Harry Potter and The Charming Prince (BP7)

Draco was sitting in his favourite chair in the family's primary sitting room. He leant back, trying to focus on the latest report of Galleons and the World Gold Market. Master Prentice, the children’s tutor, had taken a few days off to visit his ailing aunt, so the two older children were in the room with Draco, trying to read their assignments left by the tutor. ‘Trying’ was definitely the word for it, Draco thought. Valen and April had spent more time sighing and fidgeting than actually reading.

Valen was the master of The Big Sigh and Draco thought if the child did it again, he would throw his own book at him. There it goes, he thought when he heard another large inhalation and then the long drawn out sigh. April seemed to provide counter-point with a short huff in response.

"Daddy?" April asked in her sweetest little voice, passing small fingers through the particles of dust in the air that the sunlight pouring through the windows made visible.

Draco couldn't help the sigh in response to that himself, lowering the journal and arching an eyebrow at his daughter. "Yes?" he asked in an annoyed sounding voice.

April pursed her lips at that tone, simply staring for a moment, then she seemed to decide to brave it. "It's very nice outside today."

"I am sure it is," Draco replied. "So read your book and then you will be able to go out to enjoy it."

Valen frowned, watching his sister's attempt with interest.

April huffed again. "But this is booorrring," she whined, abandoning sweetness.

"Unfortunately, lots of things that are important can be boring," Draco replied, trying to sound calm and rational despite his growing irritation with his children at that moment. What he was reading was certainly boring too.

April scowled and crossed her arms, glaring down at her book. "It's stupid," she muttered, voice barely heard.

Harry chose that moment to walk into the room with Sev. "How's it going in here?" he asked, while Severus moved closer to his brother and sister to see what they were doing.

"Stupid?" Draco sneered at his daughter. "No, stupid is what happens when you don't read, don't learn."

April only pouted and glared at Draco instead.

Harry lifted his eyebrows. "Not well, I take it?"

Valen gave another of those long sighs and shook his head, glancing meaningfully at Draco and then pleadingly up at Harry. Furrowing his eyebrows in concern, Harry looked down at Valen and then at April who was still glaring at Draco and had a stubborn set in her eyes. Valen had turned eight years old two weeks earlier and April's birthday was around the corner; Harry knew the children were probably still having a hard time settling down between the two celebrations.

"If they spent half the time they spend whining and sighing on actually reading, they would be done already," Draco complained, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.

"But we've been in here all day," April protested. "And yesterday, too. We'll never be finished for the rest of forever!" she added rather dramatically.

"I said you could go out to play when you finished your assignment," Draco insisted, voice getting a bit shrill now as his head began to pound. With trying to monitor the children's studies while they procrastinated, Draco saw his own work falling further and further behind. April's pitiful declarations weren't helping.

Valen looked between April and Draco, clearly weighing whether or not to add to this or just wait and see what happened. He looked up at Harry with big green eyes and sighed dramatically.

"That's it!" Draco snapped. "Enough with the bloody sighing!"

April looked quickly down at the table while Valen's startled eyes snapped over to Draco. Sev looked up at Draco from where he was pulling a book out of the bookcase in an attempt to copy his siblings and 'study' with them. Harry frowned, a crease between his eyebrows.

"I know it's nice out and I know none of us want to sit here and read!" Draco started ranting. "Do you think I want to read this?" he said, shaking the report in his hand. "But sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do. Read your books, then we can go outside. And for Merlin's sake, quit whining at me!"

Harry knew the children could be a bother. He certainly knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Sometimes they didn't mind, sometimes they did bad things on purpose, sometimes they went directly against what their parents told them simply because they thought they knew best. But that was just it – they were kids. And they did work on their studies an awful lot in Harry's opinion. However, he didn't want to call Draco out on anything with their kids in the room. He cleared his throat to try and get his husband's attention.

Valen's eyes grew wider and he watched Draco curiously, a questioning look on his face. "Father, if you are grown up and powerful and a hero and all, why do you have to read that paper? Why is it more important than going outside?"

Draco was on the verge of yelling again when his husband gave him that look and his son started talking, but then he found himself stopped, frowning, and he tried to come up with an answer that was better than just because that's the way it is.

"You two just keep reading for a bit," Harry told April and Valen, then nodded to the door to get Draco to come with him. "Come on, Sev," he said, patting his leg to get the little boy to join him as well.

Draco stared at his eldest son for a moment and then frowned, looking up at his husband. He clenched his teeth and got to his feet. He had lost his temper and he knew Harry was not happy with him. He gave a huff of his own as he followed his husband.

Sev ran over as fast as his little legs could carry him and through the door with Harry and Draco. In the hall, Harry turned to Draco. "You know I get just as aggravated with them as you do," he said, lifting Sev when the little boy made a running jump.

