Growing Up Royal: After TTTC

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever contributed to the Harry Potter stories by J. K. Rowling. I do not make money at writing this fanfiction nor any others. But, I sure do like to borrow the characters and play for awhile. I promise to put them back so others can share too.

Summary: After The Third Time Charm, Harry, Severus and company start to raise Harry Potter while trying to help the Potter parents recover. AD was right about something, Becca said, all this fame could go to his head. AD GnW RW HG MW bashing, Abuse, Anal, AU/AR, M/M, OC, Oral, Spank, Yaoi

Growing up Royal: After TTTC

Posted: 30 May 2010

Chapter 7 Learning Something New

After breakfast, they all gathered together to discuss where everyone would be located. The kids were going with Granddad and James as well as a few of the other volunteers. Then Lily and Narcissa (Tonks said she wasn’t good with sick people) were going to the hospital tent as well as the Potions Masters, Grandpa, Severus, Salazar and Snape. That left Harry, Sirius, Reg, both Lupin men, and Tonks to help with the cleanup of the destroyed houses. Lucius (whom no one could imagine doing cleanup) stayed with Douglas Morgan to help organize other volunteers and keep track of the accounts. It was going to be a very busy day.

Little Harry was quiet that morning and as they walked to the wall where they would be working, James asked his son if he was feeling alright. The little green eyed boy looked up at his father and smiled, “Of course, Dad” but then was quiet again.

A few minutes later, he grabbed hold of his father’s hand and squeezed tight as the memory of last night played again in his mind. He wondered how he would feel if both of his parents were in a coma like Ethan’s parents. He couldn’t remember the time before, but he knew it must have been awful.

“Dad?” he asked to get his father’s attention.

“Yes, son?” James queried back.

“What was it like to be in the coma?” the little boy wondered.

“I don’t exactly remember. Why do you ask?” James wondered what brought this up all of a sudden.

“Last night there was a boy about my age, crying because he couldn’t see his parents. They are in the medical tent sleeping because they used up too much magic.”

“Oh, now I understand. Son you don’t need to worry about it. Your Uncle Sev, Uncle Snape, Uncle Sal and Grandpa are at the tent now making the potions to help everyone. Your little friend’s parents will be better soon.” James assured his son. “Besides, you know Doc and the other healers that came with him are going to help too.”

“I’m glad we came to help, Dad” Little Harry said as he looked into his father’s face, an innocent, wide eyed, expression staring up at the man.

“Me too, son, me too” James said with a smile as he squeezed the little hand in his in reassurance and acknowledgement of the father/son moment.

“Everyone over here, come on kids” someone called from a work area. “I want all the kids to form a semicircle around here, so everyone can see.” The unnamed worker called out while indicating a section of wall that had fallen in ruins.

Next to the wall was a gaping hole in the ground about a meter and a half deep and two meters long. It was about one meter wide and looked like someone had thrown a lightening bolt right at the ground and opened it up. The kids looked down into the hole to see if they could see anything, but the shadows cast by the early morning sun made it too dark. They then formed their semicircle to watch what the instructor was doing.

“Now, you all know that when we use magic, we have to focus and concentrate on what we want to accomplish.” The kids all nodded in understanding. This was not a new concept to the children from England; they had studied with the founders’ portraits and their parents for a few years now. They just were never able to do the practical side of magic yet, well except for Lillian. She had a different kind of magic.

“Well, in reconstructing the wall, we are going to learn the muggle way so that when we concentrate we know what the correct specifications are.” He noticed a few blank expressions so changed his words. “We learn the muggle way so we know what it’s supposed to look like.” The kids nodded their heads in understanding.

They watched closely as the man put a brick in place, and then demonstrated how to make sure it was level. He then placed the mortar on the brick with a trowel (Teddy made a comment about it sounding like a towel). They learned how to use a tool called a level, when a second brick was placed on the first one, and how to tap it till the bubble on the level was perfectly aligned. They also used the level to make sure the wall would be perfectly straight going up and didn’t lean to one side or the other.

After spending about an hour listening to the instructor, everyone got a chance to actually put a brick in place and use the trowel with the mortar. They were shown how to stagger the bricks to make the wall stronger and the importance of keeping everything level.

“Now that we have all learned how to make the wall the muggle way, I want you to close your eyes and picture in your mind everything we have learned. We won’t do anymore today, as the hole needs to be filled first and someone is coming to do that this afternoon.”

“Will we be working on this tomorrow?” Evan asked.

“Yes, but this afternoon, you and your parents are going to get your wands at the shop down the street. We have already asked them and they gave permission.” He was sure that they didn’t hear everything he said. As soon as the word wand was out of his mouth, the children started to jump up and down shouting in excitement. They had wanted wands for some time, but were not allowed to get them where they lived.

“You mean we get to have real wands?” Draco asked looked around at his siblings. They had wanted them for so long and now they could get their wish.

