Black Island, Caribbean Island Chain, 5/6/1984, 12:49
Harry steered the rented boat as Sirius gave him directions to the island. Bella was seated with the twins looking around across the blue water while Narcissa held a sleeping Draco looking a little green and Athena slept on the bow soaking up the sun's warmth greedily.
The rest of their party would be arriving at around five o'clock tonight by portkey. Having to travel here the muggle way had not gone over well with Bellatrix but they didn't have much choice.
Harry was excited to finally get here, he had been looking forward to this trip for months now.
"That's it just ahead," Sirius called from the bow, excitement evident in his voice.
"Thank god, I am sick of travelling," Bella sighed as she adjusted little Harry's life jacket much to the boy's discomfort.
"Same," Harry said as he adjusted his course, directing the boat towards a small cove on the island.
"I am sick of this boat," Narcissa muttered looking very queasy
"Do you want some more sea sickness potion?" Sirius offered.
"No, I'll manage," Narcissa said softly keeping her eyes on the island ahead.
Harry steered the boat into the cove and Narcissa gave a sigh of relief, Harry was confused at first as to why.
Harry was surprised to notice the rocking motion of the boat stopped as soon as the boat entered the cove. The water inside the cove was perfectly still without so much as a ripple in the water.
Harry watched the prow of the boat cut through the unnaturally still water as he steered the boat towards a tiny dock.
"We're here," Sirius beamed as Harry cut the engine and let the momentum of the boat carry them the last ten or so yards to the dock.
Sirius hopped off the boat to the dock in time to keep the boat from hitting with too much force and quickly secured the bow line. Harry copied his actions, hopping out of the boat before tying the stern line to the cleat on the dock.
Harry held out his hand as Bella passed Iggy to him, the almost one-year-old who was looking around and taking in his new surroundings with interest. Harry looked towards the island while Sirius scooped little Harry out of the boat and set him on the dock before taking Draco out of Cissa's arms. The toddler woke up and started to fuss at being manhandled and separated from his mother.
Narcissa shakily climbed onto the dock and took Draco out of Sirius's arms, the boy snuggling back into her, falling back to sleep almost immediately.
Sirius turned back to the boat and gently took Carina out of Bella's arms so she could exit the boat as well.
"Alright, now that we're here let's get settled," Sirius grinned as he handed a fussing Carina back to Bellatrix.
They all walked off of the dock, little Harry taking Sirius' offered hand as they stepped off of the dock onto a wide sandy path.
§Wait for me§, Athena hissed grumpily as she slithered across the dock chasing after them.
§Sorry precious, I was going to let you sleep§, Harry told her when she caught up with them.
§I can sleep later, this island feels like my nesting grounds§, Athena hissed excitedly as she slithered across the sand in front of them, making Sirius jump in surprise.
"Ah, your snakes awake," Sirius sighed in disappointment.
"She's excited to see the island too," Harry chuckled.
"Like there aren't enough deadly snakes here, we had to bring one with us," Sirius grumbled as they followed the path through the lush jungle, the path inclining uphill slightly.
"Technically we brought two deadly serpents," Harry pointed out cutting his eyes to his wife who was making a beeline for the building they could see in the distance.
"Yes, Bella is very deadly in her snake form," Bella giggled shooting her cousin a smirk.
"You're deadly in your human form too," Harry pointed out fondly.
"And yet Sirius keeps antagonizing her," Narcissa muttered in amusement.
They walked through a patch of hibiscus flowers their scent filling the air before the path opened into a small lawn set on a hill overlooking the ocean.
Harry could see the two-story vacation home clearly now that they were in the open, it was a soft white stone construct with a slate roof that looked weather warn. The house seemed pretty simple nothing as grandiose as the usual pureblood manor home and nowhere near as extravagant as Black Villa.
"Our things should have already arrived," Sirius assured them as they approached the steps leading up to the door.
"Good, I need to get the twins settled in," Bellatrix said as she made to follow Narcissa into the house.
"I think I might explore the jungle a bit," Harry said as he saw Athena slip back into the vegetation.
"Hurry back, the rest will be here by five," Bellatrix instructed.
"I will, I'm just curious to see how many snakes are on the island," Harry said before passing Sirius Iggy who had fallen asleep on his shoulder.
"Don't bring any of them back with you," Sirius almost begged.
"No worries there, Athena is too jealous to allow me to bring home another serpent Harry assured him.