Draco frowned, crossing his arms. "And you would just give in, wouldn't you?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's not that," he countered. "They do work all the time. They work a lot for still being so little."

"I studied for longer hours at their age," Draco snapped.

Harry frowned again and looked away. "Exactly," he said quietly. Harry was almost glad that the tutor was gone, forcing this issue out in the open. He had been trying to find a way to bring it up with Draco but didn't want his husband to feel as if his goals for the children were being attacked. The look on Draco's face told Harry that that was exactly what was now happening.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco growled.

Harry sighed. "Did you have fun doing all that work you were made to do?" he asked. "Or did you want to go outside and play? Some of your childhood memories are not exactly the fondest."

"It wasn't about fun, it was about being ready to ..." Draco trailed off when he realised he sounded exactly like his own father.

Harry pursed his lips, giving Draco a bit of a wince.

Draco looked away, feeling angry that Harry knew it too. He just wanted the best for his children. What was wrong with that?

Harry hooked a finger in Draco's belt loop and pulled him closer. "We don't need prodigies and geniuses, just happy kids."

"Happy kids ..." Draco whispered, and looked in surprise at Harry. "Maybe our children need happy parents?" he asked, wondering about his son's question. Was he pushing himself too hard too? He had been working longer and longer hours lately. It wasn't about the money but about the need to prove himself and give the Malfoy name the respect that his father had managed to destroy. Draco wanted his children to be proud of who they were and to move confidently throughout the wizarding world.

"You've been stressed, love," Harry acknowledged, kissing Draco's cheek. "And I can't have you turning prematurely grey," he teased. waiting for his husband's reaction with a smile.

Draco snorted at the idea of his white hair turning grey. Malfoys didn't have that problem. But he smiled softly at his husband and the boy in Harry's arms. "Maybe some fresh air would be a good idea," he acknowledged.

"Yes," Harry agreed. "It would. We could let them fly their kites or something. It's a bit windy out."

Just the image of leaving studies and work to fly kites instead made Draco smile. It was almost unthinkable in his childhood.

Harry smiled at Draco's smile and kissed his cheek again. "Want to fly a kite, Sev?" he asked.

"Wanna fly, Daddy!" Sev shouted in response, wriggling in Harry's arms.

"He’s definitely ours," Draco teased, kissing the boy on the head before leaning in to kiss his husband's lips.

Harry snorted and nodded, kissing Draco back.

***

Harry flopped down on the grass and laughed at Severus' attempts to catch the kite that was flying high in the air. He wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead. Spring had barely arrived and the breeze carried a bit of chill with it but after racing back and forth across the grass for nearly an hour with the kite, Harry was out of breath and ready for a break.

Valen and April each held the strings of their own kites while Draco held the kite for Sev, all three of them standing in the clearing while Harry rested under the shade of one of the oak trees. He was happy that Draco had agreed to fly kites with the children although he knew that the subject of the childrens' studies wasn't over. They both wanted their children to have every educational advantage but studies had never been as important in school to Harry as they had been to Draco and he wondered if they would ever see eye to eye on just how much was too much.

"Harry ..."

Harry turned and saw Hermione stumbling towards him, her movements jerky and her face pale. He stood up quickly and met her halfway.

"What's happened?" Harry asked right away, glancing over her shoulder for a brief second. "Where are Ron and the children?"

"The children are still napping," Hermione choked out. Her hands reached out and Harry grabbed both of them, pulling her closer. Tears had begun to spill over onto her cheeks and Harry began to feel afraid of what she was going to say. He saw Draco looking over at them with a questioning expression and Harry shook his head slightly knowing that his husband would understand that he didn't want the children to come closer. Draco gave a slight nod and backed away a few more feet with Severus running after him.

Harry's heart was pounding now as Hermione fell against him, quiet sobs shaking her body and all he could do was hold her. He didn't know what had happened but Ron's absence sent a cold chill through his own body. He tried desperately to recall what Ron's plans had been for the day. Unable to wait any longer, Harry pulled away from Hermione and lifted her chin with his hand. He had only seen her like this one other time; the night of the massacre that killed her father but if something had happened to her mother he knew that Ron would be with her.

"Hermione," Harry said in a low, calm tone. "Take a deep breath now and look at me. Look at my face and breathe in with me."

Anguished eyes met Harry's and he watched as she pulled in gulps of air between trembling lips. The tears wouldn't stop falling but he could see her calming down just a little. Harry's heart clenched at the raw pain on her face but he needed to know what happened.

The voice that met his ears was broken and Harry felt his own composure slipping when Hermione gripped his hand painfully and whispered, "It's Arthur."