Author: enchanted nightingale

Beta Reader: pussycatadamah

Disclaimer: The characters from Harry Potter books do not belong to me. I merely use them in my plot for fun.

Chapter 26 – Options and News

Rabastan's jaw was hanging open and Rodolphus decided that shocked was a good look on his younger sibling. He would need to spring unexpected matters up more often just to see that look.

"What?"

"Do you want me to repeat myself?" he asked his brother. "I asked you once before and you told me that it was only for teh summer months, you never said that you keptthis up but you did. And now we are in this situation."

No sound came from Rabastan but he did shut his mouth. Denial followed right after but Rodlphus was tired of hiding and pretending that he knew nothing about Potter and his brother. He was also exasperated with the teen for not telling his sibling anything about the coming baby. He would not spill the news, he was not that crash, but he could and would nudge Rabastan towards the right direction. More specifically, he would make his brother go after the teen, explain himself. He did not want to see Rabastan giving up, not like he had. Regrets were worse than Dementors some times and Rodolphus wanted his brother to have a happily ever after with Potter; and if that was impossible, then at least he should meet his kid, be there.

"What situation?" Rabastan asked.

Here his older sibling sighed. "You know I want to tell you so bad. you are going to be so angry when you find out." He met his brother's eyes. "Have you had contact with Potter since the last time you two met."

"No," Rabastan replied. "We just... He knows who I am. you can't possibly believe that he wants to associate with me now."

"Basically, you are too much of a coward to send even a letter?"

"And ask him what?" Rabastan yelled. "How are you? Want to meet again? Ignore that I'm a killer? Ignore that I've escpaed from Azkaban? So sorry we ruined so many lives, your best friend's included but we can have our happily ever after? What do you say Rodolphus when him being around me is stupid at best and dangerous at worst?"

"And how do you know he's better off away from you?" Rodolphus countered.

Rabastan's jaw was set. "You know something. You are going somewhwre with this. Is he okay?"

"Ask him yourself," Rodolphus said. "I can get you close enough to Hogwarts to meet with Potter. Will you do it?" he challenged.

The younger sibling pursed his lips.

Neville and Luna were eyeing Draco Malfoy with no small amount of mistrust as the blond Slytherin had turned up when Harry's next appointment with Madam Pomfrey was to take place. Even the matron of the hospital wing was eyeing the Malfoy heir with a small amount of hesitation. This time they had closed off the hospital wing so no one else could walk right in and overhear, not again.

"He knows," Harry told the mediwitch with a small sigh.

"And I will keep my mouth shut," the blond wizard said.

"Why are you here then?" Neville asked with suspicion.

Draco just shrugged.

"Can we just get this over with?" Harry asked. "Can you tell the gender yet?" he asked Poppy wistfully.

The witch smiled. "Well, depends on what position he or she is. I need to run another blood test, too. You know the drill Harry. I want you to get weighted."

"He has been eating more," Luna added.

Draco recalled that the green eyed teen had also been eating small snacks between classes or even in the library yet Pince had not once said anything against him about dirtying her precious books.

Ten minutes later blood had been drawn and Harry got the news that he had put on six and a half pounds, something that made Luna clap happily.

"Just be careful not to eat too many sweets," the medi witch said. At the betrayed look Harry gave her she sighed. "Yes, you can have one piece of treacle tart or chocolate cake after lunch but only the one."

Harry beamed at her and thanked her.

Meanwhile Draco was watching silently as more tests were performed. Neville walked up to him.

"Why are you here?" he asked the Slytherin.

"I was curious, and worried," the blond wizard finally admitted. "You know the Greengrass'?"

Neville blinked as he recalled something. "Caspar Greengrass, Daphne and Astoria's uncle. He carried the baby to term but died during birth," he muttered in a very low voice.

"Potter ... he is not in the best position. Physically not just because 'He' is after him."

"I know," Neville replied. "You know, I've seen pictures of my parent's while at school, heard the stories. There were at least thirty five kids in each dorm in each year now though..."

"Barely ten, boys and girls," Draco said. "Not even half of them purebloods."