“Alright, settle down. You will be allowed to have wands, but your parents will have to hold them when you are not being supervised. It is allowed in New Zealand for children over five but fewer than ten to have a wand, but only while in the presence of an adult witch or wizard. After ten, you are allowed to have one without an adult present.” Several of the kids groaned at that and you could see the disappointment of some of their faces, but they were still excited about getting a wand even if their parents had to keep them.

The five boys in the group wanted to see into the hole by the missing portion of the wall again. Draco and his little brother, Lucien, were almost there before James shouted for them to stop. “Not so fast, boys, you can look into the space but I want you to walk slower so you don’t trip. If you end up falling in, I don’t want to be the one to have to tell your parents. They might decide to eat me for lunch.”

The boys snickered at the idea of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy eating Uncle James for lunch, but slowed down as they approached the cavernous space in the ground. James hadn’t wanted to try and watch five boys at one time as their Granddad was watching the girls.

“Alright, boys, lay down on your stomachs when you get close and I will send a light spell down there so you can see.” James instructed the boys. If they were lying on the ground, they couldn’t get into too much trouble; at least he hoped they wouldn’t.

James lay down on the ground with the rest of the boys and using his wand, shot a light spell into the darkness of the space below. It was different than a simple lumos spell as it shot light into the entire area.

The boys peered down into the crevice for a few minutes, their attention already waning before Evan shouted, “I see something moving!”

Little Harry scrambled closer to the edge and stuck his head down into the hole. James pulled him back with a swift grab and admonished him, “Not so close, son. I don’t want you to fall in.”

“But Dad, I can see something! It looks like a snake or something. If I go down there I can find out.” Now, James, who still didn’t understand where the parsletongue came from, had never gotten accustomed to the fact that his son spoke to snakes. But in this case, he new it was not a snake down in that pit.

“Son, there aren’t any snakes in New Zealand, except perhaps by the water and even then not seen very often.”

“But I saw something slither” the young boy insisted.

James, not wanting to disappoint his son, tried to angle the light in a better way to see what was down at the bottom, but he couldn’t get around the angles of the rock to see clearly.

“Evan!” Little Harry said, “do you hear something? I thought I heard a voice down there.” The excitement at a discovery in the pit had the boys on edge trying to see and find out what it was. James felt like he was a kid himself, as he peered into the area trying to see what his son was talking about.

“Yeah, I hear something. Sounds a little like when Third Born talks to me. Maybe it is a snake.”

James was getting a little exasperated and finally said, “Then why don’t one of you boys ask it what it is and what it’s doing down there? I don’t care which one.” If it were left up to the boys, they would be here all day discussing about it and looking into the hole. James felt like they should go do something else and the girls were getting restless.

Evan nodded to his cousin as if to say he should talk into the space and see what answers they could hear.

** “Hello down there, what are you doing in the hole?” **

** “I can’t get out, can you help me?”**

** “I am sure we can, are you a snake?” **

** “Of course not, there are no snakes in this area. I am a dragon.” **

Little Harry looked at Evan and asked, “Did he say he was a dragon?” Evan nodded and the others looked at the two as the conversation continued.

James, who didn’t understand the hissing and spitting sounds, certainly understood the dragon part of the conversation between Evan and his son. “Silver!” he shouted to the man still with the girls, “We need you over here. There is something stuck in the bottom of the fissure.”

Granddad told the girls sternly to wait right where they were standing and then called one of the house elves they had brought with them to mind the three before he walked the five or so meters separating him from the boys.

“What’s the problem?” he asked the others as soon as he came upon them.

“Evan and Little Harry say there is a dragon in the bottom of this crevice, but I can’t light it up enough to see the thing. They thought they saw a snake and then heard hissing. Since I don’t understand any of it, I thought…”

Silver nodded his head in understanding and went to the other side of the crevice so he too could use a light spell. But he used the one that his husband had taught him long ago and created light discs that he placed in strategic spots down in the hole so they could see without having to hold onto a wand.

**“Did you say you are a dragon? What kind of dragon are you?”** the older man hissed into the hole. He noticed they were getting some attention from others as they were walking past and saw everyone gathered around the opening.

**“I am an Eastern Bearded Dragon”** was the reply from below.

**“How did you get down there?”** Silver asked the being.

**“The ground shook and the wall I was sunning on collapsed.”**

**“Are you alone?”**

**“No, two of my nest mates are here.”**

**“This hole is going to be filled this afternoon. You need to get out.”**

**“We haven’t been able to climb out, the walls are too straight.”**

**“Will you allow us to get you out?”**

**“Acceptable”**

Silver got up from the ground he was lying on and looked at the gathering of people around the area. He wasn’t sure what an Eastern Bearded Dragon was but surely the locals would know. They were standing around gawking at him, so he figured they must have heard the snake language and were trying to figure out if he was evil or not.

Really, what was called the snake language was actually used for most reptiles. For each species the words were pronounced a little differently, but it was understandable.

