Pilfered Progeny - Stolen Dreams

Draco found himself pulled away from his peaceful dreams by a distinct pain; he felt one of the baby’s feet pressing hard against his side. He grimaced slightly and ran his hand over his stomach, then pushed gently, getting the foot to ease off and give him some relief. The baby must be stretching; it was getting rather cramped in there for him. He smiled and stroked his tummy lovingly, watching the ripples move across his tightly stretched skin as the baby turned and moved. He looked to his side and close beside him laid his husband. He took a few moments to enjoy watching him sleep, his contentment only growing.



Harry sighed and reached for him, pulling Draco into his arms without bothering to open his eyes. “Morning, Dragon…” he murmured.



“Good morning, my Harry.” He gave him a long, slow lingering kiss.



Harry caressed Draco’s belly with a gentle hand. “Good morning, my precious little boy.” he smiled. “I can’t wait to hold you in my arms, James.” He said, opening his eyes to gaze at Draco. “When do you see the healer next?”



“Three days until we get poked and prodded again.” He said with a half chuckle and the baby kicked right where Harry’s hand was resting.



Harry laughed. “He’s active this morning.”



Draco found himself laughing as well. “That’s putting it mildly… I think he’s trying to tap-dance on my bladder. He woke me up this morning…”



“We’ve such a houseful, even if half of the children go back to their homes, there’s no way that our little cottage is even half large enough for all of our family now.” Harry commented, feeling so happy and contented.



“I’ve been thinking about that, actually. I know for certain that father wouldn’t mind if we stay here for a while; he dotes on Angel so and she loves him. And it will be really fun to play big brother to the twins for a while.” Draco smiled.



Harry stroked his cheek, finding the smile on his husband’s face only made his contentment increase. “There are more, you know. Your father and I found the ones we were looking for and we’ve got them in your old bedroom with Alerick. There are four more of them; two boys and two girls.”



“Merlin, Harry; how are we to manage?” Draco murmured.



“Lots of love and even more patience.” Harry sighed.



“We’ll get through it; we will always have each other…”



“Together.” Harry kissed him tenderly.



“Are they all ours?” Draco asked.



“No, not all. One of them is quite the redhead; I think she’s the product of one of the Weasleys…” he reassured. “I wonder if George and Fred are ready to be fathers.” They shared a chuckle at the thought; those two still hadn’t grown up even if they WERE older than Ron. Harry enjoyed holding his husband a few moments more then sighed reluctantly. “We’d better get up and face the world.”



“Yes; Angel’s missed you. I’m happy it only took two days for you to get in there and get back to us; she’s been worried and watching out the windows every moment that she was not distracted by the twins…” Draco said, pushing himself with a grunt of effort into a sitting position. “Merlin…!” He groaned. “That gets harder every day!”



Harry smiled. “You’re beautiful.” He said firmly, rising to help his lover to his feet. He was unable to resist another quick kiss. “Now its time to have a nice hot shower and then we’ll be off to breakfast with the children.”



“That’s all fine and dandy if we can get that far.” He said in a sour tone.



“What…?” Harry asked, half-chuckling at him.



“I’m rather tired of father dragging you away to talk or to go do something mental with him.” Draco said petulantly, pulling Harry close into his arms.



“He has been a bit bossy, hasn’t he?” Harry chuckled.



“He’s spent more time with you lately than all of the rest of us combined and I’m about to tell him off.” Draco mock-threatened.



“Aw, Dray, be nice to the old man.” Harry chuckled. “This is all a bit overwhelming to him as well. We have children and he has a whole new generation to pay attention to…”



“Yes, that’s all true, but you’re MY husband!” He said with a wickedly teasing grin. “He already has mother I won’t let him have you too!”



“Eww!” Harry laughed as his husband slipped out of his arms. “Don’t even think that! Bad visuals, Draco…!”



Draco laughed merrily as he stripped off his clothing, heading for the private bathroom off of their room. Harry stopped to simply enjoy the sight of his husband naked, pale skin flawless, his rounded tummy not even showing from the back, long silver blonde hair flowing down to the center of his back. Draco paused by the door, half-turning showing his husband his profile; it was the loveliest sight he had ever seen in his life. “I wish I knew how to make a memory crystal; I would treasure this moment forever…” Harry murmured. “I WILL get your father to teach me.”



Draco blushed self-consciously; he thought he was anything but attractive right now. “Harry, you can’t be serious! Merlin, I’m as big as a house!” He complained.



“And all the more beautiful for it.” Harry said firmly, moving to join his husband.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



“Lucius, what is on that paper that has you so worried and concerned?” Narcissa asked, moving up behind her husband. Her hands drifted onto his shoulders and she could feel that his muscles were all in tight knots. When he didn’t answer her immediately, she leaned down and whispered in his ear. “Honestly, my love; you are as uptight as a virgin bride…” she said in a teasing tone.



“Cissa! Really…!” he scolded, but the anecdote did get his mind shaken loose from the problem for just a moment. Cissa always had known how to get him thinking when he’d gotten into a rut.



Narcissa laughed. “Well you are tense, my husband. Now tell me; what is it? You have rescued all the children, are they not well?”



“The children are well, and healthy, and quite happy to be reunited once more. It’s not their health, Cissy…” he said, still struggling a few moments more to try to think of a way to explain it all. He finally just sighed. There was no use in keeping it from her; she would need to know everything. “It’s about Alerick, first of all. There’s no easy way to tell you this; Alerick is ours.”



“Of course he is.” Cissa smiled. “He is so much like Draco was; he’s an absolutely charming little man…”



He shook his head, stopping her little comment. “No. You don’t understand, Cissa. I don’t mean that he is our grandson. Draco is not his father, I am. You are his mother. Alerick is Draco’s brother.” He said.



“What? Lucius, that’s simply not possible.” She said softly, confused. “I birthed only one child…”



He handed her the paper. “It is possible. Alerick, my dear, is our son.” He told her in a soft tone.



“But…” Narcissa took the paper from him, feeling her knees suddenly go weak and he reached for her, guiding her to a seat on his lap. “But Lucius, how?” She whispered, tears in her eyes.



“Malcolm Parkinson and that bitch queen of a daughter he spawned.” He growled softly.



She let her fingertips drift over the names on the parchment. “I don’t understand; how could they have done this?”



“I don’t know the answers yet, my dear, but I can promise you that I WILL find them.” He promised. He would start once he had a chance to talk to his new bondservant; surely that man knew a lot more than he let on. He’d had plenty of information for them back at that mansion…



She looked up from the paper at him. “What of the other children?”



“One other is like our Alerick.” He handed her a second parchment and her eyes scanned the tree, her face showing a bit of shock and disbelief. “The Dark Prince is the son of James and Lilly.”



