Last Time
Nasta smiled and he relaxed back against the settee, soaking up the warmth of the large body next to him and the peace of the atmosphere. Neither of them were going to think about what Harry had gone through, neither of them were going to ruin the mood and the moment by mentioning it or speculating on what else could have happened to Harry in his childhood. They would speak about it when they had knowledge of everything that Harry had ever been subjected to, of everything those people had ever done to him. But for now they just wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet before hearing any more about Harry's life or before Draco and Blaise came to visit and ruined it by inciting one of their many arguments. The next one would probably be over whom got better marks on their exams, neither of the older two were looking forward to that inevitable argument.
Chapter Thirty-Five – Homecoming Welcome
Max almost leapt out of his skin when the fireplace burst out green flame and one by one his family emerged from the fireplace.
He massaged his heart even as Nasta shot up, his black leathery wings with their bright yellow-gold scales burst from his back as he shot to stand in front of him as if he needed protecting.
"Well your reaction time is outstanding." Max heard his Grandfather's voice compliment. "Though your shielding skills are something to be desired, I can still see my Grandson's head and shoulders."
Max chuckled. "That can't be helped now can it, Granddad? I'm a head and shoulders taller than he is."
A tall, gorgeous man stepped out of the fireplace, a very large smile on his face, his light brown, almost blondish hair clinging to his face in overlong tendrils, his bright brown eyes glinting happily.
Max rushed right around Nasta and embraced this man tightly, even going so far as to tuck that head of blondish-brown hair under his chin.
"Caesar, what are you doing here? Not that I haven't missed you, but what about Amelle?"
Caesar grinned happily up at his big brother; he had missed his entire family as he had been over in America with his mate and her family.
"Amelle's family are watching over her, I swore her Father and brothers to an oath that they would die before they let anything happen to Amelle or Eleonora."
"Eleonora? You finally beat Amelle's idea of calling the baby Gem Bear into the dirt then?"
"I had to. I mean…Merlin, Gem Bear Seppen?" Caesar shook his head in disgust. "She's settled on Eleonora and her Dracken likes it too, so it seems that our daughter will be Eleonora Dahlia Seppen."
"I would have thought even with Amelle's family you would still watch over her, she's so close to birthing now."
"Nah, she's actually not. She's still preening; she's damn enjoying it as well. But I had to come and see my big brother when I heard that he had actually gone and gotten a submissive mate for himself, finally! Four other men as well." Caesar waggled his eyebrows and Max shoved his brother away with a grin.
"Well we know who your favourite is." A lovely looking woman with blonde hair and the same bright brown eyes as Caesar. "You walk past all three of your sisters to hug your brother and don't even spare us a courtesy hello, thank you, Maximilius."
"You know I love you, Julinda, but I haven't seen Caesar in almost a year, I saw you last week."
"Don't make it sound like such a hardship to see me." Julinda teased.
Max chuckled and hugged Julinda tightly, making sure to rein in his strength so he didn't break his human sister in half.
"How is Laurel?"
Julinda snorted harshly and folded her arms across her chest. "In a wand making convention in Sweden. Never mind that this weekend is our sixth year anniversary."
"You should divorce him." Richard said firmly to his only biological daughter, his brown eyes, which both of his children had inherited, hard as flint.
"I'm not going to divorce him, Daddy." Julinda sighed as if this conversation were an old one.
"Where are the other three of your supposedly gorgeous harem?" Caesar asked interestedly.
"Gorgeous harem?" Max questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Alayla told me that you have a harem of exceptionally gorgeous men, she got to see them at the Dracken meeting and I want to see for myself to validate her claims, so where are they? All I see is your ugly mush and one gorgeous man."
"Draco and Blaise are visiting their parents and Harry is sleeping, he's had a rough afternoon."
"But I'm only here for a few days! I wanna see them all!" Caesar whined.
"You will. Draco and Blaise will be here soon enough to visit and Harry won't sleep for much longer I don't think."
"Why won't Harry sleep for much longer?" A sweet, sleepy voice asked.
Max turned and grinned at the sight of a sleepy Harry, his eyes closed as he rubbed at them with the one hand, the other holding onto the wall to keep himself upright, wearing just a pair of very over large boxer shorts.
"Are those mine?" Nasta asked incredulously. "How the hell did you get my boxer shorts?"
