The morning Prophet often made the occupants of Seren Du fill with rage, but this one managed to have Sirius swearing before a single page had been opened.
The front page story covered how a transport of prisoners to Azkaban had been 'attacked' and the prisoners — all convicted Death Eaters — had broken free. Miraculously, both aurors involved were entirely unharmed.
"Scrimgeour is going to be the death of all of us, that incompetent fool," Snape muttered, glaring daggers at the newspaper. Harry reached for it, wanting to read just how badly the Ministry had fucked up this time. Their new Minister was much more focused on looking like he was doing something externally than dealing with the many problems within the Ministry itself, so things like this would only keep happening.
"At least they've finally admitted they don't have control over the dementors," Harry pointed out, gesturing to a section on the third page that was a response to all the calls for harsher punishments, for all the confirmed Death Eaters to be Kissed immediately. It was only a tiny admission, hidden in a much larger paragraph about how the Kiss was too drastic — citing Sirius as an example of how that could go poorly, as if he'd even had a trial the first time round. But there it was; Azkaban prison no longer serves as the home for the dementors, and their use in guarding prisoners has ceased to be Ministry protocol. Like they'd just decided against it, rather than had all the dementors bugger off to join Voldemort.
"Well they've had to, after all the attacks further north," Remus reasoned. "They'd rather admit they've lost the dementors than pretend they haven't and take responsibility for that whole village that got Kissed."
Harry shuddered at the reminder; that had been a truly awful attack to read about.
Not for the first time, Harry wondered if there would be anything left of wizarding Britain by the time he turned seventeen. So much had happened already in the time Voldemort had gone public… what if he couldn't afford to wait.
"I know what you're thinking, and stop it," Draco muttered, bumping his knee against Harry's. "You're not responsible for any of this."
"But I know how to stop him—"
"So does Dumbledore, and he sure as hell isn't hurrying up with it. Besides, there's still potentially three more horcruxes we don't know about." Draco kissed him, giving him a sharp look. "Stop beating yourself up about this."
Harry huffed. "Stop being right all the time."
A cocky smirk crossed Draco's lips. "Shan't," he replied, turning back to his breakfast, both of them ignoring the amused looks on the adults' faces.
They were due to practice apparating again with Sirius, who thankfully seemed in much better spirits than the day before. So, after breakfast, the three of them went out into their usual spot in the woods; both Harry and Draco had managed to apparate at least once, with the circles so close together, and today Sirius was going to move them a little further apart. Harry just hoped his godfather was right about it getting easier after the first time.
.-.
By lunch time, they had succeeded in apparating three more times each without anyone getting splinched, and Sirius promised to start them on destinations they couldn't see next time they practiced. So it was on a high that Harry returned to the house, and Remus floated a letter his way when he walked into the kitchen. "This came for you, about half an hour ago."
Harry frowned, tearing the envelope open. "It's from Cassius."
Draco appeared at his shoulder with concern, leaning in to read the letter as well.
Dear Harry,
I'm sure you've seen the paper. I don't know if your friend Tonks told you, but my uncle and cousin were two of the Death Eaters convicted in the group that escaped. My other cousin died in the attack. I'm the last eligible heir to the Warrington seat.
There's a Wizengamot meeting in a week. I'm going to claim my seat. If I do that, they can't take it away from me, no matter what happens. But I am not nearly as politically powerful as Lady Malfoy, so I fear I cannot do this without bringing quite a high level of wrath down on myself.
That isn't going to stop me, but I may need sanctuary. I'll do my best to convince the Dark Lord I am aligned with his views, though I will continue to avoid the Mark for as long as I can. With any luck, I can toe the line, but I'll be honest I don't see it lasting long.
I just wanted to prepare you — and if you happen to get one of those handy visions of yours in time to tell me to run, a warning would be greatly appreciated.
See you soon, but hopefully not too soon,
Cassius
P.S. Oliver sends his love, and says to hurry up and end the war so he can have the quidditch pitch wedding of his dreams. I asked him, he said yes.
Harry was grinning by the end of the letter, even though the rest of the contents was slightly alarming. "Sirius, Narcissa?" he started, looking up at the pair, "you two are going to be at the Wizengamot meeting next week, right?"
"We were certainly planning on it," Narcissa confirmed. "Is there a reason we shouldn't?"
"No, no — a reason you should, actually. Cassius Warrington is going to take his seat — apparently his uncle and cousin are two of the Azkaban escapees from this morning. So he's taking his chance while he can, but… if Voldemort comes after him expecting him to be Marked and fall in line, he needs a place to take cover."
The two Wizengamot members shared a grim look. "We'll slip him a portkey once he's confirmed his seat," Sirius assured. "Let him know who his allies are."
"Thank you." With any luck, that would keep both Cassius and Oliver safe. He turned back to Draco, offering a slight smile. "Be my date to their wedding? Whenever it is." Whenever the war ended, by the looks of it.
