First thing Monday morning during Auror training, Harry was called into Head Auror Robards' office. There was a witch already in the room wearing the indigo colored robes of an Unspeakable. Her auburn hair was swept up in a messy bun, with a pair of spectacles perched on top. Her appearance bore striking similarities to how Hermione looked after spending the night with her nose in a book.
"Ah Harry, this is Unspeakable Dunaway. She has been charged with looking into how Draco Malfoy was able to get around the relationship requirement of the fertility spell," Robards said.
Dunaway offered her hand, which Harry shook, saying, "It's nice to meet you."
The Unspeakable didn't return Harry's greeting, other than to offer a curt nod. Instead she addressed Robards' comment, saying, "Malfoy did not get around the relationship requirement. There is no mystery here; the spell has worked perfectly."
"Honestly, we were not romantically involved in any way," Harry assured the witch. "But, um, this healer told me that other strong emotions can, er, sort of take the place of love."
"Yes, the spell measures the sum total of all emotions in a relationship throughout the lifetime of a relationship," Dunaway replied. "That is the exact mechanism of determining whether the spell works or fails, but most authors of fertility books find that explanation too complicated for the lay-wizard to understand, hence the simplification. The spell can fail when a relationship is destined to end in the near future, despite strong passionate love at the moment the spell is cast. And it can work for couples with mildly positive relationships, if the relationship lasts a lifetime. According to the file I was given, Auror Potter and the wizard in question have known each other since starting school. I suspect that your mutual obsessions will keep the two of you in each other's lives until your eventual deaths. You will in all likelihood be friends for the majority of that time. Therefore the integral of your emotions over time surpasses the threshold of emotions required by the spell. Everything is in order here and nothing needs investigating."
"Then why has it taken so long for you to get back to me?" Robards asked sternly.
"Because we Unspeakables have other things to do than cater to you. There were more important cases in front of this one," Dunaway answered.
"This is Harry Potter we're talking about here; he's the Savior—" Robards started, but Harry cut him off.
"Of the Wizarding World, yes, we know." Harry waved his hand dismissively. "What I want to know is how our future friendship can affect a spell performed over a year ago?"
"Time is nothing more and nothing less than the fourth direction in the space-time continuum. Like all of the other dimensions, it is possible to move both forward and backwards through it. That is the principle behind the Time Turner. Some spells work given information from the present point in time, some from the past, some from the future, and this one, from the integration of all three," Dunaway replied.
Harry's head spun when he tried to think about it. This was obviously such complex magical theory that he had trouble understanding it. But if the expert on the subject didn't think there was a mystery, then that was good enough for him. He left the room that day knowing two new things. First of all, he never wanted to be an Unspeakable. And second, no one else could have done what Draco did. The odds of someone else who he was not in a sexual relationship with being able to meet the emotional threshold was slim. The only people he needed to worry about were those he would have lifetime friendships with, which basically amounted to Ron and Hermione. And he knew he didn't need to worry about his best friends, so there was nothing to worry about. Other than Draco, that was.
Harry rejoined the other Auror trainees and let the physical exercises drive the headache inducing memory of Dunaway's words from his mind. Later, during their afternoon break, he found out from Ron about the misconceptions Ginny left with the previous day. He didn't really understand the leap Ginny had made from Draco throwing up to Draco being pregnant and having sex with him, and figured it was just Ginny's overactive imagination. But the thought that Draco might be pregnant did trigger a different thought in Harry's mind: Draco could use the fertility spell again to get pregnant by Harry anytime Draco wanted, without permission.
That night Harry stumbled out of the floo determined to talk to Draco. He was tipsy from a night of drinking at the pub with Ron and the alcohol gave him courage. Leo was already asleep, a string of Zs displayed on the starry curtains, so it was a perfect time for a chat.
Harry found Draco reading in bed and said, "We need to talk."
Draco motioned Harry into the room and indicated a chair in the corner, "By all means. What did you want to discuss? I know a charming little clinic that promises to do wonders with alcohol addiction."
Harry took the seat. "No, not about that. About Leo. Or, er, about the spell you used to make him."
"What about it?" Draco placed a bookmark to save his place and set the book down at his side.
"Are you going to do it again?"
"Do what again?" Draco asked confused.
"Make a baby. You know, do the fertility spell with one of my hairs."
"What are you on about now, Potter?"
"If it worked once, it might work again. We might have two babies."
"Do you want that or something? What, Weasley cannot have children, so you turn to me? I'll have you know that you cannot use me like that. I won't bend to your every drunken whim."
"No, I'm not asking you to! I thought you might do it again without my permission. You did it once. What's to stop you from doing it again?" Harry asked.
"A, I already have Leo. B, I already have all of the work and hassle of being a single father and a pariah to the wizarding world. C, I don't need that doubled. D, next time I have a child I'd like to have one with someone who wants me around. E, I only made Leo because I had to. And F, you took care of the Dark Lord, so there is no reason I will ever find myself in the same situation again."
"Good."
"Now if you'd please leave and not come back until you are sober and no longer talking nonsense," Draco said, making a shooing motion towards the door, indicating that Harry should get out.
Harry rose, turned halfway towards the door, before changing his mind. He jerked his head back in a not entirely sober manner, and sat back down; that last beer was still absorbing into his system. "Wait a minute. You didn't share. We're supposed to talk. You always make me tell you how I'm feeling when you want to talk. I just told you what was bothering me. What do you think of it?"
