"Why," Iris read from the book, "he looks just like my old Bunny that was lost when I had scarlet fever. But he never knew that it really was his own Bunny, come back to look at the child who had first helped him to be Real. The End."

Iris closed the book and set it down on her small desk in her room and looked at Harry, who sat on her bed with a contemplative look, a workbook and pen in his hands.

"So, the rabbit becomes real at the end," Harry concluded, "because the boy cared?"

"That answers question one," Iris said, pulling her own workbook toward herself and scribbling down an answer. "The rabbit became real because the boy really loved him, so the fairy made him real."

When Harry and Iris were finished with the first question, Iris reviewed the vocabulary words from the book and came up with a definition based on the sentence, coming up with most of the answers for their homework, besides the very last question.

"Which toy is your favorite that you would wish real?" Iris read aloud.

"Spikes," Harry quickly answered. He wrote down his answer. "Obviously. How do you spell stegosaurus?"

"I don't know. Just sound it out." Iris looked around her room, eyeing each of her many stuffed animals and dolls. "I really like Squiggles my snake, but Mr. Whiskey-Stripe is cool, too. I also like Kitty Mitties and Lovey Woofie. Hmm, I don't know who to pick."

"Well, Spikes is my favorite," Harry said after managing to spell out "steg-a-soar-is."

"I think I'll pick . . . Mr. Whiskey-Stripe. He's pretty cool." Iris wrote her answer down on the sheet. "Okay, your turn. I help with reading and vocabulary; you help with math."

"Okay," Harry said, turning a page in his workbook to begin his math assignments. He worked through each problem aloud so Iris could follow along in solving the addition and subtraction. Halfway through the page, Harry's thoughts strayed back to the book, and he frowned at Spikes, petting his toy dinosaur. "Do you think Spikes will be real one day?"

"Yeah," Iris said as she finished the last problem they had been working on. "Just like the book. The fairy will come and make them real someday. I see a lot of Kitty Mitties all the time."

Harry glanced at Iris's stuffed kneazle, then back at Spikes. He did not see a lot of stegosauruses around, but maybe there weren't many that were loved as much as Spikes was.

"Do you think if we loved them harder, they could be real now?" Harry asked.

Iris frowned in thought at that, considering the possibility of when the toys would become real.

"Maybe. We should try it." Iris jumped out of the chair and onto her bed with Harry, crawling over it and grabbing Mr. Whiskey-Stripe. "If we love em, and squeeze em, and kiss em!" Iris did all of that in a quick go. "Maybe they will come alive faster!"

"Spikes would be really big," Harry said. "Maybe I should love him outside."

"Me too. Mr. Whiskey-Stripe is pretty big too."

With that, Iris and Harry grabbed their toys and ran downstairs to head outside, abandoning the rest of their homework.


Severus yawned as he stepped through the floo and into his living room. The school year was almost over, thank Merlin, because he was ready for it to be done. Between grading, proctoring exams, going over final grades with his Slytherins, along with career goals and opportunities with the seventh years, Severus was exhausted. He was glad for Addie on days like this where all he wanted to do was go home, nurse his throbbing headache, and take a nap. That sounded like a great afternoon to him.

When his kids didn't come running to him, he figured they were busy playing somewhere, and he followed the noises coming from the kitchen. Addie was busy working over the stove to make an easy meal of chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and zucchini chips. Severus snorted at the arrangement.

"Is that what we are having for dinner?" Severus asked. "How fitting for two six-year-olds."

"I can make you some breaded chicken if you'd like," Addie said. "If you're not feeling nostalgic with the chicken nuggets, that is."

"The chicken nuggets are fine," Severus said, stealing a strip of seasoned zucchini and eating it, only for Addie to swat him away.

"They're not even baked yet," Addie scolded as she rearranged her chips on the baking sheet.

Severus snorted as he summoned a headache reliever from his medicine cabinet and poured a dose out into a shot glass. He paused to glance out the window as he threw back the glass. His eyes widened and he choked on the potion, spluttering and coughing harshly.

"What's wrong?" Addie said, coming over to Severus and patting his back. "Are you okay? Is it the kids—I just checked on them."

Addie looked out the window and his jaw dropped while Severus pulled away from her and ran out of the kitchen and out his back door and into the yard, where both of his kids were jumping up and down with excitement.

