Lucius had a number of legal matters to tend to Tuesday, including his much anticipated first meeting with Aurors. And since he was going to the Ministry to speak to the Aurors and the Aurors had also owled Harry asking him to come in, Harry ended up going with.
Narcissa had gotten Andy invited over the Rosier's place for afternoon tea, so the women were looking forward to that. Druella would stay behind to help out with the babies, but this was a big day for Andy and signaled her return to pureblood society. Andy of course wasn't too eager to be let back in, but it was the principal of the thing and would help set a trend that would hopefully lead to fewer purebloods being kicked out of their families for marrying muggleborns, which would reduce muggleborn prejudice. Plus the Rosiers were family on her mother's side, so one of the women who would be there was her cousin and the other was her other cousin's wife, and she did want to catch up with them. And now that Narcissa knew that she was one of the secret keepers, she was able to give Andy the secret, making it infinitely easier for the women to go on little outings like this.
Draco just hoped that everything would go alright at the Ministry and that Harry and his father would be home in time for him to leave for his scheduled interview with Witch Weekly later. He hated to be late, but then given who he was and what he had to say and show, he was certain that the reporter would still be willing to talk to him if he was. But there was no way he could go before they came home, because he couldn't leave the three babies when only Grandmother Druella would be home; his mother's tea started two hours before the interview.
Lucius and Harry flooed over to the Malfoy lawyer's office, to collect Lucius' lawyer, and then to the Ministry. Given the chance to talk to Harry, the Aurors of course pushed Lucius' scheduled interview back and made him wait for Harry to go first. Harry spent several hours going over the details of the war, including the roles Draco, Lucius, Snape, and Mrs. Goyle had played and how they had helped him. A lot of it they had already gathered from Ron and Hermione, but still they wanted to hear it from Harry.
Finally, just shy of three hours later, the lead Auror informed Harry that the questioning was over for now, but that Harry may need to come back in at a later date or even after they finished talking to Lucius, to answer more questions. And so Lucius and the lawyer went into his interview and the surprise was that one of the Aurors led Harry over to the apparition licensing division to take his apparition test. Harry passed and was back in the Auror department long before Lucius was done. Some of the Aurors were Order members, who Harry recognized and chatted with. The others all wanted to meet him and get his autograph.
Harry was very grateful when Gawain Robards, head of the Auror department, interceded on his behalf, saying, "Don't you all have dark wizards and Death Eaters to track down? Get back to work. Harry, please come into my office for a chat."
Harry followed Robards to a large corner office with several charmed windows. "Harry. Harry Malfoy, is it?" Robards asked.
"Yes, um, I married Draco last year."
"Then that makes you the new Mr. Lord Malfoy, to the young Draco's Lord Malfoy. Or do you prefer Savior Malfoy, like the papers are calling you?"
"I prefer Harry."
"Of course you do; they tell me you're a modest one. And two children too, is that right? You have quite the budding young family," Robards said.
"Yes sir."
"Well Mr. Malfoy, I have been informed of your intentions to join the Aurors and I asked you in here today to inform you that you already have. Our new Minister of Magic, Minister Shacklebolt, has informed me that as of nine months ago on the date of your seventeenth birthday, you are to be considered an Auror with full benefits making Top Auror pay, same as me. Seems only fair, doesn't it, after you did more than I did to end the war?"
"Um, I can't really judge that sir; I don't know what you did to end the war."
"Nor does anyone else, that's the problem. But no matter, I'm to train you up and get you working for us properly. You have a month's paid vacation first, of course; you deserve it after nine months of working twenty-four hours a day on the run. You'll be paid for that too, all nine months with time and a half for the extra sixteen hours in the day; full-time is considered only eight hours mind you. I figure Kingsley wants to repay you for saving all our arses this way instead of the typical lump sum reward, but I certainly don't mind if it gets me the world's greatest Auror on my staff."
"Um sir, how can I start in a month when training doesn't start until the fall?"
"Good question, Auror Malfoy. You see we've had so many fatalities with the war that we're having a special training session starting up early, July first to be exact. We'd all be honored if you'd be there. Weasley and Granger are welcome as well. They'll both be paid introductory Auror salary for the time they put in with you, as your field team, according to the paperwork. Full benefits and a month paid vacation for them too. No need to apply for the job; they need only show up and they're in, same as you."
"Oh…"
"You don't sound too thrilled about that. Did you change your mind? I know you haven't completed your NEWTs yet, but they've been waved. There'll just be the standard training courses and then maybe an extra class or two on any subject you're weak in, but it'll all be paid for by the Ministry."
