Our Little One

.~*~.Our little one. ~*~.

Chapter Two

First Meeting

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This chapter is not from any particular first-person POV.

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Harry Potter sat in the kitchen, absentmindedly sipping tea. He wasn't thinking about anything particularly, just sat there, enjoying the silence of a lazy Sunday morning.

He heard the door opening and looked towards the person who was coming in. Of course, he wasn't surprised to see who it was. "Fancy some tea?" he asked, grinning. "I made enough for you as well."

Draco Malfoy, his boyfriend for several years now, laughed and sat down opposite to him. "You should know by now that I never drink tea," he teased Harry. "You're like a teenager girl. Would you like some hot chocolate instead?"

Harry chuckled. "Oh, yes," he said with a smirk. "And that's very manly and adult-like stuff to drink, isn't it?"

"I never said that." Draco grinned and placed his hand on top of Harry's. "I only told you that tea isn't."

Harry smiled to his lover, who returned the smile. For some time they only sat there without saying anything. They often had moments like that - when everything was just right, and nothing had to be said. They were the moments Harry liked most.

Suddenly, a big, brown falcon owl flew inside. It dropped a parchment scroll in front of them and flew away without even stopping.

"That's from father." Draco smiled knowingly and reached out his hand to take the letter. "No one else ties their letters with black ribbon."

"Read it. I want to hear what they're now up to," Harry smiled. He liked Draco's father very much nowadays - especially after Lucius had married Remus. After finding out his position as a spy of Dumbledore in their sixth year, he had looked at Lucius Malfoy with wholly new eyes. And, most of the time, he liked what he saw.

"It's adressed to you," Draco said, looking surprised. It wasn't a wonder that he was surprised - Lucius usually adressed his letters to his son, even when they were written to them both. It was an old habit he didn't even try to get rid of. "Do you want to read this first yourself, Harry?"

"What?" Harry looked up from his tea cup. "Oh, no. Read ahead. You know very well that I keep nothing in secret from you." He continued drinking his tea while Draco unfolded the parchment and began to read it. He himself sank deep in thoughts that had distracted him pretty long time. Thoughts that he didn't want Draco to know - at least not yet.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted. "They've managed at last!" Draco exclaimed, sounding excited. "Do you hear, Harry? They've adopted a girl!"

"Who?" Harry asked. "Lucius and Remus?" His question wasn't very clever, as he noticed right after it had left his mouth, but he had been in his thoughts and Draco had surprised him. Then again, Draco surprised him all the time. He should have been used to it - if one can get used to being surprised.

"Of course," Draco replied, rolling his eyes. "Who else? Mother and Ginny Weasley?" He waved the letter in the air. "It was two days ago - at least that's what father says in this letter. Guess how old she is?"

"Umm... Five?" Harry said. "At least that was what they were thinking, wasn't it?"

"Near enough," Draco said with a michievious grin. "You only missed it by one."

"Four, then? Or six?"

"Nah." Draco grinned even more. "You should put that 'one' in front of the 'five'. She's fifteen, love. Called Olivia."

Harry coughed. "Fifteen?" he echoed, not really believing what he heard. "You aren't serious! I mean - just imagine it! Lucius Malfoy in the same house with a teenager girl? Never. Never ever."

"Well, that's what they say in the letter," Draco smiled. "Read it yourself, if you don't believe me. I'll finish it later. It's adressed to you, after all." He pushed the letter towards Harry.

Harry took the parchment and took a quick look at it. He immediately recognized Lucius's tidy, careful handwriting. He began to read the letter. The further he got, the more surprised he became.

~*^*~

Harry,

I have some pretty interesting news for you and Draco. Like you know already, I and Remus have been planning to adopt a child. At last, we've done it - but nothing went like we had thought.

We were thinking about a girl somewhere around five years or so. So, we went to a wizarding orphanage. There were many little, cute girls there, but we really didn't know who of them we should take - or who of them would like us.

