Chapter Two
A/N: The song at the end is called I Love You No Matter What. I got it off this really cool website that has a whole bunch of songs for kids. The website is bussongs. com. Also the name Chou means Butterfly and I couldn't find a name to mean Dragonfly. This will be my last post to No More Sorrow unless I have time but I'll be leaving on Friday and I'll be gone for a week with no internet connection in the cabin I'll be staying in.
"Excuse me!"
Melody placed her arms on the glass counter as she stood on her toes, her chin placed on her folded hands. Her sister stood next to her, her pink My Little Pony wrapped around her shoulders, covering her pink, orange and yellow spotted one piece. Melody's own dark blue Transformers towel was wrapped around her body, under her armpits, collecting the water from her still wet blue, green and white two piece swimsuit. Their father diagonal from where the small jewelry stood on the boardwalk, ordering ice cream for them. It had been Courtney's idea to look at the necklaces and bracelets to represent their friendship.
The man behind the counter turned around and smiled, straight white teeth being framed by thin pink lips, at them. He had light blond hair that almost looked like snow cut short to fall to his ears, and icy blue eyes held more warmth than a fire. He seemed to be the same height as Harry with a slender body that looked to be more graceful. He crossed his arms under his chest as he leaned against his counter, his eyes twinkling as he looked at the twins.
"Well, good afternoon, ladies," he said.
Courtney and Melody looked at each other, green eyes meeting green, and found themselves giggling as a slight blush formed on their cheeks.
"My names Courtney and this is my sister, Melody."
"I'm Draco. Is there something that I can get you?"
"We've been fighting a lot lately and we thought that we should get some kind of jewelry so when we stopped talking to each we'd always know that we love each other," Melody offered.
"Yeah. We hate fighting each other. It makes Dad sad when we stop talking to each," Courtney added.
The man, Draco, brought his left hand up and started to tap his index finger against his lips. "I think I might have something for the two of you."
"Really," the girls asked. They both looked at each again, smiling brightly.
"But its magic so you have to keep it a secret."
"Magic," Courtney asked.
"I can keep a secret!"
Draco grabbed a blue velvet box from a shelf behind him and walked around the counter to kneel in front of the girls. Melody, standing behind her sister, placed her chin on Courtney's shoulder. They watched in awe as the box was opened, watching carefully. The first necklace that Draco pulled out of the box had a butterfly pendant dangling from the silver chain. The wings to the butterfly were a light blue with small white spots and the body to it a soft cream.
"Here." Draco unclasped it and placed it around Courtney's neck, who beamed as she stared at the pendant. He pulled the second one out and Melody moved from behind her sister to get a better look at it. Hanging from a gold chain was a dragonfly. The wings were a deep purple with a single red line running through each wing, and the body black. Melody licked her lips as Draco put the necklace around her.
"Wow," Melody whispered, picking up the pendant to look at it.
"When you get mad at each other, these will become your friends. They keep your secrets, help you connect to each other and will always love you," he said.
"Kind of like a pet," Courtney asked.
"Yes, ma'am." Draco lightly tapped Courtney's nose and smiled. "Why don't you guys go ahead and name them? You know, once you name them, these two can also –"
"Melody! Courtney! I've got ice cream!"
It had taken Harry longer than he had thought to get the ice cream for the girls but they had been so good on the flight and had managed to unpack their things that he had to treat them. In his left was Bubble Bum ice cream, Melody's favorite kind and of course was almost impossible to find, that was blue with small round pieces of gum. In his other hand was Take the Cake, Courtney's favorite, yellow ice cream with blue, purple and pink sprinkles in it.
The girls turned around and ran the short distance to him, taking the ice cream from his hands with a yell of thanks. He blinked as the man that had been kneeling down in front of his daughters stood. The man pulled up the loose dark denim jeans and unzipped the hoody he was wearing to expose a green tank that clung to his body.
"Malfoy?"
"Dad, that's Draco. He gave me and Melody –" Courtney grunted as Melody elbowed her in the ribs and her eyes went wide as her sister whispered something in her ear.
"Its been awhile, Potter."
"Everyone thought that you had dropped off the face of the planet, Malfoy. No ones seen you since the war ended."
