Harry Potter and The Charming Prince (BP7)

Summers bled into autumns like sand trickling to the bottom of an hourglass. It was one of those warm summer evenings at the beginning of August that found Ron and Hermione asleep in their bed, completely oblivious to the gathering of family in their adjacent sitting room speaking in hushed voices. On the first day of August, Hermione had given birth to beautiful twins; a boy and a girl they named Eric and Gwen. After two days at St Mungo's to ensure that the twins were healthy, Ron and Hermione brought them home and promptly passed out in bed together. The births had been draining on Hermione because she had carried the twins full term and was exhausted by the time they arrived. The births had been draining on Ron because – well, it was Ron.

And now, as the summer sun threw a blazing splash of reds and oranges across the sky, everyone relaxed together to quietly greet the newest members of the family. Molly and Arthur sat in the two rocking chairs, each of them holding a sleeping baby. Mrs Granger had been there earlier but was now resting in one of the guest suites. Julie kept Edwin at home since he had a slight cold while Percy, Fleur, Bill and Ginny were downstairs with the children. Now that Valen was seven, April and Chris were six, and Severus and Emily were nearly three, they were easier to take care of.

George and Fred were uncharacteristically quiet as they watched their parents with the babies, seeing the wistful looks on lined faces as Molly and Arthur recalled another time they sat with a baby in the arms of each parent. Harry sat on the couch, leaning into Draco and smiling at the sound of Ron's soft snores drifting into the sitting room.

"Percy was really too young to understand," Molly said, looking down at Eric. "And Bill had already been through it twice but Charlie was the one that seemed to have the hardest time when Fred and George were born. He asked us why we were holding garden gnomes and what we planned to do with them."

Arthur laughed and gently brought Gwen up to his shoulder so he could rub her back. "You should have seen Molly's face! She was feeling a bit weepy already and when Charlie saw her reaction he ran to his room and slid under the bed. Since he refused to come out – "

" – Arthur crawled under the bed with him and convinced him that being a big brother to Fred and George was brilliant," Molly concluded, smiling over at her own twins who were grown men now.

Harry smiled at Molly but he had tensed up at the mention of Charlie who should have been there to welcome his niece and nephew into the family. It didn't matter how many years went by; he couldn't let go of the feeling that if he had been able to destroy Voldemort sooner then Charlie wouldn't have been killed and would be with them now, perhaps with a family of his own. And Mrs Granger wouldn't be sleeping in the guest suite alone. Harry shifted uncomfortably against Draco and tried to push Charlie's broad smile out of his mind.

Draco would have known even without the shifting what was bothering Harry. Arm around Harry, he gave his husband's shoulder a light squeeze and kissed the side of his head. "I can't imagine anyone knew the trouble you two would get into," Draco said, grinning.

Fred and George both gave comically mock innocent expressions. "Who?" asked one, "Us?" the other answered.

Arthur shook his head and smiled at his sons. "If I had a Galleon for every time you two said that we would be sitting in Weasley Manor right now."

Harry grinned and relaxed once more against his husband. The kiss had helped as well as the shift in focus.

"Malfoy Manor is perfectly lovely," Molly said in a soft but firm tone, "but I much prefer the Burrow, Arthur."

Arthur reached out with his free hand and patted Molly lightly on her arm before carefully rubbing Eric's little bald head. He smiled at Molly and said, "Good thing, too, since we happen to live there."

"I remember the first time I saw the Burrow," Harry recalled with a smile before going on, "I thought it was the best house ever and I wanted to move in with you even if two of your kids did look like garden gnomes."

Draco rolled his eyes, thinking that calling Fred and George garden gnomes sounded like the type of thing he would have said before he'd got with Harry. He didn't have to guess what his ancestors would think of the Weasleys or Muggleborn Hermione living in the Manor. Draco had had to lock the portraits of previous Malfoys in the basement or risk outbursts like Mrs Black at Grimmauld Place.

As Fred and George both opened their mouths to respond, Arthur cut in. 'We would have liked nothing better, Harry."

Molly nodded in agreement. "There's always room for more at the Burrow, Harry, and we cared about you from the beginning."

Arthur glanced over at Fred and George before turning back to Harry and Draco. "If you only knew how many nights these two put their heads together with Ron and came up with all sorts of plans to sneak you out of your home and hide you in ours. It was scary enough to see those three plan anything together but – "

" – what was even more frightening was when Arthur would sit down on the floor and brainstorm with them," Molly laughed, her warm eyes resting on her husband's sheepish smile.

"I know," Harry admitted. "Ron told me about some of the plans and I'm not sure if I'm lucky or unlucky that they never worked out."

