Chapter Seven:
Harry groaned and leaned his head against the cool porcelain. He felt gentle fingers pet his fringe back from his face and someone place a cool wet flannel against the back of his neck. He leaned into the large body behind him and struggled against the nausea. Three weeks, this had started three weeks ago, agh… and Harry sincerely wished it would be over soon.
"Sev said just let it out Harry, you'll feel better quicker."
His godfather, that's who was holding him. He burrowed further back into Sirius' chest and groaned again.
Sirius chuckled, "I would say 'What were you expecting, after all you're the one that wanted to get knocked up', but I won't."
Harry snorted, once he was able to move again, Sirius would definitely get it.
"Hey cub," Remus walked into the bathroom. It was a good thing that Albus gave him chambers with a bath that rivaled the prefects. "Dobby brought up some weak tea, and dry toast, and Sev is fire calling Draco."
Harry waved one weak arm, "Don't bother him, he warned me after all."
"Harry," Sirius protested, "This is… a little more severe than what I remember your mum going through."
"The symptoms in a male pregnancy are always a little more severe because a male's body has to adjust to the rush of hormones that it doesn't usually have, the effects of a potion pregnancy are worse yet because more of the carriers magic is involved in the creation of the little one, leaving less to aid in the adjustment of the carriers body." Draco stood in the doorway with Severus looking concernedly at Harry who was curled into Sirius' body on the floor. "Think your finished Harry?"
Harry turned inward concentrating on his body, and then nodded weakly. Sirius stood gently cradling him and walked back into the bedroom. He laid the flaccid body on the bed, and bent to kiss his son's sweaty forehead before stepping back.
Draco followed and smiled warmly at the man on the bed. "Hey," he said softly.
"Mornin'," Green eyes peeked out beneath fluttering lashes.
Draco settled on the bed, sitting next to the limp body, and retrieved his wand from his arm holster. He made a few flicks and muttered under his breath, before nodding satisfied. "Everything is just fine, no complications, but Harry, I'm sorry, but I can't give you anything stronger than the normal anti-nausea potion."
"'s fine Draco, sorry they bothered you."
Draco smiled and pat Harry on the arm. "I'm your Healer and your friend Harry, and this is your first pregnancy. It's no problem, I promise. You think you're still going to be up for tonight?"
Harry finally opened his eyes, and Draco helped him into a sitting position. "Yeah, as soon as this passes I'm usually fine. Movie night is a go."
Draco nodded grinning brightly. "Don't push yourself, but as long as you feel up to it, I'll be back at nine."
Harry's raven fringe flopped into his eyes as he nodded. "Its Ron's turn to pick out the movie, I'm sure it'll be a laugh if nothing else."
"So he's fine… right?" Sirius said interrupting; he was bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously.
Draco, who had forgotten anyone else was even there, blushed faintly. "Yep, this is normal. It really should begin to ease up around the end of the first trimester, so nothing to worry about." Draco nodded to the tea and toast that Remus was still holding, "Continue with those, and I suggest a scent blocking spell whenever he's in the Great Hall. You never know what's going to set them off, so better safe than sorry." Draco turned his attention back to the green eyed man sitting in the bed. "You're still a little lighter than I would like Harry, so keep taking the nutritional supplements with your dinner. Other than that…"
Harry nodded. "Thanks Dray." He slid up and out of the bed and hugged the blonde man briefly. "Now you get home and finish your breakfast, have a good day at work and I'll see you later."
"Don't forget the stasis shield," Draco said on his way out.
Harry laughed, he was starting to feel human again, and waved his Healer out. "Bye." He turned to his three dads, and Charlie who he'd just noticed, and smiled brightly. "I feel much better. I'll just get a shower and meet you all in the Hall for breakfast." He shooed them out of his rooms and retreated to his bathroom.
~oOo~
"Do you think it's odd that significant things like to happen to Harry on Halloween?" Sirius was of course referring to Harry's most recent life altering event.
"I do not know if Harry has realized the correlation between the date and the official date of conception. I do however, find it somewhat odd. By all rights, the conception should have occurred at least a week prior to that. It's been almost four weeks now though since conception, so if Harry hasn't mentioned it, and Draco hasn't found anything odd, then I am certainly not going to bring it up." Severus squeezed his husbands hand before turning back to his breakfast.
