Disclaimer: the world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, all recognizable characters and storylines are hers and not used for profit.

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Author´s note: this is a sequel to my story Loopholes, I suggest that you read that first to know the "case history".

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Warnings: this story deals with a homosexual relationship, male pregnancy and slash. Don´t like, don´t read, you´ve been warned.

Enjoy!

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Part 1: Three Months later

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Harry kicked off his shoes and ran one hand through his hair, yawning, while he walked into the kitchen for a drink of water; he had just come home from a long day at the office.

A day which had come with a surprise, and apart from that, the paperwork that sometimes came with the job made being an Auror less glamourous than he´d initially expected, he thought sourly, but then his face broke into a smile: he hadn´t heard Draco coming in, but he could feel his presence just before one arm sneaked around his waist and his lover´s soft voice breathed into his ear: "Hello, gorgeous."

Harry couldn´t help himself from going weak in the knees; no matter for how long they´d been together already, Draco could still do this to him.

The dark-haired wizard sighed contentedly and leaned back against the blond: "I thought this day would never end," he sighed, breathing in Draco´s scent.

His lover kissed his neck: "I´ve prepared a bath," he murmured.

A few minutes later they were lying in the warm water together, limbs entwined. Harry could feel the tension slowly leave his body as Draco´s hands gently began massaging his shoulders.

Leaning back against his lover, he could feel the small bump that was Draco´s belly; each night, Harry cautiously laid his hands over it, marvelling at the growing evidence that his lover indeed was pregnant, that they had created a small marvel together.

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Draco had suffered from typical symptomes during the first three months, such as tiredness, mood swings and exhaustion; the infamous morning sickness had often rather occured during the night, however, and more than once Harry had woken up in the middle of the night to find the bed next to him empty and Draco in the bathroom, retching violently.

Harry usually had gotten up to look after him in those occasions, quietly kneeling down next to him so as to support his forehead with one hand and his upper body with the other.

Most of the time the blond had been grateful for this, though every so often he had snapped at Harry to leave him alone, suddenly embarrassed by his body´s behaviour.

Harry had simply grit his teeth together then, had told himself not to bother, and had returned to bed. Draco usually apologized profusely in the following morning, only to snap at Harry again when he was too understanding: "I don´t need to be handled with kid gloves," he all but barked once, thoroughly spooking his boyfriend, "I´m pregnant, not ill!"

Poor Harry sought help at the Weasley´s, only to be laughed at by Ron: "Wouldn´t want to swap with you now, mate," he grinned, and after making sure his wife wasn´t standing behind him, added in an undertone: "Hermione was having my head for every time I so much as breathed too loud! It will get better after the first three months, though, don´t you worry."

"Hallelujah," Harry murmured dejectedly.

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It turned out that Ron had been right; the further the pregnancy got, the calmer Draco became. He looked healthy, his usually pale cheeks having taken on a healthy colour, and his hair was shining more than ever. He was full of enthusiasm and had begun to turn the guest room a. k. a. room-to-dump-things-in-and-then-close-the-door-behind-them into a nursery.

Harry left him in peace, giving him his head; he knew Draco had something specific in his mind and didn´t want to intrude. He loved to watch the progress, though; Draco took his time after the room had been cleared of everything, and often spent hours simply sitting in it and dreaming of the child which would inhabit it soon, the child he could already sense inside him.

The little one had been present from very early on, even though Draco couldn´t feel it moving yet; he had read that it had to do with its magic, which was feeding from his own. If he laid his hands on his belly and concentrated, he thought he could feel a soft pulse, a butterfly heartbeat.

It was comforting and scary at the same time; he was responsible for the little pollywog´s safety, and it already had all his love.

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Harry turned a little now, twisting in the tub so he could slide one arm around Draco´s midriff, and rested his head against his chest, careful not to squeeze his love´s belly with his shoulder. Draco pressed a kiss onto Harry´s unruly hair: "Shall I put you to bed early?" he suggested in a low voice.

Harry sighed, closing his eyes: "Yeah... sounds heavenly..."

Slender fingers stroked some stray strands away from his face: "What´s bothering you, love?" Draco asked.

Harry subdued another sigh; he should have known that Draco would notice something was wrong. Or rather, not wrong, just badly timed. Askew. Harry frowned at his own thoughts, then opened his eyes again: "Maloney called me to his office today," he began, trying to sound calm, "to tell me that he´s going to retire soon. It appears that he wants me as his successor."

Draco´s hands never stopped caressing Harry, even though there was a stunned silence.

Harry propped himself up to look at the blond man, waiting for him to voice his opinion.

Draco returned his gaze contemplatively: "This is great, Harry," he said quietly, his voice betraying nothing of his emotions. "You´ve worked long and hard to achieve this, haven´t you?"

Harry was wary: "I have, yeah... I hadn´t expected to become Head of the Department so early, though, I hadn´t in fact expected Maloney to retire already."

Draco studied him attentively: "But you do want to accept the job, don´t you?"

Harry shrugged, running his hand through his hair: "I guess I do... but the timing couldn´t be worse, could it? I´ll very likely be working long hours every day, at least during the first few months. And the baby..."

Draco´s hand interrupted him. His lover had cupped Harry´s cheek so as to get his attention back: "Harry... you deserve this promotion, and I think you shouldn´t hesitate to accept it, despite the baby."

His thumb tenderly stroked Harry´s cheek: "We´ll manage," he added very softly. "stop worrying."

Harry turned his head and pressed a kiss into Draco´s palm: "I don´t deserve you," he murmured, his eyes shining as he inched closer to the blond and pulled him into his arms. "I can´t promise to stop worrying, but I promise I´ll try to be there for you, and our little one, no matter what."

Draco smiled into Harry´s neck: "My knight in shining armour," he quipped, but then turned serious again: "I´m proud of you, Harry," he whispered. "Congratulations."

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Later, when Harry was already asleep, Draco couldn´t stop mulling things over. He had not lied to Harry, he was indeed proud of him, and he knew what a well-earned success it was for his lover to receive the new position. His workload would certainly increase, meaning long hours and less time together, but on the other hand, Draco hoped that it would also mean a little more safety.

If Harry was Head of Department, he wouldn´t necessarily have to take on so many jobs himself, he´d rather delegate, which was a comforting thought; Draco had lost count of the occasions on which his lover had come home bruised and battered, or hadn´t come home at all.

The blond actually was on first-name terms with St Mungo´s hospital´s welcome witch by now, who on numerous occasions had informed him that Harry had been admitted to the Emergency Ward due to a work-related incident.

Draco tenderly stroked his sleeping lover´s cheek. He´d be glad if the promotion meant less of those, all things considered; he was confident he could put up with the extra hours instead.

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To Be Continued

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Further Author´s note: I´m aware that Harry´s actually been Head of the Auror Department since 2007, but it fitted the story better this way!