I powdered Toby's bottom and rewrapped him in the soft cotton diaper. I still found it amazing that such a small child could fill a diaper with such a disgusting wealth of waste. All mothers should get hazardous duty pay for taking care of their infants. Potty training could not come too soon, I thought to myself while Toby waved his arms and smiled up at me.

That still had the power to make me feel giant-size, his unwavering joy when he saw me or his father. His whole face would light up and he'd smile the kind of sunny smile that reminded me of young Harry. I had the lowering feeling that he was going to be a Gryffindor when he got Sorted. Oh, the horror. As if he knew what I was thinking, he crowed out loud and kicked up his feet.

"Yes, have fun while you can, young man. Once you start to walk, your father and I have plans to harness all that energy." I lifted him in my arms and he laughed again. I will never get over the feeling of joy that washes through me at his touch. Hugging him to my chest, I caught his hand instinctively when he tried to grab my hair.

"Ma-ma-ma-ma, far." He chortled and I chuckled.

"Yes, we're going far today, Toby. We're going up to school so I can check on the supplies that should have come from Hogsmeade." I carried him into the outer room and found Ara just finishing putting breakfast on the table. "Good morning, Ara, that looks very nice. How about some scrambled eggs, Toby?"

"Ar-a-a-a," he greeted the house elf. "Gr-r-r-r." That was his attempt at 'eggs' and I congratulated him on it while pronouncing it correctly for him. He was very intelligent for nine months old and he picked up words like they were fascinating toys with which he could play.

"Master Rubeus is coming in soon." Ara tickled Toby's foot and he laughed at her soft 'there, there'. "Picking grapes, he is for breakfast."

That took me back to the day when Albus told me that I'd been declared dead and I had a lapful of grapes to wash. So much had happened since then that I could hardly believe over a year and a half had passed. Toby hadn't even been dreamt of let alone conceived. I was such a lucky wizard.

********
Rubeus
********

I came in with the colander full of the sweet deep purple grapes that Sev loved. But instead of a basin of water on his lap, he had Toby. Both of them turned identical smiles to me and it hit me all over again, how much I was loved. "Mornin', Sev - Toby."

"Da-da-da-da-da," Toby chanted and held out his little arms to me.

I traded Sev the grapes for our son and lifted him high above my head while he squealed with laughter. "How's my little Toby this beautiful morn?"

He just giggled and squirmed in my hands. I still had moments when I couldn't hardly believe that he was made up of bits and pieces of both of us. He was so tiny when I held him that at first, I'd been a bit afraid of accidentally hurting him. But I took my time and held him real careful-like until it didn't feel so scary.

It helped that he had a real strong grip with those long fingers of his. He definitely inherited his mama's hands but Sev said that he has my eyes and today I could see that was true. Sitting down, I thanked Ara for my filled plate and held Toby so Sev could fasten his bib over his front.

Then I held a spoonful of eggs for him and he grabbed them with his hand and shoved them into his mouth. He was kind of a messy eater now that he was starting on solid foods and half of it fell onto him rather than into his mouth. But his bib had a trough at the bottom so most of it ended up there.

"You do realize that we can't take him into public now until he learns how to eat properly?" Sev said dryly and I grinned at him.

"Nah, Sev, he enjoys his food ta much not ta take him ta Mum's." I ate a bite of the fluffy eggs before giving Toby some more. "We'll just have ta get some more of these bibs and always have a clean one with us."

He chuckled and Toby grinned up at me as if he knew what we were saying. I got that feeling a lot these days. Sev told me that he'd be going up to the school to check on some deliveries for the potions lab and I told him that I was going to mow the Quidditch field. He smiled at me and fed me a grape. We agreed to meet in his rooms so I could clean up for lunch.

Toby laughed out loud when he heard the word 'Mum'. He knew exactly who we meant and he loved her voice. She sang to him all the time and he'd croon along with her. Sev thought that he was going to be a singer like Gersey. I thought maybe he was right.

**********
Charlie
**********

"Draco, are we going to school today or to London?" I called up the spiral stair case to my bonded.

"London," he said and I watched his well-tailored charcoal silk-clad legs come into view. He was dressed for business and I reacted the way I usually did. The more tailored he looked, the more I wanted to mess up his hair and kiss him stupid. The smirk on his face told me that he'd caught my urge. "It's Cadbury's board today so Albus will be going with us."

"Albus and chocolate," I grimaced, "just kill me now."

He laughed and slid his arms around me, lifting his face for my kiss. I obliged him, thinking that he had finally begun to expect my affection rather than just wish for it. I helped him out as often as I could by showering him with hugs and kisses for no particular reason. That was no hardship at all and I doted on him the way that he doted on Ss-sarco.

