I'm back with the fourth chapter!
The departure date was now only two weeks away. Harry hadn't wanted Teddy to miss his friends too much so he had organized the boy a 'birthday' party before leaving, even though he wouldn't become eleven for another two months yet.
Moving away would be hard enough and he didn't want his son to be sad because he had not managed to make enough friends to invite to his birthday in England. It would also serve as a goodbye party for the other kids.
His house was about to be invaded by a hundred children. He was not exaggerating either.
He had spent the morning packing away all the magical items and the breakables, even though the main party would be outside, he wasn't under any illusion that the rest of the house would be safe from the tornado that usually followed children everywhere.
His husband had hired a catering service to take care of the mountain of food needed for all the children invited and their parents. Sandwiches, pizza and other stuff he had not cared about would keep flowing out of his kitchen at all times until it they were ready to blow the candles. There were actually two cakes, one for the birthday boy and another that said "See you soon".
CRASH
"Merlin give me the strength" he muttered before shouting to the rest of the house "What happened?"
Teddy appeared looking frazzled "Erm… You better come.."
Following the boy he came to the sight of his twin daughters looking all innocent, their long deep auburn hair tied into pig tails and dressed for the party. On the floor one of their brothers crying.
"Shh, come here baby" he cooed taking the five year old boy into his arms "What happened to Rowan?" he asked again
"We were running around… playing tag and he wanted to join… but he's clumsy and tripped" Teddy explained felling a little guilty
He hummed, still rocking the toddler "And the reason you two look as if you've done something wrong?"
"We didn't mean to…"
"It was an accident….
He raised an eyebrow, demanding an explanation.
The girl on the right pointed somewhere behind him where a small ball was laying innocently.
"So, you've been playing with the ball inside the house. Which I told you many times you can't do. And instead of putting it away, you left it in the middle of the corridor where anyone could step on it and fall?"
"We're sorry" they chorused.
Sighing deeply, he closed his eyes "I won't' punish you for today, because the party is for everyone and it wouldn't be fair." He started "But your little brother could have been hurt badly if he had hit his head. You're on dish duty for the rest of the week and if it happens again, I'll take away your computers"
"Yes Daddy"
"Good. Now, take the ball outside and behave" he said shooing them away.
The young boy had calmed down now, only letting out a sniffle every once in a while, "Are you okay now baby?"
"Yes. I hurt my knee"
"I see… I think that calls for Papa's magic?"
"Uh uh" the boy nodded with a small smile
"Hey" his husband called seeing them coming down the stairs "What's wrong with Rowan?"
"We had a little accident" Harry explained "I'll leave him into your capable hands"
"Aww, my poor cub" the man cooed "I think this grievous injury calls for a kiss and… chocolate!" he whispered conspiratorially, as is Harry wasn't a couple of steps away and could perfectly hear them.
"By the way, your twins are in trouble for the rest of the week"
"How come they're my twins every time they cause something?" the man grumbled but his only answer was a disbelieving raised eyebrow. "Alright, point."
§§
"Kinglsey"
"Harry… what can I do for you?" the man asked somberly, still a little shaken by the reality the boy had so viciously slapped to his face.
"In the headmaster's office, there are Snape's memories. He was our spy all along, it was Dumbledore who made him promise to kill him" He said
"Impossible, Dumbledore would never…"
"He was dying, from the curse on his hand. Draco had been tasked to kill him that year but he was too…." He was about to say 'coward' but really… who would expect a sixteen year old boy to kill in cold blood? "he couldn't do it. Dumbledore made Snape swear he would do it instead, so his role as a spy would be secure. Too bad, the old man liked to keep his cards too close to his chest and no one trusted Snape anymore. Pretty useless having a spy that can't report to anyone"
"Are you absolutely certain that the memories are real, not tampered with?"
"The man is dead, what reason would he have to tamper with them? Make himself appear better than he actually was?" he scoffed. Why were wizards so obtuse at times? "He gave me the final piece to defeat Voldemort. He showed me the memory where Dumbledore revealed to him that I was a Horcrux and had to die for Voldemort to die too" he revealed "I want those memories used to reveal his role in the war. As much as I hated him, he's still a hero and should be treated as such. Just keep out the parts about horcruxes, less people know about those, the better it is"
"I will take care of it" the man rumbled, shaken by the news, again. "Are you sure you don't want to hold onto the memories until we can use them?"
"No, no.. it's better for you to do it.. being an auror and all" Harry mumbled, the excuse weak to his ears but the man seemed not to make anything of it.
"If you're sure."
"I am. Also, the Malfoys will have to be tried won't they?"
"Yes, of course. They are death eaters"
"Mrs. Malfoy lied to Voldemort saying that I was dead when she could perfectly see that I was alive. I owe her a life debt. Without her, even if she did it only to know if Draco was still alive; I wouldn't have been able to kill Voldemort."
"I suppose that would put her in a position where the jury would only give her a smaller punishment. She is not marked even if the dark section had camped at her manor"
"Draco too. He refused to identify me when we were captured. Gave us time to run away before they called Voldemort" Harry added hastily "I can give you the memories for their trials"
Kingsley blinked "Why are you wanting to do it now? You'll be called anyway to give your testimony"
"Because I want it to be over with and if they'll just accept the memories, I'm going to avoid the Ministry like the plague" Harry said, that part was true after all "Can you take them or not?"
