I Am Draco Malfoy-Potter
Chapter Fourteen: Family Reunion
The first thing Severus Snape did when he woke up that night, was rush himself to Malfoy Manor. He didn't notice how light his body felt, how smooth his movements were, or how easy it was to breath than it had been the day before. The only things in his mind was the children. Would they make it here in one piece?
Still, he made his way to his fireplace with quick even strides. Snape Manor was cleaner and brighter than it had been yesterday, but that was only a passing thought as he walked into his fireplace, threw down floo power and yelled at the top of his young lungs "Malfoy Manor."
When he arrived, no one was there to greet him. He really wasn't too surprised, everyone was probably asleep by now. Everything was dark and only the moon brought light to the study. His fireplace had a direct connection to Lucius' study, but this was not where he wanted to be. As quickly as he could he left the office and made his way down the hall. He was looking for his godson's room which was in the opposite wing of the study.
"Draco! Draco Malfoy open this door!" His voice was probably harsh and frantic but he didn't much care. Instead he threw the door open, caught by surprise at the sight he was met with.
Draco was sitting up in bed his face showing just how confused and horrified he was to have his godfather barge into his room in the dead of night. Yet that wasn't too surprising, what had caused Severus pause was the fact that Harry Potter was sitting up next to his godson, looking just as confused and horrified.
"Snape?" Harry asked dully, his eyes wide and clouded with the remains of sleep. He probably thought this was a dream, and so did Severus as he looked at Harry.
With slow and hesitant steps he made his way to the bed and threw his arms around Harry pulling the boy up to stand on his own two feet.
"You have left the greatest hole in the hearts of so many people Harry." Severus sighed as he hugged the boy who went still in his hold. He didn't much care though, as he hugged the boy for the first time in years. He looked over at Draco who looked so lost it reminded Severus of the time he'd been a little boy who went a little too far into the woods.
"Uncle Sev?" Draco asked nervously. Severus let go of Harry and went to hug Draco, enjoying the way the boy stiffened too.
"You're children are on their way." He whispered into Draco's ear, not sure if Harry knew about anything and therefor not wanting the brunet to hear him. "They sent me ahead because the spell required someone else to speak the words, but they are on their way."
Draco's eyes went wider than they had been when Severus barged in.
"But there is no such spell that allows for-" Severus interrupted Draco's denial with a thin lipped smile.
"They are your children my boy, they are more than capable together. They found a connection to you with the album you took, the one Harry made. Only four of them exist and the one you took allowed your kids to find you." Severus explained quickly getting louder than he meant to, but he really only noticed this when Harry spoke.
"What do you mean 'allowed your kids to find you'?"
Just as he finished his sentence a wind blew so strong that it knocked all three parties on the ground, Harry was sent flying in a separate direction than Severus or Draco.
Severus laughed out loud as the wind began to blow things from its place, the room turning into its own tornado. Before any of them could do anything about it a black hole seemed to open right above the nightstand where Harry had placed the album before he had gone to sleep. Harry was directly in front of it and he panicked.
"Draco!" He yelled reaching for the blond's hand. Draco had been thrown to the ground on the other side of the bed, but he crawled his way to Harry, keeping his head down as he got closer and closer.
"Harry!" Draco called him as their hands finally got a grip on each other. Draco pulled Harry against him and now they were both facing the black hole that had opened right in front of them. The wind didn't seem to want to pull anything into it though, it seemed like it wanted to blow something out.
And just as Draco had guessed, four figures were spit from the hole and it began to close slowly. The four figures came straight at him, the first had a pair of fearful mismatched eyes that he recognized instantly.
"Daddy!" The first figure yelled and Draco instinctively let go of Harry and went to catch the little girl.
"Papa!" Harry had been stuck catching the other three, all of which knocked into him with the force of a football team's linemen. The wind was knocked right out of him and he had to struggle to breath as three separate bodies laid on his chest.
"Holy hell I think I broke a freakin rib." Harry groaned. Draco looked at the boy and snorted, holding back laughter to the best of his abilities.
Harry was on his back with Scorpius laid out on his right arm and Leonis right on his chest with Jamie still holding onto Leonis' waist. No one moved for a second before Harry finally got sick of not getting enough air.
"Okay, Harry can't breath, it would be much appreciated if you would-" Harry stopped his sarcastic remark when he looked down and was met with mercury silver eyes framed by jet black hair that resembled his very own birds nest style. He knew this face, didn't he? It looked so familiar, so recognizable and- "Leo!"
