When the Stars Fall

Twenty-Nine: Owl Post

The twin cries of his son and daughter awoke him. He groaned, but a smile came to his lips at the thought of his two small children. He rolled over and sat up, but the smile quickly dissipated at the notable absence in the bed. He closed his eyes, and then got up to check on his children. He entered the nursery and noticed that he'd been beaten. He noticed his father holding his daughter, and Remus holding his son. The two men looked at him and chuckled.

"Have you forgotten that I am their father?" he asked.

"We were only checking on them. You do too much Draco. You need your rest," Remus answered.

Draco shook his head. "What about the pair of you? You are teachers. You need your rest even more than I do," he answered, and then took his son from Remus and summoned a bottle for the boy, and he smiled as he noticed Severus do the same for his daughter.

"You know, I think Titania will be the handful of this pair," Severus said. "I can already feel so much power radiating from her."

"But little Braeden is quite a handful as well," Remus put in thoughtfully.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I named them, yet you two have chosen what my children are to be called," he sighed and then looked at his son, Ryan Liam Braeden Snape, and then he looked at his daughter, Titania Grace Snape, in the arms of her grandfather. "How do I thank you two for looking out for us these past six months?" he asked.

"Think nothing of it," Remus replied, and Severus cut in, "You're my son, and these are my grandchildren, I'll always look after you."

Draco nodded and then yawned. He wondered when his children would ever learn the difference between day and night. He then looked at his father, and his father's partner, glad that his father had found love after his mother.

"Really, you can both go back to bed. I can take it from her. Once they are fed it's a quick change, a lullaby and then straight to bed for them," he said.

Of course Severus insisted on finishing feeding Titania and then both men fearing the chore of changing nappies left the room, and left the young father with the rather smelly deed. Draco sighed and proceeded to change first his son and then his daughter. He then gathered them both in his arms, sat down on a rocker, and began to softly sing to them:

"I wanna touch you

I wanna hold you

I want to love you

But not to mold you

I wanna feel you

I want to kiss you

I wanna leave you

So I can miss you..."

Within a few moments the pair of them were asleep. He carefully put them in their cribs. Leaned down and gave them kisses on their forehead and then with a snap of his fingers the lights went out and he looked back one more time before heading back to his room. He looked at the bed and swallowed thickly, knowing that he couldn't bring himself to go back to sleep, not to the fretful dreams that awaited him. Instead he gathered quill and parchment and left the dungeons where he'd moved to after graduating and headed toward the very familiar infirmary.

He quietly opened the door, pulled up a chair next to the familiar bed holding his frail wife, and looking from her to the parchment he began a letter:

Harry,

It has been a while since last I saw you, or even talked to you. I suppose a lot has been on my mind as of late. Six months and still no change. I am afraid to hope, and even more so to give up. She's my life, but so are my children. They have grown so much in these last months. I never thought they could grow quite so quickly.

I'm certain that Hermione would want me to say, "Hello," to you on her behalf. I'm looking in on her now, and she is still so beautiful to me. I awoke in the middle of the night tonight to the cries of my children, and I can't bring myself to return to that cold bed. I miss her too much, being there by myself. I only want to hold her again and have her hold me back. I must sound so pathetic to you.

How have things been? I've heard that your training has gone well. You always were a brilliant seeker. It would only suffice that you would make a professional league. You are playing for England, aren't you?

As for myself, I really don't need a job. I've been well taken care of by my mother's private accounts. I never would have thought she had amassed such wealth.

Oh, your godfather, Sirius Black, has taken on a position here at Hogwarts' the assistant Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He has also been driving me mad with his offers to baby sit. I am not above neutering your godfather, Potter. Oh and there is a new Muggle Studies teacher, Esmiranda Rachon, who has caught his interest. I sense a litter in the near future.

Tell Weasel that I say hello. He is a chaser for England, isn't he? Oh and tell Mrs. Weasley, that her treacle fudge is utterly breath taking. I hope to see you at Christmas. Penelope and Richard wrote to me, and told me to invite you all over for the holidays. They say there is plenty of room, but if you ask me, they have not considered the size of the entire Weasley brood. However the new house I've brought them is considerably large...

Keep in touch, and please avoid invading my mind when I do manage to doze off. It's quite annoying.

