Harry Potter and The Charming Prince (BP7)

The main dining room in the Malfoy Manor was full of big balloons and streamers that clashed with the regular decor. Valen and April had been allowed to decorate for their little brother and cousin's birthday party, which meant that it all looked quite colourful and extravagant.

The entire Weasley family was there, as well as Neville and Luna with their new baby, Frank Xenophilius Longbottom, and Theo and his new wife.

It was chaos at the moment. The children able to walk were running around the table, and those able to crawl were scooting all over the place. All of them were loud.

Draco stood in the background for the moment, arms crossed against his chest and leaning against the door frame. He loved watching the chaos. Particularly, he enjoyed watching Harry in the middle of it.

"Not how I pictured you," Theo said beside him.

"I always wanted children," Draco replied.

"So many?" Theo asked, raising both eyebrows. "Isn't that something you used to taunt the Weasleys about?"

"It was," Draco answered, still smiling.

Harry bent to pick up Sev, feeling that he was in danger of being trodden on by Valen, April, and Chris.

Ron retrieved Emily, looking flustered with all of the children. "Merlin," he said. "It's like they're getting louder."

"They are," said Harry, half amused. He glanced at Draco, grinning and shaking his head.

Draco's grey eyes sparkled with amusement as he met his husband's. "Time for games?" he suggested.

"Games!" Chris shouted, stopping dead in his tracks. April ran into him and then glared, blue eyes flashing. Her small fists settled on her hips as she circled around to confront her cousin. Draco stepped forward and scooped up his daughter before she could retaliate. "Yes, games," he assured the children.

April sniffed haughtily and nodded at Draco in a regal fashion.

Harry snorted quietly. "C'mon then," he said, gesturing for Valen and Chris to come forward.

***

Harry placed Sev in his highchair as Ron brought in the very large cake Mrs Weasley had baked for the party. Harry was still panting slightly, having just come back into the dining room from the games, which he had been begged to participate in. Merlin.

"It's a beautiful cake," said Julie, Percy's wife as she combed her son Edwin's hair back and to the side with her fingers, even though it was already perfectly in place. Harry always felt an urge to ruffle the kid's hair. Fred and George did so often, much to Percy's annoyance.

"Thank you," Mrs Weasley said happily, taking a seat at the table where she could easily see both Sev and Emily.

"Yes, lovely," said Fred, rubbing his hands together. "Let's eat it."

"I want a blue plate!" Chris shouted, either not seeing his mother's warning glance or ignoring it.

All the plates at the table were white china with silver trim, spelled not to break even when dropped by small children. Draco frowned in confusion at the demand.

Valen arched an eyebrow. "Me too," he added.

"And me," said April, climbing up in a chair.

Chris chose a seat a few places down from her, folding his arms on the table.

"Er ... well," said Harry, turning and glancing at Draco with a small shrug. "I guess I could Transfigure a few."

Draco shook his head. His husband was such a push-over. "Why not?" he sighed. Birthdays were a special day in the Malfoy household and if blue plates made the children happy then they would have them.

Valen sat next to Chris, of course. The two boys were near inseparable. What one did, the other did, good or bad.

Across the table, Antoinette said something in French to Theo. "Les garçons sont mignons."

Valen looked up with a smile and replied. "Merci, Madame. Êtes ainsi vous."

Fleur let out a small laugh and Chris smirked at Valen, arching an eyebrow. Valen grinned back at Chris and leant over to bump him with a shoulder.

"What did they say?" Harry asked Draco quietly.

Draco snorted, amused by his son. The child was a natural flirt. "Transfigure the plates, love," Draco said, stepping beside Harry and then leaning in to whisper in Harry's ear. "She said the boys were cute and Valen said she was cute."

Harry chuckled, meeting Antoinette’s laughing eyes and shaking his head. If Valen was flirting at such a young age, Harry couldn't imagine what his son would be like when he was a teenager. It was rather frightening to contemplate. He reached for the plates, turning three of them blue and handing them to the children.

Chris looked at April's plate and then at Valen, raising his eyebrows. Valen shrugged and rolled his eyes, taking the plate.