Draco eyed him over, eyes sparkling. "I suppose I can stand to be seen with you," he agreed, making Sirius snort.
"He doesn't clean up too badly," he defended. "Shame there's little be done with that hair of his, Even Sleakeasy's doesn't work — best thing old Monty ever invented, and it's still not enough to tame the famous Potter mop." He ruffled Harry's hair pointedly, then raised an eyebrow. "A mop that looks to be due a trim, quite honestly."
"Ginny usually does it before school lets out," Harry said, running a hand through the messy locks. "With everything that happened, I forgot to ask her."
"Moony'll cut it," Sirius offered. "He used to do Prongsy's, never turned out too badly."
"One of these days I'll get you to a proper hairdresser," Draco declared imperiously. As he did so, Remus and Snape walked through the door. Remus raised an eyebrow at the blond.
"You do that and they'll weep," he warned. "We never found one brave enough to tackle James'."
"Is it part of the family magic?" Harry asked, slightly astounded that his hair was apparently that historically problematic. Aunt Petunia had always just cut it as short as she dared while still keeping his scar covered, no matter how strange or unkempt it looked. "We were never really sure if it was magic or a weird genetic quirk," Sirius mused, sitting down to lunch. "Once James tried to see if growing it out would help, but that just made it worse. He broke three hair brushes in a month with that attempt."
"It will be very interesting to see which genetics come out on top," Narcissa remarked, eyeing Harry and Draco in consideration. "Every Malfoy since Henry VIII has been as blonde as a veela."
The boys looked at each other, blushing deeply at the insinuation. "Mother!" Draco protested in embarrassment. Narcissa just laughed, stroking her son's hair.
Harry stared down at his lunch with bright red cheeks — but, when he thought no one else was looking, he glanced up at Draco's pale hair in curiosity.
He was keen to see how those genetics would mix, too. One day.
.-.-.-.
Harry was excited for their visitors the next day; Tonks had sent word ahead that she would be bringing Kingsley with her — something that had had Narcissa running straight to visit Andi, even though Tonks specifically said not to make a big deal out of it — but both of them had promised to duel Harry and see how he did.
According to Snape, this was not enough reason to slack around and wait for them to show up, but he couldn't be the one to do so without revealing his presence there to the two aurors.
So Harry and Draco were both being put through their paces by Remus when the pair finally turned up to the large room they'd turned into their training room. "Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks greeted, waving. Kingsley was at her side, and raised an eyebrow at the sight of Draco.
"Mr Malfoy, I didn't realise you were part of this, too," he remarked. Draco shrugged, holstering his wand.
"Someone has to keep this idiot out of trouble," he said, and Harry just grinned. "I'm a lot newer to it than Harry, though."
"Maybe the two of us can duel the two of you, later," Harry suggested, not letting Draco put himself down; he was far better than he gave himself credit for.
Tonks lit up at the suggestion. "Oh, that'd be brilliant," she enthused.
"Remus, do you mind…?" Kingsley trailed off, and the werewolf shook his head, smiling.
"No, no, not at all. These two are all yours — I'll be in the library if you need me." He shrugged his cardigan back on. "Have fun, all of you. Remember, no spells you can't reverse." That was mostly said to Harry and Draco, and once Remus had left Kingsley eyed them bemusedly.
"I sense a story behind that warning."
Harry shrugged sheepishly. "We've had a few close calls, over the last couple of years." And maybe just the other week he'd sent off a Bone-Melting curse that would've landed his opponent in St Mungo's if it had been anyone other than Snape.
Still, no permanent harm had been done, and Harry had learned a valuable lesson. He rolled up his sleeves, sending a grin of challenge at the pair of aurors. "Right, then; who's up first?"
.-.-.
Duelling with two fully-qualified active service aurors was… difficult. Harry would be the first to admit he hadn't expected Tonks to be much of a challenge, considering how clumsy she was in her day-to-day life. But as soon as the fight began she turned into an entirely different person — though, not literally, even though it was well within her capability to do so.
Still, Harry had been trained by Severus Snape himself, and he was a lot more comfortable taking dirty shots than the aurors. It paid off eight minutes into the duel with Tonks, when he managed to freeze the ground beneath her feet for just long enough to get her slightly off balance, catching her with a Stunner to the thigh. Kingsley had a Cushioning charm out a split second before she hit the ground, and he walked over to revive his partner.
"He got me?" Tonks grumbled, accepting the hand up. Kingsley nodded.
"He did." He turned to Harry, clearly impressed. "You are not what I expected."
Harry laughed. "I get that a lot. Are you alright, Tonks?"
"Oh, yeah, fine," the auror waved him off. "Bloody hell, kid; you've got an arm on you! You sure you want to go into pro quidditch?"