" Good, I am sick of something slithering towards me," Sirius muttered.
"So I shouldn't find Harry his own snake familiar?" Harry asked innocently.
"Absolutely not!" Sirius exclaimed looking horrified at the thought.
"Don't worry mate, I plan on waiting until his seventh birthday before getting him a venomous snake," Harry soothed then disappeared into the forest before Sirius processed what he had just said.
The jungle was thick with vines, tall coconut palms and underbrush that came up to his waist. Once he veered off of the trail and it soon became difficult to see very far in front of him. The air was hot and humid reminding him strongly of his trip into the Amazon rainforest though not quite as damp After walking for a few minutes he heard the trickling of a stream not far ahead and set his course in that direction.
Harry stayed mindful of any hissing around him, snakes usually would speak a warning before they struck even if they could only be heard by a parselmouth.
Harry thought he heard hissing off to his right but knew it was best to not approach them directly just yet. Finally, after what felt like a half hour he stepped into an opening where a small stream cut through the jungle. There was an area cleared back on either side of the stream which appeared about three feet white and very shallow.
Harry could hear birds singing in the trees and could have sworn he saw Athena slithering on the other side of the stream for a split second but her camouflage was made for this environment, so it was hard to be certain.
Deciding he should move on, Harry followed the stream towards the beach using the cleared area on his side of the stream which seemed to have been a maintained path. After about ten more minutes of walking, he was surprised when he found the stream dumped into a large oval-shaped pool that had to be twenty feet wide and at least fifty feet long.
At first, it looked like a part of the stream but upon closer inspection, he realized it was manmade. The interesting thing was that there was perfectly trimmed grass covering the entire clearing, the grass grew right up to the edge of the pool on all sides. Beautiful flowering plants surrounded the perimeter of the clearing (hibiscus if he wasn't mistaken), and tall palms leaned over the clearing casting the pool in shade. Harry felt the tall-tale feeling of pest repelling ward on his skin as he entered the clearing and couldn't help but be impressed with whoever created this slice of paradise.
Looking into the pool, Harry noticed how clear the water was, he could make out the grout lines of black tiles on the floor and sides of the pool. The stream flowing into the pool created a tiny waterfall, the sound of the water falling into the pool was very soothing and Harry felt himself relaxing just standing there.
§There you are, Harry§, Athena hissed slithering out of the jungle.
§Hello Athena, how was your exploration?§, Harry asked curiously as he sat down in the grass and let the scent of hibiscus fill his nostrils.
§It went very well, there are others of my kind on the island§, Athena hissed excitedly.
§Sirius is going to love that§, Harry chuckled as he stroked Athena's large head affectionately smiling when she hissed in appreciation
§Yes, the dog-smelling man is very easy to scare§, Athena hissed in amusement.
Before Harry could say anything about Sirius' fear of serpents, he saw another very large bushmaster slither out of the brush, it approach Athena sniffing her curiously.
§I believe I will head back to the house, Athena§, Harry said as the other snake got closer.
§Speaker, welcome to the island§, the other snake hissed in a decidedly male voice.
§Thank you, please do not harm any of the two legs you come across. We mean your kind no harm and my hatchlings are still very young§, Harry said looking at the locale snake.
§Of course, I can smell your hatchlings on you they will come to no harm from my kind§, the snake assured him.
§You have my gatitude§, Harry nodded before standing up.
Idly he noticed Athena and the newcomer sizing each other up, so Harry eased out of the clearing thinking it best to give his familiar some privacy.
Walking towards the other end of the pool he saw a stream flowing out that flowed towards the ocean. He followed the stream for a bit before he found a trail that lead back towards the house. Walking down the trail he found a small grove of orange trees most likely they were brought in from the mainland by the Blacks, walking a bit further down the path, he stepped out onto the lawn. Harry guessed the others had arrived ashis niece was running around the lawn and his sister inlaws were seated on the porch talking to Sirius.
"Did you find anything interesting?" Sirius asked when he spotted Harry approaching.
"Yes, there are quite a few of Athena's kind on the island," Harry said grinning at the look of horror on his godfather's face.
"You're sure?" Sirius asked in alarm.
"Pretty sure, an eleven-footer came up to me and Athena by the pool," Harry nodded.
"There is a pool?" Andromeda asked.
"Yes, it's not that far in the jungle," Harry confirmed.
"You found the pool?" Sirius asked looking pleased for some reason.
