Miles away, at the moment of Harry's breakdown, in a house that Draco never told Harry about, Iece Potter played with her toys. She sat in a big-girl pull-up and bare feet, with an array of colorful, pre-school learning devices all around her. They were not unlike that of a muggle child's. Something equivalent to a 'speak and spell' made noises like animals for her to identify. Stuffed animals lit up with bellies that taught her to count, and dolls with yarn for hair sang her ABCs to her. A Disney movie played behind her. In another room, Jipsy ran bathwater, following Draco's strict orders to bathe Iece with real soap and water daily, not just magic.

With a breakfast doughnut clenched in her teeth, the child hummed along with the movie's music, a number she'd heard a hundred times or more, and tried to make her stuffed critter, a creature that looked remarkably like a blue Ferbie, drink the rest of her milk. The liquid drizzled into plush, synthetic fur and dripped onto the carpet.

"Uh-oh," Iece told the Ferbie. "Bad bad you meshed it up."

Her tiny, plump hands attempted to wipe the wetness away. "I shorry, bear bear." She knew that Ferbie wasn't a bear, but that was her name for him.

"I shorry," she apologized. The milk had gone everywhere and it seemed to her that Bear Bear was upset, so she kept saying it. She kept wiping. But Bear Bear got angrier. His plastic eyes caught the light, reflecting irritation. She sensed his anger and she withdrew her hand. She stared at him, not knowing how to process the fear he suddenly made her feel. He suddenly looked very mean to her and she pushed him away. "Noooo," she whined.

Bear Bear fell backward, onto the other toys. This made him very angry, she knew, so she scooted away from him altogether. The Ferbie flew out of the pile it had landed in, and hovered above her play circle of toys and half-eaten breakfast. As soon as it did, her other toys began to lift and hover with it. Her stuffed animals and dolls all left her side and floated up above her head. They began to spin. Objects from her dresser joined them. Drawers opened and things left her closet, to join all the toys in the air. She ducked with wide eyes as her room became a dervish of activity. Shoes and clothes took flight. Everything that wasn't fastened threw itself into the air, sweeping past her head. When things began hitting her, that's when she screamed. Something sharp and plastic blew across her face, swiping her cheek and cutting a thin gash. Her screams climbed to the top of her lungs.

Jipsy heard her and popped from the tub to the room. The toys, furniture, clothes and all that wasn't bolted down, road around the room on a current of chaotic magic. It wasn't as simple as stopping the items, for the child would immediately set it in motion again. Jipsy used restraining magic, but Iece's magic wouldn't let it anywhere near. The child's cries were frantic to get away from objects that kept hitting her. The best Jipsy could do, without using magic that was too powerful against one so young, was to place a barrier around her to protect her. Then she called for Draco.


Harry was resting with his head on his hands, wrestling with the pit in his stomach, when his other lawyer appeared. Douglas Fraizer was Destiny's legal partner, but had remained in the background throughout the trial. Now he entered the holding area with a guard who proceeded to release the locks with spells.

Harry looked up.

"Hello Mr. Potter, I'm here because Destiny is wrapping things up with the judge. There's been some developments since this morning."

Harry was too irritable to be polite. He waited.

"You've been released on court supervision. It amounts to house-arrest, so you'll have to agree to a tracking charm before leaving."

"What's all this about?" He immediately got suspicious.

"Destiny, um, my colleague, Ms. Crowdinghouse, is working very hard to clear your name and have Mrs. Malfoy's appeal thrown out and the whole thing declared a mistrial. Many of the jurors have stepped down, risking arrest, to avoid their duties. And your Doctor, Mr. Rankar, has signed medical verification of your sanity and safety around others. Since your personal issues were documented by him before the trial, the court itself is liable for damages sustained during your cross examination."

He didn't trust any of it. "I don't believe you. I lied. I attacked a whole courtroom."

"Dr. Rankar has convinced the judge that it was a trauma reflex because you were provoked. But let me add, that circumstances changed when Draco Malfoy presented written testimony on your behalf, only a few hours ago. You were injured in the mansion that night. What you could not tell the court, he was able to tell in full detail. He read his account of that night, of the assault, before the National Viewing Globecast. He left out no details, and was rather graphic and forthcoming. It's been reported that people shut the broadcasts off in their homes. Youth were forbidden to listen. The public felt his words and they are demanding your release. A few hundred people are raising their voices outside the Ministry's Criminal Division right now. Draco presented enough information that your crimes will be relegated to issues of mental health brought on by the curse and other stresses sustained during the war. You will be given two days to rest in your own home before the trial resumes, whereupon the judge will make a decision."

