Lilia had mostly come by the visit Melody and to maybe have a serious talk regarding their son. He was still coming to terms to having an actual blood-related child, though he had accepted Liatris as his own once the shock had worn off.

He was not expecting to stumble upon Melody laying the children to bed while singing the most haunting song that seemed to resonate with him to his core.

"Lend me your voice..."

Lilia found himself leaning against the door, just listening. The song was haunting and beautiful. He almost didn't realize when she had finished putting the boys to sleep and she took his hand into her own.

Calmly, he found himself drinking the tea she had made. It was relaxing, and he felt himself unwinding around her.

"What was that song you were singing?" he asked.

"Lend Me Your Voice, from the Belle soundtrack," she replied. "The boys seem to like it and it calms them down."

Lilia had intended to come over and have a serious discussion about what Melody expected of him when it came to Lia's life. He very much wanted to be a part of it, and Silver had easily accepted the idea of the boys being his new younger siblings. Sebek had firmly been relegated to the role of an older cousin.

Instead he found himself cuddling up to her on the couch, with his head in her lap and her humming various lullabies. It was so ridiculously soothing that he found himself drifting away into a deep sleep.

Then Melody began to sing something that nearly had him bolt up in shock, had he not been so comfortable. It did not help that she was singing in a language that only the older fae used now...like Baul.

"Basking in a cradle's warmth

A starlit spark of joy

Stay with me,

The eyes upon which I gaze...

Be not afraid,

Even should this dream fade away...

Go to sleep,

Go to sleep, little darling...

And may your dreams guide you to the light..."

(This is the song Meleanor sings to Malleus in the Twisted Wonderland game.)

The sound of Melody singing in the ancient language of the fae caused Lilia's mind to drift back to older memories. It was beyond comfortable, just cuddling with her on that couch and her voice drifting through his ears.

Before he fell sound asleep, he would almost swear it was Meleanor's lap he was on, not Melody's.

When he woke up, he was comfortably napping on the couch with a warm blanket over him and a fluffy pillow. It took him a moment to register someone humming something in the kitchen, and to find the boys already up and waiting patiently for breakfast.

"How long was I asleep?" he asked.

"All night. You looked exhausted so I let you catch some sleep," she replied without turning. "Breakfast should be done soon, and Sebek should be over to begin Teddy and Lia's lessons."

Teddy was nearly five, and would begin his magical studies soon. He was particularly eager to join the lessons, since all of his friends took his ability to change form in stride.

It made something in Melody's chest unclench, because Teddy would have been absolutely miserable back in England, having to hide his true nature from everyone. And children could be so cruel to those who were different.

Lilia was amused when Silver and Sebek showed up for breakfast. Silver looked relieved to find his father there.

As the group sat to eat breakfast, there was a polite knock on the door. After a moment, Baul entered.

Lilia looked between Baul and Melody. It was clear he was questioning the older fae's presence in the home, as he looked rather comfortable.

Melody smiled at Lilia and Silver.

Once breakfast was finished and the dishes put up, Baul took the boys outside for training.

"So...you and Baul?" asked Lilia carefully.

Melody shook her head.

"Baul has become an unofficial uncle to the boys, and they've become enamored with the idea of being mage knights like Sebek. Especially Lia, who became absolutely fascinated after seeing Sebek take a monster down for his knight's exam."

Lilia relaxed, realizing that Baul had mostly become a family friend, rather than a potential rival. He rather liked being around Melody, and not just because they were sleeping together. He couldn't pinpoint the cause of these strange, jealous feelings and he disliked having them towards his oldest ally.

Since they were still in the middle of summer vacation, he decided to join Melody on a quest. He went to look at the quest board, and was mildly confused as to the lack of goblin extermination quests.

"Let's go," she said cheerfully.

"Oh? Which one did you pick?"

She handed him the papers, which had him blink.

"How do you get pre-approved for a goblin extermination?"

"When you do hundreds of the things in the span of several months. At this point they save them for me since it means that the pests are dealt with in a timely manner, and this way they don't have to deal with the death forms of some idiot who didn't take the threat of those bastards seriously," she said with cheer.

Lilia blinked.

"You have an issue with goblins?" he asked slowly. He knew for a fact she had been a virgin before he slept with her, so it confused him as to her hatred of the vermin.

Melody had a flat expression in her eyes.

"Those greedy bastards have been holding my inheritance over my head over an incident involving a bank robbery and freeing a dragon they had been abusing for years," she said flatly. "Considering the amount of red tape they made me go through and how much they overcharged me, this is simply the most amusing way to vent my frustration with them."

Lilia looked somewhat confused by that.

"How would goblins hold over your inheritance?" he asked, baffled.

"Because the Ministry had the brilliant idea to put them in charge of the banking system," she deadpanned. "You'd think they'd use someone more reliable after the sheer number of goblin rebellions they tried to pull, but instead they keep passing around the same coin and call it profit."

Lilia stopped cold.

"You're serious," he said incredulous.

"That was my godfather," she said automatically. Lilia gave her a blank look, and she chuckled. "My godfather's name was Sirius Black and he would always make the worst puns about his name. He was quite...Sirius about them."

Lilia chuckled.

"That was absolutely terrible."

"Want more? We have a bit of a walk to the area."

"Bring it on," said Lilia with glee.

The two were laughing while making the most god-awful puns imaginable. It was the most fun he'd had on a rather boring quest, truth be told.

