Come Hell or High Water

WIP

Chapter 7

Of Conditions and Considerations.

AN: I am sorry for the wait, but am busy trying to find a bleedin' job. Not so easy when one has learnt squat:D

Warnings: UNBETAED! Appalling grammar, mPreg, talk of abortion, adoption and murder. Stockholm-Syndrome

"KREACHER!"

The pop of apparition was heard before an old, but surprisingly clean house elf suddenly appeared in the hallway.

"Master Harry has finally called. Oh! Kreacher is sooo pleased! It has been so… Master? Master! Master is hurt!"

"Help… please… Kreacher" and with that a six-month pregnant Harry collapsed in the hallway of his ancestral home.

-:-

The first thing Harry felt coming out of his deep sleep was warm silk cradling his nude body. It was a wonderful feeling and for a second he wondered why Lucifer had changed the sheets. However his daydream was shattered when he realised just where he was and what had happened. He felt his breath speeding up and panic settling in as his arms quickly moved down his body to feel… his still pregnant belly.

Harry couldn't stop the sob of relief from escaping him. It had been so close. He had almost lost his little son. His son!.

As his right hand met the bandage on the right side of his stomach Harry choked on his breath once again as he realised just how close he had come to lose his unborn child.

An almost silent pop alerted Harry that he was no longer alone, but he couldn't stop the tears from falling.

"Kreacher. Please, tell me. Can you still sense my son?"

Harry knew house elf magic was greatly unappreciated and could do much more then simple cleaning spells. The old dark house elf climbed up onto the huge king-size before toddling over to Harry's curled body. He allowed the house elf to pull down the sheet revealing his bare form and though usually he would never allow the elf to see him in such a state, he was currently beyond modesty and caring. The old elf almost reverently placed his hands on Harry's enlarged belly and the wizard felt a cool tickle trace his skin as the foreign magic touched him.

The elf closed his eyes in concentration and Harry felt himself holding his breath in nervous desperation.

Soon though the elf smiled and removed his small wrinkly hands and Harry almost felt like shouting in complete joy. His son was healthy!

"Master's son is very strong. Lots and lots of magic! But Master is not so good." The old elf was looking nervously at him. "Master's magic protected the little one from the injury but Master is very tired in body and mind. He must rest! Or he will hurt the little Master."

Harry nodded tiredly, realised that the amount of stress, pain and heartache he had been through the last twenty hours was enough to put any being on bed-rest. He swallowed over the lump forming in his throat and forcibly tried to push what had happened away. He couldn't think about it yet, he couldn't and wouldn't think about the implications of what had happened.

"Thank you Kreacher. Thank you so much. You probably saved my son. I am very grateful."

"Kreacher lives to serve Master. But if this lowly house elf may ask… where has Master been? Master's Weezy and Grangy have been terribly worried. Yous just gone!"

Harry's eyes were wide in amazement. If he didn't know any better he would have thought that Kreacher was actually worried about him. Tears were almost pooling again as the warmth in his chest expanded.

"Thank you for your concern Kreacher. But I was…" he trailed off. Well, it was true after all. "I was kidnapped."

"Kidnapped! Oh! How did Master escape! Who dares take the great Master Potter-Black!" Harry almost laughed out loud at Kreacher's indignation on his part.

"It's fine, Kreacher. Well… I was kidnapped, but well it… " Harry trailed off. What could he really say? He had fallen in love with his kidnapper, who just happened to be the Devil himself. Oh, and by the way he was pregnant with his child? Who he was adamantly refusing to call Damian. Harry almost groaned. God, it sounded like the worst case of Stockholm Syndrome he had ever heard! But it wasn't! It really wasn't! Was it?

Thoughts flashed towards the training programmes Ron and he had attended after the war before he'd reevaluated his life. They'd been put through all sorts of physical training programmes, but also mandatory psychological evaluations and courses on kidnapping, torture. Including the wizardings version of Stockholm Syndrome known as the Andros Affinity. Andros the Invincible being a Greek Wizard who after being taken as food, though later kept as a pet by his native Greek Giants became so sympathetic towards their cause that he was famous for being the only wizard ever producing a Giant Patronus. The part of the story that often went unmentioned was that Andros went completely 'native' and ended up giving away all his possessions, moving into the Giant Reserve and after marrying his sweetheart Ligeia and was consequently crushed to a pulp on his wedding night. Thus a warning to all wizards to never become too sympathetic towards kidnappers (though most read Dark Creatures).