The war ended a year before the twins were born, three weeks before Halloween. It had taken all of three days before Voldemort finally showed himself and Draco had distracted him long enough for him to start the cast of the spell. It had taken him and his two best friends four months to find the spell but in the end, Hermione and Ron had come through at the end. Both, unfourtently, had been attacked while he had cast the final stage to the spell and when Voldemort fell to his knees, Hermione fell to the ground covering her eyes. Then Voldemort disappeared into a pile of ashes and Ron had fallen to the ground, almost dead. Injuries had been high that night and Madam Pomfrey had never been more busy as the wounded pilled into the Hosptal Wing. Hermione lost her sight and Ron had to go to therapy to regain strength in his left leg. Harry had been in a coma for two months but when he awoke he found himself surround by his adopted family and...her.
Harry shook his head to stop himself from thinking about the past. He didn't want to think about his daughters mother. He had already spent months crying when he was left alone with the twins.
"That's the way I wanted it."
"Why? People were looking for you for weeks," Harry snapped. He had been among the few people to actually look for Draco when hehad gotten out of his coma. Nobody had seen him since the battle and he wasn't among the dead.
"I heard. Didn't think anyone cared enough to actually look for the Death Eaters son." Draco looked into his eyes and Harry felt himself swallowing as emotions swirled up into them. He could see the pain and the loneliness in them, as he was sure that it was the same in his own eyes, but there was something else there too. Something he couldnt put his finger on. This wasn't the Draco Malfoy he grew up with.
"Dad, can Draco come home with us," Courtney asked, eatting another spoonful of her ice cream.
"He's not a stray, Cor. Besides me and Mal - uh...D-dr-draco have a history and its not very good history." Harry bent down and kissed Courtney's nose. It had been harder than he had thought to spit out Draco's name but he didn't want his girls to grow up hating people based on their name.
"Can we make him a stray," Melody asked, gathering up the gumballs and popping them in her mouth.
Draco smiled at the girls, his heart skipping a small beat as they smiled back at him.
"Yeah! Let's make him a stray then he come to lunch with us!" Courtney finished off her ice cream and placed the plastic spoon in the paper bowl.
"You just ate ice cream." Harry grabbed his daughters and pulled them close to him. He gave their stomachs a small tickle. "How can you possible have room for more food?"
"Uncle Ron says that we have to have room for more food because we're growing kids," Melody said. She was smacking her lips loudly as her small mouth tried to chew the large amount of gum.
"Go take care of your trash while I talk to D-Draco." The girls eyes filled with hope as they each placed a each on his cheek before they bounded away. "They really like you."
"Two out of three isn't bad. Last time it had been one out of three. Looks like I've moved up." Draco smirked and crossed his arms, remembering the time when Hermione and Ron had hated him up until the night before the war.
"Don't. Look, I haven't spoken to you at all since school ended and I'd rather not fight with you infront of my kids. I'm pretty sure we've both grown up a lot since those days but we spent so much time fighting that I highly doubt that we can even attempt to hold a conversation. But I'll never hear the end of it if Courtney and Melody don't see you again because you've obviously done something."
"Your making me into a stray," Draco questioned, tiliting his head to the side. Harry's lip twitched just the slightlest but whether it was a spasm or he was trying to refrine from smiling, Draco didn't know.
"Hardly. I'll bring them by to see you before we leave."
Courtney sat on her bed, leaning against the headboard with her pillows behind her. Melody sat at her feet, resting against the wall, her knees over Courtney's. It had been two days since they had seen Draco and now they sat in the condo Harry had bought for the week, staring aimlessly at the necklaces.
"I don't think these are magic."
"Maybe we have to name them. Like Draco said."
Courtney nodded her head in agreement and looked around the room, trying to find some kind of inspiration for a name. The soft satin sheets and cream-colored comforter on Melody's bed was thrown carelessly at the foot of the bed while Courtney's was neatly made. Both of their pajama's were resting on Melody's bed and the duffle bags that had once carried their things was now stuffed on the top shelf of the closet, above several dresses and shoes. The dresser that was next to the door and under a mirror was filled with clothes and the top of it was covered with pictures that they had brought with them. Since they had gotten to the island, Melody had a hard time sleeping in her own bed and often made Courtney move over.
"I'll call mine Chou," Courtney said. "Melody! Look!"