"Um, that's good. But what I'm concerned about is that I won't be ready so soon. I've just gotten home and met my twins for the first time. There's a lot going on at home that I need to get settled first," Harry said, because of the chance he may be pregnant by then; of course he didn't tell Robards that, since he was still just starting to think about the idea himself. "I might show up for the regular fall training session, but I can't make any guarantees. I was thinking of taking the next year or two off, but I promise I'll be in when I'm ready."
"I can give you the month with full pay and an additional six months of time off without pay, in which you still get to keep your benefits, such as life insurance and health insurance. The health insurance covers your spouse and children as well."
"That's great! My son Scorpius has an appointment at St. Mungo's in two weeks, will it cover that?" The news of his benefits was a great relief to Harry, because he had no idea how much it would cost to fix that leg.
"Yes. Is there something wrong with the little guy?"
"Yes, he's got a birth defect; a crippled leg we were hoping they could fix."
"Oh, the poor dear; I do hope they can set it right. I doubt you've taken him in to the hospital before this, but if you, your husband, or your children have been to the hospital or to see a healer in the last nine months, that would be covered too. Even if you've already paid it, our health insurance will reimburse you for it."
"Severus Snape covered all Draco's medical care while pregnant, so that he didn't have to go in. But actually, Scorpius has been to a hospital before. He almost died at birth, but the Malfoys apparated him to a muggle hospital in France, because they didn't think it'd be safe to try a wizarding hospital. The muggles saved him and he stayed there for a week. I've seen the bill for it and it's quite a lot."
"Severus Snape's care probably counts as seeing a midwife. If you get a list of the dates and amount of time Draco was seen and for what, then a check can be made out to the late Professor's estate. I'm not sure if our insurance covers muggle hospitals, but let me call my secretary and have her figure it out for you. Hold on just a minute," Robards said, before calling a young brunette witch in and ordering her to do just that.
"Yes sir," the secretary agreed before bustling out efficiently.
"I'll owl you with whatever she finds," Robards said, turning back to Harry. "If it's covered, you can owl her a copy of the bill and I'll see to it that she submits the proper paperwork."
"Thank you, sir. And I'll ask my mother-in-law if she can help me put together a list of Snape's care."
"Do you have any more questions about your benefits, or would you like me to explain the training process?"
"Um, I'd like to hear about the training process."
Robards gave Harry a manual with the outline for the Auror training program, along with several much smaller booklets with information regarding the program and a set of books to study for the first year Auror test, just in case he was bored and wanted to look ahead. It was all for Harry to keep, provided he promised not to let anyone else, especially his father-in-law, read.
While Harry was talking to Robards, Lucius was explaining to Aurors Savage and Proudfoot how he was completely innocent of all wrong doing. Pre-incarceration in Azkaban, he was a spy for the Order, helping Severus Snape gather intelligence on the Dark Lord. No one but Snape and Dumbledore knew, and they were both dead, so his story couldn't be proven false beyond a shadow of a doubt. Besides, he had been pardoned by Minister for Magic Pius Thicknesse for all those crimes anyway, so however you looked at it, he was off the hook.
Upon his release from Azkaban, Lucius really was on Harry's side and he had plenty of evidence to that effect from this past year, including taking care of Draco, Scorpius, and Severus, who were Harry's family; he may have mentioned how he saved Scorpius' life a few too many times, but really one couldn't mention something like that enough. And then there was Lucius' actual release from Azkaban to deal with. If Lucius escaped, he would be sent back. But since he was released and even had release papers signed by corrupt Ministry officials and a full pardon signed by Pius Thicknesse, he would probably get away with it.
"Look, how many times do I have to say it? Ministry officials came to my cell and ordered the dementors to let me out. Aurors Le Feuvre and Dawlish were there; granted Le Feuvre was a spy for the Dark Lord and Dawlish was converted to His service, but they were there nonetheless. They let me out and took me to the Dark Lord. I went to my home, Malfoy Manor, where I procured my old wand. Then I received an owl from my son, so I deserted the Dark Lord and waited for further contact. There was no escape," Lucius said for probably the hundredth time.
Apparently the answer to Lucius' question was several more times, because the Aurors asked him again. It was well passed lunch time when they finally let him go, advising him that they would be in touch to further discuss these matters. Lucius and his lawyer found Harry in the Auror lunchroom enjoying a lunch that had been provided to him by the head of the Auror department, while listening to tales of crime fighting first hand from the surviving Aurors. Lucius wasted no time in collecting Harry, before returning to the villa.
