The Boy Who Lived

Appeasing the Ancestors

'Isn't this place safer than Hogwarts...'

'...and Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place in the world!' Harry said with a raised eyebrow. They both knew the complacency of believing those words and how easily they can become undone when someone is determined enough. 'Even now, we've let over thirty people into our home, come Christmas and the wedding, it will be more. And no matter how many Secrecy Vows they all take, the more who visit, the greater the risk becomes, even with my ancestors' suits of armour guarding the Hall. With the Hallows, apart from the cloak, which I will pass to our eldest child, they cannot be stolen from the safe keeping of my portrait, such is the nature of the spell.'

'Can they ever be retrieved?'

'There is always a caveat. There always needs to be one. You know I used the Elder Wand when I faced the Carrows. I probably didn't need to but it was better. And with the rogue magic diminishing, who knows how much controlled wandless magic I'll be able to do in the future. But the conditions for retrieving both are highly specific. And when my time on this world is done, the caveat dies with me.'

Draco smiled. 'I won't ask. You know, Ron was right when he said that it's a privilege to seeing you in work mode. You know far more than you let on.'

'Sometimes it pays to let people think I'm an idiot. Scarily, I guess Dumbledore did it too, he knew far more than he let on. Well, I told you this with Finch-Fletchley; he let too much slip because he thought he was playing on my ignorance.'

'Maybe it's the hair,' Draco said, running his fingers through it and twisting the tousled ends. 'Because it's always such a heathen mess, it lulls people into a mistaken belief that your mind is equally chaotic... You know, I quite like seeing you back in your work clothes. It reminds me of you walking into my little consultancy room back in April...' he smiled cheekily, just so Harry understood what was on his mind.

'Hmmm...' Harry muttered and kissed Draco again. 'Are you working tomorrow?'

'No, why?'

'There's a beachside restaurant I want to take you to tonight, to celebrate.'

'Oh? Beachside?'

'Yes, in the Azures. I've arranged a babysitter or two...' he kissed Draco again.

Narcissa watched her son and Harry with fondness in her eyes. She couldn't help it. Their love was infectious because it was so open and clear and uninhibited.

She hadn't gone back to France. Harry had offered her the Gatehouse at Beaumont. Perhaps not as luxurious as the Malfoy Manor or even the Malfoy house in Bayeux but it was far more suitable for just her and she was near her son. The House-Elves had organised the moving of her belongings and she'd settled in beautifully. It also meant that Dromeda could visit regularly and the two of them were considering moving in together permanently-they both wanted that companionship and now they'd reunited, they didn't want to let go.

Meanwhile there were weddings to plan and the Hall to finish sorting, well, it was very convenient and lovely to be near everyone. And it meant she was getting to know young Teddy too, she was another set of hands to help out, especially now he had started at the little primary school in the village. Despite having been pulled out of his induction days with Victoire, the two had settled in nicely and she always went down at the end of the day to pick them both up. She loved it, feeling she was giving something back to Harry and Draco. And there was a freedom with the two children that Lucius had never afforded poor Draco as he was growing up. She loved that they were allowed to be children, especially when she watched Harry teaching them to swim in the lake. The squeals of laughter and the splashes of water were sounds on uninhibited joy.