So sorry this is late. Posting may be a bit sporadic for the next few weeks, as I'm going up north to see my baby brother get married! I own nothing and I apologize for this chapter; my tenses are all over the place and I'm going blurry-eyed trying to fix it for proper human understanding. I think I've got most of it. Please enjoy!
Remus stood over the bed of Harry and Draco, watching them sleep. They were precious; adorable in the way that only family can be. He loved Harry so fiercely from his first breath and the wolf in him had decided he was 'pack' at the same time. It had taken a lot longer for him to feel for Draco, but the child had forced his way into Remus' heart and 'pack', earning him a spot right next to Harry. He hoped for all of their sakes that the two of them could get through this. He remembered when it had happened to him; the initial mating. Sirius had been so reluctant to see the truth that they nearly lost each other. A hand dropped onto his hip.
"Memories?" Sirius sighed into his ear, not wanting to disturb the sleeping pair.
"Yes. Were we ever so young? I look at them and feel positively ancient." Sirius laughed into his ear.
"We are not even 20 years older than them; still in our prime. Anytime you start to feel old, you come find me and I'll make you feel like you're 17 again." Remus turned his head for a kiss before tugging his mate out of the room and shut the door.
"I'm just so worried for them. We're operating blind here. We know next to noting about what to expect for him. For them. For us; I hope you remember that we will be just as affected as the two of them." Sirius nodded his agreement silently as he ushered his worried mate into their bedroom and shut the door. He wasn't good at talking about things, but he knew that he should. He sat down on their loveseat and pulled Remus down on top of him.
"Yeah, I remember what it was like for everyone around us when it happened in school. James complained to me daily about us, did you know? I couldn't be arsed to care. I had you and you had me and I just… even as my best friend he just faded into the background. And you never had an initial heat! We also knew what to expect. Maybe we can spend some time tomorrow looking through the library for info on the Gille Dubh." Sirius felt Remus' body relax on top of him as he spoke.
"Paddy, that is a brilliant idea. There's a lot of unique, one of a kind books in there. I knew that I picked you for more than your looks." Sirius swatted his mate on the ass for his sassy remark.
"Don't say such things Moony. I'm perfectly content to just be a hot piece of ass and nothing else. Wouldn't want people to get jealous knowing there's a brain behind these looks." Remus laughed outright and Sirius took a minute to look at his love's face. It was so relaxed and young-looking when he laughed. He couldn't resist lifting his head and kissing Remus' chin.
"One other thing Paddy, that we have to discuss, then you can take me to bed. Severus will be here a lot, at least until this is over…" Remus couldn't quite meet Sirius' eyes as he spoke, afraid of what he might see in them. Sirius heaved a large sigh and pondered his words.
"I know that and…look I can play nice if he can. It's asking a lot of both of us, but really, if Harry and Draco are, in fact, mates…well he and I are going to have to see each other and that's all there is to it. If it makes you feel better, I'll pull him aside before he leaves tomorrow and give him my word that I will be on my best behavior if he will." Remus kissed his mate happily at the maturity Sirius was displaying.
"If you insist on being so wonderful and thoughtful and mature all the time, I shall have to find a way to reward you." Remus slowly rolled his hips before sinuously climbing off his mate. Said mate was already panting at the thought of rewards. Remus walked to the bed and sat down before patting his knee.
"Come boy…" Sirius pounced.
The next morning found two sated, sleepy couples lounging in the kitchen, lingering over their breakfasts and talking about nothing. They talked around the giant in the room up until the moment that Snape joined them. All conversation went silent when he swept into the room, looking every inch the Potions Master that he was.
"I'm sorry, am I intruding?" Snape peered around the room cautiously, actually sounding contrite at interrupting. Four sleepy faces turned to him in confusion.
"No, just having a lazy morning, Severus. We weren't really expecting you until later today. Please come in, can I fix you a plate?" Remus was already getting out of his chair when Snape waved a hand at him to not trouble himself.
"I've already eaten. I just wanted to bring these things over so Pott-Harry could start taking them." He handed a rack of potions vials over to Harry, and Draco peered at them over his shoulder interestedly. Draco lifted his hand and traced one long finger along the outside of a vial before turning to his Godfather.
"These are the ones that you told us about yesterday? The blood potions to suppress his pheromones?" Harry smiled as he realized how excited Draco sounded. Severus allowed a small smile to show on his face as well at Draco.