Pulling back, he smirked again. "Wear your light-weight tan silk suit, love. I laid it out for you. I'm going to go check on Ss-serens to make sure she's not overheating."

I dropped another kiss on his nose and dashed upstairs to get dressed. I'd never had so many nice clothes in my life. But Draco liked buying me new suits so I kept on wearing what he picked out for me. I'd been busy with the dragons since dawn and I stripped off hastily and took a quick shower before drying and redressing. In twenty minutes, I was ready to go.

Hurrying down the wrought iron spiral stairs, I made my way out the side door of our new house. We'd finished it two weeks before and I still liked to stop and look at it. We'd fit it between two beautiful old oaks so it was narrow but tall. Draco had told me of his tree-climbing adventures and I tried to recreate that feel on our second floor. The whole floor was our bedroom, dressing room and bathroom. It was open and airy with all light woods and bright colors.

I'd seen Malfoy Manor and its gloomy, heavy feel was the antithesis of our new home. Draco had bloomed since our bonding and he was like our house now, open and loving. I'd never been happier and he told me that he was, too. Relations with the Weasley family were softening a bit but the Hagrids had become our surrogate family.

"Hurry up, Charlie or I'll let Albus visit the sweet shop before the meeting." Draco's sultry tones had me running to catch up with him.

Albus on a sugar high was something to be avoided at all costs.

*********
Albus
*********

It was board meeting day and I rubbed my hands gleefully. The candy makers were always experimenting with something new and they liked my input on their creations. The scent of chocolate, whipped cream and various flavors of liquors wafted to us and I took a deep breath.

"Ah, I believe I caught the scent of elderberry, my dear boys. I'll just stop off and catch up with you in a few moments." I headed for the back room only to be stopped with a double pull on my robes.

"Albus, we're almost late the way it is. I'll have Candace bring some of the new recipes up for our break." Draco was trying not to smirk at Charlie who was hanging on like grim death to my shoulder.

"Well, if you think we must," I tried not to pout but the young thing who'd appeared at the door of the experimental kitchen waved merrily at me and I winked at her. Candy was sure to bring me a good selection of the new goodies. "Lead on, my dear boy."

Draco smiled and led us up to the board room on the sixth floor of the Cadbury flagship store. It had been a century since I'd been inside a boardroom of any kind but they hadn't changed much in that time. The Slytherin chairman of fully half the boards in England was slowly but surely making some changes that I hoped would lighten up the wizard business world.

What was it the Americans talked so much about these days? Transparency, that was it, I beamed at my fellow trustees. They still had faintly stunned looks on their faces when ever they saw me and I'd dressed the part today. Minerva had laughed out loud when she saw my purple striped robes with the green ostrich feathers around my neck. It's part of my light weight, all-purpose clothing that gets me through the August heat.

Sitting down after shaking everyone's hand, I watched the door for Candy's entrance. Draco had explained to me that part of my job was to keep the others off guard long enough for him to get some reforms passed. All joking aside, I agreed with his strategy and the intent of his changes. When things happen in secret, evil creeps in. Promises under the table could and had led to travesties of decisions.

I was too old to live through any more of that so I was going to make sure that this generation got the chance to change it all. I was nudging Draco's Slytherin tendencies towards the harder task of working his will in the full light of day. Luckily, he enjoyed the challenge and I was pretty sure that Charlie was his sounding board.

I sat up when the door opened and Candy appeared with a silver tray filled with sweets.

*********
Hossic
*********

"What do ya think?" I asked Bill, who'd stepped back to take a good look at our handy work. The new windows we'd just put in flooded the top floor with light.

"They look good, if I do say so myself." He grinned at me and I pulled him into my arms for a kiss. He tasted of salt and tea, a heady combination. We'd been working pretty much nonstop since the day that Gersey bought this building. But they were due in today and we still hadn't finished off their floor.

Finally we had to breathe and I wiped a streak of caulking from his cheek. "Yeah, they do. What else is left on our list?"

"Actually, there's just some furniture to move into place and then we're done. Another hour or so and we can sneak down to the second floor. Arwen said something about having a bath ready for us." He winked at me and pulled away to head for the shrouded pile of tables and chairs.

"Let's hurry." I suggested and enjoyed his chuckle. After finally finding the ones who made my heart sing, I'd settled into almost-bonded life with ease. I'd wondered if I'd be able to do that after a life of playing the gypsy, moving people here and there but never really settling down to one person, one place. Settling down with two seemed just right.

After consulting the map that Harry and Gersey had left us, we quick got everything placed approximately right. If I knew them, they'd be moving everything once they started living here anyway. Until you've lived in a place, you just can't know exactly where everything should go. Traffic patterns and, I paused in mid-thought.

"Is handiness a word?" I leaned against the back of the sofa we'd just slid into place.

"Sure, Hoss, it's a noun." He looked quizzically at me and I smiled. "Are we going to be playing word games tonight?"

