Surrounded

Music flowed through Blackbird as Draco and Harry worked on the duelling room. They were having the dormies over that evening. Harry had already let them know that his partner would join them, as well as a friend of his. Blaise was in the country for once and Draco had invited him over. He would be staying with them, and Draco had arranged his guest room for him earlier that day. He felt kind of jealous that Harry had so many friends in comparison. Slytherin really hadn't been the best place to find friends.

The wards pinged and Draco hurried out to the edge of the wards. He smiled at Blaise as he stepped through. "Blaise, it is good to see you again," he said.

Blaise pulled his wand and narrowed his eyes. "Who are you and what have you done to Draco Malfoy?" he asked.

Draco snorted before laughter bubbled from his chest. He laughed heartily at the look on Blaise's face. "I promise it is me," he said. "I asked you to be Scorpius' guidefather. It was raining and cold. I looked like death warmed over, and you wondered if I had been the one giving birth, considering how awful I looked."

Blaise smiled. "Yeah, you did look like shit," he said.

"Come on, I'll let you through the wards," Draco said. He stepped through and placed a hand against the ward and waited for Blaise before adding him. "Welcome to Blackbird," he said as Blaise stepped through the wards.

Blaise looked around in wonder. "This is beautiful," he said. "Blackbird, isn't that the ancestral Black home?" he asked.

"Of course," Draco said.

"How do you have access to the wards here?" Blaise asked. "You are not Lord Black." He was having a hard time figuring out what was going on.

"No, I'm not," Draco agreed as they walked inside. He pinged Harry and hoped his fiancé had time to come greet them.

Harry was smiling softly as he rounded the corner from the hall leading to most of the house. "Welcome to our home, Blaise Zabini. I hope you will feel safe under our wards," he said as he bowed to Blaise. "I am Lord Hydrus Black." He wrapped his arm around Draco, and Blaise looked between the two of them for several seconds before he realised that Lord Black had greeted him. He cleared his throat and extended his hand. "I am honoured to be here, Lord Black," he said.

Harry smiled. "Please say Hydrus or, as you will come to find later this evening, Harry is acceptable," he said.

Harry… Blaise met those green eyes again. "Damn, you have changed," he breathed. "I never guessed you'd be gay." He remembered Harry Potter from their school days and he could see the faint trace of the scar on this man's forehead. This was nothing like Potter, though. He was confident on a level that Potter never had been.

"That would be because I'm not," Harry said. "I simply don't care about gender." He kissed Draco. "How about you show our guest to his room. I need to make sure the food is ready before the rest of them show up." He disappeared into another room.

"You have no elves?" Blaise asked.

"We don't really need them, and Harry has some qualms about enslaving another race," Draco said. "Maybe some day, but there would need to be a good reason."

"He is different," Blaise said.

"Aren't we all," Draco asked. "We grew up. We changed." He opened the room he had prepared for Blaise. "Know that you will always have a room here if you need it," he said. "Scorpius will be glad to see you. He will come tomorrow since we are meeting with Harry's friends tonight."

Blaise paused. "You haven't told them yet, have you?" he asked.

Draco shook his head.

"How long?"

"Almost seven months," Draco said. "They know he is dating someone, but not who that someone is. I should go get changed. I would advise you to wear clothes you don't mind if they get a little messy."

Blaise moved through the house slowly once he had changed. He found Harry in the kitchen and watched him work on something he assumed was their dinner for the evening. It was clear enough that he knew what he was doing, and he worked quickly. Half by hand and half by magic. His muscles ripped under the tight shirt he was wearing.

Harry moved closer to Blaise and looked up, surprised. "You haven't been trying to talk to me, I hope," he said.

Blaise froze. What was the supposed to say to that. No, I was just staring at you? That would go over well. "No I haven't," he said and his voice cracked. He wasn't even into men. What the hell was up with this feeling pressing against him?