Albus, who'd been listening, leaned forward blue eyes sparkling. "Samhain is a sacred time, and a most magical time. Harry has and always will be one of the most innately powerful wizards our world has ever known. Perhaps it's the draw of the magic." Half moon glasses flashed as Albus turned his head, "Good morning Harry, how are you feeling?"
"It could be worse, and it would definitely feel that way if this was something that I didn't want so badly. But I'm fine now." He smiled brightly causing some of the more vocal students to sigh. Harry looked out over the Great Hall concernedly, "Is there something going on with the students?"
Sirius did his best to stifle a laugh, and Severus nudged him to keep him quiet before answering, "Just a little melancholy I am sure, nothing to be concerned about."
"Well, maybe you should be concerned about your virtue," Sirius said under his breath. "Ouch," he yelped when Severus jabbed a fork in his thigh.
Harry turned wide green eyes to his dad, eyebrows wrinkled in worry, "Did you get hurt at work, you seem uncomfortable this morning? Perhaps you should see Poppy before you go in."
It was Severus' turn to hold back a snigger while Sirius garbled out an answer. "Oh, umm… one of the new trainees might have gotten in a lucky potshot, umm… yeah."
Harry chuckled, "Getting slow in your old age Padfoot, should I be concerned that you won't be able to keep up with your grandchild?"
"Hey," Sirius pouted, "I'll have you know that wands were supposed to be away at the time, and uh, my back was turned. Yep that's what happened."
"Well," Harry smiled unconvinced, "promise me you'll see Poppy before you go in."
"Alright, alright," The Animagus grumbled. He rubbed his thigh, "I might need a healer anyway, I seem to have developed some oozing wounds." He muttered under his breath just loud enough for his husband to hear.
Severus smiled serenely, "I'll walk you to the hospital wing dear heart."
Sirius glared at him before obediently getting to his feet. "Don't forget your stasis shield cub."
"Bye Siri, see you later." Harry waved them away and returned to conversation with Minerva.
~oOo~
"'The Borrowers'," Harry said looking at the rented DVD case Ron had tossed him, "Starring John Goodman, Hugh Laurie, Tom Felton…" Harry trailed off as he studied the cover. "The tiny blonde kind of looks like a really young Draco with an afro, cute." he giggled.
"Let me see that," Draco said grabbing the movie imperiously. "Merlin what were they thinking?" Draco snorted putting his nose up in the air, "While I admit that I would look dead sexy on screen, I would never be caught dead with my hair looking like that, or wearing… well I couldn't really call that an outfit."
Ron rolled his eyes and snuggled back into Viktor's broad chest. The foursome had started this Friday night ritual right after the school term had begun, and a comfortable routine had been firmly established. Viktor, Ron, and Draco would take turns picking the movie, Harry would been in charge of snacks and equipment, and promptly at nine in the evening the three would invade Harry's chambers, settling in and bickering like the good friends they were.
Viktor and Ron would always snuggle up on the love seat, Viktor's back comfortably nestled into the corner and legs stretched out, and Ron would be cuddled into his chest sitting in the 'V' of the seekers legs, draped over the others broader body. They always had a large bowl of popcorn in Ron's lap, and inevitably at some point during the movie, Viktor would reach down for 'popcorn' and his hand would 'miss' causing Ron to squeak and then blush so hard you could see it in the dark. Ron would then look up over his shoulder and smile at the dark haired man and accept the sweet kiss that Viktor would always lean down and give him, shortly followed by Ron moving the bowl and turning on his side to nestle deeper into his boyfriends embrace and the two would smile happily finally returning their attention to the movie.
No matter how many Fridays that this happened, Harry would always blush and sigh, he was so very happy for Ron, and the feelings that the two obviously shared were incredibly beautiful to watch, but he couldn't help but feel lonely and a tad bit jealous at the same time. That fateful dinner when Ron had finally admitted that he and Hermione were not together, and in fact he had been dating Viktor Krum for four months, had set the twins off into swoons of rapture. They were constantly bringing up Ron's obvious obsessive behavior from fourth year, and continued their 'friendly' ribbing from there. That was until the first time Viktor, with the help of the remaining marauders, pranked them so badly that for the next three Sunday dinners the twins refused to sit anywhere near the professional seeker and their little brother. Even Molly had been caught sniggering at their discomfort.