Neville sighed. "Don't start..."

"I'm just saying," Draco muttered. he watched as Pomfrey cast some spells.

"They are to check for any malformations," Neville explained. "She does that every week."

"Is the other parent a pureblood then?"

"Can't tell you."

"I'm not an idiot Longbottom."

Neville arched a brow. "Then why do you even need to ask?"

Draco fell silent. He watched as Potter conversed with the two witches while being prodded and asked questions and had more spells cast at his belly. Potter looked happy and more at ease. Pregnancy suited him it seemed. He now made an effort to eat better, sleep better and take care of himself. Previously he did not seem to care all that much. He voiced this to the previously timid Gryffindor.

"You really are too smart for your own good," Neville muttered. "You'd give those nosy ravens a run for their galleons."

"Just answer this, if you want to," Draco amended.

"Remember Fleur Delacour?"

"The part Veela from Beauxbatons?"

"Her." Now Neville hesitated. "You know the rumors about Harry's family..."

"Those that he was raised as a prince or the others that they..."

"Neglected him," Neville finished. "They also up and moved. They never showed up at the end of fourth year to pick him up. He said he waited for them for hours and the Delacours noticed. They took him with them, to France."

"And he just followed them?" Draco asked.

"What would you have done in his place?" Neville countered.

Draco stared at Potter again. "Did he tell you how we first met?"

"Madam Malkin's," the other teen replied. "And you made a bad first impression and a worse second one. Not that Ron turned out to be a good choice but at eleven he was more bearable. You on the other hand are better now," Neville commented.

"You are less of a wimp," the Malfoy heir told him.

Neville rolled his eyes at that comment. "Nice of you to point that out."

"So, Potter went to France, he mentioned it at the beginning of the year but not why or how."

"Yes well, apparently Apolline, Fleur's mother, noticed how Harry was after the Triwizard Tournament. They took him to a Healer there and well..."

"Fixed what they could," Draco said. "Is the father a Death Eater?" he asked out of the blue.

Neville spluttered. "Why in Merlin's name would you say that?"

"Why else keep this all a secret?" Draco asked. "Why is that guy not here, at Potter's side? Because he can't or because he won't. So he's either dead, a first grade idiot or a Death Eater, dark sympathizer at least."

"He is," Luna said before Neville could say anything.

"Which one?" Draco asked the witch.

"A Death Eater," the Ravenclaw replied. "But don't ask Harry. The other father does not know yet."

"All done!" Pomfrey announced and the three teens stopped their discussion.

"Do we know the gender yet?" Luna asked as she retook her spot at Harry's side.

The medi witch smiled. "Well, the baby is ..."

"Wait!" Harry cut her off, much to the exasperation of the two friends and a short of not enemy that were with him.

"What?" Neville said impatiently. "Is it a godson or a god daughter?"

Harry bit his lip. "I..."

"If you say you don't want to know, you are lying," Luna told her friend.

The pregnant teen eyed the medi witch. "Go ahead," he said sounding resigned.

They all waited with baited breath.

"It's a boy," Poppy revealed.

"No!" Luna whined while Neville was yelling "Yes!" at her side.

The father of the pending baby boy and the blond Slytherin watched with fascination while the medi witch shook her head.

"The next one better be a girl, I want to spoil her," Luna stated to Harry, who spluttered while the other two teens choked.

"I'll leave you to celebrate," the medi witch said.

Harry smiled at her. Then his hands rested on his stomach, his mind processing the news. A boy. The gender and the baby bump were making this even more tangible. Come summer, he would not be alone any more. Neville sat by his side and Luna on the other while Draco hovered near them.

"Everything okay?" Neville asked.

"Never better," Harry replied.

"So, it's a boy," the Malfoy heir said. "Congratulations."

The green eyed teen smiled, "Thank you."

"Have you thought of names yet?" Draco asked, making Harry groan.

Luna smirked a decisively not dreamy smirk and Neville sighed.

"You just had to mention names," the Longbottom heir said.

"What? Why?" Draco asked, confused.

"Well, there is a list," Harry offered.