Harry smiled knowingly. "Well, at least I don't have to feel bad then. I'm deaf, so I wouldn't have been able to tell," he said. He smiled at Draco as he walked into the kitchen and started helping him.

"Well, don't the two of you look domestic," Blaise said, and he shook his head as Draco signed to Harry before moving a tray out of his way. He wouldn't expect a Lord to stand in the kitchen and make the food for an event. Even if it was a small one.

Harry and Draco worked quickly together as they finished the appetizers of and placed them aside. The wards pinged and Harry rolled his eyes. "Neville is on time at least," he said. He looked over at Blaise. "He also knows about us already. He will be the only one, though."

Blaise nodded slowly. He didn't mind Lord Longbottom. They hadn't interacted much, but he knew he was a good man.

Neville walked into the house and smiled at Draco and Harry. "Running late?" he asked.

"Sort of," Harry said. "Lord Longbottom meet Blaise Zabini."

Neville shook his head. "I see you have been pulled into this madness, Mr Zabini," he said.

"Draco offered me a place to stay," Blaise said. "I took him up on that offer."

Neville smiled. "It is fair that Draco has someone in his corner. Ron might be a bit of a problem until he has worked through it," he said. "Harry will know how to handle him."

"You can move over to the duelling room," Harry told Draco. "The rest of them just arrived. At least they all showed up at once. I'll go let them in."

Blaise looked at Neville.

"Our friend tend to be at least half an hour late and usually don't arrive together," Neville said. "Harry and I tend to have a fair amount of time to just hang out before everyone else arrives."

Blaise shook his head. Being that late certainly wasn't appropriate, but he guessed that the Lords chose to overlook that simply because these were not formal events. His eyes widened as he stepped into the duelling room. It looked like an obstacle course mixed with some kind of game. He wasn't sure what to think. He could understand why Draco had told him to change clothes, though.

"You can't be serious!" Ron exclaimed as he entered the room and laid eyes on Draco.

"No, that was my godfather," Harry said as he walked up to Draco with a straight face.

"Hardy har, Harry," Ron said. "So this is the guy bruising you?"

"Draco has done nothing to me, I haven't asked for," Harry said as he leaned against his fiancé.

"So was that what the obsession in sixth year was about? You fancied him?" Ron asked.

"Nope," Harry said, popping the p. "I had no inclination towards any sexuality during school, I was very busy surviving. No, my first encounter was actually eternalized in the Prophet by Luna. She nailed the date. Don't ask me how she does it."

"Draco, however, was drooling over Harry," Blaise said. "Utterly devastated that he couldn't have him."

"Shut it Blaise, or I'll shut you up," Draco threatened, though he didn't really mean it. Harry was already well aware, and he didn't really care that much what anyone else thought.

Dean chuckled. "Okay, somehow that doesn't surprise me," he said. He looked at Harry and then his eyes widened. "Wait, is that a courting gift?" he asked.

Ron looked back at arguably his best friend, even if he was trying to not see the world that way. There was a silver choker around his neck. It was elegant and looked like it had been made for him.

"Following goblin custom, the second gift has been given," Harry said calmly.

"Goblin?" Blaise said.

"I was trained by the Nation. I am a Warding Master," Harry said. "I made the wards you stand within." He smiled. "Now, I have a bit of a challenge for everyone. It is a game of points and all of us will participate. There is a level of randomness. Both Draco and I have set this up, but we don't know each other's parts, and I sent several of my challenges to be easier if you can hear just to give myself a disadvantage."

"If everyone would please walk up to the line and get ready," Draco said. He knew there would be more talk of him, but Harry was making sure everyone had some time to think first.

"Three. Two. One. Go."

Harry and Draco wanted half a second before they moved forward.

Blaise dodged a vine and looked around. He had done things like this before. Nothing quite this advanced, though, and he realised the moment he stepped into the maze. The wards had separated them all so they wouldn't be running into each other. He dodged a spell shooting out at him and shielded himself from several more. "Damn, those have some power behind them," he hissed. He needed to ask Harry how he had done this. He made it to a door and saw their scores. He raised an eyebrow as he saw the standing. He was not going to be bottom two at the end of this. He moved further, realising that there were targets for him to hit as well as everything he was dodging and climbing.

