For Our Parents Willed So

For Our Parents Willed So

*

Training

*

"Are you sure that you have everything now?" asked Junila. "You haven't forgotten anything, have you?"

Lucius rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "Yes, mother, we do have everything," he said. "You have only asked that four times now. Are you sure you don't want to ask it yet another time?"

Junila frowned. "Do not take that tone with me, Lucius Philippe Malfoy," she said sternly. "I am your mother. Of course I have the right to be worried about you!"

The blond man sighed in frustration. "Mother, I am twenty-four years old," he said, "I am married, and I have a job. Why can't you trust me to be able to take care of my own possessions?"

"Lucius," Junila said with adorable calmness, "as both you and I just said, I am your mother. To me, you will always be the one-year-old who fell down on his diapered bum and wailed. Therefore, I most certainly am worried about whether or not you are capable of taking care of your own luggage."

The teenagers around them all snickered, getting a murderous glare from the wheelchair-ridden man. Then, Lucius just sighed. "Fine. Before you can ask for the fifth time, yes, we do have everything we need."

"Excellent!" Junila beamed. "I guess you can finally leave, then." Ignoring Lucius's rolling of eyes as the blond started to lead the teenagers out of the Manor, she called, "Wait, Sirius. I want to talk with you."

So, her son-in-law stayed behind, a bit puzzled. Even more confused he became when she simply took something from her pocket, then unshrank it, and handed the package to him. "Open this when Lucius isn't around," she said, smirking. "Oh, and feel free to share its contents with your friends, too." At Sirius's questioning gaze, she leant forward and whispered, "It's Lucius's baby book."

Sirius's eyes widened, then he grinned and nodded. Yes, this was definitely going to be interesting. Thanking Junila, he now put the package into his trunk, then hurried after the others.

The Potters' car was waiting for them outside. Cedric was sitting on the front seat, while Luke was standing outside, waiting for them. After helping them put their trunks into the magically enlargened boot of the car, he ushered the teenagers inside. As they had got settled into the car, he turned towards Lucius. "Would Lord Malfoy like some assistance from my humble self?" he asked with a teasing smile.

Lucius merely rolled his silver eyes towards the sky. "There's nothing humble about you, Potter," he said. "But yes, some help might be appreciated." Grinning at this, Luke whispered a quick spell to levitate Lucius into the car, then shrank the wheelchair and handed it to its rightful owner. Lucius thanked him with a brief nod, and the older wizard grinned again before going to his own place in the car.

Again, Severus leant against James as soon as they had started driving. The two were again sitting on the backseats with Lily, while Lucius, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were on the middle seat. This time, though, the sound-blocking barrier had been taken down temporarily. So, James and Lily could easily participate in the conversation despite Severus being asleep against James's shoulder.

"So he fell asleep again, eh?" asked Sirius, smirking, as he noticed what had happened. "Tsk, tsk, Prongs. You shouldn't keep him up all night long; he obviously gets tired more easily than you do."

"Oh, shut up, Padfoot," laughed James. "Let him sleep if he wants."

They soon reached the train station of the little village. There they headed towards the large doorway that stated, "Platform 9 3/4." Walking through it, they arrived right to the platform, where many students were already preparing to board the train. James shook Severus awake, Luke helped Lucius into his wheelchair again, and they all got out of the car. After the last hasty goodbyes, they went into the train.

Soon they had settled down, well, most of them. Lucius refused to be in the same compartment with 'a bunch of hyperactive kids,' like he put it, and Lily and Remus had to go to a Prefect meeting. Sirius, of course, immediately noticed that something wasn't right.

"Hey, James," he said. "Weren't you supposed to be in that meeting, too? If I recall right, you're the Head Boy! You gave such a loud show about it. So, why are you still just sitting there?"

"Simple," James said with a smirk. "I'd already agreed with Professor McGonagall that I will sit in the compartment through the whole train ride, no matter what. To help Severus get adjusted to the aspect of going back to school, you see," he explained. "If they say anything important there, Lily and Remus will surely fill me in -- although I doubt that I'm missing anything of importance."

"Severus, did you hear that? Jamie's using you on his advantage!" laughed Peter. Then he frowned. "Severus? Hey, Severus? ...Darn. He's fallen asleep again!"

"Now, that won't do at all," Sirius said lightly. "Hey, Severus! Wake up!" he shouted then.

The Slytherin stirred a bit, then, finally, sat up from his previous position; he'd been leaning against James's shoulder once again. "What is it?" he asked, sounding irritated at being woken in such a rude way.

"You're unbelievable, Severus," huffed Sirius. "Really, is it too much to ask from you to stay awake for fifteen minutes at least? I do not think we're quite that boring!"

"It isn't my fault," the Slytherin murmured. "It's not like I asked to be tired!" Then, he yawned.

"Well, if you weren't up all night long reading those books of yours, you wouldn't be so tired," said James. Even though his tone was teasing, there was also a hint of worry in it. "Are you sure you aren't sick?"

Severus yawned again, then said, "Fairly sure. Junila's a mediwitch, remember? She checked me over."

The bespectacled boy sighed with relief. "Well, I have one thing less to worry about, at least."

Peter snorted. "Well, what else do you have to worry about?" he asked.

