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“Dad!”
A pause.
“Dad!! He tore off my dress!”
“Shut up, Freya, you smashed my toy!”
A door opened hastily. “If Dads weren’t here I would have eviscerated both of you – I lost my bloody match, damn it!”
“Alexander! Watch your language!” yelled Theodore Nott-Potter as he was slowly sitting up on the bed he had been lying on previously.
“Tell them to keep it down, then. I can’t hear my friends on Discord!”
Next to him, Harry snickered, his almond-shaped, startling green eyes crinkling with mirth. “Seems like duty calls.”
Theo turned towards him with a smirk. “And you’re not exempt from it.” He grabbed one of Harry’s hands and tugged him upwards. “Come on, you lazy sod.”
“Lazy?” One of Harry’s steeply angled, high-arched eyebrows lifted. “I’m the one who carried them all, I should remind you.” He groused with a dark look.
Theo smirked. “Yeah? And how did that turn out?”
Harry’s lovely pale red mouth opened to answer, but he was cut off by their children again.
“Lukas, you idiot!” Their ten-year-old daughter exclaimed. “Those were the cat’s food – I’m going to tell Dad!” Thunderous footsteps stomped upstairs. “Dad! Daddy!”
“You’re a little snitch! It was an accident! I’m going to show Dad the scratches you made on my arm, you’ll see – Dad!”
Theo gave him a knowing look, to which Harry responded with a glare of his own.
“I’m not appreciated enough.” He said, sitting up.
Theo laughed at that and slanted over him, delicately placing his hands on the mattress next to Harry’s hips, leaning down on his pretty face. “Aww.” He cooed mockingly. “My poor baby. Do I not pamper you enough? Should I sing your high praises for the job we both did?”
Harry huffed, crossing his arms. “Ah yes. Because getting your wet cock inside was such a labour.”
Theo snickered and delicately kissed that cheeky mouth, feeling those plump lips responding immediately. Pushing a tongue inside, he let hands grab his neck as a small moan left from one of them. Theo slowly brought his own around Harry’s body, sliding them up his chest only to wrap his arms around his waist and push him down on the bed. The moment Harry started to lift a leg to rest it on his shoulder, Theo pulled out.
His husband made a displeased sound.
“I’ll make it up to you tonight.” He whispered huskily. “Let’s tame those little devils first.”
Harry groaned, dropping his arms. God, he really was handsome, lying there like that all spread out. No matter that he still had his clothes on, Theo would always find him attractive whatever he does or wears. The older they get, the more beautiful Harry becomes. Theo doesn’t know how it’s possible. Except for a self-care routine he had installed on his lover, there is nothing to justify the tempting that would wrap around Theo and squeeze at the sight of him.
Harry still has his wild dark hair, but now there are some strands turning grey with age and hard experience. He had sprouted a full stubble that grew out into a short, boxed beard during winter. His eyes are more intense and livelier than they had been at school, with lines of laughter around them. His cheeks were rounder, and Theo sometimes fought the urge to squish or pinch them. He had gained weight and muscles compared to how he looked at twenty – an addition which made him and other parts of him always excited. He still has that lithe form, but he looks so much healthier now. His once ill-looking skin had started to glow during his pregnancy, and it seemed to have never left afterwards.
“Come on.”
As Theo pulled him up, their bedroom door opened with a bang, and he turned around to see Freya and Lukas with angry looks on their faces.
“Dad!”
Their youngest, eight years old, jumped on Theo’s leg, and he lifted his crying son on his hip. “What’s wrong?”
Freya threw a dirty look at her brother before climbing on Harry’s lap, resting her head on his chest.
“Dad…” Lukas’ lips wobbled as fat tears rolled down his cheeks. Then, he opened his palms to Theo, who noted the broken Spider-Man toy. Pointing at Freya, he sobbed, “She broke my favourite toy and – and –” He lifted his skinny arm to show three red lines. “She scratched me!”
Theo shushed his son, cradling his head on the junction where his neck met his shoulder, rubbing the small boy’s trembling back.
Harry turned to his daughter with an exasperated look on his face. It wasn’t the first time those two broke something of each other. Sometimes Theo wondered if they were siblings or enemies.
Harry held her closer, caressing her shiny long black hair, still untameable like his. Theo couldn’t see his daughter’s face, but he was sure her eyes were all big, sad, blue and watery. “Love, why did you do that for?”
She toyed with the hem of Harry’s t-shirt. “Do you – do you remember the flowery dress you gave me for my birthday?”
Harry nodded with a smile. She had begged him to get that dress when she saw it at Gaberlunzie Garments in Diagon Alley, and Harry has always been wrapped around her little finger. It was a white dress cutting at the knee with red flowers. Harry had bought it for her, and she looked like a princess when she paired it with her golden tiara.
“Lukas tore it! And he threw Tilly’s food over it!”
Tilly was their orange cat who had the silliest behaviour Theo had seen. She would zoom around their house at arse o’clock, making sure to steal the little sleep they get. She would also flirt with Harry by meowing with a long drawl, butt up, as his husband tried to cook in peace, and she always nipped at their friends every time they were invited. There was never a day of peace with her. Theo would never forget the slap he had once received from her while he and Harry had been arguing. That had defused the tension immediately.
“You broke my toy!” His son protested with angry dark green eyes. “I didn’t mean to cut your dress, but you broke my toy!”