"I did it!" Harry proclaimed. "Spikes is real!"

Standing in front of Harry was a very large, greenish brown Stegosaurus with large reddish plates running down its back. It was lowly mooing much like a cow, though its voice was very deep, and it vibrated through the ground. It's long, spiked tail swung slightly, nearly whacking into Severus as he ran past it to his son, who was hugging the beast's nose. He was finally able to clear his throat as he gently pulled Harry away from the living, breathing dinosaur.

"Harry, what did you do?" Severus asked.

"I made Spikes real," Harry explained. "Like the velveteen rabbit."

"The book you're reading for class?" Severus asked. "Harry, he can't stay like this."

"But I always wanted a dinosaur," Harry whined, pouting up at his father as he pulled away from him and hugged Spike's nose again, earning a loud moo from the beast.

"Dinosaurs are extinct now," Severus tried to reason.

"What about Mr. Whiskey-Stripe?" Iris asked innocently, smiling at her father as she walked over to him.

Severus hesitated, then frowned at his daughter.

"Isn't that your stuffed—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a large tiger lunged forward and snarled at Severus, and he jumped back with a surprise shout, his heart jumping into his throat. The tiger, which towered over his daughter, purred as it headbutted Iris, making her laugh, and Severus was sure he was seconds away from having a heart attack.

"No!" Severus nearly shouted. "He can't stay either. How in Merlin's name . . . Addie!"

"I'm coming, coming," Addie said, working her way around the large dinosaur while also looking around at the neighbor houses, making sure no one was witnessing the creatures in their backyard. Pleased that no one was paying attention to the outside world at the moment, Addie smiled at Harry and Iris.

"Oh, one of the most common displays of accidental magic in young children," Addie said. "Bringing their toys to life."

"Just please fix it," Severus said as he rubbed his temples. He wasn't even sure where to begin with this situation.

"No!" Harry and Iris cried, hugging their respective animals. "We want to keep them."

"I'm sorry, kids," Addie said, "but they can't stay like that. Look Harry, Spikes comes from a very different Earth millions of years ago. It was a different temperature, different air, different plants. Just look at him, he's not comfortable or happy."

Harry sadly watched as Spikes laid down in the grass, resting his head down and panting. He made a sad face at his dinosaur and nodded in understanding.

"What about Mr. Whiskey-Stripe," Iris asked, stroking her happily chuffing cat.

Addie shook her head at Iris as well.

"Afraid not, dear. Tigers are illegal as pets here, unless you have special permission and pay lots of money every year to keep him, but since you are not an adult nor do you have money, they will take Mr. Whiskey-Stripe away and release him in the wild, and you'd never see him again."

"Aww," Iris made a sad face at her tiger, who seemed to understand and pouted back at her. "Okay. Bye Mr. Whiskey-Stripe."

Addie waved her wand in a series of complicated movements while muttering a charm under her breath. Everyone watched as the animals slowly shrunk and turned back into the stuffed animals they once were. Harry picked up his Spikes and squeezed him lovingly while Iris did the same with Mr. Whiskey-Stripe. Addie chuckled while Severus pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I remember when you did that," Addie said. "Yours was a spider though. Tarantula, if I recall."

"That I wished real for a potion experiment," Severus said.

"Your mother was not impressed in the least. At least, not in your choice of critter."

"I need a drink," Severus said, running a hand through his hair before walking back for the house. "Or two."

"You two will drive your father up a wall," Addie joked with the kids while Severus retreated back into the house. He summoned a second headache reliever and was able to swallow it this time before he collapsed face down on the couch, turning his head after a minute of trying to suffocate himself. He closed his eyes, wishing the potion to do its magic while also hoping he might be able to nap.

"Daddy," Harry said, running up to the couch and shoving the stuffed dinosaur in his face. "Spikes is dirty."

"That's what happens when you take your toys outside," Severus said without even opening his eyes, though he scrunched his nose as he could smell Harry's dirty stuffed animal. He would have to wash Spikes at some point. His son tended to carry that dinosaur everywhere he could.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

"Taking a nap," Severus said. "Trying to, at least."

"Can I take a nap with you?" Harry asked, already climbing on top of his father's back and lying on top of him, snuggling Spikes.

Severus sighed, regretting that he hadn't thought to go to his own bedroom in the event Harry suddenly decided he wanted a nap.