"I robbed them from your suitcase." Harry admitted. "I broke the waistband to the ones Draco gave to me."
Max scooped Harry up and held him tightly, kissing him passionately. Caesar wolf whistled and Harry startled and looked around before going a gorgeous shade of pink and trying to huddle in on himself to cover his body. He always got self-conscious when his belly was exposed.
"I know there's a reason you are going around wearing just a pair of shorts other than enticing my son. What is it?" Myron asked not unkindly.
"I…I was too hot wearing anything else. I would have gone naked if my morals would have let me, thank god for morals." Harry answered looking around at all the people looking at him. "I'm just going to get dressed."
"Nonsense." Myron exclaimed. "If you're too hot then you're too hot, don't make yourself uncomfortable for us."
Harry didn't want to say that he was more uncomfortable staying in a room with them in just a pair of boxers that were only staying up due to his very large waistline, so he huddled in Max's arms and looked around, his sight stayed on a new, but almost familiar face.
There was a new man standing with Max's family, he looked so much like Richard that Harry knew him to be Max's younger brother, Caesar. Harry wondered just what the hell this man was doing here when his nesting mate was about to give birth to his daughter. Harry would have had a fit if he found out that any of his mates had left him unprotected during his nesting period.
"I don't think your little one likes me, Max, he hasn't stopped glaring at me for the past two minutes." Caesar told his older brother, who stopped his conversation with his Grandmother and looked in surprise at Harry.
"Sorry Harry, this is my brother Caesar, he isn't a threat to you or the baby." Max introduced as Caesar stepped forward, his hand out for a shake.
Harry snarled a bit at Caesar who took a step back in surprise. "He really doesn't like me."
"What's wrong, love?" Nasta asked, coming closer.
"He's just left his pregnant mate! He's left her!"
"Amelle is fine, Harry. Her family are around her." Max explained.
"It doesn't matter." Harry pouted before looking to Max and Nasta. "If any of you even think of leaving me alone in my nest I will wear your decorated skins to your funerals."
Alexander Maddison started laughing heartily and he sat happily on the settee. "He's so creative!" He praised.
Harry grinned at Max's Grandfather and squirmed to be put down. He forgot all about just wearing a pair of shorts and went and sat with the man who held his hands like he was a delicate woman, but the creative glint in his eye stopped Harry from saying anything.
"How would you decorate their skins, Harry, sweet one?"
"With their wing scales of course." Harry grinned promptly.
"If you could stop talking about torturing and killing us, that'd be great." Max told them sardonically as he rolled his eyes.
"Spoil sport." Harry stated with a grin.
Alexander chuckled and patted Harry lovingly.
"How is my great-Grandson tonight?" He asked, lowering a hand to the exposed, bare bump.
"Surprisingly still. Usually he'd be kicking into my kidneys right about this time."
"Has he been active today?" Richard asked concernedly.
"Yes. He's just not active now. I have his kick chart that the nice woman gave to me; he's kicked me hard twelve times today."
"I'm glad I don't want kids." Julinda said looking at him with pity.
"I want to be a Grandfather too you know." Richard told his daughter, put out by her continued declaration of remaining Motherless.
"What the hell is Eleonora?" Caesar asked. "I am your son aren't I? Please Daddy, don't tell me Mommy slept with the milkman after all of these years! My heart won't be able to bear the pain!"
Harry started laughing and he couldn't stop. The faces Caesar had pulled, the tone of voice he had used to inflect the words he had said, the over dramatization of his actions made him laugh until tears streamed down his cheeks and his lungs shrivelled up from lack of oxygen as he couldn't breathe.
"He's just like you." Myron remarked dryly to Richard, who was laughing so hard no sound was coming out of his mouth. Myron didn't sound overly happy at the thought of Caesar being just like Richard either.
Nasta finally started rubbing Harry's back to calm him down so he could take in a deep breath before he suffocated himself. Harry did so and remained pink cheeked, wet faced and huffing out bursts of laughter.
He calmed himself down and held his arms around his chest as he swayed with the remnants of his laughter, chuckling at odd moments.
Max smacked Caesar on the back of the head to shut him up, his grin almost splitting his face in two.
"You're a moron." He commented fondly.