Once Harry was dropped off, Lucius went back to his lawyer's office to discuss how the meeting with the Aurors had gone. After that the two of them would head to the Manor to do damage assessment. The lawyer was going, in case there was anything that needed to be turned over to the Aurors that was left behind. There probably would be, given that the Dark Lord and the Lestranges had never made it back to the Manor; Lucius fully expected to have to call the Aurors into the Manor by the end of the day, but first he wanted to sift through the belongings of the deceased himself, to make sure there wasn't anything he wanted. Plus he needed to hide all of the Malfoy family's darker heirlooms from grubby Auror hands.
Harry arrived to find Narcissa and Andy already gone off to their tea. Druella was supposed to be around, but Draco was alone with all three boys. Scorpius was sitting up on the floor in front of a house elf, holding onto the elf's hand. Sev was on the other side of the elf, on his hands and knees, pulling at the pillow case the elf wore. Teddy was in Draco's arms, while Draco fed the baby a bottle. This was only the second time Harry had seen Draco hold Teddy and he had to admit that he liked what he saw; Draco was good with the baby and seemed to be much more attached than Draco had been the day before.
Harry took a seat next to Draco and asked, "How's it going?"
"Great. The boys love Mipsy," Draco said, indicating the elf.
"Elf!" Sev shouted.
The elf turned around and asked, "Yes Master Severus, sir? How is Mipsy helping the little Master, sir?"
"Elf!" Sev repeated.
Scorpius pulled on Mipsy's hand again and said, "Eeeeeeeffff."
"Yes Master Scorpius, sir? How is Mipsy helping Master Scorpius, sir?" Mipsy asked, turning her head back around.
"I can see," Harry acknowledged. "Should I intervene?"
"Only if you want to get cried at."
"Okay."
"I'm glad you're back, because I've that interview with Witch Weekly soon."
"You're leaving me with all three kids? I don't think I can even handle two, let alone three!"
"I won't be gone nearly as long as you were and Grandmother Druella agreed to help you; she's in her room doing old people stuff."
"Could I take them to the Burrow and ask Molly and Hermione to help me?"
"No."
"Could I ask either of them over here to help?"
"Hermione is welcome. Do you want me to leave you the secret?" Draco asked as he put down the bottle, which disappeared, and began to burp Teddy. They were really giving the secret out all over the place now; first Harry, then Aunt Andy and Grandmother Druella, and now Hermione too.
"Yes please. I hope she's available on such short notice."
Harry took Teddy from Draco, so that Draco could get up. Harry burped Teddy, while Draco wrote down the address to the villa for Hermione.
When Draco finished, he said, "Now this is for Hermione's eyes only, not any of the Weasleys, especially Ronald Weasley. After she reads it, I want you to destroy it. Eat it if you have to, but don't let Weasleys into our home."
Draco handed Harry the slip of parchment, which Harry tucked inside his robes, before resuming his patting of Teddy's tiny back. While Harry was taking care of Teddy, Draco rescued Mipsy, by picking up the twins, and taking them over to the sofa where Harry sat with Teddy. He asked Mipsy for a bottle, who supplied one almost instantaneously. Draco gave the bottle to Sev, dismissed the elf, and began to nurse Scorpius.
"I need to firecall Hermione and ask if she can come over," Harry said.
"Sure, just set Teddy in the bouncer and he'll be fine," Draco said.
"Okay." Harry got up to put Teddy into the bouncer with the green sea turtles, which was in the middle of the floor next to the bouncer with the blue sea turtles.
"Not that one; that's Scorpius' and he still uses it. Remember, Scorp is green? Put him in Sev's; Sev hasn't sat still long enough to use his in a month."
"Oh, alright," Harry said, putting Teddy into the blue chair. "Why's it matter?"
"A lot of Scorp's things are charmed especially for him and his leg. It's easier to keep their things separate than to remember what's charmed with which spell."
"Yeah, okay." That made sense to Harry, especially because he had no idea what was charmed, so he might as well go along with Draco's color separation scheme. "Is there a reason Scorp is green? Are you trying to turn him into a Slytherin?" Harry teased.
"Blue and green are standard boy colors. By the time I woke up after the birth, Professor Snape was already using the blue things for Sev and it stuck."
"Oh," Harry said, suddenly reminded of Professor Snape's sacrifice again. He took a deep breath and went to the fireplace to floo Hermione.
Harry hadn't bothered to turn the bouncer on and Teddy started fussing, so Draco let go of Scorpius just long enough to pull out his wand and activate the bouncer, before putting his wand away and returning his hand to his son.
"She agreed to come in half an hour and I handed her the secret. She handed it back to me when she finished reading it," Harry said, lighting up the secret and letting it burn.