The boy on his chest grinned like a loon as his name was yelled from his Papa's lips.
"Hi Papa." He smiled.
Harry's arms tried to wrap around the boy but one of them was trapped under something, as Harry looked up he saw silver blond hair with a pale face and closed eyes. "Scorpius." Harry breathed.
"I'm here too Papa." Jamie had let go of Leonis' waist and crawled on his hands and knees up to his Papa's line of sight. When Harry looked down again he saw a pair of beautiful mismatched eyes framed in black hair with silver tips. "James."
"I think you're missing one." Severus smirked as he stood up, dusting himself off.
Draco came closer to Harry, using the hand that he wasn't holding the little girl up with to help Leonis stand and then Harry. Once he was up he looked at the little girl in Draco's arms, she was probably no older than 11. "Lily..."
The girl nodded with a sad look in her eyes. She reached a hand out and touched her Papa's face, trying to see for herself if this was real. Tears fell from her beautiful silver and green eyes as she touched a warm and soft cheek. They did it, they made it, they were here with their parents. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't a mistake, it was real and they were here.
"Oh Lily." Harry carefully took the little girl from Draco's arms and started to rock with her as she buried her face in his neck sobbing. He hummed to her to soother her tears and rocked back and forth, Jamie had migrated forward slowly, coming to his Papa's side and leaning against the 15 year old father. Everyone else watched the scene in wonder. Including Scorpius and Leonis who were aching to do the same thing their younger siblings were doing.
Everyone watched this silently though, even Draco. This had been what Harry had done so many times with Jamie when the little boy cried over anything in particular. Draco had thought Harry was rewarding the child's tendency to be scared of his own shadow, but now it didn't seem like it at all. Now it was simply a father soothing his crying child.
The loud BANG that followed the silence startled everyone as the door was kicked open once again and Narcissa and Sirius' concerned and angry voices echoed the room.
"What the hell is going on here!?"
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Tea had been served and they were sitting the the living room in sofas that surrounded a warm blazing fire. Harry and Draco sat in the love seat, one of the twins in each lap while Scorpius sat next to Harry and Leonis sat next to Draco. It was a tight fit but no one was complaining. Severus sat in an arm chair looking at the fire while to his left sat Narcissa and across from him sat Sirius.
They had already went through explanations and introductions, and now they sat in silence, allowing things to sink in for everyone in the room. Sirius especially since the man was just now hearing of time travel. Everyone but the children were surprised to hear though that Severus had come from the past to. During that leg of the conversation Draco had stood up and given the man the warmest hug anyone had ever seen. Everyone had caught the whispered conversation:
"You came for me..."
"I came for the children."
"You're here for my family. Knowing you'd have to relive the worst years of your life you came here."
"It's my family too boy." and that baffling statement had ended the touching hug.
That had been half an hour ago though and the children were getting restless in the silence. At least Lilian was. She was never a fan of it. So when she finally couldn't take anymore, she hopped off of her Papa's lap and went up to her Grandma.
"You know, we never get to meet you when we grow up. I'm happy to see you, all I know about you are pictures and stories. You were a good Mama to our Daddy." She smiled when the woman got tears in her eyes. Hugging her quickly, she turned on her heals and faced Sirius. "We never got to meet you either, you died before our grandparents had, but I was always told that I was just like you." The girl's grin did resemble Sirius' and the shaggy haired animagus couldn't hold back a smile for her.
"You are just like me eh?" Sirius asked with a smirk. Looking her small form up and down like he was searching for something. He did so exaggerating the movement. "I don't see the resemblance." She shook her head with a giggle.
"Not in looks, I look like my Papa and Daddy. I mean in personality. Papa used to tell me a whole bunch of stories of you and Uncle Moony and Grandpa James, he said I had a calling for trouble just like you!"
Sirius looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow and the boy scowled back. "Not me, future Harry." He answered Sirius' unasked question.
At his words Lilian turned to him. "But you are my Papa. Past, Present, Future. We're always gonna be connected by blood." She had said this but she was frowning now looking down like he didn't believe her own words.
Jamie looked to his Papa too, crawling from his Daddy's arms and into his Papa's lap. He looked him straight in the eyes and Harry didn't know which eye to pay attention to.