Targets appeared and Blaise hit them quickly. He slipped down and dodged a spell. Damn, this thing was not set to easy mode, was it. He ran over a field and slid under a fallen log. He saw his score again as he passed into the next area. He was doing better.

Dean was breathing heavily as he collapsed outside the trial. He had failed. A small smile crossed his lips as he saw the screens, though. So they had taken failure into account. That was nice. He walked up to a table and grabbed a glass so he could fill it with a pleasant lemonade-type drink. He watched Seamus for a bit, but he had a feeling Seamus wasn't making much further. He smiled at the Irishman as she showed up next to him. "Hello," he said.

"Bloody hell, that was insane," Seamus said as he got up and looked at the screens. "They are just showing off," he said as he pointed at Harry's and Draco's screens. "I mean, they have home court advantage." He jumped as two sets of runes became visible on the floor.

"Or maybe we can mess them up. Harry or Draco?" Dean asked.

"Draco," Seamus said. He sat down and smirked as he gained a certain amount of control over what happened. There were menus and targeting. He chuckled. "Okay, this is cool," he said.

Eventually, both Ron and Neville showed up. Neville snorted as he saw the way Dean and Seamus were messing with Harry and Draco. "So that's how they even it out," he said.

"Yeah, and we steal their points if we hit them," Dean said.

"That must mean we can join in too," Ron said.

Neville chuckled as he sat down next to Seamus so he could mess with Draco too. They were laughing and shouting as Harry or Draco got hit with something, knowing that the both of them had set all of this up so they weren't likely to get hurt.

"Oh, Harry just pulled all stops," Neville said as their friend's movement changed entirely.

Blaise showed up and looked at the screens. Now that only Harry and Draco remained, the screens were much bigger. He looked at the scores. So that was how they had gained so many points. "May I join?" he asked as he settled next to Ron after grabbing something to drink.

"Go ahead," Ron said.

Harry breathed in slowly and then he moved forward. He was going much slower now because he was focusing on the attacks landed up their friends. He was fairly curtain that he had three different people on him at this point.

"We aren't hitting him any more," Dean said. "He is just blocking everything."

"Then we send something harder to block," Ron said. He went through the menu and sent in a dementor.

"Damn, his patronus is huge," Dean said.

"Where is he?" Blaise asked.

"The screen must still be following him," Ron said. "He doesn't have to be centred on the screen, though."

"Damn, Draco is gone too," Seamus said.

The controls disappeared, and the screens melded into one.

"A race," Neville said as both Draco and Harry came into view. The path behind them quickly disappeared as they ran.

Draco was hit and collapsed. He pushed himself up and felt Harry grab him and pull him along before he was cut off from the path. They rolled as they finally reached the finish line and the screen changed to show the scores and additions for each cleared level.

"We have to do that again, and we need to figure out how to make it sentient enough to be a challenge," Draco said.

"Or we need to find a way for Teddy and Scorpius to set it up for us," Harry said.

Draco laughed. He got up and pulled Harry with him. "We hope that was entertaining enough for the people who were eliminated," he said.

"Are you kidding, that was cool," Seamus said.

"We have food and drinks in the dining room," Harry said. "This way." He led them through to the dining room. "Dig in," he said. He smiled as everyone went for the food. He had a feeling there wouldn't be very much conversation for a while, and that suited him just fine.

Everyone leaned back once their bellies were full. "Well, this has been eventful," Dean said. "I have a feeling we will all be aching in places we didn't know existed in the next few days, though."

Harry chuckled. "That is probably true," he said.

"How did you do that, though?" Blaise asked. "How did you power it?"

"Runes and charge crystals," Harry said. He smiled as they continued asking questions about the set-up for that day. He had Draco had been working on it for a while, just because they wanted something that was a bit more fun to test their skills.

