Return of the Slytherin.

Weeks down the road, Keiran would be standing toe-to-toe with a young man who was making advances on his eldest sort-of-child. "What, you think I'm too over-protective?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Right. Now ask me if I care."

In that moment, though, he had no idea what would come. Had no real stress on his shoulders aside from the loss of his best friend several weeks before. He laughed as well, murmuring back that curiosity was not a solely Slytherin trait. But he'd take whatever credit he could get. With that, he grinned against her lips as she returned for another kiss.

As she held their children back, he once again shook his head, trying to decide if Millie had always had the abilities she so clearly did now, and if she had let him believe that Lucius had some sort of magic that he shouldn't have. Merlin, if he woke up one morning to find out that their cat was actually a human in animagus form, Keiran thought he might just fall right over dead.  The cat had far too much of an obsession with the Hayes patriarch for his tastes, beyond everything else.

He would probe at some point, he knew, but in the moment he was too content to ask questions and ruin the day they had planned. Which, actually, was just a plan to drop the kids off and have the day to themselves. Which was enough of a plan to make Keiran look forward to it. Not because he would be without the kids, but because he knew that he and Millie had earned some time on their own so he could find out what she had been through, up to, and looking forward to during his time away. He hated that he had missed so much, and it was time to make it as right as he could.

Equally, he knew that at some point she would ask about the things that kept him, the life he had led, the fact that he almost definitely still cried out in a different language during the middle of the night. He knew it had woken Liam at least once, because it had woken Keiran too, once he heard his son calling out for him. He had thought he'd imagined it initially, but Liam wouldn't be upset about his own dreams, apparently, instead frowning at his father until Keiran lifted an eyebrow in return and made a face that apparently convinced the boy that his father wasn't upset. Or, perhaps, that there wasn't a stranger in their house making noises in something other than English. If the girls had noticed, Keiran hadn't been told.

She turned to him again, trying to keep the moment despite also trying to keep the kids at bay. "Better than usual," he replied, assuming that if he was too pleasant about it she would catch him out. But it was true. With the store to keep him busy and tire him in time for bed, the kids to keep him awake until he crashed, more often than not he was too tired those days to even dream at all. The black mist descended, keeping him asleep through the night most of the time. That night, it had definitely worked.

Being tired was good, Keiran decided. Sometimes.

He opened his mouth again to ask about her sleep in return, but was cut off. Instead of being irked by it, though, he supposed that he would have all day - and night, if they could convince Bridget to keep the kids until the next afternoon - to inquire after her rest or lack thereof. So he laughed quietly, watching her move across the room to pick up the twins and compensate for her slowness.

As expected, Bean was excitable. Sometimes Keiran wondered why Bean couldn't be more like Eric, who only went all bouncy sometimes rather than all the time. Rarely, one might even argue. Keiran reached for Bean's collar, keeping him from licking Darcie's face off, which, frankly, was not at all hygienic. The comfortable smile hadn't left Keiran's face, though, and he just shook his head.

"We have endless cereal, Mills. I think we'll manage," he said, only partly kidding.

He stood, lifting Darcie up with a bit of a bounce, making her squeak a little and reach for his shoulder. "You're alright, baby. Papa's got you, eh?" She pouted regardless and Keiran frowned a little, despite knowing that she would brighten up once she was in her little chair and munching on breakfast. He picked up her little hand with his first two fingers, giving it a kiss as they followed the others downstairs.

True to form, Darcie was thrilled about the meal, her little scare forgotten. He passed Millie a mug once the twins were in their seats as well, coming up alongside her and pouring his coffee with one hand as the other brushed across her waist almost absently. Not entirely, of course. But more out of habit and innate affection than anything else.

An hour later, he was checking the time because the kids were dressed, their things had been packed and he had called Bridget to make sure they were good to stay the night. Plus the dog, Keiran was happy to say. So that would take off a bit of stress.

"Ready, Missie?" He called down the hallway, figuring she was still shaking the bag of dog food into a smaller one to hand off to his mum once they got there. "Mum's expecting us in a minute or two."

With her fingers looped loosely around her favourite mug, Millie allowed herself a few moments as she blinked into meaningful wakefulness to take stock of the situation before her. Three babies. Three bowls. Three—two spoons, she mentally amended, watching as Kelly’s sailed down towards the floor. She flicked out her spare hand, halting it just before it reached the tiles, and smirked a little as she lifted it back up for Kelly to take once more. She was beginning to feel a little bit tired now, her magic sputtering with exertion, beginning to search for the medium of her wand. She brought the cup to her lips once Kelly had the spoon back in her little hand, mentally promising her magic that she’d go and retrieve the wand from upstairs when she went to get dressed. There was only so much it could cope with and between keeping the children from careening down the stairs and indulging her own morning laziness instead of bending down, she was feeling a touch of magical fatigue.