"So are you, or do you forget the…"
The rest of Caesar's sentence was muffled by one of Max's large hands as he covered his brother's lower face, his cheeks oddly red.
"Are you blushing?" Harry demanded. "What the hell happened to make you blush?"
Max went even redder and he stammered a bit before he stomped on Caesar's foot.
"This is all your fault; you were sworn to the secrecy of the Gilted Quill!"
"The what?" Nasta asked interestedly.
Max went impossibly redder and Harry chuckled as Caesar went red cheeked as well. They looked like a couple of guilty, naughty school boys, very tall school boys.
"It was their little boy club when they were kids." The other blondish-brown haired woman, this one the only one of Max's siblings to have Myron's jet black eyes, said with a nasty grin at her brothers. She put on a high pitched, imitation of a child's voice. "No girls allowed!"
"Talia!" Max whined. "Stop humiliating me in front of my mates!"
"It was so cute." Kimberly Maddison, Max's Grandmother, sighed adoringly. "They used to run around with this beautiful little quill edged with real gold. One of Myron's best quills, not that he would ever take away their 'club symbol'"
"Of course not." Myron stated with an evil little smirk. "I would never deprive my little boys of their gilded quill club symbol."
"Oh Merlin, let the floor open up and swallow me whole." Max grumbled.
Harry chuckled and went to hug Max, only to find himself stuck on the settee unable to get up.
"A little help please." He said as he waved his arms about, trying, and failing, to get to his feet.
Nasta chuckled quietly beside him and gave him a gentle push to his feet. Harry went to Max and cuddled him tightly, still laughing at finally seeing Max get his feathers ruffled. Max was so laid back that it was nearly impossible to embarrass him, he either laughed it off or was completely unbothered by it, to see him actually embarrassed enough to blush tickled Harry.
"Have you searched for a nesting place yet?" Ashleigh asked Harry, looking unashamedly at his bared belly.
Harry actually half turned his baby away from her before he caught himself and stopped, standing still. He breathed deeply and pushed away his instincts which urged him to hide his baby away from Ashleigh. He turned around fully in Max's arms to look at Ashleigh dead on, his instincts would not rule his life, he was in control here, no one else, not even his own Dracken instincts would overthrow his control, he already let go during the heats without doing so when he wasn't on heat as well.
"No." Harry replied, forced casually.
"I would have thought that it would have been the first thing you did once you got here. What is more important than scouting out the area that you'll give birth in?" Myron asked a tight note to his voice which let Harry know that Myron at least had seen his small movement to turn away from his Wife.
"Something came up and then I fell asleep. I'll scout out an area when I'm ready to!" Harry hissed.
"Calm down, sweet one." Alexander urged him. "We wouldn't want anything untoward to happen to you or the baby. Myron stop harassing the little one!"
"I was not harassing anyone, Father." Myron replied calmly even as those black eyes glinted towards Harry.
"There was an…altercation at the train station." Max broke the awkward silence that had fallen over them.
Harry twisted violently in Max's arms and glared up at his biggest mate with livid emerald eyes. Max sighed as Harry glared at him and his family all looked at him in alarm and askance. He had never kept anything from them, nothing in his entire life, until he had mates. He understood that this was Harry's secret, Harry's pain, but the more people that knew of what Harry had gone through then the less likely that one of his family members would send Harry into a flashback of his abused childhood.
"Give us a moment." Max told his family as he plucked Harry from the floor like a doll and carried him back up the stairs to the bedroom, Nasta following them like a silent, disapproving shadow.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Harry hissed out as soon as the door was closed. "You're not allowed to just tell whomever you please about…about that!"
"I know, Harry, but they're my family. I can't keep anything from them, let alone something this big. They'll be here practically every other day anyway, they always are, what if they say something to set you off? If it can be avoided surely that's healthier for you and the baby?"
"No!" Harry exploded. "No it isn't healthier for either of us!"
Nasta held him from behind and pressed a kiss behind his ear. "I can understand where Max is coming from Harry."
Harry opened his mouth to shout hell at the both of them but Nasta's hand lightly covered his mouth.
"If one of Max's family members were to say something to inadvertently hurt or upset you, I doubt either of us would forgive ourselves. More importantly with you so close to giving birth, I doubt we would forgive the particular family member for causing you distress. Max loves his family very much, Harry, it would hurt something deeply within him if he were to fight with his family, as it would hurt me if I was so angry with my Dad or brother as to hurt them because they had upset you."