"Good."
Harry sat next to Draco and took Sev and the bottle from Draco, while he told Draco that he'd passed his apparition test, which was good news and meant he would be capable of apparating away if he was cornered by obsessive fans. Draco was happy to hear it, even though he still had to go in to take his test, so Harry went on to tell Draco that he was accepted to join the Aurors whenever he wanted, with back pay and medical benefits.
Draco was happy to hear that one of his suggestions had been taken, but he didn't let on to Harry that he had suggested it. Instead he sat and listened to Harry's account and tried to look like he was happy for Harry, even though he was scared to death that Harry would be killed in the line of duty.
Sev finished his bottle and started pushing off of Harry, like he wanted down, so Harry put him into his jumping thing. "Draco, what's this thing called anyway?" Harry asked as Sev hit a button and made the lights and music come on.
"A jumper; actually that kind is a stationary jumper," Draco answered, still feeding Scorpius. Breast feeding took longer than bottle feeding.
"Oh, yeah, 'cause he jumps in it, I get it. Will you be alright with them for a minute? I've got to take a leak," Harry said.
"Yeah, they're fine."
"In that case, I'd like to change too before Hermione gets here," Harry said, before leaving the room. He was wearing a set of nice wizarding robes he had borrowed from Draco's closet and he didn't want to ruin them.
The kids were fine at first. Scorpius finished nursing and wanted down too, so Draco set Scorpius in the green jumper. But then Teddy started wailing, so Draco picked him up out of the blue bouncer and took the baby back to the sofa to figure out the problem. Teddy had just eaten, so Draco started patting his back, to see if Teddy had another burp. Teddy calmed down a bit at that and his wails turned to quiet fussing noises, which he was still making when the fire roared green, Hermione Granger stepped through the floo, and Scorpius' head snapped immediately to the unfamiliar witch before he let out a piercing scream.
"Calm down, Hermione," Draco ordered as he got up with Teddy in one arm and picked Scorpius up with the other.
Hermione froze in place examining the apparent scene of domestic bliss that had shattered upon her arrival. The black haired baby was screeching and it seemed to be because of her and Draco had said to calm down. She didn't know what the problem was, but she knew occlumency, so she cleared her mind and calmed herself down.
"Mipsy! I need a green soother!" Draco called from the couch where he had just sat back down with Teddy and Scorpius. Scorpius was still screeching and Teddy was fussing harder.
A second later an elf was handing Draco a soother and Sev shouted, "Elf!" so the elf turned and asked the young master what she could do for him.
Draco shoved the soother into Scorpius' mouth and held it there a moment while the raven haired baby stopped screaming. When Scorpius had calmed down a bit, he sat Scorpius in his lap and used his free hands to put Teddy back onto his shoulder and resume the burping.
Teddy let out a large burp just before Sev let out a loud string of hisses. Draco turned his attention to the baby still in the jumper and saw that the house elf was holding the pet snake in front of Sev, who was reaching out to grab it, while hissing in Hermione's direction.
"No Mipsy, take the snake away," Draco ordered.
"Yes Master Draco, sir," Mipsy said vanishing the snake. "Mipsy is sorry, Master Severus, sir. Should Mipsy punish herself, Master Severus, sir?"
"Mipsy, why did you get the snake?" Draco asked.
"Master Severus, sir, asked Mipsy for it, sir," Mipsy replied.
"How? All the boy said was, 'Elf.'"
"Master Severus, sir, said, 'Elf,' sir, and then Master Severus, sir, said, 'Snake,' sir."
"He said snake in English Mipsy? Or was it in another language?" Draco asked. He certainly hadn't heard the boy say anything other than elf and hissing noises.
"Mipsy believes Master Severus, sir, said snake in Parseltongue, sir."
"Do you speak Parseltongue, Mipsy?" Draco asked.
"Mipsy only knows a few words, sir."
"How do you know those words?"
"From the elven colony, sir. Mipsy heard Master Severus, sir, speaking Parseltongue, sir, so Mipsy asked the other elves to teach Mipsy a few words, sir. Mipsy is trying to learn, sir, so Mipsy may serve Young Master Severus, sir, properly, sir."
"Which elves know Parseltongue, Mipsy?" Draco was curious, because to his knowledge, there were no wizards left alive who spoke it, besides Severus.
"The Gaunt family elves, sir. The Gaunt family has no more sirs and ma'ams, but the elves still belong to the House of Gaunt outside Little Hangleton, sir. The elves haven't been called in many years and stay at the elven colony, sir."
"Do these elves have a master, Mipsy?"