"Professor McGonagall says the Auror Department has more rules than I'm capable of following," Harry told her cheerfully, hearing Draco snicker in the background. "Besides, I think once the war is over I'll be about done with fighting criminals."
"That's a shame; you're better than our trainees," Kingsley remarked. "Though honestly, that's not difficult at the moment, considering the standards." He grimaced, and Harry matched the expression; he could only imagine.
"If it helps, a lot of Hogwarts students have trained with me. Not quite at that level," Harry added, gesturing vaguely to indicate the duel he'd just had, "but they're good in a fight. So hopefully the auror ranks should swell in the next few years with some decent recruits." Though, admittedly, Harry wasn't sure how many of the HA members would trust the Ministry enough to apply.
In the corner, Tonks snorted. "Tell them to wait until Proudfoot's been kicked; he's an arse, and he hates people more competent than he is. Which is a pretty low bar, honestly."
The faintest smirk flickered across Kingsley's lips, and he didn't say anything, which was as good as agreement.
With the first duel out of the way, Harry faced off against Kingsley. That was a much harder fight, which he ultimately lost — but only after eighteen minutes of hard duelling. "More than most people get against Kings," Tonks complimented, patting her partner's bicep.
Having seen the way they duelled against Harry, Draco was reluctant to step up, but with a little encouragement and a whispered promise that had the blond flushing faintly, Harry persuaded him to duel Tonks while Kingsley went over some tips with Harry.
"I had no idea Sirius and Remus were such ruthless duellists," Kingsley remarked, when they were discussing some of the more morally dubious moves Harry had made. The Gryffindor tamped down a smile, imagining what the man might say if he revealed who his main instructor was.
"Sirius was raised a Black," he pointed out instead, "use any advantage you can." That wasn't untrue — not all of Harry's ruthlessness had come from Snape. Sirius and Remus were Marauders, and it showed when they got serious about duelling.
Duelling in pairs was where things really got intense; Harry and Draco had trained quite a lot together, but never against opponents who were also used to duelling in partnership. Fighting Sirius and Remus was the closest they got, but the older pair had a whole twelve year gap in their lives that had changed their duelling style. Tonks and Kingsley worked together, lived together, knew each other inside and out; and it showed in their fighting style, the pair working with a fluidity that Harry and Draco could only dream of.
Still, it was an incredibly helpful exercise, and Harry was a little sad when there was suddenly a chirping sound from the inside of Kingsley's robe. Tonks cursed, while the bald man just frowned and pulled out something that looked like a pocket watch, but was flashing bright red. "Duty calls," he sighed. "Good work today, boys. I'd be happy to come back and work with you further, work permitting." He turned to Tonks, kissing her chastely. "I'm sorry, Tonks; we'll have to postpone our dinner plans. I'll see you at home?"
"Be safe," she replied. "If it's Proudfoot fucking up again, do me a favour and hex him."
A flicker of a smile, and then Kingsley was striding from the room, leaving the three of them behind. When he was gone, Tonks let out a long sigh. "I swear to Helga, if he's gone all evening because of something stupid that the in-office aurors could've handled, I'm going to blow up the whole fucking Ministry."
"I thought the on-call aurors were only for emergencies?" Harry broached tentatively, and Tonks huffed.
"You would think so," she agreed, "but we've both had all sorts of ridiculous calls lately — it's worse than when Fudge was in charge! At least then it was genuine incompetence; now it's just Dark supporters within the Ministry accidentally letting things go wrong." She scowled, the tips of her hair turning red. "Sometimes I think they've figured the pair of us out; this only ever seems to happen on the times we have the whole day off together."
"Will it be bad, if you do get caught?" Draco asked with furrowed brows.
"Depends," Tonks said, shrugging. "They could technically fire both of us, if they wanted to. If they're trying to get Light-sided aurors out, that could happen. Best case scenario is a slap on the wrist and maybe a bit of suspension time, with a warning not to bring personal drama into the workplace. But ideally we'll keep it secret until it's no longer a problem."
At that, a secretive smile crossed her face. Harry and Draco shared a look; what did those two have planned?
"Well," Draco said eventually, checking his watch, "we were about due to finish up anyway, and I have some potions I wanted to brew. Are you staying for lunch, cousin?"
"Won't turn down a free meal," Tonks chirped cheerfully. "Especially now I've got nothing to go home to for a while."
Draco nodded, and tugged Harry into a brief kiss.
"Don't blow up the basement," Harry teased, earning a dirty look from his boyfriend before the blond also left. Harry glanced at Tonks, shrugging. "We've got an hour or so until lunch. Would you mind going over that rope-tripping thing you used with me? I've never seen it before."
"Of course, yeah!" She grinned. "It's something my dad taught me, actually. Dead useful in a fight."
She happily launched into a demonstration, and Harry paid close attention. After a while, he finally gathered the courage to ask a question he'd been thinking about for a while. "Hey, Tonks," he started, and she raised an expectant eyebrow. "Can I ask… why doesn't Kingsley call you by your name? Y'know, since you two are together and everything."