“How could James and Lilly parent a child from the grave, Lucius? This is sheer madness.” She murmured softly.



“I understand that it is something that the muggles have developed. Cloning, I think they call it, and it has resulted in the duplication of animals. But Malcolm Parkinson was mad enough to try it with wizards. When they made the other children they took the ‘essence’ of two people… I think in this case they only used the one they were duplicating. They used only Harry for the Dark Prince.”



“When a wizard child is conceived, there must be the essence of two, and the power the child has is a combination of the two… if they used only Harry, won’t that child have twice the power that Harry does?” she asked softly, seeing the inherent danger in the situation.



“Yes. And Alerick possesses twice the power of our son.” He agreed quietly, arms resting about her for both his and her comfort. “Severus believes that they were trying to bring Tom Riddle back.” He confessed to her.



She looked at him in horror. “Please tell me that isn’t possible…!” she whispered pleadingly.



“It most assuredly is NOT possible.” He said firmly. But that didn’t stop them from trying.”



“Oh, thank Merlin…” Cissa whispered, running her fingers over the lines of the paternity chart. Her name and Lucius’, meeting together over the name of Alerick. “We have another son, Lucius.” She whispered. “One of our blood… It doesn’t matter at all how he has came to be, he is ours.” She reached over to his desk and looked through the other papers and stopped, seeing her sister’s name. “Bellatrix…? That harpy was involved in all of this?! Oh! Wait until I get my hands on her!” She said, becoming angry.



“She’s the mother of the two who were raised to be the guardians.” He told her softly. “She must never be allowed to see them, especially the girl.”



“Why must the girl be hidden especially?”



“She looks just like a copy of her as a child.” He answered. “She would want to snatch her away in a heartbeat.”



“She would, I’m certain…” she agreed quietly. “I did not get a good look at the children last night; I see that I will have to look at them much more closely this morning.” She said. “Does Bellatrix even know they exist, I wonder?”



“It would be exceedingly bad if she did.” He said quietly, remembering her maniacal devotion to Tom Riddle and knowing she would do the same in a heartbeat to that little Prince in the bedroom if she knew of him. She could be the one who could make all this go wrong; if anyone could raise another Voldemort into being it would be that madwoman Bella.



“I wonder what happened to the ones who birthed these children.” Narcissa said softly. “There are no names of the birth mothers, not on any of these lists.”



“I shall ask Warrington.” Lucius responded. “I have a growing list of questions to ask that man, once he has woken.” He rose to his feet, setting his wife gently upon her feet using his good arm only.



“I will let you get on with your business… I get to feed the twins this morning.” Narcissa said as one of the infants began to cry.



“Nona?” Angel’s voice sounded from the next room. “Lilly’s all wet.”



“She’s up already?” Lucius asked, looking toward the nursery.



“She gets up at sunrise; she loves to help with their morning feeding and changing.” She smiled, kissing him on the cheek before she turned and walked to the nursery. “I’m coming, my dear.” Narcissa smiled indulgently.



“Can I change her this time? Please…?” Angel asked as Narcissa moved into the room, waiting for her standing beside the baby’s crib.



“All right.” Narcissa lifted the baby and placed her on the changing table. Angel climbed up on the stepstool, a large smile on her face as she started to undress the damp baby.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Warrington woke, not feeling much better than he had when he had lain down. That stuff that Malfoy’s stupid house elf had given him hadn’t helped at all. If it hadn’t been for the sleeping potion he wouldn’t have gotten any rest at all. Reluctantly he pushed himself up to sit a moment on the bed. He gathered himself together, and then slowly began to move about and get dressed. Merlin, he felt sore all over. He was almost certain that Severus Snape had done something to make the binding especially painful.



He sank back to a seat on his bed a moment feeling nearly exhausted simply from the effort of dressing. He dug in his bag and pulled out a potion to dampen his pain and sat to wait for it to go into effect. Before he felt he was ready to do anything at all, a house elf popped into the room, startling him and making his aches intensify for a moment.



“Master Malfoy is wanting you sir.” He told him in a squeaky voice.



He glared at the creature a moment and then reminded himself that the elf hadn’t any idea about how he felt. He sighed softly. “Naturally.” He grumbled. “Where do I find him?” he asked, not caring to use the bond to find his new master.



“Master Malfoy will be with little Master.” The elf replied.



Warrington forced himself into motion; he wished he could just sleep in but now he really had no choice. It might have been easier to just let Malfoy kill him yesterday....



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Lucius stepped into the darkened bedroom that the five children were resting in, intending to simply check on them as he had his twins to ensure they were all right. He left the door partially ajar and had turned to start walking toward the dragon bed when he noticed that the floor was not clear as it should have been.



A small shape lay upon the floor between the bed and the door. Just when he had realized that it was a pallet, made of blankets and a pillow from one of the beds, he saw a blur of movement. Even though it was just moments after sunrise, the boy surged up out of the wrapping of blankets to stand as a clear obstacle between Lucius and the bed. His hands were glowing as he prepared to strike whoever was entering the room, but his face is what caught Lucius’ attention; the boy’s face was downright unnerving. His face was a lifeless mask; no expression of anger, no fury; no emotion at all showed upon it like a china doll. Only his eyes were narrowed as he prepared to attack. He hesitated when he recognized the blonde wizard and his stance relaxed, the glow fading away to nothing.



Lucius considered the boy a moment before speaking. If anyone came in this room too quickly it was clear he could do them harm without even caring to find out why they had come. “Good morning, Erik. You did not sleep well?” He asked carefully.



“I’m not s’posed to sleep while the consort sleeps.” He answered quietly. His face took on some expression finally, the one that Lucius was accustomed to see on his face; a petulant sulk. As he stood there with his hands at his sides, he seemed to be no threat at all, quite a change from a moment or two ago.



“You will sleep at night while you live in my house.” Lucius said firmly. “There is no danger to you here.”



“Maybe, not while we’re here.” He agreed quietly, but squared his shoulders. “But we won’t live here forever.” He said, gazing up at him. “We have to be ready. There are many who wish to harm my Prince and I will defend him with my life.”



“You will have time to do so, son. Now it is time for you to rest a bit more. I will watch over them while you rest.” Lucius said.



“I don’t… I’m not tired…” he attempted.



“Nonsense. This is my house. It is much too early; all the others are still asleep.” Lucius eyed the little boy challengingly. “Do you doubt my power? Do you doubt that I can protect you and the Prince as well?”



Erik gazed at him for several minutes, then shrugged and pulled his eyes away. “I believe that you can, Milord.” He agreed quietly.



