Chapter One:

Tribulations

Disclaimer: This work has been inspired by JK Rowling's series. I hold no claim to the characters. Their actions are dictated by the plot and that is mine.

Harry was waiting for one Draco Malfoy to make and appearance into the Snape Manor sitting room.

"Oi, Potter, I'm here, now tell me: why did I just have to interrupt my vacation to Italy? What was so important?"

"Well Draco, you know how Sev and I have been bonded for the last two years right? Do you think he loves me, like really really really love to the end of the world and back and that he'd do anything for me?"

"Yes, I think so Harry, he wouldn't have bonded to you if he hadn't."

Draco hid an exasperated sigh, it wasn't unusual that Harry had his bouts of worthlessness, but this time there was a desperate tinge that was really hard to ignore. He was fairly sure that Harry and Sev were doing okay. The last news had been good. Sev was busy trying to improve the Wolfsbane Potion and so far it seemed to be working. And Harry's work at the wizarding orphanage in London was going well. So what had brought on this bout? Harry just sat there wringing his hands looking as if the world was falling apart.

"Draco, I'm scared that he won't love me anymore."

"Why is that Harry?"

"Because I didn't use a contraceptive spell two weeks ago…and I have a few symptoms that indicate I might be pregnant. As you know a wizard's pregnancy shows sooner than a witch's…we never even discussed children Draco! I know that I want some, hell; I'd love to have a bunch of them! I love children so much! But I don't know about him! I had meant to bring it up next year or something. He seems to hate children… look at the way he was acting with us. I know that he had to keep his spy status undercover, but now that the war is over and Voldemort defeated, he still acts likes he hates children. I know Sev is a good man; I wouldn't have loved him or bonded with him if that wasn't the case but I can't imagine his reaction over this. I know he loves me, but is he ready to accept a child into our home?"

He just sat there, looking miserable and worried. This wasn't so bad. I didn't know how Severus would react but I'm sure it wouldn't be too bad.

"Harry, do you want me to run a diagnostic spell on you to verify if you are indeed pregnant?"

"I would be very grateful for it Draco. Thank you."

"If we find you out to be pregnant Harry, I want you to schedule an appointment to Poppy for as soon as possible. Male pregnancies are a best risky so you have to be tremendously careful."

While he had been talking, he had cast the spell.

"Yes, I know Draco. So what does it say?"

"Well, it seems the Potter-Snape family will extend by November, Harry. Now, before you go into full worrying mode, I want you to relax for a few moments. Take a few deep breaths. That's it. Now, I want you to do something. You will go down to your lover's lab, yes, now, and you will announce it to him. Make sure he is seated at first and not brewing some elicit potion, we wouldn't want to cause an accident that would cause your child to be one father short, would we? Now are you ready? Then go. Floo me tonight to tell me how it went, okay Harry? If he doesn't react well, feel free to come over, you know you're always welcome. Blaise won't mind, I'll talk to him. Good luck Harry."

And with that, Draco Apparated out, not leaving Harry a chance to protest. Harry made up his mind to go. He'd rather find out sooner than later, he would save himself some worrying and some pain. He was still scared shitless though. He took the longest route to the dungeons, where Sev's lab was located and walked slowly. He took a few deep breaths to fortify himself before pushing the door open. There was Sev, looming over a simmering cauldron, a concentration frown on his face as he observed the potion's consistency and watched for any adverse effects.

Harry cleared his throat softly, to alert Sev of his presence. Sev whirled around to see Harry watching him with a small smile on his face but with no small amount of apprehension in his bright green eyes. He immediately wondered what was wrong. It wasn't reassuring when Harry just shifted foot to foot without uttering one word. Finally loosing patience, Sev spoke up:

"What's wrong, Harry? Did you come ask me for something?"

"Sev, you'd better sit and put your potion in stasis, it might take a while and I have no clue how you'll react." He finally blurted out.

