Harry snuck into the nursery late one night, just after the twins had arrived home. He took "his sister," Honoria, into his arms and sat down in the sturdy rocking chair in the corner. She was the smaller of the two and slept about as much as Harry did. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret, Ria. No one else would understand, and you're a good listener." He shifted her so that he could rest his arm on the chair. "I keep having visions of bad things happening. In some of them, Dad and Mum die. In others, Nana, Draco, and Hermione do. It's always by fire. I know this is somewhat irrational, since we have awesome wards against fire here, but magic isn't always infallible. There's more to this story. I know, even though Dad says they've caught them all, that there are still unmarked Death Eaters out there. That's why he works so much. We've barely seen him for more than five minutes a day during the past week."
"That's true, Harry. How did you find that out?"Gawain quietly walked toward Harry and pulled the other rocking chair closer.
"We aren't stupid, Dad. Most of his loyal followers were unmarked because it was easier to infiltrate various governments. You should've thought about that."
Gawain chuckled. "I may be intelligent, but you got that practical side from your mother." He smiled at Harry. "You should get back to bed before your wife wakes up and wonders where you are."
"She sleeps like the dead, Dad. It takes a lot to wake her up. I could say the same thing about you. What are you doing in here, anyway?"
"I like to watch them sleep. It's something I was never able to do with you." Gawain had a far-away look in his eyes, as if he was trying to recapture the past.
"You have to admit that meeting your child when they're already self-sufficient is a lot easier than raising them from scratch." Harry set Honoria in her cradle.
"Spoken like a man who isn't a father yet." The elder Malfoy put his arm around his son. "If you're as good a father as you are a brother, you'll have the best children in the world."
"I've had a pretty good example the past few years. Hermione and I are eager to have children so that we can call you 'Grandpa' and make you feel old." Harry grinned.
"I'm only 37! Considering how long Malfoys live, I won't be old for at least another 70 years," Gawain said childishly. "Severus and Sirius are older than me, so if you call me old, they're older."
"Keep telling yourself that, Dad." Harry slipped out of the room, leaving his father muttering about "certain teenagers who spend too much time with their sarcastic uncles."
"Mum, can we go school shopping today? Uncle Sirius volunteered to take us and make sure we're behaved and all of that." Harry asked at breakfast. The "responsible adult" in question covered his grin with his steaming mug of tea.
Narcissa snorted. "You'd spend more time making sure he behaved."She 'glared' at Sirius. "It would do you all some good to get out of the house for a bit."
"So…"Draco looked pleadingly at his mother.
"Don't bring them home drunk, Sirius." Harry smirked at Draco, who rolled his eyes.
"I wouldn't dream of it, 'Cissa."
The four set off for Diagon Alley immediately. Hermione wanted to look in the pet shop. Crookshanks had died during the last part of their sixth year, and she desperately wanted another pet. "Why you'd want another pet like that horrible cat is beyond me. He bit me no less than twenty-seven times!" Draco whined.
"I liked him."Sirius held the door open for his assorted relatives. "He was most helpful in apprehending Wormtail during your Third Year."
"He was, but other than that, I'm inclined to agree with Draco on this one." Harry quickly stepped to the other side of his brother to avoid Hermione's hand coming at his head. There was a plethora of pets to choose from, but Hermione dragged them to the back of the store, where all of the cats were. Harry scanned the baskets. He picked up a tiny white half-kneazle kitten with orange ears and paws. "I like this one, 'Mione."
"He looks like a bit of a lost cause. Look at how skinny he is." Draco scratched the cat behind the ears. It was clear he liked it, no matter what he said.
"He's so cute!" Hermione squealed. "He reminds me of you when we first met."
Harry looked at Draco. "Do you mean skinny, under-loved, and abused? I can see the resemblance perfectly, love." He rolled his eyes. "So does this mean were taking him?"
"He'll die if we don't."She grabbed at small travel basket from a shelf near the front of the shop and a few toys. They had more than enough food for the cat at home, so that saved some expense.
The proprietor, a tall elderly woman, wrinkled her nose with distaste when Hermione came to check out. "We don't serve Muggleborns in this establishment any longer."
Harry looked the woman straight in the eyes. "That muggleborn you won't serve saved your scrawny behind two years ago when she helped defeat Voldemort." Power radiated off of him. "I hope you realize who you're dealing with, ma'am. I am the sole heir of the Potter, Black, McGonagall and Ravenwood fortunes, and my grandmother has a lot of pureblood friends who could ruin your business for good. I would just walk out the door right now, without this kitten in my arms, but I have a feeling you've been treating him about as well as you've been treating my wife."
"Take the cat…I don't care. I was going to drown him later anyway. That'll be a galleon for the stuff." Harry practically threw the coin in her face. It was like that in every store they went to, except for the ice cream shop.
"We'll be doing all of our shopping via Paris from now on."Sirius was in such a bad mood that not even his triple chocolate sundae with extra sprinkles and a cherry would improve his mood. Just as the four were finishing their ice cream, a team of navy-clad French Aurors apparated in and made a beeline for their table. One of the Aurors, a dark haired woman with violet eyes started speaking to Sirius in rapid French. He nodded several times and motioned at Harry and Draco.
"She just said that your father's been killed by rouge followers of Voldemort and your mum and Nana are in the hospital with severe burns from a fire that destroyed the house. Your sisters are alive and well. Narcissa was able to trigger the wards that sent our stuff to the Paris branch of Gringott's, so we didn't lose much." Hermione had known French for a while, and was able to follow the conversation. "It appears that they were all targeted attacks, aimed at undermining us."
Draco and Harry went pale. This couldn't be happening. Voldemort was gone. Why were his followers still so powerful?