40 reviews. 40 FREAKING reviews.

Holy FUCK

I love you guys. I seriously think I might cry.

Okay so really the timing is off here so that means I'm extending the story which means MORE CHARACTERS AND CHARACTER DEVOLPMENT AND A HELL OF A LOT MORE FLUFF AND DRAMA

Fluff and drama. Good combo.

Hey guess what? I wrote this on June fifth. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DRACO I LOVE YOU TO BITS *hugs my friend who looks like a Draco. Friend is like 'WTF!'

Chapter 11

Harry sent off the last letter Monday night. He had realized that after having Draco for a few months that it was two weeks till Damian's birthday and a month until school was over. Lexie being Lexie had already gotten her present after ditching her brother at the twins shop and bringing Niki to pick out a book on one hundred and one best prank spells. Why such a book even exists is anyone's guess.

He sent letters to all the kids at Hogwarts telling them to clear their weekend and prepare for a shopping trip this weekend. Damian Lexie and Niki would stay at the Weasley house. Harry wasn't sure if it was a good idea to bring Draco to Diagon alley at this point even with glamor. He needed to introduce him to the Weasley family and the rest of the kids so he would be ready when they were all together in a party.

And then there was the mess with the Malfoy's. Snape had told him he spent hours comforting Narcissa and she spent all the time sucking every bit of knowledge about her son that Snape knew. Lucius hadn't thrown a fit. He hadn't stormed the castle crying for vengeance. He just kind of faded. He withdrew even more. Harry rubbed the back of his neck. He'd just caused one of the most impenetrable men in the world to go in a critical state of depression. Nice.

He was not going to thrust Draco into his parent's arms without knowing Draco's reason's for suicide. Harry's lessons were canceled for the week and thankfully Hermione said she would watch them. Harry didn't know what he would do without her. During the week he was taking Draco to different places from his past. Then shopping trip Saturday and then next week, introduce Draco to different kids and Weasley's and then Damian's party.

And THEN a house full of crazy unstable rampageous teenagers, a trickster vamp and werewolf that makes his blood pressure rise. Summer vacation was going to be barking. Lucky him. (He ignored the little voice that sounded an awful lot like Hermione that said that he would miss the kids the moment they were gone come September)

There was still something nagging at Harry. Then full moon was the week after that so no need to worry about it. Ginny had volunteered to make the cake. Everyone had already confirmed they were going. The date was Sunday June 5. What was it that was nagging him about Damian's birthday? Agitated he looked through all his notes and frowned.

Annoyed he looked over old files and notes to try and get his mind off the weird feeling. Flipping to Draco's he tried to decipher his chicken scratch handwriting that has never improved.

Something caught his eye up near the general info.

…

Ohfuck.

Damian and Draco had the same birthday.

June 5.

Which was two weeks away.

Harry hit his head on the table and rubbed his neck.

He was screwed.

Sighing he pushed back his chair and wandered to the living room, everyone's tribute hangout spot. He stood in the door and watched Damian repeatedly try a tricky spell, thankfully turned away from the rest of the occupants. He and Draco were back to back on the floor. Lexie was brushing and braiding Niki's hair, wet from her bath. Draco was trying to read out loud from a book and Lexie was gently correcting his speech.

Harry instantly calmed. His lips unconsciously stretched into a soft smile. He breathed in and the house seemed to sigh with him. He raised these kids. They loved him. They would jump in front of six hostile creatures to protect him. And he would do the same. He cared for them when no one else would. These kids were people too. They had been forgotten, forsaken and cast out. They had issues and mental scarring that would last their entire lives, but they had the strength to make the best of it.

They were outlined by the fire burning dimly in the fireplace. Damian's bangs fell in front of his face and he impatiently knocked them away. Harry felt a pang. Damian was growing up. He was a fine strong independent young man. He past was far behind him and he was still cooped up here. Even Niki might be able to go to school in a few years. Damian would never. Because he was a vampire. A magically gifted incredibly bright and incredibly strong young man. He would be of age next year. He'd already secured a job as the Twin's assistant but a huge family and a nice job didn't take the place of friends. Draco was Damian's greatest friend right now but it still didn't seem like enough.