"Draco did that?" He'd spilled is guts, and now they got what they wanted? "That's all it took?"

"I'm afraid, sir, something has happened to set these events in order. Destiny is fighting for your release because your daughter was taken to the hospital shortly after today's hearing."

"What?" Harry sat straight.

"She knew you'd want to go. Iece is fine. Doctors were able to stabilize her magic and she'll be released tomorrow, but she suffered a magical relapse, apparently, at the precise moment that yours got away from you in court. Mr. Rankar has suggested that you two are magically connected, and the more stress you're under, the more your daughter suffers. So he too, pushed for your release. That's when Draco asked for the platform to go public with everything he new."

Harry was up now, brushing past the guard who held the cell open.

"Iece. Where? Which hospital?"

Douglass gestured toward the exit. "Once you take the tracking arrest, you won't be allowed to apparate. I have a car waiting."


The press followed Harry into the hospital, but were pushed back by extra security guards. Douglas accompanied him as far as the desk, then made himself scarce when the nurse pointed towards Iece's room.

Inside, Draco slumped over the bed beside Iece, who slept under her medical tent. He thought Draco was asleep too, but he raised up at Harry's approach. They stared at one another. It was the first time they'd had any privacy since before Harry's trip to Hogwarts. You go first, they appeared to say to one another.

"How is she?" Harry asked, carefully.

"Better. Her toys turned against her, apparently. She's got a few cuts, but Rankar is reformulating her meds and says she can leave tomorrow. We have to wait around for them."

Harry played down his concern, not wanting a repeat of that morning's hysterics. "It looks like I might need the same prescription."

"You might. He's looking into it." Draco sat up and stretched. It was then that Harry noticed dark circles under his eyes and a defeated exhaustion about him. He merely lifted his shoulders and let them drop, as if he couldn't be bothered to come up with anything else to say. Harry appreciated the lack of drama in this reunion. There were a lot of things Draco could've been angry about, but all of them took a backseat to this.

"Douglas told me what you did today," Harry started. Draco stopped him, holding up his hand.

"Don't. There was no other course of action. Lying failed. They wanted the truth, well, we've nothing left to give. I don't care anymore. Don't you start grovelling for forgiveness. I've had enough emotion today, I don't need anymore passionate remarks. For fuck's sake, now I get why my father is the cold bastard that he is. Feelings are so bloody exhausting. I can't raise her and feel too. I have to pick one."

"I just want to say thank you for putting up with all of this, and sticking your neck on the line too."

"Harry, I just want to puke and go to sleep. I'll feel better if I could get my stomach to settle after that broadcast. I'm not mad at you, so don't get all apologetic. Just survive this and let me take Iece like we planned."

Harry sat on the bed. "So the judge is going to let you leave the country after all this?"

"Yes. Destiny says they'll likely declare a mistrial once it resumes. We have to go through the motions, make it official. But after that, I'll leave with Iece immediately. In fact, after I get her meds from Avi tomorrow, that'll be the last time I see you outside of court. The minute the trial is over, we'll be on a plane. Are you still okay with that?"

Harry nodded. "Take her as far away from here as possible. I'll join you when you let me know the time is right. I hope you're surrounded by muggles in America."

"It's a beautiful place."

They got tired of dancing around the issue. Harry asked, "How long do you think it'll take before I can join you?"

"I don't know. Let the dust settle from all of this. What about Snape? Are you still chasing after him?"

Harry forgot that he never really had a chance to tell Draco about his success.

"Holy hell, I didn't tell you!" He lowered his voice. "I couldn't talk to you, you kept avoiding me. I found Snape. He's alive and well in Scottland. He lives in a cave, decked out to look like Hogwarts or something."

Draco's eyebrows went up, but he sounded bored. "You actually found him?" He propped his fist on his chin. "Our Potions teacher?"