“Good. Go ahead and lie down for just a bit; when the others wake we will all get dressed and go to breakfast.” He instructed. Erik grudgingly complied with his instructions, sulking back over to his pallet and dragging the blankets back to the bed near the door. He threw them on the bed and then and crawled under the blankets. He lay there for a while, staring at Lucius, but after about twenty minutes Lucius was pleased to see that Erik had fallen asleep.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Warrington moved into the room and Lucius gave him a quick examination before he glanced away. His new bondservant looked very tired. Well, perhaps that was a good thing; he might be able to get more answers out of the man. He gestured for Warrington to join him by the window in the half-light of dawn. Jerrod sighed and moved over as he was instructed, sitting in the other chair by the little table.



Lucius glanced at the children, then cast a silencing spell over the two of them at the table to enable the youths to sleep without interruption. “You know why I wanted to see you so early?”



“To lay down the rules or something?” he ventured, leaning back in his chair.



“No. We will be discussing some of what these children have been taught and to ask you a few questions about yourself.”



“I’ll tell you anything you want to know, as long as you don’t do whatever Snape did to my arm last night. It’s still aching…”



Lucius gave him a faint smile. “I will not be doing anything to your bonds.” He said firmly.



“Ask whatever you want. I’ve got nothing to hide anymore.” He shrugged.



“First of all I want to know if you bear a mark as well.” He said, not bothering to be delicate about anything.



“A mark…?”



“Don’t be stupid, Warrington. You know I mean the Dark Mark.” He scowled at him.



“Oh.” He flushed slightly. “Yes, I do. It’s on my…”



“Right shoulder. I know.” Lucius scowled. “So you underwent the same ceremony as the children did.” He eyed him. “Who did this ceremony?”



“It was led by Parkinson. His daughter was never there, she said he was mental and didn’t want anything to do with his plans. He said she was playing her part somehow but I don’t see how.” He frowned slightly as he tried to recall all the details to share. “There was this weird triangle thing on the floor, in the basement of that house you found us in. There were three of those old-style circle things inside the triangle; Parkinson would be in one, the baby in his little pram in a second, and the one being marked in a third…”



“Can you identify what you saw if you saw the mark in a text? Or better yet, do you have an idea of precisely what the rite was called…” Lucius offered, voice a slow drawl.



He sighed, staring at his shoes. “No. I can’t.” he said quietly.



“Then we will have to find another way to get those particular details from you.” Lucius mused for a moment. “Now, some information you did not tell us. Explain what happened once the women became pregnant with the babies. And how many failures there were.”



Jerrod frowned slightly. “Well… it was really all pretty straightforward. Once the women were pregnant, they were kept in a semi-conscious state with potions. They really didn’t know what was going on, most of them anyway. Some were able to shake off the potions and they were kept locked up so they did not harm themselves or the baby.” He said quietly.



“And you thought all of this was fine and dandy, did you?”



“No, of course not. I didn’t like it at all but I’m BOUND, Lucius, and I…” his voice drifted off and he refused to look his direction. Malfoy remained silent, allowing the younger man to work through what he had to understand. He was bound then, and he was bound again to Lucius. He had to tell him everything if Lucius asked. Warrington sighed and decided to go ahead and tell him everything. “They had my dad.” He admitted with a shrug, unable to look at the older man.



“Had…?”



“Yeah. He died last year.” He said softly. “Not at their hands. They let him go when I was bound to the kids and the Dark Prince passed his tests.” Lucius found himself wondering if they had indeed killed his father to keep him in check, just not told him about it. He would look into that later.



Jerrod took a deep breath and pressed on. “But the mothers… after the births, they just vanished. Parkinson and Bebel would show up for the birth, and then the mother would be taken out of the room while I cleaned up the infant. I don’t know where they took them or what they did with them. I never saw them again, but then I never left the house except to go to town from time to time.”



“Did they ever use the same mother for more than one child?”



“I did see one girl: woman, I guess but she looked awful damned young to me. She was there three times and always to try to give birth to the Dark Prince. I think she was related to Karkaroff; he was the one who kept bringing her by. She died giving birth to the third baby.”



“What were your duties?”



“I was in charge of making sure the pregnant mothers were woken to be fed; at first… then Bebel showed up and started hooking them up to tubes to feed them.”



“Were all of the children… how can I put this? Were they all born healthy?”



“At first we got some real freakish things. Most of them didn’t even look like they were human.” He said, looking uncomfortable. “I had to get rid of the… the bodies.” He said softly.



“Did you destroy them?” Lucius asked.



“Why? They were just babies; they didn’t do anything to deserve being destroyed… no. I buried ‘em.”



“You will have to show us where. I’m assuming you did not do this at the mansion where I found you?”



“I’d have been an idiot to do that. No, it was off up in the mountains. Kind of a little graveyard, but I couldn’t just burn them like they wanted me to.” He sighed.



“But they told you to take care of the bodies, did they not?”



“Never gave me any such order. They told me to ‘get rid of the beasts’.” He answered. “They were kids. I got them out of the way, and took care of them too. Best I could, anyway…” he shrugged.



“And you don’t know what happened to the women? What happened once they began to get results they wanted?”



“That’s when things got bad. I mean, some of those babies that were born early on wouldn’t have survived, probably, but the ones that looked healthy... it weren’t right. It just weren’t right to kill ‘em.”



“If the children were healthy why would they do such a thing?”



“The Dark Prince and the Consort had to be pure. No trace of any family could show on their hereditary tests except for the donor’s parents… that would be you and James Potter as the father. Some of them showed the mother’s family and they were killed outright…”



“That brings me to my next question. What exactly did they do to keep the hereditary spell from showing them? The test we performed to prove Angel’s family tree should have shown the Dark Prince as her uncle. And the one we did for my little kittens should have shown Alerick, but neither of them shows up on either chart.” Lucius leaned forward on the table. “Tell me; how was that done?”



Jerrod grinned faintly now with a bit of pride. “That’s probably driving old Severus Snape insane, I bet.” He commented, looking more comfortable than he had since he sat down with Lucius. “That was my real project.” He admitted. “At first I was working on it for Parkinson’s daughter; she was trying to have your son’s child – but then you probably already knew about that.”



“Yes, I know of that.” He growled softly.



“She wanted me to make it so the baby wouldn’t show up on any chart you had done. But I can tell you it was a right pain in the ass to come up with the right formula to do it.”



“Obviously you have managed to do it. Quite the accomplishment, Warrington. You must be very proud of your success…”



“I am, rather… but I really couldn’t publish it or anything…”



“Undo it.” He growled.



He looked at him. “Undo it…? I’m not sure I can.”



“Undoing it, Warrington, is your one goal in life now. You WILL undo that spell. Restore Alerick to his rightful place within my family. Restore that little babe he sleeps with to his rightful place as well.” He ordered.