"I don't remember there being a pool," Narcissa said curiously.
"There wasn't, me and James built it the summer after we finished Hogwarts so James could have a romantic date with your mother," Sirius explained wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"My dad has here?" Harry asked in interest ignoring Sirius' innuendo.
"Yeah, he and your mom both came here in July of seventy-eight right before we joined the auror academy," Sirius explained.
"Harry you're back," Bella said as she stepped onto the porch.
Bella had changed out of the muggle dress she was wearing earlier and was now wearing a purple silk Roman-style toga that she loved to wear when they were in France. The outfit looked really good on her and Harry could help admire how beautiful his wife really was as she made her way toward him.
"The twins are out, the plane ride really tired them out," Bella told him as her arm came to wrap around his waist.
"I can't blame them," Harry chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"Where is Athena?" Narcissa asked curiously shooting them an envious look.
"She has a suitor, I left them be," Harry admitted.
"Oh no!" Sirius muttered.
"Don't worry, wild snakes won't come onto the property," Harry assured Sirius, trying and failing to contain his amusement at his godfather's reaction.
"How do you know that?" Ted asked curiously.
"There are wards around the property to keep out wild snakes," Harry replied.
"Well thank heavens for that," Ted sighed in relief.
"I also asked the snake I met not to harm the two legs on the island," Harry elaborated.
"Two legs?" Narcissa asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's how snakes refer to us," Harry shrugged.
"I feel better now, Draco is getting into everything the last thing I want is for him to be bitten by a snake," Narcissa said looking relieved.
"If he is with Harry he should be fine, snakes usually won't attack a speaker," Harry assured her.
"I take it Draco and Harry are asleep too?" Harry asked as he led Bella over to one of the benches on the porch.
"Yes, Draco was exhausted from the trip on that plane," Narcissa said with a warm smile.
"I can't blame him, Bella hated that muggle death trap," Bellatrix grumbled.
"And so did Carina," Harry grinned.
"I don't much care for air travel either," Ted piped in.
"Harry?" Andromeda asked while looking out over the lawn in alarm.
"Yeah Andi?" Harry asked curiously getting up to see what Andi was looking at.
"Why is your snake chasing my daughter?" Andromeda asked as she saw Tonks running full tilt towards the house, Athena chasing after her hissing angrily.
"I don't know," Harry said as Tonks ran past him onto the porch and hid behind her mother peeking around warily as Athena came to a stop in front of Harry and began hissing rapidly.
§The pink-haired monster stepped on my tail, punish her!§, Athena hissed angrily.
§I am sure she didn't mean to hurt you§, Harry soothed as he leaned down and gently scooped her up.
Harry let her coil around his shoulder before bringing the tip of her tail up to where he could look it over, noticing a slight kink six inches from the tip, it looked like there were at least a few broken bones.
"Tonks, you stepped on her tail," Harry admonished shooting the girl an annoyed look.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know she was behind me," Tonks mumbled softly.
"Don't apologize to me," Harry said pointedly as he drew his wand and used a spell from the magizoology book to gently heal Athena's tail causing his familiar to hiss in surprise.
§That feels much better§, Athena hissed in approval before bringing her tail in front of her face to inspect it.
"I am sorry f-for stepping on your tail, Athena," Tonks mumbled looking up at the snake warily.
§You are forgiven but if you do it again, I will eat you§, Athena hissed back at the girl in a petulant tone.
"She says that you are forgiven but she will be very mad if you do it again," Harry translated shooting Athena a look of amusement.
§That's not what I said§, Athens protested as she slithered down Harry's body before making her way back towards the jungle muttering angrily as she went.
"She's in a mood today," Harry said looking over at Andi apologetically.
"I would be too if someone stepped on my tail," Andromeda said looking pointedly at her daughter.
"What did she really say?" Narcissa whispered to Harry while Andromeda was admonishing her daughter.
"She said that if Tonks stepped on her tail again, she would eat her," Harry chuckled.
"She couldn't really eat a child, could she?" Narcissa asked worriedly.
"No, rabbits are about as big of prey as she can swallow, she was being dramatic," Harry assured her looking on the verge of laughter.
"Thank heavens, it's only a matter of time before Draco or Harry raises her ire," Narcissa sighed.
"Snake problems, mate?" Sirius asked from Harry's right.
"It would appear so," Harry nodded in amusement.
