The New Arrival
To make up for the lack of updates here is an extra long chapter for you to hopefully enjoy. Not entirely sure when the next update will be but I will update as soon as I can, promise. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Also, happy New Year everyone!
Chapter Nine
"Twins?" Draco said sitting on the sofa in shock after Poppy had left, returning to her Christmas festivities, the two babies were wriggling inside of him. Before he had loved the feeling but now he wasn't sure if it meant they were fighting or just swimming. He didn't like the thought that the two of them were bickering already.
"Looks like you get to do some more shopping." Harry said trying to look on the bright side, something that was difficult considering the fact that Draco looked close to tears.
"Oh Harry, what are we going to do?" Draco said sounding deflated. He was rubbing his expanded belly, which had suddenly become considerably larger since the placenta had separated. He was attempting to sooth the wriggling that was getting out of control.
"Sweetheart it'll be fine, I promise it'll be fine. We're going to be a perfect little family, a little girl and a little boy." Harry said smiling, he couldn't have been happier at the fact that they were having twins but Draco was far more concerned with the fact that the two children in his tummy didn't seem to like each other.
"But they hate each other, they're fighting already." Draco said as a sharp prod was given to his belly from the inside.
"Yes but we hated each other to begin with and look at us now." Harry reminded him, he was trying his best to sooth his boyfriend but it wasn't doing much good.
"Dragon, you need to calm down. If you are worried or anxious then the children will pick up on that. You need to remain calm. It won't do any of you any good for you to worry. I'm going to go and put the kettle on and we can all have a cup of tea okay." Narcissa said getting up and heading for the kitchen.
"The decaffeinated stuff is in the cupboard over the microwave!" Harry called after her.
"Yeah, don't use it, the stuff tastes like crap!" Draco shouted and he heard his mum laugh.
"Dray, you can't have too much caffeine, it's bad for you and the babies!"
"If you don't stop treating me like glass then it's going to be bad for you." Draco snapped at his boyfriend irritably. He knew that Harry was only doing what was best for him and he was just a bit over protective but Draco was getting sick of it.
"I'm sorry" Harry said sounding a little upset and taken aback at the tone Draco had adopted towards him. "I didn't mean to upset you."
Draco, hearing how hurt Harry was immediately regretted the tone that he had taken. "Sorry, there is just so much I'm not allowed to eat and do. I'm not even half way through this pregnancy yet and things are already getting complicated. It just upsets me that's all."
"I know sweetheart, I'm sorry. I just want to keep you and the babies healthy." Harry said, sadden at the fact that he had had upset Draco in such a way.
"You are far too protective sweetheart, I love you for it, I really do but you need to calm down, I'm fine, the twins are fine. I'm just scared, I don't want my children to hate each other, especially not before they're even born."
"I'm sure they don't hate each other. There isn't a lot of room in there for them, that's all it is. Once they're born and they have their own rooms it'll be fine, I'm sure of it."
"But you can't be sure of that Har, I knew that this was going to be difficult but this is too much, I don't think that we're going to cope very well." Draco said.
"Dray, we're going to cope just fine, your only saying that because you're scared. I'm going to be here full time with you and the twins, I'm going to here to support you. Please try not to worry." Harry said bringing Draco close to him and holding him, stroking his soft blonde hair.
"Here we go, a nice cup of tea and Draco yours has plenty of sugar, just the way you like it." Narcissa said, returning with three steaming mugs of tea all supported with her wand. She placed them gently down on the coffee table in front of them and manoeuvred Draco's towards him so that they would know which had the most sugar. "Harry is right though my Dragon, not only will he be here though, I will be as well. You won't go through this on your own."
"Thanks mum, I just never expected anything to go wrong."
"Nothing has gone wrong love." Harry said, "I know that there are two instead of just the one but that doesn't change anything. They are both still healthy, it just means that they might be here sooner than we expected. How about we go online tomorrow and order a few more bits and pieces now that we're having a boy too. Jessica has so much already, now we can buy things for our little boy too."
"We need a name for him." Draco said rubbing his belly again now.
"What do you think he should be called?" Harry asked.
"Do you want to call him James?" Draco asked.
"No, I don't want to name him after a dead man, I don't want anything that will remind me of the war and the suffering that we went through to get here. Pick another name." Harry said his voice full of determination.
"Okay, how about Matthew?" Draco suggested.
"I like it, Jessica and Matthew. Perfect names for our little ones." Harry said with a smile.
"Mum, Harry and I decided to let the Malfoy name die with me, the children with have Harry's surname, not mine. We thought that it was for the best." Draco explained to Narcissa.
"I think that you are right my Dragon, no one should be burdened with that name again. Not now we are rid of that man." She said nodding with approval.
Draco was pleased that his mother approved, though he hadn't seen her having a problem with it as she had already switched her name from Malfoy to Black to get rid of the stigma attached to the once proud and ancient name.
"How are you feeling now Dray?" Harry asked with concern.
"Better, the pain is gone, it just feels very stretched all of a sudden, like they're forcing my skin further than it should go." Draco said knowing that he wasn't describing it very well but not knowing how else to put it.