She blinked, perplexed. "He does?"
"No, I mean like, your first name or anything," Harry clarified. "Draco calls me Potter sometimes, but it's not really the same thing." He and Draco used surnames practically as a term of endearment by now, after so much time only being able to use them in public.
Tonks frowned, and Harry wondered if he'd misstepped. "I'm sorry, it's none of my business, I—"
"No, no, you're fine," she assured. "It's just not always an easy one to explain. I…" she sighed deeply. "My first name… I hate it," she told him. "Not just in the way that it's old-fashioned and a bit of a mouthful. For a while at school I tried shortening it to Dora, but… it's such a girl's name, y'know?"
Harry blinked, trying to figure out where she was coming from. "But… you're only a boy sometimes, right? Does having a girl's name bother you even when you are a girl?" Had he misunderstood the whole situation? Was he using the wrong pronouns, even now?
"I'm only a boy sometimes," Tonks agreed, "but even when I look like a girl I don't always feel like a girl, y'know? It's like… something in-between. Not quite one or the other." She huffed in frustration, running a hand through her hair. "I'll be honest with you, Harry; I can hardly explain it myself, let alone to anyone else. But… Tonks is a name that feels like me no matter how I'm feeling gender-wise, y'know? There might be days where I don't mind being called Dora — though I will always hate the full name, really, I don't know what Mum was thinking," she added with a look that made Harry grin, "but Tonks is just… me. So yeah, it might sound weird when my boyfriend calls me by my last name like we're just auror partners and nothing else. But it fits." She grinned playfully. "Sometimes I like to think it's like I'm one of those muggle pop stars, like Cher, or Prince, or Madonna."
Harry snickered. "You could bring the trend into the magical world."
"Right?" she agreed enthusiastically. "Clearly I missed my calling as the next greatest magical pop star. Weird Sisters eat your hearts out." She winked, reaching out to ruffle Harry's hair. "Anyway, I like to pretend my first name doesn't exist, and Kings is happy to do the same." Her gaze turned teasing all of a sudden. "Or were you thinking about what he calls me when we're alone?" she drawled, wiggling her eyebrows. Harry blushed furiously, shaking his head.
"No!" he spluttered, making her laugh. "I just— it seemed a bit—" He didn't want to say weird, though clearly from the look on Tonks' face he didn't need to. She wasn't offended, though, and her smile softened.
"Not everyone needs pet names to know they're loved," she pointed out. "Him calling me by the name I choose is way better than any nickname either of us could think of, anyway." Her pale green eyes shone with adoration for a moment, and then she shook her head, blushing. "Merlin, listen to me, I sound like a besotted little third year."
Harry smirked at her. "Well, you did invite him here…" he started, yelping and ducking when Tonks sent a Stinging hex his way.
"We are not making a big deal out of that," she said pointedly, glaring even as her blush brightened. "Besides, it's Sirius and Charlie you should be teasing about that; moving the bloke in here after two months together."
Harry groaned, shaking his head. "Merlin, have you seen them, though? They're disgustingly happy together. And I thought Draco and I were bad!" Sirius and Charlie were the polar opposite of Remus and Snape, and having the two couples living under the same roof was wildly jarring at times.
"I've seen Charlie obsessed with boyfriends in the past, but it's never been like this," Tonks agreed. She shook her head fondly. "They're meant to be, I suppose."
Harry nodded vehemently; if ever there was an example of true love forming quickly, it was those two. "I'm just glad Sirius has someone. He was alone for so long…" Compared to the man he had been at the end of Harry's third year, Sirius was practically a whole new person. Even compared to how he had been in the weeks before Charlie had returned from Romania, there was a significant change.
"Yeah, takes the fun out of teasing them a bit, doesn't it?" Tonks said in mock-annoyance. "He's had so much shit, he deserves good things. Even if watching them together does make me nauseous."
Harry laughed; he could certainly agree with that, on both counts.
.-.-.-.
At last, the day had arrived.
OWL results.
Both the boys were surprised by the delivery over breakfast, too busy bickering about the plot of a muggle book Harry had made Draco read. They didn't even notice them, until Narcissa plucked two identical envelopes from the pile of post Ceri brought in. "Well, I've been waiting for these to arrive," she said, loud enough to cut over their argument. She held out one to each of them, and Harry took one look at the Ministry seal and thought he might be sick. Suddenly all eyes were on them; even Snape was watching keenly, though his face gave nothing away.
Harry turned to Draco, who looked equally nervous. "Best just get it over with, then, yeah?" he suggested, ever the Gryffindor. Draco gave a jerky nod, and together they opened the envelopes.