"I…I don't want them to know!" Harry burst out with tears in his eyes, stubbornly refusing to let them fall, feeling like a selfish burden for making them chose him and his painful secret over telling their own family members. "It's embarrassing and humiliating! That I couldn't and still can't protect myself from three Muggles."
Nasta moved so quickly that Harry couldn't even prepare for when he was spun around to face his oldest, most dominant mate who was looking very serious and very grave.
"Never say that again!" Nasta growled. "What those people did to you is in no way your fault, Harry! You were just a child, how can a child protect itself from the cruelty of two fully grown adults?"
"Where do they live, Harry?" Max asked calmly that belied the manic glint in his blue eyes.
"I'm not going to tell you that!" Harry replied astonished. "You can't kill them! All of us would be exposed as creatures and we'd all be executed! Do you want me to be executed? Do you want the baby to be executed?"
"The baby wouldn't be executed, they'd test him to see if he's a Dracken or not and then they'd either put him in an orphanage or extradite him to Australia or South Africa."
"Oh and that's better is it? Is it?!" Harry demanded shrilly.
"They'd have to catch us first." Max ground out between his teeth unwilling to let it drop just yet.
"Oh so you can all run ahead of me, just leave me and the baby behind because I can barely walk let alone fucking run! Not to mention what would happen to your families! You'd be out as Drackens so they'd test them as well; it's not just us you'll be exposing! It's not just our lives that you'll be ruining."
Max screamed into his hands. "I just can't bear the thought of those people abusing a child and getting away with it!"
"Who says they have to get away with it?" Nasta asked calmly, rationally. "They abused a minor in their care, there is no reason that we can't go through legal channels to punish them. Not everything has to be blood and death; I think a long, slow suffering in the most under budgeted prison we can find is a much more fitting punishment."
Max's eyes gleamed as Nasta craftily planted the images in the wound up Dracken's head.
"Hello?! I'm pregnant! I can't testify and I know enough about legal jargon from my Aunt's Law and Order TV shows to know that if we have any hope of shoving them behind bars then I'll have to testify. I can't turn up at a Muggle court room pregnant!"
"Harry love, by the time we put in the accusation, the Muggles answer it and a court date has been set our son will be six months old." Max replied.
"We'll wait until after the birth of our boy if it makes you feel better." Nasta soothed.
"You do both know that my Dad, Richard, is a barrister don't you? I've grown up hearing about the ins and outs of the courtroom."
"He's a barrister, really?" Harry asked a tad hopefully.
"Course. He would be able to represent you if you wanted; he'd get them the longest, harshest sentence possible."
"Only one of us can accompany, Harry." Nasta stated factually. "I'd lean more towards Draco as he is the nearest to Harry's age. If two thirty-something's show up then the courts could claim that we are taking advantage of a minor."
Max grunted. "I've already been accused of paedophilia once and that was more than enough. I have no want of a court to do it."
"I am of legal age to give sexual consent!" Harry reminded them.
"It won't matter, you'll be going to a court to face down child abuse charges, if the judge, jury and media see that you have two thirty year old men as lovers they'll twist it into something vile and unsavoury."
Harry sighed. "I don't want to do it alone."
"You won't be alone, love, we'll be in the courtroom, we just won't be able to claim a relationship with you, we could just be friends. Draco will be your lover, it'll be better if there is just the one of us anyway, Muggles are strange about homosexuality, so the less male lovers you have, the happier they'll be."
"Lucius Malfoy is also a very prominent political figure, when the wizarding world gets a hold of it he'll be better suited, along with my Dad, Myron, to protect you from any backlash, any media interference, that sort of thing."
"Lucius Malfoy won't help me! He hates me."
"He doesn't hate you; he just needs some time to sort through his thoughts. Child abuse is a very, very serious thing, Harry and Lucius Malfoy will be itching to take his wand to those people."
"We really have to tell them, don't we?" Harry asked in a small voice, looking to the bedroom door and the stairs that led to Max's family.
"We don't have to, but I would like it if you'd allow me to." Max replied slowly and diplomatically. "They won't think anything differently of you, Harry; they'll admire you for your strength to admit what you went through more than anything else."