"I want to nap with Daddy, too," Iris said as she appeared, dragging her large stuffed tiger with her.

"We both can lie down," Harry said before Severus could get a word in, and he felt his son shift over slightly, then he hissed in pain as Iris climbed up on his back as well, digging her elbow and knees into him before she settled on top of him next to Harry, and soon, he was smothered by two kids and their stuffed animals. His kids relaxed enough that their weight wasn't too bothersome, and Severus submitted to his fate and closed his eyes once more. Maybe he could at least get twenty minutes.

When Addie checked on the kids ten minutes later, she found them asleep side by side—on top of their sleeping father. She smiled at them, dimmed the lights in the room, then quietly tiptoed back to the kitchen.

Nearly thirty minutes later, the fireplace flashed a bright green as the floo flared up, and Samuel ran through the flames and over to Severus. He shook Severus's shoulder before lifting Iris off his back.

"Severus, wake up," Samuel said as he set a barely awake Iris on the ground before lifting Harry up. "I need you to come watch my kids, prompto."

Harry wobbled slightly as he was set on his feet, but he righted himself and yawned, rubbing his eye while Severus slowly stirred on the couch, groaning irritably.

"Come on, man," Samuel said, roughly patting Severus's back, "Tori's water broke."

That seemed to wake Severus up as his eyes widened, and he cursed softly as he swung his feet over the couch, rubbing his face briefly while Addie came running out of the kitchen.

"What?" Addie cried as she ran over to Samuel. "She's having the baby? I'll come with you, Sam—oh, the food!"

Addie ran back into the kitchen frantically while Iris and Harry shared a look. Severus finally stood up and ushered his kids toward the fireplace. Addie returned with platters of food floating behind her, and Severus was thankful that Addie always made enough for leftovers as it would be enough to feed Tori's family as well.

"This should feed everyone while we're gone," Addie said. "I've got it all taken care of."

Addie and Samuel disappeared through the floo, and Severus held his kids' hands and followed through the floo, and they arrived at Tori's house where Tori was stuffing a small bag with as many objects as possible, making use of wizard space. Samuel was attempting to remove the bag from her person while directing her to the floo.

"We can take the car," Tori insisted.

"You know the floo will be quicker," Samuel said, "and it is the only safe method of wizard travel for pregnancies. The car will take far too long."

"You know what happened the last time I went through the floo," Tori argued.

"The healers gave you an anti-emetic and an anti-nausea potion as soon as you made it to your room. If you get queasy again, I'm sure they'll repeat the protocol again. We have to leave now."

"I didn't make dinner," Tori said, glancing toward the kitchen. "The kids . . ."

"I made plenty of food," Addie told her daughter as she assisted Samuel in guiding Tori over to the floo. "More than enough to hold everyone over for the night. And Severus is here."

"Oh, yes," Tori turned to look at Severus, smiling as Iris and Harry ran off to find the other kids. "Thank you so much for agreeing to watch the kids when the inevitable happened. Sorry to catch you on short notice."

"As if you could have predicted when this would happen," Severus smirked. He nodded toward the floo. "Go have your baby. I'll make sure no one burns the house down."

"Real comforting," Tori said, but she was kept from adding anything more than a quick goodbye and a small groan as her husband and mother pulled her into the floo and vanished to St. Mungo's.

Esther ran over to Severus, moving her hands quickly before holding her arms up, and Severus obligingly lifted her into his arms while saying, "I did not catch any of that."

"She's worried about Mum," Joshua said, already breaking into the zucchini chips Addie had left on the dining table under heating charms. Joshua shoved another chip into his mouth before signing, "Don't worry, Mum is okay. She is having baby."

"Baby make Mum hurt," Esther signed back, looking between Joshua and Severus.

"Just for a minute," Joshua said. "Then Mum will be happy and we will have a new sister."

"Hopefully a hearing sister," Ruth muttered as she reached for a chicken nugget, yelping when her brother smacked her arm. "Hey! Ow."

"That's rude," Joshua said. "And Mum said not to mutter around Esther. That's worse than whispering."

"I didn't know how to sign that," Ruth said with a glare.

"Which is good. And you need to practice more."

Ruth stuck her tongue out at Joshua but before Joshua could retort, Severus gently pushed the two kids apart and set the four-year-old down in one of the chairs.