"I guess you're not too bad a bloke after all," Ron told Draco before he headed out. "Not if the smile on Harry's face is any indication."

Draco bowed his head. "Thank you. You're not too bad yourself," he said.

Ron snorted. "The world will end. We're not upholding the feud," he said.

Draco shook his head. "Why should we. It is old news," he said.

They said goodbye to the former Gryffindors before the rest of them cleaned up and gathered in the living room with some wine.

"Well," Blaise said. "That was interesting. It is nice to see that there are people who aren't holding on to the prejudice of our school days."

"There are a bunch more of us, but I'm not as close to them," Harry said. "They kind of gather under Ernie Macmillan in one way or another, so they are friends with Neville through Hannah."

Blaise nodded. "Heir Macmillan is a force to be reckoned with. It is a good alliance," he said. He looked at Draco. "How does your parents feel about it?"

"Officially, they are standoffish. Unofficially, I think father is trying to softly align with Harry because it will cause fewer rifts in the future," Draco said. "We had them over not that long ago to establish how things were going to work. I was clear enough that Father realised I will be a Black no matter what he says."

"He didn't threaten to pull Scorpius, did he?" Blaise said.

"Can't. I adopted Scorpius so he has to butt out or start a feud with House Black, which is not beneficial to him since he is married to a daughter of the house," Harry said.

Blaise looked between them. "First of how could you adopt Scorpius without Lucius permission and secondly if you are both Blacks isn't this going to be inappropriate," he said.

"Scorpius shares my blood and his family owed me, so I could just step in," Harry said. "As for propriety, since I gained my standing through choice and power, it is actually considered more appropriate that my spouse is of the family than me marrying someone else. I made sure of that before we really got serious, though it wouldn't really have changed my choices any, only my actions outwards."

"You made sure you knew what troubles may arise so you would be prepared," Blaise said. "How un-gryffindorish of you." He was smiling. He was glad to see Draco this happy. He did wonder what kind of difference this had brought to Scorpius. He guessed he would find out the next day.

…

"Uncle Blaise!" Scorpius ran up to his guidefather and hugged him tightly.

Blaise looked down at the boy. He looked vibrant. Alive in a way he had never seen him before. His hair was falling around his head in a version of the hairstyle he had seen on Harry. "You look happy," he said.

"Daddy and Angel are the best. Did you know we will have a little brother or sister?"

Blaise blinked as he looked over at Draco.

"Harry has everything set up with a friend of his. She will carry for him," Draco said.

"It's Luna. She is really nice and funny," Scorpius said.

Blaise tried to figure out who Scorpius meant when he said that.

"Luna Lovegood. She was a Ravenclaw a year under us," Draco said.

Blaise's eyes widened as he realised who Draco was speaking about. "Your colours match," he said.

"That was kind of the point," Draco said.

Blaise chuckled as he followed Draco and Scorpius to the kitchen, where Harry was making breakfast. He sat down with Scorpius. It still felt a little surreal that the Lord of the house was the one cooking. When he lived at home, there had been servants. The family he had married into also had servants. He could see why the Blacks didn't have servants. They didn't need them, as clearly shown by the fact that they were quite easily handling things themselves.

Scorpius was happy to see his guidefather again. It had been a long time, and Blaise was cool. He talked a mile a minute and introduced his older brother Teddy, who looked so much like Harry that Blaise was confused until Teddy changed his hair to blonde to match Scorpius. He chuckled, so he was a metamorphmagus.

…

January snowed into February. It was wet and cold. Thankfully, the Blackbird wards kept the worst of that out.

A soft hum spread from the kitchen as Luna put a sheet of cookies in the oven. She looked up as Harry walked in. "Hello, dear," she said. "Did it go well?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, they will have everything ready for you in half an hour," he said. He hugged her. "Thank you for this."

Luna chuckled. "Will you take the cookies out," she asked.