I went hot then cold before beginning to stalk him towards the door. Words turned me on like nobody's business. "Yeah, that would be fun, don't ya think?"

He retreated until his back hit the front door and I closed in on him, one of my legs sliding between his while my lips took his. He still tasted salty and I scoured his mouth of every hint of it. We were both breathing heavy when we stopped and he fumbled behind him for the door handle. "We promised Arwen we wouldn't start without her. But why don't you think on the word stenosis and how it would feel when you slide right into my stenotic passage?" And he took off running for the stairs with me right behind.

***********
Harry
***********

Gersey carried me over the threshold of our very own home. After years of living at someone else's place, I was finally going to have a spot to call mine. I'd be sharing it with someone I loved and in a few months with the child we'd created. I wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time whenever I thought of that.

"Wow, it looks even better than I thought it would." I looked around and saw the front part of the room looking really cozy except for the pile of suitcases and boxes that peeked out from under the shroud of tarp in one corner. "Gosh, we're going to have to go through all the presents and write thank you cards."

"We'll get to that, Harry." Gersey smiled down at me and I pulled him in for a kiss. Even after two solid weeks of kissing and touching him, I still couldn't get enough. But part of me wanted to explore our new space so when we breathed, I wiggled to be let down and he let me go with a pout.

It took us almost an hour to look at everything and Gersey was checking the piano to make sure it was still in tune while I made up our bed with the smooth sheets we'd packed up in Scotland. We hadn't quite worn them out and I tucked them in with a firm desire to mess them up again. Soon.

He was playing something bright and cheerful when I came out from behind the Japanese six-panel dragon screen that Albus and Minerva had given us for a bonding present. His smile drew me to him and I hugged him from behind while he continued to play. The notes sang in the gently moving air and I laid my head on his shoulder so I could look out of the brand new windows that Hossic and Bill had gifted to us.

I liked getting practical gifts and the breeze from these had cooled down the entire room. Just how did you go about thanking someone for a brace of windows? I sighed happily. Mum would know and I was looking forward to flooing back to Hogwarts over the weekend for a hug and a meal. Gersey cooked just fine but I was lousy at it. I wanted to ask Dobby if he knew of a house elf who'd liked to cook.

There was so much to do that I didn't want to take the time to learn how right now.

"Harry, why are you frowning?" Gersey had stopped playing and turned around to pull me into his lap.

"Do you think I could squeeze in a cooking class at the University this fall? I'm so bad at it and I don't want you to have to get our meals, too." I admitted and watched him break into a smile.

"Mum already has a house elf lined up for us by the name of Skezer. He likes to cook and he's a whiz at cleaning, she told me. He loves music and volunteered when she asked around." He kissed the tip of my nose and I sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness." I wiggled over his lap and felt that little thrill in the pit of my stomach when he started hardening beneath me. "I made the bed, Gersey. I think we should christen it now."

"Well, far be it from me to say no to such a wonderful suggestion." He scooped me up and stood, pushing back the piano bench and carrying me into our bedroom space. With a quick spell, he undressed us both and slid into bed still holding me.

I loved the feel of his skin against mine. We'd mostly stayed naked the entire two weeks and it was going to be hard to get used to clothes again. We both had nice tans from our heads to our toes with no lines anywhere. I brushed my hands slowly over his chest, tugging gently at the reddish gold curls until I could feel his nipples peaking for me. I had such a feeling of power, knowing that I was the only one who could make him react like that.

"Ah, Harry, I'll never get enough of you, little love." He licked my nipple and I arched beneath him with a little groan. So he did it to the other one while I tingled all over.

But I wanted more so I tugged him onto his back so I could lie on top of him. His cock was hot and hard between my legs and I shivered all over when I felt it rub the sensitive skin between my cheeks. I had him almost right where I needed him so I spoke the words that had become second nature. "Amplificare, consummare."

Reaching back, I pushed him through my tight entrance and slowly slid him all the way inside of me. It felt too full like it always did but the burning ache was just the beginning of the wonderful sensations and the look of ecstasy on his face made me glow hotter. Thank goodness for Quidditch and the training that had made my legs so strong. Rocking back and forth was just the start of the tingles that would eventually take over my whole body.

"I love you, Harry Potter-Hagrid." His deep voice made me tremble and his big warm hands on my hips were starting to help me move on him.

"I love you too, Gersey Potter-Hagrid. And I always will." I had a home, friends and a family. The rest of my life was going to be blessed with the child we'd just created and as many more as I could talk my bonded into. Finally, I'd won the best fate of all. I could hardly wait to see what else the Hagrid family had in store for it. It was going to be fun finding out, I laughed out loud and Gersey joined it. The world would never know what hit it.

****************************
The end of Forbidden Forest