There was complete silence in the kitchen as the pair of them read. Harry stared down at the parchment, the letters taking a minute to turn into actual words through the panicked haze in his brain. As he skimmed over the listing, his brain shorted out for an entirely different reason.
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS RESULTS
Harry James Potter has achieved:
Astronomy: E
Care of Magical Creatures: O
Charms: O
Defence Against the Dark Arts: O *
Divination: E
Herbology: O
Arithmancy: O
History of Magic: A
Ancient Runes: O
Potions: O
Transfiguration: O
*Mr Potter is to be congratulated for achieving the highest DADA grade since 1904
"Well?" Sirius pressed eagerly, practically leaning over the table. "How'd you do?"
"I… I got an O in Potions," Harry stuttered — that, to him, was the most surprising grade of the lot. He looked up at Snape, wide-eyed. "I got an O in Potions." No matter how many times he said it, it still sounded utterly ridiculous.
Snape's lips curved in a smile, and even Harry could see the pride shining in those dark eyes. "Nothing less than I expected," he replied. The flood of warmth that filled Harry's chest at his words took him by surprise — had he truly been so worried about letting him down?
Yes, he realised. He had; Snape had put so much effort into working with Harry over the summers, despite their rocky start. He was a hard man to please, and Harry felt like a puppy who had just been given a treat for doing a good job. He grinned so wide his face hurt.
"You are never allowed to call me a nerd again," Draco declared, making Harry realise the blond was leaning over his shoulder to snoop at Harry's results. Grey eyes glittered, and lips pressed to Harry's cheek. "Not bad, Potter." It was said ever so fondly, and the warm feeling got impossibly bigger.
"How'd you do?"
Draco held his own parchment out so Harry could read it, right as Sirius gave up on patience entirely and plucked Harry's results from his hand. Harry ignored him, head pressed lightly against Draco's as he read.
Draconis Lucius Malfoy has achieved:
Astronomy: O
Care of Magical Creatures: E
Charms: O
Defence Against the Dark Arts: O
Herbology: E
History of Magic: O
Ancient Runes: O
Potions: O
Transfiguration: E
Harry looked up at him, beaming, and hugged him tightly round the shoulders. "Draco, that's brilliant! Well done!"
"I would've liked to do better in Transfiguration," the Slytherin said, frowning slightly. "But I knew I didn't fully manage the animate to inanimate transfiguration, so it's not really a surprise." He let his mother take the results, and Harry kissed the corner of his mouth as the pair of them watched the adults react to the results. Sirius was beaming widely, Charlie's chin propped on his shoulder so he could read as well, while Remus leaned in to get a look. Narcissa and Snape had their heads bent together over Draco's, and when they looked up, both had approval clear on their faces.
"Well done, darling," Narcissa said, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "Wonderful results!"
"You have done yourself a credit, Draco," Snape agreed. Harry could feel the way Draco's shoulders straightened at the man's words, delight crossing his features — all he had ever wanted was to make Severus Snape proud of him.
"Sounds like you're both nerds, to me!" Sirius declared playfully. "Oi, Snape, trade you." He held out Harry's results, his other hand reaching expectantly for Draco's. Snape obligingly traded, and then Narcissa's warm smile was directed at Harry.
"Congratulations, Harry, dear. You should be very pleased."
"I am," he assured, nodding hard. "Merlin, I can't believe I got an E in Divination!" He definitely owed Parvati and Lavender something nice.
"Shame about History of Magic," Charlie said. "But I guess you did sort of get a vision in the middle and everything."
Harry snorted; yes, considering the circumstances, he was just glad to have passed that one.
"And I suppose I can let the Astronomy grade slide," Sirius said with mock-dismay, "since there was a bit of an interruption. Although Draco still managed to uphold the Black family pride." He was clearly teasing, and Harry laughed.
"Well done, both of you." Remus smiled, amber eyes bright. "We'll have to do something to celebrate. Certainly cake for dinner."
"You just want cake," Sirius teased, elbowing his friend. "You boys mind if I keep these for a bit? Cissa and I are having lunch with Andi after our Wizengamot meeting, it's only fair if we do a bit of bragging."
Harry didn't mind at all; he wasn't likely to forget any of those grades in a hurry.
"Should we write and see what the others got, or just wait until my birthday?" Harry asked, directing the question at Draco. Harry's birthday was a little over a week away, and he knew he'd be seeing most of his friends then.
"Well I'm writing to the girls," Draco told him, "but I'm going to wait on the rest."
"I should tell Parvati and Lavender their efforts weren't wasted," Harry mused, still in shock over that Divination result.
"Go on, boys; go write to your friends," Sirius urged. "And take the day off training, too — you've earned it!"
Harry couldn't even argue with that; he was far too happy to even try and concentrate on duelling.
Abruptly, Draco snorted. "I bet you've done better than Granger," he remarked. Harry stared at him.
"Maybe in a couple subjects, but overall? I doubt it." He couldn't see Hermione getting anything less than an E. He wouldn't even be surprised if she had straight Os.