Remus laughed and shook his head, leaning in to whisper in Sirius' ear. Sirius smiled and laughed quietly, watching the kids. The two men sat comfortably, shoulders lightly brushing against each other while they enjoyed watching Harry in his attempts to do many things at once.

There were two small separate cakes that Mrs Weasley had made for Emily and Sev, both topped with single flickering candles. "Everyone ready to sing?" Harry asked, dimming the rest of the lights in the room with his hands.

"Hear, hear!" yelled the twins in unison, grinning.

Draco looked around the large table full of family and friends, grinning as they sang Happy Birthday to the infants. Sev's eyes were wide with wonder. When the song was finished, both candles continued to flicker as the babies stared at them.

Harry chuckled, blowing out Sev's while Hermione blew out Emily's.

As everyone clapped, April got back out of her chair, taking her plate with her as she took a seat next to Valen instead. Valen and Chris huddled together, leaning their heads close to whisper as they ate their cake.

Draco gestured for Harry to sit, handing him a plate of cake as well. Once all their guests had been served, he sat down with his husband.

Severus seemed to contemplate the cake seriously for a minute and then shoved his hand directly into the frosting. His chubby hand squeezed and he stared in fascination at the colourful mess that oozed out between his fingers.

"Yeah, get it, Sev," said Harry amusedly, taking a bite of his own cake.

Emily dipped a little finger in the frosting, looking at Sev before tasting it.

"Well, she certainly doesn't take after you in this respect," said Mrs Weasley to Ron, smiling. "You were covered in cake at your birthday."

"What can I say?" snorted Ron, not noticing the frosting above his lip. "I love cake."

"Harry's face was in the cake," said Sirius, laughing. Remus nodded at the memory that made him smile.

Given the way Harry dived into everything physical, Draco had no doubt about that. It made him flush. Because ever since their wedding, cake always turned Draco on. Harry smirked slyly at Draco, knowing exactly what he was thinking of, which didn't go unnoticed by Fred and George.

"You know," said George, "I wouldn't be surprised if you two had something ..." he used air quotations, "associated with every word in the English language."

"And some in French," added Fred.

Draco's face flushed deeper and he rolled his eyes. He looked to his husband, catching his eye as he licked frosting off his own lips.

Harry blushed heavily then too, feeling a quick flash of heat in his belly. He tried to ignore it. They couldn't leave Sev's birthday party and all their guests – not that anyone would probably be very shocked.

"Why do you both still insist on acting as if you're thirteen?" Mrs Weasley huffed at Fred and George.

They laughed.

Draco reigned in his arousal by promising himself to make it up later. He made a mental note to save a piece of cake as well.

Sev was now thoroughly covered in cake and frosting, it made his hair stick up even worse than usual.

"What sort of flour did you use in this cake?" Luna asked Mrs Weasley in her dreamy voice, rocking Frank gently, whose eyes were as wide open as his mother's.

"Well, just plain old flour, dear," Mrs Weasley laughed.

"Cimphs lay eggs in some kinds," Luna explained. "If digested, it can be just terrible for the skin."

Mrs Weasley looked confused, as did almost everyone else. Harry figured that everyone there – like himself – had no idea what a Cimph was.

Valen arched an eyebrow and looked toward Draco. In respect for his friend, Draco did not roll his eyes but gave a tiny shake of his head to assure his child not to worry. Valen did look relieved and leant in to whisper in Chris' ear.

Antoinette looked more confused than anyone at the table. Theo touched the back of her hand gently and gave a small shake of his head that brought a soft smile to his wife's face and the same look of relief that Valen wore.

Draco got up from the table. "Well, now that we've had a nice treat, why don't we return to the ballroom so the kids can play."

"Sounds great," said Sirius, clapping his hands together and getting to his feet. Everyone else agreed and rose from the table to make their way back to the ballroom. April was careful to keep up as Chris and Valen stood too.

Tables and chairs were set to one side so the adults could sit and talk while the kids ran about the large hall. Mr Weasley sat on the floor with Sev in his lap, tapping out a rhythm on the floor with his hands while Sev's wide eyes followed the movements carefully before he slapped his own chubby hands down trying to mimic the different beats. In another corner, Theo was looking at the cover of a book that Hermione had handed him and the two appeared to be discussing it. Draco found himself caught up in a conversation in French with Theo's new wife and Fleur.