In some ways caring for his familiar was like taking care of a child, today his serpent was acting like a moody teenager.
'I hope she's in a better mood tomorrow,' Harry thought as he made his way back to Bella who had been watching on in amusement.
Black Island, Caribbean Islands, 5/7/1984, 14:28
Harry, Sirius and Ted were escorting the children to the pool while the Black sisters set up the house for the twins' birthday party, today they were officially one and Bella was excited about their first birthday party.
Harry was walking lazily with the group while the twins were chattering excitedly over each of his shoulders pointing at birds and flowers. Harry had the twins in a special backpack baby carrier that he had found in a muggle shop that freed up his hands and let them look around as he hiked. The three bigger kids stumbled down the path through the jungle in front of the adults where they were always in sight.
"Finally ditched the women," Sirius sighed happily as they passed the small grove of orange trees.
"We did not want to be there while they were setting up the party," Ted said wisely.
"I know, I can still remember Narcissa arranging my wedding," Harry grimaced.
"I'm just glad they run us off," Sirius agreed.
"I still can't believe Amelia couldn't get time off," Harry sighed as they entered the clearing with the pool.
"She used all her vacation time for our wedding," Sirius sighed.
"When are you due back?" Ted asked curiously as he looked over the pool area in awe.
"The ninth and I am lucky I was able to get four days to guide you all out here," Sirius grumbled as he took in the pool area himself, lamenting he couldn't show this to Amelia.
"This looks amazing," Ted grinned.
"It took me and James almost a week to set this up," Sirius beamed as he took off his shirt.
"That has to be forty feet long," Ted said looking at the pool.
"Fifty-three feet," Sirius corrected.
"Draco no!" Ted exclaimed pulling them out of the conversation as they turned to see the boy in question take off running towards the pool.
"Calm down mate," Harry grinned as Draco neared the pool.
"But-
Before Ted could finish his protest, Draco ran into an invisible barrier that flung him back to land on a modified cushioning charm on the grass that shot him ten feet in the air making the little boy squeal in surprise, the toddler continued to bounce on the cushioning charm like a trampoline until his momentum fizzled out and he was left sitting on his bum suspended four inches off of the ground by the cushioning charm.
"Again!" Draco squealed excitedly.
"I may have warded the pool with an age line," Harry chuckled.
"That looked like fun," Sirius grinned as he scooped Draco up off of the ground to keep him from running back towards the wards.
"I couldn't do the normal age line beca-
"WEEEEEE!" Tonks screeched as the age line flung her through the air and she bounced much higher than Draco had giggling happily as she brushed the palm fronds overhead.
"I am starting to wish I wasn't old," Ted muttered as he watched his daughter bounce high into the air as she hit the cushioning charm and bounced upwards again and again.
"I can set the age line a bit higher if you want to give it a go," Harry offered.
"No, I would probably break a hip," Ted chuckled as Tonks finally came to a stop.
Tonks had barely gotten off the ground when there was another squeal as little Harry bounced off of the age line grinning from ear to ear as he flew through the air.
"I might have to rethink the wards a bit", Harry muttered as he watched his younger self bouncing off of the cushioning charm and squealing louder as he somehow pulled off a somersault in mid-air.
"Yes, those wards are supposed to detour them from going near the pool not make them want to trigger them," Sirius grinned as he watched his pint-sized godson giggling excitedly as the cushioning charm shot him in the air again.
"Alright, let's test out the pool," Harry said as he waved his wand and dropped the age line causing his younger self to come to a gentle stop before the cushioning charm vanished and he plopped gently onto the grass.
"You might want to keep this from Cissa," Harry said to Ted and Sirius who both nodded their heads in agreement, both knowing how scary she could get when Draco was involved.
Harry carefully got the twins situated in special floats they sat in like a seat and set them near the edge of the pool before he hopped into the shallow end and gently set them in the pool one at a time.
The water felt wonderful, not too cold but pleasantly cool. Iggy and Carina quickly adjusted to this new environment seeming to enjoy floating in the cool water. They sat there for a minute splashing water with their tiny hands before they realised they could move by kicking their feet under the water like a duck.
"You got off easy, Dora threw a fit the first time we tried to get her in the water," Ted said as he set up his lawn chair near the edge of the pool and got comfortable.
"Did not," Tonks grumbled before jumping in at the other end in a characteristic cannonball, the wake rocking the twins who started chattering excitedly.