"You know about us. You have for a while now so you must have formed an opinion." Jamie said logically. Draco was surprised at the little boy's actions. Jamie hadn't been one to do this before, he had been shy and soft-spoken and scared to show that he was smart, had his children all changed since he'd last seen them. "So what do you think of us?"
Harry felt small under the stare of his son's mismatched eyes, but the boy was right, he had formed an opinion already. In fact he had done it the day he saw those pictures on the train just last year.
"I love you." Harry whispered lowly, his eyes honest and clear. "Every pictures, every story, I wanted to meet all of you more and more. I spent so long wondering how you guys really were, what you would say to me when we finally met, what I would do when I finally saw you. I love you." He looked to each of his children, letting his gaze linger in the eyes of each one. "I love all four of you."
That seemed to have been answer enough because the boy hugged Harry around he neck and squeezed hard. "I love you too Papa." The small boy whispered.
Lilian watched her brother for a while before going back to her family and sitting in the lap Jamie had vacated. Leo touched her arm and she smiled at him. She was feeling so tired, so drained and sleepy. He laid her head on her Daddy's chest and closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat. It's been so so long since she's slept with her Daddy.
"This seems almost like a dream doesn't it?"
Scorpius had been the one to speak and everyone turned their attention to him when he sighed. "Not even minutes ago we had been in Snape manor chanting things and drinking potions and now..."
"We're sitting with our family feeling both happy and slightly numb." Leonis continued knowing exactly what his brother was getting at. Scorpius nodded and Harry suddenly noticed how old these children looked. They had that look in their eyes that Draco and Harry had had at the twin's age. The look of being much more mature due to the cards life had dealt you.
Harry unwrapped an arm from around Jamie and pulled Scorpius to his side. The boy was about as tall as he was, but Harry did it anyways. He was their Papa after all no matter their age compared to his.
"You're here and you won't have to leave. We're together. No matter what happens, you've got me, your Dad, Uncle Sirius, Grandma Cissy, Aunt Hermione, and Uncle Ron. We're all here for you." Harry whispered into Jamie's hair and knocked his head into Scorpius'
"I think it's about time we all got to bed." Narcissa smiled as she watched the family of six interact. Draco was silent strength and Harry was kind understanding. Even with only a few minutes of seeing these things, Narcissa was more than certain of the truth in them.
Harry looked up at his...mother-in-law, he supposed and he couldn't contain the content building in his chest. He was holding his son, surrounded by his family and people who loved him.
"Cissy's right." Sirius nodded, he hadn't spoken very much which was odd for the man, but he'd been watching with a hawk's eye, and he was more than satisfied with the smile on his godson's face. He took one look at Severus and shook his head. That man, just like Draco had come from the future to fix all the things that had gone wrong. No matter how much he disliked the greasy haired git, he had every reason to trust him. "I'll be going first then." Sirius stood and went to the six Malfoy-Potters, petting every head even Darco's and kissing Harry and the little girl Lilian on the four head.
Each child sent his retreating for a smile before Harry stood up holding Jamie to his chest. The kid wasn't too small and Harry had a bit of trouble but he wasn't about to show it.
"Alright children, that includes all of you. I want each one of you to brush your teeth and go up in your Papa's room, we're all sleeping together tonight." The children looked at Harry with wide unbelieving eyes. Harry thought it was because of the commands he'd given, but in truth, they were only surprised as how similar this version of their Papa sounded to the one they had grown up with. What the twins said had really been the truth, he was their Papa, present, past, or future.
As the children climbed up the stairs Draco looked at Harry. In Draco's eyes, Harry had just become more beautiful, more perfect, more...Harry.
This was the Harry he remembered. The maternal, loving Harry who's eyes shun with pride and wonder when he looked at their children. Believing it or not, Draco had just fallen more in love with his Gryffindor. This Harry was the Harry in his future and this time he was going to hold onto him with both hands. Him and his children.
"Draco?" The blond shook his head to expel the stray thoughts and looked at Harry who was at the archway of the living room, probably headed up stairs where their kids had gone. "Are you coming."
Looking at Harry, he caught a moment's glance of the older one, the one who had died in his arms as he begged for the consciousness not to fade. Grief, sorrow, and an undeniable sense of hope flooded through his systems as he took a slow shuttering breath and nodded to the one person he would ever romantically love.
"I'll be right up love," He tried for a smile but it didn't quite make it to his lips. Harry recognized this.
Retracing his steps, he returned to Draco's side. "Are you alright Dragon?" Harry whispered in concern as he touched the blond's pale cold cheek. Draco tried to swallow past the lump in his throat and couldn't, so he cleared it instead.
