Harry James Potter (Malfoy)

They spent a few hours discussing what their next course of action would be in relation to getting Sirius proven innocent and released from Azkaban.

“So you think Amelia will look into his case?” Andy asked.

“I think so. She helped us with getting Harry out of the Dursley house after all,” Cissa said. “She seems to be more interested in making sure things are done correctly and aren’t some huge public operation. If we’d gone to somebody else about Harry, the case may very well have ended up in the paper. Luc has requested to meet with her in a day or two so he can inform her about the lack of trial or any sort of protocols being taken.”

“I’d like to be there as well,” Andy said, leaving no room for argument. Cissa nodded.

“What do you need me to do?” Remus asked.

“For now just worry about getting reacquainted with Harry. You were always meant to be in his life, that much was clear when James and Lily made you and Sirius his godfathers. I think having you around will be good for him and for Draco. Since we have full custody of him we’re starting to include more people in Harry’s life based on what we remember Lily and James talking about when Lily was pregnant and after Harry was born,” Cissa told Remus. He nodded at that, already planning to be as involved in Harry’s life as he could be.

“I assume that means that he’ll be meeting the Weasley children and Frank’s little boy soon?” Andy asked with a knowing look.

“Yes, and we’ll be taking the boys to Hogwarts to see Rubeus and Minerva soon as well. And we’d like to homeschool our boys with Molly’s children. That way they get some socializing and we can homeschool them like we want to.”

They talked for a little longer before Harry and Draco came back into the room, this time Harry was holding onto his doe plush when they walked in. Cissa saw Remus’ eyes widen in recognition of the plush that Harry had before his look turned a little sad but adoring at the sight. Draco was holding the Padfoot plush that Cissa had gotten him to match Harry’s. Remus’ eyes widened at that as well.

“Moony,” Harry said as he walked over to him, reaching his arms up. Remus obliged and picked up Harry to put him on the sofa next to him before doing the same with Draco. The two boys didn’t like to be apart from each other for long right now.

Tonks followed the other two not too long afterwards, sitting down with her mum. At her reappearance, Harry started excitedly babbling about everything Tonks had told the two boys about her having started school at Hogwarts the year prior. He was excited about there being a magic school. If he was that excited just hearing about the school, Cissa could only imagine his reaction when they eventually take him there to see Minerva and Rubeus. And Severus, of course. They all stayed for dinner since their conversation had taken so long. Andy and Tonks left not too long after dinner, with Tonks looking quite tired. Remus left (with Cissa giving him access to Grimmauld to stay in since it had been refurbished and he could start possibly setting things up for when Sirius was released) with the promise to come back soon after Harry got quite upset at him leaving. Harry eventually acquiesced with that and then he and Draco were both tucked into bed since it was their bedtime and the two were absolutely exhausted.