"Yes, and if you'd like to learn about them I can bring the potion book that contains the receipt for it with me tomorrow when I come to visit. You should probably know how to brew them for the future; I am not Harry's personal Potion-Maker." Harry and Draco laughed delightedly and shared a look that had the three other men in the room clearing their throats uncomfortably. Sirius jumped up from his chair, knocking it over in his haste.
"Sna-Severus, I'd like to have a word with you in private before you leave." Severus raises an eyebrow, but nods his agreement and gestures for Sirius to lead the way. The men exit the room swiftly and two young heads, one blonde and one raven-haired, turn towards the remaining adult in confusion. Remus sighs and leans his chin on his hand.
"Padfoot and I had a long talk last night after you fell asleep. One of the many things we discussed is that those two need to get along better; we are going to be seeing a lot of each other after all." Draco nods sagely, as though it was his idea in the first place, then stops and peers at Remus. Harry shrugs his shoulders and goes back to the instructions printed in tiny, spidery handwriting along the potion vials in his hands.
"Will this cause a problem with…what we talked about last night?" Draco asks softly. Remus shakes his head, pausing to consider his words carefully.
"I don't really think so. I truly think that it might improve the tension in the house. If they are happier around each other, I think we will all be happier." Draco nods again and turns his attention to Harry, clearly ending the discussion. Remus tiptoed towards the door, intent on sneaking after Sirius and Severus and listening to their conversation. He wasn't a Marauder for nothing.
He sneaked down the hall silently until he saw the closed door to the library. He shifted closer and pulled his wand from his pocket, casting a neat little spell that he sold to the Weasley twins, so that he could clearly hear what was going on behind the closed door.
"…So, what do you think? If not friends, then at least…I dunno, comfortable in-laws." Sirius asks. There is silence for an uncomfortable few heartbeats, then a response.
"I suppose, for Harry and Draco's sakes, that I can agree to get along with you, blasted mutt." Remus smiled at the sound of Sirius' laughter.
"You too Snivellus… hey! I never said we had to be all the way pleasant, just not antagonistic!" Remus leaned closer to the door and can actually hear the smirk in Severus dark voice.
"Isn't it rather dangerous to use one's entire vocabulary in one sentence?" Sirius barks out laughter and Remus stifles a laugh too, amazed that Severus would quote a Disney movie for a laugh from someone he never got along with. Remus removes the spell from the door and is about to sneak back into the kitchen, when the two men emerge from the library.
"Remus! Were you spying on us? Can't you trust us?" Remus shakes his head and Severus rolls his eyes at the idiocy of that question.
"Yes, I was spying precisely because I couldn't trust you not to kill each other. You two don't have the best track record for behaving, you know." The three men laugh and open the door to the kitchen, getting momentarily stuck in the doorway like an old-slapstick comedy routine. Harry and Draco think they are hilarious, and have tears streaming down their faces in hilarity long before they manage to extricate themselves.
Severus pulls Harry aside to make plans for a meeting the day after next to discuss how he is handling the potions and he is gone. Remus, Sirius and Draco are deep in a discussion of what they are going to do with his room, now that he and Harry will be sharing a bedroom indefinitely, and Draco is blushing cutely when Harry steps back into the room. He swiftly presses a kiss to the top of Draco's head as he passes him to do the dishes left from breakfast, and smiles as the blush gets deeper.
"Harry, when you're done, we were thinking we could search the library to see if we could find any information on the McDevitt clan or the Gille Dubh…we really should see if we can find anything. Besides, the work on our suite is nearly done and we need a new project." Remus turns away from the table to speak to Harry and Sirius not so subtly passes a hand across the back of his neck making him shiver. Harry looks over to catch Draco's eye before responding.
"I think…, uh, yeah. Draco and I have to talk a bit first. Um, can we meet you in the library in an…hour?" He raises an eyebrow at Draco, who nods, as does Remus in agreement. He grabs Sirius' hand and tugs him out of the room, ignoring his protests.
"Shut it Padfoot, we're not needed for this. Let's go be productive and I'll reward you later." Harry winces when he hears this, but Draco is the only one who sees it, and he laughs.
"C'mon Harry, let's go outside. It's a nice day; we can take a blanket and sit in the backyard to talk. Neutral ground." Harry dries off his hands from the dishes and follows Draco outside.