"I can take and hold onto them until the trials. But they'll want to hear it from you too."
"No, they will want to parade their saviour. And I'm done being anyone's puppet" It took Harry only a few moments to conjure two different vials and store the memories inside.
"Alright. Anything on old Lucius too?" The man asked "I'm not sure my heart could take it if he suddenly turned good"
"No, nothing on him. But in the end, he was just a father trying to keep his family safe. He didn't even have his wand and he didn't participate in the battle." he mused "He was as much as a prisoner in his own manor as those people in his dungeons."
"He still did unspeakable things"
"And for those he should be punished. For the acts he committed, not for who he represents or for revenge against the right-hand man of the Dark Lord"
"You are wise beyond your years Harry"
"Yes, well… fighting a war when you're only a teenager would do that to you" he bitterly said "Bye Kings.."
§§
Leisurely sipping from his drink, he basked in his moment of tranquility before one of the children would crash into his legs demanding his attention or one of the parents spotted him.
The party was in full swing and there were people everywhere. He had no hope of spotting any of his kids, not even the teal haired birthday boy, among the mass of bodies.
It was complete chaos.
"Sickle for your thoughts?" the husky voice of his husband murmured into his ear, while embracing his from behind
"Are my thoughts so cheap" he teased
"Never. I'm just dirt poor" the other rebuked making him laugh
"You've become plenty rich. I was simply enjoying the silence before the storm" Harry said "Do you think they'll make this many friends back in England?"
"Sure they will. They're all great kids and will adapt in no time, you'll see"
"I wish I was as optimistic as you"
"I'm not. But if I wasn't trying to think positively, I would crawn into a hole and hide just to avoid moving"
"And now you're talking about your family, not our kids and their possibilities of making friends"
"Stop giving me away..." the man said fake slapping his arm "We'll be fine"
"Yes, we will." Harry agreed "I see our daughter, she looks completely lost" he said pointing to the small three years old girl looking around with big eyes
"Alright, Papa to the rescue" the man announced before detaching himself from Harry.
§§
"I knew Mrs. Tonks would be reasonable and let you spend time with Teddy" Hermione smiled coming to walk by his side
"Not really" he muttered, more concentrated on his walking and not dropping the baby, than his friends words
"You didn't take him without her permission, right? Oh, Harry… you can't do something like that, she'll never let you near him again this way!"
"Hermione, stop jumping to conclusions. I didn't steal him, I got custody of him because she's too… whatever… to care for him. The healer said it"
"Surely they are exaggerating. She just lost her daughter and son in law, she's allowed to mourn. They can't take her grandson away from her!" she said passionately
"They can if she tried to kill herself and when she didn't succeed, she resorted to hexing everything on sight" he said bitterly "and she doesn't give a shit about Remus, she blames him…"
"It's the pain speaking, she doesn't mean it and I'm sure that after the shock wears out she'll be completely able to care for him again"
"Whose side are you on?" he asked irritated by the way she kept making excuses for Andromeda. She wasn't the only one who lost people, what right did she have more than others to go crazy and say hurtful things?
"Yours of course" she hurried to placate him "But we're talking about a baby here, Harry. You're just a kid yourself, you can't raise him. And we'll have to come back to school to finish our last year before taking the NEWTS. After that you'll join the aurors and that doesn't exactly facilitate caring for an infant."
Harry frowned "So you think I can't do it?"
"That's not what I said"
"Yes, it is. Along with the fact that you've already planned my future for me" He pointed out betrayed "Who says I want to come back? I can as well take my NEWTS at the Ministry. And I have no intention of becoming an Auror, I've seen enough battles and death to last me a lifetime."
"But you and Ron decided…"
"In fifth year! And I said it mostly to piss off Umbridge." He interrupted her before she could start one of her tirades "And I'm not a kid Hermione. A kid doesn't sacrifice himself for the war and a kid doesn't kill"
"Harry…"
"I need to be alone, now, I think" He said coldly before walking away from her.
He loved her. She was one of his best friends but her tendency to plan everything, included his life, at the moment only grated on his nerves. He wanted to make his own decisions, without anyone's input or permission or acceptance. She'll have to learn to deal with it, because they weren't kids anymore and unlike their study sessions, she couldn't keep planning their futures for them.
He really hoped she understood where he came from and where she had been wrong, because he didn't want to lose one of his friends.
Their discussion though served to show him that he couldn't tell her his plan to leave the wizarding world and England all together. She would never accept it, thinking it a rash decision and try to list all the cons to him. When he would not listen to her, she would then tell others making it for him impossible to leave as he had wished.
He knew her too well. She meant well, but she could never accept that they had their right to choose and make mistakes and that not everyone had to think the same as she.
Maybe now that the war was over, she would grow out of it and forgive him for leaving without saying goodbye to anyone.
We're nearly there and soon the name of the Mystery husband (maybe it's not so mysterious though... some things kind of give him away) will be revealed!
As always, thank you to everyone who added my story to their alerts and favorites lists and to those who left a review!