Always

Chapter Four

One year after Reborn

Thirteen years ago...

"Maia! Please be careful! Draco, would you watch her, please!"

Draco glared. "And what exactly do you think I'm doing? Courting an elf?"

Maia flew by again and Harry nearly reached out and snatched her off the child-size broom. "Okay, enough. This is ridiculous! How did this ever pass child-safety testing?"

"It didn't eat anyone: it's safe. Maia! You went too far. You are to stay within the circle I made. Did you just roll your eyes at me? Well, madam, you will just hop off that now, then, won't you?"

"I want to go higher!"

"Not on your, mine, or anyone else's life!" Harry growled.

The little girl flew past and was caught by a strong set of arms. "Enough now, you're scaring your dad into an urn."

Maia hung petulantly in her father's arms. Her four year old mind had decided that it was entirely unfair of her parents to give her a toy that did not fly over the moon as the picture on the box clearly indicated. "I want to go higher!"

"Yes, well, we all want a lot of things, don't we?" Draco answered as he carried her over to the gazebo where Harry was sitting cross-legged on the floor, out from under the noon sun.

"Maia, you are never to touch that broom without your father or me with you. Do you understand?" Harry demanded.

"But it's my toy! It's mine! Grandfather gave it to me!"

"I don't care!" Harry snapped angrily.

"Harry," Draco said quietly and touched his husband's arm gently. He turned to their daughter. "Maia, if you play with that broom without permission, it will be taken away immediately and you will not see it again, understood?"

"That's not fair!" Maia slumped onto the wooden steps and pouted.

Kneeling down, Draco looked at Harry who was trying to control his anger. "Harry, she's fine. There was nothing to be afraid of, yeah? I was right there. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to her."

Harry swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just..." He shook his head again and smiled. "Sorry about that."

Draco pulled him into his arms. "She'll be a Quidditch player," he said with a grin.

"Not until she's old enough. No bludgers, Draco. I mean it."

Draco chuckled, but conspicuously did not answer. Instead he held Harry in his arms and watched his daughter get over her bad mood to chase after a ball charmed to dance in time to her clapping.

"Sev wrote," Harry said quietly. "He said he'd be here at the end of the week."

"Ah, good. I think he'll like British Columbia. They have different types of herbs and such that I think he'll like. It'll do him good to broaden his horizons a bit."

Harry looked at him sideways. "You're still all right with this?"

"I think you know that I am not the type to hold my tongue if I am not in agreement with something," Draco replied dryly.

"You do if it's me," Harry answered quietly. "You treat me differently than you used to. I hate it."

"Do you?"

"I'm not some stupid broken doll, you know?" Harry hissed. "I am able to function! I can even walk and talk on my own!" He shrugged off Draco's arms angrily. "I think if it weren't for Maia you'd have put me out with the rubbish a long time ago!"