Watching her annihilate the goblins was a work of art, and he'd dispute anyone who said otherwise. The first thing she did was put up a shield around her that extended to both walls of the cave system the goblins had set up shop in, and a double barrier at her back. She held a crossbow and several knives on her side.

The goblins didn't stand a chance. They just smelled a female of breeding age and came out of the nooks and crannies, eager to capture and breed her.

Lilia made a face when he saw them, as they were vermin even for fae-kind.

He whistled in appreciation as she made headshots with ease, and any goblin that got too close was stabbed with her knife. He made sure to cover her back whenever she had to reload.

Lilia felt relief when they killed the head goblin without finding any women inside. That meant they had gotten to the nest before they could capture anyone.

Melody took unholy glee in gutting the foul beast.

As they exited the cave, having looted it of anything worth taking, Lilia spoke up.

"You're fairly good at spotting enemies."

"Comes with being hunted most of my life," she sighed. "The guild was very surprised at how high my scouting and detection stats were."

"Care to talk about it?" asked Lilia gently.

Melody looked at the other quest paper, before she looked at Lilia.

"We have a bit of a walk, so why not?"

Lilia was a very patient man, but after hearing even a fraction of what Melody had gone through even as a young child, his blood boiled.

It wasn't enough that she was raised by people who despised magic. No, the headmage of her school thought it was a brilliant idea to turn an innocent child into a glass cannon to clean up his mess.

Melody graciously allowed Lilia to take point at the next nest. He found it very cathartic to take out his frustration at what she endured on the goblins.

Back in town...

"Good heavens! What happened to you?" said the receptionist.

They were both muddy, as one of Melody's spells had accidentally caused a cave-in on the way out. However it had also taken out the remaining goblins so they were fine with that.

"Cave-in," deadpanned Melody. She was so taking a hot shower after this.

She dumped two bags of mangled ears, among other things. The receptionist stamped her papers as "completed".

"I really need a shower," said Melody. She felt absolutely gross with the blood and Seven-knew what from those caves.

Seeing the look in Lilia's eyes, she rolled her own.

"I am not in the mood for anything tonight."

"I was thinking more of a basic massage, actually," said Lilia. "So long as you don't mind making that pasta dish from last week."

Melody perked up at the word 'massage'.

"Not sure if I'm up to cooking tonight. But I did find a really good place that delivers," said Melody.

"That could work," said Lilia cheerfully. "Care to stay at my place and pick up the boys tomorrow?"

Melody nodded. She was actually rather curious about Lilia's home.

Outside the cottage...

Silver paused when he was about to open the door. There was the sound of feminine moaning, and he distinctly heard Miss Melody say "Oh yeah, right there!"

His father responded... "Like this?"

"Harder!"

Silver did not hesitate. He did not want to see his father and Melody going at it, as he turned tail and ran like his life depended on it.

Inside the cottage, Lilia barely resisted the urge to straight up cackle. Meanwhile he was happily making Melody an absolute moaning mess as he gave her an overdue massage.

While she was too sore to have a bit of raunchy fun, she was a very receptive participant to a good full body massage.

Melody very firmly did her best not to laugh her ass off at the fact Silver had great difficulty looking her in the eye for days.

It only got worse when Lia innocently asked if he was going to have a brother or sister to spoil soon.

Seeing Sebek do a glorious spit take that landed on Baul was hilarious.

~*~*~*~*~

"So...what's it like living in Briar Valley?" asked George. He had taken a break from the shops to come visit, as he was one of the few able to afford the crossing.

He was also seeing if it would be worth setting up a branch shop in the valley.

Melody had a wicked grin on her face.

"I love it here," she admitted. "I don't have to worry about constant attacks, no one bats an eye at Teddy's abilities, and I haven't heard a hint of that blasted name they gave me."

"The fact you somehow managed to find the one person who could lead you to Lia's father likely didn't hurt either," said a cheerful voice. George turned and had to blink, because the mischievous face looked almost like an older Liatris.

"So this is Lia's father?" he asked.

"Lilia Vanrouge, at your service," said the obvious fae.

"George Weasley. Melody's adopted older brother," he replied evenly.

"Pack it in George. Lilia had no idea about Lia until he came to visit for summer break," said Melody. "Any idea when the next reunion is?"

"Next spring," said George after a moment. "Though mum and dad still haven't apologized for that stunt they pulled."

Melody rolled her eyes annoyed.

"I've long given up on trying to make sense of pointless pureblood traditions," she sniffed in irritation. "I still can't believe they assumed I would be alright with them using Lia's allergy against him, after Andy nearly castrated Draco for pulling the same stunt with Teddy."

"Why did they put cold iron on him?" asked Lilia, his voice harsh.

George sighed.

"Mum is big on the whole 'happy family' idea. She was unhappy that Melody had a kid out of wedlock from a one-night stand, and most pure blood mothers from the old families are raised on warning stories about changelings. It hasn't happened in centuries, but if a child reacts badly to an iron horseshoe it's standard practice to check if they're not human. It's stupid if you ask me," said George tiredly. "Fleur nearly ripped Mum a new one because she's not entirely human either and Veela have been almost as persecuted as the faeries."

"Never mind the fact Bill was cursed as a werewolf by the end of the war," said Melody irritably. "Honestly, she should have known better than to try it."