Lionsnake Manor

Lionsnake Manor

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Morning, Part III

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"So. Babies," said Sirius as Harry and Draco had settled on the table. "I take it that you'd want them, Harry?"

"Yes!" the young wizard said, nodding his head enthusiastically. "And lots of them! When I was little, I always dreamt of a big family. Now I have one, but I still don't have any children!"

The others laughed lightly at this. Then Severus said, "The main question is still how. I don't know whether there are spells to make us all fathers of one baby, and I don't think that'd be wise -- if I, Remus, and Lucius were all combined, the baby would get the Dark Plague for sure." As the others nodded at this, he continued, "So, I think it'd be the fairest if we had the children in pairs. We have six adult men here, we should be able to handle three babies at the same time. Besides, like Lucius stated, we would spoil them completely if there were only a few of them. Now, the tricky part is to decide the pairs. Of course, I, Remus, and Lucius cannot be considered in any combination, and I don't think Draco and Lucius would be wise, either. No matter what, you have too much similar genes for that to work." At this, he passed a sharp glance at the blond men, who both nodded in understanding.

"So, let's get this straight," Sirius muttered. He quickly summoned a piece of parchment and an everlasting quill from the nearest of their many studies. Then he started dotting the unacceptable pairings on the parchment. "Harry has volunteered to become pregnant," he then muttered while writing down Harry's name on the left side of the parchment. "Who else?"

The others exchanged glances. Lucius was the first to speak. "Not me, at least," he said with a defensive tone. "Can you imagine me being submissive, or being pregnant? Even less, can you imagine anybody else being alive after I've been pregnant?"

"I think that closes you and Severus both out," murmured Sirius. "Sure, Severus can easily be submissive, but I don't think I want to face either of you in a mood swing." Therefore, he wrote Lucius's and Severus's names on the right side of the parchment. "So, we have me, Remus, and Draco left. One of us should be a father, and two should be carriers. Any volunteers?" he inquired, letting his gaze go around in the small group.

"You're just trying to get off the hook yourself," Severus smirked. Then, he turned back to his usual serious self. "Alas, no such luck, Sirius. Even though werewolves can indeed carry children to term, there are usually complications. Besides, with Voldemort's magic still wild and stray around the whole country, I'd rather not risk him catching the Dark Plague while carrying a child."

"Fine," sighed Sirius, knowing that there was no use to fight. Severus was right, after all. He quickly wrote his and Draco's names under Harry's, then added Remus to the other side of the parchment. "So, we only have to make the pairs. Draco with Lucius is automatically out."

"Black hair is a dominative trait, so if we don't want all our children look the same, we shouldn't have a dark-haired guy in every pairing," noted Harry. "So, Remus is pretty much forced to be with Draco."

"I think that'd be the better anyway," Remus said with a slight smile. "No offense, Sirius, but I'd rather not try my luck trying to knock you up. I'd most probably just end up being knocked up by you."

Sirius laughed and drew a line across the parchment, connecting the names of the werewolf and the younger blond. "So, what now?" he then asked. "Severus, do you want me or Harry? And Lucius?"

"Again, we must think about appearances," Lucius smirked. "Black eyes are also a dominative trait. Don't we all agree that it'd be such a pity if our dear Harry's eyes didn't pass on to the next generation?"

"There's always a change that they would, but let's be sure," said Harry lightly. "So, it's you and me, then?"

"So it seems." At this, Lucius nodded at Sirius, who connected he last two pairs.

"When are we going to do this, anyway?" asked Draco then. He sounded half nervous, half eager to get begun.

"Well, the potion growing the temporary uterus is the tricky part of this deal," mused Sirius. "How fast can you make three doses of it, Severus?"

"I could have it ready for this evening, if need be," the dark-haired Slytherin replied calmly. "Although I think we have to take in the full moon factor, right, Remus?"

"Right," the werewolf said, sounding a bit unsure. "If I just --" Then, suddenly, his head jerked up. His eyes glowed a bit with a soft, amber light that never ceased to amaze and slightly terrify his husbands, then he again watched around himself. "The wolf made its pick," he said with a cool voice that was a direct result of the hellride of feelings he always got when the wolf had picked its mate for the full moon. "And I do think we have to postpone this plan because of that."

"Who is it, then?" asked Harry curiously. The others, too, were eager to hear the answer.

"Lucius," said Remus simply, then leant towards the older blond, who fortunately happened to sit next to him. Lucius merely smiled slightly, then wrapped an arm around the werewolf's shoulders.

"Glad to see that I'm loved," he said with a slight smirk. Then, he glanced at Severus. "Speaking of potions, Severus, I do think it's about the time for our doses, and the Wolfsbane, too."

"I think so, too," said Severus. "Blinky should be here at any moment with them." And truly, after mere moments, a house-elf popped to the sight. On a small tray it held four goblets, one full of steaming, silvery mass, the others all containing the same purple liquid.

"Which bottle did you take these from, Blinky?" asked Severus suspiciously, raising one of the purple-liquid goblets right under his nose and sniffing it. "The potion in the blue bottle has expired."

"No worries, Masters Severus," the house-elf replied swiftly. "Blinky take the potion from the green bottle. Blinky throw away the blue bottle, Masters Severus?"

"Do that," replied the Potions Master while taking the rest of the potion goblets from the tray. Every potion was his own brewery, and thus, they were the best quality available.

"Geez," murmured Remus, staring darkly down at his two gobletfulls of potions. "I don't even know which one tastes worse." Then, seemingly having decided not to worry any more about that kind of things, he then drank at first the Wolfsbane, then the Dark Plague antidote. After emptying the second goblet he simply fell down to rest his head against Lucius's shoulder. The others watched him with varying amounts of pity on their faces, even though Lucius and Severus were also concentrating on getting their own antidotes drunk.

Then, however, Remus straightened his back and grasped Lucius's arm. "Come on, Lucius," he said, and started to drag the blond out of the room. The other wizard did not resist -- the antidote to the Dark Plague was also a mild aphrodisiac.

And, as another result of that, Severus stood up and passed a suggestive glance to the rest of his husbands. They all took the hint, got up, and followed him out of the room.