"And now we can search for many more names to add to it," Luna cheerfully said. "Make yourself comfortable, Draco."

"What? but classes..." the Slytherin spluttered.

"My duties as Arnold's not fairy but still godmother are more important," the witch said.

"Who's Arnold?" Neville asked.

"You are not naming my kid Arnold Luna," Harry spluttered. "At her pout he followed up with," Nothing that Ginny might use to name cute and cuddly things."

And Draco gulped when he realized the monster he had unleashed.

Remus was not hiding in from Sirius, he was most definitely not. Well, maybe he was avoiding the dog Animagus just a bit. Lately, Sirius had been unbearable as he kept pestering the werewolf about his love life, or lack of it better yet. The pureblood had, aside from teasing him, been trying to set him up with various people. It was easy for him to do that too, since he had been cleared of all charges. Everyone wanted a piece of the new Lord Black, conveniently overlooking that he had been an Azkaban convict and a fugitive and for years his name was spat as a curse with the same disdain people spoke of the now dead Bellatrix Lestrange.

Thinking of the witch, Remus stumbled on yet another matter. Rodolphus Lestrange had send them a very formal letter announcing the death of his wife. Sirius had not been invited to the funeral, not even remotely close, but the letter had included one other, this one to be delivered to Augusta. They had taken it to Dumbledore to deliver to the old witch since even now, people did not trust in Sirius' innocence completely.

"Mooooony!"

The werewolf winced and hurried his steps but then a dog came barreling at his legs a minute later.

"Damned dog senses," Remus cursed and pushed the drooling canine off of him. He glared at the Animagus. "Could you please leave me alone already?"

Padfoot turned into his human form and grinned down at the ruffled werewolf. "Sorry! I'm not going to nag at you, honestly. Just... A letter came from Harry!"

"What's gotten into you?" Remus asked suspiciously. "you're never this excited about his letters."

The grin on Sirius' face became even wider if that was possible.

"He finally cracked," Remus said to himself and pushed the man away from him so that he could stand again.

Sirius recovered easily and climbed on his feet. He then produced a letter and pushed it into Remu's hands. "Read this, come on!" he urged the other Marauder.

"And if I do, will you leave me alone?" Remus asked his best friend.

"If you read this, old wolf then you'll want to get drunk with me."

Curious now, Remus took the offered letter and gradually his eyes went wide and a happy smile appeared on his face.

"Harry wrote it in Dumbledore's office, as you very well read. They are there now. The old man decided that the lesson they had today should be post ponned. They are having a tea party, meaning no alcohol, but I'm drunk enough already," Sirius said in a rush.

"We are heading to Hogwarts, aren't we?" Remus asked, even though now he was not resigned, he was smiling as wide as Sirius.

The dog Animagus nodded.

Albus Dumbledore's office was unusually colorful that evening. Harry, instead of eating dinner in the Great Hall had been asked to the man's office. The teen had send a letter early during the day to ask the man their lesson be postponed and the old wizard had readily agreed. Harry, once inside the office froze the painting (by now he knew the spell) and smiled at the weary wizard.

"Wizengamot session was a pain today?" the green eyed wizard asked.

Blue eyes focused on him, showing how tired the wizard was. "The older and wiser we become, the most idiotic we act, remember that Harry."

"Well, I went to see Madam Pomfrey today."

"Nothing serious I hope?"

"Not really. Draco was there, with Neville and Luna."

"Ah, young Malfoy," Albus smiled.

"Is it odd?" Harry asked. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I took his hand all those years ago. He was a prat, yes, but he redeemed himself. Unlike… Well, you know what I mean."

"I do my boy," the Headmaster said. HE had hugged Harry when he heard the news and the teen had blushed, still unsure of how close he was with the older wizard. "You know, right about now James would be panicking about sprouting grey hair and Lily would be all over you, cooing how you are too young for the responsibility and ecstatic about the news of the baby," he told the green eyed teen. "Your grandparents, both sets of them would be more receptive of the news, I think. Just like Sirius."

Harry's lips quirked. "Is he and Remus really coming over?"