"How will they react?" Harry asked nervously.
"With righteous outrage on your behalf." Max assured. "My Mum and grandparents especially will be devastated."
Harry sighed. "I don't think I could tell it again." He admitted sadly.
"With your permission we could tell them all we know about the situation."
Harry nodded slowly, half regretting it, even as he knew his mates would never have agreed to just leave the Dursleys alone, to just keep the past in the past.
Max had been right, of course, about his family's reaction. They had been livid, had shouted, sworn, questioned and Myron had clenched his hands so tightly that his fingernails had bitten into his skin and caused him to bleed.
Richard had already started to take notes and was pressing the parchment with his quill so hard he was leaving stab marks all over it as his hand shook terribly.
Harry sat on the settee with Max's youngest sisters, who were both holding him comfortingly and crying on his behalf as he sat dry eyed, but feeling like a rung out towel. Max's oldest sister, Julinda was furious and was making choking motions with her hands, her brown eyes far away.
Ashleigh was being cradled in Myron's arms, even as the huge, broad Dracken was standing as stiff as a board, those black eyes pinned to Harry, looking at him like he dearly wished to check him thoroughly for any marks or bruises, even though Max had told them that Harry's inheritance last summer would have wiped away all physical evidence of his past abuse.
"What I'd do to those beasts if I got my hands on them." Alexander said for the seventh time making a violent gesture in the air.
"Now dear, calm yourself." Kimberly soothed her Husband. "Our dear Richard will make sure they get what's owed them, won't you, Richard dear?"
"Of course, Kimberly. Those vile monsters will not walk away from this." Richard rasped his voice so tight it had to be painful for him to speak.
It seemed that when Richard got emotional, or angry, his throat closed off and with the scar running the length of his neck from his chin it made it very painful for the man to breathe and he had choked for air several times since he'd been told already.
Myron had given that small bottle of potion to his mate and watched critically as Richard had sipped from it, but it didn't seem to be helping overly much. Harry was so insanely curious that he had had to bite his tongue twice to keep the question in his mouth.
Harry sighed and Talia wrapped her arms around him tighter, kissing the side of his head and rubbing against him like a cat. He smiled and snuggled her back, chuckling silently at it turned into a competition on who could rub the other for the longest.
"What on earth are you doing?" Alayla asked them with a laugh.
"I hope you aren't trying to steal my pregnant mate from me, Talia." Max grinned as his sister went tomato red.
"Of course not, I'm trying to make him happy again." Talia answered primly, looking pointedly to Harry's smile.
The floo flared green and before Harry could blink he had several people in front of him, several pairs of wings flared.
He heard Max laugh and the second tallest Dracken strode forward, his blue wings bobbing behind him and he embraced someone that Harry couldn't see through the wall of wings, though he did find out that Myron's wings were black on black, he has wings as black as his eyes with his scales done in an endless onyx colour. Richard's wings were a pale, pastel orange colour and his scales were the happiest, brightest sunshine yellow he had ever seen, even brighter than Henley's, which had been more of a lemon colour.
Alexander's wings on the other hand were a deep, almost black, green and were dotted with paler green scales.
Max walked through them all with his arm around a very unsettled looking Blaise. Harry forced his body out of his seat, using his legs to push himself forward, almost stumbling in the process, to wrap his arms around Blaise's neck.
"Now he is gorgeous." Caesar exclaimed, nudging his brother. "Have you had that yet?"
"Don't be crude and vulgar!" Myron reprimanded strongly, following through with a smack to the back of Caesar's head. "Your Mother and sisters are in the room!"
"Sorry Dad." Caesar replied meekly, rubbing his sore spot, before he grinned and went back to examining Blaise.
"Bit on the small and slender side for a dominant."
Blaise snarled and held Harry tighter; Harry could feel the tension in Blaise's body and he went up on tiptoes to kiss it away. They ended up kissing passionately for several minutes.
"How come I never get a kiss like that?" Max whined.
"You can't keep yourself from talking long enough." Harry answered quickly, setting off a round of laughs.
Harry laughed happily as he cuddled with Blaise, who had come for a short visit to see if he had settled in alright. They kissed and cuddled and talked quietly as Max and his family talked about every topic on the planet.
"I'm going to go use the bathroom a second." Harry told everyone as it looked like he was going to have a parade follow him through the house. "I'll be five minutes!"
