Almost a year had passed since the battle and, though at first things had been relatively tense with Tom's presence on the reef once the Siren had proved himself able and more than willing to assist with repairs both in the village and at the site of both Temples it had since calmed down. Harry had been accepted back into the Pod, along with both of his children and his beloved Mate and because of this, rather than returning to the lair where he'd made his home for most of his life, the black Siren had relocated to a larger cave near the center of the reef where they could settle down with their little family of four pups and Tom's hoard.

Four pups because, when they'd gone to the white Siren's lair to reclaim his Mate's stolen hoard they'd discovered a pair of nearly year old pups hiding inside. Tom had wanted to run them off and leave them to the mercy of the open ocean but Harry had put his fin down and after a handful of only half serious threats the Siren had relented and allowed his niece and nephew into their new home. Extremely reluctantly. But it seemed that the pair of them had grown on him.

Akhelios, Albus, Zaidu and Tiamat were all curled together under the attentions of their father and Uncle-who had returned from assisting with repairs at the Temple of Neptune while Harry was out while he wasn't supposed to be-for their daily bathes. They'd gotten better about trying to squirm away in the recent months and now simply expressed their displeasure with such explanations as "no!" and "don't want clean!"

Harry couldn't help but laugh, drawing the attention of both his Mate and his babies. Albus started squawking "save! Save!" at the top of his lungs, his brother and cousins joining in not long after. Deeming questioning his Mate more pressing than enduring the harrowing process of cleaning protesting pups, Tom allowed the four to flee into the hills of gold and swam towards him.

"Sea star."

"I went to get food for the four of us; I didn't know when you'd be back and we were all getting hungry."

"Sea star."

"They're old enough to know better than the leave the lair without one of us with them."

"Harry." His voice rang with a tired sort of concern as he set one taloned hand gently against the barely noticeable swell of his stomach.

"I'm only a month along." Harry's voice was soft as he covered the Siren's talon with both of his hands. "The reef isn't as dangerous as open water and Voldemort is gone, now. You worry too much."

Tom pulled the little Mer against him, dropping his face into his wild hair. "Of course I worry 'too much'; I've a lot to worry about. A lot to lose."

Harry sighed, but before he could reply he felt tiny hands tugging at one of his fins and looked down; at some point during their conversation the four pups had regained the courage to brave the potential for a resumed bath to form a semi-circle around them.

"We more sibings?"

"Yes, my little darlings. You'll have more siblings in a few months time."

"From whe?"

"From here." Akhelios had stopped biting everything at three months and now that Harry didn't have to worry about tiny teeth sinking into his fingers he didn't hesitate to pick up his eldest son, resting his little hand where his father's much larger one had been. "Look."

Akhelios looked quite confused. "How?"

"Er…" Tom scratched at his neck. "I don't think they're old enough to…" he tried to subtly make a lewd hand gesture but failed to escape four pairs of watchful eyes.

"What this?" Zaidu repeated the motion and Harry went white.

"No! Do not ever let me see you doing that again until you're at least seventeen!"

"Why?"

"N-No reason!" He shot a glare at Tom who at least had the decency to look guilty. "Let's hope that we get some girls this time; would you like sisters, Tia?"

The Siren's little face scrunched up. "Boys icky!"

"Hey!"

"We not icky!"

"Well," Tom chuckled, "that answers that question."

"I suppose it does."

"Well, should we get around to having dinner? I recall someone saying he was hungry."

"Oh, yes." Harry quickly gathered up the shrimp and greens that he'd brought back. "Come on, my dear babies. It's time to eat."

"We'll finish up your bathes after dinner." Four groans went up as the pups rushed after him and the raven Mer couldn't help but smile. Voldemort was gone forever. His family was back together. The war between their races was finally over and peace had been restored to the reef.

All was well.