"You act so much like- you just...you are the Harry I love. No matter what you will always be the Harry that I love." Draco didn't know how to explain it, but he tried and Harry gave him that credit. With a smile, the brunet pulled his head down and kissed him full on the lips. Sweet and innocent but filled with everything the other had trouble expressing out loud.
"Papa, Daddy! Leo's hogging the blankets!" Lilian's voice broke their moment of love and Draco burst out laughing, Harry following very close behind when Leonis' voice rose up too.
"Am not! She hit me with a pillow!"
"Come on love, we got a fight to break up." Harry smiled and climbed up the stairs. Draco followed close behind pinching and grabbing at Harry's bottom. The brunet squealed and tried to climb faster but Draco was on his heals.
Narcissa watched all of this from the arm chair, Severus also enjoying the show by her side.
"No tragedy could take away the love of a family." Severus breathed and she turned her curious eyes to him.
"I beg your pardon Severus, but that truly depends on the family." She smiled, taking his hand in her own. "It is good to see you well old friend."
Severus sent her his signature thin smile and nodded his own head. "For me is has been years. How is Lucius? He is not here tonight?" Severus' smiled dropped when her light blue eyes darkened and shadowed over with worry.
"The dark lord has just risen again. Lucius believed if he were to remain at the Manor he would put Harry and Draco in danger. He is currently residing in the Riddle Manor with You-Know-Who and his closets followers." Narcissa answered with no tone of voice. It was no wonder she had become a Malfoy so young, the role fit her so well it almost scared Severus who nodded his head.
"The years to come shall not be easy for you or Lucius. So am I correct in assuming Lucius knows of Draco's future?" Narcissa just nodded. "It would be in your best interest to seek out Albus Dumbledore. While the old fool died a long while ago for me, he always did have the greater good at heart. You must remember that while he is your greatest hope of survival, he would also not hesitate to put you in harms way if there was no other option."
"And is there any other option."
Severus smirked at her. "There is always another option."
Narcissa returned the smile. "Are those kids going to be used should their existence be discovered?" He knew what she meant the second she had said it and for once he wasn't sure how to answer.
"If it were up to Dumbledore, yes. Those children would make most valuable pawns..." he hesitated. Narcissa snorted at him.
"I sense the comings of a 'but' in that sentence." She mocked and Severus smiled. It had been ages since he's talked to her like this, he had sure missed her sense of humor.
"But those children, they aren't like any others I've ever had the misfortune to teach. Power beyond their knowledge, potential so young and raw. They were the ones that created the spell that brought them here by working together for all of two years. It had taken me and Draco a full five years to even develop anything of that sort and the year before it was complete, Harry died."
"Those children matter quite a bit to your don't they." Narcissa's soft eyes made Severus feel like a child, even as his soul out lived her by more than a decade.
"Those children are the world. I have watched them grow, I have helped raise them, I have taught them everything they know." He sounded so old and tired yet still Narcissa made him feel young. "You do not know how much those children pull you in Cissy, they are like magnets. You spend one or two days with them and you find yourself changed beyond any means of reverting back..."
"They are truly the children of Draco and Harry." Narcissa finished for him. Severus could only nod. He had never been one to be so open, but this woman had been with him through all of his hardships and he found himself missing her even as he sat right beside her. All those years without Lucius and Narcissa had taken their toll on him. They had been his only friends, the only people who would listen to anything he had to say without judging the things he has done, for they have had to do much the same and in Lucius' case, much worse.
Narcissa touched his hand again, but as she was about to speak a loud thump was heard from upstairs.
"Ouch! Geez, if I knew you little brats took up this much space I'd have made you go sleep in the guest room!"
Harry's shout of mock-anger seemed to break the tension between the two ex-Slytherins and the two laughed quietly before smiling at each other.
"Goodnight Severus. I trust you can find your old room without a problem?" Severus nodded at her, bidding her a goodnight as well as she walked up the stairs.
With a final glance to the dancing flames of the fireplace, he allowed it to be extinguished, and headed up the stairs himself to his personal quarters within the Malfoy Manor.
As he passed his godson's room he laughed under his breath as he heard harsh, hushed voices arguing with each other.
This felt so good. To be here surrounded by people he loved. For a little while he could pretend that all those memories he had concerning each and every one of their deaths was nothing but an awful, crazy dream.