"Of course I will," Harry said. "See you in a bit."

Luna chuckled. She would be spending more time around Blackbird, since Harry's magic would be good for the baby. She also didn't want to run around when it might hurt both her and the child. She had some writing to do for her books anyway. She had kind of waited for Harry to ask before starting that work, since it would give her something to do.

"Are you certain this is what you want to do, dear?"

Luna looked at the Healer. "We signed the contract. I have offered Hydrus this for years. Yes, I want to carry his child. They deserve to have a baby," she said. "Are you going to ask any other questions I will find offensive?"

The healer closed her mouth. "I'll call the expert," she said.

Luna shook her head. She was so glad the contract meant that any healer messing with their samples would get punished quite severely, and she would know about it. She smiled at Healer Brand as she walked into the room. "I would appreciate it if the healers didn't question a decision that I have signed for," she said.

Healer Brand shook her head and sighed. "I'll look into it," she said. "I have everything ready for you, though, and I haven't let anyone else near it, so there will be no issues. Just take a deep breath and we will get started."

Luna nodded calmly. She wasn't worried. She knew it would work out, but she didn't appreciate the attitude of the first healer. It was uncomfortable for a moment before she could relax again.

"You will be spending time with the father?" Healer Brand asked.

"I will be living with him and his fiancé," Luna said. "So there will be plenty of magic around."

"Good," Healer Brand said. "I will see you again in a month to check on your progress. If something happens, please contact us."

Luna smiled at her as she got up and headed out.

Harry wrapped an arm around her as she returned to Blackbird. He had read up on everything the Healers had recommended for him to know, as well as everything they had handed Luna. He wanted to know what was going on and what she needed from him. His magic flowed around them. "Thank you, my Fairly Queen," he said.

"My Knight deserves it," Luna said as they headed to the living room so they could sit down together. She laid down against him. The Healer had warned them she might be drowsy for a few days, and she needed access to his magic. Harry didn't mind. He could act bed for a bit.

Draco came home with their sons a few hours later, and he smiled at them. "Everything went well?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "No problems," he said. "Luna got annoyed at some healer for being intrusive, but apart from that it went well."

Draco kissed his fiancé. "This is surreal," he said.

Harry smiled. "I know," he said. He looked down at Luna. There would be a new little life growing inside her. His child. He looked at Draco. Their child.

…

A few days later had Luna back to her regular self and everything seemed to be going well. She played with Teddy and Scorpius. She wrote notes and drew up her some kind of structure for her book. She had information on so many creatures that very few people knew anything about. She would love to publish it all.

She needed to go see her father as soon as she was a bit more stable. She hummed as she ordered her notes. Harry walked into his study where she was sitting by his desk and went over a few things. "How are the wards over at Malfoy Manor coming along?" she asked.

"I have the base lay, and I have cleared most of Riddle's magic out of there," Harry said. "Both the Lord and Lady seem more relived these days. Less weighed down. They are asking about Scorpius, but I want more protection before I bring him with me."

Luna nodded. "That sounds like a good idea," she said.

Harry walked back out of the study. It was Friday, and he was picking up Teddy and Scorpius as well as little Sarah from school that day. He would be heading out in a bit to get them. They had debated bringing Sarah to Blackbird since her parents didn't know, but in the end they had decided that she did have magic, it was better they spoke to her about it.

Harry put things away and headed over to Ferngale. Both Andromeda and Draco were working on a rather large order from Hogwarts for pepper-up and other useful potions. They probably wouldn't be around until late, even if Draco was working from home. He smiled as he met Teddy outside the school. "Let's go find Scorpius and Sarah, shall we," he said.

Teddy nodded. "Sure, they should be over by the swings," he said.

When they turned the corner and headed towards the swing set, they could see that Scorpius and Sarah were surrounded by students. "What is going on here!" he asked sharply as he reached the group. He looked at each and every one of them sternly.

