A New Adventure

Chapter XIV-Loving In The Face Of Loss

"NOOO! Sirius, come back, come back! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry." Harry was crying in his sleep.

"Harry, wake up." Draco gently shook Harry awake. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw his husband's worried face and collapsed into his arms, sobbing again. It seemed that they've done this every night since Diagon Alley. Draco got used to putting a silencing charm around their room, as not to disturb the boys. Suddenly, there was a pounding on their bedroom door. Draco got up to answer to see Alex's tear stained face.

"He's having another, but he just keeps hitting me every time I come near. I don't know what to do." Alex's voice was soft and desperate.

"Alright. Go to the kitchen and put a kettle on. I suspect this will be a long night. Remus!" The werewolf appeared in the doorway of his room. "I need to see to Scorpius, can you go in there with Harry?"

"More nightmares?" The man's voice was gruff. All Draco did was nod as he entered the boys' room, able to hear Remus enter the bedroom he shared with Harry. 

"Scorpius, come on, I need you to wake up." Draco woke Scorpius much in the same manner that he woke Harry, ignoring the thrashing fists and feet. Finally, the boy shot up, crying into Draco's bare chest. "Scorpius, I'm taking you downstairs, I would like you to drink some tea." All the boy did was nod before he let Draco carry him downstairs.

When they reached the living room, Draco could see Remus had the same idea, and Harry was curled into Remus' lap like a child, as he cried and the older man stroke his hair. 

"You know, when he was little, we spent almost every night like this. He'd have a bad dream and Sirius would bring him down here and put him in my lap, and as I rubbed his head or back, Sirius would make him warmed milk and tea for us. It took months before he was able to sleep through the night peacefully. I know he still had them as he got older, but Sirius and I let him come to us if he wanted or handle it on his own if he needed. Then you came along. I think they stopped completely for a while after you came. That's how we knew, he'd be ok. No matter what happened to Sirius and me, we knew as long as he had you, he'd never be alone." Remus looked down at his son because that's what Harry had grown to be. "Never did I imagine I'd be doing this again, but without Sirius. He always knew how to make him laugh after the worst of the tears was over. I don't know if we can make him laugh this time. So many people died last time, but I think Harry never really thought he'd have to lose us. We were always there."

"He still has us, Remus." Draco looked understandingly at Remus, holding his own crying son in his lap.

"Here," Alex came in the room with a tray of tea cups. 

"Thank you, son," Draco looked at Alex, who beamed at being helpful. After handing out the tea, Alex sat on the floor in front of Harry and Remus, leaning against the older man's legs. Soon he fell asleep, right there on the floor, Draco using his wand to cover him with a blanket. It looked like Harry and Scorpius had also fallen asleep. He looked up at the man sitting across from him.

"Looks like we are having a campout tonight," Remus smiled sadly at the sleeping figures. 

"Guess we are. Good night, Remus," Draco looked back up to see he had already drifted into sleep. He sighed, knowing he wouldn't sleep and settled for watching over his mismatched family as he got lost in thoughts. They had lost Sirius, but they hadn't lost love. Even with an impending war, they still had each other, and he was determined to keep the two sleeping boys from having to witness what he and Harry had witnessed too young. As he thought of how he could protect everyone in front of him, he hadn't realized he drifted into his own slumber, surrounded by family.