Molly and Augusta would be visiting in the coming days. Augusta would bring Neville to introduce to Harry and Draco and Molly would be bringing her kids over and she and Cissa would discuss their homeschooling plans since Harry, Draco, and Molly’s son Ronald were school age. Cissa was happy she was getting some kids for her boys to socialize with. There were multiple pure blood families that wanted their kids to socialize with Draco because he was the Malfoy heir, but they weren’t the sort of families she wanted around her family. They were the sort that wholly supported Voldemort and would dictate their children's’ lives including friendships and future marriages and she wanted no part of that.

~~~~

A couple days later, Luc left with Andy to go to the Ministry to talk with Amelia about Sirius’ case and looking into getting him a new trial so he could be proven innocent and released. Cissa stayed at home with Harry and Draco and was waiting for Molly and her children to arrive a little after lunch. She’d explained who was coming to the Manor to Harry and Draco so they wouldn’t be too surprised, Harry especially.

Harry and Draco were playing with a couple of plushies (today it was the Moony plushie Harry had and Draco had his Padfoot one) when green flames filled the floo. Molly Weasley stepped out with two small children holding her hands. One hand was holding onto Ronald and the other was holding onto her little girl Ginny. After that she was followed by her twin sons Fred and George, Percy, Charlie, and finally Bill. The eldest two had already started at Hogwarts so they wouldn’t need to homeschool those two anymore. Cissa welcomed them as did Draco. Harry shyly waved from where he was hiding behind Cissa’s legs. She could tell that the older children immediately knew who Harry was as each other their eyes widened. The youngest four didn’t seem to notice, though, and Molly went ahead and introduced each of her children. Ron (his preferred version of his name) immediately came over to Draco and Harry and was able to coax Harry out from his hiding spot. Cissa heard Molly lightly gasp as what was most likely his small size for his age.

After a little bit more talking, Cissa let all the children run off. Bill and Charlie promised to look after the younger ones while Cissa and Molly talked.

“He’s so small,” Molly said after a brief beat of silence. Cissa just nodded.

“He is. Luckily, we were able to get him out of his relatives’ house before they’d had him too long so the damage is reversible. He’s already gained some weight in the short time he’s been here,” she responded, smiling gently at the shocked look on Molly’s face.

“Albus knew how awful they treated him?”

“We don’t know for certain, but that’s the assumption right now.”

“I see…”

“How are Bill and Charlie doing at Hogwarts?”

“Oh, they’re doing wonderfully! Both were sorted into Gryffindor like Arthur and I. By the way, where’s Lucius?”

“Oh, he’s looking into something at the Ministry in relation to my cousin Sirius. Andromeda’s with him.”

“Something with Sirius?”

“We believe he may be innocent. He was never given a trial.”

“I remember Arthur mentioning something about that once, but I was too preoccupied with the children to give it much thought.”

Cissa nodded. It made sense that some employees would’ve heard about it both at the time and afterwards.

“So, how should we structure our joint homeschooling?”

That took the conversation off into a different direction with Molly explaining what she’d done with her older children for homeschooling and Cissa adding in her own thoughts of things that could be taught and how some of the classes could be structured.

At one point, Cissa made sure some snacks were prepared and given to the children wherever they were in the Manor. Molly and Cissa talked a little more, including a little about Harry and parenting. She and her children left just before Luc got home from the Ministry.

“How did the meeting go?” Cissa asked him after he came through the floo.

“It went well. Amelia is going to double check that Sirius didn’t get a proper trial or have his crimes proven and then push for him to be retried by using Veritaserum and Priori Incantatum on him and his wand. Possibly even a Pensieve to review his memories from that night,” Luc responded. “Andromeda is actually the one who recommended that last one to Amelia if anybody were to require additional proof. She said Sirius would willingly provide those memories if it meant proving his innocence and who was truly responsible. Especially if he were to find out how Harry was treated for the past few years.”

Cissa nodded. “He would. I don’t think he knew who Harry would end up with aside from him, especially with Remus being one of his godfathers. But the Ministry doesn’t trust werewolves and Albus was able to get to Harry first.”

“How did having the Weasleys over go?”

“Molly and I created a homeschooling plan for the children and will be using one of the larger rooms here as a makeshift school. Remus has offered his help with that as well considering how many children would be here. The eldest two of her children are already at Hogwarts so that also decreases the number. Harry and Draco really seemed to enjoy hanging out with them, especially Ron and those twin boys she has: Fred and George.”