"You might not have noticed because you were busy doing a thousand things at once, but Granger spent half of the last year paying more attention to what you were doing than her own work," Draco informed him, deeply amused. "And you did one more subject than her, thanks to your two self-studies. Which, I can only speak for Runes, but she spent most of that exam trying to glare at you without getting caught. Between that and how much you improved through the HA, it wouldn't surprise me if you've beaten her. History of Magic doesn't count," he dismissed easily.
Harry shook his head, a little incredulous. "We'll see when school starts back, I suppose." The idea of academically out-performing Hermione Granger… well, it was incredibly satisfying, to say the least.
.-.-.-.
Sirius still felt strange walking into the Wizengamot chambers, his robes transforming into the official garb the moment he stepped over the threshold. It still felt strange to be in the Ministry at all; people looked at him like he was some sort of criminal, but he was getting used to that now.
It helped, having Charlie by his side. The redhead kissed his cheek before they all split up to take their assigned seats, and Sirius didn't miss the wave of whispers sparked by the action. He smirked to himself; let them gossip, he had nothing to be ashamed of. Charlie was the one whose reputation would take a hit, and the dragon tamer had repeatedly assured him that he couldn't give less of a damn about that.
He settled into the Black family seat, propping his ankle on his knee, and waited for the meeting to start.
"We have a new member joining us today," Scrimgeour announced once everyone was present and quiet. He didn't look too happy about it. Sirius sat up a little straighter; of course, the Warrington boy was claiming his seat, Harry had said.
The door opened, and Cassius Warrington strode in, the tightness of his jaw the only sign of his anxiety. Sirius could see the family resemblance easily; Julius Warrington, the boy's father, had graduated Hogwarts the year Sirius had started, but their families ran in the same social circles. "I, Cassius Julius Warrington, have come to claim the Warrington seat of my birthright," the eighteen year-old declared in a firm voice. Sirius saw several people exchange glances, no doubt curious that the boy had not said anything about doing so with the permission of his uncle.
As if he would admit such a thing even if he did have it, when his uncle was a wanted fugitive.
The Warrington seat glowed in approval, and Cassius' robes transformed, the ring appearing on his hand. Sirius saw the way his shoulders loosened minutely — it was the same way Harry's had, when the Wizengamot chamber had let Sirius take on his proxy seats.
The relief of knowing your future was in safe hands. In this case, in Cassius' own hands.
"Welcome, Lord Warrington," Scrimgeour sneered, his contempt visible. Sirius scowled; they deserved better than a Minister who judged people by their family name rather than their character. "Please, take your seat."
The Warrington seat was only a few down from the Black seat, and as the young lord passed in front of Sirius, the animagus cleared his throat, bending as if to pick something off the floor. "Excuse me, Lord Warrington, I believe you dropped this."
Cassius looked confused, but that cleared rapidly as Sirius discreetly handed him a folded piece of parchment with a small lump inside — a ring. Cassius met his gaze, and Sirius gave the barest nod. The portkey would take him to safety, should he ever need it.
"Thank you, Lord Black," the Slytherin murmured, and continued on his way.
Sirius let his gaze slide to Narcissa, who had the tiniest shadow of a smile for him in response.
Scrimgeour started the meeting, and Sirius did his best not to doze off through the whole thing; most of it was just unnecessary waffle, whether it was the Minister or Dumbledore taking the floor. Nothing useful was being suggested — everyone was too scared of upsetting the balance in one direction or another, with all the outside forces at work. And with Sirius and Narcissa shifting the power around, no one was quite sure how voting would fall on certain matters; the Dark no longer had the confidence of keeping the Malfoy bloc, while the Light was fractured into those who supported Dumbledore and those who did not.
Just as things were starting to wind down, Narcissa raised her wand, startling the gathering.
"Lady Malfoy, you have the floor." Scrimgeour was clearly reluctant to hand things over, but rules were rules. Narcissa smiled, getting gracefully to her feet. "Thank you, Minister." She turned to the gathered Wizengamot, who were eyeing her with varying levels of trepidation. "I would just like to announce ahead of time that I will shortly be placing a declaration in the Daily Prophet, where I will promise to personally fund any person who wishes to do an inheritance test at Gringotts Bank," she stated. Sirius' eyes widened for a moment — she hadn't said anything about that to him!
"That is highly unorthodox, Lady Malfoy!" Lord Parkinson growled, and Narcissa's sweet smile sharpened at the edges.
"Unorthodox, but not illegal," she reasoned. "I'm sure we can all agree that it is… unseemly, for one person to hold such a large number of proxy seats in this governing body." No one missed the way her gaze innocently landed on Dumbledore as she spoke. "I would very much like to return the guardianship of my houses to their rightful lines, to properly fill some of these grand seats once more. However, due to the events of the last several decades, I find myself lacking in viable heirs. We know they are out there, for the Chamber has not declared the lines extinct. I would like to encourage those who may not necessarily have considered their lineage to do so, with the hope that I shall not have to pass such an extraordinarily large burden onto my son, Draco." She gave a demure laugh. "I find there are much better seventeenth birthday presents to be gifted."