Then we saw something that made us immediately make our decidion. A teenager girl, looking very lonely and thoughtful, was looking at us from the corner of the room where all the children were. We asked the head nurse about her, and heard some awful things about her.

Her name is Olivia, and she's fifteen years old. She's magical, but she hasn't attended to any wizarding school for a single day in her whole life. She has a talent for Divination and is very good in Potions, but she can't cast a simple Lumos spell. I know it sounds impossible, but it's true.

She had a normal, happy Muggle childhood. However, when her magical powers started to show up, she had to hide them - her father beat her unconscious for even the slightest signs of magic. In the age of fourteen she was attacked by some dark wizards. She hasn't told anyone what they did to her - I bet you can imagine it yourself - but when it was all over, she was found in the middle of blood and pieces of flesh. Through her sobbing and stammering the wizards who found her found out that she had apparently blown up one of her attackers. The only piece larger than a finger was a forearm - with a Dark Mark.

She was taken to the orphanage, where they put some Memory Charms on her to prevent her form remembering. They were trying to train her magic powers, but it turned out that she couldn't use them any more. They are inside her, but she isn't able to use them.

After few first sentences I saw that Remus had chosen. I had, as well. After the nurse had stopped telling her awful story, we walked right to her and asked if she wanted a home. We found out that she did.

She's still afraid of every stranger, especially male ones. She now approves me and Remus, but the first day was awful. Every time we talked to her, she startled. Every time we took a step forward, she stepped backwards. She knew that we weren't going to hurt her, and she still acted that way.

She still sometimes gets frightened by us. I must warn you - if you came to visit us, she'll probably be horribly afraid of you. I think she could stand you, if we tell her to - but she'll be afraid.

I have to go, Remus calls me. Olivia also waits me to the lab - if she can't learn proper magic, we are at least going to train her in those things she's able to do. Severus has promised to teach Potions to her, but until he and Sirius return from their vacation, I'm teaching her. She'll be the best Potions brewer in the whole wide world, if it's up to me.

Please consider very carefully whether you're going to let Draco read this whole letter or not. I don't think it would be good for him - Remus has seen nightmares about it last nights.

More later.

Lucius

~*^*~

Harry looked up to Draco, who was looking at him with curiosity in his eyes. "Terrible," Harry whispered.

"What now?" Draco asked, looking pretty worried. "What did he say in the end? I didn't get past the part where he said how old she is." He reached his hand out for the letter.

"Are you sure you want to read this?" Harry asked, still shocked. He couldn't even imagine something so terrible happening to a young girl. It was obvious that they had had to put Memory Charms on her. Remembering something like that - he didn't want to even think about how horrible it must be. "He says it would be maybe better if you didn't."

"About the girl?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "Is it worse than your childhood?" he asked.

Harry merely nodded.

"Then burn it," Draco said. "I don't think I would ever finish the letter."

Harry nodded again and drew his wand. Without even asking again, he murmured a burning spell. He remembered very well how Draco had reacted when he had heard about Harry's life with Dursleys. He had cried for an entire night, not even noticing Harry's comforting. Draco was usually strong, but he wasn't able to stand anything bad happening to those close to him.

"What do you think, should we visit them?" Draco asked curiously. "I'd like to see this mysterious girl."

"Maybe." Harry smiled. "I'll owl them immediately."

~*~

"What do I look like?" Draco asked nervously. He was posing in front of a mirror, looking at himself. Harry was no more surprised about exactly how vain his boyfriend could be sometimes. "I'm not as awful as I think myself, am I?"

Harry studied his boyfriend. "You look gourgeous," he told him. "I just love those leather pants."

"Fake leather pants," Draco corrected him. "And of course you love them. That's the only reason why I ever wear these. Do you know how difficult it is to move around wearing tight leather pants? I'm barely able to sit down."

"All the better." Harry grinned. "I adore the way you move in them."

"I know you do." Draco grinned back to him. "Shouldn't we leave now?"

