You Know You Are Loved When A Gryffindor Loves You

4

Saturday night and Harry was busy in the kitchen as Severus readied the children for bed with Dobby’s help. The girls duly arrived. Ginny was now quite big and Hermione was sporting a slight bump which Ron and Draco stroked, talking to their four children within.

Dinner was served and Severus served drinks as his husband dished up dinner. Tonight they dined in the larger dining room that was little used as Harry and Severus took most of their meals in the kitchen at the small table and bench that had lived in the kitchen at the old house in Moss Side.

Hermione was the first to speak, “So, you called us all together. You obviously have something of importance to discuss”, she angled her head at Harry, who grinned at her, “Yeah, we want to move out of London. We don’t think it’s a healthy place to rear kids and we want to move back up north, sell this place and get something that we all can share with a big enough fireplace to make a Floo fire, maybe a small mansion so that me and Draco can realise our scheme for a wizarding kindergarten and prep school. We fancy somewhere around York actually”.

Initially the idea was greeted in silence, then everyone started to talk at once. Ginny laughed, she was a country girl at heart and the idea of getting out of London appealed greatly, not to mention a teaching position at the new school which she was offered straightaway. Hermione had doubts at being so far away from London but if there was a Floo then she was okay with the idea. Ron grinned at the idea of being back in the countryside as, along with his sister, he had been brought up in the fresh air and open spaces. Draco too, was a country boy and the Manor had been recently sold. Ginny was overjoyed at the idea of a job more meaningful than the boredom of her position at the Ministry.

Harry and Severus exchanged a long look and kissed over the dessert, “Well, that seems to be agreeable to us all, so now we need to put this place on the market and start to search around for a house, maybe two that will accommodate us all and a new school. We’ll start small at first and end up being ‘Hogwarts Prep School’ feeding directly into the senior boarding branch. I suggest a day school, youngsters of this age should be with their parents at night. The under elevens are too young to board in my opinion”, purred their ex-teacher, and all agreed. Harry fetched pen and paper and they started to make lists. A curriculum to teach, a list of possible teachers plus suggestions of the places around York to start house-hunting in. The evening passed very pleasantly, the girls drinking juice and the chaps quaffing beer and wine.

The summer holidays were coming up in a couple of months. Dumbledore wasn’t going to be pleased at losing three of his staff all at once, but Severus was determined to do research on the side although he was also keen to see this new venture work and swore to assist in any way he could, maybe teaching part time. Harry didn’t want too much of an administrative role just a hands-on teaching position working directly with the children, “Merlin! I wish I’d had a school like this to go to when I was a kid, then I wouldn’t have been so ignorant of my Magical heritage before I started at Hogwarts. I suggest we favour children from Muggle backgrounds to start. No houses. None of the rivalry bullshit. Time enough for that when they reach senior school, and I want Art and Music and Nature Studies in the curriculum”.

Draco would be the headmaster and he already had two very capable teachers plus a part-timer, the venture already looked promising. The evening ended on a high note with Harry dragging out his guitar and playing and singing for the assembled company. Hermione had stated that, as she wasn’t that keen on small kiddies except in the abstract, she would continue to build her career at the Ministry, but she could see her girlfriend was very keen on the idea of teaching at the new school. Ron announced his intention to give up work entirely when the children arrived and become a full-time parent. Draco gripped his hand with tears in his eyes and leaned over to kiss his husband, “Thank you, baby. Your support will be invaluable. This venture will take some setting up”. Ron grinned, “I want to be a real hands-on dad and mine was so busy working while mum raised us all and four tinies means I will have my work cut out. I do not want my children raised by house-elves although we could probably do with engaging a couple. I’ll need help with the practical stuff and I can’t expect mum to do too much, she has worked so hard to bring us lot up, bless her, her and dad deserve some time to themselves now that dad is close to retirement”.

And so it was decided. The following Monday, Draco and Harry sheepishly stood before Dumbledore with their letters of resignation in their hands. As predicted, Albus was less than pleased but when he heard the reasons for their resignation, he beamed at them, “A Preparatory School? What a wonderful idea. Well, my boys, you seem determined and set upon your path and I am proud of you both”. Then Draco told him of his own good news, that he and his partner were expecting a major change in their family life and right now they were expecting four children to be delivered by surrogates and named them and the old professor could feel his eyes tear. He came out from behind his desk and hugged them both, “I really hope this works for you, my boys. As a unit of six you all seem to get on so well”, he asked after Harry’s children, “Oh, they are fine, Albus. Amanda is still her ‘mother’s’ daughter, so to speak, and little Alex is the image of me. Amalia is still a bit of an unknown quantity but seems to be a mix of us both”. They all chatted for a little longer then the two had to leave and get on with their classes.

As the summer holidays approached, the action stepped up. The London house was put on the market and was snapped up. Ginny tendered her resignation to the Ministry, she knew she wouldn’t be missed as her job was lowly although her father questioned her at length on her future plans and was delighted for them all. He was less pleased at Ron’s abandonment as he relied on his youngest son as his helpmeet but was pleased nonetheless at the boy’s dedication to rearing their children and Ron also intended to segue into teaching as his children became old enough to enter the new school. Their mother was delighted at the new plans and only fussed that her two youngest would be so far away from her. Ron reassured her, “Come on, mum, we’ll only be a Floo away, well, once we’ve established our permissions at the Ministry”.