"The bathroom is the second door on the left from this room."
"I thought it was upstairs?" Harry questioned. "It was beside the bedroom that I woke up in."
"This house has an upstairs and a downstairs bathroom, love." Max told him with a smile.
"Ah. Right, I'll only be a sec!"
Harry waddled slightly to the bathroom and groaned as the pressure lifted from his bladder. He wasn't as bad as when he had the infection, but he was still weeing every other hour.
He washed his hands and dried them on the towel, but he couldn't bring himself to let the towel go. It was so soft and fluffy. He rubbed his face on it and he smelled it. It smelt like Max's body. He clenched the material in his fists and looked around him. He eased himself out of the bathroom and looked up and down the hallway. He went the opposite way from which he had come and found an absolutely huge kitchen. It was bigger than the living room and it was a pristine white. Harry just knew that this room was where Max usually entertained his guests.
He spied the back garden and pushed open the back door. It was now twilight and it was getting dark. That meant it had to have been about ten in the night. Looking around he caught a small glimpse of the orchard that Max had promised was out back and dashed towards it as fast as his bandy legs could carry him.
He inhaled deeply and patted the ground around him with his hand. He stood up and knew that these trees would not support his nest. He needed bigger trees if he were to use one. Harry looked back at the house and it was then that he saw a vantage point; there was a flat section of roof amidst the sloping tiles. It was high enough that he could see any predators coming for his children, it was strong enough to support his nest and it was wide enough that he wouldn't roll out of it.
Unsheathing his wings Harry didn't even think about it as he moved them for the first time, taking just a few moments to find the right rhythm and speed before he was in the air, using his shoulders to control his direction.
He landed on the flat space and looked at it. It was bigger than he had initially thought, which was just as well as it would give him more room for his nest. He swatted at the decaying leaves, pulling out his wand and banishing the mud and dirt. It would be the perfect nest. He could see for miles around him, no one would be sneaking up on him or his baby. He wadded the towel in his hands and placed it delicately to an edge that only he could see. He looked at the towel and preened a bit in pride. He would have to find more things to build his nest with, but for now, he was done. He had scouted the perfect area and had started to build, it wouldn't be long now.
A/N: Another short one but at least this chapter is posted in less than a week. Damn, I don't know what's wrong with me lately, I just can't bring myself to sit and write. A first for this fic, think I might need a story break and you readers have been so supportive and kind to me as well.
Any who, thanks to Amy for being the 4,400th reviewer!
Midori Heiwa: Unfortunately you are in the minority. The majority of readers actually like that I reply to their reviews. If you have another suggestion on where I could post review replies, I'd be happy to hear them, until then I will continue to post them at the bottom of each chapter. You shouldn't worry about being misled by the scroll bar either, you should just be thankful that you have a chapter at all, no matter what the length.
HealingRose: He throws a fit because he doesn't see it as them helping him; he sees it as them ripping away his independence. Harry has been independent for so long, he's only really had himself to rely on so that when others try to do things for him, especially little things that he can do himself, he doesn't see it as a loving gesture, he sees it as a slight to himself and his submissive status. His mates will make him understand better in time and he'll be sure to let them do things for him in the future.
Also your lesbian Drackens will be making an appearance in the one shot story, so keep an eye out for them.
TinksVamps: Blaise and Draco will indeed be told. What stops them from going and killing the Dursleys is what stops Max and Nasta. They have no idea where the Dursleys live. They can go and scour Britain if they like, but what are the chances of them actually finding the Dursleys?
Ryder Bellamiren: So happy to hear from you! Yes I've been taking breaks; I've had to make time to do Christmas shopping as well. Real life is the same as usual; I work hard, write hard and sleep hard.
ShadowFlame23: That scene must have either been deleted in editing or I dreamed I had wrote it when I never, I've done that a few times. Remus will show up before the baby is born. I was actually thinking of introducing him in the next chapter and I don't see why Remus' appearance will badly affect Harry, Harry will be delighted to see Remus again. Draco and Blaise will be told as soon as Max and Nasta can manage it, they don't believe in keeping secrets.
LostInYourThoughts: The baby boy has his Daddy all planned out, I know his full name and even what he's going to look like. I know the colour of his wings already even though he won't get them until he's sixteen and I have his basic personality planned, though the latter does tend to take on a mind of its own when I'm writing.