"The one and only. He wasn't happy to see me, of course. Tried to drive me away. Used some pain hexes. He has a muggle friend who stopped him from killing me, I think. But it was an adventure and now I know where he lives."

Draco cautiously avoided any excitement over the news. "Will you ever stop playing with fire?" He shook his head, knowing the answer to that.

"I left Iece's picture with him and gave him a lot to think about. If he can help her, he will. That's all I want from him, now that I know he's alive. I can't ask for anything more."

"Even though you want to," Draco finished for him.

Harry leaned over and took his hand from his jaw. When Draco tried to pull back, he held it.

"I'm done chasing him. I got what I wanted. I got the message through. It's up to him to decide if he's going to help or not. If we get out of this trial with our freedom, I'll spend the rest of my days putting you and Iece first. That's why I won't fight you on taking her. I trust you with my life, and she's my life, so do what you have to do to get her away from all this publicity, your parents, me, the trouble-maker. I'll wrap things up with the Ministry. I'll find something useful and low-key to do, until I hear from you. Hell, I'll probably be on probation for a while anyway, until I can get my magic under control."

"Harry, I'm not just taking her for my selfish wishes. You really need time to clear your mind. We've never been away from each other for very long since the war. We've never had a moment's peace. You need to continue therapy and sort yourself out. I'm giving you a chance to really know what you want the next twenty years to look like for yourself. She'll always be your daughter. You mustn't feel like she's something you have to make up for, just because my father screwed up as badly as he did. She'll be loved and it's not up to you to fix this."

"It's not up to you to fix it, either. I'm not trying to take care of her because I feel sorry for her. She's mine and I love her for that. Yes, I'm conflicted, but I know I want her. All that horrible stuff is in the past, if everyone would just let it stay there. She's my present. You and her. I'm strong enough to face my life with her. With the both of you."

Draco made a face, unwilling to accept the declaration. "Wake up. You love Snape. Let me spell it out for you. Even when you thought he hated you, you were fascinated with him. Even my father commented on it."

So Draco wasn't going to let him off the hook. "What? Granted, I would love it if Snape came out of hiding, but I can't wait on that longshot. All that matters now, is yours and Iece's happiness."

"You're off on another adventure, Harry. The trial is enough for me. More than I can handle, in fact. You've got to sort your feelings for Snape, now that you know how to access him. If you don't, you're just going to track more chaos back to us. I was always afraid that Snape was alive, because you still had a thing for him. I could handle any stray fling with a stranger that you threw at me. I did the same, because it meant nothing. It was like dancing and finding a new partner when the song ended. Until the only partner I wanted, was you. But you're obsessed with him. I just want you to know what you really want before you call yourself coming back to us. I can't act like you're all mine, if you're not."

That was a blow, but Harry bore it. Fair enough. He gripped Draco's hand.

"You get Iece out of here. You take some time for yourself and I'll show you… I'll prove that I'm all yours. And that I'm ready for us as a family. I'll wait as long as you need me to, then I'll come running as soon as you give the word. I am all yours, and you're all mine. Our marriage is real. It was real long before we signed those papers. We've been through too much for it to be otherwise."

He looked at Iece's sleeping face, then turned back to Draco. "I love you, Draco, and nothing's going to change that."

In answer, Draco returned his grip. But when Harry pulled him in for a kiss, he turned his head.

"Let's get some sleep," he said, encouraging Harry not to take it too hard. "I need rest more than I need promises and kisses at the moment."

He worked his hand out of Harry's, stood, and started to spread a hospital blanket over a chair in the corner. Harry watched hims settle before taking his spot beside Iece. He watched Draco sleep.


By noon, Iece was released, but Draco gave Harry mixed news.

"Destiny has come through. I won't be needed at the remainder of the trial. Our flight leaves at 5:00. Her meds are locked in Rankar's office because he's in some sort of meeting and he wants to talk to us before we leave. Looks like we might as well hang around for lunch."

He sounded irritable. His clothes were creased from waiting around, and his hair mussed. There was even stubble protruding from his jaw. He didn't look like himself. He couldn't have rested well and Harry thought the both of them could use some food. They ordered cafeteria food and took Iece up to the roof of the hospital to eat it. Draco insisted their security keep their distance. "Give us some space, we'll be fine."