~*~

Harry wrapped his arms around Draco. He felt completely nice and safe. He was sitting on a sofa in the Malfoy Manor, Draco sitting next to him. On the opposite sofa were Lucius and Remus. Lucius had his arms around Remus as well. They were discussing Olivia.

"She has a pretty good sense for clothing," Remus told. "But for obvious reasons her wardrobe is totally miserable."

Draco nodded thoughtfully. Then he glanced at Remus, grinning mischieviously. "I think we should maybe take her shopping some day," he suggested. "What do you think about it?"

"An excellent idea," Remus replied, and a little grin was also playing on his mouth.

Harry sighed and looked hopelessly at Lucius. "I don't think there's any way for us to prevent them from doing that, right?" he said. It was more a statement than a question. They both knew their lovers well enough to know it was impossible.

Lucius shook his head, a gentle smile on his lips as well. "You should know that it's safer to face a hungry manticore than stand in a way of those two when they're going shopping," he said to the younger man. "They're both stubborn enough to get through a stone wall with their bare hands if there's a shop behind it."

"You'd better not say that again, Lucius Malfoy!" Remus exclaimed fiercely. "I'm definitely not stubborn!"

"No, of course you aren't, love," Lucius laughed. "You're the absolutely best person in the whole wide world, Remus Malfoy." He leaned towards his husband and kissed him warmly.

Draco glanced at Harry. "What's this?" he asked softly. "Don't I get a kiss as well?"

"Draco, you're impossible. Harry grinned. Then he pulled his boyfriend nearer to himself and kissed him.

After a moment, they heard a polite cough from the door. "I'm sorry to disturb, misters," Thoward said carefully, "but the dinner is ready."

They disengaged from each other and grinned to the uneasy house-elf. Then again, Thoward was always uneasy. Harry hadn't ever seen him all happy and carefree. It was just the way of living to the creature.

"We're coming, Thoward." Lucius smirked a bit and continued, "Although I don't think that anything can taste better than that." He glanced sideways to Remus, who blushed sligthly.

They walked to the dining room, happily talking together. That was, Remus and Draco were eagerly talking about all the places they should take Olivia shopping to, and Lucius and Harry just listened to them, sharing some desperate glances.

At last, Harry couldn't help but speak up. "Are you sure it's absolutely necessary to take her to Paris only for shopping?" Harry asked them, halfly amused, halfly astonished. They couldn't be serious, could they?

"Of course it is," Draco replied calmly. "I mean, how many times you've found nice clothes anywhere nearby?"

"All the time," Harry said and grinned. "But then again, I'm not shopaholic, absolutely obsessed fashion-focused dream-of-a-shopkeeper."

"And you mean that I am?" Draco snorted. "I am insulted."

"I knew you would be," Harry replied. "Now I have to make it up to you. That was the whole purpose of saying that."

They all laughed when they entered the dining room.

Olivia was already there. She was wearing a long, black skirt and a misty green blouse. She looked a bit surprised when she saw Harry and Draco, and she looked also cautious. "You didn't mention anyone coming," she said to Remus, taking a little step backwards. Her grey eyes were wide when she stared at the guests.

"Didn't I?" The werewolf looked sincerely regretful. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Olivia! I absolutely forgot. I swear I would have told you, but so much happened on the same time and..." He gave up explaining. "I'm so sorry," he only said.

"A little shy, aren't we?" Harry whispered to Draco.

"She's been through a lot," Draco reminded him. "Not a wonder that she's a bit afraid of strangers." Harry felt his boyfriend shivering. "That's horrible," Draco whispered with so quiet a voice that even Harry had hard time hearing him, standing right next to him.

"These are the Potters, dear," Lucius said to Olivia. "Harry and Draco. Draco is my son, and they are both our friends. You don't have to be scared of them."

"Not 'Potters', Father," Draco interrupted. "It's 'a Potter and a Malfoy.'"