NoirAnge: In the case of a female dominant with a male submissive with no other male dominant to impregnate the male submissive, it is the female dominant who will carry the chicks. Though she won't like it and won't carry as many chicks as a submissive will because she will feel very uncomfortable in doing so, it's also harder to get a female dominant pregnant as their bodies, whilst still having all the female reproductive organs, isn't really built for baby carrying, it's built more like a warrior's body as that was what the Dracken dominants used to be.
LuckyNessa: It is impossible for a male dominant to get pregnant; they don't have the ability to do so. It is speculated that a submissive male Dracken is a wizard baby boy born capable of baring children. If that same baby boy had been born without the ability to bare children then he would be a dominant Dracken.
GrasshopperKnight: Congratulations on your new Niece! Hope you're being a very proud Auntie/Uncle! Sorry I have no idea what gender you are, no offence meant :/
You are correct! An all-female couple will only be able to produce baby girls because of the absence of the Y chromosome that makes baby boys. That's why Harry and his harem are very lucky, because they can have either boys or girls, though with the amount of Y chromosomes a boy is more likely than a baby girl. I love speaking about chromosomes in an Mpreg story, it always feels like I'm sticking my middle finger up to my past biology teacher.
As for the pronunciations: Nasta is spoken like its spelt. Nas-tah. Maximilius is pronounced Maxi-millie-us. Are there any others you are unsure about or was it just Max and Nasta?
Yep, Max and Nas will find out all about Harry's past adventures. I'm looking forward to writing those scenes.
gobert: I think you are thinking too much about it. It's very true that if it was the survival of the fittest for the sperm then every single baby would be fathered by just the one dominant, possibly Max as even though he isn't the top dominant, it was only really due to a fluke that he wasn't and there is no denying he is the biggest and strongest even if Nasta could have him in a fight.
Rest assured that you will get to see Harry carry more than one clutch. I have no desire to end this fic just because he gives birth, always hate fics that end like that, then perhaps tack on an epilogue of when the first baby goes to Hogwarts for the first time and Harry's had about twelve more kids during that time and we hear their names and appearances of them and then cut off, nothing, story ends. No personality, no stories of how the kids grew up, if there were any bumps in the road, for all the reader knows they lived an unnaturally happy, peaceful life, nothing ever went wrong, they had their kids and immediately started coping with so many kids one after the other, it ruins the entire story for me, seems more like a rush job than an ending.
Yes I know who the Daddy is, of course I do, I knew before he even got pregnant who the Daddy was going to be, no flip-flopping back and forth, I just knew. I just like hearing other people guess and give their reasons for why they think it was that particular person. Makes me realise just how much people are thinking about the story.
snarryislife: I have no idea if Drackens would get along with dinosaurs. Drackens came about after the dinosaurs, but I think if we plunked them down in the middle of Jurassic Park that they would probably get along with the Pterodactyl, they could go flying together, though I don't think they'd stand a chance against the T-rex. T-rex doesn't want friends; it would just eat them as snacks.
Thanks for pointing out that I was forgetting magic again, I tried to put a bit in this chapter, but as it was nearly completely written I'll get some more in, in the next chapter. It isn't annoying, I'm grateful! I hate it when I forget the fundaments of a story!
As for the power scale, it's person-by-person. Every single one of the Drackens are different, it might only be subtly, but they are still different, they have different strengths, weaknesses, abilities and magic, so there isn't really a scale that can be make for them.
Not all Drackens are beautiful no. The inheritance takes away their flaws and blemishes, but if they are ugly to start with it won't matter. For example if a Dracken had one eye lower than the other, both eyes would be able to see perfectly, would be enhanced by Dracken abilities, but the one eye would still be lower than the other. Does that make any sense at all?
As for Snape, he did lose some of his lustre when he lost his mate because he just didn't care, did I mention somewhere that all Drackens skin has a slight healthy glow? Might have been the first chapter, but Snape has been beating himself up for so long, for so many years, that his magic turned inward and started leeching his Dracken magic from his physical appearance, he felt ugly and wretched so his magic made him ugly, but the hooked nose was the nose he was born with, the long thin fingers are potion stained naturally, though if he had cared more his Dracken magic would have prevented the staining. But as for Marianna and Aneirin, they didn't have time to beat themselves up over the loss of their mates, Marianna had a newborn baby to look after and protect and Aneirin had two children and a newborn baby to juggle with his work. Am I making a lick of sense here? I know what I'm trying to say I just can't get it out.