"The Master of the Gaunt family elves, sir, was the Dark Lord, sir. Mipsy thinks the Dark Lord, sir, was a bad master, because he was never calling his elves, sir. The Dark Lord, sir, is dead and the elves do not know whom to call Master now, sir. The elves are very upset, sir, and the elves did not teach Mipsy any knew words when Mipsy went to the elven colony yesterday, sir."
"You may tell the elves that if they are without a master, they may come here and I'll be their master, if they wish. I believe my father is the only Death Eater left standing in a position to take them in, although I hear the Goyles might get off, so if the elves so choose, they may also ask Mrs. Goyle to be their mistress."
"Oh thank you, sir! Master Draco Malfoy, sir, is such a kind master, sir. Mipsy will tell the Gaunt elves, sir."
"And Mipsy, please don't bring the snake or do anything else Master Severus requires of you in Parseltongue, without checking with me first," Draco said. The elf nodded. "You are dismissed, Mipsy."
Mipsy left with a crack and Severus started crying now that his elf was gone. Teddy and Scorpius were finally quiet, so Draco summoned the two bouncers for them, before retrieving Severus from the jumper. "No snakes without an adult, Sev," Draco said.
Sev soon forgot what he was crying about and wanted down, so Draco set him on the floor next to the bouncers and turned his attention to Hermione, who was still standing silently by the fireplace. "Sorry about that; it can get hectic around here with three babies and I had no idea the Gaunt family still had house elves, nor that they spoke Parseltongue. You may have a seat in one of the armchairs. I don't suspect Scorpius will start crying again unless you cast a spell. What did you cast before coming here?"
"I sort of got in an argument with Ron and hexed him. Why was Scorpius crying? Did I do something wrong?" Hermione asked, sitting down.
Severus had crawled the half a foot over to Scorpius' bouncer and was using the sides to pull himself up onto his knees, to look at the bar of toys with flashing lights and music.
"Yes, you did: you cast a violent spell before coming here and he is sensitive. Please don't cast any curses, jinxes, or hexes while here or even shortly before coming here."
"Oh my! I'm so sorry; I didn't know. It won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't." Scorpius' bouncer was sagging under the additional weight, so Draco picked Sev back up, pulling him off of the bouncer. "Sev, I know you don't actually want in a bouncer, so why don't you go back in your jumper?" Draco asked, taking Sev back over to the blue jumper and depositing the child. This time Sev was happy to play with his own toy and bounce away, so Draco went back to the sofa and the two babies sitting quietly in their bouncers.
"Draco, is Severus a Parselmouth? Is that why he was hissing at me?" Having one baby screech and the other hiss at her was fairly unnerving to Hermione.
"Yes, we believe so. Although Harry no longer is one, so I've no idea what he's saying." While Draco was talking, Harry came into the room, freshly changed into lounge clothes.
"What's going on? Did something happen? I didn't hear anything up in the room," Harry said.
"Probably because the muffling charm is still on the walls. That's the problem with them; you put them up when you don't want to be woken up and you forget to take them down when you're done, and then you miss it when Wizarding War Number Three breaks out in your drawing room," Draco replied.
"It wasn't that bad; just all three babies were crying. Severus is quite frightening with a snake and hissing, by the way," Hermione added.
"He was hissing at you?" Harry asked.
Draco explained what had just happened with Sev, the elf, and the snake. "I suspect Sev was trying to protect his brother from Hermione, because she came in crackling of violent magic from a fight with Weasley."
Harry looked at Hermione questioningly, so Hermione said, "Ronald was being a prat again, so I may have hexed him a little bit. Next time I'll hex him well before coming over. I'm sorry; I didn't know you had a sensitive or a parselmouth."
"And a metamorphmagus," Draco added.
"And a metamorphmagus," Harry agreed, picking Teddy up from the bouncer and sitting on the sofa next to Draco.
Draco kissed Harry, but it wasn't deep or long, because there were three babies and a witch in the room. "Well then if everything's settled, I best be going. I don't want to be late for my appointment. Oh, and Harry, it's nap time. Scorp is practically asleep and Sev is rubbing his eyes over there," Draco said pointing to Sev right before the boy yawned. "See, he admits it."
"Alright, I'll put them down. Is there anything I need for that?"
"Yeah; I gave Scorp a soother, so Sev will get mad if he doesn't get one too. Perhaps next time you go to a muggle store, you could buy Teddy a few soothers."
"Yeah, okay," Harry agreed.
Draco nodded and then left via the floo.
Author's Note: Up next will be Harry and Hermione's adventure with naptime…