Now Sev was really scared. What was so wrong that he needed to sit and that would cause Harry, his Harry, to have that look in to his eyes? He put his potion in stasis and went in the adjoining room to sit at a small coffee table. Harry followed him in and closed the door behind him.

He sat down and they stared at each other. Harry sat in front of Sev because he felt he needed to look at his husband while saying it. If he was snuggled against Sev he might get distracted and Sev might not take him as seriously.

"Sev, you remember the time two weeks ago when we…. Um yeah?"

"Yes Harry, I seem to remember that you were quite sore for the days after and you refused to put on some healing ointment because you said you wanted to remember one of the best shags of your life." Sev's eyebrow rose in amusement as Harry's face flushed a brilliant red.

Seriously, the man was one of the shiest men he had ever met, while they made love, Harry was not prudish in anyway but when they happened to talk about it, Harry's face would flush and he'd start stuttering worst than Longbottom. It was quite funny actually.

"Yeah, well it was pretty intense and amazing and great and you were fantastic…"

"Harry, I'm sure you didn't come here to enumerate my sexual prowesses and I'm quite confident in them since you tell me so often. Now, tell me what's so wrong that you had to interrupt me while I was working with a highly volatile potion."

Harry looked abashed for a second but quickly pulled himself together. Sensing Sev's impatience he started talking.

"Well, you remember how it went? You had me on my back before I could even blink and what you were doing to me was indescribable. I had lost my mind those few seconds you had me writhing under you and all logical thoughts had escaped me. I forgot the Contraceptive spell. I..I Floo-ed Draco barely half an hour ago to have him run a diagnostic spell on me.

I'm pregnant Sev!"

Whatever Sev had been expecting when Harry came into the lab was not to be told of his impending fatherhood. He sat there with a flabbergasted look on his face, trying to assimilate what that meant. He couldn't believe it…a child! Him and a child! That was a disaster in the making. The only experience he had with infants had been with Draco and that had been horrible enough. He couldn't imagine himself being a father to anyone. Harry yes, Merlin knows how he loved children but Severus was not sure it was a good idea.

He looked at Harry who sat there with a worried look in his face a small amount of hope and a great amount of fear in his eyes. That was why he had been so apprehensive. They had never talked about children, well except the kids at the orphanage, Harry loved them so much. He knew Harry would love to have this baby but Severus wasn't sure if he could help bring up a child.

"Harry, I don't know what to say…this is totally unexpected but I don't blame you for forgetting the Contraceptive Spell. It is as well your responsibility as it is mine."

Harry let out a small sigh of relief.

"But I don't know about the baby…I'm not sure I would make a good father and we never talked about children. I'm not ready for it. I don't think I want to raise a child in an environment where it isn't wanted…"

Harry straightens up and glares at me.

"He's very much wanted by at least one of his parents I'll have you know. He isn't an It, no matter what you might think. Can we at least discuss this or have you made up your mind to not accept the child?"

"I don't know Harry, let me think on this. I know you want him, that much is obvious but I really need to think about it. I'm not very inclined towards a yes at the moment."

Harry's shoulders slump in defeat already resigned to the fact he might never be a father. Tears started to gather in his eyes as he hastily made his way out of the lab. He didn't want Sev to see him crying about this.

He loved Severus very much. He was so torn. What would he do if Sev wanted him to terminate the pregnancy? Would he leave him and raise his baby alone? Or would he abort it? He knew in his hearts of hearts that he never would be able to abort it, or give it up for adoption and even less, give him to an orphanage. For him getting rid of a child would never be an option. Would he have to leave Sev in order to raise their child? He couldn't imagine himself doing that. Still crying, he made an overnight bag to go to Draco's and Blaise's place. He left Sev a note on the mantel of the fireplace in the sitting room explaining where he was.

He told Natty, his personal house-elf, to make sure Sev got the note and not worry about him needlessly. He dried his tears before throwing the powder as it wouldn't do to come out at the wrong grate. He called out 'Malfoy Loft, Italy' and was gone in a flash of green fire.