Atop the hospital, the place was an architectural playground, with a park-like atmosphere and families strolling the ground with patients. It was a twenty-story complex, boasting state of the art technology and hybrid medicine between wizards and non-wizard specialists. There were eating pavilions atop the hospital, restaurants, gift shops, and outlets, built around an emergency landing helicopter pad. Harry and Draco ate hot dogs while watching Iece take tentative looks back at them as she darted towards a swing set.

They watched her carefully, scrutinizing her interaction with the swing. She seemed nervous, peeking at them to make sure they weren't going to leave her.

"It won't bite you, honey," Harry told her. "You can play."

She remembered that toys sometimes do bite, so she hesitated. Instead of climbing on the thing, she gave it a push to watch it swing by itself. Then she heard the music. A sing-song nursery rhyme jingled from one of the stands around the park. People were walking away with cones of ice cream.

"Is kweeeem!" she pointed.

Harry and Draco looked at each other, suppressing moans. They'd hoped to have as little interaction with the public as possible. Already, they'd had to ignore rude picture taking and stares, and pretended they weren't in the middle of a huge scandalous trial as they stood in line with people who knew very intimate details about their lives.

"I'll go." Harry volunteered to keep Draco from moving. He grabbed Iece and they headed for the line. Turns out, no one who recognized him would let him stand for very long without offering him to go ahead. The politeness surprised him, but he had little patience for the extra attention. He hoisted her in his arms and said thank you to everyone who let him pass.

Screw the meds, he'd be happier waiting for them elsewhere. He forced himself to stay in line until Iece had two dollops of strawberry goodness atop her sugar cone. He helped her lick them, knowing they'd melt before she could finish.

Draco looked at his phone and announced, "It's time. Don't let her get dirty, I just changed her for the plane."

"So spell a cleaning charm."

Draco took a deep and loud breath, rolling his eyes to the heavens. "May I remind you, it isn't safe to do magic around her at the moment? Avi just texted me. He's out of his meeting. I'll get her meds. You two meet me at the emergency entrance. I'll be driving to the airport."

Harry watched him walk away. When he turned back, Iece was clinging to the swing with one hand, as ice cream melted down her other hand. "Push Daddy!"

"We have to go, sweetheart. Eat your ice cream before it melts."

"Puuushmeeeeee…"

He didn't have the strength to take on a tantrum, and wasn't about to risk her magic going berzerk.

"Only for a few minutes. We don't want Draco to leave us."

The swing was really too big for her, and too small for him, so he held her aloft while moving it backwards and forwards. As far as she was concerned, she was soaring, dripping ice cream everywhere.
"Weeee…" she bellowed.

It relieved him that she could still play amid all that was going on in their lives, including an emergency run to the hospital. She seemed immune to the realities that kept him and Draco so tense with one another. He was thankful that she was too young to know what was going on. When he pushed her forward, she looked back at him, her smile glowing in the sunlight.

Pain came out of nowhere, crippling the right side of his body. He staggered and it took him a second to realize that it had come from his neck. It stung, then burned. His left hand reached for the swing, to stop it. His right reached for his neck, felt something thin and hard, and came away with a streak of blood. That's when his vision blurred, but he caught Iece as she slipped out of the chair. He fell with her, landing on the grass.

"Dadeee!" she screamed at him. "My iskweeem."

He couldn't speak. He tried to reassure her, touching her arm. Her cone had toppled over. She was pinned under him as she reached for it. By then, he knew they were in trouble and he looked around for Draco, for security, for anyone who could help. He began to cough as his lungs reacted to the chemical poison coursing through his veins. His first instinct was to place a shield around Iece, but everything in his left field of vision compressed to tunnel darkness and the right side of his body felt too heavy to move.

"Draco," he called. It sounded more like a murmur. Iece started to crawl away from him, complaining and upset. He grabbed her ankle and pulled her back to him. She squealed in protest. He struggled to use one arm to bundle her close. He wanted her to scream, to get someone's attention. Something horrible was happening. Risking further injury, he pulled the thing out of his neck. It was a needle with an air-balance on one end. A remote delivery system. A dart.