Grimmauld Place has a small backyard, but it's private and enclosed. The boys found out that clearing the overgrowth is one of the first things that Sirius had done when they decided to live in the house permanently. He said he needed a place for Padfoot to play when he got restless, but the boys never really believed that was the only reason.
Draco transfigured a napkin into a big blanket and spread it over the lawn in a sunny spot. He sat down and leaned back on his hands, legs stretched out in front of him as he turned his face towards the weak London sunshine. Harry stood over him and looked down at the other boy.
He'd never really looked at Draco before. When they were 'enemies' at school, he'd watched Draco and once they became friends he'd looked at Draco, but until recently he'd never really seen the other boy. Draco was not flawless, but Harry was certain that he was as close as any human could ever be: white-blonde hair, no longer styled in the harsh slicked-back style of their childhoods, but longer and flowing freely around his head; porcelain skin, high cheekbones and lips meant for kissing; grey eyes that see right into Harry's heart every time they look at each other. Harry was, to his sadness, not nearly familiar enough with the body underneath Draco's clothes as he'd like, but he knew the time was coming. Today Draco was wearing regular clothes, denims that clung to his thighs and ass with a fitted long-sleeved Henley in a pale sky blue that made his skin glow. He looked edible.
Harry sank to his knees on the blanket, unable to take his eyes off the vision that was Draco. He had no doubt in his mind that the other boy was his mate; his blood was singing for him. His entire body yearned for Draco and he'd not even had his inheritance yet. He knew it wasn't just hormones and lust; he'd had that with Ben. This felt totally different and Harry couldn't help himself for one more minute, leaning forward and sliding his hand across Draco's jaw to cup the back of his head.
Draco's eyes flew open when Harry touched him, only to slide back closed at the first touch of Harry's dry lips on his own. Soft lips caressed his with an experience that he didn't think Harry had, based off their earlier encounters. He tilted his head while pressing it back into Harry's hand and gently parted his lips to tease the seam of Harry's lips open with his tongue. Harry moaned so softly that Draco thought he'd imagined it before the other boy's lips parted to welcome his tongue inside.
Harry inched closer on his knees and, without breaking the kiss, straddled Draco's legs and pressed their chests together. He could feel Draco breathing shallowly through his nose, tiny little puffs of breath against his cheek as their tongues slid together. Harry pressed his body down onto Draco's, intending to lay them down on the blanket and keep kissing, but Draco pulled his head back and put a shaky hand on Harry's chest.
"We're meant to be talking." Harry was pleased to note that Draco didn't sound enthusiastic about talking, or stopping. He did pull back though, sitting on Draco's thighs and pulling his hands back to himself. He reached down to adjust his erection in his pants and watched though his lashes as Draco's blown eyes followed the movement intently.
"Right…you're right, but I just…couldn't help myself. You look so good today. Well…I mean, you look good everyday but I couldn't stop myself." Draco flushed and looked away.
"So…mates? Are you sure, Harry? I don't want to…I mean I can't get anymore…fuck it, I hate not being able to speak and you make me so fucking flustered. I apologize in advance if you can't handle this but you need to hear it. I'm fucking in love with you and have been for a long time, Scarhead. We cannot go any further if there is any doubt in your mind about me being your mate. I cannot allow myself to fall anymore; it already hurts and I.." Draco's throat closed and Harry leaned forward to pull the blonde boy into his arms.
He ran soothing hands down Draco's back and arms, allowing him to calm down a bit before he pulled back to catch his eye and hold it.
"There's no doubt; not one single fleeting feeling that you aren't that person for me. I'm not going to hurt you Draco. I want you." Draco's entire body sagged in relief at Harry's words. Harry wrapped his arms around the slighter boy and shifted their bodies so he could pull Draco into his lap.
"It goes beyond just lust; I had that with Ben…I know you don't want to hear that but, damn, I wanted him. With you…it's just so much more. My whole being is calling for you. You have to be it for me. But, I've not had my inheritance yet, and we don't know what's going to happen when I go into my heat… I sound like a fucking dog." Harry shook his head as Draco laughed at him.
"C'mon, lets head inside and see if we can't help the old men find some information about me." Harry pushed Draco to his feet and Draco pulled him up afterwards. Draco smiled at Harry and leaned in to brush their lips together.