'They are calling Sarah a freak,' Scorpius signed. He didn't look away from his friend as he spoke softly to her. She was clutching the swing tightly, clearly distressed about the situation.

"Okay, that is enough away with the lot of you," Harry said. "I will take this up on the next parent meeting, and believe me when I say that I am very good at telling whose child someone is." He pushed with his magic, causing the students to move away from him so he could reach Sarah and pick her up before her magic went wild. He carried her towards the exit slowly, as Teddy and Scorpius went with them. He wanted to talk to Sarah about what happened, but he wanted to do so properly, so it was better they got home first.

"Okay Sarah. We will be heading to my home now," Harry said. "We'll be using magic, so please don't be scared." He brought the children over to Blackbird and moved Sarah through the wards. "Now, Sarah, what those kids said. It isn't true," he said. He sat down with her. "You know, my cousin had all the children around me calling me freak growing up. Just because they say the words, it doesn't make them true." He was holding her hands.

"It isn't really about that, Mr Harry. They said mean things about my dad," Sarah said.

Harry nodded slowly. "Well, that certainly isn't very nice of them, but you can't be using your magic on them. There are laws and your father could end up in trouble with the ministry if you use your magic against the children at school," he said. "It of course depends on what they are doing. If they are hurting any of you guys, that is different."

"Like the bad people did with dad?" Sarah asked. She liked Scorpius' fathers. They were really nice to her.

"Bad people hurt your father?" Harry asked.

"They made it so he can't walk," Sarah said. "They said he was a monster, and he deserved it."

"They hurt you too, didn't they?" Harry asked softly. "We meet people like that too. They want to hurt Draco and Scorpius and since Teddy and I are with them, us too. Draco and I have each other's backs, though."

"Are they going to Hogwarts?" Sarah asked. "Teddy and Scorpius?"

Harry smiled at her. "Yes," he said. "Teddy is starting next year."

"Dad says I should go there too, but he is scared people will try to hurt me," Sarah said.

"Well, Draco and I could fix that," Harry said. "There are ways we can protect you." He squeezed her shoulder. "Feeling better?" he asked.

Sarah nodded before whipping her eyes. "Will you speak with my parents?" she asked.

"When I drop you off," Harry said. "Now go play with Scorpius and don't worry about this for now." He would have to speak to Draco. He would be going to see little Sarah's parents when dropping her off. He wanted to ask Scorpius what else those children had been saying too.

At least now that they were safe at Blackbird, Sarah could relax and not worry so much. The children played, though Teddy did spend some time with his homework before he joined the younger ones. Harry called them inside in time for dinner so they could top their own pizzas. Then they settled down in the living room to watch Arthur and the Invisibles.

Harry smiled as his sons started picking the film apart magically. He was considering telling them to stop, but Sarah seemed to have fun, so he would leave them be. Draco walked out of the Lab and Harry hugged him. They had prepared a guest room for Sarah already, and Scorpius had showed her.

Draco wrapped his arms around Harry as he was told what had happened when Harry picked the children up. He sighed. They would keep an eye on things. He knew Harry certainly wouldn't just let it go. "Love you," he said softly.

"And I love you," Harry said before kissing Draco and pressing him closer to his body.

"Excuse me, Mr Draco."

Draco tapped Harry's shoulders and waited for him to let go. "Yes, Sarah, what is it?" he asked.

"I'm thirsty," Sarah said. She hadn't really expected to find Scorpius' fathers kissing in the kitchen. Though her parents did that all the time. By the time she had been given a glass of water, she felt stupid for even thinking it was strange that they were kissing. It was their home, and they were going to be married. She wondered if she could be there. It would be so cool to see a magical wedding.

"Anything else?" Draco asked kindly.

"No, thank you, Mr Draco," Sarah said as she brought her glass with her to the living room. She sat down with Scorpius again to see the last of the film.

"Bedtime," Harry called a while later as walked into the living room with a book.

