Lily Rose.

Disclaimer....This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended

Thanks once again go out to Periculum. Don’t know what I would be doing without you.



Chapter Seven

August 31.

To all intents and purposes, the last day of summer came upon those dwelling within the walls of Hogwarts extremely quickly. The past month for Harry had been filled with learning what he needed to know to take care of the twins, making plans for who would be allowed to care for them while he was in class when Narcissa wouldn’t be available, and getting ready for the new school term. He ended up thanking the Goddess on many different occasions for Narcissa’s help. He wasn’t entirely sure what he would have done without her help, for at times, neither he nor Severus knew what to do with the girls.

A slight smile crossed Harry’s face when he thought about his mate. The man had been a lifesaver since the beginning of last term, and that hadn’t changed with their new relationship. The smile turned into a blush as he tried to suppress the thought of their nights together. Nothing more had developed between them, after that first night, but that really didn’t seem to bother either of them. Harry knew that he wasn’t ready for a complete sexual relationship, and Severus allowed him to set the pace. At the moment, Harry was more than content to fall asleep, half pinned under the older man, drawing comfort from the almost full body contact.

A gurgling giggle from the other room brought Harry’s attention back to the matter on hand. Poppy had recommended starting the girls of a type of runny cereal, at each meal and at night, and only a few spoonfuls at a time. The only real point to this, as far as Harry could tell, was it allowed the girls to sleep through the night now, instead of waking up two or three times, demanding to be fed. Sighing when he heard both girls give a happy shriek, Harry finished warming the cereal.

“Peeves, do the girls need to be changed, or can you bring them out here?” He called out. That was another thing that had changed, since Harry and Severus had brought the girls to the castle. The poltergeist, who any Hogwarts student knew could handle inanimate objects, had seemed with his vow to protect the girls to have gathered even more energy and could now ‘carry’ the girls around, much to their parents’ dismay.

“Here they are, Master Potter. All ready for you,” Peeves answered as he and the girls floated out of nursery. “Was there anything else you needed?”

“Yes, actually, I was wondering if you would be able to answer a question that’s been bothering me.” When Peeves nodded his head in agreement, Harry continued, “Do you plan on keeping this change in personality, or are you going to revert back to normal tomorrow. Because I can tell you now, Hogwarts wouldn’t be the same without our resident Poltergeist around to make things hard… I mean interesting for the first years.”

“What’s the matter, Potty? Miss me already?”

“What I miss, is watching you torment Filch.”

“Ah. Well the nasty man should be back tonight. And the little monsters will be here tomorrow. Then you can watch me have all the fun I want. But you’d better watch your back, Potty. After tonight, you’ll no longer be immune.”

“Hmm, as you say.” Harry had to hold back a smile, knowing that Peeves didn’t really mean it. Certainly, he would be hit with one or two pranks, but nothing as bad as before. In fact he was sure that Peeves would be gathering information from those who could be considered enemies, and sending it back to Harry and Severus. “Do you have your water balloons ready for tomorrow?”

“Ye…Hey!!” Peeves cried, “you’re not supposed to know about that!”

Not being able to hold the laughter back completely, Harry turned his back, so that Peeves couldn’t see the smirk. “I found a spell in the library that allowed you to change the hair color of anyone you want. You need to cast it on water, and then pour the water over your chosen victim,” Harry finally was able to reply.

Baby talk was the only sound in the kitchen while Harry fed the twins, as Peeves thought over what Harry had just said. “Pink,” he finally said.

Harry smirked once more. “I was thinking bright purple myself.”

~~hp~~

Pushing the double jogging stroller that he and Severus had found during their trip to Muggle London, Harry entered the Great Hall for the last quiet meal the staff had before the students returned once more. The first few days of using this particular stroller had garnered both him and his mate strange looks from within the castle as well as Hogsmeade, but Harry had been adamant about not using magic for every little thing. Being that there were two children to look after instead of one, he knew that carrying the twins everywhere was just not an option.