Also I have absolutely no problem with anyone using the Drackens in their own stories, I think creativity in any form should be encouraged, but they weren't originally my idea, you'll have to ask the permission of their actual creator to my knowledge, which is Beautiful Kaos.
EmeraldEyes01: You can request absolutely anything you want to; you aren't the only one who has a thing for fluff and tenderness.
As for the infections, Max had a potion to clear his chest infection, but as it was caused by a potion in the first place and not a natural infection then it was harder to shift. Harry only had a small urinary tract infection that can and was cleared up by cranberry juice; it's a bit like cystitis. He couldn't take the potion for it because it would have reacted badly with his pregnancy hormones. So the Healer will be able to shift any infection Harry'll possibly get from giving birth. Harry has forgone having his mates blood, he just hasn't thought about it and they have all been so busy with their work, exams and the baby that they just haven't been thinking, this is their first baby and they are bound to get things wrong, but Max's family will set them straight and Myron is not going to be pleased with his son when he finds out!
Again you are awesome for research! Though I never knew a cow C-section went through the side, that's icky, but I suppose it would be very difficult to get a cow on its back to go through the abdomen. I now have a picture of a cow lying on its back with all four legs in the air and someone trying to use a scalpel to cut it open to get the calf out.
karen: I think if you just click on Andrea Readwolf's name in the review you'll get her profile page.
SilverLion: How'd you like Harry foraging for nesting material? He's going to be insufferable in the next couple of chapters.
Henley was the very adorable baby dominant and he will be coming back to see Harry's baby, because he's all sweet and thoughtful like that, I'm not sure if he'll come for Harry's birthday, he knows that Harry will be heavily pregnant and will likely not be allowed near Harry by his over protective mates, that's if he isn't already in his nest.
Marge is included in the Dursleys yes and she will be equally punished when it comes out how she treated Harry. Umbridge had better run and hide when Max and Nasta hear about the detentions Harry had to suffer with and when Draco is reminded he will happily include the story of when she was going to put Harry under the Cruciatus curse.
Jazz: No, I meant the cut scenes will be out after Christmas, not the next chapter, so no crying. As for the Penseive idea, I was going to use it for a few particularly painful memories of Harry's, but he will have to go inside and witness them as well. As Nasta said he has to work through all of his memories, all of his thoughts and feelings to be able to properly heal. His talking about the memories isn't just informing his mates of what he went through, it's the first step of acceptance of what happened to him to get him on the road to recovering from his childhood pain.
lil devil: I have no idea what you are on about. Hermione does not know about Harry's home life as Harry never told her, Dumbledore doesn't know as again Harry never told him, Severus certainly doesn't know about Harry's home life. Sirius is dead so even if he did know he can't do anything and Remus doesn't know. The only one on your list who could possibly have a chance at knowing is Mr Weasley and that is only if Molly shared it with him, which she probably never as she brushed it off. So I have no clue what you mean.
Kaygie: That is a very, very good idea. None of them have any idea on how powerful a wizard Harry is. They know he's a powerful Dracken because he needed four mates, but Harry defeated Voldemort for god sake! People forever underestimate him, his strength of character and his stubborn will. I think I will include a scene where those around him are forcibly reminded of just how powerful is, that they are in a binding relationship with the defeater of Voldemort.
Unfortunately Harry never rode on the Dragon out of Gringotts, he defeated Voldemort in the Ministry in his fifth year, so there was no reason to go Horcrux hunting, but I loved that scene! He still went up against the Horntail for the Triwizard tournament though! You are correct though, Max's family, especially Myron and Alexander, have no idea who they are calling vulnerable and delicate.
Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Oh and for all your suggestions on the one-shot title! Which do you think is the best?
1. The Dracken Files
2. The Rise of the Drackens – The Scaled Bits
3. The Rise of the Drackens: Deleted scenes
4. The Rise of the Drackens: The Untold Stories
5. Dracken Snapshot
6. Crackin' Dracken One-shots
StarLight Massacre. X