Harry paced. It was what he did when he didn't know what else to do with himself. Hermione sat on the edge of their bed and watched him patiently. Finally, when he crossed in front of her again, she reached out, grabbed his arm and yanked him down beside her. "Stop."
Harry gaped at his wife. "What?" He started to rise again, but her grip was too strong.
"I know you're worried, Harry, and I know you wish they'd have come home with us last night, but they're all adults. We have to accept that. And at least Draco stayed there last night. That has to make it a little easier knowing that one of your very best friends was on their couch in case anything happened. And Sebastian came to get him, saying that they'd all feel better with someone there." Hermione looked at her husband. "That shows maturity and responsibility."
"He's my son." Harry said, as if that explained everything. And to Hermione, it did.
"I gave birth to him Potter, and don't you forget it." She said, grinning, and slapping his arm. "That has to count for something. Look, everything's fine. We're going to go over there in a little bit and check on things, talk about setting up a schedule so one more experienced witch or wizard stays there each night."
Harry sighed, twined his fingers with Hermione's. Nearly nineteen years of marriage and he still got butterflies from her. "I love you, `Mione."
"I love you, too Harry." She leaned against him, and he realized that she was as worried and as scared as he was. "I hate that he's grown up." She whispered. "That we can't shelter him from the things that go bump in the night. He's too much like we were at his age. Ready to do whatever it takes to bring down the problem. I think we must know how your parents felt when they came back."
Harry chuckled. "They adjusted better than us."
"Because one second they had a baby and the next they had an adult son. We remember his first step, his first word, the first time he got into Draco's hair gel. His first broom, when we sent him to Hogwarts, seeing him Sorted. The first Quidditch match, the first girlfriend." Hermione smiled softly. "And we've got three more to go through it with. Gabriel and Alastair are already itching to help."
"But Gabriel's only sixteen." Harry protested painfully. "And Alastair's fifteen. The next thing we know, Abby is going to be taking on Dementors."
"She's going to be twelve, Harry. Same as Gabriel will turn seventeen in November, and Alastair will be sixteen in November."
"They aren't our babies anymore."
"Sure they are. They're just growing up. Nothing we can do to stop it. They'll always be ours, Harry. They'll always need us for something."
Harry looked defeated. "I just wish they were still little."
Hermione laughed. "We've still got three in the house. Abby'll be here for another six years. Don't get too morose yet. We have to let them grow up and discover who they are. It's natural. We did it." She grinned. "God, doesn't Sebastian remind you of yourself? And Noah and Carys. They're just like the three of us were when we moved out on our own."
"Much less damaged, thank Merlin."
"They all have their own problems. Sebastian is head over heels. You know that right?"
Harry chuckled. "Completely starry-eyed. And Carys doesn't have a clue. She isn't interested, either."
"How do you know that? Sebastian is gorgeous, he's incredibly smart, a completely wonderful man." Hermione was chagrined that anyone could not be attracted to her son. "He's perfect."
Harry looked at his wife, both eyebrows raised. "Of course he is. But he's also stubborn as an ass, opinionated more than you, cocky as hell and knows he's perfect."
Because she knew Harry was right, she decided to change the subject. "Did you know Draco and Ginny were talking about having another baby?"
"No. I thought they were done."
"So did they. Ginny's only thirty eight."
"She's going to be thirty nine before long."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to be forty. Does that mean I'm too old to have a baby?"
Harry shook his head vehemently. "No. Ginny isn't too old. I just meant that the twins are Gabriel's age. That's a pretty big difference."
"No more than you and your sisters. And the three of you are extremely close."
"Despite the face that they're the same age as my son."
"Despite that." Hermione looked at Harry sideways. "Harry."
"Hmm?"
"Did you mean what you said about wanting them little again?"
Harry nodded. "Why? Do you know a spell?"
"No. I can't make them young. But there's no reason we can't have another."
That took him by surprise. "But you don't want more kids." He said, leaning back on his elbows. He had wanted as large a family as he could talk her into. She'd put her foot down at four. Since that was more than he'd ever imagined he would get a chance to have, he hadn't argued about it. He'd never thought he'd get a chance to be a father. Four was a miracle. One had been a miracle.
"I didn't want more kids eleven years ago." Hermione countered. "I was twenty nine when Abby was born, and that was plenty for me. But I miss having a little one here. And the doctor says I'm in great shape and that there's no reason I can't have another one."
"You talked to the doctor?"
"I just wanted to make sure that it was physically okay for me to before I mentioned anything. Ginny and I talked about it last week. That we were both missing having small children."
"And Luna?"
"Doesn't. She wants to get the triplets raised." Hermione laughed. "They're fifteen and driving her up the wall. Especially Michael. And Vivien and Celeste have gone boy crazy. So has Jordyn, but she's sixteen."
Harry waved one hand and the door shut with a solid click. "You really want another baby?"
"I'll be saying something different when I'm forty and have to get out of bed every two hours, but yeah. I do."
He grabbed her around the waist and they rolled across the bed. "Okay."
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Sebastian woke first, despite the fact that he'd been the last to fall asleep. Draco was sprawled on the couch, his blanket on the floor beside him. Deciding to wait on starting breakfast, Sebastian showered and dressed for the day in jeans and a sweater. When he yanked the sweater over his head, he realized that it was one of Noah's that had gotten mixed in with his. Noah was a couple inches shorter that Sebastian's six three, and much more muscular across the chest and shoulder. Which meant that the sweater didn't come close to fitting. Yanking it off, he padded into the kitchen in jeans and nothing else.
He was at the coffee pot pouring himself a cup when he heard a door open and close. Carys stumbled into the kitchen, heading straight for coffee. Laughing under his breath, Sebastian handed her the cup he'd already poured and got out another mug.