Draco read slowly and carefully, determined to get it right. His hair reflected the light like a halo and Harry thankfully saw that his thin frame was finally filling out. Harry just watched him as he read, listening to the murmured story and letting the peaceful setting wash over him. Even as his mind calmed his heart rate sped up. He shoved that feeling to the very back of his mind. And of his heart. He was Draco's caregiver not his lover. Draco was to be treated no different that Damian or Lexie or Niki. It didn't stop him from watching though.

Hermione, who had been making tea in the room behind him, snuck the picture she had taken into Harry folder of pictures to send to the Malfoy's. She calmly sipped her tea and waited for Harry to resurface. She wondered if Harry and Draco even knew what they were doing to each other. Probably not. They always were oblivious to the other's true feelings ever since they were little. And even when Harry's doing all this digging to understand Draco better and help him, Harry still didn't recognize the feelings that were directed towards him.

Men.

Harry got up at five as he always does. The only difference was that he put more caffeine in his coffee. It was going to be a long day and he wanted to be wide awake so he didn't miss a thing.

Draco crinkled his nose at the scent of the extra strong coffee that made him choke. He met Lexie in the hallway and Dog jumped on his shoulder for a ride down the stairs. Niki came next in her pink princess nightgown and Damian as always came last, growling at the smell of coffee assaulting his senses.

Draco discreetly fed Dog a bit of bacon and for Niki's sake pretended to feed Dragon some too. He battled Damian in rock-paper-scissors for the last piece of sausage and threw a grape at Lexie when she stole his last piece of toast. It then turned into an all-out food fight between Damian, Lexie and Draco with Niki squealing in delighted laughter and then Harry got involved trying to stop it and threw his fruit at Damian who had gotten egg in his hair. It was chaos and mayhem and grapes were rolling around on the floor and Dog was having the time of his life pouncing on them and eating the bits of bacon. Ketchup stained the walls and coffee permeated the air and this was the scene Hermione walked in on, just barley ducking a flying strawberry.

Rolling her eyes and hiding her smile she pulled out her wand and muttered a silencing charm. She waited; her arms crossed, foot taping and hoped her stern motherly look was as good as Molly Weasley's. All eyes swiveled to her and she examined the frozen poses and guilty looks. Draco was half under the table holding his plate as a shield and apparently he and Damian had taken one side of the table as a team and Lexie, Harry and Niki on his hip had taken the other side, plates up in self-defense, breakfast up mid-throw.

The only thing moving was Dog who was still happily engrossed in his game of catch-the-grape.

A few well-placed spells had the room back in order and the guilty parties lined up in a row, blushing at the floor. Dog was purring in Hermione's arms. "Ok. Kids and immature werewolves upstairs now. Dragons too. As much as we want it to be, breakfast foods are not suitable weapons." She smiled to show she wasn't really mad. "You should've waited until dinner. Mashed potatoes are much easier to throw." Damian and Draco gave her matching lopsided smiles. Draco snatched Niki from Harry's grasp and Lexie grabbed Dog, giggling madly. They were out of the room in an instant, eager to escape Hermione's wrath but stayed by the stairs knowing that Harry was going to get an earful.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sit." She pointed to Harry's chair and sat in her own which was labeled "know-it-all" And also as an after-thought, put up a strong and complicated silencing charm; one that Damian was not skilled enough to undo.

Damian stamped his foot in frustration. Draco's eyes instead grew bright. He set Niki down and ran upstairs and came back down with a piece of paper and a pen. (He was secretly fascinated by pens. They were quicker and easier than a quill and you could fix your mistake easily with a pencil.)

Inside the bubble, Hermione fixed Harry with a stern look. She knew exactly why Harry didn't do much to stop the fight. The thought lessoned her anger. Harry was 23 years old. He was still a kid. She was still a kid too but she could grow up a little more because she had actually had a time in her life when she could have fun. Harry had been living with his horrid family his entire life and just when he gets away, one thing after another knocks him off his feet again. Harry never had a normal childhood and occasionally, surrounded by kids he would give into that phase had let go a little.

Hermione had a feeling that Draco never had a normal childhood either. A childhood with loving guardians, nice friends, good school. They lived in a time of war and neither turned out exactly alright. But this is where their paths split. Draco could now live out as a kid through Damian and Lexie and Niki. Getting into mischief and playing games. Harry however had a responsibility to the kids. He was their guardian. He couldn't afford to slack off too much but he could have fun.