"Well, not much." James gave him a grin, then chuckled at his fiancé. "Sleep if you want, Severus, as long as you don't snore. I'll make sure these brats stay quiet enough."

"I do not snore..." muttered the blind teenager. Then, he fell asleep again, now with his head in James's lap.

James petted gently his fiancé's hair, watching Severus sleep. When asleep, the Slytherin looked much younger than usually. Younger, and much more innocent. Not that he hadn't been handsome otherwise, no, far from that, but in sleep, Severus was... beautiful. There wasn't another word for it.

Severus's pale skin was smooth and clear, his features evened out in his sleep. The long, thick, dark eyelashes brushed against his high cheekbones, and the thin lips were slightly parted to allow air in and out, tempting James to lean in and place a light kiss onto them. His eyelids hid the reality of his milky eyes, all the time hinting that when he opened his eyes, the old onyx flames would burn their way right through James's body with one stern glance. Only the tiniest up-and-down movements of the chest covered with a black robe told that he was still alive; otherwise, he lay completely still, but relaxed. Yes, beautiful.

Severus's commaroo climbed up to sit on his shoulder, and James gave it a fond smile. The little creature, which Severus had decided to call Vector -- the Slytherin's sense of humour truly worried James sometimes -- had turned out to be even more friendly and loyal than commaroos in general. Not only was he nowadays one of the dearest things in Severus's life, he had also befriended Hedwig, James's owl.

After some time of quiet conversation, the compartment door was opened again, and Lily and Remus peered in. "Good evening, guys," Lily said cheerfully. "You truly didn't miss much, James."

"Of course not," mumbled a sleepy voice. "How could he miss anything when he has me?"

"You're awake for once," Remus observed. "Great! Now I can ask whether you've been practising."

"Yes, I have," Severus replied, sounding pretty satisfied with himself. "In fact, I'm almost done."

"That's great!" The werewolf beamed. "Now, you won't need my help long anymore, will you?"

"I don't think so." The blind boy smirked at him and then asked teasingly, "Aren't you so sad now that you can no longer have me just for yourself for an hour every day?"

"Oh, Severus, how could you?" exclaimed Remus in response. "I thought we had agreed on keeping it a secret. How could you reveal our secret relationship to James and Peter?"

"Oh, Remus, I'm so sorry, but I just can't hide it anymore," whined the Slytherin. "It's just impossible. I'm thinking about you every time I see James. You look so much better than he!"

They all laughed. Then James ruffled his fiancé's hair, ignoring the annoyed sound this brought from the pale boy. "So I don't look good enough for you, eh?" he chuckled. "If even a blind guy can't stand my looks..."

"Now you really have a reason to worry, Jamesie," Sirius laughed. "Maybe he's simply sick of you and that's why he's so tired and all. I wouldn't be surprised at all." Then, his grin got even broader. "Hey, now I can finally take a look at the thing Junila gave to me!" he exclaimed.

They all gathered curiously around him as he reached for his trunk. After a while of fumbling, he drew out the book-shaped package. Everybody watched anxiously as he opened it.

"Aww," breathed Lily as she saw what was inside. "It's a baby book! How cute!"

"Guesses for whose it is?" asked Sirius, smirking. "It's Lucius's. We'll find out all the embarrassing things he did as a kid." Everybody watched -- well, Severus not so much -- as he opened the book.

'"Lucius Philippe Malfoy,'" read Peter aloud. "'Born on 17th of March, 1954. Engaged to the first-to-be-born child of family Black.' See, Sirius? Even when he was born he was already tied to you! How he must have suffered!" He then ducked as Sirius halfheartedly tried to hit him.

"Lucius's first word was, 'gimme,'" chuckled Sirius as he flipped a couple of pages forward. "Why am I not surprised?" Then his eyes fell onto the next page, and he laughed. "Guesses for the first full sentence?"

"'Kill those damn Muggles?'" suggested Remus with a smirk. "Or 'I am a Malfoy, lick my shoes?'"

"Oh, no." Sirius's smirk was even broader. "It was, 'Give me back my teddy!'"

They all laughed before looking further into the book.

"Lucius's first comment at seeing his fiancé was, 'Is that a baby? It looks like a pig.'" Lily giggled. "I see that the beginning of your relationship wasn't one of the best."

"Definitely not," replied Sirius with a smirk. "Lucius told that when his mother then told that he was supposed to marry me one day, he threw a fit. He kicked and screamed when they dragged him away."

Peter grinned. "My first words at seeing Remus were, 'Hey, he's even smaller than me!'"

Remus laughed at that. "And when he heard that we were going to marry, he said, 'Okay, but you're having the babies!'" Glancing at his fiancé, he added mischievously, "Do you still think that?"

"Why, of course," replied Peter cheerfully. "You'll do the dirty work, I'll have the fun."

"I wouldn't be so sure," said James as the others laughed. "Dad once told me that the best -- or at least most tolerant -- part of being pregnant with me was throwing random objects at Father and yelling at him for getting him into that condition. Knowing Moony, he would be at least twice as violent."

Peter thought about this for a moment. Then he said, "But if he has a big stomach, he can't run very fast, can he? So, I could very well get away and he couldn't catch me..."

Now, everybody else laughed as Remus hit his fiancé.