"Okay ladies. How many children are there exactly and which are yours?" Molly stood, parchment and quill in hand awaiting the list of names and discovered that, of the 6 woman whose loyalties were not in question, only 10 of the 96 children belongs to them; the youngest being Penelope's newbourn.

"Mrs. Weasley," Penny began.

"Molly, please dear. We're going to be working closely for now and I believe we can be less formal." Molly smiled encouragingly.

"Yes, Molly. Okay then, so I know we met once, while I was seeing Percy, but I'm Penelope Clearwater. Though I was mated, I refused to acknowledge the man so I will not use his name." She pointed to the brunet to her left and continued, "That is Parvati Patil; she was in Gryffindor with your son and the little pregnant one in the corner is Natalie MacDonald, also a lion but was a firstie when the battle broke out."

Molly clucked her tongue as she took notes on the information being given and shook her head.

"I'm sure you recognise Cho Chang over by the toddlers and with her is Susan Bones. She's barely been functional lately. She was brutally abused when she was first taken – given who her aunt was – and has already birthed 1 cub and lost two others."

Molly wiped tears from her face as she watched the young woman softly cooing to an upset toddler in her lap. She smiled as she recognised some of the strength of her lost friend Amelia in her young niece.

"And lastly, over by the infants, we have Rose Zeller. She's the only Slytherin girl to have made it through all this alive that I know of. More often than not, they would fight the men so hard they would be killed shortly after arriving."

"Of us, I have had 3 babies, Cho's had 2, Parvati's had 3, which includes a set of twins, and one each to Susan and Rose. Natalie's due in about a month or so. We don't seem to carry these children as long as normal pregnancies, but there's no set time that I can figure. Some have been born with 4 months of conception and others will wait for up to 7 months. I'm beginning to believe it's based on the magical strength of the parents."

Molly took a deep breath and quietly said, "Well, it would appear we have a number of orphaned children here so let's start taking note of names and any information about the parents we can gather and see what we can do. There is a Werewolf habitat some journey from here where many of these children may be able to live, but I'll have to talk to Harry and Remus about that first."

"Penny dear, how is it possible for so many children to be here when the battle wasn't but a couple of months ago?"

"I believe I can answer that Ma'am," little Rose interrupted. "Many of us were taken prior to the battle starting. Being in Slytherin, I was mated to a housemate shortly after my sorting at the beginning of last year. I was glamoured to hide my pregnancies and birthed my second cub a week before the battle began. She was too weak to survive all the moving around though."

Molly embraced the young girl and hugged her tight, "I'm so sorry for your loss. I am aware of the heartache. Would you be willing to take care of some of these others?"

"Absolutely. I will do whatever I can to help. "

Harry's eyes fluttered open slowly and he took in his surroundings. He groaned loudly as he realised he was back in the Infirmary at Hogwarts and quietly asked himself, "Am I ever going to see the last of this bloody place?"

"I would hope so young man. Not that I don't love seeing you, I would just like to see you under better circumstances." Poppy said as she smiled down at her favourite patient.

"Alright, agreed. So, what's wrong with me this time?"

"Well, you had some blood loss and a touch of magical exhaustion, but for the most part, you're fine."

Harry sat up and put his glasses on then looked at Draco's bed, "How's Draco? They told me they were going to kill him."

Poppy saw the fear in Harry's eyes as he studied his mate's prone form, "He's going to be fine. He's suffering from a more extreme case of magical exhaustion and he's a number of open wounds we cannot heal until his magic strengthens, but the more minor wounds have all been healed. Including the ones he took for you."

"What do you mean 'that he took for me'?"

"Why don't I take care of explaining that Poppy," Remus said as he walked into the room smiling. "Molly and Minerva have returned with the first group of children and some of them appear to be in need of care."

Poppy nodded and left quickly with her medical bag in hand.

Remus pulled a chair up between the boys' beds and sat down. "Harry, do you remember much about what happened in the cave?"