Pushing off of where she’d been leaning against the counter, Millie stole a couple of pieces of cereal from Liam’s bowl that had yet to be drowned in milk. She smiled cheekily at him when he looked up at her and blew a kiss in his direction, half in thanks, half to coax him into forgetting that he’d been robbed of a little bit of his breakfast. Her plan was to have a brief rifle through whatever sweet treats Bridget had made in the last few days once they got to her house. She was hoping for some scones but anything, really, would do. For the moment, however, coffee would suit her just fine. She was overcome, all of a sudden, by a faint memory that sent a smile bubbling to the surface of her lips. That of her father, stood in the narrow kitchen of their home, the pots and pans shaking a little on the rack as the 8:35 from Waterloo shot by, chuckling at her and her brother as they bickered over their own breakfast. He would have liked the little family she and Keiran had created, she decided. He would have admired the Slytherin in their eldest and the gentle charm of their youngest. And they’d have been spoilt rotten by him, too. Maybe in another world, eh?

Any maudlin thoughts that threatened to push her out of her good mood evaporated as soon as the pair of them finished their coffees, the trio finished their breakfasts and all entered into the slightly traumatising task of getting the latter dressed. This was the one thing she had never gotten a handle on. Since the twins had learned to walk, they’d been impossible. Although having magic around to stop them from running riot did help, they were eager to do anything other than get ready for their day. Once the jammies were off, it seemed as though it was licence to run about, mid-giggle fit and cause trouble and it was not entirely unknown for Millie to launch across the nursery and tackle Liam in order to wrestle him into some clothes. Under Keiran’s watchful eye, they always seemed a little bit more restrained. They still tried it on of course – the twins at least. Darcie’s only fault in this regard was that she was a pain when it came to deciding what she wanted to wear. It was not unknown, either, for her to select a new set of pyjamas and Millie was quite happy to acquiesce after the drama of the other two. Peter, she reflected as she pulled a t-shirt over Kelly’s head, had been quite good at getting them to conform to order – although he’d been through the disobedient toddler stage so was an old dab hand at it. Somehow, miraculously, he also managed to do it with, oftentimes, Liam on his shoulders and Kelly wriggling away at all costs. The former rather enjoyed climbing his broad-framed uncle while the latter tested his reflexes. In the end, though he’d be worse for wear, they’d have three perfectly turned out under-fives and he’d always say that even though there were more of them, they’d been no worse than Fin at their age. She thought it must have been a Hayes thing. Or maybe just a toddler thing. Either way, today blessedly, they were trouble but, for their father, did behave somewhat. They were dressed, at least.

Gratefully, Millie stole away for a shower once they were sorted. She took a little bit of time for herself under the warm jets, rubbing generous amounts of the sweet smelling shower gel into her skin. She emerged refreshed with damp hair sticking to her cheeks and a flush to her face that made her look younger than the year’s events made her feel. She had picked up her wand on the way to the bathroom and used that to dry her hair, relishing the feeling of her magic humming through the instrument. It could relax a bit, letting the magical properties of the wand stretch her natural gifts just that little bit further. Then she could reload a little.

Once she had a dusting of make-up on her face, she dug out some underwear that actually, she was astonished to find, matched. She was sure that had all gone out with the ark but apparently … Millie turned the vibrant pieces over, glancing at the label. Ah, that would be Alice’s work. She should have guessed really. They were slightly over-laced for her tastes and there was another set in there that had more straps than she didn’t know what. Her friend’s eclectic choice in lingerie had always amused the blonde witch, especially as it was so at odds with the milk and honey exterior that the French woman had. As it was, she decided to go the whole hog in regards to following Alice-esque style. Underwear donned, she retrieved a dress from her wardrobe that the other witch definitely would have worn. Then, after piling her hair on top of her head in a half-up, half-down endeavour, Millie decided herself ready – oh, well, once her sandals were on, at least. Then she was ready and she decided to sort out Bean’s things.

The dog was, as ever, a nuisance, not entirely sure about what was going on with him. What was especially confusing was that she was amongst his food and his blankets. A few bops on the nose sent him hurrying out to Keiran to see if he could make sense of what was going on from him but that was no help either so he flew back to Millie’s side, bumping into her legs impatiently in a similar way to Narcissa when she was hungry. Millie ruefully thought that that must have been where the silly dog had gotten it from.

“It’s okay, Bean,” she soothed, reaching down to scratch him between the ears. “Believe me. You’re just going to Bridget’s with the twins. You’re in charge of them, okay?” She looked at the dog, knowing he didn’t understand, but he seemed to appreciate her talking to him all the same. He’d enjoy running in the garden of Bridget’s house, she knew. Garden was a broad statement for what she supposed really should have been called grounds. Nevertheless, Bean would have as much fun as the kids. She hoped so, anyway.

“Ready, ready, ready!” Millie declared, emerging from the kitchen with the dog squeezing by to hurry out ahead. “Sorry. He’s so fussy. I have his blanket though,” she held up the beige cloth, “so at least he won’t be worried about snoozing or anything.” He’d been to Bridget’s plenty of times, of course, but the dog was a little bit odd. He did belong to them, after all. So sometimes he did need that extra bit of reassurance. They all did, sometimes. It was fair enough. “Okay, babies, are we excited to go and see your Maimeó?” Her eyes flicked to Keiran’s. “Have we got everything?”