The Alpha Dynasty (Sequel to MARKED FOR DESTINY) (Book 2 of 2)

57. Twin Cribs

Minerva Mcgonagall was a compassionate person, but extremely strict.  She was one of the few Professors that would take away house points from her own students if they messed up in any way, and she prided herself on her fairness.  Snape never understood why she would do it, because he had always made the same speech to his Slytherin at the beginning of every year, that he would never stoop so low as to punish them in that way.  He was however not averse to giving detention.

She had been shocked to hear what Albus was going through and was a bit angry at the man from keeping it from her for so long.  She felt that Harry had every right to be put out by his decision, and not only that.  She was his friend and his Deputy Headmistress.  Surely that would have spurred him on to at least inform her and the rest of his staff.  But, she couldn't dwell on things past, she had to pay attention to what was in front of her.

Which was, she knew that he would tell her the minute he had decided.  And of course, the upcoming birth of the Alpha Twins.  She smiled at the thought of having not only one, but two Malfoy-Potters attend Hogwarts, and hoped that she would be around for that.  

When she had gone to the Manor recently she had been shown what the nursery looked like, and she was blown away by the beauty of it.  There were still some things missing, because Draco had still not added any color or theme, which of course made her think that perhaps he was waiting to hear what the sex of the babies were.  She could be wrong, but she herself thought that the pale yellow would be the perfect choice, but it was not her decision to make.

She wondered how far they had all come from being first years and filled with wonder at their world, and hate for each other.  Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.  Two sides of the spectrum, and that they had made the world a better place many times over.  

Harry defending Lucius.  Draco and Harry becoming friends.  Harry moving in and declaring his love for Draco.  The ultimate proposal, asking Draco to marry him.  Draco pregnant with their twins.  She had known Harry to be a very angry young man - who wouldn't be - all the times that he had to look over his shoulder to see if Voldemort was there trying to kill him.  After the war, he had cried his heart out at what he could have done differently, and Draco in a sense had saved him.  They had saved each other.

Harry was a stubborn man, and Draco would appease him.  Harry would become flustered, and Draco would praise him.  Harry would grow angry, and Draco would touch and calm him.  And so it went on and on and on, and she was so glad that she was awarded a place at their table.  

It was a Saturday and she had asked Narcissa to join her in muggle London, there was something that they needed to discuss.  Never in a million years, had she ever thought that she would dine out and go shopping with the woman, but Harry had already changed their world for the better.  And the world knew about his Inner Circle, and they were respected wherever they went.  She didn't know how he put up with the stares and the fan mail that he still received, and only thanked all the gods above that it had never gone to his head.

They had arranged to meet at a restaurant called The Daily Bread, and being the first one to arrive, she took the seat that was offered and ordered a cup of tea with a scone, some strawberry jam and cream.  The doorbell tinkled just as her order arrived, and she looked up to see that Narcissa was scanning the room trying to find her.  She raised her hand, and smiled when their eyes met each other.  

Taking a seat, Narcissa ordered the same as her companion, and they waited for the food in silence.  When it arrived, they dug in and started eating slowly.  "Well Minerva, this is certainly a welcome change from the Manor", said the blond woman with a smile.

"Yes I thought so too", was the reply.  "I asked you here today to ask whether Draco has decided on a color of the nursery", she asked.

Narcissa frowned.  "Not as far as I know.  Why, what did you have in mind?", she asked with a gleam in her eyes.

"Well, when I was there last, I noticed no color or theme, and they still haven't purchased cribs for the babies.  I think that once the cribs are there, his decision will be easier", she claimed.  

Narcissa nodded and said that made sense.  "And you want me to come with you, don't you?  Scared that you will buy something that Draco won't like at all.  You want me to come along so I can tell you his tastes - what he likes and what he doesn't", she stated knowingly.

Let it be said that Minerva Mcgonagall wasn't scared of anything, and for Narcissa Malfoy to imply that was the joke of the century.  She smiled and said, "Not scared no.  I am sure that Draco will accept whatever is given.  But yes, I would like to have your input as to his preferences", she said kindly.  Narcissa smiled at her and said they should finish with their breakfast, she was excited to see what the shops had in stock.

Their first stop was a shop called 'BABIES R US', and they headed straight for the department where cribs and cots were being displayed.  There were so many to choose from, but every single one was stunning.  There were white cribs with gold ornate finishing, there were black ones, outlined with silver markings.  There was dark wood, Imbuia, that had absolutely nothing on them, but were on stands that could make it so they could swing.

There were multi-colored cribs, but they walked past those, because they would probably give the men and the babies unwanted headaches.  They took note and decided to see another shop to see what was on offer.  The next place that they walked into sold cribs that you had to try and assemble yourself, but this is not what they were looking for, so they left.

Their third and final destination was the shop called - !WIZARD OR WITCH! - and there they found a variety of what they were looking for.  There were cribs that were made from what looked to be marble, but lightweight.  There were cribs with lions on, depicting the house of Gryffindor, snakes for Slytherin and so on.  There was no way that they were going to buy those, because they of all people knew that houses didn't matter anymore.  Not in their new world.

They went back to the first store, after finally coming to a decision about what they wanted to buy.  Mcgonagall was drawn to the black crib set as was Narcissa, but the white held some sort of purity to them.  "Let's get the white Minerva, and then if Draco and Harry don't like it, they can charm them to change color", suggested the Malfoy woman.

Mcgonagall nodded, and went to make her purchase.  She had chosen the white cribs, with the silver - not gold - ornate markings, and also asked that the stands be included.  She didn't think that if they were to wake up in the middle of the night, the two men would want to bend down too much.  She smiled at their cleverness, shrunk the parcels, and they made their way back home, where lunch was waiting for them.