At the Loft, Draco heard the Floo activate and a moment later he saw Harry's form stumble through. He had never gotten the hang of Wizarding transportation systems. He had troubles with landing when Apparating too.

What he saw though when Harry straightened up, made his heart lurch. Harry had obviously been crying his eyes were red and sad. Did that mean Sev had refused and Harry had to get aborted? He knew this would devastate Harry. Harry would adopt every homeless child if he could. He loved them that much and Merlin knows that he has enough heart to be able to love them all. Draco figured it had been one of the consequences of his relatives' neglect and abuse in Harry's childhood.

Harry threw himself in Draco's arms, seeking comfort. It was a habit they had started when a truce had been called between them when Draco offered to spy for the Light side. Harry and he had become very good friends and they were always there for each other. He gathered Harry close and let him sob his heart out before talking to him. He wouldn't be able to get a coherent explanation otherwise.

A few moments later, they were still in their embrace. Harry really seemed to be taking this hard. Draco knew that if Sev didn't want the child, Harry probably would never get over it. They really were in between a rock and a hard place. He didn't envy Harry's position at the moment.

Harry reigned in his emotions and separated himself a bit from Draco. Draco let him go, knowing that Harry had to gather his thoughts.

"So Harry, want to tell me what's going on? What did Severus say?"

"He said that it was really unexpected after staying quiet for a long time, though he did say it wasn't my fault that I forgot the Contraceptive spell. He said that he wasn't really inclined to raise a child when it wasn't wanted, he called the baby an It, Draco! And I said that is was unexpected not unwanted. He said he had to think about it but that he wasn't really inclined towards a 'yes' yet. That's really horrible Dray! What if he doesn't want him? What will I do then? Will he force me to get him aborted? Or will I have to leave Sev to raise him? I don't want to do that 'cause I love Sev, but I don't want to get rid of a child!"

"Oh, Harry! I don't know what to say! I think you should wait until he has made his decision to worry about what you'll do, but I know that you can't really do anything else. I would want to say that everything will fix itself, or some other crappy phrase but it won't help because I know how Sev can be stubborn when he wants to…"

"I know Sev, he will convince himself that he can't do it, that it will never work and he will decide not to keep him. But I don't know what to do to make him see that he'd be a wonderful father. He's so caring to the ones he loves! He'll do everything in his power to make him happy, but he'll just remember what he was and let that weigh him down. I'm just so scared Draco! I don't know what to do! I don't know what I'll do!"

Draco was at a loss. The situation was serious. If only Sev and Harry weren't such powerful wizards, if they weren't, they would need the normal Contraceptive Potion to have children, like gay wizards and witches used. Because of their power, they didn't need to use the Potion. Anyways, this was going to be a hard time for their couple, and Draco would do everything in his power to help the two stubborn men stay together.

"Harry, you told me that Sev is convinced he'll never be a good father because of his past, why don't you ask one of your Gryffindor friends to baby-sit one of their kids for the day and ask Sev to take part in it? Like that you would get hands-on experience and Sev might be reassured."

"That's a good idea, Dray, I hope he'll accept it because I really don't know what to do to convince he'd make a good dad…just look at how long it took us to get together, under the pretence that he was an ex Death Eater spy and I, the Boy-Who-Lived. No matter that he had gotten honoured with the Order of Merlin, First Class for his spying years…"

"Draco, dinner is going to be ready in five minutes. Oh hello Harry. Will you be joining us then?"

"Yes, I'll be joining you, if it's all the same to you. I don't think I can return home tonight…"

If Blaise found it weird to find Harry in his lover's arms, he didn't say anything. The friendship between Harry and Dray was strong and he had never questioned it. He never had had the reason to. He didn't question Draco as to why Harry was there, it was clearly not the time, Harry looked to be torn apart and Draco would tell him eventually what was wrong. He knew he could trust Draco to tell him what is going when the time was right.

7

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