Jerrod’s smile slipped. “All right… but I hardly have anything left of my lab…”



“I have a potions lab here, quite well stocked for anything you need. In fact, Severus Snape should be there quite soon. I’m certain he’ll be quite interested in hearing how you got around that particular spell.”



Warrington’s smile faded completely. “I can work on this on my own, right?”



“No. You’re to give Severus Snape every bit of information you know, and you’re to work closely with him. The man could probably assist you in getting this reversed much faster than you could manage yourself.”



“I’ve never worked with anyone else, Malfoy… and… well, if you’ll pardon me for saying it, I really don’t think I could work with Prof… I mean, Mr. Snape. He wasn’t exactly easy to work with back in school and…”



“Oh, do grow up Warrington!” Lucius said, rolling his eyes. “You are not some pimply-faced little schoolboy anymore, Severus Snape is not evil incarnate.” Lucius snorted, but considered for a long moment. “Well; perhaps I can give you a few days to attempt it on your own. But I cannot afford for Alerick to not show properly upon my family tree.” He said with a frown.



“I’ll try. I swear it.”



“Of course you will. But you will still need to talk to Severus, and you will give him any information he requests of you. He may wish to use legilimency to look at your memories himself.”



“I would rather jump of the top of the astronomy tower than let him do that to me…” he mumbled, not looking at him.



“If he deems it necessary, you will allow it, Warrington.” Lucius said, ensuring to word his statement carefully to forbid him from getting out of his instructions.



“Yes, sir.” He said softly, clearly reluctant.



“Good.” Lucius said, glancing back at the bed. The sun had risen during their conversation and the light was falling fully across the bed where the Prince lay curled up with Alerick, with little Alyssa at their feet. “Looks like the children will wake up soon…” he commented.



“They were always woken at dawn to have breakfast, a bath, and start their practice.” Warrington told him. “I’d be shocked if they slept too much longer.”



“I will talk to you later about their daily rituals; today I plan to throw everything off and ensure that there IS no schedule. That way they will accept my new schedule for them with little complaint. As for you, I want you to return to your room and take a healing potion. You’re hardly rested at all.” He ordered.



Warrington looked at him, confused. “But you wanted me to start it right away….”



“What good will you be able to do, exhausted and stressed as you are? You will go back to bed, Warrington. If you haven’t any healing potions I will have one brought to you.” He said, then couldn’t help but smirk at the expression on his new bond servant’s face. “I am NOT Parkinson, Warrington. I know the value of rest and what value there is to work when one has enough. You are not ready to work at this moment. Go. Don’t anger me on your first day.” He said warningly.



“Uh… okay. Sure… thanks…” he said, rising with a slight grimace of pain that Lucius did not miss.



“If you have not recovered by lunchtime, you can expect to have a healer in your room to tend to you.” Lucius said, waving his wand to dismiss the spells he had used to protect the children from being disturbed by their conversation.



Warrington hesitated, then gave Lucius a formal bow. “Thank you sir.” He said quietly, turning toward the door.



He glanced at Erik, lying in his bed beside the door, and saw the boy watching him as he walked past and quietly shut the door.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Lucius studied the tousle-haired boy as he crawled giggling over Alerick, who happily allowed the younger boy to do whatever he wished. The twins were seated off to the side, watching in silence. Erin was leaning on her brother’s shoulder, and he had the typical sulky expression. Alyssa sat apart from the two on the bed, simply watching and hugging her toy.



“How are they this morning?” Harry asked, smiling as he led Draco into the room.



“They seem quite well, actually.” Lucius smiled.



A smile lit Draco’s face as his eyes landed on the youngest child. “Oh, look at him Harry…!” He murmured. “What’s his name?”



“He has only a title at the moment, son.” Lucius answered. “This is the Dark Prince.”



Draco sat on the bed with the children. “Dark Prince? Really, father; that’s just silly. He’s so sweet… surely you have to be mistaken, father!” he said. “Aren’t you the most handsome little thing…!” he said in a sweet voice, smiling at the baby.



The little Prince looked up at Draco, his eyes wide as he stared at the adult features his consort would have once he matured. “MINE!” He squealed and lunged into Draco’s arms, giggling. Alerick sat up, his smile fading quickly into a blank mask, his eyes burning with jealousy.



Eric came to his feet, scowling now, reacting to the anger of the Consort. The dark-haired baby looked over at him, stopping in his play with Draco, frowning at the older boy. “No! Mine!” he said, hugging Draco tightly.



“Easy now, little one.” Draco said, running his hands through the baby’s hair, getting the baby’s attention once more. Alerick slipped off the bed and went over to sit beside Alyssa, looking hurt and jealous. The girl put her arm around him, laying her head on his shoulder. “I think you need a nice bath this morning, then a good filling breakfast. How does that sound?”



The baby babbled at him, gazing up at him with his big green eyes. He looked over at Alerick and babbled again. “My Lord says that he would like that quite a bit, Lord Malfoy.” He translated, voice quiet and subdued.



“Good, then that’s exactly what we shall do.” Draco said, stroking the child’s cheek. He looked over at Alerick. “And would you like to help get this little one ready for the day?” He asked.



“Me…?” Alerick looked over, the look of jealousy fading slightly. “Well, yes, I would…”



“Good. You see, Alerick; I have my sweet love already…” he sent a smile Harry’s way, and Harry smiled back at him. “Come; you all need to be cleaned up and ready to meet mother and the other children.” Draco said, trying to get to his feet. He finally subsided, sighing. “Damn it all…”



Harry chuckled as he hurried over, helping Draco to get to his feet. “You shouldn’t take a seat on a floor-level bed, lover, not until after the baby comes.” he said, helping him to get back on the firm floor.



“I keep forgetting…” Draco chuckled.



The Dark Prince followed him and tugged at his hand. “Bath!” he demanded as Alerick moved up to stand on the boy’s other side.



“Of course; let’s get you bathed and ready.” Draco smiled.



“Looks like I might have some competition for your attention.” Harry chuckled softly.



“Come along and help me.” Draco said. “I think Angel is busy with mother and the kittens. These two need to know their fathers…”



“Actually, Draco, I need to talk to you and Harry about that.” Lucius spoke up. “After breakfast, while the children play, perhaps we could sit and talk out in the conservatorium, hmm?”



“I actually get to join in, do I?” Draco asked, giving Harry a smirk and he laughed. His father looked curious and Draco only shrugged. “Sure, father. We’ll see you then, if we can get away from the children…”



“Bath! Now!” The Dark Prince insisted, tugging hard on Draco’s hand.



“All right, little one; you get my attention for now.” He laughed, and let himself be pulled out of the room.