The fireplace flared to life up and two form stumbled out gracefully, carrying what looked like balloons and gifts and a cake. Harry stared with a mix of horror and fondness as his godfather practically tackled him to a hug with Remus left to balance all the things they had brought over and theHeadmaster offering to help with them. Harry was picked off the ground and twirled around in several circles by his overly excited godfather all the while yelling "It's a Boy!" at the top of his lungs.

"You are staying for dinner then," Dumbledore told the werewolf who could only nod.

"We brought cake too, Siri insisted," Remus told the blue eyed wizard.

"Well you are welcome to stay," Albus replied.

"You are staying with us, right Albus?" Harry asked his mentor. He was back on his feet though his godfather had not stopped hugging him.

"I'm honored to be asked," the older wizard said.

"You are practically family," Harry replied, "I want you here."

"I'll let the house elves know to bring enough for four people," Albus said.

Then it was Renus' turn to hug Harry, though he was not as excitable as the dog Animagus had been. He congratulated the teen and brought Harry's attention the packages he had brought over through the floo.

"It's nothing much," the werewolf told Harry.

"And he's not being modest either," Sirius cut in. "Just that it occurred to us that you can't leave this castle so," he motioned to Harry that he could open up the packages.

Harry complied and went for the first one. It was not big or anything and it was wrapped in blue paper, muggle paper. When he got rid of the paper and the ribbons and opened the box, he was left speechless.

"Lily had started looking at baby stuff by her third month… Who am I kidding? Since she learned she was pregnant," Sirius recalled with a fond smile. "Now that we learned the gender we could pick more easily."

Harry took the one piece out. It was small and soft in a blue color. There were ducks on the fabric. It was really nothing special but Harry's eyes teared up.

"If you don't like them we can change them!" Sirius hurried to say.

"No, I love it," Harry said. "It really had not occurred to me to get ready for practical things like this."

Remus smiled and offered Harry another gift. "Open this one too," he urged Harry.

And the teen complied. More practical baby things followed, bibs and blankets and a few more bodysuits for the coming baby. In various colors and styles, even a Gryffindor red and a Slytherin green. And by the time the elves arrived with their food, Remus and Sirius had started sharing stories of Harry as a baby and Albus shared a few with James. Harry was happy when he went back to his dorm that evening. He had been unable to keep any of the gifts, it would be suspicious and dangerous if people found them among his things; one could never be too careful. Sirius and Remus had packed everything up and taken then back to London. They had promised to wait for Harry, find a room that he could call his and one for his baby boy. Albus himself had escorted Harry back to the common room that night and Harry had gone to bed with a wide smile on his face.

The place was crowded, couples and groups of friends, spouses, families. many types of people were here, all of them muggles. Rodolphus was dressed like one of them though he looked uncomfortable standing in the middle of the day in a cafeteria near a park. But this time it had been Sirius' turn to pick the place and that man always had odd tastes.

Then again, the Lestrange thought, that it was unlikely that the Aurors would expect him to be here.

"I still can't get used to the idea of you with muggle clothes."

Rodolphus turned around. "You don't look bad yourself either," he commented when he saw Sirius dressed in jeans and a muggle coat over them.

"Come on," the dog Animagus told him as he pulled him to the cafeteria.

Rodolphus let himself be led around, his eyes not leaving the other wizard. Something had happened that had put Sirius in a good mood. He had not looked like that outside the bedroom in… He had lost count of the time. Their orders arrived and a subtle use of a spell to keep their conversation from being overheard, the two wizards started talking. Rodolphus had tried stalling, but Sirius would have none of it.

"You know, at some point you need to shut up and let me thank you," he told the Lestrange wizard. "Thanks to you that rat was caught and my name was cleared."

"All part of our deal."

Sirius shrugged.

"Are you still waiting for me to back out?" the Death Eater asked.

"Yes," Sirius truthfully answered. "That's why I feel guilty for doubting you."

An arched eyebrow was his response.

"I won't apologize either," Harry's godfather said. "I'm not here to settle the score between us…"

"A pity," Rodolphus interrupted.

"… but to inform you of the gender," Sirius went on to say.