Draco, Harry and Ginny had a meeting at the Ministry to put forward their ideas. They were all nervous but the Minister of Education was a kindly woman with many children of her own and declared the idea to be ‘capital’. “Gosh, I cannot believe it, a prep school for Hogwarts. If my children were still young enough, I would enrol them straight away”. Harry stated that they would favour the Muggle-born to begin with, “They need the background. I hated arriving at Hogwarts knowing absolutely nothing about my heritage or my magic and this has helped to motivate this idea”. Draco piped up, “Even as the child of purebloods, I was tutored at home. I was well aware of my Magic, but it was lonely having lessons by myself. Maybe I wouldn’t have been such a snobby git if I could have mixed with other children at a younger age, you know, learned that there are other Magicals out there as a small child, young enough to be influenced by them and not brainwashed as purebloods tend to be in the hothouse atmosphere of their parent’s home. Maybe I would have learned to be more tolerant of others and not had so many fixed ideas of who was ‘suitable’ or not when I came to Hogwarts”.

Two days after the meeting, Draco, Harry and Severus were all seated at the staff table having breakfast as the owls arrived with the mail and dropped a large envelope before Draco. The others waited with bated breath as he ripped it open and shrieked his joy and punched the air. “We’ve got it. We can open the school as soon as we see fit with the permission of the Ministry”. The other two hugged him and he passed the missive to his Headmaster who beamed at the three of them. Severus smiled widely and apparated home as Harry began his day teaching and the news soon got around, Hogwarts would now have a Preparatory branch. Now all they had to do was actually find somewhere.

The Daily Prophet soon got wind of the plans and the new Founders prepared press statements and gave interviews. Within days they were inundated with requests from parents anxious that their children be taken in by the new school. Ginny, as the new Registrar, was responsible for vetting and accepting the new student body and set about her task with alacrity. Severus found a house temporarily that they could all move into donated by one of the parents of new pupils already accepted. It would be a lot easier to actually be in the area as they looked and the man wouldn’t accept a penny in rent. “Just take my children and teach them their heritage”, was his only criteria. The house was on the outskirts of Leeds, but close enough for them to begin searching in earnest.

The three, as part of their contracts, invigilated the OWLs and NEWTs, but all were heartily looking forward to the summer when they would finally have the time to scour Yorkshire for suitable properties. There were offers of donations pouring in that Ginny was trying desperately to keep track of but her expanding belly and her increasing tiredness meant she had to dip out. She accepted all the anonymous donations and gently declined the offers from those who sent cash with conditions attached. There was to be no favouritism in this school.

As the term wound down, Albus asked Harry, Severus, Ron and Draco to supervise the Leaving Ball. Leaving the children in Dobby’s care they apparated back to the school and ran up to the old castle. This would be their last night as well. The four entered all holding hands and took delight in rooting out the stray folk kissing in corridors but no punishments were handed out. They confiscated alcohol and grass but tried not to make the time too miserable for the leavers, passing them a couple of the bottles that had been liberated from the younger years. Well-oiled themselves, Severus allowed himself to be led out to the dancefloor by his husband and they danced together holding close as their students catcalled and cheered. At the end of the dance they kissed chastely although they felt anything but. Harry led his beloved into a darkened corner and kissed him properly as they let the students get on with it as did Draco and Ron a little while later as the dance was hotting up and the younger years had been despatched to their beds.

Eventually only the two sixth forms were left and all looked the worse for wear as the punch was liberally spiked and the students were weaving a little drunkenly on the dancefloor. At the staff table, the students were mainly ignored as the four got steaming drunk together. They made sure that all the students got to bed in more or less one piece then played a few of their favourite tracks and they danced then, the two couples in each other’s arms. They were staying the night in their old suites in the guest wing for old time’s sake and they all wobbled there after the music stopped. For propriety’s sake, they all did one last round of the castle to hustle any stragglers and shaggers to bed then made their own way to their rooms wishing each other a cordial goodnight with hugs.

As they made to enter their old suite, Harry glanced along the dim corridor to see his best friend and his husband pressed against the wall. Ron held both of Draco’s hands either side of his head as he pressed against him, their tongues in each other’s mouths and he and his own beloved laughed softly as they went in, the same urgency informing them. Severus fair threw his beloved on the bed and launched himself atop him. Harry giggled, “Farewell Professor Potter-Snape, hello mister”, he purred as Severus growled softly in his ear and slapped his cheeky arse, “Shut up, Harry and fuck me”. Clothes were soon gone and they stretched out naked on the large bed as Harry took him hard and they both moaned and cried their joy to the rafters, recalling past encounters in the large bed.

Next morning and with newly healed heads they waved all their students goodbye as the thestral-drawn carriages led them all to the train, a few fans coming up and wishing them well shyly, pressing presents and cards into their hands. Severus was quite amazed to see that he had a bit of a fanclub of his own but Harry and Draco laughed not at all surprised. Ron slapped him on the back as Severus raked a hand through his hair, “Hey, stop being so modest already”, he rolled his eyes but Severus just shook his head as he read some of the cards that he had received. Grinning, they all apparated back to the house, ready to begin their new life.