Instantly Erik rose to follow as did the other two. The senior nanny, the one with the blue eyes, moved forward to intercept them, glancing at Lucius for his approval. “Hold it you three… My little lady, I already have your bath awaiting you, and your clothing for the day as well.” She said.



“But we should stay together, I don’t want to…”



“This is Malfoy Manor, my little Alyssa. You must learn that there are new rules, and you must do as your new Lord Father wishes.” she said with a gentle yet firm tone. The nanny saw Lucius smile and nod minutely to let her know that she was doing what he desired. She smiled and gently took Alyssa’s hand, looking back at the room where the other two nannies hovered. “We will help you three ready for the day; the Prince and Consort are well tended at the moment.”



“But I’m supposed to guard!” Eric said petulantly. “I must guard him always…”



“Not always, my little lion.” She corrected, kneeling before him to make eye-to-eye contact. “Your duty is to guard when the consort is away. He will be with the Prince, so you can be taken care of as well.” She reminded. Eric scowled in Draco’s direction, scowl deepening, but he did not say anything further.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Draco carried the baby into the bathing room setting him on the floor to start the water running in the tub. The baby cooed and babbled actively as any baby would, and Alerick knelt down on the floor beside him, clearly happy to be in the same place with the infant and giving him every ounce of his attention.



“There now; your bath is all ready nice and warm. Would you like to take a bath with him, Alerick?”



“Oh, yes!” he agreed happily, most traces of his earlier jealousy gone.



Draco undressed the baby, then laughed softly. “You have the same little birthmark as my Harry.” he said, tickling the child.



The Dark Prince squealed, laughing. Alerick began to undress as well. “He says that you are pretty.” he said.



Draco laughed. “He does, does he? Well, I think that he is the pretty one.” he replied, placing the baby in the water The baby gurgled and babbled more, gazing up at Draco with sparkling eyes. Draco smiled and played with the two boys as he bathed them. “Where ever did you come from, little one…? And what is your name…?” he wondered as he tickled the baby’s chubby toes.



“The Dark Prince IS his name.” Alerick giggled softly. “And he was born in Romania…”



“That’s a title, not a name. Everyone needs to have a proper name. He needs a name, don’t you?” Draco cooed at the baby.



“He’s just my Lord… will you give him another name?” Alerick asked.



“He needs one… he looks so much like Harry, maybe that should be his name…”



“But that’s your husband’s name, Lord Father…” Alerick began, his attention drawn away from Draco and the conversation by the baby babbling again. “But my lord does want to have a name…”



“Then we will have to think very hard to find the perfect name.” Draco assured. The baby squealed and kicked, splashing water all over as he thoroughly enjoyed the novelty of a bath uninterrupted by any time restraint or schedule.



Lucius moved into the room. “I see that you have things well in hand Draco; I think perhaps I am going to have a nap.”



“All right, father.” Draco smiled. The baby waved at him, babbled, then splashed more. Lucius smirked then moved out of the room passing Harry in the doorway.



Harry smiled. “Dragon, look at you…!” he chuckled. “I think you’re as wet as these children are…”



Draco chuckled. “I think they’re competing to see how high they can splash.” he commented. The two boys were silent now, the baby watching Harry closely and Alerick looking more than a little worried as he gazed from Harry to the baby. Draco looked at the two of them. “And now it seems that they are all finished…” he said, pulling the plug to allow the bath to drain. “There…”



Harry went to the shelf, picking up some towels before he moved to join Draco at the side of the tub. “Come on, little Prince…” he said, reaching for the boy. His hands impacted against something; it felt like an invisible shield prevented him from reaching closer and actually pushed him back. He looked at the Dark Prince with a bit of surprise. “No…?” he asked, glancing at Draco. “Well it seems that he’s a bit unsure of me this morning, love. Here…” he handed Draco the towel.



“Thank you…” Draco said, reaching for the little boy, scooping him up with the towel, wrapping him up and giving him a bit of a tickle. “Now, we need a good meal and some clean clothing, that’s exactly what you both need right now.”



Harry picked up another towel and moved to wrap Alerick, pausing before he touched the boy. “May I?”



“Yes, Lord Father Harry” he said, holding up his arms to him. The child in Draco’s arms watched carefully but did not object. Harry dried off the boy then moved to help Draco to his feet. “Easy, love…”



“But Lord Father, we have no clothing here…” Alerick said softly. “Well, I do, but my Dark Prince has nothing suitable…”



“Not to worry, we have a few changes for the four new ones; Warrington saw to that.” Harry assured. “And we will get more for you all.”



“We are all Malfoy-Potters, after all.” Draco said, tickling the baby again. “The world is at our beck and call…”



“Draco, I don’t think these kids need any help with their self-esteem.“ Harry chuckled as he tickled Alerick slightly; the boy cuddled against him with a giggle as they moved out of the bathing room.



When they returned to the nursery the nannies were tending to the other three; the lead nanny was taking care of Alyssa. The girl was dressed in a dress that was tailored to her upper body with a frilly skirt in silver and green. Her hair was pulled up into a single ponytail, completely dry but shining and clean, shining orange and red and gold, the deep green bow restraining her hair a sharp contrast. The child looked ready to go to a ball, not simply go to breakfast.



The twins had been readied and dressed as well; both Erik and Erin were dressed again in plain wizard’s robes of a green so deep that it nearly looked black, making them look starkly pale in comparison. The cut of the robes they wore allowed for plenty of movement.



“Well, it seems your friends are already ready to go…” Draco smiled as he set the baby on the changing table. The baby giggled, babbling happily as he was dressed; the lead nanny hurried to fetch the clothing for the Dark Prince and Alerick as well. The clothing she brought for them was of the same color scheme as the others wore; silver and deepest green, but of course theirs were much more ornate than the others. Draco dressed the child, continuing to play with him as he did so.



Harry glanced at the others sitting waiting for them in silence, lined up on their bed looking a little confused and nervous. “These kids have a really complex relationship already; I just hope that they treat our little Angel well.”



“I know she and Alerick get along well enough, they were playing nicely together just yesterday.” Draco said softly.



“Yes, that may be true, but you see, it all depends upon how that little boy there gets along with her. I think these four will do anything that he wants them to, even at this age.” Harry answered, allowing Alerick to do most of the work to dress himself, helping only when he was needed.



Draco gazed at the baby, brushing his dark unruly hair back. “Such a sweet little boy…” he whispered, smiling sweetly before he kissed his brow.



The Dark Prince stared at him, startled, blinking his wide green eyes in confusion. He had never been treated so; no one had ever kissed him. The tickles had been amusing and even fun, but to be kissed…? Alerick looked over, watching as the baby reached out to touch Draco’s lips as if fascinated by them.