"Come on, let's go get ready, so Angel can read to us," Scorpius said as he helped Sarah up. They disappeared over to the bathroom to brush their teeth.

"Does Harry read to you guys every night?" Sarah asked as they headed back to the living room.

"The best nights, are nights like these, though, when both dad and angel are home to read to us," Scorpius said while nodding vigorously. The story was fantastical, and the way Harry and Draco seamlessly read together was something that surprised Sarah.

It was even more surprising when a blonde woman who looked like she could be Scorpius Aunt walked in and joined them. Her voice was soft and kind. Sarah really liked her. Hadn't she met her before? She was their aunt or something. So was she Draco's sister? She certainly looked like she could be.

Sarah lay down in her bed and smiled shyly as Luna tucked her in. She cuddled her plush bunny closer while thinking that it was really fun to play with Scorpius and Teddy. Her eyes closed slowly as she drifted off.

Several hours later, Harry sat up groggily. The wards were acting up. He checked the time as he untangled from Draco. He got dressed and cleaned using magic. His sons were both sleeping peacefully. Sarah, however, was a tangled mess. She was struggling against the confinement of her covers. Harry helped her free and her dark eyes opened in confusion before she realised where she was. She took one look at Harry and decided that he was safe before crawling onto his lap so he could hold her. He lifted her up and brought her to the kitchen. "Bad dream?" he asked.

Sarah nodded and responded.

"Sorry, Sarah, I can't hear you," Harry said gently as he placed her on a chair by the table.

Sarah looked up at him. She didn't really want to talk about her dream, and he didn't push her. She was glad for that. "This place really has a lot of magic," she said. "Daddy has only shown me a little. He is scared mum will find out. He… I think he would rather I didn't have magic. Like life would be easier that way. He doesn't hate it, but I can tell that he is hurting."

"Some pretty bad things happened when Draco and I were teens. Is your father about our age, do you think?" Harry asked.

Sarah nodded. "Bit older," she said as he handed her a glass of warm milk. It was warm even though she had seen him pour the milk from the fridge, meaning he had used magic to heat it.

"Then it is possible some very bad things happened to or around your father," Harry said. "I lost a lot of friends. Teddy's parents died. It is possible that Draco and I would understand, but it is also possible your father won't like us very much."

Sarah nodded slowly. She wasn't sure what to say to that. She hoped her father wouldn't dislike Scorpius parents. She really liked Scorpius and his fathers were nice to her.

"We will do the best we can," Harry said. "Don't you worry, dear."

Sarah smiled at him. "I'm glad there are people like you, Mr Harry," she said.

"Think you can go back to sleep now?" Harry asked as she finished her warm milk.

Sarah nodded slowly. "Thank you, Harry," she said. He tucked her back in and kissed her forehead before heading back to his own bedroom.

Draco opened his eyes as Harry climbed into bed again. "Something the matter?" he asked.

"Sarah had a nightmare," Harry said. "I think she will be fine for the rest of the night, though." He lay down and wrapped his arm around Draco.

Draco smiled sleepily at him as he returned to dream land. They would deal with things in the morning. It was fine.

…

The children had breakfast and played around until lunch. Then Harry took Sarah's hand. It was time for her to head home. He teleported them back to Ferngale and waved at Andromeda. He checked the address and concluded that they were better off taking the car. He strapped Sarah into Scorpius' seat and drove them through the neighbourhood. Fergale lay in a nice middle-class neighbourhood. The houses had individuality and people kept the place nice and tidy. The area they drove into did not look that way. Harry didn't judge, but he knew there could be certain issues with him showing up there the way that he was dressed. Well, he should have looked into that before going.

The driveway was empty when Harry pulled up, so he parked in it before letting Sarah out of the car. She waved at a neighbour before running up to her front door. She pulled it open and ran inside as she called for her parents.

Harry knocked on the door as he reached it. "Wendy!" he called. Even if Sarah had opened the door, it was quite rude of him to walk in without permission.