“That’s good. It’s nice for Draco and Harry to be getting some friends that aren’t for any perceived political reasons. It also might not be a bad idea to introduce them to Blaise Zabini since his family wasn’t aligned with Voldemort during the war and his mother has indicated she’s interested in him having friendships that extend beyond politics as well.”

“If we do that, we’ll have to inform her that we have another son at this point as well.”

“It’s going to come out sooner or later. All that matters is that we’ve made sure Albus can’t do anything to remove Harry from our care. I’d like to get further along with Sirius’ case before things come to Albus’ attention, however. With it already in Amelia’s hands, it’s not likely he could do much to influence the outcome, but I’d rather be safe with that.”

“I speak for Remus, Andy, and myself when I tell you that I wholeheartedly agree.”

The two of them talked for a little bit more before Harry and Draco rushed into the room. Draco rushed at Luc for a hug while Harry shyly made his way over, not outright asking for the same affection (Cissa was running out of space on her metaphorical list of Reasons to Hate the Dursleys at this point) but indicating he’d like it all the same. Luc obliged, of course like the wonderful loving man he is, and grabbed Harry in the same sort of hug. Harry melted into the embrace and then Luc picked up both boys and sat with them as he demanded they tell him about how their day went and the two of them excitedly launched into a tale of their day with the added encouragement. Cissa smiled at the interaction.

~~Harry~~

Harry was having fun.

First he got to see Moony again and met Cissa’s nice sister Aunt Andy and her daughter Tonks who was really fun to play with! And she was a lot nicer to have as a cousin than Dudley had been. And then he got to meet more new friends when Mrs. Weasley brought over her kids to play with him and his brother.

Bill and Charlie were really cool and were going to magic school already like Tonks! They were in a house called Gryffindor, which he remembered was the house Cissa told him his parents were in when they were in school. He had some of their decorations and they were red and gold with a lion on them. He’d decided he liked lions.

Percy seemed a little… stiff? He wasn’t as much fun to play with since he didn’t seem to want to play with them all like Bill and Charlie would. Fred and George were a lot of fun and promised to help Harry and Draco plan pranks at some point. Harry had asked briefly if the pranks would be mean or hurt and had been told that they wouldn’t, so it was ok. Ron was his favorite and was the same age as he and his brother! That meant they’d be starting school together both for magic school but also for the homeschooling Cissa and Luc had told him he and Draco would be starting with Mrs. Weasley’s younger kids. The youngest was a girl named Ginny. She was nice but shy. But she got a little friendlier and more talkative the longer she spent with them so hopefully she wouldn’t be as shy next time they saw each other.

Luc came home and gave Harry a big hug without him needing to ask for it! And then asked him and Draco to talk about their day and was interested in what they told him. Aunt and Uncle never listened to what Harry said to them unless they thought he needed to be punished for it. It was nice to not need to worry about that here.

He thinks this is what having his parents would’ve been like and it makes him happy. He hoped he got to see Padfoot soon though. He missed him.

“Alright boys, it’s time for dinner,” Cissa said after Harry and Draco had finished talking about their day with Luc. The two of them got down and followed her into the dining room with Luc following and they were helped into their chairs at the table before they all started eating their dinner.

“So, are you boys excited to meet Neville in a couple days?” Cissa asked.

Harry nodded along with Draco. “You said he’s nice,” Harry replied.

“He is. I’ve met him before and he was very nice, if not a little shy. I’m sure you two will get along with him just as you did with Ron and Ginny.”

“I like Ron,” Harry said with a smile, “he was really nice and fun to play with and he’ll be going to school with us!”

“And, Harry dear, is there anything you want us to do for your birthday coming up?”

That made Harry pause. He’d never been allowed to celebrate his birthday. He knew what day it was, because Aunt, Uncle, and Dudley treated him worse on his birthday, but he’d never been allowed to get gifts or a cake like Dudley always did. He looked up at Cissa and Luc.

“You…You want to celebrate my birthday?”

“Of course!”

“But Aunt and Uncle never celebrated my birthday.”

“Harry, hopefully the longer you’re here, the more you’ll see that we are nothing like those awful people. We want to celebrate you and the day that you came into this world just like we do with Draco and other families with their children. You are worth celebrating.”

Harry felt his eyes start to water. “I… I don’t know what I’d want to do. I’ve never gotten to do anything for it before.”

Cissa had somehow moved to his side before he’d noticed her even move. “Aw, dear, that’s alright. I can tell Draco has some ideas that we can use or we can just surprise you with something we think you’d like. Would that be alright? That way you can start to decide what you like when next year comes.”

Harry nodded as she tucked his head into her shoulder and let him cry as long as he wanted.

This was the best house and family ever.