Draco smiled and kissed his little fingers. “Let’s go eat, yes?” he grinned. The baby gazed at his fingers now, then back at Draco and nodded. Draco lifted him up and settled him on his hip, laughing softly as the baby in his stomach kicked. “Your newest son is letting me know he’s awake, love.” he said to Harry.



He chuckled. “I think he wants you to go and eat too.”



“Well, I am a bit peckish…” Draco grinned, scooping the baby up into his arms once more. Harry did not pick up Alerick nor did the boy demand it, walking along behind Draco and the baby.



“Angel’s gone into the kitchen with your mum, I believe.” Harry said as they moved out, the others following behind.



“Mum always did want a little girl to spoil.“ Draco chuckled softly. The baby in his arms was completely fascinated with Draco’s belly, trying to put his hand over the place where the baby would kick and squealing with delight when he managed to accomplish that feat.



“Now she has several.” Harry smiled, watching the baby with amusement.



The group moved into the dining room where the other children were already seated and eating. Harry had never really been comfortable with eating in the formal dining room; it made him think of a stuffy place where you had to be on perfect behavior and use all the manners that he had learned living in Aunt Petunia’s home.



The room felt nothing like that now. The long table had its typical spotless white tablecloth and fancy centerpieces, the candelabra above the table lighting the room. In addition to this, the table was loaded with trays that would have been the envy of the kids back at Hogwarts; at least twelve separate types of dishes to choose from to eat breakfast. The scents of those varied dishes, the sound of the voices of uninhibited children, and the sight of them simply enjoying eating the sumptuous meal made the room feel welcoming and homey. The room seemed so full with Narcissa seated just to the right of the head of the table and Angel at her right. The children were ranged about the table, most in chairs transfigured to raise the seats to allow them to reach the table easily. Two were seated in high chairs with trays, an d a third high chair awaited the Dark Prince.



“Good morning.” Draco smiled, moving to his mother with the baby on his hip to give her a delicate kiss.



“Good morning, son.” Narcissa smiled back at him.



“Papa! Daddy!” Angel hopped out of her chair and hurried over to them to give each of them a hug.



Harry swung the girl up into his arms, kissing her. “Good morning, my beautiful little Angel. Did you have a good nights’ rest?”



“Yes, I did daddy and look! There’s lots and lots of kids here now, but Nonno says that some of them are just sleeping over…” she was so excited that she was almost breathless.



“Yes, and most of them are your very own brothers and sisters.”



“Really?” she gazed up at him, eyes sparkling.



“Yes, we have such a beautiful family now…”



She laughed and hugged him tight. “This is so wonderful, daddy!”



“Isn’t it, love? I hope you all become very good friends; I never had a brother or sister of my very own.”



“Do you think they’ll like me…?” she asked, some of her insecurities clear to see.



“How could they not?” Harry smiled. “Draco and Nonno love you so.”



Draco let his husband chat with the dark-haired little girl while he moved to the highchair to put the baby in and secure him in place. “There you are…”



Harry set Angel back down in her chair, then filled her plate for her, then moved to help the others, pausing by the baby to caress his soft hair and offer him a piece of banana. The baby took the banana but did not do what a normal child would do; he put it down on the tray, staring up at Harry.



He didn’t focus on the boy, turning instead to Alerick, filling his cup with milk. “What would you like to eat, Alerick?”



“Some fruit and sausage please, and juice.” he answered, glancing at the little Lord seated beside him, reaching over to touch his hand.



“How about a bit of porridge?”



Alerick looked up at him. “What’s porridge?”



“Why don’t I fix you a little and you can try it to decide if you like it or not?” Harry suggested as he fixed a small bowl, adding cream and honey.



Alerick watched him, smiling charmingly up at him when he handed him the bowl. “Thank you, sir.”



Soon the others were served and Harry sat down to his own meal.



“Where is Lucius this morning?” Narcissa asked. “He got up with me, but I haven’t seen him since…”



“He mentioned he was going off to bed. He was up late with the children from what I understand…” Draco replied.



“Was he?” she smiled. “He is so involved with these children…”



“So I’ve noticed.” Harry said with a soft frown. “I wonder why that is…”



“It is because they are my grandchildren.” Lucius answered cooly, moving into the room at a relaxed pace. “Even if it is by marriage, they are still my grandchildren. Even you should know, Potter, that family is everything to a Malfoy.” He moved to his wife and gave her a soft kiss. “Good morning, my darling.” he smiled.



“Good morning, Lucius.” she smiled at him.



The baby in his high chair cooed, kicking happily and reaching toward him. Lucius moved to the baby, hand softly resting on his hair. “Good morning to you as well, little Lord.” he smirked. The baby cooed at him and Alerick smiled as he watched.



“That baby needs a proper name.” Harry said. “What would you suggest, Lucius?”



“I’ve been considering that for a while.” Lucius admitted. “I feel that he needs a strong name, one that reflects the personality I see in this boy. I think that perhaps the name of Mallek Salazar Malfoy-Potter. Mallek means ruler, and the second name channels one of the most powerful Slytherins that there were…”



“What do you think of the name, love?” Harry asked, placing his hand over Draco’s.





“It is a very strong name.”



“He is a very strong child.” Lucius responded.



“My lord likes it.” Alerick said with a smile, watching the baby. He squealed and tried to feed himself with the spoon he clutched in his chubby little fist. He dribbled food down his chin and his mood quickly turned sour. Alerick forgot his own meal and stood on his chair to wipe the baby up.



Draco smiled. “Do you, little love?” he asked, taking the spoon and scooping up some porridge holding it out to the baby’s mouth. The baby opened his mouth an took a bite, grabbing at Draco’s hand.



“He seems to have accepted you quite well, son.” Lucius commented with a smirk.



“Yes.” Draco smiled. “Look at him, father; he’s just like my Harry… so beautiful.”



“You know, Harry and Draco, since we are on the subject of names… I think at least one of the other children needs a name fitting a Malfoy.”



“I don’t even know all their names yet.” Harry said, looking down the table at the children. “I know we’re not going to keep them all; Tonks is supposed to get back with us to discuss their placement…”



“I know them.” Draco said. “I’ll just go around the table, shall I? That little girl beside our Mallek is Astrid Urquhart. Next to her in the high chair is Dorcus Bletchley…”



“Dorcus. What kind of a name is that?” Lucius scowled.



“If we keep her we can rename her…”



“We should be allowed to rename her regardless! Dorcus for a Malfoy name, indeed!”