Draco and Harry would share the sofa and a blanket and giggle at the two lovelorn fools on the loveseat. Lately though, for the last couple of weeks, at about halfway through the movie Harry would fall asleep against the blonde. Draco would carefully turn his body into the corner and stretch out, and pull Harry into a more comfortable reclining position. Harry usually ended up cuddling into the warmth of the body behind him, and would sleep through the rest of the movie. Then while Ron and Viktor cleaned up the munchies, Draco would pick up his little raven haired love and put him to bed, with a sweet kiss to the forehead, brushing his lips right against the faded famous scar. With a sigh, he would quietly shut the pregnant mans door, and once again face the reality that Harry wasn't his. Ron and Viktor would share a sad smile with him, and all would be shoved away until the next Friday.
This Friday wasn't any different, except for the fact that Harry hadn't fallen asleep when he usually did. Draco glanced at the clock, 10:30, and glanced over at Harry. "You ok," he leaned down and whispered in the other man's ear.
"Took a nap during my free period," Harry whispered back. He pat his friends hand reassuringly and turned back to the movie. "I'm going to get another blanket," Harry whispered a few minutes later, "I'm cold."
Draco looked over concerned and watched Harry shiver. "Come here," he said before the man had a chance to get up, and he turned his back into the corner of the sofa and pulled Harry's smaller frame into his body.
Harry tensed up briefly before relaxing into Draco's chest and sighed. "This ok," he whispered.
"Your fine, are you warm enough now or do you want me to Accio another blanket?"
"No," Harry said softly, "I'm good." Harry glanced up warily before settling his head into the crook of Draco's neck. He couldn't describe how utterly right it felt to be in the blonde mans arms, but he just wasn't ready, and he didn't want to hurt Draco. He worried for a few more minutes before he felt a breath puff against his ear.
"It's fine Harry. We're friends ok? I know that, now stop worrying and watch that adorable little blonde kid that looks just like me."
Harry snorted and relaxed completely. If Draco was ok, then he was ok; and that tiny blonde kid really did look adorable… even with an afro.
~oOo~
"I swear Sev," Harry mumbled out between bites of toast and eggs, "he looked just like I imagine Draco did as a little kid. Tom something or another, I think I'm going to Google him and see if he's been in anything else. I want to see what he looks like older."
Severus just raised an eyebrow and rolled his onyx eyes. If he didn't know Harry, he would be concerned about his obliviousness. It was completely obvious to everyone else that the green eyed man was irrefutably in love with Draco Malfoy, but when it came to things like this, it inevitably needed to be pointed out to him otherwise it would take forever before he would catch on.
Severus remembered when Harry was still in school how (and especially after the war when he would walk tall with confidence) when Harry would be walking through the corridors with the other two-thirds of the Golden Trio, the many eyes of the boys and girls would follow the raven haired green eyed youth with undisguised lust, admiration, and want. Harry was always completely oblivious, and would deny it until pointed out to him. Severus snorted, something else to attribute to those damn muggles, along with Harry's smaller frame and other confidence issues.
"You ok?" Harry asked penetrating Severus' inner dialogue.
Severus realized he was frowning and shook off the mood that always overtook him when thinking about Harry's relatives. "Sorry, I was thinking about the mission your father agreed to go on."
Harry smiled sadly, and reached out to hold Severus hand. "He agreed because they needed someone familiar with the inside of Azkaban. I really didn't want him to go anymore than you did, but he shouldn't been in any danger. He's there strictly on recon, that's it."
Severus grunted and tightened his fingers around his son's hand. "I remember the last time you were strictly on recon; you didn't wake up for two weeks, and Ron refused to leave your bedside, felt the whole thing was his fault."
"At least we caught the leak in the department, and we also caught Fenrir Greyback. I took that mission for Papa and Bill, and I would do it again even knowing that I would get hurt."
"I know," Severus said throat constricting. "Is it bad to say that I'm really really glad that you are no longer an Auror? It frightened me to death every time you left the office on assignment."