"While I think my son is absolutely perfect in every way, I think his PaPa has a drinking problem that I do not like," Draco replied tersely.
"Come now, I didn't have all that much to drink; only a few butterbeers." It had been exactly six beers, but that was over the course of the last three hours and it was a very weak drink. It loosened his tongue and lowered his inhibitions, but he wasn't out of control or falling down. There were moments that were more lucid, but then the slight buzz would return and his tongue slipped again.
"I don't want you holding Leo when you're like this. You might drop him." Truthfully it wasn't so much the alcohol that Draco had a problem with, as it was that he knew it was Ginny Weasley who Harry was drinking with. He'd already warned Harry once and so far Harry had shown no move towards their son while intoxicated. He thought he could trust Harry's judgment enough not to do so; Leo was safe, which was what mattered most. But, the Weasley bint was a lush and if he could get Harry to sober up, he knew Harry would find her far less tolerable. It was never fun to be the sober one looking in and he hoped he could brow beat Harry into seeing Ginny like that.
"Alright, I won't touch Leo when I drink, if you tell me." Now Harry knew Draco was avoiding the question and he wanted to know why. "How do you feel?" He was just tipsy enough that as he spoke, he found himself fixating on Draco's lips. It was an odd thing to focus on and he didn't know why he was doing it. Maybe the sneer that Leo's mouth liked to copy had become endearing. Or maybe it was that he was feeling a bit randy, after Ginny had refused to go out with them and consequently, hadn't gotten him off.
"You know my son is perfect, right? He's very smart and advanced for his age and he has the biggest, most beautiful eyes I've ever seen." As Draco said this, he looked into Harry's matching green eyes.
"Yes, I know. He even knew that the new owl's name is Awhoo, not Kevin. You've been calling that owl Kevin all week." Harry was rambling, due to the alcohol, and hadn't understood Draco's implications.
Just that morning the owl had chosen Leo to drop his letter off with, even though it was for Draco. Draco had been trying to reach the owl as it flew around the ceiling, calling, "Kevin! Kevin, get down here." Leo had called out, "Awwhoooo," a couple of times and opened and closed his hands in command to come. The bird had obeyed the baby. Harry decided after that that they should change the bird's name. Draco, having just gotten ahold of the letter from his father, had been too busy reading to care and hadn't opposed the decision, even though it was technically Draco's bird.
"Whatever PaPa, but if we're ever in public, it's going to be you calling out that ridiculous name."
"Alright," Harry replied. He paused a minute, trying to remember what they were talking about, before he recalled his earlier train of thought. "You're not mad though, are you?"
"That you changed Kevin's name, even though he's my owl? No. Truthfully I was thinking Kevin sounds a bit muggle. Can't have muggle sounding owls, can we? And with you being The Savior, you have every right to go around renaming other people's owls."
"No, not about the owl. About Leo; are you mad Voldemort forced you? That you're stuck with my son?"
"I am not stuck with your son, you imbecile! That is my son you're talking about!" Draco was angry now and his smirk turned into a scowl. He was back to thinking Harry was an annoyingly stupid drunk.
That response sounded positive; if Draco was claiming Leo so fiercely, he wasn't likely resentful of the situation and Harry couldn't see Draco taking anything out on the baby. Draco genuinely seemed to love Leo. Thus Harry smiled and reached a hand out to take Draco's. "I'm glad," he said.
Draco blinked, taken aback. It flickered through his mind that Harry was drunker than he thought, but then he decided that the advance wasn't unwelcomed. Maybe Ginny wasn't the only one who could take advantage of a drunken Harry. He smirked and said, "You really can't hold your liquor, can you?"
Harry shrugged and threaded his fingers in between Draco's. The wizard's skin was soft and hot and the touch was very pleasant.
"I didn't know you were such a touchy-feely drunk," Draco said, but didn't pull away, instead leaning into Harry. The next bit was whispered into Harry's ear. "You know, Harry, you're growing on me. You remind me of my son and we both know how gorgeous he is."
"Yeah," Harry agreed, leaning into the touch. They were almost embracing and it felt nice and tingly. He didn't make the connection from Leo's looks to his own that Draco had implied. Due to his self-deprecating nature, he probably wouldn't have made the connection if he were sober. In his mind, Leo was far better looking than himself, despite the similarities. He figured Draco's genes had somehow made the features more attractive on Leo than they looked on him. He had no chance of making the connection in his present state.
"Now off to bed with you, before you pass out in my room. I swear to Salazar I'll take your photo and send it to the Daily Prophet if that happens," Draco said, pulling back. He wasn't yet comfortable enough around Harry to make his move. Add to that the fact that Harry was clearly tipsy, while he was stone cold sober, and it didn't feel rig-ht.
A thought of the scandal that that would create flashed through Harry's mind and he pulled away. He left, earlier fears assuaged, but with a new worry about Skeeter fresh in his mind.
Author's Note: One reviewer raised the question of how Draco feels. I tried to answer that a bit with this chapter, but he doesn't seem entirely ready to share. He obviously came back feeling differently about Harry than he did when they were at school, thanks to Leo. But right now I think it's more on the side of possessiveness towards Harry and not wanting Ginny to have him, than actual love. I can't see him being okay with a Weasley having what he thinks belongs to him and his son, even if it is the Savior of the Wizarding World. What do you think?
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