"Do you two want to get in?" Sirius asked Harry and Draco.
Yes, uncle Siri," Draco said looking at the pool curiously.
"Yes pa'foot," Harry nodded as he watched Tonks swimming towards Harry and the twins.
"Alright, hold still a minute," Sirius said before conjuring a set of water wings on each of the boys' arms.
"Just jump in then," Sirius encouraged.
Little Harry didn't need telling twice and ran towards the edge of the pool and leapt into the water splashing Tonks in the process.
"Oi, watch where you jump squirt," Tonks huffed in annoyance.
SPLASH
Both Harry and Tonks were splashed as Draco plopped into the water right beside them.
"How did you keep the grass from getting into the pool?" Ted asked Sirius who had conjured a chair and was watching the two boys continue to splash Tonks, much to her irritation.
"The edge of the pool has a ward to keep all plant life, algae or whatever out.
They spent the next few hours at the pool, the twins stayed close to Harry, they swam a little but didn't go very far from their father. The other three were all over the place with Harry and Draco following poor Tonks where ever she went. The sound of Andi's magically amplified voice rang through the air, making all of them jump in surprise.
" IT'S READY, COME ON BACK YOU LOT!"
"Alright boys out of the pool," Sirius said walking around to the shallow end where a set of stairs was built into the side of the pool.
After much whining and complaining all of the kids were out of the pool and dried off, Harry managed to get the twins back into the backpack carrier and reset the age line, they made their way back to the house.
"The pool was great, you and dad did an amazing job," Harry told Sirius as they walked back towards the house.
"Yeah, we both tested a lot of the things we studied for our N.E.W.T exams to put this together," Sirius admitted as he plucked an orange from one of the many orange trees.
"I might show this to Andi later tonight," Ted said thoughtfully.
"Don't make a mess," Sirius smirked as they stepped onto the lawn.
The party was set up in the pavilion next to the house, the ladies had truly outdone themselves. There was a very large cake set in the centre of the long table surrounded by all sorts of snacks and finger food, streamers and balloons hung on the support beams and there was a massive pile of presents on one end of the table.
Bella was at Harry's side in an instant cooing at the twins excitedly.
"Happy Birthday babies," Bella beamed as she got them out of the carrier.
"It looks amazing, Bella," Harry whispered in her ear as he took Carina in his arms to let her look at the cake.
Harry knew he would remember today for years to come, the twins had so much fun at the pool and loved their party. Harry had conjured huge stuffed horses that the kids rode around the yard laughing happily. The only hitch during the party is that Carina had somehow gotten on the table and gotten into the cake before Narcissa caught her eating cake out of her hands, her face covered in chocolate icing.
"That went well," Harry told Bella after they stepped out of the twins' room having tucked them in for the night.
"It did, though I am going to murder my cousin for getting them toy broomsticks," Bella huffed.
"Flying is in their blood, we might as well get them started early," Harry shrugged.
"Oh no, they won't," Bella argued as they entered their room.
"I think I can persuade you," Harry said as he came up behind her and whispered into her ear.
"You can certainly try," Bellatrix muttered in a breathy voice as Harry began kissing the side of her neck making Bella shudder pleasurably
Harry grinned into her neck as he unfastened her toga and it slid down her body to pool at her feet, his hands coming to rest on her stomach before drifting... upwards.
"If I must," Harry grinned as he led her to the bed.
Harry wasn't sure how long it would take for her to come around but he was willing to keep trying to sway her to his way of thinking.
Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 5/21/1984, 15:29
Harry made his way through the house looking for his familiar, she had been acting oddly since they arrived at Black Island. He had already checked her usual haunts but had come up empty and had decided to check the nursery as she sometimes liked to watch over the twins while they slept.
Harry stepped into the room to the sound of both his children's soft snores but he didn't see Athena, he turned to leave when he heard soft hissing that sounded as if it was coming from under his bed.
Curiously Harry got down on all fours and looked under his bed and was surprised to see Athena curled up tightly on a soft mat, her head resting on her coils
§Why are you under the bed, Athens?§ Harry asked softly as Athena looked up at him.
§Nesting§, Athena replied gently.
§What do you mean?§ Harry asked.
In answer, Athena uncoiled to show him a single large white egg before she coiled around it protectively..
§Oh§, Harry said dumbly.
'Sirius is going to love this,' Harry thought as he got up to inform his wife of this latest development.