The other man blinked. "The gender… My nephew?"

"A boy."

A small smile appeared on Rodolphus's face. "A boy?"

"Healthy too, as far as Poppy's scans show. We learned the other day," Sirius admitted. "I thought you should not learn of it from a letter."

Rodolphus this time smiled at Sirius. "I appreciate it."

The dog ANimagus shrugged, feeling a bit uncomfortable. The way Rodolphus looked now was like trip down happier memories and the last thing he needed was to lose control.

"Speaking of letters," Rodolphus said and Sirius reluctantly glanced at him. "I told my brother that he should seek out your godson and talk to him."

"You did what?!"

"Do lower your voice, Siri. The spells can only do so much. Attracting attention won't do us any good."

Sirius was fuming as he tried to reign in his temper. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing about Potter's pregnancy, I'm not an idiot. My brother needs to hear it from the boy, not from me," Rodolphus said, his tone biting. "Potter is nearing what? Three months now? Entering the fourth month of the pregnancy soon? He will start showing soon enough. He will also be giving birth by June or July. How long must I wait? Rabastan needs to learn that he's going to be a father. I agreed to keep my mouth shut but I can do that only for so long. I never liked lying to my brother."

"Well, Harry's not ready!"

"And how do you know?" Rodolphus demanded. "What if he feels ready when the kid's graduating from Hogwarts. Would that be a good time?"

"Sarcasm really does become you."

Rodolphus glared at the man that had been his lover for years.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I get it! Alright? I may not like it, but I get your point."

"And?"

"And I'll talk to Harry, see how he is, whether he wants to face this."

"A letter won't do," Rodolphus insisted.

"You want them to meet?" Sirius asked, incredulous. "Are you out of your mind?"

The Death Eater glared at him. "Of course they need to meet Black!" he stressed. "These talks are best happening face to face. You really think Rabastan will believe it of he does not see the teen? Not bloody likely. And if he does believe a possible letter, what do you think he'll try to do then?"

Sirius groaned. "Track down Harry and see him."

"And what if he tries breaking into Hogwarts?"

"Oh, Merlin! It will be a mess!"

"Know you're seeing things my way," Rodolphus stated. "They need to meet."

"How? What if Harry…"

"He can start getting used to the idea," the other wizard muttered. "This time I'm rooting for my brother."

"And I need to make sure my godson does not get stressed," Sirius snapped. "I don't need him getting worked up! Do you know what happened after he found out your brother's identity? Panic attack does not quite describe it, more like melt down. He was a mess. It was seer dump luck that Dumbledore found him first. I'm not putting him through that much stress, not again."

The two wizards glared at each other for a while. Neither of them was willing to back down, intent to do what was best for their loved ones. Sirius though gave in first. And the reason for that was the memory of how Harry looked when he first confronted him and Remus with Albus Dumbeldore at his side, telling them the truth about his affair. The teen had come a long way since then. The people who most mattered knew about his situation. Remus and himself, Augusta's grandson and Xeno's daughter. The Delacours would find out during Easter, Harry had decided to show them then and Sirius knew in his hearts that the family that had taken in his godson and cared for him would never judge the teen, that Apolline, her daughters and husband and the baby boy would support Harry and love him all the same. Just like he knew that Harry himself wanted to tell Rabastan, that he still missed the man. Sirius was willing to admit to himself that he was not as deluded as to believe that the green eyed teen had fallen out of love with Rabastan so quickly. The teen still loved the Death Eater and would continue to do so for a long time now that they were having a baby together. There really was no other choice. Plus, the Lestrange family tapestries would soon show the new member arriving. Already the Black tapestry that showed Dorea's line was showing a thin line under Harry's name.

"I guess you have a plan?" Sirius asked.

If Rodolphus was shocked that the last male Black gave in so quickly he said nothing. Instead he went ahead and explained the idea he had for the meeting to the dog Animagus and Sirius listened carefully.

They both knew that they would need to plan carefully so that it could work. Neither of them wanted Rabastan discovered or worse, caught, because then the world would know about him and Harry and that was the worst option possible.

End of chapter