, he also believed it was a purely personal choice that shouldn't reflect poorly on either the child or its parents. As long as having the child was a deliberate choice – seeing as there were any number of effective magical contraceptive methods – there wasn't a problem in Harry's eyes. (Unfortunately for Alphard, he seemed to have forgotten these preventative measures in favour of thinking with his cock. Idiot.)

The smaller man noticed the newly-wedded couple across the room and chuckled under his breath, grinning slightly as Orion raised a brow.

"Considering Alphard and Gideon are sneaking off by themselves like a couple of horny teenagers, I don't think we'll have any problems in the future."

Orion turned around, and upon witnessing his cousin slip away like a sex-deprived maniac, shook his head in exasperation and sighed. "That man has no shame."

Harry shifted closer and leaned against his husband's side, peering up at him from beneath his lashes and smiled coyly. The interest in those silver eyes was rather gratifying to witness.

"He might have no shame, but perhaps he has the right idea."

Orion's eyes darkened with lust and he squeezed Harry's waist gently, not willing to do anything else with so many witnesses. Not that Harry was complaining; public displays of affection weren't really his thing, either.

He watched as his husband caught Lucretia's eye, the woman looking curious for a few seconds before her eyes flickered between the two of them, an impish smirk emerging on her aristocratic face. The woman looked over at the twins and back, before nodding at them, wicked mirth in her silver eyes. Lucretia was a demon, no doubt about it.

"Ri, Al," Harry called out softly.

The two boys turned as one, green eyes lighting up at the sight of their parents as they walked over. Ri currently had a plate of finger sandwiches while Al was munching on a chocolate cupcake, his cheeks puffed up like a hamster. It was a miracle neither of them had gotten food down their new dark-green robes, but Harry knew the night was still young. Thank God for cleaning charms.

He took a moment to smooth their long hair down their backs, the two of them having copied Harry and Orion in growing their hair out. Currently, both boys had their hair tied back and out the way with a couple of thin, gold straps – Orion was being silly about him corrupting them towards Gryffindor, of course he wasn't! – which really emphasised the Black facial structure. Seeing as they were already 4'6" despite being just eight, their face wasn't the only thing they'd gotten from Orion.

"Dad? Papa? What's wrong?"

The warmth Harry felt at hearing his children – his children – address him like that would never get old. Before spontaneously ending up in the sixties, he hadn't thought that he'd ever have the chance to build a family the way he wanted, and now he had everything he'd ever wanted and more. He should probably give thanks at the grave of whichever mad Black had possessed those things which sent him back in time. Maybe. (Accidentally raising the spirit of an insane person wasn't exactly on his bucket list.)

"Nothing's wrong, we were just wondering if you wanted to spend the night with your aunt Lucretia and Ignatius. Do you?" he asked.

And it was a question, because as much as he desired some alone time with his husband, Harry wasn't about to put his sex life above the happiness of his children. They might need to learn some independence in their lives, but Harry didn't want to raise children who didn't understand parental love or how he and Orion would always be there for them.

Ri brightened at the idea, practically bouncing on his feet, while Al asked, "Can Bill come, too? And Charlie? They're younger than us, but they're really nice! And Charlie really likes dragons!"

Orion smiled gently, ruffling Al's hair slightly. "That's not up to me, Al. You'll have to ask Lucretia and Ignatius if they don't mind, as well as check with Arthur and Molly Weasley. Do you think you two can handle that?"

In unison, the two boys adopted calm and controlled expressions, tempering their enthusiasm as they turned to confer with one another, before marching off together towards their aunt. Harry watched them walk with all the surety of a duellist before a match and mourned for the possibility of Gryffindor twins. There's no way; Orion's infected them too badly.

Harry kept an eye on his youngest two as they got an indulgent nod from Lucretia before they made their way over to the Weasley contingent. He wondered if they could sense some tension from Molly, though thankfully the overbearing woman wasn't off with the two of them. Though that could be the fact that both he and Orion were staring directly at the redhead as she spoke to the children, almost as if daring her to upset their sons. (While he might not have a fearsome reputation in their society, only a complete and utter buffoon would dare upset a child of Orion Black.)

Seeing Arthur happily nod at the four boys while Molly huffed but obviously capitulated, Harry felt a smile emerge across his face at the cute scene. No child of his was ever going to be terrified of getting to know others, would never sit in the dark and question why they were always so lonely. His sons would grow up happy and confident, even with some people mistrustful of their Black heritage. (And if Molly looked at his children like that one more time, he might just hex the interfering woman.)