"I stand with the Lady Malfoy," Sirius declared, on his feet before he really even thought about it. "And I am happy to offer coin from the Black vaults for this endeavour, should you be willing to accept."
That sent even more shocked murmurs bouncing through the room, but Narcissa nodded to him in thanks.
Scrimgeour banged his gavel as the noise in the room grew, calling for silence. "Enough! Thank you, Lady Malfoy," he said flatly, "for your… generous offer. Now, does anyone have any matters of relevance to discuss?"
Sirius sat back down, smirking to himself — across the room, Dumbledore looked like he had smelled something particularly foul.
Served him right.
.-.-.-.
Remus turned the page of his book, though if he was truly being honest with himself he hadn't really been paying attention for the last ten minutes. His jaw cracked as he yawned — perhaps it was time to attempt sleep. Beside him, Severus was still sat up reading a potions journal. Remus slid his bookmark in, setting his book on the nightstand, and shuffled closer to his partner. Severus' lips twitched, and he raised one arm, silently inviting Remus to cuddle up against him while he read.
The familiar scent of potion ingredients and sandalwood filled Remus' senses, relaxing him far better than any balm or candle could. Severus' free hand rested on his shoulder, and Remus let his eyes fall to half-mast, happy to doze until his partner was ready to turn out the light and properly sleep.
"Remus." The quiet voice startled him — Severus sounded surprisingly serious. Remus tilted his head up, trying to push the sleepy fog from his mind.
"Hmm?"
Severus' mouth tightened imperceptibly; a sure sign that he was uncomfortable. Remus sat up straighter. "What's the matter, love?"
"I— Potter may be Black's godson, but it has become increasingly more clear to me that your relationship with the boy is equally… paternal." His words were stilted, like he was trying to word things carefully. Remus froze.
Was he finally going to bring up the elephant in the room? The one that had been lurking since the first night they had brought the pensieve back from the Potter vault, and Severus had told him which particular memory he had decided to show Harry?
To celebrate the boys' exam results they had taken another jaunt down memory lane that evening; perhaps bringing up the past was reminding Severus more and more of the good side of things, back then. The plans they had made, that may not be as hopeless as they once thought.
Severus seemed to be struggling with his next words, and Remus took pity on the man, carefully taking his potions journal and placing it aside so he could take both of Severus' hands in his. "Severus," he started, thinking through his next words. He didn't want to scare the man away, not from this topic. "It's true, Harry is like a son to me by now. And I won't deny, it's had me… thinking about things."
Severus tensed. Remus forged on.
"I know, back in the first war, back before everything went wrong… we talked about it." Only a handful of times, in the safety of their bedroom, just like this. When they could pretend the rest of the world did not exist. "I know you were always convinced it wasn't possible, that it wasn't advisable for you, but Sev, love; seeing you with Harry, and with Draco, it just makes me even more certain that you'll be an incredible father." He offered the man an earnest smile, squeezing his hands. Panic crept into those dark eyes he loved so much.
"I— both those boys are teenagers. And I am not solely responsible for either one of them," Severus protested stiffly.
"I should hope you wouldn't be solely responsible for any kids we had, either," Remus teased lightly, feeling the Slytherin tense further. "I'm— I'm not worried about passing my genes on, either, not like I was when we were young. Especially not with recent research." There weren't many studies done on lycanthropy, but with the higher number of infected individuals thanks to Greyback's efforts during the first war, people were discovering all sorts of things; namely, that a werewolf having a child with a non-werewolf was unlikely to result in a full werewolf child, unless the werewolf was the one carrying it. The child might have some wolf-like tendencies and sensitivities, but they were unlikely to change with the moon.
And even if they did, Remus no longer saw it as the horrifying curse it once was. Not now he was at peace with his wolf side, now Dumbledore's spells were long gone from his body.
"I was never worried about your genes," Severus remarked. "It is my own that concern me far more. And my actions even further."
Remus sighed, reaching up to cup Severus' face tenderly. "How do you still not see what an incredible man you are?" he breathed, heart aching. "Severus— you risk your life, every day, so that others can be safe. You may be more reserved with your emotions, but they are certainly there. And as I said; seeing you with the boys, I know you would be wonderful with children."
Near-black eyes shuttered with grief. "My father—" Remus cut him off with a kiss.
"Your father was a bastard, and you are nothing like him," he growled insistently. "You need to stop carrying his sins as if they were your own. Do you think I would ever let you do anything he did, to myself or to our child? Do you think you would ever allow yourself to stoop to such a thing?"