It took a minute for Carys' vision to clear. She was not a morning person and it always took a couple gulps of strong coffee and a few seconds for her brain to defuzz and start functioning again. When it did, she was faced with a shirtless Sebastian. It wasn't anything she hadn't seen before, as they'd lived in the same house all their lives. But it was incredibly early in the morning, and she was too sleepy to coach herself that it was Sebastian's chest, and not just the chest and torso of a very strong, well toned, gorgeous male.
She felt pure female appreciation rise up, and she cocked one eyebrow at him. She was a good six inches shorter than he was, so he really couldn't see the expression on her face. "Been working out?" she asked innocently, sitting at the table. She heard Sebastian chuckle.
"Always do." He said, walking back to his bedroom. She had to watch his retreat, and noticed that he had a very nice back as well. And the boy had a butt. Shame she'd never noticed before. Oh well, better late than never, she supposed.
What the hell was she doing? Carys caught herself in shock. She'd been checking him out! With her father in the next room! Albeit he was asleep, but he was still there. And Sebastian was Draco's godson. Which made him her quasi brother. Oh, she was sick! He was practically related to her!
Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts, she downed the rest of the coffee in one long gulp. She saw Draco stirring out of the corner of her eye and got up to fix his coffee. He was exactly like his daughter in the mornings. Unable to function without a shot of caffeine.
"I didn't know you were going to stay." Carys commented when Draco was capable of speech. He offered his eldest child a small smile.
"Thought you might need me. You always had nightmares after a good crying jag when you were younger."
Carys didn't tell Draco that the only reason he hadn't been waken by her screams was because she'd put a soundproofing charm on her bedroom. She'd waked at four drenched in sweat and screaming her lungs out. She walked around the table and wrapped her arms around her father. "I love you so much, Daddy."
Draco hooked one arm around his daughter. "I love you too, Carys."
"I'm glad you stayed."
"Anytime you need me, I'll be here, remember?"
Carys nodded, moved to the stove. "Pancakes or French toast?"
"Pancakes. I'll get the sausage on."
Together, father and daughter worked. Cooking breakfast was a job they had always liked to do together. She would make the pancakes or waffles, he would fry eggs or sausage or bacon or whatever. He did the same thing with Jordyn. He and Julian didn't cook together, they would play video games, or polish their brooms. He'd always spent a lot of one-on-one time with his children. It was why they were all so close. Nothing went on in their lives that he didn't know about. They trusted him not to get angry and to understand what they were going through. He'd never punished them for coming to him and telling him about some mistake they'd made or something that they'd done or needed to talk about. He never lectured or yelled, just advised.
Carys looked over at her father. "Dad, can I ask you something?"
Draco nodded. "You know you can."
She sighed deeply. "You knew Mom for years before you got together."
"Yeah. Six, I think."
"You didn't always like her."
Draco's brow furrowed. "No. We hated each other until after I graduated and she was supposed to be in her seventh year."
"When did you know you were attracted to her?"
"When she kissed me while we were trying to rescue Lily, James, and Sirius."
"I ran into Sebastian this morning."
Carys was confusing him, but he imagined she'd get to her point eventually. "And that's something new?"
"No. I see him every morning. I've seen him every morning since I've been alive. But this morning he beat me up, which never happens and I looked at him before I'd waken up good."
"And?"
"He wasn't wearing a shirt. Looked like one of Noah's found it's way into his laundry again from the sweater he had tossed over his shoulder. I've seen him shirtless plenty of times, but never when my brain was still fuzzy."
Draco thought he was catching on. "Liked what you saw, huh?" he nudged Carys with his shoulder, grinning at her.
"Yeah. And it was weird. Normally the first thought that hits me when I see him like that is `It's only Sebastian, nothing new.' This morning it was more along the lines of `yum.'"
Draco managed to control the wince, though just barely. His baby was grown up, and she was going to start talking to him about more adult things. And since he always wanted to know what was going on in her life, he had to deal with it. Get used to it. "Okay. Was it a fluke?"
"It has to be. We're related."
"You are not."
"You're his godfather."
"Which means absolutely nothing. Hermione's your godmother. That doesn't mean that you're related to her. Carys, the only thing familial between you two is the fact that you were raised together. There's nothing wrong with you being-" Draco had to gulp at the word. "attracted to Sebastian. You're both unrelated, single adults."
"I'm making you uncomfortable, huh?"
Draco nodded. "Just a little. But keep going. This is what I'm here for. I want you to talk to me."
"I could talk to Mom."
"Who'd just tell me about it anyway." Draco laughed. "This is no more disconcerting than when your mother called me when you were thirteen and asked me to pick up tampons for you."
Carys turned bright red. "She didn't!"
"Oh, she did. She was working a double at the hospital and gave me strict instructions on where to put them so you'd think she'd gotten them for you."
"Is it too late to kill her?"
"Yeah. Though I was the same color you are now when I stopped at the drug store. So I can take this, Carys. That was much worse."
"Okay." Carys nodded, as if bracing herself. "Does he like me? As more than a friend?"
Draco knew he could make it easy on her and tell her that yes, he did. But matter of the heart weren't meant to be easy. "You have to stumble through this on your own, baby. I'm here when you need to talk, but you have to figure out how he feels on your own."
"I thought you were going to say that." She looked at the plate of pancakes she'd made, turned to face the hallway. "Sebastian! Noah! Get your butts out here! Breakfast!"
It took them all of ten seconds.
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I know that this was like a filler chapter, but I figured that after the last two there needed to be a little bit of lightness in here. After all, this isn't just about the Dark Knight. It's about Sebastian and Carys getting together as well. This is setting the stage for that in a few chapters.
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