"That's enough," Severus said. "You three are about to welcome a new addition to the family—you should be supporting each other, not attacking each other. Harry, Iris, come sit."

When Harry and Iris joined the Brown siblings at the table, Severus summoned dishes and scooped out a helping of mac and cheese, zucchini chips, and chicken nuggets for each kid. He pulled out a few dipping sauce choices for the kids, and Esther gave herself a generous amount of tomato sauce and began drowning her poor dinosaurs in the red paste, making all sorts of growling and spluttering noises.

"You've killed them, Esther," Joshua said. "What did they ever do to you?"

"Lived," was Esther's response as she smothered another chicken nugget into the sauce, poking at it with her zucchini chip. Esther glanced at Harry, held out one of the stegosaurus nuggets and asked, "How do you sign this dinosaur?"

"I don't know," Harry answered honestly, belatedly signing his answer after a second hesitation. He glanced at Joshua.

"Don't look at me," Joshua said, shaking his head. He looked at his sister. "I think that's something you just spell out."

Esther's face morphed into a frown. She squashed the nugget into her sauce once more.

"It's not something to get upset about," Joshua tried to reason.

Severus turned enough so the kids could not see him and cast a quick British sign language projection charm, whispering stegosaurus to the mini demonstrative witch that appeared and hovered in the air, and she nodded and moved her arms in the motion of the sign twice. Severus canceled the charm and turned back toward the kids, coming to Esther's rescue.

"Stegosaurus," Severus said, holding one hand up and closing his fingers together in a way that resembled a head while moving his other hand, a flat palm with fingers closed, down his arm to indicate the dinosaur's plates.

Esther smiled as she copied Severus, then fished out one of the chicken nuggets from the sauce and signed the name again while holding the food. Harry and Iris copied while Ruth semi made the movements, curious but trying not to show interest. Joshua smirked at Severus.

"You used the BSL charm, didn't you?' Joshua asked.

Severus held a finger to his lips and winked at Joshua, who snorted and returned to eating his dinner, watching his sister play with her T-rex and stegosaurus nuggets, signing both names while making them attack each other, throwing tomato sauce everywhere. The kids enjoyed the show while finishing their meals, though Esther got more food on herself than in her stomach.

Once dinner was finished, Severus led the kids out to the living room, and he put in an animated movie, Charlotte's Web, and he reclined back in the arm chair while the kids piled on the couch to watch the movie, except for Esther, who joined Severus in the chair. Halfway through the movie, Esther and Severus were asleep.

When the movie finished, Harry glanced at his father, frowning slightly as he considered his options. He could wake Severus so his father could entertain them with a new thing—a game preferably, this time. But if he woke, Severus, he might wake Esther, and he wasn't sure the little girl would appreciate her nap being interrupted.

"We should let him sleep," Joshua said, nudging Harry gently before sliding off the couch. "He looks like he could use it."

"What do we do now?" Harry asked, hopping off the couch, Ruth and Iris doing the same.

"We can play some games." Joshua pulled some board games down from a shelf. "We could play magical or muggle."

"What's this one?" Harry asked, holding up Cluedo.

"It's a detective game," Joshua said.

Harry's gasped excitedly, then jutted the game out to Joshua.

"Can we play it? Can we play it? I want to be a super detective."

"Sure, bud," Joshua said with a chuckle as he took the game from Harry and began setting it up. "You girls want to play or do you want to go have a tea party somewhere. Detective stuff is more for boys anyway."

"Says who?" Ruth scowled while Iris crossed her arms. "I could be a detective if I wanted to."

"Me, too." Iris plopped down next to her brother. "I'm playing."

"Okay," Joshua said, hiding a smirk. "But don't be surprised when Harry or me wins."

"Game on," Iris said, leaning forward to watch as Joshua laid everything out. An intense game of Cleudo began, with no one daring to make any guesses until they were absolutely sure of who killed Dr. Black (who Harry first confused with his dear godfather, and there was a small moment of panic before Joshua reassured him there was no relation and it was just a game). Iris was the first to solve the case, however, and she proudly opened the envelope with the answers.

"See, I knew Mrs. Peacock had the right motive," Iris said. "I personally wouldn't have used a spanner and in the kitchen of all places, but I guess she needed to get her hands dirty. Tile is easy to clean, too."