Draco smothered his smile and went on. “The very thin, tiny boy there beside the twins is Fallon Avery, and then we have Lazlo Yaxley, then Elston Lestrange, Alexander Jugson, and finally Tristin Baddock.” the children as he named them looked over or gave shy grins, except for the child who was even younger than Mallek. She was stuffing her face happily, the rotund little girl quite pleased to be eating and actually getting more into her mouth than on her clothing or her tray.



“We need to focus now on protecting these new arrivals…” Lucius said firmly.



“With everything in our power.” Harry agreed, finding himself wondering who was the mother of the little tyke that looked so much like him. He would have to be patient, though; Lucius had said they would discuss this after breakfast.



“Are we sure we got all the children…?” Draco asked softly.



“We believe so.” Lucius answered. “I believe that Nymphadora has completed her interrogation of the parents that were mentioned, and that all the children have been secured.”



“Nonno…?” Angel said in a soft voice, timid and frightened, eyes damp with tears. “Now that… that you have your own granddaughters… do you… still want me…?”



Lucius gazed at the child who gazed over at him with tears brimming in her eyes for only a moment before he held out his arms to her. She pushed away from the table and rushed to his arms, climbing quickly up into his lap. He gathered her close in his arms, giving her a warm, comforting hug. “Of course I want you, my little Angel. I will always want you. None of the rest of them will ever be my eldest granddaughter…”



“But they’re pretty and blonde like you and papa are or they have daddy‘s hair, and I… I don‘t…” she whispered.



“And you, my Angel, are the vision of the one I have loved all of my days. Your grandfather James.” He set her back a bit, gazing at her and stroking her cheek. “How I wish you could have known him; you are his gift to me, you know. Without James, your father would not be here and you would not either. Put your worries aside, my own. You hold my heart.”



She hugged him tight, trembling slightly. “I love you, my Nonno… I wish I could have known him too.” Lucius settled his eldest granddaughter on his lap, sharing his breakfast with her from that point on.



All the children ate well, except for Erik. He bolted his meal down then sat watching the others, eyes narrow and face showing his typical petulant scowl.



“It seems that some of you have not been taught how to eat properly.” Lucius said, eyeing him. “That will be corrected shortly.” Erik glanced at him sulkily and folded his arms. “I do not fault you for your lack of learning, child. Those who had possession of you are to blame.”



“I learned well!” Erik said defensively, rising to his feet. “I learned my lessons and I follow my teachings…!”



”No!” Mallek scowled at his young guardian. “No no no!” he emphasized each of his stated words with a slapped hand upon the tray of his high chair, clearly angry.



Erik silenced immediately, flinching visibly at the infant’s anger. He gazed at him, immediately contrite. “Sorry, my Lord, I’m sorry…!” he whispered.



Mallek babbled at him, slapping the tray once more. Erik turned his eyes to Lucius. “Forgive me, My Lord Father, I will strive to do better.” he murmured, tears in his eyes as well as fear. He scrubbed at his eyes with the back of an arm, then looked back at Lucius with clear hope in his eyes. “Forgive me…”



“Return to your seat, Erik, until the meal is over. And do try to act as a Potter-Malfoy should at lunchtime.”



“Yes; as you command, Lord Father Malfoy.” he said completely contrite, giving Lucius a stiff formal bow before he slipped back into his seat, head bowed as he battled to stop the flow of tears. His Dark Prince was angry with him…



Mallek returned to his meal completely unconcerned now, mashing his banana in his hands with a giggle. Erik said not a single word during the rest of the meal, nor did he touch his drink or even look up once. Erin moved her chair closer to his, tears on her cheeks rolling unchecked, the rest of her meal completely untouched.



“Now, you may return to the nursery wing and freshen up. You may enjoy the interior gardens for your play session, then after luncheon you shall retire for naps, then return to the play room afterwards. Any questions?”



“Nonno…? Can’t I see the babies…?” Angel asked timidly.



“Of course, my own.” he assured with a smile, leaning forward to whisper in her ear. “You shall join me shortly; you promised to make me those… what were they? Ah, yes; those cookies with me…”



“Really?” she said eagerly. “Oh, yes Nonno! I want to do that with you!” Lucius chuckled.



Erik silently obeyed the commands of Lucius, rising from the table and only waiting for his sister. He had already been corrected by his Dark Prince, he would not do anything to anger him if he could avoid it. He would follow his teachings to the letter. Erin remained at his side, but Alyssa and Alerick waited to go back with Mallek.



“Go on, then, my own. Go get cleaned up then join me with the kittens.” Lucius said fondly to Angel.



“Yes Nonno.” she giggled and kissed him. He returned the kiss, then set her down on her feet to allow her to scamper off after the others.



He watched her go, then took a deep breath. “Narcissa…? Be a love and please fetch me a pepper-up potion. I’m dead on my feet but could not rest…”



“Of course, love…”



“You ought to have a sleeping potion instead, father.” Draco advised, picking up a very sticky and sated Mallek.



“Perhaps, but I promised my Angel, Draco. And a Malfoy does not break a promise.”



“Very true, father.” he agreed with a soft smile.



“Well if you will excuse me.” Lucius said, rising. “I will be with the kittens, Cissa.”



“I will be with you soon; I want to make certain the nannies and nurses are tending to the other children properly…” she smiled.



Lucius glanced at his son; he needed to tell him about Mallek and Alerick. “If you two will meet me in my study I have something highly important to tell you.” he said in a serious tone. “Allow the nannies to tend to the children; they know what I wish them to do.”



“We’ll see you there.” Harry nodded, moving out with Draco to return the five children to their nannies.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Lucius washed his face quickly, then moved to the nursery to meet with Angel and Narcissa. After reassuring Angel he would be back to join her and take her off to the kitchen, he moved off again, downing the potion to revitalize himself as he moved through the house.



He sighed and pushed open the door of the study to see Draco and Harry sitting close together on the love seat in the room; his son was cuddled into Harry’s arm, and the dark-haired wizard’s hand was lovingly caressing the swell of his belly.



He cleared his throat primly and the two did not part, but they did pull their attention away from each other. Draco gave his father a smile.



Lucius took his seat, sighing softly. “The testing of the twins was what we expected; they are the product of Harry’s essence and Bellatrix’s eggs.” he said, watching them for their reactions.



Harry scowled. “That bitch… does she know?”



“If she did I’m sure we’d have seen her already trying to break down the gates.” Lucius answered with a smirk. “Though we must somehow ensure that she never finds out.”



“I’ll see her in hell before I let her have any of them.” Harry growled softly.



“What about the others?” Draco asked.



“Alyssa is the daughter of George Weasley and Jerrod Warrington.” he answered.



“I’m sure George will be thrilled to have a child with Warrington.” Draco couldn’t help but smirk.



“He’s going to go mental… but what about Alerick? Who was the mother? And Mallek?” Harry asked.