“Does anyone know what an Eastern Bearded Dragon is? How big it is and if it is poisonous?” he asked the small crowd of people. Most of the time if he ignored their stares and acted normally, they would forget about the strange language or they would deny they heard it and think it was something else.

“It’s a type of lizard. It gets to be about fifty to sixty centimeters and no it is not poisonous but can be very vicious” someone from the crowd answered him.

“Well, that explains a lot” the older man said before he turned back to the hole. “There are three of them stuck down in that crevice. Does anyone want to help me get them out?” The man who had answered his questions came forward and offered to help. Now that Silver had an idea of what he was looking for, he could see the three lizards even with their color of grey and black blending in with the shadows. He saw their tails moving and could understand why the boys thought they were snakes.

By this time some of the other children had come over to see what was going on and Little Harry saw his friend Ethan coming toward him.

“Hi Ethan, we found three dragons and my Granddad is getting them out of the hole.” He greeted his friend with the excitement of the day.

“Yeah? I’ve seen them before, but never up this close. They like to sun on the wall sometimes.”

The boys watched with the others as the lizards were levitated out of the fissure that had them trapped. They were carefully placed down on the ground and everyone watched as they huddled together looking at so many humans surrounding them.

**“We will not hurt you” Silver told them. “We just have never seen your kind of lizard and the boys wanted to meet you.”**

The three dragons bowed and allowed the boys to pick them up. They were grateful for being released from their involuntary prison.

“I wish I could take one home.” Draco said as he looked at Granddad.

“I think your mother would have something to say about that, and I don’t think it would be happy in the English climate either.” The older man answered.

Draco nodded his head as he held the dragon carefully and stroked his back. When it started to wiggle, he put it back down on the ground, where it met its other two nest mates and they wondered off away from the crowd.

It was time for lunch and James and Silver gathered the children together to make their way to the eating area. Before they were allowed in the room, James made them all wash up after being on the ground and handling the lizards.

With the whole family sitting at one long table, the children excitedly told the story of their morning adventure. James wasn’t sure that the women appreciated the exaggerated story, but they at least knew the boys had fun. Every time they explained what happened, the lizards got bigger and more ferocious. Of course the girls had their own version of the story as they hadn’t appreciated the ‘dragons’ as much as their male siblings.

It was at lunch that Nissy said something about getting their wands that afternoon. Her father looked at her mother and said in a most serious tone, “I don’t know anything about wands, do you Narcissa?”

Catching on to her husband’s ruse, she joined in the game, “I don’t either. You can’t have wands until you are eleven and receive your Hogwarts letter.”

“But Mother” the child complained, “the others are getting theirs and we were told you knew about it. They said that here in New Zealand we could have wands if we have an adult with us when we use them.”

“Please Mother” piped up her twin. “We have been very good and could help more if we had one. We learned some spells today and want to try them.” Lissy gave her Mother the puppy dog eyes and pouty lip for extra effect.

Lucius was the one that answered his oldest children, “I don’t remember giving you permission to get wands. Are you sure you have been good today?” Of course he could never deny his precious girls anything, especially if it helped them magically. They had, after all, been born without their power and had been helped by Doc and Shashi not long after they first met the Prince family. Now, almost seven years later, they were all very close.

“Uncle Lucius” Little Harry joined into the conversation, “we are all going to do the building spells tomorrow and they will learn more about magic. Please let them get a wand with the rest of us.”

And yes their champion comes to the rescue, Lucius thought with a smile. It was always Harry that would help the girls any way that he could. He liked that the girls had someone looking out for them all the time. He hoped that Draco and his brother would grow into that and learn something from the young boy. At this time in their life, they mostly squabbled like siblings are so often found doing, especially ones so close in age.

“Well” Lucius answered, “I guess since Little Harry has so effectively argued your case, I will allow you to get wands this afternoon. But I will tell you now; you are not to use them unless another adult is with you. Is that understood?” he looked at his daughters sternly.

“Yes, thank you Father” they both said at the same time.

“Thank you Father” the boys said after hearing their sisters.

When the children had left to go with some of the other kids outside to play, Narcissa leaned over to her husband’s ear and said, “You are so bad, Mr. Malfoy. You knew all about the wands.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t hurt for them to ask permission, and you know how much I love teasing the girls” he answered as his mouth formed a smirk and the amusement alight in his eyes.

“Yes” she said as she slipped her hand on his thigh and whispered in his ear again, “and you know how much I love to make you pay for it too, Lucius.”

“Why do you think I do it?” he whispered back. He gave his wife a brief kiss before getting up. He knew if he didn’t get away from Narcissa soon, he would have a growing problem. Sometimes it amazed him that after so many years of marriage, they could still get each other excited at the smallest of touches and a few words.

Harry and Severus, unbeknownst to the Malfoys, had noticed the conversation. Not that they needed it, but it definitely gave them some ideas for later that evening as well.

A/N Thank you to all those who read and reviewed, tamikolee, Destaney, kim, Jennifer, Melibea, kaasan, and Serin.