"Kreacher… I. It's okay, but I think I need to sleep. Please don't inform anybody that I'm back yet. Make sure the wards are up and that the Floo is blocked please."

Kreacher immediately snapped back to attention and carefully walked off the bed before bowing low.

"This Kreacer swears to protect Master and little Master. I's will take care of everything. Kreacher will be back in a few hours with some dinner for Master and Little Master." And with that he popped out leaving Harry alone with his darkening thoughts.

-:-

The constant pressure on his bladder woke Harry early morning the following day. And despite a bit of grumbling at his son's inappropriate timing, Harry couldn't help the newfound all-round happiness of being pregnant. Sure it was a drag with aching feet, back and ankles, not to mention the constant bathroom breaks, but still.. it was his son! He was carrying a child. His child.

Feeling the hormones take control Harry couldn't help but send a silent prayer towards his magic and nature to allow him this wonderful experience. The bandage on his side was a horrible reminder of how quickly such bliss could be taken away.

With that thought in mind however, Harry sat down heavily on the bed. He could feel the tears brimming as he realised the harsh implications of what had happened the previous evening.

Lucifer had left on one of Harry's own request as he had had a desperate hankering for Crème Brûlée. It had been less then ten minutes, before he felt the wards fluctuating. Thinking it was Lucifer returning already, Harry had been completely taken by surprise by the hostile force suddenly ensconced in the living room. Fighting back a sob, Harry had trouble thinking about the fact that angels of the Lord God had wanted his unborn son dead. Had wanted to cut the child from his pregnant body. There had been no mercy in their eyes, and if not for the sudden distraction of the blue-eyed one, Harry would never have managed to escape. He bit back another sob. He had, oh god, he accepted the Devil and now the angels were hunting him! Was his soul black and damned forever? Was the love he felt towards Lucifer false? Had he betrayed humanity with his choice? What had he done?

And so wrapping the silk bed cover around his still naked body, Harry Potter broke down and cried.

-:-

Kreature had prescribed bed rest, and the stubborn elf had even surprised Harry by his steadfast opinion that Master Harry needed to rest. A solid week now Harry had spent layzing about in bed, reading and eating many healthy meals prepared by the loyal little elf. The bandage had been removed the night before, but the still red and angry thin scar left behind gave Harry the chills and would remind him forevermore just how alone he was in this. The need for a familiar face was almost overwhelming and he had thought many times about allowing Kreature the call on the Weasleys and have them come over. But their previous parting hadn't been all that warm. Their relationship had cooled considerably after Harry's steadfast refusal to marry Ginny or take up some sort of prominence in the wizarding world. The fact that he wasn't out there with Ron policing the wizarding world and fresh auror graduates and been viewed as a personal insult by the red-head. Thus while he still came around to tea and bought gifts for birthdays his relationship with Ron and Hermione had cooled and to be frank their priorities just weren't the same any more.

The fact that he felt so isolated from those he once counted friends left him feeling even more alone. He also knew that one of the usual methods Healers prescribed for dealing with PTSD and Andros Affinity (though Harry still kept arguing against his self-diagnosis), was family therapy. And though Harry wouldn't approach the remaining Dursley's with a forty-five mile long pole, he still had had friends around him after the War... but now... The words ordering Kreature to open the Floo died before they were formed. Despite wanting to believe otherwise he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Hermione would want to have him committed. And if he hadn't been this far along, encourage him to have an abortion. Now she would probably only recommend him putting the child up for adoption.

The absolute worst part of all this was that Harry couldn't say with absolute certainty that he wasn't suffering from Andros Affinity. Reading through the book on the wizarding equivalent of Stockholm Syndrom Harry could see plenty of similarities between their situations. Andros had like him been kidnapped, freed and had chosen later to return to the site of his captivity. Mind Healers had spent decades discussing his choices and the psychology behind them.

And here Harry was, kidnapped by the Devil, isolated, manipulated and virtually imprisoned, forced to become impregnated and almost executed. Rubbing his expanded stomach and the bright red line, Harry froze remembering the coldness and the icy determinations of the angels made him quickly rethink his decision. It would be better for everybody in the wizarding world that they have no knowledge of his whereabouts and even less about his condition. He needed to keep his son safe!

AN: Really not happy with the end of this chapter. Didn't think I got Harry's doubts, fears and choices out right. I need him questioning everything and being backed into a corner. Ah, well.. Next chapter isn't too far off. We will be back with our fav boys!

Any thoughts?