Valen took Chris' hand and pulled the other boy to the side, whispering again. Harry watched Valen and Chris out of the corner of his eye, and he noticed that Bill was too.

April stood close to them with her hands on her hips, obviously annoyed at not being included in the whispering. Valen led Chris by the hand to the other end of the room, furthest from the adults. April's face scrunched up in anger, her posture straight and stiff. She turned on the spot and stomped over to the first parent she set eyes on, which happened to be Harry. He sighed.

"They are doing that on purpose, Daddy," she said, looking like she wanted to stomp her foot with the words. Harry was surprised when she didn't.

"What are they doing, love?" Harry asked, kneeling down to April's eye level.

"They won't let me play with them."

Draco sighed as he looked over at his daughter. She was only a year younger than Valen and months behind Chris, but the two boys had become so close that they often seemed to have no room for her. This was made more difficult by the fact that all their friends’ other children were a couple years behind April. Draco didn't know how to help his daughter with the problem.

Harry didn't know what to do either. He picked April up and sat her in his lap. "Well, they don't look like they're being much fun anyway," he tried.

April only frowned some more. "Can't you make them?" she said.

"But that will only cause a row," Harry explained.

Draco excused himself from Antoinette and Fleur, moving over to crouch in front of his husband and child. He smiled over to where Sev seemed to be content being passed around among the other adults. "April, darling girl," he soothed. "You can't make someone want to be with you." He glanced at his husband, a pang of remembered rejection at that moment. "Getting cross with them will only make them withdraw more."

April still frowned. "But it's not fair," she said, looking at Draco now as her eyes began to brim with tears.

Harry's heart clenched and he hugged April to his chest. "Daddy Draco's right, love," he said.

"Your brother and Christophe love you. They just need their time to be boys together," Draco said. "When Emily gets older, I am sure you and she will have secrets you won't want to share with the boys."

A few tears spilled over, but April perked up at that. "And I won't have to t-tell them?" she said.

"No, you won't," Draco assured her and glanced over toward Hermione who now sat not far from them, hoping she would back them up on that.

Hermione smiled at Draco and moved closer to them. "That's right," she said to April. "You and Emily will talk about all sorts of things."

April wiped at her face, glancing over in the direction of Valen and Chris, but then nodding firmly, so that her whole body moved with it.

Hermione smiled softly, petting April's black hair back from her still-wet face.

Draco stood up and kissed April's forehead, then smirking, kissed Harry's forehead as well. Harry smiled up at him, kissing Draco's lips quickly before he could stand all the way.

Meanwhile, the boys were playing a kind of game of tag using their toy brooms.

"Aye, Harry," Oliver Wood called out, when Valen pulled a familiar move of sliding nearly up off his broom to catch Christophe. "Future Seeker there?"

Harry grinned widely. "I'd say that's highly possible," he said proudly, watching his son show off all that he was learning during the special flying lessons that father and son shared every week.

"Sure is," said Ginny, grinning as well. "That kid is a natural born flier."

Draco laughed and shook his head. Their eldest son was as crafty as any Slytherin and as reckless on a broom as his Gryffindor father. "I suppose he can't help it," he quipped, smirking at Harry.

"Well, there had to be something the kid got of mine," Harry teased, returning the smirk.

"Like sneaking around behind the backs of his elders and breaking the rules?" Draco challenged, smirk threatening to turn into a grin.

"Oh, because you did none of that," Harry said sarcastically, pecking Draco's lips. They smiled at each other when they heard Theo laugh in the background at Harry's reply.

"I think, in that, as in many things, my love, you exceeded me," Draco drawled.

Harry shrugged, feigning smugness. "Well, can't argue with that," he said, but rolled his eyes, giving Draco a wry smile. "I believe we make a formidable child."

"I know," said Ron, raising his eyebrows.

Everyone laughed with them then. Draco smiled. "Beautiful amazing children," he answered and then kissed his husband again.