Draco

16 November 1997

Draco then folded the parchment, and sighed. He looked at his wife, got up, kissed her on the forehead, and then headed toward the owlry. He put the parchment into an envelope, and using red wax and the Hogwarts' seal, sealed the letter. He gave a whistle and Severus' eagle owl responded. Draco gave the bird the letter with specific instructions to give it to Harry Potter. The bird gave a small nod, and took off, straight out of the window and flew gracefully into the night, headed toward its destination.

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Harry groaned and scratched his head as he slowly opened his eyes, reached for his glasses and heard the insistent tapping at his window. He got out of bed, and opened the window to let the bird in, and took the envelope from its talons. His eyebrows rose as he noticed the seal and tore it open and his eyes quickly scanned the letter, and then he read over it once more, this time more slowly.

He smiled at the thought of his godfather finding someone, and he sighed as he read about Hermione's condition. He then sat down at his desk, located a few feet from his bed, pulled out some parchment and began a response:

Draco,

It's almost good to hear from you. I'm glad to know that your children are doing well, and you seem to be better as well. I'm sorry to hear about Hermione. I hold out hope every day. I want her to improve as badly as you do. I have faith that she will. You need to hold onto that faith. Tell her that I return the "Hello."

I love being seeker for England, although the coach is especially hard on me. The other day I told him to bite me after an extremely stressful day of training and he looked as though he were about to have an apoplexy. His face grew red and bloated, and Ron and I got a good laugh out of it.

As for Sirius, the old dog. I guess I will have to have that talk with him about honor before family in this sense? As long as he's happy though. I can't wait to see you all at Christmas! Ron and I, and I'm sure the rest of the Weasleys, will be there. You just make sure that Sirius and this Esmiranda Rachon are there.

Speaking of family, how are Snape--Severus and Remus? Still together? I never would have thought those two could have... Well, it began nearly a year ago, it has probably been more of a shock for you as you are there and seeing it for yourself.

Ron told me to tell you and the Greasy Git hello, so there you have it.

As for intruding on your dreams... It's not like I have any control over that. Must be that brotherly bond. Oh and for your peace of mind, every time I mention our bond, Ron shudders. Just something I thought you might like to know. Hope that provides you with a moment's smirk.

I can't wait until Christmas. I never thought I would be a part of such a large family, and I'm glad to have that family to celebrate with on such a happy occasional.

You keep in touch, as more time lapses between your letters than mine.

Harry

18 November 1997

Harry finished the letter, put it in an envelope, and using red wax and his own personal seal, a phoenix wrapped around an "H" he sealed the letter, and gave a whistle. With a ruffle of feathers, Hedwig flew from her perch to collect the letter. She listened intently to Harry's instructions and then with a shriek she flew off to Hogwarts.

----------

Draco heard a tapping at the infirmary window and went to answer it. He was met by Harry's owl Hedwig, who was friendlier with him these days. He took the letter from her talons and reached in his pocket for a treat for her. She took the treat from his hand and gave a hoot before she perched at the end of Hermione's bed.

Draco took a seat in the chair by his wife's bedside and tore open the letter. He smiled at what his blood brother had written, glad to know that he actually had family in the world. He closed his eyes and sighed. He was very grateful for the family that he had. He only hoped that one of the most important members of that family would get well soon so that he could share it with her.

He looked over Hermione and remembered when her parents had been brought in to see her. Her mother had collapsed against Richard, and they both looked stricken. Draco also remembered when the Grangers met their grandchildren. How their eyes had lit up the moment they saw the two babies. They'd held them and were beaming with pride.

Draco leaned forward and grasped Hermione's hand. He lifted it to his lips and kissed it.

"I know you want to see them, Hermione, and they want so badly to see their mother. Please come back to us. We need you. We will always need you, and always love you. They've grown so much, Titania has your eyes and my hair, there will be no living with her once she's old enough to have discovered boys, and our little Ryan, he's the very image of me, with blond hair, but it curls like yours, and he has my eyes. He's going to be a heart breaker. I'll need you here to help me scold them when they get into things, and that's going to be happening soon. They are already crawling about and getting into things..." Draco whispered, and then felt his breath catch in his throat as he felt something thick and heavy in the air.

He let go of Hermione's hand and leaned back, and noticed that whatever was so thick in the room was surrounding Hermione. He reached for her hand, but something prevented him from touching her. Then an alarm sounded, the alarm that Madam Pomfrey had placed around Hermione to alert her if there was any change. Still the question remained... Was this change for the best or...

The worst?