Which is why Hermione didn't scold him so much. Just enough that he would squirm under her gaze and look anywhere but her and nod and pay close attention to what she was saying.

Back by the stairs, Draco bit his lip and wanting to help his frustrated friend, coaxed his magic forward and set about un-solving the puzzle of the spell. He loved puzzles and this was a challenge. Damian looked over his shoulder at the scribbled spells that were the beginnings of a counter-spell and grinned. "You're the best! Can you teach me how to undo spells?" Draco bit his lip and shrugged embarrassed. He felt almost useful. He liked that feeling.

Damian said the spell and silently cheered as the wall fell. The all listened in and unfortunately found she wasn't lecturing Harry anymore.

She was talking about something else entirely.

Hermione's voice floated up. "Have you picked out a present yet?"

"Not yet. We're going to be going on a shopping trip this weekend."

"All the kids too? What about Draco?"

Harry sighed. "I think I'm going to introduce him to the rest of the Weasley's this week and then all the kids next week."

"He'll be staying at the Weasley's this weekend!" Hermione's doubt was obvious. Draco stiffened in panic.

Harry's voice was confidant. "Damian and Lexie will protect him. And Niki won't leave his side. He's her giant Dragon. She hasn't left his side ever since I told her that his name literally means "Dragon'"

Draco looked down and saw the little red-head squeeze her stuffed toy and smile at him. "Dragon" she whispered.

Hermione sighed. "If you think so."

"I know so. I'm taking him to Fred and George first. Oliver already told Percy and Oliver will also watch out for him. Ginny thinks he's sweet so there's another ally right there. Fred and George will go for it, especially if Damian puts in a good word. Charlie won't care and Fleur will be delighted that he can write in French… You might want to tell Ron soon, just so it's not unexpected."

Draco suddenly tensed beside him and Damian had a feeling that whatever relationship his Uncle Ron and Draco had in school, it probably wasn't a good one.

Hermione sighed again. "Alright. I'll tell him tonight. Be prepared for a red-headed whirlwind.

You could practically hear the lopsided grin Harry sported. "Always am. Wouldn't expect anything else."

Hermione huffed good-naturally. "Remember when you came out? Now wasn't that a temper tantrum to behold."

"I know. The only one that rivaled that was when Lexie was nine and I wouldn't buy her the double chocolate chip fudge ice cream."

Hermione laughed out loud and Lexie huffed.

Draco was still focused on the earlier sentence and tuned out the rest of the conversation as he went upstairs and left the others. Came out? What did that mean? Was that what he thought it meant? Damian and Lexie probably knew and they obviously didn't care. And wasn't that different from what he was used to.

Memories threatened to rise and he pushed them down firmly. He thought he knew what it meant but he didn't want to admit it. There were too many reasons and too many memories.

He didn't climb the ladder but instead jumped up to his mattress. He bit his lip and pulled out the old shirt he still had. It just barely held Harry's scent. He blinked at how sentimental he was being.

He then truly grasped that he was in a completely different world and had a sudden longing for the forest again. His past and his present were two opposites pulling at him and threatening to tear him apart. The forest brought comfort that he was just another creature, whose values didn't matter. Survival and instinct that came with the wolf were much simpler than the harsh realities of the human. What was accepted in one time was shunned in the other and War just screwed every other thing over.

He was caught between two different worlds of right and wrong and memories danced behind his eyelids.

Draco shuddered and shut the doors of his mind to the horrors of his past. They didn't have a place in this world. Not anymore.

********************************

So what did you think? Yes I started this on June fifth and it's a big gap. Finals finally hit me. But just a few more days and I am free! Summer will be here and I hope that I can wrap this story up by the end of the summer. (Well my summer. I don't know about you other people reading this so ya.)

Anyway!

REVIEW. PLEASE. YOU'RE KILLING ME HERE. DON"T BE SILENT! DON"T BE SHY!

Hey whoever has the funniest or most heartfelt review gets a character named after them! Whoever has the funnies/heartfelt review gets a kid either named after their penname or their real name or a name they just like. What do you say my lovely readers? Let the reviewing begin!