Ri and Al spun to face their aunt, and started walking through the room with Bill and Charlie following them like a couple of baby ducklings. Judging from the various grins and indulgent smiles around the room, he wasn't the only one to think it was ridiculously cute.

The boys stopped briefly to say goodbye and hug Harry and Orion, before the small party of four bounded over to Lucretia with enthusiasm that was heightened by the woman's maniacal grin. Oh well, not my problem anymore.

Harry gently took Orion's hand and held it between their bodies, the folds of robes disguising the chaste intimacy. He slowly rubbed his thumb up and down the back of his husband's hand, very much enjoying the heated look in those silver eyes he was so drawn to.

"I do believe, Husband, that we were making plans of a more personal nature. Now your sister's taking care of the twins …" Harry trailed off musingly, the silence all the more suggestive with no young children around to divert attention.

Orion stepped closer and withdrew his hand, curling it around Harry's waist instead and leading him from the hall and into the quieter corridor. As they made their way through the expansive manor towards their rooms, Harry was hyper aware of the warm hand casually stroking his side, the heat making him somewhat lightheaded from the anticipation. There was a reason they never started anything without knowing it could be finished.

Once inside their suite, the doors locked and warded, Harry was grabbed by his husband with no warning, and a few seconds later found himself straddling Orion where he was sat on their expensive sofa. There were two strong arms wrapped around his waist, holding him almost possessively as silver eyes undressed him while they roved over his body from head to toe.

Harry shivered in delight, thanking everything he could think of that the two of them had an entire night to themselves with no distractions. Before his thoughts could get much further, soft lips brushed over his once, just to get his attention. He leaned forward for more, moaning when the kiss bypassed 'gentle' and went straight to 'breathless'.

He didn't know how long the two of them remained attached at the face, hands wandering and stroking and teasing, but when Orion pulled back Harry was panting heavily, grateful for air but wanting so much more. He had no doubt his face was bright red, and he could feel his hair flowing freely down his back. His shirt was also gone, somewhere on the floor if he had to hazard a guess, and his trousers were undone, giving him some figurative breathing room.

Thankfully, Orion was in much the same state, and Harry leaned forward to press gentle kisses to the toned chest, every so often nosing the soft body hair that was very much a turn-on for Harry. His fingers were playing with Orion's black curls, fingernails raking lightly over his scalp, and he couldn't help but smirk at the thrilling groan he elicited. Knowing he had the power to reduce his husband to this was beyond satisfying.

Orion lifted Harry's head and bent down to kiss his neck, every so often sucking harshly or running his teeth over the sensitive skin. Harry could feel electricity dancing across his body, all the way from his bruised neck to his groin. He tried not to, but he couldn't help but shift in Orion's lap, trying to release some of the pressure he could feel. Though considering how beautifully Orion was cursing and whispering filthy promises, Harry was quite happy to remain like this for a while.

His husband slowly pulled back so his lips were resting against the junction of Harry's neck and shoulder, his arms wound around Harry's torso so that Orion could run his hands up and down the smaller man's back.

"Do you remember that conversation we had last year, during Yule? After we saw the girls?"

Harry blinked through the heady arousal and thought back to the previous year, immediately remembering which conversation his husband was talking about. It wasn't difficult, not with how it'd been playing on his mind recently.

He leaned back and looked Orion in the eye. "Is this because of Alphard, or –"

Orion kissed him suddenly, breaking off Harry's words before pulling back with a smirk. "I've been thinking about this since before my cousin became an even bigger idiot than I thought possible.

"So, do you want another child?"

Harry rolled his eyes but grinned, knowing himself well enough to admit that yes, he would like another child to raise. There would be enough of an age gap between the boys and a new baby, so things wouldn't exactly be difficult to handle. All in all, it wasn't that hard of a decision.

Harry pressed a brief, chaste kiss to Orion's lips. "Sure. However, let me make sure I'm entirely healthy before you try and impregnate me. I'd like to avoid enforced bed rest if it's at all possible this time."

Silver eyes softened and Orion leaned his head against Harry's, noses brushing gently. Harry felt warm in a way that had nothing to do with his lingering arousal. Though speaking of arousal …

"Then again, that doesn't exactly stop us from having sex now, does it?"

Large hands tightened around his body, and Harry grinned as he pressed himself against the burning body beneath him. Orion's hands slipped down to his waistband and Harry raised himself up on his knees, blood pumping as his trousers were pulled down.

This was going to be a long night, and he couldn't wait.

A/N: Harry is thirsty. So is Orion. Enough said, really.