"Jeez, I'd hate to get on your bad side," Joshua said.

"I want to solve one," Harry grumbled, and Joshua shuffled the cards and reset the board.

"Want to play again?" Joshua asked.

"Yes!" Harry declared, followed by the girls.

Harry managed to solve the next one, with some secretive aid from Joshua. Then Ruth pinned down the next killer, then Joshua solved the final case in about five minutes, if only to show off a little bit.

"You're like my uncle," Harry told Joshua in an awed voice, "a super-secret detective!"

"Nah," Joshua proudly said with a shrug," it was just an easy round."

"Glad to see the house still standing," Severus said, holding a tired looking Esther on his hip as he watched the kids pack up the board game.

"We would never burn our house down, Severus," Joshua said. "Besides, while you were snoring in the armchair, I had everything under control. Some babysitter you are."

"And you just lost dessert."

"Whoa, I think you misheard me. I said that you are the greatest babysitter ever and you deserve a medal of honor or something."

"Smart mouth. Put that away and come to the table for some ice cream, then its time you all dressed for bed and did something quiet for an hour."

The kids scrambled to their feet and waited in their spots for a bowl of ice cream to fly over to them, and they dug in happily while Esther smushed hers around until it was practically a milkshake in a bowl, then she drank some of it. While Severus assisted Esther in her nighttime routines, Iris and Ruth disappeared into Ruth's bedroom, while Harry followed Joshua to his bedroom.

"Here," Joshua said, grabbing a pair of pajamas resting on his bedside table. "I'm guessing these are yours."

Harry recognized his pajamas and slipped them on while Joshua did a quick change of clothes himself. Harry found his toothbrush in the bathroom across the hall and brushed his teeth with Joshua before retreating to the bedroom once more. Joshua grabbed a book and jumped on his bed while Harry hesitated, standing next to the bed.

"Do you want a book or something?" Joshua asked.

Harry shrugged, then shook his head.

"Want me to read to you?"

Harry smiled and nodded.

"Hop up."

Harry climbed in bed next to Joshua, curling up under the blanket and listening to Joshua as he read the exciting tales of Robin Hood, and slowly, Harry fell asleep. A half hour or so later, Severus checked in on the boys, smiling at his son.

"I guess he didn't need Spikes, after all," Severus said even as he rested the stuffed dinosaur next to his son. He glanced over at Joshua. "Wrapping up, soon?"

"I'm just going to finish this chapter," Joshua said.

"Just that chapter," Severus said. "Then lights out."

Joshua turned on his lamp so Severus could dim the overhead lights, and Severus left Joshua to finish reading, and while Joshua would usually read until he passed out, regardless of how many chapters later that was, he decided he didn't want to risk waking Harry with his light, so he bookmarked his page and turned off the lamp, snuggling down into his bed.


The next morning, Joshua shot out of bed like a bullet, startling Harry awake, who rubbed his eyes and yawned. He wondered what the rush was, then heard familiar voices downstairs. Remembering why he was spending the night at the Browns; he slipped out of bed and tiptoed downstairs where he found Tori sitting on the couch with a small bundle in her arms. There was a healer performing some last checkups while Joshua was leaning over the arm of the couch, smiling down at his new baby sister. Samuel was proudly standing behind the couch talking amiably with Severus, explaining that Addie was out spreading the news to the rest of the family.

Ruth, Iris, and Esther appeared behind Harry, hesitating for a moment before they smiled and rushed down the stairs, wanting a closer look at the baby. Harry slowly followed them. He had never really seen a baby before, not one as young as this one, anyway. He paused a few feet away from everyone, watching as Tori tilted her daughter this way and that for the girls to see her.

"Come look, Harry," Joshua said, waving him over.

Harry decided to move toward Joshua, joining him in leaning over the arm of the couch and down at the bundle.

"Her name's Jemima," Joshua whispered.

Harry studied Jemima's small face, the rest of her body buried beneath a thick bundle of blankets. She had a bit lighter skin, more like Joshua or even Tori rather than her father and sisters, and her hazel eyes barely opened enough to blink up at Harry. Harry wasn't sure what to make of the tiny human, but he smiled at her nonetheless. She was kind of cute, though how on earth she went from inside Tori's belly to the tiny blankets was beyond him.