"I remember feeling Draco in my head and I felt my magic increase."

"Harry, Draco was feeding his magic to you so you and in the process was taking all the injuries you should have received from the falling rocks and fighting. Each time something hit you or cut you, it would appear on Draco's body in the same spot so you would remain strong and able to fight. It's one of the benefits of the magic merging."

Guilt plastered itself on Harry's face so completely that Remus immediately shifted onto the bed and took the boy in his arms, "Harry, this is in no way your fault. It's something none of us has ever seen happen. You could have done nothing to prevent this."

Harry nodded, hearing what was being said but still feeling bad that he had caused Draco pain again. "When we merge like that, it's like we are one person, so I can see how that would happen. We have to find a way to keep that from happening again. I don't want to be the cause of anymore pain for Draco."

"You didn't cause my pain Love, and I would gladly take it all again to make sure you're okay."

Harry flew across Remus and onto Draco's bed to embrace the blonde. "Whoa there," Draco hissed, "I still have some pretty bad cuts and stuff here."

Harry peppered Draco's face with kisses as he apologised again and again.

Remus laughed as he quietly left the room and the boys to their reunion. He cast an alarm on the room in case the boys needed anything and locked the room as he left.

"Harry, relax, I'm going to be fine. I promise."

Harry wrapped himself around Draco and rested his head over Draco's heart so he could hear its steady beating. "I know you're going to be fine, but I was really worried and it's just going to take me a bit to relax enough to want to let you go."

Draco laughed, "I think we can work with that. So, did you get him?"

Harry sighed and began to explain how Greyback escaped, "We did get Ginny though. She's here somewhere so Severus can interrogate her and then she'll go to the Ministry with the rest of those who made it out alive. I'm sorry by the way, Nott didn't. I gave him the chance and when he chose to leave the pack, Greyback killed him."

Draco nodded as he carded his fingers through Harry's messy hair, "That's fine. He's one of the people who beat the hell out of me, so I can't seem to care much."

The couple cuddled in Draco's bed exchanging soft kisses and reassurances until they both drifted back to sleep.

Severus and Ron rounded the corner and walked straight into Remus, "We were wondering where you'd gotten to Remus," Ron said. "Mum said she expected you to come back with Poppy to help with the kids."

"I'm on my way back there now. Harry and Draco are awake now and I chat with Harry for a bit first."

"Ah, you soothed his guilty conscience is more likely."

Remus chuckled, "You do know him well Ron."

"Well, I've no wish to witness their reunion, so let's go and help with the children. Molly said they are a total of 96 alive, one on the way and the oldest is just 8."

As the men made their way to the makeshift nursery, Remus asked, "Why aren't you still with Ginny?"

Ron answered quickly, "We've finished with the prisoner and she's been transferred to the Ministry for trial. We were able to discover that the pack has been impregnating women – well girls really – for the last year to strengthen the pack's magical signature and they'd been hiding the children and the girls who survived the birthings in the mountain cave system to keep Voldemort from getting to them. Most of the girls had yet to reach their majority so they were able to conceive at least twice before their body could no longer handle the stress."

Remus sucked in a harsh breath as he walked into the nursery and confronted the scene before him. Spread out in sections across the Great Hall, were cot after cot of small bodies. To his immediate right, inside the doors, were the oldest children. They appeared to range in age from 6 to 8 years old and seemed to be trying to figure out where they were and why.

The next group on that side was the toddlers and they were all quietly playing with toys that had been conjured for them while sucking on bottles and chattering with each other. Remus got a fond look on his face as he watched Narcissa sitting amongst them and playing and 'talking' with them. She had a young female child in her lap and was holding a bottle for the child as she softly read her a book. She looked angelic and as though all was right in her world in that moment.

Across from them were the infants where Molly was flitting between the rows of cots holding one or two infants each; all of them were currently sleeping peacefully as soft music played throughout the room.