Freya huffed, crossing her arms. “You destroyed my dress and made it dirty! Daddy had bought it for me, and now I can’t wear it anymore!” She pushed her glasses up, sobbing onto her daddy’s chest.
Harry gently shushed her, wiping her tears.
Theo turned towards his son. “And why did you do that, young man?”
His son looked down, eyes dulling with shame. “I didn’t mean to cut her dress, Father. I…” He bit his small lip. “I was angry because I couldn’t find Johnson”—Lukas’ car toy—“and—and then there was light, and Freya’s dress got stuck on the closet, and it tore.”
Theo frowned, sharing an intrigued look with Harry. “Light?”
His son nodded, his legs dangling back and forth. “It made a weird sound like—” He squeezed his lips together before letting them go with a pop. “The light was white, and the dress stuck, Papa. I didn’t mean it!”
Oh. Now he understands what happened.
He saw Harry regarding their son amusedly before saying, “It’s ok, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“What?” She pushed herself to regard her daddy more clearly. “He destroyed my gift!”
Harry kissed her forehead. “I can repair that with a flick of my wand, darling. I think your brother just had accidental magic, that’s all.”
Lukas’ face lit up hopefully. “I… I’m not going to be punished?”
Theo shook his head. “Of course not. We all did silly stuff when we were your age. However,” he stared long and hard at the two troublemakers. “While I repair your toy—” He looked at his son. “You two are going to clean up your rooms and whatever mess you have made.”
“And you’re going to apologise.” Added Harry. “Both of you. To each other.”
At this, they both groaned.
“But it’s still his fault!”
“I didn’t mean to! And you broke my toy! And hurt me!”
“Don’t get hurt then!”
Harry sighed, but Theo could see how he was fighting to keep it serious. “Apologise. Now.”
Silence.
“If you won’t, then you will be stuck in your rooms for the rest of the day. Shame. Because it’s quite sunny outside.”
His son sighed heavily, pouting. “But –”
“No going out with Mark this afternoon either.”
His son sighed again, but he’s always been the least stubborn out of the three. “I’m sorry, Freya.”
“For what?”
His son looked away. “For throwing Tilly’s food on your dress.”
They turned towards Freya, who had no other choice than to succumb to the pressure. “Ugh. Fine. Sorry for breaking your toy and scratching you.”
“Well done,” murmured Harry, kissing her cheek before giving the same treatment to their son. “Off you go then.”
After letting them go, they drifted towards their room silently. Harry smiled as they quickly added a long distance between each other, as if the other had a contagious disease.
“Ah, they will never learn, will they?”
Harry grinned up at him. “Probably not. But we’re here to show them the way anyway.”
Theo leaned down to kiss Harry. “Let’s go then before—”
“No, don’t take the blue buff – DON’T TAKE THE BLUE – you fucking dunce – I told you to come to mid – you’re a bloody noob – you – I’m the one feeding? Look at your own KDA, mate! Even your mother didn’t mess up that bad, and she literally had you – shut up! Join the team fight!”
Theo and Harry looked at each other in shock before bursting out into laughter. Theo wanted to contain himself and call out his oldest son for being rude to his companions, but he hadn’t expected such profanities to come out of his mouth.
“He got that from you,” snorted Theo, as Harry tried to keep calm himself with a cough.
“Shut up.” He snickered, clearing his throat before lifting his head towards Alex’s room. “Alex! Alexander James! Oi!”
“What?”
“Keep a civil tongue in your mouth, or I’ll plug off the cables!”
Theo snickered at the silent response. His son was no doubt grumbling under his breath at how boring and strict they were because they didn’t allow him to loudly curse out his entire team. He’s always been emotionally invested in video games. His favourite was League of Legends, and from what Theo understood, it was basically the battle of Hogwarts but softer. He’s been promised there were less violent games, like the one where a character is sent into a world made of blocks and he needs to survive the nightly creatures. Theo doesn’t really approve of this lifestyle for his son – he would have wanted him to spend his days buried inside his schoolbooks, but since his grade was good enough, he had accepted this weird Muggle invention. Theo hadn’t known such a thing existed until Harry had introduced him to the television – a huge screen with animated colourful images. Harry had introduced him to many Muggle objects, really.
“Ah. Adolescence,” he said whimsically. “Period of life where we speak before thinking without any consequences.”
“For you.” Harry murmured with a smirk. “I was too busy not to get killed.”
“Or pulling stunts during your quidditch matches.”
He snorted. “Right. Let’s go then.”
As they left the bedroom, Theo couldn’t help but pinch Harry’s arse. The playful glare he received only made him smile harder. It’s been years since they’ve been together, and Theo knows he would do anything to keep his children and husband happy. Their lives can get chaotic or peaceful, but it will always be enough for him.
It hadn’t been easy at first, of course. His father didn’t approve of his relationship with Harry even from his cell in Azkaban, but Theo didn’t care. They also struggled during Harry’s pregnancy with all the expectations that come with their jobs and celebrity. Their friends were wary of both of them being together. And no matter how much they argued sometimes, Theo never regretted the day he properly met Harry when his husband was investigating Dark Wizards as an Auror and needed his talent in potions to solve it.
They learnt to solve their issues – most of the time in bed.
And Theo was happy. He wouldn’t give this up for anything.