The fact that Severus was so worried about it was one of the things that most convinced Remus he would make a fine father.
But he could see the urge to retreat growing in his love's eyes, so he smiled slightly, kissing him again. "We don't need to decide anything now," he assured. "It's hardly the best time for it. And it would likely take a while to find someone willing to carry for us." They didn't have Lily, anymore. "But… so many things we thought would be denied to us have fallen into our laps, Severus. I just— let's not rule anything out, yes? The future is full of possibilities." He grinned playfully. "I'm sure Sirius and Charlie will beat us to the punch, anyway — we can see how we do with their babies before we attempt to create any of our own."
Severus' eyes narrowed. "As if a child of the two of us would be anything like the spawn of those two fools," he shot back automatically, making Remus laugh.
"Don't pretend you weren't a mischievous little sod as a kid; you just hid it better," he teased, smoothing a hand down the front of Severus' t-shirt. "It's something to think about, isn't it?" Something to dream about, when he was feeling bold; the two of them as parents, not only able to love one another openly without fear, but able to raise a child together.
There was a long moment of silence, and then Severus nodded — before letting his forehead fall against Remus'. "I convinced myself for a long time that such things were not meant for men like me," he admitted in a ragged whisper that broke Remus' heart. The werewolf gathered his partner up in his arms, holding him tight, tangling a hand in that silk-fine black hair.
"You are a wonderful man," he insisted, "and any child that has your love will be a very fortunate one indeed." He pressed his lips to Severus', coaxing him to relax. "I know I am lucky, to have your love."
Severus sighed quietly, hand resting on Remus' back. "I fear the love I have for you is all I am capable of offering," he confessed, eyes closed. Remus snorted softly.
"Now that's just not true at all," he murmured, thumb stroking the line of Severus' jaw. "You have much more than just your love for me. You wouldn't put up with half the shit Harry and Draco do if it were otherwise," he joked, feeling a rush of triumph when those thin lips quirked in a reluctant smile. "Come on, now. Let's get some sleep. We can talk this over again when the time is right." When the war was over, when things were safe, when Remus could freely admit his love of Severus Snape to the whole world.
Severus adjusted them both until they were comfortable, but before he turned out the light, he paused. "I will admit, though I am… glad the conversation took the turn it did, that isn't actually what I wanted to talk to you about."
Remus looked up, blinking in confusion. "I— it's not?"
"No, but it was clearly on your mind," Severus said with one raised eyebrow, and Remus blushed. "I merely wanted to let you know that I caught Draco brewing lubricant in the lab yesterday. The lemongrass variation."
Remus went wide-eyed — that was not what he had expected. "Oh."
"Indeed." There was the slightest flush across Severus' cheeks. "I merely thought that considering your relationship with Harry, you should be aware that the boys are clearly planning to… take that step."
The werewolf swallowed against the instinctive protest in his mind, the little voice that screamed the boys were far too young to be doing such things and they should intervene. They were sixteen — or close to it — and they knew what they were doing; Remus had had enough conversations on the matter with Harry to know that neither was going to be pressured into something they weren't ready for.
That didn't mean Remus wanted to think too hard on the specifics, or acknowledge any of it. Having an enhanced sense of smell gave him more information than he ever wanted, and not just on the teenagers in the house.
"Well, then," he said, forcing himself to remain calm, to think it through properly. "At least… at least they're adequately preparing. The lemongrass variation, you said? That's the same one you used when we…" Severus blushed, but nodded, fighting a smile. Remus smiled back; Merlin, they had been so nervous back then, tucked away in the Gryffindor dorms one Christmas when all the other Marauders had gone home for the holidays. "That's, ahem, good, then." The lemongrass variant had a muscle relaxant, and was specifically designed for… starting out, with these things. Merlin only knew where Draco had found the recipe; Remus suspected the book George Weasley had given Harry in his fourth year.
"I told Draco he could come to me if he had… concerns," Severus said, his discomfort plain, though he smirked. "He told me everything was fine and ran out of the lab like his cauldron was about to explode."
Remus snickered; he probably would have done the same, at Draco's age. "They're good boys, and they love each other. I don't think we've anything to worry about." Both those boys had difficult times ahead; let them get joy where they could. "But, ah, let's not tell Sirius, yes?" The poor kids didn't need any more teasing than they already got. Severus huffed a quiet laugh, and finally let the light above their heads go out. "Quite," he agreed, tilting his head for one last kiss before the pair of them laid down properly, Remus sprawled over Severus with his nose tucked into the man's neck, as always.
As they drifted off to sleep, Severus' arms were a fraction tighter around Remus than usual, and the werewolf was unsure which of their conversations had prompted it. Their boys were growing up and taking big steps, which was terrifying in itself, but… there was a bigger step waiting on the horizon, and perhaps if Remus was lucky, Severus would maybe be willing to take it with him.