Inside the door to the left, was the makeshift medical section. Most of the children here were covered in cuts and bruises or appeared to be undernourished. Poppy and Minerva were tending to these children.

Minerva looked up and saw the trio in the doorway and indicated they should join them. "Gentlemen, pick up some salve and get healing."

Severus chuckled as he did just as told and took stock of what would be needed to replenish the potions and salves. He was working on a small child when a small squeak interrupted his thoughts, "I'm sorry little one; did I hurt you?"

"No sir, I just wondered why you were being so gentle. We were bad; we didn't do as we were told. We should be punished not cared for."

Severus stood for a moment and gathered his thoughts before responding, "What is your name child?"

"I'm Brandon. I'm 7 and my mum and dad are both dead."

"I'm sorry to hear that Brandon," Severus said as he sat on the cot and took the boy on his lap. "Now explain why you should be punished."

"We were supposed to stay in the nursery section and not leave no matter what unless one of Papa's men told us to. Then we were to take a baby with us. We didn't do that. We left with the mummies."

Severus rocked the boy and soothed him as he explained, "Brandon, you did the right thing leaving with the Mummy's. You do not deserve to be punished for anything that I know of at this point and so you won't be. We will feed and heal you and then we will find you safe place to live."

The small body in his lap shook with sobs as he realised he was finally safe and Severus held him until he cried himself to sleep. He reminded the wizened Potions Master of another small boy who'd had a horrible childhood and silently vowed he would not allow this child to suffer the way Harry had.

Poppy entered her Infirmary to find Harry sitting up in bed with his back to the wall and a lapful of sleeping blonde. She smiled as she watched Harry slowly card his hand through Draco's hair as he smiled down at his mate.

"Harry," Poppy whispered, "do you think you will be able to get up and away for a bit? I'd like to talk to you about a couple of things."

Harry smiled and slipped from beneath Draco. Draco grumbled and rolled over grasping the Harry scented pillow as he settled down again.

"What can I do for you Poppy?" Harry asked as he gingerly sat in the chair before her desk.

"Firstly, how are you feeling? Any pain or trouble seeing?"

"No ma'am. Everything's fine. Just a little stiff is all."

"Good. I'll check Draco over as soon as we finish here, but I expect him to be fully healed within the next day or two."

"Oh, I've healed his wounds myself and his magic has been stabilising over the last two hours as we've been lying together. He should be up by dinner."

"Excellent, but I'll still have a look if you don't mind."

Harry nodded his head in understanding. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I do have some questions about the link you two have but more importantly, I want to know how you are."

Harry smiled, "I'm really doing fine Poppy. I'm upset Greyback got away, but I know I will get another chance. I'm glad we got the children out and I'm sorry Ginny was lost in all this. Do you know if Severus has talked with her yet?"

Poppy nodded, "He has and she's been transferred to the Ministry holding cells for trial. He wasn't able to learn anything about where Fenrir may have gone as she didn't seem to know. Apparently, he kept a great many things hidden from her. He had gave her Veritaserum to make sure they got the whole truth and did find out that she had been promising many young wolves a chance to mate with her if they would help her remove Fenrir from his position. She wanted to lead the pack herself."

"She couldn't she's not a wolf."

"She didn't care and those that followed her didn't either. They were solely interested in the chance at power. She trusted none of them and didn't follow through on any of her promises so when it came down to it, with the exception of McLaggen, no one would follow her. It's expected she'll receive the kiss within the next week."

Harry sighed, "So many lost in this ridiculous fighting."

Draco slipped his hand around Harry's neck and leaned down to whisper, "And there will be more. But unless you cast the spell yourself, they are not your fault."

Harry reached up and grasped Draco's arms and squeezed, "I know Love. It's just sad that they have to be lost."

"Gentlemen, now that you are both doing better, let's head down to the Great Nursery and help figure out what to do with all these children."

AN: Things should be getting back on track now…Thanx for hanging in there with me.

I wish I owned these characters, but sadly, I do not. That honour belongs to JKR.