The butterfly pendant in her hand started to glow white and the girls watched in awe as the color swirled up in a spiral. They gasped at the poof that appeared and they soon came faced with the butterfly, the light blue white spotted wings flapping in time. The butterfly flew towards Courtney and rested on her nose before flying around her head. It looked solid, the glow now softer around it, and the trail of white glitter like mist it left behind reminded Courtney of Tinkerbell.
"Wow," Melody whispered, watching in envy as Courtney placed the necklace back around her neck. Chou, who had made herself comfortable on Courtney's head, seemed to be just like the pendant on the chain. "He was right."
"They are magic! Quick! Name yours!"
Melody stared at the dragonfly resting in her hand and sighed. She wasn't as smart as Courtney and she wasn't nearly as creative. Once she named the dragonfly there would be no going back. She closed her eyes, her mind working through names until she finally whispered, "Axel."
"Axel? Like from Kingdom Hearts?"
Before Melody could answer a tingle in her hand brought her attention to the dragonfly. Just like Courtney's it began to glow, a red soft mist forming as it spread out in five even lines from the pendant forming a star before it snapped back in a loud crack. Both girls jumped at the sound, their eyes never leaving the dragonfly as it emerged from the pendant, the purple wings buzzing as it flew around Melody's left arm, a red glitter smoke trailed after it.
"You think this means something, Courtney," Melody asked, watching Axel in fascination as he flew towards Chou.
"I think we should tell Dad."
"No way! It's suppose to be a secret!"
"Then what should we do? Dad won't let us anywhere near the boardwalk and we have no idea what kind of magic they have."
"Get Draco here! He'll know what to do."
"Dad hates Draco. You heard some of the stories Aunt 'Mione and Uncle Ron told us about what went on in Hogwarts!"
"Your starting to sound like Aunt Hermione!"
"Well one of us has to think about this! Talking to Draco is more than likely going to upset Dad!"
"The only difference between love and hate, Courtney, is the way its expressed! So are we going to talk to Draco tomorrow about Chou and Axel or are we gonna break our promise to Draco?!"
The knock on the door had both girls screaming in fright and seconds later Harry had thrown it open, wand drawn. Melody stuffed her necklace under Courtney's pillow and her sister was hiding her own necklace with her shirt.
"Dad," the girls shouted.
"Sorry. What's going on in here?"
Courtney looked at Melody and bit her bottom lip. She had wanted to tell Harry about the magic Draco had given them and now was her chance. She had promised that she'd keep it a secret and she didn't have very many secrets that were between just her and Melody. This was a very dangerous and stupid idea that would more than likely get them grounded for months. But she had her sister and her dad needed someone too. Maybe Draco could the prince in the stories that Dad alwas told them before bed. A smile formed its way on her face and Melody, feeling reassured that the secret was safe for now, smiled back.
"Magic, Dad," Courtney answered.
"Really? Well maybe you can use some of that magic and telaport yourself into the bathroom. Its time for bed." Harry ushered the girls out of the two to the bathroom across the hall. "And whatever it is you're planning, you'll be grounded for three months for going through with it."
Courtney and Melody brushed their teeth and washed their faces in silence. When they got ready to change into their pajama's - Courtney's High School Musical nightdress on the toilet and Melody's yellow SpongeBob top and bottoms next to the seat - he left to go to his room. He changed into satin green pajama bottoms and the matching long sleeve top.
"Dad!"
"We're ready for the song!"
"Yeah! The one that Nanny T use to sing to us!"
"Dad!"
Harry entered the bedroom and smiled as the two girls sat under the covers. "Melody, why aren't you in your own bed?"
"Nightmares," Melody whispered. She laid down next to her sister as Harry pulled the covers over the two of them, brushing hair out of their faces before settling down on the edge of the bed at their feet. They watched him, carefully, reminding him of the days when they were much younger. He would stand over the crib that Mrs. Weasley had loaned him for hours, singing softly to them as they laid awake. He couldn't remember a single time when he hadn't sung to the children and tonight was no different. He filled his daughters request and in a soft, deep, yet soothing voice, he sang:
I love you - no matter what
You can count on me - I just won't give up
I'll love you through the good times
or when the days are rough
I love you - no matter what
I love you when the sun shines, I love you when it rains
I love you when you're close to me, Or when you're far away
I love you when you're smiling, I love you when you're mad
I love you when we disagree, Or when we're holding hands
I love you - no matter what
You can count on me - I just won't give up
I'll love you through the good times
or when the days are rough
I love you - no matter what