A woman seemed to come walking out of the living room. Was this Sarah's grandmother. The one who needed sign language.

'May I enter?' Harry signed.

'Oh, please do come in,' she signed back as she smiled kindly at him. 'Close the door behind you. You are the father of Sarah's friend? I am Sophie, her father's mother.'

'One of them,' Harry signed back. 'I am Lord Hydrus Black. My fiancé and I care for our children equally.'

Sophie's eyes widened. 'Welcome to our humble home, Lord Black,' she signed. 'That our Sarah would make such important friends… Come, come, you must speak with my son.'

Wendy walked out of the living room and smiled at them. She placed her hands on her mother-in-law's shoulders. "Hello, Harry," she said. "This is Mark's mother, Sophie."

"I know," she already introduced herself, Wendy, but thank you," Harry said as he continued signing.

Wendy gave him a surprised look before she smiled at him. "How about you join us in the living room?" she said.

"Thank you, Wendy," Harry said as he signed.

"Mark, this is Harry. He and his partner…?" She looked at Harry for confirmation.

"My fiancé," Harry said.

"Where the ones who had Sarah over last night," Wendy said.

"It was so much fun. We made pizza and watch and movie and Scorpius' dads read to us, it was so much fun," Sarah said.

Mark had noticed that Harry was still signing to Sophie as Sarah spoke, and he realised that he was including his mother in the conversation. "It isn't often we meet someone who can sign," he said. It did put him on edge, since it was the magical version of sign language, meaning that the man in front of him was magical or knew magical people.

"That doesn't surprise me," Harry said calmly. He was fairly certain based on the name his wife had used for him as well as the overall look of the man before him that he knew who this was. "It has been a long time, though, hasn't it."

"You know my Mark?" Wendy asked as she offered him a seat.

"I do," Harry said. "We attended the same school. Though, Mark was several years ahead of me. You would know my team captain better. Oliver Wood." He had turned to Marcus.

Marcus looked at him for a while as he tried to figure him out, then his eyes went to Harry's forehead and he blinked. It was there. Faintly, of course, but he did have the scar. "Potter?"

Harry smiled at him. "That is a bygone era. It is Hydrus Black now, since my godfather saw fit to hand me the family name and fortune."

That certainly explained the fancy clothes, Marcus thought. He felt tense. He knew Potter had been on the opposite side of the war from him. Was it possible he would cause them harm?

"Well, I only wanted to make sure Sarah got home safely. I do hope would accept an invitation for dinner some day, but I will have to leave now. Draco did want to have a look at wedding venues," he said.

"Draco as in Malfoy?" Marcus asked. He should have guessed who else would name their child Scorpius? It made sense.

"Of course," Harry said. He bowed. "Until we meet again," he said. "Wendy, I hope to see you at the next parent meeting. There are some things we need to bring up surrounding Sarah and a few of the other children. For now, I believe Teddy will be closing ranks around them."

Wendy nodded slowly. "Okay," she said. She would have to ask Sarah what had happened. "Thank you for taking care of our Sarah."

"No problem Wendy. Just let me know if you need it again," Harry said. He bowed before heading out. They could hear the car start as he left.

Wendy looked at her husband. "Well, I, for one, am glad that not everyone from that old school of yours is liable to attack you," she said.

"Me too," Marcus said. He was confused and surprised. Malfoy and Potter. That was an odd combination.

"Is Scorpius likely to go to that school?" Wendy asked. "The one you want to send Sarah to?"

"So is the older boy," Marcus said.

"Oh, yeah, Mr Harry said that Teddy will be going next year," Sarah said. "Mr Harry explained some things to me. I hope that is okay." She really hoped her father wouldn't be angry with her.

"That's nice," Marcus said distantly.

'It is a good move to become friends with them. They are both powerful,' Sophie signed. 'It would be good for Sarah. She would be safer.'

'I know, mother,' Marcus signed back. She would be safer as long as Harry wanted her safe, at least. No one in their right mind would mess with Lord Black.