“The results of their heredity are clear, and not what we expected at all. Let me at least assure you that there will be no confusion on Alerick’s legal custody; no one has any right to take him anywhere. Mallek‘s heredity is a bit more difficult, but also very clear.”



“Is his mother dead?” Harry asked softly.



“Well, as a matter of fact, yes…”



“Did they kill her?”



“No, THEY did not…” he said, stressing the difference in the term. “Mallek and Alerick are not like the others. I watched Severus perform this spell three times to ensure it was correct; the results never changed… Harry, do you know what a clone is?” he asked softly.



“Well, yeah. The muggles were experimenting; they cloned a sheep and some other animals I think… What’s that got to do with my son?”



“He’s not your son, Harry.” Lucius answered.



“What…?”



“He is your brother, Harry. Your clone.” He held out a scroll to him.



“Bloody fucking hell…!” Harry murmured, leaning forward to snatch the scroll away from his father-in-law, opening the scroll up to stare at the tree. How could this be? His father and mother were shown as the parents of the Dark Prince… this had been done last night or his new name would be reflected upon it.



“As you the eldest in the Potter line, you will have legal custody of him as any elder brother would, but when this gets out, the Ministry may have other ideas.” he said softly.



Harry’s face drained of color as he stared at the paper. “Oh Merlin…”



“And that’s not all.” He fingered a second scroll that he held. “Alerick is also a clone. He is your brother Draco, and my youngest son.”



“What…?” Draco murmured, taking the scroll with shaking hands. Harry turned his gaze to look at that scroll as well.



“We can’t let the ministry get hold of them…” Harry murmured, looking back to Lucius.



“They won’t be able to do take Alerick; he is clearly mine and Narcissa’s; but they can and will try to take Mallek. Unless, of course, you have already established legally who will care for the child.”



Harry blinked, trying to digest all of this information. The ministry would object to him raising Mallek as a product of that genetic creation from the lab, but if he moved quickly to get him placed and made it legal there would be nothing they could do…



Draco touched the memory crystal that hung about Harry’s neck. “Father loved James so… I think he would be a good father to Mallek…” he whispered softly in his husband’s ear.



“I know.” he said softly, frowning in thought.



“I have two days before we have to turn in all the parentage papers; the Ministry isn’t even aware that these five exist… well. All except for Nymphadora, of course.” Lucius said. “You have time to make your decision and get matters settled.”



“What about Severus? Do you think he would consider it?” Harry asked softly.



“You can ask him; he should be in the potions lab if you wish to suggest it to him.” Lucius said, pushing himself to his feet once more. “As for me, I have a granddaughter that I have promised to meet in the kitchen…”



Harry waited until Lucius left the room, then he sighed softly, eyes closed. “This is all such a nightmare.”



“How could they have done this?” Draco asked.



“I thought that after Voldemort was dead, things would be different…”



“It is different, Harry, but there will always be evil in the world. Getting rid of Voldemort didn’t eliminate the evil in the world.”



Harry pulled Draco into his arms, hugging him tight. “What do I do, Dray?”



“We live, Harry. We live one day at a time. We live and we love… and we teach our children to love.” Draco answered quietly. “If we just do that, it may be enough to change the future…”



“How are YOU feeling, Dragon…?” he asked softly. “I mean, all of this stress. Are you all right?”



“Just a little tired; I’ll be all right.” he reassured with a soft smile.



Harry ran his hand over Draco’s belly. “I can’t wait to hold him…” he whispered.



The baby rolled and kicked and Draco chuckled. “He wants his daddy as much as his daddy wants him.”



“I wish I knew how my dad would feel if I let Lucius raise Mallek. I can’t let the Ministry have control of him; he’s just a baby.”



“Harry, family means everything to my father… and he loved James so. Just watch the memory again, you can see it in his every move and his every look. He loved James just like I love you.”



Harry kissed him softly. “He did; and dad loved him too. But after it was over; whatever they did to dad changed it all. Merlin, I wish I could talk to him.”



“Whatever you decide, love.” Draco assured him. “It will be the right choice.”



Harry kissed his husband softly. “It’s… just, whatever I decide will affect Mallek for the rest of his life. I want him to have a happy life, a good life. Things for all five of them are so strange and twisted now. They need things to be normal, especially little Mallek.”



“He’s a baby, Harry. He needs love and care, and he will grow up just fine.” Draco assured him with another gentle kiss.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Severus scowled, glaring at the paper that he had setting before him on the table in the laboratory. Lucius had left a sample of blood in the lab for him to use in his testing and the damned results were exactly the same; no change. Lucius’ chart showed Draco, and Draco’s child. Alerick’s chart showed only Alerick as the child of Lucius and Narcissa. How the bloody hell had this been done?



Jerrod Warrington hesitated by the door, not wanting to join the man in the room. He hadn’t liked Severus Snape as the head of Slytherin house, he hadn’t liked him as potions master, and he certainly wasn’t looking forward to spending an extended period of time sequestered in the same room with the man now.



Severus didn’t look round, still glaring at his paper. “What do you want?” He growled softly.



“To be anywhere but here, but I don’t get that choice.” He answered with a sigh. “Malfoy sent me to help you.” He answered.



Snape snorted. “Oh, please, Warrington! You were a half-rated student in school; unless you’ve gotten a special tutor to help you along, I doubt there’s anything YOU can do at all that I haven’t already done.” He sneered at him.



“I doubt you’ve figured out why your Hereditary Spell isn’t working right. How or why Alerick isn’t connected to Draco.” He suggested, causing the potions master’s expression to darken. Severus looked over at him finally, eyes narrow, his irritation clear.



“And you have the answer to this puzzle?” He asked, picking up the parchment with Alerick’s family tree upon it.



“Took me years, but yes.” He said quietly.



Severus slapped the paper down on the table. “Prove it.” he sneered, clearly not believing a word of it.



Warrington studied him a moment, then shrugged. “Lucius was right… I need to grow up and stop thinking you’re some super-powerful evil being…“ he said, moving forward. “I don’t need to prove anything; you’re gonna believe whatever it is that you want to believe. If I need to I’ll ask for your help… but solving this conundrum is my problem.“ he answered, moving to the secondary work table and beginning to gather together the things that he felt he would need.



Snape snorted with laughter. “You think I’m some sort of evil supervillain?”



“I didn’t call you that.” He smirked back as he opened the cabinet, considering a long moment before he picked out several bottles and levitated them over to his table.



“Calling me a super-powerful evil being is the same thing.”



“Yeah, well, you made quite an impression on us in school.” he shrugged with a grin, moving to the table with three more bottles. He set them down and lit the fire under his cauldron.



“That was the whole idea.” Severus smirked, watching him.