Parking just behind the Head table, Harry made short work of getting the girls settled in their high chairs, complete with magical bibs that spelled away most of the mess instead of having it smeared all over the place. He knew as soon as the adult food arrived the house elves would send up teething biscuits for each of the girls as well. Setting out toys for the girls to play with while they waited, Harry wondered if the magical water the students would get hit with tomorrow would somehow be connected to him, and then winced when he realized just who Peeves favorite target usually was. Hopefully the members of his own House will be able to forgive him.

“What seems to be troubling you this evening, Harry?” a soft, cultured voice asked.

Smiling at the family of blonds that had just reached the table, Harry rolled his eyes, as each of the girls went missing from their spots, caught up by the two Malfoy men. “I would love to be able to tell you, ‘Cissa, but then I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to let any of you live to tell anyone else you see. I would also need to dispose of your bodies in such a way that nothing would be connected back to me, and the whole thing would just become one really big mess, because you know that I would find myself extremely guilty for my actions, and eventually turn myself in….” here Harry sighed, and lowered his head for a moment before looking up once again, “and I really would hate to do that ‘Cissa, ‘cuz you know that I care for you just way too much….”

A soft snort of laughter came, seconds before a gentle kiss was brushed against the top of his head. “Tell them and get it over with, I’ll help you dispose of the bodies in a way that no one would be able to find, and then I’ll stop you from confessing years down the line. I’m sure the knowledge that we become the main benefactors of the Malfoy estate would go a long way to keep your guilt to yourself as well,” Severus whispered in his ear.

“I like the way you think,” Harry whispered back, his grin turning positively predatory. “Do any of you have parchment and quill on you?” Harry asked, his eyes way too innocent to be believable.

“Why?” Draco drawled.

“I’m going to make a list of all the ways I can spend the Malfoy money after we dispose of the three of you. I think I’ll start with the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Set it up so they get all new equipment every two years. Then I’ll go ahead and rebuild Godric’s Hollow, maybe corrupt our governing body so that Muggleborns are in power….” Harry trailed off, seeing the look of disgust on Lucius face. He was able to hold on to his innocent expression for a few more seconds, before he started to laugh.

“And what are plotting this time, Mr. Potter?” a new voice asked.

Looking up, Harry saw both Minerva and Albus enter the great hall, and managed to bring his laughter under control. “Nothing at all, Deputy Headmistress Ma’am,” Harry replied, batting his eyes, almost completely innocent once again.

“Mr. Potter!” The voice was stern, but Harry could see the amusement in McGonagall’s eyes.

“It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it, and you have no proof to the contrary,” Harry said firmly.

“Indeed. Lucius, do you think that if we keep him in detention for most of the school year, we may manage to keep him out of trouble?” Minerva asked the older blond.

“Only if I have your permission to find the most disgusting tasks that need to be done here in the castle, and make him do them,” Lucius replied, attempting to keep his glare in place, while avoiding looking directly in Harry’s eyes.

“Now now, children, I’m sure Severus will be more than up to the task of taking care of Harry this year,” Albus broke in, his eyes twinkling madly.

“Oh, indeed,” Severus smirked, pulling out the parchment and quill that Harry had requested earlier. “If you plan on having the Muggleborns take over the government, they’ll need extra classes, in order to learn what the purebloods learn before reaching Hogwarts. I suggest one of the first things that gets done once they are in control is setting it up so that the children being introduced to our world for the first time, are informed of it six months to a year before they actually start school, to teach rudimentary courses, like penmanship and potions.”

“Uncle Sev!!”

“Hush Draco, we’re plot… I mean planning out the future of the Wizarding world.”

“The two of you are positively horrid!” Narcissa exclaimed.

Two dark eyebrows lifted, one from each male in question. “Your point being?”

Bowing to defeat gracefully, Narcissa took her place across from Harry, stealing the parchment and quill to redo the list in her much neater writing. “If the two of you are done planning the taking over of the Ministry, may I suggest turning your attention to the classes taught here. A better foundation in Spell Theory and Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy, would only be an improvement to our society.”

Thus, the conversation was set for the rest of dinner. The staff trying to outdo each other, in creating the most outrages classes they could think of to teach the fresh new minds coming into their waiting talons...er...hands.