"I know Molly was relieved every summer when you were finally able to come to us," Arthur said, his eyes serious. "We all were."

Draco frowned, the reminder of the Dursleys and what they had done to Harry always angering him. He couldn't really regret Vernon Dursley's death.

Harry was the one this time to notice a slight change in Draco's body, nestled behind his own, and twisted around to kiss Draco's cheek while one hand ran up and down Draco's thigh. He knew how difficult it was for Draco to hear about Harry's years with the Dursleys; probably just as hard as it was for Harry to think about Draco's childhood with Lucius. He wasn't sure, though, if Draco truly understood that the reasons Harry knew family life could be better were sitting all around them and snoring in the other room.

"Merlin," George laughed, looking at Fred. "I wish I could see the look on McGonagall's face when she finds out she has another set of Weasley twins heading for Hogwarts."

Fred laughed along with his brother. Arthur laughed too until Molly gave him a look and he turned the laugh into a small cough, which made Fred and George laugh more.

"I'm sure Eric and Gwen will be perfect little angels at Hogwarts," Molly sniffed.

"Mum," Fred said in a tone of disbelief. "Ron is their father, George and I are their uncles and they live in the same home as Harry and Draco. Those two don't stand a chance!"

"Hush, Fred," Molly replied, now giving Fred a look. She smiled down at Eric and Gwen while rocking back and forth in her chair. "Ron and Hermione need their rest."

Harry smiled as he recalled the look of panic on Ron's face when Hermione's contractions had started. It was as if he hadn't already been through this once when Emily was born. Ron said he thought it would be funny if the twins arrived on Harry's birthday but Harry was relieved, for the sake of Eric and Gwen, that they waited an extra day. He knew that all of the children would have to deal with their connections to Harry Potter when they left home and went to Hogwarts. Sharing a birthday with the wizard who destroyed Voldemort wouldn't make it any easier. Valen would be the child paving the way for the others and Harry hoped that his oldest son would be able to deal with the inevitable comparisons to his fathers. Harry's thoughts were interrupted when Draco nuzzled his neck and Harry smiled. Draco always seemed to know when he was getting too lost in his own thoughts.

"Boys," Arthur said in a soft voice, looking at Fred and George. "Come over here and take the babies for a few minutes."

"Who?" Fred asked, his eyes comically wide.

"Us?" George chimed in, looking just as shocked.

Molly nodded. "Everyone else has held the twins and welcomed them. It's your turn."

Molly and Arthur carefully stood up and waited until Fred and George sat down in the rocking chairs before placing a bundle in each pair of waiting arms. Harry grinned to see the nervous looks on Fred and George's faces. It was funny because they never had a problem with any of the babies after a few weeks of having them around but newborns seemed to scare them.

Arthur smiled at his sons. "You're both doing fine, boys. You'll be good fathers someday."

Fred laughed. "Now those will be the grandchildren you need to worry about."

George and Draco both snorted in agreement at the same time.

Arthur put his arm around Molly and shook his head at Fred. "If you and George have children that are nearly as bright and resourceful as their fathers then I don't think I have anything to worry about at all. Your mum and I are proud of you two."

George and Fred both had identical flushes creeping over their cheeks at the unexpected praise from their father. Both young men rocked back and forth in the chairs, gingerly holding their niece and nephew who continued to sleep.

Harry then teased, " If you two have children even half as much like you then it's all of our kids we need to worry about, not yours."

Both men grinned up at Harry. Fred lifted an eyebrow and asked, "What? All we do is bring a little colour and entertainment to everyone's otherwise boring lives. Eric and Gwen, here, are going to do the same with George and I guiding the way."

Molly huffed. "You two leave those babies alone."

"Sorry, Mum," George said with a mock look of seriousness. "No can do. Once the nappies are history it's our duty to make sure these two behave in a manner befitting a Weasley twin. It's the only right thing to do."

Fred nodded. "We have big plans for these two."

Eric suddenly gave a tiny whimper while Gwen's little nose scrunched up in her sleep. Fred and George smiled down at each baby that they held and, like the mirror images they were, lightly stroked the cheeks of each baby to soothe them. Harry knew Arthur was right and that they would be good fathers someday; they had been raised with a very good father of their own. Molly and Arthur leant into each other, her arm around his waist while his arm was wrapped around her shoulder and they watched Fred and George with affection.

At that moment the snoring stopped as Ron mumbled in a loud voice, "Run, Harry ... 'Mione's 'bout to burst ...."

The snoring resumed as everyone in the sitting room broke out into quiet laughter.