Poisoned from a distance. Who? He hoped he'd got it before too much entered his system. Iece fought as he tried to stand with her. He was probably holding her wrong, but he couldn't help it. He picked the both of them up and wavered, dizzy. He looked around frantically, stumbling. He couldn't keep his balance. He didn't know which direction the danger would come from. People noticed him, but he couldn't respond properly to alert them. He couldn't make his body move the way he wanted. He couldn't call for help.

"Huurtsdaddeee!" Iece cried.

He knew he had to hang onto her and make his way to safety. The minute he thought this, someone brushed by him, taking hold of her. Harry's finger joints clenched, risking harm to her, as all of his instinct told him to hold on. She screamed so loudly, he knew that no one could mistake it for a normal tantrum. He couldn't hold her and fight off their attacker at the same time, so he hugged her between his arms and threw his head into the nearest part of the hulking form that was pulling on her.

That's what it was. A smash and grab. He was the glass, Iece was the treasure. Whoever wanted her, had waited until they were alone, out in the open. The drug was supposed to topple him, but he wasn't going out that easily. He had no wand and couldn't see the guy clearly at all. He sent a surge of magic against the bulk trying to take his daughter. It wasn't full strength, he was growing weak. The guy, apparently a wizard, pushed back, delivering a lacerating strike of magic that slashed Harry's working arm. Rather than drop his daughter, he fell on top of her again, and huddled his body like a shell to cover her. His vision had tunneled to centimeters in his right eye, and he squinted to aim a wandless cruciatus at the guy. The attacker let go and fell to the ground, but as soon as he did, an anonymous kick, sent Harry rolling onto his back, separated from Iece.

He heard her sprawl next to him, and tore the grass to get to her first. In a world of darkness and pain now, he was running on sound. He followed the grunts of a heavy man and took hold of Iece as this second attacker did. This time, his cruciatus missed, but he was able to send pure heat into the fellow's wrist when he wouldn't let go of her. They both had her. Harry burned intention into the guys arm and smelled his skin sizzle. The guy let go. By then there were screams coming from people surrounding them.

Try as he might, he still couldn't call out. Where was Draco? Where was their security? He tried to run, but couldn't be sure of his direction or what he was running into. Iece wailed against him, unable to comprehend what was going on. His legs felt like cement and he knew he wasn't going fast, nor could he carry her much further. That's when another needle stung his arm. Then another.

He refused to let the tidal wave of darkness take him. Even after his body went numb, he clung to her, fighting to keep her visible. From a pinhole of shadowy vision, he saw the two mask-wearing wizards standing over him. One pointed his wand at Harry, while the other snatched her right out of his arms. They ran.

Time stopped. Everything unfolded slowly.

They had her. He couldn't stop them. He summoned his magic to give him a voice. It ripped up through his artificial darkness, through his crippled body, and came out as the only thing he knew his child would understand. "Ice cream!"

He barely got it out, tasting blood, but she heard it. He saw her little head jostle on the shoulder of the man who ran with her. Her arms reached out for him as she cried. "Daddeeee…"

He yelled it again, determined to make her hear him. "Ice cream!"

She looked so confused and terrified. Something behind her eyes recognized what he wanted. Suddenly, the man carrying her yelled in surprise, and dropped her. Harry was sure she'd survive the fall. He just had to make sure they kept their hands off of her.

"Ice cream," he screamed again. He kept yelling it. It bought her valuable seconds as each kidnapper suffered popping shocks and cursed her. Neither wizard could pick her up, before one of them figured out they had to throw something over her, one of their jackets, before they could retrieve her.

Harry remained conscious long enough to see guards running past him. Through a pinhole, he saw Draco's narrow back flying to chase after them, wand in hand.

News footage, via viewing globe, caught the kidnappers' escape in the emergency helicopter. It caught the shootout with the guards, that came too late. It caught Draco adding the strength of his wand to stall the helicopter's take off. He ran, when no one else did, to the ledge of the building, to curtail its flight. Perhaps he planned to stall the engine, mindful of the child, and hold the machine until law enforcement could do their job. But all anyone saw, was Draco ripping a piece of drain pipe from the building and slipping onto it like a broom. It couldn't hold him for long and he threw himself onto the landing skid of the helicopter, clasping his arms around it dangerously as it lifted further and further away from the roof. One of the kidnappers leaned out of the helicopter door and aimed his wand at Draco, blasting him off. He fell forty feet, onto the pavement below.