Prolog
Honestly, he loved this life.
He loved the certainty each day brought him, but that didn't mean he had each day meticulously planned to the hilt.
His life was not such a superficial stereotype, on the contrary, there was too much action and excitement in it, but it didn't really matter. He would never trade it for anything in the world.
He looked to his side where the man he had married so many years ago was still sleeping comfortably, enjoying the silence before their children gradually began to wake up.
Where anyone could call it a marriage too quick, and the two of them didn't deny it to anyone because it was true, they had only known each other for two months before they got married, but it was because of the bad circumstances that led to it.
It was a marriage of convenience for a friend, and surprisingly, neither of them minded that it would mean a lifelong bond. It was a long and thorny road that was not without arguments, a lot of fear and worry, but in the end they got to where they were today.
If someone asked him if he would change anything in his life, he would say yes without hesitation, but it wouldn't be the moment he begged his boyfriend to marry him because otherwise he would be stuck in a disadvantageous marriage contract with a woman , which he didn't even want to marry. Perhaps a long time ago yes, but not at the time he met this magnificent creature.
He was surprised that it didn't take long to persuade him, and as he learned years later, his husband had a reason he still hadn't told him. He didn't push him about it. He knew him too well to know very well that if he pressed him, he would never know what he wanted to know. It wasn't vital information, so there was no need for him to know the real reason for consenting to the marriage.
He could thank all the higher powers for putting someone like his husband in his way. He was a kind, kind, understanding and, last but not least, charming man, with his heart in the right place, but if he, or his family and friends, were in danger, he was merciless, tough, combative, and most of all protective. He could be furious as well as he could be passionate.
He sighed softly as he remembered that particular memory. It was one of their worst days because someone kidnapped the man who raised him and his husband considered him family. He would level all of America just to find his father-in-law and bring him back to safety.
And he almost did.
It wasn't the only kidnapping in their lives, and it wasn't even the last, every day they feared for the safety of their children just because of who they are, but they had support in each other, no one and nothing could break it.
However, his husband's passionate side was something else.
Their last night was clear proof of that. He could get so many exciting sounds out of his husband that no one else could get out of him, and he wouldn't let anyone else.
He gently pushed a strand of hair away from the amazing man's face, revealing a scar that was proof that he would do absolutely anything for the people he loved, even if it meant another scar on his body.
He himself did not see it as a disfigurement and after a while he convinced him of it too. It was a testament to his courage and bravery that often exceeded his own. It was also the first evidence that his husband had begun to see him as more than just a man he married because he wanted to help him. But then he didn't know what to look at.
So yes. He truly thanked everyone for his husband choosing to live in America and not his native Britain. Whether he left here from a bad experience, and he knew it was because of what happened to him, he would definitely seek out those people and simply say thank you, but he promised not to seek them out, because words of thanks wouldn't be the only thing, what would he say
He knew his husband better than anyone else.
He knew about every bad experience, about all the betrayals and manipulations they had done to him, and his husband in turn knew absolutely everything about him. It took a long time for them to open up to each other enough that the other didn't know in him a broken person who deserved all the bad things in the world and none of the good things that life had to offer.
Things improved a lot when they adopted their son together. He was a boy who grew up in an abusive household, where the boy's father murdered his wife in cold blood, and during the investigation of the murder, the child went to an orphanage.
But he didn't stay there long, because he saw in him a perfect mixture of himself and his husband, so he mentioned him at home. It didn't take much convincing to adopt the boy and raise him with the love he deserved.
This experience brought them very close and they realized that they too deserve to live a happy life because they have had more than enough of the bad. It helped them conceive their first biological child, which was a tough trial by the way, because they had to assure their adopted son with all certainty that they wouldn't love him any less, just that the baby would need a little more time, but he would also need an older brother. And after the birth of their daughter, it was absolutely wonderful, because their son took the role of an older brother into his own hands, five years old at the time, and took care of his sister as much as his age allowed.
He heard their bedroom door open and out of the corner of his eye saw their youngest son, three years old, enter the room and stealthily try to get into their bed. No matter how much they loved their children, they also loved the peace of their own bed, but if their children decided that six o'clock in the morning was the best time to cuddle, neither he nor his husband would deny them that pleasure . They had to enjoy these moments while their children gave them these cuddles, because one day, they wouldn't want to cuddle with their parents anymore.
There was a soft whisper, “Papa?” and he just smiled at the tiny figure of his son, who looked so much like him but had the eyes of his wearer, reaching out his little hands in a silent request to be lifted onto the bed because it was too high.
He couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes his son was staring at him with, knowing he had inherited that look from his bearer as well, and he lifted the little boy onto the bed, gently cradling him between himself and his husband. Green eyes shone with true childish joy, and immediately after that you could see in his eyes that he had invented some mischief, or rather some act that usually resulted in their laughing.
His son turned towards his other father and gave him a baby wet kiss on the cheek, and god only knew where this child saw it, but immediately after that, he stuck out his little tongue and licked half his father's cheek, nicely from bottom to up.
He couldn't help but laugh when a sleepy, "Ugh," came out, and watched as a disgusted expression appeared and a hand wiped the drool from his face.
He loved this morning that meant he was waking up with a laugh or a smile on his face. Whether it was to wake him up himself or his husband. However, they patiently waited for other members of their family because it never ended with just one of their descendants visiting. No sooner had he finished that thought than the second youngest son, the youngest's twin, ran up to them and energetically unleashed a hurricane and noise starting from their door and ending with a tickle.
Their visit to the bed ended with their only six-year-old daughter striding into the room like the little lady that she truly was, but she could never resist having fun, whether it was frolicking in bed with her brothers and parents in the morning, or creating the latest mischief to get her all three of her brothers helped.
The eldest, eleven-year-old son was no longer up for such things. But that didn't mean he didn't go check out the noise and mess that usually took place, he only crawled into their bed when it was quiet and no one was trying to disturb him.
So when their eldest's red head appeared it was a perfect morning for him that if it didn't happen something would be very wrong and he and his husband knew it very well. They loved their children enough to know it, and they suffered with them every time they suffered.
The road here was long and thorny, had good and bad parts, sometimes it was quiet on the footpath, other times there were days when neither stopped, but it was worth it. It was worth every ounce of patience his husband had with him, and it was worth every day he learned that there really wasn't anything wrong with falling in love with the man he married.
They took it a little differently than other couples, first marriage, then a child and finally love, but both can say that they have finally achieved happiness in their lives, at least in terms of love and family.
And he, Barry Allen will never forget the day he first met that black-haired, green-eyed, brilliant Harry Potter.
He would never forget the day he was struck by lightning and Harry supporting him the whole time. He loved him as a superhero, but he also loved him as Barry Allen. And Barry loved Harry.
He would never forget the day he discovered some strange marriage contract where he was supposed to marry Iris if he still loved her or read the terms of the contract, but since he no longer loved the woman he read with interest, everything and was horrified when the contract was concluded with the consent of their mothers. He had never been more nervous than the day he asked Harry if he would marry him or he would end up in a marriage that would make him a slave.
He was even more surprised when Harry agreed almost without hesitation that he would marry him.
To this day, he did not know the reason why such an intelligent and brilliant man agreed to marry for the rest of his life without thinking about it.
"Are you going to share with me what you're thinking?" Barry snapped out of his thoughts and blinked over the empty room,
He somehow didn't notice when the hell their kids left.
"I just remembered something," he smiled at Harry lying next to him, the smile not leaving his husband's face.
"And for what?" and like their youngest son, Harry had perfect puppy dog eyes that were simply irresistible.
"Why did you agree to marry me almost immediately." Barry did know that some subjects were taboo.
This wasn't a question though, he just couldn't lie to his husband because he would have known anyway and Harry knew it just wasn't a question. He was just answering. Even so, the smile left Harry's face.
He watched as his normally relaxed and happy face deepened into a frown, but he saw no malice or fury in his eyes. Maybe today he would get his answer. He wouldn't press him if he replied, "I'm not ready to talk about it yet."
After all, Barry knew most of his life, including being a wizard, being forced to kill someone when he was seventeen, and describing his school years, though he suspected that he hadn't told him some things, or just left them out on purpose, but never did not find out the reason for his departure from Britain.
He had wondered several times if the agreement to the marriage and Harry's departure from his home country had something to do with each other, but he had never asked until Harry had told him about it himself. After all, even he had some things he didn't want to talk about and Harry understood the huge need for time to deal with everything and then talk about it. He was as patient as he was understanding. Needless to say, this is from personal experience.
And then Harry said a line he never expected to hear, "For you to understand, I must begin where the narrative of my school years left off." and it was probably true.
Barry had known Harry since his school days but had never heard a hint of what happened after that.
"And you're going to tell me about it?" wasn't pushing the saw.
It was just an offer to hear another story that Barry didn't already know.
After so many years, he was beginning to feel hopeful.
He might finally know the answers to some of his questions, and he might finally be able to help Harry deal with it instead of wallowing in feelings that shouldn't have affected him anymore, but did.
For the first time since Harry had started telling him his life story, Barry heard a soft, "Yes, I'll tell you about it."