"You just won't give up easily, won't you, Draco?" Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "Face the truth, dear. You're maybe not officially Potter, but you are in every other way." He held his boyfriend's hand in his own and turned towards Olivia. "You are Olivia, then?" he asked. "We've heard a lot about you."

"But don't worry," Draco added. "We haven't believed anything."

Harry sighed again. "Could you please stop for a while?" he hissed to his boyfriend. "You aren't really helping, you know."

"I hope that you will do well together," Remus said. "I and Draco were planning to take you shopping to Paris."

"Shopping?" she echoed. "To Paris?" She glanced at them suspiciously. "You must be kidding," she said then.

"We're grave serious," Draco assured. "I'd never joke about such a serious thing as shopping."

Olivia looked thoughtful for a while. Then she showed them a small, careful smile. "I think I like him," she said to Remus.

"We thought you would," he replied calmly. "And I think that you'll like Harry as well. They're both very wonderful people." He glanced at the other men. "I think we should start eating before Thoward kills us," he suggested with a tiny, sly grin.

"Master Remus!" Thoward exclaimed, totally shocked. "I'd never-"

"We know, we know," Remus interrupted the house-elf before he was able to go any further in his complaint. "I was just kidding." He walked to the table and gestured the rest of them to follow him.

They got seated, Harry and Draco on the other side of the table, Lucius, Remus and Olivia on the other side. Olivia still gave them cautious glances, but at least she didn't look frightened anymore.

They started eating. Draco described some shirts he had bought that week. Lucius and Harry shared more desperate glances as he and Remus started talking about clothes. Olivia didn't say anything, but she leant forward, listening carefully.

On some point of the conversation Draco turned towards Olivia. She startled and moved a little bit backwards, but didn't say anything.

Draco studied her carefully for a while. Then he smiled. "The colour of that blouse fits your eyes perfectly," he said approvingly. "And that shade of black suits you also very well."

Olivia blushed slightly. "Thanks," she whispered. "Your own clothes are gourgeous."

"There aren't any different nuances of black," Harry pointed out. "There is only black, and then there are different greys and very dark other colours. Those aren't black."

Draco looked doubtfully at him. "You mean, you've lived this long with me and you still think there's only one black colour?" He shook his head. "I'm shocked, Harry. I'd never expected this from you."

Lucius and Harry both just stared. Olivia and Remus chuckled cheerfully. "Stop teasing him, Draco," Remus advised. "Not everyone has such a perfect colour sense as you do."

"Okay, then," Draco said, grinning. "I'm sorry, Harry, love. I just couldn't resist. But you have to admit that the colour of her skirt is perfect."

"Like Remus just said, not everyone has your eye for colours," Harry replied calmly. "And I definitely don't have. You know that." He looked sideways at his boyfriend, giving him a sly grin. "I only recognize one colour, and it's the nuance of red you have on your face when you blush."

"I don't blush!" Draco exclaimed, blushing fiercely. "I never do!"

They all laughed at him. Then Harry began feeling sorry for him. He knew very well how bad Draco always felt when he was embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "You know very well that I love you."

Draco nodded. "I do know that," he said, calming down. Then he gave Harry a wide, cunning smile. "But you have to make it up to me."

"What, the fact I love you?" Harry asked, acting shocked.

Draco didn't even bother to answer. Instead he just pecked his boyfriend on the cheek and then grasped his hand tightly, squeezing it slightly.

Harry returned the gesture.

~*~

"She's having nightmares," Lucius told Harry as they two went outside to a snowy balcony for a while. Behind the glass door Draco and Remus continued planning the trip to Paris, Olivia shyly listening to them. "Nightmares, about those Death Eaters who... who raped her."

"Nightmares?" Harry echoed. "Didn't you tell in the letter that her memories were covered with Memory Charms? How is she able to have nightmares, if she doesn't remember a thing?"