"Comes with the territory my Dragon." Narcissa said to her son, watching him rub his belly out of love and also in an attempt to sooth the feeling of his skin stretching.
Poppy returned the next day as she had promised to do. Narcissa had returned to the castle the previous evening informing the couple that she was just a fire call away if they needed anything.
Poppy knew that she would have to visit Draco every day to make sure that he and the twins were okay. She was overly aware of the risk that had now presented itself to Draco was higher than she wanted to explain to them.
She didn't want to panic the couple, it was clear that they were very committed to each other and very protective of the two children that Draco was carrying. There was nothing that either of them could do so she didn't want to worry them.
The way the twins were acting was not the way unborn children should act. They were fighting against one another for survival. Jessica had been the dominant one to begin with which was why she had been the only one to show up in the first few checkups.
Matthew however had begun putting up one hell of a fight and that was why the placenta had split causing Draco so much pain. It was also why Draco's magic was so low and he had been experiencing so much light headedness and dizziness.
Poppy was overly concerned about the whole situation and she knew that the twins would have to be born way before their due date, she just wanted them to stay in Draco's tummy for as long as possible as the longer they stayed where they were the healthier they would be.
"How are you feeling today Draco?" She asked as she motioned for him to take a seat, he had been bustling around the house tidying up since she arrived and she wasn't happy about it.
"Fine actually, a lot of wriggling going on in there but no more pain." He said as he admitted defeat and flopped hopelessly down on the sofa.
"That is a good sign, I'm going to give you a check up. Where's Harry this morning, I thought he would be here to watch over you as always."
"We pretty much ran out of everything yesterday, a few of the shops are open for a couple of hours today so he's just run out to get a few essentials. He'll be back soon." Draco said smiling.
"We can wait for him to return if you like?" Poppy offered.
"No, it's okay, it's just a check up, nothing to worry about right."
"Right" Poppy said somewhat dubiously. Draco looked at her in confusion.
"There isn't anything wrong, is there?" Draco asked suddenly overwhelmed with worry.
"It's hard to tell right now, I wasn't sure if I should tell you as there isn't anything that you can do. I suppose that you are the best person to tell, I know that Harry is extremely protective. I will tell you what I know and I will leave it up to you to decide if you wish to tell Harry or not." Draco nodded, "The twins are fighting one another for survival, this is why you might have to have them before you are full term. There is a risk that one will deprive the other of what they need, which is why I need to check up on you every day."
"How bad is it likely to get?" Draco asked somewhat numbly.
"I won't allow it to get as bad as that, this is why I need to check in on you daily, to monitor what's going on it there and make sure that both the twins are okay. We're going to make sure that they are both delivered safely and healthily. There isn't anything you can do so just relax and let me take a look at you."
Draco nodded and lay back, trying to relax with the new knowledge that Poppy had given to him, on some level he had known that something wasn't right.
Harry didn't come home for three hours, Poppy was long gone. Draco had started to become worried, the relief he felt when Harry walked in through the front door was immense.
"Where have you been sweetheart?" Draco asked going up to his boyfriend and kissing him.
"Just around in Godric's Hollow. There is a lovely old house just outside the village, it's up for sale." Harry said.
"We have a home Har." Draco pointed out in confusion.
"I know but we can't live off the Malfoy family funds forever. I was thinking of opening up a B&B. I think that it would be a new challenge. Plus it's only up the road and it'll get us both out of the house every once and a while."
"Harry, sweetheart, slow down, we're having twins. Isn't that enough of a challenge to be getting on with for the moment?" Draco said.
"Of course but it'll take a while to get the place up and running, even with magic. It's a wreck and I'd drop everything to be with you and the twins, you know that Dray. If you call I come running. I just think that it'll be something for us to do together that doesn't evolve around the children."
"You think you're going to get sick of us that quickly that you're panning your escape already?"
"Oh Dray, no, it isn't like that. We both have a lot of money but it won't last forever. I'm thinking about our future. I was going to set it all up and get a manager to run it most days of the week. I wasn't planning an escape at all, I promise you that. I want to be with you more than anything, I still want to marry you but I know not to push the subject."
"You know my reasons for not wanting to get married right now. I want to savour some of our relationship. It's all gone so fast. I'm sorry I accused you of wanting to run away. It scares me to think that you might not be here and I'll have to cope on my own."
"Never going to happen Dray, never going to happen." Harry said bringing Draco into his arms and holding him. "I love you too much, I'm never going to leave you or the twins, I promise you that."
That night as Draco slept soundly the twins battled one another endlessly. Harry lay awake thinking about everything, so many thoughts rushing through his mind. He was petrified of what was coming in the future.
Harry had been so looking forward to being a father and there was no one that he would rather be with than Draco but he couldn't help but think about the things that he had had to give up for the life that he was now living.
His two best friends didn't want to talk to him because of the boyfriend he had chosen. He couldn't help the fact that he loved Draco but there was no way he wanted to change that.
With everything that he had been through and the battles that he had fought and survived through, he didn't want his children knowing any of it. He had had to sacrifice a lot and he wouldn't have either of his children to go through the same ordeals that he had.
It was that night that Harry made the decision to shelter his children from his past, he didn't want them knowing any of it. He didn't want his children knowing that he was a murderer.