Harry smiled and drew his dad in for a hug. "No its not, I was so relieved the day dad announced he was going to be Head of the training Academy for the same exact reason." Harry looked down slightly embarrassed, "And I already asked if Draco would make sure he was the one to look after Siri if he ends up in St. Mungo's. I know he specializes in male pregnancy, but he's a fully trained Healer and I don't trust anyone else to take care of dad if something happens."
Severus' mouth twisted into a parody of a smirk, "I asked him the same thing." Harry laughed and pecked Severus on the cheek before turning back to his breakfast. "Harry," the potions master asked changing the subject, "I've noticed that you and Draco have become extremely close."
"Yeah," Harry agreed not really understanding what his dad was implying. "He's my best friend. I'm really glad he finally came home."
Severus rolled his eyes and tried again, "When are you two going out again?"
Green eyes brightened and Harry sat up straighter obviously excited, "Next Saturday he's promised to take me back to the 'Mamas & Papas' store for the pram that I want to get. It's black, so even you'll agree to push it, and it's really nice looking with a good sized storage space under the basket. It's unisex of course, but Molly's really good at embroidery and promised to put the baby's name on the side, and little snitches, or flowers or something when we finally know what sex my baby is."
Severus couldn't help but grin and nod enthusiastically along with his son, his cub's whole demeanor changed when talking about his baby, and he practically glowed in happiness. "Well, don't buy too much yourself, after all, if you even tried to negate the need for a baby shower the various women in our lives would lynch you."
Harry snorted, "I know, but I decided to go ahead and get the pram because it's the one I really want and it's from a muggle store. Molly assured me that it was fine." Harry looked down rapturously and placed his hand over his stomach, "I can't wait dad," he said glancing up with a shimmer of tears in his emerald eyes, "for this little one to finally be here so I can hold him or her in my arms. I keep dreaming about my little one, about being able to play with him; he's always a boy in my dreams, but I really don't care what gender as long as he or she is healthy. He always looks up at me with my mum's eyes, and his blonde hair is messy just like mine, but he's gorgeous and real and mine, my little boy."
Blonde hair? Severus eyes widened in shock, but Harry hadn't seemed to notice what he'd implied. Petunia and Harry's cousin had dirty blonde hair, but it's a recessive trait, and the Potter's had always been gifted with dark brown, and raven hued locks. Family's like the Malfoy's, who had a bit of Veela blood in them, seemed to almost always breed true with the platinum hair, as demonstrated with Lucius and Draco. Severus doubted very much if Harry's child would be blonde.
"He's always about two in my dreams, and he's able to talk and walk, and he just brilliant dad!"
Severus smiled, "Well, any child of yours is bound to be brilliant with a grandfather such as I."
Harry laughed and swatted Severus' arm. "I'm sure that my child is going to be the most brilliant potions master or mistress ever, especially if you're the one training him."
Severus did a little mock bow, and rolled his eyes, "That's assuming of course, that he or she isn't born with a broom in his hands."
"True," Harry grinned. "Well, I've got office hours for the students, so I better get going." He pecked Severus on the cheek and practically skipped from the Great Hall.
"He seems to have enjoyed his date with young Mr. Malfoy," Albus observed.
"Yeah, and one of these days he'll figure out that he's been dating him."
Albus' twinkling blue eyes tracked Harry as the man left the Hall, "He was hurt badly, not once, but twice. He needs the assurance and security that Draco is first and foremost his friend before he will be able to bring himself to fully understand and be ok with the fact that he's very much in love with him. Draco is not only aware of this, but I think fully understands the importance of Harry realizing these feelings on his own."
"You are, of course, right as usual. But I hate to see Draco hurting; just as much as I hate to see when Harry is."
"Ah," Albus murmured leaning back in his chair and staring up at the blue sky the enchanted ceiling showed, "But is Draco really hurting? He might be sad sometimes, but I doubt very much that he can ever truly be hurt as long as they are together in some capacity. As long as Harry doesn't push him away, I believe young Mr. Malfoy will be content until the time that Harry is ready to fully open his heart." The headmaster stood up and gently patted Severus' arms. "Love is a truly remarkable magic."