"Ministry did hide her memories, true," the older man said, "but even they can't affect one's subconsciousness. And like you know, nightmares, like dreams, come from there. That's also the reason why she is scared of strange men - she doesn't actively fear them, but her subconsciousness tells her to be afraid. When she's wholly aware of the situation, she isn't afraid, just a bit nervous. But when there are new people around, or she gets surprised - she almost screamed yesterday as Remus touched her. Remus, of all the people on earth - the one who wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"At least not when he's completely himself," Harry pointed out dryly. "Involuntary actions are another thing." He was quiet for a moment before continuing, "Olivia looks pretty happy. How has she been around here?"

Lucius smiled a bit. "As well as one can be, when she's having nightmares that scare the hell out of her and afterwards she doesn't even know why they frighten her. She spent the first day wandering around the Manor, looking totally lost. After that she found the ball room and has spent nearly every evening there - I don't have a clue about what she's doing there. And of course she's been in our lab - half of her time is spent on either brewing different kinds of potions or reading books about them."

"Wanders around like a restless ghost, is mysterious about her doings and obsessive about potions of any kind?" Harry grinned. "Severus is going to love her."

"I figured so as well," Lucius chuckled. "I'm a bit doubtful about whether it's a good idea to let those two come together. I'm obsessive about potions, I admit that, but Severus is much worse. You know that when Draco and Remus really started getting along, Draco's obsession on shopping increased at least to three times what it was before. If Severus gets someone to talk to who's the same way about potions as he is..."

"Scary," Harry said, but he was grinning. "I think I don't want to be there when they get together."

"I don't, either." Lucius grinned as well. "Should we maybe get back inside before those two have enough time to spoil our poor Olivia completely?"

"Maybe we should." Harry opened the glass door of the balcony and stepped inside, the older man following right after him.

"Ah, there you come," Draco said with a smirk when they closed the door behind them. "We thought that you had frozen on your footsteps and we should melt you."

"You're only envious because you can't stand cold as well as we can," Lucius said dryly to his son, sitting next to his husband. "My uncle Thomanius was able to stay outside in snow without a cloak for ten hours running, and he didn't even get his fingers cold."

"And then again, great-uncle Thomanius was a madman," Draco said, and snorted. "You know it very well. He's probably the only one in the Malfoy family who has ever tried to swim in the smaller lake. Unfortunately, he survived."

"Thomanius?" Harry echoed. "Isn't one of your names Thomanius, Draco?"

"Don't remind me about it," the pale man complained, while everybody else laughed - even Olivia dared to smile. "I didn't choose my name! It's wholly Father's fault!"

"Hey!" Remus suddenly exclaimed. "Take your cold hands off from me!"

Lucius laughed and removed his hands from his husband's shoulders. "Okay, okay," he said and smirked. "I would never freeze your poor little shoulders on purpose." Remus gave him The Glare Of Death - marrying a Malfoy teaches you a whole lot of things.

"They are pretty much like Sirius and Severus, aren't they?" Harry asked from Draco, a wide grin on his face. "Always fighting about something that doesn't matter at all."

"It's great amusement," Draco admitted. "One of the main reasons to even stay in touch with Father." He smiled very innocently at his father before continuing, "Do you remember what it was like when they got together? My dear uncles, I mean."

"Of course I do," Harry laughed. "How could I ever forget it? They scared the hell out of half of the Slytherins and all the Gryffindors."

"And it was nothing compared to the situation where dad and Remus admitted their love," Draco pointed out. "I always knew that you're dramatic, Father, but I never saw the same charasteristic in you, Remus - not before that day."

The werewolf shook his head, a small smile on his lips. "I didn't have very much choice, now did I," he said. "I just did what I had to."

"How did it happen?" asked Olivia, seemingly curious. "They've never told me. Because they haven't, you have to tell me."

Draco and Harry glanced sideways at each other. Draco smiled a little bit and nodded. Harry opened his mouth and started, "I think I can very well tell the first time I saw your uncles really together..."